The Lost Symbol Epilogue

Robert Langdon awoke slowly. Faces gazed down at him. Where am I? A moment later, he recalled where he was. He sat up slowly beneath the Apotheosis. His back felt stiff from lying on the hard catwalk. Where's Katherine? Langdon checked his Mickey Mouse watch. It's almost time. He pulled himself to his feet, peering cautiously over the banister into the gaping space below. â€Å"Katherine?† he called out. The word echoed back in the silence of the deserted Rotunda. Retrieving his tweed jacket from the floor, he brushed it off and put it back on. He checked his pockets. The iron key the Architect had given him was gone. Making his way back around the walkway, Langdon headed for the opening the Architect had shown them . . . steep metal stairs ascending into cramped darkness. He began to climb. Higher and higher he ascended. Gradually the stairway became more narrow and more inclined. Still Langdon pushed on. Just a little farther. The steps had become almost ladderlike now, the passage frighteningly constricted. Finally, the stairs ended, and Langdon stepped up onto a small landing. Before him was a heavy metal door. The iron key was in the lock, and the door hung slightly ajar. He pushed, and the door creaked open. The air beyond felt cold. As Langdon stepped across the threshold into murky darkness, he realized he was now outside. â€Å"I was just coming to get you,† Katherine said, smiling at him. â€Å"It's almost time.† When Langdon recognized his surroundings, he drew a startled breath. He was standing on a tiny skywalk that encircled the pinnacle of the U.S. Capitol Dome. Directly above him, the bronze Statue of Freedom gazed out over the sleeping capital city. She faced the east, where the first crimson splashes of dawn had begun to paint the horizon. Katherine guided Langdon around the balcony until they were facing west, perfectly aligned with the National Mall. In the distance, the silhouette of the Washington Monument stood in the early-morning light. From this vantage point, the towering obelisk looked even more impressive than it had before. â€Å"When it was built,† Katherine whispered, â€Å"it was the tallest structure on the entire planet.† Langdon pictured the old sepia photographs of stonemasons on scaffolding, more than five hundred feet in the air, laying each block by hand, one by one. We are builders, he thought. We are creators. Since the beginning of time, man had sensed there was something special about himself . . . something more. He had longed for powers he did not possess. He had dreamed of flying, of healing, and of transforming his world in every way imaginable. And he had done just that. Today, the shrines to man's accomplishments adorned the National Mall. The Smithsonian museums burgeoned with our inventions, our art, our science, and the ideas of our great thinkers. They told the history of man as creator–from the stone tools in the Native American History Museum to the jets and rockets in the National Air and Space Museum. If our ancestors could see us today, surely they would think us gods. As Langdon peered through the predawn mist at the sprawling geometry of museums and monuments before him, his eyes returned to the Washington Monument. He pictured the lone Bible in the buried cornerstone and thought of how the Word of God was really the word of man. He thought about the great circumpunct, and how it had been embedded in the circular plaza beneath the monument at the crossroads of America. Langdon thought suddenly of the little stone box Peter had entrusted to him. The cube, he now realized, had unhinged and opened to form the same exact geometrical form–a cross with a circumpunct at its center. Langdon had to laugh. Even that little box was hinting at this crossroads. â€Å"Robert, look!† Katherine pointed to the top of the monument. Langdon lifted his gaze but saw nothing. Then, staring more intently, he glimpsed it. Across the Mall, a tiny speck of golden sunlight was glinting off the highest tip of the towering obelisk. The shining pinpoint grew quickly brighter, more radiant, gleaming on the capstone's aluminum peak. Langdon watched in wonder as the light transformed into a beacon that hovered above the shadowed city. He pictured the tiny engraving on the east-facing side of the aluminum tip and realized to his amazement that the first ray of sunlight to hit the nation's capital, every single day, did so by illuminating two words: Laus Deo. â€Å"Robert,† Katherine whispered. â€Å"Nobody ever gets to come up here at sunrise. This is what Peter wanted us to witness.† Langdon could feel his pulse quickening as the glow atop the monument intensified. â€Å"He said he believes this is why the forefathers built the monument so tall. I don't know if that's true, but I do know this–there's a very old law decreeing that nothing taller can be built in our capital city. Ever.† The light inched farther down the capstone as the sun crept over the horizon behind them. As Langdon watched, he could almost sense, all around him, the celestial spheres tracing their eternal orbits through the void of space. He thought of the Great Architect of the Universe and how Peter had said specifically that the treasure he wanted to show Langdon could be unveiled only by the Architect. Langdon had assumed this meant Warren Bellamy. Wrong Architect. As the rays of sunlight strengthened, the golden glow engulfed the entirety of the thirty-three- hundred-pound capstone. The mind of man . . . receiving enlightenment. The light then began inching down the monument, commencing the same descent it performed every morning. Heaven moving toward earth . . . God connecting to man. This process, Langdon realized, would reverse come evening. The sun would dip in the west, and the light would climb again from earth back to heaven . . . preparing for a new day. Beside him, Katherine shivered and inched closer. Langdon put his arm around her. As the two of them stood side by side in silence, Langdon thought about all he had learned tonight. He thought of Katherine's belief that everything was about to change. He thought of Peter's faith that an age of enlightenment was imminent. And he thought of the words of a great prophet who had boldly declared: Nothing is hidden that will not be made known; nothing is secret that will not come to light. As the sun rose over Washington, Langdon looked to the heavens, where the last of the nighttime stars were fading out. He thought about science, about faith, about man. He thought about how every culture, in every country, in every time, had always shared one thing. We all had the Creator. We used different names, different faces, and different prayers, but God was the universal constant for man. God was the symbol we all shared . . . the symbol of all the mysteries of life that we could not understand. The ancients had praised God as a symbol of our limitless human potential, but that ancient symbol had been lost over time. Until now. In that moment, standing atop the Capitol, with the warmth of the sun streaming down all around him, Robert Langdon felt a powerful upwelling deep within himself. It was an emotion he had never felt this profoundly in his entire life. Hope.

Emirates Airline in Dubai Essay

With the competition in the aviation industry threatening to hit fever pitch, Emirates is doing everything at its disposal to remain relevant in the sector which continues to grow tremendously. The massive growth in the aviation industry which has been largely attributed to globalization and industrialization calls for major players such as Emirates airlines to put extra efforts as far as service delivery is concerned in a bid to remain at the top. And since growth comes with its fair share of competition, to keep up with it a company must offer not only best but also unique services and be ready to commit enough resources towards customer satisfaction. It is in this spirit that Emirates through its innovative and creative strategy has remained a pace setter in the aviation industry. Pioneer In order to address the communication needs of its passengers, Emirates became the pioneer airline to launch a service of its kind which allows passengers to use their cell phones. The service which was first rolled out on 20 March 2008 on a charter plane between Dubai and Casablanca was received well by a good number of stakeholders in the industry. With this new system, passengers will now be in a position to call or send text messages to people who are on the ground. Already experts say that other airlines have gone back to the drawing board with a keen interest of embracing this new technology so as to attract more customers. Food for the soul Emirates offers what one can call a one-stop in-flight entertainment system with a wide range of options such as live international television channels, music and movies which are largely attributed to its large client base. Apart from in-flight internet services available to all classes of passengers, they are also provided with newspapers, magazines and other periodicals to inform and educate them while traveling. Generally it provides all what clients’ needs including food to music which some prefer calling food for the soul. This kind of investment in the entertainment makes customers to enjoy their journey and even consider using the same service in future hence making the Dubai based company preferred by many clients. Customer service Client satisfaction which gives Emirates competitive advantage can be attributed to its professional, young, dynamic, diligent, and dedicated cabin crew drawn from various countries. The multilingual staff uses its diverse cultural backgrounds coupled with the facilities available to serve passengers with the humility they deserve. Fully cognizant of the fact that good performance in business can only be achieved through customer satisfaction; the company has utilized this unique capability to offer best services so as to achieve the desire of their clients. This lean and well coordinated work force has seen . the airline maintain high standard of service delivery and achieve enviable goals. Although experts argue that this is a strategy aimed at cutting on costs, research shows that lean staff coupled with a simple organizational structure like the one adopted by the company leads to success. State-of–the-art The state-of-the-art fleet of planes which Emirates boasts of has enabled it to be consistent and reliable more than any other top airline. These latest planes comes in handy because it means they will be at the right place at the right time hence fits the bill of the demands of customers. Irrespective of the class of the plane, once you fly with the company comfort is guaranteed. Responsibility In this era where corporate organizations are giving back to the community in the spirit of social corporate responsibility, Emirates is not left behind. It sponsors major events across the world ranging from sports to trade. For instance it sponsors the English Premier League side Arsenal, Dubai Shopping Festival, West Australian Symphony Orchestra among others. Such gestures although can be easily dismissed by critics as public relations gimmicks, demonstrates that the company has the interests of the international community at heart bearing in mind that is where it draws its customer base from. The creativity and friendliness in which Emirates has handled its sponsored activities has really ripped off if the profits it continues to register is something to go by. Strategic position It is important to note that the strategic position of Dubai, home base of Emirates gives it an edge to do business. Strategic because one can conveniently fly to Dubai before connecting with ease to other cities like Manchester or Rome while avoiding an extra trip hence saving on costs. Apart from being a commercial hub, Dubai is a major tourism attraction a factor which makes the aviation industry to blossom. Those who fly with Emirates airlines attest that their ambitions are met a clear manifestation that that its objective of offering best services on every route it operates is fully achieved. Its value for clients has won accolades and trust from many quarters making it an airline you can bank on.

