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Wednesday, December 25, 2019

One of the Main Causes of Global Warming - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 592 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/03/14 Category Ecology Essay Level High school Tags: Global Warming Essay Did you like this example? Fossil fuels give off carbon dioxide when used as a fuel in vehicles, industries, etc. Deforestation to make space for houses and provide wood for furniture and paper products results in an overall reduction in the amount of trees. Plants absorb carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and in their respiration process leaves oxygen, which animals and living organisms need to breathe. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "One of the Main Causes of Global Warming" essay for you Create order Together the effects of increased burning of the fossil fuels while reducing the stock of trees leads to an unbalanced amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which is believed to be one of the main causes of Global warming. Global warming problems are getting worse because of the increase in amounts of carbon dioxide being produced. The excess carbon dioxide continues to diminish the density of the ozone layer, which protects the earth. If the ozone layer is destroyed or a solution to ozone layer reduction is not invented, then the sun is likely to start to burn everything slowly, killing all plants, animal and the existence of every living organism. Scientists believe this can happen over time as the water evaporates quicker than ever before and wild fires would not be as uncommon.   The ozone layer is being destroyed as people use more fossil fuel and kill plants for their own needs. In the process they decrease the ozone layer slowly and scientists don’t know how to fix the problem as yet. As the layer becomes less dense more energy from the sunlight reaches the earth making it hotter. People solution is to buy A/C units to counter the heat but this causes the problem to become worse because the A/C units use a lot of electricity (made mostly by fossil fuels) and it would probably work harder as it gets hotter and may stay on all day to counteract the heat. A/C units also contribute other greenhouse gasses from refrigerant leakage. As the earth gets hotter the demand for A/C units would increase and then places will need A/C units to be liveable.   One major effect of the gradual rise in the average temperature of the earth is the loss of habitats. This temperature rise has caused the melting of ice caps and a rise in the sea level, which covers more of the land. In colder climates for instance, polar bears and walruses have to deal with large areas of water making it more difficult to find land or solid ice to rest and regain energy while hunting. Other creatures that depend on the icy land to live will also eventually die out.   In warmer climates the sea level rise floods shallow land which submerges buildings and makes many areas more difficult to live so people move to higher ground. Coral reefs suffer because they will be lower under water. Coral reefs depend on the algae to live therefore it dies out and all the fish that took refuge in the coral reef will eventually leave.? Increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been blamed for the gradual increase in temperature of the earth. The rising temperature has caused melting of ice regions, which has caused the sea level to rise. The rising sea level has submerged more land area causing people to move to higher ground that leads to cutting down more trees to make space for new houses, which makes the problem worse. Many scientists are trying to figure out how to break the cycle before too much damage is done since most of the damage can’t be reversed.

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

A Situation That Illustrates Deviance That I Have...

A situation that illustrates deviance that I have personally been involved in would be my adoption. I was born in Seoul, South Korea and was adopted because my parents were teenagers and couldn’t afford to keep me. I was adopted into a Middle Class European family and am the oldest child of the family. My sister is also adopted from Korea, but we are not biological. My adoption is deviant in two ways. The first is that my biological parents were teenagers which presents a deviance from the traditional sense of that having children should be had after marriage. In addition, it presents another deviance due to my parents and I being of different races, and break the traditional homogeneity of family structure here in the United States. My†¦show more content†¦This label deters me from deviance because I feel that the family I live with gave me a second chance. I could have been aborted, or kept in Korea and lived in poverty. However, I was given a chance to be successfu l and was adopted into a family that supports me and loves me. I feel that I should take the opportunities that I have to work hard, and to be successful and make my parents proud. Another part of being labeled as adoptee, would be the initial reaction people have towards you in a social situation. For example, in supermarkets or restaurants, the cashiers and waitress give me a strange look, because I look very different from my parents. Since adoption is deviant from the traditional sense of child bearing, it surprises people to see adopted children and their first impression is confusion. I was raised in an Evangelical Christian family, and the ideals of hard work, honesty, and love of neighbors were values intrinsically taught to me as a child and my second label would be â€Å"christian†. By participating in deviant acts, not only would it hurt my parents for working hard, so that I could be successful, but also go against my Christian values. Both of these motivate me t o stay out of deviance and to focus on school and family. The negative sanctions of parental disapproval and disappointment are powerful punishments to also deter me from deviance. The final label I have would be â€Å"citizen†. When I came to America, I had

