Chemistry Soya Milk Essay

This project has been chosen in view of increasing demand of milk and also due to higher expectations of good quality and low fat diet requirements of the people with better awareness. Also the requirement for such quality products is more acute today. In this project I have prepared soy milk from soyabeans and have compared the conditions of formation of good quality cow milk yogurt and soy milk yogurt. I have also tried to find the effect of temperature on the pH of cow’s milk and soy milk. Thus I have selected this project to find a suitable replacement of cow milk in soy milk to meet the demands of the ever increasing population. SOY MILK: Soy milk (also called soya milk, soymilk, soybean milk, or soy juice) and sometimes referred to as soy drink/beverage is a beverage made from soybeans. A stable emulsion of oil, water, and protein, it is produced by soaking dry soybeans and grinding them with water. Soy milk contains about the same proportion of protein as cow’s milk: around 3. 5%; also 2% fat, 2. 9% carbohydrate, and 0. 5% ash. Soy milk can be made at home with traditional kitchen tools or with a soy milk machine. The coagulated protein from Tofu, just as soy milk can be made into made into cheese. Soy milk can be made from whole soybeans or full-fat soy flour. The dry beans are soaked in water overnight or for a minimum of 3 hours or more depending on the temperature of the water. The dehydrated beans then undergo wet grinding with enough added water to give the desired solids A can of Yeo’s soymilk, poured into a glass. Soy milk can be made from soya beans or full flat soy flour. The dry beans are soaked in water for a minimum of 3 hours. The dehydrated beans then undergo wet grinding with enough added water to give the desired solid content to the final product. The ratio of water to beans on a weight basis should be about 10:1. The resulting slurry or puree is brought to a boil in order to improve its nutritional value by heat inactivating soybean trypsin inhibitor, improve its flavor and to sterilize the product. Heating at or near the boiling point is continued for a period of time, 15-20 minutes, followed by the removal of an insoluble residue by filtration. SOY YOGURT – Soy yogurt looks like regular cream yogurt. Soy yogurt, (Soya yoghurt in British English) also referred to as Soygurt or Yofu (a portmanteau of yoghurt and tofu), is yogurt prepared using soy milk, yogurt bacteria, mainly Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus and sometimes additional sweetener, like fructose, glucose, or raw sugar . It is suitable for vegans, as the bacteria for shop-bought soy yogurt are usually not grown on a dairy base. Soy yogurt can be prepared at home using the same method as dairy yogurt. One tablespoon of sugar per 1 liter of unsweetened soy milk may be added to promote bacterial fermentation. Soy milk on its own lacks the lactose (milk sugar) that is the basic food for the yogurt bacteria. Soy yogurt may have a slight beany soy taste when made directly from freshly prepared soymilk, but this is less pronounced in shop-bought soy yogurt and in soy yogurt made from commercial soy milk. Soy yogurt contains less fat than yogurt made with whole milk. This amounts to about 2. 7% (the same percentage as soy milk), versus 3. 5% in dairy yogurt. However, dairy yogurt can be made with 2%, 1%, or fat-free milk, and these cases, it is lower in fat than soy yogurt. Cow Yogurt Yogurt, also spelled yoghourt or yoghourt, is a favorite breakfast, lunch, or snack. A thick, custard- or pudding-like food, yogurt is made by the natural bacterial fermentation of milk. The process of making yogurt involves culturing cream or milk with live and active bacterial cultures; this is accomplished by adding bacteria directly to the milk. Commercially made yogurt is usually made with a culture of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Streptococcus thermophilis. Yogurt made at home is usually started by adding a dab of commercially made yogurt to boiled milk, and then keeping the mixture at 45 °C. In Western cultures, yogurt is enjoyed in a variety of ways, most popularly as a cool dish mixed with fruit. Yogurt can be used to make healthy shakes or frozen to eat like ice cream. Yogurt can also be used when cooking, in place of milk, sour cream, and even some cheeses. In Middle Eastern cultures, yogurt is frequently served with meat, meat sauces, and vegetables, It can be mixed with various other sauces or used as a tangy dollop on top of a meal. NUTRITION AND HEALTH INFORMATION Nutrients in 8 ounces (250 ml) of plain soymilk. | Regular | Life Whole | Fat |kcal) | Soymilk | Soymilk cow (reduced milk fat) | Free cow milk | 90 | 70 149 | 83 | | 10. 0 | 4. 0 7. 7 | 8. 3 | | 4 | 2. 0 8. 0 | 0. 2 | | 14. 0 | 16. 0 11. 7 | 12. 2 | (g) | 0. 0 | 0. 0 11. 0 | 12. 5 | | 120 | 100 105 | 103 | (mg) | 1. 8 | 0. 6 0. 07 | 0. 07 | | 0. 1 | 11. 0 0. 412 | 0. 446 | (mg) | 80. 0 | 80. 0 276 299 | in 100 ml of fortified soyrpilk â€Å"Alpro Soya† versus semi skimmed and fat free milk: | | Enhanced Semi Fat free Soymilk skimmed cow cow milk milk | Calories (kcal) | 31 47 35 | Protein(g) | 3. 3 3. 6 | 3. 6 | Carbohydrate | 0. 2 4. 8 | 4. 9 | Lactose (g) | 0. 0 4. 8 | 4. 9 | Fat(g) | 1. 8 1. 8 | 0. 3 | Saturated fat | 0. 3 | 1. 1 | 0. 1 | Sodium (rng) | 10 | 44 | 5 | Iron (mg) | 0. 24 | 0. 02 | 0. 03 | Calcium(mg) | 120 | 124 | 129 | Vitamin A (mcg) | 1. 0 | 6. 0 0. 9 | 3. 5 0. 4 | VitaminBl2(mcg) | 0. 38 | Vitamin D (mcg) | 0. 75 | 2. 5 | 0. 0 | CHEMISTRY INVOLVED Proteins are chains of amino acid molecules connected by There are 22 different amino acids that can be combined to form protein chains. There are 9 amino acids that the human body cannot make and must be obtained from the diet. These are called the essential amino acids. The amino acids within protein chains can bond across the chain and fold to form 3-dimensional structures. Proteins can be relatively straight or form tightly compacted globules or be somewhere in between. The term â€Å"denatured† is used when proteins unfold from their native chain or globular shape. Denaturing proteins is beneficial in some instances, such as allowing easy access to the protein chain by enzymes for digestion, or for increasing the ability of the whey proteins to bind water and provide a desirable texture in yogurt production. The main (starter) cultures in yogurt are Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus. The function of the starter cultures is to ferment lactose (milk sugar) to produce lactic acid. The increase in lactic acid decreases pH and causes the milk to clot, or form the soft gel that is characteristic of yogurt. The fermentation of lactose also produces the flavor compounds that are characteristic of yogurt. REQUIREMENTS Beakers, pestle and mortar, measuring cylinder, glass rod, tripod-stand, thermometer, muslin cloth, burner. Soya beans, cow milk, fresh curd and distilled water, pH papers. PROCEDURE 1) Soak about 150g of Soya beans in sufficient amount of water so that they are completely dipped in it. 2) Take out swollen Soya beans and grind them to a very fine paste 3) Filter it through a muslin cloth. Clear white filtrate is soya bean milk. Compare its taste with cow milk. 4) Take 50 ml of soya bean milk in three other beakers and heat the beakers to 300, 40 °and 50 °C respectively. Add ? spoonful curd to each of these beakers. Leave the beakers undisturbed for 8 hours and curd is formed. 5) Similarly, take 50 ml of cow milk in three beakers and heat the beakers to 30 °, 40 ° and 50 °C respectively. Add ? spoonful curd to each of these beakers. Leave the beakers undisturbed for 8 hours and curd is formed. 6) Take 20 ml of cow milk and soya bean milk in two separate test tube and test OBSERVATION TYPE OF MILK| BEAKER NO| TEMPERATURE. C| TIME TAKEN TO FORM CURD(HRS)| TASTE OF CURD(AFTER 8 HRS)| COW’S MILK| 1| 30| 6. 5| SWEET| | 2| 40| 5| SOUR| | 3| 50| 4| SOUR| SOY MILK| 4| 30| 8. 5| NOT FORMED| | 5| 40| 7| SWEET| | 6| 50| 6| SWEET| TYPE OF MILK| BEAKER NO| TEMPERATURE. C| pH| COW’S MILK| 1| 30| 6| | 2| 40| 6| | 3| 50| 6| SOY MILK| 4| 30| 7| | 5| 40| 7| | 6| 50| 7| RESULT 1. For cow milk, the best temperature for the formation of good quality and tasty curd is 40 °C and for soyabean milk, it is 50 °C. 2. For cow milk, the pH of good quality and tasty curd is 5 and for soyabean milk, it is 6. INFERENCE Thus the formation of good quality soy yogurt the time taken was 7 hours for a sample at 50 °C and at a pH value around 6. whereas, for the formation of good quality curd the time was 5 hours for a sample at 40 °C and at a pH value around 5. Thus a good yield of curd can be obtained with soy milk. And moreover soy yogurt helps in controlling type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. The enzymes in the soy yogurt also help in regulating blood sugar levels. Thus soy milk is a suitable replacement of cow milk to meet the demands of the ever increasing population. INDEX Why I chose this project? 1 Soya bean milk 1 Soy yogurt 4 Nutrition and Health Information 7 Chemistry involved 9 Requirements 10 Procedure 11 Observations 12 Result 13 Inference 13 Bibliography 10 BY: Vishal Kamalakannan.

