Twelfth Night Essay free essay sample

When Viola first meets Duke Orsino, dressed as Cesario, she is convinced and hopes to win the Duke’s heart over. Viola expresses her true feelings for Orsino the first time she meets him. Viola says â€Å"I’ll do my best/ To woo your lady. [Aside. ] Yet a barful strife! / Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife† (1. 5. 44-46), when she is sent to express Orsino’s love to Olivia. This is the first time where we see Viola taking interest in the Duke. Viola and Orsino also had a good and strong friendship before the truth came out at the end of the book. Switching from friends to husband and wife would have been easy for them even though Viola is now herself, dressed as a girl. The two see each other on a daily basis and are constantly talking which makes their bond closer and closer. Viola is then caught in another true love scenario only this time she is on the receiving end and things didn’t end smoothly. We will write a custom essay sample on Twelfth Night Essay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page She tried to get Olivia for Duke Orsino but as time went on Olivia grew to love Cesario. Cesario was not who he seemed to be though because he was really Viola in disguise. There was only way of getting out of this and this was to tell everyone her secret but if she did it could have put her chances with the Duke in danger. With Viola and Orsino spending mostly everyday together has helped them grow a true bond and this is why their love is so strong and an example is true love not lust. Lennon2 Viola’s respect for Duke Orsino was evident before she even knew she loved him. Viola dressed up as a man to be Duke Orsino’s servant. She did not have to dress up as a man but she chose to and this how she became a servant for the Duke. Viola’s intentions of dressing up as Cesario and working for Duke Orsino were to gain access to Orsino’s palace. With her working for him they grew closer together before her identity got revealed. When Viola first heard of Orsino’s name she already had the respect for him. You can hear that Viola respects Orsino when she says â€Å"Orsino I have heard my father name him. / He was a bachelor then† (1. 2. 29-30). This shows that Viola knows of Duke Orsino and has heard her father speak of him in the past. Viola continues her respect by agreeing to persuading Olivia that Duke Orsino likes her but behind her words you can tell that she has feelings for Orsino and wants to pursue a relationship with him. She confesses that she wants to be the role of his wife when she says â€Å"Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife† (1. 5. 46). Since Viola had previous respect for Orsino this will carry on through their marriage and show that they are true to each other and mean what they say. True love shows between Viola and Duke Orsino when they have a conversation about women and both insert their input and opinions. Orsino shares his views on the nature of women while Viola listens and gives her feedback. Orsino shares to Viola that â€Å"There is no women’s sides/ can bide the beating of so strong a passion/ As love doth give my heart; no women’s heart/ So big, to hold so much; they lack retention/ Alas, their love may be called appetite/ No motion of the liver, but the palate/ That suffer surfeit, cloyment, and revolt;/ But mine is all as hungry as the sea/ And can digest as much. Make no compare/ Between that love a women can bear me/ Lennon3 And that I owe Olivia† (2. . 103-113). by this Orsino thinks that women’s love is deceiving and empty-hearted. In return Viola defends women and tells him that some women out that like love more than lust. Viola then shares her own interest of love to Duke Orsino. Viola says â€Å"Sooth, but you must/ Say that some lady, as perhaps there is/ Hath for your love as great a pang of heart/ As you have for Olivia. You cannot love her;/ You tell her so. Must she not then be answered† (2. 4. 98-102). Viola is asking Orsino is he would ever love another women as much as he loves Olivia. Orsino claims that there is no stronger love that he had for Olivia. This was important because it lets the audience know that there could possibly be a chance of relationship down the line. Their love becomes true when Cesario reveals herself as Viola to everybody including the one she loves Orsino. Orsino says â€Å"Give me thy hand/ And let me see thee in thy women’s weeds† (5. 1. 285-286). By Orsino taking Viola’s hand in marriage, it causes the love between them to come to an end and for them to continue life and furthering their true love with Viola being herself, dressed as a girl. Although many characters loved each other the only true love was found between Viola and Duke Orsino. Viola spent most of \her days with the Duke and stated early on that she was going to win his heart over and id going to be his wife. Her respect for Orsino and her talks with him helped her achieve this. Throughout Shakespeare’s â€Å"Twelfth Night† there are many love triangles and relationships but the only relationship that shows true love id the relationship between Viola and Duke Orsino. Work Cited Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. Washington. Washington Square Press, 1602.

Homeland Security

Homeland Security From the time America won it's freedom back a little more than two and a half centuries ago, America has run into many problems. Some being natural disasters and some being terrorist attacks. But who is in charge of keeping the peace? Who has the responsibility and intergrity to hold America's head high during these troublesome times,and be able to take initiative to find a way to prevent it from happening in the future for generations to come? I'll tell you who, the D.H.S., also known as the Department of Homeland Security.The D.H.S. was created following the World TradeCenter/Pentagon disasters in November 2002 (National Geographic Atlas of the World, 8th edition, 2004).President George W. Bush, during the act of 2002,)established the D.H.S. through the Office of Homeland Security. Unbelievably, the D.H.S. was formed by twenty-two seperate agencies; Depts. of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Justice, Transportation, Treasury, to list a few, they we re reorganized and formed (Homeland Security, United States Department of, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2005).English: Full Ready.gov logo with tagline and trad...Indeed, as a military force, the country is something to be reckoned with.The concentration by then should have shifted to protecting the homeland from the threats posed by those countries and political leaders whom the United States openly opposed. By 1997, the term Homeland Defense was thrown around a lot by the Department of Defense and coined in order to describe their idea of an organization or agency whose sole responsibility would be to defend the homeland during times of necessity or foreign attack. (History, March, 2007)But the country let its guard down and became lax, homeland security wise. The National Defense Panel had warned the country's leaders as early as 1997 that the U.S. mainland and its territories were becoming a target for terrorist threats and suggested a redirection of the security att ention towards...

Absolute Beginner English Daily Habits and Routines

Absolute Beginner English Daily Habits and Routines After students have completed this lesson they will be able to complete most basic linguistic functions (giving personal information, identifying and basic description skills, talking about basic daily tasks, and how often those tasks are done). While there is obviously a lot more learning to be done, students can now feel confident that they have a strong base on which to build in the future. With this lesson, you can help students begin speaking in longer phrases by having them prepare a talk on their daily activities that they can then read or recite to their fellow classmates and which can then be used as the basis for questions. Part 1: Introduction Give the students a sheet with various times of the day. For example: 7:007:308:0012:003:305:006:3011:00 Add a list of verbs they are familiar with on the board. You may want to write a few examples on the board. For example: 7.00 - get up7.30 - eat breakfast8.00 - go to work Teacher: I usually get up at 7 oclock. I always go to work at 8 oclock. I sometimes have a break at half past three. I usually come home at five oclock. I often watch TV at eight oclock. etc. (Model your list of daily activities to the class two or more times.) Teacher: Paolo, what do I often do at eight oclock in the evening? Student(s): You often watch TV. Teacher: Susan, when do I go to work? Student(s): You always go to work at 8 oclock. Continue this exercise around the room asking students about your daily routine. Pay special attention to the placement of the adverb of frequency. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Part II: Students Talk About Their Daily Routines Ask students to fill out the sheet about their daily habits and routines. When students are finished they should read their list of daily habits to the class. Teacher: Paolo, please read. Student(s): I usually get up at seven oclock. I seldom have breakfast at half past seven. I often go shopping at 8 oclock. I usually have coffee at 10 oclock. etc. Ask each student to read their routine in class, let students read all the way through their list and take note of any mistakes they may make. At this point, students need to gain confidence when speaking for an extended period of time and should, therefore, be allowed to make mistakes. Once the student has finished, you can correct any mistakes he or she may have made. Part III: Asking Students About Their Daily Routines Ask students to once again read about their daily routine to the class. After each student has finished, ask the other students questions about that students daily habits. Teacher: Paolo, please read. Student(s): I usually get up at seven oclock. I seldom have breakfast at half past seven. I often go shopping at eight oclock. I usually have coffee at 10 oclock. etc. Teacher: Olaf, when does Paolo usually get up? Student(s): He gets up at 7 oclock. Teacher: Susan, how does Paolo go shopping at 8 oclock? Student(s): He often goes shopping at 8 oclock. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. Pay special attention to the placement of the adverb of frequency and the correct usage of the third person singular. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said.

Text-Messaging and Orality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Text-Messaging and Orality - Essay Example The cell phone is perhaps the single most ubiquitous feature of communication technology and according to the CTIA over 82% of Americans own one. Its ubiquity is not only due to its overwhelming ownership but by its very nature considering that neither a computer nor a land-line phone can be carried and used so easily. This facile manipulation of technology hints at McLuhan's comment. Moreover, the overwhelming majority of those cell phones have text-messaging capability. Text messaging as a phenomenon has gained attention from academics and critics primarily because of the proclivity of its users to employ "creative" grammatical and linguistic constructions. Its harshest critics claim that it will, or already has, led to a corruption of language. Indeed its pliable and dynamic structure does allow a manipulation of formal grammatical and linguistic rules that would be difficult to parse in formal essays, such as this one; its function in a civilization that has long been inscribed b y writing fulfills a much different role than essays, or letters- though its effect on language might be inedible and perceived even in those forms. Text-messaging and related channels represent a syncretism between oral and written forms of communication, and while it lacks the formal purity of traditional written forms of communication, it maintains its own separate aesthetic and poetic qualities that emphasize a heavy reliance on context, mnemonic deployment, and efficiency. By analyzing the physical nature, functional and literary features of text-messaging the oral features of text-messaging will be revealed, understanding of course that in the final analysis its essence as a textual form of communication in a hypertextual society remains regnant. In attempting to outline the structural features of text-messaging and related conduits of communication such as instant messaging, it will be juxtaposed to the features of orality that are relevant. Consider Edouard Glissant's quote, "Oralityis inseparable from the body in movement" (MacNeil, 2007). We understand text and the printed word to be primarily outside the body, distinct from the body and its author. Spoken word or talk is understood to be generated from within the body and indistinct from the author. Text-messaging straddles this interior/exterior boundary. The device on which one types or texts undeniably lies outside the body, its reception as well is mediated by a device outside the person. This is an important distinction as one of the salient features of oral communication is that it is received immediately and without explicit and conscious mediation, insofar that the reverberation of sound, the movement of air is not interpreted into words or speech until it is we ll into the ear canal, and though we recognize the source of the sound, its compilation occurs internally (Ong, 1982, pp. 32-33). To some degree this is quite different from the structure of text-messaging, insofar like other textual forms of communication, it is understood that the interpretation occurs on the page, in the visual field. However, in considering the intimate and tight connection between text-message and text-messenger there remains some features of the bodily coextension of orality. The cell phone's mobility and sizes bridges the communication barrier imposed by other devices, such as computers, telephones, even paper. Someone can interact with and use their cell

