“Geese from Drinking Coffee Elsewhere” by Z.Z. Packer Essay

â€Å"Travel is a Fool’s Paradise† – Ralph Waldo Emerson Traveling is a rite of passage for some younger people. Many consider these times rewarding to the psyche of a young adult, as experiences in other lands broaden their senses. College students embark on sabbaticals to spend time in the real world. Others temporarily replant themselves, to experience other places, cultures, and languages, and in doing so to find out more about themselves. And there are that select few who use relocation as a form of escape from their tumultuous lives, because as they say, â€Å"the grass is always greener†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Some never return home. Whatever your reason for these journeys, it should be understood that going outside one’s comfort zone can test your mettle, and good judgement and wit are crucial in surviving in a foreign land, where language, culture, and even racism are an issue. A few wrong steps and you may find yourself a few shingles short of a roof over your head. It is that last category of drifters who define â€Å"Geese,† where Dina and four other ex-patriots find themselves sharing a one room flat in Japan. These misfortunate individuals are escaping from themselves, and through misplaced pride, ill preparation, and execution find themselves on the brink of self-annihilation, finally regressing into their own futileness. The story begins with Dina, a girl from a hardscrabble section of Baltimore with â€Å"boarded-up row houses the city had promised to renovate,† (210) relating to her reasons for moving to Japan. Aside from high yield economic opportunities that don’t exist in her neighborhood, she pines for a â€Å"loveliness† that Japan will offer through its ceremonious bowing, sashimi delicacies, calligraphy, and architecture. (211) Really what she is seeking is a respite from her former environment, where the creed is â€Å"Never advertise your poverty. Dress immaculately. Always smell good, not just clean.† (224) Once in Japan Dina soon finds herself in a community of people, also fleeing from their own pasts. Petra, a once aspiring model who had a career-changing accident, has exhausted her â€Å"once sizable bank account† for reconstructive surgery and is now broke, and it becomes apparent that she is escaping a place that once knew her as beautiful, a land of runways and pan-seared foie gras. (215, 219) In tow with petra is Zoltan, her hot-headed boyfriend who â€Å"had given up bodybuilding once he  stepped off the plane at Narita,† a statement that if probed procures tears from Petra. (218) Later, we see the arrival of Sayeed, another squatter who has defied his family’s honor and has been exiled from morocco, only to fail at opening a business in Japan. After his assault on Dina, his allusions of conspiracy and subsequent violent behavior suggest he is also escaping a world that is aware of his imbalance. Finally there’s Ari, whose back-story is not revealed, though he forms a glue that keeps the community together, which may be his crux, as this reflex hints he had presided over a different family. As these folks settle in and eventually succumb to their fate, one has to wonder, why stay in this same state? Why cling to this unfamiliar atmosphere and not redeem yourself? This inquiry is explored as an expression of pride when Ari is asked why he let them stay at the apartment in the first place. â€Å"Ari held out his hand and said, ‘See this? Five fingers. One hand’† (218). And after a roommate has had enough, Ari retorts, â€Å"Can’t take? You must!† (222) Petra’s insistence that she †could not go back to Moldova† reflects that she literally doesn’t want to show her face again to her contemporaries until her talked-about trans-pacific voyage to save face is fully realized. â€Å"I go to America next. Say, ‘Fix my face. Fix face for actual.’ And they will fix.† (215-216) Her partner Zoltan is also dealing with his own physical hang-ups. His body, once looking as if â€Å"constructed of hundreds of bags of hard-packed sugar,† is now eviscerated due to a diet of â€Å"crackers and ramen.† (217-218) But he proudly parades around pictures of his former glory in an attempt to distract himself from his deportation and sudden halt of his career. Dina feels that returning to Baltimore at this point would be considered a failure, as she told Miss Gloria and others of her â€Å"hopes of making a pile of money, socking it away, then living somewhere cheap and tropical for a year.† (210) Coming home empty-handed and not having learned anything in Japan would label her as a dreamer, and the boarded-up row houses would look the same, against her wishes. And later, when she finds some solace in memories of Baltimore, and even homesickness, the feelings are quickly â€Å"swept away like little wrappers,† (224) and she goes on to endure her current situation. It is the blind tenacity of these five characters, along with their near-sightedness and lack of planning, which  unsurprisingly leads them to hit rock bottom, especially in the case of Dina. All the characters seemed to have ignored the fact that Japan is hard place for a foreigner to succeed in. In addition to the obvious language barriers, there is also a current state of â€Å"Economic downturn,† where â€Å"people want to hire Japanese† as an â€Å"obligation,† which leaves Dina and her cohorts with only marginal or seasonal opportunities, or a â€Å"gaijin dumping ground.† (212) There is also an undercurrent of sexism and racism affecting all of these gaijin. When a Japanese boy encounters the quintet in the park, he wants to ask, â€Å"Do you have tails? Do you come out at night and suck blood?† (228) And being in a land where the Japanese women themselves experience sexism, Dina finds herself harassed by businessmen and propositioned by a visa interviewer. (214) But they will persevere, although rather ineptly, and without foresight. Dina, after losing her job, sells the return part of her round-trip ticket, and actually takes a vacation. She eats â€Å"an outrageously expensive bento lunch,† visits a part of Tokyo that sells â€Å"electronics she couldn’t afford,† then observes â€Å"skinny prostitutes† as they â€Å"dart into doorways without signs.† (213) And now she is broke with an expired visa. Petra, who was regrettably unaware that there were no opportunities available for a person with such an â€Å"affliction,† (216) is now adamant in not finding a job, and her main contribution to the household is incessant weeping. Her other half is now content in â€Å"maundering about with the look of a beast in his lair,† and also resists seeking employment. (217) This couple wants to simply disappear into Japan. Sayeed has no backup plan and blames his financiers back home as well as Dina. Finally Ari, the meek breadwinner of the group, has lost his job near the end of the story and has failed to save any money. It is around this point that begins a period of petty theft, public humiliation, and near starvation. Dina’s â€Å"nebulous fluffy things that had started in her chest† (211) have tragically led her to dart into her own doorway of prostitution. Dina then sees a formation of geese, which reminds her of the  promise-keeping kamikaze, whose planes were â€Å"allotted just enough fuel for it’s one-way trip.† (233) This arrogance of youth is demonstrated in the group’s destination of self-destruction, with escape, pride, and obliviousness at the wheel. We learn how their bitterness is a continuation of what existed back home. While â€Å"Geese† is certainly a page-turner, in the end it leaves one wondering what’s at stake for the clan. Will they roam further? In my earlier travels, I too have pondered my fate while watching a flock of birds fly by, and have been left to walk for four hours to my friend’s farm in the middle of the night, while wondering what I was fleeing from. But I luckily knew when to get off the road and return to normalcy. When in dire straits in a â€Å"foreign† place, a trip to the local embassy is your best bet. I should hope that this flock of migrants h as the wherewithal to do the same. Safe travels.

David Suzuki

David Suzuki is the co- founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. He is an international award winning scientist. He’s just not a scientist; he’s also an environmentalist, a professor and a broadcaster. He is very famous for his programs that talks about the complexities of the natural science. He is known for expertise in genetics. David Suzuki wasn’t always interested in the environment. His father, Kaoru Carr Suzuki’s work got him interested and sensitized to nature. David Suzuki moved to London, Ontario with his family when he was in high school.He attended London Central Secondary School and was the Student Council president with the most votes combined for his last year there. After high school, he attended Amherst College and graduated in 1958 with diploma in Biology. He also got a Ph. D. in Zoology in 1961 from the University of Chicago. After getting his Ph. D. he has been a professor in the University of British Columbia for almost 40 years. Goals and Location: David Suzuki has his own organization called the David Suzuki Foundation. They think of very good projects to do to help save the environment and make it better.Their mission is to help protect the diversity of nature and our quality of life for the future. Their main goal is to help and improve the Earth! They help the Earth by doing things such as: Protecting the Climate, Transforming the Economy, Protecting nature, reconnecting with nature and Building Community. One of the main things they advise people of all ages to do its plant trees so it helps our earth to purify air and keep it a much greener place to live in. A lot of people know about his goals to help the environment and how to get involved in it because of the books that he writes.He is very successful as an author all around the world and so are his books. Some of his books are: Looking at the Environment, Looking at the Body, A Glimpse of Canada’s Future, and Earth Time etc. David Suzuki is known as the leader in sustainable ecology. The David Suzuki Foundation is located in Toronto, Ontario. David Suzuki does most of his work in Canada but also does many of his research outside of Canada, such as the USA. Major Projects: David Suzuki and his foundation work on many different projects throughout the year.There are 2 major projects that he and his organization are working on right now, which are: Race to the Top & Trottier Energy Futures Project. Race to the top is about trying to achieve the goal to slowing down climate changing affects. Climate change affects everyone and is affecting every individual out there. The action that climate change is taking is crucial and is really harming the earth. We can slow this crucial change by taking action today. By taking action, it helps protecting our future grandchildren and avoiding unwanted impacts.The biggest way we can take action for this cause is by trying to get the federal and provincial government involved so they can let the Citizens of Canada know how important this is. The second major project David Suzuki and his foundation are working on right now is the Trottier Energy Futures Project. This project is about how our future would be with a cleaner environment. It is trying to make Canada the leader in innovative clean-energy solutions. Canada can make this happen by developing energy systems that are secure, affordable, and free from harmful emissions and other environmental effects.This project is an effort to determine how Canada can dramatically reduce its emissions of the greenhouse gas that are the main cause of global climate change. Climate change is a very big problem because of the increased frequency of severe weather disasters has drawn attention to climate change as one of the most serious challenges facing humanity. This project will help because it will include scientific reviews of energy production and distribution opportunities available to Canada, taking in economic, social and environmental concerns. The Active Citizen:Anyone can get involved in making the Earth a better place. We can get involved by doing many things such as: Recycling Electronics, Reducing your Carbon Footprint, Connecting youth with nature and by making your workplace greener. Individually, you can recycle our electronics instead of throwing it away in landfills and harming the environment even more. One of the best places to recycle is with Think Recycle. You will be helping the David Suzuki Foundation to aid in protecting the nature and our quality of life. Recycling is cost-free and will help the David Suzuki Foundation to raise money.As a class, the best way to get involved is by connecting youth with nature. We could go to our family members, cousins and relatives and inform them about how we should protect the nature for the good of Earth. We could go to elementary schools and tell the children about how connecting them with nature is helpful for themselves and the Earth. Helping nature and spending time in nature helps kids improve their memory, problem solving skills and creativity. Kids also become physically healthier by doing this. On a School wide level, we can get involved by reducing our carbon footprint.We can do this by switching to energy efficient lighting, cutting our energy use, driving smarter, not polluting water and travelling sustainably. These are very successful ways to get involved in protecting our Earth. Successes and Failures: David Suzuki had a lot of successes but not many failures. The two most successful things he did in the past year is his book writing and making a huge change in BC. His books were sold all around the world which was telling citizens how we can protect the environment, what are we doing that’s harming our planet and many more exciting facts about nature.Citizens were doing things that would protect our planet and make it healthier. This all happened because David Suzuki’s books gave them interest in making our planet a better place. This was one of the most successful things David Suzuki did this year. He got British Columbia to reduce energy consumption by 7. 3% more than the rest of Canada. It was a very hard thing to do but it was accomplished. His organization plans to do more successful projects like this in the future. One of the things David Suzuki failed to do was to convince some people that we need the environment and our trees.The people wanted more growth to happen in a certain area without thinking of the harmful things that will happen to nature when we cut and destroy trees. David Suzuki was overall successful and barely experienced any failures. Global Citizenship: A Global Citizen is a responsible community member. David Suzuki is a Global Citizen because he always cared about nature and our environment. He has many goals that he has set to achieve in the future. He took the responsibility to take care of the environment that’s surrounding us. He made his own organization and got people involved to do what he always does.He makes books which millions of people read and also learn about how to protect our Earth. The project’s he does has been improving our environment more than ever. He is fighting against climate change, involving global warming, and its effects on the world. David Suzuki also plans to save wildlife in forests, which are losing their homes from industrial forest demolition. He is attempting to protect oceans and other bodies of water from pollution and the creatures living within it, with the help of people who are willing to save our water.David was nominated as one of the top ten â€Å"Greatest Canadians† by CBC viewers in 2004. This was because he was helping out Canadians by engaging the population of Canada to live healthier and use less resources offered by nature. He didn’t only win that award. He won lots more because he was determined to protect the diversity of Canada’s mari ne, freshwater and ecosystems. Lastly, he is one of the most amazing global citizens I know because his goal in his lifetime is to create a better planet for our generation and mostly the upcoming generations that are likely to inhabit our world.

