Chapter 20 The First Task

Harry got up on Sunday morning and dressed so inattentively that it was a while before he realized he was trying to pull his hat onto his foot instead of his sock. When he'd finally got all his clothes on the right parts of his body, he hurried off to find Hermione, locating her at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, where she was eating breakfast with Ginny. Feeling too queasy to eat, Harry waited until Hermione had swallowed her last spoonful of porridge, then dragged her out onto the grounds. There, he told her all about the dragons, and about everything Sirius had said, while they took another long walk around the lake. Alarmed as she was by Sirius's warnings about Karkaroff, Hermione still thought that the dragons were the more pressing problem. â€Å"Let's just try and keep you alive until Tuesday evening,† she said desperately, â€Å"and then we can worry about Karkaroff.† They walked three times around the lake, trying all the way to think of a simple spell that would subdue a dragon. Nothing whatsoever occurred to them, so they retired to the library instead. Here, Harry pulled down every book he could find on dragons, and both of them set to work searching through the large pile. â€Å"Talon-clipping by charms†¦treating scale-rot†¦' This is no good, this is for nutters like Hagrid who want to keep them healthy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate†¦' But Sirius said a simple one would do it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Let's try some simple spellbooks, then,† said Harry, throwing aside Men Who Love Dragons Too Much. He returned to the table with a pile of spellbooks, set them down, and began to flick through each in turn, Hermione whispering nonstop at his elbow. â€Å"Well, there are Switching Spells†¦but what's the point of Switching it? Unless you swapped its fangs for wine-gums or something that would make it less dangerous†¦.The trouble is, like that book said, not much is going to get through a dragon's hide†¦.I'd say Transfigure it, but something that big, you really haven't got a hope, I doubt even Professor McGonagall†¦unless you're supposed to put the spell on yourself? Maybe to give yourself extra powers? But they're not simple spells, I mean, we haven't done any of those in class, I only know about them because I've been doing O.W.L. practice papers†¦.† â€Å"Hermione,† Harry said, through gritted teeth, â€Å"will you shut up for a bit, please? I m trying to concentrate.† But all that happened, when Hermione fell silent, was that Harry's brain filled with a sort of blank buzzing, which didn't seem to allow room for concentration. He stared hopelessly down the index of Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed. Instant scalping†¦but dragons had no hair†¦pepper breath†¦that would probably increase a dragon's firepower†¦horn tongue†¦just what he needed, to give it an extra weapon†¦ â€Å"Oh no, he's back again, why can't he read on his stupid ship?† said Hermione irritably as Viktor Krum slouched in, cast a surly look over at the pair of them, and settled himself in a distant corner with a pile of books. â€Å"Come on, Harry, we'll go back to the common room†¦his fan club'll be here in a moment, twittering away†¦.† And sure enough, as they left the library, a gang of girls tiptoed past them, one of them wearing a Bulgaria scarf tied around her waist. Harry barely slept that night. When he awoke on Monday morning, he seriously considered for the first time ever just running away from Hogwarts. But as he looked around the Great Hall at breakfast time, and thought about what leaving the castle would mean, he knew he couldn't do it. It was the only place he had ever been happy†¦well, he supposed he must have been happy with his parents too, but he couldn't remember that. Somehow, the knowledge that he would rather be here and facing a dragon than back on Privet Drive with Dudley was good to know; it made him feel slightly calmer. He finished his bacon with difficulty (his throat wasn't working too well), and as he and Hermione got up, he saw Cedric Diggory leaving the Hufflepuff table. Cedric still didn't know about the dragons†¦the only champion who didn't, if Harry was right in thinking that Maxime and Karkaroff would have told Fleur and Krum†¦. â€Å"Hermione, I'll see you in the greenhouses,† Harry said, coming to his decision as he watched Cedric leaving the Hall. â€Å"Go on, I'll catch you up.† â€Å"Harry, you'll be late, the bell's about to ring -â€Å" â€Å"I'll catch you up, okay?† By the time Harry reached the bottom of the marble staircase, Cedric was at the top. He was with a load of sixth-year friends. Harry didn't want to talk to Cedric in front of them; they were among those who had been quoting Rita Skeeter's article at him every time he went near them. He followed Cedric at a distance and saw that he was heading toward the Charms corridor. This gave Harry an idea. Pausing at a distance from them, he pulled out his wand, and took careful aim. â€Å"Diffindo!† Cedric's bag split. Parchment, quills, and books spilled out of it onto the floor. Several bottles of ink smashed. â€Å"Don't bother,† said Cedric in an exasperated voice as his friends bent down to help him. â€Å"Tell Flitwick I'm coming, go on†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This was exactly what Harry had been hoping for. He slipped his wand back into his robes, waited until Cedric's friends had disappeared into their classroom, and hurried up the corridor, which was now empty of everyone but himself and Cedric. â€Å"Hi,† said Cedric, picking up a copy of A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration that was now splattered with ink. â€Å"My bag just split†¦brand-new and all†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Cedric,† said Harry, â€Å"the first task is dragons.† â€Å"What?† said Cedric, looking up. â€Å"Dragons,† said Harry, speaking quickly, in case Professor Flitwick came out to see where Cedric had got to. â€Å"They've got four, one for each of us, and we've got to get past them.† Cedric stared at him. Harry saw some of the panic he'd been feeling since Saturday night flickering in Cedric's gray eyes. â€Å"Are you sure?† Cedric said in a hushed voice. â€Å"Dead sure,† said Harry. â€Å"I've seen them.† â€Å"But how did you find out? We're not supposed to know†¦.† â€Å"Never mind,† said Harry quickly – he knew Hagrid would be in trouble if he told the truth. â€Å"But I'm not the only one who knows. Fleur and Krum will know by now – Maxime and Karkaroff both saw the dragons too.† Cedric straightened up, his arms full of inky quills, parchment, and books, his ripped bag dangling off one shoulder. He stared at Harry, and there was a puzzled, almost suspicious look in his eyes. â€Å"Why are you telling me?† he asked. Harry looked at him in disbelief. He was sure Cedric wouldn't have asked that if he had seen the dragons himself. Harry wouldn't have let his worst enemy face those monsters unprepared – well, perhaps Malfoy or Snape†¦. â€Å"It's just†¦fair, isn't it?† he said to Cedric. â€Å"We all know now†¦we're on an even footing, aren't we?† Cedric was still hooking at him in a slightly suspicious way when Harry heard a familiar clunking noise behind him. He turned around and saw Mad-Eye Moody emerging from a nearby classroom. â€Å"Come with me, Potter,† he growled. â€Å"Diggory, off you go.† Harry stared apprehensively at Moody. Had he overheard them? â€Å"Er – Professor, I'm supposed to be in Herbology -â€Å" â€Å"Never mind that, Potter. In my office, please†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry followed him, wondering what was going to happen to him now. What if Moody wanted to know how he'd found out about the dragons? Would Moody go to Dumbledore and tell on Hagrid, or just turn Harry into a ferret? Well, it might be easier to get past a dragon if he were a ferret, Harry thought dully, he'd be smaller, much less easy to see from a height of fifty feet†¦. He followed Moody into his office. Moody closed the door behind them and turned to look at Harry, his magical eye fixed upon him as well as the normal one. â€Å"That was a very decent thing you just did, Potter,† Moody said quietly. Harry didn't know what to say; this wasn't the reaction he had expected at all. â€Å"Sit down,† said Moody, and Harry sat, looking around. He had visited this office under two of its previous occupants. In Professor Lockhart's day, the walls had been plastered with beaming, winking pictures of Professor Lockhart himself. When Lupin had lived here, you were more likely to come across a specimen of some fascinating new Dark creature he had procured for them to study in class. Now, however, the office was full of a number of exceptionally odd objects that Harry supposed Moody had used in the days when he had been an Auror. On his desk stood what looked hike a large, cracked, glass spinning top; Harry recognized it at once as a Sneakoscope, because he owned one himself, though it was much smaller than Moody's. In the corner on a small table stood an object that looked something like an extra-squiggly, golden television aerial. It was humming slightly. What appeared to be a mirror hung opposite Harry on the wall, but it was not reflecting the room. Shadowy figures were moving around inside it, none of them clearly in focus. â€Å"Like my Dark Detectors, do you?† said Moody, who was watching Harry closely. â€Å"What's that?† Harry asked, pointing at the squiggly golden aerial. â€Å"Secrecy Sensor. Vibrates when it detects concealment and lies†¦no use here, of course, too much interference – students in every direction lying about why they haven't done their homework. Been humming ever since I got here. I had to disable my Sneakoscope because it wouldn't stop whistling. It's extra-sensitive, picks up stuff about a mile around. Of course, it could be picking up more than kid stuff,† he added in a growl. â€Å"And what's the mirror for?† â€Å"Oh that's my Foe-Glass. See them out there, skulking around? I'm not really in trouble until I see the whites of their eyes. That's when I open my trunk.