MBA Classes What to Expect in Business School

Students preparing to attend an MBA program often wonder what MBA classes they will be required to take and what these classes will entail. The answer will of course vary depending on the school you attend as well as your specialization. However, there are a few specific things you can expect to get out of the MBA classroom experience. A General Business Education The MBA classes you will be required to take during your first year of study will most likely focus on major business disciplines. These classes are often known as core courses. Core coursework usually covers a range of topics, including: AccountingEconomicsFinanceManagementMarketingOrganizational behavior Depending on the program you are attending, you may also take courses directly related to a specialization. For example, if you are earning an MBA in information systems management, you may take several classes in information systems management during your first year. The Chance to Participate No matter which school you choose to attend, you will be encouraged and expected to participate in MBA classes. In some cases, a professor will single you out so that you may share your opinions and assessments. In other cases, you will be asked to participate in classroom discussions. Some schools also encourage or require study groups for each MBA class. Your group may be formed at the beginning of the year through a professor assignment. You may also have an opportunity to form your own study group or join a group that has been formed by other students. Learn more about working on group projects. Homework Many graduate business programs have rigorous MBA classes. The amount of work that you are asked to do can sometimes seem unreasonable. This is especially true in the first year of business school. If you are enrolled in an accelerated program, expect the workload to be double that of a traditional program. You will be asked to read a large amount of text. This may be in the form of a textbook, cases study, or other assigned reading materials. Although you will not be expected to recall everything you read word for word, you will need to remember the important bits for class discussions. You may also be asked to write about the things you read. Written assignments usually consist of essays, case studies, or case study analyses. You should know how to read a lot of dry text quickly and how to write a case study analysis. Hands-On Experience Most MBA classes provide an opportunity to obtain real hands-on experience through the analysis of case studies and real or hypothetical business scenarios. Students are encouraged to apply the knowledge they have acquired in real life and through other MBA classes to the current issue at hand. Above all, everyone in the class learns what it is like to work in a team-oriented environment. Some MBA programs may also require an internship. This internship may take place over the summer or another time during non-school hours. Most schools have career centers that can help you find an internship in your field of study. However, it may be a good idea to search out internship opportunities on your own as well so that you can compare all of the options available to you.

Bp and Oil Spill - 996 Words

BP was the  ªrst of these companies to change from a reactive to a proactive climate strategy formulation. In 1996, it withdrew from the oppositional Global Climate Coalition (GCC), which was characterized as the most powerful lobby organization in climate policy.28 BP then accepted the climate change problem as diagnosed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and gave its support to the Kyoto Protocol. In 1998 BP’s strategy formu- lation developed further in a proactive direction when the company adopted GHG emission reduction targets aimed at reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent (relative to 1990 levels) by 2010.29 In 2002, a new target of no in- crease in net emissions by 2012 compared to 2001†¦show more content†¦Based on the remarks of Chevron s new Chairman and CEO at the 2010 Annual Stockholders Meeting and in testimony to Congress, that company has provided some technical assistance. There is an oblique reference in the Congressional testimony to working with communities and organizations across the Gulf region, but no indication of the nature of that cooperation. How could the oil companies have reacted more intelligently to the Deepwater Horizon accident? 1. In the first days, the other oil companies could have offered personnel to BP to strengthen community relations, both to expedite claims filing and to help local communities understand the technical aspects of the clean-up operations. You cold argue that the other companies would have risked being tarred with the same brush as BP, but have they avoided that fate by not offering the goodwill gesture? 2. A volunteer corps of oil company employees could be created to help with on-the-ground beach clean-up. This would have be an opportunity for non-technical personnel to get involved and to put a human face on the industry. In order to avoid a perception that other companies are trying to get good PR at the expense of BP, this could be organized under the umbrella of a trade association or other common platform. 3. An oil industry initiative could be put in place to offer advice, mentoring, zero-interest loans and otherShow MoreRelatedBp Oil Spill822 Words   |  4 PagesBP OIL S PILL Under the Deepwater Horizon, an offshore drilling ring of British Petroleum (BP) caused an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The incident occurred on April 20th 2010, where equipment failed and caused the explosion sinking the ring, and causing the death of 11 workers and more than 17 workers injured. The British based energy company also faced other problems at the site of the oil spill. More than 40 million gallons (estimated data) of oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico. Oil spillRead MoreBp Oil Spill1317 Words   |  6 PagesFive Lessons from the BP Oil Spill Its very easy to pile onto BP right now. The accident, which may be due more to negligence, is bad enough. The company lost 11 employees — after losing 15 in a high-profile explosion at a refinery 5 years ago. The damage to the Gulf, its species, and the people who depend on it is almost incalculable. But surprisingly, its even easier to criticize BPs behaviour since the explosion — the company has tried hard to downplay the scale of the tragedy and it hasRead MoreThe Spill Of The Bp Oil Spill1464 Words   |  6 PagesThe BP oil spill was one of the worst oil spills to ever happen in the US. There are many factors that caused this horrible spill to happen; to be exact there were eight failures of the oilrig that caused this disaster. The first failure was the cement at the bottom of the borehole was not sealed properly. This caused the oil and gas to start leaking into the pipe leading to the surface of the rig. The second failure was that the valve leading to the surf ace was sealed improperly with cement. InRead MoreBp Oil Spill1094 Words   |  5 Pagescompetitive) segments do you think BP considered or didn’t consider prior to their drilling of the Gulf Coast? What should the wedding business owners now consider in their external environment? BP decided to drill in the Gulf Coast mostly because of the oil availability and competition. Opportunity was definitely considered by BP. The North Sea was saturated with other oil companies and BP saw an opportunity in the Gulf of Mexico (Pour, 2011). The segment that BP did not do well is the environmentalRead MoreThe Spill Of The Bp Oil Spill1602 Words   |  7 PagesThe BP Oil Spill began on April 20, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico after the BP leased, Transocean owned, Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, killing 11 and injuring 17 of the 126 crew members. The explosion also sank the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig triggering a massive oil spill that would last for 87 days and leak 4.9 billion barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. After the explosion, BP and the federal government enlisted the best minds in the country and worked tirelessly to come up withRead MoreBp Oil Spill1883 Words   |  8 PagesGeography 29 February 2012 BP Oil Spill Oil rigs provide the world with the fuel that is needed to keep it running. However, it is common knowledge that they may potentially cause harm to not only living creatures but also the environment they rely on to survive. This was proven in the spring of 2010 when an oil rig off the Gulf of Mexico exploded and resulted in an oil spill. This catastrophic event opened millions of eyes to the errors that can be found in the way oil rigs are set up. It alsoRead MoreThe BP Oil Spill1950 Words   |  8 PagesOil covered everything: beaches, animals, plants, bottoms of boats. Approximately 205.8 million gallons of oil leaked into the ocean and toward the Louisiana shoreline. To put the amount in perspective, that oil could be used to drive a Toyota Prius around the earth 184,181 times (Repanich). All of this pollution and destruction because of one singular company: British Petroleum. Needless to say, the image of BP was tarnished because of this. What can a company do to come back from such a seriousRead MoreBp Oil Spill1198 Words   |  5 PagesBP Oil Spill Chait, J, (2010). Dear Leader. New Republic, 241(10), 2-2. Retrieve June 21, 2010, from Academic Search Premier. This article discusses the present oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The president’s has not changed the Minerals Management Service. In reality, the federal government has no agency tasked with capping undersea oil leaks. All the necessary equipment, along with the expertise for operating it, resides with the private sector. BP will likely bear the full cost of the spill;Read MoreBp Oil Spill Essay1507 Words   |  7 PagesBP oil spill is ranked as the largest environmental disaster in the world history. As the oil from BP spill washes ashore, people on Gulf Coast are suffering huge damages they have never met before. The U.S. government estimates that up to 60,000 barrels of oil a day are spewing out from the damaged BP drilling rig to Gulf of Mexico. It has ruined the shoreline, killed animal and sea life, threaten the ecosystem and harmed the tourism and fishing in Louisiana. After the spilling happened, US governmentRead MoreBp Oil Spill Globalization1062 Words   |   5 Pagesrelationships between countries and affected the world economies, be it the relationship with the board of directors of BP and the US government or the change in value of BP PLC on the stock exchange.  ²As a result of the oil spill the Obama administration imposed a six month moratorium on new deep water drilling operations which ended on the 12th of October. For twenty years previous to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico there had been a total ban on deep water off shore drilling. But during his presidency

