Interview with a Teaching Professional Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Interview with a Teaching Professional - Essay Example I believe the best way to return to the society that had been spoon feeding you the whole life, is to deliver your knowledge and information to other seekers. With this motive in my mind I entered the profession and since then I am contended with my life. I feel as if I have found an inner peace by pursuing teaching. Interviewer: What is the success behind your achievements to date? Teacher: Dedication and sincerity towards my work is the sole reason for where I am standing today. There is no short way of achieving a lasting glory. One needs a lot of energy and hard work to invest and of course unmatchable patience. Interviewer: Coming on to the basics of teaching, what are some examples of typical, quick decisions teachers make on a daily basis? Teacher: Every day is different for a teacher in some way or the other. Although, one of the best practices of a teacher is that s/he is well-planned and organized before entering the class. Yet at times we have to make certain sudden decisi ons not initially planned. For abrupt decision making, the teacher should be capable, confident and decisive about the relevant issues. A change in lesson plan to accommodate with the mood of children and their learning capability is one of the examples. Something effective and interesting needs to be made up instantly to deliver the lesson in a different way as planned earlier. Moreover, a short notice of surprise visit of principal or other professionals to monitor our performance poses a challenge on our decision making ability. We have to modify our plans a little to adjust to the requirement. Sometimes children get ill or injured and deciding quickly as to what to do is an ordeal; whether to treat him/her in the school or call off the day for him/her and send the student home. The teachers are appointed certain duties other then teaching to deal with the other school affairs. If any teacher on duty is absent on that specific day, a change in the schedule cause some difficulties and then the newly appointed teacher has to delay her planned activities. Also here it is a policy that if any teacher is absent, any other teacher needs to take his/her class. In such a case it has to be decided instantly what to teach students. Interviewer: What were the five most difficult school-related decisions you made this week? What made them difficult? Teacher: Just recently we had a load of activity going on in the school, both for teachers and students. I was enrolled in a short course which I had to attend once a week, during week days. This meant that I would be sacrificing my class related plans. Since exams are approaching I had to make certain changes in the lesson plans and shift that one day’s work to other days. This certainly was difficult adjusting as it is recommended not to overload students with work. Then we have a sports day coming up in two weeks time. Preparation for it requires a lot of time which again means sacrificing the teaching-learning sc hedule and making it up for this short fall on other days. We had an unfortunate day in this week when a fire erupted in library wing due to negligence of one of the student. The fire siren created quite a scene with children petrified and struggling to get out of their classes. Organizing them in proper queues, helping them out safely and relaxing them was quite a task. During school break, children often get into fighting with each other while

Decision Making Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Decision Making Case Study - Essay Example Decisions that may affect these groups of people will affect the entire business leading to poor performance occasioned by the employees, the customers and the suppliers. It is therefore a very vital role to control the effects that each decision made in a company has on these sets of people and ensure that they are considered well in all decisions to avoid causing them reactions that would affect their engagement in the business. In quest to simplify decision making in any organizational setting, a number of business models have come to life to aid the decision-making arms of the organization in evaluating the decisions as a way of ensuring the decisions affect the company positively. These models may not necessarily provide a positive approach but base on the application to result into positive results for the company. Considering the assignment at hand, the company is faced with a dilemma related to take over aspects of a company’s management with a family business aiming at engaging their daughter Joan into the business. The experience that Joan has is not sufficient to run all activities in the company and is therefore faced by a number of challenges in relation to making the decisions in the business. The major decision she has to make is with regard to her father who is viewed as an extrovert that has good management skills though considered difficult by many employees on lower cadres but considered a good manger by his senior colleagues. The assignment aims at applying the PrOACT model in helping Joan make the decision with regard to her father’s position in the company. The PrOACT model provides a well-designed systematic approach to the decisions in a company. The decision model as developed by John S. Hammond, Keeney and Raiffa has worked to provide guidance to the different management positions as a guide to decision making as per their book smart choices. The PrOACT model is developed on

Graphene Is The Future Philosophy Essay

Graphene Is The Future Philosophy Essay This report will contain a brief history of, a main body, some properties of and a main description of a material called Graphene. A super material. Within the sub categories and different pages of the report you will come to find out for yourself just how amazing and the seamlessly endless possibilities of this wonderful material. When a new material has been discovered it brings new and exciting times to the scientific and technological world. With a new material you have the opportunities to take a look back on previous unsolved problems and also bring new ones to the table. For the first time ever scientists have been able to isolate single two-dimensional atomic layers of atoms. These are one of if not the thinnest material known to man also just so happens to have the strongest bond in nature, the C-C bond. To accompany the report along the way you will find images and graphics of the super material in its varying form. Also in the report you will come across the properties of graphene and will see that in so many ways that this super material far exceeds possibly all other materials in comparison to itself. A brief description about Graphene Graphene is what we call a 2D material it derives from a single layer of graphite. Its structure is made of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb like structure similar to a chicken wire. Even though graphene is the thinnest material today it also is the strongest material today. Graphene conducts electricity as efficiently if not better than copper and has no comparison in its ability to conduct heat. Graphene is almost completely transparent giving it an already futuristic look. The way it breaks down is: Graphite = 3D material Graphene = 2D material Nanotube = 1D material Buckyball = 0D material Brief History Although graphene has been a known material since 1857 and many people have been trying to find a way to work on or produce graphene in a way that could be used commercially an answer was not forthcoming until the work of Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov. The work that these produced in the University of Manchester in the year of 2007 was to become ground breaking when it came to the super material graphene. Almost everything had been discovered about graphene everything except the properties of the material and this intrigued Andre, who then asked a recently graduated student Kostya in 2002 to see how thin he could make a single piece of graphite by polishing it down. As they could not get thin enough slices the work continued until 2004. At first Kostya could not find a way to get thin enough slices from the graphite, Andre asked his friends and colleagues and a senior member by the name of Oleg Shklyarevskii said to Andre that the piece of tape that they used to peel of layers of graphite would have thinner layers than trying to polish it down. From there on the work on finding the properties of graphene began. Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov went on to win the Nobel Prize in 2007 in physics for their work they achieved on graphene. Timeline of the most recent entries of grapheme 1947 Graphene first studied as a limiting case for theoretical work on graphite by Phillip Wallace 1966 First attempts to grow multilayer graphite Hess W M and Ban L L also Karu A E and Beer M 1984 Massless charge carriers in graphene pointed out theoretically by Gordon Walter Semenoff , David P. DeVincenzo and Eugene J. Mele 1987 Name graphene first mentioned by S. Mouras and co-workers 2004 Graphene isolated in free form by Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov 2004 Observation of graphenes ambipolar field effect by Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov 2005 Anomalous quantum hall effect detected showing massless nature of charge carriers in graphene Andre and Kostya and by Philip Kim and Yuanbo Zhang 2006 Quantum Hall effect seen at room temperature by Novoselov et. Al. 2007 The first ever detection of a single molecule adsorption event by Schedin et. al. 2008 Measurements of extremely high carrier mobility by Bolotin et. al. 2010 Andre and Kostya were awarded the Nobel prize in physics for their work on graphene. Main Body Graphene is the super material that will change the future of this world. Between its outstanding electrical and amazing mechanical properties there is just no other material that even comes remotely close to the potential this material possesses. When Andre and Konstantin revealed their work on graphene not even they could have foreseen what an impact this new and wonderful material would bring to the world. Graphene will forever shape our future. Although graphene at the moment is still not a household name it most indefinitely will be in the very near future. It will be used in almost everything from super-computers to your mobile phone, from separating water from other substances, from creating a futuristic world and to improving the properties of other widely used materials. When the world has found a way of mass producing graphene in a commercial way the world itself will change. Moores law states that computer power will double every 18 months up to and until the point where our silicon can no longer take it passed the barrier, the barrier being that silicon can only conduct electricity at a certain speed, graphene smashes that speed. If you look at the world and technology 10 years ago and think what it is like now there has been a massive change and improvement in the scientific and technological world as we know it. Graphene with its superior properties will take us even further in to the future, on its own and by improving materials and substances of today. Properties of Graphene Although just one atom thick, graphene posses outstanding mechanical, electronic, optical, thermal and chemical properties, described below.  Graphene is a one atom thick sheet made of carbon atoms, arranged in a honeycomb (hexagonal) lattice. Its height was measured to be just 0.33nm, almost one million times thinner than a human hair! Graphene is the ultimate 2-dimensional carbon molecule. Graphite, the well known 3-dimensional carbon allotrope found in our pencils, is nothing more than a stack of several graphene planes. Graphene shares its structure with two other materials which are exciting todays scientists: carbon nanotubes and fullerenes (also called bucky-balls), seen as a 1-dimension and 0-dimension rolled pieces of graphene. Electronic Properties Graphene is a great if not thee best conductor of electrons. The electrons are able to flow through graphene more easily than copper, they travel through the graphene sheet as if they carry no mass, as fast as just one hundredth that of the speed of light. The main material in computer chips today is silicon but in order to create faster and more improved computers we needed a new material to take us there. Graphene is that material Mechanical Properties To calculate the strength of graphene, scientists used a technique called Atomic Force Microscopy. By pressing graphene that was lying on top of circular wells, they measured just how far you can push graphene with a small tip without breaking it. It was found that graphene is harder than  diamond  and about 300 times harder than  steel. To put this into context, it will take the weight of an elephant balanced on a needle-point in order to break this one atom thick fabric! The tensile strength of graphene exceeds 1 TPa. Even though graphene is so robust, it is also very stretchable. You can stretch graphene up to 20% of its initial length. It is expected that graphenes mechanical properties will find applications into making a new generation of super strong composite materials and along combined with its optical properties, making flexible displays. Optical Properties Graphene, despite being the thinnest material ever made, is still visible to the naked eye. Due to its unique electronic properties, it absorbs a high 2.3% of light that passes through it, which is enough that you can see it in air (if you could manage to hold it up!). To help enhance the visibility of graphene flakes we deposit them on to silicon wafers which have a thin surface layer of silicon dioxide. Light shining on to these three-layer structures will be partially transmitted and partially reflected at each interface. This leads to complex optical interference effects such that, depending on the thickness of the silicon-dioxide layer (which we can control to a high degree of accuracy), some colours are enhanced and some are suppressed. This technique takes advantage of the same physics which causes the rainbow effect that you see when you have a thin layer of oil floating on water. In this case, the different colours correspond to longer/shorter optical path lengths that the light has had to travel through the oil film. Those above are the most common attributes of graphene but there are a few more. What you are about to read will come across as something straight out of a science fiction movie or novel, graphene can heal itself thats right heal itself, because of the fact that graphene is only one atomic layer thick it seeks out other atoms to bond to, so it grabs the other graphite atoms around it closing the gap and essentially healing itself. But it doesnt stop there as graphene is so thin it can be placed over other materials giving it a graphene coating which in turn improves the material it has been placed on top of. If you place that membrane of graphene over copper it will almost completely stop the copper rusting creating longer lasting materials. Graphene is tougher than diamond previously thought of as the hardest material on earth and 300 times stronger than steel yet is so ductile than it can bend, paving the way for a future where you can fold up your mobile phone and put it in your pocket. Graphene has also been found able to distil water making it cleaner. The uses for this could almost wipe out diseases spread where water is contaminated, creating healthier and greater living conditions. The list of properties and applications of graphene grow almost on a daily basis and bring with it new and innovative ideas to the world. Future Applications The future applications of graphene are almost limitless, because of the abundance of properties that graphene has people, science and technology will be inventing new and wonderful ways to integrate it into our world. With graphene being so thin yet so strong there are markets for it such paper thin flexible displays for televisions, watches and phones. When it comes to our computers and the chips inside them that are used control them the material that we use is silicon, but there is only so much that silicon can do and so far it can take our computers today, this is where graphene comes in. Graphene because of its amazing electrical properties it will be the material to take our computers into the future. Graphene being so thin it can be cut or crumbled into small flakes and introduced to other materials to make a composite material. If you added the graphene flakes to plastic to make a composite material that way it could be used to make a lighter and conductive material for aircraft making it effective against lightning and because of it being lighter it will also be fuel efficient. Graphene can also be introduced to other material in such a way as a bond, if you bond graphene to the likes of copper it will reduce the amount and time it takes for the copper to oxidise or rust. Thus making the copper last longer and become more efficient. Conclusion Graphene the material that can barely be seen yet will change the world in so many ways. From its unique ability to heal itself to its incredible strength down to its incomparable ability to conduct electricity. This amazing material has no boundaries. Graphene although not yet a household name in many peoples eyes will soon become a well known worldwide phenomenon. Just as everyone wants the new latest technology or gadgets on the market, people will want the new technology, materials and computers that have graphene in them. Graphene the super material has no limits to what it can achieve. With its unbelievable properties and applications in so many fields, the possibilities are endless. Graphene will change our future to cleaning up the water in Africa to making materials that are in use today become more effective and sustainable in a way that if you put a graphene, layer over copper it will reduce the amount of time it takes to oxidize and rust, making it a more efficient material. It can also be used for composite materials so if you take one material and bond it to another it makes a composite material, if you put graphene with a plastic t will create a lightweight material that can withstand lightning which would be extremely useful in aircrafts, making them lighter and more fuel efficient. Graphene has many different properties ranging from the normal to the extreme and to some that even seem straight out of a science fiction novel. Graphene is the material that will make our technology today seem like we have been using caveman techniques for the past 10 years. It is the material that will pick the world up and throw it in to a brighter and better future. Graphene is the future! à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦

