Career Planning Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Career Planning Assignment - Essay Example In this paper, an attempt will be done right from class, internships as well as organizations of students. I like Loyola Marymount University based on the fact that it has a rich career development program. Loyola Marymount University Office of Career and Professional Development (CPD) in Von der Ahe 135 contain a number of career development opportunities. First, it has business school. The school has business specialization in various categories that fall within the Department of business administration, finance and Economics. The various departments avails a fundamental and culturally significant business concept that exposes students to the larger business world. The business concepts touch on economic aspects of any company in a given country. The business analysts collaborate with academicians across all fields through the lines of academic disciplines and business interactions with the surrounding Los Angeles communities. The business department also offers diverse learning opportunities in various business fields. In general, the business department encourages me to explore the b usiness world in a more visual and real way by availing experience in doing business. The other career development service available in the LMU’s Office of Career and Professional Development is the theater arts. The Theatre Arts program provides me with a strong inclusive course work schooling and experience in such fields as acting, design, directing, theatre technology, criticism, history and playwriting. Intimate classes give room for close working associations as pertains to the faculty. I am certain to get a unique experience in theater with standard, current multicultural networks, political as well as progressive. I can also have opportunities to undertake personal research and projects that are quite creative. Besides, I am

Catharine Beecher and Charlotte Perking Gilman Essay Example for Free

Catharine Beecher and Charlotte Perking Gilman Essay In the article â€Å"Catharine Beecher and Charlotte Perking Gilman: Architects of female power† the author attempts to compare and contrast the convictions and beliefs of Charlotte Gilman and, her great-aunt, Catharine Beecher. One of the most important factors that is seen repeatedly in the article, is the concept that the environment encompassing the home is the center of all commerce for a woman. This thought process continues to build and establishes the idea that what begins in the home continues to radiate out into the lives of the woman and her family. Each female author further attempted to define the roles of a woman directly corresponding with the roles beginning in a woman’s private life and extending into the public life. Although Catharine Beecher and Charlotte Gilman had completely different interpretations of this ideology, the fact that the foundation of the argument was the same purports that the concept, regardless of interpretation, could have some basis on reality. The author of this article, Valerie Gill, very thoroughly cites from not only Catharine Beecher’s books â€Å"A Treatise on Domestic Economy† and â€Å"American Woman’s Home,† but also from Charlotte Gilman’s book â€Å"Moving the Mountain† and several of her lectures and articles including an article titled â€Å"Applepieville.† Gill (1998) states, that â€Å"Like Catharine Beecher, Gilman links the role of the women to the general health of the social system; the dependent and isolated situation of women in their homes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 2). Gill (1998) goes on to further state that â€Å"In spite of their different strategies for defining and locating women, however, Beecher and Gilman share an interest in the topography of female experience† and that â€Å"Both writers conceptualize the identity of women in spatial as well as socioeconomic terms, assuming that the fulfillment of their own sex can be quite literally mapped o ut.† (p. 2). The article then moves into much greater detail, analyzing each woman’s many forms of printed material. The extent and degree of information and detail written in this article about each represented author and their contributing works can ultimately be  seen as one of the articles main strengths. However, although this article gives a vast amount of information on the women’s opinions and beliefs the article at times seems disassembled and erratic. The flow of the article is somewhat hard to follow, and without an increased measure of concentration, the ability of the reader to comprehend and decipher whom the author is speaking of can be lost. Also, with the extensive amounts of information and detail that each female author contributes to the argument, readers are bombarded with data to interpret and distinguish upon. With the author of the article not decisively choosing the strongest points of argument from each author, the information becomes overwhelming and possibly confusing at times. The article â€Å"Catharine Beecher and Charlotte Perking Gilman: Architects of female power† attempts to give readers two different perspectives of a woman’s role in her home and how this affects her presence in society. Readers are given a multitude of supporting facts from both women’s interpretations on the topic. This fact, in certain circumstances, proves to be not only a strength of the article but also a weakness. Regardless of how each woman author interpreted these ideals, the simple fact remains clear that each assumed the role and presence of a woman becomes clearly defined as beginning in the home. References Gill, V. (1998). â€Å"Catharine Beecher and Charlotte Perking Gilman: Architects of female power†. Journal of American Culture, 21 (2). Retrieved from http://ctcdns02.ctcd.edu:2122/search/multiSearch.do;jsessionid=F6C4B68D9202464AFE8BAF1AC27987B8

Traditions and Values in American Education :: Learning Schooling College Papers

Traditions and Values in American Education The question of whether colleges and universities serve to pass on to students the great traditions and values of Western culture is one of many issues that I would like to discuss as it pertains to my high school teaching. The Presence of Others has given me the opportunity to read the opinions of several educational thinkers on this subject, and from them I have formed a clearer idea about the value of a broad education which would necessarily include the traditions and values of Western culture. To begin with, I should like to discuss Cardinal Newman, who in the 19th century argues for liberal studies because he felt that education is preparation for life. Its purpose is to train the mind for whatever problems arise in an individual's future by grounding him in cultural traditions and values. He describes a liberal education in the following way: "A habit of mind is formed which lasts through life, of which the attributes are, freedom, equitableness, calmness, or what in a former Discourse I have ventured to call a philosophical habit."(Lunsford & Ruszkiewicz 48). I very much agree with this idea. In my opinion a student should be educated broadly, not like me, for instance, who was very well trained in math but not prepared for anything else, and now I am finding it hard to fill in the empty spaces, but the need to know more and learn more is strong in me, so I keep trying. But the point is that even though I am educated, I feel ignorant . That's my reason for saying that students in high school and university should get a broad education. And I am happy that my children have not been trapped by a special talent as I was, and that they are interested in the every area of their education equally. They will be getting the education that I was denied; and they will learn the traditions and values through their history and literature classes, for example, which will better prepare them for life here in the United States especially, where citizens must be able t o participate in the democratic process. I will use as an example my son Gagik, who was enrolled in the magnet law program at Monroe High School. But even though he wasn't in a mth program, neverthless, he was able to take higher math up through calculus.

