Position paper on General “Billy” Mitchell Essay

1.This paper addresses the demonstration of General â€Å"Billy† Mitchell’s USAF core values of service before self and integrity. General Mitchell displayed these core values in the face of adversity. He was one of the few airmen who knew the potential of the airplane and fought for his beliefs, even at the cost of his own career. 2.General Mitchell exhibited great courage and placed his service before himself during interservice rivalries following World War I. Even though he knew that his views would be greatly opposed, views that the Navy was obsolete, the Army was not fully effective without an â€Å"air force†, and that the air service was an offensive force equal to the other services, he presented his opinions to congress. He challenged the Navy and proved the effectiveness of air power by sinking Navy battleships. The General’s defiance and outspoken beliefs infuriated many leaders of the Navy and Army. In 1925, his insistent attempts for a separate air force resulted in a demotion to Colonel. Later that year, the dirigible Shenandoah crashed. General Mitchell blamed military leaders for â€Å"incompetence and criminal negligence†. This outcome of his accusations was his own court martial on October 25, 1925. 3.General Mitchell represented integrity and perseverance by continuing his crusade for a separate air force, despite the setbacks he had endured. He met with public leaders and tried to gain support for his campaign. He improved his doctrine of air power, concepts and strategy, and he published material supporting strategic bombing. 4.General Mitchell is a hero in USAF history. He manifested the core values of the USAF to the highest degree, reflecting great credit upon himself. His work opened the eyes of many that were blind to the impending importance of airpower and ultimately paved the way for a separate, independent, United States Air Force.

Outline the Theory of Natural Law

Natural Law is an absolutist and deontological approach to ethnics that gives us fixed moral rules based on an nature that is interpreted by human reason. Thomas Aquinus linked this with the Christian teaching, which reflected God’s plans to build within us, this concept is Natural Law. Thomas Aquinus was influenced by Aristotle’s writings. Aristotle had a view that we all have a purpose on this earth and in order to fulfill this purpose we must reach a state of eudemonia, which is the ultimate happiness and living in an ordered society.He also believed that reason is the only way in which eudemonia can be achieved. He believed that we should all live a life of reason. He also believed that natural laws are universal and unchangeable, which means it should be common within different cultures. Aquinus stated that there are three types of laws. Eternal law, which tells us how the universe was made, this is the law that controls our whole universe. Eternal laws are only se en as reflections, the influence all other laws in our universe. These laws work together rationally to give a structure in which we can reason logically.Divine law: this is the law that is known by only those who believe in God and those who they have been revealed to. The last law Aquinus stated is natural law: this is the moral law of God that is known by reason.. Cicero said, â€Å"True law is the right reason in agreement with nature. † The fundamental processes also known as the five primary precept of natural law are worship, an ordered society, reproduction, learning and education and lastly defending the innocent. God inscribes these precepts into us regardless on whether you are a believer or not.Aquinus believed that we are all naturally inclined to â€Å"do good and avoid evil†. Aquinus does not believe that humans’ purpose is eudemonia, but is perfection, for we are made in the image of God, so the Supreme good must be developing into this image of Christ. Aquinus also tells us about the two types of good deeds. Real good and apparent good. Real good is when an action is done from the goodness of one’s heart. Real good has to do with a pure heart and no bad intentions or thought. Working out a real good has to do with â€Å"reason†. Both the interior act and the exterior act of an action must be pure.An apparent good is when someone thinks what he or she is doing is good, meanwhile it is bad and a sin is being committed. An example is a man who is having an affair may believe that his relationship with another person is good; meanwhile in reality he is committing a serious offence. Secondary precepts are discovered when we apply the primary precepts to practical situation. This has to do with how we treat different situations when making decisions. Different situations have to be treated differently. Secondary precepts become more teleological.Reason and experience are needed to come out with the right outcome. A n example would be the primary precept to worship God ,the secondary precepts is to determine whether the way of worship is acceptable and proper. Unfortunately there are some circumstances when good intentions produce a bad outcome and vice versa. This was what brought about the â€Å"Doctrine of the Double Effect†. Although it is never acceptable to do something bad hoping for a good outcome, doing something good that produces a bad outcome is acceptable, as long as it was not done intentionally.For example a pregnant woman who has cancer may need to undergo chemotherapy as a good act to preserve her life. However, the bad unintended side effects could be that the foetus is killed. Aquinus’ Natural Law gives us an absolute set of rules to follow no matter your religion or cultural background. These moral rules can be reached ultimately depending on reason. Some of the strengths of natural law are that it establishes common rules that can easily be followed. The basic principles of preserving human life, reproduction, learning and living in a society are all common to cultures, so natural law is reasonable.It also does not dictate exactly what we must do; it gives us guidelines about what should be done in individual cases. Lastly, it concentrates on human character and its potential to flourish and goodness instead of the wrongness of the particular acts. A few weaknesses are that natural law is difficult to relate in complex situations in practice. It also gives people the idea to base their decisions on assumptions. If people don’t have this common sense then it could be difficult to make good judgments. Also it is not possible for a single human nature to be common to all societies.

Blade Runner And Fifth Element Cityscapes Film Studies Essay

Blade Runner And Fifth Element Cityscapes Film Studies Essay Blade runner greets the viewer with a fascinating opening scene where the camera hovers over a vast industrial mega polis called Hades. The year is 2020 and overpopulated Hades is trying to reinforce itself. The place is filled with corroded skyscrapers which shoot flame and gases into the environment creating a sense of hazy and polluted atmosphere. Also, in this shot and in subsequent shots flying cars, called spinners, are seen moving around the cityscape. The entire Hades cityscape was a forced perspective miniature set with larger miniature elements in the foreground which get smaller and smaller as we approach the horizon. Special photographic effects supervisor Douglas Trumbull and his crew constructed the whole set on a plywood table which was about 20 feet wide at the back and 5 feet wide in the front. The actual horizon on the screen is just 15 feet away from the camera. They designed the table according the focal length of the camera, which provided them the base in accor dance to field of view of the camera. This sort of careful planning enabled them to build the miniatures just inside the field of view without wasting valuable production time and money. Chief model maker Mark Stetson relied primarily on etched brass cutouts as elements to create buildings in the shot. But because these cutouts were two-dimensional, they had to stack a number of them together and stagger them across randomly to create depth in the whole shot. states that by using this technique Trumbull was soon posed with a problem: â€Å"But as we got into putting the thing together, we realized quickly that the etched metal stuff would have given away the trick if we’d use it too close to the foreground.† They overcame this by building foam cast models and put them in the foreground. Those models were highly detailed and separately mounted using C-Stands. They were positioned carefully so that the camera could fly right in between creating depth. Another hurdle was creating the atmospherics in the cityscape. Director Ridley Scott wanted smoke and haze in the distant background to add to the drama of the whole scene. Douglas Trumbull created this effect using studio fans and smoke detectors. He first contained the set using black cloth all around it and set up the smoke detectors to trigger the fans. So when they fed smoke into the contained set, fans powered up and pushed the smoke around creating a natural progression of smoke in the environment. Describing his perception of the Hades cityscape, Mark Stetson states: â€Å"I just had this scheme, I just wanted to do it as a series of silhouette and smoke. I wanted the smoke to really be the light and the light to light it up. Everything about that miniature had to be lights.† The way light was used in this shot to create volumetric effects and reflections played a major role making it look real and credible. About 20,000 fiber optic cables (about 7 miles long) were used to light the H ades cityscape. The light cables were threaded up from beneath the plexi glass, on which the brass etched cutouts were mounted. They also mixed and experimented with a lot of interactive lights like axial, blinking, etc which created variety and helped improve the overall aesthetics of the shot.

Knowledge Management and information Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Knowledge Management and information - Essay Example In fact, as a medium sized organization currently employing 100 individuals, it is even more important that our company manage this knowledge exactly because we lack the market share and resources that large corporations have at their disposal. Therefore, at BioPack we need to be more responsive, more flexible, and make better decisions in order to sustain and grow in our industry. Managing knowledge will be primary in our quest to achieve these goals. So, we need to ask ourselves what exactly constitutes knowledge. We must define this concept before we can start managing this information. According to Neil Fleming in his paper Coping with a Revolution: First, data is meaningless by itself, meaningless without some context that references it within space and time. The pieces of data may indeed represent information, yet we need to understand this data for it to be deemed informative. Moreover, the extent of understanding is based on the amount of associations discernable within the data collected. Thus, information is simply an understanding of the relationships between any collected set of data. And while this information provides us with a basic understanding of relationships between data sets, it fails to provide us with either future predictions or an understanding of why the data appears the way it does. So, this data collection we now deem information fails to provide knowledge. However, when a pattern emerges within this information, knowledge is possible. Patterns, unlike collected data or information, are seldom static but rather self-contextualizing. And when patterns are properly understood, we can predict with reliabili ty how that pattern will change over a period of time. This is the embryonic stage of changing our information into a form of knowledge. When one attains a clear understanding of the underlying principles that make up these patterns that are the basis for knowledge, wisdom, or wise decisions within the workplace become possible. It is important to note that the sequence just mentioned-data-information-knowledge-wisdom does not occur in discrete stages of development. It does not take place locked up in one of our laboratories. It is ongoing, and at any given time we might be better or somewhat worse in our understanding of that data. The quality of our understanding will be key in accomplishing our goal or mission statement: To create a workplace environment that encourages new ideas and new ways of solving problems in order to stimulate innovation and synergism in the creation of new products. To continually delight the customer with our quality, and to be a leader in biotechnology research. Still, all knowledge is not created equal. According to Michael Polanyi, one type of knowledge may be classified as explicit or formal knowledge, or that which can be articulated through language among individuals. The other type is deemed tacit or informal knowledge, and is rooted in individual experience, personal belief, and individual values (The Tacit Dimension 10). As

