Smoking in Public

Smoking in Public Free Online Research Papers Should smoking in public areas be allowed? Have you ever gone to a restaurant or to the bowling alley and come home smelling like cigarette smoke? And while you were there, some people are sitting there smoking by you and you can’t stand the smell of it. So you go out side and to get some fresh air and what do you know there’s some more people lighting it up and smoking but they are polite enough to go outside. Doesn’t this annoy you, that you can barely go anywhere without people smoking in your presence. This leads us to the question, Should smoking in public areas be allowed? Smoking in public areas is something that could definitely be dealt without. The things I will cover with you are the effects of smoking, the effects of second hand smoke, and some policies that are against public smoking. First I’ll start with the effects of smoking. To make cigarettes, tobacco leaves are dried and shredded, and then they are rolled into tubes. The smoke from tobacco in these cigarettes contains more than 4,000 gases and chemicals many of them are poisonous. Some of theses substances include ammonia, which is used in cleaning fluids, carbon monoxide, the deadly gas in car exhaust fumes, and tar. When cigarette smoke is inhaled, these substances are injected into the body. A smoker breathes smoke directly through the mouth in the bronchial tubes, which lead to the lungs. Tiny particles stick to the walls of the tubes, causing irritation. Then the smoke passes into the lungs and it leaves behind a brown tar. This tar contains chemicals, which lead to lung cancer. Nine out of ten deaths from lung cancer are caused by smoking. The American Lung Association says cigarette smoking kills 11,000 lung cancer patients a year and 13 percent of these patients survive more than 5 years. Currently in the United States, approximately 26% of adu lts smoke cigarettes. Cigarettes don’t only cause lung cancers but can also cause other problems to the heart and blood vessels. Some other cancers associated with smoking include larynx, esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, stomach, and some other organs. Smoking also causes some serious respiratory diseases. Emphysema is a disease that robs a person of their ability to breathe. This disease is terminal and it kills you. It destroys a little bit of your lungs at a time so you don’t even realize there is problem. Patients who have emphysema can survive for many years with the help of oxygen tanks and special breathing exercises. Everyday activities, like shopping, cleaning, or exercising are some things that you can’t do in the later stages of emphysema. Elaine Landau says in her book â€Å"Cigarettes† that one cigarette lessens a smokers life by 7 minutes. Overall smoking is very dangerous a deadly it causes over 300,000 deaths a year in the United States. So if you’re ever offered one just remember how dangerous it is even if it only lessens your life by 7 minutes. However you don’t have to smoke to be harmed by cigarette. This leads us to the effects of secondhand smoke. Inhaling smoke from others is called passive smoking. There two kinds of secondhand smoke, mainstream and sidestream smoke. Sidestream makes up 80 percent of secondhand smoke and mainstream 20 percent. Sidestream is the more dangerous of the two because it has higher concentrations of poisons than mainstream smoke. This smoke is from the lit end of a cigarette that never passes through the filter. It flows into the air between the smoker’s puffs. Mainstream is the smoke exhaled by the smoker. In early 1993, the United States Environmental Protection Agency released a report that showed the respiratory health effects from breathing secondhand smoke. In that report it stated that secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in adult nonsmokers and impairs the respiratory health of children. About 3,000 American nonsmokers die each year from lung cancer caused by secondhand smoke, of these; the estimate is 800 from exposure to secondhand smoke at home and 2,200 from exposure in work or social situations. It is clear that those who work or li ve with smokers have a greater risk of lung cancer than those who are less exposed Every year, an estimated 150,000 to 300,000 children under 18 months of age get pneumonia or bronchitis from breathing secondhand tobacco smoke. 50 to 67% of children under the age of five live in homes with at least one adult smoker. Secondhand smoke is a risk factor for the development of asthma in children and worsens the condition of up to one million asthmatic children. Children exposed to secondhand smoke damage their developing tissues. Children that breathe in secondhand smoke visit the hospital for breathing problems more often than those who are not exposed. According to the National Institutes of Health, children who breathe in secondhand smoke are at risk for a number of other health concerns. They are more likely to experience middle ear problems, coughing and wheezing, and worsened asthma conditions. Overall about 53,000 people in the world die each year because of secondhand smoke. Now you might be asking yourself how you avoid secondhand smoke. Well there a couple thi ngs you can do. The first thing you can is stop smoking if you do and consult your physician if you need help. The second thing is if you have household members who smoke, help them stop. If it is not possible to stop their smoking, ask them, and visitors, to smoke outside of your home. The third thing you can do is Do not allow smoking in your car. And the final thing you can do is to make sure your school or your children’s school is smoke free. In fact many restaurants, work offices, and public areas prohibit smoking in their building areas. If only there were a law that stopped smoking all together millions of lives would be saved and you wouldn’t have to worry about secondhand smoke. This brings us to some policies that are against public smoking. Smoking in the world is being prohibited in more and more places. Many forms of transportation, such as trains, some buses, and airplanes, do not allow travelers to smoke on board. It is also banned at most job sites, public buildings, airports, and many restaurants. The movement to stop smoking is international many of similar steps have been taken in numerous countries. Laws to control or prevent cigarette sales and smoking have been passed by many states and local governments. Over 42 states and 400 cities and towns limit smoking in public places such as city hall, stores, and elevators. Eleven states require restaurants to offer separate seating for non-smokers. Ten states have passed laws to control smoking in the workplace. In response of the objection the Tobacco Institute has tried to fight back. However, Minnesota was the first state to enact a law protection for the non-smoker. In 1975 the Clean Indoor Air Act was passed. This act made it illegal to smoke in all public places, unless an area was set aside specifically for smoking. Smoking is not allowed in city buses, grocery stores, offices, and many other locations. Minnesota’s law is considered a model because it inspired other states to pass similar laws. In 1980 voters in Florida and California went for the same movement Minnesota went through. However the proposal was rejected. So instead they had laws passed that didn’t allow smoking on trains, buses, grocery stores, health care centers, and many other places. California hit smokers by having a law passed to raise the tax on cigarettes. This would cause sales to go down. All these laws were being passed just so more lives would be saved and the air would be cleaner. If a single cigarette is such a killer I don’t know why you would continue to smoke if you know it is tearing away at your lungs. While progress has certainly been made in reducing exposure to smoking and secondhand smoke and much more is needed to be done. Thousands of employees at their work are exposed to harmful levels of secondhand smoke on a daily basis. All Americans need to recognize and protect themselves from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke