Decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide Lab Essay

In conclusion it was found that the activation energy of the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide with the help of the catalyst KI is . When compared to an actual value there was a percent difference of 43%. In fact the actual value that was used is the activation energy of hydrogen peroxide in the absence of a catalyst. So in reality it is likely that a catalyst would cause the activation energy to be even smaller, and the percent difference would be even greater. The only reasonable explanation as to why the calculated activation energy is so much greater is that somewhere during the experiment a random error occurred but since only two trials were done, it is impossible to pinpoint where it exactly occurred. When looking at graphs 1-4 it can be seen that as time went on the pressure increased exponentially. This makes sense because over time the amount of gas increased, and so the pressure would increase too. In addition in graphs 1-4, if a curved line of best fit were to be plotted, than the y-intercept would show the pressure of the room at the moment the experiment was conducted. There were quite a few weaknesses and limitations in this lab. The biggest weakness in this lab was probably the fact that the experiment was conducted at only two different temperatures. This in turn only allowed for two points to be graphed on graph 5 (ln K vs 1/T). Having only two points on a graph is very inaccurate and imprecise. This is because if for some reason a random error occurred during the procedure, than it would be impossible to tell, as there are no other points to compare with. Two trials are not sufficient enough to collect results from; a minimum of five trials should have been done at different temperature increments. Another limitation was the fact that the two different temperatures only had a difference of 10. As seen on graph 5, the slight change in temperature caused the slope to be extremely steep. A weakness in the lab was the fact that the lab was conducted over a period of two days. This in turn caused the temperatures to be different for part two and part three of the experiment when the temperature should have been kept the same. This is seen in the results, during part two the temperature of the water bath was 21.5 and the initial rate was 0.062kPa/s. But since the rate order of was determined to be one, if the molarity of the were to be halved, and the molarity of the catalyst KI were to be doubled, than ideally the initial rate should have remained the same. But it didn’t, since part three was conducted at a different day, the temperature of the water bath that day was 22.7 and that slight change in temperature is what caused the initial rate to increase to 0.076kPa/s. Lastly, when the test tube was put in the water bath, the temperature of the water bath was constantly changing because the temperature of the water was relatively lower than the room temperature. This in turn is what caused fluctuation in the temperature readings. This in turn could have also caused the initial rate to vary because as discussed earlier, even the slightest change in temperature causes the initial rate to change. This experiment can be improved in many ways. One of the main things that can be done is that the experiment should be conducted at different temperatures so that at least a minimum of 5 k values against 1/T can be plotted on graph 5. In addition, the temperature increments should have a relatively broad range, which in turn will make the data and the trends clearer. In addition, the experiment should be conducted on the same day so as the temperature can be kept constant for certain k values. In order to keep the temperature of the water bath constant, the experiment should be conducted in a closed environment so that less energy is lost to the environment. Works Cited â€Å"The Catalytic Decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide.† Purdue University College of Science Welcome. Web. 12 Oct. 2009. .

Grapes of Wrath (Sin&Virtue) Essay

Through out John Steinbeck’s controversial novel, The Grapes of Wrath, the protagonist are faced with a daunting idea; that there is no ‘good’ and ‘bad’ forces in the world. Grapes of Wrath was published in an era filled with discrimination, hate, and fear directed at the fleeing â€Å"Okies†; in the early 1930’s the midwestern states where decimated by a foreseen but still devastating Dust Bowl. The reader joins the main characters, the Joad family, as they travel across the country hoping for work in a foreign state; California. Through out their trip they seem to come to believe that â€Å"there ain’t no sin and there ain’t no virtue† just people doing what people do. Yet the more they seem to believe this, the more the reader begins to see that there is in-fact a drastic flaw in their ideology. People do do horrible and good things, but those are what prove that Sin and Virtue do exist. The Joad family are, as a whole, virtuous. Although they sin frequently in during the course of the novel, they are not unscrupulous people. They prove throughout the novel that you can still be virtuous and be a sinner, that these two things do exist. When Tom Joad attacks a man for killing Jim Casey he â€Å"bust[s] his head†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (pg. 532), and although his action of killing the man may not be virtuous, the fact that he was trying to defend a friend was. Another character that is virtuous, although he doesn’t believe in virtue or sin, is Jim Casey. He takes the blame when a man talks back to a police officer, in order to save the Joads when Tom helps the man. (p.g. 362) And for all that virtue the reader witnesses by the dirty, dubiousâ€Å"Okies†, sin is still seen in the good upstanding citizens of this novel. Steinbeck portrays the Migrant farmers as a bath of misunderstood wanderers, while describing the local citizens as hostile assailants. The police always seem to be out to get the farmers, and the the average man and woman turn their back’s on their struggles. Strikes are constantly being broken that could help the farmers survive, and the lack of support migrants receive in this time period cripple any chance the â€Å"Okies† have at feeding their families and surviving their ordeal. At government run camps, created to help the abused farmers, local towns try to destroy the camps that they believe are killing their livelihood. Most people sin in this book simply by the way the treat the non-natives, ignoring their fellow man in their time of need. And while men like the kind truck driver, buying candy for poor children, can be found they are extremely rare. The idea that sin and virtue don’t exist is truly ridiculous. Both can be found in every aspect of life, and are deeply rooted in the core of this book. John Steinbeck uses the characters arguments of the lack of theses things to expose the truth. That all actions are based from sin and virtue.

Cycles and patterns in the biosphere Research Paper

Cycles and patterns in the biosphere - Research Paper Example The biosphere provides a room where a cycle of biological process like decomposition, nitrogen fixing, photosynthesis of plants and respiration takes place. The ingredients also cycle in a way that they the biosphere allows the living things to take and also return them to the other spheres in a pragmatic way ( Smil &Vaclav 23-58). There are several factors that determine the biosphere which include; water, shelter, light and nutrients. Climatic conditions that vary from different places on the earth also influence the biosphere in a big way. These factors influence the cycles that take place upon the earth like the oxygen cycle, nitrogen cycle, geochemical cycles, biochemical cycle and the photosynthesis process. These processes ensure there is life on earth, for instance, when plants release the oxygen and the animals breathe in oxygen and release back the carbon dioxide that is used for photosynthesis. As a result of the biosphere cycles and process, the earth has not been altered and therefore provide a friendly environment for all living things ( Jorgensen, Sven and Brian 3-20). Oxygen Cycle Its the biochemical process that shows the movement of oxygen from the atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere which is done through the process of photosynthesis ( Alcamo & I E 234-260). As the hydrologic cycle enables movement of water from the sky down to the earth, oxygen also is cycled in a certain pattern in the environment. In the process of photosynthesis, plants use the sunlight energy to convert carbon dioxide, then water into carbohydrates and oxygen. Plants play integral key role in the oxygen cycle because they breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen; photosynthesis includes plants that grow in the land areas as well as the water and oceans. There is also a small percentage of oxygen that is produced from photolysis when energy through radiation breaks down the water in the atmosphere and nitrogen oxide into atomic elements, including more compone nts hence leaving some oxygen in the air. Animals breathe in the oxygen produced from the plants in the process of photosynthesis and breath out carbon dioxide through the process of respiration. The carbon dioxide breathed out by animals is therefore released into the atmosphere hence forming the continuous cycle of oxygen. In the process, plants during the day, they use the oxygen to break down the carbohydrates; same as the animals break down the carbohydrates during respiration. For the rate of metabolism to be maintained, plants do absorb oxygen from the air and give carbon dioxide to the air like the animals do. Plants produce a lot of oxygen during the day as compared to the night because of availability of sunlight, although in times whereby plants consume a lot of oxygen during the night, can lead to low oxygen levels in marine areas. Carbon dioxide is also released into the atmosphere when organism decay and bacteria consume oxygen through decay mechanism and process. The cycling process of oxygen also takes a place between the biosphere and lithosphere when the marine biosphere creates calcium carbonate element that contains oxygen. As ( Harman& Rebecca 50-100) points out, the biosphere extracts nutrients from the rock elements which enables a release of oxygen into the atmosphere and that the ozone layer has been created in the stratosphere due to the oxygen that is

The Concept of Branding in Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Concept of Branding in Marketing - Essay Example The activities they perform in the process of making themselves and their products known are referred to as branding (Hawkins & Coney 2004, 21). Overall, branding is defined as the processes and activities done by a business in the development of a unique image or name for their products and services. Branding is an important process that ensures company products and services stick in the minds of consumers to influence their purchase decisions and preference for company goods and services in place of those of their rivals (Belk 2010, 67). The process of branding in businesses focuses on the establishment of an imperative and differentiated physical and mental presence in the particular market in order to attract and sustain the loyalty of their customers (Hartmann & Apaolaza, 2007, 65).It is important to note that in as much as marketers in business organizations do their best in the production of brands with positive image for their institutions, they often do not decide on the ult imate meaning to the branding itself. In this case, it is imperative to note that the process of branding is not about getting your preferred and target audience to choose your products over those of your rivals; instead, it is about making them see what you can provide as a solution to their various needs. A good branding process in business and its products has to fulfill a number of key goals and objectives.  