No need Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

No need - Essay Example After taking the introduction to conflict and resolution class, I learnt that there are many theories that one can use to understand the reason of conflict such as the nested theory, which reasonably analyses the reason of conflict. Indeed, I learnt the importance of culture and religion in the field of conflict and resolution as well as how they relate with the idea of peace building. This paper will be about the ideas, theories, and readings that I believe are important to conflict and resolution. Indeed, one can notice that the field of conflict and resolution contains various theories and ideas that are sometimes different yet they all try to answer the same questions such as why countries conflict. They also seek to explain human behavior. Furthermore, to me culture is very important in conflict and resolutions. This is because culture is deeply rooted in one’s past experiences, and as such, we can view it as a derivative of one’s own experiences (Avruch 20). Indee d, any person worldview is determined to a big extent by his/her culture, and therefore, culture is quite important in conflict resolution. In fact, from personal experiences, a person can build his/her new opinions and believes or become more attached to his/her pervious opinion. As a result, when two people have different opinions over an idea and none of them has enough information about the other side background, this will lead to conflict. Ideally, the two will conflict because each will try to convince the other side with his/her opinion and not being aware of the reasons that made the other side reject his/her opinion. One of the theories I learned this semester in the conflict resolution class is the Nested theory that I believe helps to explain the reason why conflict exist. The Nested model of conflict is based on the structural nature of the conflicts. In the nested model, Dugan identified three levels of conflict. These levels include the issue specific level, relational level, structural subsystem level, and structural system level. The levels are interrelated and adopt a pattern where the narrow types or levels of conflict nest within the broader level (Dugan 14). We can view these levels as the spider web where it starts with small circles surrounded by larger circles (Kotev paragraph 1). In the middle of the web, we have the individual surrounded by the community and then the larger circles represent the society (Kotev paragraph 1). In order to understand the reason of conflict, one should first look at the individual and what is around him/her to determine what kind of intuitions and community can affect his/her way of thinking. In addition, one can use the larger circle to see how the society affects the communities and the individuals. According to this theory, in resolving conflicts, we should first critically analyze the conflict and locate it within the category of conflicts where it fits. Having done that, we should then proceed to find the best way to resolve the root causes of the conflict. The reason why I mainly focused on culture, religion, and the nested theory is that I come from a religious country to a western country, which is the United States. I noticed that many American students and citizens do not know a lot about the Arab countries culture and religion. In fact, many think that Qatar, UAE and KSA are one country. For example, many westerns view the Arab women as oppressed women and that they are forced by men

Tourism Is, Perhaps, An Impossible Dream Essay Example for Free

Tourism Is, Perhaps, An Impossible Dream Essay Tourism is considered as a very important sector for most developing countries. It has been viewed as a source of both foreign currency and income for the natives. In this essay I will discuss the importance of tourism and whether it can be sustained, by first trying to represent how important tourism is to developing countries and then making a point how sustainable development can be different to sustainable tourism. I will discuss the problems of modern day tourism and will conclude whether sustainable tourism is possible. The tourism industry has shown to be very important to most developing countries as a source of government revenue and therefore a chance to achieve economic growth and development. A successful tourism industry might mean, that the country’s unemployment rate will fall, as now there will be more job opportunities available. Therefore standards of living are likely to increase due to the fact that more jobs are provided, which indicates that the native population will have more disposable income available for spending. Therefore on the second Earth Summit in 1997 â€Å"Earth summit II† tourism was debated as a recognised economic sector (Holden, (2008). Countries such as Jamaica, who continues to derive most of its foreign exchange from tourism, have remittances equivalent to tourism revenues accounting for nearly 20% of GDP (CIA, (2009)). This is an example of how important tourism can be to a developing country, which poses great physical natural beauty. Therefore the aim of its government should be to protect and sustain this habitat in order to keep the tourism industry alive. However, today’s situation of global recession for example threatens the country with an increase in unemployment as a decline in consumer confidence is expected during 2009, which will take its toll on demand for tourism (WTO, (2009)). Therefore the need to attract tourists brings us to the concept of sustainable development. Sustainable development is a term that has been raised accompanying the heightened awareness of environmental problems (Holden, (2008)). Development cannot take place upon a deteriorating environmental resource base and neither can the environment be protected when the development excludes the  costs of its destruction. However, the need for economic growth often does not take in consideration the need for sustainable development. Tourism in developing countries can be viewed as a way of achieving development. Therefore sustainable development and sustainable tourism are linked together but are not the same. Sustainable tourism places the emphasis on the customer and marketing considerations of tourism to sustain the tourism industry and sustainable development emphasises on developing tourism as a means to achieve wider social and environmental goals (Holden, (2008)). â€Å"Since the early 1990s, the sustainable tourism debate has become more holistic to cover not just environmental issues but also socio-cultural, economic and political dimensions† (Holden, (2008), p158). There are some traditions through which sustainability has been injected into tourism. The first one is the resource based tradition, which emphasises conservation and the need to protect the nature and culture of the country from the potential threats of tourism activities (Holden, (2008)). This brings us to the next tradition, which is the â€Å"activity-based† tradition, which accepts that tourism development can contribute to sustainability. â€Å"This is a position that is strongly advocated by the tourism industry in a desire to sustain tourism and its resource base for future development, aiming to sustain the capital investment in tourism† (Holden, (2008), p161). The third â€Å"community based† tradition focuses on the political economy by advocating the wider involvement of stakeholders. The difference between the resource based traditions is that it views sustainability in a physical way, whereas the other two have a bias towards social construction of sustainability, in which decisions are made about acceptable levels of trade-off between economic and social gains against natural resource losses (Holden, (2008)). The key difference between the two is the important relationship between the stakeholders and those parties who hold the absolu te power of decision making (Holden, (2008)). These traditions however are affected by political forces, which determine which stakeholders have access to and management of natural resources. Therefore a huge threat to the country’s tourism is the desire of local government and hotel owners to maximise their profits from the increased foreign interest in their natural country’s beauty, by building more and more hotels. This  leads to the destruction of a big part of the surrounding natural habitat, which will not only harm the country’s nature but also will chase away the tourist, who coming with the idea to escape one metropolis is put into a different one, or as from my own personal experience – a half-ready metropolis, meaning that some of the hotels are still in construction. Therefore it is necessary to realise that sustainable tourism is not merely connected with conservation or preparation of the physical environment but incorporates cultural, economic and political dimensions (Holden, (2008) ). A common definition for sustainable tourism is â€Å"tourism development that avoids damage to the environment, economy and cultures of the locations where it takes place† (Forsyth, (2000)). It aims to ensure that the development is a positive experience for local people and tourists themselves. Despite this, sustainable tourism is not widely understood, as it is sometimes compared to ecotourism. Ecotourism is â€Å"a form of tourism that focuses exclusively on wildlife, nature, or exotic cultures† (Forsyth, (2000)). Such tourism has been show not to be good for environment, or for the people who experience this attention. Therefore, sustainable tourism is â€Å"an attempt to improve the impacts of all types of tourism, and this implies seeking ways to build partnerships between tourism companies and local governments or managers of resorts† (Forsyth, (2000)). However to what extent is sustainable tourism achievable? Sustainable tourism requires co-operation between companies and the managers of destinations. It does not, however, require a marked interest from consumers as it is believed. Sustainable tourism does not have to be advertised as environmentally or culturally sensitive in order to succeed, rather:†profits may be increased simply by adopting some general environmental principles, such as recycling waste, planning for long-term sustainability, and seeking local partnerships for resort management. If these actions result in cleaner, less crowded, holiday resorts, then they are in effect sustainable tourism without being labelled so.† (Forsyth, (2000)). One way of achieving this is to increase the vertical integration of tourism companies, so that individual companies have greater control over the marketing of holidays, transportation of tourists, and then management  of resorts (Forsyth, (2000)). Another way of achieving sustainable tourism is by reducing competition from smaller companies, which may result in reducing the pressure for lower prices of holidays, as presence of competition leads to the rapid over-development of resorts and the reluctance of large companies to increase their costs by attending to the long-term sustainability of locations (Forsyth, (2000)). However there are some aspects of tourism that might inhibit it to be sustainable. The first one is that the primary product of tourism is heritage, wealth, and expected legacy of the community that serves as the tourist destination, not something produced by the industry. If these business activities, promoting the â€Å"saleable† or appealing aspects, degrade the community’s heritage and wealth, then the community suffers more directly than the consumer, who can return to his or her own country without responsibility for or awareness of the impacts of his tourist activities (ICLEI, (1999)). This unfortunately is the situation for mass tourism. Mass tourism holds the threat of bringing large numbers of uninformed foreigners into local social systems that with their tourism activities can undermine and degrade pre-existing social relationships and values, as well as destroying the sights by leaving their mark or taking a â€Å"souvenir† (ICLEI, (1999)). Also the intrusion of large numbers of foreigners with high consumption into natural areas can produce severe changes in those areas. This is going to be inevitable in the future, as the world population has been predicted to increase by 47% by the year 2050 (ICLEI, (1999)). Therefore the future of sustainable tourism might be in danger due to the high amount of resources that will have to be used in order to support the population and satisfy the needs of the tourists. More and more resorts are likely to become overcrowded and will lose their credibility as an attractive destination. Solutions to most tourism impacts are found in the shared interest of local communities, tourism businesses, and tourism consumers to maintain the natural wealth and social heritage of the tourist destination (ICLEI, (1999)). Therefore to achieve sustainable tourism over the short-run,  companies and resort managers must be provided with the right incentives to influence them to reduce the negative impacts of tourism. However over the long-run tourists and companies have to think more about how tourism can impact other people. Marcel Proust once stated that most tourists seem to want to travel through one hundred countries with one pair of eyes, whereas the best journey would be to travel through one country with a hundred pair of eyes (Forsyth, (2000)). Providing more diversity of holiday destinations may help avoid some of the negative impacts and will assure a better experience. However, tourism will never be completely sustainable as every industry has impacts, but it can work towards becoming more sustainable. References Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (2009) â€Å"The World Factbook: Jamaica† available at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/jm.html as at 21st April 2009 Forsyth T. (2000) â€Å"What is Sustainable Tourism?†, available at: http://www.fathom.com/course/21701788/session1.html as at 21st April 2009 Holden A. (2008) Environment and tourism, Second edition, Abingdon, Routledge, p150-162 Department of Economic and Social Affairs: International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) (1999) â€Å"Tourism and sustainable development: sustainable tourism: a local authority perspective†, available at: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/iclei.pdf as at 21st April 2009 Sustainabletourism (2009) â€Å"Sustainable tourism† available at: http://www.sustainabletourism.net/ as at 21st April 2009 World Tourism Organization (WTO) (2009) â€Å"World tourism barometer†, available at: http://www.unwto.org/facts/eng/pdf/barometer/UNWTO_Barom09_1_en_excerpt.pdf as at 21st April 2009

