TO WHAT EXTENT CAN CORRUPTION BE BLAMED FOR UNDERDEVELOPMENT IN Dissertation

TO WHAT EXTENT CAN CORRUPTION BE BLAMED FOR UNDERDEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA, A CASE STUDY OF NIGERIA - Dissertation Example Introduction The biggest obstacle to the achievement of development objectives in Africa is corruption. As the world is rapidly advancing towards becoming a global village, a large percentage of people in Africa do not have the opportunity of benefiting from the fruits of economic and industrial development that is happening across the world, primarily because of the widespread corruption that prevails in most African countries. Africa is blessed with a major percentage of the world’s natural resources and people from the continent have made their mark in several areas such as science, technology and medicine. Despite such developments, things such as cars and television continue to be extraordinary luxuries amongst people of Africa. Millions continue to live in extreme poverty and a vast majority is unemployed despite being educated. People are deprived of clean drinking water and educational facilities are not available for all children. There have been frequent instances of civil war i n several parts of the continent, while millions have been dying from diseases that cannot be controlled because of inadequate financial resources for healthcare. The main reason for the underdevelopment in Africa is the high level of corruption that prevails in the entire continent and continues to remain unchecked. This paper examines the extent to which corruption can be blamed for Africa’s underdevelopment by specifically referring to the case of Nigeria. In doing so, the internal and external causes of underdevelopment in Nigeria will be critically analyzed. The aim of this paper is to give an analytical perspective in order to understand why African countries have been unable to develop and to understand why sub-Saharan Africa has the reputation of being the most corrupt area in the world. The paper will also highlight the concepts and contexts of political corruption as the main cause of underdevelopment in many African countries. Chapter 1. Underdevelopment and Corruption in Africa Corruption is understood as acts of wrong doings with the objective of making money, which implies that the extreme desire to make money is the basic reason for corruption. According to Auyo (1999), corruption is the termination or demolition of a disposition or a perverted act relative to changing anyt hing from its initial status of purity. In simple terms, corruption is said to be practiced by deviating from the normal way of doing things. In the modern world, corruption is understood as the misappropriation of public money, enticement, theft or any forms of attempts to embezzle or to illegally gain or abuse assets or authority. Therefore, corruption is revealed through perverted acts or through obliteration or veracity while discharging public duty. Thus, corruption is considered a psychological or social condition whereby the ethical and correct ways of performing one’s duties are abandoned because of some kind of internal or external stimulus (Bayley, 1966). Although the words corruption and fraud are mostly used in referring to such practices, it is important to understand the differences amongst the two terms. Corruption is related with misusing public authority and is mostly related with acts committed by government functionaries, while fraud is an occurrence that c an happen in both the private and public sectors (Isa, 2009). Both corruption and fraud have proved to be severe problems that have been hampering economic growth in Africa (Sandholtz and Gray, 2003). Most efforts initiated by government and nongovernment agencies to tackle the problem have not yielded good results. For the last several years, Nigeria has been rated amongst the three most corrupt states in the world. In attempts to combat corruption, the

Electrical conductor Essay Example for Free

Electrical conductor Essay This would increase the resistance of the wire. Another reason why the 60cm wire the highest resistance is that the ammeter and the voltmeter could have been read incorrectly. One reason why the 100cm wire and the 80cm wire had a smaller resistance than the 60cm wire is that the coils of wire could have touched. If this did happen the length of the wire would be shortened. The current would take the easiest route, this being the shorter one meaning the current wont have taken long to travel along the wire. The more coils that touched the more the length of wire would have been shortened. There would have been less collision between the atoms of the wire and the electrons of the current. Also as the current wont have had as far to travel the electrons wont have had to squeeze together for as long as predicted. If this did happen I predict using the graph that the 100cm wire was decreased to an estimated 58cm, and that the 80cm wire was reduced to an estimated 55cm. I cannot prove that this is true, it is just a prediction. The sketch below shows what the graph looked like: The sketch below shows how I expected the graph to look: Evaluation I think that the 60cm, 80cm and the 100cm wires were all anomalous results. I think that all of these results are anomalous because the 60cm wire had a higher resistance than the 80cm and the 100cm wires , however the 80cm and 100cm wires had a lower resistance than the 60cm wire. I cannot tell which of the above statement is correct. The results could be anomalous because the ammeter and voltmeters were read incorrectly. Making the 60cm wire have a higher resistance than it should have had, or resulting in the 80cm and 100cm wires have a lower resistance than it should have had. The coils of wire on the 80cm and the 100cm wire could have touched, resulting in the length of the wire being shortened. This therefore would reduce the resistance of the wire because the current would take the easies route, which is the shortest instead of taking the longest route around the coil. This means that there would have been less collisions between the atoms of the wire and the electrons of the current. Therefore the current would have flowed faster than expected. Also as the electrons wouldnt have had as far to travel as predicted they wouldnt have had to squeeze together for as long, meaning there would have been less collisions between electrons and other electrons. The 60cm wire could have already been used. This means that it could have still held an electrical charge which would increase the resistance of the wire. Also all of the ice in the boiling tube could have melted meaning that the temperature would have increased, resulting in the resistance being increased. If I could repeat the investigation again there would be a number of changes that I would make. One of these changes would to decrease the lengths of the wire. The 100cm wire was too long and it was difficult to wrap the wire around the boiling tube without any of the coils touching. Also I could have used a bigger boiling tube that had a wider diameter. It would be easier to wrap the wire around the boiling tube without any of the coils touching. Also if more repetitions were done there would be less chance of anomalous results appearing. If I did the experiment again I would change the ice after each experiment. Therefore none of the ice would melt completely and the temperature wouldnt rise I dont think that the voltmeter and ammeter were read incorrectly because there are no massive changes in the two reading on the table. If I was to repeat the investigation I would make sure that the wire was new wire that hadnt been previously used and that the wire came from the same strip. I wouldnt change my graph because I fell that it is clear and easy to see where each length of wire is. Bibliography Below is a list of web sites that I used to fin out background knowledge for the investigation: www. essaybank. co. uk www. goggle. com www. sciencefinder. org www. sciencenet. org Here is a list of books that I used in my investigation:Â   Coordinated Science Physics Also I use Encarta 99 to find out information for the investigation.