Bag of Bones CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

At first the door wouldn't open. The knob turned under my hand so I knew it wasn't locked, but the rain seemed to have swelled the wood . . . or had something been shoved up against it? I drew back, crouched a little, and hit the door with my shoulder. This time there was some slight give. It was her. Sara. Standing on the other side of the door and trying to hold it shut against me. How could she do that? How, in God's name? She was a fucking ghost! I thought of the BAMM CONSTRUCTION pickup . . . and as if thought were conjuration I could almost see it out there at the end of Lane Forty-two, parked by the highway. The old ladies' sedan was behind it, and three or four other cars were now behind them. All of them with their windshield wipers flopping back and forth, their headlights cutting feeble cones through the downpour. They were lined up on the shoulder like cars at a yard sale. There was no yard sale here, only the old-timers sitting silently in their cars. Old-timers who were in the zone just like I was. Old-timers sending in the vibe. She was drawing on them. Stealing from them. She'd done the same with Devore and me too, of course. Many of the manifestations I'd experienced since coming back had likely been created from my own psychic energy. It was amusing when you thought of it. Or maybe ‘terrifying' was the word I was actually looking for. ‘Jo, help me,' I said in the pouring rain. Lightning flashed, turning the torrents a bright brief silver. ‘If you ever loved me, help me now.' I drew back and hit the door again. This time there was no resistance at all and I went hurtling in, catching my shin on the jamb and falling to my knees. I held onto the lantern, though. There was a moment of silence. In it I felt forces and presences gathering themselves. In that moment nothing seemed to move, although behind me, in the woods Jo had loved to ramble with me or without me the rain continued to fall and the wind continued to howl, a merciless gardener pruning its way through the trees that were dead and almost dead, doing the work of ten gentler years in one turbulent hour. Then the door slammed shut and it began. I saw everything in the glow of the flashlight, which I had turned on without even realizing it, but at first I didn't know exactly what I was seeing, other than the destruction by poltergeist of my wife's beloved crafts and treasures. The framed afghan square tore itself off the wall and flew from one side of the studio to the other, the black oak frame breaking apart. The heads popped off the dolls poking out of the baby collages like champagne corks at a party. The hanging light-globe shattered, showering me with fragments of glass. A wind began to blow a cold one and was quickly joined and whirled into a cyclone by one which was warmer, almost hot. They rolled past me as if in imitation of the larger storm outside. The Sara Laughs head on the bookcase, the one which appeared to be constructed of toothpicks and lollipop sticks, exploded in a cloud of wood-splinters. The kayak paddle leaning against the wall rose into the air, rowed furiously at nothing, then launched itself at me like a spear. I threw myself flat on the green rag rug to avoid it, and felt bits of broken glass from the shattered light-globe cut into the palm of my hand as I came down. I felt something else, as well a ridge of something beneath the rug. The paddle hit the far wall hard enough to split into two pieces. Now the banjo my wife had never been able to master rose in the air, revolved twice, and played a bright rattle of notes that were out of tune but nonetheless unmistakable wish I was in the land of cotton, old times there are not forgotten. The phrase ended with a vicious BLUNK! that broke all five strings. The banjo whirled itself a third time, its bright steel fittings reflecting fishscale runs of light on the study walls, and then beat itself to death against the floor, the drum shattering and the tuning pegs snapping off like teeth. The sound of moving air began to how do I express this? to focus somehow, until it wasn't the sound of air but the sound of voices panting, unearthly voices full of fury. They would have screamed if they'd had vocal cords to scream with. Dusty air swirled up in the beam of my flashlight, making helix shapes that danced together, then reeled apart again. For just a moment I heard Sara's snarling, smoke-broken voice: ‘Git out, bitch! You git on out! This ain't none of yours ‘ And then a curious insubstantial thud, as if air had collided with air. This was followed by a rushing wind-tunnel shriek that I recognized: I'd heard it in the middle of the night. Jo was screaming. Sara was hurting her, Sara was punishing her for presuming to interfere, and Jo was screaming. ‘No!' I shouted, getting to my feet. ‘Leave her alone! Leave her be!' I advanced into the room, swinging the lantern in front of my face as if I could beat her away with it. Stoppered bottles stormed past me some contained dried flowers, some carefully sectioned mushrooms, some woods-herbs. They shattered against the far wall with a brittle xylophone sound. None of them struck me; it was as if an unseen hand guided them away. Then Jo's rolltop desk rose into the air. It must have weighed at least four hundred pounds with its drawers loaded as they were, but it floated like a feather, nodding first one way and then dipping the other in the opposing currents of air. Jo screamed again, this time in anger rather than pain, and I staggered backward against the closed door with a feeling that I had been scooped hollow. Sara wasn't the only one who could steal the energy of the living, it appeared. White semeny stuff ectoplasm, I guess spilled from the desk's pigeonholes in a dozen little streams, and the desk suddenly launched itself across the room. It flew almost too fast to follow with the eye. Anyone standing in front of it would have been smashed flat There was a head-splitting shriek of protest and agony Sara this time, I knew it was and then the desk struck the wall, breaking through it and letting in the rain and the wind. The rolltop snapped loose of its slot and hung like a jointed tongue. All the drawers shot out. Spools of thread, skeins of yarn, little flora/fauna identification books and woods guides, thimbles, notebooks, knitting needles, dried-up Magic Markers Jo's early remains, Ki might have called them. They flew everywhere l ike bones and bits of hair cruelly scattered from a disinterred coffin. ‘Stop it,' I croaked. ‘Stop it, both of you. That's enough.' But there was no need to tell them. Except for the furious beat of the storm, I was alone in the ruins of my wife's studio. The battle was over. At least for the time being. I knelt and doubled up the green rag rug, carefully folding into it as much of the shattered glass from the light as I could. Beneath it was a trapdoor giving on a triangular storage area created by the slope of the land as it dropped toward the lake. The ridge I'd felt was one of the trap's hinges. I had known about this area and had meant to check it for the owls. Then things began to happen and I'd forgotten. There was a recessed ring in the trapdoor. I grabbed it, ready for more resistance, but it swung up easily. The smell that wafted up froze me in my tracks. Not damp decay, at least not at first, but Red Jo's favorite perfume. It hung around me for a moment and then it was gone. What replaced it was the smell of rain, roots, and wet earth. Not pleasant, but I had smelled far worse down by the lake near that damned birch tree. I shone my light down three steep steps. I could see a squat shape that turned out to be an old toilet I could vaguely remember Bill and Kenny Auster putting it under here back in 1990 or '91. There were steel boxes filing cabinet drawers, actually wrapped in plastic and stacked up on pallets. Old records and papers. An eight-track tape player wrapped in a plastic bag. An old VCR next to it, in another one. And over in the corner I sat down, hung my legs over, and felt something touch the ankle I had turned in the lake. I shone my light between my knees and for one moment saw a young black kid. Not the one drowned in the lake, though this one was older and quite a lot bigger. Twelve, maybe fourteen. The drowned boy had been no more than eight. This one bared his teeth at me and hissed like a cat. There were no pupils in his eyes; like those of the boy in the lake, his eyes were entirely white, like the eyes of a statue. And he was shaking his head. Don't come down here, white man. Let the dead rest in peace. ‘But you're not at peace,' I said, and shone the light full on him. I had a momentary glimpse of a truly hideous thing. I could see through him, but I could also see into him: the rotting remains of his tongue in his mouth, his eyes in their sockets, his brain simmering like a spoiled egg in its case of skull. Then he was gone, and there was nothing but one of those swirling dust-helixes. I went down, holding the lantern raised. Below it, nests of shadows rocked and seemed to reach upward. The storage area (it was really no more than a glorified crawlspace) had been floored with wooden pallets, just to keep stuff off the ground. Now water ran beneath these in a steady river, and enough of the earth had eroded to make even crawling unsteady work. The smell of perfume was entirely gone. What had replaced it was a nasty riverbottom smell and unlikely given the conditions, I know, but it was there the faint, sullen smell of ash and fire. I saw what I'd come for almost at once. Jo's mail-order owls, the ones she had taken delivery of herself in November of 1993, were in the northeast corner, where there were only about two feet between the sloped pallet flooring and the underside of the studio. Gorry, but they looked real, Bill had said, and Gorry if he wasn't right: in the bright glow of the lantern they looked like birds first swaddled, then suffocated in clear plastic. Their eyes were bright wedding rings circling wide black pupils. Their plastic feathers were painted the dark green of pine nee-dies, their bellies a shade of dirty orange-white. I crawled toward them over the squelching, shifting pallets, the glow of the lantern bobbing back and forth between them, trying not to wonder if that boy was behind me, creeping in pursuit. When I got to the owls, I raised my head without thinking and thudded it against the insulation which ran beneath the studio floor. Thump once for yes, twice for no, asshole, I thought. I hooked my fingers into the plastic which wrapped the owls and pulled them toward me. I wanted to be out of here. The sensation of water running just beneath me was strange and unpleasant. So was the smell of fire, which seemed stronger now in spite of the damp. Suppose the studio was burning? Suppose Sara had somehow set it alight? I'd roast down here even while the storm's muddy runoff was soaking my legs and belly. One of the owls stood on a plastic base, I saw the better to set him on your deck or stoop to scare the crows, my dear but the base the other should have been attached to was missing. I backed toward the trapdoor, holding the lantern in one hand and dragging the plastic sack of owls in the other, wincing each time thunder cannonaded over my head. I'd only gotten a little way when the damp tape holding the plastic gave way. The owl missing its base tilted slowly toward me, its black-gold eyes staring raptly into my own. A swirl of air. A faint, comforting whiff of Red perfume. I pulled the owl out by the hornlike tufts growing from its forehead and turned it upside down. Where it had once been attached to its plastic base there were now only two pegs with a hollow space between them. Inside the hole was a small tin box that I recognized even before I reached into the owl's belly and chivvied it out. I shone the lantern on its front, knowing what I'd see: JO'S NOTIONS, written in old-fashioned gilt script. She had found the box in an antiques barn somewhere. I looked at it, my heart beating hard. Thunder boomed overhead. The trapdoor stood open, but I had forgotten about going up. I had forgotten about everything but the tin box I held in my hand, a box roughly the size of a cigar box but not quite as deep. I spread my hand over the cover and pulled it off. There was a strew of folded papers lying on top of a pair of steno books, the wirebound ones I keep around for notes and character lists. These had been rubber-banded together. On top of everything else was a shiny black square. Until I picked it up and held it close to the side of the lantern, I didn't realize it was a photo negative. Ghostly, reversed and faintly orange, I saw Jo in her gray two-piece bathing suit. She was standing on the swimming float with her hands behind her head. ‘Jo,' I said, and then couldn't say anything else. My throat had closed up with tears. I held the negative for a moment, not wanting to lose contact with it, then put it back in the box with the papers and steno books. This stuff was why she had come to Sara in July of 1994; to gather it up and hide it as well as she could. She had taken the owls off the deck (Frank had heard the door out there bang) and had carried them out here. I could almost see her prying the base off one owl and stuffing the tin box up its plastic wazoo, wrapping both of them in plastic, then dragging them down here, all while her brother sat smoking Marlboros and feeling the vibrations. The bad vibrations. I doubted if I would ever know all the reasons why she'd done it, or what her frame of mind had been . . . but she had almost certainly believed I'd find my own way down here eventually. Why else had she left the negative? The loose papers were mostly photocopied press clippings from the Castle Rock Call and from the Weekly News, the paper which had apparently preceded the Call. The dates were marked on each in my wife's neat, firm hand. The oldest clipping was from 1865, and was headed ANOTHER HOME SAFE. The returnee was one Jared Devore, age thirty-two. Suddenly I understood one of the things that had puzzled me: the generations which didn't seem to match up. A Sara Tidwell song came to mind as I crouched there on the pallets with my lantern shining down on that old-timey type. It was the ditty that went The old folks do it and the young folks, too / And the old folks show the young folks just what to do . . . By the time Sara and the Red-Tops showed up in Castle County and settled on what became known as Tidwell's Meadow, Jared Devore would have been sixty-seven or -eight. Old but still hale. A veteran of the Civil War. The sort of older man younger men might look up to. And Sara's song was right the old folks show the young folks just what to do. What exactly had they done? The clippings about Sara and the Red-Tops didn't tell. I only skimmed