Arranged vs Love Marriages in India

Arrange Marriages vs. Love Marriages Survey by NDTV NDTV commissioned Ipsos, a leading market research agency, to conduct fieldwork for this opinion poll from a sample size of almost 30,000, covering as many as 125 out of the 543 Lok Sabha seats in the 18 big states. The poll was carried out in 125 constituencies spread over 18 states (these account for over 20% of the 543 Lok Sabha seats). Each Lok Sabha constituency was selected using a statistical formula based on voting patterns of 2009 Lok Sabha Elections.In each Lok Sabha constituency, two to three assembly segments were selected at random where approximately 100 interviews were conducted in homes. For the voting intention question, the respondents were given a mock ballot paper on which the symbols of the parties were set out. They were asked to mark their preference on the ballot paper and then place the ballot paper in a mock ballot box. Source: http://www. ndtv. com/article/india/ndtv-mid-term-poll-does-india-still-want-arr anged-marriages-260295 Survey by Shaadi. com In May, 2011, India’s largest Matrimonial website, â€Å"Shaadi. om†, published the results of a huge marriage based survey that they conducted with research agency IMRB. The Indian marriage survey was based on the opinions of around 150,000 users of the site in 300 Indian cities and towns. Site users, especially NRIs, from UK, US, Australia and Canada were also surveyed. 62% of the respondents were male, of these, over 50% were in the 26-35 age group. In the words of the website, the objective of this large survey was to â€Å"try and understand the psyche of an average marriage hopeful and the way matchmaking trends are changing and evolving†.Listed below are some of the key findings of the Indian marriage survey (â€Å"Shaadi Aaj Kal†). Note that since this is a survey of internet users, the respondents tend to be more tech savvy, better educated, and more urban centric than the average Indian. 1. A large nu mber of women (54%) prefer to stay in a â€Å"joint family† after marriage as against only â€Å"21%† who prefer to stay in a nuclear family. A joint family provides a support system for the married couple. Surprisingly, in a similar survey in 2004, only 40% of the women wanted to stay in a â€Å"joint family†. 2.Almost 50% of the respondents said that they would marry their partner even if they did not get along with their future in-laws. 3. 85% of the male respondents wanted their future wives to work after marriage. Since the respondents are mainly urban centric, this is not surprising; although a high figure of 85% is refreshing. 4. 69% of the women want their partner to be better educated than them, whereas only 10% of the men wanted their potential wives to be better educated than them. This does not mean the Indian male is entirely chauvinistic; 62% of the men would prefer their future wives to be as educated as them. 3% of women and 40% of men would pref er their future partner to be a postgraduate. 5. 34% of the women respondent did not mind marrying a partner who made less than them. The percentage for men was 94%. 6. 72% men prefer to marry a girl who is younger than them. 89% of women prefer to marry a man who is older than her. 7. Men (62%) prefer larger families as compared to women (38%). 70% of the women felt that raising a child is time consuming and 58% also thought that raising a child is a serious commitment. 8. Which celebrity would make the ideal father?Surprisingly, almost 40% of the respondents felt that Salman Khan, the die-hard bachelor, would make the ideal father. At second place is the other bachelor icon, Rahul Gandhi. 9. 47% married couples in India discussed their past relationship before marriage. This trend was more prevalent in East India. Bulk of these couples (66%) wanted to reveal their past relationships because they did not want it to affect their future 10. 49% of the men wanted a â€Å"fair complex ioned† bride. This is up from 41% in the 2004 survey.Women, on the other hand, are more accepting of dark skinned men, with 65% saying that the color of their husband’s skin is not important. 11. For young urban Indians caste is not as important as it used to be. 54% men and 46% of the women said caste was not an important parameter in their selection criteria. for them, finding a compatible partner is more important than finding a partner from the same caste. 12. 69% of women would prefer it if their partner worked for a private sector organization. 13. A large majority of women (90%) were willing to relocate to another country if their husband’s job required them o relocate. 14. Couples are become pragmatic about marriage. 70% of the women and 62% of the men were comfortable with the idea of pre-nuptial agreements. Census data for Indian Marriages: http://censusindia. gov. in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/C_Series/Age_at_marriage. htm Survey by ZEE NEWS T he survey of women in the age group of 20-30 carried out in various cities, including the four metros, by leading matrimony portal Bharatmatrimony, also revealed that 59% of the respondents consider parent's decision the most important priority in finalising marriage.Only 20% of the respondents felt that profession was the most important aspect in finalising their life partner while ten% said caste was the most important priority and 11% said family nuclear or joint family – was the most preferred. About 49% preferred arranged marriage while 33 per cent ‘arranged love marriage' and a meagre 18% of the respondents favoured ‘love' marriage. The survey titled â€Å"Woman and Marriage† was conducted by ahead of the Women's Day and 1,058 respondents were covered in Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune, Madurai, Mysore, Tiruchirappalli, Coimbatore and Jaipur, a release said here today.On the right age for a woman to get married, about 71 pe r cent said 21-24 was the ideal age for marriage. Interestingly, the survey said that about 93% of women were interested to study or work after marriage. The survey also said that about 55% women prefer to search life partners through contacts via friends and relatives. Source: http://mm. bharatmatrimony. com/featured-story/527-bharatmatrimony-exclusive-parents-day-survey Survey by Bharat Matrinomy Young Indians believe their parents wouldn’t mind taking a backseat when it comes to their marriage decisions! 66% of Indian parents believe that their children will not tie the knot with a partner not ‘blessed' by them.  ·83% believe that online matrimony gives them more choices and selection in partner search.  ·Amitabh Bachchan & Jaya Bachchan were the most famous Bollywood couple in India, followed by Kajol & Ajay Devgan. The winds of change are indeed sweeping the institution of matrimony in India. Parents as well as unmarried men and women are being influenced by th ese changes, a comprehensive Parents Day online survey involving more than 15400 members of BharatMatrimony has revealed.The findings of the survey conducted by BharatMatrimony to commemorate Parents Day on July 24th this year and released to the media today offered interesting insights, trends and rare nuggets of information about how the youth regard marriages and the role of parents with respect to important marital decisions. When asked whether the views of Indian parents are changing today, 67% of the unmarried respondents said yes and only 13% disagreed while the remaining said neither yes nor no. Yet another change in attitudes was the growing trust in online matrimony.Nearly 83% believed that online matrimony gave them more choices and selection when it came to partner search. Nearly 67% also believed that online matrimony empowered women to make their own choices in marriages. In fact, 47% also felt that marriages arranged through matrimony websites had the same success rat e as traditional arranged marriages. Mr Murugavel Janakiraman, Founder-CEO, BharatMatrimony, commented: â€Å"While the surveys have revealed useful nuggets of information and insights into marriages and its changing facets, people in India continue to see marriage as a sacred bonding where parents have a very special role to play.It is best performed with the blessings of parents, an overwhelming majority feel. However, the survey also proved that more and more unmarried people along with their parents believed in the convenience and wide selection of partners provided by Online matrimony. The new ways of thinking have not diluted the traditional respect and sanctity accorded to marriages in general. † Confirming the special bonding Indians have with their parents, an overwhelming 90% of the unmarried who took part in the survey believed in getting married with the blessings of their parents.About 57% also said that they would not go ahead and marry a person of their choice against the wishes of their parents. 20% however said that they would go ahead despite parental opposition. Nearly 35% said that their parents would be ok with any choice they made; 40% said that their parents would be ok if it was within their religion; only 17 % said that their parents would insist on finding a match for them. Interestingly, 59% thought that a marriage arranged by the parents was better because of their experience.Nearly 76% of the parents who took part in the survey believed that their children would get married only with their blessings. 66% of the parents felt that marriages arranged by them would prove more successful as they had more experience! Again, a similar percentage of parents believed that their children would not disregard their advice and tie the knot with someone they didn't approve of. About 16% of the parents believed that they wouldn't be able to influence marriage decisions! When asked, ‘what do you think are your views on marriage? 20% o f the parents said that they would be ok with any choice made by their children; 23 per cent were also ok with the idea if the partner belonged to the same religion. However 23% insisted that important decisions like this were better left to them. 33% preferred to play a supporting role only, whatever be the decision. At the same time, 76% of the parents who took part in the survey believed that in general the views of Indian parents on marriages of their children were changing. Source: http://mm. bharatmatrimony. com/featured-story/527-bharatmatrimony-exclusive-parents-day-survey

Develop Good Study Habits Essay

During the past few years, students who maintain good study habits are becoming fewer and fewer. Social activities become more important than staying at home and study. Believe me; developing good habits these days are hard. With all the cool new stuff around, who wouldn’t want to skip studying and go explore this stuff? You may have had the habit of â€Å"play first before pay† Students these days consider studying as hassle, even though we’ve been lectured on how education is important to us. You may have realized that it’s time to develop good study habits. It’s never too late to develop good study habits, unless of course, you’re not studying anymore. Development takes time, especially when you’re trying to replace an old habit with a new one, as it turns out, developing good study habits from your former ineffective study habits will be considered as a rehab. When developing good study habits, you have to set time for everything. Plan a daily schedule. With all the activities you need to do such as assignments and projects, you can’t just remember them. Writing them down, and planning when to do it will be the most effective way to remember things. Even though you have a skill in remembering all those things, doing them in all one shot will only bring mediocre results. Also, taking notes in class is important, but we must always take notes with readable font because if you can’t read your notes, it’s pretty much useless. Notes are important; it helps you survive surprise tests, even not so surprising ones. If you’re going to develop good study habits, you should make it a habit of organizing your notes, and flipping over them every once in a while. Another effective thing to do with your notes, is to color code them. You can code them for each subject for example. Also, keep in mind to have a place for them. Making a schedule also helps in students’ main problem – procrastination. Procrastination has been the biggest problem of high school students nowadays. A project will be given a month before, but we do it the week before the deadline which only causes a very stressful week. Just as I have said, you should make it a habit of planning your activities that way you know when to do things. Yes, school is very stressful. But with good study habits, you can survive. Although some habits might affect your health, a very common one is staying up late. Balance is the key to everything. A sufficient amount of rest should equal to a sufficient amount of studying. If one side overtakes the other, it would only result to disaster. Too much studying is just as bad as too much playing. We also need to mind our bodies. Our bodies are the Holy Spirit’s temple. Thus, we must take care of it, and avoid abusing it. High school students consider their high school life as stressful. The fact is, it’s not really that stressful. We only lack the consciousness of balancing our time. Time is everything. It passes by, and it’s gone. Every second that passes is God’s gift so we should use it wisely. Developing good study habits not only gives you excellent grades, but it also helps with stress management. With the habit of carefully planning your activities, you’ll be able to organize your thoughts every time. I. What are good study habits A. Fewer people maintain them during the past years B. It takes time to develop II. How do we develop good study habits A. You should make a daily schedule a. You should write down your activities b. You should give time for everything B. You should organize your notes a. You should color code the notes b. You should have a place for them C. You need to conquer procrastination D. You need to take care of yourself III. Why do we need to develop good study habits A. It helps with stress management B. It organizes your thoughts C. It will yield to satisfying outcome – excellent grades.