Marketing plan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Marketing plan - Research Paper Example As can be seen, restaurant is a place which provides services that satisfy people’s hunger and thirst. By starting such a business, I would be able to deliver good quality food products to my customers. My crew and I planned to locate our restaurant in New Jersey, United States of America. New Jersey has a lot of scope for starting hotel business, because there are many people working in New Jersey in different industries like printing and publishing, pharmaceutical industry, financial industry, telecommunication sector etc. Men and women work alike and even students are involved in the work as part time jobbers. Majority of people eat outside their homes, like in restaurants and hotels due to their work and as they do not have time to cook and eat. We could find a number of colleges, industries, companies etc in New Jersey. So we take this as an opportunity for us to start a new restaurant in Jersey City, Hudson County. The reason for choosing this place is its abundant popul ation and the fact that this place has a good infrastructure as well as is diverse in ethnics. Asians, African-Americans, Italians, Latinos etc are the different ethnic groups in Jersey City.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Name of the restaurant would be â€Å"Tasty World,† that indicates tasty foods from different parts of the world. We would be providing Chinese, South Indian, North Indian, Italian, Spanish dishes, because these cuisines are popular and very tasty. That would be our USP for the company. We are sure that we can make good profit out of it, though it is very a risky step for an initial business group like us. Our vision is to spread our business network to more places and to satisfy our customers’  needs and requirements by making this restaurant among the most reputed organizations. Our mission is to provide great service and good quality, variety of food to our customers. At the initial stage of commencing, I myself would be the Managing Director and in fu ture, if needed, partners would be included. Our company has personal values that are to be considered in order to get maximum satisfaction from all the customers and to provide good quality food at reasonable prices. II. A. The external environment is a little bit complicated because there are many other restaurants operating in this place. So it would not be so easy for us to run this organization in profit at the initial stage. But we have strategies to counter attack that situation. At present, the global economies are in a crisis and are facing more challenges, but for us it would be the perfect time to start our business in Jersey City. As I mentioned earlier, there are many students as well as employed people in this place, so the marketing demography for our business would particularly be college students, youth and working people. ‘Tasty World’ has entered a matured market, which is highly competitive. There are many other restaurants in the city of Jersey but Tasty World offers 100 types of Spanish, Indian, Italian and Chinese cuisines. Majority of the people living in that place go to restaurants at least once a week and more than 10000 individuals pass that way (where restaurant is proposed). Our workforce would consist of highly experienced people who possess great skills in preparing delicious food. We also plan to serve the dishes at the tables in the fastest time possible. STP of our company would be: Market Segmentation- Potential customers can be segmented into students, working professionals

How business adjusts (fails to adjust) to the change in its external Essay

How business adjusts (fails to adjust) to the change in its external environment - Essay Example The main objective of this study is to understand how organizations adjust in change, more specifically a change coming from the external business environment (Kazmi, 2008). Introduction It has been seen that entrepreneurs operate with respect to the environment in which they are established. There is a significant relationship which businesses have with their respective external environment (Chidi et al., 2011). Though environment brings opportunities for the business like growth opportunity or expansion opportunity, but there are certain threats too like competition or rivalry. Environment has three major components including globalization, market and competitors which can change rapidly or be rigid for a longer aspect of time (Adekola & Sergi, 2007). It all depends on how the market evolves and how businesses compel in the present environment situation. Hence the progress of entrepreneurs depends on two things, first how much they accept the change from environment components, and second how quickly they adjust to that change (Chidi et al., 2011). Interaction is very important in this respect as it sets the ground for developing a positive relationship between the entrepreneur and its environment (Chidi et al., 2011). ... Theoretical background When entrepreneurs adjust to the change they have to analyze each components of the external environment. According to modern literature, components include the market, the competitor and company’s individual business domain. All areas are parts of company’s external environment and come out separately in devising company’s growth or expansion strategy (Weiss et al., 2008). Globalization is one of the major components of external business environment, holding a direct influence for companies at the time of change (Adekola & Sergi, 2007). When companies are highly internationalized, they have to review all the features (culture, politics, society, and economics) associated with globalization in order to appropriately adjust to the change (Adekola & Sergi, 2007). Multinationals often find it a challenge, as they have to analyze all the features which are important from their global business point of view. This is one core requirement which hy per-globalists have to fulfil; otherwise they are out from competition or even out from the state of heading forward (Singla, 1993). According to several classical business theories like The Uppsala Model, when entrepreneurs are in a position to internationalize, they should target the developing regions, where new markets are waiting and new trends can be set (Jain & Griffith, 2012, pp.136). Companies can become pioneers in those regions if they understand the diversity and cultures of the new place. With respect to the Uppsala model, business expansion is itself a change where adjustment can be brought if organizations make the right decision. A right decision for an expanding entrepreneur would be to target the developing nation, where there is less

Organizations and group behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Organizations and group behavior - Essay Example In accordance with the issues discussed in the paper the increase of competition in all industries has led organizations to search for strategies, which can help them to develop a competitive advantage towards their rivals. In order to identify the key elements of group behavior it should be necessary to understand primarily the characteristics of a group, as part of the organizational life. In accordance with Martin within organizations, different forms of group can be identified: a) individuals working on similar organizational activities may not constitute a group; for example, the lecture staff in the same department of a particular university may not meet or cooperate; these individuals cannot be characterized as a group, b) the sub-sections of certain organizational departments are often parts of formal organizational units and they are likely to help towards the completion of organizational tasks of low importance, c) informal groups within organizations are common for promoti ng specific organizational tasks or ideas; for instance, the case of ‘friendship groupings and task-depended networks’, d) groups related to a particular organizational project can be developed within an organization; these groups, formal or informal, are not permanent, as for example ‘a project group working on the building of a new oil refinery’, e) formal and informal groups can be developed within organizations for completed a particular organizational task; these groups are ‘transient’, as for example a formal group working on the reduction of the organization’s travel expenses by 10%.... within an organization; these groups, formal or informal, are not permanent (Martin 232), as for example ‘a project group working on the building of a new oil refinery’ (Martin 232), e) formal and informal groups can be developed within organizations for completed a particular organizational task; these groups are ‘transient’ (Martin 232), as for example a formal group working on the reduction of the organization’s travel expenses by 10% (Martin 232). The development of group activities within modern organizations has been often related to the trend of firms to imitate the strategies of their rivals (Griffin and Moorhead 2011). In the study of Griffin and Moorhead (2011) reference is made to the risks that such strategy can hide mostly because of the following fact: the use of teams for promoting organizational plans can be beneficial for organizations but the costs involved can be also significant. The case of Ampex is mentioned as an example of the benefits of team development within modern organization: in Ampex, the involvement of teams in organizational activities led to the increase of ‘online customer delivery by 98%) (Griffin and Moorhead 272). In Texas Instruments, the use of teams for developing the daily organizational tasks resulted to the reduction of organizational costs for about 50% (Griffin and Moorhead 272). Also, in Eastman, the development of teams across the organization supported the increase of organizational performance at significant levels; the productivity of the organization was increased for about 70%, a result which was directly related to the involvement of teams in all organizational projects (Griffin and Moorhead 272). In accordance with the above findings, the role of group in the development of organizational performance,

Investment Law - Money Laundering and Terrorist Finance Essay

Investment Law - Money Laundering and Terrorist Finance - Essay Example 50)2. We can therefore describe money laundering as a process whereby the proceeds from activities of crime are covered to conceal their source or origin which is illicit. Money laundering may entail three distinct reas alternative actus (Graham, 2007, p. 51)3. These includes the: one, the transfer or conversion of property bearing in mind that such property or asset a criminal proceeds, two, the concealment or disguise of the source, nature, disposition, location, rights ownership or the movement with regards to the property bearing in mind that such property is a criminal proceeds and three, the property possession, the acquisition or use having in mind that the reception time that the property is of criminal proceeds (Graham, 2007, p. 51)4. On the other hand, financial terrorism involves collection, provision or solicitation of funds with an objective that the funds may be utilized to enhance terrorist organizations or acts. These funds may come from either illicit or legal sources. To define more precisely, a person is said to commit of terrorist financing if the person by any way indirectly or directly, willfully or unlawfully collects or provides funds with the aim that the money or the funds be used or the person has the knowledge that the money will be used in part or full support of a criminal offense with the convectional offense (Graham, 2007, p. 51)1. The major objective of an entities or individual engaging in terrorist financing is thus not necessarily hide the money but both nature and financing of the activity of financing (Graham, 2007, p. 51)2. The risk that may be associated with money laundering is that, it damages financial sectors which the key institutions for economic growth of a country. Money laundering and financial terrorism reduces the productivity with a country since most of resources are diverted to criminal activities encouraging practices of corruption (Graham, 2007, p.