Role Set Analysis

?Role Set Analysis is a method that helps people to think through what is expected of them and they could clash and cause other issues. This method helps managers to check whether or not they are using time effectively. It compares existing procedures with current priorities. By using this method it can help to show what the end objective of the job being analyzed should be. There are many advantages of using the Role Set Analysis. It is easy to apply or update, it assists managers to ask certain questions of themselves about their priorities and objectives. It can also work with a group or team to see if the activities that are being done need to be changed and lastly, it can be used for a entire department or organization to make sure they have the correct resources in the correct places. This process uses a market research approach to a particular job. The data that is collected consists of the expectations of the main individuals or groups that communicates with the person. The main question that needs to be asked is â€Å"What do others expect from me? † instead of â€Å"What should I be doing? † The first step is to accomplish is to identify what the main elements in the role set are. The next step is to combined the data and the pressures into a logical form. This is done by creating a flow chart to make it easier to review and understand. Once this is completed, the next step is to that the time and priorities that are allocated to each element in the role set is in line with what is actually needed. This can be done effectively by keeping a daily log of what their daily tasks are for a couple of days. This information can be compared with what is being reviewed for change. This information will help to ensure that the analysis that has been created is going to be effective.

Science Fair Project & Evaluating the Effectiveness of Diverse Personal Statement

Science Fair Project & Evaluating the Effectiveness of Diverse Learning Environments Assignment - Personal Statement Example I realized that through writing down, the vocabularies would stick on the students’ mind and they could manage to pronounce them correctly later. Writing down also offered the students a chance to practice and memorize while on their own. Most of the students who had difficulties in pronunciation as I figured out were non-English Speakers. Another issue that I managed to figure out is that students had a positive response related to their ability of pronouncing the terms when learning in groups. On this activity, the students would come up with several words in their group that they were unable to pronounce correctly. My main role was just to help them pronounce the vocabularies correctly and then allow them to practice on their own. Through independence practice, I observed that students were able to pronounce the vocabularies correctly in a faster way. I also managed to observe that students, who were not able to pronounce the vocabularies together with others, could underst and quickly and respond effectively through direct instruction. On direct instructions, I could manage to teach the students either individually or as a group and emphasis on the problematic terms. I observed that on these particular children, repetition and drill work posed as the best method to help them understand quickly. Another observation I managed to make is that by giving the students oral and theory exams they were able to assess themselves of what they understood and which questions they need to ask. Oral tests, where each student could pronounce various vocabularies managed to give me an opportunity of identifying whether the student was making any progress or not. I also observed that testing the students contributed in enhancing a strong relationship with them because of the interaction I managed to make when correcting them. I also observed that it was easy to assess each student’s strengths and weaknesses through giving them a test. This assisted me in identif ying the next strategy I should employ in order to help the students develop more skills. In order to improve on this particular activity, there are certain changes that I would like to make. One of the changes is questioning of the students during lecture. I managed to observe that some students feel embarrassed when they are not able to answer a particular question correctly. On this case, I realized that it is not advisable to correct an English Speaking Student mistake especially in front of other students. The best way to deal with this issue is to correct the students’ individual later after the lesson. However, in some situations I may correct the students in case the content of their information is unclear during their pronunciation. For example, in a situation where a student may say, I am here for one year. This information is unclear because the student may mean I have been here for one year. In another angle, the student may mean I will stay here for one more year . The other change I would like to make in order to improve on this activity is increase the material to use for experiment. I noticed that some students understand well while writing down rather than oral teaching alone. This call for more materials like text books, exercise books and pencils. This will help in assessing the students’ ability on understanding pronunciation of words by dictating to them while they write

Analysis of the UK Music Retail Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Analysis of the UK Music Retail Industry - Essay Example Music is a hobby for every one in five adults in the United Kingdom (UK). Music is a lifestyle for a large proportion of the UK people. Majority of the people in the UK listen to music everyday at home, at work and while enjoying their leisure in other places. The significance of music in a consumer lifestyle is emphasized by study results, which indicate that music access has been enhanced by new technology and other trends. Music retailers in the UK include Woolworths, Zavvi, HMV, EMI, Universal, Sony, and Warner (Key Note 2011, p1). Many of these retailers offer CDs, cassettes and vinyl. For a long time the â€Å"bricks and mortar† music retail shops dominated the UK market. However, there has been a sharp reduction in their market share over the past decade with online retailers like Amazon winning, from the brick and mortar shops, a recognizable share of the market. Several physical retails stores in the UK market have been forced to close some of their branches in view o f the various changes and challenges that have graced the market. The paper will highlight some of the changes that have been witnessed in the UK market and will provide a PEST analysis of the UK music retail industry. 1.2 PEST Analysis 1.2.1 Political Environment Control on copyright and recording places potential limitations on the formal distribution channels, for instance, downloading music online (Burt and Sparks 2003, p74). In other words, formal distribution channels have been affected by recording and copyright controls and laws. The present issue concerning the political environment in the UK involves VAT. The problem of Low Value Consignment Relief (a tax mechanism that allows retailers to utilize distribution channels in Channel Islands to sell goods at a low price in UK without the need to pay VAT) has been a thorny issue for the physical music retailers in UK. The music retailers feel that it will make bricks and mortar music shops be disadvantaged in terms of costs. Mu sic retailers’ fears have been increased with the recent move by the government to raise VAT to 20 percent from 17.5 percent (Cardew 2011, p1). 1.2.2 Economic Environment The relatively low cost of music media and devices indicates that there will be little recessionary pressure on sales and expenditures. The recent economic recession hugely affected consumer spending and resulted in revenue fall in the music industry by an average of 3.7 percent in 2009 (McMillan 2011, p5). While the recent recession saw a significant drop in sales of music albums and media between 2009 and 2010, the economic situation of UK has improved in 2011. This means that across the country, the level of disposable income has grown meaning that consumers may be willing to spend more on entertainment. â€Å"Bricks and mortar† music shops which operate with considerably high overheads tend to set higher prices for their products as noted by McMillan (2011, p6). 1.2.3 Social Environment Some of th e physical music retailers in UK have a popular image in the society meaning that they attract a wide range of customers. The population aged between 19 and 40 is heavily involved with and have varied tastes of music. It is important to note that while the younger generation is more comfortable with using high tech equipment such as computers, iPods, Shuffle flash disks and the likes, the older generation is more conservative and therefore prefer to us CDs, cassettes and vinyl players. What this means is

Messaging to Prepare for future challenges Essay

Messaging to Prepare for future challenges - Essay Example †¢Comparison and contrast the ways that the leader used messaging (communication) to institute MyBlueprint and prepare HCL Technologies and Axon for the acquisition Although such an approach was deemed as somewhat radical, the fact of the matter is that it allowed for the end reviews, high end management, to gain a more informed and realistic model of action with regards to what changes and development was necessary in helping to firm to engage in a further level of profitability for each component part and individual sector. This was useful due to the fact that it allowed the middle management to derive and achieve a level of accountability and honesty with regards to the processes and goals that they were ultimately responsible for; rather than merely putting forward talking points that would likely deviate from the root goals and endeavors that the firm sought to effect. What was noticed was that although such a process was radical and engendered a degree of risk, it nonethel ess was highly useful in providing a degree of oversight that was instrumental in detailing and establishing a baseline of performance with regards to any and all upcoming changes that could seek to promote further responsibility and profitability within the firm. With regards to Axon and the strategy that was employed as a result of the merger, this too differentiated itself from the approach that so many firms mistakenly make with respect to the way in which such a business marriage takes place. As such, rather than seeking to bring Axon directly in line with the directives that HCL Technologies had previously been operating under, they CEO determined that the best way in which to maximize the potential that could exist between the two was to seek to leverage an understanding of the fact that Axon was acquired due to the fact that it had the potential to maximize the relationship that the two firms could sustain working in a symbiotic relationship. What is meant by this is that Ax on was not acquired so that the two could behave in an identical manner; rather, the CEO came to the understanding that the firms, although now part of a singular entity, must continue to exhibit the key strengths that they had prior to being organized under one banner. Moreover, the weaknesses that the two firms exhibited must be approached from the baseline of understanding that these should be worked to be minimized without reducing the effectiveness that had formerly been exhibited by either entity. In such a manner, a differentiated and unique plan of management and standardization, as well as oversight, was required to be initiated to ensure that the synergy could be maximized without diminishing the overall competence that they formerly brought to bear. †¢Analyze the effectiveness of the internal and external messaging (communication) With regards to the effectiveness of the internal and external messaging (communication) that was utilized as a function of making the afo rementioned goals a reality, the CEO opted first and foremost to review the process in its entirety among fellow stakeholders (upper and middle management) as a means of targeting any weaknesses within the model that had formerly

The Education system of China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Education system of China - Essay Example The other stage is secondary education; this stage is classified in two groups, specialized education and the academic secondary education (Wang 27). The academic lower and upper middle schools are obligated to provide academic secondary education. On the other hand, a student going for vocational secondary education or specialized education can attend training for two or four years. This system provides training more low skilled personnel, technician, managers and farmers. A student at this category can attend undergraduate level of either two or three years. The two options are also known as short cycle colleges, four-year colleges and universities. They provide both academic and vocational training to students. The Chinese universities and colleges provide graduate programs that make it possible for students to attain Masters or Ph.D. degree. Additionally, undergraduate level is available in either three years or four-year educational program. Three-year program is available in short cycle colleges, universities and four-year colleges. The four-year program is offered in universities and four-year colleges. The difference here is that a student taking four-year program does not attain a bachelor’s degree (Chapman et al. 271). Adult education in Chinese educational system is a reflection of the other two categories, higher education and basic education. They include adult primary education that covers, workers primary education, education for illiterate persons and peasant farmer’s education. Secondary education covers TV and radio specialized education. Peasant and some adult workers are also provided with adult specialized secondary education. TV and radio universities are some of the categories included in Adult higher education program. Other systems available in adult higher education include worker’s colleges, cadre institutes and the correspondence colleges. The mentioned systems of adult education are available in a

The Role of Multimodal Communication in Cooperation Essay

The Role of Multimodal Communication in Cooperation - Essay Example The knowledge about the topics, beliefs, targets, nature etc must coincide for good results. These common grounds must be checked before the interaction. After that the interaction can expand the basis of linguistic and physical co presence. In expanding the scope of the communication, the media is capable of restraining the ease of attaining the common ground. The commonality in the methods is also affected in following the medium of communication. It is better to develop theoretical understanding of the attitudes of shared visual spaces. This improves grounding and also the performance regarding the topics of common belief. 1 After this the parameters that make difference in visual communication systems that are used for complex and collaborative researches were considered. By applying these features to real world settings, the pragmatic way of deploying these methods to attain more benefits for reasonable costs can be assessed. If this is successful, then creating of a technology that enables the accurate estimation of the focus attention in the settings can be determined. This is believed to be an important role the visual channel can play. There are some techniques available for analysis of effectiveness of multimodal interaction. The potential of psycholinguistic models were recognised to have this potential. Though they are recognised to have potential of analysing, there are some limitations. The techniques based on conversation analytic model of breakdown and repair can be termed as the rational approach for introducing a protocol for coding repair. The terms in this approach are computer mediated communication, evaluation and conversation analysis.     

