“Barkley Fully Supports NBA`s New Dress Code”

This argument is intended to show that Charles Barkley, a major star in the National Basketball Association (NBA), supports the unpopular dress code then-recently established by the league. The writer intends to show that the dress code has support among the players and that there are good reasons to support the code.The writer apparently wants the reader to understand that 1) some basketball players support this new rule, 2) that the manner in which people dress can make a difference in their lives, and 3) that some professional athletes can and do act as role models to their young fans.2. The occasion for the argument is both present and future. The first occasion arises from the ongoing argument that athletes should be role models for their fans, of which the dress code is a part. The second occasion for the argument is future, in that the present change that the author would like to effect would have an effect at a future date. 3. This article argues fact, evaluation, and proposa l. It argues fact by describing the actual dress code and the evidence of the other basketball players’ behavior in response to it.It evaluates that behavior and the probable effect that inappropriate dress might have on teens. Finally, it proposes different behaviors for basketball players as a group. 4. The target audience for this article appears to be basketball fans, particularly teenagers and their parents. 5. This article makes appeals from of logos and ethos. The author argues logically, stating cause and effect in terms of both how basketball players’ examples have an effect on their fans and 2) how an individual dresses affects other people’s perception.In addition, it argues using ethos when the author describes the words and actions of Julius Irving and of Jay Leno. 6. Charles Barkley is making the argument, which the author is reporting. Because Barkley is a basketball player himself, he appears to be reliable and to make a valid argument. 7. The au thor attempts to make himself appear trustworthy by interviewing Charles Barkley for his article. In addition, he provides illustrations of other basketball players, possibly to indicate that he knows–or at least knows of–the players of which he writes.8. Because Barkley was a basketball star and is currently employed as a TNT commentator, his words are already have authority. In addition, the author cites Julius Irving, the tape of the Jay Leno show, and the facts and figures involved in Barkley’s charitable work and business. 9. The arguments made do not define what the â€Å"appropriate† forms of dress might be, either according to the dress code or according to society. Nor does the argument define what it means to dress like a basketball player, as opposed to what it means to dress like other people.In addition, the author does not describe how Charles Barkley himself dresses. 10. There is some attempt to argue the dress code from a racial perspectiv e. However, a better argument that is also touched on is that young fans look up to professional athletes, who should provide good examples for them. The argument attempts to serve the interests of the fans, but professional athletes also gain from it by their increased credibility in the eyes of the public if they dress â€Å"appropriately. † 11. The argument is framed by the discussion of the filming of the Jay Leno segment.It is arranged as a story within a story, in which the author discusses a conversation that takes place during the event that he describes in the opening of the article. 12. The language of the article is straightforward and simple and addresses a topic that the audience cares about. It appeals to the audience by making its points in an easy to understand fashion. Work Cited Stewart, Larry. â€Å"Barkley Fully Supports NBA’s New Dress Code. † Name of Textbook, Editor name (ed. ). City of Publication: Publishing House, date. 729-730.

Analysis of “Death of a Salesman” opening stage directions Essay

Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’ (1949) opens with an extensive description of the Loman house. Miller uses extremely precise and detailed stage directions, including prop placement, sound and lighting, giving heavy significance to each of these elements and painting an unchangeable picture to ensure that it is preserved in every interpretation of his work. Throughout the opening stage directions of Act 1, despite the structure and tone being very factual, composed of short, clear sentences, Miller hints at underlying themes and messages through a range of stylistic devices, preparing the audience for the play, and setting the scene. As the play is set in Brooklyn, New York some years after the great depression, many references are made already at this early stage to idealism and the American dream; the desperate and yearning vision of many Americans at that time of a better life. This permeating theme becomes apparent formerly even to the introduction of the characters, as the mere scenery and props act as symbolic elements, which reflect this motif. Miller however subliminally makes it evident that this dream is purely an illusion, through emblematic phrases in his stage directions such as ‘rising out of reality’ and physical representations, for instance the broken boundaries where ‘characters enter or leave a room by stepping through a wall onto the forestage’ which create an aura of delusion. The first stage directions include a melody played on a flute, ‘telling of grass and trees and the horizon’. This natural imagery encompassing three physical elements accompanied by the soft and harmonious sound, sets a serene tone which is then highly juxtaposed with the following depiction of the house and it’s neighborhood, featured with darkness and hostility. This heavy contrast may be symbolic of the conflict between the dreams to which the individual aspires and the actual harshness of society’s reality. The description of the surrounding cluster of apartment blocks seems almost to have a greater prominence than the house itself, as this is the first thing the audience ‘becomes aware of’. The tall and ‘angular’ silhouette of Manhattan that lies in the backdrop has expressionistic features and  surrounds the Loman house in a way that suggests some metaphorical form of oppression or confinement. The ‘glow of orange’ that falls upon the ‘fragile-seeming’ house is personified as ‘angry’, perhaps reflecting the hostile times in which the play is set. This enclosing and intimidating hostility is in part what makes the home appear so fragile, a fragility that may represent weakness in family bonds or equally, weakness in he who represents the house, condemning him immediately to the role of a tragic protagonist. Willy clings to his dreams just as ‘an air of the dream clings to the place’. This idea becomes present again in the description of Linda’s feelings towards her husband and his traits. ‘his massive dreams’ are the source of his tragic nature, dreams that he shares with the rest of society, but that for him become an unhealthy obsession. Willy is cursed with the incessant desire to pursue his dreams ‘to their end’ and these words forebode a fate that unfolds as a result of this fixation. Overall the opening of this play provides the audience with a sense of the themes that will permeate throughout, by cleverly using stage schemes and elements that insinuate profounder significance of what is to come.

Write a report outlining a promotion Strategy for SENZ based on the Case Study

Write a report outlining a promotion Strategy for SENZ based on the information outlined in the - Case Study Example Therefore to increase the market share of the SENZ in the market scene, strategies ought to be laid to ensure that business continues to grow and attract more customers. SENZ company had planned to bring a great revolution in the market seen by coming up with the new design of umbrellas that are going to be efficient in diverse climates. Those working in the design and marketing sectors of SENZ believed that the product would be easy to explain to the public and hence would perform better. They based their claim on the current condition of umbrellas; most umbrellas tend to turn inside out during heavy winds. So, the company relied mainly on this uniqueness and design factor as a major pull for increasing market share (MCLEISH, 2010). The retail price for the high-end umbrellas was around$12 accounting for about 25% of the market share. According the initial studies on the consumer test, it was noted that many consumers considered the durability, brand, the ease of use and color of umbrellas. The operating margins or these umbrellas were about 40-60% of the retail price and around 40% distribution sale for the distributors. SENZ Company decided to venture into the high-end umbrella segment of the market aiming to retail it product at a price of about $ 50 (VAT included) for the original SENZ and about $40 for the mini umbrellas. Theses relatively high price were aimed at positioning the SENZ umbrellas as unique and high-quality products. They were also intended to cover up the production costs which would much higher than the standard umbrellas attributed to the umbrella design. The target for all this was to enable the company to penetrate the market and work with the top brands by taking the advantage of its fi rst mover advantage. The founders also wanted to have more capital that they would invest in the research to continue advancing the company products to the required standards to

Information system of operational management Essay

Information system of operational management - Essay Example Patsha network design presents the connectivity within and outside the company to enhance information flow. Intranet design presents internal dissemination of information and technical resources while extranet gives an overview of information exchange with external world. Infomeneja IS helps in facilitating implementation of all these designs. Infomeneja IS presents the whole idea of systems but within it sits other sub-system which helps to perform Patsha Operations. These may include; Teleconferencing and mailing system application which help in communication within and outside the company. Sales monitoring and analysis system is another example whose help is to assist in overseeing the sale of published materials and ensure profit realization. An inventory control system will best feature in this to help in stock management. For better management and decision making a decision support system will be embedded to help both middle and top level management. Infomeneja security is one of the major issues of consideration by the Patsha Company to ensure information reliability. A control has to be drafted in regard to the systems security upon the development stages. This control includes aspects such as authentication, authorization, confidentiality and availability of the system resources. These will help to beef up security measures. Authentication should state clearly the identity verification in case of access and in this, infomeneja will implement some authentication principles such as password management, multifactor authentication and biometrics. This will have a direct effect to some other controls strategy such as confidentiality of system

Natural history and phenology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Natural history and phenology - Assignment Example In essence, this laboratory experiment entailed collecting phonological data for a tree on the campus of NEIU with a view of contributing to the modern phenology network. After being provided with a tree to be used for the experiment, I found out that the tree had broad leaf, alternate, compound, and pinnate. In this case, given that, the tree had a broad leaf it was a characteristic of a deciduous hardwood. As observed, one of the leaf was on each node, and it had multiple leaflets on a common stalk and the given multiple leaflets being arranged in a pattern resembling a feather and they were all attached to a central rachis. It had a bark of distinctive lighter streaks with a corn large about ? to 3/2 inch and a shallow cap resembling a beret. Following this chronological order of the tree characteristics, it was clear that the tree was the northern red oak as observed in the appendix B. This type of tree is often found on a varied of soil but more especially on moist sandy clay an d the rocky soil. The table 1 (appendix B) shows the chronological order followed in order to arrive at the conclusion that the tree was the northern oak. ... An oak wilt is a fungal disease often known to be transmitted by insects. It is worth noting that the ork wilt disease is transmitted through the underground roots. It is characterized by the leaf discoloring, bronzing and wilting. Contrary to what was the expected phenology, in week two, there were more leaves infected by the wilt disease with one side of the tree dropping off. Leaves were on the other hand turning brown and they were falling off. In the third week, it was evident that there were more leaves that had been infected with a single leave remaining green though some section of the tree showed signs of dying. On the fourth week, it was vivid that the entire tree was infected and thus ended up drying up. On 15th of October which marked the beginning and end of week five, it was clear from observation that the tree in its totality had turned brown and crusty. When finally, the observation was made on 11th of November, it was certainly clear that there were no leaves. The ta ble 2 (appendix A) shows the procedure followed in carrying out the experiment. Work Cited Koech, EE, & Chmielewski, Claudio. Guidelines for plant Phenological Observations. Meteorologie 2007, 398: 225 – 243. APPENDIX A Table 1. Broad leaf Bark with distinct lighter streaks Acon large ? to 3/2 inch with a shallow cap which resembles a beret. Found on moist but not wet sites Alternate Compound Pinnate Table 2. Week one Leaves were 4 to 9 inches long, dark green, with a distinctive lighter streakes. Week two More leaves infected by the wilt disease with one side of the tree dropping off Third week More leaves infected with a single leave remaining green Fourth week Entire tree was 11th of November No leaves 15th of October Tree had turned brown and crusty APPENDIX B Diagram 1 : Leaf

