What is NATO for?

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is some 1949 alliance involving 26 North America and Europe nations. It objectives are to protect the se4curity and freedom of member states though military and political means. NATO is the principal security association within Europe. The alliance helps shield allies have modernized their shared strategic theory, upheld NATO’s amalgamated military organization, and carry on conducting mutual military scheduling, exercises and training. The allies have generated fresh fora and policies for boosting dialogue with previously communist nations of eastern and central Europe. Most importantly, NATO has had a major contribution in the enforcement of UN Security Council deliberations within what was once called Yugoslavia (Kaplan, 2004, 22). NATO has some significant function in controlling and containing militarized disputes within eastern and central Europe. It even strives to evade such conflicts by vigorously encouraging stability in what was once the Soviet community. NATO aided in stabilizing Western Europe, the states of which were formerly usually bitter enemies. Through solving the dilemma regarding security as well as offering some institutional system for building of shared security strategies, the alliance has had a contribution in rendering utilization of forceful modes as regards the relationships of the nations within such a region almost inconceivable (Duffeld, 1995). NATO persists in the enhancement of member country security with regard to external hazards through a number of methods. Firstly, NATO upholds the tactical balance within Europe by counterbalancing the lingering danger emanating from the Russian military strength. Secondly, is assists to tackle emerging fresh dangers, encompassing the intricate dangers that could result from the disputes among and within the nations of eastern and central Europe. Thirdly, it obstructs such dangers from occurring by working towards nurturing stability within what was once the soviet community (Churchill, 2006). Western European countries strive to uphold some counterbalance to former Soviet Union’s residual armed forces power, particularly the nuclear ability of Russia. Another post-cold war function of NATO is shielding of member states from an assortment of freshly emerging dangers. More focus has been directed to potential perils emanating out of Middle East and North Africa, partly due to the proliferation of expertise for developing missiles as well as weapons of mass destruction within such areas. The most prominent among fresh external dangers are however, territorial, ethnic as well as national disputes among and within the eastern and central European nations. These disputes are able to produce many immigrants or as well overflow into neighboring nations’ territories, NATO member states included. In the most extreme of cases, outside nations could sense the compulsion to get involved, thus stoking broadening of enmity, as happened at the start of World War II. Despite the fact that NATO has not been able to terminate such conflicts so far, the alliance assists in tackling the issues emanating from the disputes through a number of modes. Firstly, NATO shield member nations from probable overflow of armed forces hostilities. Although none of NATO member nations has ever received serious threats in such a way, the alliance’s extensive experience in arranging member nation defenses ensures NATO is adequately ready to handle such emergencies (Sandler, Hartley, 1999, 16). NATO as well assists other nations to avoid being inducted into such conflicts. NATO’s existence assures member nations located near such a zone that they will receive assistance in tackling nearby conflicts in the event that such conflicts shoot up and overflow, thus minimizing the motivation to unilaterally get involved. Instead, the presence of NATO assists in ensuring that military participation of western nations in these disputes, if at all it happens, is consensual and collective. The likelihood of some quick, coordinated response from NATO could deter other nations from interfering (http://www. nato. int/docu/speech/2003/s031103a. htm). NATO in 1992 reached a consensus to avail NATO property in the support of peacekeeping actions sanctioned by the United Nations (UN) Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). At the beginning of 1994, NATO as well endorsed the construction of some mechanism named Combined Joint Task Forces (C JTF) which would allow member coalitions (coalitions of the willing) to utilize shared alliance possessions for particular actions outside the accord zone. Most spectacularly, NATO has acquired vital experience in what was once Yugoslavia. NATO personnel have imposed the Adriatic maritime barricade as well as a no-fly region over Bosnia. NATO as well offered defensive air authority for United Nations ground forces. They utilized the warning of air ambushes to secure seclusion regions for serious arms around the united nations-selected safe Gorazde zone and Sarajevo. Pursuant to the disintegration of socialism, numerous former soviet community nations have embarked on aggressive economic and political reforms. Europe has substantial stakes in such efforts because failure may result to mass migrations, Domestic strife, armed disputes and direct dangers to surrounding NATO member states as well. NATO encourages stability within the previous soviet community through 2 ways. Firstly, the alliance directly nurtures political restructuring success within the area. Starting in 1990, the alliance has initiated a broad spectrum of institutions and programs for consultation regarding security concerns, most conspicuously the Partnership for Peace (PfP) and the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC). NATO may utilize such initiatives to aid the young regimes to restructure their security structures, planning procedures and policies (Greenwood, 1993). Such fresh arrangements may particularly strengthen democratic management of the military as well as reverence for civilian power through inducting eastern and central European heads to western civil-military associations’ models. Secondly, the alliance boosts eastern and central European security though reassuring such nations that they will be assisted in case they receive outside threats. This helps such states to abandon possibly destabilizing activities as well as to follow their aggressive domestic restructuring agendas with more confidence. Starting from 1990, NATO’S North Atlantic Council has constantly issued candid oral statements of awareness as happened during 1991’s soviet coup d'etat attempt. The NACC permits states in the former Soviet Union to state their issues as well as discuss varied issues regularly as they engage their counterparts in NATO as identical partners. The freshly approved PfP provides every member official dialogue with NATO, in the vent that such a member perceives some direct danger to their security, as well as solid military liaisons with NATO member states through contribution to several military operations and activities (http://www. ato. int/docu/speech/2003/s031103a. htm). Since its formative years, NATO has significantly worked towards normalizing relationships among member states. Extremely important among NATO’s intra-alliance roles is reassurance. NATO’s existence assures member states that they should not fear each other. The alliance minimizes the likel ihood of disputes among western European member states in 3 ways including: increasing stability; tying the US to Europe so as to guarantee the upholding of the equilibrium of authority within the area; and inhibiting re-nationalization of such nation’s security strategies. A significant likely cause of conflict between nations is misunderstanding and misperception among nations. Without reliable and detailed data, policy makers could overstate the offensive armed capacities of other nations or misconstrue foreign objectives, usually regarding them as being more antagonistic that they are in the actual sense. They as well are inclined to overlooking the safety issues their own activities could arouse abroad (Kaplan, 2004, 41). Therefore, international relationships are usually characterized by mistrust and suspicion. NATO assists in avoiding the mergence of such damaging dynamics; it instead encourages mutual self-assurance though facilitating elevated intra-alliance honesty. Contribution to NATO’s force strategizing procedure requires member states to share detailed data regarding their armed forces, defense financial statements as well as future strategies. Owing to this institutionalized transparency, member states only hide a few secret from their counterparts, and they possess minimal motivations to do likewise. NATO also nurtures reassurance for member states through undertaking integration of members’ security strategies. To different but normally significant extents, Nations formulate as well as implement their defense strategies jointly as members of NATO as opposed to on exclusively state basis. Such security strategy denationalization neutralizes the usual competition and enmity for military supremacy that could otherwise happen amongst the key European big shots, it also assists to prevent any usage of armed forces posturing to attain political clout in Europe (Churchill, 2006). In case re-nationalization happens, this could result to issues regarding internal inequities within Western Europe as well as arouse fresh competition, conflict and mistrust. NATO encourages security strategy denationalization in a number of ways. NATO’S consultative arms, force scheduling procedures as well as integrated armed systems assist to develop a shared identity amongst member states. Frequent and comprehensive dialogue results to an elevated level of common understanding. Cooperative force scheduling assists reshape member states armed forces posture in order to reflect NATO-wide, as opposed to, national concerns. Also, assignments to NATO’s military associations and civilian officialdoms socialize military personnel and state officials into some shared NATO customs. Additionally contribution to NATO’s combined military system fosters minimized military independence among member states, particularly within central Europe; because it permits members relinquish or at the minimum deemphasize several components vital for an autonomous military capacity. Numerous European nations, For instance, rely heavily upon the alliance’s multinational space early caution force as well as its combined air protection structures. Small as well as big nations have given up their capability to undertake particular missions, like the sweeping of mines and air surveillance, with the intention of husbanding security resources, after having known that counterpart allies could undertake such missions (Duffeld, 1995). International integration develops a measure of shared control through increasing the extent of joint contribution to operational and organization planning. Therefore, the persistent existence of the multinational military system imposes restraints upon the capability of numerous member states to utilize their armed personnel for purely state objectives, at any rate on the short-to-medium period, as well as assures members regarding the shared objective of their armed might. Without NATO, the likelihood of one nation’s forces raising alarm within another nation would be greater (http://www. direct. gov. uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/UKgovernment/TheUKandtheworld/DG_073420). NATO member states regard maintenance of the alliance to be mutually advantageous to them, since it carries on the performance of a number of essential security roles, both internal and external, including incorporation of Canada and the United States into European defense matters. NATO has as well adapted impressively to the dynamic European defense environment, positive example being the experience in Bosnia. Whereas the joint defense of NATO territory is the core function of the NATO alliance, the fresh NATO, through widening its key role to incorporate peacekeeping and crisis handling as well as encouraging cooperation and partnership, including some strategic association with Moscow, has emerged to be the backbone of some European joint defense regime (Sandler, Hartley, 1999, 67).

Pay it forward Essay

I am greatly touched by what the movie shows to me and I also feel so sad for the boy’s pass away at the end. The teacher in this movie not only assign a homework for the students, but also give a chance to the students to think about who they are, how they indentify themselves and what they can do for the whole society. The teacher is an instructor and he instructs his students to begin to consider their role in the society and how to use their actions to influence the world; even they never have such awareness. At the same time, the teacher acts as a link or bridge between Trevor and his mother. Through this social studies assignment, his mother tries to understand her son’s thoughts and his feeling and tries to communicate with the son. Meanwhile, she is also touched by her son’s â€Å"Pay it forward† idea and movement; that’s why she forgives her own mother. In the other hand, Trevor’s mother and his teacher fall in love and get together finally because of Trevor’s help. Therefore, the teacher works like a link to connect the students with their family and open a door for them to communicate with each other; and meanwhile, the teacher is also involved in the relationship between the families he serves. From my elementary school in my country, the parents and the teachers always told us you were the hope of our country and from now on, every one of you should try to be a useful person for society. However, at that time, I didn’t know what a useful person should be. It has to be a famous scientist, a professor or even a president? I didn’t know what the society excepted of me. As I grow up day by day, I understand I was not to be expected as a super great person but to be expected to bring some good change to the world like Trevor’s beings. The good changes may be very little such as throwing different kinds of trashes to specific trash ban; and the changes may be a great and valuable development such as developing a new medicine against lung cancer. It really depends on how this person’s power and abilities, but all of them are valuable and are the society’s expectations from us. For me, I am stronger and have more knowledge than before I was educated, especially on my study areas. The Biochemistry studies of my home country are just developing. Even those industries develop very fast; they still fall behind the United States. That’s why I come here and pursued my master degree at Biochemistry. I hope some day I can go back to home and involve myself to Biology or Biochemistry research areas. After I finished my master degree and worked like a chemist here for more than one year, I have already been in San Francisco for around six years. Through I chatted to lots of my friends here and so many examples I have seen, I found that the early child education here is more systematic, efficient and scientific, which has lots of fundamentals and theories to obey. Therefore, I backed to college again and study for child development as my another professional area. I hope one day, I can bake to my country to help to institute a more safe and health environment for kids and help every kid to develop as a whole child, not only on physical development, but also on mental and emotional development. From the movie, I understand the power of one person is much larger than we expected. Trevor initiate â€Å"Pay it Forward† movement, and he does a favor for three people and ask each of them to doing favors for three other people and so on, which will like a branch tree of good deeds. The movement will be like a relay race, which more and more people will be involved in and will expand more widely. Therefore, we can say one person may have chain change on the world a lot, whatever is a good change or bad change. Don’t miss doing any good thing no matter how insignificant it looks; don’t do any bad thing no matter how insignificant it looks. We don’t have to change the world better by doing really great things. When we help our families, friends or even a stranger as much as we can, we already changed the world better even we normally cannot realize that. For me, I will donate my cloths and old toys to the donation center; I will go to do the volunteer in Book Donation Center to help more people can read books and be educated. However, at most of time, I think we should always think of giving a favor to other people in daily life, not only do some specific things in specific time.

