Kenworth Motors Case Study Essays and Term Papers

Read â€Å"Kenworth Motors† beginning on p. 212 of Cummings & Worley (2009) and answer the four questions at the end of the case.1. How well the OD consultant did prepares for the meeting with Denton? I do not believe that the OS consultant was quite prepared for the meeting. He stated that he was about to talk to a man and go to a firm that he knew nothing much about. He did have a little bit of facts about his title and his job tenure. But one thing is that he knew that it was Kenworth Motors’ Seattle truck manufacturing operations.He did not have agenda of what the business was all about and he was not focused about the agenda. Would you have done anything differently? Yes I would. If I knew that I was going on an appointment and I did not know anything about the firm or the person that I was going to see. I would have prepared myself a little better than that. I would have tried to find out more information about Mr. Denton, and I would have done a research about Ke nworth Motors’ Seattle truck manufacturing operations.2. In the discussion between the OD consultant and Denton, what was effective and ineffective about the consultant’s behavior? One thing about the OD consultant is that when he had the interview with Mr. Denton he had a change to ask Mr. Denton question first about the plant and products. Denton was able to talk about 10 or 12 minutes on different topic—daily production rate of 23 trucks, the cost of the truck, the sales order backlog, some equipment updating just finished, his coming to this job from a plant in the Midwest, his spending a lot of time lately with the next year’s budget.This was effective because OD consultant was able to learn some things about Mr. Denton and the firm that he did not knew. They were able to communicate effectively with one another. Bob and the OD consultant both had a positive attitude. The ineffective about the consultant’s behavior is that he was trying to fin d out everything about Mr. Denton and the firm as much as he can. The OD consultant caught himself going on with more question. He was looking for Mr. Denton to tell him something were wrong about the company, but he really did not have much to say what was wrong.3. How effective was the contracting process described in the last part of the case? The contracting was very effective; Bob seemed to be very open with the OD consultant. Bob was able to agree with the OD consultant about staying on a retreat for the weekend, once a month. This would give the department managers a change to get acquainted with each other. Also, the OD consultant stated that going on this retreat would not cause them to lose time off from work and it would not cost a lot of money.They still will be working all day on Saturday with appropriate breaks, and conclude by noon on Sunday. What is the scope and clarity of the agreement? The scope and clarity of the agreement is that the OD consultant must make sure that he agreed to have a retreat weekend a month-and-a-half. Also they agreed to use the phrase â€Å"a communications workshop† when he informed the participants.4. How would you design the upcoming retreat? I would continue to have a weekend and-a-half day retreat. I would recommend that we developed some kind of strategies to help manager to become more effective.On my agenda, I would include communicating, problem solving, time management, stress management and decision making. I would like to make it a fun retreat even though it is work related. I would not want to work at all of the retreat; I would like to go to a hotel where they served breakfast, lunch and dinner. Also at the end of the retreat, I would like to have someone teach us the importance of getting proper rest and exercise prior to going to work and after that have an exercise workout. This can help relieved some work related stress.

Should Girls and Boys Be Given Exactly the Same Type of Education?

Should girls and boys be given exactly the same type of education? In Singapore, girls and boys are entitling the same type of education. Gender equality is ensure by our government. This was done so to make sure there wasn't any discrimination among each gender, and there was equal opportunities given to the citizens, to voice out their discontented. However, this was not implemented throughout the world. To begin with, girls should be entitled the equal right as boys to receive education. It is not a major problem in developed countries, but in less developed country like Saudi Arab, they do not pay much attention to girl’s education.In their views, girls are born to tend the house, and do the laborious chores. Therefore, religious views are the root towards the type of education given to both genders. In addition, whether to apply the same education for both genders also have a further impact on the development of the country. The development of country would determine whet her the same type of education should be given to both genders. For example, in Singapore, being a fast-tempo country and with small population, we need both genders to help to boost the economy.Whereas, slow-tempo country like Vietnam but with large population, there are limited job opportunities. Males are needed to work in the rice field, while the females stay home to do house chores. Therefore, girls and boys should be given the same education depends on the country’s quality of life. Lastly, school fees are not a small sum. Not all family are able to afford to send their children to school. And in the traditional views, females are married off to the males; they do not need much education.Whereas the males have to raise the family, thus education opportunities are given to them. Therefore, expenses are one of the factors that contribute to the entitlement of same type of education. However, when both genders are given exactly the same type of education, they are given t he same opportunities in the social world. Research also has proven that girls are more competence than the boys. Girls also tend to be perfectionist in their field of work and so, whatever work is given to them, and they will end up doing their best to complete it.With more girls in the working society, this will eventually help to boost the competency between companies and also the company profits as well. To sum up, girls and boys educations are given according to the circumstances such as area of development, religion beliefs and expenses. Gender discrimination will not be demolished within a short period of time. Therefore, policy against gender discrimination should be implemented to protect the rights of the ladies even though they do not have education.

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

Individual Assignment - Essay Example Nonetheless, in practice subsidiaries differ respectably in what they do and how they share in global techniques. This variety of subsidiary parts inside a MNE relies on upon both the MNE's global system and assets and the accessibility and character of assets gained entrance to by regional standards; at the end of the day on the cooperation of Firm-particular and nation particular focal points. . In this way, MNEs make linkages between their differing subsidiaries that thusly misuse chances in various types of nearby connections. Hence, subsidiaries shift as for the business sectors into which they offer: domesticated or worldwide. Subsequently, we propose to grow the plans of the IR skeleton to comprehend the determinants of subsidiary technique by including fare introduction as a third measurement in our IR system. Over here we will be discussing the IR framework of five individual companies, namely IBM, Google, Samsung Electronics, Huawei and Toyota as to where do they fall in th e framework and do they decide on their respective strategies accordingly. 1. Assuming you are a senior manager of the parent firm, below, in which cell of the integration/ responsiveness (I/R) framework would you place the corporate strategy of each of the following five MNEs: a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   IBM b)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Toyota c)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Huawei d)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Samsung Electronics e)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Google The Integrated- Responsiveness framework is used to explore and explain the management challenges of all types of multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, it was originally developed, and has predominantly been applied, to examine and explain strategic and organizational dilemmas in product-oriented manufacturing firms. The below given diagram makes it clearer. In the case of IBM, it is a widespread Information technology company. They need to follow a transnational strategy which falls in the third quadrant with high global integration and high resp onsiveness. The same should be followed by Toyota as it is a worldwide manufacturer of automobiles. Huawei and Samsung are both in into electronics and computers; even they will fall in the category of following the transnational strategy. Google is the most popular international search engine over the world. They have operations across all the continents. They also fall under the category of transnational organisation. 2. What is the appropriate organisational structure consistent with the strategy of each of the five firms in Question 1? As discussed above, IBM, Toyota, Google, Samsung & Huawei, all fall under the transnational technique, they need to design their organisational structure appropriately. The real issue confronting associations that utilize a transnational structure is unpredictability, which is prone to meddle with their deliberations to realize integration and coordination at different levels. To address the issue of integration and coordination concerns, they mig ht as well receive new organizational structures, for example, measured and virtual structures. Virtual Structure In a measured structure, one can differentiate centre and non-centre capacities of their business and keep tabs on centre capacities while outsourcing all non-centre capacities. In virtual organizations, representatives work comprehensively from distinctive

Marketing plan for any hospitality product Essay

Marketing plan for any hospitality product - Essay Example This kind of business proves to be promising due to several reasons, first of which is that we have no direct competitors found within the city. As such, The ZEN Home Salon and Spa is the only business of its kind that would cater to the demands of local residents. In addition to this, with Bellevue’s current profile as a major regional economic and employment center (Demographic and Economic Trends, 2009), we will surely be able to identify a captured market among those employed on a full time basis and do not have the luxury of time to go out during their free days to pamper themselves with a much needed massage or with salon services. The ZEN will surely provide these customers with an opportunity to relax in their homes while enjoying our service. Our home-service strategy would further allow them to save on travel time. The ZEN targets to expand its menu of services in the next six months, depending on the perceived needs of the captured market. We are also looking at selling beauty and treatment products within six months of operation. And with our target to offer unparalleled products and services to our client base, we will make it difficult for a competitor to match our service level standards. Moreover, our pricing would be competitive as compared to other Days Spas in Bellevue and in neighboring cities. The strength of The Zen lies on its being the only home-service business of its kind in Bellevue. The next competition that offers exactly the same service is located at Seattle. With this, we are confident that we could easily penetrate the local market and have good competition with other establishments. Following these conditions, The ZEN is optimistic that we will be able to create a need among the target market within three months after our launch. Further, we aim to create a solid and returning client base of 60 households within Bellevue, and another 60 from neighboring cities in six

Professional Ethics Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Professional Ethics - Research Paper Example If he decides to send him to the asylum, then he is snatching away his independence but is reducing risk that the patient can pose to himself and others. Thus, the physician has to face a conflict between what is legal and what is ethical. Personal Values and Professional Ethics †¢ The physician interacting with the patient should be honest and straightforward, and should deal with the patient in a candid fashion. †¢ The patient should also be honest with the physician. †¢ The patient’s consent should be considered before sharing, selling or disclosing his personal information. †¢ The patient’s privacy should be maintained by blocking unauthorized access to his health records and personal data. †¢ Informed Consent is about having the capable patient take part in making decisions about his healthcare and treatment process (Wear, 1992). The patient should be well informed about all the circumstances and his wishes and judgment has to be considered by the practitioner. Ethical Theories and Principles According to Rainbow (2002), â€Å"ethical theories and principles are the foundations of ethical analysis because they are the viewpoints from which guidance can be obtained along the pathway to a decision.† Ethical Principles Beneficence. ... Justice. This principle states that physicians make ethical decisions that are fair to the patient and all those who are involved in the treatment process. The decisions should be made on logical bases. Ethical Theories Deontology. This theory focuses on that physicians should stick to their responsibilities when they are facing a dilemma in making ethical decisions. This will help them to make consistent decisions while adhering to their ethical obligations. Utilitarianism. This theory helps the physician to make choices whose consequences are better for the patient. He will make a decision that will yield greatest benefit to all involved. Rights. This theory respects and protects the rights of people as enforced by the society itself. Casuist. This theory enables the physicians to make decision about an ethical dilemma by comparing it to similar dilemmas and their consequences that might have happened in the past. Virtue. This theory is about judging a person through his values and standards rather than by his actions. Application to My Current Practice My current practice as a health practitioner is providing healthcare to e-consumers. I apply all ethical theories and principles because I aim to provide beneficence to my e-patients with least harm I can inflict upon them. I respect their decisions and stick to my ethical obligations. I strictly follow the Casuist theory whenever I am in some kind of a dilemma. For example, once I had to prescribe a diabetes patient to start insulin injections but I found out that his body was too frail to bear the injections twice a day. So, I referred to previous case histories of my patients to find out a

