This Is Water Reaction

Commentary and reaction to David Foster Wallace’s â€Å"This is Water† This speech was clear and direct to the point, especially both parables David told. He did not force his ideas; he merely explained his realizations and suggested actions. It is how he said it though, that made me want to listen to him more. I sthrongly agree with the suggestion of taking the spotlight away from ourselves and our misfortunes and pointing it towards other things and people we encounter. Some people are really egocentric to care about others and their problems (which are probably worse than theirs).This type of self-centred thinking affects our mood in a way where it may dampen our happiness. His speech raised my awareness on the arrogance of some people, and of mine too at times. He talked about learning to think, learning to control what you think. I feel that that is a step close to being a more positive and happy person. If you submit yourself to negativity, it will ruin you. We ha ve choices; it’s just a matter of making the right one not only for you but for everyone involved.What struck me the most was what he called the Capital T– Truth which is what matters — life before death. His message was to not stick to a routine just because you are afraid of change. Do not be dull, be alive. The major lesson I took from his speech was to enjoy every experience life offers us to make the most of our lives instead of living in the fast lane which will cause us to forget what and how things happened. Our lives are limited and so we shouldn’t make the least of it by worrying about mishaps and troubles. If we do, then that is truly a life wasted.

Describe the effects of the Blitz on everyday life in Britain Essay

At 4:56pm on 7 September 1940, the air raid sirens wailed as the German Air Force, the Luftwaffe launched a massive raid on London.Over 350 bombers flew across the Channel from airfields in France and dropped 300 tonnes of bombs all over Britain. This caused a lot of problems for the people of Britain. The aim of the Blitz was to break the morale of the British people by destroying their homes, their source of transport and industry. In London the docks were attacked regularly and across Britain the Luftwaffe also tried to hit railway lines and junctions, power stations and ports. People’s daily routines were also ruined. Because of the lack of availability of food, the Government were forced to ration the small amounts of food that was left in the whole of the UK, which left very many people with virtually nothing. Bacon 6oz, cheese 4oz, dried milk 4 pints a week and dried eggs 12 every eight weeks. This is just a small fraction of what the government had to ration. In the morning queue would be everywhere and anyone would stand in one queue just to see what was selling. Hopefully it was food. The government took a number of steps to try and protect people. They ordered a total blackout at night to make sure that none of the bombers could see them. All windows would have to be covered by thick black curtains; street and vehicle lights were shielded of dimmer. It was known as an offence if light was shown, because even the smallest amount of light could tell the Germans were to bomb. Every night an inspector would come and make sure that each house was covered up properly and if it was not, a fine would be issued and the owners would fix the problem. Everyone was also given a gas mask in case the Germans were to drop a gas bomb anywhere. Throughout the whole time, 31% of the population got no sleep at all, 32% got less than 4 hours and a mere 22% got 4-6 hours sleep. This caused a lot of problems for people who were working. Workers were falling asleep at their stations and even more were fired because they kept on arriving late to work. However, the people who did make it to work, never gave up they were determined to carry on. Shopkeepers covered their smashed windows with plywood and put up notices saying ‘business and usual’, to show that nothing had stopped them from running their lives. Transport was still running, even though there was a lot less. Postmen and milkmen marched through the rubble to make their deliveries, Clergymen held regular services in bombed churches, bomb sites were used as pen-air concerts and dances and many theatres, music halls and cinemas stayed open throughout the whole war. Even though people were moving on with their lives, over 1.4 million people had lost their homes and many had their friends killed or badly injured by the Blitz. This drove many people to theft. They would break into bombed factories and steal whatever they thought would have a value for money. They would then sell these items on for as much as they could and use that money to buy food if they could find it. If anyone was caught, the punishment was death. Even though there were two million Anderson shelters produced in the early years of the First World War, many people had no shelters to stay in while the bombs were taking place. Many people moved in with family and friends where as others went to underground stations and stayed in the tunnels all night. They would stop the trains and the escalators from running so that people could sleep down there without any injuries. These tunnels gave the population the encouragement that they needed. Many people got a lot of sleep down there and even more were getting used to the bombs. However, the government were scared that people might not come back up again, because they were too scared, and tried to stop them, but each night up to 60,000 would demand to go down into the tunnels for protection. In the end the government gave up. So the Salvation Army and the Women’s Voluntary Service ran shuttle services of buns and drinks from station to station to keep them alive. Others would stay at home and hide in a Morrison’s shelter that was attached to the dining room table, or even hide under the stairs because they were designed to carry a heavy weight. Day after day, night after night, so many fire services fought to control the many fires that were going on. Not including the regular fire services, there were 60,000 volunteers in the Auxiliary fire service. Many were on duty for two days in a row and had very little chance to get some sleep. Fire fighters were under constant heat and falling buildings, not to mention the falling bombs the surrounded them. They ran out of water quick because the bombs would hit the main pipe lines. There were also not enough fire trucks so people would have to run to the fire and hope to God that there was a water supply nearby. As people were pulling together and relying on themselves more, community sprit had increased so much throughout the whole of the Blitz. People went straight into action as soon as they heard the bombs going off. People helped the ambulances and the fire department. The heavy rescue squad used ropes and chains to clear away the rubble and then doctors and nurses would then run in and pull people out. To sum up, many people’s lives had been ruined. Loss of family and friend, the loss of their homes, but people really did turn things around. The community really did join together to stick through the whole problem.

Atrial Fibrillation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Atrial Fibrillation - Research Paper Example The purpose of the study â€Å"Refining Clinical Risk Stratification for Predicting Stroke and Thromboembolism in Atrial Fibrillation Using a Novel Risk Factor-Based Approach† is to refine the 2006 Birmingham/NICE stroke risk stratification schema into a risk factor-based approach, by reclassifying and/or incorporating additional new risk factors as relevantto thromboembolism (Lip, Nieuwlaat, Pisters& Lane, 2010, 264). Statistical Procedures The study involves analysis of the 2006 Birmingham classification thus, comparisons with other schema such as the Euro Heart Survey on Atrial Fibrillation population were done as part of the analysis and statistical procedures. The study selected 1,084 patients without mitral stenosis, history of heart valve surgery, or use of vitamin K antagonists or heparin at discharge of qualifying visit. Other stroke risk stratification schemas used are the Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation (SPAF), American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association/European Society of Cardiology (ACC/AHA/ESC) guidelines, and the eighth American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) guidelines. ... refinement of the 2006 Birmingham schema has took consideration of a risk factor-based approach taking account different potential factors for atrial fibrillation such as history of stroke, cardiac dysfunction, heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, vascular disease, female gender, and age. Descriptive analyses are used in the study with proportions, means, and standard deviations. Binomial approximation is used in the event rates, logistic regression in each schema, C-statistics for predicting probability of correct classification, and multivariable logistic regressions for the assessment of individual risk factors. Results of the statistical procedures are presented in tabular form. Analyses are derived from the tabular form presentation differentiating the univariate and multivariate analyses versus the designated level of significance (?). Then, patients or samples are categorized according to statistical results and are compared with other schemas. Strengths and Weaknesses The c ontent of the study offered an array of strengths which can be beneficial not only to the healthcare industry but to the public as well. One of its strength is the identification of other potential risk factors for the development of stroke and thromboembolism in patients with atrial fibrillation. In this way, the public will gain awareness on how to reduce their risks of the said diseases. In addition, the comparisons made in the existing schema in the real world of atrial fibrillation have made the study valid and applicable for present conditions and have made the study stronger in avoiding biases. The exploration of the effects of single and multiple factors using univariate and multivariate analyses also contributes to the avoidance of biases. Done statistically, results are

Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Managment - Essay Example This is where union representation plays its vital role. The right to union representation is called the Weingarten Right. This is the right to request assistance from the representatives from the union during investigatory interviews through a union steward to make sure that the employee is not coerced and forced in any nature or form by the management to make confession of misconduct (www.cueunion.org, Weingarten Rights - the right to union representation). It refers to union representation during the company interrogations through a Union steward. The union steward is tasked to prevent any form of intimidation that the management will do to its employees (www.iatse728.org, Weingarten Rights). In any company, there comes a time that employees will be investigated for any charges of improper acts or behaviour against co-employee or the management. The Weingarten Rights will assure that during this investigation, an employee is free from coercion especially during confession through the presence of union representative or steward to witness the enquiry. The union steward is a very important person in union representation which has bountiful responsibilities to do. A union steward can help the employee investigated explain what really happened when the employee is inarticulate or afraid to answer. He can present justifications and mitigating factors for the employee and can advise the employee to be honest. The steward can also help the employee avoid making fatal admissions. Most importantly, the union steward serves as witness to prevent the management from making inappropriate action such as giving false account of the investigation (www.iatse728.org, Weingarten Rights). Collective Bargaining Collective bargaining is considered to be a legal obligation and... This paper approves that collective bargaining also has a very important impact to managing an effective workforce. Collective bargaining process helps provide element of security and certainty and may establish employee privileges and benefits which would otherwise may not have been provided by an employer dealing individually with employees. Because of this process or negotiation, agreements can be achieved between unions and employers. Through collective bargaining there is a harmonious and productive relationship between employers and employees because there is already agreed rights and responsibilities in the workplace for employment matters such as wages, insurance, working hours and conditions that are legally enforceable. The process of collective bargaining can also help reach an agreement to provide a â€Å"just cause† standard of review that an employer must use when deciding to discipline or discharge any employee in an arbitration process. In addition, collective bargaining is advantageous for both workers and employers. This essay makes a conclusion that labor unions through the process of collective bargaining can negotiate with the employers or management to maintain a healthy, peaceful and effective working relationship. Effective management of workforce can be achieved if there is union representation and collective bargaining which ensure that both the employers and employees are well benefited and given what is â€Å"just† for both of them.