PRINCESS DIANA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

PRINCESS DIANA - Essay Example Being a free soul, she loved music and dancing. Also, she was quite fond of the popular culture and even after her divorce, later in 1982, she maintained her celebrity image amongst the masses. She was also deeply indulged in charitable causes including HIV AIDS, homeless and especially children with needs. Her leadership skills developed over time eventually and after consistent mentoring by Stephen Twigg, her personality transformed from that of a suicidal woman trapped in royalty to courageous women world stage performer. Furthermore, James Hewitt and Oliver Hoare turned out to be quite positive influence on her personality and helped her move forward. However, having met Hasnat Khan, she found a renewed sense of companionship and confidence in herself which transformed her leadership skills (Morton 1994). As a human being, Lady Diana was quite generous and kind. She was often found spending time in hospitals, old folk homes and various institutions. It is also said that her soul was dissatisfied and distressed, and devoting her time to Charity helped her with the healing process. She was also quite nurturing in nature as she spent a lot of time with her sons and taught them about the life outside the palace. Also, she reflected her celebrity image not just in Britain but also globally as she actively participated in charitable events around the globe including the Red Cross. During her marriage, she was acquainted to about 100 charities as Patron or President. She was also quite creative in character, and her interest and fascination with music led toward accomplishing various titles and awards. She motivated people by spreading a positive aura and sense of affection amongst others, especially the less well off. People responded with gratefulness and an even higher sense of affection toward her. Not only did they reciprocated her contributions with immense acknowledgement but also they gave her a very high

A better representation of the network Essay Example for Free

A better representation of the network Essay Centralization sums up my primary reason for implementing Active Directory. The Active Directory structure makes it possible for you to achieve truly centralized management of users, regardless of how big your client’s network has become. If youve worked with Windows NT before, you know that in Windows NT a domain is a completely independent entity. While its possible to create a trust relationship between domains that exist on a common network, the domains are never truly integrated with each other because there is no higher authority that manages the domains. The situation is different with Active Directory. Whereas the domain level was the highest level of abstraction in Windows NT, the highest level of abstraction in Windows 2000 and 2003 Server is the forest, which is basically a collection of domains. Microsoft chose to call this unit a forest because you can place domains into the forest, and you can place entire trees of domains into it. A domain tree consists of a parent, child, grandchildren, and great grandchildren domains. You can have as many layers of subdomains within a domain tree as is necessary to achieve the desired organizational structure. The Active Directory domain structure is handy to have whether your client’s network is big or small. See more: Old Age Problem essay As you may recall, in Windows NT, each domain had its own Administrator account and its own Domain Admin group that was responsible for managing that domain. In Windows 2000 and 2003 Server, the domain Administrator account and the Domain Admin group still exist and can be used the same way that you were used to using them in Windows NT. There is also an Enterprise Admin group. Members of this group can manage any object within the entire Active Directory, regardless of what domain it exists within. Managing trust relationships The first time that someone tried explaining the concept of parent and child domains, forests, and trees to me, my head was spinning. All I could think about was that managing trust relationships for an organization that made use of all of these structures must be a real chore. However, managing trust relationships in Windows 2000 and 2003 Server is much easier than in Windows  NT because there are essentially no trusts to manage. Within a forest, every domain trusts every other domain automatically. The only time youd really have to worry about managing trust relationships would be if you had a relationship between domains residing within different forests. The only time that you would likely have to set up an interforest relationship would be if you needed to set up a trust relationship with a domain in another company’s network. These enhanced management capabilities make Windows 2000 and 2003 Server more scalable than Windows NT. This is especially true for larger organizations. Windows NT has a limit of about 40,000 objects within a domain. Windows 2000 Server expands this limit to over 10 million objects. I have not yet seen the object limit figures for Windows 2003 Server, but I’m sure that it’s possible to have over 10 million objects. Organizational units improve scalability Another way that Active Directory improves scalability in large organizations is through the use of organizational units (OUs). An OU is basically a collection of users and computers. The idea is that if you have a large domain, you can organize the domain into OUs. For example, suppose that your clients company used one large domain that spanned the entire corporation. Normally, this would mean that the administrative team would be responsible for managing the entire domain and all of the objects within it. Now imagine that your clients company has a really large finance department and that the finance department’s secretary is good with computers. You could create an OU named FINANCE and move all of the user accounts and computer objects for the finance department into this OU. After doing so, you could delegate the authority to reset passwords for this OU to the finance secretary. When someone in finance needed a password reset, they wouldn’t have to contact the help desk; they could just ask the secretary. This would give the department faster turnaround on password resets and free the help desk from some of the administrative burden. When you delegate authority to an OU, the person that youre delegating control to only has the permissions that you allow and only for that OU. Therefore, the secretary in finance wouldn’t be able to reset passwords for the rest of the company. The secretary also would not be able to perform any other administrative tasks within the OU, unless, of course, you delegated additional permissions. If you like the  idea of delegating authority, you’ll be happy to know that you can also delegate authority to create, delete, or manage user accounts or groups within the OU. Multimaster replication and sites Another cool benefit of an Active Directory environment is the concept of sites and multimaster replication. In Windows NT, when you make a change to the SAM, the change is applied directly to the PDC and is later replicated to each BDC. In an Active Directory multimaster replication environment, each domain controller contains a copy of Active Directory, not just the information for a single domain. Therefore, when a change is made to Active Directory, the change is applied to whatever domain controller is the closest, and is then replicated to the remaining domain controllers. This prevents a designated PDC from being overburdened. You can really see the benefits of multimaster replication when you consider how sites work. Sites are a logical Active Directory structure completely independent from domains. The idea is that if part of a domain is connected by a slow link, you may designate each side of the link as a separate site. Each site has its own domain controller. Therefore, when someone within a site needs to make an Active Directory update, the updates are applied to the domain controller within the site. The changes are collected and then replicated to the domain controller on the other side of the site link at preset intervals. This domain controller is known as a bridgehead server. It’s the bridgehead server’s job to intercept the updates and replicate them to the remaining domain controllers. Sites can be a little complicated to understand, but the basic idea is that they greatly decrease the amount of traffic that must flow across your slow or high-cost network links.

