Religion A Means to an End or Just a Delusion Essay

Over the years, people have held different opinions about religions around the world. Many believe in the existence of a divine being like God, while others worship idols and other images that they consider as their god(s), without concrete proof that these beings do exist. Based on the statement by Sigmund Freud that â€Å"Religion comprises a system of wishful illusions together with a disavowal of reality†, one may come up with several arguments about religion. This notion held by Freud, which he contends that religion is merely a human delusion forms the basis of this paper among other views. It is in human nature to seek and understand the meaning of life and through the use of intangible concepts, religion attempts to provide answers to satisfy human curiosity. Burke believed that different religions provide a framework by which people can understand the meaning of human life and the world. Each religion prescribes possible remedies to correct what it views to be fundamentally wrong and unsatisfactory about people’s existence (Burke 126), making religion an attractive way to attain satisfaction in life. However, the basis of such remedies lies in a realm that is transcendent of ordinary human experience, that is, more on the realm of supernatural (Burke 141). For example, monotheistic religions point to a supreme being who judges which people gets eternal life based on their obedience to his law. Religions of Indian origin on the other hand, provide an escape from an eternal destiny of suffering and limitation brought by the unending cycle of birth, death and rebirth (Burke 161). Such influential notion that obedience to a religion could give fulfillment may cause people to accept and believe in religious concepts wholeheartedly, wit hout tangible proof. Monotheistic religions describe an omnipotent and omniscient supreme being who governs human life through a set of laws. Believers may seek solace, comfort and the purpose of life by obeying this set of rules, often to gain good judgment from their God. However, such belief in a supreme being is typically based on human faith rather than concrete evidence of divine existence. For example, people in these religions believe that their God created the Earth and therefore, human existence. This notion can be challenged by modern scientific theories that explain the origin of the universe and human existence through logical and factual means, such as the Big Bang theory for the origin of the universe and evolution for how humans came to be. Religions of Indian origin deal with the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Rebirth is the religious or philosophical idea that the spirit or soul, after natural death, can start another life in another body (Burke 163). This never-ending cycle is brought by human’s self-centered desire, and brings eternal suffering to humans. Human existence therefore is to liberate one’s spirit from an egocentric self to end the cycle of birth, death and rebirth and free oneself from suffering (Burke 236). This largely deals with the spiritual dimension and is nothing more than a philosophical concept, which again is based on human belief and not concrete evidence. There has been no account of people who have been reincarnated, or proof that a soul does exist. It is another way to explain the meaning of life, which gives people purpose of living. In conclusion, people hold different views about religion. In any case, religious views are just analogies, by the assistance of which we attempt to comprehend a shared phenomenon. However, the absence of convincing proof for the existence of God and the soul, and the presence of more plausible explanations for religious phenomena, prompts Freud and other skeptics to dismiss religion as merely a human delusion. References Amstrong, Karem. Islam. London, United Kingdom: Orion Publishers, 2011. Print. Burke, Thomas P. The Major Religions: An Introduction with Texts. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. Print. Trungpa, Chögyam, and Judith L. Lief. The Heart of the Buddha: Entering the Tibetan Buddhist Path. Boston, Mass: Shambhala, 2010. Internet resource. Source document

Industrial tour Essay

Last Thursday, the 17th of January year 2013, we went to EPZA and FCIE for our industrial tour. We visited the companies Macro Wiring Technologies Co. Inc., NSG Pilipinas NM and KLT Fruits Inc. Let me discuss to you my insights for each company. First off we have the Macro Wiring Technologies Co. Inc. They manufacture Wire Harnesses and Assemblies and is the main supplier of the APC company. Their mission is to be the Top Mind choice of customers in providing products and services and is committed to deliver on time with quality products defined by their customer. They vision their company to be a progressive manufacturer of Wire Harnesses and Assemblies for export and domestic markets in an environmentally friendly, economically, viable and globally competitive industry. Additional to that, they aim to provide more jobs to Filipinos. Since they are the major supplier of APC, they do not practice advertising. Though they subcontract with other local companies, they say that these companies were obtained as their client through word of mouth (referrals). Their raw materials are imported from China, Taiwan, US, UK and other countries. They use the JIT (just-in-time) as their delivery system. They only have one plant which is located at EPZA Rosario Cavite and they earn in dollars which is forecasted to be around 14M for this year. They operate 24/7 with 2 shifts. According to Ma’am Joan, the production head, most of their workers are students from NCST and are trained for a maximum training of one week. The second company, on the other hand deals with glass mats, glass fibers and PG separators. The company is Pilipinas NM (under NSG) that is located in FCIE. Their slogan is â€Å"Let’s raise our individual sensibility for quality to grain customer’s trust.† This company is 100% Japanese owned and started its operation dated back on July 1, 1995. There are 120 employees for their 35,763 square meter factory. Their products are for export though there is a 10% supply locally. Most of their clients are from Taiwan, India, China, Turkey and a lot more. The factory that we went to is in charge for the manufacturing of the products. They receive orders and complaints but for the sales and promotions, they have what they call a middle-company (like a middleman) so they are not fully aware of the advertising and other promotions their company is practising except that they know they join business/industry exhibits. The same goes for the delivery; the delivery of the products depends on sales agents. They said that the volumes of orders are seasonal. The same as the first company, since their products are for export, their sales as in dollars. The last company we went to is the KLT Fruits Inc. Established in 1984, KLT Fruits, Inc. manufactures tropical fruit purees, concentrates, red bean jams as well as preserves for markets in the US, Japan, Asia- Pacific, Europe, and the Philippines. They pride themselves by not only providing quality products but by also rendering technical services such as client product formulation, client process parameters, and new product development. Through their knowledge of the industry, production know-how, and our commitment to quality, they are able to establish life-long partnerships with their clients. Their team of experts and skilled associates guarantees the best customer service and more importantly, products of the highest quality. Their production process is fully automated. There is what they call a central unit where only one person manages the entire process. The other employees are into packaging and other manual process needed before and after the production. Their sales are by container which is about 20 tonnes per container. And just like the first company, they do not have any advertising practices though they join expos or exhibits like the second company. Most of the partnerships of KLT are foreign companies located abroad and again, they earn in dollars too. The basis of their pricing, just the same as the first two aforementioned companies, are the raw materials, manufacturing, production and overhead costs which also dictates their market percentage. After discussing each of the information shared to us by the companies we went to, I’ve noticed a few things they all have in common. 1. They are exporting their final products because most of their clients are foreign. 2. They do not do advertising. 3. Each of them has a focus: quality (Macro Wiring Technologies Co. Inc.), safety (Pilipinas NM), and long-term relationships (KLT Fruits Inc.) 4. They are a major supplier of a company. 5. Their company has only one plant. Upon knowing these similarities, I was able to realize that there really is a huge difference of business-to-business from business-to-consumer in terms of sales, promotions, and relationships. I understood that in business to business, management is more focused in building relationships with large accounts rather than trying to persuade other small-medium enterprises because targeting and serving the large companies yield greater profits. Another learning I had from the tour is that in b2b, selling isn’t just about knowing who your customers and what your objectives are. But one must also understand each of the process the product goes through and the delivery system the company uses so that when conflicts arise, the management will then be able to create solutions faster. Why? Well, since business to business rely more on business relationships, then it is a must to deliver a good and competitive customer/client service. Business to business marketing is really quite confusing for we have been focused with consumer marketing for almost four years. But after being able to personally witness and hear the process, the strategies and operations of the manufacturing companies we have been to last Thursday, I had a clearer view of b2b.

