Family Identity Essay

A person’s identity is often considered a trait that someone is born with, similar to physical traits such as eye color or face shape. In actuality, identity is not something that can be determined by a particular strand of DNA, rather it is something that must be formed throughout a lifetime. Thus, at birth, one’s identity is a blank canvas, ready to absorb knowledge from its immediate surroundings, more particularly family, as it is the first thing a fresh identity is exposed to. As evidenced by Grapes of Wrath, Abraham Lincoln, and The Great Gatsby, one’s identity is primarily determined by his or her family. In Grapes of Wrath, the Joad’s identify themselves with their land, as farming is their only livelihood. Without land to farm, the Joads’s way of life is entirely uprooted; thus, they are forced to change their identities in order to survive. However, this identification with the land is not something each Joad is born with; rather, it is a relationship that is primarily influenced by family. Initially, Ruthie and Winifield, both still young children, do not understand the emotional impact of the Dustbowl on their family. However, as they watch their father, they begin to understand that his land is what makes him who he is, and without it, he is lost. At this point, Ruthie and Winifield’s new identities are starting to take shape as they, too, learn to love the land. Abraham Lincoln, a former president of the United States, grew up in a small cabin to a poor family. He was able to attend school as a young boy; however, the educational system of his rural town in Kentucky put him at a disadvantage to many other politicians he competed against. When Lincoln’s mother passed, he was left to be raised by only his father, whom he gradually became estranged from. However, these disadvantages that Lincoln faced made him the self-motivated and ambitious man he soon became. Had he been raised in a well-to-do family by attentive and loving parents, he would not have been nearly as driven and hardworking, as everything would have been spoon-fed to him. Thus, Lincoln’s family life was the one thing ultimately determined the man he was to become. Lincoln’s absentee father and poor economic situation gave him the will and ambition that allowed him o do great things in the world. In The Great Gatsby, in contrast to Abraham Lincoln, Daisy was born into an extremely wealthy family. In such a family, Daisy hardly ever had the need to lift a finger, as everything was done for her. In addition, this wealth made Daisy a very desirable young woman; thus, Daisy did not often have to work to gain anyone’s approval. Had she been raised in poor family, similar to Abraham Lincoln, Daisy would have been forced to sink or swim on her own, giving her more ambition to succeed. However, due to Daisy’s family life, she grew accustomed to a pampered life lifestyle in which everything was simply handed to her, making her the self-obsessed, materialistic, and lazy person she became. As evidenced by Grapes of Wrath, Abraham Lincoln, and The Great Gatsby, family is what primarily determines someone’s identity. Thus, identity is not some gene-determined trait that is formed prior to birth. It is something that takes shape in the early stages of one’s life, forming accordingly to his or her environment.

It 210 Week 4 Check Point 1

1 Declare CountAge As Integer 2 Declare SumAge As Float 3 Declare Age As Float 4 Declare ParticipantAverage As Float 5 Set CountAge – 0 6 Set SumAge – 0 7 Write â€Å"Enter one age. Enter 0 when done. † 8 Input Age 9 While Age > 0 10 Set CountAge = CountAge + 1 11 Set SumAge = SumAge + Age 12 Write â€Å"Enter an participant age. Enter 0 when done. † 13 Input Age 14 End While 15 Set ParticipantAverage = SumAge / CountAge 16 Write â€Å"Your age average is â€Å" + AgeAverage * Lines 1–6 declare and initialize the variables. Line 7 asks for the first age and also explains that when you are finished entering the age for a particular set, you can end by entering 0. * The first Age is input on line 8. * Lines 9–14 are the loop. It sums the age entered and it keeps count of how many ages were entered. * In Line 10 keeps track of how many ages are entered. For each pass through the loop, CountAge is incremented by 1. If you enter three ages befor e you end the program by entering 0, the loop will execute three times and CountAge will be equal to 3.If you enter 5 ages, the loop will execute 5 times and CountAge will be equal to 5. * Line 11 keeps a sum of all the participant ages. To compute your participant average age, you must divide the sum of all your participants ages by the number of participants, so lines 10 and 11 keep track of the information we need to compute the average at the end. * Lines 12 and 13 ask the user for the next participants age and gets the next input. Here, if you’re done, you can enter a 0. * Line 14 ends the loop when the user enters a zero. * Line 15 computes the average and line 16 displays that average.

Gender Representation †Boardwalk Empire Essay

As a hybrid genre, the representations in Boardwalk Empire are complex, contradictory, unconventional, conventional and stereotypical, whilst challenge stereotypes. Set in the 1920’s during prohibition, Nucky is a corrupt Republican politician and gangster, who has risen to his position through bribery, corruption, and murder. The series begins as prohibition begins, with Nucky toasting the government who ban alcohol; â€Å"†¦to those beautiful ignorant bastards in Washington†. As a gangster, Nucky knows he can make millions by supplying illegal alcohol to the public and is portrayed as a businessman, making money for all the ‘respectable’ local dignitaries that sit around his table; the chief of police (his brother Ely), the mayor, the head of the port authority, local Politicians, etc. He sees an opportunity through the prohibition to increase his fortune. There is a lot of juxtapositioning in the first episode to show us the various sides of Nucky, as a violent alcohol heist is followed by Nucky addressing a Ladies’ Temperance Society. Nucky weaves a myth of his own childhood of poverty, catching rats for his family to eat, to the gasps of the audience. Embodying the American Dream, Nucky has ‘risen’ from very humble beginnings to be top man in the state, he is merely seeking the ‘women’s vote’ for his Political re-election and often shows their ignorance of world politics proves them an easy mark for manipulation to gain full power over the Atlantic City. Nucky is a complex protagonist and anti-hero who is both despicable and admirable. He is obviously very clever, charming, funny, calculating, ruthless, and a skilful businessman and gangster. He juggles a legal political life with his illegal prohibition life, dealing with a constant flurry of unexpected problems as they arise. He manipulates people in ways that should make audiences hate him but Steve Buscemi (and the writers) manages to portray him as a complex character that seeks more than just money. The low camera angles throughout help suggesting Nucky is a very powerful figure in the drama. The power wield of woman in Boardwalk Empire is largely associated with sex, and furthermore this power of woman is represented through the male characters using it against eachother. For example Gillian Darmody, mother of gangster: Jimmy Darmody and a topless dancer in the city, plays a pivotal role when she sleeps with a rival gangster: Luciano in order to detain him until he can be collected and dealt with. Her sexual power is turned to the gangsters own advantage. Lucy Daziger is another key representation of sexual power and woman in Boardwalk Empire. She is the beautiful mol and mistress of Nucky who is often a negative representation of woman – dismissed constantly in favour of Nucky’s political and illegal life. She is objectified by him and others and is kept at his beck and call. During an evening at dinner with others, Lucy insists she has a brain but is quietened by Nucky, and we see Lucy has no place for opinion at the dinner with the Commodore in terms of politics. When Nucky rejects Lucy, he favours Margaret, because she is intelligent and sees her more as an equal for example at the same dinner Margaret expresses deep knowledge and understanding of politics. Lucy is extremely jealous of Margaret as Nucky clearly shows more affection for her, which is unconventional as Lucy is the beautiful mistress, often seeming powerful, Margaret is the opposite.. Margaret is the other key representation in the drama as she challenges the notion of ‘the little woman’ throughout the series. An Irish immigrant, clever, brave, and moral (but racked by guilt), her motives are often those of a protective Mother. Initially established as naive and unsophisticated, particularly by her dowdy dress codes i. colour codes are very dull: browns, greens, her deferential body-language, and her thick Irish accent, she is represented as a weak, ordinary and poor woman. For example her dress codes of poor clothing often lacking in quality, and colour. Margaret grows in confidence throughout the seasons, as her and Nucky begin a relationship. An Irish immigrant she is wise beyond her years, Margaret quickly becomes versed in the dealings of her â€Å"husba nd† and becomes a supportive and protective ‘wife’ for his chaotic life. In her previous marriage Margaret was represented in a weak and negative way enduring endless beatings from her husband Hans. An incident of abuse had caused Margaret to miscarry her 4th child, and so Nucky ordered to have Hans murdered. Margaret knows of this but chooses to remain silent for the benefit of herself and her kids, later racked with Catholic guilt over the murder, their life, and their source of income. Nucky proceeds to live with her and her children, becoming a sensitive father figure to the kids, and a loving ‘husband’ to her.

Role of Management Functions in the Activities of Apple Inc Essay

Role of Management Functions in the Activities of Apple Inc - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that management of an organization should do their responsibilities in a systematic manner and for that reason, they are performing some specific functions for the overall benefit of an organization. The systematic functions start from the function of planning. Before implementing any strategy a proper planning is required. Formulation of company’s objectives and goals can be done at this stage. Managers forecast the future situation of business and according to that anticipation and they take decisions for achieving success. For example, management of Apple Inc. is planning to add more security measures for protecting the interest of users. When someone wants to get access to the user’s data then company send a notification to the user by using e-mail. This new i-Cloud security measurement increases the popularity of the electronic products manufactured by Apple Inc. An organization is the 2nd layer of the functional activities of a management team. Organizing the team members and allocating the work as per their capacity and knowledge is very important. From this part, work is actually started by the end of the organization. Apple Inc. organizes its human resources, financial resources and technical resources in a multi-divisional way. Management of this company classifies activities and after that distributing the work into different divisions. Employees of this company never work outside of their expertise and each employee has to work more than 60 hours per week. The function of leading involves communicating, guiding, encouraging and motivating employees in a certain manner. In case of Apple Inc., major decisions and most of the directions are made by the senior management of the company and employees do not have the right for taking major decisions in their work. Leaders of this company involved in talent management activities. They guide the employees through several advanced training and developme ntal programs.

Indigenous Studies Article Summary & Analysis Essay - 1

Indigenous Studies Article Summary & Analysis - Essay Example Likewise, it clarifies how the marginalized groups keep on agitating for legitimacy and political acknowledgment as a way towards liberation1. Borrow tries to bring out the courts definition of indigenous rights, and it is to my consent that its definition is based on distinctive cultures of indigenous communities as they existed in the old days. Additionally, I note that he recognizes indigenous rights as being founded on continued recognition of the customs and the laws of the indigenous people. Borrow has additionally highlighted the subject of the rule of law. I agree with his writing that oppression of the indigenous communities can be prevented through the continuous application of the rule of law. Based on indigenous communities, affirmation of the Crown Sovereignty has been the main cause of disruptions and chaos. He views the rule of law as a supreme ideal that can be realized if unbiased and non-arbitrary approach to legitimacy of Crown sovereignty is put into practice. I find that Crown Sovereignty is the foundation for the establishment of the colonial supremacy which led to things such as peace, stability and order to colonial settlers2. In the meantime, colonial supremacy brought about disturbance to the colonized. Borrow sees the rule of law as subject to sovereign power that is characterized by its monopoly nature of power. It is from his book that I figure out that since there was and is no foundation for the attestation of colonial sovereignty, there emerged ill-use of power that demeaned the value of the rule of law. The book also helps me to identify several cases where indigenous law has failed to be recognized. Historically, native law and interests have been alleged as a problem to the Crown law that is dominant in Canada. This line of thinking has aided me to note the disappointment of recognition of Indigenous law and interests, which, has thus, brought about the legitimate, political, social and economic

