Aristotle and Plato Essay

One of the greatest philosophers of all time was a man named Aristotle, the ancient greek philosopher. He was practically influenced every area of conceptual modern thinking. His mind set was in terms of materialism, which he essentially viewed substance on Earth before ideas and qualities. He genuinely believed in the notion of analyzing compounds and characteristics of people and their actions. Aristotle, who was a student of Plato, believed in â€Å"virtue of character and thought†, which means that virtue results from teaching, experience, and habits rather than Plato’s idealism notions of ideas and qualities (pg.265-266). He believed that peoples noble actions would lead to virtue and that all things in life had an end. That all ends must result in something good, an example would be an acorn, the end of an acorn would be an acorn tree. Aristotle believed that it was inevitable for humans to obtain happiness over a course of time and that this was the end for a human being. He believed that in order to be virtuous, one must first avoid temperance and deficiency. Aristotle also claims that justice can mean both lawfulness and fairness or injustice can mean unlawfulness and unfairness. His notion was that the law encouraged people to pursue virtue, therefore, the lawful person would result to being virtuous. In essence, he claims that people who pursue virtue will be just and those who do not pursue virtue will be unjust. He believed that sensory perceptions in the human soul are reflections of objects, and thoughts in consciousness are based on what we have already seen. Plato believed that the average person could not see the truth, therefore, the noble lie was essential to get people to pursue their natural form or task. A simple ascetic city with the notion of everyone having natural abilities to do a certain job was justice for Plato. In contrast, Aristotle, did not believe that humans had access to these perfect forms in their minds as a way to reach justice and the perfect city. He argues that justice is a complete virtue when exercising virtue in relation to others and that it requires intellectual virtue. That a virtuous person should pursue the most pleasant and happy life, which is the philosophical life of contemplation and speculation. The highest good for Aristotle is the end of a human, which is gained through virtuous action over their course of a life time. In order to live a life of virtue according to Aristotle, one must find the mean or good actions, which finding the mean is virtuous actions. By exercising virtue in relations to others is a good thing that will lead to a virtuous happy life and this will inevitably lead to an end of a human being, which is happiness. He was not a hedonist, his highest good reflected on reason, virtue, and experience that gains practical wisdom and that people learn from mistakes. This notion of a human gaining happiness by living a virtuous life reflects on his notion of a content society. Aristotle’s perception of justice was similar to Plato’s in the way that virtue related to both temperance and courage, but in all other aspects they were completely in contrast. Virtue consisted of habits and making right choices for the individual to be just, according to Aristotle. Virtue of temperance and courage causes people to be in a â€Å"good state† and to perform their â€Å"functions† well (pg. 269). Therefore, in order to acquire justice in Aristotle’s perception, virtue would have to take place within the individual’s state of character and reason for the whole in order to pursue virtue. Equality being about justice and exercising freedom was permissible according to Aristotle. He was really about diversity, but not a feminist, he clearly reduced the women’s roles in society, which was normal due to an era of sexism. There where three forms of happiness according to Aristotle- a life of pleasure and enjoyment, a life of free and responsibility, and a life as a thinker and philosopher. He rejected the imbalance of these premises and it was essential in human relationships. Therefore, finding the mean and his example of not to be cowardly or impulsive, but courageous. Aristotle believed in the mixture of constitutions, which means that if you mix â€Å"oligarchy† and â€Å"democracy†, which would be essentially â€Å"polity†; bringing a large middle class, then there can be more equality and justice among the citizens (pg. 403). He described democracy as a form of government that would overthrow the rich. Therefore, where the poor are predominant, there will be democracy. He’s implying that there is a better way; modern way to conduct a government where the people are not ruled by a monarch or tyranny. This means that if you rely on one type of constitution, then it would inevitably lead to depravity by changing into a bad constitution. An example would be if monarchy was established, then it would lead to tyranny or aristocracy to oligarchy. Aristotle’s notion was that in order to have equality, then a mixture of constitutions was necessary for justice. He he elaborates on constitutions, he is indicating the system of government that should be established. This relates to virtue because in order to be virtuous depravity must be impermissible and having a mixture of constitutions brings a balance to good. He advocates on having a massive middle class would be essential in order to have a balance of equality and fairness. He supports on having this large middle class because it will genuinely bring a balance in society and impact on politics according to Aristotle. The virtue of justice belongs to the city, a self-determination of what is just. He advocates on the art of acquisition; that wealth should have a limit. He does not seem to like people who are upset with moneymaking. He emphasized on that a democracy was essentially the worse type of government; just as a tyranny. If there is no large middle class, then democracy denounces to rule by the poor and Aristotle believed that it should be the rule of everyone or the many. Therefore, the mixture of democracy and oligarchy was essential to Aristotle for the sake of polity. Being a just person can lead to a life of virtue, which is acquired by noble actions and experience, in contrast with Plato’s ideology of perfect forms in the human mind being to abstract and delusional. However, Aristotle’s notion is to pursue a virtuous life by making right choices and learning from mistakes, which is very good because human beings are not perfect. Happiness would be considered the end of a human being and it’s acquired by virtue according to Aristotle and making choices on whether to be or not to be a just person. His perspective revolved around people living in communities or political communities and that politics was a characteristic for the well-being. He also incorporated public education being the means of a community and through the development of practical wisdom because he wanted people to learn from their mistakes, stating that there is no perfect idea of a society. When an individual acquired happiness, which was the highest good over their course of life, it was done by pursuing virtue and noble actions. Therefore, Aristotle’s theory involves a fair political view where there is a higher class, lower class, but more importantly, a massive middle class where everyone must participate in politics. In accordance to Aristotle’s and its success can be determined by the happiness of the citizens. Where each citizen has acquired the point of where they derive in moderation and are capable of distinguishing the means and the extremes and the good of society. He criticized Sparta on their austere culture and the citizen structure of a military society because he genuinely believed that it was not a content community. He did not lack humane values and he emphasized on how people should exercise virtue in relations to others. In essence, Aristotle’s theory offers a well established broad and fair view of a justice for a society and politics.