Updating Computer Operating System Research Paper

Updating Computer Operating System - Research Paper Example Upgrading computer operating system means adding the latest versions of computer programs to run the computer with more speed. It includes updating in software and in hardware of the system. Updating in software system means to install advanced enhancements over old versions, whereas an upgraded hard drive enables the computer system to perform in a better way (Wempen, 2002). It is important for every user to maintain and upgrade the personal computer. Computer upgrading process analysis approach includes the following steps: 1. Arranging: Arrange a back-up for all important records to any other hard disk. It is important because if a problem occurs during the upgrading process, there is a risk of losing some or all data of the computer. Defragmentation of the hard disk is another important task because it helps the computer to read fragmented files more efficiently which are located in different areas. These files can slow down the speed of computer functions (Thompson & Thompson, 2 006 ). In order to install a new operating system, a new folder should be made. Until you are sure that everything is working perfectly on the new operating system preserve your whole data of computer into another windows directory.

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

Case Study of Apple - Essay Example ies on the assumption that a company’s approach to competitive advantage emanates from the unique resources that the organization owns and its potentials. An organization then identifies an environment in which its resources and potentials can grant in advantage over other firms and implements the resources and potentials. An understanding of available resources is therefore the first stage in pursuing the model and would include analysis of Apple’s human resources and fixed and current assets. Characteristics of employees such as strengths in creativity and innovation, ability to align self-interest with the organization’s goals, and ability to integrate ideas into a collective innovation would be important. Explorations of capabilities within the organization would then follow and research and development is a significant factor. Evaluation of availability of financial resources for conducting research and implementing research results would be one of the foci of capabilities analysis. Competence of human resource for identification of research needs, planning for proposed research, and implementation of the research is another center of focus for competence analysis. In analyzing its resources and potentials under the Resource-Based Strategy, Apple would consider value, scarcity, cost of duplication, and substitutability of the resources and potentials. The company should ensure that the resources and potentials that it plans to depend upon can empower it outshine its competitors or at least to neutralize the competitors’ effectiveness. The resources and potentials should also be within limited reach of competitors in terms of accessibility and involved cost. Considering these features and ensuring their existence in the market environment creates competitive advantage that facilitates success regardless of stiff level of competition. The strategy offers the organization a basis for organizing a formidable advantage in product quality, product

Summery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Summery - Essay Example The goal should be to retain human capital within the organization and this responsibility rests with the HR department by ensuring understanding and acceptance of the company’s policies by its employees. A case study cited in the article describes the HR system of banking industry in the UK using data that was collected from a particular bank over a period of three intervals. The study noted that owing to changes in technology and increased competition a drastic change was widely observed in the HR department within the banking sector. The study noted that retaining employees is based more on their performance rather than their welfare. These trends soon lead to headcount reduction, even though the company target remained the same. With these changes there was a general feeling that employee welfare was sidelined. When the bank later entered into a merger with another bank, it resulted in a series of changes within the HR departments, leaving the employees with a greater sens e of job insecurity, lack of training support for employees, which hindered promotion, a general feeling of dissatisfaction with regard to salaries, and decreased communication between the HR department and non-managerial staff. With mounting pressure on the staff to perform, and with a large number of their employees dissatisfied with their work, the HR department finally brought about changes in the work environment with the aim of retaining the workforce. But this effort was not highly successful among the employees as still most people felt that the HR did not care about career management and only very few were satisfied with the training and payments. Comparing the study data of the bank with that of other companies it was found that it was still lacking in certain areas. Thus in conclusion, the articles voices that in addition to devising HR strategies, implementing them in a manner that

Ethical Dilemma- Analysis of the News Term Paper

Ethical Dilemma- Analysis of the News - Term Paper Example As discussed above, the primary ethical decision maker or EDM is Apple Inc., and the ethical dilemma concerns the plight of the workers in the subcontracting firms who manufacture Apple products such as the iPhone, Worker welfare is weighed against the benefits to the American and global consumer of the computing products themselves, and the value of Apple’s economic activity to the American and global economy. The dilemma springs from issues relating to worker welfare, including low wages, the repetitive nature of the work, long work hours, and low wages. The confluence of these and other factors drive workers to take their own lives. In Cooper (2013) we get a sense of the gravity of the condition from the presence of nets around the iPhone manufacturing facilities to prevent more workers from jumping to their deaths. This is in stark contrast to the large profits that Apple makes and the large market capitalization of the firm due to that. Because Apple is rewarded for profi ts and for great products, Apple has every incentive to keep costs down, and that drive to depress costs lead to subcontractors depressing wages and other worker-related costs on the other end. These are conflicting interests that are stacked against workers and their interests, especially considering that workers have little by way of leverage in the entire process. The supply of workers is large, relative to demand, and so Apple subcontractors are able to dictate wages and living conditions in the shops. Subcontractors in turn are pressured to depress wages in order to make margins out of low contract bids. In a most general sense, the entire market is involved, because market forces that have contributed to this state of affairs where workers are awarded the least wages possible to squeeze maximum profits from their efforts (Johnson, 2011). B. Possible Alternative Courses of Action In a perfect world Apple will settle for lower profit margins for their products and lower profits all in all in exchange for fairer wages for workers and higher costs for producing their products. Ideally, this translates to subcontractors being able to pay their workers higher wages, and secure better working conditions for them all in all, by being able to bid for the manufacturing work at higher overall bid prices. This translates to the

Dramatic Irony in Oedipus Essay Example for Free

Dramatic Irony in Oedipus Essay In the play written by Sophocles, Oedipus the King, there are several instances of irony. Dramatic irony, or tragic irony as some critics would prefer to call it, usually means a situation in which the character of the play has limited knowledge and says or does something in which they have no idea of the significance. The audience, however, already has the knowledge of what is going to occur or what the consequences of the characters actions will be. The degree of irony and the effect it has depends upon the readers grasp and recognition of some discrepancy between two things. Our first taste of dramatic irony comes very early into the play when Oedipus vows to bring to justice the killer of Laius, which is in reality himself. When he learns that the bringing of justice of Laius killer will rid the city of a terrible plague, he sets forth with a plan to track down the killer. Oedipus begins to curse the killer and vows: Oedipus: As for the criminal, I pray to God Whether it be a lurking thief, or one of a number I pray that that mans life be consumed in evil and wretchedness. And as for me, this curse applies no less (968) This is very ironic, as Oedipus is indeed, without knowledge of the truth, talking about himself. Another example of dramatic irony is the power of fate and Oedipus powerlessness against it. Throughout the play we are aware of Oedipus fate and we realize there is nothing that he can do to change it. When Oedipus tells his city after listening to their plea for help against the terrible sickness and plague that has taken over the city: Oedipus: I know that you are deathly sick; and yet, Sick as you are, not one is as sick as I. (963) The audience understands the truth and the irony in that statement. Oedipus should not worry about himself becoming sick for he is already infested with the sickness. A third example of the irony of Oedipus is the fact that Oedipus seemed to be blind and deaf to the truth. He appears to be on a valiant search for the truth and justice of the killer of Laius, yet refuses to hear the truth when it is spoken to him. In order to hear the truth Oedipus needed to be able to hear and interpret it, yet he only heard what he wanted to hear. Therefore rendering him unable to understand the mystery of who he truly was. In this play there seems to be a constant string of ironies throughout. Oedipus is in denial of the truth. In his dramatic speeches he misconstrues the information that he has been given by Teiresias, as well as Creon and Iocaste. The horrifying realization that the prophecy of the Sphinx is in fact the truth, causes Oedipus to blind himself. The audience therefore pities him, which is a result of the use of dramatic irony. The use of irony in a play allows the writer to make their audience want to see how the events which are occurring, mentally affect the main character, even if they already know how the story will end, as in Oedipus the King. Kennedy, X.J., and Gioia Dana. Oedipus the King Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 2nd edition. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, 2000. 960-1005.