Monday, December 9, 2019

Moral Dilemma free essay sample

1. What is a moral dilemma? A genuine dilemma is one type of moral problem, captured by the expression â€Å"You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t.† That is, in a dilemma, there appears to be no right answer or solution (Dreisbach, 2008). Moral dilemmas, at the very least, involve conflicts between moral requirements (McConnell, 2010). 3. The four questions that must be asked to establish if a Dirty Harry Problem exists are: Did the agent know the situation and the choices that it offers? The answer to this question is yes. Dirty Harry had a previous history with Scorpio and knew that Scorpio was capable of being unscrupulous. Therefore, Dirty Harry knew both the situation and the choices that this situation offered. Did Dirty Harry know the difference between right and wrong when he decided to pursue Scorpio by any means necessary? The answer to this question is yes. Dirty Harry is an officer of the law and not only has he studies, but he has also taken an oath to uphold the laws in the Constitution. As an officer, he has undergone training and knows that it is his duty to uphold and not defy the laws of the land he has sworn to protect. As enforcers of law, police have a special duty to obey them (Dreisbach, 2008). Dirty Harry clearly knew the difference between right and wrong. Did Dirty Harry act from free will? The answer to this question is yes. He was able to do otherwise but he chose instead to pursue Scorpio, by any means he deemed necessary. Dirty Harry knew he had plenty of alternatives, but he chose to ignore them. He chose to defy the law he was sworn to uphold and follow and torture Scorpio. Did Dirty Harry intend to act as he did? The answer to this question is yes. Dirty Harry intentionally acted as he did. He was well aware of the alternatives, but instead chose to break into Scorpio’s apartment. Dirty Harry thereafter chose to torture Scorpio, while ignoring Scorpio’s request for an attorney. 4. Explain (please, for full credit, don’t just mention) Klockars’s four assumptions police make about guilt. The Operative Assumption of Guilt which means police have to assume that the person they are working with is guilty in order for him to do his job efficiently, unless he knows otherwise. They are even to assume that the suspects’ behavior is implying guilt regardless of what that behavior is. This guilt the police hold on to does not disappear until he’s taken the appropriate actions to prove or disprove it; sometimes those actions include â€Å"dirty† ones. Worst of all Possible Guilt comes to the conclusion that not only is the assumption of guilt present but the police also believe the suspect is dangerous. This method of thinking is based mainly on the idea that â€Å"once is enough.† That theory is somewhat centered around the fact that even simple, routine stops have escalated to more serious things, so if it happened once it could happen again. The Great Guilty Place Assumption is based on the concept of suspicion. Due to the environment the policemen are exposed to on the regular basis, it’s as if they look at our everyday ways of life and see all the potential of opportunities of crime. This assumption conforms to the idea that people, places, and now even occasions create epistemic problems. The Not Guilty (This Time) Assumption is still centered on the idea that a suspect is guilty; however, they may just be innocent that one time. This is embedded on conscious that sometimes perpetrators get away with things for that moment but ultimately, they are still guilty of some sort of crime, just not at that particular moment. 5. What is the specific moral dilemma that Dirty Harry Problem poses for police officers? (ONE OR TWO SENTENCES ONLY) The specific moral dilemma with the Dirty Harry Problem is trying to decide when the Dirty Means justifies achieving a Morally Good End. It’s never a clear and concise answer. 6. Explain (please, for full credit, don’t just mention) whether and how Inspector Callahan acted as virtuous professional in terms of each of his FOUR professional relationships. Inspector Callahan did not act as a virtuous professional in terms of each of his four professional relationships. The four professional relationships are relationships with the client, the public at large, colleagues, and the profession itself. Those relationships, if acted upon with integrity, determine a virtuous police officer. Based off those ideas, Inspector Callahan acted as if only the little girl was his client. He completely neglected his sworn duty of obedience and trustworthiness to the public at large, who are also his clients. Professional ethics are a balancing act when evaluating relationships and instead of maintaining this balance, Inspector Callahan put the girl’s safety above everything else. He did whatever he could to prove his loyalty to an individual client, the girl. Police and the community benefit from a clear understanding and acceptance of the department’s vision and mission, as long as the police officers live up to those ideals (Dreisbach, 2008). Officer Callahan’s myopic view allowed Scorpio to go free, thus nullifying all of Officer Callahan’s vigilante efforts, placing the public at large back in danger and allowing the girl to die in vain. Inspector Callahan felt obligated to do something to get at Scorpio for shooting his partner. Perhaps, Inspector felt it was his fault for his partner getting shot so; he did what to could to mend that relationship. That probably was the driving force behind catching back to Scorpio. Inspector Callahan could have been thinking, that it could have been him that got shot instead of his partner. Nevertheless, the virtuous professional would not have reacted in such a manner. The virtuous professional would have trusted the legal system, of which he is a part, to enact justice, though it may take a while to obtain. Lastly, Inspector Callahan took an oath when he received his badge and that was to protect and serve; something that all cops must do even if it means losing their lives. That relationship to his profession, or rather being a cop is what determines which side he’s on; the good, law-abiding side or the bad, criminal side like Scorpio. If he were to just sit back and make no efforts in serving and protecting the people, it would be blatant disrespect to that oath, the badge he wears and the uniform he puts on every day. Nonetheless, honoring that badge means honoring the law that it represents. Therefore, Inspector Callahan did not act in a virtuous manner when he blatantly disobeyed all the rules related to his profession. 7. The virtuous police officer puts their professional relationships in proper priority, giving preference to the Constitution’s and the community’s interests over the interests of third parties, their colleagues or themselves (Dreisbach, 2008). The virtuous police officer is also aware of the scope and limits of their rights and the community’s role in helping them exercise those rights and exercises those rights only to the extent that they make the officer a more effective professional (Dreisbach, 2008). Using the aforestated as a guide that aides in the definition of a virtuous professional in terms of seven professional obligations, officer Dirty Harry Callahan, failed to act, maintain and uphold many of his seven professional obligations, and therefore cannot be deemed a virtuous professional. One of the seven professional obligations of a virtuous professional is competence. The competent police officer knows the Constitution and laws as they apply to her professional practice and their jurisdiction ((Dreisbach, 2008). Officer Callahan’s actions were negligent in the following areas of policing: Investigating and interrogating. An officer of the law is to acknowledge a suspects request for an attorney, must follow regulations, statutes, i.e. obtaining a search warrant and must follow codes of conduct. Officer Callahan did not have the right to exact torture on Scorpio to obtain the goal of finding the girl. Officer Callahan therefore failed to uphold his professional obligation of competence. He did not act as a virtuous professional when being evaluated for competency. Officer Callahan was also lacking in diligence, the second professional obligation of the virtuous professional. With diligence, the professional should make a good effort and take care in fulfilling their agreement with the client (Dreisbach, 2008). Officer Callahan’s short sightedness caused him to fail to note that even the suspect that he tortured and denied rights to was one of his clients. This suspect had the positive right to expect to: Not have his place searched illegally, from cruel and unusual punishment and to obtain due process of the law, starting primarily with obtaining an attorney. Officer Callahan also negated his agreement with the community and family that he blindly advocated for in his search for the missing girl, because his lack of diligence allowed Scorpio to go free. Officer Callahan gave into temptations to cut corners and instead opted to get the bad guy at all costs. As such, Officer Callahan did not follow the path of the virtuous professional wh en being evaluated for diligence. The third professional obligation is honesty. There are two views regarding Officer Callahan’s honesty. Officer Callahan knew the situation and the choices that it offered, he knew the difference between right and wrong; he chose to act against all the departmental rules and regulations. He shrugged off his moral responsibility and acted dishonestly (lack of warrant, etc.,) from his own free will. Henceforth, Officer Callahan defaulted on his professional obligation of honesty. Officer Callahan knew the situation and the choices that it offered, he knew the difference between right and wrong, despite choosing to act against departmental rules to save the girl’s life, he reported the incidents truthfully. The case was thrown out of Court, but Officer Callahan maintained his honesty because he did not lie about the way he obtained evidence against Scorpio, upholding his moral responsibility and preserving the integrity of his profession. In this instance, the accumulation of actions resulted in the support of Officer Callahan’s third professional obligation of honesty. The fourth professional obligation is candor. Candor is a matter of revealing everything one believes about the subject (Dreisbach, 2008). Officer Callahan acted as a virtuous professional when it relates to candor. It is possible to be honest without being candid, but it is not possible to be candid without being honest (Dreisbach, 2008). If Officer Callahan neglected to uphold his professional obligation of being candid, many of his actions would have been unknown to the department and Scorpio’s case would remain prosecutable. Officer Callahan’s candor gave the defense the necessary information to move for dismissal of Scorpio’s case. The fifth professional obligation is loyalty. Officer Callahan did not act as a virtuous professional in regards to his professional obligation of loyalty. In policing, the professional promises loyalty to the Constitution and to the community they are serving, all other loyalties are subordinate. Failure to understand this or failure to act on this understanding is a symptom of and may be a cause of police corruption (Dreisbach, 2008). Analyzing a case is a balancing act and Officer Callahan only focused on one side of the pendulum – retrieving the missing girl alive. His loyalty only to that one cause produced a myopic vision of his circumstances and he failed in his professional obligation to be loyal to the rules and regulations that police officers are bound to obey. Police and the community benefit from a clear understanding and acceptance of the department’s vision and mission, as long as the police officers live up to those ideals (Dreisbach, 2008). Officer Call ahan’s failure in his professional obligation of loyalty to the rules and regulations not only caused both the confession and the evidence from the warrantless search to be inadmissible in court, allowing Scorpio to go free, but damaged the integrity of the department and also injured the family and community that he is sworn to dutifully serve. The sixth professional obligation is discretion. For a police officer, discretion refers primarily to the ability to make professional choices on one’s own, without having to run every decision by a superior (Dreisbach, 2008). Officer Callahan failed in acting as a virtuous professional in regards to discretion because he knowingly and willfully made choices that are antagonistic to any that his superiors, the Constitution, or any body of law would dictate. Fearing for the death of the girl, he acted with abject disregard to any rules. Although we have the innate right to do anything we can to preserve a life, exercising that right without restraint will keep us in a state of war from which fear of death drives us (Dreisbach, 2008). Since living in a state of war is counterintuitive to the goal of discretion, Officer Callahan’s actions were in direct contradiction of the goals one would want to achieve when performing the professional obligation of discretion. The seventh professional obligation is beneficence/nonmaleficence. Below are several views regarding Officer Callahan’s actions: Officer Callahan acted with beneficence towards the family and the girl, because he did everything he could to get her back alive. He had a desire to do some good for the both of them. He therefore acted as a virtuous professional. Officer Callahan, acting as a virtuous professional, feared for the safety of the community and wanted to get Scorpio off the streets. He therefore acted with beneficence/nonmaleficence. Due to the unsuccessful attempts to arrest Scorpio for the two previous deaths, Officer Callahan became personally invested in arresting Scorpio and acted with blind passion and desire. Officer Callahan was only truly interested in stopping Scorpio. The girl was a byproduct of his obsession. In this scenario, Officer Callahan is guilty of maleficence and is not a virtuous professional. At the very least, the professional should try not to harm the client (Dreisbach, 2008). Officer Callahan denied Scorpio his rights and tortured him to get a confession. Therefore, Officer Callahan is guilty of maleficence.

Monday, December 2, 2019

John and Elizabeth Proctor Essay Example

John and Elizabeth Proctor Paper Arthur Millers dramatisation, The Crucible gives us his interpretation of the true events, which took place within a small community in a 17th Century America, which at the time was largely inhabited by Puritans. The play focuses mainly on two Puritans called Elizabeth and John Proctor. John Proctor is a well-respected farmer of his mid-thirties. Miller describes him as a kind man of powerful body. He runs by his own set of morals and therefore is not easily led. He is introduced by a large piece of prose that is precisely set out so that the actor knows exactly how Miller wants the actor who plays John Proctor to act, when he comes on stage. For instance, Miller asks the actor of John Proctor to act with a hidden force. The description is especially acute as he is the main character. However, Miller also introduces some of the other characters in the same way. This may have been because Miller intended it to be read as a book as well as a play. Proctors power, respect and sometimes fear among the people of Salem is evident instantaneously. We will write a custom essay sample on John and Elizabeth Proctor specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on John and Elizabeth Proctor specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on John and Elizabeth Proctor specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer As he enters, the first thing he says to Mary Warren is Ill show you a great doing on your arse one of these days subsequently Mary walks out trying to retain a shred of dignity. As well as this the stage directions for the rest of the girls show their excitement at his presence. For instance, directly after Marys exit Mercy also walks out, both afraid of him and strangely titillated. The rest of the girls react in a similar way as her stage directions show her nervousness for example, with a nervous laugh , wide-eyed and absorbing his presence. This shows the sexual charisma of Proctor. We soon find out that Proctors sin is lechery, as he had a sexual relationship with his former servant Abigail Williams. The audience learns this when Abby says,John I am a waitin for you every night. Until then Miller, had shown the audience mostly that Proctor was an upright and respected member of society. However, when it is just Proctor and Abigail alone we see the side of him that is drawn into flirtation with Abby. This is shown through the dialogue, for example the repeated use of the words wicked and mischief which work to show this aspect of Johns character to the audience . As well as this, Proctors dialogue and stage directions are suggestive. A good illustration of this is his smile widening and ah youre wicked yet arent y. Miller skilfully creates an atmosphere in which we see Proctor having pressure piled onto him by Abigail. The reader and audience can see this clearly as the words to do with pressure are repeated. For instance, I have a sense for heat, John and burning in your loneliness. Its clearly evident that Abbys words have some truth as she manages to put so much pressure on him that he eventually admits he thinks of [her] softly from time to time. The two sides to John Proctor are clearly shown. Abigail does well to put John under pressure until she mentions Elizabeth, at which point John recoils and angered-at himself he says, youll speak nothin of Elizabeth. Johns battle with desire is also shown earlier on, in the words burning in your loneliness. The tension that is built up is shortly released from Proctor, when he ends up shaking Abigail. Had Abby not mentioned Elizabeth the tension may have been released in a way that fitted with Abbys flirtatious intentions. However, the minute Elizabeths name is mentioned, this is like a catalyst, bringing John to his senses and begins to show us the battle that is taking place within John. Elizabeth never actually appears in act one instead she is somewhat mentioned by Abigail. She is described as a sickly wife and a cold and snivelling woman.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Importance of Academic Deadline Essay Sample

