Persuasive Essay The Indian Gaming - 1941 Words

Persuasive Synthesis The Indian gaming seems to have been the most effective project in transforming the life of American Indians that is, by creating a way of self-sufficiency for nations. Initially, the tribes had depended on grants from the government, tourism, agriculture as well as light manufacturing to earn a living. Initially, the few businesses that they had started such as shops and basket weaving among others were not successful. Other organizations had failed to prosper and were taken as poor wards of the state. Indian gaming became the main component for the growth of the community as well as the economic development. The gaming substituted the over reliance on federal government with the introduction of the cultural financial activity (Akee et al.190). The Foundation of the American Indian Casinos had vital improvements on both the tribe’s economy as well as their social lives. Not only did Casinos helped to decrease unemployment rates among the American Indians, but also increased t he income of Native American families. The Foundation of American Indian Casinos played a vital role in the economic as well as social life of the both tribes. For instance, the foundation has led to the comprehensive development of the education field (Belanger et al.14). Before the foundation was established, very few people could join the institutions of higher learning due to lack of financial resources. However, with the formation of the American Indian Casinos, the number ofShow MoreRelatedIntroduction to Large Scale Organizations18988 Words   |  76 Pagessystems -Focus on creating games that cant be duplicated at home, e.g. prize-vending machines, physical games Competitors -Microsoft, Sony have offered superior, higher quality and cheaper gaming that is also more entertaining -Timezone has to emphasise on Asia where competition from high-tech consumer gaming hasn t occurred (only 4% of revenue comes from Australia, 50 outlets in India opening between 2005 and 2008) ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE Objectives and strategy: the task of managementRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesCommunication 341 †¢ Nonverbal Communication 341 Organizational Communication 342 Formal Small-Group Networks 343 †¢ The Grapevine 343 †¢ Electronic Communications 345 †¢ Managing Information 349 Choice of Communication Channel 350 xiv CONTENTS Persuasive Communications 351 Automatic and Controlled Processing 351 †¢ Interest Level 352 †¢ Prior Knowledge 352 †¢ Personality 352 †¢ Message Characteristics 352 Barriers to Effective Communication 353 Filtering 353 †¢ Selective Perception 353 †¢ Information

Essay about Protecting the Privacy of Individuals on the...

Protecting the Privacy of Individuals on the Internet Over the past decade the world has gotten much smaller due to the electronic communication the Internet has fostered. While this promotes business and international relations, problems arise regarding the protection of individuals’ personal information. Many countries around the world have developed privacy policies and laws protect an individuals information in the realm of electronic communication. Universal enforcement gets complicated because the Internet is not restricted to one country; it’s worldwide. As a result, concerns arise regarding the compatibility of various countries privacy policies. This paper will discuss the current legislation in place for various major†¦show more content†¦On a more global level, international agreements such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights protect the privacy of individuals around the world. We see that in order to protect the fundamental privacy rig hts of individuals, laws have been established on both local and global scales. Therefore, it follows that laws are also necessary to protect the information of individuals in the electronic environment. Two types of laws are adopted by various countries to protect the sensitive information of individuals on the web. The first kind, comprehensive laws, are laws â€Å"that govern the collection, use and dissemination of personal information by both the public and private sectors†6. These general laws do not deal with individual areas like health care or educational systems. Instead, they establish standards for use of private information for all entities. Comprehensive laws are usually adopted for one of three reasons: to remedy past injustices, to promote electronic commerce or to ensure that laws are consistent with Pan-European laws7. In addition, comprehensive laws often require the establishment of an independent commissioner to oversee the enforcement of the law. Unfortu nately, problems arise because either a lack of resources hindersShow MoreRelatedControversy of Privacy and the Internet1117 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Privacy is dead – get over it†, according to Steve Rambam, a privacy investigator who specializes in Internet privacy cases, this is how he considers privacy to be in today’s society. He is just another entity living in the midst of a high technology society to whom privacy seems to be dead when reaching the Internet. With all the traffic on the Internet, the risk of private information falling into the wrong hands is excessive, and with all the advances in computer technology the rate of privacyRead MorePrivacy in the Online World Essay1221 Words   |  5 PagesPrivacy is something we don’t really think about. Privacy is the last thing that comes up in our minds. The Internet is easily accessed by many people and can be hacked to find out important private information about anyone. People all over the w orld access the Internet, and when private information is posted online one person is going to be able to view that information no matter the privacy setting a person may use. The first article that I will use is â€Å"Who Is This Man, and Why Is He ScreamingRead MoreEthical Issues Of Information Technology787 Words   |  4 Pagesappropriate administrative, technical and physical safeguards in order to ensure the security and confidentiality of data records (Kolin, 2009). The protecting of personal information also includes the protection of both security and confidentiality against any threat that could create harm, embarrassment, inconvenience and unfairness to any individual. Ethical Issues Related to Use of Information Technology There are various ethical issues in using information technology. In this, lack of awarenessRead MorePrivacy, The State Of Being Away From Public Attention1614 Words   |  7 PagesThroughout time, privacy and security have been two heavily debated topics. There has always been a struggle to find middle ground between a private environment and a secure environment, but the dawn of technology and the Internet has made this struggle even more difficult. The Internet has drastically decreased the expectation of privacy of any and all individuals that have ever used it. Technology in general can pose a threat to an individual’s physical and virtual security. The Internet has also broughtRead MoreEmployee Privacy Essay1215 Words   |  5 Pagesmechanisms, such as firewalls and passwords, to certify privacy they still reserve the right to monitor an employee’s usage of company property. The majority of companies have put into practice some type of Internet usage policy of what the company regards as suitable usage of the company’s resources to gain access to the Internet and what privacy rights their employees may or may not have. In todays place of work, employees individual civil liberties are being infringed upon because organizationsRead MoreTelecommunication and Network Technology Advancements652 Words   |  3 Pageswork Telecommunication and network technology advancements allow communicating rapidly with clients and co-workers almost anywhere in the world (Ambrose, 2005). According to Sachenko (2007), firms are getting internetworked enterprises that use the Internet, intranets, and alternative telecommunications networks to support e-business operations and collaboration among the enterprise, the customers, suppliers, and other business partners. Realizing the importance of a profound and comprehensive realizationRead MoreRecommended Organizational Policy Changes Of The European Union998 Words   |  4 Pages4. Recommended Organizational Policy Changes According to Comscore, Europe represents 32% of overall Internet searches with Google having 80% and Microsoft 2%. (Microsoft changes Bing s privacy policy, 2010). The biggest offenders for malware on the internet is image and video searches on the web. Sophos reports that 92% of search-driven malware attacks is obtained from Google and Bing image searches. (Pearce, 2012). In a world of personalized online services, establishing and maintaining userRead MoreThe Impact Of Internet On Information Privacy1607 Words   |  7 PagesThe internet has revolutionised humankind. It has allowed a level of communication that had never been experienced previously. The hosting and transfer of data (with its subsequent change into information after human interpretation), and the ability to do so from any device with an internet connection has altered almost every facet of human life. According to Antoun Nabhan, we â€Å"no longer ‘use’ (the internet) as much as we ‘live†™ in it†. However, the emergence of the internet has also brought unforeseenRead MoreOnline Activities And Social Media1325 Words   |  6 PagesPeople should expect no privacy when it comes to their online activities. Companies like Facebook, Myspace and Google collect data on their users and sell it to advertisers. Advertisers then begin targeting social media users who match their profiles with online ads. As a user of social media, I often do online research on a particular topic or item I’m looking to buy to compare features and learn more about it. The next time I check my yahoo mail account, the side banner advertisements have allRead MoreProtecting Us Citizens And Important Infrastructure876 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction: Protecting US citizens and important infrastructure which have impact on national security, economic security or public health and safety from cyber-attacks is one of the recent congressional interests and the internet protection is also needed. Initial there was an approach to ensure the operations of critical infrastructure and larger economy regulatory framework is needed. There came an argument that these regulatory schemes may not improve cybersecurity and it increases the costs

