Examples of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in Sociology

A self-fulfilling prophecy is a sociological term used to describe what happens when a false belief influences peoples behavior in such a way that it ultimately shapes reality. This concept has appeared in many cultures for centuries, but American sociologist Robert K. Merton coined the term and developed it for use in sociology. Today, the idea of a self-fulfilling prophecy is commonly used by sociologists as an analytic lens through which to study student performance, deviant or criminal behavior, and the impact of racial stereotypes on targeted groups. Robert K. Mertons Self-Fulfilling Prophecy In 1948, Merton used the term self-fulfilling prophecy in an article. He framed his discussion of this concept with symbolic interaction theory, which states that, through interaction, people bring about a shared definition of the situation in which they find themselves. He argued  that self-fulfilling prophecies begin as false definitions of situations, but that behavior based on the ideas attached to this false understanding recreates the situation in such a way that the original false definition becomes true. Mertons description of the self-fulfilling prophecy is rooted in the Thomas theorem, formulated by sociologists W. I. Thomas and D. S. Thomas. This theorem states that if people define situations as real, they are then real in their consequences. Both Mertons definition of self-fulfilling prophecy and the Thomas theorem reflect the fact that beliefs act as social forces. They have, even when false, the power to shape our behavior in very real ways. Symbolic interaction theory explains this by highlighting that people act in situations largely based on how they read those situations, and what they believe the situations mean to them or to the others participating in them. What we believe to be true about a situation then shapes our behavior and how we interact with the others present. In The Oxford Handbook of Analytical Sociology, sociologist Michael Briggs provides an easy three-step way to understand how self-fulfilling prophecies become true. X believes that y is p.X, therefore, does p.Because of 2, y becomes p. Examples of Self-Fulfilling Prophecies in Sociology A number of sociologists have documented the effects of self-fulfilling prophecies in education. This occurs primarily as a result of teacher expectation. The two classic examples are of high and low expectations. When a teacher has high expectations for a student and communicates those expectations to the student through his behavior and words, the student then typically does better in school than they would otherwise. Conversely, when a teacher has low expectations for a student and communicates this to the student, the student will perform more poorly in school than she otherwise would. Taking Mertons view, one can see that, in either case, the teachers expectations for the students are creating a certain definition of the situation that rings true for both the student and the teacher. That definition of the situation then impacts the students behavior, making the teachers expectations real in the behavior of the student. In some cases, a self-fulfilling prophecy is positive, but, in many, the effect is negative. Sociologists have documented that race, gender, and class biases frequently influence the level of expectations that teachers have for students. Teachers  often expect black and Latino students to perform worse than white and Asian students. They may also expect girls to perform worse than boys in certain subjects like science and math, and low-income students to perform worse than middle- and upper-income students. In this way, race, class, and gender biases, which are rooted in stereotypes, can act as self-fulfilling prophecies and actually create poor performance among the groups targeted with low expectations. This ultimately results in these groups performing poorly in school. Similarly, sociologists have documented how labeling kids delinquents or criminals leads to delinquent and criminal behavior. This particular self-fulfilling prophecy has become so common across the U.S. that sociologists have given it a name: the school-to-prison pipeline. It is a phenomenon that is also rooted in racial stereotypes, primarily ones of black and Latino boys, but documentation suggests that it affects black girls as well. Examples of self-fulfilling prophecies show how powerful our beliefs are. Good or bad, these expectations can alter what societies look like. Updated by Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.

Injustices Of Women And Women - 1121 Words

Injustices towards Women (Analysis of sources of unequal treatment to women) Injustices of women go way back to hundreds of years ago. When you learn about women from a long time ago, you hear things like: women didn’t work, women couldn’t vote, women did what they were told, etc.; that was just how it was and very few questioned it. It wasn’t until a movement started back in the 1800’s, known as the women’s suffrage, that the female population started to fight and rebel for equal rights. This started a war that no one could’ve ever predicted, a war that is still going on to this day. To women, their equality is everything and they are willing to fight day in and day out to prove that men are not superior to women. â€Å"The day may be approaching when the whole world will recognize woman as the equal of man.† (Gordon) This just goes to show that women were just waiting for the day to be viewed as just as relevant as a male. The question though is what are the sources behind the injustices of women? When discussing this topic i believe there are multiple aspects that we have to pay attention to: the physical part, that is just how some were raised, and most importantly the social part. Initially, understanding that men will almost always have the upper hand with strength is something that most women have accepted. Us women know that if we need something heavy moved, a lid to be opened, or anything out of our strength limits, a guy can usually do it with ease. What women don’tShow MoreRelatedSocietal Injustices Upon Women2009 Words   |  9 Pages 6 November 2017 Societal Injustices Upon Women Human rights are women s rights, and women s rights are human rights (Hillary Clinton). This is a very important message that can be applied throughout history to prove the significance of women during time periods in which they were viewed as substantially lesser than men. Over the years, women have grown independent, fighting for their rights, changing the gender norms placed on society and the expectations women are forced to uphold. To successfullyRead MoreThe Psychology Of The Social Injustice Of Women937 Words   |  4 PagesPsychology of Women. Within her textbook, she talks about the social injustice of women. Matlin (2010) kept her audience broad to cater to both genders interested in the psychology of women. According to Margaret Matlin, â€Å"Our discipline is also changing in a fourth way, because people’s behaviors, attitudes, and skills are continually evolving† (p. 169). Writing to a general audience in this context about this political issue meets her r hetorical goal of explaining the psychology of women in depth. ThisRead MoreEssay on The Influence of Injustice to Women in Hindu Mythology1645 Words   |  7 Pageslife and leave for the forest with Rama† (Zacharias). Sita’s perseverance through her husband’s doubt made her an idol for all women. Before Sita’s trial, or ‘agnipariksha’, society looked at women as just objects rather than people. The Ramayana illustrates the destruction of this stereotype of women through Sita’s chastity. While the Ramayana demonstrates injustice to women, it shows instances of male dominance and power. At the end of the war in Lanka, when the long battle between Rama’s army andRead MoreInjustices of Women of Color by Sojourner Truth in Speech, Aint I Woman1325 Words   |  6 Pagesthe Women’s Convention of 1851, she speaks on the injustices that women and colored people endured during that horrible time in America. I will make an effort to explore the ways she utilizes rhetorical methods as a means to accomplish a victorious and compelling delivery of her message. In this analysis, I will talk about the way Sojourner draws on her own individual experiences evoke an emotional reaction from her audience, relating with the women and mothers equally. She also utilizes repetitiveRead MoreThe Sources Of Injustice Explained By Simone De Beauvoir1365 Words   |  6 PagesWoMEN (An Analysis of the Sources of Injustice Explained by Simone de Beauvoir in Second Sex) The idea of feminism and women’s rights have been under attack for years. Women themselves have been under attack for their entire lives. Women always have to be doing things correctly or men attack their very being. Men have expected women to be submissive to them from the beginning of time, as life has always been a patriarchy. Feminism has always been buried under the dirt but in the last 50-100 yearsRead MoreInjustice: Slavery and Different Types882 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Injustice is part of life. There is no way to avoid it† Injustice (Noun) Lack of fairness or justice Oxford Dictionary Injustice (Noun) Lack of fairness or justice Oxford Dictionary Injustice refers to either the absence, or the opposite, of justice. The term is applied either in reference to a particular event or act, or to a larger incident. Injustice is played in today’s society, a lot. You hear about majorRead MoreThe Declaration Of Independence By Elizabeth Cady Stanton937 Words   |  4 Pagesfrom female discrimination, Women s Rights activist, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, wrote the declaration of Sentiments to declare independence for women from men. Stanton articulates how all men and women are created equal, in her declaration she outlines the injustices towards women by men in eighteen charges against the male dominant society. By modeling the declaration after Jefferson s Declaration of Independents she creates a patriotic tone in order to pursued all women and men, particularly AttendeesRead MoreInjustice Is An Unfair Treatment1209 Words   |  5 PagesWhat are some examples of injustice in America? Before you start to answer that question, consider what the word injustice means. Injustice is like a plague. If one person doesn’t speak up about unfair treatment, they are allowing injustice to infect e veryone. The Webster dictionary definition states, â€Å"Injustice is an unfair treatment or situation in which the rights of a person or a group of people are ignored (Merriam-Webster).† There are various examples of injustice in the Criminal Justice SystemRead MoreSophocles Euripides Antigone1310 Words   |  6 Pagesplaywright addresses the issue of injustices suffered by women and the concept of natural law. In both tragedies, the female leads seek justice after natural laws had been broken, but they ultimately break the natural law themselves, resulting in more injustice. During Medea s first long speech (lines 212 - 271), she declares that women are stricken with the most wretched existence on earth. Within this speech, Euripides draws attention to many of the injustices women underwent in ancient Athens.Read MoreI Am Malala, By Christina Lamb1069 Words   |  5 Pagesof speaking out against injustice ‘I am Malala’ narrated by Malala Yousafzai and written by Christina Lamb is a memoir of a Pakistani young girl (Malala Yousafzai) who fought for girls education in Swat valley. ‘Made in Dagenham’ directed by Nigel Cole is a film about a mother (Rita O’Grady) who works for Ford in the town of Dagenham in England along with other female machinist who fought for gender equal pay. Both protagonist from both text speak out against injustice and through this it has

