Rene Descartes :: essays research papers

While the great philosophical distinction between mind and body in western thought can be traced to the Greeks, it is to the seminal work of Renà © Descartes (1596-1650) [see figure 1], French mathematician, philosopher, and physiologist, that we owe the first systematic account of the mind/body relationship. Descartes was born in Touraine, in the small town of La Haye and educated from the age of eight at the Jesuit college of La Flà ¨che. At La Flà ¨che, Descartes formed the habit of spending the morning in bed, engaged in systematic meditation. During his meditations, he was struck by the sharp contrast between the certainty of mathematics and the controversial nature of philosophy, and came to believe that the sciences could be made to yield results as certain as those of mathematics. From 1612, when he left La Flà ¨che, until 1628, when he settled in Holland, Descartes spent much of his time in travel, contemplation, and correspondence. From 1628 until his ill-fated trip to Sweden in 1649 he remained for the most part in Holland, and it was during this period that he composed a series of works that set the agenda for all later students of mind and body. The first of these works, De homine [1] was completed in Holland about 1633, on the eve of the condemnation of Galileo. When Descartes' friend and frequent correspondent, Marin Mersenne, wrote to him of Galileo's fate at the hands of the Inquisition, Descartes immediately suppressed his own treatise. As a result, the world's first extended essay on physiological psychology was published only well after its author's death. In this work, Descartes proposed a mechanism [see figure 2] for automatic reaction in response to external events. According to his proposal, external motions affect the peripheral ends of the nerve fibrils, which in turn displace the central ends. As the central ends are displaced, the pattern of interfibrillar space is rearranged and the flow of animal spirits is thereby directed into the appropriate nerves. It was Descartes' articulation of this mechanism for automatic, differentiated reaction that led to his generally being credited with the founding of reflex theory. Although extended discussion of the metaphysical split between mind and body did not appear until Descartes' Meditationes, his De homine outlined these views and provided the first articulation of the mind/body interactionism that was to elicit such pronounced

Hawthornes Brilliant Mind Essay -- Literary Analysis

Whenever reading a short story or novel, sometimes many questions pop into the mind wanting to know why the author writes in that particular fashion. In each circumstance, every author has a motivation that fuels them into their writing styles. For Nathaniel Hawthorne, influences came from every direction. Born from a puritan father, Hawthorne was always taught that god was the number one priority in his life. That he should always follow the rules and live without guilt or sin. When his father died at age 4, Hawthorne became increasingly interested in literature and was inspired by Spenser, Bunyan, and Shakespeare (Pennel 2). These authors had a significant influence on Hawthorne’s style as a writer (Pennel 2). For his Puritan heritage and his personal experiences influenced Hawthorne in his short story â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† and his novels The Scarlett Letter and The House of the Seven Gables. One of the biggest influences of Hawthorne’s writing was his Puritan heritage. During the late 16th and 17th century, a group of people sought to â€Å"purify† the Church of England of remnants of The Roman Catholic â€Å"popery† left over from Queen Elizabeth’s I reign (Encyclopedia Britannica). The puritan people believed that one must be in convention with god in order to redeem one from one’s sinful condition. Later this reformation was an essential building block when founding colonies in America and establishing the Puritan way of life. Hawthorne’s great-great-grandfather father, John Hathorne was a Puritan and was one of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay colony in the 1630s (Pennel 2). So for Nathaniel Hawthorne, his Puritan heritage can be traced back to one most important people to have settled in America and establish his influence t... ...l about his interesting life. Works Cited Marks, Patricia. â€Å"Critical Survey of Long Fiction, Fourth Edition† Salem Press: p1-10. Literary Reference Center,. Web 8 May 2012 "Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)." Short Story Criticism. Ed. Sheila Fitzgerald. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale Research, 1989. 152-197. Literature Criticism Online. Gale. Glendale Community College. Web 8 May 2012 Pennell, Mellissa McFarland. Student Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1999. Print Pfister, Joel. The Production of Personal Life. Class, Gender, & the Psychological in Hawthorne’s Fiction. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1991. Print "Puritanism". Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica. Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica Online. Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 08 May. 2012 Terence, Martin. Nathaniel Hawthorn. Revised Edition. Boston: Twayne Publishers. 1983. Print