Expansion and Mergers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Expansion and Mergers - Essay Example 356). In this regard, a natural monopoly may have adverse effects on the market economy once organizations engage in anticompetitive practices aimed at locking out their competitors out of business. In addition, the monopoly may engage in other practices like fixing prices of goods, which is not the ideal situation in a free market. On the contrary, government regulation is crucial in dealing with excessive competition practices in the market economy (Carroll & Buccholt, 2011, p. 358). In this case, firms will engage in setting prices below unprofitable levels forcing some firms out of business while the remaining firms will raise their prices resulting to products that are too expensive for the consumers. Government regulation is important in controlling negative externalities in a market economy (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2011, p. 357). By definition, Hackette and Moore (2011) defined â€Å"a negative externality as an uncompensated harm to others in a society that is generated as a by -product of production and exchange† (p. 61). It is evident that production of good has many by-products with some being harmful while the manufacturer does not pay for the harm caused. In effect, the manufacturer produces more products and earns more profits without catering for the harmful effects of the by-products. In this case, governments will always regulate such industries in order to ensure businesses do not risk the lives of others while making more profits. Rationale for the Government Intervention in the US Market Process As earlier indicated, governments regulate businesses to ensure that there was no market dominance by a monopoly. According to Geroski and Jacquemin (1985), dominance of a business firm goes hand-in-hand with the ability of the firm to exploit a strategic advantage to gain a large share of the market at the expense of its business rivals (as cited in George & Jacquemin, 1992, p. 150). In this regard, it is possible for business firms to use antico mpetitive strategies and try to edge out their competitors. Although the US is a free market, it is important for the government to intervene and ensure that all businesses engaged in ethical business practices. Since the US is a free market, it is important for the forces of demand and supply to determine the market price of goods and services. In this case, it is important for the government to regulate businesses in industries that fixed prices below the profit making levels in order to get rid of their competitors, in the US. In this regard, the government's failure to regulate makes the businesses eliminate their competitors and only raise the price of goods once their competitors are not in the market. In effect, these unethical practices do not provide for a competitive market environment. Therefore, this emphasizes the importance of government intervention in the form of regulation to ensure the forces of demand and supply remained as the important factors in determining the prices of goods and services. Self-Expansion Complexities on Capital Projects The underlying complexity currently facing any capital project in the US is obtaining capital required for expansion after the recent recession. According to LaBonte (2009), the weak economy and competition from other manufacturers led to decreased market share of the US automobile industry. In addition, the recession had an effect on credit facilities in the country. In this regard, LaBonte (2009) noted, â€Å"The recession had made credit facilities less available, which may have limited the ability of auto manufacturers and suppliers to finance their

The Effects of Globalization and Foreign Direct Investment Essay

The Effects of Globalization and Foreign Direct Investment - Essay Example This has served many companies in producing cheaper goods by taking use of the low cost of labor and machineries involved, from different countries. The other side of globalization that is also prominent is the decline in product quality, by outsourcing cheaper equipments and low cost of the unskilled labor (Pragmatic Outsourcing, 2012). Employing the trend of globalization has increased significantly in the industrial sector of the European countries. The increase in population and global competition has narrowed the profit margin of many industries and has ignited the need of producing more volume of products, to beat other competitors (Isidro, 2011). Hence, many European industries utilize the cheap labor, fuel and low government taxes of under developed nations to produce bulk quantity of their products within the limited budget for it. A flashback of the European industries would lead to the fact that globalization started from the textile industry in the early 20th century and then it was adopted in electronics, furniture and books publishing sectors (Blass, 2005). With the change in policy by Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) of trade tariffs and eradicating the concentration rule in Europe, monopolization in industrial sectors was broken to a great extent. It allowed several new companies to enter into the corporate market and intensify the business competition (Blass, 2005). In this respect, the Italian footwear industry is considered to have gone through considerable changes in its managerial and production strategies, by implying globalization in its system. Historical trade data of Italy suggest that its footwear sector that has a prominent contribution in its overall GDP and has a high impact on the international footwear market (Milan, 2010). However, present market position and sales figures present a different scenario of prominence of the Italy’s footwear industry. Pressure of the international market and emerging entrants has forced Italy’s footwear industry to delocalize their resources, which has resulted in losing their distinct image. The vertical integration methodology of these industries was replaced with a global supply chain network, which resulted in less flexibility and control over the finished product. This paper aims to provide hypotheses of the effect of globalization on Italian footwear, based on the understanding and evaluation of sales figures and current standing in national and international market. The will use the academic and theoretical data to compare other footwear industries with the Italian, to justify the hypothesis presented (Larch, 2005). Theoretical Overview The pattern followed in the Italian footwear industry involves foreign direct investment in the production cycle. Since, Italy footwear sector is largely delocalized several of its resources are involved in production and designing is being outsourced (Amighini & Rabellotti, 2003). This brings the ownership of foreign investors in different production units carried out in other countries. One essential thing to consider is the formation of several business groups, which is the result of market fragmentation. Such business groups act as the middle man between the actual producer and the company been outsourced. Therefore, there are

Paradise Now Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Paradise Now - Movie Review Example The movie is basically about terrorists who choose to blow themselves up for a cause or in other words who execute the suicide bombings. The director has tried his level best to explain situations which turn people into terrorists, when a person has no other option but to give up his life to prove a point such a situation is the most desperate one and only in such a situation a person becomes a terrorist. It would be very unfair to say that the director is sympathetic to murderers and is approving suicide missions through this movie, he has tried his best to bring out the root cause of why people turn to terrorism, and if we are to stop terrorism we have to understand it's root cause and we have to understand the feelings of the people who have no other option but to blow themselves up to send a message to people who do a lot of injustice to them. The movie has very interesting characters, like Khaled, Said, Suha and Jamal. Khaled and Jamal are childhood friends and share a good chem istry. They live in a town called Nablus. The most interesting character of the movie is without a doubt Said; he remains very serious and focused in the whole movie. Both Said and Khaled had no concrete work to do, so they engaged themselves in a garage and took care of the cars. This film turned many a head by being the first Palestinian film to be nominated for the Academy award in the category of the best foreign film. The film shows why people turn to terrorism, what are the various factors involved in transforming the people and making them do the unimaginable. Jamal meets Said to prepare him and his childhood friend Khaled to carry out suicide attacks in Tel Aviv, Israel. He said "We decided to answer the assassination of Abu Hazem and Um Jaber's son who died in the bombings." (Paradise now 2005). He motivates Said by saying "If you fear death, you are already dead." (Paradise now 2005). Said had a good enough motive to carry out the suicide attacks, his father was a collaborator and worked for the Israelis, he was executed by them. He quotes "I was born in a refugee camp, life here is like imprisonment. The crimes of the occupation are countless; the worst crime of all is to exploit people's weaknesses and to turn them into collaborators" (Paradise now 2005). He firmly believed that his father was a very good man but he was made weak by being a collaborator by the Israelis. He wanted to send a loud and a clear message to the Israelis by giving up his life. Both he and Khaled prepared themselves for executing the task. Suha another import ant character in the movie gets to know about all this, she convinces Khaled to back out of this mission and he convinces his friend Said to do the same. Said plays a trick on Khaled, khaled returns to his handlers but Said goes on with the plan. With an explosive belt hanging on his body, he decides to get into a bus and blow the whole bus up but he restricts himself on seeing a kid in the bus. "If there is no security for us, there will be none for them either. There power does not help them" (Paradise now 2005). Said said these lines and these lines are a good enough indication of what exactly was going on in his mind. He had a motive of revenge, which is very dangerous and a very

The Homestead Strike 1892 compared to The Great Sit Down Strike 1937 Research Paper

The Homestead Strike 1892 compared to The Great Sit Down Strike 1937 - Research Paper Example The strike was able to attain goals meant for the benefit of the workers. They averted the reopening of the plants thus resulting in the recognition of their right to organize, a right which has been repeatedly denied by this corporation (Weinstone, 1). The union was formally recognized as the collective bargaining agency for its members in all the plants (Weinstone, 1). The union was able to put a stop to the open-shop system practiced by this American industry (Weinstone, 1). It was also able to successfully bargain wage increases for the GM workers and for the auto workers in other plants. Finally, it also successfully bargained â€Å"an agreement to open negotiations between the union and the corporation for the demands on wages, hours and working conditions† (Weinstone, 1). Aside from the above successes, the union was also able to resist and hold off forceful efforts to remove the sit-down strikers, who only left the plants when their conditions were met (Weinstone). Fin ally, this strike successfully endorsed â€Å"the policy of industrial unionism, of militant unionism and progressive leadership based upon rank-and-file democracy,† which confirmed that such system is â€Å"the only correct form of organization† that â€Å"can effectively meet and defeat the corporations of big capital† (Weinstone, 1). The tactics used by the union includes first by strategically locking themselves in, â€Å"making it difficult to dislodge them without the use of considerable force and numbers, while at the same time, by taking over the gates, they obtained the possibility of freely coming and going and thereby relieved the strain which they would otherwise have found a serious factor in their ‘voluntary imprisonment’† (Weinstone, 1). The workers went on shifts hence, were able to withstand continued stay inside the plants for a long time. They were also able to create a â€Å"complete and efficient organization† by s etting up an elected strike committee, various sub-committees, captains, including health and sanitation, patrol and policing, trial committee† (Weinstone, 1). The elected strike committee was the one assigning particular duties to every worker which includes the â€Å"reception of visitors, guarding, and cleaning up† (Bliven, 377). Through this, they were able to utilize an effective strategy that heightened their awareness and control against any possible attacks against them (Weinstone, 1). The workers â€Å"barricaded themselves within the plants† and readied themselves to employ devices available to secure their positions within the plant† (Weinstone, 1). Their preparedness can be best illustrated in the following: covering â€Å"the windows with bullet-proof metal sheets† and at the same time a way wherein fire hoses could be placed to prevent â€Å"any gas or firearm attack†; systematizing and drilling squads in using water hoses; organ izing â€Å"a police patrol† making rounds at given hours, to monitor â€Å"the movement of people in adjoining wings of the building† to prevent any â€Å"surprise attacks† (Weinstone, 1). The strikers also were said to hold â€Å"court every morning†, and those found guilty of inappropriate behavior such as â€Å"bringing liquor into the plant or circulating rumors† was removed from the plant (Lovett, 123). The workers could even â€Å"take classes in parliamentary procedure, collective