Charles Spurgeon free essay sample

He ought to pray more than the people he is leading. He further argues that a devoted prayer life will empower the pastors sermons as well as their delivery. The pastor that does not pray over his work because it shows his arrogance, for he elevates his thoughts without seeing the need to appeal to God, but his prayer should be that of one who seeking and searching for something to say to the people because he realizes that its not him who speaks to the people but God who uses him as a willing vessel to speak to his own people. Chapter 4 examines how as pastors along with our congregation should pray in front of other people.Spurgeon believes that we should pray with our hearts and from our hearts and not pray from a written script. God alone must be the object, and Scripture must be quoted accurately. Spurgeon finishes this chapter offering practical advice for the length, current, etc. of public prayers. In chapter 5 Spurgeon explains what a sermon should have in its contents. He points out that they should be made up of solid doctrine and be well throughout. The doctrine should coincide with biblical text itself, while all ways revealing the gospel.Most importantly pastors must seek to grow within their spiritual knowledge, having better understanding the truth, so they can effectively grow, encourage, empower and motivate the saints physically, mentally and spiritually grow. In chapter 6 Spurgeon talks about biblical and practical advice for choosing a particular scripture to preach. As preacher sent from God we must not randomly choose or pick scriptures out our self because often times when we do that we take it out of content, but the pastor must pray and ask God to show him the scripture that he wants the people to be informed about.As pastors we have to understand God the Holy Spirit will reveal to us what he desires his people to hear. In chapter 7 Spurgeon tells us pastors to spiritualize biblical texts. He gives various examples of too much spiritualizing and too little spiritualizing there should be a equal balance in the text for be to be able implement it in there life’s. In chapter 12 Spurgeon reveals to us the way and the importance of how we should live and socialize with our congregation or church.He tells of being real because some of us try and be to proper, instead of just being a common man when the people are around you. He must be sociable, happy, not dominating the conversations which means we must be willing to listen and seek to accomplish some good through the social interactions with people. Spurgeon concludes this section encouraging pastors to never seek the fame or fortune, nor argue but to be sure to stick by what you believe in regardless of his company. Chapter 15 Spurgeon encourages Pastors to continue in the things of Christ such as holiness, in growth, and in grace and mercy.As pastors we must gain biblical knowledge and sharpen our homiletic abilities along with our moral character, qualities, spiritual qualifications, work ethic, and missionary endeavors. In general he was telling us to move forward in Christ name. Last but not least in chapter 21 Spurgeon puts in details the most important quality that a ministers must have in order to win souls for Christ: he have sincerity, must be alert, always solemn and excellent in their deliverance of the word which is their work.Lastly they must show their passion when they actually preach their sermons, but this enthusiasm must be real and not a show. He also gives us various examples that can weaken passion, He tells pastors to continue being passionate because of the love of Christ alone. He concludes this section offering pastors advice to keep the flame going. Evaluation In this book, Charles Spurgeon offers grea insight on biblical and practical ways for pastors to begin and sustain his ministry for the glory of God. He both encourages men to pastoral ministry and discourage men from pastoral ministry.As I read this book I see Spurgeon taking it upon his self as if he considers it his duty to tell the truth of the Scriptures to each of his stud ents and to give them advice to help them flourish in ministry with such high recognition and submission for the Word of God, Spurgeons has a high view of the Scriptures as authoritative with clear visible message. Spurgeon in the book offers much practical advice all preacher even those who do not value his completely will still benefit from this book; for, Spurgeon is clearly the prince of preachers which he is known as across the world.Although he writing this book Spurgeon seem to have some subjective concerns. In chapter 6, Spurgeon explains how pastors should select a scripture to preach. He emphases that God will reveal to pastors what scripture or scriptures to preach. Spurgeon says that a pastor needs to be observant of his congregation to discern and get a better understanding of where the people is so that he can be more effective at meeting their needs as one body. Spurgeon suggest that it is the Holy Spirit that leads the pastor to know what to preach.This is important because if the entire Bible carries authority, and the hearers are the sinner, that means that they need a Rhema Word from God. So the question becomes as long as a pastor preaches from the Bible, can he really preach the wrong text? Spurgeon believes that he cannot fail when he preaches the Word in context that directly comes from God. Spurgeon also argues that if a man is not given the text directly from God through some relative leading, then he is arrogantly using his own mind and ways to choose the text.This is an interesting point considering Spurgeon believes a pastor is capable of discerning the biblical needs of his congregants, but is incapable of picking the right text to preach using his own mindset. In other areas of this book, Spurgeon encourages his readers to use their minds and skills to carry out their ministry for Gods glory. Spurgeon fails to realize that the reader cannot escape his own mind and skill in choosing a text. Spurgeon even points out that when your verse gives your mind a hearty grip, from which you cannot release yourself, you will need no further direction as to your proper theme (85). My question be would how a man know that his mind is gripped without using his own skills and thoughts. The answer is that a pastors thoughts and skills are unfeasible to divorce from the process. This means there there is no example in the Bible where God gives a scripture to someone to preach. When this happens in a pastors ministry how does he know that God is the one releasing the text to him since the Bible details no similar revealing or even encourages pastors to wait on such revelation? The answer is that a pastor cannot but that they must trust in Gods voice.Spurgeon encourages originality, imagination with scripture, but without violating the common sense or reality. He even criticizes others for violating his proposed thoughts. The problem is that Spurgeon in facts determines what common sense is and the boundaries for spiritualizing. He also neglects proper and formal hermeneutics and does not even mention understanding the Holy Spirits meaning how it works in a minister’s life. Spurgeons emphasis in this book on this particular point the pastor is the interpreter instead of the Author of the scripture Himself.He forgets that all words mean something; and God the Holy Spirit meant something specific and had a purpose and reason when He wrote the Word of God. Spurgeon believes that spiritualizing scripture will help keep the audiences attention. The pastors concern however must be with preaching the truth instead of entertaining the crowd or congregation because they are not interested in the truth. Spurgeon as encourages pastors to use spiritual things to keep attention and interest of the people. Spurgeon suggests that the scripture alone is unable of keeping attention.The points in Scripture demanded to be heard, not because of their ability, creativity, or imagination, but because they came with a message from God. Application As I finished the reading of this book I personally would recommend to all that feels or know they been called to the ministry. The book is so informational for that been in the ministry can still benefit from this book. I think all seminaries as well as those pastors who have the duty and task of training preachers should required this read from their students.I recognized as a pastor I am also a continual product not a finish and still need to continue working on my spiritual life and the book reminded me of this. Spurgeon emphasized discipline and that will drastically help me to remain faithful in the ministry. He me realize the importance of daily prayer; and encouraged me to pray more intentionally on a consistent basis. Lastly despite what your congregation believes in or what their doctrine is Spurgeon encouraged me to continue on faithfully and soundly preaching the Word of God. Though he emphasizes keeping the audiences attention or ntertaining the people he still emphasized preaching the Word in context for the glory of God. Like many pastors, Im always tempted to preach something I want to preach, to compound the gospel and to seek the applause of men alone. The gospel is always relevant for whatever generation that he is in. He encourages me to have a better conversation and be real all the time because a pastors we are tempted to be fake. Spurgeon encouraged pastors to let their conversation be purposeful and meaningful and to simply be a common men among common men try not to be greater than those who you serve.He also encouraged me to be the man of God has called me to be and not worry about who life me or not, as pastor we struggle on the basis of trying make everyone like us so we spend time trying to be more like a politician than a pastor, to be a people-pleaser instead of a preacher of the Word of God. Finally, Spurgeon encouraged me to be since re for souls because that is my duty Our churches are full but full with lost souls because we constantly adding member to the church but there is not transformation taking place we don’t have true Christianity among us.

Karma Essays - Reincarnation, Shabda, Indian Religions,

Karma What is the relation, if any, of the concept of varna to the concept of karma? Of karma to the doctrine of reincarnation? The concepts of varna and karma are each closely related to the eastern civilization religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Varna and karma go hand in hand with each other to explain themselves, as does karma with the doctrine of reincarnation. The complicated explanation of all of these concepts follows. In order to understand the concept of karma, one must first understand the term varna. An appropriate definition would be the rise of class system, which the Hindus adhere to. An English translation of varna, however, is simply the word ?color? (Noss 87). There are four social classes that break down the class system otherwise known as varna. Beginning with the highest class, there is the Brahmins or priests, followed by the ruling Kshatriyas, the Vaisyas (common people), and finally the Shudras (servants). The Brahmins said that if one was a member of any of the first three classes to be extremely careful to avoid the Shudras (Noss 87). Now that we have somewhat of an understanding of varna, the concept of karma can be more easily explained. Karma simply stated is that the way one lives his or her life now determines destiny or fate. In other words, the consequences of one's actions in this life will determine what they do or become in the next life. Therefore, karma is what made one who he or she is in the present life due to the actions the person portrayed in his or her previous life. Karma is the cause of one's destiny in the future life, and is what caused a person to be who he or she is today. Now we will explain the relationship between varna and karma. Let's imagine the following situation. There are two people living in the Vaisyas class of commoners. One of them does only good deeds, has good thoughts, and portrays an all around good sense of well being. The other person commits crimes, has bad thoughts, and portrays an over all sense of evil or no good. The first person will perhaps become a member of the Kshatriya class, moving up on the wheel of samsara. The other person will most likely become a Shudra in the next life. So, perhaps in their most recent previous lives', the first person was a good person of the Shudra class, and samsara declared that he or she rise in class; and the second person may have been a bad person of the Kshatriya class, therefore he or she declined in class. There are endless possibilities, but the relationship between karma and varna is obvious here. Simply stated, karma determines varna. Next we will look at the doctrine of reincarnation as it relates to karma. Reincarnation is an easier concept to grasp than karma. Reincarnation can be defined as the never-ending time line of life. In other words, we all have been someone or something else before or present life began, and after the present life is over, we will become someone or something else again. Karma is what determines who or what we will become. Karma develops our own fate and destiny for reincarnation. The life one lives now determines what he or she will be reincarnated as. Just as karma determined varna, karma now determines reincarnation. Just incase, these ideas are the true meaning of the after-life, I suppose I shall adhere to good karma so that maybe in my next life I can be a member of the highest class.

Asking Professors to Sit on Your Dissertation Committee

Asking Professors to Sit on Your Dissertation Committee Graduate study can best be explained as a series of hurdles. First is getting in. Then comes coursework. Comprehensive exams typically are the culmination of coursework in which you demonstrate that you know your stuff and are ready to begin your dissertation. At this point, you are a doctoral candidate, unofficially known as ABD. If you thought coursework and comps were difficult you’re in for a surprise. Most students find the dissertation process to be the most challenging part of graduate school. It’s how you show that you are an independent scholar capable of generating new knowledge. Your mentor is critical to this process, but your dissertation committee also plays a role in your success. The Role of the Dissertation Committee The mentor is highly invested in the dissertation’s success. The committee serves as an outside consultant, offering a more broad perspective as well as support for the student and mentor. The dissertation committee can serve a checks and balances function that can boost objectivity and ensure that university guidelines are adhered to and that the product is of high quality. Members of the dissertation committee offer guidance in their areas of expertise and supplement the student and mentor’s competencies. For example, a committee member with expertise in specific research methods or statistics can serve as a sounding board and offer guidance that is beyond the mentor’s expertise. Choosing a Dissertation Committee Choosing a helpful dissertation committee isn’t easy. The best committee is composed of faculty who share an interest in the topic, offer diverse and useful areas of expertise, and are collegial. Each committee member should be carefully selected based on the project, what he or she can contribute, and how well he or she gets along with the student and mentor. It’s a delicate balance. You don’t want to argue over every detail yet you need objective advice and someone who will offer insightful, and tough, critiques of your work. Ideally, you should trust each committee member and feel that he or she has your (and your project’s) best interests in mind. Choose committee members whose work you respect, who you respect, and who you like. This is a tall order and finding a handful of faculty who meet these criteria and also have the time to participate on your dissertation committee is a daunting task. It’s likely that not all of your dissertation member s will fulfill all of your professional and personal needs but each committee member should serve at least one need. Give Some Warning Work with your mentor to select committee members. As you select potential members, ask your mentor if he or she thinks the professor is a good match to the project. Aside from seeking insight – and making your mentor feel valued – professors talk to each other. If you discuss each choice with your mentor beforehand he is she is likely to mention it to the other professor. Use your mentor’s reaction as an indicator of whether to move forward and approach the potential committee member.  You may find that the professor is already aware and may have already implicitly agreed. Make Your Intentions Known At the same time,  don’t assume that each professor knows that you’d like them as a committee member. When the time comes, visit each professor with that as your purpose. If you haven’t explained the purpose of the meeting by email then when you enter, sit and explain that the reason you’re asked to meet is to ask the professor to serve on your dissertation committee. Be Ready No professor will agree to participate in a project without knowing something about it. Be prepared to explain your project. What are your questions? How will you study them? Discuss your methods. How does this fit with prior work? How does it extend prior work? What will your study contribute to the literature? Pay attention to the professor’s demeanor. How much does he or she want to know? Sometimes a professor might want to know less – pay attention. Explain Their Role In addition to discussing your project, be prepared to explain why you are approaching the professor. What drew you to them? How do you think they will fit? For example, does the professor offer expertise in statistics? What guidance do you seek? Know what the professor does and how they fit in with the committee.  Likewise, be prepared to explain why you think they are the best choice.  Some faculty might even ask, â€Å"Why me? Why not Professor X?† Be prepared to justify your choice. What do you expect expertise-wise? Time-wise? How much or little time and effort will you require? Busy faculty will want to know whether your needs outstrip their time and energy. Dealing With Rejection If a professor declines your invitation to sit on your dissertation committee, don’t take it personally. Easier said than done but there are many reasons people decide to sit on committees. Try to take the professor’s perspective. Sometimes it’s that they’re too busy. Other times they may not be interested in the project or may have issues with other committee members. It’s not always about you. Participating on a dissertation committee is a lot of work. Sometimes it’s simply too much work given other responsibilities. If they are not able to meet your expectations be grateful that they’re honest. A successful dissertation is the result of a great deal of work on your part but also the support of a helpful committee that has your interests in mind. Be sure that the dissertation committee you build can meet these needs.

conductors essays

conductors essays Super conductivity is a natural phenomenon in which certain materials such as metals, alloys, and ceramics, can conduct electricity without resistance. These materials are what we call superconductors. In a superconductor, once the flow of electrons begins, it essentially goes on forever, making it an important material to humans. Superconductivity was discovered by a Dutch scientist by the name of Heike Kamerlingh Onnes in 1911. While researching properties of materials at absolute zero, this man found out that certain materials lost its resistance to the flow of electrons. For years to come, his discovery was at the head of theoretical interest. The only problem though, was that people at that time could not even think of a way to produce such a temperature, to allow materials to be superconductors at all times. This all changed in 1986 when Karl Muller and George Bednorz were working at the IBM Research Division in Zurich, Switzerland. They found a material that reached superconductivity at around 35 degrees Kelvin or 238 degrees Celsius. In the next year, a team of Chinese-American physicists declared that they had found a material that reached superconductivity at 92 degrees Kelvin. This was a big improvement. 92 degrees Kelvin is not a very high temperature, in fact, it is the equivalent of 181 degree s Celsius. Locating superconducting material above 77 degree Kelvin is a good thing because it means that the material will be easily produced and used. A theoretical understanding of superconductivity was advanced in 1957 by American physicists John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, and John Schrieffer. Their Theories of Superconductivity became know as the BCS theory (which came from each mans last name) and won them a Nobel prize in 1972. The BCS theory explained superconductivity at temperatures close to absolute zero. However, at higher temperatures and with different superconductor systems, the BCS theory has conseq ...

