Care Giving for the Mexican Elderly - 1016 Words

â€Å"Ageing means an increase in life expectancy, prevalence of chronic disease, and need for health and social care services† (Vladislavovna, 2010, 1). Older people need formal and informal support systems to insure independence and an overall good quality of life. Families friends play a big role in the lives of aging Mexican elderly, â€Å"a social network is the collection of interpersonal and communal bonds that people have throughout their lives to establish social relations that satisfy certain needs, and maintain their wellbeing† (Vladislavovna, 2010, 1) this is going to serve even more importance as the aging population is living longer and the number of older individuals is increasing. Those with a â€Å"high degree of functional, mental, or†¦show more content†¦In addition to financial circumstances, women also tend to become more dependent than men due to their increased longevity and a â€Å"higher incidence of chronic diseases and incapacityâ €  (Gomez, 2007, 545). Care Giving Support is demonstrated often in the form of care giving for the Mexican elderly; it is done mostly by family members for reasons previously mentioned. â€Å"A low utilization rate of nursing homes by the elderly in Mexico City suggests that the daily needs of older adults are being met elsewhere, particularly by informal care networks. These data underlie the pervasive belief in Mexico that the family is the main resource and caregiver to elderly members† (Mendez-Luck, 2008, 266). Co residence may make the task of care giving more manageable in some cases, â€Å"one in every four adult children lives with their elderly parents† (Gomez, 2007, 548). The are several challenges that come along with the dependence on informal care giving, unfortunately it â€Å"falls within the scope of unpaid care work-activities that serve others, require time and energy, and are not financially rewarded† (Mendez-Luck, 2008, 266). This is becoming more of an issue due to the declining trend in fertility rate; people are having fewer children which is putting a strain on the informal care giving support systems. People are being forced to balance their personal goals and occupations with the sacrifices that they have to make for theirShow MoreRelatedThe American Of The Mexican American Family Care Of Older Adults752 Words   |  4 Pagesminority groups. Like many other ethnic groups Mexican Americans take the responsibility of taking care of their elders at homes instead of other alternatives like long-term facilities and nursing homes. The purpose of this study was to determine the loyalty the young adult have towards their elders. Weath er they will take care of their elders once they are no longer able to take of themselves or if they are going to send them to nursing home. Most of the Mexican American families still have a very strongRead MoreMexico, Moving Forward1002 Words   |  5 Pagesconditions in Mexico. In recent times the Mexican government has made efforts to bridge the enormous gap in education, such as the â€Å"Oportunidades† program. However the results of their efforts have been very minimal. Statistics show that â€Å"just 21 percent of Mexicans aged 25-34 have completed high school, compared with 95 percent of South Koreans† and only about â€Å"8 percent of Mexicans 18+, holds a Bachelors degree† (Jackson, 2005, 17). Education amongst the elderly population is even scarcer, the percentageRead More Illegal Immigration Essays1289 Words   |  6 PagesIllegal Immigration and Health Care With the economy of the United States in shambles, illegal immigration and the effects it has on health care can no longer be ignored. America has a whole needs to be concerned and well informed of the issues rather than collecting information piecemeal by way of media or other biased groups. If illegal immigration stays its present course the American tax-payer will continue to fund the well being of individuals who have broken federal rules and regulationsRead MoreThe Latino Journey in the United States: Immigrants Essay1693 Words   |  7 Pagesorganizations like the League of United States Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and El Congreso de Pueblos de Habla Espaà ±ola (the Spanish-Speaking People’s Congress) organized Spanish-speaking people to try to harness their political power more effectively, giving Spanish speaking communities a voice in the political system for the first time (Ruiz, 666). For example, LULAC, modeled somewhat after the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), orchestrated successful voter registrationRead MoreHeritage Assessment Tool For The Field Of Medicine And Health Essay1517 Words   |  7 PagesHeritage assessment will help the nurses and other healthcare providers to provide proper treatment plan, the patients understanding about the disease, their beliefs and practices and to be considered and respected when providing culturally competent care. Heritage assessment tool provides an excellent tool to evaluate the beliefs and lifestyle of an individual and thereby helping healthcare providers to understand a person in entirety. Traditional and cultural health methods are used in health maintenanceRead MoreLife Is A Big Cycle Of Psychology1701 Words   |  7 Pagesevents that intimidate people and tax their handling capabilities. People may use different coping abilities. Coping is how we make an effort to decipher issues and reduce stress. Stress reacts with our body; you may get a stoma ch ache right before giving a public speech. Chronic stress interferes with your ability to live a normal life. The longer the stress lasts the lasts the worse it becomes for both the body and the brain. According to APA stress can make existing issues worse, chronic stressRead MoreDrug Policy, Prescription Drugs, And The United States1393 Words   |  6 Pagesbut remains to adequately provide the relief America needs when it comes to reducing the overall drug use problem in the United States. When I think about current policy, I know how important it is for America to secure borders and not only reduce Mexican meth, but production of meth within the United States borders. Also, the continuance of offering treatment options to offenders, relieving some of the burden on our overcrowded prison system. Finding effective ways for abusers of any substance toRead MoreEssay on Cultural Competency and Health Disparities2415 Words   |  10 Pages The United States’ population is currently rising exponentially and with growth comes demographic shifts. Some of the demographics shifts include the population growth of Hispanics, increase in senior citizens especially minority elderly, increase in number of residents who do not speak English, increase in foreign-born residents, population trends of people from different sexual orientation, and trends of people with disabilities (Perez Luquis, 2009). As a public health practitioner, the onlyRead More Themes in Rain of Gold, by Victor Villasenor Essay2732 Words   |  11 Pages Rain of Gold, is a true story about the history of Mexican people, their culture, traditions and customs that were passed down from the Euro-Indian heritage of Mexico. Rain of Gold was written by Juan Villasenor in search for his ancestral roots. The people of this story are real and not fiction. The places that are discussed are true. And the incidents did actually happen to his family . There are several underlying themes that need addressing. Such as: the importance of family, theRead MorePrincess Diana Essay example1691 Words   |  7 PagesLondon and every part of the world, along with the royal families of the two, sat and watched the fairy tale begin right before their eyes (Hall 35). Along with the guests of the wedding, seven hundred fifty million Americans, Japanese, and even Mexicans watched the wedding live on television (The Prince 2). One June 22, 1982, Princess Diana gave birth to her first son, Prince William. Excitement raged throughout the royal family. They were excited to receive a baby boy to be the heir to the throne

Mercury ( Hermes ) And The Trojan War - 905 Words

Mercury(Hermes) and the Trojan War Dear, Hermes I, Jupiter, am writing this letter to you from the year one million A.D. I remember during the difficult times of the Trojan War, you chose the Greeks over the Trojans. My understanding in Homer, Iliad 24 is that you were urged to steal the body of Hector. I summoned Thetis after nine days of Hector’s death and told her that I still put glory upon him, but to tell Achilles I am angered that he has not returned the body of Hector. I also sent Arcus to tell Priam to ransom his son’s body and bring gifts to Achilles to calm his anger down. I chose you to be this fine man’s companion and as soon as I was done talking, I remember you immediately took off on your golden sandals. You were confronted by Priam to entreat Achilles to have mercy on you. â€Å"You try me out, aged sir. You ask me of glorious Hektor whom many a time my eyes have seen in the fighting where men win glory,† (Homer, Iliad 24.24) were your exact words from you. You knew Hector was being dr agged around by Achilles around his companion’s tomb and left beside his ship at his shelter. You fear Achilles by heart, but you are his henchman. What has he done to you to make you fear him? Is killing one immortal soul going to put fear into you? Also, Priam asked you for the truth if Hector’s body was still in one piece or if it was torn into pieces. You responded by telling him the truth with this quote. â€Å"neither have any dogs eaten him, nor have the birds, but he lies yetShow MoreRelatedThe Aeneid, The Hero Aeneas Essay1731 Words   |  7 PagesIn Virgil’s â€Å"Aeneid†, the hero Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled to Italy, is faced with a series of challenges. To overcome these challenges, Aeneas seeks help from the gods as he tries to make his way back home. In Homer’s â€Å"The Odyssey†, the hero Odysseus spends ten years trying to return to his homeland, Ithaca. Both heroes face similar challenges that they need to overcome in o rder to accomplish their goals. The Odyssey has two characters that hinder the hero’s journey; Calypso and Circe. The AeneidRead MoreThe Iliad And The Aeneid Fate Analysis1679 Words   |  7 PagesHera to suggest that Achilles call a meeting of his troops because she could not bear to see them dying. Had she not descended from Mt. Olympus and persuaded Achilles, his selfishness could have left the entire camp to perish, himself included. The Trojan war was initiated because the mortal Paris, was asked by Zeus to judge the fairest goddess in a contest between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite using a golden apple. Aphrodite was chosen in exchange for help with his desire to marry a woman named HelenRead MoreComparing The Iliad And The Odyssey905 Words   |  4 PagesVIII of the Odyssey features a list of participants in the game (115-125) and the Iliad Book II features a catalog of ships (484-759). Secondly, both epics start in media res. The Odyssey starts ten years after the Trojan War and the Illiad starts nine years after the start of the war. Thirdly, the Muses are prayed to for inspiration to tell the story, which can be observed in the Iliad Book I (1-9) and in the Odyssey Book I (1-31). Fourthly, the main characters also give long formal speeches.Read MoreThe Aeneid and The Odyssey1324 Words   |  6 PagesAre there similarities between Homers The Odyssey and Virgils The Aeneid? There are many similarities that could be examined indepth. The lovers encountered in both plays can lead to the idea of ancient plagarism. The games held by the greeks and trojans are similar to the Olympic Games. The downfall of characters, cities or monsters can be seen often in many stories. Maybe rewriting history is the effort of a plagarist to cheat true historical events. The lovers Aeneas and Odysseus encounterRead More`` O Brother Where Art But `` Is A 2000 Comedy By Joel Coen1438 Words   |  6 Pagesthey escape - they take a pig with them. In the books 10 and 11 Odysseus and his men are trapped in Circe’s house. Circe drugs, and turns them to pigs. That is when Hermes comes to Odyssey â€Å"I met Mercury with his golden wand, disguised as a young man in the hey-day of his youth and beauty with the down just coming upon his face.† Hermes gave him a herb called Moly that helped Odyssey withstand Circe’s witchcraft and leave with his men. Hogwallop is a play of words, it sounds like codswallop - foodRead MoreSimilarities and Differences in the Aeneid and the Odyssey.1418 Words   |  6 Pagesbeautiful and sexy. In the Aeneid, Aeneas after reaching Carthage meets Dido who is a mortal woman and queen of Carthage. She is foreign, exotic, mysterious, sexually and politically potent. Talking about Odysseus, we see that Odysseus is approached by Hermes who warns him against Circe. She offers Odysseus to have sex with her and it happens. Odysseus now distracted, lives with her on her island for a year until his comrades remind him of Ithaca. The longest delay in Odysseus’ journey is at the islandRead MoreAn Overview of the Greek and Roman Empire1654 Words   |  7 Pagesin Greece that was first discovered by German archeologist Heinrich Schliemann. After the collapse of Mycenaean civilization Greece entered a difficult period in which the population declined and food production dropped. Homer used stories of the Trojan War to compose the Iliad and the Odyssey which was the first great epic poems in early Greece and he was thought to have created, rather than have recorded the Greek history. Between 750 and 550 B.C, large numbers of Greeks left their homeland to settleRead MoreChapters 1-5 of Edith Hamilton Mythology3464 Words   |  14 PagesThessaly in North East of Greece The twelve Olympian gods are: Zeus- ruler of heaven Hera- Juno Poseidon- Neptune, ruler of sea Hades – Pluto god of underworld Pallas Athena – Minerva Phoebes Apollo Artemis (Diana) Aphrodite- Venus Hermes- Mercury Ares- Mars Hephaestus- Vulcan Hestia- Vesta Zeus (Jupiter) Zeus the Olympian Greek mythology supreme commander Some Greeks believe that he is one true god before Christ, most feared god God of sky, enforcer of justice for both god andRead MoreThe Original Purpose Of Greek And Roman Mythology2203 Words   |  9 Pages7. Artemis (Diana) Olympian Twin sister of Apollo. Maiden goddesses of Olympus. Lady of the Wild things. 8. Aphrodite (Venus) Olympian Goddess of Love and Beauty. 9. Hermes (Mercury) Olympian Was the most known God because his appearance is the most known. 10. Ares (Mars) Olympian The God of War. Zeus and Hera both despise him. Romans liked Ares better. 11. Hephaestus(Vulcan and Mulciber) Olympian The god of Fire. His appearance was not pleasant. A peace loving god. 12. HestiaRead MoreDetailed Summary on Greek Mythology by Edith Hamilton Essay7051 Words   |  29 Pagesrest was Cornus, also known as Saturn. He reigned until Zeus- his son dethroned him. Zeus was amongst the twelve Olympians, the other eleven included his two brothers: Poseidon, and Hades, their sister: Hestia, Hera, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, Hermes, Artemis, And Hephaestus. Much of the myths that include these characters have been set up in the Iliad and the odyssey. These gods had animals and cities that they identified themselves with, for example, the goddess Aphrodites tree happened