Evaluating the Implementation and the Impact of the Mahatma Gandhi Dissertation

Evaluating the Implementation and the Impact of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 on the Schedule - Dissertation Example The household livelihood security model allows for a broader and more comprehensive understanding of the relationships between the political economy of poverty, malnutrition, and dynamic and complex strategies that the poor use to negotiate survival. The model places particular emphasis on household actions, perceptions and choices. People are constantly being required to balance food procurement against the satisfaction of other basic material and non-material needs (Maxwell and Frankenberger 1992). India in its preamble of the constitution ensure all the citizens to social - economic and political justice. After Independence government of India refine its policy and programme time to time to achieve above mention objectives but still India has world’s largest number of poor people living in a single country. According to GOI, 2002 around 260 million people are living below poverty line. Rural area yields a poverty ratio of 28.3 per cent, 25.7 per cent in urban areas and 27.5 per cent for the country as a whole (Government of India 2008) Therefore, considering poverty alleviation as border objective, The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005, is one of the most constructive efforts by the government of India to provide livelihood security to rural people by providing statutory entitlement of 100 days wage-employment in a financial year to household. This act aims to (A) increase the purchasing power of the rural people, (B) attempt to bridge the gap between rich and poor of the country, (C) primarily provide work to people living below poverty line in rural India, and (D) 50% of the total labour must be women. This act is covering almost 72.2% (census of India 2001) of the total population of the rural India. Considering its claims to impact the livelihood of rural population, most of whom are tribals in the villages to be studied, therefore it is necessary to study the implementation and impact of this act on rural trib al villages of India. The study would explore the impact exclusively on the tribal population of three villages from three tribal blocks Chhota-Udepur, Kawant and Pavijetpur of Baroda district. 1.1 Subject MGNREGA was born out of a long and painful labour of India’s struggle against poverty. Before it were programmes after programmes that was supposed to be intended to help the poorest sections of India but the trauma of the colonial rule was too fresh for India to fully focus on the future and not worry about the ghosts of the past. MGNREGA came at a time when the country learned enough lessons from past successes and failures in planning and implementing poverty alleviation programme. MGNREGA’s objective maybe divided into three elements, short-term, medium-term, and long-term. The short-term involvs the provision of employment to everyone who needs one for at least 100 days in a year. Everyone that has no skill and no other source of living or chance for employment is qualified to get this assistance. The jobs are designed exactly to fit the fact that most these people who will avail of them are unskilled due to the lack of access and finances to get themselves education. This first goal weaves into the medium-term plan which involves the utilization of natural assets and using the products and services the people will make and create an

Financial Markets Master Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Financial Markets Master - Essay Example In comparison to their peaks at the end of 2007, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index and the DAX index have dropped almost 50% in value. Considering recent events many investors have reconsidered the concept of fair value of a stock and the efficiency of techniques used. In addition to this, the approach applied by many academics on Technical and Fundamental Analysis1 and of Efficient Market Hypothesis theory, rather than on how to forecast, has induced us to base the structure of this essay on a similar approach. Therefore in Section 1, 2 and 3 after providing a brief overview of FA and of TA the EMH theory, we have explored alternative views and discussed the validity of the statement in object. After illustrating the need for analysts to create efficiency in Section 4 we have explored the extent to which FA, TA or EMH may be essential to achieve market efficiency. Finally, after examining in Section 5 the Stiglitz-Grossman paradox, in Section 6, we have explored anomalies and i nvalidities of EMH and presented our conclusions. FA found its existence in the firm-foundation theory developed in the 1930s though it was later popularised by Graham. Its purpose is to find and explore all economic variables measuring different economic circumstances and influencing the future earnings of an economic asset. Clearly the philosophy behind FA is that in the end, when enough traders realize that the market is not correctly pricing the asset, the market mechanism of demand/supply, will force the price of the asset to converge to its fundamental value. Early writers on the subject of security analysis assumed that the essence of investing was to determine the "true," "intrinsic," or "fundamental" value of a security and that this value could differ from the current market price. Graham and Dodd (1934) first highlighted the concept of the intrinsic value of a security as a function of the future earnings of a company, rather than "book value". Implicit in their approach to the evaluation of securities was the assumption that some investors have better information than others and therefore can accumulate underpriced securities without a significant and self-defeating impact on the market price of the stock. This assumption turned out to be critical in understanding both the development of the EMH and the recent literature on market-making mechanisms. This approach tries to generate an abnormal return by analyzing fundamental factors of a company to be able to draw a comparison between the theoretically justified fair value and the actual stock market price2. These fundamental factors are derived by analysing public information, on the ground of which the FA can generate an abnormal return, because all public information is already correctly processed by the stock market and therefore correctly reflected by the actual stock market prices3. 2. TA: theory overview and statement assessment A second approach to choosing securities is termed TA or "charting", which plots the history of past prices and tries to discern some predictive pattern for future price movements as illustrated by Exhibit 1. This theory, developed at beginning of the

Paraphrasing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Paraphrasing - Essay Example They include satellites, televisions, and phones. On the other hand, the ionizing radiations are rays that cannot be smelled, viewed, heard, and even felt. According to a view shared by Liou (2002), the major source of ionizing radiation is radioactive materials that emit beta, alpha, and gamma radiation. Therefore, the commonly known ionizing radiation consists of: beta particles, alpha particles, x-rays, and gamma rays. Up until the late 18th century, the ionizing radiation remained unexplored due to their invisibility, tastelessness, or odourlessness among others. However, there were numerous ordinary materials that emitted small quantities of the radiation. Studies have demonstrated that radiation has various affects on the living organisms by impacting on the cells that build up a living thing. Radiation randomly affects the cell. This implies that a similar amount as well as type of radiation can hit the same cell numerous times, but resulting in dissimilar effects, for instance, every time it strikes there is no effect. On the contrary, it is generally presumed that the more the radiation hits a cell, the higher the odds of an impact from happening. The resulting effect is that the organism may die if most cells are affected. Contrarily, Haffty and Wilson (2012) note that the exposure to penetrating radiation is known as irradiation and it usually occurs when the body is rendered available in part or whole from an unshielding source. An individual is not made radioactive from external radiation. In summary, exposure to the natural radiation by the people occurs daily. The natural radiation originates from various sources, such as over 60 radioactive materials that occur in nature including air, soil, and water. As an example, Radon is a naturally-existing gas that comes from soil and rock. It is the major source of natural radiation. On a daily basis, humans take in

What economic advantages did the Europeans gain from their conquests Essay

What economic advantages did the Europeans gain from their conquests in the new world - Essay Example The 19th century can be attributed to the big boost in regards to the economic power experienced by the countries within Europe. This is the time that colonization was taking effect. It is during this time that countries such as Britain, Germany, Italy as well as France emerged as powers entailing industrialization and as such, due to this industrialization, the population in respective countries became high and production rose. During this colonialism era, social Darwinism was becoming increasingly popular and as such, it was natural that these four economic super powers were engaging themselves in fierce competition towards survival. The driving force that led to colonization by these countries was to strengthen themselves in an effort towards securing a competitive edge in regard to the underlying competition between them (Milios 2004). The main reason behind colonialism, regardless of the country colonizing, was to exploit their subjects as well as the individuals who were residing within the boundaries of the colonies in an effort towards generation of the colonizer’s wealth in regards to the economy for the colony as well as the corporations of that colony. The push for generation of the economic power is what led to the presence of slavery, particularly in Africa. People within the colonies being colonized became subjected to coerced labor, that is, slavery or a system of labor characterized by indent. Most of the areas, which were being considered vast in regard to the natural habitats, became cleared and as such, they were being transformed into monoculture plantations (Milios 2004). Therefore, this paper will put a focus on the colonialism endeavors in regard to the European countries during their conquest of the new world and thereby establish what economic gain that these countries actually achieved out of this conquest. In addition to this, the paper will also access the driving force that led to the European countries

Demand and Supply & Perfect Competition Assignment

Demand and Supply & Perfect Competition - Assignment Example The food vending business in Amsterdam is on the rise and is an example of a perfect competitive industry. Several food vendors are under the same roof selling a variety of products ranging from Mumbai street food to hot dogs that are sold in pretzel buns. The idea of the owner of the food vending stalls was to involve original ideas of Amsterdam locals without including common franchisers such as KFC and McDonalds in the industry. It is reported that the food vending hall had only been open for two weeks and buyers had been flocking into it without restriction. The food vending industry in Amsterdam is an almost perfect competition industry. In the article, food vending industry is vast and has diverse products that are supplied every morning to be produced under cheap and affordable circumstances. One of the factors that make street food vending industry a perfect competitive market is the ease in entry into the field. As explained by Draper (1996), most street food vending businesses require small scale operations, use of traditional food processing methods and low capital costs to start. Secondly, there are no set restrictions in order to start selling in the market. As explained by the owner of the food mall, the only restrain was set for food chains such as MacDonald’s but local food vendors were accepted. This restriction denotes that the food vending industry in the food hall was not purely a perfect competitive market. Thirdly, products sold by food vendors are standardised and homogeneous. The sandwiches, soups, hams, burgers, vegetables and other street foods that are sold in the food hall are foods that are known and standard. Therefore, the food products sold from the fresh produce received every morning are standardized and this makes the food vending industry in Amsterdam perfect competition market. The price of the goods cannot be changed by the seller but depend on the availability of