Do Socially-Responsible Mutual Funds Perform better than Conventional Research Paper

Do Socially-Responsible Mutual Funds Perform better than Conventional Mutual Funds - Research Paper Example In addition, it includes incorporation of local communities in order to further its aim to achieve its goals (Schepers, 2009). Socially responsible investment has for years been viewed as the practice for individuals who are interested in social change and who aim to yield much profit at the end. There was a time when it was hard or difficult to establish a socially responsible portfolio that was competitive on market because the socially responsible investing universe was not large. But that is the past since time have changed in that in modern day there are more than 100 mutual funds that incorporate social screens in their management decisions which aim to improve their profits. Investors are in a position to create portfolio that is competitive and real to their social concerns. In addition, there exist more direct investment opportunities such as buying certificates of deposits with local or community banks (Vogel, 2006). Mutual funds Mutual funds are said to be investment capit al of distinct type. In this regard, investment fund refers to the variety of investments such as stocks, bonds and other types of funds. Mutual funds are different from most of distinct types of funds present. In this sense, mutual funds are referred to as open-ended meaning that as the number of people investing in the funds rises, the funds also increases its units in the market. Mutual funds concentrate on specific category of investment such as large firms stocks and government bonds of certain Nations. In addition, few of the mutual funds might slightly invest in combination of stocks and bonds in distinct mutual funds. For many years, investing in mutual funds has been viewed as safe mode of investment as it incorporates both individual capitals with many different investors, which makes investors to invest in different types of investment at less cost (Renneboog et al 2008). There are two different types of mutual funds investment namely; socially responsible mutual funds an d conventional mutual funds. The socially responsible mutual funds involve certain factors to consider while making decision concerning the firm to invest in. Socially responsible funds perform better because the funds apply their ownership rights to manipulate management via policy alteration or change suggestions. They ensure that this advocacy is attained through attending shareholders meetings, exercising voting rights in companies, writing letters to top management, and filing proposals. In most scenarios, it is very hard for shareholders to hold and exercise their voting rights. Therefore voting are attained via proxy. Many investors advocate socially responsible funds because they have strict policy that aim to maintain transparency in decisions and disclose all proxy voting procedures, policies and conducting voting rights of its shareholders (Schepers, 2009). On the other hand, the conventional mutual funds is concerned with the prospects and financial performance of firms combined with significant factors while investing. Discussion Over the years, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of socially responsible mutual funds. The issue of social investment has been subject of debate for many years. However, the modern manner of investment has been because of financial crisis that began in 1930s. At that time, there were many issues available

Conspiracy Theory Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting Research Paper - 1

Conspiracy Theory Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting - Research Paper Example The propagation and spreading of such stories are common and not surprising at all. For instance, it is usually seen that when one tragedy occurs it itself gives birth to many conspiracies like the 9/11, Waco, etc... but the unfortunate and the most distracting part is when the media starts to give such petty issues great coverage and significance which has not been to date done by any eminent politicians or commentators. Although the formal coverage that is ongoing to date has randomly sought to marginalize this attention seeking conspiracy-mongers, the problem arises when such false myths gain severe popularity. People start to believe them as undue publicity is done so as to increase their ratings. The first conspiracy was when a man who was near the school hiding in the bushes was caught as a shooter but soon after it was evaluated that he was a cop from the other town on a day off. Then a man who was running around was arrested later it was determined that it was Manfredonia loo king for his six-year-old daughter. Then there was this other conspiracy whether Lanza used a short gun or an assault rifle which could not be determined as both are quite similar to each other. Another conspiracy was whether Ryan Lanza the actual killer instead of Adam Lanza who was the killer. Ryan was suspected as the killer but then it was reported that he was at his place during the shooting and his brother as they did not live together was carrying his old identity card. Another conspiracy was about Rosen whose house is near the school and the kids who ran there took refuge there. The conspiracy lies why he informed the police late although the reason might be that he did not believe the children till he verified the news.

Knowledge Management is not Achievable in Large Complex Organizations Essay

Knowledge Management is not Achievable in Large Complex Organizations - Essay Example As the report stresses KM is an important issue for international management, yet there is a considerable confusion as to what constitutes organizational knowledge, whether it can be systematically managed and how. Matters related to incorporation of an organizational and technological mechanism so as to facilitate knowledge management in complex organizations need to be resolved. Experts are also of the opinion that Knowledge Management does not belong to one particular area. From the discussion it is clear people from different disciplines are working on it. A number of people have realized the value of measuring intellectual assets, thereby recognizing the importance of knowledge management as a competitive asset. As a result, many companies have considerably invested in knowledge projects, which range from setting up an intranet using team oriented software, mentoring, chalking out personal development plans to information sharing. Some researchers has claimed that at times, the problems for implementation of knowledge management lies in ways in which the processes and systems for knowledge creation are being developed separately without considering the organization’s social systems. Rather than being a process problem, communication and learning issues are more likely due to poor knowledge creation from a new system. The adoption of this tool would be important in protecting intellectual assets and cultural barriers.

Intermediate Macroeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Intermediate Macroeconomics - Essay Example These countries include the United States, Russia, China, Canada, Venezuela, Nigeria and Libya among others. Today, the economic structures of these countries are dependent on crude oil, as the primary source of energy.Ordinarilly; the oil plays a significant role in the strength and stability of these economies. Oil influences global consumption and expenditure rates through international trade to a substantial extent. . (Bernanke & Gertler 1995) The time under consideration in this research paper is between 2004 and 2013. During the period, Libya and other Arab countries underwent a revolution that caused disruptions in crude oil mining. The troubled oil production fronted a resurgence of demand for the product and hence the situation sharply sent the oil costs up. During the period, economists believe that disrupted production in various Arab countries contributed to the slow growth for 2011 henceforth. The messy markets over the last few years saw oil prices fluctuate making it hard to predict the economy The demand for crude oil is rapidly increasing with the growing industrialization in developing countries. This is because the calorific value of crude oil is very higher as compared to that of the other alternative sources of energy such as solar energy, bio-fuel, and other sources of energy. (Bernanke & Gertler 1995) Moreover, the other alternative sources of energy are not feasible to be used in some of the industries and vehicles. These competitive benefits of crude oil over the other alternatives create the aggregate demand of the precious natural resource. However, this natural resource is continue to deplete at a similar pace to that of increasing demand due to the over exploitation of the same. In addition, as crude oil is a non-renewable source of energy, hence it cannot be replenished after the complete use of the same. This has resulted in the constant price

Research Germany Disney theme restraurant Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Research Germany Disney theme restraurant - Essay Example The German Disney theme restaurant also known as the German Biergarten, beer garden, is an outdoor place where people enjoy local food and beer, in a theatre-like layout with family-style long tables. The Disney theme restaurant is located in Epcot, Germany. The restaurant provides all sorts of entertainment including songs, games, and music. Biergarten offers a serene place to eat well plenty of food with music and the decorations, the place offers a magical experience of Disney. The restaurant offers varieties of food, but specifically known for sausages and German keg. Biergarten offers a communal dining experience in which people from various families sit in a large table to eat together (Disney.com, 2015). The SWOTT analysis involves methods used in strategic planning, formulated to understand situations for corporate failures. The analysis is a tool for understanding and making decisions concerning new ideas, which are productive for the business. The research strategy involves a series of questions including the stipulated benefits, competitive advantage, weaknesses, and thinking pragmatically (Prussakov, 2011). Biergarten relies on the serene beauty and the varieties of delicacies, which has attracted most individuals from all over the world. The German beer and the burger are some of the favorite delicacies loved by many. The Disney themes and music makes it a fun place and a more preferred place for relaxing and meeting different people from all over the world. Disney is one entertainment company that has fans all over the world and having its themes in a restaurant, makes the lovers of Disney prefer Biergarten for refreshments and leisure (Disney.com, 2015). The analysis of weaknesses of the restaurant focuses on the negative responses from its customers. The restaurant maintains its menu over time limiting the clients who wants to try new available

