Develop a business plan including financial planning

Develop a business plan including financial planning and marketing BY Ere-NY I am a fully qualified Offset Registered Children. Challenging takes place on the ground floor of my house In big and spacious room fully equipped and caters for all age groups from 0-8 years. Professional Qualifications and Experience I have previous experience in working full time as a children assistant, therefore I am updated with all the E. Y. F. S. Stages of development and will give you a daily profile of your child and reviews with a more detailed profile of your child's work.I am articulacy interested in role-play for children, mime and story telling. I also use a lot of nursery rhymes, singing and poems with children. Languages I am Italian, which I can teach if parents are interested using flash cards, games, and music. I also have a basic understanding of Spanish and French however my assistants are also bal-lingual in Spanish and Turkish. Food and Allergies All possible precautions will be taken to avoid the most common allergies such as nuts, eggs and berries. Wheat allergy can be taken Into account and discussed. All the food I give Is vegetarian and organic.This Includes milk (formulas are usually supplied by the parent). Food is given every hour to an hour and a half throughout the day. Alternatively you can bring your own which will be given at similar timings. A menu for the week is given at the beginning of the week. All meals include fruit or yogurt or fruit puree and fresh fruit is given at least twice a day and up to four or five kinds of fruit often. This is naturally seasonal. Assistants I have two fully Offset registered assistants, both working 20 hours per week on a Rota basis also depending on how many children we have to care at the same time ND they work from 8. 0 to 5. 00 and occasionally longer and one as standby to work odd hours/half or full days If the other one Is Ill or absent for any reason. Activities Each child under my care Is precious and uniq ue. Deferent activities are laid out to slut different needs and reading. Quiet but mentally stimulating activities are encouraged such as puzzles, drawing and other art and craft simple activities such as fuzzy-felt or construction toys such as leg/duple/sticklebacks. Play: Children have a structured day with age related toys, which are regularly washed and checked Children over the age of two will take a part in cooking – Artwork for children of all ages – Sure Start Children's Centre – Libraries -Outings to parks A list of what toys are displayed for the children Is made on a weekly basis. This then helps parents Identify what toys children are playing with, dally. Children can also access toys from shelves bookcases, and drawers that are mostly at their level even for children of nine or ten months. Equipment Is changed regularly to slut the needs of the children.School runs are also considered, if you would like to know more My house has a lovely big garden with all the outdoor toys and activities. The children, especially in the spring are stimulated to do outdoor activities such us planting strawberry and see it grow. Children's Centre is usually visited on a regular basis. Other days of the week parks, Wood Green library, toy libraries and places of interest are visited which include cultural and festive places such as a visit to see Father Christmas. Outings lists are made for the whole week. I do not charge for outings that are less than E.This means that within this time an eight-hour day is EYE. O. However I do work longer than those hours if required from 6. 30 am to 7. Pm. Longer hours than this may be considered. All rates other than the standard times will be extra and can be discussed. I also work in the evenings and rates will vary accordingly. Babysitting pm onwards which can be discussed I. E. Your house or my house. Overnight care is registered by Offset as can be seen my registration certificate. Reviews and parties. I have regular reviews and parties for parents. Sometimes reviews are Joint as some things may apply to several parents.Parties are a way of both parents and children socializing and children seeing how we all interact with each other. Location Wood Green, Perth Road NON, about 3 min by bus from Wood Green underground. Parking is freer before am and after pm however if you require to stay long time for a review I can provide you with visitors' parking permit. Comprehensive list of rates for other timings is available, please ask if interested Please book a time to come and visit any weekday, preferably not between 12 and 2. 00 as children are having their lunch and getting ready to sleep. Late afternoon after pm up to pm is preferable.

Why Quaid Left Congress

In 1913 the Quaid-i-Azam joined the All India Muslim League without abandoning the membership of the Congress of which he had been an active member for some years. But this membership of the two organizations ended in December 1920. On the occasion of the special session at Nagpur the Congress adopted a new creed which permitted the use of unconstitutional means and decided to resort to non-violent non-co-operation for the attainment of self-government.The new policy and programme in essence envisaged withdrawal of the students from schools and colleges, boycott of law-courts by lawyers and litigants as well as the impending elections to the legislatures under the Government of India act 1919 either as voters or as candidates. 1 The new philosophy of the Congress had been shaped almost entirely under the influence of Gandhi who had, by then, emerged as a commanding figure in Congress politics. Although there were many prominent Congressmen such as C. R.Das and Lala Lajpat Rai who did not subscribe to the programme of non-co-operation2, Jinnah was the only one in a crowd of several thousand people who openly expressed serious disagreement. A constitutionalist by conviction he was unable to endorse, what he called, a sterile programme that the Congress intended to pursue. He was not opposed to agitation or, even putting stronger, pressure on the Government but he distrusted the ‘destructive methods which did not take account of human nature, and which might slip out of control at any time’3.He was convinced and he did not hesitate to tell Gandhi directly that ‘your way is the wrong way: mine is the right way – the constitutional way is the right way’4. But his voice of practical statesmanship was not heeded and Jinnah walked away not only out of the Congress session but from the Congress Party as well. Commenting on Jinnah’s courage as the solitary opponent of the Boycott resolution Col. Wedgwood, who was present in the Con gress session as a fraternal delegate of the British Labour Party, observed that if India had only a few more men of Jinnah’s convictions she would not have to wait for long for her independence. Jinnah’s rupture with the Congress has been variously interpreted. Jawaharlal Nehru in his Autobiography is of the view that â€Å"Temperamentally he did not fit in at all with the new Congress. He felt completely out of his element in the Khadi-clad crowd demanding speeches in Hindustani†. 6 In a later work he has reiterated that Jinnah left the Congress ‘because he could not adapt himself to the new and more advanced ideology and even more so because he dislike the crowds of ill-dressed people talking in Hindustani, who filled the Congress’7.This is hardly a convincing explanation of Jinnah’s breach with the Congress. During his fourteen year old8 association with the body he had freely mingled with the ‘Khadi-clad’ and ‘ill-dres sed’ crowd at its meetings. This criticism, moreover, does not appear to reckon with the fact that the people whom Jinnah led in later years – the Muslims – were even poorer and less educated than Hindus who swelled the Congress gatherings and felt completely at home among them.It is of course true that the wilderness of unconstitutionalism had no appeal for him. There was nothing mealy-mouthed about it. He was convinced that Gandhian methodology for the solution of political problems would do great harm than good to India and especially the Muslims, as indeed it did. The Moplahs, the descendants of Arab sailors living along the Malabar Coast, rose in revolt against the British in August 1921 as partners in the non-co-operation movement and lost no less than 10,000 lives9.The Chauri-Chauri tragedy in the district of Gorakhpur, in February 1922, where twenty two policemen were overpowered and brutally burnt alive in the adjoining police station by a frenzied mob was also a sequel of Gandhi’s civil disobedience movement. Whether it was on account of excess such as these or some other unexplained factors, Gandhi realised his mistake at this stage; calling it a Himalayan blunder he called off the movement. Another Hindu writer would have us believe that Jinnah was a ‘misfit in the Indian National Congress after its assumption of a new complexion of agitation against the British Government’. 0 Writing in defence of the Nagpur Resolution, a British biographer of Gandhi has likewise suggested that the Congress demand for Swaraj ‘within the British Empire if possible or outside it if necessary’ was the clause which ‘killed the alliance with Jinnah and the Muslim League’. In his opinion ‘the suggestion that India might quit the Empire was too much for him – having talked himself into total inefficacy he deserted Congress for ever’11. The proposition that Jinnah was in league with the forces of British Imperialism is manifestly ncorrect. Any one who has made a dispassionate study of Jinnah’s political career and his public utterances inside as well as outside the Legislative Assembly would not fail to see that he was the bitterest critic of British rule throughout his public career. Immediately after the stormy session of the Congress at Nagpur, Jinnah explained the reasons for his dissociation from the Congress. Talking to a Hindu journalist he said ‘I will have nothing to do with this pseudo-religious approach to politics.I part company with the Congress and Gandhi. I do not believe in working up mob hysteria. Politics is a gentlemen’s game’12. Speaking several years later, he charged Gandhi with destroying the ideal with which the Congress was started. He was the one man responsible for turning the Congress into an instrument for the revival of Hinduism’13. These words are neither a mere accusation nor a revelation. ‘Ga ndhi’, in the words of Jawaharlal Nehru ‘was essentially a man of religion, a Hindu to the inner-most depths of his being14.His oft-expressed desire to live for 125 years was an old Hindu aspiration which ‘according to Hindu tradition was the full span of human life’15. Even the political terminology he coined and the weapons he used to fight his political battles were characteristically Hindu. In an article, entitled, ‘The Doctrine of the Sword’, written in 1920, he proudly proclaimed: ‘I have therefore ventured to place before India the ancient law of self-sacrifice. For Satyagraha and its off-shoots, non-co-operation and civil resistance, are nothing but new names for the law of suffering.The Rishis who discovered the law of non-violence in the midst of violence were greater geniuses than Newton. They were themselves greater warriors than Wellington’16. Despite his frequent professions that he was equally dedicated to all religi ons17, Gandhi left no one in doubt as to what his own religious beliefs were. In a language free from all ambiguity he said that he was Sanatani Hindu ‘because I believe in the Vedas, the Upanishadas, the Purana and all that goes by the name of the Hindu scriptures, and therefore in avatars and rebirth’18.It was his religion and not politics which appealed to his Hindu followers. In the words of Subhas Chandra Bose, ‘when the Mahatma speaks, he does so in a language†¦of the Bhagvat Gita and the Ramayana. When he talks to them about Swaraj†¦he reminds them of the glories of Ramarajya (the Kingdom of King Rama of old) and they understand. And when he talks of conquering through love and ahinsa (non-violence) they are reminded of Buddha and Mahavira and they accept him,19.In spite of ‘Himalayan’ miscalculations that he made and the obvious political blunders that he committed his popularity among the masses hardly ever waned. The explanation of this curious phenomenon lies in the fact that ‘he played cleverly on the religious superstitions of the ignorant and poverty-stricken millions of India and got away with it’20. It was this approach to politics which repelled Jinnah and his departure from the Congress may be regarded as the starting point of a long process of self-examination.He was therefore to look more and more to the needs of his own community. It may be mentioned in the passing that Gandhi and Jinnah were each other’s antithesis in beliefs and ways of life and furnished an interesting study in contrast. There was hardly anything in common between them which could hold them together on one political platform for any length of time. Gandhi had been active in politics since his return from South Africa in 1915 and had consistently waged battles against the British Government on the question of political and constitutional future of India.But an accurate knowledge of facts and their details was not one of his otherwise numerous accomplishments. He himself admitted to Chimanlal Setalvad during the second session of the Round Table Conference that he had never read the Government of India Act of 1919. 21 In 1942 he wrote to Viceroy Lord Linlithgow that ‘he had been reading for the first time the Government of India Act of 1935’ and added ‘that if only he had studied it carefully†¦the course of Indian history might well have been different’22.He was an enigma and a sort of mystic who seldom spoke directly and mostly acted on impulse which he conveniently descried as his ‘inner voice’. Even his closest associates like Nehru found him to be ‘a very difficult person to understand’ because ‘sometimes his language was almost incomprehensible to an average modern’23. Lord Wavell at the end of one meeting with him complained that ‘he spoke to me for half an hour, and I am still not sure what he meant to tell me. Every sentence he spoke could be interpreted in at least two different ways.I would be happier were I convinced that he knew what he was saying himself, but I cannot even be sure of that’24. He was quite capable of interpreting and reinterpreting his own statements and was ‘perfectly prepared to go back at any time on anything he had said earlier’25. He could assume that role of a dictator in the Congress Party when it suited him while on other occasions when he believed that Hindu interests could be better served by his silence he would withdraw and innocently plead that he was not even an ordinary member of that Party.Jinnah, on the other hand was a down right political realist. True to his legal profession he would prepare his brief only after he was sure of his facts. There was a great deal of political idealism in him which was to grow with years but it was always based on the stark realities of the situation. He honoured his pledged word and as Lord Pe thick Lawrence said, ‘a man of very firm resolution, a man who when made a promise always kept it and if he felt any body else with whom he was negotiating failed to keep his promise he reacted very strongly’26.To say that the two-nation theory was the only ‘wall between Gandhi and Jinnah’27 is to oversimplify their mutual differences. It was a clash of two strong personalities, two distinct value systems and two irreconcilable ideologies and it were these differences what were ‘to dictate the course of the pen that wrote the history of India’28. Gandhi was a ‘strong man’ and he wanted complete submission not only from his followers but also from his co-workers. To expect Jinnah to offer unconditional acquiescence to any one and least of all to person like Gandhi was to hope for the impossible.This was completely alien to his way of thinking. The surprising thing is not that Jinnah left the Congress in 1920 but that he did not quit it earlier? It is therefore not a far-fetched assumption that Jinnah would have given up the Congress even if he had not voted for non-co-operation at Nagpur. It may have come about a little later but to expect that he would have continued to work in the Congress, in spite of Gandhi’s ascendancy with Hindu philosophy as the guiding star of his politics, appears highly unlikely.