Knowledge Management Techniques Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Knowledge Management Techniques - Essay Example This research will begin with the definition of knowledge management as the tools, techniques and strategies to retain, analyse, organise, improve and share business expertise. This definition of knowledge management seems incomplete for the reasons mentioned in the following discussion. The definition restricts knowledge management to the business sector only, whereas in my view knowledge management engulfs almost all the real world issues. However the generalization indicated through the terms â€Å"tools†, â€Å"techniques† and â€Å"strategies† makes this sound more appropriate. In practice knowledge management cannot be defined or expressed through specific terminologies. This is because the current meanings associated with the modern tools and gadgets may not be able to cope up with the growing pace of the phenomenon that drives knowledge management. To me the span of knowledge management is ever expanding. The endless limits of data generation and spread o f knowledge owing mainly to globalization are just a few of the factors that contribute to this paradigm of thought. Knowledge management is the effective learning processes associated with exploration, exploitation and sharing of human knowledge (tacit and explicit) that use appropriate technology and cultural environments to enhance an organisation’s intellectual capital performance. The definition explains knowledge management as a combination of processes that are performed on knowledge. These processes are â€Å"exploration†, â€Å"exploitation† and â€Å"sharing†. ... With this description the ever growing meanings of knowledge management cannot be justified. This definition categorically covers the aspects related to technology and cultural environments. The main purpose of the whole exercise indicated in this definition is to improve the organization’s working in terms of intellect. The most useful characteristic narrated in this definition is â€Å"effective learning†. For learning to be effective it needs some scope or domain in which it can be exercised. Generally there is no such thing as ineffective learning. The definition highlights the relevance learning and its respective domain. Definition 3: â€Å"Knowledge – the insights, understandings, and practical know-how that we all possess – is the fundamental resource that allows us to function intelligently. Over time, considerable knowledge is also transformed to other manifestations – such as books, technology, practices, and traditions, - within organis ations of all kinds and in society in general. These transformations result in cumulated expertise and, when used appropriately, increased effectiveness.† (Wiig, 1993) Evaluation: The definition proclaims that the basic entity that works behind intelligence is knowledge. This declaration may refer to the logical exploitation of knowledge as â€Å"intelligence†. Seemingly the words may hold broader sense than expected. The term â€Å"traditions† takes this definition very close to the real life phenomena. The assertion can be seen through the usage of term like â€Å"society†. Books, technology, practices and traditions are considered as varieties of appearances of knowledge. In my view these may also be considered as means or medium of knowledge transfer and usage. Knowledge encompasses both i.e. individual and

Reflection paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Reflection paper - Essay Example The politics in California have been and is strongly influenced by finances. Inadequacy of provisions that govern campaign, and election finance is a threat to democracy. It exposes the government and political parties to scandals and blackmails by private corporations that may be willing to finance campaigns so they may earn some favors from resulting government. This paper explores shortcomings of election finance provisions and the impending threat to democracy. Money has done much for California politics by making fundraising an acceptable evil. The political class may be the beneficiaries of such insufficiency of the law in the sense that, as it is now, campaign funding and fundraising provisions do not favor persons without connections and money to spend. This discourages participation. This paper will also explore the political class unwillingness to enact serious laws to reduce the influence justice in politics. According to federalism Fundraising (lobbying for the financial donation) remain the primary source of campaign money in California. The Political Action Committee collects funds from donors and spends them on behalf of the candidate. Since American politics is closely related to finance and no campaign, money means no vote, individuals, and political parties are advancing in method of appealing for funding by wealthy individuals and organization. In 2004, Howard Dean used the Internet to mobilize civilians for funding. This might have changed fundraising approach in America for good -which is much important than manifestos. Candidates have started using the latest technology called the Microtargeting- that has the capability to target only potential donors. (Washington Post) This show how important money is treated in politics. Raising more money increases the chances of obtaining votes as observed in 2012 presidential and Senate

Indus Motors Political Effect on Pakistan Essay Example for Free

Indus Motors Political Effect on Pakistan Essay Political Effects The government today has a key influence in the organizations, who are working in the country in order to gain maximum profit out of minimum cost, because of that government make new policies against the auto industries in Pakistan Toyota Indus motors is the factor affecting the auto industry in Pakistan .The Indus motors company’s plant is the only manufacturing site in the world where both Toyota and Daihatsu brands are being manufactured. Production of Toyota corolla vehicles in august plunged to 2,627 units from 2,914 units in July 2012. however, sales in august improved to 2,800 from 2,464 units in July 2012. There are some political points which are affecting the company.  ·Import duty  ·Banned CNG kits  ·Law and order Import duty: Every overseas Pakistani, subject to Fulfillment of eligible conditions as laid down in the import trade and procedure order 2000 can import a vehicle from abroad. The import policy often revised from time to time usually from after every financial year. The government has announced the import duty on auto industries with the rate of 100% tax. Banned CNG kits : ECC (economic coordination comity) approved the ban on import of CNG cylinders and conversation kits in the wake of current gas shortage in the country. The installation of new CNG kits in vehicles will also be banned, which affects the company’s sale figures resulting in decreasing of auto sales in Pakistan for certain time because of the Pakistani consumer’s interest in CNG, after some time of banishment of the CNG consumers started to convert their perception against CNG and started to purchase the new vehicles without CNG kit in it.

The Diversification of America Essay Example for Free

The Diversification of America Essay The commentary: â€Å"Culturally and ethnically, America is now one of the most diverse members of the global village. This remarkable pluralism is transforming Americans’ inherited values and institutions faster than they can adapt to the consequences. Globalization is propelling this country toward an era of conflict and upheaval-and that is precisely what makes Americans such a good reference point for other societies where time-honored traditions are also collapsing. † is an appropriate observation to the current situation. However, it is with all hope, as diversity and multiculturalism are unavoidable, that society finds a â€Å"broader sense of we† (Putnam, 2007) and creates a new identity that combines all cultural heritage into one harmonious blend. Multicultural Origins The United States has always been multicultural. The country was built by immigrants. The first African Americans came in, although forcibly, in 1619. During the mid-19th century railroad constructions, Chinese immigrants came in to the country as workers. Many Mexicans were still living in previous Mexican territories taken over by the United States in 1848. Especially with the United States rise in power and wealth, it is no surprise that more and more people wanted to enter and live in the country. Today, people of different colors comprise the majority in many large cities and in the state of California (PRA, 2002). Difficulty of Assimilation It took centuries before an African American was elected president and demonstrate a sense of equality in society from their beginnings in slavery and segregation. Many Mexican immigrants living in the country today cannot speak fluent English. Racial stereotypes also hinder benevolent assimilation. Assimilation versus Multiculturalism In today’s age of individualism and self expression, the trend is more towards multiculturalism than assimilation. Instead of assimilating to existing norms and traditions, immigrants bring in their own, fostering the value of pride for their heritage. Even their own holidays are celebrated nationally like the Irish’s St. Patrick’s Day and the Mexican’s Cinco de Mayo. Certain ethnic groups also exist, for example the Amish and Hassidic Jews, who have attempted to preserve their unique cultures by resisting assimilation, while living peacefully alongside other communities (PRA, 2002). Evolution of Language The different ethnicities bring in their own language, assemble their own communities where they can talk freely in their native tongue, diminishing the need to learn English. Even when they do, they bring in their own accent, jargon and additions to the language, in a way making their own version e. g. ghetto speak, double-negatives. As a result, English speakers are the ones to adjust. Even in some states, the inability to speak Spanish is a disadvantage as some employment need communication with both Spanish and English speakers. Instead of English being able to bring together different ethnicity and help bridge diversity, the purely English-speaking Americans are the ones to feel like the foreigner in their own country. The Neighborly Attitude Gone are the days of bringing freshly baked pies to the doorsteps of a new neighbor. In ethnically diverse neighborhoods, Putnam found that people are less likely to trust each other: not only people of a different ethnicity or race but more so their own (Leo, 2007). People tend to keep to themselves and are less likely to make friends and less likely for community cooperation. This is not just a marginal issue but a mainstream one. It does not just affect certain ethnic groups but the whole country. More and more, people become isolated in their own homes and know very little about the families just living next door. Constructing A New Identity To diminish the negative effects of unavoidable increase in immigration and diversity, a new identity must be constructed. Some say that contact with others increase tolerance and social solidarity. On the contrary, some say that contact with others make one group stick to their own more, hence the trend of self segregation, where people of the same race move in one place creating their own homogenous community. It is a likely attempt to resist diversity instead of adjusting to it, highlighting more the differences between cultures, thus increasing the gap instead of bridging it leading to social deterioration which nobody benefits from. A successful society would be one that is able to seamlessly fuse its disparate parts into one new entity. However the era of multiculturalism poses a great challenge to this. Cultural Diversity in British Cultural Institutions Another example of society feeling the effects of diversity is that of the British culture, particularly their cultural institutions. The old cultural elite’s idea of â€Å"proper culture† is being revised by multiculturalism. British history and Shakespeare are being replaced by Sikh theater and exhibitions about immigrant histories (Appleton, 2004). Conclusion Cultural and ethnical diversity happen in most advanced countries where people want to migrate to. Particularly in the United States, considered the superpower of the world, diversity has been rampant with the sharp increase in immigration, especially in recent years and people had a confused way of dealing with it. There had been self-segregation, diminished community cooperation and neighborliness, language barriers and the general inflexibility of adapting to each other. Even experts like political scientist Robert Putnam do not paint a good picture. He found that ethnic diversity tend to reduce social solidarity and social capital. However difficult it may be, as in the example of African Americans, the fragmentation has to be overcome to create a successful new society by crossing the boundaries, breaking the walls, bridging the gap and merging into one. References Appleton, J. (2004, April 7). Art for Inclusion’s Sake. Spiked Essays. Retrieved April 16, 2009, from http://www. spiked-online.com/Articles/0000000CA4BC. htm Leo, J. (25 June 2007). Bowling With Our Own. City Journal. Retrieved April 16, 2009, from http://www. city-journal. org/html/eon2007-06-25jl. html Political Research Associates. (2002). Immigration and Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Diversity. Retrieved April 16, 2009, from http://www. publiceye. org/ark/immigrants/CulturalDiv. html Putnam, R. D. (2007). E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first Century The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture. Scandinavian Political Studies, 30. 2, 137-174.