Analysis of Treatment Options for Depression

Analysis of Treatment Options for Depression Cognitive Therapy Donna Thompson An accruing relapse of depression is hard to overcome nevertheless; preventing these relapses is the key. The length of depression constitutes a major problem in the treatment of depression. The aim of any treatment is to lessen relapses and the recurrence of depression in patients. All patterns are different and the level in mental codes that are used in the treatment of depression Antidepressant medications (ADMS) are a common form of treatment for major depression. However, not all individuals want to take medications since the side effects could be lethal or unwanted. There have been other studies for treatment such as; BA (Behavioral Activation) treatment. Depression can lead to suicide and the feeling of hopelessness that lays dormant in people who attempt suicide. Cognitive therapy has a few sessions that target suicide tendencies due to Cognitive therapy targets the key reasons. Clinical practice concentrates on group therapy and the format is recommended to help people with depression. Group methods can be seen as evidences as implementing an intervention. Literature Review Brown, G. K. (2005) discovered that treatments that prevent the repeat of suicide attempts is limited. The research is based on randomized trials that concentrates on treatment differences between medications and therapy. DeRubeis et al (2005) found that experienced therapist could be as effective as medications. The research was done at top universities and clinics such as: University of Pennsylvania, Vanderbilt University and more. The research used a controlled placebo trial target at the similarities of cognitive therapy. Dimidjian et al (2006) researched AMD (antidepressant medication) against cognitive therapy. There is very little study and cognitive therapy has not been proven to help. The research was based on the testing of cognitive therapy against the AMD. The research founded that with experience cognitive therapy helped more than the medication. Scope et al (2013) research is based on cognitive therapy evidence in helping PND (postnatal depression) victims. This study compared one on one therapy against group therapy and suggested an intervention in the current standards. The research reviewed the evidence scientifically. Teasdale et al (1995) research was based on the theory that relapses of depression can be reduced by cognitive therapy during the main treatment. An information analysis was used to weigh the effectiveness of the primary therapy. The research concluded that similar effects of cognitive therapy can be used in other mental disorders using meditation techniques. The Interaction to Cognitive Therapy (ICS) Study An accruing relapse of depression is hard to overcome nevertheless; preventing these relapses is the key. The length of depression constitutes a major problem in the treatment of depression. However, many evidences suggest that psychological treatments have been withdrawn to the many treatment trials that have been found in cognitive therapy such as drugs or different types of therapy that defends against depression. â€Å"The preventive interventions such as the drugs operate through effects in changing the patterns of the cognitive processing that becomes active in mild negative side effects† (Teasdale, Segal, Williams, 1995, p.25). The aim of any treatment is to lessen relapses and the recurrence of depression in patients. Therefore, the interaction to cognitive subsystems (ICS). ICS works through information that may be developed for cognitive therapy. The different aspects and experiences are represented in patterns that are qualitatively different to ICS. Different inflections and patterns seem different. Many analogies, recurring patterns are common to visual inputs from similar objects and what objects are different. All patterns are different and the level in mental codes that are used in the treatment of depression. A research done by Teasdale, et al (1995) found that the level of study denotes a concerned meaning that can be demonstrated by the similarities between a poem and a sentence (p.26). Information processing involves the transformation of patterns in one information code into patterns. Depression shows that emotional reactions occur when emotion relates to schematic models that are produced from patterns of lower level meanings and patterns that show production of depression and emotional responses. The main effect is to help control the relapse of depression. In addition, â€Å"The insight to sounds and physical sensations depends on implicated schematic models, creating propositional outputs (specific meanings) that are extreme to derive information from current sensory input† (Teasdale, Segal, Williams, 1995, p.36). Antidepressant Treatment Study Antidepressant medications (ADMS) are a common form of treatment for major depression. However, not all individuals want to take medications since the side effects could be lethal or unwanted. However, there have been other studies for treatment such as; BA (Behavioral Activation) treatment. Dimidjian et al., (2006), conducted a study that had 258 people involved and came to a census of depression stresses the affiliation between action and attitude conditions that play a role of relative changes that are linked with reduced access to support antidepressant conditions (p.660). The study indicated that BA was comparable to ADM. In the future the standard targeting avoidance behaviors will be in accordance with an earlier behavioral theory that may be an important to innovation on depression. Addressing treatments for depression has not emphasized targeting avoidances, with the exception of the use of opposite action for sadness within dialectical behavior therapy and early investigations of acceptance and commitment therapy with depressed patients. Cognitive Therapy vs Medications Antidepressant medications may treat depression. DeRubeis et al (2005) research was conducted across five universities that included 240 outpatients. He used The Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD), in which is a several item survey used to warn of depression, and it is used as a controller to evaluate the recovery of depression. This provided endless scores that permitted for descriptions of remission. DeRubeis et al (2005) concluded that knowledge levels of the cognitive therapists seem to have subsidized the communication. Hence, cognitive therapy can be as effective as the drugs for the primary treatment of severe depression. Nonetheless, this degree of success may depend on a higher level of therapist that has experience or expertise in treating depression (p.409). Suicide Cognitive Therapy Study Depression can lead to suicide and the feeling of hopelessness lays dormant in people who attempt suicide. Cognitive therapy has a few sessions that target suicide tendencies due to most of Cognitive therapy tries to target the key reasons such as depression or the feeling of hopelessness. Brown did a study in 2005 and the objective of the study is to test a 10-session therapy. Throughout this study many relapsed, some were watching closer than others and some had many sessions. â€Å"The severity of depression as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory was significantly lower for the cognitive therapy group than for the usual care group† (Brown, 2005, p. 565). The participants was broken into two groups a cognitive therapy group and a care group. The study proved that overall the cognitive therapy group had less depression and hopelessness than the care group in lesser time. Brown (2005) research concluded that â€Å"the cognitive therapy group also had significantly less hopeless than the usual care group. The severity of self-reported depression was significantly lower for the cognitive therapy group than for the usual care group† (p. 569). Psychological Therapies Study Clinical practice concentrates on group therapy and the format is recommended to help people with depression. Group methods can be seen as evidences as implementing an intervention. â€Å"Many selected studies were quality assessed, using Cochrane risk of bias tools that were data extracted by two reviews using a standardized data† (Scope et al., 2013, p.3). The method was a synthesized effect that was an inverse and variance method. The results of Meta analyses showed groups to (CBT). The current national institute for health and clinical excellence (NICE) showed that clinical guidelines was intended for postnatal mental health. The outline that is recommended is to identify and treat women with psychological interventions such as undivided cognitive behavioral therapy or interpersonal therapy (IPT) for women with (PND). In any future studies that may be beneficial is a psychological intervention because it is useful for treatments that may meet the requirements of evidence based practice to (EBP) if it is applied. Conclusion The length of depression constitutes a major problem in the treatment of depression. However, many evidences suggest that psychological treatments have been withdrawn to the many treatment trials that have been found in cognitive therapy such as drugs or different types of therapy that defends against depression. Depression shows that emotional reactions occur when emotion relates to schematic models that are produced from patterns of lower level meanings and patterns that show production of depression and emotional responses. The main effect is to help control the relapse of depression. DeRubeis (2005) concluded that knowledge levels of the cognitive therapists seem to have subsidized the communication. Hence, cognitive therapy can be as effective as the drugs for the primary treatment of severe depression or other mental problems. Nonetheless, this degree of success may depend on a higher level of therapist that has experience or expertise in treating depression (p.409). An accruing relapse of depression is hard to overcome nevertheless; preventing these relapses is the key. The length of depression constitutes a major problem in the treatment of depression. The aim of any treatment is to lessen relapses and the recurrence of depression in patients. References Brown,G.K. (2005). Cognitive Therapy for the Prevention of Suicide Attempts: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Jama-journal of The American Medical Association,294(5), 563-570. doi:10.1001/jama.294.5.563 Retrieved from: http://www.behavioralhealth-ctx.org/resources/Suicide_Prevention.pdf DeRubeis,R.J., Hollon,S.D., Amsterdam,J.D., Shelton,R.C., Young,P.R., Salomon,R.M., . . . Gallop,R. (2005). Cognitive Therapy vs Medications in the Treatment of Moderate to Severe Depression.Archives of General Psychiatry,62(4), 409-416. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.62.4.409 Retrieved from: http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=208460 Dimidjian,S., Hollon,S.D., Dobson,K.S., Schmaling,K.B., Kohlenberg,R.J., Addis,M.E., . . . Jacobson,N.S. (2006). Randomized Trial of Behavioral Activation, Cognitive Therapy, and Antidepressant Medication in the Acute Treatment of Adults With Major Depression.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology,74(4), 658-670. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.74.4.658 Retrieved from http://ww.abnormalwootwoot.com/Cool_Abnormal_Reads_Videos_ETC._files/Dimidjia n%202006-Randomized%20Trial%20of%20Behavioral%20Activation_1.pdf Scope,A., Leaviss,J., Kaltenhaler,E., Parry,G., Sutcliffe,P., Bradburn,M., Cantell,A. (2013). Is group cognitive behavior therapy for postnatal depression evidence based practice? A systematic review.BMC Psychiatry,13(1), 1-19. doi:10.1186/1471-244x-13-321 Retrieved from: https://eds-b-ebscohost- com.libroxy.chapman.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=8sid=143e2edd-dfaa-4ad4-88aa- 90d630d4673d%40sessionmgr110hid=113bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLHVpZCxjb 29raWUsdXJsJnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aphAN=92802416 Teasdale,J.D., Segal,Z., Williams,J.M. (1995). How does cognitive therapy prevent depressive relapse and why should attentional control (mindfulness) training help?Behaviour Research and Therapy,33(1), 25-39. doi:10.1016/0005-7967(94)E0011-7 Retrieved from: http://oxfordmindfulness.org/wp-content/uploads/Teasdale-Segal-and- Williams-1995.pdf