them, anyway, but the overall tone shook me, just the same. I'd describe it as unfailing genial contempt. The Red-Tops were ‘our Southern blackbirds' and ‘our rhythmic darkies.' They were ‘full of dusky good-nature.' Sara herself was ‘a marvelous figure of a Negro woman with broad nose, full lips, and noble brow' who ‘fascinated men-folk and women-folk alike with her animal high spirits, flashing smile, and raucous laugh.' They were, God keep us and save us, reviews. Good ones, if you didn't mind being called full of dusky good-nature. I shuffled through them quickly, looking for anything about the circumstances under which ‘our Southern blackbirds' had left. I found nothing. What I found instead was a clipping from the Call marked July 19th (go down nineteen, I thought), 1933. The headline read VETERAN GUIDE, CARETAKER, CANNOT SAVE DAUGHTER. According to the story, Fred Dean had been fighting the wildfires in the eastern part of the TR with two hundred other men when the wind had suddenly changed, menacing the north end of the lake, which had previously been considered safe. At that time a great many local people had kept fishing and hunting camps up there (this much I knew myself). The community had had a general store and an actual name, Halo Bay. Fred's wife, Hilda, was there with the Dean twins, William and Carla, age three, while her husband was off eating smoke. A good many other wives and kids were in Halo Bay, as well. The fires had come fast when the wind changed, the paper said ‘like marching explosions.' They jumped the only firebreak the men had left in that direction and headed for the far end of the lake. At Halo Bay there were no men to take charge, and apparently no women able or willing to do so. They panicked instead, racing to load their cars with children and camp possessions, clogging the one road out with their vehicles. Eventually one of the old cars or trucks broke down and as the fires roared closer, running through woods that hadn't seen rain since late April, the women who'd waited found their way out blocked. The volunteer firefighters came to the rescue in time, but when Fred Dean got to his wife, one of a party of women trying to push a balky stalled Ford coupe out of the road, he made a terrible discovery. Billy lay on the floor in the back of the car, fast asleep, but Carla was missing. Hilda had gotten them both in, all right they had been on the back seat, holding hands just as they always did. But at some point, after her brother had crawled onto the floor and dozed off and while Hilda was stuffing a few last items into the trunk, Carla must have remembered a toy or a doll and returned to the cottage to get it. While she was doing that, her mother had gotten into their old Desoto and driven away without rechecking the babies. Carla Dean was either still in the cottage at Halo Bay or making her way up the road on foot. Either way the fires would run her down. The road was too narrow to get a vehicle turned around and too blocked to get one of those pointed in the right direction through the crush. So Fred Dean, hero that he was, set off on the run toward the smoke-blackened horizon, where bright ribbons of orange had already begun to shine through. The wind-driven fire had crowned and raced to meet him like a lover. I knelt on the pallets, reading this by the glow of my lantern, and all at once the smell of fire and burning intensified. I coughed . . . and then the cough was choked off by the iron taste of water in my mouth and throat. Once again, this time kneeling in the storage area beneath my wife's studio, I felt as if I were drowning. Once again I leaned forward and retched up nothing but a little spit. I turned and saw the lake. The loons were screaming on its hazy surface, making their way toward me in a line, beating their wings against the water as they came. The blue of the sky had been blotted out. The air smelled of charcoal and gunpowder. Ash had begun to sift down from the sky. The eastern verge of Dark Score was in flames, and I could hear occasional muffled reports as hollow trees exploded. They sounded like depth charges. I looked down, wanting to break free of this vision, knowing that in another moment or two it wouldn't be anything so distant as a vision but as real as the trip Kyra and I had made to the Fryeburg Fair. Instead of a plastic owl with gold-ringed eyes, I was looking at a child with bright blue ones. She was sitting on a picnic table, holding out her chubby arms and crying. I saw her as clearly as I saw my own face in the mirror each morning when I shaved. I saw she was about Kyra's age but much plumper, and her hair is black instead of blonde. Her hair is the shade her brother's will remain until it finally begins to go gray in the impossibly distant summer of 1998, a year she will never see unless someone gets her out of this hell. She wears a white dress and red knee-stockings and she holds her arms out to me, calling Daddy, Daddy. I start toward her and then there is a blast of organized heat that tears me apart for a moment I am the ghost here, I realize, and Fred Dean has just run right through me. Daddy, she cries, but to him, not me. Daddy! and she hugs him, unmindful of the soot smearing her white silk dress and her chubby face as he kisses her and more soot begins to fall and the loons beat their way in toward shore, seeming to weep in shrill lamentation. Daddy the fire is coming! she cries as he scoops her into his arms. I know, be brave, he says. We're gonna be all right, sugarplum, but you have to be brave. The fire isn't just coming,' it has come. The entire east end of Halo Bay is inflames and now they're moving this way, eating one by one the little cabins where the men like to lay up drunk in hunting season and ice-fishing season. Behind Al LeRoux's, the washing Marguerite hung out that morning is in flames, pants and dresses and underwear burning on lines which are themselves strings of fire. Leaves and bark shower down,' a burning ember touches Carla's neck and she shrieks with pain. Fred slaps it away as he carries her down the slope of land to the water. Don't do it! I scream. I know all this is beyond my power to change, but I scream at him anyway, try to change it anyway. Fight it! For Christ's sake, fight it! Daddy, who is that man? Carla asks, and points at me as the green-shingled roof of the Dean place catches fire. Fred glances toward where she is pointing, and in his face I see a spasm of guilt. He knows what he's doing, that's the terrible thing way down deep he knows exactly what he is doing here at Halo Bay where The Street ends. He knows and he's afraid that someone will witness his work. But he sees nothing. Or does he? There is a momentary doubtful widening of the eyes as if he does spy something a dancing helix of air, perhaps. Or does feel me? Is that it? Does he feel a momentary cold draft in all this heat? One that feels like protesting hands, hands that would restrain if they only had substance? Then he looks away,' then he is wading into the water beside the Deans' stub of a dock. Fred! I scream. For God's sake, man, look at her! Do you think your wife put her in a white silk dress by accident? Is that anyone's idea of a play-dress? Daddy, why are we going in the water? she asks. To get away from the fire, sugarplum. Daddy, I can't swim! You won't have to, he replies, and what a chill I feel at that! Because it's no lie she won't have to swim, not now, not ever. And at least Fred's way will be more merciful than Normal Auster's when Normal's turn comes more merciful than the squalling handpump, the gallons of freezing water. Her white dress floats around her like a lily. Her red stockings shimmer in the water. She hugs his neck tightly and now they are among the fleeing loons,' the loons spank the water with their powerful wings, churning up curds of jam and staring at the man and the girl with their distraught red eyes. The air is heavy with smoke and the sky is gone. I stagger after them, wading I can feel the cold of the water, although I don't splash and leave no wake. The eastern and northern edges of the lake are both on fire now there is a burning crescent around us as Fred Dean wades deeper with his daughter, carrying her as if to some baptismal rite. And still he tells himself he is trying to save her, only to save her, just as all her life Hilda will tell herself that the child just wandered back to the cottage to look for a toy, that she was not left behind on purpose, left in her white dress and red stockings to be found by her father, who once did something unspeakable. This is the past, th is is the Land of Ago, and here the sins of the fathers are visited on the children, even unto the seventh generation, which is not yet. He takes her deeper and she begins to scream. Her screams mingle with the screams of the loons until he stops the sound with a kiss upon her terrified mouth. ‘Love you, Daddy loves his sugarplum,' he says, and then lowers her. It is to be a full-immersion baptism, then, except there is no shorebank choir singing ‘Shall We Gather at the River' and no one shouting Hallelujah! and he is not letting her come back up. She struggles furiously in the white bloom of her sacrificial dress, and after a moment he cannot bear to watch her,' he looks across the lake instead, to the west where the fire hasn't yet touched (and never will), to the west where skies are still blue. Ash sifts around him like black rain and the tears pour out of his eyes and as she struggles furiously beneath his hands, trying to free herself from his drowning grip, he tells himself It was an accident, just a terrible accident, I took her out in the lake because it was the only place I could take her, the on ly place left, and she panicked, she started to struggle, she was all wet and all slippery and I lost my good hold on her and then I lost any hold on her and then I forget I'm a ghost. I scream ‘Kia! Hold on, Ki!' and dive. I reach her, I see her terrified face, her bulging blue eyes, her rosebud of a mouth which is trailing a silver line of bubbles toward the surface where Fred stands in water up to his neck, holding her down while he tells himself over and over that he was trying to save her, it was the only way, he was trying to save her, it was the only way. I reach for her, again and again I reach for her, my child, my daughter, my Kia (they are all Kia, the boys as well as the girls, all my daughter), and each time my arms go through her. Worse oh, far worse is that now she is reaching for ‘me', her dappled arms floating out, begging for rescue. Her groping hands melt through mine. I cannot touch, because now I am the ghost. I am the ghost and as her struggles weaken I realize that I can't I can't oh I couldn't breathe I was drowning. I doubled over, opened my mouth, and this time a great spew of lake-water came out, soaking the plastic owl which lay on the pallet by my knees. I hugged the JO'S NOTIONS box to my chest, not wanting the contents to get wet, and the movement triggered another retch. This time cold water poured from my nose as well as my mouth. I dragged in a deep breath, then coughed it out. ‘This has got to end,' I said, but of course this was the end, one way or the other. Because Kyra was last. I climbed up the steps to the studio and sat on the littered floor to get my breath. Outside, the thunder boomed and the rain fell, but I thought the storm had passed its peak of fury. Or maybe I only hoped. I rested with my legs hanging down through the trap there were no more ghosts here to touch my ankles, I don't know how I knew that but I did and stripped off the rubber bands holding the steno notebooks together. I opened the first one, paged through it, and saw it was almost filled with Jo's handwriting and a number of folded typed sheets (Courier type, of course), single-spaced: the fruit of all those clandestine trips down to the TR during 1993 and 1994. Fragmentary notes, for the most part, and transcriptions of tapes which might still be down below me in the storage space somewhere. Tucked away with the VCR or the eight-track player, perhaps. But I didn't need them. When the time came if the time came I was sure I'd find most of the story here. What had happened, who had done it, how it was covered up. Right now I didn't care. Right now I only wanted to make sure that Kyra was safe and stayed safe. There was only one way to do that. Lye stille. I attempted to slip the rubber bands around the steno books again, and the one I hadn't looked at slipped out of my wet hand and fell to the floor. A torn slip of green paper fell out. I picked it up and saw this: For a moment I came out of that strange and heightened awareness I'd been living in; the world fell back into its accustomed dimensions. But the colors were all too strong, somehow, objects too emphatically present. I felt like a battlefield soldier suddenly illuminated by a ghastly white flare, one that shows everything. My father's people had come from The Neck, I had been right about that much; my great-grandfather according to this was James Noonan, and he had never shit in the same pit as Jared Devore. Max Devore had either been lying when he said that to Mattie . . . or misinformed . . . or simply confused, the way folks often get confused when they reach their eighties. Even a fellow like Devore, who had stayed mostly sharp, wouldn't have been exempt from the occasional nick in his edge. And he hadn't been that far off at that. Because, according to this little scratch of a chart, my great-grandfather had had an older sister, Bridget. And Bridget had married Benton Auster. My finger dropped down a line, to Harry Auster. Born of Benton and Bridget Noonan Auster in the year 1885. ‘Christ Jesus,' I whispered. ‘Kenny Auster's grandfather was my granduncle. And he was one of them. Whatever they did, Harry Auster was one of them. That's the connection.' I thought of Kyra with sudden sharp terror. She had been up at the house by herself for nearly an hour. How could I have been so stupid? Anyone could have come in while I was under the studio. Sara could have used anyone to I realized that wasn't true. The murderers and the child victims had all been linked by blood, and now that blood had thinned, that river had almost reached the sea. There was Bill Dean, but he was staying well away from Sara Laughs. There was Kenny Auster, but Kenny had taken himself and his family off to Taxachusetts. And Ki's closest blood relations mother, father, grandfather were all dead. Only I was left. Only I was blood. Only I could do it. Unless I bolted back up to the house as fast as I could, slipping and sliding my way along the soaked path, desperate to make sure she was all right. I didn't think Sara could hurt Kyra herself, no matter how much of that old-timer vibe she had to draw on . . . but what if I was wrong? What if I was wrong?