Writer's choice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 29

Writer's choice - Essay Example It is this particular factor that enhances the delegation of duties thereby enabling the project managers to carryout work systematically. Most importantly, the order of the building components assists the project managers in ensuring that the building are of high performance in terms of health (Sommer, 2010). Safety as well as durability of the structure are key concerns that engineers meet by guaranteeing compatibility of the building components. Top on the list of the challenges that an FPM manager is likely to face due to the disregard for fundamental building systems is misallocation of building systems. FPM managers play a significant role in the project management especially at the construction stage. According to Sommer (2010), in the event that such a manager is unfamiliar with building systems, it will be difficult to identify accurately the category where each of the building components falls. This means that the facility and property manager will not meet both client and user needs. Coupled with the mentioned aspect is the challenge of either under or overestimating the cost of the basic construction components (Sommer, 2010).Ultimately, poor cost estimation interferes with the operations making the project to fall short of delivering strategic needs. The building may be incapable to solving disaster and emergency cases due to poor implementation of basic

Pathway to Becoming an Engineer Essay Example for Free

Pathway to Becoming an Engineer Essay Engineering is both a discipline and a profession that mostly deals with the application of technical and scientific knowledge by the specially trained engineers. It involves the utilization of natural laws and physical resources in order to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems and processes which are aimed at realizing desired objectives in accordance with a specified criteria. These engineers apply scientific knowledge gained from such fields like mathematics and physics in order to find solutions to problems The engineering profession is among the few highly prestigious professions in the United States and as parents responded to a survey they said that they would like their children to enroll in such a profession. This being a fact it is important for those aspiring to be engineers to have some knowledge about the main requirements necessary for one to enroll for an engineering course. It is a necessity for the aspirant to have a good foundation in the science based subjects in high school as these act as prerequisite for good performance in the engineering courses. This includes such subjects like Mathematics, Biology,Physics,Chemistry, Mechanics and computer knowledge. The students should also have good knowledge in English and the Social Sciences since they also form part of the program in the university. Apart from being good in the class work more is also expected to have some character traits From a study done by Ross Harrison (1955) mechanical engineers were found to be emotionally stable without any neurotic symptoms, goal oriented, serious minded, energetic while advocating for direct action when faced with problems. Other character traits found in the mechanical engineers was that they were straight forward people who rarely show analytical interest in other people. They also avoid introspection and self examination as revealed by the study. In addition they are expected to be trustworthy, honest, and maintain high levels of integrity(Carbajal 2006). From these studies learners should seek to develop these traits although it is not such a requirement. Pre-college activities There exists some program which students preparing to join engineering courses at the university can participate in. Most of these programs are organized by universities and are called Summer Programs. One such program that students can participate in is the Summer Undergraduate Program in Engineering Research at Berkeley (SUPERB). It is an eight weeks program that prepares students before they enroll for their studies and gives them an opportunity to participate in the area of interest. Another internship program that high school students can enroll in is the Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program which is sponsored by the office of Naval Research and offered annually. There are many summer programs related to engineering studies but they take the already registered students during the summers. Main branches of Engineering. Engineering is a broad discipline which is often broken down into several sub disciplines all of which do concentrate on different areas of engineering work. Over history the major renown branches of engineering are; Aerospace (dealing with aircraft and spacecraft),Chemical(dealing with conversion of raw materials in to usable commodities),Civil(deals with design and construction of private and public works like bridges building), Electrical engineering which deals with design of electrical systems, Mechanical Engineering which deals with design of physical or mechanical systems, Computer Engineering dealing with design of software and hardware integration. With advancement in technology new fields are coming up. Such fields include Software Engineering, Molecular Engineering, Mechatronics and Biomedical Engineering. Top engineering colleges in the U. S According to the ranking done by Graduates Hotline 2006 the best universities in engineering were ranked as, Massachusetts Institute of Technology being the best followed by Stanford University then third placed was University of California-Berkeley. The others were California institute Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon and University of Texas at Austin in that order of the top ten institutions. How to find engineering colleges There are about 1,830 programs at colleges and universities that offer bachelors in engineering and in order for one to locate the best he/she should consider whether they are accredited by the Accredition Board For Technology(ABET). The student should investigate the curriculum and check accreditions carefully before selecting a college. This because programs may have the same name but vary in terms of the content to be covered. Enrollment into engineering There has been an increase in enrollment for graduate students in science and engineering fields in the U. S. Full time enrollment increased by 16% in the year 2006 to reach a peak of 343,603 students and this comprised of both foreign and U. S. Citizens(Oliver 2007). This increase was in all engineering subfields except for civil, agricultural and computer sciences. Typical first year engineering class. Different institutions have different first year programs for their engineering students. But in majority of the institutions students spend most of their first year while studying mathematics(Calculus,Algebra,Geometry) and basic sciences like Physics, Biology and Chemistry It is called the first year engineering transition program which helps students to upgrade their Grade Point Average and improve their academic standing. It also helps the students to prepare adequately for the subsequent years of study. The typical first year class is usually divided into two semesters with specified courses of study for each semester. These are the winter semester and the summer semester. The bachelors program is designed to last four years but mostly students find themselves taking up to five years to complete their degree programs. Importance of internships for students. The internships usually offered during the summer periods provide valuable experiences for the students. This because they provide first hand perspectives of a career and as such begin to realize the value of their courses. Through internships students develop essential skills that are required on the job. Again they create opportunities through which students understand what is expected of them in the industry. They also explore their career in order to apply their skills and talents which rhyme with their interests. Internship periods have also been know to be transformative since during such times the students meet and overcome many challenges that come their way. This increases their confidence and drive to learn to achieve. Licensure All states in the U. S require licensure of all engineers who offer their services directly to the public. Those who manage to get the license must be in possession of a degree from an accredited institution in addition to four years of relevant experience. They are also expected to sit and pass a state exam. After getting the license they are then referred as professional engineers. Salaries and employment for engineers The earnings for engineers vary depending on speciality ones level of education and the industry one works in. In the federal government the mean annual salaries for engineers in the year 2007 ranged from $75,144 in Agricultural engineering to $107,546. when all other groups of employees are considered it is the engineering group that earns the highest average starting salary. In the same year engineers held about 1. 5 million jobs in the U. S. Out of these jobs 37% was in the manufacturing industries while 28% was in the professional sector. As regards the federal state employment it employed 12% of all the engineers while 3% took consultancy as a form of self employment. One thing that is important for practicing engineers is for them to continue upgrading their education throughout their careers. This is because employers will attach more value to highly trained engineers as opposed to those who are not highly educated. Again promotion in this profession is closely associated with the level of education and as such the highly educated ones end up getting promoted easily. As mentioned earlier engineers play a very significant role in the society since they provide solutions to most of the problems that the society face. Therefore we can not under emphasize the role they play in the society as they apply scientific knowledge in meeting the societys need. They are viewed as very important people in the society and thus they should maintain the integrity in serving the society in line with the professional code of conduct. Works Cited Carbajal,C. and Ezequiel Chavez(2006). Trustworthiness and Integrity: Cardinal Virtues for Engineers. 10th October 2008http://www. cse. fau. edu/carbajal. pdf Engineering Disciplines. 10th October 2008http://www. careercornerstone. org/engineering/agdisc. htm Harrison, Ross. Profile of a Mechanical Engineer III Personality. 10th October 2008http://www3.interscience. wiley. com/journal Occupational Hand Book,2008-09. Bureau of labor Statistics, U. S Department of Labor. 10th October 2008http://www. bls. gov/oco/ocos027. htm Oliver, Julia. Engineering Increases In 2006. 10th October 2008http://www. nsf. gov/statistics/inbrief/nsf08302/ Stephanie, Lambert. Internships: Many Perspectives Unlimited Benefits. 10th October 2008http://www. becpdx. org/pdf/sao/ Types of Engineers. 10th October 2008http://www. madison. k12. wi. ustypes. htm http://www. graduateshotline. com/ranks/