Literature Survey of Methods of Data Encryption

Chapter 2 LITERATURE SURVEY This chapter deals with the assorted documents that is been referred in order to implement this undertaking. It address the techniques that has been implemented in order to supply the security and the privateness for the information has to be stored on to the cloud. The below subdivision shows the antecedently used techniques. [ 1 ] This paper tells about the Providing secure and ei ¬?cient entree to big graduated table outsourced information is an of import constituent of cloud calculating. In this paper, we propose a mechanism to work out this job in owner-write-users-read applications. We propose to code every information block with a dii ¬Ã‹â€ erent key so that i ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡exible cryptography-based entree control can be achieved. Through the acceptance of cardinal derivation methods, the proprietor needs to keep merely a few secrets. Analysis shows that the cardinal derivation process utilizing hash maps will present really limited calculation operating expense. We propose to utilize over-encryption and/or lazy annulment to forestall revoked users from acquiring entree to updated information blocks. We design mechanisms to manage both updates to outsourced informations and alterations in user entree rights. We investigate the operating expense and safety of the proposed attack, and survey mechanism s to better informations entree ei ¬?ciency. [ 2 ] Online personal wellness record ( PHR ) enables patients to pull off their ain medical records in a centralised manner, which greatly facilitates the storage, entree and sharing of personal wellness informations. With the outgrowth of cloud computer science, it is attractive for the PHR service suppliers to switch their PHR applications and storage into the cloud, in order to bask the elastic resources and cut down the operational cost. However, by hive awaying PHRs in the cloud, the patients lose physical control to their personal wellness informations, which makes it necessary for each patient to code her PHR information earlier uploading to the cloud waiters. Under encoding, it is disputing to accomplish i ¬?ne-grained entree control to PHR informations in a scalable and ei ¬?cient manner. For each patient, the PHR informations should be encrypted so that it is scalable with the figure of users holding entree. Besides, since there are multiple proprietors ( patients ) in a PHR system and every proprietor would code her PHR i ¬?les utilizing a dii ¬Ã‹â€ erent set of cryptanalytic keys, it is of import to cut down the cardinal distribution complexness in such multi-owner scenes. Existing cryptographic enforced entree control strategies are largely designed for the single-owner scenarios. In this paper, we propose a fresh model for entree control to PHRs within cloud calculating environment. To enable i ¬?ne-grained and scalable entree control for PHRs, we leverage attribute based encoding ( ABE ) techniques to code each patients’ PHR information. To cut down the cardinal distribution complexness, we divide the system into multiple security spheres, where each sphere manages merely a subset of the users. In this manner, each patient has full control over her ain privateness, and the cardinal direction complexness is reduced dramatically. Our proposed strategy is besides i ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡exible, in that it supports ei ¬?cient and on-demand annulment of user entree rights, and break-glass entree under exigency scenarios. [ 3 ] Attribute-based encoding ( ABE ) is a new vision for public cardinal encoding that allows users to code and decode messages based on user properties. For illustration, a user can make a ciphertext that can be decrypted merely by other users with properties fulfilling ( â€Å"Faculty† OR ( â€Å"PhD Student† AND â€Å"Quals Completed† ) ) . Given its expressiveness, ABE is presently being considered for many cloud storage and calculating applications. However, one of the chief efficiency drawbacks of ABE is that the size of the ciphertext and the clip required to decode it grows with the complexness of the entree expression. In this work, we propose anew paradigm for ABE that mostly eliminates this operating expense for users. Suppose that ABE ciphertexts are stored in the cloud. We show how a user can supply the cloud with a individual transmutation key that allows the cloud to interpret any ABE ciphertext satisi ¬?ed by that user’s attributes into a ( constant-size ) El Gamal-style ciphertext, without the cloud being able to read any portion of the user’s messages. To exactly dei ¬?ne and show the advantages of this attack, we provide new security dei ¬?nitions for both CPA and replayable CCA security with outsourcing, several new buildings, an execution of our algorithms and elaborate public presentation measurings. In a typical coni ¬?guration, the user saves signii ¬?cantly on both bandwidth and decoding clip, without increasing the figure of transmittals. [ 4 ] We consider the job of building a secure cloud storage service to which users outsource sensitive informations for sharing with others where, in peculiar, the service supplier is non wholly trusted by the client. Cloud storage service denotes an architectural displacement toward thin clients and handily centralized proviso of both calculating and storage resources. When using cloud storage for secure informations sharing, one of the chief motivation jobs of this architecture is supplying thin clients with both strong informations coni ¬?dentiality and i ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡exible i ¬?ne-grained entree control without enforcing extra cost on them ( clients ) . To accomplish this end, we propose a fresh information sharing protocol by uniting and working two of the latest property based cryptanalytic techniques, attribute-based encoding ( ABE ) and attribute-based signature ( ABS ) . Furthermore, we besides give a elaborate comparing of our strategy with several latest bing strategies. [ 5 ] Ciphertext-Policy Attribute Based Encryption ( CP-ABE ) is a promising cryptanalytic primitive for i ¬?ne-grained entree control of shared informations. In CP-ABE, each user is associated with a set of properties and informations are encrypted with entree constructions on properties. A user is able to decode a ciphertext if and merely if his properties satisfy the ciphertext entree construction. Beside this basic belongings, practical applications normally have other demands. In this paper we focus on an of import issue of attribute annulment which is cumbrous for CP-ABE strategies. In peculiar, we resolve this ambitious issue by sing more practical scenarios in which semi-trustable online placeholder waiters are available. As compared to bing strategies, our proposed solution enables the authorization to revoke user properties with minimum ei ¬Ã‹â€ ort. We achieve this by unambiguously incorporating the technique of proxy re-encryption with CP-ABE, and enable the authoriza tion to depute most of arduous undertakings to proxy waiters. Formal analysis shows that our proposed strategy is demonstrably unafraid against chosen ciphertext onslaughts. In add-on, we show that our technique can besides be applicable to the Key-Policy Attribute Based Encryption ( KP-ABE ) opposite number. [ 6 ] Data entree control is an effectual manner to guarantee informations security in the cloud. However, due to data outsourcing and untrusted cloud waiters, the informations entree control becomes a ambitious issue in cloud storage systems. Existing entree control strategies are no longer applicable to overcast storage systems, because they either produce multiple encrypted transcripts of the same information or necessitate a to the full trusted cloud waiter. CiphertextPolicy Attribute- based Encryption ( CP-ABE ) is a promising technique for entree control of encrypted information. However, due to the inefi ¬?ciency of decoding and annulment, bing CPABE strategies can non be straight applied to build informations entree control strategy for multi-authority cloud storage systems, where users may keep properties from multiple governments. In this paper, we propose DAC-MACS ( Data Access Control for Multi-Authority Cloud Storage ) , an effectual and unafraid informations entree control strategy with efi ¬?cient decoding and annulment. Specii ¬?cally, we construct a new multi-authority CP-ABE strategy with efi ¬?cient decoding, and besides plan an efi ¬?cient property annulment method that can accomplish both forward security and backward security. We further suggest an extended informations entree control strategy ( EDAC-MACS ) , which is unafraid under weaker security premises. [ 7 ] We propose a new theoretical account for informations storage and entree in clouds. Our scheme avoids hive awaying multiple encrypted transcripts of same informations. In our model for secure informations storage, cloud shops encrypted informations ( without being able to decode them ) . The chief freshness of our theoretical account is add-on of cardinal distribution centres ( KDCs ) . We propose DACC ( Distributed Access Control in Clouds ) algorithm, where one or more KDCs distribute keys to informations proprietors and users. KDC may supply entree to peculiar i ¬?elds in all records. Therefore, a individual key replaces separate keys from proprietors. Owners and users are assigned certain set of properties. Owner encrypts the information with the properties it has and shops them in the cloud. The users with fiting set of properties can recover the information from the cloud. We apply attribute-based encoding based on bilinear couplings on elliptic curves. The strategy is collusion secure ; two users can non together decrypt any informations that none of them has single right to entree. DACC besides supports annulment of users, without redistributing keys to all the users of cloud services. We show that our attack consequences in lower communicating, calculation and storage operating expenses, compared to bing theoretical accounts and strategies. [ 8 ] Ciphertext Policy Attribute Based Encryption ( CPABE ) enables users’ encoding with an entree construction while delegating decoding capableness in conformity with attribute sets. In this paper, we study central-control annulment in CPABE environment, where the proposed key coevals, encoding and decoding algorithms closely comply with CPABE theoretical account, and cardinal update algorithm is developed. In add-on, we inherit the most efi ¬?cient annulment techniques to better the efi ¬?ciency of our cardinal update algorithm. With our strategy, users can remain attribute anon. while being associated with a alone identii ¬?er in system manager’s position, hence revoking malicious users’ decoding capablenesss harmonizing to their alone identii ¬?ers would non impact honest users’ decoding. Our strategy can be proved chosen plaintext secure based on Decisional Bilinear Difi ¬?e-Hellman ( DBDH ) premise in the standard theoretical account. We besides provide efi ¬?ciency analysis and some extensions including deputation capableness and chosen ciphertext security. [ 9 ] Secure outsourcing of calculation to an untrusted ( cloud ) service supplier is going more and more of import. Pure cryptanalytic solutions based on to the full homomorphic and verii ¬?able encoding, late proposed, are assuring but sui ¬Ã‹â€ er from really high latency. Other proposals perform the whole calculation on tamper-proof hardware and normally sui ¬Ã‹â€ er from the the same job. Trusted computer science ( TC ) is another assuring attack that uses trusted package and hardware constituents on calculating platforms to supply utile mechanisms such as attestation leting the information proprietor to verify the unity of the cloud and its calculation. However, on the one manus these solutions require trust in hardware ( CPU, trusted calculating faculties ) that are under the physical control of the cloud supplier, and on the other manus they still have to confront the challenge of run-time attestation. In this paper we focus on applications where the latency of the calculation should be minimized, i.e. , the clip from subjecting the question until having the result of the calculation should be every bit little as possible. To accomplish this we show how to unite a sure hardware item ( e.g. , a cryptanalytic coprocessor or provided by the client ) with Secure Function Evaluation ( SFE ) to calculate arbitrary maps on secret ( encrypted ) informations where the calculation leaks no information and is verii ¬?able. The item is used in the apparatus stage merely whereas in the time-critical online stage the cloud computes the encrypted map on encrypted informations utilizing symmetric encoding primitives merely and without any interaction with other entities. [ 10 ] The cardinal barrier to widespread consumption of cloud computer science is the deficiency of trust in clouds by possible clients. While preventative controls for security and privateness steps are actively being researched, there is still small focal point on investigator controls related to overcast answerability and auditability. The complexness ensuing from the sheer sum of virtualization and informations distribution carried out in current clouds has besides revealed an pressing demand for research in cloud answerability, as has the displacement in focal point of client concerns from waiter wellness and use to the unity and safety of end-users ‘ informations. This paper discusses cardinal challenges in accomplishing a sure cloud through the usage of investigator controls, and presents the TrustCloud model, which addresses answerability in cloud calculating via proficient and policy-based attacks. [ 11 ] We introduce a new and various cryptanalytic primitive called Attribute-Based Signatures ( ABS ) , in which a signature attests non to the individuality of the person who endorsed a message, but alternatively to a ( perchance composite ) claim sing the properties she posseses. ABS oi ¬Ã‹â€ ers: – A strong unforgeability warrant for the verii ¬?er, that the signature was produced by a individual party whose properties satisfy the claim being made ; i.e. , non by a collusion of persons who pooled their properties together. – A strong privateness warrant for the signer, that the signature reveals nil about the individuality or properties of the signer beyond what is explicitly revealed by the claim being made. We officially dei ¬?ne the security demands of ABS as a cryptanalytic primitive, and so depict an ei ¬?cient ABS building based on groups with bilinear couplings. We prove that our building is secure in the generic group theoretical account. Finally, we illustrate several applications of this new tool ; in peculiar, ABS i ¬?lls a critical security demand in attribute-based messaging ( ABM ) systems. A powerful characteristic of our ABS building is that unlike many other attribute-based cryptanalytic primitives, it can be readily used in a multi-authority scene, wherein users can do claims affecting combinations of properties issued by independent and reciprocally mistrusting governments. [ 12 ] The secured informations sharing is provided between the information proprietor and user based on the user’s properties. It achieves more secure and all right grained informations entree control in the informations sharing system. Data security is the cardinal concern in the distributed system. Cryptanalytic methods are used to implement the entree policies of users. But here the cardinal coevals centre ( escrow ) can obtain the messages directing between the users by bring forthing the private key. This is referred as Key escrow job. This job can be solved by escrow free key coevals utilizing 3PC ( Three Party Computation ) . Thus the proposed system gives the greater public presentation and security to the distributed informations sharing system. [ 13 ] This paper proposes aâ€Å"Mesh Signatures†which defines the mesh signature primitive as an anon. signature similar in spirit to pealing signatures, but with a much richer linguistic communication for showing signer ambiguity. The linguistic communication can stand for complex entree constructions, and in peculiar allows single signature constituents to be replaced with complete certification ironss. Because keep backing one’s public key from position is no longer a shield against being named as a possible cosigner, mesh signatures may be used as a ring signature with mandatory registration. We give an efficient building based on bilinear maps in the common random threading theoretical account. Our signatures have additive size, achieve everlasting perfect namelessness, and cut down to really efficient ring signatures without random prophets as a particular instance. Mesh signatures generalise this impression to monotone entree constructions represent able as a t ree, whose interior node are And, Or, and Threshold Gatess.

