Active relaxation

After doing the active relaxation techniques actually felt more relaxed and less stressed out. I usually get headaches every single day but after doing the active relaxation techniques I've only gotten a headache once instead of everyday. The techniques helped me feel more calm and less stressed because lately I've been stressed about school and getting a job.It's a great way to help you relax while you're on the go. Yoga is a form of active relaxation, and I've been doing Yoga for my ONCE 101 class. Vive always wanted to do yoga but never really pushed myself to actually start doing it until started college and it was mandatory for me to do it for hat class and I can honestly say that after doing the Yoga feel better than I've ever felt before.I'm definitely going to start doing active relaxation more often especially every time start to feel anxious or stressed out and know that it's really going to help me when it comes time to take midterms and final exams and I know it's going t o help me not get headaches as often. Another thing is that I've noticed I have more energy now than I used to before. Before used to be tired all the time, especially during class and I would struggle to keep my head up, but lately haven't really felt as tired as did before.

Christopher Columbus: Journey and Colonization

The letter reveals a sense of urgency and uncertainty in Columbus derived from the intimation between world powers over the Island of Espanola and the unknown direction the New World would take. Columbus' purpose in writing the formal letter is to explain to the â€Å"Most High and Mighty Sovereigns† what he considers pivotal in the settlement, extraction of gold, farming of land, and trade system of the Island of Espanola. Columbus' main concern, Spanish dominance in the New World, is clearly evident in the final paragraph, in which Columbus prays for â€Å"the increase of much greater states. The nature of Spanish presence In the Islands Is consequent to an RA of Immense competition between states over various colonies In Asia, Africa, and what would be known as America. For states Involved In colonization, such as England, Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands, colonies meant prosperity and power through vast riches, mostly gold: an increase in foreign commerce: and new ter ritory to utilize for farming and growth of Christianity.In these purposes there is a clear similarity between the values from the Renaissance and present-day values, in which governmental authority places large importance in the expansion and affluence of its rewriter. In the introduction to his points about colonization, Columbus displays a sense of respect and obedience towards Ferdinand and Isabella and requests support through reinforcement of colonists. Columbus misrepresents the new world as a group of islands, unaware of the much larger continents in which he had not yet arrived.In the Initial voyage, Columbus lands In the Caribbean thinking he has arrived In Asia, which Is why he names the Indians so. Despite his Incongruous concepts, Columbus' voyage proved vital to further colonization of the Americas. The mall body of the letter Is a set of thirteen points In which Columbus details the mall issues of colonizing the Island of Espanola and other islands, namely God, gold, and glory.The expansion of Christianity was highly important to Ferdinand and Isabella, who considered Christianity crucial to the national unity of the newly united Spanish kingdom in the Reconstruct period. Columbus states that the new world will be forcefully Christian and that the â€Å"conversion of Indians† shall be performed by â€Å"parish priests or friars†. Most of Columbus points refer to the extraction, processing, ownership, and trade of gold, the natural resource which most colonizers obsessed over.Columbus presents concerns such as â€Å"no one shall have liberty to collect gold In it except those who have taken out colonists' papers,† â€Å"that all gold shall be smelted Immediately,† and â€Å"there shall be a treasurer, with a clerk to assist him, who shall receive all gold belonging to your Highnesses. † The motive and obsession over gold Is consequential of its use as back-up value in currencies, fancy garments, competitive Expl orers were motivated to find gold by the â€Å"matter of the fifth,† which means that the explorers would be entitled to a certain amount of the riches derived from the land they discovered.To further expand on the importance of a successful trading system, Columbus explains another three points that refer to the stringent process of securing the gold. As most of the glory from colonization came from gold, the method of collection gold and shipping it to the motherland is very strict in order to prevent fraud. Parts of the process which Columbus proposes include â€Å"that it [gold] should all e placed in one chest with two locks, with their keys, and that the master of the vessel keep one key and some other person selected by the governor and treasurer keep the other. There is evidently a clear concern over the safety of the gold, which displays the main purpose of increasing affluence of the motherland. The colonization of the new world influenced an arms race between powe rful European states over the acquisition of gold and territory. Several states were exerting force over native people and exploiting the natural resources in a similar way the Spanish id in the Island of Espanola. Competition between powerful states is a centuries- long trend.Whether searching for gold or plotting the destruction of communism versus the destruction of capitalism in the mid-20th century, dominant states have a tendency to seek the greatest riches from their settlements and disregard the well- being of native peoples. In his letter, Columbus is successfully reactive to the desires of Ferdinand and Isabella and he satisfies their concerns that result from competition in order to pursue further exploration.