The role of the new age manager

The role of the new age manager Managers work in a dynamic environment and must anticipate and adapt to challenges. With regards to the above statement, discuss the role of the new-age manager by taking an example of any Indian organization. Different challenges of a managers:- Its not possible to invest time in something thats not on your radar. Some kind of valuable radar enhancement is needed. Solution of the challenges for manager is Systematically . When youre far enough along with your current alternative try to pick another good alternative that fits the new you and the needs of the then current reality. Repeat some kind of loop similar to the preceding. this help to manager they dont spend a lot of time in one work. Over booked and mismanaged resources: Project teams often complain that they do not have accurate or up to date information about their resources and what they are working on. Many project teams have more demand for projects than they have team members to execute the projects. If resource allocation is an issue, then a decent mid-market or high end solution may be the only options. 3 Supply Chain Management: In supply chain management manager faced a lot of problem which include strike of politic parties , as well as With the increase in outsourcing and globalization, managing the flow of supplies and raw materials, as well as finished products, can now extend across thousands of miles, dozens of time zones and numerous language barriers. 4 Human Capital Management One of the other challenge of manager is human capital management . Because a companys operations can now exist across various countries and geographic areas. When brain drain occur at that time how manager manage these type of worker. Example: how can the needs of workers in China be met as effectively as the needs of workers in Los Angeles or Minnesota. Further more, what is the best way to meet the needs of these employees and also best utilize their skills and talents to keep the business functioning smoothly. Figuring out these challenges is a constant struggle faced by many businesses, and one that will not likely go away in the near future. one of the example which is occurring in Canada , both in response to, and in anticipation of climate change impact. Adaptation initiatives have been undertaken at scales ranging from individuals and community groups to industry and governments. Much of this adaptation has been achieved through informal actions or strategies in response to specific events or circumstances, and where the capacity to take action existed. There are also some examples of policy initiatives that provide a more structured approach to adaptation, such as the New Brunswick Coastal Areas Protection Policy and British Columbia Future Forests Ecosystem Initiative. Actor Example Individuals . Northerners are more frequently using insect repellents, bug nets and window screens to deal with the increased proliferation of insects. . Residents of remote coastal communities are better prepared for shortages (i.e., power, food, transportation) due to recent experience with inclement weather conditions.   Industry Thermosyphons have been used in the construction of several major infrastructure projects in the North to induce artificial cooling of permafrost under warming conditions. .Agricultural producers purchase crop insurance to offset losses caused by inclement weather. Hydro Quà ©bec has modified its forecasts of electricity demands based on new climate scenarios. Governments The municipality of Sept-Iles has regulated new residential construction along the shoreline to prevent damages due to shoreline erosion.   Water meters have been installed in the Southeast Kelowna Irrigation District and several Canadian cities (e.g. Kelowna, BC; Sudbury, ON; and Moncton, NB) to reduce water consumption. Newfoundland is undertaking a thorough review of emergency management practices and response mechanisms. This is the factor which occur Several adaptation initiatives address current risks and take into account the likely impacts of future climate change. These include most major new infrastructure development in northern Canada, such as mine sites, pipelines and large buildings, where adaptive solutions include the use of Thermosyphons to induce artificial cooling of permafrost under warming conditions. The role of the new-age manager by taking an example of any Indian organization. ICA stands for The institute of computer accountant. Mr. Ashok Tekriwal he is the branch manager of the institute. C:UsersAPicturesicalogo.jpg About ICA: ICA start with Account Training and ends with a Guaranteed job. The organization was formed by a group of professionals with considerable work experience in the field of accounts and taxation. The journey started in 1999 and after ten years the institution was spread up its wings to more than 300+centres with 3 zonal offices and 30+placement offices across India with Head office at Kolkata. The ICA family includes more than 3000+competent staff members and more than 2,00,000students. Address: Main road Ranchi, Opposite big bazaar, Near over bridge, Ranchi. Contact no :0651-2332103. Role of manager: * To have contact: One of the basic role of ICA manager is to establish and maintain a contacts with many people both within and outside the business. The persons with whom he has regular contacts within the organization include his subordinates, fellow managers and so on. Government officials , staff , that include marketing staff , placement staff etc. * To have attain Target: One of the basic role of ICA Managers is work under pressure most of the time as they have targets to achieve. This is particularly true in the case of admition of student ,Placement of the student as well as good service for the student. * To act as a Leader: One of the basic role of ICA manager is he always stand each and every person in front of any challenges or problem. He has to set an example to his subordinates. He must be sincere , honest and committed to his work. Only then, he will be able to guide and motivate the subordinates under him. * To ensure the proper use of resources: one of the basic role of ICA manager to ensure the proper use of resource which is directly related to the student as well as for the institute such as men, machines, materials and money are optimally utilized. * To resolve