Why Teaching is Fun

Why Teaching is Fun Full Disclosure: Inspiration can come from anywhere. This morning I was telling my seven-year-old son that I had to write an article. I told him that I did not even know what I was going to write about. He immediately said, â€Å"Why don’t you write about why teaching is fun.† Thank you Kaden for inspiring me! Teaching is fun! If you are a teacher and do not generally agree with that statement, then perhaps it is time for you to find another career choice. I would agree that there are days when fun is not a word I would use to describe my profession. There are times when teaching is frustrating, disappointing, and disheartening. However, generally speaking, it is a fun profession for many reasons. Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦because no two days are the same. Each day brings a different challenge and a different outcome. Even after teaching for twenty years, the next day will present something you haven’t seen before.Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦because you get to see those â€Å"light bulb† moments. That is the moment where everything just clicks for a student. It is in these moments that students are able to take the information learned and apply it to real life situations.Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦because you get to explore the world with your students on field trips. It is fun to get out of the classroom from time to time. You get to expose students to environments that they may not otherwise be exposed to.Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦because you are instantly a role model. Your students naturally look up to you. They often hang on your every word. In their eyes, you can do no wrong. You have a tremendous influence on them.Teach ing is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦when you can see growth and improvement as a result of your time with your students.   It is amazing how much your students will grow from the beginning to the end of the year. Knowing it is a direct result of your hard work is satisfying. Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦because you get to see students who fall in love with learning.   It does not happen with every student, but for the ones who do it is special.   The sky is the limit for a student who genuinely loves to learn.Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦because you grow, develop, and change as you gain more teaching experience.   Good teachers are constantly tinkering with how they operate their classroom. They are never satisfied with the status quo.Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦because you help students set and reach goals. Goal setting is a huge part of a teacher’s job. We not only help students set goals, but we celebrate with them when they reach them.Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦because it gives the opportunity to have a positive impact on young people on daily basis.   Every day presents an opportunity to make a difference. You never know when something you do or say will make an impact.Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦when you see former students, and they thank you for making a difference.   It is extremely gratifying when you see former students in public, and they share their success stories and give you credit for impacting their life. Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦because you get to build close relationships with other teachers who share similar experiences and understand the commitment that it takes to be an excellent teacher.Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦because of a friendly school calendar.   We are routinely discounted for getting summers off when most of us spend time honing our craft during those few months. However, having holidays off and a lengthy transition period between school years is a plus.Teaching is fun..........because you can help recognize, encourage, and cultivate talent.   As teachers recognize when students have talent in areas such as art or music. We are able to steer these talented students towards the gifts they are naturally blessed with.Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦when you see former students grow up and become successful adults.   As a teacher, one of your major goals is to have every student eventually make positive contributions to society. You succeed whe n they succeed.Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦when you are able to work collaboratively with parents for the benefit of the student. It is a beautiful thing when parents and teachers work together throughout the educational process. No one benefits more than the student. Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦when you invest in improving the culture of your school and can see a significant difference.   Teachers work hard to help other teachers improve. They also work diligently to improve the overall school climate and provide a safe learning environment.Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦when you see your students excel in extracurricular activities.   Extracurricular activities such as athletics play a critical role in schools across America. A sense of pride is developed when your students are successful in these activities.Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..because you are given opportunities to reach a child that no one else has been able to reach.   You cannot reach them all, but you always hope that someone else comes along who can.Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦when you have a creative idea for a lesson and the students absolutely love it.   You want to create lessons that become legendary. Lessons that students talk about and look forward to having you in class just to experience them.Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦when at the end of a rough day and student comes up and gives you hug or tells you how much they appreciate you. A hug from an elementary age or a thank you from an older student can instantly improve your day. Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦when you have a group of students who want to learn and mesh with your personality.   You can accomplish so much when you and your students are on the same page. Your students will grow exponentially when that is the case.Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦because it opens up other opportunities to be involved in your community.   Teachers are some of the most recognizable faces in a community.   Being involved in community organizations and projects is rewarding.Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦when parents recognize the difference you have made in their child and express their gratitude.   Unfortunately, teachers do not often get the recognition for their contributions that they deserve. When a parent expresses gratitude, it makes it worthwhile.Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦because each student provides a different challenge.   This keeps you on your toes with no chance of being bored. What works for one student or one class m ay or may not work for the next.Teaching is fun†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦when you work with a group of teachers whom all have similar personalities and philosophies.   Being surrounded by a group of like-minded teachers makes the job easier and more enjoyable.

