Describing Some Special Interest, Significant Experience, or Personal Statement

Depicting Some Special Interest, Significant Experience, or Achievement Relevant - Personal Statement Example Likewise, I persuaded entrepreneurs to do their part by setting their business name on gift packs as a component of their business advancement crusade. This thought was very generally welcomed and because of it, numerous normal individuals additionally chose to contribute as a money blessing. 2. Information or innovativeness in a field: Describe any of your uncommon advantages and how you have created information in these regions. Give instances of your imagination: the capacity to see options; take differing viewpoints; think of many, fluctuated, or unique thoughts; or eagerness to attempt new things. I have been keen on financial matters from an extremely youthful age. I was urged by my grandparents to open up a bovine house. This was an incredible encounter until Korea struck another Free Trade Agreements with the United States. This caused animals costs to fall and the entire part experienced to log jam. I was entranced by the way that this FTA influenced the Korean economy in various manners and this caused me to ponder more financial matters, including factors like restricted capital and outside changes. I figured out how to perceive showcase and monetary patterns and this assisted with building up my innovativeness as far as financial matters and its related fields. 3. Managing misfortune: Describe the most noteworthy test you have confronted and the means you have taken to address this test. Incorporate whether you went to anybody in confronting that challenge, the job that individual played, and what you found out about yourself. Working low maintenance work isn't simple. I encountered a few challenges with one specific chief. He was extremely condemning of my work. The more he attempted to issue me at work, the harder and more grounded I became. I was not going to let him treat me like a simpleton. I went to my senior collaborators and beseeched them to prepare me with the goal that our director would never discover motivation to single out me. I had the option to demonstrate that I could carry out the responsibility and much more.â â

Immanuel Kant’s theories

Kant’s speculations are in extraordinary appear differently in relation to different logicians. He was a retributivist who accepted that rebuffing miscreants however they are reasonable creatures, is right, as long as the wrongdoing they did fits such punishment. Discipline without reasons or imprisoning somebody for trivial burglary is out of line. He talked about discipline on the scrutinize of down to earth reasons which stand out from Jeremy Benthan an utilitarian scholar who considers discipline as malicious and supporters for discipline to cause progressively constructive effects on the individual rebuffed. (Robert, 2000).As Betham bolsters restoration endeavors in detainment facilities Kant discovered such endeavors indecent as they acted against ones individual judicious decisions. Kant rejects control of individuals in any event, when the causes and reasons are simply. Individuals ought to be permitted to explanation behind themselves and their choices ought to be reg arded. Kant censured different hypotheses in light of the fact that they were just theoretical and couldn't be pertinent in reality. A few speculations contend that everyone's benefit should be viewed as when acting however such would be immaterial to somebody whose intrigue isn't on keeping up the normal good.Hypothetical moral frameworks ought not be utilized to decide the ethical activity as they are extremely abstract while in the genuine sense people’s interests shift. He dismissed Hume’s hypothesis on the perfect hypothesis of the psyche. To Kant expository strategies ought not be utilized to clarify what is truly apparent. To him, engineered thinking includes relating ideas that are not legitimately identified with the subject idea. An earlier information can be utilized in the transcendentalism study. (Bayne, 2000) Kant reprimands the utilitarian view that satisfaction is the most elevated goal.He contradicts this view as it made escape clauses where individual s would be utilized just as intends to accomplish or achieve joy. This would disregard the way that every individual are sane and can pick or design and envision their future. Kant depicts the absolute basic methodology where he considers all to be creatures as tenants of an exceptional spot in creation. Individuals have various requirements which should be fulfilled utilizing certain methods. He utilizes the term proverb to allude to expectations or guideline of activity. Individuals ought not act in a manner that depicts others basically as unfortunate chore yet as a conclusion to itself.In attempting to achieve the adage individuals ought not utilize others essentially as necessary chore. Individuals utilized should profit by the course of action and their assent ought to be looked for. To him, obligations ought to be useful to individuals utilized during the time spent accomplishing the objectives. I concur with Kant’s hypothesis as all individuals ought to be treated wit h correspondence and with deference. There are two kinds of goals. The speculative basic recounts what we should do to accomplish an objective. The downright basic prompts supremacy since individuals are objective and can administer their activities. Individuals should just follow up on adages that can become widespread law.To Kant, there are all inclusive good laws that are coherently vital. People’s activities ought to consequently be performed by the satisfactory widespread laws of ethical quality. People should act as per a similar general, future and good laws. (Robert, 2000). All individuals ought to be treated with moral regard. Double dealing ought not be considered in any event, when being applied for transgressors. To Kant, obligations can be great or flawed. Defective obligations involve attempting to build up our gifts since they are given to us for a reason while immaculate obligations involve an obligation to others.Kant dismissed the moral power achieved by con vention and authored the advanced thought of self-sufficiency. He achieved the possibility of centrality of objective idea. Every individual can settle on free and self-governing decisions and they are constrained by levelheadedness and the straight out basic in their choices. Adherence to unmitigated basic accommodates self-governing moral decision since individuals settle on their choices judiciously. In interest for different adages all gatherings included profit by the course of action. Self-ruling methods self legislating.Autonomy of the will is the capacity of the will to be a will in itself while the will alludes to the methods by which a proverb can turn into an all inclusive law. Heteronomy implies the ability to keep law other than itself to deliver a widespread law of profound quality. (Collins, 2000) To Kant, objects don't have esteem however man gives them esteem through their discerning objectives and wants. People have a natural worth or nobility. They ought to along these lines demonstration in cooperative attitude out of a feeling of obligation and utilize the all out objective. What we provide for society returns to us and we should not to hurt others yet work in guaranteeing that they profit by out activities.

International business strategy (change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Worldwide business procedure (change - Essay Example with the worldwide, national and mechanical condition a business needs to change its inner structures and frameworks to pick up the best of results from its activities. The progressions in interior structures to accomplish this frequently influence authoritative structures, frameworks of creation, dissemination and promoting. Smith and Graetz (2011) compare organizations with life forms. They are in a populace that incorporates different organizations which meet up to frame an industry. They need to fabricate and keep up their territories of upper hand to endure and this is apparent as development and the catch of piece of the overall industry. This is as advancement, where the business finds new ways and techniques for getting things done to defeat results and beat rivals as far as endurance and benefits. Watchman (1998) states that change and advancement unfreezes and reshapes a business’ interior frameworks to empower it to achieve and continue upper hand. This implies change makes an association disassemble its current frameworks and structures and afterward set up new frameworks and structures to empower it to meet changes in its outer condition with regards to key arranging. Kurt Lewin recognizes three phases that organizations experience to make and continue change (Shapiro, 2010). At the primary the association needs to ‘unfreeze’. This includes the investigation of the outer and inside condition and the recognizable proof of the requirement for change. This is trailed by the endorsing of the undertaking by commencement with tope level administration and center representatives to be engaged with the procedure. This is supplemented by the need to analyze and get questions and concerns. The subsequent stage includes the genuine change. Now, the change is imparted to all the individuals worried about it. The faculty accountable for the change need to make a solid effort to dissipate questions and opposition. They at that point proceed to enable the partners engaged with the genuine change. From

Accounting as a discipline has no theory. Critically evaluate this statement and provide examples to illustrate your argument.

Bookkeeping as a control has no hypothesis. Fundamentally assess this announcement and give guides to delineate your contention. Bookkeeping is worried about the assortment, investigation and correspondence of financial data, which can be utilized to settle on choices and plans about business by different clients. The Committee On Terminology of the American Institute of Certified Pubic Accountants characterized bookkeeping as follows: Bookkeeping is the specialty of recording, ordering, and summing up in a noteworthy way and regarding cash, exchanges and occasions which are, in past in any event, of a money related character and deciphering the outcomes thereof. (Ahmeo Riahi-Belkaou, page 32) Accounting is supposed to be a language used to convey data to individuals. Bookkeeping is additionally a scholarly control and a calling. Additionally, bookkeeping is socially built and polished by individuals for individuals, which impact operations and connections in society.The history of bookkeeping extends back to when the primary old bookkeeping framework started, which was initially founded on estimation and reco rding exercises, and afterward the critical rise of twofold section accounting around the fifteenth century, as a reason for additional bookkeeping advancement that therefore brought about current Ango-American bookkeeping in the twentieth century.Clay bookkeeping tokens, Susa, Uruk period.Whereas bookkeeping was fundamentally an inward issue where the owners were near the business, the development of organizations prompted the prerequisite of stewardship bookkeeping. Because of further mechanical turn of events, changing social condition and foundation of expert bookkeeping bodies, the bookkeeping hypothesis ought to methodicallly create as per significance of bookkeeping in present day society. As of late, an ever increasing number of scholars begin to survey the idea of bookkeeping hypothesis just as contend whether there is a bookkeeping hypothesis or not.In this exposition, I am going to test the meaning of bookkeeping hypothesis and give proof to discover the presence of a tot al bookkeeping theory.A hypothesis is characterized as a lot of interrelated builds (ideas), definitions and suggestions that...

Buying Wholesale Electronics

Purchasing Wholesale Electronics Free Online Research Papers Selling discount hardware may be an incredible business particularly among youthful clients who love machines. This is a sure fire approach to acquire cash. However, you require to realize how to buy discount hardware inorder to raise you can get the best arrangement and sound returns, so furnish yourself with insight and sense over dynamic ablity for right determination . Introducing here are some valuable tips for your absulote exactness. It is great to purchase locally in your own state than to purchase abroad. Buying abroad has a greater number of hindrances than benefits. For one, you require to pay for the delivery expense, which can be extremely tremendous in the event that you buy discount hardware from the abroad sides of the world. Likewise, different countries have their own quality and purchaser guidelines. You don't know whether they would meet your states own guidelines. At last, it sets aside a long range of effort to dispatch items from unexpected nation in comparison to that of yours. So to spare yourself from these concerns, basically buy being locally. Be dubious of wholesalers who are managing obsolete or a years ago models of electronic items. A few organizations sell their last year products with old model items at a less expensive cost just to arrange them on the grounds that the most up to date and current stocks have quite recently been left to them by the makers of creative hardware. The less told right condition for this is closeout, not so much discount. Closeout products are generally more affordable than discount items. What's more, except if you want to exchange old examples of electronic apparatuses, you might need to attach to buying discount hardware. Recognize the details of the electronic items that you need to buy. Wholesalers have very little perception about this, so everything figures on to you. Before you assess any creator or fabricators, ensure that you have in your psyche a rundown of merchandise you are searching for. Electronic contraptions must be sent containing guarantee. Along these lines, you and your purchaser are secured if the something out of nowhere turned out badly with the item. Get some information about guarantee conspire or on the off chance that they have an endeavors or game plans prior you deal their item Electronic devices must be delivered containing guarantee. Along these lines, you and your purchaser are ensured if the something abruptly turned out badly with the item. Get some information about guarantee plot or in the event that they have an endeavors or plans prior you deal their item Research Papers on Buying Wholesale ElectronicsRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanDefinition of Export QuotasMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaPETSTEL investigation of IndiaTwilight of the UAW

