Alice Munro the Found Boat Essay

At the end of Bell Street, McKay Street, Mayo Street, there was the Flood. It was the Wawanash River, which every spring overflowed its banks. Some springs, say one in every five, it covered the roads on that side of town and washed over the fields, creating a shallow choppy take. Light reflected off the water made every- thing bright and cold, as it is in a lakeside town, and woke or revived in people certain vague hopes of disaster. Mostly during the late afternoon and early evening, there were people straggling out to took at it, and discuss whether it was still rising, and whether this time it might invade the town. In general, those under fifteen and over sixty-five were most certain that it would. Eva and Carol rode out on their bicycles. They left the road-it was the end of Mayo Street, past any houses- and rode right into a field, over a wire fence entirely flattened by the weight of the winter’s snow. They coasted a little way before the long grass stopped them, then left their bicycles lying down and went to the water. ‘We have to find a log and ride on it,† Eva said. ‘Jesus, we’ll freeze our legs off. ‘Jesus, we’ll freeze our legs off’ said one of the boys who were there too at the water’s edge. He spoke in a sour whine, the way boys imitated girls although it was nothing like the way girls talked. These boys-there were three of them- were all in the same class as Eva and Carol at school and were known to them by name (their names being Frank, Bud and Clayton), but Eva and Carol, who had seen and recognized them from the road, had not spoken to them or looked at them or, even yet, given any sign of knowing they were there. The boys seemed to be trying to make a raft, from lumber they had salvaged from the water. Eva and Carol took off their shoes and socks and waded in. The water was so cold it sent pain up their legs, like blue electric sparks shooting through their veins, but they went on, putting their skirts high, tight behind and bunched so they could hold them in front. ‘Look at the fat-assed ducks in wading. ‘ ‘Fat-assed f****. † Eva and Carol, of course, gave no sign of hearing this. They laid hold of a log and climbed on, taking a couple of boards floating in the water for addles. There were always things floating around in the Flood-branches, fence-rails, logs, road signs, old lumber; sometimes boilers, washtubs, pots and pans, or even a car seat or stuffed chair, as if somewhere the Flood had got into a dump. They paddled away from shore, heading out into the cold take. The water was perfectly clear, they could see the brown grass swimming along the bottom. Suppose it was the sea, thought Eva. She thought of drowned cities and countries. Atlantis. Suppose they were riding in a Viking boat-Viking boats on the Atlantic were more frail and narrow than this log on the Flood-and they had miles of clear sea beneath them, then a spired city, intact as a jewel irretrievable on the ocean floor. This is a Viking boat,† she said. ‘I am the carving on the front. † She stuck her chest out and stretched her neck, trying to make a curve, and she made a face, putting out her tongue. Then she turned and for the first time took notice of the boys. ‘Hey, you sucks! † she yelled at them. ‘You’d be scared to come out here, this water is ten feet deep! â€Å"Liar,’ they answered without interest, and she was. They steered the log around a row of trees, avoiding floating barbed wire, and got into a little bay created by a natural hollow of the land. Where the bay was now, there would be a pond full of frogs later in the spring, and by the middle of summer there would be no water visible at all, just a low tangle of reeds and bushes, green, to show that mud was still wet around their roots. Larger bushes, willows, grew around the steep bank of this pond and were still partly out of the water. Eva and Carol let the log ride in. They saw a place where something was caught. It was a boat, or part of one. An old rowboat with most of one side ripped out, the board that had been the seat just dangling. It was pushed up among the branches, lying on what would have been its side, if it had a side, the prow caught high. Their idea came to them without consultation, at the same time: ‘You guys! Hey, you guys! † ‘We found you a boat! † â€Å"Stop building your stupid raft and come and took at the boat! ‘ What surprised them in the first place was that the boys really did come, scrambling overland, half running, half sliding down the bank, wanting to see. ‘Hey, where? ‘ ‘Where is it, I don’t see no boat. â€Å" What surprised them in the second place was that when the boys did actually see what boat was meant, this old flood-smashed wreck held up in the branches, they did not understand that they had been footed, that a joke had been played on them. They did not show a moment’s disappointment, but seemed as pleased at the discovery as if the boat had been whole and new. They were already barefoot, because they had been wading in the water to get lumber, and they waded in here without a stop, surrounding the boat and appraising it and paying no attention even of an insulting kind to Eva and Carol who bobbed up and down on their log. Eva and Carol had to call to them. ‘How do you think you’re going to get it off.? ‘ â€Å"It won’t float anyway. ‘ ‘What makes you think it will float? ‘ ‘It’ll sink. Glub-blub-blub, you’ll all be drownded. † The boys did not answer, because they were too busy walking around the boat, pulling at it in a testing way to see how it could be got off with the least possible damage. Frank, who was the most literate, talkative and inept of the three, began referring to the boat as she, an affectation which Eva and Carol acknowledged with fish-mouths of contempt. ‘She’s caught two places. You got to be careful not to tear a hole in her bottom. She’s heavier than you’d think. ‘ It was Clayton who climbed up and freed the boat, and Bud, a tall fat boy, who got the weight of it on his back to turn it into the water so that they could half float, half carry it to shore. All this took some time. Eva and Carol abandoned their log and waded out of the water. They walked overland to get their shoes and socks and bicycles. They did not need to come back this way but they came. They stood at the top of the hill, leaning on their bicycles. They did not go on home, but they did not sit down and frankly watch, either. They stood more or less facing each other, but glancing down at the water and at the boys struggling with the boat, as if they had just halted for a moment out of curiosity, and staying longer than they intended, to see what came of this unpromising project. About nine o’clock, or when it was nearly dark-dark to people inside the houses, but not quite dark outside-they all returned to town, going along Mayo Street in a sort of procession. Frank and Bud and Clayton came carrying the boat, upside-down, and Eva and Carol walked behind, wheeling their bicycles. The boys’ heads were almost hidden in the darkness of the overturned boat, with its smell of soaked wood, cold swampy water. The girls could took ahead and see the street lights in their tin reflectors, a necklace of lights climbing Mayo Street, reaching all the way up to the standpipe. They turned onto Burns Street heading for Clayton’s house, the nearest house belonging to any of them. nis was not the way home for Eva or for Carol either, but they followed along. The boys were perhaps too busy carrying the boat to tell them to go away. Some younger children were still out playing, playing hopscotch on the sidewalk though they could hardly see. At this time of year the bare sidewalk was still such a novelty and delight. These children cleared out of the way and watched the boat 90 by with unwilling respect; they shouted questions after it, wanting to know where it came from and what was going to be done with it. No one answered them. Eva and Carol as well as the boys refused to answer or even took at them. The five of them entered Clayton’s yard. ‘Me boys shifted weight, as if they were going to put the boat down. You better take it round to the back where nobody can see it,’ Carol said. That was the first thing any of them had said since they came into town. The boys said nothing but went on, following a mud path between Clayton’s house and a leaning board fence. They let the boat down in the back yard. â€Å"It’s a stolen boat, you know,† said Eva, mainly for the effect. ‘It must’ve belonged to somebody. You stole it. † ‘You was the ones who stole it then,† Bud said, short of breath. ‘It was you seen it first. † -It was you took it. † ‘It was all of us then. If one of us gets in trouble then all of us does. ‘Are you going to tell anybody on them? † said Carol as she and Eva rode home, along the streets which were dark between the lights now and potholed from winter. â€Å"It’s up to you. I won’t if you won’t. † â€Å"I won’t if you won’t† They rode in silence, relinquishing something, but not discontented. The board fence in Clayton’s back yard had every so often a post which sup, ported it, or tried to, and it was on these posts that Eva and Carol spent several evenings sitting, jauntily but not very comfortably. Or else they just leaned against the fence while the boys worked on the boat. During the first couple of evenings neighborhood children attracted by the sound of hammering tried to get into the yard to see what was going on, but Eva and Carol blocked their way. â€Å"Who said you could come in here? † ‘Just us can come in this yard. † These evenings were getting longer, the air milder. Skipping was starting on the sidewalks. Further along the street there was a row of hard maples that had been tapped. Children drank the sap as fast as it could drip into the buckets. The old man and woman who owned the trees, and who hoped to make syrup, came running out of the house making noises as if they were trying to scare away crows. Finally, every spring, the old man would come out on his porch and fire his shot- gun into the air, and then the thieving would stop. None of those working on the boat bothered about stealing sap, though all had done so last year. The lumber to repair the boat was picked up here and there, along back lanes. At this time of year things were lying around-old boards and branches, sodden mitts, spoons Hung out with the dishwater, lids of pudding pots that had been set in the snow to cool, all the debris that can sift through and survive winter. The tools came from Clayton’s cellar-left over, presumably, from the time when his father was alive- and though they had nobody to advise them the boys seemed to figure out more or less the manner in which boats are built, or rebuilt. Frank was the one who showed up with diagrams from books and Popular Mechanics magazines. Clayton looked at these diagrams and listened to Frank read the instructions and then went ahead and decided in his own way what was to be done. Bud was best at sawing. Eva and Carol watched everything from the fence and offered criticism and thought up names. Me names for the boat that they thought of were: Water Lily, Sea Horse, Flood Queen, and Caro-Eve, after them because they had found it. The boys did not say which, if any, of these names they found satisfactory. The boat had to be tarred. Clayton heated up a pot of tar on the kitchen stove and brought it out and painted slowly, his thorough way, sitting astride the overturned boat. The other boys were sawing a board to make a new seat. As Clayton worked, the tar cooled and thickened so that finally he could not move the brush any more. He turned to Eva and held out the pot and said, ‘You ran go in and heat this on the stove. ‘ Eva took the pot and went up the back steps. The kitchen seemed black after outside, but it must be light enough to see in, because there was Clayton’s mother standing at the ironing board, ironing. She did that for a living, took in wash and ironing. ‘Please may I put the tar pot on the stove? † said Eva, who had been brought up to talk politely to parents, even wash-and-iron ladies, and who for some reason especially wanted to make a good impression on Clayton’s mother. You’ll have to poke up the fire then,’ said Clayton’s mother, as if she doubted whether Eva would know how to do that. But Eva could see now, and she picked up the lid with the stove-lifter, and took the poker and poked up a flame. She stirred the tar as it softened. She felt privileged. Then and later. Before she went to sleep a picture of Clayton came to her mind; she saw him sitting astride the boat, tar painting, with such concentration, delicacy, absorption. She thought of him speaking to her, out of his isolation, in such an ordinary peaceful taking-for- granted voice. On the twenty-fourth of May, a school holiday in the middle of the week, the boat was carried out of town, a long way now, off the road over fields and fences that had been repaired, to where the river flowed between its normal banks. Eva and Carol, as well as the boys, took turns carrying it. It was launched in the water from a cow-trampled spot between willow bushes that were fresh out in leaf. The boys went first. They yelled with triumph when the boat did float, when it rode amazingly down the river current. The boat was painted black, and green inside, with yellow seats, and a strip of yellow all the way around the outside. There was no name on it, after all. The boys could not imagine that it needed any name to keep it separate from the other boats in the world. Eva and Carol ran along the bank, carrying bags full of peanut butter-and- jam sandwiches, pickles, bananas, chocolate cake, potato chips, graham crackers stuck together with corn syrup and five bottles of pop to be cooled in the river water. The bottles bumped against their legs. They yelled for a turn. ‘If they don’t let us they’re bastards,† Carol said, and they yelled together, ‘We found it! We found it! The boys did not answer, but after a while they brought the boat in, and Carol and Eva came crashing, panting down the bank. ‘Does it leak? ‘ ‘It don’t leak yet. † ‘We forgot a bailing can,’ waited Carol, but nevertheless she got in, with Eva, and Frank pushed them off, crying, ‘Here’s to a Watery Grave! ‘ And the thing about being in a boat was that it was not solidly bobbing, like a log, but was cupped in the water, so that riding in it was not like being on some- thing in the water, but like being in the water itself. Soon they were ll going out in the boat in mixed-up turns, two boys and a girt, two girls and a boy, a girl and a boy, until things were so confused it was impossible to tell whose turn came next, and nobody cared anyway. They went down the river -those who weren’t riding, running along the bank to keep up. They passed under two bridges, one iron, one cement. Once they saw a big carp just resting, it seemed to smile at them, in the bridge-shaded water. They did not know how far they had gone on the river, but things had changed- the water had got shallower, and the land flatter. Across an open field they saw a building that looked like a house, abandoned. They dragged the boat up on the bank and tied it and set out across the field. ‘That’s the old station,’ Frank said. ‘That’s Pedder Station. ‘ The others had heard this name but he was the one who knew, because his father was the station agent in town. He said that this was a station on a branch line that had been tom up, and that there had been a sawmill here, but a long time ago. Inside the station it was dark, cool. All the windows were broken. Glass lay in shards and in fairly big pieces on the door. They walked around finding the larger pieces of glass and tramping on them, smashing them, it was like cracking ice on puddles. Some partitions were still in place, you could see where the ticket window had been. There was a bench lying on its side. People had been here, it looked as if people came here all the time, though it was so far from anywhere. Beer bottles and pop bottles were lying around, also cigarette packages, gum and candy wrappers, the paper from a loaf of bread. The walls were covered with dim and fresh pencil and chalk writings and carved with knives.

