Against legalizing gay marriage Essay

Whenever there is debate on gay marriage it involves social as well as legal arguments and it can be for or against the topic of legalizing gay marriage. If people are asked about equality of basic rights to gays like that of protection in law or owning property or benefits from the government, almost three fourth of the population will favor the suggestion. But as soon as the same set of people are asked about gay marriage, only one third out of them might agree with it. There are many pre-occupied thoughts that prevail in the minds of people in the society about gays. The first and the foremost thing is that marriage is a tradition in which a man is legally bound to a woman and is responsible for the development and security of the family as well as the society too. If gay marriages were allowed there would be no meaning to this holy institution and it is not in the best interests for the development of children, as they will be deprived of either the father or mother. As far as equal rights are concerned gays too have all rights that common residents of the state has and they can marry the person of opposite sex just as anyone marries. But sking for legalization of gay marriages is something extra because they would like to marry the person of the same sex, which is only based on sexual relationship. Marriage is a holy institution and the tradition followed is not because the base of marriage is only sexual relationship but the whole lot of responsibilities is shared right from bringing up children and giving them healthy environment to grow and become a good human being. Gay marriage would weaken this respect for marriage as an institution and would also change the real definition of marriage. From time immemorial, studies show that marriage has helped people become stronger emotionally, financially, and psychologically and most of the time medically too. If gay marriages were legalized the traditional values of the families would be weakened and they are very important for the proper development of the society. Marriage is considered as the building block of our society with families involving man, woman and children in each. It is well said that lovers as well as friends come and go but family stands for anyone in any circumstances. The reason behind the deterioration of ulture and values is the weakening of today’s family bonding. If ‘another’ type of family is introduced in the society through gay marriages, it will make the situation even worse. It is going to create significant and long term damage to culture and society. Marriage is an honorable institute that complete, support and encourage one another in a bond that is invisible. Almost every religion is not in favor of homosexuality and most of them consider gay marriage as a sin. Many scholars are of the opinion that gay marriage would give way to polygamy and extra marital relationships and then it would be very difficult o save and bind the society into specific values and rules regarding relationships especially sex. The kids today have become extrovert and frank and at the same time they don’t hesitate to agree with the fact that they are homosexual or bisexual. If gay marriage were legalized its consequences would be very deteriorating for the society and there would be massive repercussions. The consequences of these marriages would be in the upbringing of children and the future generation would be huge sufferers. Now, the existing marriage and system of law that help to get divorce easily has already pulled down the institution f marriage. It is the undeniable interest of the countries to put it on the right path, which will not be possible if gay marriage was legalized. There is another point that should be taken care of and that is the scientific and logical perspective. While talking about marriages and relationship, society as well as science does not accept and conclude that incest is safe and that is the reason why intermarriage of family members are prohibited. Also polygamy is not good for the health of the family and society as a whole and that is why Muslims and Mormons are restricted in many ountries to marry more than one compliant adult without divorcing the existing one. So we see that there are reasons behind all relationships and rules to follow in the institute of marriage so that a healthy society is built up. As far as gay marriage is concerned, never in the history we find that gays have achieved marital status or it is good and for the welfare of the society for any convincing reason and so it is not so easy to shred the tradition of society. Social scientists are seriously concerned about the development of children as well as society and are worried about the fractured family that the children of today are getting. If this continues and autonomous people marry and remarry or have relationships outside marriage, children will be the utmost sufferers. If in this condition gay marriage is legalized, everyone is going to care for themselves and no one will take the responsibility of the future generation and society as well. Marriage ties two people together and along with them future and past generation are also attached. It is an institution that teaches carrying along responsibilities and selflessness, which further helps build a society with strong and successful values and culture. Gay marriage would only lead to society with eople who care for their interests and these kinds of people never consider the development of society or believe in traditional values and culture. People will start doing what they like and this will give rise to cases of polygamy and may be give rise to pedophiles or zoophiles too. It has never been an issue to legalize gay marriage in history until recently. But for the overall development of society and to save our real values and culture and above all save the future generation from getting selfish motives to lead life. Children would be deprived of either father or mother and their development would definitely hamper. The couples would not be able to teach their children commitment and bonding of love and responsibility towards family and society. Marriage is also considered sacred in most religions and a step towards God as well as to perform duties, which are answerable to God too. The married couple has to carry out certain responsibilities and follow the rules of society because after all ‘man is a social animal’ and no one can be sufficient on his own. Homosexual relationships have nothing to do with the propagation of society and they would not serve the society in state interest.

Canyon Ranch Essay

1. What is the value of customer information to Canyon Ranch? Ans. To Canyon Ranch, customer information is must in order to implement their business model successfully. The value that it gives to the business is that it understands customer’s unique wants and give alternatives that will allow each guest to rach their individual goals. This is essential for Canyon Ranch to reach its mission to â€Å"inspire people to make healthy living, turning hopes and live into the highest enjoyment of life†. By gathering and sharing guests’ information, Canyon Ranch can assimilate it to â€Å"know and understand their customers, provides loyalty, and cross-sell its offerings† all of which are highly critical to the success of Canyon Ranch. The VP of Marketing was quoted saying â€Å"everyone experiences a different Canyon Ranch; we’ll meet you where you are†. If the company doesn’t know ‘where that is’, they will never be able to live up to this motto. Their customers are looking for a Luxury-like experience, not a ‘Marriott’ experience. They want unique, custom opportunities and to miss the details related to each customer could cost Canyon Ranch their reasonable edge. Canyon Ranch has been regarded as the â€Å"gold standard in the industry. To uphold this standard, they must know their client better than they see themselves. This is only likely to gather and adapt quality customer information. 2. As CIO, how would you make the case for customer relationship management (CRM) and business intelligence (BI) systems at Canyon Ranch? Canyon Ranch is the gold standard in destination spas and enjoys impressive rates that are much higher than other destination spas, but there are marks of increasing competition. Day spas are aligning themselves with medical expert and offered facilities in nutrition, homeopathy, physical therapy and general medical practice. Also some hospitals were starting to provide spa treatments and wellness centers with nutritionists. Canyon Ranch is now faced with demands as to how to raise the business while keeping the fundamental characteristics of Canyon Ranch. From an IT position, Canyon Ranch has basic systems for the business to function although they are not very effective. The CLS based system is used to record transactional data  while client preferences, support incident, rapid response etc. used Guestware. is not integrated well with CLS. The program coordinator, who persisted as the contact person for the quest through their stay, did not always have all of the data ahead of ti me. There is no POS software in the restaurant or the salon, hold up the Ranch of a chance to compile and track sales data. Canyon Ranch’s each business unit is committed on improving the level of customer service and personalization. As a CIO I would make central IT infrastructure so that all the figures is shared at every Canyon Ranch branch so that where every a customer goes he is not treated as new if he has visited it before. Create a Point of Sale software that leads to traceable value of purchase. If any customer wants to just buy a product then he can buy it rather than taking whole services. Increase direct marketing and communication to self decision making software that recognizes the pattern of customer visit and reminds him about his upcoming event to celebrate or take service at Canyon Ranch. 3. What impact would you anticipate these systems to have on the Canyon Ranch strategy and capabilities? Ans. The evolution of IT application such as CRM and BI systems will change the business interaction with customers. Canyon Ranch can enhance their historic reliance on word-of-mouth promotion to expand its customer base through social networking. Though Canyon Ranch has property management system that captures some customer data but implementing CRM and BI will make robust system to periodically survey customers, capture sales data and track services. Such integration can increase repeat customer visit, enhance customer personalization and attract new customers. The implantation of BI will allow company to attract profitability of its three segments : Health and Healing, Hotels and Spas. With this intelligence Canyon Ranch will employ cost saving measures, track inventory and monitor resources. Such system will improve capability and enhance productivity. 4. What advice do you have for Canyon Ranch executives? Ans. In the IT area Canyon Ranch still has space to improve. The first thing is to reduce the cost. Canyon Ranch has 2.5:1 staff-to-guest ratio, it also was the advantage in competition. But this will cost too much, Canyon Ranch can use the information technology to decrease the amount of staffs. Some services can be done by the computer like registration or remind services,  sometimes, the guest want their privacy space, at this time the Canyon Ranch should offer guests options to enjoy their private time. In another aspect, the information system can help the staffs to manage the profile of the customers. When the customer checking in the resort, the system will tell the preferences of each customer to the service provider automatically. These data of preferences can also help the Canyon Ranch provides much more projects that fit for customers. For the new customers, it should have a survey system to get the basic preferences. There should have some self-service machines to provide reserve service to the customers, to help them reserve the private spa service by their own. It will decrease the cost of Canyon Ranch and increase the efficiency. It also can attract more customers back to Canyon Ranch again. Another problem in Canyon Ranch is the separating system. The CLS system is the core system that runs the whole company, but the Guestware and POS software cannot connect to the core system. So the plan above cannot be implementing until this applicability problem solved. The good news is the Canyon Ranch owned the source code of CLS system, and it could be customized easily. Canyon Ranch should work with the develop company of CLS to customize the system. So a centralized system should be make that interlinks every branch and segments within it.

An introduction to child protection legislation in the UK

There are different laws and guidelines that exist in different parts of the UK there is not one single piece of child protection legislation for the UK. Current legislation is brought about because of The Children Act 1989 This was put into place to safeguard that everyone that work with children were sure and clear about their responsibilities and worked together. Also to ensure that if an allegation of child abuse were made all people working with children would be knowledgeable about what to do and how to act.Many problems were found in the way that reports of child abuse and neglect were dealt when an independent inquiry was done following the death of Victoria Climbie in the year 2000. Also, the independent inquiry leads to the finding that vulnerable people in society were being neglected in the part of safeguarding.Lord Laming’s report aka, The Laming Report consisting of 58 recommendations particularly aimed at the safeguarding of children led to the government putti ng forward Every Child Matters paper and setting The Children Act 2004 into place. Every child should receive help and guidance to achieve or receive positive outcomes in life. And this is what the Every Child Matters paper is in place to ensure. All children should have economic well-being, enjoy, make a positive contribution, stay safe and achieve. The Children Act 2004 is in place to improve and ensure children’s safeguarding. This director of children’s services is ultimately the person responsible for ensuring that all children are safeguarded, every local authority should have their allocated director. Because of this act changes were made and additional things such as local safeguarding boards were set up, and services became more mindful of what the children’s wishes are and put into more consideration. It has since become a duty of children’s services to work efficiently with a multi-agency approach to safeguard children and support the children under their cares welfare. The common assessment framework was introduced as part of this act to help it is a tool used to help identify childrens needs and assist in how to help meet them.In 2009 a scheme was introduced and the personal information of all adults who work with children must be checked so that individuals who prove unsuitable to be around and working with children are prevented from doing so. This scheme is the disclosure and barring service. Adults working with children will undergo a DBS check and be awarded a certificate as proof of this. All work settings involving children will require staff to have these certificates.