Automobile Workers vs Johnson Controls Inc Case Study

Automobile Workers vs Johnson Controls Inc - Case Study Example Eight employees of a battery manufacturing company who were pregnant exhibited increased lead quantities in their blood – more than what OSHA approves to be a considerable amount (Rehnquist, Kennedy, & Scalia, 1991). The company later barred all women from working in lead related departments except those who could not have children, though after passing clinical tests to ascertain their conditions. This prompted a group of employees to file a case in the District Court. They argued that the policy discriminated against the female gender and violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Rehnquist et al., 1991). The District Court and the Court of Appeal granted the respondents a summary judgment on grounds that their fetal protection policy is reasonably necessary to further the industrial safety concern. The petitioners claimed that excluding fertile women from lead-exposed jobs, the respondent's policy creates a facial grouping based on gender besides marginalizing them under 703(a) of Title VII (Rehnquist et al., 1991). They claimed the policy is not neutral because it does not apply to males despite evidence that lead exposure poses great harm to their reproductive system. They cited that provided that the fertile women performed their duties as expected, the company has no right to segregate them. However, the respondents argue that they are concerned about the other coming generation’s status regardless of the law exclusively being for the parents (Rehnquist et al., 1991). Ethical Issues Is the company in line with professional work ethics and fair gender opportunities law by passing the policy discriminating fertile and infertile women from working in the lead related departments? No, the company does not satisfy its expected moral and ethical standards as required in the society by passing a policy that stigmatizes the female gender. Additionally, it also violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that protects all genders fro m discrimination. By so doing, the company would be creating a facial categorization that utilizes gender to segregate women (Rehnquist et al., 1991). The policy is not neutral and fair to both genders and how lead affects them either. According to the company, lead affects only the female gender despite concrete evidence that it poses adverse effects on the male reproductive organs. The law also cites that unless the pregnant employees differ from others in their expertise, they must all get both equal treatment and opportunities (Rehnquist et al., 1991). In addition, legislative history and case law bar an employer from discriminating against pregnant women or their pregnancy capacity unless their condition prevents them from performing the expected duties. The employees’ fetuses are neither customers nor employees whose safety is a concern of the company’s management (Rehnquist et al., 1991). In this context, the respondents should get rid of their policy as the fem ale fertile employees participate in manufacturing lead batteries similar to other peers. Alternatives Would getting rid of the policy of the company not tarnish the company’s image and still keep the fertile female employees’ comfortable working for the company? Yes, this move by the company would motivate fertile females in the company besides prompting them to work more comfortably and harder than before. This would also be a means of enhancing good publicity of the company in the society because the policy adheres to the female discriminatory law, which contradicts with business ethics (Rehnquist et al., 1991). However, by taking this move, the company would be putting the fetus, the fertile mothers and their future families at great risks. This is because lead exposure to fertile women

Strategic Analysis of the Continental Airlines Case Study

Strategic Analysis of the Continental Airlines - Case Study Example This also means strengthening the airline's alliances and enhancing efficiency through the elimination of non-value adding processes in the value chain. Fund the future, on the other hand, encompasses the company's quest in ensuring its future growth by the reduction of interest expense, improving fleet plan, and developing hub real estate (Continental Airlines Company Profile 2008). The third component of the Go Forward Plan emphasizes the importance of customer satisfaction in CAL's success. Thus, in intends to position itself as a top player in terms of four DOT measurements namely, "on-time arrivals, baggage handling, complaints, and involuntary denied boardings" (Continental Airlines Company Profile 2008). This also means continue to project a responsible company image and improving its core product. Lastly, working together looks at CAL's relationship with its employees. Recognizing the importance of its staff in the realization of its strategic goals, the company's management spearheads in creating a fun environment to work, offer fair remuneration, and treat staff with dignity and respect. CAL is organized according to the different functional areas in the business organization. ... All of these business units are led by senior vice presidents who oversee operations and provide the much needed guidance and leadership. Recognizing the international operation of the CAL, it also opted to divide its operation according to geographic location. Thus, it also assigned vice presidents who take charge in the Newark, Houston, Cleveland, Asia Pacific, and Europe hubs. In order to facilitate efficiency in decision making, the headquarter assigns a certain level of autonomy to the leaders in these regions yet CAL can still be referred to as a highly centralized business organization noting the dependence of its satellite offices to the main office (Continental Airlines Company Profile 2008). Organizational Culture With the Go Forward Plan as its blueprint for success, CAL communicates its culture of excellence through its commitment in taking care of its financial health, future growth, employee relations, and customer satisfaction. These are the core values that the company utilizes in order to become successful in its operation. In addition, CAL also highlights its culture of environmentalism, community service, and diversity. The company promotes its corporate social responsibility through programs which enhances sustainable development through its carbon offset program, use of electric powered rather than fossil fueled ground equipment, and designing more environmental friendly infrastructure to support its operation. Though it limits its donation on in kind basis, CAL is seen to contribute to the community service. Lastly, the company honors diversity noting that individual differences in workforce should be honored. Management Style and Philosophy The management style and philosophy applied by

Steam Linux OS effect and their golden chance to overtake Windows Essay

Steam Linux OS effect and their golden chance to overtake Windows position in business computer industry - Essay Example Therefore, this fact gives a positive impact to the Steam and Linux OS industry that attract the gamers because it provides a practical service for the gamers and people in the world. Valve as one of the biggest firm in computer gaming industry started to urge people to use Linux OS because of the steam software. Valve realized that people love to be always practical these days, and that Steam provides it all by having many game tools in their system. People can buy million types of games, and upgrade their patches by only having a simple account and a Steam program. Therefore, it makes gamers and people’s life easier because they do not have to surf the website to find the game they need, and sometime the random website can get the computers infected by some spywares, and other viruses. Furthermore, they just can purchase it through this system online without going out to the stores to buy computer CD and install it. However, Valve has to make sure that Linux OS will keep up the quality of the Steam; otherwise, people may run back to Windows if there are no improvements from the recent system. Analysis and Critique: A Golden Chance for Linux OS Every individual need entertainment in their life, and I believe that every single person has ever played games in their life. This is because humans love games; in addition, people are having a strong bond to the world of information technology nowadays. Technology and especially computer or laptop supports the largest part of their life now, which plays a crucial role in people’s life. Individuals prefer to seek the most effective way or practical way for their life nowadays; in addition, they tend to spend more money, and do less effort for a service (Stahie, 2013). Most of the people in the current generation are fond of staying in their houses and use their credit card to purchase what they want from their own computers. Hence, they can have that service from Steam that provides a practical way to pur chase and downloading games. This Steam system services gives the positive impact to Linux OS because people start switching from windows to Linux OS; on the other hand, it inversely affects the other company firm such as windows. On the positive side, if they can improve the performance of Steam system it could be another invention to make the gamers life more practical. However, if we look on the negative side of this invention, sometimes it is dangerous if people cannot control themselves to spend an equal time in playing games and in their real life activities (Stahie, 2013). There are two big firms today in the computer business enjoying a great popularity in the society, as they provide great services in the technology industry. One of the largest businesses that they have is in gaming entertainment, as over a million people are addicted to computer online gaming today. Computer firms use this fact to generate profit for them. A decade ago, Windows led the computer gaming indu stry, back then people could install a CD that had 4-5 games of Valve, Half Life, and they could connect to the Internet and play online with other gamers. Thus, though founded 16 years ago by a couple of refugees from Microsoft, Valve make games that wild-eyed fans play until their thumbs hurt and dawn jabs through the curtains†(Wingfield, 2012). Sixteen Years ago Valve and Half Life worked together with Windows to create a game system that could entertain computer gamers effectively. In addition, there was

Econ Article Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Econ Article Analysis - Assignment Example This left them with options of either to cut back on farming sharply or to buy water up to four times the regular price. Therefore, this excerpt summarizes various economic theories that are highlighted on the article by fortune Tech. Notably, supply and demand is a critical in economics; essentially, demand refers to the desire of a product or services by buyers whereas supply refers to the extent to which the market can offer. In other words, demand is the price that people are willing to purchase the demand quantity and this relationship forms a demand relationship. On the other hand, the amount that suppliers will be willing to supply given a certain offer is the quantity supplied and this correlation is termed as supply relationship. For instance, there comes a time that supply outstrips the demand and an example would be the case of a third generation farmer â€Å"Woolf† who grows onions garlic and tomatoes. Her intentions were to cultivate on half of her farm since customers were asking more of their product. They cannot deliver because water is still the problem3. Experts have said that an estimate of 500 000 acres of rich land will be left fallow this year and keeping in line with the laws of demand and supply food prices will rise. Most of the things with high demand are very limited. Since we live in a world where wants are unlimited, the available resources to satisfy our wants are limited too. Demand and supply explain how prices are determined in a market system. This is reflected by the demand curve and a demanding schedule. The law of demand has a negative correlation between quantity of goods that consumers need and the price they are ready and able to pay, when other factors are held constant. The factors that affect demand other than price include price of related goods that are substitutes and compliments, income, tastes and preference, population and demographics, and expected future prices. Therefore, changes in any of these

Don Quixote Essay Example for Free

Don Quixote Essay He was a retired nation scholar: Alonso Quijano, obsessed with books and knowledge, dried up his brain and lose his wit; chose to be a knight-errant, journeyed the world with horse. He wore himself in armour though rusty it was and a cardboard helmet; rode in his horse, searched his adventures, called himself: Don Quixote de la Mancha. Alas! Metamorphosis revealed. Married a farm girl whom he renamed: Dulcinea del Toboso. Beat up by servants of traveling merchants, who refused to recognize Dulcinea’s immense splendor; rescued by a neighbor and carried him home. Expedition came another expedition. Suffered in his long quests. Don Quixote whose real name was Alonso Quijano returned home humiliated, locked in an ox-cart that served as his cage. The Odyssey An epic poem created by Homer, said to be a ‘sequel’ of Iliad. It was Odysseia in Greek, as what Herodotus has called it. Odyssey, derived from the Greek’s, indicated an important and arduous journey. Kept as a prisoner in Calypso, Oh! Odyssey, until the gods held a meeting and set him free. He built a raft and voyaged over stormy seas. Entered the palace of King Alcinous, took part with the games that were held, sang the Trojan War; the King queried who he was: â€Å"I am Odysseus. † He then narrated his quests: the Island of the Winds, the kingdom of the dead; of psyches of ancient heroes and women, passed over the magnificent song at the isle of Siren. Fortunate he was, he survived from Zeus’ thunderbolt which struck the ship; carried he was at the shore of Phaeacia, he then met Athena in Ithaka. Fight has transpired; Yet peace and victory awaited. Flourished. Oedipus He has been made King of Thebes due to his heroic act of liberating the people from the plague and pestilence of Sphinx. Epidemic from another epidemic, people have always asked him to rescue them. Oedipus has always foreseen the needs. Hero he may seem, he has been accused as the murderer of Laius, the former King. Infuriated by allegation, announced it as a plot. A conspiracy for Creon to gain his throne. A battle soon to happen, yet Jocasta arrived in time to stop the fight. She guaranteed that prophets, who declared the accusation, were not reliable. As evidence, she cited the old prophecy that her son needed to murder his father, and have children by his mother.