Mobile Technology in Learning Essay

Researchers are in a dilemma about whether mobile learning should be introduced in higher learning institutions as a form of educating students. Criticism of M-learning includes lack of proper knowledge in using mobile devices, lack of evidence that M-learning works and skepticism about M-learning. However various new articles about M-learning address these criticism and strongly support the use of M-learning in higher learning institutions they include, Mobile learning as an evolution of E-learning, Clarification of mobile learning, Clarification of mobile learning and Mobile learning in higher education as a new educational tool. A new form of learning should be adopted by teachers for use with their students. Defining Mobile Education Educational technology has generated new tools and approaches to learning in the classroom. One new concept that is relatively new in education is mobile learning. Mobile learning can be described as any learning that occurs when facilitated through a mobile device (Harrington et al., 2009). Examples of portable devices include mobile phones, i-Touch or i-Pads, mp3 players, tablets, or portable computers. There are different characteristics of mobile devices that should be stated in order to learn more about mobile learning. Mobile devices have become universal and pervasive in our society that it has made an impact on obtaining knowledge. For instance, mobile devices have begun the trend of learning by finding information at a specific time instead of obtaining information for long-term memory (Traxler, 2007). An example would be a fifth-grade student wanting to know who the second President of the United States was. The fifth-grade student can use an i-Touch to find the answer by searching the internet. While the fifth-grade student may forget that John Adams was the second President of the United States, he can use the tool as a way to obtain the answer at any given time. Another characteristic of the mobile device is that it can alter the nature of work (Traxler, 2007). Instead of showing to an orientation for jury duty, people can now watch the orientation on any mobile device as long as it has internet. This saves the time of having to participate in an earlier orientation and makes the work easier for the person. Lastly, mobile devices can create new forms of knowledge as well as new ways of accessing it (Traxler, 2007). For example, instead of having to purchase a textbook for a college class, the student can download the eBook and use his eReader to read his book and study at any location. Clarification of mobile learning The research paper by El-Hussein, M. O. M. And Cronje, J. C. Seeks to clarify the meaning of mobile learning. The authors approach was to critically examine a selection of documents that relate to mobile learning. The authors argue that to comprehensively understand and define mobile learning their outset should be formed and its key components separated and arranged under three different concepts: A conceptualization of mobile learning, the first step of research involved exploring the wider context of mobile learning. Mobile learning in higher education, the second step involved identifying the technology, learner (who are nomadic and able to interpret learning materials) and learning material as well as mobile technology such as portable devices. The third concept involves examining the mobility and dynamism of the learning process and the flow of information. The authors’ definition of mobile learning is any type of learning that takes place in learning environments and spaces that take into account the mobility of learners, learning and technology. Research should be done to examine the implications of these devices for the design of teaching and learning. Mobile learning as an evolution of E-learning. The research paper by Grane et al claims that mobile learning can be termed as an evolution of E-learning. Research has been done on both M-learning and E-learning looking at how they have evolved and a comparison and contrast on the two has been drawn. Learning has always had a mobile character in it, and hence the authors seek to establish a difference between what is termed as mobile learning today and what was regarded as mobile learning traditionally. The aim of the research is to identify context and interaction as being essential to understand how mobile learning can be integrated to conventional education. The research involved introducing E-learning through mobile devices; this was achieved by giving an iPad to 97 students. The students were to use these mobile devices as part of a traditional E-learning environment. To learn how the devices were used three approaches were used: Pre/Post-test questionnaire, before the course and after the course an online survey was used to collect data. A discussion forum, an interactive and dynamic forum was used as part of the study. The interview, an in-depth interview was carried out to obtain precise information of the student’s experiences using the mobile devices. The results indicate that most students rely heavily on E-learning. Mobile devices were characterized as a useful tool for searching for information, their main advantage being location is of no importance. Evaluating Mobile Education Following the widespread reception of mobile technologies in learning, it is paramount to evaluate mobile education to see if it does benefit teachers as well as students when it comes to learning. However, it is difficult to create a perfect evaluation because it depends on how we define a good evaluation. Some guidelines that Traxler (2007), recommend are an efficient, ethical, and authentic. He believes the evaluation should access what learners really experience from using mobile devices. In addition, the evaluation should be economical in terms of cost and time. These guidelines can help execute more evaluations and studies on mobile devices in the future. While there are limited studies on this topic, we will discuss what is known about mobile education in elementary school and higher education. If teachers are now surrounded with mobile devices and technology, why do some teachers not utilize these materials or opportunities? While some teachers refuse to acknowledge technolog y or refuse to change their teaching styles, other teachers have begun to discuss the use of technology. The problem is that teachers usually concentrate on teaching about the technologies to students instead of having the students use the technologies to learn with (Salomon, 1991). Therefore, the student never really learns how to utilize the technology first-hand. It can be related to teaching a child how to ride a bicycle. You can lecture a child about everything there is to know about a bicycle and how to ride it. However, the child will never learn how to ride a bicycle unless the child is given the opportunity to actually test the skills by riding a real bicycle. If not, the child certainly does not know how to ride a bicycle. One good way of understanding if a student can use mobile device is by analyzing a study of how the student is taught. The project was to implement mp3 players as cognitive tools to create a digital book of pictures and sounds for children (Herrington, et al., 2009). Students were asked to write a story intended for young children and use the technology on iPods to recreate a digital version of that story. Students were placed into groups where they learned about the iPod and used learned practical usages that would help when creating a digital story. Then each group was given an iPod along with other resources like a computer to begin the process of creating the digital story. The researchers interviewed the teacher to gain insight on certain questions. The teacher believed the students responded positively to using iPods for the project. Overall, they enjoyed and had positive experiences using the iPod for creating the digital story. Even though teachers know iPods are too sophisticated for younger children, they gave several examples of how they would utilize an iPod to teach young children. Some examples included singing songs, listening to a narrative of a story, and recording children while they read. Overall, students learned a lot from this experience. Not only did they learn how to use an iPod but also utilized other software such as PowerPoint, Photoshop, and iMovie. Mobile learning in higher education as a new educational tool The authors Mcconatha D, Praul M, and Lynch M illustrate that mobile learning or M-learning as it has come to be known is a new tool in the academic store to assist students and teachers in the learning world. The authors assess the challenges, possible methods and potential of using M-learning in a college classroom. The article further discusses an empirical evaluation on the effectiveness of M-learning in a college classroom. From the research carried out those students who used M-learning tool demonstrated higher levels of knowledge on the subject covered as compared to students who did not use the tool. This results support the notion that use of mobile learning makes a positive and significant difference in the outcome performance of students. The main obstacle of M-learning is that it heavily relies on students owning the necessary hardware. Studies show evidence of different ways in which teachers utilize mobile devices for learning. At Osaka Jogakuin College, a college in Japan, first year students were given iPod for English class so students can download podcasts of English news broadcasts (McCarty, 2005). These English language news broadcasts were portable for students and were used to complete homework assignments. It seemed beneficial for Japanese students since they can learn the English language and how English is spoken on a news broadcast. The use of mobile technologies to support learning in large campus university classes The research paper by Oliver, R. seeks to show the advantages of using mobile and wireless technologies in large classes. The authors approach is; technology facilitated learning: technology is an affordable way of providing meaningful learning for learners and it provides appropriate learning support. The focus is on mobile learning and how it distinguishes itself from the conventional forms of E-learning. There being a growing number of devices that can be used for mobile learning, the authors aim is to show how these devices can provide opportunities to enhance learning. This research paper provides descriptions of applications of mobile technology that can be used to provide opportunities and reduce the limitations within large classes. Research should be done to examine how cultural changes can affect the integration of mobile technology in learning and the cultural issues that need to be addressed. Examples of Types of Learning that Involve Devices Mobile devices can be employed into E-learning through numerous ways. While different teachers have different styles and conceptions of teaching, they can also have diverse ways of utilizing mobile devices. Mobile devices can be used in education to support the transmission and delivery of strong multimedia material (Traxler, 2007). A teacher can post a video for the students to watch on their own time for homework on their mobile device. Other teachers may use mobile devices as a way of discussion via text or possibly real-time dialogue. Web 2.0 has also been used to improve learning. For example, students may text their reaction and opinion to an online article that the teacher chose for discussion. The type of learning a teacher uses can also have an impact on how the teacher uses the mobile device in the classroom. Personalized learning is defined as learning that acknowledges diversity, difference and individuality (Traxler, 2007). These different learning styles and approaches implement social, cultural, and diverse aspects into learning. A teacher may implement a language program like Roseta Stone for teaching Spanish in the classroom. By installing the program to the mobile device, each student has access to the activities and lessons related to learning Spanish. Situated learning is another type of learning that can utilize mobile devices. Another learning style, authentic learning, involves learning real-life problems and everyday scenarios that occur today (Traxler, 2007). A good example would be using authentic learning in a nursing class. Students would be participating in an activity that would simulate a role-playing scenario. With technology, some mobile devices may already have role-playing applications where nursing students can practice giving a shot or taking blood out of a patient. Something as sophisticated as this would be a great learning tool for nursing students. In conclusion, technology affects our lives in more than one way. Technological advancement is known to bring in changes that maybe positive or negative, but many are the times that technology has resulted in positive change. As illustrated in this paper the adoption of M-learning is set to bring in positive change in the delivery of education. Either from the various researches that have been carried out, those who adopt M learning have performed better or had an easy time teaching or learning. The negativity surrounding mobile learning has been brought about by the lack of appropriate knowledge concerning the benefits of mobile learning. Education on the benefits of mobile learning is highly recommended as majority of those opposed to mobile learning lack proper information and are still tied down to their traditional knowledge of mobile learning. Mobile learning in institutions of higher learning is highly recommended as it is a cheaper way of providing education for large classes and the students tend to understand more easily where M-learning is employed. References El-Hussein, M. O. M. & Cronje, J. C. (2010). Defining mobile learning in the higher education landscape. Educational technology and society, 13(3), 12-21. Grane, M., Olmedo, K., Crescenzi, L., & Suarez, R. (2010). Using mobile devices in E- learning programs. Herrington, J., Herrington, A., Mantei, A., Olney, I.W., & Ferry, B. (2009). New technologies, new pedagogies: Mobile learning in higher education. Faculty of Education, University of Wollongong. McCarty, S. (2005) Spoken Internet to Go: Popularization through Podcasting. Jalt Call Journal, 1(2): 67-74. Mcconatha, D., Praul, M., & Lynch, M. (2008). Mobile learning in higher education: an empirical assessment of a new educational tool. The Turkish online journal of educational technology, 7(3). Salomon, G. (1991). Partners in cognition: Extending human intelligence with intelligent technologies. Educational Researcher, 20(3), 2-9. Traxler, J. (2007). Current state of mobile learning. International Review on Research in Open and Distance Learning, 8(2). Oliver, R. (2007).Using mobile technologies to support learning in large campus university classes. In ICT: providing choices for learners and learning: Proceedings of ASCILITE Singapore. 788-798. Retrieved December 1, 2012 from Research Online