Environmental Proposal and Presentation Essay Example for Free

Environmental Proposal and Presentation Essay For this assignment we chose the Patton-Fuller Community Hospital for our virtual organization. This facility is a non-for-profit social insurance association that has supplied an extremely wide cluster of preferred value aids and offices to the town of Kelsey and the encompassing groups since 1975. The healing center supplies centered utilities for example emergency restorative consideration, surgery, work and committal, private medicine and radiology for developed persons and youthful kids. As one of the first facilities in Kelsey, they are besides dedicated to supplying a sort of projects that will underpin the health and welfare of their neighborhood inhabitant numbers (Apollo Group, 2006). The prime causes for hospital’s actuality from a dissection of the task, dream, and objectives are to be the social insurance affiliation of elective for patients, human services masters and M.D.s. Other nexus explanations are to supply esteem honor scoring social insurance aids to the group by viably treating contaminations and damages, supplying early mediation and preventive consideration, and twofold-checking their workers embraces inventiveness, respectability, esteem, aid, teamwork and freedom (Gwinnett health Center, 2009). In this entry we will infer two strategies to make collusions between the Patton-Fuller Community Hospital and its arranged inner and outside stakeholders. We will likewise clarify how the contrasts between administration and administration influence organizing inside the Patton-Fuller Community Hospital. At long last, we will recommend a nature that is supportive of crew working and studying and that considers maintainable improvement and imaginatively inside the Patton-Fuller Community Hospital. BusinessDictionary.com (2009) describes stakeholders as: Persons, gathering, or cooperation that has immediate or digressive venture in an organization on the grounds that it can influence or be affected by the organization’s exercises, targets, and arrangements. Enter stakeholders in a venture affiliation envelop lenders, clients, heads, laborers, legislature, proprietors, dealers, mergers, and the group from which the venture portrayals its assets. In spite of the fact that stake holding is ordinarily self-legitimizing, not all stakeholders are equivalent and dissimilar stakeholders merit to unique concerns. Core stakeholders of the facility are the laborers, patients, guests, speculators, and the group. Smallwood, N., Sweetman, K. Ulrich, D. (2007, November 11) state: Employees longing to work in an area where they can meet their distinctive yearnings and likes. Pioneers who imagine assignments, work domains, and visions help laborers be both skilled and promised to their work. Patients need to comprehend that they are getting the greatest consideration reasonable and be skilled to accept the forethought suppliers. Voyagers longing to grasp their friends and family are acquiring the finest forethought and that they can accept guardians. Communities need chiefs to construct affiliations that are collectively mindful, with hoe they treat the indigenous nature and how they help the greater group. Speculators-need supervisors to keep their vows, advance an influencing evolvement technique arrange focus abilities to the plan then afterward to twofold-watch that folks are promised to committing on these manufacturing. At the point that they do, gurus pay the affiliation with abnormal amounts of confidence sometime to come, which changes over into higher business worth. Controllers need chiefs to administer themselves in concurrence with heightened moral standards and in a kind predictable with master and legitimate guidelines. The difference between leadership is when it comes to a company you work for a manage needs to decide what the company can do to become better. The management has to come up with a conclusion to come together with a project that they can do to keep business flowing and customers to keep coming. Leaders can get the job done if the employees are doing their job. Some people do less work then others therefore that can bring a company down depending on what they are doing at the job. If you practice more on a job you can get more things done even if you have to ask a manager to give you more things to do. If you do less then less performance will get done. No practice will show and more improvement will be needed from that person. It is always areas that you will definite need improvement to do good and in areas that you fall short. You also can start off with what is easy to you and come back and do the hardest part later. Some people thrive on getting better while others are there just to get a paycheck. We all have to deal with different task at a job whether it is easy or hard. You can get ahead a lot quick then waiting for someone to do your job for you. People that doing well; it will better them later on down the road. This is the best time to get things done now and it will get you a better future later. Today is the best time to develop and accomplish new ideas in the company. Leaders will guide you and make sure you are getting the job done the right way. They also like to guide you to look at things in a very different way in life. Management means stay on task and gets focus on what your job is. There is room to self-develop in the work place. They would like to get and input on what makes people do the things they do. People are very different in many different ways no two people thinks alike. When good managers see you are doing a good job that really makes them feel good. They will let you know and mention to the boss. When you have a great manager they will make sure that the work they gave you has gotten done and therefore, you can move to the next task. They want employees to keep things done the right way in a straight and narrow. Sometimes it take good strong leadership to get people to pull together to get the work done. If you are motivate you can achieve your goals when you have good leadership it tends to make people wants to succeed motivation can come from growing and wanting to be successful. Managing stress in a workplace can depend on the mental or physical level of what could have happen in that people life. Tell the manager about your stress in the workplace can be very risky or very effective. Stress can affect you mental and physical in our personal lives. Too much stress can affect our jobs and getting things done that we tend to forget about in our daily lives with so much going on as far as school, children, work and other etc. Some signs of stress can include headaches making mistakes and being very forgetfulness. Make sure you are taking a break and eat lunch or talking to someone so you won’t get burnt out about things that are taking our attention. Don’t take alcohol or do drugs while you are stressing it really just adds to the problem. The best thing to do is get counseling or see a doctor to discuss your problems. It can be helpful for others to know how you are doing. Stress can also lead to depression it can get in the way of your daily routines and communication to others. Be aware of the stress you can cause up on yourself and continue to get help. Patton Fuller Community Hospital’s point is to come to be a trusted organization in the company of its clients and scratch stakeholders, by supplying worth client mind and utilities to all its patients and by helping and reckonings of nexus stakeholders. Today with the expansion of wellbeing forethought costs, the necessity for productive consideration administration is on the register of essential concerns. Patton-Fuller comprehends this requirement and accordingly centers on the viewpoints of nexus stakeholders, patients, suppliers and laborers in the team effort technique. In place for the group to relegate on its promise to be the medicinal services cooperation of decision for patients, medicinal services masters and M.D.s, Patton-Fuller comprehends the vitality of useful territory interrelationships in which organize, inspire and summon enter staff in the course of the attainment of lifelong organizational objectives and targets.

Appraisal Theory The Effects On Skin Psychology Essay

Appraisal Theory The Effects On Skin Psychology Essay This report aims to replicate a classic finding in biopsychology research which proposed, that increases in task difficulty lead to increases in arousal. As well as to present any individual differences that angle off from this, that possibly could be accounted by the appraisal theory. One hundred and two individuals took part in a task called Speedy Pizzas where they had to deliver successfully a vast quantity of pizzas as the level of difficulty increased. The individuals were represented with a total of 5 levels of difficulty, beginning from level 1 (10 pizzas per minute) to level 5 (50 pizzas per minute). This experiment used a repeated measures design where each individual participated at both levels of task difficulty. The outcome showed that there was a significant increase in GSR as task engagement got more challenging. Although, that the overall GSR test showed increase, individual differences might suggest otherwise. Introduction To begin with, this paper will first examine some relevant background on the former literature on a classic biopsychology discoveries based on task performance and its association with increase in skin conductance in an attempt to replicate its findings. Afterwards, it will address some individual variations that might have a crucial role in that correlation. A number of researchers over the years have shown that task attainment of individuals is closely knit together with increase in skin conductance. For instance, Kahneman, Trusky et al. (1969 cited in Pecchinenda and Smith 1996) experiment, showed the relationship between skin resistance levels and mental arithmetic task at three layers of difficulty and encountered that skin resistance decreased as difficulty of each level increased. Nonetheless, this connection between them is often distinct, there are cases that the individuals disengage from the task by resigning which is shown in the form of decreasing responses in the GSR le vels whilst the task engagement becomes particularly difficult. This occurrence can be placed under the theory of the appraisal model proposed by Smith and Lazarus (1993 cited in Pecchinenda and Smith 1996) that suggested that the amount of each individuals focusing resources is established by their appraisal of task-solving coping potential. The above theory has been adapted in various studies, one of them was measuring accomplishment in a demanding mental task. (Pecchinenda and Smith 1996) Pecchinenda and Smiths study wanted to demonstrate the direct association between a cognitive task engagement and the appraisal of each individuals coping potential. Thus, subjects were presented by series of anagrams, that they were called to solve, in various circumstances whilst their GSR was continuously observed. The level of difficulty diverse between each anagram by either having an easy, moderately difficult and extremely difficult anagram as well as the amount of time available that par ticipants had to solve it changed between 30 sec and 120 sec. Results showed that participants coping potential varied between them, since the perception that each subject experienced the situation was different. Paradigm, when an individual appraised their task-solving ability with having a high coping potential approached the task with the attempt to achieve their goal and successfully complete the task. On the contrary, people who appraised the situation as overwhelming and the task as virtually impossible (Pecchinenda and Smith, page 486) had low coping potential and therefore disengaged from the task. Hence, apposite to the skin conductance activity there was a general increase in the GSR levels when the task-solving trials were aligned with the participants engagement in the trials. However, this increase dropped dramatically when the anagrams level of difficulty was extremely demanding as a result of the paltry levels of task engagement. An interesting feature about this stud y that shouldnt be obscured was that the correlation between skin conductance activity and task engagement is not absolute. There are other aspects that might intrude and mislead this association. As in that the correlation between GSR and other components such as stress, perception of the circumstance, negative feelings etc resulted as having an impact on the GSR, Nikula (1991 cited in Pecchinenda and Smith 1996). Another related experiment was conducted by Bohlin (1976). Bohlins study manipulated the levels of arousal by having participants to response after a number of trials whilst they were in physiological habituation state. She divided the subjects into three groups, the first group were told to relax when listening to a tone, the second one were given arithmetic tasks to solve and the third one a threat of shock was added to the task performance. Results showed that the Shock-threat group had the highest mean in conductance level and the Relax group had the lowest mean in GS R. Thus, this produces some evidence showing how  increases in task difficulty result in various increases in physiological arousal. These discoveries led to this current experiment were the aim was to replicate the existent findings; that when task difficulty increases individuals arousal increases as well. In addition, to demonstrate the variance between individual responses, for instance some individuals appraise themselves as having high coping potential, therefore engage in the task and complete it successfully and some of them as having low coping potential and appraise their abilities as insufficient and as a result they disengage from the task. Consequently to the past evidence one research hypothesis emerged from them for the present experiment; that there will be a significant increase in galvanic skin response from stage 1 to 5 and to also examine the individual responses as task difficulty increases. Method Design The design that was used in this experiment was a repeated measures design with one independent variable, task difficulty at two levels (easy(1) vs. difficult(5)) and two dependent variables; the Galvanic skin responses and the number of failures that occurred. Participants in the experiment were allocated in a computer lab and had to do all conditions. Eventhough, that there were 5 stages in total, only the easiest and most difficult level were chosen for this analysis. In this experiment a number of controls were used in order to avoid any confounded variables. First of all, the letter appearing on the pizza box was randomly generated therefore discarded any systematic bias introduced from having a particular order of pizza letters. Hence, people could not predict where the pizzas were going because the letter order was not the same. Secondly, , by asking people to stay relaxed and still at the baseline would make sure that everyone was at the same condition, therefore no one would be stressed out and having GSR increase at the easy state and then at the more challenging state not having much increase at the GSR because it was already at a high level . Lastly, all participants were given the same standardised instructions to prevent any extraneous variables and that the letter that appeared on the box was randomly different for everyone. Participants One hundred and two undergraduate Psychology students were asked to take part in a cognitive task as part of their evaluation in the course. They were chosen from an opportunity sample since it was more convenient and easier to gather data from those who were there to do the experiment at the time. All participants had to do all conditions from stage 1 to stage 5 in order to collect the data needed for the analysis. Apparatus The experiment was run in a computer lab. The task that the participants had to take part in was called The Speedy Pizza, the game was developed by University of Huddersfield psychology technicians  utilising  Adobe Flash, PHP and MySql to run  on  PCs, headphones were also used to avoid any replication between participants. Moreover, the Biopac system that was used to  measure GSR via an electrode attached to their fingers using a gel was called  GEL101 isotonic .Finally, the GSR data was recorded on the Biopac systems software that comes with the Biopac as standard. Procedure Every participant was seated in front of a computer where they were given some further explanation about the experiment. They were first given a handout that was to familiarise them with some relevant background of appraisal theory and its main connection with the study. After that, participants entered the game were full instructions were provided, showing in the appendix section. Next they were attached to the Biopac device and started the practise game which lasted a minute. The second minute was the baseline state where markers were placed, by pressing the Esc on the keyboard, (which also lasted 60 seconds) and then systematically after 60 seconds as the task difficulty increased. There were 5 stages that participants had to attend and excel by delivering successfully as many pizzas as possible, whilst the task got more challenging with each stage. By the time they reached to level 5 the number of pizzas that appeared on the conveyor increased greatly as the speed on the conveyor did, making it incredibly difficult. Results Description The outcomes from the above experiment were the following. In Stage 1 GSR in micro-mhos was lower than Stage 5 GSR (mean for stage 1 GSR = 13.15  µÃƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ (SD=7.37 µÃƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾), mean for stage 5 GSR= 14.13 µÃƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ (SD=8.36 µÃƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾). Also, in Stage 1 the amount of failures was less than the amount of failures in Stage 5 (mean failures in stage 1 =.03 SD=.17), mean failures in stage 5= 31.10 (SD=4.18). Moreover, to analyze the data and show the difference in the means between stage 1 and stage 5 in GSR levels and number of failures a repeated measures t-test (two-tailed) was used, but previously the data were checked for normality distribution. The normality assumption for this experiment can be waived since there was a large sample (N=102) (Field, 2009). The t-test displayed a significance difference from the alpha level (p=0.05) (t=3.779, df =101, p Discussion(513) The aim of the experiment was to replicate a time-honoured biopsychology finding which stated that increase in task difficulty results increase in the arousal. Additionally, to relate Pecchinenda and Smiths study (1996) on the appraisal theory, suggested that there may be some individual variations possibly having an impact on the above correlation. Thus, a research hypothesis was assessed; that there will be a significant increase in skin conductance from stage 1 to 5, along with examining individual responses to increasing task difficulty. Furthermore, the outcome that rose from this experiment was that research hypothesis was accepted and it was at the directed predicted, however there were some deviation due to individual differences. The results that we found can be supported by the following theories. First of all, by looking at the Kahnemn, Tursky et al. Study (1969) the outcome that we found was as expected from this theory; that skin conductance indeed increases concurrently as level of difficulty increases. In the present experiment increase was shown when the amount of pizzas on the conveyor was frequent and the speed of the conveyor increased too. Also, arousal increases muscle tension and bias synchronization, therefore extreme levels of arousal can create discomfort (Thompson, 1930). In the experiment it was calculated that participants when they were between stages 3-4 had high levels of GSR that resulted as discomfort and as a consequence participant gave-up by level 5. Moreover, the increase in skin conductance as the task difficulty got more challenging can be sustained by The Inverted U Theory conducted by Yerkes and Dodson (1908) that proposed performance will increase as arousal increases and a po int will be reached where optimal performance is achieved. Further of that point the performance will deteriorate. This explains the general pattern that was observed; as levels got more difficult participants level of arousal increased greatly particularly between stages 3-4 (optimal performance) but dropped dramatically at stage 5.However, there was some diversion from this, where decrease in GSR levels were spotted in 27 participants which can be possibly explained by the appraisal theory. That suggests that individual differences might alter that general pattern, people who estimate the situation as being overwhelming and incredibly difficult disengaged from the task because they felt their abilities were not strong enough. Although, the current experiment was generally as predicted there was a limitation that should be taken into account for further research. The coping potential was not self-reported and this weakens the experiment because it does not sustain the needed experimental conditions for testing the hypothesis regarding to the GSR in the extremely difficult-short conditions. (Pecchinenda and Smith 1996) Furthermore, our experiment considered ethical issues and therefore all participants were given the same standardised instructions, it was also valid and reliable, since it did what it attempted to do and it produces consistent results each time it is used with some variations. In conclusion, the findings of this experiment showed that although in general GSR increase as task difficulty increase, individual differences have an important role in this correlation and might show otherwise.

