Movie Analysis Virtual Classroom - 896 Words

Crystal Blake Virtual Classroom 1 1. The characters are Mrs. Ortiz, Ms. Jacobs, and. Mario. Mrs. Ortiz is Mario’s mother who is telling him it is okay to hit so that he doesn’t get bullied and will make it in the real world especially since they live in a neighborhood where there is gang violence. Ms. Jacobs is Mario’s teacher who is trying to teach Mario that hitting is not the answer that using words are. Mario is the child who is hitting and pushing other children and is in this dilemma because his mother is saying one thing while the teacher is saying another. 2. One key issue is that Mario is hitting and pushing the other children. Some of the time he is doing it just to have his own way. For example, in the case study it states that Hector came and took on of Mario’s blocks so Mario took the block back and pushed him saying that he was standing up for himself which in turn is making him seem like the bully to the other children. Another issue is that his mother is encouraging violence so that when he grows up he can handle living in a rough neighborhood. Lastly, Mrs. Ortiz and Ms. Jacobs have different ways of handling situations and it is confusing for Mario which to do and in a way seems like Mario has to pick sides on his behavior. 3. One strategy for Ms. Jacobs to use is gathering more knowledge on the culture and environment the children are growing in so that she can work with the parents on a way to help the children. According to Child Development, thereShow MoreRelatedThe New Trend Of Virtual Technology914 Words   |   4 PagesImagine sitting in a classroom lecture or consulting with a physician just sitting in your living room. Our video visor design would allow this to be possible. It is a revolutionary communication platform that makes you feel truly present as you share, experience, and interact with upcoming and available technology. 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How Cultural Adaptation Influence Professional Belief Free Essays

How cultural adaptation influence professional belief and career development of Chinese students in UMN? Introduction The influence of cultural diversity is some of the most critical issues facing the United States today. Census data show that the non-white population is rapidly increasing – this is a huge reserve of human potential, which makes the multicultural focus a top priority for vocational education and development. These diverse cultural groups include some international students coming to the United States to take advantage of higher education opportunities. We will write a custom essay sample on How Cultural Adaptation Influence Professional Belief? or any similar topic only for you Order Now After completing their studies, many of these students choose to stay in the United States in order to pursue work and build family. The career development and consulting needs of this multicultural workforce are very different from the established norms. It is important to understand and solve their needs for the country’s cultural and psychological adjustment. Therefore, counselors and professional professionals in universities and workplaces need to have specific cultural information and skills that contribute to effective vocational education/consulting. Most of the differences between cultures come from various worldviews that people hold. Lee and Rice (2007) and Dee and Henkin (1999) point out that in this society, the worldview of racial and ethnic minorities is different from that of European Americans. The worldview contains all cultural norms, customs, folk cultures and cultural adaptation behaviors that are passed on to future generations in an identifiable group. Values, interests, family and interpersonal relationships largely depend on these worldviews, and these worldviews are assumed to influence career choices. The worldview of ethnic minority customers will influence their career decisions in ways that may differ from most people. In order to provide culturally appropriate services, professional professionals in universities and workplaces must have a keen understanding of the team’s worldview. In order to understand more about the concept of worldview related to career development, Marsella and Leong (1995) suggest positioning individual clients in the continuum of national cultural identity and determining the relative importance of individual or cultural characteristics to individuals. For example, when a person is fully integrated into society, interest/preference may be more relevant to career development. However, for a more traditional individual, cultural influence may play a more important role in career development. Marsella and Leong (1995) suggest that career counseling for different customers should consider three factors: cross-cultural similarities, and culturally unique aspects that influence members and personal characteristics. Another way to better understand the worldview is to study the individual’s level of cultural adaptation. Marsella and Leong (1995) pointed out that cultural adaptation has become an important variable in psychological research because it helps to highlight and explain the huge heterogeneity existing in ethnic/ethnic immigrant groups. Cultural adaptation levels have been found to influence psychological and physical health variables, including work values, career orientation, and career choices (Kubat ; Kuruuzum, 2009). In short, with the increase in the multicultural nature of the U.S. labor force, it has become imperative to appropriately address the unique career development needs of customers from different ethnicities. Marasella and Leong (1995) indicate that by understanding the customer’s worldview, unique career development needs can be met. Research on ethnic identity and cultural adaptation can help to learn a worldview.Many international students are looking for jobs in the United States, which is a factor in increasing the multicultural workforce. For this reason, using this population for world outlook (cultural adaptation and ethnic identity) and career development studies will be particularly useful. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between professional beliefs and cultural adaptation levels of international students from China. It has been found that cultural adaptation and career development may be related to several other important factors, for example,People’s specific nationality: Even if they come from the same continent, the cultural adaptability of people from different countries is also different (Jacob ; Greggo, 2001);People’s age: Age is positively related to professional identity (ie older people may have stronger professional identity). The negative correlation between age and cultural adaptation indicates that it is difficult for older people to adhere to the norms of the new culture (Suinn, Ahuna ; Khoo, 1992, 1995; Shufen ; Brown, 2001);Level of education: Interestingly, studies by Shu Fen and Brown (2001) show that education levels are negatively correlated with cultural adaptation. This suggests that better-educated individuals may not be comfortable, and vice versa.Term of residence in the United States: There is a negative correlation between the length of residence in the United States and cultural adaptability, indicating that people with shorter residence periods tend to have less culture. There is a positive correlation between living time and professional identity, which means that people who live longer in the United States have stronger professional identities (Suinn, Ahuna ; Khoo, 1992, 1995; Shu-fen ; Brown, 2001);Gender: There seems to be a conflict regarding the influence of gender on cultural adaptation. Although there was no significant relationship between gender and cultural adaptation and professional identity and gender, the study (Lopez ; Ann-Yi, 2006) also showed that the process of cultural adaptation was affected by gender. In this study, information on nationality, age, US resident status and gender will be collected. It also will study the influence of the above factors on cultural adaptation and professional beliefs, with particular emphasis on the influence of gender.Propose of the studyThe main purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between cultural adaptation and factors that influence the professional beliefs of international students from China. The adaptation of a cultural group to another cultural group can be demonstrated by changing language preferences, adopting common attitudes and values, joining common social groups and institutions, and losing individual political or ethnic identity.Professional beliefs are people’s assumptions about themselves and what they must do to succeed in the world of work. Specifically, this study will examine whether these international student’s cultural adaptation will affect current employment status, career planning, acceptance of uncertainty, openness, university education, sense of control, sense of responsibility, career path flexibility, after training. The attitude of transition, relocation and other occupational beliefs are perseverance and hard work. The study will examine whether the relationship between cultural adaptation and professional beliefs is influenced or mitigated by gender.Research questionsAre there any influence from cultural adaption on professional beliefs and career development of Chinese students in UMN?How cultural adaption influence professional beliefs and career development of Chinese students in UMN?MethodsParticipants are Chinese students in UMN. The questionnaire will be delivered through university email. There are also potential follow-up interview.Two scales will be used in this study:First one is Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale (SL-ASIA). Suinn, et al have developed SL-ASIA as a self-reported measurement of cultural adaption (Suinn, et al, 1987). There are 26 options including language, behavior, generation/geography history and attitude in this scale. In the score, the total value is obtained by summing the answers to all items. The final cultural fitness score is then calculated by dividing the total by 26. The conservation level on SL-ASIA ranged from 1 to 5, the low range was 1 to 2.33 (Asian mark), the medium range was 2.34 In order to obtain a structural validity assessment, Suinn, Ahuna and Khoo (1992) used 324 Asian students from Colorado (137 first generation, 76 second generation, 31 third generation, 26 fourth generation and 14 fifth generation participants who performed factor analysis on SL-ASIA. Their results showed that five interpretable factors accounted for 69.7% of the variance between different variables. A recent sample of 118 Asians using Suinn, Khoo and Ahuna (1995) in Singapore showed that the appearance of a similar factor accounted for 65% of the variance.The other one is Career Beliefs Inventory (CBI). The Occupational Belief Scale (CBI) (Krumboltz ; Jackson,1993) is built based on data collected from 7,500 people, ranging in age from 12 to 75 years. The original 122 items has been separated into 25 scales consisting of 96 projects. Grades. These projects were written in the eighth grade. Participants stated their agreement to a statement based on the 5-point Likert scale, strongly agreeing that the active wording project scored 5 points, and strongly disagreed with a score of 1 point. The negative wording items are reverse scores, so strong opposition will get scores of 5 points, and strong opposition scores of 1. These scores are then converted into proportional scores ranging from 10 to 50. The difference factor between them and the project score is 10, so the proportional score is ten times that of the time average score.(After collecting data, I will use SPSS or R to build a model and do some simple analysis between SL-ASIA factors – language, behavior, generation/geography history and attitude – and professional beliefs. Based on this conclusion, I will give some recommendations about career development of Chinese students in US.)Reference:Dee, J., ; Henkin, A. (1999). Challenges to Adjustment to College Life in the United States: Experiences of Korean Students. International Education, 29(1), 54-70.Jacob, E. J, ; Greggo, J.W., (2001). Using counselor training and collaborative programming strategies in working with international students. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 29 (l),73-88.Kubat, U., ; Kuruuzum, A. (2009). An Examination of the Relationship between Work Values and Personality Traits in Manufacturing Industry. International Journal of Business and Management Studies, 1(1), 37-48.Krumboltz, J. D., ; Jackson, M. A. (1993). Career assessment as a learning tool. Journal of Career Assessment, I, 393-409.Lee, J., ; Rice, J. (2007). Welcome to America? International student perceptions of discrimination. Higher Education, 53(3), 381-409.Lopez, F. G., ; Ann-Yi, S. (2006). Predictors of Career Indecision in Three Racial/Ethnic Groups of College Women. Journal of Career Development, 33(1), 29-46.Marsella, A., ; Leong, F. (1995). Cross-Cultural Issues in Personality and Career Assessment. Journal of Career Assessment, 3(2), 202-218.Suinn, R., Rickard-Figueroa, K., Lew, S., ; Vigil, P. (1987). The Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale: An Initial Report. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 47(2), 401-407.Suinn, R. M. Ahuna, C, ; Khoo, G. (1992). The Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale: Concurrent and factorial validation. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 52, 1041-1046.Suinn, R. M., Ahuna, C, ; Khoo, G. (1995). The Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identify Acculturation Scale: Cross-cultural information. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 23, 139-148.Shih, S., ; Brown, C. (2000). Taiwanese International Students: Acculturation Level and Vocational Identity. Journal of Career Development, 27(1), 35-47. How to cite How Cultural Adaptation Influence Professional Belief?, Papers