Politics. Who Has The Right To Rule Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Politics. Who Has The Right To Rule - Essay Example It is the understanding of ideas, knowledge, acquaintances and distribution of resources among people in a group. It can be said as the play that analyze who should get what, when, how and why and that can be on basis of the concepts canalized by power, justice, conflicts, sovereignty and decision making. An article of collective authors tells about the politics is, "The word politics comes from the Greek word "polis", meaning the state or community as a whole. The concept of the "polis" was an ideal state and came from the writings of great political thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle." (Aristotle, 1996) Though politics actually is to achieve an ideal society, which is a difficult practice, or a tough aim and might an impossible job to achieve. Despite the fact that politics counts the ideas and other innovative thoughts to aim for making the society more and more better. Public concerns allow politics to manage public by making code of conduct for living and managing lives in particular areas. These conducts resolute the local and international conflicts through debates and compromises proving by law made by the politicians who rules. These rise in social existence of public relations among the local and international communities. By tradition the global governments in every state, concerns a lot about the foreign and local public affairs. They tend to get engage with the conflictions and co-operative communities in a manner to make more conducts in means to create or develop a tremendous society, community, governmental organizations, and making ready the individuals for global cor porations and civil society groups. Usually politics and politicians are the resources known to be the counters of operating public with the collective organization of social existence. Political study and foreign affairs teaches the pubic different political philosophies that are applied upon the inter-state public using casual theories for which public responds normally in an appreciative manner. Political philosophy or normal political acts are all about the public values against the normal living conducts of general public in that particular society. Those conducts may deal differently for the same general publics in different states and though the conduct for these living might only rule if and only if those conducts are approved both historically or analytically by global investigation. Explanatory political theory or positive politics deals with the positive act of the government for the sake to provide more and more advantages to domestic public and encourage the young ones to achieve their aims by guiding them the right path. This act is being taken optimistically only by the creations and developments of fully equipped institutions and other general mechan ism forces. Study of Historical events occur around the globe, political behaviors seen on different acts and events in countries, the performance of political and governmental institutions, the steps and other processes of politicians and last but not least the output or response of public and government and its regulatory structures are collectively combine in Political analysis or political science. Though its kind of a degree for a politician to gain the objective knowledge by differentiating and learning all the meanings between political facts and their values to rule a state. However this is a difficult task for student to gain knowledge about the political theories, its facts and the understanding for their values by bias means and having reliable data, as corruption is also the second name of politics. Building blocks of the knowledge in political field are only the models, theories and concepts about the tools of political analysis. Case studies

The Data Protection Act and Role of the Information Commissioner in Coursework

The Data Protection Act and Role of the Information Commissioner in this Act - Coursework Example Moving with the information that belongs to the University in a personal purse especially in a bar is another offense apart from leaving it behind in a bar since the information content which is of high value to the University would be compromised (Van, 2005). When not on official duty, it is adept to leave behind any information and materials that belong to the college. This information does not only apply to college situation but also another place of work since at one moment an individual would either lose all data due to ignorance and malice. Since ignorance has got no defense, Susan should not be proud of backing up information when she just walks with the backup files anyhow, back up should be protected and kept at the most preferred place (Bell, 2001). Processing the data outside the rights of data subject under the act is wrong. For instance, Susan processed the data for Peter to use outside the organizational act for his business purpose. This is unlawful and both Susan and Peter should face the law for infringing the sixth principle law of personal data act (Bainbridge, 2001). Susan should be penalized; she went against the seventh principle which states that organizational measures shall be taken against unauthorized processing of personal data. Hence, on admitting to pocket the  £1000, she already compromised organization’s data integrity (Miller, 2011). As the president, everyone had to blame Susan for the fault is that she was the sole authority responsible for data security and integrity within the organization. Since she breached the second principle law that governs personal data, nobody should alter the sole purpose of the data (Bell, 2001). In addition, confirming the second and third principles of data protection which Susan did not adhere to stresses on the use of personal data, which should be in a manner compatible with the purpose and reasons as to why the data was stored in the database system.

The Role Of Public Relation In Crisis Management in the Oil & Gas Research Paper

The Role Of Public Relation In Crisis Management in the Oil & Gas industry - Research Paper Example Whenever a crisis happens, the management of an organization needs to proceed in a manner that would guarantee the most effective coordination of the three groups, which would ensure that public relations is used in the management of the crisis. The role of public relations in the management of crisis in oil and gas industry has been portrayed in a number of crises with some companies managing the crisis poorly and damaging the image of the company while others using public relations strategies to improve the company’s image. The oil and gas industry has experienced a number of crises with some generating good public response and others attracting a public outrage and rendering the company almost bankrupt. The response to the crisis of a toxic gas release, which happened on December 1984 at a Union Carbide Chemical Factory or Plant located in Bhopal, India killing over 2000 (3800) people formed one of the most effectively managed crisis in history. The team managing this crisis consisted of ten of the executives and managers of Carbide headed by the C.E.O and worked for several months in coordinating the management, operation, and communication response to the industrial accident. The public relation methods that were utilized in managing this crisis included crisis communication, consumer public relations, internal communication, and government relations. According to a report by Jackson Browning (1993), the then vice president of Union Carbide Corporation in charge of safety, health, and environmental programs, the team held its first press conference that took very few minutes. In the press conference, the team acknowledged that the serious disaster had happened in a factory owned by the Union Carbide where they had a 50.9% share. The team explained to the press some of the immediate measur5es that they were already undertaking in addressing the crisis. The company had daily briefings where they would answer

Selection of a Cloud Computing Provider Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Selection of a Cloud Computing Provider - Essay Example Another important attribute that has its own prime importance is the financially stability of the cloud providers as the providers with higher level of financial risk can lead the companies to become more vulnerable to their operations. In case, if a cloud provider defaults, it can cause serious damages to the companies including loss of data, delays in gathering backups etc. Before making a contract with the cloud providers, it is equally important for the companies making agreement with the cloud providers to ensure that system tools and infrastructure statistics would be visible to company. Those statistics include processors’ utilization, the storage provided and consumed by the system, performance of the network, the number of people who are signed in to the system etc. At the same time, companies can also ask the cloud providers to show the â€Å"churn rate† which presents the number of clients lost by the cloud provider in the last year.The legal requirements are also quite considerable because some of the countries do not allow choosing a cloud provider from other countries. For instance, the countries under European Union only approve certain countries from where a cloud provider can be selected like Canada.The security and quality based issues should also be taken into account such that ISO certified cloud providers are more authentic and reliable as compared to other cloud providers.As a result the implementation is carried out in such a manner that at the earlier stage those applications are implemented first.

Remedies and restitution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Remedies and restitution - Essay Example Pippa could also sue Frank because of having suggested to her that she do something illegal by basically bribing the Council with monies for the town’s visitor centre in exchange for the licence needed to have the Grand Prix off-track go-cart race. The Council could also be sued for having taken the bribe, although Pippa might also get in trouble for having taken the bribe. Pippa might be able to sue Rolling Hills for not having investigated the land well enough to have avoided the fact that there was a colony of rare beetles living in the forest—which should have been surveyed by the company of Rolling Hills prior to the project. Pippa may lawfully ask for the money she made to Hughes & Co. as a down payment because they didn’t start any of the work yet. Wing Nuts may not be liable beause they did not sign a contract of any sort. Rather, it was a booking made by a secretary who was in charge—and was not necessarily the express wishes of several of the peo ple who were club members with Wing Nuts. Julian, however, may be at fault for his hasty booking of the Wing Nuts group without some kind of formal signed contract committing the group to come to the Grand Prix. So, in other words, Pippa is going to be very busy trying to figure out how she is going to proceed in the future, seeing as how she still has to find out what to do next considering the fact that her go-cart race is now not going to happen—at least not in the near future or where she had been planning to have it. Thus, Pippa will definitely have to make alternate arrangements for the future. Consulting Suzi van Blick. This discusses what Suzi should do. This section will discuss what Suzi can claim against who and under what, what remedy can she get under each claim. Suzi may be able to reclaim damages from Pippa for having been contracted to build the track for the go-cart race. However, that having been said, if Pippa can claim that it was not her fault that she di dn’t know that there were rare beetles living in the forest, that may be Pippa’s way of getting out of having to pay Suzi van Blick all of the money that she put into the project that was spent. Thus, it could be proven that Suzi van Blick did not thoroughly and fully investigate and have the land surveyed well enough in order to have discovered the rare beetle colony. She may sue the GreenField environmental group for having ruined the project, because it was majorly because of their protests that the go-cart project was shut down. Thus, she has sufficient cause to protest. Why she can do this is because GreenField could have petitioned the council that the rare beetles be moved to a different locale with the help of local entomologists. However, instead of doing that, GreenField insisted that the beetles be left alone, thus rendering the entire go-cart project useless. Suzi could claim damages, although it is not likely she would have a strong case against GreenField . In fact, Suzi might come under fire for having misrepresented the scope of what Rolling Hills as a company could actually provide in terms of services, when it was really also Hughes & Co. that helped build certain things along the tracks, like pitstops and so forth. In sum, Suzi does not really have many

Lipstick product ethical analysis Research Paper

Lipstick product ethical analysis - Research Paper Example Since the primary objective of a business is seen as profit-making, these issues are hardly considered despite their harmfulness to either health of environment. For that reason, this paper intends to investigate one of the lipstick products, Maybelline to be precise, and offer recommendations on ways to change the process if need be. Maybelline, like any other product, undergoes a series of stages before it has been disposed including extraction, production, distribution, consumption and eventually disposal. First, the extraction process of Maybelline, just like other lipsticks, starts with the gathering of the necessary materials before the mixing process is initiated. Some of the materials used in the extraction process include the oils, emollients, pigments and waxes. Emollients are responsible for the texture and color that Maybelline comes with. Once the gathering of these materials has taken place, the next stage entails the production of the complete product. Here, all the ingredients are ground before undergoing a heating process after which the already-heated waxes are usually added to the mix. Then, lanolin and other oils are added as per the specifications to the mix. Once this is done, different metal molds are used where this liquid is poured. The last two steps see the chilling and cooling of the l ipsticks in a bid to harden them, and a second heating occurs with an aim to create a shiny appearance whilst removing any imperfections (Monnot et al. p.253). While there are claims that Maybelline is lead-free, there has been no concrete evidence to prove this claim. In fact, it had been noted that many of the red lipsticks contain a significant amount of lead with a US consumer group reporting that 60% of the lipsticks that were tested in 2007 had higher levels of lead than the ones allowed (Lemaire p.2265). Also, Maybelline lipstick was among the top ten lipsticks containing a