Definition And Classification Of Humor

Definition And Classification Of Humor Humor is a common phenomenon, which plays an important role in many aspects of our daily lives. Over thousand of years humor has been extensively studied in many fields, such as psychology, physiology and philosophy, anthropology, and sociology. Until recent times, it has been studied within the scope of linguistics. The English term humor derived from the Latin word for liquid, fluid or moisture. As time went by, the word humor lost its original meaning and came to be used in its present sense. As to the definition of humor, no agreement has been reached yet. According to Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English, it is defined as (1) capacity to cause or feel amusement (2) a persons state of mind. In Longman Dictionary of English Language Culture, it is defined as the ability to understand and enjoy what is funny. Although the definitions are not completely the same, we still can find something in common: Firstly, there should be human participants in the act. The speaker and the hearer play an important role in the humorous utterance. Secondly, the occurrence of humor should refer to the ability of people who are capable of producing and receiving what is funny and laughable. Thirdly, in any case something must happen in a humorous act, which refers to something people have seen, heard or thought. As to the classification of humor, Pocheplsov (Pocheplsov, 1981: 25) divided humor into two kinds. One is situational humor, the other is linguistic humor or verbal humor. Situational humor is situation-oriented, such as Monkeys mimic human beings behavior, and little babies learn to walk. Both of their awkward and vivid postures are situational humor. Verbal humor refers to text-oriented humor, both written and spoken. It is realized by languages. In this paper, verbal humor will be mainly discussed. 2. Humor created by flouting the cooperative principle In the next part, the theories will be briefly introduced and how the humorous effect is achieved will be discussed in details. 2.1 A brief review of cooperative principle In the process of communication, participants must abide by some basic principles, especially cooperative principle to ensure that the conversation goes smoothly well. We know that quite often a speaker can mean a lot more than what is said and the hearer can arrive at the speakers meaning. A philosophy and logician, H. P. Grice believes that there must be some mechanism governing the production and comprehension of these utterances. He suggests there is a set of assumptions guiding the conduct of conversation. This is what he calls the Cooperative Principle (CP). He then formulates the principle and its maxims as follows: Make your conversational contribution as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the exchange in which you are engaged. To put it more specific, there are four maxims under the general principle. The maxim of quantity Make your contribution as informative as required (for the current purpose of the exchange ) Do not make your contribution more informative than is required. The maxim of quality Do not say what you believe to be false. Do not say that for which you lack the adequate evidence. The maxim of relation Be relevant The maxim of manner Avoid obscurity of expression Avoid ambiguity Be belief Be orderly (Grice, 1969: 58, cited in Wen Liu, 2006: 154) Grices CP is, with no doubt, one of the most important pragmatic principles ever existed and also one of the focuses of this thesis. However, not everyone obeys these maxims in the process of communication. Although speakers sometimes may violate these maxims intentionally or unintentionally, they are still cooperative and the communication can be successful. Humor is one of the cases like this .In the pragmatic study of verbal humor, violation or flouting of the four maxims has frequently encountered. In the following parts, I will talk about how humorous effect comes out on flouting of CP maxims in details. 2.2 Humor created by flouting of the maxims 2.2.1 Humor created by flouting of the maxim of quantity On the one hand, when the information is not as informative as is required, the sense of humor can be felt. For example, 1) That is not my dog An old lady was strolling through the park when she saw Jamie with a dog. Does your dog bite? she asked. NO. said Jamie. When the lady tried to pet the dog, it almost bit her finger off. I thought you said your dog does not bite! screamed the old lady with blood dripping from her hand. That is right, answered Jamie, my dog does not bite -but that is not my dog. In this story, Jamie violates the CP in that she does not answer the ladys question without adequate information. But the lady takes it for granted that that is Jamies dog. So when she complains, Jamies smart answer causes this humorous effect. On the other hand, when the information is more informative than is required, the humorous effect can also be felt. A good case in point is the conversation between The Soprano and the Contralto. 2) S: Did you notice how my voice filled the hall last night? C: Yes, dear. In fact I noticed several people leaving to make room for it. This humor lies in the over-loaded information of the Contraltos answer. The Soprano is proud of her voice and she wants to get others affirmation. So she asks the Contralto. In fact the first part of her answer is enough. From the extra part we can deduce the implication that the Soprano sings so badly that some audience can not bear it and start to leave. The contrast between the Sopranos expectation and the results she gets produce humorous effect. It is not hard to imagine how embarrassed and lost she was at that moment. 2.2.2 Humor created by flouting of the maxim of quality We have mentioned that the quality maxim requires the utterance to be true and reliable. The following story will fully explain how the humorous effect will be achieved by flouting the quality maxim. 3) The Barbers Explanation Once a boy went into a barbers shop and he asked for a shave. The barber told him to sit down, soaped his face and then left. The boy waited and waited and at last he lost his patience. Well, he shouted, why are you leaving me here for all the time The barber replied, Im waiting for your beard to grow. In this humorous story, the little boy is probably too eager to become an adult. So he asked for a shave, but the humorous barber did not refuse him directly .Instead, he left the boy waiting there and explained when the boy lost out of his patience. Obviously the barber violate the maxim of quality for it is known to us all that it will be many years before the boy grows beard. His real purpose is that he wants to tell the boy that there is no need for him to shave. His humor exists in disagreement between his utterance and actual objective facts. The following story will produce the same effect. It is about a horse or a mistress. The following is the story. 4) A horse or a mistress A woman came up behind her husband while he was enjoying his coffee and slapped him on the back I found a piece of paper in your pant pocket with the name Marylou written on it , she said ,furiously, you had better have an explanation. Calm down, honey! the man replied, Remember last week I was at the race? That was the name of the horse I bet on The next morning his wife sneaked up and again slapped him, what was that for? he complained. Your horse called last night. In this story the husband explained that Marylou was the name of his horse. Obviously he lied and violated the maxim of quality- Say something you believe to be false. The next morning when he asked why his wife beat him. His wife deliberately violated the maxim of quality and said his horse called last night. From this we can feel the wifes anger and her humor. Another aspect about deliberately flouting the maxim of quality is saying something lacking of evidence. For instance, 5) She: how old do you think I am? He: you dont look your age. In this piece of humor, the mans answer is vivid and humorous in that in western culture age is a taboo for ladies in a conversation. You dont look your age is quite a good answer for however old the lady is, it will not embarrass her. The violation of quality maxim is actually lying. In order to achieve humorous effect, speakers often apply rhetorical devices, such as personification, irony, hyperbole. Hence the hearer infers that the speaker meant something informative instead, for example, 6) Tom has wooden ears, this sentence can be interpreted that Tom do not appreciate classical music so we should not invite him to the concert. 2.2.3 Humor created by flouting of the maxim of manner In Grices cooperative principle, the maxim of manner requires the addresser and addressee to avoid obscurity of expression and ambiguity, be brief and orderly. However in our daily life, it is easy to break one or two, thus producing some unexpected humorous effect. Firstly, humor is created by intentionally saying some obscurity of expressions. 7): Lady (standing in the middle of a busy street): officer, can you tell me how to get to the hospital? Policeman: Just stand where you are and you will find how to get to the hospital. In example 7), the policeman did not answer the ladys question directly but indirectly warned her not to stand in the middle of road. This kind of conversation will make the seemingly boring transportation a little interesting. Secondly, people achieve humorous effect by making use of ambiguity of words. The following dialogue is the oral test to American registered electorate. 8) Where is Washington? He is dead. I mean the capital of the United States. They loaned it all to Europe. Now do you promise to support the constitutor? Me? How can I? I have got a wife and six children to support. In this conversation there are many words easy to be misunderstood for they have multiple meanings. Washington not only refers to one of American cities but also can refer to the first president of United States. Capital also has two meanings, city and money. Support can be used to agree with somebody and it also mean raise somebody. The questioned skillfully make use of polysemy to produce ambiguity. Thus, he can avoid answering the questions directly. It not only vividly reflects his sense of humor but also criticizes American politics. Thirdly, another way of producing humor by violating the manner of maxim is not to be brief. There is an old story which can best illustrate this point. Example 9): There was a man who played the chess for three times continuously. Later when he was asked how it was .He winked his eyes and answered: I did not win in the first time, the second time I did not lose and the third time I wanted to draw, but he disagreed. In actual fact, the man lost three times but he did not want to admit it. So he answered in the way that violates the third rule. However, this clever answer not only save his face but also left a deep impression on people who wanted to know the answer. Last but not the least is that the speaker deliberately says something random, illogical but the hearer can sense the humor by inferring from what he says. There is an example, 10) Her files of pins extend their shining rows; puffs; powders; patches; bibles; trifles; billet-doux. From this sentence the author put pins, make-ups of women and love letters sacred bible together. It is hard not to laugh when you get the pragmatic meaning that the woman was not loyal to God and Christian briefs. 2.2.4 Humor created by flouting of the maxim of relation The relation maxim requires us to speak something relevant. But in a conversation something completely irrelevant to topic maybe underlying something deep unsaid. Sometimes ridiculous words can also achieve humors effect. Example 11): There is a bug in the bottom of my cup! howled a customer in greasy-spoon cafà ©. What does this mean? Listen, mate, growled the owner, if you want your fortune told; go to find you a gipsy. In this example the customer needs a reasonable explanation about the bug, but the owner answer totally different thing irrelevant to his question. It violates the relation principle but achieve humorous effect .another example is listed to illustrate this point. A young man pretended that his eyesight was very poor when examined, so he was not called up for army service. That evening he went to a movie only to find that the doctor who had examined him was sitting beside him. Immediately he said to the man doctor, Excuse me, maam, but doesnt this bus go to Main Street? The young mans question has nothing to do with the context. He deliberately flouts the relation maxim to make the doctor believe that he is indeed short-sighted. In this way he covered his lie but it adds into the whole story a humorous effect. 3. Humor created by flouting the speech act theory 3.1 Theoretic review of speech act theory The speech act theory is one of the important theories in pragmatics; it is initially put forward by the British linguistic philosopher John L. Austin in his lectures at Harvard University in 1955. It is a philosophical explanation of the nature of linguistic communication. It aims to answer the question What do we do when using language? According to Austin, a speaker might be performing three acts simultaneously when speaking: locutionary act, illocutionary act and perlocutionary act. Locutionary act: the act of saying the literal meaning of the utterance. Illocutionary act: the extra meaning of the utterance produced on the basis of its literal meaning Perlocutionary act: the effect of the utterance on the hearer, depending on the specific circumstance (Liu Wen, 2006: 149). 