† He let out a short, harsh laugh, and pointed to the large trunk under the window. It had seven keyholes in a row. Harry wondered what was in there, until Moody's next question brought him sharply back to earth. â€Å"So†¦found out about the dragons, have you?† Harry hesitated. He'd been afraid of this – but he hadn't told Cedric, and he certainly wasn't going to tell Moody, that Hagrid had broken the rules. â€Å"It's all right,† said Moody, sitting down and stretching out his wooden leg with a groan. â€Å"Cheating's a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and always has been.† â€Å"I didn't cheat,† said Harry sharply. â€Å"It was – a sort of accident that I found out.† Moody grinned. â€Å"I wasn't accusing you, laddie. I've been telling Dumbledore from the start, he can be as high-minded as he likes, but you can bet old Karkaroff and Maxime won't be. They'll have told their champions everything they can. They want to win. They want to beat Dumbledore. They'd like to prove he's only human.† Moody gave another harsh laugh, and his magical eye swiveled around so fast it made Harry feel queasy to watch it. â€Å"So†¦got any ideas how you're going to get past your dragon yet?† said Moody. â€Å"No,† said Harry. â€Å"Well, I'm not going to tell you,† said Moody gruffly. â€Å"I don't show favoritism, me. I'm just going to give you some good, general advice. And the first bit is – play to your strengths.† â€Å"I haven't got any,† said Harry, before he could stop himself. â€Å"Excuse me,† growled Moody, â€Å"you've got strengths if I say you've got them. Think now. What are you best at?† Harry tried to concentrate. What was he best at? Well, that was easy, really – â€Å"Quidditch,† he said dully, â€Å"and a fat lot of help -â€Å" â€Å"That's right,† said Moody, staring at him very hard, his magical eye barely moving at all. â€Å"You're a damn good flier from what I've heard.† â€Å"Yeah, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry stared at him. â€Å"I'm not allowed a broom, I've only got my wand†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"My second piece of general advice,† said Moody loudly, interrupting him, â€Å"is to use a nice, simple spell that will enable you to get what you need.† Harry looked at him blankly. What did he need? â€Å"Come on, boy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  whispered Moody. â€Å"Put them together†¦it's not that difficult†¦Ã¢â‚¬  And it clicked. He was best at flying. He needed to pass the dragon in the air. For that, he needed his Firebolt. And for his Fire-bolt, he needed – â€Å"Hermione,† Harry whispered, when he had sped into greenhouse three minutes later, uttering a hurried apology to Professor Sprout as he passed her. â€Å"Hermione – I need you to help me.† â€Å"What d'you think I've been trying to do, Harry?† she whispered back, her eyes round with anxiety over the top of the quivering Flutterby Bush she was pruning. â€Å"Hermione, I need to learn how to do a Summoning Charm properly by tomorrow afternoon.† And so they practiced. They didn't have lunch, but headed for a free classroom, where Harry tried with all his might to make various objects fly across the room toward him. He was still having problems. The books and quills kept losing heart halfway across the room and dropping hike stones to the floor. â€Å"Concentrate, Harry, concentrate†¦.† â€Å"What d'you think I'm trying to do?† said Harry angrily. â€Å"A great big dragon keeps popping up in my head for some reason†¦Okay, try again†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He wanted to skip Divination to keep practicing, but Hermione refused point-blank to skive off Arithmancy, and there was no point in staying without her. He therefore had to endure over an hour of Professor Trelawney, who spent half the lesson telling everyone that the position of Mars with relation to Saturn at that moment meant that people born in July were in great danger of sudden, violent deaths. â€Å"Well, that's good,† said Harry loudly, his temper getting the better of him, â€Å"just as long as it's not drawn-out. I don't want to suffer.† Ron looked for a moment as though he was going to laugh; he certainly caught Harry's eye for the first time in days, but Harry was still feeling too resentful toward Ron to care. He spent the rest of the lesson trying to attract small objects toward him under the table with his wand. He managed to make a fly zoom straight into his hand, though he wasn't entirely sure that was his prowess at Summoning Charms – perhaps the fly was just stupid. He forced down some dinner after Divination, then returned to the empty classroom with Hermione, using the Invisibility Cloak to avoid the teachers. They kept practicing until past midnight. They would have stayed longer, but Peeves turned up and, pretending to think that Harry wanted things thrown at him, started chucking chairs across the room. Harry and Hermione left in a hurry before the noise attracted Filch, and went back to the Gryffindor common room, which was now mercifully empty. At two o'clock in the morning, Harry stood near the fireplace, surrounded by heaps of objects: books, quills, several upturned chairs, an old set of Gobstones, and Neville's toad, Trevor. Only in the last hour had Harry really got the hang of the Summoning Charm. â€Å"That's better, Harry, that's loads better,† Hermione said, looking exhausted but very pleased. â€Å"Well, now we know what to do next time I can't manage a spell,† Harry said, throwing a rune dictionary back to Hermione, so he could try again, â€Å"threaten me with a dragon. Right†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He raised his wand once more. â€Å"Accio Dictionary!† The heavy book soared out of Hermione's hand, flew across the room, and Harry caught it. â€Å"Harry, I really think you've got it!† said Hermione delightedly. â€Å"Just as long as it works tomorrow,† Harry said. â€Å"The Firebolt's going to be much farther away than the stuff in here, it's going to be in the castle, and I'm going to be out there on the grounds†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"That doesn't matter,† said Hermione firmly.† Just as long as you're concentrating really, really hard on it, it'll come. Harry, we'd better get some sleep†¦you're going to need it.† Harry had been focusing so hard on learning the Summoning Charm that evening that some of his blind panic had heft him. It returned in full measure, however, on the following morning. The atmosphere in the school was one of great tension and excitement. Lessons were to stop at midday, giving all the students time to get down to the dragons' enclosure – though of course, they didn't yet know what they would find there. Harry felt oddly separate from everyone around him, whether they were wishing him good luck or hissing â€Å"We'll have a box of tissues ready, Potter† as he passed. It was a state of nervousness so advanced that he wondered whether he mightn't just lose his head when they tried to lead him out to his dragon, and start trying to curse everyone in sight. Time was behaving in a more peculiar fashion than ever, rushing past in great dollops, so that one moment he seemed to be sitting down in his first lesson, History of Magic, and the next, walking into lunch†¦and then (where had the morning gone? the last of the dragon-free hours?), Professor McGonagall was hurrying over to him in the Great Hall. Lots of people were watching. â€Å"Potter, the champions have to come down onto the grounds now†¦.You have to get ready for your first task.† â€Å"Okay,† said Harry, standing up, his fork falling onto his plate with a clatter. â€Å"Good luck, Harry,† Hermione whispered. â€Å"You'll be fine!† â€Å"Yeah,† said Harry in a voice that was most unlike his own. He heft the Great Hall with Professor McGonagall. She didn't seem herself either; in fact, she looked nearly as anxious as Hermione. As she walked him down the stone steps and out into the cold November afternoon, she put her hand on his shoulder. â€Å"Now, don't panic,† she said, â€Å"just keep a cool head†¦.We've got wizards standing by to control the situation if it gets out of hand†¦.The main thing is just to do your best, and nobody will think any the worse of you†¦.Are you all right?† â€Å"Yes,† Harry heard himself say. â€Å"Yes, I'm fine.† She was leading him toward the place where the dragons were, around the edge of the forest, but when they approached the clump of trees behind which the enclosure would be clearly visible, Harry saw that a tent had been erected, its entrance facing them, screening the dragons from view. â€Å"You're to go in here with the other champions,† said Professor McGonagall, in a rather shaky sort of voice, â€Å"and wait for your turn, Potter. Mr. Bagman is in there†¦he'll be telling you the – the procedure†¦. Good luck.† â€Å"Thanks,† said Harry, in a flat, distant voice. She left him at the entrance of the tent. Harry went inside. Fleur Delacour was sitting in a corner on a how wooden stool. She didn't look nearly as composed as usual, but rather pale and clammy. Viktor Krum looked even surlier than usual, which Harry supposed was his way of showing nerves. Cedric was pacing up and down. When Harry entered, Cedric gave him a small smile, which Harry returned, feeling the muscles in his face working rather hard, as though they had forgotten how to do it. â€Å"Harry! Good-o!† said Bagman happily, looking around at him. â€Å"Come in, come in, make yourself at home!† Bagman looked somehow like a slightly overblown cartoon figure, standing amid all the pale-faced champions. He was wearing his old Wasp robes again. â€Å"Well, now we're all here – time to fill you in!† said Bagman brightly. â€Å"When the audience has assembled, I'm going to be offering each of you this bag† – he held up a small sack of purple silk and shook it at them – â€Å"from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different – er – varieties, you see. And I have to tell you something else too†¦ah, yes†¦your task is to collect the golden egg!