Extreme Behavior/ Take It To The Limit by Hinder free essay sample

Calling All Rock N Rollers : Hinder is the hottest new band to grace stages today! Fronted by the charismatic Austin Winkler , Hinder has propled itself into the adoration of thousands of screaming fans with there hit Lips of An Angel. But Hinder digs deeper into emotional situations with songs such as Better Than Me and Heaven Sent. Winkler sings about broken hearts , shatterd relationships , and every emotion that most people are to scared to sing about. He does this all with moves borrowed from some of the greatest performers of our time, musicians such as Steven Tyler and Axl Rose. Austin sings his songs to the steady beat of drums provided by Cody Hanson, pounding bass riffs(Mike Rodden), and guitars(JoeBlower Garvey and Mark King) that cry in remenisence of the spirit of the 80S, of wich Hinder is doing an excellent job of re-awakening , all in a voice that most guys would gladly suffer through a month and a half of double pneumonia to get. We will write a custom essay sample on Extreme Behavior/ Take It To The Limit by Hinder or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page And the bad boys of Hinder arent bad to look at either, particuallarly there frontman. Standing at 6 foot three , Austin sports dark brown hair and eyes that vary in color from green to blue to grey, with a dash of brown in some pictures. Thats right ladies, 4 different eye colors and 6 foot three ! Trust me, its worth the trip to Walmart to pick up one of there CDs , either Extreme Behavior or Take It To The Limit, you wont be dissapointed .

The Drinking Age

The minimum legal drinking age is 21 years. Each year thousands of students graduate from high school and in celebration, they hold house parties which include alcohol consumption. Most of these high school leavers are under the age of 21. During this period, there are always numerous debates coming up about whether to lower the legal drinking age or not, however while this is going on, teenagers under 21 become binge drinkers (Seaman, 2006).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Drinking Age specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As most of them are under the alcohol buying age, they use illegal means like faking identification to be allowed to buy alcoholic drinks. The government is spending millions of dollars in a campaign to maintain to maintain the MLDA of 21. The government considers 18 year old teenagers as immature and that they are not able to make the right decisions. Legal age of 18 How can the government con sider 18 year olds not mature to make decisions and yet at this age they are considered adults? The very definition of an adult is that one has attained a mature age, which is 18. The key word here is mature, therefore to go against this and say 18 year olds are not mature to make informed choices on alcohol consumption, is going against the law. The legal age makes an individual independent, the teenagers who have attained this age are allowed to move out of their parents’ houses, get jobs and even get married and have their own children. Curtailing alcohol consumption at this age goes against the fundamental rights of the young adults. Military drafting and voting It is so ironical that the government considers 18 year olds adults, when the situations work on their favour, and yet oppose the same young adults when it comes to alcohol. This is a double standard employed by government. If these young adults are not allowed to consume alcohol by virtue of their age, then they should also not be allowed to be drafted in to the military. However, 18 year olds are considered adults who can vote, join the military, hold public offices, be tried as adults; they can hold jobs and are expected to pay taxes. In this sense they are just like any other adults in the society. If they are mature enough to make the decisions to join the military and go to war and even die for their country, then they should also be allowed to consume alcohol. When politicians want to get to office or seek re-election, they do not discriminate against who votes for them, all votes are the same to them.Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More A large number of the voters going by the recent voting trend seem to be the young adults who have just attained the legal age to vote. They are enthusiastic and ready to exercise their rights. If the politicians expect them to make the right choices when i t comes to voting, then they are adult enough to take alcohol (Wechsler, 2002). Conclusion There is no justification in arguing that the 18 year olds are less tolerant than 21 year olds. In some cases, the situations are reverse. Not all 18 year olds are immature; most of them have developed psychological and analytical character. Prohibiting them from legally buying and consuming alcohol will only promote rebellion and crimes related to alcohol, like driving under the influence of alcohol. References Seaman, B. (2006). Binge: What your college student won’t tell you. New Jersey: John Wiley Sons ltd. Wechsler, H. (2002). Dying to drink: Confronting binge drinking in college campuses. New York: St. Martin’s Press. This essay on The Drinking Age was written and submitted by user Carson H. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

History of Chemistry essays

History of Chemistry essays Humans have always been very curios creatures. The have always wondered about what they are and why they are here. Our limited knowledge of the environment has always urged for new things to be discovered. The desire to understand the world better has made people search for rational answers, for principles and laws. For centuries people have tried to unlock the mysterious world that surrounds them. Because myths did not explain things well enough the Greeks began to ask questions about the world around them. They did this so thoroughly and so brilliantly that the era between 600 and 400 B.C. is called the golden age of philosophy. The Greek philosophy was an attempt to find the truth about unexplained phenomena, mostly by trying to think things through, not by running experiments in a laboratory. The philosophers wanted to discover the basic nature of things and some of them believed that they could find one thing that everything else was made of. A philosopher named Thales said that this substance was water, but another named Anaximenes thought it was air. A third called Empedocles said that the world was composed of four elements: earth, air fire and water. Aristotle became the most influential of the Greek philosophers, and his ideas dominated science for nearly two millennia after his death in 323 BC. He believed that four qualities were found in nature: heat, cold, moisture, and dryness. The four elements were each composed of pairs of these qualities; for example, fire was hot and dry, water was cold and moist, air was hot and moist, and earth was cold and dry. These elements with their qualities combined in various proportions to form the components of the earthly planet. Because it was possible for the amounts of each quality in an element to be changed, the elements could be changed into one another; thus, it was thought possible also to change the material substances that were built up from the elements-lead into gold, fo...

