Peace and Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Peace and Justice - Essay Example However, the escaped Jews had to face even tougher situations in the burgeoning Europe. There were mass killings and tortures. Thus, by the 1880s, Jews from Russia and rest of Eastern Europe returned to Palestine and started settling there. Soon, the Jews started movements to establish a nation state for the Jewish people in Palestine. Jews claimed that the land was their historical homeland and Arabs were against it. It took very little time for violence to emerge. As Tessler points out, though Jews were allowed an independent nation thereafter, Arabs still opposed the Jewish nation, thus, Israel remains in constant conflict with Palestine and other Arab nations (67). A lot has been done to solve the conflict; though the steps were hardly successful. The first effective step came from the United Nations through the recommendation that Palestine should be split into three parts; the one with Jewish nation, the second with Arab state, and an International zone that would comprise equa l numbers of Jews and Arabs. However, the problem with the plan was that the proposed Jewish land would contain a large number of Arabs, and the proposed Arab state would contain a small number of Jews. Moreover, Jerusalem and Bethlehem were to come under the control of the United Nations. Both of the sides were against the proposed division because Jews disliked the idea of losing Bethlehem and Arabs were against the idea of an independent Jewish nation-state. Moreover, Arabs were worried about the large numbers of Arabs who would get trapped in the proposed Israel state. Soon, the Partition Plan was put on vote in the UN General Assembly on November 29, 1947. While 33 nations supported the division, 13 nations were against the plan. Another 10 nations preferred not to vote. However, Palestine and other Arab nations in the near vicinity were strongly against the plan. So, they approached the International Court of Justice with the claim that the United Nations’ decision to p roceed with partition was against the wishes of the majority of the inhabitants of the troubled area. However, International Court of Justice made a decision against the appeal. Soon, violence erupted and grew uncontrollable; and no other nation resorted to intervene. Regardless all this violence, on May 14, 1948, the independent State of Israel was declared. Since then, violence goes on disturbing the peace of the land. However, this does not mean that efforts were not made to ensure peace in the area. Another set of serious talks began in the beginning of 1990s when Israel and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) started negotiations in Oslo, Norway. As a result of the talks, Palestine officially recognized the existence of Israel. Also, it was decided that the Palestinian Authority (PA) would be the official governing institution for Palestinian communities. Also, Israel allowed PA to administer various regions of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In addition, Palestine was helped in developing its own social structure with a police force, legislature, and other governmental institutions. In return, Palestine Authority was supposed to develop tolerance for Israel within the Arab community. However, the mere fact is that there is terrorism that grows in Palestine, and a consequent rise in intolerance towards Palestine in Israeli population. As a result, attacks and deaths have become a common factor even now. According to

Cennection between power and motivation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cennection between power and motivation - Essay Example All human beings are born with five basic needs: continued existence, love, power, fun, and freedom. All human behavior is motivated by attempts to satisfy those needs. In an organization or in a company, managers are responsible for getting the work done and the quality and quantity of the work done by the employees depend on how much the employees are motivated to do the work. The manager may use his power and position to get the work done but the quality and quantity may go down since the employees are not motivated internally to produce quality products. While a manager cannot make workers do high quality work, it is the job of the manager to manage things so that it is easy for the workers to see a strong connection between what they are asked to do and what they believe to be worth doing. Therefore the managers are to become lead-managers. The key behind being a lead-manager is to authorize workers. Lead-managers focus on persuasion and problem solving. They spend their time figuring out how to run the system so that the workers will see that it is to their benefit to produce high-quality work. Managers often fail to let workers feel important - to experience power and freedom. When workers see that outcomes are important and valuable they devote significant effort to realize the goals (education.calumet.purdue.edu, 2000). The implications of motives and values for management are simple: People do what they like or they do what they feel is important. If the given task fits either of these categories, it will get done faster and better. Where suitable motives do not exist, people require strong values to replace them. In the sense, managers can try to engage or create an intellectual commitment, or can engage emotional drivers. Motives are deep constructs and can change only slowly. Changing other people’s motives without their active and devoted alliance is too difficult to be a practical management method.