Motivation Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Motivation Assignment - Essay Example Autocratic Decisions by the leader Leader proposes decisions , takes feedback and then decides Tam proposes decision , final authority with leader Join decision by team as equals Full delegation of decision to team. Shared Leadership and Police Police in US gravitated towards a military style command and control structure in the early 20th century. This was done in response to widespread corruption and political interference. Police applied the principles of Fredrick Taylor and Max Weber and this management philosophy of control from the top exists even today.US administrators are suspicious of the calls to give autonomy to police as they are happy with the current autocratic system and believe the police work already involves a high degree of discretion. Recent forays have been made into participative leadership by introducing concepts such as community policing but the bureaucratic structure is still highly hierarchical. Shared Leadership and Organizational Commitment The problem w ith a command and control structure is that no decision is made at the lowest level. The officer on the street does not see reducing crime as his duty. No one has ever asked him his view on that. He sees that as the responsibility of those high ups that have considerable power. A research conducted in broken arrow ,Okhlama by the BAPD confirms that bat officers felt much more responsible for maintaining law and order when they were asked feedback on important decisions. (Wuestewald, January 2006 vol 73) The ability of being able to participate in important decisions are seen as a sign of trust by the police officers and very few would be willing to break this trust. Shared leadership makes everyone from the beat officer to the police chief believe that he is responsible for the city and the changes it will bring can be dramatic. Shared Leadership and Productivity Once the lower level officers are made part of the decision making authority; they will feel more proud and will have a h igher level of job satisfaction than they achieve simply by following orders. This would invariably lead to the â€Å"happy chicken syndrome† which is simply the fact that satisfied workers produce better quality of work. (S.Kim, 2002 , 62(2)) Shard Leadership and Labor Relations Police Unions are a common phenomenon throughout USA. While the amount of unions in civilian sector has been decreasing; the unions in police forces are increasing. Although they are not prevalent at the national level but they have a huge amount of influence at the local levels. These unions are seen to have popped up as a result of perceived tensions between the beat officers and the management. Relations with the management will improve once beat officers are made part of the decision making authority (R. Eisenberger, 1990). They will then be able to feel the pulls and pressures that senior officers face. The senior officers will also be aware of the conditions in which beat officers work as they are involved in decision making together and will lead to better relations between the two. Shard Leadership and Community Policing Community policing is regarded is being regarded as one of the initiatives of shared policing. However community policing in the entire country has been mixed with highly bureaucratic police structure. This makes the beat officer responsible to the community he serves in as well as his responsibility toward his senior officer’

The Burden of the Current Unemployment Insurance Program on Small Essay

The Burden of the Current Unemployment Insurance Program on Small Businesses and Possible Alternatives - Essay Example Instead, they want to pay more for the employees' salaries and wage protection. The business cost rising from the payment of tax towards unemployment compensation will have to recoup by the business firm through its business and actually the consumers bear the tax burden of the firm. The tax rate of unemployment insurance is based on the stability in working of the firms. A company with stable employment history will get deduction in tax rate. An employer is held liable for paying towards unemployment insurance in case he has quarterly payroll of $1500 or more in a calendar year. "The tax rate for new employers is .0270 (2.7 percent). The first $7,000 in wages paid to each employee during a calendar year is taxable. Any amount over $7,000 for the year is excess wages and is not subject to tax. Excess wages can never be greater than gross wages."1 According to the Federal Unemployment Tax Act establishment and administration of the Unemployment Compensation Program is carried on mutually by the state and federal governments. Thus there exist dual system of state and federal in the tax program and the, payments of the employer towards payroll taxes is levied by both the state and federal governments. The rate of payment towards unemployment taxes by employees is on the basis of established tax rates and the history of employers work stability. Thus employers having a history of greater unemployed workers would have to pay more towards the unemployment compensation tax. In case the business owner is compelled to lay off his business for military service, the resulted unemployment to workers would lead to count as a higher unemployment rate in the firm and thus the tax rate payable by the employer will be higher. Similarly if the employees took leave from their jobs for military service then also firms work history will be shown as higher unemployment rate and thus also the tax rate will be increased. In case workers who refrain from job for joining with their transferred military spouse have the legal right to receive unemployment compensation. Thus the employer wants to pay for their non working employees even though job is exist there. In some states the employers are not chargeable for the workers' leave for military service and thus it does not taken for calculating its tax rate. However the workers have the right to receive unemployment compensation and this is charged from the unemployment compensation fund of the state. Thus the actual cost of workers compensation is paid by the employer as a socialized cost and this will lead to increase the overall state unemployment tax rate. 2 Complicated tax regulations is causing firms to indulge in unnecessary law suits with high cost and this will always prevent establishing new business. Along with this higher rate of workers compensation and unemployment insurance has lead to increasing the labor cost of firms. In Florida there employ tort reform for reducing the burden of employers. Joint and several liability rate reductions are followed in workers unemployment compensation insurance. Small businesses are seriously affected by the workers compensation insurance. Majority of the burden of the rising tax rate is always comes to small businesses. Due to shortfalls in state regulation relating to compensation insurance the small business are required to bear a major portion of the UC fund. The working cost such as regulatory costs and tax payments are always becoming

MAT201 - Basic Statistics Speech or Presentation

MAT201 - Basic Statistics - Speech or Presentation Example I purposely chose the number of phone calls received and not phone calls made in order to avoid any possible bias, which might arise out of conscious and purposeful dialing of the phone. The observation collected was based on randomly taken data for 10 chosen days and the nature of this dataset is time series. The data was collected such that a single day’s call would not stimulate any received call for the following days. This was consciously done in order to avoid bias. Median value corresponds to observation=(n+1)/2, again if the number of observation is odd then we choose the middle value after arranging the observations in increasing order. Whereas if we have even number of observations as we have here, we take the mean of the two middle observations and it yields the median. The mean value of 13.7 calls (14 approx) is much more than what I expected. The busy schedule usually cuts down the number of phone calls to 10 per day. The average should have been somewhere around 10 or 11. The standard deviation is usually used to find the spread of the distribution of the available data set; here the number of phone calls in 10 days. It can also be said that it is a measure of variability. Square root of variance gives standard deviation. To find out whether the given data set follows normal distribution or not we plot the frequency as we may see that we do not get a symmetrical curve, so our inference is that the data do not follow Normal distribution. As it can be observed that the obtained frequency curve is not symmetrical, and hence we infer that the distribution is not Normal because the Normal distribution is a continuous distribution whereas the number of phone calls in 10 days is off course a discrete variable. Hence the most likely distribution that might be used is the Poisson distribution. Now we continue collecting the data on the number of phone calls for five more days. Our basic question in this context would be whether this changes the

Experiences - Life's a school Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Experiences - Life's a school - Essay Example At this point, my true learning experience had started. As a result of this, I began to go paintballing regularly. I went so often that the workers at the course knew my name. At this stage, I was 13 years old and needed to find some employment in order to make some extra money for myself. I took a week-long training course in how to be a paintball referee. I learned how to fill up nitro tanks and handle irritated customers. The one thing that concerned me as a referee was if someone took their mask off while they were on the field. I was constantly watching players who though that their eye would win against a paintball. In fact, this happened several times. Quite often, the person who did this would apologize and promise not to do it again. Despite this, there was always someone who thought that they were too cool for everyone else. Inevitably, these kinds of people were ejected from the facility and given a time-out. It wasn’t just the offending individual who had to leave; the whole group had to go out. It was my responsibility to ensure that a group of people would enjoy themselves enough to want to come back. However, I also had to act like a professional. The month I spent there taught me more than I ever

Child Abuse Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Child Abuse - Research Paper Example Children are a blessing from God and deserve love just like anyone else. However, in the recent past many researches have indicated that several children are being abused. This should come as a bad news especially in this 21st Century where the youth form a large percentage of the population. According to some researchers like Besharov et al (2001), there are many cases which go unreported, uninterrupted or misreported. According to stop it now (www.stopitnow.org) a world organization that prevents child abuse, reports that a third of girls and nearly 1 in seven boys experiences sexual abuse while statistics suggest from research suggest that only 12% to 30% of the cases are reported. Families mostly deny child abuse within their homes. In one of the cases reported in stop it now, one woman had been sexually abused by his brother but she kept quiet for fear of being killed, after sensing that her niece will fall in the same trap she finally reported the matter to their family but the family did not believe her and so nobody took action on that case. Most powerful people go unreported if they are found abusing children because people find it hard to talk bad things about them. Since nearly all states passed the mandatory laws requiring any suspected child abuse to be repor ted, child abuse cases has been on the rise. This result in many cases being reported which are baseless (Besharov et al., 2001). Melissa (2009), says that child abuse can be considered to be any act that causes physical body injury, psychological or emotional torture. These acts causes suffering to the child and sometimes may be harmful enough and eventually may lead to death or permanent damage of victims.

Investment Companies Essay Example for Free

Investment Companies Essay Investors need to consider a lot of factors before investing their money in any firm. Company stability and ability to generate profits is the main attraction for any investor. Bank of America and Apple Inc are some of the most stable companies in their respective fields. Besides these are some of the highest paying industries in the world today. Bank of America Bank of America is the largest brokerage house and consumer banking franchise in the United States (Lewis, 2010, p1) during the financial crisis, bank of America posted huge losses coupled by the untimely purchase of Merrill Lynch. However in April 2010 bank of America reported a $3. 2 billion first quarter profit signifying an imminent complete turnaround for the company. Interestingly, most of the profits were generated from the trading at Merrill Lynch. The gamble to buy Merrill Lynch had paid off. With the worst of the financial crisis over, bank of America is poised to make bigger profits and reclaim its eminence that it lost to JP Chase and Goldman Sachs. Though it is unlikely to continue with the acquisitions that characterized most of its growth phase, the bank no doubt will be a big player in wealth management in the US. Long term investment in bank of America therefore will be a wise decision by an investor who is looking to capitalize to a rising stock price and dividend per share revenue. Besides, the regulations that the administration will introduce will ensure profitability and stability of the banking sector. However, given that the financial markets have not fully recovered, coupled with the impending WallStreet reform by the administration, there is likelihood that resulting volatility may eat into the company’s profits and share price. Besides, the company, like many other banks is still repaying government bailout money, a move that will affect its profits and effectively its investors. Apple Inc Dynamism describes the world of technology today. New information gadgets are introduced to the market every year. Apple is on of the companies that has emerged as a market leader challenging established giants like Microsoft and easily cutting a niche for its itself in the market. Apple prides itself with successes such as the i-Pod, the i-Tunes Store, MacBook sales, and excellent Mac OS X. Innovation to meet the ever demanding market is the main driver of apple and with its cutting edge products like the i-phone, i-pod and recently the i-pad, investing in Apple inc will be a good decision because certainly these are not the last of their products. The company has one of the highest share prices in the New York Stock exchange which stood at $140 pr share as of 2008 (Tyson, 2008, p 11). Every time people buy Apple products, it increases the company sales and profits which in return drive up the stock price (Tyson, 2008, p 11). With the continued good performance, an investor is guaranteed of good returns in the long run. While some computer and software companies saw their profits plunge during the recession, Apple’s strong position ensures continued movement of their products, a clear indicator that the company can whether big economic fluctuations and guarantees an investors returns for their money. Apple Inc. has concentrated on developing mobile gadgets but the same effort is needed in developing products like the Mac desktop. Competition from other computer and software manufacturers is stiff and an information technology company that cannot sustain the innovation trends is likely to post less sales, profits and stock price. Competitors like Microsoft and phone manufacturers like Motorola are likely to come up with gadgets that will target the entertainment industry, enterprise and high performance computing, none of which apple is well prepared for (Martellaro, 2006, p1). Expanding their niche therefore to include more products will secure the future of the company and ensure long-term stability.