Apple Inc Marketing Case Study Marketing Essay

Apple Inc Marketing Case Study Marketing Essay Apple was founded by Steven Wozniak and Steven Jobs in 1976. The company was founded by releasing the first successful mass-produced personal computer. Steve Wozniak designed the Apple I design was his addition to the success of Apple. Steve Jobs recognized the potential market for the personal computer. Their combined talents created the successful start of the company. The technology market is fast paced and Apple has shown growth and innovation to stay at the forefront of this market. The company has expanded from the Apple I and desktop computers to mobile computers, PDAs, MP3 players, and most recently the mobile phone market. Innovation has been a key role in the success of Apple As a business strategy, Apple leverages its ability, through the design and development of its own operating system, hardware, and many software applications and technologies, to bring to its customers around the world compelling new products and solutions with superior ease-of-use, seamless integration, and innovative industrial design. This strategy has worked well for the company since it first opened. Apple has been able to create brand strength by focusing on a limited number of products ensuring that they are high quality. They have focused on their innovative strength playing up the release of their product by keeping them behind closed doors and when ready Steve Jobs announces and demonstrates the product which creates an excitement in consumers waiting to see what the latest and greatest technology will be. Apple has also built a customer loyalty not seen in its competition. With the recent releasing of the i products, iMac, iPod, iTouch, and iPhone loyal consumers have been referred to as icustomers due to their loyalty to the brand. Apple has used the i product to create a Halo effect for its other products. Using the lower cost products like iPods to show the ease-of-use and high quality of products that Apple produces to create a selling point for higher end products like their desktops. The Apple Company has also created partnerships with their competitors which has strengthened the company. Rather than use time researching and developing some products like Google maps and YouTube, Apple has incorporated the already market saturated applications in their products. The time and funds are better served researching and developing the next product that will wow the market. Apples overall financial standing is forward moving and shows good growth. Net income has constantly increased each year with an average 38.1% growth over the past three years. In 2004 Apple eliminated the $300 million of long-term debt it had outstanding resulting in no long-term debt reported from 2003 to 2007. This debt was eliminated without funding reduction in other areas of the company. Strategic Weaknesses Apple is the market share leader for MP3 players and smart phones, but is far below the market shares of its competitors in computers. Apple held only 8.5% of the market share in the second quarter of 2008 compared to Dell Inc at 31.9% and Hewlett-Packard at 25.3%. In 2007 Apple held only 6.4% of the market compared to Dell Inc at 27.9% and Hewlett-Packard at 25.8%. Apples sales have been made up of an average of 46% of their total net sales from 2004 to 2007. When the market share dropped in 2007 sales still increase for the overall but was due to increases in iPod sales and other music-related products and services that had significant increases that year. The low market share in 2007 can be explained by the economic recession. Consumers in a weak economy look towards the less expensive options available which shifts the market towards Apples competitors Dell and Hewlett-Packard. Apples products do have some degree of cannibalization. Each product line has offering for different cost based markets and the differentiation of products has started to blur. iPods serve a low price market, iTouch serve a midrange market and the computers represent a high price market. The technology market fluctuates very strongly with the economy, so with a down turning economy iPods would cannibalize the sales of the iTouch product. iPhones also incorporate a music player eliminating the need for both the mobile phone and music player. Still sales of each item have shown an overall growth each year in the market with exception to computers. Below is a table representing the percent increase of sales that Apple has in desktops and laptops. The overall growth percentage of sales has fluctuated but comparing years with similar percentages of growth, 2005 and 2007 show that laptops have cannibalized desktops. In 2005 desktop sales had a 35.5% growth by units from the prior year and laptops only increase by 7.3%. In 2007 desktops growth per units sold was only 10.3% and laptops increased 33.8% from the prior year. Apple will see a common trend for iPods in relationship to iPhones and other products that incorporate music players in future years. % Unit Sale Increase from Prior Year 2007 2006 2005 2004 Desktops 10.3% -3.5% 35.5% -8.1% Laptops 33.8% 29.8% 7.3% 24.8% Total Macintosh 24.7% 4.5% 27.4% 8.4% Another weakness Apple has is issues that have surrounded new product releases. In 2001 when the first iPod was released it was criticized for its short battery life which lead to lawsuit filed for misrepresenting the battery life. Again in 2005 with the release of the Nano customers complained about the devices reporting that they would freeze up, stop functioning, and that the products casing was very susceptible to scratches. Despite the poor product releases the iPods consumers still found the product to be a quality product and iPods still held the top market share of MP3s. In 2007 the second generation of iPhone was released and the price was lowered to $399. This was described as larger-than-normal price drop in a short period of time and had consumers speculating that Apple had unfair pricing. These issues that Apple has faced with product releases show that there is a flaw in Apples research and development process. If Apple was to experience a recall on its products or cont inues to have issues like these for its new products their products will no longer be seen as high quality and will create a fear in consumers to wait to purchase Apple products until they know that it doesnt have any issues. The final weakness that Apple has is its reliance on Steve Jobs as CEO. It wasnt until Steve Jobs returned with his expanded role with Apple that it started showing consistency in the forward successful movement to achieve the companys strategic objectives. Between 1981 and 1997 Apple was under the direction of six different chief executive officers. In 1997 Steve Jobs was given an expanded role and in 2000 became the official CEO. Starting in 1997 Steve Jobs made many changes including, a new board of directors, initiated aggressive advertising campaign, created an alliance with Microsoft ending their legal dispute, start an e-commerce for consumer direct sales, and releasing the iMAC a product for the lower-end consumer market. After 2000 and the official announcement that Steve Jobs would be Apples CEO he continued to expand on the successes releasing the iPod which opened up the music industry to the company and many additional opportunities over the next years. Apple needs a lea der like Steve Jobs to keep the company on a forward moving path using its strategic plan. The other CEOs that Apple has had have not been able implement the strategic plan like Steve Jobs who co-founded the company. Recommendations Apples low market share exists due to its higher price and software compatibility. In 1997 Steve Jobs started to close the software compatibility gap by creating an alliance with Microsoft who agreed to make Windows available to Mac users. Apple will not reduce its price, at least not enough to compete with Dell or Hewlett-Packard, the products price is part of the brand image as a quality and innovative product. I would recommend Apple attempt to keep their market share at 8% or higher for the computer market. To achieve this Apple should use smaller price reductions that would not effect product perception. Other than price reduction the only way for Apple to increase market share would be to create a new innovative product related to the computer market. Pretty much, Apple and Dell are the only ones in this industry making money. They make it by being Wal-Mart. We make it by innovation. Steve Jobs In relation to Apples products and the potential for cannibalization between them I would recommend research and development of a software product that can allow you to share files, music, and applications between the products. Currently Apple offers MobileMe for a $99/year fee for a service that can be accessed through applications on a consumers iPhone, iTouch, or Mac that provides 20 GB of off site storage. Verse this option that is competing with free versions like DropBox I am recommending a wireless sync between products so files can be moved quickly and conveniently between the products with a simple touch. Moving music, presentations, or pictures between the devices with easy would help build value in owning multiple products in similar markets. My next recommendation would be to assess Apples research and development process. The release problems that Apple has experienced show an effect on sales and effect the high quality brand name that Apple has worked hard at maintaining. Currently Apple only uses 3% of net sales for research and development. I would suggest taking more time and using more funds in necessary to ensure that the products they release will not continue to this trend of negative product releases. My last recommendation would be to lay the ground work for Steve Jobs replacement. I would recommended using someone already working for Apple that understands the strategic plan and foster a mentorship for this person for a few years to create a smooth transition. I would recommend if a all possible for Steve Jobs to not just exit the company but remain in an advisor position as part of the companys board to ensure that his successor remains on track to achieve the strategic objectives that have make Apple a successful company. Comments/Observations/Questions Amazon opening Droid application store Apple announced a few days ago, Bertrand Serlet, a senior software engineer at the company since the return of Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs in 1997 and a main architect of the Mac operating system was leaving Apple 2007 around the same year of the iPod release and iTV Apple dropped Computers from company name.

Essay --

Written around 1606, Macbeth is recognized as one of Shakespeare’s greatest works. Macbeth deals with the downfall of the title character Macbeth as he falls from a respected, decorated soldier to a despised, tyrannical monarch. This fall from grace is accompanied by the motif of darkness. Darkness serves to set the ominous and superstitious tone of the story, foreshadows events, and is used as a symbolic device. One of the uses of darkness is to establish the dark and mysterious tone. One example of darkness being used to establish tone is when Lennox notes of the â€Å"unruly night.† (Act 2, Scene 3) Lennox also points out that â€Å"the chimmneys were blown down†, meaning there were odd wind patterns, and that the â€Å"obscure bird†, meaning owl, often associated with darkness, was noisy all night. This quote shows the eerie events that happen at night and associates the darkeness of night with mysterious happenenings. Another use of darkness for tone is when Lady Macbeth mentions it when she decides that she would help Macbeth do the necessary dirty work to take the throne after reading his letter to her. While she calls upon the dark spirits to strip away her feminity she also says â€Å"†¦nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark To cry â€Å"Hold, hold!†Ã¢â‚¬  (Act 1, Scene 5) In this quote Lady Macbeth is also using darkness metaphorically as a way that she and her husband can keep their ambitions secret and how the darkness serves as a cover so that no one can see them commit the murder. The secrecy that the Macbeths desire helps add to the dark tone of the story. In both these quotes, darkness establishes the enigmatic and cryptic tone that dominates the play. In addition, darkness is used to ... ...l things since she decided to help Macbeth become king. It is a vain attempt to keep herself in a good light even though she has done many bad things. While it physically keeps her in a bright state, it cannot take the darkness out of her heart. This struggle adds to her insanity. In this scene darkness and light represent good and evil as they often do in many stories. Darkness is one of the more prominent motifs in Macbeth. It establishes the tone, foreshadows events in the story, and is used as a symbolic device. When its uses are put together darkness helps show us the theme. Macbeth is a tragedy, creully showing how fearless ambition can have disastrous effects. One cannot get so far without suffering some consequences. Sometimes all the work put in just isn’t worth the price you pay. And unfortunately for Macbeth it him cost everything.

Nat Turners Confessions and Frederick Douglass The Heroic Slave Essay

Nat Turner's Confessions and Frederick Douglass' The Heroic Slave The names of Nat Turner and Frederick Douglass are remembered because of the fame that they earned as black Americans during pre-Civil War slave period. However, their names color the pages of history books for widely different reasons: Nat Turner led one of the greatest slave revolts in almost 150 years of slavery, while Frederick Douglass obtained his freedom and education, going on to become a renowned speaker, author, and public leader. Nat Turner's insurrection in Southampton, Virginia in 1831 was a massacre of over sixty slaveholders and subsequently many slaves as Turner and his alliance of slaves joined together in protest of their enslavement. The story of the revolt, complete with its motives and facts, is recorded in a published document called Nat Turner's Confessions, written by a white lawyer upon interviewing Turner in prison after the insurrection. It is the most accurate and detailed document available on the revolt. Frederick Douglass, on the other hand, after gaining his freedom, published literary works that include his own narrative of his life and some short stories. One of his short stories is a fictional account of a slave revolt called The Heroic Slave. Although it is based on a real life slave revolt, Douglass' work is mostly literary creativity glorifying a strong black leader. By examining the non-fiction document on Turner's revolt and the fiction story written by Douglass, along with variou s aspects of the authors backgrounds, conditions under slavery, and education, this page compares and contrasts the fiction versus non-fiction characteristics of slave revolts. We only know about the childhoods of Douglass and Turner through a... ... a white man, I would have followed willingly and gladly in any honorable enterprise. Our difference of color was the only ground for difference of action." (The Heroic Slave-77) This reveals to the reader the importance to the white mans, the idea of being white and of racial purity. Although this man reveals that Madison was a smart and admirable man, he can not respect him because he is black. References Douglass, Frederick. The Heroic Slave. In Violence In the Black Imagination. Ed, Ronald T. Takaki. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Greenberg, Kenneth S., ed.The Confessions Of Nat Turner. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996. Sale, Maggie. "To Make The Past Useful: Frederick Douglass' Politics of Solidarity." Arizona Quarterly 52.3 (Autumn 1995):25-60. Online. Internet. 12 Nov 1998. Available: http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/douglass.htm.