Everyday Use Free Essays

â€Å"Dee Files†: Is She Honest or Is She a Hypocrite? In the story, â€Å"Everyday Use,† by Alice Walker, Dee is portrayed as a hypocrite towards her heritage by not understanding what her true heritage is. The author shows that Dee does not really have any interests in her family heritage and has little understanding of the important aspects of her family history. She fails to realize that her mind is completely blocked from her true heritage and fills it with completely new beliefs. We will write a custom essay sample on Everyday Use or any similar topic only for you Order Now In â€Å"Everyday Use† by Alice Walker, the author shows that heritage is valued objects and qualities that are passed down from generation to generation, and it represents the family’s importance, and because Dee does not understand this true meaning of heritage, her interest in her heritage is very hypocritical and splits her relationship with her family apart. Dee changes her heritage to fit her own beliefs rather than, keeping her actual heritage and learning about her own family history. It is first seen that she changes her heritage, when Dee changes her name to â€Å"Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo† because she â€Å"couldn’t bear†¦ being named after the people who oppress [her]† (pg. 55). The author shows that Dee gets rid of the name passed down from generation to generation and throws away a piece of her heritage. Dee indicates that her ancestors and elders whom she was named after oppress her, because she refuses to accept the culture and heritage of her family. Another example of her changed heritage is when she gets out of the car, wearing â€Å"a dress down to the ground†¦ A dress so loud, it hurts [Mama’s] eyes. † After being away to college, the author portrays Dee with a completely different style of clothing, not leaving one piece of traditional clothing, which gives a sign of Dee fading away from her heritage. Here, the author allows the reader to see that Dee does not understand her heritage and that her new appearance does not accurately represent her heritage. Even though Dee changes her heritage, she still thinks that she is still in touch with her family history and culture. We see that Dee is unaware that she forgets about her original heritage when she demands to have grandma’s quilts to â€Å"hang them† (59) instead of putting them to â€Å"everyday use† (58), the way she assumes Maggie would do. The author explains that Maggie would build upon the history of the quilts, honoring her heritage rather than Dee who would only hang them to prove that she is in touch with her culture. The author reveals that Dee only wants to show them off and she disrespects the heritage of the quilts by not wanting to put them to â€Å"everyday use. † Also, even after Mama gives the quilts to Maggie, she still thinks that it is Mama and Maggie who â€Å"don’t understand their heritage† (59). The author gives this passage a sense of irony because Dee claims that Mama and Maggie do not understand their heritage, but it is she, who does not accept her family heritage and throws it away to look for her true meaning. Dee’s arrogance and ignorance causes her to even scold her mother on their heritage, which is really what should have been done to her. Dee had no interests in her real family heritage and only has a fondness towards her made up heritage which does not mean anything or say anything about her real history or her true culture. She does not understand that she pushes her traditions and heritage away, even when her relatives and mother try to teach her about it. Her ignorance makes her view of heritage hypocritical, because she never accepts her heritage, but still defends it as if she has the correct view of her heritage. How to cite Everyday Use, Essay examples Everyday Use Free Essays Everyday Use Symbolism The Quilts These quilts represent Mama’s family and her heritage, they were made by Grandma Dee and Big Dee. Symbolically, each piece of material was made from scraps of clothing that once belonged to someone in their family, including pieces of their great-grandfather’s Civil War uniform. . We will write a custom essay sample on Everyday Use or any similar topic only for you Order Now To Maggie, they represent her family; she still remembers with love her grandmother who made one of them and she says it is okay if Dee takes them because she does not need the quilts to remember Grandma Dee. To Dee, however, the quilts have no emotional value. She regards them as a type of folk art that will look impressive hanging upon her walls. (Dee embraces her African heritage while rejecting her personal family history. ) Mama gives those quilts to Maggie because she knows Maggie, unlike Dee, will honor the culture and heritage by using it, or continuing it the way it was originally intended. ‘Maggie can’s appreciate these quilts! she said. ‘She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use. ‘ The Butter Churn and the Dasher The author also uses the butter churn and the dasher as a symbol to show mama’s understands of heritage. When Mama takes the dasher handle in her hands, she is symbolically touching the hands of all those who used it before her. Her appreciation for the dasher and the quits is based on the love fort the people who made use of them. Dee wants to use the churn top as a centerpiece for the alcove table and do something creative with the dasher. Mama views and honors her heritage as practical by appreciating what she acquired from previous generations and putting the passed down items into everyday use. Dee views and honors her heritage as superficial by appreciating the passed down items for their materialistic and artistic value How to cite Everyday Use, Essay examples Everyday Use Free Essays A Contrast between Dee and Maggie’s View Concerning Their Heritage In my writing essay I shall analyze the way in which heritage can be conceived in Alice Walker’s novel Everyday Use, trying to point out the author’s main ideas concerning the theme of the story. I would also try to describe the two daughter’s points of view, Dee and Maggie’s, about their ancestral heritage. The contrast between these two daughters is more than obvious not only in their appearance but also in their behavior when it comes to quilts from their grandmother. We will write a custom essay sample on Everyday Use or any similar topic only for you Order Now Everyday Use is a story narrated by a rural black woman, who is the mother of the two girls Maggie and Dee Johnson. Mrs. Johnson, is a simple woman but who, in spite of all difficulties that she passed through, she tried to give her daughters if possible, a good education and of course the most important thing, to make them aware of what heritage is indeed, the fact that traditional culture and heritage is not represented only by the possession of old objects, but also by one’s behavior and customs. She outlines in the story that she is not a very educated woman, but this does not mean that the lack of education is also reflected in her capacity to understand, to love and to respect her ancestors. Since the beginning of the story, the narrator makes obvious the contrast between Maggie and her elder sister Dee. Dee is a very ambitious girl, with a well-defined character, the one who had always been successful and ambitious. Maggie thinks â€Å"her sister has held life, always in the palm of one hand, that â€Å"no† is a word the world never learned to say to her. (Walker 2469). Dee denies her real heritage by changing her given name, after her aunt Dee, to the superficially more impressive one Wangero Leewanik Kemanjo, arguing to her mother that â€Å"Dee is dead and I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me† ( Walker 2472), what she does in fact is to reject her family identity. She inspires in her mother â€Å"a sort of aw e and fear more suitable to the advent of a goddess than the love one might expect a mother to feel for a returning daughter† (Farell, â€Å"Flight†). On the other hand, Maggie is the type of simple girl, like her mother, with little education. She is not ambitious like her sister Dee, living somehow in her mother’s shadow. But this might be also because Maggie hadn’t her sister luck and she burned severely in the house fire when she was a child, becoming now a shy and fearful person. These features are more visible in her attitude while waiting for her sister to come home. Mama is projecting her own anger and frustration onto her younger daughter when she speculates that Maggie will be cowed by Dee’s arrival. Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes: she will stand hopelessly in corners homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs, eyeing her sister with a mixture of envy and awe† ( Walker 2469). As Marianne Hirsch says in one of her critical essays: â€Å"the mother sees in Maggie’s angerless, fear an image of her own passive acceptance of Dee’s aggression, her ow n suppressed anger† Moreover, we can see through the lines of this story that, at the beginning, Dee was the daughter that mother preferred most because of her authority and because she wanted to succeed in life by following her instincts. But when she saw her totally changed, not only physically but also in her mentality, mother realized that Maggie was the one that understood the meaning of â€Å"heritage† and tried to give her justice. It is relevant â€Å"Mama’s awakening to one’s daughter’s superficiality and to the other’s deep-seated understanding of heritage† ( Tuten, â€Å"Alice Walker’s Everyday Use† ). However, Dee seems to despise her sister, her mother and the church that helped to educate her. Intentionally or not, she is selfish and she treats her sister with indifference. While Dee escaped from the poor life she was supposed to live, Maggie, next to her mother, represents the multitude of black women who must suffer. Scarred, graceless, not bright and uneducated, â€Å"Maggie is a living reproach to a survivor like her sister† (Cowart, â€Å"Heritage†) . The contradictions about heritage and culture between Maggie and Dee become more extensive when the quilts take part from the story. After dinner, Dee discovers some old quilts which belonged to her grandmother. She is very excited that found them, thinking that these quilts represent the testament of her ancestors. Without taking into account Maggie’s opinion, she asks her mother if she can have those quilts, arguing that she is the only one who can appreciate and have the right to keep them. At first, mother hesitates to give her an answer and offers her other quilts but Dee gets upset and then mother explains to her that the quilts were from Maggie as a wedding gift. Maggie’s tolerance in the story contrasts with Dee’s boldness. When Dee insists that her sister would ruin grandma’s quilts by using them everyday, and that hanging the quilts would be the only way to preserve them, Maggie â€Å" like somebody used to never wining anything, or having anything reserved for her† says â€Å" She can have them, Mama. I can remember Grandma Dee without the quilts† (Walker, 2474). Mrs. Johnson then realizes what makes Maggie different form her sister. She sees her scarred hands hidden in her skirt and says: â€Å"When I looked at her like that something hit me in the top of my head and ran down to the soles of my feet. Just like when I’m in the church and the spirit of God touches me and I get happy and shout† (Walker, 2475). This powerful feelings determines Mama to do something she had never done before: â€Å"she snatched the quilts out of Miss Wangero’s hands and dumped them into Maggie’s lap† ( Walker, 2475). Mama’s behavior here is almost like Dee’s because she rebuffs her wishes for the first time and give justice to the most patient Maggie. The fact that she takes the quilts from Dee and gives them to Maggie, â€Å"she confirms her younger daughter’s self-worth: metaphorically, she gives Maggie her voice† ( Tuten, â€Å"Alice Walker’s Everyday Use† ). In conclusion, I can say that Everyday Use is a story about understanding heritage. This concept is very well exposed by the two characters Alice Walker created, Dee and Maggie. These two daughters have a completely different view in what concerns the heritage from their ancestors; in this case their origins and their inheritance, the quilts from Grandma Dee. Maggie is the one who understands that heritage is about respecting family’s traditions and customs while Dee destroys the traditional image kept by Mrs. Johnson and her sister. She denies her true origins by changing the given name into more fashionable one, Wangero Leewanik Kemanjo. One should appreciate his legacy because it represents indeed what we are. We can not hide our roots and even if we want, this would not be possible because it always remains present in our souls and our minds, we like it or not. WORKES CITED PRIMARY SOURCE: Walker, Alice. Everyday Use. In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973. SECONDARY SOURCE: Cowart, David . †Heritage and deracination in Walker’s â€Å"Everyday Use. † Studies in Short Fiction. FindArticles. com. Farrell Susan. â€Å"Fight vs. Flight: a re-evaluation of Dee in Alice Walker’s â€Å"Everyday Use†- Critical Essay†. Studies in Short Fiction. FindArticles. com. Hirsch, Marianne. â€Å"Clytemnestra’s Children: Writing the Mother’s Anger. † Alice Walker: Modern Critical Views. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1989. Tuten, Nancy. â€Å"Alice Walker’s Everyday Use. † The Explicator 51. 2,1993 How to cite Everyday Use, Papers