History and Timeline of the Wheelchair

History and Timeline of the Wheelchair It is uncertain as to what can be considered the first wheelchair, or who invented it. The first known dedicated wheelchair (invented in 1595 and called an invalids chair) was made for Phillip II of Spain by an unknown inventor. In 1655, Stephen Farfler, a paraplegic watchmaker, built a self-propelling chair on a three-wheel chassis. The Bath Wheelchair In 1783, John Dawson of Bath, England, invented a wheelchair named after the town of Bath. Dawson designed a chair with two large wheels and one small one. The Bath wheelchair outsold all other wheelchairs throughout the early part of the 19th century. Late 1800s The Bath wheelchair was not that comfortable and during the last half of the 19th century, many improvements were made to wheelchairs. An 1869 patent for a wheelchair showed the first model with rear push wheels and small front casters. Between, 1867 to 1875, inventors added new hollow rubber wheels similar to those used on bicycles on metal rims. In 1881, the pushrims for added self-propulsion were invented. The 1900s In 1900, the first spoked wheels were used on wheelchairs. In 1916, the first motorized wheelchair was manufactured in London. The Folding Wheelchair In 1932, engineer, Harry Jennings, built the first folding, tubular steel wheelchair. That was the earliest wheelchair similar to what is in modern use today. That wheelchair was built for a paraplegic friend of Jennings called Herbert Everest. Together they founded Everest Jennings, a company that monopolized the wheelchair market for many years. An antitrust suit was actually brought against Everest Jennings by the Department of Justice, who charged the company with rigging wheelchair prices. The case was finally settled out of court. First Motorized Wheelchair - Electric Wheelchair The first wheelchairs were self-powered and worked by a patient turning the wheels of their chair manually. If a patient was unable to do this, another person would have to push the wheelchair and patient from behind. A motorized or power wheelchair is one where a small motor drives the wheels to revolve. Attempts to invent a motorized wheelchair were made as far back as 1916, however, no successful commercial production occurred at that time. The first electric-powered wheelchair was invented by Canadian inventor, George Klein and his team of engineers while working for the National Research Council of Canada in a program to assist the injured veterans returning after World War II. George Klein also invented the microsurgical staple gun. Everest Jennings, the same company whose founders created the folding wheelchair were the first to manufacture the electric wheelchair on a mass scale beginning in 1956. Mind Control John Donoghue and Braingate invented a new wheelchair technology intended for a patient with very limited mobility, who otherwise would have issues using a wheelchair by themselves. The BrainGate device is implanted into the patients brain and hooked to a computer to which the patient can send mental commands that results in any machine including wheelchairs doing what they want it to. The new technology is called BCI or brain-computer interface.

He Second Treatise of Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

He Second Treatise of Government - Essay Example According to Jones (21), Locke made emphasis on individuals ‘natural rights (through the law of nature that claimed all men being equal and deserving to enjoy equal rights), on their constitutional governments by consent. In his theory, rather than the supreme authority, the people hold the power to set up a particular government and even replace it in case it fails. Because of the law of nature that gives humans liberty to act through the individual rights, and the contract nature of the civil society, the people can then give some of their rights to the government, as a form of trust that it would secure and defend the rights of the general people. The true sovereignty hence extends from the people as the authority is delegated more to the legislature that makes and defines the laws of the state, than the executive branch of government that executes the law (Jones 21). As a result, the theory argues that the governments should exist by the consent of the people, because with their rights they set up the civil society, and in their majority, their supreme authority and power is represented through the elected representatives in parliament. This means that the only legitimate civil society or political society that assumes power should be formed by the consent of the people, and not by force to protect and promote the public will. How John Locke Defended the Theory The law of nature: Locke used a biblical concept to defend his idea of natural law, while countering the earlier concepts as put forward by other philosophers. He portrayed the concept of liberty as a God given right to every individual so that they act in respect to the law of nature. Concepts of natural law existed before, but viewed humans from another negative point. However, Locke associates the natural law to be the will of God, who seemed to have been so far the first lawmaker for humanity to follow, that defines right and wrong and attaches sanctions to violations of the natural law; he nce humans had an obligation to live according to it, because it is reasonable and willed by God (Kim Ian 127). As such humans are viewed as capable individuals with a rationale to know the will of God (law of nature), whose wisdom and knowledge gives them liberty and enforces preservation of humanity. Despite mankind being prone to anarchy as Hobbessian philosophy indicates, the rationality humans have gives them the capability to develop the civil society and institute a government that articulates and enforces the law of nature (McFerran 24). Locke pointed out that natural law works for all humans and society preservation; hence the interest of the individuals should not conflict with those of the organisation or individuals in a society. As such, harming one another was a violation of the natural law to the property of God (humans’ lives, possessions and liberty) and deserving of punishment for the offence. Humans are obliged to enforce the natural law and can hence use t heir established civil societies as a natural faculty to fulfil the will of God, and preserve the community. They are free and potentially moral to constitute a government with limited power, and because of the knowledge of the natural law, they can put the government to checks if it conforms and serves right to implement the law of nature.

For admission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

For admission - Essay Example It was both a difficult and interesting transition in my life; on one hand was the shock of environmental and cultural change whereas on the other my quest for academic excellence. I went through a period of depression being away from home and in an environment where English is the sole language of communication but stood strong. I was not going to give up on my academic goals. I therefore developed friendships with fellow students and teachers who offered tremendous assistance with my English skills and now drastically improved. The challenges have taught me to be strong and now I am applying for my postgraduate studies. I am more confident than ever before to enjoy the postgraduate academic experience considering that I am now used to international cultures, my English language skills are impressive and have learnt a lot from interacting with people of different cultures. I will be using any opportunity both in and out of class to learn and interact so as to grow not only academically but also

Cultural Issues in Middle School Essay Example for Free

Cultural Issues in Middle School Essay Middle school is one of the most difficult situations of transition. Middle schoolers are awkward, hard to deal with and confused. They aren’t children but certainly not adults. They are egocentric to say the least and have little concern for the consequences of their actions. Yet, they are also one of the best ages to work with, if one is willing to try to understand their difficult lives. The culture in middle school can be broken down as such: sexuality, intellect, and social status. Sexually, these students have to deal with their changing bodies and feelings. They also have to try to understand how these feelings and changes fit in appropriately within the community. This is the area they are most sensitive toward. Intellectually, students have to decide if being â€Å"smart† is something they are willing to do. In some environments, being smart is cool, so those students who are gifted have no trouble fitting in. In other schools, these students are outcasts. When it is not cool to be smart, many students have a hard decision to make. If they show their gifts, they may sacrifice social standing. When it is cool, the struggling students feel even more left out and troubled. At times, these students may even act dumber to try to hide how much they truly struggle. Social status varies with each school environment. Wealth, possessions, address, family legacy and athletic ability are all indicators of success. Middle school is a contest and students are constantly scrutinizing each other to see who will win, popularity being the prize, of course. There are leaders and followers; the status symbols then change as the leaders themselves change. Whether it is the newest clothing label, shoe or track star, the culture of middle school is dominated by judgment. Evaluation The Illuminative Model of Evaluation rests its assessment on process. It appraises based on qualitative analysis of a situation in order to understand its initiation as clearly as its conclusion. Thus, in order to evaluate a situation, one must observe the effects of the process not simply look at data. The following tools of assessment are based upon that model and are applied to the curriculum overall. Several lessons will be used that typify the learning environment created within the classroom. Evaluation One: How does this lesson provide skills that work outside the testing environment? To evaluate this lesson, the calendar of lessons was assessed. Questions were asked such as, how do the lessons flow and what overall messages are the students receiving? Can they define, find and apply the concepts discussed in class? Upon reviewing the lessons, they seem to present isolated concepts. The entire unit is research process and narrative writing techniques which are two genres and should be taught separately. These lessons are trying to do way too much too fast. Middle school students are more successful when you break the process down and connect it to real world reasons for completing the work. If they would’ve started with day five, â€Å"reading the memoir,† then they could use the text to help define and find the language. Once they can do that, then they can apply the concepts such as writing dialogue, good word choice and using sensory language. The lesson plans as they are, present interesting skill sets but they aren’t connected to the question of, how do I apply this to reading and writing outside school. These skills might help them pass a test, but if you ask them to write dialogue, they will not know how. The non-fiction author board is a great idea but is not developed. They are completing tasks that have a function. This project should be enhanced by having students read Georgia authors and doing actual research and a research project on their author. This schedule needs to be totally revamped in order to serve the real world needs of the students. Evaluation Two: Does this lesson connect to a home environment? As is, there is no connection with the home environment. This will lessen the importance of the work and disconnect the families from what the students are learning. To enhance the process, when having the students write narratives, why not have them collect narratives from family members? This validates the home environment while creating an interest in the school environment at home. For the research section, they could research their family tree or conduct a survey at home regarding their family’s favorite authors. The greater the involvement from the home, the greater opportunity to work with the family for the student’s well being. Evaluation Three: What purpose does technology serve? This also needs improvement. There is no use of technology which works against evaluative point number one. In the larger society, students must be technologically literate. Students should research using the internet, present their projects via power point, and utilize online oral history collections to hear memoirs. Computers should not only be used to type in language arts but should be used as a tool for diversification of learning styles and presentation methods. Conclusion Overall, the learning process in this curriculum model needs to be improved. The questions of evaluation, based on the Illuminative Model, show that the process is flawed. Although there are many interesting lessons, they don’t flow together to teach an entire concept that can be applied to a real world learning situation. The terms need to be taught as part of an entire concept. Students can then define, find and apply what they have learned rather than simply be occupied for a 45 minute block of time. According to this model, students are more successful when the process is improved. The product should be the last point of evaluation rather than the first.