To Determine Social Media Usage Among Malaysia Student Media Essay

To Determine Social Media Usage Among Malaysia Student Media Essay Recent year have shown a worldwide growth pattern in social interaction in digital media more knows as social media. Today more than hundreds of millions internet user all over the world visited thousand of social media sites. Social media come out parallel with various technological affordances, supporting with a wide range of interests and practices. While, their key technological features are fairly consistent and the cultures that emerge around social media sites are varied. Most sites support the maintenance of pre-existing social networks, but others help strangers connect based on reasons, shared interests, political views, or activities. Universal McCann (2009) conducted an extensive study on social media usage among 232000 active internet users in 38 countries during spring 2009. This study showed that social consumption of digital content is either highly penetrated among active internet users or still growing rapidly. Besides that, through this study also find out that consumers continue to flock to digital destinations in order to create and share content, but they are now becoming more selective in terms of where they are doing it included the tools of social media are starting to coalesce on to a single platform type, namely the social network. According to Universal McCann (2009), 17 percent of active internet users globally now access the internet on the move, in others words internet and social media use are becoming more mobile. Social media platforms also are becoming more multi-media and the number of bloggers and social network users who have uploaded photos, videos, music and widgets has continued to rise since the last study conducted in 2007 until 2008. From this information, there is no doubt at all that social media increasingly important and become a culture for people all over the world in this era 21st century. Background of the study This study will carry out in Universiti Utara Malaysia because students are not exceptional as the active internet user and they have a higher access to the internet especially in variety types of social media. It is also because many students are teenager and still young. Usually, at this age the student have a higher desire to do something that their feel interesting and something new. Commonly, student will use many type of social media depending on their reasons. Sometimes, they visited social networking sites, collaboration websites, creativity work sharing sites and others type of social media to get any information, to make a discussion, to keep in touch with friend, for media sharing, self presentation and debate, social networks, referencing and recommendation services and many else. Problem statement Currently, social media become phenomena to all internet users not only in Malaysia but all over the world. According to the recent report, more than 30% teenager neglecting their school and also family because spend a long time to access social media. We can see that young became addicted to social media. Social media addiction will occur when people visited websites regularly without any motive, goal and became of their habit every day. Social media addicted is more likely to happens to a university student that have a greater access to the computer. So, this research will conduct a study in Universiti Utara Malaysia to identify the social media usage among Universiti Utara Malaysia student and also to determine the factors that motivate them to take part in social media. 1.3 Research question This research aims to answer the following question: What are the social media usages among Universiti Utara Malaysia student and what are the factors motivate them to take part in social media? 1.4 Research objective Research objective has listed below: To determine social media usage among University Utara Malaysia student. To determine whether social media usage among University Utara Malaysia student is motivate by performance. To determine whether social media usage among University Utara Malaysia student is motivate by passing time. To determine whether social media usage among University Utara Malaysia student is motivate by information seeking. To determine whether social media usage among University Utara Malaysia student is motivate by social connection. To determine whether social media usage among University Utara Malaysia student is motivate by entertainment. 1.5 Significance of the study A study on internet user regarding social media was done by previously researchers. However, the author choose to take the graduate as the scope of the study as this group is those who are educated and expose to technologies changes especially in emerging of variety type social media. They believe through social media they can gain many advantages and beneficial information. Hence, this group should be addressed to enhance a better understanding about social media and the factors motivate to take part in social media. The author chooses Universiti Utara Malaysia to conduct this study because Universiti Utara Malaysia is one of the early higher educations in Malaysia. Besides that, this study location at northern peninsular of Malaysia because until now, there did not have any study conduct regarding social media in Malaysia. This study is considered important because to identified the social media usage and to determined the factors that motivate Universiti Utara Malaysia student to take part in social media. This study also was conducted to view growing rapidly all over the world. The previously research about social media should be given a new lease. 1.6 Scope and limitation of the study The studies on the social media usages and motivation factors to take part in social media only focused only to the graduates. Graduated are here devoted to College of Business student that consist of undergraduate student and also postgraduates student. The researcher will make Universiti Utara Malaysia student from College of Business as their population and sample will be randomly selected from the population. The limitation of this study is limited to the Universiti Utara Malaysia student only because of timing problem and also budget problem. Organization of the research project CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction In this chapter earlier studies connected to the problem area and more specifically to the research questions, will be discussed. First, previous studies related to the definition of social media from previous research, will be presented. Then, literature regarding the research question from first question until the last question about social media usage and motivation factor to take part in social media among Universiti Utara Malaysia student will be brought up in this chapter. 2.1 Social media From the previous research, we can see there have several definitions of social media given by the previous researcher. The definition that already given by the previous researchers is so variety and there is no clear definition about social media. According to Universal McCann (2009), social media is a platform for social connection and also an application to user generated content. It is a new kind of online media that can be characterized by user participation, openness, conversation, community and connectedness (Mayfield, 2006). Blog, micro blog, RSS, widget, social networking sites, chat room, message board, video and photo sharing is included in central of social media (Universal McCann, 2009). According to Universal McCann (2009), social media design is about designing platforms and applications for social interaction and user generated content. Social media is a new kind of online media characterized by user participation, openness, conversation, community, and connectedness (Mayfield, 2006). Central social media platforms include blogging, micro blogging, RSS, widgets, social networking, chat rooms, message boards, podcasts, video sharing, and photo sharing (Universal McCann, 2009) Social media is an application and system that can support content sharing, and create environment for sociable online that included solution for media sharing, presentation and debate, social network, referencing and recommendation and also sources for create knowledge. It also may include technology platform interactive television and also mobile phone (Karahasanovic Folstad, 2008). According to KarahasanoviĆ¡ Fà ¸lstad (2008), social media are systems and applications supporting content sharing and co-creation in sociable online environments. This includes solutions for media sharing (e.g. YouTube, Flickr), self presentation and debate (e.g. MySpace, blogs), social networks (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn), referencing and recommendation services (e.g. Digg, Del.icio.us) and co-created knowledge resources (e.g. Wikipedia). Social media may also include technology platforms such as interactive television and mobile phones (KarahasanoviĆ¡ Fà ¸lstad, 2008). According to Kaplan et al (2010), social media is a group of internet based application that can build ideology and technology foundation of Web 2.0 that can allow creations of user generated contents and also exchanges the user generated contents. Web 2.0 can be consider as platform for the evolution of social media because it represent the ideology and technology foundation that have being seeing as the sum of all way in which people make use the social media (Kaplan et al, 2010). Social Media is a group of Internet based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content. They consider Web 2.0 as the platform for the evolution of Social Media because when Web 2.0 represents the ideological and technological foundation, User Generated Content (UGC) can be seen as the sum of all ways in which people make use of Social Media (Kaplan et al, 2010). There have three requirements in User Generate Content that included need to be published, certain amount of creative effort need to be show and lastly need to create outside from the practices and routine (Kaplan et al, 2010). According to Kaplan et al, (2010) User Generated Content needs to fulfil three basic requirements in order to be considered as such first, it needs to be published either on a publicly accessible website or on a social networking site accessible to a selected group of people and second, it needs to show a certain amount of creative effort and finally, it needs to have been created outside of professional routines and practices. The combination of technological drivers likes increased broadband availability and hardware capacity, economic drivers likes increased availability of tools for the creation of User Generated Content and social drivers likes rise of a generation of digital natives and screenagers: younger age groups with substantial technical knowledge and willingness to engage online will make User Generated Content nowadays fundamentally different from what was observed in the early 1980s. (Kaplan et al, 2010). According to Danah Allison (2007), social media is a web based service that allow user to construct a profile either public or semi public profile that will be bound by the system, all will be listed in the system included list of other user that they are connected with and lastly view and traverse their list that they are connected with and other within the systems. The connection is different between sites to sites. Social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and lastly view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site (Danah and Ellison, 2007). 2.2 Factors motivate to take part in social media They are many factors that can motivate user to take part in social media. It is included because of performance, passing time, information seeking, social connection and entertainment that will be elaborate below: 2.2.1 Self expression From literature we can find several different reasons why customers visit social media sites. Shao (2008), believe that the user contributed to social media because their need to self expression. This statement also supported by Sirgys (1982) claim that user looking for the experience that will enhance their self concept. Shao (2008) suggests that users contribute because they have a need for self-expression and self-actualization, which is supported by Sirgys (1982) claim that individuals look for experiences that enhance their self-concept. According to Shao (2008), self expression refer to user communicated their own identities and also their individualities. It is assume that user wan to communicate themselves to other person, so other person will know about themselves as they know themselves (Shao, 2008). Self-expression refers to users communicating their own identity and individuality (Shao, 2008). It is assumed that people want to communicate themselves to other people, so that others can know them as they know themselves (Goffman, 1959; McKenna and Bargh 1999; Swann, 1983; Shao, 2008). 2.2.2 Performance there are various types of Social Media that need to be distinguished further. However, although most people would probably agree that Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, and Second Life are all part of this large group, there is no systematic way in which different Social Media applications can be categorized. To create such a classification scheme, and to do so in a systematic manner, we rely on a set of theories in the field of media research (social presence, media richness) and social processes (self-presentation, self-disclosure), the two key elements of Social Media. Applied to the context of Social Media, we assume that a first classification can be made based on the richness of the medium and the degree of social presence it allows. Applied to the context of Social Media, we assume that a second classification can be made based on the degree of self-disclosure it requires and the type of self-presentation it allows. Social media encompasses a wide range of online, word-of-mouth forums including blogs, company sponsored discussion boards and chat rooms, consumer-to-consumer e-mail, consumer product or service ratings websites and forums, Internet discussion boards and forums, moblogs (sites containing digital audio, images, movies, or photographs), and social networking websites, to name a few. As illustrated by Table 1, social media outlets are numerous and varied. 2.2.3 Passing time 2.2.4 Information seeking According to Shao (2008) argue that the primary use of social media among user is to find information and also to build the knowledge. Users can get technical value from social media through find the specific information that can broadening and increase their knowledge (Shao, 2008). Shao (2008) suggest that the primary use is looking for information and building knowledge. In social media technical value can be seen as the value that the customer gets from finding specific information or just broadening his knowledge (Shao, 2008). Desire to increase knowledge among user are motivated user to seeking for the information. User not only wants to get information about others and the world but they also want to provide information about themselves to others and the world. Shao (2008) argues that information seeking is motivated by users desire to increase knowledge. Users want information about themselves, others and the world (Shao, 2008). Studies show that people are increasingly looking for information on the web, which has lead to sites like wikipedia.org growing rapidly (Shao, 2008). According to Kaplan (2010), the trend of social media can be seen as evolution to the Internet root since World Wide Web already transform to became a platform that can exchanges information between user. The current trend toward Social Media can therefore be seen as an evolution back to the Internets roots, since it retransforms the World Wide Web to what it was initially created for a platform to facilitate information exchange between users (Kaplan, 2010). Shao (2008), argue that users can find and get information about product and services but in some cases, user are more trusted the information that they are getting from others user compare to the information that they are getting from the marketers. Searching for information can also be related to reading about products or services. In most cases, users trust information that they get from other users more than they trust information that is provided by marketers (Shao, 2008). According Kim et al, (2010) both members and non-members have two types of facilities to find the information they need on social Web sites. The facilities are keyword-based search engines and browsing. The search engines can be used to look for the names of people, names of groups, and particular UCCs. Browsing can be done on selected groups and UCCs in a particular category. Most sites allow keyword-based search of text-based contents. Some search engines are fairly powerful, while others are crude. The users can also browse the results of keyword-based searches, and groups and UCCs that are suggested as related to the group and UCCs the users currently view. All social Web sites provide categories for the UCCs stored, so that users may browse UCCs in a specific category. 2.2.5 Social connection Social media can also increase users social interactions, and decreases loneliness or help users manage their moods (Shao, 2008). These motivations can also be linked to the community aspect of social media, as Tedjamulia et al (2005) suggests that one of the reasons why users choose to contribute is because they feel motivated to do so because of being part of a community. Social Web sites provide various facilities for members to use to communicate with their online connections, that is, friends and other members. These include email, instant messaging, text messaging, and public and private bulletin boards, and even Internet phone services. Such sites as MySpace and Facebook allow their members to use the messaging and phone call facilities of Internet phone services, such as Skype (Kim et al, 2010). Further, according to Kim et al, (2010) on behalf of the members, the sites send member updates and notices using emails or text messages to members friends. They also send updates and notices to members of groups. The sites also display friends updates to members public and private boards. For example, Twitter allows members to send mes- sages to friends on what the members are doing. A message, which is restricted to 140 characters, may be sent to friends mobile devices and their Twitter accounts. A member may have one or more followers, and many members may be following a member. Facebook provides a mini bulletin board (called a wall) to post a members message for all friends to see and respond to. LinkedIn provides an answers function to allow members to answer questions posted by other members, and to refer the questions to their online connections.