Minority Representation

There are a number of places where the rationale behind having minority representation in any legislative or judicial sitting is asked for. There are a number of reasons why this could be mad important and essential for the betterment of the society and this is why the activity is usually practiced by several countries. Minority is defined in a number of ways. â€Å"The definition of a minority group can vary, depending on specific context, but generally refers to either a sub-group that does not form either a majority or a plurality of the total population, or a group that, while not necessarily a numerical minority, is disadvantaged or otherwise has less power (whether political or economic) than a dominant group.† (Wikipedia, 2007[1]) Minority representation is an important part of any legal formation because there are a number of countries that practice this. â€Å"Minority party is a term describing the party in a legislature that does not hold a majority. In the United States Congress, it is led by the minority leader. (Wikipedia, 2007[2]) The United States of America is known for having a minority party within its congress and any other legal formation because the minority party would then carry the interests of the minority group and they would help the issues that are faced by such people top be brought out into the open to the majority of the country. The majority party would not always be the one to stress upon a certain point or a event that should be achieved but rather there must be a few people who must work with the majority in order to explain them the benefits and the harm that may be faced by the people if such a thing takes place. The minority must be allowed to speak up on any important account because then their interests must also be heard and so that the minority groups are ensured not be suppressed over the other groups that are in majority. However, in a few countries, there are minority parties that are not provided all the representation that they need such as â€Å"The Minority Party (Minoritetspartiet) is a political party in Denmark without parliamentary representation.† (Wikipedia, 2007[3]) Such countries do not allow the voice of the minorities to be heard. Of course, there can be a rationale provided that not all minority parties can be provided with representation; else the place for the majority parties would reduce. Hence, there could be a system where only those minority parties that are deemed important in the legislation or another group must be invited. Who must decide the importance of the groups is a major issue because there could be a number of riots and arguments about the decisions that will be taken. Hence, there must be a way for the government of the authority to ensure that the parties needed are not left out. This is a great responsibility to ensure that the minorities are also allowed to take part in several groups and discussions for the betterment of the country so that in case there is a point or piece of fact that the majority groups are forgetting to analyze, the minority group could think about it and let them know. The minority group will not be a burden on the groups or discussions but rather could be a means to establishing a better society and a country that is acceptable to all and that there are no riots or demonstrations against what the citizens have to say against the government for the decisions that have been taken. References Wikipedia. (2007). Minority. Retrieved on February 7, 2007 from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority Wikipedia. (2007). Minority Party. Retrieved on February 7, 2007 from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_party [1] Wikipedia. (2007). Minority. Retrieved on February 7, 2007 from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority   [2] Wikipedia. (2007). Minority Party. Retrieved on February 7, 2007 from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_party [3] Wikipedia. (2007). Minority Party. Retrieved on February 7, 2007 from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_party

Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Economics - Essay Example It is a type of RAM that retains its data only if it is continuously accessed by a refresher circuit, in the absence of which it loses its contents. All personal computers use DRAM, as against SRAM (static random access memory), because they are much cheaper and occupy much less space (PC Guide, 2001). Online technology news publication Network World reported on January 4, 2011, that towards the end of 2010 until the date of writing, there had been an oversupply of DRAM which sent prices to its lowest price in one year (Jennings, 2011). The situation was blamed on post-holiday oversupply, also sending prices for personal computers lower. 3.0 Analysis 3.1 Supply and Demand Demand is â€Å"a desire for a good, backed by ability and willingness to pay.† Market demand is the cumulative demand of all buyers (Dwivedi, 2005, p. 34). The law of demand is â€Å"all things being equal, the amount demanded increases with a fall in price and diminishes with a rise in price† (Marsha ll, quoted in Dwivedi, 2005, p. 35). In the article, it was mentioned that earlier in 2010 there had been a forecast of shortage for the DRAM. The forecast was based on a Goldman Sachs PC unit growth forecast made in March 17, 2010 (Telecoms Korea, 2010). Because DRAMs are major components of PCs, there was a projected increase in demand for DRAMs to service the higher demand for PC manufactures. As the market unfolded for the rest of the year, however, it became apparent that the forecasted demand was overestimated. Supply is â€Å"the quantity of a commodity which its producers or sellers offer for sale at a given price, per unit of time.† Market supply is the sum of supplies of commodity by all individual firms (Dwivedi, 2005, p. 47). The law of supply is â€Å"all things being equal, the quantity supplied increases with the increase in price, and decreases with the decrease in price† (Dwivedi, 2005, p. 47). In the article, it was mentioned that beginning December, as the holiday shopping season lost momentum, major semiconductor manufacturers continued to output DRAMs in large volume, purported to stay competitive. This was due to the earlier forecast of a DRAM shortage, for which companies increased factory capacity, that in turn required higher production outputs to even out the additional overhead and maintain a lower per unit cost. Figure 1 following is a graph of the superimposed supply and demand curves. It is evident that increasing price leads to an increase in quantity supplied and decrease in quantity demanded. The point at which the two curves intersect is the equilibrium point, representing the price at which the quantity demanded is equal to the quantity supplied, and transactions take place. It is at this point where the market is made. There are shaded portions of the graph where surplus and shortages are represented. The interest of this paper is the area above the equilibrium point, where surplusage, or oversupply, occurs. At these prices, the quantity supplied exceeds the quantity demanded, forcing the suppliers to lower their prices. Figure 1: Law of Supply and Demand 3.2 Oversupply (Surplus) Oversupply occurs when the quantity supplied exceeds quantity demanded. This would tend to drive prices down, because suppliers would tend to outbid each other in a price war

Analysis of First Eucharistic Prayer Research Paper

Analysis of First Eucharistic Prayer - Research Paper Example Scholar Mazza explores and examines the four texts available to him in order to decipher the structure and content of the First Eucharistic Prayer: (1) Jewish festive meal, (2) Luke’s Last Supper, (3) Didache, and (4) the First Letter to the Corinthians. The â€Å"texts† that describe the rituals characterized in the Jewish festive meal and the Didache were written anonymously since both texts are oral tradition; this implies that the two texts were made by the people who practiced them -- there was no particular author who wrote them. In Luke’s document, it is assumed that the writer is Luke who was one of the disciples of Jesus. And the author of the Letter to the Corinthians is none other than St. Paul himself. In his rigorous research, Mazza uncovers the nature of this Eucharistic Prayer and how it shapes the study of Christology and Ecclesiology. According to Mazza (1999, p.20), Luke’s description of the Last Supper has similarity or â€Å"analogous† to the Jewish festive meal. Monti (1993, p.117) says that the Last Supper instituted by Jesus of Nazareth is considered by many Christians as the â€Å"most important aspects of this liturgy (i.e., eucharistic prayer).† And Mazza attempts to find a connection or relationship between the Last Supper and the Jewish festive meal; after all, Jesus was fundamentally a Jew. There are three basic stages of the Jewish festive meal: first, the rite of the Qiddush as an introduction to the festive celebration; second, the meal proper; and third, the rite of the cup accompanied by Birkat ha-Mazon (Mazza, 1999). In the Qiddush rite, it begins with the rite of the cup and the reading taken from the passage in the Book of Genesis. Afterwards, a short blessing is performed. At the concluding part of the Qiddush is the rite of bread. After the rite of the Qiddush and the me al proper is the recitation of the Birkat ha-Mazon; Birkat ha-Mazon is a ritual characterized by thanksgiving to God, usually

Anlysis of the Russian real estate market Essay

Anlysis of the Russian real estate market - Essay Example Real estate products can range from apartment spaces to residential villa spaces in the category of residential products and office spaces, shopping mall spaces to fully developed industrial estates in the category of commercial and business real estate products. The sizes and locations of such real estate products make for a distinct pricing pattern and the concepts of demand and supply apply to each category of such products and help determine the prices. In fact control of the market ,while seemingly impossible due to heavy investments involved-is also not improbable in some degrees where large real estate houses can control and a determine a particular real estate product. The overall picture in the real estate market is largely subservient to the state of the economy; however; in some international instances the real estate sector has either partly or completely belied the state of the economy. In the US itself, for example, the mortgage market saw a slump which was incommensura te with the overall health of the economy; in fact, the horse seems to be driven by the cart in the sense that the mortgages markets threatened to bring down with it the overall US economy. This underscores the importance of the real estate market for the economy as a whole while also explaining the symbiotic relationship between the two. This paper would focus on the analysis of the Russian real estate markets. The core importance would be attached to the Moscow real estate markets as Moscow happens to be the most important city space in the entire Russia. Methodology The methodological tool would essentially involve a thorough and in-depth literature analysis in search of arguments and facts that help us determine the state of the real estate markets in Russia at an a latest date. In additon, wherever required, the paper would also endeavor to include relevant secondary data and figures so as to support the arguments sifted out in the literature review. The paper would conclude with comments on the prevailing state of the Russian real estate markets in nutshell. The paper is written with a view to guide a prospective foreign investor. The literature review would be deployed to gather arguments to substantiate above research objectives and to establish arguments in the research. This research methodology was a detailed, descriptive analysis of the arguments presented in the available research evidence. The research method essentially entailed conduct of intensive interrogation of published documentary materials with the explicit aim of addressing the above stated issues which this paper deals with, providing a critique of existing theory and positions. Standard search approaches were used to retrieve the sample of published and unpublished studies for this in-depth literature review. Appropriate on-line journals were also searched. Citations in bibliographies of identified studies were reviewed to uncover additional references. Retrieval using the ancestry method was used as it is a most fruitful approach.The overall view of the literature review based research method would be a view usually taken in phenomenology . Phenomenology is a science which focuses on describing particular phenomena as lived experience. The

Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Research Paper Example SAS did not look back from then onwards. Continuous research and development helped the software achieve new milestones in the industry with the ability of the software to run on different platforms and across multivendor system architecture, which it is still famous for. One interesting point worth mentioning here is that the company kept on expanding and becoming more and more global each day, the internal corporate cultures and values have remained the same throughout. It is a privately help company. The solutions provided by the company have helped client organizations innovate and improve their performance. The company motto is ‘The power to know’ and this is what they do for their customers, they help the customers make better, informed decisions. The company proudly states that they impact every single person every day they believe that they have role in the daily lives of everyone. SAS has been able to help organizations utilize the greatest and most powerful ass et they possess, the data and has helped them in turning it into useful information. SAS is uses at more than 50,000 sites in more than 100 countries around the globe including the 93 out of the top 100 Companies on the Fortune 500 Global list of 2010 (About SAS, 2011). Right from its birth, the company had a unique organizational culture. They had instilled a unique value within the employees of the organizations that the business of doing business is everyone’s job. An example of this approach is back in the early days, when a shipment of user manuals came, everyone stopped whatever they were doing and formed a human chain to ship those manuals to the storage space on the second floor. The company always maintained their focus on the customers right from the start. They had employees listened to the customers and tried to answer their queries and take their suggestions into consideration. Emphasis on the satisfaction of employees was as important as customer satisfaction. T he company offered a flexible work environment and a employee-friendly culture and it did so right from its start and has maintained its trademark up till now. They have also gained continuous recognition from FORTUNE, Working Mother, BusinessWeek, and Mother Jones Magazines for their great work place environment. Not only the company managed to maintain a great work culture at its head office, it has also managed to do the same while earning recognition for it at the same time. In 1999, SAS Australia was the first office outside USA to be recognized as a great place to work. Other offices around the world also started getting recognition for the same reason later on. In USA, SAS has been consistently in the list of â€Å"100 Best Companies to Work for† since 1998 and it was named no. 1 in the same list during 2010 and 2011. The above-mentioned statistics and information highlight the success of the company from the time it came into being. Several factors are responsible for making a corporation successful. SAS has emphasized and implemented certain strategies and indulged into a work culture that has made it largest privately held software company and the no. 1 employer in the United States. Critical Success Factors SAS CEO, Jim Goodnight regards employees as their most valuable assets and this has clearly been one of the main reason behind their exceptional success in the past 35 years of their existence (Culture, 2011). Several changes have evolved in the business model as well as the employee

Community Collaborator Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Community Collaborator - Essay Example Second, government officials, through their programs and reform initiatives affect student productivity, attendance, and the rate of students promoted to subsequent grades, while at the same time serving as role models for future students. Third, local groups like Elks, by providing financial and other forms of support, provide significant assistance to teachers in taking effective leadership positions among their students. Fourth, veterans, with their knowledge and the respect they earned in the community, serves as a source of wisdom in imparting to younger generations priceless life experiences to guide their futures. And last, local newspapers and district public relations offices help boost student esteem and morale by serving as an outlet for student works and publishing morale boosting articles about students and their schools. Each group successfully improves student learning through programs and strategies unique within the segment they represent. 4-H, for example, improves student behavior and encourages healthy development by involving all members of the community to work together to support learning both in school and beyond the classroom.

Cross cultural issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Cross cultural issues - Essay Example Cultural diversity exists between the United States and Europe. Citizens of the two countries differ in culture, beliefs, faith practices and economic inclination. These differences make business management practices in various parts and organizations different. U.S’s proven management systems and practices may not work appropriately in Europe. For instance, a U.S based Multinational Corporation; the effectiveness of her management control system and practices would evidently differ from one country to another or even from one branch with diverse cultural inclination to another in the same country. Therefore, our study intends to compare cultural inclinations of the two countries; the U.S and Europe and understand the implications of the differences to the expansion of a U.S based organization intending to establish a branch in Europe by purchasing an already existing firm in the same line of production. Global trade has tremendously increased in the recent past. This has probed the multinational corporations or individuals who intend to venture into the international trade to learn about international business. Therefore, it is very important to learn and understand the different cultures of the world before enrolling in doing business in foreign countries. This would reduce the risks involved in business transactions. Understanding other countries’ negotiation tactics, greetings, communication styles, body language, meeting and dress, and social events are keys to have good business relationships with other partner countries. For instance, the United States and Europe are nations that regularly interact in business relations. Although they share similarities, the two countries share a lot of differences. In the United States, the first impression matters a lot and is basic to the success of every business relationship. The Americans appreciate eye contacts and a firm hand shake with business partners (Bowie, n.d, p.1-12). As a matter of

Term paper for biomedical ethics PHIL 150 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

For biomedical ethics PHIL 150 - Term Paper Example In the first part of each article I will be explaining the arguments and the conclusions of their version of Euthanasia. In the second part of this paper I will also look at the philosophical foundation of the Euthanasia from both articles and analyze how the perspectives guide the articles to their conclusions of Euthanasia. With many variations of definitions depending on the legality and morality of a particular region, the simple definition of euthanasia is that it refers to the practice of deliberately terminating a life in order to alleviate pain and suffering (DeGrazia et al 41). This intentional ending of life can be with the consent of the patient or even without the consent of the patient in some cases. The termination of life from the patient will mostly be done by the doctor or a physician. There has always been a rift and arguments on whether euthanasia is morally correct. This has been debated between the moral doctrines by the doctors and also by the philosophers who believe that nobody should have the capability of terminating another person’s life even if the person is ailing and the patient has no chances of getting better, they believe this is ethically wrong (DeGrazia et al 23). Different perspectives have been put forward to argue on the different aspects of euthanasia. Two in stances that come into focus in my case are the arguments by Callahan â€Å"Killing and Allowing to Die† and also an article by Miller et al. â€Å"Regulating Physician-Assisted Death†. In the case of Callahan he argues that there is quite a legitimate dissimilarity between killing and allowing to die. He goes ahead and defends the distinction by analyzing three perspectives overlapping each other in this case; metaphysical, moral and medical perspectives. Under the metaphysical perspectives Callahan explains that the external world is distinct from the self and has its own

Political Theatre Essay Example for Free

Political Theatre Essay Modernism came about due to a change in international thinking, with the likes of Darwins evolution theory and the publication of Karl Marxs The Communist Manifesto (1848). People wanted a clean break with tradition, presented through the arts as Romanticism and realism. Consequently, Modernism an artistic experiment and immensely complex movement encompassed the majority of the countries in the Western World, after figures in the avant-garde of the movement, such as Zola and Nietzsche, spread out from the bohemian cities of Paris and Vienna, where Modernism stemmed from. Modernism is an Umbrella term, an overwhelmingly complex phenomenon1, including Naturalism, Symbolism and Theatre of the Absurd among others. It also began throughout the world at different times forming a number of different strands, such as Germanic and Anglo-American Modernism. It is for this reason that the movement is so difficult to pin down to one era. According to Bradbury and McFarlane, it began in 1880 and ended in the 1930s. However, among other critics, I propose that the period stretches further, much closer to the present day, where we are currently in the period of Post-Modernism. It is certain that Modernism began in the 1880s, making a swift transition from Romanticism. It was concerned with a negative consciousness, alienating the audience and creating a sense of disorder. Yet, this quickly gave way to a positive attitude to social advance, seen in Henrik Ibsens plays, highlighting optimism and confidence. Shortly after came the main strand of Modernism, replacing this confidence with a fascination with irrational forces, reflected in Strindbergs The Ghost Sonata. The movement juxtaposes a number of unlikely combinations such as The Enlightenment (18th Century) and Romanticism (early 19th Century); rational and irrational thought; and the naturalistic and symbolic because of its complexity and the range of different styles within it. The central point for Modernism changed at the end of World War I, moving away from France in favour of Central Europe and revolutionary Russia. The change in politics, society and technology called for developments in theatre, the product being Political Theatre. However, the term Political Theatre was first used publicly in 1928, before which it had no official term. Political Theatre, like the rest of Modernism posed a number of experimental, and often controversial ideas. The two main forerunners of Political Theatre were Germans, Erwin Piscator and Bertolt Brecht. Piscator set the ball rolling, adapting plays to have a political edge, while Brecht developed the ideas and formed stronger concepts and theories, writing his own plays with political subject matters. Yet, the practitioners didnt work together in developing the style despite sharing similar beliefs in how theatre should be portrayed, because each man wanted to manage himself. Ironically, this situation is echoed in the politics of the time with the Russian and German Revolutions, where despite the parties seizing power in similar manners and setting out from the same causes, they didnt share views in ideology. At the end of World War I Germany was in a state of economical and political ruin. The Weimar Republic took control of Germany until just before World War II after which Hitler effortlessly seized power. The artists of The Weimar Republic, home of Political Theatre, were anti-Nazi and sought to find policies to suit them elsewhere. As a result, strong allegiances were built with Russia, and many artists of the Modern era migrated there to find jobs. Piscator was a revolutionary Marxist; he disliked the Nazis and produced many political plays attacking the regime. However, Piscators theatre was subject to party orders and the political issues of the time. Brecht, like Piscator was opposed to Militarism and false Nationalism. He despised Nazism and as a result was exiled for fifteen years, where he wrote some of his most famous work including The Good Person of Szechwan and Mother Courage. Yet, unlike Piscator, he never joined the East German Communist Party despite following the Marxist regime, which was mainly based in Russia. Two forms of theatre that had been set up in Russia, largely influenced by the works of Meyerhold, set the basis for Piscators Epic theatre of Politics. Agitation Propaganda (Agit-Prop) aimed to stimulate the audience to take political action, through the use of song and short sketches. The other, Mass spectacles, were vast pageants of revolution involving casts of thousands 2. It has been suggested that Piscators Epic theatre was a fusion of these two elements. However, his theatre is not Naturalism. He uses aspects of previous forms, fitting them into Political Theatre. He is more sympathetic towards Naturalism because it shows real people on stage, but claims the problems is that cries of exasperation stand where we should hear answers 3, this being the difference. However, where Piscator scattered the pieces, Brecht was the one to pick them up and create the jigsaw. Brecht drew his own ideas from Piscators, simplifying and customising them. Piscator wanted to create a new form of theatre, one that engulfed the social struggle, where the Proletariat take power from the ruling class, another link with Marxist Russia during World War I (1917). He wanted his audience, preferably the working class, to take a stand as a result of his theatre. Piscator once said More than ever the theatre must nail its flag fanatically to the mast of politics: the politics of the proletariat Theatre is action, the action of the proletariat4 His theatre aimed to depict reality as truthfully and authentically as possible, providing a documentary style reality to the drama. This had repercussions on future Art, because this idea formed the basis for Documentary Theatre. In order to portray this new theatre, there came a need for a new style of acting, and not only this but a totally different approach to performance. A critic described one of Piscators early productions, Fahnen, as epic, and consequently he built on this idea. Thus the beginnings of Epic Theatre were first outlined in his published book, Das Politische Theater in 1929. It is now appreciated that Political and Epic Theatre go hand in hand. However, the real theorist of Epic Theatre was Brecht. Naturally, he was influenced by Piscator, but used his methods on a much smaller scale. As Willett said The real novelty [of Brechts theatre] and force of his plays lay in the words which simply could not stand such top-heavy staging5 and therefore focussed his work on die Verfremdungseffekt, a technique he created that made the acting strange to the audience. In doing this, Brecht took the emotion out of the production, distanced the audience from the characters, and most importantly made the actors dissociate themselves from their roles. The staging of Political Theatre aimed to enhance the technique and theories of the movement as a whole. It depended on a minimum of scenery and props, following the ideals that the spectacle of the theatre is in the acting and what the actors can portray. Brechts Mother Courage is a good demonstration of how small greedy entrepreneurs make wars possible. Brecht states this in no uncertain terms in the play What they could do with round here is a good war. What else can you expect with peace running wild all over the place? You know what the trouble with peace is? No organization. 6 portraying his views on the senselessness of war. The play tells the story of a woman who runs a sustenance wagon during wartime. Set during the Thirty Years War, it acts as a metaphor to any war throughout time. The play shows that people lose sense of their morals during war, through greed of the army sergeants, but also how Courage remains set on providing for the war despite losing her two sons, and get her materialistic cut, knowing that big profits are not made by little people7. There are certain attributes in Mother Courage that exemplify Epic Theatre, the most dominant of these being the character names in the play for example the Cook and the Chaplain. Brecht avoided giving characters actual names as this added to his concept of the Verfremdungseffekt, stopping the audience from becoming emotionally attached to the character. By naming Mother Courage the audience is subconsciously forced to empathise with her, sharing a powerless social position 8. Brecht also created the idea of gestus. Here, the actor adopts a socially critical attitude towards his character, communicating with the audience as himself rather than as the play character. A good example in Mother Courage is a performance by Brechts wife, Helen Weigel. When asked to identify her son at the end of scene three, the stage directions instruct Courage to shake her head, to show she doesnt recognise her son. However, after doing this, Weigel turned to the audience, opening her mouth in a silent scream. This reminded the audience they were spectators at the theatre, another of Brechts aims, but also had more affect on the audience than any real scream could have. It is for this reason that Mother Courage was both a success and ineffectual for Brecht. Audiences always felt some emotion towards Courage, yet the play was well received. Brecht included a number of songs in his play, and the actors would step out of character to perform these, adding to the Verfremdungseffekt. He wanted the music and text to juxtapose one another, such as when Yvette teaches Kattrin about love in the Fraternization Song. Political Theatre played a key role in the development of Modernism as a whole, Brecht being the most influential character, but was also fundamental in the development of theatre. Remains of Political Theatre can be seen across the Arts today, and the sub-movement has been continued by such political writers as Edward Bond who said that theatre helps us to understand political views, complimenting the work of Brecht and Piscator. Despite being experimental and controversial, Political Theatre is now regarded with great respect and well received. Therefore, Brechts ingenious but contentious ideology came true for him, and the development of Modern Theatre: Dont start from the good old things, but the bad new ones. References 1. Bradbury, M. and McFarlane, J. Modernism A Guide to European Literature Penguin Books 1991 2. http://www. citycol. com/perfdesn/Piscator. htm Erwin Piscator (1895-1966) 3. Piscator, E. The Political Theatre In: http://www. citycol. com/perfdesn/Piscator. htm 4. Piscator, E. In: Willett, J. The Theatre of Erwin Piscator Methuen 1978, p. 121 5. Willett, J. The Theatre of Bertolt Brecht Methuen 1959 6. Brecht, B. Bertolt Brecht Plays Vol. 2 (Mother Courage) Methuen 1962