Politics Essays Charismatic Politics Leader

Politics Essays Charismatic Politics Leader Charismatic Politics Leader Charismatic Leadership and its Effect on Politics in History The role of charismatic leadership in modern political history can be considered a controversial topic. The subject has most recently come about in regards to Democratic Senator Barack Obama, and his campaign for the American Presidency, but can also been seen in smaller contexts globally. In some respects, charisma seems difficult to define or explain. In theory, it would seem that if one should implement the appropriate policy and make difficult decisions at the right time, they should succeed in politics. It appears that this is not always the case, and that charisma does play a vital role in politics. Robert A. Caro said in his biography of Lyndon Johnson, â€Å"You only have to look at the crucial moments in the history of our time to see how crucial it was to have a leader who could inspire, who could rally a nation to a standard, who could infuse a country with confidence†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . (Caro) It seems that charisma is an important aspect of being a political leader, yet defining and explaining exactly what makes the person so appealing, inspiring and trustworthy is not easily delineated. Early sociologist Max Weber defined charisma as one of the three â€Å"ideal types† of authority, and rested upon a kind of magical power and hero worship. This definition was considered unsuitable for modern times, and its use became metaphorical – ultimately becoming a synonym for heroic or popular (Zernike). This leads us to the questions examined in this paper; to what extent is charisma necessary in politics and what are the positive and negative effects of a leader holding charisma as a political figurehead? It is the belief of some that there is a high risk of charismatic leaders to be all talk and no real answers of substance. The charismatic leader seems to thrive in times of crisis or national hardship. Arthur M. Schlesinger referred to a â€Å"new mood in politics† in the 1960’s, in which there was dissatisfaction with official priorities and concerns with the character and objectives of the nation. It appears that this is the very same climate that supporters of Barack Obama feel now. It is here that the proposed negative effects of a charismatic leader come into play. Some feel that Obama’s messages of hope and change are only talk, and lack serious substance and real answers on policy changes that would be required to make said transformations. â€Å"He speaks loudly and clearly and crowds flock to him like bees to honey. Many blindly follow a man who will lead them to dangerous waters. They fall for his words and not the policies he is going to use to run the nation† (Woerner). Since charismatic leadership typically results in strong, unchallenged levels of obedience, there is also the risk of weak minded individual followers that do not employ their individual thought processes and are blindly agreeable (12-Manage). This can manifest into a more serious problem and can result in â€Å"group think†, especially in politics, where there is the need for constant re-evaluation and challenging of ideas. In politics, it is imperative to examine all angles constantly, as major decisions made for a country can be life or death and have an impact on the citizen’s lives directly. On a smaller scale, the recent provincial election in Alberta exhibited some key issues pertaining to charismatic leadership. Alberta has been a strong Progressive Conservative province, in which the party has held power uninterrupted since 1971. The most recent reign of leadership has been under Ralph Klein, who was Premier of Alberta from 1992 through 2006. The retirement of this long standing leader has brought about some issues pertaining to charisma and their place in politics. Ralph Klein was an outspoken leader, who eventually developed an overwhelming rapport with Albertans, his approval rating being 77% at the end of his run as Premier (Markusoff). The eventual devotion and loyalty of Albertans to Klein brings forth the issue of emotions and feelings of the voters towards the candidate superseding the importance of being informed about current issues and platforms being addressed by the candidate. Thomas Lukaszuk, Conservative MLA commented on this issue You know, strong feelings in politics are dangerous, You want rational voters to vote on policies and on merit, not whether they hate or love an individual in a party or a leader (Markusoff). This leads us to the question of whether the majority of voters are actually informed on current issues, or if they tend to cast their ballot based on their personal feelings of the candidate. The Progressive Conservative party, currently headed by Ed Stelmach, won by an impressively substantial amount in the recent election that occurred in Alberta on March 3, 2008. Many felt that the new candidate held little charisma or ground-breaking ideas compared to his predecessor, Klein. Dave Khalon said of Stelmach Everythings just formatted. I see him on TV, and he just reads off the script. But nobody else seems to stick out, either. Khalon admitted that he planned to vote Conservative in the election because of family tradition and his fondness of the party’s prior leader, Klein (Markusoff). This leads us to consider that it is a very real possibility that Ed Stelmach’s win had little to do with his abilities and ideas as a candidate, but the charisma of the prior leader and the lack of other inspirational candidates as alternatives. A major problem in current politics is voter apathy, which could be partly attributed to a lack of inspirational candidates. This said, too much emphasis on the charisma of candidates can be viewed as a downfall in politics, leading to uninformed voters. Some voters seem to be placing a great deal of weight on the personality of the candidate rather than the campaign platforms and plans, which, in theory, should be the backbone of the campaign. The largest risk is posed by what is sometimes referred to â€Å"the black hat of charisma†. What this essentially encompasses is the use of charismatic power for self-serving purposes. The more charisma a potentially dangerous leader possesses, the greater the risk to society. This is emphasized because the base for charisma is emotional rather than logical or rational (Daft). Jerry Wofford says of this risk â€Å"If a person’s values are destructive, insane, then the more charismatic the leader, the worse off you are† (Tenenbaum). Unfortunately, these types of leaders have existed throughout the history of politics and continue to exist in present day. Adolf Hitler’s reign as fuhrer of the German Reich is a prime example of what can happen when power is in the wrong hands, and the accelerated negative effects that can occur if that person exhibits any sort of charisma that has the potential to be used for the wrong purpose. As mentioned, charismatic leaders seem to come about in times of crisis, as was the case with Hitler. Germany’s economy was in a precarious position after World War I and Hitler â€Å"wooed† the German people with his charisma, promising to fix the problems and make everything better. Meanwhile, he had his own agenda, which was elimination of all people he didn’t think met the criteria of â€Å"ideal† (Shay). This turn of events ended up being one of the greatest tragedies in modern history. More recently, charismatic leadership was exhibited in Osama bin Laden and his terrorist group al-Qaeda. In this case, the group was considered more of a cult, where brainwashing tactics were used. Charismatic power was used at the forefront, during recruitment of members to the group. The recruits were usually young idealists, recruited under the facade of â€Å"liberation† and â€Å"Islamic beliefs†, initially unaware of the real commitments of the group. The underlying concept that is common of those falling under the category of cults, or alternately â€Å"the black hat of charisma† is when a charismatic leader increasingly becomes an object of worship as the general principles that may have originally sustained the group lose their power (Ross). This leaves the dangerous charismatic leader to their own agenda. The values that the people originally stood for become irrelevant and the situation becomes personality driven. Ultimately, it is a risk that will always be prevalent pertaining to charismatic individuals. This risk is driven even higher with an uninformed, easily influenced society of voters. The only possibility of mitigating this risk is for each individual to stay as informed as possible and look for the warning signs of a leader that possesses ulterior motives. Charisma can be seen as an ingredient in a recipe for disaster, based on the charismatic leaders that have been prevalent in recent history. The other side of this story starts with uninformed, uninspired citizens. It is the view of some that these individuals need a charismatic leader to light a fire under them and get them believing that the political process is not just a big waste of time. This is especially prevalent in America’s youth, in which approximately a quarter of the eligible population actually makes it out to vote (Dashek). Even if a candidate has a strong position and ideas, they may be viewed as the typical uninspiring politician if they do not have the charisma to bring their campaign and ideas to life and get the general public excited about the proposed changes. Barack Obama and rival democratic candidate Hillary Clinton have the similar stands on a large portion of their policies. Gabe Pressman says â€Å"She claims experience. He promises change. As the race for the Democratic nomination for president intensifies, the differences in policy between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama seem less than the images they project and their shortcut slogans.† (Pressman) It seems then that it comes down to charisma as a deciding factor in what will set them apart, and the ability to reach and inspire those that most need inspiration. It is the belief of some that Barack Obama will be able to provide a balance of substance and inspiration to the American people. Tom Butcher, a sophomore at the University of St. Louis says â€Å"In contemporary politics, it is not enough to have merely style or substance alone. Mere substance will have no one caring about your policy (think Al Gore). Style alone leaves the vacuous impression of an incandescent bubble. Obama is in the unique position of offering the combination† (Butcher). From the views examined above, the conclusion can be reached that charisma is a necessary element in politics, but can be extremely dangerous in the hands of the wrong leader. It has been noted that the general public needs to be aware of the substance behind the charisma in order to cast an informed ballot. It is also crucial that voters separate their personal feelings of the candidate from the facts behind the policies in order to make an informed decision. Skepticism is actually an important quality for voters to bring into play to ensure the initial issues are being focused on, and that the leader is not shifting the focus to ulterior motives. Finally, it was noted that although charisma brings about many risks, it is necessary in a political figurehead in order to inspire the people. Encouraging the people to get involved and believe in something is the only way to avoid voter apathy in a political environment where democracy is undeniably underutilized. Works Cited 12-Manage. Charismatic Leadership (Weber). 3 March 2008 . Butcher, Tom. Charisma in Politics: Not an Empty Promise. Student Life 27 February 2008: 1. Caro, Robert A. The Path to Power. New York: Alfred A. Knopf Inc., 1982. Daft, Richard L. The Leadership Experience. Mason, OH: Thomson South-Western, 2005. Dashek, Ryan. Apathy is Unacceptable for American youth vote. The Daily Cardinal 18 February 2008: 1. Markusoff, Jason. Charisma Gap mires parties. Edmonton Journal 20 February 2008: 2. Pressman, Gabe. Gabes View: Will Charisma Carry the Day? WNBC 18 February 2008: 1. Ross, Rick. Cult Education and Recovery. November 2001. 9 March 2008 . Shay, Virginia. The Virtual Voice. 6 March 2008 . Tenenbaum, David. The Character of Charisma. 15 July 2004. 20 February 2008 . Woerner, Tom. Helium.com. 3 March 2008 . Zernike, Kate. The Charisma Mandate. The New York Times 17 February 2008: 2.