Abington VS/ Schempp :: Free Essay Writer

Abington School District vs. Schempp Required School Prayer   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1949, a state-wide law was passed in Pennsylvania that required public school students to read scriptures from the Bible and recite the Lord’s Prayer everyday in class. This law stayed intact until Edward Schempp challenged it nine years later. Pennsylvania wasn’t the first or the only state to enforce law making it mandatory for students to read from the Bible during school. Twenty-five additional states had laws allowing â€Å"optional† reading for the Bible. But in eleven of the twenty-five states, courts had decided those laws were unconstitutional.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mr. Schempp took the case to court in to 1958, claiming that required reading for the Bible and recitation of the Lord’s Pray prohibited free exercise of religion for his children, and was therefore unconstitutional, under the First Amendment. Mr. Schempp son, Ellory, stated under oath, that he didn’t not believe in Jesus Christ, or the Christian beliefs. He testified that ideas opposing to his were presented to him while he was at school in Abington High. He received punishment because he refused to stand at attention during the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer and when requested to leave during the exercise, his demands were denied.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the greatest witnesses was Rabbi Dr. Solomon Grayzel. Dr. Grayzel explained the psychological harm that could come from reading the New Testament without explanation. The context of the New Testament, without explanation of the work, had caused grievances in Jewish children while in similar required situations. This also came to show that if a Jewish child could be offended and upset by the Bible reading, any child of a family rejecting the principles of the Trinity and Jesus Christ would be equally offended, to the point that reading the Bible could be considered blasphemous.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In argument for the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, they said that reading the Bible not only was essential to the building of good morals and development of the minds of impressionable school children, it was free to be interpreted anyway because of lack of comment and explanation. They claimed that the Bible was not a religious work, but when viewed from the eyes of a Christian, it did express the message of Christianity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This case bounced back and forth between Supreme Court and district court before eventually ending in 1963. Abington school district appealed to the Supreme Court after it was not satisfied with the verdict at district court level.

