School-based drug-testing scheme Essay Example for Free

School-based drug-testing scheme Essay Recently,the government has launched a voluntary school-based drug-testing scheme. However, some people suggest that the scheme should be made compulsory so thatit has a real deterrent effect. Write an article for the school newspaperproviding arguments for and against the suggestion. End the article by givingyour own opinion. Give your article a title. DearEditor, Is it necessary to launch Compulsoryschool-based drug-testing scheme? Seven students are arrested for taking drugs. ,Two teenagers died after abusing drugs. Recently, we all become familiar withthe headline like this. It seems that we must take action. There is acontroversial issue about launching the compulsory school-based drug-testingscheme. I would like to discuss both of the perspectives. Making the test become compulsory will have agreater effect of stopping drug abuse. The current scheme is voluntary andstudents can decide whether they join the test. IN essence, students who takedrugs will absolutely not join the test. As a result, these students may stilltake drugs even the scheme in effect. On the contrary, switching the voluntaryscheme into compulsory one is more effective. Every student gave to be testedand there is a psychology effect that they indeed have to face penalty if theytake drugs before. This not only make the scheme become effective but also manystudents are stopped from drugs abuse. Compulsory school-based drug-testing schemelowers the crime rate in Hong Kong. It is known that once a person addict to the drugs, it is extremelydifficult to stop taking drugs. Meanwhile, drugs seller want to make as highprofit as possible, they sell the drugs with expensive prices, Students, whoaddict to the drugs, will use any methods to get enough money to buy drug, Tobe more specific, they may commit crime such as burglary and prostitution, Inother word, the society become disordered and saturated with criminals. Bylaunching compulsory school-based drugs-testing scheme, students tear of thepenalty and hence they stop drugs abuse, which in turn lower the teenager crimerate in Hong Kong. Nevertheless there are disadvantages whenlaunching the compulsory drugs test. Compulsory school-based drug-testing schemeis costly and time consuming. In fact, each test of sample acquires variousinstruments and professionals in order to meet high accuracy. These are themain reasons why the test is expensive, In addition, each test need a lot oftime to give an accurate result. Worse still, several hundred thousands of studentshave to be tested at the same time. A huge amount of money is necessary tosupport the compulsory scheme and a few months or years is required to finish theentire test. Some people may suggest that only a fix amount of studentsselected randomly have to encounter the test. Unfortunately, students may thinkthat they probably not be chosen. Thus the effect of the test is weakened. In my point of view, there is no denyingthat compulsory school-based drug-testing scheme is effective, but usingalternative ways at the same time can improve the situation more efficiently. Enhancing drugs education is a suggestion for government. Students should beeducated more seriously about the drawbacks of drugs abuse such as how thedrugs contaminate their organs especially their brains. These can arouse theirawareness on the disadvantages of drugs abuse. On the other hand, parents arerecommended to pay more time with their children. Love is essential for allteenagers. As they have great stress on them about study, more care can helpthem refuse to take drugs. Nothing but only the corporation between governmentand parents can solve the problem.

Representation Of Morocco In Western Cinema

Representation Of Morocco In Western Cinema Morocco, its people and culture, has tickled the fancy of westerners long times ago, even before the colonial era. With the western industrial revolution under the advocacy of the imperial inclination, different generations of western writers and film makers have depicted Morocco according to the colonialist requirements and desires of the moment. The Anglo-American literary and mediatic productions as a scion and legatee to the ideology of European colonies in general, turned their gazing gawk on another Arab space of North Africa, mainly Morocco. The original outset of the Anglo-American interest in Morocco can be traced through the successive genres of travel narratives, novels, essays, etc. which took Morocco as their subject of writing and setting of shooting films. Going back to some historical reviews of the literature written about the representation of Morocco in the Anglo-American cinema and literature, we find that political, economic, and religious motivations are various pretexts that legitimize the western representation of Moroccan people together with their different cultural aspects. In Belated Travelers, Ali Bahdad has shown that westerners from the early travelers to modern tourism have defined the other including Moroccan people as savages, child like, sexually thrilling, etc. From the early British literature led by Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe(novel film) to the American writers led by Paul Bowles The Sheltering Sky(novel film), Morocco has been presented in the western imaginary as a land of jinns, dervishes, harems, all darkly promiscuous, sly and inscrutable. The film in its turn as an extension of narratives has sustained the same discourse of novelists. Most films shot in Morocco present the Moroccan space -desert and kasbah- as a dangerous setting. Through such representations, film makers seem to seek an identity through military, economic and sexual adventures, in which the Moroccan other is continuously cast as inferior and the dark element of the night. Babel, The Sheltering Sky, Legionnaireà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦remain major films where film makers insist on the alienating forces of the Moroccan cultural threats, in which the pure nobility of the white character must defy. It is rarely that we see some fair characteristics displayed by actors, showing the real image of Moroccans. The favourable setting favoured by film makers is most of the times dirty and shabby districts. The film makers always try to find places even far and may cost them more money just to find a place that can cast Morocco as inferior and uncivilized lacking the basi c requirements of life. Traditional and orientalist writings about Morocco are indistinguishable texts and images affixed and engrafted onto the modish mode of films. From the early talkie, Morocco (1930), the classic Casablanca (1942), road comedies Road to Morocco till Five Fingers (2006), Morocco becomes a confining other space and a penal complex for the recalcitrant Anglo-American heroes. The Muslim and Arab gears of prevalently fixed stereotypes are applied likewise to portray Moroccans and supply the requisite background rapscallions, dickhead and wilful, etc. Such representations persevere to inhabit the imaginations and thoughts of the western audience largely and hardly to be changed. Edward Said has clearly identified the function of Arabs in western cinema: In the films and television the Arab is associated either with lechery or blood thirsty dishonestly. He appears as an oversexed degenerate capable (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) of cleverly devious intrigues, but essentially sadistic, treacherous, low. Slave trader, camel driver, money changer, colourful scoundrel: these are some traditional Arab roles in the cinema. (Orientalism, 286-87) Unfortunately, Morocco is geographically situated within two antagonist streams of the west as an Arab and African, uncivilized parts of the world. All types of stereotypes given to Arabs, Muslims and indigenous black Africans are also used identically to describe Moroccans. Throughout history of the Anglo-American cinema, Moroccan characters (Arab Africans) have served as the quintessential other in foreign cinema. Moroccans have been consistently represented as inferior to the west orally, intellectually, culturally and politically. In the post 9/11 world and London bombardment, where some Moroccans were found guilty and involved in terrorist acts, Moroccans are perceived as antagonistic to western values and a threat to the western stability. In Babel, the film maker clearly shots this belief to show that all Moroccans are against the American presence in Morocco including tourists who are bulleted by a small Moroccan child in the mountains. CNN reports and considers this event a terrorist attack. In this conjunction, Woll and Miller argue that the Arab image has stalked the silver screen as a metaphor for anti-western values. The movie Arabs, and the television Arabs, have appeared as lustful, criminal, and exotic villains or foils to western heroes and heroines (Ethnic and Racial Images in American Film and Television, 79). Across the films under study, Anglo-American cinematic productions seem highly obsessed by stereotypical images of Moroccans. Arabs and Africans in general and Moroccans in particular are cinematically constructed to possess a wide array of loathsome characteristics: they may be backward, wild, cruel, blood thirty, crude, sex-crazed, stupid, dishonest conniving or menacing. Year after year and decade after decade, hundreds of films have flooded the market with a large number of unfavourable Arab and African depictions. In his book, Reel bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People, Jack Shaheen has studied more than one thousand films with major Arab themes and settings, about 40 of