Jet blue technology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Jet blue technology - Research Paper Example Traditionally, firms depended on management and market forces to streamline their strategies but currently they have found the need to be abreast with innovations which in most cases have been necessitated by advances in technology and the unpredictable consumer tastes and preferences. This has led to a continuous process of integration by people around the globe brought about by increased interdependence due to the need to exchange information, ideas, opinions, goods and services and the cultural aspects. The unpredictability of consumer tastes and preferences have influenced the manner in which firms approach business opportunities and influenced by the rapid inventions in science and technology and innovations in business policies and mechanisms, firms have been competing to stay relevant in the market over their rivals. Aviation industry on the other hand has been putting so much emphasis on technology from their carriers to innovations that enhance smooth delivery of their servi ces to the large and growing customer base and competition. This include construction of planes that offer cargo and passenger services which are later mechanized or customized to incorporate features that distinguish a certain firm from the other for competitive advantage. This is further coupled with onboard and off board services to the passengers and other marketing strategies that ensure the firm stays relevant in the industry by acquiring a substantial market share in form of client base while it manages the incorporation of these innovations with the market returns. These technological advancements comes with barriers with which firms need to evaluate first to ascertain the overall cost and the general impact of the strategy to the firm’s position in the industry and its long and short term objectives. This has in the long run helped management to devise integration measures between the technological innovations and the existing labor force within these firms maintaini ng profitability and continuity of these firms. By adopting science and technology in the service delivery within the aviation industry has streamlined contractual aspect of transacting partners more so in the cargo section by providing timely response to both parties which has helped reduce legal tussles and in turn improving on the convenience and reliability aspects. Furthermore, innovations have brought solutions to many problems within the aviation industry right from marketing, client and portfolio management, human capital and firms’ organization. For instance, applying technological innovations within management section and in the research and development sections of any given firm ensures timely response to the arising matters more so in the service industry such as aviation which promotes real time course of action. Introduction Jet Blue is an airline company that has undergone several transmissions in a bid to strengthen its management and improve on service delive ry to its growing client base by merging and partnering with supplementary and complementary firms. The firm has had a strong organization culture from management to employees which has seen the firm accomplish long term and short term goals concurrently, improving on the customer attraction and retention and the overall service delivery by the airline. The firm has incorporated science and technology in almost all of its operations for convenience, reliability and outreach so as to improve

The Architecture of Kyotos Nanban-ji Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Architecture of Kyotos Nanban-ji - Essay Example This paper highlights that the proliferation of Christianity started to be carried out in 1559; proselytizers sustained their plans and exertions despite the extreme distress that was brought about by oppression, and with the security assured by Nobunaga, a significant growth in the number of Christian followers cropped up. Nearly 20 years later, with backing from hundreds of its supporters and followers, the antiquated worship room was reconstructed, which was followed by a religious gathering in celebration for the achievement of the chapel. Nanban-ji is known as St. Mary's Temple.From the study it is clear that the most thought-provoking of all features of the Nanban-ji is the unorthodoxy of its architectural design. The Nanban-ji Church was built by the Europeans, particularly the Southern Barbarians, but there seems to be a more Chinese rather than a European touch on its architectural details. There is a significant resemblance of the architecture during the Momoyama period in Nanban-ji's overall design. One important feature of the Nanban-ji is the use of folding screens that are made in pairs with decorations fronting the onlookers and guests. Division is common in Nanban-ji. The substantial utilization of folding screens help set up the Church’s factions: guest hall, worship hall, main hall, kitchen, sleeping quarters, and abbot’s quarters.  Looking at Nanban-ji’s integrated architectural plan, an architectural hierarchy manifests in the arrangement and organization of buildings – apart from the Nanban-ji temple.

Chariots of Fire Essay Example for Free

Chariots of Fire Essay Answer: In the film Chariots of Fire, Directed by Hugh Hudson, two major film techniques which have been used are slow motion and close up shots. These Production techniques reinforce the character and feelings of Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams as they prepare and run in the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. The Close Up shots give us an insight into Eric’s Character and reactions, specifically when he makes the decision not to run on the Sabbath. Slow motion tells us of the nervousness and loneliness of Harold as he waits for the races to start, and communicates the feeling of tension to the viewers . The film techniques in Chariots of Fire enhance the characters personalities and form a link with the theme and major events in the story line. Close up shots are used in Chariots of Fire to portray the honesty and integrity of Eric Liddell, â€Å"the Flying Scotsman†, and his personality and approach to the Olympic Games. When Eric arrived in Paris he was confronted with the problem of running his 100m heats on the Sabbath. Eric decides that he won’t run on the Sabbath because, â€Å"the Sabbath is Gods and I for one intend to keep it that way†, â€Å"I won’t run and that’s final†. The close up shots showed us Eric’s reactions and emotions which exposed how Eric was a transparent character whose life was governed by faith, honesty and loyalty to God. Hugh Hudson has used slow motion during the Olympic races to portray the honesty and integrity of Harold Abraham and Eric Liddell. The slow motion technique is also used to portray the loneliness and solitary feeling before races. At the start of Harold’s race it shows his determination to win, â€Å"If I can’t win, I won’t run†. Harold was a Jew and was determined to prove that he could run, it was his weapon against the rising of Anti-Semitism before World War Two. The slow motion in Eric’s race shows the viewers the different style of running he has and how each movement counts towards the final victory. Eric said â€Å"God made me fast, and when I run I feel his pleasure†; the slow motion shows how he loves running, but reminds us of his firm faith and trust in God which will never be severed. Slow motion shots showed me the feelings of the runners during their races and deepened the sense of nervousness, but determination to run the race to victory in both of the main characters. The two production techniques close up shots and slow motion, enhance the link between the characters and the theme of faith and endurance, the understanding of character feelings and determination made the film worthwhile because you can sense the tenseness of the character and their yearning for victory as the both had â€Å"something personal to prove†. The production techniques helped me to understand the characters faith and the strength of their faith which governed their lives, never to decrease but continually increase and inspire others to run a straight race morally, have ambition and determination, this theme is especially prominent as we are shown how Eric’s faith in God was his strength when running and pathway to victory. Two major production techniques in Chariots of Fire, used by Hugh Hudson were close up and slow motion, these two techniques enhanced my understanding of the main characters, Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams. The techniques portrayed character feelings, formation and the result of crucial decision making. This film is worthwhile to watch because not only because of the way the director has used techniques to make it easier to understand the lives of the two Olympic heroes and inspire future generations, but to get an insight of how these two runners achieved their goal and their personal reasons for pursuing victory.

Hemingway Code Hero Essay -- essays papers

Hemingway Code Hero In this novel A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, Hemingway brings about the evolution of Frederick Henry being converted into a code hero in realistic ways. Frederick Henry achieved the six code hero characteristics by the end of the novel with the help of Catherine, a code hero herself. All the characteristics seem to follow the path of a manly person who is continuously striving to live his/her life to the fullest. Throughout this novel, Frederick Henry's behavior matures to the code hero in which Hemingway desires to be. In the start of the novel, Frederick Henry was into over- sensual pleasures and could not control himself until he had spent much time with Catherine and learned how to discipline himself. Henry "had drunk much wine" and roamed from whore house to whore house near the beginning of the novel. He had no control over himself nor could hold his liquor or contain himself from easy women during this time. Henry finally disciplined himself near the end of his stay at the Ospidale Maggoire. The nada concept had been a part of Henry's life from the beginning. Henry stood up nights because the night is a representation of evil and death to him. If he is not asleep, he can avoid having to deal with it. Henry also is accompanied by Catherine during nights at the Ospidale Maggoire. To Henry there "was almost no difference in the night except that is was an even better time" with Catherine. Catherine, who is already a code hero...

Possible Community Health Hesi Topics

Potential Community Health HESI Topic Areas These are some additional areas you may want to considering being familiar with: Ancathosis nigricans A skin condition characterized by dark, thick, velvety skin in body folds and creases. Most often, acanthosis nigricans affects your armpits, groin and neck. There's no specific treatment for acanthosis nigricans † but treating any underlying conditions, such as diabetes and obesity, may cause the changes in your skin changes to fade Characteristics of acanthosis nigricans include: Skin changes. Skin changes are the only signs of acanthosis nigricans.You'll notice dark, thick, velvety skin in body folds and creases † typically in your armpits, groin and neck. Sometimes the lips, palms or soles of the feet are affected as well. Slow progression. The skin changes appear slowly, sometimes over months or years. Possible itching. Rarely, the affected areas may itch. Acanthosis nigricans is often associated with conditions that increa se your insulin level, such as type 2 diabetes or being overweight. If your insulin level is too high, the extra insulin may trigger activity in your skin cells. This may cause the characteristic kin changes.Question pertained to nurse checking for lice and noticing dark patch of skin on neck. Advisor role Antepartum – risk factors Anthrax incubation and exposure Assess trends and patterns Assessing income Assessment – validation Assignments – home care; Make sure students know how to prioritize home health clients (i. e. which ones to see/call back first. ) When given the choice between a patient with COPD who is short of breath, a terminally ill pt who refuses to eat or drink, or a pt with congestive heart failure who has gained 3 lbs, choose the last one. Asthma triageBattering-communication If the question pertains to a nurse suspecting a female patient has been abused and the woman has her child in the room with her, the nurse should ask the child to leave the room and question the woman about the abuse. The question does not pe rtain to the child being abused. Breast cancer-risk (who is at greatest risk) Calculate rate – population COBRA-cost (client still has to pay for expenses) When the question asks what would be a concern for a person who has lost their Job but has COBRA, the answer is paying for health care/expenses.Communicable disease (pertussis) Community – assessment Community Assessment – TB Community data source Community education – evaluate Community resource – elderly Community resources-population age Community resources – rural Community strategies – mental deficiencies Cultural competence Cultural -lactose intolerant Cultural – Native American (Native Americans are at high risk for diabetes – have the highest rates, so the nurse needs to screen for and educate about this).Culturally sensitive teaching CV disease – African American Diabetes AIC If a nurse is working in a community with high rates of diabetes and implements a rogram, at the end of 1 year (or whatever evaluation period is stated) the nurse will want to evaluate hemoglobin A1 C levels to determine effectiveness of program.Disaster – Cholera (Priority for treating those with cholera: fluid and electrolytes) Disaster- Professional Disaster – red tag triage Disaster planning Disaster Preparedness – START Disaster triage – color system Elder abuse-Home setting Elder health – assessment Employee health Epidemiological triad host Epidemiological triad agent Fall in home Family assistance – ophthalmic meds Family ecomapFlu vaccine-priority Gatekeeper Genetic risk – assessment Geriatrics – home nutrition Geriatric syndrome – home health GTD-hCG values Health Promotion Program – Planning Heart healthy diet – limit Heat stroke If an adolescent is playing sports at school and goes to the school nu rse with red, dry skin and other symptoms of heat stroke, the first thing the nurse should do is call for emergency personnel (not assess). Hepatitis A – risk Hep B vaccine – pregnancy Hepatovax B allergy Home care referral Home Health – Management Home health – PT Home safety – post arthroplastyHypertension-BP measure Immunize – 3rd world country Immunization rates Increase vaccination rates Infant mortality rate Influenza -prophylactic Relenza Lillian Wald – Henry Street (she established the Henry Street Settlement) Lipid screening Long-term care-infection Long-term car – fall prevention Meals-on-wheels Medicare Menomune vaccine Migrant worker risks Morbidity data – gather Morbidity data-glaucoma If a nurse is working with an elderly population and most of them are choosing to get a surgery that will CURE glaucoma, then the nurse will be concerned with assessing revalence of glaucoma (not morbidity).Needs assessment Ne ighborhood safe houses Neuman model – line of defense Obese children-parent involvement Occupational health – smoking Occupational nurse practitioner role Oral contraceptives – smokers Osteoporosis – prevention Outcome evaluation Polypharmacy – GERI Post vaccination teaching Primary prevention – adolescents Primary prevention – WIC Priority – HF lab results Program goal setting ty Care – nursing nome Quality Care – public clinic management Quality health – bicycle safety Rash with fever – PEDI (chicken pox)Ritalin evaluation – adolescent Assessing intervention with ADHD in an adolescent: get their feedback on improvement, as their self-esteem is priority School age screen (obesity) School nurse role If an adolescent comes to a school nurse and tells her she is pregnant, the nurse will want to implement measures to ensure the teen and her baby are healthy. These things include referral to prena tal care, encouraging prenatal vitamins, etc.The nurse will NOT tell the parents and things like arranging childcare or teaching breastfeeding are not something the school nurse will be involved in. creening – DM – PEDI Screening priority Question regarding hypothyroidism and the nurse recognizes that mental dysfunction is a long-term consequence. What is screening priority? Answers included screening for T3 in preschoolers or children (? ), iodine screening in people over 60, TSH in women over 45, and T4 in newborns. The answer is T4 in newborns.Seat belt safety-adolescents Secondary prevention – tobacco Secondary prevention – children Sensitivity of tests Social organization Stakeholder If a community health nurse is going into a community to try to develop or implement n intervention, remember one of the key things he/she must do is form a relationship with someone who would be identified as the stakeholder. Stakeholders will be someone who is invested in the health of the community and will be invested in the program to be implemented.They will be vital in the nurse gaining access into the community, the success of the program, and ensuring the sustainability of the program. STD-Reporting If an adolescent goes to the health dept and is diagnosed with chlamydia, the nurse must report this. It is a reportable disease that is monitored by the state and the CDC, and the disease intervention specialist must be informed to do contact tracing.