A Comparison of Death in The Scarlet Letter and My Antonia Essay

Importance of Death in The Scarlet Letter and My Antonia It is universally acknowledged that one who comes into this world must also leave. Just like everything else, even life and death is a binary composition. You cannot have one without the other. Although not many people like to think about it, death is a very important factor not only in life, but also in literature. Most often, death is portrayed as evil or gruesome, especially in commercial fiction. However, there are literary texts, which portray death through other factors. Through the depiction of the deaths of Arthur Dimmesdale and Mr. Shimerdas in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and Willa Cather's My Antonia, respectively, the reader is able to associate the significance of such issues as guilt, revenge/murder, religion, and the consequences of the two deaths. It may seem odd that instead of concentrating on the central female characters to portray these important issues, I have chosen two male characters. However, it is through the deaths of the male chara cters that the central females, Hester and Antonia are able to shine as women. In both these novels, the death scenes of the characters are ambiguous. In relation to one issue or another there is always something vague or missing, which leaves the readers to judge for themselves. The death scene in The Scarlet Letter is very powerful and full of remorse . Arthur collapsing into the arms of his loved one, after pleading with the people to look at Hester's scarlet letter once again, showing Roger how he had sinned as well, acknowledging Pearl and relieving her of her "...errand as a messenger of anguish" (Hawthorne 222) by kissing her, and fin... ...moil and keep her father's past alive. Both deaths also imply more than what meets the eye. While Arthur's death is surrounded by the possibility of revenge, Mr. Shimerdas' death is encircled by the likelihood of murder. The two deaths also highlight the importance of religion. Arthur, being a Reverend, is given the strength by God to confront his sins, while Mr. Shimerdas, also a Reverend of sorts, is buried and forced to live an afterlife of uncertain paths due to his faith. Lastly, the aftermaths of these deaths, is what makes The Scarlet Letter and My Antonia two great works of literature. Through Arthur's death, Hester is once again able to display her inner strength by making her own choices and standing by her love, whereas Antonia through the death of her father is able to excel in a man's world, while not forgetting her womanhood.