The effects of homelessness: Literature and research

The effects of homelessness: Literature and research Mini Paper #1:Intervention Research with the Homeless Introduction The effects of homelessness as a social condition are both wide reaching, and difficult to grasp in its scope. It is a circumstance of varying severity, which people may move through for different lengths of time and for different reasons, making it challenging to establish an accurate breadth of its range (Biswas-Diener Diener, 2006; Parsell, 2011). Link and colleagues (1994) have estimated that 14% of the United States may experience homelessness at some point in their life. According to The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (2011) there may be as many as 400,000 homeless individuals in the United States on a given day, and that 1,500,000 people may experience homelessness within the span of a year (HUD, 2011). A person’s familiarity with the homeless condition will vary depending on whether they experience it chronically, temporarily, or periodically (Rivlin, 1990). People may experience homelessness as a result of unemployment, natural or human-constructed ad versity, mental illness, or a combination of factors (Hagen, 1987). The influences that contribute to the condition of homelessness may also play a hand in the progression and outcome of the person experiencing it, be it mental health or substance abuse issues, personal crisis, or systemic pitfalls (Chamberlain Johnson, 2013). As a result of the potential reasons someone may enter homelessness, the rates and demographics of the homeless population vary among regions of the United States (HRI, 2012), and fluctuate in time. From the period of 2009 to 2012, homelessness as a whole decreased by 1% despite the conditions of the economic downturn, while the number of people who would have been homeless but instead doubled up with friends or family increased by 13% during this same time period (HRI, 2012). Predictors – risk problem While any number of circumstances may contribute to the condition of homelessness, The Homeless Research Institute (2012) has identified four population groups who are at an increased risk of entering homelessness; people living with family and friends for economic reasons, prisoners who have been recently released, people aging out of foster care, and the medically uninsured. At its core, whether or not someone will enter or exit the condition of homelessness is influenced by a person’s income, their access to supports and social service resources, and the cost of available housing. As a result, other socioeconomic conditions associated with marginalization can increase a person’s risk of entering homelessness, such as unemployment or mental illness, and the condition of homelessness itself may even serve to fortify these things (Goodman, Saxe, Harvey, 1991; Thoits, 1982). Knowledge base/theoretical explanations No clear theory explains the phenomenon of chronic homelessness better or more appropriately than another, although the perspective adopted will affect the explanations and constructs that are accounted and controlled for within research. For example, the social estrangement model posits that upon entering homelessness people experience a general sense of alienation and proceed to adapt to a lifestyle that reinforces this estrangement (Grigsby, Baumann, Gregorich Roberts-Gray, 1990). The concept of estrangement has been adapted into a measured scale, and this model has been used in research to examine the reintroduction of employment into the lives of the homeless as a potential intervention to decrease one’s sense of estrangement and reintegrate back into society (Ferguson et al., 2012). Social constructionism has been used to explain homelessness as an artificial construct that is used to describe an extreme form of poverty that actually exists on a spectrum, and is not the binary distinction that is used to give a blanket idea to what actually amounts to a diverse range of experiences within the homeless population (Tosi, 2010). This idea has led to research and programs that operate with a continuum definition of homelessness (Anderson, Tulloch, 2000). Social alienation theory has also been tested in the form of measuring the change of social support network of homeless adults across time spent homeless (Eyrich, Pollio North, 2003). Key research questions/intervention proposals Because of the variety of factors that may exacerbate or contribute to homelessness, there are consequently any number of potential interventions and areas of concern to address. Researchers have found it useful to distinguish among cultural or demographic subgroups within the homeless population to address the concerns that appear to be more pertinent to a given subgroup (Aubry et al., 2012). Such distinctions may seek to reduce destructive behaviors or victimization associated with the homeless lifestyle itself (Justus, Burling Weingardt, 2006). From a broader perspective, investigators may attempt to identify how the homeless will best establish and maintain long-term housing (Groton, 2013), as well as how to maximize retention and participation of services for the homeless in general (Padgett et al., 2008). Intervention research that concerns itself with the homeless population must make educated assumptions about the most salient issues worth addressing, the causes of those issues that may be controlled, and the types of outcomes that should be attained. Meaningful intervention research should attempt to identify questions that address the preventative conditions of homelessness, the exacerbating conditions that may prolong someone’s experience with it, and the opportunities available to exit it. Social networks play an important role in people’s lives, and the homeless are no exception. Some forms of social support may serve to normalize the homeless experience (Auerswald and Eyre, 2002), while others may offer support for exiting homelessness (Zlotnick, Tam, Robertson, 2003). An appropriate research question in this area would ask; what are the characteristics of social networks that serve to contribute to a person’s successful attempts to exit homelessness? An intervention program that would attempt to capitalize on known social support networks that reinforce a person’s decision to exit homelessness could be as simple as incorporating a series of questions into existing outreach programs that are designed to identify such relationships. Once these relationships are identified, practitioners could be instructed to attempt outreach with these social network members to include them in their work with their clients. One of the issues associated with homeless encampments is their proximity to necessary services (Chamard, 2010), of these healthcare access may be included. To build off of research which has identified that demographics as well as distinct lifestyles among the homeless may mean the difference between healthcare access or not (Nakonezny Ojeda, 2005), a further relevant research question may ask how can people living in homeless encampments attain more consistent and accessible healthcare? Intervention work in this vein could seek to implement medical outreach programs in areas known to have higher concentrations of homeless encampments, identify how medical conditions are impacted as a result, and further modify outreach techniques depending on the results. Homeless youth have been shown to have increased rates of victimization relative to their housed counterparts (Tyler, Gervais Davidson, 2013; Tyler Melander, 2012), and that victimization is associated with higher rates of substance use (Bender et al., 2012). Potential interventions in this area could include fusing a program designed to address substance use among homeless youth with training staff to have heightened awareness of who may be at risk for increased victimization, and address individual cases as needed. The potential for intervention research within the homeless population is plentiful. References Anderson, I., Tulloch, D. (2000). Pathways through homelessness: A review of the research evidence. Edinburgh: Scottish Homes. Aubry, T., Klodawsky, F., Coulombe, D. (2012). Comparing the housing trajectories of different classes within a diverse homeless population. American Journal Of Community Psychology, 49(1-2), 142-155. Auerswald, C. L., Eyre, S. L. (2002). Youth homelessness in San Francisco: A life cycle approach. Social Science Medicine, 54(10), 1497-1512. Bender, K., Thompson, S. J., Ferguson, K., Komlo, C., Taylor, C., Yoder, J. (2012). Substance use and victimization: Street-involved youths perspectives and service implications. Children And Youth Services Review, 34(12), 2392-2399. Biswas-Diener, R., Diener, E. D. (2006). The Subjective Well-Being of the Homeless, and Lessons for Happiness. Social Indicators Research, 76(2), 185-205. Chamard, S., United States, Center for Problem-Oriented Policing. (2010). Homeless encampments. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. Chamberlain, C., Johnson, G. (2013). Pathways into adult homelessness. Journal Of Sociology, 49(1), 60-77. Eyrich, K. M., Pollio, D. E., North, C. S. (2003). An exploration of alienation and replacement theories of social support in homelessness. Social Work Research, 27(4), 222-231. Ferguson, K. M., Bender, K., Thompson, S. J., Maccio, E. M., Pollio, D. (2012). Employment status and income generation among homeless young adults: Results from a five-city, mixed-methods study. Youth Society, 44(3), 385-407. Goodman, L. A., Saxe, L., Harvey, M. (1991). Homelessness as psychological trauma: Broadening perspectives. American Psychologist, 46(11), 1219-1225. Grigsby, C., Baumann, D., Gregorich, S. E., Roberts-Gray, C. (1990). Disaffiliation to Entrenchment: A model for understanding homelessness. Journal of Social Issues, 46(4), 141-156. Groton, D. (2013). Are housing first programs effective? A research note. Journal of Sociology And Social Welfare, 40(1), 51-63. Hagen, J. L. (1987). The heterogeneity of homelessness. Social Casework, 68(8), 451-457. The Homelessness Research Institute (HRI). (January, 2012). The State of Homelessness in America, 2012. National Alliance to End Homelessness. Retrieved from: http://lhc.la.gov/downloads/esg/TheState_of_Homelessness_in_America2012.pdf Justus, A. N., Burling, T. A., Weingardt, K. R. (2006). Client Predictors of Treatment Retention and Completion in a Program for Homeless Veterans. Substance Use Misuse, 41(5), 751-762. Link, B.G., Susser, E., Stueve, A., Phelan, J., Moore, R.E., Struening, E. (1994). Lifetime and five-year prevalence of homelessness in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 84(12), 1907–1912. Nakonezny, P.A., Ojeda, M. (2005). Health Services Utilization Between Older and Younger Homeless Adults. The Gerontologist, 45(2), 249-254. Padgett, D. K., Henwood, B., Abrams, C., Davis, A. (2008). Engagement and retention in services among formerly homeless adults with co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse: Voices from the margins. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 31(3), 226-233. Parsell, C. (2011). Homeless identities: Enacted and ascribed. British Journal Of Sociology, 62(3), 442-461. Rivlin, L. G. (1990). The significance of home and homelessness. Marriage Family Review, 15(1-2), 39-56. Thoits, P. A. (1982). Life stress, social support, and psychological vulnerability: Epidemiological considerations. Journal of Community Psychology, 10(4), 341-362. Tosi, A. (2010). Coping with Diversity. Reflections on Homelessness in Research in Europe. OSullivan, Eoin/Busch-Geertsema, Volker/Quilgars, Deborah/Pleace, Nicholas (Hg.): Homelessness Research in Europe. Brà ¼ssel, 221-236. Tyler, K. A., Gervais, S. J., Davidson, M. (2013). The relationship between victimization and substance use among homeless and runaway female adolescents. Journal Of Interpersonal Violence, 28(3), 474-493. Tyler, K. A., Melander, L. A. (2012). Poor parenting and antisocial behavior among homeless young adults: Links to dating violence perpetration and victimization. Journal Of Interpersonal Violence, 27(7), 1357-1373. US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). (2011). The 2010 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress. Washington, DC. (2010 AHAR). Zlotnick, C., Tam, T., Robertson, M. J. (2003). Disaffiliation, substance use, and exiting homelessness. Substance Use Misuse, 38(3-6), 577-599. 1