3.2 Humor created by misunderstanding illocutionary act Example 12): Teacher: what is the shape of the earth? Jonny: it is round. Teacher: How do you know it is round? Jonny: All right, its square then. I dont want to start an argument about it. From the teachers question, How do you know it is round? We can infer the teacher didnt blame the students answer, but wanted the student to tell him the evidence or causes for his answer. However, the student thought the teacher suggested him that the answer was wrong, so he changed his answer. Example 13): Waitress, shouted the impatient diner, do I have to sit here and starve all night? No, sir, we close at nine oclock. It is obvious that the customer is dissatisfied with the restaurants slow service, and he expressed his complaint. But the cute waitress deliberately understood the complaint on the locutionary act, and she hinted the customer she wont make him stay too long for his business hour was not all-day round. In the above two examples, humor is produced by misunderstanding illocutionary act. 3.3 Humor created by understanding illocutionary act In the following example, the seeming unconnected conversation between husband and wife is very coherent on a speech-act level on the condition that both of them understand the illocutionary act. 14) a. Husband: Thats the phone. b. Wife: Im in the bathroom c. Husband: Ok. This is an exchange between husband and wife when the telephone rings. In (a) The husband is not describing something it is a thing that needs no description to his wife .In (b), the wife is not describing her action either people do not usually need to assert that they are in the bathroom. Its illocutionary act are a refusal to comply with the request and issuing a request to her husband to answer the phone instead .In (c) the man accepts his wifes refusal and accepts her request, meaning all right, I will answer it In this piece, the humor lies in getting implied meaning from the seeming unconnected conversation. They both can understand each other without saying something directly. 4. Presupposition and humor Presupposition can be defined in linguistics as any kind of background assumption against which an expression or utterance makes sense or is rational. Presuppositions refer to the conditions that must be met in order for the intended meaning of a sentence to be regarded as acceptable (Yang, 2008: 177). Presupposition can be divided into semantic presupposition and pragmatic presupposition. Semantic presupposition can be easily figured out with presupposition triggers. However, pragmatic presupposition is the presupposition of the speaker or those directly involved. It concerns not only knowledge (whether true or false), but also concerns expectations, desires, interests, claims, attitudes towards the world, fears etc. The presupposition in linguistic is affected by some factor or the context. Pragmatic presupposition is the background knowledge of the two parties of communication, and the mutual knowledge is an important factor involving the construction of context. When the mutual knowledge is negated, the presupposition of the previous utterance is cancelled. In some situations, the speaker may deliberately make use of the defeasibility of presupposition to create humorous effect. The following examples are good cases in point. Example 15): If youre going to work here, young man, said the boss, one thing you must learn is that we are very keen on cleanliness in this firm. Did you wipe your feet on the mat as you came in? Oh, yes, sir. And another thing was we are very keen on is truthfulness. There is no mat. In this story, when the boss asked the young if he wiped his feet on the mat when he came in, the presupposition is that there is a mat on the floor. For this question, not only the young man, anyone would think that there is a mat on the floor. In fact, the boss set a trap to the candidate through a false presupposition to test whether the candidate is honest. 16) How often do you cheat in your exam? if you are asked by your teacher, how will you answer ¼Ã… ¸ There is a presupposition that you do, in fact, cheat in examinations. If you simply answer the how often part of the question by saying the words like very seldom, you are behaving as if the presupposition is right, that is, you admit that you have cheated in the exams. In this way we can touch the humorous effect of English. Presupposition is a precondition of an utterance and the implicit information it contains plays a role in normal progression of conversation. Ignoring the presupposition of an utterance, making a false presupposition and contradicting the presupposition to an utterance cause the abnormal comprehension to an utterance between the speaker and the hearer. In this way the effect of humor is produced. It is interesting and important to note that while conversation participants nearly always observe the CP, they do not observe these maxims strictly. Sometimes in order to achieve humorous effect, they will deliberately flout one or two of these maxims. The so-called sense of humor is the ability to produce or appreciate humor. The violation of one or two of these maxims is one of the main reasons to create humor. So many examples have been used to illustrate that violating this maxim could produce humor. But how can we sense it? Another pragmatic principle comes up-Conversation implicature. 5. Conversational implicature and humor Grices basic idea is that in communication, speaker aims to follow the CP and its maxims, and that hearers interpret utterances with these maxims in mind. According to Grice, utterance interpretation is not a matter of decoding messages, but rather involves taking the meaning of the sentences together with contextual information, using inferences rules, and working out what the speaker means on the basis of the assumption that the utterance conforms to the maxims. The kind of meaning that is not literally contained in the utterance is called conversational implicature. Conversational implicature is the key notion to appreciate English humors. In other words, appreciating English humor is no more than getting the implied meaning from the utterance. How can we get the implied meaning and what knowledge do we need? The correct inference of the conversational implicature presupposes the hearers mastery of the following knowledge: (1) the conventional content of the utterance (2) the cooperative principle and its maxims (3) the content of the context (4) some background knowledge shared by the speaker and the hearer. The speaker can produce the implicature in two ways: observance and non-observance of the maxims. In actual speech communication, it is often the case that speaker do not or can not observe the CP and the maxims. For example, the sentence he is a tiger literally is false, openly against the maxim of quality, for no human is a tiger. But the hearer still assumes that the speaker is being cooperative and then infers that he is trying to say something distinct from the literal meaning. He can work out that probably the speaker means to say that he has some characteristics of a tiger. Thus humorous effect can be sensed by such kind of expression. Metaphor and irony are standard examples of the flouting of the maxim of quality. However, the least interesting case is when speaker directly observe the maxims so as to generate conversational implicature. 15) Husband :where are the car keys ¼Ã… ¸ Wife: Theyre on the table in the hall. The wife has answered clearly(manner)and truthfully(quality),and has given just the right information(quantity)and has directly addressed her husbands goal in asking the question(relation).She has said precisely what she meant, no more and no less, and has generated her conversational implicature. From the above examples we can see clearly that this pattern of conversation of inference can work only on the assumption that the interlocutors share some background knowledge mentioned above. 6. The politeness principle and English humor The cooperative principle alone cannot fully explain how people talk. It explains how conversational implicature or English humor gives rise to but it does not tell us why people do not say directly what they mean. Why, for instance, do people say Could you give me a lift? instead of Give me a lift? The reason has to do with another principle which applies to conversation in addition to the Cooperative Principle Polite Principle (PP). In most cases, the indirectness is motivated by consideration of politeness. Politeness is usually regarded by most pragmatists as a means of strategy which is used by a speaker to achieve various purposes, such as saving face, establishing and maintaining harmonious social relations in conversation. Leech (leech, 1983: 165) looks on politeness as crucial in accounting for why people are often so indirect in conveying what they mean. He thus puts forward the Politeness Principle so as to rescue the Cooperative Principle in the sense that politeness can satisfactorily explain exceptions to and apparent deviation from the CP. Following Grices presentation of the CP, leech puts forward six maxims of the polite Principle which run as follows: Maxim of tact Minimize the cost to the other Maximize the benefit to the other Maxim of generosity Minimize benefit to self Maximize cost to self Maxim of approbation Minimize dispraise of the other Maximize praise of the other Maxim of modesty Minimize praise of self Maximize dispraise of self Maxim of disagreement Minimize disagreement between self and the other Maximize agreement between self and the other Maxim of sympathy Minimize antipathy between self and the other Maximize sympathy between self and the other (Wen Liu, 2006: 254) Briefly, this principle requires speakers to minimize the expression of impolite beliefs, give credit to the other person in its positive aspect and not cause offense to the other person in its negative aspect. 6.1 Humor created by abiding the politeness principle It has been mentioned that interlocutors should observe the maxims of Cooperative Principle in order to keep the communication go smoothly. However, in some situation interlocutors would rather sacrifice the Cooperative Principle than appear impolite. Interestingly, sometimes interlocutors abide by the Politeness will also create humorous effect. The following is such a case. The story happened when Regan held the post of the American President. During his first official visit to Canada, the demonstrators against the USA interrupted his public speeches off and on. The Canadian Premier Pierre appeared quite embarrassed. Then, Regan with a smile said to Pierre, Such a demonstration happens quite often in America. I guess these people must be coming from America o purpose to your honorable country. They just want to make me feel at home. (Xie, 2004: 125) Regans humorous speech immediately made Pierre joyful. When he saw the Premier felt tough to deal with the situation, President Regan applied the generosity maxim and the sympathy maxim in due course. His humor relieved Pierre from the embarrassment and at the same time saved his own positive face. Humor aroused by abiding by the Politeness Principle. The other maxims are also very important in explaining why certain forms are more acceptable than others. The maxim of approbation will explain why a compliment like what a marvelous meal you cooked! is highly valued while what an awful meal you cooked is not socially accepted .Thus when criticism is evitable; understatement is preferred as a show of reluctance to dispraise. (Her composition was not as good as it might have been.) The maxim of modesty accounts for the benign nature of utterance like how stupid of me and the offensive nature of how clever of me. A: The book is well written. B: Yes, well written as a whole, but there are some rather boring patches, dont you think. Regulated by the maxim of agreement, people tend to exaggerate their common ground first, even when much difference is to follow. In the following example, notice how much effort speaker B puts into trying to hide the fact that he disagrees with A. A: She is small, isnt she? B: Well, shes sort of smallà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦certainly not very large à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦but actuallyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I would have to say that she is large rather than small. Bs answer is better than answer directly. 6.2 Humor created by violating the politeness principle For some special communicative purposes, the interlocutors may violate the maxims of Politeness Principle. Teacher (to a boy slow at mathematics): You should be ashamed of yourself? Why at your age George Washington was a surveyor! Boy: Yes, sir, and at your age he was President of the United States. According to the maxim of Politeness Principle, we can see the teacher firstly violated the maxim to approbation .Faced with the dispraise, the boy struck back the teachers dispraise, and he also violated the maxims of approbation .However, in this example, the student saved his own face by violating the maxim of politeness principle. It is argued that when the CP and PP are in contradiction, it is generally the CP maxims that get sacrificed. When the truth cannot be told for politeness sake, a white lie may be offered. In fact the PP is so powerful that people are often encouraged to violate its maxims in order to ensure a cooperative discourse .Irony is a means to solve the conflict between the CP and PP-when the truth is too offensive to be told, an ironic utterance assumes a polite surface while delivering an unpleasant true message underneath. Conclusion Just as Chinese scholar Lin Yutang puts it, humor is part of life. As a phenomenon peculiar to human beings, it can be found everywhere. The study of humor can help us better understand humor. This paper studies the general knowledge of humor and how it is caused. Conducting a pragmatic approach to the understanding of verbal humor makes it clear why humor is humorous and how to understand and create verbal humor effectively and efficiently. Through the employing of pragmatic theories to analyze the creation of humor, it can be found that the Cooperative Principle has strong explaining force to the analysis of verbal humor. According to Grice, conversational implicatures can arise from either strictly and directly observing or deliberately and openly flouting the maxims, that is, speaker can produce implicatures in two ways: observance and non-observance of the maxims. According to Leech, the politeness principle is not just an addition to Grices CP, but a necessary complement needed for cases where the CP fails to offer a reasonable explanation. Besides, the speech act theory also plays an important role in appreciating English humor. Through the illocutionary act, extra meaning of the utterance can be produced on the basis of its literal meaning. Presupposition is also an important fact in understanding humor and not getting cheated by others. From the perspective of its function, humor can be used to activate atmosphere, get rid of conflict, attack and counter-attack, and save ones faces. In our daily life, people create humor not only for humors sake, but also for some special communicative purposes. Through the study, people can find the power and charm of humor. If more and more people can be encouraged to use humor in their daily life, the whole society will be more friendly and harmonious.

