Gattaca Oral Presentation Draft Essay Example for Free

Gattaca Oral Presentation Draft Essay From the day Vincent was born, he had always been concidered as highly flawed, and as an invalid. His parents were planning on carrying on the family name with their first born child by calling Vincent, Anton, after his father, Antonio. However, once finding out that Vincent was prone to illness such as neurological disorder, manic depression, attention deficit disorder, heart failure, and was expected to live for only 30.2 years, Vincents father felt that he wasnt worthy of the family name, and decided to call him Vincent Anton instead. Mother and Father, Maria and Antonio had a second child, who Antonio felt was worthy of the family name, because unlike Vincent who was conceived the natural way, Anton was born through genetic engineering. As the two boys grew up, Anton was always considered superior to Vincent as he was always upstaging him at everything they did. Until one day, when the two boys played a game of chicken. Like usual, Anton was expecting Vincent to turn around and swim back to shore. However, no matter how much effort he put into trying to beat his brother, Anton and Vincent were neck and neck the whole swim. Anton was confused at how Vincent still had the energy to swim, and finally Anton wasnt able to go on any longer and he gave up. Passing out and starting to drown, Vincent saved his brothers life. For the first time in their lives, Vincent was better than Anton at something. Even though everybody believed that he wasnt good enough to acheive his goals, Vincent now believed that he could achieve anything that he set his mind to. Vincent decided to run away from home and he got a job as a janitor at Gattaca. This was his first glimpse of Gattaca, and he liked what he saw. Vincent met Jerome (Aka Eugene), a depressed and alcoholic Gattaca valid who was hit by a car, which left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Nobody that was apart of the Gattaca institite knew that Eugene was in a wheelchair, which saw an opportunity for Vincent. Eugene decided that his life was concidered over because he was crippled, and he felt that even though his dream of becoming a gold medal swimmer would never come true, he would attempt helping Vincents dream of travelling into space to come true, so he gave a makeover and his next-to-perfect vailid identidy to Vincent. Eugene would shed and collect his own dead skin particles, loose hair, urine and blood and would store them away for Vincent to pass off as his own and each day, Vincent would remove any loose skin and hair that was at risk of somebody finding and tracing it back to him. After being accepted into Gattaca, Vincent was going to be apart of the once in a lifetime space launch to Saturns largest moon, Titan. However, one of the directors was trying to stop the space launch from happening, resulting in his murder. Coincedentally, one of Vincents invalid eyelashes was found at the crime scene which started a search for him because everybody thought that he was the murderer, when infact, he wasnt. Although everybody knew what Vincents invalid self looked like, nobody suspected the valid Vincent (Aka Jerome) to be the murderer because he no longer looked like his old self. Nobody suspected Vincent to be imitating Jerome except for Vincents brother Anton, who was working as a Gattca detective. It took a while for Anton to confirm his suspicion, but he did in the end, although didnt turn his brother in for fraud. Once arriving to Gattaca on the day of the Titan space launch, there was an unexpected urine sample test. Vincent took the urine test and it came up with a photo of his invalid self. However, the Gattaca doctor felt somewhat connected to Vincent because his son was also classed as an invalid and had health problems just like Vincent did. The doctor then revelied that he had known the whole time and turned his invalid into a valid and therefore, Vincent was able to continue on his space mission. In the end scene, we see Eugene sitting in his boiler and Vincent sitting in the rocket capsule. The rocket launching and the boiler lighting fire happen at syncrinized times. Eugene commited suicide and Vincents dreams had come true. Not only was he going to space, but he had also fallen in love with a co-worker, Irene, who would be eagerly waiting for his return to earth.

Difference Between Telecommunication and Mass Media

Difference Between Telecommunication and Mass Media What are the main differences between telecommunications (point-to-point) and mass media (one-to-many)? Compare the two using examples. Telecommunications and mass media are distinguished from one another by a variety of technical, infrastructural, and interactive differences. This essay will, broadly, outline and describe these differences. One of the first points to make, however, is that both forms have their own prehistories and heritage in earlier forms of communication. While â€Å"telecommunications† (point-to-point) and â€Å"mass media† (one-to-many) are defined conventionally and in the contemporary world by telephones and the internet (for example), they also have earlier forms and precedents. Telecommunications emerged properly from early telegraph networks, which, in anticipation of later more global systems, were constituted by a network of nodes (towers), which enabled the sending and receiving (and thus coding and decoding) of messages and information. Similarly, mass media has its own heritage in almost any form of communicated information that had a potentially anonymous and spatially distributed audience; the printing press of the 16th century enabled the steady reproduction of the printed word through block cutting and, latter, movable type. These technologies allowed for the production and dissemination of the first newspapers, broadsides and pamphlets – documents will constitute the first â€Å"mass† conversations of literate society in the early modern period. Broadly speaking, telecommunications are then defined by a number of technical as well as infrastructural or procedural differences. Firstly, they allow for the narrowly focused communication between two locations or persons – in other words, they have focus and, at least in theory, secrecy. Secondly, telecommunications allow for the sending of the message without the physical presence of a message. Because the technology relies on a form of encoding or compression, a translation from a set of words or ideas into a transmittable data stream – such as light, waves or electricity – they do not require the automatic transcription of the message itself. The early optical