because no matter where or what you do there will always be smokers in your life. So if you know somebody who smokes encourage him to stop and it might change or even save his or her life. So now you know some more things about Second Hand Smoke, the effects smoking has on your life, and some current policies against Public smoking. And I hope that your opinion on smoking has changed and have realized that it is a killer even if you’re not a smoker. So now when you go to a restaurant with smokers, be sure you sit in the Non-smoking section because that decision can save your life. Bibliography Gano, Lila. Smoking. San Diego, California: Lucent Books, Inc., 1989. Landau, Elaine. Cigarettes. Danbury, Connecticut: Franklin Watts, a Division of Scholastic Inc., 2003. Moe, Barbara. Teen Smoking and Tobacco Use. Berkeley Heights, New Jersey: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2000. Myers, Steve and Pete Sanders. Smoking. Brookfield, Connecticut: Alladdin Books, Ltd., 1996. Schaler, Jeffrey and Magda. Smoking Who Has the Right? New York: Prometheus Books, 1998. Williams, Mary E. Smoking. San Diego, California: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 2000. Williams, Mary E. Tobacco and Smoking. San Diego, California: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1998. Research Papers on Smoking in PublicUnreasonable Searches and Seizures19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayGenetic EngineeringThe Hockey GameArguments for Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS)Standardized TestingThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationThe Spring and Autumn

Getting College Essay Help Important Dos and Don’ts

Getting College Essay Help Important Do's and Don’ts SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you grow up to be a professional writer, everything you write will first go through an editor before being published. This is because the process of writing is really a process of re-writing – of rethinking and reexamining your work, usually with the help of someone else. So what does this mean for your student writing? And in particular, what does it mean for very important, but nonprofessional writing like your college essay? Should you ask your parents to look at your essay? Pay for an essay service? If you are wondering what kind of help you can, and should, get with your personal statement, you’ve come to the right place! In this article, I’ll talk about what kind of writing help is useful, ethical, and even expected for your college admission essay. I’ll also point out who would make a good editor, what the differences between editing and proofreading are, what to expect from a good editor, and how to spot and stay away from a bad one. Table of Contents What Kind of Help for Your Essay Can You Get? Editing What's Good Editing? What Should an Editor Do For You? What Kind of Editing Should You Avoid? Proofreading What's Good Proofreading? What Kind of Proofreading Should You Avoid? What Do Colleges Think Of You Getting Help With Your Essay? Who Can/Should Help You? Advice for Editors Should You Pay Money For Essay Editing? The Bottom Line What's Next? What Kind Of Help With Your Essay Can You Get? Rather than talking in general terms about "help," let's first clarify the two different ways that someone else can improve your writing. There is editing, which is the more intensive kind of assistance that you can use throughout the whole process. And then there's proofreading, which is the last step of reallypolishing your final product. Let me go into some more detail about editing and proofreading, and then explain how good editors and proofreaders can help you. Editing Editing is helping the author (in this case, you) go from a rough draft to a finished work. Editing is the process of asking questions about what you're saying, how you're saying it, and how you're organizing your ideas. But not all editing isgood editing. In fact, it's very easy for an editor to cross the line from supportive to overbearing and over-involved. What’s Good Editing? Ability to clarify assignments. A good editor is usually a good writer, and certainly has to be a good reader.For example, in this case, a good editor should make sureyou understand the actual essay promptyou’re supposed to be answering. Open-endedness. Good editing is all aboutasking questions about your ideas and work, butwithout providing answers. It's about lettingyou stick to your story and message, and doesn't alter your point of view. Objectivity. It's usually better for an editor tonot be emotionally involved with what you’re writing. For example, if your essay is about a parent, that parent should probably notedit your work.Good editing can also be a preview ofhow a reader will respond to what you’re writing, pointing out potentially confusing or offensive moments in your work. Great editors show you the many available paths, but don't tell you where to go. What Should an Editor Do For You? Think of an editor as a great travel guide. It can show you the many different places your trip could take you. It should explain any parts of the trip that could derail your trip or confuse the traveler. But it never dictates your path, never forces you to go somewhere you don't want to go, and never ignores your interests so that thetrip no longer seems like it's your own. So what should good editors do? Help Brainstorm Topics Sometimes it’s easier to bounce thoughtsoff of someone else.This doesn’t mean that your editorgets to come up with ideas, but they can certainly respond to the various topic optionsyou've come up with. This way, you’re less likely to write about the most boring of your ideas, or towrite about something that isn’t actually important to you. If you're wondering how to come up with options for your editor to consider, check outour guide to brainstorming topics for your college essay. Help Revise Your Drafts Here, your editor can't upset the delicate balance of not intervening too much or too little. It's tricky, but a great way to think about it is to remember: editing isabout asking questions, not giving answers. Revision questions shouldpoint out: Places where more detail or more description would help thereaderconnect with youressay Places where structure and logic don’t flow, losing the reader's attention Places where there aren’t transitions between paragraphs, confusing the reader Moments where your narrative or the argumentsyou're making are unclear But pointing to potential problems is not the same as actually rewriting – editors let authors fix the problems themselves. A good editor's favorite punctuation mark. What Kind of Editing Should You Avoid? Bad editing is usually very heavy-handed editing. Instead of helping you find your best voice and ideas, a bad editor changes your writing into their own vision. You may be dealing with a bad editor if they: Add material (examples, descriptions) that doesn’t come from you Use a thesaurus to makeyour collegeessay sound "more mature" Add meaning or insight to the essay that doesn’t come from you Tell you what to say and how to say it Write sentences, phrases, and paragraphs for you Change your voice in the essay so it no longer sounds like it was written by a teenager Colleges can tell the difference between a 17-year-old's writing and a 50-year-old's writing. Not only that, they have access to your SAT or ACT Writing section, so they can compare your essay to something elseyou wrote. Writing that's a little more polished is great and expected. But a totally different voice and style will raise questions. Where's the Line Between Helpful Editing and Unethical Over-Editing? Sometimes it's hard to tell whether your college essay editor is doing the right thing. Here are some guidelines for staying on the ethicalside of the line. An editor should say that theopening paragraph is kind of boring, and explain what exactly is making it drag. But it's overstepping for an editor to tell you exactly how to change it. An editor should point out where yourprose isunclearor vague. But it's completely inappropriate for the editor to rewrite that section of your essay. An editor should let you