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Choose any topic - Essay Example The Athenians had strong perceptions and assumptions of the status quo. Aristophanes in the play, therefore, means that there was need for change of the status quo. The sophists acted and talked in a manner that made others feel rejected and of little knowledge about philosophy. It is in this respect that Aristophanes details this as the main point through the whole play. Interestingly, he does this through satire and a little bit of comedy. This paper seeks to review the play by mentioning how the main them is projected and how Aristophanes developed a different type of play from his fellow classical writers. In the play, Aristophanes introduces the topic of a new type of education from the old style procedures. He criticizes the already existing reforms in the traditional sophist way of life. The play therefore presents itself as a satirical comedy that analyzes the philosophies and ideas of the sophists in a funny way. Aristophanes describes Socrates as the leading figure in this existing sophist movement. Socrates is known to have taken after Plato in his teachings. Although this play was surely for comedy purposes, it gives a clear critique of Socrates accounts as a synchronization of Plato’s work. The play, however, cannot be used a historical account of understanding Socrates and Plato’s work on philosophy. The play also gives Socrates a different title as the corrupter of the youths among the Athenians. In the play, Aristophanes details a life of a father and son who recently accrued too much date due to the son’s obsession with a new hobby of horseracing. Aristophanes discusses the unjust argument as a trick taught in school by the sophists. The son studies in a school, which Aristophanes describes it as â€Å"thinkery† (Aristophanes & Peter 62). In literary discussion, Aristophanes uses a style of persuasion that leads a reader into a different perspective even though there might be strong morals

Pollution Effects and Counter Measures Essay Example for Free

Pollution Effects and Counter Measures Essay The impact of human activity on our environment cannot be denied. Many aspects of today’s environmental problems are only now coming to light as scientists explore the causes and effects of human impact on the world around us. Today’s generation has seen both unwarranted skepticism and exaggeration on both sides of the debate on how close we are to an environmental catastrophe. Although, as Frederick Buell wrote, as of today our world â€Å"has not ended; eco-apocalypse hasnt happened. Yet people today also accept the fact that they live in the shadow of environmental problems so severe that they constitute a crisis† (xii). While it is easier to understand the problems we face today by classifying human activity and its consequences into neatly defined, cause-and-effect relationships, it is important to realize that all of these causes and effects interact in a complex web to bring about an environmental crisis. That said, pollution is one of the most widespread results of human activity, encompassing a broad range of substances with pervasive effects. The effect of pollutants on our environment is one of the most widely publicized factors contributing to its degradation. And deservedly so; pollutants are diverse, and pollution takes many forms, but the effect of unchecked pollution is rapid, extensive, and often dramatic in its visual manifestations. Finally, in many cases pollution defies geographical and political boundaries, making it an international concern, and controlling it will require the involvement of citizens and organizations from all levels of society. Pollution involves the introduction of pollutants into the environment, and it is commonly organized into major categories – air, soil, and water – based on which component of the environment is affected. Other forms of pollution are classified based on the nature of the pollutant, and these include radiation pollution, biological pollution, and noise pollution. Scientists have developed many ways of gauging the level of pollution, or of a specific pollutant within the environment, but when one considers the direct impact of pollution on human health, it is exposure that matters more than the concentration of pollutants. In the environmental pathway, exposure to a certain concentration of a pollutant is what determines the actual dose of the pollutant in the exposed individual, and this is what leads to possible health consequences (Akbar et al., 62). In many cases, pollution is an occupational hazard, posing the greatest danger to people who suffer the most exposure as part of their daily lives. With some pollutants, however, the effects are indirect, not affecting an individual’s health, but impacting a society’s resources and economy in subtle ways. Even with the increased environmental awareness in modern society, it is surprising how many people still see nothing wrong simply because they are not directly affected by pollution. The purpose of this research is to give an overview of the different classes of pollution, how they affect society on different levels, and some of the measures that can help to prevent or reduce its spread. When one thinks of air pollution, perhaps the first image that comes to mind is that of a smog-filled skyline of a major city, through which a hazy sun barely shines. However, exposure to the outdoor smog in a polluted city is not the main source of pollutant dosage. Most of the actual human exposure to air pollution occurs indoors, simply because that is where most people spend most of their time (Akbar et al., 61). Just as the health risks of polluted water can be minimized by treatment, the risks posed by polluted air (namely, cardiovascular and respiratory disease) can be lessened by using proper filters within homes and offices. While it is possible to keep the indoor air quality under control, improving atmospheric air quality will require a collective effort on a much larger scale. Major sources of worldwide pollutant emissions are industrial operations, power plants, road vehicles, forest fires, and the incineration of refuse. Vehicular emissions are not only limited to exhaust, but also include emissions from the wear of tires and brakes and the road surface itself, which makes it difficult to come up with an accurate estimate of total vehicular emissions. Many of these sources of emissions are similarly difficult to quantify, but the overall statistics show that air pollution trends are higher in developing countries, and above the national average in megacities (Akbar et al., 36). This reflects a general trend of better environmental awareness, and environment protection programs that have been implemented for a longer time in well-developed, industrialized countries. For some pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide – a product of the combustion of fossil fuels – the global trend shows a decrease, but for other emissions there is no such evidence (Akbar et al., 49). Clearly, although industrialized countries like America