Book Summary - Management Teams free essay sample

The scientific research that gave birth to the Belbin Team Role theory started in the 70’s when funds were assigned to researchers from Cambridge and College of Henley to study the use of computer in management. The research started from a recurring phenomenon observed at Henley College that some teams performed better than others despite their homogeneity in terms of qualifications and experience. The problem related was that there seemed not to be a straightforward way to forecast which combinations of managers yielded the best results. A management exercise was created in a controlled research environment where teams entered a competition under the observation of researchers. There were two innovative points about this approach that were that (1) the outcomes of the exercise, namely the teams performances, could be measured and compared on a single axis of success; in this case it was the amount of financial assets1 gathered by each team; and (2) that the ‘input’ of this process was quantitatively measured based on the observation of researchers and on psychological tests that members of the teams had to take beforehand. In this way they could form different combinations of members based on the tests; check their performance and find causal links between input and output. The research went through five stages in which each member that wished to participate took the tests voluntarily and the financial outcomes were measured as an indicator of success. The stages evolved from observation and learning from the exercises to forming different combinations of teams; from which they could build and test hypothesis and start making forecasts. Later on team members were allowed to orm their own combinations, which led to further learning and to more sophisticated forecasts. Nine years of research concluded with a very close prediction in a final exercise and a sound and compelling model that could be used in the consultancy world. The Apollo syndrome The first hypothesis to be tested was based purely on mental ability; the starting point was that cleverest people tend to get the best results when solving prob lems individually, therefore it was reasonable to think that a team formed by highly clever members would obtain better results than a team with a lower average intelligence. The Critical Thinking Appraisal2 (CTA) was used to measure mental ability and members with the highest CTA scores were grouped together in teams called Apollo teams. The outcomes of the experimentation were quite revealing and contrary to the expected results. The Apollo companies turned out to be a big disappointment; out of twenty-five companies that competed in different exercises, only three came in the first place (i. e. 12%) and the rest felt out of the podium. Only a small percentage were indeed effective teams, which clearly indicates that collective cleverness on its own was not a sufficient ingredient for success and definitely not an accurate predictive criterion. The results were useful to analyze the flaws in Apollo teams and to draw useful principles in building effective teams. Members of these companies engaged in abortive debate trying to convince other members of their point of view. Apollo companies usually got involved in open confrontations of ideas and strategies; they tended to act on personal beliefs and maintain their opinions without consideration of what others were doing or thinking. As a result there was a limited constructive debate and teamwork, which neutralized every potential individual contribution. Managers are expected to produce results, and a reasonable way to measure results in companies is in terms of financial outcomes. That’s why financial assets were chosen as the criterion to evaluate team effectiveness. CTA or Critical Thinking Appraisal measures the mental ability of a person in five areas: inference, assumptions’ recognition, deduction, interpretation and evaluation of arguments. Page 1 of 10 2 1 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 Successful Apollo teams. Occasionally Apollo teams did excel in the exercises. In these cases the Chairman played a decisive role, either by exerting a dominant influence over the rest or by having a special character. Why? A possible explanation of why these seemingly promising teams were so ineffective is linked with the selection criterion that is the high score in CTA. The word critical has two meanings associated, one is linked to mental acumen and analytical ability, and the other is related to expression of adverse and disapproving judgement. From the PPQ3 it was found that people with high CTA also had high negative constructs ratios, which are related to the second meaning of the word critical; that is clever people expressed more negative comments and opinions about the world around them, making them appear as having a negative perspective. Creating high negative constructs is usually detrimental for the social interactions and teamwork. Conclusions. People with high analytical abilities are not necessarily creative. Good ideas need time and especially favourable conditions to develop; which was not the case of Apollo teams. Destructive tendencies would dominate and any potential talent would be brought down, making Apollo teams fail to be creative and effective. Apollo companies usually had all the talent, at least in a technical sense, that was needed if only they knew how to use it. Similar Personality Teams The Personality factor was generally difficult to assess per se and it was even more difficult to link with team effectiveness, but still it emerged as being more important as a decisive advantage than pure mental ability. Therefore the next stage in the research study was to form teams with similar personalities. The teams were composed using two scales of personality, that is introversion/extroversion and anxiety/stability; which allowed to create four broad types. Stable Extroverts. As a team they create bonds, enjoy the teamwork using resources well. Performance was overall good, but dependency among members was at times too strong. Anxious Extroverts. They are good at working under pressure and at a high pace. As a team they were entrepreneurial, with a good eye for opportunities and likely to end up in constructive disagreements. They were good for periods of change but unreliable and distractible otherwise. Stable Introverts. As a team they were strongly organized but very s low to make progress and displayed a rigid mind to take in new information. Anxious Introverts. As a team they could produce good ideas, but the lack of cohesion and a tendency for worrying resulted in poor performance. Lessons    learned from Stable Extrovert Teams. Extrovert teams tended to perform better than introverts, and overall Stable Extrovert teams performed better than all the other types, being Anxious Introvert teams usually the last ones. The behaviour of Stable Extrovert teams showed more proposing and less opposing than other companies, with commenting at a high level. Three patterns of effectiveness were devised: (1) good collective work, which allowed individual expression and important issues to be treated by discussions; (2) good internal ommunication, which was achieved by giving direct responsibility in pairs, so no major decisions were left to one member; and (3) excellent use of external resources, establishing good relations with external individuals that would later on turn into their advantage. Company    Worker. There was a team member common to all successful teams. Based on the 16PF4 test scores, differentiators were identified and grouped into a cluster of factors. This team member was called Company Worker (CW) and was the first team role to be identified. This member had the following characteristics: disciplined individual, conscientious and aware of PPQ is a test that stands for Personal Preference Questionnaire, it gives leads on personality and outlook. In other words how people see the world around or construct their image of the world and how they are seen by others. 16PF is known as Cattell Personality Inventory and its a self-reporting questionnaire which comprises sixteen personality factors, each one described by two opposite words that form a scale; e. g. reserved/outgoing. Page 2 of 10 4 3 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 external obligations and a sense of self-image with good internal control. Tough-minded, practical, trusting, tolerant towards others and conservative. Validation experiments for CW were conducted during two years. Using both companies high in pure CW and low in CW. The results revealed strong limitations for pure CW companies; even with high mental ability they performed worse than average. Overall   lessons. Each combination had certain advantages but faced particular weaknesses. The main, and probably only, advantage of pure teams is that its easier to find a style of operation that fits everyone. Nevertheless pure teams are, in general, not an effective combination of people. The cases of Apollo teams, similar personality and pure CW show and support the fact that lack of diversity and a spreading of characteristics are detrimental for team performance. Creativity in the Team The capacity to innovate and to come up with creative solutions is important for virtually every company and it can be a source of competitive advantage. Therefore companies have long been interested in how to foster new ideas from their employees. The methods used in those days can be grouped in two types. The first approach was to turn an already established team into an ideamaking team; i. e. everyone becomes creative and contributes with ideas. The problem is that most people are not gifted with highly creative minds; therefore this approach becomes a waste of manpower. The other method was to create two teams; one to generate a large number of ideas, the other to evaluate and select the best ideas. This is advantageous for a limited number of applications, but in most teams that work with everyday tasks this approach is impractical. The alternative approach proposed and tested by Belbin was to Induce a team to understand and to make better use of the individual talents of its members. Identifying inside the team individual(s) that have the potential to contribute with ideas and establishing favourable conditions for them to use their creative minds. In order to identify those individuals with potential for creativity, the Cattell’s formula for Creative Disposition (CD)5 was used together with the CTA. High scores on both scales indicated individuals with the most potentially creative profile, which was called the Plant6. The results after 38 cases supported the predictions. In 25 companies (out of 38) the predicted ‘Plant’ was identified by observers and other members as the first or second idea-maker inside the team. While conducting the exercises, a new group emerged with different attributes from the ones that Plants (PL) possessed, yet they were seen as idea-makers. While PL had average in negative constructs, with high value given to Brain and Originality; the new group showed instead high scores in Versatility. PLs had a tendency towards introversion, while this group preferred extroversion and showed high sociability and enthusiasm, and low anxiety. Ideas were still a focus of interest, but they would rather pick up fragments of ideas from others and develop them; at the same time that they were astute at exploring resources outside the group. This new profile was given the name Resource Investigator (RI). Both are seen as innovators in a team. They contribute to the effectiveness of a company in similar yet different and complementary ways. Leadership in the team Leadership is vital for any organization and team leadership is no exception. To change the direction or even to guarantee survival of a troubled company, the most common strategy is change the head of the firm. This leads to the reflection about the profile of an effective leader in a company or in a team, which this section seeks to answer based on Belbins research. According to Cattells formula: a creative individual has a distinctive set of personal qualities that lie embedded in his character and which do not depend on intelligence. 6 5 The name Plant was given because this individual was planted in the company for experimental purposes. Page 3 of 10 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 Through observation of the members acting as Chairmen in the exercises, it was possible to identify a cluster that belonged to the most effective chairmen and it was shown that the outcomes of companies depended to a certain degree on the personality attributes of the team member in the Chair. After mapping the CTA scores of different chairmen, one interesting result appeared: cleverest chairmen were less successful than less clever chairmen. The average CTA of all members participating in the exercises was 74 (in a scale of 100). The most successful chairmen were between 75 and 80, i. e. slightly above average. Less successful Chairmen, yet effective, were between 80 and 85; and all the rest yielded in general poor team performance. Besides being clever slightly above average, successful Chairman (CH) displayed characteristics such as trusting by nature and accepting people; they exerted a basic dominance and commitment to external goals; they were calm and unflappable before controversy; they showed practical realism and were self-discipline; they were enthusiastic towards others and rather extrovert. From the PPQ tests, the CH appeared as a person who thinks in very positive terms; showing approval for those who accomplish their goals and engage in struggle and effort. Other    leadership qualities. From consultancy in industry, significant differences appeared between the profile of successful senior executives and the Chairman formula, which led to identifying the next Belbin team role. From the tests profiles and the behaviour observed, this new type of leaders was extroverts abounding in nervous energy that actuated by the need for achievement. They challenged, they disagreed, they argued. They were impatient and easily frustrated and their main focus was on winning. Their capacity to dominate, to shape the way team effort is applied and to impose a course of action, gave them the name of Shapers (SH). Behaviour. In a team SHs can have opposite effects. On the one hand they can galvanize the group into action, any passivity and slow-pace signals would be pushed towards activity. On the other hand they represented a disruptive force in well-balanced teams; especially if the team was led by an effective CH. As final considerations we can say that the two distinctive approaches to leadership are useful for different teams with different purposes and member composition. SHs are well suited for teams susceptible to stagnation, while CHs is better for well-integrated teams. Key Team Roles Belbin defines functional role as the role that a member of a team performs in terms of the specifically technical demands placed upon him. This is determined by the job demands that a member has to fulfil by supplying the requisite technical skills and operational knowledge. On the other hand team role is defined as a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others inside a team in certain distinctive ways. It describes a pattern of behaviour characteristic of the way in which one team member interacts with another where his performance serves to facilitate the progress of the team as a whole. Each team role is associated with characteristic types of personality measured by psychometric tests. Summary   of Key Team roles7 Company Worker (CW). He is conservative, dutiful and predictable. He possesses great organizing ability, practical common sense, hardworking nature and hes self-discipline. At times he lacks flexibility and can be rigid towards new ideas. Chairman (CH). A calm, controlled and self-confident individual. They have the ability to welcome all potential contributors on their merits and without prejudice. They display strong sense of objectives, but rather limited in their intellectual