The NAFTA: Canada, Mexico And The USA

The NAFTA: Canada, Mexico And The USA INTRODUCTION The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect in the year 1994; it is a huge landmark in the history of international trade. Fifteen years ago, The United States, Mexico and Canada brought forward the worlds biggest free trade area under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It was the first trade agreement to incorporate the issues of the labor adjustment and the environmental policies. The key purpose of NAFTA was to increase the FDI and the Trade by reducing the tariffs and other hindrances for businesses between Canada, Mexico and The United States. These three countries are brought together into a trilateral trade and investment agreement mainly in the field of health, security, migration and environmental issues. The agricultural industry was one of the most government secluded industries in the olden times. The United States, Mexico and Canada had many trade barriers before NAFTA came into force. Subsides, tariffs and quotas are the most common trade barriers which cuts down the free flow of goods and services across borders. Subsidies are fund providers for the domestic markets which enable the suppliers to produce more which causes a boost in the price and reduction in the demand of quantity. The tariffs are taxes imposed on imported goods which decreases the imports by laying too much of tax on foreign countries on their exports which results in the increase of the domestic supply. The quotas are restrictions made on the quantity of the goods imported. The main purpose of NAFTA was to increase the FDI opportunities. Effects of NAFTA MEXICO During the 1980s the Mexican economy was significantly deepened into poverty but today it has the strongest economy in the whole of Latin America. This improvement is mainly due to the economic policies laid in1998 by President Carlos Salinas in introducing liberalization rules for privatization and FDI. Since then, the GDP of Mexico has grown in spite of the inflation. The country has managed to bring down the inflation rate from 25% to 6% in 2004 making a positive growth rate in its GDP. It has improved its export trade, mainly to the United States which looks upon Mexico for its 25% of all the imported vegetables and fruits. And now, Mexico has become the foremost region for foreign investments. The climate for international investment has grown favorable for Mexico in the recent years. Though there were strict restrictions in the 1970s for FDI, the rules which were employed in the year 1989 reversed all the strict controls which resulted in the increasing inflow of the foreign in vestments which paved the way for the MNEs to invest in Mexico. The country has also made changes in their investment laws which now permit the foreign investors to have the major equity which is one of the main reasons for the increase in the FDI. Mexico was considered as a country with a large inflow of the international investments and gained the confidence of the foreign investors due to its positive economic growth influenced by NAFTA. Though NAFTA has brought several benefits to Mexico as a whole, they are unevenly distributed throughout the country. Mexico stands closer to United States and Canada in level of its development and NAFTA has brought a positive impact on the Mexican manufacturers in adapting the technical innovations of the United States resulting in the increase of employment. NAFTAs effect on the agricultural sector increased the amount of workforce more when compared to the other sectors of the economy. Since NAFTA came into effect there was no major intervention by the government on the prices of exported crops and are expected to remain the same. Mexicos productivity of the irrigated lands increased after the intervention of NAFTA, but the non-irrigated agricultural sector remained the same. A number of foreign companies have also invested and established new factories in order to take benefits and advantage of NAFTA. A survey conducted in the year 2006 showed that a large number of the Mexicans favored the trade liberalization with Canada and United States. Even though there are certain divisions wish to renegotiate NAFTA and whether to continue the trade agreement with other countries, the Mexican citizens have a positive view on globalization. UNITED STATES United States has the worlds third largest population and the worlds fourth largest land mass. It has the strongest economies which account almost 30% of the worlds GDP. It is given a unique position among all the other countries due to its political stability, size and accounting for about one eighth of the worlds trade and services. It is the principal market for both higher and lower income countries. NAFTA was the first most important agreement signed by the US for major immigration purposes. It paved the way for the country to do free trade, i.e. free flow of good without any border restrictions along with services and free flow of people across borders. It was marked as the first and foremost trade agreement to bring in environmental policies in the history of the US. After the implementation of NAFTA, the agricultural exports of United States to Mexico have increased thrice the amount resulting in about $10.6 billion. Since, the effect of NAFTA over the United States and Mexic o trade is small; the US labor market is also relatively small. NAFTA has benefitted the US agricultural consumers and the producers to use the comparative advantage in a more effective way according to the economic conditions. The impact of NAFTA on the US had both positive and negative effects; however, it has benefitted the country more positively than in the negative way. The main impact of NAFTA on Unite States was the increase in its exports to Mexico. Since NAFTA, the United States agricultural exports have been growing enormously, it has been recorded that 75% of Mexicos Agro products are being supplied by the US. It has also improvised the transportation systems in the country; transportation has been very important due to the increase in the growth of the agricultural products. After the agreement, the job opportunities in the field of agriculture have also increased and as a result of high income, the funds were used for the betterment of the environmental policies. CANADA A country with the worlds second largest land mass, Canada has a vital economy accounting for 37% of its GDP in 2004 of $980 billion. Since NAFTA was implemented, Canada has become the chief exporter of goods to the US; it has experienced a tremendous growth in its economy. Due to the large productions and the economic activities enhanced in the country, lots of jobs opportunities were created for the Canadians, almost 4.3 million new jobs were created in between 1993 and 2008. Most of the jobs in Canada are related to trade. The employment rate has also increased from 14.9 million to 15.7 million in the last decade. One of NAFTAs biggest impacts on Canada was its bilateral agricultural flow making Canada the worlds leading importer of United States and the Exports from US to Canada increased twice the fold between 1994 and 2003. Canada exceeds the exports of United State by exporting the live animals to US, and thus Canada has a stronger comparative advantage than that of US and Mex ico. The western grain transportation act was eliminated; it was a subsidy on Canadian prairie grain transportation and other crops. Canada faces larger adjustments in agriculture as its production is high when compared to its size. Vegetable products are the major source of Canadas imports, remarkable increase occurs with poultry, fruits and meat also. Though Canada has a free market capitalist economy, it has also adapted interventionist economic policies. The small scale manufacturing enterprises produces solely with high tariffs for the local market, these small scale enterprises are protected by Canada. These plants brought in more jobs for the Canadians and as a result the prices were high for the consumers which led to unproductive portion of the resources. The Canadian government has provided its citizens with a social safety net together with a government owned National Health Service; the citizens pay high tax to avail this service. The Canadian private industries do not p rovide any cover for health care. Even though the country suffers from problems of production in other economic sectors, it has the most competitive automotive plant in the North America. In order to improve the access of the United States wines, Canada has also agreed to liberalize the distribution practices, the wine listing and also the pricing of the wines. Due to Canadas legal systems, political stability and its immediacy to the vast U.S. market, the global investors have long been attracted by Canada. NAFTA has improved the countrys future prospects in the field of investment and trade by making the rules and procedures strict throughout the entire continent. CONCLUSION NAFTAs aim is built on lowering the tariffs, which are imposed on most of the goods that are being traded among all the three countries, the United States, Canada and the Mexico and gradually eliminating them. While The United States, Canada and Mexico experienced a trend for a net trade creation, NAFTA drastically improved and also amplified the bilateral trade flow in between Canada United States and Mexico United States. Due to the small share of trade to its larger economy, the impact of NAFTA on United States GDP (Gross Domestic Product) appeared insignificant. On the other hand, NAFTAs impact on Canadas GDP was high due to larger role played by the country in trade, especially with the other members of the NAFTA and thus Canadas economy was improved. The Presidential elections of the United States 2008 brought in consideration on the talks of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) the tri trade block uniting the three countries namely the United States, Canada and Mexico. Since the accomplishment of NAFTA, the trade relations among the three countries have broadened and all the three countries have also grown in their economic level, Canada in its fastest average rate and Mexico at the slowest rate.