Myth and History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Myth and History - Essay Example However, other perspectives opine that myths do not always agree with history since most are branded as a discourse of fabricated stories while history aims to state true facts about things. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how certain Greek myths negotiate the relationship between myth and history and further elucidate whether the two terms oppose each other in the chosen myths. When dealing with cultural and social history of the Greek, scholars have proven that myth is an invaluable source of facts and information (Powell 89). Greek mythology served as a pathway of explaining the natural phenomena witnessed by humankind and the environment in which they lived from days, through months, seasons and years. Of particular interest, they were connected more intricately to the Greek world’s religion. However, whether a study focuses on Greek sexual customs and traditions or the rise of cities, the historical facts will always be engrained deeply in the Greek myths that are embodied explicitly in narrative collections and implicitly in arts. Speaking broadly, the imaginative myths created by the Greeks are an explanation of just about all aspects of life and the human condition (Woodward 14). This paper will examine how the Hesiod’s myth of Theogony, which is classified as cosmogonical myth, and the myth of Prometheus, a transformation myth, go abo ut the relationship between myth and history. Like most historical narratives, the Greek mythology typically begins with the myths of creation, attempting to make sense of the mysteries of life and imposing order and structure so as to define where the universe, races and individuals are placed (Powell 73). As a cosmogonical myth, the myth of Theogony is among the most important Greek myths as it seeks to explain the origins of heaven and earth. Viewed strictly from the perspective of the historical and/or religious origins of heaven and earth rather than

A global perspective on the social determinant of health Essay

A global perspective on the social determinant of health - Essay Example This has happened to the extent that these days the word globalization has become synonymous with efficiency, economic opportunity and overall human security. While such developments are partially true there is also another side to the story. While the advanced nations of hemispheric West have had benign consequences as a result of globalization, key human development parameters of most Third World countries have fallen proportionately. Hence, it is difficult to present a blanket view of the impact of globalization on public health. In light of this fact, this essay will attempt to attain a nuanced understanding of globalization’s overall effect on public health outcomes across the world. This is done by way of perusing authentic scholarship on the subject. The litmus test for the efficiency and effectiveness of any public health system is its performance in a crisis situation. Civil societies have come to expect basic protections at the time of these crises. Such emergencies also test a government’s true ability to act under pressure. In other words, â€Å"they define a states capacity to protect its population while exposing its vulnerabilities to political upheaval in the aftermath of poorly managed crises† (Gorin, 2002). In the context of economic globalization at the turn of the new millennium, more than ever before, the general public demand transparency and accountability in global public health systems during medical and natural disasters. To gauge the robustness of public health systems in this new globalization paradigm, we need to study recent cases of acute public health emergencies. The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 and Hurricane Katrina are particularly relevant to this analysis. â€Å"Hurricane Katrina was unique in that the U.S. government accepted bilateral and multilateral relief aid, a rare event in modern times. In the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami, enough formal external resources prevented the public health emergency from

How does positivist research in criminology seek to create knowledge Essay

How does positivist research in criminology seek to create knowledge that avoids these problems, and how successful has it been - Essay Example The positivist approach to criminology rejected the classical idea that people who commit crimes do it from free will; positivists believed that it is in our biological make-up, and that we are born with the tendency to commit crimes. So, we do not freely choose to commit crimes, we are born, or not born with criminal elements. While many positivists put our tendency to commit crime on different parts of our biology, the research was scientific – it looked for factual results. It was believed that if we could find factual results, then we could discover what characteristics are present in people who commit crime and then prevent it by finding the same types of characteristics in others – biological or psychological. The approach took this form because it believed that other ways of criminological research were based on elements of life which could not be controlled and which made crime difficult to predict and impossible to prevent. These elements of life were moral jud gement, subjective views of people and their beliefs and opinions. Positivists argued that because these elements were subjective, they could do nothing to help prevent crime and criminal behaviour, whereas a scientific approach could give proper statistics, and reliable results, which could gain much ground in the research of criminology. Although the approach of the positivist school appears attractive, this paper will argue that its final results were not as effective as it had hoped they would be. While it is not argued that the results brought could not be relied on, it is suggested that the results were not reliable enough to be applied to prevent crime. Of course, the prevention of crime based on scientific statistics would be a very attractive idea, both history and results have shown that in practice it has not been as effective as the positivist school promised. To believe in an objective idea of criminal behaviour is not

Capital Punishment Essay Example for Free

Capital Punishment Essay Bang! The next thing you know you get a phone call- The worst has just happened. Murderers and Serial killers. How do you punish them for a crime so violent, so cruel and so unjust? How about I rephrase that sentence. Let Murderers endure the rest of their lives trapped in a cellar were their emotions run wild with guilt of what they have done, or the easy way out- Death. Capital punishment is wrong; it’s brutal, immoral, inhumane and corrupt. Taking a life for a life is wrong. It won’t bring the other person back. People are very hypocritical when they know it’s wrong to kill, however they think it is okay for the government and court to take another persons life away for a crime that they have committed. How does the government even decided who is â€Å"worthy† or â€Å"unworthy† of Capital Punishment. There should be only one being that has the power to take a life away and that is God. The court makes Capital punishment sound like that its okay and alright to kill if you have more power and money over someone else. It takes double if not triple the amount of money to actually go through with capital punishment. The cost for capital punishment, trails as well as the jail term for the state to put the criminals to death is astounding. Why would people want to waste their tax money on that when people are already complaining about how there is little or no money towards health care or education? For those people who are religious and would like to look at Capital Punishment through a religious prospective the bible even states in one of the Ten Commandments â€Å"Thou shall not kill†. There are also people that believe that Capital Punishment is okay and should be enforced more often. Some do not want to give them a â€Å"second chance†. The chance that criminals may get parole and receive bail is not a chance people take lightly. How do people know that they won’t commit the crime again? The truth is, they honestly don’t know, but they do not want to take that risk. Others believe that Capital punishment will reduce the rate of murders and crime in the image00.pngcountry or state. That is why they believe Capital Punishment is the answer. Facts and studies however prove that Capital Punishment does not in fact decrease the amount of murders and crimes. The crime and death rate caused by murders have actually gone up since the early 70s’. In some states in the U.S.A that have the death penalty it actually shows a higher amount of murder rates then states with out Capital Punishment. Some people also believe that it also depends on your race, social status, education and location of crime on whether or not you receive the death sentence. image00.png Say you were the one who got that horrible phone call, someone close to you has just been murdered. How do you think you would act? Many people feel the need for justice. Some feel they get this justice by Capital Punishment. â€Å"An eye for an eye†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â€Å"A life for a life†. Revenge and payback for what that criminal has done. Don’t you think that you there has been enough unnecessary blood-shed already? As I stated before in my opening statement death is the easy way out. With Capital Punishment you feel pain for a split second and then you die. Locked up in Jail, for the rest of your life, the pain of those criminals knowing that they will never have freedom, never be fully welcomed back into society and them knowing what crime they have committed and the guilt it shall bring upon themselves will be overwhelming. This is true revenge. Society must voice their opinion about Capital Punishment. Put an end to this Violence, both inside and outside of the court. Revenge is much sweeter when you can see the effects on the person.