have been consciously reducing some emissions for a longer time than other countries in the developing world, there is much that still needs to be done on an international level. Former United States Vice President Al Gore sums up the nature of the problem regarding the public attitude: †¦Our continued dependence of imported oil†¦is connected to the same pattern that leads us to put 70 million tons of global warming pollution into the earths atmosphere every 24 hours around the world, as if it was an open sewer. And pretending that that doesnt have consequence, when theres signs to tell us it definitely does†¦that’s really the essence of this problem. But because its so pervasive, in order to change it, we really have to have a sea change in public opinion in this country and around the world before the politicians and the government leaders in every nation will have the courage to do what really is necessary. (Interview with Al Gore, 2007) The second major category of pollution is soil pollution. The composition of soil is an important factor in an ecosystem, affecting what types of vegetation are able to take root and survive, and by extension, what species of animals will thrive in the area. Soil also retains water, and pollution of the soil often spreads to ground water tables. When soil is contaminated by pollutants – usually in the form of heavy metals that disrupt the balance and composition of the soil – it is often harder to detect, and difficult to determine the extent of the pollution. Such contamination typically results from direct deposition of pollutants into the soil. Landfills and waste heaps contain pollutants which gradually leach into the soil, and some of the particles in polluted air fall to the ground, where water runoff and seepage can spread the pollutants and lodge them into the soil. Operations in the mining industry, when improperly managed, can cause long-term damage to the soil, and to the environment as a whole. Jared Diamond cites Montana as a case study of the damage that the mining industry can do to the environment, saying it has â€Å"about 20,000 abandoned mines, some of them recent but many of them a century or more old, that will be leaking acid and†¦toxic metals essentially forever† (36). In most cases, these mines have no surviving owners, or the owners are financially unable to reclaim their property and manage its wastes. The relationship between the soil and the rest of the environment is complex, and much remains to be understood before a standard set of indicators and benchmarks can be used to monitor the quality of all soils. While these subtle relationships and interactions are being actively studied by scientists, land management can be improved and better implemented to lessen the impact of activities such as agriculture and mining, by regulating waste disposal and promoting sustainable agricultural practices. As an example, many farmers practice plowing their fields close to the edge of rivers or streams, and letting their livestock graze at the edge. This practice actually contributes to the erosion of riverbanks and diffusion of agricultural wastes into water. Careful management of land and soil resources can prevent soil erosion, which in turn will lessen the deposition of silt in freshwater areas that may be important habitats or breeding sites for species like salmon. (Environment Agency). Public pressure is necessary for the government to pass laws that will enforce mining companies to take charge of cleaning up their mines; the main responsibility lies with the American public, to be more active and vocal in protecting the environment (Diamond, 38). Water’s properties as a solvent are familiar to everyone, thus it should not be surprising that water is particularly vulnerable to contamination. The flow of bodies of water, as well as water runoff from precipitation, can disperse a high volume of pollutants over the course of a year. Water’s cycle in the environment has unique implications for the spread of pollution, and the various pollutants and contaminants of water comprise the third major category of pollution. Bodies of water can be polluted by point sources, such as sewage treatment plants, or they may be polluted through diffusion. Diffuse pollution can come from misconnected drains in households, leaching of surface wastes into groundwater, or runoff of toxic substances that have been deposited on land. Inland precipitation (in the form of rain) creates water runoff, which drains into larger bodies of water, carrying with it some deposited pollutants from the atmosphere and many untreated wastes that have been improperly disposed of. Oil from roadways and motor vehicles, excess agricultural fertilizer, and assorted litter from the land, can be washed into rivers and out to sea, where the scale of dispersal makes it very difficult to treat the pollution. In fact, the volume of pollution deposited by water from runoff can exceed that of an oil spill. In Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest, for example, each year from 2000 to 2006 roughly 22,580 metric tons of oil and petroleum products are deposited by runoff, compared to less than 1,000 metric tons from direct oil spills (Dodge). The deterioration of water quality leads to obvious consequences for human consumption. Freshwater with excessive levels of certain pollutants becomes unsafe to drink, and seawater can lose its ability to sustain biodiversity, negatively impacting the fishing industry. Agricultural runoff contains nitrates and phosphates, which are important nutrients for many organisms, but in excessive concentrations in bodies of water they lead to explosions in the population of certain microorganisms (a phenomenon sometimes known as â€Å"algal blooms†). This leads to an overall decrease in dissolved oxygen content in the water, which harms other species, mainly fish, by disrupting spawning and breeding patterns, and can lead to massive deaths in certain species when oxygen levels are depleted (Environment Agency). Thermal pollution of water can occur when a large volume of water is used for cooling purposes in processes that release large amounts of heat. Electrical stations use water for this purpose, and subsequently release it into the environment. This water is considerably warmer than the rest of the water in the environment, and brings a corresponding rise in temperature to the entire body of water where it is released. This again reduces the capacity of water to hold dissolved oxygen, with the same effects described above (Lourenco and Neves). With most point sources of water pollution under regulation, the biggest source of water pollution is diffusion. If the source of pollution cannot be pinpointed, the processes that create or contribute to diffuse pollution have to be more strictly managed. Since 2003, European legislation has created a Water Framework Directive (WFD) to actively assess the standards of water usage with chemical, biological, and physical tests. The WFD monitors all bodies of water (including ground water reserves and artificial reservoirs) with the ultimate