Racism Kills :: Racial Relations, Racism

Racism dates back thousands and thousands of years back to the caveman times. In the short story â€Å"Desiree’s Baby†, Kate Chopin shows how discrimination by skin color can affect people. Desiree was abandoned and raised by Madame Valmonde. Armand, the father of the baby, was a member of the most notable families in Louisiana. He falls in love with Desiree and marries her. After they have a baby, their relationship quickly corrodes. A few months later, Armand realizes the baby’s skin has a darker tint than usual. He accuses Desiree of being black. Armand tells Desiree he wants her to leave so Desiree takes the baby and â€Å"disappears among the reeds and willows that grew thick along the banks of the deep, sluggish bayou† (Chopin 91) and never returns. Armand finds out that Desiree is black when he reads a letter that her mother sent her that read â€Å"she belongs to the race which is cursed with the brand of slavery† (Chopin 92). The story’s ironic ending has a connection with the story’s setting, imagery, and Chopin’s use of similies. The setting has a major role to the ironic ending because it takes place in antembellum South where blacks are not treated equally to whites. There are several hints at where and when the story takes place. First, Armand’s last name, Aubigny, was â€Å"one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana† (Chopin 89) which tells us it takes place in Louisiana. Also, Chopin says that Armand owns a plantation and many slaves which wouldn’t have been possible after the Civil War times showing that the story takes place during the antebellum period. The name of Armand’s plantation, L’Abri, is also ironic because it means â€Å"the shelter† in French which is ironic for Desiree because it is a bad place for her not a good place. Chopin explains how â€Å"there was something in the air menacing her peace†. The story wouldn’t take place in any other time period or location because if it did, Desiree wouldn’t be discriminated f or being black, therefore wouldn’t of run of into the bayou along with the baby. Chopin’s use of imagery leads up to the irony at the end of the story the greatest because Chopin contrasts black and white skin colors.

Work and play in the city :: essays research papers

Work and Play in the City   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The city had been a place of work for a long time, but it was beginning to become almost as much of a place for play. As the average person was able to earn more money and have more free time, it was desirable to have some fun at the end of a hard day. Everyone found different ways to enjoy themselves, whether it is in one place that caters to many interests or many single interest places. Having a bit of fun became more and more important as the years progressed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the major reasons the city became much more of a place for play was that there was a major shift in the types of work people were doing. Instead of intertwining enjoyment into your workday, people were sacrificing fun for shorter workdays and a more concentrated day. This also caused a great increase in wages. As this change occurred â€Å"recreation and play were not luxuries [anymore] but necessities in the modern city.† Different types of people found various ways to have their fun. Depending on how much money you made, your sex, or your race, you may have enjoyed much different methods of amusement. In theaters the African Americans always got the worst seats, and the rich people were usually box holders. In fact it became very difficult for performers to please such a mixed crowd. In fact, one English actor named Macready caused a riot because of a play he was performing. During his performance â€Å"a crowd of 10,000 gathered to protest. The militia was called to restore order, which it did, but only after 22 people had been killed, 150 hurt and 86 arrested.† Though, soon after the theaters began to cater to certain interests instead of trying to cater to everyone at once.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Though the theaters were not a person’s only source of entertainment there were plenty of other forms. One could go to a beer hall, billiard room, variety theaters, or a concert hall. Though these were for men mostly, and men with money to spend at that, there were also places such as parks, museums, libraries, and lecture halls for people to spend their leisure time. Everyone was finding more and more leisure time and more places to spend their time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As the nineteenth century was ending the city became as much of a center for fun as it was for work.

Comparing and Contrasting E.L. Doctorows Billy Bathgate and William Kennedys Legs :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Comparing and Contrasting E.L. Doctorow's Billy Bathgate and William Kennedy's Legs The many similarities between E.L. Doctorow's Billy Bathgate and William Kennedy's Legs suggest that Doctorow used Legs as a starting place for the creation of his own novel. Certain scenes are so similar that it seems that they did not originate independently. Marcus Gorman and Billy Bathgate had almost indistinguishable experiences while firing target practice and later when Jack Diamond and Dutch Schultz died. Doctorow did not, however, merely copy Kennedy's story; he instead used it as a building block to begin from. Billy Bathgate had many elements that Legs did not which expanded the story's significance. The pistol firing scene in Billy Bathgate palpably mimics the machine gun practice in Legs. Not only are the literal actions very similar to each other, but their impact on the characters is almost identical as well. The excitement and power gained by firing weapons lures both characters further on their descent into the criminal underworld. After shooting, Marcus thinks, "Do something new and you are new. How boring it is not to fire machine guns" (Kennedy 41). And Billy said, "I will never forget how it felt to hold a loaded gun for the first time and lift it and fire it, the scare of its animate kick up the bone of your arm, you are empowered there is no question about it, it is an investiture, like knighthood" (Doctorow 145). In the case of Marcus Gorman, the exhilaration of firing the machine gun was the benefit that would outweigh the risks of associating with Jack Diamond. Billy had already been attracted to the gang life. However, the power he gained from firing his automatic amplified his attraction. He finally understood why the other gang members had such closeness with their guns. Doctorow saw Marcus' introduction to the gang life through guns as an organic element in the story that worked properly. Therefore, he chose to borrow for Billy rather than trying to come up with something different that may not have worked as well. After their gun firing experiences, Marcus and Billy experienced many strikingly similar events. The most dramatic of these were the death scenes of Jack Diamond and Dutch Schultz. In both cases, mentor and protà ©gà © were together at the time of departure, and each protà ©gà © received a privileged transmission of information that no one else did.