Human Impact on Environment Essay

From the moment we wake up to the time we sleep, most of the products used are hazardous to the environment directly or indirectly. A person voluntarily and non-voluntarily spends his day on the expense of atmosphere. Being aware of the dangerous effects of many products that we use, we continue using these products. From pencil that we use in school from the paper used in office and different furniture decorating our house are all made on the expense of surroundings. Most of the luxurious items like fridge, air condition and car all affect our ozone layer. Book Book is something that everyone uses regardless of age. Be it reading, writing, coloring or for references. No one grows up without being around a book. Before the advent of internet books were only available on papers. There was no concept of electronic books. There are a lot of verities available in books. People make their own customized books for any event or refer to them on any subject. Children use it for reading purpose, drawing, coloring and writing. Components of a Book: Any basic book has the following components: †¢ Laminate sheet. †¢ Binder boards †¢ Paper †¢ Ink †¢ Dye (For colored papers) †¢ Thread †¢ Adhesive Paper Paper like we all are aware of is made from trees. These trees are cut in log form and sent to paper production factories. A machine then removes impurities and cut them into small equal sizes of wood chips through a chipper. These chips are then transformed into pulp through chemical pulping (wood chips are cooked in sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide) or mechanical pulping (logs are beforehand chemically treated and then passed through a metal disk). This process tree oil and eradicate splits cellulose and hemi cellulose from the lignin. The remaining fiber is used to produce paper. Read more:  Effects of Festivals on Environment The cooked pulp is the washed to and processed through a bleaching tower to add brightness. Pulp is the modified and further refined. This pulp is then pressed against a wide screen drains out all the water cut in equal sizes. Fibers are shaped into mats and pressed through heavy rollers and then moved through hot dryers to evaporate excess water. In the end starch is added to fill gaps in the sheet surface. These sheets are then pressed between a roller and cut into smaller sizes for further usage (Essortment, n. d. ). At times clay and dye are mixed with these papers to add shine and color to them. Ink Without printing inks there would be no books, papers or magazines. Knowledge would have had no proper way to being materialized and stored. Ink has four basic components. Pigments are used to color the ink, make it glossy and resistance from being affected by heat and light. It makes t he ink opaque. Some of the pigments used to make ink are extenders, opacifiers, inorganic black, organic yellow, organic orange etc. Resins is another ingredient that combines the ink together into a film and attaches it to the printed surface. It adds to the characteristics of ink being glossy and resistance to heat, chemical and water. They are mainly produced at New Zealand. Few of the commonly resins used ate acrylics, alkyds, rubber resins, phenolics, hydrocarbons, polyamides, shellac etc. Solvent is the third most important element that which keeps ink in a fluid form where it is stored till its being shifted to the background where its being printed. Solvent has to disconnect from its storage body containing ink to be embossed on the surface being allowed to dry and form into proper image. Additives are used to modify the physical attribute of the ink to go with different conditions. Varnish production is the first step in formation of ink. This is obtained through assimilation of resins, solvents and additives to structure a consistent fusion. The longer these components are allowed to react into a bigger molecule, varnish turns out to be more glutinous. Pigments are later added to the varnish which results into cluster of pigment particles. Different machines are used to break these clumps and spread them equally through the ink (Sengenuity, n. d. ). Adhesives Many different types of adhesives are used in bookbinding. Starch, animal glue, emulsion and hot-melt are its few examples. All have chemicals involved in them. Water based emulsion adhesive for instance is made from emulsification and polymerization of acetic vinyl, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and acrylic resin in water. Due to the absence of organic solvent this adhesive is inflammable and not toxic. After compiling papers in a proper sequence, adhesive is spread on the spine or binder board (could either be of a thick paper sheet or cloth) that serves as a support for bookbinding It then permanently joints papers and the thick sheet carrying adhesive together. Adverse Effects on Environment Paper Paper that we use for almost everything is manufactured on the expense of trees. Trees absorb carbon dioxide through their pores existing in leaves and accumulate it in there soil, wood, bark and leaves. They turn carbon dioxide into oxygen that we breathe. It controls erosion and cleans underground water system. It stabilizes dust entrapping air polluting gases and cools the air turning water into vapors. Thus cutting trees are one of the major causes of global warming. Paper companies should spread the message of growing plants and tree in the environment. They should have public service messages on television, radio and behind all the printed books. Tress cut for the process of pulp production should also be replaced with new ones. Paper production consumes a lot of water and energy. Ink should be washed off from the paper before decomposing it. Wasting papers should be discouraged everywhere. They should be recycled. Usage of recycled paper should be encouraged. Many tree free papers are also being used in different parts of the world. They are made from sugarcane fiber, cereal straw, banana stalk etc. Ink Chemicals used in making ink like petroleum hydrocarbon. They discharge volatile organic compounds (VOC) while drying that creates waste, air pollution and is a source of many health diseases. Pigment has perilous metals like cadmium, mercury, chromium. Minerals oil used to clean printing machine also releases VOC in air. In many countries news papers and pages from books are used to wrap food items. Ink is transferred into human bodies when they eat from that paper. Also at the time of paper recycling, ink does not wash off entirely. A sensible alternative of this dangerous ink would be switching to vegetable based ink made from soy or linseed oil. They have many advantages. They decrease the amount of VOC released in the atmosphere. It does not contain hazardous heavy metal. They contain non-toxic soybean oil used in cooking, dressing and beverage. They are easily recycled and emanate less amount of toxic residue. It also increases American agriculture economy by providing them with a market. Ink made by soy ink is more rick and bright and creates less waste on press (Proia, Jennifer, n. d. ). Adhesives Adhesive has its own inauspicious impact on environment. Ethylene vinyl acetate emulsion is known for explosive gas that pollutes air and water. At the time of production it may cause skin and eye irritation. Adhesives should be washed off before decomposing paper. Adhesive should have less amount of inflammable chlorinated hydrocarbon. Solvents should be put back in the production cycle without damaging the environment. Many companies use white emulsion which is pollution free, nonflammable, non-toxic and harmless. It has been certified from China Environmental Labeling Products and ISO 14001 International Management System for bein ‘Double Green’ environmental friendly product. Conclusion More or less every thing that we use has unpleasant effect on the environment. Consumption of these products and their consequences are inevitable. In such case it is highly imperative to use alternative techniques that diminish precarious results. They may include growing more trees and plants, recycling, using more recycled products, spreading information about products that are harmful to the environment and their less dodgy alternatives. Negligence to these important facts has already stared to destroy our nature. As individuals, one should make a habit to study about the products and its components that we use regularly in our lives and educate others about its side-effects too. References Essortment. How is paper made from trees? Accessed on April 2, 2009. http://www. essortment. com/all/paperhowismad_rrfn. htm Proia, Jennifer. Going green with your marketing materials. Accessed on April 3, 2009. http://www. graphic-design. com/DTG/Business/greenprint. html Sengenuity. Printing ink technology and manufacture. Accessed on April 2, 2009. http://www. sengenuity. com/tech_ref/Process%20Control%20for%20Printing%20Ink%20Applications. pdf

Philosophy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Philosophy - Assignment Example Nevertheless, we can assume philosophy to be a consistent and rational effort to acquire knowledge  about topics that do not warrant empirical investigation (Brown Web). This paper discuses some of these philosophical topics and questions. Traditionally, rationalism and empiricism have been the normal ways that philosophy attempts to answer the question, â€Å"what do I know?†, â€Å"how do I know it?†, and "How do I get beyond mere opinion to real knowledge?" However, both rationalism and empiricism theories manifest different strengths and weaknesses in trying to explain human knowledge. The two theories differ on the extent to which we are dependent upon sense experience in our effort to gain knowledge. Indeed, while rationalism proposes that we gain knowledge through reasoning, empiricism on the other hand proposes that we gain knowledge through sensory experience (Markie Web). However, according to me, I find that rationalism best explains human knowledge. This is because the rationalism relevantly puts forward two concrete explanations to their theory. First, the argument that that there are instances where the content of human knowledge supersedes the information that sense experience can provide is very true. Indeed, human knowledge is not all about sense, it is about reasoning, critical thinking, logic, and rational insight. Actually, from the intuition  claim, rationalism equally reckons that we should not just believe what we see but we should also be able to derive conclusions through valid arguments (Markie Web). Indeed, in many cases we use the self-evident truth to derive more truths. This explains that we can have knowledge independent of sense experience. The rationalists’ theory also constructs accounts of how reason in some form or other provides that additional information about the world. More so, the rationalism theory is flexible in that it adjusts its understanding of certain beliefs and adopts the denial of

Racism in the United States in the Context of Freedom of Expression Essay

Racism in the United States in the Context of Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Association - Essay Example Some of these people have made racist associations strong and thereby passing extremist messages (Bleich 81). These people act the way they do, in some cases, a bid to overcome dilemmas just like Allen presents in Where I come from Is Like This, â€Å"Most Indian women I know are in the same bicultural bind†¦ We resolve the dilemma in various ways†¦ We act in these destructive ways because we suffer from the societal conflicts caused by having to identify with two hopelessly opposed cultural definitions of women† (Allen 45). When individuals are denied the chance of organizing themselves into groups, they will have a difficult time presenting their views or opinions in a democratic society. Majority of the people in the United States and other nations such as Western Europe do not value freedom of association. This is because they join private clubs, bowling leagues, and political parties without any reason. They have become accustomed to the associations such that l imiting or denying any group from organizing to further their interests is considered to be limiting their desires to promote a vibrant political sphere and civil society (Bleich 85). This is evident in Paula Gunn Allen’s article Where I Come From Is Like This. Allen states that members of her community resolve issues and dilemmas in many ways; partying all the time, drinking in excess, and engaging in violent exchanges (Adams 203). This indicates the way the people have become accustomed to associations that link them on a common agenda. Countries measure freedom of association against racism in a number of ways. Racists’ autonomy in the United States has been aggressively protected. Groups or associations such as the Ku Klux Klan, racist skinhead crew, anti-Semitic black separatist groups, and small neo-Nazi parties function legally and openly in the United States. Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama has tracked these groups, and associations for years and it stat es that there were 900 of them in 2008, indicating an increase in 200 active hate groups since 2000. The modern interpretation of Constitution in the United States has made the freedom of association a fundamental right thus making it nearly difficult to outlaw a group on the basis of its racist characteristics (Bleich 86). Protection of the racist groups in the United States can be equated to Harlem in the James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues. The Harlem community is faced with numerous problems such as poverty, frustration, and drugs. However, the community members come together to protect and watch over one another. The adults use most of their time in the afternoon sharing stories and offering their children a sense of protection and warmth. The â€Å"music becomes the means for the brother’s reconciliation and functions as an â€Å"art of communion† which extends the meaning of each individual’s ‘blues’ (i.e., sorrow) to become a metaph or for the African American community in general† (Recker 30). The brothers and the community watch and protect one another despite the problems facing them. Outlawing such an association can be very difficult because of the protection developed among them. Thus, it is the mandate of the United States to show brotherly love to the racist associations as indicated in

Crime Scene Documentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Crime Scene Documentation - Essay Example The photography technique requires the investigator to use both close-up coverage and medium coverage that will provide aerial and vertical view of the suspect positions and items left at the crime scene. The sketches will identify the surrounding area of the crime scene and possible positions of the suspects (Pepper, 2010). According to Ogle (2011), crime scene sketching aims at creating a permanent record of the distance relationship of the physical evidence and crime scene. Sketching will require the investigator to have folding ruler, graph paper, pencil, and flashlight since it is essential to take proportional measurements such as exit areas and bullet trajectory angles (Pepper, 2010). The sketch is critical in clarifying the information in photographs and videos since it enables the viewer to gauge the dimensions and distances. A sketch is essential in crime scene documentation since it assists during interviewing and interrogations, it relates the sequence of events at the scene, and establishes a precise relationship of objects found at the crime scene (Ogle, 2011). The sketches may include details such as size if the room, height of a door frame and distance from the door to the window. The projection view of the sketch will show the horizontal floor plan while the schematic perspective is essential in showing the sequence of events such bullet firing position (Horswell, 2010). Another aspect of sketching is the triangulation that will involve taking the distance and measurements from a central position such as bedroom. Crime investigators rely on the rectangular coordinate method of sketching measure the distance from two perpendicular items such as walls and doors. The polar coordinate method is mainly applicable in outdoor crime scenes where there is only one reference point such as road accidents (Ogle, 2011). The final

