Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 5

Research Paper Example Third, one consistent finding on effects of video games on young children and teenagers suggests that young children, as opposed to adults tend to exhibit aggressive and violent behavior after playing or watching violent video games (Gimplel 26). Mark Griffiths of Nottingham Trent University argues that controversy surrounds studies and researches on effects of violent video games (TSO 19). Concerning whether exposure to violent video games is a significant risk factor for children and adults, this paper examines four types of converging evidence concerning the games impact. They are laboratory experiments, cross-sectional correlation studies, longitudinal studies and field experiments. These four converging evidences continue to renew interests on this field from public policy makers, general public and researchers. Furthermore, they categorically indicate the variables which are present in video games which lead to violent behavior. This paper acknowledges that the role played by these games is like a double edged sword, with one edge bringing educational benefits, for instance video games with excellent teaching tools for motivation and learning steps, and the other edge hazardous, especially with the arrival of 3D games promoted by advancement in technology (Mahood 38). These effects are attributed to the fact that thoughts influence an individual behavior. Consequently, violent video games brings about aggressive thoughts, arousing physiological need for aggressive behavior, and directing leading to decreased social behavior such as caring and helping. Schroeder 2006, Suggests that studies have yieldedno significant results on effects of violent video games, supporting his arguments by the fact that studies of smoking and it cause on lung cancer have yielded no results. However, taking into account various empirical studies of smoking and it causes

The Art Institute Essay Example for Free

The Art Institute Essay My goals in life are not hard to achieve at all. First and foremost, I realize for a goal to be achieved,it will take determination and discipline to achieve it. Walking across that stage is my number one goal. Having the ability to graduate with my friends comes from hardwork and dedication, but I know recieving that high school diploma is just the beginning of my career. Being accepted into the Art of Institute has brought me closer to achieving my goal. My number 1 goal is to own my on Bakery (Moonies Goodies). The institute would help me achieve the basic steps and take responsiblity on moving in the right direction of my career. Art Institute will help me reach my goal in becoming a Pastery chef. Attending this institiute will also give me a step closer to reaching my main goal in my life. I realize that choosing this college was the best college for me because my goal after high school was to attend a culinary college that will offer me the skills I need in business managment, which will bring me closer to owning my own bakery. After researching the Art of Institute online, I knew that the Art Institute will give me the guidance needed to set me on the right path for my goals. To be successful in the commitment to my education will require determination and taking on more responsibilitites in my life. I know that my participation is acquired and will be given. I am looking forward to meeting and making a connection with my instructors, whom will share in a vital part of my career goal achievements. Also, looking forward to working beside peers whom are excited about their goals, such as I. I will attend any event that is being offered by the institute. Goals are challenges and in order for one to be successful, one must achieve the goals that lies within you. Having the ability to train amongst peers, is a dream come true. Thankful that I was accepted into the Art of Institute.

Factors in Health Services Management

Factors in Health Services Management Members Joanne Tolentino Rosarie Ann Nicole Trespeces Karenne Melo Daisy Kumari Shrestha The ever changing health system poses challenges that require capacity and capability in attaining success. Managing a health care industry requires extensive knowledge, skills and positive attitude in order to run the organization effectively and efficiently. To have an in-depth understanding on operations management and organizational performance, in this paper equal rights in public health care, demographic data, epidemiological characteristics, public health, culture, sources of power, and political aspects of the organization will be discussed. Demographic, Epidemiological and social environment In the health care arena, the primary focus of the health professionals is to provide care for the sick and promote health and well-being to people. The constant challenge, however, is to give equal rights for them to have access to public health. Equal rights for people is almost the goal not of just a single organization, but of every nation for their locals. Thus, equality in the delivery of health services must be observed at all times that no one shall be deprived of access to public health, regardless of age, color, ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic background. The surge of the influenza incidence in Auckland, New Zealand alarms Kiwi-Asian Persuasion Medical Center (KPMC) to take necessary actions. To prevent transmission or halt the health problem, KPMC not only prepares the skilled staff to provide but also reaches out to organizations to address the health problem. Although income or money plays a crucial part in determining the type of service a person affected with influenza or any health problem could afford, the (KPMC) aspires to provide holistic care with high consideration to health equality and Treaty of Waitangi. This means that the hospital practices free financial access to health services that each individual is entitled to receive holistic care. The health budget is generated from the New Zealand government or fund from the ministry of health. To ensure that equality is addressed, the hospital will conduct research works on how to bridge or close gaps in health and social inequalities. Hence, health policies and laws shall be formulated. Other alliances, non-profit organizations, and national and international organizations related to health will be requested to provide support to attain KPMC’s aspiration in providing equality in health through financial free services to all. According to Bonita and Kjellstrom (2006), epidemiology is that the study of the distribution and determinants of