Church Reformation in the 16th and 17th century Essay

Church Reformation in the 16th and 17th century - Essay Example This compromised the respect accorded to papacy2. Since the schism tarnished the reputation of the papacy authority, it needed a resolution that would re-unite the people. Before the schism, the Catholic Church relied on a centralized Roman leadership. This paper will analyze the decrees that resulted from the emergence of the council of Constance. The issues that led to the schism in the Catholic Church included disputes concerning power and jurisdiction concerning matters3. The rise of English and French monarchies affected the papal authority. Things worsened after the election of the Urban the sixth. This happened in Rome and Urban proved to be extremely brutal forcing most of the other clergy to move back to Avignon where papacy had reigned before4. After their return to Avignon, they went ahead to elect a pope of their own bringing about a great controversy5. The Catholic Church devotees had two popes in power exercising control over the church.6 The division that emerged threa tened to challenge the papacy powers. Different countries opted to support one of the two popes. Haec Sancta: Decree of the Council of Constance, 1415 Majority of the people opined that a council had the capacity to solve the controversy that was proving a threat to the unity of the church7. Although both popes portrayed reluctance to call upon the help of the council in solving the matter, a council came into place to propose solutions for the problem that was prevailing in the Catholic Church. The decree ‘haec Sancta’ declared by the council changed the entire picture of the competition that had resulted from different individuals claiming to have papal authority. The council of Constance was acting as one of the ecumenical councils that had existed in the past of the Catholic Church8. The council introduced the conciliar ideology that was to give rise to additional controversies in the future. The conciliar ideology was of the standing that the councils of the Cathol ic Church held a supreme position. This implied that no clergy was above the council. The pope had a responsibility of recognizing the authority of the council and obeying it. Therefore, the council of Constance made it clear that it held the exquisite authority to resolve the schism that the church was facing9. In accordance, the council disregarded the authority of the competing popes that had resulted from the schism. The council held the reasoning that electing a different individual altogether would restore the unity that had once existed in the church. In addition, the council sought to restore the centrality of power that had existed in papacy. In the decree, the council made it clear that the constitution of t he council was part of the Holy Spirit’s doing. In addition, the council claimed that it had power directed to them from Christ himself. The council then expressed its expectation for every individual regardless of state and dignity to accept the solution it had designed to resolve the schism that prevailed. In addition, the council instituted a second decree concerning the future activities of the council. From 1415 to 1417, the council held sessions that led to critical decisions. The council that was headed by Sigismund as the emperor10. It exercised supremacy in all its decisions, expecting nobody to raise the question of discontent11. The council appointed a new pope, Martin the fifth, restoring the papal authority to Rome12. Council of Constance: Frequens, 1417

Total Hip Replacement Surgical Approach Health And Social Care Essay

Total Hip Replacement Surgical Approach Health And Social Care Essay The two most commonly used and described approaches to Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA) are the anterolateral and the posterior. The anterolateral or modified Hardinge approach involves a skin incision over the greater trochanter, over or parallel with the shaft of femur. The incision is often curved posteriorly at its proximal end. Dissection is then undertaken to take advantage of the intramuscular plane between the tensor fascia lata and the gluteus medius. In the direct lateral or Hardinge approach, the acetabulum is exposed by a partial or total release of the abductor muscles (gluteus medius and minimus). This was originally achieved by a trochanteric osteotomy or detachment at their greater trochanter insertion3 described by Watson-Jones 4 and then subsequently modified by Charnley.5 The anterolateral or modified Hardinge approach, as used in Tayside, involves detaching the anterior third of the gluteus medius and minimus. This minimises the risk to the superior gluteal nerve and limits damage to the abductors.6 This modification from the original technique was described by Harris7, and Muller.8 The posterior approach involves a skin incision over the posterior aspect of the greater trochanter, proximally following inline with the gluteus maximus and distally the lateral shaft of the femur. A blunt dissection of the gluteus maximus follows emerging posterior to the abductor muscles. The external rotators (piriformis, superior and inferior gemelli and obturator internus) are then detached at the femoral insertion and reflected exposing the capsule and acetabulum.3 It was originally described by Langenbeck, and subsequently Kocher9 and finally Gibson.10 There have been numerous studies but there is still professional disagreement about which approach is the most effective for primary total hip arthroplasty. Many of the studies that have been undertaken over recent years have been considered to be deficient in both quality of study design and quantity of patients in the study sample. The Cochrane review considered four studies sufficient but only one of these included functional outcomes with the Harris Hip score.11 The study in the Cochrane review was done by Barber et al, it was limited in size, 49 patients, with a relatively short follow-up.12 Dislocation rates between these approaches have been looked at in some depth. Many studies have found a difference, while others havent. The difference is often considered minimal if good tissue repair is used in the posterior approach.13,14,15 Where this is the case, the implant has been shown to have half the amount of internal rotation (anteversion) when placed using anterolateral approac h as opposed to the posterior approach.16 This is a retrospective study aiming to use large sample groups to answer the null hypothesis that there is no difference between an anterolateral approach and a posterior approach with regards to functional outcome scores (Harris Hip Score and Trendelenburg Test for primary total hip replacement surgery). It also aims to answer the null hypothesis that there is no difference functionally in patients that suffer post-operative dislocations. To do this it will look at the pre-operative scores and post-operative scores comparing any gain or loss in function for each patient. The reasoning behind using Harris Hip Score and Trendelenburg Test is that these are commonly used, meaning any conclusions can be easily related to clinical practice. Dislocation rates between the two approaches will also be compared. Materials and Methods: The data used within this project was collected under the Tayside Arthroplasty Audit Group (TAAG) database. The objective of the TAAG database is to evaluate the clinical performance of all hip arthroplasties or hip resurfacings in Tayside. Initially there were 8153 cases with data for primary hip arthroplasties (resurfacings were not included), of these 6350 cases had undergone either an anterolateral or a posterior approach to the surgery. For this data the aim was to look at pre-operative Harris Hip score results and Trendelenburg tests and again at 1-year post-operatively. Due to this, the data was further screened to ensure that each patient had a complete set of data for these tests. Some cases didnt have data correctly collected or alternatively were not followed up at 1-year post-operatively. The resulting number of cases was 3416 with 1001 having suffered a complication within the 1-year period after surgery. These complications were medical and surgical. Not all of these co mplications had a direct effect on the function or rehabilitation of the joint. The choice of Harris Hip score and Trendelenburg Testing to test functional ability has been shown to be clinically relevant as a reference tool for assessment of improvement or deterioration of the hip joint, particularly pre-operatively and at 1-year.17,18 The Harris Hip score assesses pain, ability to complete basic tasks, deformity of the joint, and range of movement out of 100. The functional score removes the subjective areas of the full score looking specifically at functional ability out of 47. Trendelenburgs test is specifically looking at abductor deficit, although it has its recognised disadvantages.19 The need for experienced interpretation of the Trendelenburgs test is its main disadvantage, otherwise you can get false-negatives and false-positives very easily. It was considered only relevant to look at results post-operatively at 1-year, as from a patients perspective this is often the expectation of relative normality. From a surgical point of view, secondary complicat ions such as loosening of the prosthesis and deep infection are less likely to be apparent at 1 year but will have presented at 5 years.20 The TAAG database is a rolling audit of all elective hip arthroplasties or resurfacings done in Tayside. Any patient who is undergoing either of these procedures will be considered for inclusion. Exclusion criteria for audit enrolment are a previous total or cemented/uncemented hemi-arthroplasty of the affected hip or inability/unwillingness to participate in the follow up programme. If a patient consents for involvement they will be assessed pre-operatively and post-operatively, this includes radiography to assess prosthesis positioning. Data for Harris Hip Scores and Trendelenburg Test are collected at each assessment. Post-operative follow-up is at 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 years and then every 2 years thereafter until the prosthesis fails. Operative procedures, local practices, technique used, antibiotic coverage, theatre type, and any other regimes are all recorded. If a patient suffers a complication, details of it, management, and final outcome are all recorded. All data is collected in the same format, if any clinical issues for a patient are found that patient will be referred back to the supervising consultant for review. The data available had a large range of implants used and was also unspecific for consultant surgeon who undertook each procedure. Positive (2)On comparing the difference between pre-operative testing to post-operative testing the groups four possible results were seen. As the outcome for Trendelenburg is categorical, each result was given a value, the pre-operative result was simply added to the post-operative, as is shown in Table 2, giving an option of 1-4. For a negative to negative (1) result the anterolateral group was 59.89% and the posterior group was 51.38%. For a positive to negative result (2) the anterolateral group was 34.39% and the posterior group was 46.40%. This shows the posterior approach corrected a Trendelenburgs positive test in 12.01% more cases than the anterolateral approach. For a negative to positive (3) result the anterolateral group was 3.52% and the posterior group was 0.55%. This shows that the anterolateral approach caused a Trendelenburgs positive test in 2.97% more cases than the posterior approach. For a positive to positive (4) result the anterolateral group was 2.18% and the posterior group was 1.65%. When comparing the two groups as a whole, a statistical significance was found (p=

Depicting the Various Traits and Characteristics of Leadership in Liter

Depicting the Various Traits and Characteristics of Leadership in Literature When discussing any triumphant or flourishing organization or institution, the main attribute which will always surface when examining the true fabric of what allows a particular organization or institution to excel, will always be leadership.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Leadership is portrayed at its pinnacle in William Bratton’s Turnaround, Rudolph Giuliani’s book Leadership, Oren Harari’s book The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell, and David Lipsky’s book Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point. In each of these works, the author does an exceptional job of depicting the various traits and characteristics necessary for being a powerful and effective leader.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   William Bratton, born and raised in Boston, was appointed as New York City’s new police commissioner by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani on December 2, 1993. William Bratton was a leader who spent his whole life turning around low-performing, dysfun-ctional police departments. It was his specialty and it soon became his trademark. Bill Bratton hit the ground running as the commissioner of police by implementing several policies and visions that he had, that many believed would be unfathomable in policing. His goals were revolutionary and unprecedented and would not be possible to achieve if not for his incredible leadership ability. His ability as an effective leader allowed him to select intelligent, experienced, and quality individuals who shared identical beliefs and visions as he did. Any leader would agree that anything is possible through optimism, intelligent planning, and preparation, but nothing is possible if your chosen â€Å"executives† lack the leader’s confid ence to operate freely and carry out the organization’s ultimate goals. Bratton was a believer in Theodore Roosevelt’s ideology that â€Å"the best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self- restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.† Bratton was a master motivator. His optimism rubbed off on everyone around him and this reflected their performance. He had a belief that â€Å"leadership is the ability to enthuse and encourage the people in your organization so highly that, whatever idea is put into action, they embrace it so fully they forget the genesis and assume it was their own† (Bratton pg.155). This was Br... ...spects of what makes up an effective leader, it is clear that there cannot be one clear- cut and dry definition of what a leader is. A leader is a make up of many different attributes and qualities. An effective Leader encompasses all of the attributes which go along with facilitating ideas and allowing an organization to grow and flourish, as well as inspiring and motivating those he or she oversees to do the same. A Leader has the ability and almost the reflex action to surface when it is time for a difficult task to be accomplished or a difficult decision to be made. Leadership may be a type of management but a manager is not always a leader. â€Å"Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible.† Works Cited   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bratton, W., & Knobler, P. (1998). Turnaround: How America’s Top Cop Reversed the Crime Epidemic. New York: Random House Press.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Giuliani, R.W., & Kurson, K. (2002). Leadership. New York: Hyperion Press.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Harari, O. (2002). The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell. New York: McGraw- Hill Press.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lipsky, D. (2004). Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point. New York: Vintage Books Press.