Australian Commercial and Corporations Law

Questions: 1. In negligence law the reasonable person is used to assist in determining questions relating to duty of care and the relevant standard of care. Who is the reasonable person, meaning what are their characteristics and how does the law adapt it in differing circumstances? 2. What are self-managed super funds or SMSFs? Write an essay explaining their nature, benefits and risks, set up and operation. Answers: (1). Under the tort of negligence, the elements required to prove negligence are that there should be a duty of care, there should be a breach of that duty and due to the breach there should be a damage caused to some person towards whom there was a duty of care. Here the duty of care is seen in terms of a reasonable person, i.e. in an idle circumstance what a prudent person would believed to have done and had the responsibility in doing a certain act in case of a danger or injury and would have taken due care and precaution would be the standard of care under the tort of negligence. In the landmark case of Donoghue v. Stevenson [1932] UKHL, lord Atkin had observed that one must take care and avoid circumstances that can been foreseen to may have cause any hard or danger on any other person and must take due care for such foreseeable circumstances (Nolan, 2013). A common accidental case is separated from a negligent act because of the duty of care one has towards someone or something in a given situation. There is no specific definition of a reasonable person, the reasonableness is defined in terms of prudence that an ordinary person would show in any given situation. In order to determine that standard of care, it shall always be seen what any person would have done in the same circumstances. The test would be in reference to the standards set in case of a person with higher intelligence. Even for people with low intelligence, the standard would be that of a person with higher intelligence, who can reasonably foresee and avoid some kind of danger and not that of a near sighted person who is negligent (Gamble, Du Plessis and Neal, 2008). The important factor under this is that the person must have a duty of care, this is applicable in case of neighbours, doctor-patient relationship, customer-manufacturer relationship (Donoghue v Stevenson [1932]) etc. in the case of Grant v Australian Knitting Mills Limited And Others, [1936], it was said that the manufacturer knew that the product that he is making would reach the consumer for his consumption and therefore there could be left no doubt with regard to a possibility left for examination to be done later and hence there was a duty of care on the part of the manufacturer towards the consumer. The scope of duty of care is said to have been understood in terms of reasonable care not in abstract but in case where it could have been foreseen reasonably that there is danger and due to negligence damage could be caused, even in case of an unborn child, duty of care if foreseeable is acknowledged (Lynch v Lynch 1991). Duty of care is owned even to rescuers, the well acknowledged duty of care is by a doctor to his patient, which is in fact now a different field into law of tort that is tort of medical negligence, this duty is owned by any person towards any other person if it could be foreseen that a danger or injury could be caused due to the negligence of one person (Stewart and Stuhmcke, 2012). (2). What are self-managed super funds or SMSFs? Write an essay explaining their nature, benefits and risks, set up and operation. Self Managed Super funds are an Australian term coined for pension funds that give the individuals a direct hold on their retirement assets. These pension funds are of a special nature where the members of the pension fund consists of five individuals who are trustees or directors of a corporate trustee. After the passing of the Australian legislation of Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Choice of Superannuation Funds) Act 2004, the legislature made it possible for the people who will retire in the future to manage their pension funds and allot them into various pension schemes according to their convenience. Under the SMSFs the retirees can shift their funds from anywhere into an SMSF is they want to. These are controlled and managed by the individuals themselves as they are the directors and trustees of the fund, hence, it is also known as DO-It-Yourself Fund, i.e. DIY fund (Centre for International Finance and Regulation, 2014). These SMSFs are growing at an alarming rate in the Australian investment sector due to the portability rules that were brought about by the implementation of the Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Choice of Superannuation Funds) Act 2004, due to which the investment has become easy and flexible for the people. Members of an SMSF can directly invest into the share market and on various other schemes relating to warrants, property, exotic assets such as artefacts and antiques, etc. The cost of investment is also very low as compared to other investment options under the retirement schemes, all these factors makes the SMSFs more approachable and attractive for the people to invest into, due to which there has been witnessed a tremendous increase and a shift towards the SMSFs from 1996 to 2013 (Asic.gov.au, 2015). Therefore it could be said that the superannuation industry is of very high importance in the Australian investment system as it involves a large amount of money. SMSFs are self controlled and managed instrument of investment under which the investors manage their own investments according to their choices, where they also have a number of options to invest into. As they make you handle the investment on your own they are also called do it yourself funds. SMSFs came into use from 8th October 1999, when they were formally introduced by the legislature while amending the Superannuation Industry Supervision (SIS) Act. The act was amended in order to make changes to the regulatory regime in Australia wherein the superannuation funds were governed under the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), which had various funds where the total number of members could not go beyond five; rather they were less than five. The amendment made the new superannuation funds, i.e. the SMSF is governed under the Australian Tax Office. The earlier funds were provided a chance to become SMSF which were a small fund under the APRA which were known as SAF. Un der the SAF, the members do not have the same amount of power as in the SMSF, as they do not manage and control the investments directly (SY, 2008). There are various benefits of SMSFs due to which the Australian retirees are getting attracted towards these funds and not any other scheme, as discussed above one of the major reasons is its flexibility and the number of alternatives that it provides to the investors. Also the control and management of the SMSF is in the hands of the investors as they are the members and the trustees as well as the directors of the SMSF themselves. The investment in the SMSF is easier as compared to other superannuation schemes in the industry. It is also said that since pension schemes have the capacity to negotiate more and at a lower cost as to the fee of managers, therefore they have an upper edge in terms of bargaining in the market, hence, they benefit more from the economies of scale (Coleman, Esho and Wong, 2006). Another benefit is the ease of the SMSF in between the complicated superannuation industry, which involves a typical auditing system SMSFs are therefore easier to maintain as the auditing system is not at all complex and only involves balance sheet with three types of records related to cash, shares and investments related to property, the other financial statement is the preparing of the profit and loss account without the provisions of receivables, payables, prepayments, accruals, etc, thereby making it simple and easy to manage (Vermeulen and Haan, 2012). The other aspect is that the retirees are not interested into large investments as the mind set is that since there are retirement funds, therefore investors are interested into discounts and are interested in returns on the investments. Due to increase in the people getting attracted towards the superannuation industry, due to the ease and monetary benefits, it is important that the people involved in the industry are aware of the norms and regulations that need to be followed. The literacy rate in Australia with regard to SMSFs is not good; people are unaware of the laws that govern the superannuation industry. The risks involved in the SMSFs are as follows (Smsf-westpac.com.au, 2016):1. People are illiterate because of which they end up not complying with the laws related to SMSFs. This results into criminal activities and fraudulent transactions.2. Since the members are also the trustees they are responsible for its management, hence the liability of the SMSF is personal.3. In case there is a fraud or any other criminal activity in a SMSF, then neither of the members can claim any kind of scheme related to any compensation under APRA.4. The members are entitled to the profits of the SMSF as well as all the risks that are accrued by any member are shared and accrued by all the members.5. Inflation can also have adverse effects on SMSF, as people will not invest in case of inflation.6. Interest rates can also change with time and change in policies, which can create a great impact on the returns that, an investor gets on his investment.7. The structure of an SMSF is simple, but still internal changes due to external or internal environmental factors can have an adverse effect on the members, such as change in taxation laws.8. Diversification can increase the chances of a higher return, but as these are retirement funds, hence the investment is small and therefore the chances of diversification is very less, which in result does not provide with greater benefits. It is therefore necessary that the relevant laws and regulations are made aware to the people so as to inform them of the risks and the benefits of setting up an SMSF. It is necessary to act in the best interest of the clients as per Section 961B, and also disclose accurate personal advice according to Section 961G. If in case the advice given to the client is dependent on an information which is not complete or the advisors are not sure about the information then the clients must be told about that too, in order to give them the first preference and work in their interest. It is also required under Section 946 A, that the clients are given a personal advice SOA as soon as possible, before the client acts on the advice of the person. In fact advice regarding the alternatives in case the client wants to change or switch the product must also be contained in the SOA as per Section 947 D (Asic.gov.au, 2015). SMSFs can be setup by applying online, just like a company is registered. It is a kind of a trust that is registered with the superannuation industry that requires a simple name of the SMSF that a person needs to set up. The fee is too low to set up a SMSF, and any person can easily set up his own SMSF. The requirement of setting up depend on the number of members, i.e. whether the members are a corporate Trustee, individual Trustees or a Single Member (Abbott, 2008). In case of Individual trustee the fund has (Newnham, 2009): It has four or less members. Each member is a trustee. No Member is an employee of another member, unless they're related. No trustee is paid for their duties or services as a trustee. In case of a corporate trustee: It has four or less members. Each member of the fund is a director of the company. Each director of the corporate trustee is a member, unless they're related. The corporate trustee or director is not paid for its services as a trustee. There is not too much research data available on SMSF, however there are various Australian case studies with regard to SMSF. The case studies are as follows (Basu and Andrews, 2014): The Swiss Chalet case: this is the most common case wherein the members were given access to a golf club, and the purpose of it was to provide the facilities to the members for their retirement. However the only purpose of the club failed, as the members had breached the purpose of the access provided to the club. Montgomery Wools Case: this case involved whether the member was in non-compliance of the rules of SMSF. The ATT stated that the funds must comply with the sole purpose test and in order to determine that test the facts of each case would be examined, as the test is not subjective in nature and is to be examined objectively based on the facts of the case and not on the views/ opinion of the members. Deputy Commissioner of Taxation (Superannuation) v Graham Family Superannuation: in this case the Federal Court of Australia held that the sole purpose test was breached by the member where the SMSF had rented a property for the retirement of the members but instead one of the member gave it to his son for his personal use without any payment of rent. Pabian Park Pty Ltd Superannuation Benefits Fund and FCT: in order to make the compliance compulsory and the rules strict, the members must engage into activities such as winding up in case of non-compliance, tax penalties, rectification of contraventions with penalties imposed on those who had been in non-compliance of the rules. It was held that a proactive approach needs to be adopted by the members themselves in order to make the people follow with the compliances and make people aware of the risks and the consequences involved in non-compliance. In Re The Trustee for the R Ali Superannuation Fund and FCT: in this case, which is also known as the Ali case, the court again emphasised on the need for a proactive role of the members and that the members must engage in practices for rectification of the contraventions and also make sure that there the records and the procedure is all documented in relation to all the transactions between all the parties. SMSFs are the currently most famous Australian investing instruments in the field of retirement schemes that provided the highest available options to the investors in the field of retirement funds which are easy to form and regulate. Due to its simple structure its demand is also high, even the fee that is levied is too less for setting it up so people focus on investing in SMSFs more than any other investment schemes. Even the auditing is too easy with a simple balance sheet and a profit and loss statement which makes it more convenient and attractive to retirees. The trustees along with all other members hold a relationship of trust with the fund. Therefore it is the duty of the members to comply with the rules of SIS and work for the betterment and optimum benefit of the funds, as it is one of the most advantageous funds or investment option in case of a retirement scheme (Smith, 2011). It is therefore necessary that strict measures are taken in case of non-compliance and a proac tive role is needed from the members side to ensure that the purpose of these funds remains intact. References Abbott, G. (2008).Self managed superannuation funds strategy guide. Sydney: CCH Australia. Asic.gov.au. (2015). Advice on self-managed superannuation funds: Disclosure of costs | ASIC - Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Basu, A. and Andrews, S. (2014). Asset Allocation Policy, Returns and Expenses of Superannuation Funds: Recent Evidence Based on Default Options. Australian Economic Review, 47(1), pp.63-77. Centre for International Finance and Regulation, (2014). The size, cost and asset allocation of Australian self-managed superannuation funds. Research working paper series. Coleman, A., Esho, N. and Wong, M. (2006). The impact of agency costs on the investment performance of Australian pension funds. Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, 5(03), pp.299-324. Doris, M. (2013). Promising options, dead ends and the reform of Australian contract law. The Journal of Society of Legal Scholars, 34(1), pp.24-46. Gamble, R., Du Plessis, J. and Neal, L. (2008).Principles of business law. Pyrmont, N.S.W.: Lawbook Co. Gooley, J., Radan, P. and Vickovich, I. (2007). Principles of Australian contract law. Chatswood, NSW: LexisNexis Butterworths. Newnham, M. (2009).Self-managed superannuation funds. Milton, Qld.: John Wiley Sons Australia. Nolan, D. (2013). Damage in the English Law of Negligence. Journal of European Tort Law, 4(3). Smith, B. (2011).Self Managed Superannuation Fund Handbook. Hoboken: John Wiley Sons.