health related states or events in specified populations and the application of this study to the prevention and control of the health problems. The epidemiological data are employed to arrange and measure methods to prevent disease and as a guide to the management of the patients in whom illness has already developed. For the epidemiologic study various demographic data such as population, gender, age group, ethnicity categories are required. The main features of epidemiology is the assessment of the disease outcome in a risk of the population. The risk of population is the group of people, healthy or sick, population from different ethnic group, different age group, and a different gender. Hence, statistical data for epidemiological study and the primary source of demographic data can take from the census is much needed. New Zealand is derived from the national census, which is carried out every five years. Census encompasses information about variables, including age, gender, ethnicity, birthplace, occupation, accommodation, education, socioeconomic status, divorce, employment, long term illness etc. The analytical techniques applied to epidemiological data consist of general statistical approaches as well as special techniques that have been developed to fit the needs of particular epidemiologi cal study designs. While mathematical formula which may be used for statistical data, such as live birth, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages, migrates, health and disease etc, (Koch, 2015). According to World Health Organization (2015), conditions in which individual bears, nurture, live and work that impact an extensive variety of health, operating and life quality results are the social determinants of health. These conditions are formed by the delivery of financial, authority and properties at national and global levels. Resources that improve quality of life can have an important inspiration on population health outcomes such as safe and reasonable housing, education access, safety in public, healthy food availability, local and health emergency and environments free of life- threatening. Breakthrough reports on movements to expand health and reduce inequalities has been created by the World Health Organization (WHO). Social health inequalities that have impact on the spread of influenza in Auckland are health behaviors such as unhealthy diet and inactive lifestyle, social environment or social characteristic like low income, physical environment wherein where the individual lives and the living conditions and health services such as access to low quality health care or having no insurance coverage. These determinants of health also interact with and influence person behaviors too, and these also contributes in the development of social patterning of health, illness and disease. One and all has the right to achieve holistic health that is the reason why government and non- government organizations are combating and addressing those determinants of health. Cultural and Political Environment According to Root (2015), external environment of an organization is those factors which affect the outside of an organization’s ability to function smoothly. Among the five external general environment factors which affect the organization directly one of the most critical external factors is economic environment. According to Jorge (2014), this factor talks about the comprehensive of the nature of economic system of the country, business cycle, the socio economic infrastructure etc. Other external factors, including legal or ethical, political, technological and international factors that relate to the values, attitudes and concerns of the target people and their economic capabilities to afford the services. The political, ethical and legal environment related to the organizational laws and to meet the ethical or social responsibility standards to the communities Gupta (2009). Organizational Culture The Kiwi-Asian Persuasion Medical Center is a Christian, government-run institution committed to deliver high quality holistic care to the poor, sick and the dying. This institution strongly believe that every client, regardless of their ethnicity and culture, should feel comfortable, safe and secured just like home. Thus, Kiwi-Asian Persuasion Medical Center became known for its â€Å"feel-at-home† ambiance (Study, 2003). The hospital is painted with soft, vibrant colors to promote calmness. For a more relaxing place, lazy boy chairs are provided for both the visitors and the clients. All employees must greet every client coming in and out of the hospital with a warm smile. Though they are in a hospital, patients should feel the comfort of their own home. Also, the success of this organization is because of the core values that this institution upholds (Riley, 2014. Cultural diversity is one of the core values of the culture of this institution. The workforce want all clients to be treated like family despite cultural differences. Diversity should be respected and embrace within the workplace. Another core value of this institution is team spirit, working hand in hand in providing care to the clients. Thus, creating a positive relationship with colleagues and clients. Accountability for the actions, decisions and policies made when providing care for the patient. It is also very important to practice balance. Every employee shall maintain a healthy work-life balance to avoid poor performance. Lastly, excellence in providing the best quality health care service shall be upheld at all times. This is by inspiring moments of optimism in giving care in order to create value and make a difference in the lives of every client that is admitted in this institution (Wendy, 2013). By aligning the significance of these values with the employees, Kiwi-Asian Persuasion Medical Center has successfully created a strong organizational culture. Task external environment The task environment is closer to the organization and includes the sectors that conduct day-to-day transactions with the organization and directly influence its basic operations and performance (Daft, 2012). External task environment includes competitors, competitors, suppliers, and labour market. Customers are the people and organizations in the environment that acquire goods or services from the organizations. In the health care, patients are the customers of the hospital. The success of the organization largely depends on them since they are the recipient of care. The satisfaction of the patients mirror the performance of the employees and how the managers run the organization. Competitors are the organization