Assessment of Glenda Medical Condition

Chronic kidney disease abbreviated as CKD is also referred to as the chronic renal failure and it is responsible for most cases of mortality and morbidity in the elderly in Australia (Wen et al., 2014). Moreover, CKD is associated with reducing the significant role of the kidney through causing damages and blockage (Vassalotti et al., 2016). Research shows that the period it takes for CKD to cause complete renal failure depends on the stages of CKD and the nursing interventions in place (Tonelli and Wanner, 2014). Notably, it should be made clear that chronic kidney disease has no cure, but early identification and application of nursing intervention as per Levett-Jones clinical reasoning cycle will help slow the progress and improve the patient's symptoms. As of the year 2005, the NHS reported that chronic kidney disease is at an alarming rate as most of the hospitals in the region reported to have increased renal replacement surgery (Gatchel et al., 2014). Also, according to Hung e t al., 2014 are of the opinion that chronic kidney disease increases the chances of cardiovascular complications. Again, a report by the WHO indicated that there would be high chances of chronic kidney disease in Australia for the next ten years and the likelihood of the cases leveling off are dismal due to the lifestyle of locals (mostly the native Australians) who are reluctant to seek medication from public hospitals (Collins et al., 2015). The underlying factor towards the behavior by most natives is cultural-based. The residents feel left behind regarding development and that the foreigners are interfering with their way of life (Tong et al., 2015). With that in mind, the case focuses on describing the care, management, and assessment interventions for Glenda, a 46-year-old woman who presents with chronic kidney disease. The previous medical history indicates the following symptoms generalized swelling of the face, hands, feet, and ankles. Also, she finds difficulty in walking due to stiffness and pain in her knee and elbow joints. Her current medical condition indicates increased body temperature of 38.8 degrees Celsius and increased blood pressure of 180/100 mmHg which relates to the high number of cigarettes consumed daily. As such, Glenda is taken to the emergency renal ward at Darwin hospital where she undergoes an X-ray, EUC, and ECG. After inserting a vas catheter, Glenda is scheduled for surgery in a week's time to have fistula formation in her left arm.   The condition makes Glenda admitted for almost twelve months a situation that makes her daughter Roseen uncomfortable. Later, the nurses, family, and friends organiz ed a meeting and ensure Glenda is discharged and receives medication from her home in Tiwi Island and undergo her dialysis at Renal Dialysis unit at Wurrumiyang clinic. As such, ideas in this article seek to critique the care, management, and assessment for Glenda at each stage of her chronic kidney disease. Notably, the paper will set a discussion on the evaluation of renal function. Furthermore, the article will offer a succinct summary of the ideas concerning the thesis statement as shown below. When Glenda first attended Wurrumiyanga clinic at her home in Tiwi Island, the doctors had to screen her kidney to identify any symptoms of chronic kidney disease due to the physical symptoms she presented (Diamantidis nd Becker, 2014). Also, Wen et al., 2014) are of the opinion that screening helps in prescribing medical intervention for CKD at stages 1-3 hence appropriate procedural processes in combating the condition. That said, the following test helped the doctor in assessing the renal functioning and impairment for Glenda: urinalysis-the test makes use of urine, and with the inclusion of a urine dipstick the nurses can determine the presence or absence of bacteria and casts on a microscope. Urinary protein excretion-the model analyzes urine after every 24 hours to measure the albumin-creatine ration abbreviated as ACR. An increase in the ACR shows a high risk for cardiovascular complications. Renal imaging-the technique pays attention to the shape of the kidney and checks the presence of cysts (Fang et al., 2014). Notably, the assessment model is of significant role in patients with CKD stages 4 and 5. Also, patients with stages 1-3 ought to undergo an ultrasound in case of reduced eGFR. Finally, renal biopsy a patient with stages 4-5 CKD is advised to undergo the assessment to check the level of proteinuria. Britt et al., 2013 are of the opinion that renal biopsy is of great value as the histological analysis provides nurses with information to know when and how to diagnose the impaired kidney failure. There are five stages of chronic kidney disease that Glenda is diagnosed with: ranging from stage 1-5. The evaluation model follows the in-depth analysis of Glenda's medical history which reveals her physical symptoms: swollen face, feet, and hands, social life showing her smoking and drinking habits, and her family history which records no case of CKD (Angeli et al., 2014). The post-Streptococcal Glomerulonephritis diagnosis at Royal Darwin Hospital indicates that there was thickening of the membranes due to the accumulation of protein in the glomeruli hence need for checking the blood glucose levels (Tonelli and Wanner, 2014). Moreover, it is important to control the blood pressure to reduce the risk of proteinuria. In addition, Glenda's medical history at the time of admission indicates hypertension as blood pressure beyond 140/90 mmHg is considered hypertensive. eGFR more than 89/ml/min/1.73m2 but is not less than 59ml/min/1.73m2 (albuminuria included) Urea and electrolytes including eGFR. Scheduled clinical and laboratory assessment. Also, the nurses in charge offer advice on lifestyle practices. When the eGFR is less than 59ml/min/1.73m2 The inclusion of dipstick in the sample of urine collected to test for urinalysis for proteinuria. Regular checking of blood glucose levels. Analysis of full blood count to check the level of Parathyroid hormone (Levey et al., 2015). Also, the nurse reviews medical history and administers new medication which acts as an anti-inflammatory medication. The collected urine is assessed to check for urinary symptoms, heart failure, and hypovolaemia (Levey et al., 2015). For efficient management of the different stages of CKD, it is of significant value to first identify the symptoms associated with chronic kidney disease. What is more is that the clinical signs for CKD remain unrecognized until there is acute renal failure (Stevens and Levin, 2013). That is to say that a patient can be asymptomatic at an advanced stage of the condition. Therefore, early identification sets a platform for integration of early interventions which aim towards assessment and management of the state. As such, the symptoms of CKD include but are not limited to loss of appetite, nausea, minor ankle edema, change in urine pattern, and fatigue (Jha et al., 2013). Also, it is wise for Glenda to have a balanced diet characterized with enough proteins. Regulate the blood pressure to less than 135/80mmHg. Besides, inhibitors can be induced to slow the effects of renal deformity. Notably, when the eGFR reduces to less than 25% of the baseline value, it is important to cease the ACR inhibitor and refer Glenda to a Nephrologist (Mills et al., 2015) Schedule a workout program starting with walking the progressively to jogging and running: aim at improving the aerobic rate. Monitor the drinking patterns of Glenda. First, start with reducing then progressively rehabilitate her by stopping the supply and access to alcohol. Flu vaccination and pneumococcal vaccination During admission, Glenda needs to hydrate t avoid dehydration. Also, the nurses in charge can describe an antiviral medication. After being discharged Glenda can as well as use prescribed cough suppressant. Reduce the consumption of sugary coca cola drink from 500ml a day to 250ml then after some time you cut short and provide safe source of sugars such as Drink a lot of water to avoid thirst. Ensure Glenda consumes less salt: especially adding raw salt to the food at the table. Reduce the intake of coca cola and later cut short. Significantly, the End-Stage Renal Disease abbreviated as ESRD is the term used to refer to patients who are responding to the treatment from acute renal failure (Wen et al., 2014). Also, ESRD is commonly known as stage 5 of CKD. What is more is the availability of shared ideas between amongst nurses, patients, and their families: the ideas help in making informed decisions aimed towards treating stage 5 CKD (Locatelli et al., 2013). As such, the table below provides a description to types of treatment for stage 5 CKD. If it is critical it may call for surgery. Also, the period may wait for up to 6 years in case of deceased donor Glenda will be free to work and live a normal life. Moreover, Glenda has increased rate of survival after the transplant is done. Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis(CAPD) Automated Peritoneal Dialysis (APD) During the day four bags are changed by the APD entails the overnight exchange of bags by a machine The treatment ensures Glenda has the freedom to work without disturbance of the urinary tract: due to the PD catheter. The CAPD allows for ample time during one-week training. The APD allows the nurse on duty to rest. Requires no dialysis or transplant. It can be managed at the community level (Wurrumiyanga clinic). Again, the model is supported by palliative care Emphasizes on mediation and balanced diet. Non-dialysis supportive care increases survival chances in elderly patients thus increased life expectancy (Model, 2015). The nurse in charge of Glenda is working extra hard to avoid further complications of the conditions. Therefore, educating Glenda, her daughter Roseen and the community as a whole will ensure the sustainability and ease of combating CKD (Diamantidis and Becker, 2014). Notably, the primary risk factor identified is the danger of reduced cardiac output. The condition is associated with inadequate pumping of the blood to the heart to facilitate metabolic processes. The related risk factors include but are not limited to: first, fluid imbalances resulting in a lapse in the current volume and heart workload (Mills et al., 2015). Second, there is the risk of increased deposits of urea and calcium phosphate blocking the baseline membrane. Thirdly, lapse and alteration in electrolyte balance. The nurse can prescribe medication after observing and assessing the presented physical symptoms. To establish desired outcomes for Glenda the table below shows the nursing intervention and the possible justification. Analyze heart and lung sound to evaluate presence of peripheral edema and cases of dysponea. Diagnosed with flu hence wheezes, edema, and dysponea Assess the degree of hypertension and blood pressure Renal dysfunction causes hypertension. Also, orthostatic hypertension occurs due to imbalances in the intravascular fluids. Assess the presence of chest pains paying attention to the location and degree of pain Lack of potential risk of pericardial effusion associated due to home dialysis. Assess heart sounds, blood pressure, and temperature Narrow pulse pressure, temperature above 37.5 degrees Celsius, and presence of irregular hypotension. Assess and evaluate the physical activity Dormant nature alludes to HF and presence of anemia Need to monitor and assess lab and diagnostic results Potassium, calcium, and magnesium electrolytes When imbalanced they affect the heart functioning by altering the electrical transmission Used in identification of soft-tissue calcification Administering antihypertensive drugs such as Apresoline: a hydralazine Useful in reducing vascular resistance and tension hence reduce myocardial workload. Also, useful in preventing HF. Reduce accumulation of urea. Again, corrects the electrolytes and fluid imbalances. To exclude the pericardial sacs as it may result in cardiac arrest through myocardial contractility. The burden of CKD led to the longer hospitalization of Glenda, and it is important to include multidisciplinary care clinics to improve service delivery (Gatchel et al., 2014). The approach integrates different health professionals and family members to offer long-term support to Glenda as shown below. Assess and evaluate etiology of Glenda’s CKD to determine the care plan (Diamantidis and Becker, 2014) Offer advice on nutritional intake and manage the intravascular fluid Provide education to Glenda regarding effectiveness of modern medication and herbal treatment Substitute Roseen on transporting the mother to hospital Educate Glenda about transplant before the surgery (Davison et al., 2015) Provides education regarding CKD and acute renal failure. Also, coordinates care with Glenda’s family and the locals. Less attention has been paid to monitor the role awareness has to CKD patients. Although early identification proves to be a mechanism to slow the progression of CKD and ESRD, there is a growing need for the establishment of a customer-oriented platform for nurses to exercise to administer patient-center to patients such as Glenda (Papademetriou et al., 2015). Also, encouraging Glenda to attend guiding and counseling sessions in Tiwi Islands will help boost her morale and change her perception of life. And it is known that once the mind is stimulated so does the endorphin hence the body relaxes. The model will allow Glenda get back to her feet and provide for her family. In nursing, providing care, assessing, and management of diseases is a plan that allows nurses to incorporate Levett-Jones cycle of clinical reasoning: a period that allows for an understanding of the patient's past medical history and ethnic background before commencing with data collection and administering medication. As for Glenda the condition grows and gets of hand hence the inclusion of interdisciplinary team approach to offer long-term support emotionally, physically, and medically. To that end, it is possible to discern that CKD cannot be treated, but approaches as integrating family members and the community help to slow its progress. Angeli, P., Rodrà ­guez, E., Piano, S., Ariza, X., Morando, F., Solà  , E., ... & Gerbes, A. (2014). Acute kidney injury and acute-on-chronic liver failure classifications in prognosis assessment of patients with acute decompensation of cirrhosis. Gut, gutjnl-2014. Britt, H., Miller, G. C., Henderson, J., Bayram, C., Valenti, L., Harrison, C., ... & O'Halloran, J. (2013). General Practice Activity in Australia 2012-13: BEACH: Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health (No. 33). Sydney University Press. Collins, A. J., Foley, R. N., Gilbertson, D. T., & Chen, S. C. (2015). United States Renal Data System public health surveillance of chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease. Kidney international supplements, 5(1), 2-7. Davison, S. N., Levin, A., Moss, A. H., Jha, V., Brown, E. A., Brennan, F., ... & Morton, R. L. (2015). Executive summary of the KDIGO Controversies Conference on Supportive Care in Chronic Kidney Disease: developing a roadmap to improving quality care. Diamantidis, C. J., & Becker, S. (2014). Health information technology (IT) to improve the care of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). BMC nephrology, 15(1), 7. Fang, Y., Ginsberg, C., Sugatani, T., Monier-Faugere, M. C., Malluche, H., & Hruska, K. A. (2014). Early chronic kidney disease–mineral bone disorder stimulates vascular calcification. Kidney international, 85(1), 142-150. Gatchel, R. J., McGeary, D. D., McGeary, C. A., & Lippe, B. (2014). Interdisciplinary chronic pain management: past, present, and future. American Psychologist, 69(2), 119. Hung, S. C., Kuo, K. L., Peng, C. H., Wu, C. H., Lien, Y. C., Wang, Y. C., & Tarng, D. C. (2014). Volume overload correlates with cardiovascular risk factors in patients with chronic kidney disease. Kidney international, 85(3), 703-709. January, C. T., Wann, L. S., Alpert, J. S., Calkins, H., Cigarroa, J. E., Cleveland, J. C., ... & Murray, K. T. (2014). 2014 AHA/ACC/HRS guideline for the management of patients with atrial fibrillation: executive summary: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines and the Heart Rhythm Society. J Am Coll Cardiol, 64(21), 2246-2280. Jha, V., Garcia-Garcia, G., Iseki, K., Li, Z., Naicker, S., Plattner, B., ... & Yang, C. W. (2013). Chronic kidney disease: global dimension and perspectives. The Lancet, 382(9888), 260-272. Levey, A. S., Becker, C., & Inker, L. A. (2015). Glomerular filtration rate and albuminuria for detection and staging of acute and chronic kidney disease in adults: a systematic review. Jama, 313(8), 837-846. Locatelli, F., Bà ¡rà ¡ny, P., Covic, A., De Francisco, A., Del Vecchio, L., Goldsmith, D., ... & Abramovicz, D. (2013). Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes guidelines on anaemia management in chronic kidney disease: a European Renal Best Practice position statement. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, 28(6), 1346-1359. Mills, K. T., Xu, Y., Zhang, W., Bundy, J. D., Chen, C. S., Kelly, T. N., ... & He, J. (2015). A systematic analysis of worldwide population-based data on the global burden of chronic kidney disease in 2010. Kidney international, 88(5), 950-957. Model, C. C. (2015). Standards of medical care in diabetes—2015 abridged for primary care providers. Diabetes care, 38(1), S1-S94. Papademetriou, V., Lovato, L., Doumas, M., Nylen, E., Mottl, A., Cohen, R. M., ... & Cushman, W. C. (2015). Chronic kidney disease and intensive glycemic control increase cardiovascular risk in patients with type 2 diabetes. Kidney international, 87(3), 649-659. Stevens, P. E., & Levin, A. (2013). Evaluation and management of chronic kidney disease: synopsis of the kidney disease: improving global outcomes 2012 clinical practice guideline. Annals of internal medicine, 158(11), 825-830. Tonelli, M., & Wanner, C. (2014). Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes Lipid Guideline Development Work Group Members. Lipid management in chronic kidney disease: synopsis of the kidney disease: improving global outcomes 2013 clinical practice guideline. Ann Intern Med, 160(3), 182. Tong, A., Crowe, S., Chando, S., Cass, A., Chadban, S. J., Chapman, J. R., ... & Johnson, D. W. (2015). Research priorities in CKD: report of a national workshop conducted in Australia. American Journal of Kidney Diseases, 66(2), 212-222. Vassalotti, J. A., Centor, R., Turner, B. J., Greer, R. C., Choi, M., Sequist, T. D., & National Kidney Foundation Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative. (2016). Practical approach to detection and management of chronic kidney disease for the primary care clinician. The American journal of medicine, 129(2), 153-162. Wen, C. P., Matsushita, K., Coresh, J., Iseki, K., Islam, M., Katz, R., ... & Astor, B. C. (2014). Relative risks of chronic kidney disease for mortality and end-stage renal disease across races are similar. Kidney international, 86(4), 819-827.