Badrs A Balcony over the Fakihani, Pillars of Salt, by Fadia Faqir, and Al-Atrashs A Woman of Five Seasons :: Badr Fakihani Faqir Pillars Five Seasons Essays

Badr's A Balcony over the Fakihani, Pillars of Salt, by Fadia Faqir, and Al-Atrash's A Woman of Five Seasons Struggles for independence from foreign conquerors, civil tyrants, and the hands of the oppressive have long been the backdrop for life in the Arab World. This struggle is compounded for Arab women, who have the added worries of societal and cultural constraints. The 20th century was a notably gory one, particularly in the Middle East. There have been numerous, almost continuous aggressive confrontations in the region since the dawn of the 20th century, beginning with Ibn Saud?s campaign against the Ottoman Empire (Diller 384) and concluding with the suicide bombings of contemporary daily news. Typically, the actors of this violence have been predominantly men, yet such far reaching, and pervading circumstances of violence have inevitably had an impact on the daily lives and consciousness of countless generations of Arab women. This impact has also saturated the minds of many Arab women writers, and the depth of this effect comes across very well in the works of Liyana Badr, Leila Al -Atrash, and Fadia Faqir. The political and historical contexts of each novel are extremely telling. This ever-present aggressive backdrop influences settings and personal storylines of characters in Badr?s A Balcony over the Fakihani, Faqir?s Pillars of Salt, and Al-Atrash?s A Woman of Five Seasons overwhelmingly. Pillars of Salt, which is set in the early 20s in Jordan, has the earliest setting of all three novels and happens to be one of the more violent. In 1920, Transjordan was p! laced under British mandate. The British left in May of 1923, and then Emir Abdullah attempted to appease and unite various Bedouin groups and form a unit of men able to protect the land from invaders (Diller 261). It is with this historical context that we happen upon the story of Maha and her struggle for survival and independence. The novel begins with the storyteller?s muddy mixture of fact and fable. The storyteller recounts his first encounter with the English, and describes the way ?their cars exhaled black smoke into the clear blue sky? (Faqir 3). The storyteller is somewhat removed from the political context because he is ?half-Arab? (Faqir 3), yet it is still evident that there is some ill feeling towards the English. Later on, we are presented with another political opinion of the storyteller. He describes the story of the Balfour Declaration, and portrays it in a very negative manner, calling i! t the result of Lord Balfour?