Diversity in the U.S Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Diversity in the U.S - Essay Example The other factor that made the United States an ethnically diverse country is the fact that diversity adds to the national strength. In fact, â€Å"History has shown that when you have diversity, you have strength† (Parks, 2012). The increasing diversity of the American population may therefore be one of the things that help maintain the diversity itself. In fact, according to co-director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research, Stephen L. Klineberg, â€Å"We are a free people, and we come from everywhere† (Parks, 2012). The strength that diversity brings about is therefore in the sense of freedom and omniscience that it ascribes to the population. Among the various ethnic groups in the United States, the most dominant remains as 79% of the population in 2010, and is expected to be reduced to 72% by 2050, while the projected number of Blacks increase from 13.1% in 2010 to 14.6% in 2050, Hispanics from 15.5% to 24.4%, Asians from 4.6% to 8.0%, and other races from 3.0% to 5.3%, thereby reducing the dominant group of white Americans (â€Å"Projected Population,† 2004). In fact, California, and soon perhaps Texas, already has Non-Hispanic Whites as a minority (Schmitt, 2001). This trend of migration is probably helped by the 1965 repeal of the National Origins Act as well as the theorized increase in national strength due to ethnic diversity. There is therefore a possibility, based on the aforementioned theories and on population projections, that the dominant white population of the United States will be outnumbered by other races in the future. The most diverse American city as of now is Houston and all of America is exp ected to be like this city in 30 years (Parks, 2012). Parks, L. B. (2012). â€Å"Houston, Most Ethnically Diverse City in the United States, Study Finds.† Retrieved July 29, 2012 from Asia Society Organization:

Aristotle= form, matter, soul, body, potential, capacity, actuality, Essay

Aristotle= form, matter, soul, body, potential, capacity, actuality, process, end, exercise - Essay Example The soul is the form because it determines the actual being of the lady while her physical body is the matter that has potential of being. The fetus in the womb of the lady is a potential being because it cannot use its potential of being (Witt675). The unborn child is in the process of being because it has potential to develop into independent being. When the baby will be born, the fetus will have become the end because it will be able to exercise its capacity of a being to attain an independent form. However, both mother and the fetus form a composite and are a form and matter. In conclusion, the composite substance of a being can be described in different ways. Its body is the matter while the soul is its form. Soul determines the actual being of the person since it determines the end. It enables being to exercise its capacity of being. The body is a matter that has potential to develop a capacity through a defined

Healthcare Workforce Shortage in Hospice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Healthcare Workforce Shortage in Hospice - Essay Example And there is an estimation that in the coming years it will increase at a rate of 31% per annum. In terms of patients the number is increasing daily, but the one who has take care of them like Doctors and the Hospital staff is decreasing day by day. More and more people are opting subjects that are not related to medical stream. Thus increasing the gap and resulting in the shortage of skilled medical staff. One feels that the job is very stressful and needs to put his/her concentration on the job completely. A slight negligence could be result a very serious situation. So some people think its better to lose a job in other sector than in Hospice because in latter you may lose job and endanger a patient's life for negligence. So you are accountable for every patient you are assigned to. The scholarships awarded by the Universities are not enough and the recruitment is very limited. No one is going to recruit a medical student until and unless he/she has some experience. So students end up as interns or junior doctors while pursuing their Masters that is a very essential degree, without it no one is going to consider them for a job. So it's again work and work nothing but work, then how come an average person want to join in a medical stream. This is one of the reasons that affecting the organizations like Hospice. According to Center for Health Work

GUCCI Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

GUCCI - Essay Example The Gucci is also the largest fashion brand found in Italia. Therefore, based on marketing mix, the discussion below gives the case study of the Gucci Fashion Brand (Benbow- Pfalzgraf 2002, p.58). The manner and the activities the firm does to promote its products arereferred to as the marketing mix. In other words, marketing mix is the tactic a firm uses to promote or advertise its products in the market. The marketing mix involves the product, price, place, and promotion; referred to as the 4Ps. However, more other aspects have been incorporated to the 4Ps (Bergh, &Behrer2013, p.39). These include the positioning, which refers to the geographical positioning of the firm, or the general outlook, packaging of the products, political effects and the people involved (Bowman, &Gatignon 2010, p. 98). The main importance of the marketing mix is that the Ps influences each other and it results to expansion and flourishing of the business if the 4Ps work together. In case the Ps do not work together, it can result into the collapse of the business. The marketing mix requires a lot of marketing research to be incorporated, it also entails a lot of understanding among the practitioner s, and finally, it involves a lot of business consultations between the practitioners and the manufactures and also several others (Boxwell1994, p.71). In 1921, the leather and Label Firm started as a small luggage store. Working in a hotel in London equippedGuccio Gucci with English language and hence he could be able to handle the customers. The Gucci Fashion Brands expanded rapidly and it resulted into the opening of a boutique in Rome. Guccio designed all the products of the firm, and in 1947, he designed the Bamboo bag. The Bamboo bag became the icon product of the Gucci. According to the marketing mix, the product of the business is one of the

The Russian-speaking communities in Portland and NorthWest Pacific Research Paper

The Russian-speaking communities in Portland and NorthWest Pacific - Research Paper Example The Russian Americans are currently reported to be about three million currently. Most Russian Americans no longer speak Russian. This is because they are born and raised by English-speaking Russian American parents. Statistics however suggest that by the year 2007, Russian was the principal language used by about eight hundred thousand Americans based on U.S. census results in that year (Spickard 2007). Further statistics by the Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard submit that by 1990 there were over seven hundred thousand ethnic Russian Americans in the U.S.A. The Ukrainians and Carpatho-Rusyns who trace their ancestry to Carpathian Ruthenia in the 19th century and early 20th century also identify themselves as Russian Americans. The recent emigres often refer to these people as the starozhili which when translated means â€Å"old residents†. These â€Å"old residents† were most instrumental in establishing the Russian Orthodoxy religion in America (Marrows 1997). These ethnic Russian Americans have in the recent decades been assimilated into the American society and culture but their ethnic traditions are still very much alive and are observable primarily around the Russian Orthodox Church. 3. ... The first wave begun around the 18th century during which time the Russians who were expanding their territory begun venturing into northwest America areas in search of furs. Fort Ross was established in 1812 by members of the Russian American company (Marrows 1997). This was where they established a hunting and trading company. This company was wholly owned by Russia’s elite society referred to as the tsar. This company had been in business for about a century before the fort was built. The conditions that necessitated the immigrations of the Russian Jews in the 1800’s were quite squalid and could be compared to Ireland’s â€Å"throes of famine†. There abodes were sparsely furnished and overly crowded with sickly elderly relatives and malnourished children who had to share meager rations of food. Some of the areas were so devastatingly poor that residents had to make do with bread and water. In areas such as Galicia for instance, many Jews starved to deat h annually. Basic human rights such as the freedom of worship and legal autonomy of citizens were revoked prompting the emigration by the Russian Jews. For most of the peasant Jewish immigrants, the journey to America was extremely trying and quite a life threatening adventure. The steamships they used to cross were rather small and large numbers of these poor Russian Jews were crammed into the limited space. The conditions in the ships were despicable and these travelers had to contend with little rations of food and disease (Spickard 2007). The normal procedure was that the husband went to America and got a job after which he would save up and send for his wife and children back