Service: The Main Essence Of Hospitality

Service: The Main Essence Of Hospitality Service is the main essence of Hospitality .Guest service means being attentive to the guest request and needs. Good quality service is the main essence to run a good hotel and it can achieve by creating such a environment for the guest that should give feeling of Home away from home. Guest should feel comfortable and relaxed while staying in the hotel. Every guest should be handled as special customer which help in making good relation with the guest. It does not matter how good is the ambience, how tasty the food is, its always the service and attentiveness which guest experiences which determines their return in the hotel. Hospitality is known for its generously providing kindness and care, who is in need. Knowing what exactly the customer expects is the first and most important step in delivering good quality service.You cannot give quality service without knowing customer expectations. Hotels or inns are believed to have started around 12000 years ago.Traveling concept started in Greece and ancient Rome in 800BC-146BC.Early warriors and traders were the travelers.In thosedays accommodation means offering a cot or a bench in corner of a room or astable, most of them were private residences that used to give temporary residence or give loading to strangers.In the Dark Ages travelers had little choice except to stay in monasteries that offered food and shelter.The idea of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹hosting travelers was taken even further when trade and commerce began to boom, prompting taverns and inns to arise, especially in ports cities. That time sanitation and privacy was not in exist.When money came in establishment in 6th century BC, hospitality was one of the first enterprises where money was exchanges for receiving service.Inthose days Hotels or inns not used to operate for 24 hours, after a certain hour the main door of residence would close andafte r that one cannot enter although you are a customer. These Residences or inns were generally situated near intersection of two major roads or near railway station or at the entry of a city. Since then Hospitality industry has grown into a highly competitive industry (WelingkarI., 2011). Hospitality now just not about getting from point A to point B,its about how you go to your destination forwarded by how much you enjoyed your stay. Tourism plays an important role in the growth of throughout the hospitality industry because people will never stop traveling and while traveling they always require a place to stay. Intelligent commercial planners have realized the industries potential and are taking advantage of the same by providing all the wants and needs of potential guests. Hotel operators are radically changing the service manner in which they provide food,drinks,and accommodation within the organization,the main reason for doing so is that hospitality industry is movingvery promptly. Customers are varying, technology and markets are changing rapidly.Managers are reexamining their existing service offering and deciding which innovation will create more value.Managers are researching on innovation, which are economically sustainable to the organization but also delivering additional value to their customers. Each year Market Metrix evaluates industry best practices and publishes Hospitality Trends and Opportunities. One important trend is to focus on is Personalization and it is impacting customer engagement and loyalty for hospitality companies.(Merchant, 2011) Hotel industry has changed a lot compared to recent years and is changing continuously. Numbers of changes are coming in way to give service to guest. New applications are coming in the market that is helping in providing better customer service.They make a big difference in terms of winning new businesses and new customers.Technologies continue evolving to make it as easy to use as possible for the hotels staff.In the past, the systems that hotel staff uses have been traditionally designed and required a great deal of training in order to be used successfully.Hotel technology will continue to evolve and improve so that training is minimized and the type of training that the hotels can concentrate on will be on hospitality-oriented, customer facing services.The main emphasis is on how to treat the guests, not how to deal with computer systems. Service innovation not only involves new ideas or new technology but modifying and renovating existing ideas by new and unique thinking.The main objective of innovation is to improve operations, guest service and revenues. However, Hotel industry is one of the oldest industries so it is not easy to innovate in industry with traditional methods. Service science gives us a good chance to innovate services in a new day. As a growing industry, hotel industry includes all types of accommodations from 5 star luxurious properties to youth hostels, which offers a variety of services including but not limited to food, beverage, laundry and valet services. Servqual and TQM-Total quality management are the two widely used concepts within service industries to understand the perceptions of target customers regarding their service needs. And to provide ameasurement of the service quality of the organization.Servqual is an empirically derived method that may be used by a services organization toimprove service quality.The method involves the development of an understanding of the perceived service needs of target customers.These measured perceptions of service quality for the organization in question, are then compared against an organization that is excellent.The resulting gap analysis is used as a driver for service quality improvement(lalvanzonline,2011).TQM processes are mainly divided into four general categories: plan, do, check, and act also called as PDCA cycle. In the planning ,people define the problem to be addressed, collect relevant data, and ascertain the problems root cause; in the doing phase, people develop and implement a solution, and decide upon a measurement to gauge its effectiveness; in the checking phase, people confirm the results through before-and-after data comparison; in the acting phase, people document their results, inform others about process changes, and make recommendations for the problem to be addressed in the next PDCA cycle (Margaret Rouse,2005) The boutique hotel is an excellent example of innovation offering in hospitality industry. A boutique hotel is one that is generally not chain-affiliated, features an intimate, stylish appearance and provides impeccable amenities(Cathy Rogers,2011). The target market for most boutique hotels is the 25-55 age range, most within the middle to upper income level.These hotels are generally situated in a stylish location .The goal for a boutique hotel is a level of personalized service not necessarily doable in a larger hotel. At many boutique hotels, the staff knows each guest by their name. Most offer 24-hour guest services. Some offer the comforts of canopy beds, bathrobes and fireplaces in the lobby. Others offer healthy food choices, mind and body themes and on-site bookstores.As a boutique hotel varies in other features, so does its technological amenities. While some offer the latest in technology, others focus on a calm, soothing environment. To some patrons, the bed and breakfast concept may be similar to that of the boutique hotel. Many boutique hotels have on-site, reputable dining, as well as bar and lounge areas that are also open to the public. As the trend continues to grow, many hotels market themselves as boutique; most being small, luxury type hotels worldwide. Eva Floor is also a new concept which has started in India, by The ITC group, called Eva Floor which means a floor only for ladies travelers. Seven hotels have currently been outfitted with the Eva Floors.The main concept to come up with such idea is to provide maximum safety and security to ladies travellers. Amenities on the Eva floors include extra security in the form of double latches, special floor access cards, all-women staff and a separate check-in counter. Women like pretty colors, hate harsh lighting, are prone to lay around a lot, and spend most of the time in the bathrooms, the rooms are decorated in soft pastels, have special lighting, separate day beds for an afternoon nap, larger counters for cosmetics, high-end toiletries, silk robes and bathroom slippers, more powerful hair dryers, and ironing boards (Juliana, 2005). A good and important invention in Hotel services is the use of Information Technology. IT innovation are beneficial and have future benefits for Hotels.IT is playing a very important role in hospitality industry.Technology powers and contributes to the growth to practically every industry in the present age. Hotel industry too isnt insulated from its effects. Many new technologies have invented to run the system smooth and flexible. IT has minimized the human efforts in many levels. Some of the good examples of IT innovations includes Express check In/Check Out, , internet check in/check outs, wake up system , electronic door locks ,in-room pay-per-view, electronic safe guards, express check-in/out systems, CD/Dvd Players, voice mails, multiple phone lines,electronic mini bars. Technology powers and contributes to the growth to practically every industry in the present age. Hotel industry too isnt insulated from its effects. Many new technologies have invented to run the system smoot h and flexible. Now, with the invention of the internet and other electronic channels, new media offers an avenue for hospitality companies to gain an advantage. At one time travel agents were almost controlled the hospitality industry. They were largely responsible for creating guests travel plans and offering specified rates. While large chains and big time destinations can afford traditional marketing channels, smaller, independent entities can gain an advantage through new hospitality concepts. Companies such as Expedia, Tripadvisor, and TravelCLICK help level the playing field and empower the host as well as the traveler more than ever before in the history of the hospitality industry. Globallypeople are working overtime to take advantage internet, in order to catalyze their sales and to improve customer relations.Internet is playing a key role in development of hotel industry today. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter etc. are interestingly playing a dominant role in strategies of h otels all over. User generated feedbacks and reviews on such websites play a huge role in popularizing the services of hotels by word of mouth. Further, it also becomes easier to stay in touch with and maintain relationships with ex-clients by making use of online tools. The number of travelers booking and researching online is growing impressively. According to one research, more than 114 million people will research travel online this year, while 94 million will actually book reservations. While more than 50 percent of travel bookings are made on the Internet, the online travel market has matured and expects modest growth and stabilization. More and more travelers are using their mobile devices to not only research lodging and travel options, but to book and communicate room preferences directly with the hotel. Mobile channel booking has increased four times between 2008 and 2010 according to Forrester Research. Google is projecting that mobile will overtake PCs as the most common Web-access device by 2013. With travelers adopting smartphones and tablets at such a rapid pace, its crucial for hoteliers to optimize their website for mobile usage to capture potential mobile transactions(RobertRauch,2011). About a decade ago, hotel industry was much more concern on people who are now mostly in their 50s and 60s but now hotel industry has started to anticipate a group of travelers who are in their 20s to mid-30s and are very important for economic growth. They are more attracted towards technology, social media and design. Many hotels are renovating their existing hotels or introducing new ones with free hotel wide Wi-Fi connections, large welcoming lobbies with modern age ambience, comfortable fittings, state-of-the-art fitness areas; in-room power consoles to plug in iPads, laptops and other devices; and stylish bar. Some are also coming up with night social events, like happy hours and free wine tastings, aimed at attracting smartphone generation to their hotels . The changes involves higher-quality beds, brighter lighting and bigger work spaces. And those travelers were loyal to brands that offered reliable, comfortable services. Wi-Fi service is not only demanded but expected. Hig h-speed Internet is as essential as beds and towels (Janet Morrissey, 2012).Younger travelers tend to visit three or four different restaurants and bars a night, so hotels are opening up multiple bars and lounges with different themes at different times of the day to attract new crowd . Many many new concepts are which offers free daily events, including tea tastings, yoga sessions and wine tastings etc.(Stowe Boyd, 2011). The Arrabelle at Vail Square is implementing IntelityICE (Interactive Customer Experience) mobile technology for guests to use on Android, Apple smartphones and tablets. The Arrabelles traditional amenities, from in-room fireplaces to snuggly robes, will be complemented by the arrival of the most innovative, modern in-room technology available.After simply downloading the ICE app, all of the hotels services can be accessed directly from the palm of a guests hand. At the touch of a finger, guests can make a housekeeping request or look up information about the hotel and local attractions. They can also conveniently view signature dishes, like Executive Chef Douglas Dodds lobster mac and cheese, available at Vails hot new food and drink spot, Tavern on the Square (Hospitality Technology, 2011). Breadcrumb, an easy-to-use, powerful and affordable iPad point-of-sale (POS) system helps hotels to run their restaurants, bars and cafes more effectively. Breadcrumb combines intuitive and sophisticated software with outstanding support. Breadcrumb removes the complexities, frustrations and high costs common to legacy POS solutions. Breadcrumb streamlines all activity at local restaurants, cafes and bars, from taking and placing orders, to table management, payment processing and analyzing sales so merchants can learn about and improve their businesses.Servers can search for menu items or rearrange tables with a finger swipe, software updates are free and automatic, and we even ship new customers an all-in-one Breadbox that contains all hardware required to get started.Everything a restaurant or bar needs to operate more efficiently and deliver impeccable customer service. Breadcrumb has a full range of features that allows hospitality businesses to manage labor, take orders, proces s payments and analyze performance. Users can merge or split checks, add or adjust menu items, set employee access levels, view real-time sales and labor reports and more. The Plaza, the landmark New York City hotel located on Central Park South,have taken hotel lodging to a whole new, high tech level began by offering iPads in each of its guests rooms.The first hotel in the world to provide not only a tablet for each guest room, but a tablet with Intelitys ICE (Interactive Customer Experience) software to offer guests services and room controls.These iPads gives the abilities to guests to control hotel services and customizable content.These iPads are incorporated with the functions like to check flights, order room service, make dinner reservations, coordinate transportation, reach the concierge, request wake-up calls, explore destination guides and call a housekeeper (Katie Kindelan, 2011).Intelity has released the highlights of a two-year study of guestroom iPad usage. The first such study conducted using data from actual hotel guest usage.The study showed that 82% of guests used the tablet during their stays on a year-round basis. April had the hi ghest average guest usage at 91% (Hotel Technology, 2012). The industrys concern towards security has increased impressively due to severalterrorist attacks worldwide in recent years, and also because of the tourists kidnappings, robberies and assaults.Security of all types of hospitality and tourismoperations is critical and plans should bemade for each kind of threat.Personal safety of guests is the first priority (Walker, 2010). Increased security measures have forced hotel industry to upgraded their security measures by investingmillions of dollars in order to give the topmost security to the guests (Hall etal, 2003). Who Am I Now? Reflective Education Essay Who Am I Now? Reflective Education Essay My name is Muhammad Razin bin Amir Hamzah and I used to be called as Razin. I am 21 years old. Currently, I am furthering my study in Bachelor of Science in Computing under University of Wales, United Kingdom. Now, I am in the second year. There is only one year to go for me to complete my study. I enrolled in this course to fulfill my aspiration towards becoming the next Steve Job, the Chief Executive Officer of Apple Incorporation. It took 21 years to create where I am today. Within these years I worked hard to get where I am right now. The best way to know where am I now is by looking into my strengths and weaknesses. I have analysed, evaluated, and looked deep inside myself to determine the weaknesses and strengths of my true character. Positive attitude and patience are the two important strengths that I have built in me. These two characteristics have contributes to my career, my learning and almost everything in my personal life. On the other hand, the two aspects of myself that I need to improve are my organization skills and my public speaking skills. Having positive attitude is vital. This leads to a motivated learning team, a comfortable working environment, and a happy personal life. It is hard to find a scenario in which a person with positive attitude and full of compliments to be scolded. No negative or bad attitudes make my personal life great. I socialized with my family with happy and respectful thoughts which motivate them to share their happiness with me and others. My attitude keeps people around me in a good mood. This personal characteristic of mine allows me to manage the tense situations during my study sessions, especially when I have to answer assignment questions and submit them before the due date. Being positively motivated, I encourage others to be compliant and respectful. Positive attitude will be beneficial in my learning team because it will promote teamwork and friendship. I think a happy and friendly team will be more productive than a team that always argues and disagrees. My second strength is patience. We will feel comfortable when we speak to someone who is patient. People with patience do not interrupt others, instead they listen and try to be helpful. In my personal life, I have an autistic nephew who needs people with a lot of patience. Being bossy, angry, and snappy will only make me hard to handle him. I have to talk slowly and repeat my words several times so that he will understand me. In my study environment, it is also imperative that I have patience. I have to deal with tough and difficult assignment questions. Each question has its own degree of difficulties. Thus, I need to conquer each of the questions with my best answer and support it with reasonable evidence. I have to patiently search for the articles on the respective topics and provide my best answer to ensure that I get good results in my study. In addition, patience is a must when participating in a team environment. When many people get together in a team, things often progress very fast. However, sometimes things get sloppy or get misunderstood. With patience, I can maintain consistency and accurateness within an organization. Having described my strengths, I must now turn to reveal my weaknesses. I must say that I am not a superhuman or a perfect person. My weaknesses often frustrate and challenge me, but my positive attitude forces me to correct my weaknesses and win over them. My first weakness, I must admit, is public speaking. I get very nervous. The sign is my hands get clammy and begins to sweat. Droplets of water appear on my face and I mumble my words when I start to speak in front of large group of people. This problem neither gives a huge impact in my personal life nor affects my on-line learning team, but it does affect my daily duties at college. I speak with others in college, especially with my friends, regarding general knowledge and current issues. I am told that my nervousness does not show, but before and during every speech I feel my hands shake, my feet get clammy, and my face starts to sweat. Over the years, I have fought this battle of public speaking by doing many things. First, I h ave completed a college level English class. Second, I completed a college level speech class. Recently, I took an English tuition class to enhance my communication skill and widen my English vocabulary. My second blind spot that I must admit is my lack of organization skill. I organize my assignment papers by tossing them on my study desk. Thus, I will avoid looking at them. It is hard for me to find my belongings especially in my study room because of my unorganized attitudes. When the assignment season arrives, it will be a disaster for me. I often lose my important notes and my framework papers. These matters has made me spend twice the actual time needed to accomplish my task. I lose valuable times for this reason, whereas I could have used those precious times together with my family. Besides that, this will seriously affect my learning team. Before it gets much more severe, I have to improve my deportment and be a better organised person. I will not frighten up myself when I see papers containing college assignments. What I need to help me overcome my problem are a desk together with filing cabinets and a day planner calendar. The fears of obtaining a bad result in my diploma level made me realize that organization skill is crucial to succeed in life, especially in my study. WHAT DO I WANT TO ACCOMPLISH? My short term goal is to finish my undergraduate program with a first class honours. In other words, I want to complete my study with flying colours. This is because the only commitment that I have now is being a full time student. So, my part is just to concentrate on my studies and struggle hard to achieve my ambition towards becoming the Information Technology lecturer. By building up a good academic base, I can hunt the job I wanted very fast without any resistance. Besides, by achieving good results, I will be exempted from paying back Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional (PTPTN) loan. This will surely reduce my family burden to settle off my carried loan. My long term goal is that I will be counted among successful lecturer. I do often ask myself, what a better job would be than to be a lecturer. The answer is none. I believe that the ability to change and improve the world to be a better place for people to live starts from the effort and idea given by the educator. So, it will be my huge contribution to the society. I set high objectives for me as an educator and put a very great effort to accomplish my goals. I began to realize that awesome teachers have their own distinctive skills which I need to learn. Following their examples can make me become someone in the society. To be good at elucidating the contents of a subject, to be firm and patient towards students, to be always fair to students, to set high and realistic expectations, to have the skills to advice and motivate others are some of the indicators that are needed to become a great teacher. A great teacher will explain questions asked by their students and make them fully understand, and not let their students walk away in doubt. Brainstorming will be the best tool used by extraordinary teachers to convey particular lesson plan if their student did not understand. He or she would think, How am I going to explain this particular concept to my student and they need to understand clearly what I am teaching? This is the type of teacher I intend to be. Ability to inspire others is not just a gift or an opportunity but its a challenge. Currently, we can see that there are thousands of educators still with their old mind-set and do not like to accept this challenge. This serious matter need to be changed. Nowadays, students are being forced to school. Most of the time, students will think that learning is not their main priority but teaching is a teachers job. Students always learn but they may not be interested with the lesson taught by their teacher. An excellent teacher is not just an expert in his or her field, but he or she must be aware of the current issues and prepare himself or herself to teach something else. Some things can prove to be more valuable than knowledge itself, which are morals and character. I want to inspire the children who will represent the future of our great nation. In life, I tried to make many spectacular teachers that have taught me to be my role models. From the characteristic listed, I intend to grab them to become an excellent teacher. HOW DO I ACHIEVE IT? During my undergraduate program, I took a Computer Science course. This will help me to dual master myself, in Information Technology and in teaching. Most of the minor classes that I enrolled were communication and psychology, which would help me in my career as a teacher. Other than that, I also taught in a private tuition centres as my part-time job. During that time, I spent considerable amount of time observing classrooms. With strong education background and wide range of experience which I gained in the classroom, I realize that teaching will be the most suitable career for me. Meanwhile, I work as a personal Information Technology consultant for Smart Academic Management for about two years. This company was doing motivation work for universitie and college students. During this period of time, I am polishing my programming skills. Sometimes, I was given the opportunity to enrol in motivation programmes together with students. This exposes me to different range of human behav iours and life backgrounds especially those involving youngsters. Other than that, I do read a lot of articles regarding teaching methodology, student behaviour, and psychology. There are around 19 encyclopaedias in my book rack regarding software development and psychology. I often make my readings at night after performing my night prayers. I will make my own mind map to make me understand more and to get clear picture about the contents of books that I read. I do virtually contact my foreign friends via internet. This will help me keep in touch with their education line in Australia and Russia. Now, I need to start planning where to open my own private learning centre and how to enhance my marketing strategies. WHAT MIGHT STOP ME? I believe that, the time I set my goal there will be the obstacles to stop me achieving it. The most common barrier to reaching my potential is my mind-set, that is, what and how I think about myself and what I wish to achieve. I limit myself by the negative thoughts that I think and I may say. If I think and believe that I cannot accomplish something, then that will come true and I will fail. However, when I think that I can accomplish a task, or overcome a situation and I put in the effort, my future will turn bright. I will only succeed when I start to take control and action to change my destiny towards the goal rather than leave it to fate. Some people said that they have done some work and failed in their first trial. Thus they have not continued working on it anymore. This is just an irrelevant excuse. The solution for this is to reset our mind-set to believe in ourselves and achieve our goal in any way possible. Having failed in the past, does not mean that I will fail again and again for the rest of my life. I should think of things that happened in past in terms of what I can learn from them; seeing all the pass experience as feedback rather than as failure. I should think in this way Yesterday mining is for todays goal. The failure in my past will make me more matured. The past will be beneficial as I can learn from my mistakes. The only thing I can do about my past is to learn from it because the past is over and I cannot change them. Thinking negatively can really stop me from reaching my potential. Negative influences are always around us. Mass media such as radio and idiot box may pass some inappropriate message that can predispose our mind-set. Sometimes I do get negative feedback from family members and friends who are trapped in a negative mind-set. They believe that they are helping me by being realistic but it is not helping at all. The best solution is that I should make myself surrounded by positive minded people, people who work hard to a chieve their goals. Having positive support is vital. On the other hand, another obstacle that stops me from reaching my potential from being successful is inadequate of plan. Too many people including myself walk through their life simply by taking what is handed to them. The decision made by others will be the decision for themselves. I seldom make my duty plan for the weeks or months ahead. It is so essential that I take some time to start setting up my goals. During the process I can find out how to accomplish those aims, and make suitable timeline for me to have it done. This vital process is often neglected. To set goals starts with listing out what am I going to accomplish. They are those people who set their goal just to float along without any attention to better their situation. There is also people who have goals but they are unfamiliar with the correct way and proper plan to make their goal come true. I think I can be categorised under this type of person.