Bad things

With a increasingly sexualities society (Mulligan, 1994; Kumar, 2013) and the influence the media has over young people (Slough, 1995), it mess pertinent to ask the question why as a nation, are we not more clued up in preventing rather than recovering from such tragedies? A noted aim of Sex and Relationship Education (SERE) is to teach about awareness, knowledge and correct actions related to sexual abuse (Lobber et al, 2010) to ensure the learner has the best chance of societal integration and healthy sex life (Lobber et al, 2010).Herein lies the concern, differing societies engage differently, leading SERE to assume many guises (Lobber et al, 2010; Fontanne et al, 2012). The dichotomy for policy makers and Laotians concerned is that relevant and appropriate content has to be offset against the fear of public outcry (Consoled, 2012; Chou, 2012). Sex and the surrounding paraphernalia is still seen by some, especially parents or those involved in the education of children, as taboo ( Former, 2011).It is a subject that evokes an unusually deep emotional response in a wide demographic of people (Vassar, 2011), perhaps because sex and relationships are something we all feel a connection to. Perhaps then surrounding such controversy it is little surprise that there is elegance to update national policy (Evans and Trip, 2006; Confined, 2012), indeed there has been no major update to any government guidelines concerning SERE in 13 years (Evans and Trip, 2006; Holly, 2012; Sex Education Forum, 2013).Invariably this has led to schools and educators hesitant to deliver any form of SERE (Former, 2011) explaining the comment of the Sex Education Forum's claiming a one in three reply of ‘poor' or Very poor' amongst respondents concerning their experience of SERE (Sex Education Forum, 2013, p. 4). Initially this echoes the contention we know surrounds SERE, however the Sex Education Forum is an independent body, even advising government policy, adding validity to such statements.The previous two and the current government have come under criticism (Evans and Trip, 2006; Former, 2011; Holly, 2012, Sex Education Forum, 2013) about failing to enact meaningful change in support of schools in this clearly vital area of education (Lobber et al, 2010; Fontanne et al, 2012). There is an assumption that governments would wish to enact decisive and lasting policy change after weighty social change is promised, yet Evans and Trip (2006) have suggested that more radical policy is necessary than has been thus implemented. Such policies may even go as far as introducing pornography within the classroom (Holly, 2012).Marled (2012) suggests the current Coalition Government has already hastened and strengthened reforms and guidelines in the wake of recent abuse tragedies such as those in Recordable and Exosphere (Marled, 2012; BBC News, 2013; Burke, 2013). One must be wary to believe such rhetoric in light of these circumstances, as it is common practice for such vague press releases to appear, simply to soothe public fear and discontent. This may be cynicism on the writer's part though and the current Coalition does intend to release a new curriculum for schools in 2014 (Great Britain, Department for Education, 2013).It was hoped by pupils in particular that SERE would feature strongly within the revision (Former, 2011) yet it seems that the trend of ambivalence towards SERE continues. Even with an extended consultation period on the curriculum, both pupils (Former, 2011) and advisory councils (Sex Education Forum, 2013) feel that their views or recommendations have been ignored. The position of SERE within the curriculum was meeting all parties wanted to see reinforced with the Sex Education Forum calling for SERE in the form of Personal, Social and Health Education (SHE) or better, standalone to be made statutory (2013, p. ). The proposal curriculum (Great Britain, Department for Education, 2013; Sex Education Forum, 2013) will not howev er, be making this so. This course of action is analyses by Even and Trip (2006) as predictable, claiming that despite valid and objective support, orthodoxy persists in education. Perhaps disappointing as if there can be a shift in orthodoxy regarding SERE, profound social and demographic benefits may be seen.Sweden has had a strong form of SERE embedded in practice for over fifty years (Lobber et al, 2010) and enjoys a high standard of social stability and new from the current Coalition Government (Analysis: Cameraman's Swede Dreams, 2012). It is dangerous to make broad sweeping statements from limited sources, especially of those with a distinctive demographic difference to the I-J. It is usually agreed though that SERE should learn from those with best practice globally (Livingston and Haddam, 2009; Chou, 2012), perhaps lessons may also be learnt from the Finnish model.Having had tooth statutory and non-statutory shapes of SERE, Lobber et al (2010) surmises that it is the statut ory model that returns the cohesion and essential improvements to sexual health political leaders crave (Evans and Trip, 2006). Instead of taking the opportunity to make SERE statutory content, this Coalition Government has drafted a proposal that has elements of SERE embedded within the new science curriculum (Great Britain, Department for Education, 2013). Science by nature is objective and if for this reason SERE was amalgamated then it is commendable, combating bigotry and misunderstanding (Chou, 2012).As Lombardi (2012) helpfully reminds us, humans the world over reproduce in the same way and so taking a scientific approach follows. These laudable reasons for merging SERE within a broader science curriculum appear not to be the motive though. Nearly twenty years ago Slough (1995) instructs how children should be aware of basic reproduction biology and yet this is not stipulated for today's learners. It would appear SERE is once more regressing to a state of UN-objective and UN- founded content (Hess, 2010; Former, 2011; Lombardi, 2012; Sex Education Forum, 2013).It is difficult to tell if this slide is uh to bad advice or simply to be purposefully uncontroversial (Vassar, 2011; Confined, 2012). It is unlikely that poor advice is the primary reason as there were both lengthy consultation periods on the draft curriculum (Great Britain, Department for Education, 2013) and extensive data from numerous reputable studies (Evans and Trip, 2006; Livingston and Haddam, 2009; Lobber et al, 2010; BC Council for Families, 2011; Former, 2011; Channel 4, 2013; Sex Education Forum, 2013).These aversions to objective SERE is unhelpful to learners who are understandably worried about hangers happening during puberty (Former, 2011; Sex Education Forum, 2013) and have a right to know (Mulligan, 1994). These learner responses are supported by More (2012) who asserts learners are inquisitive for biological reasons. Questioners do not simply stop questioning Just because they a re ignored (Lobber et al, 2010). Instead they seek answers from other sources (Slough, 1995; Holly, 2012) with Hess (2010) commenting that these sources should be UN-ambivalent as possible to reduce over simplicity.It is crucial that correct answers are given as The Framework for Sexual Health (Great Britain, Department of Health, 2013, p. 2) states that an average of ten sexual partners is common in men today. The theory is that if quality SERE sessions are in place, with appropriate answers available, then wider social and sexual health risks can be avoided (Mulligan, 1994; Holly, 2012; Sex Education Forum, 2013) and some, such as the curtailing of the uneasy truth that the I-J has the highest rate of unwanted teenage pregnancy in Europe.This alarming fugue only worsens when realizing that the I-J is second only to the United States of America in terms of developed nations (Evans and Trip, 2006). This should be qualified however tit the Framework for Sexual Health (Great Britain, Department of Health, 2013, p. 2) and other parties (Holly, 2012; Sex Education Forum) quick to point out that these pregnancy levels are at a multi-generational low here. Ignorance is another principal reason for high quality SERE to be delivered in schools.A Sex Education survey of over 2000 young people, one of the largest of its kind in this country, found that seventy four of sexually active fourteen to seventeen year olds had sexual experiences under the age of consent and that twenty percent of these had these experiences under the GE of thirteen (Channel 4, 2013) It is easy to let emotion override at this point and this is a danger faced at policy level too (Combo, 2012; Holly, 2012).Instead compare these fugues with the six percent from the survey (Channel 4, 2013) who said they would wait until marriage before engaging in sexual experiences. On a personal note, regarding ignorance, the author was surprised to see that ‘Setting (Combo, 2012, p. 28) carried a custodial sentence of up to four years (Crown Prosecution Service, 2012) for the creation and distribution of such images. This is because often those reading are underage and although (hopefully) unaware of it, they are distributing ‘Indecent Images of Children' (Crown Prosecution Service, 2012; Holly, 2012).Evans and Trip (2006) warn that once experimenting in sexual experiences under the age of sixteen (consensual age in the I-J) becomes the norm, it is far harder to prevent unwanted sexual health related issues. This a common counter to allowing overt SERE within education today, as parents, educators and wider societies believe exposure to SERE automatically correlates to a rise in sexual experimentation (Mulligan, 1994; Fontanne et al, 2012; Chou, 2012). The results from the Sex Education survey (Channel 4, 2013) counter this however, showing that the mean age for first consensual experiences is seventeen in both male and females.Certainly, wider evidence from across Northern Eur ope, a good comparison to make with the UK due to similar socio- economic patterns, show that the greater the liberality with engaging children in SERE, the lower the risks (Evans and Trip, 2006; Lobber et al, 2010). There is a third dimension to the debate of SERE, that of abstinence. Abstainers argue that it is the only scientific method that is proven to completely eliminate all forms of sexual health risks (Hess, 2010) such as those outlined by Fontanne et al (2012).Lombardi (2012) argues that this is in fact counter productive as it provides a dichotomy to learners to choose either protection or abstinence, leading to a drop in quality of SERE. The abstinence method does carry weight and is enjoying increasing support globally (Confined, 2012), in terms of the benefits of sex in good relationships. Alongside having the worst sexual health in teenagers in Europe, the I-J also boasts a higher bevel of marital breakdown and single parent families than found on the continental main land (Evans and Trip, 2006).It is argued that by teaching sex as something to be enjoyed once firm commitments have been made to one another, the bond between couples is stronger thereby reducing breakdowns (Hess, 2010; Bloom, 2012). It is also worth noting that Hess (2010) and Bloom (2012) acknowledge the abstinence approach has much ground to cover in terms of accessibility to those who do not see or desire a loving marriage as standard (Evans and Trip, 2006; Comb', 2012). Lobber t al (2010) and Milkshakes (2011) both produce a damming testimony of the abstinence approach.This is not surprising as SERE as a topic does carry strong emotions (Former, 2011). By providing historical contexts and citations in both counters it does however help to remove the personal emotive element often seen in this area of discussion. Such emotions are very apparent in both Hess' (2010) article and the demonstrations reported by Vassar (2011). A final thought for the abstinence methodology is that of the inclusion of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LIGHT) learners. The Sex Education Forum (2013, p. Rightfully highlight that these people are equal in need to heterosexual learners and the dangers an evasive traditional hetero marriage' approach to sex and reproduction may have on their education and sexual health. By looking to educational theory, we may hope to provide a consensus for SERE. Evans and Trip (2006) note the link to quality SERE with social learning theories. The Social Cognitive Theory (ACTS) established by Bandeau (1986) is a respected and time-tested model to use.Linked to the findings of the Sex Education survey (Channel 4, 2013) and the findings of other noted projects Livingston and Haddam, 2009; Former, 2011; Sex Education Forum, 2013), the ACTS model requires an understanding of current trends of the behavior of society in conjunction with the goal that society is hoping to achieve. The abstinence approach would argue that to achieve the goal of a so ciety having minimal unwanted teenage pregnancies and a majority of stable relationships, it is the attitude of young people that needs to change.This is not the simple fix that may have been hoped for though. The Framework for Sexual Health (Great Britain, Department of Health, 2013, p. 9) tresses that currently around eighty five thousand females are the victims of rape or assault by penetration annually. It is very difficult for even die-hard abstainers to argue that if these victims had different attitudes, they wouldn't have been assaulted. Indeed, the attitudes of young people and parents are reflected in Livingston and Hadrons report (2009, p. 6) showing that twenty percent were worried about viewing inappropriate sexual content. Using the ACTS, it would seem then that it would be beneficial to more learners if quality and objective SERE sessions were available. This old allow the continuing motivation of society to reduce the spiraling sexual health issues (Evans and Trip, 2 006; Great Britain, Department of Health, 2013) whilst simultaneously progressing education appropriate to the young people. It is clear that young people want answers (Former, 2011; Sex Education Forum, 2013).By providing them through quality SERE, it reduces the risk of obtaining spurious answers such as questions regarding genital size and shape (Channel 4, 2013) from dubious sources such as pornography. The same survey (Channel 4, 2013) found that more than a third questioned rely on pornography for their information. For the educators then, it is clear that emotion and embarrassment needs to be laid aside once more in favor of providing better sources (Barker, 2012; Comb', 2012).It is pertinent then to question who takes on the role of the educator, parents or the school. With the draft curriculum (Great Britain, Department for Education, 2013) it is obvious that some responsibility does lie with schools. Fontanne et al (2012) would support this decision, finding that with expe rienced educators schools provide ideal environments for SERE as they can reach the majority of children instantly. Former (2011, p. 166) does end a counter, suggesting that from his research, sixty seven percent of SERE sessions are not taught by classroom teachers.Fontanne et al (2012) retorts with the idea that this is not a bad thing as often teachers resort to passive learning in SERE and not memorable experiences, provided by external sources, something which Former (2011) agrees is more effective. Chou (2012) comments that teachers should not be expected to deliver high quality SERE as it could involve topics of anatomy and physiology knowledge beyond that of most teachers, yet it is arguable that most parents would fall under this category also.Chou (2012) counters himself too, commenting that in Chinese society, sex is not a topic of conversation traversed by most parents, leaving the question of responsibility unanswered. A common reason for teachers reluctance is being st igmatize as Holly, a leading expert in SERE, found herself (Robbins, 2011) or finding themselves in compromising situations (Knows, 2012; Vaughan, 2012). In actuality the most common reasons cited for hesitance or refraining from delivering high quality SERE is actually identical between parents and teachers (Livingston and Haddam, 2009; Hess, 2010; Former, 2011; Chou, 2012).Lobber et al (2010) does offer consolation to this conundrum, stating that with training, teachers' attitudes reversed dramatically. It is vital that this happens as it necessary that some sort of service is available outside of the home (Livingston and Haddam, 2009; BC council for Families, 2011; Barker, 2012; Children, 2012). As with many quality strategies in education, it has been proved that the most successful SERE occurs when schools and parents cooperate fully (Baldwin and Abrasions, 1990; Evans and Trip, 2006; Barker, 2012; Fontanne et al, 2012; Marled, 2012).With the continuation of findings as outline d in the Framework for Sexual Health (Great Britain, Department of Health; 2013) and truly shocking reports across the UK (summers, 2007; Marled, 2012; BBC News, 2013;) and beyond (Burke, 2013), it must be seen as vital from schools, parents and politicians that the issue of SERE needs addressing. From these brief research findings it is clear that no universal solution has yet been tailored to fit all needs.