Theory assessment Essay Example for Free

Theory assessment Essay As a trainer, teacher and assessor my roles are many and varied. As part of my day to day work I may not only deliver lessons but also carry out theory assessments, practical assessments and sometimes interviews. I may have to motivate and liaise as well as guide and assess. I will have to keep records and be a subject specialist as well as liaise internally and impart information and advice sometimes on a personal level. The first impact I play regarding my role is either interviewing possible candidates or meeting and greeting them on the first day of their course. Meeting potential apprentices/apprentices on their first day induction requires me to make a good first impression and aim to create a degree of respect and professionalism from the onset. Geoff Petty says in his book. â€Å"When you go for an interview you put your best clothes on. Employers are affected by first impressions, but so are you as a teacher. We do this because we want to know how to behave towards a person and how we can expect them to behave towards us. It would of course be fairer to suspend judgement, but few of us manage this in practise†. (Petty G 2009) It has been proven (Petty G: 2009) that students’ that don’t look interested in studies or that have a â€Å"don’t care attitude† are more likely to do worse on their course that those that appear bright and willing to learn. This is partly due to our â€Å"first impressions† leading to the student being taught differently even though this may be subconscious. This is when it is important in your role as teacher to be the needs identifier and try to teach to the needs of the students’ as individuals and not to teach to the needs of the class as a whole when designing the learning and implementing it. Every student is an individual that has their own preferred learning styles one of the most common and widely used categorizations of the various types of learning styles is Fleming’s VARK model (sometimes VAK) consisting of visual learners, auditory learners, kinaesthetic learners or tactile learners. Flemming claimed that visual learners have a preference for seeing (think in picture; visual aids such as overhead slides, diagrams, hand-outs, etc. ). Auditory learner’s best learn through listening. Tactile/kinaesthetic learners prefer to learn via experience, moving, touching and doing (active exploration of the world; science projects; experiments, etc. ) Its use in pedagogy allows teachers to prepare classes that address each of these areas. Students can also use the model to identify their preferred learning style and maximize their educational experience by focusing on what benefits them most(Wikipedia. org/learning styles). During my lessons I always try to give students a mixture of learning styles so overall the lessons are more varied. I find this keeps the levels of interest much higher and it caters for the group as a whole, this way each student gets to learn at some point in their preferred learning style, this helps me confirm that they have knowledge and understanding from classroom based auditory and visual learning and that they can demonstrate through practical assessments that they have the skills and ability to perform tasks to a standard which can be deemed competent. I insist my students must understand how, when, where and why they should perform tasks. By giving students as much information as possible I believe this empowers the individual and gives them more incentive for learning. As a railway trainer assessor it is my responsibility to ensure support and guidance is available to help support students with various needs and personal issues, any apprentices who report a problem to me it is my duty to speak to the respective students and help deal with their learner needs, if it is anything regarding personal issues it is then my job to involve the appropriate person that deals with those issues, from the designated safe guarding officer to councillors within the affiliated colleges, chaplains or in some cases if the severity of the matter is such by contacting police. All aspects on quality and diversity must be considered at all times and any issues must be kept confidential as the tutor has a duty of care to his/her students. As a railway assessor I am responsible for a class of up to 26 students as their supervisor/mentor it is my duty to inform the student of any relevant legislation and codes of practice. One of the first subjects covered is Health and Safety at Work Act (HASAWA) giving students information on company safety policies and information regarding fire and first aid. Week one of their initial six week course involves presentations and QA regarding legislation that is applicable to the railway such as COSHH (control of substances hazardous to health), RIDDOR (reporting of diseases dangerous occurrence Regs) as well as HAVS (hand arm vibration syndrome) Noise Regs, LOLER (lifting operations lifting equipment Regs), Railway Regs and manual handling. â€Å"Recording provides the platform from which teachers can base their reporting to others and is a mechanism for evaluating learning and teaching. (highlandschools) One of the most important roles of a teacher (and assessor) is record keeping. From day one it is my responsibility to start with a course register as the course progresses I am responsible for gathering evidence that students produce assessing it, evaluating it, marking it and keeping it filled away safely. Data protection is very important because as a teacher we deal with personal details. Part of my job entails collecting apprentice’s bank details and personal details this documentation needs to be collected and passed on to the wage department safely and securely. Weekly reports are carried out on each candidate this information must be kept in a secure location because any misuse could be detrimental to the welfare of students and break any trust built up between student and teacher. Keeping records is a very important reflexive tool for both teachers and learners. Accurate records taken throughout a course enables both teacher and students to continually reassess the effectiveness of the teaching/learning relationship by giving an ongoing measurement against what the candidate should be learning, what they have been taught, whether or not they are making progress and whether the structure of the lesson plan is sufficient or not. Indications on whether the student needs more additional help can also be highlighted. Holistic record keeping is beneficial as it can give an indication if there is external problems for example poor attendance may be due to a multitude of reasons and as a tutor this gives you an initial warning that there may be an underlying problem with this information you can then look deeper and begin to analyse behavioural patterns to identify whether or not there is any issue that might require the notification of other professional bodies. Keeping accurate records of candidates work is necessary for progress, monitoring student achievement, ability and skill through ongoing assessment is essential to track their progress with the additional constructive feedback helps teachers set realistic targets for the candidate to achieve. Once these targets are met the end product is passed on to the awarding bodies for certification. My personal interpretation is that the role of a teacher is a very varied and flexible one. Structured by lesson plans and course criteria the simple fact that individual students can be so diverse due to background, ability, age, and motive for learning makes the role of a teacher unique each and every day. It is my opinion that there is a great responsibility of a tutor to pass on knowledge in a positive and passionate way, the tutor creates his/her own environment for learning and in that environment all the needs of the learner should be met. The teacher should be able to relate to individuals to develop a good personal teaching relationship and to understand what gets the best results out of each student to maximise learning outcome.