which are about Morocco. In his latest book, just after 9/11, Guilty: Hollywoods Verdict on Arabs after 9/11, Shaheen has studied again more than one hundred films about Arabs picturing them as responsible for what is happening now around the world. Within these bundles of stereotypes, one can wonder about the reasons behind all these biased descriptions. As a response to such questions, many scholars like Churchill agree that it seems necessary to alter realities to assume the maintenance of empire (Fantasies of the Master Race, 38). Churchill goes on saying that mere conquest is never the course of empire in the achievement of mission can only be attained through the productive utilization of captured ground (34). Within the same line of thought, Pieterse writes that the legacy of several hundred years of western expansion and hegemony, manifested in racism and exotism, continues to be recycled in western cultures (White on Black: Images of Africa and Blacks in Western Popular Culture, 9). Coming to mediatic representations, we find that Brzezinki in Out of Control: Global Turmoil on the Eve of the 21st Century, Naylor in Cultural Diversity in the United States, and Shohat and Stam in Unthinking Eurocentrism all agree that Hol lywood cinema promotes Eurocentric representations in order to further an economic and political propaganda. In the present time, which is characterized by terrorism, we see that the movie discourse of the First and the Second World Wars repeats itself and continues to endorse and legitimize the imperial vision of the white mans burden. Buschbaum asserts that as early as the First World War, many western governments recognized the propaganda potential of film (Left Political Filmmaking in the West: The Interwar Years, 26), in the Second World War, in Rosss words, the movie industry and its key personal exempted from military service (Cinema and Class Conflict, 82). Many scholars like Martin, Hoberman and Shaheen claim that the best movies of the 1930s promoted colonialism, neo-colonialism and imperialism. These films include Marta Hari, Shangai Express, Tarzan the Ape Man, Flying Down to Rio, etc. During the 1950s, this imperialistic agenda was furthered in films such as those starr ing Ronald Reagan- Hong Kong, Tropic Zone, Prisoner of War- all uphold the idea of the United States domination of the third world countries and were often made with the government assistance. Passage to india: british cinema Although these biased representations within the commercial films have moderated somehow over years, we can say that the visual image of the other Arab and Moroccan in particular is still very poor. Jack Shaheen in his interesting documentary Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People (YouToub Video), explores that the 20th century witnessed a large number of films degrading and distorting the image of Arabs including Moroccans. Anglo-American film industry is now theorizing and supporting wars through different scenes that the audience seems to take for granted. Due to this grave impact that such films have on the targeted viewers, Hoberman finds it very necessary to assign these Eurocentric films a new genre called war-nography (Vulgar Modernism, 227). Many films unabashedly affirm traditional Anglo-American values and institutions and negate everything anti-western. Among these movies, we can mention Kingdom of Heaven, Black Hawk Down, True Lies, The Mummy, Raiders of the Los t Ark, The Stone Merchant, to name but a few. In my thesis, I will study and attempt to prove that the films made about Morocco: Babel, Casablanca, Hideous Kinky, Five Fingers, The Road to Morocco, A Night in Casablanca, Legionnaire, The Man Who Knew too Much, The Sheltering Sky, Our Man in Marrakesh, Man of Violence, Unveiled, and some others fit within the aforementioned category as well. In Hideous Kinky, despite some short instances where fairness manifests itself, Moroccans are targeted for stereotypical representations within British films. As Varsey succinctly states: the British influence in general, and its impact in the area of colonial relations in particular, had far reaching implications for Hollywoods depiction of ethnic difference (Foreign Parts: Hollywoods Global Distribution and the Representation of Ethnicity, 699). She concludes that Hollywoods representations of ethnic and national difference and the movies modulation of these stereotypes were informed not by the personal psychologies of individual production, but by the economic imperatives of global distribution. Shome in Race and Popular Cinema: the Rhetorical Strategies of Whiteness in the city of Joy, and Young in Fear of the dark: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Cinema have all concluded that racial representations within cinema exemplify how the discursive productions of whiteness is often complicit in the practices of neo-colonialism. Religious representations are equally as stereotypical as other cultural portrayals within films. According to Newcombe, film images of people associated with religion typically represent widely shared level(s) of popular cultural expressions of religious attitudes that are safe neutral, and often used because of their immediate visual qualities (Religion on Television, 33). These religious representations also serve to support neo-colonialism since they frequently ritualize the values, beliefs, in Schultzes words, and even the sensibilities of a people (Television Drama as Sacred Text, 5). Moroccan religion or Islam in general has been the victim of representations that pre-date the movies dual purposes of religious loathe and economic exploitation. In this conjunction, Rose elaborates: There are Muslims who are of different origins, while most, like the majority of Palestinians, are Arabs, the followers of Muhammed are found in parts of the world. There is the dominant religion in such non-Arab states as Bosnia, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia. (They and We: Racial and Ethnic Relations in the United States, 58) However, in the films under study, the Moroccan Muslims are often depicted as dark Arabs and nomadic heathens because black becomes the colour of the devil and demons. While watching the movies, the majority of Moroccans remain cinematically either part of the movie backdrop or totally invisible. In addition to this stereotypical account, another representative feature that portrays Moroccans in the Anglo-American cinema is that they are doubly misrepresented as Arabs and Africans. Hoberman concurs that the misrepresentation of the Other in general has achieved a state that had surely blistered the paint and the chrome of the American dream machine. Why should anyone want the facts? Shared fantasies are what hold a people together (Vulgar Modernism, 328). Within this religious representation, Moroccans could not escape the Hollywood machine through its films about Morocco, mainly The Five Fingers, which depicted Morocco as a place of terrorist groups and savage terrorists. What makes this religious representation very perilous is the audience who take things presented through the motion picture for granted may be throughout their lives. In a study conducted by Schaefer, the American sociologist, about school children who watched D.W. Griffiths Birth of a Nation, he found that watching the movie made them more favourably inclined towards blacks for five months when children were retested (Racial and Ethnic Groups, 80). So if school children could not forget the image of blacks presented in The Birth of a Nation, how adults of world audience could overlook the Moroccan image in Babel, Five Fingers, Casablanca, etc., especially if we consider that most people take images as truth based. The audience gameness to believe whatever images th ey see in the movies is clearly explained by Contreras in Practical Consideration for Living and Working in Contexts of Diversity: Most individuals are quite capable of forming opinions without adequate prior-knowledge, thus forming a prejudgement either for or against a group, idea, or person. For example, after learning about the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma, how many people immediately thought the explosion had been the work of Arab terrorists? (Cited in Naylors Cultural Diversity in the United States, 330) Similarly to what happened during the evens of Oklahoma, moviemakers have tried to instil the idea of Arab terrorism in the minds of the audience either through special effects or real military victories. Balio, Barder, Bordwell and Thompson, Shohat and Stam and Hoberman all concur that the movies have influenced virtually every human activity, from politics and warfare to sexual behaviour and dreaming. It is true that after the events of 9/11 for example, the movies have turned Americans as Hoberman notes into Bob Hoskins in Toontown, real people wandering around delirious mental landscape of special effects, feel good fantasies, and militaristic spectacles (Vulgar Modernism, 334). Method This thesis is a cultural studies-based inquiry into the politics of Moroccan representation in the Anglo-American movies and the role they play in deepening the abhorrence and misperception of Moroccan cultural aspects by the west. This thesis will also re-articulate a way of understanding the links between the representations of Moroccans in the Anglo-American films and the unleashing of violence and insolence towards Moroccans and Arabs in general. The primary research questions guiding my research are: In what ways have Moroccans and Moroccan land been represented in the Anglo-American movies? Is it possible to describe a new specifically Anglo-American form of Orientalism