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America's involvement in international affairs in the late 19th century - Term Paper Example These goals were sought after industrial revolution brought in new set of challenges for the economy and general social and political attitude for the nation as a whole. The America hence figured a well of potentials at seeking to expand and acquire further internal progress with international relations in order to address the increasing necessity for the means to produce goods that directly varied with the demand growth of the period which consequently implied the inevitable requirement for greater number of resources or raw materials most of which are normally found in abundance beyond the country. At a point, American investments focused on mining and sugar operations in Cuba and for several grounds, American interventions were evident in providing aid for Cuban rebellion at the aim of obtaining independence especially when the U.S. saw how such event drastically affected its economic conditions when campaigns to support demolition of American road structures and milling companies became intense. Similarly, though without much success, the United States expressed an intent to settle dispute of 1895 between Venezuela and British Guiana.

Causes of War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Causes of War - Essay Example   There have always been numerous reports about war and conflicts in different parts of the world with regrettable outcomes. A war can occur between groups of people, countries or even regions. Each of the mentioned kinds and every particular case have their specific reasons for the occurrence. Although quite different, roots of the war are always associated with a kind of a conflict. It, therefore, means that a war comes up as a result of a conflict between the two distinct parties starting a confrontation, regardless of what constituted a ground for the appearance of a conflict or its further scale. As a whole, both the variety of possible causes of war and their kinds are important topics to be investigated and analyzed.   Countries can enter an international conflict finding themselves in antagonism. (Ikenbery 173). In this case, the whole population of a country appears to be involved and the victory is ensured by armies fighting in the front lines and citizens backing them in a variety of ways. There are numbers of factors that encourage conflicts to take place and those that may prevent a conflict from erupting. Some events are known to lead to an occurrence of war and other events can bring about peace and reconciliation, preventing conflicts to come in. Naturally, consequences and effects of wars, particularly civil wars, are visible. Examples of both, short term and long term ones, which impose their effects on all the parties involved, could be seen in different nations.

Emperors Club Essay Example for Free

Emperors Club Essay English question 5 It is not living that is important, but living rightly and honestly. The definition of success varies depending on who is defining it. By the end of the novel, Hundert and Sedgewick Bell each believe that they have reached success in their own lives. Sedgewick, following in his Dad’s footsteps of using and manipulating every situation and opportunity in order to advance his selfish goals, feels successful as a wealthy and powerful businessman. Sedgewick by the example, set by his distant, judgmental, and uncompromising father has learned that being honorable and having good character are qualities that are unimportant when measuring a man’s success. Just like his father who did not see the merit of developing a moral conscience, Sedgewick Bell rejects the moral guidance of his caring teacher, choosing instead to cultivate the cut-throat tactics his father instilled in him as necessary to achieve the fame and fortune vital for success. In contrast, Hundert is only able to feel successful when he has regained his dignity and honor by confessing his breach of trust and asking for forgiveness from the student he betrayed. Once Hundert does the honorable thing and tells Blythe about Hundert’s cheating during the selection of the contestants for the Emperor’s Club competition, Hundert is able to reset his moral compass, and move on with his life. Hundert comes to understand that it was his selfish desire to see Bell succeed that drove Hundert to disregard what he knew was right in order to avoid the truth – that Sedgewick Bell had no desire to become the honest and hardworking student Hundert â€Å"willed† him to be. Through this realization Hundert is able to see that even though he may not have succeeded with Bell, this one â€Å"failure† does not minimize the positive contribution he has made to the lives of his many other students. Hundert’s success is evidenced by the fact that even after 25 years, Hundert’s students throw him a party to show their appreciation of the advice, instruction, interest and guidance he gave them when they were students at St. Benedict’s. Hundert is considered by the majority of his students to be a mentor, and positive role model. It is this realization that helps Hundert see that his success lies in the fact that his students have taken his message of living a moral, and honest life with them into their world and used his words to help shape their own productive lives . s well as, that of their children. Hundert realizes that success should be measured not by the money in a man’s pocket, or the job he has, but by the positive impact he has in the world and on the lives of others. As the film progresses Hundert comes to terms with the fact that no matter how hard he tried he could never compete with the powerful negative influences that were present in the Bell home. Sedgewick was raised to view a successful man as being self-serving, untrusting, insensitive, and controlling. It was when Humdert tried to set a new moral example of success for Sedgewick that Humbert was driven to compromise his own beliefs. Hundert learned that when one compromises him for the sake of another the relationship is doomed to fail. It is when Hundert is able to accept that he is not responsible for the selfish, immoral man Sedgewick has become that he can rid himself of the feelings of failure that resulted in him leaving the profession he loved. When Hundert is rewarded by the positive comments of his students he understands that his success is in the fact that he has made the world a better place because he has educated a generation of kind, caring and moral men and fathers who will pass on his appreciation of honor, dignity, kindness, sensitivity, creativity and integrity to future generations. Hundert and Sedgewick each define â€Å"success† differently and it is up to each individual viewer to watch and listen to the movie carefully in order to decide which definition he/she will use to evaluate the â€Å"success â€Å" of his/her life.

The Education Debate Essay Example for Free

The Education Debate Essay 1. Nielsens (Booms) opinion of a higher education is a very interesting and intellectual opinion that I myself also share. In this text Blooms creates a very strong distinguishment between the education you receive from universities in the sense of book smarts whether then the skills universities lack to teach, which in Blooms opinion is wisdom, and virtue. Bloom suggests these skills are essential in order to follow the path to the good life. In this text Bloom subtitles How higher education has failed democracy and impoverished the souls of todays students,, which in essence is a direct attack at univerisites for not instilling the proper morals and lessons in their students. The skills that the students lack have been extremely noticeable to Bloom, he suggests due to the lack of nobility and morality students no longer fall in love, students deem only for sexual relationships rather than companionship and love. Bloom draws a strong discrepancy between the arts and sciences. He states that non-science undergrads are not required to take any science courses while science inflicted students are required to take 3 of their 20 courses in either science or arts. This allowance for the choice between arts science is something I agree extremely on. Both these areas of education offer such similar however also different skills. Arts, allow for creativity, wonder, insight and inference while science grabs connection to nature, realism and direct intellect. I believe both areas are important for the development of a human, it offers a type of well roundedness and intellectual ability in all aspects of life. Currently our education follows a systematic approach of a one answer, one right type of approach. This limits the ability of creativity, inference and uniqueness. Memorization is absolutely one of the worst skills that school has to offer, instead understanding and conceptualizing is key to the success of education. Educations meaning has been blown out of proportion, while grades do matter extremely the valuableness of other aspects of life have been loss. Everyone knows that one person whoms life revolves around their academic achievements, its all they talk about, its all they do and all they will ever know. While this is not entirely bad it has a large negative effect due to its ability to block humans from the real world. Whole heartedly I agree with Blooms opinion of education, for me its a sense of wonder of the world and taking time and understanding what really occurs in our lives. At times I sit and focus on certain systems in our world, whether it be education, government or the structure of authority I find myself to have a very different opinion then others most of the time. I believe that education needs to be re-evaluated to accommodate the needs of the students of today and the future. However, for now a systematic approach to education in order to reach my goal of intellect is what I will follow. 2. Both the sciences and arts offer a wide variety of benefits. The arts allow for a type of personal and creative development as a person. The different benefits these areas of education have to offer compliment one another ever so dearly. Science allows for the respect and love for freedom, it gives raise to the interest of the universe, and most importantly direct intelligence of our existence and meaning is challenged. I believe Nielsen Bloom argues the need for both science and art due to the combination of skills it can inflict. As stated above I listed some of the skills that can be achieved through each area, with combination these skills can use each other and feed off one another in order to create the maximum benefit. You have the ability to connect to science nature while using your scientific knowledge to relate to arts and other matter. I suspect this balance that these two areas offer is why Nielsen argues them so deeply. 3. Nielsen Bloom uses the three sub-headings, Futile Propaganda, Delusive Openness, and Ignorant Shepherds. Each of these heading relate to the piece of upcoming text in a very disclosed way. A type of intellectual philosophy is used within these headings in order to bring awareness to the argument that is going to be made. The first heading, Futile Propaganda suggests that students are often under prepared for a type of higher education then they receive during their prior years. In our society students have so many more oppurtunities to loose their attention from skills such as reading and homework, but who would want to engage in reading while they are able to watch their favorite television shows during the afternoon. The next heading, Delusive Openness, states that students believe There are no universal and eternal varieties for people to learn and live by, this leaves everyone to think and do as they please. This suggests that the openness we have today leads to ultimately closed mindedness because students lack curiosity.