Importance of Academic Deadline Essay Sample Importance of Academic Deadline Education Essay Importance of Academic Deadline Education Essay Many people think that meeting deadline is important, but others especially those who have problems with handling assignments on time do not agree. That is why let me introduce the advantages and disadvantages of doing work on time. I decided to provide my thoughts in a bit philosophic way, but still it is worth discussing. As for me, the only negative thing of late passing is an additional time for improving the assignment. Why it is Important to Turn in Assignments on Time Essay On the other hand, students who submit their assignments on time develop their personality and such important traits as sense of accomplishment and responsibility, of appreciation and respect. Furthermore, he/she becomes disciplined and punctual as well as learns how to achieve their goals. In addition to this, missing the deadline could lead to bad consequences, such as bad marks and additional tasks. Developing these skills is important for police officers because it is an undeniable fact that they should be responsible, respectful, punctual and be able to achieve their goals. Thereby now, I would like to talk about every advantage in detail. Let me start with such an important thing as punctuality. The first thing that needs to be said is â€Å"do not leave for tomorrow what you can do today†. Eternal postponing until later, tomorrow, day after tomorrow, etc. is a completely wrong approach to work. Furthermore, then when the time comes â€Å"for later† is already too late In addition, for the same reason a student may reinforce in memory the name of his/her course paper, which was given to him/her six months ago. Now he/she definitely has no time to write it, since he/she has always distracted to other â€Å"more serious† business. Moreover, during the last week before the due time he/she has some kind of a survival instinct that he/she miraculously manage to write 100 pages. Fortunately, our consciousness really starts to work as we grow up. We already start to realize that the best thing is to do everything in time. After all, we learn to be responsible and we realize that order in everything is very important. A number of key issues arise from the statement, for instance, punctuality or doing all on time. Delays or hindrance at work is a sign of an unreliable person. The principle of doing everything on time applies to all tasks. However, it is said that punctuality is the politeness of kings. I would say â€Å"Punctuality is politeness.† I believe that punctuality depends on a personal organization of a person. I think the main reason of being not punctual is that we always find some justification like â€Å"peel on the road†. If we repeatedly justify being late, and others say the true reason for being late, then eventually a desire not to be late will disappear. The main thing is that it is the most punctual people who are irritated because others cause delays. Every person usually thinks that he/she is punctual and we publicly declare that we are well-organized people. We are okay well almost whether it is all good, as soon as the session, project, repair are finished. Charming, witty, gallant, well It will not help if a young person is not punctual as well irresponsible and not keeping promises. Namely, he allows himself to be one hour late for a meeting, or to handle some work after the deadline. First, we allow ourselves to be late at school, then at work. Moreover, the reason for being late is not because the alarm broke, or the bus did not arrive on schedule, it is just because we just decided to lie in bed extra 20 minutes or changed twice in the morning. All managers consider as necessary to adhere to the stated schedule and plans. Punctuality in life is very important Punctual employees are respected, trusted with important things, set as an example and awarded with bonuses or financial rewards. Punctual intelligent leaders create an image not only of their business but also of a serious, rigorous, reliable, fair and confident person. Such an individual is trusted with not only personal secrets, but also business. Punctual workers are rarely fired. Discipline is paramount for police officers in order to ensure reliable public order and inviolability of citizens` rights. Life requires a person to be disciplined and perform clearly. School discipline is adherence to the rules of conduct by students at school and beyond, clear and organized performance of their duties, etc. Students need to understand that it is important to be disciplined and perform the accepted norms and rules at school and in public places. Conscious discipline is based on the conscious performance of social principles and behavior; it is based on the formation of the following features: Discipline desire and ability of individuals to control their behavior according to social norms and regulations; Moral awareness awareness of the need to follow individual and social moral norms; Responsibility quality of an individual, which is characterized by desire and ability to evaluate their behavior in terms of its appropriateness or harm to society, comparing their actions with the requirements, standards and laws present in the society. When teaching students of proper behavior at school and beyond it is important to monitor their behavior taking into consideration handling of the assignments on time, and to take appropriate actions against those who systematically miss the deadline without an important reason. Some schools have special magazines where students` misbehavior and educational measures applied to them are recorded. It helps teachers to timely analyze students` discipline, outline and take steps to improve it, to find out more about the living conditions of the students, get more acquainted with their families, to delve deeper into the inner world of individual students to identify weaknesses of educational work of the school and improve it. When handling assignments on time, we become more disciplined. Furthermore, this trait is one of the most essential for a police officer. The key to success is a good discipline. Discipline is one of the most important conditions that need to be followed by any team member in a company of any category; discipline can create the highest possible standards and conditions of the work performed. Discipline is a quite versatile category. It includes both punctuality and responsibility. Punctuality itself may be different. When it comes to punctuality of employees, they must be present at work in accordance with their contract of employment. Discipline represents a particular moral quality: it is a conscious subordination of a person`s conduct to certain rules and morals. Conscious discipline is seen when a student assumes responsibilities, follows rules and maintains order without constraint. At the same time discipline is a complete, complex and contradictory quality of an individual; it depends on the formation of ideology, belief, determination, will, initiative and independence. Individual and collective efforts of students create this quality. Students usually gain this quality through hard work, initiative, responsibility, perseverance and activity. Of great importance is self-discipline when a student consciously struggles with laziness. One of the components of the mo ral character of students is self-regulatory activities aimed at improving their personality. In addition, students are usually taught such moral qualities as honesty, openness and so on. For students of a police academy, performance, organization and discipline are very important. Discipline is manifested not only in meeting the requirements not to be late, not to miss classes, etc., but also in the performance of tasks, timely implementation and delivery of work, etc. The next moral issue, which we are taught when meeting deadlines, is responsibility. What is responsibility? It is an ability of a particular person or a group of people to assume obligations. Responsibility is an ability in any, even the most difficult situations, to make everything dependent on us, and not place our problems on others. What is responsibility? It is willingness to do what is necessary, taking the initiative. Responsibility is a personal volition. Therefore, responsibility is: An ability to realize the fact that success, quality of living conditions and personal fulfillment is only in our hands; Readiness for fulfillment of obligations and promises; An ability to understand the consequences of an individual`s decisions and actions. Responsibility provides a person with certain advantages that are: Self -reliance and confidence; Formation of self-respect and respect for other people; Self-control; Rational assessment of other people`s behavior. That is why when a person hands an assignment on time he/she is considered as a responsible person who is ready to answer for his/her actions. It is important to work hard in order to meet a deadline and develop a sense of appreciation. Everybody has a need for recognition. It can be achieved through achievements, confidence or demonstration of a person`s experience in a particular field of study. Recognition can be achieved through development and good reputation, assertiveness and gain of a higher status. All people feel the need for respect, which is awareness of personal achievement, competence and recognition. They need a sense of the value. In addition, they need respect, based on their achievements while competing with others. All these needs are closely related to the notion of status, which means weight or importance of the person in the eyes of others. An ability to meet such needs can serve as a powerful motivating factor at work. People require recognition and affirmation. These needs reflect the desire of people to be confident, competent and respected. People with strong needs tend to leadership, recognition of authority in the team. When managing such people various forms of recognition apart from moral encouragement must be used. When the need for self-esteem is met, it leads to a feeling of self-confidence, dignity, and a sense of power. Failure to meet these needs could result in developing a sense of inferiority, weakness and helplessness. Another thing that we learn when handing home assignments on time is the ability to meet our targets. Jim Rohn, famous American businessperson, once said, â€Å"I will climb this mountain. They say it is too high, too unavailable, too steep, too rocky and too difficult to climb. But it is my mountain. I am able to conquer it. Soon you will see how I shake the hand on the top of it, or die on the outskirts of it.† The same is with our assignments; at the beginning, we suppose that this task is too hard to perform, but when we set the target of tackling all problems, the result may impress even ourselves. Definition of personal goals is something like a hammer, allowing us to break old patterns of thinking. We can find the truth about ourselves. Just discovering our personality, we can discover our talents and identify personal goals. The basis of any activity is based on an objective. Purpose is a line of a person’s action that reveals the nature and structure of the individual. The process of setting goals is based on an analysis of the preconditions for its implementation called goal formation. When a person sets the goals him/herself, this indicates that this person is at a higher level of development as compared to a person who is trying to achieve a goal set by other people. If person has aims, he/she tends to work hard to achieve these aims. It is much harder than in the case when a goal (task) is set by other people: A clear statement of purpose activities (what to do, what to study, what to learn) Awareness of the activities (which is necessary) Definition of means needed to achieve the goal Analysis of difficulties faced when achieving the goal and means of overcoming them. Moreover, after accomplishing a task on time, we wake up a feeling of accomplishment and we can respire and start doing other things. Understanding of the moral duty is always associated with a voluntary action. Duty could be performed out of fear or for the sake of reward, and the educational duties contain both of those reasons. The formation of a sense of duty, an understanding of its reasons allows us to do well and according to our conscience, not only according to the requirements of a teacher. Every human action, because of the chosen solution, somehow violates the interests of others as well as society. Because a moral choice of an individual becomes a certain value to other people, it always puts the responsibility on the individual. This responsibility can be conditionally divided into internal and external. Internal accountability is an attribute of moral categories such as conscience; it expresses an ability of individuals to realize the consequences of their actions. External accountability is expressed in the form of sanctions against an individual`s actions. Responsibility means an ability to understand the needs of others. Responsibility means an ability to control personal behavior and to avoid irrational decisions. Being responsible means taking care of all the consequences of one`s actions. Responsible behavior opposes irresponsible one. Responsible action is the one that occurs without consequences for anybody. Irresponsibility is always associated with indifference and thoughtlessness or excessive self-confidence. First, irresponsibility means trying to shift the consequences of one`s actions on others. Nevertheless, I want to talk about external responsibility and punishments for not handing assignments on time. Nowadays, the question of the use of encouragement and unusual punishment is very important. Most teachers use them as dominant, without taking into consideration that nowadays there are a lot of different methods and techniques. Nevertheless, despite such popularity of such methods as encouragement and unusual punishment, teachers use these techniques without thinking whether they are effective in pedagogical terms. Stimulation methods and techniques are aimed at encouraging students to improve their behavior. Direct and immediate purpose of such incentives is to speed up or slow down certain actions. Encouragement reinforces positive habits and increases responsibility. It is all about the above-mentioned appreciation of work, and if we submit a paper after the deadline, we will not get any encouragement but only punishment. Penalty is a method of influence that is used to prevent unwanted actions, stop negative manifestations of an individual with the help of a negative assessment of his/her actions, generation of guilt and shame etc. However, many outstanding teachers support the idea that â€Å"real† education should be without punishments and rewards; this is a kind of a perfect relations between teachers and students. Let`s consider the most common form of punishment, which is teacher`s comments. Another form of punishment is a reprimand. It is a moral condemnation of a student`s acts. It is usually used when a student misses the deadline on a regular basis. Expulsion as a form of penalty is the most rigid one, but its usefulness, to say the least, is questionable. It should be done only if it will have a real educational effect. However, the most widely spread method of punishment is bad marks. That is why it is important to submit homework on time in order to avoid such devastating effects. Nowadays everybody faces a particular type of deadline. In order to avoid such a situation and not to think constantly that the deadline is approaching, there are a few little tricks. Voice the deadlines to other people Avoid vague promises like â€Å"soon† or â€Å"I will do it tomorrow†. â€Å"Soon†- is a rather vague concept. That is why, set specific dates and let other people interested in the fact of keeping the promise know about such dates (e.g., colleagues or other students). A phrase such as â€Å"This assignment will be handed at 4 pm on Thursday† is much more efficient. The fact is that people, who are perfectly conscious of the need to do important things, ignore them and are constantly distracted by everyday trivia and entertainment. Do the important things first We should start doing the most important work instead of the most current or most difficult. Some things seem urgent, for example, phone calls, or responding to a new email. Repeat, â€Å"Do it now†. In education, the most important is to start. Try to repeat the phrase â€Å"Do it now† aloud when no one is around. Procrastination is a kind of defense mechanism; it is a method of dealing with anxiety associated with a beginning or end of something. Create your own reward system We say to ourselves: â€Å"Yes, yes, Ill start, but first I drink a cup of tea†. Teatime gradually flows into watching daytime programs as we work at home or reading the news on the Internet and social networking. Then we come back from the virtual reality and do not know time elapsed so quickly. We should try the following method: Assign yourself with a reward in the form of tea or cookies for an accomplished work (for example, writing of a 500-word report). Use modern technologies to block the Internet Many people complain, â€Å"I get 500 emails a day.† If we get 500 emails a day, we just have to put filters and turn off the alert when new emails are coming. Imagine that these letters are real people who continually come to us and interrupt our work how would we react? We can also download free applications that block access to certain sites at certain times. Using them, we can make sure that entertainment sites and social networks are impossible to access between 10am and 6pm (unless our system administrator has permitted the access). Organize your spare time Start planning a weekend in the middle of a week. Many people think it is terribly boring, but they are wrong. Some people rarely get to their favorite restaurant on Saturday night only because all tables are booked in advance. Avoid those who steal our time Stay away from those people who are â€Å"eaters of time†. If we cannot avoid communication with them, a behavioral strategy will help us to bring the conversation to a minimum. Meeting with friends, who start a conversation with the words, â€Å"would never guess what happened to me last night† is the last thing we need when we need to finish a presentation as soon as possible. Instead of being â€Å"bogged down† in the verbal mud, say, â€Å"I really appreciate that you want to share this information with me. But can you do it later, after I finish my presentation?† If we think over what to say and how to say it in advance, it is unlikely that the other person will consider it rude. Overall, I think that meeting deadlines may have only positive results. It is quite important for us as future police officers to be responsible, punctual and disciplined professionals. In addition to this, meeting deadlines would prevent us from such punishments as low marks and even expulsion. That is why we should learn and do our best not to postpone performance of a task in order to hand in our papers on time.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