Capacity utilization Essay

?Detailed in the Indalex Ltd. case analysis, current production is stretched to the limit, creating a capacity constraint to meet future forecasted demand; hindering the firms objective of a real growth rate of ten percent annually. The issue of deciding on a capacity expansion plan, given uncertainty about near term economic projections was presented. Indalex concentrates on a competitive priority of service quality, where flexibility and quality are more of a priority than price. This is described in the case study where past and current success of Indalex is attributed to their competitive strategy being strictly based on three words: service, service, service. Indalex set out with the objective of offering a seven-day service, along with offering highly qualified assistance in designing selection for their customers. Valuing service quality, Indalex manages a close working relationship with their customers, such as responding to needs even under short notice, demonstrating how Indalex understands their factories are an integral part of their customers’ factories. I feel that maintaining reputation along with meeting the growing demand of their existing customers is crucial to the service quality strategy of Indalex. In making a decision for the capacity expansion plan, an emphasis on insuring customer satisfaction and retention is of top priority. Given the options of either increasing capacity of their extrusion process, increasing anodizing capacity, building a recycling plant to reprocess scrap aluminum, or increase capacity of both the extrusion and anodizing process; a decision had to be made on which of the options should be done first, in order for the new piece of equipment to be available by the beginning of 1979. In regards to flexibility and quality, the option to either increase capacity of the extrusion, increase capacity of anodizing, or increasing capacity of both operations together; offers machine flexibility. Having excess capacity would allow Indalex to better manage complex orders, ultimately providing an advantage towards their focused service strategy. With the option of building a recycling plant, it would enable more process flexibility and better inventory management. However, this option would generate higher inventory holding costs, creating excess inventory of over a million dollars. Along with requiring new employees with specialized skillsets, the options of adding a recycling plant won’t solve the problem of increasing demand of customer. Anodizing requires the plant to run at full capacity in order to be efficient, along with costly pollution control measures that would have to be taken. When looking into customer satisfaction and retention, customers will only be retained if Indalex increases capacity. When looking into capacity constraints, the extrusion process is the first area that I feel capacity constraints should be removed. With anodizing, the case details that much of the demand is a result from construction related work. If there were a decrease in this area, anodizing operations would be effected. Unlike the extrusion process that allows Indalex to â€Å"buy demand† by offering a low bid for high volume orders if needed, anodizing operations are much more limited in sourcing a demand. Therefore, I would chose the option of increasing capacity of the extrusion plant; which is the best option to align Indalex with their ten percent growth objective, along with offering feasibility of meeting an increase in demand, with flexibility and quality of their service. This expansion will require more employees to be hired, which will also reduce the amount of overtime that is currently required. The risk associated with increasing capacity of the extrusion plant is the idea of the U. K. ’s economy not growing as rapid as predicted, leaving the question of what Indalex would do with the new press if it couldn’t be filled naturally with demand.

Religion: Meaning of Life and Karen Armstrong Essay

Religion should have an impact on everyone’s life. According to Karen Armstrong, without religion, people would not be able to discover their own personal reason of life with a pure reason or purpose set by any guidelines. As a result of obtaining a good foundation of faith in your religion, it will not only positively affect your life on a personal level, but the community as a whole. If we look back at human antiquity, we commonly find that people of many different religions, traditions, and cultures had one main goal of finding the meaning of peace and purity in their own â€Å"selves†. In the seventeenth century BCE, the Hindus created a book of philosophical texts called the Upanishads, holding the main idea of finding ones sacred self, or atman. This sacred book led tranquility and serenity into the everyday lives of many Hindus. According to Armstrong, the purpose of religion has been and always should be to help us live peacefully, creatively, and even joyously. Armstrong also states that by engaging in religious practices and forms of life, people can live their lives on a higher divine plane and thus discover their own true selves. Karen Armstrong believes that religion does help people to find beneficial meanings in their lives and does allow people discover their inner selves. Throughout the passage â€Å"Homo Religiosus† written by Karen Armstrong, there are many historical events coming from various cultural and religious backgrounds that support her belief in which religion does and should play a crucial part in everyone’s lives. However, not only does religion bring harmony and principle in people’s lives, but religion also aids people in finding a legitimate meaning in their life and in the world. It helps to positively strengthen the relationship between the people leading to the elimination of greed, hatred, and pride in communities. Like Confucius beliefs, the Buddhists had a state of peace of their own. Nirvana was the natural result of a life lived according to the doctrine of Buddha’s anatta. Anatta required Buddhists to live as if though the self did not exist, which led to corruption fading away. It is stated, â€Å"His (a monk’s) greed fades away, and once his cravings disappear, he experiences the release of the mind† (Miller and Spellmeyer 37). This text states that when the people  heard about annata, their hearts were occupied with joy and they immediately experienced Nirvana. As a result, people were living between each other with love, care, and ease towards one another which led to a better life style overall. The famous Confucius practice Golden Rule is also another example of religion brining peaceful meanings in ones life. Confucius, the most famous religious icon in Chinese history, clarifies the meaning behind the Golden Rule. The Golden Rule states that an individual should treat another the same way he/she would like to be treated by others. Confucius would later explain that the practice of the Golden Rule would bring people into a state of ren, which is a state of compassion and love. Although ren did bring peace and love between the people of Confucius, it is stated that it was so hard to entirely be in this state. It was stated that people had a hard time achieving a full state of ren. Nonetheless, people desired being in this pure state. Yan Hui, Confucius’s greatest student, said with a deep sigh, Yan Hui stated, â€Å"The more I strain my gaze towards it, the higher it soars. The deeper I bore down into it, the harder it becomes. I see it in front, but suddenly it is behind. Step by step, the Master skillfully lures one on. He has broadened me with culture, restrained me with ritual. Even if I wanted to stop, I could not. Just when I felt that I have exhausted every resource, something seems to rise up, standing over me sharp and clear. Yet though I long to pursue it, I can find no way of getting it all† (Miller and Spellmeyer 38). This passage explains how hard people were trying to obtain this state. Religion as defined by the mentors of great countries like India, China, and the Middle East was not something impossible, yet it was a realistic one. It was not about believing in a God or believing in a divine being. Religion was based on physical activities, disciplined work, and robust undertakings on a daily basis. Back then, religion had its real meaning of organizing ones life and basing ones life on religion. Sadly, religion has its own different inappropriate meaning nowadays. Which leads to my point of Karen Armstrong talking about how many people find the concept of God and religion so troublesome simply because they have lost sight of this important understanding. She also explains how for each separate religion, there is an ontological approach to understanding it. Many people have simply just given up on God because of self-corruption like greed, stubbornness, and impatience. In Greek mythology, it is stated, â€Å" No god can survive unless he or she is actualized by the practical activity of ritual, and people often turn against gods who fail to deliver. The rites and practices that that once made him a persuasive symbol of the sacred are no longer effective, and people have stopped participating in them. He has therefore become otiosus, an etiolated reality who for all intents and purposes has indeed died or gone away† (Miller and Spellmeyer 31). If God does not comply the peoples needs, then they will turn against this god and he/she will no longer be effective. In the passage, it is also explains how religion requires a disciplined cultivation of a different mode of consciousness. This basically means that before you perform any religious task, you must pursue ekstasis, which literally means stepping out the norm you are accustomed to. Unfortunately, nowadays people are either to lazy or lost desire to seek any religious salvation simply because many things have taking over our world like media, entertainment, sports, music etc. They pursue other means to stand outside the norm. It is like they almost feel free when they are listening to the type of music they desire, or play the type of sport they seek, or are entertained by media that they desire. Karen Armstrong proves her point â€Å" Today people who no longer find it in a religious setting resort to other outlets: music, dance, art, sex, drugs, or sport. We make a point of seeking out these experiences that touch us deep within and lift us momentarily beyond ourselves. At such times, we feel that we inhabit our humanity more fully than usual and experience an enhancement of being† (Miller and Spellmeyer 27) In conclusion, Armstrong strongly anchors her belief of religion having a positive influential affect on people’s lives, helping them find a purpose in their life, and aiding them in discovering their true selves. She has her belief backed up by many famous religious icons from different backgrounds like Buddha, Confucius, and even Greek mythology. She explained how it helps organize people’s lives, better the relationship between two people and last but not least, it helps purify a person’s whole entire life. Reassuringly, religion, does quite in fact, impacts the lives of many. Works Cited 1)Miller, Richard E. , and Kurt Spellmeyer. â€Å"Homo Religiosus. † The New humanities reader. 4th ed. Boston, Massachusetts: Lyn Uhl, 2009. 38. Print. 2) â€Å"Vinaya Texts, Part I (SBE 13) – Mahavagga – First Khandaka. † Internet Sacred Text Archive Home. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Sept. 2013. 3) Miller, Richard E. , and Kurt Spellmeyer. â€Å"Homo Religiosus. † The New humanities reader. 4th ed. Boston, Massachusetts: Lyn Uhl, 2009. 37. Print. 4) Miller, Richard E. , and Kurt Spellmeyer. â€Å"Homo Religiosus. † The New humanities reader. 4th ed. Boston, Massachusetts: Lyn Uhl, 2009. 27. Print. 5) Miller, Richard E. , and Kurt Spellmeyer. â€Å"Homo Religiosus. † The New humanities reader. 4th ed. Boston, Massachusetts: Lyn Uhl, 2009. 31. Print.