The Pedestrian

The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury Utopia: an ideal place (fictional) This short story is an example of Dystopian fiction – dealing with a society that embodies a flawed perfection – achieved at a cost. In the story, Ray Bradbury attacks a society which is, in effect, a police state – a totalitarian regime. The sole representative of the regime is, appropriately, the police car. Mead is a non-conformist whose ‘crime’ is to walk for pleasure – a most simple and natural activity.The oppressive nature of the regime is emphasised by the fact that such a basic human activity is prohibited and has been eradicated – as indicated by the disused sidewalks. The nature of this soulless society is emphasised again and again by numerous images connected with death: â€Å"dark windows† â€Å"not unlike walking through a graveyard† â€Å"tomb-like buildings† and â€Å"grey phantoms†By contrast the vivid sensory description of M ead’s walk is conveyed through crisp natural images which evoke the senses and show his delight in simple pleasures and sensations: breathing in the cold November air and its â€Å"crystal frost† makes his â€Å"lungs blaze like a Christmas tree inside† the â€Å"branches filled with invisible snow†. This is a society which (it is implied) is kept docile and uninformed by a diet of poor quality TV programmes (which, we assume from the Police Car’s incredulity when Mead explains that he has no TV, are controlled by the State).The minds of the population have been dulled by the TV they are incessantly and acceptingly fed. Only Mead can see through the banality and predictability of the programmes: †Where are the cowboys rushing? † †A dozen assorted murders† †A comedian falling off the stage† There is nothing to stimulate the intellect of the population here. Despite the (large) number of channels, there is a comple te absence of any political programme which might challenge the government. Possibly suggesting brain-washing.If not, it is clear from the way that the population is described that they are not capable intellectually of challenging the government – they are portrayed as automatons – unthinking, unchallenging, uninformed. The suggestion is that the minds of this population are chained and dulled by the government’s actions. Informed, intelligent, alert people would pose a threat and ask awkward questions. Mead is the last of such people and his nightly covert walks are, we presume a way to find like-minded people.His rebellion, if we can call it that, is hardly the most active – he seems to have accepted or resigned himself to the fact that he can no longer pursue his career and seems a broken man at the end of the story. Setting In contrast to the rest of the population, the individuality and free-thinking nature of Mead’s mind is emphasised by nat ural images. The simile â€Å"only his shadow moving like the shadow of a hawk† conveys both an impression of a hunter and an image of soaring freedom.The fact that â€Å"he could imagine himself upon the centre of a plain, a wintry, windless Arizona desert† highlights his individuality and the sense of emptiness that he feels in a society that is, effectively, dead. The rest of the population and the city itself are portrayed as being dead. The buildings and city are architecturally dead – the â€Å"buckling concrete walk† suggesting decay and â€Å"tomb-like buildings† suggesting that those inside are dead. Even Nature itself seemed outraged by the setting and tried, it seemed, to bury it â€Å"like cement was vanishing under flowers and grass†The Police Car The imagery associated with the police car is harsh, cold, threatening, oppressive, that of hunter and its paralysed prey â€Å"flashed a fierce white cone of light upon him† â €Å"It smelled of riveted steel. It smelled of harsh antiseptic† Images which mirror the nature of the regime which is personified and represented by the car. Frequent use of word-choice linked to metallic, robotic, mechanical ideas. The voice of the police car also sounds robotic: short, sharp peremptory commands contrast with Mead’s fuller more warm and personal replies.The clearest indication of the nature of the regime comes in the interrogation: The lack of recognition of Mead’s profession and the incredulity that he does not have a TV set hint strongly at state control. In this dystopian society, anything connected with the arts: creativity, beauty, the senses†¦ is not recognised. Only that which is manufactured is recognised. Books and writing have no place in this regime. In a similar manner, the police car is unable to comprehend that Mead was simply walking for its own pleasurable sake. â€Å"Walking, just walking, walking? The repetition of walk ing gives the impression of the car’s brain malfunction. It cannot grasp that anyone would do something simply for the pleasure of it, not without a reason. Only Mead is capable of wry humour (a human quality) Are you married, Mr Mead No Nobody wanted me, said Leonard Mead with a Smile. Irony Mead is to be taken to an asylum – â€Å"To the Psychiatric Centre for Research on Regressive Tendencies†. Note the use of official sounding language – a euphemism designed to hide the true purpose of such a place – echoing SovietAsylums in which those who actively opposed the state’s political ideals were sent to an ‘asylum’ to be ‘re-educated’ – brain-washed until they did accept what the state wanted them to believe. The great irony here is that Mead – the only sane man in this insane society is being sent to an asylum. Symbolism. On their way to the asylum through, they pass Mead’s house. It is ablaze w ith lights in contrast to the dark city. â€Å"electric light brilliantly lit, every window a loud yellow illumination. It is a symbol of hope of vibrant life – light is a universal symbol of hope, but the car is swallowed up once more into the darkness (literally and figuratively). â€Å"The car moved down the empty river-bed streets† natural images of decay and life-lessness. Structure Mead’s capture is represented in stages. Contrast the positive, empowering image of him as a hawk – conveying a sense of freedom with his reaction to the car †not unlike a night moth, stunned by the illumination† The short story remains fairly uneventful throughout, therefore the structure reflects this.However, the featurelessness of structure (which in turn reflects the bleakness of the landscape) is broken by the tension created by the interrogation of the police car. The apparent tedium of the walk through the grey town is transformed into a gripping tens e episode. Near the end, the short story bursts into another high point of hope with the wonderful climactic symbol of the house ablaze with light – a symbol of hope. Nevertheless, we are again plunged into dark anti-climax as we realise that the house is only one lone point of hope, soon to be submerged within the blanket of darkness everywhere.Themes: 1. The distrust and ultimate destruction of the individual in a totalitarian state 2. Bradbury considers such a police state to be alien to the natural laws of Mankind – man should be free to voice his feelings. 3. He points to the dangers of state-controlled media which can brainwash a nation, State-controlled TV programmes being, effectively, propaganda. 4. He points to the dangers of a docile, unquestioning society. 5. Glancing euphemistic references to ‘psychiatric hospitals’. 6. Pessimistic – the light in the darkness is extinguished.

Essay on Muslims

Essay on Muslims Essay on Muslims Islam, Arab and Middle Eastern Americans: A view from the outside Lee S. Snider Chamberlain College of Nursing Islam, Arab and Middle Eastern Americans: A view from the outside A. Jamal & N. Naber (2008) wrote not all Arabs are Muslims and not all Muslims are Arabs, when in fact, the United States often conflates the categories of Arab and Muslims. The top six countries with the largest Muslim populations are Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Turkey and Iran. None of these countries are Arab. Arab countries include a diversity of linguistic, ethnic and religious groups (Jamal et al, 2008). In this paper we will discuss what is it to be Muslim in America both pre/post Gulf Wars and post September 11, 2001. First, this paper will explain the basic understanding of Islam and those who practice it and how it differs and relates to three other religious beliefs Christianity, Judaism and the often confused with, Sikhism. Second, this paper will review the differing points of view of Islam and Arabs from both the United Kingdom and United States. How are they the same? How are they different? Why have these nations just started to recognize this group not as citizens, but both as domestic and foreign terrorists? Continuing, we will review the history of Arabs, Arab Americans, Muslims and people of Middle Eastern decent living in the United States. We will discuss some the prejudices and discriminations Arab-Americans, Arabs, Muslims and people of Middle Eastern decent have endured since the two Gulf Wars and the September 11 terroristic attack. Finally, we will discuss what w e can do to help alleviate the current prejudicial and discriminatory attitude of race and religious relations among the United States, Arab Americans, Arabs, Middle Eastern and Islam. Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Sikhism Islam is the second largest religion in the world with over 1 billion followers (British Broadcasting Company (BBC), 2009). Islam was revealed over 1400 years ago in Mecca, Arabia and those who practice it are called Muslims. Muslims believe there is only one God – Allah. Muslims believe that God sent a number of prophets to mankind to teach them how to live according to Prophet Muhammad. Muslims base their laws on their holy book the Quran and the practice of Sunnah (BBC, 2009). To Muslims, the scripture of the Quran is the word of Allah as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel (Housley, 2007). Approximately one third of the Quran’s text is made up of narratives of earlier prophets, most of them biblical and the Quran rewrites the story of Jesus Christ more radically than that of any other prophet and in doing so reinvents him (Khalidi, 2009). The Sunnah is the practical example of the Prophet Muhammad and the five basic Pillars of Islam. These pillars are (1) the declaration of faith, (2) praying five times a day in a mosque, (3), giving money to charity, (4) fasting and (5) a pilgrimage to Mecca – at least once in a Muslims’ life (BBC, 2009). Christianity on the other hand is the world’s most popular religion with over 2 billion followers. Unlike Muslims, Christians believe in one God and that this God sent his only son, Jesus to earth to save humanity from the consequences of sins (BBC, 2011). Christianity in relation to Islam is viewed both as a precursor in the line of historical monotheism and also as a deficient form that have deviated from its purity (Thomas, 2005). Christians believe in the holy trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Christians base their beliefs on their holy book, the Bible. One of the most important concepts in Christianity is when Jesus gave his life on the cross-called, the crucifixion, and then his rising from the dead, the resurrection. However, there are many people who identify as Christian without believing in, observing any Christian traditions or holy concepts which would be heresy for Muslims. Negative stereotypes of Muslims and Arabs have