Frankenstein as a Non-Epistolary Film Essay examples -- Epistolary Fra

Frankenstein as a Non-Epistolary Film A novel written in the epistolary style is by nature difficult to adapt to film. The director, perhaps already adept at navigating the ragged breakers of length-contraction and visual style, is forced to deal with the additional sandbar presented by a plot format in which no visual action occurs and, more often than not, this difficulty consequently runs the film aground. Kenneth Branagh, in bringing Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to the screen as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, succinctly sidesteps this potential pitfall by completely discarding the epistolary format; rather than existing as a lengthy letter penned to Mrs. Saville, the plot is presented as an overheard conversation between Victor and Walton. It is therefore surprising that the problem of epistemology, which is primarily motivated in the novel by its epistolary form, is still present in the film. Whereas Shelley's Frankenstein creates an aura of distrust regarding the veracity of the narratives originally offered through u se of the epistolary form, Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein illustrates the dilemma of epistemology quite differently; by presenting a flashback in which characters could not possibly possess knowledge of the events upon which they act, the viewer is left to wonder at the authenticity of the whole story as depicted in the film. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein addresses the problem of epistemology by creating within the reader a sense of mistrust regarding the narrative. Presented in the epistolary format, each of the successively burrowing narratives is likelier than the preceding to have been altered in some fashion by its myriad raconteurs. Writing to his sister, Mrs. Saville, Walton suggests to his siste... ...egarding the narratives in both texts, the audience concludes that the events did not occur as depicted, and that multiple characters are guilty of fabricating or altering parts of their accounts. Thus, both Shelley and Branagh utilize the problem of epistemology to reflexively opine about the truth of reality in general; using only characters that are not truthful and spin tales about themselves, Shelley and Branagh both suggest the subjective nature of reality. After all, they seem to suggest, what import does the truth carry anyway if nobody cares enough to tell it? Work Cited Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. The Mary Shelley Reader. Ed. Betty T. Bennet & Charles E. Robinson. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. 11-72. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Dir. Kenneth Branagh. Perfs. Kenneth Branagh, Robert De Niro. DVD. Columbia TriStar, 1994. Frankenstein as a Non-Epistolary Film Essay examples -- Epistolary Fra Frankenstein as a Non-Epistolary Film A novel written in the epistolary style is by nature difficult to adapt to film. The director, perhaps already adept at navigating the ragged breakers of length-contraction and visual style, is forced to deal with the additional sandbar presented by a plot format in which no visual action occurs and, more often than not, this difficulty consequently runs the film aground. Kenneth Branagh, in bringing Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to the screen as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, succinctly sidesteps this potential pitfall by completely discarding the epistolary format; rather than existing as a lengthy letter penned to Mrs. Saville, the plot is presented as an overheard conversation between Victor and Walton. It is therefore surprising that the problem of epistemology, which is primarily motivated in the novel by its epistolary form, is still present in the film. Whereas Shelley's Frankenstein creates an aura of distrust regarding the veracity of the narratives originally offered through u se of the epistolary form, Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein illustrates the dilemma of epistemology quite differently; by presenting a flashback in which characters could not possibly possess knowledge of the events upon which they act, the viewer is left to wonder at the authenticity of the whole story as depicted in the film. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein addresses the problem of epistemology by creating within the reader a sense of mistrust regarding the narrative. Presented in the epistolary format, each of the successively burrowing narratives is likelier than the preceding to have been altered in some fashion by its myriad raconteurs. Writing to his sister, Mrs. Saville, Walton suggests to his siste... ...egarding the narratives in both texts, the audience concludes that the events did not occur as depicted, and that multiple characters are guilty of fabricating or altering parts of their accounts. Thus, both Shelley and Branagh utilize the problem of epistemology to reflexively opine about the truth of reality in general; using only characters that are not truthful and spin tales about themselves, Shelley and Branagh both suggest the subjective nature of reality. After all, they seem to suggest, what import does the truth carry anyway if nobody cares enough to tell it? Work Cited Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. The Mary Shelley Reader. Ed. Betty T. Bennet & Charles E. Robinson. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. 11-72. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Dir. Kenneth Branagh. Perfs. Kenneth Branagh, Robert De Niro. DVD. Columbia TriStar, 1994.

A Separate Peace Book Analysis Essay -- fear, john knowles, finny

In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene, Finny, and Leper fear recognizing their own flaws and learning about the harsh realities of a world at war because it affects their decision making causing them to make poor decisions, such as severely hurting one another, more frequently. Fear surrounds Gene during his time at the Devon school, affecting how he feels towards others as well as how well he trusts others. The fear isolates Gene from his friends and makes him, both, become weary of the evils around him as well as make him see other irrelevant evils. â€Å"Preserved along with it, like stale air in an unopened room, was the well known fear which had surrounded and filled those days, so much of it that I hadn't even known it was there. Because, unfamiliar with the absence of fear and what that was like, I had not been able to identify its presence,† (Chapter 1). Gene, after returning to the devon school, finds the atmosphere unchanged and still riddled with fear. He is reminded of the fear he felt during his days at the school because, while he attended Devon, World War II was taking place and 17 year-old Gene who was a year away from being drafted feared going off to war. â€Å"I felt fear's echo, and along with that I felt the unhinged, uncontrollable joy which had been its accompaniment and opposite face, joy which had broken out sometimes in those days like Northern Lights across black sky,† (Chapter 1). Surrounded by fear, Gene is trying to find some sort of source of joy. He needs this joy to uplift him because, without it, the terrors surrounding him, such as the war, emotional struggles, and personal rivalries, could drive him insane. â€Å"Any fear I had ever had of the tree was nothing beside this. It wasn't my neck, bu... ...imum standard of the army. I did not know everything there was to know about myself, and knew that I did not know it; I wondered in the silences between jokes about Leper whether the still hidden parts of myself might contain the Sad Sack, the outcast, or the coward. We were all at our funniest about Leper, and we all secretly hoped that Leper, that incompetent, was as heroic as we said,† (Chapter 9). Leper goes mad and â€Å"abandons ship† does not bode well for the boys. "That was when things began to change. One day I couldn't make out what was happening to the corporal's face. It kept changing into faces I knew from somewhere else, and then I began to think he looked like me," (Chapter 10). Leper's visions portray a fear of changing identity. He is afraid of letting the war change him into a different person, which greatens his fear of joining the war effort.

American Economy in Today’s World Essay -- essays papers

American Economy in Today’s World It is often wondered how the superpowers achieved their position of dominance. According to time magazine, to be a superpower, a nation needs to have a strong economy, an overpowering military, immense international political power, and related to this, a strong national ideology. Three of the articles that impacted me the most were: As U.S. economy slows down, Profits Rise in Pressure on U.S. Owned Factories in Mexico Border Zone, and last but not least Poverty in American. There is no doubt that the American economy has change dramatically since the 1860’s. The article, â€Å"U.S. Economy slows down; Europe is on the Upswing,† shows that Europe will catch up to the United States in no time. According to The New York Times, the unemployment rate for European Union drop from ten percent to 8.7 percent in less than ten years; that is a growth of 2.3 percent. European markets have become more open and competitive and European companies have follow many Americans practices to help deliver better performance. European governments are lowering taxes, at least modestly. Wage increases have slowed to a edge and labor markets have become more flexible, as companies evade traditional job protection rules by hiring part-time and temporary workers. Christ Rendu, who analyzes European economy; disagrees with the study done by The New York Time. According to Dr. Rendu European economy will never surpass American economy. In any event, Eu...