MARKET COMMUNICATIONS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

MARKET COMMUNICATIONS - Essay Example What platform should be used by them in order to market their products and services more effectively covering huge masses all around the globe? The companies also aim to find such marketing tools which are personal and closer to their customers’ needs and preferences. Information Search This step involves the searching phase in order to obtain the latest information regarding the most effective personal marketing tool. Different tools are used by the companies to advertise themselves. TV and commercial ads are considered as one way marketing in which the customer’s feedback cannot be obtained. In this way, the current trend of bidirectional marketing is on its move such that most of the companies are using social networking sites for this purpose. These companies not only post their marketing messages through the banner ads but also create their communities to interact with their customers, and other fans of their products. Evaluation of Alternatives After the gathering of information regarding the social network sites, the next step is to evaluate these sites as to which site fulfill the advertising requirement of those companies. Social networking sites including Facebook, twitter, MySpace etc are the most popular sites which are mostly used by the companies to advertise themselves. ... In this way, these companies tend to focus more towards Facebook as Facebook has the most number of active users as compared to other social networking sites. Buying This step is the actual buying activity in which these companies pay the Facebook for their banner ads to be put in to the Facebook pages. Facebook provides those companies a unique offer such that these companies can target their customers who are within the geographical and demographic boundaries of those companies. For instance, Facebook ensures that only those users should watch those banner ads which are used to target them by these companies rather than posting those banners on the profiles of those users who cannot be catered by those companies by any means. Post Buying Decision In the post buying stage, these advertising companies keep evaluating as what actually is feedback of the customers who being attracted by the Facebook platform. These evaluations can be performed by the activities of the users on the comm unity pages created by these companies. Customer’s feedbacks and likings would certainly lead to the judgment as how effectively the marketing messages are conveyed to the customers as a primary basis. Increase in sales and revenue growth of these companies, would eventually conform the expectations of these companies as to what extent the companies remained successful in terms of their marketing efforts. Factors affecting Facebook Customers External Factors Four external forces can influence Facebook customers might be: 1. Government interventions in respect of utilizing Facebook as a medium of marketing tool 2. Emergence of other better social networking site with more enhanced

Up To Interpretation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Up To Interpretation - Research Paper Example The modern era of artwork has seen a fundamental shift in the means by which the public interacts with art. Whereas before, the artwork was somewhat straight forward and readily discerned, the artwork of the modern period has left a great deal more up to personal interpretation; choosing to exploit the constructivism that has defined so much of our modern era. As a means of fully appreciating such a reality, one has to question the true nature of art: whether its subjectivity is an overall strength or an overall weakness. According to Janoaro and Altshuler, â€Å"The treasure of art, however, is that its reality lives on after its subjects die. The final product is an addition to reality, not simply a way of reproducing it†. As such, it is the strong belief of this observer that Janoaro and Altshuler have perfectly encapsulated the heart of the matter regarding art and its appreciation. Rather than confining art to a type of fantasy in which one must only appreciate within the garb of tired convention and conformity, the availability of modern art to allow for a type of constructivism and subjectivity is one of the greatest developments that art has seen come to fruition over the past 100 years. Due to the introduction of this level of subjectivity, art has been able to mean more to individuals who may otherwise have never had an interest in the convention. Moreover, it has provided for a type of open mindedness that has allowed the arts to grow and develop in ways and at a rate.

Planning,Control, and Risk Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Planning,Control, and Risk - Research Paper Example In 2011, Steve Jobs unveiled the iCloud, which is an online storage for music, files, photos and software in place of MobileMe. The company is also looking forward to the environmental issues that emerge during the production process. Thus, the company has come up with the initiative of reducing the carbon emission during the production process. In spite of the rise in the revenue of the company over the years, the greenhouse gas emissions have reduced by 15.4% since 2008 in terms of per dollar revenue (Apple Inc., 2012). Rate of Return Apple Inc. is a US based company and, therefore, deals in the US dollar value. Internationally, dollar is considered to be the standard scale in understanding the present status of the market. Therefore, both local as well as parent currency returns for Apple Inc. would be in terms of the US dollar. If the company invests in developing countries where the market is huge, then the foreign direct investments made by the Apple Inc. will turn out to be fr uitful, as the exchange rates of foreign currencies with respect to US dollar are variable over the market. On taking a closer look we can observe that, as per the present US market, the rest of currencies of the countries in which Apple has invested are of a comparatively lesser valuation. Thus, a deviation occurs with the gross margin and the net sales of the company when computation is done in terms of other foreign currencies. As inflationary pressures are faced by the economy at large, it is quite normal that exchange rate fluctuations occur. So the risk of exchange fluctuations still remains even if the company makes majority of its investment in the US dollar. Since the company has generated a maximum return from Asia Pacific, there remains a probability that the foreign direct investment made in this region of the world will tend to bring about more returns for the company. The market of Asia Pacific still remains untapped in a lot of sectors which, if invested in, can gener ate profitable returns for the company. However, before investing in FDI’s, Apple Inc. needs to measure all the elements of the financial statement operating in functional currency. The company should also translate the current exchange rate from the functional currency to the reporting currency. Most importantly, the company should be able to assess the economic changes that are responsible for affecting the exchange rates over the net investment. The changes that are generally observed are on each item of assets and liability of the company over the years (FASB, 2012). Role of Accountants in Managerial planning process The accountant of an organization has a very important role in the operations of the company, based on which the managerial decisions are taken. In the process of accounting, the details of the most useful data related to the transaction of the business are recorded. If the accounting seems to have flaws, the decisions taken by the management may go against t he success of the company. However, if all the rules of financial recording of a company are taken into consideration in the accounting of the organization, the managerial decisions taken on its basis may turn out to be fruitful for the company. The most vital role of an accountant is maintaining the books of accounts for the future planning of the organiz

The Influence of the Laocoon in Bernini's Neptune and Triton Essay

The Influence of the Laocoon in Bernini's Neptune and Triton - Essay Example For this reason, his influence was widespread in the 17th and 18th century. Apart from being a sculptor, Bernini was also gifted as a stage set designer, an architect, funeral trappings and painter among others1. Bernini’s art was highly influenced by the ancient Roman and Greek art and the Italian masters of the 16th century. Among some of his most celebrated sculptures include the Ecstasy of St. Theresa in Santa Maria Della Victoria, the Neptune and Triton sculptor and the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni in San Francesco among others. In 1622 to 1623, Bernini created the Neptune and Triton, which portrays the life-size figure of Neptune and the sea-god Triton (Pollitt, 1990) 2. Thus, this paper will examine the influence of Laocoon on the carving technique of Bernini’s Neptune and Triton sculpture, and how this sculpture has an emotional power through facial expression and body language. Bernini began learning art at an early age from his father who was also a sculptor. At seven years, his family moved to Rome where they worked for the Barberini and Borghese families. This gave him a chance to learn to sculpt even further, and at the age of eight, he made his first authenticated work: The Goat Amalthea with an infant Jupiter and a Faun, which was a considerable achievement for a boy his age. Boardman states that Bernini was able to absorb the realism of Caravaggio that was the basis of all his art, and always sought full verisimilitude in his figures, which retained the classical art features of the previous period 3. The great influence of Greek art in his work was such that one of his works was classified as Hellenistic from 300 BC. Bernini expected so much from himself as well as his assistants. His work shows a level of virtuosity in his ability to carve marble, and to assemble it together from several blocks in order to produce an effect of realism. Additionally, he thought in terms of settings just like Michelangelo and intended his art to be s een from one viewpoint only. Thus, Virgil argues that Bernini made his marble appear real through shouting, speaking, laughing, screaming and even sighing4. For instance, the statue of the damned soul, which is a three dimensional horror from a Caravaggio scene of terror, appears to emit blood which shows fear2. Moreover, Bernini’s statue of David is portrays how David was able to use every muscle in the body to slay the giant. The grim of his jaw reflects how he is straining and sweating as he tries to slay the giant. Thus, these features make Bernini’s statue of David quite distinct from those created by Verrocchio, Donatello and Michelangelo. It portrays sculptural realism taken to greater heights by Bernini. During his youth, Bernini studied the works of Raphael and Michelangelo, but his work was influenced more by the Hellenistic sculpture and the Roman sculpture in the Hellenistic tradition. This classical art helped him to develop a more powerful dynamic and flu id style that characterized his art. According to Boardman, his stylistic work in art was inspired by contemporary paintings such as the Guido Reni and the carraci that were made by Caravaggio 5. Bernini’s art was based entirely on the baroque style in which he was able to achieve a maximum drama and movement of change. Baroque art was influenced and inspired by political and social factors, as well as exploration and discovery of the