Responsibility Cost Control System

Assignment: Cost Modules Essay Cost management in China has been evolving over the past ten years due to influence by the foreign concepts of management accounting. This can be traced back to year 2001 where increased market openness, reduced government interference, and increased management autonomy were mandatory for China’s accession to the World Trade Organization. This change in market condition has incentivized Chinese firms to improve their management accounting practices.Subsequently, the traditional costing method is also facing a sudden threat by the influx of ABC/M, Target Costing, Responsibility Accounting, etc. Presented with new ideas, this essay will discuss the popular cost management accounting trend in China, specifically the responsibility cost control system. I will also compare the changes in the Chinese management accounting practices and give opinions on the possible future outlook of the cost and management accounting landscape.According to the research on contemporary management accounting in China by Jason Zezhong Xiao and Rong-Ruey Duh, the most widely used techniques are, cost behavior analysis, cost allocation, responsibility accounting, and cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis. On the other hand, the lowest levels of adoption are techniques like the activity-based costing/management, kaizen costing, standard costing, and environmental accounting. This result is gathered by providing the firms with 25 management accounting practices and asking them to feedback the extent to which they applied each of the 25 practices in the running of their businesses.Results showed that the responsibility cost control system, together with CVP analysis, are among the most popular ‘new’ practices adopted by Chinese firms since market reformed. Specifically, I will discuss responsibility cost control system using the example of Han Dan Iron and Steel Company. Han Dan Iron and Steel Company was established in 1958 and was originally a state-owned iron and steel mill under the administration of government authority at provincial level. It introduced ‘responsibility cost control ystem’ in the beginnings of 1990s, and went public in the next half of that decade. There are four underlying principles for the responsibility cost control system. 1. Setting cost and profit targets that take into account market pressures 2. Assigning target costs to various levels of responsibility center 3. Evaluating performance based on fulfillment of the responsibility cost targets, and 4. Implementing a reward scheme with built-in inventive mechanisms.To explain the first principle of responsibility cost control system using Han Dan Company, all 60 units and subsidiaries were regrouped and decentralized in accordance to the Company’s operational goals into two main categories – producing divisions and servicing units. Han Dan Company has 13 primary producing divisions and within each is a design of multi-t ier responsibility centers. This is crucial in the cost setting and profit targeting of responsibility cost control system and they are designed to be dependent on sales and demand, incorporating market pressure.The assignment of target costs to the various levels of subdivisions is by a top-down approach. It is different from the traditional standard costing method and is in line with the above principle of taking into account market pressure. The market prices are first determined and subsequently, target costs and profits will be just moving averages of the fluctuating market price. The third principle cannot hold without a good design and implementation governed by the DFA, the department that is also responsible to the evaluation of individual responsibility centers.This principle focused mainly on the target costs and is the most important indicator of responsibility performance in the responsibility cost control system. All bonuses will be forfeited when a responsibility cent er fail to meet its cost targets, even if other targets are fulfilled. The reward system however, does acknowledge and encourage the achievement of other related responsibility standards such as production output, product quality, etc. beyond the cost targets even though it is a secondary subject to the ‘cost-veto’ mechanism illustrated above.Although the responsibility cost control system is often compared to target costing, I feel that it is actually better than target costing due to the fact that it focuses more on actual results than forecast. Target costing on the other hand focuses more on forecast and new product planning, and extends cost management beyond the firm to include supply chain partners. Moreover, responsibility cost control system has proven great success in the case of Han Dan Company. It is an exemplary model for the government and business community in China to consider in other state-owned enterprises.Looking forward, with China’s market c ontinuing to evolve and opening up to foreign ideas and companies, we can foresee it moving towards a market-oriented economic system where companies are more motivated to adopt management techniques to improve performance. However, the adoption does not guarantee efficiency and profitability if government forces it onto them without considering the unique business situation. Like Han Dan Company, Chinese firms should diffuse and develop innovative management techniques to suit their own needs and we will definitely see even better developments by Chinese firms in the future.References Duh, R. , & Xiao, J. Z. (2008). An overview and assessment of contemporary management accounting research in china. (Special Issue ed. , Vol. 20, pp. 129-164). Journal of Management Accounting Research. WU, J. , & BOATENG, A. (2010). Factors influencing changes in chinese management accounting practices. Journal of Change Management, 10(3), 315–329. Lin, Z. J. , & Yu, Z. (2002). Res ponsibility cost control system in china: A case of management accounting application. Management Accounting Research, 13(4), 447-467.