Tissues of the Body Assessment Questions and Answers free essay sample

Simple cuboidal epithelium m. Simple columnar epithelium n. Pseudostratified columnar epithelium o. Stratified squamous epithelium p. Stratified cuboidal epithelium q. Stratified columnar epithelium r. Transitional epithelium s. Glandular epithelium i. Lining of intestines ii. Lining of ducts of mammary glands iii. Lining of urinary bladder iv. Salivary glands v. Air sacs of lungs vi. Respiratory passages vii. Ductus deferens viii. Lining of kidney tubules ix. Outer layer of skin 6. Distinguish between exocrine and endocrine glands. (p. 01) * Exocrine-Glands that secrete their products into ducts that open onto surfaces, such as the skin or the lining of the digestive tract. * Endocrine- glands that secrete their products into tissue fluid or blood. 7. A gland that secretes substances out of cells by exocytosis is a(n) ________. (p. 101) t. Merocrine gland u. Apocrine gland v. Holocrine gland 8. Define extracellular matrix. (p. 102) * Composed of protein fibers, and a ground substanc e consisting of nonfibrous protein, other molecules, and fluid. We will write a custom essay sample on Tissues of the Body Assessment Questions and Answers or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The consistency varies from fluid to semisolid to solid. 9. Describe three major types of connective tissue cells. (p. 102) * Fixed cells- reside in the tissue for an extended period of time * Wandering cells- move through and appear in tissues temporarily, usually in response to injury or infection * Fibroblasts- large star shaped cells that produce fibers by secreting proteins into the extracellular matrix of connective tissues. 10. Distinguish between collagen and elastin. (p. 104) * Collagen- long, parallel bundles that are flexible but only slightly elastic. They have great strength in resisting a pulling force. They are important for holding structures together, like ligaments. * Elastin- thin fibers that branch, forming complex networks. They are weaker than collagen fibers, but they stretch easily and can go back to normal. They are found in vocal cords and other parts of the body that are frequently stretched. 11. Compare and contrast the different types of loose connective tissue. (p. 105) * Areolar tissue- forms delicate, thin membranes throughout the body. The cells of this tissue are located far apart and separated by a gel-like extracellular matrix containing many collagenous and elastic fibers. This tissue binds the skin to the underlying organs and fills spaces between muscles. * Adipose tissue- this tissue develops when certain cells store fat as droplets in their cytoplasm and enlarge. When these cells become so abundant that they crowd other cell types they form adipose tissue. Its found between muscles, around kidneys, behind the eyeballs, on the surface of the heart, and around certain joints. * Reticular tissue- composed of thin, collagenous fibers in a 3-D network. It helps provide the framework of certain internal organs, such as the liver and spleen. 12. Define dense connective tissue. p. 106) * Consists of many closely packed, thick, collagenous fibers and a fine network of elastic fibers. It has few cells, most of which are fibroblasts. The collagenous fibers are very strong, enabling the tissue to withstand pulling forces. As parts of tendons and ligaments. This tissue binds muscle to bone and bone to bone. 13. Explain why injured dense connective tissue and ca rtilage are usually slow to heal. (p. 106) * The blood supply to dense connective tissue is poor, which slows tissue repair * The lack of a direct blood supply to cartilage is also why cartilage heals slowly 14. Name the types of cartilages and describe their differences and similarities. (p. 106) * Hyaline- very fine collagenous fibers in its extracellular matrix and loks somewhat like white glass. Its found on the ends of bones in many joints, in the soft part of the nose, and in the supporting rings of the respiratory passages. Its important in the growth of most bones * Elastic- a dense network of elastic fibers and is more flexible than hyaline. It provides the framework for the external ears and for parts of the larynx. * Fibrocartilage-a very tough tissue, and has many collagenous fibers. It’s a shock absorber for structures that are subjected to pressure. 15. Describe how bone cells are organized in bone tissue. (p. 108) * Bone matrix is deposited in thin layers called lamellae, which form concentric patterns around tiny longitudinal tubes called central canals. Bone cells are located in lacunae, which are evenly spaced within the lamellae. 16. The fluid extracellular matrix of blood is called________. (p. 109) w. White blood cells x. Red blood cells y. Platelets z. Plasma {. Bone marrow 17. Identify the locations of four types of membranes in the body and indicate the types of tissues making up each membrane. p. 110) * Serous membranes lines body cavities that lack openings to the outside. A layer of simple squamous epithelium and a thin layer of loose connective tissue. * Mucous membranes line cavities and tubes that open to the outside of the body. Epithelium overlying a layer of loose connective tissue. * Cutaneous membrane is the skin. Epithelial tissue * Synovial membrane lines joints. Connective tissues 18. Compare and contrast skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscle tissues. (p. 110) * 19. Distinguish between neurons and neurological cells with respect to their functions. (p. 111) *

Price discrimination essay

Price discrimination essay Price discrimination essay Price discrimination essayPrice discrimination is the practice of charging different prices from different categories of customers. There are debates regarding the ethical side of price discrimination. On one hand, purchases are voluntary acts and as long as customers are willing to purchase the goods in the presence of price discrimination, sellers will continue practicing price discrimination. On the other hand, Tiemstra (2006) emphasizes that price discrimination is unjust both from the utilitarian perspective (as it allows producers to raise profit margins higher compared to ordinary competition) and from the perspective of justice equal customers should be treated equally and the sellers rewards for selling equal products should be equal as well. In general, sellers tend to view price discrimination as fair and buyers perceive price discrimination as unfair, especially in the case when price discrimination is evident for example, when online resources provide a field for enter ing a coupon code (Oliver Shor, 2003).One argument in support of price discrimination is libertarian argument: due to the voluntary nature of market bargains, price discrimination is acceptable and justified, and, moreover, it stimulates the development of products with high fixed costs or significant research costs which would not be possible in the absence of price discrimination (Tiemstra, 2006). It is not possible to state that price discrimination is universally fair or universally unfair; there are different situations and different industries and the ethical side of price discrimination should be considered separately in each situation according to the context.An example of a situation when price discrimination is fair is the case when luxury goods with premium design are sold at different prices to different customers. For example, affluent customers want to purchase a high-quality TV and want to do it in minimal time. In this case, the best solution for them is to visit a retail shop and make the purchase quickly and effortlessly, although at a higher price.An example of a situation when price discrimination is unfair is the example when a manufacturer of drugs producing a vitally important drug charges a price with excessively high markup because the customers will buy it in any case. However, the latter example also has exceptions in those cases when the drug manufacturer had high investment costs, it would be fair to set higher prices to compensate for the costs and to continue research to improve the drug. In general, price discrimination has high chances of being unfair in the cases when higher prices are charged for goods with low price elasticity of demand (i.e. essential goods). However, in each particular case the fairness of price discrimination should be considered separately and there is no reason for outlawing price discrimination in general.