Motorcycle Helmet laws Essay

Over the past 30 years, many states have enacted mandatory helmet laws for motorcycle drivers. There have been many states that have rescinded these laws for reasons that may not be known by those most interested – the motorcycle rider him/herself. Currently, less than half of all U. S. states require helmets for motorcycle operators. One who is interested in this topic may wonder how those that are in positions to give the thumbs up or thumbs down regarding these laws make their decision one way or the other. Do they have facts, data and evidence to support their verdicts? Or, are they influenced by stories of horrific motorcycle fatalities recited to them by friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, church members, or acquaintances at the grocery store, garden center and/or the local pub? Could there be a possibility that they might pass a mandatory helmet law due to a knee-jerk reaction to a particularly heinous accident that recently occurred and been covered by television, radio, newspaper and the internet? What are the chances that one of those decision makers was an avid rider who escaped serious injury due to donning a helmet while riding? Those questions might also lead to others, for example, about how much influence lobbyists have when it comes down to the final moments prior to the enactment or veto of a particular bill. Does a lobbyist that is pro-mandatory helmets have more â€Å"clout,† or would, for example, a group of motorcycle drivers have any influence? The typical motorcycle rider and/or the general public most likely has no idea what factors are explored prior to the determination of those who have license to make the decision as to how one should dress if they are heading out on a motorcycle. Despite empirical evidence that supports the use of helmets, avid motorcyclists argue that helmet laws violate the Ninth Amendment, which states, â€Å"no law shall be enacted that regulates the individual’s Motorcycle Helmet Laws 3 freedom to choose his personal actions and mode of dress so long as it does not in any way affect others. † Trends over the past several years have been to review and disseminate accident and other reports written by police and highway patrol officers, hospital workers, witnesses to the scene and road construction workers who may have been at the site at the time of the accident. Figures and findings resulting from the National Highway Safety Act have been accessed. Compilations from states’ motor vehicle divisions and departments of transportation have also been employed extensively to determine if enactment of mandatory helmet laws decreases injuries and deaths from motorcycle crashes. These reports and statistics, however, have not included details regarding factors such as age and/or sex of the driver, style and size of motorcycle, geographical demographics, or the number of months one rides or the time of day that the incident occurred. Published research studies regarding statistics from several states were analyzed for this assignment. Some studies include all states of America, while many others focus on a particular state or group of states. Other types of research reviewed included telephone interviews with motorcyclists, articles by motorcycle groups pertaining to published findings and observations of riders, documenting whether or not they were wearing helmets. This student has a particular interest in this subject as she rides a motorcycle. In the state where she resides (Minnesota) there is no mandatory helmet use law. Unfortunately, she is not aware of the particular reasons that her state has made the decision not to enact this law. Nevertheless, if she were extremely astute, she would have reviewed any statistics regarding her home state. The author is interested in discovering the reasoning that the â€Å"powers that be† chose to allow her to have the freedom Motorcycle Helmet Laws 4 to decide whether or not she will don a helmet prior to embarking on a journey. Her hypotheses as to the reasons are probably so far off base that she would be hesitant to admit them to another. Ultimately, her quest is to evaluate the writings and attempt to discover if mandatory helmet laws do, indeed, decrease injuries and deaths as a result of a motorcycle crash. There are a variety of reasons a motorcycle driver makes the decision as to whether to wear a helmet while riding vs. not wearing one. Some of the factors that influence this decision appear to be age, demographics (urban vs. rural living), and style and size of motorcycle. Other factors involved are where the person is riding (highway, city, side streets, rural areas, etc. ) Weather conditions and time of day (early morning, rush hour, nighttime) also should be taken into consideration. Maneuvering through hundreds of vehicles on the road and the rising or setting sun in one’s eyes have a bearing on how well a driver can see. The incidence of accidents that result in injury and fatality has fluctuated with the enactment and rescinding of mandatory helmet use. The United States federal government has had a vacillating approach to the use of motorcycle helmets since 1967, when the National Highway Safety Act (NHSA) was first passed, which required states to enforce helmet laws or be ineligible for certain funding programs at the state level. By 1976, Congress responded to pressures from individual states and motorcyclist interest groups by revoking the federal authority to assess penalties for non-compliance. Within 4 years after the NHSA was revised, 28 states repealed their mandatory helmet laws. Congress later enacted the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act in 1991, which created incentives for states to enact helmet use; yet by the fall of 1995, Congress lifted sanctions against states lacking helmet law enforcement. This final repeal set the stage for state legislatures to repeal helmet laws entirely. Only Motorcycle Helmet Laws 5 20 states currently require the use of a protective helmet for all motorcycle riders, three states do not require a helmet for any riders, and 27 states require helmet use only under specific conditions. Several studies suggest that injuries and deaths from motorcycle crashes significantly decline after the passing of mandatory helmet laws in a variety of states. Consequently, the impression one perceives is that helmet use is the panacea to obliterating any injuries and deaths from serious motorcycle mishaps. The statistics that are embodied in these studies are Death to Accident Ratios, which compare the number of deaths to the number of related accidents. Limitations of these studies are that many fail to take into account the fact that motorcycle registrations declined upon resolution of the mandatory helmet use. One such study was entitled â€Å"Motorcyclist Deaths Spike as Helmet Laws Loosen. † When one glances at the title of this report, it appears alarming and gives the impression that once a compulsory act is rescinded, anyone that hops on a motorcycle in a state that does not have the helmet law will surely perish. The finer print indicates that southern states are among those with the highest motorcycle death rates. The smallest print, even smaller than the print in the body of the findings (approximately a size 6 font), disclosed that states with a year-round riding season are those that report higher death rates during the year. It takes the findings from a small number of states and proceeds to construe these across the entire country. Consequently, how can this study be proof that motorcycle helmet use decreases injury and death from riding? In the state of Minnesota, for example, in an exemplary year weather-wise, cycle riders have the opportunity to ride for six months out of twelve. In a year where there is an unseasonably long winter, a short spring season and an early beginning for autumn, Minnesotans may have an entire riding season of only three months. Limitations to the majority of studies looked at the findings and drew conclusions Motorcycle Helmet Laws 6 based on the death to accident ratios alone. Very few attempted to delineate the number of months one would be riding, seasonal road conditions or other factors. The use of a causal model distinguished the research methodology of one particular study from other studies. This methodology appealed to this writer, as many factors can influence not only the occurrence of a motorcycle crash, but the resulting predominance or lack of injury and/or death. The causal model considered crash speed, helmet use, alcohol use and other pertinent variables in an attempt to isolate the separate contribution of each determinant of the severity of injury or probability of death. The advantage of this approach was in the ability to estimate the separate effects of several simultaneous and interrelated causes of motorcycle fatalities and injury severities. Previous studies simply divided accident victims into a helmeted group and non-helmeted group. As a result, all differences in fatality rates, injury rates and injury severities between groups were attributed to helmet use. These comparisons failed to consider other differences between helmet users and non-users which influence the probability of death and the severity of injuries. The writer’s hypothesis was that helmeted riders were more risk-averse and thus: (1) had lower pre-crash and thus crash speeds; and (2) were less likely to combine alcohol consumption and driving (Goldstein, 1986). This researcher surmised that the behaviors of riders might make the difference between the probability of fatality and severity of an injury vs. the wearing of a helmet being the deciding factor. A study conducted by the University Medical Center at Brackenridge in Austin, Texas aimed to identify risk factors leading to riding and crashing a motorcycle without a helmet and to compare outcomes of helmeted vs. unhelmeted motorcyclists involved in a motorcycle crash. This retrospective study took place over a 13-year period and employed the analysis of the trauma registry at the medical center. Data was collected regarding pre-injury characteristics such as the use of protective helmet, age, Motorcycle Helmet Laws 7 gender, ethnicity, insurance status, blood alcohol content and whether the patient was the driver or the passenger. Once more, the research conducted (above) delves into the data related to cycle crashes after the fact. And, as the majority of studies that relied on numbers and formulas concluded, unhelmeted riding was associated with more severe injuries, longer hospitalizations, increased mortality and higher hospital charges. The conclusions of this particular report pointed to three basic factors which were a departure from typical research findings. These analysts determined that independent predictors of riding without a helmet included alcohol intoxication, lack of health insurance and riding as a passenger (Brown, 2011). Some of these conclusions make sense and might seem to be obvious. One can easily understand how alcohol consumption would be a risk factor in collisions on motorcycles, as it decreases reaction time and lends itself to disinhibition on many levels. The subject of health insurance led to questions by the author of this paper. How does not having health insurance influence my decision regarding wearing a helmet? Final notations of the writing declare that education and prevention strategies should be targeted at these high-risk populations. It would be intriguing to determine how to locate this particular group to target for education and prevention. What ultimate goal did these researchers have in conducting this study? This student ponders that question and questions the validity of their closing statements. Taken together, the results indicate that mandatory helmet use laws do increase the number of motorcyclists who wear helmets while riding, thus showing a decrease in serious injury and/or fatality. The threat of being ticketed along with the probability of receiving a fine appear to be the determining Motorcycle Helmet Laws 8 factors as to whether or not a rider wears a helmet. The great majority of studies conducted were quantitative in nature and focused primarily on reviewing summaries of statistics from state reports written by various law enforcement officials. The writer of this text deemed that there may have been limitations in these particular summaries. There were several studies that appeared to employ a more qualitative methodology, however, some findings appeared to indicate the possibility of the researcher having some type of stake in the results of the evaluation, such as the project being funded by an entity that drafts insurance rates for motor vehicles. The overall impression of the qualitative results was that those that chose to delve into this issue came to the realization that many factors contribute to the incidence of injury and death caused by motorcycle collisions. It is important to understand that the ultimate decision as to wearing a helmet while riding vs. not wearing one is the burden of the rider and not of the government. Each rider must take into account those mitigating factors that might influence the success or failure of each ride on his or her motorcycle. Motorcycle Helmet Laws 9 References Auman, Kimberly M; Kufera, Joseph A; Ballesteros, Michael F; Smialek, John E; Dischinger, Patricia (2002). Autopsy study of motorcyclist fatalities: The Effect of the 1992 Maryland Helmet Use Law. American Journal of Public Health 92. 8, August 2002: 1352-5. Brown, Carlos V. R. , MD, FACS; Hijl, Kelli, MSC; Bui, Eric, MD; Tips, Gaylen, RN, MSN; Coopwood, Ben, MD, FACS (2010). Risk Factors for Riding and Crashing a Motorcycle Unhelmeted. Department of Surgery, Trauma Services, University Medical Center at Brackenridge, Austin, Texas. Cotton, Paul (1992). Highway Fund Threat Is No Easy Ride For Motorcycle Law Opponents. The Journal of the American Medical Association 268. 3, July 15, 1992, p. 311. Derrick, Allison J; Faucher, Lee D.(2009). Motorcycle Helmets and Rider Safety: A Legislative Crisis. Journal of Public Health Policy30. 2: 226-42. Eustace, Deogratias, P. E. , M. ASCE; Krishna Indupuru, Vamsi, Hovey, Peter (2011). Identification of Risk Facors Associated with Motorcycle-Related Fatalities in Ohio. Journal of Transportation Engineering/July 2011, 120-125. Goldstein, Jonathan P, PhD (2011). The Effect of Motorcycle Helmet Use on the Probability of Fatality and the Severity of Head and Neck Injuries: Highlights of Helmet Effectiveness Study. The Journal of Emergency Medicine, Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 441-446. Copyright  © 2011 Elsevier Inc. Motorcycle Helmet Laws 9 Houston, David J. , PhD; Richardson, Lilliard E, Jr. , PhD (November 2007). Motorcycle Safety and the Repeal of Universal Helmet Laws, American Journal of Public Health, 97. 11, 2063-9. Kraus, Jeff F. , MPH, PhD; Peek, Corinne, MPH; McArthur, David L. , PhD, MPH; Williams, Allan, PhD (1995). The Effect of the 1992 California Motorcycle Helmet Use Law on Motorcycle Crash Fatalities and Injuries. American Journal of Public Health, January 1995, Vol. 85, No. 1, pp. 96 – 100. McCartt, Ann T. ; Blanar, Laura; Teoh, Eric R. ; Strouse, Laura M. (1994). Overview of Motorcycling in the United States: A National Telephone Survey, Journal of Safety Research, Vol. 42, pp. 177-184. O’Neill, James MD; Scott, Charry, RRT; Kissoon, Niranjan, MD; Wludyka, Peter, PHD; Wears, Robert, MD; Luten, Robert, MD (2007). Characteristics of Motorcycle-Related Hospitalizations: Comparing States with Different Helmet Laws. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 39, Issue 1, 190-196.