Abraham Lincoln and Primary Documents Quiz Essay Example for Free

Abraham Lincoln and Primary Documents Quiz Essay 1. One writer maintains that slaves in the South are the â€Å"happiest† and â€Å"freest† people in the world and workers in the North are not. How this is so? 2. For O’Sullivan, how would California benefit once separated from Mexico? 3. According to Angelina Grimke, what could women do to contribute to the abolition of slavery? Women played a vital role in the campaign to abolish slavery, although they themselves lacked even the right to vote. Their campaign techniques were employed to great effect in the struggle for suffrage. In the early years, women influenced the campaign to abolish slavery, but they were not direct activists. This accorded with the prevalent view of women as a moral not a political force. As the campaign gained popularity, they could publish anti-slavery poems and stories. 4. Why does Lincoln in the â€Å"House Divided† speech believe the pro-slavery side was winning regarding the expansion of slavery in the territories? Why does Calhoun in opposing the Compromise of 1850 think the South was at a disadvantage? Because starting the new year of 1854 found slavery excluded from more than half the States by State Constitutions, and from most of the National territory by Congressional prohibition. Four days later, commenced the struggle which ended in repealing that Congressional prohibition. This opened all the National territory to slavery, and was the first point gained†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Although each side received benefits, the north seemed to gain the most. The North had absolute control over the government. The South 5. Garrison and Fitzhugh refer to Declaration of Independence in their excerpts. How do they use the Declaration? Garrison uses Jefferson’s declaration as a foundation that to prove his thought and to convince the society. his â€Å"Declaration of Sentiments of the American Anti-Slavery Convention† is strongly convincing. He confirms â€Å"that all persons of color, ought to be admitted forthwith to the enjoyment f the same privileges, and the exercise of the same prerogatives, as others; and that the paths of preferment, of wealth, and of intelligence, should be opened as widely to them as to persons of a white complexion.† No matter what are your skin color, and what gender you are in, all people should have the way to be educated, rich and happy. What he advocates is quite similar with Jefferson’s claim that all man have the right to â€Å"pursuit their happiness†. George Fitzhugh’s ideas are totally against Garrison. He is a representative of thought that men are not born equal. Whites are strong, healthy, smart, and blacks are weak, sickly, and foolish. He stated that â€Å"Their natural inequalities beget inequalities of rights.† African American is stupid so they deserve to have no right. Furthermore, African Americans are lower than whites; they cannot survive in society without being â€Å"modified† so they need the white man for survival. However, I disagree with Fitzhugh. I think the reason why black people is â€Å"foolish†, and cannot competitive with white people is they are not allowed to get access to knowledge. White people control their lives and brainwash their minds; therefore, they only have a narrow view that they deserve to be slaves, and they ought to do free labor work for whites. They are â€Å"foolish† because they are uneducated, and because how whites treat them. If African Americans were educated, then they would be a threat to white people. They are kept â€Å"foolish† so it is easy to control them. 6. What were the strategies of Garrison and Douglass in opposing slavery? 7. Compare Lincoln’s First and Second Inaugural addresses. What do you think was his purpose in each? Lincolns main purpose in his First Inaugural Address was to allay the anxieties of the southern states that their property, peace, and personal security were endangered because a Republican administration was taking office. The purpose of Lincolns second inaugural address was to state that slavery was the key component that led to the civil war and he stated that it was possible that slavery had offended God and he retaliated by causing conflict which started the war. He said that since there was now peace, they should take advantage of that and begin a time of reconciliation where there was malice towards no one and charity for everyone†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..Lincoln contradicts himself, giving false hope to southerners hoping to hold onto slavery. He says in his first Inaugural address that he has no plans to interfere (directly or indirectly) with the institution of slavery, also saying he had no right to do so. He still holds onto the idea of secession and how we are a perpetual union and by no means should we be divided. Lincoln leaves the idea of taking actions towards slavery in his first address mainly to win some supporters in the middle states, paying off with West Virginias loyalty to the union. Towards the end of the Civil War, Lincoln make a transformation as he turns bolder (evident in his second inaugural address), disowning slavery and all of its practices, issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. This new view of Lincoln sent a loathsome spirit throughout the South, especially for Lincoln.

Professor Questions Essay Example for Free

Professor Questions Essay 1. Discuss how astronomers compare the stars. There may be several terms astronomists use to compare stars, including luminosity, flux, energy flux, apparent magnitude and absolute magnitude. Luminosity is the total amount of energy given from a body every second, measured in Watts Energy flux is the flow of energy out from a particular surface area and is measured in Watts per meter square. Observed flux – As the radius of the circle placed around the radiating object increases, the flow of energy per meter square would decrease.    The observed flux would be higher if the radius of the circle is less (inverse square law) Apparent Magnitude is the amount of light that is received from a particular star.   It is determined using the luminosity of the star and the distance from us.   The apparent magnitude would be low for a brighter object. Absolute magnitude is the amount of light that is received from a particular object when the object is placed at a distance of 10 par secs (AB’s Astronomy Lab, University of Columbia, 2002). 2. From nebulae, stars are formed. Discuss the factors that affect the gestation time for the birth of protostars. The nebulae from which clouds form are nothing but clouds of dust and gas.   They slowly begin to contract to begin the process of star formation.   The mass is known as the ‘protostars’ and it would continue to condense and slowly heat up.   Once it reaches a critical mass phase, the nuclear fusion reaction takes place hydrogen atoms fuse together to form helium, two protons and tremendous amounts of energy.   Once this phase begins, the star is born. Factors that affect gestation time for the birth of protostars †¢ Gravity of the passing star (external energy to help star formation) †¢ Shockwave from a nearby supernova (external energy to help star formation) †¢ Heating by contraction (Giant molecular clouds need to contract to heat up and begin the thermonuclear processes) †¢ Magnetic fields available (helps in contraction) †¢ Rotation or angular momentum of the protostars †¢ Size of the star (smaller stars live longer than larger stars as they take longer to burn their fuel) (Sea Sky, 2008, UNT, 2008) 3. Discuss how a stars life affected by its `fuel`? Once the protostar gets heated up, nuclear fusion reaction begins (thermonuclear processes), and the star now enters its stable phase.   The star would be combating gravitational collapse by fusing atoms together and forming energy.   The star’s life span depends on how much of matter it actually contains.   The process of nuclear fusion in the stars would involve conversion of hydrogen to helium, helium to carbon, until iron is formed.   Once iron is formed, the energy required to fuse iron is much higher and hence the reaction stops.   Larger stars tend to use up larger amounts of fuel compared to smaller stars, and hence would live much shorter. Several large stars in the universe live for about a few hundreds of thousands of years.   As smaller stars would be spending their fuel much more slowly, they would live for billions of years.   Once a star’s fuel gets exhausted, it would transform into a red supergiant (expanding in size), and would be present for sometime.   The star would then collapse, as the force of the nuclear reactions is not effective to combat the force of gravity.   Some of the stars blow away, to form planetary nebulae.   The core of the star would contain some amount of fuel which would burn as white dwarf.   Once they completely burn away, they would remain as a dark ball known as a ‘black dwarf’.   Some massive stars may trigger a violent explosion, known as ‘supernova’ (Airty Nothing, 2008 Sea Sky, 2008). 4. Discuss basic ideas of the main sequence chart (Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) Diagram). The HR diagram is basically a graph in which the luminosity of the stars (absolute magnitude) is charted against the surface temperature (color).   This chart was discovered separately by Ejnar Hertzsprung and Henry Norris Russell in the 1910’s.   This was following several scientists query whether the temperature of the object could be determined from the color of radiation it emitted.