This Memorial Day, Remember an Abundance Mentality

This Memorial Day, Remember an Abundance Mentality This Memorial Day Sunday, as I sat on a bench overlooking the Hudson River in Tarrytown, NY, I pondered the concept of abundance. Where do I have an “abundance mentality” and where do I live with a scarcity mindset? “What about this river, I mused. Rivers are a symbol of abundance. Do rivers have an abundance mentality? What about droughts? If I were a river I would not feel very abundant in a drought.” “Brenda,” I told myself, “Stop trying to give a river a brain. Rivers don’t know from abundance and scarcity. They just are. It’s people who feel scarcity during droughts.” Well, that line of thinking didn’t get me too far. Even after attending a yoga class nearby, where the teacher threw out the idea that we should imitate nature and just be, I wasn’t sure what to make of my river question. But what I do know is that for humans, having an “abundance mentality” is one of the keys to happiness. When we remember that there is enough â€" more than enough â€" to sustain us, we can not just survive, but thrive. Experiencing the Abundance Mentality There are some areas where I’ve mastered the abundance mentality. In my travels, for instance, when plans fall through (as they often do, and did on this trip), I am open to what other plans will arise. All I have to do is pick up the phone and I can find a friend to hang out with or a new place to stay if I need it. I am never worried about being stranded or running out of possibilities. In other areas, I have yet to vanquish the scarcity mentality. Last year, when a corporate client abruptly reduced the volume of business they were sending to The Essay Expert, I was scared and discouraged. Without that business, I did not have a solid client base. Initially, I did not know what to do to turn things around. It took me a year to build my business back up to where it was before. And lo and behold, it turns out there was abundance after all â€" I just had to strive for it. I’ve also faced my own scarcity mentality with my writing team. Now that business is booming, I have been known to worry that I won’t have enough high-quality writers to cover the projects coming in. At first, I was limited in my ideas about how to find writers. But I asked other writers and coaches for ideas, and they shook up my scarcity thinking. I took their advice and reached out aggressively to executive resume writers through multiple channelsâ€"including some I had never thought of before. Surprise! Some amazingly talented writers inevitably arose. Whatever convictions I have about what’s impossible are simply not true. An Abundance “Mentality” is Not Enough Here’s the thing. Just believing that abundance exists is not enough. You need to take action. When my corporate client dropped off, I felt sorry for myself for a little while, but ultimately I upped my game and got my name out to the world on a bigger scale. When I needed new writers, at first I did the same things I had done in the past, but those actions did not produce results. So I did something different. This principle applies to bigger issues too. This is Memorial Day, and some of us are thinking of people we have lost. While the pain of loss is real and will never go away, when we can appreciate the people who are in our lives now, and know there is enough love and connection for us in the world, we can continue with our lives and allow ourselves to feel joy amidst the pain. With an abundance mentality, we see possibilities and can embrace challenge and change. In scarcity, we experience lack and hopelessness. I know this from experience. Where do you fall on the abundance vs. scarcity mindset spectrum? What is your mentality around money? Love? Jobs? Clients? On this Memorial Day, can you remember that good things are out there for youâ€"and go after them? I encourage you to take one action today to create what you thought was not possible in your life. And let me know what happens. *********** Ready to create abundance with your job search, college applications or business? The Essay Expert offers writing help in all of these areas. Contact us!

Annotated Bibliography on Health Information Technology - 2750 Words

Annotated Bibliography on Health Information Technology (Annotated Bibliography Sample) Content: Annotated Bibliography Doctors and Patient use withDecision support systems - (green)Statement of TopicAhern, Wood, Lightowler, Finley, and Houston (2011) suggests that, Substantial evidence demonstrates that patients today use health information technology (HIT) for a variety of purposes including to seek out relevant health information for themselves, friends or family. Patients use health information technology to schedule appointments, request prescription refills, or message their provider using a secure messaging system (Ahern, Wood, Lightowler, Finley, Houston, 2011). This paper will seek to provide a perspective on how meaningful use of health IT and how specific tools can be associated with clinical support systems.Ahern, D. K., Woods, S. S., Lightowler, M. C., Finley, S. W., Houston, T. K. (2011). Promise of and potential for patient-facing technologies to enable meaningful use. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 40(5), S162-S172. doi:10.1016/j.amepr e.2011.01.005. Retrieved from /science/article/pii/S07493797110 0699In this article, the authors establish themselves as capable physicians, as evidenced by the MD after each of their names. This article is especially relevant in the discussion of the various uses of certain technologies and the comparison of their benefits for patient use. One particularly useful quote reads Once patients have access to their health information and these interventions are seamlessly woven into the care system, a variety of advanced capabilities canbecome, in effect, a form of personalized medicine.Spitzer, A. R., Ellsbury, D. L., Handler, D., Clark, R. H. (2010). The pediatrix BabySteps data warehouse and the pediatrix QualitySteps improvement project SystemTools for Meaningful use in continuous quality improvement. Clinics in Perinatology, 37(1), 49-70. doi:10.1016/j.clp.2010.01.016. Retrieved from http://rx9vh3hy4r.search.serialssol utions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88 2004ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF 8rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.comrft_val_fmt=info%3Ao %2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournalrft.genre=articlerft.atitle=The+Pediatri +BabySteps%C2%AE+Data+Warehouse+and+the+Pediatrix+QualitySteps+Impr vement+Project+System%E2%80%94Tools+for+%E2%80%9CMeaningful+Use E2%80%9D+in+Continuous+Quality+Improvementrft.jtitle=Clinics+in+Perina logyrft.au=Spitzer%2C+Alan+Rrft.au=Ellsbury%2C+Dan+Lrft.au=Handl %2C+Darrenrft.au=Clark%2C+Reese+Hrft.date=2010rft.pub=Elsevier+In rft.issn=0095-5108rft.eissn=1557 9840rft.volume=37rft.issue=1rft.spage=49rft.epage=70rft_id=info:doi/10 016%2Fj.clp.2010.01.016rft.externalDocID=doi_10_1016_j_clp_2010_01_016p ramdict=en-USThe authors of this article establish their credibility by discussing their positions as MDS. The article will prove invaluable by offering insight into a specific technology-- the Pediatrix Baby Steps program. An especially useful quote regarding an advantage of the syste m reads Results can also be filtered using admission status - inborn, outborn, or combined.Winthereik, B. R., Irma Van Der Ploeg, Berg, M. (2007). The electronic patient record as a meaningful audit tool: Accountability and autonomy in general practitioner work. Science, Technology, Human Values, 32(1), 6-25. doi:10.1177/0162243906293884.Retrieved from  HYPERLINK "/stable/29733970?pq%09origsite=summonseq=1" \l "page_scan_tab_contents"
/stable/29733970?pqorigsite=summonseq=1 - page_scan_tab_contentsThe authors of this article appear credible by the appearance of attending prestigious universities, such as the Technical University of Denmark. Their article will be useful to the topic of specific tools and their adaptability by defining the patient record in the context of its various advantages and disadvantages, thus providing a potential counterargument. An especially useful quote states auditing is simultaneously considered an undesirable form of surveillance - an instituti on comparable to Big Brother - and a direct stimulant to a positive form of competitiveness in the form of the desire to do things well within the practice.Jones. JB, Shah. NR, Bruce. CA, and Stewart. WF. (2011). Meaningful use in practice using patient-specific risk in electronic health record for shared decision making. Center for Health Research, Retrieved from  HYPERLINK "/pubmed/21521593"
/pubmed/21521593. This article contributes information about quantitative risk formulas that are used to help increase patient quality of care by implementing QR into the primary care of a patient. Jones mentions that there were modifications to the Framingham Risk score into three areas patient education, risk-stratification, and guidance on choice of care options. This allowed the at-risk patient to be routinely identified for different variables such as alcohol, diabetes, and smokers. The patients data were recorded on a touch screen questionnaire and used it automatically used within the EHR (Jones et al, 2011). This article gives numerous examples of how meaningful use is helpful with improving patients quality of care. David C. Classen, M.D., and David W. Bates, M.D. N Engl J Med 2011; 365:855-858September 1, 2011DOI: 10.1056/NEJMsb1103659.  HYPERLINK "/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsb1103659" \l "t=article"
/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsb1103659#t=article. This article explains how meaningful use works and how to achieve the best outcome of capabilities with meaningful use. Classen mentions that most vendors that are using EHRs are adding new functions and features to be able to meet requirements of meaningful use. It explains that one use of meaningful use is CPOE systems, which have decreased with fatal medication misuse. Classen also explains the criteria that is collected and reported. Classen gives a huge insight to how meaningful-use is and how it is beneficial to the healthcare industry.  HYPERLINK "http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/search?author1=Robert+El-Karehsorts pec=datesubmit=Submit"
Robert El-Kareh.  HYPERLINK "http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/search?author1=Omar+Hasansortspec=datesubmit=Submit"
Omar Hasan.  HYPERLINK "http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/search?author1=Gordon+D+Schiffsortspec=datesubmit=Submit"
Gordon D Schiff. 2013. Use of health information technology to reduce diagnostic errors. BMJ Qual Saf doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2013-001884.  HYPERLINK "http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/early/2013/08/07/bmjqs-2013-001884.full"
http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/early/2013/08/07/bmjqs-2013-001884.full. This article gives a view of how health IT can help improve diagnostic studies. Diagnostic studies have had issues of not being accurate and accurately read. El-Kareh states that tools and algorithms were evaluated and some interventions had a clinical impact. He also mentions that to improve diagnostic studies meaningful use must come a long way to be able to improve the clinical errors that they have been having (El-Kareh,2013). S ome of the measurable evaluations are the diagnostic process using electronic data, usability, using an evidence-based protocol in the clinical workflows, and feedback of the diagnostic studies performed. El-Kareh also gives examples of some of the tools that assisted with the diagnosis of patients is the clinical prediction rules which are scoring systems based on the patients symptoms (El-Kareh, 2013). Paul A Estabrooks, Maureen Boyle, Karen M Emmons, Russell E Glasgow, Bradford W Hesse, Robert M Kaplan, Alexander H Krist, Richard P Moser, Martina V Taylor. 2012. Harmonized patient-reported data elements in the electronic health record: supporting meaningful use by primary care action on health behaviors and key psychosocial factors.  HYPERLINK "http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/amiajnl-2011-000576%20575-582"
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/amiajnl-2011-000576 575-582.This article contains information on the psychological issues and health behaviors and how EHR can help physicians diagnose the symptoms and problems that the patients are having. Using the meaningful use criteria, they could come up with patient- reported data elements for the EHR in the primary care settings. The focus of HITECH is on promoting the exchange and meaningful use of health information to improve population health, reduce healthcare costs, and empower individuals to improve their health through the use of health information technology (Estabrooks, 2012). Successful stages can help improve patient safety and quality. Estabrooks also mentions that using a behavioral perspective interventions improved patient quality and increased positive outcomes. "Meaningful Use Definition Objectives." 2015. HealthIT. Retrieved from  HYPERLINK "/providers-professionals/meaningful-use-definition-objectives"
/providers-professionals/meaningful-use-definition-objectivesThis website will provide the group with a list of the uses of health information technology. It provides four major meaningful uses defin ed. Followed by these uses are the objectives and goals that health information technology hopes to result in. This article will allow the group to better summarize and define health information technology. Butin et al. "The Benefits Of Health Information Technology: A Review Of The Recent Literature Shows Predominantly Positive Results." Health Affairs. Retrieved from  HYPERLINK "http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/30/3/464.full"
http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/30/3/464.fullHealth information technology has many effects within health care facilities. This article covers the effects of health information techn...