My Memorable Experience Paragraph

My Memorable Experience Draft: A memorable moment that I experienced was when I received my first black eye. At that time I was at the age of eleven. This experience occurred one day after school and my siblings and I were on our way home from school. I don’t remember much of what had happened that day because of an incident, but I remember bits and pieces of it. Every teenager loved their Fridays and this day is one that I’ll always remember. One beautiful Fall afternoon my two other siblings and I had arrived at our bus stop.I was sitting in a seat with a friend from school and my brother and sister were sitting next to ours. We all stood from our seats and casually walked off from the bus. I noticed my brother and sister ran in front of the bus and was ahead of me by a few steps. So I had to quickly wave to one of my friends on the bus and hurry back towards them. I scurried towards my siblings not even aware of where I was looking and as the bus started to drive off , I decided to turn around and to watch the bus drive off.I quickly turned around for my house and as I simultaneously raised my head to look in which direction I was heading and I happened to run into stop sign pole. I immediately began crying and quickly covered my left eye because of the blood was dripping down from my eyebrow to my face. My sister heard and seen me crying and was also stunned on what to do so she looked at my brother to come help. As he approached me, he took off his jacket and told me to use his jacket to cover my eye. My siblings were guiding me home. I noticed my eye stopped bleeding, so I used my brother’s jacket to wipe the blood on my forehead.

African Americans in the Civil War essays

African Americans in the Civil War essays In the history of the United States, African Americans have always been discriminated against. When Africans first came to America, they were taken against their will and forced to work as laborers. They became slaves to the rich, greedy, lazy Americans. They were given no pay and often badly whipped and beaten. African Americans fought for their freedom, and up until the Civil War it was never given to them. When the Civil War began, they wanted to take part in fighting to free all slaves. Their opportunity to be soldiers and fight alongside white men equally did not come easily, but eventually African Americans proved themselves able to withstand the heat of battle and fight as true American heroes. The road to freedom from slavery was a long and hard for the African Americans. In the northern states the Civil War began as a fight against the succession of the Confederate states from the Union. Abraham Lincoln, who was President at this time, wanted to save the nation by bringing the southern states back to the Union, but this "Great Emancipator" ironically did not have much intention of freeing the slaves. His greatest interest lie in preventing a war from occurring. However, even he could not stop the outbreak of the Civil War (Fincher). With the war just beginning, ex-slaves and other African Americans wanted to get in on the action. They wanted to fight against those who had enslaved them and their families for generations. They began volunteering and trying to enlist, but everywhere they went they were rejected. "In general, white soldiers and officers believed that black men lacked the courage to fight and fight well" (History ofAfrican-Americans in the Civil War). Even some abolitionists believed putting them in the battlefield would be putting African Americans higher than they should be. They said that though blacks should not be enslaved, they should not be equal to the white male. The African Americans, however, re...

10 Functions of the Comma

10 Functions of the Comma 10 Functions of the Comma 10 Functions of the Comma By Mark Nichol A comma is a versatile punctuation mark, serving ten basic functions. Here’s an enumeration, with examples. 1. Separate the elements in a series: â€Å"Groucho, Harpo, and Chico developed the philosophy called Marxism.† Many periodicals and websites, and most colloquially written books, omit the serial, or final, comma, but it is all but mandatory in formal writing and is recommended in all usage. As language maven Bryan Garner observes, â€Å"Omitting the serial comma may cause ambiguities, whereas including it never will.† 2. Separate coordinated independent clauses: â€Å"I like the Marx Brothers, but she thinks they’re too silly.† (An independent clause is one that can stand on its own as a sentence but is linked with another by a conjunction and/or a punctuation mark.) Exceptions include sentences with closely linked clauses (â€Å"Go to the window and see who’s there†) and those with a compound predicate (â€Å"The Marx Brothers are known for their puns and their sight gags†). 3. Separate an introductory word (â€Å"Naturally, I agree with you†), phrase (â€Å"Last summer, I went on a long vacation†), or subordinate clause (â€Å"If you’re too busy now, wait until later†) from the remainder of the sentence. 4. Separate an optional parenthetical element from the remainder of the sentence. â€Å"We have, in a manner of speaking, won despite our loss.† (The phrase â€Å"in a manner of speaking† could also be set off by em dashes or parentheses, depending on whether the writer wishes to emphasize the interruption of the statement â€Å"We have won despite our loss† or wants to diminish it as an aside.) 5. Separate coordinate adjectives from each other: â€Å"I could really use a tall, cool drink right now.† (Do not separate noncoordinate adjectives with a comma; this post explains the difference between these two types of adjectives.) 6. Separate an attribution from a direct quotation: â€Å"She said, ‘Neither choice is very appealing’†; â€Å"‘That’s not my problem,’ he replied.† (A colon may be precede a formal pronouncement or an attribution that forms a complete thought, as in, â€Å"He had this to say: ‘Her point is irrelevant.† Omit punctuation when the attribution is implied, as in â€Å"Your response ‘Her point is irrelevant’ is evasive.†) 7. Separate a participial phrase or one lacking a verb from the remainder of the sentence: â€Å"Having said that, I still have my doubts†; â€Å"The deed done, we retreated to our hideout.† 8. Separate a salutation from a letter (â€Å"Dear friends,†) or a complimentary close from a signature in a letter (â€Å"Sincerely,†). A colon should be used in place of a comma in a formal salutation. 9. Separate elements when setting off a term for a larger geopolitical entity from that for a smaller one located within it (â€Å"Santa Barbara, California, is located on the coast†) and for elements of street addresses (â€Å"1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC†) (and dates (â€Å"January 1, 2013†). 10. Separate groups of three digits in numbers: (Let me tell you how to make your first 100,000,000 dollars.† (Because large numbers are difficult to scan, it’s usually better to use one of the following forms: â€Å"100 million dollars,† â€Å"one hundred million dollars.†) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Using "a" and "an" Before WordsOne Fell SwoopPhrasal Verbs and Phrasal Nouns

Activities Coordinator

Along with the views of Human Motivation, Psychological Behavior, Environmental Factors and Quantitative and Qualitative Strengths, Social Influence and Capabilities play important roles in achieving certain objectives (Brehm, 2004).   Activities intended for social interactions credit a big help in creating personal relationships for the reason that the triggering of an individual’s interest will eventually make it easier for one to be persuaded to adhere with one’s desire and expectation (Cialdini, 1998). Changing the Community’s Lifestyle Take for example having a goal within a community to change the lifestyle, or perhaps the view of people towards a healthy lifestyle.   In order to achieve this certain goal, development psychology clearly defines that change does not happen in an instant.   It follows a step-by-step process, wherein keen observation and analysis on the behavior and interests of the community must be taken consideration on to be able to identify the level of motivation and techniques shall be imposed to (Brehm, 2004). Instilling Physical Activities Benefits Positively The differences of each individual and the complexities of the differences may be hard to specify for in every community, there would always be those who would not conform to the general masses.   Ã‚  Learning psychological strategies to eliminate anyone’s unhealthy beliefs in anyone or anything’s perspective on to realigning values in any area of life, is considered an intellectual way in making the subjects follow (Grottke, 2006). Information Dissemination Indulging the subjects of the advantages and benefits taken from physical education and enlightening them with the disadvantages caused by the opposite or disregarding such way of living will make them realize the essence of the activity. The information can be disseminated in a form of flyers, advertisements and door to door consultations citing people who suffered illnesses and sickness due to inconsistent physical activities.   In that sense, by capturing their sympathy and instilling a form of fear in their minds, it will be easier for them to be persuaded. Fear and Risk Taking Fear, being one of the highest factors in emotion and a bug in motivation, serves motivation strategy to prospects.   Inculcating the horrors of an unhealthy lifestyle will horrify the living daylights of their life (Lieberman, 2005).   Making them realize that taking physical exercises will deprive them from living longer and thus will lose everything which they have sown earlier than those who are healthy.   Eventually, since most are busy in their jobs, they will grab the most efficient way in gaining a healthy lifestyle, which implies that the Center shall gain generous support from those who have been persuaded to help not only their selves, but a deeper sense of sympathy to those who need their assistance. Door-in-the-face Technique A kind of persuasion with an arrogant form of approach which is then most likely not to be accepted, hence, the persuader at hand a slighter and more levelheaded appeal which eventually the real gist of the negotiation.  Ã‚   It is a subliminal way of slightly fooling subjects to have them trapped in one’s desire.   It could be effective, but a feeling of guilt will later lurk in the scene. Foot-in-the-door Technique   A related trick of persuasion, a little similar on the first, but somehow degrading if realized, since that is a kind of method which tends to amaze the receiving party which then makes it hard for him to refuse such offer given that the offer was ascending.   Effective though, but then again, it’s like tricking the receiver still over one’s benefit. Essence of Techniques The use of door-in the face technique, foot-in-the-door technique and the art of persuasion are by study proven to be effective in dealing with social interactions.   The gift of persuasion or influence is considered as the most valuable one, which if further developed and enhanced will not only reach the hearts of those inside the vicinity of the Center’s jurisdiction, but the nation as well. Conclusion Concluding such, in this massive form of competition in the complex world of business, being wise by evaluating effects of every move taken must be clearly specified and analyzed.   Characteristics of an effective Activity Coordinator must know what to take (Williamson, 1995), when to take and how to use effectively what is taken (Hughes Beatty, 2005), what to sacrifice and what to throw away (Straker, 2007), when to commence and when to leave (Segil, 2002) – but never to abandon, instead, to save and develop what had been started (Hesselbein, Johnston, Foundation, 2002; Runde Flanagan, 2006). References: Brehm, S. S. (2004). Social Psychology (6th ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. Cialdini, R. B. (1998). Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Revised ed.). New York: Collins. Grottke, R. L. (2006). All I Needed to Know in Life I Learned Selling Door to Door. New York: BookSurge Publishing. Hesselbein, F., Johnston, R., Foundation, T. D. (2002). On High Performance Organizations: A Leader to Leader Guide (1 ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Hughes, R. L., Beatty, K. M. (2005). Becoming a Strategic Leader: Your Role in Your Organizations Enduring Success (Lst Ed ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Lieberman, D. J. (2005). How to Change Anybody: Proven Techniques to Reshape Anyones Attitude, Behavior, Feelings, or Beliefs New York: St. Martins Press. Runde, C. E., Flanagan, T. A. (2006). Becoming a Conflict Competent Leader: How You and Your Organization Can Manage Conflict Effectively. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Segil, L. (2002). Dynamic Leader Adaptive Organization: Ten Essential Traits for Managers (1 ed.). Toronto: Wiley. Straker, D. (2007). Leadership styles (Publication. Retrieved June 28, 2007, from Changing Minds: http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/styles/leadership_styles.htm Williamson, O. E. (1995). Organization Theory: From Chester Barnard to the Present and Beyond (Expanded ed.). New York: Oxford University Press, USA.