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Unit 5, Chapter 10,11, and 12 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Unit 5, Chapter 10,11, and 12 - Coursework Example Bartol, in her book Management: A pacific rim focus, illustrates a process of change management in eight steps. The problem of having adversarial relationships that are proven to be counterproductive and detrimental to the operations within the organization has to be identified. Only by recognizing that this is really a problem that has to be addressed, can solutions be determined to solve the problem. In order to backup the planned change, the most powerful sponsors, usually the key people, who are the executives, are to be informed about the planned change, and to gather their support in order for the change to be communicated to the rest of the company. In this part, the vision of changing the organizational structure has to be developed and communicated, first to those people who can pass around the information. In developing a vision, it could be helpful to involve the rest of the company in order for them not to feel like the vision is a top-down command. It is to enable them to know the situation of the company and to feel like being more involved to what is happening, which makes them more receptive to the changes that will be enforced in line with the vision. By giving the proper authority to people who are capable of communicating the desired vision about the change in organizational structure, these people will have better chance to act out the vision. This may entail choosing the right people to conduct seminars and trainings to inform the other employees about the changes, and form a certain system to create these changes. Employees should be encouraged to act out the vision and adhere to the changes that are taking place within the company. In this case, promoting cross-functional teams would entail cutting down processes that are potential barriers. Because this major structural change would require flattening the organization, as various processes would be cut down, a lot of positions come with them. This would make resistance more intense

Five Forces of Competition Model Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Five Forces of Competition Model - Coursework Example However, because of the quality of products coupled with a large portfolio of product brands, Apple has been able to survive the competition. Thus, because of the competition, Apple Inc.’s position in the industry cannot be challenged due to threat of entry of a new firm given the current trends of acquisitions taking place in the industry (Motorola acquisition by Google) is anything to go by implying new firms with same old or new technology will have to be acquired to survive competition from the already established companies. Finally, the strong bargaining power of buyers and suppliers is proving a challenge to Apple because the company cannot raise prices for its products due to availability of close substitutes (Michael, 2008). However, Apple has embarked on a strategy of developing differentiated high-quality products for its consumers, which seems to be giving the company a competitive edge due to customer loyalty. Ultimately, based on my analysis, I believe the industry is still young and lucrative for Apple Inc. to continue thriving if they keep on pursuing their goals of creating high-quality and pursue t he goal of goal of customized products for

Project paper on interpersonal communication theories and chosen book Essay

Project paper on interpersonal communication theories and chosen book - Essay Example Yet these two English speaking Caucasians can barely last seven days without confrontation amongst themselves and amongst their loved ones. Such is the downfall of language. People can understand the words, but it takes much more time and effort to understand the context in which people speak. This film essentially portrays the lives of two individuals in their unique journey to Japan. While it seems as though Bob is going through a mid-life crisis in conjunction with family problems waiting in the States, Charlotte appears to be having a crisis of her own at twenty years of age. She looks for sympathy in Bob Harris and receives something that borders on romance and heart-break. Not only an intense drama, but the film also portrays the life-styles of two different generations of marriage. Intimate relationships, especially marriages, are considered one of closest forms of relationships. Both participants are supposedly devoted enough to disclose very personal information to one another. Conversely, can that form of intimacy last? What if the discloser is no longer appreciated in a marriage? Bob Harris appeared to be going through such a scenario with his wife overseas. In a specific scene, Bob is speaking with his wife about some of the extraordinary people he has been meeting in Japan. To this end, Mrs. Harris mundanely expresses how happy she is that Bob is having fun. Of course, her voice and tone reveal that she could care less about Bob’s experience—even though he claims that Japan not fun, just â€Å"different.† Mrs. Harris’s lack of enthusiasm illustrates a marriage without intimacy. It is a marriage only held together by the devotion to their children. This film portrays very convincingly of the loss of such intimacies. Relationships can blossom so hastily only to fall just as quickly. A once exciting intimacy can degrade into jealousy

Washington Irvings Rip Van Winkle Essay Example for Free

Washington Irvings Rip Van Winkle Essay Irvings Rip Van Winkle shows distinct characteristics of romanticism throughout. Irvings unusual and original subject and the descriptions of nature, displays these romantic qualities of originality, connection with nature and an emotional sincerity. Rip van winkle is about a man who goes deep into the woods one day to go hunting. Rip some one calling his name and is led to strange men. What seemed particularly odd to Rip was, that though these folks were evidently amusing themselves, yet they maintained the gravest faces, the most mysterious silence, and were, withal the most melancholy party of pleasure he had ever witnessed. Rip drinks some ale and falls asleep. He wakes up twenty years later not knowing time has passed by. This strange plotline is very romantic. It would be impossible for someone to fall asleep for twenty years and still be living. It goes against the nature of science. Most of the stories of the time written by men were historical. Although Irvings attempts to make his story seem true by referring to historical documents, it is too strange to be real. Another distinct romantic quality of Rip Van Winkle is the detailed descriptions of nature in the story such as the Catskill mountains and the Hudson river. Panting and fatigued, he threw himself, late in the afternoon, on a green knoll, covered with mountain herbage, that crowned the brow of a precipice. From an opening between the trees he could overlook all the lower country for many a mile of rich woodland. He saw at a distance the lordly Hudson, far, far below him, moving on its silent but majestic course, with the reflection of a purple cloud, or the sail of a lagging bark, here and there sleeping on its glassy bosom, and at last losing itself in the blue highlands. On the other side he looked down into a deep mountain glen, wild, lonely, and shagged, the bottom filled with fragments from the impending cliffs, and scarcely lighted by the reflected rays of the setting sun. For some time Rip lay musing on this scene; evening was gradually advancing; the mountains began to throw their long blue shadows over the valleys; he saw that it would be dark long before he could reach the village Irving uses dreamy words such as majestic and lordly which suggest a presence of God. God created nature and is the cause for the cycle  of it. The magnificent description of the nature is almost like a heaven and with the presence of god, again shows the unusual and strange aspect of romanticism in the story. The tale of Rip Van Winkle is mysterious and leaves the reader wondering if it really happened. As Irvings other stories The Devil and Tom Walker and Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle has an curious plotline and in depth description of nature. It is extremely romantic and one of the first of its kind.

Middle East Paper -- essays research papers

The conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis erupted after the partition made by Great Britain on November 29, 1947. Immediately after the decision to make Israel a separate, independent state, there were massive attacks on both sides. Upon reading the first set of articles, I felt that the Palestine's unnecessarily attacked the Jews and that they deserved the land being given to them. But the first set of articles I read were incredibly biased toward the Jewish perspective and, I think that because of this, I presented a distorted view of the situation. Now that I have read the second packet, I understand that many of the Arabs must have felt helpless about the situation, and even startled by the numerous attacks and massacres by the Israelis. I now believe that the reason that the fighting started was because both sides felt that they had an obligation to uphold their religious beliefs and, also, justification to do what they did. Both the Arabs and the Jews felt that it was their sacred duty to keep or regain their land. The Arabs thought of the partition as an automatic declaration of war against them. Therefore, they thought that they had to counter-attack the Jews in order to keep their land. One of the biggest massacres that the Jews waged on the Arabs was the attack on Deir Yassin on April 9, 1948, when 250 men, women, and children where killed. The first set of articles that we read did not mention anything about the ruthlessness of t...

The Union of American Federation of Labor

Early american workers dealt with many problems. These problems ranged from child labor to unemployment. The workers also tried to set up groups, called unions, that they could call their own. The owners of the companies they worked for could not give the workers what they deserved because of their unions. Many unions also helped shape our modern US history by helping the people come together as a whole. One such union was the American Federation of Labor (A. F. of L. ). The unions of the A. F. of L. laced great emphasis on written collective agreements, including the closed shop, in which only union members are permitted to work. The A. F. of L. unions also insisted that members pay relatively high dues, and many of them established insurance and strike benefits. They became known to be job consciousness rather than class consciousness. The start of the A. F. of L. started with the beliefs of one man. That man was Samuel Gompers. He believed in organizing skilled workers ofd the same craft, build unions of plumbers, or carpenters, or cigar makers. By establishing these unions, a labor movement started to unfold. He split the American unions from the class struggle, and made it a partner to the US and not an enemy as people thought unions were. Gompers made unions respectable to the people. Child Labor The A. F. of L. was a pioneer in restricting child labor. The A. F. of L. would have a law passed by the Congress but the Supreme court would say Congress over stepped its powers. Even though this slowed the progress of child labor laws, it did not stop Gompers from trying to start the laws. The A. F. of L. held a conference in 1922 in which any union who wished to see the abolition of child labor was invited. The council worked for the restriction of child labor by writing an amendment that did not get enough votes to pass. It was not until the 1930†³s that some forms of restriction come about. Unemployment The depression in the 1930†³s gave way to massive unemployment. In 1929, 3. 2% of the workers could not find work. In 1933, it rose to over 24. 9% of the workers not being able to find work. The A. F. of L. ecognized the problem of unemployment even before it became a problem in the 1930†³s. The A. F. of L. had a plan for meeting unemployment: (1) establishment of a national employment service by Congress; (2) census of unemployment to be included in the census to be taken in 1930; and (3) regularization of employment by management to provide stable work. The plan also represented the following program as a means for relieving unemployment: (1) shorter work hours to be introduced in industry, with the five days week and vacations with pay; (2) stabilization of employment. With the effort of the A. F. of L. , unemployment was greatly reduced, but not completely and jobs for workers became easier to attain and keep. Education The A. F. of L. has always supported the education of children and the free public school. They liked the idea of â€Å"enactments that will enforce the education of children. † They supported free textbooks to the school children and the establishment of part time classes for the education of minors who were employed. Federal aid to the A. F of L. eant four items: (1) able to pay the teachers; (2) aid to protect the health of the student; (3) scholarships to help those in need to further education; and (4) support in a school building program. Extra funds would be distributed based on need. In 1920, the Workers† Education Bureau was established with the help of the A. F. of L. The bureau was to promote and assist educational work done by the unions. The bureau became an important and very functional part of the A. F. of L. Merger of AFL and CIO The A. F. of L. and the C. I. O (another strong union) saw that unions would be better able to serve their members and the community if a labor unity was reached. Talks soon started with the help of President Roosevelt but were soon halted by both sides in 1939. Talks did not resume until 1942 where an agreement was negotiated. The agreement was signed by three members of both unions who were put in charge of the agreement. But the major leaders of both unions accused the other of raiding They said that talks could not go farther until they agreed that neither side would raid and the war was over. Year after year, very little progress was made, but enough to keep the talks going. Serious negotiations were not made until 1947. Closer cooperation between both groups slowly began with the help of local groups affiliated with the two unions. In 1954, both sides agreed to the no-raiding policy. The new A. F. L-C. I. O spent time examining their differences standing in the way of finalizing their unity. In 1955, all differences were sorted out and on February 9, the Merger Agreement was signed. On this day, the American Federation of Labor finished its seventy-five years of existence. The Union of American Federation of Labor Early american workers dealt with many problems. These problems ranged from child labor to unemployment. The workers also tried to set up groups, called unions, that they could call their own. The owners of the companies they worked for could not give the workers what they deserved because of their unions. Many unions also helped shape our modern US history by helping the people come together as a whole. One such union was the American Federation of Labor (A. F. of L. ). The unions of the A. F. of L. laced great emphasis on written collective agreements, including the closed shop, in which only union members are permitted to work. The A. F. of L. unions also insisted that members pay relatively high dues, and many of them established insurance and strike benefits. They became known to be job consciousness rather than class consciousness. The start of the A. F. of L. started with the beliefs of one man. That man was Samuel Gompers. He believed in organizing skilled workers ofd the same craft, build unions of plumbers, or carpenters, or cigar makers. By establishing these unions, a labor movement started to unfold. He split the American unions from the class struggle, and made it a partner to the US and not an enemy as people thought unions were. Gompers made unions respectable to the people. Child Labor The A. F. of L. was a pioneer in restricting child labor. The A. F. of L. would have a law passed by the Congress but the Supreme court would say Congress over stepped its powers. Even though this slowed the progress of child labor laws, it did not stop Gompers from trying to start the laws. The A. F. of L. held a conference in 1922 in which any union who wished to see the abolition of child labor was invited. The council worked for the restriction of child labor by writing an amendment that did not get enough votes to pass. It was not until the 1930†³s that some forms of restriction come about. Unemployment The depression in the 1930†³s gave way to massive unemployment. In 1929, 3. 2% of the workers could not find work. In 1933, it rose to over 24. 9% of the workers not being able to find work. The A. F. of L. ecognized the problem of unemployment even before it became a problem in the 1930†³s. The A. F. of L. had a plan for meeting unemployment: (1) establishment of a national employment service by Congress; (2) census of unemployment to be included in the census to be taken in 1930; and (3) regularization of employment by management to provide stable work. The plan also represented the following program as a means for relieving unemployment: (1) shorter work hours to be introduced in industry, with the five days week and vacations with pay; (2) stabilization of employment. With the effort of the A. F. of L. , unemployment was greatly reduced, but not completely and jobs for workers became easier to attain and keep. Education The A. F. of L. has always supported the education of children and the free public school. They liked the idea of â€Å"enactments that will enforce the education of children. † They supported free textbooks to the school children and the establishment of part time classes for the education of minors who were employed. Federal aid to the A. F of L. eant four items: (1) able to pay the teachers; (2) aid to protect the health of the student; (3) scholarships to help those in need to further education; and (4) support in a school building program. Extra funds would be distributed based on need. In 1920, the Workers† Education Bureau was established with the help of the A. F. of L. The bureau was to promote and assist educational work done by the unions. The bureau became an important and very functional part of the A. F. of L. Merger of AFL and CIO The A. F. of L. and the C. I. O (another strong union) saw that unions would be better able to serve their members and the community if a labor unity was reached. Talks soon started with the help of President Roosevelt but were soon halted by both sides in 1939. Talks did not resume until 1942 where an agreement was negotiated. The agreement was signed by three members of both unions who were put in charge of the agreement. But the major leaders of both unions accused the other of raiding They said that talks could not go farther until they agreed that neither side would raid and the war was over. Year after year, very little progress was made, but enough to keep the talks going. Serious negotiations were not made until 1947. Closer cooperation between both groups slowly began with the help of local groups affiliated with the two unions. In 1954, both sides agreed to the no-raiding policy. The new A. F. L-C. I. O spent time examining their differences standing in the way of finalizing their unity. In 1955, all differences were sorted out and on February 9, the Merger Agreement was signed. On this day, the American Federation of Labor finished its seventy-five years of existence.