Iron Crowned Chapter 11

â€Å"Cute,† I said. Kiyo turned to me, giving me the same assessment I'd just given him. â€Å"You okay?† â€Å"A little venom and probably some bruising tomorrow.† He nodded, relieved, and then did a double take. â€Å"You're bleeding.† â€Å"Am I?† I asked, almost as surprised as he was. He hurried over to me. â€Å"Your shoulder.† â€Å"Oh, shit,† I said, craning my neck to look back. â€Å"That's the table injury.† â€Å"Take off your shirt. And don't even start with some ridiculous modesty spiel,† he added, seeing me start to protest. I knew he was right and gingerly lifted off the M;tley Cre shirt. He helped me part of the way, saving me from raising my arms too far. Examining the shirt, I saw blood soaked in it. â€Å"Bad?† I asked. â€Å"I'll know once I take the bandages off. Please tell me you have more and that we don't have to reuse these.† â€Å"I've got more. I told you I brought supplies.† Carefully, he peeled off the gash's cloth coverings and tossed them to the ground. In the firelight and dim glow of sunrise, I could see the fabric was completely red with blood. â€Å"You broke some stitches,† he said wearily. â€Å"I don't have the tools to fix it.† I'd once been kind of freaked out that he used his veterinarian skills to patch battle wounds, but now I kind of took it in stride. â€Å"Pain aside, is that going to matter?† I asked. â€Å"You'll bleed more, though I'll wrap it as much as I can. You'll risk a scar too if you don't get it stitched again. Once we finish this craziness up, I can do it for you back in Tucson if you don't want to explain it to your doctor.† â€Å"My regular one's kind of used to this,† I said. He snorted. â€Å"I imagine so.† I fetched my pack, and we both sat on the ground. The light was increasing, making it easier for him to work as he tidied up my back. The old bandages were tossed away, and I winced as he swabbed everything with antiseptic wipes. â€Å"I thought the danger didn't start until we were in the crown's cave,† I muttered. â€Å"As often happens, mistress, you've made an incorrect assumption,† said Volusian. â€Å"The legends say the path to the crown is perilous. We are on the path. Your testing has begun.† â€Å"Fantastic. Ow!† â€Å"I'm saving you from infection,† chastised Kiyo. That seemed to be the last of the sanitizing, thankfully, and from there he began layering gauze and tape. What he did was far from erotic, but it amazed me how gentle and steady his hands could be after seeing him savagely fight and rip things apart. I glanced over at Deanna, who had simply observed the fight. She'd said nothing, but I thought I caught a glimpse of relief on her face. My death would have put a serious hitch in our bargain. â€Å"How long until the entrance? When we lose you guys?† I asked. Annoying or not, Volusian would be missed – especially if these snakes were just the warm-up act. â€Å"A few hours,† said Deanna. I frowned, unsure if I should dread it or not. We'd lose our backup but be that much closer to finishing this anti-vacation. â€Å"I suppose it'd be too much to hope you've brought any painkillers?† asked Kiyo, still layering me up. I felt like I had a quilt on my back. â€Å"Vicodin probably isn't the best asset for impending battle.† â€Å"I was thinking more like aspirin.† â€Å"Nope.† But it did remind me I was due for another antibiotic dose. I'd arrogantly thought I didn't need them but now was glad for my mom's vigilance. Not that I wanted to admit any of this to Kiyo. The thing about dating a doctor was that he'd always been on me about taking better care of myself. I didn't want to hear any I-told-you-so's now. And unsurprisingly, there was more advice to come. He finished the last of the tape and helped me put on the clean shirt I'd packed. â€Å"Eugenie, wrapping this is a nuisance, but any gentry healer could have fixed this up in their sleep. Dorian's got great healers. Why didn't he have one of them take care of this? He should know better.† I shifted around so I faced him. â€Å"How on earth did this suddenly become Dorian's fault? Why is he responsible for everything evil? Of course he offered to get a healer. I refused because I figured other people needed it more.† I'd also totally forgotten to ask Shaya. Kiyo's expression relaxed and actually grew apologetic. He looked away. â€Å"Of course you did. I'm sorry.† â€Å"Sorry for accusing Dorian or for forgetting I'd be foolishly altruistic?† Kiyo turned back, a small smile on his lips. â€Å"What do you think? There's very little I feel apologetic for when it comes to Dorian, especially when I'm still convinced he wants to father Storm King's heir.† I smiled back. â€Å"I'm sure he does too. But it's a moot point. I've still got birth control pills. I still don't want any kids. My life's stressful enough.† Belatedly, I recalled his adoration of Luisa. â€Å"No offense.† â€Å"None taken,† he said, still smiling. â€Å"Really †¦ I should be better about trusting you. I just keep thinking †¦Ã¢â‚¬  The smile dimmed a little. â€Å"Thinking what?† â€Å"I don't know. That one day this will all get to you. And I don't mean about Storm King. I mean just †¦ everything. You'll totally give yourself over to this world. I'll lose the Eugenie I know.† I grabbed his hand without thinking and squeezed it. â€Å"Hey, stop that. You said it yourself: trust me. I'm the same Eugenie. Still split between identities †¦ but nothing can change that.† â€Å"I know.† He continued holding my hand. The touch of his fingers, which had been so objectively medical minutes ago, now took on another feel †¦ something warmer. Something that made my body feel strange, as those dark eyes stayed fixed on me. I found myself falling into them like I used to, into those sexy, smoky depths†¦. I abruptly stood up, breaking that dangerous touch. â€Å"Well,† I said awkwardly, â€Å"seeing as it's already light out and we're up, we might as well get going. Breakfast in the saddle?† Kiyo rose too, looking troubled. â€Å"Sure. The sooner we're moving, the sooner we're past any snake threats.† As we packed up and got back on the horses, I wondered if we were riding toward something much worse than snakes. Don't get me wrong: they'd been bad. But I fought supernatural creatures all the time. There'd been so much hype about the crown. Was it simply going to involve a monster buffet? I kept those thoughts to myself as we traveled, having plenty of other things to preoccupy me. My meager breakfast. Kiyo's presence. The pain in my back. The meaning behind the scattered holes in the terrain. On the road went, just as it would through any part of the Otherworld. I wondered how far it went. To infinity? Or would a traveler simply fall off the edge, like on those maps made back when people believed the world was flat? â€Å"This is it.† Deanna's voice, though soft, seemed harsh in the emptiness around us. We came to a halt, and I glanced around, searching for what she'd found. At last, I spotted a small, dark opening tucked in one of the iron mountains. â€Å"That's it? It seems so †¦ small.† â€Å"Out here it does,† said Kiyo. â€Å"We don't know what's inside †¦ except that it's going to completely enclose us in iron. Remember – that'd kill most gentry. It's a test you're lucky enough to skip. Hopefully.† â€Å"True,† I murmured. I still felt no ostensible effects from this land, but what would happen inside the mountain? â€Å"I can't go inside,† said Deanna. â€Å"I'll just wait here for you to come out.† â€Å"I too shall wait,† said Volusian, â€Å"in the hopes that you meet your death and that it is your spirit that emerges, so that I may torment it for all eternity.† I pushed away the desire to order him away. Even if he couldn't follow us, I'd feel better having him right here for defense when we came out. And we would come out, I decided fiercely. There was no if here. I left my bag and gun outside, seeing as I had no ammunition left. Fucking snakes. Surveying the rest of my arsenal, I left the iron athame in my belt, putting the silver athame in my right hand and the wand in my left. I glanced at Kiyo. â€Å"Ready?† He nodded. â€Å"I'll go first.† It was a very manly thing to do. I let him lead and faintly heard Deanna wishing us luck. The cave we entered was pitch black and cramped. I could just barely get through without ducking and knew Kiyo had to walk slightly hunched. We followed the twists and turns, scraping against the close, rough walls. We spoke occasionally to check location, and I'd sometimes touch his back as well. The deeper we went, the more I could feel the iron around us. Again, I had no indications of weakness †¦ just an awareness. â€Å"Light,† said Kiyo suddenly. I blinked. He was right. I saw no light source, but something farther ahead was casting light down the tunnel. It started as only faint illumination, just giving me a glimpse of his silhouette. Soon, the light increased †¦ as did the heat. A roaring sound came to my ears. â€Å"I have a bad feeling about this,† I said. We rounded a corner, and my jaw nearly dropped. The path ahead was blocked by fire. To be precise, it was blocked by sheets of very neatly contained fire, giving the impression of giant blades – particularly since they swung from the ceiling. Magically flattened into sheets or not, the flames burned intensely, and the heat radiating through the corridor left no doubt that these bastards would incinerate us. â€Å"I think I saw this in a video game,† I muttered. Kiyo's gaze was fixed unwaveringly on the fire blades. There were five of them. His face was blank, but the concentration in his eyes told me what he was doing. He was timing them, studying their patterns. â€Å"They're staggered in a way that would let us get through,† he said. â€Å"We just have to watch the timing.† â€Å"You can get through. I don't know about me.† I wasn't being defeatist; I was just stating the truth. Kiyo possessed reflexes I didn't have. I could sit here for hours and probably not learn their patterns like he could. He frowned. â€Å"Maybe I can just hold your hand. Or put you on my back.† â€Å"What? No. That's ridiculous. It'd affect your speed – throw you off.† I studied the flames, hypnotized by the swinging patterns. There were spaces between each sheet. â€Å"Maybe I can wing it, take them one at a time.† â€Å"Now that's a ridiculous idea.† Frustration lined his brow. â€Å"And to think, I would have given anything for heat last night. We should have camped in here†¦.† My joke trailed off as an idea came to me. â€Å"I'll just walk through.† The look he gave me required no words to convey his opinion. â€Å"Seriously,† I said. I put my weapons away and drew on the magic within me. The iron wasn't affecting me. I toyed with the elements of air and water, testing and weaving them like a scarf. Kiyo could feel the shift in temperature near us. â€Å"What are you thinking?† â€Å"I can protect myself,† I said. â€Å"The cave's damp enough – aside from here – for me to draw water. I'll make a shield for me and use air to blow out against the fire.† â€Å"The air could feed the flames.† â€Å"Not if I do it right.† Our eyes met. He didn't like this idea, not at all. â€Å"This'll work,† I told him. â€Å"I know for a fact it will.† â€Å"For a fact, huh? I still think I should carry you.† â€Å"And I still think that's idiotic. You've gotta trust me, Kiyo. I can do this. I can feel it.† He didn't answer immediately, but I knew I had him. â€Å"If I watch you get burned alive, I'm not going to be happy.† â€Å"Volusian'll be happy,† I said. â€Å"At least someone comes out on top.† â€Å"Eugenie!† â€Å"Sorry.† I gave Kiyo what I hoped was a reassuring smile. â€Å"This'll work. You go first.† He hesitated a few moments more and then transformed into a fox. For fighting, he often chose a powerful, larger than life one. Now, he was small and quick like any ordinary red fox. He turned toward the flames, the human part – and probably animal too – again gauging timing. Then – he sprang forward. I'd piled assurances on him, but it was my own breath that caught while watching him. He ran without stopping, stride smooth and consistent as he flawlessly ran through empty space caused by the flames' swinging to the opposite side of the cave. In seconds, he reached the end, on the other side of the fifth sheet. I exhaled. He transformed back to Kiyo and peered at me through the sporadic gaps, worry all over him. I gave him another confident smile, hoping my earlier argument would hold true. I stared at the flames, not to time them but simply to muster my own courage. Magic welled up within me as I pulled moisture around my body, creating a spinning, almost cyclone-like cocoon – that instantly soaked me. That was the least of my worries. Then, I called on the air, drawing it to me and forcing it to blast away from my body. As I stepped forward, my mind suddenly ran through a hundred other scenarios. Maybe I could have just sucked out the oxygen here and killed the fire. Of course, that'd likely render me unconscious. And would ordinary physics even work against magic fire? That question came to me too late, along with the realization that magic fire might similarly be immune to air and water. Woosh! I lacked Kiyo's timing. The first fiery sheet flew at me – and went around me. My fan-effect blew it away and the scalding heat that would have still reached me was mitigated by the water. I picked up my pace, walking through the second one in a similar way. Lucky timing made me miss the third altogether. The fourth nailed me – or would have – and then I just barely sidestepped the fifth. I reached Kiyo's side and dropped the magic. â€Å"Three out of five ain't bad,† I said cheerfully. To my surprise he hugged me, in spite of my dripping clothes and hair. â€Å"Jesus Christ that was scary, Eug. When I saw you walk through that first wall †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"†¦ you thought it was pretty cool?† He pulled back and shook his head, watching as I wrung water from my shirt. â€Å"You sure are making an awful lot of jokes about some pretty serious stuff.† â€Å"Hey, you're the one who made the Dune reference.† I sighed and let my hands fall to my sides. â€Å"Besides, if I wasn't making jokes, I'd probably come to my senses and be running straight back to the Thorn Land.† I drew air to me, taking along some of the heat, to sort of blow-dry me off. I stopped when I was semi-dry, not wanting to use up the magic. â€Å"I understand,† he said. He gently touched my arm, smiled weakly, and then tilted his head toward the darkness ahead. â€Å"Ready for more?† I nodded, following him once again. We walked farther and farther from the flames, losing the light as we did. A strange flashback came to me, a trip to the Underworld where I'd walked through similar caves and faced tests to bring back Kiyo's soul. How could I have nearly forgotten about that? I'd loved him so much, I'd faced Death herself. How did love like that change? More tunnel crawling followed, and I wondered if perhaps this was a test for claustrophobic gentry. Gradually, though, the tunnel began to expand and expand until it suddenly dead-ended into a large cavernous room. Much like the tunnel, everything here was simply rough rock with occasional glimpses of iron. A few torches lit the chamber, revealing its centerpiece: an elegant marble pedestal with an iron crown sitting on it. â€Å"Seriously?† I said. Kiyo and I hovered near the room's opening, wary of entering. Yet, as I stared at the crown, it wasn't any potential trap that sent a chill down my spine. Another test in my trip to the Underworld replayed in my mind: I'd been forced to wear my father's crown, despite my protests. That crown had been platinum, but it and the one before me both had a similar silvery sheen. Both were adorned with purple jewels. Both had a harsh, martial feel to them. The one in the vision had been a little more delicate, though, with a bit more artistic flair. Designer planning had also clearly gone into this one, with its circle of jeweled spikes alternating in size, but my feel was that it was meant to be impressive, not pretty. â€Å"It's an illusion,† I said to Kiyo. â€Å"We can't have reached it already. We've hardly done anything.† He didn't take his eyes off the crown as he spoke. â€Å"Snakes and walking through fire are nothing?† â€Å"Well, no. But I expected more, considering all the hype.† â€Å"The iron,† Kiyo reminded me. â€Å"You used magic to get through the fire. Most gentry would too – but imagine what it would be like for them in all this iron. If they even got this far. You're †¦ not cheating, exactly, but you're bypassing a lot of the challenges here.† â€Å"If it's meant to be for gentry, then maybe the crown is too. Maybe I'm too human and won't be able to claim it.† Man, that would suck. â€Å"One way to find out.† I stared at the crown, noticing how little light reflected off it. Was this it? Did I really just go up and claim it? Time to find out. I took a few steps forward †¦ and the room abruptly became cold. A dark feeling, a feeling of power and pure evil filled the small space. What does evil feel like? You just know. I hastily returned to Kiyo's side, but it was too late. A male figure materialized before us, clad in beautiful purple velvet robes, embroidered and tailored in a way Dorian might have envied. This guy's hair was nearly as beautiful, a pale white blond that shone in the torchlight and grazed his shoulders. Yes, definitely an impressively attired figure. The only thing that really detracted from it all was that he was a skeleton. â€Å"Oh, fuck,† I said. â€Å"What is it?† asked Kiyo, moving close to me. â€Å"A lich. Like a †¦ I don't know. An undead necromancer or magic user.† My mind was frantically spinning. Liches used magic before their deaths to purposely keep themselves from the Underworld. It made them very hard to banish, according to Roland. I'd only ever heard of them in stories. â€Å"Like a zombie?† â€Å"No. Smarter. And they can also do – duck!† Kiyo, always a hair faster than me, had already dropped down and taken me with him as the lich hurled a ball of blue fire at us. It hit the wall above us, dispersing and blasting us with heat but otherwise doing no harm. More of that fire was already forming in its skeletal hand, and I knew it would aim low. Kiyo transformed to his largest fox form and leapt at the lich, attacking the best way he knew how. His jaws started to close around the lich's robe-encased leg, but a small gesture from the lich sent Kiyo flying. He hit a wall, shook it off, and growled, pacing and planning what to do next in light of this new development. During their split-second encounter, I had just enough time to send my senses out through the wand. I touched the Underworld and attempted to form a connection. The butterfly on my arm burned like the snake's venom, but I couldn't open the way. It was like beating on a heavy locked door. More effort might have helped me break through, but I had no chance to try before another fireball came toward me. I dodged and rolled away. Seeing the lich deflect Kiyo again made me think an athame attack wasn't going to be much help either. The lich seemed to recognize my problems and laughed, a low, guttural sound that echoed unnaturally in the chamber. â€Å"You will not wear the Iron Crown. You do not possess the power to wear the Iron Crown.† I was ready to evade another fireball, but a flick of the lich's hand threw me back against the wall. I didn't even have time to process the agony that caused to my wounds because the unseen force that pinned me there hurt too much. It was like a million invisible needles were piercing my skin, going straight through me, and lodging in the stone to hold me in place. I screamed at the pain, and Kiyo instantly raced toward the lich again. The larger the fox form, the more animal he was, and I had a feeling this was just a gut reaction at seeing me attacked. The lich threw him off again with that invisible force – only harder this time. Kiyo slammed against the wall, slumping down to the cave's floor. Weakly, he tried to stand up on all four legs but was too disoriented and injured. The lich turned back to me, and I saw death in his eyes. Had I really joked about this being easy? The only one this had been easy for was the lich. He'd taken us out with just a few spells, and now I would die. This was why those who wore the Iron Crown were feared. If you could survive this, you could survive anything. â€Å"You will not wear the Iron Crown,† he repeated, lifting his hands for the final spell. â€Å"You are not worthy.† I summoned my magic, despite the pain. A gale force wind blasted into him, making him stagger back. So. He wasn't totally impervious to physical force. Calling the magic was difficult, but when Dorian had first trained me, we'd practiced casting spells in a number of uncomfortable positions. I increased the force of the wind, pushing the lich back a couple more steps. The Iron Crown didn't budge, but the wind had pinned Kiyo up against the wall, almost making him go flat. I nearly hesitated, fearing I'd hurt him. He was still alive from the last hit. Surely he could handle this. And that added force was a good call. It distracted the lich so that when I mentally pushed back against his spell, he couldn't hold it. The invisible pins vanished, and I slid to the floor, landing shakily but upright. I still hurt and already felt worn out but held strong to my magic. It kept the lich away, but it also didn't knock him into the walls the way he could us. His skull-face wore a perpetual grin, making this all that much more annoying. â€Å"You don't have the power,† he said, seeing I couldn't do much more with the wind. â€Å"You are not worthy of the crown.† White light began glowing between his hands. No fireballs this time. It was lightning. It flew from his hands with incredible speed – say, like, the speed of light – but I evaded it, with almost no thought. Lightning was in my skill set. My body was attuned to it, able to anticipate and avoid it even with its speed. Nonetheless, the lightning blasted away half of the cave wall and the thunder that accompanied the bolt nearly left me deaf. Rocks and debris from the shattered stone were swept up in my windstorm, flying around the room like shrapnel. A few of them hit me. One cut my arm. In spite of it all, I laughed, sounding slightly crazy even to myself. â€Å"You're going to fight me with lightning?† I yelled above the raging wind, which I had managed to kick up a notch after all. â€Å"Do you know who I am?† â€Å"I know you will never have the crown,† the lich replied, summoning more lightning. His words dug into me, and not just because my life was on the line here. It was the meaning behind them. You are not worthy. A dismissal of me. Of my power. He really didn't know who he was dealing with, though. He had no idea of the power I could wield, even in this iron dungeon. No one would say it directly, but I was beginning to suspect I was the most powerful magic user since my father. This bastard lich was about to find that out. He'd see my power. I'd destroy him and take his fucking crown. â€Å"You call that lightning?† I yelled, after dodging the next bolt. My magical senses touched the molecules in the room, the positive and negative charges. The scent of ozone was everywhere. â€Å"This is lightning.† I didn't need my hands. I could create lightning from the air. It blasted into the lich and should have disintegrated him. He stayed intact, unfortunately, but the way he wobbled and didn't instantly go for another bolt told me I'd made progress. The magic burned within me, filling every ounce of my being as I held onto the surrounding air. The wind still blew, the ions stayed readied. In the center of it all was the crown, the crown I was going to walk out of here with. I would stop this war and show Katrice and everyone else not to screw with me. But first, I needed to finish this. I considered continually blasting the lich with bolts, but another idea came to mind. It would bring all of this to an end quickly. Scientists have long debated the existence of ball lightning, but I knew it was real. I'd never really used it in a serious way but had experimented. Some of the principles of its formation were like those of â€Å"regular† lightning, but a few quirks were what made it unique – and so hard to study. I knew how to summon it. I knew what it could do in here. Whereas the magically created bolts the lich and I had wielded had been shaped and controlled, ball lightning was huge and radiating. It would fill this cave, incinerating the lich. I wouldn't be surprised if it melted the walls. And the crown? The crown would survive – as would I, being the magic's mistress. The power blasted out of me, lightning forming an orb in the cave that exploded outward, blinding even my eyes. The walls shook, heat washed over me, and a roaring filled my ears. I heard the lich scream, a horrible, raspy sound. I didn't let go of the spell until his cry faded to silence. The ball lightning disappeared instantly, almost startlingly so. My own control of such power surprised me a little. My ears rang in the silence. The crown stood unharmed, as expected. The pile of bones I'd expected was not there, however. Instead, a small, wizened man stood before me, dressed in the same purple robes. I reached out and readied my magic for this new threat. He didn't move, though. To my astonishment, he smiled and gave me a small bow. â€Å"Congratulations,† he said. He gestured to the crown. â€Å"You are worthy – if you can wear it, of course. And something tells me you can, if you've survived this much iron.† I glanced back and forth between him and the crown, unbelieving. â€Å"I did it†¦. I won through. Won the crown. I defeated the lich †¦ er, you †¦ or whatever.† â€Å"Certainly the lich was part of the test. It takes great magic to defeat one. But the test was about more than your power,† said the old man slyly. â€Å"It was about your determination. Your will. Your ruthlessness to get to the crown, no matter the cost.† He stepped aside, waving his hand over at the cave's side. I gasped. Kiyo – in human form – lay against the wall. His dark eyes were open, and I saw no obvious injuries. He was simply watching the interaction. I flew to his side, kneeling down. â€Å"Oh my God. Are you okay?† I asked, helping him sit up. His breathing was even, though he looked a little addled. â€Å"Please †¦ talk to me. Kiyo. Are you okay?† â€Å"Yeah, yeah †¦Ã¢â‚¬  He lightly touched his forehead and winced. â€Å"Hell of a headache.† I could scarcely breathe. I felt numb all over. â€Å"You shouldn't be alive,† I whispered. â€Å"You should have died.† That ball lightning had eradiated the room. That had been my plan, after all. Destroy everything except me and the crown – and everything would have included Kiyo. In the moment, I had forgotten. I had forgotten all about him. I'd been too fixated on the crown, on proving to the lich who the real badass around here was. Kiyo hadn't mattered in that moment, and it had nothing to do with our rocky relationship. I had the horrible, terrifying feeling that it wouldn't have mattered who was in the room. â€Å"Oh, God,† I said again, pulling his head against my chest. Tears stung my eyes. â€Å"Oh God oh God. I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I don't know what †¦ I don't know what I was thinking†¦.† A nasty voice spoke inside my head. Didn't you? â€Å"Hey, Eug, calm down,† said Kiyo, patting the back of my head. â€Å"I'm okay, don't worry. You did it. You defeated it.† He didn't get it. He didn't get what I'd done – or nearly done. Clearly, whatever crazy, powerful magic was involved here had protected him for the sake of the test. But if it hadn't †¦ â€Å"Seriously,† said Kiyo, still not understanding my distress. â€Å"I'm fine. Just got tossed around too much. Now go get the crown. He said it's yours.† I pulled away and looked into Kiyo's eyes, eyes full of fondness and pride. I didn't deserve that look, but we needed the crown, and we needed to get out of here. I rose unsteadily and walked over to the pedestal. The crown sat there ominously, and I glanced at the old man. He nodded encouragingly. If you can wear it. I supposed there was one more test, one I might fail. When my fingers touched the crown, I felt nothing, only cold metal. I lifted it gingerly, almost afraid of what I did. It was heavy – far heavier than my crown of state or fashionable ones. Yet, it fit my head perfectly, which was weird. When I'd first seen it, I'd been overwhelmed by its size. I'd been certain it would fall right off. The old man beamed and bowed again. â€Å"And now it is yours. Its powers are yours. You can make armies tremble. You can rip away lands and subdue them. The world can be yours.† Hoping I'd proven myself, I removed the crown. â€Å"I just hope I can end a war.† Kiyo rose shakily to his feet. He no longer smiled. â€Å"What do you mean she can rip away lands?† The old man spread his hands out wide. â€Å"That is the crown's power.† â€Å"The crown has no power,† I said, frowning. â€Å"It's a prize, a status symbol for enduring all this.† â€Å"A prize?† The old man's eyebrows rose, and he gave a great belly laugh. â€Å"Do you believe all of that was just for a prize? For some bauble?† Kiyo and I exchanged uneasy looks. â€Å"Then what does it do?† I asked. â€Å"The Iron Crown allows you to break the bond between a monarch and his or her kingdom, thus freeing it. If you have the strength, you can then claim it.† The old man shrugged. â€Å"Why, with enough power, you could control half the kingdoms in this world.†