Icts Hotels In The Hospitality Information Technology Essay

Icts Hotels In The Hospitality Information Technology Essay The revolution in ICTs has profound implications for financial and social maturity. It has pervaded every aspect of human life whether it is health, education, economics, governance, entertainment etc. Dissemination, propagation and accessibility of these technologies are viewed to be integral to a countrys development strategy. The most important benefit associated with the access to the new technologies is the increase in the supply of information. The secondly thing would be it also decreases the cost of production. Knowledge is transmitted, produced, accessed and shared at the least cost. With the decrease in the transactional costs, there is also a decrease in the degree of inefficiencies. Thirdly it has overcome the constraints of distance and geography. ICTs have cut across the geographic boundaries of the nation states. Buyers and sellers are able to contribute information, specifications, production process etc across the national borders. It enables all to know the comparat ive improvement in the market economy. It leads to the larger markets and increased access to global supply chains. Fourthly it has led to more transparency. Networking and information sharing definitely leads to demands for greater openness and transparency. Whether you want to know the status of the central banks foreign exchange agency or the cost prize of potatoes in the local market, ICTs empowers the individual with the information access, which is transparent. Efforts are under way to integrate ICTs to all sectors and developmental activity. Tourism is one such potential area. Information Communication and Technology is one the most important and growing field that every company and almost all the sectors are adopting to simplify work and also to reduce man power. ICT plays a major role in Tourism sector so as considering the example of a hospitality firm. Tourism includes many sectors like transport food, accommodation, restaurant, cultural activity and leisure, so fit all these sector into one particular form there is always the need of advance focus and development of itself to fulfil the customer needs. Now a days tourism sector fully focus on customer satisfaction as people who wants to travel has become independent by fulfilling their requirements on their own than to depend on a third person to help them do the sufficient requirements. In this processes ICT acts as a fully fledged support and a user friendly thing that even a normal person has started using internet to run his routine. In the developing world internet is become peoples second brain and it makes most of the things for man. So this assessment focuses on the main contribution of ICT in Hospitality that is in Hotel Industry. Purpose The main Purpose of this assignment is to find out the role of Information communication technology (ICT) in hospitality tourism sector.ICT acts as the main source of any industries development and also adds up to the reduction of man power and time, it is also used as a source to reduce problems. Even though, little is known about the extent or level of use of ICT. The ICT has become the major consideration, as it has become the revolutionizing equipment of the hospitality Industry. This study will look into the prosperity for the adoption of ICT based facilities in the hospitality industry. This also covers the problems that impacting the adoption of ICT in hospitality firm. This assignment contributes and finds out these issues.   Findings: This finding says that almost 80 per cent of the businesses use ICT efficiently, mainly to provide information and improve service quality. In addition, some firms had already adopted very effective methods of using the internet for sales and marketing but ignored supply functions. We will be surprised to notice that ICT is seen as a way of enhancing personal service and that rather than a barrier, it is seen to promote quality of service. Moreover, the respondents did seem to have used ICT effectively to overcome the disadvantages of place. Objective: The main objective to be focused on the assessment comprises of all the following issues and factors that helps us understand the importance, development and the barriers of ICT in the tourism field, especially focus in a branch of it that is the Hospitality sector: The impacts of ICT towards Hotel industry The ongoing use and implementation in the particular field The major support and the main value of ICT The successful implementation of IT in hotel industry and its advantages The functioning of it towards marketing purpose and the way it support for the success of execution. The Impacts of ICT towards Hotel Industry: Hospitality industry is a highly information intensive industry, so information technology and communication has a wide impact in the particular industry. Information communication technology has created a new revolution in the world of tourism industry. The tourism industry is a big market in terms of the number of tourist visiting a particular place. It is stated that ICT has caused restructuring phenomenon (intermediation, dis-intermediation and re-intermediation in parallel) in the hotel industry. It proves that ICT has improved operating efficiency of hospitality industry as well as planning and booking experience of customers. ICT has a great impact in hospitality industry- it enables direct contact with customers/guests and improves effectiveness and efficiency of clients services. ICT provides new tools and also enables new channels, creating new business environment in the industry, requiring all new skills. ICT also makes the competition harder and so it demands a continuous investments on developing things and keeping it updated. In all these impacts there are two major areas which are highly influenced by ICT that is electronic commerce and revenue commerce Electronic commerce: This can be defined as a secure exchange of information: Business to business Business to clients clients to clients business to government business to client communication research to business  [1]   Notes: GDS Global distribution system CRS Central reservation system DMC Destination Management Company DMO Destination Marketing Organisation 2Traditional valve chain The value chain changes into a new concept as now a day it is focused just into internet that is almost most action depends on internet the value chain changes to: 3Internet based value chain Revenue Commerce: Revenue managements sounds like the top most management, but most hotels are small and medium sized so every employee acts as a revenue manager. So it is an important factor that every employee is provided with knowledge of revenue management at all levels of the hospitality industry The main goal of the revenue management is: (a) Maximise yield (price units sold) or minimise lost revenue per available product unit in view of average cost per available product unit; (b) Control availability of price products by customer revenue potential and forecast segment mix; (c) Control daily availability of price products lower than full price, based on unsold inventory, time left to sell and segment total demand.  [4]   To fulfil these objectives, tourism professionals need strong knowledge in areas as marketing, finance management, statistics, customer service principles and distribution trends. Implementation in the particular field: The use of computer its technology has vastly developed from 1980s to the year of 1990s. A survey given in 1980 said that a fewer amount of 10% were using computer technology. There were different surveys stating the usage of technology in hospitality industry in operating things efficient and making guest satisfaction. There are two factors that affect the use of IT in an accommodation establishment. First is the type of clientele and secondly the complexity of operations. Considering the type of clientele and their experience will be affected by technology, helps us to determine the level of automation in a hotel. There are different types of clients expectation different types of services. Business travellers consider more efficient type of services as they never want to spend time in any other thing than their work, so they appreciate speed of service and faster technology. Almost the other type of clients/guests prefers hotels where technology does not intrude into their vacation and leisure experience. The complexity of a hospitality field is also impacted by many factors and computer technology plays a major role. Larger the property, larger the technology resorts with many activities like golf, tennis, multi-restaurants and other benefits has gained a lot through IT technology. Hotel Size % using IT % high IT needs % agreeing IT enhances guest satisfaction Less than 100 rooms 89.4 28.9 70.2 101 to 300 room 96.7 43.6 83.2 Over 300 rooms 97.2 57.4 86.1 Different hotels use different technology to enhance their facilities and some of their applications are stated above  [5]  . Property Management System (PMS) Property management system is the main central computer which acts as the core functions of the hotel information processing. It maintains all details that describe the hotel, such as the size, type and the number of rooms, the rate applicable for rooms and other facilities, and also the details concerning the guest called the guest record or the guest history. This also includes various operations such as support and control and management of different outlets of a hotel that is front office, reservation, back office, food and beverage inventories, bar / shop takings, hotel staff salaries and wages accounting and also some of the managerial functions; in addition it acts as a hub in interconnecting the other systems of hotel. Property management systems (PMS) can run on different platforms and different software environments, depending on the size and type of a particular hotel, and the number of required instalments. As they spread more and more, it is the intension of Utell to con nect directly to them. They are grown up with a rapidly high ratio and still expected for a high level of growth. This is the ultimate solution to the no reservation on arrival problem and also increases the overall efficiency of a hotel. Hotels usually implement their PMS on an in-house computer. That does not mean that they should have an in house IT department to support it. Most of the PMSs are turn-key systems that can be used simply by anyone as it is mostly being handled by the hotel staffs. Property Management System acts upon the requirements of a hotel, for example a small hotel or a guest house (less than 100 rooms) can be handled with a single computer to store and process guest information and room data and also generate management reports. A medium size hotel (100 to 300 rooms), will need a local area networks with a small workstation installed in different departments. A file server is used to keep all the softwares and files to allow various tasks to be performed on the same time such as check in and check- out concurrently. For properties more than 500 rooms, an even main frame computer technology may be needed for frame computer technology may be needed for a heavy volume of transaction 6 Uses of ICT in hospitality sector: There are numerous places where the ICT is used in a hotel industry, this implementation of technology helps save time and also reduces man power. The PMS software, which is used in the hotel industry acts as the key point from which most of the hotel operations are done. The main functions are stated as: Check-in, check-out and guest accounting Guest History Room Management Hotel reservation CRS distribution Point-of-sales Food and beverage systems Back- office systems Check-in, check-out and guest accounting This process of checking in a guest can be made more efficient by the technology for information technology. The check-in actually means that a guest file becomes active or a new file is opened for a guest who check- inns without any reservation made before the arrival and following this process, a guest folio is being created. The PMS has a walk-in option for the guest without reservations. The main interfaces between the PMS and credit card verification systems in the banks are used to ensure that a credit card has sufficient funds for the length of the stay of a guest. After this process a guest is being registered officially and handover the key of the room that is assigned to him. There is a machine in the hotel lobbies that allows the guest to easily access to self check-in and quickly finish their process. These machines are connected to the PMS and are active after the guest swipes the credit card or also by the notion detector which detects the approach of the guest. All the process is being carried on in this machine without a