know that a section is light on detail or description. But giving you similes and metaphors to beef up that description is a no-go. With a good editor, these things will always only come from the author's head. Proofreading Proofreading (also called copy-editing) is checking for errors in the last draft of a written work. It happens at the end of the process and is meant as the final polishing touch. Proofreading is meticulous and detail-oriented, focusing on small corrections. It sands off all the surface rough spots that could alienate the reader. Because proofreading is usually concerned with making fixes on the word or sentence level, this is the only processwhere someone else can actually add to or take away things from youressay. This is because what they are adding or taking away tends to be one or two misplaced letters. What’s Good Proofreading? Laser focus. Proofreading is all about the tiny details, so the ability to really concentrate on finding small slip-ups is a must. Excellent grammar and spelling skills. Proofreaders need to dot every "i" and cross every "t." Good proofreadersshould correctspelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar. They should put foreign words in italics and surround quotations with quotation marks. They should check that you used the correct college's name, and that you adhered to anyformatting requirements (name and date at the top of the page, uniform font and size, uniform spacing). Limited interference. A proofreader needs to make surethat you followed any word limits. But if cuts need to be made to shorten the essay, that’s your job andnot the proofreader's. Proofreaders are like entomologists, hunting for tiny specks amidst a vast landscape. What Kind of Proofreading Should You Avoid? A bad proofreader either tries to turn into an editor, or just lacks the skills and knowledge necessary to do the job. Some signs that you're working with a bad proofreader are: If they suggest making major changes to the final draft of your essay. Proofreading happens when editing is already finished. If they aren't particularly good at spelling, or don't know grammar, or aren't detail-oriented enough to find someone else's small mistakes. If they start swapping out your words for fancier-sounding synonyms, or changing the voice and sound of your essay in other ways. A proofreader is there to check for errors, not to take the 17-year-old out of your writing. Does your proofreader's desk look like this? Maybe not the right person for the job... What Do Colleges Think of Your Getting Help With Your Essay? Admissions officers agree: light editing and proofreading aregood – even required! But they also want to make sure you’re the one doing the work on your essay. They want essays with stories, voice, and themes that come from you. They want to see workthat reflects your actual writing ability, and that focuses on what you find important. On the Importance of Editing Get feedback. Have a fresh pair of eyes give you some feedback. Don’t allow someone else to rewrite your essay, but do take advantage of others’ edits and opinions when they seem helpful. (Bates College) Read your essay aloud to someone. Reading the essay out loud offers a chance to hear how your essay sounds outside your head. This exercise reveals flaws in the essay’s flow, highlights grammatical errors and helps you ensure that you are communicating the exact message you intended. (Dickinson College) On the Value of Proofreading Share your essays with at least one or two people who know you well – such as a parent, teacher, counselor, or friend – and ask for feedback. Remember that you ultimately have control over your essays, and your essays should retain your own voice, but others may be able to catch mistakes that you missed and help suggest areas to cut if you are over the word limit. (Yale University) Proofread and then ask someone else to proofread for you. Although we want substance, we also want to be able to see that you can write a paper for our professors and avoid careless mistakes that would drive them crazy. (Oberlin College) On Watching Out for Too Much Outside Influence Limit the number of people who review your essay. Too much input usually means your voice is lost in the writing style. (Carleton College) Ask for input (but not too much). Your parents, friends, guidance counselors, coaches, and teachers are great people to bounce ideas off of for your essay. They know how unique and spectacular you are, and they can help you decide how to articulate it. Keep in mind, however, that a 45-year-old lawyer writes quite differently from an 18-year-old student, so if your dad ends up writing the bulk of your essay, we’re probably going to notice. (Vanderbilt University) So, basically, a big old thumbs up on the whole "get someone to look at your essay" situation, as far as colleges are concerned. Who Can/Should Help You? Now let's talk about some potential people to approach for your college essay editing and proofreading needs. It's best to start close to home and slowly expand outward. Not only are your family and friends more invested in your success than strangers, but they also have a better handle on your interests and personality. This knowledge is key for judging whether your essay is expressing your true self. Parents or Close Relatives Your family may be full ofpotentially excellent editors!Parents are deeply committed to your well-being, and family members know you and your life well enough to offer details or incidents that can be included in your essay. On the other hand, the rewriting process necessarily involves criticism, which is sometimes hard to hear from someone very close to you. A parent or close family memberis a great choice for an editor if you can answer "yes" to the followingquestions.Is your parent or close relative a good writer or reader?Do you have a relationship where editing your essay won’t create conflict?Are you able to constructively listen to criticism and suggestion from the parent? One suggestion for defusingface-to-face discussions is to try working on the essay over email. Send your parenta draft, have themwrite you back some comments, and then you can pick which of their suggestionsyou want to use and which to discard. Teachers or Tutors A humanities teacher thatyou have a good relationship with isa great choice.I am purposefully saying humanities, and not just English, because teachers of Philosophy, History, Anthropology, and any other classes where you do a lot of writing, areall used to reviewing student work. Moreover,any teacher or tutor that has been working with you for some time, knows you very well and can vet the essay to make sure itâ€Å"sounds like you.† If your teacher or tutor has some experience withwhat college essays are supposed to be like, ask them to be your editor. If not, then ask whether they have time to proofread your final draft. Guidance or College Counselor at Your School The best thing about asking your counselor to edit your workis that this is their job. This means that they have a very good sense of what colleges are looking for in an application essay. At the same time, school counselorstend to have relationships with admissions officers in many colleges, which again gives them insight into what worksand which college is focused on what aspect of the application. Unfortunately, in many schools the guidance counselortends to be way overextended. If your ratio is 300 students to 1college counselor, you’re unlikely to get that person’s undivided attention and focus. It isstill useful to ask them for general advice about your potential topics, but don't expect them to be able to stay with your essay from first draft to final version. Friends, Siblings, or Classmates Although they most likely don't have much experience with what colleges are hoping to see, your peers are excellent sources for checking that your essay is you. Friends and siblings are perfect for the read-aloud edit. Read your essay to them so they can listen for words and phrases that are stilted, pompous, or phrases that just don’t sound like you. You can even trade essays and give helpful advice on each other's work. "I