A Discussion of the Social Effects of Biotechnology Essay examples --

A Discussion of the Social Effects of Biotechnology The world of work in agriculture is in a process of rapid change. While "change" is by no means alien to agriculture, something new has entered the arena which promises and/or threatens to fundamentally alter agricultural practices across the globe. Biotechnology has already begun to be implemented resulting in what may be important shifts in not only agricultural production, but indeed changes in the very makeup of agricultural products themselves. This promises to pose serious challenges and/or opportunities to farmers across the globe. However, this may of course depend where it is particular farmers stand in relation to the power and socio-economic relations surrounding biotechnology. Indeed, this new and rapidly expanding1 field of technology is by no means some "invisible hand" or politically neutral" futuristic vision" (such as that presented at Disney's EPCOT Center) that will shape the way we produce and consume food. Those who will control the manner in which biotechnology is applied to agriculture will, and indeed are, acutely shaping the social relations that are structured around it. Biotechnology and its accompanying industries, such as genetic engineering, have become the "buzz words" of the day much in the same way nuclear energy was discussed in the early days of nuclear power. It is held up, for example, as holding the promise of solving the world's food shortages. According to major corporations involved in biotechnology, such as Monsanto2 , genetic engineering heralds the wave of the future. They argue that this technology will not only be able to provide for the world's food sources, but will likewise help preserve the environment. Farming of th... ...en a dramatic turn. At the end of last year, Mr Shapiro announced that the company,...would spin off the core of the firm, a chemicals business with sales of around $3 billion in sales-half from agricultural products,....However, Mr Shapiro has made it clear where he wants Monsanto to go. The firm, he believes, should be the main provider of the "agricultural biotechnology " the world will need if it is to feed itself in the future without despoiling the environment." (ibid.) from many of the webpages which are linked to this page. Below are listed the prinicipal web-pages: (www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/endanger.html), (www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/safebiot.html), (www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/overseas.html), (www.ces.ncsu.edu/san/htdocs/docs/other.html), (www.soybean.com), (www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/concept.htm), (www.caff.org), (www.oilseeds.org), (www.fsu.usda.gov/pas/default.asp)

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois or W.E.B. Du Bois Essay -- William Ed

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois or W.E.B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois – known simply as "W.E.B." – was 83 when the government indicted him as a foreign agent in 1951. The only crime he had committed, however, was circulating the Stockholm Appeal, which said any government to use an atomic weapon against another country "should be treated as a war criminal." After spending six months in disgrace and paying $35,150 for his defense, the government dismissed its case against him. The old man was freed and declared himself a communist 12 years later at age 93, dying in Ghana, a country that loved him. It was a sad end for an intellectual giant whom Kim Pearson, a professor of journalism at The College of New Jersey who teaches a class on Du Bois, calls, "the premier African American intellectual of the 19th and 20th centuries." Born in Great Barrington, Mass. in 1868, during the era of Reconstruction, Du Bois’ maternal great-grandfather was born a slave and his father, Alfred, simply wandered away when he was a boy, never coming back. Du Bois was reared on a farm by his mother Mary and experienced little racism. He would later say that as a boy in Great Barrington, he had "almost no experience of segregation or color discrimination." Even though Du Bois was the only black student in his graduating high school class of 12, Principal Frank A. Horner encouraged him to prepare for college. Du Bois headed to Nashville, Tennessee to the halls of Fisk University, an all-black school. There, he declared, "I am a Negro. I glory in the name! I am proud of the black blood that flows in my veins †¦ (I) have come here †¦ to join hands with my people." He graduated in 1888 and headed to Harvard. While there, he received a grant and loan to study at the University of Berlin, where he experienced little discrimination and became fascinated by European grievances against Jews. Reflecting on his stay at Berlin, Du Bois would say, "I began to feel the dichotomy which all my life has characterized my thought; how far can love for my oppressed race accord with love for the oppressing country? And when these loyalties diverge, where shall my soul find refuge?" Du Bois earned his doctorate from Harvard in 1895 and his dissertation, The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870, was hailed as the first scientific work authored by ... ... to result in the exacerbation of prejudice and inner conflict here in America." The case against Du Bois was eventually dismissed. Du Bois did not declare himself a communist until he was 93. He finished his autobiography in 1960 and declared, "I now believe that private ownership of capital and free enterprise are leading the world to disaster. Democratic government in the United States has almost ceased to function. I shall therefore hereafter help the triumph of communism in every honest way that I can: without deceit or hurt; and in any way possible, without war; and with goodwill to all men of all colors, classes and creeds." Du Bois wrote a tremendous amount of material. Only a small number of his works have been considered in this short description of his life. In his final years, Du Bois spent his time working on an Encyclopedia Africana, which he had unsuccessfully tried to begin without financial backing in 1909 and 1931. Kwame Nkrumah, the first premier of Ghana, invited him to live out his life in Ghana and offered him funding for the final project. Appropriately, news of Du Bois’ death in 1963 reached America as blacks and whites peacefully marched on Washington.