Black Friday

Marketing strategies, paired with consumers’ need to locate the best deals on Christmas gifts has led to Black Friday being celebrated as a consumption ritual comparable in importance to Thanksgiving Day. (Thomas and Peters, 2011) How has Black Friday become the largest retail sales day of the year? What is it that drives people to artificially induced hyper consumption, almost like an annual ritual? Many scientist and psychologists have many different theories and conclusions of why Black Friday has become the biggest shopping day of the year. In this paper, I will take your through the research and conclusions that many psychologists have produced and the advantages and disadvantages of Black Friday. Dr. Stephanie Sarkis, Ph. D. explored the work of Jane Boyd Thomas and Cara Peters, professors at South Carolina’s Winthrop University, who spent two years in research trying to find common traits in Black Friday shoppers. They conducted thirty-eight extensive interviews with â€Å"experienced† Black Friday shoppers and found four recurring themes: 1. Familial bonding (multiple generations and close friends) 2. Strategic planning . The great race 4. Mission accomplished But how do the four themes they came up with relate to one another? Thomas and Peters figured that all the traits when analyzed together showed one commonality. They wrote, â€Å"the traits are coalesced around a military metaphor, and is a bonding activity Shoppers prepare for the ritual by scanning Black Friday ads, and they map out their stra tegy. † (Sarkis 2011) In essence, the family is a type of team that scans adds, plans their route and potential purchases, executes their plans by buying products, and rejoices in their accomplishments. When all of these traits are analyzed individually, they mean little to main the main outcome, bonding. But when all the traits are looked at collectively, they all contribute to the overall success and goal of bonding. Besides giving us a breakdown of bonding activities, the analysis also shows how the average consumer plan for Black Friday. Just as Sarkis found themes that make up this military metaphor, Byun, professor of consumer affairs at Auburn University came up with her own theory on why people react the way they do on Black Friday. Crowds create a sense of competition — such as when hundreds of shoppers are rushing to collect marked-down goods — they generate a different feeling entirely. Competition creates what’s called hedonic shopping value, or a sense of enjoyment from the mere process of buying goods. At certain levels, consumers enjoy arousal and challenges during the shopping process. † (Khazan 2011) In essence what Byun is saying is consu mers get more enjoyment because the crowds create an obstacle, which hinders the execution of the plans and preparations made. The crowds make getting what they want harder, which creates more value for the goods purchased. Just as Byun noted that crowds contribute to the Black Friday Craze, Kelly McGonigal, Ph. D. describes another factors that plays a big part in the â€Å"Black Friday frenzy†. Retailers, she notes, use innovative designs to lure customers into their stores and keep them there. McGonigal says â€Å"time pressure sales on limited products or scarce resources† triggers a negative physiological affect on the consumer. Scarcity for a certain commodity creates a sense of urgency to act now, a natural instinct to survive. This survival instinct can be related to hunting for some people. Black Friday is â€Å"hunting for women,† said Leisa Reinecke Flynn, professor of marketing and fashion merchandising at the University of Southern Mississippi. â€Å"It’s so much like deer hunting it’s hard to tell the two apart. † (Khazan 2011) Unfortunately, shopping on Black Friday is not motivated by survival instincts or a life in death situation. This paradox stimulates unusual behavior in consumers that creates disadvantages and potential dangers for those that are not necessarily into the hunt. The concept of Black Friday creates a â€Å"perfect storm† for consumer misbehavior. Misbehavior, as defined by Lennon, Johnson, and Lee is, â€Å"acts that violate accepted norms of conduct in consumption contexts. † (Lennon, Johnson, Lee, 2011) This compulsive behavior, or compulsive consumption, feeds off of the idea of scarcity. It induces people to act inappropriately harming others and often themselves. â€Å"For many, if not most compulsive purchasers, buying is a reaction to stress or unpleasant situations. Compulsive consumption is a type of consumer behavior which is inappropriate, typically excessive, and clearly disruptive to the lives of other individuals. (Ronald, Thomas, and Raymond 1987) Both hunting and shopping hinge on long-standing traditions and generally involve pursuing a goal as a group. Whether the group actually hits its target is secondary to the fun of the chase. Hunting and shopping as shown above are very closely linked and motivated by the idea of scarcity. Just like there are limited deer in the forest, there are limited goods in the stores. The result is paradoxical in nature. People are fraudulently deceived into acting compulsively. (Herpen, Pieters and Zeelenberg 2005) Just as Ronald, Thomas, and Raymond concluded that compulsive behavior negatively affects the lives of others, Peter McGraw, Ph. D. drew a similar connection. He focuses more on social trends and pressures being the root of the problem. In The Link between Thanksgiving Gluttony and Black Friday Insanity, McGraw makes a connection between Black Friday shopping and Thanksgiving Dinner. He explores the idea that once a year, people will consume more calories in one meal, than the average person consumes on a normal day. The next day they wake up, or sometimes not sleeping at all, and go shopping for hours on end. (McGraw and Warner 2011) Dr. McGraw’s research shows us that in a short period of forty eights hour there is over consumption of food on Thanksgiving and the hyper consumption or shopping on Black Friday. McGraw believes that the cause of this phenomenon is social influence and pressure. He writes, â€Å"One of the hallmarks of psychological science is that we are influenced by the actions of others—often more so than we’d like to admit. Sometimes we’re impelled to take positive actions, such as switching to reusable bags or cutting down on littering. Other times, social influence can be quite negative. When it comes to Thanksgiving and Black Friday, unfortunately, the influences skew more toward bad than good. † (McGraw and Warner 2011) In other words McGraw places responsibility of hyper consumption on social trends, pressures, and even perhaps familial rituals for the ever-popular Black Friday. Another concept of Black Friday is one of mutual benefit for both consumer and retailer. Consumers’ benefit from large discounts on all sorts of items including clothing, electronics, furniture, and literally any other commodity available on the market. Retailers’ benefit by getting out of the red zone, finally making a profit for the fiscal year. The opportunities available on Black Friday is what drove 212 million shoppers to stores during Black Friday weekend in 2011. (Wilson, 2010) Retailers experience surging sales during Black Friday and the days that follow. This monetary benefit is what drives their extensive promotion and deal offerings, further influencing the consumer’s willingness to partake in the shopping frenzy. In a society where a corporation or business’s main purpose is to grow profits for the benefit of its shareholders, a company’s number one purpose is to increase sales, in order to increase profits. According to a New York Times article written by Adam Davidson, approximately one fifth of retailer’s total annual sales are made during the holiday shopping season. (Davidson, 2011) In conclusion, we can see that shopping on Black Friday brings people together in one way or another. For some, it brings people together in a positive way. Families and friends are able to work as a team who plan, prepare and execute their plans to achieve their goals. For others, Black Friday shoppers experience the negative affects of other people’s behavior. There are also advantages and disadvantages for both the consumer and retailer. Consumers get amazingly cheap prices on products while retailers experience a massive surge in sales. However one may look at Black Friday, it is a day that cannot be ignored. It’s influence and popularity are ever growing and expanding. Reference Page Davidson, Adam. The Black Friday Effect: Let’s Stimulate the Economy with Inflation. † The New York Times, 16 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. Herpen, Erica van, Rik Pieters, and Marcel Zeelenberg (2005) ,†How Product Scarcity Impacts on Choice: Snob and Bandwagon Effects†, in Advances in Consumer Research Volume 32, eds. Geeta Menon and Akshay R. Rao, Advances in Consumer Research Volume 32 : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 623-624. Faber, J. Ronald, O’Guinn, C Thomas, and Krych, Raymond. (1987) â€Å"Compulsive Consumption†, in Advances in Consumer Research Volume 14, eds. Melanie Wallendorf and Paul Anderson, Advances in Consumer Research Volume 14: Association for Sonsumer Research, Pages: 132-135. McGonigal, Kelly, Ph. D. â€Å"The Science of Willpower. † Comments on â€Å"Black Friday Shopping: How Stores Use Psychology to Fill Your Cart† N. p. , 19 Nov. 2010. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. . McGraw, Peter, Ph. D. , and Warner, Joel. â€Å"The Humor Code. † The Link between Thanksgiving Gluttony and Black Friday Insanity. N. p. , 21 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. . Ridgwar, Nicole, â€Å"Black Friday Sales Hit Record. † CNNMoney. Cable News Netwrok, 26 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. Sarkis, Stephanie, Ph. D. â€Å"Here, There, and Everywhere. † Black Friday: A Collective Consumption Ritual. N. p. , 20 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. . Thomas, Jane Boyd, and Peters, Cara. (2011) â€Å"An exploratory investigation of Black Friday consumption rituals†, International Journal of Retail Distribution Management, Vol. 39 Iss: 7, pp. 522 – 537 Wallendorf, M. , Arnould, E. â€Å"We gather together: consumption rituals of Thanksgiving Day†, in Journal of Consumer Research, (1991) Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 13-31. Wilson, April. â€Å"By the Numbers: Black Friday Shoppers and Their Impact on the Economy. † The Luckie ReTink Tank. 23 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct 2012. . Black Friday Marketing strategies, paired with consumers’ need to locate the best deals on Christmas gifts has led to Black Friday being celebrated as a consumption ritual comparable in importance to Thanksgiving Day. (Thomas and Peters, 2011) How has Black Friday become the largest retail sales day of the year? What is it that drives people to artificially induced hyper consumption, almost like an annual ritual? Many scientist and psychologists have many different theories and conclusions of why Black Friday has become the biggest shopping day of the year. In this paper, I will take your through the research and conclusions that many psychologists have produced and the advantages and disadvantages of Black Friday. Dr. Stephanie Sarkis, Ph. D. explored the work of Jane Boyd Thomas and Cara Peters, professors at South Carolina’s Winthrop University, who spent two years in research trying to find common traits in Black Friday shoppers. They conducted thirty-eight extensive interviews with â€Å"experienced† Black Friday shoppers and found four recurring themes: 1. Familial bonding (multiple generations and close friends) 2. Strategic planning . The great race 4. Mission accomplished But how do the four themes they came up with relate to one another? Thomas and Peters figured that all the traits when analyzed together showed one commonality. They wrote, â€Å"the traits are coalesced around a military metaphor, and is a bonding activity Shoppers prepare for the ritual by scanning Black Friday ads, and they map out their stra tegy. † (Sarkis 2011) In essence, the family is a type of team that scans adds, plans their route and potential purchases, executes their plans by buying products, and rejoices in their accomplishments. When all of these traits are analyzed individually, they mean little to main the main outcome, bonding. But when all the traits are looked at collectively, they all contribute to the overall success and goal of bonding. Besides giving us a breakdown of bonding activities, the analysis also shows how the average consumer plan for Black Friday. Just as Sarkis found themes that make up this military metaphor, Byun, professor of consumer affairs at Auburn University came up with her own theory on why people react the way they do on Black Friday. Crowds create a sense of competition — such as when hundreds of shoppers are rushing to collect marked-down goods — they generate a different feeling entirely. Competition creates what’s called hedonic shopping value, or a sense of enjoyment from the mere process of buying goods. At certain levels, consumers enjoy arousal and challenges during the shopping process. † (Khazan 2011) In essence what Byun is saying is consu mers get more enjoyment because the crowds create an obstacle, which hinders the execution of the plans and preparations made. The crowds make getting what they want harder, which creates more value for the goods purchased. Just as Byun noted that crowds contribute to the Black Friday Craze, Kelly McGonigal, Ph. D. describes another factors that plays a big part in the â€Å"Black Friday frenzy†. Retailers, she notes, use innovative designs to lure customers into their stores and keep them there. McGonigal says â€Å"time pressure sales on limited products or scarce resources† triggers a negative physiological affect on the consumer. Scarcity for a certain commodity creates a sense of urgency to act now, a natural instinct to survive. This survival instinct can be related to hunting for some people. Black Friday is â€Å"hunting for women,† said Leisa Reinecke Flynn, professor of marketing and fashion merchandising at the University of Southern Mississippi. â€Å"It’s so much like deer hunting it’s hard to tell the two apart. † (Khazan 2011) Unfortunately, shopping on Black Friday is not motivated by survival instincts or a life in death situation. This paradox stimulates unusual behavior in consumers that creates disadvantages and potential dangers for those that are not necessarily into the hunt. The concept of Black Friday creates a â€Å"perfect storm† for consumer misbehavior. Misbehavior, as defined by Lennon, Johnson, and Lee is, â€Å"acts that violate accepted norms of conduct in consumption contexts. † (Lennon, Johnson, Lee, 2011) This compulsive behavior, or compulsive consumption, feeds off of the idea of scarcity. It induces people to act inappropriately harming others and often themselves. â€Å"For many, if not most compulsive purchasers, buying is a reaction to stress or unpleasant situations. Compulsive consumption is a type of consumer behavior which is inappropriate, typically excessive, and clearly disruptive to the lives of other individuals. (Ronald, Thomas, and Raymond 1987) Both hunting and shopping hinge on long-standing traditions and generally involve pursuing a goal as a group. Whether the group actually hits its target is secondary to the fun of the chase. Hunting and shopping as shown above are very closely linked and motivated by the idea of scarcity. Just like there are limited deer in the forest, there are limited goods in the stores. The result is paradoxical in nature. People are fraudulently deceived into acting compulsively. (Herpen, Pieters and Zeelenberg 2005) Just as Ronald, Thomas, and Raymond concluded that compulsive behavior negatively affects the lives of others, Peter McGraw, Ph. D. drew a similar connection. He focuses more on social trends and pressures being the root of the problem. In The Link between Thanksgiving Gluttony and Black Friday Insanity, McGraw makes a connection between Black Friday shopping and Thanksgiving Dinner. He explores the idea that once a year, people will consume more calories in one meal, than the average person consumes on a normal day. The next day they wake up, or sometimes not sleeping at all, and go shopping for hours on end. (McGraw and Warner 2011) Dr. McGraw’s research shows us that in a short period of forty eights hour there is over consumption of food on Thanksgiving and the hyper consumption or shopping on Black Friday. McGraw believes that the cause of this phenomenon is social influence and pressure. He writes, â€Å"One of the hallmarks of psychological science is that we are influenced by the actions of others—often more so than we’d like to admit. Sometimes we’re impelled to take positive actions, such as switching to reusable bags or cutting down on littering. Other times, social influence can be quite negative. When it comes to Thanksgiving and Black Friday, unfortunately, the influences skew more toward bad than good. † (McGraw and Warner 2011) In other words McGraw places responsibility of hyper consumption on social trends, pressures, and even perhaps familial rituals for the ever-popular Black Friday. Another concept of Black Friday is one of mutual benefit for both consumer and retailer. Consumers’ benefit from large discounts on all sorts of items including clothing, electronics, furniture, and literally any other commodity available on the market. Retailers’ benefit by getting out of the red zone, finally making a profit for the fiscal year. The opportunities available on Black Friday is what drove 212 million shoppers to stores during Black Friday weekend in 2011. (Wilson, 2010) Retailers experience surging sales during Black Friday and the days that follow. This monetary benefit is what drives their extensive promotion and deal offerings, further influencing the consumer’s willingness to partake in the shopping frenzy. In a society where a corporation or business’s main purpose is to grow profits for the benefit of its shareholders, a company’s number one purpose is to increase sales, in order to increase profits. According to a New York Times article written by Adam Davidson, approximately one fifth of retailer’s total annual sales are made during the holiday shopping season. (Davidson, 2011) In conclusion, we can see that shopping on Black Friday brings people together in one way or another. For some, it brings people together in a positive way. Families and friends are able to work as a team who plan, prepare and execute their plans to achieve their goals. For others, Black Friday shoppers experience the negative affects of other people’s behavior. There are also advantages and disadvantages for both the consumer and retailer. Consumers get amazingly cheap prices on products while retailers experience a massive surge in sales. However one may look at Black Friday, it is a day that cannot be ignored. It’s influence and popularity are ever growing and expanding. Reference Page Davidson, Adam. The Black Friday Effect: Let’s Stimulate the Economy with Inflation. † The New York Times, 16 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. Herpen, Erica van, Rik Pieters, and Marcel Zeelenberg (2005) ,†How Product Scarcity Impacts on Choice: Snob and Bandwagon Effects†, in Advances in Consumer Research Volume 32, eds. Geeta Menon and Akshay R. Rao, Advances in Consumer Research Volume 32 : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 623-624. Faber, J. Ronald, O’Guinn, C Thomas, and Krych, Raymond. (1987) â€Å"Compulsive Consumption†, in Advances in Consumer Research Volume 14, eds. Melanie Wallendorf and Paul Anderson, Advances in Consumer Research Volume 14: Association for Sonsumer Research, Pages: 132-135. McGonigal, Kelly, Ph. D. â€Å"The Science of Willpower. † Comments on â€Å"Black Friday Shopping: How Stores Use Psychology to Fill Your Cart† N. p. , 19 Nov. 2010. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. . McGraw, Peter, Ph. D. , and Warner, Joel. â€Å"The Humor Code. † The Link between Thanksgiving Gluttony and Black Friday Insanity. N. p. , 21 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. . Ridgwar, Nicole, â€Å"Black Friday Sales Hit Record. † CNNMoney. Cable News Netwrok, 26 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. Sarkis, Stephanie, Ph. D. â€Å"Here, There, and Everywhere. † Black Friday: A Collective Consumption Ritual. N. p. , 20 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. . Thomas, Jane Boyd, and Peters, Cara. (2011) â€Å"An exploratory investigation of Black Friday consumption rituals†, International Journal of Retail Distribution Management, Vol. 39 Iss: 7, pp. 522 – 537 Wallendorf, M. , Arnould, E. â€Å"We gather together: consumption rituals of Thanksgiving Day†, in Journal of Consumer Research, (1991) Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 13-31. Wilson, April. â€Å"By the Numbers: Black Friday Shoppers and Their Impact on the Economy. † The Luckie ReTink Tank. 23 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct 2012. . Black Friday