telegraph required direct line-of-sight to enable this transmission, and for an informed person to be present, in view, in order to decode and reassemble the message from its parts (flashes of light, mechanical patterns, etc). The printing press Thirdly, telecommunications are interactive in so far as they enable a reply to be sent along the same channel, directly from sender to receiver. In this sense, their emphasis is on passing information, but also on receiving a response to that transmission. Over time, however, the spatial notion behind telecommunications has shifted; whereas early forms – such as optical telecommunications – required line of sight over short distances, modern forms, from visible light, waves, and electricity, do not require line of sight, and do not require close spatial proximity. This is a function of the expansion in the infrastructure of telecommunications globally; a telephone call is transmitted and received to a number of mediating nodes – and passed on – before it reaches its target. As such, especially in the modern period, the point-to-point nature and process of telecommunications has become its most important definition. In its earliest ramifications, though, t his could also have a â€Å"public† dimension ; the fire flare chain used to signal the arrival of the Spanish Armada was both a point-to-point transmission (from the signaller to the navy headquarters), but also a public signal – the meaning of the flares was well understood by those who saw it in 1588. Optical beacon; both â€Å"point-to-point† and â€Å"public† Mass media is broadly defined as â€Å"one-to-many† communication. Such a definition, while useful, has its drawbacks and limitations. Namely, that â€Å"media† has different connotations and structures of transmission than the process of broadcasting itself (McQuail, 2010). Whereas a newspaper would be defined as â€Å"media†, it is the process of distribution and receipt that constitute its â€Å"mass† or â€Å"broadcast† element. Furthermore, in the modern sense there is an attachment to the idea of â€Å"mass media† as â€Å"effective, or even affective, media† as a transmission in which the â€Å"many† are actively engaged with and responsive to the â€Å"one†. Broadly speaking, however, mass media is defined by the transmission of information from one point to many potential points. Importantly, however, it does not have to be received; a television can be switched on or off, receiving only parts or elements of a message, without interrupting the primary transmission itself, which is continuous. The same applies for radio communication, which can be broadcast technically and successfully without any receivers picking the message up (such as a radio wave distress call, or the Morse code that was used to signal the sinking of the titanic in 1911). Secondly, point-to-mass communication is public; that is, its message is not intended for a specific individual or location, but for a potentially infinite number of individuals. While telecommunications are used to share private or even secret information (from a personal phone call to a national secret), mass media is characterised by its publicity. While it does not have to be â€Å"received† however, in order to work technically, it still requires receipt and response in order to justify its initial broadcasting. If radio stations or Television Networks had no audience, the financial rationale for their existence would be lost. In this sense, it is much more fluid in terms of content than telecommunications. The third and final distinction of point-to-mass communication from telecommunications is the fact that it is one way. While the networks and nodes of telecommunications infrastructure are set up in such a way that direct interaction is possible, mediums such as TV or radio do not require interaction – they are not targeted at a specific individual. However, mass media is different again from telecommunications in its social implications ; while the telegraph had the social and economic effect of enabling wider trading networks, of influencing diplomacy, and of – at least partially – connecting otherwise distant areas, mass media has an accumulative and far wider social impact. The printing press was linked with the protestant reformation of the 16th and 17th centuries, with the rise of universities, and with the spread of literacy. These had implications not only for culture, but for social relationships and interactions (Isaac and McKay, 2000, 10). Scholars, such as Joshua Meyrowitz, have suggested that such transformations in social life also have psychological implications, where television in the course of the 20th century had a role in enabling people to relate in new, â€Å"placeless† ways. This is aligned with the argument of Benedict Arnold who, in his Imagined Communities, showed how mass media is implicated in the â€Å"imaginations† of national and other identities, where â€Å"it [the nation] is imagined as a community, because, regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may prevail in each, the nation is always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship† an â€Å"imagined community† that is interlinked through shared, mass media experiences and identities (2006, 7). However, because of this one-way or unidirectional technique, mass communication is open to greater fluctuations in responses. As blah argues in a cultural history of radio, there have been times when it was both the primary device for popular entertainment in the home, but also a time when it was not responded to at all (2002, 2-3). Such transformations have a greater effect on the kinds of information transmitted on these media; while it was once characterised by popular, talk entertainment, radio is increasingly a site for music, with talk entertainment having been taken over by audio-visual broadcasts on digital TV, and through audio-visual mass communication on the internet. At the same time, this technology, because of its fluctuations and its impacts, has been a site for greater anxiety than telecommunications; numerous theories of â€Å"media injection† have linked mass media with violent behaviour (such as shootings and â€Å"copycat† killings, such as the rece nt Batman cinema shootings in America). This anxiety stems from the concern over who controls and therefore authorises mass communication, and thus of how it implies a less visible â€Å"systems of oppression† than telecommunications (where personal, emotional lenses are used to internet messages and information received) (Peterson, 2005, 105). It is interesting than that, with the recent Snowden/NSA/GCHQ revelations, that telecommunications