The movie rating system should be revised Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The movie rating system should be revised - Essay Example However, the rating system is not viewed as an effective and substantial body and has been criticized for a variety of reasons. The first criticism against the motion picture rating system has been presented by film critic Ebert who claims the rating system to place more importance on the minute details of the movie rather than the movie itself. This argument stands against the system's choice of picking on intricate details of the movie like the number of times a profane word is used or the number of scenes containing violence. This allows the rating system to escape from the throes of presenting the true message of the movie. For instance, a movie with sex and violence could be discussing the consequences these activities could teach to the audience. Adult ratings should be limited to those movies which show an immense degree of sex and violence. This would help in the removal of NC-17 which allows a greater number to access a variety of movies. Ratings of movies like Passion of the Christ should not have ratings that limit individuals under 17 from watching a movie (Ebert 2004). This is because the rating system creates a loss in the true message of the movie in its quest to censor the content. Another idea that stands up against movie rating systems is the belief that filmmakers are forced to change movies because the content affects the personal sensibilities of the members of the censorship board. Farber, a film critic talks of how filmmakers were threatened with an X rating to make them remove content which offended the board members (1972). This is seen as biased behavior on the part of the rating systems board because of their inability to provide a decision based solely on the judgment of creating a rating that will be friendly to the audience. Instead, the board is apt on creating ratings that will inadvertently be influenced by their personal beliefs and opinions. Another idea that talks of the flaws in the rating system is the lack of public opinion that is involved. There is a call by both conservative and liberal parties to make the rating system's methods and techniques more public thus allowing a degree of public scrutiny into their decisions. However, this idea seems a little impossible because it is impossible to pin point exact standards set up by the rating system. Movies today touch a variety of topics and issues. It is impossible to set up every method up for the public because it might not apply to each movie. Thus, setting up a public forum would be problematic because every individual's ideas vary and this could be chaotic and unhelpful. The rating system is criticized for its inability to present an equal treatment to the independent studios. This criticism lies on the belief that independent studios are not meted out with the same ratings as those given to major studios. Thus, independent studios are given a harsher rating system which is a great setback in the creation of new and diverse films. An instance of this is evident in the rating given to the movie Saints and Soldiers. The movie was created by an independent studio and created a limited amount of sex, profanity and violence. Yet, a single scene where a character is killed made the movie get a PG-13 rating (Deseret News). This is an obvious sign of bias against independent studios which can be of great harm to the creativity and emergence of unique ideas in the motion picture industry. Thus

Healt Care Reforms & Affordable Care Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Healt Care Reforms & Affordable Care Act - Essay Example Also this paper tries to compare Canadian & US health care systems. Health Care Reforms & Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act puts in place strong consumer protections, provides new coverage options and gives you the tools you need to make informed choices about the health. This act aims at providing affordable health care to individuals & families by reducing the premium costs, capping out-of-pocket expenses and providing tax relief for businesses. Also, for those who didn’t have insurance cover earlier, would be able choose a convenient plan for them. The ‘insurance exchange ‘intends to provide buying power by offering affordable choices of private insurance plans. Also small businesses will get new tax credit to help offset the cost of covering their employees (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services) Conditions that led to the introduction of the bill In US, increasing health care costs in the last few years have has been a great economic burden on i ndividuals, organizations and also fort the government. There has been a steady increase in the proportion of individuals without a health insurance cover. The recent estimate from the Census Bureau indicates that more than 46 million were uninsured in 2008 (Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers).Increase in healthcare costs and spending on health care has been consistently increase at a higher rate than the growth in GDP. Recent projections suggest that total spending in the U.S. health care sector exceeded $2.5 trillion in 2009, representing 17.6 % of GDP. (Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers) For organizations, healthcare cost is a main component in employee total remuneration and steady incline in the health care costs has started showing its effects on their base salary. This is because organizations provide wages and benefits; such increasing health care costs tend to reduce the proportionate increases in salary. The steady growth in health care spending has placed a n increasingly heavy financial burden on individuals and families. Governments & Local authorities are also struggling with this upward movement spending on health care. Spending on the means-tested Medicaid program now the second largest category of outlays in their budgets, just behind elementary and secondary education. (Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers) Economic Effects of the bill Healthcare reforms bill has various provisions like guaranteed issue and partial community rating. These provisions would help the applicants with similar demographics to obtain the same premium from the insurers without regard to many of the pre-existing medical conditions. Under this bill, all individuals and families with incomes up to 133% of the poverty level are eligible for Medicaid facility and Low income persons and families above the Medicaid level and up to 400% of the federal poverty level will be provided with Federal subsidies. Small business that doesn’t offer health cov erage to their employees will also share the responsibility healthcare spending. Also co-sharing & deductibles are to be eliminated for select insurance benefits in the "essential benefits package" like for Level A or Level B preventive care (Wikipedia) Affordable care act provides for deduction on Medicare tax on Individual or Family income over $200- 250K and this becomes a major source of revenue for the healthcare reforms. Also insurance

Activity Based Costing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Activity Based Costing - Essay Example In the other hand shared resources historically was a problematic grey area which caused problems in precisely determining its overall impact to the costs of an operation. A technique that is able to provide financial professionals and managers with better insight about the costs of an operation is called activity based costing (ABC). This purpose of this is to discuss activity based costing by covering the following five topics: history, features, implementation, evaluation and managerial applications. Activity based costing was first utilized in the 1980’s in order to understand the internal breakdown of costs associated with overhead drivers that serve as common resources. Robert Kaplan and Robin Cooper in 1987 for the first time introduced the concept as a chapter of its accounting textbook Accounting and Management: A Field Study Perspective (Weiner, 1995). The industry trend at the time was that overhead costs were rising, thus there was a need of a cost system with enhanced capabilities that enabled it to figure out the reason what this was occurring. In 1990 the first journal article on the subject came out in 1990 and it further revolutionized ABC because it provide a discussion of an application of ABC outside the manufacturing scenario by applying it service based business, financial institutions. The article appeared in the Journal of Bank Cost and Management Accounting and it was written by Richard Sapp, David Crawford, and Steven Robishke (Weiner, 1995). Activity based costing is a completely different accounting system that has its own unique methodology which does not follow the principles associated with traditional cost systems known as absorption costing. ABC just like any other costing system has a similar objective of providing information about corporate costs. One of the differences between ABC and absorption costing is that the systems provide information for different types of users.

Business Policy and Strategic Management Research Paper - 1

Business Policy and Strategic Management - Research Paper Example If the mission statement of Starbucks is to be reviewed, it shows that the company follows a differentiation strategy where its basic aim is to produce a brand image within the eyes of its customer through the unique taste of coffee and the exclusivity of all its other products. Differentiation strategy is the opposite of the cost leadership strategy. Differentiation strategy makes the use of a firm’s core competencies to develop an innovative strategy so that a company is valued by its customer in a unique manner.2 Starbucks has done the same by building up an international model that will help the company to scale and grow in a profitable manner, the company’s uniqueness and value creation within the eyes of its customer has helped the company to pursue one of its long term strategies by opening up many stores around the globe and in 2010 the company strengthened its roots in China through this differentiation strategy and China is being considered as the 2nd largest market for Starbucks.

In an age of heightened threats to national security, it should be Essay - 1

In an age of heightened threats to national security, it should be open to the Government to detain suspected terrorists for an indefinite period of time withou - Essay Example However, the blurring of the distinction between the need to legislate for immigration on the one hand and protection from terrorism on the other is further perpetuated by the patchwork of piecemeal immigration legislation in the UK. On the other side of the legal spectrum, the implementation of the Human Rights Act in 1998 (HRA) enshrines the fundamental rights and freedoms of the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law. From an immigration policy perspective, the most important rights relied on in immigration cases have been the Article 5 right, which prohibits detention without trial and the right not to be subjected to degrading treatment under Article 3. Additionally, Article 14 guarantees rights under the ECHR. However, on the other side of the spectrum it has been submitted that the heightened threat to national security necessarily renders it permissible for Governments to detain suspects for an indefinite period of time without charge or trial. Conversely, it has been argued that whilst sufficient measures for national security protection are vital, absolute executive autonomy over detention of suspects without trial or charge clearly raises constitutional issues and human rights issues. Indeed on the one hand, the fundamental freedoms under Article 5 of the ECHR in respect of detention are essential to the function of the UK as a democracy. On the other hand, the reliance on the ECHR rights through the HRA 1998 arguably undermines immigration rules and legislation, which enables the UK immigration system to be exploited vis-à  -vis asylum seekers in international conventions1. However, it is precisely this paradox within the law that enables the changing Governmental policy from circumventing both entrenched immigration and asylum rules and human rights protection on grounds of â€Å"national security†2. This is particularly evidenced by the implementation of the controversial Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 (ACTSA),