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ART101 CA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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3. Biomaterials for bone tissue-engineering - Essay Example Osseointegration means the ability to integrate into surrounding bones. The ideal condition is that the tissue should be reabsorbed and may be even replaced by the body’s own regenerated biological tissues. Bioactive inorganic materials like tricalcium phosphate, HA, bioactive glasses have a large capacity to be re-absorbed. This is definitely one of the positive points of inorganic materials. But the main problem is their brittle nature. This brittle nature means that the fracture toughness of the bones cannot b matched by these materials and thus is not ideal for picking heavy loads. Polymers such as collagen and hyaluronic acid are polymers which are interesting options for the use (Seeherman H, 2008).However they have weak mechanical properties and provide a possible risk of diseases if there is poor handling. Hydrogels are the kind of polymers which are creating great buzz about their use. They have many advantages including the one that chemical biofunctionalisation and cell encapsulation and delivery are very straightforward. In order for the biomaterial to be like a real bone the toughness of a polymer needs to be combined with the compressive strength of an inorganic material (Hollinger, 2004). This improves their mechanical properties and degradation profiles. Once the adequate biodegradable polymer has been selected the next step is to find a suitable processing technique. The processing methodology must not adversely affect the biocompatibility or the chemical properties of the chosen materials. Through the years a variety of processing techniques have been developed. Some of them will be discussed here by us. Solvent casting /Particulate Leaching – This method consists of dispersing calibrated materials such as sodium chloride or organic materials like saccharine particles in a polymer solution. The dispersion is processed after this either by casting or by using the method of freeze drying which results in

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Should cell phones be allowed on airplanes - Essay Example Airplanes are very sensitive to signals that are coming into and going out of them. The fact that airplanes can be intercepted by these signals is an alarming issue which must be raised at all fronts. Even more important is the reality that dawns upon everyone – cell phones are the bane as far as airplane flights are concerned. They must be banned at the earliest and allowing the users to communicate or text through them is fatal to the basis of safety whilst being on a flight. The question that arises here is that how would people be able to stay in touch with their near and dear ones, especially when the flights take a lot of time. One shall believe that there is absolutely no substitute for safety of the passengers and nothing should be allowed if it comes in the wake of the same. Hence cell phones due to their dangerous signals and similar transmission issues should be shown the door as far as the airplanes are related. Since airplanes have state of the art technology regimes working in them, it is the responsibility of the airline to ensure that the cell phones are not allowed no matter how difficult the circumstances are or how influential the passengers turn out to be. The rules are the same as far as the usage of cell phones are concerned (Bedord 2008). There have been some airlines which have allowed their passengers to make free use of cell phones but what these airlines are forgetting is the fact that these cell phones can have serious drawbacks on the smooth functioning of the aircrafts as well as the signals which are being sent to the pilot as well as transmitted from his end. A great deal of responsibility rests with the pilots and their crew to ensure that the aircrafts are cell phone-free because this is in the better interest of all and sundry. One of the most important reasons behind avoiding cell phone usage lies in the research that has been conducted thus far. It has been demonstrated that

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Develop a Summary on the State of the US Economy - Essay Example Additionally, access of low-interest loans and other credits has been easy. This is a chance to property owners to refinances their mortgages. Car sales have also increased significantly due to sufficient liquidity; consumers can take advantage of cheap financial incentives and price discounts by to buy vehicles. However, car manufacturers do not make profit due to the inexistence of price power. The strength of the United States economy is also increasing due to development of GDP brought by defense spending. According to Kubarych, (2002), defense spending especially on military hardware is contributing close to half of the U.S. GDP. The rate of unemployment is still high despite the decrease in the number of job layoffs. Statistics shows that unemployment rate of in the U.S. currently stands at 6% with no hopes of falling. A study by Kubarych, (2002) explains that unemployment rate is likely to increase even further in the future. In addition, most businesses and industries in the U.S. are still making losses despite the economic recovery. Finally, borrowers especially those going for less credit are under tight restriction from lending institutions. The development of the United States economy is likely to slow down in the next 12 months due to factors such as harsh weather conditions, reduction of spending on both the U.S. and countries Europe. Compared to recovery of previous U.S. economy, the recovery of the current economy is slower. However, increase in government spending will likely to foster the U.S. economic growth. A change of fiscal policy is needed to increase economic recovery of the United States. Application of expansionary fiscal policy will improve economic recovery. The fact is that expansionary fiscal policy will lead to increase in aggregate demand. The government does this by increasing spending and reducing taxes. The result is that consumer spending will rise significantly due to availability of extra disposable income (Boyes &