has been implicated in the same anxieties that used to structure television and mass media (Gauntlett and Hill, 1999, 72). The internet, however, offers a technology where the main distinctions between telecommunications and mass communication break down and interact. Media such as Twitter, a social networking and interactive tool, are both mass media and telecommunications in their infrastructure and technique ; a â€Å"tweet†, or message, can be broadcast to a posters followers (from 0 to millions), while there is also a channel for responding directly – the reply. Similarly, channels such as YouTube allow for individuals to post video content to a mass audience, but also have the feature that enable the viewer to comment and respond. Importantly, however, these responses are not private, but also public; they therefore become part of the public sphere while also being, in a sense, â€Å"point-to-point†. This essay has defined telecommunications (point-to-point) and mass media (point-to-many), and has also described their primary differences. Furthermore, it has outlined, however briefly, the kinds of implications these differences have. In the final section of the essay, it was argued that new and emergent forms of mass communication are unique in so far as they combine aspects of both techniques of communication. Bibliography Anderson, B (2006) Imagined Communities: reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. Verso Gauntlett, D and Hill, A (1999) TV Living: television, culture and everyday life. London: Routledge Hilmes, M and Loviglio, J (2002) Radio Reader: essays in the cultural history of radio. Psychology Press Isaac, P and McKay, B (2000) The Mighty Engine: the printing press and its impact. Oak Knoll Press McQuail, D (2010) McQuails Mass Communication Theory (Sixth Edition). SAGE Peterson, M (2005) Anthropology Mass Communication: media and myth in the new millennium. Berghahn Books 1

The Sabotaged Friendship of Authors Ernest Hemingway and Sherwood Ander

The Sabotaged Friendship of Authors Ernest Hemingway and Sherwood Anderson Ernest Hemingway, an intrinsically gifted author in his own right, owes much of his early success to the mentor he befriended and eventually estranged, Sherwood Anderson. Hemingway’s renowned knack for sabotaging personal relationships throughout his life started early with Anderson. The two writers met in a suburb of Chicago named Oak Park while Hemingway worked as an editor for the Cooperative Commonwealth in 1919. Anderson would go on to help Ernest publish his first successful work (inspired by Sherwood’s own writing), In Our Time, but the friendship would come to an abrupt end in 1926 courtesy of Hemingway’s satirical jab at his former mentor in The Torrents of Spring. Sherwood Anderson was a relatively well-established author when he met Ernest Hemingway. Before they encountered one another, Hemingway had already read Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio. Ernest â€Å"was a great admirer of [Anderson’s] work, particularly those tales which had sporting scenes for their backgrounds† (Schevill 153). Whenever the two were around each other, Hemingway was always â€Å"quiet and attentive† (Fenton 104), though Ernest’s friend, Kate Smith recalled: â€Å"It probably means a storm’s brewing† (Fenton 104). Hemingway would internalize all that he learned from his time spent with Anderson in Chicago. The two shared a similar interest in â€Å"sex as a basic human drive,...the examination of youth and its distresses,†¦[and] the importance of emotion and feeling† (Fenton 148). Anderson himself denied ever influencing Hemingway’s work â€Å"as a whole† (Fenton 105). Anderson me rely recognized the talent that Hemingway possessed. Motivated by his appreciation... ...rite to him that he meant the book as a joke, though Sherwood failed to recognize the humor in it. Anderson interpreted the book as a personal insult. The relationship between the two authors was never the same. Later in 1926, the two met in Paris over drinks, but Anderson noted that Hemingway had become â€Å"too self-centered, too concerned with his own career to the exclusion of personal relationships† (Schevill 238). The rift created by the Torrents of Spring would never be mended. Over the years, Anderson remained an avid fan of Hemingway’s work, but their friendship dwindled out of existence. Sherwood Anderson inspired multitudes of young writers: Faulkner, Joyce, Hemingway, Stein, to name a few, with his simple narrative tone and colloquial settings. Anderson served as the perfect mentor in cultivating the talented minds of some of America’s finest writers.

Sandro Botticellis Painting, The Birth of Venus :: Visual Arts Paintings Art

Sandro Botticelli's Painting, The Birth of Venus Sandro Botticelli (1444-1510) was a Florentine painter. Almost all of Botticelli’s life was spent in Florence. His genre of painting was based around mythological ideals and also religious subject matter. Botticelli painted in a highly personal style characterized by elegant execution, a sense of melancholy, and a strong emphasis on line; details appear as sumptuous still life’s. His paintings like The Birth of Venus, were a great impact on the Humanist art movement. Humanism was a belief in human effort rather than religion, showing emphasis on education and the expansion of knowledge; focusing especially on classical antiquity.[1] The Birth of Venus shows Venus riding upon a giant cockle shell, intently this focuses our attention directly towards her. Other figures in the painting include Zephyrus (the west wind) and the nymph Pomona. The painting is a mythological narrative which illustrates the birth of Venus, goddess of love.[2] The narrative has given us the explanation that â€Å"Zephyrus (the west wind) blows Venus, born of the sea foam and carried on a cockle shell, to her sacred island, Cyprus. There, the nymph Pomana runs to meet her with a brocaded mantle.†[3] Botticelli has achieved a sense of movement in the painting; Zephyrus’ gusts catch the brocaded mantle in undulation, carrying also the perfumed rose petals that swiftly fall upon the whitecaps. The Birth of Venus was painted in ca.1482 and has been exhibited at the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence. This painting was intended to be one of Botticelli’s most famous artworks painted for the Medici. The Medici were enthusiastic art collectors of the humanist art movement during the Renaissance. This painting can also be considered a relevant work of art, and the rebirth of the ancient ideal of beauty in the early Renaissance. The Birth of Venus is a work measuring approximately 5’ 8† x 9’ 1†.