loved that part when you wrote Baa-aaa-baaa. But I feel like you should add some more details to that Baaa-baa-aaa section." "Oh, thanks, man. You're the baaa-est." Advice for Editors If your editor hasn't worked with college admissions essays very much, no worries! Any astute and attentive reader can still greatly help with your process. But, as in all things, beginners do better with some preparation. First, your editor should read our advice about how towrite a college essay introduction, how to spot and fix a bad college essay, and get a sense of what other students have written by going through some admissions essays that worked. Then, as they read your essay, they can work through the following series of questions that will helpthem to guide you. Introduction Questions Is the first sentence a killer opening line? Why or why not? Does the introduction hook the reader? Does it have a colorful, detailed, and interesting narrative? Or does it propose a compelling or surprising idea? Can you feel the author's voice in the introduction, or is the tone dry, dull, or overly formal? Show the places where the voice comes through. Essay Body Questions Does the essay have a through-line? Is it built around a central argument, thought, idea, or focus? Can you put this idea into your own words? How is the essay organized? By logical progression? Chronologically? Do you feel order when you read it, or are there moments where you are confused or lose the thread of the essay? Does the essay have both narratives about the author's life and explanations and insight into what these stories reveal about the author's character, personality, goals, or dreams? If not, which is missing? Does the essay flow? Are there smooth transitions/clever links between paragraphs?Between the narrative and moments of insight? Reader Response Questions Does the writer’s personality come through? Do we know what the speaker cares about? Do we get a sense of â€Å"who he or she is†? Where did you feel most connected to the essay? Which parts of the essay gave you a "you are there" sensation by invoking your senses? What moments could you picture in your head well? Where are the details and examples vague and not specific enough? Did you get an "a-ha!" feeling anywhere in the essay? Is there a moment of insight that connected all the dots for you? Is there a good reveal or "twist" anywhere in the essay? What are the strengths of this essay? What needs the most improvement? Editing is just like fixing a guitar. Except, you know, without a screwdriver. And you don't need to know anything about guitars. Should You Pay Money for Essay Editing? One alternative to asking someone you know to help you with your college essay is the paid editor route. There are two different ways to pay for essay help: a private essay coach or a less personal editing service, like the many proliferating on the internet. My advice is to think of these options as a last resort rather than your go-to first choice. I'll first go through the reasons why. Then, if you do decide to go with a paid editor, I'll help you decide between a coach and a service. When to Consider a Paid Editor In general, I think hiring someone to work on your essay makes a lot of sense if none of the people I discussed above are a possibility for you. If you can't ask your parents. For example, ifyour parents aren’t good writers, or if English isn’t their first language. Or ifyou think getting your parents to help is going create unnecessary extra conflict in your relationship with them (applying to college is stressful as it is!) If you can't ask your teacher or tutor. Maybeyou don’t have a trusted teacher or tutor that has time to look over your essay with focus. Or, for instance,your favorite humanities teacher has very limited experience with college essays and so won’t know what admissions officers want to see. If you can't ask your guidance counselor. This could be because your guidance counselor is way overwhelmed with other students. If you can't share your essay with those who know you. It might be thatyour essay is on a very personal topic that you’re unwilling to share with parents, teachers, or peers. Just make sure it doesn’t fall into one of the bad-idea topics in our article on bad college essays. If the cost isn't a consideration. Many of these services are quite expensive, and private coaches even more so.If you have finite resources, I’d say that hiring an SAT or ACT tutor (whether it’sPrepScholaror someone else) is better way to spend your money. This is because there's no guarantee that a slightly better essay will sufficiently elevate the rest of your application, but a significantly higher SAT score will definitely raise your applicant profile much more. Should You Hire an Essay Coach? On the plus side, essay coaches have read dozens or even hundreds of college essays, so they haveexperience with the format. Also, because you'll be working closely with a specific person, it’s more personal than sending your essay to a service, which will know even less about you. But, on the minus side,you’ll still be bouncing ideas off of someone who doesn’t know that much about you. In general, if you can adequately get the help from someone you know, there is no advantageto paying someone to help you. If you do decide to hire a coach, ask your school counselor, or older students that have used the service for recommendations. If you can’t afford the coach’s fees, ask whether they can work on a sliding scale - many do. And finally, beware those who guarantee admission to your school of choice – essay coachesdon't have any special magic that can back up those promises. Should You Send Your Essay to a Service? On the plus side, essay editingservices provide a similar product to essay coaches, and they cost significantly less. If you have some assurance that you'll be working with a good editor, the lack of face-to-face interaction won't prevent great results. On the minus side, however, it can be difficult to gauge the quality of the service before working with them. If they are churning through many application essays without getting to know the students they are helping, you could end up with an over-edited essay that sounds just like everyone else's.In the worst case scenario, an unscrupulous service could send you back a plagiarized essay. Getting recommendations from friends or a school counselor for reputable services is key to avoiding heavy-handed editingthat writes essays for you or does too much to change your essay. Including a badly-edited essay like this in your application could cause problems if there are inconsistencies. For example, in interviews it might be clear you didn’t write the essay, or the skill of the essay mightnot be reflected in your schoolwork and test scores. Should You Buy an Essay Written by Someone Else? NO! Let me elaborate. There are super sketchy places on the internet where you can simply buy a pre-written essay. Don’t do this! For one thing, you’ll be lying on an official, signed document. All college applications make you sign a statement saying something like this: I certify that all information submitted in the admission process- including the application, the personal essay, any supplements, and any other supporting materials- is my own work, factually true, and honestly presented... I understand that I may be subject to a range of possible disciplinary actions, including admission revocation, expulsion, or revocation of course credit, grades, and degree, should the information I have certified be false. (From the Common Application) For another thing, if your academic record doesn’t match the essay’s quality, the admissions officer will start thinking your whole application is riddled with lies. Admission officers have full access to yourwriting portion of the SAT or ACT so that they can compare work that was done in proctored conditions with that done at home. They can tell if these were written by different people. Not only that, butthere are now a number of search engines that faculty and admission officers can use to see if an essay contains strings of words that have appeared in other essays – you have no