Foundation’s Edge CHAPTER THIRTEEN UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY Pelorat wrinkled his nose when he and Trevize re-entered the Far Star. Trevize shrugged. â€Å"The human body is a powerful dispenser of odors. Recycling never works instantaneously and artificial scents merely overlay – they do not replace.† â€Å"And I suppose no two ships smell quite alike, once they've been occupied for a period of time by different people.† â€Å"That's right, but did you smell Sayshell Planet after the first hour?† â€Å"No,† admitted Pelorat. â€Å"Well, you won't smell this after a while, either. In fact, if you live in the ship long enough, you'll welcome the odor that greets you on your return as signifying home. And by the way, if you become a Galactic rover after this, Janov, you'll have to learn that it is impolite to comment on the odor of any ship or, for that matter, any world to those who live on that ship or world. Between us, of course, it is all right.† â€Å"As a matter of fact, Golan, the funny thing is I do consider the Far Star home. At least it's Foundation-made.† Pelorat smiled. â€Å"You know, I never considered myself a patriot. I like to think I recognize only humanity as my nation, but I must say that being away from the Foundation fills my heart with love for it.† Trevize was making his bed. â€Å"You're not very far from the Foundation, you know. The Sayshell Union is almost surrounded by Federation territory. We have an ambassador and an enormous presence here, from consuls on down. The Sayshellians like to oppose us in words, but they are usually very cautious about doing anything that gives us displeasure. – Janov, do turn in. We got nowhere today and we have to do better tomorrow.† Still, there was no difficulty in hearing between the two rooms, however, and when the ship was dark, Pelorat, tossing restlessly, finally said in a not very loud voice, â€Å"Golan?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"You're not sleeping?† â€Å"Not while you're talking.† â€Å"We did get somewhere today. Your friend, Compor†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Ex-friend,† growled Trevize. â€Å"Whatever his status, he talked about Earth and told us something I hadn't come across in my researches before. Radioactivity!† Trevize lifted himself to one elbow. â€Å"Look, Golan, if Earth is really dead, that doesn't mean we return home. I still want to find Gaia.† Pelorat made a puffing noise with his mouth as though he were blowing away feathers. â€Å"My dear chap, of course. So do I. Nor do I think Earth is dead. Compor may have been telling what he felt was the truth, but there's scarcely a sector in the Galaxy that doesn't have some tale or other that would place the origin of humanity on some local world. And they almost invariably call it Earth or some closely equivalent name. â€Å"We call it ‘globocentrism' in anthropology. People have a tendency to take it for granted that they are better than their neighbors; that their culture is older and superior to that of other worlds; that what is good in other worlds has been borrowed from them, while what is bad is distorted or perverted in the borrowing or invented elsewhere. And the tendency is to equate superiority in quality with superiority in duration. If they cannot reasonably maintain their own planet to be Earth or its equivalent – and the beginnings of the human species – they almost always do the best they can by placing Earth in their own sector, even when they cannot locate it exactly.† Trevize said, â€Å"And you're telling me that Compor was just following the common habit when he said Earth existed in the Sirius Sector. – Still, the Sirius Sector does have a long history, so every world in it should be well known and it should be easy to check the matter, even without going there.† Pelorat chuckled. â€Å"Even if you were to show that no world in the Sirius Sector could possibly be Earth, that wouldn't help. You underestimate the depths to which mysticism can bury rationality, Golan. There are at least half a dozen sectors in the Galaxy where respectable scholars repeat, with every appearance of solemnity and with no trace of a smile, local tales that Earth – or whatever they choose to call it – is located in hyperspace and cannot be reached, except by accident.† â€Å"And do they say anyone has ever reached it by accident?† â€Å"There are always tales and there is always a patriotic refusal to disbelieve, even though the tales are never in the least credible and are never believed by anyone not of the world that produces them.† â€Å"Then, Janov, let's not believe them ourselves. Let's enter our own private hyperspace of sleep.† â€Å"But, Golan, it's this business of Earth's radioactivity that interests me. To me, that seems to bear the mark of truth – or a kind of truth.† â€Å"What do you mean, a kind of truth?† â€Å"Well, a world that is radioactive would be a world in which hard radiation would be present in higher concentration than is usual. The rate of mutation would be higher on such a world and evolution would proceed more quickly – and more diversely. I told you, if you remember, that among the points on which almost all the tales agree is that life on Earth was incredibly diverse: millions of species of all kinds of life. It is this diversity of life – this explosive development – that might have brought intelligence to the Earth, and then the surge outward into the Galaxy. If Earth were for some reason radioactive – that is, more radioactive than other planets – that might account for everything else about Earth that is – or was unique.† Trevize was silent for a moment. Then, â€Å"In the first place, we have no reason to believe Compor was telling the truth. He may well have been lying freely in order to induce us to leave this place and go chasing madly off to Sirius. I believe that's exactly what he was doing. And even if he were telling the truth, what he said was that there was so much radioactivity that life became impossible.† Pelorat made the blowing gesture again. â€Å"There wasn't too much radioactivity to allow life to develop on Earth and it is easier for life to maintain itself – once established – than to develop in the first place. Granted, then, that life was established and maintained on Earth. Therefore the level of radioactivity could not have been incompatible with life to begin with and it could only have fallen off with time. There is nothing that can raise the level.† â€Å"Nuclear explosions?† suggested Trevize. â€Å"What would that have to do with it?† â€Å"I mean, suppose nuclear explosions took place on Earth?† â€Å"On Earth's surface? Impossible. There's no record in the history of the Galaxy of any society being so foolish as to use nuclear explosions as a weapon of war. We would never have survived. During the Trigellian insurrections, when both sides were reduced to starvation and desperation and when Jendippurus Khoratt suggested the initiation of a fusion reaction in†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"He was hanged by the sailors of his own fleet. I know Galactic history. I was thinking of accident.† â€Å"There's no record of accidents of that sort that are capable of significantly raising the intensity of radioactivity of a planet, generally.† He sighed. â€Å"I suppose that when we get around to it, we'll have to go to the Sirius Sector and do a little prospecting there.† â€Å"Someday, perhaps, we will. But for now†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yes, yes, I'll stop talking.† He did and Trevize lay in the dark for nearly an hour considering whether he had attracted too much attention already and whether it might not be wise to go to the Sirius Sector and then return to Gaia when attention – everyone's attention – was elsewhere. He had arrived at no clear decision by the time he fell asleep. His dreams were troubled. They did not arrive back in the city till midmorning. The tourist center was quite crowded this time, but they managed to obtain the necessary directions to a reference library, where in turn they received instruction in the use of the local models of data-gathering computers. They went carefully through the museums and universities, beginning with those that were nearest, and checked out whatever information was available on anthropologists, archaeologists, and ancient historians. Pelorat said, â€Å"Ah!† â€Å"Ah?† said Trevize with some asperity. â€Å"Ah, what?† â€Å"This name, Quintesetz. It seems familiar.† â€Å"You know him?† â€Å"No, of course not, but I may have read papers of his. Back at the ship, where I have my reference collection†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"We're not going back, Janov. If the name is familiar, that's a starting point. If he can't help us, he will undoubtedly be able to direct us further.† He rose to his feet. â€Å"Let's find a way of getting to Sayshell University. And since there will be nobody there at lunchtime, let's eat first.† It was not till late afternoon that they had made their way out to the university, worked their way through its maze, and found themselves in an anteroom, waiting for a young woman who had gone off in search of information and who might – or might not – lead them to Quintesetz. â€Å"I wonder,† said Pelorat uneasily, â€Å"how much longer we'll have to wait. It must be getting toward the close of the schoolday.† And, as though that were a cue, the young lady whom they had last seen half an hour before, walked rapidly toward them, her shoes glinting red and violet and striking the ground with a sharp musical tone as she walked. The pitch varied with the speed and force of her steps. Pelorat winced. He supposed that each world had its own ways of assaulting the senses, just as each had its own smell. He wondered if, now that he no longer noticed the smell, he might also learn not to notice the cacophony of fashionable young women when they walked. She came to Pelorat and stopped. â€Å"May I have your full name, Professor?† â€Å"It's Janov Pelorat, miss.† â€Å"Your home planet?† Trevize began to lift one hand as though to enjoin silence, but Pelorat, either not seeing or not regarding, said, â€Å"Terminus.† The young woman smiled broadly, and looked pleased. â€Å"When I told Professor Quintesetz that a Professor Pelorat was inquiring for him, he said he would see you if you were Janov Pelorat of Terminus, but not otherwise.† Pelorat blinked rapidly. â€Å"You – you mean, he's heard of me?† â€Å"It certainly seems so.† And, almost creakily, Pelorat managed a smile as he turned to Trevize. â€Å"He's heard of me. I honestly didn't think†¦ I mean, I've written very few papers and I didn't think that anyone†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He shook his head. â€Å"They weren't really important.† â€Å"Well then,† said Trevize, smiling himself, â€Å"stop hugging yourself in an ecstasy of self-underestimation and let's go.† He turned to the woman. â€Å"I presume, miss, there's some sort of transportation to take us to him?† â€Å"It's within walking distance. We won't even have to leave the building complex and I'll be glad to take you there. – Are both of you from Terminus?† And off she went. The two men followed and Trevize said, with a trace of annoyance, â€Å"Yes, we are. Does that make a difference?† â€Å"Oh no, of course not. There are people on Sayshell that don't like Foundationers, you know, but here at the university, we're more cosmopolitan than that. Live and let live is what I always say. I mean, Foundationers are people, too. You know what I mean?† â€Å"Yes, I know what you mean. Lots of us say that Sayshellians are people.† â€Å"That's just the way it should be. I've never seen Terminus. It must be a big city.† â€Å"Actually it isn't,† said Trevize matter-of-factly. â€Å"I suspect it's smaller than Sayshell City.† â€Å"You're tweaking my finger,† she said. â€Å"It's the capital of the Foundation Federation, isn't it? I mean, there isn't another Terminus, is there?† â€Å"No, there's only one Terminus, as far as I know, and that's where we're from – the capital of the Foundation Federation.† â€Å"Well then, it must be an enormous city. – And you're coming all the way here to see the professor. We're very proud of him, you know. He's considered the biggest authority in the whole Galaxy.† â€Å"Really?† said Trevize. â€Å"On what?† Her eyes opened wide again, â€Å"You are a teaser. He knows more about ancient history than – than I know about my own family.† And she continued to walk on ahead on her musical feet. One can only be called a teaser and a finger-tweaker so often without developing an actual impulse in that direction. Trevize smiled and said, â€Å"The professor knows all about Earth, I suppose?† â€Å"Earth?† She stopped at an office door and looked at them blankly. â€Å"You know. The world where humanity got its start.† â€Å"Oh, you mean the planet-that-was-first. I guess so. I guess he should know all about it. After all, it's located in the Sayshell Sector. Everyone knows that! – This is his office. Let me signal him.† â€Å"No, don't,† said Trevize. â€Å"Not for just a minute. Tell me about Earth.† â€Å"Actually I never heard anyone call it Earth. I suppose that's a Foundation word. We call it Gaia, here.† Trevize cast a swift look at Pelorat. â€Å"Oh? And where is it located?† â€Å"Nowhere. It's in hyperspace and there's no way anyone can get to it. When I was a little girl, my grandmother said that Gaia was once in real space, but it was so disgusted at the†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Crimes and stupidities of human beings,† muttered Pelorat, â€Å"that, out of shame, it left space and refused to have anything more to do with the human beings it had sent out into the Galaxy.† â€Å"You know the story, then. See? – A girlfriend of mine says it's superstition. Well, I'll tell her. If it's good enough for professors from the Foundation†¦Ã¢â‚¬  A glittering section of lettering on the smoky glass of the door read: SOTAYN QUINTESETZ ABT in the hard-to-read Sayshellian calligraphy – and under it was printed, in the same fashion: DEPARTMENT OF ANCIENT HISTORY. The woman placed her finger on a smooth metal circle. There was no sound, but the smokiness of the glass turned a milky white for a moment and a soft voice said, in an abstracted sort of way, â€Å"Identify yourself, please.† â€Å"Janov Pelorat of Terminus,† said Pelorat, â€Å"with Golan Trevize of the same world.† The door swung open at once. The man who stood up, walked around his desk, and advanced to meet them was tall and well into middle age. He was light brown in skin color and his hair, which was set in crisp curls over his head, was iron-gray. He held out his hand in greeting and his voice was soft and low. â€Å"I am S. Q. I am delighted to meet you, Professors.† Trevize said, â€Å"I don't own an academic title. I merely accompany Professor Pelorat. You may call me simply Trevize. I am pleased to meet you, Professor Abt.† Quintesetz held up one hand in clear embarrassment. â€Å"No no. Abt is merely a foolish title of some sort that has no significance outside of Sayshell. Ignore it, please, and call me S. Q. We tend to use initials in ordinary social intercourse on Sayshell. I'm so pleased to meet two of you when I had been expecting but one.† He seemed to hesitate a moment, then extended his right hand after wiping it unobtrusively on his trousers. Trevize took it, wondering what the proper Sayshellian manner of greeting was. Quintesetz said, â€Å"Please sit down. I'm afraid you'll find these chairs to be lifeless ones, but I, for one, don't want my chairs to hug me. It's all the fashion for chairs to hug you nowadays, but I prefer a hug to mean something, hey?† Trevize smiled and said, â€Å"Who would not? Your name, SQ., seems to be of the Rim Worlds and not Sayshellian. I apologize if the remark is impertinent.† â€Å"I don't mind. My family traces back, in part, to Askone. Five generations back, my great-great-grandparents left Askone when Foundation domination grew too heavy.† Pelorat said, â€Å"And we are Foundationers. Our apologies.† Quintesetz waved his hand genially, â€Å"I don't hold a grudge across a stretch of five generations. Not that such things haven't been done, more's the pity. Would you like to have something to eat? To drink? Would you like music in the background?† â€Å"If you don't mind,† said Pelorat, â€Å"I'd be willing to get right to business, if Sayshellian ways would permit.† â€Å"Sayshellian ways are not a barrier to that, I assure you. – You have no idea how remarkable this is, Dr. Pelorat. It was only about two weeks ago that I came across your article on origin myths in the Archaeological Review and it struck me as a remarkable synthesis all too brief.† Pelorat flushed with pleasure. â€Å"How delighted I am that you have read it. I had to condense it, of course, since the Review would not print a full study. I have been planning to do a treatise on the subject.† â€Å"I wish you would. In any case, as soon as I had read it, I had this desire to see you. I even had the notion of visiting Terminus in order to do so, though that would have been hard to arrange†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Why so?† asked Trevize. Quintesetz looked embarrassed. â€Å"I'm sorry to say that Sayshell is not eager to join the Foundation Federation and rather discourages any social communication with the Foundation. We've a tradition of neutralism, you see. Even the Mule didn't bother us, except to extort from us a specific statement of neutrality. For that reason, any application for permission to visit Foundation territory generally and particularly Terminus – is viewed with suspicion, although a scholar such as myself, intent on academic business, would probably obtain his passport in the end. – But none of that was necessary; you have come to me. I can scarcely believe it. I ask myself: Why? Have you heard of me, as I have heard of you?† Pelorat said, â€Å"I know your work, S. Q., and in my records I have abstracts of your papers. It is why I have come to you. I am exploring both the matter of Earth, which is the reputed planet of origin of the human species, and the early period of the exploration and settlement of the Galaxy. In particular, I have come here to inquire as to the founding of Sayshell.† â€Å"From your paper,† said Quintesetz, â€Å"I presume you are interested in myths and legends.† â€Å"Even more in history – actual facts – if such exist. Myths and legends, otherwise.† Quintesetz rose and walked rapidly back and forth the length of his office, paused to stare at Pelorat, then walked again. Trevize said impatiently, â€Å"Well, sir.† Quintesetz said, â€Å"Odd! Really odd! It was only yesterday†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Pelorat said, â€Å"What was only yesterday?† Quintesetz said, â€Å"I told you, Dr. Pelorat – may I call you J. P., by the way? I find using a full-length name rather unnatural† â€Å"Please do.† â€Å"I told you, J. P., that I had admired your paper and that I had wanted to see you. The reason I wanted to see you was that you clearly had an extensive collection of legends concerning the beginnings of the worlds and yet didn't have ours. In other words, I wanted to see you in order to tell you precisely what you have come to see me to find out.† â€Å"What has this to do with yesterday, S. Q. ?† asked Trevize. â€Å"We have legends. A legend. An important one to our society, for it has become our central mystery†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Mystery?† said Trevize. â€Å"I don't mean a puzzle or anything of that sort. That, I believe, would be the usual meaning of the word in Galactic Standard. There's a specialized meaning here. It means ‘something secret'; something only certain adepts know the full meaning of; something not to be spoken of to outsiders. – And yesterday was the day.† â€Å"The day of what, S. Q. ?† asked Trevize, slightly exaggerating his air of patience. â€Å"Yesterday was the Day of Flight.† â€Å"Ah,† said Trevize, â€Å"a day of meditation and quiet, when everyone is supposed to remain at home.† â€Å"Something like that, in theory, except that in the larger cities, the more sophisticated regions, there is little observance in the older fashion. – But you know about it, I see.† Pelorat, who had grown uneasy at Trevize's annoyed tone, put in hastily, â€Å"We heard a little of it, having arrived yesterday.† â€Å"Of all days,† said Trevize sarcastically. â€Å"See here, S. Q. As I said, I'm not an academic, but I have a question. You said you were speaking of a central mystery, meaning it was not to be spoken of to outsiders. Why, then, are you speaking of it to us? We are outsiders.† â€Å"So you are. But I'm not an observer of the day and the depth of my superstition in this matter is slight at best. J. P. ‘s paper, however, reinforced a feeling I have had for a long time. A myth or legend is simply not made up out of a vacuum. Nothing is – or can be. Somehow there is a kernel of truth behind it, however distorted that might be, and I would like the truth behind our legend of the Day of Flight.† Trevize said, â€Å"Is it safe to talk about it?† Quintesetz shrugged. â€Å"Not entirely, I suppose. The conservative elements among our population would be horrified. However, they don't control the government and haven't for a century. The secularists are strong and would be stronger still, if the conservatives didn't take advantage of our – if you'll excuse me – anti-Foundation bias. Then, too, since I am discussing the matter out of my scholarly interest in ancient history, the League of Academicians will support me strongly, in case of need.† â€Å"In that case,† said Pelorat, â€Å"would you tell us about your central mystery, SQ. ?† â€Å"Yes, but let me make sure we won't be interrupted or, for that matter, overheard. Even if one must stare the bull in the face, one needn't slap its muzzle, as the saying goes.† He flicked a pattern on the work-face of an instrument on his desk and said, â€Å"We're incommunicado now.† â€Å"Are you sure you're not bugged?† asked Trevize. â€Å"Bugged?† â€Å"Tapped! Eavesdropped! – Subjected to a device that will have you under observation – visual or auditory or both.† Quintesetz looked shocked. â€Å"Not here on Sayshell!† Trevize shrugged. â€Å"If you say so.† â€Å"Please go on, SQ.,† said Pelorat. Quintesetz pursed his lips, leaned back in his chair (which gave slightly under the pressure) and put the tips of his fingers together. He seemed to be speculating as to just how to begin. He said, â€Å"Do you know what a robot is?† â€Å"A robot?† said Pelorat. â€Å"No.† Quintesetz looked in the direction of Trevize, who shook his head slowly. â€Å"You know what a computer is, however?† â€Å"Of course,† said Trevize impatiently. â€Å"Well then, a mobile computerized tool†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Is a mobile computerized tool.† Trevize was still impatient. â€Å"There are endless varieties and I don't know of any generalized term for it except mobile computerized tool.† † – that looks exactly like a human being is a robot.† S. Q. completed his definition with equanimity. â€Å"The distinction of a robot is that it is humaniform.† â€Å"Why humaniform?† asked Pelorat in honest amazement. â€Å"I'm not sure. It's a remarkably inefficient form for a tool, I grant you, but I'm just repeating the legend. ‘Robot' is an old word from no recognizable language, though our scholars say it bears the connotation of ‘work.† â€Å"I can't think of any word,† said Trevize skeptically, â€Å"that sounds even vaguely like ‘robot' and that has any connection with ‘work.† â€Å"Nothing in Galactic, certainly,† said Quintesetz, â€Å"but that's what they say.† Pelorat said, â€Å"It may have been reverse etymology. These objects were used for work, and so the word was said to mean ‘work. ‘ – In any case, why do you tell us this?† â€Å"Because it is a firmly fixed tradition here on Sayshell that when Earth was a single world and the Galaxy lay all uninhabited before it, robots were invented and devised. There were then two sorts of human beings: natural and invented, flesh and metal, biological and mechanical, complex and simple†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Quintesetz came to a halt and said with a rueful laugh, â€Å"I'm sorry. It is impossible to talk about robots without quoting from the Book of Flight. The people of Earth devised robots – and I need say no more. That's plain enough.† â€Å"And why did they devise robots?† asked Trevize. Quintesetz shrugged. â€Å"Who can tell at this distance in time? Perhaps they were few in numbers and needed help, particularly in the great task of exploring and populating the Galaxy.† Trevize said, â€Å"That's a reasonable suggestion. Once the Galaxy was colonized, the robots would no longer be needed. Certainly there are no humanoid mobile computerized tools in the Galaxy today.† â€Å"In any case,† said Quintesetz, â€Å"the story is as follows – if I may vastly simplify and leave out many poetic ornamentations which, frankly, I don't accept, though the general population does or pretends to. Around Earth, there grew up colony worlds circling neighboring stars and these colony worlds were far richer in robots than was Earth itself. There was more use for robots on raw, new worlds. Earth, in fact, retreated, wished no more robots, and rebelled against them.