Gays in the Military

Steven Danielson Gays in the Military A hot topic in the news these days is whether gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military. Many issues have arisen from allowing or not allowing gays to serve openly. Those opposed are concerned that gays would cause a break down in unit cohesion, a rise in assaults or violence, a drop in recruitment or retention, and feel that since America is currently fighting two wars that right now is not a good time to implement a new policy when it is felt that the current one is working just fine. Numerous studies have been conducted on this issue.Through poll, surveys, observing other countries that allow gays to serve openly and even by checking history it is felt that this would not be the case. Given all the evidence that points to allowing gays to serve openly outweigh any negatives that would possibly come about. Gays make up a portion of key personnel that is sorely needed in this time of war especially with a all volunteer force. The fa ct that military personal are being lost due to this law not only is harmful to military it also wrong on that these gays are having their basic human rights violated by the very country they are trying to protect.This has been an issue within the military since the very beginnings of its establishment of this nation since â€Å"The discharge of military personnel for homosexual behavior dates from at least the continental army of the revolutionary period† (Rayside 258). The military had a strict no gays allowed to serve for many years and it wasn’t until former president Clinton raised the issue in his campaign for presidency in 1991 did it come onto the radar of the news and on the minds of the American people.He promised to fight to have it so gays could serve in the armed forces of the United States. When he was elected president he set out to change things. Then President made a effort to change the policy but â€Å"Clinton was persuaded by the military, mobilize d by Chief of Staff Colin Powell, not to fulfill his campaign promise to allow gays and leasbians to serve openly† (Pencak 178). He was unable to change the policy drastically and had to settle for a compromise with the military and congress. This is where we got the still standing don’t ask don’t tell policy.This new law allowed gays to serve but they were required to keep their sexual orientation private and by going public with it would end in discharge from the service. The new policy also covered any homosexual actions stating that â€Å"A service member who engages in, attempts to engage in, or solicits a homosexual act is to be discharged, unless he can prove that such an act was an aberration and is unlikely to recur† (Hillman 264). If they were to state that they were gays or attempt to marry someone of the same sex this would too lead to termination.The phrase â€Å"don’t ask don’t tell† comes from the fact that no one will e ver ask if you are gays; as the military used to screen potential future military members by asking them before they joined. The don’t ask tell part comes from the fact that a gay service member must not tell anyone that they are homosexual. Later â€Å"don’t pursue† would added to it, meaning that the military would not pursue a suspected gay member as long as they didn’t tell. This was established out of fear that people would conduct â€Å"witch hunts† for gay members.Since the 1980s over 32,000 active duty members have been discharged for being gay. This is a large percent of people who were willing to serve but through no fault of their own we told they could not and were sent on their way. That is 32,000 already fully trained personnel that had to be replaced costing the country millions of dollars. There had been cases were people with key jobs being discharged as in a few Arabic translators be discharge when as of now they are in great dema nd. Discharging these personal is non sense. Not only is it violating their rights, â€Å"U.S. law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, race, or gender with regard to the rights of citizenship, the military maintains policies that are opposed to this most-basic American ideal† but it is putting this country and other service members at risk cause translators are a key competent of fighting the war on terror (Issit 4). How can a military succeed in winning the hearts and minds of people they cannot even talk with? The number of service members discharged each year in the United States is approximately 1,000-1,200.All of which are needed to be replaced with new people who require training. Losing the experience of those who were serving longer period of times is detrimental to the military because they possess the knowledge and skills required to accomplish the mission and have the ability to pass they knowledge on to new personnel. The amount of money r equired to replace them is enough that any tax paying American would be upset about. There are many reasons for someone to be discharged, from drug use to medical reasons.By changing this law the country would be losing a third less personnel each year. The American public is split on the issue. With about 60% saying that gays should be allowed to serve and 40% feeling they should be able to serve openly. A service wide survey was conducted asking the opinions of those who would be serving side by side with gays. The views of current service member varied much like that of American civilians. But they had reason for their concern when it came to those who opposed it. They were concerns about privacy issues.They were not comfortable with living with a known homosexual. The military does not allow males and females to share a room and there is concern having a same sex and gays living together. This might lead to a change in housing policy and bathroom faculties in having to separate men and women and gay men and lesbian women. This would lead to having to make new restrooms and building of new living quarters for gays. With another concern being the effect on Unit cohesion which can be broken down in two parts; task cohesion and social cohesion.Task cohesion referring to the ability to work together effectively in order to accomplish a mission and social cohesion referring to the emotional bonds and trust among unit members (US Government, DoD 102). The military is worried that gays would become a distraction for straights and this would disrupt the comradely between troops, all of which is very important in a wartime setting â€Å"because soldiers must withstand the tremendous emotional strain of seeing many of their friends brutally killed by the enemy† (Wilson 2). There are also religious and moral issues that have been brought up.The fact is that most religions say the homosexuality is wrong and by making personnel who are religious serve with gays i nfringes on the religious beliefs and the right to religious freedom in the military. Some feel that being gay is just wrong and do no want to be force to work alongside or live with someone of is known to be gay. Some also believe that don’t ask don’t tell law is working just fine and that it should just stay that way feeling that gays can serve but they just have to keep their sexuality to themselves.The same people feel that right now is not the best time to change the policy. Service member have a lot on their plates right now fighting two wars it that a change in the don’t ask don’t tell policy right now is just not the time to do so. There are some who are concerned that if gays were to serve openly then that would result in unwanted sexual advances and assaults. There is objection to gays showing public displays of affection. And that a gays flamboyant behavior would be a distraction. The possibility of a rise in HIV is of concern too.There is a be lief that AIDS is a running epidemic in the gay community and by allowing those to serve would lead to a increase in the HIV cases in the services. Marriage is another issue in that where would the money come from to pay for all the new cases of same sex marriages because married members receive benefits for the spouses and are paid more too. Some members feel that gays would become a protected class and in return would be forced to acknowledge gay pride week and be forced to mingle with them outside of work. With the fear that if they chose no too there would be displiniary actions placed against them.Other feel that the military is the last moral institution in America and feel that allowing gays to serve would destroy that. There are many service members that feel that gays should be allowed to serve openly and the have reasons for their support of the repeal of don’t ask don’t tell policy. Many know that there already are gays serving and by allowing them to acknow ledge their sexual orientation is not going to change anything. There is a feeling that as long as the gay service member can do their job then there is no reason they cannot serve.A person in America has the right to be who they are and by discharging a gay person who only wants to fight and protect the country that provides them that right is wrong. Any American regardless of sexual orientation should be allowed to sever their country. In given that this is a time of war the military needs every service member it can get. Since it is an all volunteer force they should allow anyone who wants to volunteer serve. The military is behind the times when is comes to its policy of homosexuals. It is the only institution that is discriminating openly against gays.It is illegal to fire a person from their jobs for being gays any where else they could be working and the military should be no different. Upon looking at the results of other militaries allowing gays to serve it is scene that it really has no effect on anything what so ever. So there is no reason not to believe that the some non-event would happen in the United States military too. If one is too look on when the military started to allow blacks and white to sever together as well as men and women it is seen that this was not harmful, but actually beneficial to the military as a whole.It is a brden to gays in the military to have to hide their homosexuality and that if there was a repeal to this law then that would liberate them from the fear of discharge. It is not that gays want to be able to tell everyone that they are gay but more that they won’t be afraid of losing their job if it were found out. â€Å"Sexual harassment regulations and sensitivity training would need to be updated, and guidance from leadership would be necessary† if this transition to a openly gay military is to be done (Prakash 92).History is said to repeat itself and if that is the case then there should be no problems associated with the repeal of the â€Å"don’t ask, don’t tell† law. Prior to 1953 blacks were not allowed to serve in the same unit as whites. There are similarities to be found when comparing concerns for when the racial integration of African-Americans was underway and the integration of homosexuals today in that â€Å"military leaders predicted disastrous consequences for unit cohesion, discipline, troop morale, and the achievement of military goals† (Knapp 239).Racial integration was a much bigger deal to the country than that of the integration of gays today. We can see that once racial integration was implemented that it turned out just fine. But it must be acknowledged that blacks are not gays so it won’t be exactly the same type of movement. The integration of women into the military also came out in positive terms. Though gender integration was slower than that of blacks, it is fully integrated today. Today women and blacks make up a sizab le portion of the military and without their service the military would not as strong as it is today.Women and African-Americans have succeeded in the U. S. military so there is no reason to believe that gays and lesbians cannot do the same. Many other nations’ military allow gays to openly serve and they experienced few if any problems because of it. It is such a non existent problem that it is considered a non-issue to most. The major militaries to open to gays are the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, and Israel. When these countries lifted their bans on gays in their militaries they noticed that nothing changed.In a official report released by the Canadian government it was stated that â€Å"Despite all the anxiety that existed through the late 80’s into the early 90’s about the change in policy, here’s what the indicators show—no effect† (Belkin 108). It was thought that maybe a mass coming out would happen but it didn’ t. Most still chose to keep their sexual orientation a private matter and only disclosed it to certain people, much like gays in the corporate world or anywhere else for that matter.The repeal is more for gays not to be discharged or fear being discharged for being gay and less for them to be able to go around and tell everyone that they are gay. There were no noticeable changes to recruiting numbers of the number of people choosing to remain in the military as a result of the lift ban on gays. The United Kingdom show no increase in same sex harassment and most countries commented that harassment die to gender integration was far more pronounced then harassment die to sexual orientation (US Government, DoD 92).This shows one that there is no reason that the integration of gays into the U. S. military will be difficult for its service members to adapt to. It will surely be a non-issue here itself. When looking at the issue of integrating gays into other organizations it is seen that many on the same things occurred that happened in the militaries that did the same. In 1998 an Executive Order was established in the prohibition of discrimination based on the sexual orientation for civilian employees in all Federal agencies. Many states have done the same with state organizations.It is to be noted that employees of these institutions reported that having day and lesbian personnel among their ranks has had no effect on their organization’s performance (US Government, DoD 94). It was found that in some cases allowing gays to be open about their sexual orientation actually improved their performance because now they were not worried about someone finding out they were gay and we able to put more focus on their work. When looking at the issue of privacy that was of a concern to some service members it was seen that in these organizations there was no need for additional accommodations for gays and lesbians.They also say the same thing when it came to gays publi cally announcing their homosexuality. It was found that none really chose to come out to everybody but instead only to certain people. And as far as service member worrying about the â€Å"flamboyant behavior† one might witness in the military by a gay is just not the case in the corporate world. Gays are very well aware of the professionalism associated with a Federal or State job and surely would be the case for any gay military member and would not act in such a way. There are many sides to this debate and given the concerns of each side it should be looked at carefully.When one does observe each side they can see that the concerns of those opposed to the repeal of don’t ask don’t tell are trivial and based on stereotypes and should not be enough to stop and any American from serving their country. The loss of personnel is unacceptable when their service is needed the most in these times of war. When seeing how other militaries favored with their lifting of b ans on gays it can be seen that it was so little a problem and should be the case here. Today’s troops do have a lot going on with fighting two wars and don’t need another thing on their plate, but they do need every helping hand they can get.It most likely would be the case that if repealed many troops would not disclose their sexual orientation so much would not change since a lot of troops know that they are already serving along side gays and lesbians. When weighing the pros and cons of this issue one shouldn’t be able to infringe on a American’s desire to serve their country based on their sexual orientation. It be great if these brave gay and lesbian women didn’t have to worry about their military careers coming to an end of they were or someone were to disclose their sexual orientation that way they would be able to fully concentrate on their mission. Gays