Millennium Dome Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Millennium Dome - Essay Example resources. A project means to achieve an end in harmony with the development process of the sponsoring organization. It is also usually a means to develop assets, acceptable within quality specifications. It is a process whereby six types of resources are invested; such resources are better known as the 6 M’s. These are men, materials, machines, money and minutes. Out of the six M’s minutes and money are mostly independent of one another. But the other 4M’s could be procured in exchange for money, but they are difficult to evaluate in minutes and monetary terms. Therefore it must be ensured that organizations should exercise the utmost caution in selecting and execution a project keeping in mind that resources are scarce commodities. Also keeping the scarcity factor in mind organizations must ensure that the projects should be clearly defined from the point of view of implementation and control (Kothari, 2007, p. 201). During the course of a project an organizati on faces a number of projects that are needed to be overcome to ensure successful execution of the project. The study looks to analyze such problem keeping the case of Millennium Dom at the focal point of discussion. The study looks to provide clear and concise understandings of the overall project management process, initial phase of the millennium dome project planning, the actual execution of the project, evaluate the outcomes of the project ( both positive and negative); and finally based on the above analysis the study looks to provide recommendations (De, 2011, p.229). Project Management Process A project management can be defined as the application of various skills, knowledge, tools, and techniques in order to achieve the required project goal. According to the definition of project management defined by The Project Management Institute (PMI), it is the art of coordinating and directing both material, financial and human resources throughout life of a project by using advanc ed management techniques to successfully achieve predetermined goals. Formulation of the organization as system of problem This is done in such a way to capture and highlight the essential and systematic properties of the organization, not by listing independently formulated threats and opportunities; but by protecting the future that the system would have it, and its environment, were to continue unchanged. It is the future that a system currently is in. End Planning This involves selecting the ideals, objectives and goals to be pursued by preparing an idealized redesign of the system planned for a design which the relevant stake holders would replace the existing system today if they were free to do so. The difference between this most desired design and t description developed in the first phase define the gaps to be filled by the remainder of the planning process. Means Planning Here the ways of filling the gaps are selected. These are more likely to require invention than disco very. They can take the form of policies, programs, projects and procedures, practices or individual courses of action. Resource Planning A determination is made of how much of each type of resource –people, facilities, equipments, materials, energy, money, information, knowledge and understanding will be needed by the means elected, and when these requirements will arise. Then it is quite

Essay is to define Ahimsa Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Is to define Ahimsa - Essay Example provision of ahimsa because both these human factors are closely linked and are vulnerable to cause a reaction that may result in the physical expression of the same. Alternatively, it can be said that ahimsa is the basic principle of life that promotes universal values and ethical living because it abhors violence. It teaches one to love fellow-beings and live in harmony. In the contemporary environment of fast paced life, people are living on their nerves and each of them is trying to become better than others. This has significantly influenced human behaviour that has become less tolerant and more vulnerable to the vagaries of life, provoking violent expressions, both in action and thought. The repercussions are highly detrimental to the society that is increasingly becoming global in essence but diverse in equation. The rapid globalization has changed the dynamics of societal norms and the emergence of pluralistic society demands new paradigms of peaceful living. Indeed this definition of ahimsa becomes pertinent in the current times and needs to become the governing principle of living. Interesting, while ahimsa is fittingly described as a principle of non violence against all odds, it also seems to have acquired huge scope of interpretations that encompass not only the real and meta physical reality of human life but also life after physical death. The spiritual annotations of ahimsa bring human beings closer to the divinity and therefore, towards immortality of soul that is indestructible. It inculcates selfless service and promotes acceptance of human failings within the wider realm of human interactions. In short, it teaches people to love and to cherish what one has. In loving others, one would not hate nor desire harm to those whom one loves! Ahimsa is also the philosophy of life because it teaches to love not because another person is wholly pure in thoughts and actions but because he understands that the other person is also created by the same

Ergonomics safety and health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ergonomics safety and health - Essay Example There are number of reasons why a product based industry cannot do without its implementation, and one of them is the direct exposure of the working staff to the heavy machinery used. The requirements of product manufacturing industry is not just limited to the heavy machinery, rather it involves lengthy working hours and using of the hard material which damages the softer parts of human body in many ways (Salvendy & Karwowski, 2012). The risks involved in the manufacturing industry are prone to pose greater threats towards the workers safety. Some of the injuries that the workers can come across include back injuries, stress related injuries, formation of cysts in some cases, carpal tunnel syndrome and various other similar defects that can have serious negative repercussions over the human activities in the outside world. Having identified the problems and injuries that the workers can come across, it is needed to formulate an action plan in form of human factor investigation which enables safe working. Human factor investigation enables creating a backup plan and risk assessment techniques. The investigation is conducted through a tool called Human Factor Investigation Tool (HFIT). While this tool was practically used in oil and gas industry, it can be used for manufacturing industry as well (Gordon, Flin, & Mearns, 2005). The first task in this project is to identify areas which could pose any threat to human safety, secondly highlight the areas where human fatigue is involved; repetitively working in same posture and over same equipment is unsafe as well. The strategy so devised must be based on the principle of reducing the direct contact of workers with heavy machinery. This can be done through automation. Automation finds its applications in industries like fire fighting scenarios where they can go into the buildings and not just put

Morality and Social Responsibility Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Morality and Social Responsibility - Assignment Example This shows that a person’s wrong behavior solely originates from himself and he bares the whole responsibility. This may be too hard on those who may not understand the rules and end up breaking them. Human beings have different reasoning standards. As others are keen to point out the limits of their actions, others may be slow at it. Actions play a big role in the definition of morality. The actions between two or more individuals define character. These actions originate from different or same habits that these individuals have. One’s action will influence the reaction of another, defining his character. This introduces a second party responsible for one’s action. Therefore, environment (culture) plays a role in defining ones morality (Peter & Nicholas, 2011) A person’s upbringing influences the virtues that he will have when he comes of age. Some virtues are inborn while others are acquired. Culture outlines the norms of one’s society. Many do see that abiding by these norms makes one moral. Culture defines people’s social responsibility, and it enables smooth co-existence among people (Scarlet & Arthur, 2011). This social responsibility can be seen as ones duty to morality. The actions that are done usually are of different purposes. An individual can do action because he needs to benefit by protecting his life. On the other hand, it can be done just for the respect of the law to avoid consequences. In the end these actions, regardless of the reasons for performing them, defines ones morality. Deontology helps to control individuals’ actions and the rights of others who interact. People should reflect on the consequences of their actions to others, before doing them. As people who co-exist, cultural laws outline the moral acts that all of them approve. This helps in the establishment of morality amongst them. Morality may be different in different cultures since the cultures tend to differ in

Criminal Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Criminal Justice - Essay Example This explains why the use of evidence-based policing will empower the police forces to make smarter decisions when controlling and solving crimes (Bueermann, 2012). Despite its advantages, there are cases wherein the police task force may not be knowledgeable enough to implement these strategies properly. For this reason, the process of continuously promoting evidence-based policing may only give the community members a wrong sense of safety and security (Alfredo, n.d.). For example, to reduce crime in Sacramento, the Sacramento Police Department conducted a â€Å"90-day Hot Spot study† between the 8th of February 2011 to the 8th of May 2011 (Sacramento Police Department, 2011). Based on the available crime records, the police highlighted â€Å"42 hot spots† wherein most crime occurred. Based on the research study findings, police visibility by simply patrolling around the hot spot areas for at least 15-minute period daily is effective in reducing crime rates in hot spot areas. Lum et al. (2010) conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine whether or not the use of license plate readers (LPR) can effectively prevent crime in hot spot areas. Throughout 30 hot spots across 2 jurisdictions, police patrols with LPR were assigned to monitor 15 hot spot areas using the â€Å"sweep and sit† approach within a 30-day experimental period. The research findings show that deploying a small number of police patrols with LPR is not sufficient to control crime. Alfredo, D. (n.d.). eHow. Retrieved October 21, 2012, from The Advantages & Disadvantages of Evidence-Based Policing: http://www.ehow.com/info_8495574_advantages-disadvantages-evidencebased-policing.html Lum, C., Merola, L., Willis, J., & Cave, B. (2010, September). Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy, George Mason University. Retrieved October 21, 2012, from License Plate

International Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

International Operations Management - Essay Example This will then go on to discuss the level of internationalization the company needs to engage in to develop the necessary level of relationship in the new international structure. In this, we will focus on how the level of relationship is affected as the internationalization of the organization broadens. The company selected for this report is Marks and Spencer. Nature of Marks and Spencer’s Business Marks and Spencer was established in UK in the year 1884 and since its inception, the company has been very successful in catering the local market. Now it is planning to expand its operations in a new market internationally. It will offer its textile products including men’s, women’s, and children wear, bedcovers, sheet sets, comforters and ready-made curtains and wall hangings. In the last couple of decades, its clothing line has seen exponential growth (Marks & Spencer 2012). Assumptions Marks and Spencer’s management feels that this clothing line can be pr omoted internationally, especially in the South Asian market. The company plans to target all age groups especially, new born babies and young kids within the age group of one to twelve years. The reason for selecting this as a target group is because the birth rate in South Asian markets is very high and the range of clothing has a high disposal rate, as they are targeted towards a growing age of children. Marks and Spencer plans to export its merchandise initially and assess the market demand for its clothing products. If the demand is positive, the company plans to build a manufacturing concern, as the setup and labour costs are very low. In addition, the company is already exporting raw cloth from South Asian markets, and by incorporating a factory internationally; they can exploit the availability of cheap raw materials. Furthermore, if the company is able to establish itself strongly within the international market, it gradually plans to introduce its other textile and bedding products in the foreign market, respectively. Internationalization Strategies Internationalization strategies require an organization to undertake observational, economic, learning and networking efforts to understand the foreign market. Once the companies learn a culture and the imperfections of the international market, it allows the company to provide products and services, which are expected to satiate the needs and requirement of the target group within the foreign market. In addition to international knowledge, it helps in assessing the capital and network resources within that market, so that it can use its finances efficiently to be thriving in that market (Bradley 2005). As the process of internationalization entails the company to be motivated to go beyond borders, which allows them to select a profitable market, and develops strategies to enter and sustain the competition in that foreign market. Marks and Spencer has successfully done all of it; with ample research, it h as collected various statistics that has inclined them to enter and compete within the South Asian market (Marks & Spencer 2012). Application of Learning Internationalization Strategies The essence of the entire internationalization process can be interpreted through the Learning Internationalization strategies. Any organization planning to expand globally will require its management to conduct various studies and researches to gain knowledge on different areas, for example, business culture and ethics,