† â€Å"What happened?† asked Pelorat. â€Å"The Outer Worlds were the stronger. With the help of their robots, the children defeated and controlled Earth – the Mother. Pardon me, but I can't help slipping into quotation. But there were those from Earth who fled their world – with better ships and stronger modes of hyperspatial travel. They fled to far distant stars and worlds, far beyond the closer worlds earlier colonized. New colonies were founded – without robots – in which human beings could live freely. Those were the Times of Flight, so-called, and the day upon which the first Earthmen reached the Sayshell Sector – this very planet, in fact – is the Day of Flight, celebrated annually for many thousands of years.† Pelorat said, â€Å"My dear chap, what you are saying, then, is that Sayshell was founded directly from Earth.† Quintesetz thought and hesitated for a moment. Then he said, â€Å"That is the official belief.† â€Å"Obviously,† said Trevize, â€Å"you don't accept it.† â€Å"It seems to me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Quintesetz began and then burst out, â€Å"Oh, Great Stars and Small Planets, I don't! It is entirely too unlikely, but it's official dogma and however secularized the government has become, lip service to that, at least, is essential. – Still, to the point. In your article, J. P., there is no indication that you're aware of this story – of robots and of two waves of colonization, a lesser one with robots and a greater one without.† â€Å"I certainly was not,† said Pelorat. â€Å"I hear it now for the first time and, my dear SQ., I am eternally grateful to you for making this known to me. I am astonished that no hint of this has appeared in any of the writings†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"It shows,† said Quintesetz, â€Å"how effective our social system is. It's our Sayshellian secret – our great mystery.† â€Å"Perhaps,† said Trevize dryly. â€Å"Yet the second wave of colonization – the robotless wave – must have moved out in all directions. Why is it only on Sayshell that this great secret exists?† Quintesetz said, â€Å"It may exist elsewhere and be just as secret. Our own conservatives believe that only Sayshell was settled from Earth and that all the rest of the Galaxy was settled from Sayshell. That, of course, is probably nonsense.† Pelorat said, â€Å"These subsidiary puzzles can be worked out in time. Now that I have the starting point, I can seek out similar information on other worlds. What counts is that I have discovered the question to ask and a good question is, of course, the key by which infinite answers can be educed. How fortunate that I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Trevize said, â€Å"Yes, Janov, but the good SQ. has not told us the whole story, surely. What happened to the older colonies and their robots? Do your traditions say?† â€Å"Not in detail, but in essence. Human and humanoid cannot live together, apparently. The worlds with robots died. They were not viable.† â€Å"And Earth?† â€Å"Humans left it and settled here and presumably (though the conservatives would disagree) on other planets as well.† â€Å"Surely not every human being left Earth. The planet was not deserted.† â€Å"Presumably not. I don't know.† Trevize said abruptly, â€Å"Was it left radioactive?† Quintesetz looked astonished. â€Å"Radioactive?† â€Å"That's what I'm asking.† â€Å"Not to my knowledge. I never heard of such a thing.† Trevize put a knuckle to his teeth and considered. Finally he said, â€Å"S. Q., it's getting late and we have trespassed sufficiently on your time, perhaps.† (Pelorat made a motion as though he were about to protest, but Trevize's hand was on the other's knee and his grip tightened – so Pelorat, looking disturbed, subsided.) Quintesetz said, â€Å"I was delighted to be of use.† â€Å"You have been and if there's anything we can do in exchange, name it.† Quintesetz laughed gently. â€Å"If the good J. P. will be so kind as to refrain from mentioning my name in connection with any writing he does on our mystery, that will be sufficient repayment.† Pelorat said eagerly, â€Å"You would be able to get the credit you deserve – and perhaps be more appreciated – if you were allowed to visit Terminus and even, perhaps, remain there as a visiting scholar at our university for an extended period. We might arrange that. Sayshell might not like the Federation, but they might not like refusing a direct request that you be allowed to come to Terminus to attend, let us say, a colloquium on some aspect of ancient history.† The Sayshellian half-rose. â€Å"Are you saying you can pull strings to arrange that?† Trevize said, â€Å"Why, I hadn't thought of it, but J. P. is perfectly right. That would be feasible – if we tried. And, of course, the more grateful you make us, the harder we will try.† Quintesetz paused, then frowned. â€Å"What do you mean, sir?† â€Å"All you have to do is tell us about Gaia, S. Q.,† said Trevize. And all the light in Quintesetz's face died. Quintesetz looked down at his desk. His hand stroked absent-mindedly at his short, tightly curled hair. Then he looked at Trevize and pursed his lips tightly. It was as though he were determined not to speak. Trevize lifted his eyebrows and waited and finally Quintesetz said in a strangled sort of way, â€Å"it is getting indeed late – quite glemmering.† Until then he had spoken in good Galactic, but now his words took on a strange shape as though the Sayshellian mode of speech were pushing past his classical education. â€Å"Glemmering, S. Q. ?† â€Å"It is nearly full night.† Trevize nodded. â€Å"I am thoughtless. And I am hungry, too. Could you please join us for an evening meal, S. Q., at our expense? We could then, perhaps, continue our discussion – about Gaia.† Quintesetz rose heavily to his feet. He was taller than either of the two men from Terminus, but he was older and pudgier and his height did not lend him the appearance of strength. He seemed more weary than when they had arrived. He blinked at them and said, â€Å"I forget my hospitality. You are Outworlders and it would not be fitting that you entertain me. Come to my home. It is on campus and not far and, if you wish to carry on a conversation, I can do so in a more relaxed manner there than here. My only regret† (he seemed a little uneasy) â€Å"is that I can offer you only a limited meal. My wife and I are vegetarians and if you are meat-eating, I can Only express my apologies and regrets.† Trevize said, â€Å"J. P. and I will be quite content to forego our carnivorous natures for one meal. Your conversation will more than make up for it – I hope.† â€Å"I can promise you an interesting meal, whatever the conversation,† said Quintesetz, â€Å"if your taste should run to our Sayshellian spices. My wife and I have made a rare study of such things.† â€Å"I look forward to any exoticism you choose to supply, S. Q.,† said Trevize coolly, though Pelorat looked a little nervous at the prospect. Quintesetz led the way. The three left the room and walked down an apparently endless corridor, with the Sayshellian greeting students and colleagues now and then, but making no attempt to introduce his companions. Trevize was uneasily aware that others stared curiously at his sash, which happened to be one of his gray ones. A subdued color was not something that was de rigueur in campus clothing, apparently. Finally they stepped through the door and out into the open. It was indeed dark and a little cool, with trees bulking in the distance and a rather rank stand of grass on either side of the walkway. Pelorat came to a halt – with his back to the glimmer of lights that came from the building they had just left and from the glows that lined the walks of the campus. He looked straight upward. â€Å"Beautiful!† he said. â€Å"There is a famous phrase in a verse by one of our better poets that speaks of ‘the speckle-shine of Sayshell's soaring sky.† Trevize gazed appreciately and said in a low voice, â€Å"Vie are from Terminus, S. Q., and my friend, at least, has seen no other skies. On Terminus, we see only the smooth dim fog of the Galaxy and a few barely visible stars. You would appreciate your own sky even more, had you lived with ours.† Quintesetz said gravely, â€Å"We appreciate it to the full, I assure you. It's not so much that we are in an uncrowded area of the Galaxy, but that the distribution of stars is remarkably even. I don't think that you will find, anywhere in the Galaxy, first-magnitude stars so generally distributed. – And yet not too many, either. I have seen the skies of worlds that are inside the outer reaches of a globular cluster and there you will see too many bright stars. It spoils the darkness of the night sky and reduces the splendor considerably.† â€Å"I quite agree with that,† said Trevize. â€Å"Now I wonder,† said Quintesetz, â€Å"if you see that almost regular pentagon of almost equally bright stars. The Five Sisters, we call them. It's in that direction, just above the line of trees. Do you see it?† â€Å"I see it,† said Trevize. â€Å"Very attractive.† â€Å"Yes,† said Quintesetz. â€Å"It's supposed to symbolize success in love – and there's no love letter that doesn't end in a pentagon of dots to indicate a desire to make love. Each of the five stars stands for a different stage in the process and there are famous poems which have vied with each other in making each stage as explicitly erotic as possible. In my younger days, I attempted versifying on the subject myself and I wouldn't have thought that the time would come when I would grow so indifferent to the Five Sisters, though I suppose it's the common fate. – Do you see the dim star just about in the center of the Five Sisters.† â€Å"That,† said Quintesetz, â€Å"is supposed to represent unrequited love. There is a legend that the star was once as bright as the rest, but faded with grief.† And he walked on rapidly. The dinner, Trevize had been forced to admit to himself, was delightful. There was endless variety and the spicing and dressing were subtle but effective. Trevize said, â€Å"All these vegetables – which have been a pleasure to eat, by the way – are part of the Galactic dietary, are they not, SQ. ?† â€Å"Yes, of course.† â€Å"I presume, though, that there are indigenous forms of life, too.† â€Å"Of course. Sayshell Planet was an oxygen world when the first settlers arrived, so it had to be life-bearing. And we have preserved some of the indigenous life, you may be sure. We have quite extensive natural parks in which both the flora and the fauna of Old Sayshell survive.† Pelorat said sadly, â€Å"There you are in advance of us, S. Q. There was little land life on Terminus when human beings arrived and I'm afraid that for a long time no concerted effort was made to preserve the sea life, which had produced the oxygen that made Terminus habitable. Terminus has an ecology now that is purely Galactic in nature.† â€Å"Sayshell,† said Quintesetz, with a smile of modest pride, â€Å"has a long and steady record of life-valuing.† And Trevize chose that moment to say, â€Å"When we left your office, SQ., I believe it was your intention to feed us dinner and then tell us about Gaia.† Quintesetz's wife, a friendly woman – plump and quite dark, who had said little during the meal – looked up in astonishment, rose, and left the room without a word. â€Å"My wife,† said Quintesetz uneasily, â€Å"is quite a conservative, I'm afraid, and is a bit uneasy at the mention of – the world. Please excuse her. But why do you ask about it?† â€Å"Because it is important for J. P.'s work, I'm afraid.† â€Å"But why do you ask it of me? We were discussing Earth, robots, the founding of Sayshell. What has all this to do with – what you ask?† ‘Perhaps nothing, and yet there are so many oddnesses about the matter. Why is your wife uneasy at the mention of Gaia? Why are you uneasy? Some talk of it easily enough. We have been told only today that Gaia is Earth itself and that it has disappeared into hyperspace because of the evil done by human beings.† A look of pain crossed Quintesetz's face. â€Å"Who told you that gibberish?† â€Å"Someone I met here at the university.† â€Å"That's just superstition.† â€Å"Then it's not part of the central dogma of your legends concerning the Flight?† â€Å"No, of course not. It's just a fable that arose among the ordinary, uneducated people.† â€Å"Are you sure?† asked Trevize coldly. Quintesetz sat back in his chair and stared at the remnant of the meal before him. â€Å"Come into the living room,† he said. â€Å"My wife will not allow this room to be cleared and set to rights while we are here and discussing – this.† â€Å"Are you sure it is just a fable?† repeated Trevize, once they had seated themselves in another room, before a window that bellied upward and inward to give a clear view of Sayshell's remarkable night sky. The lights within the room glimmered down to avoid competition and Quintesetz's dark countenance melted into the shadow. Quintesetz said, â€Å"Aren't you sure? Do you think that any world can dissolve into hyperspace? You must understand that the average person has only the vaguest notion of what hyperspace is.† â€Å"The truth is,† said Trevize, â€Å"that I myself have only the vaguest notion of what hyperspace is and I've been through it hundreds of times.† â€Å"Let me speak realities, then. I assure you that Earth – wherever it is – is not located within the borders of the Sayshell Union and that the world you mentioned is not Earth.† â€Å"But even if you don't know where Earth is, S. Q., you ought to know where the world I mentioned is. It is certainly within the borders of the Sayshell Union. We know that much, eh, Pelorat?† Pelorat, who had been listening stolidly, started at being suddenly addressed and said, â€Å"If it comes to that, Golan, I know where it is.† Trevize turned to look at him. â€Å"Since when, Janov?† â€Å"Since earlier this evening, my dear Golan. You showed us the Five Sisters, S. Q., on our way from your office to your house. You pointed out a dim star at the center of the pentagon. I'm positive that's Gaia.† Quintesetz hesitated – his face, hidden in the dimness, was beyond any chance of interpretation. Finally he said, â€Å"Well, that's what our astronomers tell us – privately. It is a planet that circles that star.† Trevize gazed contemplatively at Pelorat, but the expression on the professor's face was unreadable. Trevize turned to Quintesetz, â€Å"Then tell us about that star. Do you have its co-ordinates?† â€Å"I? No.† He was almost violent in his denial. â€Å"I have no stellar co-ordinates here. You can get it from our astronomy department, though I imagine not without trouble. No travel to that star is permitted.† â€Å"Why not? It's within your territory, isn't it?† â€Å"Spaciographically, yes. Politically, no.† Trevize waited for something more to be said. When that didn't come, he rose. â€Å"Professor Quintesetz,† he said formally, â€Å"I am not a policeman, soldier, diplomat, or thug. I am not here to force information out of you. Instead, I shall, against my will, go to our ambassador. Surely, you must understand that it is not I, for my own personal interest, that request this information. This is Foundation business and I don't want to make an interstellar incident out of this. I don't think the Sayshell Union would want to, either.† Quintesetz said uncertainly, â€Å"What is this Foundation business?† â€Å"That's not something I can discuss with you. If Gaia is not something you can discuss with me, then we will transfer it all to the government level and, under the circumstances, it may be the worse for Sayshell. Sayshell has kept its independence of the Federation and I have no objection to that. I have no reason to wish Sayshell ill and I do not wish to approach our ambassador. In fact, I will harm my own career in doing so, for I am under strict instruction to get this information without making a government matter of it. Please tell me, then, if there is some firm reason why you cannot discuss Gaia. Will you be arrested or otherwise punished, if you speak? Will you tell me plainly that I have no choice but to go to the ambassadorial height?† â€Å"No no,† said Quintesetz, who sounded utterly confused. â€Å"I know nothing about government matters. We simply don't speak of that world.† â€Å"Superstition?† ‘Well, yes! Superstition! – Skies of Sayshell, in what way am I better than that foolish person who told you that Gaia was in hyperspace – or than my wife who won't even stay in a room where Gaia is mentioned and who may even have left the house for fear it will be smashed by†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Lightning?† â€Å"By some stroke from afar. And I, even I, hesitate to pronounce the name. Gaia! Gaia! The syllables do not hurt! I am unharmed! Yet I hesitate. – But please believe me when I say that I honestly don't know the co-ordinates for Gaia's star. I can try to help you get it, if that will help, but let me tell you that we don't discuss the world here in the Union. We keep hands and minds off it. I can tell you what little is known – really known, rather than supposed – and I doubt that you can learn anything more anywhere in these worlds of the Union. â€Å"We know Gaia is an ancient world and there are some who think it is the oldest world in this sector of the Galaxy, but we are not certain. Patriotism tells us Sayshell Planet is the oldest; fear tells us Gaia Planet is. The only way of combining the two is to suppose that Gaia is Earth, since it is known that Sayshell was settled by Earthpeople. â€Å"Most historians think – among themselves – that Gaia Planet was founded independently. They think it is not a colony of any world of our Union and that the Union was not colonized by Gaia. There is no consensus on comparative age, whether Gaia was settled before or after Sayshell was.† Trevize said, â€Å"So far, what you know is nothing, since every possible alternative is believed by someone or other.† Quintesetz nodded ruefully. â€Å"It would seem so. It was comparatively late in our history that we became conscious of the existence of Gaia. We had been preoccupied at first in forming the Union, then in fighting off the Galactic Empire, then in trying to find our proper role as an Imperial province and in limiting the power of the Viceroys. â€Å"It wasn't till the days of Imperial weakness were far advanced that one of the later Viceroys, who was under very weak central control by then, came to realize that Gaia existed and seemed to maintain its independence from the Sayshellian province and even from the Empire itself. It simply kept to itself in isolation and secrecy, so that virtually nothing was known about it, anymore than is now known. The Viceroy decided to take it over. We have no details what happened, but his expedition was broken and few ships returned. In those days, of course, the ships were neither very good nor very well led. â€Å"Sayshell itself rejoiced at the defeat of the Viceroy, who was considered an Imperial oppressor, and the debacle led almost directly to the re-establishment of our independence. The Sayshell Union snapped its ties with the Empire and we still celebrate the anniversary of that event as Union Day. Almost out of gratitude we left Gaia alone for nearly a century, but the time came when we were strong enough to begin to think of a little imperialistic expansion of our own. Why not take over Gaia? Why not at least establish a Customs Union? We sent out a fleet and it was broken, too. â€Å"Thereafter, we confined ourselves to an occasional attempt at trade – attempts that were invariably unsuccessful. Gaia remained in firm isolation and never – to anyone's knowledge – made the slightest attempt to trade or communicate with any other world. It certainly never made the slightest hostile move against anyone in any direction. And then†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Quintesetz turned up the light by touching a control in the arm of his chair. In the light, Quintesetz's face took on a clearly sardonic expression. He went on, â€Å"Since you are citizens of the Foundation, you perhaps remember the Mule.† Trevize flushed. In five centuries of existence, the Foundation had been conquered only once. The conquest had been only temporary and had not seriously interfered with its climb toward Second Empire, but surely no one who resented the Foundation and wished to puncture its self-satisfaction would fail to mention the Mule, its one conqueror. And it was likely (thought Trevize) that Quintesetz had raised the level of light in order that he might see Foundational self-satisfaction punctured. He said, â€Å"Yes, we of the Foundation remember the Mule.† â€Å"The Mule,† said Quintesetz, â€Å"ruled an Empire for a while, one that was as large as the Federation now controlled by the Foundation. He did not, however, rule us. He left us in peace. He passed through Sayshell at one time, however. We signed a declaration of neutrality and a statement of friendship. He asked nothing more. We were the only ones of whom he asked nothing more in the days before illness called a halt to his expansion and forced him to wait for death. He was not an unreasonable man, you know. He did not use unreasonable force, he was not bloody, and he ruled humanely.† â€Å"It was just that he was a conqueror,† said Trevize sarcastically. â€Å"Like the Foundation,† said Quintesetz. Trevize, with no ready answer, said irritably, â€Å"Do you have more to say about Gaia?† â€Å"Just a statement that the Mule made. According to the account of the historic meeting between the Mule and President Kallo of the Union, the Mule is described as having put his signature to the document with a flourish and to have said, â€Å"You are neutral even toward Gaia by this document, which is fortunate for you. Even I will not approach Gaia.† Trevize shook his head. â€Å"Why should he? Sayshell was eager to pledge neutrality and Gaia had no record of ever troubling anyone. The Mule was planning the conquest of the entire Galaxy at the time, so why delay for trifles? Time enough to turn on Sayshell and Gaia, when that was done.† â€Å"Perhaps, perhaps,† said Quintesetz, â€Å"but according to one witness at the time, a person we tend to believe, the Mule put down his pen as he said, ‘Even I will not approach Gaia. ‘ His voice then dropped and, in a whisper not meant to be heard, he added ‘again.† â€Å"Not meant to be heard, you say. Then how was it he was heard?† â€Å"Because his pen rolled off the table when he put it down and a Sayshellian automatically approached and bent to pick it up. His ear was close to the Mule's mouth when the word ‘again' was spoken and he heard it. He said nothing until after the Mule's death.† â€Å"How can you prove it was not an invention.† â€Å"The man's life is not the kind that makes it probable he would invent something of this kind. His report is accepted.† â€Å"And if it is?† â€Å"The Mule was never in – or anywhere near – the Sayshell Union except on this one occasion, at least after he appeared on the Galactic scene. If he had ever been on Gaia, it had to be before he appeared on the Galactic scene.† â€Å"Well?† â€Å"Well, where was the Mule born?† â€Å"I don't think anyone knows,† said Trevize. â€Å"In the Sayshell Union, there is a strong feeling he was born on Gaia.† â€Å"Because of that one word?† â€Å"Only partly. The Mule could not be defeated because he had strange mental powers. Gaia cannot be defeated either.† â€Å"Gaia has not been defeated as yet. That does not necessarily prove it cannot be.† â€Å"Even the Mule would not approach. Search the records of his Overlordship. See if any region other than the Sayshell Union was so gingerly treated. And do you know that no one who has ever gone to Gaia for the purpose of peaceful trade has ever returned? Why do you suppose we know so little about it?† Trevize said, â€Å"Your attitude seems much like superstition.† â€Å"Call it what you will. Since the time of the Mule, we have wiped Gaia out of our thinking. We don't want it to think of us. We only feel safe if we pretend it isn't there. It may be that the government has itself secretly initiated and encouraged the legend that Gaia has disappeared into hyperspace in the hope that people will forget that there is a real Star of that name.† â€Å"You think that Gaia is a world of Mules, then?† â€Å"It may be. I advise you, for your good, not to go there. If you do, you will never return. If the Foundation interferes with Gaia, it will show less intelligence than the Mule did. You might tell your ambassador that.† Trevize said, â€Å"Get me the co-ordinates and I will be off your world at once. I will reach Gaia and I will return.† Quintesetz said, â€Å"I will get you the co-ordinates. The astronomy department works nights, of course, and I will get it for you now, if I can. – But let me suggest once more that you make no attempt to reach Gaia.† Trevize said, â€Å"I intend to make that attempt.† And Quintesetz said heavily, â€Å"Then you intend suicide.†