† Harry glanced around. Cedric had nodded once, to show that he understood Bagman's words, and then started pacing around the tent again; he looked slightly green. Fleur Delacour and Krum hadn't reacted at all. Perhaps they thought they might be sick if they opened their mouths; that was certainly how Harry felt. But they, at least, had volunteered for this†¦ And in no time at all, hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of feet could be heard passing the tent, their owners talking excitedly, laughing, joking†¦.Harry felt as separate from the crowd as though they were a different species. And then – it seemed like about a second later to Harry – Bagman was opening the neck of the purple silk sack. â€Å"Ladies first,† he said, offering it to Fleur Delacour. She put a shaking hand inside the bag and drew out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon – a Welsh Green. It had the number two around its neck And Harry knew, by the fact that Fleur showed no sign of surprise, but rather a determined resignation, that he had been right: Madame Maxime had told her what was coming. The same held true for Krum. He pulled out the scarlet Chinese Fireball. It had a number three around its neck. He didn't even blink, just sat back down and stared at the ground. Cedric put his hand into the bag, and out came the blueish-gray Swedish Short-Snout, the number one tied around its neck. Knowing what was left, Harry put his hand into the silk bag and pulled out the Hungarian Horntail, and the number four. It stretched its wings as he looked down at it, and bared its minuscule fangs. â€Å"Well, there you are!† said Bagman. â€Å"You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see? Now, I'm going to have to leave you in a moment, because I'm commentating. Mr. Diggory, you're first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right? Now†¦Harry†¦could I have a quick word? Outside?† â€Å"Er†¦yes,† said Harry blankly, and he got up and went out of the tent with Bagman, who walked him a short distance away, into the trees, and then turned to him with a fatherly expression on his face. â€Å"Feeling all right, Harry? Anything I can get you?† â€Å"What?† said Harry. â€Å"I – no, nothing.† â€Å"Got a plan?† said Bagman, lowering his voice conspiratorially. â€Å"Because I don't mind sharing a few pointers, if you'd like them, you know. I mean,† Bagman continued, lowering his voice still further, â€Å"you're the underdog here, Harry†¦.Anything I can do to help†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No,† said Harry so quickly he knew he had sounded rude, â€Å"no – I – I know what I'm going to do, thanks.† â€Å"Nobody would know, Harry,† said Bagman, winking at him. â€Å"No, I'm fine,† said Harry, wondering why he kept telling people this, and wondering whether he had ever been less fine. â€Å"I've got a plan worked out, I -â€Å" A whistle had blown somewhere. â€Å"Good lord, I've got to run!† said Bagman in alarm, and he hurried off. Harry walked back to the tent and saw Cedric emerging from it, greener than ever. Harry tried to wish him luck as he walked past, but all that came out of his mouth was a sort of hoarse grunt. Harry went back inside to Fleur and Krum. Seconds hater, they heard the roar of the crowd, which meant Cedric had entered the enclosure and was now face-to-face with the living counterpart of his model†¦. It was worse than Harry could ever have imagined, sitting there and listening. The crowd screamed†¦yelled†¦gasped like a single many-headed entity, as Cedric did whatever he was doing to get past the Swedish Short-Snout. Krum was still staring at the ground. Fleur had now taken to retracing Cedric's steps, around and around the tent. And Bagman's commentary made everything much, much worse†¦.Horrible pictures formed in Harry's mind as he heard: â€Å"Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â€Å"He's taking risks, this one!†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ Clever move – pity it didn't work!† And then, after about fifteen minutes, Harry heard the deafening roar that could mean only one thing: Cedric had gotten past his dragon and captured the golden egg. â€Å"Very good indeed!† Bagman was shouting. â€Å"And now the marks from the judges!† But he didn't shout out the marks; Harry supposed the judges were holding them up and showing them to the crowd. â€Å"One down, three to go!† Bagman yelled as the whistle blew again. â€Å"Miss Delacour, if you please!† Fleur was trembling from head to foot; Harry felt more warmly toward her than he had done so far as she heft the tent with her head held high and her hand clutching her wand. He and Krum were left alone, at opposite sides of the tent, avoiding each other's gaze. The same process started again†¦.†Oh I'm not sure that was wise!† they could hear Bagman shouting gleefully. â€Å"Oh†¦nearly! Careful now†¦good lord, I thought she'd had it then!† Ten minutes later, Harry heard the crowd erupt into applause once more†¦.Fleur must have been successful too. A pause, while Fleur's marks were being shown†¦more clapping†¦then, for the third time, the whistle. â€Å"And here comes Mr. Krum!† cried Bagman, and Krum slouched out, leaving Harry quite alone. He felt much more aware of his body than usual; very aware of the way his heart was pumping fast, and his fingers tingling with fear†¦yet at the same time, he seemed to be outside himself, seeing the walls of the tent, and hearing the crowd, as though from far away. â€Å"Very daring!† Bagman was yelling, and Harry heard the Chinese Fireball emit a horrible, roaring shriek, while the crowd drew its collective breath. â€Å"That's some nerve he's showing – and – yes, he's got the egg!† Applause shattered the wintery air like breaking glass; Krum had finished – it would be Harry's turn any moment. He stood up, noticing dimly that his legs seemed to be made of marshmallow. He waited. And then he heard the whistle blow. He walked out through the entrance of the tent, the panic rising into a crescendo inside him. And now he was walking past the trees, through a gap in the enclosure fence. He saw everything in front of him as though it was a very highly colored dream. There were hundreds and hundreds of faces staring down at him from stands that had been magicked there since he'd last stood on this spot. And there was the Horntail, at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon him, a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, heaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground. The crowd was making a great deal of noise, but whether friendly or not, Harry didn't know or care. It was time to do what he had to do†¦to focus his mind, entirely and absolutely, upon the thing that was his only chance. He raised his wand. â€Å"Accio Firebolt!† he shouted. Harry waited, every fiber of him hoping, praying†¦.If it hadn't worked†¦if it wasn't coming†¦He seemed to be looking at everything around him through some sort of shimmering, transparent barrier, like a heat haze, which made the enclosure and the hundreds of faces around him swim strangely†¦. And then he heard it, speeding through the air behind him; he turned and saw his Firebolt hurtling toward him around the edge of the woods, soaring into the enclosure, and stopping dead in midair beside him, waiting for him to mount. The crowd was making even more noise†¦.Bagman was shouting something†¦but Harry's ears were not working properly anymore†¦listening wasn't important†¦. He swung his leg over the broom and kicked off from the ground. And a second later, something miraculous happened†¦. As he soared upward, as the wind rushed through his hair, as the crowd's faces became mere flesh-colored pinpnicks below, and the Horntail shrank to the size of a dog, he realized that he had left not only the ground behind, but also his fear†¦.He was back where he belonged†¦. This was just another Quidditch match, that was all†¦just another Quidditch match, and that Horntail was just another ugly opposing team†¦. He looked down at the clutch of eggs and spotted the gold one, gleaming against its cement-colored fellows, residing safely between the dragon's front legs. â€Å"Okay,† Harry told himself, â€Å"diversionary tactics†¦let's go†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He dived. The Horntail's head followed him; he knew what it was going to do and pulled out of the dive just in time; a jet of fire had been released exactly where he would have been had he not swerved away†¦but Harry didn't care†¦that was no more than dodging a Bludger†¦. â€Å"Great Scott, he can fly!† yelled Bagman as the crowd shrieked and gasped. â€Å"Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?† Harry soared higher in a circle; the Horntail was still following his progress; its head revolving on its long neck – if he kept this up, it would be nicely dizzy – but better not push it too long, or it would be breathing fire again – Harry plummeted just as the Horntail opened its mouth, but this time he was less lucky – he missed the flames, but the tail came whipping up to meet him instead, and as he swerved to the left, one of the long spikes grazed his shoulder, ripping his robes – He could feel it stinging, he could hear screaming and groans from the crowd, but the cut didn't seem to be deep†¦.Now he zoomed around the back of the Horntail, and a possibility occurred to him†¦. The Horntail didn't seem to want to take off, she was too protective of her eggs. Though she writhed and twisted, furling and unfurling her wings and keeping those fearsome yellow eyes on Harry, she was afraid to move too far from them†¦but he had to persuade her to do it, or he'd never get near them†¦.The trick was to do it carefully, gradually†¦. He began to fly, first this way, then the other, not near enough to make her breathe fire to stave him off, but still posing a sufficient threat to ensure she kept her eyes on him. Her head swayed this way and that, watching him out of those vertical pupils, her fangs bared†¦. He flew higher. The Horntail's head rose with him, her neck now stretched to its fullest extent, still swaying, hike a snake before its charmer†¦. Harry rose a few more feet, and she let out a roar of exasperation. He was like a fly to her, a fly she was longing to swat; her tail thrashed again, but he was too high to reach now†¦.She shot fire into the air, which he dodged†¦.Her jaws opened wide†¦. â€Å"Come on,† Harry hissed, swerving tantalizingly above her, â€Å"come on, come and get me†¦up you get now†¦Ã¢â‚¬  And then she reared, spreading her great, black, leathery wings at last, as wide as those of a small airplane – and Harry dived. Before the dragon knew what he had done, or where he had disappeared to, he was speeding toward the ground as fast as he could go, toward the eggs now unprotected by her clawed front legs – he had taken his hands off his Firebolt – he had seized the golden egg – And with a huge spurt of speed, he was off, he was soaring out over the stands, the heavy egg safely under his uninjured arm, and it was as though somebody had just turned the volume back up – for the first time, he became properly aware of the noise of the crowd, which was screaming and applauding as loudly as the Irish supporters at the World Cup – â€Å"Look at that!