Social Capital

In recent decades, many social scientists have drawn attention to the importance of â€Å"social capital. † Social capital is meant to capture the value, economic and otherwise, that comes from social networks, through which people frequently interact with one another. But what if social capital ends up contributing to the rise of extreme movements, including fascism? It is well-established that individuals and societies can gain a great deal from civic institutions, such as parent-teacher associations, athletic leagues, churches and music clubs.High levels of social capital have been associated with numerous social benefits, including improvements in health, promise-keeping, trust, altruism, compliance with the law, child welfare and individual happiness. Harvard University political scientist Robert Putnam has done a great deal to explore the beneficial effects of social capital. In his book â€Å"Bowling Alone,† he documented what he saw as its decline in the U. S. , connecting that decline with a wide range of social problems. Pointing to research by Putnam and others, many people have argued that the U.S. and other nations should make a sustained effort to measure and increase social capital, with particular attention to civic associations that help to generate it. At the same time, social capital can have a dark side. If people are in a social network whose members are interested in committing crimes, the existence of social capital will promote criminal activity. A fascinating recent study called â€Å"Bowling for Fascism† goes much further: It shows that the rise of Nazism was greatly facilitated by unusually high levels of social capital in Weimar Germany.The research offers an important and novel perspective on Adolf Hitler’s ascension to power. And by identifying conditions that help to spread extremism, it also offers significant lessons for the present, including the risk of terrorism. The study, conducted by New York Un iversity’s Shanker Satyanath and his co-authors, is based on a wide range of original materials, including Nazi Party membership lists and hand-collected data from 112 German towns.The central question: Who was most likely to join the Nazi Party? In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Germany had an exceptionally vibrant civil society that included clubs involved in hiking, animal breeding, shooting, gymnastics, bowling, fire fighting and singing. The authors’ principal finding is that in cities with dense networks of clubs and associations, Germans were far more likely to join the Nazi Party. Intheir words, â€Å"a dense fabric of civic associations went hand-in-hand with a more rapid rise of Nazi party membership. † It could be suggested that some independent factor, such as socioeconomic status or religion, accounts both for associational activity and for willingness to join the Nazi Party. But that suggestion is inconsistent with the evidence. Even if we control for these and other variables, a dense network of civic associations is correlated with significantly higher rates of entry into the Nazi Party.This finding undermines the view, held by some, that the Nazi Party succeeded by appealing to people who were socially isolated and that Hitler was able to draw support largely from the lonely and the rootless. But this evidence strongly suggests otherwise. Nazism spread in part as a result of face-to-face interactions by people who were in frequent contact with one another. Consider the chilling remarks of a Nazi Party member who recalled his growing acquaintance â€Å"with a colleague of my own age with whom I had frequent conversations.He was a calm, quiet person whom I esteemed very highly. When I found out that he was one of the local leaders of the National Socialist party, my opinion of it as a group of criminals changed completely. † The authors’ central findings fit well with emerging research on the immense importanc e of social influences on individual behavior. With respect to music, political convictions, voting and food, we constantly learn from others. Like-minded people tend to go to extremes, in large part because they learn from each other.Within nations and around the world, modern social media connect disparate people and hence build social capital, intensifying social influences on thought and behavior. For the current period, there is a straightforward lesson. Individuals and nations generally benefit from large numbers of private associations, including sports clubs, religious groups and parent-teacher associations. But in some nations, dense social networks also increase people’s vulnerability to extremism.A great deal of work suggests that terrorism itself can arise not because people are isolated, poor or badly educated, but because they are part of tightly knit networks in which hateful ideas travel quickly. No one should doubt that private associations are desirable and valuable, and that they can produce a dazzling range of social goods, including checks on the power of government. But Satyanath and his co-authors reveal another possibility: that such associations can facilitate the spread of extremism, ultimately laying the groundwork for serious challenges to democracy itself.

Knight in Medieval Times

A knight in medieval times is normally recognized as an equipped combatant at the service of the lord or king. Knight was considered a symbol of chivalry and an epitome of bravery in the medieval times. He was regarded as the most skilled person in the art of fighting who worked under the lord and was subjected to his orders and instructions in every affair of life. His leisure time activities were also chivalrous in nature and he remained involved in chivalrous games like duels. He used to possess best Arabian breed of horses that had no match in Europe.â€Å"The close association of the knight and his horse is clearly shown by the titles by which we was known throughout Europe; in France he was a Chevalier, in Italy a Cavalier, in Spain a Caballero, and in Germany a Ritter, from the word meaning to ride. Even the name for the code by which the knight was later bound, Chivalry, derives from the French Cheval. † (The Origins of The Knight) Knight was the production of a practi cal necessity of keeping men of valor and strength to keep the territories and states safe against internal and external threats.That armed knights later became a part of nobility due to the growth and extension of military power and their importance in the affairs of the states. Over a period of five hundreds years, in addition to knights’ military duties and obligations, their socio-political importance led to three other important changes regarding their status in the socio-cultural set-up. This was the steady advancement of knights as a fortunate and advantaged, inherited group.Secondly, a code of chivalry developed naturally that customized and legitimized their code of conducts and elaborated and elevated them to an exclusive social position as a martial privileged class that developed itself into an nobility. The Knights was bound by socio-cultural convention to follow a code of chivalry. This chivalrous was a counter-effective to manifestation of his violent nature du ring battles and wars. Code of chivalry used to be no document system of conduct but it was customary set of rules based on morality and cultural compulsions.Chivalric qualities of an ideal knight during the middle ages under this code are best described in Song of Roland. It reflects that a Knight should be God fearing who could serve his lord in every thick and thin. He must defend the feeble and frail and must abstain himself from giving unnecessary offense to others. He must not fight for his own financial or social gains but for the wellbeing of all.Song of Roland says in this regard: â€Å"A knight should have such valour,/ Who bears arms and sits astride a good horse./ In battle he should be strong and fierce,/ Or else he is not worth four pence. / He ought rather to be a monk in one of those monasteries/ And pray all day long for our sins! † (Song of Roland, laisse 141)Duke of Burgundy recognizes some important characteristics and personality traits of a chivalrous kn ight. â€Å"The words he chose to use to describe the virtues that should be exhibited in the Knights Code of Chivalry were as follows: Faith, Charity, Justice, Sagacity, Prudence, Temperance, Resolution, Truth, Liberality, Diligence, Hope, Valour†.(The Middle Ages Website) So these characteristics of knight were manifestations societal expectations about the code of conduct of knight. Beside all these chivalrous qualities, he was expected to be brave and skillful enough to shows his valor and strength at the battlefield. Another manifestation of chivalrous characteristics was brotherhood at arms. â€Å"Among the gentler features of chivalry may be reckoned the beautiful institution of brotherhood in arms, by which two knights vowed faith to each other.The brothers in arms wore the same arms and clothes, mingled their blood in one vessel, and received the Sacrament together. They engaged to support each other in battle and in all quarrels, and to have the same friends and en emies. † (Knights in Middle Ages) This not only unified the knights of one state but their vows to each other used to augment their strength and confidence. Courtly love was another important development that was directly associated with knight and knighthood. It was one of the most celebrated activities of Knights that is romanticized to a great extent by the medieval literature.Courtly love was eulogized and was considered a noble passion. This form of romantic passion is depicted differently by Chaucer. In his era, the medieval era, relationship between lady and a knight took the form of ‘courtly love’ and was labeled as a noble passion coupled with chivalry and gallantry. In renaissance, love was also considered an ennobling phenomenon but we see concept of romantic and exalted love that has nothing to do with knightly and chivalrous qualities. Chaucer writes about one of the most important activities for a Knight was;To love my lady, whom I love and serve/ d evere shal, til that myn herte sterve. (The Knight’s Tale) Courtly love is not depicted an immodest and lustful phenomenon by Chaucer but it is praised occasionally. Chaucer further shows certain other fine qualities of the contemporary culture pertaining to courtly love. For example, in Knight’s Tale male lover were never usurpers. Following the tradition of courtly love, both knights, Palamon and Arcite disclosed their love for the lady and requested her hand.Both are â€Å"broken al day for love in ech degree. † (The Knight’s Tale)This clearly manifests that culture and value of time pertaining to courtly love strongly prohibited forced love. Furthermore, it shows the individual integrity and honesty within the community. It was knights’ integrity and honesty that did not let them to deceive their lady-love and adopt a proper way to court the lady. This indirectly depicts the rationality level of the people in general and nobility in particular. Loyalty and equality were other ingredients of the courtly love that portrays the values and traditions of the society as a whole. Although Middle Ages’ literature highly romanticize the characteristics of a knight and elevated their characters but many knights were unable to live upto these standards. Chaucer depicts in Canterbury Tales (Wife of Bath’s) the story of knight who raped a lady. This was highly against chivalrous code. As Chaucer’s tales are considered as the mirror image of his contemporary era, so this story was a reflection of the prevailing socio-cultural situations.In another medieval story, Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, we also find some knights who are coward and are not as good as knight Gawain. So it is obvious that not all knights were chivalrous. Above-mentioned arguments and supported evidence clearly manifest that medieval knight were well-mannered, gracious and towering personalities. Their indulgence in courtly love was not a lustf ul affair but it was a based on mutual attraction and admiration was purely a refined and passionate activity that was accepted and sanctioned by social norms.Works CitedChaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. New York: Penguin Classics. 1996.Goldin, Frederick. The Song of Roland. New York: Norton, 1978.Gravett, Christopher. The World of the Medieval Knight. Peter Bedrick Books. New York. 1996.Medieval Spell. Knights in Middle Ages. 12 November 2008 .The Middle Ages Website. Knights Code of Chivalry. 12 November 2008 .The Origins of The Knight. 12 November 2008 .

The Blindside

The blindside movie versus the book Robert ward Chowan University This paper was prepared for [critical thinking 102, section c], taught by Professor Collins Blindside truths and lies In the movie the blindside there are many truths and differences from the book. Some of them more evident than others. In this movie/book critique I will explain the many truths and lies, to better explain the real story of Michael oher.Some key examples of the truths are the truth of big mikes parents; also what are the toughys real professions. Key examples of lies between the two stories would be how the toughys actually discovered big mike, was Michael really a timid player as portrayed in the movie, and did mike really throw a rival player a fence in a high school game. The Blind Side true story reveals that Michael’s birth mother had been addicted to crack cocaine. (ChasingtheFrog. om, 2013) this was also clearly stated in the movie, just like mikes father which in the movie we learn he was murdered but in the book we learn in detail that he was shot and thrown off an over pass. (The Blind Side: Evolution of Game 2012). other than the truths about big mikes real parents we also learn about the toughys. In reality Leanne was actually an interior decorator who eventually helped Michael decorate his own house. Sean toughy was also an owner of a major fast food chain.One of the most disputed facts was when in the movie did Michael ever have a bed to himself. We learn from a comparison of the book and movie that is was truly stated that until moving in with the toughys Michael had never had a bed to himself being he had eleven other siblings growing up. There are actually a lot of similarities in the movie and the book but most are very small and not easily noticed. What you have to understand when looking at a movie or reading a book based on the same story is that it is basically impossible to have everything due to the facts that they are ortrayed by two different direc tors perspectives , and a movie can’t last nearly as long as a book. There are many false truths about the blindside either to make a better story or the actual truth was not known at the time the movie was created. One example would be who was the first family member to make contact with Michael. In the movie we find that big mike was first approached by Leanne when she spotted him walking in the rain at night. The book says that sean senior saw him Collins volleyball game picking up old popcorn.The actuality is that Collins noticed the large man mike and told her father who began to pay for mikes lunch when he realized he did not have the money to buy it himself. Another example would be did mike actually fight in hurt village as seen in the movie. The truth is that was false to he did fight but the person who he fought was a teammate at ole miss. The reasons for the fight are the same though. Works Cited ChasingtheFrog. com. (2013). Retrieved march 3, 2013, from Chasingthe Frog. com: http://www. chasingthefrog. com/reelfaces/blindside. php