Government to Limit Use of Cars Essay

Government agencies have been told to stop using official vehicles one day a week based on their license plate numbers, according to a notification for an energy-saving and emission reduction program to be implemented across the country.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨The program, part of government efforts to protect the environment and promote sustainable development during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), was published on the central government’s official website Tuesday.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨According to the program, the measures were specially designed for various fields, such as enterprises and schools.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Some Web users applauded the government’s efforts, while others questioned the feasibility of limiting the use of government vehicles. Lian Peng, a freelance writer, wrote on his Sina Weibo microblog that it was difficult to distinguish private cars from official ones, and the ban would result either in drivers using two license plates, or the government buying more vehicles. †¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨A pilot project for government agencies to use bicycles will be launched. Government workers’ autos were also encouraged to be parked one day a week based on plate numbers.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Niu Fengrui, director of the Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, praised the positive efforts made by the government to reduce emissions. However, such efforts would not have apparent effect, Niu told the Global Times Tuesday.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Niu suggested that the root of the problem was energy supply, and the fundamental approach should be to develop technologies and adopt better equipment to improve efficiency, as well as change lifestyles and production methods.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Zhu Lijia, director of the public research department of the Chinese Academy of Governance, told the Global Times such measures will not actually promote the reform of the official vehicle system, and would not impact the core of the system. Military told to cut emissions The government’s efforts to save energy and reduce harmful emissions have spread to a new front: the country’s military.   The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and armed police should work to build energy-efficient barracks and develop energy-saving models for logistics, consumption and training, said a nationwide emission-reduction plan. â€Å"Efforts to save resources in the military are an important part of the country’s energy-saving and emission-reduction efforts,† the plan said. It lays out that the PLA will scale down administrative expenses, make greater efforts to conserve fuel, procure environmentally friendly products and recycle military uniforms. PLA garrisons will coordinate their use of civilian vehicles with local governments to enhance transportation efficiency. Xinhua Introduction It is possible that no invention has had as profound an effect on society as the passenger automobile. It did not take long after its introduction in the early part of this century for the auto to quickly become the primary means of transportation in the United States, where there are now 752 motor vehicles for every 1,000 people (World Almanac 211). While no other country can match the excessive automobile use of the U.S, it’s not for lack of trying. Even in China, where the use of bicycles by its citizens is legendary, the number of cars has been doubling every five years for the past 30 years (World Resources Institute, hereafter â€Å"WRI† 172). But reliance on cars is not without its problems&emdash;the most obvious being air pollution and energy consumption. Pollution: General Pollution by cars causes lung cancer, respiratory problems, urban smog, and acid rain (Brown 25). By 1970, after decades without government regulation, air quality had become a serious problem. The first federal Clean Air Act was passed during the Nixon Administration to curtail the ever-increasing amount of pollution caused by automobiles and industry, and Congress passed an updated version in 1990 (WRI 182). However, the Clean Air Act didn’t prohibit pollution; it simply defined an â€Å"acceptable† amount. Further, the legislation addressed only certain airborne contaminants, while ignoring others. Perhaps most significantly, although bad air was outlawed, it still exists. More than half of the people in the U.S. live in areas that failed to meet federal air quality standards at least several days a year (30 Simple Energy Things You Can Do to Save the Earth, hereafter â€Å"30 Simple Things,† 11), and around 80 million Americans live in areas that continually fail to meet these standards (WRI 63). Despite the Clean Air Acts, the reality is that air pollution continues to be a major public health problem. As bad as the air is in the U.S., in other countries which have waited too long to address the pollution caused by cars, it’s worse. Mexico City, Sà £o Paulo, New Delhi, and Bangkok are grappling with serious air problems. And much of that pollution is caused by private automobiles (Brown 25). Pollution: Ground-Level Ozone One way cars create pollution is by contributing to the amount of ground-level ozone (not to be confused with the atmospheric ozone layer). In the atmosphere, the ozone layer shields the planet from harmful ultraviolet radiation rays. But on the ground, ozone is another matter, causing hazy smog and respiratory problems. Most ozone pollution is caused by motor vehicles, which account for 72% of nitrogen oxides and 52% of reactive hydrocarbons (principal components of smog) (30 Simple Things 11). The seriousness of ground-level ozone should not be underestimated. According to the World Resources Institute: Ozone pollution has become widespread in cities in Europe, North America, and Japan as auto and industrial emissions have increased. †¦ Breathing ozone concentrations of 0.012 ppm&emdash;levels typical in many cities&emdash;can irritate the respiratory tract and impair lung function, causing coughing, shortness of breath, and chest pain †¦ Evidence also suggests ozone expo sure lowers the body’s defenses, increasing susceptibility to respiratory infections (65). Pollution: Lead Cars also pollute by emitting lead from leaded gasoline. Although the use of lead in gasoline is banned in the United States, leaded gasoline is common in other countries. In fact, of the countries for which data is available, 43% use nothing but leaded gasoline. Many of the rest use at least some leaded gasoline in their energy mix. This is a definite cause for concern: One of the oldest metals used by humans, lead is a cumulative neurotoxin that impairs brain development among children and has been connected to elevated blood pressure and resulting hypertension, heart attacks, and premature death in adults. Emissions from vehicles is the largest source of lead exposure in many urban areas (WRI 266-267). The effects of all this pollution on human health are unsettling. A study of U.S. cities found that mortality rates were 17-26% higher in cities with the dirtiest air compared to those with the cleanest air. Not surprisingly, the study also found correlations between bad air and lung cancer and cardiopulmonary disease. The risks translate roughly to a two-year shorter life span for residents of dirty-air cities. On a global basis, estimates of mortality due to outdoor air pollution range from about 0.4-1.1% of total annual deaths (WRI 63-64). In the U.S., 30,000 people die every year from automobile emissions (â€Å"Bicycling and Our Environment† 1). [Also see our separate page on lead.] Pollution: Global Warming Perhaps even scarier than the direct damage to our bodies from auto pollution is the fact that car emissions are contributing to an overall warming of the entire planet, which could destroy the world’s food chain. Cars emit carbon dioxide (CO2), a heat-trapping gas. In fact, they emit a lot of it: 20 pounds per gallon of gas burned (NRDC 12, Zuckermann 29). Atmospheric concentrations of CO2 have increased by 30% since preindustrial times, and much of that increase is directly related to the burning of fossil fuels. According to the Worldwatch Institute: â€Å"CO2 levels are now at their highest point in 160,000 years, and global temperatures at their highest since the Middle Ages† (Brown 26). The effects of this global warming are frightening: rising sea levels, dying coral reefs, spreading of infectious diseases, and extreme weather conditions, including droughts, rare forest fires, historic floods, and severe storms. Even more frightening, these events are not just pr edictions&emdash;they’re happening right now (Brown 26). Energy Use The amount of energy used by automobiles is staggering. Transportation of all types accounts for more than 25% of the world’s commercial energy use, and motor vehicles account for nearly 80% of that (WRI 171). In numerical terms, the figures are hard to comprehend. The world used over a trillion liters of motor gas in 1995. And the U.S. accounted for 46% of that total (WRI 266-267). In fact, America’s gasoline consumption easily outstrips its production. The U.S. currently imports over half its oil (52%) even more than it did before the oil crises of 1973 and 1979. This dependence on foreign oil has significant economic consequences, and many observers feel that protecting â€Å"our† right to oil was the real reason for the U.S./Iraq war of 1991. Americans use large amounts of gasoline not just because they drive so much, but also because they’re extremely wasteful about how they drive. The NRDC notes: â€Å"Most cars on the road carry only one person. In fact, we have so much extra room in our 140 million cars that everyone in Western Europe could fit in them with us.† If every commuter car in the U.S. carried just one more person, we’d save eight billion gallons of gas a year. The one-person-per-car scenario also greatly contributes to traffic congestion, which in turn wastes even more energy&emdash;about three billion gallons of gas a year (30 Simple Things 52-53). But changing Americans’ habits doesn’t seem likely any time soon, as the failure of â€Å"High-Occupancy Vehicle† (HOV) lanes makes clear. To encourage commuters to carpool, some communities have designated one lane of traffic on certain roadways as HOV lanes. Commuters can drive in this lane only if there are at least two people in the vehicle. The reasoning is that commuters will want to carpool so they can ride in the uncongested HOV lane rather than being stuck in traffic in the normal lane when riding by themselves. But as Michael Bluejay points out, these lanes don’t always succeed in encouraging carpooling. A friend and I recently had occasion to drive through Dallas during rush hour, and I had my first opportunity to see how an HOV lane worked. Basically, it didn’t. We passed hundreds and hundreds of single-occupant cars in the regular traffic lanes as we zoomed by in the practically-empty HOV lane. It struck me as really crazy: Whenever I try to encourage people to ride bikes more and drive less, they always whine to me about how ‘convenient’ it is to drive. Well, exactly how ‘convenient’ is it to sit in your car at a complete standstill, adding 30-60 minutes to your morning commute? That’s convenience?! The experience demonstrated to me how far people were willing to go to avoid carpooling. They were willing to sit there like morons, stuck hopelessly in traffic, for the ‘luxury’ of being the only person in their vehicle. Although I was disappointed that the HOV lanes didn’t seem to work, I was at least pleased to realize that all those greedy motorists were being punished with even more traffic congestion, since the HOV lane meant that there was one fewer lane to move all those cars. Summary Automobiles are responsible for a tremendous amount of air pollution and wasted energy. These problems impact people all over the world, both motorists and non-motorists alike, by affecting their health, their economies, and their communities. Legislation to address air pollution has been only partially successful, and air quality continues to be a major concern in countries all over the world. As for energy use, one can only hope that world leaders find a better way to address this problem than fighting wars over an increasingly shrinking supply of oil. More stats are available in our Car Almanac. Works Cited â€Å"Bicycling and Our Environment.† Austin Cycling News. Aug. 1998: 1. Bluejay, Michael. â€Å"HOV Lanes.† Bicycling in Austin. Feb. 1998. 22 June 1999. http://BicycleAustin.info Brown, Lester R., et al. State of the World: A Worldwatch Institue Report on Progress Towards a Sustainable Future. New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1999. 30 Simple Energy Things You Can Do to Save the Earth. Los Angeles: South California Edison, 1990. World Almanac and Book of Facts. 1996 Mahwah, NJ: World Almanac Books, 1995. World Resources Institute. 1998-99 World Resources: A Guide to the Global Environment. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Zuckermann, Wolgang. End of the Road. Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 1991. Car Pollution Statistics Driving cars effects more than air quality. Car pollution statistics point to ground pollution, resource reduction (mining and petroleum products), and health issues as other problems derived from out motorized society. Air quality is an important reason to pay attention to car pollution, but there are other reasons too.