Marketing Research Analysis - Dubai Taxi Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Marketing Analysis - Dubai Taxi - Research Paper Example During the early 21st century, the competition prevailed between transportation companies has certainly become more intensive in terms of quality of services, which is gaining the attention of the tourists more than ever before. In this regard, it is perceived that the demand of Taxi in Dubai has revolutionized its public transportation facilities (Hussain, Nasser and Hussain 1-9). 1.2 Aim and Objectives. The prime aim of this research is to conduct a comprehensive marketing research analysis of Dubai Taxi. In relation to this aim, the objectives of the study mainly include determining the expectations of the customers and analyzing the complaints of the customers regarding the services quality of Taxi in local markets of Dubai. 1.3 Research Methodology. In relation to the above context, a qualitative approach of research methodology has been taken into concern with gathering primary as well as secondary data. For gathering primary data, a survey has been conducted amid 100 respondents with the aim of identifying the market of transportation industry (Taxi) of Dubai. In this regard, a questionnaire survey has been prepared for gathering primary data. On the other hand, academic literatures have been reviewed with the aim of gathering reliable information regarding the stated subject matter. 2.1 Research Objectives and Questions. It has been earlier mentioned that the major aim of this particular research study is to determine the services quality of Dubai Taxi services. Simultaneously, this particular research intends to determine the expectations of the customers for developing such services. Based on this particular research aims along with objectives, specific research questions have been framed, which will deliver appropriate understanding regarding the subject matter of the study. The specific research questions

Memo to Passengers on Spree Cruise Lines Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Memo to Passengers on Spree Cruise Lines - Essay Example It is unfortunate that with this situation, we also need to skip our Cancun destination altogether. We understand that this is an unhappy announcement for everyone. However, passenger safety and the ships integrity are our main concerns. Rest assured that we would make the necessary special arrangements for a differentiated level of experience during our short stay at Cozumel. Furthermore, our Cruise Director Ned would create some activities to make our travel fun, entertaining, and still worth its while. We are open to ideas and suggestions from everyone. We would also like to call everyones attention regarding some internet posts that some may have done during the past hours. We regret the worries that this incident may have caused you, but we also would request for everyone not to provide unnecessary worries to our loved ones who are waiting for us on land. We would like to minimize any issues this could cause everyone, and at the same time have the relaxation and fun that we expect from this trip. Our ship may be running slow, but let us not let this â€Å"slow us

Samoa Islands Essay Example for Free

Samoa Islands Essay Samoa is a group of islands located in the south pacific, approximately halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii. It consists of two main islands, Upolu and Savaii. Samoa is well-known for its natural beauty and landscape. Samoa is very much a tourist destination. Tourists are attracted to the strong commitment to sport, Samoan cuisine, Samoan lifestyle, natural attractions, and traditional aspects such as tattooing and ceremonial occasions. Although, on the contrary, Samoa has big disadvantages for being located in the pacific region as natural disasters are a reoccurrence in its history. The most recent being the 2009 Tsunami, killing approximately 200 people. The Samoan reputation has also recently become corrupted because of unsettling between Samoans and Tongans. Although this is news to Australians, this conflict between Samoa and Tonga has a long history behind it. Religion Samoa is mostly a Christian country. The law is very much based on Christian ethics and churches are located in every village. The most common denominations are EFKS, Mormonism, Catholicism and Assembly of God. Only recently are modern churches such as Pentecostal Christian churches and even Muslim. Religion is very much apart of Samoan culture, and practiced within the family unit. Sport Samoans enjoy lots of sports, for example popular sports include volley ball, touch footy, cricket and rugby union. Samoans have had teams compete in the Commonwealth Games; they have won gold medals for weightlifting and bronze medal in athletics. Samoans also have a successful national rugby team, Manu Samoa, who won the Rugby Sevens last year. Tattoos The traditional Samoan tattooing is called the pe’a, the body tattoo. Originally, the pe’a was only tattooed on those Samoans with a ‘matai’ title, which is a chief role where they are named representatives of their families or villages. So the ‘matai’ title was traditionally extremely respected within the Samoan culture.