Thermal Conductivity In Physical Engineering Engineering Essay

Thermal Conductivity In Physical Engineering Engineering Essay Thermal Conductivity  is an essential physical property for designing engineering process and measuring the capacity of temperature exchange between heat and cold passing through a material mass. Techniques were developed to measure thermal conductivity in a various materials, Hence the objective of this work was to evaluate the feasibility of utilizing different methods for measuring thermal conductivity as well as construction of the experimental assemble to measure thermal conductivity of numerous materials with the aim of analysis of the experimental data. This paper illustrates the methods of the measurements of thermal conductivity and the process by which it will be brought to a successful culmination. The study of thermal conductivity is important for engineers to know the nature of thermal energy, temperature and how materials store thermal energy as well as to predict the performance of any given material over its lifetime in a specific application. Also to identify the thermal properties of material so as to assess the performance of certain material and develop efficient heat transfer materials for engines and spacecrafts. This project has been taken on board, due to a lack of information and research available on thermal conductivity measurements. Heat is transferred by three procedures which include Conduction, Convection and Radiation. It engages transfer of thermal energy from one place to another. Thermal conductivity is a significant parameter for the analysis of heat transfer through conduction. Conduction takes place due to the particle collision which results in the transfer of thermal energy. Thermal conductivity (k) is an essential property of a material and defined as amount of heat transferred in a unit thickness of materials in a direction because of change in temperature in constant boundary state in a direction perpendicular to the area of transfer. It is measured in watts per Kelvin per meter (WK-1m-1) and determines the rate of energy loss through a material. The project is titled as study of methods for measurement of thermal conductivity. The project will present the literature review about the methods as well as conducting an experiment to measure the thermal conductivity of different materials. In addition, a thorough analysis of the experimental data is to be obtained while performing the experiment. The aims and objectives of this report pursue as: Understanding of theoretical and experimental methods to measure thermal conductivity of solids, liquids and gases. Construction of experimental rig. A thorough analysis of the experimental data. DELIVERABLES 3.1 GENERIC DELIVERABLES Based on the module guide, the following are the generic deliverables for the academic year 2010-2011; Semester Title Start Date Submission Date Semester 1 Preliminary start Monday 27th September Submit Project Planning Report + Log Book Friday 26th November Semester 2 Dissertation start Monday 31st January Project seminars and poster Week commencing 11th April Submission of final report Thursday 28th April Table 2 Delivery dates set by Kingston University for entire project 3.2 PROJECT DELIVERABLES The objectives of the project have been identified and analysed to produce the following deliverables that will have been produced at the end of the project Construction of an experimental rig to measure thermal conductivity of selected material Analysis of the experimental Data Comparison of the results ANALYSIS OF TASKS The tasks that need to be executed in order to achieve the aims of the project, produce the deliverables on schedule and bring the project to a successful end are as follows: Literature review of conductivity methods Journals Books E-resources Research Conductivity methods of solids Conductivity methods of Liquids Conductivity methods of gas Construction of the experimental Rig Results Comparison A literature review will give an insight into various methods of conductivity. Journals, books and other forms of resources will be used to get an understanding of current concepts of methods and recent modifications (Advantages, disadvantages and limitation). This will form the base of the construction of the experimental rig. Once the technique is selected to perform, various materials will be used to determine their conductivity and hence, the data obtained will be analysed. GANTT CHART A timeline/Gantt chart should be produced, showing the sequence and duration of the tasks over the project lifetime. A set of key milestones by which the project progress can be monitored may also be produced. Figure 1 Illustrate an Inital Gantt Chart PROGRESSION TO DATE As of 26/11/10 the project is at the beginning of the research phase. The literature review has been completed by looking into journals and online resources. The information gathered has been on advantages, disadvantages, limitation, process and setup of the conductivity measurement techniques. I have gathered and read a number of journals relating to conductivity measurements. 6.1 METHODS TO MEASURE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF SOLIDS In solids, particles are packed close together by chemical bonds. As heat is transferred, the particles gains energy which results in increase in kinetic energy and particles vibrate against theneighbouring particles causing transfer of energy between the particles. Increase in temperature causes increase in thermal conductivity because of the mobility of boundless electrons. Heat energy is transferred in solids by means of lattice waves, electrical carriers and electromagnetic waves. In metals, the heat is largely transferred by electrical carriers whilst in insulators lattice waves carry large amount of heat. The change in magnitude and temperature of thermal conductivity of solids is due to the dislocations, imperfections of lattice forces and interface between lattice waves and carriers. However the change of thermal conductivity varies depending upon materials. A summary of different techniques to measure thermal conductivities is shown on next page. C-THERM TCi SYSTEM TRANSIENT PLANE SOURCE METHOD HOT-WIRE METHOD NEEDLE PROB METHOD Figure 2 Summary of Techniques to measure thermal conductivity of solids Transient Techniques Methods to measure thermal conductivity of solids Steady State Techniques Comparative Method Pipe Test Method Cut Bar Method Guarded Hot Plate Method 6.1.1 HOT-WIRE METHOD It exists in three forms which include single, crossed resistive wires and two parallel wires distant apart. It is utilized to measure thermal conductivity of refractories and takes several assumptions into account which pursue as: Isotropic Material with Uniform preliminary Temperature Figure 3 Setup of Hot-Wire method (2010, Home, [Internet], Available at: http://www.tpl.fpv.ukf.sk/engl_vers/hot_wire.htm , accessed on 8 October 2010)Hot wire an ideal, infinite thin, and long line heat supply Thermal Conductivitycan be determined by temperature vs. time response (K) due to production of heat flux (q) in the wire surrounded in the sample. Equation 2 Measurement of thermal Conductivity using Hot-Wire Method Advantages Disadvantages Precise Extensive Procedure of measuring at specified temperature Simplistic in Configuration Not utilized to measure thermal conductivity of anisotropic material Short Duration in Measurement Expertise required Table 3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Hot-wire Method 6.1.2 NEEDLE PROB METHOD It is utilized to measure thermal conductivity of materials as well as thermal diffusivity and specific heat. It has the ability for in-situ measurements and effective contact of the sample with a single tiny gap. When measuring the thermal conductivities of solids, samples are outfitted with hole machined in order to enclose probe diameter whilst measuring liquids, probes are pushed into the samples that are to be tested. This method consists of hollow tube functioning as heat supply element and temperature sensor estrange by means of medium with high thermal conductivity and electrical insulation to ensure minor difference of radial temperature within the probe. 6.1.3 TRADITIONAL TRANSIENT PLANE SOURCE METHOD (TPS) Figure 4 Apparatus of TPS (2010, Home, [Internet] Available at: http://www.ask.com/wiki/Thermal_conductivity_measurement , 10 October 2010)It is also acknowledged as Hot Disk Method and has several advantages such as accurate, comprehensiveness and ease of application. It consists of a flat sensor along with continuous double spiral of electrically conducting nickel metal etched out of thin foil and clad between two layer of kapton which provides mechanically stability and electrically insulation to the sensor. The rise in temperature is caused when current passes through nickel spiral and heat formed is dispersed by sample. Thermal conductivity is measured by recording temperature vs. time response in the sensor. In addition, modified traditional transient plane source method imparts maximum flexibility for scrutinizing thermal conductivity of liquids and powder and sustain heating element on a support. It utilizes single surface interfacial heat reflectance sensor that provides constant heat to the sample and functions temporarily. 6.1.4 TRANSIENT LINE SOURCE METHOD (C-THERM TCi SYSTEM) It is the infinite line source with constant power per unit length and identical in principle to Hot-wire method. In order to determine temperature at a certain distance the following equation was taken into consideration: Equation 3 Measurement of temperature using C-Therm TCi System where: Q = Power per unit Length E = Exponential Integral t = Time Passed since Heating 6.1.5 PIPE TEST METHOD Figure 5 Apparatus of Pipe Test Method (2010, Home, [Internet], Available at: http://www.evitherm.org/default.asp?lan=1ID=894Menu1=894 , 13 October 2010)It is identical in concept to the guarded hot plate method. It consists of a central heater which contains a cylinder placed in such a way that the heater achieves a constant temperature by means of alteration in spacing of windings in the heater in permutation with the utilization of concise split guard heaters at the ends. It can operate horizontally and vertically by situating the apparatus in a stable environment. It employs radial flow to determine thermal conductivity of minerals, plastics etc. 6.1.6 COMPARATIVE TECHNIQUE Figure 6 Apparatus of Comparative Technique (2010, Home, [Internet], Available at: http://www.evitherm.org/default.asp?lan=1ID=893Menu1=893 , 15 October 2010)A test specimen is crammed under load flanked by two reference materials; each is bounded by longitudinal guard cylinder. This results in production of temperature gradient along with the stack as well as longitudinal heat flows as consequences of temperature gradient in the guard cylinder to that in specimen stack. Therefore, the thermal conductivity is measured by recording the difference in temperature across the reference and test specimen. It has several advantages which pursue as: Versatile Simple in implementation Adaptable It is also known as the workhorse of the thermal conductivity field and can be utilized to measure homogenous and heterogeneous composite solids. 6.1.7 GUARDED HOT-PLATE METHOD Figure 7 Apparatus of Guarded Hot Plate Method (2010, Home; [Internet], Available at: http://www.azom.com/details.asp?ArticleID=2667 , 16 October 2010)The test material is positioned on a flat plate heater with electrically heated inner plate surrounded by guard heater. Its function is to maintain similar temperature at both sides of the gap extricating the main and guard heaters as a result, prevention of lateral heat flow and heat energy flows in the direction of sample. Calculated direct current is functioned to the hot plate and numerous temperatures across cold plates and heater is controlled in order to give off constant temperature at the sample surfaces. Hence, the accuracy of thermal conductivity measurements is dependent on conservation of constant temperature conditions and is measured by Fourier heat flow equation: Equation 4 Measurement of Thermal Conductivity using Guarded Hot plate method where: W = Electrical Power Input dT = Difference in temperature across the specimens d = Sample thickness 6.1.8 CUT-BAR TECHNIQUE Figure 8 Apparatus of Cut-Bar Technique (2010, Home, [Internet] Available at: http://www.anter.com/TN67.htm , 17 October 2010)It is utilized for axial thermal conductivity measurements. An unknown thermal conductivity disk sample is sandwiched between two known thermal conductivity cylinder metal brass by thermal grease and pliable metal in order to reduce interfacial thermal between the cylinders. In addition, a thermocouple situated along the three material pieces produces information on the rate of heat flow by the two known thermal conductivity. Hence, thermal conductivity is calculated using the following equation: Equation 5 Measurement of thermal Conductivity using cut-bar technique There are some other techniques to measure thermal conductivity of solids which include: Steady-State techniques Transient Techniques Four-Probe Method Laser Flash Method Guarded Heat Flow Method Angstrom Method Heat Flow Meter Method Photo thermal Method Transient Hot Strip Method Table 4 Other Techniques to measure thermal conductivity of solids 6.2 METHODS TO MEASURE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF LIQUIDS Liquids particles are situated in a cubic lattice, as energy moves from a single lattice plane to the following at a speed at which sound passes through the liquid of interest. Thermal conductivity can be estimated using Bridgemans equation: Equation 6 Bridgemans Equation where: N = Avogadros Constant = (6.023 x 1023) K = (Boltzmanns Constant) = (1.3807 x 10-23 J/K) V= Molar Mass = M/à Ã‚  = Speed of sound through fluid sample A summary of different techniques to measure thermal conductivities of liquids is shown on next page. LASER FLASH METHOD HOT-WIRE METHOD DIFFRENTIAL SCANNING CALORIMTER TRANSIENT TECHNIQUES 3 OMEGA METHOD STEADY STATE TECHNIUQES RADIAL HEAT FLOW APPARATUS CALORIMETER PHOTOPYROELECTRIC DEVICE METHODS TO MEASURE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF LIQUIDS Figure 9 Techniques to measure thermal conductivity of liquids 6.2.1 HOT-WIRE METHOD The apparatus consists of hot-wire cells utilizing electrically insulated hot wires dependent on an electrically conducting fluid. Wires of minute diameter are immersed within the fluid and utilized simultaneously as an electrical resistance as well as resistance thermometers, thus to enable calculation of the increase in temperature due to the resistance heating. Thermal conductivity is determined using the same process as mentioned above. Finite dimensions of the fluid can be improved, however modification to the finite dimension of wire can be reduced by utilizing minute hot-wires. 6.2.2 3-OMEGA METHOD Its features include a heating frequency (of 10 KHz), direct measurement of thermal conductivity and temperature range of -190 to 500. It comprises of alternating current and lock in amplifier to estimate thermal conductivity of the dielectric materials directly. Advantages of 3-Omega Method are being precise and fast. Thin metal situated on the specimen, an alternating current with frequency à Ã¢â‚¬ ° exceeds via strip causing heating of the material and measurement of voltage v (t) simultaneously. In addition, assumption of the heat flow along the cross plane axis of the film results in determination of the thermal conductivity using the following equation: Equation 7 Determination of thermal conductivity using 3 Omega Method where: P1 = Power b = Width of the strip =Increase in temperature oscillation of the strip 6.2.3 LASER FLASH METHOD A liquid sample is sandwiched between a minute thin metal disk and a sampler holder. Sample holder minimizes thermal contact with the sample plus suppresses stray light transmitted from the laser to the IR detector. At the time when the laser beam is taken in the front surface of the metal disk, the heat flows downward through liquid sample and temperature rises. Thus, thermal conductivity can be estimated by the disks foil temperature without measuring the thickness of the sample liquid layer and reference material. 6.2.4 DIFFERENTIAL SCANNING CALORIMETER (DSC) It is a linear heating process that has super imposed sinusoidal oscillation which yields in cyclic heating of the sample. Advantages of the method pursue as: Short Analysis time No instrument modification Figure 10 Apparatus of DSC (2010, Home, [Internet], Available at: http://pslc.ws/macrogcss/dsc.html, 1 November 2010) http://pslc.ws/macrogcss/dsc.html Small thermal gradient across the sample Experiment is performed in a non-adiabatic surrounding; numerous unknown specimens with identical length and cross sectional areas are formed. Furthermore, known specimens with their conductivity and a density supplied to the unknown specimen are formed with identical length and cross sectional to the unknown specimen. Each specimen is subjected to an equal amount of rise in heat to estimate the specific heat capacity. Therefore, the thermal conductivity obtained is: Equation 8 Measurement of thermal conductivity using DSC where: D = diameter of the specimen M = Mass of the specimen = Specific heat capacity 6.2.5 CALORIMETER A device designed to overcome the effects of convection that Prevents accurate measurement of liquids conductivities. Measures organic liquids conductivity rapidly and has several advantages which follow as: Short time measurement Accuracy Constant current passes via thermistor which functions as a heating element immersed in the liquid sample. As conductivity varies with liquid, the rate of temperature varies with liquids. Hence, thermal conductivity is inversely proportional to rate of temperature change. 6.2.6 RADIAL HEAT FLOW APPARATUS Figure 11 Apparatus of Radia Heat Flow (2010, Home, [Internet], Available at: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0104-66321999000400009script=sci_arttext, 27 October 2010)A steady-state technique which offers variation of conductivity under pressure as well as absolutes values of conductivity. It is fast and requires a small pressure gradient. Liquid sample is situated between two concentric cylinders (brass and Pyrex glass construction), the axis of the inner cylinder acts as a supply of heat which flows out radially crossways the layer of fluid. Measurements of difference in temperature between inner and an outer surface of the layer of the fluid are taken to obtain thermal conductivity. 6.3 METHODS TO MEASURE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF GAS Figure 12 TCD to measure thermal Conductivity of Gas (2010, Home, [Internet], Available at: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttextpid=S0103-50532004000600009, 2 November 2010) Thermal conductivity detector (TCD) is utilized to measure thermal conductivity of gas by pulse injection. Heat is transmitted from hot to cold element by way of thermal conduction passing through the carrier gas. However, the difference in temperature between hot and cold element is maintained. Due to the thermal flow energy into the gas medium thermal gradient is generated. The power need to heat the hot element is a direct evaluation of the electrically signal output for the thermal conductivity. DISCUSSION As mentioned above, the project is currently at the beginning of the research phase. Investigation into the areas described above is vital as the information gathered will have implications on the selection of the technique for the experiment. The project objectives should be met on schedule as there are not any limitations restricting the project from completion. Whilst performing the experiment in the near future, there may be some timing conflicts as there will be other students using the same machinery in the workshop but as enough time is allocated for the task in hand there should not be any difficulty in completing the objectives. Although there may be some complications when obtaining results, however with the knowledge and experience available via the lab technicians any problem(s) shall be duly addressed. CONCLUSION In conclusion the project aims and deliverables have been identified and the required tasks needed achieve the aims and produce the deliverables have been identified and discussed. An initial Gantt chart has been drawn up to illustrate the sequences and durations of the tasks to be completed. It can be seen that the performance so far is coincident with the planned set of activities for this time period within the Gantt chart. As a result, it is expected that the project is likely to be completed on time.