Grapes of Wrath :: Essays Papers

Grapes of Wrath2 In the Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck uses intercalary chapters to provide background for the various themes of the novel, as well to set the tone of the novel". The turtle is a metaphor for the working class farmers whose stories and struggles are recounted in The Grapes of Wrath. In Chapter 3, the turtle plods along dutifully, but is consistently confronted with danger and setbacks. Significantly, the dangers posed to the turtle are those of modernity and business. It is the intrusion of cars and the building of highways that endanger the turtle. The truck that strikes it is a symbol of big business and commerce. â€Å"The turtle entered a dust road and jerked itself along, drawing a wavy shallow trench in the dust with its shell† (pg 21) shows that the Joad family that will soon be introduced will experience similar travails as the turtle, as they plod along wishing only to survive, yet are brutally pushed aside by corporate interests. Chapter 7, another intercalary chapter critiques yet another part of the business system. The owners of the car dealerships mean solely to exploit impoverished buyers. They do not profit from selling cars that will last, but rather from finding the most ill-used vehicle, giving it the appearance of reliability, and pawning it off on desperate farmers wishing to get to California. There is no compassion in the car sales, but rather a perpetual cycle of exploitation. This indicates what the Joad family must certainly have experienced to get their car to go west, yet places it in a larger context. The chapter makes it clear that they are not the only family to experience this. As the Joad family faces the same trials that the turtle faces, and as the desperate farmers have to deal with car dealerships, the intercalary chapters help to set the tone of, as well as integrate the various themes of The

Pay for Performance

Pay for Performance Park University Overview Incentive pay, also known as â€Å"pay for performance† is generally given for specific performance results rather than simply for time worked. While incentives are not the answer to all personnel challenges, they can do much to increase worker performance. (Billikopf) Performance pay has various names: merit pay, pay for performance, knowledge-and-skill- based pay, or individual or group incentive pay. Delisio) Pay for performance systems have further been proven to have two advantages for organizations: attracting more high-quality employees and motivating employees to exert more effort at their jobs. (Gordon, Kaswin) This paper will show the positive benefits of performance pay as well as some steps to implement the pay for performance program. Productivity Implications Companies that have switched from salaries to individual incentives have increased productivity dramatically—some by as much as 44 percent.Linking pay to p erformance not only motivates but also helps to recruit and retain the most talented employees. New graduates seek to join organizations that make use of performance-related rewards, and they have long-term loyalty to these organizations. The use of performance pay has also grown in popularity, as 67 percent of companies offer some form of performance pay to employees below the executive level. Likewise, the practice of compensating managers below the senior executive level with stock options and other forms of long-term incentives has risen dramatically.This is because performance-sensitive pay aligns the interest of all levels of employees with the interests of shareholders. (Gordon, Kaswin) Implementing a pay for performance system has been shown to resolve organizational problems because it aligns the preferences of firms and employees. In addition, creating a pay for performance system serves as a sorting mechanism to identify and attract the most capable employees. Gordon, Kas win) The economic downturn has accentuated the need to contain compensation costs by holding down fixed-based salary expenses. To maintain competitive pay plans, an increasing number of companies are giving more employees across different job functions the opportunity to earn variable, performance-driven incentives for achieving individual and organizational goals. (Gordon, Kaswin) Pay for Performance Objectives Developing a pay for performance philosophy and strategy is easier when we understand what such an approach is intended to achieve.If effectively constructed, pay for performance compensation plans should help a company fulfill the following objectives: * Recruit and retain the highest quality employees * Communicate and reinforce the values, goals and objectives of the company * Engage employees in the organization's success * Reward contributors for successful achievements (The VisionLink Advisory Group) Line of Sight Ultimately, the combination of rewards strategies that a company institutes should help to raw a correlation in the mind of the employees between interdependent elements: * Vision – where is this company going? * Strategy – how is it going to get there? * Roles and Expectations – what role does each key person have in that strategy and what is expected of him or her in that role? * Rewards – how will each employee be financially rewarded for the achievement of the expectations associated with his or her role    Pay for performance is the mechanism that is used to create this â€Å"line of sight† between related elements of company culture and purpose.In the final analysis, compensation needs to reinforce the behaviors that are desired within the strategy framework of the company in a way that is compelling enough to produce the desired performance. (The VisionLink Advisory Group) In adopting a rewards philosophy for how people will be remunerated for their contributions within an organization, a comp any has to determine what the right balance should be between short and long-term compensation and guaranteed versus performance compensation.Pivotal in that philosophy