The major constituent of living matter

The major constituent of living matter 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction Water is one of the major constituent of living matter. Around 50 to 90 percent of the weight of living organisms is water. The basic material of living cells, known as protoplasm, consists of a solution in water of fats, carbohydrates, proteins, salts and similar chemicals. Hence, water acts as a solvent which transports, combines, and chemically breaks down these substances. Water is also an essential element for the tourism industry. This is so, because the latter relies a lot on the agricultural industry for the provision of fresh fruits and vegetables for the Food and Beverages Department. Moreover, human beings are dependent on clean, pure and regular supply of water for drinking and other domestic purposes and in the tourism industry it is extensively used for recreation purposes such as in the swimming pools. Furthermore, water is used in the sewerage processing. Unfortunately, it is used indiscriminately for dumping wastes of all kinds and therefore, can be a major source of disease. Consequently, there can be a potential conflict of interest in the use of water resources. In addition, water is used for the generation of electricity which also forms part of the hospitality product. Electric energy is extensively used in each and every corner of hotels and is used in the heating and cooling systems. Also, machines and other equipment such as food processors, refrigerators and ovens need electricity to operate. However, the hospitality industry relies to a great extent on fresh and pure water to supply to its customers. Alongside, it should not be forgotten that this industry is at the same time generating loads of wastewater and since water follows a particular cycle, if somewhere along this cycle water is contaminated by pollutants; the supply of fresh water will be threatened. For this reason, it is of prime importance to preserve the water quality. 2.2 Water quality Water quality is the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water. It is a measure of the condition of water relative to the requirements of one or more biotic species and or to any human need or purpose. The desired quality of water must be related to the actual use of water supply. In terms of water quality, there are a number of chemical contaminants of water which are of great concern. These are lead, aluminium, nitrates and pesticides residues. It has been found that much of the lead present in domestic water supplies has arisen from the use of lead pipes. Lead is dissolved in water at a slow rate and thus it is the greatest concern in cases of slow-moving or stagnant water which has got an acidic pH. Lead also gets into the environment through the use of lead-based chemicals as a petrol additive. However, this source of lead is most significant as a contaminant of air. Aluminium, instead, enters water supplies either as a natural component of water which has passe d through acidic soils or as the compound aluminium sulphate which is used in the clarification of peaty water. It has also been suggested that aluminium and the disease known as Alzheimer are closely linked but this is still being disputed (Source: http://www.waterportfolio.com/).Nitrates in the water supply result mainly from the leaching of agricultural land. They are also present in discharges from sewerage plants. Moreover, some water supplies may contain chemicals which result in the hardness of the water. This hardness is usually caused by the calcium salts and magnesium salts found in the water. Normally, water found in kitchens, laundries, boilers and water-based heating systems do contain these salts and these minerals can be removed from the water by a simple process known as water filtration. This is imperative to be performed as drinkable water must be free from bacteria harmful to the health of human beings. The coliform bacteria are used as indicators of bacteriological water quality. These are associated with pathogenic organisms and are often indicators that a water supply has been contaminated with sewerage. If these bacteria are present in the water, there is a big possibility of faecal contamination and the presence of a number of micro-organisms which may cause gastro-intestinal infections in humans. These organisms might include species of Salmonella and Shigella, Vibrio chole ra, viral hepatitis A amongst others. They are destroyed by heat and chlorine-based disinfectants but can be a hazard in drinking water, water used in the kitchen and last but not least, ice. The most common methods of raw water treatment are firstly filtration to remove solids, taste and odour, secondly biological oxidation to remove organic matter including bacteria and lastly the removal; of iron, manganese, acids, odour and taste. Some substances such as non-biodegradable organic compounds, heavy metals, phosphates and ammonia are quite difficult and expensive to remove. However, chlorination is a common method for the disinfection of water supplies for domestic purposes and in swimming pools. Most of the water supplies must be treated before they are suitable for use in hotels. This treatment is normally carried out by a utility company, which is the Wastewater Management Authority. 2.3 Water and natural environment Water is the most precious gift of nature. It is the genesis of and continuing source of life. Without water, human kind and indeed all other forms of life on earth would not exist. Water is also essential for all development, be it social, industrial or agricultural. It is known to be an integral part of mans environment and the extent to which water is abundant or scarce, clean or polluted, beneficial or destructive determines the quality of human life. Hence, understanding the water cycle is one of the most important factors to be able to understand the environmental impact of wastewater if not well-treated. This is so because untreated wastewater causes loads of harm to the environment when discharged in nature. Water cycle is in fact the flow of water that is where water comes from and how and where it goes. The following diagram helps to better understand the entire water cycle process. The total supply of fresh water remains the same although man has been able to modify the patterns of availability of fresh water supplies with respect to time and space to a certain extent. It is the hydrological cycle which provides fresh water for meeting the various needs of people on the planet and which is relevant in consideration of water availability from year to year. The water cycle over the earth follows a path consisting of evaporation of water from the earths surface commonly from oceans, condensation of water vapour, cloud formation, precipitation and finally flow all over the land surface and even below it, to return back to the oceans lastly. But during the precipitation phase, the pure water supplies become contaminated with much undesirable materials like minerals leached from the soil. This is due to the use of excess nitrate-based fertilizers on land. The excess nitrates drain off into lakes, rivers and also to the underground water which finally goes into the se a. Although there are strict controls done upon the discharges into rivers and lakes, accidental pollution still occasionally occurs and this is why water needs to be treated before consumption and before it is released back to the environment. In hotels, water is more than just a utility. All hotels require considerable volumes of water, which is now becoming an increasingly scarce and expensive resource. Hospitality Operations take advantage of natural water features such as oceans and lakes. But the water quality which will be provided is very important. Water consumption and quality hence should be properly managed not only to keep an ecological balance but also for various reasons. This is because waste water diminishes a scarce resource and costs a lot of money to the hotels, hot water wastes waste not only water but also energy, poor quality water supplies can be risky to the health of both guests and employees and also it can increase the running and maintenance costs of equipment. Finally, contaminated wastewater increases the load on effluent plants and may endanger the water supply of others. 2.4 Water supplies in hotels Most hotels in Mauritius obtain their water from the utility company, Central Water Authority, CWA. Within the building, water supplies are designed to provide different types of water. This is so, because a variety of supplies are required (Lawson, 1976) in hotels for cold water for drinking, cold and hot water for bathrooms, cold water for toilets, hot water circulation for space heating, chilled water circulation for air conditioning, hot and cold water for kitchens and laundry, water for fire-fighting, water for swimming pools, fountains, artificial lakes and finally for watering green fields and ornamental plants. Many hotels offer extensive landscaping and sometimes added amenities such as golf courses. This aspect adds to the environmental impact of the hotels. For example, any golf course usually consumes a large quantity of water. Even a hotels normal landscaping will use large amounts of water and other chemical products. Therefore, to be ecologically sustainable, a hotels grounds and landscaping should run its operations in the â€Å"green way†. This means that the hotel should reduce the water demand, recycle and reduce solid wastes and also recycle and reuse materials as far as possible. As a matter of fact, water forms a major part of the products and services that hotels sell to their customers. This is why much importance should be given to its proper monitoring so that the customers satisfaction are reached or even exceeded and hence leading to the guests being happy. Besides, using water in the landscaping of the hotel will definitely give an aesthetic value to the hotels environment and thus when guests will step in the hotel, they will be charmed by its beauty and their holidays will start nicely. 2.5 Responsible institutions The Water Resources Unit (WRU), created in 1992, was operational as from 1993 and is responsible for the assessment, development, management and conservation of water resources in the Republic of Mauritius. The Unit is the nodal organization for the coordination of all activities concerning water resources management and has to communicate with all the major water user organizations. These are namely the Central Water Authority (CWA), Wastewater Management Authority (WMA), Irrigation Authority (IA) and finally the Central Electricity Board (CEB). WATER RESOURCES INSTITUTIONAL SET UP 2.5.1 Ministry of Public Utilities The Ministry of Public Utilities, MPU is responsible for Electricity and Power, including the Central Electricity Board; Water resources, including Central WATER Authority, Sewerage and other wastewater treatment and disposal including the Wastewater Management Authority and peaceful applications of ionizing radiations. The Ministry is the main body responsible for policy formulation and implementation as regards water resources. The main activity of this Ministry in Mauritius is that it formulates policies in the energy, water and waste water sectors and the establishment of a responsive legal framework to govern the development of these sectors. The Ministry also ensures that the necessary energy is created for services offered by the various organizations so that it will benefit the public. 2.5.2 Water Resources Unit The setting up of the Water Resources Unit was approved by the Government in April 1992. It was then a Division of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Postal Services, which is now the MPU, with the responsibility for the development and the total management of the whole water resources of the country. The WRU started functioning from 07 May 1993, as a Division of the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, presently MPU. The WRU is responsible for the assessment, development, management and conservation of water resources in the Republic of Mauritius.Some of the objectives of the WRU are to study and formulate policy in relation to the control and use of water resources for the provision of Water for domestic, agricultural, industrial and commercial supply and for hydro-electric power and for irrigation, land drainage and land reclamation, flood control, the development of fisheries, the protection of wild life, a forestation and the control of soil erosion, to investigate w ater resources and to collect, associate and interpret any data with regard to those resources, to prepare an inventory of water resources and to keep the inventory continuously up to date to update, on a regular basis, the Master Plan on the use of water resources, to ensure that appropriate measures are taken for the prevention of pollution of water resources, to prepare and follow up plans for the conservation, utilization, control and development of water resources, to prepare schemes for the development of river basins and trans-river basins, to conduct and co-ordinate research and investigation on the economic use of water, to promote, design and construct, with the help of appropriate authorities, schemes and works for the purpose of conservation and development of water resources, to inspect any work carried out in relation to water development or utilization purposes and to grant rights for the use of water and to issue permits, licences. 2.5.3 Central Water Authority The Central Water Authority established under the Central Water Authority Act of 1971 is responsible mainly for the treatment and distribution of potable water to domestic, industrial and commercial consumers while ensuring that the quality of treated water conforms to the World Health Organization (WHO) standards. Actually, around 99.6% of the population is connected to the piped water supply. 2.5.4 Wastewater Management Authority The Wastewater Management Authority constituted under the Wastewater Management Authority Act of 2000 is responsible for collection, transport, treatment and disposal of domestic and industrial including commercial sewage. In the year 1998 around 21% of the population was connected to the sewer system and the goal was to connect around 50% of the population by the year 2010. 2.6 Why treat wastewater Wastewater treatment is not a widely published fact, but there is no reason why it cannot be a widely acknowledged problem. The worlds supply of fresh water is slowly running dry. Forty percent of the worlds population is already dealing with the problem of water scarcity. Most of the diseases plaguing the world are water-borne. And while there is a child born every eight seconds in America, there is a life taken every eight seconds by some water-borne disease in other parts of the world. The fact is that there is a significant climate change, and as a consequence of this change, some regions are becoming drier while others are getting wetter. According to the United Nations, water scarcity is amongst the most serious crises facing the world and things are only getting worse. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan of the erstwhile USSR, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Argentina, Peru and Brazil in Latin America, parts of China and the Middle East especially Iran, and more than 25 countries of Africa are all suffering from varying degrees of desertification. Global weather has gone awry. The problem of scarcity of water is making poor countries poorer. Countries that are already facing drought and famine are getting less and less water. Hence we have to become more water-efficient and get more from every gallon of water. And the only way to do this is to recycle and reuse waste water. Water is the giver of life and it has no substitute and therefore every drop of it counts a lot. Wastewater has to be treated so as to remove organic and inorganic matter which would otherwise cause pollution to the natural environment. Also it has to be treated so that all pathogenic organisms that are organisms which cause diseases can be removed in order to protect both the natural environment and human health. This should also be undertaken so as to reduce the impacts of both organic and inorganic matter on the marine environment. This is because wastewater constitutes of sediment which increases turbidity and blocks out sunlight into the sea, it reduces the rate of photosynthesis and hence can smother near-shore habitats. Moreover, wastewater contains oxygen demanding substances which if in high levels will result in a reduction in the amount of available dissolved oxygen. And finally, excess nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are also present in wastewater which will cause excessive algal growth leading to oxygen depletion in the seas and hence eutrophication. Furth ermore, human exposure through direct and indirect contact to the pathogenic organisms in the sea may be fatal and even result into death. Some of the more common types of diseases associated with bathing in contaminated recreational waters or through consumption of contaminated sea food are swimmers itch, gastro-enteritis, dermatitis, viral hepatitis, wound infections, cholera, typhoid fever and dysentery. 2.7 Wastewater generated by hotels Hospitality facilities require large amounts of water and generate large amounts of waste as well. Water savings potentially vary greatly from hotels to hotels depending on types of facilities and how hotel guests use it. Water in hotels is used in guesthouse areas for bathing and sanitary purposes. Food and beverages operations and laundry operations have a great demand for water. They consume the maximum amount they can. An effective planning for large hotels should start with a grouping of functions for facilities to understand wisely how water is used and the water conservation potentials within each group. The purpose is to analyze all of these uses in an organized way. Usage of water within the hotel premise has got requirements regarding the quality of the water. Water quality refers to the bacteriological, physical, radiological and chemical characteristics of water relative to the safety for consumption. Standards specify maximum contaminant levels that may occur in portable water in the United States (US) are set forth in the safe drinking water Act 1974: It was amended in 1986 and again in 1996. The law is enforced by the US environmental Protection Agency. If the facility water comes from a source other than Public water utility, maintaining water quality becomes the responsibility of the hospitality manager. The HOTER project results in an 80% reduction in the water consumption of a classic hotel through the cost-effective treatment of its wastewater. This is achieved by means of a 2-stage covering treatment process that produces second class water that may be used for the flushing of toilet cisterns and landscaping and potable water that may safely be used as an alternative to conventional. The HOTER plant also results in zero-discharge to the environment and does require any chemicals or consumables. The mud resulting from the treatment plant can be used as a soil conditioner.A hotel using a HOTER plant can do away with a connection to the sewerage network, a huge benefit for hotels located in remote locations. In some hotels, a common way of treating water is to remove calcium or magnesium from the water. Removal of these minerals allows the water to more easily create a soap lather when bathing. It also reduces the chance of minerals buildup on plumbing fixtures and of spotting of surfaces. 2.7.1 Food preparation The following that can be taken to minimize the waste of water in this area: Staff should be well trained to defrost food by placing it in the fridge overnight, or in the microwave, rather than placing it under running water. Vegetable and fruits should be washed in a basin rather than under running tap water. Install flow controllers on taps. Use cold water rather than hot water wherever possible. Ensure that all the staff members are trained towards the conservation of water practices 2.7.2 Toilets Many hotels have their wastes carried by water and pressure through a piping system to a sewage treatment facility. Once the waste arrives at the sewage treatment facility it is contained in what are called reed beds where the waste undergoes a sanitation process which biodegrade rapidly by aid of exposure to elements such as rain and air. A reed bed used for sewage treatment is an eco-friendly process because very little energy for power is needed and a reed bed removes harmful pathogens within the waste before it can become an environmental or public health problem. Waste that has undergone the process of sewage treatment is easier and cost effective to dispose of and the treated wastes can be used for other things such as for agricultural purposes. The water which was used to carry the wastes to the sewage treatment facility along with rain water collections also undergoes a sanitation process then it is recycling for reuse. Conventional toilets use more water than is needed for their intended purpose. More and more hotels are installing eco-friendly toilets that use less water and can even recycle waste water for reuse to significantly reduce water and electricity usage to help conserve these two valuable commodities. Some are now also choosing composting toilets for recycling waste water and conserving electricity, and believe it or not the fact is that, properly composted human wastes can be used safely as agricultural and garden fertilizer. An eco-friendly composting toilet has two water holding tanks one which is known as Grey water and the other one as Black water. The grey water is the water used to flush wastes from the toilet bowl into the black water tank. There is a filtering system in which recycled waste water is sent to the grey water tank for reuse. The black tank holds liquid and solid wastes and also contains bacterial enzymes to aid in the breaking down or composting of wastes. When the black water tank becomes full it can be use as fertilizer for garden plants and flowers or it can be taken to a sewage treatment. In hotels, water used for flushing toilets and urinals can be up to 30%. 2.7.3 Grey water Grey watermay be defined as any household wastewater with the exception of wastewater from toilets, which is known as black water. It is important to point out that 50%-80% of household wastewater is grey water from kitchen sinks, dishwashers, bathroom sinks, tubs and showers. Freshly generated grey water is not as horrible as black-water, but if it is not handled properly it can soon become so. Grey water decomposes at a more rapidly rate than black water and if stored for as little as 24 hours, the bacteria in it use up all the oxygen and the grey water becomes anaerobic and turns infected. After this point it is more like black water stinky and a health exposure. In fact, many jurisdictions have strict regulations about disposal of grey water. It is not necessarily that all grey water is equally grey. Kitchen sink water laden with food solids and laundry water that has been used to wash diapers is more heavily infected than grey water from showers and bathroom sinks, even though grey water from these sources contains less pathogen than black water. It is possible to reduce 60% of the water used by recycling the grey water from baths and showers and rainwater. Research shows that economies can be made in hotels and guest houses by using grey water for toilets. But it has to be admitted that there will be extra costs for plumbing systems. 2.7.4 Baths and showers The need for eco-friendly bathrooms is on the rise. Water conservation products are becoming increasingly popular as consumers are going towards responsible water use. However, fashion aside, the planet has a crucial need for water conservation efforts. Every person can help to save water by making some changes in the place which uses the most water in every bathroom. Chemicals used in cleaning and body products also lead to polluted water, causing los of harm to the environment. There are approximately 1.4 billion cubic meters of water on Earth, 2.8 million cubic meters of which are available for use, an amount of only 0.1%. Water is a precious resource becoming scarcer each day. A single bathroom can use up to 100 litres of clean water daily. Contemporary water conservation efforts and eco-friendliness have begun focusing on making small changes in bathroom features and recycling grey water. Bathrooms use water for showers, toilets, and baths. On average, a shower uses almost 23 litres of water a minute, a toilet flushes with 8 litres of water and a bath uses almost 152 litres of water. Cutting down the amount of water used in a bathroom is not impossible. A bath uses two times more water than a shower, so having a short shower is the first step towards saving water. Keeping the shower to a maximum of five minutes is also efficient in saving a lot of water. Replacing a showerhead with a low flow fitting can help reduce water used by almost 16 liters. Also the tap should not be left running when using a wash basin for brushing teeth. This is also an important aspect to be respected. An eco-friendly bathroom should not only save on water, but should avoid all detrimental chemicals which are deadly to wildlife and eco-systems and aim to save energy. A geyser is often heated to far higher than necessary. Reducing the temperature setting on a geyser saves electricity, as does using a geyser blanket which keeps the geyser heated with less energy. There are a wide variety of cleaning products available which will clean a bathroom without spreading harmful toxins into the water and environment. To eliminate the need to use harsh chemicals is simple, by installing a fan above a bath or shower to remove excess moisture in a bathroom. Ceramic tiles for bathroom floors and to decorate the areas around the bath, shower and basin are eco-friendly, especially is made from recycled materials. Bamboo floors are also an eco-friendly alternative for bathroom flooring. A shower curtain made from fabric is far more environmentally friendly than plastic. A grated cover over the plughole of a shower, bath and washbasin will prevent materials from becoming clogged in drains and will thus cause blockages with extremely heavy corrosives which are harmful to the environment. It is the responsibility of every individual to help with the preservation of natural resources. A bathroom can be extremely taxing on the environment, and if each person instituted some eco-friendly practices into their bathroom, the world would save water, have less pollution and greater hope for the future. 2.7.5 Washing machines and Dishwashers There is considerable usage of washing machines if we consider the volume of laundry and washing-up generated by hotels. It should be noted that if less water is used in dishwashing then a greater amount of detergent and sanitizer needs to be used to achieve the same standard of hygiene hence the costs to the environment change remain the same. Hotel owners and managers benefit, because an efficiently running building requires fewer staff and results in lower operating expenses. Reduced costs can release valuable resources that can be better employed in improving or expending hotel facilities. Guests benefit because an efficiently controlled hotel satisfies the needs of the guests. Consequently this may result in a higher level of repeat business. Staff benefit through their empowerment, involvement and higher morale. This can lead to higher productivity, greater job satisfaction, lower levels of absenteeism and lower rates of staff turnover. The environment also benefits because a reduction in the use of water resources and decreased air, water and land pollution. By conserving all water supplies, there is a compatibility of economic interests and ecological requirements. Saving water charges, that is effluent charges resulting from the disposal of wastewater, saves the hotel money and conserves the water resources. Effective legal and regulatory protection of water, rivers, lakes and oceans is essential, so that it is compulsory for hotel companies to operate with standards that are higher than the often-minimal regulatory framework. Installing waste pipes for washing machines and dishwashers can be done simply by using long hoses and connecting them into the waste trap of your sink. This method is not advisable as it can take up a great deal of room in the under sink cupboards and the hoses usually need to be extra long which means they have a tenancy to sag and allow stale water to sit in them. Another problem is that the only way to connect a washing machine or dishwasher hose to a sink waste outlet is to use a jubilee clip onto a nozzle which is tapered. It is not believes that this is a good practice and sometimes washing machines and dishwashers wastewater is under quite a bit ofpressure when it is expelled by the machine. This could force the hose off. A washing machine or dishwasher waste is usually made with approximately 40mm plastic pipe. Therefore, it is always preferable to use solvent weld or compression fittings with the waste pipe because once it is made, it stays made and there is no chance of leaky joints. 2.8 Water and wastewater management in hotels Water is an efficient practice which is used to improve technologies that deliver both and equal and better services in using less water. The conservation of water also encourages hotels to manage how and when water is being used and by taking into great consideration both the technical and human aspects of water management issues. It has also been noted that in 2010 and 2011, that the use of water will increase to approximately 475 gallons per day for each luxurious hotels rooms. 2.8.1 Characteristics of wastewater There are two important characteristics of wastewater namely; Physical and Chemical. The physical characteristics consist of those items that can be detected with our physical sense. They are as follows: temperature, color, odor and solids. The chemical characteristics of wastewater of special concern to the Utilities man are pH, DO (dissolved oxygen), oxygen demand, nutrients, and toxic substances. 2.8.1.1 Physical characteristics Physical, aerobic, wastewater has been said to have the odour of kerosene or freshly turned earth. Aged, septic sewage is considerably more offensive to the olfactory nerves. The characteristic rotten egg odour of hydrogen sulphide and the mercaptans is indicative of septic sewage. Fresh sewage is typically grey in colour. Septic sewage is black. Wastewater temperature normally ranges between 10-20 °C. In general the temperature of wastewater will be higher than that of the water supply. This is because of the addition of warm water from the guestrooms, kitchens, laundry and heating within the plumbing systems of the structure or hotels. One cubic of wastewater weighs approximately 1,000,000 grams. It will contain about 500 grams of solids. One-half of the solid will be dissolved solids such as calcium, sodium, and soluble organic compounds.