Programs to Improve Education in the US

Programs to Improve Education in the US Chapter 1: Introduction Topic. The current education debate in the U.S. has centered on preparing all scholars to be college and career ready by equipping them with scholastic, technical, and employability competences by the time they graduate high school (Hein, Smerdon, Lebow Agus, 2012; Stone Lewis, 2012). However, the competences gap between what employers seek and what scholars-future labor market candidates-possess has raised concerns about how the educational system prepares high school scholars to become college and career ready to meet the needs of the labor market (Stone Lewis, 2012). Without providing the scholastic, technical and employability competences that will help American teens transition smoothly into careers and college, many teens will continue to be underprepared for the labor market while employers react by grieving the existence of a competences gap among labor market candidates (Halpern, 2009; Stone Lewis, 2012). Lerman (2008) agrees that that policymakers have attempted to address the competences gaps and workplace changes, due to global labor market changes, by enhancing educational attainment through more requirements scholastic initiatives. These achievements though, have neglected the possibility for other learning models. Lerman thus alleged that more schooling does not make you more successful for careers. Similarly, Cappelli (2008) affirmed that, while education is a good fundamental for success, having scholars take more rigorous scholastic courses will not ensure that they will be prepared for the labor market and that should be a cause for distress. Cappelli (2008) has further alleged that there is a problem with competences gaps which ultimately lays in scholars work-based skills. Thus, while scholastic competences are considerable, employers are fascinated in how scholars can translate their education into productive practices in the workplace. Overview of the Research Problem Research shows that, despite reforms to raise scholastic achievement among high school scholars, approximately 40% of American teens, do not attend or complete college (Lerman, 2009) and subsequently enter the labor market inadequately prepared (Stone Lewis, 2012). When the focus is getting more teens into college, despite the evidence that a large majority of scholars do not complete their degrees or get jobs in their fields, society risks creating scholars who neglect their vocational futures since their choices may lack a clear connection to their goals. Scholars sometimes enter college with no clear direction (Zimmer-Gembeck Mortimer, 2006). Halpern (2009) agrees that the implicit assumption in the U.S. that everyone needs some type of traditional, post-secondary education to be abundance in the labor market since most of the educational reforms have rested on the belief that all scholars should be encouraged to pursue college degrees. Symonds, Schwarz, and Ferguson (2011) and Skills (2010) agrees that identifying alternative career pathways is essential to preparing scholars as the traditional, scholastic, classroom-based method is not suitable for the majority of American teens as it often causes such scholars to disengage from learning and graduate from school without the competences to succeed in careers or higher education. In that regard, when scholars are well prepared for careers or education, high levels of unemployment are reduced, scholars are given a sense of purpose and direction, and the time spent floundering after high school is reduced (Hamilton, 1990; Taylor Watt-Malcolm, 2007). Focusing on college and career readiness means that all scholars at the high school level can be engaged in relevant learning experiences that meet their needs and learning styles, and ultimately the needs of the labor market (Stone Lewis, 2012). Recent reports by Center for Social Organization of Schools tell us that only 75% of scholars leave high school with a diploma. In nearly 2,000 of the nations high schools, graduation is not the norm. Only 69.2% of the scholars graduate after four years (Barton, 2007; Center for Social Organization of Schools, 2008; edweek. org, 2009). Many scholars enrolled in schools are not fully engaged in the educational process due to lack of a clear connection between high school work and personal goals (Bottoms Young, 2008). The Partnership for 21st Century Skills revealed in its 2007 survey that 80% of voters say the competences scholars need to learn to prepare for 21st Century careers differ from what they needed 20 years ago (Partnership for 21ST Century Skills, 2010, and Vockley-Lang, 2007). Community and industry stakeholders also believe schools need to do a better job of keeping up with changing educational needs (Barton, 2007, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2010 and Vockley-La ng, 2007, Walker, 2008). Successful learning to achieve life and career success requires active engagement. Engagement is defined as a school participants involvement in both learning and overall activities. Since a scholars engagement is often measured by a scholars overall achievement and school involvement, a closer look is required. Engagement is considerable for all scholars in school, whether urban, suburban, or rural, and regardless of socioeconomic background. Disengagement is a higher order factor composed of correlating factors occurring over a gradual period (Balfanz, Herzog, MacIver, 2007. Scholars may experience a loss of scholastic motivation, which leads to detachment from school and its expectations, while reducing effort and classroom involvement. Scholars in prosperous environments, when they become disengaged, may learn less than they could or miss opportunities; however, they are often provided supplemental chances to meet expectations. The consequences of disengagement vary within different socioeconomic background. The scholars most affected are from disadvantaged backgrounds, in high poverty, and urban high schools. These scholars are less likely to graduate and h ave fewer opportunities for second chances and future success (National Academy of Sciences, 2003). According to Reschly and Appleton, Engagement is the primary theoretical model for understanding the dropout and is, frankly, the bottom line in interventions to promote school completion (Reschly Appleton, 2008). Career and Technical Education programs engage scholars by providing opportunities for them to learn competences that lead to industry credentials or certification (Office of Vocational and Adult Education, 2008). Despite current federal initiatives to spur reforms in American education such as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and Race to the Top (2009), both containing goals of making American teens competitive in the global economy, the competences gap in the United States (U.S.) has not increased (Cappelli, 2008; Christman, 2012; Lerman, 2012). A mismatch between the competences employers want and what scholars-potential employees-present in the labor market continues to exist. scholars, employers, and demographic changes, concerns with high school dropout and scholastic achievement, high college incompletion rates, and a competences gap in the labor market have generated interest in how best to engage scholars and make them college and career ready (Alfeld, Charner, Johnson Watts, 2013; Darche, Nayar Bracco, 2009b; Guy, Sitlington, Larsen Frank, 2009; Lerman, 2012; Stone Lewis, 2012). This challenge has caused policy makers, educators, and employers to seek solutions to the education and training of scholars that enhance their competences to meet employer needs. Calls have been made for educators to provide multiple career pathways for American teens and to provide work based learning activities that promote practical, and scholastic, learning (Symonds, Schwartz Ferguson, 2011). Statement of the Problem Over the past couple of years, several educational initiatives (No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 [NCLB]; Race to the Top, 2009) have been developed to increase the scholastic achievement and presumably the competitive advantage of American high school scholars. Despite the well-placed intentions of these initiatives, concern still exists that the educational system is not adequately preparing scholars with the competences needed to enter the labor market or to pursue higher education as the effects of these reforms have been modest (Lerman, 2008; Stone Lewis, 2012). The educational policy that emphasizes high-stakes testing and advancing the number of scholars entering science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields has marginalized a considerable proportion of high school scholars whose learning styles, and scholastic and career interests, do not align with educational reforms or the needs of the labor market (Lerman, 2008; Symonds, W. C., Schwartz, R. B., Ferguson R., 20 11; Stone Lewis; 2012; Trilling Fadel, 2009). Thus, even though enhancing schools is necessary, there is not a sufficient response to the labor market and global and technological changes. This study sought to address the gaps in the literature on internship programs targeted at teens in the United States. Notably, while internships have been abundance in other developed countries, little research has been conducted in recent years on internships targeted at adolescents in the U.S. Research on internships in the U.S. has focused on adult internships typically in their mid- to late twenties Hence, this study sought to address the gaps in the literature on the internship program targeted at teens in the United States. Deficiencies and Limitations in the Evidence This case study will provide an in-depth description of one internship program. The study focused on one program could be perceived as a limitation. Although the findings may apply to other organizations, generalizations of the findings to other contexts such as an established program or another industry may have severe limitations. A single case would provide additional insights and boost the findings of the study. Purpose of the Study This study will describe an internship program targeted at adolescents and aimed at addressing the employer skill needs. Examining the experiences of scholars, employers and educators engaged in internships. In the Career Technical and Education programs of the 21st century scholastic competences are stressed. In North occupations, educators, and Technical Education educators are accountable for both the skill proficiencies and scholastic gain of Career and Technical Education scholars. The indicators that require the blending of scholastic and Career and Technical Education are mandated through Perkins funding that North Carolina receives to fund local and state Career and Technical Education achievements. Accountability in Career and Technical Education is guided by the Carl Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 and other legislation, including No Child Left Behind. North Carolina is required to establish performance indicators in eight areas: 1S1: scholastic attainment: reading and language arts, 1S2: scholastic attainment: mathematics, 2S1: Technical attainment, 3S1: Completion, 4S1: Graduation rate, 5S1: Positive placement, 6S1: Nontraditional participation, 6S2: Nontraditional completion, Performance indicators 1S1, 1S2, and 4S1 are tied directly to No Child Left Behind. Because of this accountability model in place for North Carolinas Career and Technical Education programs, scholar enrollment is a major concern because enrollment can affect the formulas used to calculate performance levels. The context of this case study of an industry education partnership, will take place in one public school district in North Carolina, its 28 schools serves approxiately 17,370 scholars. The Career and Technical Education department offers courses such as Apparel, Robotics/Tech Ed., Furniture/Cabinetmaking, Accounting, Health Science, Agriculture, Culinary, Marketing, and Business. At the turn of the twenty-first century, the most considerable legislation in school reform was passed into law. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, 2001), promoted higher achievement standards, required schools to hire highly qualified educators, allowed for school choice, and changed school district spending. This sweeping reform in the education system caused considerable change and placed more focus on scholastic achievement using standards-based curriculum with standardized testing in core scholastic subjects (Rush Sherff, 2012). Since this change in education reform has occurred, a shortage of workforce ready individuals along with decreased confidence in the viability of Career and Technical Education programming exists (Gray, 2002; Bray, 2011). Further, high schools are forced to offer more rigorous, scholastic-focused courses to meet standards and high stakes testing requirements, forcing schools to forgo what has been a historically considerable part of secondary education (Siegel, 2009). Such focus on standards and raising the threshold for test scores results in insufficient time for hands-on activities and cooperative learning. Further, the standards for high stakes testing, as required by the No Child Left Behind Act, narrow the enterprise of education (Lewis, 2002; Parkison 2009). At the school, district, and state levels under NCLB, schools needs for meeting NCLB expectations have damaged the impact of Career and Technical Education programs. Some professionals view Career and Technical Education programs as an extra and therefore Career and Technical Education programs maintain diminished value in helping to raise school achievement scores or encourage scholar success. Because of this perception, school administrators have been forced to reduce parts or entire Career and Technical Education programs from their scholastic offerings, decreasing the value and quality of Career and Technical Education programs (Haussmann, 2012). The United States is experiencing a shortage in workforce ready high school graduates due, in part, to the change in curricular offerings in high schools across the country (McNamara, 2009). Employers have determined that teens entering the workforce lack basic soft competences such as teamwork, interpersonal communication, and organizational competences. McNamaras (2009) findings report that more than 80% of employers were concerned about soft competences deficiencies among workers. On the technical side, secondary indicators for scholastic success included industry standards (Gordon, 2008). The increased funding on a local level has strengthened technical competences of scholars through integration and provide experiences in all aspects of an industry (Gordon, 2008). Besides, integration of curriculum and a broad program of study, the Perkins Act also sought to improve, expand, and modernize Career and Technical Education programs. The funding provided for modernization of current Career and Technical Education programs has been given to provide activities to prepare special populations and mainstream populations for high-skill, high-wage, and high-demand occupations that lead to self-sufficiency (Gordon, 2008). Throughout the last two decades, there has been a renewed belief that Career and Technical Education can impact the scholastic performance of scholars. Daggett suggested that scholars need both scholastic and Career and Technical Education competences. Daggett (2013) stated: If Career and Technical Education is to remain a viable program in secondary schools, it is essential that Career and Technical Education leaders and educators be able to prove that Career and Technical Education contributes not just to the applied workplace competency demands of business but also to the scholastic proficiencies of its served scholar populations on state scholastic tests. While schools are aiming to integrate and modernize their Career and Technical Education programs to prepare scholars for these occupations, industry has helped shape their mission. Employers have been willing to pay higher salaries for higher levels of competences and certifications in the nonprofessional workforce (Ausman, 2009). Some schools and programs have recognized this and have reached out to industry to match the needs of their scholars success and the needs of industry. Programs such as High Schools That Work (HSTW) have sought to increase scholars readiness for college and better prepare their scholars who would seek immediate employment (Gibbs, 2006). These programs help meet the needs of industry, while also matching the rigorous ambitions of current legislation for schools under No Child Left Behind (Gibbs, 2006). In the PBS documentary Making Schools Work, Joyce Phillips, principal of Corbin High Schools in Kentucky, shared that nearly 80% of all high school scholars need a hook something that makes them want to come to school and have a desire to learn. She believed programs integrating high scholastic standards and rigor, and a comprehensive program for Career and Technical Education focusing on certification and skill development, are the answer to hooking those 80% high school scholars (Gibbs, 2006). Integrating competences-based technical education with scholastic rigor in the traditional curriculum such as reading, writing, math, and science can give these scholars an opportunity in a variety of arenas following completion of high school. Hiring trainable employees is becoming increase difficult because most scholars seeking employment have little work history, limited educational credentials, and a brief rà ©sumà © (Ausman, 2009). Experts predicted in 2010 over 80% of jobs would require scholars to have additional training beyond a high school diploma (Ausman, 2009). Current programs and curriculum in Career and Technical Education are cognizant of this alarming statistic and the need to provide scholars with competences and training in industry besides scholastic preparation for college and beyond (Ausman, 2009). Despite Career and Technical Education of the past being thought of as a track for scholars who would not need the scholastic rigor and demands of the college preparatory curriculum, research has proven that Career and Technical Education engages and motivates scholars by giving them real world opportunities and challenges that will enhance and provide connection to their education (Harris Wakelyn, 2007). Recently, employers have communicated with educators to tell schools what competences are needed, and these collaborative achievements often include the scholastic rigor necessary to prepare for schooling beyond high school (Ausman, 2009). It is now estimated that over half of all scholars choosing to take part in some Career and Technical Education curriculum at their school are taking the bulk of their courses within the college preparatory curriculum (Harris Wakelyn, 2007). The achievements of schools to restructure curriculum and increase rigor come in the wake of high dropout rates and stagnant college completion rates over the past several years (Harris Wakelin, 2007). Entrepreneurial philanthropists such as Bill Gates have been challenging public schools over the past decade to include more relevant experiences and real-world practical application to their curriculum, which some find obsolete. At a 2005 conference, Mr. Gates stated that nearly 70% of all scholars who dropped out of high school claim they would have stayed more engaged and not dropped out if the school offered more engaging, real world learning opportunities (Harris Wakelyn, 2007). This call to action was just what Career and Technical Education programs across the country needed to hear because of their ability to give scholars the opportunity to learn in applied settings (Harris Wakelyn, 2007). Organizations no longer bear the primary responsibility for their workers career development, instead expecting each individual to take on that responsibility (Adamson, 1997; Conlon, 2003; Graham Nafukho, 2004. Career Development, which has a long history and rich theoretical base and human resource development, a relatively young field of study still developing and refining its theoretical base (Lynham, 2000; Swanson, 2001; Torraco, 2004;). Contrary to what many people believe, theory is not intended to be haughty pontification about a scholarly topic. Instead, the development of theory, specifically in emerging fields such as Human Resource Development, should lead to explanations that aid practitioners and scholars alike in using and explaining issues that impact people and organizations. The refinement of theory is also an considerable aspect of theory building and in the established field of career development scholars are now calling for the convergence of existing career development theory into a framework to address the current theoretical inadequacies (Savickas, 2001; Zunker, 2002). The Carl D. Perkins Act (2006) specified that local education agencies applying for federal funding illustrate in their local planning systems how career guidance and scholastic counseling be provided to Career and Technical Education scholars including linkages to future education and training opportunities (US Department of Education, 2012). A career development coordinator can work with Career and Technical Education scholars to develop realistic plans of study, assist with registration, and serve as an advocate for Career and Technical Education scholars. During middle school scholars explore and understand a variety of careers while developing a scholar portfolio that includes career interest inventories, learning style inventories, and the development of four year plans. The transition from middle to high school can present challenges for scholars due to the increased in rigorous coursework and scholar expectations (Breakthrough Collaborative, 2011). Therefore, effective career development and advisement activities are an influential factor in Career and Technical Education course selections in secondary education. Career development and advisement activities can be provided from a variety of individuals including parents, educators, and counselors. In their study, Manzi, Palma, and Schultheiss (2005) found that to strengthen the connection between school and future result, choices, and school counselors could provide children with experiences that more clearly link scholastic subject areas with various occupations. This concept supports the notion of a program of study that combines a rigorous Career and Technical Education and scholastic curriculum directed by a scholars career interest. According to Kalchik and Oertle (2012) program of study provi de a means for exploring options, organizing course selections and planning for transition while developing knowledge and competences. Despite the presumed relationship between Career and Technical Education and career development, a gap continues to exist between the two because Career and Technical Education courses alone do not provide the essential components available within a career development program (Kalchik Oertle, 2012). Therefore, comprehensive career development plans that incorporate scholastic and career courses meet the college and career readiness goals outlined in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS, n. d.). A comprehensive career development program assists with the development of programs of study that are developed at the eighth grade with the help of the school counselor and parents with the scholar prior to transitioning to high school. However, emphasis on career development that could help steer Career and Technical Education programs have not been greatly emphasized in our educational systems, although early educators stressed the importance of vocational competences to a childs overall development (Gutek, 2011; Lewis, M. V., Kosine, N. R., Overman, L., 2008). McComb Beverage (2012) suggest that when career development programs are not put into place during the adolescent stage, scholars may face difficulty making career choices upon graduation from high school. Mei, Newmeyer, and Wei (2008) conducted a study on the factors that influence a scholars career choices by analyzing the relationships among learning experiences, career self efficacy, career interest, and career choices. Mei, T., Newmeyer, M. D., Wei, P. (2008) found that interventions are needed to provide scholars with a comprehensive career development program that helps scholars develop self-efficacy in their desired careers through practical learning activities. In a study to understand the factors that influence enrollment in Career and Technical Education programs at an occupational center, Gene (2010) examined the human and other factors while exploring the most effective communication strategies that accurately present the advantages of Career and Technical Education. Gene (2010) found the factors that influenced scholars to enroll were having a high school career plan, earning credits toward high school graduation, and a job shadowing someone in the field where they were fascinated. McComb-Beverage (2012) found that self-efficacy can be an influential component to an adolescents career planning process. Supers (1992) life span theory depicts his life-span rainbow as a model for the practice of career development and counseling. The life span theory helps to develop conceptual design instruments for career assessments. A model of Career Development, Maturity, and Adaptability, Model of Importance and Determinants seeks to draw on matching theory and its knowledge base, on developmental theory and its wisdom, and on phenomenology or personal construct theory. It seeks, too, to portray what we know about person-environment interaction (Super, D. E., Osborne, L. W., Walsh, D. J. Brown, S., Niles, S. G., 1992). Career assessments including The Strong Inventory, The Career Development Inventory, The Adult Careers Concern Inventory, and the Saliency Inventory conceptualize the career interest of an individual (Super, Osborne, Walsh, Brown, Niles, 1992). North Carolina Career and Technical Education programs are required to provide a Career Development Plan (CDP) on all scholars when they are transitioning to postsecondary education that includes a variety of inventories to gauge the scholars career interests and learning abilities (NC 5-Year Career and Technical Education State Plan, 2008). Career counseling to enhance career development can be implemented within programs and institutions with the use of assessments and inventories as designed by Super (1992). McComb-Beverage (2012) found that lifespan coupled with an effective career development program can assist adolescents in creating realistic goals for the future. The learning style of individuals can also play a vital role in their course selections and their career and college goals because style of learning determines how an individual processes each new experience. As a model, Career, and decisions are influenced through lived experiences. Kolb and Yeganeh (2009) explained, For many, this learning style choice has become relatively unconscious, comprised of deeply patterned routines applied globally to learning situations. Mindfulness can put the control of learning back in the learners hands. Therefore, assessing scholar learning styles during the career development process can help guide scholars in making informed decisions during and after high school. Career guidance and a variety of inventories are essential tools for transition from school to work where Friedman (2007) suggests that individuals should be provided with tools that make them lifetime employable. In order for scholars to gain both Career and Technical Education and scholastic competences, scholars must be recruited into Career and Technical Education programs. If low enrollment becomes an issue for a Career and Technical Education, they could be held accountable for various performance standards, including scholastic gain. Low or declining enrollment is a concern for Career and Technical Education educators and administrators due to the standards mandated in the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act of 1998. Administrators in state agencies and local Career and Technical Education departments agree that accountability is the key aspect in Perkins III. Because Congress gave more flexibility to the states in dividing funds, they expected in return to see positive results from the supported Career and Technical Education programs. Therefore, through the accountability model, Career and Technical Education must show its contribution to scholarly achievement, progr am completion rates, and the placement of scholars in postsecondary education and the workforce. To meet accountability expectations, states had to develop systems that measure performance using three or four specific indicators. Social literacy contract. Historically, vocational education, now titled, Career and Technical Education began as an apprenticeship agreement for individuals to learn a skilled trade prior to entering the workforce (Lynch, 2006). In the early nineteen- hundreds, Career and Technical Education expanded into a program that was ultimately offered in schools to supply both the industrial and agricultural workforces with skilled workers. School reforms, such as the Smith-Hughes National Vocational Education Act of 1917, required specific skilled training to retain scholars in secondary schools and provide trained workers for semiskilled occupations (Gordon, Daggett, McCaslin, Parks, Castro, 2002). The landmark legislation, The Carl D. Perkins Act of 1984, confirmed politicians belief that Career and Technical Education is an considerable contributor both economically and socially. According to Gordon, Yocke, Maldonado, and Saddler (2007), the Perkins Act emphasized improvement in scholas tic achievement and the preparation of school-aged individuals for postsecondary education and work. Career and technical education is often viewed as way to prepare scholars of lower socioeconomic standing for the work force. This belief was characterized when a U.S. Department of Education employee characterized Career and Technical Education programs as preparing scholars for careers as shoe repairers (DAmico, 2003). The Career and Technical Education stereotype prevails in the minds of many administrators with the thinking, as Gray (2004) stated, It prepares scholars only for work after high school, and its scholars are mostly male, too often minorities, economically backward, and destined for dead-end jobs. The attitudes of administrators may not be overt in those stated beliefs. Those attitudes are unrecognized paradigms as deeply ingrained as are underlying sexist attitudes and racial attitudes. On April 24, 1997, former Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education Patricia W. McNeil addressed the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. In her statement, she discussed the importance of career and technical (vocational) education for the 21st century. McNeil stated: We need a new vision of vocational education if we ensure that scholars are prepared for the information age of the 21st century. That vision must reflect the rapidly changing demands of our economy and society brought on by new technologies, global competition, and changes in the organization of work. Our vision must reflect the knowledge and competences that workers, citizens, and family members will need to be abundance in a world that is dramatically different than the one that existed when we got our formal education. We must envision new kinds of schools. I believe it is considerable that we think about vocational education as an integral part of our achievements to reform secondary schools and improve postsecondary education. There has been an expansion of Career and Technical Education in the United

