A Students Guide to the College Application Process

Getting into college is no easy task. It doesnt matter where youre applying, what your grades are, or what youre looking to study, its one of the harder accomplishments to take on. But every year, students get into schools and set off on a four-year adventure that eventually starts their adult lives. Bryce Crawford is no different. This senior, who is headed off to Yale in the fall, spent endless hours crafting applications to a number of different schools. He wrote an open letter to the juniors about to take on the task of applying to college, and heres what he wrote: â€Å"Dear Juniors, Every year students enduring the front half of their senior year of high school experience dread as they enter the infamous college admissions process. I certainly wasn’t looking forward to spending hundreds of dollars on applications, writing tens of thousands of words aobut myself, and laboring for dozens of hours to make it all happen. When entering the process it’s not entirely uncommon for students to question their own worth - Have I worked hard enough to get into the school of my dreams? Am I smart enough? Am I good enough? What if every school rejects me? What do my parents and peers expect from me? These questions and more plague the minds of stressed-out, self-conscious, and under-rested teenagers. I applied to 9 schools - I was accepted to 4, waitlisted at 3, and rejected from 2. I wrote a little over 20,000 words in admissions essay, and spent quite a bit of my free-time during the second quarter of my senior year getting it all done. I was a good student, but I wasn’t a perfect student by any means. My transcript consisted mostly of As with a few Bs here and there, I was ranked 58 of 739 in my class on my six semester rank, and I wasn’t heavily involved in any sports or other strictly athletic activities. I was hesitant to apply to Yale because I never thought I would get accepted. I wasn’t ranked as one of the top 10 kids in my class and my SAT score was 100 points below their 50th percentile, so it seemed like I would be throwing $100 down the drain all for a rejection. After learning Yale was a Common App school and hosted ROTC I felt a little better about applying simply because I wouldn’t have to start the application from scratch and if I received an ROTC scholarship I could transfer it to Yale. I treated the Yale application no different than I treated any of my other applications. I’m not extremely analytic when it comes to my writing so I just wrote about what came to my mind first. I didnt look up any fancy vocabulary words to throw in my essays and I didn’t count the number of simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences to make sure they were evenly distributed. I just wrote - the same way I’m writing to you now. When asked what inspires me I was honest: I talked about superheroes. When I mentioned my goals for society I talked about the impact watching â€Å"Bill Nye the Science Guy† had on me as a kid. Nothing was forced and nothing was unnecessary. Imagine my surprise when I was accepted to Yale! I couldn’t believe it. I’m extremely excited to be starting college at Yale this fall on an ROTC scholarship. If I had to give advice to the people who are entering the college admissions process, I’d say just be yourself and be honest. It’s unhealthy to research the average psychological profile of an admissions officer in hopes of engineering an essay that has a high likelihood of resonating with them. I’m willing to bet that the applications that are genuine and truthful are much more refreshing for the people that read them than applications that are too extravagant or planned-out. Put effort into writing your essays, but realize that you don’t need to write about the time you rescued a family from a burning building in order to make an effective essay. Instead, try taking the admissions officers on a journey showing dat-to-day life through your eyes. All you need to write about is the trut h. If my experience has taught me anything it’s that there is a light at the end of the dark scary tunnel that is college admissions. I don’t want to leave you with the misconception that the light represents admission to an Ivy League school - because it doesn’t. The light represents your bright future. If you’re planning to attend college then you will become part of an elite group throughout history that has had the privilege of higher education, and you likely live in one of the most well-developed countries in the world. Rest assured that you can and will be accepted to a college, and that in a matter of months this whole process will be over. There is a decision waiting for you at the end of that tunnel, but that decision is your own. You get to choose what you make of your education wherever you end up attending. I have friends attending all sorts of schools ranging from community college to UT Austin, Texas AM, Trinity University, St. Mary’s University, and many more. They didn’t find peace necessarily because they went to one college and not the other, they found peace because after months of biting their nails waiting for an answer they finally found finality in the decision. The answer they found should serve as a beacon of hope that the next amazing parts of their life are going to happen. Don’t stress yourself out about getting into this or that college, instead try to remain excited by the idea that you don’t know what college you’ll be attending. Every rejection you get just nudges you towards your mysterious future university, a university where you might discover a new passion or meet the future mother/father of your children. Your life is like a book being read to you, so embrace the foreshadowing that admissions decisions provide as you brace yourself for the next chapter.† If youre just getting started on the application process, make sure to search our database of admitted students to find schools that fit you. See essays, stats, and advice from thousands of students at colleges across the US and see where you fit in. Talk one-on-one with a mentor to get personalized advice on your process.