Cultural Norms and the Effects on America Essay -- Literary Analysis,

Cultural norms play a function in the way individuals view the world. Although, some individual’s experience social dilemmas between their heritage and being American. As United States citizens, individuals should go beyond ethnicity and see everybody as an American. America was established by immigrants from all over the world, which turned the nation into a collage made of a number of diverse cultures. With these different cultures come the laws and religions that govern their behavior. In, Mind Reading an Anthology for Writers by Gary Colombo presents a number of remarkable essays on cultural customs. In â€Å"Hidden Culture† by Edward T. Hall, he describes culture as well as, how an individual’s culture effects their capability to understand another person’s cultural customs. In â€Å"Mrs. Cassadore† by Mick Fedullo, explains his life experience while educating the Apache students on the reservation. Fedullo overcomes cultural obstacles. Fe dullo helps his students to realize that it is acceptable to be Apache. Fedullo teaches his students that one should never transform who they are. â€Å"The Self and Society: Changes, Problems, and Opportunities by Roy F. Baumeister make use of labels to explain selfhood. Baumeister discuss the history of selfhood to rationalize selfhood. For example, how changes in the society and culture affect selfhood. Two other articles that give some insight on American culture are â€Å"A Quilt of a Country† by Anna Quindlen, and â€Å"Communication In A Global Village† by Dean Barnlund. Culture is something people are born into. The way people view culture is how they are raised around it. Throughout history, our country has experienced social revolutions. When there are social revolutions, bringing about structural... ...eople would be more insightful to other cultures. An individual upbringing and cultural teachings make a person, and how they react to others. Unfortunately some people cannot make it past the ethnicity and sometimes tensions can be detected between their tradition and being American. As citizens in the United States all man and women ought to go further than ethnicity and see every person as an American. This is something that needs to be taught from childhood on. It is a shame that it is now 2010 and prejudice is very much alive in the United States. Maybe someday the citizens in America will be able to move past the cultural and ethnic differences and see each other as equals. Then America will be a nation to be revered as a country that can overcome anything. All it takes is a little faith and kindness and understanding that everyone matters.

Rescuers of Holocaust Victims :: essays research papers

Individuals who risked their lives†¦ There were many individuals who risked their lives to rescue and hide the Jews during the Holocaust. Some of them got caught, while some of them made it until their village’s liberation day. An example of a rescuer that saved a Jew’s life is Jadwiga Suchodolski. This young girl was from a Catholic family. Her family lived in the village of Krzynowloga Wielski. At one evening of April in 1943 her family heard a knock on their door. When they opened it, they saw a Jewish man that fell down on his knees with his body all swollen up from hunger. The family talked about it and decided to let Michael in. They promised to keep him a secret. Two years later when liberation day came, the word spread that a Jew was being nursed back to life in their village. One day a group of partisans broke into Jadwiga’s house and demanded that Michael be turned over to them, but Jadwiga held them off long enough to let Michael escape. When the partisans realized that the Jew left, they gave a chase but did not catch up with him. In revenge, they ransacked Jadwiga’s house. Later Michael came back, but soon after he married Jadwiga and left to live in Israel in 19 57. Another example is Irena Sendler. Irena worked as a member of a Council for Aid to Jews. She had a permit allowing her to visit the ghetto area at all times. In the summer of 1942, under the code of â€Å"Jolanta†, she arranged some things for Jewish children to be smuggled out of the ghetto and found some non-Jewish families where the kids can stay. In the fall of 1943, Irena was arrested and was taken to a prison, and brutally tortured. The Gestapo people failed to get information from her, so she was supposed to be executed. However, her Jewish underground buddies had bribed one of the Gestapo agents, and on the day that Irena was supposed to be executed, she was released. She was forced to stay out of sight from the Germans, but she still conducted her activities from her hiding place.