Environmental policy and governance Annotated Bibliography - 1

Environmental policy and governance - Annotated Bibliography Example e clean development mechanisms to include the quest for clean energy resources have destabilized the production and consumption of oil and other non-conservative energy sources. The author argues that the use of oil and other polluting forms of energy have declined to the consideration of a sustainable future and reduce environmental health issues and deficits. He considers a policy to govern the use of oil in the industry globally and encourage the use of clean sources of energy. He hints at the involvement of the private energy sectors and other stakeholders to help in the implementation of such policies with the intention of reducing energy related pollution of the environment. The increase of oil prices has improved commitments in the policy formulations for clean energy developments. The author proposes the use of clean energies to be compulsory in the primary levels. This will increase sustainability. Sanoh, A, et al, 2014, The economics of clean energy resource development and grid interconnection in Africa, Renewable Energy: An International Journal, 62, pp. 598-609. Retrieved from: http://yadda.icm.edu.pl/yadda/element/bwmeta1.element.elsevier-d7564474-4ff8-336b-8d14-69dc77c028fb The authors argue that the use of clean energy resources within the developing regions like Africa will trigger economic development as this will come with economic benefits to the people. They explains that most clean energy resources are eco friendly, non pollutant consequently absolutely nothing is to be spent on the cleanup of the impacts of clean energy resources. Unlike oil, clean energy does not cause climate changes, variations in the rainfall pattern and therefore the loss of agricultural output in these regions. Agricultural out is linked to the economic development in these regions. He consequently argues that policy formulators should involve environmental aspects and future development in planning for the energy to be used in these regions. Tobin, M, &

Break-Even Point of Industry Essay Example for Free

Break-Even Point of Industry Essay 1. Airbus’ Interests Objectives First of all, the large and cost-efficient A3XX would be popular with significant growth in the air transportation industry. Worldwide passenger traffic would almost triple in volume by 2019, with fuel price rising in the future. Creating large and cost-efficient aircrafts, rather than increasing frequencies and building new routes, would be the long-term solutions to the problem of growing demand. Therefore, this project will be strategically significant. Secondly, Airbus wants to gain market shares in the VLA market and break up the monopoly of the 747, but it didn’t have a product to compete with Boeing’s 747. Compared to the 747, the A3XX provides more advantageous features which would attract passengers especially on the longer routes, such as more space per seat, four-engine plane, etc. The combination of increased capacity and reduced costs would provide superior economics. Airbus felt confident that capacity increases would eventually prevail. As we stated above, Airbus’s objectives are to break up the monopoly of the 747, to increase its market share in the VLA market, to gain enormous financial success and to be an industry leader. 2. Break-Even Point Market Demand Production will be able to reach full capacity from 2008, with order and delivery assumed on a stable level. During this period, the capital expenditure will be offset by depreciation in calculation of free cash flow, and RD will be included in the operating margin. The company, as assumed, will produce and deliver 22 aircrafts for the airlines which have ordered, with 6 in 2006 and 16 in 2007. Since $700 million would have already been spent before the decision, this amount of investment should be treated as sunk cost, therefore irrelevant to the NPV analysis. To break even, with assumed operating margin of 18%, Airbus should produce and sell about 40 VLAs every year since 2008, or 495 in total before 2019. Taking the estimated margin from Lehman Brothers and CS First Boston into consideration, total orders needed for break-even can range from 306 to 509 in 20 years. From the view of Airbus, the market demand for VLA, 1550 in years, is large enough to take this project. And it is pretty safe to launch the development since, even with lowest estimated margin, 38% of total market share will guarantee a break-even. However, Boeing gives a totally different perspective and a much lower forecast on potential market demand. Under this estimation, A3XX development will have little chance to make a profit. Airbus should take at least half a market on VLA to make that project fruitful. 3. Boeing’s Response Based on the analysis before, the VLA market is so promising that Airbus is very likely to launch the A3XX. Facing with this threat, the most important move for Boeing is to prevent Airbus from dominating the VLA market. Therefore, Boeing can cut the price of existing 747 product lines and produce 747 stretch as response to Airbus. Producing 747 stretch which may contain 550+ passengers wont be too costly for Boeing since is a modification over the current model, and that can powerfully compete with A3XX in the VLA market. Before the stretch version is market available, Boeing can offer a price cutting of the existing 747 which can not only divert sales away from A3XX, but also make A3XX project less attractive. Other alternatives might not fit. Firstly, fighting the A3XX on legal grounds (improper subsidies) will probably induce the revenge complain from Airbus, making Boeing itself to pay a large penalty. Secondly, to develop its own super jumbo jet is costly and maybe not profitable. What’s worse, in 1997 Boeing faced the first loss in more than 50 years, it’s better for Boeing to have a prudent stable strategy than an aggressive investing. 4. The Threshold To Launch We think Airbus should commit to build A3XX. The Annual Sales and Orders as of 1999 show that Airbus currently faces a disadvantage in competition with Boeing on almost every size of passenger aircraft. Worse is that, while Boeing pockets the market for VLA, Airbus even has no product to compete. Breaking the monopoly on this market becomes critical for Airbus, which is aiming to lead the industry. Strategic significance of A3XX makes this project worth an effort. Compared with the situation when Boeing launched its 747 development with 25 initial orders, the current 22 orders, with other 34 probable, is not a negative sign to commit the project. However, there would also be great risk in the new aircraft development. The possible poor market demand will make the project unprofitable. More important is that new A3XX should be sold quickly in early years to exploit learning curve effect on manufactory and seize market before Boeing reacts.