The History of the English Language

The History of the English Language The story of English- from its start in a jumble of West Germanic dialects to its role today as a global language- is both fascinating and complex. This timeline offers a glimpse at some of the key events that helped to shape the English language over the past 1,500 years. To learn more about the ways that English evolved in Britain and then spread around the world, check out The History of English in 10 Minutes, an amusing video produced by the Open University. The Prehistory of English The ultimate origins of English lie in Indo-European, a family of languages consisting of most of the languages of Europe as well as those of Iran, the Indian subcontinent, and other parts of Asia. Because little is known about ancient Indo-European (which may have been spoken as long ago as 3,000 B.C.), well begin our survey in Britain in the first century A.D. 43- The Romans invade Britain, beginning 400 years of control over much of the island.410- The Goths (speakers of a now extinct East Germanic language) sack Rome. The first Germanic tribes arrive in Britain.Early 5th century- With the collapse of the empire, Romans withdraw from Britain. Britons are attacked by the Picts and by Scots from Ireland. Angles, Saxons, and other German settlers arrive in Britain to assist the Britons and claim territory.5th-6th centuries- Germanic peoples (Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians) speaking West Germanic dialects settle most of Britain. Celts retreat to distant areas of Britain: Ireland, Scotland, Wales. 500-1100: The Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) Period The conquest of the Celtic population in Britain by speakers of West Germanic dialects (primarily Angles, Saxons, and Jutes) eventually determined many of the essential characteristics of the English language. (The Celtic influence on English survives for the most part only in place names- London, Dover, Avon, York.) Over time the dialects of the various invaders merged, giving rise to what we now call Old English. Late 6th century- Ethelbert, the King of Kent, is baptized. He is the first English king to convert to Christianity.7th century- Rise of the Saxon kingdom of Wessex; the Saxon kingdoms of Essex and Middlesex; the Angle kingdoms of Mercia, East Anglia, and Northumbria. St. Augustine and Irish missionaries convert Anglo-Saxons to Christianity, introducing new religious words borrowed from Latin and Greek. Latin speakers begin referring to the country as Anglia and later as Englaland.673- Birth of the Venerable Bede, the monk who composed (in Latin) The Ecclesiastical History of the English People (c. 731), a key source of information about Anglo Saxon settlement.700- Approximate date of the earliest manuscript records of Old English.Late 8th century- Scandinavians begin to settle in Britain and Ireland; Danes settle in parts of Ireland.Early 9th century- Egbert of Wessex incorporates Cornwall into his kingdom and is recognized as overlord of the seven kingdoms of the Angles and Saxons (the Heptarchy): England begins to emerge. Mid 9th century- Danes raid England, occupy Northumbria, and establish a kingdom at York. Danish begins to influence English.Late 9th century- King Alfred of Wessex (Alfred the Great) leads the Anglo-Saxons to victory over the Vikings, translates Latin works into English and establishes the writing of prose in English. He uses the English language to foster a sense of national identity. England is divided into a kingdom ruled by the Anglo-Saxons (under Alfred) and another ruled by the Scandinavians.10th century- English and Danes mix fairly peacefully, and many Scandinavian (or Old Norse) loanwords enter the language, including such common words as sister, wish, skin, and die.1000- Approximate date of the only surviving manuscript of the Old English epic poem Beowulf, composed by an anonymous poet between the 8th century and the early 11th century.Early 11th century- Danes attack England, and the English king (Ethelred the Unready) escapes to Normandy. The Battle of Maldon becomes th e subject of one of the few surviving poems in Old English. The Danish king (Canute) rules over England and encourages the growth of Anglo-Saxon culture and literature. Mid 11th century- Edward the Confessor, King of England who was raised in Normandy, names William, Duke of Normandy, as his heir.1066- The Norman Invasion: King Harold is killed at the Battle of Hastings, and William of Normandy is crowned King of England. Over succeeding decades, Norman French becomes the language of the courts and of the upper classes; English remains the language of the majority. Latin is used in churches and schools. For the next century, English, for all practical purposes, is no longer a written language. 1100-1500: The Middle English Period The Middle English period saw the breakdown of the inflectional system of Old English and the expansion of vocabulary with many borrowings from French and Latin. 1150- Approximate date of the earliest surviving texts in Middle English.1171- Henry II declares himself overlord of Ireland, introducing Norman French and English to the country. About this time the University of Oxford is founded.1204- King John loses control of the Duchy of Normandy and other French lands; England is now the only home of the Norman French/English.1209- The University of Cambridge is formed by scholars from Oxford.1215- King John signs the Magna Carta (Great Charter), a critical document in the long historical process leading to the rule of constitutional law in the English-speaking world.1258- King Henry III is forced to accept the Provisions of Oxford, which establish a Privy Council to oversee the administration of the government. These documents, though annulled a few years later, are generally regarded as Englands first written constitution.Late 13th century- Under Edward I, royal authority is consolidated in England and Wales. English becomes the dominant lan guage of all classes. Mid to late 14th century- The Hundred Years War between England and France leads to the loss of almost all of Englands French possessions. The Black Death kills roughly one-third of Englands population. Geoffrey Chaucer composes The Canterbury Tales in Middle English. English becomes the official language of the law courts and replaces Latin as the medium of instruction at most schools. John Wycliffes English translation of the Latin Bible is published. The Great Vowel Shift begins, marking the loss of the so-called pure vowel sounds (which are still found in many continental languages) and the loss of the phonetic pairings of most long and short vowel sounds.1362- The Statute of Pleading makes English the official language in England. Parliament is opened with its first speech delivered in English.1399 At his coronation, King Henry IV becomes the first English monarch to deliver a speech in English.Late 15th century- William Caxton brings to Westminster (from the Rhineland) the firs t printing press and publishes Chaucers The Canterbury Tales. Literacy rates increase significantly, and printers begin to standardize English spelling. The monk Galfridus Grammaticus (also known as Geoffrey the Grammarian) publishes Thesaurus Linguae Romanae et Britannicae, the first English-to-Latin wordbook. 1500 to the Present: The  Modern English  Period Distinctions are commonly drawn between the Early Modern Period (1500-1800) and Late Modern English (1800 to the present). During the period of Modern English, British exploration, colonization, and overseas trade hastened the acquisition of  loanwords  from countless other languages and fostered the development of new varieties of English (World English), each with its own nuances of  vocabulary,  grammar, and  pronunciation. Since the middle of the 20th century, the expansion of North American business and media around the world has led to the emergence of  Global English  as a  lingua franca. Early 16th century- The first English settlements are made in North America. William Tyndales English translation of the Bible is published. Many Greek and Latin  borrowings  enter English.1542- In his  Fyrst Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge, Andrew Boorde illustrates regional  dialects.1549- The first version of the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England is published.1553- Thomas Wilson publishes  The Art of Rhetorique, one of the first works on  logic  and  rhetoric  in English.1577- Henry Peacham publishes  The Garden of Eloquence, a treatise on rhetoric.1586- The first  grammar  of English- William Bullokars  Pamphlet for Grammar- is published.1588- Elizabeth I begins her 45-year reign as queen of England. The British defeat the Spanish Armada, boosting national pride and enhancing the legend of Queen Elizabeth.1589- The Art of English Poesie  (attributed to George Puttenham) is published.1590-1611- William Shakespeare writes his  Sonnet s  and the majority of his plays.1600- The East India Company is chartered to promote trade with Asia, eventually leading to the establishment of the British Raj in India. 1603- Queen Elizabeth dies and James I (James VI of Scotland) accedes to the throne.1604- Robert Cawdreys  Table Alphabeticall, the first English  dictionary, is published.  1607- The first permanent English settlement in America is established at Jamestown, Virginia.1611- The Authorized Version of the English Bible (the King James Bible) is published, greatly influencing the development of the written language.1619- The first African slaves in North America arrive in Virginia.1622- Weekly News, the first English newspaper, is published in London.1623- The First Folio edition of Shakespeares plays is published.1642- Civil War breaks out in England after King Charles I attempts to arrest his parliamentary critics. The war leads to the execution of Charles I, the dissolution of parliament, and the replacement of the English monarchy with a Protectorate (1653–59) under Oliver Cromwells rule.1660- The monarchy is restored; Charles II is proclaimed king.1662- The Royal Societ y of London appoints a committee to consider ways of improving English as a language of science. 1666- The Great Fire of London destroys most of the City of London inside the old Roman City Wall.1667- John Milton publishes his epic poem  Paradise Lost.1670- The Hudsons Bay Company is chartered for promoting trade and settlement in Canada.1688- Aphra Behn, the first woman novelist in England, publishes  Oroonoko, or the History of the Royal Slave.1697- In his  Essay Upon Projects,  Daniel Defoe  calls for the creation of an Academy of 36 gentlemen to dictate English  usage.1702- The Daily Courant, the first regular daily newspaper in English, is published in London.1707- The Act of Union unites the Parliaments of England and  Scotland, creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain.1709- The first Copyright Act is enacted in England.1712- Anglo-Irish satirist and cleric  Jonathan Swift  proposes the creation of an English Academy to regulate English  usage  and ascertain the language.1719- Daniel Defoe publishes  Robinson Crusoe, considered by some to be the first modern English novel.1721- Nathaniel Bailey publishes his  Universal Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, a pioneer study in English  lexicography: the first to feature current  usage,  etymology,  syllabification, clarifying  quotations, illustrations, and indications of  pronunciation. 1715- Elisabeth Elstob publishes the first grammar of Old English.1755- Samuel Johnson  publishes his two-volume  Dictionary of the English Language.1760-1795- This period marks the rise of the English grammarians (Joseph Priestly, Robert Lowth, James Buchanan, John Ash, Thomas Sheridan, George Campbell, William Ward, and Lindley Murray), whose rule books, primarily based on  prescriptive  notions of grammar, become increasingly popular.  1762- Robert Lowth publishes his  Short Introduction to English Grammar.1776- The  Declaration of Independence  is signed, and the American War of Independence begins, leading to the creation of the United States of America, the first country outside the British Isles with English as its principal language.1776- George Campbell publishes  The Philosophy of Rhetoric.1783- Noah Webster  publishes his  American Spelling Book.1785- The Daily Universal Register  (renamed  The Times  in 1788) begins publication in London.1788- The English first settle in  Australia, near present-day Sydney. 1789- Noah Webster publishes  Dissertations on the English Language, which advocates an  American standard of usage.1791- The Observer, the oldest national Sunday newspaper in Britain, begins publication.Early 19th century- Grimms Law  (discovered by Friedrich von Schlegel and Rasmus Rask, later elaborated by Jacob Grimm) identifies relationships between certain  consonants  in Germanic languages (including English) and their originals in Indo-European. The formulation of Grimms Law marks a major advance in the development of  linguistics  as a scholarly field of study.1803- The Act of Union incorporates Ireland into Britain, creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.1806- The British occupy Cape Colony in South Africa.1810- William Hazlitt  publishes  A New and Improved Grammar of the English Language.​1816- John Pickering compiles the first dictionary of  Americanisms.1828- Noah Webster publishes his  American Dictionary of the English La nguage. Richard Whateley publishes  Elements of Rhetoric. 1840- The native Maori in  New Zealand  cede sovereignty to the British.1842- The London Philological Society is founded.1844- The telegraph is invented by Samuel Morse, inaugurating the development of rapid communication, a major influence on the growth and spread of English.Mid 19th century- A  standard variety of American English  develops. English is established in  Australia,  South Africa,  India, and other British colonial outposts.1852- The first edition of  Rogets Thesaurus  is published.1866- James Russell Lowell champions the use of American  regionalisms, helping to end deference to the  Received British Standard. Alexander Bain publishes  English Composition and Rhetoric. The transatlantic telegraph cable is completed.1876- Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone, thus modernizing private communication.1879- James A.H. Murray begins editing the Philological Societys  New English Dictionary on Historical Principles  (later renamed the  Ox ford English Dictionary).1884/1885- Mark Twains  novel  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn  introduces a  colloquial  prose  style  that significantly influences the writing of fiction in the U.S. 1901- The Commonwealth of Australia is established as a dominion of the British Empire.1906- Henry and Francis Fowler publish the first edition of  The Kings English.1907- New Zealand is established as a dominion of the British Empire.1919- H.L. Mencken  publishes the first edition of  The American Language, a pioneer study in the history of a major national version of English.1920- The first American commercial radio station begins operating in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.1921- Ireland  achieves Home Rule, and Gaelic is made an official language in addition to English.1922- The British Broadcasting Company (later renamed the British Broadcasting Corporation, or  BBC) is established.1925- The New Yorker  magazine is founded by  Harold Ross  and Jane Grant.1925- George P. Krapp publishes his two-volume  The English Language in America, the first comprehensive and scholarly treatment of the subject.1926- Henry Fowler publishes the first edition of his  Dictionary of Mo dern English Usage.1927- The first speaking motion picture,  The Jazz Singer, is released. 1928- The Oxford English Dictionary  is published.1930- British linguist C.K. Ogden introduces  Basic English.1936- The first television service is established by the BBC.1939- World War II begins.1945- World War II ends. The Allied victory contributes to the growth of English as a  lingua franca.1946- The Philippines  gains its independence from the U.S.1947- India is freed from British control and divided into Pakistan and India. The  constitution  provides that English remain the official language for 15 years. New Zealand gains its independence from the U.K. and joins the Commonwealth.1949- Hans Kurath publishes  A Word Geography of the Eastern United States, a landmark in the scientific study of American  regionalisms.1950- Kenneth Burke  publishes  A Rhetoric of Motives.1950s- The number of speakers using  English as a second language  exceeds the number of  native speakers.1957- Noam Chomsky  publishes  Syntactic Structures, a key document in the study of  generative  and  transformational grammar.1961- Websters Third New International Dictionary  is published. 1967- The Welsh Language Act gives the Welsh language equal validity with  English in Wales, and Wales is no longer considered a part of England. Henry Kucera and Nelson Francis publish  Computational Analysis of Present-Day American English, a landmark in modern  corpus linguistics.1969- Canada  officially becomes bilingual (French and English). The first major English dictionary to use corpus linguistics- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language- is published.1972- A Grammar of Contemporary English  (by Randolph Quirk, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech, and Jan Svartvik) is published. The first call on a personal cell phone is made. The first  email  is sent.1978- The Linguistic Atlas of England  is published.1981- The first issue of the journal  World Englishes  is published.1985- A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language  is published by Longman. The first edition of M.A.K. Hallidays  An Introduction to Functional Grammar  is publish ed.1988- The Internet (under development for more than 20 years) is opened to commercial interests. 1989- The second edition of  The Oxford English Dictionary  is published.1993- Mosaic, the web browser credited with popularizing the World Wide Web, is released. (Netscape Navigator becomes available in 1994, Yahoo! in 1995, and Google in 1998.)1994- Text messaging  is introduced, and the first modern blogs go online.1995- David Crystal publishes  The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language.1997- The first social networking site (SixDegrees.com) is launched. (Friendster is introduced in 2002, and both MySpace and Facebook begin operating in 2004.)2000- The Oxford English Dictionary Online (OED Online) is made available to subscribers.2002- Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum publish  The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Tom McArthur publishes  The Oxford Guide to World English.2006- Twitter, a social networking and microblogging service, is created by Jack Dorsey.2009- The two-volume  Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary  is pub lished by Oxford University Press.2012- The fifth volume (SI-Z) of the  Dictionary of American Regional English  (DARE  ) is published by Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Resources and Further Reading Algeo, John.  The Origins and Development of the English Language, 6th edition. Wadsworth, 2009.Baugh, Albert C., and Thomas Cable.  A History of the English Language, 5th edition. Prentice Hall, 2001.Bragg, Melvyn.  The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language. Hodder Stoughton, 2003.Crystal, David.  The English Language. Penguin, 2002.Gooden, Philip.  The Story of English: How the English Language Conquered the World. Quercus, 2009.Hogg, Richard M., and David Dennison, editors.  A History of the English Language. Cambridge University Press, 2006.Horobin, Simon.  How English Became English: A Short History of a Global Language. Oxford University Press, 2016.Lerer, Seth.  Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language. Columbia University Press, 2007.McArthur, Tom.  The Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford University Press, 1992.McWhorter, John.  Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold Story of English. Gotham, 2008.Millward, C.M., and Mary Hayes.  A Biography of the English Language, 3rd  ed. Wadsworth, 2011. Mugglestone, Linda.  The Oxford History of English. Oxford University Press, 2006.Nist, John.  A Structural History of English. St. Martins Press, 1966.