Multiculturalism Has Corrosive Effects on Society Assignment

Multiculturalism Has Corrosive Effects on Society - Assignment Example Blurred Boundaries† (ALBA, 2005). Alba talks about the existence of bright and blurred boundaries that separate ethnic groups from the mainstream society. For example, the Muslim Turks in Germany may be seen as a group with bright, clearly defined boundaries that distinguish them from the non-Muslim European. The religion, the culture, the dress, the language of one group all are seen as clearly different from that of the other. An individual can be a member of one group at one time, which suggests a clear lack of assimilation. On the other hand, Alba gives the examples of Mexicans in the US, who are also immigrants but their social distinction is classified by blurred boundaries. He writes, â€Å"This could mean that individuals are seen as simultaneously members of the groups on both sides of the boundary or that sometimes they appear to be members of one and at other times members of the other†. This implies that the differences between the immigrants and the host nat ion are not as clearly defined as was in the case of the Muslim Turks. Even so, the exclusion of the Mexican immigrants from mainstream American society does exist, mainly because, even after generations of living in America, they are not essentially American. This mindset leads to the creation of factions that weaken a society, preventing it from seeing itself as a whole. Multiculturalism, especially when backed by state ideologies, corrodes a society since it in effect supports a policy that encourages people to see themselves as separate from the whole, leading them towards extremist ideologies in a desperate urge to belong. Multiculturalism then becomes a... The researcher states that the establishment of relations, that are based on trust and care that is a feature of small communities is absent in the multicultural river of the modern day metropolis. Moreover, there is a clear lack of belonging amongst such multicultural centers, where each cultural group has a unique identity of its own, but fails to associate itself to the greater identity of the city they are living in. Although multiculturalism may promote a healthy exchange of knowledge and ideas, however, it corrodes the very foundation of a society since it creates factions, leads people to extremism and is the cause of nonexistent interpersonal ties amongst fellow community members. Multiculturalism, especially when backed by ideologies, corrodes a society since it in effect supports a policy that encourages people to see themselves as separate from the whole, leading them towards extremist ideologies in a desperate urge to belong. Multiculturalism then becomes a program aimed towards â€Å"giving recognition to ethno-religious groups†. A society characterized by multiculturalism is also dominated by weak interpersonal relations, where fellow community members live and interact as little more than strangers, which weakens the social ties upon which all societies are based. The researcher then concluds that multiculturalism corrodes the individual as well as the society by giving no one their due share of belonging and acceptance within the society, and promoting feelings of mistrust among members of the same community.

Discussions questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussions questions - Assignment Example Large enterprises have many employees spread of a lager geographical cover i.e. worldwide who could be difficult to control. These employees could be compromised by hacker so as to provide details to help them hack in the systems. Research shows that most large enterprises hackings are always done from the inside. The greatest tool that these hackers have at their disposal is Google. Using Google smart search a hacker can get any information they want about any individual including family names, credit card information, date of birth, home address, medical records, classified government records etc. Once hackers have access to this kind of information, it is easier for them to carry out any attack ranging from theft, fraud or gain access to restricted resources. Google can also provide information about organizations’ profile of web servers, unprotected directories, financial information and database information. This is the kind of information hackers use to attack there target. Hence Google smart search has become the greatest tool used by hackers. One recent cyber-crime that is on the rise is cloud crime. Cloud computing is trending in IT and most companies are moving to cloud services. Therefore with more companies putting information on public cloud services, cloud services have become targets. However system forensics investigators face several challenges in trying to solve the crime. For instance, form the legal dimension, there are no agreements among cloud organizations to enable collaborative investigation. Also majority of SLAs between these companies have no terms and conditions regarding the separation of responsibilities between the cloud service provider and the customer The greatest challenges facing system forensics investigators is how to retrieve and handle data form mobile handheld devices. Revolution in technology has seen emergence of mobile handheld devices like smartphones like Apple iPhone and blackberry, iPads,

The effect of clutch size on predation in birds Essay

The effect of clutch size on predation in birds - Essay Example Hypothetically, it is also logic to say that the bigger the clutch size, the more the mortality rate in birds. This is because the prey are large in number, hence, attracting more predators. Past studies on clutch size, have concentrated on the constant evolution in the size of the clutch. This has, therefore, guided researchers in coming up with theories such as the food limitation hypothesis of lack (Paul et al 824). This theory states that the clutch size gives a reflection on the relationship between the food limitation and the number of off springs that survive. In addition, another theory tries to explain how the clutch size is determined by parental behavior, for instance, the ability to feed and their success in reproduction. Nevertheless, predation patterns and the predators themselves are in more than one way affected by the clutch size. The effect of clutch size on predation in birds has been researched on in a number of models by different researchers since 1990s. However, there are two main models that act as the backbone to all other models. The first one explains how an increase in predation risk would be as a result of nestling begging, with or without spectral characteristics and avian mobbing (Paul et al 821). Parental behavior and nestling begging is usually seen a signal to increase in predation risk. This hypothesis was questioned since, in some cases, nestling begging could be there but the parents are also there to defend the young ones. To prove this, an experiment was carried out where bell miners Manorina melanophrys was observed and the cost of begging measured. The experiment was done by placing 168 attractive nests with wax egg and broadcasting speakers that produced sounds similar to the begging sound. Three conditions were put into considerations (Ekman 703). These conditions were silence, white noise pulses that was similar to the response no begging sounds and un-manipulated begging

Financial Reporting Standards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Financial Reporting Standards - Essay Example There has been progress towards the development of single, globally accepted accounting standards. The goal is however yet to be realized. The United States is currently working towards the convergence of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Crucial convergence projects from the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the U.S Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) have continued to produce good results in an effort to converge the two Accounting and Financial reporting standards. This process of dissecting and eliminating the possible difference between that may the two standards is however costly and consumes a lot of time. The alignment of the underlying principles and the overall methodologies is an effective approach. A significant difference continues to arise though the underlying principles and the overall methodology regarding these standards are harmonized. As the FASB and the IASB continues on their convergence work, the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to make significant progress aimed at increasing the acceptance of the IFRSs and abolishing the US GAAPs .Also, PWC has helped companies' to successfully understand the IFRS. It has developed a clear IFRS conversion method ology which is aimed at providing lasting solutions (Vincent C. Ross and Institute of Accounting 23).The Association of Chattered Certified Accountants (ACCA) argues that the convergence of US GAAP and IFRS is crucial because the harmonization of the two standards will help to raise the investors confidence around the world .This is because the same accounting policies and procedures will be used world wide for same events. The harmonization is also believed to have a cost reduction impact as far as individual companies are concerned .This is due to the high level of confidence in timely and reliable information. The harmonization is also essential for companies that have joint listings with America and other countries. The preparation costs thus will be minimized. In addition, the convergent of the two standards will enhance worldwide mobility of labor in that professional and in particular, the accountants will be eligible to work in other countries as the same reporting standards apply elsewhere. The IFRS framework states that the ultimate aim of financial statements is to give information in relation to an entity to users for decision-making. The users of the information in the financial statement include the consumers, employees, management, government, competitors, among other users.The assumptions underlying in the International Financial Reporting Standards are that the entity is a going concern one and that the entity uses the accrual accounting concept in preparing the financial statements except cash flow preparation. In accrual, concept revenues and expenses are recognized once they occur and not that cash is paid or gained. In going concern, the company is deemed to continue in its operations even in the future neither does it have intentions to close down or curtail its operations. The company directors are thus bound to evaluate whether the going concern hypothesis is appropriate during the actual reporting of financial stat