Legalizing Euthanasia Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Legalizing Euthanasia - Article Example From the discussion euthanasia has been regarded as that which promotes dignified deaths for patients and that protects patients from unnecessary suffering and pain. The practice has been found to be one that though inexpensive, it gives so much power to healthcare givers, fails to respect the sacredness of life, and patients’ right to live, reduces the effectiveness of palliative care, increases the number of involuntary and non voluntary euthanasia and demoralises healthcare givers from providing quality end of life care to terminally ill patients. The arguments against this practice are definitely more and stronger than those in support of the practice. This paper has strongly put the stand that euthanasia should not be legalized and that palliative care is the most efficient and ethically appropriate way of reducing suffering and pain in terminally sick patients. Legalizing Euthanasia Introduction Euthanasia, also called mercy killing, is defined as the act of intentionall y taking away the life of another human being with an aim of reducing the pain and suffering of that person (Larson, 2004). The practice of euthanasia is one that has escalated a lot of debates not just in America, but in other parts of the world as well with different groups and persons arguing for and against the practice. As the debates increases, some of the regions and states such as Oregon have gone ahead to legalize the practice of euthanasia with some others strongly opposing its legalization. This paper provides my views on the legalization of euthanasia, an act which I strongly oppose. Argument The word euthanasia is a Greek word for the phrase ‘good death’. With this, the practice has always been viewed by some as that which ends the suffering and pain of a patient and that which brings him relief as a result (Larson, 2004).However, this is not necessarily the case. The practice has been attributed to a number of benefits. I believe these benefits, however, c annot in any way be used to justify its legalization putting into consideration that some of them are still questionable. One of the key reasons that supporters of euthanasia give for supporting the act is that the practice allows the patient to die a dignified death. According to these supporters, giving a dignified death to the patient is better than leaving them to suffer in pain for an unknown period of time. This argument is, however, not sufficient to support the legalization of euthanasia. Palliative care serves the role of ensuring that patients are able to comfortably and peacefully live during the last days of their lives. In this case, palliative care can be said to be an effective way through which pain and suffering can be reduced to the lowest possible levels. The provision of good end of life care according to Foley & Hendin, (2002) is a better choice over euthanasia. Almost every form of pain can be decreased through medication and other forms of care, hence, mercy k illing should not an only means to reducing pain in patients. This view is further supported by the American Medical Association (AMA) which strongly stands in opposition to mercy killing. According to this body, it is evident that there is need for all patients to receive quality end of life care but not to have them undergo euthanasia. According to the AMA, nurses and other healthcare givers play the significant role of treating and keeping people alive. Going against that commitment to save life by taking away life questions their integrity and breaks patient- doctor trust. AMA strongly believes that giving alternative care and treatment during the last years of a patient’s life will be a good way of reducing the need for euthanasia, a reason why they introduced

Web technologies.From PHP to Python Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Web technologies.From PHP to Python - Essay Example The distinguishing factor of PHP from client-side languages like JavaScript is that the code is executed on the server. If you were to have a script similar to the above on your server, the client would receive the results of running that script, with no way of determining what the underlying code may be. You can even configure your web server to process all your HTML files with PHP, and then there's really no way that users can tell what you have up your sleeve. (See: http://www.php net/manual/en/introduction.php) The best things in using PHP are that it is extremely simple for a newcomer, but offers many advanced features for a professional programmer. Don't be afraid reading the long list of PHP's features. You can jump in, in a short time, and start writing simple scripts in a few hours.Almost anything. PHP is primarily focused on server-side scripting, so you can do anything a CGI program can do, such as collect form data, generate dynamic page content, or send and receive cooki es. But PHP can do much more.Server-side scripting: This is the most traditional and main target field for PHP. We need three things to make this work. The PHP parser (CGI or server module), a web server and a web browser. We need to run the web server, with a connected PHP installation. We can access the PHP program output with a web browser, viewing the PHP page through the server. All these can run on our home machine if we are just experimenting with PHP programming. Command line scripting: We can make a PHP script to run it without any server or browser. We only need the PHP parser to use it this way. This type of usage is ideal for scripts regularly executed using cron (on *nix or Linux) or Task Scheduler (on Windows). These scripts can also be used for simple text processing tasks. Writing desktop applications: PHP is probably not the very best language to create a desktop application with a graphical user interface, but if we know PHP very well, and would like to use some advanced PHP features in our client-side applications you can also use PHP-GTK to write such programs. You also have the ability to write cross-platform applications this way. PHP-GTK is an extension to PHP, not available in the main distribution. What they use it for practical implementation issues (See: http://www.php.net/manual/en/intro-whatcando.php) PHP can be used on all major operating systems, including Linux, many Unix variants (including HP-UX, Solaris and OpenBSD), Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, RISC OS, and probably others. PHP has also support for most of the web servers today. This includes Apache, Microsoft Internet Information Server, Personal Web Server, Netscape and iPlanet servers, Oreilly Website Pro server, Caudium, Xitami, OmniHTTPd, and many others. For the majority of the servers PHP has a module, for the others supporting the CGI standard, PHP can work as a CGI processor. So with PHP, we have the freedom of choosing an operating system and a web server. Furthermore, we also have the choice of using procedural programming or object oriented programming, or a mixture of them. Although not every standard OOP feature is implemented in PHP 4, many code libraries and large applications (including the PEAR library) are written only using OOP code. PHP 5 fixes the OOP related weaknesses of PHP 4, and introduces a complete object model.