The RSA Glossary Definition Essay Sample free essay sample

The RSA Glossary definition is targeted at simplifying in clear footings. present constructs and enterprises by authorities in guaranting standard uniformity in its ordinance in sing policies. activities and counsel in pull offing its information security. The practical realisation of the commissariats looks hard to pattern in world. You require a common criterion for two variety meats that does non portion the same certificates. For illustration. the directive in the definition provides that. employees and contractors designation. as a standard to derive logical and physical entree must run into a common criterion. But the process seems Byzantine. Do they have the same certificates? This is problematic. The effort to harmonise the ordinance is applaudable. but it is non security cogent evidence. If the definition is concerned about â€Å"Secured and dependable signifiers of identification† . it should hold made shared certificates compulsory. But this is non the instance. Does this non do maltreatment of such privilege possible? . We will write a custom essay sample on The RSA Glossary Definition Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In repairing clip frame within which the assorted authorities sections should follow may non be executable. a batch of factors may come to play which might do the realisation of the nonsubjective impossible. An bureau which started tardily within the stipulated four months following the judicial admission of the criterion may non hold quality plan to accomplish the criterion in eight months. The demand to accomplish harmoniousness is non negotiable but what happens in the event of failures from authorities sections to â€Å"ensure compliance† ? . Mention:hypertext transfer protocol: //www. rsa. com/glossary/

Psychology Research Oral Presentation Essays - Neuroscience

Psychology Research Oral Presentation Hypothesis: Can sleep deprivation cause an increase in anxiety within medical students? Purpose of the study is to find a correlation between sleep deprivation and anxiety within Medical students Prediction: Sleep deprivation will cause a significant increase in anxiety of medical students Sleep disorders are particularly increasing in students as they face multiple stressors such as academic overload, constant pressure to succeed, and concerns about the future that alter the quality of their sleep Design: Using an Observational cross-sectional study: (definition data are collected during a single brief time period) during an academic year. To use questionnaires to find results.4 questionnaires would be faced to faced administered to students after obtaining written consent The 4 questionnaires were to measure their sleep quality and assessing Anxiety levels. Found to be the most common and effective questionnaires used in studies of sleep and anxiety The insomnia Severity index (ISI) Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7) Methodology: Questionnaire Survey Personal data about age, gender and faculty were collected. The ISI Is a 7-item self-report questionnaire. Assessing the nature, severity, and impact of insomnia. The evaluated domains are: Severity of sleep onset Sleep maintenance Early morning awakening problems Sleep dissatisfaction Interference of sleep difficulties with daytime functioning Perception of sleep difficulties by others Distress caused by the sleep difficulties. A 5-point Likert scale was used to rate each item (0 to 4 where 0 indicates no problem and 4 corresponds to a very severe problem), yielding a total score ranging from 0 to 28. The total score was interpreted as follows: absence of insomnia (0-7); sub-clinical (mild) insomnia (8-14); moderate insomnia (15-21); and severe insomnia (22-28). The PSQI Is a 19-items questionnaire evaluating sleep quality and disturbances The first four items are open questions, whereas items 5 to 19 are rated on a 4-point Likert scale. Individual items scores yield seven components: Sleep disturbance Overall sleep quality Sleep latency Duration of sleep Daytime dysfunction due to sleepiness Sleep efficiency Need for medicines to sleep A total score, ranging from 0 to 21, was obtained by adding the seven component scores. Some studies stated that a score 5 suggests a good sleep quality. The ESS Is a self-administered questionnaire with eight questions Each participant rated on a 4-point scale (0-3) his general level of daytime sleepiness, or the average sleep propensity in daily life. The total ESS score was the sum of eight item-scores and ranged between 0 and 24. The higher the score, the higher is the person's level of daytime sleepiness, with significant sleepiness when the score was 10 [24, 25]. GAD-7 Is a 7-item instrument that assesses generalized anxiety severity. Each item was scored 0 to 3, providing a 0 to 21 severity score (0-4: normal; 5-9: mild anxiety; 10-14: moderate anxiety and 15-21: severe anxiety Assessment of anxiety: Studying anxiety levels after periods of sleep deprivation In the case of total sleep deprivation only anxiety assessments acquired after 24h of lack of sleep were extracted. In the case of repeated measures, the first and the last available measures were always extracted; but intermediate assessments were only extracted if multiples of 12 (e.g., 36h, 48h). Operational Definitions: Sleep deprivation: sleeping less than the required amount of 8 hours before said time to wake up or class start A lack of sleep, which included total sleep deprivation (complete absence of sleep) Partial sleep deprivation (deprivation of one specific sleep stage, such asREM sleep) Sleep restriction (reduction in total time of sleep) Sleep fragmentation (intermittent awakenings through the sleep period). Taking account for the loss of sleep we also define insomnia Insomnia: the inability to sleep Anxiety: an overwhelming feeling of stress during upcoming tests or assignments as well as amount of course load Subjects: Randomly picking students under 3 faculties Medicine, Pharmacy and Dentistry Criteria: Inclusion: 18yrs and above and willingness to participate Exclusion: under 18yrs and presence of a chronic disease and history of Students were randomly selected For each of the studying the practice randomly selecting 1 male and female Studying the entirety of one semester Breaking it down from the beginning of the term to the midterm approaching and to final examinations Ethical Considerations: Informed consent

Free Essays on Why Catcher In The Rye Banned

Why the book was banned The Catcher in the Rye has long ignited disapproval, and it was the most frequently banned book in schools between 1966 and 1975. Even before that time, the work was a favorite target of sensors. In 1957, Australian Customs seized a shipment of the novels that had been presented as a gift to the government by the U.S. ambassador. The books were later released, but Customs had made its point that the book contained obscene language and actions that were not appropriate behavior for teenagers. In 1960, a teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was fired for assigning the book to a 7th grade English class. The teacher appealed to the court and was put back by the school board, but the book was removed from use in the school. The following year in Oklahoma City, the novel became the focus of a legislative hearing in which a locally organized censorship group sought to stop the Mid-Continent News Company, a book wholesaler, from carrying the novel. Members of the group parked a 'Smutmobile' outside the capital building during the hearing and displayed the novel with others. As a result of public pressure, the wholesaler dropped the books from its inventory. In 1977 parents in Pittsgrove Township, New Jersey, challenged the assignment of the novel in an English class. They charged that the book included profanity that promoted premarital sex, homosexuality, and perversion, as well as claiming that it was explicitly pornographic and immoral. After months of controversy, the board ruled that the novel could be read in the advanced placement class for its universal message, not for its profanity, but they gave parents the right to decide whether or not their children would read it. The challenges to the novel have continued well into the 1990s. In 1991, the novel was challenged at Grayslake Community High School in Illinois for profanity, and students in Jamaica High School in Sidell, Illinois, cited profanities and the dep... Free Essays on Why Catcher In The Rye Banned Free Essays on Why Catcher In The Rye Banned Why the book was banned The Catcher in the Rye has long ignited disapproval, and it was the most frequently banned book in schools between 1966 and 1975. Even before that time, the work was a favorite target of sensors. In 1957, Australian Customs seized a shipment of the novels that had been presented as a gift to the government by the U.S. ambassador. The books were later released, but Customs had made its point that the book contained obscene language and actions that were not appropriate behavior for teenagers. In 1960, a teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was fired for assigning the book to a 7th grade English class. The teacher appealed to the court and was put back by the school board, but the book was removed from use in the school. The following year in Oklahoma City, the novel became the focus of a legislative hearing in which a locally organized censorship group sought to stop the Mid-Continent News Company, a book wholesaler, from carrying the novel. Members of the group parked a 'Smutmobile' outside the capital building during the hearing and displayed the novel with others. As a result of public pressure, the wholesaler dropped the books from its inventory. In 1977 parents in Pittsgrove Township, New Jersey, challenged the assignment of the novel in an English class. They charged that the book included profanity that promoted premarital sex, homosexuality, and perversion, as well as claiming that it was explicitly pornographic and immoral. After months of controversy, the board ruled that the novel could be read in the advanced placement class for its universal message, not for its profanity, but they gave parents the right to decide whether or not their children would read it. The challenges to the novel have continued well into the 1990s. In 1991, the novel was challenged at Grayslake Community High School in Illinois for profanity, and students in Jamaica High School in Sidell, Illinois, cited profanities and the dep...