How to Find the Volume in a Test Tube

How to Find the Volume in a Test Tube Finding the volume of a test tube or NMR tube is a common chemistry calculation, both in the lab for practical reasons and in the classroom to learn how to convert units and report significant figures. Here are three ways to find the volume. Calculate Density Using Volume of a Cylinder A typical test tube has a rounded bottom, but NMR tubes and certain other test tubes have a flat bottom, so the volume contained in them is a cylinder. You can get a reasonably accurate measure of volume by measuring the internal diameter of the tube and the height of the liquid. The best way to measure the diameter of a test tube is to measure the widest distance between the inside glass or plastic surfaces. If you measure all the way from edge to edge, youll include the test tube itself in your measurements, which isnt correct.Measure the volume of the sample from where it starts at the bottom of the tube to the base of the meniscus (for liquids) or the top layer of the sample. Dont measure the test tube from the bottom of the base to where it ends. Use the formula for the volume of a cylinder to perform the calculation: V Ï€r2h where V is volume, Ï€ is pi (about 3.14 or 3.14159), r is the radius of the cylinder and h is the height of the sample The diameter (which you measured) is twice the radius (or radius is one-half diameter), so the equation may be rewritten: V Ï€(1/2 d)2h where d is diameter Example Volume Calculation Lets say you measure an NMR tube and find the diameter to be 18.1 mm and height to be 3.24 cm. Calculate the volume. Report your answer to the nearest 0.1 ml. First, youll want to convert the units so theyre the same. Please use cm as your units, because a cubic centimeter is a milliliter! This will save you trouble when it comes time to report your volume. There are 10 mm in 1 cm, so to convert 18.1 mm into cm: diameter (18.1 mm) x (1 cm/10 mm) [note how the mm cancels out]diameter 1.81 cm Now, plug in the values into the volume equation: V Ï€(1/2 d)2hV (3.14)(1.81 cm/ 2)2(3.12 cm)V 8.024 cm3 [from the calculator] Because there is 1 ml in 1 cubic centimeter: V 8.024 ml But, this is unrealistic precision, given your measurements. If you report the value to the nearest 0.1 ml, the answer is: V 8.0 ml Find the Volume of a Test Tube Using Density If you know the composition of the contents of the test tube, you can look up its density to find the volume. Remember, density equal mass per unit volume. Get the mass of the empty test tube. Get the mass of the test tube plus the sample. The mass of the sample is: mass (mass of filled test tube) – (mass of empty test tube) Now, use the density of the sample to find its volume. Make sure the units of density are the same as those of the mass and volume you want to report. You may need to convert units. density (mass of sample) / (volume of sample) Rearranging the equation: Volume Density x Mass Expect error in this calculation from your mass measurements and from any difference between the reported density and the actual density. This usually happens if your sample isnt pure or the temperature is different from the one used for the density measurement. Finding the Volume of a Test Tube Using a Graduated Cylinder Notice a normal test tube has a rounded bottom. This means using the formula for the  volume of a cylinder will produce an error in your calculation. Also, its tricky trying to measure the internal diameter of the tube. The best way to find the volume of the test tube is to transfer the liquid to a clean graduated cylinder to take a reading. Note there will be some error in this measurement, too. A small volume of liquid may be left behind in the test tube during transfer to the graduated cylinder. Almost certainly, some of the sample will remain in the graduated cylinder when you transfer it back to the test tube. Take this into account. Combining Formulas to Get Volume Yet another method to get the volume of a rounded test tube is to combine the volume of a cylinder with half the volume of the sphere (the hemisphere that is the rounded bottom). Be aware that the thickness of the glass at the bottom of the tube may be different from that of the walls, so there is an inherent error in this calculation.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Strategic Management Accounting Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Management Accounting - Research Paper Example Variance analysis helps to determine variation from standards and in turn enhances productivity (Thukkaram, 2007). Any standard setting is a double edged sword, which has its plus points but is not free from certain drawbacks. The paper is an analysis of traditional and modern methods of costing and also, lays down an explanation for each one of these methods, besides recognising the importance of each one in specific industries. The prime objective of the paper is to understand the different methods of costing and analyse and establish the method of costing which is indispensable as per the kind of organizational setting and organizational needs in context. The study was aimed at analysis of various cost measures and their individual suitability to different organizational needs. The scope to fully gauge the benefits of using each one of them was unavailable. Real life case analysis was also not possible for establishment of research findings. Marginal costing can be referred to as a variation of flexible standard costing that helps to distinguish between the fixed costs and variable costs, which depend on per unit of output produced. Marginal costing is helpful in monitoring costs based on resources that drive it. These resources help in segregating costs into fixed and variable elements. Any cost fluctuations observed as a result of operational changes can be accurately predicted and checked with the use of marginal costing. Marginal costing is one method of costing for inventory where all the different variables of manufacturing costs are included as inventory costs. Such costs are incurred and become a part of the cost of goods sold when the product gets sold, while other elements of cost, which is the fixed cost, is taken to be costs for the period within which it is incurred (Kaplan Financial Knowledge Bank, n.d.). Marginal costing tries to capture the behavioural aspects of cost calculation, rather than functional traits of cost. The