The International Telecommunication Union ( Itu ) Defines...

Today our society has evolved beyond the expectations of our founding fathers. Humans flying through the air from destination to destination, being able to send information almost instantaneously, to receiving high definition photos of the furthest celestial bodies known in our solar system, our technology has literally and figuratively rocketed the human race into the future. While our technology becomes increasingly more advanced so does the ability to steal information from these systems. Cyber Security is one of the biggest threats our nation faces as we become more dependent on the use of technology in our day to day lives. What is Cyber Security? The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) defines Cyber Security as â€Å"Cybersecurity is the collection of tools, policies, security concepts, security safeguards, guidelines, risk management approaches, actions, training, best practices, assurance and technologies that can be used to protect the cyber environment and organization and user’s assets. Organization and user’s assets include connected computing devices, personnel, infrastructure, applications, services, telecommunications systems, and the totality of transmitted and/or stored information in the cyber environment.† (ITU, 2008) Cyber-attacks have become ever prevalent in our society as the use of cell phones, emails, and computers become our primary source of sending and receiving information. To fully understand Cyber Security, we must delve into the history ofShow MoreRelatedThe International Telecommunication Union ( Itu ) Defines Cyber Security1547 Words   |  7 P agesthese systems. Cyber Security is one of the biggest threats our nation faces as we become more dependent on the use of technology in our day to day lives. What is Cyber Security? The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) defines Cyber Security as â€Å"Cybersecurity is the collection of tools, policies, security concepts, security safeguards, guidelines, risk management approaches, actions, training, best practices, assurance and technologies that can be used to protect the cyber environment andRead MoreCyber Crime Costs And Its Effects On The World Essay1854 Words   |  8 Pagestheft, hactivism, cyberterrorism, cyberextortion, online fraud and financial crimes committed on the Internet, has became a more and more severe problem for people around the world. According to Forbes.com, Cyber Crime Costs Projected To Reach $2 Trillion by 2019. From 2013 to 2015 the cyber crime costs quadrupled, and it looks like there will be another quadrupling from 2015 to 2019. 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Another issue is limiting access to yourRead MoreOnline Banking42019 Words   |  169 PagesInternet Banking Table of Contents Chapter–1– Introduction 0 Chapter–2– Internet Banking a new medium 7 Chapter--3 - International experience 19 Chapter -4 -The Indian Scenario 33 Chapter- 5- Types of risks associated with Internet banking 41 Chapter- 6- Technology And Security Standards For Internet - Banking 49 Chapter -7 - Legal Issues involved in Internet Banking 74 Chapter- 8- Regulatory and supervisory concerns 84 Chapter–9 - Recommendations 98 Annexure 1 111 Annexure 2 112 The International Telecommunication Union ( Itu ) Defines... Today our society has evolved beyond the expectations of our founding fathers. Humans flying through the air from destination to destination, being able to send information almost instantaneously, to receiving high definition photos of the furthest celestial bodies known in our solar system, our technology has literally and figuratively rocketed the human race into the future. While our technology becomes increasingly more advanced so does the ability to steal information from these systems. Cyber Security is one of the biggest threats our nation faces as we become more dependent on the use of technology in our day to day lives. What is Cyber Security? The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) defines Cyber Security as â€Å"Cybersecurity is the collection of tools, policies, security concepts, security safeguards, guidelines, risk management approaches, actions, training, best practices, assurance and technologies that can be used to protect the cyber environment and organization and user’s assets. Organization and user’s assets include connected computing devices, personnel, infrastructure, applications, services, telecommunications systems, and the totality of transmitted and/or stored information in the cyber environment.†(ITU, 2008) Cyber-attacks have become ever prevalent in our society as the use of cellphones, emails, and computers become our primary source of sending and receiving information. To fully understand Cyber Security we must delve into the historyShow MoreRelatedThe International Telecommunication Union ( Itu ) Defines Cyber Security1551 Words   |  7 Pagesth ese systems. Cyber Security is one of the biggest threats our nation faces as we become more dependent on the use of technology in our day to day lives. What is Cyber Security? The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) defines Cyber Security as â€Å"Cybersecurity is the collection of tools, policies, security concepts, security safeguards, guidelines, risk management approaches, actions, training, best practices, assurance and technologies that can be used to protect the cyber environment andRead MoreCyber Crime Costs And Its Effects On The World Essay1854 Words   |  8 Pagestheft, hactivism, cyberterrorism, cyberextortion, online fraud and financial crimes committed on the Internet, has became a more and more severe problem for people around the world. According to Forbes.com, Cyber Crime Costs Projected To Reach $2 Trillion by 2019. From 2013 to 2015 the cyber crime costs quadrupled, and it looks like there will be another quadrupling from 2015 to 2019. Juniper research recently predicted that the rapid digitization of consumers’ lives and enterprise records willRead MoreEssay on Cyber Crime and Cyber Law2728 Wor ds   |  11 Pagesand internet enable the business organizations to execute the Electronic commerce business model, which has become very popular. Computers and Internet are a powerful source in the success of globalization and international business. Computers are being used worldwide and due to this, cyber crimes are increasing continuously with a rapid growth (Cheeseman, 2006). These types of crimes have become a matter of importance for the consumers as well the business firms because it involves large evictionRead MoreCyber Crime2238 Words   |  9 PagesAnalysis of Cyber Crime awareness among youth Abstract: Cyber crime is emerging as a serious threat. Worldwide governments, police departments and intelligence units have started to react. One of the many approaches to enable students and other peoples to protect themselves from the ever-increasing amount and range of cybercrime. This is relevant to students studying different aspects of undergraduate and postgraduate computing. This paper discusses the views of youngRead MoreTypes Of Hackers And Cloud Computing Essay2269 Words   |  10 Pagesprovider of cloud, third party organization and even the customer for gaining more access for propagating attacks against integrity, confidentiality as well as information availability within the service of cloud. Despite the insider and the external cyber con artists can be conspicuously distinguished, their ability for executing successful attacks is which segregates them as a risk to the vendors and customers alike. In the environment of cloud attackers might be distinguished into 4 kinds includingRead MoreA Swot and Pest Analysis10002 Words   |  41 Pages robust educational system to generate tech-savvy future employees and low cost of phone calls. Singapore has continuously improved in order to prepare to deal with new threats and challenges such as the significant increase in the number cyber crimes, security and privacy concern. KEYWORDS: e-Filling, e-Government, e-Information, e-Litigation, e-Payment, e-Procurement, e-Service, e-User, G2B, G2C, G2E. ASIA-PACIFIC SOCIAL SCIENCE REVIEW 103 E-GOVERNMENT IN SINGAPORE—A SWOT AND PEST ANALYSIS Read MoreEthics of Information Communication Technology (Ict)27618 Words   |  111 Pagesadvancement, political stability, religious causes, the campaign against terrorism, or for personal greed and interests. Violations of these rights have created new problems in human social systems, such as the digital divide, cybercrime, digital security and privacy concerns, all of which have affected people’s lives either directly or indirectly. It is important that the countries of the Asia-Pacific region come up with an assessment of the situation, followed by guidelines for action to combatRead MoreWireless Technology Essay16392 Words   |  66 Pagesunderstand that wireless technology increases the chances for people to steal your information. So having a better understanding of the various types of wireless security will increase your ability to enjoy this technology with limited fear. The issue that there is no wire for people to access does provide a greater chance for security issues. When you are operating on a wireless network, your communication can be monitored by anyone who is in the area. Another issue is limiting access to yourRead MoreOnline Banking42019 Words   |  169 PagesInternet Banking Table of Contents Chapter–1– Introduction 0 Chapter–2– Internet Banking a new medium 7 Chapter--3 - International experience 19 Chapter -4 -The Indian Scenario 33 Chapter- 5- Types of risks associated with Internet banking 41 Chapter- 6- Technology And Security Standards For Internet - Banking 49 Chapter -7 - Legal Issues involved in Internet Banking 74 Chapter- 8- Regulatory and supervisory concerns 84 Chapter–9 - Recommendations 98 Annexure 1 111 Annexure 2 112

The History, Climate, Biodiversity of the Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos Islands are an archipelago located about 621 miles (1,000 km) from the continent of South America in the Pacific Ocean. The archipelago is composed of 19 volcanic islands that are claimed by Ecuador. The Galapagos Islands are famous for their variety of endemic (native only to the islands) wildlife that was studied by Charles Darwin during his voyage on the HMS Beagle. His visit to the islands inspired his theory of natural selection and drove his writing of On the Origin of Species which was published in 1859. Because of the variety of endemic species, the Galapagos Islands are protected by national parks and a biological marine reserve. Also, they are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. History The Galapagos Islands were first discovered by Europeans when the Spanish arrived there in 1535. Throughout the rest of the 1500s and into the early 19th century, many different European groups landed on the islands, but there were no permanent settlements until 1807. In 1832, the islands were annexed by Ecuador and named the Archipelago of Ecuador. Shortly after that in September 1835 Robert FitzRoy and his ship the HMS Beagle arrived on the islands, and naturalist Charles Darwin began to study the areas biology and geology. During his time on the Galapagos, Darwin learned that the islands were home to new species that only seemed to live on the islands. For example, he studied mockingbirds, now known as Darwins finches, which appeared to be different from each other on different islands. He noticed the same pattern with the tortoises of the Galapagos and these findings later led to his theory of natural selection. In 1904 an expedition from the Academy of Sciences of California began on the islands and Rollo Beck, the expeditions leader, started collecting various materials on things like geology and zoology. In 1932 another expedition was conducted by the Academy of Sciences to collect different species. In 1959, the Galapagos Islands became a national park, and tourism grew throughout the 1960s. Throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, there was a period of conflict between the islands native population and the park service. However, today the islands are still protected, and tourism still occurs. Geography and Climate The Galapagos Islands are located in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean, and the closest landmass to them is Ecuador. They are also on the equator with a latitude of about 1Ëš40N to 1Ëš36S. There is a total distance of 137 miles (220 km) between the northernmost and southernmost islands, and the total land area of the archipelago is 3,040 square miles (7,880 sq km). In total, the archipelago is made up of 19 main islands and 120 small islands according to UNESCO. The largest islands include Isabela, Santa Cruz, Fernandina, Santiago, and San Cristobal. The archipelago is volcanic, and as such, the islands were formed millions of years ago as a hot spot in the Earths crust. Because of this type of formation, the larger islands are the summit of ancient, underwater volcanoes and the tallest of them are over 3,000 m from the seafloor. According to UNESCO, the western part of the Galapagos Islands is the most seismically active, while the rest of the region has eroded volcanoes. The older islands also have collapsed craters that were once the summit of these volcanoes. Also, much the Galapagos Islands are dotted with crater lakes and lava tubes, and the overall topography of the islands varies. The climate of the Galapagos Islands also varies based on the island and although it is located in a tropical region on the equator, a cold ocean current, the Humboldt Current, brings cold water near the islands which causes a cooler, wetter climate. In general, from June to November is the coldest and windiest time of the year and it is not uncommon for the islands to be covered in fog. By contrast from December to May, the islands experience little wind and sunny skies, but there are also strong rain storms during this time. Biodiversity and Conservation The most famous aspect of the Galapagos Islands is its unique biodiversity. There are many different endemic birds, reptiles and invertebrate species and the majority of these species are endangered. Some of these species include the Galapagos giant tortoise which has 11 different subspecies throughout the islands, a variety of iguanas (both land-based and marine), 57 types of bird, 26 of which are endemic to the islands. Also, some of these endemic birds are flightless such as the Galapagos flightless cormorant.There are only six native species of mammal on the Galapagos Islands, and these include the Galapagos fur seal, the Galapagos sea lion as well as rats and bats. The waters surrounding the islands are also highly biodiverse with different species of shark and rays. Also, the endangered green sea turtle, hawksbill sea turtle commonly nest on the beaches of the islands.Because of the endangered and endemic species on the Galapagos Islands, the islands themselves and the waters s urrounding them are the subjects of many different conservation efforts. The islands are home to many national parks, and in 1978 they became a World Heritage Site. Sources: UNESCO. (n.d.). Galapagos Islands - UNESCO World Heritage Center. Retrieved from: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1Wikipedia.org. (24 January 2011). Galapagos Islands - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_Islands