New Resources Tax in AUstralia ( MRRT) and it's effects on Australian Essay

New Resources Tax in AUstralia ( MRRT) and it's effects on Australian mining companies - Essay Example The Gillard Government’s proposed resource tax gained high approval from the International Monetary Fund, quoting it as a â€Å"step in the right direction.† Moreover, the MRRT would achieve the nation’s trust for consumption-based taxes and abolish ineffective taxation (Landers 2010). Because the MRRT is liable only to mining companies of iron ore, coal, oil and gas, there will be a reduction of the figure of affected companies from the previous 2,500 taxpayers to approximately 320 (Cherrington 2010). Taxpayers with annual income of no more than $A50 million will be exempted from the MRRT (Minerals Resource Rent Tax Regime n.d.) -The proposed MRRT promises an optimistic stride for mining investments in Australia. It offers a better guarantee for up-and-coming mining ventures, particularly those in the non-production of iron ore, coal, oil and gas. -For companies in mining ventures, the determination of taxable resource and revenues will be based solely on the nearest point to extraction as possible. This change would not deter the companies from their capital cost recovery and internal return rate. -The key adjustments from RSPT to MRRT in tax rates, particularly the 40% tax reduced to 22.5% rate and the resulting beneficial impacts on the projected efficient tax rates is forecasted to boost global competitiveness (Minerals Resource Rent Tax replaces RSPT 2010). The three pioneer mining companies in Australia: BHP, Rio Tinto and Xstrata equally agreed on a non-permission of the Australian tax to implement a target that could impact their multi-national operations. Their joint apprehensions over fluctuation on international shares and financial markets, whereupon loans are made to fund their projects, strengthened their vigilance on impending tax hikes by the government (Head 2010). The government negotiated exclusively with the

Watergate Scandal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Watergate Scandal - Essay Example Edward M. Kennedy and a young woman’s death. Remarkable of this incident is that it engulfed the U.S President Richard M. Nixon and many of his followers in an array range of illegal acts and hence triggered the resignation of the president who ended as â€Å"one of the sorriest spectacles in [U.S] national experience,†1 as a journalist from the New York Times put it. According to many investigations, the burglary has been carried out by five men who were later captured in the Democratic National Committee Watergate hotel. This serious incident garnered little media attention, yet it should be pointed out that two dedicated reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, both of whom were working for the Washington Post played, particularly, critical roles and managed somehow to uncover the president’s sponsored plan of espionage to discredit Democratic candidates. In addition to the reporters, another man called Sussman was directly involved in the Post’s effort to reveal and unveil the truth in the face of the general apathy by the press and the public and the White House pressures. Sussman cleverly remarked that the mass media, namely the press, was just not much concerned with the Watergate issue at the very beginning; however, the Post did its best and utmost to unearth the scandal. Sussman added that even the Congress repeatedly attempted to avoid if not ignore the Watergate Issue. He wrote that an â€Å"overwhelming number of congressmen had consistently turned their backs on Watergate until it surrounded them. They were still reluctant to deal with it, hoping Nixon would solve what was becoming their dilemma.†2 No doubt the Watergate scandal aroused considerable interest in how scandals are covered and oftentimes uncovered by the mass media. Of course, none can deny that the whys and the wherefores of Watergate have been widely investigated as many scholars conducted serious investigations and surveys about it. We can mention, in this

Reflection Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 11

Reflection Paper - Essay Example He compares the softness of the moving ship over the water surface to a soft and beautiful skin. However, other characters such as Ahab consider the ocean as deceptive because, under the smooth waters, there lain death in waiting. Ahab acknowledges the fact that the sea in reality is a tiger under the surface. The ocean is, therefore, more dangerous than the land. According to Ahab, the sea is a mirror of God, and it represents Him as hidden and terrible, whose nature is deadly. Starbuck looks at the ocean and God as a bride at her wedding. The professor got me thinking of the reason for Christmas was a new beginning, yet inverted. For instance, Ahab thinks of the sea as a revenge because that is what he was up to during the journey for religious quest. The sea is therefore a revenge, not healing as quoted in line 536 (Melville 450). â€Å"†¦..Loveliness unfathomable, as ever lover saw in his young bride’s eye!—Tell me not of thy teeth tiered sharks, and thy kidnapping cannibal ways. Let faith oust fact; let fancy oust memory; I look deep down and do believe.†(Melville 451). Ahab asserts that the sea is too ambiguous and vicious for coherent faith, with our attraction to it infinite and unexplored. There are two things I noted out of these words, first the fact that God is inexplicable and second that religion is a faithful expression. For this case, the people at sea are trading a religious journey in which everything is a duality. Death lingers in lives of individuals, which kept me thinking about the whiteness of the whale. After a reflection on the readings, I discovered that such a question would be a distinction between good and evil according to our perception. Why were the whales both white and black? Why use the sea and not land? The answer lies in the nature of duality of religion. Sometime before birth, in the beginning, there is always the light that is the blinding light representing the

Stakeholders In Singapore Education Education Essay

Stakeholders In Singapore Education Education Essay Education is an area of great importance in Singapore. Thus, most parents have very high expectations of educators. In this essay, I will talk about what are some of these expectations and how I can harness them as a force to enhance students learning. The traditional expectation of an educator is that he must be responsible for the academic welfare and/or excellence of the child. Do parents also expect teachers to play a part in developing the whole person, in areas such as character development? Discipline, must then be part of character development. How much do parents agree to the whole person development? To what extent do parents want teachers and schools to discipline their children? What methods are acceptable and which are not? Recent events shed some light to the amount of expectation there is of schools and teachers and raises some interesting questions too. The Nan Chiau fiasco for example shows the expectation of the public of school discipline and in particular corporal punishment. It is difficult to bridge the gap between those who agree to what the principal did and those who did not. They did however agree to the basic tenet of discipline but not the style. This highlights to us the changes in societal views on methods of discipline. Do these changes in expectation restrict us in achieving our goal in developing the whole child? How do we work with these changed expectations Increasingly, parents are expecting to play a more active role in schools in the form of Parents Support Groups (PSG). In these committees, they may take on different projects and be in charge of their organisation. These projects can be in the form of enrichment programmes for students which may help in the disciplining if appropriate programmes are organised. The issues related to increased parental involvement are legion. What are parents motivations? Will parents expect something in return for their services? What kind of incentives can school offer to encourage parents to participate? Will it lead to inequity? Parents might feel that if they do not contribute as much, their children will be disadvantaged. Will they then see the PSG as an added workload to themselves? Will it disadvantage those students who come from a poor family background Methods to harness them as a force There are some possible solutions in the bid to harness parental support as a force. Schools can package the services that parents can offer. Since parents have different strengths and resources, they can contribute to schools in various ways, such as financial aid, time or talent. When seen in this way, parental support can be of great value to schools. In order to encourage greater participation in the PSG among parents, schools will need to market them. Schools need to be careful not to promote elitism by valuing certain skills above others. They need to ensure that parents do not feel that their contribution is insignificant. How can these be done? One proposal is that schools first identify the schools and parents needs and then communicate and match these needs. On a volunteer basis, parents who feel they can help may come forward to contribute. Schools can also explore the possibility of forming parent-parent groups instead of parent-teacher groups. This is to give greater autonomy to parents and to allow for self-regulation and organisation. It also saves teachers from extra responsibilities. As for questions pertaining to the organisation of the PSG, it has been suggested that cluster superintendents run them, so that they can come up with a model for the cluster of schools, instead of individual schools coming up with their own models. However, the drawback is that cluster superintendents are not at ground level, they do not really understand the actual situation of each of the individual schools. Different schools might have different needs, strengths and weaknesses with regards to parental support, willingness to be involved and resources that they can contribute. Cluster superintendents may then not be a good person to deal with the PSG. Principals have also been identified as a possible person to do the organisation. However, constant changes of principals make it difficult to establish a strong PSG. Also, there is the perennial problem of principals being overloaded with work. Beyond all these issues, we can see that it is important to harness parents expectation as a force to enhance student learning. In involving parents in school in various enrichment and discipline committees, parents will have some degree of control to meet their own expectations Teachers are a bridge between students and parents. We must find a way in which we can harness the negative energy of these parents and use it for beneficent purposes. The challenge for us teachers is to harness them in the correct manner. There are two possibilities to help remedy this. As the world changes, so do the families that make up the smaller blocks of society. Consequently, the second remedy is to heighten the awareness of these parents that the responsibility of their childs development does not fall solely on the shoulders of the teachers and the education system. We thus agreed that as teachers and educators, we must be acutely aware of these societal changes and react to them accordingly and hence the teacher group decided that teachers should be the bridge between students and parents. This is a relatively new trend in humanitys history. It is a reflection of the systems desire to acknowledge and incorporate parents as stakeholders in the education system, and allow these parents some say in how the school is being run . However, it must be cautioned that parental-teacher-school relationships should form a symbiosis for the benefit of students. Hopefully this will motivate them to create a more conducive environment for their children to develop and excel in. Most often this is due to the fact that parents now are better qualified and thus expect a lot more from teachers the education system and their children themselves. This highlights the issues of single parent families. All these factors play an important part in any childs educational process. The consequence of this is that the children of these dual income families spend less time with parents. In addition, the teacher group took into consideration the ubiquity of Singaporean households, where both parents work at their respective careers to provide for a decent standard of living in an increasingly costly city-state. Research has shown that parental involvement makes a differences in the future of the child. On the other hand, students whose parents are not involved are more likely to drop out of school. In conclusion, research has shown that the most accurate predictor of a students achievement in school is not income or social status, but the extent to which the students parents are able to: create a home environment that encourages learning; communicate high, yet reasonable, expectations of their childs achievement and future career; and become involved in their childs education at school and in the community.