in the Military Steven Danielson Gays in the Military A hot topic in the news these days is whether gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military. Many issues have arisen from allowing or not allowing gays to serve openly. Those opposed are concerned that gays would cause a break down in unit cohesion, a rise in assaults or violence, a drop in recruitment or retention, and feel that since America is currently fighting two wars that right now is not a good time to implement a new policy when it is felt that the current one is working just fine. Numerous studies have been conducted on this issue.Through poll, surveys, observing other countries that allow gays to serve openly and even by checking history it is felt that this would not be the case. Given all the evidence that points to allowing gays to serve openly outweigh any negatives that would possibly come about. Gays make up a portion of key personnel that is sorely needed in this time of war especially with a all volunteer force. The fa ct that military personal are being lost due to this law not only is harmful to military it also wrong on that these gays are having their basic human rights violated by the very country they are trying to protect.This has been an issue within the military since the very beginnings of its establishment of this nation since â€Å"The discharge of military personnel for homosexual behavior dates from at least the continental army of the revolutionary period† (Rayside 258). The military had a strict no gays allowed to serve for many years and it wasn’t until former president Clinton raised the issue in his campaign for presidency in 1991 did it come onto the radar of the news and on the minds of the American people.He promised to fight to have it so gays could serve in the armed forces of the United States. When he was elected president he set out to change things. Then President made a effort to change the policy but â€Å"Clinton was persuaded by the military, mobilize d by Chief of Staff Colin Powell, not to fulfill his campaign promise to allow gays and leasbians to serve openly† (Pencak 178). He was unable to change the policy drastically and had to settle for a compromise with the military and congress. This is where we got the still standing don’t ask don’t tell policy.This new law allowed gays to serve but they were required to keep their sexual orientation private and by going public with it would end in discharge from the service. The new policy also covered any homosexual actions stating that â€Å"A service member who engages in, attempts to engage in, or solicits a homosexual act is to be discharged, unless he can prove that such an act was an aberration and is unlikely to recur† (Hillman 264). If they were to state that they were gays or attempt to marry someone of the same sex this would too lead to termination.The phrase â€Å"don’t ask don’t tell† comes from the fact that no one will e ver ask if you are gays; as the military used to screen potential future military members by asking them before they joined. The don’t ask tell part comes from the fact that a gay service member must not tell anyone that they are homosexual. Later â€Å"don’t pursue† would added to it, meaning that the military would not pursue a suspected gay member as long as they didn’t tell. This was established out of fear that people would conduct â€Å"witch hunts† for gay members.Since the 1980s over 32,000 active duty members have been discharged for being gay. This is a large percent of people who were willing to serve but through no fault of their own we told they could not and were sent on their way. That is 32,000 already fully trained personnel that had to be replaced costing the country millions of dollars. There had been cases were people with key jobs being discharged as in a few Arabic translators be discharge when as of now they are in great dema nd. Discharging these personal is non sense. Not only is it violating their rights, â€Å"U.S. law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, race, or gender with regard to the rights of citizenship, the military maintains policies that are opposed to this most-basic American ideal† but it is putting this country and other service members at risk cause translators are a key competent of fighting the war on terror (Issit 4). How can a military succeed in winning the hearts and minds of people they cannot even talk with? The number of service members discharged each year in the United States is approximately 1,000-1,200.All of which are needed to be replaced with new people who require training. Losing the experience of those who were serving longer period of times is detrimental to the military because they possess the knowledge and skills required to accomplish the mission and have the ability to pass they knowledge on to new personnel. The amount of money r equired to replace them is enough that any tax paying American would be upset about. There are many reasons for someone to be discharged, from drug use to medical reasons.By changing this law the country would be losing a third less personnel each year. The American public is split on the issue. With about 60% saying that gays should be allowed to serve and 40% feeling they should be able to serve openly. A service wide survey was conducted asking the opinions of those who would be serving side by side with gays. The views of current service member varied much like that of American civilians. But they had reason for their concern when it came to those who opposed it. They were concerns about privacy issues.They were not comfortable with living with a known homosexual. The military does not allow males and females to share a room and there is concern having a same sex and gays living together. This might lead to a change in housing policy and bathroom faculties in having to separate men and women and gay men and lesbian women. This would lead to having to make new restrooms and building of new living quarters for gays. With another concern being the effect on Unit cohesion which can be broken down in two parts; task cohesion and social cohesion.Task cohesion referring to the ability to work together effectively in order to accomplish a mission and social cohesion referring to the emotional bonds and trust among unit members (US Government, DoD 102). The military is worried that gays would become a distraction for straights and this would disrupt the comradely between troops, all of which is very important in a wartime setting â€Å"because soldiers must withstand the tremendous emotional strain of seeing many of their friends brutally killed by the enemy† (Wilson 2). There are also religious and moral issues that have been brought up.The fact is that most religions say the homosexuality is wrong and by making personnel who are religious serve with gays i nfringes on the religious beliefs and the right to religious freedom in the military. Some feel that being gay is just wrong and do no want to be force to work alongside or live with someone of is known to be gay. Some also believe that don’t ask don’t tell law is working just fine and that it should just stay that way feeling that gays can serve but they just have to keep their sexuality to themselves.The same people feel that right now is not the best time to change the policy. Service member have a lot on their plates right now fighting two wars it that a change in the don’t ask don’t tell policy right now is just not the time to do so. There are some who are concerned that if gays were to serve openly then that would result in unwanted sexual advances and assaults. There is objection to gays showing public displays of affection. And that a gays flamboyant behavior would be a distraction. The possibility of a rise in HIV is of concern too.There is a be lief that AIDS is a running epidemic in the gay community and by allowing those to serve would lead to a increase in the HIV cases in the services. Marriage is another issue in that where would the money come from to pay for all the new cases of same sex marriages because married members receive benefits for the spouses and are paid more too. Some members feel that gays would become a protected class and in return would be forced to acknowledge gay pride week and be forced to mingle with them outside of work. With the fear that if they chose no too there would be displiniary actions placed against them.Other feel that the military is the last moral institution in America and feel that allowing gays to serve would destroy that. There are many service members that feel that gays should be allowed to serve openly and the have reasons for their support of the repeal of don’t ask don’t tell policy. Many know that there already are gays serving and by allowing them to acknow ledge their sexual orientation is not going to change anything. There is a feeling that as long as the gay service member can do their job then there is no reason they cannot serve.A person in America has the right to be who they are and by discharging a gay person who only wants to fight and protect the country that provides them that right is wrong. Any American regardless of sexual orientation should be allowed to sever their country. In given that this is a time of war the military needs every service member it can get. Since it is an all volunteer force they should allow anyone who wants to volunteer serve. The military is behind the times when is comes to its policy of homosexuals. It is the only institution that is discriminating openly against gays.It is illegal to fire a person from their jobs for being gays any where else they could be working and the military should be no different. Upon looking at the results of other militaries allowing gays to serve it is scene that it really has no effect on anything what so ever. So there is no reason not to believe that the some non-event would happen in the United States military too. If one is too look on when the military started to allow blacks and white to sever together as well as men and women it is seen that this was not harmful, but actually beneficial to the military as a whole.It is a brden to gays in the military to have to hide their homosexuality and that if there was a repeal to this law then that would liberate them from the fear of discharge. It is not that gays want to be able to tell everyone that they are gay but more that they won’t be afraid of losing their job if it were found out. â€Å"Sexual harassment regulations and sensitivity training would need to be updated, and guidance from leadership would be necessary† if this transition to a openly gay military is to be done (Prakash 92).History is said to repeat itself and if that is the case then there should be no problems associated with the repeal of the â€Å"don’t ask, don’t tell† law. Prior to 1953 blacks were not allowed to serve in the same unit as whites. There are similarities to be found when comparing concerns for when the racial integration of African-Americans was underway and the integration of homosexuals today in that â€Å"military leaders predicted disastrous consequences for unit cohesion, discipline, troop morale, and the achievement of military goals† (Knapp 239).Racial integration was a much bigger deal to the country than that of the integration of gays today. We can see that once racial integration was implemented that it turned out just fine. But it must be acknowledged that blacks are not gays so it won’t be exactly the same type of movement. The integration of women into the military also came out in positive terms. Though gender integration was slower than that of blacks, it is fully integrated today. Today women and blacks make up a sizab le portion of the military and without their service the military would not as strong as it is today.Women and African-Americans have succeeded in the U. S. military so there is no reason to believe that gays and lesbians cannot do the same. Many other nations’ military allow gays to openly serve and they experienced few if any problems because of it. It is such a non existent problem that it is considered a non-issue to most. The major militaries to open to gays are the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, and Israel. When these countries lifted their bans on gays in their militaries they noticed that nothing changed.In a official report released by the Canadian government it was stated that â€Å"Despite all the anxiety that existed through the late 80’s into the early 90’s about the change in policy, here’s what the indicators show—no effect† (Belkin 108). It was thought that maybe a mass coming out would happen but it didn’ t. Most still chose to keep their sexual orientation a private matter and only disclosed it to certain people, much like gays in the corporate world or anywhere else for that matter.The repeal is more for gays not to be discharged or fear being discharged for being gay and less for them to be able to go around and tell everyone that they are gay. There were no noticeable changes to recruiting numbers of the number of people choosing to remain in the military as a result of the lift ban on gays. The United Kingdom show no increase in same sex harassment and most countries commented that harassment die to gender integration was far more pronounced then harassment die to sexual orientation (US Government, DoD 92).This shows one that there is no reason that the integration of gays into the U. S. military will be difficult for its service members to adapt to. It will surely be a non-issue here itself. When looking at the issue of integrating gays into other organizations it is seen that many on the same things occurred that happened in the militaries that did the same. In 1998 an Executive Order was established in the prohibition of discrimination based on the sexual orientation for civilian employees in all Federal agencies. Many states have done the same with state organizations.It is to be noted that employees of these institutions reported that having day and lesbian personnel among their ranks has had no effect on their organization’s performance (US Government, DoD 94). It was found that in some cases allowing gays to be open about their sexual orientation actually improved their performance because now they were not worried about someone finding out they were gay and we able to put more focus on their work. When looking at the issue of privacy that was of a concern to some service members it was seen that in these organizations there was no need for additional accommodations for gays and lesbians.They also say the same thing when it came to gays publi cally announcing their homosexuality. It was found that none really chose to come out to everybody but instead only to certain people. And as far as service member worrying about the â€Å"flamboyant behavior† one might witness in the military by a gay is just not the case in the corporate world. Gays are very well aware of the professionalism associated with a Federal or State job and surely would be the case for any gay military member and would not act in such a way. There are many sides to this debate and given the concerns of each side it should be looked at carefully.When one does observe each side they can see that the concerns of those opposed to the repeal of don’t ask don’t tell are trivial and based on stereotypes and should not be enough to stop and any American from serving their country. The loss of personnel is unacceptable when their service is needed the most in these times of war. When seeing how other militaries favored with their lifting of b ans on gays it can be seen that it was so little a problem and should be the case here. Today’s troops do have a lot going on with fighting two wars and don’t need another thing on their plate, but they do need every helping hand they can get.It most likely would be the case that if repealed many troops would not disclose their sexual orientation so much would not change since a lot of troops know that they are already serving along side gays and lesbians. When weighing the pros and cons of this issue one shouldn’t be able to infringe on a American’s desire to serve their country based on their sexual orientation. It be great if these brave gay and lesbian women didn’t have to worry about their military careers coming to an end of they were or someone were to disclose their sexual orientation that way they would be able to fully concentrate on their mission.