Book Critique on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Dorothy lives in Kansas with her aunt, uncle, and dog, Toto. The entire house is swept away by a tornado from Kansas to the bright Land of Oz. She is met by the Munchkins and the Good Witch of the North. They are very happy because Dorothy’s house smashed the Wicked Witch of the East. The Good Witch gives Dorothy the dead witch's silver shoes. The only thing on Dorothy’s mind is getting back to Kansas, so the Witch of the East helps. Dorothy is sent down the yellow brick road to the City of Emeralds. Once she gets to the City of Emeralds, she is supposed to meet the Wizard of Oz, who should be able to help her get home. Along the journey, she meets the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion. Her three friends all have a need they would like to request from the Wizard. They continue their journey along the road. They encounter many adventures before and after visiting the Wizard. Once they all reach the Wizard of Oz, he sends them on a quest to kill the Wicked Witch of the West. Once they kill the Wicked Witch of the West, he will grant all of their wishes. In the end, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion accomplish a great role. They each are granted leadership of three different lands of Oz. The Scarecrow becomes the ruler of Emerald City, the Tin Woodman gets control over the former Wicked Witch of the West's domain, and the Lion is head over the animals in the woods. Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, shows Dorothy how to get home. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz begins in dark Kansas, and it quickly changes to the bright and colorful area of the Land of Oz. The things that happened in Kansas occurred in the late nineteenth century. This book is a political allegory. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz makes references to the following things in history: The Gilded Age, the Panic of 1893, Coxey’s Army, and the 1896 Election. Lyman Frank Baum wrote the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In the Introduction to The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum described healthy children as instinctively loving â€Å"fantastic, marvelous and manifestly unreal† stories. Baum wanted his stories to have a moral, and he liked the fairy tale format. He disagreed with the â€Å"heart-aches and nightmares† that their â€Å"horrible and bloodcurdling† events could bring on in children. Baum decided to modernize and update the fairy tale by combining moral with entertainment, â€Å"wonderment and joy. † Lyman Baum did not have a definite viewpoint. He wanted to entertain children with stories that had a moral and a point. He wrote the Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a fairytale political allegory, for example the yellow brick road represents the gold standard, and the silver shoes represent the sixteen to one silver ratio, and so on. This is a fictional book based on historical non fictional information. Baum represents the time period by the metaphors he uses throughout the book, like things referring to the Panic of 1893 and election of 1896. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz can teach many people about history. The book is in fairy tale style, but it has historical facts and references throughout the story. It definitely be applied to history, since it was written about history. For example, the Wicked Witch of the West refers to the actual west. Baum published this book in 1900, which is the time period that it deals with. The parts of the book about the yellow brick road will be stuck in my mind. I find this part very fascinating, because it refers to the demand for gold and the standards that were set for gold. The reason it will be in my mind is because once I read the book again, in the perspective of US History, I saw how everything was a metaphor for something in history. This amazes me, and the author was very creative to create a story so brilliantly planned. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz definitely helped me connect history to this fairy tale style of hidden history. This book is a classic because it brings history in a childhood favorite fairy tale book.