Examination and clarification of bioluminescence in marine creatures

Examination and clarification of bioluminescence in marine creatures In order to isolate bioluminescent bacteria from marine samples, one must have a better understanding of the phenomena of bioluminescence. Bioluminescence is a type of luminescence. The light that usually occurs at low temperatures is called luminesence [1]. Chemiluminescence, fluorescence is all the other types of luminescence and should not be confused with bioluminescence. As the result of a given reaction, emission of heat and light takes place, this phenomenon is referred to as chemiluminescence or in other words, chemiluminescence refers to the emission of light in an exergonic reaction. For example, if two reactants namely A and B react, it results in the formation of product, with an excited intermediate C and generation of light. [A] + [B] → [C] → [Products] +  light This is how a chemical reaction takes place [1]. When a substance that has absorbed light or any other radiation of different wavelength in the electromagnetic spectrum, an emission of light takes place by that substance, this is referred to as fluorescence.  In most cases, emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore lower energy, than the absorbed radiation which has a higher energy [1]. In simple language, bioluminescence is the emission of light from living organisms. One can also describe bioluminescence as chemiluminescence in living organisms. Further clarifications regarding the types of luminescence can be carried out with the help of an experiment that involves the use of glow or light sticks. A solution of luminol in DMSO, sodium hydroxide pellets, an aqueous solution of fluorescent dye and test tubes. Luminol is a versatile chemical that exhibits chemiluminescence, with a striking blue glow, when mixed with an appropriate oxidizing agent [1] [2]. Glow sticks are used to demonstrate the effect of temperature on the rates of chemical reactions. The glow sticks contain two chemicals that are mixed when the glass tube on the inside is broken. This initiates a chemical reaction that gives off light. Higher the reaction temperature, faster is the reaction, and more intense the chemiluminescence. Reaction rates increase about two times for every 10 °C rise in temperature [2]. The luminol experiment demonstrates chemiluminescence and fluorescence. Luminol is oxidized (with molecular oxygen) in the presence of sodium hydroxide pellets. On shaking the test tube (containing luminol and sodium hydroxide pellets), oxygen is introduced into the solution. Hence chemiluminescence stops when the test tube is set aside [2]. When a fluorescent dye is added to the solution, the dye absorbs the light emitted by the luminol and re-emits light at a longer wavelength, changing the color, thus explaining the phenomena of fluorescence [2]. Bioluminescence is the emission of light observed in living organisms. Apart from bioluminescence, there are two other kinds of light emission that may take place from a living organism. These include: (I)Photosynthetic delayed light emission:. It is a weak red light which is emitted by all green plants and algae. This intensity is so low that one cannot see it, though it can be measured [3]. (II)Ultraweak light emission: this occurs in all organisms. It is due to various processes, mostly (but not always) involving molecular oxygen. It is regarded as a by-effect of metabolic activity, but doesnt have a biological function. It cannot be seen [3]. 2. Bioluminescence This is the best known biological luminescence phenomena, mostly because it can be observed using ones eyes only. The bioluminescence occurs among a variety of organisms ranging from bacteria, dinoflagellates, protozoa, sponges, mollusks, echinoderms, insects and fish. The majority of bioluminescent species live in the sea, although there are also many terrestrial bioluminescent insects, especially the beetles. It has been estimated that 60-80% of the fishes in the deep sea are bioluminescent [3]. (i) jellyfish (ii) lightfish (iii) fungi (iv) beetle Fig 2.1: The above pictures show bioluminescence in variety of organisms. The bioluminescent bacteria mainly falls under three genera namely   Photobacterium, Vibrio, and  Photorhabdus. Species within the genus Photobacterium and Vibrio generally exist in marine environment whereas the terrestrial species belong to the genus Photorhabdus. Species within the  Photobacterium  genus are generally light organ symbionts of marine animals, whereas the  Vibrio species exist as free-living forms as well as symbionts in the sea [4].The luminescence of these microorganisms should not be confused with the host organisms. Many fish and molluscs species which have been regarded as bioluminescent organisms have been shown to glow by the light of symbiotic bacteria [3]. The bacteria forms a symbiotic relationship with the host organism as it is provided with a nutrient rich environment for its growth and the host organism has the benefit of camouflage and protection from its predator. Some of the bioluminescent bacteria are obligate symbionts that fulfill their nutritional requirements only from the host, hence they cannot be grown in the laboratory as they cannot be separated from the host organism [4]. Apart from sharing a symbiotic relationship with the host organisms, some of the bioluminescent bacteria are also parasitic in nature, for example, the species in the genus Photobacterium and Vibrio infect the male crustaceans whereas the species in Photorhabdus genus infect terrestrial insects such as caterpillars with nematodes acting as an intermediate host for the bacteria. Majority of the bioluminescent bacteria present on the surface of the marine organisms act as non-specific parasites. The bacterium that resides in the guts of some marine organisms such as crustaceans produces chitinase (an enzyme) that facilitates the decomposition of chitin which is present in their exoskeleton. The different species of bioluminescent bacteria differ from each other in a number of properties including the optimal growing conditions i.e. the nutritional requirements and optimal growth temperature, and the reaction kinetics of the enzyme luciferase involved in light generation. However, the morphology of all bioluminescent bacteria is the same i.e. they are rod-shaped, gram-negative microorganisms with flagella facilitating motion. Bioluminescent bacteria are also capable of growth when the supply of molecular oxygen is limited; therefore they are also examples of facultative anaerobes. Despite the physiological diversity among different species of bioluminescent bacteria, all these microorganisms utilize highly homologous biochemical machineries to produce light. The onset and the energy output of this light-producing molecular machinery are tightly regulated under a central signaling pathway [4]. 2.1 Bioluminescence by squids: Light-emission by most of the marine organisms belongs in the blue and green  light spectrum.This is due to two reasons, firstly because the blue-green light (wavelength around 470 nm) transmits farthest in water, and secondly because most of the organisms are sensitive only to blue light, lacking pigments for the visualization of longer or shorter wavelengths[1]. Squid changes the color of the light emitted i.e. either blue or green light depending on its surrounding temperature. In case of squids, it produces green light when swimming in warm water and blue light in cold water [5]. During the day, the squid resides in the deep waters rather than on surface waters. The sunlight that falls on the deep waters has been filtered with only blue light remaining. The squid matches this color by turning on its blue photophores (photophores are light producing tissues). During the night, the squid is present on the shallow water. The moonlight at shallow depths has not been filtered to a greater extent, as a result both blue and green light remains. The squid matches this color by turning on both of its green and blue photophores [5]. Fig 2.1.1: The picture shows squids bioluminescence [5] 2.2 Advantages of Bioluminescence: There are four main advantages attributed to bioluminescence: Camouflage, attraction, repulsion, and communication. Camouflage Some squids by using the phenomena of bioluminescence defend themselves against predators by producing light (a soft glow) on their ventral surface to match the light coming from above and making their presence indetectable to the potential predators(just as a darker dorsal surface makes aquatic organisms difficult to detect from above. Some can also change the color of their luminescence to match moonlight or sunlight. This is referred to as counterillumination [1]. Attraction Bioluminescence is also used as to attract prey by several deep sea fish, such as the anglerfish. A dangling appendage or a light-emitting rod that extends from the head of the fish that carries the bioluminescent bacteria attracts small animals to the front of its mouth. Fig 2.2.1: Anglerfish lures its prey by using bioluminescence [4]. The cookie cutter shark also uses bioluminescence for luring its prey. A small patch on its underbelly remains dark and tends to appear as a small fish to large predatory fish like tuna. When these fish such as tuna try to consume the small fish, they themselves become prey for the the shark. Dinoflagellates have an interesting twist on this mechanism. When a predator of plankton is sensed through motion in the water, the dinoflagellate luminesces. This in turn attracts even larger predators, which then consume the would-be predator of the dinoflagellate. The attraction of mates in fireflies during the mating season is another proposed mechanism of bioluminescent action. This is done by periodic flashing in their abdomens to attract the potential mates [1]. Repulsion Certain small crustaceans also use bioluminescent chemical mixtures. A cloud of luminescence is emitted, which confuses and then repels a potential predator while the crustacean escapes to safety. This is also shown in some squids [1]. Communication Bioluminescence also plays a direct role in communication between bacteria. It promotes the symbiotic induction of bacteria into host species, and sometimes also plays a role in colony aggregation [1]. 2.3 Biochemistry of the Bioluminescence Reaction As mentioned earlier, bioluminescence is defined as emission of light by living organisms arising from exothermic or exergonic chemical reactions. It is due to the substrate-enzyme complex of luciferin-luciferase within the cytoplasm of the cell. Luciferin refers to any light-emitting compound whereas luciferase is an enzyme. The luciferin-luciferase complex differs among species. In 1887, a scientist named Raphaà «l Dubois isolated light producing chemicals from the piddock, which is a clam that stays in the burrow. He discovered that on placing the clam in cold water, light was seen in the water, that glowed for several minutes, indicating that a light producing chemical was extracted from the clams tissues. He also observed that if he made a hot-water extract from another clam and added this to the original cold-water extract, he could reactivate the light reaction. Dubois called his hot-water extract luciferin and the cold-water extract luciferase. The reaction produces a molecule that is in an electronically excited state. After the molecule gives off energy, it goes back to the ground state and a photon of light is released [2]. Bacterial luciferase is the main enzyme that is used in the phenomena of bioluminescence. Apart from the involvement of luciferase, there are certain other enzymes that supply and regenerate the substrates of luciferase. In bacteria the expression of the genes related to bioluminescence are encoded by an operon called the lux operon.  The lux operon is a 9 kilobase fragment that controls bioluminescence through the catalyzation of the enzyme luciferase. The lux operon has a known gene sequence of luxCDAB(F)E, where lux A and lux B code for the components of luciferase, and the lux CDE codes for a fatty acid reductase complex that makes the fatty acids necessary for the luciferase mechanism. Lux C codes for the enzyme acyl-reductase, lux D codes for acyl-transferase, and lux E makes the proteins needed for the enzyme acyl-protein synthetase. Apart from these genes, there are two more genes namely luxR and luxI that play an important role in the regulation of the operon [1]. Other ge nes including  luxF,  luxG, and  luxH, whose functions are neither clearly defined nor apparently necessary for bioluminescence are also found in some  lux  operons [4]. Fig 2.3.1The arrangement of luxCDABE operon [4] Luciferase is a heterodimer consisting of two different polypeptide chains- alpha and beta (molecular mass 40 kDa and 37 kDa, respectively, and encoded by the  luxA andluxB genes, respectively). The active site is located within the alpha-beta subunit. Absence of beta subunit leads to light emission of a weaker intensity. Studies have shown that the crystal structure of V. harveyi luciferase interacts and forms complex binding patterns between several side chains and backbone amides of the alpha and beta subunits. Studies also reveal that the function of the beta subunit is to act as a supporting scaffold by assisting in the conformational change of the subunit during the catalysis [4]. Fig 2.3.2: Bacterial luciferase structure [4]. Fig 2.3.3: The rectangular box highlights the inter-subunit interactions (ionic attractions, hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic interactions) that play an important role in the assembly of bacterial luciferase enzyme [4]. Bacterial luciferase uses reduced flavin mononucleotide (FMNH2), molecular oxygen, and long chain fatty aldehyde as substrates. During the reaction, the oxidation of FMNH2  and aldehyde concomitant takes place along with the reduction of molecular oxygen and emission of energy, which is released as blue/green light ( MAX~ 490 nm). The energy level of the photon that was produced when the excited electron on the flavin chromophore returns to the ground state is indicated by the characteristic color. Studies have shown that point mutations at the flavin chromophores binding site brings about a change in the color emission spectrum of bacterial bioluminescence, indicating that the distinctive emission color depends not only on the chromophore, but also on the electronic nature of the chromophore-binding microenvironment in luciferase. Aside from bacterial luciferase, some luminescent bacteria also carry fluorescent proteins to; distinguish themselves from other strains by modulating the emission color [4]. For continuous light emission, constant supply of the substrates should be maintained by the enzymes coded by the Lux operon. In addition to bacterial bioluminescence, all the other biological luminescence systems (such as fireflies, coelenterates and dinoflagellates) also utilize molecular oxygen as the oxidizing agent in their luminescence biochemistry, and the processes involved in the reduction of the molecular oxygen serves as an energy sink, draining the reducing power of the substrates. High energy unstable intermediates are formed that dissipate the potential energy of the excited chromophore in the form of light. In this regard, molecular oxygen can be considered to serve as a key to unleash the energy deposited in FMNH2  and fatty aldehyde for bacterial bioluminescence [4].   