The Great Depression in Canada Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Great Depression in Canada - Essay Example One of the examples of a depression is often regarded to be the great depression witnessed by Canada. The period of depression was recorded to instigate during the summer of 1929 and extended till the spring of 1933. For the Canadian citizens, the depression period of the 1930s is still considered to be the most devastating decade of the century2. The major cause for this was the crash in the stock market, which is often considered to be the consequence of the wheat crop crash in Canada. With due consideration to the notion of a depression and its emergence in the Canadian economy, the main objective of this paper will be to understand the major causes of the economic turmoil and also to describe the aftermath of the depression. A brief description of the total scenario of Canada in the historical context of the great depression will be presented in this paper. Historical Background The great depression of Canada existed during the 1930s as an era of economic poverty. The reasons for this depression in Canada can be related with various economic factors such as economic dependency, poverty, and unemployment among others. The period of depression initially was recorded in the year 1929, when United States discontinued purchasing goods from the Canadian market. This resulted in lockouts in many of the Canadian industries and thus contributed to the financial crisis. A huge number of Canadians became jobless and homeless lacking the basic amenities required to lead a healthy life. Even after getting a job, the Canadians were often paid at extremely low rates, which were not enough to fulfill their basic needs. The remaining unemployed Canadians used to move across the country in search of jobs and thus increased the liabilities of the government through inbound migration trends3. In Canada, the financial crisis was first observed in 1928 after the wheat crop crash had emerged resulting in the crash of the Wall Street Stock Market that later took the form of the gr eat depression. One of the major causes of the depression in Canada was the over-production and over-expansion in the industrial sectors. During the 1920s, almost every industry in Canada was expanding and many new industries came into existence. As a result of this, the factory owners generally used to pile up huge stocks of goods. Consequently, after the crash of the stock market, these owners panicked and in order to slow down the production they laid off a huge number of workers. This resulted in a huge unemployment problem within the economy, which fuelled up a financial crisis in Canada. Therefore, the sale also went down causing an economic misbalance4. Furthermore, the Canadian economy remained entirely dependent upon a few primary products such as wheat, minerals and fish. Accordingly, the economy could not bear the loss from financial crisis as the demand for these goods went down after the unemployment problem. The economy of Canada was also related closely with the econo my of the United States. Hence, with the emergence of a crisis within the American economy, the economic conditions of Canada also deterioted by a considerable extent. All through the 1920s, credit purchase became more and more favored in Canada. The added interest payments with the principle amount made many families go under huge debts4. Another very popular trend in the Canadian market at

Bacterial Meningitis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Bacterial Meningitis - Research Paper Example Bacterial meningitis can occur at any age. However, it is more common among infants, children and young adults. It is also more common in the elderly people. According to WHO (Cited in Ramakrishnana et al, 48) "two thirds of meningitis deaths in low-income Several species of bacteria cause meningitis and affectation with a particular species depends on the host and the setting. Community-acquired meningitis is usually due to Neisseria meningitides Hemophilus influenzae type-B or pneumococcus species (Ramakrishnana et al, 8). Some of these organisms are commensals in the upper respiratory tract of some healthy people (Tunkel, 1268). Listeria monocytogenes is another important cause of bacterial meningitis and it most commonly affects newborns, pregnant women, immunosuppressed and elderly population (Jacewicz, Merck Manual). Other bacteria causing meningitis include Escherichia coli, Hemophilus influenzae, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, group-B streptococci and Staphylococcus aureus. E.coli and group-B streptococci occur in newborns (Jacewicz, Merck Manual). Pseudomonas infection is more common in the immunosupressed and Staphylococcus infection occurs following injury or surgery. (Jacewicz, Merck Manual) The highest fatality rate is seen in infection due to pneumococcus (Ramakrishnana et al, 48). Certain individuals are at increased risk of developing bacterial meningitis because of their health condition. They are individuals suffering from chronic diseases like ischemic heart disease, chronic liver disease, end-stage renal failure, rheumatoid arthritis, endocrine dysfunction and immune disorders. Intake of immunosuppressants or glucocorticosteroids for immunosupression or cancer treatment also increases the risk of development of bacterial meningitis. Other risk factors include head injury,pneumococcal pneumonia, blood disorders like sickle cell anemia, splenectomy and chronic infections of the upper respiratory system. Bacterial meningitis can

Engineering Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Engineering Management - Essay Example The significant scope of the task is to deal with a bottleneck in health recuperation center computerization techniques face. When this is finished, the existing doctor's facility automated systems can incorporate this solution to make their structure more self-sufficient. The equipment and coding skeletons, which are relied upon to give a result, will prompt complete health recuperation center automation. This structure is produced with a rich API and a skeleton so this will be adopted in any sort of requisition, which needs a modern remote input/output structure. As an illustration, in the retail business managers can utilize this structure as a simple access point. An alternate utilization of this structure is in the plant and warehouse computerization structure. Particularly, creation administrators can utilize this structure to stay informed regarding the issues on the spot(Stefanos Zenios). This approach will be an application of the scheme and is meant to give overall interfac es to any electronic biomedical instrumentation utilized within the clinic structure. Hence, this will prompt simple operation of those exceedingly specialized instruments by making information-recovering procedure practically self-sufficient. Likewise, the yield of this mission will give equipment and coding bases to the advancement of models in the specific field, which will be an extraordinary quality for the item improvement procedures and research process in the field.

Understand the attributes and skills of a leader Essay

Understand the attributes and skills of a leader - Essay Example They follow it up by the creation of a plan, monitoring and control of activities and then reporting and reviewing the entire process (Braun, et al., 2014). The managers for the group are responsible for the establishment of communication standards, group approach, anticipation and resolution of group conflicts, monitoring and maintaining ethics, discipline and integrity. Moreover, they are responsible for the development of group capability, maturity, team-spirit, morale, cooperation and team working, and they monitor all the process going on in the group (Adair, 2015). For the guidance of the team and the organization, the setup of effective objectives is very crucial for a leader. If the objectives are formulated badly, they can lead the entire organization in the direction that is wrong. In order to setup the SMART objectives, here is what needs to be done (Bill, 2004). Before starting on the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely) objectives, the first thing that needs to be done is the distinguishing between the aims and objectives, and targets and goals. Objectives are supposed to be the battle-plans while the goals and aims are supposed to be aspiration-related. The best way to use the SMART technique is actually using it as MARST instead (Wolf & Akkaraju, 2014). Measure the objectives that you can achieve, by counting the evidences. Then, link the measurable with the achievable, because there is no point spending time on objectives that cannot be achieved. Follow the achievable with the realistic, because if the objectives are not realistic, they will not be achievable. After that worry about the specifications of the objectives, and then set timely deadlines for achieving the objectives in that specific timeframe (Reber, 2014). I worked on a team that had concerns that few team members were putting in limited efforts and imparting a negative impact on the rest

Sony China Market Segmentation Essay Example for Free

Sony China Market Segmentation Essay Sony VAIO is the best computer that serves the needs of every customer and is not comparable at all. From the conducted 760 surveys, 18 percent are grouped in the segment of entertainment lovers. Then 88 percent of all the entertainment lovers plan to by a laptop within the next 12 months, according to Exhibit 8. Therefore, there are approximately 120 entertainment lovers likely to purchase a laptop within a year, of who about 8 would buy a Sony. In the Clues report there is an equally distribution across segments, although the problem is that the sample size is not sufficiently large and the gap between the last column of each segment is not obvious enough, which may make comparison more difficult to conduct. For the Compass report, the advantage is that the sample size is good and diversity of respondents is taken into account. There are clear gaps between the final results of each segment. However, the disadvantage is the bound for segmentation is unclear, which can cause confusion in selecting target segment. Mr. Lopez, as your market strategy is focused on the current loyalty and interest in Sony, the target of segmentation is to retain existing customers while at the same time grow the share of customers Sony’s products. Therefore, we believe that Sony should segment the market from a global perspective. Consequently, the Compass report, which segmented the market by purchase motivations, would be a better foundation under this marketing strategy because it involved a much larger base of respondents from various countries and regions of the world. It took much more diversified factors into the investigation of motivations behind buying decisions, which offered a crucial facilitation to the company to expand its foreign markets. With reference to the Compass study data in China shown in table 2, the best segments to be targeted are Techonosocializers, performance seekers and status focused customers, as the probability of purchasing a Sony computer within the next 12 months by these segments are relatively high than the remaining three segments. The motivations of buying decisions made by the three segments are to capture information from multimedia access, to facilitate online social networking and to reflect the social status of an individual. These motivations can be best served by Sony brand.