guarantee that the essay you bought wasn’t also bought by 50 other students. Don't be the guy trying to pass this off as your own original work. The Bottom Line You should get college essay help with both editing and proofreading A good editor will ask questions about your idea, logic, and structure, and will point out places where clarity is needed A good editor will absolutely not answer these questions, give you their own ideas, or write the essay or parts of the essay for you A good proofreader will find typos and check your formatting Colleges very much want to see your authentic self (your ideas, your insights, your writing ability, and style) on the page All of them agreethat getting light editing and proofreading isnecessary Look for admissions essay help from: Parents, teachers, guidance or college counselor, and peers or siblings If you can't ask any of those, you can payfor college essay help, but watch out for services or coaches whoover-edit you work Don’t buy a pre-written essay! Colleges can tell, and it’ll make your whole application sound false. What’s Next? Ready to start working on your essay? Check out our explanation of the point of the personal essay and the role it plays on your applications and then exploreour step-by-step guide to writing a great college essay. Using the Common Application for your college applications? We have an excellent guide to the Common App essay prompts and useful advice on how to pick the Common App prompt that’s right for you. Wondering how other people tackled these prompts? Then work throughour roundup of over 130 real college essay examples published by colleges. Stressed about whether to take the SAT again before submitting your application? Let us help you decide how many times to take this test. If you choose to go for it, we have the ultimate guide to studying for the SAT to give you the ins and outs of the best ways to study. Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. 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Week 4 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week 4 - Research Paper Example Mixed methods research augments both methods in order to establish relationships between variables and to look for causes behind these relationships. A quantitative study preceded the qualitative study consisting of four groups of 250 women each. Participants were assigned to groups randomly such that the assignment replicated the Cherokee and Lumbee tribes. Pre-tests were administered to 500 women while the rest were administered interventions. All of the participants were administered post tests. The qualitative study augmented the quantitative study be reflecting on areas that the quantitative study failed to explain. The qualitative study established causes related to intervention failure, program causes, determinants, and context sensitivity. The qualitative study relied on in person interviews and observational data to augment the existing and analyzed quantitative data. The quantitative study revealed major differences in the behavior of Cherokee and Lumbee populations in dealing with pre-test information. The researchers had not anticipated this and this finding produced a large inconsistency. In order to bridge up this gap in understanding it was decided to launch a qualitative study. Cultural context and sensitivity had been assumed as being uniform for both tribal populations but the results of the study proved otherwise. The qualitative study revealed how intervention produced different effects in both tribal population sets. The quantitative study indicated gaps and the qualitative study bridged these gaps. Data collection for the quantitative study relied on the participation of the respondents alone. The respondents were provided with a pre-test, two interventions and a post test to collect data. Data collected in this manner was analyzed statistically to test the formulated hypotheses. The qualitative study relied on interviews with the participants, healthcare workers and the principal

Evaluating Decision Alternatives and Assessing Risk Essay

Evaluating Decision Alternatives and Assessing Risk - Essay Example The chairman to the bank Kenneth Lewis admitted that the information he gave out was not accurate. The executive of the bank, therefore, made mistakes that were against the ethics required in corporations (Cohen, 2009). There are many decisions that the executive of the bank of America took that render them unethical. Among them includes the disguise by Merrill lynch on the risk involved. It was done by changing the â€Å"investment grade† to other investments referred to as the CDOs. The problem was further increased by the credit derivatives. It was because a person could trade the investments many times. It could only get understood by the professionals due to payments on mortgages being done in several years. The activities in the bank continued deteriorating in the prevailing days that loans begun defaulting (James et al., 2002). Merrill lynch as indicated was not able to trade billions of the CDOs as if it had traded them, the players in the market had a chance of discounting the CDOs. The workers in the Merrill had the intentions of earning high bonuses continuously; as a result, they did not trade the CDOs. The employees did not indicate losses and later escaped with the lies. The accountants in the Merrill lynch failed to perform their duties and obligations. The problem raised alarms to the non professionals, however, the management allowed Merrill to escape with the funds. The bank of America acquired the Merrill lynch in the year 2008. A month later it was known that Merrill had losses that summed up to $15 billion. It was in the fourth quarter of the year and BofA made claims that the losses got incurred in December (Cohen, 2009). The bank did not give information to the shareholders and moved on to putting $20 billion in TARP funds. SEC (Slumbering Esquires Club) filed another complaint against the Merrill failure to disclose information about the losses in the month of

Analysis of Letter from Birmingham by Martin Luther King Jr. Essay

Analysis of Letter from Birmingham by Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr., is one of the most recognized, if not the greatest civil rights activist in this century. He has written papers and given speeches on the civil rights movement, but one piece stands out as one of his best writings. â€Å"Letter from Birmingham† was an intriguing letter written by King in jail in the city of Birmingham, Alabama. He was responding to a letter written by eight Alabama Clergyman that was published in a Birmingham Alabama newspaper in 1963 regarding the demonstrations that were occurring to stop segregation. The intended audience for this letter was of course the eight clergymen, but he also had a wider audience in mind because instead of sending each individual man a letter he had it published in the local newspaper. In his letter, King starts by addressing the clergyman with â€Å"My Dear Fellow Clergyman† as if to put the men at ease and keep them open-minded. In the first paragraph King states that he does not usually respond to such correspondence, but compliments them by saying that since they are genuinely good men, then he would respond to their criticisms by writing this letter. In the second paragraph, he addresses the â€Å"outsider† issue. In the letter written by the clergyman they say (like it was something new), that they were now facing demonstrations led by outsiders (King). King wants them to know that he is not really an outsider but the president of The Southe...

Angels Demons Chapter 58-61