the Conflict: One of the basic role of ICA manager to Whenever there are conflicts between the employees over certain organizational matters, the manager is expected to resolve all such conflicts and arrive at an amicable solution. * To handle Situation: One of the basic role of ICA manager is also expected to handle crisis that may arise in the organization .such as salary not paid of worker ,some problem between the worker etc. In such a situation the manager has to act swiftly and wisely and find remedy. Question. Approach any small size company in your city, contact the HR manager and get the details of the organization structure with names. Then chalk out the main functions of the top management, middle management and supervisory management with respect to that company and discuss their roles and responsibilities. Answer New Image About us anand rathi. Anand Rathi is a leading full service investment bank founded in 1994 offering a wide range of financial services and wealth management solutions to institutions, corporations, high-net worth individuals and families. The firm has rapidly expanded its footprint to over 350 locations across India with international presence in Hong Kong, Dubai London. Founded by Mr. Anand Rathi and Mr. Pradeep Gupta, the group today employs over 2,500 professionals through out India and its international offices. Anand Rathi has been named The Best Domestic Private Bank in India by Asia money in their Fifth Annual Private Banking Poll 2009. The firm has emerged a winner across all key segments in Asia moneys largest survey of high net worth individuals in India. Top level management. * Board of Director. MR. Anand Rathi. Founder Chairman Prior to establishing his own company, Mr. Rathi headed Indian Rayon Industries, as Senior President. In his 40 years of being in the corporate world, Mr. Rathi has held several key positions on various regulatory and professional boards, including, President, Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), and Member, Central Council of Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI). As President of BSE, Mr. Rathi played a key role in the expansion plan of BOLT, the online trading system of the Exchange and setting up of the Trade Guarantee Fund. He was the moving force behind setting up of the Central Depository Services (India) Ltd. He is a gold medalist Chartered Accountant. Mr.Pradeep Gupta. Co-founder Vice chairman. With over twenty years experience in the securities market. Co-founder and key driver of the Retail and Institutional Equities business of the group. Mr. Amit Rathi. Managing Director A rank holder Chartered Accountant and an MBA from Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University joined the group in 1998.Calling him a financial guru, the Times of India group, listed Amit rathi in 2008 amongst the top 51 young Marwaris in India (under the age of 40). Mr. V. Srikanth. Director Mr. Srikanth association with the group of has been of just over year now. Previously Senior Vice President with HSBC Wealth Management. With over 12 years of experience he has worked with organizations like Citibank and Zà ¼rich AMC. A PGDBA (Finance Marketing) and a Diploma in Business Finance (ICFAI Hyderabad). Middle level Management. Under the director. There is thirteen regional director. Regional director is director of all sell. Regional director is direct reporting to the Director. Regional manager provide all the feedback of all the branch. *Branch Manager. *Franchise. *Cross sell. *Operation. *HNI {High network individual}. *Branch Manager: According to Anand rathi there is Branch Manager They are responsible for the administration and efficient daily operation of a full service branch office, including operations, lending, product sales, customer service, and security and safety in accordance with the Banks objectives provides a superior level of customer relations and promotes the sales and service culture through coaching, guidance and staff motivation; achieves individual and branch sales goals through new business sales, referrals and retention of account relationships. Branch manager direct reporting to the regional manager. Branch manager provide all the feedback of branch to the regional director. * Franchise: A system of distributing goods and services in which one organization (the franchisor) grants the right to another (the franchisee) to produce, sell or use its developed product service or brand. A franchisee is a retailer licensed franchised to sell or use the franchisors products. According to anand rathi the main function of franchise holder is opening a new franchise. Trading as well as investment. The income ratio of franchise to open a new franchise is 60% 40% for the company. * Cross sell Cross-sell is a marketing term for the practice of suggesting related products or services to a customer who is considering buying something. According to anana rathi the cross sell manager selling or suggest to the customer which Life insurance(LI).mutual fund, Tax saving bond are beneficial for the customer. *Operational head: The design, execution, and control of operations that convert resources into desired goods and services, and implement a companys business strategy. According to anand rathi operational head solve over all operational issue. *High network individual(HNI) A classification used by the financial services industry to denote an individual or a family with high net worth. Lower lever management *Dealer: A person or business firm acting as a middleman to facilitate distribution of securities or goods. According to anand rathi He got a order to buy or sell equity commodity as Well as account opening. * Financial planner(FP) Financial planning is a systematic approach where by the financial planner helps the customer to maximize his existing financial resources by utilizing financial tools to achieve his financial goals. According to anand rathi FP are selling mutual fund.they work in insentives basis. *Relationship manager: A professional who works to improve   a   firms relationships with both partner firms and customers Relationship. According to anand rathi RM also involve in account opening like Trading account etc. *Staff boy According to anand rathi staff boy transfer a file and other important paper one table to other table. Name- Vikash kumar goswami. Program-MBA CN. Reg. no.-PU11MCNO 007.