Open Loop Control Method For Conveyor Belt Transmission Engineering Essay

Open Loop Control Method For Conveyor Belt Transmission Engineering Essay Before the advent of modern automation techniques, factory workers often had to travel from project to project. The cumulative effect of all this physical motion was additional stress and inefficient use of the workers time. The development of conveyor belts allowed the project to come to the worker, instead of the worker to the project. Parts could then be transported by other conveyor belts to additional workers, and eventually to the shipping docks for delivery. Many conveyor belts work on the principle of variable speed control. If a particular belt moves too slowly, workers may find themselves waiting for parts. If a conveyor belt moves too quickly, parts may be damaged or workers may become overwhelmed. Much of a factory supervisors time is spent adjusting conveyor belts for maximum efficiency. This is especially important in food production factories, where conveyor belt speed and proper cooking time work hand in hand. Project objectives Modeling of a open-loop control method for conveyor belt transmission Modeling of a close-loop speed control method for conveyor belt transmission Research on the performance comparison for variable mass material input 1.2 Organization of thesis Chapter 2: This chapter thoroughly introduce what conveyor transmission system is and provides a brief history about it. Six categories of typical conveyor transmission system have been introduced. It also explains the sources and types of breakdowns in conveyor belt, as well as the effect of those breakdowns cause in the transmission line. Then, this chapter also discusses about the importance to have speed control for the conveyor belt transmission system. Chapter 3: This chapter mainly focus on different types of motors. It specifically explains about the AC asynchronous motor which is the most widely used in heavy industry. The different speed control methods of AC asynchronous motors have been compared in several aspects. Chapter 4: In this chapter, PID controller is discussed in details for process control, including its definition, history, applications, tuning method and implementation. Unlike other kinds of papers concerning PID control approach, the weakness and bad behaviour were brought about as well so that an objective picture of PID method could be completed. Chapter 5: At the outset, this chapter gives some key modeling process, and then provides the complete models for simulation both of open-loop control and close-loop speed control. With these models, simulation results can be get to make some comparisons. The close-loop results show the performance of different controller parameters on the transmission system with a variable mass material input on several discrete speed value, corresponding to the open-loop curves those seem not to be quite good. Chapter 6: This chapter summarizes discussion and conclusion about the performance of speed control on the transmission system, and then gives out some recommendations and future works that can be done in speed control for conveyor belt transmission system. 2.0 CONVEYOR BELT TRANSMISSION SYSTEM Conveyor belts are generally endless loops which move parts or materials from one location to another. Conveyor belts are often driven by variable speed electric motors or by other moving parts in a complex system. They are commonly found in factories, grocery stores, warehouses and public transportation centers. Further refinement of conveyor belts allowed factory managers to create automated or semi-automated production lines. Individual parts could be moved through automated machinery for routine processing, leaving workers free for quality control tasks or other higher responsibilities. Conveyor belts also proved useful for transporting heavy or hazardous products, reducing worker injuries. The use of conveyor belts is not restricted to factories. Bakeries and pizza shops often use a slow-moving wire conveyor belt to move their products through an oven. Grocery stores use conveyor belts in their check-out lines to bring items to the clerk and bagger. Airports and other public transportation systems use conveyor belts to deliver checked baggage to customers. Warehouses use long conveyor belts to offload products from incoming trucks or to load outgoing ones. Escalators found in department stores could also be considered conveyor belts, as are people movers in larger airports. 2.1 History Primitive conveyor belts were used since the 19th century. In 1892, Thomas Robins began a series of inventions which led to the development of a conveyor belt used for carrying coal, ores and other products.[6] In 1901, Sandvik invented and started the production of steel conveyor belts. In 1905 Richard Sutcliffe invented the first conveyor belts for use in coal mines which revolutionized the mining industry. In 1913, Henry Ford introduced conveyor-belt assembly lines at Ford Motor Companys Highland Park, Michigan factory.[7] In 1972, the French society REI created in New Caledonia the then longest straight-belt conveyor in the world, at a length of 13.8 km. Hyacynthe Marcel Bocchetti was the concept designer. In 1957, the B. F. Goodrich Company patented a conveyor belt that it went on to produce as the Turnover Conveyor Belt System. Incorporating a half-twist, it had the advantage over conventional belts of a longer life because it could expose all of its surface area to wear and te ar.Mà ¶bius strip belts are no longer manufactured because untwisted modern belts can be made more durable by constructing them from several layers of different materials.[8]. In 1970, Intralox, a Louisiana based company, registered the first patent for all plastic, modular belting. In 1963-64, First Indian Small Scale Industrial Unit with Japanese Plant for Rubber Belts for Conveyor / Elevator / Transmission was installed near National Capital Territory of Delhi and its MrBelts Conveyor Belting has been widely used in Steel, Cement, Fertilizer, Thermal Power, Sponge Iron Plants and Coal/Mineral establishments, Port Trusts and similar material handling applications of Industry for the last over 4 decades 2.2 Types of Conveyor System 2.2.1 Wheel Conveyor System A wheel conveyor systems setup consists of skate wheels that are mounted on an axle placed in a row. Depending on the weight of the material being transported, adjustment of both the wheel spacing and the slope for load movement is provided. Being simpler in construction, the system is flexible, scalable and more economical with light-duty applications as compared to a roller conveyor system. 2.2.2 Roller Conveyor System A roller conveyor system has two variants, but both utilize a minimum of three rollers that provide support to the smallest load all the time. Then there are tapered rollers that orient the load around a curved path. The gravity-type system is alternative to the wheel conveyor system that is used for heavy-duty applications. It utilizes a slope for load movement to facilitate the accumulation process. The powered variant utilizes a belt or chain drive for force-sensitive power transmission useful in merging and/or sorting applications. 2.2.3 Chain Conveyor System A chain conveyor system has one or more endless chains that directly carry the load. These chains are placed in a parallel chain manner that can be used in transporting pallets. One variant is the vertical chain conveyor that is used for transferring loads continuously in a vertical direction at high speeds. 2.2.4 Slat Conveyor System A slat conveyor system uses slats placed at discrete positions, and these slats are connected to a chain. Through drives that control orientation and positioning of the load, the transported unit is able to retain its position while being conveyed. The system is used in applications transporting heavy loads that might otherwise damage the belt as in bottling and canning plants. 2.2.5 Vibrating Conveyor System In vibrating conveyor systems, the main component is an elongated load-carrying structure called a trough, bed or tube, based on the application it is used for. A vibrating mechanism produces small amplitude vibrations at a high frequency. This conveys the individual product units and bulk materials. Due to its unique operational manner, it can be used to transport almost all kinds of granular as well as free-flowing materials. 2.2.6 Pneumatic Conveyor System A pneumatic conveyor system uses pipes or ducts known as transportation lines. These ducts carry material mixture along with an air stream. The load gets transported to various locations through pipe lines propelled by the high velocity air streams. 2.3 Components and Breakdowns The belt conveyor system (BCS) consists of (fig. 3): à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ drive unit (electric motor, coupling multistage gearbox), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ pulleys (drive pulley and other), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ belts (textile or with steel cords) with their joints, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ idlers, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ other (belt cleaning systems, control system, etc.) Fig 2.3.1 Belt conveyor transmission system components In this section we will consider the type of faults that may appear in belt conveyor systems with reference to conveyor component s. The drive unit consist of electric motor, damping coupling, two or three stage gear-box and coupling that connect output shaft with pulley (fig. 8). A crucial object in this subsystem is gearbox. According to Matuszewski [5] in a considered lignite open cast mine even 14% of gearboxes may be replaced each year due to unexpected failures. These failures are related to the geared wheel wear or damages (broken tooth) and bearings (mainly over limit backlash due to environmental impact, also typical failures like outer/inner race, rolling element). The mining pulley consist of two bearings, shaft, shell and coating (special material in order to improve belt-pulley contact). The most frequent failures for pulleys are: bearings and shells. For gearboxes number of failures related to geared wheels is 50%. Other critical failure is the damage of input shafts (probably because of overloading) . It may be surprising that bearing faults are not so frequent in gearboxes. The failure analysis of idlers and belts are a bit different issue [7, 8, 11]. Idlers are used for supporting belts with transported materials. In some sense, idlers are similar to pulleys and consist of bearings and shells. One may expect similar types of failures. The support system for belt consists of three idlers. Because of different load for each idler usually side idlers are more subjected to damage. It needs to be added that in CM context of idlers change of condition is not the only one. Worn bearings in idlers will significantly increase external load for drive units so power consumption will increase. Damaged idlers and pulleys may be the reason of damage for belts. Depends on application, belts used in conveyor systems may be divided into two groups: textile belts and steel cords belts. In underground mines usually the textile belts are used. In lignite mines both types may be applied. Expected problems for belts are related to belt (tear, puncture, cut of belt and abrasion of bottom/top covers) and its joints (connected using glue, vulcanized or mechanical joint) [10, 11]. Because of dimension and weight of a belt it needs to be transported in rolls, pieces up to 100-400 m long, depends on a belt type. In order to replace damaged a gearbox or pulley heavy machinery is required. In some cases due to environmental impact (for example rain) it takes a few times longer time. If one consider the impact of damaged idlers it is another story. The idlers are quite small in comparison to pulleys; however, number of idlers is huge. Damaged idlers may cause failure of belt (the cut of a belt) or even may start fire (belt slipping on damaged idler may increase temperature up to 400 °C, 450 °C is the limit for so called difficult-to-burn belt) and as it was mentioned energy consumption is arising dramatically. Any of mentioned failure generates cost of breakdown of machines working in series. It as to be mentioned that a conveyor system, that with random material to be transferred the smoothness and stability of the conveyor belt transmisssion system should be guaranteed to extend all the components lifetime. 2.4 Significance of Research The belt conveyor is one of key components for most of manufacturing systems. Intelligent control of the conveyor leads to the feasibility of a Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS). For most of the assembly lines in manufacturing systems, different processing works applied to products mainly come from workers who is sitting along the conveyor. The products are conveyed by the belt conveyor from one working area to the next. If the average number of products entering one working area is greater than the average number leaving that area, the manufacturing process stagnates. It means that conveying speed is too fast so that more products are conveyed to workers in that working area than the quantity they can handle. Therefore, the conveying speed of belt conveyor needs to be adaptively changed based on the stagnation condition at each working area. On the other hand, if the defective rate of products monitored at outlet of conveyor is too large even though no stagnation has occurred at e ach working area, the conveyor still needs to be adaptively slowed down so that workers have more time to give their processing works with more cares In the long run, maximum number of manufactured products conveyed to the outlet of conveyor is hoped to be achieved if the speed of belt conveyor can be intelligently controlled Since the conveyor is driven by a servo motor, adaptive control algorithm can be designed to control the motor speed based on stagnation conditions at working areas or the defective rate monitored at the conveyor outlet. In addition, belt conveyor is one of main electromechanical systems in heavy industry, especially in the coal transport system, its safe operation plays an important role in the whole coal output systems.Safety is an important aspect in our life, and coal mine still is a high-risk industry in the world. As one of main components in the coal transport system, the safe operation of belt conveyor plays an important role in the whole coal output systems. As the belt conveyors get longer, quicker and bulkier, it is often occurred that the belt rupture, coal vibration, belt slip on the drive pulley, uncontrolled running of the belt conveyor, belt fire and other safety accidents, which bring huge economical losses and threat miner life. In order to insure the miner safety and the normal production, it is significant to carry on safety investigation of the belt conveyor. Higher productivity and reliability are common goals for conveyor systems in mining operations. Key objectives include opt imized mass flows, reduced energy costs and a well-coordinated workflow between the conveying and transport processes.And the key to this problem is to make sure that the transmission system should be operating at a smooth and steady speed. In a word, the steady speed of the conveyor belt transmission system is vitally important.