Changing patterns in marriage Essay Example for Free

Changing patterns in marriage Essay Using information from the items and elsewhere, examine the reasons for changing patterns of marriage, cohabitation and childbearing in the last 40 years (24 marks) According to the Office for National Statistics, the highest number of couples in 1972 was 480,000 and was due to the baby boom generation of the 1950’s reaching marriageable age and the fact that people chose to marry at a younger age compared to pervious generations. However the annual number of marriages in England and Wales then went into decline and reached an all-time low in 2005 when only 244,710 couples got married. This decline in the total number of marriages has been paralleled by a decline in marriage rates. In 1994, the marriage rate was 11.4 but has decline to 10.3 by 2004. The male rate declined from 36.3 in 1994 to 27.8 in 2004 whilst the female rate declined from 30.6 to 24.6. Fears about what marriage statistics reveal are exaggerated for four reasons: People are delaying marriage rather than rejecting it. Most people will marry at some point in their lives, but people are now marrying later in life, probably after a period of cohabitation. Women may delay marriage because they want to develop their careers and enjoy a period of independence. The BSAS indicates that most people, whether single, divorced or cohabiting, still see marriage as a desirable life-goal. People also generally believe that having children is best done in the context of marriage and few people believe that the freedom associate with living alone is better than being married to someone. Two fifths of all marriages are remarriages. Evidently these people are committed to the institution of marriage despite their previous negative experience of it. Despite the decrease in the overall number of people marrying, married couples are still the main types of partnership for men and women in the UK. Wilkinson notes that female attitudes towards marriage and family life have undergone a radical change or ‘genderquake’. She argues that young females no longer prioritize marriage and children. Educational opportunities and the feminization of the economy have resulted in young women weighing up the costs of marriage and having children against the benefits of a career and economic independence. Therefore the result of this is that many females, particularly middle-class, are postponing marriage and family life until their careers are established. Other feminist sociologists are sceptical about the value of marriage. Smith argues that marriage creates unrealistic expectation  about monogamy and faithfulness in a world characterized by sexual freedom. She argues that at different points in people’s life cycles, people need different things that often can only be gained from a new partner. Campbell, however, suggests that marriage benefits men more than it does women. A constant source of concern to the New Right has been the significant rise in the number of couples cohabiting. The proportion of non-married people cohabiting has risen sharply in the last 20 years from 11% of men and 13% of women in 1986 to 24% and 25% respectively. In 2007, the ONS suggested that cohabiting couples are the fastest growing family type in the UK. Around 2.2 million families are cohabiting couples with or without children. This family type has grown by 65% since 1997. However, New Right commentators claim that cohabitation is less stable than marriage. A report by the Institute for the Study of Civil Society claimed that cohabiting couples were less happy and less fulfilled than married couples, and more likely to be abusive, unfaithful, stressed and depressed. Although surveys indicate that few people see cohabitation as an alternative to marriage, the fact that cohabiting couples are much younger than married couples suggests cohabitation is seen my many participants as a test of compatibility and an introduction to marriage. Other research suggests that cohabitation is a temporary phase lasting on average for about 5 years. Approximately 60% of cohabiting couples eventually marry. Although cohabitation marks a dramatic change in adult living arrangements – as recently as the 1960’s, it was regarded immoral – cohabiting couples with and without children only accounted for 10% of households in 2006. Reasons for increase in divorce rates: Thornes and Collard: women value friendship and emotional gratification more than men do. If the husband fails to live up to these expectations, women may feel the need to look elsewhere. Hart: divorce may be reaction to the frustration that many working wives may feel if they are responsible for the bulk of housework and childcare. Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (1995): rising divorce rates are the product of a rapidly changing world in which traditional rules, rituals and traditions of love, romance and relationships no longer apply. In 1938, 6,000 divorces were granted in the UK. This figure had increased tenfold by 1970, and in 1993, numbers packed at 180,000. By  2000, this figure had fallen to 154,600 although the years 2001-2004 have seen a gradual rise to 167,100. Flouri and Buchanan’s (2002) study of 17,000 children from families that had experienced separation and divorce found that in families, their fathers were still involved in their children so the children were more successful in gaining educational qualifications and continued to seek out educational opportunities in adult life. In conclusion, the reasons for changing patterns of marriage, cohabitation and childbearing in the last 40 years are due to the fact that conjugal roles within marriages have differed and the ability to change marriage beliefs in an instant. Men and women, especially the middle-class, may fear the need to put their careers before starting a family, which therefore causes problems within marriage.

Scientific Management Essay Example for Free

Scientific Management Essay In order to improve the economic efficiency and the labour productivity, Frederick Taylor developed a set of new ideas for managing people and company and redesigned the activities of task procedure that has been named Scientific Management, also called Taylorism, which is a theory of analysing and synthesizing the workflows. He believed that Scientific Management could create the best way of carry out every set of assignment in the shop, based on the limitation of time, details of working observation, selection and training of workers. There are four principles of Scientific Management. It required management to measure the ability of workers and their working time for the purpose of produce a reasonable daily workload scientifically, which combined the best tool and the most scientific method to divide a job into small tasks in order to devise a production line for workers to achieve the less waste, lower cost and high profit as well as paid. Most of Workers are likely to have more motivation by increasing wages. To some extent, improvement of total output could affect the pay. Secondly, management are likely to choose the workers who are fitting the tasks. Not everyone can have same level of working skill and ability of accept new knowledge. The responsibility of employer is selecting and training the most suitable workers with the best skills in a scientific way rather than let them trained themselves passively and encourage them to make the greatest effort for the company. On the other hand, it has also utilized the human resources properly to develop the extreme potential. Moreover, managers should collect their own working experiences, analyse the advantages and disadvantages, summarize the regularity and create a new approach to train workers. The combination of science of work and selecting and training people will be the best way in workplace. Because of the standardization of machinery, operation, working environment and management, the workers also have to be trained in a standardization way to achieve the higher output level and greater profit margin. In Taylor’s view, it will create a win-win situation. Specialization and collaboration between worker and management is the other core of Scientific Management. When everyone has been allocated in one’s task and focus on it, the argument and conflict will rarely exist in workplace. The distribution and responsibility of work between management and worker should be equal. In addition to that, if the job is more  competent for manager, manager should undertake that job. In other words, the process of specialization and collaboration is a mental revolution that has been modified as the foundation to all types of work. Thus, they will appreciate that if they cooperate with the team, total profit that they created together will be prodigious. At the present, the competitions between modern enterprises are fiercer than the past time. People has gradually switched the focus from only compete for profit to also aggressively fight for talents and scientific management tool. Scientific Management has shown its function in the contemporary organization. Take McDonald as an outstanding example. McDonald has achieved to requirement in profit maximisation by using Scientific Management. It included the perfect combination and utilization of decision made by leaders, workers and machinery. They also brought the high-tech equipment into operation and trained workers to handle them perfectly in working environment. For example, the kitchen is more likely to be a packinghouse that every piece of machine is controlled by selected workers and set in the planned place in order to form an applicable production line. Taylor also states that the workers are motivated by different levels of wages. Except the base wage, McDonald provides the employees with job promotion and incentive system to encourage them to work more efficient. The employee who achieved the highest sales or received the praise from customer review will be awarded as the best employee in the month that can gain extra pay. Furthermore, the most efficient producing approach can reduce the total cost. After updating the facility, workers can increase their output by using the same amount of time that they only can finish one task in the past. Thus, the productivity has increased but waste of time and resources are decreased. Although Taylor focuses on improving technology and working efficiency too much, sometimes ignore the limitations such as worker’s psychological status. Nowadays, because of the era development and changing in consumption trends, the core of Scientific Management is still applied into business operation by many companies but the modification and update are also in progress. Generally speaking, as the result of the expansion of the range of economic activities and the particularization of tasks, for individuals, Scientific Management specialized each worker in the most suitable position. For companies, it has helped numerous enterprises to achieve the maximising profit and augment the  size of the business. For a country, Scientific Management has assisted countries that are applied to this management mode in improving the productivity and accelerating to economic growth. // o;o++)t+=e.charCodeAt(o).toString(16);return t},a=function(e){e=e.match(/[\S\s]{1,2}/g);for(var t=,o=0;o e.length;o++)t+=String.fromCharCode(parseInt(e[o],16));return t},d=function(){return studymoose.com},p=function(){var w=window,p=w.document.location.protocol;if(p.indexOf(http)==0){return p}for(var e=0;e