How retention strategies of organisation has an impact on labour Dissertation

How retention strategies of organisation has an impact on labour turnover in China - Dissertation Example Throughout the entire period in fulfilling the objectives of this dissertation, I was greatly blessed with his extensive guidance and supervision over my work. I cannot complete this part without saying ‘thank you, sir’. Subsequent to that, my colleagues and friends who also played their part have extended their hand for my project; the successful culmination of this dissertation has also observed the role of my friends. For such contribution, I am also indebted to them. Executive Summary The report objectives were to investigate the recent status of labour turnover in China, reason for increasing labour turnover, identification of retention strategies and effective way to reduce turnover in China. The literature review highlighted the theoretical underpinnings of turnover intention and its related factors with a particular focus on the Chinese market. The online survey was carried out to entertain these objectives. The main findings indicate that job variety, decision making and job involvement have no or zero correlation with turnover intention; job variety, decision making and job involvement have a weak positive correlation with job satisfaction and the same has been found with organizational commitment. The majority of the respondents attach considerable significance to â€Å"leave† incentive as an option to switch over to new organization and training, career help and appraisal can be employed as effective tools to reduce the labour turnover and simultaneously they can be used as retention strategies. The future research should be focusing on the different incentives offered by the employers. Table of contents Introduction 6 Problem statement 8 Research Objectives 8 Revised Literature Review 9 Labour turnover 9 School of turnover 10 Objective opportunities 10 Turnover intention 12 Retention strategies 12 Job satisfaction 13 Organizational commitment 14 Job involvement 14 Job or skill variety 15 Decision making 15 Gap in research 15 S ummary 16 Methodology 18 Research philosophy 18 Hypotheses formulation 19 Research approach 19 Research instrument 20 Data collection method 21 Pilot testing 22 Sampling 23 Sampling strategy 23 Validity and reliability 23 Discussion and analysis strategy 24 Research limitations 24 Research ethics 25 Discussion and analysis chapter 27 Correlation 27 Turnover intention and job variety 27 Turnover intention and decision making 29 Turnover intention and job involvement 30 Job satisfaction and job variety 31 Job satisfaction and decision making 32 Job satisfaction and job involvement 34 Organizational commitment and job variety 35 Organizational commitment and decision making 36 Organizational commitment and job involvement 37 Benefits of Switching organizations 38 Retention strategies 39 Conclusion 40 Recommendations 43 References 45 Appendices 49 Introduction The Chinese economy has grown rapidly. This growth has also increased the Chinese economic environment along with raise increa se in the aggregate employment level. However, this rise increase in the employment has also resulted in labour turnover. Labour turnover can be divided into two main dimensions: voluntary and involuntary. The former reflects employee decision to discontinue offering employment services and the latter relates to employer’s decision to cease up employment relationship with employee. Abbassi and Hollman (2000) maintain that there are five reasons which give rise to employee turnover including managerial style, hiring practices,

Gender Differences in Computer-Mediated Communications Essay Example for Free

Gender Differences in Computer-Mediated Communications Essay â€Å"On the Internet, no body knows you’re a dog. † Herring (2003, p. 205) mentioned this caption of a cartoon bearing published in the New Yorker (July 1993). May be in this age with the internet evolution it’s hard to know it’s a dog, but what about distinguishing user’s gender in computer-mediated communication (CMC) is it easy or not. This essay tries to shade the light on some of these gender differences in computer-mediated communication (CMC). This essay gives an idea about computer-mediated communication (CMC) modes and the gap between CMC expectations and the fact that there are gender differences in CMC. Then it gives an idea about gender differences in traditional communication followed by exploring gender differences in CMC. First, it’s important to have an idea about CMC different modes. According to Herring (2003, p. 205), â€Å"computer mediated communication (CMC) comprises a variety of interactive socio-technical modes†. She gave some examples of these modes such as: e-mail, discussion lists and newsgroups, chat, MUDs (Multi-User Dimensions) and MOOs (MUD, Object Oriented), IM (Instant Messaging). Dalampan (2006) classifies CMC modes into: synchronous and asynchronous (Figure. 1). The synchronous mode requires communication in real-time. However, the synchronous mode doesn’t require interlocutors to be online at the same time. (p. 59) According to Dalampan (2006), the field of computer-mediated communication (CMC) continues to generate interest from sociolinguists who are concerned with whether the traditional gender differences in face-to-face interaction are carried over into online discourse (p. 59). The problem that all studies tried to investigate is the gap between earlier high expectations for CMC concerning providing an environment that creates equity and the fact that gender differences still existed even in CMC environment. Li (2006) saw that many educators and researchers had high hopes for CMC, believing that it provided more equal access to information and communication and would ultimately lead to greater equity. Also, Hendry (2001, p. 3) mentioned that earlier research in computer-mediated communication (CMC) found that CMC promoted social equity. She explains that this could be due to predictions by many researchers that CMC would democratize communication and mitigate gender differences. Despite these claims that the relative anonymous communication on the Internet would break down traditional gender binaries, research has identified gender differences in computer-mediated discourse, similar to differences observed in spoken discourse. (Herring, 2006) In order to determine whether the language used by males and females in computer-mediated communication (CMC) reveal gender related differences or not, many studies were conducted. However, according to Li (2006) research findings concerning gender differences in CMC are mixed. However, this essay will explore some of these gender differences in CMC in some related studies. Linguists have long recognized gender as a factor that may affect person’s linguistic productions (Baron, 2005, p. 8). â€Å"Sociolinguists have written extensively about stylistic differences they have observed between males and females in spoken and written language† (p. 4). Based on these previous studies, Baron (2005) mentioned some gender linguistic differences such as: females tend to use more politeness indicators than males, whereas males more frequently interrupt woman than vice versa; in general, women tend to use language as a tool for facilitating social interaction, whereas males are more prone to use language for conveying information; on average, women’s speech reflects standard phonological, lexical, and grammatical patterns more than men’s does (p. 8). Computer-mediated communication (CMC) has attracted more and more researchers’ attention as a due to the dramatic increase in the use of the Internet in recent years (Li, 2005, p. 382). According to Baron (2003) linguists and other scientists have been studying CMC for we over a decade (p. 4). The essay now will give some examples for gender differences in CMC. Herring (2006, p. 4) reported a tendency for women to be more polite, supportive, emotionally expressive, and less verbose than men in online public forums. Conversely, men are more likely to insult, challenge, express sarcasm, use profanity, and send long messages. Also, Baron (2003) listed some gender differences such as women tend to use more affective markers, more hedges, more politeness markers, and more tag questions. However, men are likely to use more referential language, more profanity, and fewer personal pronouns than women. (p. 9) A study conducted by Li (2006) showed that gender is a considerable factor in the context of mathematics and sciences learning using CMC. Concerning gender communication patterns, findings show males students are more likely to present their opinions and explanations, but less likely to make specific suggestions; whereas female students tend to ask for a lot of information, but are less likely to provide explanations or opinions. Also, female students tend to initiate conversations, while male students are more likely to enter the dialogue at later stages and respond to previous discussions. Li (2006) presented a meta analysis for some studies in gender differences in CMC. Her analysis provided answers for three main questions: first one, what are gender differences in users’ communication patterns in CMC? Results show that on average, female users had a significantly higher frequency of collaborative instances using CMC than males. Also, females had a significantly higher frequency of challenging others and were more personal oriented. Males, on the other hand, used more authoritative statements. Second one, to what extent do male and female differ in their interaction pattern in CMC? Results indicated that, on average, there was a small but significant gender effect on users’ participation pattern, male users had a significantly higher frequency of posting messages or having longer access to the Internet than female users, also, male users have better access to CMC environments. Third question, who would enjoy CMC environment, males or females? Results showed that, on average, there was a moderate but significant gender effect on users’ enjoyment of CMC. Male users enjoyed more CMC environments than their female counterparts. According to Bernard (1998), males tend to dominate group discussions, even when they are in the minority. They even tend to generate more aggressive and often caustic interactions to the extent that they often marginalize female communications to the point of being excluded from the CM interactions. Savicki and Kelley (2000, p. 817) examined whether men and women communicate differently using CMC. They found that gender composition of the groups is the variable that has the strongest relationship to communication style. Results found that women in small task group developed a significantly different style of communication than men did using CMC with other men. They explained that women in female-only groups were able to overcome the limitations of the text-only format of CMC with self-disclosure, use of â€Å"I† statements and through directly addressing their message to other group members. On the other hand, they found that men in male-only groups ignored the sociomotional aspects of group functioning and were more likely to engage in a collective monologue approach to discussion with the addition of mild flaming. Men in MO groups were less satisfied with the CMC experience and showed lower levels of group development. (p. 817) Herring (2003) (Baron, 2005, p. 15) found that on many-to-many asynchronous CMC mode (listservs and newsgroups), males tended to be more adversarial and to write longer messages than females, whereas females tended to be more supportive in their postings with shorter messages and more apologizes than males. On the other hand on synchronous many-to-many CMC mode (chat and social MUDs and MOOs), males were more aggressive and insulting, whereas female had more aligned and supportive discourse. By studying IM conversations of college students, Baron (2005) concluded that there are significant gender differences in IM conversations. She found that male-male conversations tend to be shorter and have more of a spoken character, while female-female conversations tend to be longer and have more of a written character. Males use more contractions than do females. (p. 14) On the other side, Dalampan (2006) added the context factor or dimension he concluded that males and females language use seems to be influenced more by the context of use than their gender this may be because both males and females in his sample were scholars so they were acting like scholars not as males and females. He also concluded that despite the claims of previous research that females used more linguistic qualifiers, hedges, and personal pronouns, the associations were not found to be strong. (p. 65) Another study conducted by Abdul Kadir and Din (2006) shows that there are no significant gender differences in CMC learning mode orientation and learning style. (p. 50) At the end, however research findings may appear to be mixed but findings showed that computer-mediated communication (CMC) couldn’t eliminate gender differences as expected after all it is another communication environment. These gender differences are somehow similar to gender differences in spoken and written language. Some findings didn’t show significant gender differences this could be due to other factors such as the presence of the instructor in the Dalampan (2006) study. Also, findings were different depending on CMC mode either being synchronous/asynchronous or one-to-one/one-to-many. References Abdul Kadir, R. Din, R. (2006). Computer Mediated Communication: A motivational strategy toward diverse learning style. Journal Pendidikan, 31, pp. 41-51. Retrieved March 16, 2008 from http://pkukmweb. ukm. my/~penerbit/jurnal_pdf/jpend31_03. pdf Baron, N. S. (2003). Instant Messaging by American College Students: A case study in computer-mediated communication. Retrieved March 16, 2008 from http://www. american. edu/tesol/Baron-SeeYouOnlineCorrected64. pdf Baron, N. S. (2005). See You Online: Gender issues in college student use of instant messaging. Retrieved March 16, 2008 from http://www. american. edu/tesol/Baron-SeeYouOnlineCorrected64. pdf Bernard, M. L. (1998). Gender Interaction Differences Using Computer-Mediated Communication: Can the Internet serve as a status equalizer?. Retrieved March 16, 2008 from http://psychology. wichita. edu/mbernard/articles/GenderInternet. html Dalampan, A. E. (2006). Gender Issues in Computer-Mediated Communications. TESL working paper, 4 (2). Retrieved March 16, 2008 from http://web1. hpu. edu/images/GraduateStudies/TESL_WPS/10Dalampan_Gender_a17241. pdf Hendry, J. (2001). E-gender or Agenda: Are women getting what they want?. ANZMAC 2001. Retrieved March 16, 2008 from http://smib. vuw. ac. nz:8081/WWW/ANZMAC2001/anzmac/AUTHORS/pdfs/Hendry. pdf Herring, S. C. Paolillo, I. C. (2006). Gender and Genre Variation in Weblogs. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 10(4). Retrieved March 16, 2008 from http://www. blogninja. com/jslx. pdf Herring, S. C. (2003). Gender and Power in Online Communication. In: J. Holmes and M. Meyerhoff (Eds. ), The Handbook of Language and G