Estrogen Mimics and thier Effect on the Environment.

Estrogen Mimics and thier Effect on the Environment. Until now DDT could very well be considered the biggest environmental disaster to date. DDT, or dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, reportedly induced cancer in animals, induced antiandrogen effects, and impaired Natural Killer cells and T lymphocyte responses (Daniels et al. 2002). But now estrogen mimics confront the environment with a potentially greater catastrophe.Estrogen mimics, or xenoestrogens (foreign estrogens), are introduced into the body from the environment, mimic the actions of estrogen produced cells or alter the hormone's activity (Davis and Bradlow, 1995). Some of the foreign estrogens can reduce the effects of estrogens. These xenoestrogens are usually found in plant foods such as soy products, cauliflower and broccoli (Davis and Bradlow, 1995).There is significant evidence that the endocrine systems of fish, wildlife, and humans can be adversely affected by exposure to environmental contaminants, which contain estrogen mimics, such as pesticides, industrial chemical s, and wood-derived sterols. Therefore, Exposure to such chemicals can lead to developmental abnormalities, reproductive failure, altered immune functions, and many other abnormal endocrine functions (Buhler et al.,English: Rainbow trout2000). Estrogen mimics along with other endocrine-disrupting materials may promote breast cancer. Studies have shown that xenoestrogens and these other endocrine-disrupting materials are also harming men by contributing to reproductive disorders, most notable being testicular cancer (Davis and Bradlow, 1995).In 1938, British scientist Edward Dodds introduced a chemical that somehow acted in the body like a natural estrogen. This "wonder drug", know as diethylstilbestrol or DES, was almost immediately given to women experiencing problems while giving birth in the belief that insufficient estrogen levels caused miscarriages and premature births. DES was thought to have many other uses as well such as, to treat acne, prostate cancer, and gonorrhea in ch ildren. However future studies proved that this so called "wonder drug" made no difference in the outcome of pregnancies. It didn't...

7 Facts about Famous Speakers Who Gave a Graduation Speech

7 Facts about Famous Speakers Who Gave a Graduation Speech If you have been chosen to give a graduation speech, congratulations are at order. Your academic excellence and confidence have definitely attracted the attention of your instructor. However, you now need to create a speech that proves that you were truly the best choice. While you are welcome to take a shortcut and simply pick one of our 20 topics for a graduation speech, you can be inspired by the following seven facts from the graduation speeches of prominent celebrities and well-known personalities. Steve Jobs gave a commencement address at Stanford University graduation ceremony in 2005. The innovator had dropped out of college because it was too expensive. However, he stuck around the college for 18 months and snuck into classes he thought were interesting, including calligraphy class. During his speech, he told the students to follow their hearts and trust them to lead them through. He went on to mention that the worst thing they may face could very well turn out the best thing that could happen, giving them the example of his public dismissal from Apple, which led to NeXT and Pixar as well as meeting his wife. Finally, he urged the students to listen to their inner voice and to stay hungry for knowledge and foolish enough to seek it at all times and places. Naval Adm. William H. McRaven, BJ 77 gave the commencement address at the graduation ceremony of the University of Texas Austin in 2014. During his 20-minute speech, he told students to begin by doing the little things right before moving on to the larger ones. He also advised them to seek the help of others, be it friends, colleagues, or even strangers. To choose the right people though, they would need to assess individuals by their will to succeed rather than their color, education, social status, or ethnic backgrounds. McRaven also went on to explain that people who wanted to change the world should be capable of meeting life’s ups and downs with their heads held high; to slide down obstacles face on, and continue to shine during their darkest moments. David Foster Wallace, the author of â€Å"Infinite Jest†, one of Time Magazine’s100 best English-language novels published since 1923, gave the commencement address at the graduation ceremony of Kenyon College in 2005. His speech became so famous that in 2009 he published its concept in a book called â€Å"This is Water†. In the 2005 speech, the author told students to appreciate keeping things in mind. He went on to explain that they needed to learn and remember important life lessons from the very first time and never forget them regardless of how much trouble they face. Another important concept he focused on was the importance of using higher education to effectively assess others and act appropriately in everyday life. Ellen DeGeneres was the keynote speaker at the 2009 graduation ceremony of Tulane University. The comedian-turned-show-host shared the experiences that made her the confident, free-spirited person she is. She especially focused on the tumble her career took when she decided to tell the truth about her sexuality in order to be true to herself. However, she told the students that she managed to remain true to herself. Despite the hardships she had faced, she managed to succeed and achieve more fame than she imagined. Oprah Winfrey gave a speech at the 2007 Howard University graduation ceremony. She addressed the students, telling them not to be scared since nobody knows for sure where they will go in life. Instead, they may actually be able to succeed simply because they received ample nurturing at the institution. She then goes on to say that everyone has a calling, which is why they are part of this world. Oprah urged them to find out what they are supposed to do and begin doing it. She provided them with examples from her own life, including when she first decided to be on TV despite the entertainment industry’s racist views. Will Ferrell gave an extremely humorous speech at the graduation ceremony of Harvard University in 2003. While some may think the speech was entirely comedic and had no substance to it, it was actually the opposite. The comedian told the students about the real world through his eyes and experiences without sugarcoating it at the least. He explained that their life has been sheltered so far and that the worst is yet to come. One interesting bit of advice Ferrell shared is to question leaders the right number of questions at the right time. J.K. Rowling gave a powerful speech titled ‘The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination at the 2008 graduation ceremony of Harvard University. The author of the ‘Harry Potter’ series went on about her fair share of disappointments, which began when she was not accepted in Oxford University in 1981. She even told students that the fact that they were graduating from Harvard probably meant that they have not been acquainted with failure. However, Rowling told them that they should not let the world decide what constitutes failure, but rather decide its criteria for themselves. Moreover, they should be ready to face inevitable failure head on. After all, to her, it meant stripping individuals from the unnecessary and gaining the determination to learn more about herself. With a new approach and knowledge, she would emerge wiser and stronger. You can use these seven facts to be inspired while writing your own speech. If you do not know how to write a great piece, check out our guide on how to write a speech for graduation for help and tips. Best of luck with your speech! References: Text of Steve Jobs Commencement address (2005). (2005). Retrieved April 19, 2016, from https://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505/ Adm. McRaven Urges Graduates to Find Courage to Change the World. (2014). Retrieved April 19, 2016, from http://news.utexas.edu/2014/05/16/mcraven-urges-graduates-to-find-courage-to-change-the-world This is Water Alumni Bulletin Kenyon College. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2016, from http://bulletin.kenyon.edu/x4280.html IU Bloomington Newsroom. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2016, from http://news.indiana.edu/releases/iu/2014/10/michael-uslan-iu-media-school.shtml Commencement. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2016, from https://tulane.edu/grads/ellen-degeneres.cfm Class Day speech June 4, 2003: Will Ferrell. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2016, from http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2003/06/class-day-speech-june-4-2003-will-ferrell/ Text of J.K. Rowling’s speech. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2016, from http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/06/text-of-j-k-rowling-speech/

Caffeine Science Fair Projects

Caffeine Science Fair Projects Caffeine is a naturally occurring stimulant that is found in many foods, beverages, and drugs. You can explore the effects of caffeine with your science fair project. How does caffeine affect your pulse rate or body temperature or respiration (breathing) rate? You can test the effect of a cup of coffee, caffeine pill, cola, or energy drink.How does caffeine affect your typing speed? typing accuracy?Does caffeine really increase the effectiveness of other pain relievers?What effect does the presence of caffeine have on other organisms, such as daphnia, zebrafish embryo development, fruit fly activity or behavior or mutation rate, etc.Does watering a plant with water containing caffeine have an effect on the plant? Does watering seeds with caffeinated water affect germination?Does the method of preparing coffee (or tea) affect the total amount of caffeine in the beverage? If so, which method results in a beverage with the most/least caffeine? More Science Fair Project Ideas

Technology survey analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Technology survey analysis - Essay Example They have become an integral part of our lives over the past few years and now it just does not feel right if we do not have access to them. For example, the internet has completely changed the way we live our lives today. It has penetrated into most households and into most individual’s life. With the use of internet it is possible to do things today that people could not have dreamt before. Accessing information, listening to music, reconnecting with high school friends, communicating with people in different parts of the world and managing business electronically has become exceedingly easier with the use of internet. The ease of use of technology has led to the ever increasing usage of technological products amongst the college going students. With the exceeding use of black berries and smart phones, high end gaming platforms, faster and more reliable computers, robots etc a typical college going student is bombarded with technology from all sides. But out of all the technological products a student interacts with the internet can be classified as the one most important technological invention that has completely changed the lives of students. Therefore, I have decided to study the impact of internet on an average college going student. Since my study focuses on college going students I decided to carry out my research at Bentley University. The University is located 10 miles west of Boston and is one of the nations leading business schools which aim to produce business leaders with strong technical skills and high ethical standards. Thus it presented me with an ideal blend of college going students who could be used for the survey. The study was carried out at the Bentley University by asking students to fill a questionnaire. The questions were aimed to identify the impact of internet usage on a college student’s life. The study was limited to finding out the nature of the impact rather