Heat Loss And Payback Time Of Insulation Materials Construction Essay

Heat Loss And Payback Time Of Insulation Materials Construction Essay This is an empirical research on the topic heat loss and payback time of different insulation material. Insulation is one of the commonly used tool and also used as an effective techniques for heat loss prevention. This paper studies the different insulation materials and their comfort ability in preventing heat loss and their payback time period. The paper is analytical in nature and evaluates empirically as to how to measure the heat loss or gain and payback time of different insulation materials for cavity walls and what are the steps that can be taken prevent or control heat loss. Introduction Today, the world is concerned with factors like pollution, energy conservation, CO2 emissions and climate change. Each and every section of human and technical advancement is offset by some form of pollution that can have long term effects on the environment and consequently sustainability of life on Planet Earth. Automobiles, industries, and agriculture are some of the more popular areas of concern. But few are aware of the fact that the construction industry in general and private dwellings in particular plays a much larger role in polluting the environment. This observation can be verified from the figures and statistics as follows. The top twenty polluting countries in terms of CO2 emissions are given below. http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/science/graph-showing-each-countrys.html It can be seen that the United Kingdom is the eighth most polluting country in the world. But it is far lower in terms of volume when compared to the United States, Japan, and the fast growing economies like India, China, and Russia. The UK also comes in eighth place in terms of per/capita emissions (9.66 tonnes per person). Taking these figures into consideration, the country can be classified as a moderately polluting one. For example, Australias place in terms of total CO2 emissions is sixteen, but its per/capita emission figures stand at 20.58. The United States come second with 19.78. The top polluter, China has only per/capita emissions of 4.58. http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/science/graph-showing-each-countrys.html While the size of the population is a factor in bringing down per/capita emission figures, the case of Australia and the United States reveal that even countries with lower population levels can be responsible for high levels of emissions. It appears that the construction industry do contribute significantly to emissions. It is estimated that the construction industry in general contribute approximately thirty three percent of total green house gas emissions. (Page 3) http://www.ciob.org.uk/filegrab/TheGreenPerspective.pdf?ref=539 According to another observation, the situation is more serious in case of private dwellings. Most peoples concern about carbon emissions or a carbon footprint centres around gas-guzzling cars or flights. But in reality much of the problem is closer to home, or indeed in the home. Lighting and heating buildings generates 50% of Britains carbon dioxide emissions while the production of building materials accounts for a further 10% http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/feb/28/communities.society In this context, the current study is significant because it is concerned with heat loss effectiveness and the economic (payback period) benefits that home owners derive from having efficient insulati on. In this context, it is important that the construction industry provides technology in the form of insulation that can conserve energy (in terms of heat loss). This paper reviews the benefits of using insulation material in conserving heat loss and also the long term economic benefits that accrue from using such materials. The paper will focus on dwelling construction and not on large scale industrial, office, or housing projects. It is hoped that this study will provide a foundation for further studies in any form of construction with regard to use of insulation materials for energy and heat conservation. Heat loss and payback time is for cavity wall insulation materials(EPS, rockwool, phenolic foam, cork, sheeps wool, polyurethane foam, cellular glass, cellulose)in a semi detached dwelling of 8400 x 5500 mm outer dimension over period of time like from (2001-2010)and for future weather predictions as well like (2020,2030,2040,2050)in various counties of England. It will also take i nto consideration factors like temperature variations across seasons and geographical locations in the United Kingdom. The designing process has a lot to do in controlling heat loss. However, majority of the structures do not have enough system for preventing the loss. Though there are various techniques available in the market to reduce the heat loss, majority of them are not used due to different reasons such as non-reliability. One of the commonly used heat loss prevention technique is insulation. The State and its people are motivated in heat loss savings not only because they can save money, but they can protect the unnecessary loss of resources and energy as well. If proper heat loss prevention technique is applied there can have a great amount of savings. And if the technique used is insulation technique, then the chance o f savings would be high as there are lots of advantages to insulation technique compared to other techniques (Egan, 1975). Before going deep into the concepts of heat loss and insulation technique of prevention of heat loss it is better to have an understanding of the term heat. The term heat can be defined as the interaction between two substances which occurs by virtue of their temperature difference when they communicate (Moss, 1998, p. 2). It is the nature of the heat it is not constant at any place, but it will move from one place to another. However this movement depends on the temperature of that place. The heat can be lost in different ways such as conduction, infiltrationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.etc (Parker, 1997). There are different mechanisms to calculate the quantity of heat loss and these techniques also helps in designing such walls which has less quantity of heat loss. The different insulation material used in the walls can cause difference in the quantity of heat loss. This paper conducts a study of heat loss and payback time of different insulation materials for cavity walls. The different techniques are evaluated on the basis of payback time of the technique used. The payback time refers to the return on the investment of the techniques for preventing heat loss. Here the return in the sense both comfort and saving of money are considered. Research Background The heat loss is serious loss as it causes so many problems including financial problems. Though there are different preventive techniques are available for controlling the heat loss, most of them are not able to give expected result. One among such techniques is insulation technique. There are so many drawbacks for insulation techniques also. Therefore there is a relevance and great amount of significance to conduct a research on the topic heat loss and insulation techniques of preventing heat loss. The wrong selection of insulation materials is one of the main reasons for high amount of heat loss. When heat loss is measured it can be seen that the heat lost when one material of insulation is different from quantity of heat lost when another material of insulation is used. Un-insulated walls can also cause serious problems in terms of energy lost and other problems. The purpose of the building or the wall is also has a significant role in selecting the insulation technique. The moisture problem is one of the main factors to be considered. If the moisture problem is high, then insulation cannot do much do in preventing heat loss. The insulation materials should be selected in such a way that, it can ensure a control in moisture and air. Selecting the incorrect kind of insulation technique can increase the moisture problems. The insulation process would be easy and highly efficient, if the flow of air and moisture is properly controlled. The insulation process in such form is highly expensive and therefore it must be done with at most care. The reason is that, if there is no enough return on such insulation, the effort and money would be waste. Therefore each kind of insulation technique should be deeply analyzed in terms of its efficient application and then the selection decision should be made. Research Aim and Objectives This paper will address the topic of heat loss and payback period of different insulation materials. The main intention behind the research is to evaluate how effectively the heat loss can be avoided and how payback period of different insulation material can be calculated using analytical methods. The research is conducted in the context of commercial building where huge investments are made to avoid huge loss. But most of the cases are futile in the sense that either they lack proper insulation material or identifying major causes of heat loss in domestic and commercial environments. This study will explain how to insulate a building and how much insulation is needed including how to measure or calculate heat loss in a building. The specific objectives can be briefed as below: To investigate into how to Measure or Calculate Stop Building Heat Loss To assess and evaluate the various methods of how to measure or calculate heat loss (or gain) in a building To Identifying different building design temperatures how to use a home energy audit or heat loss analysis To assess the payback period of different insulation materials and how they can be perfectly calculated A Literature Review Heat loss is an important concern when considering the huge impact it has on saving energy which is the need of the time. Maintaining a proper temperature in a building consumes a large portion of energy worldwide. A building which is properly sealed, moisture-protected and insulated walls help increase comfort, reduce noise, and save on energy costs. However, there are different insulation materials out there which differs in there qualities especially in the R value which is a measure of thermal resistance of a material, the higher the R value the lower the heat loss. This topic covers information on different insulation materials, their payback periods, influence of weather on them, different climatic conditions in UK and its impact on building insulation materials. Heat loss of insulation materials Insulation slows the rate at which heat is lost to the outdoors. Heat flows in three ways: by conduction, convection and radiation. The main function of insulation is to keep the heat in. To be effective, insulation must be resistant to heat flow, able to fill a space completely and evenly without compacting and durable. How heat loss of insulation materials happens? Exposure to moisture Joints and cracks in the insulation allow water to travel in the insulation Corrosion Insulation that are not rated for the highest temperature of the material being covered Long-term exposure to heat reduces the strength of the insulation material. Insulation that do not should fit snugly all over the wall Using tape to cover gaps or hold insulation How is Heat Lost Heat can be absent in a array of ways. Some of these are calefaction accident by infiltration, losses by advice through floors, ceilings, individual bottle windows, double bottle or artificial covered windows, doors, and calefaction losses by conduction through walls. There are mainly three such a method in which calefaction moves (Murphy, 1976). These are convection, advice and radiation. This accident by agency of conduction can be anticipation of as the alteration of calefaction activity through or aural a solid. This alteration amount varies from actual to material. Heat can also be transferred through a fluid. This is alleged convection. Infiltration heat loss, on the added hand, can be anticipation of in the afterward way (Croy, 1984). Heat is transferred by conduction, convection or radiation, or by a combination of all three. Heat always moves from warmer to colder areas; it seeks a balance. If the interior of an insulated fish hold is colder than the outside air, the fish hold draws heat from the outside. The greater the temperature difference, the faster the heat flows to the colder area. Conduction. By this mode, heat energy is passed through a solid, liquid or gas from molecule to molecule in a material. In order for the heat to be conducted, there should be physical contact between particles and some temperature difference. Therefore, thermal conductivity is the measure of the speed of heat flow passed from particle to particle. The rate of heat flow through a specific material will be influenced by the difference of temperature and by its thermal conductivity. Convection: By this mode, heat is transferred when a heated air/gas or liquid moves from one place to another, carrying its heat with it. The rate of heat flow will depend on the temperature of the moving gas or liquid and on its rate of flow. Radiation: Heat energy is transmitted in the form of light, as infrared radiation or another form of electromagnetic waves. This energy emanates from a hot body and can travel freely only through completely transparent media. The atmosphere, glass and translucent materials pass a significant amount of radiant heat, which can be absorbed when it falls on a surface (e.g. the ships deck surface on a sunny day absorbs radiant heat and becomes hot). It is a well known fact that light-coloured or shiny surfaces reflect more radiant heat than black or dark surfaces, therefore the former will be heated more slowly. A chance for any of the above transfer of heat ends up in heat loss. The Moisture Problem The attendance of damp in the exoteric walls of a architecture reduces the effectiveness of insulation and may in actuality adulterate the framing and structural materials as able-bodied as accord to cruddy stains and affect the buildings appearance. Vapor manual through a actual is agnate to that for calefaction advice through a apparent which was declared earlier. It is dependent on time, apparent area, breath pressures on both abandon of the surface, thickness, and permeability, which is a measurement of a materials ability to address moisture. One blazon of botheration is if abstract forms on walls, floors or beam sections of a building. Here the insulation amount (R) is bargain because air pockets in the insulation actual are now abounding with water. It is this baptize that creates the problem. That is because baptize is a good aqueduct or poor insulator (Argue, 1980) Moisture problems occur when indoor air comes into contact with single window panes or uninsulated walls. Symptoms of moisture indoors Odours, frost and ice on cold surfaces, damp feeling , surface discoloration, staining, texture changes, deformed wood surfaces, wood decay, sweating pipes, water leaks, and dripping, peeling, blistering and cracking paint, crusty, powdery, chipping paint and masonry, and high indoor humidity. Outdoor sources of moisture. Foundation drainage slabs, below grade walls, splash back, Construction details, blocked exterior air circulation are few main sources of the moisture outdoors. Indoor sources of moisture. Occupants, firewood stored, attic, crawl spaces, construction materials, inadequate use of exhaust fans, aquariums and house plants, humidifiers, air conditioners and plumbing leaks. Identification and Prevention of Heat Loss One way in which to appraise a structures accessible calefaction accident is to employ energy audits. Audits are classified into three types, blazon A, B, and C (Shurcliff, 1980). These classes are based on the abyss or acuteness of the audit. The residential sector apropos itself with affairs A audits and chic B audits. Program audits are conducted by able auditors while B audits are commonly mail in blazon audits. The attributes of these audits may be on website audits where one identifies locations in which activity is captivated or lost. There are a variety of methods acclimated in free these locations of calefaction loss. One such method is the use of bittersweet techniques. A key agency in the blockage of calefaction accident is the use of able insulation materials accompanied by actual accession techniques. Thermal insulation is any material, or aggregate of materials, which provides attrition to the flow of calefaction energy (Strother, 1990). Insulation can appear in a array of shapes and material make-ups. It may appear as sheets, rolls, or blankets. It may also be of a part blazon that is caked or destroyed in. The part blazon is usually made up of bottle fiber, bedrock absolute or artificial area the cycle or absolute blazon may be made of bottle cilia or bedrock wool. These abstracts alter in their advantages and disadvantages. 