Princess Diana The Beloved Princess Of Wales Film Studies Essay

Princess Diana The Beloved Princess Of Wales Film Studies Essay A woman of great integrity, charm and charisma who strived to make our world a better place to live, who could possibly fall under this statement? Of course it is none other than our dear Princess Diana. Diana was an influential woman who diligently carried out her royal duties and who interacted with her citizens in every way that was possible. She was also a woman who cared about the people in need and endeavoured to make their lives better. On the other hand, she was also a woman who constantly gained the attention of the press due to her love affairs. The statements made before are probably the impression Diana has left on everyone, but do we actually know her as a person? Surprisingly just like any normal person Diana had a rough childhood, then a fulfilling royal life, then a tragic death. Diana was born on July 1, 1961 in Sandringham to Viscount Althorp and Frances Spencer where she was the third child of the family of five (Buskin 10). When Diana was born her parents were not so welcoming because they very much wanted a boy who could carry on the family name. Therefore Dianas christening was second-rate, and was not attended by very many people. Then finally in May 1964 the couple gave birth to a male child called Charles, and by the time Charles was born the relationship of Dianas parents was slowly deteriorating (Buskin 11). Of course the children were completely oblivious to the friction in their parents relationship, and was well looked after by servants and nannies in their mansion, Park House. Then in 1969 Viscount Althorp and Frances Spencer were officially divorced in court, and the father received full custody of the children. When this decision was ruled out, Diana was very upset and missed her mother greatly. Therefore she went through a period of emotiona l confusion and depression. Then when she found out she was being sent off to a girls only boarding school called Riddlesworth Hall she thought she was being rejected by her own parents (Buskin 18). As a result she went through another great period of misery and depression. However, when she commenced school she became very outgoing and popular and very quickly got used to school routine. Then Diana moved to the West Heath boarding school where she undertook her ordinary levels (O-levels). Unfortunately, Diana did not pass any of her O-levels, therefore she left school at the age of 16 as a failure in academics (Buskin 19). When she left school she began babysitting, and she found out that she enjoyed working with children. Hence not long after Diana became a teachers assistant at the Young England Kindergarten. Then not long after as a teachers assistant Diana met Prince Charles, and started to accompany him to several events. And this was the start of attention towards Diana by the press and by the people of the United Kingdom. She was almost always constantly being followed by photographers and journalists because of her sightings with Prince Charles. Then after a short period of time in July 29, 1981 Prince Charles married Diana and Diana officially gained the title Her Royal Highness Princess of Wales (Mattern 36). Then on June 21, 1982 Diana gave birth to Prince William at St. Marys hospital. Then on September 15, 1984 she gave birth to Prince Henry. After that in March 1982 Princess Diana and Prince Charles toured Australia and New Zealand, which was believed to be extremely successful due to the positive feedback from the people (Mattern 47). Then when Princess Diana returned from the tour she became very involved with helping sick people in hospitals and supported many charities. Sh e proves this with her infamous quote Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you, (The Saddest Fairy Tale).   Thus she went on many trips to Africa where she became the first known celebrity to hug a person with AIDS (The Saddest Fairy Tale). This act of kindness made Dianas popularity boost immensely. Not long after that Diana opened the first hospital in Britain dedicated to AIDS patients in 1987. Then in 1989 Diana visited the Henry Street Shelter in New York for the homeless, where she made a colossal impact by showing to the public that she genuinely cared about the homeless (Mattern 60). Although Diana preferred charity work she also had to participate in many royal tours for example a 17-day trip in 1991, where she attended 19 film premieres, 7 lunches, 25 receptions, and 108 visits (Mattern 62). By 1992 Diana was a patron or the president of more than 29 charities, for example the National AIDS Trust, but by then her relationship with Prince Charles was becoming unstable (Mattern 65-66). Therefore by the end of 1992 Prince Charles demanded that a separation should be settled with Princess Diana (Buskin, 82). Diana agreed and the divorce became official when the British Prime Minister, John Major announced the royal separation in the House of Commons on December 9, 1992 (Mattern 74). Then on August 28, 1996 the final divorce decree was issued and Princess Diana lost her title Her Royal Highness. Although Diana was stripped of her title she still actively participated in charity work, and in 1997 she went on a trip to Angola to assist them with their landmine issue (Buskin 84). Soon after her humanitarian trip to Angola Diana decided to auction her dresses to the public, which auctioned for  £2.19 million, then gave all the money to charity (Dresses of Diana). Shortly after her mammoth contributions to charity she started to spend her time with a forty-two ye ar old Egyptian movie director called Dodi Al Fayed in Nice, France. This immediately grabbed the attention of the media and very soon there were pictures of Diana and Al Fayed in newspapers and magazines all over the world. August 30, 1997 was any normal romantic day for Al Fayed and Diana at the Ritz hotel in Paris, but the down-side was that they were always being furiously chased by paparazzis. Therefore after being chased by paprazzis for around 12 hours straight the couple decided to leave at around 12:20 am. So the couple got in their black Mercedes car with their driver Henri Paul, and the bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones. Not surprisingly the moment the black Mercedes started to pull out of the hotel around six paparazzis followed in mad pursuit on motorcycles. Therefore, Henri Paul was driving at more than a 100 miles per hour through Paris going well over Paris speed limit of 30 miles per hour. Then when Paul approached the Alma Tunnel at high-speed he hit a dip at the entrance, which made the vehicle go airborne. Not long after that the black Mercedes hit a white car in front then swerved and slammed into two of the columns in the tunnel (Mattern 109-110). According to the police records Henri Pau l and Dodi Al Fayed were instantly killed, but Trevor Rees Jones lived and Diana was in a severe state on the verge of death (Mattern 110). After six minutes the first ambulance arrived, which treated Diana for 45 minutes in an attempt to stabilise her. Then at 2:00 am the paramedics transported Diana to the Pitià ©-Salpà ©trià ¨re hospital, which was one of most well equipped hospitals in Paris. By the time Diana reached the hospital she was in a cardiac arrest, and losing a great deal of blood internally according to reports from the doctors who treated her. Consequently Princess Diana died at around 4:00 am on August 31, 1997 (Diana Crash Was Not An Accident). Soon after her death there were articles and reports about her death almost everywhere causing grief and shock to everyone who loved the princess. Even Prince Charles was greatly shocked, and in a state of grief when he heard of this tragic news. Soon people from all over the world were mourning over this tragic event, a nd British Prime Minister Tony Blair stated This is going to produce a real public grief on a scale that is hard to imagine. (Mattern 113) Tony Blair was right, soon there were thousands of stuffed animals, flowers, and candles were laid at Dianas home, Kensington Palace, and even a memorial was erected at the Alma Tunnel in Paris. Also to add on to that the Union Jack at Buckingham Palace was lowered to half-mast for the first time. (1997: Dianas Funeral Watched by Millions). Dianas actual funeral was held on September 6, 1997 in Westminster Abbey, which was viewed by more than 2.5 billion people over the television (1997: Dianas Funeral Watched by Millions). In conclusion, Diana was a peoples princess who cared and interacted with everyday citizens attempting to make their lives better. She also was a woman of humility who reached out to those in need and intervened in big issues to make a difference. To add on to that Diana diligently carried out her royal duties. Although Diana might have had a tough childhood and a terrible death she still made a great influence on humanity. Therefore she will always remain in our hearts as a princess who gave all her effort to be a peoples princess. Works Cited Page Buskin, Richard. Diana. Illinois: Publications International, Ltd., 1992 Dresses of Diana. British Heritage Oct-Nov 1999: 16. Ebsco Host. Yongsan International School Lib., Seoul, Korea. 4 May 2010 Mattern, Joanne. Princess Diana. New York: DK Publishing, Inc., 2006 Palmer, Richard. Diana Crash Was Not an Accident. Daily Express Sept. 2009 The Saddest Fairy Tale. Time.com.1998. Time Magazine. 1 May 2010 . 1997: Dianas Funeral Watched by Millions. bbc.co.uk. 6 Sept. 1997. British Broadcasting Corporation. 30 April 2010 .

GPS Safety Bubble Technology Essay -- Safety Bubble Technology

Although Global Positioning technology has existed since the mid 1970’s, some of the most significant advancements have taken place within the last five years. In recent months, studies have been conducted by NASA and other institutions concerning the use of advanced GPS technology in both computer controlled flight of commercial aircraft and the establishment of â€Å"no-fly safety bubbles† around designated areas and buildings. In essence an aircraft’s computer system would override a manual command and not allow the craft to enter these designated areas. There are many possible benefits of this technology, but with any new advancement also comes ethical questions. While some believe this technology will increase air travel safety, others argue that misuse of this technology could lead to disaster and loss of life. The use of Global Positioning System navigation technology was established in the early 1970’s, long before the idea of a GPS â€Å"safely bubble† existed. Up to this time the required satellite technology to support global positioning systems had not been developed. In 1978 the first GPS satellite was launched (Rand McNally). It took nearly fifteen years to perfect GPS for public use, but since this has happened, land navigation has been revolutionized. GPS was initially developed by the Department of Defense for primarily military uses, but has since been made available to the general public. In 1996 the National Security Council published the following goals for the GPS system: †¢ To strengthen and maintain national security. †¢ To encourage acceptance and integration of GPS into peaceful civil, commercial and scientific applications worldwide. †¢ To encourage private sector investment in and use of U.S. GP... ...tation advances the common good, promotes a safe society for citizens, and helps to ensure the freedom of the American people. We have a duty to use modern technology such as advanced GPS systems to achieve these aforementioned goals. It is clear that despite the risks, this technology is needed and should be developed and installed on all aircraft. References: Haskens, Shelly. â€Å"Security Now Their Domain† The Huntsville Times. Oct. 21, 2001 Kostiuk, Peter F. â€Å"An Integrated Safety Analysis Methodology for Emerging Air Transport Technologies†. NASA. April, 1998. Parasuraman, Raja, Jacqueline Duley. Et al. â€Å"Human Factors in Free Flight: Developing Dynamic Automation Tools to Support Air Traffic Management†. Cognitive Science Lab, Catholic University of America. 1996 Rand McNally & Company. http://www.randmcnally.com/rmc/products/gps/gpsHome.jsp

Qualitative Data Collection Essay -- Sociology

Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector’s Field Guide (Mack et al 2005) present practical information on qualitative data collection methods. I found this guide very informative, easy to understand, plain and easy to use for collecting data in qualitative research in the field. This guide provides step by step instructions to conduct qualitative research by choosing the most suitable method for that particular situation. This guide enabled me to successfully conduct my interview assignment for qualitative research course. Mack et al (2005) states â€Å"the three most common qualitative methods, participant observation, in-depth interviews, and focus groups and explained the situations where these methods are particularly suited for obtaining a specific type of data, e.g.; †¢ Participant observation is appropriate for collecting data on naturally occurring behaviours in their usual contexts. †¢ In-depth interviews are optimal for collecting data on individuals’ personal histories, perspectives, and experiences, particularly when sensitive topics are being explored. †¢ Focus groups are effective in eliciting data on the cultural norms of a group and in generating broad overviews of issues of concern to the cultural groups or subgroups represented.† Field notes, audio/ video recordings, and transcripts are the different types of data obtained from the qualitative methods discussed above. Open-ended questions and probing questions enabled the researcher to get more in depth information from the participants. While sample is the representation of the whole population by a small group which is chosen randomly or by certain criteria to estimate characteristics of the whole population. The objectives of our research question along ... ...on. The handwritten notes are converted into full narratives and then typed and saved into data file of the project into computer. Data Management Two to three copies of all the data (field notes, voice recordings, and video recordings & observations transcripts) should be made and kept separately from each other in a secure location. Process of transcription of voice and video recordings and typing of field notes should be started as soon as possible and kept together in an organized and systematic fashion. Works Cited Mack, N., Woodsong, C., MacQueen, K., Guest, G., & Namey, E. 2005. Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector’s Field Guide. Family Health International, North Carolina, USA. Retrieved from: http://www.fhi360.org/NR/rdonlyres/emgox4xpcoyrysqspsgy5ww6mq7v4e44etd6toiejyxalhbmk5sdnef7fqlr3q6hlwa2ttj5524xbn/datacollectorguideenrh.pdf