Occupational Stress A Global Phenomenon Psychology Essay

Occupational Stress A Global Phenomenon Psychology Essay Occupational stress is becoming increasingly a global phenomenon, affecting all categories of labor throughout the world. It has an enormous effect on the organizational behavior in a company. One side of the problem is that stress on the work place threatens workers to suffer mental or physical health problems, but another is that it can affect the bottom line of a business. Productivity can be largely affected by the level of stress that the workers are experiencing. Because of its economical significance, organizations should be very concerned about occupational stress, and should try to actively manage its levels. The goal of this research paper is to examine the relationship between stress and job performance. Studies show that some degree of occupational stress is desirable and increases job performance, but in very high levels it can have a devastating impact on persons ability to do his or her job. By examining sources of stress, its effects, and how the individual copes with the stress experienced, the paper will try to determine a level of occupational stress that may be desirable by organizations. The paper will also describe approaches that are made by progressive organizations in helping employees manage stress levels better. Stress is increasingly recognized as one of the major causes of mental and physical sufferings of individuals in the contemporary society. Although the term stress is being used by many people, the scientific definition is not understood by most of them. Stress is a universal phenomenon affecting every living creature. It can be defined as a dynamic condition in which an individual is confronted with an opportunity, a demand, or a resource related to what the individual desires and for which the outcome is both uncertain and important.  [1]  Stress on the workplace is mostly associated with a mismatch between the demands and the resources. Demands are the responsibilities, obligations and pressures that an individual faces at work (high workloads, role overload, role conflict, time pressure). An individual makes use of all the available resources, such as social support, performance feedback, autonomy, in order to resolve a demand. If demands are greater than the resources availa ble, stress occurs. But stress doesnt necessarily have a negative effect. Some level of stress is a necessary part of our lives. The absence of stress can be viewed as death. There is a substantial amount of research on the stress performance relationship. Most of it concludes that it has an inverted U-shape.  [2]  This means that some level of stress can actually improve job performance. These moderate levels of stress can be even healthy, because they increase our ability to react. This is viewed as good stress. But when the amount of stress experienced reaches some optimal point, job performance starts rapidly declining, leading to exhaustion and breakdown. After this point the individual is not able to meet the job demands with the recourses available. This results show that managers should actively manage the levels of stress, because it is one of the most significant factors affecting performance.  [3]  The absence of such management may lead to large economic losses. But if appropriate s tress management is applied the U-shaped curve can be straightened, increasing the optimal point of stress, after which performance starts declining, and in this way enhancing it. Now lets turn to the potential sources of stress. More generally they can be categorized in three groups: environmental, organizational, and personal.  [4]  The environmental sources of stress are technological, economical, and political. The technological uncertainty deals with the continuous innovation in technology and the inability of the individual to keep up and adapt to it. Economic sources of stress are concerned with the changes in the business cycles and economic growth. Economic crisis is one of the biggest stressors for an individual, because when the economy is contracting workers are not sure of their finances, whether they will be able to remain employed, etc. Political instability is the third type of environmental sources of stress. It is comes from the unexpected changes in the national and international politics. Stress can arise also from the organization itself. Working conditions can be a major stress source for the employees. People working in noisy, crowded, polluted, or dangerous conditions tend to be subject to more stress. Task demands are also a potential source of occupational stress. They are connected to job characteristics. Poorly designed tasks and task overload are possible stressors in an organization. Role ambiguity and role overload are other sources of stress. They occur when the role is not clearly defined or understood, and when the role expectations are not matched with adequate time to be completed. Interpersonal pressures arising from other employees can cause stress on the workplace. Throughout its life a business undergoes different cycles. Two of them, the birth and the decline of a firm, are connected with a great deal of uncertainty, and thus can be very stressful for the workers. Although this paper is concerned with occupational stress, the personal sources of stress should be also included. A person experiencing high levels of stress outside the organization tends to be more vulnerable to stress inside it. Main personal factors are concerned with the family, social and economical status, and relationship with others. As there are very different sources of stress in an organization the consequences of stress are various. In general one can group the effects of job related stress as follows: physiological, psychological, and behavioral.  [5]  The common thing is that all these effects directly influence important organizational performance variables, such as productivity, turnover, absenteeism, and motivation. Physiological and health related effects may result in: high blood sugar, increased heart rate and blood pressure, or even heart attacks. Psychological symptoms of job related stress are depression, aggression, boredom, anxiety, and fatigue. On a behavioral level stress is the source of inability of making decisions, low concentration, or even alcohol and drug abuse. The organizational stress can have, in extreme cases, a distinct expression in the form of the so called burnout. Burnout appears after prolonged action of stressful factors and leads to emotional exhaustion, loss of interest in the job, sense of helplessness. The burnout is a long-term effect of occupational stress, which appears in highly bureaucratic organizations in which the individual feels that he cannot change anything. It is the result of no active management of the stress levels in an organization. In terms of organizational performance variables it leads to lower job satisfaction and productivity.  [6]   But the above consequences are not the only reason that occupational stress should be considered by managers. It also has a large economic significance in terms of costs for the organization. Some of them are: accumulated costs from decreased productivity, higher replacement costs due to turnover, and increase in the sick-pay. The problem is that it is almost impossible to calculate these costs and directly account them as induced by occupational stress. This is probably why not many companies are actively managing its levels in the organization. All these negative effects of occupational stress show the need of stress management strategies in the company. The variety of techniques to deal with stress can mainly be categorized into two basic approaches individual and organizational. The individual strategies are those that can be used by employees in order to reduce or eliminate stress. Organizational approaches, in turn, are programs and techniques that organizations implement to successfully manage the stress levels in a company. Despite such differentiation of management strategies, it should be clear that employees and management must take joint responsibility for the prevention of stress and eliminate its harmful effects. This mutual process is the underlying effective technology for dealing with stress. It is important to note that in dealing with stress, managers should consider the individual personality traits of their employees. Overall the difference between people concerning stress can be expressed by the concept of the so called stress threshold. It is a subjective characteristic that describes the threshold of sensitivity to different stressors. Individuals have different internal resources to cope with stressful situations. Threshold stress depends primarily on the following personality factors: temperament, self-experience, individual differences, etc. As each individual experiences stress and responds to stressors differently, appropriate stress management technique should be applied. Owen Moran, a health educator at Concordia University (Canada), has developed a 5-step framework that can help individuals in coping with stress.  [7]  The steps are as follows: Step 1: Identify if a person is stressed Step 2: Identify the stressor(s) Step 3: Determine the reason for this stressors Step 4: Select and apply an appropriate stress management strategy Step 5: Evaluate the results The most famous individual stress management strategies are designed to improve the physical condition of the person. These physical techniques include stretching exercises, breathing exercises, meditation. Diets also can help people in handling stress. By avoiding alcohol, tobacco, caffeine people are reducing their vulnerability to stressors. In addition to these factors rest is also very important. Other individual strategies for coping with stress include development of skills for more efficient working methods. Time management techniques for example are an effective method of dealing with stress due to overload or inefficiency in the workplace. Handling job-related problems by planning, budgeting, and proper time allocation is very helpful. These strategies depend largely on the commitment of the individual and his willingness to apply them regularly. Positive thinking is another behavioral technique.

The Passive Voice Essays -- Research Paper Language Papers

The Passive Voice The English language has two voices--the active and the passive. The active voice and the passive voice differ in that a passive verb phrase has an additional auxiliary BE followed by an EN participle. In a sense, the English passive is "inflexible" when compared to the passive formation of other languages. For example, some languages use word order, verb inflections, and impersonal constructions to form the passive voice. In their book, The Grammar Book: ESL/EFL Teacher's Course, Celce-Murcia and Larson-Freeman demonstrate how the Bantu passive voice differs from the English passive voice. "Kingarwanda, a Bantu language, can make even a locative phrase the subject of the passive as in On the bus was eaten a sandwich by John, which would not be acceptable in English" (221). Furthermore, topicalization is another "grammar issue" which differs from language to language. In the Kingarwanda sentence, On the bus was eaten a sandwich by John, the center of attention or the topic of the sen tence is the phrase On the bus. Since languages have different rules which govern topicalization, several languages may not accept On the bus as the topic of a sentence. In the book, Clear and Coherent Prose, William Vande Kopple discusses topicalization in the English language. Kopple states that the English language uses topicalizers to "fulfill special functions in essays" (41). Several of these functions are: focusing the reader's attention on a specific part of a sentence, expressing given or "old" information at the beginning of a sentence, marking changes in topics, and lastly, setting contrasts between one topic and another (41). Since there are differences in topicalization and the formation of the passive voice, no... ...I must make my students aware of these differences. Moreover, I want my student to understand both the active and the passive voice and be able to choose which voice to use in their writing. Works Cited Aghbar, Ali. The New York Times Editorial Corpus. Alexander, L. G. Longman of English. New York: Longman Inc., 1988. Besnier, N., and Edward Finegan. Language: Its Structure and Use. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989. Celce-Murcia, M., and Diana Larson-Freeman. The Grammar Book: An ESL/EFL Teacher's Course. Massachusetts: Newbury House Publishers Inc., 1983. Kaplan, J. P. English Grammar: Principles and Facts. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1989. Kopple, William Vande. Clear and Coherent Prose: A Functional Approach. Boston: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1989. Lyles, B. A Basic Grammar of Modern English. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1989.