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

The Institution of slavery in the American South of Antebellum Period Essay

The Institution of slavery in the American South of Antebellum Period - Essay Example This inhuman practice humiliated the enslaved blacks to an extent that they could never erase it from their minds as long as they lived. According to Hunter (73) the actual picture of slavery in Southern America was that of large farms plantations with a lot of slaves. In fact, slavery here was institutionalized were a few people owned slaves in their institutions with the aim that they provide cheap labor. Almost 3/4 of the Southern Americans did not own slaves, but they were solidly behind the slavery institution, as much as they did not benefit much from it. Though many of the Southern whites resented the privileges enjoyed by the few people who owned these slavery institutions, they did not speak against slavery (Hunter 74). However, all they wished for is for them to get an opportunity of owning slaves, so that they can also enjoy those privileges. Furthermore, slavery presented an opportunity to even the poor whites, of feeling superior to the blacks. A great number of slaves s pend much of their time in the cotton plantations, carrying out various activities (Hunter 74). Each of these cotton plantations had approximately fifty slaves, although some plantations which were relatively large had about a hundred slaves. Different plantations raised a wide range of cash crops such as rice, sugarcane and corn, but cotton at time, was the major cash crop. The slaves planted these cash crops as well as harvesting them. Apart from doing these two major activities in the farms, they also cleared land, slaughtered livestock and repaired buildings as well (Hunter 74). While black men slaves were expected to be drivers, mechanics and carpenters, black women were on the other hand expected to care for their masters’ families. There were two main categories of slaves; those who worked in their masters’ homesteads and those who worked in the fields. Hunter (74) asserts that from such categorization, one may think that those working in the homes were relative ly better than those in the fields. Unfortunately, that was not the case since those working in the homes had no privacy, operated under their masters’ close scrutiny and could be called for duty anyhow. By being close to their masters’ home slaves formed complex relationships with their masters. Children of both the white and black races born in such a scenario, mingled freely until they attained a certain age when they started understanding what was going on (Hunter 74). The diets of the slaves were inadequate, hence could not meet their workload demands (Hunter 75). Those working in homes though ate comparatively better since they could access their masters’ food stores. The poor eating conditions and the climatic conditions made the slaves to be so much prone to diseases. On falling sick the slaves were not given adequate treatment and sometimes they forced into work though sick. Although that is not inhuman enough, slaves were constantly being sold when the y become inadequate. This instilled a constant fear in them as they could suffer from being separated from their families. The women slaves also suffered from sexual exploitation such as rape. Hunter (75) explains further that slaves were punished for working slowly, disrespecting authority or running away. Punishment was administered in many ways such as imprisonment, whipping or even

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Price Discrimination Revised Essay Example for Free

Price Discrimination Revised Essay Jane, thinking that a vacation in San Francisco to visit her parents would provide her with a much-needed rest, bought a ticket two weeks in advance for a weekend flight.   She would be sitting in 11A.   On the day before Janes flight, Freya gets a call from her boss, instructing her to attend the companys meeting in San Francisco.   She booked a flight for the next day immediately upon getting the call.   Freya sat in 11B   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Freya paid $500 more than Jane for basically the same service, occupying adjacent seats. And this is a prime example of price discrimination. * *   *   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Price discrimination is simply the charging of different prices to different customers (Stavins, 1996, p. 3).   It is characterized as price discrimination when the difference in prices are not due to difference in costs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Scott Woolley writing for Forbes.Com simplified it further, saying that price discrimination is when an airline charge some customers more than other customers for the same (or almost the same) thing (Woolley, 1998.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tricia Ellis-Christensen stated that price discrimination is a widespread practice, and it doesnt necessarily imply negative discrimination.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Price discrimination is categorized into degrees depending on the market segmentation, the customers ability to pay or demand elasiticity. (Ellis-Christensen, undated).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   First-degree price discrimination occurs when identical goods are sold at different prices.   This is most evident in the sale of both new and used cars wherein the salesperson gauges the maximum price at which the car can be sold.   This type often includes bargaining, or negotiating for a lower price (Ellis-Christensen, undated).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Second-degree price discrimination is when lower prices are charged for bulk or higher quantities (Ellis-Christensen, undated).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Third degree price discrimination requires understanding the market, and is more prevalent.   This type often plays on segments of the target market.   An example is discounts offered to students. (Ellis-Christensen, undated).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Conditions for Price Discrimination.   Joanna Stavins further explains that for an airline or company to successfully discriminate on price, it must have some market power, to be able to charge prices above the marginal cost. Typically it has monopolized that business.   Another condition is the heterogeneousity of its consumers.   Lastly, product resale should be costly and impossible, to prevent arbitrage. (Stavins, 1996, p. 3)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stavins also explained that the monopolistically competitive: conditions in air transportation business allows for price discrimination.   (Stavins, 1996, p. 3)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stavins stated that   airlines differentiate between each other by offering different flight schedules and routes.   Stavins also wrote that airlines attach various restrictions to cheaper tickets, making them more unattractive to consumers who give more importance to time and convenience.   Meaning, a business traveler wouldnt mind paying more to ensure that he arrives on time, as opposed to a passenger on a budget.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Advantages.    In some cases, price discrimination can implement efficient prices (Armstrong, 2006 p. 6).   Arvind Sahay writes that pricing products differently can increase revneues and profits by 8% and 25% (Sahay, 2007, p. 54).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Price discrimination also opens markets, as in offering ones goods at a high value market at a certain price, while giving it at a lower price at a lower value market.   (Armstrong, 2006 p. 8)  Ã‚  Ã‚   This way, a business owner can reallocate demand to more suitable times while supply is limited (Sahay, 2007, p. 54).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On a more practical level, price discrimination will enable more firms to increase revenue, which can then be used for research and development.   Consumers, on the other hand, will be able to benefit from lower fares (economicshelp.org, undated).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Disadvantages. On the other hand, some consumers will end up paying higher prices.   Price discrimination will also cause a decline in consumer surplus.   There maybe costs associated with segmenting market.   Price discrimination also opens the field for predatory pricing (economicshelp.org, undated). Price Discrimination in Airlines   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The increasing use of price discrimination, in all industries, is due to the new and affordable technology that most companies can install and use.   Recent studies have also shown that consumers will pay different prices if the companies use the right approach (Sahay, 2007, p. 53).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In short, these days, airlines are pulling off price discrimination easily.   On a purely technical level, Airlines are able to practice the third degree of price discrimination (segmentation-based), and even to some respects, the second degree of price discrimination by employing yield management tools.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cunningham and Brady explains that airlines have been dividing their customers into groups: government vs. business vs. leisure travellers, first or economy class, etc.   With the advent of the computer and I.T., airlines have gained more ability to match fares with their customers demands. (Cunningham and Brady, 2001, p. 10).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Yield Management tools allows the airline to sell the right seat to the right passenger at the right time and price, basically charging various rates for the perceived service benefit (Cunningham and Brady, 2001, p. 11).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Also, yield management allows for Ramsey pricing, which involves varying the prices for fare based on demand elasticity in relation to the marginal cost.   Meaning, the more sensitive the market is to its price, the closer its price will be to the marginal cost.   This explains why business market fares are higher than those who are on vacation (Cunningham and Brady, 2001, p. 11).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Since it is not easy to explain various yield management techniques of airlines, it would be best to look at practical scenarios for airline companies.   Empirically, here are some examples of airline price discrimination.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Joseph Turow, writing for the Washington Posts, cites an example regarding airline Web sites that offer lower fares for first-time customers (Turrow, 2005).   Technology has also made it easier for businesses such as airlines to do customer profiling.   Turrow (2005) and Wooley (1998) insinuates that since businesses can now use computers and databases to store more information about a customer, it can create profiles on that customers and price accordingly. Turrow cited the case when Amazon.Com came under fire for selling the same compact disc album to different customers at varying discounts.   Wooley, on the other hand, says that catalogs sent to somebody who lives in a high-end neighborhood include only one price, while the another version of the catalogs featuring the same products sent to other less-glitzy neighborhoods have discount information on them.   With more and more information about the customer being easily made available, the more airlines know how to push the correct buttons and learn their ability to pay, and their willingness to pay.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Airlines also give early-bird discounts wherein those who book early get lower prices.   This type of price discrimination plays on demand inelasticity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   People who book late are usually those who needs to be on the plane, and thus would be willing to pay any price just to get to where one wants to be. (Riley, 2006).   Differences in ticket pricing is most reliant on supply and demand (Devlin, 2002).   Fredrik Wallenberg explains that to get an advance purchase discount, one will have to book from one to three weeks in advance. (2000, p. 7)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the other hand, SoYouWanna.Com advises that some of the cheapest plane tickets become available at the last minute.   This is due to the fact that airlines typically want to fly with a full plane.   Also, airline seats are seen as a perishable product, in the event that they are not used before expiration it becomes worthless (Sahay, 2007, p. 55)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Other airlines also use Saturday night stay-over as a mechanism for price discrimination.   Airlines set a higher rate for business travelers who are unwilling to spend the weekend away from home (Wallenberg, 2000).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For some, airlines often reward loyal customers with a lower price on premium tickets if theyve reached a certain number of mile on their frequent-fliers programs.   Keith Devlin said that he was able to buy a round trip ticket from San Francisco to Milan for a bargain price of $1000.   Devlin upgraded it to business class at no cost.   Devlin got the bargain beceause he has earned enough miles on Uniteds Mileage Plus.   Devlin adds that a colleague who will be on the same flight at the same time, was not able to upgrade (Devlin, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   US Airways has the EZ Savers Club, which is actually an automated mailing list where subscribers can get mails detailing reduced rates on specified travel dates (Bringing market discipline, 1998).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Other programs are age-dependent.   Students and seniors typically get a discount on airlines.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another form of price discrimination employed by airlines is temporary seasonal discounts for airfares that are meant to increase business. (Ellis-Christensen, undated).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Airlines have a big market with a large number of heterogenous customers, the more disparate their customers are and their behaviors, the more willing their customers would be to pay different prices (Sahay, 2007, p. 56).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Is Price Discrimination Illegal? Price discrimination may be illegal in some cases.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, for it to be deemed illegal, it has to be seen in light of anti-competitiveness.   Carl Person said that the Robinson-Patman Act protects victims of unlawful price discrimination.   Persons provided the following example where in a retail store purchases the same thing from the same supplier for a much higher price.   The store who bought the merchandise at a higher price would be unable to compete on price and usually loses business to its competitor (Persons, 1997).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Federal Trade Commission clarifies that price discrimination may be used as a predatory pricing tactic to harm competition at the supplier’s level (Federal Trade Commission, undated).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This whole scenario doesnt apply to airline tickets. Imperfect Information   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In a perfect world or market situation, each consumer should have perfect information about the price of services and goods.   However, information problems are highly ostentatious in complex and opaque markets, where there is infrequent patronage.   Markets with intermediaries or those with a time lag between the time of purchase and the expected benefits are also susceptible to the problem.   The airline industry is also a primary industry for imperfect information due to its complex pricing structures (Lindley, 2007, p. 74).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Imperfect information could harm a customer because it would effectively prevent him from turning to certain potential substitutes (Lande, 2007).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moreover, some customers might not know of the existence of an option.   Some customers might not even realize that best cost-saving option (Lande, 2007).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In short, as Dominic Lindley writes, the customer may not buy the cheapest or even the most appropriate product or service; may buy a service or product that does not perform as well as planned; or may be unaware of their rights and remedies if something goes wrong (Lindley, 2007, p. 74). Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It all boils down to the fact that imperfect information could hinder a customer from making a more informed decision about what hes purchasing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Determining the cost of an airline ticket is a complicated task.   With price discrimination, it really just an interplay of demand and the customers ability to pay.   Price discrimination allows businesses to optimize their operations for maximum benefits and income on their marginal costs.   Airlines, among other businesses, are in a position to exploit that advantage because they satisfy all conditions needed for price discrimination.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For consumers and passengers to get the optimum value for their money, they must be vigilant.   They must know their options, and choose accordingly. References    Armstrong, Mark. (2006). Price Discrimination. University College London. Retrieved on 3 April 2008. http://else.econ.ucl.ac.uk/papers/uploaded/222.pdf Brady, Stephen P. and Cunningham, William A . (2001). Exploring predatory pricing in the airline industry. Transportation Journal, 41(1), 5-15.   Retrieved 21 April 2008 from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 124411971). Bringing market discipline to pricing. (1998, January). Businessline,1.   21 Retrieved April   2008, from ProQuest Asian Business and Reference database. (Document ID: 25422269). Devlin, Keith. (2002). The crazy math of airline ticket pricing. Retrieved on 3 April 2008. http://www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_09_02.html Ellis-Christensen Tricia. What is Price Discrimination? Retrieved on 3 April 2008. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-price-discrimination.htm Lande, Robert. (2007). Market Power Without A Large Market Share: The Role of Imperfect Information and other Consumer Protection Market Failures. Retrieved on 3 April 2008. http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/hearings/single_firm/docs/222102.htm Lindley, Dominic. (2007). Imperfect information for consumers. Consumer Policy Review, 17(3), 74-79.   Retrieved 21 April 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1328552571). Persons, Carl E. (1997). Do You Have an RPA Price Discrimination Claim?   Retrieved on 3 April http://www.lawmall.com/rpa/rpaclaim.html Riley, Geoff. (2006) Price Discrimination. Eton College.   Retrieved on 3 April 2008. http://www.tutor2u.net/economics/revision-notes/a2-micro-price-discrimination.html Stavins, Joanna. (1996). Price Discrimination in the Airline Market: The Effect of Market Concentration. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Retrieved on 3 April 2008. http://bosfed.org/economic/wp/wp1996/wp96_7.pdf SOYOUWANNA FIND A CHEAP PLANE TICKET? Retrieved on 3 April 2008. http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/planetix/planetix.html Sahay, Arvind. (2007). How Dynamic Pricing Leads to Higher Profits. MIT Sloan Management Review, 48(4), 53.   Retrieved 21 April 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1360146151). Turow, Joseph. (2005). Have they got a deal for you. Washington Post. Retrieved on 3 April http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/18/AR2005061800070_pf.html Wallenberg, Fredrik. (2000). A study of airline pricing.   School of Information Management Systems, University of California at Berkeley. Retrieved on 3 April 2008. http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~fredrik/research/papers/InternetTravel.pdf Wooley, Scott. (1998). Mine was cheaper! Forbes.Com. Retrieved on 3 April 2008. http://www.forbes.com/global/1998/1102/0116058a.html