58 â€Å"Seven-forty-six and thirty†¦ mark.† Even speaking into his walkie-talkie, Olivetti's voice never seemed to rise above a whisper. Langdon felt himself sweating now in his Harris tweed in the backseat of the Alpha Romeo, which was idling in Piazza de la Concorde, three blocks from the Pantheon. Vittoria sat beside him, looking engrossed by Olivetti, who was transmitting his final orders. â€Å"Deployment will be an eight-point hem,† the commander said. â€Å"Full perimeter with a bias on the entry. Target may know you visually, so you will be pas-visible. Nonmortal force only. We'll need someone to spot the roof. Target is primary. Asset secondary.† Jesus, Langdon thought, chilled by the efficiency with which Olivetti had just told his men the cardinal was expendable. Asset secondary. â€Å"I repeat. Nonmortal procurement. We need the target alive. Go.† Olivetti snapped off his walkie-talkie. Vittoria looked stunned, almost angry. â€Å"Commander, isn't anyone going inside?† Olivetti turned. â€Å"Inside?† â€Å"Inside the Pantheon! Where this is supposed to happen?† â€Å"Attento,† Olivetti said, his eyes fossilizing. â€Å"If my ranks have been infiltrated, my men may be known by sight. Your colleague has just finished warning me that this will be our sole chance to catch the target. I have no intention of scaring anyone off by marching my men inside.† â€Å"But what if the killer is already inside?† Olivetti checked his watch. â€Å"The target was specific. Eight o'clock. We have fifteen minutes.† â€Å"He said he would kill the cardinal at eight o'clock. But he may already have gotten the victim inside somehow. What if your men see the target come out but don't know who he is? Someone needs to make sure the inside is clean.† â€Å"Too risky at this point.† â€Å"Not if the person going in was unrecognizable.† â€Å"Disguising operatives is time consuming and – â€Å" â€Å"I meant me,† Vittoria said. Langdon turned and stared at her. Olivetti shook his head. â€Å"Absolutely not.† â€Å"He killed my father.† â€Å"Exactly, so he may know who you are.† â€Å"You heard him on the phone. He had no idea Leonardo Vetra even had a daughter. He sure as hell doesn't know what I look like. I could walk in like a tourist. If I see anything suspicious, I could walk into the square and signal your men to move in.† â€Å"I'm sorry, I cannot allow that.† â€Å"Comandante?† Olivetti's receiver crackled. â€Å"We've got a situation from the north point. The fountain is blocking our line of sight. We can't see the entrance unless we move into plain view on the piazza. What's your call? Do you want us blind or vulnerable?† Vittoria apparently had endured enough. â€Å"That's it. I'm going.† She opened her door and got out. Olivetti dropped his walkie-talkie and jumped out of the car, circling in front of Vittoria. Langdon got out too. What the hell is she doing! Olivetti blocked Vittoria's way. â€Å"Ms. Vetra, your instincts are good, but I cannot let a civilian interfere.† â€Å"Interfere? You're flying blind. Let me help.† â€Å"I would love to have a recon point inside, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"But what?† Vittoria demanded. â€Å"But I'm a woman?† Olivetti said nothing. â€Å"That had better not be what you were going to say, Commander, because you know damn well this is a good idea, and if you let some archaic macho bullshit – â€Å" â€Å"Let us do our job.† â€Å"Let me help.† â€Å"Too dangerous. We would have no lines of communication with you. I can't let you carry a walkie-talkie, it would give you away.† Vittoria reached in her shirt pocket and produced her cell phone. â€Å"Plenty of tourists carry phones.† Olivetti frowned. Vittoria unsnapped the phone and mimicked a call. â€Å"Hi, honey, I'm standing in the Pantheon. You should see this place!† She snapped the phone shut and glared at Olivetti. â€Å"Who the hell is going to know? It is a no-risk situation. Let me be your eyes!† She motioned to the cell phone on Olivetti's belt. â€Å"What's your number?† Olivetti did not reply. The driver had been looking on and seemed to have some thoughts of his own. He got out of the car and took the commander aside. They spoke in hushed tones for ten seconds. Finally Olivetti nodded and returned. â€Å"Program this number.† He began dictating digits. Vittoria programmed her phone. â€Å"Now call the number.† Vittoria pressed the auto dial. The phone on Olivetti's belt began ringing. He picked it up and spoke into the receiver. â€Å"Go into the building, Ms. Vetra, look around, exit the building, then call and tell me what you see.† Vittoria snapped the phone shut. â€Å"Thank you, sir.† Langdon felt a sudden, unexpected surge of protective instinct. â€Å"Wait a minute,† he said to Olivetti. â€Å"You're sending her in there alone.† Vittoria scowled at him. â€Å"Robert, I'll be fine.† The Swiss Guard driver was talking to Olivetti again. â€Å"It's dangerous,† Langdon said to Vittoria. â€Å"He's right,† Olivetti said. â€Å"Even my best men don't work alone. My lieutenant has just pointed out that the masquerade will be more convincing with both of you anyway.† Both of us? Langdon hesitated. Actually, what I meant – â€Å"Both of you entering together,† Olivetti said, â€Å"will look like a couple on holiday. You can also back each other up. I'm more comfortable with that.† Vittoria shrugged. â€Å"Fine, but we'll need to go fast.† Langdon groaned. Nice move, cowboy. Olivetti pointed down the street. â€Å"First street you hit will be Via degli Orfani. Go left. It takes you directly to the Pantheon. Two-minute walk, tops. I'll be here, directing my men and waiting for your call. I'd like you to have protection.† He pulled out his pistol. â€Å"Do either of you know how to use a gun?† Langdon's heart skipped. We don't need a gun! Vittoria held her hand out. â€Å"I can tag a breaching porpoise from forty meters off the bow of a rocking ship.† â€Å"Good.† Olivetti handed the gun to her. â€Å"You'll have to conceal it.† Vittoria glanced down at her shorts. Then she looked at Langdon. Oh no you don't! Langdon thought, but Vittoria was too fast. She opened his jacket, and inserted the weapon into one of his breast pockets. It felt like a rock dropping into his coat, his only consolation being that Diagramma was in the other pocket. â€Å"We look harmless,† Vittoria said. â€Å"We're leaving.† She took Langdon's arm and headed down the street. The driver called out, â€Å"Arm in arm is good. Remember, you're tourists. Newlyweds even. Perhaps if you held hands?† As they turned the corner Langdon could have sworn he saw on Vittoria's face the hint of a smile. 59 The Swiss Guard â€Å"staging room† is located adjacent to the Corpo di Vigilanza barracks and is used primarily for planning the security surrounding papal appearances and public Vatican events. Today, however, it was being used for something else. The man addressing the assembled task force was the second-in-command of the Swiss Guard, Captain Elias Rocher. Rocher was a barrel-chested man with soft, puttylike features. He wore the traditional blue captain's uniform with his own personal flair – a red beret cocked sideways on his head. His voice was surprisingly crystalline for such a large man, and when he spoke, his tone had the clarity of a musical instrument. Despite the precision of his inflection, Rocher's eyes were cloudy like those of some nocturnal mammal. His men called him â€Å"orso† – grizzly bear. They sometimes joked that Rocher was â€Å"the bear who walked in the viper's shadow.† Commander Olivetti was the viper. Rocher was just as deadly as the viper, but at least you could see him coming. Rocher's men stood at sharp attention, nobody moving a muscle, although the information they had just received had increased their aggregate blood pressure by a few thousand points. Rookie Lieutenant Chartrand stood in the back of the room wishing he had been among the 99 percent of applicants who had not qualified to be here. At twenty years old, Chartrand was the youngest guard on the force. He had been in Vatican City only three months. Like every man there, Chartrand was Swiss Army trained and had endured two years of additional ausbilding in Bern before qualifying for the grueling Vatican prva held in a secret barracks outside of Rome. Nothing in his training, however, had prepared him for a crisis like this. At first Chartrand thought the briefing was some sort of bizarre training exercise. Futuristic weapons? Ancient cults? Kidnapped cardinals? Then Rocher had shown them the live video feed of the weapon in question. Apparently this was no exercise. â€Å"We will be killing power in selected areas,† Rocher was saying, â€Å"to eradicate extraneous magnetic interference. We will move in teams of four. We will wear infrared goggles for vision. Reconnaissance will be done with traditional bug sweepers, recalibrated for sub-three-ohm flux fields. Any questions?