development is how and to what extent pay will be tied to specific types of performance. This issue will not be treated the same in every organization. However, every business should be able to identify certain performance objectives it wants its workforce to fulfill and the financial outcome that will be achieved if that result is attained. Such a projection can be translated into an increased shareholder value figure. (The VisionLink Advisory Group)Features of Effective Plans Top Management Support Supervisors must understand the incentive pay process in order to support and administer it. Oftentimes, a lack of understanding causes managers to ignore or adapt the process as they see fit. Moreover, if supervisors are not trained on how to measure performance, the process will not be standardized across the company. (Gordon, Kaswin) Having buy-in from key stakeholders is crucial for the success of an incentive pay system.For example, if top management does not support such a program, lower-level managers will place little importance on effectively administering the program. Hence, a lack of top management support often leads to a lack of accountability. (Gordon, Kaswin) Communication Consistent and methodical communication is necessary when implementing an incentive pay plan. It will ensure employees understand what is expected of them while decreasing the likelihood of morale problems that result from misinterpretations of how incentives are awarded. Gordon, Kaswin) Performance Management Oftentimes, a flawed performance management system is the main reason an incentive pay system in not successful. When designing a performance management process that will be linked with pay, it is imperative that both employees and managers know what the individual goals are, how they will be measured, and ho w they will be compensated when achieved. Managers must also be careful to ensure that there is adequate differentiation between high and low performers. If mediocre employees are given an average merit increase, hey will perceive that their performance is adequate. Conversely, if excellent performers only receive a little more in incentive pay than average performers, they will perceive that the company does not value their performance. (Gordon, Kaswin) Appropriate Rewards The amount of incentive a company should offer to an individual depends on current income, amount of effort needed to invest, likelihood of obtaining the reward, acceptance of risk, equity of reward and contribution, and industry standards.A minimum for incentive pay is considered to be 5 to 15 percent of an individual’s base pay. (Gordon, Kaswin) Considerations before Implementing a Plan The best compensation plans take into account several key considerations. Before instituting a pay for performance syst em, companies should define which employees should be eligible for the program. Furthermore, it is important for companies to determine the role of equity in a total rewards framework from the perspectives of the employee and employer, as well as in terms of cost.Steps should be taken to (1) review the current objectives and purpose of the equity plan; (2) identify alternative rewards; (3) develop a communication plan for how the effectiveness of the program will be measured; (4) gather employees’ perspectives via surveys, focus groups, or internal research; (5) gather external market information; (6) determine the costs; (7) develop recommendations for design change; and (8) create the communication plan. The communication strategy for the program should encompass the value employees place on various rewards and how the changes will be perceived by employees.It should then monitor and manage employees’ reactions to the changes in their compensation structure. (Gordon, Kaswin) Objectives of a Broad-Based Incentive Plan When creating an incentive plan, the organization has to determine and clearly define the goals for the program. The objectives should be aligned with the business strategy. These goals should be utilized to shape the incentive plan as well as the expectations and objectives of individual employees. A main reason why incentive plans fail is because they are introduced as an inflexible process.The incentive plan should be first implemented on a small group of employees in order to determine the flaws and rectify them before implementing them across the enterprise. Once the plan is implemented, it should be regularly adapted. (Gordon, Kaswin) If companies want a pay for performance system, the firm should define the desired performance and establish methods of measuring it first. Then, connect goals for individuals, for business units, and for the company. Meanwhile, track everyone’s progress and periodically give back the dat a to raise everyone’s awareness of the program.Sixty-two percent of compensation professionals report that their organizations did not attempt to measure the return on investment of their compensation program. (Gordon, Kaswin) Conclusion Research indicates that broad-based incentive plans can be utilized as a means to encourage both employee performance and productivity. When implementing an incentive plan, several considerations are needed to ensure the plan is successful. However, it is important to note that incentive plans cannot ensure employee productivity by themselves. They must be coupled with effective human resources practices in order to ensure a successful work environment.These include determining the appropriate rewards, instituting comprehensive performance management systems, widespread and effective communication, as well as buy-in from top management to support the compensation plan. Over the past decade and increasingly in the past year, performance pay ha s become the standard as companies reward strong performance and lower overhead costs. This trend is expected to continue in the coming years. (Gordon, Kaswin) Like most things in business, compensation is something that requires evaluation, study, assessment, strategy, modeling and