| Car pollution is considered by most people to be a decreasing problem, but it’s actually increasing, due to the large number of cars that are driven each day. Measures are being taken to reduce air pollution, including the manufacture of hybrid cars, the creation of new environmentally friendly fuels, and more, but those measures don’t touch all of the car pollution issues. Learning about car pollution statistics can open your eyes to the myriad problems. If you realize the importance of making changes in your life and car driving habits, then you can make changes to help decrease the amount of car pollution that you release into the air. * FTIR Gas AnalyzerGas purity and emissions monitoring by MKS Instruments On-Line Analyzer†¨www.ccrprocessproducts.com/FTIR†¨ * Car pollution statistics can give you the knowledge that you need to compel you to make changes in your life to lessen your impact upon the environment. Here are a few car pollution statistics that you need to be learn about and be aware of: * SUV’s release up to forty-seven percent more car pollution than the average-sized car. * The amount of car pollution that is released from cars is much more than the amount of pollution released by a nuclear power plant. * Ozone pollution is primarily due to the pollution that is released by cars. Seventy-two percent of nitrogen oxides and fifty-two percent of hydrocarbons, which is a component of smog, are released by cars. * The Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health published a study that suggested that most childhood cancers are caused by air pollution, which can be caused by cars and more. * There are 752 cars for every 1,000 people in the United States. * In China, the number of cars that are driven has doubled every five years for the past thirty years. * Thirty-thousand people in the United States each year die from conditions that are caused or exacerbated by car pollution. * Half of the people in the United States live in areas that fail to meet federal air quality standards at least several days a year. * Eighty million people live in areas that are continually not living up to these standards. * SUV’s release 28-gallons of carbon dioxide into the air for every gallon of gasoline that is used. * Car pollution has numerous effects, both physically and environmentally, like acid rain, smog, lung cancer, and respiratory problems. As you can see from the above car pollution statistics, cars have a huge impact upon the health of the citizens, the air, and the environment. That is why it is so important that we find ways to make changes in our lives to help decrease the amount of pollution that we release by driving our car. By using alternative fuels, considering hybrid cars, driving less, and more, you can help make your impact upon the world a little less harsh. Consider these car pollution statistics the next time that you get into your car. You may find that your trip is not as important as you think. Energy Consumption and the Environment Impacts and Options for Personal Transportation (Revised 2-4-96) In 1973, petroleum shortages caused by the OPEC oil embargo launched the world’s industrialized nations on a search for more efficient homes, factories, and transportation systems. After two decades of attempts to economize, energy use in the residential sector is about the same, industrial energy use is down, and transportation energy use is up. Today, we are more concerned with the other side of the coin – the environmental problems and long-term economic perils of unbridled energy consumption.Trends in Transportation Energy Consumption:Transportation now consumes more than 20% of the world’s total primary energy and produces much of the world’s air pollution. In just 30 years, the number of cars in the world will soar from today’s 400 million or so, to more than one billion. Private transportation will then need 2-1/2 times more energy and produce 2-1/2 times more air pollution. If global trends are projected to year 2100, the world will need 10 times more total energy, and transportation will consume 40% of this much larger pool.(1)Energy Use, Global Warming, and Climatic Changes:Energy use and emissions trends point to significant economic, political, and social problems for future generations. The greenhouse effect alone could have devastating effects on economies. Without intervention, the buildup of greenhouse gases could reach twice the pre-industrial level as early as 2030. The resulting global warming effect could raise sea levels enough to threaten wetlands, increase coastal flooding, and accelerate coastal erosion. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated that sea levels will rise an average of 6 to 20 inches by 2050. In addition, many unmanaged ecosystems will probably be lost. Changes in rainfall patterns will likely result in more severe droughts, more intense tropical storms, and ultimately, dislocations and reductions in agricultural output. (Despite the increased crop yield associated with higher carbon dioxide levels, the resulting climatic changes are expected to shift agricultural production to regions having less productive topsoil, which would then result in diminished total yields.)About 75% of human emissions of carbon dioxide, the most important man-made greenhouse gas, is caused by the use of fossil fuels. Fossil fuel use has caused an imbalance in the earth’s normal carbon cycle. Normally, biologic growth absorbs carbon from the environment and then releases it back into the environment when it decays or is burned. New growth then absorbs the carbon again, and the amount of carbon in the environment remains roughly the same. Since the last ice age, the level of carbon in the atmosphere (in the form of carbon dioxide) has varied only about 5%. However, fossil fuel use has upset the balance.Over the earth’s history, large amounts of carbon had been removed from the environment and become locked away beneath the surface where it was ultimately transformed into fossil fuel deposits. Since the industrial revolution, humankind has been removing these deposits, burning the fuel, and releasing the carbon into the atmosphere. The result is a rapid buildup of atmospheric carbon dioxide that is unprecedented in the history of human life on earth. No one knows the precise effects, b ut for better or for worse, average temperatures will increase and global weather patterns will change. Limited Supplies of Traditional and Inexpensive Energy:Nearly 40% of the world’s energy now comes from petroleum, and another 21% comes from natural gas.(2) Together, these finite natural resources supply about 60% of the world’s energy. If oil and natural gas consumption continued to double every 15 to 20 years as it had for the 100 years preceding 1973, the earth’s entire original endowment of these resources would be 80% depleted in another 30 years or so. As early as 1970, new oil and gas discoveries had dramatically declined and have remained low. In the ’80s, experts estimated that U.S. reserves would last about 35 years at existing pumping rates. More recently, estimates have been revised downward. Considering known reserves and estimated undiscovered deposits, U.S. oil will be depleted in about 10-12 years at present pumping rates. And new finds will make little difference on a worldwide scale. A new Prudhoe Bay discovery would provide the world with about six months’ oil supply, and a new North Sea find would equate to about three years’ supply.(3)Each year, the demand for oil is increasing by an amount equal to Kuwait’s entire annual production, and for the first time, OPEC has no substantial excess production capacity. Because of declining and more costly-to-recover petroleum reserves, prices are expected to begin rising in the mid to late ’90s, and continue to rise thereafter.(4)Alternative Fuels:The challenge of alternative fuels is primarily an economic one. Although the volumetric cost of methanol (made from natural gas) and ethanol (made from corn) is on par with gasoline, a car running on ethanol consumes 50 percent more fuel and an ethanol car consumes about twice the fuel per mile traveled, in comparison to a car running on gasoline. Consequently, per-mile fuel costs are greater. Natural gas is less costly on a per-mile basis than toda y’s gasoline, but supplies are finite and the high cost of natural gas vehicle systems generally offset the lower cost of the fuel itself. Although environmentally friendly, hydrogen is both technically and economically challenging due to its high production costs and the difficulty of storing hydrogen on-board vehicles. Alternative fuels do not save primary energy, but they are cleaner than gasoline. Carbon dioxide levels remain essentially unchanged when alcohol fuels are made from renewable biological feedstocks.Renewable Fuels:Renewable biomass fuels, such as ethanol and methanol, may become economically competitive with petroleum motor fuels by year 2000. But much remains uncertain about the world’s capacity to produce biomass in quantities sufficient to meet future energy needs. Already, about half the world’s solar energy captured by photosynthesis is used by humans, primarily for food and forest products. Total primary energy use in the U.S. amounts to about 31 times more energy than is harvested as crops and forest products, and about 40% more energy than is captured by all forms of U.S. vegetation, combined. Considering all agricultural crops, forests, lawns, gardens and wild vegetation, the energy contained in annual U.S. vegetation growth totals about 54 quads (quadrillion BTUs), and in year 1990 total U.S. primary energy consumption amounted to approximately 81 quads.Because of limitations in water supplies, nutrients, and arable lands, the amount of energy obtainable from the world’s agricultural resources is limited. Even in the U.S., which has more arable land per capita than any other nation on earth, it may be infeasible to produce biomass fuels in quantities sufficient for the nation’s energy needs. According to Dr. David Pimentel, Cornell University, the U.S. has the agricultural capacity to support a population of about 200 million on biomass energy – only if per capita energy consumption were reduced to half its present level. Worldwide, the ability of the ecosystem to sustain a population at an equivalent of U.S. consumption in the ’90’s is probably limited to about two billion people, or one-third of the existing population.(5) Unfortunately, U.S. population is expected to reach 500 million in 60 years, and worldwide population will reach 12-15 billion near the end of the 21st century. Economic Implications:The world is entering a period of escalating consumption, declining reserves of traditional energy feedstocks, higher energy costs, and increasing environmental stress, which could have vast economic, political, and social ramifications. As environmental limitations are approached, ecosystems become more unstable. In the future, ecosystem management and environmental maintenance will become more the responsibility of humans rather than nature. The economic impact of higher energy costs will be compounded as the cost of environmental protection and repair is included in the fundamentally higher cost of energy. As a result, varying degrees of negative economic effects are likely.Ultimately, a fundamental restructuring of the way in which energy is produced and consumed, as well as its value and role in the economy, must occur, regardless of the particular energy technology. Reducing the energy intensity of industrialized societies is the most environmentally sound and least economically harmful strategy. Energy use must be constrained if the interrelated problems of energy supplies, environmental degradation, and economic well-being are to be solved.Transportation’s Role:Transportation is essential to modern economies, and that sector is almost totally dependent on oil as a source of energy. The ability to freely and inexpensively move goods and people is a fundamental link in the economic chain. Today, large changes in the price or supply of oil send shock waves rolling through the world’s financial institutions. Transportation is the most rapidly growing consumer of the world’s energy, and the largest share of transportation’s energy goes to passenger travel. In developed countries, passenger travel accounts for about 70% of the total energy consumed by transportation.The Automobile’s Impact on Transportation Energy Consumption:The automobile is responsible for nearly 90% of the energy consumed for travel in the U.S., about 80% in Western Europe, and nearly 60% in Japan.(6) Today, there are approximately 400 million cars in the world, and sometime around year 2030 the world’s automobile population will surpass one billion. If driving habits remain unchanged, cars will have to become nearly three times more energy-efficient by 2030 just to maintain that sector’s present consumption. If energy use trends are projected to year 2100, transportation would then have to be twenty times more energy-efficient, which roughly equates to 400 mpg cars (automobile fleet-average fuel economy is now about 20 mpg).Cars in the U.S. have become more energy-efficient over the past two decades, but other developed countries are losing ground and actually consuming more fuel per passenger mile traveled.(7) Europeans are turning more to private cars, and as a result transportation trends and energy use patterns are converging with those of the U.S. But the greatest increase in transportation energy consumption will occur in the developing world. By year 2010, India is expected to have 36 times more cars than in 1990. China will have 91 times more cars, Mexico will have 2-1/2 times more cars, and Eastern Europe and the countries of the former U.S.S.R. will probably double their automobile population. The rest of the developing world will experience a 300% increase over the same period. In comparison, the number of cars in the U.S., Canada, Western Europe, and Japan will have grown by only 12%-15%.(8)The Automobile’s Role in Atmospheric Pollution:In a typical U.S. city, motor vehicle emissions account for 30%-50% of hydrocarbon, 80%-90% of carbon monoxide, and 40%-60% of nitrogen oxide emissions. Cars and light trucks are responsible for about 20% of the nation’s carbon dioxide, which is a powerful greenhouse gas. Motor vehicle carbon emissions are essentially proportional to total fuel consumed.