Reflection on Confucianism

Introduction Confucianism is considered as one of the philosophies that were developed in the ancient times yet it still asserts a significant influence on the contemporary society (Liu 2006, 47). One of the authors who have written widely on Confucianism is Yao. In his presentation of Confucianism, Yao (2005, 17) makes attempts to link the philosophy to its developer and the culture or tradition within which Confucianism developed. This paper looks into the conception of Confuciasm by Yao. The paper also assesses the classical development of Confucian, the Yi jing.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Reflection on Confucianism specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The broader view of the philosophy Yao reacts against the constricted view of the philosophy, which comes from failure to open into the historical development of the philosophy and the role of the Confucian tradition as a whole in advancing Confucianism. By ope ning up into this history, it becomes easier to establish the role and influence of Ru in the advancement of Confucian teachings (Yao 2005, 21). Yao does not rule out the role of the founder of this philosophy. He tries to present a broader picture of the development of the philosophy by picturing it from his tradition and the society from which it developed, rather that basing on Confucius. This is achieved by focusing on the evolution of the philosophy of Confucianism. By placing the philosophy in the context of the entire Chinese society, it emerges that Confucianism has grown within the traditional Chinese society has thus been influenced by the changes in the political and social demands of the society. The point that is brought out here is that Confucianism had an influence on the functionality of the society through learning and the exercise of the Confucian ethos. By arguing that Confucianism was not solely developed by Confucius, Yao tries to present a broader view of how t he philosophy of Confucianism has grown and spread across the world. Yao tries to present Confucianism, not merely as a philosophy, but also as a tradition. This is done through the linkage of Confucianism to the Ru tradition in China (Yao 2005, 17). Understanding Confucianism from the societal context In order to link the development of the Confucian tradition to the development and enhancement of the Chinese society, its development is divided into two. There is the creative period of Confucian development, which depicts the formulation of the philosophy together with the development of the principles within the tradition. The second part is the most valid part as it links the Confucian tradition to the social and political developments over the period of development of the philosophy. This puts the philosophy in the context of the tradition, thereby moving it away from the focus on the developer and picturing it from a wider perspective. Confucianism is further divided into three epochs.Advertising Looking for essay on asian? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More These are the periods of development that are presented in a sequential manner in order to capture the developments in the philosophy and other historical happenings (Yao 2005, 18-20).  The main aim of such a presentation of the historical development of Confucianism is to establish its tie with the developments in the contemporary globalized society. The question that leads to this is whether Confucianism can be likened to global culture and spirituality. Yao seeks to present an understanding of the doctrines of Confucianism in the modern society. This cannot be attained by looking at philosophy from the developer perspective, but from the perspective of the tradition and society. Apart from the founder of the philosophy of Confucianism, the tradition and society within which the philosophy has developed exerted a lot of influence on the philoso phy. This justifies the exploration of diverse dimensions in the development of the tradition (Yao 2005, 6-8). What Yi Jing says about the role of a Confucian? Of great importance to the development of Confucianism is the translation of the teachings and doctrines of Confucianism into other languages. This is known as Yi jing. Yin jing was a curriculum that was utilized in the study of Confucian philosophies. Yi jing falls within the main Confucian classics of China. Yi jing plays a significant role in advancing the Confucian commentary. The concept of divination has been one of the core concepts in the doctrine of Confucianism. Therefore, translation of the ethical and philosophical commentaries in the Yi jing provides a background for understanding the conceptions of divination in Confucianism. Western conceptions of Confucian philosophies are highly founded in the binary translations (Engelfriet 1998, 98-99). The translations in the Yi Jing can be likened to western Geomancy. The se classical texts have portrayed a deeper sense of the role of Confucian in the society. However, the translation takes complex process, which makes it hard for one to translate the Confucian commentary. One needs a substantial amount of time in order to know how to make translations of the Confucian commentaries as posited in the Yi jing. This is a negative implication as it portrays Confucian commentaries as difficult for translation and understanding (Little 2006, 165).  The paper has profoundly implored the confines in the understanding of the philosophy of Confucianism. From the discussion, it has come out that a clear understanding of the philosophy, more so in the context of the contemporary world can only be attained through studying it within the context of the tradition and society in which it developed.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Reflection on Confucianism specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Refe rence List Engelfriet, Peter M. 1998. Euclid in China: The Genesis of the First Chinese Translation of Euclid’s Elements Books I – VI (Jihe Yuanben; Beijing, 1607) and its Reception up to 1723. Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill. Little, Reg. 2006. A Confucian-Daoist Millennium? Bacchus Marsh: Connor Court Publishing. Liu, JeeLoo. 2006. An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy: From Ancient Philosophy to Chinese Buddhism. Malden, MA: Blackwell. Yao, Xinzhong. 2005. An Introduction to Confucianism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. This essay on Reflection on Confucianism was written and submitted by user Cristopher C. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