A Local Foreign Manager is Best for Managing Foreign Subsidiaries Essay

A Local Foreign Manager is Best for Managing Foreign Subsidiaries For many global organizations, or organizations that produce or sell goods or services in more than one country, a difficult question is how to develop and place managers in foreign operations. Some people believe organizations should let foreign managers run foreign subsidiaries because of the large differences among national cultures while others believe that domestic managers should be trained to run foreign subsidiaries because of loyalty issues. Nation culture is the particular set of economic, political, and social values that exist in a particular nation. This culture effects all aspects of global organizations operations. Foreign exchange rates, banking and accounting laws, and tax codes can all affect the profitability of foreign subsidiaries. These rules and regulations vary from country to county. The way Japan accounts for good will varies dramatically from the way the United Sates regulatory agency demands it be recorded. In some countries politics play a larger role than others. In sm...

Guidelines for Writing a Lab Report Essay

Writing a good lab report is an important goal of your science education, and gives you the opportunity to enhance your writing skills and to communicate your understanding of the scientific process to others. Your lab report for this semester will be a write up of your independent research project. This will follow the standard format for a lab report and should include the following sections: Title Introduction Materials and Methods Results Discussion Conclusion References For this course we are giving extra emphasis to the materials and methods section. This section should include sufficient detail to allow others to reproduce your experiments, without being overly descriptive. A guide to writing each section is as follows: TITLE Name the experiment. The title should be descriptive of what you did or what your data showed. A reader should be able to obtain some understanding of the content of your report from the title. In the research world, scientists scan the table of contents of journals to determine if there are any papers relevant to their research that they should read. Therefore the title is important for getting your work recognized. INTRODUCTION Explain why you choose this project, and what you hoped to learn from it. You will be required to research the background information for your project, and present the current state of knowledge for the topic of your research. In addition, you must explain your rationale for choosing this project, clearly state the objective or hypothesis, and predict the outcome of the experiments if the hypothesis holds true. Example: if an independent research project investigated the effect of hand sanitizers on the growth of E. coli, then the introduction should include background information on hand sanitizers (what they are, how they are used, the ingredients that kill bacteria), and background information on E. coli (what it is, why it is a problem). It would also include the experimental hypothesis, e.g. â€Å"Hand sanitizers will be more effective at killing E. coli than soap.† MATERIALS AND METHODS Describe how you conducted your experiments in sufficient detail that someone else could repeat them, WITHOUT excess detail. First and foremost, this section is NOT simply a list of materials and a step-by-step accounting of what you did. You should write your materials and methods in descriptive form, using past tense (describe what you did). Do not include reasoning in your methods – this belongs in the discussion section. You should describe what you did in enough detail that someone could repeat the experiment if he or she wanted to, but do not use excessive details. As you are doing your experiment, be sure you keep track of what you actually did in your lab notebook, especially any details which vary from the instructions in the lab manual. What you do could have important implications for the results you get, and your interpretation of those results. The Materials and Methods in your lab report should be what you actually did, and not just what the lab manual told you to do. Points to remember: * Organize this section carefully and logically, place the methods in the order in which you ran them. * Use subheadings that break the text into distinct sections (if warranted). Do not use subheadings such as â€Å"Lab 4.† Use a descriptive subheading, such as â€Å"Agarose Gel Electrophoresis† and make use of bold text to distinguish subheadings. * Provide enough information to allow others to repeat the same experiment * Use specific, informative language (quantify whenever possible) * Omit unnecessary information. You do not need to include every possible detail of the time you spent in the lab. Include only those procedures directly pertaining to the results you plan to present in the paper. * Include complete mathematical formulas if appropriate. * Do not make the common error of mixing some of the Results in this section RESULTS Present your data in such a way that someone could go directly to the results section and understand the results of your experiments. The results section will have a text portion and a portion that contains figures, tables, photographs, graphs, etc., depending on what kind of data you have. In the text of your results section, describe the trends and important points of your data. Point out what it is that you want your reader to come away with. Be sure you refer to the relevant figures and/or tables when you are writing your text. Refer to them as if you were citing them. For example: The purity of the enzyme improved with each step of the purification scheme (Table 1). For the data portion (i.e., figures and tables), there are many ways to present your results, and you should think very carefully about which is the best way. Is it a line graph, a bar graph or histogram, a pie chart, a table, a picture or diagram, or is it some combination of these? Whatever you choose, be sure it clearly shows your results. You want your reader to be able to look at your tables, charts, figures, etc. and know exactly what experiment was done for each one. You also want the reader to be able to understand what the results actually are. ALL of your data that relates to the report should be presented (even negative data). Points to remember: * Organize your data carefully and