† Bagman was yelling. â€Å"Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get his egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr. Potter!† Harry saw the dragon keepers rushing forward to subdue the Horntail, and, over at the entrance to the enclosure, Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody, and Hagrid hurrying to meet him, all of them waving him toward them, their smiles evident even from this distance. He flew back over the stands, the noise of the crowd pounding his eardrums, and came in smoothly to land, his heart lighter than it had been in weeks†¦.He had got through the first task, he had survived†¦. â€Å"That was excellent, Potter!† cried Professor McGonagall as he got off the Firebolt – which from her was extravagant praise. He noticed that her hand shook as she pointed at his shoulder. â€Å"You'll need to see Madam Pomfrey before the judges give out your score†¦.Over there, she's had to mop up Diggory already†¦.† â€Å"Yeh did it, Harry!† said Hagrid hoarsely. â€Å"Yeh did it! An' agains' the Horntail an' all, an' yeh know Charlie said that was the wors' -â€Å" â€Å"Thanks, Hagrid,† said Harry loudly, so that Hagrid wouldn't blunder on and reveal that he had shown Harry the dragons beforehand. Professor Moody looked very pleased too; his magical eye was dancing in its socket. â€Å"Nice and easy does the trick, Potter,† he growled. â€Å"Right then, Potter, the first aid tent, please†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Professor McGonagall. Harry walked out of the enclosure, still panting, and saw Madam Pomfrey standing at the mouth of a second tent, looking worried. â€Å"Dragons!† she said, in a disgusted tone, pulling Harry inside. The tent was divided into cubicles; he could make out Cedric's shadow through the canvas, but Cedric didn't seem to be badly injured; he was sitting up, at least. Madam Pomfrey examined Harry's shoulder, talking furiously all the while. â€Å"Last year dementors, this year dragons, what are they going to bring into this school next? You're very lucky†¦this is quite shallow†¦it'll need cleaning before I heal it up, though†¦.† She cleaned the cut with a dab of some purple liquid that smoked and stung, but then poked his shoulder with her wand, and he felt it heal instantly. â€Å"Now, just sit quietly for a minute – sit! And then you can go and get your score.† She bustled out of the tent and he heard her go next door and say, â€Å"How does it feel now, Diggory?† Harry didn't want to sit still. He was too full of adrenaline. He got to his feet, wanting to see what was going on outside, but before he'd reached the mouth of the tent, two people had come darting inside – Hermione, followed closely by Ron. â€Å"Harry, you were brilliant!† Hermione said squeakily. There were fingernail marks on her face where she had been clutching it in fear. â€Å"You were amazing! You really were!† But Harry was looking at Ron, who was very white and staring at Harry as though he were a ghost. â€Å"Harry,† he said, very seriously, â€Å"whoever put your name in that goblet – I – I reckon they're trying to do you in!† It was as though the last few weeks had never happened – as though Harry were meeting Ron for the first time, right after he'd been made champion. â€Å"Caught on, have you?† said Harry coldly. â€Å"Took you long enough.† Hermione stood nervously between them, looking from one to the other. Ron opened his mouth uncertainly. Harry knew Ron was about to apologize and suddenly he found he didn't need to hear it. â€Å"It's okay,† he said, before Ron could get the words out. â€Å"Forget it.† â€Å"No,† said Ron, â€Å"I shouldn't've -â€Å" â€Å"Forget it, â€Å"Harry said. Ron grinned nervously at him, and Harry grinned back. Hermione burst into tears. â€Å"There's nothing to cry about!† Harry told her, bewildered. â€Å"You two are so stupid!† she shouted, stamping her foot on the ground, tears splashing down her front. Then, before either of them could stop her, she had given both of them a hug and dashed away, now positively howling. â€Å"Barking mad,† said Ron, shaking his head. â€Å"Harry, c'mon, they'll be putting up your scores†¦.† Picking up the golden egg and his Firebolt, feeling more elated than he would have believed possible an hour ago, Harry ducked out of the tent, Ron by his side, talking fast. â€Å"You were the best, you know, no competition. Cedric did this weird thing where he Transfigured a rock on the ground†¦turned it into a dog†¦he was trying to make the dragon go for the dog instead of him. Well, it was a pretty cool bit of Transfiguration, and it sort of worked, because he did get the egg, but he got burned as well – the dragon changed its mind halfway through and decided it would rather have him than the Labrador; he only just got away. And that Fleur girl tried this sort of charm, I think she was trying to put it into a trance – well, that kind of worked too, it went all sleepy, but then it snored, and this great jet of flame shot out, and her skirt caught fire – she put it out with a bit of water out of her wand. And Krum – you won't believe this, but he didn't even think of flying! He was probably the best after you, though. Hit it with some sort of spell right in the eye. Only thing is, it went trampling around in agony and squashed half the real eggs – they took marks off for that, he wasn't supposed to do any damage to them.† Ron drew breath as he and Harry reached the edge of the enclosure. Now that the Horntail had been taken away, Harry could see where the five judges were sitting – right at the other end, in raised seats draped in gold. â€Å"It's marks out of ten from each one,† Ron said, and Harry squinting up the field, saw the first judge – Madame Maxime – raise her wand in the air. What hooked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure eight. â€Å"Not bad!† said Ron as the crowd applauded. â€Å"I suppose she took marks off for your shoulder†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Mr. Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into the air. â€Å"Looking good!† Ron yelled, thumping Harry on the back. Next, Dumbledore. He too put up a nine. The crowd was cheering harder than ever. Ludo Bagman – ten. â€Å"Ten?† said Harry in disbelief. â€Å"But†¦I got hurt†¦.What's he playing at?† â€Å"Harry, don't complain!† Ron yelled excitedly. And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too – four. â€Å"What?† Ron bellowed furiously. â€Å"Four? You lousy, biased scum-bag, you gave Krum ten!† But Harry didn't care, he wouldn't have cared if Karkaroff had given him zero; Ron's indignation on his behalf was worth about a hundred points to him. He didn't tell Ron this, of course, but his heart felt lighter than air as he turned to leave the enclosure. And it wasn't just Ron†¦those weren't only Gryffindors cheering in the crowd. When it had come to it, when they had seen what he was facing, most of the school had been on his side as well as Cedric's†¦.He didn't care about the Slytherins, he could stand whatever they threw at him now. â€Å"You're tied in first place, Harry! You and Krum!† said Charlie Weasley, hurrying to meet them as they set off back toward the school. â€Å"Listen, I've got to run, I've got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore I'd tell her what happened – but that was unbelievable! Oh yeah – and they told me to tell you you've got to hang around for a few more minutes†¦.Bagman wants a word, back in the champions' tent.† Ron said he would wait, so Harry reentered the tent, which somehow looked quite different now: friendly and welcoming. He thought back to how he'd felt while dodging the Horntail, and compared it to the long wait before he'd walked out to face it†¦.There was no comparison; the wait had been immeasurably worse. Fleur, Cedric, and Krum all came in together. One side of Cedric's face was covered in a thick orange paste, which was presumably mending his burn. He grinned at Harry when he saw him. â€Å"Good one, Harry.† â€Å"And you,† said Harry, grinning back. â€Å"Well done, all of you!† said Ludo Bagman, bouncing into the tent and looking as pleased as though he personally had just got past a dragon. â€Å"Now, just a quick few words. You've got a nice long break before the second task, which will take place at half past nine on the morning of February the twenty-fourth – but we're giving you something to think about in the meantime! If you look down at those golden eggs you're all holding, you will see that they open†¦see the hinges there? You need to solve the clue inside the egg – because it will tell you what the second task is, and enable you to prepare for it! All clear? Sure? Well, off you go, then!† Harry left the tent, rejoined Ron, and they started to walk back around the edge of the forest, talking hard; Harry wanted to hear what the other champions had done in more detail. Then, as they rounded the clump of trees behind which Harry had first heard the dragons roar, a witch leapt out from behind them. It was Rita Skeeter. She was wearing acid-green robes today; the Quick-Quotes Quill in her hand blended perfectly against them. â€Å"Congratulations, Harry!† she said, beaming at him. â€Å"I wonder if you could give me a quick word? How you felt facing that dragon? How you feel now, about the fairness of the scoring?† â€Å"Yeah, you can have a word,† said Harry savagely. â€Å"Good-bye.† And he set off back to the castle with Ron.