The Golden Lily Chapter 2

I DIDN'T SLEEP THAT NIGHT. Part of it was simply the time change. My flight back to Palm Springs was scheduled for six in the morning – which was three in the morning in the time zone my body still thought it was in. Sleeping seemed pointless. And, of course, there was the teeny-tiny fact that it was kind of hard to relax after everything I'd witnessed over at the Alchemist bunker. If I wasn't envisioning Liam's freaky eyes, then I was replaying the constant warnings I'd heard about those who got too close to vampires. It didn't help the situation that I had an inbox full of messages from the gang in Palm Springs. Normally, I checked my e-mail automatically on my phone when I was out and about. Now, in my hotel room, staring at the various messages, I found myself filled with doubt. Were these truly professional? Were they too friendly? Did they blur the lines of Alchemist protocol? After seeing what had happened to Keith, it was more obvious than ever that it didn't take much to get in trouble with my organization. One message was from Jill, with a subject line reading: Angeline†¦ sigh. This wasn't a surprise to me, and I didn't bother reading it yet. Angeline Dawes, a dhampir recruited to be Jill's roommate and provide an extra layer of security, had had a little trouble fitting into Amberwood. She was always in trouble for something, and I knew whatever it was this time, there was nothing I could do about it right now. Another message was from Angeline herself. I also didn't read it. The subject was: READ THIS! SO FUNNY! Angeline had only recently discovered e-mail. She had not, so it seemed, discovered how to turn off the caps-lock key. She also had no discrimination when it came to forwarding jokes, financial scams, or virus warnings. And speaking of that last one†¦ we'd had to finally install child protection software on her laptop, in order to block her from certain websites and ads. That had come after she'd accidentally downloaded four viruses. It was the last e-mail in my inbox that gave me pause. It was from Adrian Ivashkov, the only person in our group who wasn't posing as a student at Amberwood Preparatory School. Adrian was a twenty-one-year-old Moroi, so it would have been kind of a stretch passing him off in high school. Adrian was along because he and Jill had a psychic bond that had been inadvertently created when he'd used his magic to save her life. All Moroi wielded some type of elemental magic, and his was spirit – a mysterious element tied to the mind and healing. The bond allowed Jill to see Adrian's thoughts and emotions, which was troubling to both of them. His staying near her helped them work out some of the bond's kinks. Also, Adrian had nothing better to do. His message's subject was: SEND HELP IMMEDIATELY. Unlike Angeline, Adrian knew the rules of capitalization and was simply going for dramatic effect. I also knew that if I had any doubts about which of my messages related to my job, this was hands-down the most nonprofessional one in the set. Adrian wasn't my responsibility. Yet, I clicked the message anyway. Day 24. Situation is growing worse. My captors continue to find new and horrific ways to torture me. When not working, Agent Scarlet spends her days examining fabric swatches for bridesmaid dresses and going on about how in love she is. This usually causes Agent Boring Borscht to regale us with stories of Russian weddings that are even more boring than his usual ones. My attempts at escape have been thwarted thus far. Also, I am out of cigarettes. Any assistance or tobacco products you can send will be greatly appreciated. – Prisoner 24601 I began smiling in spite of myself. Adrian sent me some kind of message like this nearly every day. This summer, we had learned that those who were forcibly turned Strigoi could be turned back with the use of spirit. It was still a tricky, complicated process†¦ made more so by the fact that there were so few spirit users. Even more recent events had suggested that those restored from being Strigoi could never be turned again. That had electrified Alchemists and Moroi alike. If there was some magical way to prevent Strigoi conversion, freaks like Liam would no longer be a problem. That was where Sonya Karp and Dimitri Belikov came in – or, as Adrian called them in his angst-filled letters, â€Å"Agent Scarlet† and â€Å"Agent Boring Borscht.† Sonya was a Moroi; Dimitri was a dhampir. Both had once been Strigoi and had been saved by spirit magic. The two of them had come to Palm Springs last month to work with Adrian in a sort of think tank to figure out what might protect against Strigoi turning. It was an extremely important task, one that could have huge ramifications if successful. Sonya and Dimitri were some of the hardest working people I knew – which didn't always mesh with Adrian's style. A lot of their work involved slow, painstaking experiments – many involving Eddie Castile, a dhampir who was also undercover at Amberwood. He was serving as the control subject since, unlike Dimitri, Eddie was a dhampir untouched by spirit or a Strigoi history. There wasn't much I could do to help Adrian with his frustration over his research group – and he knew it. He just liked playing up the drama and venting to me. Mindful of what was essential and nonessential in the Alchemist world, I was on the verge of deleting the message, but†¦ One thing made me hesitate. Adrian had signed his e-mail with a reference to Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. It was a book about the French Revolution that was so thick, it could easily double as a weapon. I had read it in both French and English. Considering Adrian had once gotten bored while reading a particularly long menu, I had a hard time imagining he'd read the Hugo book in any language. So how did he know the reference? It doesn't matter, Sydney, a stern Alchemist voice said inside my head. Delete it. It's irrelevant. Adrian's literary knowledge (or lack thereof) is no concern of yours. But I couldn't do it. I had to know. This was the kind of detail that would drive me crazy. I wrote back with a quick message: How do you know about 24601? I refuse to believe you read the book. You saw the musical, right? I hit send and received a response back from him almost immediately: SparkNotes. Typical. I laughed out loud and immediately felt guilty. I shouldn't have responded. This was my personal e-mail account, but if the Alchemists ever felt the need to investigate me, they'd have no qualms about accessing it. This kind of thing was damning, and I deleted the e-mail exchange – not that it mattered. No data was ever truly lost. By the time I landed in Palm Springs at seven the next morning, it was painfully obvious that I had surpassed my body's limits to subsist on caffeine. I was too exhausted. No amount of coffee would help anymore. I nearly fell asleep at the airport's curb, waiting for my ride. When it arrived, I didn't notice until I heard my name called. Dimitri Belikov jumped out of a blue rental car and strode toward me, grabbing hold of my suitcase before I could utter a word. A few nearby women stopped talking to stare at him admiringly. I got to my feet. â€Å"You don't have to do that,† I said, even though he was already loading my suitcase into the trunk. â€Å"Of course I do,† he said, his words lightly touched with a Russian accent. He gave me a small smile. â€Å"You looked like you were asleep.† â€Å"I should be so lucky,† I said, getting into the passenger side. Even if I'd been wide awake, I knew Dimitri would've taken my suitcase anyway. That's how he was, a lost remnant of chivalry in the modern world, ever-ready to help others. That was only one of the many striking things about Dimitri. His looks alone were certainly enough to make many halt in their tracks. He had dark brown hair pulled back into a short ponytail, with matching brown eyes that seemed mysterious and alluring. He was tall, too – about 67 – rivaling some Moroi. Dhampirs were indistinguishable from humans to me, so even I could admit that he scored pretty high on the attractiveness scale. There was also an energy around him that you couldn't help but be affected by. He was always on alert, always ready for the unexpected. I'd never seen his guard down. He was constantly ready to strike. He was dangerous, no question, and I was comforted that he was on our side. I always felt safe around him – and a little wary. â€Å"Thanks for the ride,† I added. â€Å"I could've called a taxi.† Even as I spoke, I knew my words were as useless as when I'd told him he didn't need to help me with my bag. â€Å"It's no problem,† he assured me, driving toward suburban Palm Springs. He wiped sweat off his brow and somehow made that look attractive. Even this early in the morning, the heat was beginning to build. â€Å"Sonya insisted. Besides, no experiments today.† I frowned at that. Those experiments and the amazing potential they represented to prevent the creation of more Strigoi were vastly important. Dimitri and Sonya knew that and were dedicated to the cause – especially on weekends, when Adrian and Eddie didn't have classes – which made this news so puzzling. My own work ethic had a hard time understanding why there'd be no research happening on a Sunday. â€Å"Adrian?† I guessed. Maybe he wasn't â€Å"in the mood† for research today. â€Å"Partially,† said Dimitri. â€Å"We're also missing our control subject. Eddie said he had some conflict and couldn't make it.† My frown deepened. â€Å"What conflict could Eddie have?† Eddie was intensely dedicated too. Adrian sometimes called him mini-Dimitri. Although Eddie was going to high school and completing assignments just like me, I knew he'd drop any homework in an instant to help out with the greater good. I could think of only one thing that would take precedence over helping find a â€Å"cure† for being Strigoi. My heart suddenly raced. â€Å"Is Jill okay?† She had to be. Someone would have told me, right? Eddie's main purpose in Palm Springs – and mine – was to keep her safe. If she was in danger, it would trump everything else. â€Å"She's fine,† said Dimitri. â€Å"I talked to her this morning. I'm not sure what's going on, but Eddie wouldn't be away without good reason.† â€Å"I suppose not,† I murmured, still concerned. â€Å"You worry as much as me,† teased Dimitri. â€Å"I didn't think that was possible.† â€Å"It's my job to worry. I always have to make sure everyone's okay.† â€Å"Sometimes it's not a bad thing to make sure you're okay too. You might find it actually helps others.† I scoffed. â€Å"Rose always joked about your ‘Zen Master Wisdom.' Am I getting a taste of it? If so, I can see why she was helpless against your charms.† This earned me one of Dimitri's rare, genuine laughs. â€Å"I think so. If you ask her, she'll claim it was the staking and decapitation. But I'm sure it was the Zen wisdom that won her in the end.† My answering smile immediately melted into a yawn. It was amazing that I could joke with a dhampir. I used to have panic attacks being in the same room with them or Moroi. Slowly, over the last six months, my anxiety had begun to ease up. I'd never shake the feeling of â€Å"otherness† I got from all of them, but I'd come a long way. Part of me knew it was a good thing that I still drew that line between them and humans, but it was also good to be flexible in order to make my job smoother. Not too flexible, that inner Alchemist voice warned. â€Å"Here we are,† said Dimitri, pulling up in front of my dorm at Amberwood Prep. If he'd noticed my shift in mood, he didn't say so. â€Å"You should get some rest.† â€Å"I'll try,† I said. â€Å"But I need to find out what's going on with Eddie first.† Dimitri's face turned all-business. â€Å"If you can find him, you should bring him over tonight, and we can see about getting a little work done. Sonya would love it. She has some new ideas.† I nodded, reminding myself that that was the kind of standard we needed to adhere to. Work, work, work. We had to remember our higher goals. â€Å"I'll see what I can do.† I thanked him again and then headed inside, filled with resolve to carry out my mission. So, it was a bit disappointing when my lofty goals were shattered so quickly. â€Å"Miss Melrose?† I turned immediately at the sound of the last name I'd assumed here at Amberwood. Mrs. Weathers, our plump, elderly dorm matron, was hurrying over to me. Her face was lined with worry, which couldn't bode well. â€Å"I'm so glad you're back,† she said. â€Å"I trust you had a good family visit?† â€Å"Yes, ma'am.† If by â€Å"good,† she meant â€Å"terrifying and unsettling.† Mrs. Weathers beckoned me over to her desk. â€Å"I need to talk to you about your cousin.† I held back a grimace as I recalled Jill's e-mail. Cousin Angeline. All of us attending Amberwood were doing so under fake family connections. Jill and Eddie were my siblings. Angeline was our cousin. It helped explain why we were always together and getting involved with each other's business. I sat down with Mrs. Weathers and thought longingly of my bed. â€Å"What's happened?† I asked. Mrs. Weathers sighed. â€Å"Your cousin is having trouble with our dress code.† That was a surprise. â€Å"But we have uniforms, ma'am.† â€Å"Of course,† she said. â€Å"But not outside of classes.† That was true. I was in khaki dress pants and a green short-sleeved blouse, along with a small gold cross I always wore. I did a mental rundown of Angeline's wardrobe, trying to recall if I'd ever seen anything concerning about it. Probably the most appalling part was its quality. Angeline had come from the Keepers, a mixed community of humans, Moroi, and dhampirs who lived in the Appalachian Mountains. Along with a lack of electricity and plumbing, the Keepers chose to make a lot of their clothing or at least wear it into threads. â€Å"Friday night, I saw her wearing the most appallingly short jean shorts,† continued Mrs. Weathers with a shudder. â€Å"I immediately chastised her, and she told me they were the only way she could be comfortable in the heat outside. I gave her a warning and advised she find more appropriate attire. Saturday, she appeared in the same shorts and a tank top that was totally indecent. That was when I suspended her to the dorm for the rest of the weekend.† â€Å"I'm sorry, ma'am,† I said. Really, I had no idea what else to say. I'd spent the weekend caught up in the epic battle to save humanity, and now†¦ jean shorts? Mrs. Weathers grew hesitant. â€Å"I know†¦ well, I know this isn't really anything you should be involved in. It's a parental matter. But, seeing as how you're so responsible and look out for the rest of your family†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I sighed. â€Å"Yes, ma'am. I'll take care of it. Thank you for not taking more severe action against her.† I went upstairs, my small suitcase growing heavier with each step. When I reached the second floor, I stopped, unsure what to do. One more floor would take me to my room. This floor would take me to â€Å"Cousin Angeline.† Reluctantly, I turned into the second floor hall, knowing the sooner this was dealt with, the better. â€Å"Sydney!† Jill Mastrano opened the dorm room's door, her light green eyes shining with joy. â€Å"You're back.