High Frequency Omnidirectional Range Essay Essays

High Frequency Omnidirectional Range Essay Essays High Frequency Omnidirectional Range Essay Essay High Frequency Omnidirectional Range Essay Essay The VHF Omnidirectional Range pilotage system. VOR. was likely the most important air power innovation other than the jet engine. With it. a pilot can merely. accurately. and without ambiguity navigate from Point A to Point B. The widespread debut of VORs began in the early 1950s and 50 old ages subsequently it remains the primary pilotage system in the overpowering bulk of aircraft. VHF omnidirectional wireless scope ( VOR ) . is a type of short-range wireless pilotage system for aircraft. enabling aircraft to find their place and remain on class by having wireless signals transmitted by a web of fixed land wireless beacons with a receiving system unit. It uses wireless frequences in the really high frequence ( VHF ) set from 108 to 117. 95 MHz. Developed in the US beginning in 1937 and deployed by 1946. VOR is the standard air navigational system in the universe. used by both commercial and general air power. There are about 3000 VOR Stationss around the uni verse. It is practically free from inactive and dark consequence therefore is a dependable navigational assistance by twenty-four hours and dark. VOR Ground Station ( aerial ) The prefix â€Å"omni-† means all and an omnidirectional scope is a VHF wireless conveying land station that undertakings directly line classs ( radials ) from the station in all waies. From a top position. it can be visualized as being similar to the radiuss from the hub of a wheel. The distance VOR radials are projected depends upon the power end product of the sender. The class or radials projected from the station are referenced to magnetic North. Therefore. a radial is defined as a line of magnetic bearing widening outward from the VOR station. Radials are identified by Numberss get downing with 001. which is 1 ° E of magnetic North. and advancement in sequence through all the grades of a circle until making 360. To assistance in orientation. a compass rose mention to magnetic North is superimposed on aeronautical charts at the station location. TWO CATEGORIES OF VOR 1. Normal VOR Beacon for en-route navigation- has radio frequence bearer end product of about 200 Watts to supply a service scope of up to 200 maritime stat mis. ( Category A ) 2. Terminal VOR- has a lower end product of about 50 Watts to supply the limited coverage ( 25 maritime stat mis ) required for attack and allow down to an airdrome. ( Category B ) BASIC PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION The basic rule of operation of the VOR is really simple: the VOR installation transmits two signals at the same clip. One signal is changeless in all waies. while the other is rotated about the station. The airborne equipment receives both signals. expressions ( electronically ) at the difference between the two signals. and interprets the consequence as a radial from the station. VOR Stationss broadcast a VHF wireless composite signal including the station’s identifier. voice ( if equipped ) . and navigation signal. The identifier is typically a two- or three-letter twine in Morse codification. The voice signal. if used. is normally the station name. in-flight recorded advisories. or unrecorded flight service broadcasts. The pilotage signal allows the airborne receiving equipment to find a magnetic bearing from the station to the aircraft ( way from the VOR station in relation to the Earth’s magnetic North at the clip of installing ) . VOR Stationss in countries of mag netic compass undependability are oriented with regard to True North. A VOR land station sends out a maestro signal. and a extremely directional 2nd signal that varies in stage 30 times a 2nd compared to the maestro. This signal is timed so that the stage varies as the secondary aerial spins. such that when the aerial is 90 grades from north. the signal is 90 grades out of stage of the maestro. By comparing the stage of the secondary signal to the maestro. the angle ( bearing ) to the station can be determined. This bearing is so displayed in the cockpit of the aircraft. and can be used to take a hole as in earlier wireless way determination ( RDF ) systems. although it is. in theory. easier to utilize and more accurate. This line of place is called the â€Å"radial† from the VOR. The intersection of two radials from different VOR Stationss on a chart provides the place of the aircraft. VOR Stationss are reasonably short scope. the signals have a scope of about 200 stat mis. VOR EQUIPMENT Course divergence index-A class divergence index ( CDI ) is an avionics instrument used in aircraft pilotage to find an aircraft’s sidelong place in relation to a path. If the location of the aircraft is to the left of class. the needle deflects to the right. and frailty versa. VOR Antennas -One or two metre-long aerials lodging up and back out of the roof of the cockpit. These are the aerial for your VHF communicating wirelesss. the 1s used to speak to traffic and to command towers. VOR Receiver – The VOR receiving system converts signals from the aerial to the readings displayed on the pilotage index. VOR Ground Equipment – Consist of a VOR land station which is a little low edifice topped with a white phonograph record upon which are located the VOR aerial and fiberglass conic tower. CONE OF CONFUSION Land senders radiate signals in lift 60 ° to 80 ° above skyline. A spread over caput in the signifier of an upside-down cone is left with no or weak radiation. Flying through this part causes confusion in indicants in the airborne equipment. Passing through this zone the indicants flick quickly. To find exactly the overhead place is hard but positive and stable indicant thenceforth confirm transition of the station. STATION IDENTIFICATION A Morse codification amplitude modulated signal comprising usually three letters is transmitted every 10 seconds for positive designation of the VOR by air crew. Some VORs carry voice transmittal besides for automatic terminal information service ( ATIS ) and designation. Limited voice communicating one manner installation by land control may besides be available in event of communicating failure on normal VHF. The voice signal. if used. is normally the station name. in-flight recorded advisories. or unrecorded flight service broadcasts. The pilotage signal allows the airborne receiving equipment to find a magnetic bearing from the station to the aircraft ( way from the VOR station in relation to the Earth’s magnetic North at the clip of installing ) . VOR Stationss in countries of magnetic compass undependability are oriented with regard to True North. During care a trial signal or no designation may be received. Pilots utilizing VOR must ever positively place the station before usage and continue to supervise the same. Monitoring. A proctor unit near the sender on land is located within country of radiation of the VOR sender. The proctor continuously compares the standard signal with specified parametric quantities. In event of any of the followers. the proctor switches off the VOR sender or withholds the designation and navigation signal transmittal. ( a ) Received bearing is in mistake by more than 1 ° ( B ) Either of the signals – maestro or secondary signal autumn below 15 % in strength ( degree Celsius ) Monitor itself fails. A standby sender is provided to coup detat in instance of malfunction. but it takes some clip to stabilise its transmittal. Therefore. it is emphasized that pilots must listen for designation of the codification for interest of safety. Service VOLUMES A VOR station serves a volume of air space called its Service Volume. Some VORs have a comparatively little geographic country protected from intervention by other Stationss on the same frequency- called â€Å"terminal† or T-VORs. Other Stationss may hold protection out to 130 maritime stat mis ( NM ) or more. Although it is popularly thought that there is a standard difference in power end product between T-VORs and other Stationss. in fact the stations’ power end product is set to supply equal signal strength in the specific site’s service volume. In the United States. there are three standard service volumes ( SSV ) : Terminal. Low. and High ( Standard Service Volumes do non use to print Instrument Flight Rules ( IFR ) routes ) . US Standard Service Volumes ( excerpted from FAA AIM ) | * 1 maritime stat mi = 1. 85200 kilometres VOR INDICATOR A: Rotating Course Card is calibrated from 0 to 360 grades. which indicates the VOR bearing chosen as the mention to wing by pilot. Bacillus: Omni Bearing Selector or OBS boss. used to manually revolve the class card to where the point to wing to. C: TO-FROM index. The trigon pointer will indicate UP when winging to the VOR station. The pointer will indicate DOWN when winging off from the VOR station. A ruddy flag replaces theseTO-FROM pointers when the VOR is beyond response scope or the station is out. Calciferol: Course Deviation Indicator ( CDI ) . This needle moves left or right bespeaking the way to turn the aircraft to return to class. Point: The horizontal points at centre are represent the aircraft off from the class. Each point represent 2 grades deviate from coveted class. Aircraft VOR Component 1. VOR RECEIVER: In many modern aircraft one control unit is used for both the VOR receiving system and the VHF communications transceiver. When located together. the wireless is called a NAVCOM ( See Navcom Control Panels figure ) . The VOR signals are received on the aerial. usually located on the perpendicular stabilizer or on top of the fuselage. This aerial resembles a â€Å"V† prevarication in a horizontal plane. The VOR receiving system converts signals from the aerial to the readings displayed on the pilotage index. 2. NAVIGATION Index: The VOR pilotage index gives the pilot aircraft place information by agencies of three constituents. The path picker. sometimes called the omnibearing picker or OBS. is used to revolve the AZ ring. which displays the selected VOR path. ( See Navigation Indicator figure ) . This ring may besides demo the reciprocal of the selected path. The TO-FROM/OFF flag indicates whether the path will take the pilot to or from the station. If the aircraft is out of stationrange and can non have a dependable. useable signal the TO-FROM/OFF index shows OFF. Besides. the OFF flag is displayed when the aircraft is straight over the station. when abeam of the station in the country of ambiguity ( i. e. . straight on either side of the station ) or when beyond the response scope of the station selected. When the aircraft header agrees by and large with the path picker. the path divergence saloon ( TB ) shows the pilot the place relation to the path selected and indicates whether the radial is to the right or left The TB acerate leaf has a cubic decimeter 0 ° spread from centre to either side when having a VOR signal. The Track Bar ) . shows that an aircraft 5 ° off path would hold the TB one-half of the manner from centre to the outside border. If the aircraft is 10 ° off path the needle swings wholly to one side. Each point on the pilotage index represents 2 ° when the pilot is winging VOR. 3. TRACK ARROW: Each clip a path is chosen on the picker. the country around the VOR station is divided into halves or envelopes ( see Left Right Envelopes figure ) . It is helpful to believe of the spliting line as a path pointer. which runs through the station and points in the way of the selected path. The Terbium shows the pilot in which of these two envelopes the aircraft is located. If the aircraft is winging along the path line. the TB acerate leaf is centered. If the aircraft flies to the left of the path pointer ( as in place A ) . the TB needle swings to the right. If the aircraft moves to the right of the path pointer. ( place B ) . the TB needle swings to the left. Whenever the pilot changes the path picker. he or she should visualise an fanciful path pointer over the station. In this manner. the pilot can look at the TB and Tell in which envelope the aircraft is located. 4. REFERENCE LINE: When the pilot selects a path. the place of another line is established. a mention line perpendicular to the path pointer and crossing it at the station. The mention line divides the VOR response country into two extra sectors. The country forward of the mention line is the FROM envelope and the country to the rear of the mention line is the TO envelope. The TO-FROM index shows in which envelope the aircraft is located. In the To-From Envelopes figure. both aircraft display a FROM reading. 5. VOR Indications figure. shows the readings that an aircraft would have in eight different locations around the VOR station. In place A. the aircraft shows a centered TB. bespeaking that it is on path ; the TO-FROM flag shows FROM. Position B shows a left TB and a FROM indicant. Aircraft at places C and G are in the country of ambiguity. In this country. the opposing mention signals that actuate the TO-FROM index natural each other and bring forth an OFF Indication. The country of ambiguity widens with increasing distance from the station. The greater the distance. the longer the TO-FROM flag will bespeak OFF as the aircraft moves between the TO and FROM envelopes. DETERMINATION OF POSITION 1. Heading: Aircraft header has perfectly no consequence on the readings of the VOR index. No affair which way the aircraft is heading. the pilot receives the same indicant every bit long as the aircraft remains in the same path envelope ( see VOR Orientation ) . 2. POSITION Fix: To find a hole ( without DME ) . the pilot must utilize two VOR Stationss because the VOR gives merely way and non distance from the station. First. the pilot should tune the figure one VOR to one of the coveted Stationss and do positive designation. Unless the pilot makes positive designation. that station should non be used. If a VOR station is shut down for care or the signal is undependable because of a malfunction. the navaid designation is non transmitted. After placing the station. the pilot should focus on the TB acerate leaf with the positive FROM indicant on the TO-FROM/OFF flag. The pilot repeats this process with the other VOR station. Then. utilizing the chart. the pilot draws a line outbound from the VORs along the radials indicated by the path picker. The intersection of these bearings is the aircraft’s place ( see VOR Position Fix figure ) . Flight TO A VOR STATION 1. BRACKETING: Because there is by and large a crosswind. the pilot seldom can stop a radial. take up the header of that path. and wing straight to the station. To remain on path. the pilot must do a series of little corrections. The procedure of stoping a radial and doing the corrections necessary to stay on path is called bracketing. The method described here minimizes the figure of bends needed to find the necessary air current rectification. and requires the least attending by the pilot. Figure Bracketing a VOR Radial. below. shows the series of manoeuvres that a pilot uses in bracketing a radial to a VOR station. The pilot of the aircraft in place cubic decimeter determines that the radial of the coveted VOR station is to the right and the pilot must turn right to stop it. In place 2. the pilot turns to an intercept angle of 30 ° . Since the radial is 090 ° to the station. the intercept header is 120 ° as shown on the header index. In place 3. the aircraft intercepts the r adial. The pilot instantly turns the aircraft to a 090 ° header to co-occur with the inward way of the radial. While utilizing the heading index to carefully bold the header. the pilot in place 4 starts to float off path. The pilot so takes up a new intercept header of 070 ° a 20 ° intercept angle. The pilot flies this new intercept header of 070 ° until re-intercepting the radial. at which clip ( place 7 ) he or she divides this intercept angle by two and so turns to the new header which is 080 ° . The new header of 080 ° Lashkar-e-Taibas the aircraft impetus a small North of path. This informs the pilot that the coveted path header must be someplace between 090 ° . which allows the aircraft to float South of the radial. and 080 ° . which takes the aircraft North of the radial. At no clip from this point to the station will the pilot bend to a header less than 080 ° or heading more than 090 ° . As shown in place 9. the aircraft takes up the header of 090 ° . which allows the aircraft to float back onto the radial. As the aircraft intercepts the radial at place 10. the pilot turns to a header between 090 ° and 080 ° . so proceeds to the station. tracking the radial with an airc raft heading 085 ° . If the pilot takes up a specific intercept angle and so divides the angle by two. as necessary. the aircraft brackets the radial with the least figure of bends and holds e path with the greatest truth. TRACK TO THE STATION: The pilot should look into the heading index against the magnetic compass when get downing to track. ( The VOR index tells the pilot merely the place of the aircraft relation to a certain radial and the pilot must trust upon the header index for aircraft heading formation ) . The most common usage of VOR pilotage to wing on a radial from station to station. The pilot selects a radial class on the OBS and paths that radial by maintaining the TB acerate leaf centered. which occurs every bit long as the BS is in general understanding with the heading index. For illustration. if the dial is to the right. the index will indicate the right. and the pilot must turn in this way to stop the radial. As the aircraft passes the VOR station. the VOR receives two basic indicants provided that the aircraft crosses straight over the station. The most positive indicant is that TO-FROM index alterations to the opposite reading. ( TO to FROM ) . The 2nd. less certain indicant is the fluctuation of the TB. If the aircraft passes straight over the station. the needle fluctuates from side to side and returns to its original place. If the aircraft is left of path. the acerate leaf does non fluctuate. bur continues to indicate to the right. Likewise. if the aircraft is right of path. the acerate leaf will indicate to the left and non fluctuate as the aircraft passes abeam the station. TIME CHECK: Another usage for VOR is to take a clip cheque. which informs the pilot of the clip staying to wing to a station. For illustration. while inbound to the station on the 022 ° radial ( See VOR Time Check figure ) . the pilot wants to gauge the clip to the station. The pilot chosens to utilize the 030 ° radial to get down the clip cheque. and turns the aircraft to a header of 120 ° . which is at right angles to the 030 ° radial. The OBS is turned to 030 ° and as the needle centres. the pilot notes the clip. Immediately subsequently. the pilot rotates the OBS to 040 ° . which is the following radial to be used in the clip cheque. The pilot so continues to bold the 120 ° aircraft header and flies to the 040 ° radial. As the pilot crosses this radial and the needle centres. he or she notes the clip and finds that it has taken two proceedingss ( 120 seconds ) to do the 10 ° radial alteration. The expression for finding the clip staying to the station is: ( TIME IN SECONDS BETWEEN RADIAL CHANGE ) / ( DEGREES OF RADIAL CHANGE ) peers TIME TO STATION IN MINUTES. Therefore. by spliting 120 seconds by 10. the pilot finds that there are 12 proceedingss staying to wing to the station. Although this job can be worked out utilizing any grade of radial alteration. l0 grades of radial alteration is the simplest and fastest to calculate. RANGE AND ACCURACYScope * The VHF signals associated with VORs are propagated through line-of-sight. Line of sight scope of the sender located at sea degree and aircraft at 5000 pess would be about 88nm and at 10000 pess about 125 nanometers. Accuracy * Published VOR radials are accurate within 3 ° . TYPES OF VORDVOR ( Doppler Very High Frequency OmniDirectional Range ) A ground-based navigational assistance operating at really high frequence and utilizing a wide-aperture radiation system to cut down azimuth mistakes caused by contemplation from terrain and other obstructions ; makes usage of the Doppler rule to work out the job of ambiguity that arises from the usage of a radiation system with apertures that exceed one-half wavelength ; the system is so designed that its signals may be received on the equipment used for the narrow-aperture VOR ( very-high-frequency omnidirectional wireless scope ) . Test VOR ( VOT ) -Transmitter installed for proving the airborne equipment during the pre-flight cheques.– This is non to be used for any navigational information.Terminal VOR ( TVOR )* A low-powered VOR ( really high frequence omnidirectional wireless scope ) located at or near an airdrome for reaching and going pilotage. Weather Broadcast VOR ( BVOR )* Transmits voice conditions information of selected aerodomes in between the designation signals. VOR Tactical Air Navigation ( VORTAC )– A land wireless station dwelling of a collocated very-high-frequency omnidirectional wireless scope ( VOR ) and Tacan installation – can be used by civil aircraft as VOR/DME combination.– Transmitted signals of VOR and TACAN are each identified by three-letter codification transmittal and are interlocked so that pilots utilizing VOR AZ with TACAN distance can be assured that both signals being received are decidedly from the same land station. DBVORTAC ( Broadcasting Doppler VORTAC ) * A conditions airing co-located at TACAN.ERRORS AND LIMITATIONSBeacon Alignment/Ground Station Mistakes* Signal truth can be affected by mistake in the coevals of the signal and alliance of 360 radial with local magnetic North. Regular standardization of land equipment and alliance of signals are carried out with alterations of local fluctuations. Site Mistakes * VORs are sensitive to the intervention of terrain. Even adult grass may impact the directional extension of VOR signals. Propagation Mistake * Signals geting at aircraft can be distorted by specious signals that have been reflected by terrain or obstructors during the extension. * Assorted signals received in airborne equipment causes mistake in show. Airborne Equipment Mistake * Manufacturing inaccuracies and imperfectnesss in the airborne equipment produce little differences between the detected bearing and its show on the instrument. The equipment should be on a regular basis cheque and mistake contained within  ±2? . Navigation Mistake * While ciphering the entire truth of VOR signal the trouble in keeping a radial by pilot.