Fig 2.3.4: The pathway [4] For example, in case of fireflies luciferin reacts with oxygen, with luciferase acting as an enzyme aided by cofactors such as calcium ions, thus emitting light. 2.4 Quorum sensing: The definition of quorum sensing states that it is a type of decision making process used by decentralized groups to coordinate behavior [1]. From the biological aspect, there are many species of bacteria such as Vibrio fischeri, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Pseudomonas aeroginosa that use quorum sensing to coordinate their gene expression according to the local density of their population. It was first discovered in Vibrio fischeri [1]. Since Vibrio fischeri uses quorum sensing, it constantly produces signaling molecules called as autoinducers. These bacteria have a receptor that recognizes these signaling molecules. When the autoinducers bind to these receptors, it results in the transcription of certain genes, including those for inducer synthesis. There are less chances of the bacterium recognizing its own signaling molecules, hence for the activation of gene transcription, the cell must also encounter signaling molecules from the local environment. Autoinducers and inducers are interchangeably used. If there is less number of same types of bacteria present in the local environment, then the concentration of the inducer decreases to zero thus inactivating the gene transcription. But if the population of the bacteria increases, the concentration of the autoinducers increases, thereby resulting in the activation of gene transcription, thus causing bioluminescence. Therfore, quorum sensing plays a very important rol e in the regulation of luxCDAB(F)E expression in bioluminescent bacteria [1] [4] . Fig 2.4.1: Chemical structure of the autoinducers of bioluminescent bacteria [4] The autoinducer is a metabolic product that diffuses easily across the cellular membrane [4]. Fig 2.4.2: The fig. shows the role played by an autoinducer in the mechanism of quorum sensing [4]. Marine bioluminescent bacteria that is not present as a symbiont (free living bacteria) does not emit light. This is because for the emission of light, accumulation of autoinducers is necessary and this is possible only in a nutrient rich environment which is provided to the symbiotic bacteria [4]. 2.5 Applications of bioluminescence: One of the major applications of bioluminescence is the development of biosensors. A biosensor is a device that detects, records, and transmits information regarding a physiological change or the presence of various chemical or biological materials in the environment. Some bacteria have been designed that gives off a detectable signal when in presence of a pollutant (e.g. toluene) that it likes to consume [6]. In terms of using the phenomena of bioluminescence, efforts are being made to engineer agricultural plants that show luminescence when need watering [1]. As the primary function of bacterial luciferase is to catalyze the emission of light, this feature together with generation of the aldehyde substrate by fatty acid reductase can be successfully produced in other bacteria, by the transfer of the  luxCDABE genes, which convert nonluminescent bacteria into light emitters [4]. Fig 2.5.1: The insertion of the foreign  luxCDABE structural genes into the organism such as E. coli confers the organism the ability to emit light [4]. The ability of the non-luminescent bacteria to emit light by means of recombinant DNA technology has provided researchers an easy alternative to measure and detect the growth and living conditions of bacteria. The phenomena of bacterial bioluminescence are used in the detection of pathogenic bacteria in human food sources. By culturing a food sample in the presence of a recombinant bacteriophage (vector) carrying the  luxCDABE insert, one can readily determine the contamination by bacteria in the food source. In addition, the light emitting property of the  luxCDABE genes has been employed as a reporter of gene expression for studying regulatory controls involved in affecting the efficiency of RNA polymerase in initiation and transcription at different promoters. Then the  luxCDABE genes are under the control of an environmentally regulated promoter (e.g., promoters whose efficiency is highly sensitive to the level of mercury, arsenic, or other pollutants), the structural  lu x genes can function as a biosensor, whose expression will monitor the presence of toxic waste in the environment. In the pharmaceutical industry, genetically modified bacteria carrying the lux genes have been utilized to evaluate the efficiency of antibiotics in fighting against bacterial infections in mammals; with animals such as mice, pigs, and monkeys serving as potential human models. In this screening procedure, the lesser the intensity of luminescence in the infected organs/tissues, the more efficient the antibiotics against bacterial infection; therefore, bacterial bioluminescence serves as an indicator of bacterial growth allowing the proper dosages of antibiotics to be determined and effective treatment to be established [4].   3. Laboratory Experiment 3.1 Sample Collection: After the literature study, it was decided that squid will serve as a sample for this experiment as it is readily available in the U.A.E. fish market. A fresh catch was taken as a sample for this experiment. Since some of these microbes i.e. bioluminescent bacteria are also found in seawater, seawater sample from Sharjah was also collected for this experiment. 3.2 Methodology for the isolation of bioluminescent bacteria from squid: Materials Required: Squid Luminescent Broth (Appendix 1) Luminescent Agar (BOSS Medium) (pH=7.3) (Appendix 2) Procedure: 1. The squid is placed in a beaker and just enough 3.0% NaCl solution is added such that approximately 10-20% of the sample is above the level of the liquid as shown in fig 3.2.1. The NaCl solution preserves the squid by preventing any other microbial growth other than that of bioluminescent bacteria, as required. Fig 3.2.1: Squid placed in a beaker containing NaCl solution. 2. The flask is then kept for incubation in a cool dark room (18-22 °C) and is observed at intervals up to 24 hours. The room is darkened totally such that the flask can be observed for luminous areas on the sample. Sometimes the squid secretes ink that might hinder the view of luminous areas on the squid. In order to prevent this, the NaCl solution is changed when required. 3. Four petriplates of Luminescent Agar (formula above) are streaked from four different luminous areas on the squid. Forceps and craft knife are required and it is used one at a time in the burner for its sterilization. The knife and forceps are then cooled for a while. Squid is held with the forceps and its skin is gently scraped of that shows luminescence with the tip of the knife. The scraped off skin is transferred on to a sterile inoculating loop for streaking on the plates. 4. The plates are then kept for incubation in the cool room (18-22 °C) for 24 hours. (No more than 48 hours.) 5. After observing luminous isolated colonies, these isolated colonies are individually streaked on to a new plate of Luminescent Agar and incubated as above. Fig 3.2.2: Streaked petriplates 6. One or more of the more brilliant colonies is then chosen and streaked onto a slant of Luminescent Agar. The agar slants are incubated overnight or until luminescent growth is seen and then refrigerated. 7. From the agar slants, flasks of Luminescent Broth are inoculated. The flasks are then placed in the shaking incubator for 10-15 hrs at 18-22 °C. [8] The flasks that show bioluminesence is then used for studying the growth curves and characterization of the bioluminescent bacteria. Result and Inference: No luminous colonies were observed from the squid on the first attempt, even though the squid did show luminous areas on its body surface. The failure can be attributed to the fact that streaking was not carried out on the same day it showed luminescence. However, on the second attempt, out of the four petriplates that were streaked with the skin of the squid, only one petriplate showed six luminous colonies. Fig 3.1.3: The above pictures are a reference as to how colonies appear when placed in light (left picture) and dark (right picture) [10]. The colonies that appeared during the course of my experiment (only six in number) were not so densely populated as observed in the pictures above. These six colonies were then streaked on six different petriplates containing Luminescent Agar. The picture below shows bioluminescence in the streaked petriplates. Fig 3.2.4: The picture below shows bioluminescence in the streaked petriplates. The agar slants were also prepared from the petriplates. The six flasks containing Luminescent Broth were then inoculated with culture from the agar slants. The flasks were then kept in the shaking incubator for 18-24 hrs. at room temperature. Out of the six flasks containing Luminescent Broth, only three flasks showed microbial growth. The bacterial cultures were then used for growth curves. 3.3 Methodology for the isolation of bioluminescent bacteria from seawater sample: Materials Required: Seawater sample was collected from Sharjah. Seawater Complete Agar (Appendix 3) Procedure: 1. Seawater sample is collected in a clean container 2. Two plates of SWC agar medium were then prepared. 3. The two plates were then pipetted with 0.1 ml and 0.2 ml of seawater sample respectively. 4. The samples were thoroughly spread over the surfaces of the plates with a L-shaped glass rod. 5. The plates are then inverted after the samples have absorbed into the agar (about 5 minutes) and then kept for incubation at room temperature. 6. The plates were then examined after 18-36 hours. [7] Result and Inference: The plates did not show any luminous growth. This maybe because the sample that was collected was not from deep water as bioluminescent bacteria tends to be present in deep waters. Since no growth was observed, further steps involving the preparation and inoculation of agar slants and luminescent broth could not be carried out. 3.4 Bacterial Growth curve of the isolates: Out of the six flasks that contained Luminescent Broth, only three flasks showed microbial growth. The three flasks that showed microbial growth were then again inoculated into three flasks containing luminescent broth. Their O.D. (optical density) values were measured after every 30 minutes (for 5 hrs) at 530 nm using UV-visible spectrophotometer. The initial O.D. value should be set at 0.05 so that there is sufficient bacterial culture in the broth. The values then helped us in determining the bacterial growth curves. Fig 3.4.1: UV-visible spectrophotometer [11] Procedure: 1. The machine along with the monitor screen is turned on using the switch. 2. The necessary adjustments are then made in the program. 3. For auto zeroing the sample, the blank (broth in which are bacteria is growing) is placed in the cuvette. The cuvette is then placed in the holder. 4. The O.D. values of all the three samples are measured after every 30 minutes for 5 hrs. 5. The optical density vs. time graph is then plotted for all the three samples. Observation Table: Table 3.4.1: Sample 1 Time (in hrs.) O.D. values 0 0.08 0.5 0.09 1 0.12 1.5 0.16 2 0.21 2.5 0.28 3 0.38 3.5 0.5 4 0.71 4.5 0.99 5 1.14 5.5 1.41 Table 3.4.2: Sample 2 Time (in hrs.) O.D. values 0 0.05 0.5 0.06 1 0.08 1.5 0.12 2 0.16 2.5 0.21 3 0.25 3.5 0.38 4 0.44 4.5 0.48 Table 3.4.3: Sample 3 Time (in hrs.) O.D.values 0 0.13 0.5 0.15 1 0.18 1.5 0.23 2 0.3 2.5 0.38 3 0.53 3.5 0.71 4 1.04 4.5 1.16 5 1.37 Result and Inference: Graph 3.4.1: Bacterial growth curve of sample 1 Graph 3.4.2: Bacterial growth curve of sample 2 Graph 3.4.3: Bacterial growth curve of sample 3 The bacterial growth curves of all the three samples suggest that the cultures are still in their exponential phase. The 0.D .values should be measured for a much longer duration so that the stationary and the death phases can also be observed. The broth was kept overnight in the shaking incubator at 18-22 °C. Next morning, only one of the samples showed bioluminescence indicating that the bacterial culture has grown to that level when the lux genes are switched on. Fig 3.4.2: The picture is a reference as to how a flask containing Luminescent Broth shows luminescent growth [6]. The bioluminescence that was observed during my experiment was of low intensity. 3.5 Luminescence (light emission intensity) curve studies on the isolates: For the growth curve studies, agar slants were used to streak on to the petriplates, for the isolation of bioluminescent bacteria. The same set of agar slants were used to revive the culture. The revived culture was then streaked on to the luminescent agar petriplates to study the luminescence curve. However, contamination was observed in the petriplates, even though luminescent colonies were formed. Majority of the colonies that were formed were circular in shape and opaque with a dense material in the centre. Some of the colonies were circular and translucent. These colonies were then again used for sub-culturing. Contamination was again observed in the petriplates. This might be attributed to some error in the methodology of streaking the petriplates. Finally, after five attempts, successful isolation of bioluminescent bacteria took place. These bacteria were then inoculated in the flasks containing luminescent broth. After an over night incubation, these flasks showed bioluminesc ence. These samples were then taken for measuring their light emission studies with the help of an autoanalyser. The luminescence is measured after every one hour. It is measured in terms of counts per second (cps). Meanwhile, the samples are kept in the shaking incubator. Fig 3.5.1: Perkin-Elmer Auto-analyzer [12] Procedure: 1. The machine along with the monitor screen is turned on using the switch. 2. The luminescence mode is then chosen. 3. The wells in the microtitre plate containing the sample are then chosen in the protocol editor. 4. The program is then started. 5. The luminescence of all the three samples is measured after every 1hour. 5. The optical density, luminescence vs. time graph is then plotted for all the three samples. Observation Table: Table 3.5.1: Bacterial Sample 1 Time (hrs.) Cell Density(O.D.) Light emission Intensity (cpu) 0 0.0785 0.5 0.0926 1 0.1189 1.5 0.155 2 0.2139 2.5 0.2826 3