Thursday, November 14, 2019

George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four 1984 Essay -- essays research pa

Winston Smith's Downfall In the repressive society of Oceania in 1984, Winston Smith lived a restricted life in which all activities were aimed towards the good of the Party. Political and intellectual freedom were completely non-existent. With no laws separating right from wrong, the whole population lived in fear, which resulted in easy control by the government. People who broke the law by committing "thoughtcrime" were dealt with by the Thought Police and were either "vaporized" or sent for rehabilitation at the dreaded Ministry of Love. The only kind of emotion the people were allowed to show was love for the Party; love was not permitted between husband and wife and minimally between parents and children. The children of this time were horrible, indoctrinated completely on the goodness of the Thought Police and Big Brother. Mandatory children's groups, The Spies, encouraged children to turn their parents in if they were caught committing thoughtcrime. The English language was being destroyed by the Party, who's language, Newspeak was beginning to become used more frequently. The object of Newspeak was to reduce the number of words in one's vocabulary, therefore reducing one's opportunity to have free thought. At the Ministry of Truth, Newspeak words were being used to transform all literary works of the past into an acceptable state for the present. It was factors such as these that prompted the intellectual rebellion and desire for knowledge w...

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Damned Lies and Statistics: Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians, and Activists Essay

This report is based upon the book â€Å"Damned Lies and Statistics: Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians, and Activists†, written by Joel Best and published by University of California Press in 2001. Joel Best, a professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware, has written a highly readable treatise on statistics, and how we can become better consumers of the statistical information that permeates the environment in which we live. Joel Best is a sociologist and, as a result, this is not a book about the mathematics of statistics, but about its sociology. That is, a book about the ways in which bad statistics are generated and spread through society. The title of the book comes from Mark Twain’s famous phrase â€Å"lies, damned lies, and statistics†, which is usually interpreted as grouping statistics with lies. A more critical title would come from the phrase â€Å"figures don’t lie, but liars can figure†. Despite its cynical title, Best’s book is one of the best ways to learn how to cease being awestruck by statistics, and to start critically evaluating them. In straightforward prose filled with real world examples, Joel Best deconstructs the processes by which social statistics are created and take on a life of their own, primarily through blind and unquestioning repetition by the media. He also delineates how such statistics are sometimes mutated, misinterpreted, misapplied, and manipulated. In his view, there are no perfect statistics, just better or worse ones. Every statistic involves human choices: defining what to measure, determining how to measure it, deciding whom to count or how to count it, and choosing how to deal with unreported cases (the dark figure) of whatever is being counted. Not only does every statistic contain identifiable, though generally unrecognized strengths, weaknesses, and dark figures, but many of the most controversial and heavily publicized statistics are created by people in advocacy positions. Social statistics – statistics about social problems, such as prostitution or suicide – are often produced by activists who are concerned about the problem, and may exaggerate it. When not produced by activists, statistics are often a product of government, which may be motivated in the opposite direction of the activists, to play down a problem. A quick summary of the issues and topics in this book offers a good overview of clear thinking on statistical issues. Chapter 1, â€Å"The Importance of Social Statistics†, explains where statistics come from, how we use them, and why they are important. Chapter 2, â€Å"Soft Facts†, discusses sources of bad statistics. Guessing, poor definitions, poor measures, and bad samples are the primary sources of bad statistics. Good statistics require good data; clear, reasonable definitions; clear, reasonable measures; and appropriate samples. Chapter 3, â€Å"Mutant Statistics†, describes the methods for mangling numbers. Most of these arise from violating the four requirements of good statistics, but a new problem arises here. While it is relatively easy to spot bad statistics, mutant statistics require a second level of understanding. As statistics mutate, they take on a history, and it becomes necessary to unravel the history to understand just how and why they are mutant. Transformation, confusion, and compound errors create chains of bad statistics that become difficult to trace and categorize. Chapter 4, â€Å"Apples and Oranges†, discusses the dangers of inappropriate comparison. Dangers arise when comparisons over time involve changing and unchanging measures, and projections. Comparisons among places and groups lead to problems not merely in the data measured, but in the ways the data may be gathered and collated. Comparison among social problems also creates unique difficulties. Best offers logic of comparison to help the reader understand how to make sense of good comparison and bad comparison. Chapter 5, â€Å"Stat Wars†, describes the problems that arise when advocated use questionable numbers to make a case. Chapter 6, â€Å"Thinking About Social Statistics†, sums up Best’s advice on understanding statistics – don’t be awestruck in the face of numbers, and don’t be cynical about them, he suggests, be critical and thoughtful.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Bluetooth Technology