How is childhood presented in Games at Twilight Essay Example for Free

How is childhood presented in Games at Twilight Essay There are many similarities between the ways that childhood is presented in these two short stories. When acting as a group, the children are frequently portrayed as cruel and aggressive. In The Red Ball the young boy is given a variety of cruel names by other children due to his thin frame, for example Thinny Boney and Match-stick foot. This shows the brutal honesty of children of a young age. In Games at Twilight the children are rough and belligerent, shown by the shoves became harder and the frequent quarrelling of the children over who will be It in their game of hide and seek. In Games at Twilight the children are frequently shown in an animalistic light. The authors use of vocabulary reveals this, for example wild, maniacal, and snarling. Words such as prey, stalked and pounded relate to hunting in the animal kingdom, and therefore reinforce the authors portrayal of children as animalistic. In The Red Ball Bolan is said to have waited like a small animal, so children are again compared to animals. The fact that the children in both stories play their games in large groups could represent the packs that animals exist in in the wild. By using animalistic images the authors are able to reinforce their portrayal of children as cruel and aggressive. Childish games seem to hold great significance to the children in both stories. In Games at Twilight the author says that the children are desperate to start their business the business of the childrens day which is play. By making the children in the story so dependent on games the author suggests that the children have basic, immature values, since play is not an adult business. In The Red Ball games also hold a great significance for the children it is Bolans ability to play cricket well that gains him acceptance amongst the other children. It is obvious that friendships are built when games are participated in, as Bolan steals money from his parents to buy a red cricket ball in order to be more highly thought of by his friends. It is interesting to see that the games in both of the stories are carried out outdoors. In The Red Ball the author writes the boys played cricket until the fireflies came out. In Games at Twilight Raghu is described as crashing and storming in the hedge wilder. Thus the children in both stories are more closely linked to nature, reinforcing the authors portrayal of them as animals. In both stories the main characters are portrayed as outcasts. In The Red Ball the young boy watches other children play cricket from the outskirts of the park, and in Games at Twilight young Ravi hides alone, only to find that the other children have quite forgotten him. The difference between the stories is that the young boy in The Red Ball is eventually accepted by his peers and revered by them he becomes their star bowler and therefore essential for their game. In Games at Twilight we are led to believe that Ravi will eventually be accepted by the other children for winning the game of hide and seek he smiled to himself at the thought of so much victory. However Ravi never achieves such victory as the other children forget about him having disappeared from the scene, he had disappeared from their minds. Clean. By using such a short sentence, clean, the author is stressing the fact that Ravi was forgotten by his peers, and therefore emphasises his insignificance to the other children; he is bottom of the pecking order. In Games at Twilight young Ravi is portrayed as rather unintelligent and cowardly. He is frequently described as fearful Ravi shook with fear. His desperation to be accepted by his siblings shows that he is not highly thought of, and is also somewhat pathetic. Thinking that he will win the childish game of hide and seek he thinks that nothing more wonderful had ever happened to him. His unimportance is confirmed in the final sentence of the story he lay down full length on the damp grass silenced by a terrible sense of his insignificance. In The Red Ball Bolan is portrayed as a somewhat more intelligent, wise individual. He is capable enough to understand that by replying when he is called offensive names by the other children, he will be labelled with those names. He is also able to comprehend more difficult family situations, and shows perception and intelligence when the author writes it was one of those moments when he felt as if he had held his mother in front of him as a sort of shield to save himself from a rain of blows. In conclusion, the presentation of childhood in the two short stories, Games at Twilight and The Red Ball varies. The main characters, when alone, are portrayed as more innocent individuals, whereas when in larger groups, the children seem to be more cruel and hostile. Games at Twilight offers the less favourable impression of children overall, frequently incorporating animalistic images into the story to describe the children.

The Nature Of Prejudice Psychology Essay

The Nature Of Prejudice Psychology Essay In the multi cultural setting, prejudice has become normalized and has synchronized into our daily lives due to the efforts of authorities to harmonized people together. However, given that everyone comes from a very different and diverse background and family situations, there are bound to be misinterpretation and assumptions that we make on a daily basis that is somewhat skewed towards or against a different group. And with the efforts of the authorities to sanction prejudice, it does not necessary mean that prejudice has withered off but instead it may have become an innate thought that has continued on. In this essay we will look into the psychological theories, concepts and researches to understand the continued existence of prejudice and discrimination within each person, even though our modern society views it as undesirable. The Nature of Prejudice In a personal context, a persons behavior towards a certain group of people or people with distinct differences can be due to the social schemas that a person develops with time, through experience and or through social influence. Prejudice can be described as a negative attitude or observable behavior towards a certain socially defined group or members of that group. It is also known as prejudgment, the emotions felt or behavior portrayed cannot be quantified nor can it be justified. Even though in the modern society, prejudice and discrimination are seen as inappropriate or undesirable, it does still exist within each person and they vary in magnitude and severity individually. In this essay, we will cover the psychological theories, concepts and researches to understand the continued existence of prejudice and discrimination within each person, even though our modern society views it as undesirable. In the research done by Kenneth Clark (1914 -2005), on the effects of prejudice, discrimination and segregation have on child development, he demonstrated the effects by observing the responses of black children, age between two to seven, when they are presented with two sets of dolls, differing only by the dolls skin and hair colors. And from the observation, majority of the participants would prefer the white dolls over the black dolls. Apart from that, the research also showed that thirty nine percent of the participants would choose the white dolls as a representation of themselves. It became apparent that the social norm that children were exposed to pre-defines the definition of being socially desirable and socially undesirable. It also meant to steer individuals towards changing themselves mentally and or physically to become socially desirable in order to belong and fit the social norm. And the idea of being socially desirable and undesirable brings about prejudice and the fo rmation of groups. A classic example and origin of social prejudice can be traced to the social inequalities which suggest and predicts women being assumed to perform better in a caretaker role because they are perceived to be unassertive and sensitive (Hoffman Hurst, 1990). The attitude of prejudice can be described as a composite of three factors the influence of social beliefs are seen to cause over generalizing of the behavior of a person and also result in stereotyping. The emotions felt by an individual such as hostility and fear, when a person is found to be in an unfamiliar situation, it predisposes a person to emotionally respond either to feel, think or to act in a way towards a group or an individual when exposed to a certain stimuli in a certain way. The observable actions can be observed through behaviors such as discrimination. Prejudice can also be examined in relation to three factors, the severity of prejudice, the level of discrimination and the formation of beliefs, and stereotyping. These factors make up the basic structure of forming prejudice, as a mental schema that a person can refer to as a guide when situation calls for them. The mental schemas will influence how a person react and interpret the various experiences. And the pre- assumptions or conceived ideas about a certain group of people tend to skew ones interpretation of the observed behaviors and prediction of future actions of the member of the certain group. Prejudice can be categorized into two different types, blatant prejudice and subtle prejudice. Blatant prejudice refers to the open rejection of a certain groups or refers to certain groups to be inferior to them. The actions of blatant prejudice can be easily observed and it is usually not withheld. An example of blatant prejudice can come in the form of riots and demonstration against an opposing group or member of that certain group (Pettigrew, 1998). The other type is subtle prejudice refers to negative emotions felt towards or against the other group or individuals which are usually being disguised or is being hidden behind other values that allow the individual to dislike that certain group in a less direct manner as oppose to blatant prejudice. Some examples of subtle prejudices are the belief that the certain groups are becoming too pushy in wanting more rights than the rest, the denial of discrimination and the resentment of favoritism (Lambert, 1998). Prejudice can also be unconscious to people who denies having any racial or gender prejudices, that they may still have negative associations linking to the socially defined group or individual. It is illustrated in the research and it had been observed that nine out of ten white participants of the research took longer time to link pleasant words with a black faces than linking pleasant words to white faces (Greenwald, McGhee, Schwartz, 1998). It demonstrates that even though individuals do not recognize themselves to be having any stereotypes or discrimination towards a socially defined group or individual, the unconscious behaviors that was observed illustrates that social beliefs and social norms do actually influences a persons judgment and unconsciously forming prejudice against it. The other factor that can influence prejudice is the environment that an individual is found to be in. It influences the prejudice behavior of the individual that can either be observed or remains undetected. For example a person will and can act non-prejudiced when the situation that they are in does not require them to. For example, an individual makes a non-prejudiced comment towards a prejudiced behavior, so as to not offend members of the other group. In the same direction, prejudice can also be strengthened in situations where the social norms that govern them are either weak or ambiguous and it becomes justifiable and deemed acceptable for negative behavior towards the socially defined group or individual. In social psychology there have been many theories formulated to define the formulation of prejudice. There is the Psychodynamic or personality approach according to Freud, prejudice is seen as a response to an unresolved conflict during the stages of child development. He refers it to as a combination of personality characteristics and that the incompatible and unconscious motives and urges which exist in our minds and depending on our relative strength, moral values and external reality either one of the motives and urges will dictate the conscious thoughts and actions (Freud, 1917). The socio-cultural approach suggests that the cultural factors influences and creates social norms which plays an important role as to how a person is predisposed to results in formation of prejudiced view of the certain group or individual. A theory derived from this is the scapegoat theory which suggests that prejudice can also be an expression of anger such that when things go wrong, the scapegoat will provide a convenient emotional outlet and target for this anger which manipulates and influence people to create a common goal for the group (Katz, Glass, Cohen, 1973). The cognitive approach refers to the information processing and cognitive systems of the brain where prejudice arises out of normal mental processes, which can be explain through stereotyping and categorization. Social categorization and stereotyping refers to the formulation of illusionary relation between a certain group and the perceived deficiencies. They also categorize people into certain groups and that they are categorized based on the social norms or traits they are associated with the others in the same group. People tend to favor those that are within their group than those people that are not within the group. Social categories are formed with association to stereotyping when we encode information in terms of social categories. Social categories are ingrained in a person that it is easily accessible and prominently that they are automatically used in social perception. The need to belong, dictates humans as group bound species in the search attain an identity of self when belonging to a group. This is associated with the negative out-group stereotypes and positive in-group stereotypes that the group which means to be mentally differentiating and defining the grouping of us and them which also leads to people showing favoritism to their own group when dividing any rewards (Wilder, 1981) . Stereotyping provides general expectations about a certain group and it simplifies perception and evaluation of the individual members. Stereotype can affect the type of information that the brain is attending to and how it is being interpreted, they are easily accessible, and prominent that it can automatically be used in social perception to reduce ambiguity during critical situations. The generalization are guided by two elements, the trait information concerning what people of the certain group are like and the expectation of how this group of people will act. Stereotyping is not easy to be modified and acts can easily and automatically trigger stereotyping. It will have an impact on the effects on a persons behavior and results in unintentional self-fulfilling prophecies and implicit behavioral effects (Mackie, Hamilton, Susskind, Rosselli, 1996). The most researched common stereotype is sexism, where males are more than always perceived and commonly linked to stronger traits and attributes and on the flip side, females are often perceived and linked to weaker traits (Fiske, 1998). This stereotype originates from the prejudicial perspective that females are valued lesser than males, which can be traced back in history that males had all along been the breadwinner and females plays the caregiver role and thus resulting in the stereotype of women represents weakness and are better in taking up a more subtle role. Another typical stereotype that is relative to us would be racism, which refers to discrimination against an individual on the basis of the individuals race. It is often being generalized that people from the same race shares the same set of characteristic traits like abilities and qualities. And that personality trait such as intellect, morality, and other cultural behavioral characteristics are also inherited which in turn influence their reason to act, their practices and their beliefs. However, there are little or no scholarly evidence that agrees with the concept of race. The generalization forms an unintentional discrimination and stereotype towards a certain group and that people tend to make assumptions based on this stereotype. Racism assumption also includes discriminatory behaviors and beliefs that can be based on cultural, ethnic, or religious stereotypes. The relationship between stereotyping and prejudice can be explained through the dissociation model (Devine, 1989). Where stereotyping is the knowledge about the attributes stereotypically associated with a particular group and it is automatically activated with stimulus and it can be acquired as early as during child development before we can critically evaluate. And that it is more accessible with greater activation and stronger association overtime. Whereas, prejudice refers to the endorsement and acceptance or non-acceptance of the cultural stereotype and that activation of prejudice is known to be controlled and that activation must be with the inhibition of stereotype and it requires time and cognitive capacity. The research shows that both high and low prejudice persons has equal knowledge of the cultural stereotype. Also, both high and low prejudice person uses stereotyping to evaluate ambiguous behaviors. And that low prejudiced person exhibited more positive thoughts, belie fs and less hostile descriptions. The dissociation model concludes that the relationship between stereotype and prejudice is conditional on the task at hand and that stereotype can have effects on out decision without us making the explicit or conscious judgment (Devine, 1989). Social discrimination and prejudice can create a vicious cycle that entraps the individual or group within an illusionary boundary that is hard to get out from. An example of this cycle can originate from as simple as job discrimination, which determines how much wealth a person has and in turn determines the living environment of the person. The living environment also determines the level of education that the children will receive and thus affect the kind of job they will hold in the future, which sets them in a material disadvantage. And the types of discrimination also include reluctance to help, tokenism which refers to intentionally create a false appearance of inclusiveness and to deflect accusations of discrimination and reverse discrimination (Vaughan Hogg, 2011). And the victims of prejudice can also suffer from psychological disadvantages, low self-esteem, and depressed aspiration, and also include physical and verbal abuses. And the consequences of prejudice can range f rom the least serious type like pre-assumption and prediction of an individuals behavior from the certain group, to open discrimination of the certain group which could lead to violence against the group and ultimately, extermination of the group and its members such as the holocaust. It is then apparent that prejudicial behavior are almost inevitable for any individual given the different backgrounds and culture everyone had been brought up in, and the acquisition prejudice may well have happened even before we can comprehend anything. Which results in prejudice both conscious and unconsciously in the decisions that we make in our daily life. Therefore, society plays an important role to sanction and subdue any overwhelming prejudice against any social discrimination, and that every individual should make a conscious effort to avoid taking advantage of it as a vehicle for personal gains. And that even though many would publicly deny as having any stereotype or prejudice against someone, prejudice has always been an innate thought process that can and has influence our behaviors externally.