Language Learning Strategy Use And Academic Achievement Education Essay

Research on linguistic communication larning schemes began in the sixtiess. It was infl uenced by the development of cognitive psychological science. Until the debut of cognitive psychological science, anterior research on 2nd linguistic communication acquisition and instruction focused chiefly on methods of learning, alternatively of on scholar features and the procedure of geting a 2nd linguistic communication ( Wenden, 1987 ) .With the coming of cognitive theories research in 2nd linguistic communication instruction has bit by bit shifted toward the scholar or scholar centered attacks in an effort to heighten scholar ‘s liberty and independency. In this manner, â€Å" independent scholars assume duty for finding the intent, content, beat and method of their acquisition, supervising its advancement and measuring its results † ( Holec, 1981, p.3 ) . This has resulted in a turning involvement in research in linguistic communication acquisition schemes ( LLS ) which are b elieved to â€Å" lend to the development of the linguistic communication system which the scholar concepts and impact larning straight † ( Rubin, 1987, p. 22 ) . Research in this field has gained prominence since the mid-1970s by the seminal surveies of Rubin ( 1975 ) and Stern ( 1975 ) . They attempted to research the schemes employed by good linguistic communication scholars and how the instructors can use these schemes to assist the less successful scholars to better their public presentation. Since so, copiousness of surveies have been conducted in the country of LLSs to research the important function linguistic communication larning schemes play a in L2/FL acquisition ( Abraham & A ; Vann, 1987, O'Malley & A ; Chamot, 1990 ; Oxford et al. , 1989,1993, 1995 ; among others )Definition of larning schemesLearning schemes have been defined in a assortment of ways. Wenden and Rubin ( 1987 ) specify them as â€Å" any sets of operations, stairss, programs, modus operandis us ed by the scholar to ease the obtaining, storage, retrieval, and usage of information † ( p.19 ) . In their influential survey, O'Malley and Chamot ( 1990 ) defined LLS as â€Å" the particular ideas or behaviors that persons use to assist them grok, larn, or retain new information † ( p. 1 ) . Oxford ( 1992,1993 ) illustrates LLS as â€Å" specific actions, behaviors, stairss, or techniques that pupils ( frequently deliberately ) usage to better their advancement in developing L2 accomplishments. These schemes can ease the internalisation, storage, retrieval, or usage of the new linguistic communication. Schemes are tools for the autonomous engagement necessary for developing communicative ability † ( p. 18 ) . Finally, Cohen ( 1998 ) defined larning schemes as â€Å" the stairss or actions consciously selected by scholars to better the acquisition of a 2nd linguistic communication, the usage of it, or both † ( p. 5 ) .Features of LLSAmong the assorted fe atures emerged in the LLS literature, Oxford identifies twelve of import characteristics of strategies.According to Oxford acquisition schemes contribute to the chief end, communicative competency allow scholars to go self directed spread out the function of instructors are job oriented are specific actions taken by the scholar involve many actions taken by the scholar, non merely cognitive support larning both straight and indirectly are non ever discernible are frequently witting are flexible are influenced by a assortment of factors ( p.9 ) Lessard-Clouston ( 1997 ) besides summarizes basic characteristics of LLS.First LLS are generated by the scholar and s/he bit by bit takes these stairss in the procedure of linguistic communication acquisition. Second, linguistic communication acquisition is enhanced by the usage of LLS which help develop linguistic communication competency, as reflected in the scholar ‘s accomplishments in hearing, speech production, reading, or composing the L2 or FL. Third, LLS may be seeable ( behaviors, stairss, techniques, etc. ) or unobserved ( ideas, mental procedures ) . Fourth, LLS involve information and memory ( vocabulary cognition, grammar regulations, etc. ) .Taxonomy of LLSsAs noted above, early categorizations of LLSs merely provided a list of schemes based on the good scholars ‘ public presentation ( Rubin, 1975 ; Stern, 1973 ) . However, more recent taxonomies categorize schemes either harmonizing to their direct/indirect part to linguistic communication acquisition ( R ubin, 1987 ) , or the degree and type of information processed by linguistic communication scholars when they apply such schemes ( O'Malley et al. , 1985a ; O'Malley and Chamot, 1990 ) . Based on anterior survey consequences, Oxford ( 1990 ) devised a linguistic communication larning scheme system ( See Table 1 ) , known as Strategy Inventory for Language Learning ( SILL ) , in which she classifies LLS into two major groups of direct ( including memory, cognitive, compensation ) and indirect ( metacognitive, affectional, societal ) schemes. Direct schemes are defined as those that are involved in witting mental procedures, whereas indirect schemes are non consciously applied but are indispensable to linguistic communication learning.Each class is so divided into six subcategories, which harmonizing to Oxford, are interrelated and back up each other.Table 1 Oxford ‘s Language Learning Strategy System ( Oxford, 1990, p. 17 )Type Primary Schemes Secondary Schemes Direct Schemes 1. Memory schemes Aid scholars store and recover new information A. Creating mental linkages B. Applying images and sounds C. Reviewing good D. Employing action 2. Cognitive schemes Applied by scholars to better understand and bring forth the mark linguistic communication A. Practicing B. Receiving and directing messages C. Analyzing and concluding D. Creating construction for input and end product 3. Compensation schemes Used for get the better ofing lacks in cognition of the mark linguistic communication A. Thinking intelligently B. Overcoming restrictions in speech production and composing Indirect Schemes 1. Metacognitive schemes Allow scholars to command their ain knowledge A. Centering your acquisition B. Arranging and be aftering your acquisition C. Evaluating your acquisition 2. Affectional schemes Refer to the methods that help scholars to modulate emotions, motive, and attitudes A. Lowering your anxiousness B. Promoting yourself C. Taking your emotional temperature 3. Social schemes Include interaction with others through the mark linguistic communication A. Asking inquiries B. Collaborating with others C. Empathizing with others Oxford ‘s categorization of larning schemes has been the most comprehensive one to day of the month ( Ellis, 1994 ) . and has been used in a considerable figure of surveies in assorted states.Research on LLSsThe research on LLSs has preponderantly been descriptive since the scholars are required to describe on the schemes they use. In this manner, the research workers are able to look into the effects of scholar features such as gender, age, proficiency degree, larning manners, and affectional factors, like motive, on scheme usage, ( Chamot, 2004 ) . Research indicates that linguistic communication scholars at all degrees use schemes ( Chamot & A ; Kupper, 1989 ) , but that some or most scholars are non to the full cognizant of the schemes they use or the schemes that might be most good to use ( Oxford, 1989 ) . It appears that good linguistic communication scholars orchestrate and combine their usage of peculiar types of schemes in more efficient ways ( Chamot & A ; Kupper, 1989 ; O'Malley and Chamot, 1990 ; Oxford, 1993 ) . Rossi-Le ( 1995 ) found that more adept EFL pupils used self-management schemes such as planning, rating and formal pattern significantly more frequently than less adept pupils. Khaldieh ( 2000 ) studies that higher degrees of linguistic communication proficiency have besides been associated with less anxiousness and more assurance, which denotes the significance of affectional factors act uponing the scholar ‘s public presentation on a undertaking. Surveies have revealed that consciousness of undertaking demands and metacognitive cognition sing scheme choice are major differentiations between successful and unsuccessful scholars ( Abraham & A ; Vann, 1987 ; Khaldieh, 2000 ; O'Malley & A ; Chamot, 1990 ) . Harmonizing to some research findings, cognitive and metac ognitive schemes extremely correlate with high linguistic communication proficiency degrees ( Peacock and Ho, 2003 ) . In some of these surveies, nevertheless, the positive relationship between the figure of schemes used and linguistic communication proficiency is partly supported ( e.g. , Abraham & A ; Vann, 1987 ; Khaldieh, 2000 ) . Other research workers even found that, both successful and unsuccessful scholars actively use a great assortment of schemes, but in different ways. These unsuccessful scholars, nevertheless, normally fail to choose the most appropriate schemes ( Chamot et al. , 1988 ; Chamot & A ; El-Dinary, 1999 ; Vandergrift, 1997 ; Vann & A ; Abraham, 1990 ) . A figure of research surveies interestingly suggest that the appropriate pick of schemes will help scholars to derive more proficiency. This, in bend, likely leads the proficient scholars to the pick of more active schemes ( MacIntre, 1994 ; Green and Oxford, 1995 ) .LLSs and types of scholars ‘ proficiencyA great figure of research surveies have highlighted the relationship between larning schemes and scholars ‘ proficiency in which the consequences show that more adept linguistic communication scholars use a greater assortment larning schemes ( Rahimi et at. , 2008 ; Griffiths, 2003 ; Lee, 2003 ; Anderson, 2005 ; Bruen, 2001 ; Green and Oxford, 1995 ; O'Malley and Chamot, 1990 ; Ehrman, and Oxford, 1989 ) . Research workers have utilized a battalion of ways to find pupils ‘ proficiency in the foreign linguistic communication including standardised trials such as TOEFL ( Arroyo, 2005 ) , pupils ‘ GPAs in English classs ( Shmais, 2003 ; Radwan, 2011 ) , linguistic communication accomplishment trials ( O'Mara & A ; Lett, 1990 ) , linguistic communication class classs and arrangement scrutinies ( Mullin, 1992 ) , instructors ‘ judgements about their pupils ( Magogwe & A ; Oliver, 2007 ) , continuance of survey ( Khalil, 2005 ; Rahimi et Al. 2008 ; Radwan, 2011 ) , and self-ratings ( Oxford & A ; Nyikos, 1989 ) . Due to the demand for more probe on all facets of scholar ‘s proficiency, the current survey enterprises to concentrate on the studtents ‘ GPA tonss, and continuance of English survey, as two steps of English proficiency, with the pupils ‘ study on their pick of LLSs. The findings would uncover the benefits and deficits of such steps and how good they could foretell the scholars ‘ usage of LLSs.Purpose of the surveyThis survey examines the usage of larning schemes reported by Persian English scholars and its relationship to the pupils ‘ academic success determined by their GPA tonss and the old ages of English survey they have completed.Research inquiries1. What are the most frequent acquisition schemes used by the EFL scholars? 