that is distinct from old European forms? How is the identity of Moroccans articulated in opposition to an Anglo-American identity? To investigate these questions, the thesis relies on a range of data sources: primary and secondary analysis of films, scholarly books and articles, reviews of films, etc. that can help to contribute to a better understanding of how cultural domination can work upon the minds and practices of filmmakers to act around the Moroccan character in a large sample of movies. To decode the movies messages, I find myself in a situation where every component in the film must be analysed critically as Martin says in his book, Hollywoods Movie Commandments the critic must consider both the way in which the action is portrayed and the effect on the audience (91). Plot, character, theme, point of view, and setting are all typical areas upon which analysis should concentrate. Because of the films peculiar visual qualities, each of these areas takes on additional dimensions. Character, for example, is not only written into the screenplay, but also interpreted and portrayed by the actor. Even more im portantly, many of these traditional elements of narration are staged through mise-en-scene. When the action is being filmed, the shot, speed of motion, tonality, sound and special effects become also important interpretive factors within a film since cultural representations within a film can be depicted or influenced through these elements. In this research, I will shell out more concentration to issues raised in the different films and to what they say about Moroccan society and its values. The research relies on cultural studies and the postcolonial theory as its main theoretical and methodological approaches to interpret and analyse the selected films. I will make use of the literary critique of the elements of narration together with the ways in which these elements are portrayed visually. I will use the elements of narration as a guide to discuss the cultural representations across the scenes. Through the postcolonial theory, I aim at re-examining the Moroccan reality with the process of redefining Moroccan identity presented in the Anglo-American cinema. Thus the Moroccan voice will be raised with the promise of giving optimism to the silenced Moroccans in the films. Three native Moroccan movies will be employed in this research as a postcolonial means to describe people, things and values that live or relate to the geographical locations of the Moroccan society. These films are: M. Abdderrahman Tazis Badis, Farida Belyazids A Door to the Sky (Une Port sure le Ciel) and Laila El Marrakshis Maroock. Through Moroccan third cinema, Moroccan filmmakers led by Abderrahman Tazi define themselves and participate in the discursive processes that rule their destiny. It is true that A. Tazi remains the leader of the third cinema in Morocco which is manifested in his films Badis, Looking for my Wifes Husband, Lalla Hobby, etc. in these films, he tries to avoid shooting scenes that seem a kind of fetish for the west (cited in Beyond Casablanca, 66). A. Tazis wakefulness of the subjective representations of western movies is developed during his work with Anglo-American filmmakers who came to make films in Morocco. In his interview with the American anthropol ogist, Kivin Dwyer, A. Tazi recounts one of the bad experiences that demeans his pride as a Moroccan working with a Hollywood film maker John Derick while filming Bolero (1984). John Derick says to A. Tazi while facing a problem in one of the shots: what the hell am I doing here in this country? Why didnt I go to Israel, where people are more civilized, where people are less like-savages (Beyond Casablanca, 44). It is hoped that the postcolonial approach which allows for and respects different narrative voices will provide an apt method for looking at the different histories and values reflected in selected Anglophone movies. It is also my hope that the postcolonial method will enhance an understanding of different approaches used by various filmmakers as they attempt to disengage the Moroccan identity from the imperial syndrome. Rationale for the corpus The studies of the history, criticism and analysis of these films about Moroccan people and culture are significant in many ways. These films are sampled across the British and American film productions. The selection of the films is based on certain criteria. Since Im dealing with the representation of Moroccan identity in the Anglo-American cinema, I tried to choose only films that have been shot in Morocco and taking Moroccan culture as the main theme. The films are also selected according to the messages they transmit to the audience about the Moroccan religion, politics, culture, space, geography, women, traditions, etc. in Babel, for example, we see the filmmakers representing Morocco in unfair way; we see very old women in black smoking, even young children attacking American tourist- an action which seems to present that all Moroccans young or old hate the American people. In the same movie, we notice again the same old story of sexuality reiterated in the acts of presenting the Moroccan characters sexually thirsty even to their brothers and sisters. In the Sheltering Sky and Hideous Kinky, again, we see stealthy figures appear and disappear without intimating whence they come, nor where they go. These figures seem wearing turbans as big domes standing in shadows waiting to mug a western passer-by. In this film, we also see presentations of the Moroccan Kasbah as a labyrinth where western people are doomed to death. In Five Fingers, Islam, main religion in Morocco is associated with terrorism and denunciation of western spectrum. Legionnaire is the film where Moroccan space is divided into two: a dangerous desert from which no western visitor can escape, and whore streets for sexual pleasure for soldiers. All the films selected for this study are those that narrate Moroccan experience from an imperial eye. This presentation of course affects the Moroccan individual and society. The films continuous impact on identity and culture leads us to study some indigenous films productions shot by Moroccan film makers. The Moroccan films would serve a counter discourse to question and rectify the ideological representations imposed by outside cinematic productions.

Physical and Psychosocial Problems of Radiation Therapy

Physical and Psychosocial Problems of Radiation Therapy Introduction and background: The word â€Å"cancer† itself is traumatic in nature. It effects a person not only physically but also psychologically, financially, culturally, socially, and spiritually etc. According to World Health Organization( WHO) report (2014), in 2012 worldwide 14.1 million adults were diagnosed with cancer, and among them 8.2 million were died. Moreover, breast cancer is the fifth leading cause of death. In the USA, among all types of cancers the breast cancer is the highest incidence rate because one in ten women is having breast cancer (Njeh, Saunders, Langton, 2012). Breast cancer incidence increased more than 20% (WHO Press Release, 2013). Furthermore, cancer is also one of the leading causes of deaths in the developing countries. In Pakistan, the most frequently diagnosed cancer is breast cancer for females. The incidence of breast cancer is higher in western countries but Pakistan has the highest rate of breast cancer among all the Asian countries, (Pink Ribbon Pakistan). It i s estimated that 1 in 9 Pakistani women will develop breast cancer at some stage of their life. (Shokat Khanum Cancer Hospital and Research Center). The cancer patient suffers a lot from the physical and psychosocial problems not only because of the disease process but also from the treatment related problems. As, one out of two patients with cancer experience psychiatric disorder especially depression (Reyes-Gibby, Anderson, Morrow, Shete Hassan, 2012; Spoletini, et al, 2008). There are certain treatment modalities for cancer such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Each of them is potential to produce various threats for the cancer patient. Radiation therapy is also an important treatment performed before and after surgery which also has various harmful effects on the patient. Beside that it is significant part of cancer treatment but its impact on patient’s quality of life and nursing management is less addressed in literature. According to Welle, (1998) radiotherapy patients are perceived as self-caring and their needs are not taken care of. However, numerous researches have been conducted nationally and internationally to identify the different problems and their intervention of the cancer patients treated with chemotherapy and surgery. As a result evidence based body of knowledge have been generated this is contributing in quality nursing care and health teaching, impacting on the patient’s quality of life. Moreover, some of the international studies highlighted the problems faced by the patients receiving radiation therapy but as per my best knowledge very little work has been done in the field of nursing to remedy these problems. Most importantly, in the context of Pakistan very little work has been done pertinent to this issue. However this study is significant to contribute in the existing body of knowledge for nurses to care for breast cancer patient more holistically. Moreover, this study may be helpful to develop the teaching material for patients receiving radiotherapy to enhance their quality of life. In addition, the findings of this study will be helpful for nurses working in Pakistan. This study may improve the teaching interventions of nurses caring for cancer patients in