† â€Å"So it seems,† I said, following her inside. Angeline was there as well, lounging on her bed with a textbook. I was pretty sure that was the first time I'd ever seen her study, but the house arrest probably limited her recreational options. â€Å"What did the Alchemists want?† asked Jill. She sat cross-legged on her own bed and began absentmindedly playing with the strands of her curly, light brown hair. I shrugged. â€Å"Paperwork. Boring stuff. Sounds like things were a little more exciting here.† That was delivered with a pointed look at Angeline. The dhampir girl jumped off her bed, face furious and blue eyes flashing. â€Å"It wasn't my fault! That Weathers woman was completely out of line!† she exclaimed, a slight southern drawl in her words. A quick scan of Angeline showed nothing too concerning. Her jeans were threadbare but decent, as was her T-shirt. Even her mop of strawberry blonde hair was tame for a change, tied back in a ponytail. â€Å"What on earth did you wear that got her so upset then?† I asked. Scowling, Angeline went to her dresser and produced a pair of jean shorts with the most ragged hem I'd ever seen. I thought they'd unravel before my eyes. They were also so short that I wouldn't have been surprised if they showed underwear when she wore them. â€Å"Where did you get those?† Angeline almost looked proud. â€Å"I made them.† â€Å"With what, a hacksaw?† â€Å"I had two pairs of jeans,† she said pragmatically. â€Å"It was so hot out, I figured I might as well turn one into shorts.† â€Å"She used a knife from the cafeteria,† said Jill helpfully. â€Å"Couldn't find the scissors,† explained Angeline. My bed. Where was my bed? â€Å"Mrs. Weathers mentioned something about an indecent shirt too,† I said. â€Å"Oh,† said Jill. â€Å"That was mine.† I felt my eyebrows rise. â€Å"What? I know you don't own anything ‘indecent.†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ Before Angeline had come along a month ago, Jill and I had been roommates. â€Å"It's not,† agreed Jill. â€Å"Except, it's not really Angeline's size.† I glanced between the two girls and understood. Jill was tall and slim, like most Moroi, with a figure much coveted among human fashion designers, a figure I would've killed to have. Jill had even done some modeling. With that figure came a modest chest. Angeline's chest†¦ was not so modest. If she wore a tank top in Jill's size, I imagined the shirt's structural integrity would indeed be stretched to indecent limits. â€Å"Jill wears that tank top all the time and doesn't get in trouble,† said Angeline defensively. â€Å"I figured there wouldn't be a problem if I borrowed it.† My head was starting to hurt. Still, I supposed this was better than the time Angeline had been caught making out with a guy in the boys' bathroom. â€Å"Well. This is easily fixed. We can go – well, I can go since you're stuck here – and get you some clothes in your size tonight.† â€Å"Oh,† Angeline said, suddenly turning more upbeat, â€Å"you don't have to. Eddie's handling it.† If not for Jill nodding along, I would've thought it was a joke. â€Å"Eddie? Eddie's buying you clothes?† Angeline sighed happily. â€Å"Isn't that nice of him?† Nice? No, but I understood why Eddie would do it. Getting decent clothes for Angeline was the last thing he probably wanted to do, but he would do it. Like me, he understood duty. And now I could guess why Eddie had canceled the experiments – and been vague about his reasons for doing so. I immediately took out my cell phone and called him. He answered right away, like always. I was certain he was never more than three feet from his phone at all times. â€Å"Hello, Sydney. Glad you're back.† He paused. â€Å"You are back, right?† â€Å"Yeah, I'm with Jill and Angeline. I understand you've been doing some shopping.† He groaned. â€Å"Don't get me started. I just walked into my room.† â€Å"You want to swing by with your purchases? I need the car back anyway.† There was a moment's hesitation. â€Å"Would you mind coming over here? As long as Jill's okay. She is okay, right? She doesn't need me? Because if she does – â€Å" â€Å"She's fine.† His dorm wasn't far, but I'd been hoping for a quick nap. Nonetheless, I found myself agreeing, just like I always did. â€Å"Okay. I'll meet you in the lobby in about fifteen minutes?† â€Å"Sounds good. Thanks, Sydney.† As soon as I disconnected, Angeline asked excitedly, â€Å"Is Eddie coming over?† â€Å"I'm going to him,† I said. Her face fell. â€Å"Oh. Well, I guess it doesn't matter since I have to stay here anyway. I can't wait until I'm free to train again. I'd like to get some more one-on-one time with him.† I hadn't realized how focused Angeline was on her training. In fact, she seemed really excited about the prospect of it. I left their room and was surprised to find Jill right behind me once the door shut. Her eyes were wide and anxious. â€Å"Sydney†¦ I'm sorry.† I regarded her curiously, wondering now if she'd done something. â€Å"For what?† She gestured toward the door. â€Å"For Angeline. I should have done better at keeping her out of trouble.† I almost smiled. â€Å"That's not your job.† â€Å"Yeah, I know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She glanced down, letting some of her long hair fall forward. â€Å"But still. I know I should be more like you. Instead, I've just been†¦ you know. Having fun.† â€Å"You're entitled to it,† I said, trying to ignore the subtle commentary on me. â€Å"I should still be more responsible,† she argued. â€Å"You are responsible,† I assured her. â€Å"Especially compared to Angeline.† My family had a cat back in Utah that I was pretty sure was more responsible than Angeline. Jill's face brightened, and I left her so that I could return the suitcase to my room. Angeline's arrival and my work in busting Keith had earned me my own private room in the dorm, something I treasured. Inside it, everything was quiet and orderly. My perfect world. The one place that the chaos of my life couldn't touch. The neatly made bed was asking to be slept in. Begging, really. Soon, I promised it. I hope. Amberwood Prep was divided into three campuses, East (where the girls were housed), West (where the boys were), and Central (containing all the academic buildings). A shuttle bus ran between them on a regular schedule, or brave souls could walk between them in the heat. I usually didn't mind the temperatures, but walking seemed like a lot of work today. So, I took the shuttle to West Campus and tried to stay awake. The lobby of the boys' dorm was a lot like my own, people coming and going to either catch up on academic work or simply enjoy the Sunday off. I glanced around, but Eddie wasn't here yet. â€Å"Hey, Melbourne.† I turned and found Trey Juarez approaching, a grin on his tanned face. He was a senior like me and had picked up the Melbourne nickname after one of our teachers proved incapable of remembering Melrose. Honestly, with all these names, it was a wonder I knew who I was anymore. â€Å"Hey, Trey,† I said. Trey was a bona fide high school football star – but also pretty brainy, no matter how much he tried to hide it. We got along well as a result, and my help in restoring his athletic status last month had gone a long way to raise my stock in his eyes. A backpack hung on one of his shoulders. â€Å"Are you finally going to finish that chem lab write-up?† â€Å"Yup,† he said. â€Å"Me and half the cheerleading squad. You want to join us?† I rolled my eyes. â€Å"Somehow I doubt there'll be much work going on. Besides, I'm meeting Eddie.† Trey gave an easy shrug and brushed some unruly black hair out of his eyes. â€Å"Your loss. See you tomorrow.† He took a couple of steps and then glanced back at me. â€Å"Hey, are you dating anyone?† I immediately started to say no, and then a panicked thought occurred to me. I had a tendency to take things very literally. Friends of mine here, Kristin and Julia, had been trying to train me up in the subtleties of high school social life. One of their chief lessons was that what people said wasn't always what they meant – particularly in romantic matters. â€Å"Are you†¦ are you asking me out?† I asked, taken aback. This was the last thing I needed right now. How should I respond? Should I say yes? Should I say no? I'd had no idea helping him with chemistry homework would be so alluring. I should've made him do it on his own. Trey looked as startled by the thought as I was. â€Å"What? No. Of course not.† â€Å"Thank God,† I said. I liked Trey, but I had no interest in dating him – or figuring out what the appropriate way to say â€Å"no† would be. He shot me a wry look. â€Å"You don't have to look that relieved.† â€Å"Sorry,† I said, trying to mask my embarrassment. â€Å"Why'd you ask?† â€Å"Because I know the perfect guy for you. I'm pretty sure he's your soul mate.† We were back in familiar territory now: logic vs. lack of logic. â€Å"I don't believe in soul mates,† I said. â€Å"It's statistically unreasonable that there's only one ideal person for everyone in the world.† And yet, for half a moment, I wished it was kind of possible. It'd be nice to have someone who understood some of the things that went on in my head. Trey rolled his eyes. â€Å"Okay. Not a soul mate. How about just someone you could maybe go out with once in a while and have a nice time with?† I shook my head. â€Å"I don't have time for anything like that.† And I didn't. Keeping everything in order with the group, and pretending to be a student, was a full time job as it was. â€Å"I'm telling you, you'd like him. He goes to a public school and just started at Spencer's.† Spencer's was a coffee shop Trey worked at, an arrangement that yielded me discounts. â€Å"The other day, he was going off on unaerobic vs. aerobic respiration, and I was thinking, ‘You know who this sounds like? Melbourne.'† â€Å"It's anaerobic respiration,† I corrected. â€Å"And it still doesn't mean I have the time. Sorry.† I had to admit, I was immensely curious about how that topic would have come up between baristas, but figured it was best not to encourage Trey. â€Å"Okay,† he said. â€Å"Don't say I never tried to help you.† â€Å"Wouldn't dream of it,† I assured him. â€Å"Hey, there's Eddie.† â€Å"My cue to go then. See you guys.† Trey gave a mock salute to Eddie and me. â€Å"Don't forget my offer if you want a hot date, Melbourne.† Trey left, and Eddie shot me an astonished look. â€Å"Did Trey just ask you out?† â€Å"No. He's just got some co-worker he wants to set me up with.† â€Å"Maybe that's not a bad idea.† â€Å"It's a terrible idea. Let's go outside.† The desert heat didn't seem to care that it was October, and I led us to a bench right by the dorm's stucco walls. Partial shade from some nearby palm trees offered mild relief. People swore the temperature would taper soon, but I'd seen no sign of change. Eddie handed me my car keys and a shopping bag from a local superstore. â€Å"I had to guess at size,† he told me. â€Å"When in doubt, I went big. Figured it was safer that way.† â€Å"Probably.† I sat down on a bench and rifled through his purchases. Jeans, khakis, a few solid colored T-shirts. They were very practical, very much something a no-nonsense guy like Eddie would pick out. I approved. â€Å"The size actually looks right. Good eye. We'll have to send you out shopping more often.† â€Å"If that's what I have to do,† he said, face serious. I couldn't help but laugh in surprise. â€Å"I was joking.† I put the shirts back in the bag. â€Å"I know that couldn't have been fun.† Eddie's face gave nothing away. â€Å"Oh, come on. It's okay. You don't have to play stoic with me. I know you didn't enjoy it.† â€Å"I'm here to do a job. Doesn't matter if I enjoy it or not.† I started to protest but then thought better of it. After all, wasn't that my philosophy too? Sacrificing my own wants for higher goals? Eddie was intensely dedicated to this mission. He never backed down. I expected nothing less from him than single-minded focus. â€Å"So, does that mean you're up for some experiments tonight?† I asked. â€Å"Of cours – † He stopped and reconsidered. â€Å"Are Jill and Angeline coming?† â€Å"No. Angeline's still under house arrest.† â€Å"Thank God,† he said with visible relief. His reaction was probably the most surprising thing to happen today. I couldn't imagine why Eddie would look so relieved. Aside from his guardian loyalty to Jill, he was also crazy about her. He would've done anything for her, even if it wasn't his job, but refused to share his feelings with her. He thought he was unworthy of a princess. An uneasy thought occurred to me. â€Å"Are you†¦ are you avoiding Jill because of her and Micah?† Micah was Eddie's roommate, a nice guy who caused Eddie all sorts of therapy-worthy trauma because he bore so much similarity to Eddie's dead best friend, Mason. Micah also had a weird pseudo-dating relationship with Jill. None of us were happy about it, since (aside from the Keepers) humans dating Moroi or dhampirs was strictly taboo. We'd finally decided it would be impossible to keep Jill from a social life, and she swore nothing serious or physical was going on between her and Micah. They just spent a lot of time together. And flirted incessantly. He didn't know the truth about her, but I wondered at what point he'd want more from their relationship. Eddie kept insisting it was better for Jill to have a casual relationship with a human than one with an â€Å"unworthy† dhampir like him, but I knew it had to be torturous. â€Å"Of course not,† said Eddie sharply. â€Å"It's not Jill I want to avoid. It's Angeline.† â€Å"Angeline? What's she done now?† Eddie ran a hand through his hair in frustration. His was a sandy blond, not far from my own, which was a dark gold. The similarity made it easy to pass ourselves off as twins. â€Å"She won't leave me alone! She's always dropping these suggestive comments when I'm around†¦ and she won't stop staring at me. Like, you wouldn't think that'd be creepy, but it is. She's always watching. And I can't avoid her because she's with Jill a lot of the time, and I have to keep Jill safe.† I thought back on recent interactions. â€Å"Are you sure you're reading this right? I've never noticed anything.† â€Å"That's because you don't notice that kind of thing,† he said. â€Å"You cannot imagine how many excuses she finds to rub up against me.† After seeing her homemade jean shorts, I actually could imagine it. â€Å"Huh. Well, maybe I can talk to her.† Like that, Eddie snapped back to all-business. â€Å"No. It's my problem, my personal life. I'll deal with it.† â€Å"Are you sure? Because I can – â€Å" â€Å"Sydney,† he said gently. â€Å"You're the most responsible person I know, but this isn't what you're here to do. You don't have to take care of everything and everyone.† â€Å"I don't mind,† I said automatically. â€Å"It is what I'm here for.† But even as I said it, I wondered if that was true. A bit of the anxiety from the bunker returned, making me question if what I did was truly Alchemist responsibility or the desire to help those who – against protocol – had become my friends. â€Å"See? Now you sound just like I did earlier.† He stood up and flashed me a grin. â€Å"You want to come with me to Adrian's? Be responsible together?† His words were meant as a compliment, but they echoed too close to what the Alchemists had told me. And Mrs. Weathers. And Jill. Everyone thought I was so amazing, so responsible and controlled. But if I was so amazing, then why was I always so unsure if I was doing the right thing?