and creative abilities. Some names were modified later on to better fit the description of the role. This summary uses the original names. The changes are: Company Worker (CW) became the Implementer (IM), Chairman became the Coordinator (CO) Page 4 of 10 7 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 Shaper (SH). They are highly strung, dynamic and outgoing. They challenge the inertia, ineffectiveness and complacency of the group by exerting a relentless driving force. They tend to be impatient and easily irritable causing provocation. Plant (PL). They are unorthodox, serious minded and rather individualistic. Their strengths include their genius, knowledge, imagination and intellect. Usually up in the clouds with a tendency to ignore practical details and protocols. Resource-Investigator (RI). They are extroverted, enthusiastic, curious and communicative. Great capacity to deal with an extensive network of contacts, to explore new things and to respond to challenges. They are prone to lose interest once the initial fascination has passed. Monitor-Evaluator (ME). They are sober, prudent and unemotional. They have good sense of judgment and discretion, and the ability to spot controversial points in arguments. They may show a lack of inspiration and the incapacity to motivate others. Team Worker (TW). They have social skills and are mild and sensitive. They stand out for their ability to deal with conflictive characters and promote team spirits. Their main weakness is indecisiveness in moments of crisis. Completer-Finisher (CF). They are painstaking, anxious, and conscientious about every task presented. They posses the ability to follow through and finalize tasks, they are perfectionists. They have a tendency to worry too much about small things and to be reluctant to delegate. Specialist (SP). Knowledgeable and technically skilful, usually experienced member. Contributes highly on his area of expertise, and may turn out to be indispensable for certain projects. He doesnt possess the qualities of other team roles so he contributes on a limited front. Principle   of Balance - ­ Team Roles in Pairs Specific pairs of team roles provide balance to the performance of the team from different viewpoints. They contribute with behaviours that may appear to be complete opposites but that are complementary at the same time, and therefore balancing, if used effectively (e. g. the contrasting leadership styles of CH and SH). This principle of balance is also common in nature and for almost every team role theres a corresponding counter-balancing role that pushes towards stability. These are examples of the need for complementary behaviours in a team: (1) Providing the team with ideas and resources internally and externally. This is the case of the PL and the RI in which both provide the group with a considerable flux of ideas. One retrieves to his own thoughts and reflections while the other makes external resources available to the group. (2) Leading the team by coordination against provoking disturbance to defeat stagnation. Both the CH and the SH type of leader offer complementary ways of bringing coherence to the functioning of the team. The CH pulls the group together towards a common goal while the SH pushes the team out of its point of equilibrium challenging them and putting them back to action. Other cases worth mentioning are: (3) Creation (PL/RI) vs. evaluation of ideas (ME); (4) enthusiasm to jump into action (RI/PL/SH) against the ability to thoroughly finalize anything that was started (CF); (5) behaviour that affects team spirit negatively (SHs) vs. the ability to avert potential frictions and enable conflicting member to work cooperatively (TW/CH). Unsuccessful Teams Teams that performed poorly in the management exercises provided very useful lessons on what to avoid when designing effective teams. These lessons helped to established basic principles as well as to gather valuable information about what can go wrong if teams are badly composed. As it was found from the experimental exercises; morale is just a marginal factor for team performance, there was few evidence that linked them in a cause effect fashion. On the other hand the mental ability can be considered a critical factor. Every team needs at least one member Page 5 of 10 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 with high mental ability in a creative or analytical sense (i. . PL or ME). If this condition is not met, chances are that the team will have serious problems to perform. As previously discussed in the case of the Apollo team, if all members are clever the team will also perform poorly. Unfortunate combination of characters. The drawback of this case is that members are hindered from using their preferred team role. Individuals that have the potential to make a valuable contribution to the team are blocked and the group is deprived of benefiting from them. The following table summarizes poor design combinations for each Belbin team role. Belbin Role Chairman (CH) Plant (PL) MonitorEvaluator (ME) Company Worker (CW) Team Worker (TW) Shaper (SH) Resource Investigator (RI) CompleterFinisher (CF) In combination with: Two dominant SHs, both above average in mental ability Another PL (more dominant but less creative), and no candidate to take the chair. No PL and many TWs and CWs of high mental ability and stable disposition. With other CWs and no PL and no RI. With other TWs, CWs and CFs, but no RI, PL, SH or CH. Another SH (highly dominant but less clever), a super PL and two or more CWs With other RIs and PLs but no TWs, CFs, MEs or CHs With MEs and CWs but no RIs, PL or SH. Consequence CH will most likely fail to get his job leading the team. PL will be inhibited and his creative contribution reduced or nullified Solid orderly working climate but will fail to consider alternative strategies and ideas. Team will lack direction, and the organisers (CWs) will not have much to organise. Over-conscientious and happy team anxious to reach agreement disregarding critical points. Unbalanced team where any action of the SH will meet provocation and aggravation, disturbing further the group. An overly talkative group where no one listens, follows up points, or makes decisions. Slow-moving team where any intervention from the CF will further hinder progress. Winning Teams After nine years of extensive study of management teams, the research unit was able to make important discoveries and to make an accurate forecast of the performance of each team in a final management exercise. Probably the most remarkable outcome of this study was that the theory was validated by successful prediction; a quality that is seldom seen in social pursuit science. These are the characteristics that are often seen in winning teams. The leader (person in the Chair). The person leading a winning team has to meet the attributes and characteristics of the CH profile as identified by the study. A patient yet commanding leader who is skilled to identify and foster the potential abilities of members. One strong Plant in the team. A winning team needs a very creative and clever member; creativity being an essential factor that has to be accompanied by high cleverness in a single person to yield a great advantage for the team. High creativity with just average cleverness was however not a sufficient condition since the PL tended to lack credibility and respect in the team. A fair spread in mental abilities. As a general rule of thumb its a smart decision to avoid intellectually homogeneous combinations and to give priority to a wide spread of scores in mental ability. Best results were seen in teams composed by one very clever PL, another clever member, one CH with slightly above average mental ability and the rest of members with slightly below average cleverness. Wide team-role spread. Winning teams had members that covered most or all of the Belbin team roles. There were differences between the EME and teamopoly in terms of combinations, but in general terms as expressed by Belbin a winning company has a wider range of team-roles strengths on which to draw than less successful companies. Good match between attributes of members and their responsibilities. A winning team has to allow its members to undertake functional roles that match their team role and personal characteristics and abilities (which is not often the case). An example of this is that the person Page 6 of 10 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 leading a project should have a team role preference for either CH or SH depending on the specific project. Most winning teams were seen to adopt a flexible pairing system, that is a pair of members would take care of specific functions. Thus mismatching was minimized or easily modifiable; allowing members to switch functional roles. Adjustment to the realization of imbalance. Probably the most important feature of winning teams is their ability to compensate weaknesses and to stimulate their strengths by adaptive pursuit. They consciously take account of their potential team-role strengths, as well as compensate for their team-role weaknesses. These teams are able to see the important tasks, responsibilities and functions in terms of underlying team roles. Firstly they identify areas of weakness team-role-wise and then search for a member to be appointed to cover this area; someone who would represent the closest match for the missing team role. In this way theres always someone suitable for any job and a fair coverage of team-roles is virtually guaranteed. Team Size In the discussions of teams its worth to consider the implications that the size of the group of members has on the performance of the team. The first consideration to make is that the size of a team will depend on the need of human resources to undertake the workload of a project. Larger projects will naturally require a bigger team and vice versa, however there are limitations to this. The ideal size of a team can be found considering the conflicting forces at stake; the need for more members to keep up the workload against the need to keep the team small to maximize involvement and individual effectiveness. Smaller teams have the advantage of providing more time for personal interactions and this facilitates bonding among members. A group of ten members might seem full of HR resources that the team can draw utility from upon necessity; but it has limited scope. This size is suitable solely as an efficient decisionmaking body in which everyone reports to a leader on top, which gathers essential information, takes decisions, informs and gives instructions to the subordinates. Fruitful and dynamic discussions would be hardly possible since its difficult to allow a fair-share of talking of each member and there would always be a few members that would dominate the discussions. It might be reasonable to think that a team of eight members is the minimum necessary to cover the eight Belbin team roles. This is not necessarily true because a single member can make use of more than one team role; he can contribute with the strengths of two or even three team roles. Therefore smaller teams of up to three members can be large enough for a fair spread in team roles; even though teams of five or six seem to be a good compromise between the conflicting forces. After deciding on the team size, the next step is to guarantee a good design of the team. How to design an Effective Team Designing a well integrated and effective team is not an easy task. Compatibility of members of a team is crucial to its effectiveness, which was often ignored for the lack of assessment tools. After years of research, it was possible to establish five principles to guide the design process of effective teams, as well as to assess team roles and to use this info for the composition of teams. 1 Members can contribute in two ways. Each members has the potential to contribute in his functional role and team role to the achievement of the team goals. He can draw on his technical background to fulfill the needs linked to his specific job requisites; as well as perform the team role(s) that match his preferred Belbin roles. 2 Optimum Balance. A team needs an optimal balance in terms of functional roles and team roles; which depends on the team objectives as illustrated in the example of team composition. 3 Recognition and Adjustment to Strengths. The ability of a team to recognize the relative strengths in technical expertise and team roles, and to adjust accordingly to the needs of the objectives will improve its effectiveness. Page 7 of 10 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 4 Personal qualities. They can help a member fit certain team roles while hindering him from adopting effectively other team roles. Seizing Technical Resources. Only a team that has a range of team roles to achieve efficient teamwork can take full advantage of the technical resources that its members possess. Team   composition. Four steps can be followed when composing effective teams. Step 1: Identify projects purpose, demands and needs. The purpose of a project will de termine which type of team roles combination is the most suitable to obtain the best results. At the same time different projects demand different sets of technical skills and knowledge. Step 2: Find the specialist for the project. One distinctive, talented, and experienced employee in the specific field of the project is needed to get the best results, this is the specialist (SP). Step 3: Find a suitable project leader. Find someone that can make a good team leader, who is compatible in terms of team roles, and that has affinity with the specialist. Step 4: Compose the rest of the team. According to the team role of the leader and the needs of the project, different compositions for the rest of the group will be possible. The next design cases illustrate the selection sequence and the importance of considering the purpose of the team. Both teams are composed by five members. One has to design a new model for a prototype; the other one is needed to streamline a production system for that prototype. The focus of Team I is management of innovation. The critical member to find first is a genius designer that has experience in the field and a strong team role as a PL. This member needs someone of similar mental ability that he can respect. This second member should be a clever ME that can bring the ideas of the PL down to Earth. These two members will focus on the mentioned team roles, so they wont have time to coordinate the project. For this a CH of low profile but clever enough to keep up with the discussions would be suitable. In addition, another creative talented member with good external contacts is needed; a RI fits this description. This fourth nominee will have a tendency for weak follow-up, therefore the final member should compensate this weakness; so a CW/CF would be perfect for the job. The purpose of Team II is getting things done and it requires a leadership from the front; a leader who can guarantee results and deliver on time, for this a strong SH that is also a CF is suitable. This team doesnt need a specialist member for the purpose of the project, so the rest of the members can be seen as a support group around the leader. They are more similar to each other from a team role perspective, with a high concentration of TWs to compensate relentless presence of a SH. Assessment    of Belbin team roles in organizations. The approach used by the Belbin research unit and by companies with a well-developed HR system is to use a battery of psychometric tests including the ones developed by Belbin. This method is well suited to design high performance teams as well as to help in career development. Another approach commonly used is through training courses. Participants can take the Belbin assessment test and learn about the principles and lessons of effective management teams. The last approach doesnt require the use of sophisticated methods; many managers have an extensive knowledge of their employees and coworkers, so they can apply the principles and fundaments of this theory to figure out their team roles and to form fairly well-integrated teams. Page 8 of 10