front office staff interaction that is it greets the guest, guide them through the necessary procedures to check-in themselves, then assign a room and also issue a key for the room. They also have options to activate the energy management system that is the phone, and voicemails for the rooms. A self check-in machine is most of the time a touch screen and very rarely keyboard operated and this machine can be used by both the guest with or without reservation. Once a guest folio is created at check-in, then after all the charges made throughout the stay are posted to that folio either manually or electronically. Manual posting are done by back office staffs and electronic postings are done by software and hardware interfaces and done rapidly without any mistakes. The check- out procedure in a automated hotel do not require guest to pay in the front office neither it automatically transfers funds via credit cards that allows express self check- out, in which the guest folio is being presented under the door and the credit card is automatically billed if there is no discrepancies. PMS software also translates the bills into numerous languages used by hotels with a large international clientele. Guest History: Guest history is well known as database which all the hotels maintain as a part of PMSs work and it is a powerful marketing tool. After every guest checks out the room the guest information is placed into a guest history database by the PMS. This database contains all the information of the guest that is the preference during their stay and the consumption of things/ food or any other thing from the hotel during the stay, these informations are maintained for three main purposes, To enhance future marketing activities To facilitate future reservations To customize guests future visits  [7]   Room Management: The room management is a important component of PMS which tracks the status of the rooms, which helps the housekeeping to distribute rooms for cleaning duties. The typical room status followed by the PMS is occupied, vacant, dirty, clean, inspected and uninspected this allows the front office to allow the clean rooms and get the other rooms ready for occupancy. On every check- in and check- out, the room status changes accordingly. The status of the room can be changed by both housekeeping and front office, by the notification of housekeeping and also the housekeeping can do it by the PMS terminal provided in the housekeeping desk  [8]  . Food and Beverage Systems: This part of system controls the food and beverage stock that is necessary for the hotels daily operation. It also has the price of the item and its suppliers to act upon customer demands. Point-of-sale systems: This is a sub-system which comprises of payment handling that produces bills; this machine accepts various financial instruments from the guest, that is credit card, cash, guest cards etc. Back Office Systems: This is a set of systems that records all transactions and maintains the hotels account book on all the transactions made by date, month and year. Almost three years details are being maintained by this systems and the other records before three years are kept as a backup. This system wires the sales ledger, purchase ledger, purchase bills, accounts payable and general ledger. 9 Marketing and Guest History Housekeeping and room management Executive decision making Accounting night audit Reporting printer Self check-in Printers Guest folio Front Desk/Cashier Reservation PMS UPS Remote check-in The major support and the main value of ICT There are many other industries that support information technology, as they are also into a vast influence by this particular field. Tourism on a whole has a constant growth with the help of information technology. The advert of information technology launches new things to make everything new travel, tourism, hospitality, airlines, food industry and many more. The service industry is one of the major components of the global economy, particularly in the developed countries. This sector has accounted for a two third of the employment, so in the recent upcoming years hospitality industry get to pay the main attention, which is the main driving force of being the successful industry. The outstanding growth of hospitality industry can be related to the fact that their basic characters are highly compatible with the major technical source of innovation opportunities. Because of its advantage on the capability of the communication field and increased information channels, information tec hnology saves cost while increasing the output and the quality of most service productions. However, the main value added by the IT industry to the hospitality firms is not only limited to the supply side. As an example we could take an instant thing that ICT has reduced the need of the front office staffs, as interaction and time is saved where there are many ways that is made technologically than to use man power. In addition information technology supports and improves the hospitality industry, with its interaction with suppliers and users, which is major source of information for the industry. On the other hand ICT plays a vast role in recognising the completion advantages and its vital improvement accordingly to these innovation activities according of the industry. The successful implementation of IT in hotel industry and its advantages: The implementation of information technology in the hospitality industry is to a large extent changed and is properly planned and well managed. Now a days personal computers have been introduced and which even being replaced by mini- computer based systems. To be well effective the organization has to plan and implement with an overall long time plan. Once a strategic plan is being made, then the information technology plan has to be planned. This should include the clear role that technology will play in achieving the target of the Hotel. It is planned in a way that it comprises of the present and future plans of the company, so as to work in a well planned successful way. These planning help to implement a successful technology which adds advantages to the hotel by its advance technology. There are vast advantages of IT that can be stated in which the few are saves lots time, reduces man power, makes a guest happy for making things efficient and faster. The technological development is a gift to the upcoming hotels which plans a high income and a success. A computer technology in a hotel focuses on four main aspects, Speed: A computer technology is an electronic device which can handle and process hundreds of transactions in a fraction of time, which results in the quick completion of difficult tasks. Discipline: the implementing advantage is being taken for it to perform a same task again and again without any mistake and without any distractions Accuracy: it does what we really need and according to the command, as a result they do not commit any mistake and all the calculations are accurate. Capacity: the analysis of any in-depth process and large amount of data performance can also be made in less time instead of doing things manually  [10]  . The functioning of it towards marketing purpose and the way it support for the success of execution: Every department facilities a different advantage with the technology and the sale and marketing also has its own advantage from the implementation of IT sources. These systems store a large amount of information that helps understand the measures of accommodation and hospitality business. In particular it saves the guest information that helps maintain a data base of the guest profile providing information for marketing purposes, which is a strong marketing tool called pull marketing. Another important factor for marketing is the yield management, which has the record of past performance of a room and the hotel that is the occupancy level in a particular time or day of the year and set the optimum rates that will maximize the propertys yield management programme. SWOT Analysis:  [11]   Strength: Strength can also be advantage of the technology which is deeply discussed and explained before. Successful hotels are constantly trying to adapt new technological improvement to keep them updated and to meet the necessary needs of the customer or a guest. These days people are looking forward for more and more technological based things to save time on whatever they do. Business guest needs to access internet in where ever they are for their official purposes like emails during their business trip. They would even need video conferencing, when a company holds a business meet in a hotel, so when a hotel provides all the basic facility to keep a customer service and satisfaction in a high level then the strength of the hotel keeps increasing allowing more and more development of technology. The basic strength that can be added is the quality of work can be high. This also tent to reduce manpower and low the wages, which can produce a highly skilled human resources. It also allows us to follow the service standard. This helps to bring highly skilled professional as this needs knowledge to work in. Weakness: As the technology increases it also leads to some of the weaknesses which should also be considered when taking steps to improve, as the technology gives you all the things you need there is always a lack of practical knowledge and also a dearth of suitable candidates. Until the system tells you the name of a particular guest who is a regular customer to our property we dont try to remember as it is said to be technological. This field is a still developing field but not a developed field as it has a small number of adaptation in some countries. Lack of jobs is also to be considered in countries with more population. Lack of effective marketing and aggressiveness in the field work can also be a weakness. Opportunities: There are facilities to provide high quality information technology market. It also adds up by increasing the number of educated people working. It allows and helps the development of any developing countries by making them adapt the culture of IT. Upcoming international players in the market would also an added opportunities. Hotel industry is developing in recent days in a rapid speed with the advantage and opportunities provided by the information technology and communication. Threats: There is a minimum thread as many threats are being reduced by time and development. When a threat is being seen there is a development to rectify that threat but still in some hotels these are still lacking to be developed for example lack of data security systems. And the development of IT also concentrates in a few cities only. Large market can also be an abstract as it may need a huge concentration or field work. Conclusion: The use of information technology and communication has a vast influence in all the sectors and mainly in hospitality industry. These things are well discussed and given an appropriate values that would add advantages to the statements given. Hospitality sector is mainly into a high touch service- based industry requiring technology to put it forward. The readings clarify that the exact use of technology in this particular field can increase the efficiency and reduce cost on human and financial services can be funnelled into personal services. In these discussions we also come to know that the use of technology in a correct way can be used as a successful tool. The implementation of technology by the managers is a challenge for them in many areas of the properties, the appointments of talented staff to be professional is a very important factor to be considered. Hospitality technology is now increasing with the pace of keeping a new generation to the computer technology and its development. So this allows most of the users to be familiar with the development of new products. the hospitality once which depended only on human resources and which was a big challenge to face, is now investigating whether robotics technology fits into their industry. There are also many successful stories behind this argument. Information technology is becoming more and more advanced and occupying the industries with its fast growth, as it becomes common and most used in hotel and restaurants, it is no longer going to be represented by the competitive advantage, instead it would prefer managers who could be creative and can use technology and information it provides rather to work on their own. These issues are being as evidence now a day by guest history systems. This database must be analysed and turned into real knowledge to improve decision making capacity and the satisfaction of the customer. So as to conclude Hospitality industry is going to be the vision that is going to be successful in the future with the technological development of Information Technology and Communication.