Hamlet Quotations Act 1 Essay

Hamlet Quotations Act 1 INSTRUCTIONS:î€Æ' Forî€Æ'eachî€Æ'quote:î€Æ' (a)î€Æ'î€Æ'Identifyî€Æ'theî€Æ'speaker,î€Æ'toî€Æ'whomî€Æ'itî€Æ'isî€Æ'addressed,î€Æ'andî€Æ'theî€Æ'situation,î€Æ' (b)î€Æ'î€Æ'Explainî€Æ'(inî€Æ'detail)î€Æ'theî€Æ'significanceî€Æ'ofî€Æ'theî€Æ'quoteî€Æ'inî€Æ'termsî€Æ'ofî€Æ'allî€Æ'thatî€Æ'apply:î€Æ'î€Æ'themes,î€Æ'characterî€Æ'revelation,î€Æ'plotî€Æ' development,î€Æ'dramaticî€Æ'devicesî€Æ'(irony,î€Æ'foreshadowing†¦),î€Æ'poeticî€Æ'devicesî€Æ'(simile,î€Æ'metaphor,î€Æ'alliteration†¦),î€Æ'etc.î€Æ' (c)î€Æ'î€Æ'Uploadî€Æ'toî€Æ'turnitin.comî€Æ' EXAMPLE:î€Æ' â€Å"Thisî€Æ'bodesî€Æ'someî€Æ'strangeî€Æ'eruptionî€Æ'toî€Æ'ourî€Æ'state.†Ã®â‚¬Æ' (a)​î€Æ'î€Æ'î€Æ'Horatioî€Æ'isî€Æ'speakingî€Æ'toî€Æ'MarcellusÍ ¾Ã®â‚¬Æ'Horatioî€Æ'isî€Æ'referringî€Æ'toî€Æ'theî€Æ'ghostî€Æ'ofî€Æ'Hamletî€Æ'Sr.î€Æ'thatî€Æ'theyî€Æ'haveî€Æ'justî€Æ'witnessed.î€Æ'î€Æ' (b)​î€Æ'î€Æ'î€Æ'Horatioî€Æ'believesî€Æ'thatî€Æ'theî€Æ'ghostî€Æ'isî€Æ'appearingî€Æ'becauseî€Æ'foulî€Æ'playî€Æ'wasî€Æ'involvedî€Æ'withî€Æ'Hamletî€Æ'Sr.’sî€Æ'death.î€Æ'î€Æ'Heî€Æ'isî€Æ'notî€Æ'positiveî€Æ' aboutî€Æ'it,î€Æ'butî€Æ'heî€Æ'knowsî€Æ'thatî€Æ'somethingî€Æ'â€Å"strange†Ã®â‚¬Æ'isî€Æ'happening.î€Æ'î€Æ'Thisî€Æ'eventî€Æ'putsî€Æ'theî€Æ'actionî€Æ'ofî€Æ'theî€Æ'playî€Æ'inî€Æ'motionî€Æ'(plotî€Æ' development).î€Æ'î€Æ'Also,î€Æ'theî€Æ'commentî€Æ'foreshadowsî€Æ'theî€Æ'impendingî€Æ'doomî€Æ'thatî€Æ'Denmarkî€Æ'mayî€Æ'beî€Æ'facing.î€Æ' 1.î€Æ' â€Å"Aî€Æ'littleî€Æ'moreî€Æ'thanî€Æ'kin,î€Æ'andî€Æ'lessî€Æ'thanî€Æ'kind.†Ã®â‚¬Æ' 2.î€Æ' â€Å"Weî€Æ'prayî€Æ'youî€Æ'throwî€Æ'toî€Æ'earthî€Æ'thisî€Æ'unprevailingî€Æ'woe,î€Æ'andî€Æ'thinkî€Æ'ofî€Æ'usî€Æ'asî€Æ'aî€Æ'father†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã®â‚¬Æ' 3.î€Æ' â€Å"Oî€Æ'thatî€Æ'thisî€Æ'tooî€Æ'tooî€Æ'sulliedî€Æ'fleshî€Æ'wouldî€Æ'melt†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã®â‚¬Æ' 4.î€Æ' î€Æ'â€Å"Frailty,î€Æ'thyî€Æ'nameî€Æ'isî€Æ'woman†¦Oî€Æ'mostî€Æ'wickedî€Æ'speed!î€Æ'Toî€Æ'postî€Æ'withî€Æ'suchî€Æ'dexterityî€Æ'toî€Æ'incestuousî€Æ'sheets!†Ã®â‚¬Æ' â€Å"Doî€Æ'notî€Æ'asî€Æ'someî€Æ'ungraciousî€Æ'pastorsî€Æ'do,î€Æ'showî€Æ'meî€Æ'theî€Æ'steepî€Æ'andî€Æ'thornyî€Æ'wayî€Æ'toî€Æ'heaven,î€Æ'whileî€Æ'likeî€Æ'aî€Æ'puff’dî€Æ' andî€Æ'recklessî€Æ'libertineî€Æ'himselfî€Æ'theî€Æ'primroseî€Æ'pathî€Æ'ofî€Æ'dallianceî€Æ'treads†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã®â‚¬Æ' 6.î€Æ' î€Æ'â€Å"Thisî€Æ'aboveî€Æ'all:î€Æ'toî€Æ'thineî€Æ'ownî€Æ'selfî€Æ'beî€Æ'true†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã®â‚¬Æ' 7.î€Æ' î€Æ'â€Å"Whenî€Æ'theî€Æ'bloodî€Æ'burns,î€Æ'howî€Æ'prodigalî€Æ'theî€Æ'soulî€Æ'lendsî€Æ'theî€Æ'tongueî€Æ'vows.†Ã®â‚¬Æ' 8.î€Æ' î€Æ'â€Å"Theî€Æ'dramî€Æ'ofî€Æ'evilî€Æ'dothî€Æ'allî€Æ'theî€Æ'nobleî€Æ'substanceî€Æ'î€Æ'oftenî€Æ'doutî€Æ'toî€Æ'hisî€Æ'ownî€Æ'scandal.†Ã®â‚¬Æ' 9.î€Æ' î€Æ'â€Å"Somethingî€Æ'isî€Æ'rottenî€Æ'inî€Æ'theî€Æ'stateî€Æ'ofî€Æ'Denmark.†Ã®â‚¬Æ' 10.î€Æ'î€Æ'î€Æ'î€Æ'â€Å"Revengeî€Æ'hisî€Æ'foulî€Æ'andî€Æ'mostî€Æ'unnaturalî€Æ'murder.†Ã®â‚¬Æ' 11.î€Æ'î€Æ'î€Æ'î€Æ'â€Å"Hasteî€Æ'meî€Æ'toî€Æ'know’t,î€Æ'thatî€Æ'Iî€Æ'withî€Æ'wingsî€Æ'asî€Æ'swiftî€Æ'asî€Æ'meditationî€Æ'orî€Æ'theî€Æ'thoughtsî€Æ'ofî€Æ'loveî€Æ'mayî€Æ'sweepî€Æ'toî€Æ'myî€Æ'revenge.†Ã®â‚¬Æ' 12.î€Æ'î€Æ'î€Æ'â€Å"Theî€Æ'serpentî€Æ'thatî€Æ'didî€Æ'stingî€Æ'yourî€Æ'father’sî€Æ'lifeî€Æ'nowî€Æ'wearsî€Æ'hisî€Æ'crown.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ Oî€Æ'myî€Æ'propheticî€Æ'soul!î€Æ'Myî€Æ'uncle!†Ã®â‚¬Æ' 13.î€Æ'î€Æ'î€Æ'î€Æ'â€Å"Oî€Æ'mostî€Æ'perniciousî€Æ'woman!î€Æ'î€Æ'Oî€Æ'villain,î€Æ'villain,î€Æ'smilingî€Æ'damnedî€Æ'villain!†¦Thatî€Æ'oneî€Æ'mayî€Æ'smile,î€Æ'andî€Æ'smile,î€Æ'andî€Æ'beî€Æ'aî€Æ' villain.†Ã®â‚¬Æ' 14.î€Æ'î€Æ'î€Æ'î€Æ'â€Å"Thereî€Æ'areî€Æ'moreî€Æ'thingsî€Æ'inî€Æ'heavenî€Æ'andî€Æ'earth,î€Æ'†¦Thanî€Æ'areî€Æ'dreamtî€Æ'ofî€Æ'inî€Æ'yourî€Æ'philosophy.†Ã®â‚¬Æ' 15.î€Æ'î€Æ'î€Æ'î€Æ'â€Å"Theî€Æ'timeî€Æ'isî€Æ'outî€Æ'ofî€Æ'joint.î€Æ'î€Æ'Oî€Æ'cursedî€Æ'spite,î€Æ'thatî€Æ'Iî€Æ'wasî€Æ'bornî€Æ'toî€Æ'setî€Æ'itî€Æ'right.†Ã®â‚¬Æ'

Springville Herald Case