logically. If possible, present results in the same order as the methods. * Use subheadings that break the data into distinct sections (if warranted) * Summarize the data and emphasize important patterns or trends * Do not interpret your data; do not draw conclusions; do not speculate.in the results section (save these issues for the Discussion) * Graphs, drawings, and photos are considered figures. Each figure and table must have a title and be numbered sequentially as they are introduced in the text. (figure 1, figure2, table 1, table2) * Specify units on the axes of graphs and label all columns and rows of tables. * Computer programs, such as Excel, can help you draw graphs and diagrams. If the graphs are hand drawn they must be neat and accurate. * Examples of some of the ways that you can present your data are illustrated at the end of this handout. DISCUSSION Relate your results back to the introduction. Did you add to the current state of knowledge? What did you learn from your experiments? Were there any sources of error? What future experiments might you conduct? Was your hypothesis supported by your data? This section is for an interpretation of your results, e.g. what do your results mean? Why did you think that you obtained these results? What can be learned from this experiment.? Connect your results to the concepts behind the experiments and your hypothesesAre there any questions the experimental design leaves unanswered (related to your hypothesis or not)? How would you improve this experiment in the future? What other experiments would you do now to extend or confirm your results (what is the next step)? You should also indicate if there are any inherent flaws or sources of error in the experimental design. Do not use â€Å"human error† as an explanation. Only discuss experimental errors that you think actually occurred during your experiment. You should also avoid saying that taking more samples or doing more repetitions of the experiment would improve the data. That is almost always true of any experiment, and goes without saying. Points to remember: * Interpret your results; draw attention to your major findings. * Support your conclusions with evidence; convince the reader that your interpretations are sound and that your work represents a valid contribution to the field. * Recognize the importance of â€Å"negative† results. * Address both the advantages and limitations of your methods; What causes may be responsible for your findings? Suggest explanations if you have conflicting or unexpected results. * Go from specific to general; Start with a discussion of your specific results and end with more far-reaching conclusions or predictions; Can you make generalizations? What would the next questions be? * Be aware of phrasing used in scientific discourse, e.g. verbs like suggest, indicate, show, demonstrate; adverbs like possibly, probably, presumably, very likely; auxiliary verbs like may, might, would, could, etc. (â€Å"qualifiers†) CONCLUSIONS Summarize the meaning of your results in two or three sentences. REFERENCES List all of the information sources used for your introduction. Any references that you use should be cited in the text and listed in alphabetical order in a reference section at the end of your report. Use the APA citation style: For citations in the text: (Author, year) goes after the material from a particular source. For references section: Last name, First name. Year. Title of article. Journal. Volume. Page Numbers.

Night World : Huntress Chapter 12

Jez kept one hand on the kid as they walked up the stairs under the dirty fluorescent bulbs. She could only imagine what Iona must be thinking as they shepherded her to the top. They came out on the roof into slanting afternoon sunlight. Jez gave Iona's shoulder a little squeeze. â€Å"See-there's the garden.† She nodded toward a potted palm and three wooden barrels with miscellaneous wilted leaves in them. Iona glanced that way, then gave Jez a sober look. â€Å"They're not getting enough water,† she said as quietly as she said everything. â€Å"Yeah, well, it didn't rain enough this summer,† Morgead said. â€Å"You want to fix that?† Iona just looked seriously at him. â€Å"Look, what I mean is, you've got the Power, right? So if you just want to show us right now, anything you want, be my guest. It'll make things a lot simpler. Make it rain, why don't you?† Iona looked right at him. â€Å"I don't know what you're talking about.† â€Å"I'm just saying that there's no reason for you to get hurt here. We just want to see you do something like what you did the night of the fire. Anything. Just show us.† Jez watched him. There was something incongruous about the scene: Morgead in his high boots and leather jacket, iron-muscled, sleek, sinewy, on one knee in front of this harmless-looking kid in pink pants. And the kid just looking back at him with her sad and distant eyes. â€Å"I guess you're crazy,† Iona said softly. Her pigtails moved as she shook her head. A pink ribbon fluttered loosely. â€Å"Do you remember the fire?† Jez said from behind her. â€Å"Course.† The kid turned slowly around. â€Å"I was scared.† â€Å"But you didn't get hurt. The fire got close to you and then you did something. And then the fire went away.† â€Å"I was scared, and then the fire went away. But I didn't do anything.† â€Å"Okay,† Morgead said. He stood. â€Å"Maybe if you can't tell us, you can show us.† Before Jez could say anything, he was picking up the little girl up and carrying her. He had to step over a line of debris that stretched like a diagonal wall from one side of the roof to the other. It was composed of telephone books, splintery logs, old clothes, and other odds and ends, and it formed a barrier, blocking off a corner of the roof from the rest. He put Iona in the triangle beyond the debris. Then he stepped back over the wall, leaving her there. Iona didn't say anything, didn't try to follow him back out of the triangle. Jez stood tensely. The kid's a Wild Power, she told herself. She's already survived worse than this. And no matter what happens, she's not going to get hurt. I promised her that. But she would have liked to be telepathic again just for a few minutes, just to tell the kid one more time not to be scared. She especially wanted to as Val and Raven poured gasoline on the wall of debris. Iona watched them do it with huge sober eyes, still not moving. Then Pierce lit a match. . The flames leaped up yellow and blue. Not the bright orange