Sociological Imagination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sociological Imagination - Essay Example According to Robert Weiss, there are two types of loneliness. In social isolation, a person feels deprived of a network of friends or relatives; in emotional isolation, a person feels deprived of a single, intense relationship. These two kinds of loneliness share a common emotional core, and there is some debate about how clearly they can be distinguished (Russell et al., 1984). Either one can be momentary or a long-lasting characteristic of the individual. Emotional Isolation often strikes the war veterans at the same time as social anxiety and depression. Like social anxiety, emotional isolation and depression are characterized by the deliberating pattern of social interaction. Social anxiety comes in two varieties. The state of social anxiety is a momentary experience that flares up at a certain time or in a certain place, and then passes. The trait of social anxiety is more enduring: a characteristic of certain individuals that persists over time and across situations. For those chronically afflicted, their anxiety locks them into increasingly unpleasant social interactions. Such individuals tend to reject other people, perhaps because they fear being rejected themselves. They are withdrawn and ineffective in social interactions, perhaps because they perceive negative reactions even where there are none. In fact, however, other people often do react negatively to interactions with socially anxious individuals. Feelings of social discomfort can arise from a number of sources. They can be a learned reaction of to unpleasant encounters, as social problems in the past contribute to social anxiety about the future. That is why, it has often been seen that war veterans usually suffer anxiety. Depression: Depression is a psychological disorder characterized by negative moods, low esteem, pessimism, lack of initiative, and slowed thought process. Although there are numerous influences on depression, social psychologists have paid particular attention to the role of cognitive factors. Researchers believed that depression is caused due to the exposure to uncontrollable, aversive stimulation. They proposed that organisms exposed to an uncontrollable event learn something- namely that control is not possible. Faced with this knowledge, they stop trying to exert control even in a different situation. That is the case of war veterans. They have seen too much cruelty, huge toll of human lives, immense loss of property and resources, heinous and inhuman war crimes; and above-all the aftermath-miseries, diseases and moral decay, over which they have no control whatsoever. This feeling of

Answer those questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Answer those questions - Essay Example In addition to it, he identified the 4 moons of the Jupiter and proved to the world that, it is possible for a planet to have moons, which rotate around them. His major astronomical observation was that of ‘Venus’. Galileo developed formulas related to various functioning of the machines and also invented many machines. Galileo fight with â€Å"machines† is referred to that of the fight with the problem of objectivity of science. He laid out model for solving all types of motion (machine).He argued that, â€Å"the problems of floating bodies could be reduced to Archimedean principle†. Galileo faced conflicts with the Roman Catholic Church. It is usually portrayed as the conflict between the science and the religion, but it is not as simple as that, as it was very deep. Copernican science and Aristotelian science became the Church tradition. It was a conflict of these. Galileo presented his scientific views in support of Copernicus as well as his biblical views in a â€Å"letter to the Grand Duchess of Tuscany† (1615). It became the reason of his first Church trial and censure. For the â€Å"Church†, if Aristotle was found to be wrong, Christianity was wrong. When Galileo revealed the idea presented in his book, he was charged with unorthodoxy or heresy. This was due to the published â€Å"Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems†. This was found offensive and unpleasant to the Cardinal-turned-Pope Urban VIII. Therefore, the Pope requested that his ideas and views be presented and published as part of his writing. But, the writing was as a dialogue between three characters, in which the popes ideas was represented by the dumbest character, "Simplicius". Due to this, he was arrested. Q.2. Swift in Voyage to Laputa, says that the behaviour and attitude of the animals depicted was very orderly and â€Å"rational†. It was also quite acute and judicious. Therefore, he tried to conclude that they must be

Mental Health of Athletes Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Mental Health of Athletes - Term Paper Example Usually athletes live, learn, get training and take part in sport competitions from early age to adulthood, however, disregard personal features of mental health and its growth. As a matter of fact, athletes must be given facilities to develop healthily in all aspects and diversities. Hence it is essential to have coaches, sport teams and other pertinent persons to teach and enhance psychology education, which extend throughout athlete’s life. Mental health education is one of the most significant parts of human science (Tang, et al. 2004). When considering the athlete’s health, it is most likely to think mainly of the person’s physical/medical state and the consequence the injury on athletic performance. An athlete’s mental health may be looked upon as less important to physical health. But it is equally imperative. It is not proper to separate the mind and body. Both have an effect on each other. Psychological troubles for instance, eating disorders, substance-related troubles, etc. have medical consequences. Athletes those who are experiencing hopelessness after an injury demonstrate the connection stuck between physical and mental health. And also some disheartened athletes are at high risk of injury. Just like bodily injuries, mental health difficulties can influence athletic activities and restrict or even prevent training and contest until effectively handled and taken care of (Thompson, 2007). Since long it has been accepted that psychological abilities are crucial for athletes at winning echelon. Athletes with the necessary mental toughness are more expected to be winners. Earlier, there was a thought that these talents were hereditary and attained early in life. At present, it is generally established that athletes and coaches are competent of learning psychosomatic expertise that can have a crucial role in learning and in performance. The specific area of sports psychology has

Immunology Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Immunology - Coursework Example Innate immunity is usually immediate and non-specific response. The Adaptive immune response is only activated when the pathogen evades the innate immunity. Adaptive immune response acts by recognition of the pathogen and retained after the pathogenic infection has been eliminated (Doan, 2008). The Humoral immune response is a branch of adaptive immune response. Humoral immune response act on pathogens that are outside the bed such as toxins and bacterias, during the response antibodies which are protein bodies present in the body are produced and secreted into the blood stream and other body fluids to help in fighting with the intruding agents by binding to them and destroying them (Doan, 2008). In the case of the student who was first exposed to the avian flu the humoral system retained the response given first hence when the student was infected again by the flu the immune response had the memory and hence acted on it faster than the first time (Doan, 2008). The T helper cells are responsible for suppressing and regulation of the innate responses. Low helper T cells results in hypersensitivity reactions to the patient because the body will view the host’s antigen presenting the antibody as foreign and go on to destroy all the host antigens. They include chemical, mechanical, and biological barriers. Chemically the skin produces an antimicrobial agent that protects against pathogens. Mechanically, sneezing helps to expel foreign bodies present in the respiratory tract. This response comes first after an infection. Cytokines are produced and they communicate with the white blood cells to recruit immune cells to the infection site hence healing takes place after removal of the pathogens (Doan,

Internet use for business -Chapter 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Internet use for business -Chapter 6 - Essay Example The basic use of internet for businesses is buying and selling of goods and services by creating E-commerce websites to sell their goods from cell phone contacts to CDs and books. Online eliminates the need of business store and in most case no holding an inventory. A business can also buy some items and services, such as bulk-buying or printed materials online by use of internet. Customers purchasing trends and interests are monitored by business owners on the internet. To find out what people think every day about a particular goods or service, owners of business can visit message boards and online networking sites. Feedback on this enables the business owners to improve on their products , for example, business owners can find out what car enthusiasts wants by visiting car forums or use internet to connect and communicate with the customers on websites. Businesses also use internet to discover new customers through advertising online. Internet enables the advertisers to reach possible customers quickly and efficiently. Pay-pr click advertisements are circulated on internet search engines and websites, to allow owners of the business to reach the potential customers using search terms allied to their business. The affordability and reach of internet advertising makes even smallest business owners in a position to compete with big businesses. When economic conditions get worse, IT must continue to perform at the same level with little money and fewer resources, all while IT remaining compliant. For the IT managers to get the visibility they need to: Internet has enhanced practices like telephone marketing and other support services like fax, direct sells among others. These are ways which facilitates relations in the industries and allow smooth movement of information among people. For example, lowering of prices to attract more customers can be advantageous for a short period of time before the

Immunology Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Immunology - Coursework Example Innate immunity is usually immediate and non-specific response. The Adaptive immune response is only activated when the pathogen evades the innate immunity. Adaptive immune response acts by recognition of the pathogen and retained after the pathogenic infection has been eliminated (Doan, 2008). The Humoral immune response is a branch of adaptive immune response. Humoral immune response act on pathogens that are outside the bed such as toxins and bacterias, during the response antibodies which are protein bodies present in the body are produced and secreted into the blood stream and other body fluids to help in fighting with the intruding agents by binding to them and destroying them (Doan, 2008). In the case of the student who was first exposed to the avian flu the humoral system retained the response given first hence when the student was infected again by the flu the immune response had the memory and hence acted on it faster than the first time (Doan, 2008). The T helper cells are responsible for suppressing and regulation of the innate responses. Low helper T cells results in hypersensitivity reactions to the patient because the body will view the host’s antigen presenting the antibody as foreign and go on to destroy all the host antigens. They include chemical, mechanical, and biological barriers. Chemically the skin produces an antimicrobial agent that protects against pathogens. Mechanically, sneezing helps to expel foreign bodies present in the respiratory tract. This response comes first after an infection. Cytokines are produced and they communicate with the white blood cells to recruit immune cells to the infection site hence healing takes place after removal of the pathogens (Doan,

Poetry Slam Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Poetry Slam - Movie Review Example "Slam's victory at Sundance marks a critical move for the art. Poetry's value is completely tied to its integrity, and in Slam it is the poem that defines the terms. Saul Williams and Sonja Sohn, the star-crossed fiery loves at the centre of this story, are both seasoned poets in the New York spoken-word world The poets in Slam speak a poem through film, they do not sit on a plastic waiting for the pan across a furled eyebrow." (Stratton and Wozencraft, 137) Therefore, it is essential to comprehend that the film Slam celebrates its success through the depiction of the relevance and impact of poetry in the contemporary society and the major characters, themes, action, etc centre around the impact of poetry in society. The relevance and impact of poetry in the contemporary society has been the central idea suggested by the film Slam and the film has been central in representing the great role of poetry, rap, performance art and stand-up comedy etc in our society. It is a movie which specifically suggests the relevance of poetry in human life and society. "Slam is a raw poem of a movie.