Economic and Environmental benefits of Green walls

IntroductionGreen wall and its necessityThe life, organic systems characterized by green walls, are integrated with the inorganic and exanimate constructions are ruling modern architecture and holds the promise of a new type of ‘living ‘ architecture. Green walls are by and large walls that are portion of the Building covered with flora. They are similar perpendicular garden largely formed with creeper system on the exterior wall with the roots on the land or with free standing vertically framed wall with different native workss grown on the surface. They are besides termed as bio walls or populating walls since they act as natural air-conditioner as they purifies and cools the ambient air to a big extent making a healthy environment. The deepest menace of planetary heating is the rapid urbanisation and deforestation. There is a considerable addition of co2 emanation and heat transportation. This impact is utmost in the urban status where the vegetation/ verdure are sparse. Besides in the urban conditions largely all the edifices are glazed and air-conditioned with out any ways of neither thermic insularity, nor are they shaded with thick environing landscape. This is fundamentally due to the infinite restraints and optimisation. In such ambitious instances Green wall is the best option which acts as a good shading device against heat addition and energy losingss, pollution etc. Hence, Green walls are must in urban conditions.Economic and Environmental benefits of Green wallsThe economic and environmental benefits are many. They result in significant energy nest eggs, extension of constructing life, CO2 gaining control, acoustics and Aestheticss.Energy Conservation: Vegetation on walls can help in chilling edifice s in summer and insulating them in winter. Decrease of thermic lading to edifices consequences lower warming and chilling costs which in bend lowers carbon emanations. Jacklyn Johnston and John Newton ( 2004 )Health: These mounting workss on green walls filter out dust and other pollutants. Jacklyn Johnston and John Newton ( 2004 )Decrease of heat island consequence consequences in less reflected heat.Air purification: workss filter pollution particularly when used inside edifices.Noise fading: It acts as sound barrier ensuing in quieter edifices and streets.Green walls can roll up over 30kgs per M2 of rainwater.Increased urban biomass.Jacklyn Johnston and John Newton ( 2004 ) clears the fact that ‘There is a widespread belief that workss are unfriendly to construct constructions, rending out howitzer and prying isolated articulations with their roots. The grounds suggests that these jobs have been greatly overdone, except where decay has already set in and so workss can so sp eed up the procedure of impairment. ‘ There is small grounds that workss damage walls. In fact in most of the instances the exact opposite is true, with workss covering the wall helps in protecting the wall from harmful elements, solar radiation which in bend reduces the thermal tensenesss within the construction.Autochthonal sustainable elements and their benefitsAutochthonal sustainable elements are the simple elements which are locally available and considered as waste or least prioritized. For illustration, the coconut shells in the state like India which are available in copiousness are merely disposed or burnt to ashes even though they have high thermic coefficient and suitableness for insulation/ acoustics. Similarly, stuffs like Clay, Bamboo, Jungle/ Pine/Rubber wood, Cork etc carry untarnishing consequence in the field of sustainable Architecture when used suitably. Apart from their interesting feature they are besides economic.RESEARCH QUESTION/OBJECTIVE:Department o f energies green palisade demand to be green?The realistic aim of this research is to make more gratifying greener metropoliss which in bend bring legion benefits to the environing environment. In the about all the Urban locations of the universe where the CO2 emanation is highly high due to assorted factors have barely any good flora to command environmental pollution. Unfortunately, in such locations the construct of sustainability like ‘Green wall ‘ gets relegated to the 2nd topographic point due to building and care cost. The thought is to turn to to these countries and besides to heighten the benefits of â€Å" Green walls ‘ with some medicative value. This needs to be achieved by placing native herbal workss and besides, to analyze and introduce in the country of low cost autochthonal elements like coconut shells, bamboo, cane, Jute, cork, ect as building stuffs to supplement to sustainable design.LITERATURE REVIEW:Green walls are easy deriving value and are considered valuable for chilling the Urban infinite than green roofs in states like Japan. But the green wall is still new to states like India and China. Jacklyn Johnston and John Newton ( 2004 ) states that ‘This is a great commiseration, because even in those metropoliss comparatively good endowed with greenspace many countries can justifiably be regarded as comeuppances in biological footings. ‘ Nigel Dunnett and Noel Kingsbury ( 2004 ) Green wall is widely practiced in Europe and it is rather common in France and Germany to see house covered in Virginia creeper or vines which are influenced by Mediterranean clime. Jacklyn Johnston and John Newton ( 2004 ) states that ‘We necessitate appropriate development which incorporates an ecological attack to edifice and landscape. ‘ This means that the land lost in the building of edifices and roads should be replaced with a bed of workss on the difficult surfaces. By this manner green tegument can be strategical ly added to make a new web of flora associating roofs, courtyards, walls and unfastened infinites.Different types of green wallsThere are two different types: Green frontages and Living wallsGreen facades: are wall systems where workss cover back uping constructions rooted at the base of the construction. Supporting construction can either be a bing wall or built as freestanding constructions. Populating walls: ( besides called bio walls or perpendicular gardens ) composed of pre-vegetated modular panels that are fixed to a structural wall or freestanding frame. Modular panels comprises of polypropene plastic containers, geotextiles, irrigation system, turning medium and flora. Populating walls can be installed on the outside of a edifice in full Sun, shadiness, and inside of a edifice. They grow good in both tropical and temperate clime. Due to immense assortment of workss used, populating walls require more intensive care than green frontages like regular lacrimation, adding foods and fertilisers.Different types of green facade support constructionsThe two primary types areModular treillage systems: Panels which are stiff and lightweight are installed vertically as wall-mounted or freestanding. They can besides be used on tall edifices along side with intermediate plantation owners. Modular treillage systems are indispensable where the physical growing of mounting workss is restricted.Freestanding constructions: are stiff panels such as green columns or canopy signifiers that can be placed on either on edifice walls where either the infinite is limited or burden is restricted. The panels can besides be used as shading devices for a unfastened parking country.Cable and rope wire systems: this system consist high-tensile steel overseas telegrams, wire treillages, spacers, and extra equipment. Vertical and horizontal wires are connected through cross clinchs to organize a treillage system of coveted sizes and forms. Stainless steel wire-rope cyberspace is supported on flexible or stiff frames to cover big countries.Best works types to utilize for green wallsJacklyn Johnston and John Newton ( 2004 ) Sing the relationship between the types of works used and the facet of the walls where they will turn is besides a really of import facet. Deciduous workss are the most suited on the south side of a edifice. In the summer their dense leaf shields the edifice from sunshine and creates chilling consequence. In winter foliages are shed, leting sunshine to make the surface of the wall so assisting to warm the inside of the edifice. Similarly on a west-facing wall it is reasonable to utilize evergreens to protect the edifice from rain and supply a shock absorber of air to assist insularity. North confronting walls are best for back uping native herbs and wider scopes of workss. East walls may fall into either class. Plants used on exterior edifice walls are exposed to harsher climactic milieus than those of indoors. Hence for edifice that intend to make great highs, more stalwart species of workss should be selected. Similarly, for less works friendly climes, climbers that are tolerant for air current and heat should be selected. Nigel Dunnett and Noel Kingsbury ( 2004 ) On wooden walls and other constructions, species with really heavy growing or a thick ramification wont should be avoided, as the construction may non be able to back up the weight. Plant choice will hold major impact on the design of the back uping system. For case, a denser and faster turning works will necessitate a larger infinite between supports than less aggressive works species. The denseness of works life further impacts the implicit in construction. Greater the leaf surface country, the more impact rain will hold on the weight of the system.Green wall installing and careJacklyn Johnston and John Newton ( 2004 ) Small herbaceous species are able to turn on walls by taking root in the substance of the wall itself. But other species are of course adapted to mounting up and over obstructions such as stone faces, trees and bush. Some sort of support construction is indispensable for these workss to turn successfully. For illustration, climbers such as hops support themselves by gyrating upwards around an object. They will necessitate lumber battings, trellis work, steel overseas telegrams or plastic ropes. Although some creeper can cleave straight onto wall s by their roots, they require a unsmooth surface to enable them to make so. Ramble oning workss such as bramble and mounting rose need wide-meshed grid constructions to which they can be attached. A 50x50cm fretwork of treated lumber mounted on wooden stations ( or an tantamount construction utilizing overseas telegrams, rope or sacking ) will supply an equal support for a scope of species. Whenever possible it is reasonable to go forth small spread between the facade of the edifice and the supporting construction to maximize the effects of summer chilling and winter insularity. The constructions help in administering the weight of the workss across the supporting construction and wall. In overseas telegram and rope wire systems, ground tackles and turnbuckles have to be installed at the terminal of each overseas telegram for fastening and accommodations as and when required. Jacklyn Johnston and John Newton ( 2004 ) Polypropylene cladding tiles incorporates rainproof membranes and their ain irrigation system. Plants could be established on these and so hung on the exterior of a edifice. Depending on species, mounting workss by and large require a good supply of H2O and occasional pruning. Supporting constructions require less care, with lone occasional monitoring of the supporting construction. Jacklyn Johnston and John Newton ( 2004 ) For mounting workss the land should be prepared merely like for any tree or bush by making a cavity and adding in some compost to the top 30cm.Pre-grown panels for populating walls needs 6-12 months for workss to turn prior to bringing and installing. The panels are grown horizontally until it is shipped to the site after which it can be mounted vertically. Climbing workss should be selected that do non supply a nutrient beginning for unwanted plagues and insects. Excessive growing or dead wood should be removed sporadically and standing H2O should be avoided.LEED points for utilizing green wallsLEED has several credits for green walls when used in edifices.Sustainable Sites Credit 7.1: Landscape Design that Reduces Urban Heat Islands ( 1 point ) . Solar coefficient of reflection of a edifice is greatly reduced by exterior green walls, therefore cut downing the urban heat island consequence.Water Efficiency Credits 1.1, 1.2: Water Efficient Landscaping ( 1 to 2 points ) . Harvested stormwater can be used for irrigating the workss of the green walls. Use merely collected, recycled, or nonpotable H2O may besides add on to this recognition.Water Efficiency Credit 2: Advanced Wastewater Technologies ( 1 point ) . Green walls can move as a medium for utilizing effluent intervention.Energy and Atmosphere Credit 1: Optimize Energy Performance ( 1 to 10 points ) . Building ‘s mechanical systems use can be reduced greatly by green walls which acts as extra insularity for the construction and besides provides natural chilling.Invention in Design Credits 1-4: Invention in Design ( 1 to 4 points ) . Green walls can lend to innovative effluent direction or airing systems.KNOWLEDGES AND GAPSWhat is the consciousness on Green walls in the states like India?Green Building Movement in India – Catalysts and Course India is witnessing unbelievable growing in substructure and building sector. The building industry in India happens to be one of the largest economic activities. As this sector is turning quickly, continuing the environment poses batch of challenges and at the same clip nowadayss chances. The building sector hence needs to lend towards environmental duty. Green wall constructs are at emerging phase in India chiefly due to high initial cost and deficiency of a native merchandise to turn to the same. But still it offers great potency which asks for greater apprehension and germinating an autochthonal merchandise by Indian Architects/ Landscape interior decorators.How cost witting developed states are and how it is of import?Most of the developed states are focused on the engineering of future and the art of modern architecture plays critical function where the value of simple autochthonal elements gets neglected. In that instance, even in the name of modernisation most of the development states are besides acquiring inspired by the developed states. Cost effectual design ever carries value at the clip of crisis and recession. It besides speaks its untasted appeal as they are formed largely with natural elements.Invention:An Indian based Agriculturist who tried organic agriculture ‘elunkathir pannai ‘ with the protection of bio fencing created with the native herb teas and workss. The consequence proved to be amazing and achieved good output. The interesting secrete behind it is, all the air born plagues are filtered and killed by of course available herbal marauders. This inspires and even strengthens the construct of Green walls for the urban infinites besides. And that is one of my enterprise and portion of the research utilizing native herb teas to accomplish medicative benefits.Sustainability is mostly being practised in assorted Fieldss. But in most of the instances they are non cost effectual. The other portion of my invention is to accommodate low cost sustainable design with simple autochthonal elements like Coconut shell, Clay plaster, Cork, Bamboo, Jungle/pine wood etc. at appropriate countries.DATA AND INFORMATION TO BE COLLECTED:Detailss of Green wall construction/installationSupports and framesPlants species for indoor and out doorIrrigation system inside informationsLighting inside informationsCareSamplesHow to roll up informations and How to analyze it?Already garnering information from the service suppliers of assorted topographic points on green wall building and care facets.In the procedure of acquiring associated with a Horticulturalist/ Agriculturalist to acquire inside informations on the workss species and their behavior.Apart from the above, I have collected sufficient literature to travel frontward. Besides, analysis of each component will be carried out through theoretical accounts and tools by roll uping all the needed samples from the mentioned resources.PlanningThe construct of green wall has to be incorporated in design and the same will be detailed and fine-tuned towards the research subject as a survey theoretical account. As portion of advanced design the use of autochthonal sustainable elements will besides be adopted. Features of the autochthonal elements available in the underdeveloped states like India are tremendous. Will be after them suitably in design specification based on their features and besides, following with ergonomic criterions.POSSIBLE ResultSing all the urban infinites which are wholly responsible for the expletive ‘Global warming ‘ on this female parent Earth, as a responsible Architect would work towards through my thesis to attest and turn out Green walls and other simple autochthonal stuffs as low-cost solution for all the Urban conditions and warrant the use of green wall for a infinite which is non-Air-conditioned. The other issue which is endangering the universe is the recession which besides calls for advanced cost effectual practise in the building and specification. Initiative to accomplish the same with cost effectual autochthonal stuffs is a challenge yet it will be proven possible. â€Å" It is ever better to be after and protect, instead than repent and fix †Bibliography:Property World- August 2009The Hindu-Elunkathirpannai- Arunachlam-Thursday,2008The Architects Journal, Building LibraryGet downing with Plants-Dougherty, DavidGreen walls Austrialia Pvt ltd.www.greenscreen.comhypertext transfer protocol: //www.greenscreen.com/home.htmlhypertext transfer protocol: //www.bdcnetwork.com/article/379033-6_Things_You_Need_to_Know_About_Green_Walls.phpGreen Building Movement in India – Catalysts and Course