Analyze a Retailer Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Analyze a Retailer - Research Paper Example After this acquisition the company grew gradually in size and operations and the refineries figure was increased to 16 by the end of 1997. Throughout the 80s and the 90s era, the company operated in diversified energy operations i.e. from the refining of petroleum products to the marketing of those products. Valero Energy Corporation produces and markets different products in the market. Their products range from gasoline to jet fuel. Besides these, the company also produces other specialty products such as Propane, Process oils, Asphalt, etc. The company operates in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean through its retail outlets. The company had been performing well in terms of profitability but in the year 2009, their profits had transformed into losses. The company had reported a loss of $58 million dollars which was a better profit figure of $761 million in 2008. This downfall would have been because of the global recession. The company aims to strengthen their position by transforming this loss figure into a profit figure and keeping in intact for further years to follow. (Annual Report,

Illiteracy in Prison Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Illiteracy in Prison - Research Paper Example It is important to understand the notion of illiteracy when related to the prison system. Contemporary research has shown a very high rate of illiteracy in the prison system and it is well to inquire whether this is a consequence of various factors or it is just a mere coincidence. The prison system that the country uses today and in the 20th century is the same. In the 20th century, the prisons experienced major reforms in terms of the structure and the staffing. However, one major aspect that the system did not accommodate was the technological characteristic. Technology in major institutions is one very important characteristic as in the 21st century; most of the education relayed to students is through technology. For example, calculators have come in as a great deal to serve the contemporary students with faster ways of calculating in fields such as chemistry, physics and mathematics. The fact that there has not been any introduction of the new technology devices in the prison s ystem is a factor showing that it is not a coincidence that there is a lack of literacy in the prison system. Where there are these gadgets in the prison system, many inmates would develop professional knowledge that would assist them in the advancements of a career. Upon release from the system, they would get proper jobs that would help them shun all criminal activities thus making the environment a safer place. Lack of the gadgets in the prisons encourages the prisoners to engage in or form illegal groups in prisons (Haigler, O'Connor, and Campbell, 2008). The economic condition in the outside world is one other factor linked to the high amount of illiteracy in the prisons. In the contemporary times, the rates of recession have been steadily on the rise and thus making people engage in activities that will serve to help them gain a meal for the day. The economic factors extend so far such as even professionals such as doctors engage in activities that do not fit their job descrip tion. An example of this is a doctor who may go way out of his career path to sell prescription drugs to addicts in an effort to make the extra cash. These conditions affect the professionalism of people and when they stray to carry out activities that do not suit them, the resulting factor is the lack of essence to the career that a person has. With the lack of essence, it is common to find the person forfeiting his job and concentrating on the illegal side job as a whole. Through this, the person may lose certain concepts taught in the professional school attended due to lack of practice and this would eventually render a former literate person illiterate. In the connection to the prison system, the person is sent to prison and hence the high number of illiteracy in the facilities. Other factors that lead to illiteracy in prison are political factors. In the community, the high rate of unemployment leads to people suffering and searching for means to gain income. One of the most c ommon times that people engage in these activities is during political campaigns. Political campaigns are a very noticeable aspect of the community and politicians often go ahead to look for people to spread their popularity in various regions with the promise of a certain amount of fund. Many of the politicians do not pay the campaigners until the campaign is over and the results announced. This one factor motivates campaigners to work very hard in an effort to please the party candidate. Many