How To Create Opt-In Forms 5 Ways To Convert Traffic Like Crazy

How To Create Opt-In Forms 5 Ways To Convert Traffic Like Crazy Without a doubt, everyone wants to turn their website visitor into a customer. But did you know that  95% of first-time visitors  are not ready to purchase from your website right away? In fact, it takes on average three to four visits to your website for prospects to actually think of buying from you. This means if you’re selling a product or a service on your website, you could be losing many potential customers unless you build an email list and nurture them to purchase your products. Nonetheless, persuading visitors to submit your opt-in forms is key to the success of your business. Now, opt-in forms require various elements to attract leads and encourage completions. Each  of these elements is essential for boosting sign ups by reducing friction. In this post, let us discuss various key elements of high conversion opt-in forms, and how each element can contribute to improving your conversion rate.How To Create Opt-In Forms: 5 Ways To Convert Traffic Like Crazy1. Make Your Lead Generation Form Visually Appealing Studies show that  55% of visitors  spend fewer than 15 seconds on your website. Evidently, if you’re looking to increase conversion rate, you’ll need to grab the attention of your visitors as quickly as possible with a beautiful opt-in form. While prettiness of your form can be pleasing to eyeballs, the primary goal should be to make your form stands out from the rest of the content of your page, so it easily grabs the attention of your visitors. QuickSprout’s lead generation form is one of the perfect examples of a visually appealing opt-in form. Wondering what makes the QuickSprout’s form stands out? Let’s take a look at them below. Subtle shadow: You can notice a subtle shadow below the bottom corners, providing the form a little popping kind of effect. Directional cues: Using a directional cue has an inevitable role in designing a high converting opt-in form. It shows your visitors where to focus in your form. In the QuickSprout example, the header points downwards where the fields and button are placed. Recommended Reading: How To Write Landing Pages That Will Boost Your Conversions The below example of Constant Contact’s form is another example of using directional cue that points CTA button. Use directional arrows on opt-in forms to direct user actions.Actionable Tips for Creating a Visually-Appealing Opt-in Form Design When it comes to from design, below are a few tips that might help you: Create pretty opt-in forms using a form generator: You don't  necessarily have to be a designer in order to create an eye-catching form. If you’re on WordPress, you may use a free plugin like  Optin Forms  or use a premium SaaS solution like  OptinMonster. Visually appealing landing pages: While opt-in forms are an essential element of your landing page, make sure all other elements are also optimized for conversion. WordPress offers  various landing page plugins  for designing a page. Here are some other popular options to consider: LeadPages Unbounce Instapage 2. Increase Perceived Value With Compelling Content Upgrades What is the most important thing that encourages people to subscribe to your list? If you ask me, it is the opt-in bribe you offer your leads for subscription. Undoubtedly, visually appealing design attracts eyeballs to your opt-in forms. However, design alone is not sufficient to encourage people to subscribe to your list. It doesn’t matter how pretty your design is, unless you convey the benefits of subscription you can’t expect many sign ups. In order to encourage sign ups, make sure you offer something valuable which your prospects can’t refuse. That being said, you shouldn’t necessarily offer something huge as an opt-in bribe, but make sure it should be perceived as high-value. Encourage signups via opt-in forms by offering something prospects can't refuse.Again, let’s take a look at the QuickSprout’s opt-in form and its title copy. It says â€Å"Free Course: Double Your Traffic in 30 days + Secret Bonus (Valued at $300)† Let’s see how it increases perceived value with this compelling content. It focuses on solving a pain point: Solving a common pain point is one the best ways to encourage leads to subscribe to your list. In this case, QuickSprout offers a guide that tells how to double traffic in just 30 days. Because gaining traffic is a time-consuming task, this is an undeniable offer. Images: Another thing I liked about the form is that it shows the free course as a bundle of books and CDs, which definitely raises the perceived value of the opt-in bribe. Specifying dollar value: It also mentions how worthy the offer is by specifying its dollar value- yet another great way to increase perceived value. Recommended Reading: 10 Stunning Examples Of Visual Content Marketing Content Upgrades: Increasing Actual Value vs. Perceived Value While it is always possible to raise the perceived value of your content upgrade, one of the drawbacks of this approach is that since more and more marketers are offering generic opt-in bribes like ebooks, it is hard to differentiate yours from your competitors. And this is the primary reason  why the team at CopyBlogger launched a free paywall for MyCopyBlogger rather than a generic opt-in bribe such as an ebook. They wanted to offer both perceived as well as actual value than traditional methods. If you haven’t heard about MyCopyBlogger yet, it is a premium content library consisting 15 eBooks and a 20-part internet marketing course. In order to access the content, subscribers are required to log in to the site by entering their email address. Below are the results of this approach. This strategy of increasing perceived value and actual value boosted the sign up rate by 400%. Besides the sign up rate, the lead quality remained high and it helped to generate $300,000 in Authority  sales in their first month. This video from Jeff Sauer of  Jeffalytics shows how to build content upgrades to gate behind your opt-in forms: Recommended Reading: How To Use Social Media Analytics To Create The Best Content 3. Reduce the Number of Form Fields Undoubtedly, reducing the number of form fields is one of the easiest ways to increase sign up rate. And it has been proven by many studies. By analyzing contact forms of 40,000 of their customers, Dan Zarrella at HubSpot  found  that conversion rates improve when unnecessary fields are eliminated. Blivakker.no  found  an 11% rise in sign up rate when the number of form fields is reduced. Expedia eliminated just one field  resulting in a $12 million profit. These results make sense because shorter opt-in forms make submission easy and convenient for your prospects, which in turns encourage more sign ups. Increase signup form completions by eliminating unnecessary fields.So when creating an opt-in form, always double check whether each field is necessary and try eliminating the fields that are not critical for your marketing strategy. Number of Fields: Lead Quantity vs. Quality With that said, do keep in mind that the quality of your leads  is as important as the conversion rate. For that reason, if you’re eliminating the number of fields for boosting conversion, make sure to test the quality of your leads  as well. For instance, while auditing the lead flow, the team at B2B software company Iron Mountain found that eliminating number of form fields tremendously reduces the quality of leads. For them, in order to qualify a lead, simply gathering name and email address are not just enough. So, instead of reducing the number of form fields for boosting sign ups, they focused on improving qualified leads. A form submission is considered qualified if a lead submits accurate information for sales inquiry. At the end of the test, the A/B test with form design variations  improved qualified leads by 140%. Below are a few lessons you can learn from this case study. Validate fields: Leads submit accurate info if the fields are validated. This can help improving lead quality. Qualified leads improve efficiency  of sales teams: If you’re a B2B business, qualified leads help your sales team to focus on selling rather than researching contacts. Capturing more info: Gathering more info helps in personalizing follow up emails tailored to the lead’s industry. Two Additional Actionable Tips Aside from validating form fields, below are a few tips to follow. Add help text: Provide helps tips next to each field explaining why each info is being collected. Use ghost text: Ghost text helps users to identify in what format each field should be filled in. However, if you insist users to insert irrelevant fields, for example, dashes for a phone number, chances are it will create friction, which in turn reduces conversion rate. 4. Make the CTA Button Stand Out Make sure your users can easily differentiate your CTA from rest of the opt-in form elements. This strategy can help to grab the attention of your potential leads and encourage clicks. In one case study,  Dmix tested  comparing green and red button colors in their CTA. After testing 600 subjects, they found that conversions increased by 34% when they used red button. The reason why red button outperformed the green in the above example is that the red stands out from the rest of the design. So it draws attention and encourages click. Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Guide to Using Color Psychology In Marketing + Free Color Schemes Below is another example of using a button that doesn’t blend into the design. Additionally, make sure your CTA is actually a button. This separates the button from other elements placed on your page, which persuades visitors to click on it. For example, RIPT tested their original call to actions against a new CTA button. When the control is tested against the original, they immediately saw a rise in sales. The copy of your CTA button is as important as the color. According to a  survey by Formstack, little changes in button copy can help boosting conversion rates tremendously. With that said, you shouldn’t blindly follow someone else’s test on your opt-in form. The only way to improve conversion is to conduct a test on yours and learn how various CTA versions resonate with your audience. Recommended Reading: How To Write A Call To Action In A Template With 6 Examples 5. Place Forms Above-the-Fold Placing an opt-in form above-the-fold is a common practice to grab the most attention of your visitors. Entrepreneurs-journey.com offers a good example of a form that is placed above-the-fold. The best thing about this leaderboard sized opt-in form is that unlike popups, it grabs attention without annoying visitors. In fact, visitors can also choose not to display the form if they wish not to view it. Such placement is advisable,  especially because  Google recently announced  that they’ll start penalizing "intrusive interstitials" like popups on mobile devices from Jan. 10, 2017. So if you’re currently using any kind of intrusive opt-in forms for growing your list and are concerned about receiving a Google penalty, you might want to remove it from your website and place it above-the-fold for mobile devices. While above-the-fold placement can be an easy tactic to grab the attention of your visitors, it is not a "one size fits all" solution for driving more conversions. Let’s take a look at when you shouldn’t place your form above-the-fold. Should opt-in forms be above-the-fold? It depends.When Above-the-Fold Isn't The Best Option Did you remember the age old marketing lesson AIDA? AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. Remember the AIDA formula when building opt-in forms.When it comes to the placement of your opt-in form on your landing page, this means before asking your potential lead to complete a form, you’ll need to explain about your offer and convince them to subscribe to your list by explaining its benefits. Various sales pages have been using this AIDA tactic for boosting conversion. Optimize Your Opt-In Forms And Drive More Conversions! I hope this article gives you some insights on creating a high converting opt-in form for your next list building campaign. Every website and its audiences are unique. It is always better to test what brings better result before making assumptions. What is your favorite tip for creating a high-conversion lead generation form? Share your thoughts with us by dropping a line below in the comments section.

Common household items (chemicals) found in cells Essay

Common household items (chemicals) found in cells - Essay Example The amino acids in a protein determine how it folds into a three-dimensional shape; this structure is, in turn, responsible for the proteins function. Proteins carry out almost all the functions needed for cells to live. A change to the DNA in a gene can change a proteins amino acids, changing its shape and function: this can have a dramatic effect in the cell and on the organism as a whole. Major metabolic reactions by which the cell obtains and stores energy is in the form of ATP. This metabolic energy is then used to accomplish various tasks, including the synthesis of macromolecules and other cell constituents like carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. Researchers believe that RNA is a unique molecule and the earth is home to RNA-based organisms, which could find food, grow and reproduce and gradually switch to double-stranded DNA. Proteins cannot be made by RNA-based organisms, so they could live where main ingredients like sulphur, required for protein synthesis is absent. By extraction of DNA, the genome pattern of various species can be established. Scientists are rewriting the genetic code and using engineered bacteria making new proteins with new amino acids. Designing new proteins, looking for signs in metabolic activity in varnishes, scientists are now looking for alternate forms of life. The fact that Deinococcus radiodurans withstood 1000 times the amount of radiation to kill humans, suggests that there might be a life which we do not

Elaborate on the five interpersonal bases of power, five ways to Essay

Elaborate on the five interpersonal bases of power, five ways to minimize political activity, and at least five ways to manage organizational politics effectively - Essay Example People have reference power when others respect and like them. It is the perception of individual relationships that she/he has that creates her/his power over others. Expert power is derived from having knowledge or skill in a particular area. Such individuals are highly esteemed by organizations for their problem solving skills. Modes of minimizing political activities in an organization involve: Opening eyes and accepting politics exist within the organization and dealing with them adequately. Challenge political behaviors to maintain performance. Make things visible; transparency within any organization will reduce political activities. Walk the talk; honesty shuns politicking since it encourages transparency. Reduce vulnerabilities to political behaviors within an organization. Managing organizational politics effectively involves creation and implementations of clear policies and procedures, which at the end reduces ambiguity. Transparency; be open and visible with employees in key matters that affect them. Learn the rules of politics and apply them appropriately for success in an organization. Establish positive and credible impression in the eyes of employees and others in the organization to motivate them. Act in ways consistent with verbal communication to employees to portray walk the talk

Solid Waste and Recycling Essay Example for Free

Solid Waste and Recycling Essay Over the years, the demand for effective solid waste management and recycling has drastically risen. This has mainly been due to the fast changing methods of consumerism and drastically increasing populations of towns with time. Lack of long term focus has greatly contributed to the menace as the urban systems are highly dynamic and require visionary establishment that project into the future. The problem has also been exacerbated by poor technology adoption that is necessary for ensuring solid waste is effectively treated. Besides, modern planning systems require greater attention for recycling necessary for ensuring least pollution of environment while maximizing the utility of available materials. Failing to plan has been considered as major step in planning to fail in offering the necessary management of wastes in the major cities (Wilson et al, 2004). Most often, the term solid waste is used to denote municipal solid wastes which include all the wastes that are in non-liquid form generated within an urban setting. They mostly include domestic wastes from the residential areas, business and commercial centers, industrial centers and construction regions within the town jurisdictions. Recycling on the other hand involves focus on the already produced wastes to increase their utility (Eugenie, 2008). It is aimed at bringing different materials back in a useful format though mostly different from the previous one. Urban planning and management interlinks the two concepts as they are directly dependent on each other for effective treatment and management. This paper evaluates solid wastes and recycling as major considerations in urban planning. As a result, it extrapolates solid wastes management aspects necessary for consideration during urban planning. Acting as a structural system, the paper examines the waste stream from production up to disposal with appropriate planning aspects at each stage. Using examples of major cities and towns, effectiveness of solid waste planning and management systems are compared for efficiency. Besides, the paper also explores the possible planning and recycling techniques for solid wastes in the urban areas. In the conclusion, the paper gives recommendations that can be assumed by various urban planners and managers to effectively manage and recycle their wastes. Overview and statistics In US, over 500, 000, 000 tons of solid wastes are generated annually by urban centers. However, only 35% of this waste is recycled while the rest is disposed off. These indicate a strong increase in the recycling capacity of 8% since the year 1990. However, the quantity indicated is much lower as Environmental Protection Agency does not take into consideration of the incinerated solid wastes and that in the illegal landfills. Besides, this waste usually excludes health wastes which are categorized as hazardous wastes. Waste production has been increasing steadily since the onset of industrial revolution. About 0. 979 tons of wastes are disposed annually per person by the US population (Eugenie, 2008). However, the mode of handling the wastes differs greatly as states and towns have varying leadership and management as well as budgetary allocations. To add to that, the attitudes of the people in the major towns determine the suitability of the recycling processes thereby effectively contributing to the sorting out of the solid wastes for recycling process. Majority of the US cities and states have been exporting their wastes to other regions for treatment and disposal. On average, Pennsylvania exports 9,764,000 tons, Virginia 3, 891, 000 tons, Illinois 1, 548, 000, and New York 5, 600, 000 tons. Though this trend has been greatly criticized, it is considered as a better option since majority of the states and towns lack the correct facilities to treat and dispose off their wastes safely (Eugenie, 2008). Solid waste collection and transportation Arguably, town planning has diversified from the previous architectural focus to include new aspects of waste management that have become part of the same entity. Production capacity of an urban center is highly dependent on different factors that must be considered when drawing the management plan. Cognizant of the expansion capacity, the town must be fully equipped to collect various wastes produced in its jurisdictions. As the first step ample means of classifying the production regions and categorization of the same waste must be set in place. This role is usually taken by the Solid waste management departments of the urban managements. Collection of solid wastes acts as one of the most important initial stages as it prevents spread of the same wastes in the areas of production. To effectively manage collection of wastes, Loss Angeles, San Francisco and London have established cooperative mechanisms where they link with the private sector for the collection purposes. However, the private sector operates in a business model that may at times harm the residents of the different cities through increased taxes. Of greater importance, is the transport system for the collected wastes in different regions which has been accused of spreading the wastes collected along the transportation routes. Urban planning for solid wastes should always apply the principle of proximity choice which requires that wastes are treated and/ or disposed at the nearest possible point to reduce transferring related problems to other regions. Transportation for solid wastes should always be carried out in fully enclosed systems as different materials are light and can easily be dispersed away. Since this forms a major point of interaction between the residents and the waste collecting institutions, it is of great importance to ensure that inclusive coordination and cooperation is enhanced for effectiveness. Major towns fail due to lack of effective collection and transportation mechanisms. Of greater concerns have been the plastic bags which have turned the whole solid waste management into a riddle for many towns. Their collection and transportation should therefore be immediate and highly effective. Solid waste treatment