Discuss research into different type of attachment Essay

Mary Ainsworth conducted two naturalistic observations, one in the rural community of Kampala in Uganda which lasted for two years and the other in the urban city of Baltimore which had lasted for one year. The aim of this observation was to look at a mother and infant interaction. In both study she used the same number of participants, which were 26 mothers and their infants. Using the strange situation she found three different types of attachments that were displayed by the children and the fourth found by Main and Solomon. The first study in Uganda she found that some mothers were more sensitive to their infants needs meaning that, they were more capable of providing more details about their infants. The infants of these mothers were ‘securely attached’, this means that in their mothers’ presence they cried little and were more eager to explore. This secure attachment led to the infants being more independence because they used their mothers as a secure base that they could run to in time of danger. The second observation took place in Baltimore, America. In this study she and her team did not use a behaviour checklist which means that there was not certain thing that she was looking for, for example she did not have a paper where she wrote all the behaviour that she was looking for such as anger or sorrow and ticked them off when she witnessed it, she was purely just writing what she had seen. In this observation she found that mother were more sensitive to their infants for the first three months of their lives, meaning that in the one year that she had studied them, only for the first three months the mother, who was classified as a secure base responded more to the infants needs during that time period. Learning theorist found this confusing, this is because from their understanding, responsiveness to behavioural social releasers, such as crying should act as a reinforcer and increase the crying, but this was different Anisworth predication which was that behavioural social releasers decrease the caregiver responsiveness. One limitation of these studies is that because it was a longitudinal study, which means that it went over for a long period of time, it may have caused  participant attrition, where participants drop out of the study and this may cause problems for her, such as she may not have yet found what she needed. but one strength of the study being longitudinal is that the mother may become more comfortable with the fact of someone observing them so this could led to them being more free and able to express themselves better, and this would be an advantage for Mary as she will witness the mothers true personality and behaviour. One limitation of the Baltimore study alone was that her study was not operationalised; meaning that she did not define what she was observing and this could lead to her finding irrelevant information. In the Baltimore study we saw that Mary Anisworth conducting her research using the Strange Situation. This method was used to test the nature of attachment systematically. the aim of this was to see how infants behaved under condition of mild stress and novelty, this stress was created by a presence of a stranger and by separation from caregiver; this is tests stranger anxiety and separation anxiety. The strange situation also tries to encourage exploration by placing infant in a novel situation which tests the secure base concept. This research takes place in a novel environment, this is a 9Ãâ€"9 foot square marked off into 16 squares, and this was to help mark the movements of the infants. This method consists of eight episodes, each used to emphasise certain behaviours; the behaviour that was assessed was stranger anxiety, this is the distress shown by an infant when approached or picked up by someone who is unknown to them. The second behaviour assessed is separation anxiety, this is the distress revealed by infants when separated from its primary attachment figure. And the last behaviour assessed was Reunion behaviour this is the behaviour shown by infants when reunited with their mother. The results in a strange situation are collected by a group of observers who record what the infants are doing every 15 seconds. Aniworth et al (1978) found that there are three types of attachment that infants had with their caregiver. One of the attachment found was the secure attachment, this is when an infant has a strong and cooperative interaction with their caregiver. These types of infants properly will not cry if their caregiver leaves the room, but when feeling scared they use their caregiver  as safety net that they run to seek close bodily contact and although they may not want to leave their caregivers side prematurely, they are easily soothed. They seek and are comfortable with social interaction and intimacy. The securely attached infants are more independent this is because they use their caregiver a secure base and because they know that they have this secure base they tend to explore their environment more. Another type of attachment is Insecure-avoidant, this attachment is formed of children that don’t like to socially interact with others and tend to avoid intimacy. In the strange situation, when separated from their caregiver these children show little response and do not seek proximity of their caregiver on reunion. If the infant is picked up they may show little or no tendency to cling or resist being put down. These children do not need their caregiver to be there for them to explore, they are quite happy to do it without them. They may also become quite angry because their attachment needs are not met. Furthermore another type of attachment is insecure-resistant, these are children who both seek and reject intimacy and social interaction. When separated with their caregiver they show intense distress, on reunion they may resist being picked up while also trying to maintain proximity. The last type of attachment was found by Main and Solomon (1986) when they done a re-analysis of over 200 strange situation. The fourth attachment that they found was Disorganised; this type is characterised by a lack of a consistent patterns of social behaviour. These children can show strong attachment, which is suddenly followed by avoidance or looking fearful towards their caregiver or displaying odd movements such as stumbling. In conclusion, there are four types of attachment that children display these are secure attachment, insecure- resistant, insecure avoidance and disorganised and a way to identify what type of attachment a child has is to use the strange situation method, that was first conducting by Mary Anisworth.

Better Work Life Balance Survey in Ncc Bank Limited Essay

This report provides an overview of different types of work-life balance initiatives that have been developed by in the financial institutions of Bangladesh. Governments are increasingly committed to reducing the social, health and business costs of work-life conflict. Several countries have adopted individual pieces of legislation or policies that address some aspect of work-life balance. These initiatives are not necessarily part of a comprehensive program or policy approach to achieve work-life balance, but these measures could be seen as one way to improve an employee’s balance between work and other responsibilities. This report shows that there is not likely to be any â€Å"one size fits all† answer to work-life balance issues. A variety of approaches are available to support work-life balance, ranging from promotional programs that emphasize the importance of balance and provide support to employers to reduce the business costs associated with work-life conflict, to legislation that supports parents with care giving responsibilities. It is clear that improving work-life balance is an important component of the policy agenda for many industrial countries, and the issue is likely to become even more important in the future. The first Work-Life Balance Survey (WLB1) was conducted by the Department for Education and Employment in 2000 to assess the extent to which employers operated work life balance practices; to see whether employees felt that existing practices met their needs; and to provide a baseline against which future surveys could be compared. Changes were made in the survey’s methodology between the first baseline study conducted by IFF and the second survey of employees (WLB2) conducted in 2003 by MORI, and fieldwork for the 3 Second survey was conducted prior to the introduction of the right to request flexible working. This report presents the results of the Third Work-Life Balance Employees’ Survey, conducted by telephone in early 2006. Work-life balance is a phrase used to describe an individual’s feelings of satisfaction with the participation in job-related activities and his or her personal life. This state is achieved when an individual feels the amount of time spent making money to provide for one’s household and advancing career goals is adequately balanced with the amount of time spent in independent and personal pursuits, such as friendships, family, spirituality, hobbies, and leisure activities. Failure to maintain work-life balance may result in significant emotional distress and reduction of productivity. In many cases, spending more time at work may actually lead to a decrease in productivity. Some individuals feel that their workplace creates too many pressures to maintain a work/life balance, and they may feel a reduction in their feelings of satisfaction and enjoyment of life. Some individuals feel as if there is not enough time for other aspects of life 1. INTRODUCTION: 1. 1. Introduction to the topic: Work-life balance is a broad concept including proper prioritizing between â€Å"work† (career and ambition) on one hand and â€Å"life† (pleasure, leisure, family and spiritual development) on the other. Related, though broader, terms include â€Å"lifestyle balance† and â€Å"life balance†. In general, individuals who work more than 60 hours per week are colloquially called workaholics. The phrase â€Å"workaholic† became popular in 1971 when Wayne Oates published the book, â€Å"Confessions of a Workaholic. † The phrase â€Å"workaholic† is not a clinical term, but it is generally used to describe individuals who neglect their personal lives in favor of work- and career-related pursuits. The phrase â€Å"work-life balance† became popular as a managerial concept when employers realized that their workers demonstrated increased productivity, decreased turnover, and dedication to the company when the concept was observed and respected.