Technology already tracks or monitors animals, people, vehicles and other objects to eliminate the need for constant human observation. These technologies need to be small, economical and consume a minimal amount of power. Bluetooth technology is being used extensively in hand-held devices and wireless computing [Pico Communications] because of its characteristics mentioned above. This project aims to use Bluetooth technology to monitor and track animals in the wild. More specifically, this project deals with the off-loading of data from a device situated on an animal. The aim of this literature survey is to investigate the Bluetooth technology, focusing on routing in Bluetooth networks, as well as current animal tracking and monitoring technologies. Current technologies used in tracking and monitoring Many of these projects make use of the Global Positioning System (GPS), Global System for Mobile (GSM) or directional radio transmission tracking. One of them is described in â€Å"Save the Elephants† GSM tracking project, sponsored by Safari. com in Kenya, which makes use of the GPS system to gather locational information of tags placed on elephants [Douglas-Hamilton, I. t al (February 2004)]. These tags also have GSM modules that allow the locational data to be downloaded periodically. Objectives of this project are to develop small tags that have a long battery life, are cheap and light. Before the safari. com project, VHF (Very High Frequency) radio was used to download the GPS data from the animals about every 3 months. Sending data using VHF requires a large amount of power consumption, hence downloads were only done every three months. GSM technology lowers this power consumption enabling more regular data retrieval. Data, such as that elephants usually travel about 10km a day but can walk 30km or more, was collected using this technology. The Kenya wildlife service use this knowledge to plan things like human-animal interaction and fence positioning. A company called Digital Angle has developed a chip that is embedded into animals [Hostetter, J (April 2003)]. While these chips do not produce locational information, they enable a person to electronically identify an animal as well as get its current body temperature. The company is looking at using these â€Å"bio chips† to track an animal's blood pressure and hormonal changes [Hostetter, J (April 2003)]. The bio chips are very small and light but data can only be collected with a hand held reader which provides the chip with power via magnetic induction, similar to RFID technology. Most animal tracking projects are interested in the movements of animals. We are interested in the interaction of animals and possibly data concerning individual animals using the technology being developed by Digital Angle. Because we aim to only use Bluetooth technology (and not GPS), an animal's location could be roughly plotted by tagging physical positions, for example watering holes and trees. The tracking and monitoring systems above use VHF or GSM technologies to download data from animals. We want to look at the feasibility of using Bluetooth networks to download this data. Bluetooth is suited to this application because it is small, light and uses a minimal amount of power, whereas GSM and GPS devices have a short battery life and are large and heavy. In an application that does not involve animals, Ron Alterovitz from the computer science department at Caltech University in California has done a research project involving message routing over a Bluetooth scatternet. Alterovitz, R (2001)] His aim was to make wireless-enabled vehicles communicate while in motion. The ad-hoc properties of piconets and scatternets enable the vehicles to pass messages between them while they are in motion. The vehicles were linked up to a positioning system and set to run around in a 1000Ãâ€"1000 cm room. Each vehicle was able to transmit up to a distance of 250cm. The vehicles were left to move around the room randomly while the positioning system and vehicles passed messages amongst each other to stop them crashing. The routing tables, used to pass messages, were only allowed to be updated at set intervals. It was found that message packets were lost if the speed of the vehicles was increased while the routing interval was kept the same [Alterovitz, R (June 2001)]. Although Bluetooth has been used for tracking small autonomous vehicles, there is no evidence of the use of this technology to track animals. However, wireless devices, for example Bluetooth enabled cell phones, could be used to track human beings. This raises ethical and privacy issues [Potter, B (November 2003)]. Bluetooth as the Underlying Technology The above technologies aim to provide a means of tracking or message-passing through the use of devices that are physically small, use minimal amounts of power and support an ad-hoc type of communication. Bluetooth supports realistic data rates of up to 600Kbps and claims to make a battery last from 50% to 300% longer than other wireless technologies [PicoCommunications, (November 2002)]. There are two classes of Bluetooth device. The class 2 radio allows a range of ten meters while class 1 radios allow for transmission over 100 meters. Bluetooth operates in the license-free 2. 4GHz band making use of frequency hopping at a rate of 1600 hops per second. Although Bluetooth has limitations in its transfer speed and communication distance, its market share is rising while 802. 11 (WiFi) has slowed down in its growth [Dursch, A. et all (December 2003)]. The rising interest in Bluetooth will increase production, causing the already cheap technology to become easily obtainable. The Bluetooth stack Illustration 1The Bluetooth Stack Each Bluetooth packet has a fixed format that starts with a 72-bit access code. This is followed by a 54-bit header containing error correction, retransmission and control information. Finally the packet contains a payload of 0 to 2745 bits. Three methods, Forward Error Correction (FEC), Automatic Repeated Request (ARQ) and Cyclic Redundancy Checks (CRC) are used for error correction during Bluetooth communication [Forum Nokia (April 2003)]. This project is interested in the following Bluetooth stack layers: The Link Manager Protocol (LPM) layer is responsible for setting up the links between Bluetooth devices and deals with master/slave switching, low power modes, clock offsets and packet size negotiation. This layer, although not critical to this project, also handles the exchange of authentication and encryption information. The Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP) enables multiplexing of the protocols above it by segmenting and reassembling packets [Pico Communications inc]. The Service Discovery Protocol (SDP) enables Bluetooth devices to advertise and discover services. SDP passes bitmasks, representing advertised services, to all backbone nodes. This allows other devices to discover the type and location of a service on a Bluetooth network quickly [Nordbotten, N, A. et al (2004)]. RFCOMM is a serial port emulation protocol enabling RS232 control and data signaling over Bluetooth. It allows services such as the Point to Point Protocol (PPP) to be used over Bluetooth. IP is the standard protocol used on the Internet [Pico Communications inc]. Bluetooth profiles Bluetooth profiles describe the main usage models of Bluetooth. The current Bluetooth specification contains four general profiles. [Forum Nokia (April 2003)] The Generic Access Profile defines the discovery of other Bluetooth devices, link management and connectivity, security levels and common format requirements for user interfaces. All Bluetooth devices have to support this profile and all other profiles require and use it. The Service Discovery Application Profile defines procedures for a Bluetooth application to discover services advertised by another Bluetooth device, and should be followed should this project make use of services during implementation. The Serial Port Profile defines the Bluetooth requirements for setting up emulated serial cable connections. This profile is also an option should this project transfer data over RS232 connections. The Generic Object Exchange Profile is used by applications that need object exchange capabilities. This profile is also an option should we want to model our data as objects and pass these objects from device to device and then finally to a data sink [Forum Nokia (April 2003)]. Ad-Hoc Bluetooth Networks Bluetooth enabled devices form ad-hoc networks when they come into contact with one another. These networks are built using scatternet and piconet formation algorithms as described by [Law, C. et al (2001)]. Between 1 and 7 devices can form a piconet. One device is designated to be the master. This decision is made by each device generating a random number determining whether the device will assume to be the master and seek slaves or assume to be a slave and scan for the master. Because only 7 nodes are allowed to participate in a piconet, scatternets are formed by linking many piconets together via shared slave nodes. The number of piconets to which a device belongs is termed its degree. A master node in a piconet may only have a degree of one, meaning a master node may not be shared between two piconets. The shared slaves are time multiplexed between the piconets to which it belongs and data sent between the piconets must be sent via the shared slave [Law, C. et al, (2001)]. The time it takes for data to be passed through a shared slave is dependent on the manner in which the shared slave switches between piconets. Shared slaves need to have timed rendezvous points with piconet masters in order to exchange data [Misic, J. et al (February 2004)]. The masters and shared slaves are collectively referred to as back bone nodes of the formed scatternet. The piconet and scatternet formation algorithms allow nodes to move and migrate between piconets and allow small piconets to be merged [Law, C. et al (2001)]. These ad-hoc properties of piconets and scatternets enable data to be exchanged between many Bluetooth devices while those devices are moving between piconets within a scatternet, effectively enabling the devices to physically move around while data is being exchanged amongst them. Conclusion This literature search has found no evidence that Bluetooth has been used to track or monitor animals in the wild. It has however found many applications where Bluetooth networks have been used for mobile devices needing to exchange data. The literature shows that there is a need for small, inexpensive animal tracking devices that consume a minimal amount of power. It is also shown that Bluetooth is already being used for hand-held and mobile computing applications for these same reasons. Our aim is to build upon the device and network technologies surveyed in this paper, to determine the feasibility of a Bluetooth-based animal tracking and monitoring system, which has a low degree of human probe effect.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

hackers essays

hackers essays Information is quite a vital element in most businesses, governments and even households and as we can see people really go to the extremes just to get information and use them to their advantage or maybe mere satisfaction of their curious minds. As we all know the most vital information in the wrong hands could spell disaster and even be a cause of war among nations. Hacking as we know it has already existed in the 60s so this is proof that even the most primitive computers, which we see now as useless was not spared from this art. Information should be free to all that is why people invented the World Wide Web more popularly known as the Internet. Information could be a vital key to a company or even a countries success or downfall. It is amazing that even todays youngsters can gather enough information by just logging on and hacking the computers of big companies and countries. We all know that information is important there are some information that should remain secret, becau se of the simple reason that it is better this way to better serve them or give them security. There is only one dilemma here it seems that hacking when done by individuals constitute a crime but in the cases of government agencies who engage in the same acts to provide better security and gain more information it is deemed to be routine and even lawful. Unfortunately that is how the system works, laws are enacted to basically prevent mere talented individuals to hack but enable this art to be utilized only by governments for the sole purpose of intelligence gathering and counter attacks. As we all know that nothing is really safe from the hackers of the world not even the government who boast of the most sophisticated computers. As I have read, hacking has evolved through out the years and it seems that although tighter measures are done the hackers seem to be more talented. With todays sophisticated password systems hackers still mana...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