in the same industry. They present challenges as they vie for customers in a marketplace with similar products or services (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt., 2014). In the health care, competitors are public health organizations like hospitals that provide similar health services. According to Gupta (2009), it is important to know all the competitors, their organizational size and skills pool, their competitive advantages, their marketing strategies, off shore development. The main point here is to maintain standards by observing quality assurance and keep customers despite the existence of similar organizations. Suppliers provide the raw materials the organizations produce its output (Daft, 2012). In health care, the needed resources are the hospital supplies and equipment used in the delivery of care. They affect the organization because of the dependency of the organization on the raw materials to provide adequate care. Thus, a good team up is necessary to receive high quality supplies at lower prices in order to save money while maintaining quality (Daft, 2012). Labor market as stated by Johnson (n.d.) refers to the people a company hires to fill its position. Employees in the hospital should be more than competent and with certain characteristics in order to maintain quality services and uphold global competitiveness. Those who are involved in direct patient care should be highly qualified, skilled or trained otherwise poor health services will be afforded to patients. This in turn would cause harm and danger to both the organization and the population of people being cared for. Sources of power According to Raven (2015), leadership management and power are relatively connected. Individuals have the tendency to obey people who are powerful. Leaders have different power for different reason. Power is the capability to influence the behavior of other individual with or without enforcing force by means of diverse strategies to make a necessary action. It is an instrument that can end up to either optimistic or pessimistic results in an institution. Power is a fundamental and unpreventable part in any institution. No leaders can be effective and competent starved of understanding and use of suitable power. There are two (2) types of power, the position power and the personal power. Under position power, includes legitimate power, reward power and coercive power. On the other hand, expert power and referent power falls under personal power (French, 2012). Legitimate power is often called positional power. This power originates from the position, role and status of an individual in an institution. It typically consist of formal authority. Reward power emanates from the capacity of an individual to deliberate treasured material rewards or produce added positive incentives. Incentives take account of increase salary, role promotion and positive commendations and appraisal. Coercive power is the capacity to impact individual by means of threat and giving of sanctions and negative penalties which encompasses of direct reprimand or suppression of anticipated rewards. Knowledge is a power. Expert power comes from an individual’s superior skills and knowledge in a certain area. Individuals who exert expert power is usually valued by the institution for their problem solving skills as they can accomplish critical responsibilities. Referent power comes from the capacity of a person to appeal individuals and form their reliability and fidelity. This power comes from appeal and charisma. According to B. Meadows (2011), all sources of power can be used in combination and people often have access to more than one power for the benefit and advancement of the institutions. Leaders use diverse power tactics to force other individual into desired actions and movements. For the KPMC, reward power will be highly employed as it tends to have an influence, impression and impact on the actions, behaviors and attitudes of the employees. Consequently, it will greatly motivate and inspire employees to be an effective and efficient part of the team and to work better as there will be a reward waiting. Rewards can be either tangible or intangible. Even simply openly or secretly admiring an employee for a task well done is deliberated as reward power and can be a valuable administration tool. By employing reward power in the institution, leaders can make an alteration from controlling and leading to modelling and impelling the growth and development of the employees by using reinforcing reward power. Opinions, ideas, decisions of leaders who exercise expert power are held in high regard by the employees; hence, greatly impact and affects their actions and behaviors. Good and Bad Political Aspects In all organizations, conflict and problems may arise due to competition or rival interests between groups and individuals (Mitchell, 2005). The tension brought about by diversity should be resolved through political means. However, politics has also its downside that can sometimes lead to the total destruction of the organization. Negative politics include the use of unethical tactics to regain power. One negative approach they use is backstabbing wherein a person pretends to be a friend but all the while talking about you in detrimental ways behind your back. An example of these is saying something bad about your friend to your other colleagues to destroy her reputation. Another approach is to embrace or demolish rivals in your organization who has suffered past hurts. It is when you fire people who do not favor the takeover. Next is stealing credit to people whom credit is due. Also, territorial games exist which involve competing for resources that gives power such as relationshi ps, authority and information. Good mouthing an employee to make them transferrable is also an unethical tactic. It usually happens when an unwanted employee is suddenly given an outstanding performance which makes her more marketable and more prone for a transfer. Another negative approach is putting a weak manager in place to help secure your position. It usually happens when a manager hires an incompetent assistant manager who is more unlikely to get a promotion. Continuous use of these unethical tactics may undermine organizational goals. However, by promoting good politics it channels away employees from using negative tactics. Some influential tactics use is leading by example. A manager must be a role model to her employees by being consistent with her words and actions. Next is using consultation to encourage employees for their ideas and opinions. Assertiveness as a positive tactic is also