Business Economics – Regression Analysis

Effect of Ratio Profitability: Return on Asset (ROA) and Return of Equity (ROE) to Stock Price of PT Bank Central Asia (BCA) Tbk. Ratio profitability, Return on Asset (ROA) and Return of Equity (ROE), of a firm is used as one of parameters for investor to decide whether they want to invest or not. The following table consists of ROA and ROE as well as the stock price of PT Bank Central Asia (BCA) Tbk. , as one of the largest bank in Indonesia, from year of 2002 up to 2011. Table 1. ROA, ROE and stock price of PT Bank Central Asia Tbk. tahun 2002-2011 Year| Stock Price(Y)| ROA(X2)| ROE(X2)| 2002| 2500| 2. 17| 22. 08| 003| 3325| 2. 36| 24. 87| 2004| 2975| 3. 04| 32. 52| 2005| 3400| 3. 41| 32. 33| 2006| 5200| 3. 43| 33. 58| 2007| 7300| 1. 68| 16. 47| 2008| 5778| 3. 14| 33. 16| 2009| 5645| 3. 17| 32. 11| 2010| 4284| 3. 28| 31. 23| 2011| 3674| 2. 65| 24. 16| Using regression analysis we want to determine the relationship between ROA, ROE and stock price of PT BCA Tbk. In this case, ROA an d ROE are the independent or explanatory variable (X), while stock price is the dependent variable that we want to explain (Y). Regression Analysis SUMMARY OUTPUT| | | Regression Statistics| Multiple R| 0. 13028475| R Square| 0. 016974116| Adjusted R Square| -0. 63890422| Standard Error| 1710. 529517| Observations| 10| ANOVA| | | | | | | df| SS| MS| F| Significance F| Regression| 2| 353656. 3| 176828. 15| 0. 060435241| 0. 941840446| Residual| 7| 20481378. 6| 2925911. 229| | | Total| 9| 20835034. 9| | | | | Coefficients| Standard Error| t Stat| P-value| Lower 95%| Upper 95%| Lower 95. 0%| Upper 95. 0%| Intercept| 5361. 609293| 2796. 526605| 1. 917238793| 0. 096721961| -1251. 125335| 11974. 34392| -1251. 125335| 11974. 34392| X Variable 1| -142. 3275587| 3749. 125063| -0. 037962873| 0. 970777259| -9007. 599603| 8722. 944486| -9007. 599603| 8722. 944486| X Variable 2| -19. 7879081| 375. 1702777| -0. 051919867| 0. 960043105| -906. 6155278| 867. 6579462| -906. 6155278| 867. 6579462| From the summary output we can estimate the linear relationship between the stock price (Y) and ROA (X1), ROE (X2) in the form of equation below: Y= 5361. 6092 – 142. 3275 X1 – 19. 4788 X2 The result indicates that for each 1% decrease in ROA and ROE; the stock price decrease by IDR142. 3275 (the estimated coefficient of X1) and IDR19. 4788 (the estimated coefficient of X2) also, respectively. To understand how significant the independent variable can explain the dependent variable, we can observe from t-stat data.The critical value of t at the 0. 05 level of significance is 2. 365 (from table of the t distribution). The analysis result show that t-stat value below the critical value of t = 2. 365. It means that at the 5% level of significance, we accept there is no significant relationship between ROA, ROE and stock price. We need more variable better than just ROA and ROE to picture the movement of price stock. The two variables, ROA and ROE, are not enough to explain th e stock price of PT BCA Tbk. Now, we want to see how good is the model or how much the explanatory power of the model by looking at R2 data.R2 measures how much of the variation in the firm’s stock price is explained by the variation in its ROA and ROE. The analysis result shows that the value of R2 is 0. 016974116, extreme to 1. It means that none of the variation in stock price was explained by the variation in ROA and ROE. In conclusion, looking at the value of t-stat and R2, variable ROA and ROE is not enough to explain the movement of stock price PT BCA Tbk. We need to add more variables to get more description how the stock price change and how significant and sensitive the variables impact to stock price.

Auguste Rodin’s Burghers of Calais and Modernism

The French sculptor Auguste Rodin created the masterpiece, Burghers of Calais was first displayed in eighteen eighty-nine. It took him five years to complete the bronze statue of the six men who save the city of Calais by offering their lives during the Hundred Year War. Even though the subject of the Burghers of Calais is Medieval in its subject, it is an example of Modernism.Since a sculpture is three dimensional it is definitely different than other art works yet the elements of Modernism can still be employed. Modernism is an artistic movement where artists deliberately left behind the forms used by artist in the past.With Burghers of Calais, Rodin expressed the realistic elements of the human body rather than the idealistic ones of the past. Instead of adhering to the ornate items that could distract the viewer form the intended subject, he portrayed the simple, rustic garments warn by the men of that time. He also diverted from the past masters by concentrating on the raw emoti on in the expressions of the subjects as they knew they were facing execution. Despair, fear, sadness, and anger are realistic on the faces and in the eyes of the subjects. Displaying the emotions was a departure from the heroic light that subjects had been shown in the past.Another enormous element of Modernism is that the viewer be allowed to take an active part in the analysis of the art. Rodin did this with Burghers of Calais by having the pedestal removed from the base of the statue. This allowed the viewer to see eye to eye with the subjects. He/she could better feel the emotion that is displayed by each of the men. The viewer could become one with the subject an allow the raw feelings to pervade their beings References Delahunt, M. (1996-2008). Artlex. Retrieved April 9, 2008 from http://www. artlex. com Rodin, A. (1889). Burghers of Calais.

Food Pyramid Essay

All of us today are facing an increasing array of nutritional challenges due to the way in which we eat; what we eat; how much we eat; and the way that we live our lives. Eating a right amount of food may sound daunting, but for many, just a few small changes can make a big difference to our overall health – and you don’t need to compromise on taste and enjoyment. When we talk about balance diet, the first that came in our mind is the food pyramids. Do you know what is food pyramid and how it was invented? A food pyramid is a pyramid shaped guide of healthy foods divided into sections to show the recommended intake for each food group. The first food pyramid was published in Sweden in 1974. The most widely known food pyramid was introduced by the United States Department of Agriculture in the year 1992, was updated in 2005, and then replaced in 2011. Originally, the food pyramid was invented because of the high food prices in 1972, and it was to deliver the idea of â₠¬Å"basic food† that were both cheap and nutrious. Anna Britt Agnsà ¤ter, head of the test kitchen at KF, a consumer co-op that worked with the Board, held a lecture the next year on how to illustrate these food groups. Attendee Fjalar Clemes suggested a triangle displaying basic foods at the base. Agnsà ¤ter developed the idea into the first food pyramid, which was introduced to the public in 1974 in KF’s Vi magazine. As we go through the pyramid, there is actually about six classes of food. At the base of the pyramid, is where the carbohydrate is. It takes the biggest area of the pyramid compared to other classes of food. This is because, carbohydrate provide the most energy to our body. Therefore we need to consume carbohydrate liberally. The recommended amount of serving for carbohydrate is about 6-11 serving a day. Next, we go to the vitamins and dietary fibre. Vitamin is essential to our body to protect the body from various types of diseases and maintain the health of the body and it is divided by two categories : water soluble vitamin, B, C and fat soluble vitamin, A,D,E and K. Dietary fibre is made up of cellulose which cannot be digested by the body. It is required in small quantity as it is use to prevent constipation. The recommended serving for each group is 3-5 serving a day. Now, we move to the upper level, which is called the protein group. Protein is required for building new cell for growth and to replace damage tissue. Basically, protein is made up of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. Lack of protein my cause a person to have kwashiorkor. It is necessary to take protein 2-3 serving per day. Last but not least, the fats group. Fat is the group of food that we need to consume sparingly. This is because, fat has the most slowest rate of digestion. Fat functions as heat insulator. It also provide energy and function as a protector for the internal organ such as heart and kidney. Therefore, food pyramid is a great guide to good nutrition. So if you’re not sure you’re eating the fruits and vegetables that you need, or think your diet is a little heavy in fat, take a glance at the bright stripes of the food pyramid — they’ll help keep you on track to make sure you’re achieving your nutrition goals.