Constructing a solar power plant Essay

Constructing a solar power plant Essay This is a report on the Andasol 1 Solar Power Plant located in Marquesado Del Zenete, Granada, Spain. The aim of this report is look at the technology involved; the construction of the plant; the operating capacity and environmental impacts on the area involved. The information contained in this report was primarily gathered from the internet and also Moodle notes from class lectures. To begin this report, we discussed what areas were to be researched and drew a plan of what needed to be done, ensuring the work was evenly distributed between us. Introduction: The Andasol-1 Solar power plant is situated in the Guadix plateau, Marquesado Del Zenete, Granada, Spain. This is an area at an elevation of 1090 to 1100 metres above sea level and is free from shading. The site itself is situated next to a motorway and has no residential houses in the immediate vicinity, The nearest HV line is approximately 7km away from the site. Solar energy is particularly suited to this area. This area is one of the sunniest in Spain, receiving approximately 300 days of sunshine a year. (See Fig 2-1). The type of solar collector used here is the Parabolic Trough Collector along with Molten Salt Heat Storage. Parabolic Trough Collectors are the most common type used in solar thermal plants one of the main reasons being they utilise a lens to focus the sunlight onto a cell, thereby reducing the amount of costly semi-conducting material PV material while collecting as much sunlight as possible.  [i]   Parabolic Trough Collectors work by using mirrored surfaces on a North-South Axis which then track the sun as it moves across the sky. The mirrors reflect the sunlight onto a tube which runs the length of the collector. This tube is known as an absorber tube and is filled with a fluid that absorbs the concentrated solar radiation and can reach temperatures of up to 400 Deg C. The Collector Field consists of hundreds of these collectors joined together in rows known as Loops and the collected heat is then passed to a steam generator or to the heat storage (molten salt).  [ii]  (see fig. 2-2) Using molten salt, the heat collected by the collectors can be used to ensure efficient use of the turbines during the day or indeed be used to continue powering the turbines for up to 7 hours at night. Molten salt is used to store heat for a number of reasons. It is capable of retaining thermal heat energy over a long period of time; it can be used at temperatures of 1000 °F which is inline with efficient steam turbines and it a non-toxic and readily available material.  [iii]   At the Andasol-1 plant, the heat storage system consists of two 14m-high tanks that are 36m in diameter and a have a capacity of 28,500tons of molten salt. The molten salt itself is a mixture of 60% sodium nitrate and 40% potassium nitrate. Both of these substances are currently used as fertilizers and preservatives in food production.  [iv]  (see fig. 2-3) Construction Phase: The construction of Andasol 1 began in July 2006, (see fig. 3-4), the work includes stripping the land to lay the foundations to affix the steel supports, and the parabolic mirrors are carefully mounted on the support structures in a specially constructed assembly hall on site. The complete collector devices are then mounted in the solar field. Steel pylons are then used to anchor the metal support structures. (see fig. 3-5) The 150m-long collector chains are set with hydraulic drives that have a precision close to a tenth of a millimetre. The 312 collector rows are fixed in a north-south axis and follow the suns path along a single axis therefore obtaining as much sun during one day.  [v]   The solar collectors for the plant total approx. 510,120 square metres (0.51 km2), which contains over 200,000 mirrors situated along 312 rows totalling up to an overall length of 24 km, also including 90 kilometres of absorption pipes. The total physical area of the plant including collector spacing, the storage tanks and turbine housing, etc. is 2 km2.  [vi]   The site is broken down into three different sections: solar field, storage and steam cycle/ power block. (see fig. 3-6) Solar field The Andasol power plant has a solar field that covers 510,120 square meters. The parabolic troughs are connected by pipes. The rows are set up on a north-south axis and follow the course of the sun from east to west. The parabolic mirrors are made of 4 millimetre thick, silver-coated, curved white glass. The silver coating has an additional protective coating. The specially designed absorption pipes absorb the solar radiation reflected to transfer the solar energy into a heat transfer medium located in the pipe, which in turn then transmits the heat into the steam circuit. Specialists assemble and check these collectors photogrammetrically to determine their precision in specially-constructed factory buildings before the collectors are brought to the field and anchored.  [vii]   Storage tank The Andasol power plants have a thermal storage tank allowing the power plants to provide scheduled power. In order to fill the tanks while simultaneously operating the turbines, the solar field must be larger than that of a power plant without a tank; therefore annual operating hours of the plant at peak loads can be nearly doubled this way. The liquid salt thermal storage functions under atmospheric pressure and consist of two tanks per power plant, measuring 14m in height and 36m in diameter. Solar Two in Barstow, California served as the reference project for the thermal storage tanks in the Andasol power plants because it had the same salt mixture even though the storage tank was smaller.  [viii]   Steam cycle/ Power block Turbines, generators and plant periphery are conventional power plant components, similar to those used in fossil fuel power plants. At Andasol, the plants turbine has a capacity of 50 megawatts and is specifically designed to ensure reliable operations during the daily start-up and shut down of the plant. Siemens in Sweden constructed the turbines for Andasol 1. A substation has been built near the town of Huà ©neja about seven kilometres southeast of the power plant site for feeding the electricity into the grid. The power supply contract includes general technical standards and conditions for electricity production.  [ix]   The power plant finished construction in December 2008 at a cost in the region of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬300 million. (see fig. 3-7) Operating Characteristics: The plant consists of 7,488 individual collector elements which each have a length of 12m and a width of 5.8m. Four of these elements are joined together in what are called loops and in total there are 156 loops of collector elements over an area of 1.3 X 1.5km. The total reflective surface are is 510.000m ². The turbine capacity of the power plant is 49.9MW. The annual power generation for this plant, given the high rate of solar radiation in this area of Spain (2.1 2.2kWh/m ²/a) is expected to be in the region of 179GWh. That figure approximates to the energy needs of 50,000 homes of 200,000 people.  [x]   The breakdown of the site is as follows: The parabolic troughs are set up in 312 collector rows which are connected by pipes. One row is made up of two collector units. The mirrors follow the course of the sun and reflect solar radiation onto the absorption pipe. The absorption pipes were conceived especially for use in parabolic trough power plants. Every unit has its own solar sensors and drives, in order to track the position of the sun. The units each have 12 collectors, which have 28 mirrors and 3 absorption pipes. The power plant requires 7,488 collectors. The storage tanks at the plants can operate even on overcast days or after sunset. A small portion of the heat that is produced from the solar field is kept as liquid salt. The heat required for this is stored in a molten salt mixture, 40% potassium nitrate and 60% sodium nitrate. Both of these substances are currently used as fertilizers and preservatives in food production. During the pumping process between the two tanks, the molten salt mixture can also absorb extra heat at a temperature of approx. 290 °C, where it is heated to a temperature of 390 °C. A full storage tank can be used to operate the turbine for about 7.5 hours. The thermal storage tank allows the power plants to supply electricity regularly into Spains high-voltage electricity grid. The Spanish energy supplier Endesa purchases electricity from the power plants in accordance with Spanish energy law, which states that the power plants are permitted to feed in a maximum of 50 MW into the grid. The power supply contract includes the implementation of programming and the after-sales service for electricity production Below is a further breakdown of some figures associated with the individual sections of the plant. (See Fig. 4-8) The power plant was officially connected to the grid in December 2008 and became operational in March 2009. The total cost is somewhere in the region of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 300 million. A grant was also given from the European Union, which amounted to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 5 million; this was giving as a funding aid for scientific research.  [xi]   Environmental Impact: The solar power plant will be able to cut carbon emissions in the region of 86,000t per year. The plant uses an unlimited energy source; no additional resources are needed for operation. It is CO2 and emission-free, therefore there is no air pollution (see Fig. 5-9).  [xii]   Environment and sustainable development needed to concentrate on some key areas: Sustainable management and water quality, global climate change, biodiversity, marine ecosystems, and the regions cultural heritage. Socio-economic aspects of environmental change with sustainable development in mind i.e. impact on, the economy and employment.  [xiii]   Another aspect is that when the plant is decommissioned, the salts from the storage tanks can be crystallized and removed in their raw state to be used thereafter in other applications e.g. in agriculture. One of the main reasons for erecting the plant in this location was that it is close to existing road and railway infrastructure, and that it had the disposal of a flat land floor without environmental protections, it was considered wasteland. Another reason was the advantages offered by solar-thermal power plants, the operator of Spains national grid, Red Elà ©ctrica de Espaà ±a (REE), classified Andasol power plants as predictable sources of electricity. This helped eased the permit process for granting access to the high-voltage grid, but it also made it possible to increase the percentage of renewable energy in the states energy mix because of the stabilizing effects of solar-thermal power plants.  [xiv]   Conclusions: Spain is highly dependent on imported energy. Almost all petroleum and natural gas, as well as 70% of its coal, have to be imported. However, it has more than enough of one of the most environmentally friendly and cheapest sources of energy in the world the sun. The Spanish governments support plan Plan de Fomento de Energà ­as Renovables (PER) envisions the expansion of solar thermal power plant capacity to 500 MW by 2010. Spains Ministry for Energy and Industry wants to increase the annual volume of electricity produced in solar-thermal power plants to about 4,000 GWh, which is the equivalent of the capacity of about 25 Andasol power plants.  [xv]   Andasol 2 followed in 2009 and Andasol 3 will follow in 2011. The Andasol location will result in a total of 150 megawatts of solar thermal power station capacity being connected to the grid electricity generated in an environmentally-friendly and sustainable manner.

Proposal For Reparations Of African Americans Essay -- essays research

Proposal for Reparations of African Americans Due to the fact that many African-Americans cannot trace their genealogy back more than three generations, It would be extremely difficult to distinguish between those who are descended from Freemen and those descended from Slaves. Therefore, although it should have some impact on reparations, we must take into account those who cannot trace their genealogy( approximately 3/4th of African- Americans). We also must remember that in essence, no African-Americans were completely free. Many blacks, Freeman and Slaves alike were lynched, falsely imprisoned, raped, murdered, and subject to sub-human treatment. It is almost impossible to estimate the economic hardship caused by slavery and the aftermath that followed. To this day the African-American family still suffers from the aftermath of slavery. We see it in the form of Poverty, under-education, Discrimination, and Black on Black crime. Consider that Blacks are seriously under-represented in many of our nations top fields. Less than .05 percent of African-Americans are CEO's in corporate America. Blacks are also a rarity in Law, Medicine, and higher education, What follows is my estimation of the reparations needed. 1st generation descendant of slave: 500,000 of Freeman: 350,000 2nd generation descendant of slave: 350,000 of Freeman: 225,000 3rd generation descendant of slave: 225,000 of Freeman: 180,000 4th generation descendant of slave : 180,000 of Freem...