practiced. This refers to being straightforward with the person without violating their rights. Managers often use reasoning and logic as an influential tactic to get employees to follow their orders. Another is ingratiation wherein a person acts friendly when asking others for a favor. Lastly, exchange is also an approach for influencing employees by offering a barter with others. When these political tactics are used appropriately it can promote positive resolution to the tension rising in the organization (Mitchell, 2005). References Article Library. (2015). Types of Power in Leadership. Retrieved on March 28, 2015, from http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/business-management/6-important-types-of-power-in-leadership/2560/ Bonita, R., Beaglehole,R., Kjellstrom, T. (2006). Basic epidemiology. Retrieved on March 26, 20015 from http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2006/9241547073_eng.pdf Creative Vision Foundation. (n.d.). What is epidemiology? Retrieved on March 26, 2015 from http://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/resources-readers/publications/epidemiology-uninitiated/1-what-epidemiology Daft, R. (2012). Management 10th ed. USA: South-Western, Cengage Learning. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. (2014). The External Environment. Retrieved on March 27, 2015 from http://www.cliffsnotes.com/more-subjects/principles-of-management/managerial-environments/the-external-environment Johnson, S. (n.d.). Five Components of an Organization’s External Environment. Retrieved March 29 from http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/five-components-organizations-external-environment-8944.html Mind Tools. (2015). Five Forms of Power. Retrieved on March 28, 2015, from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_56.htm Mitchell, R. (2005). Introduction to Organizational Politics. Retrieved on March 23, 2015, from www.csun.edu/~hfmgt001/politics.doc Riley, J. (2014). Organizational Culture- The Crucial Importance of Core Values. Retrieved on March 22, 2015, from http://beta.tutor2u.net/business/blog/organisational-culture-the-crucial-importance-of-core-values Root, G. (2015). Five Components of an Organization’s External Environment. Retrieved on March 28. 2015 from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/five-components-organizations-external-environment-17634.html Study. (2003). What is Organizational culture? Definition Characteristics. Retrieved on March 22, 2015, from http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-organizational-culture-definition-characteristics.html The Fast Track. (2011). Five Types of Power in Leadership. Retrieved on March 28, 2015, from http://quickbase.intuit.com/blog/2011/08/26/the-5-types-of-power-in-leadership/ Wendy. (2013). Company Core Values: Why to have them and How to define them. Retrieved on March 22, 2013, from http://blog.7geese.com/2013/03/12/benefits-of-having-core-values-and-how-to-set-them-in-your-organization/

Prohibiton :: American America History

Prohibiton What was Prohibition Introduced? In the 1920's American politics was dominated by democracy and the idea of isolationism to keep America prosperous was incredibly apparent. However in 1919, President Wilson passed the 18th Amendment to the American Constitution prohibiting the manufacture, distribution and consumption of alcoholic drinks (any drink containing over 0.5% alcohol). Prohibition was not just a novel American idea, at the turn of the Twentieth Century, other countries were also experimenting with limiting or totally banning the production, distribution and consumption of alcoholic drinks the primary origins can be found all over the world. However, to find the origins for the American Prohibition we must look back to rural America in the Nineteenth Century. Wilson was also pressured into passing the Prohibition Act by the powerful temperance movement during the Great War, claiming that alcohol was unpatriotic as it was made by American's from German descent. Even though he tried to veto the amendment, he was overturned by Congress and reluctantly passed the legislation. The law itself was amazingly ambitious as alcohol was the seventh largest industry in a nation which was ruled by "big business" and was an established and respected as part of the businesses which provided the wealth of America. Although the technical reason as to why the Prohibition Law was passed was because 66% of the Constitution voted for it, one of the main reasons why Prohibition happened was because of its mass support. By 1920, thirty-three out of forty-eight states had passed Prohibition laws, making approximately 63% of the total population of America 'dry'. The main support for Prohibition came from moral crusaders in the South who were very anti-urbanisation like the American Society for the Promotion of Temperance in Boston and the Washington Temperance Society, whose groups grew in number between the 1820's and the 1840's. These groups campaigned against the effects of drinking liquor. Often this excessive drinking was blamed on the industrialisation of the rural areas in many counties as a result of social and economic change at this time. There were some protesters like the Irish Catholics who apparently were against prohibition because of their love of gin (!) as well as the congressmen of Massachusetts who famously said that, "the better the county the higher the alcohol content". Still this was the beginning of the battle where it appeared that it was a case of "cornbelt over conveyor belt".

Doctor Faustus Essays: Psychoanalytical, Feministic, and Cultural Persp

Psychoanalytical, Feministic, and Cultural Perspectives in Dr. Faustus Christopher Marlowe's acclaimed Doctor Faustus uses many rhetorical methods to breathe life into the plot and story line. There are obviously psychoanalytical methods used, as well as certain aspects of the feministic method, somewhat less evident, but no less important are the cultural background issues that come into play. These three methods help to smooth the edges and round out the corners of this complex journey into the fictitious life of a highly educated man who appears to have anything he would need. Psychoanalytically speaking, the battles between the id and superego of Dr. Faustus, cause severe turmoil in his moral conscience. This is evident in the text by the battery of the two angels, one holy and the other evil. He even consciously battles with his id, when he cries out, "O Christ, my savior, my savior! Help to save distressed Faustus' soul." (P. 48, lines89-90) Faustus often becomes offensive with Meph...