Investigation into elastic potential energy :: essays research papers fc

Why and What I hope to achieve: I believe that the purpose of doing this is to allow me to demonstrate my understanding of Elastic potential energy. And the projectile concepts of the effect of changing potential into kinetic energy and for me to demonstrate my ability to apply elastic potential energy to a scientific investigation. What am I going to do and what will it prove: I am going to use an elastic band and release it from different tensions I will then measure how far it ‘flies’. Doing this will tell me the relationship between force, potential energy and kinetic energy. My Prediction: I predict that the further I pull the band back the further it will ‘fly’. This is based on the fact that the more tension involved means that the potential energy is greater therefore the kinetic/moving energy will also be greater. Variables: Force to pull the band back. This will be between 3 and 11 Newton’s. Equations: Distance = Speed Time Speed = Time   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Distance Time = Distance   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Speed I also have Equations for EPE in my research. Method: 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Attach an elastic band to the hook on the end of a Newton metre and stretch the band until the Newton metre reads three Newton’s 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Then Release the band and see how far it flies. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Measure using a metre stick how far the band has travelled. 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Repeat this same test three time in order to gather and average later on. 5)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The repeat this test using forces of 5, 7, 9 and 11 Newton’s. 6)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Remember to repeat each test on each force three times. 7)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Then collect the mean average using the results you received from repeating each of the tests. Fair Test: I will make sure this is a fair test by:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Using the same band each time  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Using the same height at which to release the band  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Repeat each test three times so that we gat a reasonable result and in the case of getting a ‘freak’ result I will repeat that test.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Same place – Draught’s, heat  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Same angle when band is released Things to take into account:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The band will ‘age’ therefore losing some of its elasticity and tension.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If it didn’t hit the ground it would probably go further.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Use the same Newton metre and have the same person reading it.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There might be a breeze of wind of some sort either flowing with the band or against it.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Temperature of room  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Any possible obstructions or anything else that make effect the general momentum e.g. Doors opening windows being open or shut.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Angle, position and height you release the band from.