The first data we analyzed was which errors occurred most frequently. The above Pareto chart serves to separate the â€Å"vital few† errors from the â€Å"trivial many†. The first 7 types of errors (from left to right) account for 78% of the total service errors. Concentration on eliminating those types of errors is a good first step in minimizing customer service errors and boosting revenue. If you can eliminate less than half of the error types you can eliminate more than 2/3 of the total errors. Next we looked for correlations between the data above and which errors were most costly. We again chose Pareto charts to express the relationships between the types of errors and how much they cost the company. The use of Pareto to express the total cost of each error type is valuable to identify which error types are costing the most cumulatively and also offers some correlations. Again we see the first 7 error types (from left to right) make up a large majority of the money spent correcting errors. 79% in fact. We find that 5 error types: Typesetting, Wrong position, Ran in Error, Wrong ad, and Wrong date occur in the â€Å"vital few† data of both frequency and total cost of errors. Further concentration on these 5 error types will not only go a long way in eliminating the frequency of errors, but will also eliminate a large portion of the total cost associated with service errors. Another important finding in this data is that while copy errors occur most frequently (17% of total errors) they are relatively inexpensive to fix (only 6% of the total cost of errors). So eliminating copy errors will go a long way in improving customer service, but will not have the same impact on the cost of fixing service errors. Examining the cost data further we can see which errors are the most expensive to fix on a per error basis. While Pareto was not necessary to express cost per error (cumulative % is not important in this case), it is the easiest type of chart to read with this much data and serves to show (from left to right) which errors are the most expensive to fix per occurrence. These findings reveal that Ran in Errors are the second most expensive type of error per occurrence. That combined with the fact that we already know Ran in Errors account for the highest total cost of errors (20. %) and are the 4th most frequently occurring (9%) tells us that concentrating most heavily on eliminating Ran in Errors would be the most efficient way to simultaneously improve customer service and cut costs. So let’s took a closer look at Ran in Errors. As you can see, Policy Ran in Errors are the most frequently occurring (53% of total) and by far the most expensive (82% of total). Eliminating these e rrors as quickly as possible would be the most efficient way to achieve the goal of improving customer service and cutting costs. Some information that would be useful to examine would be how the errors interact with each other. Do some errors cause others? Even if no error directly causes another it would be useful to know if eliminating errors that occur at the beginning of the publishing time line would prevent others from occurring due to the nature of publishing them. Also, observe the histogram below. As you can see the number of help desk calls per day is concentrated between 40 and 70 per day. It would be useful to know what errors these calls are in regard to. With the average calls per day known, the Herald can also streamline their customer service department to be able to handle this volume efficiently.

Environmental Impacts of the Global Increase in Demand for Oil Essay

To what extent are the environmental impacts of the global increase in demand for oil acceptable? [15 marks] After the industrial revolution, the demand for oil has been increasing globally. Over 100 million tonnes of oil are transported around the world on average a day. There are countries like the US which consume almost one quarter of global oil output, which must be supplied from oil reserves, usually from countries like Saudi Arabia (Guinness, 2011, p. 245). This shows that the topic of oil consumption is a global issue as all countries need oil to develop and provide for their populations. The issue with this large consumption of oil is the fact that oil is a non-renewable source of energy and therefore has a limit. Oil is formed from the remains of dead plants and animals in underground rock which is found in marine areas and therefore requires technology such as pipelines and drilling machines to extract the oil. The implications of this has caused serious environmental consequences which questions whether extracting oil to supply the demands of the world’s population should be