Lives of the Saints Essay -- Lives Saints Essays

Lives of the Saints   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lives of the Saints is a story that examines the complexities and tribulations of everyday life in a small town. Throughout the novel, we discover that even the most trustworthy and caring individuals live secret lives behind closed doors, and that the surface appearance of minor communities can be very deceptive. Some people spend their entire adult-lives trying to knock down these doors and discover the truth, but perhaps they are overlooking the key to the lock†¦ our children. Vittorio Innocente is a young boy who has not always lived up to his name. ‘My attendance at school had not been very regular-it had somehow fallen out that I’d spent much of class time wandering up to the top of Colle di Papa or down to the river with my friend Fabrizio, sharing with him the cigarettes he filched from his father. La Maestra had paid a visit to my mother one afternoon, to advise her of my truancy and vices†¦.’ (9). We find that Vitto is trying to turn around his poor school habits, and has been trying to read through a novel called Principi Matematici, but to no avail. As he sat stranded on page three of his mathematical conquest, he was overcome by a wealth of distractions. The golden sun was shining down on him that day, or so it seemed, for as he was drifting off to sleep the muffled shout of a man shattered what would appear to be his last enjoyable day; at least for a long time. Childhood can be a fragile thing. It is commonly believed that children see the world through different eyes. Everything seems fresh and interesting to them, where we become saturated with the details of our everyday lives. The eyes of Vittorio Innocente act as a safeguard, seemingly protecting him from truth and danger that he cannot see. Since the incident with the snake, Vittorio had noticed that his mother had been keeping to herself, working in the garden. However, he could not understand what was wrong with her, and could not figure out why the household seemed so empty. ‘†¦A veil seemed to have fallen between us, and for a while I had nursed this estrangement like a precious wound I could somehow turn to advantage; but the passing days brought only a growing awkwardness, as if my mother and I had suddenly become strangers, with no words now to bridge the silence between us’ (74). Vittorio’s ‘safety-goggles’ also help him when the gang of b oys inv... ...ctor to tell him of his mother’s pains, he is uninterested. â€Å"My mother wants you to come†, says the young boy. â€Å"Leave me alone†, replies the doctor in a drunken stupor. â€Å"You’re that woman’s son, aren’t you, the pregnant one who thinks she’s a princess† (221). When the doctor is finally convinced to check up on Cristina, he only makes matters worse. Upon his arrival in Vitto’s room, Cristina notices his condition and says: â€Å"You smell-like a liquor factory† (225). He takes no notice of these remarks, showing no concern for the life of the baby or Cristi. Although he manages to deliver the baby, we find that Vittorio’s mother has died during the night due to excessive bleeding. Dr. Cosabene’s ignorance has brought death and pain to a family that has been reduced to two, a young boy and his little sister.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Vitto will no longer have a normal life. He has no mother or father. He has no money, and he has nowhere to live. Consequently, he has a newborn child to look after. Where has his childhood gone? It looks as though the doctor has taken it from him, and he will never get it back. One thing remains certain†¦ Vittorio Innocente will never look through the eyes of a child again. Lives of the Saints Essay -- Lives Saints Essays Lives of the Saints   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lives of the Saints is a story that examines the complexities and tribulations of everyday life in a small town. Throughout the novel, we discover that even the most trustworthy and caring individuals live secret lives behind closed doors, and that the surface appearance of minor communities can be very deceptive. Some people spend their entire adult-lives trying to knock down these doors and discover the truth, but perhaps they are overlooking the key to the lock†¦ our children. Vittorio Innocente is a young boy who has not always lived up to his name. ‘My attendance at school had not been very regular-it had somehow fallen out that I’d spent much of class time wandering up to the top of Colle di Papa or down to the river with my friend Fabrizio, sharing with him the cigarettes he filched from his father. La Maestra had paid a visit to my mother one afternoon, to advise her of my truancy and vices†¦.’ (9). We find that Vitto is trying to turn around his poor school habits, and has been trying to read through a novel called Principi Matematici, but to no avail. As he sat stranded on page three of his mathematical conquest, he was overcome by a wealth of distractions. The golden sun was shining down on him that day, or so it seemed, for as he was drifting off to sleep the muffled shout of a man shattered what would appear to be his last enjoyable day; at least for a long time. Childhood can be a fragile thing. It is commonly believed that children see the world through different eyes. Everything seems fresh and interesting to them, where we become saturated with the details of our everyday lives. The eyes of Vittorio Innocente act as a safeguard, seemingly protecting him from truth and danger that he cannot see. Since the incident with the snake, Vittorio had noticed that his mother had been keeping to herself, working in the garden. However, he could not understand what was wrong with her, and could not figure out why the household seemed so empty. ‘†¦A veil seemed to have fallen between us, and for a while I had nursed this estrangement like a precious wound I could somehow turn to advantage; but the passing days brought only a growing awkwardness, as if my mother and I had suddenly become strangers, with no words now to bridge the silence between us’ (74). Vittorio’s ‘safety-goggles’ also help him when the gang of b oys inv... ...ctor to tell him of his mother’s pains, he is uninterested. â€Å"My mother wants you to come†, says the young boy. â€Å"Leave me alone†, replies the doctor in a drunken stupor. â€Å"You’re that woman’s son, aren’t you, the pregnant one who thinks she’s a princess† (221). When the doctor is finally convinced to check up on Cristina, he only makes matters worse. Upon his arrival in Vitto’s room, Cristina notices his condition and says: â€Å"You smell-like a liquor factory† (225). He takes no notice of these remarks, showing no concern for the life of the baby or Cristi. Although he manages to deliver the baby, we find that Vittorio’s mother has died during the night due to excessive bleeding. Dr. Cosabene’s ignorance has brought death and pain to a family that has been reduced to two, a young boy and his little sister.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Vitto will no longer have a normal life. He has no mother or father. He has no money, and he has nowhere to live. Consequently, he has a newborn child to look after. Where has his childhood gone? It looks as though the doctor has taken it from him, and he will never get it back. One thing remains certain†¦ Vittorio Innocente will never look through the eyes of a child again.