Paterson, Katherine. Bridge to Terabithia

Children, by their very nature, are friendlier and more loving than adults. Children also find it easier than adults to believe in the imagination and thereby build castles in the air. Thus, two lonely children in Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia build a bridge to Terabithia, which happens to be their very own imaginary forest kingdom. Jesse Aarons Jr. is a middle child among five siblings settled with their parents in rural Virginia. While his father works away in Washington D. C. , Jesse is not among his mother’s favorite children.She does not seem to have much time for the son. Even so, Jesse’s sister, May Belle, shows love for her brother and even looks up to him. Leslie Burke, another important character in the book, is the only child of rich writers who have moved into Jesse’s area only recently. After Leslie wins a race that Jesse had been preparing all summer to win himself, in spite of the fact that the race is meant for â€Å"boys only, † the two strike a friendship. Both Jesse and Leslie are loners who do not get along very well with the other children at school.Jesse is interested in art, while his dad in Washington D. C. disapproves. Leslie does not have a television at home. So, Jesse shares his love of art with his new friend, Leslie. She, in turn, describes to her new friend her own love of fantasy tales. Through these discussions emerge a new idea – that of creating a magical kingdom. This imaginary kingdom is created near the children’s homes and in the woods. What is more, this new kingdom belonging only to Jesse and Leslie is accessible only by means of a rope that must swing over the creek.The kingdom is called Terabithia, and Jesse and Leslie are respectively named the King and the Queen of Terabithia. Jesse and Leslie spend each day at Terabithia after school. It is in their very own kingdom that the two children finally find their own place in the world. They shed their fears in th is kingdom to boot, such as the fear of the bully, Janice Avery from 7th grade. One day when Jesse is out to the National Gallery of Art in Washington D. C. on a field trip with his music teacher, Ms.Edmunds, whom he admires very much, Leslie goes off to Terabithia on her own. But while she is trying to cross the bridge to Terabithia – the rope that swings over a creek which is rain-swollen – her head hits a rock and the girl falls into the water to drown. Although Jesse cannot easily get over the death of Leslie, he overcomes the grief by remembering the strength that his new friendship had given him. Jesse overcomes his grief also by returning to Terabithia to perhaps save the life of Leslie, imagining that she may be alive somehow.While he is searching for Leslie, he hears the cry of a young voice calling for help. At first, Jesse believes that he has found Leslie alive. However, the voice calling out to him is that of his younger sister, May Belle. Jesses helps out his younger sister who has got stuck right in the middle of the rope over the creek. Before Leslie’s parents leave Jesse’s area, the boy asks them whether he could take some wooden planks that are lying in their shed. The parents reply that Jesse may have anything left over by them.Jesse takes the wooden planks to Terabithia and builds a bridge to replace the nasty rope over the creek. Once he is finished, he takes May Belle along with him to Terabithia to declare that she would be the Queen of Terabithia from now. Hence, the Bridge to Terabithia becomes an extraordinary adventure for young children, who would also learn how to face the realities of life through this wonderful read. Indeed, the book has important lessons for young children, one of the more important ones of which appears to be the use of reason.