The Hunters: Phantom Chapter 33

â€Å"Stop!† Elena screamed. â€Å"Stefan! Stop it! You'l kil him!† Even as she said it, she realized that kil ing Damon might be exactly what Stefan's idea was here. Stefan tore at Damon with his teeth and hands, not pummeling him, but ripping feral y, with fangs and claws. Stefan, his body in a vicious primal crouch, his canines extended, his face distorted by a snarl of animal fury, had never looked more like a bloodthirsty vampire. And behind Elena as she watched them, that seductive, chil ing voice went on, tel ing Stefan that he would lose everything, just like he always lost everything. That Damon took everything from him and then tossed it carelessly, cruel y aside, because Damon simply wanted to ruin whatever Stefan had. Elena turned and, too frightened by what Stefan was doing to Damon to have any fear left of the phantom, slammed it with her fists. After a moment, Matt and Bonnie joined her. As before, mostly their hands just slid through the phantom's mist. The phantom's chest was solid, though, and Elena focused her rage on that, hitting against the hard ice there with as much power as she could. Beneath the ice of the creature's chest, a rose glowed a rich dark red. It was a beautiful flower, but deadly looking, its color reminding her of poisoned blood. Its thorny stem seemed swol en, thicker than a normal flower's. As Elena stared at it, the glow deepened and the flower's petals opened further, swel ing to ful bloom. Is that her heart? Elena wondered. Is Stefan's jealousy nourishing it? She smashed her fist against the phantom's chest again, right above the rose, and the phantom glanced at her for a moment. â€Å"Stop it,† Elena said fiercely. â€Å"Leave Stefan alone.† The phantom was real y looking at her now, and its – no, her – smile widened, her glasslike teeth sharp and shiny underneath her misty lips. In the glacial depths of her eyes, Elena thought she caught a chil y but genuine twinkle, and Elena's own heart froze. Then the phantom turned her attention back toward Stefan and Damon, and, although Elena would never have believed it possible, things got worse. â€Å"Damon,† said the phantom throatily, and Damon, who'd been limp and exhausted, eyes clenched shut, passive under Stefan's assault, shielding his face but not fighting back, opened his eyes. â€Å"Damon,† she said again, her eyes glittering. â€Å"What right does Stefan have to attack you? Whatever you tried to take from him, you were just fighting against the fact that he got everything – your father's love, the girls you wanted – and you had nothing at al . He's a sanctimonious brat, a selfloathing weakling, but he gets everything.† Damon's eyes widened as if in recognition at hearing his own deepest miseries voiced, and his face twisted with emotion. Stefan was stil clawing and biting at him, but he fel back a little as Damon snapped into action, grabbing him by the arm and wrenching it. Elena winced with horror as she heard the crunch of something – oh, God – something in Stefan's arm or shoulder breaking. Undaunted, Stefan only grimaced and then threw himself at Damon again, the hurt arm dangling awkwardly. Damon was stronger, Elena numbly noted, but exhausted; surely he wouldn't be able to keep his advantage for long. For now they seemed fairly evenly matched. They were both furious, both fighting with no reservations. A bestial, nasty snarl came from one of them, shaky, vicious laughter from the other, and Elena realized with horror that she had no idea which sound was coming from who. The phantom hissed with enjoyment. Elena flinched away from her and, out of the corner of her eye, saw Bonnie and Matt step back, too. â€Å"Don't break the lines!† Alaric shouted from the other side of†¦ where were they now, anyway? Oh, Mrs. Flowers's garage – the garage. He sounded desperate, and Elena wondered if he had been shouting for a while. There had been some background noise going on, but there hadn't been a moment to listen to it. â€Å"Elena! Bonnie! Matt! Don't break the lines!† he shouted again. â€Å"You can get out, but step over the lines careful y!† Elena glanced down. An elaborate pattern of lines in different colors was chalked beneath their feet, and she, Bonnie, Matt, and the phantom were al together in a smal circle in the innermost center of this pattern. Bonnie was the first one to clearly realize what Alaric was saying. â€Å"Come on,† she muttered, yanking at Elena's and Matt's arms. Then she picked her way, daintily but quickly, across the floor, away from the phantom and toward their friends. Matt fol owed her. He had to pause on one foot in a smal section and reach with his other foot, and there was a moment when he wobbled, one sneaker almost blurring a blue line of chalk. But he caught his balance and continued on. It took Elena, stil mostly focused on the desperately grappling figures of Damon and Stefan, a few seconds longer to realize she needed to move as wel . She was almost too late. As she poised herself to take that first step out of the inner circle, the phantom turned its glassy eyes upon her. Elena fled, jumping quickly out of the circle and just barely managing to stop herself from skidding across the diagram. The phantom took a swipe at her, but its hand stopped before crossing above a chalk line, and it growled in frustration. Alaric shakily pushed his tousled hair out of his eyes. â€Å"I wasn't sure whether that would hold her,† he admitted, â€Å"but it seems like it's working. Now, careful y, Elena, watching where you step, make your way over here.† Matt and Bonnie had already reached the wal of the garage, at a distance from where Stefan and Damon were locked in battle, and Meredith had wrapped her arms around them, her dark head buried in Matt's shoulder, Bonnie nestled against her side, her eyes as round as a frightened kitten's. Elena looked down at the complicated pattern drawn on the floor and started moving careful y between the lines, heading not for her other friends but for the two struggling vampires. â€Å"Elena! No! This way!† cal ed Alaric, but Elena ignored him. She had to get to Damon and Stefan. â€Å"Please,† she said, half sobbing, as she reached them, â€Å"Damon, Stefan, you have to stop. The phantom's doing this to you. You don't real y want to hurt each other. It's not you. Please.† Neither of them paid any attention to her. She wasn't even sure whether they could hear her. They were almost motionless now, their muscles straining in each other's grip as each tried to simultaneously attack and fend off the other. Slowly, as Elena watched, Damon began to overcome Stefan, gradual y pushing his arms aside, leaning in toward his throat, white teeth flashing. â€Å"Damon! No!† Elena screamed. She stretched out to grab his arm, to pul him off Stefan. Without even looking at her, he casual y, viciously shoved her aside, sending her flying. She landed hard on her back and slid across the floor, and it hurt, the impact jolting her teeth together, banging her head against the cement, white shocks of pain flaring behind her eyes. As she started to get up again, she saw with dismay Damon push through the last of Stefan's defenses and sink his fangs into his younger brother's neck. â€Å"No!† she screamed again. â€Å"Damon, no!† â€Å"Elena, be careful,† Alaric shouted. â€Å"You're in the diagram. Please, whatever you do, don't break any more lines.† Elena looked around. Her landing had sent her skidding through several of the chalk marks, which were now smeared al around her, smudges of color. She stiffened in terror and suppressed a whimper. Was it loose now? Had she set it free? Steeling herself, she turned toward the innermost circle. The phantom was feeling around itself with its long arms, patting up and down against some invisible wal bordering the circle that kept it contained. As Elena watched, its mouth thinned with effort and it brought its hands together in one spot and pushed. The air in the room rippled. But the phantom did not manage to break through the circle, and after a moment it stopped pushing and hissed in disappointment. Then its eyes fel on Elena, and it smiled again. â€Å"Oh, Elena,† it said, its voice soft with false compassion. â€Å"The pretty girl, the one everyone wants, the one the boys al fight over. It's so very hard being you.† The voice twisted, its tone changing to bitter mockery. â€Å"But they're not real y thinking of you, are they? The two you want, you're not the girl for them. You know why they are attracted to you. Katherine. Always Katherine. They want you because you look like her, but you're not her. The girl they loved so long ago was soft and sweet and gentle. An innocent, a victim, a foil for their fantasies. You're nothing like her. They'l find that out, you know. Once your mortal form changes – and it wil . They'l be the same forever, but you're changing and getting older every day; in a few years you'l look much older than they do – then they'l realize you're not the one they love at al . You're not Katherine, and you never wil be.† Elena's eyes stung. â€Å"Katherine was a monster,† she spat out through her teeth. â€Å"She became a monster. She started out as a sweet young girl,† the phantom corrected her. â€Å"Damon and Stefan destroyed her. Like they'l destroy you. You'l never lead a normal life. You're not like Meredith or Bonnie or Celia. They'l have chances at normalcy when they're ready, despite the way you've dragged them into your battles. But you, you'l never be normal. And you know who's to blame for that, don't you?† Elena, without thinking, looked at Damon and Stefan, just as Stefan managed to shove Damon away from him. Damon staggered backward, toward the group of humans huddling by the wal of the garage. Blood was running from his mouth and streaming down Stefan's neck from a terrible gash. â€Å"They've doomed you, just like they doomed the one they really loved,† the phantom said softly. Elena pushed herself to her feet, her heart pounding hard, heavy with misery and anger. â€Å"Elena, stop!† cal ed a powerful contralto voice, fil ed with such authority that Elena turned away from Damon and Stefan and, blinking as though she'd been woken from a dream, looked out of the diagram toward the others. Mrs. Flowers stood at the edge of the chalk lines, hands on her hips, feet planted firmly. Her lips were a straight angry line, but her eyes were clear and thoughtful. She met Elena's gaze, and Elena felt calmed and strengthened. Then Mrs. Flowers looked around at the others gathered beside her. â€Å"We must perform the banishing spel now,† she declared. â€Å"Before the phantom manages to destroy us al . Elena! Can you hear me?† A surge of purpose running through her, Elena nodded and moved back to join the others. Mrs. Flowers brought her hands sharply together, and the air rippled again. The phantom's voice broke off and it shrieked in fury, shoving at the air around it, its hands meeting resistance sooner, its invisible prison smal er. Meredith felt urgently around on the high shelf near the garage door, her hands touching and rejecting various objects. Where had Mrs. Flowers put the candles? Paintbrushes, no. Flashlights, no. Ancient can of bug spray, no. Bag of potting soil, no. Some weird metal thing that she couldn't figure out from touching what it might be, no. Bag of candles. Yes. â€Å"I've got it,† she said, pul ing it off the shelf and dumping probably a decade's worth of dust from the shelf onto her own head. â€Å"Urgh,† she sputtered. It was a mark of the seriousness of the situation, Meredith thought, that Bonnie and Elena both looked at her, head and shoulders coated in thick dust and spiderwebs, and neither giggled nor moved to brush her off. They al had more important things to worry about than a little dirt. â€Å"Okay,† she said. â€Å"First off, we need to figure out what color candle Damon would be.† Mrs. Flowers had pointed out that Damon was clearly a victim of the jealousy phantom as wel , and so would have to take part in the banishment ritual for it to work ful y. Looking at the two vampire brothers stil attempting to tear each other apart, Meredith seriously doubted whether Damon would be participating. Stefan either, for that matter. They were solely focused on inflicting as much damage as possible on each other. Stil , they would have to get the two vampires back to make the spel work. Somehow. Meredith found herself cool y wondering whether, if both Damon and Stefan died, they could safely be counted out of the ritual. Would the rest of them be able to defeat the phantom then? And if they didn't murder each other, but simply continued to fight, endangering them al , would she be able to kil them? She shoved the thought away. Stefan was her friend. And then she determinedly made herself consider kil ing him again. This was her duty. That was more important than friendship; it had to be. Yes, she could kil them today, even in the next few minutes, if it was necessary, she realized. She would regret it forever if she had to, but she could. Besides, a part of her mind noted clinical y, if things went on as they were now, Damon and Stefan would kil each other, and save her that burden. Elena had been thinking hard – or maybe zoning out, focused on what the jealousy phantom had said to her, Meredith wasn't sure – and now she spoke. â€Å"Red,† she said. â€Å"Is there a red candle for Damon?