Racial hostility within the media Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 9000 words

Racial hostility within the media - Dissertation Example Various researchers have pointed out that media has played an important role in terms of shaping the perceptions, beliefs and attitudes of people towards members of minority groups. In the United States of America, it was perceived that the media played a significant role in emphasizing the historical oppression and oppression of the African-Americans in relation to their White counterparts. In view of the same, researchers showed that the White Americans tend to have a complete lack of understanding towards the African-Americans. It is in this particular context that the researcher looked into the experiences of Michelle Obama during her husband’s presidential campaign in 2008. ... gainst a white oppressor† Generally, the racist comments were caused by the fact that Americans are not used to the fact that a Black Woman would take her place as the country’s first lady. Respondents in this particular study noted that the country is yet to be accustomed to such fact, thus they was not willing to accept Michelle Obama, thus the racist comments. Chapter 1 Introduction Background of the Study The media is known to be a very powerful institution that has been established within a democratic community. It aims to transmit and communicate cultural ideas, images, myths, and sequences of events (Nairn, Pega, McCreanor, Rankine, and Barnes 2006). Media discourse remains to be a significant means of reproducing shared beliefs and fundamental values of the society. Hence, the media plays a relevant role for exchanging opinions, knowledge, and information. The media, per se, have become a major instrument with which countries can establish and publicize its ideal s as they are expected to express a wide range of viewpoints, remain as objective and neutral as possible, and provide access to various groups, regardless of gender, racial background, religion, social class, and sexual orientation, to name a few (Wetherell and Potter 1992). Print and electronic media has made a significant impact on the daily lives of communities and its members as the television, radio, and print media, among other types of media, present the components out of which individuals can establish identities and make sense of themselves (e.g. meaning of one’s own gender, ethnicity, and national identity). Moreover, it enables the society to differentiate and understanding what it means to be â€Å"us† and â€Å"them† (McQuail 2000). At present, although the media is expected to reflect

The Legal and Regulatory Environment of Business Essay

The Legal and Regulatory Environment of Business - Essay Example This is mainly for commercial businesses. As for the other smaller businesses and entrepreneurs, there are other legal proceedings that involve guidelines on how to set up their businesses and divide up the profits and losses and even how to share them. This is carried out in legal jargon such as sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability among others. When it comes to business regulations, there are regulations in issues to do with environment and consumers, investor protection, antitrust and monopoly as well as land use and property control. All these offer positive advice and guidelines to the businessmen, consumers and investors and ensure that they are all living in coexistence and there is mutual benefit in the end. These laws and regulations are manned in different codes as well as the constitution. An example is the Uniform Commercial Code, Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and the Constitution of the United States among others. All these should be followed to the letter by all concerned

Ethnic Literature Essay Example for Free

Ethnic Literature Essay The term â€Å"ethnic† when in conjunction with the word â€Å"literature† in the academic discourse community of students, often brings out mixed feelings of excitement and dread. On the one hand, students understand that they will be getting away from the canonical American literature – which can equal boring in their eyes; on the other hand, students interpret the term â€Å"ethnic literature† to mean distinctive – which can equal confusing or ambiguous – and perhaps at times not relatable because it is outside their scope of experiences. Perhaps before jumping into why it matters, the term â€Å"ethnic literature† should be defined first and because I am still learning how to interpret this term myself, I searched for a suitable one I could agree with. I found one in an article entitled â€Å"Assessing Teachers’ Knowledge of Multi-Ethnic Literature†, and the article actually used another source themselves to come up with a workable, layman’s definition. Ethnic literature as defined by D. E. Norton (as the article’s source) is, â€Å"Literature about racial or ethnic minority groups that are culturally and socially different from the white Anglo-Saxon majority in the United States, whose largely middle-class values and customs are most represented in American literature† (qtd. in Hager Thompson 22). I think this definition works well to define what ethnic literature is on a surface level, but the more I dig in, I feel that this idea goes much deeper. I asked myself, who can write about ethnic literature? Can anyone just pick up a pen so to speak and tell a story about a young Japanese boy, or a Hispanic family? Can an African-American writer write about Hispanic or Chinese people and claim it is ethnic literature? And the answer to myself is no. Why? Because unless that African-American has been submersed in the Hispanic or Japanese culture from the time of childhood, how are they going to capture the very essence of being, thinking, and living day-to-day in that culture? And even if that African-American had, they would still most likely have a different perspective from the average Hispanic or Chinese person because of being different themselves (i. e black) and perhaps are treated different by the community at large which corrupts the â€Å"normal† cultural thinking. At this deeper level I am trying to get at, I find John M. Reilly’s article â€Å"Criticism of Ethnic Literature: Seeing the Whole Story† helpful in acquiring this. He states that, â€Å"the assertion of ethnicity in literature can be made only through a procedure by which the writer resolves formal problems what moves from recognition of identity to creation of a strategy for handling reality still is not literature until the individual author sustains her or his ethnic identity through a sequence of formal choices† (4). I am interpreting this to mean that as a reader of this literature, I should see and feel throughout the story (perhaps subtlety) that in some way, the characters mindset (and perhaps actions) in the story differ from my own specifically because of the culture they have grown up in in, which has shaped that character’s thinking. There are thoughts and feelings – ideas, I don’t understand without further explanation from the author, which is sometimes provided, and sometimes not. An example of this is in Brando Skyhorse’s novel The Madonnas of Echo Park, I find myself wondering what the significance of the jacaranda trees mentioned in different parts of the book. Looking up what they are, it becomes apparent to me as jacaranda trees are native to Central America – roots back to their homeland. The blossoms from the trees fall and are scattered everywhere. Felicia in chapter 2 states that â€Å"there’s no way getting away from them† (25). Basically meaning, you cannot escape who you are and where you come from. I would not have understood this had I not explored the history of that tree to uncover the significance in the book. Another example is in Seventeen Syllables in the story â€Å"Seventeen Syllables†. The story about a Japanese family is easy to read, but is hard to connect with as I don’t share the same philosophies about a woman’s place in the Japanese culture. A specific instance in the story was when Mrs. Hayashi, Rosie’s mother received her the first place prize for her stellar Haiku. When the man from the newspaper presented her with a package, Mrs. Hayashi, stating she knew it was unorthodox, asked if she might open it because she was very curious. (Yamamoto 17). At this point, I am thinking to myself, â€Å"I don’t get it – why wouldn’t she open it? † but upon reflection, I considered the patriarchal society that is dominant in this culture, and perhaps it is the wife’s obligation to consult or have the husband open the gift, even if it is not specifically for him. Yet another example is in Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. To come specifically to the point, I do not understand this idea of why it is understood that Dominican men are supposed to be these â€Å"manly men† that women flock to and fall on their knees for. That the sexual appetite along with innate sense of charisma from Dominican men is expected, and when it’s lacking, it doesn’t go unnoticed. â€Å"Anywhere else his triple-zero batting average with the ladies might have passed without comment, but this is a Dominican kid we’re talking about, in a Dominican family: dude was supposed to have Atomic Level G, was supposed to be pulling in the bitches with both hands† (24). Why is this idea so indoctrinated in this culture according to the book? This is perhaps something I will never understand, except that it is a part of their culture. All of these examples are all good and well, but the important question is why is ethnic literature important? What can be gained from reading it? From a most basic viewpoint, it is a highly effective vehicle for helping people understand themselves and the world around them. Thompson and Hager in their article state that, â€Å"multi-ethnic literature mirrors and validates the experiences for minority groups and juxtaposes the familiar with the less familiar for mainstream children† (22). In other words, through reading ethnic literature, readers can find ways to connect with others around them that are different. The article also states that when readers are exposed to divergent thoughts, language patterns, value systems, and different ways of living, that it can open up awareness about others and create compassion and understanding towards them that might not have happened without the literary exposure (23). To sum it all up, I will never argue against the instruction of ethnic literature in the school setting. In fact, I think teaching it should begin right from the beginning in kindergarten, and perhaps one day we won’t need the designated term â€Å"ethnic literature† – perhaps one day it can just be â€Å"American Literature† and part of the regular American canon of literature. Works Cited Diaz, Junot. The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. New York: Penguin, 2007. Print. Reilly, John. M. â€Å"Criticism of Ethnic Literature: Seeing the Whole Story†. Critical Approaches to Ethnic Literature. 5. 1 (1978): 2-13. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. Skyhorse, Brando. The Madonnas of Echo Park. New York: Free Press, 2010. Print. Thompson, Deborah L. and Jane Meeks Hager. â€Å"Assessing Teachers’ Knowledge of Multi-Ethnic Literature†. Yearbook of the American Reading Forum. 1990. 21-29. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. Yamamoto, Hisaye. Seventeen Syllables. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2001. Print.