Critical Issue in Education Essay

Education is the key determinant of development in any country in the contemporary world. Human capital development plays an important role in the overall development of any country. Schools have a common mission of providing students with developmentally appropriate education which emphasize high academic performance in addition to the student becoming socially responsible. In the long run, education is aimed to earn the students skills and knowledge that encourage them to be productive, responsible citizens in the dynamic global society. The government and teachers have a common vision in supporting education programs and students. The vision of teachers is to produce citizens who will participate productively and responsibly in a rapidly changing society through using problem solving techniques to handle everyday challenges, communicating effectively, respect of self, others and environment in which they are working in. School leaders encounter a multitude of critical issues while carrying out their day to day responsibilities and this pose a challenge in the realization of the vision and mission set by the school. The challenges experienced in most American schools include school violence, low performance due to introduction of bilingual system of education among other challenges. This paper will discuss challenges that are facing school leaders today as a result of school violence. This paper will identify several causes of school violence and the appropriate measures taken to curb the problem. What is the issue and why is it critical for schools/school leaders? School violence has affected the academic performance in schools and therefore the problem must be addressed to realize improved performance. Population is growing rapidly as indicated by the high number of students in public schools as compared to educators. Leadership in schools is been blamed for the continued increase of the school violence problem. However, discipline management in schools especially public schools has become difficult due to the high ratio of students to teachers. It becomes to do individual student follow-up. Most educators have also fallen victims of school violence and therefore some have been silenced due to improper organizational structure to govern student behavior. Students have been noted to riot while educators are in class and this raised alarm over student behavior management. School leaders experience a problem in controlling school violence due to inadequate support from parents’ especially those who argue that their kids must carry weapons to school for self defense due to increased insecurity in schools. Literature Review Many researches on school violence indicate varied results as to the causes of the social dysfunction. Forensic psychologists who study criminal behavior argue that school killers are very different from other violent youth, such as gang members or drug dealers. The school killers usually experience inferiority complex by feeling powerless and therefore become obsessed with killing or injuring others. The school killers hence direct their threats to those that threaten them or taunt them. Social loafing has been argued to increase incidences of violence in schools. Some quiet decent students become violent when in a group during a school riot or mob justice incidence. Students engage in mob justice when confronting people who attack those using guns as a defense mechanism. School viol4ence continues to create an on going challenge to the nation’s educational environment. To address the problem of school violence in the United States, it demands collaboration among educators, students, parents and social service organizations in analyzing the problems that are facing the student community, their causes and effect of the school violence. The stakeholders should then jointly find lasting solutions. Research indicates that children look for caring adults’ up to adolescence who can share with them about the critical issues facing them. Freud, a psychoanalyst theorist argues that early life experiences where children are exposed to violence at home and community around them may have a deepening effect which pushes them to violence. Criminologists, physiatrists, counselors have put the blame on the media for providing a steady diet of movies where violence is glorified and on the evolution of single parent homes. Kids who watch violent movies usually perceive violence as fun and adventurous. Moynihan in his article â€Å"Deviancy Go Down† argues that kids from single parents are more likely to engage in robbery with violence, rape and other social disorders because in most cases the single parent is financially unstable and therefore the kids look for alternative ways to achieve the socially approved goals. Lack of respects and accountability at homes has contributed to lack of respect for the law. Survey indicates that it’s common for police in the U. S. to encounter kids between ages 7 and 8 who disrespect law (Dewey, 2006). Research indicates that inequalities in the education system has contributed top the problem of increased school violence. Discrimination of some cultures, races has also led to higher levels school violence among the African-Americans who perceive that the education system disfavors them. The socio-economic disparity between Whites and blacks create rivalry between Whites and blacks. The black kids perceive that their White counterparts are being favored because of their color and social status. Research indicates that most cases of school violence go without report and it’s on the rampant rise. Physical violence at homes, appraisal of violence movies and bullying are identifies as major contributors of violence in American schools. What does the research say about this issue? School violence has become a social problem not only in the United States but also in Australia and England. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) conducted a survey in American schools in 2003 and reported that 5% of students between ages 12 and 18 have been involved in nonfatal crimes, 4% in theft crimes while 1% of the student population had been reported as victims of violent crimes. The rate of school violence is reported to be higher in public than in private schools as indicated by the ratio of 7: 5 percent (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003). A national survey indicated that rural students had a high probability to be bullied in school than their urban and suburban counterparts. This is mainly because the rural students are generally considered to be innocent and highly regard social unity and harmony, due to difference in socialization from urban and suburban counterparts. Socialization is the process by which beliefs, norms and culture are passed from generation to generation. There are two types of socialization which include primary and secondary socialization. Primary socialization usually takes place at tender age, that is, up to 6 years. The children learn through imitation of family members, relatives and neighbors who are close to the kid. It lays a foundation for the secondary socialization. Secondary socialization agents are mainly teachers, peers and media. A national survey undertaken in 1999 among high school students indicated that 7% of students carried a weapon to school in the last month, 14% said they had been involved in a physical fight in the school premises in the past year while 5% of the students had misses school at least once in the past month because they felt unsafe in school. 1999-2001 national survey undertaken by National Center for Education Statistics indicated that 20% of all public schools experienced one or more serious crimes such as rape, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assaults (Henry, 2000; National Center for Education Statistics, 2003; Dewey, 2006). Public schools in particular reported 71% incidences of violence and 46% of theft. Violence in schools is on the rise worldwide. However, it’s hardly reported until a kid picks a gun and slaughters another. A nationwide study undertaken by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control on violent deaths in U. S schools indicated that 77% of the school deaths were done using guns while 17% were done using knives. A study conducted between July1, 1992 and June 30, 1999 indicated that out of 323 school-associated violent death events were mainly carried by firearms obtained from the perpetrators’ homes or from friends and relatives (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2003; Dewey, 2006). National Center for Education Statistics national study in 2003 indicates that male students are more likely to fall victims of school violence than their female counterparts (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003). 17% of high school girls have been reported to be abused physically while 12% of high school girls are sexually abused (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, 2003). Survey carried out by Justice Department in U. S in 1992 indicated a remarkable decrease in violent crime victimitization at school between 1992 and 2001 from 4. 89% in 1992 to 2. 8% in 2001. A study on school crime and safety in 2003 indicated that from 1997-2001, teachers were victims of approximately 1. 3 million nonfatal crimes at schools including 817,000 thefts and 473,000 violent crimes such as rape or sexual assault and aggravated or simple assault(Department of Education and United States Department of Justice, 2003; Dewey, 2006). School violence has become a major concern among many individuals worldwide. School violence not only affects students but teachers too. School violence has contributed to 57% deaths that occur in schools (Dewey, 2006). Exposure to violence to kids at tender age has been argued to contribute greatly to the kid been violent at school. School violence has become a determinant factor in the performance of schools. Most students fail to go to school at least once in a month for fear of being physically assaulted in school. Availability of guns in most American states has contributed greatly to the violent incidences in schools. Teachers have declared school violence as a monster affecting performance in schools. Public schools which usually have a high population of students experience the problem of school viol3nce more than private schools. This may be contributed by the high ratio of students to teachers in public schools. Some parents too have contributed to the problem of school violence because they forbid teachers to discipline their kids when they misbehave. Have Others Addressed the Issue School violence has become a significant social problem that affect the security of most schools worldwide. Various institutions and organizations have proposed solutions to solve the social problem in schools. Some propose a solution by encouraging students to engage in mob justice against those students or individuals that use guns in school. Some educators too carry guns as self defense mechanism. This has resulted in more harm than good. Most states in America have approved that educators should discipline students who are caught in engaging in violence. Some states have established juvenile delinquency rehabilitation centers where violent students are taken so as to reform. However, the centers have become overcrowded and this has reduced the effectiveness of the solution. Findings and Conclusion The problem of school violence is increasingly becoming rampant especially in the last 15 years. Research indicates that the problem can only be solved if and only if there is collaboration between educators, parents, students and social service organizations. Neglect of kids by parents especially due to commitment to jobs has deprived the kids’ parental guidance in handling everyday challenges and thus they follow their peers and mass media advices which in most times are incorrect (Edwin, 2004). Youth violence has increased significantly in the U. S over the last 15 years. Homicide has become the second leading cause of deaths for persons between ages 15 and 24 and the leading cause of death for African-Americans in this age group (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2003). However, most cases are never reported in the national data so the magnitude of the problem is always underestimated. National level data indicates that middle and high schools especially larger schools are at high risk for serious violence. The problem arises from the difficult in administration of discipline among the students who are usually too many for the school leaders or educators to handle. Research indicates that male students are more likely to be victims of school violence than their female counterparts. Therefore male students are more violent that female students (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003). The government should acknowledge that school violence has become a major social problem in the contemporary times and therefore direct more resources towards control of school violence. Emerging Consensus about ways to solve the Issue Physiatrists, counselors and criminologists have agreed that the problem of school violence can be solved if a policy which regulates programs in the mass media is passed. The policy should also regulate what tapes; video compact disks (VCDs) are released to the market. This will ensure that young adults are not exposed to violent scenarios or movies that may trigger them to do the same. The problem cannot be solved by one party and therefore it has been agreed that collaboration between educators, parents, students and social service organizations and other stakeholders can bring lasting solution if the stakeholders analyze the problems facing the student community, their causes and effect of school violence and then eventually generate lasting solutions to the root problems. It has been proposed that students should be involved in community development projects like cleans-ups, destitute children visitation, planting of trees among other projects. This will enhance teamwork skills and promote communication skills. This will help reduce conflict among students and consequently reduce school violence (Walker, 1995). Proposed Solutions/Recommendation Management of school violence causes will help to promote discipline and consequently high performance in academics. Several solutions have been proposed to reduce school violence cases in the American schools. The major solution involves dialogue between parents, teachers, students, social service organizations and other stakeholders on the problems facing students, their causes and effects of school violence. The stakeholders can then communally focus on finding solutions (Edwin, 2004). School should intensify security through employment of personnel that have metal detectors to ensure that no student enters the school compound with any metallic weapon like a gun which have become common weapons in the recent years. The government should install surveillance cameras within the school compound to keep track of the behavior of students. This can help reduce the incidences if school violence for fear of being caught through images taken by the cameras. This therefore enhances conformity to rules and regulations governing students. The government should finance schools to collaborate with bomb-sniffing dogs to avoid the recent trends where the Islamic students enter with bomb in their bodies and while in company of other students explode themselves (Walker, 1995). Building or enhancing student-staff relationship help reduce incidences of school violence like theft, aggravated assault and simple assault. Teachers should be encouraged to respect students in their dialogue and behavior and this will help reduce school violence which erupts as a result of inferiority complex by some students. Schools should have a referral system for neglected and abused kids. The neglected and abused kids usually experience inferiority complex and therefore develop an urge to kill or harm the people that abuse them. When separated the threat is eliminated and consequently harmony is restored (Walker, 1995). Educators and policy makers (Edwin, 2004)should involve students in future planning to avoid conflicts that arise from new laws and policies which students perceive to be undermining or threatening and therefore riot. Most riots can be avoided through dialogue to ascertain whether the proposed policies or laws are ideal and just. Educators should emphasize on academic excellence and this will encourage students to focus their energies towards academics. Educators should support students to excel through guidance and counseling in areas of deficiency and support through tuition so as to keep the students busy and focused on academics. The community should involve students in community development projects, for example, visitation of the elderly, hospital clean-up, city clean-up activities and mountain climbing to instill the participation motivation. Such activities enhance teamwork skills and this help reduce conflict that yield school violence (Walker, 1995). Summary School violence (Edwin, 2004) is a social problem which has become common in most schools worldwide. School violence has continued to increase in the last 15 years as indicated by the high school deaths in the last 15 years. School violence can only decrease if the educators, parents and students agree to do their part effectively. School violence has been contributed by various factors, for example, childhood experiences, media, neglect of kids by parents, bullying by other students and exposure to violence in the community among other factors. Surveys indicate that male students are more prone to violence than their female counterparts. Incidences of school violence (Edwin, 2004) are more in public schools than in private schools. This is said to be contributed by the high number of students in public schools who pose a challenge in discipline management. The problem of school violence has attracted many debates in most states. Leaders especially in public schools are appealing to parents, students and social service organizations to come together to analyze the problems facing the students, their causes and effects of school violence so as to communally find lasting solutions. . References Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2003). â€Å"Source of Firearms used by Students in school-Associated Violent Deaths. United States, 1992-1999. † Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Edwin, G. R. (2004). Handbook of School Violence. Education New York: Routledge. U. S. Department of Education and U. S. Department of Justice, (2003). Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2003. Dewey, G. C. (2006). School Violence: Fears versus Facts. Psychology. California: California University Press. Henry, S. (2000). What is School Violence? An Integrated Definition. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Problems, 3(2): 11-132. National Center for Education Statistics, (2003). National Data of School Violence in The United States in 1992-2001. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (2003). The Formative Years: Pathways to Substance Abuse. Walker, H. M. (1995). Antisocial Behavior in School: Strategies and Best Practices. New York: Cole Publishing Company.