Arieff on Liu Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Arieff on Liu - Essay Example It should be noted that Liu has used her artistic skills not merely to exhibit them as an artist but to expose the evils of the Chinese traditions. After immigrating to United States she enjoyed the freedom of expressing herself freely through murals, which otherwise wouldn't have been possible if she had been in China. She has used her art as a weapon to rebel against the oppressive patriarchal system of China. Her paintings deal with the intricate issues like foot binding and Western art historical tradition. The most remarkable style of her painting is the reproduction of female characters from the photographs she got from Chinese books. One such book was 'The Face of China', which was published in United States and had photographs taken by foreign tourists in China between 1860 and 1912. She manipulated the images in the photographs and painted them on canvas by using Western style. She incorporated photographs in her paintings, which was otherwise discouraged in China. And a fin e example of this is 'Resident Alien', which is essentially a Self-portrait constructed on Green Card, which belonged to an immigrant "Fortune Cookie" alias Hung Lieu. In this she uses her own identification card photo.

Why did President Lyndon Johnson decide to send combat troops to Essay

Why did President Lyndon Johnson decide to send combat troops to Vietnam in 1965 - Essay Example Because it served as a buffer against the further spread of communism in the region, the West, especially the United States made serious efforts in supporting the South. However, South Vietnam’s government apparently failed in living up to the expectations of its people when it comes to uplifting them from poverty and landlessness. In the midst of worse economic disparities between the government bureaucrats and the majority of the people, the National Liberation Front or the Viet Cong began to advance an insurgency with ample support from the North. During the term of Pres. John F. Kennedy, the policy of the U.S. was still that of extreme caution. In treating the Vietnam issue, the Kennedy administration practiced the minimum requirement of the policy of containment, which is to provide logistical support and training to the South Vietnamese Army in order to make it capable in fighting the Viet Cong. By the time of his death, Kennedy had already sent more than 15,000 U.S. mil itary advisors to Vietnam. Even with the presence of that many troops already in a foreign country, the demand for more continued to rise as South Vietnam’s security problems continued to grow worse. ... Just like his predecessors, it was obvious that Johnson was very concerned with how one piece of the domino is about to fall, South Vietnam. It was the domino theory that inspired Kennedy to let the U.S. take an active role in South Vietnam by providing advisors and war materiel to the South Vietnamese Army. It was also this theory that would eventually prompt Johnson to send ground troops to the country. However, the orientation of the large numbers of U.S. troops sent to South Vietnam was not really to strike at the most potential source of support for the insurgency, which is the North. Although the ground troops were utilized to hit the local insurgents, the Viet Cong, they were instructed to take defensive posture against the North Vietnamese Army. This was apparently guided by a political and military response to the domino effect: containment. Containment is essentially defensive posture against the further spread of communism. For politicians who would not want to be labeled as too soft on the communists and who also do not wish to be considered as militarists or hawks, standing for policy of containment would seem to be the viable option. Pres. Johnson was an advocate of containment and this could be seen in the years immediately after he took over when Kennedy died. This policy, however, was constantly criticized by the political right in the U.S. as a sign of weakness, or of the unwillingness to venture into an escalated war that would achieve a quick and decisive victory against the enemy. Johnson defended his policy of containment well during the 1964 elections. His rival, Sen. Barry Goldwater often raised the issue of Vietnam just to portray him as a weak president at a time when the U.S.

Policy making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Policy making - Essay Example The country has been trying to resolve and reduce use of fossil fuel. This has led to debates among leaders on invention of a renewable fuel source like ethanol. Scientific criticism is diverse as it focuses on external instrumentalization process of science and technology in economic, political and military spheres. It also focuses on the internal academic structures where questions on social relevance that is grounded on causality and reductionism. Furthermore, solutions about the social problems are also analyzed. A scientific approach like use of ethanol is accepted if the outcomes of the process are ethical: it is less harmful as compared to other fuel sources. Hopes can be drawn to science if the values and the epistemological foundations attached are beneficial to the citizens. For instance, production of corn in U.S has increased from one third to five billion bushels between 1990 to 2010. This is an economic improvement thus earns more profit to the locals. Human activities such as deforestation have negatively affected production of corn. Furthermore, climatic conditions such as drought also affect corn production. Thus, ethanol production from corn is non-renewable; it means that corn production also reduces. This has directly affected the level of ethanol produced. This has led to food shortage in Mexico due to the depleted corn. Furthermore, increase in production of ethanol, leads to pollution and degrades agriculture. This has led to enforcement of environmental policies to curb production of ethanol. In addition, ethanol production is affected by the market trend. Due to the high demand of ethanol, it has forced many ethanol users to participate in the business. This is due to the less environmental effects that ethanol has to the environment. It is also estimated that the price of gasoline is about $0.9 per gallon due to the presence