The Body as Anstoss in Sartres Account of Constitution :: Jean-Paul Sartre Philosophy Existentialism

The Body as Anstoss in Sartre's Account of Constitution ABSTRACT: Of all the German idealists, Jean-Paul Sartre refers the least to Fichte-so little in fact that there have been long-standing suspicions that he was not even familiar with Fichte's writings. It is perhaps ironic, then, that Fichte's writings are as helpful as they are for clarifying Sartre's views, especially his views on subjectivity and inter-subjectivity. Here I want to look closely at a key concept in Fichte's mature writings: the concept of the Anstoss, a concept which Dan Breazeale has called "Fichte's original insight." Fichte introduces the Anstoss, or "check," to explain why the I posits the world as it does. In effect, the Anstoss is the occasion of the facticity of the I. I will show that his concept can be uniquely helpful in understanding the role the body plays in Sartre's theory of inter-subjectivity. The importance of Sartre's account of the body for his theory of subjectivity and inter-subjectivity has been chronically under-appreciated by his interpreters; this comparison is the beginning of an attempt to rectify that. In turn the concept of the Anstoss provides a means for analyzing the necessary differences between any Sartrean and Fichtean ethics based on their respective accounts of inter-subjectivity. Of all the German Idealists, Sartre refers the least to Fichte-so little in fact that there have been long-standing suspicions that he wasn't even familiar with Fichte's writings. It is perhaps ironic, then, that Fichte's writings are as helpful as they are for clarifying Sartre's views-especially his views on subjectivity and intersubjectivity. Here I want to look closely at a key concept in Fichte's mature writings-the concept of the Anstoss, a concept which has Dan Breazeale (implicitly against Dieter Henrich) has called "Fichte's original insight." (1) I believe, and I hope to show here, that this concept can be uniquely helpful in understanding, of all things, the role the body plays in Sartre's theory of intersubjectivity. The importance of Sartre's account of the body for his theory of subjectivity and intersubjectivity has been chronically under-appreciated by his interpreters; this comparison is the beginning of an attempt to rectify that. This introduces in turn a means for analyzing the necessary differences between any Sartrean and Fichtean ethics based on their respective accounts of intersubjectivity. The term Anstoss is first used in a systematic fashion by Fichte in the Grundlage der Gesamten Wissenschaftslehre from 1794/95.

Environmental Science Chapter 18 Review Essay

Chapters 18-1 & 18-2 Review Section 1 Review – 1. List six forms of renewable energy, and compare the advantages and disadvantages of each. Pros: 1) Passive solar heating may hold a great advantage for a homeowner if there is reliable sunlight that is able to shine into the home and create warmth. Also, it will reduce energy bills in their liquid even when the sun is not shining. 3) Wind power is cheap, clean energy that is the average household. 2) Active solar heating systems have the advantage of storing heat in essentially free once the infrastructure is paid for. 4) Biomass fuel is in abundant supply and can convert waste into energy. 5) Hydroelectric energy may be expensive to build, but are inexpensive to operate. Unlike fossil fuel plants, hydroelectric dams do not release air pollutants into the atmosphere that cause acid precipitation. They also last longer than most other plants. 6) Geothermal energy is almost entirely emission free and can be built underground. Cons: 1) Passive solar heating may only be seen as an effective use of power if the climate is able to provide enough sunlight. 2) Active solar heating plans are expensive and in most areas, an active solar system will be unable to capture enough sunlight to replace the heating and electrical systems in a house. 3) Wind power can be a failed energy source, for wind is inconsistent, unsteady and unpredictable. 4) Biomass fuel is costly to produce and needs a substructure of fossil fuel for production and use. It can result in habitat loss, deforestation, and harmful air pollution. 5) Hydroelectric energy is directly related to how much water is available, thus potentially causing a drought. They also relate to interventions in nature due to damming of water, changed water flow and the construction of roads and power lines. 6) Geothermal power is also expensive to obtain and must be managed carefully so that it is not depleted . 2. Describe the differences between passive solar heating, active solar heating, and photovoltaic energy. Passive solar energy uses the sun’s energy to heat something directly while active solar heating and photovoltaic energy uses energy from the sun that is gathered by collectors. 3. Describe how hydroelectric energy, geothermal energy, and geothermal energy pumps work. Hydroelectric energy is produced by heating up water to produce steam, which then spins the turbines and generates electricity. Geothermal energy  is created when steam rises through a well and drives turbines, which generate electricity. The leftover liquid water is then pumped back into the hot rock. Geothermal energy pumps are used so when the ground is warmer, the heat is transferred from the ground to warm the house and when the ground is cool, heat is transferred from the house to the ground to cool the house. 4. Explain whether all renewable energy sources have their origin in energy from the sun. Only a small fraction of the sun’s energy reaches the Earth. However, this energy is enough to power the wind, plant growth, and the water cycle. So nearly all renewable energy comes directly or indirectly from the sun. Section 2 Review – 1. Describe three alternative energy technologies, and identify two ways that hydrogen could be used as fuel source in the future. Three examples of alternative energy technologies are tidal power, ocean thermal energy conversion, and solar chimneys. Tidal power is when the tide rises, water flows behind a dam and when the tide falls, the water is trapped behind the damn. When water in the reservoir is released, it turns a turbine that generates electricity. OTEC is when warm surface water is brought to a boil in a vacuum chamber. The boiling water produces steam to drive a turbine that generates electricity. Solar chimneys use the greenhouse effect to produce moving air that escapes through a central chimney where wind turbines make electricity. Hydrogen can be burned as fuel, for it does not contain carbon, so it does not release pollutants associated with burning fossil fuels and biomass. Hydrogen isotopes can also be used in a controlled nuclear fusion reaction. 2. List as many w ays as you can for individuals and communities to conserve energy. – Replacing light bulbs with new energy efficient models – Adjusting the temperature of your home while away or sleeping – Wash clothing with cold water – Install low-flow showerheads and faucets – Turning out lights in vacant rooms 3. Describe the difference between energy conservation and energy efficiency. Energy efficiency is the percentage of energy put into a system that does useful work while energy conservation means saving energy. 4. What factors influence a person’s choice to conserve energy? Factors that may influence a person’s choice to conserve energy are to help lower their energy bill and help the environment.

Foreign Review of Related Literature Essay

Students who get the system of studying know that good grades lead to more freedom and responsibility in life. Some only want to have fun and focus on other things but it is said that their refusal to study did not fulfill them that is why they feel guilty and realize a need to change. This being said, all students are encouraged to take their studies seriously. Because in our generation, the youth tend to give in to the things that will give them immediate yet temporary happiness than happiness that might take long to have yet it will last longer. Students must all know that every moment of education is important because the pleasures of today have no assurance that they will still exist tomorrow. We might say that we have attained freedom through our reckless acts as a child, through our ignorance towards studies but these will all backfire on us in the future. They consequences that will be put upon us will be sevenfold. As the saying goes, â€Å"What goes around, comes around.â €  same with our present to future education. A study plan has to be made. Students should use their time wisely in everything that they do. They should study in a place that will be suitable and comfortable for them. There must be enough space for the students to be able to place and move their books freely while studying. Perhaps studying a very general topic that needs a lot of references, a student needs enough space to be able to open the important pages that relates to their topic without it being a burden. At the same time, they should be comfortable enough to be able to focus on their studies properly and not have to worry about having neck/back aches, or even poor eyesight. There must be a fair lighting to prevent blurring of the eyes. Most importantly, they should establish a study plan to have an orderly routine in studying and also to have proper distribution of time with studies and resting. Time management is one of the greatest factors to consider in attaining high grades. All students must learn good study habits that will help them keep record of their assignments and the things that are need to be done. Students must also learn to stop cramming and procrastinating. Students must all complete their tasks immediately to avoid passing assignments or requirements after the deadline. They should also study immediately after school hours to keep their mastery over the said lessons and to be able to pass the exams with flying colors. Also every student is encouraged or most probably required to understand and learn their lessons than to just memorize what they have read. Some knowledge of research methods of the logic of research analysis is necessary both to avoid being misled by bad research and to help in interpreting the findings that are presented. Analyzing rather than memorizing, that’s the main point of this statement. It is to let the readers and the students know that mastery does not come from what the writings in the book say but from the way we understood what we have read. Lastly, everyone not only students must know that the same intelligence which is in you is also in the things that you desire. That the human person must believe in his/her own self and not repeat words or formulas but his/her power to do something. It’s not always the bookish and academic things that will define our intelligence or performance, but mostly in our attitude towards studies. It’s not always about being book smart, but it is also about the perseverance and the things we do to strive for success, the efforts that we make to achieve our goals and the sacrifices that we make for the assurance of success. It only means that everything is up to us, on the way we perceive things, the way we take things through, and the way we approach things. We must always keep a positive attitude because this is the first big step towards becoming what we want to be in the future.