Market Analysis and Promotional Issues in South Africa Essay Example for Free

Market Analysis and Promotional Issues in South Africa Essay South Africa is an ethically diverse country and was under the colonial rule for decades. It has been noted that its Black African ancestry in the whole population consisted of 79.3% while the white population was 9.1%, the colored 9% and the Indian/Asian of 2.6 %. The country’s new constitution which came into effect on 4th February, 1997, has recognized 11 official languages and has further given them all an equal status. Its colonial history was one of subjugation by the white colonial masters and therefore the native African and colored population nursed a growing sense of resentment, doubt and a feeling of revenge for the wrong doings meted out to them by the colonial rulers. The nation that became liberalized by emerging out of the past again realized that the colonial spell of subjugation was not fully over as yet as they still have to remove the feeling of inferiority over the English language left out by the foreign rulers. Thus, conscientious efforts were on by the new government to save the country’s various linguistic cultures. By accepting linguistic globalization, which has adapted the use of English, mother tongue equally need to be used and also developed (Moyo, 2009). In this context and the resulting confusion of attaining a cultural identity the book sales in South Africa saw a significant increase including those of English books. South African Customers The South African Customer for market purpose in consumer products covers a whole range of people from all cultural and linguistic angles. Yet from the point of view of the book publishing the range is limited and this is further narrowed down given to reason that the English reading population is limited only to the white people and the educated lot of the Black African and colored population. Now taking into consideration the market of English fiction of the Janet Evanovich line of books the market gets further segregated according to age. However, it is seen that fiction in general is the easiest genre to sell in the overseas market (O’Reilly, 2010). This is more so keeping in view of the South African government’s recent bilingual education policy where English language is an important official language. Although South Africa has a significantly different political, social and cultural landscape than that of US, it provides an excellent example of bilingual education policy (England, 2009). In spite of the above it is seen that there is some amount of resistance from the culturally distinct group who would like their own mother tongue as their main language. According to the author Mzamane Mbulelo Vizikhungo liberating the African mind from the stronghold of Western cultural imperialism is the unfinished business of the liberation struggle (2009). This shows the nature of resistance which still exists in the Black African and colored population which may take some time to completely erase out. As Vorster states that after a long period of inequalities in the society a new dispensation cannot be effectively established without a deep-rooted transformation process that must redress the imbalance cause by the previous dispensation (2005). Yet this may slowly subside as the whole world moves towards globalization and there will be changes in the attitudes of the consumers. An understanding of the psychological process by which attitudes are changed should provide insight into when and how attitudes guide consumer behavior (Bagozzi, Gurham-Cauli and Priester, 2002). This is true for any fiction and the publishers ought to be aware of this in order to project the book as tailored for the customers. Today’s approach is to accept that there are different demands in the market place and the product needs to be tailored specifically to meet the differing demand if it is stand the best chance of success (Proctor, 2000). In case of Janet Evanovich writing which is incidentally a fast moving, suspense filled, romantic version of contemporary life in America, and the South African public can see reason as to why they too may not change likewise. Customers are more discerning than they used to be in the past where they purchased simply on their whims and impulse (Griffin, 2002). The same could hold true for the modernizing South Africa who might rather than reject accept the fast fiction version of the American life. Defining the Changing South African Market With the advent of globalization it is not possible for any nation to remain cocooned in one’s own narrow beliefs and cultural pretense. Although by and large the global society would undoubtedly become a multicultural and multi-lingual one there is enough evidence that heterogeneity would remain distinctively rooted within a larger homogeneity in existence everywhere. This homogeneity would be defined as the assimilation of all positive sides of human endeavors and linguistic aspects. Therefore, for projecting the Janet Evanovich’s line of books the publishers need to emphasize the point through website and other media that the book is meant for the public simply as a form of entertainment and not to transgress on their cultures and at the same time to inform them of the life style in contemporary America. Marketing is about meeting customer’s needs and developing their trust and loyalty (Doyle, 2000). In order to achieve these publishers would have to wean themselves away from the biasness of their own home country and look at book sale as a specific objective. Many marketers now distinguish a goal as a specific objective, a refinement of an objective and make it desirable (Rogers, 2001). In order to remove whatever friction that may cause by the introduction of the books the publishers may undertake promotions in an appealing way with due consideration given to the cultural aspects of each group. Not only can a celebrity endorsement campaign fit with the launch of Janet Evanovich’s line of books by local artists, but the author can sign a few dozens of the initial published copies. This can make the public more intimate with her style of writing and wouldn’t try to uncover any seemingly hidden motives. Utilizing a charitable outlet for a portion of the profits can enhance the sensitivity of the company’s representation in the community (Hosier, 2010). Further, a special low pricing could be offered so as to entice the potential customers who are usually in the age group within 16 to 60. Or a special discount could be offered for the first hundred copies or the whole of the first published lot in South Africa only. Prices, reflect values, the value seller believes their product possesses and which the buyer too perceives (Bradley, 2003). An intimate relationship is thus established between the consumers and with those who are very sentimental when their cultural values is seen under threat.   Reference List Bradley Frank (2003). Strategic Marketing: In the Customer Driven Organization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pricing Strategies and Tactics. 12, 221. Chichester, England. Wiley. Bagozzi P. Richard, Gurham-Cauli and Priester R. Joseph (2002). The Social   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Psychology of Consumer Behavior. Attitude Change. 5, 102. Philadelphia.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Philadelphia Open University Press. Doyle Peter (2000). Value Based Marketing: Marketing Strategies for Corporate   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Growth and Shareholder Value. The Marketing Value Driver. 3, 69. New York.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   John Wiley Sons. England W. Travis (2009). Bilingual Education: Lessons from abroad for America’s   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pending Crisis.   A. South Africa. Washington University Law Review. Griffin Jill (2002). Customer Loyalty. A Closer Look at Loyalty. 2, 17, San Francisco.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jossey-Bass. Hosier Bill (2010). Benevolent Marketing-Building Charitable Giving into the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Business Model. Advertising, marketing, public relations community. O’Reilly Gillian (2010). Canadian Books Sell around the World. Fiction. Canadian   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Children’s book News. Proctor Tony (2000). Strategic Marketing. Segmentation, Target and Positioning.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   10, 188. London. Routledge. Moyo Thamba (2009). Linguistic diversity and development: the language question   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   And Social justice in Southern Africa. The Mother Tongue Defined. Forum   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On Public Policy: A Journal of the Oxford Round Table.