permitted when the environment has to pay the cost, examples being oil leaks into the sea and the effects of that. With a growing global population, energy companies are trying to find sources of energy and are therefore trying to construct pathways and routes to constantly feed people’s needs and demands. This has lead to companies searching and drilling for oil in fragile environments, such as the Alaska pipeline which crosses 3 mountain ranges. The reason why companies are looking into areas full of permafrost is because global warming is causing the ice in the Arctic Circle to melt and oil rich sea beads are now being uncovered. The implementation of the Alaska pipeline has not caused any major environmental problems as many obstacles had been avoided when constructing this project, such as raising the pipeline on stilts so that that the heated oil would not cause the ice to melt. However, the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, which occurred in 1989 did take place and still affects the environment, animal species and humans to this day. The oil tanker named Exxon Valdez was carrying 1.2 million barrels of oil when it ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, spilling 240 000 barrels. The oil slick eventually covered 25 000 km2 coastal and off-shore waters and 1700km of coastline (RGS Worcester, n.d., para. 2). A major oil spill like this has resulted in devastating environmental impacts, which has caused social and economical impacts as well. The clean-up process, which included burning the oil (relatively effective as it reduced 113,400 liters of oil to 1,134 liters of removable residue), spraying chemicals on the oil which reached the shoreline and mechanical cleanup methods, did not eradicate the oil fast enough as the environmental impacts are still present after 21 years. 10000 people were involved in the clean up and it took 4 summers and cost 2 billion dollars. This large number of people put their jobs on hold and attended to the effects of the oil spill, which could have caused a decline in the economy in Alaska (Exxon Valdez oil spill, n.d., para. 5). The biggest impact of the oil spill was on the wildlife. Some 2,000 sea otters, 302 harbor seals and about 250,000 seabirds died within a few days after the oil spill (Graham, 2003, para. 1). A decrease in biodiversity and the ecosystems in Alaska affect the environment significantly as it disrupts food chains and causes animals like ducks and other marine animals to lose their source of food. The biggest impact, in terms of wildlife, is the herring population and the effect on the herring industry in Alaska. The spill occurred during spawning season that the inlets and bays where herring traditionally laid their eggs were choked with oil. Within four years, the herring population has disappeared. This has affected Alaskans in terms of their jobs and their source of food. Permits to fish herring commercially had been worth hundreds of thousands of dollars before the spill but became worthless, leaving many fishermen facing huge amounts of debt. Farmers used to earn 150000 dollars a year but this has dropped to 5000 dollars, showing the extent of the impact of the loss of herring (BBC News, 2010, para. 9). A weaker economy results in economical problems within the area and a change in employment structure as children of these fisherman can no longer have the opportunity to be a herring farmer. Economic problems can also result in social problems such as domestic violence, alcohol abuse, suicides and divorces, mainly due to massive unemployment. This example shows that the environmental impacts can have their own impacts, which again questions whether the extraction of oil is worth all these consequences. After 21 years, 20000 gallons of oil still remain on the beaches of Prince William Sound (BBC News, 2010, para. 30). Therefore, the clean up hasn’t been very effective. It’s also worth pointing out that maybe all the environmental impacts still haven’t been determined, for example the soil and vegetation could also have been affected by the oil spill as the oil may have seeped through the sand of the beaches. This would affect the growth of vegetation drastically. People don’t know enough to predict how long the effects are going to