integration.Achieving a pay for performance culture does not happen without paying attention to the behaviors, activities, rewards and motivations that have to be linked and reinforced through a well-engineered and effectively executed process. And if that process does not tie rewards to shareholder financial objectives, employ the proper mix of compensation elements, result in meaningful dollars, embrace performance that employees can impact and are effectively communicated and reinforced, then the results it produces will likely fall short. (The VisionLink Advisory Group) Pay for performance systems need ngoing attention to keep them functioning properly. Organizational goals will change; performance g oals and measures will become obsolete; performance may improve or decline; managers may make errors in evaluating performance or allocating rewards. For all these reasons and more, agencies need to monitor the operation and effectiveness of their pay for performance systems and modify them accordingly. Only by giving the pay systems and related organizational requirements the ongoing attention that they warrant will agencies be able to obtain optimal results from their pay for performance systems. U. S. Merit Systems Protection Board) Works Cited Billikopf, Gregoria. (2001) Incentive Pay (Pay for Performance). The Regents of the University of California, retrieved from http://www. cnr. berkeley. edu/ucce50/ag-labor/7labor/08. htm The VisionLink Advisory Group, The Five Essentials of Pay for Performance, retrieved from http://www. vladvisors. com/images/PDF/VisionLink_Five-Essentials-Pay-For-Performance. pdf Gordon, A. A. , Kaswin, J. L. , Effective Employee Incentive Plans: Feature s and Implementation  Processes, Cornell HR Review, 2010, retrieved from http://cornellhrreview. rg/2010/05/31/effective-employee-incentive-plans-features-and-implementation-processes/ U. S. Merit Systems Protection Board, (2006) Designing an Effective Pay for Performance Compensation System. Retrieved from http://www. mspb. gov/netsearch/viewdocs. aspx? docnumber=224104;version=224323;application=ACROBAT Delisio, E. R. , Pay for Performance: What Are the Issues? , retrieved from http://www. educationworld. com/a_issues/issues/issues374a. shtml

A Game of Thrones Chapter Forty-one

Jon You are as hopeless as any boys I have ever trained,† Ser Alliser Thorne announced when they had all assembled in the yard. â€Å"Your hands were made for manure shovels, not for swords, and if it were up to me, the lot of you would be set to herding swine. But last night I was told that Gueren is marching five new boys up the kingsroad. One or two may even be worth the price of piss. To make room for them, I have decided to pass eight of you on to the Lord Commander to do with as he will.† He called out the names one by one. â€Å"Toad. Stone Head. Aurochs. Lover. Pimple. Monkey. Ser Loon.† Last, he looked at Jon. â€Å"And the Bastard.† Pyp let fly a whoop and thrust his sword into the air. Ser Alliser fixed him with a reptile stare. â€Å"They will call you men of Night's Watch now, but you are bigger fools than the Mummer's Monkey here if you believe that. You are boys still, green and stinking of summer, and when the winter comes you will die like flies.† And with that, Ser Alliser Thorne took his leave of them. The other boys gathered round the eight who had been named, laughing and cursing and offering congratulations. Halder smacked Toad on the butt with the flat of his sword and shouted, â€Å"Toad, of the Night's Watch!† Yelling that a black brother needed a horse, Pyp leapt onto Grenn's shoulders, and they tumbled to the ground, rolling and punching and hooting. Dareon dashed inside the armory and returned with a skin of sour red. As they passed the wine from hand to hand, grinning like fools, Jon noticed Samwell Tarly standing by himself beneath a bare dead tree in the corner of the yard. Jon offered him the skin. â€Å"A swallow of wine?† Sam shook his head. â€Å"No thank you, Jon.† â€Å"Are you well?† â€Å"Very well, truly,† the fat boy lied. â€Å"I am so happy for you all.† His round face quivered as he forced a smile. â€Å"You will be First Ranger someday, just as your uncle was.† â€Å"Is,† Jon corrected. He would not accept that Benjen Stark was dead. Before he could say more, Haider cried, â€Å"Here, you planning to drink that all yourself?† Pyp snatched the skin from his hand and danced away, laughing. While Grenn seized his arm, Pyp gave the skin a squeeze, and a thin stream of red squirted Jon in the face. Haider howled in protest at the waste of good wine. Jon sputtered and struggled. Matthar and Jeren climbed the wall and began pelting them all with snowballs. By the time he wrenched free, with snow in his hair and wine stains on his surcoat, Samwell Tarly had gone. That night, Three-Finger Hobb cooked the boys a special meal to mark the occasion. When Jon arrived at the common hall, the Lord Steward himself led him to the bench near the fire. The older men clapped him on the arm in passing. The eight soon-to-be brothers feasted on rack of lamb baked in a crust of garlic and herbs, garnished with sprigs of mint, and surrounded by mashed yellow turnips swimming in butter. â€Å"From the Lord Commander's own table,† Bowen Marsh told them. There were salads of spinach and chickpeas and turnip greens, and afterward bowls of iced blueberries and sweet cream. â€Å"Do you think they'll keep us together?† Pyp wondered as they gorged themselves happily. Toad made a face. â€Å"I hope not. I'm sick of looking at those ears of yours.† â€Å"Ho,† said Pyp. â€Å"Listen to the crow call the raven black. You're certain to be a ranger, Toad. They'll want you as far from the castle as they can. If Mance Rayder attacks, lift your visor and show your face, and he'll run off screaming.† Everyone laughed but Grenn. â€Å"I hope I'm a ranger.