The History Of Characteristics Of Monopolistic Competition Economics Essay

The History Of Characteristics Of Monopolistic Competition Economics Essay 1.0Introduction According to the Dominick Salvatore (2009 p.3) microeconomic theory is perhaps the most important course in all economics and business programs. With it we can answer or understand such question as why the price of gold rose sharply in few years; why the price of petrol rose dramatically in 2008s-2010s and declined in 2011s; why the price of sugar rose in few years; why the cereal rose in few years and others. By contrast, microeconomics is the study of individual house household or firms (business units). It focuses on particular parts of the economy. Microeconomics theory provides the tools for understanding how the other economies operate. 2.0 Introduction to Monopoly According to the Cambridge dictionary (second edition) monopoly in microeconomics mean is when a company or organization is the only one in an area of business or activity and has complete control of it. In market structure under the monopoly there is a single seller and large of buyers and selling products. It have no a high entry and the existence of barrier and have no close substitution to other vendors to enter into the market. Examples of products in monopoly market in our country are water, electricity and local telephone services. Our home telephone services are Telekom Malaysia (TM Berhad). Obviously, Telekom Malaysia is a monopoly in market. Through this it can let us know the meaning and reason causing monopoly. Besides that, it also know characteristic of monopoly and how affect or effect in market structure. 3.0 Characteristics of Monopoly 3.1.1 Single Firm Under the monopoly single seller is that the monopoly seller is the market. The market demand for a good is the demand for the output produced by the monopoly. 3.1.2 Barriers to Entry Barriers to entry is anything are designed which artificially to block or prevent the entry of firms entering a market profitably. There are some of the key barriers to entry are patents and copyrights, limit pricing, advertising, international trade restrictions and development expenditure. 3.1.3 Price Maker Single firm produces goods and have a monopoly in an entire market that means it holds a large majority of a stock. With having a large majority of a stock and a single firm makes a decision affect the price of an item in market. As a result, seller has full control over the market price. 3.1.4 Unique Product Single firm produces unique the product and no close substitutes for the product with each other. For example, there is presently no close substitute for Berita Harian, the only Malay language newspaper in Singapore. 4.0 Hypothetical Demand, Total Revenue, and Marginal Revenue Faced by a Monopolist Table 4.1 Hypothetical Demand, Total Revenue, and Marginal Revenue Faced by a Monopolist Figure 4.1 Hypothetical Demand and Marginal Revenue Curves of a Monopolist Since D is a negatively sloped, MR is lower than P. The MR values are plotted at the midpoint of each quantity interval. The MR curve starts at the same point as the D curve and at every point bisect the distance between D and the vertical axis. MR is positive when D is elastic. MR=0 when D is unitary elastic and TR is a maximum. MR is negative when D is inelastic. Table 4.2 Short-Run Total Cost, Marginal Cost, and Average Total Cost FIGURE 4.2 Short-Run Equilibrium of the Monopolist: Marginal Approach The best or optimum level of output of the monopolist is three units. This is given by point G, where MR=MC (and the MC curve intersects the MR curve from below). At Q=3, P=$6 (point A on the demand curve), ATC=$4.50 (point B on the ATC curve), and the monopolist earns $1.50 (AB) per unit of output sold and $4.50in total (shaded area ABCF). At Q MC and total profits rise by increasing Q. At Q>3, MC>MR and total profits rise by reducing Q. 5.0 Summary Characteristics of Monopoly are single firm, Barriers to entry high, unique product, power of firm over price and advertising. Single firm earns more profits in this type of market structure because no close substitute product to replace it. Barrier to entry is high because want to protect the single firm in market. A firm produces the unique products to avoid others firms to produce it. Monopolist has power to control prices of the product. Last, it consists of advertising in this type of market structure. 6.0 Introduction There are many types of market structures characteristics in which will affect the price and nature competition. For example, number of buyers and sellers, product differentiation, and the ease of entry into and exit from the market. Market structures refer to the competitive environment within which a firm operates. Market structures divided into four basic types which is perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly and monopoly. 7.0 Perfect Competition Perfect competition is a type of market in which there are large number of buyers and sellers. The sellers sell identical or homogeneous products. There is also free entry and exists of the firms. Both the sellers and buyers have perfect knowledge of the market. 7.1 Characteristics of Perfect Competition 7.1.1 There are many buyers and sellers of a commodity Reynolds, R. L., (2005, p.2) points out that the idealized perfect competitive insures that no buyers and sellers has any power or ability to influence the price. The perfect competitive market is price takers. Each buyer buys the commodity at the price determined by the market condition. 7.1.2 Homogeneous product The product of an industry in which the outputs of different firms are indistinguishable compare with another product. The homogeneous products are the product where the buyers could not differentiate the products of one seller to another seller. 7.1.3 Perfect knowledge In perfect competition firms, consumers and resource owners have perfect knowledge of all relevant prices and costs in market. No buyers to pay more a price of the product higher than the prevailing price. Similarly, sellers will not set or charge a price higher or lower than the prevailing price. Advertisement has no scope in this type of market. 7.1.4 Resources are perfect mobility This means that inputs or resources are free to move in market. Firms can enter or leave the industry in the long run without much difficultly. That is, there are no artificial barriers like copy rights and trademark or natural barriers such as huge capital requirements to entry into and exit from the industry. 7.2 Monopolistic Competition In monopolistic competitions there are contains many sellers but the products are differentiated. Many sellers produce products are similar but not identical. There are following features of monopolistic competition. 7.3 Characteristics of Monopolistic competition 7.3.1 Differentiated products Differentiated products are products that are similar but not identical and the products are close substitutes products with each other. Sellers cannot set their prices of the products very different from each other. In physical differentiation is through differences in design, material, color and others. Further differentiation of a particular product may be based entirely on some seller location of his shop, kind of service they provide and fair dealing. 7.3.2 Large number of firms Under monopolistic competition there is contains a big number of firms satisfying the market demand of the product. These firms do not produce perfect substitutes but the products which are relatively close substitute for each other. For instance, in soft drink industry, the prices for a can of 330 ml soft drink range among several brands on market today such as Pepsi, Sarsi and Cola-cola 7.3.3 No barriers to entry and exit Firms can also and leave a monopolistically competitive industry. The monopolistic element arises from product differentiation. For example, if à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"MASà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ wants to become a company top 10 in international airline system, this firm must find some difference in term of quality of service or facility equipment are provided by the firm. 7.4 Oligopoly According to the Dominick Salvatore 5-edition Principles of Microeconomics (2009, p.330) oligopoly is the form of market organization in which there are few firms of a homogeneous or differentiated product. 3.5 Characteristics of Oligopoly 3.5.1 Few numbers of large firms The firms are few but the size of firms is large. Few firms control overall the market to ensure few number of large firms have a fair amount of market. For example of the oligopoly is Proton and Perodua. 3.5.2 Interdependence Each firm under the oligopoly is can affect the market, making each firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s choices dependent on the choices of the other firms. So, they are interdependence. 3.5.3 Barriers to entry Oligopoly is meaning only few firms in the industry with barriers to the entry of new firms. Firms recognize their mutual dependence. 3.5.4 Advertising and selling costs The firms want to increase a greater share in the market and to maximize sale. So, this firm will expend more money on advertisement and other sale promotion. Advertising and selling cost are playing an important role in this type of market structure. 3.5.1 Homogeneous and differentiate products 3.5.2 Homogeneous Product Oligopoly . In market, industries produce intermediate products and sent to other different industries for manufacturing their products. For examples of the homogeneous products are steel and aluminum industries. 3.6.2 Differentiate Product Oligopoly Products manufactured in these markets are for personal consumption. For example of the differentiate product oligopoly is beer, breakfast cereals, detergents, soaps, computers and others. 3.7 Monopoly Monopoly is a single seller and sell the product is unique. Thus, in market structure there are many buyers and selling the product and there are no close substitutes with each other. For example that gave by Dominick Salvatore (2009, p.287) The Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) is a classic example of how a monopoly was created and maintained for almost 50 years. The monopoly was created in the late nineteenth century when Alcoa acquired a patent on the method to remove oxygen from bauxite to obtain aluminum. 3.8 Characteristics of Monopoly 3.8.1 Singer seller in the market There are no close substitutes of the product in the market and no more other competitors in the market. Monopolist can control or affect price is evidence of its monopoly power. 3.8.2 Lack of competition Under the monopoly in market structure there are lacks of competition because there are no close substitute products in market. 4.0 Summary The characteristic of market which is classified as one of four market models are perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly and monopoly. Perfect competition consists of many sellers and buyers of a commodity, homogeneous products, perfect knowledge, and resources are perfect mobility and no ability to control over the price of a product. Monopolistic competition is involved a large number of firms, differentiated products, no barriers to entry and exit and using advertising to shift demand. Oligopoly which is consist a few number of large firms, interdependence, barriers to entry, advertising and selling costs and homogeneous and differentiate products. Last, monopoly includes of singer seller, lack of competition, unique product and imperfect knowledge. In question 2 the various characteristics between the four types of market structures which are Perfect Competition, Monopolistic Competition, Oligopoly and Monopoly have been discussed. These four types of market structure are different characteristics and it will affect the nature or artificial of competition and the price of the product. The figure 6 is shows about the differentiation of the characteristics of the following market structure. Market structure Perfect competition Monopolistic competition Oligopoly Monopoly Number of producers Many Many Few One Type of product Standardized Differentiated Standardized or differentiated Unique product Power of firm over price None Some Some Considerable Barriers to entry Low Low High Very high Non-price competition None Advertising and product differentiation Advertising and product differentiation Advertising Examples Parts of agriculture are reasonable close Pepsi Computer, oil Telekom