government hospital and may have positive effect on their knowledge, attitude, and skill pertinent to RT. Purpose: The aim of this paper is to identify the physical and psychosocial problem of the patient pertinent to radiation therapy, as well as the nursing management and health teaching for the patients for enhancement of their quality of life. Study Questions Question 1: What are the different physical and psychological problems of the breast cancer patients undergoing RT in Pakistani context? Question 2: Is there any association between RT and compromised quality of life of the patient. Question 3: What kind of health teaching is necessary for the nurse to give the patient before and after RT? Question 4: what are the feeling and perceptions of breast cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy ? Data sources The review of literature was conducted through data bases CINAHL PubMed , Mosbys Nursing Consult, Science Direct, and Google Scholar were search for published research articles relevant to this paper. The combination of the following key terms was used to retrieve relevant literature by punching â€Å"physical/psychological problems, breast cancer, problems with radiation therapy, quality of life, patient education etc†. Search generated 283 articles, 52 duplicate results excluded. Through a selection process title and abstract screened, among those 20 were found to be relevant to the topic. Literature review Radiation therapy is one of the options totreat the cancer, uses high-energy x-rays or gamma rays targeted at the tumorto shrink the tumors or kill cancer cells(Radvansky, Pace, Siddiqui, 2013). During the course of the treatment about two-thirdsof patients will undergo radiation therapy(Guo et al. 2013).According toPotthoff et al (20013). More than 90% of all breast cancer patients receive adjuvant radiotherapy, given after breast conserving surgery as well as after mastectomy to avoid recurrence of cancer. Darby et al (2011) found in their meta-analysis study that RT after breast conserving surgery reduces 15-year risk of breast cancer death rate from 25†¢2%. This widely used therapy has its side effects like other cancer treatments; it is also potential for causing great physical as well as psychosocial problems as other cancer treatment do (Egestad, 2013). Physical problems related to radiation therapy for breast cancer patients Radiation therapy affects cancer and normal cells equally within the treated area, result in injuryof the cells which lead to side effects. The radiation therapy induced side effects include skin and mucous membrane toxicities, sleeplessness, pain, swelling, dyspnoea, cough and nausea. (Rose, 2011; Darby et al, 2011; Adams, 2009;Currie Wheat 2006; Gordils-Perez,Duell,2003).Skin problems are the most frequent side effect among all and nearly 85%–95% of patients receiving radiation therapy will develop some degree of skin damage (Bergstrom, 2011). There are many long term side effects of breast irradiation like cosmetic changes hyper pigmentation, fibrosis, lymphedema, and damage to underlying normal structures (Perez,Duell,2003). Therefore it is very important to remedy this problem because this side effect of radiation therapy limits the patient’s ability to tolerate the treatment (Currie,Wheat, 2006).In their study Potthoff et al (20013) .reported that 80% of the patie nts experience fatiguewho receive RT. They defined fatigue is a â€Å"persistent, subjective sense of tiredness related to cancer or cancer treatment that interferes with usual functioning and that is usually not relieved with rest and is not related to an excessive amount of activity† (p.3).In another qualitative study Poirier, (2011) found out that fatigue is also very common in patient getting radiation therapy and it affects their role functioning in daily life. In this way the fatigue may affect the quality of life of the patient. Another side effect of RT is reported in of the studies is sleep disturbance. According to the study conducted by Dhruva, et al (2012).approximately 50% breast cancer patients reported sleep disturbance at the initiation of radiation therapy. Quality of life of the patients Breast cancer due to its poor prognosis and treatment related problems affect the quality of life of the patient. Kirchheiner et al. (2013) reported that â€Å"mean QOL in the total cohort is 58 ±27% (100% indicates excellent QOL)† (p.425). Similar to other treatment choice RT related side effects also have impact on the quality of life of the patient. The quality of life is defined by WHO (1997) â€Å"concept affected in complex way by the person’s health, psychological state, and level of independence† (p.1). As the National Cancer Institute (2011). Mentioned that 38% of all women diagnosed with breast cancer experience abandoned symptoms resulting from the disease and its treatment. Therefore, the side effects of RT affect the quality of life of the patient (Currie, Wheat, 2006). In addition, sleep disturbance is another problem found to be an important contributor in affecting the quality of life of the patient. In this connection, a study conducted by Gra ydon (1994) highlighted that sleep disturbance and fatigues were the main areas of the life of women affected by RT. Since the fatigue, influence the physical, cognitive and emotional aspects and the prevalence ranges from 30-70% in women with breast cancer, reaching up to 80% when they are undergoing radiotherapy (Alcantara-Silva, Freitas-Junior, Freitas, Machado, 2013). This is one of the most frequent side effects of radiotherapy, and it may interfere with self-esteem, social activities and quality of life. Moreover, the fatigue and pain related to radiation therapy may affect the sexuality of the patient by decreasing the desire and arousal and skin changes including burns and tattoos affecting body image and self-esteem (Varela, Zhou, Bober, 2013; Mercadante Vitrano Catania , 2010). These symptoms lead to compromised quality of life of the patient. In this regard nurses need to give the high quality care by addressing the all aspect of patient life to enhance the QOL of their patients undergoing RT. Moreover, with the advancement of health science the patients expectquality oflife (QOL) beyond just survival therapy Psychological problems The women diagnosed with breast cancer have remarkable impact on her psychological well being. As Halkett , Kristjanson , and Lobb (2008) highlighted that women with breast cancer receiving radiotherapy, experience many kinds of fears like fear of unknown and getting burnt, damage to internal body parts, and anticipating tiredness. These kinds of fears may threaten the women which may have negative impact on compliance with the treatment. Rose, (2011) highlighted that patient may feel high level of stress at the start RT because of unfamiliar technology, potential side effects and being in an environment with other cancer patients. Moreover, the outcome of the study of Reyes-Gibby et al. (2012) shown that depression among women was positively associated with symptoms of disease and treatment. Thus the diagnosis and treatment can have a profound influence on a woman’s psychosocial and overall well-being. Role of nurse in RT patient’s care and education The above mentioned literature suggests that patients who receive radiation therapy face significant challenges and require care during the period of their treatment. Nurses are direct care provider in any health care setting. They play a significant role in their specialized field in various health care settings. Therefore, they can play a significant role in improving quality of life of the cancer treatment recipients. During the RT course, patients may go through many complex physical and/or emotional responses (Rose, 2011). A randomized trial study conducted by Christman, Cain, (2004) concluded that patients receiving concrete objective information reported maintaining higher levels of usual function than those not receiving. Furthermore, giving information about symptom experiences helped them to mentally prepare uncertainty about their symptom experiences. Oncology nurses need to own the responsibility of their patient and identify the patient need. The Meta analytical finding s support the usefulness of psychosocial interventions for improving QoL in adult cancer patients. In this regard a comprehensive nursing care of the patient can improve the physical as well as psychological care of the patients. Importance of Patient education Providing cancer patients with appropriate information regarding their treatments, side effects of treatment and coping strategies allows them to feel more control over disease and its related problems. It helps them make better choices of treatment modalities ( Barnett, et al. 2004). The study findings of Zeguers et al (1012) highlighted that now the RT patients want comprehensive information about their disease, treatment, and procedures, side effects, and prognosis with the mean scores between 4.1 and 4.4 on a scale from 1 to 5. In contrast ,Barnett, et al. (2004). Emphasized that information needs vary among different individual therefore, a patient-centred approach must involve according to the tolerance and need of the patient. Reference: Adams, L. (2009). Managing Side Effects inRadiation Therapy Patients.Radiation therapist, 18(2) Alcantara-Silva, T. R.1., Freitas-Junior, R., Freitas, N. M., Machado, G.D. (2013) Fatigue related to radiotherapy for breast and/or gynaecological cancer: a systematic review. Journal of Clinical Nurse. 22(19-20). 2679-86. Christman, N. J., Cain, L. B. (2004)The Effects of Concrete Objective Information and Relaxation on Maintaining Usual Activity During Radiation Therapy. Oncology nursing forum – 31( 2) 39-44 Currie G, Wheat J.