they would have been at night. But hot. They spread fast and Jez could feel the heat from where she was standing, ten feet away. The kid was closer. She still didn't say anything, didn't try to jump over the flames while they were low. In a few moments they were high enough that she couldn't jump through them without setting herself on fire. Okay, Jez thought, knowing the kid couldn't hear her. Now, do it! Come on, Iona. Put the fire out. Iona just looked at it. She was standing absolutely still, with her little hands curled into fists at her sides. A small and lonely figure, with the late afternoon sun making a soft red halo around her head and the hot wind from the fire rippling her pink-trimmed shirt. She faced the flames dead-on, but not aggressively, not as if she were planning to fight them. Damn; this is wrong, Jez thought. Her own hands were clenched into fists so tightly that her nails were biting into her palms. â€Å"You know, I'm concerned,† Pierce said softly from just behind her. â€Å"I have a concern here.† Jez glanced at him quickly. Pierce didn't talk a lot, and he always seemed the coldest of the group-aside from Morgead, of course, who could be colder than anyone. Now Jez wondered. Could he, who never seemed to be moved by pity, actually be the most sensitive? â€Å"I'm worried about this fire. I know nobody can look down on us, but it's making a lot of smoke. What if one of the other tenants comes up to investigate?† Jez almost hit him. This is not my home, she thought, and felt the part of her that had sighed and felt loved and understood wither away. These are not my people. I don't belong with them. And Pierce wasn't worth hitting. She turned her back on him to look at Iona again. She was dimly aware of Morgead telling him to shut up, that other tenants were the least of their worries, but most of her attention was focused on the kid. Come on, kid! she thought. Then she said it out loud. â€Å"Come on, Iona! Put out the fire. You can do it! Just do what you did before!† She tried to catch the child's eye, but Iona was looking at the flames. She seemed to be trembling now. â€Å"Yeah, come on!† Morgead said brusquely. â€Å"Let's get this over with, kid.† Raven leaned forward, her long front hair ruffling in the wind. â€Å"Do you remember what you did that night?† she shouted seriously. â€Å"Think!† Iona looked at her and spoke for the first time. â€Å"I didn't do anything!† Her voice, so composed before, was edging on tears. The fire was full-blown now, loud as a roaring wind, sending little bits of burning debris into the air. One floated down to rest at Iona's foot and she stepped backward. She's got to be scared, Jez told herself. That's the whole point of this test. If she's not scared, she'll never be able to find her Power. And we're talking about saving the world, here. We're not just torturing this kid for fun†¦. It's still wrong. The thought burst out from some deep part of her. Jez had seen a lot of horrible things as a vampire and a vampire hunter, but suddenly she knew she couldn't watch any more of this. I'm going to call it off. She looked at Morgead. He was standing tensely, arms folded over his chest, green eyes fixed on Iona as if he could will her into doing what he wanted. Raven and Val were beside him, Raven expressionless under her fall of dark hair; Val frowning with his big hands on his hips. Thistle was a step or so behind them. â€Å"It's time to stop,† Jez said. Morgead's head whipped around to look at her. â€Å"No. We've gotten this far; it would be stupid to have to start all over again. Would that be any nicer to her?† â€Å"I said, it's time to stop. What do you have to put out the fire-or did you even think of that?† As they were talking, Thistle stepped forward. She moved right up to the flames, staring at Iona. â€Å"You'd better do something fast,† she shouted. â€Å"Or you're going to burn right up.† The childish, taunting tone caught Jez's attention, but Morgead was talking to her. â€Å"She's going to put it out any minute now. She just has to be frightened enough-â€Å" â€Å"Morgead, she's absolutely terrified already! Look at her!† Morgead turned. Iona's clenched fists were now raised to chest-level; her mouth was slightly open as she breathed far too fast. And although she wasn't screaming or crying like a normal kid, Jez could see the tremors running through her little body. She looked like a small trapped animal. â€Å"If she's not doing it now, she's never going to,† Jez told Morgead flatly. â€Å"It was a stupid idea in the first place, and it's over!† She saw the change in his green eyes; the flare of anger and then the sudden darkness of defeat. She realized that he was going to cave. But before he could say anything, Thistle moved forward. â€Å"You're gonna die!† she shrilled. â€Å"You're gonna burn up right now!† And she began kicking flaming debris at Iona. Everything happened very fast after that. The debris came apart in a shower of sparks as it flew toward Iona. Iona's mouth came open in horror as she found fiery garbage swirling around her knees. And then Raven was yelling at Thistle, but Thistle was already kicking more. A second deluge of sparks hit Iona. Jez saw her put up her hands to protect her face, then fling her arms out as a piece of burning cloth settled on her sleeve. She saw the sleeve spurt with a tiny flame. She saw Iona cast a frantic look around, searching for a way to escape. Morgead was dragging Thistle back by her collar. Thistle was still kicking. Sparks were everywhere and Jez felt a hot pain on her cheek. And then Iona's eyes went enormous and blank and fixed and Jez could see that she'd made some decision, she'd found some way to get out of this. Only not the right one. She was going to jump. Jez saw Iona turn toward the edge of the roof, and she knew in that same instant that she couldn't get to the child in time to stop her. So there was only one thing to do. Jez only hoped she would be fast enough. She very nearly wasn't. But there was a two-foot wall at the roof's perimeter, and it delayed Iona for a second as she scrambled onto it. That gave Jez a second to leap through the fire and catch up. And then Iona was on the wall, and then she was launching her small body into empty space. She jumped like a flying squirrel, arms and legs outspread, looking down at the three-story drop. Jez jumped with her. Jez! The telepathic shout followed her, but Jez scarcely heard it. She had no idea who had even said it. Her entire consciousness was