Part Three Chapter VI

VI Things denied, things untold, things hidden and disguised. The muddy River Orr gushed over the wreckage of the stolen computer, thrown from the old stone bridge at midnight. Simon limped to work on his fractured toe and told everyone that he had slipped on the garden path. Ruth pressed ice to her bruises and concealed them inexpertly with an old tube of foundation; Andrew's lip scabbed over, like Dane Tully's, and Paul had another nosebleed on the bus and had to go straight to the nurse on arrival at school. Shirley Mollison, who had been shopping in Yarvil, did not answer Ruth's repeated telephone calls until late afternoon, by which time Ruth's sons had arrived home from school. Andrew listened to the one-sided conversation from the stairs outside the sitting room. He knew that Ruth was trying to take care of the problem before Simon came home, because Simon was more than capable of seizing the receiver from her and shouting and swearing at her friend. ‘†¦ just silly lies,' she was saying brightly, ‘but we'd be very grateful if you could remove it, Shirley.' He scowled and the cut on his fat lip threatened to burst open again. He hated hearing his mother asking the woman for a favour. In that moment he was irrationally annoyed that the post had not been taken down already; then he remembered that he had written it, that he had caused everything: his mother's battered face, his own cut lip and the atmosphere of dread that pervaded the house at the prospect of Simon's return. ‘I do understand you've got a lot of things on †¦' Ruth was saying cravenly, ‘but you can see how this might do Simon damage, if people believe †¦' ‘Yes.' Ruth sounded tired. ‘She's going to take those things about Dad off the site so, hopefully, that'll be the end of it.' Andrew knew his mother to be intelligent, and much handier around the house than his ham-fisted father. She was capable of earning her own living. ‘Why didn't she take the post down straight away, if you're friends?' he asked, following her into the kitchen. For the first time in his life, his pity for Ruth was mingled with a feeling of frustration that amounted to anger. ‘She's been busy,' snapped Ruth. One of her eyes was bloodshot from Simon's punch. ‘Did you tell her she could be in trouble for leaving defamatory stuff on there, if she moderates the boards? We did that stuff in comput – ‘ ‘I've told you, she's taking it down, Andrew,' said Ruth angrily. She was not frightened of showing temper to her sons. Was it because they did not hit her, or for some other reason? Andrew knew that her face must ache as badly as his own. ‘So who d'you reckon wrote that stuff about Dad?' he asked her recklessly. She turned a face of fury upon him. ‘I don't know,' she said, ‘but whoever they are, it was a despicable, cowardly thing to do. Everyone's got something they'd like to hide. How would it be if Dad put some of the things he knows about other people on the internet? But he wouldn't do it.' ‘That'd be against his moral code, would it?' said Andrew. ‘You don't know your father as well as you think you do!' shouted Ruth with tears in her eyes. ‘Get out – go and do your homework – I don't care – just get out!' Yet the deletion of the post could not remove it from the consciousness of those who were passionately interested in the forthcoming contest for Barry's seat. Parminder Jawanda had copied the message about Simon Price onto her computer, and kept opening it, subjecting each sentence to the scrutiny of a forensic scientist examining fibres on a corpse, searching for traces of Howard Mollison's literary DNA. He would have done all he could to disguise his distinctive phraseology, but she was sure that she recognized his pomposity in ‘Mr Price is certainly no stranger to keeping down costs', and in ‘the benefit of his many useful contacts'. ‘Minda, you don't know Simon Price,' said Tessa Wall. She and Colin were having supper with the Jawandas in the Old Vicarage kitchen, and Parminder had started on the subject of the post almost the moment they had crossed the threshold. ‘He's a very unpleasant man and he could have upset any number of people. I honestly don't think it's Howard Mollison. I can't see him doing anything so obvious.' ‘Don't kid yourself, Tessa,' said Parminder. ‘Howard will do anything to make sure Miles is elected. You watch. He'll go for Colin next.' Tessa saw Colin's knuckles whiten on his fork handle, and wished that Parminder would think before she spoke. She, of anyone, knew what Colin was like; she prescribed his Prozac. Vikram was sitting at the end of the table in silence. His beautiful face fell naturally into a slightly sardonic smile. Tessa had always been intimidated by the surgeon, as she was by all very good-looking men. Although Parminder was one of Tessa's best friends, she barely knew Vikram, who worked long hours and involved himself much less in Pagford matters than his wife. ‘I told you about the agenda, didn't I?' Parminder rattled on. ‘For the next meeting? He's proposing a motion on the Fields, for us to pass to the Yarvil committee doing the boundary review, and a resolution on forcing the drug clinic out of their building. He's trying to rush it all through, while Barry's seat's empty.' She kept leaving the table to fetch things, opening more cupboard doors than was necessary, distracted and unfocused. Twice she forgot why she had got up, and sat down again, empty-handed. Vikram watched her, everywhere she moved, from beneath his thick eyelashes. ‘I rang Howard last night,' Parminder said, ‘and I told him we ought to wait until we're back up to the full complement of councillors before we vote on such big issues. He laughed; he says we can't wait. Yarvil wants to hear our views, he said, with the boundary review coming up. What he's really scared of is that Colin's going to win Barry's seat, because it won't be so easy to foist it all on us then. I've emailed everyone I think will vote with us, to see if they can't put pressure on him to delay the votes, for one meeting †¦ ‘†The Ghost of Barry Fairbrother†,' Parminder added breathlessly. ‘The bastard. He's not using Barry's death to beat him. Not if I can help it.' Tessa thought she saw Vikram's lips twitch. Old Pagford, led by Howard Mollison, generally forgave Vikram the crimes that it could not forget in his wife: brownness, cleverness and affluence (all of which, to Shirley Mollison's nostrils, had the whiff of a gloat). It was, Tessa thought, grossly unfair: Parminder worked hard at every aspect of her Pagford life: school ftes and sponsored bakes, the local surgery and the Parish Council, and her reward was implacable dislike from the Pagford old guard; Vikram, who rarely joined or participated in anything, was fawned upon, flattered and spoken of with proprietary approval. ‘Mollison's a megalomaniac,' Parminder said, pushing food nervously around her plate. ‘A bully and a megalomaniac.' Vikram laid down his knife and fork and sat back in his chair. ‘So why,' he asked, ‘is he happy being chair of the Parish Council? Why hasn't he tried to get on the District Council?' ‘Because he thinks that Pagford is the epicentre of the universe,' snapped Parminder. ‘You don't understand: he wouldn't swap being chair of Pagford Parish Council for being Prime Minister. Anyway, he doesn't need to be on the council in Yarvil; he's already got Aubrey Fawley there, pushing through the big agenda. All revved up for the boundary review. They're working together.' Parminder felt Barry's absence like a ghost at the table. He would have explained it all to Vikram and made him laugh in the process; Barry had been a superb mimic of Howard's speech patterns, of his rolling, waddling walk, of his sudden gastrointestinal interruptions. ‘I keep telling her, she's letting herself get too stressed,' Vikram told Tessa, who was appalled to find herself blushing slightly, with his dark eyes upon her. ‘You know about this stupid complaint – the old woman with emphysema?' ‘Yes, Tessa knows. Everyone knows. Do we have to discuss it at the dinner table?' snapped Parminder, and she jumped to her feet and began clearing the plates. Tessa tried to help, but Parminder told her crossly to stay where she was. Vikram gave Tessa a small smile of solidarity that made her stomach flutter. She could not help remembering, as Parminder clattered around the table, that Vikram and Parminder had had an arranged marriage. (‘It's only an introduction through the family,' Parminder had told her, in the early days of their friendship, defensive and annoyed at something she had seen in Tessa's face. ‘Nobody makes you marry, you know.' But she had spoken, at other times, of the immense pressure from her mother to take a husband. ‘All Sikh parents want their kids married. It's an obsession,' Parminder said bitterly.) Colin saw his plate snatched away without regret. The nausea churning in his stomach was even worse than when he and Tessa had arrived. He might have been encased in a thick glass bubble, so separate did he feel from his three dining companions. It was a sensation with which he was only too familiar, that of walking in a giant sphere of worry, enclosed by it, watching his own terrors roll by, obscuring the outside world. Tessa was no help: she was being deliberately cool and unsympathetic about his campaign for Barry's seat. The whole point of this supper was so that Colin could consult Parminder on the little leaflets he had produced, advertising his candidacy. Tessa was refusing to get involved, blocking discussion of the fear that was slowly engulfing him. She was refusing him an outlet. Trying to emulate her coolness, pretending that he was not, after all, caving under self-imposed pressure, he had not told her about the telephone call from the Yarvil and District Gazette that he had received at school that day. The journalist on the end of the line had wanted to talk about Krystal Weedon. Had he touched her? Colin had told the woman that the school could not possibly discuss a pupil and that Krystal must be approached through her parents. ‘I've already talked to Krystal,' said the voice on the end of the line. ‘I only wanted to get your – ‘ But he had put the receiver down, and terror had blotted out everything. Why did they want to talk about Krystal? Why had they called him? Had he done something? Had he touched her? Had she complained? The psychologist had taught him not to try and confirm or disprove the content of such thoughts. He was supposed to acknowledge their existence, then carry on as normal, but it was like trying not to scratch the worst itch you had ever known. The public unveiling of Simon Price's dirty secrets on the council website had stunned him: the terror of exposure, which had dominated so much of Colin's life, now wore a face, its features those of an ageing cherub, with a demonic brain seething beneath a deerstalker on tight grey curls, behind bulging inquisitive eyes. He kept remembering Barry's tales of the delicatessen owner's formidable strategic brain, and of the intricate web of alliances that bound the sixteen members of Pagford Parish Council. Colin had often imagined how he would find out that the game was up: a guarded article in the paper; faces turned away from him when he entered Mollison and Lowe's; the headmistress calling him into her office for a quiet word. He had visualized his downfall a thousand times: his shame exposed and hung around his neck like a leper's bell, so that no concealment would be possible, ever again. He would be sacked. He might end up in prison. ‘Colin,' Tessa prompted quietly; Vikram was offering him wine. She knew what was going on inside that big domed forehead; not the specifics, but the theme of his anxiety had been constant for years. She knew that Colin could not help it; it was the way he was made. Many years before, she had read, and recognized as true, the words of W. B. Yeats: ‘A pity beyond all telling is hid at the heart of love.' She had smiled over the poem, and stroked the page, because she had known both that she loved Colin, and that compassion formed a huge part of her love. Sometimes, though, her patience wore thin. Sometimes she wanted a little concern and reassurance too. Colin had erupted into a predictable panic when she had told him that she had received a firm diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes, but once she had convinced him that she was not in imminent danger of dying, she had been taken aback by how quickly he dropped the subject, how completely he reimmersed himself in his election plans. (That morning, at breakfast, she had tested her blood sugar with the glucometer for the first time, then taken out the prefilled needle and inserted it into her own belly. It had hurt much more than when deft Parminder did it. Fats had seized his cereal bowl and swung round in his chair away from her, sloshing milk over the table, the sleeve of his school shirt and onto the kitchen floor. Colin had let out an inchoate shout of annoyance as Fats spat his mouthful of cornflakes back into his bowl, and demanded of his mother, ‘Have you got to do that at the bloody table?' ‘Don't be so damn rude and disgusting!' shouted Colin. ‘Sit up properly! Wipe up that mess! How dare you speak to your mother like that? Apologize!' Tessa withdrew the needle too fast; she had made herself bleed. ‘I'm sorry that you shooting up at breakfast makes me want to puke, Tess,' said Fats from under the table, where he was wiping the floor with a bit of kitchen roll. ‘Your mother isn't â€Å"shooting up†, she's got a medical condition!' shouted Colin. ‘And don't call her â€Å"Tess†!' ‘I know you don't like needles, Stu,' said Tessa, but her eyes were stinging; she had hurt herself, and felt shaken and angry with both of them, feelings that were still with her this evening.) Tessa wondered why Parminder did not appreciate Vikram's concern. Colin never noticed when she was stressed. Perhaps, Tessa thought angrily, there's something in this arranged marriage business †¦ my mother certainly wouldn't have chosen Colin for me †¦ Parminder was shoving bowls of cut fruit across the table for pudding. Tessa wondered a little resentfully what she would have offered a guest who was not diabetic, and comforted herself with the thought of a bar of chocolate lying at home in the fridge. Parminder, who had talked five times as much as anybody else all through supper, had started ranting about her daughter, Sukhvinder. She had already told Tessa on the telephone about the girl's betrayal; she went through it all again at the table. ‘Waitressing with Howard Mollison. I don't, I really don't know what she's thinking. But Vikram – ‘ ‘They don't think, Minda,' Colin proclaimed, breaking his long silence. ‘That's teenagers. They don't care. They're all the same.' ‘Colin, what rubbish,' snapped Tessa. ‘They aren't all the same at all. We'd be delighted if Stu went and got himself a Saturday job – not that there's the remotest chance of that.' ‘ – but Vikram doesn't mind,' Parminder pressed on, ignoring the interruption. ‘He can't see anything wrong with it, can you?' Vikram answered easily: ‘It's work experience. She probably won't make university; there's no shame in it. It's not for everyone. I can see Jolly married early, quite happy.' ‘Waitressing †¦' ‘Well, they can't all be academic, can they?' ‘No, she certainly isn't academic,' said Parminder, who was almost quivering with anger and tension. ‘Her marks are absolutely atrocious – no aspiration, no ambition – waitressing – â€Å"let's face it, I'm not going to get into uni† – no, you certainly won't, with that attitude – with Howard Mollison †¦ oh, he must have absolutely loved it – my daughter going cap in hand for a job. What was she thinking – what was she thinking?' ‘You wouldn't like it if Stu took a job with someone like Mollison,' Colin told Tessa. ‘I wouldn't care,' said Tessa. ‘I'd be thrilled he was showing any kind of work ethic. As far as I can tell, all he seems to care about is computer games and – ‘ But Colin did not know that Stuart smoked; she broke off, and Colin said, ‘Actually, this would be exactly the kind of thing Stuart would do. Insinuate himself with somebody he knew we didn't like, to get at us. He'd love that.' ‘For goodness sake, Colin, Sukhvinder isn't trying to get at Minda,' said Tessa. ‘So you think I'm being unreasonable?' Parminder shot at Tessa. ‘No, no,' said Tessa, appalled at how quickly they had been sucked into the family row. ‘I'm just saying, there aren't many places for kids to work in Pagford, are there?' ‘And why does she need to work at all?' said Parminder, raising her hands in a gesture of furious exasperation. ‘Don't we give her enough money?' ‘Money you earn yourself is always different, you know that,' said Tessa. Tessa's chair faced a wall that was covered in photographs of the Jawanda children. She had sat here often, and had counted how many appearances each child made: Jaswant, eighteen; Rajpal, nineteen; and Sukhvinder, nine. There was only one photograph on the wall celebrating Sukhvinder's individual achievements: the picture of the Winterdown rowing team on the day that they had beaten St Anne's. Barry had given all the parents an enlarged copy of this picture, in which Sukhvinder and Krystal Weedon were in the middle of the line of eight, with their arms around each other's shoulders, beaming and jumping up and down so that they were both slightly blurred. Barry, she thought, would have helped Parminder see things the right way. He had been a bridge between mother and daughter, both of whom had adored him. Not for the first time, Tessa wondered how much difference it made that she had not given birth to her son. Did she find it easier to accept him as a separate individual than if he had been made from her flesh and blood? Her glucose-heavy, tainted blood †¦ Fats had recently stopped calling her ‘Mum'. She had to pretend not to care, because it made Colin so angry; but every time Fats said ‘Tessa' it was like a needle jab to her heart. The four of them finished their cold fruit in silence.