Is cooperation better than competition?

Our society forging ahead, the significance of both cooperation and competition, methodologies by which humanity cope with awkward social encounters, tends to be acceleratingly pivotal to all walks of life. However, whether the effectiveness of cooperation override that of competition has sparked off spirited debate. I personally advocate the belief that, at the status quo, more weight should be attached to the sense of collaboration, the effervescence instilled into a wide spectrum of communities and the spirit profoundly immersed in success. â€Å"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.† By which I mean, by no means can the sum of all individual efforts, regardless of how marvelous they might be, prevail over the integrity in terms of stability and rigidity, effectiveness and efficiency. The unity of spider’s net can tie up a lion, albeit fragile a single thread seems to be; a bundle of matches can hardly be broken, albeit brittle a single stick seems to be; cascades of water coalescing together can forge a sea, albeit futile a single drop seems to be. â€Å"Great discoveries invariably involve the cooperation of many minds.† Could you appoint a single scientist to invent a brand-new, cutting-edge devise without others’ assistance? Certainly not! Apparently, there is not a scintilla of possibility that merely one scientist, regardless of how world-renown he is and how ineffable works he has accomplished, can flawlessly combat all hindrances attached to such explorations. Moreover, cooperation is the catalyst for strengthening social rapports. There is no denying that accompanying the process in which we pay concerted efforts for the sake of obtaining the ultimate goal, mutual fidelity and faith play an paramount role, both of which, therefore, will have been bolstered eventually. Furthermore, the arduous but rewarding process during which people have collaborated will consistently echo in everyone’s mind. The partnership, therefore, will certainly be strengthened once those unforgettable experiences are recalled. Admittedly, there exist some benefits brought about by competition that cannot be neglected, whereas its more apparent adverse effects tend to be rendered the friction for social burgeoning. Here comes a compelling example: A couple of waves out of phase tend to be cancelled out, whereas a couple in phase can reinforce each other. What is more, competition may also abstract leaders from focusing on the genuine target, thus distort the value of ultimate outputs. To illustrate, two political parties of a country may give their best shot on how to defeat each other, other than devoting themselves to serving the society. Consequently, who will suffer are the innocent citizens who were promised the idyllic living ambience that are jeopardized by the â€Å"political war†. Competition being the developing stumbling block to some extents, the superiority of cooperation will suffice to be reinforced. Having critically and objectively analyzed all the arguments relating to this dilemma, although some minuscule benefits of competition can not be masked, I will consistently held in high regard the belief that the sense cooperation must be dominant over the sense of competition.