The Search for America in Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollo

The Search for America in Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the early to mid-1800's, Washington Irving was an immensely popular writer heralded as one of the 'great' American writers.   Irving's importance lies especially in "Rip Van Winkle" and " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," the sketches in which he creates the vision of the alternate America(n).   His critique of American society through his main characters-Rip and Ichabod-and the towns in which they live gives shape to an America not usually acknowledged by his contemporaries, and thus crucial to American literary studies today.   J. Hector St. John De Crevecoeur, who created the most definitive statement of "American" circa Irving's time, certainly would not.   Indeed, it is Crevecoeur's type of America that Irving opposes.   When viewed against the backdrop of Crevecoeur's definition of America, Irving's sketches portray a very different America-the other America.    Irving will be compared with Crevecoeur in five main sections:   "Building the European," in which Crevecoeur claims that traces of Europe can be found throughout American society; "The Melting Pot," in which Crevecoeur states that the European influences are assimilated into an American whole, and creating a new society; "The American Stranger," in which Crevecoeur claims that no one is a stranger in America; "American Industry," which looks at the spirit of industry found in Americans; and finally, "People of the Soil," which deals with Americans' ties with the land.   In all of these sections, Crevecoeur's mainstream view of American will serve to show Irving's unique America.    I. Building on the European When defining 'American,' Crevecoeur is quick to point out ... ...ary on the Works of   Washington Irving, 1860-1974.   Ed. Andrew B. Myers.   Tarrytown, NY:   Sleepy Hollow Restorations, 1976.   330-42. Pochmann, Henry A.   "Irving's German Tour and its Influence on His Tales."   PMLA   45 (1930) 1150-87. Ringe, Donald A.   "New York and New England: Irving's Criticism of American   Society."   American Literature 38 (1967): 455-67.   Rpt. in A Century of Commentary on the Works of Washington Irving, 1860-1974.   Ed. Andrew B. Myers. Tarrytown, NY: Sleepy Hollow Restorations, 1976.   398-411. Rourke, Constance.   American Humor: A Study of the National Character.   Garden City,   NY: Doubleday, 1931. Rubin-Dorsky, Jeffrey.   "The Value of Storytelling: 'Rip Van Winkle' and 'The Legend   of Sleepy Hollow' in the Context of The Sketch Book."   Modern Philology 82    (1985): 393-406.      

Citizenship Education Essay

About the Citizenship Foundation The Citizenship Foundation is an independent educational charity that aims to empower individuals to engage in the wider community through education about the law democracy and society. We focus, in particular, on developing young people’s Citizenship skills, knowledge and understanding. Our work includes Citizenship resources for a wide audience from teachers to young offenders, national projects for primary schools, active learning initiatives for secondary schools, nationwide training programmes, and community-based projects to develop citizenship education as a collective responsibility beyond school and college boundaries. Theme 1 – Purposes and Values At the Citizenship Foundation we believe that the primary phase presents an important opportunity for children to make sense of the changing society and the shrinking world they live in. While primary school teachers have never found it difficult to think about what kind of citizens they would like their children to become, the opportunities for developing the children’s knowledge have, in recent years, been squeezed by the need to deliver the core subjects and the pressure of SATs. There are, at best, limited opportunities for teachers in English schools to cover social topics such as family or crime because, unlike the situation in many continental countries, there is no tradition of a social studies curriculum for this age group. B. B. 1. B. 2. The findings of the recent UNICEF report i underline the need to attend to pupils’ social well-being. For example the UK had the lowest proportion (43. 3%) of 11 and 13 year olds who described their friends as kind and helpful. We consider it of vital importance to cultivate in primary aged children a concern to act fairly, responsibly and with compassion. B. 3. We believe that Citizenship Education is essential to individual empowerment. Not only should it be statutory, it should be a core element of the primary  curriculum, integrating taught and experiential learning in a coherent way leading towards a full understanding of what it means to be a member of the community with rights and responsibilities. As part of our submission to the Education and Skills Select Committee’s investigation into Citizenship Educationii, we have called for the current joint PSHE and Citizenship non-statutory framework to be accorded statutory status The Primary Review submission from the Citizenship Foundation Citizenship Foundation, March 2007. 1 B. 4. ‘Every Child Matters’iii and the Education Act 2002 make it a duty to consult children. Children therefore need to be systematically taught and given opportunities to develop the necessary skills, language and confidence to enable them to participate fully in decision making processes. Citizenship Education provides an opportunity for broadening cultural, social and political horizons, particularly in respect to developing a sense of identity, and an appreciation of the diversity of our society. These important functions of a broad social education should not be relegated to the margins or the ‘optional’, as they are within the non-statutory programme of study. With the lowering of the age of criminal responsibility, it is important that children have the opportunity to establish a sense of social and moral responsibility and develop a clearer understanding of the nature of their legal and moral rights and responsibilities. Changing societal conditions and the earlier onset of adolescence have made it urgent for primary schools to do more by way of explicit social and moral education. For example, children are exposed to the media, and have access to the internet in a way that was not the case even at the time of the introduction of the National Curriculum. In 2003 the OECDiv placed the UK at the bottom of a league table of young people’s risk behaviours, which included drinking, smoking, bullying and sexual activity. At the Citizenship Foundation we believe that the primary curriculum should be broad enough to provide an intellectual foundation for choice, affording children the ability to make responsible decisions at later stages of their education. Citizenship Education supports children in their personal development, equipping them to investigate the wider social and economic world, and to develop personal aspirations for it. In addition it lays the foundations for their political literacy and promotes the skills of community engagement. It provides them with an early introduction to financial literacy and agencies offering welfare support, providing them with knowledge of where to go for help which is essential, in an increasingly complex world, to the economic well-being, both of the individual and the nation as a whole. B. 5. B. 6. Theme 2 – Learning and Teaching B. 7. We know that spoken language is a vital part of human learning in the first ten years of life, and that it is a strong determinant of children’s ability to handle the written word. Citizenship Education is a vital component in any holistic approach to literacy and oracy, providing children with opportunities to analyse, compare, evaluate, reason, argue and justify. The work of psychologists such as Mercerv demonstrates the educational importance of exploratory talk to address shared problems. Citizenship issues are rich in such potential because they are real and relevant. Dunnvi has shown that attitudes and social concepts are shaped from an early age. From Key Stage 1 Citizenship Education provides an opportunity for teachers to nurture the development of this understanding in the context of a variety of issues salient to the young people themselves, developing understanding and fostering empathy before attitudes become entrenched. B. 8. The Primary Review submission from the Citizenship Foundation Citizenship Foundation, March 2007. 2 It offers a context through which children can develop critical thinking skills and emotional literacy in a coherent, integrated way. B. 9. Current educational practice, and the emphasis on target setting has led to more individualised learning, yet Vygotskyvii has identified learning as a social, interactive process that requires discussion, exchange and the sharing of perspectives. Citizenship learning provides opportunities for participation and active involvement. It is characterised by social thinking, and cannot be isolated or atomistic, as typified by much of the learning that currently takes place. Activities involving teamwork and enquiry skills, using Wallace’sviii TASC (Thinking Actively in a Social Context) model for example, build a sense of interdependence and community. B. 10. Recent research shows that children’s peers can be a powerful influence on their receptivity and motivation to learn. We also know that profound knowledge is acquired through the practical application of knowledge: we learn best through doing. Citizenship is rich in opportunities for discussion and dialogue between young people, and for applying their knowledge to make a difference to the world around them. The most effective Citizenship Education is built around pedagogical approaches that place active learning at the core. B. 11. Researchers such as Margaret Donaldsonix suggest that concepts presented in familiar contexts enable children to grasp ideas more readily than when they are concept free, yet there is still a tendency to teach the core subjects in a vacuum. The notion of curriculum breadth needs to be critically revisited, such that breadth is defined through a range of learning experiences rather than simply a collection of subjects. We also know that children are more likely to recall matters which are important to them. Citizenship Education can satisfy both these characteristics of learning, firstly by presenting a real life framework, or ‘big picture’, to help children make sense of new knowledge, and secondly by tackling issues of relevance and value to them such as fairness, bullying and responsibility for the environment. Indeed, Citizenship Education can provide a meaningful context for much of the primary curriculum, particularly aspects of learning in Literacy, History and Geography. It can also afford children opportunities to demonstrate their abilities across a wide range of intelligences, including inter-personal and intra-personal, which are currently not recognised and