Offenders and Psychology Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Offenders and Psychology - Coursework Example In the Table â€Å"Profile Characteristics of Disorganized Asocial Offenders† it is evident that there are a number of characteristics, which are appropriate in the process of offender personality’s studies. The status of the personalities in their communities is determined with respect to the following features: they have a limited intelligence, are involved in unskilled work and have a few contacts with other members of the community. These persons show the following types of post-offense behavior, such as turning to the place, where the crime was committed; having a visual collage of criminal events etc. After that, when the crime was committed, a disorganized criminal can hardly change a place of his residence, because he is used to his familiar environment. It is possible to differentiate a disorganized asocial offender from the organized nonsocial offender. The former offender would commit his crimes at night, as a rule. For this type of offenders, it is very impo rtant to be understood and supported. Establishment of positive relationship with this personality is very beneficial in the process of investigation. Moreover, the interviews are more effective with these offenders at night, when it is their â€Å"best time†. The features of the organized nonsocial offender can be interpreted in the following way: this type of the offender would be more organized in his daily life. They are lonely persons and they do not want anyone else around them. These persons have an average level of intelligence and they can be active members of the society. These offenders can have his personal relationship and he can even make a good impression (Interview with S. Milena Halterman, 2010). This type of offenders can go to many other places, which are far away from their neighborhood. Post-offense behavior of the organized nonsocial offenders is as follows: he is interested in the consequences of the crime, committed by him. Moreover, â€Å"organized  crime  scenes  reflect  a  high  level  of  control  by  the  offender  where restraints  are  used  and  the  body  is  disposed  of  in  a  thought out  manner, usually  transported  to  another  location  from  where  the  murder  took  place† (Holmes& Holmes, 2009). During the interview sessions, it is relevant to confront these offenders directly, because they are afraid of direct facts. A single-interview strategy is one of the most appropriate for them. These offenders can tell everything sincerely during the interviewing. Therefore, it is appropriate for the criminologists to focus on the peculiar personal features of the offenders in order to determine possible options of serial crime prevention and a proper investigation conduct of every particular case. Thus, the modern paradigm of criminology should be focused on researches and studies, which are concentrated on the peculiar aspects of offendersâ⠂¬â„¢ behaviors. Question 2 In the modern paradigm, it is very important to know that there is a strong relationship between social and psychological issues of the criminals and the actions committed by them. Psychological  profiling has been developing since 1940 and this field was developed for investigation of serial crimes (Schlesinger 2009). The basic points, outlined in this field of study are: characteristics of the  offender,  time factors, modus  operandi, offender’s  and  signature and  staging (Holmes & Holmes, 2009).  There is a great need to take into account organized vs.  disorganized

The effect of clutch size on predation in birds Essay

The effect of clutch size on predation in birds - Essay Example Hypothetically, it is also logic to say that the bigger the clutch size, the more the mortality rate in birds. This is because the prey are large in number, hence, attracting more predators. Past studies on clutch size, have concentrated on the constant evolution in the size of the clutch. This has, therefore, guided researchers in coming up with theories such as the food limitation hypothesis of lack (Paul et al 824). This theory states that the clutch size gives a reflection on the relationship between the food limitation and the number of off springs that survive. In addition, another theory tries to explain how the clutch size is determined by parental behavior, for instance, the ability to feed and their success in reproduction. Nevertheless, predation patterns and the predators themselves are in more than one way affected by the clutch size. The effect of clutch size on predation in birds has been researched on in a number of models by different researchers since 1990s. However, there are two main models that act as the backbone to all other models. The first one explains how an increase in predation risk would be as a result of nestling begging, with or without spectral characteristics and avian mobbing (Paul et al 821). Parental behavior and nestling begging is usually seen a signal to increase in predation risk. This hypothesis was questioned since, in some cases, nestling begging could be there but the parents are also there to defend the young ones. To prove this, an experiment was carried out where bell miners Manorina melanophrys was observed and the cost of begging measured. The experiment was done by placing 168 attractive nests with wax egg and broadcasting speakers that produced sounds similar to the begging sound. Three conditions were put into considerations (Ekman 703). These conditions were silence, white noise pulses that was similar to the response no begging sounds and un-manipulated begging

Offenders and Psychology Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Offenders and Psychology - Coursework Example In the Table â€Å"Profile Characteristics of Disorganized Asocial Offenders† it is evident that there are a number of characteristics, which are appropriate in the process of offender personality’s studies. The status of the personalities in their communities is determined with respect to the following features: they have a limited intelligence, are involved in unskilled work and have a few contacts with other members of the community. These persons show the following types of post-offense behavior, such as turning to the place, where the crime was committed; having a visual collage of criminal events etc. After that, when the crime was committed, a disorganized criminal can hardly change a place of his residence, because he is used to his familiar environment. It is possible to differentiate a disorganized asocial offender from the organized nonsocial offender. The former offender would commit his crimes at night, as a rule. For this type of offenders, it is very impo rtant to be understood and supported. Establishment of positive relationship with this personality is very beneficial in the process of investigation. Moreover, the interviews are more effective with these offenders at night, when it is their â€Å"best time†. The features of the organized nonsocial offender can be interpreted in the following way: this type of the offender would be more organized in his daily life. They are lonely persons and they do not want anyone else around them. These persons have an average level of intelligence and they can be active members of the society. These offenders can have his personal relationship and he can even make a good impression (Interview with S. Milena Halterman, 2010). This type of offenders can go to many other places, which are far away from their neighborhood. Post-offense behavior of the organized nonsocial offenders is as follows: he is interested in the consequences of the crime, committed by him. Moreover, â€Å"organized  crime  scenes  reflect  a  high  level  of  control  by  the  offender  where restraints  are  used  and  the  body  is  disposed  of  in  a  thought out  manner, usually  transported  to  another  location  from  where  the  murder  took  place† (Holmes& Holmes, 2009). During the interview sessions, it is relevant to confront these offenders directly, because they are afraid of direct facts. A single-interview strategy is one of the most appropriate for them. These offenders can tell everything sincerely during the interviewing. Therefore, it is appropriate for the criminologists to focus on the peculiar personal features of the offenders in order to determine possible options of serial crime prevention and a proper investigation conduct of every particular case. Thus, the modern paradigm of criminology should be focused on researches and studies, which are concentrated on the peculiar aspects of offendersâ⠂¬â„¢ behaviors. Question 2 In the modern paradigm, it is very important to know that there is a strong relationship between social and psychological issues of the criminals and the actions committed by them. Psychological  profiling has been developing since 1940 and this field was developed for investigation of serial crimes (Schlesinger 2009). The basic points, outlined in this field of study are: characteristics of the  offender,  time factors, modus  operandi, offender’s  and  signature and  staging (Holmes & Holmes, 2009).  There is a great need to take into account organized vs.  disorganized

Advantages and Disadvantages of Being the Only Child Essay Example for Free

Advantages and Disadvantages of Being the Only Child Essay What are the pros and cons of being the only child? There are some options in this subject. Some children feel well withouth siblings but others dream about a brother or a sister. One of the main advantages of being the only child is that your parents pay attention only to you. You are the most important person in their lives. Parents do everything for you. For example, if you want a new toy or some clothes they go to a shop and just buy it for you. Moreover, you have everything for yourself. You do not have to share the room, the computer and any other things. What is more you get more presents or more money. In addition to that, there is no person to quarrel with. You are alone and no one can take your things and do something wrong with them. No one disturbs you. You are a family pet and you get all parential love. On the other hand there are also some disadvantages. First of all, the only children are very spoiled and selfish. They are used to thinking that they are the most important people so they must have everything only for themselves. When something is not going according to the way they planned it, they get angry. But it is not all. Being the only child means that parents put preassure on you. You have to still prove that you are the best. You have to het a A for every classroom test otherwise your parents will be disappointed with you. Last but not least, the only child may sometimes feel lonely. Other children can go out with siblings for example to a disco, to friends or even to school. The only child must go solitary or with friends, although it is not the same. They have nobody who can borrow them some clothes or other things. To sum up, being the only child has many advantages but also a lot of disadvantages. Being such a child can be good, although in my opinion these people feel lonely and sad. Personally, I do not want to be the only child.