Aquinas And Boethius Free Will And Divine Foreknowlegde Philosophy Essay

Aquinas And Boethius Free Will And Divine Foreknowlegde Philosophy Essay This philosophical inquiry is without doubt a major one owing to the very fact that it touches a very significant area of philosophy that has been addressed by a big number of great philosophers; the conception of free-will and divine foreknowledge as addressed by Boethius and St. Thomas of Aquinas. These two philosophers have contradicting views regarding the concepts under consideration and it is therefore important to make a clear understanding of them both but with an emphasis on Thomas who seems to give appealing conclusions compared to Boethius. The paper will be structured in a very clear and concise manner, with part one starting with the introduction to the two philosophers. Then afterwards, will be addressed the concept of free will as discussed by Thomas Aquinas. This emphasis again is not accidental but well calculated owing to the fact that the views of St. Thomas are by far better and reasonable compared to those of Boethius. Like any other superb philosopher, Aquinas pays strong attention to logic and this is going to be observed in the manner that he presents his work. He ensures that he does not end up in self-contradiction, or self-deception. SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS St. Thomas Aquinas was an Italian priest of the Catholic Church in the Dominican Order.He was born in Aquino c.1225, and was an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus (the Angelic Doctor) and Doctor Universalis (Universal Doctor).  [1]  He is frequently referred to as Thomas because Aquinas refers to his residence rather than his surname. He was the foremost classical supporter of natural theology, and the father of the Thomistic school of philosophy and theology. He considerably influenced Western thought, with much of modern philosophy being as a reaction against, or in agreement with his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics, natural law and political theory. His works include the Summa Theologica and the Summa contra Gentiles. St. Thomas is one of the 33 Doctors of the Church, and the greatest theologian and philosopher of the church. Pope Benedict XV declared: The Church has declared Thomas doctrine to be her own.  [2]   Thomas joined the Dominican Order at the age of 13, an issue that did not please his family who had expected him to become a Benedictine monk.  [3]  Family members became desperate to dissuade Aquinas, who remained determined to join the Dominicans. At one point, two of his brothers hired a prostitute to seduce him, but he drove her away, wielding a burning stick. According to legend, that night two angels appeared to him as he slept and strengthened his determination to remain celibate.  [4]   Aquinas was sent to study at the University of Paris Faculty of Arts in 1245, where he most likely met Dominican scholar Albert Magnus  [5]  . In 1252, he returned to Paris to study for the masters degree in Theology.Aquinas was more a theologian than a philosopher, and his references regarding philosophers rather refer to pagan rather than Christians.  [6]   BOETHIUS Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius is his full names. He was born about 480 CE to an aristocratic family that was of Christian foundation. He studied under the influence of the Neo-Platonist Proclus and his disciples for thirteen years. Proclus died in 485, and then shortly his father died. Consequently Boethius lived under the care of Symmachus from whom Boethius married his daughter Rusticiana.  [7]   Boethius lifetime goal was to translate Aristotles complete works, as well as Platos dialogues, wherefore he considered that the two could be harmonized due to their agreements on major philosophical points. In 510 he became consul under the Ostrogoth Theodoric who was by then king of Italy. At 520 Boethius was appointed master of the offices, heading all the government and court services, and at 522 both his two sons too, became consuls. Boethiuss work conception of free-will and divine foreknowledge can be found in his work, The Consolation of Philosophy which is actually a work of literature that is written in a form of prosimetrical apocalyptic dialogueà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦and contains five Books, which are written in a combination of prose and verse.  [8]   Aquinas Epistemological view: Aquinas believed that for the knowledge of any truth whatsoever man needs divine help, that the intellect may be moved by God to its act.  [9]  However, he believed that human beings have the natural capacity to know many things without special divine revelation, even though such revelations occur from time to time, especially in regard to faith.  [10]   The Question of Free-will Does man have free-will? What is free-will -a power, an act, or a habit? If it is a power, is it appetitive or cognitive? If it is appetitive, is it the same power as the will, or distinct? Thomas argued that man possesses free-will for without itcounsels, exhortations, commands, prohibitions, rewards, and punishments would be in vain.  [11]  He logically proceeded to expound on this by first observing how some things acted devoid of judgment; a stone moving downwards, similarly those things too that dont have knowledge. Additionally, in Thomas view some agents act from judgment, but their judgments are not free, such as a brute animal. Thomas, while expounding on this assertion gives an example of a sheep, which upon seeing a wolf, judges that it is a thing to be avoided, an act that is from natural and not free judgment, since it makes this judgment from natural instincts and not from free judgment. Man on the other hand, acts from judgment, due to the fact that by his apprehensive commandhe judges that something should be avoided or sought.  [12]  Therefore, Thomas view is without doubt, correct when he continues to emphasize that man acts from free judgment and retains the power of being inclined to various things because this judgment, contrary to that of brute animal that originates from natural instincts, it results from a process involving comparison in the reason. However, can we say that mans free will is power? This is a question posed by Thomas in his discussions regarding free-will. In answering this he notes rightfully that even though free-will strictly speakingsignifies an act, commonlyThomas calls it free-will, that which is the principle of the act by which man judges freely.  [13]  It is arguably, in the light of Thomas, that in humans the principle of an act is both a habit and a power due to the fact that when we say that we know something, we do so by knowledge and by the intellectual power. Hence free-will has to bea power or a habit, or a power with a habit.  [14]  This affirmation is considered in two ways. First, if free-will is a habit, then it has to be a natural habit; this is because, for man it is natural to have a free-will. For things that come under free-will, there is no natural habit since we are inclined naturally to things that have natural habitsTherefore; it is not a habit in any way. Secondly, habits are defined as that by reason of which we are well or ill disposed with regard to actions and passions  [15]  ; since by temperance; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦we are well-disposed as regards concupiscences, and by intemperance ill-disposed: and by knowledge we are well-disposed to the act of the intellect when we know the truth, and by the contrary ill-disposed. But the free-will is indifferent to good and evil choice: wherefore it is impossible for free-will to be a habit. Therefore it is a power.  [16]   Thomas, regarding free-will as an appetitive power, asserts that the appropriate act of free-will is choice. This is because of the fact that we can decide to take one thing and refuse the other. It is thenceimportant that we deliberate the nature of free-will, by analyzing the nature of choice. Regarding choice, there is a strong agreement between two things; one on cognitive power, and the other on the appetitive power.Concerning the cognitive power part, there is needed to have counsel, through which according to Thomaswe judge one thing to be preferred to another  [17]  . Concerning the appetitive power, Thomas asserts that it is required that the appetite should accept the judgment of counsel.  [18]  It is in this respect that Thomas counters the Aristotelian conception of choice; that it is not clear whether choice belongs in principle to the appetitive power or the cognitive one because according to him choice is either an appetitive intellect or an intellectual appeti te.  [19]  However Aristotle inclines to its being an intellectual appetite in the process of describing choice as a desire proceeding from counsel.  [20]  This follows from the reasoning that the means to an end is the proper object of choice. Additionally, then, choice is what Thomas refers to as the nature of the good; the useful: this follows from the premise that since good is considered to be the object of the appetite, then it is logical that principally choice is an act of the appetitive power; hence free-will is an appetitive power. Consequently, can we say that free-will is a power distinct from the will? It is rightly argued in the light of Thomas that intellectual apprehension takes into consideration both the intellect and reason, and with regard to intellectual appetitive, we will have free-will which is actually the power of choice as correctly explicated in Thomas Summa. This connection is correctly observed in both the objects and respectful acts. Thomas gives an illustration of what it means to understand when he continues to note that understanding implies the simple acceptation of something (whereby) we say that we understand first principles, which are known of them without any comparison.  [21]  However, regarding reasoning, as Thomas points out, means to come from one thing to the knowledge of another: wherefore, properly speaking, we reason about conclusions, which are known from the principles.  [22]   Divine Foreknowledge by Boethius and Thomas Aquinas The issue of the foreknowledge of God is a mystery that St. Thomas Aquinas, Augustine and Boethius all struggled with. Divine foreknowledge involves the idea that the will of God enunciated itself most expansively in divine foreordainment, whence the plan of salvation is an essentialportion. Consequently, Christ was, apparently, predestined. This, of course, means that God discerned that evil would come into the world and that Jesus had to redeem mankind. Nonetheless, while God knew that evil would come into the world, he also willed an end, and in this his action can be seen as perfect. To safeguard his own freedom, God caused events contingently, without necessity, implying that he had free causation. God, therefore, predestined contingently. In this way, we can understand that God was not the captive of his own action, but remained free.  [23]   Boethius Consolation, Freedom and Divine  Foreknowledge Regarding divine foreknowledge, initiallyproposes the problem of divine foreknowledge as anissue for further philosophical debate. In this case, hequestions on how God happens to have dependable foreknowledge concerning contingent future events as knowledge requires necessityIn reference to Boethius, if God necessarily knows that an individual will excel in school at some future time, then it seems that the individual in question cannot fail to excel, implying that he is devoid of free-will and that excelling is not contingent. However, it is outrageous to repudiate the freedom of the will in Boethiuss view, since this could signify the absence of vices and virtues.  [24]   This problem has been philosophically addressed in chapter VI which involves a distinction between simple and conditional necessity. First, in the case of simple necessity there is a connection between it and nature henceat this point it is a necessary truth meaning that man is a rational animal.  [25]  On the other hand, conditional necessity is not tied to the nature, but rather to some contingent state of affairs and on a particular moment. As an example, if for instance, I saw Johnstanding. Upon seeing him, it is conditionally necessary that he bestanding because he is standing at that time, but there is nothing in his nature that forces him to be standing. A moment later he can choose to seat. This conditional necessity is sufficient for me to have knowledge that John is standing. Thus my present knowledge and Johns contingent willing to stand are thus perfectly compatible. However, there arises a problem with define foreknowledge in the sense that it asserts a conditional necessity of both present and future state of affairs. Thus, for philosophyto resolve Gods infallible foreknowledge with future contingents, it proposes a widely significantexplanation of eternity. Accordingly eternity is the whole, simultaneous and perfect possession of boundless life, which becomes clearer by comparison with temporal things  [26]   Philosophy expounds on eternity by basing the conception of divine experience of time in divine simplicity.Under this understanding, it is correct to note that when it comes to Gods experience, there is no past, present and future of time;instead all temporal events are present concurrently to Gods simple knowledge. Thus, correct reasoning says that if you should wish to consider his foreknowledge, by which he discerns all things, you will more rightly judge it to be not foreknowledge as it were of the future but knowledge of a never-passing instant  [27]  . God can have infallible knowledge about what James will do in the future, because God, in his simple eternal knowledge, already sees James doing it. Thus, the infallibility of Gods knowledge is established on a conditional necessity, which preserves the contingency and freedom of James willing and choosing. Moreover, prayer and human morality remain necessary as acts of free human creatures. One can be punished for acting wrongly most likely because one had the freedom to do the alternative. Similarly, it is possible to petition God; this does not mea Gods mind about what he has already decreed to do in the future changes, but just because God does things simultaneously that is from his point of view with seeing our prayers in the present -from the human perspective. Thence, this also leaves open the possibility of an Augustinian free-will theodicy, since Gods knowledge of future evil choices does not imply that God causes the wicked to be wicked.  [28]   However, the Boethian solution contradicts the first premise of the rudimentary argument: (1) Yesterday God infallibly believed X. What Boethian solution denies is not that God believes infallibly, and not that God believes the content of proposition X, but that God believed Xyesterday. Boethiuscontended that God is not in time and that God has no temporal properties, so God does not have beliefs at a time. This argument unfortunately therefore unfortunatelynotes that God had beliefs yesterday, or has beliefs today, or will have beliefs tomorrow. God cannot be taken to have believes on certain moments, the way humans tend to do. And thus, the way Boethius describes Gods cognitive grasp of temporal reality, all temporal events are before the mind of God at once. To say at once or simultaneously is to use a temporal metaphor however on the contrary Boethius is clear that it illogical to think of the whole of temporal reality as being before Gods mind in a single temporal moment. But a more concise and logical argument comes from Aquinas who, though adopted the Boethian solution as one of his strategies out of theological fatalism, using some of the same metaphors as Boethius. As an example to this, we have metaphor of circle analogy, in which the way a timeless God is present to each and every instant is matched to the way in which the center of a circle is present to each and every point on its circumference. In contemporary philosophy probably the most well-known defenders of the idea that God is timeless are Eleonore Stump and Norman Kretzmann (1981), who apply it explicitly to the foreknowledge dilemma (1991). Most objections to the timelessness solution to the dilemma of foreknowledge and freedom focus on the idea of timelessness itself, arguing either that it does not make sense or that it is incompatible with other properties of God that are religiously more compelling, such as personhood. I have argued that the timelessness move does not avoid the problem of theological fatalism since an argument structurally parallel to the basic argument can be formulated for timeless knowledge. If God is not in time, the key issue would not be the necessity of the past, but the necessity of the timeless realm  [29]   CONCLUSION From the above analysis is very important to conclude with an affirmation of the philosophical concepts as advanced by Thomas. The Thomistic philosophy offers superior reasoning in terms of freedom and knowledge. The arrangement is logical and devoid of contradictions as it has been observed in other philosophers, Boethius being no exception. I therefore conclude this paper with an affirmation that men have free-will but this free-will doesnt dispute Gods omniscience because Gods perspective is not mans perspective, due to His Supremacy.

Walmart Vs Target Essay examples -- Business Retail Industry

INTRODUCTION Since 1962 and the beginning of the discount retailer market Wal-Mart has been ahead of the retail game. By 1967 there were 24 Wal-Marts that had grossed 12.6 million dollars. In just 7 years Wal-mart had spread into 9 states. By 1979 Wal-Mart was the fastest store to reach a billion dollars in sales. In 2005 Wal-Mart has 3,800 domestic stores along with 3,800 stores internationally, and had made over 312 billion dollars. As you can see the Wal-Mart empire has grown monumentally. To move into this segment of the market would be tough. The first Target store was also opened in 1962. It was started under the Dayton Hudson Corporation. As you can see the Target corporation has a decorated past as well. Target now has 1,300 stores in 47 states. The store count itself is still a lot less than Wal-mart. For every one Target store, there is three Wal-Marts. To put together a plan of action we must first research many facets of the Wal-Mart corporation such as: Marketing, Products, and Services provided. From these main areas we will be able to put together a plan for immediate implementation. Products/Services/Marketing The first area to be observed is the products that Wal-Mart sells compared to Target. Wal-Mart offers products in the areas of: Apparel, Baby, Books, Electronics, Garden and patio, Gifts and Flowers, Home, Jewelry, Pets, Sports, Toys, Video Games, Automotive, as well as groceries, and cleaning supplies. Along with being the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart is also the world's largest grocer. A full grocery center has been added to many of the Wal-mart's nation wide. Wal-Mart's most current goal is to become a player in the organic food market. Adding organic foods to... ...nd many not covered by health insurance. On recent visits to both stores I noticed the Target store was cleaner, and the customer service was better than Wal-Mart. Summary After looking at the Business practices, marketing, products, and services of Wal-Mart I no longer have a doubt that we can compete with Wal-Mart, but the new question is do we want to? In order for Target to be a competitor with Wal-Mart, Target would have to lower its store standards, treatment of employees, and target market. Along with these things Target would also have to go against one of its store standards, and start buying products that were made using slave and or child labor. A few ways that Target could improve by imitation would be through increasing its in store services. The recent addition of the clinic in store is a new and innovative idea a step ahead of Wal-Mart.