Radio Frequency Identification Technology Essay

Radio Frequency Identification Technology - Essay Example But there is a big difference in both the technologies; the bar code identification technology uses line of sight reading for scanning. Whereas, the RFID technology does not depend on this line of sight reading. RFID can read the tags that are some meters away and also can read the tags that are not in the line of sight of the reader. RFID has made significant improvements in the inventory tracking and management processes. The RFID is a technology that is needed and is being used in almost every field that needs a unique identification and tracking system. The RFID tags can hold any kind of information whether simple or complex one. The RFID tags can hold almost 2000 bytes of data. RFID technology has no doubt replaced the bar code detection system and is considered to be the enhanced technology. The RFID is capable of tracking and identifying a great number of items simultaneously. This feature definitely saves a great amount of time and money that is spent on monitoring individual items. Due to many enhancements this technology is being widely used in almost every field. (Discover RFID, 1, n.d) Generally, the technology of Radio Frequency Identification evolved from the roots of the radar systems which have now become one of the hottest supply chain technologies. Most of the Europeans were at that time using radar systems which came into existence in 1935 by a physicist from Scotland, Sir Robert Alexander Watson Watt, which helped them caution against planes which were approaching them even when they are miles away. The problem which the countries faced due to radar system was that they could not identify the planes approaching them, whether it was an enemy's plane or country's own pilot. At that time Germans invented a method following which the base could alert them which aircraft is a German one and which is the Allied aircraft, which was that the German pilots if roll their planes while returning to base that would enable the base and ground crew that the approaching aircraft is a German plane. We can say that this was crude method was the first RFID system. After this method the Scottish physicist helped British developed an IFF system, known as Identify Friend or Foe. The British installed a transmitter on each of their aircrafts, which when received signals from the radar systems from the ground would send the signal back enabling the base to identify their aircrafts. This concept then became the evolution of the RFID systems and was just the same as RFID, which sent signals to a transponder which then reflects the signal back to where it received the signals or even broadcast an active system back to its source. Different advancements were made in radar and RF systems through 1950's and 1960's. (The History of RFID Technology, 1, n.d) Functionality of RFID RFID works has three different parts of the system which includes a scanning antenna, a transceiver which is used to interpret the data by the help of a decoder and a transponder which has been programmed with all the information. Scanning antenna is used to transmit signals at a short range by sending radio frequency signals.

Tardiness to Class Interpretations and Recommendations Essay

Tardiness to Class Interpretations and Recommendations - Essay Example Sports, theater, and history all show low levels of tardiness, while gym, math, and science show the highest rates of tardiness. A third trend is between GPA and tardiness—the two are inversely proportionate. Students between the GPA 3.5-4.0 have the lowest rates of tardiness, while the tardiness rate rises as the GPA gets lower. Based on the data, many students clearly have difficulty attending class on time. The problem of tardiness should not be undermined. William Chandler Bagley explains in the classic education book, Classroom Management: its Principles and Technique, â€Å"the habit of tardiness is worse than occasional absence because it is apt to be carried over into later life and to cause the individual no end of trouble in its eradication† (77). As such, the problem of tardiness demands remedies. While students may currently arrive late to class with few repercussions, such consequences will be more severe as the students enter into adulthood and the workforce. The trend between tardiness and grade levels can be explained as a result of â€Å"senioritis.† Though this term has been used somewhat lightly, schools are beginning to show little tolerance for seniors who show a noticeable disinterest in their studies. USA Today writes in one article, â€Å"this year there may be serious consequences—including having college acceptance withdrawn—for those who don’t finish with a strong academic record† (Mamlet and VanDeVelde 1). The article further recommends parent intervention if they notice signs of increased absence or tardiness. Seniors who believe their academic efforts are pointless in the last semester are more likely to be late to class than juniors, whose academic performance is being judged by universities. The link between tardiness and type of class is likely due to a student’s interest in the course. If a pupil is genuinely interested in the material, they will want to show up on

Question answer Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Question answer - Assignment Example This, to market observers, is an aggressive strategy that has led them to court over intellectual property with Apple. Samsung pivots and launches its products quickly with each product offering different features. It studies the market needs and pushes products that are successful while killing the failures. It has differentiated itself from Apple by developing phones with larger screens, impressive features, listening to consumer demands and successful marketing. Nestle is another example of a company that regards the USA as a foreign market. Being a global organization, Nestle adopts competitive strategies when entering into new markets. Most of its products are dairy-based and for this reason, it first undertakes direct investment in the dairy and other food businesses. In terms of sales, Nestle usually attempts to maintain low risk and low growth; this ensures that its growth is steady thereby maintaining the confidence of stakeholders. In the USA, a developed market, Nestle gains economies of scale through the aforementioned strategy; foreign direct investment. This investment is directed into big companies handling both dairy and food-related products. Another strategy that is effective is entering into partnerships with large companies. The most notable partnership is the one with Coca-Cola, which enable Nestle to benefit from the worldwide bottling system of Coca-Cola. Licensing despite being a solid foreign market entry strategy it has its own risks and downsides. Licensing refers to an agreement that involves the selling of rights to the licensee to reproduce intellectual property of the licensor. First, if the licensee firm is competitive and rapidly growing it may develop into a future competitor to the licensor firm. Another risk that should be taken into consideration is the misuse of the trademarks by the licensee firm, which often leads to the violation of the licensing agreement. The licensor