Pictures of War that Wilfred Owen’s Poems Create :: Anthem for Doomed Youth Disabled Essays

Pictures of War that Wilfred Owen’s Poems Create Wilfred Owen was born in Shropshire in 1893; he grew up in the north of England. Doing successfully well in school Wilfred wanted to go to university. As a consequence of his farmers job he could not afford to participate in university. His father was a railway worker and therefore didn’t earn much money. Instead of spending his next few years in college, Wilfred immigrated to France to take up a career in teaching at his time in Berlitz School, the Great War, commonly known as World War 1, was undergoing its ‘birth’ and war was later declared in 1914. Two years after settling in France Wilfred decided to sign up in training to be an army officer. And later joined the regiments in 1916 posted at the River Somme. In March 1917 he was temporarily discharged from the front line because of concussion. Owen re-joined the battalion soon after the accident. Unfortunately he was once again seized from the front line as a result of ‘shell shock’. In June 1917 he was transferred to a hospital called; Craiglockart, near Edinburgh. Here he met a poet named Siegfried Sassoon. As Wilfred had already started drafting poems, Sassoon helped Owen re-draft them to improve them immensely. More than a handful of poems were produced by the two. Wilfred’s first work was published in 1918, just before he returned to the front line. In September, Owen was awarded the military cross. Wilfred later dies on an attack on the Oise-Sombre canal. I am going to analyse and show incite to his three most famous poems; Anthem for doomed youth, Dulce et decorum and disabled. ‘Anthem for doomed youth’ is a relatively short poem, but the saying ‘less is more’ is definitely relevant in this case. The title alone represents an ‘anthem’ a song or prayer, for the futile soldiers. The main technique used is the question and answer method. The first line is the question; ‘What passing bells for these who die as cattle?’ This is comparing the soldiers to cattle and stating that in the battlefield the soldiers die in such great masses that they can be easily compared to cattle who get murdered in slaughtered houses. ‘Only the stuttering rifles rapid rattle’ This line contains onomatopoeia; ‘Stuttering rifles....’ This represents the sound the guns make when fired. Also this line has alliteration; ‘Rifles rapid rattle.’ This helps you set the scene of the massacring battlefield. The poem has personification within it; ‘Only the monstrous anger of the guns’ This illustrates that the gun has anger, a personality if you will. Which theoretically speaking is incorrect.

The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 22

The afternoon after Elena's â€Å"discipline,† Damon took out a room in the same complex where Dr. Meggar lived. Lady Ulma stayed in the doctor's office until between them, Sage, Damon, and Dr. Meggar had healed her completely. She never talked about sad things now. She told them so many stories about her childhood estate that they felt they could walk around it and recognize every room, vast though it was. â€Å"I suppose it's home to rats and mice now,† she said wistfully at the conclusion of one story. â€Å"And spiders and moths.† â€Å"But why?† Bonnie said, failing to see the signals that both Meredith and Elena were giving her not to ask. Lady Ulma tipped her head back to look at the ceiling. â€Å"Because†¦of General Verantz. The middle-aged demon who saw me when I was only fourteen. When he had the army attack my home, they slaughtered every living thing they found inside – except me and my canary. My parents, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles†¦my younger brothers and sisters. Even my cat sleeping on the window seat. General Verantz had me brought in front of him, just as I was, in my nightgown and bare feet, with my hair unbrushed and coming out of its braid, and beside him was my canary with the nighttime cloth off its cage. It was still alive and hopping about as cheerful as ever. And that made everything else that happened seem worse somehow – and yet more like a dream, too. It's difficult to explain. â€Å"Two of the general's men were holding me when they brought me before him. They were really propping me up more than keeping me from running, though. I was so young, you see, and everything kept fading in and out. But I remember exactly what the general said to me. He said, ‘I told this bird to sing and it sang. I told your parents I wanted to give you the honor of being my wife and they refused. Now look over there. Will you be like the canary or your parents, I wonder?' And he pointed to a dim corner of the room – of course it was all torchlight then, and the torches had been put out for the night. But there was enough light for me to see that there was a heap of round objects, with thatch or grass at one side of them. At least that is what I first thought – truly. I was that innocent, and I believe shock had done something to my mind.† â€Å"Please,† Elena said, stroking Lady Ulma's hand gently. â€Å"You don't have to keep on with this. We understand – â€Å" But Lady Ulma didn't seem to hear the words. She said, â€Å"And then one of the general's men held up a sort of coconut with very long thatch at the top, braided. He swung it casually – and all of a sudden I saw it for what it really was. It was my mother's head.† Elena choked involuntarily. Lady Ulma looked around at the three girls with steady, dry eyes. â€Å"I suppose you think me very callous for being able to talk about such things without breaking down.