The Golden Lily Chapter 5

WORD OF MY UPCOMING DATE spread fast. I could only presume Trey had told Kristin and Julia, who had in turn told Jill and Eddie and God only knew who else†¦. So, I shouldn't have been surprised when I got a call from Adrian just after dinner. He started talking before I could even say hello. â€Å"Really, Sage? A date?† I sighed. â€Å"Yes, Adrian. A date.† â€Å"A real date. Not, like, doing homework together,† he added. â€Å"I mean like where you go out to a movie or something. And a movie that's not part of a school assignment. Or about something boring.† â€Å"A real date.† I figured I wouldn't give him the specifics on the Shakespeare play. â€Å"What's the lucky guy's name?† â€Å"Brayden.† There was a pause. â€Å"Brayden? That's his real name?† â€Å"Why are you asking if everything's real? You think I'd make any of this up?† â€Å"No, no,† Adrian assured me. â€Å"That's what's so unbelievable about it. Is he cute?† I glanced at the clock. It was time for me to meet my study group. â€Å"Gee, maybe I should just send you a picture to review?† â€Å"Yes, please. And a full background check and life history.† â€Å"I have to go. Why do you care so much anyway?† I finally asked in exasperation. His answer took a long time, which was uncharacteristic. Adrian was usually ready with a dozen witty quips. Maybe he couldn't decide which one to use. When he finally responded, it was in that usual sarcastic way of his – though the levity sounded a little forced. â€Å"Because it's one of those things I never expected to see in my lifetime,† he told me. â€Å"Like a comet. Or world peace. I'm just used to you being single.† For some reason, that bothered me. â€Å"What, you don't think any guy would ever be interested in me?† â€Å"Actually,† said Adrian, sounding remarkably serious, â€Å"I can imagine lots of guys being interested in you.† I was certain he was teasing me and had no time for his jokes. I said goodbye and headed off to my study group, which, thankfully, was pretty dedicated and got a lot of work done. But when I met up with Trey at the library later, he was less than focused. He couldn't stop going on and on about how brilliant he was in getting Brayden and me together. â€Å"This date hasn't even happened, and I'm already tired of it,† I said. I spread Trey's lab paperwork out on the table before us. The numbers and formulas were comforting, far more concrete and orderly than the mysteries of social interaction. I tapped the lab assignment with my pen. â€Å"Pay attention. We don't have a lot of time.† He shrugged off my concerns. â€Å"Can't you just finish it?† â€Å"No! I left enough time so that you could do it yourself. I'll help, but that's it.† Trey was intelligent enough to figure out most of it on his own. Using me was just another way for him to dodge looking smart. He let the date go and focused on the work. I thought I was free of Brayden interrogation until, just as were wrapping up, Jill and Micah came strolling by, hand in hand. They were with a group of other people, which didn't surprise me. Micah was easygoing and popular, and Jill had inherited a large circle of friends by going out with him. Her eyes sparkled with happiness as someone in the group told a funny story that made them all laugh. I couldn't help a smile myself. This was a far cry from when Jill had first come to Amberwood and been treated as an outcast for unusual looks and odd behaviors. She was thriving with this new social status. Maybe it would help her embrace her royal background. My smile faded when Jill pulled Micah away from the group and hurried over to our table. Her eager expression worried me. â€Å"Is it true?† she asked. â€Å"Do you have a date?† â€Å"For the love of – you know it's true! And you told Adrian, didn't you?† I gave her a pointed look. Their psychic bond wasn't active 100 percent of the time, but something told me she knew about his earlier phone call to me. When the bond was â€Å"on,† she could see into his mind, observing both his feelings and actions. It only worked one way, however. Adrian had no such insight. She turned sheepish. â€Å"Yeah†¦ I couldn't help it when Micah told me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I heard it from Eddie,† Micah added quickly, as though that might get him off the hook. He had red hair and blue eyes that were always cheerful and friendly. He was one of those people you couldn't help but like, which made it harder to undo the tangled web Jill had woven by dating him. â€Å"Hey, I did not tell Eddie,† said Trey defensively. I turned my gaze on him. â€Å"But you told other people. And they told Eddie.† Trey gave a half shrug. â€Å"I might have mentioned it here and there.† â€Å"Unbelievable,† I said. â€Å"What's this guy like?† asked Jill. â€Å"Is he cute?† I thought about it. â€Å"Pretty cute.† She perked up. â€Å"Well, that's promising. Where's he taking you? Somewhere good? Night on the town? Fancy dinner? Micah and I had an awesome time at Salton Sea. It's so pretty. You could go there, have a romantic picnic.† Her cheeks turned pink and she stopped for breath, as if realizing she was talking too much. Rambling was one of Jill's most endearing traits. â€Å"We're going to see Shakespeare in the park,† I said. That got me silence. â€Å"Antony and Cleopatra. It's good.† I suddenly felt the need to defend myself. â€Å"A classic. Brayden and I both appreciate Shakespeare.† â€Å"His name is Brayden?† asked Micah in disbelief. â€Å"What kind of a name is that?† Jill frowned. â€Å"Antony and Cleopatra†¦ is that romantic?† â€Å"Kind of,† I said. â€Å"For a while. Then everyone dies in the end.† Jill's horrified expression told me that I wasn't really improving matters. â€Å"Well,† she said. â€Å"I hope you have, um, fun.† A few moments of awkwardness ensued, then her eyes lit up again. â€Å"Oh! Lia called me tonight. She said you two talked about me modeling for her again?† â€Å"She what?† I exclaimed. â€Å"That's not quite how I'd put it. She asked if you could do some print ads. I said no.† â€Å"Oh.† Jill's face fell a little. â€Å"I understand. From what she said†¦ I just thought. Well. I thought maybe there was a way†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I gave her a meaningful look. â€Å"I'm sorry, Jill. I wish there was a way. But you know why you can't.† She nodded sadly. â€Å"I understand. It's okay.† â€Å"You don't need a modeling campaign to be beautiful to me,† said Micah gallantly. That brought a smile back to her face that faded when she saw a nearby clock. Her transient moods reminded me of Adrian's, and I wondered if some of that was the effect of the bond. â€Å"Ugh. Curfew's coming. We'd better head out. You coming, Sydney?† I glanced at Trey's lab. It was complete and, I knew, absolutely perfect. â€Å"I'll leave in just a couple minutes.† She and Micah left. Glancing over at Trey, I was surprised to find him staring at her retreating figure intently. I nudged him. â€Å"Hey. Don't forget to put your name on this, or it was all for nothing.† It still took him several seconds to drag his gaze away. â€Å"That's your sister, isn't it?† His dismal tone made it sound more like a statement than a question, as though he were revealing some unfortunate fact. â€Å"Um, yeah. You've seen her like a hundred times. She's gone to this school for a month.† He frowned. â€Å"I just never thought much about it†¦ never got a good look at her before. I don't have any classes with her.† â€Å"She was front and center in that fashion show.† â€Å"She had a mask on.† His dark eyes studied me. â€Å"You guys don't look alike at all.† â€Å"We get that a lot.† Trey still looked troubled, and I had no idea why. â€Å"You're smart to keep her out of modeling,† he said at last. â€Å"She's too young.† â€Å"It's a religious thing,† I said, knowing Trey wouldn't quiz me for many details on our â€Å"faith.† â€Å"Whatever it is, keep her out of the public eye.† He scrawled his name on the lab and shut his textbook. â€Å"You don't want her plastered all over magazines or something. Lots of creepy people out there.† Now I was the one left staring. I agreed with him. Too much exposure meant the Moroi dissidents could find Jill. But why would Trey feel that way, too? His claims that she was too young were sound, I supposed, but there was something vaguely unsettling about the exchange. The way he'd watched her walk away was too weird. But then, what other reason aside from concern could he have? The normality of the next couple of days was welcome – normality being relative around here, of course. Adrian kept sending me e-mails, asking me to rescue him (while also offering unsolicited dating advice). Ms. Terwilliger continued her passive aggressive attempts to teach me magic. Eddie continued in his fierce dedication to Jill. And Angeline continued her not-sosubtle advances on Eddie. After watching her â€Å"accidentally† spill her water bottle all over her white T-shirt at practice with him one day, I knew something would have to be done, no matter what Eddie had said about his personal life. Like so many awkward and unpleasant tasks in our cohort, I had a feeling I was the one who would have to do it. I figured this would be some sort of stern, heart-to-heart talk about the proper way to solicit someone's attention, but on the night of my date with Brayden, it was soon made clear to me that I was apparently the last person who should be giving dating advice. â€Å"You're wearing that?† demanded Kristin, pointing an accusing finger at the outfit I'd neatly set out on my bed. She and Julia had taken it upon themselves to inspect me before I went out. Jill and Angeline had tagged along without invitation, and I couldn't help but notice that everyone seemed a lot more excited about this than I was. Mostly I was a tangle of nerves and fear. This was what it must feel like to go into a test without having studied. It was a new experience for me. â€Å"It's not a school uniform,† I said. I'd had enough sense to know wearing that would be unacceptable. â€Å"And it's a color. Kind of.† Julia held up the top I'd selected, a crisp cotton blouse with short sleeves and a high, button-up collar. The whole thing was a soft shade of lemon yellow, which I thought would score me points with this group since everyone accused me of not wearing colors. I'd even combined it with a pair of jeans. She shook her head. â€Å"This is the kind of shirt that says, ‘You're never getting in here.'† â€Å"Well, why would he?† I demanded. Kristin, sitting cross-legged in my desk chair, tilted her head thoughtfully as she studied the shirt. â€Å"I think it's more like a shirt that says, ‘I'm going to have to end this date early so I can go prepare my Power Point presentation.'† That sent them into fits of laughter. I was about to protest when I noticed Jill and Angeline going through my closet. â€Å"Hey! Maybe you should ask before doing that.† â€Å"All your dresses are too heavy,† said Jill. She pulled out one made of soft, gray cashmere. â€Å"I mean, at least this is sleeveless, but it's still too much for this weather.† â€Å"Half my wardrobe is,† I said. â€Å"It's made for four seasons. I didn't really have a lot of time to switch to all summer stuff before coming here.† â€Å"See?† exclaimed Angeline triumphantly. â€Å"Now you know my problem. I can cut a couple inches off of that, if you want.† â€Å"No!† To my relief, Jill put the dress away. A few moments later, she produced a new find. â€Å"What about this?† She held up a hanger carrying a long white tank top made of light, crinkly material with a scoop neckline. Kristin glanced at Angeline. â€Å"Think you could make the neckline lower?† â€Å"The neckline's low enough already. And that's not a shirt you wear on its own,† I protested. â€Å"It's meant to be tucked in under a blazer.† Julia rose from the chair. She tossed her hair; this was serious business. â€Å"No, no†¦ this might work.† She took the shirt from Jill and laid it across the jeans I'd set out. She studied it for a few moments and then returned to my closet – which was apparently free game for everyone. After a quick search, she pulled out a skinny leather belt with a tan snakeskin pattern. â€Å"I thought I remembered you wearing this.† She laid the belt over the white shirt and stepped back. After a bit more scrutiny, she gave it a nod of approval. The others crowded in to look. â€Å"Good eye,† said Kristin. â€Å"Hey, I found the shirt,† Jill reminded her. â€Å"I can't wear the shirt alone,† I said. I hoped my protests covered up my anxiety. Had I really been that off on the yellow shirt? I'd been certain it was date-appropriate. How was I going to survive tonight if I couldn't even dress right? â€Å"If you want to put a blazer on over it in this weather, be my guest,† said Julia. â€Å"But I don't think you have to worry about it showing too much. This wouldn't even be worth Mrs. Weathers's notice.† â€Å"Neither would the yellow blouse,† I pointed out. They decided my clothing was a done deal and moved on to hair and makeup advice. I drew the line there. I wore makeup every day – very nice, very expensive makeup applied to make the most of my features in a way that made it look as though I didn't even have makeup on. I wasn't going to change that natural look, no matter how adamantly Julia swore pink eye shadow would be â€Å"hot.† None of them put up much of a fight on my hair. It was currently in a layered cut that went just past my shoulders. There was exactly one way it could be styled, worn down with the layers carefully arranged with a hair dryer. Any other style looked messy, and of course, I already had it in the perfect configuration today. No point messing with a good thing. Besides, I think they were all too excited that I'd agreed to wear the white tank top – once I'd tried it on to verify that it wasn't transparent. My only nod to jewelry was my little gold cross. I fastened it around my neck and said a silent prayer that I'd get through this. Although Alchemists used crosses a lot, we weren't exactly part of any traditional Christian faith or practice. We had our own religious services and believed in God, that He was a great force of goodness and light that infused every bit of the universe. With all that responsibility, He probably didn't care much about one girl going on a date, but maybe He could spare a second to make sure it wasn't too painful. They all traipsed down the stairs with me when the time came for Brayden to pick me up. (Actually, it was a little earlier than the appointed time, but I hated being late.) The girls had all come up with reasons for needing to meet him, from Jill's â€Å"It's a family thing† to Kristin's â€Å"I can spot an asshole in five seconds.