Oil and Global Warming in Saudi Arabia Essay Example for Free

Oil and Global Warming in Saudi Arabia Essay Oil has been identified as a very important resource; it provides a lot of significant benefits to mankind. It is used for numerous purposes such as transportation, heating, electricity production, and industrial applications. It has a high energy density which makes it an efficient fuel source plus the fact that it is fairly easy to transport and store. Its versatility is of great importance, and this is proven by being by most valuable commodity in world trade (O’Rourke Connolly, 2003,). According to Doyle, it is estimated that two billion dollars switch hands in petroleum transactions, making it the world’s first trillion dollar industry (cited in O’Rourke Connolly, 2003). Oil is very profitable for corporations as well as for governments since oil taxes generate a lot of income. Oil is important for the national economic viability of Saudi Arabia as it accounts for more than 80 percent of total national exports. Other countries that are dependent on the oil business are Libya, Kuwait, Iran, and Venezuela (O’Rourke Connolly, 2003). Environmental Effects of Oil Oil transport, refining, exploration, drilling, and extraction have had negative effects on the environment, but much attention has recently been focused on the negative environmental impacts of the use of oil. It is widely believed that burning fossil fuels contribute to global warming since carbon dioxide, an abundant greenhouse gas, is produced as oil is burned. Findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicate that around three quarters of total carbon dioxide emissions come from fossil fuel use (O’Rourke Connolly, 2003). To be able to fully understand the how oil use affects global warming, it is necessary to get a clear understanding of the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon. Imagine a greenhouse and that is just how the greenhouse effect works. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, and ozone trap heat thereby slowing its escape from the atmosphere. The dramatic increase in the release of greenhouse gases has brought about an abnormal increase in the average world temperature already estimated at around 1 percent at the turn of the century. However, without the greenhouse effect, the Earth would be too cold to sustain the currently thriving ecosystems (West, 2008b). Due to the fact that oil is a widely used resource and that oil produces significant amounts of carbon dioxide as it â€Å"generates roughly 30 percent more carbon dioxide from every unit of energy produced,† it can be inferred that dependence on oil has extensively contributed to global warming (Barry Frankland, 2001, p. 362). Importance of Oil to Saudi Arabia In all parts of the world, oil is considered as an important resource especially in modern life. â€Å"Any measures to reduce oil consumption were hampered by powerful opposition of certain governments and inter-governmental organizations† (Barry Frankland, 2001, p. 362). Oil is particularly of great importance especially to members of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) since it constitutes a great part of the income of member countries. Saudi Arabia is a member of the OPEC including Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. Saudi Arabia may be considered as the most important oil producer since it produces large amounts of oil as it accounts for 13 percent of the world’s total oil output. It makes up 35 percent of the OPEC’s total oil production in 1991. Saudi Arabia has also been identified as the â€Å"swing producer† of oil since it has the capacity to affect the level of supply and demand as well as affect international oil prices. Oil is important to Saudi Arabian economy as figures in 1991 pointed out that oil accounted for 73 percent of the country’s revenues. 90 percent of total oil exports in 1991 come from Saudi Aramco (Country Studies). However, data from Beyond Petroleum Statistical Review of World Energy shows that despite the knowledge of the implication of oil in global warming, the consumption still increased—the 3163. 5 million tonnes consumed in 1992 jumped to 3462. 4 in 1999 (Beyond Petroleum, 2008). Carbon Dioxide and Climate Change Despite the great number of proponents pointing to global warming as a real environmental threat, Idso and Idso (2008) indicate that it is â€Å"highly unlikely† that increases in carbon dioxide emissions will lead to global warming. They cited numerous arguments that would disestablish the link between the global warming and greenhouse gas emissions. They primarily indicated that there is a â€Å"weak short-term correlation† between carbon dioxide and temperature increase. Thus, the emissions may not be the likely cause of any warming that is being experienced or will be experienced. Even as both temperature and carbon dioxide emissions have increased, this does not necessarily mean that the two are interrelated. To identify a clear causal relationship, the presumed cause must precede the presumed effect. Several cycles of increase and decrease must also be present in order to make a concrete judgment that the two factors indeed affect each other. They also indicated that â€Å"a strong negative climatic feedback† will prevent any catastrophic warming from manifesting. These play a major role in the planet’s climate system but are totally ignored by scientists lobbying for the existence of global warming. They cited numerous other factors that would disprove the existence of global warming. II. Saudi Arabia The Oil Industry The Saudi Arabia landscape is characterized by the presence of several multi-million dollars worth of infrastructure created to support the oil production capability of the country. These infrastructures are costly investments made by different companies. The effort to contain the emission of carbon dioxide from oil manufacturing and processing sources has different impacts, particularly in economics. Another â€Å"important issue concerns taxes and duties on oil products consumed in oil-importing countries as well as environmental taxes and duties on emissions of carbon dioxide, aimed at curbing oil demand and potentially harming oil exporters’ revenues† (Noreng, 2006, p. 16). Oil production felt a decline. In 2002, daily oil production in Saudi Arabia was 8,928 thousand barrels, and this steadily climbed to 11,114 thousand barrels in 2005. However, this dropped to 10,853 and 10,413 thousand barrels in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Last year, Saudi Arabia’s total oil output dropped by 440,000 barrels per day and is the largest decline in the world last year. In addition, the whole of the Middle East produced 25,176 thousand barrels daily in 2007. The Middle East is also the world’s largest oil producer and holds the highest share in the world’s remaining oil reserves at 21. 3 percent with 264. 2 thousand million barrels. In measuring oil consumption, Saudi Arabia does not consume as much with 2,154 thousand barrels daily. The United States is the largest oil consumer with a consumption rate 20,698 thousand barrels per day (Beyond Petroleum [BP], 2008). Saudi Aramco and the Environment Saudi Aramco or Arabian-American Oil Company, which is based in Saudi Arabia, is the world largest oil company. It produces the most quantity of oil and also leads the count with its oil reserves. It has 102 oil and gas fields within its grasp as of the middle part of 2007. Its oil reserves amount to 259. 9 billion barrels and it produces 8. 9 million barrels per day. Its oil exports for the year 2006 amount to 2,541,692,569 barrels (Country Studies, 2008). Saudi Aramco has unveiled that it would help fight global warming through cutting carbon dioxide emission in the oil and gas business. Experts indicated that persuading Saudi Aramco to fight against global warming is a big step forward since it is the world’s largest oil producer. Saudi Aramco president and Chief Executive Officer Abdallah Jum’ah told a panel from 163 nations in a meeting in Germany about expanding the Kyoto Protocol that â€Å"the petroleum industry should actively engage in policy debate on climate change as well as play an active role in developing and implementing carbon management technologies† (Hammond, 2006, n. p. ). He clearly indicated that national oil players such as Saudi Aramco can make great contributions in forwarding anti-climate change efforts. During the meeting, Robert Socolow from Princeton University also indicated that 40 percent of the increase in carbon dioxide emissions comes from the oil industry. He also indicated that the oil industry is the major cause of global warming. Aramco officials also stated that research and development effort have already leaned towards removing or reducing carbon dioxide omissions coming from oil (Hammond, 2006). Saudi Aramco has expressed that it cares for the environment such that it has an Environment Protection Department that provides leadership on environmental issues and its operations are always environmentally responsible. Saudi Aramco considers the environment as a basic responsibility and a company commitment. The company has developed a variety of operational requirement that give consideration to environmental impacts such as â€Å"sanitary codes, project environmental assessments, air and water quality standards, occupational health regulations, hazardous material communication guidelines, waste management procedures, and vital oil spill contingency plans† (Saudi Aramco, 2008). The Environmental Impacts of Oil Oil has always been an environmental issue. From searching for oil, refining it and until its usage, it is always regarded as an environmental threat. Oil exploration and drilling are the first phases in the oil life cycle. It is also referred to as the â€Å"upstream phase† (O’Rourke Connolly, 2003, p. 593). Drilling and extracting oil affect the natural ecosystems, human health, as well as local cultures. It does not matter if the drilling is on-shore or off-shore; the effects are just the same. The physical modifications in the environment caused by oil exploration, drilling, and extraction are so devastating that they could be more harmful than a large oil spill. The more devastating effects of these are â€Å"deforestation, ecosystem destruction, chemical contamination of land and water, long-term harm to animal populations (particularly to migratory birds and marine mammals), human health, safety risks for neighboring communities and oil industry workers, and displacement of indigenous communities† (O’Rourke Connolly, 2003, p. 593-594). Oil exploration requires heavy equipment, and moving these equipment results in deforestation and erosion. Mobile rigs used for temporary drillings can reach weights of over two million pounds. On the other hand, drillings make use of large amounts of water and also contaminate it in the process. It is released afterwards which leads to the contamination of land. Exploration and extraction have also been known to produce large volumes of drilling wastes and associated wastes. In addition, oil processes make use of a waste pit where chemicals and other wastes from the oil process are being dumped. Exposure of these oil pits is a threat to aquifers as well as to animals and birds. They can mistake the pits for water holes, therefore engorging themselves in chemical waste. Exploration, drilling, and extraction also lead to a variety of health risks for humans. These risks may arise from radioactive materials that have surfaced from drilling as well as the bioaccumulation of oil, mercury, and other hazardous elements in animals that are consumed by humans (O’Rourke Connolly, 2003). Oil Spill Threat In order for oil to be delivered to different parts of the world, oil transport is necessary, and the main mode of oil transport is through oil tankers. However, moving oil using pipelines is becoming vastly popular. Oil currently accounts for half of all sea cargo and oil pipelines now spread more compared to railroads. Oil transport has also led to an environmental threat known as oil spills. Large oil spills receive much attention particularly because of media coverage; however, small cumulative spills go undocumented and measuring the amount of oil spillage from these proves to be significant. Accidents have been known to occur at all segments of transport as well as at each point of transfer. Also, since the 1960s, at least one large-scale oil spill has been documented every year (O’Rourke Connolly, 2003). Ocean transport of crude oil and petroleum products accounted for 3,000 gallons spilled per billion ton-miles in 1983 and nearly 8,000 gallons per billion ton-miles in 1984. Pipeline spills contributed less than 100 gallons per billion ton-miles for both years. (O’Rourke Connolly, 2003, p. 599) Oil spills have also been known to occur during extractions. A 2002 estimate by the National Academy of Sciences indicated that 38,000 tons of petroleum hydrocarbons from oil and gas operations were released into the world’s oceans (O’Rourke Connolly, 2003, p. 595). Saudi Aramco Oil Spill Contingency Plan Saudi Aramco has always been responsible in handling oil spills such that it has developed a contingency plan against to help counter oil spills. Saudi Aramco’s first focus on handling oil spills is being self-sufficient. It â€Å"built specialized oil spill recovery and containment vessels, and purchased equipment and materials to combat spills† (Zaindin, 1996, p. 2). In 1989, it even designated a committee to review and assess the anti-oil spill capabilities of the company. The task force made recommendations which were called the Global Oil Spill Contingency Plan which (1) â€Å"establish[ed] an oil spill policy for [the company’s] worldwide operations,† (2) â€Å"direct[ed] Saudi Aramco and its affiliates to join major cooperatives and assign[ed] regional responsibility for oil spills† and (3) â€Å"require[d] the development, implementation, and maintenance of regional and owned tanker oil spill plans† (Zaindin, 1996, p. 2-3). Saudi Aramco has also established an Oil Spill Committee in 1990 and this committee instituted a policy for the prevention and cleanup of oil spills resulting from the company’s operations. The Global Oil Spill Coordination Group was created to put into action and coordinate company activities that address the oil spills. If an oil spill takes place, a Regional Oil Spill Coordinator cleans the oil spill with the aid of an Oil Spill Response Team. The director takes care of the spill and is responsible for safe and efficient control, cleanup operations, disposal, restoration, as well as documentation processes. The response team is always ready as they receive special regular trainings (Zaindin, 1996, p. 3-4). Equipment that could effectively handle small to medium-sized oil spills have been stationed at the vicinity of the Red Sea and in case of any large oil spills, additional resources will be brought to immediately address the threat. Saudi Aramco has also inked ties with organizations that provide cooperative assistance in case of oil spill, namely, the Oil Spill Response (OSR) Ltd. based in England, Clean Caribbean Cooperative (CCC), Marine Preservation Association (MPA), Marine Industry Repsonse Group (MIRG), and the Gulf Area Oil Companies Mutual Aid Organization (GAOCMAO) (Zaindin, 1996, p. 4). III. Involvement Saudi Arabia and Japan Saudi Arabia has been involved in a lot of international treaties. One of these treaties was signed with Japan when both countries, among other things, acknowledged the importance of the stability of the world oil market as well as the importance of adopting security measures against global warming (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, 2007). Both sides reaffirmed the importance of the stability of the world oil market. The Japanese side expressed its appreciation and understanding for the Saudi Arabias balanced oil policy, which is a secure and reliable source for providing oil supplies to the international markets in general, and to the Japanese market in particular†¦while stressing the significance to further promote bilateral cooperation in energy, based upon mutually complementary relationship between Saudi Arabia, with its largest hydrocarbon resource in the world, and Japan, with its advanced energy-related technologies. The Saudi side expressed its intention to continue to assure stable oil supply to Japan, and the Japanese side expressed its appreciation for this (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, 2007). Both sides [also] decided that the international community should adopt appropriate measures against a possible global warming, based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities as stated in the international agreements on climate change. In this regard, the Japanese side expressed its willingness to develop its cooperation in both levels of government and private sectors to promote the clean development mechanism (CDM) that contributes to combating the possible global warming as well as achieving sustainable developments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Both sides reaffirmed the importance of the roles of the private sectors in both countries for promoting CDM projects (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, 2007). Saudi Arabia should use the power of the law, as well as submit to the rule of international law, in order for efforts versus global warming to be successful. â€Å"Law plays an important role in environmental protection at both the international and the national levels† (Chopra, Leemans, Kumar, 2005, p. 41). However, a drawback to this concept is the fact that Saudi Arabia itself shows signs of not being fully amenable to the stipulations of several international agreements and international laws on global warming. â€Å"Some OPEC countries (e. g. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait) also opposed the FCCC (Framework Convention on Climate Change) for fear of its potential impact on the price of crude oil† (Alexander Fairbridge, 1999, p. 637). The Clean Air Act and Addressing Global Warming The Clean Air Act is a law that has been passed by some countries in a hope to control air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Numerous developed countries such as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom have adopted such laws and even some third world countries have done so. Saudi Arabia has yet to adopt such a law. In the United States, the Clean Air Act is a federal law which means that its coverage spans the whole country and it has been an effective tool in regulating greenhouse gas emissions. The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) plays a crucial role in regulating processes regarding the law such as setting limits on certain air pollutants. The Clean Air Act which resulted in reduced air pollution has improved human health as well as the status of the environment. Since 1970, the six common air pollutants have been reduced to 50 percent while air toxics from large industries including oil refineries have been reduced by 70 percent. Additionally, new cars are 90 percent cleaner and are expected to be a lot cleaner in the future. Ozone depleting chemicals such as CFC’s have also ceased production. This all happened while the economy prospered and energy and vehicle use increased (EPA, 2008). The same benefits could possibly be reaped if Saudi Arabia would adopt the same policies. The 2007 Climate Change Performance Index indicated that Saudi Arabia is at the bottom of the list when it comes to addressing global warming followed by the United States, China and Malaysia. Sweden, Britain and Denmark were identified as the countries that have been doing the most to prevent further global warming. Nevertheless, the report indicated that what Sweden, Britain and Denmark are doing are not enough to prevent further climate change. IV. Organizations Different organizations and alliances take part in addressing global warming, like the Kyoto Protocol and the WTO. While Saudi Arabia is an active international player, it is not always in agreement with the rest of the group. Referring to the act of non compliance to the Protocol’s instituted policies, Grosse (2005) stated that â€Å"Saudi Arabia has been among the non-Annex I countries that have been particular to the Protocol† (p. 155). â€Å"The issue of subsidies favoring the coal, nuclear renewables sector has been raised by Saudi Arabia in the WTOs Committee on Trade and Environment,† according to Yamin and Depledge (2004, p. 256), in reaction to the WTO policies. The Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto Protocol is one doctrine that binds nations that have ratified it to help fight against global warming by reducing their emissions of six greenhouse gases, namely, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, HFC’s and PFC’s. It was instituted in Kyoto, Japan on December 1997 and was opened for ratification on March 16 of the succeeding year. The main goal of the Kyoto Protocol is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 5. 2 percent below the 1990 greenhouse gas emission levels from 2008 to 2012. Countries that have bound themselves to the protocol must adopt certain policies and strategies in order to meet the specified emission targets. However, the protocol has been subject to a lot of debate because it exempts developing countries, such as China and India as well as Saudi Arabia, from having emissions cuts. The United States refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol because of the exemption of the developing countries. US President George W. Bush also stated that they will not sign the protocol because it does not bind developing countries and that it would be harmful to the US economy (West, 2008a). Late in 2004, the government of Saudi Arabia has approved of the Kyoto Protocol, but being a developing country, Saudi Arabia is not bound to adopt any cuts on greenhouse emissions although it is expected that the Saudi Arabian government will suffer huge financial losses as the developed countries approve the protocol. According to Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, the government will have accumulated losses amounting to $19 billion by 2010 because of the policies that the developed nations will adopt in order to reduce their emissions to meet the specified targets (Planet Ark, 2004). Carbon Capture and Storage Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is one approach that scientists are looking at which could probably help mitigate global warming. It has been regarded that CCS will reduce the costs associated with mitigating climate change as well as provide flexibility in attaining greenhouse gas reduction goals. CCS makes use of new technology. It collects and concentrates the carbon dioxide produced in industrial and energy related sources and transports it to a storage location where it will be kept away from the atmosphere. This would allow the use of fossil fuels such as oil with a minimum level of greenhouse emissions (Metz, Davidson, de Coninck, Loos, Meyer, 2005). Geological storage is one form of CCS. It is done by injecting carbon dioxide in dense form into rock formations underground. Porous rock formations have great potential in storing carbon dioxide. Such rock formations may include those that previously hold oil and natural gas. This kind of carbon storage is already being used in three industrial sites, namely, the Sleipnir Project in the North Sea, the Weyburn Project in Canada and the In Salah Project based in Nigeria. Moreover, 30 megatons of carbon dioxide per year is injected for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). This is mostly in Texas and the United States. This system of carbon capture and storage makes use of almost the same technology used for the exploration and production of gas (Metz, et al. , 2005). Geological storage may however be associated with some risks. Leakage from stored carbon dioxide may provide certain risks which are classified as either global risks or local risks. Global risk is identified as the release of carbon dioxide which will have significant effects on global warming. On the other hand, carbon dioxide leakage may also expose humans, ecosystems and groundwater to certain risks. These are the local risks (Metz, et al. , 2005). Annex 1 shows an overview of geological storage. Annex 1: Overview of Geological Storage Another type of carbon storage is ocean storage. It is done by injecting captured carbon dioxide at depths of greater than 1,000 m. under the ocean. This would isolate the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for centuries. Consequently, the stored carbon dioxide will become part of the global carbon cycle. However, just like geological storage, ocean storage also has certain risks such that it can cause a great deal of harm. Studies have indicated that animals have been found with reduced rates of calcification, reproduction, growth, circulatory oxygen supply and mobility, and even an increased mortality rate. Annex 2 shows detailed information on Ocean Storage (Metz, et al. , 2005). Annex 2: Overview of Ocean Storage Mineral carbonation and industrial use is yet another form of carbon capture and storage. Mineral carbonation makes use of converting carbon dioxide into solid inorganic carbonates through some form of chemical reaction. Mineral carbonation is actually a natural earthly process called â€Å"weathering† but human intervention needs to hasten this process since it is too slow to become a viable carbon storage system. Industrial use involves using carbon dioxide â€Å"directly or as a feedstock for production of various carbon-containing chemicals† (IPCC, __, p. 39). Industrial use makes use of chemical and biological processes wherein carbon dioxide is utilized as a reactant. The industrial use of carbon dioxide can help keep carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere by instead diverting it into a â€Å"carbon chemical pool†, but this measure will only be of great benefit to preventing climate change if there is a significant amount of carbon dioxide taken away from the atmosphere. Refer to Annex 3 for more detailed information (Metz, et al. , 2005). Annex 3: Mineral Carbonation and Industrial Use Saudi Arabia and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have expressed support with the development of this technology. Norway also demonstrated great interest with Carbon Capture and Storage technology. Norwegian Oil and Energy Minister Aaslaug Haga has requested the support of the Saudi Arabian government in the development of CCS to which Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi responded eagerly. Dagens Naeringsliv quoted al Naimi saying that â€Å"both Saudi Arabia and Norway are concerned about the environment and want to reduce emissions with all possible means. CO2 capture and storage is an excellent way to reduce emissions† (Acher, 2008, n. p. ). These countries want carbon capture technology included in the Clean Development Mechanism so that industrialized countries can cooperate to help advance this technology (Acher, 2008). According to the European Technology Platform on Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants, it is the lack of funding which impales research on carbon capture which then limits its potential (Kanter, 2008). The King of Saudi Arabia announced that the Saudi Arabian government will shell out 300 million USD for research on climate change, and this includes Carbon Capture and Storage technology. Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates also made an assurance that each of them will be giving $150 million each tom support the Saudi Arabian endeavor (OPEC, 2007). Saudi Arabia shelling out that huge an amount of money for climate change research would indicate that the kingdom is now giving attention to climate change. The World Trade Organization Saudi Arabia is now also a part of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and has recently signed a bilateral trade agreement with the United States. The trade agreement came at a good time since Saudi Arabian imports have experienced a decline. The WTO has become a sign of respect and acceptance for Saudi Arabia particularly because it is the only GCC country and the largest oil producer (Zahid, 2005). Saudi Arabia initially did not join GATT, the WTO’s predecessor global trade agreement because oil, its sole export at the time, was not part of GATT (still not part of WTO). Later, as the Kingdom developed its downstream oil and petrochemical capacity, joining WTO became a key imperative in order to protect its exports from inordinate tariffs by mature, high-cost producer countries. (Zahid, 2005) For new aspirants at the WTO, rules may be harsh such that they will need to sign bilateral agreements with any member country that requests it, and the terms will have to be extended to other member countries. Afterwards, a multilateral agreement should be inked with all member countries before being admitted into the WTO (Zahid, 2005). According to Zahid, the WTO had some negative impacts on Saudi Arabia but the WTO may be likened to a medicine. â€Å"It is painful to swallow but it eventually makes you better† (Zahid, 2005, n. p. ). In the short term, the WTO will hurt Saudi Arabia, but in the long run, the Saudi Arabian economy will prosper because of the WTO such that there will be increased transparency, protection of copyrights, rule of law, and foreign investment. Saudi Arabia’s exports will also have access to WTO member countries (Zahid, 2005). The full impact of WTO will be a long and unfolding story for the country. We still need to know the details of the final agreement. WTO has given other countries long implementation periods and many exceptions. Also, we have to see what the final Saudi offer is in terms of tariffs, sectors, binding rates, etc. With this report, we start a series on what the WTO means for Saudi Arabia. (Zahid, 2005) On one point of view, it is regarded that the WTO can enforce better greenhouse gas reductions compared to the Kyoto Protocol. Peter Franklin of the Guardian proposes the: Negotiat[ion of] a successor to Kyoto and then let the WTO enforce it. Nations that failed to meet their carbon targets would have a proportionate tariff slapped on their imports. Such a system could even be used to deal with countries that refused to sign up to the new agreement. The WTO would unilaterally impose a target on each non-signatory nation, with their excess carbon emissions and consequent penalties being assessed in absentia. The export-led economies of China, India and other key Kyoto absentees would be particularly susceptible to such pressure (Franklin, 2006). The Kyoto Protocol has no fangs and this could be filled in by the WTO as those who do not approve of reducing greenhouse targets will have to suffer some consequences from the WTO. This could however be treated as a disrespect to a country’s sovereignty. In the long run, since the WTO would attract more foreign investment, foreign investments will also be encouraged in developing alternative, renewable energy solutions in Saudi Arabia. Consequently, CCS can thrive from a commercial point of view as the awareness of climate change would trigger interest in forwarding this technology for economic gains. The WTO system encourages a good government, which in turn will help in framing policies for increased participation in anti-climate change efforts. V. Problems and Solutions The planet’s worsening climate condition is partly the doing of the industrial cities in Saudi Arabia, from where carbon dioxide emissions from oil manufacturing and processing come from. The investment of Saudi Arabia in finding solutions for the problems posed by global warming is research and resources. Countries like Saudi Arabia allocate funds for studies. It focuses its studies on oil-related aspects of global warming management. It is important for countries to sponsor studies so that they can get first hand information about global warming and its implications. â€Å"Nations should foster the continued development of these epistemic communities not only to stimulate new avenues of research, but also to help create greater opportunities for consensus building and coordinated action† (Lee, 1995, p. 14). In reducing carbon dioxide emissions coming from oil, there are a variety of methods that could be adopted. One is eliminating subsidies to prevent increase in consumption levels. Simply saving up on energy use can help alleviate greenhouse emissions. Resorting to renewable energy sources provides great potential in dealing with this environmental threat since these renewable energy sources produce no amount of emissions whatsoever. For countries like Saud