focused on Iona. Maybe some part of her was still hoping that the kid had magic and could make the wind hold her up. But it didn't happen and Jez didn't waste time thinking about it. She hit Iona in midair, grabbing the small body and hanging on. It was something no human could have done. Jez's vampire muscles instinctively knew how to handle this, though. They twisted her as she fell, putting her underneath the child in her arms, putting her legs below her like a cat's. But of course Jez didn't have a vampire's resistance to injury. She knew perfectly well that when she hit, the fall would break both her legs. In her weakened state it might well kill her. It should save the kid, though, she thought unemotionally as the ground rushed up to meet her. The extra resiliency of Jez's flesh would act as a cushion. But there was one thing Jez hadn't thought of. The trees. There were discouraged-looking redbud trees planted at regular intervals along the cracked and mossy sidewalk. None of them had too much in the way of foliage even in late summer, but they certainly had a lot of little branches. Jez and the kid crashed right into one of them. Jez felt pain, but scratching, stabbing pain instead of the slamming agony of hitting the sidewalk. Her legs were smashing through things that cracked and snapped and poked her. Twigs and branches. She was being flipped around as some of the twigs caught on her jeans and others snagged her leather jacket. Every branch she hit decreased her velocity. So when she finally crashed out of the tree and hit concrete, it merely knocked the wind out of her. Black dots danced in front of her eyes. Then her vision cleared and she realized that she was lying on her back with Iona clutched to her stomach. Shiny redbud leaves were floating down all around her. Goddess, she thought. We made it. I don't believe it. There was a dark blur and something thudded against the sidewalk beside her. Morgead. He landed like a cat, bending his knees, but nice a big cat. A three-story jump was pretty steep even for a vampire. Jez could see the shock reverberate through him as his legs hit concrete, and then he fell forward. That must hurt, she thought with distant sympathy. But the next instant he was up again, he was by her side and bending over her. â€Å"Are you all right?† He was yelling it both aloud and telepathically. His dark hair was mussed and flying; his green eyes were wild. â€Å"Jez!† Oh. It was you who yelled when I jumped, Jez thought. I should have known. She blinked up at him. â€Å"Of course I'm all right,† she said hazily. She tugged at the kid lying on her. â€Å"Iona! Are you all right?† Iona stirred. Both her hands were clutching Jez's jacket in front, but she sat up a little without letting go. There was a burned patch on her sleeve, but no fire. Her velvety brown eyes were huge-and misty. She looked sad and confused. â€Å"That was really scary,† she said. â€Å"I know.† Jez gulped. She wasn't any good at talking about emotional things, but right now the words spilled out without conscious effort. Tm sorry, Iona; I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. We shouldn't have done that. It was a very bad thing to do, and I'm really sorry, and we're going to take you home now. Nobody's going to hurt you. We're going to take you back to your mom.† The velvety eyes were still unhappy. Tired and unhappy and reproachful. Jez had never felt like more of a monster, not even that night in Muir Woods when she had realized she was hunting her own kind. Iona's gaze remained steady, but her chin quivered. Jez looked at Morgead. â€Å"Can you erase her memory? I can't see any reason why she should have to remember all this.† He was still breathing quickly, his face pale and his pupils dilated. But he looked at Iona and nodded. â€Å"Yeah, I can wipe her.† â€Å"Because she's not the Wild Power, you know,† Jez said levelly, as if making a comment about the weather. Morgead flinched. Then he shoved his hair back with his knuckles, his eyes shutting briefly. â€Å"She's an extraordinary kid, and I don't know exactly what she's going to be-maybe President or some great doctor or botanist or something. Something special, because she's got that inner light- something that keeps her from getting mad or mean or hysterical. But that's got nothing to do with being a Wild Power.† â€Å"All right! I know, already!† Morgead yelled, and Jez realized she was babbling. She shut up. Morgead took a breath and put his hand down. â€Å"She's not it. I was wrong. I made a bad mistake. Okay?† â€Å"Okay.† Jez felt calmer now. â€Å"So can you please wipe her?† â€Å"Yes! I'm doing it!† Morgead put his hands on Iona's slender shoulders. â€Å"Look, kid, I'm-sorry. I never thought you'd-you know, jump like that.† Iona didn't say anything. If he wanted forgiveness, he wasn't getting it. He took a deep breath and went on. â€Å"This has been a pretty rotten day, hasn't it? So why don't you just forget all about it, and before you know it, you'll be home.† Jez could feel him reach out with his mind, touching the child's consciousness with his Power. Iona's eyes shifted, she looked at Jez uncertainly. â€Å"It's okay,† Jez whispered. â€Å"It won't hurt.† She hung on to Iona's gaze, trying to comfort her as Morgead's suggestions took hold. â€Å"You don't ever have to remember this,† Morgead said, his voice soothing now. Gentle. â€Å"So why don't you just go to sleep? You can have a little nap†¦ and when you wake up, you'll be home.† Iona's eyelids were closing. At the last possible second she gave Jez a tiny sleepy smile-just the barest change of expression, but it seemed to ease the tightness in Jez's chest. And then Iona's lashes were lying heavy on her cheeks and her breathing was deep and regular. Jez sat up and gently put the sleeping child on the sidewalk. She smoothed back one stray pigtail and watched the little chest rise and fall a couple of times. Then she looked up at Morgead. â€Å"Thanks.† He shrugged, exhaling sharply. â€Å"It was the least I could do.† Then he gave her an odd glance. Jez thought of it at the same instant. She was the one so concerned about the child-why had she asked Morgead to wipe her memory? Because I can't do it, she thought dryly. Out loud she said, â€Å"I'm really kind of tired, after everything that's happened today. I don't have much Power left.† â€Å"Yeah†¦Ã¢â‚¬  But his green eyes were slightly narrowed, searching. â€Å"Plus, I hurt.