The Legendary Invention of Silk

The Legendary Invention of Silk Is the fabric known as silk 7000 years old? Did people wear it from as long ago as 5000 B.C. before civilization began at Sumer and before Egyptians built the Great Pyramid? If silkworm cultivation or sericulture is as much as seven millennia old as the Silk Road Foundation says it may be the chances are poor that we will ever know exactly who invented it. What we can learn is what the descendants of the people who discovered silk wrote about it and what their legends say about the origins of processing silk. Although there are other stories and variations, the basic legend credits an early Chinese empress. She is said to have: 1. Cultivated the silk-producing caterpillar (Bombyx mori).2. Fed the silkworm the mulberry leaf that was discovered to be the best food at least for those interested in producing the best silk.3. Invented the loom to weave the fiber. Raising Silk On its own, the silkworm larva produces a single, several hundred-yard-strand of silk, which it breaks as it emerges as a moth from its cocoon, leaving residue all over the trees. In preference to gathering the tangled silk caught in the trees, the Chinese learned to raise the silkworms on a fattening diet of the leaves of carefully cultivated mulberry trees. They also learned to watch the development of the cocoons so they could kill the chrysalis by plunging it in boiling water just before its time. This method ensures the full length of silk strands. The boiling water also softens the sticky protein holding together the silk [Grotenhuis]. (The process of pulling out the strand of silk from the water and cocoon in known as reeling.) The thread is then woven into beautiful clothing.   Who Was the Lady Hsi-ling? The main source for this article is Dieter Kuhn, Professor, and Chair of Chinese Studies, University of Wà ¼rzburg. He wrote Tracing a Chinese Legend: In Search of the Identity of the First Sericulturalist for Toung Pao, an international journal of sinology. In this article, Kuhn looks at what the Chinese sources say about the legend of the invention of silk and describes the presentation of silk manufactures invention across the dynasties. He makes note of the contribution of the lady of Hsi-ling in particular. She was the principal wife of Huangdi, who is better known as the Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor (Huangdi or Huang-ti, where Huang is the same word we translate as Yellow when used in connection with the great Chinese Yellow River, and ti is the name of an important god that is used in the names of kings, conventionally translated emperor) is a legendary Neolithic era ruler and ancestor of the Chinese people, with almost godlike proportions. Huangdi is said to have lived in the third millennium B.C. for 100-118 years, during which he is credited with giving numerous gifts to the Chinese people, including the magnetic compass, and sometimes including silk. The principal wife of the Yellow Emperor, the lady of Hsi-ling (also known as Xi Ling-Shi, Lei-Tsu, or Xilingshi), is, like her husband, credited with discovering silk. The lady of Hsi-ling is also credited with figuring out how to reel silk and inventing what people needed to make clothing from the silk the loom, according to the Shih-Chi Record of the Historian. Ultimately, the confusion seems to remain, but the upper hand is given the empress. The Yellow Emperor, who was honored as the First Sericulturalist during the Northern Chi Period (c. A.D. 550 - c. 580), may be the male figure depicted in later art as a patron saint of sericulture. The lady Hsi-ling is more often called the First Sericulturalist. Although she had been worshiped and held a position in the Chinese pantheon since the Northern Chou Dynasty (557-581), her official position as the personification of the First Sericulturalist with a divine seat and altar only came in 1742. Silk Clothing Altered the Chinese Division of Labor One could speculate, as Kuhn does, that the job of making fabric was womens work and that therefore the associations were made with the empress, rather than her husband, even if he had been the first sericulturalist. The Yellow Emperor may have invented the methods of producing silk, while the lady Hsi-ling was responsible for the discovery of silk itself. This legendary discovery, reminiscent of the story of the discovery of actual tea in China, involves falling into an anachronistic cup of tea.   Chinese scholarship from the seventh century A.D. says that before the Yellow Emperor, clothing was made of bird (feathers can protect against water and down is, of course, an insulating material) and animal skin, but the supply of animals didnt keep up with demand. The Yellow Emperor decreed that clothing should be made of silk and hemp. In this version of the legend, it is Huangdi (actually, one of his officials named Po Yu), not the lady of Hsi-ling who invented all fabrics, including silk, and also, according to legend from the Han Dynasty, the loom. Again, if looking for a rationale for the contradiction based on the division of labor and gender roles: hunting would not have been a domestic pursuit, but the province of the men, so when clothing changed from skins to cloth, it made sense that it would have changed the storied gender of the maker. Evidence of 5 Millennia of Silk Not quite the full seven, but five millennia puts it more in line with important major developments elsewhere, so it is more easily believed. Archaeological evidence reveals that silk existed in China as far back as around 2750 B.C., which puts it, coincidentally according to Kuhn, close to the dates of the Yellow Emperor and his wife. Shang Dynasty oracle bones show evidence of silk production. Silk was also in the Indus Valley from the third millennium B.C., according to New Evidence for Silk in the Indus Valley, which says copper-alloy ornaments and steatite beads have yielded silk fibers upon microscopic examination. As an aside, the article says this raises the question of whether China really had exclusive control of silk. A Silken Economy The importance of silk to China probably cant be exaggerated: the exceptionally long and strong filament clothed a vast Chinese population, helped support the bureaucracy by being used as a precursor to paper (2nd century B.C.) [Hoernle] and to pay taxes [Grotenhuis], and led to commerce with the rest of the world. Sumptuary laws regulated the wearing of fancy silks and embroidered, patterned silks became status symbols from the Han to the Northern and Southern Dynasties (2nd century B.C. to 6th century A.D.). How the Secret of Silk Leaked Out The Chinese guarded its secret carefully and successfully for centuries, according to tradition. It was only in the 5th century A.D. that silk eggs and mulberry seeds were, according to legend, smuggled out in an elaborate headdress by a Chinese princess when she went to her groom, the king of Khotan, in Central Asia. A century later they were smuggled by monks into the Byzantine Empire, according to the Byzantine historian Procopius. Silk Worship Patron saints of sericulture were honored with life-size statues and rites; in the Han period, the silkworm goddess was personified, and in Han and Sung periods, the empress performed a silk ceremony. The empress helped with the gathering of the mulberry leaves necessary for the best silk, and the sacrifices of pig and sheep that were made to the First Sericulturalist who may or may not have been the lady of Hsi-ling. By the 3rd century, there was a silkworm palace which the empress supervised. Legends of the Discovery of Silk There is a fanciful legend about the discovery of silk, a love story about a betrayed and murdered magic horse, and his lover, a woman transformed into a silkworm; the threads becoming feelings. Liu recounts a version, recorded by Tsui Pao in his 4th century A.D. Ku Ching Chu (Antiquarian Researches), where the horse is betrayed by the father and his daughter who promised to marry the horse. After the horse was ambushed, killed, and skinned, the hide wrapped up the girl and flew away with her. It was found in a tree and brought home, where some time later the girl had been transformed into a moth. There is also a fairly pedestrian story of how silk was actually discovered the cocoon, thought to be fruit, wouldnt soften when boiled, so the would-be diners got their aggression out by beating it with sticks until the filament emerged. Sericulture References: The Silkworm and Chinese Culture, by Gaines K. C. Liu; Osiris, Vol. 10, (1952), pp. 129-194 Tracing a Chinese Legend: In Search of the Identity of the First Sericulturalist, by Dieter Kuhn; Toung Pao Second Series, Vol. 70, Livr. 4/5 (1984), pp. 213-245. Spices and Silk: Aspects of World Trade in the First Seven Centuries of the Christian Era, by Michael Loewe; The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland No. 2 (1971), pp. 166-179. Stories of Silk and Paper, by Elizabeth Ten Grotenhuis; World Literature Today; Vol. 80, No. 4 (Jul. - Aug. 2006), pp. 10-12. Silks and Religions in Eurasia, C. A.D. 600-1200, by Liu Xinru; Journal of World History Vol. 6, No. 1 (Spring, 1995), pp. 25-48. Who Was the Inventor of Rag-Paper? by A. F. Rudolf Hoernle; The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (Oct. 1903), pp. 663-684.