Improving Motivation - 948 Words

Diagnosing and Improving Motivation Motivation is a multi-faceted process, and it is important to understand that all of these facets need to be running smoothly in order for workers to be motivated to perform at high levels. If just one component is low, motivation to perform well will also be low (Pritchard amp; Ashwood, 2008). When a manager finds motivation within their team to be low, it is important to take immediate and complete action. A four-step process that includes planning, evaluation of current motivation levels and diagnosis of the problem(s), identifying possible solutions, and finally going forward with the appropriate solutions and measuring results. In the case study: â€Å"Diagnosing and Improving Motivation†¦show more content†¦She was fantastic at change management and motivating her four sales mangers in the process of motivating their individual teams. She began by changing the sales force’s customer service emphasis. Her first initiativ e was to find out which customer targets her sales people felt were most important and then sent each of her four managers to speak with key consultants from their marketing, compliance, service, and accounting departments to get a handle on what sales components were important to them (Pritchard amp; Ashwood, 2008). What I found most impressive was that Jessica noticed that her mangers were overwhelmed by the breadth the information they received from these meetings and quickly put out the fire by assisting them in finding the information’s key components allowing them to organize their information and initiate a plan as a team. The plan was put into action and Jessica looked into a commissions reimbursement program that rewarded the highest achievers on a larger scale. It worked and within After two of her key managers were promoted off of her team, Jessica would need to start the program all over again with their replacements. With all of the previous experience behind her, this should be quite easy. Since the programs beginning was only a few months back, this would be a perfect time to shuffle groups a little and put the lesser motivated sales people on the new teams with a few high performers to bounce ideas off of. SheShow MoreRelatedLack Of Motivation For Improving Enterprises782 Words   |  4 Pagesorganizations, are vital resource for improving enterprises’ market competitiveness if they are satisfied and loyal to their jobs. However, many Chinese stated-owned enterprises didn’t realize that they need employees to success. The above-mentioned phenomenon might arise in lack of motivation both in hygiene factors and motivation factors that proposed by Herzberg (1959). Hygiene factorsï ¼Å¡ Inadequate financial motivation is the first hygiene factor that influence motivation. With the development of the companyRead MoreImproving Self-Motivation in Employees Essay2027 Words   |  9 Pagesemployee motivation as a fundamental building block in the development of successful businesses. A motivated workforce represents both a competitive advantage as well as a strategic asset in the current corporate world, which is why the issue of building self-motivation in employees has sparked interest in managers. It not only improves the business side of the organization, but does so by keeping employees’ needs met, which improves their well-being. First, the issue of employees’ motivation will beRead MoreReasons For Improving The Level Of Commitment And Employee Motivation Among The Staff At The Radio Station846 Words   |  4 PagesCurrently, there is the need to help improve the level of commitment and employee motivation among the staff at the radio station. Long-term In the long-run, there will be the need to alter the organizational structure to set up clear and efficient lines of command, developing a clear mission and vision that would guide the activities of the firm and enhancing the working conditions at the radio station by improving the nature of their working relationship by offering long-term contracts. Q7. WhatRead MoreD! - Suggest with Justifications, Ways of Improving Motivation for Staff Who Work in the Nhs834 Words   |  4 Pagesjustifications, ways of improving motivation in an organisation setting. Motivation plays a vast part in the NHS as the people are the NHSs most important asset therefore staff need to make sure they are well motivated to ensure that jobs are done efficiently. Motivation is the desire to work that little bit harder. The NHS will try to improve motivating staff in order to achieve a desired goal and sustains certain goal directed behaviours. The NHS could offer improve motivation by their reward systemsRead MoreImproving Student Engagement And Motivation916 Words   |  4 Pagesattention. Furthermore, engaging the learner by utilizing activities that capture their attention and build on their previous knowledge and interests will be beneficial to the students’ growth in the course. Facilitating student engagement and motivation, teachers are encouraged to provide constant and consistent feedback which includes questions and activities which spark reflection (Larsen, 2012). Additionally, the use of reflection was found to be a critical element to designing an effectiveRead MoreImproving a Teams Motivation, Satisfaction, and Performance982 Words   |  4 PagesImproving a Teams Motivation, Satisfaction, and Performance. LDR/531 Improving a Teams Motivation, Satisfaction, and Performance Team collaboration is a challenge organizations encounter because of varies personalities, cultures, and beliefs. According to Web Finance, Inc. (2012), a team is defined as â€Å"a group of people with a full set of complementary skills required to complete a task, job, or project.† A team is structured in an organization, usually separated into different teams to fulfillRead MoreImproving Motivation Amongst HSS (Hospital Shared Services) Employees1880 Words   |  8 Pagesorganization. These four factors are well known among the bottom of the chain to cause a lack of motivation. Lack of motivation within HSS can lead to call-offs, tardiness, minimal job input, and negative biases toward the organization. Once this occurs, the organizational goals of the security company will not be fulfilled and may become noticed amongst corporate leaders at each hospital. Lack of motivation can also lead to a huge profit loss, such as no renewed contracts at certain hospital which leadsR ead MoreThe Impact of Motivation on Workers Productivity in Aquasafe Spring Water Factory1523 Words   |  7 Pages 1. INTRODUCTION MAJOR theories of motivation are classified as those dealing either with exogenous causes or with endogenous processes.where as the latter help explain motivation the former identity levers for improving worker motivation amp; performance.key stratagies for improving work motivation were distilled from the exogenous Thiories .illustrative programs are described for implementing those stratagies ,programs that aim at creating organizations in which workers are bothRead MoreComparison of Two Companies and Their Approach to Staff Motivation818 Words   |  3 PagesThe management of MS was more confident to give the information about their current motivation, empowerment and training development. These tend to look like that the organisation is doing right. The comparison of both interviews, MS were more helpful in term of providing information and straight forward for interview request and received straight way. Conversely Lidl have taken long to respond to my request for interview, once I have received, unfortunately they were not willing to offer. I hadRead MoreCorrelation Between Employee Motivation And Job Performance Essay1011 Words   |  5 PagesMathew, Ushus; Johnson, Johney Introduction The human resource is vital for any organization, as it is important to manage organizational employee happiness. Motivation has long been seen as a positive indicator of job performance. What are some great ways to motivate an employee to increase job performance? A performance review can act as motive for an employee to improve his/her productivity. Therefore, when an employee sees his goals clearly defined and is measured against the set goals and objectives

Racial Segregation And The Us Education System Essay

Students of color in the United States struggle to access higher education, as a result of institutional racism and discrimination. This is troubling because college education is considered a way to increase opportunity and chances of success with finding employment and earning a high salary. This disparity can be attributed to the history of racial segregation in the US education system, which has produced differences of opportunity between students of color and white students (Chaisson 2004). It is difficult for students of color in higher education; specifically those who attend predominantly white institutions (PWI’s), because they must confront systemic racism at these institutions as well as in the larger US society. How can we combat these disparities? Is equal opportunity and equality in higher education is the answer? Seemingly this would be the solution, but Brower (2004) argues that it is not enough to have legal equal access to education because, â€Å"for those e ntering college, 56 percent of black Americans, compared to 36 percent of white Americans, never graduate.† (pg. 96). Although this statistic directly focuses on African American college populations, it has implications for all students of color. This begs the question, what makes students of color and white students so different? Based on the sociohistorical context of higher education in the US, the variable that changes the success of a college student and their likelihood to graduate is race. Studies haveShow MoreRelatedRacial Segregation And Racial Discrimination1645 Words   |  7 Pagesrole in the political system throughout United States government. The terminology race has been changed repeatedly throughout history. African American history of racial segregation created a clear view of how most racial minorities have been treated throughout history and views and differences amount racial majority. This paper primarily focus will be the treatment or experience racial minority faced throughout this historical revolution. African American are not the only racial minority who has beenRead MoreSegregation Of Modern American Schools : How It Affects The Students1283 Words   |  6 Pages Segregation in Modern American Schools: How it affects the Students, Why it occurs, and Strides needed to Integrate Hanna Podwin University of North Georgia â€Æ' Segregation in Modern American Schools: How it affects the Students, Why it occurs, and Strides to Integrate Introduction This essay will be on the Segregation in Modern American Schools, how it affects the students, why it occurs, and the strides need to integrate. I picked this topic because I came from a town that was predominantly whiteRead MoreThe Case Plessy V. Ferguson1512 Words   |  7 Pageshalf of 20 th century saw a domination of racial segregation since the decision favored the already established segregation in both South and North states. It was not until 1954 that the decision was overturned by another landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education, which declared â€Å"separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.† Even though the decision had little immediate impact, but in the long term, it has changed the racial relation in the States as the equality ofRead MoreImpact Of Education On The American Education System1671 Words   |  7 PagesEducation has overtime developed from an institution that lacked what was necessary to properly education men, women and children, to what is now a fairly decent system that prepares people from all across the world. For minorities, or underrepresented ethnic groups in America this is a different case. My focused are of research pertains to the history of education and how policies and the quality of it has transformed. While we have grown over the decades to provide education for all groups of peopleRead MorePlessy V Ferguson Case Study829 Words   |  4 Pagesv. Ferguson and the Brown v. The Board of Education. During these cases there were strong disagreements about racial segregation and how people shouldn’t be based on color. These two cases were based off the 14th Amendment of how people shouldn’t be judged. During the Plessy v. Ferguson case, there was a act called the Separate Car Act in 1890 which white and blacks had to be separated into different railroad cars. During the Brown v. Board of Education case, blacks and whites were separated intoRead MorePlessy V. Ferguson And Brown V Board Of Education1359 Words   |  6 PagesMaximiliano Sanchez Victoria Professor Linda Holt Comprehensive Law Studies 3 October 2017 Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education Picture this: a world with no color. Would racism still exist? Or would people be discriminated based on other things such as height, weight, or the sound of their voice? We may never know the answer to these questions. Racism is still alive in the United States, but it is not as severe and oppressive as it was during the era of the Jim Crow laws. The 13thRead MoreModern Racism And The Middle Class Essay1565 Words   |  7 Pagesand place in society racial inequality. Modern racism has kept many blacks from receiving jobs and has kept them from many opportunities. Income inequality is an issue and it has been pushed aside for long enough it is now too big to avoid and it is time to therefore address it. 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Very early in his professional life Marshall broke down racial barriers and overcame resistance despite the odds. He then became a role model of the disciplined leader, although he didn’t have the religious qualities or charisma as Martin Luther King. However, in terms of achievements, most of us would agree that he should be ranked next to Martin Luther King Jr. ThurgoodRead MoreThe Court Case that Changed the World: Brown v. Board of Education1078 Words   |  5 PagesBrown v. Board of Education is a story of triumph over a society where separating races simply based on appearances was the law. It is a story of two little girls who has to walk through a railroad switchyard in Topeka, Kansas in 1950 just to attend school. With lunch bags and backpacks in hand, they make their way to the black bus stop which is a distance of the tracks. They have to walk this distance, pass the buses filled with white children because they are unable to attend the nearby white