William Wordsworth Essay -- essays research papers

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth was, in my eyes one of the best know romanticist writers of his time. Most of his pieces talk about nature and religion. He, like most romantic poets of his time revolted against the industrial revolution and wrote many pieces about nature in order to go up against it. During the industrial revolution there were many factories being built up that took away most of the open countryside that everyone enjoyed. In these factories, workers were given long hours and little pay for their harsh working conditions. Wordsworth saw this and was appalled at how the factories could first come and take over the land and hire workers for practically no pay and long hours, so he wrote about nature to rebel against the factories. He wrote these poems to let people escape the reality of their lives and have something that was positive to live for. Wordsworth is considered a romantic because his writings were very imaginative, emotional, and visionary. He regularly discussed poetry with his friend Samuel Coleridge, who at the time was also a romantic writer. In their time as friends they wrote and discussed many poems, which later led to the writing of a prelude for his wife whom he had four children with. Originally Wordsworth was from England and was born in 1770 and graduated from Cambridge University. After he graduated he began his work on the idiom of the eighteenth century, which rebelled against the industrial revolution. Dorothy Wordsworth, Wi...

Susan Isaacss Critique of Ntozake Shanges Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo :: Sassafrass Cypress Indigo

Susan Isaacs's Critique of Ntozake Shange's Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo Susan Isaacs believes that Ntozake Shange's first novel, Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo, is mildly entertaining and enjoyable, but her writing, "sometimes loses a thread and makes a mess" (395). Isaacs praises Shange's style, while finding fault with some of the techniques she employs. The main character that is introduced to the readers in Post Modern American Fiction's excerpt from Shange's novel, Sassafrass Cypress, and Indigo, is Indigo, the youngest of three daughters in the story. Indigo's character borders on the mystical. She has dolls she still talks to, and a fiddle that Sister Mary Louise, a friend of Indigo's, remarks, "Too much of the Holy Ghost came out of Indigo and that fiddle" (Shange, 44). One of Isaacs's criticisms has to do with Indigo's use of magic. Indigo is an avid fiddle player, she, "had mastered the hum of the dusk, the crescendoes of the cicadas, swamp rushes in light winds, thunder at high tide, and her mother's laughter down the hall" (Shange, 45). The technique of mixing magic and fiddle playing does not sit well with Isaacs, who states, "It's an intriguing idea, but it fails because although the author tries to present Indigo as a wise innocent, a mystical power, a joyous embodiment of the black spirit, the rhetoric of her musings is earthbound radical-feminist, predictable and silly..." Isaacs continues her criticism of the notion that Indigo has any magical abilities, and the use of magic as a story line and as a part of Indigo's character, saying, "And if Indigo's black magic is real,...How can she and her people-a people with such potent magic-tolerate the evils the author catalogues so movingly?" (396). Isaacs wonders about the reason for Indigo's magical, mystical qualities, and continues along this track, wondering if the magic might be a metaphor, a fantasy of Indigo's, or Shange's own portrayal of black folklore. Regardless of the intended portrayal of Indigo's magical qualities, Isaacs believes that, "it is not presented with enough clarity. The reader remains mildly fond of Indigo--people who talk to dolls can be enchanting--but it is nonetheless befuddled about her role in the novel" (394). Despite Isaacs' problems with the structure of the novel, and some of the devices and techniques Shange used in her character development, she does praise Shange as a novelist, comparing her art to weaving, a skill shared by both the mother and the eldest daughter in Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo.