How Private Must an Objectionably Private Language Be? :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

How Private Must an Objectionably Private Language Be? ABSTRACT: Some philosophers, taking their cue from Philosophical Investigations (PI) 243-315, suppose that a private language is objectionable only when its terms refer to Cartesian mental events. Others (notably Kripke) have focused on PI 201 and the surrounding remarks about rule following, and have explicated the notion of an objectionable private language as (roughly) that of a language used by just one isolated individual unsupported at any time by any source of external or community correction and approval. I attempt to defend Kripke's account against some objections proffered by Simon Blackburn. Blackburn supposes that individuals are no worse off than communities with respect to the difficulties raised by Kripke, and argues that the "paradox" of PI 201 can be avoided by a proper understanding of extended dispositions, and by grasping the possibility of private practices. But Blackburn misconstrues what it is to go on in the "same" way in following a rule, and ignores the plac e of constitutive rules in practices. Some philosophers, taking their cue from Philosophical Investigations (PI) 243 - 315, suppose that a private language is objectionable only when its terms refer to Cartesian mental events. In this "strong" sense private languages are very private indeed. Others (notably Kripke, 1982) have focused on PI 201 and the surrounding remarks about rule following, and have explicated the notion of an objectionably private language as (roughly) that of a language used by just one isolated individual unsupported at any time by any source of external or community correction and approval. I think of this as a "weaker" sense of 'private language.' In sec. 1 I attempt to defend the "Kripke - Wittgenstein" (henceforth 'KW') version of the private language argument against some objections proffered by Simon Blackburn. KW takes languages which are private in the weaker sense to be objectionable, and claims that the later discussion (PI 243 - 315) deals with a "special case" falling under the more general discussion of rule following in earlier sections. In section II I briefly consider some possible objections from Wittgenstein himself to my defense of Kripke. I "This was our paradox: no course of action could be determined by a rule, because every course of action can be made out to accord with the rule"(PI 201). According to KW the reason any course of action could accord with the rule is that there is no fact about an individual to which he can point in justifying going on one way (in the application of a word, continuation of a number series, etc.