Thorn Queen Chapter Twenty-Seven

When I crossed over to the castle in the Thorn Land, I was surprised to find Nia sitting on the floor beside my rabbit paperweight. Her knees were drawn up, and her face-which appeared tear-streaked-rested on her knees. Yet, when she saw me, her face lit up like the sun bursting from behind clouds. â€Å"Your majesty!† she cried, springing up. â€Å"Some of them said†¦they said you wouldn't come back. But I knew. I knew you would.† The devotion in the girl's eyes was startling. Nia had been another servant passed from Dorian, and it had never occurred to me that she would serve me out of such love. â€Å"Of course I came back,† I said softly. â€Å"Why wouldn't I?† She averted her eyes. â€Å"After everything that happened, and†¦well, because of Queen Katrice. There are those who assumed you'd abandon us and stay in the world of the humans.† I didn't bother pointing out that abandoning this land would kill me. I was too shocked by something else. â€Å"They thought†¦they thought I'd just start a war and leave?† â€Å"I knew you wouldn't,† she said fervently. â€Å"I knew you wouldn't.† I gave her a small, comforting smile while a knot twisted in my stomach. â€Å"Take me to Shaya and Rurik.† The two of them were surprised by my arrival, but something told me they hadn't doubted I would return either. I could tell by the compassion on Shaya's face that what Leith had done to me was common knowledge. To my surprise, it was Rurik I took the most comfort from. He didn't question my appearance. He offered no sympathies. He simply jumped straight to business. â€Å"We've gathered as many soldiers as we could while you've been gone,† he said. â€Å"Some are camped outside, and Dorian's said he'll send reinforcements-his military's much larger. The majority of yours is in Highmore. We'll need to determine the best way to distribute them.† For a moment, I felt dizzy as he continued rattling off military strategy. What was going on? What was I doing? I was a girl from Tucson who'd grown up in a middle-class neighborhood. How on earth was I standing here, listening to a fairy soldier explain how to lead a war? I held up a hand. â€Å"Wait†¦before you go any further. Is there†¦is there any way this can be avoided?† Kiyo's words came back to me, and I hated to say what I did next. â€Å"Is there any way to make peace?† Rurik's eyes widened, and shock and anger filled his features. â€Å"Peace? After what-â€Å" Shaya silenced him with a gesture of her own. â€Å"Yes, actually. Katrice sent a rather long letter about it.† â€Å"So†¦we could get her to understand that it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Was an accident? Hardly. â€Å"I mean, could Katrice let all of this go, considering Leith started it?† Shaya cleared her throat uncomfortably, and Rurik looked angry. â€Å"Well,† she began, â€Å"not entirely. For Katrice not to go to war, she demands that we become her subject kingdom and has very specific details on the kinds of tribute and taxes she requires for that. She also†¦she also says that you must marry her nephew in place of her son and tie this kingdom to her through that branch of the family. My impression is she sent a similar list of demands to Dorian-aside from the nephew part-which he refused rather, ah, indelicately.† I stared, my mouth agape. That was not what I had in mind. How could Katrice demand those kinds of things after what Leith had done? How dare she act as though I had done something wrong? Yes, I could imagine her grief for her only son. I wasn't that heartless. Yet†¦what she was suggesting was ludicrous. And if she thought I would ever, ever let another member of her family lay a hand on me†¦ I turned back to Rurik as though the issue of peace with Katrice had never been mentioned. Later, I would ask Shaya to help me compose a formal response to Katrice's letter, something along the lines of I am the Thorn Queen. Fuck off. â€Å"What should I do next?† I asked Rurik. He smiled, a fierce delight in his eyes. â€Å"You should speak to the soldiers gathered here and make an official declaration of war. And then you should go to Highmore and speak to the ones there. They don't even know you as their queen yet, let alone the person sending them to fight. And you should practice up on your magic, both for battle and to show your own people that that Rowan bitch can't touch you.† I shivered at the feelings his words inspired in me. In Tucson, I'd been trying to hide from my magic, but now it was calling to me again. And with this threat from Katrice-no, this insult from Katrice-there was nothing I wanted more than to summon all the forces of nature and rip her apart. â€Å"Dorian is coming here-today, I think,† said Shaya, interrupting my murderous thoughts. â€Å"Follow his lead. He knows what to do.† I wasn't entirely sure what that meant. The only thing I felt certain of was that I wasn't quite ready to go over the maps Rurik had laid out and examine all the troop placements he had in mind. I'd always sucked at Risk and had a feeling this would be similar. Besides, I hadn't returned to the Thorn Land to make war-not right at this second, at least. I'd come because of the dream from last night, the dream where I'd felt at peace. Because at the moment, I felt no peace. A gentry queen wanted to lead armies in and kill my people-and I was supposed to do the same to her. I'd just broken up with my boyfriend, someone I loved dearly, because I-possibly irrationally-held him responsible for not protecting me from an assailant. And as for that assailant†¦well, his face still flashed in my mind, and no matter how much time passed, I couldn't seem to rid myself of that dirty feeling within me or my repulsion at being touched. I swore to Rurik that I'd talk to him later, that I needed some time to myself first, and left them both for one of the castle's enclosed gardens. It was the one I frequently meditated in, where Shaya was still attempting to grow grass and where Kiyo and I had made love. I sat down there cross-legged, taking in the sun on the orange rocks around me and relishing in the faint breeze that stirred the branches of the mesquite and smokethorn trees. A tiny lizard scurried off behind a rock, and I heard what sounded like a hummingbird-or a big-ass bee-in a cluster of nearby flowers. I cleared my mind and tried to communicate with and heal the land like I had before, but for whatever reason, the connection didn't come. Panic seized me. Had the events with Leith broken something within me? Had I lost my ability to revive the kingdom? I sat there sweating, wondering what would happen to the land if I couldn't connect to it. The heat eventually made me sleepy, and I lay down on the grass, my hands digging into the earth. When I woke up, two things immediate became apparent. First, I felt†¦better. I felt strong and refreshed, and all around me, the colors and scents seemed stronger and more vivid. I still wasn't happy about the impending war, but that horrible feeling in me†¦the bitterness Leith had left†¦well, it had lessened. The air hummed around me, and for a disorienting second, I couldn't tell where I ended and the land began. It was then that I realized why my meditation hadn't worked. I had been in no condition to heal the land. It had had to heal me. I was energized now, ready to do anything. Ready to lead a war. The other thing I noticed after waking was that Jasmine was sitting right beside me, gray eyes staring into mine. I bolted upright. â€Å"What the hell are you doing here?† I exclaimed. â€Å"You're not supposed to be loose.† Girard's cuffs were still upon her, and she jerked her head back toward the castle. â€Å"I'm not exactly loose.† I followed her motion and saw a dozen guards, all keeping a respectful distance, but all watching Jasmine closely. When Volusian had disappeared, Rurik had undoubtedly increased her security detail. â€Å"Jasmine,† I said, â€Å"I'm not really in the mood for your banter, okay? Save your whining and insults for a day when I don't have to worry about having caused a war.† Her face was perfectly calm. â€Å"I heard what happened to you.† I braced for smugness. â€Å"Yeah, I'm sure everyone has.† â€Å"I'll fight for you, you know.† â€Å"Look, I'm sure-wait. What did you say?† I stared at her, waiting to see that composure crack. It didn't. She was still serious and actually looked older than her age. â€Å"He had no right. I told you before: no one does that to a daughter of Storm King. Not even to you.† I was speechless for a moment, still waiting for a punch line. â€Å"Jasmine†¦you hate me.† She nodded. â€Å"Yup. But that doesn't change what happened. No one does that to our father either and gets away without punishment. Dorian should stab Katrice too.† I decided not to mention that nothing had been done to our father technically, seeing as he had died years ago. â€Å"What will you do exactly?† â€Å"Same thing you will. Fight. Use my magic. Summon monsters.† â€Å"But†¦I mean, even if you're trying to, um, protect our family honor, you realize you're still helping me in the process, right? I thought you wanted to destroy me and go have Dad's world-conquering grandson.† â€Å"Oh,† she said sweetly, â€Å"I still do. And I will. But we're going to deal with Katrice first. Our father's heir cannot be born from rape. I told you before-only someone worthy. That bastard wasn't, and his mother has to pay for it. Once she's done†¦well, then I'll deal with you. Besides, someone's got to take her kingdom when we kill her. Might as well be me.† Whoa. There were so many parts of Jasmine's logic that were flawed that I didn't even know where to start. I didn't entirely know the story of her own conception, but my mother had been raped. God knew how many other women Storm King had taken advantage of; I found it hypocritical of Jasmine to take such a high moral ground about his heir in light of that. Still, I couldn't deny the fact that she would be useful, and if that was the reasoning it took for her to help me, so be it. It would also be handy to not have her trying to kill me. â€Å"Well, then, thanks,† I said at last. I decided not to mention just then that there was no way in hell I would ever let her rule the Rowan Land. Details, details. Jasmine looked supremely pleased. â€Å"So I can go free then, right?† I scoffed. â€Å"Not a chance.† â€Å"But I'm helping you!† â€Å"Yeah, and in the same breath, you talked about how you want to usurp me. Look†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I glanced back at her guardians. I would have to consult with Rurik about those least likely to try to knock her up, now that Volusian was missing. Some of my soldiers were female. â€Å"You can wander the castle more-under guard, of course. And I'll see about†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I frowned, suddenly recalling my helpers at Art's house. They were close to Jasmine's age, relatively speaking, and for Markelle at least, I had no doubts whatsoever of her loyalty. I wondered if she might have the makings of a bodyguard/friend. â€Å"I'll see about getting someone your own age to hang out with you.† Jasmine scowled. â€Å"That's not what I had in mind.† â€Å"Yeah, well, your cell in the dungeon is still available.† She gave me her trademark sullen glare and then stormed off back inside. Nonetheless, I felt like she really would help me, and frankly, I was going to need everyone I could find to get me out of this mess. Kiyo had implied that Katrice might call in some allies, and if this became about multiple kingdoms squaring off†¦ I stood up, suddenly feeling ill about it all once more. The flames of passion and initiative that had flared in me earlier began to flicker uneasily. I couldn't do this. I couldn't lead an army. I couldn't go to war. What was I thinking? Trying to shake off my building panic attack, I headed back toward the castle, wanting to hide in my room for a while. I passed Rurik along the way. He'd apparently been seeking me, hoping I'd go talk to the gathered soldiers and inspire them-particularly since word had come that Dorian was almost here. I nodded quickly, promising anything, so long as I could get a moment to compose myself and summon my earlier confidence. All of this was overwhelming me. I needed to be alone, lest I start crying. Only, I was apparently still a ways from being left alone. Ysabel was standing outside my bedroom, arms crossed. Apparently, my earlier suspicions had been right. She really did hang out in the hall waiting for me. â€Å"No magic lessons,† I told her. â€Å"Magic lessons?† she exclaimed, straightening up. She was as immaculate as ever, her red hair twisted into myriad braids. â€Å"I'm never teaching you anything again. My lord is sending me away-and all because of you!† The land might have healed me, but there were only so many weird revelations I could handle today. Jasmine becoming my ally currently held the lion's share. â€Å"What are you talking about?† â€Å"My lord is on his way,† she hissed. â€Å"And he sent word that I was to pack up my things and be prepared to leave. He has a small group of guards ready to escort me away.† â€Å"So?† I shrugged, eyeing my door longingly. â€Å"Isn't that what you wanted?† She took a step toward me. â€Å"He's not sending me back to the castle. He's sending me back to my village-back to my children. Don't you understand? He's through with me! He's casting me aside because of you!† The anger and hate on her face made me guess she'd forgotten I could suffocate her. As it was, she was in my personal space so much that I feared she might actually attempt physical blows. I wanted to tell her that Dorian casting her aside had little to do with me. That was just Dorian's way. Shaya had said Ysabel was one in a string of mistresses who resembled me. He'd grown tired of her, just like the rest, but that wasn't my fault. Telling her that wouldn't help, though. â€Å"I'm sorry. But, I mean, won't you be glad to see your kids?† â€Å"Glad?† she cried. â€Å"What do I have to give them? What do I have to show for my time at court? I have nothing. I came to Dorian's court to improve my children's lives-to bring us wealth. Now I have to return empty-handed, tossed aside to our backwoods village.† Ouch. I didn't know what to say, didn't know whether to laud a mother's attempts to improve her kids' lives or look down on someone who'd tried to do it via sleeping with a king. â€Å"I'm sorry,† I said wearily. â€Å"I'm sure you'll figure out something.† I started to turn away, and to my astonishment, she grabbed my shoulder and spun me toward her. I think she'd been about to hurl an insult, but I gave her no chance. I still wasn't ready to be touched, and she'd caught me off guard. With no second thoughts, my instincts summoned up magic, the air shoving her away from me and slamming her-hard-into a wall. She stood there, dazed, and I gasped, horrified at what I'd brutally done without even thinking. I really was turning into my father's daughter. â€Å"Are you okay?† I asked, stepping toward her when she didn't move. She jerked away from me, which I hoped meant no concussion. â€Å"This isn't over. I will never forgive you for taking him from me! I'll make you pay. He's mine. Do you understand? Mine.† This was followed by a whole tirade of ranting and insults about how much she hated me and would see me destroyed. She kept her distance, though, so apparently my brief lapse into violence had done some good. After a while, I had no patience for it and simply went into my bedroom, leaving her out there. I locked the door but could still hear her going on and on. Remembering Rurik saying that I should go out and talk to the people who could possibly be dying for me, I tried to distract myself from Ysabel by looking through the room's closet. I figured I should probably wear something gentry, and Nia had kept me well-stocked. The spark was rekindling in me, that need to take revenge against Leith and show Katrice we couldn't be pushed around. I would prove a strong leader for those out there. I was pulling out a silvery blue silk dress that looked suitable when Ysabel's shouting finally stopped. With a sigh of relief, I started to drape the dress over a chair-and caught a glimpse out the small window. There was an army out there. I immediately backed away, trying to block out the sea of faces encamped outside. I dropped the dress, feeling dizzy. The reality of it all hit me, and I again felt helpless and out of my league. A sharp knock sounded on the door, momentarily breaking through my panic. Anger was an easier emotion to deal with, and I hurried over, yanking the door open. â€Å"Look, I told you there's nothing I can do about-â€Å" I stopped. It wasn't Ysabel outside my door. It was Dorian.