All About the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution

All About the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution The Eighth Amendment reads:   Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Why Bail is Crucial Defendants who are not released on bail have greater difficulty preparing their defenses. Theyre effectively punished with imprisonment until their time of trial. Decisions regarding bail should not be made lightly. Bail is set extremely high or sometimes denied entirely when a defendant is charged with an extremely serious offense and/or if he poses a flight risk or great potential danger to the community. But in the majority of criminal trials, bail should be available and affordable. Its All About the Benjamins Civil libertarians tend to overlook fines, but the matter is not insignificant in a capitalist system. By their very nature, fines are anti-egalitarian. A $25,000 fine levied against an extremely wealthy defendant might only impact his discretionary income. A $25,000 fine levied against a less wealthy defendant can potentially have a long-term effect on basic medical care, educational opportunities, transportation and food security. Most convicts are poor so the issue of excessive fines is central to our criminal justice system. Cruel and Unusual The most frequently cited part of the Eighth Amendment deals with its prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, but what does this mean in practical terms?   Dont ask the founding fathers:  The Crimes Act of 1790 mandates the death penalty for treason and it also mandates mutilation of the corpse. By contemporary standards, corpse mutilation would certainly be regarded as cruel and unusual. Floggings were also common at the time of the Bill of Rights, but today floggings would be regarded as cruel and unusual. The Eighth Amendment is more clearly affected by societal change than any other amendment in the Constitution because the very nature of the phrase cruel and unusual appeals to evolving societal standards.Torture and prison conditions: The Eighth Amendment certainly prohibits the torture of U.S. citizens in a contemporary context although torture is generally used as an interrogation method, not as an official form of punishment. Inhumane prison conditions also violate the Eighth Amendment even though they dont constitute part of the official sentence. In other words, the Eighth Amendment refers to de facto punishments whether the y are officially handed down as punishments or not. The death penalty: The U.S. Supreme Court found that the death penalty, which was applied capriciously and on a racially discriminatory basis, violated the Eighth Amendment in Furman v. Georgia in 1972. These death penalties are cruel and unusual, Justice Potter Stewart wrote in the majority opinion, in the same way that being struck by lightning is cruel and unusual. The death penalty was reinstated in 1976 after serious revisions were made.Specific methods of execution prohibited:  The death penalty is legal, but not all methods of enforcing it are. Some, such as crucifixion and death by stoning, are obviously unconstitutional. Others, such as the gas chamber, have been declared unconstitutional by courts. And still others, such as hanging and death by a firing squad, have not been regarded as unconstitutional but are no longer in common use.The lethal injection controversy: The State of Florida declared a moratorium on lethal injection and a de facto moratorium on the death pena lty as a whole after reports that Angel Diaz was essentially tortured to death during a botched execution. Lethal injection in humans is not simply a matter of putting the defendant to sleep. It involves three drugs. The strong sedative effect of the first is intended to prevent the excruciating effects of the latter two.