last as they can range from years to centuries. One wonders how long countries can continue to extract and consume oil when they still don’t fully know the extent of the environmental effects of oil spills and if their chances of occurring are more likely. The production of oil is also a process which causes a variety of negative effects on the environment. An example is the tar sands oil extraction in Canada – the country which supplies the US with the most oil as it doesn’t have issues regarding transport, weather and the fact that there are pipeline installed from Canada to the US. There is enough natural gas to heat 3 million homes from the extraction of tar sands oil in Canada. However, it is expensive to extract the oil out of the sands (120 million dollars over the last 12 years have been invested) which has lead to environmental degradation in the form of excess use of water to extract bitumen. The bitumen is then refined and the toxic sludge (not like conventional oil – mainly nasty impurities) that is left over after separating oil from impurities is usually dumped in ponds and lakes. In some cases, the toxic ponds are so big that they can be seen from space. The Athabasca River in Canada has a large number of toxic ponds, some being 60 km long in length. These companies, like SUNCOR (Canadian energy company), are dumping around 1.8 billion liters of toxic materials like sludge and impurities in these ponds, they will eventually reach water in the delta (Sustainable Guidance, 2011). The effects of these impurities in the water can be devastating to the wildlife. There is a decrease in the number of fish as the sludge clogs up the fish’s gills, making it hard for them to breathe. The change in the ecosystem and food chain will also cause a decline in fish as smaller species like plankton may be affected by the impurities. The fish may also be contaminated and migratory birds which eat these fish will suffer and possibly die as they won’t eat healthy meat. Moose is another species which are affected by the toxic ponds as their source of food is contaminated and decreasing. This has lead to a number of endangered species. There is a 35 million acres coniferous forest (larger than the Brazilian forest) which is full of endangered species. There have also been cases where environmental issues like toxic ponds are not released to the public as these details have been ‘covered up’ by companies like SUNCOR, leaving environmentalists like Green peace in conflict with these energy companies. This example has shown the harmful effects of oil production on the environment, which again makes us question whether this is all worth it (Sustainable Guidance, 2011). To a very small extent, the environmental impacts of the global increase in demand for oil are acceptable. It can be said, with great certainty, that oil production and consumption does not benefit the environment. The environmental consequences may not be frequent but when they do occur, they cause a catastrophic effect, which takes the environment and the people decades or even longer to recover. These impacts are therefore not acceptable, which is why countries should start investing in producing renewable energy such as solar panels and wind turbines. Governments can’t suddenly start decreasing the amount of oil they consume as the people are already used to living with a high standard of living. The populations around the world should be educated about the problem and should be encouraged to start relying on renewable sources of energy. However, this raises the problem for developing countries and NICs. It will be extremely difficult to develop without consuming large amounts of oil and will therefore cause the rate of development to decrease. This leaves these types of countries at a disadvantage, which questions whether it is acceptable for all countries to consume a smaller amount of oil when there are countries with different levels of development. Clearly the issue needs to be discussed before any strategies can be implemented. References BBC News. (2010, July 6). Alaska town slowly heals after 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10548872 BBC News. (2010, June 17). Examining the legacy of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10324021 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved February 24, 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exxon_Valdez_oil_spill Graham, S. (2003, December 19). Environmental effects of Exxon Valdez spill still being felt. Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=environmental-effects-of Guinness, P. (2011). Geography for the IB diploma. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. RGS Worcester. (n.d.) The Exxon Valdez – environmental catastrophe in a fragile environment? Retrieved from https://schoolweb.rgsw.org.uk/resource.aspx?id=52612 Sustainable Guidance. (2011, April 27). Tar sands oil extraction – the dirty truth. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkwoRivP17A

CNN Center in Atlanta Georgia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

CNN Center in Atlanta Georgia - Essay Example The CNN Center is not alone in this character, being surrounded by the Centennial Olympic Park, Georgia World Congress Center, Georgia Dome, Philips Arena, SciTrek, the Civic Center, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center and the Fox Theatre making Atlanta a destination for tourists and ideal for holding international conferences. The Downtown Atlanta, now a neighbor hood full of life where the CNN Center is located, was once a crime-ridden locality frequented as a workspace during the day, but a place where even the local populace feared to tread after the dark. Jon Waterhouse in his article â€Å"Pufnstuf and Witchiepoo, too† tells us the story of ‘The Omni International Complex’ which was setup in 1972 by Maurice Alpert and Tom Cousins of Alpert Investment Corp and Cousins Properties respectively, to economically boost this area, with shops, multi-screen movie theatre, restaurants and boutiques and an ice-skating rink in its atrium to attract people along with the usual official spaces. In 1976 an indoor amusement park named â€Å"The World of Sid Marty Krofft† to further the same purpose, which failed however and the park shut down only six months from its opening. Accounting for the failure of such an innovative venture, Executive Vice President of the Omni International, Sal De Pace declared â€Å"†¦ the whole Omni complex itself was eight years before its time, instead of opening in 1976, we should've opened in 1984 or '85†. It may be said that an intervention to change the situation of such a locality could not have been successful alone and without timely support from the government. Later however similar endeavors were successful and the locality was transformed into the recreational and commercial hub of the city. The total no of residents grew from 2 million to 4 million between 1980 and 2000 The New Georgia Encyclopedia gives us an interesting account of the historical changes that sh aped Atlanta’s economy and its image today. The changing demographics of Atlanta between 1980 and 2000 have influenced its development in many ways. The city experienced a growth of 2 million people, which was accompanied by a boost in the commercial and corporate sectors. As the economy developed political leaders were able to enliven the ‘Atlanta Spirit’ in the citizens which helped them heighten their ideals for the future of the city. This period experienced an explosion in the economy relating to the tourism and convention industries in the city. Cafe’s, bars and shopping complexes were promoted, sport facilities created, existing corporate sector started opening up to public providing entertainment Coca-Cola museum and the CNN center studio tour. In the context with the progression of Atlanta, the downtown opened up its spaces for expanding all that could help put Atlanta out there with the other big cities of the world. Atlanta ranked 3rd in Convent ion business in 1972, with more than 3 million people attending conventions here, which was assisted by the expansion of centers like Civic Center, Georgia World Congress Center and Merchandise and Apparel Mart and resulted in the promotion of local high end business like CNN. These activities together with administrative measures turned the downtown area from a crime-ridden and gloomy part of the city to a hustling bustling and attractive city center which is now a business and tourist magnet. It was in the late 1980’