Lyndon B Johnson Fast Facts

Lyndon B Johnson Fast Facts Lyndon Baines Johnson succeeded to the presidency upon the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He had served as the youngest Democratic Majority Leader in the United States Senate. He was extremely influential in the Senate. During his time in office, major Civil Rights legislation was passed. In addition, the Vietnam War escalated.   Following is a quick list of fast facts for Lyndon B Johnson. For more in-depth information, you can also read the Lyndon B Johnson Biography Birth August 27, 1908 Death January 22, 1973 Term of Office November 22, 1963 - January 20, 1969 Number of Terms Elected 1 Term; Completed Kennedys term of office after his assassination and then was elected again in 1964 First Lady Claudia Alta Lady Bird Taylor - While serving as First Lady, she advocated beautifying Americas highways and cities.   Chart of the First Ladies Lyndon B Johnson Quote Just like the Alamo, somebody damn well needed to go to their aid. Well, by God, Im going to Vietnams aid. Major Events While in Office Vietnam Conflict Continues (1963 - 1969)Civil Rights Act (1964)Twenty-Fourth Amendment ratified outlawing the poll tax (1964)Medicare and Medicaid (1965)Twenty-Fifth Amendment ratified concerning the order of succession for the presidency (1967)Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated (1968)Robert Kennedy assassinated (1968)Pueblo Incident (1968) Related Lyndon B Johnson Resources These additional resources on Lyndon B Johnson can provide you with further information about the president and his times. Essentials of the Vietnam War. Vietnam was a war that brought great pain to many Americans. Some would consider it to be an unnecessary war. Discover its history and understand why it is an integral part of American History. A war that was fought at home as well as abroad; in Washington, Chicago, Berkeley and Ohio, as well as Saigon.Chart of Presidents and Vice Presidents. This informative chart gives quick reference information on the presidents, vice-presidents, their terms of office, and their political parties.