(9) Unfortunately, in the coming decades the greatest growth in the automobile population will occur in developing countries which can least afford clean technologies. The United Nations Fund for Population Activities estimates that, because of rapidly increasing automobile populations, developing countries will be emitting 16.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually by year 2025, or about four times as much as developed nations. Problems Are Interdependent:Transportation energy consumption and environmental health are interrelated issues. Relieving the demand side of the equation simultaneously relieves the rest. If vehicle fuel economy were doubled, for example, transportation emissions would be essentially cut in half, even if there were no improvement in emission control technologies. If petroleum consumption were cut in half, reserves would be effectively doubled, even though no new deposits had been discovered. With a doubling of vehicle fuel economy, the same number of vehicle miles could be supported on half the investment in exploratory drilling, half the recovery, refining, and delivery expenses, and half the damage to the environment. The same interrelationships would exist with alternative energy sources, regardless of the particular technology.Although each problem, from emissions and resource burdens to economic factors, may yield to their own targeted efforts, alleviating the fundamental proble m simultaneously reduces the entire spectrum of associated difficulties. The Automobile as a Transportation System:Mass transit is often mentioned as an alternative to private cars, but the most effective mass transit system in the world is the automobile. An automobile transportation system provides schedules and routes that are tailored to individual needs. In addition, users individually purchase, maintain, and fuel the transportation device, and only the relatively inexpensive roadways require public funding.The primary tradeoffs for this otherwise ideal system are high energy intensity and high emissions.(10) However, if the automobile is to survive as an economically sound and viable transportation system its energy consumption and harmful emissions must be reduced.The Potential Impact of New Technologies:Today, automobiles operate at approximately 15% efficiency, which means that about 15% of the energy contained in the fuel is delivered to the drive wheels as useful work. According to the best estimates, it may be possible to double automobile energy efficiency (using conventional powertrains) to about 30% before we run out of ideas. At 30% powertrain efficiency a 20- to 25-mpg sedan would then achieve fuel economy of 40 to 50 mpg. Advanced power systems and reduced vehicle roadloads are necessary in order to make significant gains in automobile energy intensity.Electric cars produce significantly fewer harmful emissions, and they save about 10% to 30% in primary energy (over the entire energy chain). Advanced fuel cell vehicles using methanol reformed on-board into hydrogen may be as much as 2-1/2 times more efficient than today’s cars. Practical automobile fuel cells, however, present enormous economic and technical challenges.In the final analysis, technology alone may not be able to solve the world’s energy problems: partly because of the limitations of technology, but primarily because of the economic realities of alternative energy systems. And even the most optimistic estimations of the energy savings obtainable with advanced-technology systems still fall short of accommodating the long-term forecasts of transportation’s energy needs.A reduction in personal transportation energy intensity is essential in order to reduce the economic impact and technical hurdles of new energy systems and more costly energy supplies. Energy conservation is the most economically sound and environmentally friendly option.Factors That Affect Personal-Transportation Energy Consumption:Transportation energy consumption depends on the mass being transported and the distance it is transported. The technologies employed determine the efficiency at which the mass is transported. Consequently, energy consumption can be reduced by developing more efficient transportation technologies, or by reducing the transported mass and/or the distance traveled.The factors of distance and mass are determined largely by social and economic structures, and by vehicle layout and configuration. In order to reduce the distance and mass factors, Paulo Solaria envisions self-sufficient cities like Arcosanti in Arizona in which automobiles are no longer needed. Telecommuting, or working at home and transferring information, rather than people, is another approach designed to reduce overall distance and mass.With revised architectures, and new business and social structures, it is possible to significantly reduce society’s transportation energy needs. The difficulties of such revisions arise from the economic burdens of restructuring cities, and the psychological resistance to large scale changes in social and business structures. The technologies, however, are largely available or just on the horizon.Reducing the transported mass, independently of the distance traveled, can also fundamentally reduce transportation’s energy requirements. Moreover, mass reduction need not affect travel habits, social and business structures, or the architecture of cities. The opport unity for a large reduction in mass becomes apparent when one considers that the vehicle itself is responsible for approximately 92% of the transported mass, while the occupants account for only 8%.(11) Most of the automobile’s energy is consumed to transport itself. Mass reduction alone can save more energy than the most advanced powertrain concepts.Matching Vehicle Size to Trip Requirements:From the traditional perspective, the â€Å"identified problem† contributing to the automobile’s high energy intensity is low vehicle occupancy. Transportation energy intensity is a measure of the energy consumed per passenger mile traveled. When a vehicle is lightly loaded, energy intensity goes up because the vehicle consumes about the same amount of energy (fuel), regardless of the number of occupants. Operating large, multi-passenger cars with only one or two occupants is therefore considered the most wasteful habit affecting the world’s consumption of transportation energy.Worldwide, automobiles operate, on average, with about 1.6 to 1.8 occupants. In the U.S., approximately 87% of all automobile trips occur with two or fewer occupants. The average for work related trips is 1.1 occupants per vehicle. One- and two-occupant trips acco unt for approximately 83% of all vehicle miles traveled in the U.S.(12)If the same number of travelers were condensed into half the cars (car pooling), total automobile energy consumption would be reduced by half. But condensing occupants into fewer vehicles essentially defeats the automobile’s primary benefit. Trips must then accommodate the needs of other occupants, and the automobile is no longer a private and personal means of transportation.Traditionally, occupancy-rate is considered a behavioral by-product and therefore outside the bounds of vehicle technology. However, if the â€Å"identified problem† were redefined, it can easily become a simple technical problem. If the definition were â€Å"inappropriate vehicle size† (rather than underutilization of large cars), the solution would then be to resize vehicles so they more closely match trip requirements. Since one- and two-occupant trips predominate, it naturally follows that a category of smaller vehicles designed for one- and two-occupant local and commuting trips would be beneficial.Low-Mass Vehicle Safety:Small, lightweight cars are normally associated with an increased risk of harm. Traffic accident statistics generally support the relationship between vehicle size and injury/fatality rates, with the potential fo r harm increasing in proportion to the decrease in vehicle size. (The exception is in Japan, where a special category of lightweight â€Å"kei† cars actually have a lower fatality rate than conventional large cars.) But with better vehicle designs, historical data can quickly become outmoded. Cars built today are four times safer than vehicles built in 1969, and they are approximately 10% smaller and 20% lighter. This is due primarily to improved safety engineering and modern safety systems.Although occupant protection becomes more challenging as vehicle size is reduced, it is technically feasible to produce significantly smaller and lighter vehicles that have a high degree of safety. Advanced â€Å"hard shell† concepts designed to increase low-mass vehicle safety are already under development in Switzerland. This new approach utilizes a rigid exterior that is largely identical to the rigid passenger compartment of conventional cars. During a collision, the rigid exterior of the smaller car causes the less rigid deformation zone of the larger car to yield and absorb energy. Passenger ride-down space (for deceleration) in the low-mass car is provided inside the vehicle, rather than by the traditional exterior deformation zone. Occupant deceleration is controlled by elastic restraints and air bags. (13)Vehicle use patterns and operating environment are also important. Cars that operate primarily in the urban environment do not necessarily have to match the crashworthiness of larger cars in order to provide equally safe transportation.New Products and New Market Appeals – The Giant Oil Well Under Detroit:Market positioning, the implied messages in a product’s theme and advertising appeals, can capitalize on today’s environmental and energy concerns, and ultimately have a powerful effect on energy consumption and pollution. The necessary consumer motivations and interests already exist. A shift in thinking that disengages manufacturers and consumers alike from the association of size and mass in relation to value in automobile design is an essential part of reducing transportation’s energy consumption.Significantly smaller and lighter cars, both electric and conventionally powered, are normally envisioned as cheap, underpowered, and unsafe vehicles that have little appeal. Once this premise is accepted, vehicle attributes consistent with the vision naturally emerge and an outline of market potential, profitability, and even vehicle styling and safety then follows suit according to the core idea. These details can quickly change when the vehicle and the market are seen from a different perspective.By adopting a new perspective on automobile design, new marketing opportunities and new product ideas can begin to take shape. By emphasizing innovative safety features, visually impressive driver information systems, advanced vehicle control and crash avoidance systems, and attractive vehicle layouts and styling, smaller urban cars and commuter cars can emerge as safe, marketable, and even superior, transportation products. Innovative product packaging and marketing appeals are essential for a successful transition to electric urban cars and fuel-efficient commuter cars.Despite today’s â€Å"green† orientation, sacrifice and conservation are not especially marketable attributes. New vehicle types must satisfy consumers’ complex psychological needs while appealing to their broad social concerns. Energy conservation and environmental protection must be positioned as an upscale product attribute, rather than as a necessary sacrifice in the name of economic and environmental health. Energy conservation and emissions reduction are not primary consumer benefits. When manufacturers address environmental concerns with attractive new vehicle themes that satisfy consumers’ psychological needs, a marketable new category of products will have emerged, and passenger-travel energy consumption could be reduced by nearly two-thirds.A Sustainable Paradigm for a Fully Industrialized World:Alternative cars alone will not create a system for long-term sustainability with the expected populations. Although transportation will be tomorrow’s largest single energy consumer (as much as 40% in the long term), combined industrial and residential needs will account for a larger portion of society’s total energy needs.Future generations will probably have to adapt to more expensive energy, and use the world’s resources more prudently. This does not necessarily point to a world of stifling scarcity, but more to a new sense of responsibility, and a new paradigm for product design and the lifestyles that interrelate to form the overall production/consumption/pollution matrix. Changes in attitudes and behavior patterns can have an enormous impact on the cost to the ecosystem in resources and pollution. Population control and new business and social structures are essential; and new technologies are needed as well.Today’s developed economies, which account for only one-fourth of the world’s inhabitants, have been fortunate to have abundant and cheap fossil energy supplies to fuel their transition into an industrialized world. In a sense, today’s developed societies are similar to yesterday’s pioneers, blazing the technology trail to a new frontier of sufficiency and sustainablity for the world’s future community of developed nations. Abundant and clean energy from nuclear fusion, along with fuel cell cars and rapid-recharging, extended-range, battery-electric cars, are probably the best hopes for meeting long-term transportation and energy needs. And new frontiers must be pioneered in attitudes and values, which ultimately convert to resource consumption and environmental degradation as they guide behavior. Just as alternative cars do not necessarily imply dull product design or reduced transportation quality, new values and social structures do not necessarily imply compromised lifestyles.