Dragonhaven CHAPTER TWO Free Essays

string(73) " and I know it, and I don’t know when I’ll have time either\." Billy must have been working on Dad. Billy misses Mom almost as much as Dad and I do, and I think he knew that Dad barely being able to let me out of his sight any more was starting to make me kind of nuts. (No comments on the â€Å"starting to† please. We will write a custom essay sample on Dragonhaven CHAPTER TWO or any similar topic only for you Order Now ) Dad had offered to get me another dog but I just wasn’t ready for that yet. I didn’t know how to think about having a new dog; I’d had Snark since almost before I could remember anything. It would be like getting a new mom: no. (I spent some time worrying about this too. If there was ever a man who needed a wife to pry him out of his obsession occasionally, it was Dad. Except I couldn’t deal with this either – worrying about Dad or worrying about the idea of a new mom. I can worry about anything, but as an idea it never really got very far because Dad didn’t notice women. He’d notice people if he had to, but if any of them was occasionally single and female it didn’t register.) Anyway. I was keeping the homeschooling admin happy (speaking of checker-uppers) but I was spending way too much time blowing up aliens with a lot of other people online who apparently didn’t have lives either. But my family had been cut down by fifty percent and there was like a cold wind blowing through that freaking great hole. On a computer you don’t have to notice who’s missing. I was almost beginning to forget Smokehill, in a way. I hadn’t changed my mind about dragons, and I was still going through the motions (most of them), it was more like seeing everything through the wrong end of the telescope. The only stuff up close was just me and the hole, and a dad who only noticed scientific abstracts and problems about the Institute that got in his face and screamed at him, except that at the same time I had to be like the lucky charm he kept in his pocket or something and always there. So it seemed like it came out of nowhere – I’d stopped asking – when I finally got permission to hike out overnight alone. This is maybe the single thing I’d been wanting to do all my life. I’d always planned to grow up and study dragons like Mom and Dad, but that was a ways off yet. Presumably I’d get my butt out of the park for a few years to go to college . . . and then I’d think about living somewhere with a lot of other people around . . . all the time? We get to close the gates at night here. So then sometimes I’d think I’d chicken out and just stay here and apprentice to the Rangers. Most of our federal parks make you go to school for that too, but that’s one of the things Old Pete set up when he set up Smokehill, our Ranger system. Billy had told me he’d take me if I decided that’s what I wanted to do. He’s never been away from the park overnight since he was born (both his parents were Rangers). His idea of a holiday is to hike into the park somewhere he hasn’t been before, and stay there awhile, beyond the reach of f.l .s. (I admit I’d have to think about it, whether I’d choose hanging around too close to grizzlies and Yukon wolves, or f.l.s. Billy likes the really wild places. But maybe if I was his apprentice I’d feel more competent. I’d rather rather hang out with grizzlies and Yukon wolves, if you follow me.) When the f.l. percentages were unusually bad I was sure I wanted to be a Ranger, but the rest of the time I wanted to have some PhDs like my parents because it meant more people would listen to me. I still wanted to be able to protect our dragons as well as study them and the head of the Institute is the head of the Rangers, as dumb as that is. And when the congressional subcommittee guys come here to stick their noses in and make stupid remarks, Billy has always left it up to Dad and goes all Son of the Wilderness silent and inscrutable if he’s introduced to them. (It’s proof of how much he thought of my parents that he would babysit the Institute when Dad and Mom took me and Snark for one of our summer hikes in the park. One of the higher-strung graduate students actually left with a nervous breakdown after one of those holidays. Apparently Billy didn’t let her weep on his shoulder the way Mom had. Dad used to call her Fainting in Coils.) But my PhDs were a long way off. I read a lot but I’m not so bright that any of the big science universities were begging to have me early. But I was a pretty fair woodsman for almost fifteen. I’d had the best teachers – our Rangers – and I grew up here, which is a big advantage, like you’re supposed to be able to learn a second language really easily if you start when you’re a baby. My French and German are lousy, but I’ve learned the language of Smokehill – some of it anyway. Before Mom disappeared I was going to have my first overnight solo after my twelfth birthday. Then she disappeared and we sort of stopped breathing for five months and then they found her. After that, as I say, Dad could barely let me out of his sight and he could never get away from the institute himself because he’s doing both his and Mom’s jobs. And then one day out of the blue Dad calls me into his office (I go in flexing my hands from joystick Paralysis) and says, â€Å"Jake, I’m sorry. I’m not paying the right kind of attention to you and I know it, and I don’t know when I’ll have time either. You read "Dragonhaven CHAPTER TWO" in category "Essay examples"† He glanced back at his desk which was a wild tangle of books, notebooks, loose papers, charts, bits of wood and stone and Bonelands fossils, coffee cups and crumbs. The Institute (of course) can’t afford a lot of support staff so we do all our own cleaning and cooking. Although we’d shared it when Mom was still around Dad and I stopped doing any about a month after she didn’t show up at her checkpoint. We had started to try to do it again but if it weren’t for eating with the Rangers sometimes I might have forgotten food ever came in any shape but microwave pouches or that cooking ever involved anything but punching buttons. And cleaning? Forget it. I can run the dishwasher – hey, I can run the washing machine, are you impressed? – but my expertise ends there. Dad rearranged one of the coffee mugs on the pile of papers it had already left smeary brown rings on. â€Å"I’ve been talking to Billy. You did really well in your last standardized tests, did I tell you?† He hadn’t. I’d thought he should’ve had the results by now and had begun to worry. I’d been trying to be extra careful since Mom died because I knew social services was just aching to take me out of my weird life at the Institute, but I could have missed something important because since Mom died I just did miss stuff, and sometimes it was important. â€Å"And I know† – he hesitated – â€Å"I know you’ve been keeping up with your woodcraft.† The one thing he would let me out of his sight to do without a huge argument was go out for a day with one of the Rangers – as long as we were back the same night. And it was the one thing that would turn the telescope I was looking through around too. For a few hours. â€Å"You’re fourteen and a half.† Fourteen years, nine months and three days, I wanted to say, but I didn’t. â€Å"And – well – Billy says you’re more than ready to – uh – â€Å" Tie my shoes without someone supervising? I thought, but I didn’t say that either, not only because my shoes have Velcro straps. I knew Dad was doing the best he could. So was I. â€Å"Well, I wondered, would you like to take your overnight solo? I know you were – we were – † He hesitated again. â€Å"Your first solo is overdue, I know. And Billy says you’ll be fine. And the weather looks like holding. SO â€Å"Yes,† I said. â€Å"I’d love to.† I tried not to sound sarcastic. I almost forgot to say thanks. Almost. But I did say it. If I’d been twelve I’d’ve gone whooping out of the Institute offices to the Ranger offices which are right across the tourist center lobby and reception area, and probably telling everyone on the way, Nate in the ticket booth, Amanda in the gift shop, poor Bob doing detention in the cafe, Jo and Nancy answering questions as they shepherded gangs of tourists to and from the bus stop, and anybody else I recognized, but I was nearer fifteen than fourteen and it had been a long almost-three years in a lot of ways. I walked slowly through Nancy’s busload (ID-ing the f.l.’s among them at first glance), waved at Nate, and told Dan, at the front Ranger desk, that whenever Billy had a moment I’d like to talk to him. â€Å"He’s hiding down at the caves,† said Dan. â€Å"You could go find him.† I’ve forgotten to tell you about the caves. As soon as the first geologist set foot near Smokehill they knew there had to be caves here. The Native Americans had known for a long time, but after a bad beginning they’d kind of stopped telling the European pillagers anything they didn’t have to, so Old Pete may be the first whiteface to have done more than guess. The caves near the Institute aren’t very good ones compared to what there is farther in, like under the Bonelands, but these little ones near the front door were busy being developed for tourists, so they weren’t going to be much use for hiding in much longer. Getting the work done was a huge nuisance and everybody who lived here hated it, but we are always desperate for money (I should just make an acronym of it: WAADFM, like some new weird alternative radio station), so we were going ahead with it. Of course in the short term this meant money we badly needed elsewhere was getting spent on making the caves touristproof . . . and tourists coming to the caves was going to mean more staff to keep an eye on them and more upkeep because tourists are incredibly destructive even when they’re behaving themselves, but the grown ups (including a lot of bozo outside consultants – for cheez sake, what does some pointy head from Baltimore or Manhattan know about a place like Smokehill?) all seemed to think it was going to be worth it in the end, if we lived that long. Dad had told me that the caves were going to fund him hiring another graduate student, maybe even full-time, because he didn’t think he was ever going to get one o therwise. I was sure hiring anybody was a bad idea because it would mean we could, and everybody would cut our grants accordingly. Billy was sitting by one of the little pools near the entrance. As soon as my eyes adjusted to the dark – the construction crews had gone home for the day, and turned off all the lights – I could see both his lantern and its reflection in the water. I went up to him as quietly as I could, but the caves are totally quiet except for the drip of water (and the bats) and on the pebbly path with the inevitable echo I sounded like someone falling through a series of windows CRASH CRUNCH CRASH only without the screaming. If you’ll pardon the expression from someone who wants to grow up to be a scientist, there’s something almost magical about our caves, even the little boring ones near the park entrance. Maybe all caves are like this and I just don’t know the analytical squashed-flat-and-labeled word for it. But there’s a real feeling of another world, another world that needs some other sense or senses to get at it very well, in our caves. I suppose you could say it’s something about underground, lack of sunlight, nothing grows here but a few creepy blind things and sometimes even creepier rock formations, but that doesn’t explain it. Cellars aren’t magical. The old underground bomb shelter that’s now a really boring museum in Wilsonville isn’t magical. Our caves are magical. It could have been the weird shadows that lantern light throws but the moment Billy looked up I knew he was worried about something besides more tourists. I was used to Dad worrying. He’d been worried about something since Mom disappeared, and once she died it’s like his worry metastasized and now he worried about everything – and I worried about the holes it made in him, all the gnawing worry. If I lost any more family there wouldn’t be any left. As I looked at Billy I wondered what I was missing. Like that the world’s total Draco australiensis numbers were still falling and there had been only a few hundred left when they died out in the wild. Like that even with the zoo Smokehill was barely surviving. I knew both of these things. But dragons are so hard to count maybe they were wrong about there being fewer of them. Maybe they were just getting even harder to count. And Smokehill had always barely survived, from Old Pete on. But Dad’s a worrier. Billy isn’t. â€Å"What’s wrong?† I said. Billy shook his head. He was a good grown-up, but he was still a grown-up, and grown-ups rarely talk about grown-up trouble to kids. Eric took the question â€Å"What’s wrong?† from a kid as a personal attack, even when it was something like a zoo-food shipment not arriving when it should and it was perfectly reasonable to be worried. I’d often wished Dad would talk about missing Mom to me more. Not only because then I could talk to him back. We could barely mention her at all. At least Billy didn’t lie to me. â€Å"Nothing you can do anything about. Nothing I can do anything about either. That’s what’s wrong.† He shook his head again and then looked at me, visibly changing the subject. â€Å"What’s up?