(2006) Wheatgrass extract as a topical skin agent for acute radiation skin toxicity in breast radiation therapy. Joumal of the Australian Traditional-Medicine Society12(l):7—11. Gilani, S. Kamal, A. S. Akhter, G. M., Kamal, A. S. Akhter, S., Akhter, A. S. (2003). A differential study of breast cancer patients in Punjab, Pakistan.Journal of Pakistan Medical Association, 53(10), 1-3. Graydon, J. E. (1994). Women with breast cancer: their quality of life following a course of radiation therapy. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 19(4), 617-622. Guo, Z., Tang, H., Li, H., Tan, S., Feng, K., Huang, Y., Bu, Q., Jiang, W. (2013). The benefits of psychosocial interventions for cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 11(121), 1-12.doi: http://www.hqlo.com/content/11/1/121 Dhruva, A., Paul, S. M., Cooper, B. A., Lee, K., West, C., Aouizerat, B. E., Dunn, L. B., Swift, P. S., Wara, W., Miaskowski, C., (2012). A Longitudinal Study of Measures of Objective and Subjective Sleep Disturbance in Patients with Breast Cancer Before, During, and After Radiation Therapy.Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 44(2) Darby, S., McGale, P., Correa, C., Taylor, C., Arriagada, R., Clarke, M., Cutter, D.,Davies, C., Ewertz, M., Godwin, J., Gray, R., Pierce, L., Whelan, T., Wang, Y., Peto, R. (2011). Effect of radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery on 10-yearrecurrence and 15-year breast cancer death: meta-analysis of individualpatient data for 10,801 women in 17 randomised trials. Lancet 378:1707–16. Reyes-Gibby, C. C., Anderson, K. O., Morrow, P. K., Shete, S., Hassan, S. (2012). Depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life in breast cancer survivors.JOURNAL OF WOMEN’S HEALTH, 21(3), 1-9. Njeh, C. F., Saunders, M. W., Langton, C. M. (2012). Accelerated partial breast irradiation using external beam conformal radiation therapy: A review. Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology, 81, 1-20. National Cancer Institute. (2011). Surveillance Epidemiology and EndResults (SEER) stat fact sheets: Breast. Retrieved from: http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/breast.html Potthoff, K., Schmidt, M. E, Wiskemann, J., Hof, H., Klassen, O., Habermann, N., Beckhove, P.,Debus1,J. Ulrich, C. M.Steindorf, K. (2013). Randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of progressive resistance training compared to progressive muscle relaxation in breast cancer patients undergoing adjuvant radiotherapy.Bio Medical CentralCancer 13(1),162. 2- 11 ShaukatKhanum Memorial Cancer Hospital Research Centre: Breast cancer awareness month. Retrieved on February, 10th 2014 from: http://www.shaukatkhanum.org.pk/news-a-events/events/228.html Radvansky, L.J., Pace, M.B., Siddiqui, A., (2013)Prevention and management of radiation- induced dermatitis, mucositis, and xerostomia. American Journal of Health System Pharm. 70(12)1025-1032. Rose, P. (2011). The experience of receiving radiation therapy.Australian Journal of Cancer Nursing.12 (1) Poirier, P (2011) The Impact of Fatigue on Role Functioning During Radiation Therapy Oncology Nursing Forum38, (4) Gordils-Perez, J., Duell, R. W.(2003)Advances in Radiation Treatmentof Patients With Breast Cancer.clinical journal of oncology nursing7( 6 ) 629-638 Spoletini, I., Gianni, W., Repetto, L., Bria, P., Caltagirone, C., Bossu, P., Spalletta, G. (2008). Depression and cancer: An unexplored and unresolved emergent issue in elderly patients.Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology 65 143–155 Pink Ribbon Pakistan. Retrieved from: http://www.pinkribbon.org.pk/?p=377 Varela, V. S., Zhou, E. S., Bober, S. L., (2013).Management of sexual problems in cancer patients and survivors.CurrProbl Cancer 3719–352 Wells, M. (1998) Whats so special about radiotherapy nursing? European Journal of Oncology Nursing 2 (3) 162-168 World Health Organization: The International Agency for Research on Cancer, (2013)Press Release: Latest world cancer statistics. Retrieved on February, 10th 2014 from: http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2013/pdfs/pr223_E.pdf WHO (2014) Media Centre: Cancer Fact sheet. Retrieved on February 14, 2014 from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs297/en/

Prejudice and Racism: All Men are Equal, Unless They Are Black Essay

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Brian is a young African American male who has been pulled over by the police somewhere between twenty and thirty times and accused of committing a crime. The only problem is, he's never so much as jaywalked across a street. Brian is a hardworking, church-going man who is director of lighting at Black Entertainment Television in Washington, D.C. He has a spotless record. That matters little to the D.C. police. Time after time, the cops would pull Brian over to interrogate him for a recent murder, robbery, or assault. He would be yanked out of his car, thrown to the ground, and held until one of them figured out he was the wrong guy. -"Brian Anthony Harris is Not Wanted", by Michael Moore In his 1963 document, "Letter From Birmingham Jail", Martin Luther King Jr. prayed "in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty." To date, his prayers remain unanswered, and the radiant stars he dreamed of seem more remote and dim than ever. It seems impossible, in the wake of the Civil Rights movement of the Sixties, America would not take heed and make strides to erase the lines of inequality dividing its population. It hasn't. Superficial changes in race relations, like the halfhearted integration of schools, the ever-lessening concessions to affirmative action, and the few token minority Court and Cabinet appointments notwithstanding, the status-quo of American life illustrates the continuing failure of King's dream. In the 37 years since Martin Luther King Jr. sat in an Alabama jail cell, more black men have gone to jail than to college, and the black voice in America's democracy has quieted to a whisper. Black Americans are not m... ...anna Huffington. 10/01/00. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2000/10/02/disenfranchised/index.html "Back to the Civil Rights Barricades", by Todd Gitlin. 12/04/00. http://www.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/12/04/democracy/index.html Justice Policy Institute/ Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice. Beatty, Holman, and Schiraldi, 2000 Poor Prescription: The Costs of Imprisoning Drug Offenders in the United States. Washington DC: The Justice Policy Institute. Accessed 5/20/01. http://www.cjcj.org/drug/drugpr.html "America's One Million Non-Violent Prisoners", by V. Schiraldi, J. Ziedenberg, and J Irwin, PhD.1999. Accessed 5/21/01. http://www.cjcj.org/jpi/onemillion.html United States Department of Justice. Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 1999. Allen J. Beck, Ph.D. Apr, 2000, Accessed 5/20/01. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pubalp2.htm#pjmidyear

Research Report Essay -- essays papers

Research Report In the past, disabled students—students with physical and emotional/behavioral problems—were often segregated from the â€Å"normal classroom environments.† The segregation of students, either through special schools or home-based tutoring, was justified for various reasons. Separate schools provided specialized services, tailored to meet the educational needs of children with a specific type of handicap. Moreover, this freed the regular public schools of having to provide services and infrastructure needs of the disabled student population (Circle of Inclusion Project, 2003). More recently, there has been a movement towards full inclusion--integrating students with disabilities into regular classes. In 1975, a law was passed that brought about significant changes in the education of children with disabilities and then in 1990 legislation expanded the services for students with disabilities. While presenting challenges to educational systems, many people feel that full inclusion is a positive public policy direction for the educational system. But the issue remains hotly debated. Some researchers feel that inclusion in the regular classrooms is not the best placement for every child. Opponents of full inclusion contend that teaching students with disabilities poses a diverse range of educational challenges. The nature of the handicap may vary greatly, including communication disorders; mental retardation; emotional or behavioral disorders; severe multiple disabilities; other health impairments; deaf or hard of hearing; physical disabilities, low vision or blindness; and autism traumatic brain injury, and other specific learning disabilities. Such differences in disabilities are often difficult to... ...r this goal? Bibliography Circle of Inclusion Project. (2002) University of Kansas. Retrieved 4/16/03 from http://www.circleofinclusion.org/ Curry School of Education, University of Virginia (2001). Learning Disabilities In Inclusion: Clarification of Terms. Retrieved 4/16/03 from http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu Hines. R. (2001) Inclusion in Middle Schools. ERIC Digest # ED459000. Retrieved 4/8/03 from http://www.ericfacility.net/ericdigests/ed459000.html Inclusion. (2003) Education Week on the Web. Retrieved 4/6/03 from http://www.educationweek.org/context/topics/issuespage.cfm?id=47 Inclusion: The Pros and Cons, Executive Summary (1995). Issues†¦About Change, 4. (3). Retrieved April 16/03 from http://www.sedl.org/change/issues/issues43.html Woolfolk, A.. (2001). Educational Psychology 8th Edition. Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon.