Mobile Phone Radiation Essay

Introduction Mobile phones had dominated the entire world. Aside from computers, billions of people in every nation around the world also use mobile phones. But why do we enjoy ourselves with that device? What does it have that other things don’t have? Is it bad for us or does it bring advantage to us? For your information, cell phones or mobile phones are devices that can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link while running around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile phone operator, allowing access to the public telephone number. The first hand-held mobile phone was demonstrated by John F. Mitchell and Dr. Martin Cooper of Motorola in 1973, using a handset weighing around 2.2 pounds (1kg). In 1983, the DynaTAC 8000x was the first to be commercially available. From 1990 to 2011, worldwide mobile phone subscriptions grow from 12.4 million to over 6 billion, penetrating about 81% of the global population and reaching the bottom of the economic pyramid. Almost all of the people in the world use this kind of device. But why is that so? What does it bring to people to end up using it by many?  Modern mobile phones also support a wide variety of other services. Those billions of subscribers enjoys the device’s text messaging, MMS, email, internet access, short-range wireless communication (infrared, Bluetooth), business application, gaming, media and photography. So that is why mobile phones are very interesting and enjoyable. Everyone becomes glad everytime we hold our cell phones. But is there a time that we think about how it affects our lives? Did we ever think about its good and bad effects on us? Cell phones are made to communicate to other people easier and faster. It is a big help to the western people during the mid 60’s to 80’s. And as time passes by, more features are being developed. These features bring excitement to people especially teens and adolescents. As a result, cell phone addiction occurs to us people. Cell phone addiction is a very big problem especially to the teens and the youth. People under 17 years of age more likely to do texting than reading their textbooks. It badly affects their grades and some are dropped out of their schools because of their addictiveness. (New York Times, 2007). Addiction also leads to broken families. Some people doesn’t want to be disturbed when they are so busy using their cell phones. They don’t have enough time to talk and socialize with their families. This is not only for families but also for their friends at the same time. Mobile phones also bring bad effects to our health. As said to a report in the New York Times and Philippine Star, mobile phones and computers emit a very strong radiation in a wide range of area and can affect all living things in the said area. (P.S, 2009, pp. 1-2) As study says, these radiations can result in changes to the natural environment. It can also damage living organisms’ DNA which can lead to either a gain of ability or loss of life especially in humans. (Science Daily, 2007) When the first cell phones were made in 1984, there were many health risks. Cell phones emit radiation that could be harmful. No testing had been done prior to releasing these phones to the public. The radiation could possibly lead to brain cancer with long-term use. –Dr. Martin Cooper Cellular phones give off an electromagnetic energy which is a type of non-ionizing radiation. This is similar to the radiation naturally found in thunderstorms. The RF electromagnetic energy that cellular phones create can penetrate through a body. The main factors for the depth of penetration and how much is absorbed come from how close the phone is held and how strong its signal is. It is possible that cell phones can cause serious health issues such as cancer, epileptic seizures or sleep disorders, changes in brain activity, and reaction time, but nothing has been definitely proven. According to BBC, Cell phone users can easily be affected by brain tumors due to the radiations emitted by cell phones. Interestingly, the risk is highest for ipsilateral exposure, meaning tumor on the same side of the brain where phone mostly held. A laboratory study has shown that radio waves from mobile phones do harm body cells and damage DNA.  Studies show that use of cell phones for more than 10 years increase the risk of Glioma. A glioma is a type of tumor that starts in the brain or spine. It is called a glioma because it arises from glial cells. The most common site of gliomas is the brain. Also, Nickel has been found in quite a few mobile sets. About 30% of UK population is allergic to nickel. Rash breaks out where the skin comes in contact with the cell phone.  The effect of mobile phone radiation on human health is the subject of recent interest and study, as a result of the enormous increase in mobile phone usage throughout the world (as of November 2011, there were more than 5.981 billion subscriptions worldwide). Mobile phones use electromagnetic radiation in the microwave range. Other digital wireless systems, such as data communication networks, produce similar radiation. The WHO has classified mobile phone radiation on the IARC scale into Group 2B – possibly carcinogenic. That means that there â€Å"could be some risk† of carcinogenicity, so additional research into the long-term, heavy use of mobile phones needs to be conducted. Some national radiation advisory authorities have recommended measures to minimize exposure to their citizens as a precautionary approach. Many scientific studies have investigated possible health symptoms of mobile phone radiation. These studies are occasionally reviewed by some scientific committees to assess overall risks. A recent assessment was published in 2007 by the European Commission Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR). It concludes that the three lines of evidence, viz. animal, in vitro, and epidemiological studies, indicate that  Ã¢â‚¬Å"exposure to RF fields is unlikely to lead to an increase in cancer in humans†. Parts of the radio waves emitted by a mobile telephone handset are absorbed by the human head. The radio waves emitted by a GSM handset can have a peak power of 2 watts, and a US analogue phone had a maximum transmit power of 3.6 watts. Other digital mobile technologies, such as CDMA2000 and D-AMPS, use lower output power, typically below 1 watt. The maximum power output from a mobile phone is regulated by the mobile phone standard and by the regulatory agencies in each country. In most systems the cell phone and the base station check reception quality and signal strength and the power level is increased or decreased automatically, within a certain span, to accommodate different situations, such as inside or outside of buildings and vehicles. The rate at which energy is absorbed by the human body is measured by the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), and its maximum levels for modern handsets have been set by governmental regulating agencies in many countries. In the USA, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has set a SAR limit of 1.6 W/kg, averaged over a volume of 1 gram of tissue, for the head. In Europe, the limit is 2 W/kg, averaged over a volume of 10 grams of tissue. SAR values are heavily dependent on the size of the averaging volume. Without information about the averaging volume used, comparisons between different measurements cannot be made. Thus, the European 10-gram ratings should be compared among themselves, and the American 1-gram ratings should only be compared among themselves. SAR data for specific mobile phones, along with other useful information, can be found directly on manufacturers’ websites, as well as on third party web sites. It is worth noting that thermal radiation is not comparable to ionizing radiation in that it only increases the temperature in normal matter, it does not break molecular bonds or release electrons from their atoms. One well-understood effect of microwave radiation is dielectric heating, in which any dielectric material (such as living tissue) is heated by rotations of polar molecules induced by the electromagnetic field. In the case of a person using a cell phone, most of the heating effect will occur at the surface of the head, causing its temperature to increase by a fraction of a  degree. In this case, the level of temperature increase is an order of magnitude less than that obtained during the exposure of the head to direct sunlight. The brain’s blood circulation is capable of disposing of excess heat by increasing local blood flow. However, the cornea of the eye does not have this temperature regulation mechanism and exposure of 2–3 hours duration has been reported to produce cataracts in rabbits’ eyes at SAR values from 100-140W/kg, which produced lenticular temperatures of 41 °C. There were no cataracts detected in the eyes of monkeys exposed under similar conditions. Premature cataracts have not been linked with cell phone use, possibly because of the lower power output of mobile phones. Swedish researchers from Lund University (Salford, Brun, Persson, Eberhardt, and Malmgren) have studied the effects of microwave radiation on the rat brain. They found a leakage of albumin into the brain via a permeated blood–brain barrier. This confirms earlier work on the blood–brain barrier by Allan Frey, Oscar and Hawkins, and Albert and Kerns. Other groups have not confirmed these findings in vitro cell studies or whole animal studies. In 2006 a large Danish study about the connection between mobile phone use and cancer incidence was published. It followed over 420,000 Danish citizens for 20 years and showed no increased risk of cancer. The German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (Bundesamt fà ¼r Strahlenschutz) considers this report inconclusive. The following studies of long time exposure have been published: †¢ The 13 nation INTERPHONE project – the largest study of its kind ever undertaken – has now been published and did not find a solid link between mobile phones and brain tumors. The International Journal of Epidemiology published a combined data analysis from a multinational population-based case-control study of glioma and meningioma, the most common types of brain tumor. The authors reported the following conclusion: Overall, no increase in risk of glioma or meningioma was observed with use of mobile phones. There were suggestions of an increased risk of glioma at the highest exposure levels, but biases and error prevent a causal interpretation. The possible effects of long-term heavy use of mobile phones require further investigation. In the press release accompanying the release  of the paper, Dr. Christopher Wild, Director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said: An increased risk of brain cancer is not established from the data from Interphone. However, observations at the highest level of cumulative call time and the changing patterns of mobile phone use since the period studied by Interphone, particularly in young people, mean that further investigation of mobile phone use and brain cancer risk is merited. A number of independent health and government authorities have commented on this important study including The Australian Centre for Radiofrequency Bioeffects Research (ACRBR) which said in a statement that: Until now there have been concerns that mobile phones were causing increases in brain tumors. Interphone is both large and rigorous enough to address this claim, and it has not provided any convincing scientific evidence of an association between mobile phone use and the development of glioma or meningioma. While the study demonstrates some weak evidence of an association with the highest tenth of cumulative call time (but only in those who started mobile phone use most recently), the authors conclude that biases and errors limit the strength of any conclusions in this group. It now seems clear that if there was an effect of mobile phone use on brain tumor risks in adults, this is likely to be too small to be detectable by even a large multinational study of the size of Interphone. The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) which said in a statement that: On the basis of current understanding of the relationship between brain cancer and use of mobile phones, including the recently published data from the INTERPHONE study, ARPANSA: *concludes that currently available data do not warrant any general recommendation to limit use of mobile phones in the adult population, *continues to inform those concerned about potential health effects that they may limit their exposure by reducing call time, by making calls where reception is good, by using hands-free devices or speaker options, or by texting; and *recommends that, due to the lack of any data relating to children and long term use of mobile phones, parents encourage their childr en to limit their exposure by reducing call time, by making calls where reception is good, by using hands-free devices or speaker options, or by texting. The Cancer Council Australia said in a statement that it cautiously welcomed the results of the largest international study to date into mobile phone use, which has found no  evidence that normal use of mobile phones, for a period up to 12 years, can cause brain cancer. Chief Executive Officer, Professor Ian Olver, said findings from the Interphone study, conducted across 13 countries including Australia, were consistent with other research that had failed to find a link between mobile phones and cancer. This supports previous research showing mobile phones don’t damage cell DNA, meaning they can’t cause the type of genetic mutations that develop into cancer,† Professor Olver said. However, it has been suggested that electromagnetic fields associated with mobile phones may play a role in speeding up the development of an existing cancer. The Interphone study found no evidence to support this theory. †¢ A Danish study (2004) that took place over 10 years fou nd no evidence to support a link. However, this study has been criticized for collecting data from subscriptions and not necessarily from actual users. It is known that some subscribers do not use the phones themselves but provide them for family members to use. That this happens is supported by the observation that only 61% of a small sample of the subscribers reported use of mobile phones when responding to a questionnaire. †¢ A Swedish study (2005) that draws the conclusion that â€Å"the data do not support the hypothesis that mobile phone use is related to an increased risk of glioma or meningioma.† †¢ A British study (2005) that draws the conclusion that â€Å"The study suggests that there is no substantial risk of acoustic neuroma in the first decade after starting mobile phone use. However, an increase in risk after longer term use or after a longer lag period could not be ruled out.† †¢ A German study (2006) that states â€Å"In conclusion, no overall increased risk of glioma or meningioma was observed among these cellular phone users; however, for long-term cellular phone users, results need to be confirmed before firm conclusions can be drawn.† †¢A joint study conducted in northern Europe that draws the conclusion that â€Å"Although our results overall do not indicate an increased risk of glioma in relation to mobile phone use, the possible risk in the most heavily exposed part of the brain with long-term use needs to be explored further before firm conclusions can be drawn.† Other studies on cancer and mobile phones are: †¢ A Swedish scientific team at the Karolinska Institute conducted an epidemiological study (2004) that suggested that regular use of a mobile  phone over a decade or more was associated with an increased risk of acoustic neuroma, a type of benign brain tumor. The increase was not noted in those who had used phones for fewer than 10 years. †¢ The INTERPHONE study group from Japan published the results of a study of brain tumor risk and mobile phone use. They used a new approach: determining the SAR inside a tumor by calculating the radio frequency field absorption in the exact tumor location. Cases examined included glioma, meningioma, and pituitary adenoma. They reported that the overall odds ratio (OR) was not increased and that there was no significant trend towards an increasing OR in relation to exposure, as measured by SAR. In 2007, Dr. Lennart Hardell, from Ãâ€"rebro University in Sweden, reviewed published epidemiological papers (2 cohort studies and 16 case-cont rol studies) and found that: †¢ Cell phone users had an increased risk of malignant gliomas. †¢ Link between cell phone use and a higher rate of acoustic neuromas. †¢ Tumors are more likely to occur on the side of the head that the cell handset is used. †¢ One hour of cell phone use per day significantly increases tumor risk after ten years or more. In a February 2008 update on the status of the INTERPHONE study IARC stated that the long term findings ‘†¦could either be causal or artifactual, related to differential recall between cases and controls. †¢ A self-published and non-peer reviewed meta-study by Dr. Vini Khurana, an Australian neurosurgeon, presented what it termed â€Å"increasing body of evidence †¦ for a link between mobile phone usage and certain brain tumors† and that it â€Å"is anticipated that this danger has far broader public health ramifications than asbestos and smoking†.This was criticized as ‘†¦ an unbalanced analysis of the literature, which is also selective in support of the authorâ€℠¢s claims. A publication titled â€Å"Public health implications of wireless technologies† cites that Lennart Hardell found age is a significant factor. The report repeated the finding that the use of cell phones before age 20 increased the risk of brain tumors by 5.2, compared to 1.4 for all ages. A review by Hardell et al. concluded that current mobile phones are not safe for long-term exposure. In a time trends study in Europe, conducted by the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Copenhagen, no significant increase in brain tumors among cell phone users was found between the years of 1998 and 2003. â€Å"The lack of a trend change in incidence from 1998 to 2003 suggests that the induction period relating mobile phone use to brain tumors exceeds  5–10 years, the increased risk in this population is too small to be observed, the increased risk is restricted to subgroups of brain tumors or mobile phone users, or there is no increased risk.