1. Provide adequate insulation levels. Reducing the energy use of a building is usually the single most important thing you can do to reduce the buildings overall environmental impact. Dont substitute a green insulation material for a nongreen material if the change will hurt energy performance. 2. With lower R-value materials, increase insulation thickness. If substituting a green insulation material for a higher-R-value but more environmentally damaging insulation material, design the building to permit greater insulation thickness so that there is no sacrifice in energy performance. 3. Try to avoid HCFC-foamed insulation materials. HCFCs are far less destructive to stratospheric ozone than CFCs, but damaging nonetheless. When it can be done without reducing overall energy performance, avoid all HCFC based insulation, including extruded polystyrene, polyisocyanurate, and spray polyurethane. Expanded polystyrene or rigid fiberglass can be substituted for extruded polystyrene and polyisocyanurate. HFC-blown polyurethane (SuperGreen Foam), CO 2-blown isocyanurate (Icynene), or CO 2-blown polyurethane (Resin Technologies when it becomes available) can be substituted for conventional HCFC-blown polyurethane. 4. With highly conductive framing systems, avoid thermal bridging by installing a layer of insulating sheathing. With steel framing, for example, it does not make sense to design the walls to accommodate thicker or higher-R-value cavity-fill insulation when the steel will dramatically reduce the average wall R-values; instead, minimize the cavity-fill insulation and spend your budget putting insulative sheathing over the framing. 5. Choose high-recycled-content insulation materials. With cavity-fill insulation, cellulose and mineral wool have higher recycled content than fiberglass. Among the different fiberglass products, Schuller Internationals products have the highest post-consumer recycled content. Among extruded polystyrene products, Amofoam is the only one available with recycled content. 6. With built-up roofing systems, install a layer of sheathing between the insulation and the roofing surface so that reroofing is possible without destroying the insulation. 7. When substituting fiber insulation materials for boardstock insulation, consider the impact of using more framing material. Boardstock insulation is selfsupporting, while cavity-fill fiber insulation materials require a framed cavity. Even though the fiber insulation material might be environmentally superior, when you factor in the additional framing resource required, the advantages may not be as great. 8. With most fiber insulation materials, you should install a continuous air barrier between the insulation and the living space to keep fibers out of the indoor air. 9. For chemically sensitive individuals, specify a non-offgassing insulation material, such as the new Miraflex fiberglass from Owens Corning, or Air Krete. As additional testing information becomes available, consider Icynene and Greenwood Cotton insulation for these applications. 10. Choose an insulation contractor who recycles scrap insulation. Batt insulation scraps and Icynene trimmings can be chopped into loose-fill insulation. Reference: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pdf/ec/ec1437.pdf 2.1 Insulation as a technique of heat loss prevention Insulation is extensively used as a tool for heat loss prevention. Insulation can be defined as the act of protecting something by surrounding it with material that reduces or prevents the transmission of sound or heat or electricity There are mainly two types of insulation materials. They are organic materials and inorganic materials. The different organic materials of insulation are polystyrene, polyurethane, phenolic foam, polyethylene foam etc. Different types of inorganic materials are mineral wool, calcium silicate, cellular glass, micro porous silica, magnesia, ceramic fibre, vermiculite and perlite. As the main purpose of insulation is control the heat loss, the insulation materials used must be able to prevent heat loss. Commonly used insulation materials are explained below Calcium silicate This form of insulation material is generally used in surfaces and also in piping. They will not easily get in contact with fire. This material makes use of organic and nonorganic fibre materials. The temperature range is 37.8 °C 648.9 ° Glass The following subdivisions are there in this category. Fibrous: This material has a very good capacity to absorb sound. The temperature covered is -40.0 °C to 37.8 °C. This is also a commonly used insulation material. Cellular This material can be transferred into different shapes. The temperature covered is -267.8 °C to 482.2 °C. The qualities of this material are it can resist number of chemical and it is not combustible. Mineral fiber This material is having high limit with regard to the upper temperature. The higher temperature is 1037.8 °C. This material has a very good capacity to absorb sound . Perlite This material has low contraction and the material last for a long period. The material rough one and shape is designed beforehand. Other materials used are elastomeric, foamed plastic, insulating cementà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦etc. Estimated Embodied Energy of Several Insulation Materials It surprises a lot of people to learn that a state-of-the-art, energy-efficient, passive-solar house built today may consume less heating and cooling energy over 30 or even 50 years of operation than was required to build it. This means that if our society wants to continue the impressive gains that have been made over the past 20 years in reducing energy use, we will need to focus attention on embodied energy as well as operating energy. Embodied energy is the energy required to produce and transport materials. If two insulation materials insulate equally well and other manufacturing impacts are comparable, the one with lower embodied energy is environmentally preferable. While the embodied energy of insulation materials is usually quite low compared with the energy a given amount of insulation will save over its lifetime, it is nonetheless important. Embodied energy values for common insulation materials are compared in Table 3. Because these values were obtained from different sou rces and may have been obtained using different assumptions, they should not be considered highly accurate. They do provide useful order-of-magnitude comparisons, though. Just how embodied energy values relate to environmental performance of a product is complicated by the fact that different fuels have different environmental impacts. For this broad comparison, it is reasonable to assume that a Btu of energy used by one industry is roughly comparable in terms of resource use and resultant pollution to a Btu used by another industry. Reusability and Recyclability Most insulation material reaches the end of its life not because it has worn out or has ceased to function properly, but because the building it was installed in is altered or taken down. The most obvious exception to this is commercial roofing. Many built-up roofing systems incorporate both rigid insulation and asphaltic roof surfacing. When re-roofing becomes necessary, the whole roof surface is often removed-insulation and all. The reusability of insulation materials is dependent on how those materials were installed. To facilitate re-roofing without replacing the insulation, Mike Tobin of AFM Corporation recommends installing a layer of sheathing between the insulation and the roofing membrane. If rigid boardstock insulation can be removed without breaking it up, it can often be reused. Performance of reused polyisocyanurate insulation will not be as good as that of new material, both because some of the low-conductivity gases will have escaped and because of nail holes. XPS, EPS , and all fiber insulation materials should not appreciably change in their insulating performance, though dust in fiber insulation materials will make working with the stuff at best disagreeable and at worst hazardous. A new product introduced in 1993, the Big Green Machine, is designed to chop up batt insulation to produce a loose-fill product for insulating attics (see EBN Vol. 3, No. 2). While primarily used by insulation contractors to reuse scraps left over from batt insulation jobs, the machine should also work for reprocessing batts recovered from old buildings during remodeling or demolition. The Big Green Machine can also be used to process waste Icynene insulation; large quantities of which are typically generated during installation. Because of dust and dirt, it is unlikely that any fiber insulation materials could be easily recycled into products other than insulation. Of the foam insulation materials, polystyrene (EPS, XPS) is easier to recycle than polyisocyanurate or polyurethane. Polystyrene is a thermoplastic, meaning that it can be melted and reformed into other products with minimal chemical modification. Polyisocyanurate and polyurethane are thermoset plastics that do not melt; most of the research being done on recycling of these materials is focusing on grinding the insulation and using the resultant powder as an additive in various unrelated materials. Another issue of concern relating to disposal of insulation is the CFC blowing agents that are banked in our existing buildings. A large portion of the CFC blowing agents that have been used in building insulation over the past 20 years have not yet been released into the atmosphere; they are still in the insulation. If studies show that even phasing out new production of CFCs and HCFCs is not enough to stem the ozone depletion that is occurring, there might be pressure to capture and thermally destroy CFCs in foam insulation that is being disposed of. This is already happening to a limited extent with refrigerators that are being recycled by utility companies through demand-side management programs. Increasing the payback time The insulation technique is sued for savings. That is economic saving and giving better result. To ensure insulation technique used is efficient and effective, certain points need to be given due consideration. First of the entire place where insulation is to be effected must be measured including finding out the temperature of that place. Then conduct an estimation of the loss in terms of oil and other items, if the insulation is not conducted. After that a detailed study of different factors including the temperature need to be conducted. Next important aspect is to find out the suitable insulation materials based on the analyses and requirements. After this process is done then directly start to talk about the dealers with regard insulation process and cost involved in it. A comparison of in economic terms if insulation is done and if insulation is not done is to be conducted. The payback time can be increased if the proper selection of insulation material is done. While selecting the insulation material following points must be considered. The selected material is economical Friendly with regard to temperature insulation material must have good qualities Life span of insulation material is long Payback period of different insulation materials vary depends on various factors Here is a list of factors for various well known insulation materials. Durability Durability of building materials, including insulation, is a very important environmental consideration. Clearly, more durable materials are environmentally superior to less durable ones. Most insulation materials will perform very well over lifetimes measured in decades or even centuries. There are exceptions, however, and various factors that affect performance over time. The biggest long-term performance concern with cellulose insulation is possible loss of fire-retardant chemicals. Because borates are water soluble, they can leach out if the insulation gets wet. Some people claim that those chemicals gradually disappear even if the material does not get wet, though these claims have not been substantiated. According to Dan Lea of CIMA, there is a shift within the industry toward ammonium sulfate fire retardants, which actually improve in fire retardancy performance over time. A concern with ammonium sulfate, however, is corrosion of metals in contact with the insulation, particularly with wet-spray applications. Other concerns with loose-fill fiber insulation are settling, displacement as a result of wind, and infestations of rodents. It is also possible that, over many decades, dust and dirt accumulation could reduce the R-value-either by compressing the insulation or by filling air pockets. Insulation materials that rely on reflectivity for their thermal performance are prone to reduced performance as accumulating dust reduces the reflectivity. Oak Ridge National Laboratory has published a number of studies on impact of dust on radiant barrier performance. Rigid foam insulation materials that were produced using low-conductivity blowing agents (CFCs and HCFCs) are prone to R-value drift as the blowing agents leak out of the cell structure and air leaks in. Polyisocyanurate foam comes from the factory with an insulating value over R-8 per inch (RSI/m-55), but that may drop as low as R-5.6 (RSI-39), according to some estimates. Depending on the material (especially the facing), the application, and installation practices, a reduction to R-5.6 per inch might take from several years to a century or more. In some parts of the country, foam insulation materials are also prone to infestation of wood-boring insects, such as carpenter ants. Tunnels and nesting cavities will reduce thermal performance and, with foam-core panels, may affect structural performance as well. To address this concern, EPS manufacturers affiliated with AFM Corporation now incorporate a borate additive into EPS foam-core panels. Reference: http://allweathergreen.com/pdfs/ComparisonofInsulationofProducts.pdf Heat Loss of Insulation materials and the Impact of Weather Heat is transferred from hot areas to cooler areas. So when a building is hot by various mechanisms especially, other energy forms to generate heat, the heat is being transferred to colder areas outside as long as it is warmer inside than out. The heat loss from a dwelling can be divided into two main categories: Fabric heat loss h