Its Time to Drain Lake Powell :: Glen Canyon Dams Environmental Essays

It's Time to Drain Lake Powell Many people know ‘Lake’ Powell as a fact of life. Since its creation in 1963, the reservoir, known as Lake Powell, is just there. Few people that are alive today have had the opportunity to see the true beauty of Glen Canyon, which rivals the Grand Canyon. Glen Canyon, equivalent to one hundred eighty river miles with dozens of side canyons, was flooded for the purpose of power and water resources. ‘Lake’ Powell also generates an enormous cash flow due to the tourism it receives. Although the ‘lake’ has a few reasons to remain in existence, there are many more reasons to drain it. The positive aspects of ‘Lake’ Powell are few yet noteworthy. Glen Canyon Dam’s hydroelectric power-plant generates one thousand three hundred mega watts of electricity at full operation. That is enough power to supply three hundred fifty thousand homes. Glen Canyon Dam holds twenty seven million acre feet of water, which is equivalent to twice the Colorado River’s annual flow (Living Rivers: What about the hydroelectric loss?). One of the most valuable reasons for the dam to remain active is that â€Å"Lake Powell generates four hundred fifty five million dollars per year in tourist revenue, without this cash inflow, gas-and-motel towns . . . would undoubtedly wilt, and surrounding counties and states would lose a substantial tax base† (Farmer 185). These positive aspects are of no surprise considering they are the reason dams are built in the first place. The negative aspects of Glen Canyon Dam greatly exceed the positive aspects. The dam’s hydroelectric power supply is only three percent of the total power used by the six states that are served by the facility. There is a surplus of power on the Colorado Plateau and with more and more power-plants being created in the western hemisphere, Glen Canyon Dam’s power is not needed (Living Rivers: What about the hydroelectric loss). Although the ‘lake’ contains twenty seven million acre feet of water, one and a half million acre feet of water are lost yearly due to evaporation and seepage into the sandstone banks surrounding the ‘lake’ (Living Rivers: What about the water supply?). The loss of that much â€Å"water represents millions, even billions of dollars† (Farmer 183). If the government were to employ more water efficient irrigation practices, as much as five million acre feet of water per year could be saved.

The Life and Work of George Orwell :: Biography Biographies Essays

The Life and Work of George Orwell George Orwell is the name of the person behind brilliant works of literature such as Animal Farm and "1984". After my closer study of his book Animal Farm, I decided to look more closely into the person who wrote that brilliant allegory. I also tried to understand why, and how it was possible for a man raised far from communist/totalitarian regime could describe it so precisely in such an amazing prophetic way. Born under the name of Eric Blair on June 25 1903, in India in the family of an Imperial Officer, after going to boarding school and then to Eton, he decided to stop with his education and enlisted in the Indian Imperial Police at the age of 20. He served in Burma for 5 years and later described that period as the most miserable times and that he hated being the bully arresting people to be beaten. After he left Burma Eric wanted to experience the life of the oppressed, so he moved to Paris disguised as a homeless poor. He started living the life of tramps and all kinds of poor homeless, but soon he found himself in their true situation, without a serious job, Eric was forced to live on the streets and to make only enough not to starve. At that time he wrote his first book: "Down and Out in Paris and London" and was able to publish it under the pen name of George Orwell. The book was a success, and after that he wrote and published in three years three more books: "Burmese days," "a Clergyman's daughter" and " Keep the Aspidistra Flying." In 1937 Orwell went to Spain to report on the civil war and, according to Judy P. Sopronyi's article George Orwell on the Road to Nineteen Eighty-Four", got really involved in the idea of Socialism, he was thrilled by the idea of everyone treating each other as equals and his log sense of guilt for being born in the upper-middle class, as he called it, had found its cure. It wasn't long before he found out that regardless of how flawless an ideology was, people could twist it viciously in order to make it work for their own political ambitions. His personal experience was involved in that notion, because after being loyal to, and fighting on the side of the Republicans, he was quickly turned into the enemy for no apparent reason, and was forced to return to England to avoid arrest.

I Want to Face the Challenges of Architecture :: Graduate Admissions Essays

I Want to Face the Challenges of Architecture    When you drive home from work, do you ever explore? Sure, it might take longer than usual, and there may be unpleasant stops along the way, but occasionally you will find an unexpected surprise. By casting aside strict conventions and routines and by taking risks, we can achieve things we never considered or thought possible.    I find that many people in our religiously capitalist society only seek the fastest, cheapest, and most efficient route. While some industries hire to increase diversity and thereby innovation, many dare not attempt anything new. In particular, many established architects and developers fear taking chances and fear the risk of failure inherent in untested methods. I, on the other hand, believe that architects must not feel constrained by the past but must follow-up on promising possibilities.    Exploring undiscovered methods and paths requires self-criticism, self-assurance, and courage. In my junior year in college, I doubted the teaching style of my instructor in my first design studio class. I felt as if he pushed his own rigid ideas into the students' creations and did not allow the students the opportunity to pursue their own original designs. Fearing my intellectual growth might be stunted by his lectures and dissatisfied with his teaching, I basically taught myself design by researching and combing through hundreds of architecture books. Through my own studies, I came to realize that architecture should be learned, not preached. That semester, I further challenged myself by working on a design of my own creation, a design not assigned by my instructor. While it would have been easier to accept the instructor' s lessons and just follow his ideas, I realized that I could never take the easy way again now that I discovered that the beauty of architecture lies in learnin g it myself. That semester helped formulate my approach towards architecture and influence my design decisions to this day.    Although self-motivation is extremely important, seeking the guidance and critique of others is essential to good design since others can find what I may have overlooked. One critic who has been particularly crucial to the development of my work is Craig Scott, a Progressive Architecture Awards Winner in 1996,who worked together with Homa Fardjadi and Sima Fardjadi. Craig was my studio critic during the spring term of 1997.