goal of reducing water pollution in the United Kingdom and all EU member states by 2015. The United Kingdom’s Environment Agency summarizes some of its recommendations: Key policy issues, such as the control of diffuse water pollution, land-use planning, the designation of heavily modified water bodies and the role of wetlands†¦must be addressed by relevant authorities. Particular emphasis should be placed on the diverse sources of diffuse pollution†¦These include discharges from agriculture and also from other land-uses such as urban developments, transport infrastructure and abandoned mineral workings. Those who manage the land may have to do things in a different way to ensure that they do not cause water pollution. (1) Some forms of pollution are not classified by the sphere of the environment that they contaminate, but by their nature and properties. Our planet is constantly bathed in radiation originating from outer space, and there are trace amounts of radioactivity scattered throughout the earth’s crust. These do not constitute radioactive pollution; typically, this form of pollution originates from nuclear power processing, or from equipment used in nuclear medicine and radiography, although nuclear fallout from bombs and disasters, such as the 1986 Chernobyl incident, is perhaps the most striking example of nuclear pollution. In the case of Chernobyl, flawed design of the nuclear reactor, combined with personnel errors, led to an explosion which released around 5% of the reactor’s core of radioactive material into the atmosphere. The wind carried fallout composed mainly of the radioisotopes iodine-131, cesium-134, and cesium 137, from the reactor across the former Soviet Union. Among the most heavily affected countries were Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. The radioactive pollution’s immediate effect resulted in the death of 30 people, injury to over a hundred other individuals, and the immediate evacuation and relocation of over 200,000 affected citizens. One of the most studied long term effects of the disaster is a significant increase in the number of cases of thyroid cancer among generations of exposed individuals, due to the accumulation of radioactive iodine-131 in the thyroid gland (International Atomic Energy Agency). It should be noted that Chernobyl was a rare nuclear disaster that is not representative of the more common forms of radiation pollution; rather, it serves as an example of the potential scale and duration of pollution’s ill effects. Much more commonly encountered are the radiation-related risks in the medical field, where exposure to X-rays and radiotherapy practices can lead to an increased risk of developing certain cancers among some groups of patients. However, for the most part, properly observed medical standards will ensure that the risk of developing cancer from medical radiation is low – an estimated 0.05% per rem of radiation. The amount of exposure depends on the medical procedures involved, and although the increase in the risk of cancer induction is small (from zero to one percent), there is no threshold of radiation exposure below which it is absolutely risk-free. Thus, all procedures involving radiation exposure should be decided on the basis of risk versus benefit to the patient (Classic). Homo sapiens is the only species that has succeeded in domesticating other species, and with the spread of human civilization, we have carried our pets (and pests) to new lands. Introduced species constitute a form of biological pollution – when a non-native species establishes itself in an ecosystem, displacing certain native species that play a vital role in that ecosystem, and possibly causing economic damage, they are considered invasive. In ecology, the â€Å"rule of tens† states that one in every ten introduced species becomes invasive (Boudouresque and Verlaque, 1). The most significant direct consequence of biological invasion is the extinction of native species that are not adapted to compete with invaders. Such is the case with the Nile perch (Lates niloticus), a popular commercial fish species that was introduced to Lake Victoria in East Africa around the year 1962. The Nile perch disrupted the lake’s ecosystem by predatory activity, feeding on many native fish species, and spreading parasites which it carries in its gills. An estimated 300 fish species native to Lake Victoria were driven to extinction by the 1980s (Blake). While the Nile perch and some other invasive species have at least had some marginal economic benefit (a boost to the commercial fishing industry and local employment), in many cases the effect of biological invasion has been a complete economic disaster. Australia’s plague of introduced European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) has not only threatened native animals as the rabbits outcompete them for food and shelter; the rabbits have threatened the ecosystem itself by decimating vegetation, causing the soil (arid and fragile over much of Australia) to erode. This in turn has greatly reduced the available land for sheep and cattle grazing – two of Australia’s major industries. Efforts to reduce rabbit populations have only increased the economic cost of the rabbit invasion, as Australians have tried to use poison, traps, dynamite, and expensive biological control agents in the form of diseases such as myxomatosis and the calicivirus (Diamond, 392). Managing an invasion is very difficult once the invasive species has become established. As noted by Oregon State University biologist John Chapman, â€Å"Unlike other contaminants in the world, introduced species dont have a half-life, they can spread from a single point source, and they have a potentially infinite life span† (qtd. in Reiber). An introduced species becomes established when conditions in the new environment are favorable, and it has little to no competition, and natural predators are lacking. Too often, strategies devised to control populations of invasive species backfire – the myxomatosis disease used to exterminate rabbits in Australia did succeed in bringing down the rabbit population by 90%, but the survivors then developed a resistance to the disease (Diamond, 392). Biological or chemical control agents used to eradicate invasive species often are detrimental to native species as well. In most cases, the safest way to remove invasive species from the environment is manually, which can be highly labor intensive and needs to be organized at the local or community level. Increased sound levels in our surroundings can constitute a form of noise pollution. While some people would classify certain genres or styles of music as noise, the most common form of noise pollution comes from transportation and industrial activity. Extreme levels of noise pollution can lead to a deterioration and eventual impairment of the auditory function in humans and other organisms. Noise pollution also affects individuals in other ways that may be less easy to measure or quantify; increasing levels of stress and annoyance, for example, or disruption of normal sleeping routines. States such