Rock and roll music

Rock and roll music Rock and roll music Rock and roll music has changed the dominance of the European fine-art music though introduction of new fundamentals into the contemporary music arena. The introduction of new performance styles has essentially changed the previous legitimacy associated with performance. For example, majority of performers are perceived as being juveniles. This is because of their close association with social ills such as fornication and drug abuse. Rock and Roll music has led to the development of a new musical landscape with regard to events of the western civilization era. This has led to the a negative perception on civilization. Mainstreaming aspect of the American culture has also contributed significantly to the growth of rock and roll. This is especially on account of revolutionary aspects. Budds remarks, At the heart of the issue is the mainstreaming of attitudes and practices, musical and otherwise, that represent fundamental departures from those institutionalized by the power culture since the colonization of the United States (502). Rock and Roll represents the emergence of youth independence on account of development of new attributes like openness. This has led to significant of competition as a variable in the musical industry due to its profitability. Leaders in the recording industry condemned music from competitors as being culturally and socially irresponsible (Budds 503). Factors drawing the audience to Rock and Roll included spontaneity and the musical process. Language is another important element, for instance, the development. In Tin Pan Alley lyrics your are the angel glow that lights a star (Budds 504) I rock em, roll em all night long: Im a sixty-minute man (Budds 505) Finally, Rock and Roll music has a strong ethnic affiliation. Rock and Roll music has been used as a means of communication, preservation, and renewal of their cultural identity under poor social conditions (Budds 507).

The importance of marketing in travel and tourism Essay

The importance of marketing in travel and tourism - Essay Example There are several factors that impact the image of a company: advertising (any paid form of performancing the ideas, production and services); personal selling (the advertising for one or several potential clients which takes place while negotiations and aimed to have long-term realtionship between the companies); sales poromotion (stimulating arrangements selling the pruducts and services); public relationship (development of the relatiuonship between the companies with the help of creating a good reputation). (Peter D. Bennet) As for air companies, it should be mentioned the the way of creating an image is the quality of the services they produce. Product is the indicator of the organization. So a great attention should be paid to the quality of products and services. According to the marketing concepts, the companies achieve the competative advantages by working out the proposals which meet the needs of the comsumers more that the competative companies do. The companies can gain the competative advantage by reducing the price, and better quality of the production. The companies should consider not only the consumers’ needs but the strategies of the competitive companies. The first step in this direction is competitor analysis – the process of defining and evaluating the competative companies. The next step is working out the competitive strategies, that would help to have a good position at the market and gain the competitive advantage. (Leslie de Chertony). In order to achieve success and just to survive companies should change their philosophy. To win a good position at the contemporary market the companies should be consumer oriented. It is impoartant to know everything not only about production but about the creating the customer value orientation. It is very important to satisfy the customer’s expectations and to define the level of satisfaction. Usually the

What concepts and theories best capture the predicament of forced Essay

What concepts and theories best capture the predicament of forced migrants in the 21st century - Essay Example This presents a challenge, as countries who are absorbing an influx of voluntary migrants may not have enough economic opportunities for the forced migrants. Additionally, because the same conditions exist for the voluntary and the forced migrants, forced migrants may have difficult attaining refugee status, which means that they might not be accepted by the receiving country. A forced migrant is somebody who is forced to leave their home to seek refuge because of the possibility of being persecuted in their home country (Davenport et al., 2003). They may either seek refuge inside the borders of their own country, in which case they are internally displaced or in another country, in which case they are refugees (Castles, 2003, p. 5). The first kind of migration examined will be that of forced migration. There are many types of forced migrants. Refugees is one type, and these are people who have been displaced because of war in their home country (Castles, 2003, p. 5). They can be contrasted with æ ® ¿sylum seekers,in that every country has the right to define what constitutes a refugee, and every government must grant a person the status of refugee. Therefore, an individual is granted the status of æ ® ¿sylum seekeruntil the government grants them the status of 途efugee(Castles, 2003, p. 7). Refugees may also refer to persons who leave their home country for fear of persecution on the basis of race, religion, nationality or membership of a particular social group or political opinion (Davenport et al., 2003, p. 28). While the refugees are individuals who seek asylum from a country other than their home country, internally displaced migrants are slightly different, according to Adelman (2001). Adelman (2001) states that the internally displaced also leave their homes because of fear of persecution, like refugees, but, unlike refugees, the internally