Complaints Against the Northwestern University Students :: Northwestern University Students

Rowdy Drunken College Students I read an article about Northwestern University students in Evanston, Illinois, and the community’s complaints against them. The article, written by Bob Seidenberg, discusses the need for city council to call a meeting to address the problems of rowdy drunken college students disturbing the peace and quiet of the evenings, by wandering around and through Evanston homes late at night. The underling issue is, is this Northwestern’s problem, or simply a lack of respect from youths today? The drunken rowdy college students have always, and will always be around. However, the Evanston community has progressively seen the situation get worse. The college students are beginning to buy houses next door to families with young children, which, potentially causes a problem. While there are no laws forbidding NU students living off campus, people in these areas are becoming upset with the result of the students living in next door. When you have students whose primary focus, beginning on a Thursday night, is to become completely â€Å"plastered†; living next door to the middle school child trying to sleep, problems arise. The parents of these children are sick of the students behavior, and are voicing their complaints. Jane Evans was quoted saying, â€Å"These students are supposed to be the cream of the crop, but we would assert, and many of our neighbors would agree, that these students feel grossly entitled to run wild in our streets without any respect for the community in which they live.† (pg. 18) This quote is more than true. I have spent many nights at my friend’s house, and the next morning there will be empty beer cups all over the yard, and most of the night we were kept up by yelling and laughing college students running up and down the streets; she lives in the thick of the college student off campus housing. The only problem is, whose fault is it? Northwestern University has on campus housing; however, the University is completely engulfed within the community. Living off campus is one of the benefits of going to NU, because the community and environment around the campus is extremely college oriented. When you have an environment that is so conducive to the typical college student, obviously they are going to treat the surrounding territory as their territory. So then the issue really becomes, whose fault is it? Who is to blame for the noise complaints and the rude, rowdy behavior?

The Man Nobody Knows Essay -- essays research papers

The Man Nobody Knows   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The author of this book Bruce Barton was a partner in a successful advertising firm during the 1920’s. This was a time when the industry of advertising was under going some major changes. These changes had a lot to do with a number of factors the first of which being the post war prosperity this meant people had more money than they ever had before. Another one of these factors had to do with the high number of teens who were now attending high school, this proved to be important because it created a whole other market which hadn’t existed before. One more factor was the advances made in transportation and communication, these advances allowed goods, people, and information to travel long distances relatively quickly intern allowing companies to grow large enough to spread their services nationally. Still another important factor was the invention of financing, this allowed people to pay for durable objects (large objects that would last a couple of years) with affordable installments or payments. But the biggest changes were the actual advertising practices themselves, many of which were pioneered by Barton and his associates, and didn’t become norms in advertising until after the release of Bartons book â€Å"The Man Nobody Knows† in 1924. This book served not only as a manual on how to advertise more affectively but also as an example of good advertising itself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Barton begins his book by ex...

Hybrid electric vehicle Essay

What microenvironmental factors affected both the first generation and second generation models of the Toyota Prius? How well has Toyota dealt with these factors? When the Prius was introduced in the US, it was quite shocking that it became such a big hit. The US auto market had been dominated by SUV’s for quite some time, and it seemed that a car that was small, slow and lacked power wouldn’t be attractive to American consumers. The advanced technology was very attractive to the â€Å"early adopters† and the consumers were willing to pay over the asking price to get a Prius. When gas prices soared so did the demand for the Prius. Toyota has dealt with these factors well. Successfully introducing a small hybrid into a market dominated by SUV’s is no small feat. Toyota’s success with the Prius is mainly due to their targeting strategy. By targeting the perfect group of consumers, sales and demand grew exponentially, and pricing has and continues to be at a premium. 2.Outline the major macroenvironmental factors – demographic, economic, natural, technological, political, and cultural – that have affected Prius sales. How well has Toyota dealt with each of these factors? Prius sales benefited from a number of macroenvironmental factors. When the Prius was first introduced, Toyota targeted the â€Å"early adopters,† a group of consumers that were interested in the advanced technology of the vehicle. Many of these owners found creative ways to modify and hack the computer system and chatted about it online. Another group of consumers that Toyota targeted were the environmentally conscious and/or consumers that desired more fuel efficiency. Both groups showed high demand for the Prius and were willing to pay premium pricing for the vehicle. Prius sales also benefited from factors such as monetary incentives offered by the federal and/or state governments in the form of tax breaks. Some states started issuing permits to hybrid owners to drive in the High Occupancy Vehicle lanes (even if there was only one person in the car), or even free parking. Furthermore, some environmentally friendly companies offered employees money towards the purchase of hybrid vehicles. In 2007-2008 gas prices skyrocketed to 3 dollars per gallon and in some states above 4 dollars per gallon which only made the demand for the Prius greater. Studies about the various hybrid vehicles on the market were published and the Prius was at the top of the list for value. Studies indicated the Prius along with the Civic were the only hybrid vehicles that allowed consumers to recover the initial investment and actually save money after five years and 75,000 miles. Overall, Toyota has dealt with these macroenvironmetal factors very well. It is evident that targeting the right demographics has really paid off. All of these macroenvironmental factors were to Toyota’s benefit. All increased the sales and demand for the Prius. The only problem Toyota was facing was keeping up with the demand. 3.Evaluate Toyota’s marketing strategy so far. What has Toyota done well? How might it improve its strategy? Toyota’s marketing strategy has been focused on forward thinking and targeting the right consumer groups. The first consumer group targeted was â€Å"early adopters† or techies that found interest in the advanced technology of the car. This was a good strategy for the introduction of the vehicle. This group showed high demand for the Prius and spread the word through online sources. The second consumer group was the environmentally conscious, and those who wanted better fuel efficiency. Toyota predicted that gas prices would increase, and when they went through the roof, sales and demand increased. I believe that Toyota has done very well with this strategy. The truth is in their sales and demand for the Prius. An improvement that Toyota could make is better production planning. It seems that so far, this has been the biggest challenge. Though Prius sales are very strong, sales would only increase with more production as long as the demand stays consistently high. 4.GM’s marketing director for new ventures, Ken Stewart, says â€Å"If you want to get a lot of hybrids on the road, you put them in vehicles that people are buying now.† This seems to summarize the U.S. automaker’s approach to hybrids. Would you agree with Mr. Stewart? Why or why not? I agree somewhat with Mr. Stewart. I think that putting hybrids into popular cars and small SUV’s would work, but it would not work with sports cars and trucks. Sports cars and trucks are generally purchased for their power, speed, and towing ability, not their fuel efficiency. The current hybrid technology would diminish the performance of sports cars and trucks, and would eliminate most of the benefits of owning either type of vehicle. On the other hand, introducing the hybrid technology in popular cars and small SUV’s would work well if the option was available at an attractive price. Improved fuel efficiency is desirable when purchasing a car as the average price per gallon of gasoline is only rising. In my opinion, they hybrid technology would be an attractive offer. Not only would it be practical, but it would save the consumer a lot of money in the long run, assuming that they keep the car for five or more years