Womens Studies Essays -- Analysis, Evelyn Nakano Glenn

Evelyn Nakano Glenn, Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies and of Ethnic Studies at Berkeley, University of California serves as Founding Director of the University’s Center for Race and Gender (Glenn 2). It is a leading American center in the study of intersectionality amongst genders, class social groups, institutions and race. Her scholarly work includes focus on the dynamics of gender, race and the prevailing processes of inequality and exclusion in class structures in the social setting. Her earlier work included the documentation of neglected women employed in the domestic services sector, due to their skin color (race) and that of women holding clerical posts. This led her into historical research on the issue of gender structure and race in the structural makeup of the local labor markets and hitherto consequences of the American labor market on the positions of the workers. This included the forms of resistance/ self-preservation available to them. She has al so engaged in the comparative analysis of gender and race in the construction of citizenship and labor across the United States of America. Her upbringing greatly influenced her critical thinking and perspective of the world, due to her racial background and the situation of the time. In the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor tragedy, her parents were among thousands of other Japanese Americans imprisoned in American internment camps. The war pitted the Axis powers against the Allied forces, with the latter eventually emerging the victors. This shaped the political and philosophical thoughts of the time with Liberalism emerging as the dominant theory of the time. Others that were to subsequently emerge were in one way or the other linked to this thought with some aspec... ... same character traits. Proper and sequential legislation addressing these issues should be passed based on them either as a grouping or in their individual aspects. This is to ensure better understanding, appreciation and acknowledgement of every human being that composes the global community. In conclusion, Evelyn Nakano Glenn’s scholarly work includes focus on the dynamics of gender, race and the prevailing processes of inequality and exclusion in class structures in the social setting. She considers Liberalism, as a political thought, entails the plurality of actors in the international political arena and Republicanism as an Ideology that is embraced by the citizenry of a republic. This has been exemplified by the widely held ideal of the American â€Å"worker citizen† as being the twin attributes of ‘whiteness/ blackness and ‘masculinity/feminism.

Immigration to Ellis Island :: Informative Essay

Immigrants came to American in search of freedom and opportunity. They mostly came by steamship. Examinations and vaccinations of the immigrants needed to be done. Both immigrants and their baggage had to be disinfected before they could leave Ellis Island. At the entrance to the Lower Bay of New York Harbor, the immigrants were inspected for contagious diseases like, smallpox, yellow fever, and measles. After which they were filed to the reception area. They had to climb three floors of stairs as medical officers watched them for signs of lameness, shortness of breath, heart conditions and mental conditions. The next examination was called the eyelid lift. The doctors used a hook to lift the eyelids to look for trachoma. Trachoma is " an easily spread infection of the eye. Repeated occurrences scar the upper eyelid, eventually turning it inward. The eyelashes then scratch the cornea, leading to blindness." Chalk marks were put on their clothes to indicate what was wrong. A few were, Sc for scalp disease, G for goiter, K for hernia, L for lameness and S for senility. The final test was to answer 29 questions including: name, sex, marital status, occupation, nationality, ability to read and write, race, physical and mental health, how much money they had, prison records, and if they were polygamists or anarchists. When the immigrants passed these tests they could exchange their gold, silver and money for American money and buy railroad tickets to go anywhere they wanted in America.

Racism in the Criminal Justice System Essay -- Police Corruption 2014

Racism in police treatment of minorities has created great disparities in incarceration amongst the races. Blatant cases of racist law enforcement that are covered in the  news are a testament to the fact that racism within police departments exists from coast to coast. However, these are only the cases that people find out about; there are countless other cases of police racism and brutality that are not reported. A series of reports that have been published in the last few years have shown that young black men are being incarcerated at a rate far greater than their number in the overall population. In the fall of 1995, Vincent Schiraldi, executive director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco, released a study that found that nationally 33% of the black men in their 20~s were under the control of the criminal justice system in some way, shape or form. This shows an increase from 1991, when 25% of the black men nationwide ages 20 to 29 were incarcerated, on probation, or on parole (Butterfield 1996). Schiraldi, attributed the higher incarceration rates for black men to tougher punishment for the use of crack cocaine than for other drugs; harsh new sentencing laws; the prison construction boom; and poverty, lack of good jobs and poor education in inner cities. We will address how tougher punishments have resulted in worse treatment for minorities in the criminal justice system. The tougher punishment for the use of crack cocaine, which is prevalent in minority neighborhoods, and the harsh new sentencing laws are a result of a new, stringent brand of law enforcement in which officers are trying to arrest as many people as possible. Unfortunately, as a result of this new brand of law enforcement, minoriti... ...ws. 12 August 2012., late ed.: Al. Butterfield, Fox. "Study finds a disparity injustice for blacks."  NewYork Times. 13 Feb. 2013, late ed.: A8. Fazlolloh, Mark. "From Prison, Ex-Cops Call Offenses Routine.  Philadelphia Inquirer. 12 May 2012, late ed.: Al. "Fighting Police Abuse: A Community Action Manual."  American Civil Liberties Union  Online. 9 May May 2014. Orseno, Brian. "The DWB Phenomenon."  American Civil Liberties Union. News Updates. 23 April 2013. Online. 7 May May 2014. Rose, Veronica. "The ACLU Fights Back Against Police Profiling On A National Level."  The ACLU Northern California. 14 January 2013. Online. 8 May May 2014. Slobodzian, Joseph A. "City Officers Indicted on Corruption Charges." Philadelphia Inquirer. 1 Mar. 2011, late ed.: Al. "Victims of Mandatory Minimums." Families Against Mandatory Minimums. Online. 17 May May 2014.