[wiki] 3.0 MOTORS FOR CONVEYOR 3.1 General Motors An electric motor is an electromechanical device that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.Electric motors are found in applications as diverse as industrial fans, blowers and pumps, machine tools, household appliances, power tools, and disk drives. Electric motors may be classified by the source of electric power, by their internal construction, by their application, or by the type of motion they give. 3.1 Conveyor Motor Types For a conveyor transmission system, the drive unit develops with time. And the motors still using in this era come to the 4 main types: brushed DC motor; brushed DC motor; . The working mechanism of the 4 kinds are discussed as well as their merits and drawbacks. 3.2.1 Brushed DC motors A brushed DC motor has a set of rotating windings wound on an armature mounted on a rotating shaft. The shaft also carries the commutatora long-lasting rotary electrical switch that periodically reverses the flow of current in the rotor windings as the shaft rotates. The magnets field produced by the armature interacts with a stationary magnetic field produced by either permanent magnets or another winding a field coil, as part of the motor frame. The force between the two magnetic fields tends to rotate the motor shaft. Many of the limitations of the classic commutator DC motor are due to the need for brushes to press against the commutator. This creates friction. Sparks are created by the brushes making and breaking circuits through the rotor coils as the brushes cross the insulating gaps between commutator sections. Depending on the commutator design, this may include the brushes shorting together adjacent sections and hence coil ends momentarily while crossing the gaps. Furthermore, the inductance of the rotor coils causes the voltage across each to rise when its circuit is opened, increasing the sparking of the brushes. This sparking limits the maximum speed of the machine, as too-rapid sparking will overheat, erode, or even melt the commutator. The current density per unit area of the brushes, in combination with their resistivity, limits the output of the motor. The making and breaking of electric contact also generates electrical noise; sparking generates RFI. Brushes eventually wear out an d require replacement, and the commutator itself is subject to wear and maintenance (on larger motors) or replacement (on small motors). The commutator assembly on a large motor is a costly element, requiring precision assembly of many parts. On small motors, the commutator is usually permanently integrated into the rotor, so replacing it usually requires replacing the whole rotor. Therefore, DC motor brush design entails a trade-off between output power, speed, and efficiency/wear. 3.2.2 brushed DC motor In this motor, the mechanical rotating switch or commutator/brush gear assembly is replaced by an external electronic switch synchronized to the rotors position. Brushless motors are typically 85-90% efficient or more whereas DC motors with brush are typically 75-80% efficient. Brushless DC motors are commonly used where precise speed control is necessary. They have several advantages over conventional motors:they are very efficient, running much cooler than the other equivalent motors; without a commutator to wear out, the life of a DC brushless motor can be significantly longer compared to a DC motor using brushes and a commutator; brushless motors have no chance of sparking, unlike brushed motors, making them better suited to environments with volatile chemicals and fuels. Also, sparking generates ozone which can accumulate in poorly ventilated buildings risking harm to occupants health. Modern DC brushless motors range in power from a fraction of a watt to many kilowatts. Larger brushless motors up to about 100 kW rating are used in electric vehicles. There are numerous applications using a Brush DC Motor that could instead utilize the Brushless DC Motor. However a few factors might prevent the changeover. The first factor is start-up cost. Although the Brushless DC Motor is lower-maintenance than the Brush DC Motor, initial cost is more expensive, due to its advantageous construction. Second is complexity. A controller is required in order to operate a Brushless DC Motor, and is usually more convoluted than most controllers. A Brushless DC Motor also requires additional system wiring, in order to power the electronic commutation circuitry. 3.2.3 asynchronous AC motor An asynchronous AC motor is an induction motor where power is transferred to the rotor by electromagnetic induction, much like transformer action. . Polyphase induction motors are widely used in industry.The simple design of AC motor is simply a series of three windings in the exterior (stator) section with a simple rotating section (rotor). The changing field caused by the 50 or 60 Hertz AC line voltage causes the rotor to rotate around the axis of the ac motor. The AC motor has the advantage of being the lowest cost motor for applications which require more than about 1/2 hp (325 watts) of power. This is due to the simple design of ac motor. Meanwhile, the simple design of the AC motor results in extremely reliable, low maintenance operation. Unlike the DC motor, there are no brushes to replace for ac motors. If run in the appropriate environment for its enclosure, AC motor can expect to need new bearings after several years of operation. In fact if the application is well designed , an AC motor may not need new bearings for more than a decade. Although the most common and simple industrial motor is the three phase AC induction motor, there are still disadvantages of ac motor. Expensive speed control The electronics required to handle an AC inverter drive are considerably more expensive than those required to handle a DC motor. However, if performance requirements can be met meaning that the required speed range is over 1/3rd of base speed AC inverters and AC motors are usually more cost-effective than DC motors and DC drives for applications larger than about 10 horsepower, because of cost savings in the AC motor. Inability to operate at low speeds Standard AC motors should not be operated at speeds less than about 1/3rd of base speed. This is due to thermal considerations. In fact a DC motor should be considered for these applications. Poor positioning control Positioning control is also expensive and crude. Even a vector drive is very crude when controlling a standard AC motor. Servo motors are more appropriate for these applications. 3.2.4 Synchronous Electric Motor A synchronous electric motor is an AC motor distinguished by a rotor spinning with coils passing magnets at the same rate as the alternating current and resulting magnetic field which drives it. Another way of saying this is that it has zero slip under usual operating conditions. Contrast this with an induction motor, which must slip to produce torque. These motors can be made to operate at leading power factor and thereby improve the pf of an industrial plant from one that is normally lagging to one that is close to unity. And the key feature of a synchronous AC motor is it operates at a constant speed, irrespective of load, from no-load to full load. As well, electromagnetic power varies linearly with the applied voltage. These motors can be constructed with wider air gapes than induction motors making them mechanically better.Whats more, efficiency of operation is usually high, especially in the low speed and unity power factor ranges. However, the disadvantages are also quite obvious. These motors cannot be used for variable speed jobs as there is no possibility of speed adjustment. And it requires external source for supplying dc excitation, cannot be started under load, the starting torque being zero, may fall out of synchronism and stop when over-loaded and so on. In addition, for some applications these motors are not desirable as for driving shafts in small work-shops having no power available for starting and in cases where frequent starting or strong starting torque is required. 3.3 AC Motor for Conveyor Through the comparisons above, transmission system with AC motors are simple to make and can be reliable.And for the low cost, AC motors are overwhelmingly preferred for fixed speed applications in our industrial applications and for commercial and domestic applications where AC line power can be easily attached. In fact over 90% of all motors are AC induction motors. AC induction motors are found in air conditioners, washers, dryers, industrial machinery, fans, blowers, vacuum cleaners, and many, many other applications. Using an AC drive for conveyor control allows the speed to be adjusted to changing needs. A partly loaded conveyor with a higher speed than necessary wastes energy and causes unnecessary wear. In controlling conveyors, AC drives also improve process control by enabling the collection of measurement and supervision information. The soft start of the conveyor with AC drives reduces the stress on gearboxes when the conveyor is started. This paper mainly deals with the AC asynchronous motors, because for industry like coal mine, the asynchronous ones are the mainstream with many successful applications.In the design of the induction motor, operational characteristics can be determined through a series of calculations. Performing these calculations can help the engineer provide a motor that is best suited to a particular application. 3.3.1 SYNCHRONOUS SPEED The speed with which the stator magnetic field rotates, which will determine the speed of the rotor, is called the Synchronous Speed (SS). The SS is a function of the frequency of the power source and the number of poles (pole pairs) in the motor. The relationship to calculate the SS of an induction motor is: Where: SS = Synchronous Speed (RPM) f = frequency (cycles / second) = 60 P = number of poles (pole pairs) 3.3.2 MOTOR SLIP The rotor in an induction motor can not turn at the synchronous speed. In order to induce an EMF in the rotor, the rotor must move slower than the SS. If the rotor were to somehow turn at SS, the EMF could not be induced in the rotor and therefore the rotor would stop. However, if the rotor stopped or even if it slowed significantly, an EMF would once again be induced in the rotor bars and it would begin rotating at a speed less than the SS. The relationship between the rotor speed and the SS is called the Slip. Typically, the Slip is expressed as a percentage of the SS. The equation for the motor Slip is: Where: %S = Percent Slip SS = Synchronous Speed (RPM) RS = Rotor Speed (RPM) 3.3.3 EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT To analyze the operating and performance characteristics of an induction motor, an Equivalent Circuit can be drawn. We will consider a 3-phase, Y connected machine, the Equivalent Circuit for the stator is as shown below: Fig 3.3.1 Equivalent Circuit Where: V1 = Stator Terminal Voltage I1 = Stator Current R1 = Stator Effective Resistance X1 = Stator Leakage Reactance Z1 = Stator Impedance (R1 + jX1) IX = Exciting Current (this is comprised of the core loss component = Ig, and a magnetizing current = Ib) E2 = Counter EMF (generated by the air gap flux) 3.4 Speed Control of AC Asynchronous Motor With respect to the use of AC asynchronous motor, when used with a load that has a torque curve that increases with speed, the motor will operate at the speed where the torque developed by the motor is equal to the load torque. Reducing the load will cause the motor to speed up, and increasing the load will cause the motor to slow down until the load and motor torque are equal. Operated in this manner, the slip losses are dissipated in the secondary resistors and can be very significant. So the speed control of an AC asynchronous motor in the industry world is quite important. From Equ.1 we can get the speed torque characteristic of the machine as Fig. 3.3.2. The curve is rather steep and goes from zero torque at synchronous speed to the stall torque at a value of %S. Normally Slip may be such that stall torque is about three times that of the rated operating torque of the machine, and hence may be about 0.3 or less. This means that in the entire loading range of the machine, the speed change is quite small. The machine speed is quite stiff with respect to load changes. The entire speed variation is only in the range SS to (1à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢%S)SS, SS being dependent on supply frequency and number of poles. Fig 3.3.2 Relationship between torque and speed of induction motor The coming discussion shows that the several speed control methods for induction machine, when operating from mains is essentially a constant speed machine. Many industrial drives, typically for conveyor in a belt transmission system, have typically constant speed requirements and hence the induction machine is ideally suited for these. However,the induction machine, especially the squirrel cage type, is quite rugged and has a simple construction. Therefore it is good candidate for variable speed applications if it can be achieved. 3.4.1 Applied voltage control One may note that if the applied voltage is reduced, the voltage across the magnetizing branch also comes down. This in turn means that the magnetizing current and hence flux level are reduced. Reduction in the flux level in the machine impairs torque production. If, however, the machine is running under lightly loaded conditions, then operating under rated flux levels is not required. Under such conditions, reduction in magnetizing current improves the power factor of operation. Some amount of energy saving may also be achieved.Voltage control may be achieved by adding series resistors (a lossy, inefficient proposition),or a series inductor/autotransformer (a bulky solution) ora more modern solution using semiconductor devices. A typical solid state circuit used for this purpose is the AC voltage controller or AC chopper. Another use of voltage control is in the so-called soft-start of the machine. 3.4.2 Rotor resistance control Clearly, the rotator speed is dependent on the rotor resistance. Further, the maximum value is independent of the rotor resistance. The slip at maximum torque is dependent on the rotor resistance. Therefore, we may expect that if the rotor resistance is changed, the maximum torque point shifts to higher slip values, while retaining a constant torque. Note that while the maximum torque and synchronous speed remain constant, the slip at which maximum torque occurs increases with increase in rotor resistance, and so does the starting torque. whether the load is of constant torque type or fan-type, it is evident that the speed control range is more with this method. Further, rotor resistance control could also be used as a means of generating high starting torque.For all its advantages, the scheme has two serious drawbacks. Firstly, in order to vary the rotor resistance, it is necessary to connect external variable resistors (winding resistance itself cannot be changed). This, therefore necessitates a slip-ring machine, since only in that case rotor terminals are available outside. For cage rotor machines, there are no rotor terminals. Secondly, the method is not very efficient since the additional resistance and operation at high slips entails dissipation.The resistors connected to the slip-ring brushes should have good power dissip ation capability. 3.4.3 Cascade control The power drawn from the rotor terminals could be spent more usefully. Apart from using the heat generated in meaning full ways, the slip ring output could be connected to another induction machine. The stator of the second machine would carry slip frequency currents of the first machine which would generate some useful mechanical power. A still better option would be to mechanically couple the shafts of the two machines together. This sort of a connection is called cascade connection and it gives some measure of speed control as shown below. Let the frequency of supply given to the first machine be f1, its number poles b