Is American Patriotism Also Blind Patriotism? Essay examples -- Americ

It seems that patriotism is one of the most common terms used during times of war. Governments often use propaganda about nationalism to advocate their political views of the hostilities. Sometimes they even force patriotism on their constituents with fear-mongering techniques, which can have dangerous implications. That’s not to say that patriotism is inherently bad—many wars have been won for just causes because of it. However, it is a mistake to only think of war at a national level. There are devastating effects on the soldiers, families, and victims of war hostilities. The stories read this week discuss the struggle between concern for macro-society (patriotism) and micro-society (family/personal interests) during war. While no narrative completely rejects the idea of macro-society, they clearly emphasize the greater importance of micro-society and the consequences of patriotism. â€Å"Loyalties† is the first story which discusses the concept of macro and micro-society. It centers on a family living in an African village during the Nigerian civil war. The father and schoolmaster seem to be the most loyal characters from the beginning, as they are large supporters of the new Biafra. However, by the end of the tale they have switched their allegiances back to Nigeria. Their perspectives clearly reflect the bigger concept of the macro-society. There is an element of humor in the way they switch so drastically from one side to the next. The mother, on the other hand, represents concern for the micro-society, because she only cares about the tasks of everyday life. The tone of the story clearly favors the mother’s perspective. After all, she is the only character whose loyalties remain true throughout the entire story, and the author pokes fun at the politics of the men. Even the mother sees the humor in it all, telling her son, â€Å"Go and collect the goat†¦after all he is now a Biafran goat so we must take better care of it† (144). At the conclusion of this story it is apparent that the concept of macro-society during war has certain limitations and weaknesses, which can greatly impact the individuals and families involved. Just as â€Å"Loyalties† discusses the flaws of patriotism, â€Å"Peace and War† explains the failings of micro-society. It depicts two men who go to war every day and treat it as business. They are casual about their job because the war is at a ... ...e and honor when they are far from the field of battle, as this girl is. Yet when there are personal ties, it is much harder to accept the concept, just as Biyumi struggles with his sense of nationalism. Although many of these stories have specific settings and historical significance, they also speak to today’s world. We have seen a great shift toward patriotism in the years following the attacks of September 11, 2001. It would be wrong not to respect the soldiers who have fought bravely for the United States since that time, just as it was wrong for the wife in â€Å"Peace and War† to underestimate the dangers around her. However, we must also honor the micro-society, both here and in other parts of the world. Will our actions as a nation lead our soldiers into traumatic situations like the soldier in â€Å"An Easy Death†? Or will we consider the families and communities involved, saving ourselves from micro-societal damage? I only hope that we can learn from stories such as these and not take our â€Å"blind† patriotism too far. Works Cited Global Cultures. A Transnational Short Fiction Reader, ed. by Elisabeth Young-Bruehl (University Press of New England, Hanover and London, 1994)

Written Analysis and Communication: Report on Homesafe Limited

Homesafe Ltd. Written Analysis and Communication Instructor: Dr. Seema Khanvilkar Submitted By: Apurv Jain, D023 Shreyansh Jain, D027 Mohit Sejwal, D055 Vinay Pal, D045 Sahil Bhavnani, D006 Aman Jakhar, D030 Letter of Transmittal To, Dr. Seema Khanvilkar, Business Communication Faculty, SBM, NMIMS – Mumbai Date: 4th March 2013 From, Div D, MBA – I Subject: Report on Homesafe Ltd. Respected Ma’am, With reference to the meeting held on 20th Feb, 13 regarding the recommendation required on Homesafe Ltd. case, I am enclosing the complete report with our recommendations.We recommend that Holmes should help Jackson find a part time job in an external unrelated business. This will be a win-win situation for both the parties. Sincerely, Div D Executive Summary This is report about a challenging situation faced by George Holmes, the founder of Homesafe Ltd. an emerging start-Â ­? up. Homesafe was doing very well with business prospering and expanding demand. Holmes found himself in a tricky situation when Jackson, the purchase manager of his largest client, Dwason’s, subtly suggested that he needed an alternate source of income and if Holmes did not help, Homesafe might lose business with Dwason’s. Holmes as several options like offering Jackson direct help, help him find employment elsewhere or to let go of business with Dwason’s. We recommended that Holmes leverages his personal network to find Jackson a part time job in an external unrelated business. This will conserve the relationship between Holmes and Jackson and will be in the best interest of both. Report SITUATION ANALYSIS Homesafe Ltd is an emerging start-Â ­? up in the security space. It was a started as a single product company by an engineer, George Holmes in his personal workshop. Over the year this company has grown significantly and added an advisory services vertical oo. There is significant demand for the company’s products and the business has been p rofitable in both the years. Things are looking good with business prospering, Homes has had some of his old friends join him in his business which they operate part time. Holmesafe also recently recruited fulltime employees and shifted to new premises. Holmes has invested significantly in networking and has maintained personal relationship with his clients and till a certain extend relies on these relations to push his sales too. Most prominent of these, is his relationship with Jackson, who is a procurement manager at Dwason’s Ltd, Homesafe’s argest client. During the course of these years Jackson was also offered a job at Homesafe but refused to take it up as there was a conflict of interest. One day, Holmes finds himself in a tricky situation when Jackson calls him and hints at his bleak cash situation and how a little more cash will help him. Jackson also subtly threatens Homes that Dawson’s might start buying from Browns instead of Homesafe. Although there is enough demand in the market and the security segment is growing Homes still has to think weather he can afford to lose the contract with Dwason’s. Homes has to evaluate this situation carefully and weigh his ptions of how to deal with Jackson. PROBLEM STATEMENT Should Holmes help Jackson to find him a part time job? OPTIONS 1. Holmes hires Frank Jackson as a part time employee at Homesafe 2. Offer Jackson a part time consultant role in Advisory Services 3. Help Jackson find a part time job in an external unrelated business 4. Not providing Jackson any assistance CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION 1. Holmes Ltd. ’s revenues 2. Holmes Ltd. ’s relationship with Dawson’s Ltd. 3. Frank Jackson’s conflict of interest 4. Legal implications EVALUATION OF OPTIONS George Holmes hires Frank Jackson as a part time employee for the position of a buyer IfGeorge Holmes hires Frank Jackson as an employee in his company then they might lose their partnership with the Daws on’s Ltd. since earlier on Thomas, Jackson’s boss had not approved of Jackson working with a supplier. There would be a significant conflict of interest which might pose a legal problems for both Dwason’s and jackson’s too. Since major part of the revenues comes from there, the next year’s revenues would come down steeply. Their relationship with Dawson limited would also be strained hence we can rule this option out. Offer Jackson a part time consultant role in Advisory Services By choosing this option Holmesafe ould be able to mitigate direct legal implications and also the conflict of interest can be reduced. However this is also not ideal as Jackson still would be associated with Homesafe. From Homesafe’s point of view this arrangement will work because Jackson will get a job and their relationship with Dwason’s will persist. Help Jackson find a part time job in an external unrelated business In this option there would be minimal conflict of interest and virtually no legal implications. This will be a win-Â ­? win situation for both as Jackson will find an alternate stream of income and his relationship with Holmes will continue to be ordial. This way Homesafe will be able to continue their sales to Dwason’s. Not provide assistance for his personal problem at all Choosing this option would result in a priority clash between Holmes & Jackson and thus would prune the revenues of Holmesafe in coming years as Jackson would convince his superiors to end contract with Holmesafe & hire Browns instead. The relationship between Jackson & Holmes would thus end on a bitter note, thus bringing an end to symbiotic relationship. We can rule this option out too. RECOMMENDATION We recommend that Holmes helps Jackson find a part time job in an external unrelated business. This ill benefit everyone involved and will be the most ethical choice too. Holmes helped Jackson in the capacity of a friend. PLAN OF ACTION Holme s should explain Jackson how a Job at Homesafe would be counterproductive for everyone and how he will help find him a job at an external business. Holmes by nature maintains good personal relationships with people around him. He would have significant personal contacts that he can leverage and recommend Jackson to them for a Job. Also he is joined by several of his friends at Homesafe that can also help Jackson find a job. Together they can find Jackson a job in their personal network only.