Personal Professional Development Essay

In this section of the report I will explain the importance of continual self  development and implement my own personal development plan (PDP) in line with my organisations objectives. To achieve this I will review the requirements of my employer and its clients and review my own personal needs and determine the skills and knowledge I will need to meet them. I will assess the gaps in my current skills and knowledge in line with the organisational objectives. I will identify my personal learning objectives and start filling those gaps and propose the actions for achieving these objectives. My PDP will be SMART and include measures for success, resources required and target dates for review and completion where appropriate. Continuous self-development is a process in which people take responsibility for their own learning. Self-development can be defined as Maintaining and continuing to improve and develop knowledge and competencies which can improve your performance in the workplace. Developing specific qualities and skills Advancing your full potential as a person by been proactive According to Pedlar et al, (2007) they believe that â€Å"Self-development is personal development, with the person taking primary responsibility for their own learning and for choosing the means to achieve this. Ultimately, it is about increasing your capacity and willingness to take control over and be responsible for events†(p30). As demonstrated by Pedlar et al. (2007) self development is about an individual been proactive and developing their learning capacity by empowering themselves to take control of their own learning and be responsible for it. Another important factor linked to self-development is Developing Greater Self-Awareness. Goleman suggests that self-awareness involves: Emotional self awareness: recognising your emotions and the impact they have on your life. Accurate self-assessment: identifying your strengths and limitations. Self-confidence: knowing yourself worth and capabilities. By improving self awareness we can create opportunities for a better work  life balance , become aware of our emotions, and improve our ability to respond to change. These qualities will enhance the performance of a manager and is important to include these elements when developing a PDP. For continual self-development to take place an individual has to determine how and by what means is required to achieve continual self-development in achieving organisational objectives. According to Martin (2005) â€Å"An organisation is a group of individuals and as individuals develop, so do the organisations that employ them† Martin (2005) suggests Organisations give importance to continual self-development because it is effective for organisations in terms of achieving organisational objectives if the employees develop then so does the organisation. It is important that the business plan objectives of the organisation are taken into consideration when building a Personal Development Plan, as any personal development should complement the organisation’s plans. If people don’t continually self-develop and perform to meet organisational objectives the organisation does not develop and perform to met the organisational objectives. The organisation can become stagnant and fail to achieve the overall strategic company outcome to be financially viable and show a profit. It is important to continually self-develop so an individual can succeed in maintaining their position within the organisation but also to progress and achieve organisational objectives. An example of continual self-development in achieving organisational objectives is to maintain organisational legislation for instance the Health and Safety law. If the individual in the organisation who is responsible for the health and safety law does not comply with the health and safety rules, it could increase the chance that individuals may be hurt. It could also increase the chance that the organisation could be fined for health and safety violations, or that the individual responsible for this role could be suspended or fired for putting the organisation and its employees at unnecessary risk. An example of my continual self-development in achieving  organisational objectives is to continually ensure I am current and up to date with my knowledge of funding eligibility, which is governed by the Skills funding Agency (SFA). If I do not develop my understanding of new legislation set by the SFA the company can become at risk of not meeting the set contractual requirements. This can have a detrimental effect on the company which could lead to loss of revenue or loss of contracts which in turn could result in staff becoming unemployed. To summarise, the performance of employees is directly linked to organisational performance hence the achievement of organisational objectives. The performance of employees can be improved through the continuous self-development process which clarifies the importance of continual self development within an organisation. Personal development plans (PDPs) provide a powerful and flexible way to link employee’s professional and personal development with the development of the organisation. My job role within Intertrain is the National contracts & compliance manager intertrain’s organisational chart is presented in appendix 1 to demonstrate my management role within the organisation. To be able to assess and plan for personal professional development a process needs to take place. It is important in learning new skills or developing new competencies that they are planned and structured. I will use Kolb’s learning cycle as the structure for my PDP, this will implemented to assess and reflect on my current experiences and skills. This will then in turn allow me to review and identify the development opportunities and then test them out and reflect what has been learnt in meeting organisational objectives.

Breakfast Eating Habits †UK †April 2014 Report by Researchmoz Essay

Operators could look to marketing to reposition breakfast as a way to connect people or to offer a bit of me-time before tackling the day, reminding consumers that, for example, a bowl of porridge or a crumpet with butter is worth savouring. Full Report With TOC @ http://www. researchmoz. us/breakfast-eating-habits-uk-april-2014-report. html Table of Content Introduction Definition Abbreviations Executive Summary. The market Figure 1: UK retail value sales of selected breakfast foods, 2008-18 Market factors Rise in consumer expenditure and confidence Sugar is an ongoing concern Demographic changes are set to impact the breakfast market Companies, brands and innovation Hot cereals see biggest growth in NPD Figure 2: Share of new product launches in typical breakfast food markets, by sub-category, 2011-13 The consumer Almost all adults eat breakfast at home, more than half doing so every day Figure 3: Frequency of eating breakfast, by location, February 2014 Breakfast cereals are most popular at home, hot rolls/sandwiches when out of home Figure 4: Types of breakfast foods eaten at home and out of home, February 2014 Ease of preparation is most important when eating breakfast at home Figure 5: Factors influencing choice of breakfast products at home and out of home, February 2014 Three in 10 tend to eat breakfast with others, while the same number enjoy taking their time Figure 6: Attitudes towards breakfast, February 2014 What we think All Latest Market Research Report @ http://www. researchmoz. us/latest-report. html For More Information Kindly Contact: Email: sales@researchmoz. us WebSite:http://www. researchmoz. us/ Blog: http://industryresearchnews. blogspot. com.

Waze-Analytical Proposition

Strategic Value of Information Technology – CRM / Analytics Waze- Analytics Proposition 1. waze currently gathers the following data on its clients: GPS data – where users are and when, the application learns the users driving routes in order to give them the best personalized route to their destination. 2. We propose to add new data regarding user’s personal characteristics and consumer preferences. Once the system detects that the user has stopped in a spot of interest – shopping center, gas station etc. a short questionnaire will pop up.This will include 2-4 questions regarding user characteristics and preferences relevant to specific place. In return to answering the questions user will receive points – user who gains a certain number of points will receive an e-coupon as an incentive to cooperate. For example – User stops at a specific shopping center and following questionnaire pops up: 1. Gender: Female / Male 2. Age group: 18-22 / 23- 30 / 30-40 / 40-50 / over 50 3. What stores do you plan to shop at? A list of participating stores in the shopping center 4. A specific question regarding one of the stores chosen by user in Q3.The final lists of questions will, of course, be devised by our marketing specialists. 3. Together with current user data regarding – time and place the additional demographic data and consumer preferences collected provide businesses with a unique set of valuable marketing information. Waze can collect the information and sell it to different businesses which will analyze it for their specific need. An example of how this data can be useful: â€Å"Paz† and their â€Å"Yellow† convenience stores might decide to purchase consumer data from waze.Then they might find out that at a certain location between 2 to 4 PM a large amount of mothers of young children consistently stops at the competing â€Å"Delek† gas station across the street. Then â€Å"Paz† will dec ide to advertise via waze a diapers sale at â€Å"Yellow† at this location during these hours, thus attracting the mothers to fill their tanks at â€Å"Paz† and shop at â€Å"Yellow†. This way waze wins twice – first it gets paid for the data that they collect and then they get paid again for the focused advertising through their application.

Catching Fire Journal Entry

February 17th I recently read a novel by Suzanne Collins titled, The Hunger Games. What I recall most about this book is the magnificent emphasis put on food. Every single meal eaten by the characters was described in such great detail that you would think the author was a former culinary student. As the name persists, food is a significant issue in this book. It’s a luxury for people living in the districts and a commodity for the capital. People from the districts often died of starvation while people who lived in the capital pushed a button to summons a three course meal.The person from a district who won the Hunger Games was guaranteed the fortune of food and money for the rest of their lives. Wow, what a prize! What I enjoyed most about reading this book was the way the author introduced and described all of the characters. I had a great picture in my mind about each and every character and I felt myself thinking about some of them even when they were absent from a page o r two. It became so interesting that before I could finish the book, I had to turn to the internet to look up the characters of the movie. I just had to see them in the flesh!My favorite character for most of the story was Katniss Everdeen, the beautiful, spirited tomboy. I could really relate to her like I could no other character in the book. I admired her for taking care of her little sister and especially her mother. I too, had to be the parent child in my household when growing up. I was not surprised at all when she took the place of her sister, the underdog, in the Hunger Games. Because I too, have lost someone close to me, I knew that hunting not only fulfilled the purpose to feed her family but that it helped her to cope with the death of her father, whose bow and arrows she cherished.My best friend during my teenage years was a guy named Brian, so it was easy for me to understand the relationship Katniss shared with her best friend Gale; the good looking guy that the other girls fawned over, but not her. She was not the kind of girl to go gaga over a guy’s good looks. It was an intimate relationship that grew from so many mutual feelings about life and their shared common interest. They complimented each other like peanut butter and jelly. I loved that they loved each other that way. Not like a brother and sister, who often squabble. Not like a husband and wife; it’s much deeper than that.Those relationships are tainted. Then she entered the Hunger Games and so did Peeta Mellark. Peeta was my second favorite character in the story. He was much softer around the edges than Katniss but he looked out for her like a man would look out for the woman he loves. Even before the Hunger Games, there was a time when he took a beating from his mother for burning some bread. The reason he burned the bread was so he could give it to Katniss who he knew was hungry and hiding in his back yard. It was that foreshadowing in the story that made me believe him later when he confessed his love for Katniss.Katniss was not sure about his love because she always thought it was a ploy for him to get further in the games, but I knew better. Due to the circumstances in the arena she almost convinced me a couple of times that he was not being true, but I held on fast. At times I wanted to yell at her for being so stubborn and at other times I admired her for not being so easy to fool. It was a roller coaster ride! Weather it was real or not, the romance they shared had me hooked. I felt like one of the spectators in the book itself! I was rooting for them to win the games so they could go home and live happily ever after.It was this relationship that has me looking forward to reading Catching Fire, the second book in the trilogy. I loved that Peeta came into the picture and shared emotional moments with Katniss. I know Katniss can take care of herself but I can’t resist wanting her to let Peeta take care of her emotionally. I know she can confide in Gale about her feelings, but it’s not the same; in their relationship they are equals. I recently saw a picture of Katniss, Gale and Peeta which almost guarantees a love triangle of some sort. I’m excited just thinking about it!