Reflection On Interpersonal Skills In Clinical Practice

Reflection On Interpersonal Skills In Clinical Practice This is a reflective essay based on my experiences whilst on my five week surgical placement in a local hospital. The aim of this essay is to explore the use of communication and interpersonal skills in clinical practice. I have chosen this particular incident as I spent a considerable amount of time communicating verbally and non verbally with this particular patient. To protect the identity and maintain confidentiality of the patient I have chosen to discuss they shall be known as John, this is accordance with the NMC code of professional conduct (2008). To assist me in the process of reflection I will be using Gibbs (1988) reflective model. The structure of this framework allows the reflection to be written in a clear way, which provides opportunities to look at the incident from a number of perspectives; this will help to highlight areas of practice which could be changed in the future (Jasper, 2003). There are numerous reasons why reflection is important to nurses. Through refle ction we can get to know more about what we do and what limits our abilities and this gives the opportunity to improve the way we care (Ghaye and Lillyman, 2001). Description John was a 74 year old man admitted onto the ward from the emergency department 2 days previous to me starting my first late shift of that week. He had been suffering from retention of urine, and was in considerable pain. My mentor and I were informed during handover that we would be looking after John on this particular shift and could we change the dressing on his right leg as he had an ulcerated leg due to suffering from a condition known as Peripheral Vascular Disease (Alexander el al, 2004). As a consequence of this disease he also had his left leg amputated below the knee some years ago and mobilised using a wheelchair. It became clear during the handover that John had been very difficult the last couple of days. The nurse in charge went on to say that he had thrown items across his room and was constantly pressing his nurse call button and shouting all day, he had also refused to have a wash and change his pyjamas. As we left the room where the handover had taken place, my men tor said she thought that we should change Johns dressing now but first we should get him washed and changed and could I assist her. We gathered all the equipment we needed from the treatment room and made our way to Johns room. I knocked on his door and introduced myself as a student nurse, I then asked John for his consent for me to assist him in having a wash and change of clothing (NMC, 2008). John was sat on his bed, he appeared to be quite tense, he looked up at me and shouted no, I want to see a doctor and I havent had a cigarette for 2 days. I explained that I was here to assist in changing the dressing on his leg and to help him to have a wash and change. I moved closer towards his bed and lowered myself to his eye level. I then began to engage in conversation with him by maintaining a soft tone of voice and asking him if he would like a cup of tea after we had finished. His body language softened and he looked up and smiled, he said I would love one. I smiled back at John, I then repeated the question of assisting him with having a wash and change, whilst maintaining a relaxed posture and eye contact with him. John gave me his consent and I proceeded to assist him in maintaining his personal hygiene with respect and dignity (NMC, 2008). With Johns co operation my mentor and I were then able to go on and change his dressing on his leg. Feelings Through this learning experience I encountered different feelings towards the situation. From the initial handover, the staff nurse in charge did not paint a positive picture of John. I wondered why this particular patient was so aggressive and demanding and the staff described him as being difficult. I felt anxious, as this was my first placement as a first year student and I did not feel experienced enough to deal with the situation. During my encounter with John it became clear why he would feel so angry and frustrated. I noticed he didnt have a wheelchair in his room, and it became apparent that he was a smoker. He also hadnt been given any nicotine replacement therapy to help him cope with his withdrawal symptoms. When the full extent of Johns situation became clear to me, I felt immense frustration for him. According to the NMC Code of Professional Conduct (2008), nurses should treat patients with respect and maintain their dignity. With John not having a wheelchair, he was con fined to his bed and therefore had lost his autonomy. The situation also made me very angry, reflecting back I feel I should have been more assertive and maybe questioned why Johns requests had been ignored by the staff. Evaluation It was a shame that the professional staff acted the way that they did, ignoring how angry and frustrated John had become and not acting upon it. The nurses compassion and communication skills seemed to be very much lacking, not listening to his requests and showing no feeling towards him. This breakdown in communication in the nurse patient relationship with john, left him feeling frustrated and not in control of his own wellbeing (Garnham, 2001). At first, I could not see any good points in this situation; however looking back I can see that it did have its positive side, in as much as allowing me to examine myself and to search for my short fallings in relation to the incident. The incident has also given me the opportunity to link theory to practice. The way I communicated with John had a positive outcome for both of us in that his personal hygiene needs were met, and I learnt that effective communication is essential in building a trusting bond between the patient and the nurse (Almond Yardley, 2009). The bad points of this experience were that I judged John based on the information I received during handover without meeting him first. This could have created a barrier between myself and the patient. Accepting a patient as a unique individual and without judgment is very important in the communication process. I have learnt from this experience that as nurses we should respect a patients beliefs and values, and we should not let our own beliefs and values affect our decision making in patient care (Rogers, 1957). I also feel I should have been more assertive when it came to the way John was being treated by the staff. As a first year student I did not feel comfortable questioning the way a professional staff nurse carried out her nursing care. However, from this experience I will question bad practice in future, as the NMC (2008) states that I am personally accountable for my actions and omissions in my practice and I must always be able to justify my decisions. Analysis According to Briggs (2006) as cited in compendium of clinical skills Communication is the process of conveying information between two or people. Communication is essential in building relationships with patients and gaining trust. In the NHS the majority of the complaints brought against them were for poor communication from healthcare staff (Pincock 2004). To highlight how important communication is in the nursing profession, the NMC identified it as being an essential skill and only if a student is competent in this skill can they then go on and register as a nurse (NMC 2007b). In order to communicate with John the situation required the use of interpersonal skills, known as non verbal and verbal communication. Non verbal communication is described by lister and dogherty p62 as being information transmitted without speaking. Johns body language indicated that he was tense and anxious therefore approaching him with empathy ensured that he is being understood and that his participation in communication was valued (Peate 2006)nurs 21st. Given the history of Johns aggressive outbursts it was necessary to consider the proxemics in the situation. It is recommended that keeping within a distance of 4 to 12 feet away from a person is less intimidating for them (Egan 2002). In order to engage in conversation with John, Egans (2002) acronym SOLER was used. This is a process of using body language to actively listen to a person. By sitting squarely towards John, having an open posture, leaning in towards him, maintaining eye contact and maintaining a relaxed posture, encouraged him to relax and feel less intimidated and therefore talk more openly (Lister and Dougherty). Verbal communication with John was enhanced by the use of facial expression and paraverbal communication. (Fund Nursing p195) states that Facial expressions give clues that support, contradict or disguise the verbal message, therefore the use of a smile when approaching John indicated warmth and friendliness. This was assisted further by the use of para communication; these are the cues that accompany verbal language. These include tone, pitch, speed and volume of the person speaking, therefore by communicating with John with a soft tone of voice added further meaning to the spoken words (fund nurs). The barriers in communication during this incident were Johns aggressiveness. This could have been due to the withdrawal from cigarettes, as according to Bruce (2008) irritability is a symptom of nicotine withdrawal. If a patient is unable to smoke in hospital then nicotine replacement therapy should be introduced and the patient treated like any other dependant. Bruce (2008) suggests that Withdrawal from nicotine needs to be recognised and treated appropriately in the acute hospital and it will often be the ward nurses who are relied on to recognise the symptoms. These symptoms were overlooked by the staff and to add to his frustration he had no means of mobility to be able to leave the ward for a cigarette. This may account for his outbursts of anger. Peplau (2004) suggests that when there is an obstacle or obstruction preventing a person from achieving their goals this may lead to frustration which in turn often leads to anger. Action Plan Using Gibbss reflective cycle has assisted me in making sense of the situation and to put things into perspective, recognising how I can put this learning experience to positive use in my future practice as a Nursing professional. If this situation were to arise again I know I would now have the courage to question the nurses attitude at an earlier stage pointing out that bad practice by anyone is not acceptable. From this experience I have learnt that I need to be more assertive and if I feel the needs of a patient are not being met, my first consideration should be to protect the interests and safety of patients, in line with the NMC (2002) Code of Professional Conduct, (clause 8). This reflection has highlighted the need to increase my knowledge and understanding of the process of communicating with patients from different cultural backgrounds, I will address these issues by, listening and learning from the qualified staff and by reading relevant literature. Conclusion In conclusion it can be seen that the nurse has a very important role in communicating with patients through their treatment. When a patient is admitted to hospital, assessments should be made based on the activities of daily living, Roper, Logan Tierney (2000). Johns assessment not only should have identified the level of care needed, it should also have established his normal routine, and the fact that he was a smoker and required a wheelchair for mobility. If Johns needs had been assessed correctly the breakdown in the relationship between John and the professional staff could have been prevented. Overall, through this reflection I have learnt that communication is an essential skill that requires as much practice and consideration as any other aspect of nursing.

Historical Development Of Atomic Structure :: essays research papers

Historical Development of Atomic Structure Yazan Fahmawi Sept. 30, 1995 T3 IBS Chemistry Ms. Redman The idea behind the "atom" goes back to the Ancient Greek society, where scientists believed that all matter was made of smaller, more fundamental particles called elements. They called these particles atoms, meaning "not divisible." Then came the chemists and physicists of the 16th and 17th centuries who discovered various formulae of various salts and water, hence discovering the idea of a molecule. Then, in 1766 was born a man named John Dalton born in England. He is known as the father of atomic theory because he is the one who made it quantitative, meaning he discovered many masses of various elements and, in relation, discovered the different proportions which molecules are formed in (i.e. for every water molecule, one atom of oxygen and two molecules of hydrogen are needed). He also discovered the noble, or inert gases, and their failure to react with other substances. In 1869 a Russian chemist, best known for his development of the periodic law of the properties of the chemical elements (which states that elements show a regular pattern ("periodicity") when they are arranged according to their atomic masses), published his first attempt to classify the known elements. His name was Mendeleyev, and he was a renowned teacher. Because no good textbook in chemistry was available at the time, he wrote the two-volume Principles of Chemistry (1868-1870), which later became a classic. During the writing of this book, Mendeleyev tried to classify the elements according to their chemical properties. In 1871 he published an improved version of the periodic table, in which he left gaps for elements that were not yet known. His chart and theories gained acceptance by the scientific world when three elements he "predicted"—gallium, germanium, and scandium—were subsequently discovered In 1856 another important figure in atomic theory was born: Sir Joseph John Thomson. In 1906, after teaching at the University of Cambridge and Trinity University in England, he won the Nobel Prize in physics for his work on the conduction of electricity through gases. He discovered what an electron is using cathode rays. An electron is the smallest particle in an atom, whose mass is negligible compared to the rest of the atom, and whose charge is negative. Though scientists did not know it at the time, electrons were located in an electron cloud rotating around the nucleus, or center of the atom. Another prominent figure in nuclear physics is a man called Ernest Rutherford, born in 1871. He also was a professor at the University of Cambridge, the University of Manchester (both of which are in England), and at McGill College

A Comparison of The Jewel in the Crown and Wuthering Heights Essay

Shared Elements of The Jewel in the Crown and Wuthering Heights       The Jewel in the Crown, by Paul Scott, and Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte', are romantic tragedies which share many common elements. Although written in two vastly different time periods, the shared elements reveal the continuity of romantic tragedies over time. Wuthering Heights, a 19th century realistic fiction, shares the same kind of passionate, violent and emotional characters as The Jewel in the Crown, a post colonial modernist fiction. Both stories contain a love triangle which subsequently end in death.    In both stories, Catherine and Daphne are much alike in that they are the point around which the two men in their lives dance circles around. Catherine and Daphne are both willful, doing as they please, Catherine fostering her love for Heathcliff, and Daphne secretly seeing Hari Kumar. "At fifteen, she [Catherine] was the queen of the country-side; she had no peer, and she did turn out to be a haughty, headstrong creature" (WH, p. 51). And of Daphne, "She had to make her own marvelous mis...

Child Abuse and Neglect Essay -- Violence Against Children

There are many things in our society today that unfortunately go overlooked. One such thing that is overlooked is the number of children who are being abused. Unfortunately these children are going through life not knowing whether or not their parents will loose their temper and perhaps kill them. There are many types of child abuse, such as physical, sexual, and emotional. Physical abuse is physical injury as a result of punching, beating, kicking, biting, shaking, throwing, stabbing, choking, hitting, burning, or otherwise harming a child. Such injury is considered abuse regardless of whether the caretaker intended to hurt the child. Sexual abuse includes activities by a parent or caretaker such as fondling a child's genitals, penetration, incest, rape, sodomy, indecent exposure, and exploitation through prostitution or the production of pornographic materials. Emotional abuse is a pattern of behavior that impairs a child's emotional development or sense of self-worth. This may in clude constant criticism, threats, or rejection, as well as withholding love, support, or guidance. Emotional abuse is often difficult to prove and, therefore, Child Protection Services may not be able to intervene without evidence of harm to the child. Emotional abuse is almost always present when other forms are identified. Child abuse is a growing problem that has many causes and effects, but there are ways that we as a society can decrease the occurrence of this horrible event. Child abus...