Death in Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Essays -- Stopping Woods

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening   - A Stop for Death  Ã‚   Everyone feels burdened by life at some point. Everyone wishes they could just close their eyes and make all the problems and struggles of life disappear. Some see death as a release from the chains and ropes with which the trials and tribulations of life bind the human race. Death is a powerful theme in literature, symbolized in a plethora of ways. In "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Eve" Robert Frost uses subtle imagery, symbolism, rhythm and rhyme to invoke the yearning for death that the weary traveler of life feels.    When the speaker in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Eve" pauses for a moment's rest, he does not do so on a simple evening, but on the "darkest evening of the year," the winter solstice (474). The winter solstice is the day marking the beginning of winter, when the sun is the sky for the shortest time, and the night is longest. Night, with its darkness and shadows, is a classic symbol of death. On the winter solstice, Death can be considered his strongest, for his time, the night, is the longest i...

John Dalton :: essays research papers fc

John Dalton John Dalton was born on September 6 1766 at Eagelsfield, Cumbria in England.Although he was born in England, he spent most of his life in Manchester.He was born into a Quaker family and while his family had food, they were still poor. His father Joseph was a weaver and John recieved most of his early education from his father. At the age of 12, John opened a school in Eagelsfield where he was the master. He was often threatened by the older boys who wanted to fight him because he was smarter, but he managed to keep in control for 2 years.Due to a poor salary, John was forced to leave his school and work in the fields with his brother. In 1781 John and his brother moved to Kendall. There John, his cousin George, and his brother ran a school where they offered English,Latin,Greek,French and twenty one mathematics and science course. Their school had sixty pupils. After twelve years at Kendall John started doing lectures and answering questions for mens magazines. John found a mentor in John Gough,who was the blind son of a wealthy tradesman. John Gough taught Dalton languages,mathematics,and optics. In 1973 John moved to Manchester as a tutor at New College. He immediately joined the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society and in the same year he published his first book: Meteorological Observations and Essays. In his book Dalton stated that gas exits and acts independantly and purely physically not chemically. After six years of tutoring, John resigned to conduct private research while still doing tutoring at 2 shillings a lesson. In 1802 John stated his law of partial pressures. When two elastic fluids are mixed together ( A and B) they dont repel each other. A particles do not repel B particles but a B particle will repel another B particle. One of his experiments involved the addition of water vapor to dry air. The increase in pressure was the same as the pressure of the added water. By doing this experiment, John established a relationship between vapo r pressure and temperature. John’s interest in gases arose from his studies of meteorology. He had weather equipment that was with him at all times and he was constantly studying weather and atmosphere. He also kept a journal throughout his life in which he wrote over 200,000 observations. In 1803, John made his biggest contribution to science: The Atomic Theory.

Arthur Millers The Crucible :: Arthur Miller Crucible Essays

Arthur Miller's The Crucible Arthur Miller individualises characters through their style of speech in many ways. Abigail Williams, one of the main characters, is a very attractive young lady, as portrayed in the text. However, her personality is bitter spiteful and vengeful. This has been shown by the way Miller individualises her, through her speech. Abigail is very bossy and has a lot of authority; "Uncle, the rumour of witchcraft is all about: I think you'd best go down and deny it yourself. The parlour's packed with people, sir. I'll sit with her". She seems to take control in a stressful situation, and hence controls people through their fear: "I think you'd best go down". Miller uses this sentence, in order to portray Abigail as a very manipulative and some-what controlling person. Miller also exposes the fact that Abigail is very spiteful and demanding. This is shown when Abigail is having an argument with her uncle, Parris. "She hates me, uncle; she must, for I would not be her slave. It's a bitter woman, a lying, cold, snivelling woman, and I will not work for such a woman!" This shows how Abigail puts everyone down, and tries to make out that she is the innocent victim in all the chaos. Another way Miller individualises Abigail, is the way she blames other people to get her self out of trouble- "Not I, sir- Tituba and Ruth". This shows how Miller puts across to the audience, the 'real' Abigail. Yet again, Miller reveals Abigail as being manipulative and controlling. "I have been hurt, Mr Danforth; I have seen my blood runnin' out! I have been near to murder every day because I done my duty pointing out the Devil's people- and this is my reward! To be mistrusted, denied questioned like a-". This also shows how Abigail is making everyone else feel sorry for her, as she has been doing the right thing. This is effective as it again brings out the 'real' Abigail, a cunning, sly, deceiving person. Abigail Williams wants to protect herself, and hence confesses, as she wants the same attention as Tituba, not to suffer, This shows her selfishness as she doesn't want to get hung and therefore follows Tituba's lead. "I want to open myself! I want the light of God; I want the sweet love of Jesus!" Miller uses the word "open" to emphasise the fact that Abigail doesn't want to just reveal herself, but "open" her. This then shows the audience how overdramatic Miller makes Abigail. In conclusion, I feel that Miller has effectively individualised Abigail, as a self-centred, overdramatic, deceiving woman. Mr Hale, another one of Miller's characters, however he is not as