Knee Deep by Zach Brown Band free essay sample

Medicine comes in many different forms. Traditionally it could be found in a jar, but it could come from something as simple as a smile, or listening to music. Songs are the best kind of medicine. What else can put someone to sleep, keep them awake for unusual amounts of time, or even be used as an antidepressant? To me music is a necessary formula taken every day to survive. I live off the prescription Knee Deep by the Zach Brown Band . The instruments together work beautifully. Plus, the lyrics remind me of summer. Knee Deep has a tropical mood. Everyone can tell when this song comes on the radio because of the different techniques and instruments used to create it. Even though it is very tropical it doesnt completely snuff out the country. The country mostly comes in on the lyrics and how the song is sang. Twangy, repetitive lyrics about losing a girl/gaining one get extremely old. We will write a custom essay sample on Knee Deep by Zach Brown Band or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Almost all songs these days have the same subject except for Knee Deep. In the summer, this is my song. When I listen to it I can relax and forget the world, especially with the instruments reminding me of Jamaica. An example of relaxing in Knee Deep is when the lyrics stated, â€Å"only worry in the world is the tide gonna reach my chair†. The Zach Brown Band is saying that there is nothing more important than laying in a chair and staying dry. These twelve words describe the worry-free moments that summer is all about. The â€Å"tropical country† theme and the perfect sensations of summer captured in this song make it the best. It brings out the highlights in summer and lets everyone forget the unforgiving spring weather. Another phrase from the song is, â€Å"the ocean is my only medication.† whoever wrote this song’s lyrics, completely understood what i was trying to say before. There are different types of medicine but, the Zach Brown Band may have created the best of them all.

electoral college3 essays

electoral college3 essays It seems to be that amars major complaint Is that the college was made for and favors white southerners and that the EC diminishes the value of one-man one vote. Yet all his problems seem to be just statements with nothing to back it up. He fails to mention that there were other reasons that the Electoral College was made. Such as our fathers did not want a president dependent on the legislature, so they rejected a parliamentary model in which legislators would pick the prez. Second citizens back then could not be trusted to choose wisely. Laslty becuz the north overpowered the south in population becuz slaves were not aloud to vote. He then makes the generalization that it was created solely for the southerners. So I read his proposal that he made before the supreme court to abolish the ec and he said none of these arguments are valid today I agree. Yet I disagree his with statement that the ec favors southerners. He brings the proof that the first 36 years of the ec most of the p rezs were from the south. Yet fails to tell us that the only reason they did so well was becuz they were given a lot of electoral votes for each state becuz they had a lot of slaves, yet the slaves werent aloud to vote. U might ask what about after slavery yet there were still poll taxes and literacy tests. Today since we dont have either blacks although a minorities nationaly they still can play big roles in election becuz of the ec Minorities tend to live in very populated states like new york and california. Critics such as Mr. amar of the Electoral College believe that the principle of democratic legitimacy or one man one vote is based on numbers alone. They believe that under the Electoral College the power of your vote is diminished - even to the point where your vote might be wasted if the candidate you voted for doesn't win the state. In this year's election approximately 100,000,000 people voted and so it would seem that any one vo...

The Nile River and Nile Delta in Egypt

The Nile River and Nile Delta in Egypt The Nile River in Egypt is among the longest rivers in the world, running for a length of 6,690 kilometers (4,150 miles), and it drains an area of roughly 2.9 million square kilometers, about 1.1  million square miles. No other region in our world is so dependent on a single water system, especially as it is located in one of our worlds most extensive and severe deserts. More than 90% of the population of Egypt today lives adjacent to and relies directly on the Nile and its delta. Because of ancient Egypts dependence on the Nile, the rivers paleo-climatic history, particularly the changes in the hydro-climate, helped shape the growth of dynastic Egypt and led to the decline of numerous complex societies. Physical Attributes There are three tributaries to the Nile, feeding into the main channel which flows generally northward to empty into the Mediterranean Sea. The Blue and the White Nile join together at Khartoum to create the main Nile channel, and the Atbara River joins the main Nile channel in northern Sudan. The Blue Niles source is Lake Tana; the White Nile is sourced at equatorial Lake Victoria, famously confirmed in the 1870s by David Livingston and Henry Morton Stanley. The Blue and Atbara rivers bring most of the sediment into the river channel and are fed by summer monsoon rains, while the White Nile drains the larger Central African Kenyan Plateau. The Nile Delta is roughly 500 km (310 mi) wide and 800 km (500 mi) long; the coastline as it meets the Mediterranean is 225 km (140 mi) long. The delta is made up mainly of alternating layers of silt and sand, laid down by the Nile over the past 10 thousand years or so. The elevation of the delta ranges from about 18 m (60 ft) above mean sea level at Cairo to around 1 m (3.3 ft) thick or less at the coast. Using the Nile in Antiquity The ancient Egyptians relied on the Nile as their source for reliable or at least predictable water supplies to allow their agricultural and then commercial settlements to develop. In ancient Egypt, the flooding of the Nile was predictable enough for the Egyptians to plan their yearly crops around it. The delta region flooded annually from June to September, as a result of monsoons in Ethiopia. A famine resulted when there was inadequate or surplus flooding. The ancient Egyptians learned partial control of the flood waters of the Nile by means of irrigation. They also wrote hymns to Hapy, the Nile flood god. In addition to being a source of water for their crops, the Nile River was a source of fish and waterfowl, and a major transportation artery linking all of the parts of Egypt, as well as linking Egypt to its neighbors. But the Nile does fluctuate from year to year. From one ancient period to the next, the course of the Nile, the amount of water in its channel, and the amount of silt deposited in the delta varied, bringing abundant harvest or devastating drought. This process continues. Technology and the Nile Egypt was first occupied by humans during the Paleolithic period, and they were undoubtedly affected by the Niles fluctuations. The earliest evidence for technological adaptations of the Nile occurred in the delta region at the end of the Predynastic Period, between about 4000 and 3100 B.C.E., when farmers began building canals. Other innovations include: Predynastic (1st Dynasty 3000–2686 B.C.E.)- Sluice gate construction allowed deliberate flooding and draining of farm fieldsOld Kingdom (3rd Dynasty 2667–2648 B.C.E.)- 2/3 of the delta was affected by irrigation worksOld Kingdom (3rd–8th Dynasties 2648–2160 B.C.E.)- Increasing aridification of the region leads to the progressively advanced technology including the building of artificial levees and enlarging and dredging of natural overflow channelsOld Kingdom (6th–8th Dynasties)- Despite the new technologies developed during the Old Kingdom, aridification increased such that there was a 30 year period in which flooding of the delta did not occur, contributing to the end of the Old Kingdom.New Kingdom (18th dynasty, 1550–1292 B.C.E.)- Shadoof technology (so-called Archimedes Screw invented long before Archimedes) first introduced, allowing farmers to plant several crops a yearPtolemaic period (332–30 B.C.E.)- Agricultural intensificatio n increased as population moved into the delta regionArab Conquest (1200–1203 C.E.)- Severe drought conditions led to famine and cannibalism as reported by the Arabic historian Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi (1162–1231 C.E.) Ancient Descriptions of the Nile From Herodotus, Book II of The Histories: [F]or it was evident to me that the space between the aforesaid mountain-ranges, which lie above the city of Memphis, once was a gulf of the sea,... if it be permitted to compare small things with great; and small these are in comparison, for of the rivers which heaped up the soil in those regions none is worthy to be compared to volume with a single one of the mouths of the Nile, which has five mouths. Also from Herodotus, Book II: If then the stream of the Nile should turn aside into this Arabian gulf, what would hinder that gulf from being filled up with silt as the river continued to flow, at all events within a period of twenty thousand years? From Lucans Pharsalia: Egypt on the west Girt by the trackless Syrtes forces back By sevenfold stream the ocean; rich in glebe And gold and merchandise; and proud of Nile Asks for no rain from heaven. Sources: Castaà ±eda IS, Schouten S, Ptzold J, Lucassen F, Kasemann S, Kuhlmann H, and Schefuß E. 2016. Hydroclimate variability in the Nile River Basin during the past 28,000 years. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 438:47-56.Krom MD, Stanley JD, Cliff RA, and Woodward JC. 2002. Nile River sediment fluctuations over the past 7000 yr and their key role in sapropel development. Geology 30(1):71-74.Santoro MM, Hassan FA, Wahab MA, Cerveny RS, and Robert C Balling J. 2015. An aggregated climate teleconnection index linked to historical Egyptian famines of the last thousand years. The Holocene 25(5):872-879.Stanley DJ. 1998. Nile Delta in its destruction phase. Journal of Coastal Research 14(3):794-825.