assessed through SATs. Theme 3 – Curriculum and Assessment B. 12. At the Citizenship Foundation we believe that primary education should try to achieve ‘Excellence and Enjoyment’ x across all subjects. Currently there is a tendency to focus on ‘excellence’ in the core subjects while restricting ‘enjoyment’ to the foundation subjects in the wider curriculum, as tends to be implied by the Primary National Strategy (PNS)xi. A more holistic, coherent and enriched approach is needed, with the children’s personal experiences, and their place and future in society, as a key focus. The Primary Review submission from the Citizenship Foundation Citizenship Foundation, March 2007 3 B. 13. During the primary phase children develop an increasing awareness of social and environmental issues. They are entitled to opportunities to develop more informed, reflective and balanced views on these issues. The curriculum needs to be constructed in a way which promotes a higher level of interaction and cognitive engagement, as opposed to teaching with low cognitive engagement leading to pre-determined answers. Citizenship, with its emphasis on oracy, active learning, and emotional literacy can play an important role in redressing the imbalance of an overly narrow curriculum, and in providing children with the opportunities to apply their knowledge in areas such as peer mediation, school democracy and community involvement. B. 14. Citizenship Education fosters social development and nurtures the social self, thus enriching the school community. ‘Citizenship-rich’ primary schools (where practices such as peer mediation, students as researchers and school councils are embedded) offer social learning activities which are shown to have maturational and behavioural benefits to the individual and for the whole school. These benefits have the potential to become widespread across all schools if Citizenship is made statutory. B. 15. Citizenship Education is currently under-recognised and under-developed in the primary phase. This is especially the case in Key Stage 2 where issues such as bullying, stealing, the role of the police, respect for law, and community cohesion issues are commonly addressed but not always from a Citizenship perspective or in a consistent manner. Yet this is the time when attitudes to authority figures are being shaped. Moreover, the risk is that key issues are overlooked. For example, whilst young people are criminally responsible by age ten, this significant fact and its implications, are not systematically communicated to primary school pupils as part of the statutory curriculum. B. 16. We believe that the core concepts and skills associated with Citizenship should be more precisely mapped and strengthened, and that there should be a clear pathway of progression, with identified cross-curricular links, from the Foundation Stage through to Year 6, bringing Citizenship Education into line with and providing a sound foundation for Key Stages 3 and 4. B. 17. With regard to formative assessment we believe that the most appropriate method of assessment at this stage of learning is one based on ‘success criteria’xii which leads to more focused teaching, and enables and motivates children to judge and improve their own performance in relation to the specific learning objectives which will have been identified above, for example objectives associated with enquiry and communication skills. B. 18. We are currently working with the QCA to develop an appropriate eight point assessment scale to support the teaching of Citizenship across the primary and secondary phases. This will be based as much as possible on the empirical work of developmental psychologists, including their work on concept and empathy development. The Primary Review submission from the Citizenship Foundation Citizenship Foundation, March 2007 4 Theme 5 – Diversity and Inclusion B. 19. In his recent review of Diversity and the Citizenship Curriculumxiii, Sir Keith Ajegbo highlighted the need to promote understanding between communities, and the importance of combating intolerance and religious extremism. He suggests that teachers should be prepared to tackle controversial topics such as immigration and the legacy of the British Empire, and that Citizenship lessons are the appropriate forum in which children can ‘discuss and debate their identities’. Whilst his focus was the secondary curriculum, we believe that this work should begin in the primary phase. B. 20. Indeed, from April 2007, upon the implementation of the Education and Inspection Act (2006), all schools, primary and secondary, have a statutory duty to promote social cohesion. Citizenship Education provides the logical curriculum response to this duty. B. 21. Citizenship Education is the subject which provides the most natural forum for discussion of issues relating to equal opportunities, diversity, faith and culture. Work around topics such as ‘similarity and difference’ and ‘rights and responsibilities’ helps children develop empathy, deepens understanding and builds greater confidence to express personal views. It supports them in developing a sense of who they are, what they can do, and how they belong. Thus it helps create social cohesion, which is essential for our personal well-being, and the maintenance of strong communities. Theme 8 – Beyond the School B. 21. Every staff and governing body needs to reflect on the purpose of their school, and its wider relations with the community. Active community engagement is central to the Citizenship Education programme. Citizenship Education has the capacity for building links between home, school, and the community in which they are situated. Parents and their children belong to the same neighbourhood, national and global communities, and Citizenship Education can promote meaningful intergenerational activities. When children participate in projects aimed at making a difference to their community, or become engaged in research about the views and responsibilities of people from a variety of social strata and professions, they begin to see themselves as active members of wider society Theme 10 – Funding and Governance B. 22. When Citizenship Education is appropriately represented within the primary curriculum, it will need to be resourced and funded accordingly. At the Citizenship Foundation we believe there to be a need for a coherent National Strategy for Teaching and Learning in Citizenship, fully endorsed by the DfES and QCA, and that this can only be implemented with proper training for headteachers and their staffs. This analysis is now supported by the report of the Select Committee. Equipped with the professional expertise, teachers will be enabled to recognise, nurture and develop The Primary Review submission from the Citizenship Foundation Citizenship Foundation, March 2007 5 particular interests, talents and capacities to make it possible for each individual to flourish in our society. B. 23. We recommend that every school be required to establish a school council constituted largely of pupil representatives, and that pupil representatives should be invited to become associate members of their school governing bodies, in line with the new governing body regulations introduced in 2003. C. Conclusion C. 1. Citizenship Education has the potential to create more effective learners by promoting a reflective approach, enabling connection of knowledge, developing greater facility for shared learning with others, and increasing engagement and self-direction. Above all, Citizenship Education can play an important part in developing engaged and responsible citizens. The Citizenship Foundation has always argued that the failure to make Citizenship Education statutory in primary schools was a missed opportunity and results in developmental delay in this area. There are examples of excellent Citizenship practice in the primary phase on which to build but we argue that that current provision (based on a non-statutory joint framework for PSHE and Citizenship) is inadequate, and deserves a much higher profile. We recognise that primary schools and practitioners will need support for the implementation of the above developments, and in the light of this the Citizenship Foundation is campaigning for: †¢ A designated co-ordinator in every school, supported by an LA adviser; †¢ Citizenship to feature in a revised primary SEF form; †¢ NCSL primary programmes to include a primary dimension; We will be pleased to discuss any aspect of this submission with the review team. C. 2 C. 3. C. 4. The Primary Review submission from the Citizenship Foundation Citizenship Foundation, March 2007 6 References: i UNICEF Report on Child Well-Being in Rich Countries (2007) Education and Skills Select Committee Report on Citizenship Education TSO (2007) Every Child Matters DfES (2003) ii iii iv OECD League Table of Young People’s Risk Behaviour. Programme of International Studies Assessment (PISA) (2003) Mercer, N. (2000) Words and Minds: How We Use Language to Think Together. Routledge. Dunn, J.  (1988). The Beginnings of Social Understanding, Blackwell Publishing. Vygotsky, L. S. (1962) Thought and Language Cambridge,MA:MIT Press v vi vii viii Wallace, B. Maher. J. et al (2004) Thinking Skills and Problem Solving – An Inclusive Approach David Fulton Publishers Donaldson, M. (1978) Children’s Minds. Fontana Press ‘Excellence and Enjoyment’ DfES (1993) Primary National Strategy (PNS) DfES (2003) ix x xi as advocated by Shirley Clarke in Enriching Feedback in the Primary Classroom. (2003) Hodder & Stoughton xiii xii Ajegbo, Sir K. Diversity and Citizenship Curriculum Review (2007) The Primary Review submission from the Citizenship Foundation Citizenship Foundation, March 2007 7 About the Authors Marguerite Heath is an experienced Primary Headteacher who now directs the Go-Givers programme at the Citizenship Foundation. Go-Givers is a major new resource for teaching and learning about Citizenship in primary schools which is to be launched in June 2007. Don Rowe is Director, Curriculum Resources at the Citizenship Foundation and a co-founder of the Foundation. He has published and advised widely on Citizenship Education in Primary and Secondary schools. Tony Breslin is Chief Executive at the Citizenship Foundation and has published and advised widely on Citizenship Education and in a range of related educational fields. Ted Huddleston is a Project Manager at the Citizenship Foundation, and currently leads on the Citizenship Manifesto programme. He has published and advised widely on Citizenship Education. Elizabeth Griffiths is an experienced primary practitioner working on the development of Go-Givers at the Citizenship Foundation. Contact: Marguerite Heath The Citizenship Foundation, 63 Gee Street, London EC1V 3RS Tel: 020 7566 4148 Email: marguerite. heath@citizenshipfoundation. org. uk The Primary Review submission from the Citizenship Foundation Citizenship Foundation, March 2007 8 The Primary Review submission from the Citizenship Foundation Citizenship Foundation, March 2007 9.