† I thought again of how I’d’ve felt if this’d happened three years ago. It was almost hard to get the words out. â€Å"Dad says I can do my first solo. Hike into the park and stay overnight.† I felt as if I needed to apologize for interrupting him for such a lame reason. It could have waited. â€Å"Dan told me I could find you here.† Billy nodded. My solo wasn’t news to him – Dad would have discussed it with him first. Even though I knew this was logical and responsible and necessary and all that it made me feel about four instead of almost fifteen. I wasn’t really tying my shoes by myself. Dad and Billy were both watching me. I wished Snark was there. Snark was my responsibility. And furthermore he didn’t seem to mind. That’s being a dog, I guess, not minding being totally dependent on someone who may talk over your head to someone else about you and not let you in on it till everything’s already been decided. â€Å"I’m going to Northcamp, day after tomorrow,† said Billy. â€Å"If you want to come with me you can hike on from Northcamp alone and meet me back there the next day.† Northcamp was one of the permanent camps, and it was five days’ hike from the Institute, after the first day in a jeep as far as the jeep track went. I didn’t get that far in very often – never in the last almost-three years. This was a really nice offer. â€Å"Great,† I said, trying to mean it and almost succeeding. â€Å"Thanks.† Billy gave me a look that suggested that he knew what I was thinking, and it made me wonder if he felt about his troubles – whatever they were – not so much different from how I felt about mine. Maybe we both needed a dog. But by the time we were ready to leave, I was up for it, maybe as much as I’d’ve been if I was only twelve and Mom was there to wave me off: Dad didn’t – waving wasn’t his style – besides, he was at his desk, like he was always at his desk. I don’t mean that as bad as it sounds – we’d had breakfast together and he cross-examined me about what I was going to do in the park by myself and what to do if anything happened. We both knew that if I didn’t know it all already he wouldn’t be letting me go, but it was a ritual, like waving. The answer to most of those if-anything-happens questions was â€Å"call Billy on the two-way, and stay put,† so it wasn’t like it was as grisly as Dad’s cross-examinations when they were on stuff like algebra and Latin. I suck at languages but Latin’s the worst. Maybe â€Å"call Billy and stay put† should have made me feel more like a kid too, but it didn’t. That’s how everybody goes into the park, with a two-way, and someone – a Ranger – always there to listen on the other end. Even Billy didn’t go anywhere without someone to check in with. Anyway Dad gave me a hug on the way to his desk and told me to come see him the minute I got back, which should be about two weeks from now. Of course Billy would make me call Dad every day while we were gone, but that was okay too. Our jeeps were as beat-up and held together with string as everything else at the Institute but the best Land Rover in the world wouldn’t get far in Smokehill. Katie drove us in with Martha, deeply envious, in the backseat with me (Eleanor didn’t come: one of her few weaknesses is getting carsick, although riding in the back of a Smokehill jeep is more like walloped-by-tornado sick) and late afternoon they let us off by the Lightning Tree, which is one of our landmarks, and a lot of walking trails going all over the park start there. Another way to look at it is that it’s maybe one of the (few) good things about never having any money – we couldn’t afford to put in any more road even if we wanted to. â€Å"Good luck,† Martha said quietly. Martha was born polite, it’s like she knew she was going to have Eleanor as a little sister in less than six years and needed to get practicing being nice immediately. Martha is two and a half years younger than me so she was maybe close to her first solo, if she wanted to. I knew she was envying me right now. Maybe it was just the idea of getting away from Eleanor for two weeks. Billy and I did about six more miles before we camped for the night, and that’s good going, believe me. I slept like a log, and woke up as stiff as one too, from sleeping on the ground. I didn’t do it enough. Billy’s older than Dad, but he didn’t creak out of his sleeping bag. I did. Four days later I felt about four years older when we made it in Northcamp and I got to sleep in a bed again. The grim little bunk beds at all our permanent camps aren’t very welcoming, but they look pretty good after five nights on the ground. So does the hot water after you get the generator going. Northcamp smelled funny the way any building does that’s been shut up for too long – a little dusty, a little moldy, a little mousy – but we cranked open the windows and got a fire going in the woodstove (and the mice living in the kindling box were not happy, speaking of mousy) and it was pretty nice. I admit I had a few butterflies in my stomach the next morning – in spite of Billy’s cornmeal pancakes, which I swear must be the best in the world – but five days’ camping with Billy had reminded me that I still knew how to do everything I needed to know how to do, and I was ready to go by sunup and I went. I wanted to cover some ground. I wanted to make as much of a thing of my first solo as possible, so they’d let me do it again. Which meant I had to make the right kind of thing of my first solo or they’d never let me do anything again. I wanted to come out here for weeks and study dragons. I wanted to come out here for weeks and find some dragons to study. I had my radio and a compass (and a squirtgun and a flare), the weather was perfect, and I’d been drilled since I was tiny to recognize Rangers’ marks. And while Northcamp was a long way into the park by my standards, the area was well used and well designated by the Rangers. There was no way I could get lost if I even half kept my head. There were no grizzlies around here, and you only had to think about wolves later on in bad winters. It was, in the old Institute joke, a walk in the park. I really poured it on. I covered twenty miles that day. I knew it because I got to Pine Tor, which is nineteen and three-quarters miles from Northcamp, and another Ranger landmark. (I’d never seen it before except on the charts.) Yes, it was stupid of me, and even I knew it. Sure, I was walking on broken trail, but the emphasis is more on the â€Å"broken† than the â€Å"trail.† Northcamp is a long way from the Bonelands but it’s still all pretty ankle-breaking going. And if I missed getting back to Northcamp next day because I was too tired and beat up, it would be a huge black mark against me, and all the grown-ups would give me lectures, especially Dad, and they’d all be disappointed, which is the worst thing grown-ups do to kids – can’t they just yell at you and get it over with? – and it would be a long time till they let me go out alone again. Like maybe next century or when pigs fly, etc. But I had to go as fast and a s far as I could. I’m not going to try to explain it because I can’t. But I had to. I’d get back to Northcamp the next day somehow. The thing that makes it seem the dumbest is what was I tearing over all that landscape for? I was so busy watching where to put my feet and for the next Rangers’ mark that I barely looked around. I could have steamed by any number of dragons – or grizzlies – and never noticed. And our park is beautiful. Wild and strange and alien and not very friendly to humans, but very, very beautiful, if you aren’t freaked out by it. Lots of people are. Some people find the Institute as much as they can handle – the institute with its smell of dragon, and shed dragon scales on sale in the gift shop, and the five million acres out back sort of looming. Even as wilderness parks go, Smokehill is pretty uncivilized. It’s supposed to be, but it can still kind of knock you over with it. I didn’t see anything that day but ordinary eastern Smokehill landscape, and little stuff like squirrels, and a few deer and wild sheep. But the weirdest thing is that by the time I got to Pine Tor I had this huge harrowing sense of urgency, instead of feeling good and tired and pleased with myself – and maybe deciding to go a last leisurely quarter-mile farther to make it twenty miles and then find a nice place to camp didn’t register with me at all. I was so wired I couldn’t stand still, despite how tired I was. I had to keep going. Where? What? Huh? I have to say I’d made unbelievable time. That sounds like bragging but it’s important for what happened. I got to Pine Tor and it was still afternoon. I stood there, panting, looking around, like I was looking for a Rangers’ mark, except I’d already found the one that was there. I wasn’t even very interested in the fact that Pine Tor itself looked just like Grace’s – Billy’s wife – drawing of it and so it was like I had seen it before. It was like I was waiting. . . Waiting. . . I knew what the smell was immediately, even though I’d never smelled it before. The wind was blowing away from me or I’d’ve smelled it a lot sooner. My head snapped around like a dog’s and I set off toward it, like it was pulling me, like it was a rope around my neck being yanked. No, first I stopped and took a very close look at where I was. Pine Tor is big, and I needed to be able to find not just it again, but the right side of it. I was about to set off cross country, away from the Rangers’ trail and the Rangers’ marks – the thing I was above all expressly forbidden to do – and I had to be able to find my way back. Which proves that at least some of my brain cells were working. It wasn’t very far, and when I got there I was glad the wind was blowing away from me. The smell was overwhelming. But then everything about it was overwhelming. I can’t tell you . . . and I’m not going to try. It’ll be hard enough, even now, just telling a little. It was a dead – or rather a dying – dragon. She lay there, bleeding, dying, nearly as big as Pine Tor. Stinking. And pathetic. And horrible. She wasn’t dying for any good reason. She was dying because somebody – some poacher – some poacher in Smokehill – had killed her. If everything else hadn’t been so overpowering that alone would have stopped me cold. I was seeing my first dragon up close. And she was mutilated and dying. She’d got him too, although it was too late for her. When I saw him – what was left of him – I threw up. It was completely automatic, like blinking or sneezing. He was way beyond horrible but he wasn’t pathetic. I was glad he was dead. I was just sorry I’d seen him. It. There were a couple of thoughts trying to go through my head as I stood there, gasping and shaking. (I was shaking so hard I could barely stand up, and suddenly my knapsack weighed so much and hung on my back so clumsily it was going to make me fall down.) We don’t have poachers at Smokehill. The fence keeps most of them out; even little halfhearted attempts to breach it make a lot of alarms go off back at the Rangers’ headquarters and we’re allowed to call out a couple of National Guard helicopters if enough of those alarms go off in the same place. (Some other time I’ll tell you about getting helicopters through the gate.) It’s happened twice in my lifetime. No one has ever made it through or over the fence before a helicopter has got there – no one ever had. Occasionally someone manages to get through the gate, but the Rangers always find them before they do any damage – sometimes they’re glad to be found. Even big-game-h unter-type major assho-idiots sometimes find Smokehill a little too much. I’d never heard of anyone killing a dragon in Smokehill – ever – and this wasn’t the sort of thing Dad wouldn’t have told me, and it was the sort of thing I’d asked. Nor, of course, would he have let me do my solo if there was any even vague rumor of poachers or big-game idiots planning to have a try. The other thing that was in my head was how I knew she was female: because of her color. One of the few things we know about dragon births is that Mom turns an all-over red-vermilion-maroon-with-orangebits during the process, and dragons are green-gold-brown-black mostly, with sometimes a little red or blue or orange but not much. Even the zoos had noticed the color change. Old Pete had taken very careful notes about his mom dragons, and he thought it was something to do with getting the fire lit in the babies’ stomachs. It’s as good a guess as any. But that was why the poacher’d been able to get close to her, maybe. Dragons – even dragons – are probably a little more vulnerable when they’re giving birth. Apparently this one hadn’t had anyone else around to help her. I didn’t know why. Old Pete thought a birthing mom always had a few midwives around. You don’t go near a dying dragon. They can fry you after they’re dead. The reflex that makes chickens run around after their heads are cut off makes dragons cough fire. Quite a few people have died this way, including one zookeeper. I suppose I wasn’t thinking about that. I was thinking about the fact that she was dying, and that her babies were going to die because they had no mother, and that she’d know that. I boomeranged into thinking about my own mother again. They wanted to tell us, when they found her, that she must have died instantly. Seems to me, if she really did fall down that cliff, she’d’ve had