Advanced auditing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Advanced auditing - Essay Example Rob Gray tries to identify the scope of social accounting as "the preparation and publication of an account about an organisation's social,environmental,employee,community, customer and other stakeholders' interactions and activities and where possible the consequences of those interactions and activities" With the increase in the business activities backed by globalization, business enterprises have started locating their production facilities across the world, breaking cross border barriers. Such a rapid development, many a times will result in the firms overlooking their social obligations in the interest of maximizing their profits. Hence there has been a good deal of efforts being taken to devise the techniques that measure the contribution of an enterprise to the society. These developments may be considered as the result of the increasing realization of the Social Responsibilities of the enterprises and it becomes necessary that the performance of these enterprises should be s een in the context of their fulfilling their social obligations.According to George Clark "What is now coming to be called Social Auditing is similar in many ways to Financial Auditing except that it is about everything else that an organisation does apart from handling money."There has been a number of proposals put forth to design an extended accounting system that measures the social performance of an enterprise. Linowes has proposed the preparation of a Socio-Economic Operating Statement (SEOS) to show the various social costs and benefits of actions of enterprises. This statement proposes to indicate monetary values of various actions of an enterprise classified in to following categories: Relations with people - to include items like training programmes for handicapped workers, contribution to schools for employees, extra costs incurred in hiring persons from minority or suppressed communities. These items would constitute the contribution of the enterprise in 'improving' the relations with the people. The 'detriments' that need to be shown may be items like postponement of installing safety devices etc Relations with Environment - monetary values of improvements and detriments are to be listed and the net effect shown separately. Relations with Products - In a similar way, monetary values of improvements and detriments are to be listed. Since there is yet to be a significant development to take place in this area, many of the existing models aim at measuring the performance of an enterprise vis--vis the society tales into account the factors like human resource contribution, public contribution, environmental contribution, product or service contribution and net income of the enterprise. 1.2 Environmental Audit: "An environmental audit is a means by which businesses can assess the environmental impacts of their operations. At its core is the measurement and evaluation of all inputs and outputs from the production process." (Australian Government) In the context of the increasing emphasis on protection of environment, environmental accounting and auditing have assumed special importance in recent years. Environmental Accounting aims at measuring the impact of the activities of an organization on the environment. The resultant product is the environmental statement, containing the following among other things to be asserted by the management: A brief description of the activities of the organization and the effect of such activities on the environment as envisaged by the organization A description of the organisation's environmental policy, programme and management systems to implement the stated policies A summary of the figures of emissions which may cause pollution of air and water, waste generation, consumption of raw material, energy, water and other significant environmental aspects. There should also be presented a comparison of such data with the legal norms if any

Letter to the editor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Letter to the editor - Essay Example Does dieting cause weight loss?No, dieting does not cause weight loss, on the contrary it is the main contributor of obesity among many people. The reason as to why dieting results to weight gain instead of weight loss is that by not eating, one is bound to get hungry. Whereas people that are not dieting eat only once, this is not the case for persons on diet. This is because unlike their counterparts not on diet, these people consume little food but on several occasions (Brune). Hence, at the end of the day such people end up consuming more than those who are not on diet. People on diet have the belief that fats cause obesity; hence, they avoid food enriched with fats and opt for carbohydrates. According to Brune, this ends up doing more harm than good to those on diet. Studies show that too much consumption of carbohydrates promotes the increase in blood sugar levels causing high insulin levels. Insulin is directly responsible for increase of fat storage in the body. It is therefore evident that instead of weight loss, dieting plays a major role in weight gain. Although many researchers claim dieting does more harm than good to one’s body, not everyone is in agreement with this claim. This is because some researchers claim that dieting indeed causes weight loss. For instance, according to Yuhnke (2), there are certain types of food that if consumed could result to cutting of calories. According to Yuhnke, some of the foods that one ought to consume while on diet include Egg-Tofu, Sandwich pepper and Sardines pepper. Dieting is the process where one restrains from the normal consumption of food in a move to reduce his or her weight. Although many people have the perception that dieting results to weight loss, it is not the case. This is because studies show that dieting makes one fat instead of slim. The reason why dieting promotes weight gain is because it triggers body hormones hence making them behave as if they are starving and are

Dear Junior Admin Essay Example for Free

Dear Junior Admin Essay There are several things to check and several things that could be wrong. I would start by making sure that you have your ranges of IP addresses right and that you didn’t mistype any numbers. Check your exclusions and be sure that your new ranges don’t fall in between the old ranges that were there before if you had any for the last set. You can also check the workstations that didn’t take the changes individually. Be sure that they don’t have static IP address set for those computers. If they do, then change them to dynamic and restart the computers. If they have the dynamic bullet check then open up a command prompt and ping the server. If you get no response use the ipconfig commands. Release the IP addresses with the IP release command and then use the ip renew command. If the workstations still do not work after trying the previous suggestions you can always assign your workstations using static IP addressing. It will be time consuming but with only twenty five workstations it shouldn’t be too overwhelming. If the first suggestions do not work and you simply don’t want to do all the work of using static ip addresses then you can always start over and try putting in the new configurations again. The second time around be sure to restart your server and restart all of your workstations so the new changes will take effect. You may have to do it at a time when the company can afford the network to be all the way down for a few hours.

U.s Investment In Mexico :: essays research papers

U.S Investment in Mexico Economics 580 Dr. Leon Haitham Boukhadour Fall 96 Mexico has established itself as one of the biggest emerging markets in the world today. It has exhibited many of the signs of a high growth economy, offering several advantages to prospective investors. Some highlights of the Mexican economy include " single-digit inflation, a balanced public budget, real economic growth (presently at a rate of 12 percent), a deregulated economy and a favorable investment climate" (Risk Management/ June 94, P.32). Mexico also possesses a strategic geographic location as a gate way to Latin American markets. Mexico is among the fastest- growing export markets for the United States. In 1985, Mexico became the third largest market for total U.S. exports, behind Canada and Japan. In 1992, Mexico surpassed Japan as the second largest export market for U.S. manufactured goods. Mexico now accounts for $1 out of every $10 of total U.S. exports. After the passing of NAFTA, bilateral trade was quite balanced in 1994, with the U.S. registering a surplus of $1.3 billion, virtually unchanged from 1993. However, there was a sharp increase in trade opportunities, as both import and export growth exceeded 20 percent. One-fifth of the total trade that occurs between the United States and Mexico was created in 1994. One of the major sectors that holds a large promise for the U.S. manufacturers is that of the automobile industry. The Mexican market for auto parts is expected to grow by 24 percent from 1994 levels to $16.9 billion in the year 2000. It is also expected that NAFTA will help increase the U.S. export share of the Mexican market to around 70 percent by the year 2000. In the long run, Mexico's location could profit the U.S. industries that establish themselves there, through an expanded free trade area in Latin America, which could include Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, and Chile. Such expansion could prove crucial to the U.S. industry, as a strong export orientation helped sustain industry growth. Exports increased from 18.5 percent of total output in 1989 to 27.2 percent in 1991. And the level of employment which could be attributed to exports increased from 116,500 in 1989 to 154,200 in 1991. Mexico also offers some intriguing possibilities in terms of production facilities for U.S. based firms. In 1994 alone Mexican car and truck production totaled 1.173 million units, up 8.6 percent from 1993. The Mexican government had along term plan in terms of automobile production in Mexico, and it is in a phase now that favors foreign investors and exportation out of the Mexican market. Check the figure bellow to see how the plan has progressed so far.