Essays --

The attacks of 9/11 in 2001 shed a light on many different weaknesses relevant to the security of the United States regarding communication, and disaster response. On every level of government— federal, state, and local— substandard communication methods contributed to the deaths of nearly 3000 people, as well as the growing number of people dying from illnesses that resulted from participating in the cleanup at Ground Zero. There were many communication challenges faced by agencies tasked with responding to the incident, and particularly in the case of law enforcement, these problems likely resulted in more fatalities than would have occurred had better systems been in place. This paper will discuss the communication problems that surfaced during the 9/11 disaster, the results of those problems, and the measures that have been taken to respond to those inadequacies. On September 11, 2001, two airplanes originating in Boston were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center in New York City. Initially, it was unclear that the impact had been intentional, but when the second plane hit, it was evident that this was a terrorist attack. Ultimately, the two buildings collapsed because of the heat of the fire that ensued from the plane crash. Within the next hours, another plane hit the Pentagon and a fourth plane that was hijacked crashed before it reached its destination because the passengers had been able to take control of the plane. They prevented the hijackers from reaching their target, believed to be either the Capital Building or the White House, but the plane crash landed and all aboard were killed. The 9/11 Commission Report indicated that there were several fateful failures of communication at the level of the federal g... ...anslates into virtual remote offices in the vehicles of the NYPD and the FDNY. The events of 9/11 were a tragedy, and resulted in thousands of losses and injuries of first responders, civilians, airline pilots and crew, and many other groups of people. The event also resulted in the loss of a sense of security previously held by people in the United States, and the scope of the incident required the entire infrastructure and security system of the country to be reevaluated and enhanced. Although certainly all that occurred on that day must be considered devastating, it served as a wake-up call to federal, state, and local officials regarding the need for coordination and communication between relevant agencies. It appears that there have been significant advances in these areas since 2001, but the whole issue of communication is a work in progress that must continue.

How Tim O’Brien Shows the Negative Side of Vietnam Essay

In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, O’Brien talks about all the parts of the Vietnam War. It shows all the horrors and negative sides of the war and what it can do to men. Many men lose their lives as well as their best friends and comrades. War also changes the soldiers into something else that’s not themselves, something evil. The Things They Carried shows the negative side of war through the imagery of the shitfield, the mental affects of the war, the hatred that can be shown by each person, the way war changes people, and the loss of companions. In the shitfield one sees everything that is bad about the war. It’s dirty and mucky and it’s just depressing all around. While in the field the soldiers are bombarded my artillery fire so they have to sink into the muck to hide themselves. One of the soldiers, Kiowa, gets hit with one of the shells. Norman Bowker tries to pull him out of the muck but he cannot. All the men try to pull him out but they cannot. They lose a friend in Kiowa, who is lost and buried in the field, and it scars all the men for life especially when they try to pull him out of the muck. The loss of a good friend stings for O’Brien. O’Brien even says that he went down with Kiowa that day and he lost a part of himself in that field. Everyone lost a part of themselves there. O’Brien describes what he saw of Kiowa as he was going down under the muck. â€Å"Kiowa was almost completely under. There was a knee. There was an arm and a gold wristwatch and part of a boot†¦. There were bubbles where Kiowa’s head should’ve been† (O’Brien 168). O’Brien going down with Kiowa shows that there are other negative effects such as mental ones. The mental effects of the war are also very negative in The Things They Carried. War messes with people’s heads and Tim O’Brien shows it in his book. â€Å"I couldn’t sleep; I couldn’t lie still† (Chen 77). This is a cause of all the blood and gore the soldier has seen. And this doesn’t just speak for the one soldier who said it, it speaks for all the soldiers. The first stage is not being able to sleep, the next stage is losing your composure. Then men start to become paranoid during the war and some go crazy. Rat Kiley is a good example of this. He is a medic and he starts to go crazy. He says he hears noises in the night that aren’t there. He says that he hears the voices of the people dying at night. O’Brien thinks its from all the gore and blood he sees day in and day out and its just getting to him but either way he loses it. Rat tells someone he is going to shoot himself so he can get out of there because of an injury. â€Å"The next morning he shot himself† (O’Brien 223). Rat Kiley’s plan works and he gets to leave, but he apologizes to all the men for losing it and in turn they don’t rat him out for what he did. Not only does the war mess with people’s heads during the war but also at other times. The mental effects also extend to after the war. The awful memories of war stick with some of the men long after they return home from the war. The post war stress is too much for Norman Bowker. He finds that when he returns home that it’s not the same to him and he cannot find his place in society. He feels empty inside and ever since the shitfield he feels incomplete. The lingering memory of not being able to pull Kiowa out of the muck sticks with him. He feels that he died there with Kiowa and this causes him to be depressed. He often talks about it with his dad saying that he wishes he could have pulled harder to get Kiowa out but he just couldn’t because of the smell. Norman wrote Tim O’Brien a letter about his last book. He said it was very good book but that he should have put a chapter in about the shitfield. O’Brien finds out that eight months later Norman killed himself. Normans writes O’Brien a letter saying there was no letter and he hung himself with a jump rope. Tim O’Brien kills a man while he’s in Vietnam. He still feels the effects of killing the man and the guilt years later. He remembers it very well when his daughter asks him a question. The question was if he had ever killed someone. â€Å"O’Brien’s guilt over the man he kills comes from questions his daughter asks him about the war. He feels the sting years later† (Martin 2). O’Brien also revisits the site of the shitfield with his daughter. He starts to remember all the bad things that happened and it hurts him. O’Brien hates the bad memories; he hates a lot of things. Some of the men start to show hatred toward people who usually aren’t hateful. The men start to turn on each other in stressful situations when they would have never done it before. â€Å"Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen got into a fistfight. It was about something stupid, a missing jackknife, but even so the fight was vicious†¦. Strunk’s nose made a sharp snapping sound, like a firecracker† (O’Brien 62). The men show hatred in the fight and over nothing important at all. â€Å"In other circumstances it might’ve ended there. But this was Vietnam, where guys carried guns, and Dave Jensen started to worry. It was mostly in his head† (O’Brien 62-63). Dave Jensen starts to get paranoid and he hates Strunk for it. â€Å"One afternoon he began firing his weapon into the air, yelling Strunk’s name†¦. late that same night he borrowed a pistol, gripped it by the barrel, and used it like a hammer to break his own nose† (Oâ€⠄¢Brien 63). This just shows how hate is a part of Vietnam. O’Brien also shows hate toward some of his comrades. In a firefight O’Brien gets shot and needs help from the new medic Bobby Jorgenson, but Jorgenson freezes because he’s too afraid and forgets to treat O’Brien for shock. This causes him much more pain over the months because the wound wasn’t treated right and in time. O’Brien hates Jorgenson for it. â€Å"I wanted to hurt Bobby Jorgenson the way he’d hurt me† (O’Brien 200). Months later O’Brien and Jorgenson talk. O’Brien realizes that Jorgenson is really sorry and he can’t bring himself to say how he feels about it and just says its ok. â€Å"I hated him for making me stop hating him† (O’Brien 200). This isn’t like O’Brien to be hateful. He has become something he’s not. The war changes the men into bad things, things that aren’t themselves. O’Brien talk about how the war changes himself and his personality at times. â€Å"I’d come to this war a quiet, thoughtful sort of person†¦. I’d turned mean inside. Even a little cruel at times†¦. It’s a hard thing to admit, even to myself, but I was capable of evil† (O’Brien 200). O’Brien also talks about how one comes over innocent and but one leaves with a different identity. â€Å"You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterwards it’s never the same† (O’Brien 114). Other authors talk about how O’Brien shows the physical and mental devastation caused by the war. â€Å"Nowhere in The Things They Carried does O’Brien explain more clearly the psychic devastation wrought by wartime trauma† (Neilson 193). One sees the effect of the trauma even if the characters previous personalities aren’t kn own. The killing also has a big affect on O’Brien. O’Brien also talks about how the man he kills changes him because it is such a big deal to take a life. The author describes the soldier he kills. He describes everything from his wounds to his figure. He was a slim, dead, almost dainty young man of about twenty. He lay at the center of the red clay trail near the village of My Khe. His jaw was in his throat. His eye was shut, the other eye was a star shaped hole. I killed him. (O’Brien 203). Once O’Brien killed this man he was â€Å"broken in† to Vietnam. He no longer was clean, he was now dirty. â€Å"His first kill hastens his loss of innocence† (Herzog 133). The soldiers in the war aren’t the only ones who were changed by Vietnam. One soldier brings his girlfriend from the states to visit him in Vietnam. He has her flown in through cargo planes and brought to his camp. At first she is glad to see her boyfriend and one can tell they are in love because they spend every minute together. She begins to get curious though and wonders off camp many times to explore. Then one night she goes missing and she is gone for a couple of days. She returns with the â€Å"Greenies† or Green Berets. She tells him not to ask and not to worry about it and acts like she has done nothing wrong. This happens many other times and the soldier can tell that he is beginning to lose her. â€Å"When she begins disappearing with the ‘greenies’ and taking part in the night ambushes, she melts into ‘a small, soft shadow'† (Chen 90). She becomes something she originally wasn’t. Mary Anne starts to become one with Vietnam and she totally forgets about her boyfriend. In the end she is lost forever to Vietnam. â€Å"It becomes impossible to distinguish between Mary Anne and Vietnam† (Chen 91). Her boyfriend loses her and she is lost to Vietnam. Just one of many casualties of the war. â€Å"But in his final story O’Brien moves from his concern with moral corruption and war to one even more universally human: death† (O’Gorman 306). O’Brien also loses many things in the war. The worst part of the Vietnam War that O’Brien shows is his loss of companions and friends. The author talks many times about his comrades throughout the book. He loses many people close to him personally and physically. â€Å"There are five deaths in the novel†¦. Ted Lavender, Curt Lemon, Kiowa, Linda, and the slim Vietcong soldier† (Martin 1). The worst is the loss of his good friend. O’Brien loses his good and best friend there, Kiowa, in the shitfield. This death is the most devastating to him because of how it happened in the muck and because he was a good friend. â€Å"Kiowa was gone. He was under the mud and water, folded in with the war: Kiowa’s death actually makes him a part of the shitfield† (Chen 93). It is also very devastating because all of the men feel guilt about it because they couldn’t pull him out in time to possibly save him. Kiowa’s death is also pointless and has no purpose except to cause pain to his friends. â€Å"In the story of Kiowa’s death, we find a combination of senselessness of war with the guilt that must be carried by other† (Martin 2). This death affects everyone in the platoon but not all deaths are gruesome and ugly. An accident kills one of the young men, named Curt Lemon, and it’s described by O’Brien as an almost beautiful death. They were just goofing. There was a noise, I supposed, which must’ve been the detonator, so I glanced behind me and watched Lemon step from the shade into bright sunlight†¦.when he died it was almost beautiful, the way the sunlight came around him and lifted him up and sucked him high into a tree full of moss and vines and white blossoms. (O’Brien 70) The two soldiers are just playing a simple game and it all ends so suddenly. â€Å"He is playing a game with another soldier, a game of toss with a smoke grenade, when he accidentally steps on a landmine† (Martin 2). Lemon and O’Brien weren’t as good as friends as him and Kiowa but it was a bothersome death because Lemon was so young. â€Å"O’Brien speaks of him stepping into the light, and then the blast sucks him up into the trees†¦.what bothers O’Brien is that Curt Lemon is just a kid† (Martin 2). The death isn’t all-beautiful. O’Brien describes the mess that is made by the accident. â€Å"The white bone of an arm†¦.pieces of skin and something wet and yellow that must’ve been the intestines† (O’Brien 89). Another casualty happens because of bad luck. Lee Strunk dies in battle during a firefight. O’Brien describes the wound that Strunk gets. â€Å"In October Lee Strunk stepped on a rigged mortar round. It took off his right leg at the knee†¦.then he panicked. He tried to get up and run, but there was nothing left to run on† (O’Brien 65). Strunk didn’t die right away but not all death occur right after the accident happens. â€Å"Later we heard that Strunk died somewhere over Chu Lai† (O’Brien 66). The last death happens because of carelessness. Ted Lavender was always doped up and this in the end leads to his death. While going to the bathroom in the woods Lieutenant Cross is daydreaming and not keeping watch for enemy soldiers. While coming back from his bathroom break Lavender is shot in the head and killed on the spot. Cross never forgives himself for his death because he was daydreaming about girls and one of his men was killed. â€Å"Several incidents in The Things They Carried reveal moments when the male soldiers cannot communicate with one another† (Vernon 171). Death is only a small part of the whole picture. Tim O’Brien shows many of the negative sides of the war to the reader in ways that the reader can see how bad war is. He uses the examples of his friends dying, the whole ordeal in the shitfield, how war changes the men including the mental effects, and by showing how hateful one can become because of the stressful situations and the things one sees. O’Brien feels that he has to show all the negative sides of the war because he never wanted to go to war in the first place. Men go to war to fight battle that could be worked out peacefully and they fight and die for no reason. He feels that war is a bad thing and wants to show the reader that it’s a terrible thing and he does this very well. Even today war is a problem. Many young men are dying for no reason and it needs to stop. Works Cited Chen, Tina. â€Å"Unraveling the Deeper Meaning: Exile and the Embodied poetics of Displacement in Tim O’Briens The Things They Carried.† Contemporary Literature 29.1 (spring 1998): 77-98. Herzog, Tobey C. Vietnam War Stories Innocence Lost. London: Routledge, 1992. Martin, Paul L. 24 March, 2008. http://plmartinwrite.blogspot.com/2007/11/things-they-carried.html Neilson, Jim. Warring Fictions. Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 1998 O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway Books, 1990. O’Gorman, Farrel. â€Å"The Things They Carried as a Composite Novel.† War, Lit, and the Arts. Vernon, Alex. â€Å"Salvation, Storytelling and Pilgrimage in Tim O’Brien’s the Things They Carried.† Mosaic (Winnipeg) 36.4 (2003): 171+. Questia. 19 Mar. 2008 .