A Brief History of U.S.-Israeli-Palestinian Relations

A Brief History of U.S.-Israeli-Palestinian Relations Even though Palestine is not an official state, the U.S. and Palestine have a long history of rocky diplomatic relations. With Palestinian Authority (PA) head Mahmoud Abbas set to appeal for the creation of a Palestinian state at the United Nations on September 19, 2011- and the U.S. set to veto the measure- that foreign policy history is again in the spotlight. The story of U.S.-Palestinian relations is lengthy, and it obviously includes much of the history of Israel. This is the first of several articles on the U.S.-Palestinian-Israeli relationship. History Palestine is an Islamic region, or perhaps several regions, in and around the Jewish-state of Israel in the Middle East. Its four million people live largely in the West Bank along the Jordan River, and in the Gaza Strip near Israels border with Egypt. Israel occupies both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It created Jewish settlements in each place, and has waged several small wars for control of those areas. The United States has traditionally backed Israel and its right to exist as a recognized state. At the same time, the U.S. has sought cooperation from Arab nations in the Middle East, both to achieve its energy needs and to secure a safe environment for Israel. Those dual American goals have put Palestinians in the midst of a diplomatic tug-of-war for nearly 65 years. Zionism Jewish and Palestinian conflict began at the turn of the 20th Century as many Jews worldwide began the Zionist movement. Because of discrimination in the Ukraine and other parts of Europe, they sought territory of their own around the Biblical holy lands of the Levant between the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. They also wanted that territory to include Jerusalem. Palestinians also consider Jerusalem a holy center. Great Britain, with a significant Jewish population of its own, backed Zionism. During World War I, it took control of much of Palestine and maintained post-war control through a League of Nations mandate finalized in 1922. Arab Palestinians revolted against British rule on several occasions in the 1920s and 1930s. Only after Nazis staged mass executions of Jews during the Holocaust of World War II did the international community begin backing the Jewish quest for a recognized state in the Middle East. Partitioning and Diaspora The United Nations authored a plan to partition the region into Jewish and Palestinian areas, with the intention that each become states. In 1947 Palestinians and Arabs from Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, and Syria began hostilities against Jews. That same year saw the beginning of a Palestinian diaspora. Some 700,000 Palestinians were displaced as Israeli boundaries became clear. On May 14, 1948, Israel declared its independence. The United States and most members of the United Nations recognized the new Jewish state. Palestinians call the date al-Naqba, or the catastrophe. Full-blown war erupted. Israel beat the coalition of Palestinians and Arabs, taking territory that the United Nations had designated for Palestine. Israel, however, was always felt insecure as it did not occupy the West Bank, the Golan Heights, or the Gaza Strip. Those territories would serve as buffers against Jordan, Syria, and Egypt respectively. It fought- and won- wars in 1967 and 1973 to occupy those territories. In 1967 it also occupied the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt. Many Palestinians who had fled in the diaspora, or their descendants, found themselves again living under Israeli control. Although considered illegal under international law, Israel has also built Jewish settlements throughout the West Bank. U.S. Backing The United States backed Israel throughout those wars. The U.S. has also continuously sent military equipment and foreign aid to Israel. American support of Israel, however, has made its relations with neighboring Arab countries and Palestinians problematic. Palestinian displacement and the lack of an official Palestinian state became a central tenet of much anti-American Islamic and Arabic sentiment. The United States has had to craft foreign policy that both helps keep Israel secure and allows American access to Arab oil and shipping ports.