Discoveries of Maria Montessori

2. What are the discoveries of Dr. Maria Montessori ? Dr. Maria Montessori was a keen observer of children. She used her observational and experimental proclivities from her medical background to develop, what we might today call, a Constructivist understanding of the process of learning. She studied them scientifically. If she saw some unusual behavior in a child, she would say,†I won’t believe it now, I shall if it happens again†. She studied the conditions in which the children would perform those actions. She thought education always involved three elements: The learner, the Prepared Environment, and the Trained Adult. The basic areas in which she gave importance was freedom, independence, respect and responsibility. She believed that the child constructs knowledge from experiencing the world. Learning, she said, was not something that needed to be forced or motivated. Instead, learning is something that humans do naturally. The early years especially are ones of great mental growth. Throughout the early years of life, the child absorbs impressions from the world around him. Not with his mind, but with his life. She recognized that children go through certain phases during which they learn more easily than at any other time in their lives. This innate potential to learn is dependent upon a loving environment that encourages the active pursuit of knowledge. The child should be given the freedom to do his work and must be given the respect for the child as an individual. The behavioral change shown to respect and freedom is very eminent Dr. Montessori's developmentally-appropriate approach to learning is designed to fit each child instead of making each child fit into a preset program. She believed that learning should take place in multi-aged classrooms where children who are at various stages of development can learn from and with each other. This learning should take place in a non-competitive atmosphere in order for each child to develop at his/her own speed. Dr. Montessori observed that the best way for young children to learn is by active, hands-on experiences. She developed the idea of the prepared environment, where the classroom contains a wide variety of cognitive materials that foster learning in numerous areas. The purpose of the materials is not just to impart knowledge to children, but rather to provide them with stimuli that capture their attention and initiate a process of concentration. She was compelled to believe that the children love to do constructive work proved it suited their age and the stage of development. She observed that they worked with great interest and repeated the activities on their own volition to reach a stage of concentration. Montessori saw two streams of energy within the young child. The first is the physical energy of the body expended in voluntary movement. And the second is mental energy: the energy of intellect and will. She felt that these two streams of energy are often separated by the forces of modern life. And children who are not helped to unite them tend to move aimlessly and clumsily and have unfocused thought patterns. A unification of mental and physical energies comes about when a child becomes absorbed in work. Montessori called this â€Å"normalization. † And concentration, she said, was the key. The carefully prepared environment in the Montessori schools provide the opportunity for children to grow intellectually and emotionally. She decided to follow the child. Thanks to the revelations and the freedom she allowed to the children she was able to discover several aspects of the child and childhood. With her scientific approach of mind she tested whether every child in similar opportunities and similar conditions would manifest the same types of behavior. She tested these again and again and after twenty two years of such experimentation Dr. Montessori could say that she had found a method of helping children in their educational pursuits. Thus came the Montessori Method of education. Some of the discoveries Dr. Maria Montessori made during her work. 1. Children love to work purposefully. The inner drive to work is sufficient to reach their goal if it corresponded with the inner developmental need. With the provision of the necessary conditions and necessary environment the child without the instigation of an adult can reach his goal. 2. When an inner need to do something meets with the inner urge spontaneous Interest is generated. When the inner urge or the Interest finds a suitable working condition it leads to spontaneous Repetition. When this spontaneous Repetition of an activity is done with interest the natural result is Concentration. Concentration is not the end product of education, its just the beginning. Any true learning happens with concentration. The children revealed that given the right conditions they would work with concentration. 3. Very young children need order for their development. This order need not be only with things in the environment but also with values, functions and other human activities. The child needs to see human values like ‘Say the Truth’ being practiced. But the adults do not practice in the everyday life. The child gets confused and this can create a warp in his development. Similarly any object in the environment being used for a purpose other than it is meant for creates disturbance. (e. g. the other end of a teaspoon used as a screwdriver). Contrary instructions about behaviour muddle his decisions how some action is allowed at some other time (for example. when a visitor is there). The examples can go on multiplying but the important factor that we need to remember is that the young child is in the process of building his personality which lasts his lifetime. He needs consistency in everything in his environment. It takes a while for him to understand that things can also be different 4. Freedom is another basic requirement of a child’s development process. Dr. Maria found that to perform well in any activity they should be given the option to choose their own activity then only they excel it according to their own capabilities. 5. Normality depended on all the human powers working in unison, in collaboration. Very often children deviate from this normality because they do not find the conditions necessary for their development. D Montessori says that during the early childhood it is possible to rectify any developmental errors and bring the child back to normality The rectification can be made possible only by the child’s working individually at the developmental activities in freedom. ACTIVITY was essential. 6. These developmental activities belonged to areas that the child needed for building his personality generally activities involving sensorial concepts, language, arithmetic, art, culture were considered necessary for the child’s education. The introduction of the exercise of practical life as developmental activities was Dr Montessori’s contribution to education. She found out how the children needed to perform these activities of everyday life. These became developmental activities especially because they brought the intelligence, will and voluntary movements together this co-ordination brought about integration of the personality Dr Montessori realized that these activities were very well understood by the children and thus mobilized their intelligence to the fullest participation. 7. Several other topics that were considered too high and out of reach for the children of 3 to 5 years were brought into the House of Children. Dr Montessori found out that these areas of knowledge are necessary for the child’s total development rather than being subjects to be learnt and, perhaps, memorized. The children showed that they could assimilate the knowledge if they were given in a suitable form. 8. In the House of Children, discipline that is a bugbear in educational institutions came in a new form. The children managed their individual life,their manner of speaking, moving, handling material, interacting with other children. The children revealed quiet, orderliness, remarkable work attitude striving for perfection, sense of responsibility towards themselves and the environment and also others in the community Above all they showed independence in their control of errors, love for silence, indifference with regard to reward or punishments. Discipline did not have to be enforced. 9. At a social level they lived and let others live, helping others, co-operating with them, having quarrel, exhibiting no possessiveness and giving respect for elders who worked with them. At some point of time it was also seen that the children worked irrespective of whether the elders were there or not. The absence of adults did not influence their discipline, orderliness, quiet in their individual or social life. This suggested that discipline must come from within and not imposed from outside. Discipline is an inner development born in freedom. Freedom and discipline are two faces of the same coin. These are two forms of discipline. the outer and the inner the inner discipline is a natural and inner urge to follow the laws that govern development. This inner discipline is the basic on which the outer discipline can rest. So the outer discipline imposed by the adults on the child should be in a form that will be given to the inner innate discipline and it can reveal itself in all its glory 10. Real obedience is based on love, respect and faith. When obedience leads to inner satisfaction it becomes real obedience and hence it becomes real development. 11. Dr Montessori discovered that the children are often seen to behave in a certain manner- destructive, disorderly, stubborn, disobedient etc. But in specially prepared environments and with specially trained adult they show orderly, responsible, loving behaviour both are seemingly real. But why is the contradiction? Dr Montessori says that the second instance is the real one and the very common behaviour is the result of the child not finding the right conditions for development. Dr Montessori calls this the social question of the child. This discovery was possible because she could witness this grandeur of human normality 12. Many of the activities presented to children in Montessori Houses of Children are results of observing the child and, therefore, may be considered as discoveries- The Silence Activity, Exercises of Practical Life, Walking on the Line are some of the examples. 3. It is a well-known truth that human life is a series of steps in gaining independence and credit could go to Dr Montessori who pointed that this is true with child life also. All the help we offer should lead the child to Independence in his individual and social life. The Montessori Method bases itself on these and various other discoveries Dr Montessori made while she worked with chi ldren. We might conclude by saying that Dr Montessori calls upon every adult human being to develop the humility to [earn from the child in order to help the child create a healthy human being.