lighthod Barriers in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness :: Heart Darkness essays

Barriers in Heart of Darkness Heart of Darkness is a book that explores many different ideas and philosophies regarding human life. How people see each other and connect with each other is one of the larger aspects of human life covered in this tale. During his journey, Marlowe meets many different types of people that he is able to decipher from the good and bad personal characteristics. These people all contribute to Marlowe’s growth as a person as he breaks down barriers inside himself that deal with race, loyalty, and the way people interrelate with each other. The first site that Marlowe sees on his expedition puts an instant stereotype into his head. The sight is one of skinny, black laborers at the Outer Station. Marlowe sees a young boy who is hungry and feeds him a biscuit. Marlowe sees these images of people and how they’re living, and consciously or unconsciously, makes a note in his mind that this is the way Africans are. This initial impression of the Africans had formed a barrier that Marlowe would change within himself by the end of the story. Immediately after his encounter with the laborers, Marlowe meets the accountant at the station who provides Marlowe with his first real distinction between the races. The accountant presented himself in a gracious manner. He was Caucasian, wore fancy clothes, had oiled hair, sported varnished boots, and he had a starched white collar. This all made the man look oddly out of place given that he was in the middle of the jungle and surrounded by filthy laborers. Marlowe wasn’t sure about what to think of this man at first, but when a sick man was brought into the accountant’s office, the accountant gripes about the inconvenience to himself. "The groans of a sick person distract my attention, and without that it is extremely difficult to guard against clerical errors in this climate" (Conrad 22). This cruel and cold side of the typical European ivory trader shows through very clearly to Marlowe. This was his first, but not only experience on the journey with a greedy white male. The white manager on the boat is another character that speaks to Marlowe’s intellect by way of his actions. Marlowe gains some of his most significant self-growth in the story through his encounters and his analyzing of the manager. Marlowe is constantly hearing about ways that the manager and his crew are trying to take over the ivory ring and how they are trying to stop Kurtz from continuing his dominance in this trade.

Mike Nichols Film, Regarding Henry Essay -- Film Movies

Mike Nichols' Film, Regarding Henry Life can change in an instant. One second you are a successful and ruthless lawyer, the next you’re a simple man with absolutely no memory of who or where you are. The film â€Å"Regarding Henry† shows this perfectly as it travels through the life of a man named Henry Turner. The main focus of the film is how important family life is. Before the accident, Henry hardly even knew his daughter and almost never spoke to her. At the start of the film the father-daughter relationship was very weak, he would never speak to her when he came home from work because he didn’t have time, but when he did he lectured to her - like when she spilled grape juice on his â€Å"prize piano† and yelled at her. His life revolved around the courtroom, where he spent most of his time. Sarah, his wife told him to apologize to his daughter, which he finally did after arguing with her. Even when he tried to apologize to her after a party, he found it difficult to express his feelings and just talked about the case he had won that day. Before the accident Henry was always working, even when he came home, he would still continued to work. Henry was a self centered and arrogant man who was only interested in winning a case, working and smoking. Henry loved his eggs and was always at parties, celebrating or mocking his clients, which he was very good at. He was excellent at what he did and would go to any extent of lying to win â€Å"like the Matthew’s case.† He was also ext...

Essay --

I am applying to Stanford University for admission to the Ph.D. program in Computer Science. My research interests lie in the field of Computational Biology (CB). More specifically, I am interested in employing probabilistic and statistical methods to analyze genomic data more efficiently and accurately. As a statement of purpose of my graduate study, I describe here my academic background, research interests and future career plan. When I began my undergraduate career, I had the opportunity to be exposed to the full range of science courses. I rapidly became fascinated by the beauty of biological sciences and recognized the important role that computing and quantitative methods play in life sciences research. Dr. Dawkins once remarked, ``If you want to understand life, don't think about vibrant, throbbing gels and oozes, think about information technology." I could not agree more that computing (rather than mere experimentation) is the future of life sciences, and the sole idea of blending life sciences and computing in scientific research excites me. I was first officially introduced to the field of CB in my freshman summer, when I worked as a research assistant in the Center for Genomic Sciences, University of Hong Kong (HKU). During this project, I evaluated the performance of the Genome-wide Complex Trait Analysis software, conducting simulation studies based on a thorough literature review. I have gradually cultivated my persistence and self-study ability which I believe is crucial for becoming a researcher. In my second year, I went on exchange in UC Berkeley and audited the graduate course for Statistical Genomics there. Among the 20 or so students taking or auditing the course, I was the sole undergraduate. The course ... ...rful and friendly on this beautiful campus. Everybody here is living in Mr. and Mrs. Stanford's love for their son, and love makes everyday a perfect day. Perhaps this additional reason is not proper in a statement of purpose, but I strongly desire to continue my studies in Stanford, not only because of your excellent faculty and strong interdisciplinary research, but also because I feel that I belong here and my character accords with Stanford's spirit of freedom and love. To me, every step is not a finish, but a new start. I believe that your Ph.D. program would provide an stimulating and challenging environment for me to realize my full potential, and I possess the perseverance, intelligence and motivation to thrive and contribute to your team. I am fully prepared for my next step at the doctoral level in Stanford, and I look forward to this brand new beginning.

Drug Addiction Short Paper Essay

There are many myths about addiction whether it be alcohol addiction or drug addiction. One of these myths is that drug addiction is voluntary. Once someone becomes addicted to drugs it can change the person’s brain chemistry and drug use then becomes compulsive and uncontrollable. Another myth is that addiction is a flaw in a person. Once addicted to drugs the person can’t control their want/need for the drug. Another myth is that a person has to want to get help for their addiction in order to stop using drugs. I do believe this myth is only partially correct because I do think that someone needs to at least own up to the fact that they have an addiction problem. A court can order someone to get drug treatment which can help them to kick their habit but they must be willing to make an effort. Another myth is that people who are addicts can stop on their own without any treatment if they make an effort to stop. Most people suffering from addiction can’t stop on their own without getting treatment and if they do it isn’t long lasting. Another myth is that someone can’t be forced into treatment. People can also be coerced and remanded by a court into getting the help they need for their addiction. Many people also believe the myth that people only get treatment once they have hit rock bottom. This is simply untrue as many people get treatment before they have lost complete control over themselves and their actions. Or if they have been made to seek treatment by a court order or been coerced by friends and or family members. Some people realize they have an addiction and chose on their own to seek help before hitting rock bottom. While a lot of people think that there is one certain treatment for all addicts this is not the case. Addictions are different on a case by case basis and have to be tailored to each individual person. It simply would not work to treat every addiction in the same manner. A lot of people with addiction also suffer from some sort of psychiatric illness as well that needs to be treated. If a psychiatric illness is not addressed the person could slip back into addiction. Most drugs and alcohol (including marijuana) can become addictive if used to often. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse over time marijuana can cause changes in the brain which can lead to addiction. Marijuana can also cause withdraw symptoms when the user stops using the drug. Which can lead to the person becoming irritable; interfere with sleep, and restlessness just to name a few. References: Marijuana. (n.d.). Retrieved May 25, 2015, from http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/marijuana-addictive http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/marijuana-addictive