Vampire Academy Chapter 4

FOUR WE DIDN'T HAVE THE ENTIRE commons' attention this time, thank God, but a few passing people had stopped to stare. â€Å"What the hell do you think you're doing?† asked Doll Girl, blue eyes wide and sparkling with fury. Up close now, I was able to get a better look at her. She had the same slim build as most Moroi but not the usual height, which was partly what made her look so young. The tiny purple dress she wore was gorgeous – reminding me that I was indeed dressed in thrift-shop wear – but closer inspection led me to think it was a designer knockoff. I crossed my arms across my chest. â€Å"Are you lost, little girl? The elementary school's over on west campus.† A pink flush spread over her cheeks. â€Å"Don't you ever touch me again. You screw with me, and I'll screw you right back.† Oh man, what an opening that was. Only a head shake from Lissa stopped me from unleashing any number of hilarious comebacks. Instead, I opted for simple brute force, so to speak. â€Å"And if you mess with either of us again, I'll break you in half. If you don't believe me, go ask Dawn Yarrow about what I did to her arm in ninth grade. You were probably at nap time when it happened.† The incident with Dawn hadn't been one of my finer moments. I honestly hadn't expected to break any bones when I shoved her into a tree. Still, the incident had given me a dangerous reputation, in addition to my smartass one. The story had gained legendary status, and I liked to imagine that it was still being told around campfires late at night. Judging from the look on this girl's face, it was. One of the patrolling staff members strolled by right then, casting suspicious eyes at our little meeting. Doll Girl backed off, taking Aaron's arm. â€Å"Come on,† she said. â€Å"Hey, Aaron,† I said cheerfully, remembering he was there. â€Å"Nice to see you again.† He gave me a quick nod and an uneasy smile, just as the girl dragged him off. Same old Aaron. He might be nice and cute, but aggressive he was not. I turned to Lissa. â€Å"You okay?† She nodded. â€Å"Any idea who I just threatened to beat up?† â€Å"Not a clue.† I started to lead her toward the lunch line, but she shook her head at me. â€Å"Gotta go see the feeders.† A funny feeling settled over me. I'd gotten so used to being her primary blood source that the thought of returning to the Moroi's normal routine seemed strange. In fact, it almost bothered me. It shouldn't have. Daily feedings were part of a Moroi's life, something I hadn't been able to offer her while living on our own. It had been an inconvenient situation, one that left me weak on feeding days and her weak on the days in between. I should have been happy she would get some normality. I forced a smile. â€Å"Sure.† We walked into the feeding room, which sat adjacent to the cafeteria. It was set up with small cubicles, dividing the room's space in an effort to offer privacy. A dark-haired Moroi woman greeted us at the entrance and glanced down at her clipboard, flipping through the pages. Finding what she needed, she made a few notes and then gestured for Lissa to follow. Me she gave a puzzled look, but she didn't stop me from entering. She led us to one of the cubicles where a plump, middle-aged woman sat leafing through a magazine. She looked up at our approach and smiled. In her eyes, I could see the dreamy, glazed-over look most feeders had. She'd probably neared her quota for the day, judging from how high she appeared to be. Recognizing Lissa, her smile grew. â€Å"Welcome back, Princess.† The greeter left us, and Lissa sat down in the chair beside the woman. I sensed a feeling of discomfort in her, a little different from my own. This was weird for her too; it had been a long time. The feeder, however, had no such reservations. An eager look crossed her face – the look of a junkie about to get her next fix. Disgust poured into me. It was an old instinct, one that had been drilled in over the years. Feeders were essential to Moroi life. They were humans who willingly volunteered to be a regular blood source, humans from the fringes of society who gave their lives over to the secret world of the Moroi. They were well cared for and given all the comforts they could need. But at the heart of it, they were drug users, addicts to Moroi saliva and the rush it offered with each bite. The Moroi – and guardians – looked down on this dependency, even though the Moroi couldn't have survived otherwise unless they took victims by force. Hypocrisy at its finest. The feeder tilted her head, giving Lissa full access to her neck. Her skin there was marked with scars from years of daily bites. The infrequent feedings Lissa and I had done had kept my neck clear; my bite marks never lasted more than a day or so. Lissa leaned forward, fangs biting into the feeder's yielding flesh. The woman closed her eyes, making a soft sound of pleasure. I swallowed, watching Lissa drink. I couldn't see any blood, but I could imagine it. A surge of emotion grew in my chest: longing. Jealousy. I averted my eyes, staring at the floor. Mentally, I scolded myself. What's wrong with you? Why should you miss it? You only did it once every day. You aren't addicted, not like this. And you don't want to be. But I couldn't help myself, couldn't help the way I felt as I recalled the bliss and rush of a vampire's bite. Lissa finished and we returned to the commons, moving toward the lunch line. It was short, since we only had fifteen minutes left, and I strolled up and began to load my plate with french fries and some rounded, bite-size objects that looked vaguely like chicken nuggets. Lissa only grabbed a yogurt. Moroi needed food, as dhampirs and humans did, but rarely had an appetite after drinking blood. â€Å"So how'd classes go?