A shot by shot analysis of a major scene in Hitchcocks Notorious :: essays research papers

The 3rd Major Scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The scene begins by fading in on the back of the silent man’s head (Cary Grant) in Alicia’s bungalow. Then the camera zooms out while sweeping right to give the first full shot and view of both of the main characters. They are shown seated at a table, with many empty bottles of liquor and glasses. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Then a tight reverse over the shoulder shot of Devlin’s face (Cary Grant) is next. Devlin then proclaims: â€Å"There's one more drink left apiece. Shame about the ice.† 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Next the shot reverses again to another tight over the shoulder shot but of Alicia’s face this time. Where she asks a question about what Devlin says. Devlin then answers her question about the ice when the shot is still on Alicia. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now the shot reverses again to a tight shot of Devlin’s face over Alicia’s shoulder. He then asks Alicia a question: â€Å"Why do you like that song?† 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Then the shot reveres again to an over Devlin’s shoulder shot tight on Alicia’s face. She begins to smile and laugh. Then Alicia gets suddenly serious and says: â€Å"There’s nothing like a good love song to give you a good laugh.† 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The shot reverses again to a tight over the shoulder shot of Devlin’s face where he answers Alicia’s question. 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Immediately reverses again to a tight over the shoulder shot of Alicia’s face, where she is shown yawning with her hand over her mouth. Then Alicia asks: â€Å"It’s too stuffy in here isn’t it?† Devlin answers while the shot remains the same. Alicia leans in towards Devlin and asks him another question: â€Å"What about †¦ we have a picnic?† 8.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The shot then reverses again to another tight over the shoulder shot of Devlin’s face. He then answers her question with a question. 9.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The shot reveres again to a tight but brief over the shoulder shot of Alicia’s face where she begins to stand up. 10.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Next the shot changes to a full shot of Devlin and Alicia where she continues to stand. The camera follows them up as they now both fully rise, thus revealing more than just there faces in over 9 shots. Alicia states that they should go outside, while Devlin has a drink in hand. She then asks if Devlin is going to finish his drink. Devlin says that he is and takes down the rest of the drink leaving only a few drops, as Alicia gazes into his eyes. A shot by shot analysis of a major scene in Hitchcocks Notorious :: essays research papers The 3rd Major Scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The scene begins by fading in on the back of the silent man’s head (Cary Grant) in Alicia’s bungalow. Then the camera zooms out while sweeping right to give the first full shot and view of both of the main characters. They are shown seated at a table, with many empty bottles of liquor and glasses. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Then a tight reverse over the shoulder shot of Devlin’s face (Cary Grant) is next. Devlin then proclaims: â€Å"There's one more drink left apiece. Shame about the ice.† 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Next the shot reverses again to another tight over the shoulder shot but of Alicia’s face this time. Where she asks a question about what Devlin says. Devlin then answers her question about the ice when the shot is still on Alicia. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now the shot reverses again to a tight shot of Devlin’s face over Alicia’s shoulder. He then asks Alicia a question: â€Å"Why do you like that song?† 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Then the shot reveres again to an over Devlin’s shoulder shot tight on Alicia’s face. She begins to smile and laugh. Then Alicia gets suddenly serious and says: â€Å"There’s nothing like a good love song to give you a good laugh.† 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The shot reverses again to a tight over the shoulder shot of Devlin’s face where he answers Alicia’s question. 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Immediately reverses again to a tight over the shoulder shot of Alicia’s face, where she is shown yawning with her hand over her mouth. Then Alicia asks: â€Å"It’s too stuffy in here isn’t it?† Devlin answers while the shot remains the same. Alicia leans in towards Devlin and asks him another question: â€Å"What about †¦ we have a picnic?† 8.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The shot then reverses again to another tight over the shoulder shot of Devlin’s face. He then answers her question with a question. 9.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The shot reveres again to a tight but brief over the shoulder shot of Alicia’s face where she begins to stand up. 10.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Next the shot changes to a full shot of Devlin and Alicia where she continues to stand. The camera follows them up as they now both fully rise, thus revealing more than just there faces in over 9 shots. Alicia states that they should go outside, while Devlin has a drink in hand. She then asks if Devlin is going to finish his drink. Devlin says that he is and takes down the rest of the drink leaving only a few drops, as Alicia gazes into his eyes.

Zombies

Zombies There is a current fad of entertainment in popular culture about zombies and zombie apocalypses. Have you ever heard of a real â€Å"Zombie†? Have you ever thought of where this idea of â€Å"Zombies† came about? Theyre history does not stem from Hollywood or comic books. Zombies have a real history as well as an actual scientific capability of existing. Isak Niehaus (writer for The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute) explained the cultural connection to zombies in Africa, and Wade Davis (writer for New York: Simon & Schuster) researched the reports in Haiti of he zombie culture there.Ker Than researched the topic for National Geographic news and came up with startling possibilities of a zombie-like outbreak. Just about everybody knows about fictitious zombies, but less are familiar with the facts about zombies. There are many people zombies are very real. They aren't a fable and are something to be taken seriously. Belief in magic and witchcraft is widespread throughout Haiti and the Caribbean, often in the form of religions such as Voodoo and Santeria.The Oxford English Dictionary, the term â€Å"zombie† initially showed up in English around 1810 when historian Robert Southey declared it in his book â€Å"History of Brazil. † But this â€Å"Zombi† wasn't the typical Hollywood version of the brain-hungry horror. Instead it was a West African deity. The word â€Å"zombie† later came to propose the human life force exiting the body, ultimately leaving a creature human in form but lacking self-awareness and intelligence. The word was introduced to Haiti and to other places from Africa through the slave trade.Isak Niehaus found that the term Zombie is used to describe a spellbound person deprived of cognizance and self- wareness, yet able to move and react to immediate provocations. Though many people treat the current â€Å"zombie apocalypse† as a fun pop culture meme, Haitian culture † li ke many African cultures † is greatly immersed in faith in magic and witchery. Belief in zombies is related to the Voodoo religion, and has been widespread in Haiti for many years. Haitian zombies were said to be people brought back from the dead through magical means by voodoo priests called bokors or houngan.Sometimes the zombification was done as punishment which struck fear in those who believed that they could be abused even after death. Often the zombies were said to have been used as slave labor on farms and sugarcane plantations. A mentally ill farmer claimed to have been seized captive as a zombie worker for two decades, though he couldn't show researchers where this had taken place. Researchers pursued a case in Haiti, 1937 of rumors that the affected persons were given a powerful psychoactive drug, but they were not able to locate anyone willing to offer much evidence.After many years the researchers concluded that there is more to Voodoo than ritual and that there is a medical base behind what is going on. Several decades later, Wade Davis, a Harvard ethno botanist, offered a pharmacological case for zombies some of his books. Davis went to Haiti in 1982 and, after investigations, claimed that a living being could be changed into a zombie by way of two specific powders being put into the circulatory system, most of the time by an open wound.One of the powders includes tetrodotoxin (TTX), a potent and often tatal neurotoxin tound in the putte The second powder consists ot dissociative drugs like datura. These powders could induce a deathlike state where will of the eing would be completely open to that of the bokor. Davis also popularized the story of Clairvius Narcisse, who was claimed to have succumbed to this practice. Davis described the case of an initial state of deathlike suspended animation, followed by reawakening into a psychotic state.The insanity induced by the drug and psychological trauma was hypothesized by Davis to strengthen s ocially learned beliefs and to cause the individual to rebuild their characteristics as that of a zombie, since they actually thought they were dead, and had no other role to play in the Haitian society. Though dead humans can't come back to life, certain viruses can induce such aggressive, zombie-like behavior, scientists say in the new National Geographic Channel documentary The Truth Behind Zombies.For instance, rabies, a viral disease that infects the central nervous system can drive people to be violently mad. If a rabies virus was to combine with the ability of a flu virus, in order to spread quickly through the air, you might have the makings of a zombie apocalypse. The first signs a human has rabies, such as anxiety, confusion, hallucinations, and paralysis ont typically appear for ten days to a year after infection, as the virus incubates inside the body. This is very unlike movie zombies, which become reanimated almost immediately after infection.Once rabies sets in, thoug h, it's fatal within a week if left untreated. If the genetic makeup of the rabies virus went through enough changes, or mutations, its incubation time could be condensed dramatically. Many viruses have naturally high mutation rates and constantly change as a means of evading or bypassing the defenses of their hosts. For the rabies virus to cause an event like a zombie pandemic, not unlike the ones ou might see in a movie, it has to be much more contagious.Typically a human could catch rabies after being bitten by an infected animal and the infection usually stops there, but thanks to pet vaccinations, people seldom get rabies in the U. S. nowadays, and even fewer people die from the disease. For example, in 2008 only two cases of human rabies infection were reported to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A faster mode of transmission would be through the air, which is how the influenza virus spreads. The movie 28 Days Later depicts a scenario of a age virus. If ra bies somehow became airborne this movie would be very plausible.In order to be transmitted by air, rabies would have to mutate or use traits from another virus like influenza. Elankumaran Subbiah, a virologist at Virginia Tech, states that diverse forms, or strains, of the same virus can change pieces of genetic code using reassortment or recombination. Unrelated viruses, although, don't Just randomly create hybrids in nature. Likewise, he also said â€Å"They're too different. They cannot share genetic information. Viruses assemble only parts that belong to them, nd they don't mix and match from different families. It's theoretically possible for scientists to use a rabies virus and an influenza virus, though extremely difficult, to create a hybrid rabies-influenza virus using modern genetic engineering techniques. Sure, you could imagine a scenario where you mix rabies with a flu virus to get airborne transmission, a measles virus to get personality changes, the encephalitis viru s to cook your brain wit n tever and throw in the ebola virus to cause you to bleed from your guts. You would probably get something like the zombie virus, but nature oesn't let these things to happen all at the same time.Yet†¦ There is a vast history of zombies, from Africa to Haiti and other trade lands, all the way to Hollywood. The general focus of zombies is the entertainment of it all. To this day there are still cases of zombie voodoo and stories of dead people coming back from the grave. The focus should be on the possibilities of the future though. If Just one team of scientists with access to the means to hybrid existing viruses the entertaining idea of zombies on a TV would not be funny at all. It's not all that unreal now is it?