Theories of Female Victimisation

Theories of Female Victimisation In todays society crime is a constant. People that are well know, to people that no one has ever heard of fall victim to criminal activity on a daily basis. There has to be a reason why these things happen so often. Victim precipitation theory holds that the victim is the contributing fact of their victimization. Women, especially, can make themselves available to criminals and can effortlessly become easy targets. In a sense, every victim contributes to their own victimization in one way or another. Crime is very apparent in our everyday lives. It seems as though the average American cannot go a day without hearing about another atrocious crime that has happened in their community. According to the US Department of Justice, Criminal Justice Information Services Division, violent crimes accounted for 1,254,358 of the crimes committed in 2009. There are many different types of offenses that can be classified as a crime. The FBI, in its annual Crime in the United States report, publishes data for serious crimes in the Crime Index. The Index includes murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. All of these crimes happen frequently to Americans, some reports show that some even happen on a minute to minute basis. Victims of crimes are those that are affected by the outcome of a crime that has been committed; these can include the primary victim, the secondary victims, and related victims. A whole community can be affected by just one crime. It is very common to know someone who has been the victim of a crime, especially in todays society. Many people may have empathy for these people and often speculate how something like this could have happened to a person, as many victims wonder the same thing. A primary victim is someone within the range of foreseeable physical injury, typically a participant in the accident; damages are recoverable for psychiatric injury as for physical injury, even if no physical injury has occurred. Secondary victims are those outside the range of foreseeable physical injury, such as witnesses or relatives of the accident victims. A related victim is a person who is a close family member, or a dependant, of a primary victim who has died as a direct result of an act of violence being committed against them. (www.justice.qld.gov) As you can see, when an offender commits a crime against one person, the primary victim, it can lead to domino effect. There can many victims for one crime. There are many theories on why crimes happen and why people fall victim to them. Some think that being victimized is just a matter of opportunity, that particular person that became a victim to a crime was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Shouldnt people this day in age be smart enough to where the wrong place is and what the wrong time is? Some people theorize just that. People should know the difference in right and wrong, and they should use their brains as to decide the difference. One theory that upholds these opinions is the victim precipitation theory. As in, the victim participated, in some way, to their own victimization. Victim precipitation theory views victimology from the standpoint that the victim themselves may actually initiate, either passively or actively, the criminal act that ultimately leads to death or injury. (www.associatedcontent.com) If a victim passively initiates in their own victimization, they unknowingly do so. On the other hand, if a victim h as an active role in their victimization, they might have consciously made the decision to do; by either provoking or instigating the crime that occurred. Either way, the victim precipitation theory blames the victim for their role in their victimization. Job promotions, job status, successes, love interests, and the like are examples of these unconscious behaviors and characteristics of passive precipitation. Additionally, political activists, minority groups, those of different sexual orientations, and other individuals pursuing alternate lifestyles may also find themselves as targets of violence due to the inadvertent threat they pose to certain individuals of power. Active victimization occurs under this theory through the threatening or provocative actions of the victim. One of the most controversial points of this theory is the idea that women who are raped actively contributed in some way, either through provocative dress, a relationship, or suggested consent of intimacy. Because of this viewpoint it is hard to convict an accused rapist who has had some form of relationship with the accused, or one that was behaving provocatively or suggestively. (www.associatedcontent.com) Generally speaking, there are two victims of crime; men and women. Some people still view women as the inferior sex, even in the 21st century. Even though men and women are both susceptible to crime, women are 8 to 10 times more likely to fall victim to rape and spousal abuse. A select few still perceive women as weak and not having the ability to think for themselves. Let every Man (in particular) be asked his thoughts of women and he will tell you without doubt, that they were not made but for man; they are fit for nothing, but to nurse; and breed little children in their low age; and to mind the house. (www.users.muohio.edu) Men, on the other hand, are considered to be the protectors of their home and are the ones that have the education to speak openly. Many times this can be a reason to why some men commit crimes against women; a male offender may say that a woman was out of place by speaking her mind, or doing other things that may seem normal to other people in todays society, so he felt that he had to do something about it. Even though these views seem dated, there are still many men, and women, that think this way. Because of the way that women are viewed it can make them an easy target for some offenders. Many rapists still believe that women should submit to a man, when he wants her to, and fear him for the things that he may do to her is she does give in easily. Men rapist usually have the need to punish, humiliate, dominate, overpower, and control their victim. Most of the time a rapist does not see their action as them doing anything wrong, and they do not even consider the feelings of their victim. Women are also more susceptible to scams than men are. People often use emotions to their advantage when they are trying to con someone, be it for money or a place to live. Women are known to be emotional beings because they are made to produce children and be motherly. People all over America, and neighboring countries, use email scams, mail fraud, or even just random telephone cons in order to receive money and other goods and services. An email scam can be randomized and sent out in to multiple inboxes at one time. People from other countries can collect email addresses from sites in which people sign up for updates about their favorite cookbooks or even pornographic websites. Either way, these scams can create dangerous situations. There is a scam known as the Grandparent Scam. This scam entails someone choosing a number out of the phonebook and if an elderly woman answers the person on the other end simply says, Grandma, is that you?, when the woman answers yes, the scam begins. The person basically tells their grandmother that they have gotten into some kind of trouble and are in need of money and asks her to Western Union the money to them. Without a question the grandmother sends the person the requested funds and doesnt even realized that they have been conned. Who wouldnt help their grandchild that was in need? Feelings are often used against women in this all of the time. Without delay a most women would he lp a person in need because it seemed like the right thing to do, and before their very eyes, that have fallen victim to another scam. Rape that occurs on dates or between people who know each other should not be seen as some sort of misguided sexual adventure: Rape is violence, not seduction. In stranger rape and acquaintance rape, the aggressor makes a decision to force his victim to submit to what he wants. The rapist believes he is entitled to force sexual intercourse from a woman and he sees interpersonal violence (be it simply holding the woman down with his body or brandishing a gun) as an acceptable way to achieve his goal. (Warshaw, 1988, pg.20) In 2005, 1,181 women were murdered by an intimate partner. Thats an average of three women every day. Of all the women murdered in the U.S., about one-third were killed by an intimate partner. (www.ojp.usdoj.gov) One- third of women killed in 2005 actually knew their attackers, which is an alarming rate. Victim precipitation theory holds that some women are subjected to this violence because they have brought it upon themselves. A mixture of body image, the way a wo men dresses, where a women hangs out, and the company that she keeps can attribute to her own victimization. Dissatisfaction with ones physical appearance can lead to a negative body image. (Lankford, 2010, pg.13) A womans negative perception of herself can lead to her to making poor life decisions. How a woman perceives herself can affect her everyday life, such as, her career, family life, and finances. Women that do not think highly of themselves tend to think that they do not deserve to be truly happy. Having a low self-esteem can cause a person to become depressed. Depression can lead to a number of self mutilating problems, such as, drug use, alcoholism, and eating disorders. (Wolff, 1999, pg.18) If a woman thinks that she may never be able to find a husband, boyfriend, or partner she may become licentious. Some of these women may think that if a man takes them out or was nice to them, that they are obliged to say yes to sex afterwards. Women with this condition may become an easy target, and they may even submit to an attacker. The way a woman dresses can contribute to the type of lifestyle that they live. We, as a society, know how many different people in different professions dress. A police man wear a blue uniform, a person in the military wears BDUs, and a prostitute wears a short dress and a low cut shirt. The way women dress is routinely cited as an encouragement to rape; the argument is that if a woman is dressed a certain way, then they were asking, or even inviting, a potential rapist to attack them. References to sheer and clinging fabrics, low-slung jeans and low-cut tops, bare midriffs, short skirts and liberally applied make-up are common in the context of rape trials. (www.thisisnotaninvitationtorapeme.co.uk) A common assumption is that if a woman wears revealing clothing they are considered to be either a whore or a prostitute. Prostitution is illegal in all states, but one, in the United States. About 80% of women in prostitution have been the victim of a rape. Prostitutes are raped, on the average, eight to ten times per year. They are the most raped class of women in the history of our planet. ( Hunter and Reed, 1990) Where a person lives can say a lot about them. If a person lives in project housing then we know that they are financially stable, if a person lives in a big house in a great neighborhood then we know that they have the resources to do so. Statistically speaking, the crime rate is higher in lower income neighborhoods than it would be in higher income neighborhoods. In theory, individuals are targeted based on their lifestyle choices which expose them to criminal offenders and situations in which crimes may be committed. If a woman lives in a lower income neighborhood or in known to venture in these types of places, they are subjecting themselves to become a victim of crime. The correlation between victims and the perpetrators of crimes is that they both exhibit impulsive and antisocial-like behaviors. These behaviors may contribute to their victimization since they cause the individual to put themselves at risk more so then more conservative lifestyle counterparts. (www.associatedcon tent.com) In a nutshell, if a neighborhood is deviant, the only way to lower a persons risk of victimization is for them to leave the neighborhood for a less deviant, low crime rate area. Drug use is more common in lower income neighborhoods. People who use drugs put themselves in dangerous situations every day. People who commit crimes, as drug use and distribution is a crime, are more prone to become victims because they are involved in precarious conditions. Those who choose high-risk lifestyles which include taking drugs, drinking, and participating in criminal activities run a much higher risk of becoming victims. (www.associatedcontent.com) If a woman is a drug runner, or is just purchasing drugs for personal use, she may be involved in situations where other women are being prostituted out. If a woman gets desperate enough, then she may start doing the same thing in order to get money to purchase more drugs. Women are much more frequently involved in prostitution to fund drugs habits than men. What exacerbates the danger to these women is the powerlessness they experience due to their intense need for drugs and severe poverty. Because many men seek out dangerou s sexual services from drug- addicted prostitutes, they are at a great risk. (Egendorf, 2003, pg.98) The factors previously mentioned are palpable. Most of the time the average person can identify a prostitute or a continuous drug user, but what about women that contribute to their own victimization in less obvious ways? Women who stay in violent relationships, their sexual orientation, walking down a street at night by themselves, or just being simply too nice are way a woman can contribute to being victimized and they do not even know that they are doing so. Woman need to prepare themselves for being victimized if they are making themselves an easy target. Women who stay in violent relationships, be it with a man or a women, contribute to their own victimization every day that they are with their abusive partner. Relationship abuse can include, but is not limited to, physical, mental, verbal, and emotional abuse. Some women may not even recognize that they are being abused at the time it is occurring. A woman may assume that they cannot do any better than the person they are with, and that it why they continue to be in a relationship with them, this can stem back to having self-esteem and being depressed about ones self. It is sad to know that most women cannot get out abuse relationships until it is too late for them to do so. There is a rising number of women being abused to a point to where they end up being murdered, and most of the time it is by an intimate partner. Physical abuse is defined as any behavior that inflicts harm on a person. (White, 2001, pg.14) Physical abuse can include; hitting, shoving, biting, throwing objects at a person to inflict harm, and even sexual abuse. Every year, domestic violence results in almost 100,000 days of hospitalizations, almost 30,000 emergency department visits, and almost 40,000 visits to a physician. (American Medical Association, 1991) Sexual abuse can fall under many different categories at one time, such as physical and mental abuse. An abuser can make a woman feel that it is their duty to have sex with their husband or boyfriend by saying If you loved me you wouldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, if the abuser makes a woman think that he will not love her if she does not provide him with sexual favors, then he is sexually and mentally abusing her. Mental and emotional abuse go hand in hand. Mental abuse is sometimes referred to as psychological or emotional abuse. Mental abuse is the intentional infliction of anguish, degradation, fear, or distress. Mental and emotional abuse can be used to brainwash someone into thinking that they are wrong if they leave an abuser. A mental abuser can be very distant from their partner at times, but if the woman decides to leave them, then they become very distraught with loving emotions. A woman may feel as if they are walking on egg shells around their partner, because they do not want them to become upset and argue with them. Fear is not part of a loving relationship, but it is a vital part of a mentally abusive relationship. It enables the abuser to maintain control over a woman. (http://ezinearticles.com) A woman who stays in a violent relationship can actually set themselves up for more victimization if their children are witnessing the abuse. Children who grow seeing a man abuse their mother will grow up and think that this type of treatment is acceptable. If the mother does eventually remove herself and her children from an abusive relationship, the abuse could continue to live through her children. Children who grow up in violent homes are: at higher risk for substance abuse and juvenile delinquency, bear emotional scars, as well as feelings of insecurity, guilt, and isolation, often experience difficulties in school such as inattentiveness, learning disabilities, and stress-related physical problems, fail to develop the experience they need to enter into healthy relationships as adults, and often grow up with low self-esteem and become easy victims of verbal and physical abuse. (www.heartlyhouse.org) Although we are now in the 21st century, it is still common to find people who do not agree with sexual orientations other than heterosexual relationships. People that participate in same sex relationships are at a higher risk for having hate crimes and hostility committed against them. There are people in America that suffer from homophobia and heterosexism. Homophobia is the unreasonable fear or disdain from of homosexuals and/or homosexuality. At its most extreme, homophobia is expressed through physical violence, including rape and murder. Heterosexism is the assumption that heterosexuality is the only form of sexual identity and family life. Although less stigmatizing than overt homophobia, the assumption of heterosexuality can alienate lesbians in mainstream institutions, including health care settings. (Liebschutz, 2003, pg.238) Yet another way that a woman can increase her chances of becoming a victim is not reporting a crime or violent act. Some women seem to be embarrassed that they were victimized in the first place, so they fail to report a crime that has occurred. When a woman does not report a crime that has been committed against her she increases her chances of being victimized again, she also leaves the door opened for another woman to be victimized. Since there was no reason to detain the criminal that committed the act, that person is still roaming free to commit another a horrendous crime and the next time it may be the initial victims neighbor, friend, or even her own daughter. A woman that is naÃÆ' ¯ve to situations in todays society can also put herself at a higher risk of becoming victimized. It is obvious that more and more people in this day in age are becoming victims of crime. If a woman were to walk down a low lit at night, by herself, in an ominous neighborhood; there is no telling what gang or rapist might see her, or what they might do to her. Woman who make it common knowledge that they live by themselves are also at a higher risk. Situations like this happen all of the time, which is one of the reasons why crime rate is so high in certain parts of the United States. Woman are victimized, in this case, by just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. If a woman were to tell a stranger that she lives by herself, then that stranger could easily follow her home and victimize her. It is that simple. Women have to take certain defensive precautions in order to not become a victim. There are cases where a person can be too nice. In todays society people tend to lose sight of morals to use to be upheld. There are more scams and cons than ever. A woman could just think that they are beginning nice to a stranger and not even know that person is really a rapist or murderer. There is a difference in being nice and being too nice. People tend to take advantage of people that do not have the ability to say no. If a woman works all day long and picks up her co-workers slack, and then comes home and complains that she is wore out, whose fault is it really? Being too nice, or vulnerable, can sometimes stab a woman in their back. Although it is nice to see a friendly face, a woman should never invite a stranger to come to her home where she lives by herself. This is one of the reasons that more and more people are becoming reluctant to help someone, because a person can never know what a stranger, or even someone they know, is capable of behind closed doors. The biggest way a woman can contribute to their own victimization is to think that it will not happen to them. Women who feel that they will never be attacked are the ones that get raped, kidnapped, murdered, or burglarized. The mistake that they make is not being prepared. Violent crimes happen to normal people every day. Why should it not happen to the girl next door, or the woman from two towns over? To offenders, they are all the same. Offenders do not care if the woman they are attacking is a mother, sister, or wife. This might even make them feel as if that particular woman is more important and they have a more valuable thing to take away from someone. Women need to be educated to become more sufficient in protecting themselves. A way that a woman can prevent serious victimization is to always be prepared. In todays society a person can never know what is lurking around the next corner waiting to pounce on their next victim that will fall prey. When a woman is too arrogant abo ut criminal activity, they make themselves an easy target. Some other ways that a woman could protect herself from becoming a victim is having the knowledge to know the different types of offenders. Some offenders victimize people out or pure self satisfaction, others offend in order to provide for their families. Multiple offenders have the knowledge to know how to get the act committed, since they have not been caught thus far, they think that they know what they are doing and how to get away with it. On the other hand, first time offenders could be easier to negotiate with and may easily feel sorry for their victims. When a man approaches a woman in a dimly lit parking lot and asks for her keys and her wallet, the best thing that woman can do cooperate with that person. If a woman was being robbed at gun point and did cooperate with the person committing the offense, then that person could easily shot the woman and take what they want. The most important thing is that a woman educates herself with the knowledge of know when to fight and when to do as the offender asks. Staying calm can produce better results for these types of situations. No material possession is worse losing their life for. Along with emotional, woman tend to materialistic. If approached by a stranger that asked for her jewelry, a woman might hesitate. Even the ring that her great-great-grandmother gave her would not be an acceptable reason to lose her life. The mental capacity of an offender can have an effect on how they will respond to ways their victim reacts to their actions. If a person holds the mental capacity of a 3rd grader they are liable to respond in different ways than an offender with a high I.Q. would. The problem with offenders with low mental capacities is that they could easily commit an offense because they do not know any better. Knowing the different situations that woman could find herself in, could be the difference in her surviving victimization. Knowledge is power to women that have no choice but to live in lower income neighborhoods that are surrounded by frequent drug use and violent crimes. The victim precipitation theory upholds that it is the victims fault that they became victimized in the first place. From a woman wearing a low cut shirt to a woman walking down a street late at night by herself, there is a reason that woman was victimized from the start. A woman can knowingly or passively contribute to her own victimization. Bad life decisions, staying in a violent relationship, and even a womans sexual orientation can contribute to her victimization. Criminals seek out women who make easy targets. Prostitutes and drug users are more prone to get raped and used for sexual favors. Women who make themselves available to crime are more likely to be victims of crime. Women should use common knowledge in order to stay safe and protect themselves. Overall, crime is a rising scenario in todays society. Crime can happen to an everyday average person in the blink of an eye. There are ways to prevent becoming victimized. Sources: Susan Kay Hunter and K.C. Reed, July, 1990 Taking the side of bought and sold rape, speech at National Coalition against Sexual Assault, Washington, D.C. Psychiatric injury primary victims, secondary victims, Page v Smith, Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police http://law.jrank.org/pages/16981/psychiatric-injury.html#ixzz16jdchKYW [online] American Medical Association. 5 issues American Health. Chicago 1991 White, Katherine (2001) Relationship Violence, The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. Egendorf, Laura K. (2003) Chemical Dependency, Thomson- Gale www.associatedcontent.com The Four Theories of Victimization [online] Lankford, Ronald D, Jr. (2010) Body Image, Gale, Cengage Learning Warshaw, Robin (1988) I Never Called It Rape, Harper and Row www.thisisnotaninvitationtorapeme.co.uk This Is Not An Invitation To Rape Me [online] Wolff, Lisa (1999) Teen Depression, Lucent Books, Inc. Liebschutz, Jane M. (2003) Violence Against Women, American College of Physicians www.heartlyhouse.org Children From An Abusive Home [online]