3 Sentences Demonstrating the Power of the Comma

3 Sentences Demonstrating the Power of the Comma 3 Sentences Demonstrating the Power of the Comma 3 Sentences Demonstrating the Power of the Comma By Mark Nichol The three sentences that follow illustrate the importance of the inclusion or omission of a comma can have in easing comprehension of a sentence. 1. After two hours at the bar, Jones said Smith was too drunk to drive, and Smith insisted that Jones take him home. This sentence erroneously implies that two hours after Jones and Smith arrived at a bar, Jones made the statement (to Smith?) that Smith was too drunk to drive; it seems odd that after Jones confronted Smith, the latter would demand a ride home. However, Jones is relating, much later (and to another party), the fact that two hours after they arrived at the bar, Smith was too drunk to drive; his demand for a ride was not in response to a confrontational comment. Inserting a comma after said to make â€Å"Jones said† a parenthetical attribution clarifies that Jones made the statement later, not that night: â€Å"After two hours at the bar, Jones said, Smith was too drunk to drive, and Smith insisted that Jones take him home.† 2. Smith admitted that he knew about the design side, but he didn’t know a whole heck of a lot about the manufacturing side. As written, this sentence suggests that although Smith acknowledged aloud that he was familiar with design, he apparently kept to himself his ignorance of manufacturing. However, though the context is not clear in isolation, Smith gave both pieces of information. In order to communicate that fact, the two components of the sentence must be parallel (â€Å"he admitted this and that†), and the comma must be omitted: â€Å"He admitted that he knew about the design side but he didn’t know a whole heck of a lot about the manufacturing side.† (A repeat of that can be inserted after but, though it is optional.) 3. This is the final known image of actor Robin Williams posing with a fan. This caption accompanying a photograph of Williams and an unidentified person can be read two ways: It is the last one he took with an admirer before his death (and the appearance of another person in the photo is important), or it is the last photograph taken of him before he died (and it just happens that it was taken with a fan). Even out of context, the first interpretation is suspect; unless the article the photo accompanies specifically pertains to the distinction of Williams being photographed with a fan (not likely), it’s almost certain that the fan’s presence in the photo is irrelevant to the distinction of the picture as the last one known to feature Williams before his death, and the phrase â€Å"posing with a fan† should be treated as a dependent clause: â€Å"This is the final known image of actor Robin Williams, posing with a fan.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:85 Synonyms for â€Å"Help†Connotations of 35 Words for Funny PeopleWhat Is a Doctor?

Parse a Delimited String Into a String List (Delphi)

Parse a Delimited String Into a String List (Delphi) There are many times when you need to split a string into an array of strings by using a character as a separator. For example, a CSV (comma separated) file might have a line like Zarko;Gajic;;DelphiGuide and you want this line to be parsed into 4 lines (strings) Zarko, Gajic, (empty string) and DelphiGuide using the semi-colon character ; as a delimiter. Delphi provides several methods to parse a string, but you might find that neither one does exactly what you need. For example, the ExtractStrings RTL method always uses quote characters (single or double) for delimiters. Another approach is to use the ​Delimiter and ​DelimitedText properties of the TStrings class- but unfortunately, there is a bug in the implementation (inside Delphi) where the space character is always used as a delimiter. The only solution to parsing a delimited string is to write a method of your own: Delimited String Example ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~procedure ParseDelimited(const sl : TStrings; const value : string; const delimiter : string) ;vardx : integer;ns : string;txt : string;delta : integer;begindelta : Length(delimiter) ;txt : value delimiter;sl.BeginUpdate;sl.Clear;trywhile Length(txt) 0 dobegindx : Pos(delimiter, txt) ;ns : Copy(txt,0,dx-1) ;sl.Add(ns) ;txt : Copy(txt,dxdelta,MaxInt) ;end;finallysl.EndUpdate;end;end;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Usage (fills in Memo1) :ParseDelimited(Memo1.lines,Zarko;Gajic;;DelphiGuide,;)

Questionnaire report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Questionnaire report - Essay Example The data will be coded using statistical methods. The data will be tabulated into different categories and the total number of respondents in favour of a certain idea is recorded. These figures will then be calculated as a percentage of the total sum of the whole participants. This helps the researcher to interpret the findings on the basis of the responses that have been given by the participants in the study. b) Delivering the actual questionnaire to the respondents is quite a challenging task. First of all, this exercise is time consuming given that you have to walk around to identify the people you can involve in your study. You also have to talk to the people first before administering the questionnaire in order to obtain their consent so that they can participate in the study. The researcher needs to explain a couple of things to the participants before collecting the required data from them. The other challenging task is related to identification of the sample to be included in the study. Overall, the whole task is tedious and time consuming. c) Basically, sampling of individuals should be representative of the population being studied (Higginbottom, 2004). In this case, probability sampling would be used. This is a sampling technique where the samples are gathered in such a way that all the individuals in the population are given equal chances of being selected and this probability can be accurately determined (Davies, 2007). The main advantage of using random sampling for this research is that it is fairly easily to manage which can lead to accurate results. All the subjects involved in the population stand equal chances of being included in the study. Therefore, the selected sample is likely to be a representation of the whole population. Given such a scenario, it can be noted that the results that are going to be obtained from this particular study are

Light peak( high speed opictal cable technology) Essay

Light peak( high speed opictal cable technology) - Essay Example Light Peak is defined to as a new interface technology of peripheral which enable nodes to connect devices of peripheral or other nodes through an optical connector. Use of optical technology has been in the industry for quite sometime. Telecom companies have used it for networking for years. Light, instead of a wire, is considered much more efficient means of relaying enormous data over long distances. The challenge is optical modules used in conversion of the electrical signals into optical were exceedingly large and expensive. By use of the newly come technology, there is a possibility for the firm to produce affordable and compact optical modules. There are several outstanding differences between optical cabling and electrical cabling. However, the major advantage of using Light Peak technology is seen in optical cabling substituting electrical cabling. Use of copper wire in inter-device communication has its demerits. The level of signal distortion increases with the increase in the distance and speed of transmission. Consequently, the interruption becomes too much that there is no reliable signal transmission between the peripheral and the computer. This explains the reason as to why peripheral cables have fixed lengths. Optical signals do not reflect the interruptions experienced when copper wire is used in signal transmission. This implies that optical cables can extend to serve longer distances compared to copper wire. Additionally, optical fibers are much thinner enabling more flexibility in cabling compared to bundles of copper wire. A recommended cable of Light Peak is almost of the same size of a strand of human hair. These optical cables can be increased up to a length of100 meters that will effectively serve every place within a household as well as enough for businesses. Light Peak technology has a close comparison with the allied USB technology. Although USB

The history of Yoga Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The history of Yoga - Essay Example The practice did not take long to gain popularity as within a century it had already become a method of both mental and physical exercise in the Western world. There have also been several researches that have been carried out in an attempt to verify the psychological mechanism of action during yoga practice (De Michelis, 55-60). In addition, there has also been an attempt to use this practice as an alternative and complementary therapeutic intervention for patients suffering with psychological disorders such as schizophrenia, or other as you have chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer or asthma. This paper will however focus on the history of this practice and how it has developed over the years. As mentioned above, yoga was practiced in several ancient cultures and it could be said that it is just as old as civilization. However, physically there is no evidence to support this theory and the earliest archaeological findings of yoga practice dates back to approximately 3000 BC (De Michelis, 55-60). However, some scholars have disapproved this theory and dates yoga back to Shamanism in the Stone Age. These scholars believe it was a key practice in therapeutic intervention during this period. ... The main characteristic features of yoga practice as stated in these readings includes ceremonies and rituals that were performed in order to perform certain actions that were physiologically limited by the mind. In this period, the practice was taught by rishis which were also educators on living a harmonious life. They were presumed to have the gift and ability to foresee past reality to their deep practice of spiritual rituals (Samuel, 12-23). Pre-Classical Yoga This period begins with the formation ofUpanishads, which contain 200 Scriptures (Samuel, 12-23). These describe internal perception of reality that is altered and intensified by one’s dedication to Brahman. There are three main principles that were explained in the Scriptures and they include Brahman, Atman and the interrelation between the two entities (Samuel, 12-23). In addition, the Scriptures give further insight on the teachings of the Vedas. In Buddhism, yoga can be traced back to the sixth century BC. In th is period, Buddha began spreading teachings on the religion and his main emphasis was meditation. Gautama was the first to practice yoga among all Buddhists and was able to gain enlightenment by the time was 35 years old (Samuel, 12-23). Around approximately 500 BC a text known as Bhagavad-Gita was formulated and is considered as the oldest documentation of yoga Scripture. In addition, it does not involve other aspects and is mainly focused on yoga. It emphasizes on activity as a form of being alive and importance of our actions exceeding our egos (Samuel, 12-23). Classical Period This phrase possesses another entity of Yoga known as Yoga Sutra. It is believed to have been written

Ancient Egypt Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ancient Egypt - Annotated Bibliography Example Being a professor at American University in Cairo, having published many works, and studied at Bryn Mawr College for Bachelor in Egyptology and Archeology, University of Cambridge for her Masters and PHD in Egyptology and Museum studies make her a credible expert on this topic. There are no scholarly sources cited in the article but the author makes an allusion of scholars work stating â€Å"scholars believe the valley had from about I million to 4 million people† (â€Å"Ancient Egypt, Par. 5). The author’s thesis in the article is that Ancient Egypt was the â€Å"birthplace of one of the world’s first civilizations (â€Å"Ancient Egypt, Par. 5†). The author believes that one of the world’s first civilizations began 5,000 years ago along   the River Nile and lasted for over 2,000 years making it the longest lasting civilization ever. The author uses three main points as a measure of backing up her thesis on Ancient Egypt being the earliest civilizations in history. These three points are â€Å"Ancient Egypt created the worlds first national government, basic forms of arithmetic and a 365-day calendar† (â€Å"Ancient Egypt, Par. 2†). To back the above main points the author uses other illustrations to strengthen the thesis including the creation of a form of picture writing known as hieroglyphics, invention papyrus a writing material, development of religion on life after death, and the building of great cities from which arose skilled doctors, architects, painters, sculptors, doctors, and engineers. The author uses the main points to strengthen the thesis through writing on the history and life of Ancient Egypt. The author writes about   the start of civilization when King Menes United Lower and Upper Egypt around 3100 B.C. forming the world’s first government. King Menes also made Memphis, present day Cairo, as the capital of Egypt depict the earliest national government backing the main thesis in the article. The author uses the

College of Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

College of Business - Essay Example The world of tomorrow is all about business. Nothing in this world is done without a business transaction or the knowledge of business. No matter what profession you go into, they are all concerned with business because it all comes down to finding a way to make money. The particular major that I am interested in is marketing. Your college offers very detailed and good courses in this subject. Also, the faculty that your college has is excellent. I have chosen marketing because I want to be able to promote products by understanding what people want, satisfy their needs; whenever I use a product or see an advertisement I always think of ways that I could have made it better. I also want to be successful tomorrow and to achieve that success I need to study general Business. It can help me gain a better understanding of the environment and not leave me clueless. It will help me socialize as no business is successful without socialization. A college can shape our future lives. The more we learn at college the better our lives will be. I am not particularly interested in science and medicine. The market for these professions is stagnant while the market for business graduates is increasing and will always be on the rise. There are never enough qualified business graduates and above that there are never enough marketing graduates who understand the market and can promote a product differently.