Effects Of Shift Work On Employee

Effects Of Shift Work On Employee 3. Why and how might shift work impact on the health of employees? What could be done to minimise the health risks of such work? In modern life shift work becomes a necessary part of life. Shift work is an employment schedule that is not in the usual daytime hours and in which two or more groups of workers work at separate times in the 24 hrs. (Finn, 1981).According to HSE(2006) approximately 14% of people in UK doing shift work in different shifts Some institutions like hospitals, ambulance services, police department, transport industry and some industries needs continuous 24 hrs shift work. But this shift work disrupts the circadian rhythm that can lead to reduction in alertness. The diurnal rhythms control pulse rate, the cardio-pulmonary system, composition of blood, blood pressure, secretions of endocrine glands, appetite and wakening and sleep cycle. So shift work interrupts these natural processes for which the human body is normally programmed. So this can cause compromise i n health and safety of the workers. Lack of adequate sleep has produce adverse affects including nervous system related disorders, physical problems which can lead to accidents on job. Fatigue is also the most common reaction in shift workers. Shift work is the main cause of fatigueness in combination with physical, mental and emotional factors that causes exhaustion in workers. Shift work affects the general health and performance of the employees. Because of shift work employees have not follow any routine in their eating habits and they have not regular pattern to sleep and this may produce health problems (Finn, 1981). According to health and safety perspective all the working hours are not same. Night shifts are more difficult and risky. Working overtime also raises the fatigueness in a worker. This can lead to other accidents. Some workers do shift work with their own choice but mostly do because of economic necessity (ACTU Guidelines on shift work extended hours, 2000). Mostly people dont know the extra stress that night shift workers have, is because of work in late night hours. When most people are in their beds, night shift workers are getting ready to work. Night Shifts put negative impact on health of workers because these shifts affect the circadian rhythms of the human body. These circadian rhythms change all over the day and night to regulate different biological functions of body. For example our cardiac rate and the temperature of body changes throughout 24 hrs and this is lowest at 4am and it is on the peak in the mid of afternoon. The circadian rhythms reset after 24 hrs by environme ntal factors like light and darkness. Temperature of body goes up with the day light and goes down at night. Thats why body is active during daytime, whereas in the night it is meant to sleep for recovering and replacing the energy of the body. But working at night disturbs biological clocks thats why sleeping becomes difficult so workers feel fatigue. Work during night shifts imbalance these rhythms in spite of their regular timing. Because of this, workers who can do night shifts come across problems in sleep, fatigueness, gaining weight and problems related to digestive system. Some of these problems also become chronic diseases. According to study done by the Journal of the National Cancer institute (2001) depicts that the females doing night shifts have more risk of breast cancer because of exposure to light during night which interrupts the production of melatonin (Victoria,2010).A study found that the breast cancer risk is 60% more in women doing night shifts. Because the mel atonin hormone mainly produced during sleep. However several studies found rhythmic adjustments to a new work schedule sets in 4 days to 2 days. The continuous change in day, evening and night shifts diminishes the normally programmed body rhythms. According to Sparks and Cooper et al (1977) the field of occupational health psychology, overtime fatigue is an important factor in the health conditions and working hours plan. Because of excessive work in shifts raises in backbone injuries, bacterial infections, three times increase in accidents on job after 16 hrs of work these all have related to fatigue and overtime in shift work (Rosa, 1995) To minimize the health risks of shift work: According to article how lifestyle changes can reduce shift work stress published in Sleep disorders guide (2006-08) suggests that workers have to follow some useful measures to tackle the shift work correctly. Workers should not take more than 2 night shifts regularly in one week. So that their body take rest and the workers are not faces fatigueness. Workers take frequent breaks from work when they feel tired and not able to stand in same posture for a long time. Keep entertaining by talking to your fellow colleagues if worker feel difficult to work during long hours in night shifts, but always follow the safety measures. Workers have to follow proper eating habits .Afternoon shift workers take their meal in the middle of day, not in middle of their shift. Workers are advised not take heavy meals when they go for night shifts and they take light meal throughout night shift and take moderate breakfast. A heavy meal compels the workers to s leep and this may lead to accidents and even discomfort in stomach. After completing the night shift workers have to take proper rest with adequate sleep. They have to avoid heavy exercise before going to bed because metabolism of body will still elevated for many hours and this will produce difficulty in sleep. While sleeping they relaxed their mind and keep their brain free from any disturbance. If they fail to sleep then read a book or listen some music. Workers should follow healthy life style according to their shift work and they should exercise 30-40 minutes daily. With doing regular exercise his mental and physical health remains good and this will reduces the health problems. Workers have to take proper diet to maintain their physical health. Workers drink more water in night shift. They have to socialize with other coworkers to minimize disruption in social life. Workers practices to reduce the stress. They have to schedule daily events by the calendar use. Workers choose the prioritize tasks and always tackle one task at a time (Stones, 1987). 4. Critically review the evidence that multiple roles in work and non-working life lead to negative outcomes for employees and organizations. Work culture changes rapidly in present days. Previously concept of work done is to fulfil basic human needs but now this is not the fact. The basic needs are not enough, but standard of living is also an essential part for doing work. According to Blekesaune (2008) unemployed people are at major risk of breakdown in personal relationships .Males and females who lost their jobs have similar impact. According to Work life Balance Survey(Hurst and Richards 2003) there were more than 1200 employees who took part in internet survey done in the form of questionnaire and each one ,out of the ten participants worked more than 70 hrs every week, whereas he is being signed for 35-40 hrs. 98% of workers took their office work t home. 17% of them skip their lunch break.97% workers found that it is difficult to balance work and life.70% of workers took work as main stressor (Work life balance survey, 2003). Work or nonwork conflict generally noticed when work and non work roles are not compatible with one another and participation in one role made difficult in participating in another role (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985). The Spillover Model (Loscocco and Roschelle, 1991) guided well on present study related to work and non work conflict. In Spillover model, there is a positive relation given between work and non work roles to the limit of satisfaction or not satisfaction in one of the roles moves into other (Bond et al., 1998).Work and non work conflict influences the general health and mental wellbeing of workers and their families. As an example, a recent epidemiological study done in Australia establish that the parents who work regularly for long hours or back home stressed have develop more physical illness and other psychological problems(Earle,2003). According to Duxbury (2003) work and non work conflict impact on the ability of workers to bring up their families which results in lesser levels in family wellbeing and stability. Researchers found that policies which are designed to assist work and non work conflict can change workers behaviour which is good for the organization. Evidences found that the policies which are family friendly results in raises in back to work after the delivery (Squirchuk and Bourke, 1999). When we are talking about the effect of stressors on a person, few researchers analysed to divide the life of a person into separate functional fields. Like divided between the home and work place. Because in each area individual play more than one role. Like in family they have two roles spouse as well as parents and same in their workplace they follow different roles. Researchers found that in each field person suffers from stressors and strain. So if in a demanding job person becomes stressed at work place then its quite possible that he come back home in same state of mind, so this create difficulities in home atmosphere also. There are two major hypotheses proposed to explain the work -home relationship. The spillover hypotheses proposed that there are no hard boundaries between different life areas. The work and nonwork experiences will positively related to one another. So the persons, who changed, stimulate and satisfy work experiences will likewise same non work experiences. Thus stressful moments experienced in work makes person tired at work as well as when he came back home, this makes difficult to interact with the family and social life. Case studies based on early work approve this approach (Young Wilmott, 1973, Piotrokowski, 1978). According to compensatory hypotheses, in between home and work there will be negative relationship. As an example, for boarded and non stimulating work experience, a person compensates this with good experience at home or from other free activities (Wilensky, 1960, Rousseau, 1978). According to the compensatory hypotheses, a person majorly involved in work would be not involved at home or the other way around. Another immaterial approach is segmentation hypotheses which approve that work and non-work areas are essentially nondependent, separated psychologically and perform separate functions (Blood and Wolfe, 1960, Dubin, 1973). This was the primary formulation of work and home relationship but myth of separate worlds of family and work has exposed (Kanter, 1977). This model is now often dishonored. These models just gives idea that up to what extent behaviour in one area lead to same or different behaviour in other, or to which extent satisfaction or stress in one role is associated to similar feeling in other (Staines,1980). According to National Study of changing work force, 19% of fathers who are working and 38% of working mothers feel stress oftenly and very oftenly in the three month period of this study. The data shows that male and female both suffered by contrasting demands of the family and workplace to balance these two. These conflicts noticed in previous two decades, when labour work becomes more in organizations and females are equally take part in working in organizations. The increased ratio of working women splits their role in two areas. In studies of Work and family conflict mental health is always targeted. Mental illness is inability to cope with the surrounding environment and reality. These studies proved that mental health depends upon the variation of experiences in work and family (Forne, 2000). In work and family conflicts there is not any selective gender but mental problems for e.g. mood changes are more in females who are working then males (Kohn, Dohrenwend Mirotznik, 1998). In the midlife, work and family conflict and mental stress are comparatively stable. So if the worker is having mental health problems, this is not good for organization also. Worker not cooperated with co workers and the environment of work is always tensed. This will affect the production of the organization also. There is another major problem which occurs because of work and family conflict that is drinking. When a worker not balance his both roles and because of stress start drinking alcohol and become habitual then this make the situation worse. Because he could not take care of his family properly and even not concentrate on his work. Because of this he cut off from his family as well as from society and even from his co workers. He or she might become a victim of accident at work. Because of drinking problem he lost money and this also affects his financial condition. Marriage life of worker is also affected thats why now a days divorce rates are high, because of imbalance in family and work. When work and life conflict occurs care of children and elderly people becomes difficult. Sometimes person even thought about the suicidal attempt because of this worse situation. 5. Discuss and critically evaluate research that has examined the impact of bullying at work. Introduction Bullying at work is behaviour of annoying, offending or affecting negatively to a person in his work tasks (Einarsen, Hoel, Zapf Cooper 2003).According to HSE bullying at work is to ignore someone, circulating rumours, annoying somebody in front of others, giving somebody a task which is not achievable, constantly underestimating somebodys work .It is not a new behaviour but it was not much noticed till the end of twentieth century. Bullying was brought into the public arena by Andrea Adams, a journalist of UK, who wrote a book o bullying, in the year 1992.He also produced radio documentaries in which discussion was there on workplace bullying. In UK and Ireland bullying word is used whereas in Germany, Austria and Scandinavia it is called as mobbing and in US as emotional abuse. According to the study, Destructive conflict and bullying at work (Hoel Cooper, 2000) one in every ten people bullied on work within last 6months and the number increases to one in four in last five years. According to this study women are bullied more as compare to men. Managers or persons on senior post were culprit in 74.7% cases of bullying. The obvious experienced negative behaviour at work was somebody was not giving proper information, which gives negative impact to your performance or impossible targets or deadlines. Bullying was mostly associated with bad mental health and less satisfaction in organization (Hoel Cooper, 2000). Types of Bullying Bullying at work due to direct comments on employees causes harasses, humiliation and put negative impact on performance in work and this creates uncomfortable working atmosphere (Einarsen Rakness, 1997).It is found that usually bullying behaviour has two categories: personal and work related. Personal is an again and again offensive comment regarding you and your personal life. Work related is direct comments on your work task, not giving reasonable deadlines to complete tasks, non manageable load of work. According to Zapf (1999) there were five types of bullying behavior: A. Make the task more difficult. B. Stop communicating with somebody. C.Attack on anyones personal life. D. Humiliate and criticize in front of others. E. Circulate rum ours. Now a days physical bullying or sex abuse related bullying also found with women employees in workplaces. Impacts of bullying on psychological wellbeing Bullying at work put direct impact on persons psychological wellbeing. Psychological impacts are mental stress, anxiety, loss of sleep, less concentration in the given task or work, binge eating, addiction to alcohol or smoking, lack of alertness at work ,due to this sometimes accidents occurs. Psychologists noticed behavioural changes in workers, who face regular bullying at work. Worker becomes irritated, emotional, and aggressive. Some women who faced sexual bullying, later on gone into reverse personality. They become aggressive even on situations which are ignorable. They hate opposite sex either he is in his own blood relation. If a person continuously suffers from bullying he may develop Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (Bjorkqvist et al, 1994, Leyman and Gustafsson ,1996). Impacts of bullying on physical wellbeing The person who faces regular bullying for long time also found physically ill. Because of this his blood pressure becomes high so he is suffering from hypertension and it is one of the indicators for cardiac diseases. Their immunity which helps him to fight with diseases or infections gone done. So he got infections more easily. Because of anxiety his digestive system also disturbs, so problems like diarrhea/constipation, stomachache, acidity occurs. Studies shows that continuous mental stress could also be one of the reasons of skin diseases like irritation, psoriasis etc. sometimes mental stress is the main reason of migraine. Sometimes lot of frustration could change persons mind towards suicidal attempt. Impact on organisations Bullying at work place also put impact on organizations by lowering the productivity of goods. Because workers are not work properly in organizations. Due to continuous bullying some workers often took leaves from work, which also put bad impact on work. Quality of production also gone down due to the bullying, because of this profit of organization also reduces. Studies show that work efficiency of workers also lowers because of bullying at work. At times this bullying at work place led the concern organizations to the court which is also harmful for the reputation of organization. 6. Compare and contrast the effectiveness of primary and secondary/tertiary stress management strategies in improving employee wellbeing. According to Richard Lazarus (1984) the definition of stress is that Stress is a feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize (Lazarus,1984). According to Dr. Mellisa Conrad Stopplers book, Stress, Hormones and Weight gain Stress is simply a fact of nature-forces from the outside world affecting the individual. The person responds to stress accordingly as it affect the person and his environment. Stress occurs because of external and internal factors. External factors are the environment, our home, personal relations, all outer situations, challenges, difficulties and expectations of life. Internal factors which affect your power to deal stress are nutritional status of a person, level of health and fitness, emotional status and how much rest and sleep a person got (Stoppler, 2007). Management of stress For managing the level of stress, organizations tried and do efforts for mental and physical health of the workers (Cooper Cartwright, 1997). The stress prevention done at primary, secondary and tertiary levels (Murphy, 1988). Primary intervention (preventive) Todays world is the world of globalization. In this world there is lot of competition, because of that stress becomes the biggest problem in employees in the organizations. Organizations are also affected due to stress level in employees. So organizations have low productivity and pay major cost for health care. For preventing the stress in organizations, primary interventions are there to reduce the level of stress. The major concentrate of primary intervention management is to search the causes of stress and to remove the causes. Primary intervention is also known as Stress prevention intervention. The main features of primary intervention stress management are, improving communication, re-scheduling or designing the structure of the tasks, give decision making chances to workers, lowers the work load, build cohesive teams, establish genuine policies of employment, sharing the rewards and contrast resolution skills. The primary intervention tries to modify or remove the causes of stress in the organizations so that workers work in good working atmosphere (Cooper et al., 2001). According to Wall, T.D. Clegg, C.W. (1981) study of work design done at confectionary company who faced troubles of demoralization in workers, gap in relations between workers and turnover problems. Organizations given the power of decision making, break for rest and after twenty eight months, they observe there was not any change in skill or not any progress in the task given to them. Secondary intervention (Creative) Secondary intervention is mainly related with the immediate detection and management of experienced stress by raising awareness and modifies skills of stress management of the worker with training programs (Cooper and Cartwright, 1997).In the secondary intervention workers have to manage their stress, not changing or removing the stressors. The Programmes of stress management assist and channelize the workers to know the symptoms of stress in them and other coworkers and try to get out of it. In the secondary intervention development of coping skills, management of anger, counseling and cognitive behaviour therapies are used. In the secondary intervention some class sessions or training programs are also there for increasing awareness and controlling the stressful conditions like training to do muscle relaxing exercises, educational seminars etc. Training to the workers to do their work could lower stress and improve their efficiency or creativity (Bunce and West, 1996). Cognitive behaviour therapy improves the mental wellbeing to well tolerate the harsh experiences without changing and controlling them (Bond and Bunce, 2000). Tertiary intervention (Reactive) Tertiary intervention assists the workers to give treatment, compensate and rehabilitate them who are suffering from illness due to stress. This intervention usually assist workers to come out from stress occurs due to their work. The main aim of these programmes is to treat the worker who is beneficial for the organizations. This intervention includes medical intervention, treatment and ongoing counseling also. So that worker returns to their work normally. These services are provided in house counselors or foreign agencies in the form of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPS). Employee Assistance Programs give twenty four hrs telephone services. Workers are easily access these services (Cooper and Cartwright, 1997). Meditation help to reduce stress, sleeplessness, anxiety and tensions (Alexander et al.,1993).For lowering their stress level, workers concentrate more on deep breathing and muscle relaxing exercises(Mcguigen,1994). Comparison of stress prevention interventions According to Kempier and Cooper (1999) now a days for stress management the secondary and tertiary interventions are more used as compare to primary ones. It was seen that these three interventions are effective in reverse order. In case of stress at the working place the primary intervention targets on the cause of stress in work place, secondary saw the effect of stress on worker and tertiary helps workers to rehabilitation and provide treatment in case of medical sickness due to stress. Secondary and tertiary level interventions play important role in preventing stress but they are not completely successful in stress management unless the cause of stress is not removed. Another limitation of secondary and tertiary interventions is that they dont address the area to control the stressor which is important. Secondary and primary interventions are not sufficient to maintain the health of workers without removing the cause as in primary intervention (Cooper and Cartwright, 1997). Conclusion The secondary and tertiary interventions are useful in stress prevention but without the removal of cause they are not much beneficial. These interventions have favourable affect on indivual level and organizational level.