Foundation’s Edge CHAPTER NINETEEN DECISION

DECISION Janov Pelorat said, with a small trace of petulance in his voice, â€Å"Really, Golan, no one seems to care for the fact that this is the first time in a moderately long life – not too long, I assure you, Bliss – in which I have been traveling through the Galaxy. Yet each time I come to a world, I am off it again and back in space before I can really have a chance to study it. It has happened twice now.† â€Å"Yes,† said Bliss, â€Å"but if you had not left the other one so quickly, you would not have met me until who knows when. Surely that justifies the first time.† â€Å"It does. Honestly, my – my dear, it does.† â€Å"And this time, Pel, you may be off the planet, but you have me – and I am Gaia, as much as any particle of it, as much as all of it.† â€Å"You are, and surely I want no other particle of it.† Trevize, who had been listening to the exchange with a frown, said, â€Å"This is disgusting. Why didn't Dom come with us? – Space, I'll never get used to this monosyllabization. Two hundred fifty syllables to a name and we use just one of them. – Why didn't he come, together with all two hundred fifty syllables? If all this is so important – if the very existence of Gaia depends on it – why didn't he come with us to direct us?† â€Å"I am here, Trev,† said Bliss, â€Å"and I am as much Gaia as he is.† Then, with a quick sideways and upward look from her dark eyes, â€Å"Does it annoy you, then, to have me call you ‘Trev'?† â€Å"Yes, it does. I have as much right to my ways as you to yours. My name is Trevize. Two syllables. Tre-vize.† â€Å"Gladly. I do not wish to anger you, Trevize.† â€Å"I am not angry. I am annoyed.† He rose suddenly, walked from one end of the room to the other, stepping over the outstretched legs of Pelorat (who drew them in quickly), and then back again. He stopped, turned, and faced Bliss. He pointed a finger at her. â€Å"Look! I am not my own master! I have been maneuvered from Terminus to Gaia – and even when I began to suspect that this was so, there seemed no way to break the grip. And then, when I get to Gaia, I am told that the whole purpose for my arrival was to save Gaia. Why? How? What is Gaia to me – or I to Gaia – that I should save it? Is there no other of the quintillion human beings in the Galaxy who could do the job?† â€Å"Please, Trevize,† said Bliss – and there was a sudden downcast air about her, all of the gamine affectation disappearing. â€Å"Do not be angry. You see, I use your name properly and I will be very serious. Dom asked you to be patient.† â€Å"By every planet in the Galaxy, habitable or not, I don't want to be patient. If I am so important, do I not deserve an explanation? To begin with, I ask again why Dom did not come with us? Is it not sufficiently important for him to be here on the Far Star with us?† â€Å"He is here, Trevize,† said Bliss. â€Å"While I am here, he is here, and everyone on Gaia is here, and every living thing, and every speck of the planet.† â€Å"You are satisfied that that is so, but it's not my way of thinking. I'm not a Gaian. We can't squeeze the whole planet on to my ship, we can only squeeze one person on to it. We have you, and Dom is part of you. Very well. Why couldn't we have taken Dom, and let you be part of him?† â€Å"For one thing,† said Bliss, â€Å"Pel – I mean, Pel-o-rat – asked that I be on the ship with you. I, not Dom.† â€Å"He was being gallant. Who would take that seriously?† â€Å"Oh, now, my dear fellow,† said Pelorat, rising to his feet with his face reddening, â€Å"I was quite serious. I don't want to be dismissed like that. I accept the fact that it doesn't matter which component of the Gaian whole is on board, and it is more pleasant for me to have Bliss here than Dom, and it should be for you as well. Come, Golan, you are behaving childishly.† â€Å"Am I? Am I?† said Trevize, frowning darkly. â€Å"All right, then, I am. Just the same,† again he pointed at Bliss, â€Å"whatever it is I am expected to do, I assure you that I won't do it if I am not treated like a human being. Two questions to begin with. What am I supposed to do? And why me?† Bliss was wide-eyed and backing away. She said, â€Å"Please, I can't tell you that now. All of Gaia can't tell you. You must come to the place without knowing anything to begin with. You must learn it all there. You must then do what you must do – but you must do it calmly and unemotionally. If you remain as you are, nothing will be of use and, one way or another, Gaia will come to an end. You must change this feeling of yours and I do not know how to change it.† â€Å"Would Dom know if he were here?† said Trevize remorselessly. â€Å"Dom is here,† said Bliss. â€Å"He/I/we do not know how to change you or calm you. We do not understand a human being who cannot sense his place in the scheme of things, who does not feel like part of a greater whole.† Trevize said, â€Å"That is not so. You could seize my ship at a distance of a million kilometers and more – and keep us calm while we were helpless. Well, calm me now. Don't pretend you are not capable of doing it.† â€Å"But we mustn't. Not now. If we changed you or adjusted you in any way now, then you would be no more valuable to us than any other person in the Galaxy and we could not use you. We can only use you because you are you – and you must remain you. If we touch you at this moment in any way, we are lost. Please. You must be calm of your own accord.† â€Å"Not a chance, miss, unless you tell me some of what I want to know.† Pelorat said, â€Å"Bliss, let me try. Please go into the other room.† Bliss left, backing slowly out. Pelorat closed the door behind her. Trevize said, â€Å"She can hear and see – sense everything. What difference does this make?† Pelorat said, â€Å"It makes a difference to me. I want to be alone with you, even if isolation is an illusion. – Golan, you're afraid.† â€Å"Don't be a fool.† â€Å"Of course you are. You don't know where you're going, what you'll be facing, what you'll be expected to do. You have a right to be afraid.† â€Å"But I'm not.† â€Å"Yes, you are. Perhaps you're not afraid of physical danger in the way that I am. I've been afraid of venturing out into space, afraid of each new world I see, afraid of every new thing I encounter. After all, I've lived half a century of a constricted, withdrawn and limited life, while you have been in the Navy and in politics, in the thick and hurly-burly at home and in space. Yet I've tried not to be afraid and you've helped me. In this time that we've been together, you've been patient with me, you've been kind to me and understanding, and because of you, I've managed to master my fears and behave well. Let me, then, return the favor and help you.† â€Å"I'm not afraid, I tell you.† â€Å"Of course you are. If nothing else, you're afraid of the responsibility you'll be facing. Apparently there's a whole world depending on you – and you will therefore have to live with the destruction of a whole world if you fail. Why should you have to face that possibility for a world that means nothing to you? ‘What right have they to place this load upon you? You're not only afraid of failure, as any person would be in your place, but you're furious that they should put you in the position where you have to be afraid.† â€Å"You're all wrong.† â€Å"I don't think so. Consequently let me take your place. I'll do it. Whatever it is they expect you to do, I volunteer as substitute. I assume that it's not something that requires great physical strength or vitality, since a simple mechanical device would outdo you in that respect. I assume it's not something that requires mentalics, for they have enough of that themselves. It's something that – well, I don't know, but if it requires neither brawn nor brain, then I have everything else as well as you – and I am ready to take the responsibility.† Trevize said sharply, â€Å"Why are you so willing to bear the load?† Pelorat looked down at the floor, as though fearing to meet the other's eyes. He said, â€Å"I have had a wife, Golan. I have known women. Yet they have never been very important to me. Interesting. Pleasant. Never very important. Yet, this one†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Who? Bliss?† â€Å"She's different, somehow – to me.† â€Å"By Terminus, Janov, she knows every word you're saying.† â€Å"That makes no difference. She knows anyhow. – I want to please her. I will undertake this task, whatever it is; run any risk, take any responsibility, on the smallest chance that it will make her – think well of me.† â€Å"Janov, she's a child.† â€Å"She's not a child – and what you think of her makes no difference to me.† â€Å"Don't you understand what you must seem to her?† â€Å"An old man? What's the difference? She's part of a greater whole and I am not – and that alone builds an insuperable wall between us. Don't you think I know that? But I don't ask anything of her but that she†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Think well of you?† â€Å"Yes. Or whatever else she can make herself feel for me.† â€Å"And for that you will do my job? – But Janov, haven't you been listening. They don't want you; they want me for some space-ridden reason I can't understand.† â€Å"If they can't have you and if they must have someone, I will be better than nothing, surely.† Trevize shook his head. â€Å"I can't believe that this is happening. Old age is overtaking you and you have discovered youth. Janov, you're trying to be a hero, so that you can die for that body.† â€Å"Don't say that, Golan. This is not a fit subject for humor.† Trevize tried to laugh, but his eyes met Pelorat's grave face and he cleared his throat instead. He said, â€Å"You're right. I apologize. Call her in, Janov. Call her in.† Bliss entered, shrinking a little. She said in a small voice, â€Å"I'm sorry, Pel. You cannot substitute. It must be Trevize or no one.† Trevize said, â€Å"Very well. I'll be calm. Whatever it is, I'll try to do it. Anything to keep Janov from trying to play the romantic hero at his age.† â€Å"I know my age,† muttered Pelorat. Bliss approached him slowly, placed her hand on his shoulder. â€Å"Pel, I – I think well of you.† Pelorat looked away. â€Å"It's all right, Bliss. You needn't be kind.† â€Å"I'm not being kind, Pel. I think – very well of you.† Dimly, then more strongly, Sura Novi knew that she was Suranoviremblastiran and that when she was a child, she had been known as Su to her parents and Vito her friends. She had never really forgotten, of course, but the facts were, on occasion, buried deep within her. Never had it been buried as deeply or for as long as in this last month, for never had she been so close for so long to a mind so powerful. But now it was time. She did not will it herself. She had no need to. The vast remainder of her was pushing her portion of itself to the surface, for the sake of the global need. Accompanying that was a vague discomfort, a kind of itch that was rapidly overwhelmed by the comfort of selfness unmasked. Not in years had she been so close to the globe of Gaia. She remembered one of the life-forms she had loved on Gaia as a child. Having understood its feelings then as a dim part of her own, she recognized her own sharper ones now. She was a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. Stor Gendibal stared sharply and penetratingly at Novi – and with such surprise that he came within a hair of loosening his grip upon Mayor Branno. That he did not do so was, perhaps, the result of a sudden support from without that steadied him and that, for the moment, he ignored. He said, â€Å"What do you Know of Councilman Trevize, Novi?† And then, in cold disturbance at the sudden and growing complexity of her mind, he cried out, â€Å"What are you?† He attempted to seize hold of her mind and found it impenetrable. At that moment, he recognized that his hold on Branno was supported by a grip stronger than his own. He repeated, â€Å"What are you?† There was a hint of the tragic on Novi's face. â€Å"Master,† she said, â€Å"Speaker Gendibal. My true name is Suranoviremblastiran and I am Gaia.