† None. Chartrand's mind was on overload. â€Å"What if we don't find it in time?† he asked, immediately wishing he had not. The grizzly bear gazed out at him from beneath his red beret. Then he dismissed the group with a somber salute. â€Å"Godspeed, men.† 60 Two blocks from the Pantheon, Langdon and Vittoria approached on foot past a line of taxis, their drivers sleeping in the front seats. Nap time was eternal in the Eternal City – the ubiquitous public dozing a perfected extension of the afternoon siestas born of ancient Spain. Langdon fought to focus his thoughts, but the situation was too bizarre to grasp rationally. Six hours ago he had been sound asleep in Cambridge. Now he was in Europe, caught up in a surreal battle of ancient titans, packing a semiautomatic in his Harris tweed, and holding hands with a woman he had only just met. He looked at Vittoria. She was focused straight ahead. There was a strength in her grasp – that of an independent and determined woman. Her fingers wrapped around his with the comfort of innate acceptance. No hesitation. Langdon felt a growing attraction. Get real, he told himself. Vittoria seemed to sense his uneasiness. â€Å"Relax,† she said, without turning her head. â€Å"We're supposed to look like newlyweds.† â€Å"I'm relaxed.† â€Å"You're crushing my hand.† Langdon flushed and loosened up. â€Å"Breathe through your eyes,† she said. â€Å"I'm sorry?† â€Å"It relaxes the muscles. It's called pranayama.† â€Å"Piranha?† â€Å"Not the fish. Pranayama. Never mind.† As they rounded the corner into Piazza della Rotunda, the Pantheon rose before them. Langdon admired it, as always, with awe. The Pantheon. Temple to all gods. Pagan gods. Gods of Nature and Earth. The structure seemed boxier from the outside than he remembered. The vertical pillars and triangular pronaus all but obscured the circular dome behind it. Still, the bold and immodest inscription over the entrance assured him they were in the right spot. M AGRIPPA L F COS TERTIUM FECIT. Langdon translated it, as always, with amusement. Marcus Agrippa, Consul for the third time, built this. So much for humility, he thought, turning his eyes to the surrounding area. A scattering of tourists with video cameras wandered the area. Others sat enjoying Rome's best iced coffee at La Tazza di Oro's outdoor cafe. Outside the entrance to the Pantheon, four armed Roman policemen stood at attention just as Olivetti had predicted. â€Å"Looks pretty quiet,† Vittoria said. Langdon nodded, but he felt troubled. Now that he was standing here in person, the whole scenario seemed surreal. Despite Vittoria's apparent faith that he was right, Langdon realized he had put everyone on the line here. The Illuminati poem lingered. From Santi's earthly tomb with demon's hole. YES, he told himself. This was the spot. Santi's tomb. He had been here many times beneath the Pantheon's oculus and stood before the grave of the great Raphael. â€Å"What time is it?† Vittoria asked. Langdon checked his watch. â€Å"Seven-fifty. Ten minutes till show time.† â€Å"Hope these guys are good,† Vittoria said, eyeing the scattered tourists entering the Pantheon. â€Å"If anything happens inside that dome, we'll all be in the crossfire.† Langdon exhaled heavily as they moved toward the entrance. The gun felt heavy in his pocket. He wondered what would happen if the policemen frisked him and found the weapon, but the officers did not give them a second look. Apparently the disguise was convincing. Langdon whispered to Vittoria. â€Å"Ever fire anything other than a tranquilizer gun?† â€Å"Don't you trust me?† â€Å"Trust you? I barely know you.† Vittoria frowned. â€Å"And here I thought we were newlyweds.† 61 The air inside the Pantheon was cool and damp, heavy with history. The sprawling ceiling hovered overhead as though weightless – the 141-foot unsupported span larger even than the cupola at St. Peter's. As always, Langdon felt a chill as he entered the cavernous room. It was a remarkable fusion of engineering and art. Above them the famous circular hole in the roof glowed with a narrow shaft of evening sun. The oculus, Langdon thought. The demon's hole. They had arrived. Langdon's eyes traced the arch of the ceiling sloping outward to the columned walls and finally down to the polished marble floor beneath their feet. The faint echo of footfalls and tourist murmurs reverberated around the dome. Langdon scanned the dozen or so tourists wandering aimlessly in the shadows. Are you here? â€Å"Looks pretty quiet,† Vittoria said, still holding his hand. Langdon nodded. â€Å"Where's Raphael's tomb?† Langdon thought for a moment, trying to get his bearings. He surveyed the circumference of the room. Tombs. Altars. Pillars. Niches. He motioned to a particularly ornate funerary across the dome and to the left. â€Å"I think that's Raphael's over there.† Vittoria scanned the rest of the room. â€Å"I don't see anyone who looks like an assassin about to kill a cardinal. Shall we look around?† Langdon nodded. â€Å"There's only one spot in here where anyone could be hiding. We better check the rientranze.† â€Å"The recesses?† â€Å"Yes.† Langdon pointed. â€Å"The recesses in the wall.† Around the perimeter, interspersed with the tombs, a series of semicircular niches were hewn in the wall. The niches, although not enormous, were big enough to hide someone in the shadows. Sadly, Langdon knew they once contained statues of the Olympian gods, but the pagan sculptures had been destroyed when the Vatican converted the Pantheon to a Christian church. He felt a pang of frustration to know he was standing at the first altar of science, and the marker was gone. He wondered which statue it had been, and where it had pointed. Langdon could imagine no greater thrill than finding an Illuminati marker – a statue that surreptitiously pointed the way down the Path of Illumination. Again he wondered who the anonymous Illuminati sculptor had been. â€Å"I'll take the left arc,† Vittoria said, indicating the left half of the circumference. â€Å"You go right. See you in a hundred and eighty degrees.† Langdon smiled grimly. As Vittoria moved off, Langdon felt the eerie horror of the situation seeping back into his mind. As he turned and made his way to the right, the killer's voice seemed to whisper in the dead space around him. Eight o'clock. Virgin sacrifices on the altars of science. A mathematical progression of death. Eight, nine, ten, eleven†¦ and at midnight. Langdon checked his watch: 7:52. Eight minutes. As Langdon moved toward the first recess, he passed the tomb of one of Italy's Catholic kings. The sarcophagus, like many in Rome, was askew with the wall, positioned awkwardly. A group of visitors seemed confused by this. Langdon did not stop to explain. Formal Christian tombs were often misaligned with the architecture so they could lie facing east. It was an ancient superstition that Langdon's Symbology 212 class had discussed just last month. â€Å"That's totally incongruous!† a female student in the front had blurted when Langdon explained the reason for east-facing tombs. â€Å"Why would Christians want their tombs to face the rising sun? We're talking about Christianity†¦ not sun worship!† Langdon smiled, pacing before the blackboard, chewing an apple. â€Å"Mr. Hitzrot!† he shouted. A young man dozing in back sat up with a start. â€Å"What! Me?† Langdon pointed to a Renaissance art poster on the wall. â€Å"Who is that man kneeling before God?† â€Å"Um†¦ some saint?† â€Å"Brilliant. And how do you know he's a saint?† â€Å"He's got a halo?† â€Å"Excellent, and does that golden halo remind you of anything?† Hitzrot broke into a smile. â€Å"Yeah! Those Egyptian things we studied last term. Those†¦ um†¦ sun disks!† â€Å"Thank you, Hitzrot. Go back to sleep.† Langdon turned back to the class. â€Å"Halos, like much of Christian symbology, were borrowed from the ancient Egyptian religion of sun worship. Christianity is filled with examples of sun worship.† â€Å"Excuse me?† the girl in front said. â€Å"I go to church all the time, and I don't see much sun worshiping going on!