Ancient Egypt Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ancient Egypt - Annotated Bibliography Example Being a professor at American University in Cairo, having published many works, and studied at Bryn Mawr College for Bachelor in Egyptology and Archeology, University of Cambridge for her Masters and PHD in Egyptology and Museum studies make her a credible expert on this topic. There are no scholarly sources cited in the article but the author makes an allusion of scholars work stating â€Å"scholars believe the valley had from about I million to 4 million people† (â€Å"Ancient Egypt, Par. 5). The author’s thesis in the article is that Ancient Egypt was the â€Å"birthplace of one of the world’s first civilizations (â€Å"Ancient Egypt, Par. 5†). The author believes that one of the world’s first civilizations began 5,000 years ago along   the River Nile and lasted for over 2,000 years making it the longest lasting civilization ever. The author uses three main points as a measure of backing up her thesis on Ancient Egypt being the earliest civilizations in history. These three points are â€Å"Ancient Egypt created the worlds first national government, basic forms of arithmetic and a 365-day calendar† (â€Å"Ancient Egypt, Par. 2†). To back the above main points the author uses other illustrations to strengthen the thesis including the creation of a form of picture writing known as hieroglyphics, invention papyrus a writing material, development of religion on life after death, and the building of great cities from which arose skilled doctors, architects, painters, sculptors, doctors, and engineers. The author uses the main points to strengthen the thesis through writing on the history and life of Ancient Egypt. The author writes about   the start of civilization when King Menes United Lower and Upper Egypt around 3100 B.C. forming the world’s first government. King Menes also made Memphis, present day Cairo, as the capital of Egypt depict the earliest national government backing the main thesis in the article. The author uses the

Consumer buyer behavior about ego-expressive way in the decision Case Study

Consumer buyer behavior about ego-expressive way in the decision making of rolex costumer - Case Study Example The owners of the Rolex Watch product rely on their understanding of the consumer behavior extensively as many other successful businesses. The consumers of the watch as a product are diverse and they present various factors that lead them towards purchasing the product readily. The Rolex Watch brand is the leading and most expensive Watch in the market currently. There are several types of the Watch. Moreover, Rolex manufactures watches designated for each of the genders, ages and uses. These are essential factors of consideration in the pricing aspect of the product. For instance, according to information gathered through the interactions with the Rolex professionals, the female gender used to constitute a large share of their customers. However, with the current developments in the market, the company is also manufacturing watches for men in large volumes, meaning that the male population is also a considerable consumer volume of the watches. The aspects of use, it depends on the reasons why the consumer purchases the watch. The latest development in the company is the establishment of the Rolex diving watch. Thus, with such watches, resistant to water, offering quality and accurate time measurement initiates the desire in the consumers to own a watch. The larger base of the consumer of the Rolex Watch includes the rich people, collectors of antiques and retail business people. The aspect that the Rolex Watch has a high pricing means that the consumers with low income are unable to afford the product. In manufacturing the product, Rolex focus on people with an interest in brand and aesthetic value of products. The watch established itself as a virtually dominant brand in the market, due to its association with class and high social status. The watch enjoys an ego-expressive status in its customers, as they seek the product for various reasons, all related

Organic vs. industrial food Essay Example for Free

Organic vs. industrial food Essay Organic foods, although stereotypically known for having a bland taste or having no taste have been shown to improve ones quality of life be decreasing some health risk such as cancer or heart disease. If you haven’t realized it, organic fruits and vegetables taste better, and the flavor is crispier. The health consequences of genetically modified food, when examined closely, will convince you to change your eating habits. The shelf life of food depends on four main factors: formulation, processing, packaging and storage. Change any one of these conditions and you can change the shelf life for better or worse. Shelf life has many attributes: bacterial control, color stability, yeast and mold inhibition, flavor stability, textural stability and aroma stability. The appearance of shelf-life problems can be wide, as well, including oxidative browning, oxidation of flavor compounds, or liquescence. To increase the shelf life of more unstable foods, such as low-sugar jam, low-salt condiments, low-oil salad dressings, prepared fresh produce and deli meats, food companies may take steps to reduce bacterial load from ingredients before they process the final food. To grow, thrive and survive, microbes need a friendly environment; this usually includes moisture. Lowering moisture creates a hostile environment for bacteria by decreasing the available medium for them to grow in. There are a number of new ingredients to help regulate water activity in foods with a reduced fat phase. â€Å" Generally, the water activity of a minimally processed food needs to be about 0. 07 or lower, water has an a W rating of 1. 00, and most products preserved with sugar, measure about 0. 07, with the excess water bound so that bacteria are under osmotic pressure too great to survive(Katz, February 4, 2006). † Whenever you buy food, you have decision to make: Healthy or cheap, organic or industrial. If organic food was not so expensive, that decision would be easy, everybody would buy organic food, for a healthier body. Unfortunately not everybody can afford it, making it look like healthy food is becoming a luxury good. In the rush to produce more and more food for the people on this planet, chemicals came into play. Farmers begin by trying to sell the highest percentage of their crop and therefore often use pesticides, gen-manipulated corn, chemicals etc. The farmers investment in pesticides, hormones, and chemicals tends to pays off, earning more, their fruits look better and costumers are happy with huge pest fee fruits and vegetables. When a farmer says no to chemicals, he runs the risk of losing a harvest because of pests. The only way to compensate the cost is a higher price for organic food. You cant ask everybody to pay higher prices, and a lot of people would starve to death without the use of chemicals which protect harvests against pests. Every time you eat something, you consume pesticides, these substances are added in order to produce and sell more efficient. Fortunately there are strict rules for the use of chemicals. Organic foods are produced following practices described in the USDA National Organic Program (NOP), a marketing program with a certification process throughout the production and manufacturing chain. The NOP describes the practices that are required for labeling a product â€Å"organic,† but it does not address nutritional benefits or food safety issues. Even when you buy organic food, you are consuming these substances, but the bar is set at a different height and you are consuming less harmful substances that could be particularly hazards for high-risk groups such as pregnant women, infants, young children and farm worker households. Since organic food is not prepared using chemical fertilizers and pesticides, it does not contain any traces of these strong chemicals and might not affect the human body. People strongly believe that organic food tastes better than non-organic food. The prominent reason for this belief is that it is produced using organic means of production. Further organic food is often sold locally resulting in availability of fresh produce in the market. So how bad is industrial food? Let’s take a look; there are maximum residue limits on all pesticides and chemicals. The department of health determines how much of each substance is ok. Eating organic food lowers the risk of getting hit by a similar scenario, but its not a 100% guarantee (Are Organic Foods Better for You. 2010). However, getting seriously sick from cheap food is not that high of a risk as long as you read food labels you can eat cheap and healthy at the same time? If you are eating organic food only, you are still eating unhealthy foods. Almost everyone is aware that foods grown according to organic principles are free from over exposure to harmful pesticides, but that is only one small aspect. A larger part of organic agriculture is the health of the soil and the ecosystem in which crops are raised. Organic farmers know that healthy, live soils significantly benefit crops. Synthetic chemicals such as herbicides, pesticides, and/or fast acting inorganic fertilizers applied to or around crops interrupt or destroy the micro biotic activity in the soil. Organic farming reduces groundwater pollutants, decreases pesticides that can end up in your drinking glass; in some cities, pesticides in tap water have been measured at unsafe levels. The Farmer’s Market is a growers’ market, meaning everything in the market is homegrown, but Richard Bowie, an experienced organic grower is not convinced that all the food being sold is homegrown. â€Å"The market’s slogan ‘100% Homegrown makes us different’ is used as a gimmick, said Bowie† (Shreve, October 3, 2011). Vendors have been seen carrying produce and selling it to other vendors at the market bringing the term organically grown in to question and without certification, and but by law they cannot say they are a certified organically grown vendor. Most vendors cannot afford the certification process and want consumers to look past the term organic there for focus on the soil used or nutrients used. Almost everyone is aware that foods grown according to organic principles are free from over exposure to harmful pesticides, but that is only one small aspect. A larger part of organic agriculture is the health of the soil and the ecosystem in which crops are raised. Organic farmers know that healthy, live soils significantly benefit crops. Synthetic chemicals such as herbicides, pesticides, and/or fast acting inorganic fertilizers applied to or around crops interrupt or destroy the micro biotic activity in the soil. Organic farming reduces groundwater pollutants, decreases pesticides that can end up in your drinking glass; in some cities, pesticides in tap water have been measured at unsafe levels. We should choose farming methods that truly address our real concerns safety and sustainability, not simply methods that satisfy an arbitrary marketing label. To whatever extent these practices include methods that are permitted under organic rules. But theres never a case when a safe, more efficient, and sustainable modern technology that feeds more people worldwide should be disallowed for no logical reason. Eating â€Å"organic† alone doesn’t guarantee 100 percent healthy . The truth is that most Americans eat so badly that we get most of our calories from soft drinks, more than we do from vegetables; the top food group by caloric intake is â€Å"sweets†; and one-third of nation’s adults are now obese. It’s not unimportant, but it’s not the primary issue in the way Americans eat. To eat well, says means avoiding â€Å"edible food-like substances† and sticking to real ingredients, increasingly from the plant kingdom. There’s plenty of evidence that both a person’s health as well as the environment’s will improve with a simple shift in eating habits away from animal products and highly processed foods to plant products and what might be called â€Å"real food. † From these changes, Americans would reduce the amount of land, water and chemicals used to produce the food we eat, as well as the incidence of lifestyle diseases linked to unhealthy diets and greenhouse gases from industrial meat production. And the food would not necessarily have to be organic, all it takes is paying attention to what you eat and read your labels more closely. Participation on our part to be more aware of what we buy and to raise our voices, if need be. We can let our opinions be known even in the simplest ways. A good example is when we shop, if there is no substitute for the product we need, let the store owners know, they will surely change their products. Organic food is better as it uses natural farming techniques. It is similar to preferring natural remedies when suffering from a disease as compared to eating chemical antibiotics. So, the question of organic foods vs non organic foods; which is better, is clearly answered. Organic food surpasses the conventionally produced foods. References Katz, F. (Febuary 4, 2006). Formulating for increased shelf life. Retrieved November 22, 2011, from http://www. foodprocessing. com/articles/2006/039. html Are Organic Foods Better For You?. Retrieved November 19, 2011, from http://preventdisease. com/home/tips61. shtml Shreve, S. (October 3, 2011). Does organically grown produce really matter?. Retrieved November 21, 2011, from.