as Maryland have implemented some form noise control; in Maryland, the Noise Control Program was passed into legislation in 1970, to provide technical assistance and enforcement regarding noise related issues across the state. It has been de-funded since July 2005, as the duty of regulating noise-related issues has been passed down to local government. There are many other forms of pollution that do not fit neatly into this broad classification, and to fully understand the effect of every pollutant would often require time-consuming research into various case studies. The interaction between different types of pollution often contributes to a complex effect acting on a larger scale, such as global warming, which is a phenomenon created by the interaction between the increased levels of various gases (known collectively as greenhouse gases). Pollution affects us on a global scale, but it can be reduced or remediated by efforts at the local and personal level. The easiest way to start contributing to the effort to reduce pollution is to minimize one’s own pollution of the environment. It is this diffuse type of pollution which is much more difficult to catch and trace. Individual citizens not disposing of their wastes properly, or households with misconnected drains, all have a small effect on pollution levels, and collectively this adds up to a large increase in pollution if unchecked or unreported. This is the pollution whose source is often unnoticed, and it is up to each individual to eliminate himself or herself as a source of this anonymous, unaccountable pollution. Many nonprofit organizations and agencies concerned with the welfare of our environment are engaged in activities to counter pollution and its effects. Participating in local community clean-up events can help to not only reduce the level of pollution in a community, but also heightens the awareness of people regarding pollution issues, especially if the organizers have invited an environmental expert to deliver a talk about problems relevant to the community. Recycling gadgets instead of throwing them away is a solution that helps both the consumers and the manufacturing industries. Sony Electronics, Inc. has a recycling program that accepts old or non-working Sony branded products free of charge, and even products of other companies for a small fee (On a higher level, government environmental agencies monitor the major point sources of pollution such as wastes disposed by large factories and industrial companies. With pollution’s far-reaching consequences, nations must help each other to remediate the worst polluted areas. An estimated 1 billion people are affected by pollution issues, and a majority of those people are in the developing world, where a general lack of awareness and local regulation of pollution has reduced the overall life expectancy and quality of life (Hanrahan et al., 2). With minimal financial investment, a number of remediation measures can be carried out in some of the worst polluted areas in the developing world. These measures will help save lives, particularly of children, at an estimated cost of only one to fifty US dollars per person each year. However, implementing such measures often takes a back seat to the basic needs of education and primary health services that local governments often must prioritize (Hanrahan et al., 2-4). This is why it is important to have international intervention and cooperation, not apathy and the selfish attitude summed up by ‘it’s someone else’s problem, let them take care of it’. In dealing with pollution it is important to keep in mind that many of the sources contributing to pollution are industries upon which modern society is dependent. Mining and agriculture are two examples of ancient activities that have helped men to develop their civilizations. Mining enabled us to build better shelters and construct the tools and implements that we use in everyday tasks. Agriculture and the potential to store surplus food has taken us from the lifestyle of hunter-gatherers and brought humans together in the first settlements, which eventually grew into cities and states. Pollution is a byproduct of these activities, and the effort to reduce or prevent pollution is not trying to destroy major industries or cease the production and development of new technology. It is an effort to make the producers and consumers responsible for the regulation of wastes created by these activities, and their proper management and disposal. We live in an age of awareness, and thanks to our awakening and gradual realization of how we affect the world around us, today’s environmental crisis has increasingly become a fact of life in the modern world. Modern governments should no longer be intent on debating the validity of environmental concerns, but focused on finding and implementing solutions. The root of these problems – human degradation of the environment and exploitation of its resources – has been at work ever since the dawn of the civilized age. The environmental crisis of the present, on both the global and local levels, is not a burden that we have borne for only a few generations; it is a result of centuries, even millennia, of human exploitation of available resources without the guidance of modern environmental science, accelerated by the industrialization brought about by developing technology, and abetted by attitudes and sensibilities that have developed in ignorance of how we impact our surroundings. The inertia of these outdated attitudes and accelerating industrial processes is huge and cannot be so easily stopped; it may take decades to realize the full extent of the damage we have done to the environment in every aspect, and perhaps longer to reverse the trend. But for many of us, the fundamental error in thinking has, at least, been corrected. Environmental problems elsewhere in the world are no longer just someone else’s concern. With modern globalization, what we do in our part of the world affects everyone else, and if we continue to act and think with that in mind, the environmental problems facing all of society will be managed by society as a whole. Works Cited â€Å"A slow-moving oil spill.† Ed. John Dodge. 01 December 2007. The Olympian. 04 December 2007 http://news.tradingcharts.com/futures/5/7/101611775.html Akbar, S. et al. World Health Organization. Air Quality Guidelines Global Update 2005. Germany: Druckpartner Moser, 2005. Boudouresque CF, Verlaque M. Biological pollution in the Mediterranean Sea: invasive versus introduced macrophytes. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2002 January; 44(1):32-8. Buell, Frederick. From Apocalypse to Way of Life: Four Decades of Environmental Crisis in the U.S. New York: Routledge, 2003. Diamond, Jared. Collapse. New York: Penguin Books, 2005. Environment Agency, 2003. The Water Framework Directive – not only a question of quality. Bristol: Environment Agency. Environment Agency, 2004. Soil, the hidden resource. Bristol: Environment Agency. Environment Agency, 2007. The unseen threat to water quality. Bristol: Environment Agency. Hanrahan, D. et al. Blacksmith Institute. Cost Effectiveness and Health Impact of Remediation of Highly Polluted Sites in the Developing World. 