† There was a dark red candle, and also a black one. Meredith pul ed both out and showed them to Elena. â€Å"Red,† said Elena. â€Å"For blood?† asked Meredith, eyeing the fighters, now only about ten feet away. God, they were both just covered with blood now. As she watched, Damon growled like an animal and banged Stefan's head repeatedly against the wal of the garage. Meredith winced at the hol ow sound of Stefan's skul slamming against the wood and plaster of the wal . Damon had one hand around Stefan's neck, the other ripping at Stefan's chest as if Damon wanted to gouge out his heart. A soft, sinister voice was stil coming from the phantom. Meredith couldn't make out what it was saying, but its eyes were on the brothers, and it was smiling as it spoke. It looked satisfied. â€Å"For passion,† said Elena, and snatched the candle out of Meredith's hands and marched over, straight-backed and head high like a soldier's, to the line of candles Alaric was relighting at the edge of the diagram. Meredith stared after her as Elena lit the candle and dripped a puddle of hot wax to stand it upon. Stefan forced Damon backward, closer to the others and their line of candles. Damon's boots scraped against the floor as he strained against Stefan. â€Å"Okay,† Alaric said, looking at the candles apprehensively, then down at the book. â€Å"Each of us wil declare the jealousies inside ourselves – the weaknesses that the phantom is able to play on – and cast them out. If we real y mean it, if we manage, at least for the moment, to truly and sincerely cast out our jealousy, our candles wil go out and the phantom wil be weakened. The trick is to real y be able to banish the jealousies from our hearts and stop feeding the phantom, and if we al can do it at once, the phantom ought to disappear, or maybe even die.† â€Å"What if we can't? What if we try to cast out jealousy, but it doesn't go completely away?† Bonnie asked, her forehead crinkling with worry. â€Å"Then it doesn't work and the phantom stays,† said Alaric flatly. â€Å"Who wants to go first?† Stefan slammed Damon down viciously onto the cement floor, a howl of anger coming from him. They were only a few feet from the line of candles, and Alaric stepped between them and the row of tiny flames, trying to shield the candles with his body. Celia shuddered as Stefan gave a low, furious growl and lowered his head to bite at Damon's shoulder. Jealousy kept up a steady stream of venomous chatter, her eyes gleaming. Mrs. Flowers clapped her hands to get everyone else's attention, her face stern and encouraging. â€Å"Children, you wil al have to be honest and brave,† she said. â€Å"You must al truly admit to your worst selves in front of your friends, which wil be hard. And then you wil need to be strong enough to cast these worst selves of yours away, which may be even harder. But you love one another, and I promise we wil get through it.† A thump and a muffled shout of rage and pain came from a few feet away, and Alaric glanced nervously over his shoulder at the battle behind him. â€Å"Time is of the essence,† Mrs. Flowers said briskly. â€Å"Who wil go first?† Meredith was about to step forward, clutching her stave for comfort, when Bonnie spoke up. â€Å"I wil ,† she said falteringly. â€Å"Um. I've been jealous of Meredith and of Elena. I always†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She swal owed, and then spoke more firmly. â€Å"I sometimes feel like I'm only a sidekick when I'm around them. They're braver than me, and they're better fighters, and smarter and prettier, and†¦ and taller than I am. I'm jealous because I feel like people don't respect me as much as they do them and don't real y take me seriously like they do Elena and Meredith. I'm jealous because sometimes I'm standing in their shadows, which are pretty big shadows†¦ metaphorical y speaking, I mean. And I'm also jealous because I've never even had a real boyfriend, and Meredith has Alaric, and Elena has Stefan, and because Elena also has Damon, who I think is pretty amazing, but who would never notice me when I'm standing next to Elena, because she's al he can see.† Bonnie paused again, and glanced at Elena, her eyes wide and shining. â€Å"But I love Elena and Meredith. I know I need to stop comparing myself to them. I'm not just a sidekick; I'm useful and talented, too. And† – she spoke the words Alaric had given them al – â€Å"I have fed the phantom of jealousy. But now I cast my jealousy away.† In the semicircle of candles, the flame of Bonnie's pink one flickered and went out. Bonnie gave a little gasp and smiled, half-shamefaced, half-proud, at Meredith and Elena. From inside the diagram, the phantom of jealousy snapped its head around and glared at Bonnie. â€Å"Bonnie – â€Å" Meredith started to say, wanting to tel her friend that of course she wasn't a sidekick. Didn't Bonnie know how amazing she was? But then Elena stepped toward the candles and shook back her hair, head high. â€Å"I've been jealous of other people in Fel ‘s Church,† she declared. â€Å"I saw how easy it was for other couples to be together, and after al Stefan and I – and Damon, and the rest of my friends – have been through, and even after we saved Fel ‘s Church and made it normal again, everything just kept on being so hard and so weird and supernatural. I guess I've been realizing that things aren't ever going to be just easy and normal for me, and that's been tough to accept. When I watched other people and was jealous of them, I fed the phantom of jealousy. I cast that jealousy away.† Elena smiled a little. It was a strange, rueful sort of smile, and Meredith, watching her, thought that, while Elena had cast out her jealousy, she was stil haunted by regret for the easy, golden life she'd once had ahead of her and that had probably been taken away forever now. The candle was stil burning. Elena hesitated. Meredith fol owed her gaze past the line of candles to where Stefan and Damon struggled. As they watched, Damon heaved and rol ed Stefan under him, leaving a long streak of blood across the floor of the garage. Stefan's foot brushed the red candle at the end of the line, and Alaric leaped to steady it. â€Å"And I've been jealous of Katherine,† Elena said. â€Å"Damon and Stefan loved her first, and she knew them before so much happened to change them, to†¦ warp them out of who they ought to be. And even though I realize that they both know I'm not Katherine and that they love me for who I am, I haven't been able to forget that they noticed me at first because I look like her. I have fed the phantom of jealousy because of Katherine, and I cast that jealousy away.† The candle flame flickered, but did not go out. Jealousy smirked triumphantly, but then Elena went on. â€Å"I've also been jealous of Bonnie.† Bonnie's head shot up, and she stared at Elena with an expression of disbelief. â€Å"I was used to being the only human Damon cared about, the only one who he would want to save.† She looked at Bonnie with tear-fil ed eyes. â€Å"I am so, so glad that Bonnie is alive. But I was jealous that Damon cared enough to die for her. When I was jealous of Bonnie, I fed the phantom of jealousy. But now I cast my jealousy away.† The golden candle went out. Elena looked almost timidly at Bonnie, and Bonnie smiled at her, an open, loving smile, and held out her arms. Elena hugged her tightly. Other than the grief she felt over Elena's parents' deaths, Meredith had never felt sorry for Elena. Why would she? Elena was beautiful, smart, a leader, passionately loved†¦ but now Meredith couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for her. Sometimes it must be easier to live an everyday life than to be a heroine. Meredith glanced at the phantom. It seemed to be simmering and was now whol y focused on the humans. Alaric stepped around the candles toward the others, glancing back toward Damon and Stefan. Damon had pinned Stefan painful y against the wal behind Alaric. Stefan's face was twisted in a grimace, and they could hear the scrape of his body against the hard surface. But at least Stefan and Damon weren't endangering the candles for now. Meredith turned her attention to her boyfriend. What could Alaric be jealous of? If anything, he'd been the focus of jealousy the last week or so. He reached for Meredith and took one of her hands. â€Å"I've been jealous,† Alaric said, looking into her eyes. â€Å"Of you, Meredith. And of your friends.† Meredith reflexively arched a brow at him. What did he mean? â€Å"God.† He half laughed. â€Å"Here I am, a graduate student in parapsychology. I've been dying my whole life to prove to myself that there's something more going on in the world than what everybody knows, that some of the things we think of as supernatural are real. And then I come to this smal town in Virginia because there are rumors, rumors I don't real y believe, that there might be vampires here, and when I get here I find this amazing, beautiful, confident girl, and it turns out she comes from a family that hunts vampires. And her friends are vampires and witches and psychics and girls who come back from the dead to fight evil. They only just finished high school, but they've seen things I've never imagined. They've defeated monsters, and saved towns, and traveled to other dimensions. And, you know, I'm just this ordinary guy, and suddenly half the people I know – and the girl I love – are practical y superheroes.† He shook his head, looking at Meredith admiringly. â€Å"I've fed the phantom of jealousy. But now I cast my jealousy away. I'l just have to deal with being the boyfriend of a superhero.† Instantly, the dark green candle went out. Sealed in the inner circle, the phantom hissed and paced back and forth in the smal space like a trapped tigress. It looked angry, but not noticeably weaker. Celia spoke next. Her face was tired but calm. â€Å"I've fed the phantom of jealousy,† she proclaimed. â€Å"I've been jealous of Meredith Suarez.† She didn't say why. â€Å"But now I see that it's pointless. I've fed the phantom of jealousy, but now I cast my jealousy away.† She spoke as if she were dropping something into the trash. But stil the pale purple candle went out. Meredith opened her mouth to speak – she was clear on what she needed to say, and it wouldn't be too hard, because she'd won, hadn't she? If it had ever been a battle anywhere besides her own mind – but Matt cleared his throat and spoke first. â€Å"I have†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He stumbled over his words. â€Å"I guess†¦ no, I know I've fed the phantom of jealousy. I have always been crazy about Elena Gilbert, as long as I've known her. And I've been jealous of Stefan. Al along. Even now, when Jealousy's got him trapped in this bloody battle, because he has Elena. She loves him, not me. But, wel , it doesn't matter†¦ I've also known for a long time that Elena and I together don't work, not for her, and that's not Stefan's fault. I've fed the phantom of jealousy, but now I cast my jealousy away.† He blushed and careful y did not look at Elena. The white candle went out, sending a long trail of smoke toward the ceiling. Three candles left, Meredith thought, looking at the last steady flames. Stefan's dark green, Damon's red, and her own brown. Was the phantom any weaker? From its invisible cage, the Phantom growled. If anything, it seemed to have made the space around itself bigger again, and it was once again pushing at it, seemingly feeling for a weak spot. Meredith knew she had to keep the confessions going. â€Å"I've fed the phantom of jealousy,† she said in a strong, clear voice. â€Å"I was jealous of Dr. Celia Connor. I love Alaric, but I know I'm much younger than he is, not even in col ege yet, and I've never real y been anywhere or seen anything of the world – the human world, at least – outside of where I grew up. Celia shares so much with him – experiences, education, interests – and I knew he liked her a lot. And she's beautiful and real y smart and poised. I was jealous because I was afraid she would take him from me. But if she had been able to take him, that would mean he wasn't mine to keep. You can't steal a person.† She smiled hesitantly at Celia, and after a moment, Celia smiled slightly in return. â€Å"I cast – â€Å" â€Å"Watch out!† Alaric shouted. â€Å"Damon! Stefan! Stop!† Meredith looked up. Damon and Stefan were staggering across the floor of the garage, past the line of candles, past Alaric, who grabbed at them. They broke out of his hold effortlessly without seeming to even notice his touch, shoving against each other desperately, struggling fiercely. Oblivious to anything but their battle, they were getting closer and closer to the phantom. â€Å"No!† shouted Elena. Damon shoved Stefan backward, and the heel of Stefan's boot scraped across the chalk outlining the smal circle that contained the phantom – scraped across the chalk line and smudged it, and the circle was no longer complete. With a howl of triumph, the phantom was free.