Bloodlines Chapter Twelve

We tried to tell him that Tamara was killed by Strigoi, but he won’t believe it. He doesn’t want to. He can’t take revenge on a Strigoi. They’re immortal. Invincible. But some human vampire hunter? Somehow, in his head, that’s something he can go after. And if he can’t, then he can focus his energy on how the guardians won’t go after these nonexistent vampire hunters.† I just barely heard Eddie mutter, â€Å"Strigoi aren’t that invincible.† In the rearview mirror, I saw Jill’s face filled with compassion. She was seated between Lee and Eddie. â€Å"Even if it’s a fantasy, maybe it’s better this way,† she suggested. â€Å"It gives him comfort. I mean, kind of. Having something tangible to hate is what gets him through. Otherwise he’d just give in to despair. He’s not hurting anyone with his theories. I think he’s sweet.† She caught her breath in that way she did when she’d said a whole lot all at once. My eyes were back on the road, but I could swear Lee was smiling. â€Å"That’s nice of you,† he told her. â€Å"I know he likes having you around. Turn right up here.† That was to me. Lee had been giving me directions ever since we left Clarence’s. We were just outside of Palm Springs proper, nearing the very impressive-looking Desert Gods Golf Course and Resort. Further guidance from him led us to the Mega-Fun Mini-Golf Center, which was adjacent to the resort. I searched for a parking spot and heard Jill gasp when she caught sight of the golf course’s crowning glory. There, in the center of a cluster of gaudily decorated putting greens, was a huge fake mountain with an artificial waterfall spouting from its top. â€Å"A waterfall!† she exclaimed. â€Å"It’s amazing.† â€Å"Well,† said Lee, â€Å"I wouldn’t go that far. It’s made of water that’s been pumped over and over and has God only knows what in it. I mean, I wouldn’t try to drink or swim in it.† Before I even had the car to a stop, Adrian was out the door, lighting a cigarette. We’d gotten in an argument on the way over, despite me telling him three times that Latte was a strictly no-smoking car. The rest of us soon got out as well, and I wondered what I’d signed up for here as we strolled toward the entrance. â€Å"I’ve actually never been mini-golfing,† I remarked. Lee came to a halt and stared. â€Å"Never?† â€Å"Never.† â€Å"How does that happen?† asked Adrian. â€Å"How is it possible that you’ve never played mini-golf?† â€Å"I had kind of an unusual childhood,† I said at last. Even Eddie looked incredulous. â€Å"You? I was practically raised at an isolated school in the middle of nowhere Montana, and even I’ve played mini-golf.† Saying I was homeschooled was no excuse this time, so I just let it go. Really, it just came down to having a childhood more focused on chemical equations than on fun and recreation. Once we started playing, I soon got the hang of it. My first few attempts were pretty bad, but I soon understood the weight of the club and how the angles on each course could be maneuvered. From there, it was pretty simple to calculate distance and force to make accurate shots. â€Å"Unbelievable. If you’d been playing since you were a child, you’d be a pro by now,† Eddie told me as I knocked my ball into a gaping dragon’s mouth. The ball rolled out the back, down a tube, bounced off a wall, and into the hole. â€Å"How’d you do that?† I shrugged. â€Å"It’s simple geometry. You’re not that bad either,† I pointed out, watching him make his shot. â€Å"How do you do it?† â€Å"I just line it up and putt.† â€Å"Very scientific.† â€Å"I just rely on natural talent,† said Adrian, strolling up to the start of the Dragon’s Lair. â€Å"When you have such a wealth of it to draw from, the danger comes from having too much.† â€Å"That makes no sense whatsoever,† said Eddie. Adrian’s response was to pause and take out a silver flask from his inner coat pocket. He unscrewed it and took a quick drink before leaning in to line up his shot. â€Å"What was that?† I exclaimed. â€Å"You can’t have alcohol out here.† â€Å"You heard Jailbait earlier,† he countered. â€Å"It’s the weekend.† He lined up his ball and shot. The ball went directly for the dragon’s eye, bounced off it, and shot back toward Adrian. It rolled and came to a stop at his feet, nearly where it had started. â€Å"Natural talent, huh?† asked Eddie. I leaned forward. â€Å"I think you broke the dragon’s eye.† â€Å"Just like Keith,† said Adrian. â€Å"I figured you’d appreciate that, Sage.† I gave him a sharp look, wondering if there was any hidden meaning behind that. Mostly, Adrian seemed amused by his own wit. Eddie mistook my expression. â€Å"That was inappropriate,† he told Adrian. â€Å"Sorry, Dad.† Adrian shot again and managed not to maim any statues this time. A couple more shots, and he sank the ball. â€Å"There we go. Three.† â€Å"Four,† said Eddie and I in unison. Adrian looked at us incredulously. â€Å"It was three.† â€Å"You’re forgetting about your first one,† I said. â€Å"The one where you blinded the dragon.† â€Å"That was just the warm-up,† Adrian argued. He put on a smile I think he hoped would charm me. â€Å"Come on, Sage. You understand how my mind works. You said I was brilliant, remember?† Eddie glanced at me in surprise. â€Å"You did?† â€Å"No! I never said that.† Adrian’s smile was infuriating. â€Å"Stop telling people that.† Since I was in charge of the scorecard, his play was logged as four, despite his many further protests. I started to move forward, but Eddie held out a hand to stop me, his hazel eyes gazing over my shoulder. â€Å"Hold up,† he said. â€Å"We need to wait for Jill and Lee.† I followed his gaze. The two of them had been in deep conversation since we arrived, so much so that they’d slowed and lagged behind the rest of us. Even during his bantering with Adrian and me, Eddie had continually checked on her – and our surroundings. It was kind of amazing the way he could multitask. Thus far, Jill and Lee had only been one hole behind us. Now it was nearly two, and that was too far for Eddie to keep her in his sight. So, we waited while the oblivious couple meandered their way toward the Dragon’s Lair. Adrian took another drink from his flask and shook his head in awe. â€Å"You had nothing to worry about, Sage. She went right for him.† â€Å"No thanks to you,† I snapped. â€Å"I can’t believe you told her every detail of my visit that night. She was so mad at me for interfering behind her back with you, Lee, and Micah.† â€Å"I hardly told her anything,† argued Adrian. â€Å"I just told her to stay away from that human guy.† Eddie glanced between our faces. â€Å"Micah?† I shifted uncomfortably. Eddie didn’t know about how I’d gone proactive. â€Å"Remember when I wanted you to say something to him? And you wouldn’t?† I proceeded to tell him how I’d then sought out Adrian’s help and found out about Lee’s interest in Jill. Eddie was aghast. â€Å"How could you not tell me any of this?† he demanded. â€Å"Well,† I said, wondering if everything I did was going to result in the wrath of a Moroi or dhampir, â€Å"it didn’t involve you.† â€Å"Jill’s safety does! If some guy likes her, I need to know.† Adrian chuckled. â€Å"Should Sage have passed you a note in class?† â€Å"Lee’s fine,† I said. â€Å"He obviously adores her, and it’s not like she’ll ever be alone with him.† â€Å"We don’t know for sure that he’s fine,† said Eddie. â€Å"Whereas Micah’s a hundred percent okay? Did you do a background check or something?† I asked. â€Å"No,† said Eddie, looking embarrassed. â€Å"I just know. It’s a feeling I get about him. There’s no problem with him spending time with Jill.† â€Å"Except that he’s human.† â€Å"They wouldn’t have gotten serious.† â€Å"You don’t know that.† â€Å"Enough, you two,† interrupted Adrian. Jill and Lee had finally reached the start of the Dragon’s Lair, meaning we could move on. Adrian lowered his voice. â€Å"Your argument’s useless. I mean, look at them. That human boy doesn’t enter into it.† I looked. Adrian was right. Jill and Lee were clearly enthralled with each other. Some guilty part of me wondered if I should be a doing a better job of looking out for Jill. I was so relieved that she was interested in a Moroi that I hadn’t stopped to wonder if she should even be dating anyone. Was fifteen old enough? I hadn’t dated at fifteen. I’d actually, well, never dated. â€Å"There is an age difference between them,† I admitted, more to myself. Adrian scoffed. â€Å"Believe me, I’ve seen age differences. Theirs is nothing.† He walked off, and a few moments later, Eddie and I went to join him. Eddie maintained his simultaneous vigil of Jill, but this time, I got the impression the danger he was watching out for was right beside her. Adrian’s laughter rang out ahead of us. â€Å"Sage!† he called. â€Å"You have got to see this.† Eddie and I reached the next green and stared in astonishment. Then I burst out laughing. We had reached Dracula’s Castle. A huge, multi-towered black castle guarded the hole some distance away. A tunnel was cut out through the center of it with a narrow bridge meant for the ball to go over. If the ball fell off the sides before getting through the castle, it was returned back to the starting point. An animatronic Count Dracula stood off to the castle’s side. He was pure white, with red eyes, pointed ears, and slicked-back hair. He jerkily kept raising his arms to show off a batlike cape. Nearby, a speaker blasted eerie organ music. I couldn’t stop laughing. Adrian and Eddie looked at me as though they’d never seen me before. â€Å"I don’t think I’ve ever heard her laugh,† Eddie told him. â€Å"Certainly not the reaction I was expecting,† mused Adrian. â€Å"I’d been counting on abject terror, judging from past Alchemist behavior. I didn’t think you liked vampires.† Still grinning, I watched Dracula raise his cape up and down. â€Å"This isn’t a vampire. Not a real one. And that’s what makes it so funny. It’s pure Hollywood camp. Real vampires are terrifying and unnatural. This? This is hilarious.† It was clear from their expressions that neither really understood why this would appeal to my sense of humor so much. Adrian did, however, offer to take a picture with my cell phone when I asked him. I posed by Dracula and put on a big smile. Adrian managed to snap the shot just as Dracula was raising his cape. When I viewed the picture, I was pleased to see it had come out perfectly. Even my hair looked good. Adrian gave the picture a nod of approval before handing me the phone. â€Å"Okay, even I can admit that’s pretty cute.† I found myself overanalyzing the comment. What had he meant in saying even he could admit it? That I was cute for a human? Or that I had just met some kind of Adrian hot-girl criteria? Moments later, I had to forcibly stop thinking about it. Let it go, Sydney. It’s a compliment. Accept it. We played through the rest of the course, finally finishing off with the waterfall itself. That was a particularly challenging hole, and I took my time lining up the shot – not that I needed to. I was beating everyone pretty handily. Eddie was the only one who came close. It was clear Jill and Lee didn’t even have their attention on the game, and as for Adrian and his natural talent†¦ well, they were very solidly in last place. Eddie, Adrian, and I were still ahead of the other two, so we waited for them by the waterfall. Jill practically ran to it when she had the chance, gazing up at it with enchanted eyes. â€Å"Oh,† she breathed. â€Å"This is wonderful. I haven’t seen this much water in days.† â€Å"Remember what I said about the toxicity,† teased Lee. But it was clear he found her reaction endearing. As I glanced at the other two guys, I saw that they shared the same feelings. Well, not exactly the same. Adrian’s affection was clearly brotherly. Eddie’s? It was hard to read, kind of a mix of the other two. Maybe it was a kind of guardian fondness. Jill made a gesture to the waterfall, and suddenly, part of it broke off from the tumbling cascade. The chunk of water shaped itself into a braid, then twisted high into the air, making spirals before shattering into a million drops that misted over us all. I had been staring wide-eyed and frozen, but those drops hitting me shocked me awake. â€Å"Jill,† I said in a voice I barely recognized as my own. â€Å"Don’t do that again.† Jill, eyes bright, barely spared me a glance as she made another piece of water dance in the air. â€Å"No one’s around to see, Sydney.† That wasn’t what had me so upset. That wasn’t what filled me with so much panic that I could barely breathe. The world was doing that thing where it started to spin, and I worried I was going to faint. Stark, cold fear ran through me, fear at the unknown. The unnatural. The laws of my world had just been broken. This was vampire magic, something foreign and inaccessible to humans – inaccessible because it was forbidden, something no mortal was meant to delve into. I had only once seen magic used, when two spirit users had turned on each other, and I never wanted to see it again. One had forced the plants of the earth to do her bidding while the other telekinetically hurled objects meant to kill. It had been terrifying, and even though I hadn’t been the target, I’d felt trapped and overwhelmed in the f ace of such otherworldly power. It was a reminder that these weren’t fun, easy people to hang out with. These were creatures wholly different from me. â€Å"Stop it,† I said, feeling the panic rise. I was afraid of the magic, afraid it would touch me, afraid of what it might do to me. â€Å"Don’t do it anymore!† Jill didn’t even hear me. She grinned at Lee. â€Å"You’re air, right? Can you create fog over the water?† Lee stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked away. â€Å"Ah, well, it’s probably not a good idea. I mean, we’re in public†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Come on,† she pleaded. â€Å"It won’t take any effort for you at all.† He actually appeared nervous. â€Å"Nah, not right now.† â€Å"Not you too.† She laughed. Above her and in front of her, that demon water was still spinning, spinning, spinning†¦ â€Å"Jill,† said Adrian, a harsher note in his voice than I’d ever heard before. In fact, I couldn’t recall him ever addressing her by her actual name. â€Å"Stop.† It was all he said, but it was like a wave of something went through Jill. She flinched, and the water spirals disappeared, falling away in droplets. â€Å"Fine,† she said, looking confused. There was a moment of awkwardness, and then Eddie said, â€Å"We should hurry. We’re going to be pushing curfew.† Lee and Jill set out to make their shots and soon were laughing and flirting again. Eddie continued watching them in his concerned way. Only Adrian paid any attention to me. He was the only one who really understood what had happened, I realized. His green eyes studied me, with no trace of their usual bitter humor. I wasn’t fooled, though. I knew there had to be some witty quip coming, mocking my reaction. â€Å"Are you okay?† he asked quietly. â€Å"I’m fine,† I said, turning from him. I didn’t want him to see my face. He’d already seen too much, seen my fear. I didn’t want any of them to know how afraid of them I was. I heard him take a few steps toward me. â€Å"Sage – â€Å" â€Å"Leave me alone,† I snapped back. I hurried off toward the course’s exit, certain he wouldn’t follow me. I was right. I waited for them to finish the game, using the alone time to calm myself down. By the time they caught up to me, I was fairly certain I had wiped most of the emotions from my face. Adrian still watched me with concern, which I didn’t like, but at least he didn’t say anything else about my breakdown. Surprising to no one, the final score showed that I had won and Adrian had lost. Lee had come in third, which seemed to trouble him. â€Å"I used to be a lot better,† he muttered, frowning. â€Å"I used to be perfect at this game.† Considering he’d spent most of the time paying attention to Jill, I thought third was a pretty respectable performance. I dropped him and Adrian off first and then just barely got Eddie, Jill, and me back to Amberwood on time. I was more or less back to normal by then, not that anyone would’ve noticed. Jill was floating on a cloud as we went into our dorm room, talking nonstop about Lee. â€Å"I had no idea he’d traveled so much! He’s maybe been more places than you, Sydney. He keeps telling me that he’ll take me to all of them, that we’ll spend the rest of our lives traveling and doing whatever we want. And he’s taking all sorts of classes in college because he’s not sure what he wants to major in. Well, not all sorts this semester. He’s got a light schedule so that he can spend more time with his father. And that’s good for me. For us, I mean.† I stifled a yawn and nodded wearily. â€Å"That’s great.† She paused from where she’d been searching her dresser for pajamas. â€Å"I’m sorry, by the way.† I froze. I didn’t want an apology for the magic. I didn’t even want to remember it had happened. â€Å"For yelling at you the other night,† she continued. â€Å"You didn’t set me up with Lee. I should never have accused you of interfering. He really has liked me all along, and, well†¦ he’s really great.† I let out the breath I’d been holding and attempted a weak smile. â€Å"I’m glad you’re happy.