Information technology in business environment Essay

The business environment is becoming increasingly competitive. Information technology is now providing business entities with basic as well as progressive business tools that will enable them to improve their financial performance, efficiency, and its use of the organisation central operational resource and staff members. Adoption of computerised system is vital to the businesses entities that want to improve their efficiency and performance by using computerised systems to facilitate their day-to-day transactions. Lots of researches were conducted to assess the critical success factors or CSFs for implementations of computerised systems, but the results were different from each other. Trough lots of researching, the nine CSFs were outlined in this paper. The interrelations between the nine CFSs were also discussed. Introduction. The business environment is becoming increasingly competitive. Market boundaries have become larger and barriers to entry have diminished. In the current turbulent economic environment today’s modern organisations must closely examine the way they currently do business not only to remain competitive and profitable but also to simply remain in business (Cameron & Philip, 2001). Information technology is now providing business entities with basic as well as progressive business tools that will enable them to improve their financial performance, efficiency, and its use of the organisation central operational resource and staff members. Adoption of computerised system is vital to the businesses entities that want to improve their efficiency and performance by using computerised systems to facilitate their day-to-day transactions. The purpose of this paper is to outline and assess the critical success factors for the adoption of computerised systems including ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) implementations by businesses entities, and then analysis the interrelations between these critical success factors. Outline of Critical Success Factors for Adoption of Computerised Systems Implementations of computerised systems including ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). Implementations are usually large and complex projects. Although  the adoption of small businesses would be simple and easy, we focus on the adoptions of computerised systems by medium or large organisations here, especially ERP implementations. Because ERP systems seek to integrate all department and functions across a company onto a single enterprisewide information system that can serve all those departments’ particular needs (Considine, et.al, 2005:p290). ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems may well count as ‘the most important development in the corporate use of information technology in the 1990s’ (Davenport, 1998). The adoptions of cumputerised systems, such as ERP implementation, by large organisations often involve large groups of people and other resources, working together under considerable time pressure and the developments could not be predicted. Lots of researches were conducted to assess the critical success factors or CSFs for implementations of computerised systems, but the results were different from each other. Trough lots of researching, the CSFs could also be concluded in this paper below: No. Critical Success Factors & Rank 1 Top Management Support: A 2 Clear Goals & Objectives: A 3 Project Management: A 4 Interdepartmental Co-operation & Communication: A 5 Project Team Competence: A 6 Vendor Support: B 7 Computerised System Package Selection: B 8 Data Analysis & Conversion: C 9 Staff Training: C Although beside the CFSs stated above, there must be a lot of other CFSs affect the implementations of computerised systems, these nine CFSs listed above should be the most important ones among all the factors affecting the implementions of computerised systems. As shown in the diagram, the CFSs are numbered form one to nine and ranked from A to C. The CFSs ranked A represents the ones that are most important CFSs should be taken into consideration when we come to implementations of computerised systems. Generally, CFSs in the same rank seem to be equally important; because it’s hard to say which one is the more important than the other, that depend on what situation we faced. Analysis of Critical Success Factors for Adoption of Computerised Systems (1) Top Management Support (Rank A) If top management is not actively backing an all-pervasive project like an ERP implementation, there is little hope for it (Akkermans & Helden, 2002). This does not mean that middle management and other staff are not important, top management itself is not omnipotent in the whole project. The key is that top management is vital and other issues such as middle management are also important as well in this kind of processes. However, if top management permanently delegates its responsibilities to technical experts, the chances for project failure are high (Ewushi-Mensah & Przanyski, 1991). (2) Clear Goals & Objectives (Rank A) When people or oganisations want to do something, the goals and objectives must be clear. Because you don’t know why you have to do it without goals as well as objectives, and you can’t plan for it. This simple rule certainly applies to the implementations of computerised systems. Especially for implementation of an IT project, the first step should be identification of goals and ways to accomplish these. (3) Project Management (Rank A) As it is mentioned above, adoption of computerised system is complex, costly and time consuming. The management of such a project should be tight and careful because of the complexity. Some degree of improvisation would be needed because of some unforeseen changes would occur during the process. The performances of the employees are also important. As A.R. Elangovan and Jia Lin Xie(2000) said: managers should pay more attention to how their power is perceived by their subordinates as well as carefully examine the trade-off between short-term and long-term consequences of such perceptions to be effective. (4) Interdepartmental Co-operation & Communication (Rank A) Interdepartmental communication: Communication across different business functions and departments is one of the most important issues involved in the IT implementation literature. According to one author on IT project management, ‘communication is the oil that keeps everything working properly’ in these contexts (Schwalbe, 2000). Interdepartmental co-operation: The effectiveness of interdepartmental co-operation heavily depends on the extent of interdepartmental communication. Quality interdepartmental communication reinforces the quality of interdepartmental co-operation. Because the computerised systems seek to enable the organisation to operate as a whole, interdepartmental co-operation is vital. (5) Project Team Competence (Rank A) The ability of the project team is also important to the implementation of a computerised system. This argument is supported by considerable amount of researches. It’s really important. Effective project team could minimise the cost as well as the time consumed and ensures the implementation of project is in the correct way. (6) Vendor Support (Rank B) Most of the time, organisations do not have all the technical as well as transformational skills and knowledge for managing such a major undertaking on its own. As a result, support provided by the vender is important to aid the implementation of new system. (7) Computerised System Package Selection (Rank B) Different system packages are designed to meet different organisational requirements. For example, some packages are suited for large organisations but some are more suited for smaller ones. Selection of system package depends on what kind of organisation you have got and other organisational requirements and goals. (8) Data Analysis & Conversion (Rank C) Before use of the newly installed computerised system, the project team and the organisation have to transfer existing data from existing system to the database of the new comprised system. This refers to the process of Data Conversion. As data conversion is typically a manual operation, controls are needed to ensure that the data conversion has been accurately performed (Dhaliwal & Konsynski, 1977). Data should be tested to ensure that the process is successful, no errors incurred and no information lost. (9) Staff Training (Rank C) The desirability of computers taking account of user capabilities was pointed out by Licklider (1960)(Feeney & Hood, 1977). It’s not so important but essential for orgaisations to train their employees after installation of new computerised systems. To some extent, the performance of a new system depends on the performance of the staff within the organization (Bartol, et.al 2001:p295). Quality staff training would enable the new system to be successful and effective. Interrelations Between These Critical Success Factors. All the CFSs should not be considered in isolation, because they are interacting with each other and affecting each other as well. The relationships between these critical factors are delicate and different from each other. For example, with strong vendor support, the project team would work more effective and the project team competence would be strengthened. This is known as the virtuous cycle. But the interaction and relationship between CFS 6 and CFS 7 would be different. The vendor support should be taken into consideration when we are selecting computerised system software. Software with strong vendor support is always preferred by the organisations, but the quality of the software itself is also important. In addition, increase of CFS 4 has a considerable positive impact on all other CFSs as well as the whole process of implementation. As it is mentioned above, all the CFSs are working together and interacting with each other throughout the whole project. None of them can be considered in isolation. Interdepartmental co-operation & communication within the project team was found to be the core process for project progress. Presence and attitudes of the surrounding stakeholders, ie top management, project management, software vendor support and so on, were identified as the root causes driving performance of this core process. At the time of the crisis, simultaneous and mutually reinforcing changes in presence and attitudes of all these stakeholders enabled the transition from a vicious into a virtuous cycle of project performance (Akkermans & Helden, 2002). Conclusion. Information technology is now providing business entities with basic as well as progressive business tools that will enable them to improve their financial performance, efficiency, and its use of the organisation central operational resource and staff members. Adoption of computerised system is vital to the businesses entities that want to improve their efficiency and performance by using computerised systems to facilitate their day-to-day transactions. Lots of researches were conducted to assess the critical success factors or CSFs for implementations of computerised systems, but the  results were different from each other. Trough lots of researching, the CSFs could also be concluded, they are top management support, clear goals & objectives, project management, interdepartmental co-operation & communication, project team competence, vendor support, computerised system package selection, data analysis & conversion and staff training. All the CFSs should not be considered in isolation, because they are interacting with each other and affecting each other as well. Bibliography: Akkermans H. and Helden K. V. 2002 ‘Vicious and Virtuous Cycles in ERP Implementation: a case study of interrelations between critical success factors’, European journal of information system, no.11, pp35-46 Bartol K, Martin. D., Tein M. and Matthews G., 2001, Management, A Pacific Rim Focus, 3rd Edn, McGraw-Hill, Sydney, p295 Cameron, D. and Philip, J. ‘The Adoption and Use of Electronic Banking by SMEs in Australia: An Exploratory Study’ CollECTeR 2001. http:// www.collecter.org/collecter01/Doug_Cameron.pdf (6 May. 2005) Considine B., Razeed A., Lee M. and Collier P. 2005, Accounting Information System: understanding business process, 1st edn, John Willey & Sons Australia, Ltd, Queensland, p290 Davenport T. 1998, ‘Putting the enterprise into the enterprise system’, Harvard Business Review July-August, pp.121-131 Dhaliwal D. and Konsynski B. 1977, ‘Data integrity considerations in computer based accounting systems’, Proceedings of the 1977 annual conference Elangovan A. R. and Xie J.L. 2000, â€Å"Effects of perceived power of supervisor on subordinate work attitudes†, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol.21, no.6, pp.319-328 Ewushi-Mensah K. and Przanyski Z. H. 1991, ‘On information systems project abandonment: an exploratory study of organizationa practices’, MIS Quarterly 15, pp.67-85l Feeney R. and Hood J. 1977, ‘Adaptive man/computer interfaces: information systems which take account of user style’, ACM SIGCPR Computer Personnel, Volume 6 Issue 3-4 Schwalbe K. 2000, ‘Information Technology Project Management’, Course Technology, Cambridge MA