Pump And Hydraulic Fluid Engineering Essay

Pump And Hydraulic Fluid Engineering Essay Introduction: This assignment mainly talks about the hydraulic system in an aircraft. The hydraulic system in an aircraft is use for operating various services such as landing gear, wheel brakes and power flight controls etc. Each system has its own hydraulic circuit within the system. These independent circuits are connected to the common pressure and return lines of the hydraulic power circuit. A complete power hydraulic system consists of the following; A power or delivery circuit, A number of service circuits, Emergency circuits. Below is the diagram of basic hydraulic system; http://www.ustudy.in/sites/default/files/images/hydraulic-system.gif Task Two: Pump: Pump provides pressurise hydraulic fluid to the system by comprising the fluid which comes from the reservoir. Pump can pressurise the fluid up to 5000 psi. depends on different pumps. Pressure Reducing Valve: The Pressure Reducing valve reduces the system output pressure to a pressure suitable for operating a specific system or component. Pressure Relief Valve: Whenever there is excessive pressure in the system the pressure relief valve reliefs the extra pressure. Reservoir: The function of reservoir in the hydraulic system is to store the hydraulic fluid and delivers the hydraulic fluid to the pump which then gives the pressurise fluid to the system. The reservoir also pressurise the fluid up to 40psi in order to not get cavitation. Motor: The function of Motor is to help in engaging the pump and also help in starting the system. Strainer: Strainer is a filter. It filters out the dirt before the fluid goes to the pump. There are high and low pressures strainers, normally the high pressure strainer are after the pump and low pressure are before the pump. Task Three: B767 HYDRAULICS SYSTEMS INTRODUCTION: This airplane has three independent hydraulics systems which are; Left Hydraulic system This hydraulics system powers the; Flight controls Left side engine Thrust reversal It consists of; Reservoir, Engine Driven pump, and Electric motor driven pump Right Hydraulic system This system is similar to Left hydraulic system and it consists of same; Reservoir, Engine driven pump, and Electric motor driven pump This system powers the; Flight controls, Right side engine Thrust reversal, Normal brakes, and Pitch enhancement Centre hydraulics system The system consists of; Reservoir, Two Electric motor driven pumps, An Air driven demand pump, and RAT (Ram Air Turbine) pump It powers the; Flight controls, Nose wheel steering, Flaps and slats, Alternate brakes, Landing gear, Hydraulic driven generator, and Tail skid So basically the hydraulic system of this aircraft powers the; Flight controls, Leading edge slats, Trailing edge flaps, Landing gear, Wheel brakes, Nose wheel steering, Autopilot servos, Thrust reversals, and Tail skid Flight control system components are distributed so that any hydraulic system can provide adequate airplane controllability. All hydraulic reservoirs supplies fluid to pumps and these pumps pressurized the system and the reservoirs are pressurized by bleed air system. Below figure shows three independent system what they consist of and to what they power. It also display there switches in the cockpit. HYDRAULIC SYSTEM SCHEMATICS FLUID SUPPLY Hydraulic fluid is supplied to each pump from a reservoir. Reservoirs are pressurized from bleed air system. There is fluid quantity measured device in all the reservoirs which provides information on EICAS status display. When RF illuminates on the EICAS status page then the reservoirs requires refilling prior to dispatch. Valid only when airplane is on ground with both engines shutdown or after landing with flaps up during taxi-in. As shown in figure below; The QTY (1) light illuminates and the EICAS advisory message e.g. L HYD QTY displays which means that left side reservoir fluid quantity is low. SYS PRESS (2) illuminates when the system pressure is less. ENGINE DRIVEN PUMP: The primary hydraulic system pump is engine driven pump. As there are two engines on this aircraft it has two engines driven pump left and right. It runs with the engine and pressurized the system. When the pump output pressure is low the primary pump PRESS light illuminates on the hydraulic overhead panel and a warning display on the EICAS e.g. (if it is right side) R HYD PRIM PUMP. When the pump temperature is high OVHT light illuminates on the hydraulic overhead panel and again a warning display on the EICAS e.g. (if its left side) L PRIM HYD OVHT ELECTRIC MOTOR DRIVEN PRIMARY PUMP: The two centre electric motor driven primary pumps are identical to the left and right systems electric motor driven pumps. The C2 pump may be load shed automatically to reduce electrical loads. As you can see the figure above it has also the same PRESS low pressure and over heat OVHT warnings on hydraulic overhead panel. The associated EICAS messages for low output pressure C HYD PRIM 1 or C HYD PRIM 2 and for over heat C HYD 1 OVHT or C HYD 2 OVHT. ELECTRIC MOTOR DRIVEN DEMAND PUMP: An electric motor driven demand pump provides an additional hydraulic power either on demand or continuously for periods of high system demand. The demand pump also provides a backup hydraulic power source for the engine driven primary pumps. To reduce electrical load, the electric demand pump is inhibited on the ground during engine start of either engine, when only one electrical generator is operating. The demand pump PRESS and SYS PRESS lights illuminates when starting engines on the ground. As shown in the figure below the overhead hydraulic panel with warnings. The warnings will also display on the EICAS e.g. R HYD DEM PUMP. AIR DRIVEN DEMAND PUMP: An air driven demand pump also provides additional hydraulic power either on demand or continuously for periods of high system demand. This pump provides the backup hydraulic power for electric motor driven primary pumps. As shown in picture above it shows the warnings on the hydraulic panel PRESS when its low pressure and OVHT when the pump come over heat. The warning can also be seen in EICAS. RAT (RAM AIR TURBINE) PUMP: This pump is used in emergency conditions it provides hydraulic power to the flight control portion of the centre hydraulic system. The RAT provides adequate hydraulic power at the speed above 130 knots. In flight, the RAT deploys automatically when both engine fails. The RAT is inhibited from auto deployment on the ground. The RAT can be deployed manually by pushing the RAT switch. The UNLKD light illuminates and the EICAS advisory message RAT UNLOCKED displays when the RAT is not stowed and locked. Once the RAT is producing the pressure the PRESS lights illuminates. The SYS PRESS light illuminated if RAT is only the source of centre system pressure. Once the RAT is deployed then it cannot be stowed in flight. SYSTEM PRESSURE INDICATIONS: The SYS PRESS lights illuminates and the EICAS caution message e.g. ( for left hydraulic system) L HYD SYS PRESS when the left side hydraulic system pressure is low same for the right side and centre system. HYDRAULIC DRIVEN GENERATOR: Hydraulic driven generator is automatically powered by the centre system when electrical power is lost from both main AC buses. The centre air demand pump then operates continuously to ensure sufficient hydraulic pressure to drive the generator. HYDRAULIC PANEL: System Pressure (SYS PRESS) Lights: Illuminated (amber) system pressure is low. Reservoir Low Quantity (QTY) Lights: Illuminated (amber) reservoir quantity is low. Left/Right Engine (L/R ENG) Primary Pump Switches: ON the engine driven hydraulic pump pressurized when engine rotates. OFF (ON not visible) the engine driven hydraulic pump is turned off and depressurized. Pump Pressure Lights (PRESS) : Illuminated amber Pump output pressure is low. Pump Overheat (OVHT) Lights: Illuminated amber pump temperature is high. Centre 1/2 Electric (C1/2 ELEC) Primary Pump Switches: ON the electric motor driven pump pressurized the centre hydraulic system. OFF the electric motor driven pump is turned off and is not pressurizing the system. Left/Right Electric and Centre Air ( L/R ELEC and C AIR) Demand Pump Selectors: ON continuous operation AUTO Left/Right electric pumps operate when engine pump pressure is low. Centre air demand pump operates when both centre electric pump pressure is low. Centre AIR demand pump operates when heavy load items are selected. OFF Pumps are turned off LANDING GEAR: Introduction: The airplane has two main landing gear and single nose gear. The nose gear is a steerable with two wheel unit. Each main gear has four wheels in tandem pairs. Hydraulic power for retraction, extension, and steering is supplied by the centre hydraulic system. An alternative extension system is also provided. Below is the schematic of the landing gear system; Air Ground Sensing System: The air ground sensing system receives air ground logic signals from tilt sensors located on each main landing gear. These signals are used to configure the airplane system to the appropriate air or ground status. A nose air ground system receives signals from nose gear strut compression sensors. These signals are for controlling stall warning and portions of the caution and warning system. LANDING GEAR UNDER NORMAL OPERATION: The landing gears are normally controlled by the landing gear lever. On the ground, the lever is held in DN position by an automatic lever lock controlled by the main gear tilt sensor. The lever lock can manually overridden by pushing and holding the landing gear lever LOCK OVRD switch. In flight, the lever lock is automatically released through the air ground sensing of main gear tilt sensor. Landing Gear Retraction: When the landing gear lever is positioned to UP, the tilted landing gear begins to retract. The landing gear doors open and the gear retract to up position. Automatic wheel braking occurs during gear retraction. The landing gear lever is placed in the OFF position to depressurize the landing gear system. Landing Gear Extension: When the landing gear level is moved to DN, the landing gear door opens, the gear are unlocked, and the GEAR and DOORS light illuminates. The gears are hydraulically powered to the down and lock position. The down locks are powered to the lock position, all hydraulically actuated gear door close, and the main gear trucks hydraulically tilt to the flight position. When all gears are down and locked, the gear down light illuminates and the GEAR and DOOR light extinguish. Landing Gear Alternative Extension: The alternative landing gear extension system uses an electric motor to trip the locking mechanism for each gear. Selecting DN on the ALTN GEAR EXTEND switch releases all the door and gear up locks, the landing gear then free fall to the down and locked position. TASK FOUR: HEALTH SAFETY REGULATION: Introduction: The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 cover a wide range of basic health, safety and welfare issues and apply to most workplaces (with the exception of those workplaces involving construction work on construction sites, those in or on a ship, or those below ground at a mine). They are amended by the Quarries Regulations 1999, the Health and Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2002, the Work at Height Regulations 2005, and the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. These Regulations aim to ensure that workplaces meet the health, safety and welfare needs of all members of a workforce, including people with disabilities. Several of the Regulations require things to be suitable. Followings are the Health and safety regulations which should be followed in the working place; HEALTH: Ventilation Workplaces need to be adequately ventilated. Fresh, clean air should be drawn from a source outside the workplace, uncontaminated by discharges from flues, chimneys or other process outlets, and be circulated through the workrooms. Ventilation should also remove and dilute warm, humid air and provide air movement which gives a sense of freshness without causing a draught. If the workplace contains process or heating equipment or other sources of dust, fumes or vapours, more fresh air will be needed to provide adequate ventilation. Windows or other openings may provide sufficient ventilation but, where necessary, mechanical ventilation systems should be provided and regularly maintained. Temperatures in indoor workplaces Environmental factors (such as humidity and sources of heat in the workplace) combine with personal factors (such as the clothing a worker is wearing and how physically demanding their work is) to influence what is called someones thermal comfort. Individual personal preference makes it difficult to specify a thermal environment which satisfies everyone. For workplaces where the activity is mainly sedentary, for example offices, the temperature should normally be at least 16 Â °C. If work involves physical effort it should be at least 13 Â °C (unless other laws require lower temperatures). Work in hot or cold environment This includes risk to workers health from working in either a hot or cold environment needs to consider both personal and environmental factors. Personal factors include body activity, the amount and type of clothing, and duration of exposure. Environmental factors include ambient temperature and radiant heat; and if the work is outside, sunlight, wind velocity and the presence of rain or snow. Lighting: Lighting should be sufficient to enable people to work and move about safely. Lighting and light fittings should not create any hazard. Automatic emergency lighting, powered by an independent source, should be provided where sudden loss of light would create a risk. Cleanliness and waste material Every workplace and the furniture, furnishings and fittings should be kept clean and it should be possible to keep the surfaces of floors, walls and ceilings clean. Cleaning and the removal of waste should be carried out as necessary by an effective method. Waste should be stored in suitable receptacles. Room dimensions and space: Workrooms should have enough free space to allow people to move about with ease. Workstations and seating: Workstations should be suitable for the people using them and for the work they do. People should be able to leave workstations swiftly in an emergency. If work can or must be done sitting, seats which are suitable for the people using them and for the work they do should be provided. Seating should give adequate support for the lower back, and footrests should be provided for workers who cannot place their feet flat on the floor. SAFETY: Maintenance: The workplace, and certain equipment, devices and systems should be maintained in efficient working order (efficient for health, safety and welfare). Such maintenance is required for mechanical ventilation systems; equipment and devices which would cause a risk to health, safety or welfare if a fault occurred; and equipment and devices intended to prevent or reduce hazard. The condition of the buildings needs to be monitored to ensure that they have appropriate stability and solidity for their use. This includes risks from the normal running of the work process (e.g. vibration, floor loadings) and foreseeable risks (e.g. fire in a cylinder store). Floor: The surfaces should not have holes or be uneven or slippery, and should be kept free of obstructions and from any article or substance which may cause a person to slip, trip or fall. Criteria for defects such as subsidence, unevenness, pot holes, collection of surface water, cracks and ruts should be determined and set, and maintenance systems developed to undertake repair when these limits are exceeded. Windows: Open able windows, skylights and ventilators should be capable of being opened, closed or adjusted Safely and, when open, should not pose any undue risk to anyone. FATIGUE TESTING MACHINE: Fatigue testing machine test and determines the useful working life of a component which is subjected to repeated load. Fatigue testing machine applies pre-defined loads or alternating loads to the sample component and records fatigue life indicated by the number of cycles required to product failure. Health Safety Issue: Followings are the health and safety issues with fatigue testing machine; As Fatigue-testing machines produce heavy vibration so it requires a strong foundation. Safety guidelines provided by the metal fatigue-testing equipment manufacturers should be followed before starting a fatigue test. Proper controls and accessories should be installed for fatigue-testing machine to prevent accidents. Task Five: Maintenance Procedure for Landing Gear: Landing Gear is the most rugged part of an aircraft and should be maintain properly in order not have accidents. In order to increase the life span and minimising the accidents regularly inception should be made for inspecting the landing gear because of the force hitting the runway upon landing stresses the entire system no matter how gentle the landing is. Following is the procedure to maintain the landing gear; Place the aircraft on jacks in the approved manner as detailed in the manufacturers maintenance manual. Interconnect a manual pump (complete with a one gallon reservoir and a 3000 p.s.i. pressure gauge) into the system at the service tee fitting. This fitting is located downstream of the pump check valve. Deactivate the pump and motor by disconnecting the plug on the pressure switch. Disconnect the pressure relief valve and the thermal relief valve from the system and cap off the lines. Disconnect the accumulator from the system and cap off the line. Pressurise the system to 3000 p.s.i. When the pressure reaches 3000 p.s.i., the system must remain within 50 p.s.i. of this pressure for one minute without additional pumping. Reconnect the THERMAL relief valve and pressurise the system until the valve opens. The cracking pressure of the valve should be 2200 + or 50 p.s.i.* With the gear doors disconnected, select gear up and retract using the hand pump. Take the gear up slowly and check the flex lines for clearance and signs of chafing. When the gear reaches the up position, increase the pressure to 3000 p.s.i. The system must again remain within 50 p.s.i. of this pressure for one minute. Pull the 5 amp L/G control breaker, reconnect the pressure switch plug and reset the 5 amp breaker. Extend the gear with the normal system. Reconnect the pressure relief valve and pressurise the system until the valve opens. The cracking pressure for this valve is the same as the thermal relief valve, 2200 + or 50 p.s.i.* Disconnect manual pump from service tee and cap tee. Check emergency nitrogen bottle is charged to 1500 p.s.i. With gear in down position and system pressurised, open manual nitrogen valve in the cockpit and check for leaks between the valve and the actuators. Maximum leakage rate, 50 p.s.i. in ten minutes. Close the manual nitrogen valve and bleed off the pressure in the emergency system by loosening the line at the bleed valve in the nose wheel well. Prior to re-connecting the line, check that the bleed valve is open. Blow air gently into the bleed valve fitting and check the top of the valve for a flow of air. Charge the accumulator to 1250 p.s.i. Re-connect to the system. Recharge the emergency nitrogen bottle to 1500 p.s.i. http://www.business.com/images/divider.gif Tasks Yes No Jack is placed on right position Aircraft is put on jack according to maintenance manual Connect manual pump into the system at service tee fitting. Fill it to one gallon reservoir with 3000 psi. Pump De-activated Pressure relief valve and thermal valve dis-connected Accumulator dis-connected Pressurise till 3000 psi System remain at 50 psi for a minute Thermal relief valve re-connected and system pressurise until the valve opens Gear doors dis-connected Gear up selected Retract using the hand pump and check the flex lines for clearance and signs of chafing. On the gear reaches the up position, increase the pressure to 3000 p.s.i. The system must again remain within 50 p.s.i. of this pressure for one minute. System remained within 50 p.s.i. for one minute. 5 amp L/G control breaker pulled. Pressure switch plug reconnected and reset the 5 amp breaker reset Gear extended with the normal system. Pressure relief valve reconnected and pressurise the system until the valve opens Manual Pump dis-connected Emergence Bottle check Leakage check between the valve actuator Emergency system check Emergency Bottler recharge to 1500 psi.