2007. International Atomic Energy Agency. Chernobyl’s Legacy: Health, Environmental and Socio-economic Impacts and Recommendations to the Governments of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Austria: IAEA, 2006. â€Å"Interview of Al Gore.† Larry King Live. CNN. 05 July 2007.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Invasion Biology Introduced Species Summary Project.† Ed. Jennifer Blake. 10 January 2005. Columbia University. 02 December 2007 http://www.columbia.edu/itc/cerc/danoff-burg/invasion_bio/inv_spp_summ/Lates_niloticus.htm John, E. M. et al. Medical radiation exposure and breast cancer risk: findings from the Breast Cancer Family Registry. International Journal of Cancer: 2007 July; 121(2):386-94. â€Å"Link Between Climate Change and Biological Pollution could Harm Northwest.† Ed. Derek Reiber. 02 July 2001. Sightline Institute. 02 December 2007 http://www.tidepool.org/derek/invasives.html â€Å"Noise Pollution Control.† 2007. Maryland Department of the Environment. 05 December 2007 http://www.mde.state.md.us Path: Programs; Multimedia Programs; Noise Pollution Control. â€Å"Pollution and its effect to the environment: Interview with Ricky Clancy of Sony Electronics Blog.† 27 September 2007. 05 December 2007. http://bdpollution.blogspot.com/2007/09/interview-with-ricky-clancy-of-sony.html â€Å"Risk/Benefit of Medical Radiation Exposures.† Ed. Kelly Classic. 04 December 2007. Health Physics Society. 04 December 2007 http://hps.org Path: HPS Publications; Articles. â€Å"Thermal Pollution.† Ed. Silvia Lourenco and Rute Neves. 05 December 1996. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 04 December 2007 http://www.rpi.edu/dept/chem-eng/Biotech-Environ/Environmental/THERMAL/tte1.htm United States Environmental Protection Agency. Noise: A Health Problem. Washington, 1978

Creatine :: essays research papers fc

Creatine and Ephedrine Bill Romanowski, Shannon Sharpe, and Mark McGwire, are just a few of the professional athletes that use and endorse fitness supplements such as Androstendione, Creatine, and other products. Every on camera interview that you see Shannon Sharpe he is wearing an EAS mock turtleneck. EAS is one of the leading manufacturers of Creatine and other supplements. The hottest supplement in Hollywood is Ephedrine; an herbal based drug designed to increase fat loss. Why do so many athletes use supplements? Who is using the supplements? How can I get supplements? Those are a few of the questions I have tried to answer in this report. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study is to educate. To educate not only the athletes using the supplements such as Creatine and Ephedrine but to also educate the governing bodies of collegiate sports. Answers were sought to the following questions: 1. Who is using Creatine and/or Ephedrine based products? 2. Why are they using supplements? 3. Are these prod ucts easily available? 4. Should the NCAA increase regulations on supplemental usage? Methods and procedures used to formulate this report I used primary and secondary research methods. I used the Internet as a focal point for my research. There were many sites devoted strictly to supplement usage and education on subjects related to the supplements, Creatine and Ephedrine. I also used muscle magazines and books for research. For primary research I gave forty questionnaires (see appendix 2) to twenty women and twenty men from Husson College. Background on Creatine What is Creatine When I think of Creatine I don’t think of a body building supplement I think of an aid to recuperation. Like an aspirin you take if you have a headache, an athlete takes Creatine if they have chronic sore muscles from continuously working out. Creatine is a compound that can be made in our body. It is taken as a strength supplement. The chemical name for Creatine is methyl guanidine-acetic acid. The organ that produces the bodies Creatine is the liver. The amount of natural Creatine in the body can be increased or decreased depending on our diet(Absolute). How much Creatine do we have in our body? A 160-pound person would have approximately 120 grams of Creatine stored in their body (The Beg†¦). The reason Creatine is such a hot commodity is because 95-98% of the Creatine in our body is stored in our muscles.

Epic of Beowulf Essay - An Epic Poem -- Epic of Beowulf Essay

Beowulf:   An Epic Poem   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To qualify as an epic poem, Beowulf reflects the values of the culture in which it was created. The Anglo-Saxon culture and the poem share many of the same values. They shared a heroic ideal that included loyalty, strength, courage, courtesy, and generosity. Like all epic poems Beowulf is a long narrative work that tells the adventures of a great hero and also reflects the values of the society in which it was written. Both Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxons believed in those qualities as an individual. The strongest ties of loyalty in their society were to kin and lord. A kingdom was only as strong as its war-leader king. In order to have loyal men, the King needed to repay them. In other words the men were paid for loyalty. They were sometimes given, land, gold, money, food, armor and other things for a reward after battle. Both the Anglo-Saxons and the characters in Beowulf are willing to risk their life at any moment-they are inattentive to danger. The Anglo-Saxons acquired riches by plundering treasures of their enemies. Every family formed a bond of loyalty and protection. A family was bound to avenge a father or brother’s death by feud with the tribe or clan which had killed him. This duty of blood revenge was the supreme religion of the Anglo-Saxons. The family passed down this hatred forever until avenged. Always staying loyal to family and the lord. (Allen, 12-14) "The Anglo Saxons appear as a race of fierce, cruel, and barbaric pagans, delighting in the seas, in slaughter, and in drink "(Allen, 17). The character of the ancient Saxons displayed the qualities of fearless, active, and successful. The Anglo-Saxons are mostly a barbaric race, not savage and rude but mostly military and... .... W. Beowulf: An Introduction. Cambridge: Univ. Press, 1967. Collins, John J. "Apocalyptic Literature," Harper's biblical Dictionary, ed. Paul J. Achtmeier. San Francisco: Harper, 1985. Emmerson, Richard K. and Bernard McGinn. The Apocalypse in the Middle Ages. Ithaca: Cornell, 1992. Garmonsway, et. al. Beowulf and Its Analogues. New York: Dutton, 1971. Gang, T. M. "Approaches to Beowulf." RES 3 (1952):.6-12. Gildas. De Excidio Britanniae in Wade-Evans, A. W. , trans. Nennius' History of Britons. London: Methuen, 1938. Goldsmith, Margaret. "The Christian Theme of Beowulf." Medium Aevum 29 (1960): 81-101. Green, Martin. "Man, Time, and Apocalypse in The Wanderer, The Seafarer, and Beowulf," JEGP 74 (1975): 502-518. Hieatt, Constance B. "Envelope Patterns and the Structure of Beowulf," English Studies in Canada 1 (1975): 249-265.