Grade Comment Essay

Please comment below on your previous college grades as an index of your abilities. My weighted average grade for each semester has an overall uptrend during last three years. Moreover, I am academic competent in my studied field, with a weighted average score of 89 for the specialized courses related to economics and finance. Additionally, the scores for all three econometrics courses are higher than 93, which shows evidence for my good quantitative skills and software operation skills. However, I performed relatively bad in several mathematics courses, partly because I were not accustomed to the new teaching and test methods when I just entered college. The weighted average scores for last six semesters are 85.5, 82.5, 88.7, 89.3, 90.0, 86.4 (integrated the third term to the first term of the following academic year). My first year scores are relatively low because I had to adapt to the totally different environment in that time, the first time to move away from my parents and to be accustomed to distinct teaching and test systems. Therefore, three mathematic courses, including Advanced Mathematics 1&2 and Linear Algebra, only earned scores about 70 to 84 in the first two semesters. However, I don’t think the low score represents my poor proficiency in mathematics. In the econometric classes, a course requires integrated understanding in advanced mathematics, linear algebra and statistics knowledge, I earned scores higher than 93. For all 20 specialized courses related to economics and finance, the weighted average score is 89, and only two of them are lower than 87. In conclusion, after one year of adaption, my grades of each semester have an upward trend, and I have showed good academic, quantitative skills in my learning experience.

Manolo Blahnik

Manolo Blahnik has been designing shoes since 1971 and has received many prestigious awards, including three special awards from the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and the British Council’s ‘Accessory Designer of the Year’ in 1990 and 1999. Despite having had no formal training, he's done it all: backless, heel-less, wedges, stilettos, and kittens, even platforms. Now he is one of the very few brand names that have become a synonym for the product — Hoover, Kleenex, Band-Aid, Post-it and †¦ Manolo. He studied literature and architecture at the University of Geneva, and art at L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts and L’Ecole du Louvre in Paris.Originally, he wanted to be a set designer and took a portfolio of drawings to New York in 1971 in the hope of finding work there. Paloma Picasso, a friend from Paris, arranged for him to meet Diana Vreeland, the editor of US Vogue. When she looked at his drawings, Vreeland exclaimed: â€Å"How amusing. Amusing. You can do accessories very well. Why don’t you do that? Go make shoes. Your shoes in these drawings are so amusing. † By the late 1990s when the fashion writer and historian Colin McDowell observed Blahnik at work, he had been in command of his craft for years. The result is the book titled simply â€Å"Manolo Blahnik†.The process of creating a Manolo Blahnik shoe begins with Manolo sketching it at home in Bath, his London office or one of his northern Italian factories with a Tombo Japanese brush pen in three minutes of â€Å"firm, assured hand movements followed by precise, sharp little jabs as the details are fitted in†. â€Å"I’ve been studying the art of the shoe†¦ for over twenty years†, says Blahnik. â€Å"I know every process. I know how to cut and cut away here (the side of the shoe) and still make it so that it stays on the foot. And the secret of toe cleavage, a very important part of the sexuality of the shoe. You must only show the first two cracks.And the heel. Even if it’s twelve centimeters high it still has to feel secure – and that’s a question of balance. † Blahnik drawings exhibit the design skill and craftsmanship that footwear design demands. His design process begins with color-rich sketches that are so finely executed they are as sought-after as the shoes themselves. Some reflect nature, mostly recurring botanical themes while others are more dramatic and others still verging on the fetishistic. Some are so fragile-looking it’s impossible to imagine them withstanding the challenge of being worn; these shoes are the kind that insist you take taxis.Consider Carrie’s unforgettable one liner in Sex and the City, when she was robbed in the street: â€Å"Please sir. You can take my Fendi baguette, you can take my ring and my watch, but don’t take my Manolos Blahniks,† she pleaded. Pathos aside, the scene is testament to the gravita s attributed to Mr. Blahnik’s shoes. ‘Exquisite design sketches †¦ Blahnik’s richly colored drawings are often exuberantly exaggerated – hyper-arched with impossibly thin heels – which add to the sense of magic that imbues his designs †¦ Presented here on a grand scale †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢? – MetroIn an interview with aRude magazine, in November last year, Blahnik talks about the technical details involved in his creative process: In relation to your shoe-drawings, are your lines more Ingres, Matisse, Picasso or Aubrey Beardsley? ? Oh, I would love to even come close to one of those geniuses. How can I compare myself to them? Sometimes I can spontaneously get immersed in Ingres and the divine purity of his brushstrokes. Matisse and Picasso always visit my mind as well. What medium do you typically draw in and why? ?I usually draw in China ink. I love the consistence and feel of the liquid.What other mediums did you experiment drawing wit h before arriving at your present favorite? ?I experimented with acrylic and oil paints in the 70s. Later I tried watercolors until I arrived at the ink. I have always also used the Staedtler pencils to sketch. I still use them. 3H Staedtler is my favorite. Do you prefer, in your drawing, sharp or broad lines, or a combination of both and what kind of paper do you use? ?The lines depend on the kind of paper I use. I usually use Cartridge paper. When do you employ colors and what essential role do they play in the overall harmony of your drawings? Colors play a huge role in my design process. By nature I am always inspired by very bright Mediterranean colors. I grew up with nature and flowers and beautiful landscapes, so that is always conveyed through my shoes. In 2003, Manolo Blahnik Drawings, co-authored by Anna Wintour was published. Contained within it, the book lays out his designs as brightly colored whimsies, sketches that deftly convey the essences of his creations. As desig ns, the shoes are salacious cartoons of themselves, curvy and heeled, bejeweled and shimmery. Celeb quotes, interspersed throughout, heighten the spiraling sense of posturing and play.Madonna says, they are as good as sex†¦ and they last longer. His sketches are executed with exuberance and deftness that they have become as sought after as the shoes themselves. Inimitable in style, the drawings vividly convey Blahnik's unique vision. References: www. manoloblahnik. com Wintour, A. & Roberts, M. (2003). Manolo Blahnik Drawings. New York: Thames & Hudson Mcdowell, C. (2000). Manolo Blahnik. U. K. : HarperCollins Ude, I. (2010, Nov. ) Manolo Blahnik’s gem-like miracles. aRude magazine. Retrieved Nov 29, 2011 from http://www. arudemag. com/in-his-shoes/

Changing the Target Audience in Retail Sales

â€Å"On average, middle-aged consumers devote 39 percent of their retail expenditure to department store products and services, while for younger consumers the average is only 25 percent. Since the number of middle-aged people will increase dramatically within the next decade, department stores can expect retail sales to increase significantly during that period. Furthermore, to take advantage of the trend, these stores should begin to replace some of those products intended to attract the younger consumer with products intended to attract the middle-aged consumer. Essay 1: The argument that department retail sales will increase in the next 10 years and thus department stores should begin to replace products to attract middle-aged consumers is not entirely logically convincing, since it omits certain crucial assumptions First of all, the argument ignores the absolute amount of retail expenditure of middle-aged and younger consumers devoted to department store products and services. Although younger consumers spend a smaller percentage of their retail expenditure to department store products than do the middle-aged consumers, they might actually spend more in terms of the absolute amount. Even if middle-aged consumers are spending more than younger ones in department stores, the argument ignores the possibility that the trend may change within the next decade. Younger consumers might prefer to shop in department stores than in other types of stores, and middle-aged consumers might turn to other types of stores, too. This will lead to a higher expenditure of younger consumers in department stores than that of middle-aged consumers. Besides, the argument never addresses the population difference between middle-aged consumers and younger ones. Suppose there are more younger consumers than the middle-aged ones now, the total population base of younger consumers will be bigger than that of the middle-aged ones if both of them grow at the same rate in the next decade. Thus there will be a bigger younger consumer base. Based on the reasons I listed above, the argument is not completely sound. The evidence in support of the conclusion does little to prove the conclusion since it does not address the assumptions I have already raised. Ultimately, the argument might have been more convincing by making it clear that the absolute population of middle-aged consumers are higher than that of the younger consumers and the number will continue to grow in the next decade, and that the middle-aged consumers will continue to spend more money in department stores than younger consumers do in the next decade. Essay 2: The argument that retailers should replace some of the products intended to attract the younger consumers with products intended to attract the middle-aged consumers is not entirely logically convincing, since it ignores certain crucial assumptions. First, the argument omits the assumption that the business volumes of both the middle-aged consumers and the younger consumers are the same. If the business volume of the middle-aged consumers’ 39% is smaller than that of the younger consumers’ 25%, the retail sales will not increase during the next decade. Second, even if the business volumes of both the middle-aged consumers and the younger consumers were the same in the last decade, the increase of the middle-aged people in the next decade is not the same as the increase of the retail expenditure, for the retail trade depends more on such factors as the economic circumstances, people’s consuming desire. Finally, the argument never assumes the increase of the younger consumers within the next decade. If the younger consumers increase at the same rate and spend the same amount of money on the goods and services of department stores, the retailers should never ignore them. Thus the argument is not completely sound. The evidence in support of the conclusion that the growing number of middle-aged people within the next decade does little to prove the conclusion—that department stores should begin to replace some of their products to attract the middle-aged consumers since it does not address the assumptions I have already raised. Ultimately, the argument might have been strengthened by making it clear that the business volumes of both types of consumers are the same and comparable, that the increase of a certain type of consumers are correlated with the increase of the retail sales, and that the growth rate of the younger consumers are the same as that of the middle-aged consumers. Essay 3: Based on an expected increase in the number of middle-aged people during the next decade, the author predicts that retail sales at department stores will increase significantly over the next ten years. To bolster this prediction, the author cites statistics showing that middle-aged people devote a much higher percentage of their retail expenditure to department-store services and products than younger consumers do. Since the number of middle-aged consumers is on the rise and since they spend more than younger people on department-store goods and services, the author further recommends that department stores begin to adjust their inventories to capitalize on this trend. Specifically, it is recommended that department stores increase their inventory of products aimed at middle-aged consumers and decrease their inventory of products aimed at younger consumers. This argument is problematic for two reasons. First, an increase in the number of middle-aged people does not necessarily portend an overall increase in department-store sales. It does so only on the assumption that other population groups will remain relatively constant. For example, if the expected increase in the number of middle-aged people is offset by an equally significant decrease in the number of younger people, there will be little or no net gain in sales. Second, in recommending that department stores replace products intended to attract younger consumers with products more suitable to middle-aged consumers, the author assumes that the number of younger consumers will not also increase. Since a sizable increase in the population of younger consumers could conceivably offset the difference in the retail expenditure patterns of younger and middle-aged consumers, it would be unwise to make the recommended inventory adjustment lacking evidence to support this assumption. In conclusion, this argument is unacceptable. To strengthen the argument the author would have to provide evidence that the population of younger consumers will remain relatively constant over the next decade.