Hate Groups in the United States Essay -- Gangs Racism Group Teenagers

Hate Groups in the United States Right now, there are many active hate groups in the United States such as the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi, Skinheads, Christian identity, Black Separatists, etc. These hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan, which is one of America’s oldest and more feared, use violence and move above the law to promote their different causes. Another example is a group called Christian Identity, who describes a religion that is fundamentally racist and anti-Semitic; and other are the Black Separatist groups, who are organizations whose ideologies include tenets of racially based hatred. Because of the information gathered by the Intelligence Project from hate groups’ publications, citizen’s reports, law enforcement agencies, field sources and news reports, many people know about these hate groups. Many people know how these groups act and think and most of the American people agree that these hate groups are immoral and should not be allowed to exist neither in the United States nor on th e rest of the world. All the hate groups know that they can only flourish if they continue to recruit new members. Three of the most obvious similarities among hate groups members are their sex, male; their race, Caucasian; and their age, 35 years old or younger. Many people think that the reason young people are willing to join hate groups in high school and in college is that they are uncertain about their own futures. Often people believe that the young people who join hate groups are those with the least education and the least to hope for in the future in the way of jobs, but that does not follow anymore because hate has flourished on colleges and high school campuses. For members of the Ku Klux Klan, it is important that their message of hatred be carried to young people. The initiation of children and babies has being an important part of the Klan activities. It is so bad and wrong that the Ku Klux Klan has even gone so far as to hang out at playgrounds. They look for little boys who play unsuperv ised. The Klan believes that these boys are potential members of the Klan because their parents do not care enough to watch them play. The child is probably growing up in a dysfunctional family that gives him little attention and when he is older he will cling to the Klan because membership in this group will provide him with a strong family structure that his ... ...eir new and young members that the different people are bad and all kinds of things. These lessons, which new members of these hate groups are learning, are wrong because they provoke the anger on its members and therefore the members commit hate crimes against those they hate for being different. That is why not only Blacks, Homosexuals, Asians and Hispanics, but also white people think that these hate groups should be banned so they can not commit crimes anymore. Many hate groups in the United States use the first amendment as a shield to protect themselves from the law, they are bad examples to our following generations because they are trying to recruit more members and change their way of think, these hate groups also commit a lot of crimes against those people that they think are different. That is why in the United States, many Americans are against all of the hate groups and they think that these hate groups should not be allow to exist. We all know that if the U.S. Government decide to ban them, they may be inn silent for many years, but we can count on the fact that they are there. They are â€Å"The Invisible Empire† and will always be the dark side to American History.

The Critics View of Edna Pontellier’s Suicide in The Awakening Essay

The Critics View of Edna's Suicide in The Awakening  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   There are many ways of looking at Edna's Suicide in The Awakening, and each offers a different perspective. It is not necessary for the reader to like the ending of the novel, but the reader should come to understand it in relation to the story it ends. The fact that readers do not like the ending, that they struggle to make sense of it, is reflected in the body of criticism on the novel: almost all scholars attempt to explain the suicide. Some of the explanations make more sense than others. By reading them the reader will come to a fuller understanding of the end of the novel (and in the process the entire novel) and hopefully make the ending less disappointing.    Joseph Urgo reads the novel in terms of Edna learning to narrate her own story. He maintains that by the end of the novel she has discovered that her story is "unacceptable in her culture" (23) and in order to get along in that culture she must be silent. Edna rejects this muting of her voice and would, Urgo maintains, rather "extinguish her life than edit her tale" (23). To save herself from an ending others would write or an ending that would compromise what she has fought to obtain, she has to write her own end and remove herself from the tale. As she swims out, the voices of her children come to pull at her like little "antagonists," and there are others on shore who would also hold her down: Robert, Adele, Arobin, and Leonce. Edna finds a way to elude them all, and narrates in her suicide the conclusion to her tale. In this type of reading, her suicide can be understood in terms of societal pressure. What is the result of silencing a person's voice? Urgo maintains, on a symbolic level... ...g Sea': Freedom and Drowning in Eliot, Chopin, and Drabble." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature 12 (1993): 315-32. Malzahn, Manfred. "The Strange Demise of Edna Pontellier." Southern Literary Journal 23.2 (1992): 31-39. Roscher, Marina L. "The suicide of Edna Pontellier: An Ambiguous Ending?" Southern Studies 23 (1984): 289-98. Showalter, Elaine. Sister's Choice: Tradition and Change in American Women's Writing. Oxford: Claredon Press, 1991. Skaggs, Peggy. "Three Tragic Figures in Kate Chopin's The Awakening." Louisiana Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the South 4 (1974): 345-64. Spangler, George M. "Kate Chopin's The Awakening: A Partial Dissent." Novel: A Forum on Fiction 3 (1970): 249-55. Urgo, Joseph R. "A Prologue to Rebellion: The Awakening and the Habit of Self-expression." The Southern Literary Journal 20.1 (1987): 22-32.