Friendship through thick or thin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Friendship through thick or thin - Essay Example ws down to explain their predicaments, how people neglect their occurrence and the problems they have to face in the society, since they are a neglected lot in the society. However, their fate is decided upon with them stumbling on a fortune. Since they have a strong bond in their relationship, they gain understanding in each other. They have ample trust in each other and decide to share their fortune. There are different people in the society with different economic muscles, depending on their social context. These are the rich people and the poor people who live in the same society, referred to as â€Å"home,† However, there is a difference between the two kinds of people as they have to live in different parts of the society. The poor people live on the streets and are regarded an invisible by the well-to-do with people. Wagamese states that it is â€Å"a truth you carry within yourself.† They are used to the neglect as they do not have the influence in the society (Wagamese, 124). They are forced to live on their own devices, which is a hurdle to their living. However, â€Å"their sense of belonging unites† them as friends and family that stays together. There is a spiritual guidance in the livelihoods of the four characters as they have their own contributions towards their companionship. First, Amelia One Sky is a considerable mother figure in the group, with the responsibilities of controlling the group. He is the in control of the group with â€Å"spiritual guidance and a deep reflection† on their needs. He instigated the whole group by joining the outsiders to their circle. Secondly, Amelia joined the outsiders to the group by incepting â€Å"Timber, Double Dick and Digger† (Wagamese 234). Their friendship was concreted by the fact that they lived in the same area and had the same experience in their life. In the course of their search for greener pastures, they attend a cinema and are obliged to have a deep adoration to the cinema. This is an instance that

The Competitiveness of the US Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Competitiveness of the US Economy - Essay Example For the past 15 years, the nation has maintained its position as the most competitive economy in the world amidst the challenges in the rapidly evolving global environment. During 2007, the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook together with the World Economic Forum cited that US is "arguably the country with the most productive and innovative potential in the world" (Reuters 2007). Amidst this regard for US competitiveness, this paper argues that the economy should watch out and safeguard this status in the face of recession it is undergoing. A country's competitiveness is indicated not just by economic strength but through the creation of a market environment which promotes healthy and unbiased competition among industry players. In order to be competitive, leaders should pursue policies which treat players equally. In an extreme case, competitiveness is indicated by a market where there is no government intervention (McConnell & Brue 2002). However, in the world today this system is not feasible and thus, competition is promoted through little or balanced intervention from the state. This paper believes that US economy is by far the most competitive economy in world noting the government's quest in promoting efficiency and fair play.

Capital Investment Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Capital Investment Process - Essay Example Therefore, it was always implied that despite techniques used to make the future more clear, capital investment decision requires a manager to use intuition. This study of a Boston Mayflower - a residential social landlord with about 5,000 houses - indicates that more accent must be put on qualitative appraisal techniques. The essay begins with building a theoretical base to get the reader familiar with some basic concepts of capital investment appraisal theory. The second part of the essay is devoted to a step-by-step analysis of the investment project of Boston Mayflower. This part of the essay is devoted to the description of methods used in the analysis of capital investment. Developed theoretical frameworks include several different techniques of analysis varying mainly in measures of investments. In other words, it is clear that the ultimate goal of every investment is maximisation of owner's wealth; however specific characteristics of every project oblige management to choose carefully and with correspondence to the most vital needs of the business. The most typical example is the choice between long-term investment project with high return value and short-term project but with lesser return. Although the first development plan will lead to better profits in the end, sometimes a company chooses the second one. That means the time factor is more important for owners than greater profits in the illustrated case. Generally, capital investment decisions are always connected to the following list of specific features: a significant outlay of cash; long-term involvement with greater risks and uncertainty because forecasts of the future are less reliable; irreversibility of some projects due to their specialised nature, for example, plant which having been bought with a specific project in mind may have little or no scrap value; a significant time lag between commitment of resources and the receipt of benefits; management's ability is often stretched with some projects demanding an awareness of all relevant diverse factors; limited resources require priorities on capital expenditure; project completion time requires adequate continuous control information as costs can be exceeded by a significant amount. (McGrath, 1998) These characteristics make the managerial decision even more important, as it must be connected with the strategy of a company. Simply, a manager should choose not the most profit-making project, but the most suitable one for the business strategy of his/her company. This statement leads to a careful choice of the evaluation technique used to determine, which investment plan complements best the chosen strategy. There several factors, which should be taken into consideration during evaluation of investment opportunities: initial cost of the project; phasing of the expenditure; estimated life of the investment; amount and timing of the

Ethical interview Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethical interview - Coursework Example From this illustration, it is evident that this method is not only used the moment a partner dies (Garcia, 2001). From the matter and hand, Karen Capato who used has husbands through the Vitro fertilization gave a result of twins. It is a fact that some children have been denied a right of accessing the heritage on how they were born. The governing bodies have to propose a bill that advocates genetically manipulated children to find and understand how they came into existence and to gain their inheritance. The attitude and the perception by the state not to recognize these children as humans even though they are issued with the birth certificates is an overwhelming factor that needs to be eliminated. Despite technology being used, what matters is that the result that will be generated is a human being. Putting these children in the state of doubt makes them lose confident of themselves being in mind their conception was as natural as compared to the other kids (Salumets, 2003). Globally, the matter grown to a higher level because the number of children produced with the assistance of technology has continued to grow. Its growth has gotten a bigger number of complex ethical issues especially those that are associated with the matter at hand. When it comes to the social security benefits entitlement for these children conceived through means, I suggest that there should be some limits in the decision that are proposed by the supreme courts. For the limit to be implemented there must be considerations and according to my opinion, I suggest this by the use of utilitarian ethical theory and the principle of fairness (SANKAI, 2000). When children are conceived using genetic manipulation, there are legal difficulties that that compounds the individual to gain the inheritance. Through applying the principle of justice, we focus on the equitability of the distributional risks because of the limited resources available. The

Weekly Activity 9 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Weekly Activity 9 - Essay Example There are many unfortunate institutional barriers which impede the process of protection delivery to women on campus despite good policies enacted by the government like the Jeanne Clery Act. This act requires all colleges and universities to provide emotional support to victims of harassment and sexual assault. However, women still lack safety on campus because in addition to this fact that many attacks go unreported, college administrators themselves demonstrate great disbelief when complaints are delivered to them by victims. This attitude discourages students who need reassurance in times of distress (Zeisler, 2014). In order to turn around the situation of women’s safety for good at my campus, I intend to remove all those institutional barriers which impede delivery of protection to women on time. For this purpose, weekly instructional meetings will be organized after study hours on campus to make students feel more motivated and determined about reporting bad things when they happen to them. It is the silence of women which has made sexual assault a silent epidemic. These meetings will bring together women’s groups and campus safety agents in one place to put a stop to this growing epidemic. Zeisler, A. (2014, 30 Apr). College Campus Safety: What Parents and Students Should Know. HUFF POST. Retrieved from

GPS and ERRORS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

GPS and ERRORS - Essay Example High cost receivers produce accuracy of 1 centimetre under dense clouds and forests. Still GPS receiver produce problems of signal generation, satellite communication and certain multiple problems still require solution. There are many features, which may be used to increase accuracy, but some times, it is more time consuming for the users. Now there is a point of concern that, it would be appropriate for the users to work with less stringent settings to save time and money and similarly gaining better accuracy. All the GPS related problems and solution to those problems are discussed in ensuing paragraphs. GPS works out position with the help of 24 satellites orbiting the earth. These satellites are operated by US department of Defence. These 24 satellites orbit earth twice a day and organized at six orbital planes that are inclined at 55 degree. Now there are clocks in receiver and satellite as well, used for calculating the distance and time that a signal takes to reach receiver. Different enhanced settings used by user help in increasing the time of a signal to reach receiver. Limited settings are the remedy to counter this problem for saving time in position calculation (Frank, 2011, 83) GPS faces two types of interference in the open; these are faced in ionosphere and troposphere. In this type of error, signals take long time to reach receiver because they have to pass through the charged particles and in troposphere, signals have to pass through moisture that is time taking. Signals travel at the speed of light in upper space but they get slower the moment they pass through ionosphere and troposphere. Force of sun creates the positive charged particles at the height of 80 to 400 Kilometres. These ions form layers in the ionosphere, which disturbs the flow of electromagnetic waves generated by satellites (Kennedy, 2010). Multiple errors occur when some amount of signals transmitted by satellite bounce back in the atmosphere before reaching a receiver.