† I asked. She shrugged. Her face was bright with color and life now. â€Å"Okay. Lots of stares. A lot of stares. Lots of questions about where we were. Whispering.† â€Å"Same here,† I said. The attendant checked us out, and we walked toward the tables. I gave Lissa a sidelong glance. â€Å"You okay with that? They aren't bothering you, are they?† â€Å"No – it's fine.† The emotions coming through the bond contradicted her words. Knowing I could feel that, she tried to change the subject by handing me her class schedule. I looked it over. 1st Period Russian 2 2nd Period American Colonial Literature 3rd Period Basics of Elemental Control 4th Period Ancient Poetry -Lunch – 5th Period Animal Behavior and Physiology 6th Period Advanced Calculus 7th Period Moroi Culture 4 8th Period Slavic Art â€Å"Nerd,† I said. â€Å"If you were in Stupid Math like me, we'd have the same afternoon schedule.† I stopped walking. â€Å"Why are you in elemental basics? That's a sophomore class.† She eyed me. â€Å"Because seniors take specialized classes.† We fell silent at that. All Moroi wielded elemental magic. It was one of the things that differentiated living vampires from Strigoi, the dead vampires. Moroi viewed magic as a gift. It was part of their souls and connected them to the world. A long time ago, they had used their magic openly – averting natural disasters and helping with things like food and water production. They didn't need to do that as much anymore, but the magic was still in their blood. It burned in them and made them want to reach out to the earth and wield their power. Academies like this existed to help Moroi control the magic and learn how to do increasingly complex things with it. Students also had to learn the rules that surrounded magic, rules that had been in place for centuries and were strictly enforced. All Moroi had a small ability in each element. When they got to be around our age, students â€Å"specialized† when one element grew stronger than the others: earth, water, fire, or air. Not specializing was like not going through puberty. And Lissa? ­well, Lissa hadn't specialized yet. â€Å"Is Ms. Carmack still teaching that? What she'd say?† â€Å"She says she's not worried. She thinks it'll come.† â€Å"Did you – did you tell her about – â€Å" Lissa shook her head. â€Å"No. Of course not.† We let the subject drop. It was one we thought about a lot but rarely spoke of. We started moving again, scanning the tables as we decided where to sit. A few pairs of eyes looked up at us with blatant curiosity. â€Å"Lissa!† came a nearby voice. Glancing over, we saw Natalie waving at us. Lissa and I exchanged looks. Natalie was sort of Lissa's cousin in the way Victor was sort of her uncle, but we'd never hung out with her all that much. Lissa shrugged and headed in that direction. â€Å"Why not?† I followed reluctantly. Natalie was nice but also one of the most uninteresting people I knew. Most royals at the school enjoyed a kind of celebrity status, but Natalie had never fit in with that crowd. She was too plain, too uninterested in the politics of the Academy, and too clueless to really navigate them anyway. Natalie's friends eyed us with a quiet curiosity, but she didn't hold back. She threw her arms around us. Like Lissa, she had jade-green eyes, but her hair was jet black, like Victor's had been before his disease grayed it. â€Å"You're back! I knew you would be! Everyone said you were gone forever, but I never believed that. I knew you couldn't stay away. Why'd you go? There are so many stories about why you left!† Lissa and I exchanged glances as Natalie prattled on. â€Å"Camille said one of you got pregnant and went off to have an abortion, but I knew that couldn't be true. Someone else said you went off to hang out with Rose's mom, but I figured Ms. Kirova and Daddy wouldn't have been so upset if you'd turned up there. Did you know we might get to be roommates? I was talking to? ­Ã¢â‚¬  On and on she chatted, flashing her fangs as she spoke. I smiled politely, letting Lissa deal with the onslaught until Natalie asked a dangerous question. â€Å"What'd you do for blood, Lissa?† The table regarded us questioningly. Lissa froze, but I immediately jumped in, the lie coming effortlessly to my lips. â€Å"Oh, it's easy. There are a lot of humans who want to do it.† â€Å"Really?† asked one of Natalie's friends, wide-eyed. â€Å"Yup. You find ? ®em at parties and stuff. They're all looking for a fix from something, and they don't really get that a vampire's doing it: most are already so wasted they don't remember anyway.† My already vague details dried up, so I simply shrugged in as cool and confident a way as I could manage. It wasn't like any of them knew any better. â€Å"Like I said, it's easy. Almost easier than with our own feeders.† Natalie accepted this and than launched into some other topic. Lissa shot me a grateful look. Ignoring the conversation again, I took in the old faces, trying to figure out who was hanging out with whom and how power had shifted within the school. Mason, sitting with a group of novices, caught my eye, and I smiled. Near him, a group of Moroi royals sat, laughing over something. Aaron and the blond girl sat there too. â€Å"Hey, Natalie,† I said, turning around and cutting her off. She didn't seem to notice or mind. â€Å"Who's Aaron's new girlfriend?