The Myth of the Earnings Yield :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

The Myth of the Earnings Yield Essay written by Sam Vaknin Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites A very slim minority of firms distribute dividends. This truism has revolutionary implications. In the absence of dividends, the foundation of most - if not all - of the financial theories we employ in order to determine the value of shares, is falsified. These theories rely on a few implicit and explicit assumptions: (a) That the (fundamental) "value" of a share is closely correlated (or even equal to) its market (stock exchange or transaction) price (b) That price movements (and volatility) are mostly random, though correlated to the (fundamental) "value" of the share (will always converge to that "value" in the long term) (c) That this fundamental "value" responds to and reflects new information efficiently (old information is fully incorporated in it) Investors are supposed to discount the stream of all future income from the share (using one of a myriad of possible rates - all hotly disputed). Only dividends constitute meaningful income and since few companies engage in the distribution of dividends, theoreticians were forced to deal with "expected" dividends rather than "paid out" ones. The best gauge of expected dividends is earnings. The higher the earnings - the more likely and the higher the dividends. Even retained earnings can be regarded as deferred dividends. Retained earnings are re-invested, the investments generate earnings and, again, the likelihood and expected size of the dividends increase. Thus, earnings - though not yet distributed - were misleadingly translated to a rate of return, a yield - using the earnings yield and other measures. It is as though these earnings WERE distributed and created a RETURN - in other words, an income - to the investor. The reason for the perpetuation of this misnomer is that, according to all current theories of finance, in the absence of dividends - shares are worthless. If an investor is never likely to receive income from his holdings - then his holdings are worthless. Capital gains - the other form of income from shareholding - is also driven by earnings but it does not feature in financial equations. Yet, these theories and equations stand in stark contrast to market realities. People do not buy shares because they expect to receive a stream of future income in the form of dividends.