† â€Å"You and everyone else,† said Matthar. Every man who wore the black walked the Wall, and every man was expected to take up steel in its defense, but the rangers were the true fighting heart of the Night's Watch. It was they who dared ride beyond the Wall, sweeping through the haunted forest and the icy mountain heights west of the Shadow Tower, fighting wildlings and giants and monstrous snow bears. â€Å"Not everyone,† said Halder. â€Å"It's the builders for me. What use would rangers be if the Wall fell down?† The order of builders provided the masons and carpenters to repair keeps and towers, the miners to dig tunnels and crush stone for roads and footpaths, the woodsmen to clear away new growth wherever the forest pressed too close to the Wall. Once, it was said, they had quarried immense blocks of ice from frozen lakes deep in the haunted forest, dragging them south on sledges so the Wall might be raised ever higher. Those days were centuries gone, however; now, it was all they could do to ride the Wall from Eastwatch to the Shadow Tower, watching for cracks or signs of melt and making what repairs they could. â€Å"The Old Bear's no fool,† Dareon observed. â€Å"You're certain to be a builder, and Jon's certain to be a ranger. He's the best sword and the best rider among us, and his uncle was the First before he . . . † His voice trailed off awkwardly as he realized what he had almost said. â€Å"Benjen Stark is still First Ranger,† Jon Snow told him, toying with his bowl of blueberries. The rest might have given up all hope of his uncle's safe return, but not him. He pushed away the berries, scarcely touched, and rose from the bench. â€Å"Aren't you going to eat those?† Toad asked. â€Å"They're yours.† Jon had hardly tasted Hobb's great feast. â€Å"I could not eat another bite.† He took his cloak from its hook near the door and shouldered his way out. Pyp followed him. â€Å"Jon, what is it?† â€Å"Sam,† he admitted. â€Å"He was not at table tonight.† â€Å"It's not like him to miss a meal,† Pyp said thoughtfully. â€Å"Do you suppose he's taken ill?† â€Å"He's frightened. We're leaving him.† He remembered the day he had left Winterfell, all the bittersweet farewells; Bran lying broken, Robb with snow in his hair, Arya raining kisses on him after he'd given her Needle. â€Å"Once we say our words, we'll all have duties to attend to. Some of us may be sent away, to Eastwatch or the Shadow Tower. Sam will remain in training, with the likes of Rast and Cuger and these new boys who are coming up the kingsroad. Gods only know what they'll be like, but you can bet Ser Alliser will send them against him, first chance he gets.† Pyp made a grimace. â€Å"You did all you could.† â€Å"All we could wasn't enough,† Jon said. A deep restlessness was on him as he went back to Hardin's Tower for Ghost. The direwolf walked beside him to the stables. Some of the more skittish horses kicked at their stalls and laid back their ears as they entered. Jon saddled his mare, mounted, and rode out from Castle Black, south across the moonlit night. Ghost raced ahead of him, flying over the ground, gone in the blink of an eye. Jon let him go. A wolf needed to hunt. He had no destination in mind. He wanted only to ride. He followed the creek for a time, listening to the icy trickle of water over rock, then cut across the fields to the kingsroad. It stretched out before him, narrow and stony and pocked with weeds, a road of no particular promise, yet the sight of it filled Jon Snow with a vast longing. Winterfell was down that road, and beyond it Riverrun and King's Landing and the Eyrie and so many other places; Casterly Rock, the Isle of Faces, the red mountains of Dorne, the hundred islands of Braavos in the sea, the smoking ruins of old Valyria. All the places that Jon would never see. The world was down that road . . . and he was here. Once he swore his vow, the Wall would be his home until he was old as Maester Aemon. â€Å"I have not sworn yet,† he muttered. He was no outlaw, bound to take the black or pay the penalty for his crimes. He had come here freely, and he might leave freely . . . until he said the words. He need only ride on, and he could leave it all behind. By the time the moon was full again, he would be back in Winterfell with his brothers. Your half brothers, a voice inside reminded him. And Lady Stark, who will not welcome you. There was no place for him in Winterfell, no place in King's Landing either. Even his own mother had not had a place for him. The thought of her made him sad. He wondered who she had been, what she had looked like, why his father had left her. Because she was a whore or an adulteress, fool. Something dark and dishonorable, or else why was Lord Eddard too ashamed to speak of her? Jon Snow turned away from the kingsroad to look behind him. The fires of Castle Black were hidden behind a hill, but the Wall was there, pale beneath the moon, vast and cold, running from horizon to horizon. He wheeled his horse around and started for home. Ghost returned as he crested a rise and saw the distant glow of lamplight from the Lord Commander's Tower. The direwolf s muzzle was red with blood as he trotted beside the horse. Jon found himself thinking of Samwell Tarly again on the ride back. By the time he reached the stables, he knew what he must do. Maester Aemon's apartments were in a stout wooden keep below the rookery. Aged and frail, the maester shared his chambers with two of the younger stewards, who tended to his needs and helped him in his duties. The brothers joked that he had been given the two ugliest men in the Night's Watch; being blind, he was spared having to look at them. Clydas was short, bald, and chinless, with small pink eyes like a mole. Chett had a wen on his neck the size of a pigeon's egg, and a face red with boils and pimples. Perhaps that was why he always seemed so angry. It was Chett who answered Jon's knock. â€Å"I need to speak to Maester Aemon,† Jon told him. â€Å"The maester is abed, as you should be. Come back on the morrow and maybe he'll see you.† He began to shut the door. Jon jammed it open with his boot. â€Å"I need to speak to him now. The morning will be too late.† Chett scowled. â€Å"The maester is not accustomed to being woken in the night. Do you know how old he is?