Urban Government and Private Development :: Public Policy Politics

Urban Government and Private Development in Postindustrial Urban America ABSTRACT: As revenue-deprived cities in the United States depend more on developments aimed at attracting visitors, the governing bodies controlling this infrastructure play a larger role in urban government. This paper explores the case of one such development, Chicago’s Navy Pier. The author argues that the Pier’s redevelopment as a festival marketplace, which was based on public rhetoric and space, necessitated the creation of a public authority that compromised this vision. The paper begins with a description of the postindustrial city, then outlines the history of Navy Pier and its redevelopment, and closes with a discussion of the role of public authorities in the contemporary city. In 1986, Chicago and urban America generally, were in decline. The bedrock of federal urban funding had disappeared, middle class residents continued to flee the city for suburban enclaves, and manufacturing jobs that had once employed large portions of city dwellers were suddenly much scarcer. While cities searched for strategies to reverse these trends, most found great trouble in doing so. An urban regeneration seemed unlikely at the time, but cities would soon find ways to attract dollars, residents, and visitors back within their limits. Seventy years earlier, Municipal Pier, a mixed-use development for shipping and entertainment, was constructed near the mouth of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. The initial uses of the structure known today as Navy Pier symbolize the industrial and leisure activities taking place in a rapidly growing, and at times, carefree urban setting. In the decades to follow, the pier served as a Navy training base, the Chicago campus of the University of Illinois, and finally, as a landmark used intermittently for municipal gatherings and public events. During the era of urban decline, however, Navy Pier sat idle amidst a city on the verge of rebirth; plans for renovation had come and gone and it looked as though the Pier might never be of use again. The ever-changing currents of urban America provided a different outcome. In 1990 a plan that would redevelop the Pier was accepted, and in the previous year, two factors ensured its success. The first was the plan’s use of public rhetoric, which stood out from other festival marketplaces that had embraced private development exclusively. This can be attributed to the fact that throughout the city’s history, Chicagoans have treasured their public space along Lake Michigan. A phenomenon best represented by Daniel Burnham’s 1909 plan for Chicago, which placed an emphasis on beautifying the lakefront and rejuvenating the residents and city (Hall, 2002, pp.

Digital Divide Essay

The term digital divide emerged in the mid-1990’s to describe the gap that exists between individuals who have access to technology and those that do not have access (Eamon, 2004). Computer technology has transformed modern society in profound ways (Behrman & Shields, 2000). Everyday society exposes citizens to technology in some form. Citizens integrate technology into common tasks such as signing into work, paying bills, shopping, paying taxes, and even reading the local newspaper (Behrman & Shields, 2000). The increasing integration of technology into society cause school systems to be more resolute about including technology in every classroom. School leaders generally agree that access to technology prepares students to succeed in the 21st century (Bell, Judge, & Puckett, 2006). Other researchers point out that increasing access to technology in the classroom environment does not ensure academic improvement. These researchers point out that there are limits to the advantages that technology offers. A meta-analysis by Crismann, Badgert and Lucking (1997) involving 27 studies concerning academic achievement of students who received traditional classroom instruction or traditional classroom instruction with technology integration showed interesting results. On average, students receiving technology infused instruction attained higher academic achievement than 58. 2 percent of those in traditional classrooms (Page, 2002). The digital divide addresses societal differences that correlate to the educational outcomes of students. Such differences raised concerns about the emergence of the digital divide between the children on one side who are benefiting from technology and the children on the other side who the lack of technology access leaves behind (Becker, 2000). Key Terms and Definitions 1. Application – computer software; also called a program 2. Broadband – a type of data transmission in which a single wire can carry several channels at once. Broadband technology can transmit data, audio, and video all at once over long distances. 3. Chat – real time, text-based communication in a virtual environment 4. Digital Divide – the gap between those with regular, effective access to digital technologies and those without 5. Digital Technology – machinery and computer equipment used for practical and informative purposes 6. Learning Portal – any web site that offers learners and organizations consolidated access to learning and training resources from multiple sources 7. Multimedia – interactive text, images, sounds, and color 8. Network – two or more computers that are connected so users can share files and devices 9. Online – a computer communicating with another computer 10. World Wide Web (www) – a graphical Internet tool that provides access to homepages created by individuals, businesses, and other organizations Statement of Hypothesis Researchers define the digital divide as discrepancies in technology use and access in learning environments based on ethnicity and socioeconomic status (Pearson & Swain, 2002). School systems and government programs supply technology equipment and software to United States’ schools in effort to close the digital divide. Nearly every school is now equipped with computers, and over two-thirds of our nation’s children have access at home (Shields & Behrman, 2000). Equal access and supply cannot close the digital divide alone. Teachers need adequate training on selection of technology and integration of technology. Teachers, parents, and students must become technology literate in order to close the digital divide. Review of Literature Advantages of Technology and Academic Performance The digital divide influences academic performance because limited student access to technology minimizes experiences and knowledge necessary to succeed academically. Computer based technology contributes to children’s academic achievement. Researchers associate having a home computer to better academic performance (Jackson et al. , 2006). Schools play a critical role in providing access to computers to students who do not have home computers. Teachers can have a profound effect on the digital divide by carefully examining how and when technology use is necessary. Regular use of technology in the classroom directly contributes to student achievement, both by making students more effective in their learning and teachers more efficient in their teaching. Teacher education should not focus on technology alone, but on its alignment with the curriculum. In order for this alignment with the curriculum to take place, more computers must be available for students use. Technology integrated into the curriculum increases students’ time on task and extends learning into the home, beyond the traditional school day (Shield & Behrman, 2000). Classrooms benefit from the advantages of technology if planning is efficient and effective for a particular group of students. Students must understand that the use of technology within lessons supports productivity. Technology is a tool that students use for learning, research, networking, collaboration, telecommunications, and problem solving. Technology lessons must be meaningful and engaging for students to improve academic performance. Teachers are able to shift student learning from memorizing answers to questions to knowing how to find answers. Activities that encourage students to use technology outside of the classroom such as using the technology lab, school media center, or local public library prepare students for future educational experiences. Using technology for academic tasks plays a positive role in student achievement (Wenglinsky, 2005). If students participate in authentic technology enhanced activities on a regular basis, these activities will offer students the support they need to become learners that are more proficient and possibly narrow the divide. Limitations of Technology and Academic Performance The level and quality of the student interactions with technology can limit the academic advantages that technology offers. Students must be able to use computers for more than web-surfing, chatting, game playing, and participating in low-level thinking activities. Student interactions with computers must be quality interactions that allow students to do research and create original multimedia products. Although 99% of public classrooms have access to computers, many students are not meeting the technology standards set by the National Educational Technology Standards (Morgan & VanLengen, 2005). While technology exposes students to activities that allow them to use higher order thinking and problem solving techniques, they still prefer to engage in non-academic activities on the Internet. Becker (2000) states that â€Å"most student Internet activities were recreational in nature – such as email, chat rooms, web-based games, web surfing, and listening to music†. Many children’s activities on the Internet appear to be for entertainment purposes instead of educational purposes. While the Internet gives students access to an array of educational tools, it also gives them access to non-academic material. Teachers often have trouble monitoring student use of appropriate websites, electronic mail messages, instant messages, and live chat rooms. Without careful observation, students can easily use school time to access material that is inappropriate for children and will not improve academic improvement. Even if teachers properly monitor students, they may not benefit from having access to computers in the classroom. Research by Lilia C. DiBello (2005) states that many teachers have not been properly trained to integrate technology in the classroom. While teachers may be comfortable with navigating various types of software, they often have trouble implementing the technology to meet technology standards (DiBello, 2005). Teacher preparation programs now require future teachers to take a technology course as a graduation requirement. However, technology is rapidly changing and school systems offer few opportunities that allow teachers to keep up with the changes modern technology brings. When teachers are not willing and not prepared to integrate technology into their classrooms, they often fail to prepare students to perform authentic tasks using the computers. Teachers often use computers for low-level thinking activities such as drill and practice (Pearson & Swain, 2002). According to Pearson and Swain (2002), students in high-poverty schools use computers for drill and practice 35% of the time, as opposed to students in low-poverty schools, who used computers for drill and practice 26% of the time. Schools who are below the poverty line are also more often to use computers for remedial purposes instead of higher order thinking skills. Teachers rarely teach students to use the computers to answers questions that they ask, research topics, or to prepare multimedia projects that coincide with the subjects they have learned in the classroom. Importance of Closing the Divide The digital divide exists both quantitatively and qualitatively. Gillan (2003) supported that quantitative gaps exist in schools and families where there is not enough access or time spent with technology. Qualitative gaps refer to selection of appropriate applications and quality training. Many studies have drawn the conclusion that the key factor in closing the digital divide may not be access alone. As years have passed, attention moved away from who is connected to the question of who is served. It is important to consider that the upper-to-middle classes are given high-quality access to technology because technologists are hard at work creating â€Å"solutions† designed just for them. According to Morgan and VanLengen (2005), most affluent students use software that requires the use of critical thinking skill. Less affluent students predominately use drill and practice software. Many school officials feel that technologists ignore solutions for the poor. The result is often that schools give the poor low-quality access that could actually hurt them and, in some sense, widen the divide. Because of the continued influences of technology on society, the United States must address the digital divide and implement strategies to narrow the gap. It is imperative to focus on what can be done if needs cannot be met. Students that are technology savvy have significant advantages over their peers. Students with limited technology skills will not have the same educational or job opportunities and information that will be necessary for full and knowledgeable participation in society. Leaders should not subject students to the wrong side of the digital divide just because computer access at home is limited or none. It is the responsibility of the schools and communities to help narrow the gap. The schools are the primary source of computer access. Schools can promote digital equity for young children by including access to computer resources used in developmentally appropriate ways (Judge, 2005). The digital divide has consequences that extend beyond the school. If the digital divide was only a matter of unequal access to equipment, closing it would simply involve duplicating the resources of wealthy schools in poorer schools (Riel, Schwartz, & Hitt, 2002). Educators need to learn the basics of information literacy: searching, evaluating materials for quality, risk assessment, and equally important privacy protection. These skills go beyond online behavior to include mass media and everyday communications. Conclusion It is the job of educators to plan technology-integrated lessons that are appropriate for the particular group they are teaching. Educators must have knowledge and skills to integrate technology into meaningful activities of interest and relevance to children. Educators need to be aware of the advantages and the limitations of technology for all students. The primary key to closing the digital divide is investment in literacy and education. The biggest barrier to use of digital technology is lack of skills. It is possible that the next generation of the World Wide Web, referred to as Internet, emphasizes the need to go beyond text to give users a sensory experience of the web. Some governments are exploring the use of cell phones, and applications like voice recognition technology or use of visual icons on various devices. The implications for closing the digital divide are important to society. Closing the digital divide will offer educational advantages, future employment and earning opportunities, chance for social and civic involvement, equity, and civil rights for all.