The Details of Human Sexuality and Society Essay -- Sexuality, gender,

This is a definition of from someone who has studied human sexuality †human sexuality is the way in which we experience and express ourselves as sexual beings (Rathus et al., 1993). There are many factors that help develop our sexuality, arguably one of the most important, is our actual gender. Whether, I am a male or female will likely have a major influence on the development of my individual sexuality. Furthermore, sexuality is an integral part of our personalities whether we are aware of it or not.† Ludwin Molina. Here is my definition to me it is just the attraction to someone. The way you feel towards them mainly sexual feelings. Every culture has a different belief or value when it comes to making sexual decisions. I would say it mainly depends on how you are raised. For me and my family we have been taught to wait until marriage, although sometimes things may not work out that way it is still how we have been raised Also I think it depends on the generation. The generation now is a lot more accepting to sex before marriage. Kids think of it as â€Å"it’s going to happen anyway†. There for sexual attraction is shown a lot more often at a younger age. Now if you’re talking about older generations it is not as accepted. You were looked down upon if you had a child before marriage in some generations. This caused people to not be as affection and show there attraction for each other in the public eye because they didn’t want people to assume things and be looked down upon. Human Sexuality is a tough topic to talk about because it is so general. It is basically what attracts one to another and how they show there feelings. What brings them together and keeps them together. It also related to sexual attraction because it is ho... ...th anthropology because anthropology relates to genetics. Human sexuality works very closely with genetics and how you are made and what you consist of as well as personality and culture traits. It also relates to parents because your parents are what make you and raise you how to act. This relates to genetics because it makes you part of your parents. Which we are learning about in class. In conclusion human sexuality just depends on how comfortable you are with your self, how you were raised and what you believe. It is not really just pushed on you. You develop it your self with your own opinions and views. As long as help with the ones around you. For example the way kids I know and I am friends with show there human sexuality is very different then the way our parents did because it is our culture, as well as how we rate situations and how we look at things.

The Tech Museum of Innovation :: Technology Tourism Essays

The Tech Museum of Innovation "An abiding curiosity and an insatiable desire to learn how and why things work are the hallmarks of innovation . . . Creativity is nurtured by being receptive and encouraging" (Hewlett, 1998, p. 8). The innovation of computers and technologies are being developed enormously in order to serve the needs of mankind. The more people around the world that are eager to learn how to use new computers and technologies, the more I am proud that I am one who lives in a place that many people call, "Silicon Valley: the heart of computers and technologies in the world." I live in San Jose, the capital of Silicon Valley (The City of San Jose, 1999, p. 1). San Jose is surrounded by a great number of hardware and software computer companies. There are a lot of job opportunities offered in this region. San Jose, thus, is called, the land of the Silicon Rush, which has replaced California's Gold Rush, which occurred fifty-two years ago (San Jose Convention & Visitors Bureau, 2000, p. 4). People aro und the world want to go to the land of the Silicon Rush such as businessmen, engineers, college students, and, of course, tourists. Considering tourists, if we look for tourist sites in San Jose, a tourist site that many people are recognized is The Tech Museum of Innovation. The Tech Museum is a museum of technology revolutions. It is a big mango-colored building located centrally in downtown San Jose, at the corner of Market Street and Park Avenue. Inside the Tech Museum, there are four theme galleries. The first gallery, Communication, global connections, is to experience how the Internet, television, and communication technology have brought the world together. The second gallery, Exploration, new frontiers, is to demonstrate an earthquake, investigate under the sea, and use imagination to take people to many different places. The third gallery, Innovation, Silicon Valley and beyond, is to allow visitors to become a Silicon Valley inventor by designing a roller coaster, microchip, and 3-D self-portrait. The fourth gallery, Life tech, the human machine, is to experience machines that keep humans alive and expl ore technologies which enhance human performance. Moreover, the Tech Museum provides an IMAX Dome Theater, the center for learning, Tech online, the national medal of technology, the center of the edge, and public art. Through this paper, I will articulate why I selected The Tech as the artifact of this study, what the mission of the Tech Museum I will explore is, what the sources I have collected are, which method will be employed, and how I will use this method.

Last year I did my placement in Cork Simon Communities Outreach project

Last year I did my placement in Cork Simon Communities Outreach project. I really enjoyed this placement and as I had a lot of knowledge on this project I decided to do my Community Development project on the Outreach project. I realised while working on the Outreach team how important the service was because when young people first become involved in street life they do so because they see no other option. Many leave situations of acute family breakdown or violent situations. They may have been exposed to alcoholism, drug addiction, abuse and have lived under the strain of poverty and unemployment. Street life seems to me like an insecure, lonely, frightening and dangerous situation for any person to find himself or herself in. Unfortunately people living on the streets are quickly exposed to alcohol, drugs, crime and prostitution. Many people do not know how to get help and many have lost contact with services. For the most part people who are out of home are not easily identified. They â€Å"hang around† and dress similarly to other people. They have however, no consistent support or care and nowhere they call home. For the most part they are invisible. This is where the Outreach Street Service's importance comes in; The Outreach team has a good understanding of the situation among people on the streets. Outreach contacts people out of home at risk. Outreach befriends people and builds trusting relationships with people. The Outreach team provide information about services provided and the location of these services. Oliver Hoegener created ‘The Yellow Leaflet' which Simon published and the Outreach team always carry these leaflets to give to new people on the streets of Cork. Outreach also puts people in contact with services and all street work is documented. History The Simon Community was established in Ireland in 1969, there are now 4 Simon Communities in the Republic of Ireland; Dublin, Dundalk, Galway and of course Cork which was set up in 1971. The philosophy of the Simon Community is the framework, which guides the community's policies, practice and day-to-day running of its projects. The guiding principles set the parameters within which the staff work and residents live while in the community. The community's philosophy is based on Acceptance, Community, Long-Term Care and Campaigning. The philosophy also embraces and includes, A commitment to justice, sharing, creating space for people, being as democratic as possible, being part of the wider community, providing care, support and solidarity, valuing relationships, encouraging participation, inclusiveness. The community also has a strong voluntary ethos. The community's policy is to: Empower people, to encourage independence, to encourage people to take responsibility, to be inclusive and to facilitate those who wish to tackle any difficulties they may face such as alcohol and drug addictions etc. Change is not a primary focus, though it is facilitated where possible. There is a strong emphasis on Confidentiality in Simon, all matters relating to residents remains confidential and all people involved in Cork Simon Community must bear in mind that all clients have a right to privacy. This enables trusting relationships to be built within and between various members of the community. All workers must respect clients as individuals with the ability to make decisions and changes in their lives, in light of their beliefs and values. The Outreach project is a new project of the Cork Simon Community. Since January 2002, the two Outreach workers (Carmel Moore & Oliver Hoegener) have been doing intensive street work in Cork. The project is targeting ‘rough sleepers' and offers easy access to support and advise on a wide range of issues. One of the main aims of the project is harm reduction and prevention as well as making and maintaining contact with service users on the street. The Outreach team liaise's with other agencies such as Drug and Alcohol Services, the Homeless Adolescent Unit and the other Drug Task Force Projects. Outreach links in with a wide number of other groups in the city e.g. YMCA, Gardai, Southern Health Board, local community groups, youth workers etc. Outreach works in collaboration with the existing Youth Homeless Drug Prevention Project as well as with other Simon projects, such as (1) The shelter; where the Outreach worker and shelter staff can establish times that the outreach team can bring people into the building to gain access to the shelters services. (2) Day centre; again the outreach team works from the day centre in befriending people and building new relationships with ‘rough sleepers'. (3) The Soup run; The nightly soup run meets between 60-80 people each week some are sleeping rough while others are living in the private rented sector or in corporation flats. The Soup Run provides hot meals, blankets, advice and companionship for the homeless. In March 2002 the Outreach team set up a Lunch run, they were aware of the need for a weekend service because places like the Upper Rooms only provide a Monday to Friday service and a lot of Cork's homeless people were dependant solely on the soup run at weekends as their only source of food, similar to the soup run, the lunch run gives out tea, soup, sandwiches and fruit in the evening around the streets of Cork city, I think this was an excellent service to set up because while on placement I did the lunch run and it proved to get very popular after a few weeks of being established, it is only the Outreach workers which do the lunch run. The two Outreach workers work more closely with the Youth Drugs worker and liase with the volunteer co-workers on the nightly soup run. Managed The Crisis Services Manager who is accountable to the director of cork Simon manages outreach. Financed A substantial amount of money required to run the Simon Community on a day-to-day basis is raised by the community itself through voluntary fund-raising such as flag days, church gate collections, Simon shops and sponsored events. The State also contributes to the Simon Communities running costs in the form of rent. While each Simon Community is autonomous and is responsible for financing and running its own projects, all Communities work closely together and collectively form a national federation with the national office in Dublin acting as a resource, servicing and co-ordinating agency. Working together as a national body has many practical advantages and gives expression to that founding principle which states that no one community alone can ever be Simon. Evaluation From working in the Simon Community I do believe that the organisation is a very successful one. From attending weekly meetings where issues like barrings, a residents physical/mental health, issues that occurred in all areas of Cork Simon etc, were being discussed, I realised how complex it was just to run the whole project and how some decisions that were made had such a huge impact on other people e.g. a rough sleeper being barred from the use of all Simons services, these decisions really annoyed the Outreach team because then as the Outreach worker it is your duty to go out on the streets, find this rough sleeper and try to get them into other services. Even though the whole organisation is so complex and controversial you just have to look back at Simon's vision of society where: there is no homelessness, and compassion, respect and empathy are the core of the community's relationships, and justice, equality and social inclusion are central to state policy. Also the mission of the Simon Community to develop preventative strategies that will divert people becoming homeless, to campaign for the right for appropriate accommodation and responsive services for the homeless, to provide quality care, accommodation and services which support and empower people who are homeless, marginalized, vulnerable or socially excluded. I believe that the policy of Simon and the Core Values are very realistic, Simon does not discriminate and in theory the organisation is getting stronger and providing an essential service for the homeless of Cork.