Gm 591 final course project Essay

Walgreens is one of the fortune 500 companies and among the fastest growing retailers in the country. Walgreens as of April 30 operated 8307 location in all 50 states including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. This includes 7855 drugstores, 146 more than a year ago, including 21 stores acquired over the last 12 months. The company also operates infusion and respiratory services facilities, specialty pharmacy and mail service facilities. They also have a take care health system subsidiary which manages more than 700 in-store convenient care clinics and worksite health and wellness canters. This research is based on the problem facing the company on how executive decision making in the company has caused a negative impact and low productivity level among employees due to their decision to discontinue having Express Script (ESI) as their third party provider. The result of this research is to determine how corporate decision has impacted employee morale and thus resulting in high employee turnover. Which as a result led to several questions arising as to how to deal with the Express Script debacle, which are as the follows? 1) How do we make up for the ESI loss? 2) How do we empower the employee by boosting their morale after taking drastic measures (Job elimination, reduction in hours, Extreme pay cut) to make up for the lost profit? 3) How has corporate decision impacted the morale of employee productivity and personal growth? Walgreens has always provided good customer service, but changes in the competitive environment and in consumer behavior and expectations have caused them to intensify their focus. Walgreens’ mission is to win the hearts and pockets of their customers by providing that â€Å"wow† experience and delight score from customer appreciations. As a manager with the company, my role is to support the strategy by focusing on the strategy to deliver an outstanding customer experience through enhanced employee engagement by encouraging actions that will advance the experience to extraordinary levels for all customers. Also, to help all team members adopt an extraordinary customer care by listening and acting out customer’s expectations for the care and commitment they want to experience. PROBLEM STATEMENT With the tremendous growth and opportunity to expand, Walgreens was hit by hard times due to a proposed rejection by Express script (ESI) a major pharmacy third party provider. This decision led to different changes within the organization called â€Å"Rewiring growth† and field transformation. Walgreens took a stand and made a tough decision not to sign the 2012 contract with ESI. The result of this decision was a lost in the pharmacy sales with projected amount totalling almost six billions dollars’ worth of business lost to their competitors. (Walgreens Company Correspondent on ESI Debacle) Even though, the company thought they made the right decisions on behalf of their customers, patients and employees by not agreeing to the proposed terms and agreement by the ESI, they made a huge mistake because the bottom line of the whole debacle is that we lost totally. The board of directors and top executives won’t admit they are wrong, they didn’t think they will lose and after ESI told them what they want and Walgreens was still insisting that demands be met. They thought ESI was bluffing and after December 31st 2011, they dropped Walgreens from their network services. LITERATURE REVIEW A Literature review was conducted to determine how alienating Walgreens from the ESI network has caused a major constraint on the payer, patients, and employees. Each party used different strategy to keep their patients’ in their network. Walgreens began putting signage out encouraging consumers to talk to their insurance plans about excluding them from the network and for Medicare members to choose plans that aren’t run by Express Scripts. Walgreens also gave out a pamphlet about what happens when you remove them from the network. It goes as follows: Key Statement: Excluding Walgreens from a pharmacy network will result in little to no savings for most sponsors and patients, and in some cases will raise costs, while causing significant patient disruption and risking gaps in care, and increasing administrative costs on plan sponsors. As part of this document, they are encouraging payers to consider directly contracting with them and/or creating a custom network (if their PBM contracts allow for that). They state that their costs are comparable to other retailers or within 2% of their costs. They say that 90-day retail generates a 6-8% savings compared to 30-day retail based on the pricing that they offered to Express Scripts. However, since Walgreens decided not to comply by agreeing to sign the contract, ESI had no choice but to drop them from their network. This decision was a far cry from what they anticipated because they thought a resolution will occur before the end of the year. While both parties are dug in, it is a lose-lose situation for this debacle to stay unresolved, but after Jan 31st 2012, it became a win-lose situation for both ESI and Walgreens respectively. That being said, a lot of changes happened at Walgreens in order to make up for the loss which is as follows: This creates greater use of the Walgreens discount card and/or cash business at Walgreens especially for lower cost generics. Alienating Walgreens creates a disruptive force in the FTC review of the proposed Medco acquisition. Another PBM jumps in to do a creative deal with Walgreens which limits their long-term ability to work with Express Scripts. Express Scripts ends up in a shotgun relationship with CVS. The terms of PBM contracts get changed going forward based on new terms regarding retailers. This validates the integrated model of CVS and Caremark This creates a large number of limited networks. This creates a wave of direct contracting between payers and pharmacies. Walgreens becomes a much more vocal voice in the retail world through NCPA and other organizations. Between this and the merger of Express Scripts acquisition of Medco, the landscape in the PBM market was drastically different by early 2012. (http://georgevanantwerp.com/2011/09/08/walgreens-and-express-scripts-the-plot-thickens) ANALYSIS Walgreens has lost millions of dollars in prescription sales this year, and saw its second-quarter profit decline almost 8 percent because of its departure in January from Express Scripts — the nation’s largest network for filling drug prescriptions. (El Paso times, May 19, 2012) â€Å"Walgreens executives give no signs they will try to negotiate a new deal with Express Scripts and said Walgreens will weather the storm with cost cutting and going after new business.† (El Paso times, May 19, 2012) As a result of this decline, a lot of changes have taken immediate effect to affect the store level employees, like, extreme pay cuts, reduction in hours, hiring freeze, position eliminations etc. In return, this has left a lot of employee very unhappy and disgruntled about their jobs, which brings out a low morale and unsatisfactory job results. Most employees are very upset about the decisions the top management had made because in the end, it only affects the employee because obviously, the chairman of the company wasn’t affected based on the bonus he received in the amount of 10.6 million dollars in cash last year. This is a 36% increase in his salary, a lot of employees were very upset when they read the report on Google and demanded an explanation why our President and CEO is getting a raise when the company is losing almost 6 billion dollars in sales. Here is an excerpt from the associated press: â€Å"An Associated Press analysis of a regulatory filing shows Gregory Wasson received compensation worth $10.9 million in fiscal 2011, up from $8 million the previous year. Walgreen Co. is the largest drugstore chain in the U.S., with more than 7,700 stores. Wasson, 53, has been Walgreen’s president and CEO since February 2009. All portions of Wasson’s compensation grew. His salary rose 12 percent to $1.2 million. His stock awards climbed 67 percent to $5.6 million, the value of his options increased 30 percent to $2.2 million and his non-equity performance bonus went from $1.7 million to $2.7 million. His perks in 2011 were worth $339,977, up from $194,577.† (http://townhall.com/news/business/2011/11/18) The negative consequences brought on by the decision made by Walgreens executives include lower employee morale, disgruntled employee, high turnover rate, excessive tardiness and insubordinate behavior. Ultimately, management will think twice in the future before making a huge decision like this, so employee performances and morale will not suffer. â€Å"Acknowledging management’s responsibility for morale and turnover opens the door to creative solutions†. (Hacker, 2000, preface p.xvii) SUGGESTIVE SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM Walgreens has decided to use different strategies to increase revenue to make up for the ESI loss by implementing the following strategies: a) Filling in more prescription volume – by attracting at least 18 new patients per store, they could replace the business lost in their dispute with ESI. b) Suggestive selling – this is a tool can use in the store every team member to increase profit c) Promoting private brand – by upsell more private brands, the merchandising team is providing updated product guides and fresh package graphics. d) Incorporating the well experience into their daily living – to be known for providing a new selection of health services that create value for both consumers and healthcare systems. e) Prescription savings club – They have signed up more than 700,000 new patients for the prescription savings club (PSC) since January. The PSC card offers savings on more than 8,000 brand name and all generic medications. f) Reinvent their cost structure through continuous improvement and innovation g) Expand across new channels and markets h) Delivering outstanding customer experience through enhanced employee engagement i) Transforming the traditional drugstore to a â€Å"retail health and daily living† store j) Transforming community pharmacy to play a greater role in healthcare through integration and expanded services. These are some of the ways Walgreens has planned to help fill the potential $6 billion revenue gap created when their negotiations with express scripts was unsuccessful. (Walgreens World Magazine January, 2012) REFLECTION Despite all this key strategies, Walgreens is still in the hole with their stock price down to $31.02 from $44, the hiring freeze, field transformation, rewiring growth and job elimination. I will recommend, at this point that Walgreens needs to put their ego aside and renegotiate their contracts with ESI because the worst is yet to happen. Since Express Script and Medco merged in March more patients are leaving the network, what happens then when CVS Caremark decided to pull the plug on us? Work cited 1) (Hacker, 2000, preface p.xvii) 2) (http://townhall.com/news/business/2011/11/18) 3) (http://georgevanantwerp.com/2011/09/08/walgreens-and-express-scripts-the-plot-thickens) 4) Walgreens World Magazine 5) Walgreens Company Correspondent on ESI Debacle 6) El Paso Times Magazine