Violence in Public School

Your Name Instructor/Professor’s Name Course Date Violence In Public Schools Perhaps, one of the most pressing concerns affecting not only the educational sector, but the entire society, is the rising violence in schools. Indeed, there’s no question that school-related violence is one of the gravest threats that any government will have to face. In fact, the U. S. is just one of the dozens of countries plagued by this social ill. With easy access on guns and knives, schools—students and teachers, specifically—have been placed at a more precarious condition.Thus, it is no longer surprising if shooting spree, sexual assault, and stabbing incidents continue to headline the newspapers around the world. Such is the alarming rate of violence in what was once considered the haven of safety and sanctuary of morality that parents, students, and policymakers have to brave. In general, violence in U. S. schools, plus the government’s failure to prevent— let alone eliminate—even in the presence of new initiatives specifically intended for this purpose, has turned out a huge cause for concern that needs to be addressed no sooner than later.No student or teacher for this matter should ever suffer from violence inside the classroom, playground, school cafeteria, or even while on his way to or from school. But the truth does not speak of the same. As the rate of school violence continues to escalate year by year, so does the disruption of the learning process, degradation of the students’ and teachers’ morale, and the spread of fear not only in the school but in the community in general.Aside from the immediate negative impact, school violence could also give birth to youth violence, which could stem to more diverse concerns in criminality, peace and order, and public health and safety. In this paper, we will try to delve the degree of school violence and how dangerous it is not only to wither the integrity of the U . S. school system, but also to rock society as well. In the present condition where the government seems too powerless enough to put this social crisis to an end, it is safe to say that school violence is indeed a force to reckon, a substantial shaker that will definitely cause the failure of schools in general.Data Reveal the Alarming Rate of School Violence Numerous studies have been conducted to assess the real impact and the degree in which school violence has really affected the school system. Data from the US Department of Education show disturbing figures. Between 2003 and 2004, it was revealed that 1 out of 10 teachers in urban schools admitted receiving threats from students. Between 2005 and 2006, almost 40 percent of public schools had at least one case of school violence. In 2007, 23 percent of students admitted that gangs existed in their schools.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (series 4) reveals that according to the results of a nationwide survey in 20 07 among students from grades 9 to 12 show that almost 6 percent of students did bring guns, knives and other types of dangerous weapons inside the school. Furthermore, almost 8 percent of students were threatened, harassed, or injured by these weapons. Meanwhile, 12 percent of the respondent-students admitted that they had been involved in physical fights inside the school.A more disturbing note revealed that most than 22 percent of students sold, used, and were offered and given illegal drugs right inside the school. Nonfatal assaults are also rampant inside the school. The Department of Education reveals that in 2006, on a national level, 3 out of 100 students are actively participating in school-based crimes, which included rape, assault, and theft. Bullying is even a more serious cause for alarm. More than one-third of the entire student population had been victims of bullying, 4 percent of them being bullied online or through text messages.This stems to a more violent personal ity as bullied students have more chances of getting engaged into fights, psychological trauma and dropping out of school. Likewise, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (33-36) reveals that school violence-related deaths continue to escalate on a yearly basis. Although on an average rate, 1 out of 100 students die due to violence inside the school, still, such cases are too much to ignore, since NO death, especially violence-related must ever occur inside the campus. Since 2003, more than 115 students have been killed in almost 110 incidents.On a yearly basis, that translates to 17 students dying from homicide. Anderson et al (2695) reveals that school-associated violence and deaths occur â€Å"before and after the school day and during lunch,† while cases of violence are more likely to occur at the onset of the semester (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Violent, 657). Half of recorded homicide cases show that perpetrators actually reveal some sort of war ning signal before they attack their victims. These include making a threat or leaving a note before the crime occurs (Anderson et al, 2695).Risk Factors Leading to Violence in Schools School violence does not exist simply because they have to exist. There are numerous underlying factors that trigger the occurrence of numerous conditions that give rise to this case. In fact, experts, researchers and lawmakers agree that there is a deeper root that that gives life to these occurence. According to the Constitutional Rights Foundation, among the risk factors affecting school violence include: â€Å"weapons, media violence, cyber abuse, the impact of school, community, and family environments, personal alienation,† (crf-usa. rg) among others. Access to Weapons. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the rapid increase in the rate of gun accessibility among teens in the United States. As more teenagers owned guns, thus, the rise of gun deaths and injuries (crf-usa. org). A study condu cted by Bergstein et al (794-8) in Boston and Milwaukee shows that that 42 percent of students who responded revealed that â€Å"they could get a gun if they wanted, 28 percent have handled a gun without adult knowledge or supervision, and 17 percent have carried a concealed gun†¦. This claim was backed by data provided by the University of Southern California School of Medicine, which reports that around 35% of U. S. households with children 18 years old and below are reported to have owned at least one firearm, which â€Å"translates to more than 11 million children living in homes with firearms† (crf-usa. org). Furthermore, teens can also acquire handguns in illegal sales, as â€Å"American gun shows continue to be a venue for illegal activity, including unlicensed sales to prohibited individuals† (Bergstein et al, 794). Violence Caused by Media. The Constitutional Rights Foundations (crf-usa. rg ) reveals that an average American child will have witness 8,000 murders and 100,000 violent acts by time he reaches 7th grade. That’s because of television. Time and again, claims have been made and studies have been conducted to really test the truth behind the impact of television in inculcating wrong values to a child. According to the Anderson et al (81), â€Å"violent television and films, video games, and music reveals unequivocal evidence that media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts. Although certain characteristics exhibited by viewers, such as identification of aggressive characters), parental guidance and other social factors, as well as the content of the media could make or break the effect of media violence. These also count the the degree of aggression instilled in the viewer’s personality. Cyber Bullying. Anderson et al (83) write that high school students are more exposed to violence in video games, thus, they show â€Å"more pro-violent attitudes, had more hostile personalities, were less forgiving, believed violence to be more normal, and behaved more aggressively in their everyday lives. † However, Sherry (msu. du ) reasoned out that the â€Å"overall effect of these games on aggressiveness does not appear great† to warrant significant attention. School Environments. A survey conducted by the Children's Institute International revealed that more than half off teenage population living in rural, suburban, or urban areas all agree that schools are becoming more and more violent in the passing of time. School-based Gangs. The National Center for Educational Statistics, as quoted by the Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA (2), reveals that in 2005, â€Å"24 percent of students ages 12-18 reported that there were gangs at their schools. Nevertheless, no difference was observed with regards to reporting gang presence among rural and suburban students. Communities. Aside from the negligence in the school and in the home, communities also show neglect in children, which is another reason for hastened occurrence of school violence. Furthermore, a community’s unresponsive attitude â€Å"to the needs of families and their children [†¦could] develop into school violence [†¦given that] [a]fter-school and summer programs are not always available† (crf-usa. org). Family.The family, which should have been highly responsible in shaping a child’s mind to become upright and law-abiding, are also the one the blame of the deterioration of the values and attitudes among teenagers. As parents neglect their duty to rare their child with positive attitudes, â€Å"children may develop negative–and often violent–behavior patterns† (crf-usa. org). But more than providing room for negative values to grow, irresponsible and abusive households also impede a child’s growth and maturity. Thus, as observed, some of the most aggressive teenagers show signs of poor communication skills and low self-esteem.And since children have no parental role models to look up to, they would tend to focus their attention on popular culture, no matter how violent or aggressive it nature may be. The lack of support from the family and community therefore poses burden on schools, as it turns out that they are the only social institution left to â€Å"educate, shelter, and discipline children,† (crf-usa. org). Nevertheless, this task serves too tasking as â€Å"most schools have difficulty playing multiple roles as educators, surrogate parents, social service, or law-enforcement agencies†( crf-usa).Violence Is Becoming Widespread in Schools With all these research and information laid on the table, it is therefore too difficult to ignore the fact that school violence is bound to impair the country’s education system. Lack of funding and support from state and federal governments, plus neglect on the part of communities a nd families, eventually prove too much for educators to bear the task of educating, disciplining and imparting positive attitudes to students.Thus, it could be deduced that â€Å"violence and danger are constant companions for America's schoolchildren† (McClusky, cato. org) While state and federal documents reveal that school violence has been heading towards the slump since the advent of the 21st century, researchers believe that these information are misleading, as administrators and government officials are actually negligent and blind enough to make the problem known. Journalists are quick to point out the discrepancy of assessments. McClusky (cato. rg) revealed a Denver Post article that uncovered a widespread â€Å"under-reporting of violent incidents in Denver-area schools–under-reporting that occurred despite the presence of a state accountability system designed to identify dangerous schools. † What’s went wrong is the fact that in the entire Col orado, as well as well as in other states, a lot of schools tend to under-report violent incidents. Furthermore, Chicago Tribune in McClusky (cato. org) reported negligence on the part of law enforcers in Illinois to warn school districts whenever â€Å"convicted juvenile sex offenders enroll in their schools.Many failed to notify principals in the mistaken belief they were not permitted to alert them, when in fact they were required to do so† (cato. org). Another mistake on the part of the government is the poor process of collecting and gathering data, reveals Modzeleski in McClusky (cato. org). When the law regarding this issue was enacted in 2001, it was revealed that quite a good number of school districts have gathered sufficient data to provide accurate records regarding school violence, although there were also school districts who failed on this. Impact of Violence in Public SchoolsThere’s really no question that violence in schools have profound effect not ju st in the education system, but in the entire aspect of American life. As schools are disturbed by violence, the effect is felt by students through poor education, low self-esteem and other debilitating factors that could affect not only their professional career, but other facets of their lives, as well. â€Å"It is intuitively obvious and consistent with an ecological perspective that crime and violence in settings in which youth live and attend school pose a poor context for academic involvement and performance,† explains Bowen & Bowen (321).Indeed, violent and aggressive behavior displayed by students at school could mean poor academic performance, which could directly or indirectly hamper the teaching and learning process. Based on the observations made by Lochman, Lampron, Gemmer, & Harris (339), we can conclude therefore, that aggression and violence do not only hamper the individual’s academic performance, but the â€Å"negative impact [could also extend] on t he education of their classmates by diverting their teachers from teaching and reducing the amount of time students are engaged in learning† (339).In Garbarino & Abramowitz (17), we discovered that the â€Å"risks to development can come from both direct threats and the absence of opportunities for development. † Aside from classroom performance, the impact of school violence also reaches to the physical side. Pollack, in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc. gov), reveals that â€Å"a number of students seek medical care for nonfatal, violence-related injuries. Some of these injuries are relatively minor and include cuts, bruises, and broken bones.Other injuries, like gunshot wounds and head trauma, are more serious and can lead to permanent disability. † But injuries extend deeper, more than what the eye can see, actually. The Center for Disease Control (cdc. gov) reveals that constant exposure to violence not only in school, but also at home and in the neighborhood, could result to different negative health, psychological and even mental outcomes to a person. This could include depression and anxiety, which could trigger fear in going to school and other negative effects to an individual’s life.A 2007 survey by CDC (cdc. gov), shows that almost 6 percent of high school schools in the entire country nationwide did not go to school â€Å"on one or more of the 30 days before the survey† (cdc. gov) was conducted for fear of danger and harm â€Å"at school or on their way to or from school† (cdc. gov). Thus, for this reason, the rate of absences has risen from 1993 and 2005. Furthermore, Pollack (cdc. gov) revealed that around â€Å"160,000 students go home early on any given day because they are afraid of being bullied. † ConclusionAll the records are one and the same in revealing that violence in the school is indeed a cause for alarm for everyone. According to the Indiana State University (indiana. edu), the past fifteen years saw a distressing rate in the increasing of youth violence in schools. Worst, both the culprits and the victims are getting younger and younger. What is sad and disturbing about this situation is that school officials themselves show little interest in curbing the criminality within their campus. They either fail to record the incidence or are negligent nough to inform higher officials and law enforcers about this. Furthermore, law enforcers themselves seem half-hearted in waging an all-out campaign against school violence. Even state and federal governments seem not to care at all. That is why, it is pretty irritating to note that government officials are proud to hail that school violence has either stabilized or spiraled downwards, even if every day, televisions and new papers keep on trumpeting for what really is the truth—incidents of shooting, stabbing, robbery, or rape right within the school campus.Thus, we can really conclude that at thi s point, schools are not really safe. They are in fact, at their most dangerous—among the riskiest places, ever, for students and teachers be. As revealed by Indiana State University (indiana. edu): â€Å"National level data suggests that middle and high schools, especially larger schools, are more at-risk for serious violence. Moreover, students in urban schools serving predominantly lower SES minority children remain twice as likely to be victims of violence as students in suburban, town, or rural areas.In addressing the tragic incidents that have occurred recently in suburban and rural schools, it is critical that the more ongoing and severe problems of lower SES urban schools and students not be forgotten or ignored. † All these data, figures and studies have their significant effect on our schools and in society as a whole. Indeed â€Å"what we do in our schools on a day to day basis in terms of discipline may be related to serious crime and violence† (indi ana. edu). Thus, each of us is partly to blame for what is happening. 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