Spirit Bound Chapter Eight

AFTER THE BITCHING I'D DONE to Abe about always going to remote, crappy places, I should have been excited about the prospect of going to Sin City. Alas, I had a few reservations about my next epic trip. First of all, somewhere like Las Vegas was the last place I would expect a semi-crazy recluse to be. From the bits and pieces I'd heard, Robert had dropped off the radar and wanted to be alone. A busy, tourist-filled city didn't really fit that description. Second, cities like that were perfect feeding grounds for Strigoi. Crowded. Reckless. Low inhibitions. Very easy for people to disappear–especially when most of them were out at night. Part of me was certain it had to be a trick on Victor's part, but he swore up and down that it was true. So, with no other leads, Las Vegas became our next destination. We didn't have much time to debate the matter anyway, knowing the guardians would be searching Fairbanks for us. Admittedly, Lissa's charms had altered our appearances enough that they wouldn't be looking for people with our descriptions. They knew what Victor looked like, though, so the sooner we were out of Alaska, the better. Unfortunately, we had a slight problem. â€Å"Victor has no ID,† said Eddie. â€Å"We can't take him on a plane.† It was true. All of Victor's possessions had been seized by prison authorities, and in the midst of disabling surveillance and taking out half a dozen guardians, we'd hardly had time to go searching for his personal stuff. Lissa's compulsion was phenomenal, but she was exhausted after wielding so much at the prison. Besides, guardians would likely be watching the airport. Our â€Å"friend† Bud the car rental guy provided the solution. He hadn't been thrilled to see his car returned with all the scratches from Eddie's daredevil driving, but enough cash had finally stopped the human's muttering about â€Å"renting to a bunch of kids.† It was Victor who thought of an alternative plan and suggested it to Bud. â€Å"Is there a private airport nearby? With flights we might charter?† â€Å"Sure,† said Bud. â€Å"But it won't be cheap.† â€Å"It's not an issue,† I said. Bud eyed us askance. â€Å"Did you guys rob a bank or something?† No, but we were packing a lot of currency. Lissa had a trust fund that doled her out monthly money until she was eighteen, as well as a high-limit credit card. I had a credit card of my own, leftover from when I'd sweet-talked Adrian into funding my Russian trip. I'd let go of the rest of my assets, like the huge bank account he'd set up. But, wrong or not, I'd decided to keep one card on hand, just in case of emergency. This was certainly an emergency, so we used the card to pay for part of the private plane's cost. The pilot couldn't take us as far as Las Vegas, but he could take us to Seattle, where he was able to connect us with another pilot he knew who could go the rest of the way. More money. â€Å"And Seattle again,† I mused, just before the plane took off. The little jet's interior had a set of four seats, two on each side facing each other. I sat next to Victor, and Eddie sat across from him. We figured that was the best protective configuration. â€Å"What about Seattle?† asked Eddie, puzzled. â€Å"Never mind.† Little private jets aren't nearly as fast as big commercial ones, and our trip took a large part of the day. During it, I continued asking Victor about his brother's role in Las Vegas and finally got the answer I wanted. Victor would have had to tell us eventually, but I think he'd gotten a sadistic thrill out of prolonging the answer. â€Å"Robert doesn't live in Las Vegas proper,† he explained. â€Å"He has a small house–a cabin, I suppose–out by Red Rock Canyon, miles outside the city.† Ah. Now that was more what I'd expected. Lissa stiffened at the mention of a cabin, and I felt unease through the bond. When Victor had kidnapped her, he'd taken her to a cabin in the woods and tortured her there. I gave her as reassuring a look as I could. It was times like these I wished the bond worked both ways so that I could truly send her comfort. â€Å"So we'll go out there?† Victor snorted. â€Å"Certainly not. Robert values his privacy too much. He wouldn't let strangers come to his home. But he'll come to the city if I ask.† Lissa eyed me. Victor could be setting us up. He had lots of supporters. Now that he's out, he could call them instead of Robert to meet us. I gave her a tiny nod, again wishing I could respond back through the bond. I'd thought of this as well. It was imperative we never leave Victor alone to make unsupervised calls. And actually, this plan to meet in Las Vegas itself made me feel better. For our own safety from Victor's henchmen, it was better to be in the city than out in the middle of nowhere. â€Å"Seeing as I've been so helpful,† said Victor, â€Å"I have the right to know what you want with my brother.† He glanced at Lissa. â€Å"Looking for spirit lessons? You had to have done some excellent investigative work to find out about him.† â€Å"You have no right to know about our plans,† I retorted sharply. â€Å"And seriously? If you're keeping track of who's been the most helpful here, we are totally beating you on the score-card. You've got a ways to go to catch up after what we did at Tarasov.† Victor's only response was a small smile. Some of our flight time took place at night, which meant it was early morning when we landed in Las Vegas. The safety of sunlight. I was surprised to see how crowded the airport was. The private one in Seattle had had a fair amount of planes, but the Fairbanks airport had nearly been deserted. This strip was chock-full of little jets, many of them screaming â€Å"luxury.† I shouldn't have been surprised. Las Vegas was the playground of celebrities and other wealthy people, many of whom probably couldn't lower themselves to fly commercial with ordinary passengers. There were taxis there, sparing us the ordeal of another rental car. But when the driver asked us where we were going, we all stayed silent. I turned to Victor. â€Å"The middle of the city, right? The Strip?† â€Å"Yes,† he agreed. He'd been certain Robert would want to meet strangers somewhere very public. Somewhere he could easily flee. â€Å"The Strip's a big place,† said the driver. â€Å"You got any place in particular or should I just drop you off in the middle of the street?† Silence fell over us. Lissa shot me a meaningful look. â€Å"The Witching Hour?† I considered it. Las Vegas was a favorite place for some Moroi. The bright sun made it less appealing for Strigoi, and the windowless casinos created comfortable, dark atmospheres. The Witching Hour was a hotel and casino we'd all heard of. While it had plenty of human customers, it was actually owned by Moroi, so it had lots of clandestine features to make it a great getaway for vampires. Feeders in back rooms. Special Moroi-only lounges. A fair number of guardians on patrol. Guardians†¦ I shook my head and glanced sideways at Victor. â€Å"We can't take him there.† Of all the hotels in Las Vegas, the Witching Hour was the last we'd want to go to. Victor's escape had to be breaking news all over the Moroi world. Taking him into Vegas's largest concentration of Moroi and guardians was probably the worst thing we could do at this point. In the rearview mirror, the driver's face looked impatient. It was Eddie who finally piped up. â€Å"The Luxor.† He and I were in the backseat, with Victor between us, and I peered over. â€Å"Where did that come from?† â€Å"It puts distance between us and the Witching Hour.† Eddie suddenly looked a little sheepish. â€Å"And I've always wanted to stay there. I mean, if you're coming to Vegas, why not stay in a pyramid?† â€Å"You can't fault that logic,† said Lissa. â€Å"The Luxor it is,† I said to the driver. We rode in silence, all of us–well, except for Victor–staring at the sights in awe. Even in the daytime, the streets of Las Vegas were teeming with people. The young and glamorous walked side by side with older couples from Middle America, who'd probably saved and saved to make this trip. The hotels and casinos we passed were huge, flashy, and inviting. And when we reached the Luxor†¦ yup. It was just like Eddie had said. A hotel shaped like a pyramid. I stared up at it when we got out of the car, trying hard not to let my jaw drop like the starry-eyed tourist I was. I paid the driver and we headed inside. I didn't know how long we'd be staying, but we definitely needed a room as our base of operation. Stepping into the hotel was like being back in the night-clubs in Saint Petersburg and Novosibirsk. Flashing lights and the overwhelming scent of smoke. And noise. Noise, noise, noise. The slot machines beeped and rang, chips fell, people yelled in dismay or delight, and the low thrum of conversation filled the room like humming bees. I grimaced. The stimuli grated on my senses. We passed through the casino's edge to get to the front desk, where the attendant didn't even blink at three teenagers and an old man getting a room together. I had to imagine that around here, they saw it all. Our room was average-size, with two double beds, and somehow we'd lucked out with an amazing view. Lissa stood at the window, entranced by the sights of people and cars on the Strip below, but I jumped straight to business. â€Å"Okay, call him,† I ordered Victor. He'd settled down on one of the beds, hands crossed and expression serene, as though he truly were on vacation. Despite that smug smile, I could see the fatigue etched on his face. Even with his blood refill, the escape and long trip had been exhausting, and the effects of his slowly returning disease were naturally taking a toll on his physical strength. Victor immediately reached for the hotel's phone, but I shook my head. â€Å"Liss, let him use your cell. I want a record of this number.† She gingerly handed the phone over, as though he might contaminate it. He took it and gave me a nigh-angelic look. â€Å"I don't suppose I could have some privacy? It's been so long since Robert and I have talked.