Succubus Shadows Chapter 16

Really, when you thought about it, what I was going through wasn't that much different from dying after all. They always said you saw your life flash before your eyes, and that's how it was for me. Dream after dream. I relived the most painful moments of my life, true dreams where I'd done terrible things and seen terrible things done to those I loved. More â€Å"realities† that had never happened were shown to me as well. In one, Roman's recent display of affection turned out to be a scam. It was a front to punish me for my role in the death of his sister. Only, he didn't go after me directly. He went after all my friends, mortal and immortal. I watched him kill them one by one as he ignored my pleas to just finish me off instead. The Oneroi latched onto how I was bothered more by the suffering of those I loved than of myself. They mocked me, claiming that Roman's rampage was a vision of the future that had come through the gate of horn. I didn't believe it†¦at least, I didn't think I did. Nyx could see the future. Could they? Or were they maybe in contact with her, despite her imprisonment? My higher reasoning was giving way to paranoia as I was stripped further and further of my essence. I even began to dread the true dreams from the mortal world, the ones that showed me my friends. They were no longer a comfort; they only plunged me further into darkness. Because as the Oneroi had predicted, there seemed to be no hope of rescue in sight. Still, I kept dreaming†¦. Roman, Hugh, and the vampires were in a van. Peter was driving, and the clock on the dashboard read two o'clock in the morning. No one spoke in the small space, giving me no clue as to what was transpiring. Their headlights illuminated a sign along the freeway that indicated an exit for Idaho State Route 41. Idaho? â€Å"Can you change the station?† asked Hugh. â€Å"I hate talk radio.† â€Å"Because you might learn something?† asked Peter. â€Å"Because I'm trying to stay awake.† â€Å"It's a rule of the road: driver controls the radio.† â€Å"What rule book says that?† â€Å"Enough,† said Roman. His voice was weary, his face more so. He looked like he hadn't been sleeping much, but considering the time of night, that wasn't a surprise. He unfolded a map and then checked a piece of paper with some notes scrawled on it. â€Å"It should be the next exit.† â€Å"How'd Carter even find this guy?† asked Cody. â€Å"Because Carter moves in mysterious ways,† said Hugh. â€Å"Hard-drinking, hard-smoking mysterious ways.† â€Å"Yeah, but if he knew, why didn't he tell Jerome?† â€Å"Because Jerome would go into blasting mode if he found out. I guess Carter was keeping it on the down-low as some sort of compassionate act. He's an angel and all.† â€Å"Oh, right.† Cody seemed to have forgotten about that. It was an easy mistake. â€Å"Jerome'll blast us too if he knows what we're doing,† warned Peter. â€Å"He's too distracted. He thinks we're just following a vampire lead.† â€Å"That's the point,† said Peter. â€Å"If he finds out we lied to him – â€Å" â€Å"He won't,† interrupted Roman impatiently. â€Å"Not if we just get what we need from this guy and get out of here. This is it – take that exit.† Hugh veered off onto what hardly seemed like a road at all. It had no businesses and only one streetlight to illuminate an intersection, just before darkness swallowed everything. Roman continued giving directions, steering them farther and farther into the countryside. â€Å"You can't do anything to him,† said Hugh, craning his head to look at Roman in the backseat. â€Å"Show any flare of power in another demon's territory, and you're dead – probably along with the rest of us.† â€Å"Do you think I'm stupid?† demanded Roman. â€Å"Not exactly. But I do think you're short-tempered, have poor impulse control, and would do anything for Georgina.† I expected Roman to deny all of that – or at least the last part – but he said nothing. Silence fell again until Roman at last pointed to a narrow gravel driveway. It was so hard to see that Peter drove past it, squealed the brakes, and backed up. They parked near the driveway's end and began walking up it. I saw then that the back of the van had blacked-out windows, and it was a safe bet that the vampires' coffins were likely back there in case daytime travel was required. Out here in the middle of nowhere, stars clustered the sky, and night insects rained down a symphony of chatter. The faint outline of a house appeared. No lights were on within. â€Å"Can we do it SWAT team style?† asked Cody eagerly. â€Å"Surround the house and swoop in?† â€Å"I don't think that's necessary,† said Roman. He gave the door a sharp kick. It shuddered but didn't come close to breaking apart action-movie style. Keeping his nephilim powers in check meant he had the same abilities as a human. Peter sighed. â€Å"Let me.† He took Roman's place, repeated the kick, and this time the door did burst in and break apart. With their goofy attitudes, it was easy to forget sometimes that both Cody and Peter had super fast reflexes and enhanced strength. Peter stepped back, brushing splinters off his pants. The foursome entered, and a light turned on in the back of the house. â€Å"What the hell?† a voice demanded. What the hell, indeed. Dante entered the room. He took one look at my friends and said, â€Å"Oh, shit.† Then he bolted back toward the room he'd come from, no doubt heading for a window. He was too slow, though. In a flash, Cody had Dante by the scruff of his shirt and dragged him back to the living room, shoving my ex-boyfriend into a chair. Dante immediately started to rise, noticed how my friends had closed rank around him, and then thought better of it. Dante sighed. â€Å"Well, I knew this had to happen some day. Why didn't your boss come himself?† He peered at Roman. â€Å"And haven't I seen you somewhere?† Dante had seen Roman on a beach when we rescued Jerome from the summoning. There'd been a fair amount of chaos, so I wasn't surprised Dante's memory was sketchy – especially since he'd been beaten up by a demon. â€Å"We're not here because of Jerome,† snapped Hugh. Then, he reconsidered. â€Å"Well, we are, but not for the reasons you think.† â€Å"Answer our questions, and you might live another day,† said Peter. Apparently, the action-movie theme was still going strong. â€Å"Where's Georgina?† demanded Roman. It was interesting that every time my immortal posse interrogated someone, they phrased the question that way first, instead of, â€Å"Do you know where Georgina is?† When you worked for Hell, everyone was guilty until proven innocent. Dante's face lost some of its fear and took on its usual cynical look. He tossed messy black hair out of his face. â€Å"In Seattle, sleeping with that fucking writer.† â€Å"No,† said Roman. â€Å"She's not.† â€Å"She's not what? In Seattle or sleeping with the writer?† Dante arched an eyebrow. â€Å"And who are you exactly?† â€Å"The muscle,† said Hugh dryly. â€Å"Georgina's gone. Vanished. And if anyone's got reason to make her disappear† – he paused and glanced uneasily at Roman – â€Å"it's you.† â€Å"I'm not the kind of magician that pulls rabbits out of my hat. Or makes them disappear.† Dante was growing more and more confident, now that he knew Jerome wasn't going to send him to the torture pits of Hell. â€Å"If you can't find her, ask your archdemon. Unless he's been summoned again, he'll know.† â€Å"He doesn't,† said Cody. â€Å"But maybe you already knew that.† Dante rolled his eyes. â€Å"You think I'm going to go anywhere near Seattle when there's a price on my head? Do you think I'm hiding out in the fucking sticks because I want to? The best I can do is sell charms and fake fortunes to tourists in Coeur d'Alene.† â€Å"Carter should have come with us,† said Hugh in exasperation. â€Å"He should have known that too after sending us here.† Dante stiffened, his arrogance faltering. â€Å"That angel knows where I am? Then Jerome has to know.† â€Å"He's keeping it from Jerome. For now.† Peter was still using that melodramatic voice. â€Å"That can change if you don't help us.† â€Å"I don't know where she fucking is, okay? I told you: I can't make a succubus disappear.† Roman's hand closed around Dante's neck in a fair approximation of Jerome. Even without supernatural abilities, Roman was still strong. â€Å"You've worked with immortals before. You could do it again and have them do the dirty work.† â€Å"I show my face to any immortal, and I'm a dead man,† choked Dante. Roman fixed Dante with a dark glare that reminded me of the time Roman had tried to kill me. And when he had killed me in a recent Oneroi dream. At last, Roman let go. Rubbing his neck, a puzzled Dante asked again, â€Å"Who are you?† Cody glanced at the others. â€Å"Do you think he's lying?† â€Å"Wouldn't surprise me,† said Hugh. He crossed his arms across his broad chest. â€Å"But maybe you can be useful. What could make a succubus disappear?† â€Å"What'll you give me for helping you?† asked Dante slyly. Yes, that was my ex. Always looking for an advantage. â€Å"We won't call Jerome,† growled Peter. This time, the anger in his voice was not faux movie style. It was real, again a reminder that at the end of the day, he really was a vampire who could break necks easily. This sobered Dante up. â€Å"Fine. Not that I care what the fuck happens to her. How did she disappear?† Again, the story was recounted, something that was beginning to depress me – largely because everyone seemed to emphasize just how depressed and miserable my life was. â€Å"It's a lure,† said Dante with certainty. â€Å"We know that,† said Roman. â€Å"Erik told us.† Dante scowled at the mention of his nemesis. â€Å"Of course he did. It's a wonder you need me with his almighty wisdom at your disposal.† â€Å"What would lure her?† said Peter, no doubt interrupting Dante from asking again who Roman was. â€Å"All sorts of things,† said Dante. â€Å"Anything could create a lure, but visions like that would most likely be tied to dreams. Did you guys lose Nyx again?† â€Å"No,† said Hugh. Dante shrugged. â€Å"Then look for something else that can control dreams, maybe try a – â€Å" I stood in the village I'd grown up in. The transition was so abrupt that I was dizzy for a moment. There hadn't been a transition, no fragmenting of the image or a fade to black. It had been a quick movie cut. A bad editing job. I stared around, seeing again the place that had caused me so much torment. I wondered what else the Oneroi had to show me here and why I'd come here so suddenly. I'd already relived the false wedding accusations. At one point, they'd even had me dream the true story of how my infidelity had led to me selling my soul. I was probably now in store for some new contrived horror. The world spun around me, the buildings and people moving around in rough-spun clothes dizzying me. â€Å"Are you all right?† a voice asked. Turning around, the scenery settled a bit and I found myself looking into the face of an ancient man. Bushy eyebrows stretched across a heavily lined brow, nearly obscuring dark brown eyes. â€Å"Yes†¦I'm fine.† I frowned and did a double take. â€Å"Gaius?† Those eyebrows rose. â€Å"Have we met?† I stared, unable to speak for a moment. I'd known Gaius since the time I could walk. He was a blacksmith, the brawniness of his arms proving as much. But he'd been young the last time I'd seen him, a man in his prime. With no control, words spilled off my lips, words I'd spoken before when I'd lived this event the first time. This was a true memory. So far. â€Å"We met a very long time ago,† I said. He chuckled. â€Å"Girl, I'd remember you. And ‘a very long time ago' could only have been a few years for you.