Expository essay Essays - Book Of Genesis, Hebrew Bible, Torah

Expository essay Essays - Book Of Genesis, Hebrew Bible, Torah Expository essay In this essay I will be explaining the bible verses Genesis 16, 18:16-33, 22:1-19. In the Bible it speaks on how God discovers that Abraham ought not be kept oblivious with respect to what God is "going to do" (18:17). God is worried that Abraham charges his relatives to "do honesty," that is, to do equity to the association with God in which they stand. On the off chance that Abraham did not do this, there would be no transmission of the confidence to the people to come and consequently no group to whom the guarantees apply. God's underlying words to Abraham (18:20-21) report the cries of unidentified people about the gravity of the wrongdoings of Sodom. God takes part in a legal request with Abraham, and God- - deciding to show Abraham the methods for equity - counsels with him in regards to the gravity of the circumstance in Sodom. God's utilization of the dialect of "if not" proposes that the fate of Sodom remains to some degree open, regardless of the possibility that God has to begin with chosen what to do. Abraham now remains before God and draws in God with respect to the circumstance in Sodom (18:22-33). He brings up sharp issues with God about the preparatory choice to obliterate the city. He is limit and determined, understanding that God invites such a test (such difficulties to God are additionally present in the mourns; for instance, Psalm 13). "Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is only?" (18:25b). Abraham is particularly worried that the noble in the city not be dealt with in an indistinguishable path from the devilish and brings the issue up in these terms: what number upright should there be in the city for God to spare it? God respects the question as an honest to goodness one. Abraham, for obscure reasons, begins with the number fifty and in the end works his way down to ten. God reacts emphatically to each question Abraham raises. While the numbers ought not be translated in an absolutely exacting manner, they raise the issue of "minimum amount." That is, what numbers of exemplary are important to spare the city from its own particular damaging ways? The development of mischievousness in any group can turn out to be so profound and expansive that there is a lacking number of honorable left in the city to turn the circumstance around. At the point when the number gets down to ten, Abraham perceives this to be the situation and leaves off the scrutinizing, perceiving that the pulverization of the city would be simply. Abraham continues to bring up particular issues about God's preparatory choice to pulverize Sodom in view of the objection against its subjects. The References "BibleGateway." Genesis 18:16-33,Genesis 19:1-29 NIV - - Bible Gateway. BibleGateway, 2014. Web. 17 Feb. 2017 Edition, Anglicized. "Genesis 18:16-33 - God Consults with Abraham." Enter the Bible. The New Revised Standard Version, 2013. Web. 17 Feb. 2017.

P-47 Thunderbolt in World War II

P-47 Thunderbolt in World War II During the 1930s, the Seversky Aircraft Company designed several fighters for the US Army Air Corps (USAAC) under the guidance of Alexander de Seversky and Alexander Kartveli. In the late 1930s, the two designers experimented with belly-mounted turbochargers and created the AP-4 demonstrator. Having changed the company name to Republic Aircraft, Seversky and Kartveli moved forward and applied this technology to the P-43 Lancer. A somewhat disappointing aircraft, Republic continued to work with the design evolving it into the XP-44 Rocket/AP-10. A fairly lightweight fighter, the USAAC was intrigued and moved the project forward as the XP-47 and XP-47A. A contract was awarded in November 1939, however the USAAC, watching the early months of World War II, soon concluded that the proposed fighter was inferior to current German aircraft. As a result, it issued a new set of requirements which included a minimum airspeed of 400 mph, six machine guns, pilot armor, self-sealing fuel tanks, and 315 gallons of fuel. Returning to the drawing board, Kartveli radically changed the design and created the XP-47B. P-47D Thunderbolt Specifications General Length:  36 ft. 1 in.Wingspan:  40 ft. 9 in.Height:  14 ft. 8 in.Wing Area:  300 sq. ft.Empty Weight:  10,000 lbs.Loaded Weight:  17,500 lbs.Maximum Takeoff Weight:  17,500 lbs.Crew:  1 Performance Maximum Speed:  433 mphRange:  800 miles (combat)Rate of Climb:  3,120 ft./min.Service Ceiling:  43,000 ft.Power Plant:  1 Ãâ€" Pratt Whitney R-2800-59 twin-row radial engine, 2,535 hp Armament 8 Ãâ€" .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine gunsUp to 2,500 lb of bombs10 x 5 unguided rockets Development Presented to the USAAC in June 1940, the new aircraft was a behemoth with an empty weight of 9,900 lbs. and centered on the 2,000 hp Pratt Whitney Double Wasp XR-2800-21, the most powerful engine yet produced in the United States. In response to the aircrafts weight, Kartveli commented,It will be a dinosaur, but it will be a dinosaur with good proportions. Featuring eight machine guns, the XP-47 featured elliptical wings and an efficient, durable turbocharger which was mounted in the fuselage behind the pilot. Impressed, the USAAC awarded a contract for the XP-47 on September 6, 1940, despite the fact that it weighed twice as much as the Supermarine Spitfire and Messerschmitt Bf 109 then being flown in Europe. Working quickly, Republic had the XP-47 prototype ready for its maiden flight on May 6, 1941. Though it exceeded Republics expectations and achieved a top speed of 412 mph, the aircraft underwent several teething problems including excessive control loads at high altitude, canopy jams, ignition arcing at high altitudes, less than desired maneuverability, and issues with the cloth-covered control surfaces. These issues were dealt with through the addition of a reward sliding canopy, metal control surfaces, and a pressurized ignition system. Additionally, a four-blade propeller was added to better take advantage of the engines power. Despite the loss of the prototype in August 1942, the USAAC ordered 171 P-47Bs and 602 of the follow-on P-47C. Improvements Dubbed the Thunderbolt, the P-47 entered service with the 56th Fighter Group in November 1942. Initially derided for its size by British pilots, the P-47 proved effective as a high-altitude escort and during fighter sweeps, as well as showed that it could out-dive any fighter in Europe. Conversely, it lacked the fuel capacity for long-range escort duties and the low-altitude maneuverability of its German opponents. By mid-1943, improved variants of the P-47C became available which possessed external fuel tanks to improve range and a longer fuselage for great maneuverability. The P-47C also incorporated a turbosupercharger regulator, reinforced metal control surfaces, and a shortened radio mast. As the variant moved forward, a host of minor improvements were included such as enhancements to the electrical system and a re-balancing of the rudder and elevators. Work on the aircraft continued as the war progressed with the arrival of the P-47D. Constructed in twenty-one variants, 12,602 P-47Ds were built during the course of the war. Early models of the P-47 possessed a tall fuselage spine and a razorback canopy configuration. This resulted in poor rear visibility and efforts were made to fit variants of the P-47D with bubble canopies. This proved successful and the bubble canopy was used on some subsequent models. Among the multitude of changes made with the P-47D and its sub-variants were the inclusion of wet mounts on the wings for carrying additional drop tanks as well as the use of a jettisonable canopy and a bulletproof windscreen. Beginning with the Block 22 set of P-47Ds, the original propeller was replaced with a larger type to increase performance. Additionally, with the introduction of the P-47D-40, the aircraft became capable of mounting ten high-velocity aircraft rockets under the wings and utilized the new K-14 computing gunsight. Two other notable editions of the aircraft were the P-47M and P-47N. The former was equipped with a 2,800 hp engine and modified for use in downing V-1 buzz bombs and German jets. A total of 130 were built and many suffered from a variety of engine problems. The final production model of the aircraft, the P-47N was intended as an escort for B-29 Superfortresses in the Pacific. Possessing an extended range and improved engine, 1,816 were built before the end of the war. Introduction The P-47 first saw action with the fighter groups of the Eighth Air Force in mid-1943. Dubbed the Jug by its pilots, it was either loved or hated. Many American pilots likened the aircraft to flying a bathtub around the sky. Though early models possessed a poor rate of climb and lacked maneuverability, the aircraft proved extremely rugged and a stable gun platform. The aircraft scored its first kill on April 15, 1943, when Major Don Blakeslee downed a German FW-190. Due to the performance issues, many early P-47 kills were the result of tactics which utilized the aircrafts superior diving ability. By the end of the year, the US Army Air Force was using the fighter in most theaters. The arrival of newer versions of the aircraft and a new Curtiss paddle-blade propeller greatly enhanced the P-47s capabilities, most notably its rate of climb. In addition, efforts had been made to extend its range to allow it to fulfill an escort role. Though this was ultimately taken over by the new North American P-51 Mustang, the P-47 remained an effective combatant and scored the majority of American kills in the early months of 1944. A New Role During this time, the discovery was made that the P-47 was a highly-effective ground-attack aircraft. This occurred as pilots sought targets of opportunity while returning from bomber escort duty. Capable of sustaining severe damage and remaining aloft, P-47s were soon fitted with bomb shackles and unguided rockets. From D-Day on June 6, 1944, through the end of the war, P-47 units destroyed 86,000 railway cars, 9,000 locomotives, 6,000 armored fighting vehicles, and 68,000 trucks. While the P-47s eight machine guns were effective against most targets, it also carried two 500-lb. bombs for dealing with heavy armor. By the end of World War II, the 15,686 P-47s of all types had been constructed. These aircraft flew over 746,000 sorties and downed 3,752 enemy aircraft. P-47 losses during the conflict totaled 3,499 to all causes. Though production ended shortly after the war ended, the P-47 was retained by the USAAF/US Air Force until 1949. Re-designated the F-47 in 1948, the aircraft was flown by the Air National Guard until 1953. During the war, the P-47 was also flown by Britain, France, Soviet Union, Brazil, and Mexico. In the years following the war, the aircraft was operated by Italy, China, and Yugoslavia, as well as several Latin American countries who retained the type into the 1960s. Selected Sources Aviation History: P-47 ThunderboltWarbird Alley: P-47 Thunderbolt

HIV video summary Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

HIV video summary - Assignment Example The first video proffered details of AIDS from the outbreak to epidemic. It discussed that AIDS was first reported June 5, 1981, when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded a cluster of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (now still classified as PCP but known to be caused by Pneumocystis jirovecii) in five homosexual men in Los Angeles. Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is defined as a set of symptoms and infections resulting from the damage to the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). More details on early epidemic signs, AIDS timeline, rapid AIDS virus test, global statistics, and question and answer portions were all presented. The mechanisms, from its inception to the life cycle of the virus were discussed. With the alarming number of people affected with AIDS, a specialized drug was developed to contain the syndrome. This is known as antiretroviral medications. â€Å"Antiretroviral drugs inhibit the reproduction of retroviruses-viruses composed of RNA rather than DNA. The best known of this group is HIV, human immunodeficiency virus, the causative agent of AIDS. Antiretroviral agents are virustatic agents which block steps in the replication of the virus. The drugs are not curative; however continued use of drugs, particularly in multi-drug regimens, significantly slows disease progression.† The enormity of people who had been diagnosed of AIDS/HIV in developing countries needs more than primary health care to address this illness. According to the video, the most appropriate care needed by patients diagnosed with AIDS/HIV is palliative care. By addressing the patients’ physical, emotional, mental, social, physiological aspects, health care practitioners could finally admit that appropriate treatment was indeed delivered. The lectures presented were very informative and useful as an authoritative