† It was all she said in words, but Gendibal, in sudden fury, had intensified his own mental aura and with great skill, now that his blood was up, evaded the strengthening bar and held Branno on his own and more strongly than before, while he gripped Novi's mind in a tight and silent struggle. She held him off with equal skill, but she could not keep her mind closed to him – or perhaps she did not wish to. He spoke to her as he would to another Speaker. â€Å"You have played a part, deceived me, lured me here, and you are one of the species from which the Mule was derived.† â€Å"The Mule was an aberration, Speaker. I/we are not Mules. I/we are Gaia.† The whole essence of Gaia was described in what she complexly communicated, far more than it could have been in any number of words. â€Å"A whole planet alive,† said Gendibal. â€Å"And with a mentalic field greater as a whole than is yours as an individual. Please do not resist with such force. I fear the danger of harming you, something I do not wish to do.† â€Å"Even as a living planet, you are not stronger than the sum of my colleagues on Trantor. We, too, are, in a way, a planet alive.† â€Å"Only some thousands of people in mentalic co-operation, Speaker, and you cannot draw upon their support, for I have blocked it off. Test that and you will see.† â€Å"What is it you plan to do, Gaia?† â€Å"I would hope, Speaker, that you would call me Novi. What I do now I do as Gaia, but I am Novi also – and with reference to you, I am only Novi.† â€Å"What is it you plan to do, Gaia?† There was the trembling mentalic equivalent of a sigh and Novi said, â€Å"We will remain in triple stalemate. You will hold Mayor Branno through her shield, and I will help you do so, and we will not tire. You, I suppose, will maintain your grip on me, and I will maintain mine on you, and neither one of us will tire there either. And so it will stay.† â€Å"To what end?† â€Å"As I have told you. – We are waiting for Councilman Trevize of Terminus. It is he who will break the stalemate – as he chooses.† The computer on board the Far Star located the two ships and Golan Trevize displayed them together on the split screen. They were both Foundation vessels. One was precisely like the Far Star and was undoubtedly Compor's ship. The other was larger and far more powerful. He turned toward Bliss and said, â€Å"Well, do you know what's going on? Is there anything you can now tell me?† â€Å"Yes! Do not be alarmed! They will not harm you.† â€Å"Why is everyone convinced I'm sitting here all a – tremble with panic?† Trevize demanded petulantly. Pelorat said hastily, â€Å"Let her talk, Golan. Don't snap at her.† Trevize raised his arms in a gesture of impatient surrender. â€Å"I will not snap. Speak, lady.† Bliss said, â€Å"On the large ship is the ruler of your Foundation. With her†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Trevize said in astonishment, â€Å"The ruler? You mean Old Lady Branno?† â€Å"Surely that is not her title,† said Bliss, her lips twitching a little in amusement. â€Å"But she is a woman, yes.† She paused a little, as though listening intently to the rest of the general organism of which she was part. â€Å"Her name is Harlabranno. It seems odd to have only four syllables when one is so important on her world, but I suppose non-Gaians have their own ways.† â€Å"I suppose,† said Trevize dryly. â€Å"You would call her Brann, I think. But what is she doing here? Why isn't she back on. I see. Gaia has maneuvered her here, too. Why?† Bliss did not answer that question. She said, â€Å"With her is Lionokodell, five syllables, though her underling. It seems a lack of respect. He is an important official of your world. With them are four others who control the ship's weapons. Do you want their names?† â€Å"No. I take it that on the other ship there is one man, Munn Li Compor, and that he represents the Second Foundation. You've brought both Foundations together, obviously. Why?† â€Å"Not exactly, Trev – I mean, Trevize†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Oh, go ahead and say Trev. I don't give a puff of comet gas.† â€Å"Not exactly, Trev. Compor has left that ship and has been replaced by two people. One is Storgendibal, an important official of the Second Foundation. He is called a Speaker.† â€Å"An important official? He's got mentalic power, I imagine.† â€Å"Oh yes. A great deal.† â€Å"Will you be able to handle that?† â€Å"Certainly. The second person, on the ship with him, is Gaia.† â€Å"One of your people?† â€Å"Yes. Her name is Suranoviremblastiran. It should be much longer, but she has been away from me/us/rest so long.† â€Å"Is she capable of holding a high official of the Second Foundation?† â€Å"It is not she, it is Gaia who holds him. She/I/we/all are capable of crushing him.† â€Å"Is that what she's going to do? She's going to crush him and Branno? What is this? Is Gaia going to destroy the Foundations and set up a Galactic Empire of its own? The Mule back again? A greater Mule†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No no, Trev. Do not become agitated. You must not. All three are in a stalemate. They are waiting.† â€Å"For what?† â€Å"For your decision.† â€Å"Here we go again. What decision? Why me?† â€Å"Please, Trev,† said Bliss. â€Å"It will soon be explained. I/we/she have said as much as I/we/she can for now.† Branno said wearily, â€Å"It is clear I have made a mistake, Liono, perhaps a fatal one.† â€Å"Is this something that ought to be admitted?† muttered Kodell through motionless lips. â€Å"They know what I think. It will do no further harm to say so. Nor do they know less about what you think if you do not move your lips. – I should have waited until the shield was further strengthened.† Kodell said, â€Å"How could you have known, Mayor? If we waited until assurance was doubly and triply and quadruply and endlessly sure, we would have waited forever. – To be sure, I wish we had not gone ourselves. It would have been well to have experimented with someone else – with your lightning rod, Trevize, perhaps.† Branno sighed. â€Å"I wanted to give them no warning, Liono. Still, there you put the finger on the nub of my mistake. I might have waited until the shield was reasonably impenetrable. Not ultimately impenetrable but reasonably so. I knew there was perceptible leakage now, but I could not bear to wait longer. To wipe out the leakage would have meant waiting past my term of office and I wanted it done in my time – and I wanted to be on the spot. So like a fool, I forced myself to believe the shield was adequate. I would listen to no caution – to your doubts, for instance.† â€Å"We may still win out if we are patient.† â€Å"Can you give the order to fire on the other ship?† â€Å"No, I cannot, Mayor. The thought is, somehow, not something I can endure.† â€Å"Nor I. And if you or I managed to give the order, I am certain that the men on board would not follow it, that they would not be able to.† â€Å"Not under present circumstances, Mayor, but circumstances might change. As a matter of fact, a new actor appears on the scene.† He pointed to the screen. The ship's computer had automatically split the screen as a new ship came within its ken. The second ship appeared on the right-hand side. â€Å"Can you magnify the image, Liono?† â€Å"No trouble. The Second Foundationer is skillful. We are free to do anything he is not troubled by.† â€Å"Well,† said Branno, studying the screen, â€Å"that's the Far Star, I'm sure. And I imagine Trevize and Pelorat are on board. Then, bitterly, â€Å"Unless they too have been replaced by Second Foundationers. My lightning rod has been very efficient indeed. – If only my shield had been stronger.† â€Å"Patience!† said Kodell. A voice rang out in the confines of the ship's control room and Branno could somehow tell it did not consist of sound waves. She heard it in her mind directly and a glance at Kodell was sufficient to tell her that he had heard it, too. It said, â€Å"Can you hear me, Mayor Branno? If you can, don't bother saying so. It will be enough if you think so.† Branno said calmly, â€Å"What are you?† â€Å"I am Gaia.† The three ships were each essentially at rest, relative to the other two. All three were turning very slowly about the planet Gaia, as a distant three-part satellite of the planet. All three were accompanying Gaia on its endless journey about its sun. Trevize sat, watching the screen, tired of guessing what his role might be – what he had been dragged across a thousand parsecs to do. The sound in his mind did not startle him. It was as though he had been waiting for it. It said, â€Å"Can you hear me, Golan Trevize? If you can, don't bother saying so. It will be enough if you think it.† Trevize looked about. Pelorat, clearly startled, was looking in various directions, as though trying to find the source. Bliss sat quietly, her hands held loosely in her lap. Trevize had no doubt, for a moment, that she was aware of the sound. He ignored the order to use thoughts and spoke with deliberate clarity of enunciation. â€Å"If I don't find out what this is about, I will do nothing I am asked to do.† And the voice said, â€Å"You are about to find out.† Novi said, â€Å"You will all hear me in your mind. You are all free to respond in thought. I will arrange it so that all of you can hear each other. And, as you are all aware, we are all close enough so that at the normal light – speed of the spatial mentalic field, there will be no inconvenient delays. To begin with, we are all here by arrangement.† â€Å"In what manner?† came Branno's voice. â€Å"Not by mental tampering,† said Novi. â€Å"Gaia has interfered with no one's mind. It is not our way. We merely took advantage of ambition. Mayor Branno wanted to establish a Second Empire at once; Speaker Gendibal wanted to be First Speaker. It was enough to encourage these desires and to ride the wind, selectively and with judgment.† â€Å"I know how I was brought here,† said Gendibal stiffly. And indeed he did. He knew why he had been so anxious to move out into space, so anxious to pursue Trevize, so sure he could handle it all. – It was all Novi. – Oh, Novi! â€Å"You were a particular case, Speaker Gendibal. Your ambition was powerful, but there were softnesses about you that offered a shortcut. You were a person who would be kind to someone whom you had been trained to think of as beneath you in every respect. I took advantage of this in you and turned it against you. I/we am/are deeply ashamed. The excuse is that the future of the Galaxy is in hazard.† Novi paused and her voice (though she was not speaking by way of vocal cords) grew more somber, her face more drawn. â€Å"This was the time. Gaia could wait no longer. For over a century, the people of Terminus had been developing a mentalic shield. Left to themselves another generation, it would have been impervious even to Gaia and they would have been free to use their physical weapons at will. The Galaxy would not have been able to resist them and a Second Galactic Empire, after the fashion of Terminus, would have been established at once, despite the Seldon Plan, despite the people of Trantor, and despite Gaia. Mayor Branno had to be somehow maneuvered into making her move while the shield was still imperfect. â€Å"Then there is Trantor. The Seldon Plan was working perfectly, for Gaia itself labored to keep it on track with precision. And for over a century, there had been quietist First Speakers, so that Trantor vegetated. Now, however, Stor Gendibal was rising quickly. He would certainly become First Speaker and under him Trantor would take on an activist role. It would surely concentrate on physical power and would recognize the danger of Terminus and take action against it. If he could act against Terminus before its shield was perfected, then the Seldon Plan would be worked out to its conclusion in a Second Galactic Empire – after the fashion of Trantor – despite the people of Terminus and despite Gaia. Consequently Gendibal had to be somehow maneuvered into making his move before he became First Speaker. â€Å"Fortunately, because Gaia has been working carefully for decades, we have brought both Foundations to the proper place at the proper time. I repeat all this primarily so that Councilman Golan Trevize of Terminus may understand.