time to think about it that Dad and I were going to be really miserable without her. How do I know what a mother dragon thinks or doesn’t think? But it was just so sad. I couldn’t bear it. I went up to her. Went up to her head, which was like nearly as big as a Ranger’s cabin. She watched me coming. She watched me. I had to walk up most of the length of her body, so I had to walk past her babies, these little blobs that were baby dragons. They were born and everything. But they were already dead. So she was dying knowing her babies were already dead. I’d started to cry and I didn’t even know it. When I was standing next to her head I didn’t know what to do. It was all way too unreal to want to like pet her – pet a dragon, what a not-good idea – and even though I’d sort of forgotten that she could still do to me what she’d done to the poacher, I didn’t try to touch her. I just stood there like a moron. I nearly touched her after all though because I was still shaking so hard I could hardly stay on my feet. Balance yourself by leaning against a dragon, right. I crossed my arms over my front and reached under the opposite elbows so I could grab my knapsack straps with my hands like I was holding myself together. Maybe I was. The eye I could see had moved slowly, following me, and now it stared straight at me. Never mind the fire risk, being stared at by a dragon – by an eye the size of a wheel on a tour bus – is scary. The pupil goes on and on to the end of the universe and then around to the beginning too, and there are landscapes in the iris. Or cavescapes. Wild, dreamy, magical caves, full of curlicue mazes where you could get lost and never come out and not mind. And it’s hot. I was sweating. Maybe with fear (and with being sick), but with the heat of her staring too. So there I was, finally seeing a dragon up close – really really up close – the thing I would have said that I wanted above every other thing in the world or even out of the world that I could even imagine wanting. And it was maybe the worst thing that had ever happened to me. You’re saying, wait a minute, you dummy, it’s not worse than your mom dying. Or even your dog. It kind of was though, because it was somehow all three of them, all together, all at once. I stared back. What else could I do – for her? I held her gaze. I took a few steps into that labyrinth in her eye. It was sort of reddish and smoky and shadowy and twinkling. And it was like I really was standing there, with Smokehill behind me, not Smokehill all around us both as I stood and stared (and shuddered). The heat seemed to sort of all pull together into the center of my skull, and it hung there and throbbed. Now I was sweating from having a headache that felt like it would split my head open. So that’s my excuse for my next stupid idea: that I saw what she was thinking. Like I can read a dragon’s expression when I mostly can’t tell what Dad or Billy is thinking. Well, it felt like I could read her huge dying eye, although maybe that was just the headache, and what I saw was anger-rage-despair. Easy enough to guess, you say, that she’d be feeling rage and despair, and it didn’t take any creepy mind-reading. But I also saw . . . h ope. Hope? Looking at me, as she was looking at me (bang bang bang went my skull), a little hope had crept into the despair. I saw this happen. Looking at me, the same sort of critter, it should have seemed to her, as had killed her. And then she died. And I was back in Smokehill again, standing next to a dead dragon, and the beautiful, dangerous light in her eye was gone. And then I did touch her. I forgot about the dead-dragon fire-reflex, and I crouched down on the stinking, bloody ground, and rested my forehead against a tiny little sticky-out knob of her poor ruined head, and cried like a baby. Cried more than I ever had for Mom – because, you know, we’d waited so long, and expected – but not really expected – the worst for so long, that when the worst finally arrived we couldn’t react at all. Twenty rough miles in a day and crying my head off when I staggered to my feet again, feeling like a fool, I was so exhausted I barely could stand. And while none of this had taken a lot of time, still, it was late afternoon, and the sun was sinking, and I needed to get back to Pine Tor tonight if at all possible. I began drearily to drag myself back the way I had come. I had to walk past all the little dead dragonlets again. I looked at them not because I wanted to but to stop myself from looking at the poacher’s body. Which is how I noticed that one of them was still breathing. A just – born dragon is ridiculously small, not much bigger than the palm of your hand. Old Pete had guessed they were little, but even he didn’t guess how little. I’m not even sure why I recognized them, except that I was already half nuts and they seemed to be kind of smoky and shadowy and twinkling. The color Mom goes to have them and get their tummies lit up lasts a few hours or as much as half a day, but no one – not even Old Pete – had ever seen the babies or the fire-lighting actually happening and maybe that’s not really when they’re born or lit at all, and it’s just Mom’s color that makes humans think â€Å"fire.† But I did recognize them. And I could see that the smokiest, twinklingest of the five of them was breathing: that its tiny sides were moving in and out. And because no one knows enough about dragons one of the things I’d read a lot about, so I could make educated guesses just like real scientists, was marsupials. If I hadn’t known that dragons were marsupial-ish I think I probably still wouldn’t have recognized them, nuts or not. They look kind of lizardy, to the extent they look anything, because mostly what they look is soft and squidgy just-born things often look like that, one way or another, but dragons look a lot worse than puppies or kittens or even Boneland ground squirrels or just-hatched birds. New dragonlets are pretty well still fetuses after all; once they get into their mom’s pouch they won’t come out again for yonks. This baby was still wet from being born. It was breathing, and making occasional feeble, hopeless little swimming gestures with its tiny stumpy legs, like it was still blindly trying to crawl up its mom’s belly to her pouch, like a kangaroo’s joey. I couldn’t bear that either, watching it trying, and without thinking about it, I picked it up and stuffed it down my shirt. I felt its little legs scrabble faintly a minute or two longer, and then sort of brace themselves, and then it collapsed, or curled up, and didn’t move any more, although there was a sort of gummy feeling as I moved and its skin rubbed against mine. And I thought, Oh, great, it’s dead now too, I’ve got a sticky, gross, dead dragonlet down my shirt, and then I couldn’t think about it any more because I had to watch for the way to Pine Tor. The moon was already rising as the day grayed to sunset, and it was a big round bright one that shed a lot of light. I could use all the breaks I could get. I made it back to Pine Tor and unloaded my pack but I didn’t dare sit down because I knew once I did I wouldn’t get up again till morning at least. I was lucky; Pine Tor is called that for a reason and in a countryside where there isn’t exactly a lot of heavy forest (pity you can’t burn rock) I was really grateful that I didn’t have to go far to collect enough firewood. The moonlight helped too. I hauled a lot of wood back to my campsite, being careful not to knock my stomach, because even if the dragonlet was dead I didn’t want squished dead dragonlet in my shirt. I hauled and hauled partly because I was so tired by then I couldn’t remember to stop, and partly because if the dragonlet was still alive I had a dim idea that I needed to be able to keep it warmer than my own body temperature, and partly because if it was dead I didn’t want to know and hauling wood put off finding out. There’d been too much death today alread y. I got a fire going and started heating some water for dinner. There’s plenty of water in most of Smokehill (except where there isn’t any at all), and pretty much anywhere within a few days’ hike of the institute has streams all over it running through the rocks and tough scrub so it’s less a matter of finding it than of trying not to find it at the wrong moment and get soaked (or break something in our famous fall-down-and-break-something streambeds). I pulled out a packet of dried meat and threw the meat in the water. We don’t buy freeze-dried campers’ supplies in shiny airtight envelopes from the nearest outdoor-sports shop – there isn’t one nearer than Cheyenne, and the outdoors isn’t a sport to us. We live here. Besides, we couldn’t afford it. We dry our own stuff. One of the suggestions for the gift shop was that we sell some of our own dried meat but the Rangers already have enough to do, although the point y-head tourist consultant guy seemed to think that tourists would go for wild sheep and wild goat and bison and stuff as exotic. Exotic. I ate at a McDonald’s once, and I thought their hamburgers tasted pretty exotic. But what I was thinking as the water got hot and I could smell the meat cooking is that we’ve always shared the dragons’ dinners. Old Pete had figured out what dragons liked best of what he could offer them while he still had them in cages and fortunately there was enough of it that could live here. This wouldn’t be a dragon haven if dragons only thrived on rhino and Galapagos tortoise, neither of which would do well at Smokehill. And Old Pete ate what the dragons ate because the dragons were the important thing. We still do and they still are. This smelled like deer, but would sheep be any better? I’d just picked up the first couple of packets. I didn’t care. So I sat there and looked at my supper and thought, Even if it’s still alive, how am I going to feed it? We don’t know anything about dragon milk, or dragon juice, or whatever, even if Mom makes it from eating wild sheep and so on. I put my hand into my shirt and the dragonlet woke up at once, if it had been asleep, wriggled around like crazy, and managed to attach itself to one of my fingers, sucking so hard it hurt. So it was still alive and it was hungry. If I’d been thinking clearly I’d’ve known it was alive, though, because it was so hot. It was hot enough that when I unbuttoned my shirt to get it out there was a red mark on my stomach. It didn’t like being out of my shirt; it let go of my finger and started, I don’t know, mewing, kind of, a tiny, harsh sort of noise that I didn’t want to think sounded like a scream of absolute terror, and trying to burrow back where it came from. I was tired, and hungry myself, and my head really hurt, and I was all wound up about what had happened, and about the fact that I had landed myself with an orphan dragonlet that I hadn’t a clue how to take care of, and how it was all going to be my fault when it died and I already felt as if everything that had happened was my fault – even though I knew that was stupid – and when it died too I’d never forgive myself and go crazy or something. I was way out of my depth. I wasn’t a mother dragon and I didn’t have a clue. Oh yes and what I was doing was totally illegal. Don’t ask me who makes the laws or why they don’t like get together sometimes and notice if the laws make any sense. But while it’s illegal to hurt or kill a dragon it’s more illegal to try and save a dragon’s life. Dad tried to explain it to me once, that it’s about non-interference-like the way big parks (including this one) let lightning-started fires go ahead and burn everything up because it’s part of the natural cycle. Okay. Maybe. But people get bent about dragons in ways they don’t get bent about other natural cycle stuff. Apparently the witless wonder who was pushing for the dragon legislation got so bent about the anti-harming-a-dragon part of the bill that he pulled all the stops out getting really vicious language into the anti-preserving-a-dragon’s-life part of the bill. The result is that trying to raise a baby dragon would be like the most illegal thing you could possibly do, next to assassinating the president maybe, and is probably one of the extra reasons the Institute has to beg for money, because we might do something illegal with it, like learn how to save dragons. Well it would all be over soon and it would be dead and I would be crazy and Dad would have to put my gross baby-dragon-yucky clothes through the washing machine because I would be in a padded cell and couldn’t do it myself. I rebuttoned my shirt except for one button over the belt, muttering to myself, or to it, and tucked the dragonlet back in, tail first and belly up, with its head near the opening. It stopped struggling and lay there like it was peering out through the gap and looking at me. Its eyes were open – unlike a puppy or a kitten’s – but they were blurry like they didn’t see much, like a baby bird’s. They were also a funny purplish color. It was really ugly all over, not just the eyes, sort of bruise colored, not just purplish but also yellowish and greenish, as well as smushed-looking and crusty with dried whatever. â€Å"You are the ugliest damn thing I have ever seen in my entire life,† I said to it, clearly, like I wanted it on the record what I thought, and I swear its blurry purple eyes tried to track where the sound was coming from and it made a little grunt like an acknowledgment. Have you ever tried to raise a baby bird or a raccoon or something? Something, you know, easy. They die a lot. We’re way too good at raccoons – that’s Eric again – since our successes are now bringing their great-great-great-grandkids for evening handouts behind the institute – but we all still sweat when the Rangers bring in new orphans. And even with Eric’s voodoo and all the info every bird society or raccoon society or beetle society (that’s a joke) can give us (actually we wrote some of it), so you know exactly what to do and you do it . . . they still die. A lot. And it hurts. And that’s when you even know what they eat and for stuff that is at least already, you know, born. Which a new dragonlet isn’t, not really. I locked open my camping spoon and dipped up some of the meat broth, gave the dragonlet my finger to suck again, which it was happy to do, and poured some broth in the gap between its mouth and my finger. You’d think I’d know better, but remember I was pretty deranged. Of course most of the broth went all over me and the dragonlet, but some of it must have gone down its throat because it choked and gargled and then I knew I had killed it. I whipped it out of my shirt again and held it up head down in the air and it gacked and gagged and then started mewing again and trying to get back in my shirt. Poor awful little monster. I’d be crying here again in a minute. This time I unbuttoned my sleeve and stuck it in tail first (against the thin skin on the underside of my forearm and let me tell you its body heat hurt) till only its face was showing, and I cupped my hand around its head and it subsided, and I swear it looked traumatized, ugly and weird as it was. I was still muttering. Now I was saying things like â€Å"it’s okay, stupid, relax.