The Da Vinci Code Chapter 1-3

CHAPTER 1 Robert Langdon awoke slowly. A telephone was ringing in the darkness – a tinny, unfamiliar ring. He fumbled for the bedside lamp and turned it on. Squinting at his surroundings he saw a plush Renaissance bedroom with Louis XVI furniture, hand-frescoed walls, and a colossal mahogany four-poster bed. Where the hell am I? The jacquard bathrobe hanging on his bedpost bore the monogram: HOTEL RITZ PARIS. Slowly, the fog began to lift. Langdon picked up the receiver. â€Å"Hello?† â€Å"Monsieur Langdon?† a man's voice said. â€Å"I hope I have not awoken you?† Dazed, Langdon looked at the bedside clock. It was 12:32 A. M. He had been asleep only an hour, but he felt like the dead. â€Å"This is the concierge, monsieur. I apologize for this intrusion, but you have a visitor. He insists it is urgent.† Langdon still felt fuzzy. A visitor? His eyes focused now on a crumpled flyer on his bedside table. THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF PARIS proudly presents AN EVENING WITH ROBERT LANGDON PROFESSOR OF RELIGIOUS SYMBOLOGY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY Langdon groaned. Tonight's lecture – a slide show about pagan symbolism hidden in the stones of Chartres Cathedral – had probably ruffled some conservative feathers in the audience. Most likely, some religious scholar had trailed him home to pick a fight. â€Å"I'm sorry,† Langdon said, â€Å"but I'm very tired and – † â€Å"Mais, monsieur,†the concierge pressed, lowering his voice to an urgent whisper. â€Å"Your guest is an important man.† Langdon had little doubt. His books on religious paintings and cult symbology had made him a reluctant celebrity in the art world, and last year Langdon's visibility had increased a hundred fold after his involvement in a widely publicized incident at the Vatican. Since then, the stream of self- important historians and art buffs arriving at his door had seemed never-ending. â€Å"If you would be so kind,† Langdon said, doing his best to remain polite,† could you take the man's name and number, and tell him I'll try to call him before I leave Paris on Tuesday? Thank you.† He hung up before the concierge could protest. Sitting up now, Langdon frowned at his bedside Guest Relations Handbook, whose cover boasted: SLEEP LIKE A BABY IN THE CITY OF LIGHTS. SLUMBER AT THE PARIS RITZ. He turned and gazed tiredly into the full-length mirror across the room. The man staring back at him was a stranger – tousled and weary. You need a vacation, Robert. The past year had taken a heavy toll on him, but he didn't appreciate seeing proof in the mirror. His usually sharp blue eyes looked hazy and drawn tonight. A dark stubble was shrouding his strong jaw and dimpled chin. Around his temples, the gray highlights were advancing, making their way deeper into his thicket of coarse black hair. Although his female colleagues insisted the gray only accentuated his bookish appeal, Langdon knew better. If Boston Magazine could see me now. Last month, much to Langdon's embarrassment, Boston Magazine had listed him as one of that city's top ten most intriguing people – a dubious honor that made him the brunt of endless ribbing by his Harvard colleagues. Tonight, three thousand miles from home, the accolade had resurfaced to haunt him at the lecture he had given. â€Å"Ladies and gentlemen†¦Ã¢â‚¬  the hostess had announced to a full house at the American University of Paris's Pavilion Dauphine,† Our guest tonight needs no introduction. He is the author of numerous books: The Symbology of Secret Sects, The An of the Illuminati, The Lost Language of Ideograms, and when I say he wrote the book on Religious Iconology, I mean that quite literally. Many of you use his textbooks in class.† The students in the crowd nodded enthusiastically. â€Å"I had planned to introduce him tonight by sharing his impressive curriculum vitae. However†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She glanced playfully at Langdon, who was seated onstage. â€Å"An audience member has just handed me a far more, shall we say†¦ intriguing introduction.† She held up a copy of Boston Magazine. Langdon cringed. Where the hell did she get that? The hostess began reading choice excerpts from the inane article, and Langdon felt himself sinking lower and lower in his chair. Thirty seconds later, the crowd was grinning, and the woman showed no signs of letting up. â€Å"And Mr. Langdon's refusal to speak publicly about his unusual role in last year's Vatican conclave certainly wins him points on our intrigue-o-meter.† The hostess goaded the crowd. â€Å"Would you like to hear more?† The crowd applauded. Somebody stop her, Langdon pleaded as she dove into the article again. â€Å"Although Professor Langdon might not be considered hunk-handsome like some of our younger awardees, this forty-something academic has more than his share of scholarly allure. His captivating presence is punctuated by an unusually low, baritone speaking voice, which his female students describe as ‘chocolate for the ears.' The hall erupted in laughter. Langdon forced an awkward smile. He knew what came next – some ridiculous line about† Harrison Ford in Harris tweed† – and because this evening he had figured it was finally safe again to wear his Harris tweed and Burberry turtleneck, he decided to take action. â€Å"Thank you, Monique,† Langdon said, standing prematurely and edging her away from the podium. â€Å"Boston Magazine clearly has a gift for fiction.† He turned to the audience with an embarrassed sigh. â€Å"And if I find which one of you provided that article, I'll have the consulate deport you.† The crowd laughed. â€Å"Well, folks, as you all know, I'm here tonight to talk about the power of symbols †¦Ã¢â‚¬  The ringing of Langdon's hotel phone once again broke the silence. Groaning in disbelief, he picked up. â€Å"Yes?† As expected, it was the concierge. â€Å"Mr. Langdon, again my apologies. I am calling to inform you that your guest is now en route to your room. I thought I should alert you.† Langdon was wide awake now. â€Å"You sent someone to my room?† â€Å"I apologize, monsieur, but a man like this†¦ I cannot presume the authority to stop him.† â€Å"Who exactly is he?† But the concierge was gone. Almost immediately, a heavy fist pounded on Langdon's door. Uncertain, Langdon slid off the bed, feeling his toes sink deep into the savonniere carpet. He donned the hotel bathrobe and moved toward the door. â€Å"Who is it?† â€Å"Mr. Langdon? I need to speak with you.† The man's English was accented – a sharp, authoritative bark. â€Å"My name is Lieutenant Jerome Collet. Direction Centrale Police Judiciaire.† Langdon paused. The Judicial Police? The DCPJ was the rough equivalent of the U. S. FBI. Leaving the security chain in place, Langdon opened the door a few inches. The face staring back at him was thin and washed out. The man was exceptionally lean, dressed in an official-looking blue uniform. â€Å"May I come in?† the agent asked. Langdon hesitated, feeling uncertain as the stranger's sallow eyes studied him. â€Å"What is this all about?† â€Å"My capitaine requires your expertise in a private matter.† â€Å"Now?† Langdon managed. â€Å"It's after midnight.† â€Å"Am I correct that you were scheduled to meet with the curator of the Louvre this evening?† Langdon felt a sudden surge of uneasiness. He and the revered curator Jacques Sauniere had been slated to meet for drinks after Langdon's lecture tonight, but Sauniere had never shown up. â€Å"Yes. How did you know that?† â€Å"We found your name in his daily planner.† â€Å"I trust nothing is wrong?† The agent gave a dire sigh and slid a Polaroid snapshot through the narrow opening in the door. When Langdon saw the photo, his entire body went rigid.† This photo was taken less than an hour ago. Inside the Louvre.† As Langdon stared at the bizarre image, his initial revulsion and shock gave way to a sudden upwelling of anger. â€Å"Who would do this!† â€Å"We had hoped that you might help us answer that very question, considering your knowledge in symbology and your plans to meet with him.† Langdon stared at the picture, his horror now laced with fear. The image was gruesome and profoundly strange, bringing with it an unsettling sense of deja vu. A little over a year ago, Langdon had received a photograph of a corpse and a similar request for help. Twenty-four hours later, he had almost lost his life inside Vatican City. This photo was entirely different, and yet something about the scenario felt disquietingly familiar. The agent checked his watch. â€Å"My capitaine is waiting, sir.† Langdon barely heard him. His eyes were still riveted on the picture. â€Å"This symbol here, and the way his body is so oddly†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Positioned?† the agent offered. Langdon nodded, feeling a chill as he looked up. â€Å"I can't imagine who would do this to someone.† The agent looked grim. â€Å"You don't understand, Mr. Langdon. What you see in this photograph†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He paused. â€Å"Monsieur Sauniere did that to himself.† CHAPTER 2 One mile away, the hulking albino named Silas limped through the front gate of the luxurious brownstone residence on Rue La Bruyere. The spiked cilice belt that he wore around his thigh cut into his flesh, and yet his soul sang with satisfaction of service to the Lord. Pain is good. His red eyes scanned the lobby as he entered the residence. Empty. He climbed the stairs quietly, not wanting to awaken any of his fellow numeraries. His bedroom door was open; locks were forbidden here. He entered, closing the door behind him. The room was spartan – hardwood floors, a pine dresser, a canvas mat in the corner that served as his bed. He was a visitor here this week, and yet for many years he had been blessed with a similar sanctuary in New York City. The Lord has provided me shelter and purpose in my life. Tonight, at last, Silas felt he had begun to repay his debt. Hurrying to the dresser, he found the cell phone hidden in his bottom drawer and placed a call. â€Å"Yes?† a male voice answered. â€Å"Teacher, I have returned.† â€Å"Speak,† the voice commanded, sounding pleased to hear from him. â€Å"All four are gone. The three senechaux†¦and the Grand Master himself.† There was a momentary pause, as if for prayer. â€Å"Then I assume you have the information?† â€Å"All four concurred. Independently.† â€Å"And you believed them?† â€Å"Their agreement was too great for coincidence.† An excited breath. â€Å"Excellent. I had feared the brotherhood's reputation for secrecy might prevail.† â€Å"The prospect of death is strong motivation.† â€Å"So, my pupil, tell me what I must know.† Silas knew the information he had gleaned from his victims would come as a shock. â€Å"Teacher, all four confirmed the existence of the clef de voute†¦the legendary keystone.† He heard a quick intake of breath over the phone and could feel the Teacher's excitement. â€Å"The keystone.Exactly as we suspected.† According to lore, the brotherhood had created a map of stone – a clef de voute†¦or keystone – an engraved tablet that revealed the final resting place of the brotherhood's greatest secret†¦ information so powerful that its protection was the reason for the brotherhood's very existence. â€Å"When we possess the keystone,† the Teacher said,† we will be only one step away.† â€Å"We are closer than you think. The keystone is here in Paris.† â€Å"Paris? Incredible. It is almost too easy.† Silas relayed the earlier events of the evening†¦ how all four of his victims, moments before death, had desperately tried to buy back their godless lives by telling their secret. Each had told Silas the exact same thing – that the keystone was ingeniously hidden at a precise location inside one of Paris's ancient churches – the Eglise de Saint-Sulpice. â€Å"Inside a house of the Lord,† the Teacher exclaimed. â€Å"How they mock us!† â€Å"As they have for centuries.† The Teacher fell silent, as if letting the triumph of this moment settle over him. Finally, he spoke. â€Å"You have done a great service to God. We have waited centuries for this. You must retrieve the stone for me. Immediately. Tonight. You understand the stakes.† Silas knew the stakes were incalculable, and yet what the Teacher was now commanding seemed impossible. â€Å"But the church, it is a fortress. Especially at night. How will I enter?