Night World : Soulmate Chapter 2

Hannah found herself on her feet. Her awareness was fragmented and understanding came to her in pieces because she simply couldn't take in the whole situation at once. It was too bizarre. At first she simply thought of a bomb. The explosion was that loud. Then she realized that something had come in the window, that it had come flying through the glass. And that it was in the room with her now, crouching among the broken shards of windowpane. Even then, she couldn't identify it. It was too incongruous; her mind refused to recognize the shape immediately. Something pretty big-something dark, it offered. A body like a dog's but set higher, with longer legs. Yellow eyes. And then, as if the right lens had suddenly clicked in front of her eyes, she saw it clearly. A wolf. There was a big black wolf in the room with her. It was a gorgeous animal, rangy and muscular, with ebony-colored fur and a white streak on its throat like a bolt of lightning. It was looking at her fixedly, with an almost human expression. Escaped fromYellowstone , Hannah thought dazedly. The naturalists were reintroducing wolves to the park, weren't they? It couldn't be wild; Ryan Harden's great-grandpa had bragged for years about killing the last wolf in Amador county when he was a boy. Anyway, she told herself, wolves don't attack people. They never attack people. A single wolf would never attack a full-grown teenager. And all the time her conscious mind was thinking this, something deeper was making her move. It made her back up slowly, never taking her eyes off the wolf, until she felt the bookcase behind her. There's something you need to get, a voice in her mind was whispering to her. It wasn't like the voice of another person, but it wasn't exactly like her own mental voice, either. It was a voice like a dark cool wind: competent and rather bleak. Something you saw on a shelf earlier, it said. In an impossibly graceful motion, from eight feet away, the wolf leaped. There was no time to be scared. Hannah saw a bushy, flowing black arc coming at her and then she was slammed into the bookcase. For a while after that, everything was simply chaos. Books and knick-knacks were falling around her. She was trying to get her balance, trying to push the heaviness of a furry body away from her. The wolf was falling back, then jumping again as she twisted sideways to get away. And the strangest thing was that she actually was getting away. Or at least evading the worst of the wolf's lunges, which seemed to be aimed at knocking her to the floor. Her body was moving as if this were, somehow instinctive to her, as if she knew how to do this. But I don't know this. I never fight†¦ and I've certainly never played dodge ball with a wolf before†¦. As she thought it, her movements slowed. She didn't feel sure and instinctive any longer. She felt confused. And the wolf seemed to know it. Its eyes glowed eerily yellow in the light of a lamp that was lying on its side. They were such strange eyes, more intense and more savage than any animal's she'd ever seen. She saw it draw its legs beneath it. Move-now, the mysterious new part of her mind snapped. Hannah moved. The wolf hit the bookcase with incredible force, and then the bookcase itself was falling. Hannah flung herself sideways in time to avoid being crushed-but the case fell with an unholy noise directly in front of the door. Trapped, the dark cool voice in Hannah's mind noted analytically. No exit anymore, except the window. â€Å"Hannah? Hannah?† It was Paul's voice just outside the room. The door flew open-all of four inches. It jammed against the fallen bookcase. â€Å"God-what's going on in there? Hannah? Hannah!† He sounded panicked now, banging the door uselessly against the blockage. Don't think about him, the new part of Hannah's mind said sharply, but Hannah couldn't help it. He sounded so desperate. She opened her mouth to shout back to him, her concentration broken. And the wolf lunged. This time Hannah didn't move fast enough. A terrible weight smashed into her and she was falling, flying. She landed hard, her head smacking into the floorboards. It hurt. Even as she felt it, everything grayed out. Her vision went sparkling, her mind soared away from the pain, and a strange thought flickered through her head. I'm dead now. It's over again. Oh, Isis, Goddess of Life, guide me to the other world†¦. â€Å"Hannah! Hannah! What's going on in there?† Paul's frantic voice came to her dimly. Hannah's vision cleared and the bizarre thoughts vanished. She wasn't soaring in sparkling emptiness and she wasn't dead. She was lying on the floor with a book's sharp corner in the small of her back and a wolf on her chest. Even in the midst of her terror, she felt a strange appalled fascination. She had never seen a wild animal this close. She could see the white-tipped guard hairs standing erect on its face and neck; she could see saliva glistening on its lolling red tongue. She could smell its breath-humid and hot, vaguely dog-like but much wilder. And she couldn't move, she realized. The wolf was as long as she was tall, and it weighed more than she did. Pinned underneath it, she was utterly helpless. All she could do was lie there shivering as the narrow, almost delicate muzzle got closer and closer to her face. Her eyes closed involuntarily as she felt the cold wetness of its nose on her cheek. It wasn't an affectionate gesture. The wolf was nudging at strands of her hair that had fallen across her face. Using its muzzle like a hand to push the hair away. Oh, God, please make it stop, Hannah thought. But she was the only one who could stop this-and she didn't know how. Now the cold nose was moving across her cheekbone. Its sniffing was loud in her ear. The wolf seemed to be smelling her, tasting her, and looking at her all at once. No. Not looking at me. Looking at my birthmark. It was another one of those ridiculous, impossible thoughts-and it snapped into place like the last piece in a puzzle deep inside her. Irrational as it was, Hannah felt absolutely certain it was true. And it set off the cool wind voice in her mind again. Reach out, the voice whispered, quiet and businesslike. Feel around you. The weapon has to be there somewhere. You saw it on the bookcase. Find it. The wolf stopped its explorations, seeming satisfied. It lifted its head†¦ and laughed. Really laughed. It was the eeriest and most frightening thing Hannah had ever seen. The big mouth opened, panting, showing teeth, and the yellow eyes blazed with hot bestial triumph. Hurry, hurry. Hannah's eyes were helplessly fixed on the sharp white teeth ten inches away from her face, but her hand was creeping out, feeling along the smooth pine floorboards around her. Her fingers glided over books, over the feathery texture of a fern-and then over something square and cold and faced with glass. The wolf didn't seem to notice. Its lips were pulling back farther and farther. Not laughing anymore. Hannah could see its short front teeth and its long curving canines. She could see its forehead wrinkling. And she could feel its body vibrate in a low and vicious growl. The sound of absolute savagery. The cool wind voice had taken over Hannah's mind completely. It was telling her what would happen next. The wolf would sink his teeth into her throat and then shake her, tearing skin and ripping muscles away. Her blood would spray like a fountain. It would fill her severed windpipe and her lungs and her mouth. She would die gasping and choking, maybe drowning before she bled out. Except. . . that she had silver in her hand. A silver picture frame. Kill it, the cool voice whispered. You've got the right weapon. Hit it dead in the eye with a corner. Drive silver into its brain. Hannah's ordinary mind didn't even try to figure out how a picture frame could possibly be the right weapon. It didn't object, either. But faint and faraway, there came another voice in her head. Like the cool wind voice, it wasn't hers, but it wasn't someone else's, either. It was a clear crystal voice that seemed to sparkle in jeweled colors as it spoke. You are not a killer. You don't kill. You have never killed, no matter what happened to you. You do not kill. I don't kill, Hannah thought slowly, in agreement. Then you're going to die, the cool wind voice said brutally, much louder than the crystal voice. Because this animal won't stop until either it's dead or you are. There's no other way to deal with these creatures. Then it happened. The wolf's mouth opened. In a lightning-fast move, it darted for her throat. Hannah didn't think. She brought the picture frame up †¦ and slammed it into the side of the wolf's head. Not into the eye. Into the ear. She felt the impact-hard metal against sensitive flesh. The wolf gave a yelping squeal and staggered sideways, shaking its head and hitting at its face with a forepaw. Its weight was off her for an instant, and an instant was all Hannah needed. Her body moved without her conscious direction, sliding out from under the wolf, twisting and jumping to her feet. She kept her grasp on the picture frame. Now. Look around! The bookcase-no, you can't move it. The window! Go for the window. But the wolf had stopped shaking its head. Even as Hannah started across the room, it turned and saw her. In one flowing, bushy leap it put itself between her and the window. Then it stood looking at her, every hair on its body bristling. Its teeth were bared, its ears upright, and its eyes glared with pure hatred and menace. It's going to spring, Hannah realized. I am not a killer. I can't kill. You don't have any choice- The wolf sprang. But it never reached her. Something else came soaring through the window and knocked it off course. This time, Hannah's eyes and brain identified the creature at once. Another wolf. My God, what is going on? The new animal was gray-brown, smaller than the black wolf and not as striking. Its legs were amazingly delicate, twined with veins and sinews like a racehorse's. A female, something faraway in Hannah's mind said with dreamlike certainty. Both wolves had recovered their balance now. They were on their feet, bristling. The room smelled like a zoo. And now I'm really going to die, Hannah thought. I'm going to be torn to pieces by two wolves. She was still clutching the picture frame, but she knew there was no chance of fighting them both off at once. They were going to rip her to bits, quarreling over who got more of her. Her heart was pounding so hard that it shook her body, and her ears were ringing. The female wolf was staring at her with eyes more amber than yellow, and Hannah stared back, mesmerized, waiting for it to make its move. The wolf held the gaze for another moment, as if studying Hannah's face-in particular the left side of her face. Her cheek. Then she turned her back to Hannah and faced the black wolf. And snarled. Protecting me, Hannah thought, stunned. It was unbelievable-but she was beyond disbelief at this point. She had stepped out of her ordinary life and into a fairy tale full of almost-human wolves. The entire world had gone crazy and all she could do was try to deal with each moment as it came. They're going to fight, the cool wind voice in her mind told her. As soon as they're into it, run for the window. At that moment everything erupted into bedlam. The gray wolf had launched herself at the black. The room echoed with the sound of snarling-and of teeth clicking together as both wolves snapped again and again. Hannah couldn't make out what was going on in the fight. It was just a blurred chaos as the wolves circled and darted and leaped and ducked. But it was by far the most terrifying thing she had ever witnessed. Like the worst dog fight imaginable, like the feeding frenzy of sharks. Both animals seemed to have gone berserk. Suddenly there was a yelp of pain. Blood welled up on the gray female's flank. She's too small, Hannah thought. Too light. She doesn't have a chance. Help her, the crystal voice whispered. It was an insane suggestion. Hannah couldn't even imagine trying to get in the middle of that snarling whirlwind. But somehow she found herself moving anyway. Placing herself behind the gray wolf. It didn't matter that she didn't believe she was doing it, or that she had no idea how to team up with a wolf in fighting another wolf. She was there and she was holding her silver picture frame high. The black wolf pulled away from the fight to stare at her. And there they stood, all three of them panting, Hannah with fear and the wolves with exertion. They were frozen like a tableau in the middle of the wrecked office, all looking at each other tensely. The black wolf on one side, his eyes shining with single-minded menace. The gray wolf on the other, blood matting her coat, bits of fur floating away from her. And Hannah right behind her, holding up the picture frame in a shaking hand. Hannah's ears were filled with the deep reverberating sound of growling. And then a deafening report that cut through the room like a knife. A gunshot. The black wolf yelped and staggered. Hannah's senses had been focused on what was going on inside the room for so long that it was a shock to realize there was anything, outside it. She was dimly aware that Paul's yells had stopped some time ago, but she hadn't stopped to consider what that meant. Now, with adrenaline washing over her, she heard his voice. â€Å"Hannah! Get out of the way!† The shout was tense, edged with fear and anger- and determination. It came from the opposite side of the room, from the darkness outside the window. Paul was there at the broken window with a gun. His face was pale and his hand was shaking. He was aiming in the general direction of the wolves. If he fired again he might hit either of them. â€Å"Get into a corner!† The gun bobbed nervously. Hannah heard herself say, â€Å"Don't shoot!† Her voice came out hoarse and unused-sounding. She moved to get in between the gun and the wolves. â€Å"Don't shoot,† she said again. â€Å"Don't hit the gray one.† â€Å"Hit the gray one?† Paul's voice rose in something like hysterical laughter. â€Å"I don't even know if I can hit the wall! This is the first time I've ever shot a gun. So just-just try to get out of the way!† â€Å"No!† Hannah moved toward him, holding out her hand. â€Å"I can shoot. Just give it to me-â€Å" â€Å"Just move out of the way-â€Å" The gun went off. For an instant Hannah couldn't see where the bullet had gone and she wondered wildly if she had been shot. Then she saw that the black wolf was lurching backward. Blood dripped from its neck. Steel won't kill it, the wind voice hissed. You're only making it more angry. . But the black wolf was swinging its head to look with blazing eyes from Hannah with her picture frame to Paul with his gun, to the gray wolf with her teeth. The gray wolf snarled just then and Hannah had never seen an animal look closer to being smug. â€Å"One more shot†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Paul breathed. â€Å"While it's cornered†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Ears flat, the black wolf turned toward the only other window in the room. It launched into a vaulting leap straight toward the unbroken glass. There was a shattering crash as it went through. Glass fragments flew everywhere, tinkling. Hannah stared dizzily at the curtains swirling first outside, then inside the room, and then her head snapped around to look at the gray wolf. Amber eyes met hers directly. It was such a human stare†¦ and definitely the look of an equal. Almost the look of a friend. Then the gray wolf twisted and loped for the newly broken window. Two steps and a leap-she was through. From somewhere outside there came a long drawn-out howl of anger and defiance. It was fading, as if the wolf was moving away. Then silence. Hannah shut her eyes. Her knees literally felt as if they wanted to buckle. But she made herself move to the window, glass grating under her boots as she stared into the night. The moon was bright, one day past full. She thought she could just see a dark shape loping toward the open prairie, but it might have been her imagination. She let out her breath and sagged against the window. The silver picture frame fell to the floor. â€Å"Are you hurt? Are you okay?† Paul was climbing through the other window. He tripped on a waste-basket getting across the room, then he was beside her, grabbing for her shoulders, trying to look her over. â€Å"I think I'm all right.† She was numb, was what she was. She felt dazed and fragmented. He blinked at her. â€Å"Um .. . you have some particular fondness for gray wolves or something?† Hannah shook her head. How could she ever explain? They stared at each other for a moment, and then, simultaneously, they both sank to the floor, squatting among the shards of glass, breathing hard. Paul's face was white, his red hair disheveled, his eyes large and stunned. He ran a shaky hand over his forehead, then put the gun down and patted it. He twisted his neck to stare at the wreck of his office, the overturned bookcase, the scattered books and knickknacks, the two broken windows, the glass fragments, the bullet hole, the flecks of blood, and the tufts of wolf hair that still drifted across the pine floorboards. Hannah said faintly, â€Å"So who was at the door?† Paul blinked twice. â€Å"Nobody. Nobody was at the door.† He added almost dreamily, â€Å"I wonder if wolves can ring doorbells?† â€Å"What?† Paul turned to look straight at her. â€Å"Has it ever occurred to you,† he blurted, â€Å"that you may not be paranoid after all? I mean, that something weird and uncanny really is out to get you?† â€Å"Very funny,† Hannah whispered â€Å"I mean-† Paul gestured around the room, half-laughing. He looked punch-drunk. â€Å"I mean, you said something was going to happen-and something did.† He stopped laughing and looked at her with wondering speculation. â€Å"You really did know, didn't you?† Hannah glared at the man who was supposed to guide her back to sanity. â€Å"Are you crazy?† Paul blinked. He looked shocked and embarrassed, then he glanced away and shook his head. â€Å"God, I don't know. Sorry; that wasn't very professional, was it? But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He stared out the window. â€Å"Well, for a moment it just seemed possible that you've got some kind of secret locked up there in your brain. Something†¦ extraordinary.† Hannah said nothing. She was trying to forget about too many things at once: the new part of her that whispered strategies, the wolves with human eyes, the silver picture frame. She had no idea what all these things added up to, and she didn't want to know. She wanted to force them away from her and go back to the safe ordinary world ofSacajaweaHigh School . Paul cleared his throat, still looking out the window. His voice was uncertain and almost apologetic. â€Å"It can't be true, of course. There's got to be a rational explanation. But-well, if it were true, it occurs to me that somebody had better unlock that secret. Before something worse happens.†