Interview on ethical dilemma part 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Interview on ethical dilemma part 2 - Essay Example She asserts that the Bible does not allow any form of human interference with human life. As such, death should not be voluntary or induced. The autonomy of a patient to choose his or her destiny as far as health is concerned fails to consider other interested factions. Thus, patients cannot decide to end their lives since repercussion run deep within the society. Euthanasia leads to wider social problems and introduces discomfort within a society. Families break due to differences in opinions regarding euthanasia. Family members of patients are required to consent to the move before it is done. In many instances, there is hardly consensus and only the decision of the patient and the majority of family members prevails. As such, the decisions leave a broken family. She further claims that different views in a family may result in depression and other health related problems. Parker accepts that patients have autonomy over their lives. She also accepts that there are many complex situations where patients suffer and have little chance of survival. However, there is no clear method to determine when to die, and whether a patient has the right to decide to stay alive or die. Some patients, especially parents or older siblings, are relied upon by children and other dependents for survival. As such, their decisions and actions directly affect others. It is important to stay alive since it gives hope to the dependents of possible healing. Ending the life of such individuals makes people lose focus and hope in life. Allowing people to decide their fate erodes the societal perception towards life. Society regards life as precious and supposed to be preserved at all times. Assisting people to take life communicates a wrong message to the society. Thus, it is imperative to treat the patient until he or she dies out of the severity of illness rather than assisting them to take their life. Doing so would

Community Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Community Nursing - Essay Example On the other hand, community health nursing is majorly inclined into three categories. These are referred to as tools of community nursing health practice which include community organizing, epidemiology and health education.Epidiomology deals with the determinants and distribution of injuries and decisions in human population. Community health nursing majorly study populations on the basis on age group with main reference to health problems related to each group. Some of the groups are infants, mothers (below twelve months, children with ages one to fourteen, young adults and many others. Health issue depending on age bracket may include; maternal health which encompasses prenatal care, family planning and abortion (McEwen & Willis, 2007). There are a number of partnerships involved in both public health nursing and community health nursing. They include government health agencies, quasi-governmental organizations dealing with health and lastly nongovernmental health agencies. For instance, Centre for Disease Control (CDC) partnering with Kenyan government in Africa to tackle HIV scourage.Government may fund transportation as CDC funds antroritoviral drugs distribution among the poor populations to curb faster death rates among HIV patients. Summarily, Watson’s theory of transpersonal care consists of the aspects of kindness, love and equanimity in relation to intentional caring. It advocates for being present authentically and cultivation f transpersonal self which surpasses the ego self. Both community health nursing tools and public health objectives and intentions ultimately compliment Watson’s theory since the aspect of care and self giving is a prerequisite of the two

Verification vs Validation Essay Example for Free

Verification vs Validation Essay Verification ensures that the system (software, hardware, documentation, and personnel) complies with an organization’s standards and processes, relying on review of non-executable methods. Validation physically ensures that the system operates according to plan by executing the system functions through a series of tests that can be observed and evaluated. Verification answers the question, â€Å"Did we build the right system?† while validation addresses, â€Å"Did we build the system right?† Verification requires several types of reviews, including requirements reviews, design reviews, code walkthroughs, code inspections, and test reviews. The system user should be involved in these reviews to find defects before they are built into the system. In the case of purchased systems, user input is needed to assure that the supplier makes the appropriate tests to eliminate defects. Validation is accomplished simply by executing a real-life function. This includes unit testing, integration testing, system testing and user acceptance testing. In this rigorous testing is conducted to validate if the system meets the functional requirement. The three most important skills that a system analysis should have are the same for any company. They should first and foremost have people skills. You have to be able to work with a variety of people and be able to work in teams. You should be an assertive person also. A good systems analysis should be able to take initiative and do things without being told. Also this person should have good reasoning and problem solving skills. These are all things that should be within the person naturally along with the actual computer skills necessary to analyze systems for a client. -are ability to work well with others, -good communication skills, -the ability to ask the right questions Bidder Responsibility Determination: To be determined responsible, a bidder must be successfully evaluated against the 7 following criteria: 1. Financial Resources. The bidder must have adequate financial resources to perform the contract, or the ability to obtain them (see FAR 9.104-3(a)—Ability to Obtain Resources). 2. Performance Schedule. The bidder must be able to comply with the performance schedule, required or proposed delivery, taking into consideration all existing commercial and governmental business commitments. 3. Performance Record. The bidder must have have a satisfactory performance history, if any (see FAR 9.104-3(b)—Satisfactory Performance Record and Experience Certificate). Nevertheless, a prospective contractor shall not be determined responsible or non-responsible solely because of a lack of relevant performance history, except when specified in a standard for special acquisitions. 4. Integrity and Ethics. The bidder must have a satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics including satisfactory compliance with laws related to taxes, labor and employment, environment, antitrust, and consumer protection (see FAR 9.406-2—Causes for debarment and FAR 9.407-2—Causes for suspension). 5. Organization and Skills. The bidder must have the necessary organization and skills, experience, accounting and operational controls, and technical skills, or the ability to obtain them (see FAR 9.104-3(a)—Ability to Obtain Resources). 6. Equipment and Facilities. The bidder must have the necessary technical equipment and facilities for production or construction, or ability to obtain them (see FAR 9.104-3(a)—Ability to Obtain Resources); and 7. Other Qualification. The bidder must be otherwise qualified and eligible to receive an award under applicable laws and regulations. Systems Engineering V Model The system life cycle The system life cycle has seven phases: (1) discovering system requirements, (2) investigating alternatives, (3) full-scale engineering design, (4) implementation, (5) integration and test, (6) operation, maintenance and evaluation and (7) retirement, disposal and replacement. However, the system life cycle is different for different industries, products and customers. State the problem The problem statement starts with a description of the top-level function that the system must perform or the deficiency that must be ameliorated. It includes system requirements stated in terms of what must be done, not how to do it. It might be composed in words or as a model. Inputs come from end users, operators, bill payers, owners, regulatory agencies, victims, sponsors, Marketing, Manufacturing, etc. These are called stakeholders. In a modern business environment, the problem statement starts with a reason for change followed by vision and mission statements for the company. Understand customer needs Customers seldom know what they want or need. Systems Engineers must enter the customers environment and find out how the customer will use the system. Talking to your customers customer and your suppliers supplier can be very useful. Frameworks, such as the Zachman framework or the DoDAF, are useful for seeing how the system fits into the customers enterprise. Discover system requirements There are two types of system requirements: mandatory and tradeoff Mandatory requirements insure that the system satisfies the customers operational need, and must be passed or failed, there is no middle ground. The tradeoff requirements are evaluated to determine the preferred designs, and should state conditions that would make the customer happier. Verify and validate requirements Investigate alternatives Alternative designs are evaluated based on performance, cost, schedule and risk criteria. This analysis should be redone whenever more data are available. Define quantitative measures Performance and cost criteria show how well the system satisfies its requirements, e.g., In this test the car accelerated from 0 to 60 in 6.5 seconds. Technical performance measures (TPMs) are made during the design and manufacturing process to evaluate the likelihood of satisfying the system requirements. Model the system Models will be developed for most alternative designs. Many types of system models are used, such as block diagrams, functional flow diagrams, object-oriented models, computer simulations. Design the system The overall system must be partitioned into subsystems, subsystems must be partitioned into assemblies, etc. Reusability should be considered in creating subsystems. For new designs, subsystems should be created so that they can be reused in future products. For redesign, subsystems should be created to maximize the use of existing, particularly commercially available, products. Systems engineers must also decide whether to make or buy the subsystems, first trying to use commercially available subsystems. If nothing satisfies all the requirements, then modification of an existing subsystem should be considered. If this proves unsatisfactory, then some subsystems will have to be designed in-house. Flexibility is more important than optimality. Hardware, software and bioware must be considered. Bioware (or wetware) means humans and other biological organisms that are a part of the system. For example, in designing a race track the horses or dogs are a part of the bioware. Create sequence diagrams Define system architecture Some choices that have to be made: (1) object-oriented design, structured analysis, or functional decomposition, (2) distributed or centralized computing, (3) commercial off the shelf (CoTS) or custom designed. Functional analysis Systems engineers do functional analysis on new systems (1) to map functions to physical components, thereby ensuring that each function has an acknowledged owner, (2) to map functions to system requirements, and (3) to ensure that all necessary tasks are listed and that no unnecessary tasks are requested. This list becomes the basis for the work breakdown structure. A work breakdown structure (WBS) breaks a project into smaller, more manageable components. Sensitivity analyses Sensitivity analyses can be used to point out the requirements and parameters that have the biggest effects on cost, schedule and performance. They are used to help allocate resources. Assess and manage risk There are two types of risk: risk of project failure (due to cost overruns, time overruns or failure to meet performance specifications) and risk of harm (usually called personnel safety). A failure modes and effects analysis and risk mitigation must be performed. Project risk can be reduced by supervising quality and timely delivery of purchased items. Reliability analysis Major failure modes must be analyzed for probability of occurrence and severity of occurrence. Integrate system components Integration means bringing things together so they work as a whole. System integration means bringing subsystems together to produce the desired result and ensure that the subsystems will interact to satisfy the customers needs. End users and engineers need to be taught to use the system with courses, manuals and training on the prototypes. Design and manage interfaces Interfaces between subsystems and interfaces between the main system and the external world must be designed. Well-designed subsystems send finished products to other subsystems. When designing subsystems and their interfaces be sure to consider reuse. Launch the system Launching the system means doing what the system was intended to do, e.g. running the system and producing outputs. Configuration management Configuration management (also called modification management) ensures that any changes in requirements, design or implementation are controlled, carefully identified, and accurately recorded. All stakeholders should have an opportunity to comment on proposed changes. Decisions to adopt a change must be captured in a baseline database. Baselines can only be changed at specified points in the life cycle. The phrase requirements tracking is now being used for an important subset of configuration management. Project management Project management is the planning, organizing, directing, and controlling of company resources to meet specific goals and objectives within time, within cost and at the desired performance level. Project management creates the work breakdown structure, which provides structure for guiding team assignments and cost and tracking control. Documentation All of these Systems Engineering activities must be documented in a common repository, often called the Engineering Notebook. The stored information should be location, platform, and display independent: which means any person on any computer using any tool should be able to operate on the fundamental data. Assumptions, results of tradeoff studies and the reasons for making critical decisions should be recorded. These documents should be alive and growing. For example, at the end of the system life cycle there should be an accurate model of the existing system to help with retirement. Lead teams Complex systems cannot be designed by one person. Consequently engineers work on Integrated Product Development Teams (IPDTs). These teams are interdisciplinary with members from Business, Engineering, Manufacturing, Testing, etc. IPDTs are often led by Systems Engineers. Assess Performance During the operation and maintenance phase of the system life cycle the performance of the system must be measured. Initially these measurements will be used to verify that the system is in compliance with its requirements. Later they will be used to detect deterioration and initiate maintenance. Prescribe tests Early in the system life cycle Systems Engineering should describe the tests that will be used to prove compliance of the final system with its requirements. However, most testing should be performed by built-in self-test equipment. These self-tests should be used for initial testing, post-installation testing, power-up diagnostics, field service and depot repair. The recipient of each test result and the action to be taken if the system passes or fails each test must be stated. Conduct reviews Systems Engineering should ensure that the appropriate reviews are conducted and documented. The following set is common: Mission Concept Review, System Requirements Review (SRR), System Definition Review, Preliminary Design Review (PDR), Critical Design Review (CDR), Production Readiness Review (PRR), and System Test. Full-scale engineering design begins after the Preliminary Design Review. Manufacturing begins after the Critical Design Review. Total system test The system that is finally built must be tested to see (1) that it satisfies the mandatory requirements, and (2) how well it satisfies the tradeoff requirements. Re-evaluation Re-evaluation is arguably the most important task of Systems Engineering. For centuries engineers have used feedback to control systems and improve performance. It is one of the most fundamental engineering tools. Re-evaluation means observing outputs and using this information to modify the system inputs, the product or the process. Re-evaluation should be a continual process with many parallel loops. Everyone should continually re-evaluate the system looking for ways to improve quality. Tools used in this process include basic systems engineering, and the quality engineering techniques presented by, for example, Deming and Taguchi. Deming (1982); Bicknell and Bicknell (1994); Latzko and Saunders (1995). Near the end of the project, engineers should write a Lessons Learned document. These lessons learned should not be edited by management, because management could trivialize what they do not understand or omit management mistakes. Categories of Systems Engineers Many companies divide their Systems Engineers into three categories according to their major workflows: requirements definition, architectural design and testing and verification. Creating Systems Engineers The traditional method of creating Systems Engineers was to select well-organized engineers with lots of common sense and let them acquire 30 years of diverse engineering experience. But recently these traditional Systems Engineers have written books and standards that explain what they do and how they do it. So now that the tools, concepts and procedures have been formalized, in four years of undergraduate education we can teach Systems Engineers who will have performance levels 50% that of traditional Senior Systems Engineers. Ten years of systems engineering experience will improve performance to 80% and another ten years will increase it to 100%.