Philosophy Paper Essay

One of the most heated debates that troubled the church in the Middle Ages was the question of universals. This question goes back as far as Plato’s Forms. It has to do with the relationship between the abstract and general concepts that we have in our minds (what is the relationship between Chair with a capitol â€Å"C† and chair with a small â€Å"c†? ). And from this, two radical viewpoints emerged, realists and the nominalists. The realists followed Plato in insisting that each universal is an entity in its own right, and exists independently of the individual things that happen to participate in it. An extreme form of realism flourished in the church from the ninth to the twelfth centuries. Among its advocates were John Scotus, Erigena, Anselm and William of Champeaux. On the opposite side were the nominalists and they held that universals were just names, and therefore, have no objective status apart from that which is fabricated in the mind. Nominalists, such as Gabriel Biel and William of Occam (see O section), said that the individual is the only existing substance. Unfortunately, their treatment of nominalism removed religion almost entirely from the area of reason and made it a matter of faith beyond the comprehension of reason. 1 And here lies the significance of the French theologian Peter Abelard (1079-1142). Between the two extremes, Peter Abelard proposed a more moderate form of nominalism. Though critical of the idea of the separate existence of universals, he nevertheless believed that resemblances among particular things justified the use of universals for establishing knowledge. More specifically, Abelard proposed that we ground the similarities among individual things without reifying their universal features, by predicating general terms in conformity with concepts abstracted from experience. This resolution (which would later come to be known as conceptualism) of the traditional problem of universals gained wide acceptance for several centuries, until doubts about the objectivity and reality of such mental entities as concepts came under serious question. Thomas Aquinas favored a moderate realism which rejected the view that universals exist apart from individual entities in favor of the view that they do indeed exist, but only in actual entities. 2 Anaximander (Milesian School): Anaximander (610-547/6 B. C. ) was one of the three key figures that comprised the Milesian School (the three prominent figures associated with the Milesian School is Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes). Together, they worked on problems concerning the nature of matter and the nature of change, and they each proposed a different material as the primary principal. 3 Anaximander seemed to be quite modern in his view of reality. He believed that the world was cylindrical like a drum, and that the earth rested on nothing. He also invented an undefined non-substance, called the apeiron, a neutral, indeterminate stuff that was infinite in amount. Anaximenes (Milesian School): Anaximenes (546 B. C. ), the other member of the Milesian School, returned back to the idea that everything derives from a single substance, but suggested that substance was air. Though it is likely his choice was motivated by wanting to maintain a balance between the two views of his predecessors, Anaximenes did provide solid grounds for his choosing; first, air, has the advantage of not being restricted to a specific and defined nature as water, and therefore more capable of transforming itself into the great variety of objects around us. Second, air is a more likely source of this variety than Anaximander’s apeiron which seems too empty and vacuous a stuff to be capable of giving rise to such a variety and profusion. 4 Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury: In (452 A. D. ), twenty-two years after Augustine’s death, Rome fell, bringing on a period of conquest and chaos, and degree of order was ultimately realized through the emergence of feudalism. The church, which had managed to survive the social and political upheaval, gradually assumed responsibilities that previously had been relegated to the civil government. This involvement in government led in turn to the secularization of the church. Bishops became ministers of the state, and church dignitaries became warriors. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, many within the church were so involved with the secular world that a movement led to the emergence of the monastic life as a force within the church. Those who wanted to escape the temptations of the secular world and pursue holiness were naturally drawn to the monasteries and among those who followed was Anselm (1033-1109), the archbishop of Canterbury. The greatest Christian thinker between Augustine and Thomas Aquinas was Anselm (1033-1109). He was born to a wealthy family in northern Italy, whom, to their disappointment, left home in (1056) to fully dedicate his life to God. Following a period of travel, he arrived at the Norman Abbey at Bec, where he took his monastic vows in (1060). Within a few years, he became prior of the abbey, abbot in (1078), and then archbishop in (1093), which he held until his death. His writings range from treatises on logic to an explanation of the divine inner logic of the atonement in Cur deus homo. Anselm stood in the tradition of Augustine and Platonic realism. 5 Following the tradition of Augustine, he held that faith precedes and leads to understanding, and, like many other medieval thinkers he drew no sharp distinction between philosophy and theology. In his famous ontological argument for the existence of God, Anselm presents a defense based on the fact that it is self-contradictory to deny that there exists a greatest possible being. 6 He claims that the more universality, the more reality. And from here it follows that if God is the most universal being, he is also the most real; if He is the absolutely universal being, he is also the absolutely real being, ens realissimum. He has, therefore, according to the conception of Him, not only the comparatively greatest reality, but also the absolute reality. A reality in which no greater can be thought. 7 Aquinas, Thomas: By common consent the greatest philosophical theologian of the Middle Ages was Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). Everything about him was big. In his later years his voluminous writings, massive in scope, won him the title of the Angelic Doctor. His life was dedicated to the intellectual defense and propagation of the faith, as he understood it. It was during his teaching career (1252) in Paris that Aquinas, being drawn into the critical debates of his day, started battling the objections posed against Aristotelianism and its place in the university. By this time, Plato was known only through the imperfect translations of the Timaeus, the Phaedo, and the Meno. Islamic Jewish thinkers were much better acquainted with Aristotle, and for nearly two centuries they had been wrestling with questions posed by Aristotelianism to religious faith. For Aquinas and his Christian contemporaries the issue was doubly acute. On the one hand, there were questions posed by Aristotle’s way of thinking. On the other hand, there were the answers already given by Islamic and Jewish scholars which were hardly acceptable to a Christian thinker. Aquinas decided to face the problem head on. He made his own study of Aristotle, on whom he wrote extensively. He also made his own study of non-Christian thinkers. He subjected all ideas to rigorous scrutiny, giving due recognition to the truth of ideas, wherever they came from, but giving his own evaluation of every issue, point by point. In all, Aquinas produced about a hundred different writings. His work ranged from philosophical commentaries to hymns. 8 Aquinas’ main works are two massive Summae or compends of theology and philosophy. The Summa contra Gentiles was designed as a textbook for missionaries, and the Summa Theologiae has been described as the highest achievement of medieval theological systematization and is still the accepted basis of modern Reformed theology. In Aquinas’ proofs (what later came to be known as the Cosmological and Teleological arguments), certain facts about nature are compelling evidences of God’s existence. He argues, accordingly, that nothing can adequately account for the fact of motion or change. Rejecting the idea that change or motion is simply an ultimate, mysterious fact of nature neither requiring nor permitting any explanation except God, its Unmoved Prime Mover. Furthermore, in his five arguments, Aquinas suggests that the Christian belief in God is completely consistent with the world as we know it. Aquinas’ arguments, known also as the Five Ways are sometimes referred to as the proofs of the existence of God. But this is not necessarily correct because Aquinas did not try to prove the existence of God by rational argument, but to provide a rational defense for an already existing faith in God. His primary reason for believing in the existence in God is God’s revelation of Himself. Aquinas expects his readers to share the same faith. He does not expect that he will have to prove anything to them first. This point is important because many critics accuse believers of grounding their faith in outdated arguments, such as Thomas Aquinas. It is proper, therefore, to respond to such criticisms by pointing out that they are based on a superficial reading and on a serious misunderstanding of how individuals come to faith. 9 The basic principal guiding Aquinas throughout the Five Proofs is the principal of analogy, which holds the world as we know it mirrors God, its creator. The structure of each of Aquinas’ proofs is quite similar. Each depends on tracing a casual sequence back to its ultimate origin and identifying this ultimate origin with God. The first begins with the observation that things in the world are in motion or change. Second is the concept of causation. The third concerns the existence of contingent beings. The fourth deals with human values, and lastly, is the teleological argument, in which Aquinas explains how the world shows clear traces of intelligent design. Natural processes and objects seem to be adapted with certain definite objectives in mind. They seem to have purpose. They seem to have been designed. Arguing from this observation, Aquinas concludes that it is rational to believe in God. 10 Aristotle: Aristotle’s thought, like his mentor Plato, embodied the concept of arete, which taught that human excellence in all things was an important goal that should direct human purposes. For Aristotle, that excellence ideally exemplified the defining quality of human nature, the pursuit of reason. Attracted by science and believing that the universe could be explained, Aristotle greatly valued the work of Thales of Miletus, and accepted his concept that the physical universe operated rationally and in a way that was knowable to human beings. From Anaximander, Aristotle took the view that a balance of force existed in nature that made things what they were. Aristotle was also knowledgeable about the atomic theory of Parmenides and was intrigued by the question of what was stable and what was changing. Indeed, these Greek scientists had a significant influence on Aristotle’s intellectual search to examine and explain reality. 11 For Aristotle, the world in which we live is the world that we experience through our senses. Unlike those who followed Plato, Aristotle believed that we live in an objective order of reality, a world of objects that exist external to us and our knowing of them. Through our senses and our reason, human beings can come to know these objects and develop generalizations about their structure and function. Truth is a correspondence between the person’s mind and external reality. Theoretical knowledge based on human observation is the best guide to human behavior. And, while human beings have various careers, they all share the most important factor, the exercise of rationality. Reason gives human beings the potentiality of leading lives that are self-determined. Congruent with his metaphysical and epistemological perspective, Aristotle’s ethical theory portrays the good life as that of happiness (eudaimonia). He believed that the ultimate good for the human being was happiness, activity in accordance to virtue. The virtuous life is one in which actions are part of a consciously formulated plan that takes a mean, a middle ground course, avoiding extremes. 12 For example, true courage would be the choice that avoids the extremes of cowardice and rashness. And what decides the right course to take is the virtue of prudence (phronesis). Good is the aim of every action but, given the fact that goods can be ordered in relation to one another, there must be a highest good to which practical wisdom directs us. And if the possession of any good is what makes us happy to some extent, the possession of the highest good is the highest happiness, the ultimate goal of all our actions. 13 At this point, it is difficult to resist the thought that Aristotle’s notion of the intellectual life being the gateway to happiness and virtue is not an shallow one. But, though there are some elements in his presentation that are unclear, this much is clear; that this happiness, which is the possession of the good, is ultimately an act of contemplation, or of  beholding, the good. But to contemplate the good is to enter into union with it. Therefore, if contemplating on god means entering into union with the life of the gods, this is the highest activity of man and his ultimate happiness. The conclusion of the Ethics is one with the Metaphysics, in which the â€Å"divine element† in a man coincides with the â€Å"possession† of god by an act of thought, called contemplation, which is the â€Å"most pleasant and best† we can perform. In Eudemian Ethics, Aristotle says, What choice, then, or possession of the natural goods – whether bodily goods, wealth, friends, or other things – will most produce the contemplation of God, that choice or possession is best; this is the noblest standard, but any that through deficiency or excess hinders one from the contemplation and service of God is bad; this man possess in his soul, and this is the best standard for the soul. 14 With statements like this one can’t help but wonder what Aristotle’s response would have been if he would have had the opportunity to serve the one true God, who is worthy of such adoration and praise. What’s more, Aristotle categorized virtues as either moral or intellectual. Moral virtue, though not easy to define, is a habit by which the individual exercises a prudent choice, one that a rational person would make. Moral virtues tend to moderation, falling between excess and inhibition. They focus on the concrete actions a person performs and the measured sense he has regarding them: â€Å"to feel them at the right times, with reference to the right objects, towards the right people, with the right motive, and in the right way. † A good action thus exhibits due proportion, neither excessive nor defective, but midway between them. This is Aristotle’s doctrine of the mean. Peculiarly, a virtuous action is one that lies between too much and too little. To give another example, in regard to the feeling of shame, modesty is the mean between bashfulness and shamelessness. Not every virtue, however, is a mean, and so not every action is to be measured in this way. Nonetheless, every action should and can at least be measured in its rightness by the virtue of prudence or, in a larger sense, by â€Å"practical wisdom. †15. Furthermore, one of Aristotle’s most significant contributions to the Western world is his Poetics. His earlier works, Physics and Metaphysics contain important statements about art and nature, and Rhetoric, written after Poetics, distinguishes rhetoric as a practical art and has had a strong influence on literary criticism. His Poetics, nonetheless, is particularly important because Aristotle is addressing Plato’s doctrines on ideas and forms he came to disagree with. In Poetics, it was Aristotle’s intention to classify and categorize systematically the kinds of literary art, beginning with epic and tragic drama. Unfortunately, not all of the poetics survived, and it breaks off before the discussion of comedy. Nonetheless, our sense of Aristotle’s method is established. He is the first critic to attempt a systematic discourse of literary genres. 