North South Relations Theory

Edward Chien April 5, 2013 North-South Relation Research question: What is the cause and effect of North-South divide? And why is the South experiencing such slow economic growths? What are some solutions to resolving the North-South relation problem? North South relation theory is defined as a socio-economic and political divide between two hemispheres. The North consists of North American, Western Europe, Australia, Japan, and East Asian countries; whereas the south is made up of Africa, Latin America, and South East Asia.The North is considered to be much more economically developed and modernized compared to the South, where there is widespread poverty and slow economic growth. In this paper I will examine the causes and effects of North-South divide. There are many causes to the North-South divide, but I think it is strongly related to colonialism. I am talking about modern colonialism, whereby rich nations are now scrambling to get the best bargains from the poor countries. Ric h countries have relaxed their immigration policies to attract wealth and human capital from poorer countries.This is considered as robbing talents and it is a new form of colonialism that seems to be legitimate. If we look back in history, colonialism is done through coercion and threats, which is outlawed in today’s world. During the colonial era, British trading companies drained wealth from its colonies in Africa by extraction of natural resources and refused to develop social infrastructures. In today’s world, we have a new form of colonialism, which is equally devastating, but is much more subtle and less violent.We see a large number of young and skilled professionals of underdeveloped countries moving to rich countries because they are attracted by new possibilities in more developed countries. â€Å"People are eager to migrate to countries in the South in attempts to better their life standards and get their share in the perceived prosperity of the North†¦South and Central Americans want to live and work in North America. Africans and Southwest Asians want to live and work in Europe. Southeast Asians want to live and work in North America and Europe† (Rafael, 2007, 556).Migration of skilled workers from the South is a serious concern for undeveloped countries. When skilled workers leave the South, they bring with them knowledge, capital, and economic productivity with them to the North. This facilitates an uneven distribution of technological innovation. For instance, if an structural engineer from the South leaves his country, the country loses human capital and essentially both economic productivity of this individual as well as income tax revenue.Now, when skilled labors are migrating in a large proportion, then it the effects are even more detrimental. â€Å"Though the proponents of globalization argue that it ushers in an unprecedented flow and circulation of people which has never been witnessed before in history, the critics of globalization have shown us that the scale and complexity of human movement that is currently occurring has solely benefited the rich nations† (Timsina, 2011). The loss of skilled labor due to migration is a main cause to why undeveloped countries are not experiencing economic growth.In order to solve the problem of migration and help undeveloped countries generate higher economic growth, I would propose that rich countries adjust their immigration policies. Policies should not be geared toward excessive importation of highly skilled and production young people because these people are the future of their country and without them, there will be little economic growth. But simply changing immigration policies of rich countries are not enough; I think there should also be strong monetary incentives on part of undeveloped countries to retain their skilled workers.For instance, I think doctors, nurses, engineers, and technicians from poor countries should be given an in come equal to income given in rich countries; the government should be able to subsidize their annual salary if necessary. Another important cause of North-South divide is that there is capital constraints and governmental corruption in less developed countries. When government officials corrupt and steal from tax revenue, money is directed into individual pockets rather than building public infrastructures.Corrupted money are usually deposited aboard; for example in China, a report unveils that â€Å"the number of government and Party officials who fled the country since the mid 1990s was between 16,000 and 18,000 and the embezzled capital nearly 800 billion Yuan, which is $123 billion dollars† (Chen, 2011). The report also says that corrupted officials are mostly public security officers, high executives of state-owned companies, and member of the judiciary; these government officials lack the confident in the current system in China and believed that their assets and futur e is safer abroad, usually in developed countries.Thus, I would suggest countries in the South that are less developed to strengthen property rights for its citizens. If government officials do not even trust the country in which they serve, they will not serve their country wholeheartedly. There are many problems when capital flight and government corruption takes place. For example, when money goes into individual pockets, society will be left with little improvement in basic public and social infrastructures; the majority of the people will continue to have low living standards, and the country will not be modernized as quickly.This is prevalent in African countries where authoritarian regimes dictate politics. Plus, in developing countries where population growth is very high, the amount of capital per person available for people declines as population grows. There is no much capital to start with and if net capital accumulation is declining due to corruption, poor countries wil l only get poorer in the long run. Bribery is one of the main tools of corruption, often used by private parties to â€Å"buy† things that are provided by the government.For instance, private actors can bribe and influence the government’s choice of firms to supply goods and services through contracts. If business people and government officials are working together to make money, then there is usually monopoly in the market. The government can create barriers of entry and prevent competition from entering to take market share away from their business partners or client. This will usually result in high product prices and little foreign direct investment due to unfair practice in the market.These practices by the government put their country in a vicious developmental cycle that entails slow economic growth in the long run. I think foreign intervention into domestic politics of another country is a violation of sovereignty rights and so it is very hard to solve the pro blem of government corruption from the outside. If a developing country wants to transform itself and become a part of the North, then it’s government must be willing to resist the temptation of corruption, or at least control their level of corruption sustainably.I think we will have to look at some success stories before we formulate a solution. Government intervention is a very important part of developing countries; historically, successful transformation and rapid economic growth are only achieved through state-led programs and government intervention. If we look at the early stages of economic development in South Korea and Taiwan, we will see that there is widespread state involvement and state guidance. Both South Korea and Taiwan were ruled by a military regime from the 1960s to the 1970s that focused heavily on heavy industrialization.Park Chung Hee utilized his experience with Japan’s wartime economic management in Northeast China and applied the model in So uth Korea. He created the economic planning board, ministry of trade and industry, ministry of finance, and moved away from import substitution to an export oriented trade policy. In Taiwan, Chiang Kai-Shek was the military leader and he introduced a similar economic development model, he nationalized the banking system in Taiwan and employed a very conservative approach toward liberalism. During his reign, about 71. % of the assets of all financial institutions were concentrated in the hands of government-owned banks. This approach was highly beneficial to the financial sector in Taiwan because it reduced volatility in the stock market and limited speculative investment from foreign investors; this approach also helped Taiwan avoid the effects of the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. Both Taiwan and South Korea are small economies compared to other Western countries, but they were very successful in their state-led economic development.I think the biggest take away that we can learn from the economic model of South Korea and Taiwan is establishing effective government intervention in the economy. An efficient government in a developing country should prioritize equity and economic growth before anything else. I would suggest governments in developing countries to invest heavily in human capital, such as health, education and nutrition. Public and social infrastructures are also extremely important and they include roads, power distribution, water and sanitation.Last and the most important type of capital is public institutional capital, which includes a well-run bureaucracy, judicial system, and law enforcement capabilities. Having a strong government intervention is essential component that will help the South transform itself into a North economy. And it is historically proven to be possible when we look the economic miracle in South Korea and Taiwan. Another reason that some South economies are not moving toward a more advanced economy is because it is disad vantaged geographically. We called these countries landlocked developing countries (LLDC).A report estimates that â€Å"Landlocked countries that rely on transoceanic trade usually suffer a cost of trade that is double of their maritime neighbors, and they on average suffer a economic growth of 6% or less compare to their non-landlocked countries† (Hagen, 2003, 13). Theses countries are mainly located in Sub-Saharan Africa. And since these developing countries are primarily focused on exporting natural resources, they incur high transportation costs due to distance and terrain barriers to the ocean; this cause them to lose competitive edge for exports from non-landlocked countries.Furthermore, they also lack direct access to sea routes and are largely isolated from the world market. However, I think there is ways to solve this problem but it requires cooperation with non-landlocked neighboring countries. If we look at Europe, we see that landlocked countries can also become p rosperous economically when there is a well-developed public infrastructure system like roads and communication. If Sub-Saharan African countries want to compensate for its geographical disability, then they should strike negotiation with non-landlocked countries and improve cooperation in developing public infrastructures.Furthermore, they should also try to â€Å"reduce administrative burdens associated border crossings such as bureaucratic procedures, paperwork, custom charges, and traffic delay† (Faye, 2004, 47). This will allow easier access between both countries and increase the volume of trade that is mutually beneficial. Again, this goes back to the importance of government intervention into the market because trade negotiations can not be with good diplomacy; it does not matter if your economy is good, as long as you are landlocked and have no access to a seaport for exportation, then trade volumes will remain low.South economies are also undeveloped due to demograp hic reasons. Many least developed countries have extraordinary high population growth rates, which is caused by little to education and employment that leads to higher fertility rates. When people are not educated, â€Å"families in societies where children are needed to work on subsistence farms tend to have more children, especially in places where infant and child mortality is high† (worldsavvy. org, 2008). When there is high population growth, poverty typically grows as well.In fact, majority of the less developed countries have a large young population due to low life expectancy rates, and these young people have little employment opportunities. A report says, â€Å"Developing countries tend to have a disproportionate number of citizens under the age of 30, which creates a large pool potentially restless and unemployed youth who live in a society without sufficient employment opportunities and often with many groups, militias, and militaries to which young boys in parti cular are often drawn.It is calculated that when the youth population of a country reaches 35%, the risk of armed conflict goes up by 150%† (worldsavvy. org, 2008). A large young population is beneficial to the country only if they are educated and working to generate economic growth; if they are not doing this, then they are most likely wasting resources and perhaps even contribute to high crime rates. Thus I would suggest that there should be government intervention in areas related to healthcare and education when it comes to demographic pressures.The government should plan and develop the country as a whole and not merely focus on modernizing certain cities while leaving rural areas undeveloped. More employment opportunities should be provided through public programs such as construction of social infrastructures. I have explained several main causes of why there is a North-South divide in the world. The South is failing to transform itself due to reasons such as capital f light, migration of skilled workers, government corruption, inefficient government policies, geographic disadvantages, and demographic challenges.I also offered solutions to deal with each problem specifically; I believe that if less developed countries can implement these solutions, then there is a chance for a South economy to transform itself to a North economy just like South Korea and Taiwan. Bibliography Mimiko, Oluwafemi (2012). Globalization: The Politics of Global Economic Relations and International Business. Durham, N. C. : Carolina Academic. pp. 48–54. Mimiko, N. Oluwafemi. Globalization: The Politics of Global Economic Relations and International Business.North Carolina: Carolina Academic Press, 2012. 47-54. Print. Kacowicz, Arie M. â€Å"Globalization, Poverty, and the North–South Divide. † International Studies Review 9. 4 (2007): 565-580. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 23 Oct. 2009. Therien, J. P. Beyond the north-south divide: the two tal es of world poverty. Third World Quarterly. pp. 723–742. Preece, Julia. â€Å"Lifelong learning and development: a perspective from the ‘South’† Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education 39. 5 (2009). 23 Oct. 2009. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/North–South_divide

Personal Ethnography

What is ethnicity? Ethnicities are the common characteristics of a group of people. As a large multi-national country, China is composed of 56 ethnic groups. My family is Han Chinese. Han people are majority people group in the China, account for 91. 59 of the overall Chinese population according to the Fifth National Population census of 2000. I was born and grew up in China so I would account myself, identify as the full-blooded Chinese. I don not have the complicated ethnic background. However Asian Americans have been in American for over 150 years.My ancestors never leave their homeland motivated by seeking political asylum or dreams of a money in my family history. Therefore, my roots allow me to be classified as Chinese. Mandarin is my mother tongue, all my families speak it and read it. All education is conducted in Mandarin. It does not mean there no problem among the Mandarin speakers all around the China because there are over 600 regional dialects except Mandarin. Older g eneration used to speak regional dialects, like my parents often speak Fukienese with my grandparents.Generally, China’s main religion are Buddhism, this was the only foreign religion to be absorbed into and changed by Chinese culture, contributing in many ways to the country’s cultural development. Buddhism is also my family’s beliefs, we will worship Budda in some festivals. No matter the language or the religion also help to identify me as full-blooded Chinese. Other identifying me as a Chinese by my skin color, hair, eyes, other appearance features, and ask me where I come from. I'm a little bit shy at school, and when I have questions or I need help on my subjects, I hesitate to raise my hand.Since my freshman year I have been like this. I attend every class and turn in every homework or project on time, for this reason, they identified me as an Asian, because of the stereotypes placed on Asians my behavior and attitude contributed to people's reasoning. Ch ina is the oldest civilization in the world and Chinese civilization was built on agriculture. The collective (group-oriented) nature of Chinese values is largely the product of thousands of years of living and working together on the land (Hu, Grove 1) Today, China is a communist government with a socialist ideology and a capitalist economy.Traditional festivals are celebrated in many countries all around the world. China with its long history and predominantly agricultural society has large number of traditional festivals. As Eberhard states â€Å"Few nations have such a multitude of romantic and colorful celebrations as do the Chinese† (Eberhard 31). Also, the family not the individual, is the basic unit in China, all festivals are family festivals rather than church or state festivals. The Chinese New Year was and still the most widely celebrated festival throughout the whole China.It is the time for family reunions, a time for visits with friends, a rest for the hard wor k and all sorts of entertainment. That is so true that The Chinese New year is a big event and it should be my favorite festival. The Chinese New year officially lasts one month, but in that very day everyone tries to be at home, families sit all together at a big table to share a delicious dinner. Kids wear new cloths and wait for pocket money from parents, then we have firecrackers to welcome the New year. Usually, the first day of the New Year is devoted to feasting and visiting relatives.On the second or third day friend visit and exchange good wishes. Food is one of the most significant resources in life. All cultures differentiate themselves through their development and attitude toward food. Therefore, there is a wide variation of food, which often has a lengthy developmental history, that symbolizes diverse cultural attitudes; specific foods, such as pasta for Italians, curry for Southeastern Asians, and pierogi for Poles, serve as a focus for ethnic identity (Hirschberg 57) . As a Chinese, I respect all food, and do care about it.Maybe I could say it is the most distinguished cuisine in this world. Americans like pastas, pizza or meat as entrees, however rice is a basic and important food to us. People in western countries like to use butter, cheese as ingredients, but we use soy sauce and bean curd. We have so many different techniques for cooking food, such as boiling, deep-frying and pickling, but they are not always done in the totally same ways. Take an example of boiling, one is cooking in water makes it continues to boil, and the other one is put the stuff in boiled water and then reducing the temperature.However, although Chinese people share the same culture, some food items a re available in only particular regions. I lived in south China, there are many basins and plains, which help the various harvests of food because of the warm and moist growth environment; rice, green vegetables, and animals are produced. Do not like northern China, most likely are grown for wheat. As the globalization, Chinese and Americans are interacting with each other more. The western traveler must be aware of the different greeting styles that exist in China.The most common greeting among the Chinese is Nihao, which means greetings or good day. We do use direct greetings like â€Å"Good morning†, â€Å"Good afternoon†, or â€Å"Good night†. You may use Nihao either on virtually any occasion regardless of the time of day or the social status of the person you are greeting. And the most conventional way to greet a Chinese is simply to say his or her name, perhaps adding a term of respect. For examples, a girl just back from school may call out â€Å"Baba† (Daddy) when greeting her father.I think you should not greet Chinese with kiss, hug or other physical contact beyond handshaking, these nonverbal forms will not be appreciated. given name while in the United States the reverse is true. Prepare for this paper I sea rched for several materials and look up so many book about the Chinese culture. As a Chinese I still learn lots of new acknowledge that I never know before. For instant, like Chinese New year, I did not know the origin of this festival. I would like to share information with others but I don’t want to make a label with racism or others.Racism will never end unless the word race is not used any more. We must stop separating Chinese, American, and Mexican groups. Works Cited Hirschberg, Stuart, and Terry Hirschberg. Every Day, Everywhere: Global Perspectives on Popular Culture. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2002. Print. Eberhard, Wolfram. Chinese Festivals. New York: H. Schuman, 1952. Print. Hu, Wenzhong, and Cornelius Lee. Grove. Encountering the Chinese: a Guide for Americans. Yarmouth, Me. : Intercultural, 1999. Print.