Discourse On Colonialism Essay

In â€Å"Discourse on Colonialism† mentioned on page two, paragraph three, the author makes a connection with the misinterpretation of how the Europeans thought that those who did not practice Christianity were savages. â€Å"†¦is Christian pedantry, which laid down the dishonest equations Christianity=civilization, paganism=savagery, from which there could not but ensue abominable colonialist and racist consequences, whose victims were to be the Indians, the yellow peoples, and the Negroes.† In Things Fall Apart, when the missionaries landed in Africa, they accused the Umuofians of ignorance for not knowing how to â€Å"properly† practice religion. At the time of Things Fall Apart, religion was associated with â€Å"living things† while the European missionaries said that â€Å"correct religion† came from worshipping gods that were not concrete objects. On page 146 the text said, â€Å"Your gods are not alive and cannot do you any harm,â€⠄¢ replied the white man. ‘They are pieces of wood and stone.† This shows that the Europeans established supremacy over the Africans by denouncing their religion, which ultimately aided their efforts to colonize the Blacks. On the very first page of â€Å"Discourse on Colonialism†, it says â€Å"A civilization that proves incapable of solving the problems it creates is a decadent civilization. A civilization that chooses to close its eyes to its most crucial problems is a stricken civilization.† The same situation occurred in Things Fall Apart with the initial European contact because the Umuofians did not see them as a threat. This led to the decimation of their culture as the Umuofians allowed the Europeans to live amongst them and convert the outcasts. That was the Umuofians biggest mistake because when the Europeans had established a base of converts, it helped them to continue to convert the tribesmen and eventually take over the African tribe. Connections with Kaffir Boy: In â€Å"Discourse on Colonialism† by Aime Cesaire, he talks about the effect he witnessed due to colonialism which he believes â€Å"dehumanizes even the most civilized man†. He is talking about in Kaffir Boy, Mark at young age, witnesses the â€Å"dehumanization† of his father. â€Å"He seemed uncharacteristically powerless and contrite, a far cry from the tough, resolute and absolute ruler of the house I knew him to be, the father whose words were law.† (pg 22). A fine line is formed between races as Mark observes. At the time, the white people had established supremacy over the black people due to the laws of Apartheid. When Mark’s father was being dehumanized, it was a very overwhelming occurrence for Mark because he learned there are individuals who have more power than his father. Page two of â€Å"Disclosure of Colonialism† the author speaks of the â€Å"brutalized and degradation of the colonizer†. The blacks are brutally treated by their own people even. They can take a man and turn him into an animal. Connections to SOAPSTONE Evidence: The diction of Discourse on Colonialism is anger. The author, Aime Cesaire, expresses his opinion concisely, and emphasizes how Europe is indefensible spiritually and morally. â€Å"Henceforth, the colonized know that they have an advantage over them. They know that their temporary, â€Å"masters† are lying. Therefore, that their masters are weak.† (pg 1). In Cesaire’s opinion, the Europeans are indefensible because their actions to colonize are lies to the eyes of Africans. Since these lies are not acknowledged by the natives the Africans can fight back with their religion, and crumble the colonizers without faltering. Even the title â€Å"master† is acknowledged as a lie. The Africans know that the colonizers are not the ones to command them. Cesaire knows that in the perspective of a native. Cesaire speaks without humor. His seriousness can be found throughout â€Å"Discourse on Colonialism†. Many times he points out the hypocrisy of th e colonizers. His criticism of the Christians is relentless. He points out the â€Å"Hitler† side of everybody. Connections with current events Currently in syria there is an uprising in a place resembling the slums in which Kaffir Boy takes place. Mark grew up in a place where jobs were hard to come by, and people were dragged out of their houses at night by the police and were sometimes shot. This week in syria, â€Å"Islamist extremists in Syria’s insurgency killed 150 soldiers in a battle for control of an Aleppo suburb this week, including 51 who were executed after they had surrendered.† The same sort of thing happened in Kaffir Boy, except it was  the opposite with the police killing the civilians, going to their houses at night so the police knew people would

Week 1 Essays

Eng 221 Element K/Week 1 Essays Eng 221 Element K/Week 1 Essay Eng 221 Element K/Week 1 Essay What are the differences between technical writing and other forms of writing with which you are familiar? Which is more persuasive: technical writing or expository writing? Explain your answer. Which type of writing have you seen used more often in the corporate environment? Academic writing is a form of writing that I am familiar with and the differences between academic writing and technical writing are very important. Both styles of writing have more than one type. The purposes and the audiences are different in these two styles of writing. Academic purposes are presenting your knowledge about certain things, giving your opinion about something you have studied, and to give your point of view. Technical writing’s purpose can be used to teach a person how to use a product, describe how to do someone’s job in their absence, and to describe how a company conduct’s its business. Persuasive to me means to express your opinion or argue a point of view and/or idea. Expository writing is writing that explains something that is based on facts verses based on opinion. Technical writing is writing that is used primarily in engineering and scientific work, which explains procedural steps and explanations of different terminology. I feel based on the type of language used, how convincing the factual information is, and how the attitude of the author is determines the persuasiveness of the writing, so either writing could be persuasive. The type of writing in the corporate environment that is used the most depends on that type of corporation it is. Corporations that do more research or sales I think would use more technical writing. In other companies I think expository writing is more useful.

Marketing Workflow Management How to Prevent Last-Minute Fire Drills

Marketing Workflow Management How to Prevent Last-Minute Fire Drills How many times have you been disrupted by a last-minute project? If you’re like most marketers, probably more times than you can count. Someone from another department has something they need done, and they havent given you enough time. Their poor planning becomes your late night at the office, and no one goes home happy. There has to be a better way, right? The key is to stop last-minute emergencies before they start with an effective marketing workflow management process. By developing a clear list of marketing services your team can provide, along with detailed timelines, you can set ground rules for how others request your team’s time. Implemented successfully, this type of process will: Eliminate last-minute headaches. Stop letting other people’s lack of foresight derail  your own teams priorities. Enable your team to work more efficiently. When team members know exactly what they’ll do each day, they can prepare more effectively. That leads to more work getting done on time with less stress. Let you go home on time. Your family misses you. Make this dream a reality and follow us through this post. DID YOU KNOW: is the only Marketing Suite that solves all a marketers problems. From scheduling and publishing social media, to fielding project requests, to producing and managing content, its a marketers dream software. Start By Developing a Marketing Services Catalog Did you ever get the Toys R Us catalog when you were a kid? If you were like me, you probably spent hours circling things you were hoping to get for the holiday season. Your marketing services catalog is similar, except instead of gadgets and gizmos, it lists all the services other departments in your company can request from you. By presenting your services this way, you can make it clear to others what you can (and cannot) do. It also helps to set realistic expectations for when you can complete the work. Your catalog should include the following: Your available services. These are the things you can do. For example, if your sales team needs sales collateral, they could choose â€Å"Presentation Slidedeck† or â€Å"One-Page Sales Sheet†. Time estimates. This is how long each type of project typically takes to complete. Point of contact. Who should people direct their requests to? Download the free Marketing Services Catalog template we’ve included in the bundle below, and we’ll show you how to complete it. By the time you’re done, you’ll have an entire service catalog ready to go.Marketing Workflow Management: How to Prevent Last-Minute EmergenciesList Your Available Services Odds are your team can create a wide array of content assets. However, you probably have limits, too. Help the rest of your organization understand what you can (and can’t) do for them by listing out all your available services. Begin by figuring out: Which types of content do you create most often? These are your bread and butter projects. Which types of content might your organization need?  