The sustainable tourism

The sustainable tourism Executive summary In recent years, sustainable tourism has been very common and popular in the tourism industry. This report will be looking at and focusing on the following: Sustainable tourism what is about how to develop tourism in the peak district national park, Castleton how to promote sustainable tourism in the peak district national park, Castleton number people who visit the peak district national park, Castleton transport in the peak district national park, Castleton recommendation conclusion Sustainability in the peak district national park, Castleton Introduction The aim of this report is to explain how to develop sustainability in the Peak District National Park, Castleton (PDP). The report will consider mainly and focus on the social part in peak district national park, Castleton, and changes that can be made. First of all, the report will tell the reader some brief history of Peak District national park, Castleton (PDP) and then define the term sustainable tourism and tourism development. Then secondly, the author will introduce the requirement that can be done to develop sustainable tourism in Castleton and how to promote sustainable tourism in the Peak District National Park in Castleton, the literature will then recommend development that can be done in Castleton and conclusion will be drawn. Castleton is an outstandingly pretty village situated at the head of the lovely Vale of Hope, in the heart of the Derbyshire Peak District National Park. Castleton is surrounded on 3 sides by steep hills and the mighty bulk of Mam Tor looms high, 2 miles to the north west of the village. On a hill, overlooking Castleton is the ancient Peveril Castle Sustainable tourism can be defined as Sustainable tourism is simply sustainable development achieved through tourism. Sustainable development is economic development that takes a long-term view. It balances the benefits of economic development against environmental and social costs (greentourism.org.uk, 2010). Sustainable Development in Castleton Sustainable tourism meanly focuses on the environment, social and environment values. However, to achieve sustainable development in the peak district national park Castleton, (PDP) the community has to involve in the partnership. According to Sinclair (2003:404) define as sustainable development is expected to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs. Sustainability is mainly focused so that development is positive for the local people, the visitors and tourism companies. To promote tourism in Peak District National Park, Castleton they have to have more events, activities and exhibitions by doing that it will attract more visitors as it used to do. For example the Garland festival and the Oak apple day which runs every year attracts visitors to Castleton. Castleton has to build more cafà © bars for the local people and visitors themselves. These festivals attract more visitors to Castleton and it helps improve the economy impact and also makes the attraction very popular. In 2001, the population in Castleton was around 1,200(visit Castleton.com, 2010). Because visitors visit different or several parks so Castleton needs to bring more activities so that the destination can be sustainable. However, the communities do not have to destroy the wild life in the area with hiking and walking in the area. In the other hand, the community has monitor and measure the sustainable tourism in the area. According to the Miller and Ward (2005:177) stated that since 1993, the WTO has organized sustainable tourism monitoring pilot projects in different parts of the world where WTO consultants have worked together with national and local tourism management to develop indicators for particular sites. Attraction in Castleton Castleton has local attraction, for example the Peveril, Castleton castle and more. The Castleton castle do not attracts more visitors because it needs more improvement and development for it to attract more tourist and visitors. Peak district national park, Castleton (pdp). Castleton is a place where it suite all kind of needs and people, for example, Education Old people Walkers People who wish to stay overnight Hikers Transport in Castleton Castleton lies at the western end of the Hope Valley in the Peak District National Park, mid-way between Manchester and Sheffield. Transport in Castleton is reliable. Hope railway station is 3km from the centre of Castleton is served by the Manchester Sheffield railway line with direct trains to both cities, plus connections to the rest of the railway system. Source from Castleton. Improvement in Castleton The local people and visitors in the communities has to take care with the by not distorting the wild life in the area. According to Shaw and Williams (2004:182) suggested that to sustain tourism the following can be look at: To run with involvement and consent of local communities, which of course links directly with the ideas of communities participation Be in position to share profit fairly with the local community Involve communities than individuals. Promoting tourism in Castleton According to Waugh (2002) said that national park must also foster the economic and social well being of the local communities. They are also required to pursue a policy of sustainable development by which they must aim to improve the quality of peoples lives without destroying the environment (framework 16, p499). To promote tourism in Castleton the community has to contribute in the activities that has been brought and are taking place. By doing so it also creates jobs for the local people in the town or city. The promotion has to be also enjoyed the qualities by the local communities and the visitors. The local people have participated in tourism developments. According to Ottinger et al (2005) suggested that to promote tourism in a certain areas the following has to be done: It enhances International Corporation, foreign direct investment and partnerships with both private and public sectors, at all levels. Develop programs, including education and training program that encourage people to participate in eco- tourism to enable indigenous and local communities to develop and benefit from eco- tourism and enhance stakeholders cooperation in tourism development. Number people who visit the peak district national park, Castleton There are many people or visitors who visit the peak district national park, Castleton, every year. Conclusion Recommendation The application of the literature suggests that the local community has to contribute to sustain tourism in peak district national peak, Castleton (pdp). The application of literature suggest that the local people has to keep the environment clean so that it does not harm the wild life The application of the literature suggest that the local people and the visitors has to use public transport or walk to lower the air pollution The application of the literature suggests that visitors have to have to control their pets or animal when they visit the peak district national park, Castleton. Reference list Ottinger. L., R, Robinson, .A.N., and Tafur. V. (2005) Compendium of sustainable energy laws (1st ed)(p,245) Cambridge press Waugh, .D (2002) Geography: an integrated approach (3rd ed) (p, 592) nelson thorns. Miller, G. and Ward, .T.L. (2005) Monitoring for a sustainable tourism transition. The challenger of developing and using indicators.(1st ed) (p, 177).Cabi publishing Shaw, G. and William, .M.A (2004) Tourism and tourism space (1st ed) (p, 182) Published: Saga Sinclair, .D. and Jayawardena http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewPDF.jsp?contentType=ArticleFilename=html/Output/Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Pdf/0410150706.pdf world wide hospitality and tourism trend: viewpoint the development of sustainable tourism in the Guianas What is sustainable tourism? http://www.greentourism.org.uk/what-is-sustainable-tourism.html Number of visitors to the Castleton http://www.peakdistrict-education.gov.uk/fact%20sheets/fz7cas2.htm images from Castleton http://www.visitcastleton.co.uk/history.php history of Castleton peak district http://www.derbyshireuk.net/castleton.html aces on the 23th march 2010.

America Needs to Perform Embryonic Research Essay -- Argumentative Per

America Needs to Perform Embryonic Research Only twenty years ago, embryo freezing (cryopreservation) was considered a technique that raised â€Å"disturbing,† â€Å"extremely difficult,† â€Å"incredibly complex,† and even â€Å"nightmarish† ethical issues. Currently, however, at least 41 of the 169 infertility clinics in the United States have begun to implement in vitro fertilization protocols (IVF) (Freemann et al., 1986). The number of frozen embryos in this country nearly tripled, from 289 to 824, between 1985 and 1986 (Van Steirteghem and Van Den Abbel, 1988). An estimated ten infants in the U.S. and sixty in the world were born as of 1988 after having been frozen as embryos. The government and professional advisory groups have endorsed embryo cryopreservation in several countries, but despite these developments, human embryo freezing is still not universally accepted. The fact that freezing lengthens, perhaps indefinitely, the period of embryonic existence outside and independent of the huma n body allows new options for manipulation of the embryo and for its ultimate fate. As a consequence, the emerging technology raises a number of issues that challenge deeply embedded ethical principles. Cryopreservation is defined as the scientific technique that utilizes extremely cold temperatures to freeze or suspend an organism for storage and ultimately future use. The ability to freeze human embryos creates several clinical options that might not otherwise be possible or as efficiently achieved. Cryopreservation also opens up new research opportunities such as understanding infertility in men and women. Published studies indicate that cryopreservation increases prospects for pregnancy in infertile couples (Wood, 1988). ... ...mmittee on Regulation and Business Opportunites, House of Representatives, 100th Congress, Second Session, 62-76. Department of Health, Education and Welfare: Ethics Advisory Board. 1979. Report and conclusions: HEW support of research involving human in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer. Federal Register 44: 35033-35058. Freemann, L., A. Trounson, and C. Kirby. 1986. Cryopreservation of Human Embryos: Progress on the Clinical use of the Technique in Human in Vitro Fertilization. J. In Vitro Fert. Embryo Transfer 3: 53-61. Van Steirteghem, A.C., and E. Van Den Abbel. 1988. Survey of cryopreservation. Ann. N.Y Acad. Sci. 541: 571-574. Woods, E.C. 1988. The future of in vitro fertilization. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 541: 715-721. World Medical Association. 1985. Interim Statement on Ethical Aspects of in vitro Fertilization. World Medical Association.

High Fidelity and Music Essay -- High Fidelity Music Musical essays

High Fidelity and Music In High Fidelity, Rob, the protagonist and narrator, says â€Å"I find myself worrying away at that stuff about pop music again, whether I like it because I’m unhappy, or whether I’m unhappy because I like it† (168). It is obvious to the reader that Rob has a very strong relationship to pop music but also that this relationship is not as simple as the either-or dichotomy he describes it as. At first, it is an obsession that is almost pathological; by the end, it is an aid to his relationships and his idea of who he is. Rob’s relationship to music helps us understand Rob as a character through the different ways he uses it to interact in his environment – either as a crutch inhibiting his growth or as a way to aid his self-development. At the beginning of the novel, music serves as the former. Rob does not know himself. He relies on his relationships with women to define who he is, which basically comes down to if they are willing to sleep with him, he is happy, and if they are not, he wants to know why. In this stage of his life, Rob’s relationship to music is one of dependence; it is more or less a substitution for a healthy sense of self. One manifestation of this problem is how Rob uses music to take the place of social interaction. For example, instead of expressing interest in a woman through conversation, Rob would make her a mix-tape to show her he likes her. This is what he does with Laura and again with Caroline, the woman who interviews him. When Laura catches him making the tape for this woman, Rob tries to make up an excuse but knows she doesn’t believe it; â€Å"she of all people knows what compilation tapes represent† (313). Also, the songs he puts on the tapes are the songs he likes. He obv... .... This is how we know he is starting to get an idea of who he is and that he realizes that this is different from who Laura is. Rob says, â€Å"It seems to me that if you place music (and books, probably, and films, and plays, and anything that makes you feel) at the center of your being, then you can’t afford to sort out your love life, start to think of it as the finished product. You’ve got to pick at it, keep it alive and in turmoil, you’ve got to pick at it and unravel it until it all comes apart and you’re compelled to start all over again† (169). When music was at Rob’s center, when he was using it to define himself, it was a destructive force. The definition was an illusion, and this strained his relationships. But when he realized he was the one who needed to define himself, music became a symbol of understanding of himself and of his relationship with Laura. High Fidelity and Music Essay -- High Fidelity Music Musical essays High Fidelity and Music In High Fidelity, Rob, the protagonist and narrator, says â€Å"I find myself worrying away at that stuff about pop music again, whether I like it because I’m unhappy, or whether I’m unhappy because I like it† (168). It is obvious to the reader that Rob has a very strong relationship to pop music but also that this relationship is not as simple as the either-or dichotomy he describes it as. At first, it is an obsession that is almost pathological; by the end, it is an aid to his relationships and his idea of who he is. Rob’s relationship to music helps us understand Rob as a character through the different ways he uses it to interact in his environment – either as a crutch inhibiting his growth or as a way to aid his self-development. At the beginning of the novel, music serves as the former. Rob does not know himself. He relies on his relationships with women to define who he is, which basically comes down to if they are willing to sleep with him, he is happy, and if they are not, he wants to know why. In this stage of his life, Rob’s relationship to music is one of dependence; it is more or less a substitution for a healthy sense of self. One manifestation of this problem is how Rob uses music to take the place of social interaction. For example, instead of expressing interest in a woman through conversation, Rob would make her a mix-tape to show her he likes her. This is what he does with Laura and again with Caroline, the woman who interviews him. When Laura catches him making the tape for this woman, Rob tries to make up an excuse but knows she doesn’t believe it; â€Å"she of all people knows what compilation tapes represent† (313). Also, the songs he puts on the tapes are the songs he likes. He obv... .... This is how we know he is starting to get an idea of who he is and that he realizes that this is different from who Laura is. Rob says, â€Å"It seems to me that if you place music (and books, probably, and films, and plays, and anything that makes you feel) at the center of your being, then you can’t afford to sort out your love life, start to think of it as the finished product. You’ve got to pick at it, keep it alive and in turmoil, you’ve got to pick at it and unravel it until it all comes apart and you’re compelled to start all over again† (169). When music was at Rob’s center, when he was using it to define himself, it was a destructive force. The definition was an illusion, and this strained his relationships. But when he realized he was the one who needed to define himself, music became a symbol of understanding of himself and of his relationship with Laura.