† â€Å"No, no – † Elena began hastily. She herself was shaking, even after tuning down her psychic senses to their least extent. She hoped Bonnie wouldn't faint. Lady Ulma was speaking again. â€Å"War, casual violence, and tyranny are all I have known since my childhood innocence was crushed in that moment. It is kindness now that astounds me, that makes my eyes sting with tears.† â€Å"Oh, don't cry,† begged Bonnie, throwing her arms around the woman impulsively. â€Å"Please don't. We're here for you.† Meanwhile Elena and Meredith were regarding each other with knitted eyebrows and quick shrugs. â€Å"Yes, please don't cry,† Elena put in, feeling faintly guilty, but determined to try Plan A. â€Å"But tell us, why did your family estate end up in such bad condition?† â€Å"It was the fault of the general. He was sent to faraway lands to fight foolish, meaningless wars. When he left he would take most of his retinue with him – including slaves who were in favor at the moment. When he left once, three years after he had attacked our home, I was not in favor, and I was not chosen to be with him. I was lucky. His entire battalion was wiped out; the household members who went with him were taken captive or slaughtered. He had no heir and his property here reverted to the Crown, which had no use for it. It has lain unoccupied for all these many years – looted many times, no doubt, but with its true secret, the secret of the jewels, undiscovered†¦as far as I know.† â€Å"The Secret of the Jewels,† Bonnie whispered, clearly putting it all in capital letters, as if it were a mystery novel. She still had an arm around Lady Ulma. â€Å"What secret of the jewels?† Meredith said more calmly. Elena couldn't speak for the delicious shivers that were running through her. This was like being part of some magical play. â€Å"In my parents' day, it was common to hide your wealth somewhere on your estate – and to keep the knowledge of its hiding place strictly to the owners. Of course, my father, as a designer and trader in jewels, had more to hide than most people knew of. He had a wonderful room that seemed to me something like Aladdin's cave. It was his workshop, where he kept his raw gems as well as finished pieces that had been commissioned or that he designed for my mother or out of his imagination.† â€Å"And no one ever found that?† Meredith said. There was just the slightest tinge of skepticism in her voice. â€Å"If anyone did, I never heard about it. Of course, they could have gotten the knowledge out of my father or mother, in time – but the general was not a meticulous and patient vampire or kitsune, but a rough and impatient demon. He killed my parents as he stormed through the house. It never occurred to him that I, a child of fourteen, might share the knowledge.† â€Å"But you did†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Bonnie whispered, fascinated, taking the story where it had to go. â€Å"But I did. And I do now.† Elena gulped. She was still trying to stay calm, to be more like Meredith, to maintain a cool head. But just as she opened her mouth to be coolheaded, Meredith said, â€Å"What are we waiting for?† and jumped to her feet. Lady Ulma seemed to be the most tranquil person there. She also seemed slightly bewildered and almost timid. â€Å"You mean that we should ask our master for an audience?† â€Å"I mean that we should go out there and get those jewels!† Elena exclaimed. â€Å"Although, yes, Damon would be a big asset if there's anything that takes strength to lift. Sage, too.† She couldn't understand why Lady Ulma wasn't more excited. â€Å"Don't you see?† Elena said, her mind racing. â€Å"You can have your household back again! We can do our best to fix it up the way it was when you were a child. I mean, if that's what you want to do with the money. But I'd love, at least, to see the Aladdin's cave!† â€Å"But – well,† Lady Ulma seemed suddenly distressed. â€Å"I had meant to ask Master Damon for another favor – although the money from the jewels might help with that.† â€Å"What is it that you want?† Elena said as gently as she could. â€Å"And you don't need to call him Master Damon. He freed you days ago, remember?† â€Å"But surely that was just a – a celebration of the moment?† Lady Ulma still looked puzzled. â€Å"He didn't make it official at the Servile Offices or anything, did he?† â€Å"If he didn't it's because he didn't know!† Bonnie cried out at the same time as Meredith said, â€Å"We don't really understand the protocol. Is that what you need to do?† Lady Ulma seemed able only to nod her head. Elena felt humble. She guessed that this woman, a slave for more than twenty-two years, must find true freedom difficult to believe in. â€Å"Damon meant it when he said we were all free,† she said, kneeling by Lady Ulma's chair. â€Å"He just didn't know all the things he had to do. If you tell us, we can tell him, and then we can all go to your old estate.† She was about to get up again, when Bonnie said, â€Å"Something's wrong. She isn't as happy as she was before. We have to find out what it is.† By opening her psychic perceptions a bit, Elena could tell that Bonnie was right. She stayed where she was, kneeling by Lady Ulma's chair. â€Å"What is it?† she said, because the woman seemed to bare her soul most when she, Elena, asked the questions. â€Å"I had hoped,† Lady Ulma said slowly, â€Å"that Master Damon might buy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She flushed, but struggled on. â€Å"Might find it in his heart to buy one more slave. The†¦the father of my child.