† With the confident tone of a man of enormous influence, the Teacher explained what was to be done. When Silas hung up the phone, his skin tingled with anticipation. One hour, he told himself, grateful that the Teacher had given him time to carry out the necessary penance before entering a house of God. I must purge my soul of today's sins.The sins committed today had been holy in purpose. Acts of war against the enemies of God had been committed for centuries. Forgiveness was assured. Even so, Silas knew, absolution required sacrifice. Pulling his shades, he stripped naked and knelt in the center of his room. Looking down, he examined the spiked cilice belt clamped around his thigh. All true followers of The Way wore this device – a leather strap, studded with sharp metal barbs that cut into the flesh as a perpetual reminder of Christ's suffering. The pain caused by the device also helped counteract the desires of the flesh. Although Silas already had worn his cilice today longer than the requisite two hours, he knew today was no ordinary day. Grasping the buckle, he cinched it one notch tighter, wincing as the barbs dug deeper into his flesh. Exhaling slowly, he savored the cleansing ritual of his pain. Pain is good, Silas whispered, repeating the sacred mantra of Father Josemaria Escriva – the Teacher of all Teachers. Although Escriva had died in 1975, his wisdom lived on, his words still whispered by thousands of faithful servants around the globe as they knelt on the floor and performed the sacred practice known as† corporal mortification.† Silas turned his attention now to a heavy knotted rope coiled neatly on the floor beside him. TheDiscipline. The knots were caked with dried blood. Eager for the purifying effects of his own agony, Silas said a quick prayer. Then, gripping one end of the rope, he closed his eyes and swung it hard over his shoulder, feeling the knots slap against his back. He whipped it over his shoulder again, slashing at his flesh. Again and again, he lashed. Castigo corpus meum. Finally, he felt the blood begin to flow. CHAPTER 3 The crisp April air whipped through the open window of the Citroen ZX as it skimmed south past the Opera House and crossed Place Vend;me. In the passenger seat, Robert Langdon felt the city tear past him as he tried to clear his thoughts. His quick shower and shave had left him looking reasonably presentable but had done little to ease his anxiety. The frightening image of the curator's body remained locked in his mind. Jacques Sauniere is dead. Langdon could not help but feel a deep sense of loss at the curator's death. Despite Sauniere's reputation for being reclusive, his recognition for dedication to the arts made him an easy man to revere. His books on the secret codes hidden in the paintings of Poussin and Teniers were some of Langdon's favorite classroom texts. Tonight's meeting had been one Langdon was very much looking forward to, and he was disappointed when the curator had not shown. Again the image of the curator's body flashed in his mind. Jacques Sauniere did that to himself?Langdon turned and looked out the window, forcing the picture from his mind. Outside, the city was just now winding down – street vendors wheeling carts of candied amandes, waiters carrying bags of garbage to the curb, a pair of late night lovers cuddling to stay warm in a breeze scented with jasmine blossom. The Citroen navigated the chaos with authority, its dissonant two-tone siren parting the traffic like a knife. â€Å"Le capitaine was pleased to discover you were still in Paris tonight,† the agent said, speaking for the first time since they'd left the hotel. â€Å"A fortunate coincidence.† Langdon was feeling anything but fortunate, and coincidence was a concept he did not entirely trust. As someone who had spent his life exploring the hidden interconnectivity of disparate emblems and ideologies, Langdon viewed the world as a web of profoundly intertwined histories and events. The connections may be invisible, he often preached to his symbology classes at Harvard, but they are always there, buried just beneath the surface. â€Å"I assume,† Langdon said,† that the American University of Paris told you where I was staying?† The driver shook his head. â€Å"Interpol.† Interpol, Langdon thought. Of course.He had forgotten that the seemingly innocuous request of all European hotels to see a passport at check-in was more than a quaint formality – it was the law. On any given night, all across Europe, Interpol officials could pinpoint exactly who was sleeping where. Finding Langdon at the Ritz had probably taken all of five seconds. As the Citroen accelerated southward across the city, the illuminated profile of the Eiffel Tower appeared, shooting skyward in the distance to the right. Seeing it, Langdon thought of Vittoria, recalling their playful promise a year ago that every six months they would meet again at a different romantic spot on the globe. The Eiffel Tower, Langdon suspected, would have made their list. Sadly, he last kissed Vittoria in a noisy airport in Rome more than a year ago. â€Å"Did you mount her?† the agent asked, looking over. Langdon glanced up, certain he had misunderstood. â€Å"I beg your pardon?† â€Å"She is lovely, no?† The agent motioned through the windshield toward the Eiffel Tower. â€Å"Have you mounted her?† Langdon rolled his eyes. â€Å"No, I haven't climbed the tower.† â€Å"She is the symbol of France. I think she is perfect.† Langdon nodded absently. Symbologists often remarked that France – a country renowned for machismo, womanizing, and diminutive insecure leaders like Napoleon and Pepin the Short – could not have chosen a more apt national emblem than a thousand-foot phallus. When they reached the intersection at Rue de Rivoli, the traffic light was red, but the Citroen didn't slow. The agent gunned the sedan across the junction and sped onto a wooded section of Rue Castiglione, which served as the northern entrance to the famed Tuileries Gardens – Paris's own version of Central Park. Most tourists mistranslated Jardins des Tuileries as relating to the thousands of tulips that bloomed here, but Tuileries was actually a literal reference to something far less romantic. This park had once been an enormous, polluted excavation pit from which Parisian contractors mined clay to manufacture the city's famous red roofing tiles – or tuiles. As they entered the deserted park, the agent reached under the dash and turned off the blaring siren. Langdon exhaled, savoring the sudden quiet. Outside the car, the pale wash of halogen headlights skimmed over the crushed gravel parkway, the rugged whir of the tires intoning a hypnotic rhythm. Langdon had always considered the Tuileries to be sacred ground. These were the gardens in which Claude Monet had experimented with form and color, and literally inspired the birth of the Impressionist movement. Tonight, however, this place held a strange aura of foreboding. The Citroen swerved left now, angling west down the park's central boulevard. Curling around a circular pond, the driver cut across a desolate avenue out into a wide quadrangle beyond. Langdon could now see the end of the Tuileries Gardens, marked by a giant stone archway. Arc du Carrousel. Despite the orgiastic rituals once held at the Arc du Carrousel, art aficionados revered this place for another reason entirely. From the esplanade at the end of the Tuileries, four of the finest art museums in the world could be seen†¦ one at each point of the compass. Out the right-hand window, south across the Seine and Quai Voltaire, Langdon could see the dramatically lit facade of the old train station – now the esteemed Musee d'Orsay. Glancing left, he could make out the top of the ultramodern Pompidou Center, which housed the Museum of Modern Art. Behind him to the west, Langdon knew the ancient obelisk of Ramses rose above the trees, marking the Musee du Jeu de Paume. But it was straight ahead, to the east, through the archway, that Langdon could now see the monolithic Renaissance palace that had become the most famous art museum in the world. Musee du Louvre. Langdon felt a familiar tinge of wonder as his eyes made a futile attempt to absorb the entire mass of the edifice. Across a staggeringly expansive plaza, the imposing facade of the Louvre rose like a citadel against the Paris sky. Shaped like an enormous horseshoe, the Louvre was the longest building in Europe, stretching farther than three Eiffel Towers laid end to end. Not even the million square feet of open plaza between the museum wings could challenge the majesty of the facade's breadth. Langdon had once walked the Louvre's entire perimeter, an astonishing three-mile journey. Despite the estimated five days it would take a visitor to properly appreciate the 65, 300 pieces of art in this building, most tourists chose an abbreviated experience Langdon referred to as â€Å"Louvre Lite† – a full sprint through the museum to see the three most famous objects: the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory.Art Buchwald had once boasted he'd seen all three masterpieces in five minutes and fifty-six seconds. The driver pulled out a handheld walkie-talkie and spoke in rapid-fire French. â€Å"Monsieur Langdonest arrive.Deux minutes.† An indecipherable confirmation came crackling back. The agent stowed the device, turning now to Langdon. â€Å"You will meet the capitaine at the main entrance.† The driver ignored the signs prohibiting auto traffic on the plaza, revved the engine, and gunned the Citroen up over the curb. The Louvre's main entrance was visible now, rising boldly in the distance, encircled by seven triangular pools from which spouted illuminated fountains. La Pyramide. The new entrance to the Paris Louvre had become almost as famous as the museum itself. The controversial, neomodern glass pyramid designed by Chinese-born American architect I. M. Peistill evoked scorn from traditionalists who felt it destroyed the dignity of the Renaissance courtyard. Goethe had described architecture as frozen music, and Pei's critics described this pyramid as fingernails on a chalkboard. Progressive admirers, though, hailed Pei's seventy-one-foot-tall transparent pyramid as a dazzling synergy of ancient structure and modern method – a symbolic link between the old and new – helping usher the Louvre into the next millennium. â€Å"Do you like our pyramid?† the agent asked. Langdon frowned. The French, it seemed, loved to ask Americans this. It was a loaded question, of course. Admitting you liked the pyramid made you a tasteless American, and expressing dislike was an insult to the French. â€Å"Mitterrand was a bold man,† Langdon replied, splitting the difference. The late French president who had commissioned the pyramid was said to have suffered from a† Pharaoh complex.† Singlehandedly responsible for filling Paris with Egyptian obelisks, art, and artifacts. Franà §ois Mitterrand had an affinity for Egyptian culture that was so all-consuming that the French still referred to him as the Sphinx. â€Å"What is the captain's name?† Langdon asked, changing topics. â€Å"Bezu Fache,† the driver said, approaching the pyramid's main entrance. â€Å"We call him le Taureau.† Langdon glanced over at him, wondering if every Frenchman had a mysterious animal epithet. â€Å"You call your captain the Bull?† The man arched his eyebrows. â€Å"Your French is better than you admit, Monsieur Langdon.† My French stinks, Langdon thought, but my zodiac iconography is pretty good.Taurus was always the bull. Astrology was a symbolic constant all over the world. The agent pulled the car to a stop and pointed between two fountains to a large door in the side of the pyramid. â€Å"There is the entrance. Good luck, monsieur.† â€Å"You're not coming?† â€Å"My orders are to leave you here. I have other business to attend to.† Langdon heaved a sigh and climbed out. It's your circus. The agent revved his engine and sped off. As Langdon stood alone and watched the departing taillights, he realized he could easily reconsider, exit the courtyard, grab a taxi, and head home to bed. Something told him it was probably a lousy idea. As he moved toward the mist of the fountains, Langdon had the uneasy sense he was crossing an imaginary threshold into another world. The dreamlike quality of the evening was settling around him again. Twenty minutes ago he had been asleep in his hotel room. Now he was standing in front of a transparent pyramid built by the Sphinx, waiting for a policeman they called the Bull. I'm trapped in a Salvador Dali painting, he thought. Langdon strode to the main entrance – an enormous revolving door. The foyer beyond was dimly lit and deserted. Do I knock? Langdon wondered if any of Harvard's revered Egyptologists had ever knocked on the front door of a pyramid and expected an answer. He raised his hand to bang on the glass, but out of the darkness below, a figure appeared, striding up the curving staircase. The man was stocky and dark, almost Neanderthal, dressed in a dark double-breasted suit that strained to cover his wide shoulders. He advanced with unmistakable authority on squat, powerful legs. He was speaking on his cell phone but finished the call as he arrived. He motioned for Langdon to enter. â€Å"I am Bezu Fache,† he announced as Langdon pushed through the revolving door. â€Å"Captain of the Central Directorate Judicial Police.† His tone was fitting – a guttural rumble†¦ like a gathering storm. Langdon held out his hand to shake. â€Å"Robert Langdon.† Fache's enormous palm wrapped around Langdon's with crushing force. â€Å"I saw the photo,† Langdon said. â€Å"Your agent said Jacques Sauniere himself did – â€Å" â€Å"Mr. Langdon,† Fache's ebony eyes locked on. â€Å"What you see in the photo is only the beginning of what Sauniere did.†