† â€Å"Huh? Oh. Mia Rinaldi.† Seeing my blank look, she asked, â€Å"Don't you remember her?† â€Å"Should I? Was she here when we left?† â€Å"She's always been here,† said Natalie. â€Å"She's only a year younger than us.† I shot a questioning look at Lissa, who only shrugged. â€Å"Why is she so pissed off at us?† I asked. â€Å"Neither of us know her.† â€Å"I don't know,† answered Natalie. â€Å"Maybe she's jealous about Aaron. She wasn't much of anybody when you guys left. She got really popular really fast. She isn't royal or anything, but once she started dating Aaron, she – â€Å" â€Å"Okay, thanks,† I interrupted. â€Å"It doesn't really – â€Å" My eyes lifted up from Natalie's face to Jesse Zeklos's, just as he passed by our table. Ah, Jesse. I'd forgotten about him. I liked flirting with Mason and some of the other novices, but Jesse was in an entirely different category. You flirted with the other guys simply for the sake of flirting. You flirted with Jesse in the hopes of getting semi-naked with him. He was a royal Moroi, and he was so hot, he should have worn a warning: flammable sign. He met my eyes and grinned. â€Å"Hey Rose, welcome back. You still breaking hearts?† â€Å"Are you volunteering?† His grin widened. â€Å"Let's hang out sometime and find out. If you ever get parole.† He kept walking, and I watched him admiringly. Natalie and her friends stared at me in awe. I might not be a god in the Dimitri sense, but with this group, Lissa and I were gods – or at least former gods – of another nature. â€Å"Oh my gawd,† exclaimed one girl. I didn't remember her name. â€Å"That was Jesse.† â€Å"Yes,† I said, smiling. â€Å"It certainly was.† â€Å"I wish I looked like you,† she added with a sigh. Their eyes fell on me. Technically, I was half-Moroi, but my looks were human. I'd blended in well with humans during our time away, so much so that I'd barely thought about my appearance at all. Here, among the slim and small-chested Moroi girls, certain features – meaning my larger breasts and more defined hips – stood out. I knew I was pretty, but to Moroi boys, my body was more than just pretty: it was sexy in a risqu? ¦ way. Dhampirs were an exotic conquest, a novelty all Moroi guys wanted to â€Å"try.† It was ironic that dhampirs had such an allure here, because slender Moroi girls looked very much like the super-skinny runway models so popular in the human world. Most humans could never reach that â€Å"ideal† skinniness, just as Moroi girls could never look like me. Everyone wanted what she couldn't have. Lissa and I got to sit together in our shared afternoon classes but didn't do much talking. The stares she'd mentioned certainly did follow us, but I found that the more I talked to people, the more they warmed up. Slowly, gradually, they seemed to remember who we were, and the novelty – though not the intrigue – of our crazy stunt wore off. Or maybe I should say, they remembered who I was. Because I was the only one talking. Lissa stared straight ahead, listening but neither acknowledging nor participating in my attempts at conversation. I could feel anxiety and sadness pouring out of her. â€Å"All right,† I told her when classes finally ended. We stood outside the school, and I was fully aware that in doing so, I was already breaking the terms of my agreement with Kirova. â€Å"We're not staying here,† I told her, looking around the campus uneasily. â€Å"I'm going to find a way to get us out.† â€Å"You think we could really do it a second time?† Lissa asked quietly. â€Å"Absolutely.† I spoke with certainty, again relieved she couldn't read my feelings. Escaping the first time had been tricky enough. Doing it again would be a real bitch, not that I couldn't still find a way. â€Å"You really would, wouldn't you?† She smiled, more to herself than to me, like she'd thought of something funny. â€Å"Of course you would. It's just, well? ­Ã¢â‚¬  She sighed. â€Å"I don't know if we should go. Maybe – maybe we should stay.† I blinked in astonishment. â€Å"What?† Not one of my more eloquent answers, but the best I could manage. I'd never expected this from her. â€Å"I saw you, Rose. I saw you talking to the other novices during class, talking about practice. You miss that.† â€Å"It's not worth it,† I argued. â€Å"Not if? ­not if you? ­Ã¢â‚¬  I couldn't finish, but she was right. She'd read me. I had missed the other novices. Even some of the Moroi. But there was more to it than just that. The weight of my inexperience, how much I'd fallen behind, had been growing all day. â€Å"It might be better,† she countered. â€Å"I haven't had as many? ­you know, things happening in a while. I haven't felt like anyone was following or watching us.† I didn't say anything to that. Before we'd left the Academy, she'd always felt like someone was following her, like she was being hunted. I'd never seen evidence to support that, but I had once heard one of our teachers go on and on about the same sort of thing. Ms. Karp. She'd been a pretty Moroi, with deep auburn air and high cheekbones. And I was pretty sure she'd been crazy. â€Å"You never know who's watching,† she used to say, walking briskly around the classroom as she shut all the blinds. â€Å"Or who's following you. Best to be safe. Best to always be safe.† We'd snickered amongst ourselves because that's what students do around eccentric and paranoid teachers. The thought of Lissa acting like her bothered me. â€Å"What's wrong?† Lissa asked, noticing that I was lost in thought. â€Å"Huh? Nothing. Just thinking.† I sighed, trying to balance my own wants with what was best for her. â€Å"Liss, we can stay, I guess? ­but there are a few conditions.