Are You Up on the Top Resume Cover Letter Trends of 2012-2013

Are You Up on the Top Resume Cover Letter Trends of 2012-2013 Are you up on the top resume cover letter trends of 2012-2013? Many articles posted on line are old and outdated. Thankfully, each year Career Thought Leaders releases an up-to-date report on current job search trends and the 2012 report has been released! Findings of 2012 Global Career Brainstorming Day: Trends for the Now, the New the Next in Careers covers topics including Career Marketing Communications (my focus), Job Search, Career Planning Management, Career Counseling Coaching, The Changing Employment Landscape, and Challenges for Career Professionals. I invite you to read the full report to get a picture of job search trends in all these areas. What follows is a summary of top trends in Resumes Cover Letters, LinkedIn Profiles and Video/Multimedia presentations. The Essay Expert will be following these recommendations and I hope you will too! Resumes Cover Letters Resumes are not dead, despite the fact that some people do get interview offers based solely on their social media profiles and video presentations. In most fields, resumes remain the central career marketing document, around which all other materials (LinkedIn profile, networking resume, bio, etc.) revolve. Ideal length is two pages for most mid- to senior-level professionals; the presentation must be such that the information is readily absorbed in 6-10 seconds. A portfolio of additional, consistently branded materials, including an Executive Summary for senior players, is welcomed by decision-makers; this compilation paints a full picture of what an accomplished applicant offers. An exact street address is no longer necessary, but a LinkedIn URL is recommended. Numbers speak louder than words, so include any you can! Also include CAR (Challenge-Action-Result) or STAR (Situation-Task-Action-Result) stories to demonstrate your value. Each resume must be tailored to the job description. You will need multiple versions to be truly effective. Quotes/testimonials are becoming more and more accepted- and perhaps even expected- on resumes. Photos are still a no-no in the United States for anyone looking for full-time employment; in Europe and the UK, however, photos remain standard. Document Format requirements vary depending on your audience. Some organizations and job search sites accept fully formatted resumes in .doc or .pdf format; others require Word documents or text-based files. Gmail addresses are the standard, and aol addresses are seen as antiquated, especially for tech jobs. Brief, tailored cover letters are still welcome by some HR and hiring managers, so best practice is to include one that makes you stand out. The old â€Å"snail mail† tradition of sending a resume on nice bond paper is also not dead! You can make an impression by doing so and get some attention. If you are working with a recruiter, do whatever the recruiter directs you to do. You can use your more highly formatted resume when interacting directly with hiring managers. LinkedIn LinkedIn is absolutely essential to your job search strategy. Sure, you can be on facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, but LinkedIn is the one non-negotiable. Did you know that recruiters will often accept LinkedIn connection requests even though they will not read an unsolicited resume? Once on LinkedIn, recommendations are as follows: Prioritize keywords and recommendations (vs. endorsements). Update your profile and activity status regularly. There is no need to purchase a Premium account in order to get value from your LinkedIn presence. LinkedIn is not a silver bullet! Simply having a great profile does not guarantee success; you must participate in discussions and â€Å"take it off line† to get full value from the site. Your LinkedIn profile should complement, not copy, your resume. VideoBios, Web Portfolios, Visual CVs Other Multimedia Tools Web portfolios are becoming common, especially for those in the graphic arts field. A web presence may soon be expected for job seekers in some fields! Consistent branding is key. Video resumes are more accepted and utilized on the West Coast than elsewhere, but they have not taken off as anticipated. It seems social media profiles such as LinkedIn are still winning out. Some recruiters like video resumes/bios and Skype. Word to the wise: If you choose to present yourself through video, make sure you use high level technology! A poor quality video image, whether in a video or a Skype conversation, can be worse than no video at all. I hope the above â€Å"hot-off-the-press† advice from top career professionals supports what you’re already doing or encourages you to head in a new direction. Read the full report here. If The Essay Expert can help, let us know! We are available at 608-467-0067 or through our Web Form.

Reporting Money to Customs at the Canadian Border

Reporting Money to Customs at the Canadian Border When traveling to and from Canada, there are rules surrounding what youre allowed to bring into and out of the country. Canadians returning home must declare any goods they purchased or otherwise acquired while out of the country. This includes things like gifts, prizes, and awards, including items that will be shipped later. Anything purchased at a Canadian or foreign duty-free shop also must be declared.   A good rule of thumb when returning to Canada through customs: If youre not sure whether or not  something needs to be declared, its better to declare it and clear it with border personnel. It would be much worse to fail to declare something that officers discover later. Officials can seize any goods being illegally imported into Canada and, if  caught, youre likely to face penalties and fines. If you try to bring a firearm or other weapon into Canada without declaring it, you could face criminal charges. Bringing Money Into Canada There are no limits to the amount of money that travelers may bring into or take out of Canada. However, amounts of $10,000 or more must be reported to customs officials at the Canadian border.  Anyone who fails to report amounts of $10,000 or more could find their funds seized, and face a penalty between  $250 and $500. If you are carrying $10,000 or more in coins, domestic and foreign bank notes, securities such as travelers checks, stocks, and bonds, you must complete a Cross-Border Currency or Monetary Instruments Report - Individual Form E677. If the money is not your own, you should complete Form E667 Cross-Border Currency or Monetary Instruments Report - General. The form should be signed and handed to a customs officer for review. Completed forms are sent to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Canada (FINTRAC) for assessment and analysis. Non-Canadians Visiting Canada Anyone bringing goods into Canada must declare them to a border officer. This rule applies to cash and other items of monetary value. Its a good idea to have some idea of exchange rates because the minimum amount required to be declared is $10,000 in Canadian dollars. Personal Exemptions for Returning Canadians Canadian residents or temporary residents returning to Canada from a trip outside the country and former Canadian residents returning to live in Canada may qualify for personal exemptions. This allows them to bring a certain value of goods into Canada without having to pay the regular duties. Theyll still have to pay duties, taxes and any provincial/territory assessments on the value of goods above the personal exemption. Future Issues at the Border The Canada Border Services Agency keeps a record of violations. Travelers into and out of Canada who develop a record of infractions may have issues crossing the border in the future and may be subject to more detailed examinations. Tip: The best course of action for anyone entering Canada, whether youre a citizen or not, is to have your identification and travel documents readily available.   Be honest and be patient, and youll be on your way quickly.

From Evaluating a Skilled Care Initiative in Rural Burkina Faso to Article

From Evaluating a Skilled Care Initiative in Rural Burkina Faso to Policy Implications for Safe Motherhood in Africa - Article Example The study also reveals humans as prejudicial, for failing to put in place universal policies that would incorporate poor people as well. (Meda, et.al., 2008). The research questions of this study include: what practices lead to the rise in maternal mortality? What is the role of safe motherhood policy in alleviating fatalities of motherhood? How can these alarming rates of mortalities be reduced? The purpose of the research is to study the current situation of motherhood safety, identify contributing factors and recommend possible solutions to the problem, through the generation of evidence-based policies that would be useful in promoting safe motherhood programs in Burkina Faso (72-74). The type of research design used in this study is a descriptive, evidence-based design, carrying out studies in different settings and providing the factual representation of results from the field. It involves naturalist studies, drawing citations from case studies, intent observation of human behavior within the study settings of Burkina Faso, and use of surveys. It also involves the review of the literature, this has elements of Review design. The findings of this study reveal that for safe motherhood to prevail, three main issues have to be addressed: user fees, human health professionals and geographical access to health facilities by the mothers. Additionally, owing to the importance of skilled attendance at delivery, effective health policies should be established to achieve its successful implementation. Other policies that have emerged to be important in such implementation include fostering maternal referral service, to take care of emergency procedures; promoting community mobilization to encourage women to use maternal health services; and abolishment of user fees to cater for poor women as well (73-76).