† â€Å"Old enough to treat visitors with more courtesy than you,† Jon said. â€Å"Give him my pardons. I would not disturb his rest if it were not important.† â€Å"And if I refuse?† Jon had his boot wedged solidly in the door. â€Å"I can stand here all night if I must.† The black brother made a disgusted noise and opened the door to admit him. â€Å"Wait in the library. There's wood. Start a fire. I won't have the maester catching a chill on account of you.† Jon had the logs crackling merrily by the time Chett led in Maester Aemon. The old man was clad in his bed robe, but around his throat was the chain collar of his order. A maester did not remove it even to sleep. â€Å"The chair beside the fire would be pleasant,† he said when he felt the warmth on his face. When he was settled comfortably, Chett covered his legs with a fur and went to stand by the door. â€Å"I am sorry to have woken you, Maester,† Jon Snow said. â€Å"You did not wake me,† Maester Aemon replied. â€Å"I find I need less sleep as I grow older, and I am grown very old. I often spend half the night with ghosts, remembering times fifty years past as if they were yesterday. The mystery of a midnight visitor is a welcome persion. So tell me, Jon Snow, why have you come calling at this strange hour?† â€Å"To ask that Samwell Tarly be taken from training and accepted as a brother of the Night's Watch.† â€Å"This is no concern of Maester Aemon,† Chett complained. â€Å"Our Lord Commander has given the training of recruits into the hands of Ser Alliser Thorne,† the maester said gently. â€Å"Only he may say when a boy is ready to swear his vow, as you surely know. Why then come to me?† â€Å"The Lord Commander listens to you,† Jon told him. â€Å"And the wounded and the sick of the Night's Watch are in your charge.† â€Å"And is your friend Samwell wounded or sick?† â€Å"He will be,† Jon promised, â€Å"unless you help.† He told them all of it, even the part where he'd set Ghost at Rast's throat. Maester Aemon listened silently, blind eyes fixed on the fire, but Chett's face darkened with each word. â€Å"Without us to keep him safe, Sam will have no chance,† Jon finished. â€Å"He's hopeless with a sword. My sister Arya could tear him apart, and she's not yet ten. If Ser Alliser makes him fight, it's only a matter of time before he's hurt or killed.† Chett could stand no more. â€Å"I've seen this fat boy in the common hall,† he said. â€Å"He is a pig, and a hopeless craven as well, if what you say is true.† â€Å"Maybe it is so,† Maester Aemon said. â€Å"Tell me, Chett, what would you have us do with such a boy?† â€Å"Leave him where he is,† Chett said. â€Å"The Wall is no place for the weak. Let him train until he is ready, no matter how many years that takes. Ser Alliser shall make a man of him or kill him, as the gods will.† â€Å"That's stupid,† Jon said. He took a deep breath to gather his thoughts. â€Å"I remember once I asked Maester Luwin why he wore a chain around his throat.† Maester Aemon touched his own collar lightly, his bony, wrinkled finger stroking the heavy metal links. â€Å"Go on.† â€Å"He told me that a maester's collar is made of chain to remind him that he is sworn to serve,† Jon said, remembering. â€Å"I asked why each link was a different metal. A silver chain would look much finer with his grey robes, I said. Maester Luwin laughed. A maester forges his chain with study, he told me. The different metals are each a different kind of learning, gold for the study of money and accounts, silver for healing, iron for warcraft. And he said there were other meanings as well. The collar is supposed to remind a maester of the realm he serves, isn't that so? Lords are gold and knights steel, but two links can't make a chain. You also need silver and iron and lead, tin and copper and bronze and all the rest, and those are farmers and smiths and merchants and the like. A chain needs all sorts of metals, and a land needs all sorts of people.† Maester Aemon smiled. â€Å"And so?† â€Å"The Night's Watch needs all sorts too. Why else have rangers and stewards and builders? Lord Randyll couldn't make Sam a warrior, and Ser Alliser won't either. You can't hammer tin into iron, no matter how hard you beat it, but that doesn't mean tin is useless. Why shouldn't Sam be a steward?† Chett gave an angry scowl. â€Å"I'm a steward. You think it's easy work, fit for cowards? The order of stewards keeps the Watch alive. We hunt and farm, tend the horses, milk the cows, gather firewood, cook the meals. Who do you think makes your clothing? Who brings up supplies from the south? The stewards.† Maester Aemon was gentler. â€Å"Is your friend a hunter?† â€Å"He hates hunting,† Jon had to admit. â€Å"Can he plow a field?† the maester asked. â€Å"Can he drive a wagon or sail a ship? Could he butcher a cow?† â€Å"No.† Chett gave a nasty laugh. â€Å"I've seen what happens to soft lordlings when they're put to work. Set them to churning butter and their hands blister and bleed. Give them an axe to split logs, and they cut off their own foot.† â€Å"I know one thing Sam could do better than anyone.† â€Å"Yes?† Maester Aemon prompted. Jon glanced warily at Chett, standing beside the door, his boils red and angry. â€Å"He could help you,† he said quickly. â€Å"He can do sums, and he knows how to read and write. I know Chett can't read, and Clydas has weak eyes. Sam read every book in his father's library. He'd be good with the ravens too. Animals seem to like him. Ghost took to him straight off. There's a lot he could do, besides fighting. The Night's Watch needs every man. Why kill one, to no end? Make use of him instead.† Maester Aemon closed his eyes, and for a brief moment Jon was afraid that he had gone to sleep. Finally he said, â€Å"Maester Luwin taught you well, Jon Snow. Your mind is as deft as your blade, it would seem.† â€Å"Does that mean . . . â€Å" â€Å"It means I shall think on what you have said,† the maester told him firmly. â€Å"And now, I believe I am ready to sleep. Chett, show our young brother to the door.†