Is Global Warming A Natural Phenomenon Environmental Sciences Essay

Is Global Warming A Natural Phenomenon Environmental Sciences Essay Is the temperature rising or is it just us? One of the most highly debated topics in todays society is global warming. Are we humans destroying the Earth we live on without knowing its devastating effects or is it the inevitable? Some say that the burden we put on the Earth is causing a rise in the greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide emissions. Others argue that global warming is naturally occurring or it truly does not exist. How can something not exist when all the evidence points to it? Recent studies have shown that an increase in carbon dioxide concentrations and other greenhouse gases caused by human activity is warming up the planet. Researchers and scientists have been studying the climate changes from the late 1950s up till today and no findings have pointed towards anything but humans causing this disaster. A way to define global warming is through the Greenhouse Effect. The process starts with the solar radiation to the Earths surface which absorbs the rays and heats up the surface. Since the Earth does not absorb all the radiation from the sun, it is simply reflected off its surface back into space. It is here where the problem occurs. When the rays reflect off the Earths surface they are not leaving the lower atmosphere due to greenhouse gases and other emissions. This causes the infrared rays to stay inside the Earths atmosphere and cause the temperature to rise. When an infrared ray strikes a molecule like carbon dioxide or a greenhouse gas it causes the bond to vibrate and it gains kinetic energy. Now that this molecule has more kinetic energy, it can transfer it to one of the two major gases in the atmosphere, oxygen and nitrogen. When the gases receive this extra energy it causes a general heating of the atmosphere. The diagram on the next page depicts how the process works. FIGURE 1: The Greenhouse Effect In the late 1950s, researchers carefully studied the amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. At that time, scientists agreed that the amount of carbon dioxide in parts per million was 315. Now today in 2008, that parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is about 385. What caused this increase of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases? Human activities such as fossil fuel burning, cement, production, and deforestation caused this increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. How do we know that these numbers are accurate? Scientists can measure the amount of greenhouse gases in from bubbles of air that were naturally preserved in ice in Antarctica and Greenland dating back to more than 650,000 years ago. The amount of carbon dioxide concentrations in the last 400,000 years had a cyclical pattern. The amounts would rise to just about 300 parts per million and decrease to about 200 parts per million in a 100,000 year time frame then rise a gain. Just recently the parts per million have skyrocketed. Today that number of parts per million is still increasing and is almost at 400. Why is it now that this number has increased rapidly? The population today of the entire world is booming to more than six billion people. In the United States the population is currently more than 300,000,000. No more than twenty years ago the population in 1990 was around 249,000,000. In that little of time the population grew more than 50,000,000. Now think of all the countries in the world. The population is putting the Earth at risk and this is why the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are increasing. Another argument that proves the global is heating up is evidence from the I.P.C.C. (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Last year the I.P.C.C. published a six year long study on the science of global warming and picked up the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts. (Monastersky) The I.P.C.C. has gathered information from nine different global using land stations. Each of these land stations cover large regions and record the surface temperature. Each land station from around 1950 has shown an increase of land temperature from 0Â °C to 0.4Â °C. Overall, in the last century the Earths surface temperature has increased by 1.3Â °F. (Schneider) Even though this is the tiniest increase it still effects how the Earth emits radiation. The hotter the temperature of the Earths surface gets the more it needs to emit the radiation. This causes a problem because the greenhouse gases and other molecules are reflecting the rays back to the Earth and are staying in the atmosphere, once again c ausing a rise in temperature. Figure 2: Global Temperature Time Series The figure above shows the Earths surface temperature in nine different locations Now that the evidence proves the Earths surface is heating up and the atmosphere is being ruined by carbon dioxide emissions, how can we prove that humans are doing this? In a recent study from Purdue University, they named the U.S.A.s top cities for carbon dioxide emissions. A few of the top cities were Los Angeles, Chicago, Pennsylvania Carbon County, and Indiana County. From the image below, the key shows that levels with red or brown areas are top producers of carbon dioxide emissions. What makes these areas red? Studies show that the reason is the burning of fossil fuels. Examples of fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. These three sources of energy play a huge role in the world because they are used everyday in excessive amounts. When fossil fuels are burned or used they produce carbon dioxide emissions. Figure 3: Top Carbon Dioxide Emitters in the United States The figure above shows areas in the United States that emit carbon dioxide. The areas that emit the most are shown in red or brown. The Earth can only absorb so much of these emissions that eventually it cannot anymore and it causes excessive amounts in the atmosphere. How do humans burn fossil fuels? Everyday activities like driving a car, using an aerosol can, working at a factory, and working at power plants. Each of these burn fossil fuels and destroys the atmosphere. Think of how many cars are on the road right now driving and burning gas. The amount of the carbon emissions coming form vehicles is overwhelming and is causing this change in climate. Finally, car manufacturers are realizing that this is becoming a huge epidemic and they are now producing hybrid vehicles and more gas efficient vehicles. Factories and power plants produce a ridiculous amount of pollution each day that is doing irreversible damage to the Earth. An argument against global warming is that it is naturally occurring. This is a possibility because no expert or researcher has completely understood the Earths cycle of ice ages and warm periods. There is a slight possibly that this could be just one of the Earths warm periods. Evidence proves otherwise. According to researchers it is nearly impossible to explain this climate change without external force. This means that something other than a natural cause is a factor in the climate change. Another counterargument against global warming is that the rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are from the ocean. When researchers studied the oceans, they saw that levels of the carbon dioxide in the ocean were high like the amount in the atmosphere. If the ocean was emitting carbon dioxide then the levels in the ocean would be lower. With all the evidence, it is clear that humans are contributing to global warming. This has only become a problem now because our economy is going as well as our population. Fifty years ago, the economy was not even close to being as advanced and big as it is today. Our population is still growing and we are only taking baby steps to fix this problem. If harsh action does not take place soon we will destroy the Earth forever. The warming of the oceans and atmosphere could trigger irreversible environmental changes in coming decades. (Monastersky)