The Golden Lily Chapter 17

ADRIAN'S CAR DROVE LIKE A DREAM. When I got behind the wheel, I nearly forgot to check for any pursuit. In fact, I nearly forgot that I was supposed to be taking us to Wolfe's and showing Adrian how to use a stick shift. Instead, I was caught up in the way the engine hummed around us and in the scent of the leather. Leaving his neighborhood, I had to restrain myself from flooring it in the crowded streets of downtown Palm Springs. This was a car screaming to be let loose on the open road. I had admired Brayden's Mustang, but I worshipped this one. â€Å"I feel like I've just crashed someone's date,† Adrian remarked, once we were getting on the highway. No one had tailed us out of downtown, making me feel much safer. â€Å"Like I'm intruding on you two. If you want to drop me off somewhere, I'll understand.† â€Å"Huh?† I'd been paying careful attention to the way the car built up to higher speeds, both through sound and feel. The Mustang was in stunning shape. People often have the idea that classic cars are expensive. They are – if they're in good condition. Most aren't. When something's sat around for years without care, it inevitably falls apart, which is why so many older cars are fixer-uppers. Not Adrian's. This had been maintained and restored throughout the years and had probably never left the state of California – meaning it hadn't faced harsh winters. That all added up to a high price tag, making it that much more ludicrous that Adrian had bought something he couldn't drive. I groaned. â€Å"I'm sorry†¦ I don't know what I was thinking.† Well, I kind of knew. I'd been wondering what my odds of a ticket would be if I broke the speed limit to see how fast we could go. â€Å"I should've been walking you through this as soon as I started the car. I promise I will when we leave Wolfe's, all the steps. For now, I guess we can recap the basics. This is the clutch†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Adrian didn't seem annoyed by my neglect. If anything, he looked amused and simply listened to my explanations with a small, quiet smile on his face. Wolfe looked just as disreputable as he had last time, complete with the eye patch and what I suspected were the same Bermuda shorts as before. I hoped he'd done laundry since then. Despite his appearance, he was ready to go when our class assembled and seemed competent in his subject matter. Although he reminded us again about the importance of avoiding conflicts and being aware of one's surroundings, he quickly moved past those points and focused on actually practicing more physical ways of protecting oneself. Considering how much Adrian had complained last time about the â€Å"boring† safety talk, I figured he'd be excited that we were pretty much jumping right into some action. Instead, that amused look from the car vanished, and he grew increasingly tense as Wolfe explained what he wanted us to do in our partnered practice sessions. When the time actually came to practice, Adrian looked blatantly unhappy. â€Å"What's the matter?† I asked. I suddenly remembered last time, when Adrian had freaked out over my â€Å"attack.† Maybe he hadn't really expected he'd have to work here. â€Å"Come on, these are simple. You won't get dirty.† Even when teaching more combative actions, Wolfe was still an advocate of keeping things fast and simple. We weren't trying to learn to beat someone up. These maneuvers were effective means of distracting an assailant so that we could escape. Most were done with the dummies, since we could hardly try to stick fingers in each other's eyes. Adrian went through those motions diligently, if silently. It was working directly with me that he seemed to have a problem with. Wolfe noticed it too as he made his rounds. â€Å"Come on, boy! She can't try to escape if you don't try to hold her. She's not going to hurt you, and you won't hurt her.† The maneuver in question was actually one that would've been helpful the night I'd been grabbed in the alley. So, I was eager to practice it and frustrated that Adrian kept only halfheartedly helping. He was supposed to put an arm around my torso and attempt to cover my mouth. Unfortunately, his efforts were so weak and his hold so loose that I didn't need any special techniques to escape. I could have simply walked right out of his arms. With Wolfe there, Adrian made a slightly better showing as an assailant but immediately resorted to his former ways once we were alone. â€Å"Let's switch,† I said at last, nearly wanting to pull my hair out. â€Å"You try to escape me. Make up for last time.† I couldn't believe that Adrian's sluggish attitude had turned out to be the problem here. I'd expected the hang-up would be me not wanting to touch a vampire, but it didn't bother me at all. I wasn't thinking of him as a vampire. He was Adrian, and my partner in this class. I needed him to learn the move. It was all very pragmatic. If I didn't know better, I'd almost say that Adrian was afraid to touch me, which made no sense. Moroi didn't have those hang-ups. Was something wrong with me? Why wouldn't Adrian touch me? â€Å"What's going on?† I demanded, once we were in the car and headed back to the city. â€Å"I get that you're not an athlete, but what happened in there?† Adrian refused to meet my eyes and instead stared pointedly out the window. â€Å"I don't think this is really my thing. I was all about playing action hero before, but now†¦ I don't know. This is a bad idea. It's more work than I thought.† There was a flippant, dismissive tone in his voice that I hadn't heard in a while. â€Å"What happened to you finishing things you started?† I asked. â€Å"You told me you had changed.† â€Å"That was for art,† said Adrian quickly. â€Å"I'm still in those classes, aren't I? I didn't jump ship on those. I just don't want to do this one anymore. Don't worry. Now that I've got more money, I'll pay you back the class fee. You won't be out anything.† â€Å"That doesn't matter,† I argued. â€Å"It's still a waste! Especially since what Wolfe's showing us isn't really that difficult. We're not ripping ourselves apart like Eddie and Angeline would. Why is this so hard for you to stick with and learn?† My earlier self-doubt returned. â€Å"Do you just not want to work with me? Is there†¦ is there something wrong with me?† â€Å"No! Of course not. Absolutely not,† said Adrian. In my periphery, I saw him finally look at me. â€Å"Maybe there are only so many things I can learn at once. I mean, I'm supposed to also be learning to drive a stick shift. Not that I see that happening.† I wanted to slap myself on the forehead. In my frustration over class, I'd completely forgotten again about showing Adrian how to drive. I felt like an idiot, even though I was still mad at him for giving up on Wolfe. I checked the time. I had things to do tonight at Amberwood but felt obligated to make up for my shoddy teaching. â€Å"We'll practice once we're back in your neighborhood,† I promised. â€Å"We'll start slow, and I'll show you everything you need to do. I might even let you try driving around the block tonight if you seem like you're paying attention to the lesson.† The transformation in Adrian was remarkable. He went from sullen and uncomfortable to cheerful and energetic. I couldn't figure it out. Sure, I found cars and driving fascinating, but technically speaking, there was a lot more detail to learn about manual transmission than there was in Wolfe's evasive techniques. Why were those difficult for him, but the clutch was easy? I stuck around for about an hour when we got back. To his credit, Adrian paid attention to every word I said, although his results were inconsistent whenever I quizzed him or actually let him try something. Sometimes he'd respond like a pro. Other times, he'd seem totally lost on things I could have sworn he'd picked up. By the end of the hour, I felt safe enough with him driving the car at low speeds on empty streets. He was a long way from the highway or stop-and-go traffic of a busy city. â€Å"Looks like we've got more lessons in our future,† I told him when we finished. I'd parked the car behind his building, and we were walking back toward the main entrance and Latte. â€Å"Do not take that car beyond a half-mile radius. I checked the odometer. I'll know.† â€Å"Noted,† he said, still wearing that smirky smile. â€Å"When's the next lesson? You want to come back tomorrow night?† â€Å"Can't,† I said. â€Å"I'm going out with Brayden.† I was surprised at how much I was looking forward to it. Not only did I want to make things up to him after the dance, but I also just wanted a dose of normality – well, at least the kind of normality Brayden and I had together. Plus, things with Adrian were feeling really weird†¦ â€Å"Oh.† Adrian's smile fell. â€Å"Well. I understand. I mean, love and romance and all that.† â€Å"We're going to the textile museum,† I said. â€Å"It's cool, though I'm not sure how much love and romance there'll really be there.† Adrian nearly came to a halt. â€Å"There's a textile museum here? What do people do there?† â€Å"Well, they look at†¦ um, textiles. There's actually a great exhibit on – † I stopped as we reached the front of the building. There, behind Latte, was a familiar car, the rental that Sonya and Dimitri were using. I looked questioningly at Adrian. â€Å"Were you expecting them tonight?† â€Å"No,† he said, resuming his walk to the door. â€Å"They've got a key, though, so I suppose they can make themselves at home anytime. They do it a lot, actually. He eats my food, and she uses my hair stuff.† I followed him. â€Å"Hopefully it's just Dimitri.† After our recent revelations about the hunters, Sonya was pretty much under house arrest. Or so I thought. When we walked into the apartment, she was sitting on the couch. No Dimitri in sight. She glanced up at us from her laptop. â€Å"Thank goodness you're here,† she said, directing her words to me. â€Å"Jill said you two were out and I was hoping to catch you.† Something told me no good would come out of her wanting to â€Å"catch† me, but I had greater concerns. â€Å"What are you doing here?† I asked, half-expecting hunters to come through the door. â€Å"You're supposed to be at Clarence's until you leave town.† â€Å"Day after tomorrow,† she confirmed. She stood; eyes alight with whatever had driven her here. â€Å"But I needed to talk to you now – face-to-face.† â€Å"I would've come to you,† I protested. â€Å"It's not safe for you to be out.† â€Å"I'm fine,† she said. â€Å"I made sure I wasn't followed. This was too important.† She was breathless and excited. More important than being caught by wannabe vampire hunters? Debatable. Adrian crossed his arms and looked surprisingly disapproving. â€Å"Well, it's too late now. What's going on?† â€Å"We got the results back from Sydney's blood,† explained Sonya. My heart stopped. No, I thought. No, no, no. â€Å"Just like with Dimitri's blood, nothing physiological showed up,† she said. â€Å"Nothing unusual with proteins, antibodies, or anything like that.† Relief poured through me. I'd been right. Nothing special about me, no inexplicable properties. And yet†¦ at the same time, I felt a tiny pang of regret. I wasn't the one who would fix everything. â€Å"We sent it to a Moroi lab this time, not an Alchemist one,† Sonya continued. â€Å"One of the researchers – an earth user – felt a hum of earth magic. Just like how Adrian and I felt spirit in Dimitri's blood. The technician had other types of magic users examine your sample, and all four basic elements were detected.† That panic returned. She had me on an emotional roller coaster, one that left me nauseous. â€Å"Magic†¦ in my blood?† A moment later, I understood. â€Å"Of course there is,† I said slowly. I touched my cheek. â€Å"The tattoo has vampire blood and magic in it. That's what it is. There are different degrees of charms in it from different users. That would show up in my blood.† I shivered. Even with a logical explanation, it was a scary thing accepting that there was magic in my blood. Ms. Terwilliger's spells were still anathema to me, but at least there was some comfort in knowing they drew magic from outside of me. But knowing I had something internal? That was terrifying. And yet, I couldn't be surprised at this finding, not with the tattoo. Sonya nodded along. â€Å"Yes, of course. But there must be something about that combination that's repulsive to Strigoi. It may be the key to all of our work!† To my surprise, Adrian took a few steps toward me, and there was a tension in his stance that was fiercely protective. â€Å"So you know Alchemist blood has magic in it,† he said. â€Å"That's no surprise. Case closed. What do you want from her now?† â€Å"Another sample to start,† said Sonya eagerly. â€Å"There's none left in the original vial I took, once all the testing was done. I know this sounds strange, but it'd also be useful if a Moroi could†¦ well, taste your blood and see if it has the same repulsive quality as it did to Strigoi. Fresh blood would be ideal, but even I'm not deluded enough to ask you to submit to a feeding. We should simply be able to use your sample and – â€Å" â€Å"No,† I said. I stumbled backward, horrified. â€Å"Absolutely not. Whether it's from a neck or a vial, there's no way I'm giving my blood for anyone to taste. Do you know how wrong that is? I know you do it all the time with feeders, but I'm not one of them. I should never have given you the first sample. You don't need me for any of this. Spirit's the key. Lee's proof that former Strigoi are the ones you need to examine.† Sonya wasn't cowed by my outburst. She pushed forward, though her tone was gentler. â€Å"I understand your fear, but think of the applications! If something in your blood makes you resistant to Strigoi, then you could save countless lives.† â€Å"Alchemists aren't resistant,† I said. â€Å"That tattoo isn't protecting us, if that's what you're getting at. Do you think that in all our history, there haven't been Alchemists who were turned Strigoi?† â€Å"Well, of course,† she said. Her words were hesitant, encouraging me. â€Å"So, the magic you sensed in me is irrelevant. It's just the tattoo. All Alchemists have it. Maybe ours tastes bad, but Alchemist blood has nothing to do with Strigoi turning. It still happens to us.† I was rambling but didn't care. Sonya grew perplexed, her mind running through the implications of this news. â€Å"But do all Alchemists have bad-tasting blood? If so, how would a Strigoi be able to drain them?† â€Å"Maybe it varies by person,† I said. â€Å"Or maybe some Strigoi are tougher than others. I don't know. Regardless, we aren't the ones to focus on.† â€Å"Unless there's just something special about you,† mused Sonya. No. I didn't want that. I didn't want to be scrutinized, locked behind glass like Keith. I couldn't be. I prayed she wouldn't see how scared I was. â€Å"There's plenty that's special about her,† said Adrian dryly. â€Å"But her blood's not up for dispute. Why are you pushing this again after last time?† Sonya glared at Adrian. â€Å"I'm not doing this for selfish reasons, you know that! I want to save our people. I want to save all our people. I don't want to see any new Strigoi added to the world. No one should live like that.† A haunted look shone in her eyes, as a memory seized her. â€Å"That kind of bloodlust and complete lack of empathy for any other living creature†¦ no one can imagine what it's like. You're hollow. A walking nightmare, and yet†¦ you just don't care†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Funny attitude,† said Adrian, â€Å"seeing as you purposely chose to become one.† Sonya paled, and I felt torn. I appreciated Adrian's defense but also pitied Sonya. She'd explained to me in the past about how spirit's instability – the same instability Adrian feared – had driven her to turning Strigoi. Looking back at her decision, she regretted it more than anything else in her life. She would've submitted herself for punishment, but no court knew how to handle her situation. â€Å"Doing that was a mistake,† she said coldly. â€Å"One I've learned from – which is why I'm so anxious to save others from that fate.† â€Å"Well, then find a way to do it without dragging Sydney into it! You know how she feels about us†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Adrian faltered as he glanced at me, and I was surprised to almost detect bitterness in his voice. â€Å"You know how the Alchemists feel. Keep involving her, and you'll get her in trouble with them. And if you're so convinced they've got the answers, ask them for volunteers and do experiments that way.