† This made her laugh. â€Å"A Rose ultimatum, huh?† â€Å"I'm serious.† Words I didn't say very much. â€Å"I want you to stay away from the royals. Not like Natalie or anything but you know, the others. The power players. Camille. Carly. That group.† Her amusement turned to astonishment. â€Å"Are you serious?† â€Å"Sure. You never liked them anyway.† â€Å"You did.† â€Å"No. Not really. I liked what they could offer. All the parties and stuff.† â€Å"And you can go without that now?† She looked skeptical. â€Å"Sure. We did in Portland.† â€Å"Yeah, but that was different.† Her eyes stared off, not really focused on any one thing. â€Å"Here? ­here I've got to be a part of that. I can't avoid it.† â€Å"The hell you do. Natalie stays out of that stuff.† â€Å"Natalie isn't going to inherit her family's title,† she retorted. â€Å"I've already got it. I've got to be involved, start making connections. Andre – â€Å" â€Å"Liss,† I groaned. â€Å"You aren't Andre.† I couldn't believe she was still comparing herself to her brother. â€Å"He was always involved in all that stuff.† â€Å"Yeah, well,† I snapped back, â€Å"he's dead now.† Her face hardened. â€Å"You know, sometimes you aren't very nice.† â€Å"You don't keep me around to be nice. You want nice, there are a dozen sheep in there who would rip each other's throats to get in good with the Dragomir princess. You keep me around to tell you the truth, and here it is: Andre's dead. You're the heir now, and you're going to deal with it however you can. But for now, that means staying away from the other royals. We'll just lie low. Coast through the middle. Get involved in that stuff again, Liss, and you'll drive yourself? ­Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Crazy?† she supplied when I didn't finish. Now I looked away. â€Å"I didn't mean? ­Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"It's okay.† she said, after a moment. She sighed and touched my arm. â€Å"Fine. We'll stay and we'll keep out of all that stuff. We'll ? ®coast through the middle' like you want. Hang out with Natalie, I guess.† To be perfectly honest, I didn't want any of that. I wanted to go to all the royal parties and wild drunken festivities like we'd done before. We'd kept out of that life for years until Lissa's parents and brother died. Andre should have been the one to inherit her family's title, and he'd certainly acted like it. Handsome and outgoing, he'd charmed everyone he knew and had been a leader in all the royal cliques and clubs that existed on campus. After his death, Lissa had felt it was her family duty to take his place. I'd gotten to join that world with her. It was easy for me, because I didn't really have to deal with the politics of it. I was a pretty dhampir, one who didn't mind getting into trouble and pulling crazy stunts. I became a novelty; they liked having me around for the fun of it. Lissa had to deal with other matters. The Dragomirs were one of the twelve ruling families. She'd have a very powerful place in Moroi society, and the other young royals wanted to get in good with her. Fake friends tried to schmooze her and get her to team up against other people. The royals could bribe and backstab in the same breath – and that was just with each other. To dhampirs and non-royals, they were completely unpredictable. That cruel culture had eventually taken its toll on Lissa. She had an open, kind nature, one that I loved, and I hated to see her upset and stressed by royal games. She'd grown fragile since the accident, and all the parties in the world weren't worth seeing her hurt. â€Å"All right then,† I said finally. â€Å"We'll see how this goes. If anything goes wrong – anything at all – we leave. No arguments.† She nodded. â€Å"Rose?† We both looked up at Dimitri's looming form. I hoped he hadn't heard the part about us leaving. â€Å"You're late for practice,† he said evenly. Seeing Lissa, he gave a polite nod. â€Å"Princess.† As he and I walked away, I worried about Lissa and wondered if staying here was the right thing to do. I felt nothing alarming through the bond, but her emotions spiked all over the place. Confusion. Nostalgia. Fear. Anticipation. Strong and powerful, they flooded into me. I felt the pull just before it happened. It was exactly like what had happened on the plane: her emotions grew so strong that they â€Å"sucked† me into her head before I could stop them. I could now see and feel what she did. She walked slowly around the commons, toward the small Russian Orthodox chapel that served most of the school's religious needs. Lissa had always attended mass regularly. Not me. I had a standing arrangement with God: I'd agree to believe in him – barely – so long as he let me sleep in on Sundays. But as she went inside, I could feel that she wasn't there to pray. She had another purpose, one I didn't know about. Glancing around, she verified that neither the priest nor any worshippers were close by. The place was empty. Slipping through a doorway in the back of the chapel, she climbed a narrow set of creaky stairs up into the attic. Here it was dark and dusty. The only light came through a large stained-glass window that fractured the faint glow of sunrise into tiny, multicolored gems across the floor. I hadn't known until that moment that this room was a regular retreat for Lissa. But now I could feel it, feel her memories of how she used to escape here to be alone and to think. The anxiety in her ebbed away ever so slightly as she took in the familiar surroundings. She climbed up into the window seat and leaned her head back against its side, momentarily entranced by the silence and the light. Moroi could stand some sunlight, unlike the Strigoi, but they had to limit their exposure. Sitting here, she could almost pretend she was in the sun, protected by the glass's dilution of the rays. Breathe, just breathe, she told herself. It'll be okay. Rose will take care of everything. She believed that passionately, like always, and relaxed further. Then a low voice spoke from the darkness. â€Å"You can have the Academy but not the window seat.