The Hunters: Moonsong Chapter One

Dear Diary, I'm so scared. My heart is pounding, my mouth is dry, and my hands are shaking. I've faced so much and survived: vampires, werewolves, phantoms. Things I never imagined were real. And now I'm terrified. Why? Simply because I'm leaving home. And I know that it's completely, insanely ridiculous. I'm barely leaving home, really. I'm going to college, only a few hours' drive from this darling house where I've lived since I was a baby. No, I'm not going to start crying again. I'll be sharing a room with Bonnie and Meredith, my two best friends in the whole world. In the same dorm, only a couple of floors away will be my beloved Stefan. My other best friend, Matt, will be just a short walk across campus. Even Damon will be in an apartment in the town nearby. Honestly, I couldn't stick any closer to home unless I never moved out of this house at all. I'm being such a wimp. But it seems like I just got my home back – my family, my life – after being exiled for so long, and now I suddenly have to leave again. I suppose I'm scared partly because these last few weeks of summer have been wonderful. We packed all the enjoyment we would have been having these past few months – if it hadn't been for fighting the kitsune, traveling to the Dark Dimension, battling the jealousy phantom, and all the other Extremely Not Fun things we've done – into three glorious weeks. We had picnics and sleepovers and went swimming and shopping. We took a trip to the county fair, where Matt won Bonnie a stuffed tiger and turned bright red when she squealed and leaped into his arms. Stefan even kissed me on the top of the Ferris wheel, just like any normal guy might kiss his girlfriend on a beautiful summer night. We were so happy. So normal in a way I thought we could never be again. That's what's frightening me, I guess. I'm scared that these few weeks have been a bright golden interlude and that now that things are changing, we'll be heading back into darkness and horror. It's like that poem we read in English class last fall says: Nothing gold can stay. Not for me. Even Damon†¦ The clatter of feet in the hal way downstairs distracted her, and Elena Gilbert's pen slowed. She glanced up at the last couple of boxes scattered around her room. Stefan and Damon must be here to pick her up. But she wanted to finish her thought, to express the last worry that had been nagging at her during these perfect weeks. She turned back to her diary, writing faster so that she could get her thoughts down before she had to leave. Damon has changed. Ever since we defeated the jealousy phantom, he's been †¦ kinder. Not just to me, not just to Bonnie, who he's always had a soft spot for, but even to Matt and Meredith. He can still be intensely irritating and unpredictable – he wouldn't be Damon without that – but he hasn't had that cruel edge to him. Not like he used to. He and Stefan seem to have come to an understanding. They know I love them both, and yet they haven't let jealousy come between them. They're close, acting like true brothers in a way I haven't seen before. There's this delicate balance between the three of us that's lasted through the end of the summer. And I worry that any misstep on my part will bring it crashing down and that like their first love, Katherine, I'll tear the brothers apart. And then we'll lose Damon forever. Aunt Judith cal ed up, sounding impatient, â€Å"Elena!† â€Å"Coming!† Elena replied. She quickly scribbled a few more sentences in her diary. Still, it's possible that this new life will be wonderful. Maybe I'll find everything I've been looking for. I can't hold on to high school, or to my life here at home, forever. And who knows? Maybe this time the gold will stay. â€Å"Elena! Your ride is waiting!† Aunt Judith was definitely getting stressed out now. She'd wanted to drive Elena up to school herself. But Elena knew she wouldn't be able to say good-bye to her family without crying, so she'd asked Stefan and Damon to drive her up instead. It would be less embarrassing to get emotional here at home than to weep al over Dalcrest's campus. Since Elena had decided to go up with the Salvatore brothers, Aunt Judith had been working herself up about every little detail, anxious that Elena's col ege career wouldn't start off perfectly without her there to supervise. It was al because Aunt Judith loved her, Elena knew. Elena slammed the blue-velvet-covered journal shut and dropped it into an open box. She climbed to her feet and headed for the door, but before she opened it, she turned to look at her room one last time. It was so empty, with her favorite posters missing from the wal s and half the books gone from her bookcase. Only a few clothes remained in her dresser and closet. The furniture was al stil in place. But now that the room was stripped of most of her possessions, it felt more like an impersonal hotel room than the cozy haven of her childhood. So much had happened here. Elena could remember cuddling up with her father on the window seat to read together when she was a little girl. She and Bonnie and Meredith – and Caroline, who had been her good friend, too, once – had spent at least a hundred nights here tel ing secrets, studying, dressing for dances, and just hanging out. Stefan had kissed her here, early in the morning, and disappeared quickly when Aunt Judith came to wake her. Elena remembered Damon's cruel, triumphant smile as she invited him in that first time, what felt like a mil ion years ago. And, not so long ago, her joy when he had appeared here one dark night, after they al thought he was dead. There was a quiet knock at the door, and it swung open. Stefan stood in the doorway, watching her. â€Å"About ready?† he said. â€Å"Your aunt is a little worried. She thinks you're not going to have time to unpack before orientation if we don't get going.† Elena stood and went over to wrap her arms around him. He smel ed clean and woodsy, and she nestled her head against his shoulder. â€Å"I'm coming,† she said. â€Å"It's just hard to say good-bye, you know? Everything's changing.† Stefan turned toward her and caught her mouth softly in a kiss. â€Å"I know,† he said when the kiss ended, and ran his finger gently along the curve of her bottom lip. â€Å"I'l take these boxes down and give you one more minute. Aunt Judith wil feel better if she sees the truck getting packed up.† â€Å"Okay. I'l be right down.† Stefan left the room with the boxes, and Elena sighed, looking around again. The blue flowered curtains her mother had made for her when Elena was nine stil hung over the windows. Elena remembered her mother hugging her, her eyes a little teary, when her baby girl told her she was too big for Winnie the Pooh curtains. Elena's own eyes fil ed with tears, and she tucked her hair behind her ears, mirroring the gesture her mother had used when she was thinking hard. Elena was so young when her parents died. Maybe if they'd lived, she and her mother would be friends now, would know each other as equals, not just as mother and daughter. Her parents had gone to Dalcrest Col ege, too. That's where they'd met, in fact. Downstairs on top of the piano sat a picture of them in their graduation robes on the sun-fil ed lawn in front of the Dalcrest library, laughing, impossibly young. Maybe going to Dalcrest would bring Elena closer to them. Maybe she'd learn more about the people they'd been, not just the mom and dad she'd known when she was little, and find her lost family among the neoclassical buildings and the sweeping green lawns of the col ege. She wasn't leaving, not real y. She was moving forward. Elena set her jaw firmly and headed out of her room, clicking off the light as she went. Downstairs, Aunt Judith, her husband, Robert, and Elena's five-year-old sister, Margaret, were gathered in the hal , waiting, watching Elena as she came down the stairs. Aunt Judith was fussing, of course. She couldn't keep stil ; her hands were twisting together, smoothing her hair, or fiddling with her earrings. â€Å"Elena,† she said, â€Å"are you sure you've packed everything you need? There's so much to remember.† She frowned. Her aunt's obvious anxiety made it easier for Elena to smile reassuringly and hug her. Aunt Judith held her tight, relaxing for a moment, and sniffed. â€Å"I'm going to miss you, sweetheart.† â€Å"I'l miss you, too,† Elena said, and squeezed Aunt Judith closer, feeling her own lips tremble. She gave a shaky laugh. â€Å"But I'l be back. If I forgot anything, or if I get homesick, I'l run right back for a weekend. I don't have to wait for Thanksgiving.† Next to them, Robert shifted from one foot to the other and cleared his throat. Elena let go of Aunt Judith and turned to him. â€Å"Now, I know col ege students have a lot of expenses,† he said. â€Å"And we don't want you to have to worry about money, so you've got an account at the student store, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He opened his wal et and handed Elena a fistful of bil s. â€Å"Just in case.† â€Å"Oh,† said Elena, touched and a little flustered. â€Å"Thank you so much, Robert, but you real y don't have to.† He patted her awkwardly on the shoulder. â€Å"We want you to have everything you need,† he said firmly. Elena smiled at him grateful y, folded the money, and put it in her pocket. Next to Robert, Margaret glared down obstinately at her shoes. Elena knelt before her and took her little sister's hands. â€Å"Margaret?† she prompted. Large blue eyes stared into her own. Margaret frowned and shook her head, her mouth a tight line. â€Å"I'm going to miss you so much, Meggie,† Elena said, pul ing her close, her eyes fil ing with tears again. Her little sister's dandelion-soft hair brushed against Elena's cheek. â€Å"But I'l be back for Thanksgiving, and maybe you can come visit me on campus. I'd love to show off my little sister to al my new friends.† Margaret swal owed. â€Å"I don't want you to go,† she said in a smal miserable voice. â€Å"You're always leaving.† â€Å"Oh, sweetie,† Elena said helplessly, cuddling her sister closer. â€Å"I always come back, don't I?† Elena shivered. Once again, she wondered how much Margaret remembered of what had really happened in Fel ‘s Church over the last year. The Guardians had promised to change everyone's memories of those dark months when vampires, werewolves, and kitsune had nearly destroyed the town – and when Elena herself had died and risen again – but there seemed to be exceptions. Caleb Smal wood remembered, and sometimes Margaret's innocent face looked strangely knowing. â€Å"Elena,† Aunt Judith said again, her voice thick and weepy, â€Å"you'd better get going.† Elena hugged her sister one more time before letting her go. â€Å"Okay,† she said, standing and picking up her bag. â€Å"I'l cal you tonight and let you know how I'm settling in.† Aunt Judith nodded, and Elena gave her another quick kiss before wiping her eyes and opening the front door. Outside, the sunlight was so bright she had to blink. Damon and Stefan were leaning against the truck Stefan had rented, her stuff packed into the back. As she stepped forward, they both glanced up and, at the same time, smiled at her. Oh. They were so beautiful, the two of them, that seeing them could stil leave her shaken after al this time. Stefan, her love Stefan, his leaf-green eyes shining at the sight of her, was gorgeous with his classical profile and that sweet little kissable curve to his bottom lip. And Damon – al luminescent pale skin, black velvety eyes, and silken hair – was graceful and deadly al at once. Damon's bril iant smile made something inside her stretch and purr like a panther recognizing its mate. Both pairs of eyes watched her lovingly, possessively. The Salvatore brothers were hers now. What was she going to do about it? The thought made her frown and made her shoulders hunch nervously. Then she consciously smoothed the wrinkles in her forehead away, relaxed, and smiled back at them. What would come, would come. â€Å"Time to go,† she said, and tilted her face up toward the sun.