Wide Awake

Literary devices are often used in pop songs to give off a certain mood or setting. Katy Perry uses repetition, imagery, allusion and alliterations in her song â€Å"Wide Awake† to explain how an event can cause a person to grow or change in perspective. Changing how they see someone or something and change how they feel about things. By using these devices it created a realization and regretful mood and tone to her song. This makes her song personal and emotional which allows many people to relate and therefore sells songs. You will find that majority of stars out there choose deep and meaningful things to sing about to sell more albums. One way she created the mood of her song Wide Awake was by using repetition. In the very beginning she states that she's wide awake, meaning that she has come to realize her mistakes and is seeing things from a different point of view now after the fact. Also she repeats falling from cloud nine throughout the song as well. Falling from cloud nine is a figure of speech saying that she was in love and happy but then she fell out of love (falling from cloud nine) and became heartbroken. Falling from cloud nine isn't necessarily considered a good thing and that's exactly what she was saying. Using repetition to create a mood for the song and to hook the listeners into listening to the story behind of the song. Another way she added meaning to her song was by using Imagery. In almost every song that there is there is some sort of imagery warped into it. Because without some sort of story line or description the song wouldn't be any good or entertaining and people wouldn't want to listen to it. In Katie's song she creates the image of thunder rumbling and castles crumbling. That creates a picture in your head of the actual emotion that she's feeling. Describing her heart break like the cracks and loud booms of thunder during storm, a storm like the break up she's going through. And also describing the same thing with an old castle that's finally worn down and falls apart. Lastly I want to talk about the overall meaning of the song. Throughout the song Katy puts in several literary devices as the ones in the paragraphs above but the entire song itself is just a huge metaphor. In the chorus of her song she says â€Å"Gravity hurts, you made it so sweet till I woke up on the concrete. † Majority of her song revolves around these lyrics. Because she's comparing her break up and her realization of what went wrong to earth's gravity. Which states whatever goes up must come down, just like her love for him whoever he is had to come to an end eventually and that hurts. In the end all songs are made up different combinations of literary deices and descriptions of real life feelings. these were just some examples using the famous Katy Perry's most recent song. Songs are just really long poems that speak the truth about life itself and how can you create a poem without structure? You can't, and that's why we use literary devices to build a structure for our writing.

Adolescence Paper Essay

Adolescence is a period of socialization where children develop relationships outside of the family.   These relationships further fuel or enhance their perceptions of the world, their bonding with surrounding society members and their view of human interactions.   In an environment where there is a distant mother or absent father, where the child is found to have problems acting socially normal with other people, the person is defined as a deviant.   Not everyone who has been subjected to the above findings will go on to become a self-mutilator, but these types of adolescent girls are or have been defined by these terms. It becomes apparent then, that early childhood development is essential to creating an identity and furthermore to creating a sound human being who is not prone to acts of aggression.   In the theme of this paper, the concept of transgenderism will be discussed.   Although the theory of socialization is a very strong indicator of moral values and actions, it does not indicate sexual disposition.   The theories of biology are more aptly considered to be the reason for sexual persuasion, and in the argument for this paper, transgenderism will be proven to be biological, not psychological, or sociological. See more:  Capital budgeting essay The purpose in the role of a transgendered person is in the definition of identity.   It is any person’s right to discover their true self and to present that self to society.   The problem that society has with a transgendered person is that society is often times eluded by this identity.   Anything or anyone who defies definition, that cannot be exactly categorized, becomes a ‘problem’ in society.   However, where the discussion of this paper is concerned such a ‘problem’ is beyond its scope, thus, the issue of identity and the rejection of that identity by society will be discussed. First, a transgendered person is a person who defies a specific gender role.   Men are conditioned by society to not be a sissy, to be superior and tough.   As Tucker-Ladd states in his book Psychological Self-Help, â€Å"And, what makes a woman a â€Å"great catch?† What makes women sexy? A pretty face and a great body! Women compete on the basis of their looks. This may interfere with women’s motivation to achieve and be successful. Oprah recently asked young people which they would rather be: attractive or intelligent? An amazing percentage said attractive. What counts in this culture is how attractive you are, especially if you are a woman.† (2000). Thus, it would seem that a transgendered person would have the benefits of either gender, but this is not the case. Going back to the idea of identity, a transgendered person is both genders.   This does not however classify that person as a hermaphrodite which is being born with both sexes functional sexual organs.   A transgendered person has attributes of either sex, as their biological make-up pertaining to psychological contexts designs behavior.   Often times such an individual is a man who has, or who desires to be female, or vice versa. Although society has many sexual deviants in its subcultures, a transgendered person is not a transsexual, which is a specified gender dressing in the other gender’s clothes.   Instead, a transgendered identity pertains to defying or including to a smaller extent the gender assigned to them at birth.   Thus, the dualistic nature and the confusion of this, is the make-up of the transgender definition. Therefore, by the above stated definition of a transgendered person, they should be considered social deviants inasmuch as society fails to define this subculture.   The thesis of this paper rests upon the fact that a transgendered person does not choose that they are transgendered but instead, their psychological make-up adheres to one sex’s societal role definition more than the biological make-up.   Thus, although transgender is a defiance of biology, it is also a deviance of societal norms, as Sandy Stone states, Transgender is a term whose exact meaning is still in dispute, and I consider that a very healthy sign. The most widely accepted definition is that transgender includes everything not covered by our culture’s narrow terms â€Å"man† and â€Å"woman†. A partial list of persons who might include themselves in such a definition includes transsexuals (pre, post, and no-op); transvestites; cross dressers; persons with ambiguous genitalia; persons who have chosen to perform ambiguous social genders; and persons who have chosen to perform no gender at all (Stone, paragraph One). Against this idea that transgendered people are transgender due to psychology is the fact that often times the transgender definition includes (as stated by Stone) other social deviants whose identity is not guided by psychology but biology such as ambiguous genitals, or the people who choose a certain lifestyle.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The argument of this paper is that choice is not a factor in determining transgendered people.   Instead, it is inherent in them, and is not under the guise of socialization, or biology.   The concept of choice is one which defies the rules of constructed psychology.   Along the same lines that a schizophrenic cannot choose their dementia or a serial killer their disposition to kill, so does the definition of a transgendered person escape choice. Thus, although Stone’s definition of a transgendered person is inclusive, it should not be so inclusive as to apply to these various subgroups of social deviants.   There is a difference between a transgendered person and a transsexual, transvestite, etc.   While some have to do with choice (transsexual), others have to do with complete changing of their sex (as in a transsexual).   A transgendered person is biologically one sex, and yet performs attitudes, functions, reactions and thoughts according to social definitions of the other gender’s role.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although culture has implications on the role of gender, the technicalities of which cannot be aptly portrayed in this essay.  Ã‚   It is however in this scope of this essay to mention that while biology caters to the transsexual, psychology is the format by which a transgendered person obtains their social role.   Although some contest to the fact of biology being a main component in transgender identity as Stone states, Social constructivists believe that both sex and gender arise in social interaction and have no existence independent of social interaction; i.e., they are not grounded in â€Å"nature†, the meaning of which is itself socially determined. The â€Å"constructedness† of sex and gender is made invisible by the normal workings of social life, so that they appear natural rather than artificial. Recent constructivist theory also points out that the idea of two absolute chromosomal sexes is also a social construction. Recall the film Alien 3, in which the inhabitants of the prison colony are all double-Y chromosomal; thus although they possess many of the secondary sexual characteristics of males, genetically they are not male, nor are they any other category for which we currently have a socially understood name (Stone, paragraph Six). The fact remains that a transgender person is born with appropriate body functions, and their chemical make-up is no different than other person’s with the same gender.   Therefore the reliance on psychology, not the function of sociology and the socialization of gender through cultural awareness, but the psychological components which determine if a person is a genius, serial killer, etc. are the same for finding the reason behind transgendered people. Work Cited Stone, S.   Transgender.   Online.   Accessed:   May 11, 2007.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   < http://sandystone.com/trans.html> Tucker-Ladd, Clayton, E.   Psychological Self-Help.   2000.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