Structure and Development of Victorian (VELS) Curriculum Essay

Structure and Development of Victorian (VELS) Curriculum - Essay Example The Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) outline what is important for all Victorian students to learn and develop during their time at school from Prep to Year 10. They provide a set of common state-wide standards which schools use to plan student learning, assess student progress and report to parents† (What are the Victorian Essential Learning Standards?, 2009) This paper is briefly analyses the structure and Development of Victorian (VELS) Curriculum The VELS has total six levels classified into two categories; primary school level and secondary school level. Level 1 – Preparatory, Level 2 (Years 1 and 2), Level 3 (Years 3 and 4) and Level 4 (Years 5 and 6) are the primary school levels whereas Level 5 (Years 7 and 8) and Level 6 (Years 9 and 10) are secondary school levels as per the VELS system. All the levels except the preparatory level, assumes to be completed in two years as per this curriculum structure. â€Å"The Victorian Framework is designed to assist families and early childhood professional to guide children’s learning and development from birth to 8 years of age.   It links the five learning outcomes from the national Early Years Learning Framework (0 – 5) with   the learning and teaching in the first stages of the Victorian school curriculum – the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) from ages 5 to 8 years. It outlines ways to support children’s transitions into and between early childhood education and care and school† (Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework: Birth to 8 years (VEYLDF 0-8)) The curriculum is further divided mainly into three brad areas based on the teaching subjects like Physical, Personal and Social Learning. The aim of such classification of curriculum is to achieve a balance between the education, work and life. As per this curriculum strategies the aim of education is making the student capable of succeeds in his further education, future life and work. Skillbeck model of

Leadership Assessment #3Group Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

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Engineering project with management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Engineering project with management - Assignment Example There are several attempts to develop effective high tech stethoscope given the advancement in medical technology. The stethoscope remains one of the least advanced equipment in the doctor’s chambers. This is because some of the developed stethoscopes are expensive or face regular breakdowns hence ineffective. To enhance technological innovation on this instrument medical instruments the electrical and electronic engineers have chipped in to innovate a modern electronic stethoscope to replace the traditional diaphragm type stethoscope. This project was developed on clients request for a complete redesign on the current electronic stethoscope. The clients request that the design should comprise a receiver box, speakers, wireless microphones and a headphone jack. The microphone signals are sent via a quad amplifier. The amplifier filters the signal and implements and initial gain (A) of 3. The mixer receives the two signals which enable the user to choose the microphone of preference for the respective sound quality adjustments. The signal is then passed to another switch providing interactive user ability mode of output between the headphone and speaker. The complete stethoscope is then printed on the board to suit the needs of different users. The current electronic stethoscopes are generally designed for a one time user and are uncomfortable for doctors if used for periods of time. Stethoscopes are the main medical equipment for Anesthesiologists since they have to analyze breath and heart sounds when handling anesthesia cases. The electronic stethoscope makes use of a microphone and speaker system, but it is extremely large for practical uses resulting from large power system. This brings an implication of the need to innovate an appropriate power system. The stethoscope must be redesigned to allow for dual microphone capabilities. The stethoscope is a french physician innovation ‘Rene Theophile’ in 1886 as he was

Cultural Perspectives on Vaccination Essay Example for Free

Cultural Perspectives on Vaccination Essay The debate is led by anti-vaccinators who oppose vaccinations on ethical, political, religious and medical safety grounds. On the other hand, pro-vaccinators argue that the health benefits of vaccines outweigh the very few adverse effects that they have, and that vaccines have been largely advantageous to public health. Main points of contention: Pro-vaccinators (usually health care specialists, microbiologists, governments, pharmaceutical companies) Vaccinations are an effective and cost-saving tool for disease prevention. Positive externality attached to the use of vaccinations – overall public health is positively affected Side-effects are infrequent and the most common ones are minor. Anti-vaccinators (some conservative Islamic and Christian groups, usually libertarians and victims of public panic) Vaccines are ineffective and are used to generate profits for Big Pharma. Mandatory vaccinations interfere with individual and religious freedoms. Vaccines have severe side-effects and can trigger brain disorders. Points in favor of vaccines The effectiveness of vaccines has been globally verified.  Scientific research confirms the efficiency of all vaccines administered to the public, including the vaccines for measles1, influenza2 and pneumococcal disease3, 4. Protection against seasonal flu, chicken pox, cervical cancer, whooping cough, among other diseases5 Vaccines led to the eradication of small pox6. Global reduction of polio (number of cases has shrunk by over 99% since 1988)7, measles (deaths have reduced by 78%)8, tetanus (92% reduction in global cases since 1980s)9 Most side effects caused by vaccines are minor, such as low-grade fever10. In the US, vaccines are introduced to the public after years of thorough testing and are monitored closely after10. Points against vaccines and rebuttals Vaccines are a ploy by Big Pharma to generate profits by marketing needless vaccines. All companies are motivated by profits, including McDonalds and Apple Inc. Pharmaceutical companies are encouraged by public authorities  toward the production of vaccines due to the resultant overall public health savings, despite the following: Medicines for chronic diseases are more profitable. Production of vaccines is a high-risk venture since it involves huge capital investment for research. Moreover, vaccine production, safety and marketing activities are tightly controlled by authorities11. Foreign governments repeatedly push for lower costs. Although the vaccine industry has grown multifold over the past years and is generally profitable, pharmaceutical companies should not be blamed for misdirection when the health advantages of vaccines have been verified by academia and are widely acknowledged. Exemptions on religious and philosophical basis should be permitted. The religious and philosophical views of a group can be overlooked to protect the health of an entire population, since unvaccinated people create a level of risk for themselves and for the rest of the population12. The Netherlands is at risk of a measles outbreak in the orthodox Protestant group, and the consequent transmission of measles to the general population, as shown by a recent study13. Mandatory vaccines infringe upon individual freedoms. Vaccines directly affect the well-being of the people around, and are thus, not as private a decision as one would assume. Positive externalities are usually ignored by people while making decisions. Some people claim that taxes are unconstitutional. But taxes, like vaccines, are a mutual responsibility and work for the common good. Vaccinations lead to life-threatening side effects. The most common side effects of vaccinations are minor, like low-grade fever or soreness near the injection site10. Scientific research has disproved the popular claims that vaccines cause SIDS14 or brain disorders like autism15, 16. The chances of complications from diseases are much higher than the chances of complications from vaccines. Thimerosal, a preservative used in vaccines, and the MMR vaccine cause autism. Research shows no cause-and-effect relationship between autism and thimerosal17, or autism and  the usage of MMR vaccine15, 16. The usage of thimerosal has only minor side-effects, like swelling near the injection site18, and the most common side effect due to the administration of the MMR vaccine is low-grade fever10. Thimerosal was taken out of vaccines for children in 2001 only as a preemptive measure. Even then, autism rates have only grown18. Nearly all scientists whose researches concluded a positive correlation between vaccines and autism retracted their researches. Vaccines must be repeated and do not provide long-lasting protection. One size neither fits all humans nor all diseases. MMR vaccination does, in most cases, provide life-long protection. Other viruses mutate fast and immunizations must be renewed to fight the virus. Repetitive vaccinations are a small cost to pay in the face of deadly diseases. Even vaccinated children might contract diseases. Vaccinations are 90-99% effective in preventing diseases among children19. These diseases generally manifest with milder symptoms and less severe complications. Some children do not respond to vaccines and some are not immunized due to compromised immune systems or allergies. Herd immunity must be achieved in order to protect the unimmunized population. Whooping cough epidemic despite the availability of vaccinations Effectiveness of vaccine relies on herd immunity Vaccination rates have been dropping due to anti-vaccination movements and the subsequent public panic. Exemptions against vaccines have doubled since 199720.  States which make exemptions easily available to parents have more cases21. Most cases of whooping cough are among infants too young to be vaccinated. Highly-publicized cases of brain damage alleged to have been caused by the whooping cough vaccine created public panic in Great Britain which caused a drop in immunization rates and thus, epidemics of the disease22, 23. Most complications reported were not associated with the vaccination22. Better hygiene and sanitation in the recent years is the reason for the falling rates of diseases. Better hygiene does prevent the spread of diseases. However, disease-causing germs stick around, sometimes in our bodies. They can also be spread by means such as sexual contact or sneezing, and vaccinations teach our bodies how to fight diseases once the germs attack our bodies. Measles, like other diseases, saw a permanent drop in 1962, after its vaccine was licensed24. Evidently, vaccines have a direct impact on disease control. The cases of haemophilus influenzae in children started declining a few years ago, since the introduction of the vaccine for children, while the levels of sanitation and hygiene have been practically unchanged since 199023. The number of global cases for vaccine-preventable diseases has been dwindling as the vaccinated population has been growing. India is polio-free now due to country-wide vaccination efforts (in modern times) to eradicate the disease25. Some doctors and scientists stand against vaccination. A vast majority of doctors, including medical experts at CDC, WHO as well as non-governmental organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, support the administration of vaccines. It is important to consider the religious and philosophical views of these doctors. Sometimes, financial gains might be involved26. Combination vaccinations overburden the immune systems of babies. Children, in fact, receive fewer antigens today than they did in the past. There is no evidence to support this hypothesis.  Combination vaccinations simply reduce the number of vaccines administered to babies.