The Return: Midnight Chapter 39

Elena clutched the child to her. Damon had understood, even in his dazed and confused state. Everyone was connected. No one was alone. â€Å"And he asked something else. He asked if you would hold me, just like this – if I got sleepy.†Velvety dark eyes searched Elena's face. â€Å"Would you do that?† Elena tried to keep steady. â€Å"I'l hold you,†she promised. â€Å"And you won't let go ever?† â€Å"And I won't let go ever,†Elena told him, because he was a child, and there was no point in frightening him if he had no fear. And because maybe this part of Damon – this smal , innocent part – would have some kind of â€Å"forever.†She had heard that vampires didn't come back, didn't reincarnate the way humans did. The vampires in the top Dark Dimension were Still†alive† – adventurers or fortune-seekers, or condemned there as a prison by the Celestial Court. â€Å"I'l hold you,†Elena promised again. â€Å"Forever and ever.† Just then his smal body went into another spasm, and she saw tears on his dark eyelashes, and blood on his lip. But before she could say a word, he added, â€Å"I have more messages. I know them by heart. But† – his eyes begged her forgiveness – â€Å"I have to give them to the others.† What others? Elena thought at first, bewildered. Then she remembered. Stefan and Bonnie. There were other loved ones. â€Å"I can†¦tel them for you,†she said hesitantly, and he gave a tiny smile, his first, just the corner of one lip up. â€Å"He left me a little telepathy, too,†he said. â€Å"I kept it in case I had to cal to you.† Stillfiercely independent, Elena thought. Al she said was, â€Å"You go ahead, then.† â€Å"The first one is for my brother, Stefan.† â€Å"You can tel him in just a moment,†Elena said. She held on to the smal boy in Damon's soul, knowing that this was the last thing she had left to give him. She could sacrifice a few priceless seconds, so that Stefan and Bonnie could say their own good-byes. She made some sort of enormous adjustment to her real body – her body outside Damon's mind, and found herself opening her eyes, blinking and trying to focus. She saw Stefan's face, white and stricken. â€Å"Is he – ?† â€Å"No. But soon. He can hear telepathy, if you think clearly, as if you were speaking. He asked to talk to you.† â€Å"To me?†Stefan bent down slowly and put his cheek against his brother's. Elena shut her eyes again, guiding him down through the darkness to where one smal light was Stillshining. She felt Stefan's wonder as he saw her there, Stillholding the little dark-haired boy in her arms. Elena hadn't realized that through her link to the child, she would be able to hear every word spoken. Or that Damon's messages would come in the words of a child. The little boy said, â€Å"I guess you think I'm pretty stupid.† Stefan started. He'd never seen or heard the child-Damon before. â€Å"I could never think that,†he said slowly, marveling. â€Å"But it wasn't much like†¦ him, you know. Like†¦ me.† â€Å"I think,†Stefan said unsteadily, â€Å"that it's terribly sad – that I never real y knew either of you very well .† â€Å"Please don't be sad. That's what he told me to say. That you shouldn't be sad†¦or afraid. He said it's a little bit like going to sleep, and a little bit like flying.† â€Å"I'l †¦remember that. And – thank you – big brother.† â€Å"I think that's al . You know to watch over our girls†¦.†There was another of the terrible spasms that left the child breathless. Stefan spoke quickly. â€Å"Of course. I'l take care of everything. You fly.† Elena could feel the grief slash at Stefan's heart, but his voice was calm. â€Å"Fly away now, my brother. Fly away.† Elena felt something through the link – Bonnie touching Stefan's shoulder. He quickly got up so that she could lie down. Bonnie was almost hysterical with sobbing, but she had done a good thing, Elena saw. While Elena had been in her own little world with Damon, Bonnie had taken a dagger and cut off a long lock of Elena's hair. Then she had cut one of her own strawberry curls, and placed the locks – one wavy and golden, one curling and red-blond – on Damon's chest. It was al they could do on this flowerless world to honor him, to be with him forever. Elena could hear Bonnie, too, through her link with Damon, but at first al Bonnie could do was sob, â€Å"Damon, please! Oh, please! I didn't know – I never thought – that anyone would get hurt! You saved my life! And now – oh, please! I can't say good-bye!† She didn't understand, Elena thought, that she was talking to a very young child. But Damon had sent the child a message to repeat. â€Å"I'm supposed to tel you good-bye, though.†For the first time the child looked uneasy. â€Å"And – and I'm supposed to tel you ‘I'm sorry,'too. He thought you'd know what that meant and you'd forgive me. But†¦if you don't†¦I don't know what wil happen – oh!† Another of the hateful spasms went through the child. Elena held on to him hard, biting her own lip until the blood came; at the same time trying to shield the little boy completely from her own feelings. And deep in Damon's mind, she saw Bonnie's expression change, from tearful penance to astonished fear to careful control. As if Bonnie had grown up al in an instant. â€Å"Of course – of course I understand! And I forgive you – but you haven't done anything wrong. I'm such a sil y girl – I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"We don't think you're a sil y girl,†the child said, looking vastly relieved. â€Å"But thank you for forgiving me. There's a special name I'm supposed to cal you, too – but I†¦Ã¢â‚¬ He sank back against Elena. â€Å"I guess – I'm†¦getting sleepy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Was it ‘redbird'?†Bonnie asked careful y, and the little boy's pale face lit up. â€Å"That was it. You knew already. You're al †¦so nice and so smart. Thank you†¦for making it easy†¦But can I say one more thing?† Elena was about to answer, when abruptly she was jarred completely out of Damon's mind and back into reality. The Tree had slammed down another spider's leg set of branches, trapping them and Damon's body between two circles of wooden bars. Elena had no plans. No idea how to get to the star bal that Damon had died for. Either the Tree was intel igent, or it was wired to have such efficient defenses that it might as well have been. They were lying on the evidence that many, many people had tried for that star bal – and left behind their bones ground to sand. Come to that, she thought, I wonder why it hasn't gone for us, too – especial y for Bonnie. She's been in, and then out, and back in again, which I should never have let her do except that we were al thinking about Damon. Why didn't it go for her again? Stefan was trying to be strong, trying to organize something out of this disaster that was so stunning that Elena herself simply sat. Bonnie was sobbing again, making heart-wrenching sounds. Between both circular sets of bars a wooden network was spreading – too close-knit for even Bonnie to squeeze through. Elena's group was efficiently separated from anything outside the sand pit, and just as efficiently separated from the star bal . â€Å"The axe!†Stefan cal ed to her. â€Å"Throw me – â€Å" But there was no time. A rootlet had curled around it and was swiftly dragging it into the upper branches. â€Å"Stefan, I'm sorry! I was too slow!† â€Å"It was too fast!†Stefan corrected. Elena held her breath, waiting for the last crash from above, the one that would kil them al . When it didn't come, she realized something. The Tree was not only intel igent, but sadistic. They were to be trapped here, away from their supplies, to die slowly of thirst and starvation, or to go mad watching the others die. The best that they could hope for was that Stefan would kil both Bonnie and her – but even he would never get out. These wooden branches would come crashing down again and again, as often as the Tree felt necessary, until Stefan's crushed bones joined the others that had been mil ed to fine sand. That was what did it, the thought of al of them, trapped with Damon, making a mockery of his death. The thing that had been swelling inside Elena for weeks now, at hearing the stories about children who ate their pets, at creatures who delighted in pain, had, with Damon's sacrifice, final y gotten so big that she could no longer contain it. â€Å"Stefan, Bonnie – don't touch the branches,†she gasped. â€Å"Make sure you're not touching any part of the branches.† â€Å"I'm not, love, and Bonnie isn't either. But why?† â€Å"I can't keep it in anymore! I have to stand like this – â€Å" â€Å"Elena, no! That spel – â€Å" Elena could no longer think. The hateful demi-light was driving her mad, reminding her of the pinpoint of green in Damon's pupils, the horrible green light of the Tree. She understood exactly about the Tree's sadism to her friends†¦and in the corner of her eye she could see a bit of black†¦like a rag dol . Except that it was no dol ; it was Damon. Damon with al of his wild and witty spirit broken. Damon†¦who must be gone from this and al worlds by now. His face was covered with her blood. There was nothing peaceful or dignified about him. There was nothing the Tree had not taken from him. Elena lost her mind. With a scream that peeled raw and bleeding from her backbone and came hoarsely out of her throat, Elena grabbed a branch of the Tree that had kil ed Damon, that had murdered her beloved, and that would murder her and these two others she loved as well. She had no thoughts. She wasn't capable of thinking. But instinctively she held a high bough of the Tree's cage and let the fury explode out of her, the fury of murdered love. Wings of Destruction. She felt the Wings arch behind her, like ebony lace and black pearls, and for a moment she felt like a deadly goddess, knowing that this planet would never harbor any life ever again. When the attack flared out, it turned the twilight al around her to matte black. What a fitting color. Damon wil like this, she thought in confusion, and then she remembered again, and it slammed blistering out of her again, the Power to destroy the Tree al over this smal world. It shattered her from the inside but she let it keep coming. No physical pain could compare with what was in her heart, with the pain of losing what she had lost. No physical pain could express how she felt. The huge roots in the ground underneath them were bucking as if there was an earthquake, and then – There was a deafening sound as the trunk of the Great Tree exploded straight upward like a rocket, disintegrating to fine ash as it went. The spider's-leg bars around them simply disappeared along with the canopy above. Something in Elena's mind noted that very far away the same destruction was going on, racing to turn branches and leaves into infinitesimal bits of matter that hung in the air like haze. â€Å"The star bal !†Bonnie cried in the eerie silence, anguished. â€Å"Vaporized!†Stefan caught Elena as she sank to her knees, her ethereal black wings fading. â€Å"But we'd never have gotten it anyway. That Tree had been protecting it for thousands of years! Al we'd have gotten would have been a slow death.† Elena had turned back to Damon. She had not been touching the stake that ran through him – in seconds it would be the only remnant of the Tree on this world. She could hardly dare hope that there was a spark of life left in him now, but the child had wanted to speak with her and she would make that possible or die trying. She scarcely felt Stefan's arms around her. Once again, she plunged into the very depths of Damon's mind. This time she knew exactly where to go. And there, by a miracle, he was, although obviously in hideous pain. Tears were rol ing down his cheeks and he was trying not to sob. His lips were bitten raw. Her Wings had not been able to destroy the wood inside him – it had already done its poisonous damage – and there was no way to reverse that. â€Å"Oh, no, oh God!†Elena caught the child in her arms. A teardrop fel on her hand. She rocked him, scarcely knowing what she was saying. â€Å"What can I do to help?† â€Å"You're here again,†he said, and in his voice, she heard the answer. This was al that he wanted. He was a very simple child. â€Å"I'l be here – always. Always. I'm never letting go.† This didn't have the effect that she wanted. The boy gasped, trying to smile, but was torn with a horrible spasm that almost arched his body out of her arms. And Elena realized that she was turning the inevitable into slow, excruciating torture. â€Å"I'l hold you,†she modified her words for him, â€Å"until you want me to let go. All right?† He nodded. His very voice was breathless with pain. â€Å"Could you – could you let me shut my eyes? Just†¦just for a moment?† Elena knew, as perhaps this child did not, what would happen if she stopped badgering him and let him sleep. But she couldn't stand to see him suffering any longer, and nothing was real again, and there was no one else in the world for her, and she didn't even care if doing it this way meant she would fol ow him into death. Careful y steadying her voice, she said, â€Å"Maybe†¦we can both shut our eyes. Not for a long time – no! But†¦just for a moment.† She kept rocking the smal body in her arms. She could Stillfeel a faint pulse of life†¦not a heartbeat, but Still, a pulsing. She knew that he hadn't shut his eyes yet; that he was Stillfighting the torture. For her. Not for anything else. For her sake only. Putting her lips close to his ear, she whispered, â€Å"Let's close our eyes together, All right? Let's close them†¦at the count of three. Is that All right?† There was such relief in his voice and such love. â€Å"Yes. Together. I'm ready. You can count now.† â€Å"One.†Nothing mattered except holding him and keeping herself steady. â€Å"Two. And†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Elena?† She was startled. Had the child ever said her name before? â€Å"Yes, sweetheart?† â€Å"Elena†¦I†¦love you. Not just because of him. I love you too.† Elena had to hide her face in his hair. â€Å"I love you, too, little one. You've always known that, haven't you?† â€Å"Yes – always.† â€Å"Yes. You've always known that. And now†¦we'l close our eyes – for a moment. Three. â€Å" She waited until the last faint movement stopped, and his head fel back, and his eyes were shut and the shadow of suffering was gone. He looked, not peaceful, but simply gentle – and kind, and Elena could see in his face what an adult with Damon's features and that expression would look like. But now even the smal body was evaporating right out of Elena's arms. Oh, she was stupid. She'd forgotten to close her eyes with him. She was so dizzy, even though Stefan had stopped the bleeding from her neck. Closing her eyes†¦ maybe she would look as he had. Elena was so glad that he'd gone gently at the end. Maybe the darkness would be kind to her, too. Everything was quiet now. Time to put away her toys and draw the curtains. Time now to get in bed. One last embrace†¦and now her arms were empty. Nothing left to do, nothing left to fight. She'd done her best. And, at least, the child had not been frightened. Time to turn off the light now. Time to shut her own eyes. The darkness was very kind to her, and she went into it gently.