† Trevize cut in at once and again ignored the effort to converse by thought. He spoke words firmly, â€Å"I do not understand. What is wrong with either version of the Second Galactic Empire?† Novi said, â€Å"The Second Galactic Empire – worked out after the fashion of Terminus – will be a military Empire, established by strife, maintained by strife, and eventually destroyed by strife. It will be nothing but the First Galactic Empire reborn. That is the view of Gaia. â€Å"The Second Galactic Empire – worked out after the fashion of Trantor – will be a paternalistic Empire, established by calculation, maintained by calculation, and in perpetual living death by calculation. It will be a dead end. That is the view of Gaia.† Trevize said, â€Å"And what does Gaia have to offer as an alternative?† â€Å"Greater Gaia! Galaxia! Every inhabited planet as alive as Gaia. Every living planet combined into a still greater hyperspatial life. Every uninhabited planet participating. Every star. Every scrap of interstellar gas. Perhaps even the great central black hole. A living galaxy and one that can be made favorable for all life in ways that we yet cannot foresee. A way of life fundamentally different from all that has gone before and repeating none of the old mistakes.† â€Å"Originating new ones,† muttered Gendibal sarcastically. â€Å"We have had thousands of years of Gaia to work those out.† â€Å"But not on a Galactic scale.† Trevize, ignoring the short exchange and driving to his point, said, â€Å"And what is my role in all this?† The voice of Gaia-channeled through Novi's mind-thundered, â€Å"Choose! Which alternative is it to be?† There was a vast silence that followed and finally, in that silence, Trevize's voice – mental at last, for he was too taken aback to speak – sounded small and still defiant. â€Å"Why me?† Novi said, â€Å"Though we recognized the moment had come when either Terminus or Trantor would become too powerful to stop – or worse yet, when both might become so powerful that a deadly stalemate would develop that would devastate the Galaxy – we still could not move. For our purposes, we needed someone – a particular someone – with the talent for rightness. We found you, Councilman. – No, we cannot take the credit. The people of Trantor found you through the man named Compor, though even they did not know what they had. The act of finding you attracted our attention to you. Golan Trevize, you have the gift of knowing the right thing to do.† â€Å"I deny it,† said Trevize. â€Å"You are, every once in a while, sure. And we want you to be sure this time on behalf of the Galaxy. You do not wish the responsibility, perhaps. You may do your best not to have to choose. Nevertheless, you will realize that it is right to do so. You will be sure! And you will then choose. Once we found you, we knew the search was over and for years we have labored to encourage a course of action that would, without direct mentalic interference, so influence events that all three of you – Mayor Branno, Speaker Gendibal, and Councilman Trevize – would be in the neighborhood of Gaia at the same time. We have done it.† Trevize said, â€Å"At this point in space, under present circumstances, is it not true, Gaia – if that is what you want me to call you – that you can overpower both the Mayor and the Speaker? Is it not true that you can establish this living Galaxy you speak of without my doing anything? Why, then, do you not?† Novi said, â€Å"I do not know if I can explain this to your satisfaction. Gaia was formed thousands of years ago with the help of robots that once, for a brief time, served the human species and now serve them no more. They made it quite clear to us that we could survive only by a strict application of the Three Laws of Robotics as applied to life generally. The First Law, in those terms, is: ‘Gaia may not harm life or, through inaction, allow life to come to harm. ‘ We have followed this rule through all of our history and we can do no other. â€Å"The result is that we are now helpless. We cannot force our vision of the living Galaxy upon a quintillion human beings and countless other forms of life and perhaps do harm to vast numbers. Nor can we do nothing and watch the Galaxy half-destroy itself in a struggle that we might have prevented. We do not know whether action or inaction will cost the Galaxy less; nor, if we choose action, do we know whether supporting Terminus or Trantor will cost the Galaxy less. Let Councilman Trevize decide then – and whatever that decision is, Gaia will follow it.† Trevize said, â€Å"How do you expect me to make a decision? What do I do?† Novi said, â€Å"You have your computer. The people of Terminus did not know that when they made it, they made it better than they knew. The computer on board your ship incorporates some of Gaia. Place your hands on the terminals and think. You may think Mayor Branno's shield impervious, for instance. If you do, it is possible that she will at once use her weapons to disable or destroy the other two ships, establish physical rule over Gaia and, later on, Trantor.† â€Å"And you will do nothing to stop that?† said Trevize with astonishment. â€Å"Not a thing. If you are sure that domination by Terminus will do the Galaxy less harm than any other alternative, we will gladly help that domination along – even at the cost of our own destruction. â€Å"On the other hand, you may find Speaker Gendibal's mentalic field and you may then join your computer-magnified push to his. He will, in that case, surely break free of me and push me back. He may then adjust the Mayor's mind and, in combination with her ships, establish physical domination over Gaia and assure the continued supremacy of the Seldon Plan. Gaia will not move to stop that. â€Å"Or you may find my mentalic field and join that – and then the living Galaxy will be set in motion to reach its fulfillment, not in this generation or the next, but after centuries of labor during which the Seldon Plan will continue. The choice is yours.† Mayor Branno said, â€Å"Wait! Do not make a decision just yet. May I speak?† Novi said, â€Å"You may speak freely. So may Speaker Gendibal.† Branno said, â€Å"Councilman Trevize. The last time we met on Terminus, you said, ‘The time may come, Madam Mayor, when you will ask me for an effort, and I will then do as I choose, and I will remember the past two days. ‘ I don't know whether you foresaw this, or intuitively felt it would happen, or simply had what this woman who speaks of a living Galaxy calls a talent for rightness. In any case, you were right. I am asking you for an effort on behalf of the Federation. â€Å"You may, I suppose, feel that you would like to even the score with me for having arrested and exiled you. I ask you to remember that I did it for what I considered the good of the Foundation Federation. Even if I were wrong or even if I acted out of callous self-interest, remember that it was I who did it – and not the Federation. Do not now destroy the entire Federation out of a desire to balance what I alone have done to you. Remember that you are a Foundationer and a human being, that you do not want to be a cipher in the plans of the bloodless mathematicians of Trantor or less than a cipher in a Galactic mish-mash of life and nonlife. You want yourself, your descendants, your fellow-people to be independent organisms, possessing free will. Nothing else matters. â€Å"These others may tell you that our Empire will lead to bloodshed and misery – but it need not. It is our free-will choice whether this should be so or not. We may choose otherwise. And, in any case, it is better to go to defeat with free will than to live in meaningless security as a cog in a machine. Observe that you are now being asked to make a decision as a free-will human being. These things of Gaia are unable to make a decision because their machinery will not allow them to, so that they depend on you. And they will destroy themselves if you bid them to. Is this what you want for all the Galaxy?† Trevize said, â€Å"I do not know that I have free will, Mayor. My mind may have been subtly dealt with, so that I will give the answer that is desired.† Novi said, â€Å"Your mind is totally untouched. If we could bring ourselves to adjust you to suit our purposes, this whole meeting would be unnecessary. Were we that unprincipled, we could have proceeded with what we would find most pleasing to ourselves with no concern for the greater needs and good of humanity as a whole.† Gendibal said, â€Å"I believe it is my turn to speak. Councilman Trevize, do not be guided by narrow parochialism. The fact that you are Terminus-born should not lead you to believe that Terminus comes before the Galaxy. For five centuries now, the Galaxy has been operating in accordance with the Seldon Plan. In and out of the Foundation Federation, that operation has been proceeding. â€Å"You are, and have been, part of the Seldon Plan above and beyond your lesser role as Foundationer. Do not do anything to disrupt the Plan, either on behalf of a narrow concept of patriotism or out of a romantic longing for the new and untried. The Second Foundationers will in no way hamper the free will of humanity. We are guides, not despots. â€Å"And we offer a Second Galactic Empire fundamentally different from the First. Throughout human history, no decade in all the tens of thousands of years during which hyperspatial travel has existed has been completely free of bloodshed and violent death throughout the Galaxy, even in those periods when the Foundation itself was at peace. Choose Mayor Branno and that will continue endlessly into the future. The same dreary, deadly round. The Seldon Plan offers release from that at last – and not at the price of becoming one more atom in a Galaxy of atoms, being reduced to equality with grass, bacteria, and dust.† Novi said, â€Å"What Speaker Gendibal says of the First Foundation's Second Empire, I agree with. What he says of his own, I do not. The Speakers of Trantor are, after all, independent free-will human beings and are the same as they have always been. Are they free of destructive competition, of politics, of clawing upward at all costs? Are there no quarrels and even hatreds at the Speaker's Table – and will they always be guides you dare follow? Put Speaker Gendibal on his honor and ask him this.† â€Å"No need to put me on my honor,† said Gendibal. â€Å"I freely admit we have our hatreds, competitions, and betrayals at the Table. But once a decision is reached, it is obeyed by all. There has never been an exception to this.† Trevize said, â€Å"What if I will not make a choice?† â€Å"You must,† said Novi. â€Å"You will know that it is right to do so and you will therefore make a choice.† â€Å"What if I try to make a choice and cannot?† â€Å"You must.† Trevize said, â€Å"How much time do I have?† Novi said, â€Å"Until you are sure, however much time that takes.† Trevize sat silently. Though the others were silent too, it seemed to Trevize that he could hear the pulsing of his bloodstream. He could hear Mayor Branno's voice say firmly, â€Å"Free will!† Speaker Gendibal's voice said peremptorily, â€Å"Guidance and peace!† Novi's voice said wistfully, â€Å"Life.† Trevize turned and found Pelorat looking at him intently. He said, â€Å"Janov. Have you heard all this?† â€Å"Yes, I have, Golan.† â€Å"What do you think?† â€Å"The decision is not mine.† â€Å"I know that. But what do you think.† â€Å"I don't know. I am frightened by all three alternatives. And yet a peculiar thought comes to me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yes?† â€Å"When we first went out into space, you showed me the Galaxy. Do you remember?† â€Å"Of course.† â€Å"You speeded time and the Galaxy rotated visibly. And I said, as though anticipating this very time, ‘The Galaxy looks like a living thing, crawling through space. ‘ Do you think that, in a way, it is alive already?† And Trevize, remembering that moment, was suddenly sure. He remembered suddenly his feeling that Pelorat, too, would have a vital role to play. He turned in haste, anxious not to have time to think, to doubt, to grow uncertain. He placed his hands on the terminals and thought with an intensity he had never known before. He had made his decision – the decision on which the fate of the Galaxy hung.