† â€Å"No,† I snapped. The harshness in my voice startled even me, and it occurred to me Lissa wasn't the only one suffering from all the spirit used today. Victor gave a small shrug and began dialing. He'd told us on one of the flights that he had Robert's number memorized, and I had to take it on faith that that was who he was calling. I also had to hope Robert's number hadn't changed. Of course, even if Victor hadn't seen his brother in years, Victor had only been imprisoned a short while and had probably kept tabs on Robert beforehand. Tension filled the room as we waited while the phone rang. A moment later, I heard a voice answer through the phone's speaker–though I couldn't make out the exact words. â€Å"Robert,† said Victor pleasantly, â€Å"it's Victor.† This received a frantic response on the other end. I only could hear half of the conversation, but it was intriguing. Victor first had to spend a lot of time convincing Robert that he was out of prison. Apparently, Robert wasn't so removed from Moroi society that he was out of touch with current news. Victor told him that the details would be revealed later and then began making his pitch for Robert to come meet us. It took a long time. I got the feeling that Robert lived in fear and paranoia, which reminded me of Ms. Karp when she'd been in the advanced stages of spirit's insanity. Lissa's gaze stayed fixed on the scene outside the window during the entire call, but her feelings mirrored mine: fear that this could someday be her fate. Or mine as well, if I siphoned away spirit's effects. The image of the Tarasov sign flashed briefly through her mind: WARNING–NOW ENTERING PRISONER AREA (PSYCHIATRIC). Victor's voice turned surprisingly cajoling as he spoke to his brother, gentle even. I was reminded uneasily of the old days, before we'd known about Victor's demented plans for Moroi domination. Back then, he'd treated us kindly too and had practically been a member of Lissa's family. I wondered if at some point he'd been sincere or if it had all been an act. Finally, after almost twenty minutes, Victor convinced Robert to come see us. The unintelligible words on the other end of the phone were filled with anxiety, and at this point, I felt convinced that Victor truly was talking to his crazy brother and not one of his accomplices. Victor set up a dinner meeting at one of the hotel's restaurants and at last disconnected. â€Å"Dinner?† I asked when Victor set the phone down. â€Å"Isn't he worried about being out after dark?† â€Å"It's an early dinner,† Victor replied. â€Å"Four thirty. And the sun won't go down until almost eight.† â€Å"Four thirty?† I asked. â€Å"Good God. Are we getting the senior citizen special?† But he made a good point about the time and sun. Without the safety of Alaska's nearly nonstop summer light, I was starting to feel suffocated by the pressure of sunrise and sunset boundaries, even though it was summer here. Unfortunately, a safe early dinner still meant we had hours to pass. Victor leaned back on the bed, arms behind his head. I think he was attempting an unconcerned air, but my guess was that it was actually exhaustion driving him to seek the bed's comfort. â€Å"Care to try your luck downstairs?† He glanced over at Lissa. â€Å"Spirit users make remarkably good card players. I don't have to tell you how good you are at reading people.† She made no response. â€Å"Nobody's leaving this room,† I said. I didn't like the idea of us all being cooped up here, but I couldn't risk an escape attempt or Strigoi lurking in the casino's dark corners. After showering the dye from her hair, Lissa pulled up a chair by the window. She refused to get any closer to Victor. I sat cross-legged on the second bed, where there was plenty of room for Eddie to sit too, but he remained upright against a wall, in perfect guardian posture as he watched Victor. I had no doubt Eddie could maintain that position for hours, no matter how uncomfortable it got. We'd all been trained to endure harsh conditions. He did a good job at looking stern, but every once in a while, I'd catch him studying Victor curiously. Eddie had stood by me in this act of treason but still didn't know why I'd done it. We'd been there a few hours when someone knocked at the door. I leapt up. Eddie and I mirrored each other, both of us straightening to rigid attention, hands going for our stakes. We'd ordered lunch an hour ago, but room service had long since come and gone. It was too early for Robert, and besides, he didn't know the name our room was under. There was no nausea, though. No Strigoi at our door. I met Eddie's gaze, silent messages passing between us on what to do. But it was Lissa who acted first, rising from her chair and taking a few steps across the room. â€Å"It's Adrian.† â€Å"What?† I exclaimed. â€Å"Are you sure?† She nodded. Spirit users usually only saw auras, but they could sense each other if they were close enough–just as she had at the prison. Still, none of us moved. She gave me a dry look. â€Å"He knows I'm here,† she pointed out. â€Å"He can feel me too.† I sighed, still keeping my hand on my stake, and strode to the door. I squinted through the peephole. Standing there, his expression amused and restless, was Adrian. I could see no one else, and with no indication of Strigoi to be found, I finally opened the door. His face lit with joy when he saw me. Leaning in, he gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before stepping into the room. â€Å"You guys didn't really think you could go off on a party weekend without me, did you? Especially here of all places–â€Å" He froze, and it was one of those rare moments when Adrian Ivashkov was caught totally and completely off guard. â€Å"Did you know,† he said slowly, â€Å"that Victor Dashkov is sitting on your bed?† â€Å"Yeah,† I said. â€Å"It was kind of a shock to us too.† Adrian dragged his gaze from Victor and glanced around the room, noticing Eddie for the first time. Eddie had been standing so still that he practically seemed like part of the furniture. Adrian turned to me. â€Å"What the hell is going on? Everyone is out looking for him!† Lissa's words spoke to me through my bond. You might as well tell him. You know he won't leave now. She was right. I didn't know how Adrian had found us, but now that he had, there was no way he'd go. I glanced hesitantly at Eddie, who guessed my thoughts. â€Å"We'll be fine,† he said. â€Å"Go talk. I won't let anything happen.† And I'm strong enough again that I can compel him if he tries anything, Lissa added. I sighed. â€Å"Okay. We'll be right back.† I took Adrian's arm and led him outside. As soon as we were in the hallway, he started in again. â€Å"Rose, what's–â€Å" I shook my head. In our time here, I'd heard enough noise from other hotel guests in the hall to know that my friends would hear our conversation if we talked out there. Instead, Adrian and I took the elevator and headed downstairs, where the noise of the casino would mask our words. We found a slightly out-of-the-way corner, and Adrian practically pushed me against the wall, his expression dark. His light attitude annoyed me sometimes, but I preferred it to when he was upset, largely because I feared spirit would add an unstable edge. â€Å"You leave me a note saying you're sneaking off for one last party weekend, and instead I find you holed up with one of the most notorious criminals ever? When I left Court, that's all everyone was talking about! Didn't that guy try to kill you?† I answered his question with a question. â€Å"How did you even find us?† â€Å"The credit card,† he said. â€Å"I was waiting for you to use it.† My eyes widened. â€Å"You promised me when I got all those that you wouldn't go snooping!† Since my accounts and cards had come with his help, I'd known he had access to the records but had believed him when he'd said he'd respect my privacy. â€Å"When you were in Russia, I kept that promise. This is different. I kept checking and checking with the company, and as soon as the activity with the charter plane showed up, I called and found out where you were going.† Adrian's arrival here so soon after ours wasn't that unbelievable if he had been monitoring the card. Once he'd had the information he needed, he could have easily booked a flight. A nonstop commercial jet would have made up the time on our slower, multistop trip. â€Å"There was no way I could resist Vegas,† he continued. â€Å"So I thought I'd surprise you and show up to join in the fun.† I'd used my card for the room, I realized, again tipping off our location. No one else was linked to my or Lissa's cards, but the ease with which he'd tracked us made me nervous. â€Å"You shouldn't have done that,† I growled. â€Å"We might be together, but there are boundaries you've got to respect. This is none of your business.† â€Å"It's not like I was reading your diary! I just wanted to find my girlfriend and–† It was a sign of Adrian's distress that his mind was only now beginning to backtrack and put pieces together. â€Å"Oh lord. Rose, please tell me you guys aren't the ones who busted him out? They're all looking for two human girls and a dhampir guy. The descriptions don't match at all†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He groaned. â€Å"But it was you, wasn't it? Somehow, you broke into a maximum-security prison. With Eddie.† â€Å"Must not have been all that secure,† I remarked lightly. â€Å"Rose! This guy has fucked with both of your lives. Why would you free him?† â€Å"Because†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I hesitated. How could I explain this to Adrian? How could I explain that which, by all evidence in our world, was impossible? And how could I explain what goal in particular was driving this? â€Å"Victor has information we need. Or, well, he has access to someone we need. This was the only way we could get it.† â€Å"What on earth could he possibly know to make you do all this?† I swallowed. I walked into prisons and nests of Strigoi, but saying what I did next to Adrian filled me with apprehension. â€Å"Because there might be a way to save Strigoi. To turn them back to the way they were. And Victor†¦ Victor knows someone who might have done this.