Association between departmental stewardship, role stressors and distress among executives

Association between departmental stewardship, role stressors and distress among executives In the past few decades, major evolutions in globalization, technology and social collaboration have transformed the nature of work in all sectors. As work becomes increasingly complex and interdependent, employees are expected to take on many new roles and responsibilities. According to Kahn et al. (1964) it is quite common for employees in complex organizations to experience stress regarding their role, which can lead to negative individual and organizational outcomes. Recently, the field of occupational health has recognized that psychosocial factors inherent in the work environment can have considerable influence on the physical and mental well-being of employees, and studies have begun to model contextual moderators in the process of organizational stress. In this article we introduce organizational stewardship as a contextual factor that may build employee resilience to role demands and protect against adverse symptoms of mental health. Stewardship is defined here as an organizational approach in which communication, collaboration and adaptability between organizational actors and stakeholders is used to generate trust, a shared understanding and a sense of purpose. Using multi-level analysis, this study investigates whether departmental stewardship moderates the relationship between role stressors and psychological distress among public service executives. Role Stress and Mental Health The shift to a more knowledge-based society has resulted in many changes to the design, organization and management of factors within the work environment. As workplaces become more complex and multifaceted, employees are expected to take on multiple roles and responsibilities, and thus, it has become more important than ever to examine the impact of role stressors on employee well-being. Role conflict refers to the occurrence of divergent expectations or when role requirements are incompatible with an employee’s value system, making it difficult to perform their work. Role ambiguity refers to a lack of information or unclear information regarding employee’s roles, such that they are unsure as to what is expected of them. According to Cavanaugh, Boswell, Roehling and Boudreau (2000) role demands are considered hindrance stressors, meaning they are viewed as obstacles to personal growth or demands that can hinder an employee’s ability to achieve work goals. As a result, the presence of these stressors can prompt negative emotions (e.g., anxiety or fear) and a passive or emotional coping method (e.g., withdrawing from the work). Because role demands are perceived as uncontrollable and threatening to one’s work they are unlikely to be met with increased effort, instead employees may emotionally and cognitively withdraw from their work. While the process of organizational stress has been implicated in a wide range of physical health ailments, mental health disorders are considered to be the most common outcomes. Stress-related mental health disorders like anxiety and depression place a heavy financial burden on organizations. According to the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC), about 30% of short- and long-term disability claims in Canada are attributed to mental health problems. Moreover, mental health problems and illnesses among Canadian employees cost organizations more than $6 billion in lost productivity (MHCC, n.d). A recent meta-analysis by Schmidt et al., (2014) documented the link between role stressors and depression across a variety of work settings. These authors acknowledged that it is important to examine mental health as a continuous construct since even minor symptoms can lead to impaired health and organizational outcomes. In light of this, psychological distress is an important concept to measure in the context of employee well-being, since it can capture a lower threshold of mental health problems and may be a crucial to reducing illness or disability caused by work stress. Distress refers to â€Å"a set of psychophysiological and behavioral symptoms that are not specific to a given pathology† (e.g., anxious or depressive responses, irritability, trouble sleeping, absenteeism) that can cause impairment in day-to-day functions and one’s ability to carry out normal tasks. From Leadership to Stewardship Worldwide societal and economic changes have challenged organizational scholars to question deeply rooted assumptions about leadership strategies and to re-examine organizational approaches that can more adequately respond to the demands faced by present-day organizations. As a result, scholars have begun to recognize that interdependent and global work can counteract the potential power of leadership, making it challenging for those in positions of authority to have an impact on the work environment regardless of their leadership style or the fit between the leader and situation. Recently, scholars have proposed the notion of stewardship as an organizational approach to guide the collective process in organizations. While leadership has been traditionally examined with a focus on interpersonal exchanges, stewardship can be viewed as a meta-phenomenon, reflected in organizational structures and collaborative processes. In this study, organizational stewardship is positioned as a pote ntial moderator in the relationship between role stressors and psychological distress. Stewardship Historically, stewardship came from the notion of managing or taking care of something that was entrusted to you. This concept is finding renewed resonance in current organizational literature and has been described as an alternative approach to governance models of mandate and force (Block, 1993). Stewardship has also been defined as an organizational approach that emphasizes a sense of purpose through the sharing of power, resources and information across networks to serve the public interest. According to Hubbard and Paquet (2016) stewardship is believed to foster a sense of community through building partnerships and networks, and generate the trust and dialogue necessary to work through complex issues. Furthermore, they argue that stewardship practices connect employees to the larger purpose of their work, fostering their sense of meaning. Based on these conceptualizations, an empirical study by Simpkins and Lemyre (2018) has reframed organizational stewardship as a system featu re through the application of a socio-ecological framework. An Ecological Model of Stewardship Taking a systemic approach inspired by Brofenbrenner’s (1979, 1999) systems theory framework, the Socio-Ecological Model, the social environment is subdivided into various systems and takes into account the cumulative effect of multiple factors of the physical and social environment, as well as situational and personal factors, on employee well-being (Stokols, 1996). Beyond the individual, the microsystem includes close interpersonal relations. Then, the mesosystem is composed of various organizations or services. The most overarching concept in this framework is the macrosystem, which includes the overall patterns of the social context such as economy, laws and political events. While the idea that stewardship can contribute to positive organizational outcomes has been implied, empirical evidence supporting this relationship remains quite limited. A qualitative case study of the Edmonton Public School system by Segal (2012) asked employees to describe organizational processes inherent in the control and reward systems. This study concluded that an organizational culture associated with stewardship theory helped to instil integrity among employees, contributing to organizational efficiency. According to Simpkins Lemyre (2018), the examination of stewardship within a workplace stress framework broadens our understanding of the work environment and has important implications for individuals, organizations and society. This role can be operationalized as an organization level resource contributing to employee well-being examined through the Job-Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. The Job Demands-Resources Model As outlined in the JD-R model, employee health and well-being can result from a balance between psychosocial work factors categorized as either demands or resources. Physical, social or organizational job characteristics that require sustained effort are labeled as job demands. Job characteristics that contribute to meeting organizational objectives, reduce job demands and their accompanying physiological and psychological costs, or that stimulate employee growth and learning are labeled as job resources. Demands and resources are linked to health and well-being outcomes through two underlying psychological processes. An excess in job demands coupled with a lack of resources can deplete an employee’s energy resources in the health impairment process, while job resources can contribute to positive organizational outcomes through the motivational process. Likewise, the JD-R model assumes that job resources can buffer the impact of various demands on stress outcomes. While individual-level resources have been valuable components in the study of stress, Demerouti Bakker (2011) have suggested an expansion of the JD-R model to include multi-level constructs in order to capture the different structural, functional or hierarchical levels of organizational research. Taking a Multi-Level Approach When direct indicators of environmental context are not available, contextual variables can be measured using group averages of individuals’ perceptions, at a cluster level. This is believed to reliably account for non-independence among employees exposed to similar environmental factors, which can influence how they perceive or respond to stress in the workplace. As a result, researchers can more accurately examine how organizational level processes affect individual-level processes and outcomes. Moreover, modeling group-level moderators of stress is particularly important, given its implications for prevention. From a practical perspective, a multi-level approach to stress may result in more effective interventions, as organizations may wish to employ different strategies at each level. Moreover, stress interventions based on group-level moderators can be much easier to implement over individual-based interventions. Thus, identifying contextual factors that can mitigate the stress process, and understanding how they influence this relationship, can contribute to more systemic approach to organizational stress research. Stewardship as a Moderator of Work Stressors As reviewed above, job resources can buffer the negative effects of work demands on perceived job strain through different mechanisms. While stewardship is not anticipated to reduce work demands themselves, the work conditions provided through a context of stewardship may alter employee perceptions and cognitions evoked by work stressors, and moderate the responses that follow. This can potentially reduce the health-damaging consequences of stress. A mission-focused stewardship approach is believed to help employees put their work in a larger context, providing them with a sense of purpose. The alignment between employee demands and the organizational mission may contribute to a sense of coherence among employees, where they perceive their demands as understandable, manageable and meaningful, a strong determinant of successful coping. Moreover, the sharing of information, power and resources can help to develop a common frame of reference, facilitating communication and reducing misunderstandings with regard to work tasks. In this way, stewardship organizations, through the collaboration and the instrumental support of other organizations, may be more resilient to increasingly complex work demands. Thus, a context of stewardship may temper the negative influence of work stressors by repositioning work demands as challenges that can be accomplished collectively, and task completion may seem more achievable in this setting. Stewardship in the Canadian Public Service Canada’s public service is the non-partisan, executive branch of the Canadian government composed of various units, which include departments, agencies, commissions, Crown corporations and other federal organizations. In a typical governmental department there are several levels of leadership at the Executive level (EX position classification). Stewardship as an organizational approach may be especially important in the context of public service work, where many different levels of hierarchy must operate collaboratively and rely on the combined efforts of various departments, agencies, commissions, crown corporations and other federal organizations to deliver quality service to citizens. In summary, there is strong theoretical and empirical basis to consider and formally test organizational stewardship as a potential moderator in the relationship between role stressors and psychological distress among executives. To our knowledge, stewardship has never been tested as a contextual variable using multi-level analysis. This raises the research question: Does a context of stewardship moderate the relationship between role stressors and psychological distress among public service executives? Study Model This study proposes that a context of stewardship reflects the degree to which a department engages in effective collaboration across networks, generating trust, a sense of purpose, and a shared sense of responsibility. We posit that a context of stewardship can help executives manage their perceived role stressors such that when a high degree of stewardship is perceived within one’s department, executives are more likely to experience their work as meaningful, interesting and something to which they wish to devote effort, regardless of stressful demands. In this way, departmental stewardship may help to alleviate the effects of stressors before they become damaging (i.e., psychological distress). Thus, we propose that department-level stewardship moderates the relationship between role stressors (i.e., role conflict and role ambiguity) and distress symptoms. Goal and Objectives The aim in the present study is to investigate the association between departmental stewardship, role stressors and distress among executives. The research goal is to test that there is variance in these relationships that relates to the organizational level above and beyond the idiosyncratic individual perspective. To test the moderation effect, there are two pre-conditions: Condition 1: Executives who report higher role stressors will also report higher distress; and Condition 2 (ecological multi-level effect): Departments with high levels of aggregated stewardship will have a negative relationship with reported distress. Main Hypothesis (Cross-Level Interaction) Moderation effect of the multi-level construct: The relationship between role stressors and distress is moderated by departmental stewardship such that the relationship between role stressors and distress is stronger for departments with low aggregated stewardship, and this relationship is buffered in departments with high aggregated stewardship. Participants and Procedure Data used for this study comes from the pan-Canadian national survey on Work and Health conducted in 2012 in partnership with the Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada (APEX). This survey represents the fourth cycle of a multi-phase research project examining the health status of executives, from Director (EX-1) to Deputy Minister (EX-5), in the federal Public Service of Canada. A total of 6688 self-administered anonymous questionnaires were distributed via e-mail to senior-management executives in the Canadian federal public service. Over two thousand respondents returned the questionnaires (N=2314), representing a response rate of 35%. After removing missing data and performing data screening for multi-level analysis the final data set included responses from 1996 executives nested within 59 departments/agencies. Departments, on average, had 34 respondents (range, 2 to 177). The sample comprised 51% male and 49% female executives and maintained fully proportional representation of the actual distribution of executives by gender, executive level, region and age. The average age of participants was 50.2 years. The majority of participants had either a post-grad education (52%) or university education (39%). Participants had been working at the executive level for 7.3 years, on average. While just over half (56%) of executives in this sample worked at the EX-1 level, 24% worked at the EX-2 level, and 20% at the EX-3, EX-4 or EX-5 level.