† There was a moment of perfect silence, and then all three girls were talking, all three, Elena guessed, trying frantically to do what she herself was working at, which was not mentioning that she had assumed Old Drohzne was the father. But of course he couldn't be, Elena scolded herself. She's happy about this pregnancy – and who could be happy to have a child by a disgusting monster like Old Drohzne? Besides, he didn't have a clue that she might be pregnant – and didn't care. â€Å"It might be easier said than done,† Lady Ulma said, when the babble of reassurances and questions had died down a little. â€Å"Lucen is a jeweler, a renowned man who creates pieces that†¦that remind me of my father's. He will be expensive.† â€Å"But we've got Aladdin's cave to explore!† Bonnie said gleefully. â€Å"I mean, you'll have enough if you sell off the jewelry, right? Or do you need more?† â€Å"But that is Master Damon's jewelry,† Lady Ulma said, seeming horrified. â€Å"Even if he did not realize it when he inherited all of Old Drohzne's property, he became my owner, and the owner of all my property†¦.† â€Å"Let's go get you freed and then we'll take things one step at a time,† Meredith said in her firmest and most rational voice. Dear Diary, Well, I am writing to you still as a slave. Today we freed Lady Ulma, but decided that Meredith and Bonnie and I should remain â€Å"personal assistants.† This is because Lady Ulma said Damon would seem odd and unfashionable if he didn't have several beautiful girls as courtesans. There is actually an upside to this, which is that as courtesans we need to have beautiful clothes and jewelry all the time. Since I've been wearing the same pair of jeans ever since that b*st*rd Old Drohzne sliced up the pair I wore into this place, you can imagine that I'm excited. But, truly, it's not just because of pretty clothes I'm excited. Everything that happened since we freed Lady Ulma and then went to her old estate has been a wonderful dream. The house was run down, and obviously the home of wild animals who used it as a lavatory as well as a bedroom. We even found the tracks of wolves and other animals upstairs, which led to the question of whether werewolves live in this world. Apparently they do, and some in very high positions under various feudal lords. Maybe Caroline would like to try a vacation here to learn about the real werewolves though – they're said to hate humans so much that they won't even have human or vampire (once human) slaves. But back to Lady Ulma's house. Its foundation is of stone and it's paneled inside with hardwood, so the basic structure is fine. The curtains and tapestries are all hanging in shreds, of course, so it's sort of spooky to go inside with torches and see them dangling above and around you. Not to mention the giant spiderwebs. I hate spiders more than anything. But we went inside, with our torches seeming like smaller versions of that giant crimson sun that always sits on the horizon, staining everything outside the color of blood, and we shut the doors and lit a fire in a giant fireplace in what Lady Ulma calls the Great Hall. (I think it's where you eat or have parties – it has an enormous table on a dais at one side, and a room for minstrels above what must be the dance floor. Lady Ulma said that this is where the servants all sleep at night, too (the Great Hall, not the minstrel gallery). Then we went upstairs, where we saw – I swear – several dozen bedrooms with very large four-poster beds that are going to need new mattresses and sheets and coverlets and hangings, but we didn't stay to look around. There were bats hanging from the ceiling. We headed for Lady Ulma's mother's workroom. It was a very large room where at least forty people could sit and sew the clothes that Lady Ulma's mother designed. But here's the exciting part! Lady Ulma went to one of the wardrobes in the room and moved away all the tattered, moth-eaten clothes that were in it. And she pressed some different places at the back of the cupboard and the whole back of the cupboard slid out! Inside it was a very narrow stairway going straight down! I kept thinking about Honoria Fell's crypt and wondering if some homeless vampire might have taken up residence in the room downstairs, but I knew that was silly because there were spiderwebs just inside the door. Damon still insisted that he go down first because he has the best eyesight in the dark, but I think the truth is that he was just curious to see what was down there. We each followed him one at a time, trying to be careful with the torches, and†¦well, I can't find the right words for what we discovered. For just a few minutes I was disappointed because everything on the big table down there was dusty rather than sparkly, but then Lady Ulma began to gently brush jewels off with a special cloth and Bonnie found sacks and packages and she poured them out – and it was like pouring out a rainbow! Damon found a cabinet where there were drawers and drawers of necklaces, bracelets, rings, armlets, anklets, earrings, nose rings, and hairpins and ornaments, too! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I poured out a pouch and found that I had a huge handful of glorious white diamonds dripping through my fingers, some of them as big as my thumbnail. I saw white pearls and black pearls, both smaller and perfectly matched, and huge and in marvelous shapes: almost as big as apricots with pink or golden or gray sheens to them. I saw sapphires the size of quarters, with stars you could see almost from across the room. I held handfuls of emeralds and peridots and opals and rubies and tourmalines and amethysts – and a lot of lapis lazuli, for the discriminating vampire, of course. And the jewelry that was already made up was so beautiful it made my throat ache. I know Lady Ulma had a quiet little cry, but I think it was partly from happiness as we all kept complimenting her on her jewels. In days she has gone from being a slave who owned nothing to an incredibly rich woman who owns a house and all the means she would ever need to keep it up in style. We decided that even though she is going to marry her lover, it was best at first for Damon to buy him quietly and free him quietly, but to play â€Å"Head of the Household† for as long as we are here. During that time we will treat Lady Ulma as family, and will put the jeweler Lucen back to work until we leave, when he and Lady Ulma can quietly take Damon's place. The feudal lords around here are not demons anymore, but vampires, and they have less objection to humans owning property. Have I told you about Lucen? He's a wonderful artist with jewels! He has a burning need to create – in his early days as a slave he would create with mud and weeds, imagining that he was making jewelry. Then he got lucky and was apprenticed to a jeweler. He's felt sorry for Lady Ulma for so long, and loved her for so long, that it's like a little miracle that they are truly able to get together – and most importantly, as free citizens. We were afraid that Lucen might not like the idea of us buying him as a slave and not freeing him until we leave, but he never thought he'd be free – because of his talent. He's a slow, gentle, kind man, with a neat little beard and gray eyes that remind me of Meredith's. And he's so amazed at being treated decently and not worked around the clock that he would have accepted anything, just to be allowed to be near Lady Ulma. I guess he was an apprentice when her father was a jeweler, and he fell in love with her all those years ago, but he thought he would never, never ever be able to be with her, because she was a young lady of quality and he was a slave. They're so happy together! Every day Lady Ulma looks more beautiful, and younger. She asked permission from Damon to dye her hair all black, and he told her she could dye it pink if she liked, and now she just looks incredibly beautiful. I can't believe I ever thought of her as an old hag, but that's what agony and fear and hopelessness do to you. Every one of those gray hairs was from being a slave, with no property, no say in her future, no safety, no ability even to keep her children, if she had them. I forgot to tell you the other upside of Meredith, Bonnie, and I being â€Å"personal assistants† for a while. It's that we can employ a lot of poor women who make their living by sewing, and Lady Ulma actually wants to design and show them how to make our finest clothes. We told her that she could just relax, but she says all her life she's fantasized about being a designer like her mother and now she's dying to do it – with three completely different types of girl to dress. I'm dying to see what she'll come up with: she's already started sketching and tomorrow the man who sells fabric will come and she'll pick the materials. Meanwhile Damon has hired about two hundred people (really!) to clean out Lady Ulma's estate, put up new wall hangings and curtains, refurbish the plumbing system, polish up the furniture that has kept nicely, and to get new furniture where things have fallen apart. Oh, and to plant ready-grown flowers and trees in the gardens and put in fountains and all kinds of stuff. With that many people working, we ought to be able to move in in just a matter of days. All this has just one purpose, aside from making Lady Ulma happy. It's so that Damon and his â€Å"personal assistants† will be accepted by high society as the season of parties begins this year. Because I've kept the best for last. Both Lady Ulma and Sage could immediately identify the people in the riddles that Misao gave to us! It just goes to prove what I thought before, that Misao never imagined that we'd actually make it here, or that we could get entrance to the places where they've hidden the two halves of the fox key. But there's a very easy way to get invited into the houses we need to get into. If we're the newest, splashiest nouveau riche (sp?) around, and if we circulate the story that Lady Ulma has been restored to her rightful place, and if everyone wants to know about her – we'll get invited to parties! And that's how we get into the two estates we need to visit to look for the halves of the key that we need to free Stefan! And we're incredibly lucky, because this is the time of year when everyone begins to give parties, and both households we want to visit are having early celebrations: one is a gala, and one is a spring soiree to celebrate the first flowers. I know my writing is shaky now. I'm shaky myself at the thought that we are actually going to look for the two halves of the fox key that will let us break Stefan out of his prison. Oh, diary, it's late – and I can't – I can't write about Stefan. To be here in the same city with him, to know the direction to his prison†¦and yet to not be able to get to see him. My eyes are so blurred I can't see what I'm writing. I wanted to get some sleep to be ready for another day of running around, supervising, and watching Lady Ulma's estate blossom like a rose – but now I'm afraid I'll just have nightmares about Stefan's hand slowly slipping out of mine.