† She sprang up, heart pounding. I shared her anxiety, and my own pulse quickened. â€Å"Who's there?† A moment later, a shape rose from behind a stack of crates, just outside her field of vision. The figure stepped forward, and in the poor lighting, familiar features materialized. Messy black hair. Pale blue eyes. A perpetually sardonic smirk. Christian Ozera. â€Å"Don't worry,† he said. â€Å"I won't bite. Well, at least not in the way you're afraid of.† He chuckled at his own joke. She didn't find it funny. She had completely forgotten about Christian. So had I. No matter what happened in our world, a few basic truths about vampires remained the same. Moroi were alive; Strigoi were undead. Moroi were mortal; Strigoi were immortal. Moroi were born; Strigoi were made. And there were two ways to make a Strigoi. Strigoi could forcibly turn humans, dhampirs, or Moroi with a single bite. Moroi tempted by the promise of immortality could become Strigoi by choice if they purposely killed another person while feeding. Doing that was considered dark and twisted, the greatest of all sins, both against the Moroi way of life and nature itself. Moroi who chose this dark path lost their ability to connect with elemental magic and other powers of the world. That was why they could no longer go into the sun. This is what had happened to Christian's parents. They were Strigoi.

Can Yahoo Still Attract Tech Workers? Essay

Introduction An American multinational Internet corporation known as Yahoo! Inc. is one of the most well known Internet sites out there. Yahoo is always expanding and seeking out and recruiting for high tech software experts to help this business grow. Any high tech job should come with competitive salary as for Yahoo! They have to work long hours to achive their goals. Yahoo! Employees work hard but, play hard as well. Review/Analysis of the Case Yahoo! Attracts over 700 million visitors a month. Now that’s a lot for a company that has been around since 1994. They may have 14,000 employees but, they work them so hard that some leave for better paying opertunities. Yahoo is part of the old Internet with Google being the new age. Their supply an demand is very low. Meaning they have more work then workers. Their workers keep leaving. Some of the best top employees have even left due to wanting to go to the new age internet. Yahoo need to strengthen it communications internaly. According to an article written by Bridgettte Redman on the Chron site she states, â€Å"Internal recruitment works only if employees have access to the information about opportunities. Multiple communication channels ensures that more employees will have access to the information.† (http://smallbusiness.chron.com/effective-hr-approach-internal-recruitment-25095.html) Developing plans and goals for each one of their employees can keep them on track and to keep them motivated in what they are doing. They can also do semi annual and annual performance reviews to establish what they need to work harder on and what their new goals/ achevments are. Recruitment is probably one of the most important for Yahoo!. If they don’t  have the right type of people then they will now be able to keep them. They first need to look at well known Technology Colleges and then look into some of the most brightest, and talented students on each campus. â€Å"Using the talent management system, Intercontinental is filling 84% of general manager positions and 26% of corporate jobs with current employees. The initiative has lowered recruiting costs, increased employee loyalty, and boosted productivity and profitability. â€Å"(Gerhart, B., Hollenbeck, J., Noe, R., & Wright, P. (2009). Lookin for the right canadit with the right skills and degree you are looking for usualy have already developed the desired commitment that the recruiter is looking for with the exception customer service skills needed. Most colleges and universities like Kaplan has placement services to help graduate to find their desired jobs. Putting the information in wi th them with help a recruiter to also scan candiates and expand Yahoo into the new age and out of the old internet world. Summary and Conclusions Yahoo had good employees that left for other companies despite their great talent and how good yahoo was because of their lack of excitement and no creativity. Hence, the other companies had better talent and much more to offer. Yahoo should most definitely recruit people from the top best engineering schools in order to expand the organization of yahoo. They should also keep all the employees on their toes and push them to go futher and stronger with compensation for their time, hard work and dedication. References Gerhart, B., Hollenbeck, J., Noe, R., & Wright, P. (2009). Fundamentals of human resource management (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Bridgette Redman, Deman Media. Chron. (NA) http://smallbusiness.chron.com/effective-hr-approach-internal-recruitment-25095.html