† On 31 May 2011 the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B). The IARC assessed and evaluated available literature and studies about the carcinogenicity of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF), and found the evidence to be â€Å"limited for carcinogenicity of RF-EMF, based on positive associations between glioma and acoustic neuroma and exposure†. The conclusion of the IARC was mainly based on the INTERPHONE study, which found an increased risk for glioma in the highest category of heavy users (30 minutes per day over a 10†year period), although no increased risk was found at lower exposure and other studies could not back up the findings. The evidence for other types of cancer was found to be â€Å"inadequate†. Some members of the Working Group opposed the conclusions and considered the current evidence in humans still as â€Å"inadequate†, citing inc onsistencies between the assessed studies. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute found that while cell phone use increased substantially over the period 1992 to 2008 (from nearly zero to almost 100 percent of the population), the U.S. trends in glioma incidence did not mirror that increase. A 2009 study examined the effects of exposure to radiofrequency radiation (RFR) emitted by standard GSM cell phones on the cognitive functions of humans. The study confirmed longer (slower) response times to a spatial working memory task when exposed to RFR from a standard GSM cellular phone placed next to the head of male subjects, and showed that longer duration of exposure to RFR may increase the effects on performance. Right-handed subjects exposed to RFR on the left side of their head on average had significantly longer response times when compared to exposure to the right side and sham-exposure. Some users of mobile handsets have reported feeling several unspecific symptoms during and after its use; ranging from burning and tingling sensations in the skin of the head and extremities,fatigue, sleep disturbances, dizziness, loss of mental attention, reaction times and memory retentiveness, headaches, malaise, tachycardia (heart palpitations), to disturbances of the digestive system. Reports have noted that all of these symptoms can also be attributed to stress and that current research cannot  separate the symptoms from nocebo effects. A meta-analysis (2008) of 63 in vitro and in vivo studies from the years 1990–2005 concluded that RF radiation was genotoxic only in some conditions and that the studies reporting positive effects evidenced publication bias. A meta-study (2009) of 101 publications on genotoxicity of RF electromagnetic fields showed that 49 reported a genotoxic effect and 42 not. The authors found â€Å"ample evidence that RF-EMF can alter the genetic material of exposed cells in vivo and in vitro and in more than one way.† In 1995, in the journal Bioelectromagnetics, Henry Lai and Narenda P. Singh reported damaged DNA after two hours of microwave radiation at levels deemed safe according to U.S. government standards. In December 2004, a pan-European study named REFLEX (Risk Evaluation of Potential Environmental Hazards from Low Energy Electromagnetic Field (EMF) Exposure Using Sensitive in vitro Methods), involving 12 collaborating laboratories in several countries showed some compelling evidence of DNA damage of cells in in-vitro cultures, when exposed between 0.3 to 2 watts/kg, whole-sample average. There were indications, but not rigorous evidence of other cell changes, including damage to chromosomes, alterations in the activity of certain genes and a boosted rate of cell division. Research published in 2004 by a team at the University of Athens had a reduction in reproductive capacity in fruit flies exposed to 6 minutes of 900 MHz pulsed radiation for five days. Subsequent research, again conducted on fruit flies, was published in 2007, with the same exposure pattern but conducted at both 900 MHz and 1800 MHz, and had similar changes in reproductive capacity with no significant difference between the two frequencies. Following additional tests published in a third article, the authors stated they thought their research suggested the changes were â€Å"†¦due to degeneration of large numbers of egg chambers after DNA fragmentation of their constituent cells †¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Australian research conducted in 2009 by subjecting in vitro samples of human spermatozoa to radio-frequency radiation at 1.8 GHz and specific absorption rates (SAR) of 0.4 to 27.5 W/kg showed a correlation between increasing SAR and decreased motility and vitality in sperm, increased oxidative stress and 8-Oxo-2†²-deoxyguanosine markers, stimulating DNA base adduct formation and increased DNA fragmentation. Not only in our health cell phones affects us but also in our work and studies. Along with their books and school  supplies, many students make their daily trip to school with their trusty mobile phone. These pocket-sized tools can do anything from make a standard phone call to surf the web. The presence of cell phones presents a host of options and challenges for today’s students. Mobile phones can be a helpful academic tool, or a hurtful academic disruption depending upon the attitude and use pattern of the student owner. As we have read an article from the Manila Standards Today, mobile phones are undeniably convenient. Because of mobile phones, students never have to look for a pay phone or wonder about the location of a friend. These ubiquitous communication tools allow students to reach their peers and their parents instantly. Everything from ordering a pizza to calling to check movie times is easier with a cell phone, as the communication device you need is right at your finger tips. Picture-taking and Internet surfing are readily available on most cell phones. This aids students in gathering the information that they need for school or accessing their email or school website. Students benefit from this technology availability as it allows them to create more polished academic products with less effort than before the ready availability of cell phones. Many parents argue that cell phones keep students safe. A parent is never more than a phone call away when a student is carrying their cell phone. The presence of a cell phone also ensures that students can call parents or emergency personnel in the case of an unforeseen emergency. While most students will never have to use their cell phone as a safety device, the knowledge that it could be used as such puts parents at ease and keeps them paying the monthly cell phone bill. The biggest lament of teachers in regards to cell phones is that they lead to student distraction and off task behavior. Texting a friend is a tempting diversion that many students select over listening to a lecture or completing a class assignment. If not silenced, cell phones can ring during class, drawing everyone’s attention away from the lesson and disrupting the flow of learning. Many teachers worry that this added distraction negatively impacts students’ school performance as it stops them from dedicating their full attention to their studies. While useful, many of the features of cell phones can also be used to engage in inappropriate behaviors. Taking inappropriate pictures and then â€Å"sexting† them to a boyfriend or girlfriend is a growing problem. These pictures often end up in the wrong hands, which leads to others gaining  access to the private photos. Teens often fail to recognize the long-term implications of inappropriate behavior and engage in the behavior without considering the consequences. The consequences for inappropriate behavior are real and long-lasting. Once distributed, sexted photos are almost impossible to contain. The presence of these racy photos can limit the teens options in the future and severely mar their reputations. Society has come to a point where the idea of living without cell phones seems ludicrous. Students desire cell phones in order to sustain contact with friends. The parents of students want their children to have them for security purposes. Cell phones carry multiple benefits, but with this technology lies a dualism that teeters precariously between the benefits and negative effects of cell phone usage — especially with students. –Heath Wright Gaby Badre, M.D., Ph.D., of S ahlgren’s Academy in Gothenburg, Sweden conducted research on the affects of cell phone usage on sleep patterns in teens. The research focused on two groups: a control group of three men and seven women, juxtaposed by a variable group of three men and eight women. When the control group is compared against the variable group, Badre found that teens with excessive cell phone habits exhibit chronic restlessness, a reliance on stimulating drinks, difficulty falling asleep at night, disrupted sleep and an inclination toward fatigue and stress. Children, teens and even young adults are prone to distraction with cell phones. In the classroom and out of school, cell phones provide students an instant network of communication and entertainment. Inside the classroom, students are distracted from the lessons to text, play games and, if they are very daring, call other people. Cell phone ringers, alarms and ring tones disrupt the flow of lessons and the attention of every student in the room and the teacher. According to the National School Safety and Security Services, text messaging can be an aid for cheating st udents. Also, the camera in a cell phone can be used to photograph exams. The camera also can be used to photograph other students in a way that is a violation of privacy. In the case of school emergencies, cell phones can prove more of a hindrance than a help. Cell phones have been used to call in bomb threats. In many districts, tracking a cell phone is not easily done. Also, students’ use of cell phones in a school emergency can possibly trigger a real bomb if an explosive device is on the school’s property. Cell phone usage by students during a school emergency can  obstruct public safety personnel from controlling the event. Parents can be alerted to the emergency before public safety personnel have a chance to contain the situation. Parents can inadvertently increase the chaos by showing up at an imprudent time. Cell phone systems are prone to overload during a real crisis. This has been proven during disasters like the World Trade Center attacks and the Columbine shootings. Several students using cell phones all at once can add to the overload and paralyze a system that may be needed by crisis teams, public safety personnel and school administrators. This may in turn magnify the crisis and increase the chance of tragedy. Cell phones can also affect our daily lives. Mobile phones are also known as lifesavers as they can help people in emergencies. If you get stuck in the middle of the road and find no one for help, you can just use a mobile phone and call for help. Mobile phones are comfortable way of communication over a long distance. Along with the obvious convenience and quick access to help in emergencies big and small, mobile phones can be both economical and essential for travelers trying to stay connected. In Japan, mobile phone companies provide immediate notification of earthquakes and other natural disasters to their customers free of charge. In the event of an emergency, disaster response crews can locate trapped or injured people using the signals from their mobile phones or the small detonator of flare in the battery of every cell phone; an interactive menu accessible through the phone’s Internet browser notifies the company if the user is safe or in distress. We have also been downloading Java games and video clips to our mobile phones. Several online mobile phone shops have come up to cater to this increasing demand for the best mobile phone handsets and the most reliable and cost-effective services in the use of the same. Along with all these advantages there are many disadvantages for mobile phone usage. Mobile-phone use while driving is common. It is generally agreed that using a hand-held mobile phone while driving is a distraction that brings risk of road traffic accidents. So we need to use hands free sets to avoid such hazards. â€Å"The digital age is upon us. And who would have thought it would happen so fast? It seems like only a few years ago when owning a cell phone was a status symbol. Now the device has been marketed as a necessity that we all need to get through the day. In the early days of cell phones I remember that people used to treat them in the same manner that they treated credit  cards, only for an emergency. Cell phones used to be very large and were kept in people’s automobiles. Nobody ever seemed to discuss wireless plans, or the capabilities of their phones. The only question people asked were, why did you bring your cordless phone to work? That seemed to be the only other time anybody really saw a phone with that appearance. It wasn’t until later models that folded for convenience that it caught on. Marketing is a powerful tool along with innovation. Marketing helps get the word out on the new products. I look at it as the worm on the fishing hook, a few people nibble but after many studies they seem to always get us to bite. We eventually do bite, but I am surprised at the quick innovation that seems to occur at a rapid pace every year. As soon as I received my new LG cell phone, it was soon replaced with a sleeker more attractive phone with more technological features. It seems almost too hard to keep up with. All the companies are trying harder and harder for our hard earned dollars. But it is not as if they are holding out as long as they can anymore. Now that the market is in a heated competition between such companies as Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint/Nextel, At&T/Cingular. Many of the companies have combined resources to make forward progress. When the public thought that phones with color and text capabilities was the best thing since sliced bread, out came phones with internet and navigation on the go. There are live updates for sports, news and other services. You can check movie times prices for a new car or ask how your mother is doing all with one amazing device. The only issue that I seem to have with technology is privacy. There is no more privacy it seems. Every conversation is an open forum or at least it seems that way. It may not be direct but people hear what you talk about, then transfer that conversation and place it into their own which can be a fun debate or a nice way to break the ice. However the rules for doing so are unwritten. You do not simply eves drop and then walk up and approach the person biased on their conversation. The difficult part also is that you can no longer say that you didn’t receive their text or call. Many companies give the user features or indicators to tell you if the message was successful or not. Short of saying your phone was off there is literally no excuse for not answering a phone The difficult part about the digital age is that there are no rules. We all have our own personal expectations of how people should act in a public setting but that is the most frustrating part.  We all want the latest technology, but I do not think that we are ready to accept what we lose because of it. Yes we do gain so many abilities on the go. We are able to do so much now that we never thought was possible in the past. We are all now a part of this technological revolution. What we forget in all the hustle and bustle is all those things that we lose. In our attempt to have the hottest technology such as the Iphone with the ability to go on to the Internet, watch YouTube at will whenever and wherever we desire. What we lose is the peace and quiet of the past. No longer can you enter a coffee shop people watch, and engage in conversation and listen to some soothing jazz. Those days are long gone, nowadays we have to ask people as a courtesy to turn their phones of, and many people still do not adhere to these requests. No more can you sit in a cozy place such as a cafà © or coffee shop as mentioned above. There is now cell phones buzzing, ringing and the attention is taken away from the environment but into the power we hold in our hands. The technological age is upon us. And we are able to mold what our society will turn into. I never thought that I made a difference or that I would be a part of a unique generation. If you look around though we are all a part of this new age. We can shape and mold it as we wish. This is only one small aspect of a larger topic. This is how cell phones have made a small step, yet a large impact as a result on how we all life and interact with the world around us. We now look as if we are talking to ourselves, and its funny yet practical. We complain when others interrupt our dinner, yet at times we are victims of the same crimes we accost others for. Phones have gone from a burden due to size, to a burden due to its functionality and various abilities to do so much. Perhaps Uncle Ben (Spiderman’s uncle) had it right when he said â€Å"with great power, comes great responsibility.† I think this is something we should all take the time to think about. How far something you use has come from when you were younger to now and the impact it has made on your life or the lives of others.† (RaMediaNJ, 08/08/2007, Newsweek) Bibliography †¢ http://www.wikipedia.com/ wiki/Mobile_phone_radiation_and_health †¢Ã¢â‚¬ Hands-free Cellphones are Safer† Manila Standards Today, Manila, Philippines (Aug. 2000): pp. 1-2 †¢Ã¢â‚¬ Hands-free kits cut cellphone radiation† Malaya (Aug. 2000): p. 13 †¢Ã¢â‚¬ Texting than Reading† Philippine Star (Feb. 2003): p. B5 †¢ http://thinkquest.org/pls/html/think.library †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"MMS vs. Cheaters† Philippine Star, Manila, Philippines (Feb. 2003) †¢New York Times, NY, USA (Mar. 2007) †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"Owners of Older Cell Phones risk Brain Tumor† USA Today, National Cancer Institute †¢Ã¢â‚¬ Pinoys as Romantic† Philippine Star (Aug. 2010) pp. 3-4 †¢Horst, Heather . Miller, Daniela. The Cellphone: An Anthropology of Communication, Berg (Oct. 2006) †¢Agar, J. (2003). Constant Touch: A Global History of the Mobile Phone. Cambridge, Icon Books.