2. Be at that place any relationship between the usage of EFL linguistic communication larning schemes in general and the pupils ‘ academic success? 3. Is at that place any relationship between classs of schemes and pupils ‘ academic accomplishment? 4. Is there a important difference between first twelvemonth and 2nd twelvemonth pupils with respect to their perceived scheme usage?MethodSample: The topics take parting in the survey comprise 107 male and female Iranian university pupils analyzing English in a two -year plan to acquire their Associate ‘s grade in Teaching English. They are either first -year or 2nd -year pupils whose age ranges between 19 to 31. Instruments: In order to mensurate scheme usage, Oxford ‘s ( 1990 ) Strategy Inventory for Language Learning ( SILL ) designed for EFL/ESL scholars is used in this survey. The SILL uses a five-point Likert-type graduated table runing from 1 ( â€Å" Never or about ne'er true of me † ) to 5 ( â€Å" Always or about ever true of me † ) . It consists of 50 statements about the schemes used by linguistic communication scholars covering six wide classs of schemes, each represented by a figure of points. 1 ) Memory schemes ( 9items ) 2 ) Cognitive schemes ( 14 points ) 3 ) Compensation schemes ( 6 points ) 4 ) Metacognitive schemes: ( 9 points ) 5 ) Affective schemes ( 6 points ) 6 ) Social schemes ( 6 points ) Dependability for the SILL ( Oxford, 1990 ) is high across many cultural groups with Cronbach ‘s alpha for internal consistence 0.93-0.98 ( Oxford & A ; Burry- Stock, 1995 ) . In this survey, the SILL was presented in Iranian to the participants to guarantee that possible failure to understand the instructions or inquiries would non impact the responses. The research worker used Pishghadam ‘s ( 2008 ) Iranian version of SILL, which yielded a Cronbach alpha value of 0.96. Using the responses from the current participants, the dependability of SILL, as determined by Cronbach ‘s alpha, was 0.93. The pupils ‘ academic success are judged based on their overall GPA mark on academic classs.Data analysis processThe undermentioned processs were carried out on the informations: 1 ) ciphering descriptive statistics ( mean, frequence & A ; standard divergence ) for all classs of SILL 2 ) carry oning correlativity analysis to find the significance of the relationship between scheme usage, and academic success of the pupils, 3 ) Calculating mated sample T- Trial to see whether there is any important difference the between first twelvemonth and 2nd twelvemonth pupils in footings of their sensed scheme usage.The findings of the surveyOverall scheme usageTo reply the first inquiry, descriptive statistics for the full SILL, the six subcategories of SILL, and the person SILL points were calculated. Harmonizing to Oxford ( 1990, p. 300 ) , average tonss that fall between 1.0 and 2.4 are defined as â€Å" low † scheme usage, 2.5 and 3.4 as â€Å" medium † scheme usage, and 3.5 and 5.0 as â€Å" high † scheme usage. The participants reported a medium frequence for the mean scheme usage on the full SILL ( M = 3.49, SD = 0.48 ) every bit good as the six classs of the SILL ( see Table1 ) . Among the six scheme classs, the participants reported utilizing metacognitive schemes most often and affectional and compensation schemes least often. Table 1: Descriptive statistics for Six SILL Categories of all pupils N= 107SILL CategoriesMeanStd. DeviationRankMetacognitive 4.21 .804 1 Social 3.67 .800 2 Cognitive 3.46 .580 3 Memory 3.24 .726 4 Compensation 3.09 .657 5 Affectional 3.08 .571 6 Analyzing the usage of the single scheme points for the full group, it was found that they often apply all the metacognitive schemes to form and measure their acquisition. The points like I think about my advancement in larning SL, I try to happen out how to be a better scholar of SL. , I pay attending when person is talking SL and I look for chances to read every bit much as possible in SL are the most often reported schemes severally. However, the least-used points were those that involved reading and composing in English such as, I write down my feelings in a linguistic communication larning dairy, and I read SL without looking up every new word.Relationship between LLS and GPATo examine for the additive relationship between pupils ‘ overall scheme usage and their GPA, a correlational analysis was performed. The obtained correlativity coefficient ( r = 025 ) demonstrated no important relationship between reported scheme usage and pupils ‘ GPA. Similar consequences were observed for the 3rd research inquiry. In other words, there was no important relationship between SILL classs and pupils ‘ GPA ( See table 2 ) .MemoryCognitiveCompensationMetacognitiveAffectionalSocialPearsonR.047 .629 .025 .306 .076 .306 .097 .320 .070 .476 .088 .365Significance ( 2-tailed )Table 2. Correlation coefficient obtained for all SILL classs The mean mark for more successful pupils ( M= 3.45 ) and less successful pupils ( M=3.51 ) in footings of their obtained GPA in academic classs showed similar forms for their scheme usage with somewhat higher mean for less successful pupils.Difference between old ages of survey and reported scheme usageThe analysis of informations for the sophomore pupils showed a somewhat lower mean mark ( M= 3.42 ) than the first- twelvemonth ( M= 3.51 ) pupils in footings of their sensed scheme usage. As respects the 4th research inquiry, an independent t-test was run to examine any important difference between the old ages of survey completed by the pupils and their reported usage of schemes. The T observed value of.70 ( df.= 104, P= 0.5 ) denotes that there is a no important difference between the two groups. Therefore, the void hypothesis that there is no important difference between the two variables is verified ( Table 3 ) . Table 3. T-test consequences for the first twelvemonth and 2nd twelvemonth pupilsFSig.TdfSig.( 2-tailed )Average DifferenceStd. Error DifferenceEqual discrepancies assumed .043 .836 .700 104 .485 .08169 .11670 Equal discrepancies non assumed .744 68.125 .460 .08169 .10981DiscussionThe findings of the present survey showed that Persian EFL scholars use larning schemes reasonably. They tend to utilize metacognitive schemes more often. This reflects the pupils ‘ efforts to go proficient in the mark linguistic communication. Among the top 10 schemes used by all participants, five belong to the metacognitive schemes. These schemes are necessary for successful linguistic communication acquisition, since they, as indicated by Oxford ( 1990 ) , aid scholars coordinate and heighten their ain acquisition procedure through monitoring and measuring linguistic communication usage, planning, concentrating, forming, and seeking chances to utilize the language.. A figure of other research surveies report the scholars ‘ penchant for metacognitive schemes ( Whorton. 2000 ; Goh & A ; Foong, 1997 ; Hong-Nam & A ; Leavell, 2006 ; Magogwe & A ; Oliver, 2007 ; Rahimi et Al. 2008 ; Pishghadam, 2008 among others ) . The Persian scholars ‘ frequent usa ge of metacognitive schemes may hold been influenced by the learning attack adopted in the Persian EFL schoolrooms ( Rahimi et al, 2008 ) . The analysis of informations demonstrated that the more successful pupils in footings of their GPA were non better scheme users than less successful pupils. Shmais ( 2003 ) besides found no relationship between pupils ‘ GPA and their frequence of scheme usage. It seems that pupils ‘ GPA might be affected by some other factors and in some scenes lacks the explanatory power to foretell LLS usage. Similarly, some surveies ( Green, 1991 ; Phillips, 1991, as cited in Park, 1997 ) have reported a curvilinear relationship between the usage of schemes and the proficiency degrees of the participants ; the low degree proficiency scholars tend to utilize the schemes more often than those in a higher degree. The bulk of these surveies show that the pupils in the mid-proficiency group used the schemes more often than the highand low-proficiency groups. The continuance of survey represented as freshman and sophomore pupils, in this survey, showed no important difference in LLS usage. Normally, it is assumed that an addition in the old ages of survey would ensue in higher proficiency degrees by scholars which would, in bend, lead to an addition in their scheme usage. However, in this context it was revealed that the continuance of survey does non needfully take to scholars ‘ more scheme usage. This determination is in line with some other research surveies ( Rahimi et al. 2008, Radwan, 2011 ) in which first-year pupils reported a higher degree of scheme usage. In other words, it does non follow a additive relationship between scheme usage and continuance of the survey.DecisionThis survey was an effort to look into the relationship between pupils ‘ perceptual experience of LLS usage and their overall proficiency, determined by the university GPA scores. The consequences showed that this relationship is non ever additive an d straightforward. Strategy usage is a complex phenomenon that is influenced by other variables in assorted ways. The context of the survey does hold a important consequence on the pupils ‘ usage of schemes, which may take to contradictory consequences. It has been revealed that Persian scholars employ metacognitive schemes more often than other schemes. The scholars may hold been influenced by the instruction attack practiced in the Persian EFL schoolrooms ( Rahimi et al, 2008 ) such as paying attending, consciously seeking for pattern chances, be aftering for linguistic communication undertakings, self-evaluating one ‘s advancement, and monitoring mistakes. Wharton ‘s ( 2000 ) observation in Singapore besides suggest that the scholars as alone persons and the context of larning play a function in the pick of scholars ‘ schemes. The SILL might non ever be able to account for all the schemes employed by the scholar. On the other manus, there remains the possibility that scholars may describe on the schemes which they do n't really utilize. Research methodological analysis could be enriched by using multiple informations aggregation processs such as interviews and schoolroom observation combined with the usage of SILL questionnaire, to give farther and possibly more trusty findings ( Chun-Lai, 2009 ) . The fact that more successful and less successful pupils, in some manner, follow similar scheme forms denotes that they have non received any formal direction in using LLS. Most of these schemes have likely been learned habitually and unconsciously. Therefore, developing pupils in utilizing larning schemes and promoting them to be cognizant of their ain alone ways of larning would do them independent and efficient scholars. The failing of this survey is the limited figure of variables which have been studied in relation to larning schemes. More research is needed to see other of import societal and affectional variables which could play a function in the pick of LLSs.