† Adrian stared at me for several long seconds, and even in the midst of the casino's movement and noise, it was like the world grew still and silent. â€Å"Rose, that's impossible.† â€Å"It might not be.† â€Å"If there was a way to do that, we would know.† â€Å"It involves spirit users. And we only just found out about them.† â€Å"That doesn't mean it's–oh. I see.† His deep green eyes flashed, and this time, they were angry. â€Å"It's him, isn't it? This is your last crazy attempt to get to him. To Dimitri.† â€Å"Not just him,† I said vaguely. â€Å"It could save all Strigoi.† â€Å"I thought this was over!† Adrian exclaimed. His voice was loud enough that a few people at nearby slot machines glanced over. â€Å"You told me it was over. You told me you could move on and be with me.† â€Å"I meant it,† I said, surprised at the desperate note in my voice. â€Å"It's something we only just found out about. We had to try.† â€Å"And what then? What if this stupid fantasy works? You free Dimitri in some miraculous act, and you drop me like that.† He snapped his fingers. â€Å"I don't know,† I said wearily. â€Å"We're just taking this one step at a time. I love being with you. Really. But I can't ignore this.† â€Å"Of course you can't.† He turned his eyes heavenward. â€Å"Dreams, dreams. I walk them; I live them. I delude myself with them. It's a wonder I can spot reality anymore.† The weird sound of his voice made me nervous. I could recognize one of his slightly crazy, spirit-induced lapses. Then, he turned from me with a sigh. â€Å"I need a drink.† Whatever pity I'd felt for him turned to anger. â€Å"Oh, good. That'll fix everything. I'm glad in a world gone mad, you've still got your old standbys.† I flinched at his glare. He didn't do it very often, and when he did, it was a powerful thing. â€Å"What do you expect me to do?† he asked. â€Å"You could†¦ you could†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Oh God. â€Å"Well, now that you're here, you could help us. Plus, this guy we're meeting. He's another spirit user.† Adrian didn't betray his thoughts, but I had a feeling that I had piqued his interest. â€Å"Yeah, that's exactly what I want. To help my girlfriend get her old boyfriend back.† He turned away again, and I heard him mutter, â€Å"I need two drinks.† â€Å"Four thirty,† I called after him. â€Å"We're meeting at four thirty.† There was no response, and Adrian melted into the crowd. I returned to the room in a dark cloud that had to be obvious to everyone. Lissa and Eddie were smart enough not to ask questions, but Victor, of course, had no such reserves. â€Å"What? Mr. Ivashkov isn't joining us? I'd so been looking forward to his company.† â€Å"Shut up,† I said, crossing my arms and leaning against the wall near Eddie. â€Å"Don't speak unless you're spoken to.† The next couple hours dragged by. I was convinced that any minute, Adrian would come back and reluctantly agree to help us. We could use his compulsion if things went bad, even though he couldn't match Lissa. Surely†¦ surely he loved me enough to come to my aid? He wouldn't abandon me? You're an idiot, Rose. It was my own voice that chastised me in my head, not Lissa's. You've given him no reason to help. You just hurt him again and again. Just like you did Mason. When four fifteen came around, Eddie looked over at me. â€Å"Should we stake out a table?† â€Å"Yeah.† I was restless and upset. I didn't want to stay in this room any longer, trapped with dark feelings that wouldn't go away. Victor rose from the bed, stretching as though getting up from a relaxing nap. Still, I could have sworn there was an eager glint hidden in the depths of his eyes. By all accounts, he and his half-brother were close, though I'd seen no indication that Victor displayed love or loyalty to anyone. Who knew? Maybe somewhere there was true affection for Robert. We formed a sort of protective configuration with me in the front, Eddie in the back, and the two Moroi between us. I opened the room's door and came face-to-face with Adrian. His hand was raised as though he'd been about to knock. He arched an eyebrow. â€Å"Oh, hey,† he said. He had the standard laid-back Adrian expression on his face, though his voice was a bit strained. I knew he wasn't happy about any of this. I could see it in the tight set of his jaw and agitation in his eyes. Nonetheless, he was putting on a good front for the others, for which I was grateful. Most importantly, he'd come back. That was what mattered, and I could ignore the scent of alcohol and smoke wreathing him. â€Å"So†¦ I hear there's some party going on. Mind if I join you?† I gave him a weak, grateful smile. â€Å"Come on.† Our group now up to five, we headed down the hall toward the elevator. â€Å"I was cleaning up at poker, you know,† Adrian added. â€Å"So this better be good.† â€Å"I don't know if it'll be good,† I mused. The elevator doors opened. â€Å"But I think it'll be memorable.† We stepped inside, off to see Robert Doru. And what might be Dimitri's only salvation.

Why So Expensive

College is said to be some of the best years of your life. The parties, the freedom, and the new experience help you find new friends, hopefully a career and yourself, but rising college cost are having young adults stressing instead of enjoying the college experience. Every year less and less states are giving their college’s money and more and more students are asking for financial aid or taking out student loans. The more that college tuition continues to rise the more of a financial toll it will take on students family and the more debt students trying to earn degrees will accumulate if we don’t try to find a way to get the state and government to help with college costs. For public colleges and universities the price of education rose 14. 1% more than the year before and for private schools it rose 6%, but is the economy the thing to blame for rising costs (Weston)? Ivy League schools, private schools, and public schools will do about anything to make it on U. S. news and World Reports annual college rankings or other college related programs by spending more money on high-speed internet, bigger and more extravagant dining facilities, new gyms and equipment, and having apartments on campus instead of dorms (Asinof). In the 1990s the stock market and big money donors helped keep college cost reasonable, but since the economy is in a recession money is hard to come by especially for big establishments. Student loans and financial aid help many students when it comes to paying for college, but there are some people who â€Å"make too much† to receive financial aid when in reality they need financial aid just as much as the kid coming from the single parent home with five siblings. Some argue you that there shouldn’t be an income cut off when it comes to giving someone government assistance, but if everyone who needed government assistance received it then the government would have a money problem when it comes to putting students through higher education. Many politicians, District Education Boards and school administrators agree on the fact that declining state support for education is the main reason behind plummeting college costs (Asinof). Since the start of the economic crisis in the Untied States the tuition and mandatory fees for public four year schools in every state increased. Boston College, for example, in 2006 for an out of stator to attend it cost 33,000 dollars and now to attend for the 2010 year it costs about 39,000 dollars (College Board). The state’s where tuition has increased the most has been Massachusetts and South Carolina where the price has jumped 26 percent (Weston). The tuition price has also been raised for community colleges as well making a two-year higher education just as expensive if you were to go to a community college out of state. The economy does play a big part in rising college costs, but so do the state the college is in as well. The state is responsible to help cover tuition costs. More needed money for health care has put a shadow over education and because of that shadow the tuitions will either stay where they are or continue to rise (Weston). Without help paying for education the younger generation will either choose to work minimum wage jobs or will be covered with debt for half of their lives. Kelli Space, 23, graduated from Northeastern University in 2009 with a bachelor's in sociology and also $200,000 in student loan debt (Rowley). Over the last couple of years, private lenders, nominated by college financial aid offices, have been giving young people hundreds of thousands of dollars to earn bachelor's degrees (Rowley). As a result of declining grants and costs, more than two-thirds of students graduated with debt in 2008 which is 45 percent more than in 1993 (Rowley). People are beginning to compare the student loan crisis that is happening to young people to the mortgage crisis that is happening to home and small business owners. Families are finding it easier to recieve a loan from private student loan firms because of how easy they make it seem to barrow money and pay for college when in reality private loan companies have strict repayment rules and have extremely high interest rates. Tuition costs are beginning to outweigh the federal loans and grants (Rowley). Many of my friends have been saying they are trying to avoid student loans as much as possible by going to a community college first or trying to save up enough money to pay the college up front, but when it all comes down to it,in this day and age, more than one-third of college student will have to take out at least one student loan to finish their education. There has always been a cost and price on education. The cost of working hard, the price of going out instead of studying, the cost of finding a major, and the cost of fun. Now the cost and price of paying for education is unbearable and getting to the point of being unpayable. When will the states realize education is just as important as the new pavement need on I35- south and just as important as healthcare that they will be able to lower tuition costs? Hopefully soon or this generation will have a debt epidemic that no president can promise to fix.