The Son Of God Religion Essay

The Son Of God Religion Essay In the gospel of Mark we read of the Son of God, but this title is used sparingly, only at key moments The Transfiguration, Trial with the High Priest when Christ is condemned and by the centurion at the foot of the Cross, truly this Man was the Son of God. Mark wants people to know the Christ is the Son of God, he does not want people to misunderstand who Jesus is, he is not a magician, healer, etc. There is a lot to more to Jesus and Mark wrote his gospel to clear up the misunderstandings that had arisen with regard to Jesus. The gospel writers knew they were right, they did not want people to lose heart; the communities that they were writing for were communities of faith. Mark says Jesus is Divine; He is the Son of God, not some local hero. He is the Son of God faithful to his Father. We hear Peters answer to the question asked by Jesus is correct. Peter calls Jesus the Christ but he really does not understand what he has said, he did not really understand what this meant. This is the turning point in Marks gospel. Peter thought that Jesus was power and glory. He saw Jesus as a great person with great power greater than that of Caesar and King David rolled into one. Jesus was swift to correct Peter who had made a mistake. To be Christ meant rejection, torture, death and then and only then Resurrection, but to a new kind of life, eternal life offered to all. . Peter had to accept Christs idea of what it meant to be Christ and to totally accept this idea. Peter had to be converted. He had to realise that Christ had not come to overturn Caesar; Christ had come to destroy sin, death and the Devil. Are we like Peter and answer Jesus, you are the Christ without actually thinking what this means. There are consequences if we say Jesus, you are the Christ and these consequences are not defined by us, they are guided by Christ. If I genuinely believe in Christ I will surrender myself to His will, His ways, His agenda for me, I will not set my own agenda I will not care about my own comfort etc. I will visit Him in the Blessed Sacrament and see him in all the people I come across without exception. If I genuinely believe that Christ is the Son of God, then everything changes and it must change. The deeper I enter into a relationship with Christ and the more I embrace His ways, His ideals, etc the more committed I become. I become a Christian. We become totally converted. But I only become a true follower and committed member of the church if my faith is profound and rooted in Christ, so rooted that it is in the depths of my heart. So I must show concern for all not matter who they are. Faith as mentioned in the Letter of James is not only prayer but also means showing compassion and care for Gods people, as Christ has, if one of the brothers or one of the sisters is in need and we do not help then our faith is only a talking faith. Faith in Christ is a faith of action. A faith without deeds is an abstract faith if the good works do not go with faith, it is quite dead Faith in unity with Christ, does what Christ would do. No point in being pious, kneeling in front of the Blessed Sacrament and being totally unaware of what is going on around us and saying to ourselves that what is happening in the third world countries has nothing to do with me. So there are consequences in being a Christian and saying You are the Messiah, the Anointed One of God We must be prepared to deny ourselves to follow Christ and listen to what he has to say to us. We will never be asked to give up our life for Christ I hope, I mean to be martyred for our faith. But we are asked to lose our life, and this means that we enter into a loving relationship with Christ, we love Him without reservation, we take up our cross whatever that is follow Him without grumbling. We give ourselves wholeheartedly to Christ. This gospel today challenges us as followers of Christ. Can we willingly follow like the Suffering Servant mentioned in our Psalm, giving ourselves completely to God and to die for Christ like he died for us. IF WE DO THIS OUR LIVES WILL BE TRANSFRORMED BEYOND WORDS.

Scouting the World Essay -- Personal Narrative Essay Example

Scouting the World It was July 2000, when it started. Colorful flags of 14 nations gently flapped under a blue Canadian sky. In a field, 1500 young people from around the world assembled in uniform for the opening ceremonies of the sixth worldwide jamboree of the Polish Scouting Organization. I was among the scouts proudly representing the USA. It was only my first "international" experience, but one that was the start of an unforgettable multicultural adventure. And standing there in that field, I felt it starting. I had not traveled far from home, but it seemed I was visiting lands from afar - France, Argentina, Australia, Poland. Talking to the scouts, being in the presence of youth from all around the globe put me in their world. Even though we were hosted by Canadians, Polish was the indispensable language of communication at this jamboree. Yes, among our friends we used our own language, but when we spoke to the other scouts, the Polish Austalians, Polish Danes, Polish Germans, there was only one language to use, one we all shared - Polish. For two weeks we bonded through both the scouting experience and our Polish heritage. We discovered that in many ways, we were the same and yet there was a distinct flavor to each nation's group, revealing its cultural individuality - be it in song, verbal expressions, or in just the way they interacted with each other. I was amazed at how comfortable I felt in this setting and it sparked my desire - I wanted to experience it more. In two weeks, I formed lifetime friendships that crossed many countries' borders and since then, we have been exchanging letters. Later that summer, I was lucky to travel to Rome for the World Youth Day 2000 whe... ...chool students from across the world came together to share ideas and interact socially. I was thrilled when my project won awards in this distinguished fair, but especially touched because it was for a subject close to my heart. It is hard to believe that my yearlong multicultural odyssey, which started on that sunny Canadian field, ended at an international science fair. Meeting so many young people from around the globe made me gain a fresh perspective of my own cultural experience, as well as that of others. It opened my eyes, and I learned that we each have our own unique cultural identity, which is constantly being shaped and hopefully, enriched. Such cross-cultural encounters inspire an appreciation of diversity, strengthening a real human connection we all share, and how significant a lesson that is for me, at only 17 years of age, to have learned.

Accounting for Employee Benefits (Pas 19)

REACTION PAPER The Seminar about â€Å"Accounting for Employee Benefits (PAS 19)† was held at Multi-Purpose Hall of Engineering Building last July 20, 2012. The speaker for this event was Mr. Ysmael Acosta. At first I was really curious about that seminar of what topic does the speaker would discuss. When the seminar goes on, there are some topic that are really interesting and some are not quite clear for me.Sometimes it makes me feel bored when listening to him because he really speak very fast, that’s why I can’t understand him very well. For now, I would like to discuss those topics that makes me interested. Employee Benefits outlines the accounting requirements for employee benefits, including short-term benefits (like wages and salaries, annual leave), post-employment benefits such as retirement benefits, other long-term benefits (like long service leave) and termination benefits.The standard establishes the principle that the cost of providing employee ben efits should be recognised in the period in which the benefit is earned by the employee, rather than when it is paid or payable, and outlines how each category of employee benefits are measured, providing detailed guidance in particular about post-employment benefits. The basic principle of PAS 19 is the cost of providing employee benefits should be recognised in the period in which the benefit is earned by the employee, rather than when it is paid or payable.The objective of â€Å"PAS 19† as I remembered correctly, is to prescribe the accounting and disclosure for employee benefits (that is, all forms of consideration given by an entity in exchange for service rendered by employees). The principle underlying all of the detailed requirements of the Standard is that the cost of providing employee benefits should be recognised in the period in which the benefit is earned by the employee, rather than when it is paid or payable. The scope of PAS 19 applies to wages and salaries; compensated absences (paid vacation and sick leave); profit sharing plans; bonuses; medical and ife insurance benefits during employment; housing benefits; free or subsidised goods or services given to employees; pension benefits; post-employment medical and life insurance benefits; long-service or sabbatical leave; ‘jubilee' benefits; deferred compensation programmes; and termination benefits. As time goes by, there are changes and ammendments on the PAS 19. From the simple Exposure Draft E16 Accounting for Retirement Benefits in Financial Statements of Employers (April 1980) to The Limit on a Defined Benefit Asset, Minimum Funding Requirements and their Interaction last June 16, 2011.This issue tells that the accounting for employee benefits, particularly pensions and other post-retirement benefits, has long been a complex and difficult area and initial plans for a full review of pension accounting had to be deferred in light of competing priorities, ultimately leaving the I ASB to proceed alone on improving specific aspects of the existing requirements of IAS 19. Prior to the amendment, IAS 19 permitted choices on how to account for actuarial gains and losses on pensions and similar items, including the so-called ‘corridor approach' which resulted the deferral of gains and losses.The Exposure Draft proposed eliminating the use of the ‘corridor' approach and instead mandating all remeasurement impacts be recognised in OCI (with the remainder in profit or loss) – and in fact had proposed extending these requirements to all long-term employee benefits (e. g. certain long service leave schemes). The final amendments make the OCI presentation changes in respect of pensions (and similar items) only, but all other long term benefits are required to be measured in the same way even though changes in the recognised amount are fully reflected in profit or loss.Also changed in PAS 19 is the treatment for termination benefits, specifically the p oint in time when an entity would recognise a liability for termination benefits. The final amendments do not adopt the equivalent US-GAAP requirements verbatim (which requires individual employees to be notified), but the recognition timeframe may be extended in some cases. Finally, various other amendments to IAS 19 may have impacts in particular areas.For instance, employee benefits not settled wholly before twelve months after the end of the annual reporting period would be captured as an ‘other long term benefit' rather than a ‘short term benefit', and whilst presented as a current item in the statement of financial position, would be measured differently under the amendments. PAS 19 requires an entity to determine the rate used to discount employee benefits with reference to market yields on high quality corporate bonds. However, when there is no deep market in corporate bonds, an entity is required to use market yields on government bonds instead.The global financ ial crisis has led to a widening of the spread between yields on corporate bonds and yields on government bonds. As a result, entities with similar employee benefit obligations may report them at very different amounts. If adopted, the amendments would ensure that the comparability of financial statements is maintained across jurisdictions, regardless of whether there is a deep market for high quality corporate bonds. Time flew very fast. This seminar taught us so many things that we can use in the near future. Though there is not enough time to discuss everything, we still accomplished a lot.