† Jez stretched, gingerly testing her muscles, feeling every part of her protest. The searching look vanished instantly. Morgead leaned forward and began to go over her with light, expert fingers, his eyes worried. â€Å"Can you move everything? What about your legs? Do you feel numb anywhere?† â€Å"I can move everything, and I only wish I felt numb somewhere.† â€Å"Jez-I'm sorry.† He blurted it out as awkwardly as he had to the child. ‘I didn't mean †¦ I mean, this just hasn't turned out the way I planned. The kid getting hurt-you getting hurt. It just wasn't what I had in mind.† The kid getting hurt? Jez thought. Don't tell me you care about that. But there was no reason for Morgead to lie. And he did look unhappy-probably more unhappy than Jez had ever seen him. His eyes were still all pupil, as if he were scared. I'm not hurt,† Jez said. It was all she could think of. She felt dizzy suddenly-uncertain and a little giddy, as if she were still tumbling off the roof. â€Å"Yes, you are.† He said it with automatic stubbornness, as if it were one of their arguments. But his hand reached out to touch her cheek. The one that had been hit by burning debris. It hurt, but Morgead was touching so lightly†¦. Coolness seemed to flow from his fingers, seeping into the burn and making it feel better. Jez gasped. â€Å"Morgead-what are you doing?† â€Å"Giving you some Power. You're low and you need it.† Giving her Power? She'd never heard of such a thing. But he was doing it. She could feel her skin healing itself faster, could feel his strength pour into her. It was a strange sensation. It made her shiver inwardly. â€Å"Morgead†¦Ã¢â‚¬  His eyes were fixed on her face. And suddenly they were all Jez could see; the rest of the world was a blur. All she could hear was the soft catch in his breath; all she could feel was the gentleness of his touch. â€Å"Jez†¦Ã¢â‚¬  They were leaning toward each other, or falling. It was that silver thread between them, shortening, pulling. They had nothing to grab on to but each other. And then Morgead's arms were around her and she felt his warm mouth touch hers.

Monasticism In The Middle Ages Essays - Asceticism, Free Essays

Monasticism In The Middle Ages Essays - Asceticism, Free Essays Monasticism in the Middle Ages During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the monasteries served as one of the great civilizing forces by being the centers of education, preservers of learning, and hubs of economic development. Western monasticism was shaped by Saint Benedict of Nursia, who in 529, established a monastery in southern Italy. He created a workable model for running a monastery that was used by most western monastic orders of the Early Middle Ages. To the three vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity, which formed the foundation of most of the old monasteries, he added the vow of manual labor. Each monk did some useful work, such as, plowing the fields, planting and harvesting the grain, tending the sheep, or milking the cows. Others worked at various trades in the workshops. No task was too lowly for them. Benedict?s rules laid down a daily routine of monastic life in much greater detail than the preceding rules appear to have done (Cantor 167-168). Schwartz 2 The monks also believed in learning, and for centuries had the only schools in existence. The churchmen were the only people who could read or write. Most nobles and kings could not even write their names. The monastery schools were only available to young nobles who wished to master the art of reading in Latin, and boys who wished to study to become priests (Ault 405). The monasteries played a part as the preservers of learning. Many monks busied themselves copying manuscripts and became medieval publishing houses. They kept careful calendars so that they could keep up with the numerous saints? days, and other feast days of the medieval church. The monks who kept the calendar often jotted down, in the margins, happenings of interest in the neighborhood or information learned from a traveler. Most of the books in existence, during the Middle Ages, were produced by monks, called scribes. These manuscripts were carefully and painstakingly handwritten. When the monks were writing, no one was allowed to speak, and they used sign language to communicate with each other. The books were written on vellum, made from calf?s skin, or parchment, made from sheep?s skin. The scribes used gothic letters, that were written so perfectly, they looked as if they were printed by a press. Many of the books were elaborately ornamented with gold or colore! d letters. The borders around each page were decorated with garlands, vines, or flowers. After the books were written, they were bound in leather or covered with velvet. The monks copied Schwartz 3 bibles, hymns, and prayers, the lives of the saints, as well as the writings of the Greeks and Romans and other ancient peoples. The scribes added a little prayer at the end of each book, because they felt that god would be pleased with their work. Without their efforts, these stories and histories would have been lost to the world. The monks became the historians of their day by keeping a record of important events, year by year. It is from their writings that we derive a great deal of knowledge of the life, customs, and events of the medieval times (Ault 158). Medieval Europe made enormous economic gains because of the monks. They proved themselves to be intelligent landlords and agricultural colonizers of Western Europe. A very large proportion of the soil of Europe, in the Middle Ages, was wasteland. There were marshes and forests covering much of the land. The monasteries started cultivating the soil, draining the swamps, and cutting down the forests. These monastic communities attracted settlements of peasants around them because the monastery offered security. Vast areas of land were reclaimed for agricultural purposes. The peasants copied the agricultural methods of the monks. Improved breeding of cattle was developed by the monastic communities. Many monasteries were surrounded by marshes, but their land became fertile farms. The monasteries became model farms and served as local schools of agriculture. Farming was a chief economic activity of the monasteries. They sold the excess that they grew in the marketpla! ce, and this drew them into trade and commerce. Schwartz 4 They sold hogs, charcoal, iron, building stone, and timber. This made them into the centers of civilization. Many monasteries conducted their market during patron saint?s