Related Literature and Review of Related Studies for Fertilizer Essay

Commonly known as ‘Styrofoam’ that is one of the most widely used type of plastics. It is a strong plastic created from erethylene and benzine that can be injected, extruded, or blow molded; making it a very useful and versatile manufacturing material. It is also a rigid, transparent thermoplastic, which is present in solid or glassy state at normal temperature. But, when heated above its glass transition temperature, it turns into a form that flows and can be easily used for molding and extrusion. It becomes solid again when it cools off. This property of polystyrene is used for casting it into molds with fine detail. Pure polystyrene polymer is colorless and hard with limited flexibility. Polystyrene is hard and brittle and has a density of 1. 050 g/cm3. It is represented by the chemical formula, C8H8. It have very low impact strengths of less than 0. 5ft-lb. commercially available impact polystyrene grades can be obtained with values of 1. 0 – 4. 0 ft-lb. Generally, polystyrenes are not produced with greater than 15% total rubber because of polymerization processing constraints. Nevertheless, impact properties can be increased substantially without additional rubber by the proper control of rubber particle size, percentage of grafting, cross-linking, and percentage of gel. Flexural strengths for polystyrenes can be obtained from 5000 to 18000psi and are also decreased by the addition of rubber and other additives to the polystyrene. Elongations can be obtained from 1% for crystal polystyrene to 100% for some impact polystyrene grades. Eggshells The calcium carbonate is the one that gives egg shell its hardy strength – a common substance found in rocks. The team found that calcium carbonate made up almost 98 per cent of an egg shell. The remaining two per cent comprises proteins which act as the â€Å"cement† to hold the calcium carbonate together. The organic matter of eggshell and shell membranes contain proteins as major constituents with small amounts of carbohydrates and lipids (Burley and Vadehra, 1989). Bronsch and Diamantstein (1965) analyzed uronic acid in eggshells and reported a signi? cant correlation between the uronic acid content and the breaking strength of the shell. Uronic acid is a constituent sugar of glycosaminoglycan. Under the characterization measurements investigated, it was found that the eggshell pore structures of the two biomaterials belong to a typical Type II, indicating that they should be basically characteristic of nonporous materials or materials with macropores or open voids. Further, the chemical composition of the resulting eggshell particle was strongly associated with the presence of carbonate minerals from the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra. In contrast to the resulting eggshell membrane particle, the presence of functional groups of amines and amides was observable because of its chemical composition of fibrous proteins. From the isotherm data of methylene blue at 25  °C, the Freundlich model yielded a somewhat better fit than the Langmuir model. The adsorption isotherms revealed the eggshell biosorbents could only uptake the basic dye of less than 1. 0 mg/g in aqueous medium, which was attributed to their poor pore properties. Oyster Shell Oyster-shell are used as construction materials, especially as a mixture for concrete, it is required to quantify the salinity content of oyster-shell, which is the basis of limiting the amount of oyster-shell in the mixture. The salinity content in oyster-shells turns out to be approximately 0. 5%, derived from the proportion of the whole weight of oyster-shell to the total amount of chloride ions (Cl) pertaining to the relevant provision (Yoon, 2000). Converting this to the regulation value of the chloride ions, 0. 3 kgf/m3, the amount of oyster-shell per 1 m3should not be greater than 85. 7kgf. Therefore, assuming that granular materials in the concrete are 7 00–800 kgf/m3, oyster-shells should not begreater than 10% in the granular materials to preventthe salt damage. Oyster-shell is entirely composed of CaCO3 (approximately 96%) and other minerals of trivial amount. Various oyster-shells due to sources and individual characteristics are almost similar in the chemical composition. The mineral phase of calcium carbonate turns out to be calcite. Related Studies Foreign Xu, Yi; Jiang, Linhua; Xu, Jinxia; Li, Yang (2012) pointed out that mix proportion parameters of expanded polystyrene (EPS) lightweight aggregate concrete are analyzed by using Taguchi’s approach. The density, compressive strength and stress-strain behavior were tested. The optimal mixture of EPS lightweight aggregate concrete was selected among experiments under consideration to manufacture the lightweight hollow bricks. The results show that EPS dosage has the most significant effect on compressive strength of EPS lightweight aggregate concrete, then water and cement ratio, while the content of cement and sand ratio play a comparatively less important part. The relationship between density and compressive strength of EPS lightweight aggregate concrete is proposed as [f. sub. c] = 2. 43 x [[gamma]. sup. 2. 997] x [10. sup. -9]. The legitimacy of the use of EPS lightweight bricks made by EPS lightweight aggregate concrete is confirmed. According to the study of Sohrab Veiseh1 and Ali A.  Yousefi2 (2003) the heavy weight of bricks accounts for the great mass of construction and thus causes more vulnerability against earthquake forces. In the present work, it is, therefore, tried to reduce the density of the bricks, as well as improve thermal insulation properties. Polystyrene foam is one of the substances that is added to the raw materials of bricks, as a pore-forming material. The effect of PSF type and its content in the mix, and also the effect of firing process temperature of the bricks on density, water absorption and compressive strength, are investigated and discussed in this paper. Tests showed that by increasing the polystyrene foam additive, the compressive strength and density of the bricks decreases, though the water absorption increases. Therefore, it is necessary to specify the ways for improvement and optimization of clay body so that by reducing the density, the strength of the brick is not reduced considerably. Adding even 2% of recycled polystyrene foam keeps the compressive strength of the resulted bricks as suitable for load bearing ordinary bricks according to the Iranian standard. Rassimi Abdul Ghani, Mohd Hanafiah Abidin, Ahmad Zafir Romli, Mohd Hariz Kamarudin, Zaleha Afandi and Muhamad Faizal Abd Halim (2010) of the Institute Of Science,Uitm,Malaysia pointed out that one of the world’s oldest waste into useful flooring materials. They made tiles from eggshells. Naming the tiles EPoSTi, they made composite tiles by combining polymers and chicken eggshells, an innovation from domestic waste. Explaining their work in an expo, the use of eggshells in micro size will increase the rigidity and stiffness of the composite, making it a suitable flooring material. This is due to the nature of eggshells which can be used as rigid particulate fillers of the tiles. The combination offers excellent impact resistance, as it is able to withstand force applied to it. In short, it is durable. According to the study of M. N. FreireI, II; J. N. F. HolandaI (2000) in Brazil, the food industry generates every year huge amounts of eggshell waste, and a critical question is to find an adequate use for this waste. The aim of this work is to determine the chemical, mineralogical and physical characteristics of a nonprocessed eggshell waste sample, as well as to investigate its use in wall tile paste. The sample was analyzed regarding to chemical composition, X-ray diffraction, morphology, particle size analysis, density, organic matter, soluble salts, and thermal analysis. The results indicated that the eggshell waste sample rich in CaCO3 can be used as an alternative raw material in the production of wall tile materials. According to the study of Obrero, F. M. (2005) pointed out that there is possibility of producing ceramics from oyster shells. Powdered oyster shells were used instead of silica in the production of ceramics. The texture, color and durability were compared to those made with silica. Six kilograms of Vigan clay and 2. 5 kg of ball clay were mixed and soaked in water overnight. The following day, the mixture was kneaded and filtered twice. After this, one kilogram of powdered oyster shell was mixed with the kneaded mixture then kneaded again and filtered. The mixture was placed over Plaster of Paris for the water to be absorbed. The solidified mixture was then rolled and compressed to let the air escape from the spaces inside the solidified mixture. After this, the mixture was molded, air dried for four days and fired in a furnace. Three trials were made at different temperatures — 900oC, 950oC and 1000oC. It was found out that the texture of the experimental set-up is better than the control set-up. It was also found out that the color of the experimental set-up is comparable to the control set-up. Tests of durability of the ceramics, which were done at SLU College of Engineering Laboratory, revealed that the experimental set-up is more durable than the control set-up. This proves that oyster shell can be utilized in the production of ceramics. It also affirms that ceramics made using oyster shells are better than those produced using silica in terms of texture and durability. Gil-Lim Yoon, Byung-Tak Kim, Baeck-Oon Kim, Sang-Hun Han (2002) pointed out that possibility to recycle the waste as construction materials, chemical and mechanical characteristics of crushed oyster-shell were investigated. Chemical and microstructure analyses showed that oyster-shells are predominantly composed of calcium carbonate with rare impurities. Compressive strength tests for soil mortar specimens with varying blending ratio of cement, water, sand, and oyster-shell were compared with normal cement mortar. There was no signi? cant reduction in the compressive strength up to 40% of dosages of oyster-shell instead of sand. The experimental results demonstrate that oyster-shells can be resources of pure calcareous materials and effective in replacement of sand, indicating promising reusable construction materials. Local Cecilia Amor Fenol, Maria Riza Berna Sabate, Jamie Kathleen Sy, Reah Grace Camongol and Nicole Mejia (2008) pointed out that egg shells can be used as an alternative for sand in making a hollow block. It is more effective and shows lesser cracks as it is dropped from a height of 2 feet. It can be used to lessen the expenses and at the same time we helped the environment by recycling these egg shells. According to our research, the reason why egg shells are effective in making hollow block is because it contains Calcium Carbonate that gives hardness and strength. We also concluded that this egg shell hollow block can be used to support building so that when earthquake strikes our country, its strength and durability will show.