It might help to discuss this with stakeholders in your organization. Who is responsible for creating each type of content or executing each type of marketing project? This will be important information to have documented later on. Determine Time Estimates For Each Service When someone asks you to do something, you should be clear about how long it will take. Instead of relying on guesswork, develop a simple process for delivering accurate estimates. This will help you set clear expectations for every project. So, how exactly can you tell how long something will take before you even get started? The answer is by tracking time on past projects and using that data to make an estimated projection. Real-world completion times might vary, but this will help you get close. Start by building a simple spreadsheet (or use the free downloadable one included in this post’s template bundle). It should look something like this: Number each project, enter its name, and the team member it’s assigned to. Then, note the days it was started and completed. Finally, track the total hours spent on each one. Make sure each project listed is the same type (ex: a blog post, sales sheet, social campaign, brochure, or anything else you’re responsible for). Have each member on your team follow this process, too. To time each project, you can use any clock, or timer app. Here are a few options: Timer Tab: free web-based timer and stop-watch. Stopwatch and Timer: Android timer app. Timer+: iOS timer app. Toggl: A robust time-tracking app for every platform imaginable. There’s nothing complicated about this. You just need to develop a decent sample size of projects. Then, calculate the average time it takes to complete. Repeat this process for different types of projects, and you’ll quickly develop a baseline for how long work should take. Tip: To keep time tracking neat and orderly, round minutes to the nearest quarter-hour. Ex: 2.25, 5.75, 3.5, etc. Build Repeatable Workflow Checklists for Every Project and Task If you have recurring projects you complete on a routine basis, build a checklist for each one. It’s a lot easier to get the work done thoroughly and consistently when you develop habits to tackle them quickly. With well-written checklists, you’ll eventually be able to work through tasks faster, without missing any important details. There are a few steps involved in doing this the right way. Let’s walk through them. Map Out Project Workflows and Timelines Now that you’ve determined how long projects take for each team member, it’s time to bring that together and determine how long projects take in total. Begin by listing out each step involved in completing a given task, and who is responsible for each task: Then, determine how many days to leave for project handoffs (periods where one team member is done with their steps and passing it along to the next person). This should be based on the average number of hours it takes to complete each step (on average). This should give you an accurate picture of how long it takes your team to get something done. Be sure to include enough breathing room for any roadblocks or plan changes you might encounter. Ideally, you’ll be able to work ahead, so you’re not always working directly against a deadline. Create Marketing Project Checklists List the steps for each project included in your service catalog. Include the name of the team member responsible for each step, and note how many days each person has to complete their work. This helps remove ambiguity around who is doing what, and when they’re supposed to finish it. To make this easier, you can use the free checklist template we’ve included in your free template bundle. Here’s what it looks like: Again, this is an extremely simple template. However, laying out each step for every project (and doing each one in the most efficient order) can be powerful for building productive habits. Here’s a quick interview between Atul Gawande (author of The Checklist Manifesto) and WYNC covers the psychology behind this. He applies this principle to medicine, but it works for marketing, too: To use the checklist above, name it for a specific project. Then, fill in each field accordingly. Here’s an example of what it might look like once complete: Alternately, we’ve also included a printable checklist template you can use. Here’s what it looks like: Use the one you prefer most. customers can also build reusable checklists using Task Templates. They make it easy to create checklists, keeping track of your progress percentage toward goal each time you check off a completed task. Build Your Marketing Services Catalog Once you’ve built a full list of project types and time estimates, you’re ready to build your catalog. Use the free downloadable Marketing Service Catalog template included in this post to complete this next step. Find the following section in your template. Then, fill in the appropriate fields: Fill in the first line with the project category. Then, on the second line, add the specific project type. Below that, add in the amount of time that work should take to complete. If there is someone specific in your organization that should be contacted for that request, include their contact information, too. Next, copy and paste this block of text as many times as you need to fill out all your available service categories and project types. Here's what it might start to look like once it's filled in: Once you've added all your available services, scroll up to the Table of Contents page (the second page in the template). Then, click Insert on the top tool bar, and drill into Index and Tables. Select your style format of choice, and click OK. This will auto-populate a clickable table of contents: Next, we'll outline a process your organization can use to request projects and "bill" your time. Store your catalog on an intranet, distribute copies via email, or get it in your organization's hands the best way possible. That way, they'll have it on hand when they need your team's time. Recommended Reading: How to Boost a Marketing Workflow Process That Will Reduce Work By 30-50% Develop A Time-Billing Process Agency folks understand how billing time works. You track time for each team member on each project and bill your client accordingly per your hourly rates. In-house marketers creating collateral for other internal teams can apply a similar framework, too. Do this by giving other teams an hourly budget for your team members time. Each time they request a project, you can give them an hourly â€Å"cost,† and a timeline for completion. This can help you manage your time effectively and reduce pressure from last-minute requests. This process can help you manage your time effectively and reduce pressure from last-minute...To do this, start by answering these two questions: How much time per week can each team member apply to projects outside our own marketing department’s goals?  Now that you’ve calculated how much time it takes for each person to complete different tasks, you can easily figure this out. How often do we receive outside requests?  