Ethics and “A Few Good Men” Essay

The movie is about two marines indicted for the murder of a fellow marine in their platoon. Private First Class (PFC) William Santiago died because of lactic acidosis triggered by the assault inflicted by Lance Corporal Harold Dawson and Private Lowden Downey. This assault was the result of a direct order by the platoon commander Lieutenant Kendrick. The order was to train Santiago to respect the Code of the Marines and the chain of command. Private Santiago had broken this chain and written directly to the NIS asking for a transfer, in exchange for offering information about an illegal fence-line shooting. When Colonel Nathan Jessep, commander of the marines stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, learned of this letter, he ordered the â€Å"training† of Private Santiago. In Guantanamo Bay, this â€Å"training† was referred to as â€Å"Code Red†, which was defined as the discipline of marines within the unit, by the unit, without involving the proper authorities – navy Jag Corp. When the navy learned of Private Santiago?s death, Dawson and Downey were placed under arrest, and moved to Washington DC to be court-martialed. After a thorough litigation by defense attorney, Lt. Danial Kaffee, the court found Colonel Jessep and Lt. Kendrik guilty of the murder of PFC Santiago because they ordered the ?Code Red?. Dawson and Downey were cleared of charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, but were found guilty of conduct unbecoming a marine, and were discharged from the Marine Corp. 6. Normative Ethical Question: Did Dawson and Downey do the right thing by following the order? Dawson and Downey’s actions were in strict accordance with the orders given to them by their platoon commander, and were thus justified. The Marines believe, â€Å"You follow orders or people die.† This was primarily applicable during wartime when questioning an order can cause the lives of the marine and his fellow soldiers. Although reserved for wartime, the marines in their day-to-day military life practice this belief. So when time comes for the marines to go to war, the thought of questioning an order never crosses their mind regardless of the severity of the order. Following  orders given by a superior officer is a part of the marine discipline, and breaking this discipline is not tolerated in armed forces. The order given to Dawson and Downey was to â€Å"train† PFC Santiago. Santiago’s aggravated heart condition was the primary reason of his death, and Dawson and Downey having followed their order were unfortunate to find Santiago dead in the ‘training’ process. Had Santiago been physically fit, he would have in all likelihood, survived the ‘training.’ However on the charge of becoming a united states marine they were found guilty as charged. The reasoning for this is as follows: Dawson and Downey should have ignored the â€Å"Code Red† ordered by Colonel Jessup, and should have reported him to the proper authorities at the navy Jag Corp. The â€Å"training† also known as the â€Å"Code Red† was known to have harmful consequences. There were two examples of the severity of the â€Å"Code Red† shown in the movie: The first example was that of Private Bell, a soldier, getting nothing but water for a period of one week to keep him alive. The second example involved a soldier been given a â€Å"Code Red† for dropping a gun during a training exercise. His punishment was to put glue on his hands, and have his arm punched for about twenty minutes. Evidently, a â€Å"Code Red† in military parlance meant punishment in its higher degree. PFC Santiago was known to be a weak person. Dawson and Downey ignoring the fact that PFC Santiago’s condition was deteriorating still followed Col. Jessup’s order for â€Å"Code Red† on Santiago. They should have been aware of the fact that â€Å"Code Red† would cause irreparable damage to PFC Santiago’s health; on humanitarian grounds, Dawson and Downey should have contacted the proper authorities at the navy Jag Corp for a fair assessment of the order. Looking at it from a different perspective, Dawson and Downey would have been morally right to have neglected the order given to them by their superior. However, they were bound to their duty; overriding their commanding officer’s orders would have placed their career at stake. This case involves an ethical dilemma for the following reasons: 1. A murder has been committed. It is not acceptable to take a human life merely because this individual doesn’t get along with the rest of the company. 2. The investigation of the murder is hindered. It is not acceptable to lie about the cause of death in an effort to preserve public relations or personal esteem. 3. Cadets and officers lie under oath in court. It is unacceptable to lie in court. The military has determined that it is essential this case be investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. A sub-group in the military can’t make its own rules of military morality. PFC Santiago is treated as a means rather than being treated as an end. The murder was immoral in every sense and those causing the murder should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. We further stipulate that it is unacceptable for a coverup of the murder. Colonel Nathan Jessup defends the practice of lying under an area of lying covered by Plato. Plato gave support for some lies when he said: â€Å"It is the business of the rulers of the city, if it is anybody’s, to tell lies, deceiving both its enemies and its own citizens for the benefit of the city; and no one else must touch this privilege.†(1) If using the Plato type justification for the coverup, Jessup and those around him have a deluded sense of their place in national security. Their actions are not for the preservation of military. Their actions and lies are for preservation of their own positions†¦ The responsibility of the commander to make sure his marines are prepared for any sort of danger from the enemy. Colonel Nathan Jessup claims that code  red as a method of training for soldiers was the American way. He defends the practice as that which is indispensable to defend the country. This reminds me of Plato?s conception of warriors where there is no place for the weak or sick people. The only difference between these two cases is that Plato would have not hesitated to propose euthanasia for such unproductive warriors. Colonel Jessup on the other hand proposed to train them by using force if necessary. . However, he uses intense form of punishment for the tiniest mistakes and flaws. So he cannot be justify such a punishment in the name of national security. But in today?s world such practices are detested and are against humanitarian grounds and any form of justification for their practice is barbaric. Nathan Jessup (Jack Nicholson) is a military officer who has covered up a murder. When he is in court on the witness stand, Nicholson, yells, â€Å"You want to know the truth? You want to know the truth? Well, you can’t handle the truth.† Nicholson’s testimony is that some military crimes must be covert for national security purposes. He implies that it is acceptable to murder one cadet who isn’t going along with the rest of the company. He states it is acceptable for him to lie about the incident under oath to protect the company involved as well as the military overall. Kant declares: â€Å"A lie is a lie†¦whether it be told with good or bad intent†¦But if a lie does no harm to anyone and no one’s interests are affected by it, is it a lie? Certainly.†(2) Kant believes truthfulness is a duty, an â€Å"unconditional duty which holds in all circumstances.†(3) According to the categorical imperative, if there is even one case in which it is acceptable to lie and honesty can be overridden, then the perfect† status of the duty not to lie is compromised. Kant is most strident in not allowing for even a seemingly innocent lie, which could save a life instead of causing harm. He merely asserts that if something terrible happens it is not your fault. The terrible act is something wholly unjustified in the first place.(4) Duty is often represented by Kant and his deontological views on lying. Kant tells us that it is never acceptable to lie, and places this on the level of  a moral law, or a â€Å"categorical imperative.† He contends that lies always harm others–the individual or society. â€Å"To be truthful (honest) in all declarations, therefore, is a sacred and absolutely commanding decree of reason, limited by no expediency.†(5) Utilitarian Jeremy Bentham also would not allow for the Jessup defense of the coverup. Bentham delivered a frothy lecture to England’s judges who were using their power and lying to the people. Bentham sees nothing more abhorrent than using lies and power to further one’s position†¦.(6) The justification for the behaviors is weak, with hundreds of years of morality, ethics, and laws written in opposition to Jessup’s rationale. In the particular case of PFC Santiago, Colonel jessup seems to be aggravated by his appeal to the NIS and his breach of confidentiality of his unit. This brings us to the another moral debate. Was Santiago right in his decision to give false information of an illegal fence line shooting? We can make two speculations here. Either Santiago lied about the fence line shooting in a desperate attempt to get noticed by the authorities which could get him transferred for the information or he was mistaken about the shooting. This is to say that he did not realized that the mirror had engaged to fire first and Dawsen just retaliated in defence. Santiago can easily be forgiven for the latter. However, in the former case, normatively he should not have done what he did. But that was the only practical thing he could do. Even though we can easily blame Santiago for lying, we should praise his attempt to break away from the blind acceptance of the principles which ruled the lives of other marines. Even though Santtiago was physically weaker than the rest of the Platoon he had the mental capacity to fight against the odds of the absurd life in which he was trying to survive. This reminds me of the mahabharatta where Lord Krishna taught the Pandavas that it is good to lie got the fight for the Good. (I know that Kant would not agree with me) In A Few Good Men the debate is one of to whom is the ultimate duty owed and  where does ‘the law’ fit into the equation? The soldiers facing court martial display their ultimate affiliation firmly?first and foremost their duty is to their marine corps; god and country are secondary to the bond between their comrades and this is the fulcrum of the film: are orders to be obeyed at all costs and where does the buck stop? Professor Alfonso Gomez-Lobo quotes â€Å"Neither can military ethics properly exist without the concept of ordering. By ordering, I do not mean telling subordinates what to do. I refer, instead, to moral structuring and ethical priorities.† In the movie â€Å"A Few Good Men†, a Marine lance corporal tells his lawyers that the â€Å"code† is based upon â€Å"unit, corps, God, country.† He has it, of course, all wrong. In fact, many illegal activities or stupid mistakes in the military services are the result of leaders’ failures to order wisely and well. The duty of a marine to follow the orders of a superior officer. The word duty here needs to be explained. It is the duty of the marine to fallow the orders of his superior officer if they are justified or legal. In Cuba however, disobeying an order implies to commit a crime. But since Code red is a practice discouraged by law, it is the duty of the marine to disobey such an order. An officer is always human and to equate him to be the ultimate legal authority is to make him invincible. It is this act of deception and blind faith that lets the powerful exploit. When an institution demands complete faith in its principles, the individuals within the institution are dependent on it, strive to maintain it and become incapable of independent thinking. At times like these the ethical question crops us: which is more important? guiding principles of life or humans, code of honour or PFC Santiago. As for the Platoons annoyance on Santiago’s betrayal for the unit and selfishness, I don’t think it is valid. It would have been a different case had there been some compassion for Santiago within his Unit. His friends beat him up as a part of following orders, to keep up their jobs. From this perspective, they too are selfish. The only difference is that Santiago is  towards the receiving end of brutalities, and it is convenient for the rest of the Platoon who were comparably stronger to talk about the loyalty within the unit. Interestingly, Lieutenant Kendrick too believe in the ‘proper authority of God or his commanding officer Colonel Nathan R Jessup’ Here we see that blind faith is associated with both God and the Colonel Moreover, the Colonel starts associating himself with God who protects and punishes others and expects the respect of all. He thinks that he is the personification of certain unquestionable principles. That the colonel lives by the rules and notions of the Marine Corps and doesn’t fully comprehend the world outside. Both Dawson and Kaffee are good at what they do. That?s all they have in common. The contrast between the disciplined Dawson and the flippant Kaffee can be traced to their system of beliefs and their environment. Dawson mentions that he joined the navy so that he could live by a code. He believes that he did his duty and did it well and was even ready to face its consequences, but not plead guilty. Here we see the romanticized version of the code of honor. He failed to realize that the real strength of character lies in his discretion to protect the weak and not train him to protect himself. He lives in the misconceptions where certain principles appear Dawson is like a person who wants to be religious and associates himself with religious practices {no matter what they are} which gives him a sense of satisfaction. Kaffee on the other hand has no delusions about the law. His only criterion is to solve his case as soon as possible with the best interest of his client at heart. He believes that a case is not won by the law but the lawyer. He seems to have lost his faith in all legal ethics due to the way  law is practiced around him and he seems to be a part of the system too. Or in the least he has least to live with it. Daniel Kaffee is a smart, flippant, good-looking young Navy lawyer. in his late 20’s, 15 months out of Harvard Law School, and a brilliant legal mind waiting for a courageous spirit to drive it. He is, at this point in his life, passionate about nothing †¦ except maybe softball. His father was a renowned jurist, and Dan feels the burden of his father’s reputation. Indeed, his casual, tongue-in-cheek attitude to the law is his way of avoiding comparison with his father. You can’t fail if you don’t even try. However, he lived in the shadows of his father having no misconceptions regarding different facets of law. He does not believe in a romanticized version of his profession. He did not believe his case to be a winner and first attempts to find an easy way out. Even though he sympathized with the state of his clients who were forced to carry out their orders, were blinded by the belief in false practices like ?Code Red?, he understood the politics associated with the case. His frustration is revealed when he emphasizes that ‘I think you will lose’ and ‘ it does not matter what I believe, it only matters what I can prove..’ Despite these flaws he proves to be an excellent lawyer. This is because unlike the marines. He has learnt to question authority. He has not been conditioned by blind principles. the lawyer defending the two marines in A Few Good Men has to consider whether he should go beyond the legal and ethical codes under which he is bound and accuse a witness on the stand of committing a crime for which the two marines are accused. He of course does and justice is done. In conclusion, it is evident that Dawson and Downey performed their duty as was expected of them. On ethical grounds, they would have been better off notifying the appropriate authorities of the nature of the order and the circumstances in which the order was to be executed. However, as fellow  marines under a commanding officer, they were compelled to follow orders without looking into the ethical or moral aspects of their actions. A marine?s discipline is taken very seriously by his commanding officers; however, this does not imply that discipline takes priority over the mental and physical health of a marine. Santiago?s heart condition was no secret. Despite this fact, he was given the ‘Code Red’ knowing fully well that he may not be able to take the pressure ? definitely, an unethical decision on the part of the authorities concerned.