† I became aware of my body, knowing what I looked like even without a mirror. I had shape-shifted just before entering the village, taking on a form I had sworn I would never, ever wear again. And, in fact, after this day, I never would wear it again. I was in my original body: fifteen-year-old Letha, too tall with thick, tangled black hair. I'd come here to find out something. Something I had to know. I gave Gaius a weak nod. My old self had been as shocked as my current self at what time had done to him. How long since I'd become a succubus and left my village? Thirty years ago? â€Å"Can you tell me†¦is there a man here – a fisherman – named Marthanes? Does his family still live here?† â€Å"Sure,† he said. â€Å"Same house they've always been in, out past the – â€Å" â€Å"I know where it is,† I said quickly. He shrugged, not minding my interruption. â€Å"He's probably down at the bay, though. He's too old to still be working but swears his sons-in-law can't get by without him.† Sons-in-law. Of course. My sisters would have gotten married long ago. â€Å"Thanks,† I said. I began to walk away. â€Å"It was nice seeing you again.† He gave me a puzzled look but said nothing more. I walked toward the bay, where the water glowed with such a vivid, teal-tinged blue that it seemed to be some Technicolor vision. Surely nothing in nature could produce such beauty. Longing and nostalgia welled up within my watching self. The town was busy at midday, and I recognized more faces than I expected. Children I'd known grown to adulthood, adults I'd known now in their golden years. The waterfront was just as busy, with ships loading and unloading goods that made commerce in the Mediterranean boom. It took me a while to find my father, and here, I earned more looks than I had in the village. Women were rare in this district, choosing to avoid the rough sailors and workers. I located my father largely because of his voice, shouting orders just as he had in my youth. â€Å"Are you trying to cost me a fortune? What do you do out there all day? My granddaughter could catch this many fish wading by the beach!† He was yelling at a man I didn't know, his face sheepish and cowed as he displayed what must have been today's meager catch. I wondered if this was one of my sisters' husbands. The man promised to do better and then scurried away. â€Å"Fa – Marthanes?† My father turned at my approach, and I tried not to gasp. Like Gaius, the years had carved away Marthanes the fisherman as well. How old would he be now? Sixties? Seventies? Time had grown blurred since I became immortal. â€Å"What do you want?† he snapped. â€Å"I've got no use for prostitutes anymore. Go down to Claudius if you're looking for business. He hasn't slept with his own wife in ten years. Not that I blame him. That woman's a harpy.† Age might have grayed and thinned out his hair, lines might have creased his face†¦but my father's tongue was still the same. â€Å"N-no. That's not why I'm here. I met you†¦a few years ago.† He frowned, looking me up and down. â€Å"Never seen you in my life. Pretty sure I'd remember someone as tall as you.† As a succubus, I could change into any man's fantasy, taking on the shape of a woman whose beauty transcended words. Yet, even with that ability, the old remarks about my height still stung. â€Å"Well, I remember you.† Seeing his eyes shift impatiently to his workers, I asked, â€Å"Do you know a musician named Kyriakos? He'd be my age – er, about thirty years older than me. He used to live south of town.† My father snorted. â€Å"That Kyriakos? He's no musician. He took over his father's business when he died. Does okay with it, even though the rates he demands for my fish are ridiculous.† â€Å"Does he still live in his same house?† â€Å"You mean his father's house? Yes. Like you said, in the south.† My father's restlessness was palpable now. He didn't know me. He had no use for me. â€Å"Thank you,† I said. I was about to tell him it was nice to see him, as I had Gaius, but my father was gone before I could. With a heavy heart, I walked back through town but instead of heading south, I took a detour to my old home, wondering what I'd discover. What I found was my mother, hanging clothing outside, humming as she did. Off to the house's side a middle-aged woman dug herbs out of the ground. It took me a few moments to recognize her as my younger sister. My mother's face was different, but her kind eyes were still the same as she gave me directions to a place I already knew. My sister glanced up and watched a moment, then returned to her work. Neither recognized me. Just like with my father, I was a brief interruption to their day. I'd known this would happen. It was what I'd sold my soul for. My contract with Hell had erased all memories of me from everyone who had ever known me. The Oneroi had shown me a lie on my wedding day. I'd been a virgin, faithful to Kyriakos. But a couple years later, weakness had struck me. I'd betrayed him, and it had devastated him more than anyone could have imagined. He'd wanted to kill himself over the heartache, and only my bargain had saved him. That was the truth. Still†¦some part of me had thought maybe, just maybe someone might recognize me. Just the faintest spark of remembrance. Kyriakos could have been down near my father, overseeing his fleet, but something told me he'd be doing administrative tasks, not manual labor. My hunch was correct. Before I'd become a succubus, Kyriakos and I had had our own house. He must have moved back to his family's home after Hell erased his memories. I braced myself to meet the lady of the house, the woman Kyriakos must have undoubtedly married. But when he came out to see who was visiting him, I found him alone. Seeing him made my heart stop. He too had been touched by age, but he was still young enough that the lines were few. Only the faintest of gray graced his hair, and like my mother, his eyes were the same. Dark and wonderful and full of goodness. â€Å"Do you need help?† he asked, voice friendly and curious. For a moment, I couldn't speak. I was drunk from seeing him, filled with a mix of love and pain. I wished so badly that I had stayed with him, that I had never committed such sins. I wished I didn't wear this youthful face. I should have grown old with him. My ability to conceive children had seemed sketchy at the time, but maybe we would have eventually had a family. Just like with everyone else, I claimed to need directions, stammering out the first random place I could think of. He described the way in detail, though I already knew it. â€Å"Do you want me to escort you there? This is a safe area†¦but you never know.† I smiled but felt no joy. The same Kyriakos. Infinitely kind to others, even a stranger. â€Å"I'll be fine. I don't want to take you from your work.† I hesitated. â€Å"We met†¦a few years ago.† â€Å"Did we?† He studied me, apparently searching for the memory. His eyes remained blank, though. No trace of recognition. I was a stranger. I had never existed for him. I wondered if he'd even remember me when I left here. He shook his head, sounding sincerely apologetic. â€Å"I'm sorry. I don't recall it†¦.† He was waiting for my name. â€Å"Letha.† The word burned on my lips. Like this shape, the name was dead to me. Only Hell ever used it. â€Å"I'm sorry,† he said again. â€Å"It's okay. Maybe I'm wrong. I thought†¦I thought you were a musician.† When we'd been married, he worked for his father but had hopes of giving that up and playing music full-time. Kyriakos chuckled. â€Å"Only as a hobby. Most of my days are hunched over numbers.† The loss of his ambition made me almost as sad as his lack of memory. â€Å"Well†¦your wife must be glad to have you home.† â€Å"Not married, I'm afraid.† He was still smiling. â€Å"My sister keeps house for me when she's around.† â€Å"Not married?† I asked incredulously. â€Å"But why? At your age†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I blushed, realizing how rude I sounded. â€Å"I'm sorry.† He wasn't offended. â€Å"At your age, marriage is all girls think about, huh? You probably have a dozen suitors with as pretty as you are.† Typical. Few had found me pretty while mortal; he had always believed me beautiful. â€Å"I just never found the right woman. I'd rather be alone than spend my life with the wrong person.† A dreamy, sad look filled his features, and then he shook his head and laughed. It was an uneasy laugh. â€Å"Anyway, you don't want to hear some old man babbling about romantic nonsense. Are you sure you don't want me to show you the way?† â€Å"No, no†¦I think I know where it's at now. Thank you.† I started to turn away and then paused. â€Å"Kyriakos†¦are you†¦are you happy?† This question from someone less than half his age caught him by surprise. And I was surprised he answered. â€Å"Happy? Well†¦content, I guess. I have a good life. Better than most. A very good life, really. Sometimes I wonder†¦Ã¢â‚¬  My breath caught. â€Å"Wonder what?† â€Å"Nothing,† he said, giving me another good-natured smile. â€Å"More nonsense. Yes, Letha. I'm happy. Why do you want to know?† â€Å"Nonsense of my own,† I murmured. â€Å"And you're sure you don't remember me?† I had my answer before I spoke. No. Those eyes had never laid sight on me before. I was just an odd, passing girl. I was no one. â€Å"I'm sorry, I don't.† He winked. â€Å"But I'll remember you now.† Somehow, I doubted it. Leaving him, I felt my heart break. Really, my heart was breaking all the time. You'd think it could only happen once. This was what I'd wanted. What I'd gambled eternity for. Kyriakos was happy. I'd saved him and should be happy in return. Yet, I felt unhappier than I had since becoming a succubus. I decided at that moment I'd never use Letha's shape or name again. I wanted to wipe her from my mind too†¦. â€Å"It's so easy with you,† hissed the Oneroi. It was Two, I thought. I was back in the box. â€Å"We don't even need the ivory gate.† I was so scarred from that memory of Kyriakos, by the truth of what it really meant to be erased from someone's life, that I was inclined to agree with Two. Then, a tiny spark within me glimmered just a bit. I studied the two Oneroi carefully. â€Å"What was the other dream?† I asked. â€Å"Before the one about my husband? Why didn't you let it finish?† â€Å"It did finish,† said One. Their blue, blue eyes were the same, revealing nothing. â€Å"It didn't,† I argued. â€Å"You cut it off. It didn't go the way you planned, did it? My friends found out something from Dante – something you didn't want them to know.† â€Å"They found nothing,† Two replied. â€Å"It was a lie. We gave you false hope, hope that will turn to ashes when you find yourself spending the rest of eternity here.† â€Å"You're the lie,† I said. The spark within my ragged, worn body flared just a little more. â€Å"The dream was true.† One continued the denial. â€Å"The only truth is that you can't tell the difference. And that there is no hope.† â€Å"You're lying,† I said, but as those cold sets of eyes surveyed me, my spark wavered. Uncertainty spread within me. I'd been through so much, a mental rape of sorts, that I questioned once more if I trusted myself. My words were bold, but I no longer knew if I could believe them. Two smiled, able to see into my mind. â€Å"Dream,† he said.