Biography of John Lee Love, Black Inventor

Biography of John Lee Love, Black Inventor John Lee Love (Sept. 26, 1889?–Dec. 26, 1931) was a black inventor who developed the portable pencil sharpener, which he patented in 1897. Not much is known about his life, but he is remembered for two inventions, the other being a plasterers hawk, which works much like an artists palette for a plasterer or mason. In the pantheon of African-American inventors, Love is remembered for devising small things to make life easier. Fast Facts: John Lee Love Known For: Inventor of the Love pencil sharpenerBorn: Sept. 26, 1889? in Fall River, MassachusettsDied: Dec. 26, 1931 Charlotte, North Carolina Early Life John Lee Love is believed to have been born on Sept. 26, 1889, though another account lists his birth year as sometime between 1865 and 1877 during Reconstruction, which would have put his place of birth in the South. Not much else is known about Loves early days, including whether he had any formal schooling or what prompted him to tinker with and improve certain everyday objects. We do know that he worked almost his entire life as a carpenter in Fall River, Massachusetts and that he patented his first invention, an improved plasterers hawk, on July 9, 1895 (U.S. Patent No. 542,419). First Invention The plasterers hawk traditionally had been a flat, square wooden board, about 9 inches long on each side, with a handle- basically, a post-like grip- that is perpendicular to the board and attached to its bottom. By putting the plaster, mortar, or, later, stucco on top of the board, the plasterer or mason could access it quickly and easily with the tool being used to apply it. The new design functioned much like an artists palette. As a carpenter, Love was likely well acquainted with the use of plaster and mortar. He believed that the hawks in use at the time were too bulky to be portable. His innovation was to design a hawk with a detachable handle and a foldable board made of aluminum, which must have been a lot easier to clean than wood. Portable Pencil Sharpener Another of Loves inventions, and one better known than the plasterers hawk, had a much wider impact. It was the simple, portable pencil sharpener, the predecessor of the small plastic device that has been used by schoolchildren, teachers, college students, engineers, accountants, and artists the world over. Prior to the invention of the pencil sharpener, a knife was the most common instrument used to sharpen pencils, which have been around in one form or another since Roman times (although pencils werent mass-produced in a form familiar to us until 1662 in  Nuremberg, Germany). But whittling a point on a pencil was a time-consuming process, and pencils were becoming more and more popular. The solution soon hit the market in the form of the worlds first mechanical pencil sharpener, invented by  Parisian mathematician Bernard Lassimone  on Oct. 20, 1828 (French patent number 2444). Loves reworking of Lassimones device seems intuitive now, but it was revolutionary at the time. Basically, the new model was portable and included a compartment to capture the shavings. The Massachusetts carpenter  applied for a patent for what he called his improved device  in 1897, and it was approved  on Nov. 23, 1897 (U.S. Patent No. 594,114). His design didnt look much like todays portable sharpeners, but it worked by a similar principle. The pencil was inserted into a conical sheath and was moved in a circle, causing the sheath and the blade inside it to rotate around the pencil, sharpening it. Instead of turning the pencil against the blade, as with todays portable sharpeners, the blade was turned against the pencil by the circular motion. Love wrote in his patent application that his sharpener could  also be designed in a more ornate fashion to be used as a desk ornament or paperweight. It eventually became known as the Love Sharpener, and his principle has been in continuous use since he introduced it. Legacy We dont know how many more inventions Love could have given the world. Love  died, along with nine other passengers, on Dec. 26, 1931,  when the car they were riding in collided with a train near Charlotte, North Carolina. But his ideas left the world a more efficient place. Sources John Lee Love  Biography: Inventor. Biography.com.John Lee Love: Inventor of the Portable Pencil Sharpener. KentagePage.com.Pencil Patents: John Lee Love’s Portable Pencil Sharpener. Pencils.com.

Kn- Words in English

Kn- Words in English Kn- Words in English Kn- Words in English By Maeve Maddox A teaching site offers this rule for dealing with â€Å"silent k†: â€Å"k is often silent before n.† An easier way to retain this information is to forget about â€Å"silent k† altogether. In a word like knot, k is not â€Å"a silent letter† at all, but part of the distinct phonogram kn. The symbol kn is just another way to spell the sound /n/. The spelling kn in a word like knave evolved from the Old English spelling cn, in which the â€Å"c† represented a guttural sound similar to the sound /k/. For example, the OE words from which our words knight, knot, and knave have evolved were spelled cniht, cnotta, and cnafa and pronounced with a hard first sound. The guttural sound eventually dropped out, leaving only the /n/ sound, but the old spelling has survived in kn. Here are some familiar kn words. knapsack knave knead knee kneel knell know knickknack knife knight knit knob knock knoll knotgrass knothole knowledge knuckle Here are some more kn words that may not be as familiar: knacker (noun): One whose trade it is to buy worn out, diseased, or useless horses, and slaughter them for their hides and hoofs, and for making dogs-meat. Ex. â€Å"Jones will sell you to the knacker, who will cut your throat and boil you down for the foxhounds.†Ã‚  (Animal Farm, George Orwell) knackered (adjective): exhausted. â€Å"After shopping with Mum, we were knackered.† knickerbockers (noun): loose-fitting breeches, gathered in at the knee, and worn by boys, sportsmen, and others who require a freer use of their limbs. Ex. â€Å"The childwas dressed in knickerbockers, with red stockings.† (Daisy Miller, Henry James) knickers (noun): underpants worn by women and children. The word is a back-formation of knickerbockers. It’s commonly heard in the idiom, â€Å"to get one’s knickers in a twist† (i.e., â€Å"become upset†). knackwurst (noun): a type of German sausage. Also spelled knockwurst. knout (noun): a kind of whip or scourge, very severe and often fatal in its effects. Ex. â€Å"The  knout  along with  the gulag  are Russias enduring shrines of torment.† knurl (noun): a small protuberance, excrescence, or knob. knurled (adjective): having knurls wrought on the edge or surface. Knurling  is a process of impressing a diamond-shaped or straight-line pattern into the surface of a work piece by using specially shaped hardened metal wheels. Ex. â€Å"Walnut Knurled Guitar Knob.† â€Å"Solid  walnut knurled  legs on table and chairs.† Two foreign borrowings, Knesset and knish, do not belong to the category of words spelled with the phonogram kn. They are spelled with the phonogram k; the sound /k/ is pronounced at the beginning of these words. Knesset (noun): The parliament of the State of Israel. The word derives from a Hebrew word meaning â€Å"a gathering.† Ex. â€Å"On July 11, 1995 this problem was raised for discussion in the Knesset finance committee.† knish (noun): A dumpling of flaky dough filled with chopped liver, potato, or cheese, and baked or fried. The word comes from a Yiddish word derived from a Russian word meaning â€Å"a kind of cake.† Ex. â€Å"Gabila’s Knishes: Home of the Coney Island Square Knish.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should AvoidThe Possessive ApostropheRite, Write, Right, Wright

NASA Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

NASA Case Study - Essay Example Even without physical examination, a break on the tubing means an inappropriate strength of materials used, as it was not able to withstand the pressure. One could quickly suggest poor estimation, poor quality of materials, and the aircraft mechanics were not really proficient or experts, or simply that the material engineers and management were simply experimenting on strength of materials having taken the risk. In the first place, before the materials were used it should have been accurately tried and tested to efficiently serve the function from launch time to the time when the spacecraft could have safely landed back on its pad on earth Definitely, the tragedy of Columbia Space Shuttle in 2003 was a learning lesson for the National Aeronautics Space Administration. But, it could have been prevented. Obviously, minor problems should be given the highest attention for resolution. This means that considering the extreme risk of a space travel by a space craft, no single edge of flaw should be tolerated. In other words, there should be a zero flaw on space shuttle structure and function. Moreover, a spacecraft should not have been attempted launched even for a single or minor imperfection. A completed checklist on parts and function should have been confirmed and reconfirmed by the experts to get a 101% assurance of perfection before set off. There should be ‘no rock left unturned’. Otherwise, there should be no room or space for ambiguity because everything can be calculated closest to precision considering previous projects of similar nature and the perspectives gained by the organizational manpower. In reality, the tragedy should not have happened (Roberto et al, 2006). Gross negligence is a real management problem and not simple ambiguity. This is because this is a scientific undertaking which follows protocol scientific pattern of doing things. Extensive