† She returned cheerfully to her tasks and to talking about Lee until I left to go down to the bathroom. Before brushing my teeth, I stood in front of the sink and washed my hands and arms over and over, scrubbing as hard as I could to wash away the magical drops of water I swore I could still feel on my skin. Bloodlines Chapter Twelve We tried to tell him that Tamara was killed by Strigoi, but he won’t believe it. He doesn’t want to. He can’t take revenge on a Strigoi. They’re immortal. Invincible. But some human vampire hunter? Somehow, in his head, that’s something he can go after. And if he can’t, then he can focus his energy on how the guardians won’t go after these nonexistent vampire hunters.† I just barely heard Eddie mutter, â€Å"Strigoi aren’t that invincible.† In the rearview mirror, I saw Jill’s face filled with compassion. She was seated between Lee and Eddie. â€Å"Even if it’s a fantasy, maybe it’s better this way,† she suggested. â€Å"It gives him comfort. I mean, kind of. Having something tangible to hate is what gets him through. Otherwise he’d just give in to despair. He’s not hurting anyone with his theories. I think he’s sweet.† She caught her breath in that way she did when she’d said a whole lot all at once. My eyes were back on the road, but I could swear Lee was smiling. â€Å"That’s nice of you,† he told her. â€Å"I know he likes having you around. Turn right up here.† That was to me. Lee had been giving me directions ever since we left Clarence’s. We were just outside of Palm Springs proper, nearing the very impressive-looking Desert Gods Golf Course and Resort. Further guidance from him led us to the Mega-Fun Mini-Golf Center, which was adjacent to the resort. I searched for a parking spot and heard Jill gasp when she caught sight of the golf course’s crowning glory. There, in the center of a cluster of gaudily decorated putting greens, was a huge fake mountain with an artificial waterfall spouting from its top. â€Å"A waterfall!† she exclaimed. â€Å"It’s amazing.† â€Å"Well,† said Lee, â€Å"I wouldn’t go that far. It’s made of water that’s been pumped over and over and has God only knows what in it. I mean, I wouldn’t try to drink or swim in it.† Before I even had the car to a stop, Adrian was out the door, lighting a cigarette. We’d gotten in an argument on the way over, despite me telling him three times that Latte was a strictly no-smoking car. The rest of us soon got out as well, and I wondered what I’d signed up for here as we strolled toward the entrance. â€Å"I’ve actually never been mini-golfing,† I remarked. Lee came to a halt and stared. â€Å"Never?† â€Å"Never.† â€Å"How does that happen?† asked Adrian. â€Å"How is it possible that you’ve never played mini-golf?† â€Å"I had kind of an unusual childhood,† I said at last. Even Eddie looked incredulous. â€Å"You? I was practically raised at an isolated school in the middle of nowhere Montana, and even I’ve played mini-golf.† Saying I was homeschooled was no excuse this time, so I just let it go. Really, it just came down to having a childhood more focused on chemical equations than on fun and recreation. Once we started playing, I soon got the hang of it. My first few attempts were pretty bad, but I soon understood the weight of the club and how the angles on each course could be maneuvered. From there, it was pretty simple to calculate distance and force to make accurate shots. â€Å"Unbelievable. If you’d been playing since you were a child, you’d be a pro by now,† Eddie told me as I knocked my ball into a gaping dragon’s mouth. The ball rolled out the back, down a tube, bounced off a wall, and into the hole. â€Å"How’d you do that?† I shrugged. â€Å"It’s simple geometry. You’re not that bad either,† I pointed out, watching him make his shot. â€Å"How do you do it?† â€Å"I just line it up and putt.† â€Å"Very scientific.† â€Å"I just rely on natural talent,† said Adrian, strolling up to the start of the Dragon’s Lair. â€Å"When you have such a wealth of it to draw from, the danger comes from having too much.† â€Å"That makes no sense whatsoever,† said Eddie. Adrian’s response was to pause and take out a silver flask from his inner coat pocket. He unscrewed it and took a quick drink before leaning in to line up his shot. â€Å"What was that?† I exclaimed. â€Å"You can’t have alcohol out here.† â€Å"You heard Jailbait earlier,† he countered. â€Å"It’s the weekend.† He lined up his ball and shot. The ball went directly for the dragon’s eye, bounced off it, and shot back toward Adrian. It rolled and came to a stop at his feet, nearly where it had started. â€Å"Natural talent, huh?† asked Eddie. I leaned forward. â€Å"I think you broke the dragon’s eye.† â€Å"Just like Keith,† said Adrian. â€Å"I figured you’d appreciate that, Sage.† I gave him a sharp look, wondering if there was any hidden meaning behind that. Mostly, Adrian seemed amused by his own wit. Eddie mistook my expression. â€Å"That was inappropriate,† he told Adrian. â€Å"Sorry, Dad.† Adrian shot again and managed not to maim any statues this time. A couple more shots, and he sank the ball. â€Å"There we go. Three.† â€Å"Four,† said Eddie and I in unison. Adrian looked at us incredulously. â€Å"It was three.† â€Å"You’re forgetting about your first one,† I said. â€Å"The one where you blinded the dragon.† â€Å"That was just the warm-up,† Adrian argued. He put on a smile I think he hoped would charm me. â€Å"Come on, Sage. You understand how my mind works. You said I was brilliant, remember?† Eddie glanced at me in surprise. â€Å"You did?† â€Å"No! I never said that.† Adrian’s smile was infuriating. â€Å"Stop telling people that.† Since I was in charge of the scorecard, his play was logged as four, despite his many further protests. I started to move forward, but Eddie held out a hand to stop me, his hazel eyes gazing over my shoulder. â€Å"Hold up,† he said. â€Å"We need to wait for Jill and Lee.† I followed his gaze. The two of them had been in deep conversation since we arrived, so much so that they’d slowed and lagged behind the rest of us. Even during his bantering with Adrian and me, Eddie had continually checked on her – and our surroundings. It was kind of amazing the way he could multitask. Thus far, Jill and Lee had only been one hole behind us. Now it was nearly two, and that was too far for Eddie to keep her in his sight. So, we waited while the oblivious couple meandered their way toward the Dragon’s Lair. Adrian took another drink from his flask and shook his head in awe. â€Å"You had nothing to worry about, Sage. She went right for him.† â€Å"No thanks to you,† I snapped. â€Å"I can’t believe you told her every detail of my visit that night. She was so mad at me for interfering behind her back with you, Lee, and Micah.† â€Å"I hardly told her anything,† argued Adrian. â€Å"I just told her to stay away from that human guy.† Eddie glanced between our faces. â€Å"Micah?† I shifted uncomfortably. Eddie didn’t know about how I’d gone proactive. â€Å"Remember when I wanted you to say something to him? And you wouldn’t?† I proceeded to tell him how I’d then sought out Adrian’s help and found out about Lee’s interest in Jill. Eddie was aghast. â€Å"How could you not tell me any of this?† he demanded. â€Å"Well,† I said, wondering if everything I did was going to result in the wrath of a Moroi or dhampir, â€Å"it didn’t involve you.† â€Å"Jill’s safety does! If some guy likes her, I need to know.† Adrian chuckled. â€Å"Should Sage have passed you a note in class?† â€Å"Lee’s fine,† I said. â€Å"He obviously adores her, and it’s not like she’ll ever be alone with him.† â€Å"We don’t know for sure that he’s fine,† said Eddie. â€Å"Whereas Micah’s a hundred percent okay? Did you do a background check or something?† I asked. â€Å"No,† said Eddie, looking embarrassed. â€Å"I just know. It’s a feeling I get about him. There’s no problem with him spending time with Jill.† â€Å"Except that he’s human.† â€Å"They wouldn’t have gotten serious.† â€Å"You don’t know that.† â€Å"Enough, you two,† interrupted Adrian. Jill and Lee had finally reached the start of the Dragon’s Lair, meaning we could move on. Adrian lowered his voice. â€Å"Your argument’s useless. I mean, look at them. That human boy doesn’t enter into it.† I looked. Adrian was right. Jill and Lee were clearly enthralled with each other. Some guilty part of me wondered if I should be a doing a better job of looking out for Jill. I was so relieved that she was interested in a Moroi that I hadn’t stopped to wonder if she should even be dating anyone. Was fifteen old enough? I hadn’t dated at fifteen. I’d actually, well, never dated. â€Å"There is an age difference between them,† I admitted, more to myself. Adrian scoffed. â€Å"Believe me, I’ve seen age differences. Theirs is nothing.† He walked off, and a few moments later, Eddie and I went to join him. Eddie maintained his simultaneous vigil of Jill, but this time, I got the impression the danger he was watching out for was right beside her. Adrian’s laughter rang out ahead of us. â€Å"Sage!† he called. â€Å"You have got to see this.† Eddie and I reached the next green and stared in astonishment. Then I burst out laughing. We had reached Dracula’s Castle. A huge, multi-towered black castle guarded the hole some distance away. A tunnel was cut out through the center of it with a narrow bridge meant for the ball to go over. If the ball fell off the sides before getting through the castle, it was returned back to the starting point. An animatronic Count Dracula stood off to the castle’s side. He was pure white, with red eyes, pointed ears, and slicked-back hair. He jerkily kept raising his arms to show off a batlike cape. Nearby, a speaker blasted eerie organ music. I couldn’t stop laughing. Adrian and Eddie looked at me as though they’d never seen me before. â€Å"I don’t think I’ve ever heard her laugh,† Eddie told him. â€Å"Certainly not the reaction I was expecting,† mused Adrian. â€Å"I’d been counting on abject terror, judging from past Alchemist behavior. I didn’t think you liked vampires.† Still grinning, I watched Dracula raise his cape up and down. â€Å"This isn’t a vampire. Not a real one. And that’s what makes it so funny. It’s pure Hollywood camp. Real vampires are terrifying and unnatural. This? This is hilarious.† It was clear from their expressions that neither really understood why this would appeal to my sense of humor so much. Adrian did, however, offer to take a picture with my cell phone when I asked him. I posed by Dracula and put on a big smile. Adrian managed to snap the shot just as Dracula was raising his cape. When I viewed the picture, I was pleased to see it had come out perfectly. Even my hair looked good. Adrian gave the picture a nod of approval before handing me the phone. â€Å"Okay, even I can admit that’s pretty cute.† I found myself overanalyzing the comment. What had he meant in saying even he could admit it? That I was cute for a human? Or that I had just met some kind of Adrian hot-girl criteria? Moments later, I had to forcibly stop thinking about it. Let it go, Sydney. It’s a compliment. Accept it. We played through the rest of the course, finally finishing off with the waterfall itself. That was a particularly challenging hole, and I took my time lining up the shot – not that I needed to. I was beating everyone pretty handily. Eddie was the only one who came close. It was clear Jill and Lee didn’t even have their attention on the game, and as for Adrian and his natural talent†¦ well, they were very solidly in last place. Eddie, Adrian, and I were still ahead of the other two, so we waited for them by the waterfall. Jill practically ran to it when she had the chance, gazing up at it with enchanted eyes. â€Å"Oh,† she breathed. â€Å"This is wonderful. I haven’t seen this much water in days.† â€Å"Remember what I said about the toxicity,† teased Lee. But it was clear he found her reaction endearing. As I glanced at the other two guys, I saw that they shared the same feelings. Well, not exactly the same. Adrian’s affection was clearly brotherly. Eddie’s? It was hard to read, kind of a mix of the other two. Maybe it was a kind of guardian fondness. Jill made a gesture to the waterfall, and suddenly, part of it broke off from the tumbling cascade. The chunk of water shaped itself into a braid, then twisted high into the air, making spirals before shattering into a million drops that misted over us all. I had been staring wide-eyed and frozen, but those drops hitting me shocked me awake. â€Å"Jill,† I said in a voice I barely recognized as my own. â€Å"Don’t do that again.† Jill, eyes bright, barely spared me a glance as she made another piece of water dance in the air. â€Å"No one’s around to see, Sydney.† That wasn’t what had me so upset. That wasn’t what filled me with so much panic that I could barely breathe. The world was doing that thing where it started to spin, and I worried I was going to faint. Stark, cold fear ran through me, fear at the unknown. The unnatural. The laws of my world had just been broken. This was vampire magic, something foreign and inaccessible to humans – inaccessible because it was forbidden, something no mortal was meant to delve into. I had only once seen magic used, when two spirit users had turned on each other, and I never wanted to see it again. One had forced the plants of the earth to do her bidding while the other telekinetically hurled objects meant to kill. It had been terrifying, and even though I hadn’t been the target, I’d felt trapped and overwhelmed in the f ace of such otherworldly power. It was a reminder that these weren’t fun, easy people to hang out with. These were creatures wholly different from me. â€Å"Stop it,† I said, feeling the panic rise. I was afraid of the magic, afraid it would touch me, afraid of what it might do to me. â€Å"Don’t do it anymore!† Jill didn’t even hear me. She grinned at Lee. â€Å"You’re air, right? Can you create fog over the water?† Lee stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked away. â€Å"Ah, well, it’s probably not a good idea. I mean, we’re in public†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Come on,† she pleaded. â€Å"It won’t take any effort for you at all.† He actually appeared nervous. â€Å"Nah, not right now.† â€Å"Not you too.† She laughed. Above her and in front of her, that demon water was still spinning, spinning, spinning†¦ â€Å"Jill,† said Adrian, a harsher note in his voice than I’d ever heard before. In fact, I couldn’t recall him ever addressing her by her actual name. â€Å"Stop.† It was all he said, but it was like a wave of something went through Jill. She flinched, and the water spirals disappeared, falling away in droplets. â€Å"Fine,† she said, looking confused. There was a moment of awkwardness, and then Eddie said, â€Å"We should hurry. We’re going to be pushing curfew.† Lee and Jill set out to make their shots and soon were laughing and flirting again. Eddie continued watching them in his concerned way. Only Adrian paid any attention to me. He was the only one who really understood what had happened, I realized. His green eyes studied me, with no trace of their usual bitter humor. I wasn’t fooled, though. I knew there had to be some witty quip coming, mocking my reaction. â€Å"Are you okay?† he asked quietly. â€Å"I’m fine,† I said, turning from him. I didn’t want him to see my face. He’d already seen too much, seen my fear. I didn’t want any of them to know how afraid of them I was. I heard him take a few steps toward me. â€Å"Sage – â€Å" â€Å"Leave me alone,† I snapped back. I hurried off toward the course’s exit, certain he wouldn’t follow me. I was right. I waited for them to finish the game, using the alone time to calm myself down. By the time they caught up to me, I was fairly certain I had wiped most of the emotions from my face. Adrian still watched me with concern, which I didn’t like, but at least he didn’t say anything else about my breakdown. Surprising to no one, the final score showed that I had won and Adrian had lost. Lee had come in third, which seemed to trouble him. â€Å"I used to be a lot better,† he muttered, frowning. â€Å"I used to be perfect at this game.† Considering he’d spent most of the time paying attention to Jill, I thought third was a pretty respectable performance. I dropped him and Adrian off first and then just barely got Eddie, Jill, and me back to Amberwood on time. I was more or less back to normal by then, not that anyone would’ve noticed. Jill was floating on a cloud as we went into our dorm room, talking nonstop about Lee. â€Å"I had no idea he’d traveled so much! He’s maybe been more places than you, Sydney. He keeps telling me that he’ll take me to all of them, that we’ll spend the rest of our lives traveling and doing whatever we want. And he’s taking all sorts of classes in college because he’s not sure what he wants to major in. Well, not all sorts this semester. He’s got a light schedule so that he can spend more time with his father. And that’s good for me. For us, I mean.† I stifled a yawn and nodded wearily. â€Å"That’s great.† She paused from where she’d been searching her dresser for pajamas. â€Å"I’m sorry, by the way.† I froze. I didn’t want an apology for the magic. I didn’t even want to remember it had happened. â€Å"For yelling at you the other night,† she continued. â€Å"You didn’t set me up with Lee. I should never have accused you of interfering. He really has liked me all along, and, well†¦ he’s really great.† I let out the breath I’d been holding and attempted a weak smile. â€Å"I’m glad you’re happy.† She returned cheerfully to her tasks and to talking about Lee until I left to go down to the bathroom. Before brushing my teeth, I stood in front of the sink and washed my hands and arms over and over, scrubbing as hard as I could to wash away the magical drops of water I swore I could still feel on my skin.