† â€Å"Really? What do you celebrate on December twenty-fifth?† â€Å"Christmas. The birth of Jesus Christ.† â€Å"And yet according to the Bible, Christ was born in March, so what are we doing celebrating in late December?† Silence. Langdon smiled. â€Å"December twenty-fifth, my friends, is the ancient pagan holiday of sol invictus – Unconquered Sun – coinciding with the winter solstice. It's that wonderful time of year when the sun returns, and the days start getting longer.† Langdon took another bite of apple. â€Å"Conquering religions,† he continued, â€Å"often adopt existing holidays to make conversion less shocking. It's called transmutation. It helps people acclimatize to the new faith. Worshipers keep the same holy dates, pray in the same sacred locations, use a similar symbology†¦ and they simply substitute a different god.† Now the girl in front looked furious. â€Å"You're implying Christianity is just some kind of†¦ repackaged sun worship!† â€Å"Not at all. Christianity did not borrow only from sun worship. The ritual of Christian canonization is taken from the ancient ‘god-making' rite of Euhemerus. The practice of ‘god-eating' – that is, Holy Communion – was borrowed from the Aztecs. Even the concept of Christ dying for our sins is arguably not exclusively Christian; the self-sacrifice of a young man to absolve the sins of his people appears in the earliest tradition of the Quetzalcoatl.† The girl glared. â€Å"So, is anything in Christianity original?† â€Å"Very little in any organized faith is truly original. Religions are not born from scratch. They grow from one another. Modern religion is a collage†¦ an assimilated historical record of man's quest to understand the divine.† â€Å"Um†¦ hold on,† Hitzrot ventured, sounding awake now. â€Å"I know something Christian that's original. How about our image of God? Christian art never portrays God as the hawk sun god, or as an Aztec, or as anything weird. It always shows God as an old man with a white beard. So our image of God is original, right?† Langdon smiled. â€Å"When the early Christian converts abandoned their former deities – pagan gods, Roman gods, Greek, sun, Mithraic, whatever – they asked the church what their new Christian God looked like. Wisely, the church chose the most feared, powerful†¦ and familiar face in all of recorded history.† Hitzrot looked skeptical. â€Å"An old man with a white, flowing beard?† Langdon pointed to a hierarchy of ancient gods on the wall. At the top sat an old man with a white, flowing beard. â€Å"Does Zeus look familiar?† The class ended right on cue. â€Å"Good evening,† a man's voice said. Langdon jumped. He was back in the Pantheon. He turned to face an elderly man in a blue cape with a red cross on the chest. The man gave him a gray-toothed smile. â€Å"You're English, right?† The man's accent was thick Tuscan. Langdon blinked, confused. â€Å"Actually, no. I'm American.† The man looked embarrassed. â€Å"Oh heavens, forgive me. You were so nicely dressed, I just figured†¦ my apologies.† â€Å"Can I help you?† Langdon asked, his heart beating wildly. â€Å"Actually I thought perhaps I could help you. I am the cicerone here.† The man pointed proudly to his city-issued badge. â€Å"It is my job to make your visit to Rome more interesting.† More interesting? Langdon was certain this particular visit to Rome was plenty interesting. â€Å"You look like a man of distinction,† the guide fawned, â€Å"no doubt more interested in culture than most. Perhaps I can give you some history on this fascinating building.† Langdon smiled politely. â€Å"Kind of you, but I'm actually an art historian myself, and – â€Å" â€Å"Superb!† The man's eyes lit up like he'd hit the jackpot. â€Å"Then you will no doubt find this delightful!† â€Å"I think I'd prefer to – â€Å" â€Å"The Pantheon,† the man declared, launching into his memorized spiel, â€Å"was built by Marcus Agrippa in 27 B.C.† â€Å"Yes,† Langdon interjected, â€Å"and rebuilt by Hadrian in 119 A.D.† â€Å"It was the world's largest free-standing dome until 1960 when it was eclipsed by the Superdome in New Orleans!† Langdon groaned. The man was unstoppable. â€Å"And a fifth-century theologian once called the Pantheon the House of the Devil, warning that the hole in the roof was an entrance for demons!† Langdon blocked him out. His eyes climbed skyward to the oculus, and the memory of Vittoria's suggested plot flashed a bone-numbing image in his mind†¦ a branded cardinal falling through the hole and hitting the marble floor. Now that would be a media event. Langdon found himself scanning the Pantheon for reporters. None. He inhaled deeply. It was an absurd idea. The logistics of pulling off a stunt like that would be ridiculous. As Langdon moved off to continue his inspection, the babbling docent followed like a love-starved puppy. Remind me, Langdon thought to himself, there's nothing worse than a gung ho art historian. Across the room, Vittoria was immersed in her own search. Standing all alone for the first time since she had heard the news of her father, she felt the stark reality of the last eight hours closing in around her. Her father had been murdered – cruelly and abruptly. Almost equally painful was that her father's creation had been corrupted – now a tool of terrorists. Vittoria was plagued with guilt to think that it was her invention that had enabled the antimatter to be transported†¦ her canister that was now counting down inside the Vatican. In an effort to serve her father's quest for the simplicity of truth†¦ she had become a conspirator of chaos. Oddly, the only thing that felt right in her life at the moment was the presence of a total stranger. Robert Langdon. She found an inexplicable refuge in his eyes†¦ like the harmony of the oceans she had left behind early that morning. She was glad he was there. Not only had he been a source of strength and hope for her, Langdon had used his quick mind to render this one chance to catch her father's killer. Vittoria breathed deeply as she continued her search, moving around the perimeter. She was overwhelmed by the unexpected images of personal revenge that had dominated her thoughts all day. Even as a sworn lover of all life†¦ she wanted this executioner dead. No amount of good karma could make her turn the other cheek today. Alarmed and electrified, she sensed something coursing through her Italian blood that she had never felt before†¦ the whispers of Sicilian ancestors defending family honor with brutal justice. Vendetta, Vittoria thought, and for the first time in her life understood. Visions of reprisal spurred her on. She approached the tomb of Raphael Santi. Even from a distance she could tell this guy was special. His casket, unlike the others, was protected by a Plexiglas shield and recessed into the wall. Through the barrier she could see the front of the sarcophagus. Raphael Santi 1483-1520 Vittoria studied the grave and then read the one-sentence descriptive plaque beside Raphael's tomb. Then she read it again. Then†¦ she read it again. A moment later, she was dashing in horror across the floor. â€Å"Robert! Robert!†

Free Will Essay examples - 636 Words

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Again this argument seems both unsatisfactory and false. So how do we resolve this contradiction? One answer lies in the way in which we perceive the world. There are essentially two worlds in nature. The world that we see: the macro world, the world of Newtonian physics, and the world of the very, very small: the world of quantum physics. Quantum physics essentially shows us that far from being totally predictable, the paths of particles are unknowable, because the act of observing a particle will alter it or its path in some way. Thus, rather than dealing with absolute positions, directions and speeds quantum physics uses statistics to predict the position of particles. This means that for a given particle we only have a probability of where it will be. Now the behaviour of large numbers of particles is much easier because lots of these elusive particles acting together and in relation to each other (as in matter) become more predictable. Why? 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