† I wasn't confident in that last one, seeing as she'd once speculated that Keith might be a good catch. All of them were also full of unsolicited advice. â€Å"You can split the cost of dinner or the play,† said Julia. â€Å"Not both. He needs to pick up the whole bill on one of them.† â€Å"Better if he pays for everything, though,† said Kristin. â€Å"Still order something, even if you don't want to eat it,† added Jill. â€Å"If he's buying dinner, you don't want to let him off cheap. He's gotta work for you.† â€Å"Where are you guys getting all of this?† I asked. â€Å"What does it matter if I – oh, come on.† We'd reached the lobby and found Eddie and Micah sitting on a bench together. They at least had the decency to look embarrassed. â€Å"Not you guys too,† I said. â€Å"I was just here to see Jill,† said Micah unconvincingly. â€Å"And I was here to, um†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Eddie faltered, and I held up a hand to stop him. â€Å"Don't bother. Honestly, I'm surprised Trey isn't here with a camera or something. I figured he'd want to immortalize every moment of this debacle of a – oh. Hey, over here.† I put on a smile as Brayden stepped into the lobby. Apparently I wasn't the only one who liked to be early. Brayden seemed a little surprised that I had an entourage. I couldn't blame him since I was kind of surprised I had one too. â€Å"It's nice to meet all of you,† said Brayden, friendly, even if a little bewildered. Eddie, while uncomfortable with Angeline's advances, could be perfectly outgoing in less bizarre social situations. He played up the brotherly role and shook Brayden's hand. â€Å"I hear you guys are seeing a play tonight.† â€Å"Yes,† said Brayden. â€Å"Although, I prefer the term drama. I've actually already seen this production, but I'd like to watch it again with an eye toward alternative forms of dramatic analysis. The standard Freytag method can get a little cliched after a while.† This left everyone speechless. Or maybe they were just trying to figure out what he'd said. Eddie glanced at me then back to Brayden. â€Å"Well. Something tells me you guys are going to have a great time together.† Once we were able to extract ourselves from my well-wishers Brayden said, â€Å"You have very†¦ devoted family and friends.† â€Å"Oh,† I said. â€Å"That. They just, uh, happened to all be going out together at the same time we were. To study.† Brayden glanced at his watch. â€Å"Not too late for that, I suppose. If I can, I always do my homework right after school because – â€Å" â€Å"If you put it off, you never know if something unexpected might happen?† â€Å"Exactly,† he said. He smiled at me. I smiled back. I followed him to visitor parking, over to a shiny, silver Ford Mustang. I nearly swooned. Immediately, I reached out and ran my hand along the car's smooth surface. â€Å"Nice,† I said. â€Å"Brand new, next model year. These new ones will never quite have the character of the classics, but they certainly make up for it in fuel economy and safety.† Brayden looked pleasantly surprised. â€Å"You know your cars.† â€Å"It's a hobby,† I admitted. â€Å"My mom is really into them.† When I'd first met Rose Hathaway, I'd had the incredible experience of driving a 1972 Citroen. Now I owned a Subaru named Latte. I loved it, but it wasn't exactly glamorous. â€Å"They're works of art and engineering.† I noticed then that Brayden had come with me to the passenger side. For half a second, I thought he expected me to drive. Maybe because I liked cars so much? But then, he opened the door and I realized he was waiting for me to get in. I did, trying to remember the last time a guy had opened a car door for me. My conclusion: never. Dinner wasn't fast food, but it wasn't anything fancy either. I wondered what Julia and Kristin's opinion would be on that. We ate at a very California type of cafe, that served all organic sandwiches and salads. Every menu item seemed to feature avocado. â€Å"I would've taken you somewhere nicer,† he told me. â€Å"But I didn't want to risk being late. The park's a few blocks away, so we should be able to get a good spot. I†¦ I hope that's okay?† He suddenly looked nervous. It was such a contrast to the confidence he had shown when talking about Shakespeare. I had to admit, it was kind of reassuring. I found myself relaxing a little bit. â€Å"If it's not, I'll find a better place – â€Å" â€Å"No, this is great,† I told him, glancing around the cafe's brightly lit dining room. It was one of those places where we ordered at a counter and then brought a number to our table. â€Å"I'd rather be early, anyway.† He'd paid for all of our food. I tried to make sense of the dating rules my friends had bombarded me with. â€Å"What do I owe you for my ticket?† I asked tentatively. Brayden looked surprised. â€Å"Nothing. It's on me.† He smiled tentatively back. â€Å"Thank you,† I said. So, he was paying. That would make Kristin happy, although it made me a little uneasy – through no fault of his. With the Alchemists, I was always the one picking up the bills and handling the paperwork. I wasn't used to someone else doing it. I guess I just had trouble shaking that feeling that I had to take care of everything because no one else could do it right. Academics had always been a breeze for me. But at Amberwood, learning how to hang out with people my own age in a normal way had been a much more difficult task. I'd gotten better, but it was still a struggle trying to figure out the proper things to say to my peers. With Brayden, there were no such problems. We had an endless supply of topics, both of us eager to put forth all we knew on anything and everything. Most of the meal was spent discussing the intricacies of the organic certification process. It was pretty awesome. Trouble came when, as we were finishing up, Brayden asked if I wanted to get dessert before we left. I froze, suddenly in a dilemma. Jill had said to make sure I ordered enough to not come across as a cheap date. Without even thinking about it, I'd ordered an inexpensive salad – simply because it sounded good. Was I now on the hook to order more so I'd seem like someone Brayden had to work for? Was this worth breaking all my own rules about sugar and dessert? And honestly, what did Jill know about dating etiquette anyway? Her last boyfriend had been homicidal, and her current one was oblivious to the fact that she was a vampire. â€Å"Uh, no thank you,† I said at last. â€Å"I'd rather make sure we get to the park on time.† He nodded as he rose from the table and gave me another smile. â€Å"I was thinking the same thing. Most people don't seem to think punctuality is that important.† â€Å"Important? It's essential,† I said. â€Å"I'm always at least ten minutes early.† Brayden's grin widened. â€Å"I aim for fifteen. To tell you the truth†¦ I really didn't want dessert anyway.† He held the door open for me as we stepped outside. â€Å"I try to avoid getting too much sugar.† I nearly came to a standstill in astonishment. â€Å"I totally agree – but my friends always give me a hard time about it.† Brayden nodded. â€Å"There are all sorts of reasons. People just don't get it, though.† I walked to the park, stunned. No one had ever understood me so quickly and easily. It was like he had read my mind. Palm Springs was a desert city, filled with long stretches of sandy vistas and stark, rocky mountain faces. But it was also a city that mankind had been shaping for a long time, and many places – Amberwood, for example – had been given lush, green makeovers in defiance of the natural climate. This park was no exception. It was a huge expanse of green lawn, ringed with leafy deciduous trees instead of the usual palms. A stage had been set up at one end, and people were already seeking out the best spots. We chose one in the shade that had a great view of the stage. Brayden took out a blanket to sit on from his backpack, along with a worn copy of Antony and Cleopatra. It was marked up with notes and sticky tabs. â€Å"Did you bring your own?† he asked me. â€Å"No,† I said. I couldn't help but be impressed. â€Å"I didn't bring many books from home when I moved here.† He hesitated, as though unsure he should say what he was thinking. â€Å"Do you want to read along with mine?† I'd honestly figured I would just watch the play, but the scholar in me could certainly see the perks of having the original text along. I was also curious about what kind of notes he'd made. It was only after I'd said yes that I realized why he was nervous. Reading along with him meant we had to sit very, very close together. â€Å"I won't bite,† he said, smiling when I didn't move right away. That broke the tension, and we managed to move into positions that allowed us both to see the book with almost no touching. There was no avoiding our knees brushing one another, but we both had jeans on, and it didn't make me feel like my virtue was at stake. Also, I couldn't help but notice he smelled like coffee – my favorite vice. That wasn't a bad thing. Not bad at all. Still, I was very conscious of being so close to someone. I didn't think I was getting any romantic vibes. My pulse didn't race; my heart didn't flutter. Mostly I was aware that this was the closest I'd sat to anyone, maybe in my life. I wasn't used to sharing my personal space so much. I soon forgot about that as the play started. Brayden might not like Shakespeare performed in modern clothing, but I thought they did an admirable job. Following along with the text, we caught a couple of spots where the actors messed up a line. We shot each other secret, triumphant looks, gleeful that we were in on something others didn't know about. I kept up with Brayden's annotations too, nodding at some and shaking my head at others. I couldn't wait until we discussed this on the ride home. We were all leaning forward intently during Cleopatra's dramatic death scene, intensely focused on her last lines. Off to my side, I heard the crinkling of paper. I ignored it and leaned forward further. The paper crinkled again, this time much louder. Looking over, I saw a group of guys sitting nearby who appeared to be about college-aged. Most of them were watching the performance, but one was holding an item wrapped in a brown paper bag. The bag was too big for the object and had been rolled down several times. He glanced around nervously, trying to be discreet and unroll the paper in small batches. It was obvious that was actually making more noise than if he'd just gone for it and unrolled it all at once. This went on for another minute, and by then, a few others nearby were glancing over at him. He finally managed to open the bag and then, still in slow motion, carefully lowered his hand inside. I heard the pop of a cap and the guy's face lit up in triumph. Still keeping the object concealed, he lifted the bag to his mouth and drank out of what was very obviously a bottle of beer or some other alcohol. It had been pretty apparent right away from the bag shape. I clapped a hand over my mouth, in an attempt to smother my laughter. He reminded me so much of Adrian. I could absolutely see Adrian smuggling in alcohol to an event like this and then going to all sorts of pains to be covert, thinking that if he just did everything slowly enough, no one would catch on to him. Adrian, too, would probably have the misfortune of opening the bottle right in the middle of the play's most tense scene. I could even picture a similarly delighted look on his face, one that said, No one knows what I'm doing! When, of course, we all knew. I didn't know why it made me laugh, but it did. Brayden was too focused on the play to notice. â€Å"Ooh,† he whispered to me. â€Å"This is a good part – where her handmaidens kill themselves.† The two of us had plenty to debate and analyze on the way back to Amberwood. I was almost disappointed when his car pulled up to my dorm. As we sat there, I realized we'd come to another critical dating milestone. What was the correct procedure here? Was he supposed to kiss me? Was I supposed to let him? Had that been the real price of my salad? Brayden seemed nervous too, and I braced myself for the worst. When I looked down at my hands in my lap, I noticed they were shaking. You can do this, I told myself. It's a rite of passage. I started to close my eyes, but when Brayden spoke, I opened them quickly. As it turned out, Brayden's buildup of courage wasn't for a kiss, so much as a question. â€Å"Would you†¦ would you like to go out again?† he asked, giving me a shy smile. I was surprised at the mix of emotions this triggered. Relief was foremost, of course. I'd now have time to research books on kissing too. At the same time, I was kind of disappointed that the swagger and confidence he'd shown in dramatic analysis didn't carry through here. Some part of me thought his line should've been more like, â€Å"Well, after that night of perfection, I guess we have no choice but to go out again.† Immediately, I felt stupid for such a sentiment. I had no business expecting him to be more at ease with this when I was sitting there with my hands shaking. â€Å"Sure,† I blurted out. He breathed a sigh of relief. â€Å"Cool,† he said. â€Å"I'll e-mail you.† â€Å"That'd be great.† I smiled. More awkward silence fell, and suddenly, I wondered if the kiss might be coming after all. â€Å"Do you†¦ do you want me to walk you to the door?† he asked. â€Å"What? Oh, no. Thank you. It's right there. I'll be fine. Thank you.† I realized I was on the verge of sounding like Jill. â€Å"Well, then,† said Brayden. â€Å"I had a really nice night. Looking forward to next time.† â€Å"Me too.† He held out his hand. I shook it. Then I left the car and went inside. I shook his hand? I replayed the moment in my head, feeling dumber and dumber. What is wrong with me? As I walked through the lobby, kind of dazed, I took out my cell phone to see if I had any messages. I'd turned it off tonight, figuring if ever there was a time I'd earned peace, this was it. To my astonishment, no one had needed anything in my absence, though there was one text message from Jill, sent about fifteen minutes ago: How was your date with Brandon? What's he like? I unlocked my dorm door and stepped inside. His name is Brayden, I texted back. I pondered the rest of her question and took a long time in trying to decide how to respond. He's just like me.