† I’m not sure if I was talking to myself this time, or the dragonlet. I stuck a finger from my cupping hand in sort of the side of its mouth to give it something to suck on and tipped just a drop or two of broth into its mouth. (This was way more awkward than I’m telling you.) It went gulp and went on sucking. Oh hurrah. A lot of your orphans just won’t try to eat and that’s that. So the dragonlet wasn’t going to die of starvation, it was going to die of being poisoned or of not getting enough of some kind of vitamin because deer broth isn’t anything like close enough to dragon milk. As I say, no one knows what goes on in those pouches. I fed it broth till its belly was stretching my sleeve. It was almost beginning to look kind of cute to me. I was in a bad way. But you do get like this with your orphans. If they eat you feel all . . . mothery. (Mom had been really good with the orphans – maybe almost as good as Eric. I remember getting old enough to ask her, kind of anxiously, if taking care of me had been as bad as the stuff at Eric’s orphanage. She’d laughed and said oh no, I was much, much worse.) I slid the dragonlet out of my sleeve again and it was either falling asleep because it was full and happy or slipping into its final coma, but it didn’t struggle so much this time. I pulled my shirt off and wrapped it up in that because I had a clean shirt in my backpack, and if one of us was going to have the clean shirt I’d rather it was me, and then I put it as near the fire as I thought I could without making dragonlet toast, or anyway setting my shirt on fire. I looked at the inside of my wrist where it had been lying. The skin there is even thinner than on your stomach, and it was actually burned. Jeez. So I got the wound salve out that is part of the basic kit Billy makes you carry, like waterproof matches and a hatchet to make kindling and a pot to boil water, and put some on, and then I had dinner, which took about three minutes because I was so hungry and tired and shaky. But by the time I’d finished eating, make that bolting, the wretched dragonlet was mewing again, and trying to get out of the shirt. â€Å"Oh, give me a break,† I said. I thought maybe I’d put it too close to the fire, so I picked it up, and it went floppy instantly, but then the moment I put it down again it was mewing and thrashing, to the extent that something the size of your hand and with legs an inch and a half long and is maybe three or six hours old can thrash. â€Å"You’re ugly and you smell,† I said. So fatalistically I put it back inside my clean shirt and it scuffled a little like you might thump your pillow with your fist, and then went to sleep. Which made one of us. It had managed to relieve itself on my old shirt, so that was really delightful, and I got my jackknife out and hacked off the dirtiest bits and then sort of tucked the rest of the old shirt around its rear end where it was asleep inside my new shirt and leaving fresh red marks on my stomach. I lay down gingerly on my side clutching it with my other hand so that the old shirt around its rear end wouldn’t fall off and wondering if I’d get any sleep at all because what if I rolled over on it? Not merely squished dragonlet but squished full-of-deer-broth dragonlet. By then I was probably a little hysterical. I did sleep but I didn’t sleep much. Every time it moved I woke up, and I suppose my brain had been working in my sleep or something because by the first time it woke me up I’d figured that a dragonlet probably had to be fed every ten minutes or something because if it was in its mom’s pouch it would probably be permanently stuck on a nipple for the first six months or so, which is what happens with the ordinary true-mammal marsupials we know about and makes sense. And a lot of ordinary orphans you do have to feed round the clock. (Maybe Eric’s personality was just the result of chronic sleep shortage, although all of the-human-adults took turns for the middle of the night, and Mom and Katie and Jane never got anything like Eric gets, even on no sleep. Although Dad got a little scratchy.) I was trying to remember how long they think the full-time pouch span is for a dragon, but if I’d ever known I’d forgotten and it didn’t really matte r at the moment since this was only the first night. Every time it wiggled I woke up, groggily – now I was definitely talking out loud to keep myself awake – and the first time I had to pour the rest of the broth back into the pot and heat it in the embers because it’s not a good idea to leave food around even in summer when there’s plenty of other stuff to eat for anything wandering by But after the first time I thought the hell with it and just put the top on the pot and left it in the fire, and I know this completely destroys your respect for me as someone who should be allowed to go on his first solo, and you’re right, but you weren’t there. And it was still a horrible night (even though nobody tried to eat our broth and then have us for dessert), and I used almost all of the firewood I’d collected after all, keeping the fire going. And to the extent I did sleep, it was like I was afraid to move at all, so I woke up every time in exactly the same position because it suited trying to hold the damn dragonlet in the position it liked, and by morning when I stopped even pretending to sleep my whole right side was like paralyzed and I had a headache like you wouldn’t believe, although really I’d had the headache since everything happened yesterday afternoon. And to think a few days ago I’d been feeling that just relearning to sleep on the ground was tough. I may have slept as much as an hour that last spell before dawn. When I tried to sit up I yelped like a dog when you’ve stepped on its tail. But I felt the dragonlet stir. My stomach felt scalded so I already knew it was still alive. It was probably hungry again too. I hurt too much to be hungry. â€Å"You still there, Ugly?† I said. I got the fire going properly again (nice hot embers, I thought resentfully, regularly blown on and fed sticks – the dragonlet would have been fine lying next to the fire all night) and put some more water on to heat and threw another chunk of meat in. At home Dad makes me eat vegetables but when I’m in the park I turn carnivore. Billy never makes me eat vegetables even though most of the year he can usually find green stuff to eat wherever he is. Even I know about waterweed. I just don’t eat it. And I bet dragons don’t either. I wasn’t going to endanger the dragonlet’s fragile welfare by threatening it with vegetable matter. It had done some more on my old shirt, so I cut those bits out. I needed to get back to the Institute soon because I was running out of shirt. Then we did the broth thing again and while in one way it was easier because I was getting in practice it didn’t seem to want to open its mouth any wider than it absolutely had to and now in daylight again the corners of its mouth looked sort of, well, chapped, maybe. So I put some wound salve on it and wondered if maybe that would poison it, and some more on the inside of my wrist, and then I cruelly let it lie near the fire in a nice warm pile of ashes (I checked) while I cleaned up in the hope that it would do some of its business before I had to wrap it up in what remained of my old shirt again and put it next to my stomach, and it did. So that was something. But it had also mewed and thrashed while I left it – it had added a sort of high-pitched peep to its repertoire on its second day of life – so by the time I finally did put it back inside my shirt it was exhausted and went to sleep instantly. At least I assume that’s what it was doing when it did its pillow-punching trick and didn’t move for a while. By now I could feel it breathing – I don’t know if it was breathing better or I was learning the mom marsupial drill – and, of course, it was burning holes in the skin of my stomach. I can’t begin to tell you what a long day that was. I was aching all over, particularly my head, and tired into my bones. I don’t think I’d ever realized what that phrase meant before. It’s a good thing I’ve been trained since I was a toddler to follow Rangers’ marks because I was doing it mindlessly, not thinking because I couldn’t think. There was no thinking left in me. And it’s ridiculous to say that something the size of a day-and-a-half-old dragonlet weighed, but it did. It weighed more than my backpack did somehow. I suppose it was just that I couldn’t stop worrying about it. I worried about whether or not it could breathe, because I had to tuck my sweatshirt in over my shirt to make sure it didn’t fall out while we were moving, but mostly it wasn’t anything so logical. It was just worry worry worry about everything. Worry on legs. Worry walking. Worry staggering and lurching. I didn’t anything like cover twenty miles that day. I think I did about ten, which under the circumstances is amazing. I decided after the first stop to feed my new responsibility that if it could live with human body heat it could probably live with human-body-heat food, so I put the pot of broth under my shirt too. The idea that I had to stop and make a fire every half hour was a whole lot too much. And I was sure I should be feeding it more often than every half hour anyway, I just couldn’t. Fortunately the broth pot was small. Mind you my shirt had not been made to hold both a dragonlet and even a small pot of broth so I had to tuck the pot sort of down my pants which made walking harder, and cradle the dragonlet with one hand so it didn’t fall down the hole, and the pot leaked. Well, so did the dragonlet. After a while I stopped paying attention. Ordinarily I don’t think I’d’ve been able to ignore getting increasingly covered with runny infant dragon poop but there was nothing ordinary about that day. If I hadn’t kept telling myself â€Å"Billy will know what to do† I’d never have been able to make myself keep moving at all. When sunset came I pulled myself together enough to look for the next Ranger mark so I’d know exactly which way to go in the morning. Besides, camping near one was almost like company. Human company. I knew that tomorrow was going to be even worse than today had been. I mopped myself up as well as I could out of the nearby rill while a new pot of water was heating over the fire. I didn’t even try to put the dragonlet down this time. Sometimes I think personal hygiene is kind of overdone but I would have loved a hot bath. And lots of soap. I had to clean up carefully, moving the dragonlet around so it didn’t get any nasty cold water on it, and it wasn’t thrilled with the operation anyway, from the amount of scrabbling and peeping, but when it was broth time again it settled right down and started to suck and swallow. I felt kind of funny about that. I mean, it was already learning the system. It was a dragon for pity’s sake. But at two days old it was already learning what to do, and I was pretty sure a finger and a camping spoon wasn’t the system it was born to expect. I’d tried using a piece of shirt (more shirt gone) as a nipple, but that didn’t work so well, or it couldn’t suck the broth out of the cloth, or something; the cloth .just got soggier and soggier and it kept letting go to try and grab one of my fingers again. So we went back to the old system. My finger was getting almost as sore as my stomach. But when I thought about how much worse tomorrow was going to be, it never crossed my mind to hope the thing would die and let me off. How to cite Dragonhaven CHAPTER TWO, Essay examples