The Great Gatsby - Eden Imagery :: essays research papers

In the Great Gatsby, each character is longing for one particular paradise. Only one character actually reaches utopia, and the arrival is a mixed blessing at best. The concept of paradise in The Great Gatsby is a shifting, fleeting illusion of happiness, joy, love, and perfection, a mirage that leads each character to reach deeper, look harder, strive farther. There is Myrtle Wilson’s gaudy, flashy hotel paradise in which she can pretend that she is glamorous, elite, wanted and loved. She clings fiercely enough to this ragged dream to brave the righteous anger of Tom Buchanan by voicing her jealous terror that he will return to his wife. There is a desperation to her full, spirited style of living, she wants so much to escape the grey, dead land of the Valley of Ashes that she colours her life with any brightness she can find, be it broken glass or diamonds. Nick describes land she finds herself in as a wasteland, a desert, saying "this is the Valley of Ashes -- a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens, where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air" (page 29). It is from this that Myrtle is trying to escape, this life-in-death valley that characterises the underbelly of New York's glitter and lights and finery, and this that she is dragged back to by the dawning jealous rage of a normally unassuming husband. To run away from the grey and the death, the colourful, brimming woman runs out, arms outstretched, to the car she thinks belongs to the man who promised to take her away from the Valley. But -- she began in shadows and in shadows she dies, "her life violently extinguished, knelt in the road and mingled her thick, dark blood with the dust" (page 144). There is an "ashes to ashes dust to dust" element to every action in the novel, and Myrtle is no exception. We as readers focus more on Daisy and Tom, Gatsby and Nick; Myrtle’s fall is telling the same story as Gatsby’s, as Daisy’s. In the end, her life is worth no more and no less than the great millionaire in his mansion on West Egg. Daisy and Tom are bereft of these dreams.