† â€Å"I'd help with that,† I offered. â€Å"Getting authorized subjects for you. I'd talk to my superiors. They'd like to see an end to Strigoi as much as you.† When Sonya didn't answer right away, Adrian guessed why. â€Å"She knows they'd say no, Sage. That's why she's appealing to you directly and why they didn't send your blood to an Alchemist lab.† â€Å"Why can't you both see how important this is?† asked Sonya, a desperate longing to do good in her eyes. It made me feel guilty and conflicted. â€Å"I do,† said Adrian. â€Å"You think I don't want to see every single one of those bastard Strigoi wiped from the face of the earth? I do! But not at the cost of forcing people to do things they don't want to.† Sonya gave him a long, level look. â€Å"I think you're letting your personal feelings interfere with this. Your emotions are going to ruin our research.† He smiled. â€Å"Well, then. Be glad you'll be free of me in two days.† Sonya glanced between the two of us, looked like she was about to protest, and then thought better of it. Without another word she left, her face defeated. Again, I felt torn. In theory, I knew she was right†¦ but my gut just couldn't agree. â€Å"I didn't mean to upset her,† I said at last. Adrian's face showed no sympathy. â€Å"She shouldn't have upset you. She knows how you feel.† I still felt a little bad, yet I couldn't shake the feeling that if I gave this, I'd be asked to give more and more. I recalled the day Eddie and Dimitri had been coated in spirit magic. No way could I risk getting involved to that level. I was already pushing my limits too far. â€Å"I know†¦ but it's hard,† I said. â€Å"I like Sonya. I gave her the first vial, so I can see why she thought the second would be easy.† â€Å"Doesn't matter,† he said. â€Å"No is no.† â€Å"I really will mention it to the Alchemists,† I said. â€Å"Maybe they'll want to help.† I didn't think I'd get in too much trouble for the first vial. The Alchemists endorsed the initial experiments after all, and I'd probably get points for standing up to vampire peer pressure for the other sample. He shrugged. â€Å"If they do, great. If not, it's not your responsibility.† â€Å"Well, thanks for gallantly coming to my defense again,† I teased. â€Å"Maybe you'd be more into Wolfe's training if you got to protect someone else instead of yourself?† The earlier smile returned. â€Å"I just don't like seeing people bullied, that's all.† â€Å"But you should come back to Wolfe with me,† I urged. â€Å"You need a chance to try to get at me.† Like that, he was serious again. He looked away. â€Å"I don't know, Sage. We'll see. For now, we'll just focus on the driving – when you can get away from your boyfriend, of course.† I left shortly after that, still confused about his weird behavior. Was that some of spirit's crazy effects on the mind? One minute, he was brave and defensive. The next, he was down and obstinate. Maybe there was a pattern or some type of reasoning behind it all, but it was beyond my analytical abilities. Back at Amberwood, I immediately headed for the library to get a book for my English class. Ms. Terwilliger had lightened up on my usual work so that I could â€Å"devote more time† to crafting her spells. Since her independent study – which was supposed to be my easy elective – took up more time than my other classes, it was refreshing to focus on something else for a change. As I was leaving the British Lit section, I caught sight of Jill and Eddie studying together at a table. That wasn't weird, exactly. What was weird was that Micah wasn't with them. â€Å"Hey, guys,† I said, slipping into a seat. â€Å"Hard at work?† â€Å"Do you know how weird it is to be repeating my senior year?† asked Eddie. â€Å"I can't even blow it off either. I have to get decent grades to stay here.† I grinned. â€Å"Hey, all knowledge is worth having.† He tapped the papers in front of him. â€Å"Yeah? You got any knowledge on the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in fiction?† â€Å"Edith Wharton,† I said automatically. He scrawled something onto his paper, and I turned to Jill. â€Å"How are things with you? Where's Micah?† Jill had her chin propped in her hand and was gazing at me with the weirdest look. It was almost†¦ dreamy. It took her a few moments to snap out of her daze and respond. The dreamy look became embarrassed and then dismayed. She glanced down at her book. â€Å"Sorry. I was just thinking how good you look in taupe. What did you ask?† â€Å"Micah?† I prompted. â€Å"Oh. Right. He's got†¦ stuff to do.† I was pretty sure that was the shortest explanation she'd ever given me. I tried to remember what I'd last heard on their status. â€Å"You guys patched things up, right?† â€Å"Yeah. I guess. He understood about Thanksgiving.† She brightened. â€Å"Hey, Eddie and I were talking about that. Do you think we could all have a big family-style Thanksgiving at Clarence's? Do you think he'd mind? We could all help, and it'd be lots of fun. I mean, aside from the cover, we really are like a family. Eddie says he can make the turkey.† â€Å"I think Clarence would love that,† I said, happy to see her cheery again. Then, I replayed her words. I turned to Eddie incredulously. â€Å"You know how to make a turkey? How would you have learned that?† From what I knew, most dhampirs stayed nearly year-round at their schools from an early age. Not a lot of culinary time. â€Å"Hey,† he said, straight-faced. â€Å"All knowledge is worth having.† Jill laughed. â€Å"He wouldn't tell me either.† â€Å"You know, Angeline claims she can cook,† said Eddie. â€Å"We were talking about it at breakfast. She says she knows about cooking turkey too, so if we tag-team, we can pull it off. Of course, she'll probably want to hunt and kill her own.† â€Å"Probably,† I said. It was amazing that he was talking about working with her on anything. It was even amazing that he could speak about her fondly, without a grimace. I was beginning to think more and more that her display at the assembly had been a good thing. We didn't need animosity in this group. â€Å"Well, I got what I came for, so I'm heading back. I'll see you in the morning.† â€Å"See you,† said Eddie. Jill said nothing, and when I glanced over, I saw that she was watching me again with that weird, enraptured look. She sighed happily. â€Å"Adrian had a great time with you at your class tonight, you know.† I nearly rolled my eyes. â€Å"The bond leaves no secrets. He didn't always seem to be having a good time.† â€Å"No, he really did,† she assured me. A dopey smile crossed her features. â€Å"He loves that you love the car more than he does and thinks it's awesome you're getting so good in your defense class. Not that that's a surprise. You're always so good at everything, and you don't even realize it. You don't even realize half the things you do – like how you watch out for others and never even think about yourself.† Even Eddie looked a little astonished by that. He and I exchanged puzzled looks. â€Å"Well,† I said awkwardly, really unsure how to handle this Sydney lovefest. I decided escape was my best option. â€Å"Thanks. I'll see you later and – hey. Where'd you get that?† â€Å"Huh?† she asked, blinking out of her enraptured haze. Jill was wearing a silk scarf painted in rich jewel tones, almost reminding me of a peacock's tail. It also reminded me of something else, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. â€Å"The scarf. I've seen it before.† â€Å"Oh.† She ran her fingers over the smooth material. â€Å"Lia gave it to me.† â€Å"What? When did you see her?† â€Å"She stopped by the dorm yesterday to give the dresses back again. I didn't tell you because I knew you'd want to return them.† â€Å"I do,† I said adamantly. Jill sighed. â€Å"Come on, let's just keep them. They're so pretty. And you know she'll just bring them back anyway.† â€Å"We'll deal with that later. Tell me about the scarf.† â€Å"It's no big deal. She was trying to pitch me on this scarf collection – â€Å" â€Å"Yeah, yeah, she told me too. How she could make it so no one recognized you.† I shook my head, feeling a surprising amount of anger. Was nothing under my control anymore? â€Å"I can't believe she went behind my back! Please tell me you didn't sneak off with her to do a photo shoot.† â€Å"No, no,† said Jill quickly. â€Å"Of course not. But you don't think†¦ I mean, you don't think there's any way she could pull it off? Hide me?† I tried to keep my tone gentle. After all, I was mad at Lia, not Jill. â€Å"Maybe. Maybe not. You know we can't take the chance.† Jill nodded, face sad. â€Å"Yeah.† I left feeling annoyed and was so distracted that I nearly ran into Trey. When he didn't respond to my greeting, I realized he was even more distracted than I was. There was a haunted look in his eyes, and he seemed exhausted. â€Å"You okay?† I asked. He managed a weak smile. â€Å"Yeah, yeah. Just feeling the pressure of everything. Nothing I can't handle. What about you? Don't they usually have to throw you out of this place? Or did you finally get tired of being here for eight hours?† â€Å"I just needed one book,† I said. â€Å"And I was actually only here ten minutes. I was out most of the night.† The smile fell, replaced by a frown. â€Å"Out with Brayden?† â€Å"That's tomorrow. I had, um, family stuff tonight.† The frown deepened. â€Å"You go out a lot, Melbourne. You have a lot of friends outside school.† â€Å"Not that many,† I said. â€Å"I'm not living a party lifestyle, if that's what you're getting at.† â€Å"Yeah, well. Be careful. I've heard about some scary stuff going on out there.† I remembered him being concerned for Jill too. I usually kept up on all the local news and had heard nothing alarming recently. â€Å"What, is there a crime ring in Palm Springs I should know about?† â€Å"Just be careful,† he said. We started to part ways, and then I called to him, â€Å"Trey? I know it's your own business, but whatever's going on†¦ if you want to talk, I'm here.† It was a huge concession for me, seeing as I wasn't always the most socially adept person. Trey gave me a wistful smile. â€Å"Noted.† I was kind of reeling as I went back to my dorm. Adrian, Jill, Trey. I suppose if you counted Eddie and Angeline getting along, everyone in my life was behaving weirdly. All part of the job, I thought. As soon as I was back in my room, I called Donna Stanton with the Alchemists. I never could be sure what time zone she was in, so I wasn't too concerned about the late hour. She answered right away and didn't sound tired, which I took as a good sign. She hadn't responded to my e-mail about the Warriors, and I was anxious for news. They posed too big a threat to us to be ignored. â€Å"Miss Sage,† she said. â€Å"I was planning on calling you soon. I trust everything's okay with the Dragomir girl?† â€Å"Jill? Yeah, she's fine. I wanted to check in on some other things. You got the info I sent you about the Warriors of Light?† Stanton sighed. â€Å"That's what I was going to call you about. Have you had any more runins?† â€Å"No. And they don't seem to have been following us anymore either. Maybe they gave up.† â€Å"Unlikely.† Her next words took a long time to get out. â€Å"Not from what we've observed in the past.† I froze, momentarily speechless. â€Å"In the past? Do you mean†¦ you've run into them before? I was hoping they were just some†¦ I don't know. A crazy, localized group.† â€Å"Unfortunately, no. We've encountered them before. Sporadically, mind you. But they pop up everywhere.† I was still in disbelief. â€Å"But I was always taught that any hunters had disappeared centuries ago. Why has no one ever talked about this?† â€Å"Honestly?† asked Stanton. â€Å"Most Alchemists don't know. We want to run an efficient organization, one that deals with the vampire problem in an organized, peaceful way. There are some people in our group who might want to take more extreme action. It's best then if the existence of our radical offshoot is kept secret. I wouldn't have even told you, but with all the contact you're having, you need to be prepared.† â€Å"Offshoot†¦ then they are related to Alchemists!† I was sickened. â€Å"Not for a very long time.† She sounded equally disgusted. â€Å"There's almost no resemblance anymore. They're reckless and savage. The only reason we let them be is because they usually just go after Strigoi. This situation with Sonya Karp is more difficult. She hasn't had any more threats?† â€Å"No. I just saw her tonight†¦ which brings up the other reason I called†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I gave Stanton a rundown of the various blood experiments, including my own donation. I painted it in very scientific terms, how it had seemed useful as extra data. I then made sure to sound properly appalled by the second request – which wasn't that difficult. â€Å"Absolutely not,† said Stanton. No hesitation. Often, Alchemist decisions went through chains of command, even with someone as high up as her. It was a sign of how much this went against Alchemist beliefs that she didn't even have to consult anyone. â€Å"Human control-blood is one thing. The rest she's suggesting is out of the question. I will not allow humans to be used in these experiments, especially when the evidence clearly shows the former Strigoi need to be the focus – not us. Besides, for all we know, this is some ploy on the Moroi part to get more of our blood for personal reasons.† I didn't believe that last part at all and tried to find a tactful way of saying so. â€Å"Sonya seems to sincerely believe this would help protect against Strigoi. She just doesn't seem to grasp how we feel about it.† â€Å"Of course she wouldn't,† said Stanton dismissively. â€Å"None of them do.† She and I returned our focus to the vampire hunters. The Alchemists were doing some investigating on any sightings in the area. She didn't want me to do any active investigation myself, but I was to report in immediately if any other information came my way. She was assuming the Warriors of Light were operating nearby, and once she found out where, the Alchemists would â€Å"deal with them.† I wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but her tone made me shiver. As she'd pointed out earlier, we weren't a particularly aggressive group†¦ though we were excellent at getting rid of problems. â€Å"Oh,† I said, just as we were wrapping up. â€Å"Did you ever find out anything about Marcus Finch?† I'd tried locating Clarence's mysterious human, who'd helped against the hunters, but had found nothing. I'd hoped Stanton might have more connections. â€Å"No. But we'll keep looking.† A slight pause. â€Å"Miss Sage†¦ I can't emphasize enough how pleased we are with the work you're doing. You've run into a few more complications than any of us expected, yet you handle them all efficiently and properly. Even your conduct with the Moroi is outstanding. A weaker person might have yielded to Karp's request. You refused and contacted me. I'm so proud I took the chance on you.† I felt a tightening in my chest. So proud. I couldn't remember the last time someone had said they were proud of me. Well, my mother did a lot, but no one tied to my work among the Alchemists did. For most of my life, I'd hoped my father would say he was proud. I'd finally given up on expecting that. Stanton was hardly a parental figure, but her words triggered happiness in me I hadn't known was waiting to come out. â€Å"Thank you, ma'am,† I said, when I could finally speak. â€Å"Keep it up,† she said. â€Å"When I can, I'll get you out of that place and into a position that doesn't involve so much contact with them.† And like that, my world came crashing down. I suddenly felt guilty. She really had given me a chance, and now I was deceiving her. I was hardly like Liam, ready to sell my soul to the Strigoi, but I also wasn't staying objective with my charges. Driving lessons. Thanksgiving. What would Stanton say if she knew about that? I was a sham, reaping glory I didn't deserve. If I was truly a dedicated Alchemist, I'd change my life here. I'd stop all extraneous activities with Jill and the others. I wouldn't even attend Amberwood – I'd accept the offer of outside accommodations. I'd only come here and see the gang when I absolutely was required to. If I could do those things, then I'd truly be a good Alchemist. And, I realized, I'd also be terribly, awfully lonely. â€Å"Thank you, ma'am,† I said. It was the only response I could give.