Psychology project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Psychology project - Essay Example Sternberg goes on to elaborate that compassionate love consists of liking without sexual desire. He traces compassionate love to humanities biological heritage. The extreme helplessness of a human infant who cannot even hold his/her head upright for the first five months and needs the support of an elder care giver who nurtures his life guided primarily with the feelings of compassionate love for the completely vulnerable and helpless organism that man is at birth. So the perpetuation of the species to a large extent is dependent on the compassion and care our older care givers gave us to enable us to survive. Sternberg states that compassionate love results from both intimacy and commitment - (minus the passion). Compassion is an unconditional love rather like the love God has for humanity or like the brotherly/sisterly love shared by homeless people who share a deeper caring for each other even though they are not related. By its very definition compassionate love in my view is important as it will act as an anti-dote to fight terrorism and the senseless hatred of people who are different. More then any other kind of love, compassion is the one type of love that will facilitate a perpetuation of the species because, the more compassion we have for each other, the less likely we are to bump each other off. Robert Sternberg's triangular theory of love states love has three components- 1) Intimacy 2) Passion 3) Commitment. Various combinations of these result in different types of love. For example, a combination of intimacy and commitment results in compassionate love. According to Sternberg compassion is a more durable form of love as it is based on the two elements of commitment as well as intimacy, while love that is based on a single element, like say, passion is more likely to fizzle out with time. In this paper we will examine various theories on love to try and better understand the nature of love in general and compassionate love in particular. Biology of Psychology Here is the idea- 'Natural selection' offers the advantage of survival and so is more likely to be practiced by future generations. Darwin states, "can we doubtthat individuals having any advantage, however slight, over others,would have the best chance of surviving and of procreating their kind On the other hand, we may feel sure that any variation in the least degree injurious would be rigidly destroyed. This preservation of favorable variations and the rejection of injurious variations, I call Natural Selection."(Darwin, 1859, Natural Selection, The Origin of Species,) It could be that when we fall in love

European union Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

European union Law - Essay Example The conditions that were laid down were that the provision must be clear and precise; it must be unconditional; and its operations must not be dependent upon further action by national or EC authorities. The query as to whether a Directive could have direct effect was found to be contentious. Directives are intended to be implemented and brought into effect by national legislation within a stipulated period of time. ‘A Directive is to be binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon each Member State to which it is addressed†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢2 On a literal interpretation the power is conferred on the Member State so as to implement the measure. Thus the idea had been that the condition of further implementing measure could not be satisfied so no direct effect. However, in, the courts3 found that an individual could rely on a directive which had not been implemented in national law. Further development occurred by relating the doctrine of estoppels and stating that a State could n ot rely on its own fault to frustrate the rights that had been conferred upon individuals under the Directive. Thus if Member State due to its fault, fails to implement the Directive in national law or has done so inaccurately, the individual can claim against the state the rights that have been provided, had the Directive been (correctly) implemented4. Thus allowing vertical effect is appropriate because the fault can be attributed to the Member State for its failure and not of any other individual.5. This rule had been criticized for inequality, as an action could only be brought against the state.6However, it is important that the time limit for implementation must expire, because before that the Member State is not in breach of any obligation.7 In respect of the facts at hand the Directive has been incorrectly implemented, however, the problem lies in the fact that the timeline for the Directive to be implemented has not passed and therefore dependency is still there and the con ditions for direct effect would not be satisfied and an action against Age Aged Ltd cannot be brought about by Per by way of direct effect. The doctrine of indirect effect was laid down so as to allow parties to claim if they could not rely on direct effect8. The doctrine places an obligation on national courts to interpret national legislation ‘in the light of wording and purpose’ of Community law that is the duty of harmonious interpretation. The principal is to apply to national legislation regardless of whether it is passed before or after the EC legislation9. Indirect effect applies to vertical as well as horizontal actions. The limits that have been placed are that there must be national legislation; the doctrine applies subject to general principles of law, e.g. legal certainty and non-retroactivity10; and the exception of criminal liability11, however, this does not apply in respect of claims for civil liability on individuals12. In respect of the current situat ion it is important to point out that there is national legislation which has incorrectly implemented the directive and therefore Per can claim that the national courts are duty bound to implement it so as to give effect to the limitation on exclusion clauses in business contracts and therefore claim against Age

The Main Sources Of Carbon Dioxide Emissions Environmental Sciences Essay

The Main Sources Of Carbon Dioxide Emissions Environmental Sciences Essay Since the Industrial Revolution, human activities such as the burning of oil, coal and gas, as well as deforestation have greatly increased CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. Almost all CO2 emissions (about 96.5%) come from fossil fuels use. The 3 types of fossil fuels that are used the most are coal, natural gas and petroleum. When fossil fuels are combusted, the carbon stored in them is emitted almost entirely as CO2. The three main sectors that use fossil fuels are: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Transportation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Utilities (power, gas, oil etc) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Industrial production Transportation: The first new projections of future aircraft emissions in 10 years predict that carbon dioxide and other gases from air traffic will become a significant source of global warming as they double or triple by 2050. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The most important source of CO2 emissions worldwide is caused by the transportation of goods and people. The emissions caused by people traveling (by car, plane, train, etc) are examples of direct emissions since people can chose where they are going and by what method. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The emissions caused by the transportation of goods are examples of indirect emissions since the consumer has no direct control of the distance between the factory and the store. Since the distance between the manufacturer and the consumer is constantly growing, more pressure is put on the transportation industry to bridge this gap and this ends up creating more indirect emissions. Whats worse is that 99% of the energy used to transport people and goods all over the world comes from the combustion of fossil fuels. Industrial production: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Manufacturing and industrial processes all combine to produce large amounts of each type of greenhouse gas but specifically large amounts of CO2 because of two reasons. First, many manufacturing facilities directly use fossil fuels to create heat and steam needed at various stages of production. Second, their energy intensive activities use more electricity than any other sector so unless they are using renewable sources the energy that they use is responsible for vast amounts of emissions. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ By industrial production we are mainly talking about manufacturing, construction, mining, and agriculture. Manufacturing is the largest of the 4 and can be broken down into 5 main categories: paper, food, petroleum refineries, chemicals, and metal/mineral products. These categories account for the vast majority of the energy use and CO2 emissions by the sector.3, 4 Land-use Change It is estimated that man-made changes in land-use have, until now, produced a cumulative global loss of carbon from the land. Widespread deforestation has been the main source of this loss, estimated to be responsible for nearly 90 percent of losses since the mid-nineteenth century. Losses primarily occur due to the relatively long-term carbon sinks of forests being replaced by agricultural land. The conversion of land from forested to agricultural land can have a wide range of negative effects as far as greenhouse gas emission is concerned. Soil disturbance and increased rates of decomposition in converted soils can both lead to emission of carbon to the atmosphere, with increased soil erosion and leaching of soil nutrients further reducing the potential for the area to act as a sink for carbon. Respiration Respiration, both on land and in the sea, is a key component of the global carbon cycle. On land, an estimated 60 Pg C (60 billion tones) is emitted to the atmosphere each year by autotrophic respiration. In the sea, autotrophic respiration is thought to account for about 58 Pg of the dissolved inorganic carbon in surface waters each year, with the contribution of heterotrophic respiration being 34 Pg C. Effects of increasing temperatures on pollution can be observed which : 1. Higher temperatures due to carbon dioxide increased the chemical rate of ozone production in urban areas 2. Increased water vapor due to carbon dioxide-induced higher temperatures boosted chemical ozone production even more in urban areas. Engineers have designed a simple, sustainable and natural carbon sequestration solution using algae. A team at Ohio University created a photo bioreactor that uses photosynthesis to grow algae, passing carbon dioxide over large membranes, placed vertically to save space. The carbon dioxide produced by the algae is harvested by dissolving into the surrounding water. The algae can be harvested and made into biodiesel fuel and feed for animals. A reactor with 1.25 million square meters of algae screens could be up and running by 2010. America is by far the largest contributor to global warming than any other country releasing a quarter of the worlds carbon dioxide the primary cause of global warming. Bayless, with a team at Ohio University, created a photo bioreactor that uses photosynthesis to grow algae just like a plant would take carbon dioxide up and, through the energy of the sun, convert that into oxygen. That passes the carbon dioxide over these membranes, Ben Stuart, an Ohio University environmental engineer, tells DBIS. These membranes are fabric just like your shirt. Its a woven material, and as the carbon dioxide pass by them, that carbon dioxide dissolves into the water. That carbon dioxide is broken down by the algae. Nitrogen and clean oxygen are released back into the atmosphere. But to capture the CO2 created from a power plant, algae would have to fill a building the size of Wal-Mart. The size of these things would be enormous, about an acre worth of land space. And so the flu gases would run through this huge building and the algae would be growing on the suspended vertical surfaces. Stuart says. But what makes it cost effective? The algae can be harvested and made into biodiesel fuel and feed for animals. # Sea level rise densely settled coastal plains would become uninhabitable with just a small rise in sea level, which would result from melting of the ice caps # Impacts on agriculture Global warming could have major effects on agricultural productivity # Reduction of the ozone layer Warming would result in increase high cloud cover in winter, giving chemical reactions a platform in the atmosphere, which could result in depletion of the ozone layer # Increased extreme weather A warmer climate could change the weather systems of the earth, meaning there would be more droughts and floods, and more frequent and stronger storms # Spread of diseases Diseases would be able to spread to areas which were previously too cold for them to survive in # Ecosystem change As with the diseases, the range of plants and animals would change, with the net effect of most organisms moving towards the North and South Poles

Personal Narrative: Why I Chose the Legal Studies Major :: essays research papers

Selecting a major has been the most difficult challenge I have faced as a student at UC Merced. While many students select their major based upon statistics and ideals, I base my decision primary on my strong commitment and my passion. Furthermore, while maturing the last two years, I have learned that a major should encompass your love, talents, and desire for success in that subject. As stated in my application, my first job was tending to young children in an after-camp day care environment held at my community camp during the summer time, which had led to my interest in psychology and human development. I have worked there on and off now for several years. It seemed that as each year progressed, I realized my love for working with kids and for adults had increased as well. I even pursued this into UC Merced where I joined the UCM Mentor Program supplied by the Police Department because I liked having the responsibility of helping the children with their studies and problems, giving advice and support to the parents and adults, and even interacting with students from my university. At first, I thought I was made for being a child psychologist but I realized my love was to improve the lives of the people, bring morality and peace to the environment around them. So I realized psychology wouldn't utilize all of my talents and complete my yearning for success, altho ugh it would fulfill a love in the subject of bettering others' lives. I wanted more and my next step was discovering a different occupation, or major besides human development. This awareness came to me while talking to my role model, my uncle. My uncle had spent all of his life as a detective in Russia and when he visited me several years ago he gave me good advice about my future plans. He encouraged me to look into a couple areas of the law enforcement field and I immediately fell in love with the idea. After doing some research, I set my goals on becoming a distinguished lawyer, one that could help people in need of legal advice, fight for them legal battles and maybe even save their futures. I believe this noble goal is worth any hardship and I am willing to do whatever it takes to achieve it.