Management and Quality Control

Chatammour Henderson Marketing Management Seminar 640 February 25, 2012 Asterand Memorandum: â€Å"What is the ultimate goal of Asterand’s quality control initiative? † Asterand clearly did not have an effective quality control system in process prior to accepting its contract with Amgen to supply human tissue samples.Although Asterand is a new supplier to the biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical industry, it will need to immediately establish quality control methods that will allow them to process orders correctly and deliver the final product to the standards and requirements of the procuring company. This will demonstrate Asterand’s ability to provide consistent and reliable human-tissue samples that meet the rigorous regulatory standards that the FDA places on all biotechnology and pharmaceutical products.As indicated in the case study, Asterand failed to meet Amgen’s quality standards on four occasions with different reasons. Asterand’s quality control challenges did not begin with Amgen. Asterand also faced challenges with implementing standardized protocols for storage and data collection across laboratories and hospitals, organizing and storing samples over long periods, and meeting the stringent regulatory requirements for clinical testing.It is imperative that Asterand addresses these challenges in order to stay in business and to expand the company. Human-tissue sampling is a new and innovative process that can be rejected by its target consumers if it does not have good quality control methods. Asterand’s ultimate goal of the quality control initiative is to be well received in the niche human-tissue sample market so that the company can increase sales growth, secure financing, attract investors and ultimately expand its operations.