16 Augustine (Saint), of Hippo: One of the greatest thinkers of not only the early church, but of all time is Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A. D. ). His writings laid the foundation not only for Western theology but for later philosophy as well. His three books On Free Will (388-395), set out a doctrine of creation, evil and the human will which was a superior alternative to the type of thinking that had attracted so many to Gnosticism and Manichaean dualism. His response to the Donatist schism in the church set the pattern for the Western doctrine of the church. His writings on the subject of Pelagianism clarified, as no one before him and few after him, the crucial issues in the question of grace and free will. His major theological writings include On the Trinity (399-419), which presented better models for thinking about the Trinity than those of the Greek fathers. Augustine’s book On the City of God (413-416) was a reply to those who blame the church for the fall of Rome, in which it gave both a panoramic view of history and a theology of history in terms of the basic conflict between the divine society and the earthly society. 17 Interestingly, Augustine put forth a theory of time that Bertrand Russell would later pronounce superior to earlier views and much better than the subjective theory of Kant. Augustine’s account of how we can learn language provided Wittgenstein’s starting point for his Philosophical Investigations. In answering skepticism Augustine put forth an argument which anticipated Descartes’ cognito ergo sum without falling into the pitfalls commonly associated with the argument. Furthermore, Augustine believed that philosophical reflection may correct mistaken notions, lead to a grasp of truth, and serve to clarify belief. But rational reflection is not a substitute for the beatific vision of God. For it is the apprehension of God alone which transforms human life and alone satisfies our deepest needs. Though Augustine was deeply influenced by Platonism and Neoplatonism, he never was simply a Platonist. His view of the soul stands in the Platonic tradition, but he repudiated the doctrines of pre-existence and transmigration. Augustine’s view of the transcendent spiritual reality might also be said to have affinities with Plato, but Augustine’s approach was not an attempt to erect an edifice of Christian theology on either Platonic or Neoplatonic foundations. Rather, it was to state the Christian worldview in a theological and philosophical system that cohered as a unified whole. 18 (B) (back to top) Bentham, Jeremy: In nineteenth century Victorian England two contrasting systems were developed by Jeremy Bentham and Herbert Spencer. Utilitarians Bentham and John Stuart Mill applied naturalistic presuppositions in their worldview. Herbert Spencer applied the concept of evolution. And Ernest Mach prepared the way for logical positivism in his strongly anti-metaphysical scientific approach. The antithesis of the Kantian ideal is utilitarianism, an ethical theory founded by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832). Bentham was a hedonist. Taking the good to be pleasure, Bentham proposed a new model for morality in his principal of utility, which holds that â€Å"Actions are right in proportion to the amount of happiness it brings; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. 19 Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism. The ends justify the means since actions are judged on the results they bring, not on the person’s intentions or motives. For Kant, the end result was not important in determining the rightness of an action, rather, it was motive. 20 In its simplest form utilitarianism teaches that the right action is the one that promotes the greatest happiness. Modern utilitarianism dates from Thomas Hobbes in the seventeenth century, but its antecedents date as far back as (341-270 B. C. ) to the philosophy of Epicurus of Samos. The theory of utilitarianism actually held little influence until John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) who popularized the term and produced the classical Victorian exposition of the doctrine. Mill used the principal of utility to critique all social, political, and religious institutions. Anything that did not promote the greatest happiness of the greatest number was to be challenged and reformed. For this reason social and religious institutions that curtail individual liberty should be reformed. This is necessary, argued Mill, in order for freedom of belief, association and expression to be safeguarded. 21. Different conceptions of happiness separated Mill’s version â€Å"Better a Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied,† which recognized qualitative differences between different kinds of pleasure, from Bentham’s forthright attempt to reduce all questions of happiness to the mere presence of pleasure or pain. Bentham’s version aims to render the basic concepts of ethics susceptible of comparison and measurement, but this was not the goal in Mill’s presentation of the system. 22 A hedonistic utilitarian like Bentham would say that the sole consideration is the quantity of pleasure that an action produces. A problem with this approach, however, (as if it wasn’t obvious) is that it draws no distinction in principal between an evening spent at the bars or one spent having quality time with your spouse. It all depends upon the tastes of the person. Berkley, George: George Berkeley (Irish, 1685-1753) was one of the three greatest British empiricists of the eighteenth century (Locke and Hume being the other two). Though his father was an Englishman, Berkley always considered himself Irish. He was an early subjectivist idealist philosopher, who argued that all qualities of objects exist only in the mind of the perceiver. His famous theory is often summarized, esse est percipi, â€Å"to be is to be perceived,† and is still important to modern apologetics (due to the method he used in demonstrating the necessity of an eternal Perceiver). Berkley’s argument was that the phenomena of visual sensation can all be explained without presupposing the reality of the external material substances. Interestingly, Berkley was also a bishop of an Anglican church, and was the only important philosopher to visit America before 1900. He came hoping to start a missionary training college for evangelizing to the Indian tribes of New England. 23 Berkley disagreed with Locke in that there is a material substance lying behind and supporting perceptions. He also disagreed with his treatment of the representative theory of perception, that material objects are perceived mediately by means of ideas, and the mind does not perceive the material object directly, but only through the medium of the ideas formed by the senses and reflection on them. â€Å"If we know only our ideas,† reasoned Berkeley â€Å"then we can never be sure whether any of them are really like the material qualities of objects, since we can never compare the ideas with them. † For that reason, he denied the ultimate existence of material substance believing that the Spirit is the only metaphysical reality. 24 (D) (back to top) Derrida, Jacques: Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) was a French literary critic and founder of the school called deconstructionism. His (1966) lecture Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences delivered at Johns Hopkins University, played a significant role in ushering American critics into the era of poststructuralism. Particular influences on his thought include Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Freud. He wrote prolifically, and had a great influence on not only literary criticism but in sociology, linguistics, and psychology as well. Derrida regarded philosophical and literary texts as already containing the seeds of their own deconstruction. This means that in any work the author unwittingly includes contradictions, blind spots, and unjustified assumptions. The main purpose and task of the deconstructionist, according to Derrida, is to simply bring these contradictions to the surface. 25 Beginning in the Victorian Age, a paradigm shift slowly spread throughout Europe that set the groundwork for modern theory. Unlike the revolutionary movements of the Renaissance and Romanticism, which were in part reactionary, this paradigm shift that marked a radical break from the past had little precedent. Nonetheless, it marked a rejection of long-held metaphysical and aesthetic beliefs that most theorists from Plato to Coleridge took for granted. Until the modern period, most of the great Western philosophers have been logocentric in their thinking, and Derrida is one of the ones responsible for this definite break from the past, bringing forth the notion that meaning is never fixed. Dr. Louis Markos, a Christian Professor at Houston Baptist University, made some interesting comments on Derrida in one of his lectures on deconstructionism. He said that Derrida reads the history of Western metaphysics as a continual search for a logos or original presence. This logos is sought because it promises to give meaning and purpose to all things, to act as a universal center. Behind this search is a desire for a higher reality (or full presence). Western philosophy since Plato has simply renamed this presence and shifted this center without breaking from its centering impulse. Even Saussure’s structuralism sought a center, and though he broke from the old metaphysic, he still used its terminology and binaries. Furthermore, Derrida deconstructs all attempts to posit a center or to establish a system of binaries. Instead, he puts in their place a â€Å"full free play of meaning. †26 Democritus (see Leucippus): Descartes, Rene: The first great continental rationalist27 was Rene’ Descartes (Frenchman, 1596-1650). For it was he who defined the terms and laid down the agenda for the continental rationalist school of thought. But in a sense, the world that Descartes produced, by the exercise of pure reason, was a fairly straight forward affair – Descartes does preserve â€Å"the self† in a recognizable form, as well as both â€Å"God† (even though it is not a terribly human sort of God) and the material world in a broadly speaking recognizable form (even though it might be a material world deprived of some of its more vivid and colorful attributes). Nevertheless, the worlds created by the application of the procedure of rationalism start from some self-evident propositions (like Euclid’s geometry) and then carry out processes of absolute, straight forward deduction from these self-evident propositions and what that led to in the case of Spinoza and Leibniz is something very far removed in both of them from the ordinary understanding of the world. To some extant, Descartes, by comparison with them, is in the business of saving the appearances. Whereas both Spinoza and Leibniz say that what the world is really like is very different from what it appears to the ordinary person to be. Nonetheless, there is still in both cases (Descartes and Spinoza and Leibniz) an underlying reality that philosophy can tell us something about reality even if common observation cannot. 28 His two chief philosophical works were Discourse on Method (1637) and his Meditations (1641). His ideal and method were modeled on mathematics. He is sometimes portrayed as the first modern philosopher due to his break with the traditional Scholastic-Aristotelian philosophy and for introducing a new mechanistic science. 29 In refurbishing the medieval proofs for the existence of God he was drawing upon the legacy of the Middle Ages. Like the Medieval philosophers, he was interested in metaphysics, and to the end of his life, Descartes remained a nominal Catholic. But there is a sense in which Descartes represents a new departure. Descartes (so it seems) was interested in God not for his own sake, but the world’s. God is invoked as a kind of dues ex machine to guarantee the validity of our thoughts about the world. 30 Nonetheless, Descartes takes his place as a Christian thinker by resting cognitive truth on the personal truth of God, and laying the blame for error not on God but on the exercise of the human will. Descartes successors eventually lost their reliance for truth. George Berkeley retains it by tracing directly to God all the ideas we receive from outside the mind and Leibniz by making each mind mirror eternal truths in the mind of God. But many Enlightenment thinkers, and many empiricists today who share some of Descartes’ rational ideals or the correspondence theory of truth, talk to truth independently of God as if it were a self-sustaining ideal and as if human reason were a purely objective and impersonal activity. Descartes’ failure was not in the relation he saw of truth to God, but in the lack of relation he saw between man’s rational capacity for knowing truth and his personality as a whole. 31 (F) (back to top) Fibonacci: His real name was Leonardo Pisano (Italian, 1170-1250) but he is better known by his nickname â€Å"Fibonacci† (filius Bonacci), which means â€Å"son of Bonacci. † A striking example of Fibonacci’s genius is his observation that the classification of irrationals given by Euclid in Book X of the Elements did not include all irrationals. Fibonacci is probably best known for his â€Å"rabbit problem. † Leonardo Fibonacci began the study of this sequence by posing the following problem in his book, Liber Abaci, â€Å"How many pairs of rabbits will be produced in a year, beginning with a single pair? †32 The analogy that starts with one pair of rabbits who give birth to a new pair from the first month on, and every succeeding pair gives birth to a new pair in the second month after their birth. Fibonacci shows that this leads to the sequences 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, and so on. As one can see, each term is the sum of the two previous terms. For example, 2 + 3 = 5 and 3 + 5 = 8, and the farther and farther you go to the right of this sequence, the ratio of a term to the one before it will get closer and closer to the Golden Ratio. Additionally, this same principal also applies to that of the Golden rectangle. The connection between the Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci series is fascinating, and is very simple to understand. If you take a Golden Rectangle, and cut off a square with side lengths equal to the length shorter to the rectangle side, then what remains is another Golden Rectangle. This could go on forever. You can just keep cutting off these big squares and getting smaller and smaller Golden Rectangles. Consequently, the idea with the Fibonacci series is to do the same thing in reverse. You start with a square (1 by 1), find the longer side, and then add a square of that size to the whole thing to form a new rectangle. Therefore, when we start with a (1 by 1) square the longest side is one, so we add another square to it. As a result, we have accumulated a (2 by 1) rectangle. Then the longest side is 2, so we connect a (2 by 2) square to our (2 by 1) rectangle to get a (3 by 2) rectangle. As this continues, the sides of the rectangle will always be a successive Fibonacci number, and eventually the rectangle will be very close to a Golden Rectangle. To translate in more illustrative terms, the ratio of two successive numbers in the Fibonacci series, as aforementioned, if divided by each number before it, will result in the following series of numbers; 1/1 = 1, 2/1 = 2, 3/2 = 1. 5, 5/3 = 1. 666, 8/5 = 1. 6, 13/8 = 1. 625, 21/13 = 1. 61538. The ratio that is settling down to a particular value is the golden ratio or the golden number, which has a value of approximately 1. 618034. 33 Fichte, Johann Gottlieb: Johann Gottlieb Fichte (German, 1762-1814) was one of the major figures in German philosophy in between Kant and Hegel. He was regarded as one of Kant’s most talented philosophers, but later developed a system of his own transcendental philosophy called the Wissenschaftslehre. Fichte had immense influence on his contemporaries, especially during his professorship at the University of Jenna, a position he held for five years (1794-1799) before taking up a profes.