For example, if you know your sales team will need collateral from you every two weeks, and you know how long those pieces take to create, you can set aside an acceptable amount of time. Set Up a Project Request Form Next, you’ll need to set up a project request form for other teams to use. This is how they’ll ask for your team’s time to work on projects they need. Google Forms makes this easy. Follow along to build out the fields you’ll need. Step 1:  Visit Google Forms and select Blank: Step 2:  In the Title field, enter Marketing Project List. Then, under Description, enter â€Å"Complete this form to request a project from our marketing team.† Feel free to edit either of these as you like. Step 3:  List each type of marketing project someone can request. Keep adding more until you’ve listed everything available. Step 4:  Click the slider to make this field required: Step 5:  Click the plus sign to add another question. Step 6:  From the drop-down menu, select Short Answer. Step 7:  Fill in the question text. Something to the effect of â€Å"When does this need to be done?† will work. Step 8:  Keep adding more questions as necessary. You might also want to include project notes, contact information, or anything else that might help in your specific situation. As you proceed, drag the questions into the correct order by clicking and dragging on the six dots you see pictured: Step 9:  Add one more short answer question for name and department. Step 10:  Next, click the Settings gear icon in the upper right, and restrict the form to people within your company (if you’re using G Suites). Step 11:  Decide who will be responsible for managing the flow of incoming project requests. This should be a project manager, department head, or other senior-level staffers. Step 12:  Click Send. Then, click the link icon. Copy and paste that link into your browser. Step 13:  You’ll now see your form live. Look it over and make sure it’s good to go. Step 14:  Make the link to your form available to your organization. Here are a couple of options: Send the link to everyone in the company and ask them to bookmark it. Include a link in any centralized project management, communication tool, or intranet you might use. You can embed forms too by clicking Send, then clicking : DID YOU KNOW: Managing complex campaigns and projects is easy using ? See how our marketing calendar software makes project management easy. Step 15:  Now, when people respond, you’ll see them under the Responses tab. Here’s what they look like. To see more detail, click over to the Individual tab: Now, you can see exactly what is being requested. Step 16:  Go back to the Responses page, and click Make Spreadsheet. This will create a Google Sheet that includes all your responses: Step 17:  Finally, go back to form, and click the three vertical dots. Now, choose â€Å"Get email notifications for new responses.† This will send an email to the email address associated with the creator of the form, letting you know every time someone has a project request. There you go! You now have a simple and reliable framework for accepting work requests from your organization. Here's how to build a simple and reliable framework for accepting work requests from your...Managing Your Team's Time Each member of your team has a finite number of hours per week. They also have multiple demands competing for their time and attention. That means managers need to do two things: Ensure their teams aren't overloaded. If you allow them to take on too many tasks,  it defeats the purpose of this workflow management process. Ensure their team members are accountable for hitting deadlines. Make sure they're making the most of their time and getting the work done. Earlier, we mapped out project workflows and timelines. Now, we'll show you how to make sure those  processes are realistic and workable. Have each member of your team track their time using the Employee Time Sheet Template included in this post. Here's what it looks like: Each person should fill out the name of each project they work on, and how many hours they spend on them. Then, at the end of the week or month, they can submit their time sheet to a supervisor or project manager. This way, you can easily keep track of how well your workflows are, well, working. Recommended Reading: The Complete 16-Step Marketing Project Management Process That Will Get You Organized Plan Everything on One Marketing Calendar Once you have multiple marketing projects in progress, you'll want one centralized place to see everything. This is where you need a marketing calendar. Consider using the Marketing Scheduling Calendar Template included in your template bundle: This template is built in Excel and makes it easy to map out projects month to month.  Paste it into Google Sheets or the cloud-based version of Excel, and your entire team will be able to see every project in progress, all in one place. Or, if you're ready to move up to marketing tool, try . Field Marketing Requests with Zapier and Rather than sifting through that project request spreadsheet, you can set up to automatically create projects on your calendar when a request comes through. Here's how it works: Go through the process of creating the Google form like discussed above. When your Google Form is created, connect your account to the Google Form using Zapier. When you finish connecting the Google Form to Zapier, begin to connect the form's fields to 's Project in Zapier. Here's how: Choose Title: projectname and  Description: description Next,  add more labels to project requests, choose a project type or color label. Finally, choose a Project Owner, Status, and whether or not you want the request to go to the Idea Board. Choosing an owner for all requests will notify a specific individual any time a new request is created. If you don't want a marketing request to be automatically scheduled on your live calendar, you can send the requests directly to your Idea Board to manually schedule later based on team bandwidth. If you choose to have your marketing request go straight to the Idea Board, here's what it will look like. You can then drag and drop each request on to your calendar to schedule them based on your team's workload and content plan. Conflict Resolution: How to Say No and Defend Your Team’s Time The goal behind creating a marketing workflow management system is to protect your time against unreasonable last-minute requests. It forces your organization to respect your team’s time, while clearly communicating how long work will take. This sets up realistic expectations for everyone and cuts down on internal conflict. However, how do you handle disagreements if they do come up? Maybe HR doesn’t understand why you can’t create a recruiting brochure in two days. Or, perhaps your PR team is flustered because they need collateral for an event in a week, and need you to deliver it right now. You can always pass responsibility back where it belongs: with the team that didn’t plan ahead effectively. You’ll want to handle those conversations with care, though, and you don’t want to look like you’re unfriendly or process-driven to a fault, either. There are going to be times where changes in plans require some quick hustling, and you should be prepared to help (sometimes). Recommended Reading: The Top 101 Marketing Time Management Strategies You Need to Succeed Saying No Professionally and Politely A lot of us hate saying no to projects. Unless you like constantly derailing your own priorities, though, it’s an essential skill to have. Understand the need to protect your own time.  We naturally want to help when we’re asked to do something. If diverting your attention away is going to result in your own work suffering, though, it might not always be worth it. Understand that you don’t have to get into the weeds explaining yourself.  The person requesting your time probably doesn’t care exactly why you can’t help them right away. As long as you can explain you have important projects to complete, that should be enough (and will save time for both of you). If you can’t help, try to find someone who can.  If there’s someone else in your organization who can help, refer the requester to the next best possible contact. They’ll appreciate your thoughtfulness and everyone will get more done. For more on saying no, we recommend this excellent guide from Lifehacker.