Essay Sample on Gambling Its Origin, Development and Problems

Essay Sample on Gambling Its Origin, Development and Problems Gambling is a complex and intriguing human activity. When it appeared long ago, it seen as popular, but it has cycled to the opposite extreme to be rebuked, condemned and repressed as a social evil. More precisely, Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs) are one important aspect of gambling that affects gamblers and makes them addicts. These machines are often  referred to as the crack cocaine of gambling, one armed bandits or even the devil`s television. First, to uncover the VLTs world, we need to go back and explore the history of these machines. Then, we need to emphasize on the relation between the population and the machines: what attracts people and how? Following this, view by a psychological manner, we have to focus on the fact that VLTs are not random and how people are enslaved by them. Also, the explanation of how these slot machines are taking money from people and their effects. Statistics revealed by a professor who studied gambling in Las Vegas said that 78 per cent of patho logical gamblers had thought about suicide and 49 per cent had attempted it; 35.5 per cent said they stole from work to pay for their gambling and 27.5 per cent said they filed for bankruptcy. Finally, the role of the government and the economy will be introduced, and some solutions for addicted gamblers must be included. First, a little historical introduction is important to analyse where the gambling and VLTs came from. The earliest reference to gambling is found in ancient Egypte displaying various board games. Knuckle-bones, from which dice were derived, were popular in Greece and India (Roman board games). Many other little inventions were created; such as the roulette which was introduced into England in 1739 (Roulette history) and playing cards, which originated in 12th century China, reached Europe through Spain and were brought to America with Columbus in 1492. Lotteries were known to exist in early Roman times and were used in judicial proceedings to determine guilt and for the selection of politicians. In England and Western Europe around the 16th century, lotteries became a popular mean of raising government revenue for public projects (lottery history). By 1790 lotteries were flourishing to the point of a lottery mania and were more active (Lottery history). Horse racing is several thousand years older than Christianity with Homer and Xenaphon. Knowledge of the first horse race is lost in prehistory (Horse racing). It was then made common in the 11th century in London under the interests of Henry VIII. The formation of the Newmarket Jockey club in 1750 paved the way for the formal regulation of racing (Horse racing). Poker-machines, referred to as slot machines or Video Lottery Machines, were invented by the American Charles Frey in 1895. They gained popularity rapidly to become one of the most profitable gaming devices invented (Slot machine history ,2001-2002). Profits derived were so fabulous from such little investment and little effort that governments willingly took  advantage and control of these machines. Today, the number of video lottery machines has increased by thousands year after year and the money continues to grow rapidly in the  governments pocket. From a journal written by Novak (1998) it is said that the amount of money players fed into the machines went from $1.4 billion in 1996 to $2.1 billion in 1997 (p. 2). It is important to examine the relationship between the population and the Video Lottery Terminals. The question that psychologists and sociologists often ask themselves is what attracts people to VLTs? First, the machines are often very attractive because of their splendid colour and their simpleness. The games are usually visually appealing. Some would like to say that they are  « architecturally primitive  » (Golfman, N., December 1998), but because they are not complicated to play and there are not many buttons and readings, the players like these machines that require no skill. â€Å"And even though it is a chance outcome, it seems that there is some skill involved. So, you get the sense that you are good at what you are doing† (King, M., March 1999). Long ago, these boxes were rudimentary with brown and black colours. But today, to attracted even more people, they are striking with fluorescent coulours and are  becoming more modern to fit into today’s world. It is seen that after playing a couple of times, it is very difficult to resist the temptation to drop a coin when you are given the opportunity. The next point is in fact about control. People think they have control over their game, but they are just pushing a button or pulling a bar. The rest of the job is done by the machine and it decide when to stop. Also, because it is so simple, it is quicker to play. It is also a way to pass time and some people like it better then sports or reading. In fact, VLTs are easier to play with, you can do many things at the same time while playing and it does not require much of your brain to understand the games. A player can easily have a cigarette, take a sip from his or her beer or even chat on a cell phone while â€Å"keeping the game’s images in play with some gentle one-fingered pressure applied to a large well-worn button† (Golfman, N., December 1998). These machines only provide an illusion of activity. Also, some games are more popular because they stimulate more than others. The Real Games such as poker, blackjack and Keno are far more popular than other gaming terminal options (Golfman, N., December 1998). If we compare the card game solitaire to Keno, we can see the difference of stimulation. The software for a game of solitaire on a computer is programmed to deal whatever cards it wants. Keno requires merely picking some lucky numbers, hardly a stimulating way to pass the time (Golfman, N., December 1998). A nd with VLTs games like poker or blackjack, you get to chose the cards you want, instead of having it done by the computer. This way, you have a chance where the computer could choose weather you win or lose. When somebody plays these games, he does not have a partner which is often more stimulating. But that is why the Real Games are visually appealing. Many people think that they have an equal chance to win or lose money when playing with VLTs. The population is not aware that most of these slot machines are not random. In fact, they look random, but thousands of winning combinations have been removed from these games. If VLTs were random, the machine would lose a large amount of money occasionally. But it seems like this does not happen. For example, the Five Reel slot machines are the biggest money makers in Alberta VLTs (Vegas Professor Say, October 13, 2000) and the odds of winning are terrible. The Five Reel game has five pay lines including the three lines across and the diagonal corners. The cost to play is 25 cents per line, per spin, which can be increased to a maximum of $2.50 per spin. This game can easily cost $300 per hour, but the jackpot is only $250. How can we really know if VLTs are random or not? When a player pushes the button which activates the spin, is it really him who decides when to stop? No, it is the mac hine, so we have no control over them. Again with the Five Reel game, only 13% of all combinations (7,962,624) are actually winning spins where the pay out is higher than the original bet; 45% of the combinations pay absolutely nothing (means the player lose); 28% pay less than the original bet (the player still lose) and 12% of the combinations return the original bet (Vegas Professor Say .,October 13, 2000). That means you can only win 13% of the time and this is how government make millions of dollars per month. â€Å"Your losses and winnings are electronically tallied as you play, ()† (Cook, J., 1992) and this means we have no control over our bet. Psychologist and sociologist often analyze how VLTs enslave people and take their money. First, the prime objective of slot machines is to make you believe that the winning combinations are imminent so you keep playing and putting your money into the machine. It means that these machines are very quick. It is not like lottery tickets with which you have to wait often half a week or a week to receive the results and see if you win or not. â€Å"They are widely available, but you have to wait until Saturday night to get the results of the draw† (King, M., March 1999). For VLTs, the rate of play, rate of return, and the rate of feedback are very quick as a matter of seconds. This is one factor of problem gambling. What happens is that instead of spending the money just won to buy a beer or two, â€Å"the now pleasantly hooked client will more than likely roll the credits towards the next set of games† (Golfman, N., December 1998). Then, before the player can realize it, he has just passed hours in front of the machine, the credits have led to incredible betting and a big amount of money will be gone. The machines seen to have the capacity to enslave the gambler. When a player loses, he usually has the tendency to play again because he wants to win and since VLTs are fast, it is easy to just replay as much as he wants. VLTs can be played as quickly as 20 times a minute. â€Å"In that time an enthusiast can set and lose up to $5† (Golfman, N., December 1998). So, during an hour, the player can give up almost $300 to the machine. Another factor that causes problem gambling is the accessibility of VLTs. They are widely available in bars and casinos. Anybody can have access to them and even teenagers can easily play with the machines. For example, a man living in Montreal, who just finished working and receives a small salary with a wife and kids, can easily go play at the casino and spend all his money. People become addicted to VLTs and cannot stop playing. Also, many VLTs outlets are open 24 hours and it is not unusual to hear someone’s playing 36 hours straight (Novak, V., 1998). After having identified the quickness of the play and the ease of access to VLTs as factors in problem gambling, we can identify a third one. VLTs are not expensive (King, M., March 1999). It only cost 25 cents to play with certain machines. Because you only need pocket change to play and because it seems like a really small amount of money, people tend to play longer with a larger amount over time. â€Å"It does not seem like a big investment† (King, M., March 1999). There are various effects and consequences of being addicted to gambling. Lots of players are at risk to develop problems. They become absorbed in their game and also they â€Å"mobilise their bodies to function with astonishing mechanical dispatch-like rats in a control experiment† (Golfman, N., December 1998). Many scientists did experiments with rats and discovered that when they stimulated the rodents brain, the animals kept returning to the place where they were receiving the stimulation. VLTs uses reinforcement as well to make the gamblers play more and more. This refers to any event which increases the probability that a response will occur again (Coon, D., 2000). While playing, the reinforcement is money and the response occurs when the players keep playing. This creates addiction and it is considered as a disease. Professionals â€Å"who specialise in gambling addiction agree that video poker provides an exceptionally fast track of addiction† (Novak, V., 1998). Other scientific research show that video games cause addiction and are enjoyed by many players diagnosed with addiction-disease (Golfman, N., December 1998). This is why the gamblers always return to play even if they do not have the money for it. It is a great pleasure that they cannot live without it. There are many effects of the addiction on gamblers. The player can lose all his money and with it, his house and job. He can lose his wife and even kids. Men are often the gamblers and women or children are the ones who are often physically or sexually assaulted (Macionis, Benoit, Janson, 1999). Often, because of this, the player thinks about suicide and can even attempt it. He can also make criminal acts or just steals money. Both of these acts are terrible and can get the person into prison. Some gamblers just go through alcohol and drug abuse to get away from their problems. As an example, a young pizza-franchise manager has a criminal record after feeding the machines for weeks with his store’s cash (Novak, V., 1998). Next, the governments are the one who gets the profits. So, do they really want to shut down the VLTs or to ban these machines from bars and casinos? They are â€Å"virtually vacuuming up gambling profits directly from the machines into their treasury† (Golfman, N., December 1998). Some provinces share as much as 80 per cent of the net revenues produced by VLTs, â€Å"making it virtually impossible for government to resist their invading presence† (Golfman, N., December 1998). The money from these machines are a form of hidden tax. The Government uses this money to repair roads, pay bills and manage government itself as taxes do. They also spend money on gambling problems (about $150 000 a year in the province of Newfoundland), but it cannot be compared to the $80 million that they collect from bars and casinos with VLTs (Golfman, N., December 1998). So, can we say that governments are supporting problem- gamblers as much as they could? Not really. Another example is in South Dakota where VLTs make 70 per cent profit (Vegas Professor Say .,October 13, 2000). Most successful businesses are only making around 10 per cent profit, so video lottery machines are making 60 per cent more profit then other good businesses. We can really say that lottery terminals are a source of revenue for state budget. They turned gambling into a supposed source of money for causes like education, environment and economic development but, in fact, it is more like a tax to gain money to go in government treasury. â€Å"Last year, the VLTs yielded Montana $21 million on tax revenue, South Dakota $25 million, five to ten times what their conventional lotteries do† (Cook, J., 1992). Since the 1970s, there has been significant expansion of gambling. Various form of gambling were legalize to â€Å"increase revenue without having to rely upon more traditional forms of taxation† (Carr, Buchoski, Kofoed Morgan, 1996). Today, VLTs are part of our lives and governments do not want to ban them. It seems that they do not realize the problems that these machines are causing on the population. â€Å"The phrase problem gambler is itself still a suspiciously new term, and one that governments refused to recognize unti l VLTs conquered the landscape† (Golfman, N., December 1998). There are many possible solutions for addictive gamblers. First, we could shut down the machines. In South Carolina, the Supreme Court shut down 36,000 video lottery machines on July 1st, 2000. By this, the number of active Gambler’s Anonymous groups was cut in three months, from 32 to 16 groups (Vegas Professor Say .,October 13, 2000). In South Carolina, the Governor said that VLTs are a cancer and he wants them out. If all forms of government could do the same thing, there would have a lower race of addicted gamblers. This Governor made an effort to ban these machines. â€Å"It passed overwhelmingly in the house, then was filibustered to death in the senate, but is sure to resurface next year† (Novak, V., 1998). There are other states where there are signs of reassessment taking place. In Louisiana, many people voted to ban the machines starting next year (Novak, V., 1998). As a second solution, reduction in the speed of the units themselves is a possibility. Many casinos say that slowing down the games mean losing clients (Golfman, N., December 1998). People get bored with slow games and will stop playing them. For now, it is only a recommendation and it has not yet been applied. Maybe by losing clients, it will reduce the number of addicted gamblers. The most current solution, or should we say help, is treatment. Scientists are still at the beginning phases of research on the effectiveness of various treatment approaches (King, 1999). Some Addiction Centre and Gambler’s Anonymous centres offer help to addicted gamblers. These include self-help groups, support groups, therapy, individual and family counselling, family support and number of treatment programs for people who feel they need a break from their surroundings in order to quit gambling (King, 1999). The emphases of these centres are on developing strategies to stay â€Å"quit† once you have quit. â€Å"For example, these strategies can be external (controlling access to money), or cognitive (helping people to understand their thought patterns and how what they think may lead to into gambling or not gambling)† (King, 1999). The shut down of VLTs and the number of people entering some centres are related. When video machines were turned off in South Dakota, the number of individuals receiving treatments for problem gambling diminished abruptly (Carr, Buchoski, Kofoed Morgan, 1996). This suggests that VLTs present a unique risk for development of problems severe enough for the need of treatments. But the thing is we know that only a very small proportion of those identified as having a problem actually seek treatment. Most of the population do not realize their addiction and continue to play. In conclusion, in addition of being the biggest revenue producer for governments, video lottery terminals are also the biggest cause of problem gambling. No other style of gambling creates such an hypnotic fascination. It is seen many times that it is very difficult to resist the temptation to drop a coin when given the opportunity. It cannot be denied that problem gambling is a reality and we have to do something to stop it. Solutions such as banning the machines are efficient and we should do it everywhere. As Quinn says, a director of Carolina Psychological Services in Columbia â€Å"video lottery machines are not worth the cost to society in lost productivity on the job, crime, divorce and bankruptcy† (Vegas Professor Say .,October 13, 2000).