Angels Demons Chapter 9-12

9 The corpse on the floor before Langdon was hideous. The late Leonardo Vetra lay on his back, stripped naked, his skin bluish-gray. His neck bones were jutting out where they had been broken, and his head was twisted completely backward, pointing the wrong way. His face was out of view, pressed against the floor. The man lay in a frozen puddle of his own urine, the hair around his shriveled genitals spidered with frost. Fighting a wave of nausea, Langdon let his eyes fall to the victim's chest. Although Langdon had stared at the symmetrical wound a dozen times on the fax, the burn was infinitely more commanding in real life. The raised, broiled flesh was perfectly delineated†¦ the symbol flawlessly formed. Langdon wondered if the intense chill now raking through his body was the air-conditioning or his utter amazement with the significance of what he was now staring at. Angels & Demons His heart pounded as he circled the body, reading the word upside down, reaffirming the genius of the symmetry. The symbol seemed even less conceivable now that he was staring at it. â€Å"Mr. Langdon?† Langdon did not hear. He was in another world†¦ his world, his element, a world where history, myth, and fact collided, flooding his senses. The gears turned. â€Å"Mr. Langdon?† Kohler's eyes probed expectantly. Langdon did not look up. His disposition now intensified, his focus total. â€Å"How much do you already know?† â€Å"Only what I had time to read on your website. The word Illuminati means ‘the enlightened ones.' It is the name of some sort of ancient brotherhood.† Langdon nodded. â€Å"Had you heard the name before?† â€Å"Not until I saw it branded on Mr. Vetra.† â€Å"So you ran a web search for it?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"And the word returned hundreds of references, no doubt.† â€Å"Thousands,† Kohler said. â€Å"Yours, however, contained references to Harvard, Oxford, a reputable publisher, as well as a list of related publications. As a scientist I have come to learn that information is only as valuable as its source. Your credentials seemed authentic.† Langdon's eyes were still riveted on the body. Kohler said nothing more. He simply stared, apparently waiting for Langdon to shed some light on the scene before them. Langdon looked up, glancing around the frozen flat. â€Å"Perhaps we should discuss this in a warmer place?† â€Å"This room is fine.† Kohler seemed oblivious to the cold. â€Å"We'll talk here.† Langdon frowned. The Illuminati history was by no means a simple one. I'll freeze to death trying to explain it. He gazed again at the brand, feeling a renewed sense of awe. Although accounts of the Illuminati emblem were legendary in modern symbology, no academic had ever actually seen it. Ancient documents described the symbol as an ambigram – ambi meaning â€Å"both† – signifying it was legible both ways. And although ambigrams were common in symbology – swastikas, yin yang, Jewish stars, simple crosses – the idea that a word could be crafted into an ambigram seemed utterly impossible. Modern symbologists had tried for years to forge the word â€Å"Illuminati† into a perfectly symmetrical style, but they had failed miserably. Most academics had now decided the symbol's existence was a myth. â€Å"So who are the Illuminati?† Kohler demanded. Yes, Langdon thought, who indeed? He began his tale. â€Å"Since the beginning of history,† Langdon explained, â€Å"a deep rift has existed between science and religion. Outspoken scientists like Copernicus – â€Å" â€Å"Were murdered,† Kohler interjected. â€Å"Murdered by the church for revealing scientific truths. Religion has always persecuted science.† â€Å"Yes. But in the 1500s, a group of men in Rome fought back against the church. Some of Italy's most enlightened men – physicists, mathematicians, astronomers – began meeting secretly to share their concerns about the church's inaccurate teachings. They feared that the church's monopoly on ‘truth' threatened academic enlightenment around the world. They founded the world's first scientific think tank, calling themselves ‘the enlightened ones.' â€Å" â€Å"The Illuminati.† â€Å"Yes,† Langdon said. â€Å"Europe's most learned minds†¦ dedicated to the quest for scientific truth.† Kohler fell silent. â€Å"Of course, the Illuminati were hunted ruthlessly by the Catholic Church. Only through rites of extreme secrecy did the scientists remain safe. Word spread through the academic underground, and the Illuminati brotherhood grew to include academics from all over Europe. The scientists met regularly in Rome at an ultrasecret lair they called the Church of Illumination.† Kohler coughed and shifted in his chair. â€Å"Many of the Illuminati,† Langdon continued, â€Å"wanted to combat the church's tyranny with acts of violence, but their most revered member persuaded them against it. He was a pacifist, as well as one of history's most famous scientists.† Langdon was certain Kohler would recognize the name. Even nonscientists were familiar with the ill-fated astronomer who had been arrested and almost executed by the church for proclaiming that the sun, and not the earth, was the center of the solar system. Although his data were incontrovertible, the astronomer was severely punished for implying that God had placed mankind somewhere other than at the center of His universe. â€Å"His name was Galileo Galilei,† Langdon said. Kohler looked up. â€Å"Galileo?† â€Å"Yes. Galileo was an Illuminatus. And he was also a devout Catholic. He tried to soften the church's position on science by proclaiming that science did not undermine the existence of God, but rather reinforced it. He wrote once that when he looked through his telescope at the spinning planets, he could hear God's voice in the music of the spheres. He held that science and religion were not enemies, but rather allies – two different languages telling the same story, a story of symmetry and balance†¦ heaven and hell, night and day, hot and cold, God and Satan. Both science and religion rejoiced in God's symmetry†¦ the endless contest of light and dark.† Langdon paused, stamping his feet to stay warm. Kohler simply sat in his wheelchair and stared. â€Å"Unfortunately,† Langdon added, â€Å"the unification of science and religion was not what the church wanted.† â€Å"Of course not,† Kohler interrupted. â€Å"The union would have nullified the church's claim as the sole vessel through which man could understand God. So the church tried Galileo as a heretic, found him guilty, and put him under permanent house arrest. I am quite aware of scientific history, Mr. Langdon. But this was all centuries ago. What does it have to do with Leonardo Vetra?† The million dollar question. Langdon cut to the chase. â€Å"Galileo's arrest threw the Illuminati into upheaval. Mistakes were made, and the church discovered the identities of four members, whom they captured and interrogated. But the four scientists revealed nothing†¦ even under torture.† â€Å"Torture?† Langdon nodded. â€Å"They were branded alive. On the chest. With the symbol of a cross.† Kohler's eyes widened, and he shot an uneasy glance at Vetra's body. â€Å"Then the scientists were brutally murdered, their dead bodies dropped in the streets of Rome as a warning to others thinking of joining the Illuminati. With the church closing in, the remaining Illuminati fled Italy.† Langdon paused to make his point. He looked directly into Kohler's dead eyes. â€Å"The Illuminati went deep underground, where they began mixing with other refugee groups fleeing the Catholic purges – mystics, alchemists, occultists, Muslims, Jews. Over the years, the Illuminati began absorbing new members. A new Illuminati emerged. A darker Illuminati. A deeply anti-Christian Illuminati. They grew very powerful, employing mysterious rites, deadly secrecy, vowing someday to rise again and take revenge on the Catholic Church. Their power grew to the point where the church considered them the single most dangerous anti-Christian force on earth. The Vatican denounced the brotherhood as Shaitan.† â€Å"Shaitan?† â€Å"It's Islamic. It means ‘adversary'†¦ God's adversary. The church chose Islam for the name because it was a language they considered dirty.† Langdon hesitated. â€Å"Shaitan is the root of an English word†¦Satan.† An uneasiness crossed Kohler's face. Langdon's voice was grim. â€Å"Mr. Kohler, I do not know how this marking appeared on this man's chest†¦ or why†¦ but you are looking at the long-lost symbol of the world's oldest and most powerful satanic cult.† 10 The alley was narrow and deserted. The Hassassin strode quickly now, his black eyes filling with anticipation. As he approached his destination, Janus's parting words echoed in his mind. Phase two begins shortly. Get some rest. The Hassassin smirked. He had been awake all night, but sleep was the last thing on his mind. Sleep was for the weak. He was a warrior like his ancestors before him, and his people never slept once a battle had begun. This battle had most definitely begun, and he had been given the honor of spilling first blood. Now he had two hours to celebrate his glory before going back to work. Sleep? There are far better ways to relax†¦ An appetite for hedonistic pleasure was something bred into him by his ancestors. His ascendants had indulged in hashish, but he preferred a different kind of gratification. He took pride in his body – a well-tuned, lethal machine, which, despite his heritage, he refused to pollute with narcotics. He had developed a more nourishing addiction than drugs†¦ a far more healthy and satisfying reward. Feeling a familiar anticipation swelling within him, the Hassassin moved faster down the alley. He arrived at the nondescript door and rang the bell. A view slit in the door opened, and two soft brown eyes studied him appraisingly. Then the door swung open. â€Å"Welcome,† the well-dressed woman said. She ushered him into an impeccably furnished sitting room where the lights were low. The air was laced with expensive perfume and musk. â€Å"Whenever you are ready.† She handed him a book of photographs. â€Å"Ring me when you have made your choice.† Then she disappeared. The Hassassin smiled. As he sat on the plush divan and positioned the photo album on his lap, he felt a carnal hunger stir. Although his people did not celebrate Christmas, he imagined that this is what it must feel like to be a Christian child, sitting before a stack of Christmas presents, about to discover the miracles inside. He opened the album and examined the photos. A lifetime of sexual fantasies stared back at him. Marisa. An Italian goddess. Fiery. A young Sophia Loren. Sachiko. A Japanese geisha. Lithe. No doubt skilled. Kanara. A stunning black vision. Muscular. Exotic. He examined the entire album twice and made his choice. He pressed a button on the table beside him. A minute later the woman who had greeted him reappeared. He indicated his selection. She smiled. â€Å"Follow me.† After handling the financial arrangements, the woman made a hushed phone call. She waited a few minutes and then led him up a winding marble staircase to a luxurious hallway. â€Å"It's the gold door on the end,† she said. â€Å"You have expensive taste.† I should, he thought. I am a connoisseur. The Hassassin padded the length of the hallway like a panther anticipating a long overdue meal. When he reached the doorway he smiled to himself. It was already ajar†¦ welcoming him in. He pushed, and the door swung noiselessly open. When he saw his selection, he knew he had chosen well. She was exactly as he had requested†¦ nude, lying on her back, her arms tied to the bedposts with thick velvet cords. He crossed the room and ran a dark finger across her ivory abdomen. I killed last night, he thought. You are my reward. 11 â€Å"Satanic?† Kohler wiped his mouth and shifted uncomfortably. â€Å"This is the symbol of a satanic cult?† Langdon paced the frozen room to keep warm. â€Å"The Illuminati were satanic. But not in the modern sense.† Langdon quickly explained how most people pictured satanic cults as devil-worshiping fiends, and yet Satanists historically were educated men who stood as adversaries to the church. Shaitan. The rumors of satanic black-magic animal sacrifices and the pentagram ritual were nothing but lies spread by the church as a smear campaign against their adversaries. Over time, opponents of the church, wanting to emulate the Illuminati, began believing the lies and acting them out. Thus, modern Satanism was born. Kohler grunted abruptly. â€Å"This is all ancient history. I want to know how this symbol got here.† Langdon took a deep breath. â€Å"The symbol itself was created by an anonymous sixteenth-century Illuminati artist as a tribute to Galileo's love of symmetry – a kind of sacred Illuminati logo. The brotherhood kept the design secret, allegedly planning to reveal it only when they had amassed enough power to resurface and carry out their final goal.† Kohler looked unsettled. â€Å"So this symbol means the Illuminati brotherhood is resurfacing?† Langdon frowned. â€Å"That would be impossible. There is one chapter of Illuminati history that I have not yet explained.† Kohler's voice intensified. â€Å"Enlighten me.† Langdon rubbed his palms together, mentally sorting through the hundreds of documents he'd read or written on the Illuminati. â€Å"The Illuminati were survivors,† he explained. â€Å"When they fled Rome, they traveled across Europe looking for a safe place to regroup. They were taken in by another secret society†¦ a brotherhood of wealthy Bavarian stone craftsmen called the Freemasons.† Kohler looked startled. â€Å"The Masons?† Langdon nodded, not at all surprised that Kohler had heard of the group. The brotherhood of the Masons currently had over five million members worldwide, half of them residing in the United States, and over one million of them in Europe. â€Å"Certainly the Masons are not satanic,† Kohler declared, sounding suddenly skeptical. â€Å"Absolutely not. The Masons fell victim of their own benevolence. After harboring the fleeing scientists in the 1700s, the Masons unknowingly became a front for the Illuminati. The Illuminati grew within their ranks, gradually taking over positions of power within the lodges. They quietly reestablished their scientific brotherhood deep within the Masons – a kind of secret society within a secret society. Then the Illuminati used the worldwide connection of Masonic lodges to spread their influence.† Langdon drew a cold breath before racing on. â€Å"Obliteration of Catholicism was the Illuminati's central covenant. The brotherhood held that the superstitious dogma spewed forth by the church was mankind's greatest enemy. They feared that if religion continued to promote pious myth as absolute fact, scientific progress would halt, and mankind would be doomed to an ignorant future of senseless holy wars.† â€Å"Much like we see today.† Langdon frowned. Kohler was right. Holy wars were still making headlines. My God is better than your God. It seemed there was always close correlation between true believers and high body counts. â€Å"Go on,† Kohler said. Langdon gathered his thoughts and continued. â€Å"The Illuminati grew more powerful in Europe and set their sights on America, a fledgling government many of whose leaders were Masons – George Washington, Ben Franklin – honest, God-fearing men who were unaware of the Illuminati stronghold on the Masons. The Illuminati took advantage of the infiltration and helped found banks, universities, and industry to finance their ultimate quest.† Langdon paused. â€Å"The creation of a single unified world state – a kind of secular New World Order.† Kohler did not move. â€Å"A New World Order,† Langdon repeated, â€Å"based on scientific enlightenment. They called it their Luciferian Doctrine. The church claimed Lucifer was a reference to the devil, but the brotherhood insisted Lucifer was intended in its literal Latin meaning – bringer of light. Or Illuminator.† Kohler sighed, and his voice grew suddenly solemn. â€Å"Mr. Langdon, please sit down.† Langdon sat tentatively on a frost-covered chair. Kohler moved his wheelchair closer. â€Å"I am not sure I understand everything you have just told me, but I do understand this. Leonardo Vetra was one of CERN's greatest assets. He was also a friend. I need you to help me locate the Illuminati.† Langdon didn't know how to respond. â€Å"Locate the Illuminati?† He's kidding, right? â€Å"I'm afraid, sir, that will be utterly impossible.† Kohler's brow creased. â€Å"What do you mean? You won't – â€Å" â€Å"Mr. Kohler.† Langdon leaned toward his host, uncertain how to make him understand what he was about to say. â€Å"I did not finish my story. Despite appearances, it is extremely unlikely that this brand was put here by the Illuminati. There has been no evidence of their existence for over half a century, and most scholars agree the Illuminati have been defunct for many years.† The words hit silence. Kohler stared through the fog with a look somewhere between stupefaction and anger. â€Å"How the hell can you tell me this group is extinct when their name is seared into this man!† Langdon had been asking himself that question all morning. The appearance of the Illuminati ambigram was astonishing. Symbologists worldwide would be dazzled. And yet, the academic in Langdon understood that the brand's reemergence proved absolutely nothing about the Illuminati. â€Å"Symbols,† Langdon said, â€Å"in no way confirm the presence of their original creators.† â€Å"What is that supposed to mean?† â€Å"It means that when organized philosophies like the Illuminati go out of existence, their symbols remain†¦ available for adoption by other groups. It's called transference. It's very common in symbology. The Nazis took the swastika from the Hindus, the Christians adopted the cruciform from the Egyptians, the – â€Å" â€Å"This morning,† Kohler challenged, â€Å"when I typed the word ‘Illuminati' into the computer, it returned thousands of current references. Apparently a lot of people think this group is still active.† â€Å"Conspiracy buffs,† Langdon replied. He had always been annoyed by the plethora of conspiracy theories that circulated in modern pop culture. The media craved apocalyptic headlines, and self-proclaimed â€Å"cult specialists† were still cashing in on millennium hype with fabricated stories that the Illuminati were alive and well and organizing their New World Order. Recently the New York Times had reported the eerie Masonic ties of countless famous men – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the Duke of Kent, Peter Sellers, Irving Berlin, Prince Philip, Louis Armstrong, as well as a pantheon of well-known modern-day industrialists and banking magnates. Kohler pointed angrily at Vetra's body. â€Å"Considering the evidence, I would say perhaps the conspiracy buffs are correct.† â€Å"I realize how it appears,† Langdon said as diplomatically as he could. â€Å"And yet a far more plausible explanation is that some other organization has taken control of the Illuminati brand and is using it for their own purposes.† â€Å"What purposes? What does this murder prove?† Good question, Langdon thought. He also was having trouble imagining where anyone could have turned up the Illuminati brand after 400 years. â€Å"All I can tell you is that even if the Illuminati were still active today, which I am virtually positive they are not, they would never be involved in Leonardo Vetra's death.† â€Å"No?† â€Å"No. The Illuminati may have believed in the abolition of Christianity, but they wielded their power through political and financial means, not through terrorists acts. Furthermore, the Illuminati had a strict code of morality regarding who they saw as enemies. They held men of science in the highest regard. There is no way they would have murdered a fellow scientist like Leonardo Vetra.† Kohler's eyes turned to ice. â€Å"Perhaps I failed to mention that Leonardo Vetra was anything but an ordinary scientist.† Langdon exhaled patiently. â€Å"Mr. Kohler, I'm sure Leonardo Vetra was brilliant in many ways, but the fact remains – â€Å" Without warning, Kohler spun in his wheelchair and accelerated out of the living room, leaving a wake of swirling mist as he disappeared down a hallway. For the love of God, Langdon groaned. He followed. Kohler was waiting for him in a small alcove at the end of the hallway. â€Å"This is Leonardo's study,† Kohler said, motioning to the sliding door. â€Å"Perhaps when you see it you'll understand things differently.† With an awkward grunt, Kohler heaved, and the door slid open. Langdon peered into the study and immediately felt his skin crawl. Holy mother of Jesus, he said to himself. 12 In another country, a young guard sat patiently before an expansive bank of video monitors. He watched as images flashed before him – live feeds from hundreds of wireless video cameras that surveyed the sprawling complex. The images went by in an endless procession. An ornate hallway. A private office. An industrial-size kitchen. As the pictures went by, the guard fought off a daydream. He was nearing the end of his shift, and yet he was still vigilant. Service was an honor. Someday he would be granted his ultimate reward. As his thoughts drifted, an image before him registered alarm. Suddenly, with a reflexive jerk that startled even himself, his hand shot out and hit a button on the control panel. The picture before him froze. His nerves tingling, he leaned toward the screen for a closer look. The reading on the monitor told him the image was being transmitted from camera #86 – a camera that was supposed to be overlooking a hallway. But the image before him was most definitely not a hallway.