Auditing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Auditing - Essay Example It has been noticed that frauds related to theft of inventory have a direct impact on the income statement of the company. Loss due to theft is directly proportion to decrease in profit (Week, 4 2012). There are following ways Mr. Franklin can reduce the probability of risk through theft. Access Control is like security measures these measures are taken so we can prohibit any kind of unauthorized entry in some restricted area (Audit Risk Assessment, Page 31), by this risk of theft of any asset can be reduced to a minimal level if the access is restricted to a minimal level then there is less probability of any kind of fraud or misrepresentation e.g. If there is only one person who is managing all cash related affairs and he is the only authorized person who have access to cash so, in such a scenario, the probability of theft will be low. It is necessary to count the assets periodically and then compare it with our records (Audit Risk Assessment, Page 381). It is quite essential to safeguard our assets from theft. It can provide you detail if there is some sort of difference between counted assets and recorded assets then we need an explanation. For that reason, first of all we need to understand the concept of materiality and we have to understand which category of goods is valuable to us (Week, 5 2012). It is a concept in which we use more than one person to complete a task; it means that we have to include different personal to execute a single transaction (Audit Risk Assessment, Page 380) so work of one individual is being cross checked by another individual. In such setup, there is a possibility that the risk of theft will reduce. But we have to make sure that no one is performing any duty which is mismatched. It is quite a good way for an internal control. The other risk the hospitality industry was exposed to a risk of fiddles or

Effect of Roasting Coffee on Caffeine Conten

Effect of Roasting Coffee on Caffeine Conten Introduction: Coffee has been a popular drink since 20th century, not only because of its different colors and flavors due to different degrees of roasting, but also the effect on which it can keep you to stay awake and to finish your job. It is commonly known that the reason for coffee to possess this effect is because of the caffeine inside the coffee beans. In general, there are four main types of roasting methods in the industry, namely, Light Roast, Medium Roast, Full Roast and Double Roast. There are a variety of uses on caffeine nowadays. By interfering with adenosine in brain and body, it moderates new transmission of signals in CNS, Central Nervous System, and therefore keeps people awake[1]. Due to its short half-life in human body, around 4-10 hours on average[2], it can be used to increase the effect of analgesic for pain control[3] Also it has effect on delaying the muscle fatigue. However, caffeine can cause negative effect on human body, for example, increase the heart rate, breathing rate and makes people feel more alert and energetic, which is also the reason why International Olympic Committee forbid high caffeine consumption. Moreover, it is a mildly addictive drug, so some people cannot control the consumption of caffeine under overdose, which could lead to caffeinism.[4] Also, according to the a study held by Montreal University, if pregnant woman consume more than 1.5 cup of coffee, the chance of miscarriage is doubled; if consume more than four, the cha nce of miscarriage is tripled.[5] Therefore, the choice of caffeine consumption from coffee becomes critical due to its harmful effect on human body. It is advised that, if necessary, 100-300 mg per day of caffeine consumption is acceptable. However, people are usually lack of knowledge about the caffeine content in the coffee and have no idea what amount exactly is in the coffee they are drinking. Thus, they often use their senses to identify the caffeine content in coffee relative to each other. However, there are a lot of myths about this method. For example, those darker coffee has more caffeine than lighter coffee due to its darkness or that the caffeine is destroyed during roasting in higher temperature, so the caffeine content in lighter coffee is higher than that of darker coffee. To prevent over-dosing of caffeine from coffee, it is vital for people to have the general idea of comparing the caffeine content in different coffee when buying a them. In this essay, the caffeine contents in coffee beans roasted in different degrees are examined by experiment through the extraction of caffeine by chemical means. The result would be interpreted by focusing on the roasting process, as coffee beans experience greatest change in physical or chemical change during roasting. Although there are a lot of sub-degrees of the main four roasting degrees, only one sub-degree from each degree would be selected as representative. Research Question: Does different roasting degree affect the caffeine content in coffee beans? Background Information: Original Coffee beans: The original coffee beans are green in color. They contain non-volatile alkaloids, proteins and amino acid, carbohydrates, lipids, non-volatile chlorogenic acid, and volatile[6] compounds. Among the non-volatile alkaloids, caffeine is the most abundant. It contains 1-2.5% w/w [7] of green coffee been. Caffeine: Caffeine is a white, crystalline odorless and bitter tasting solid.[8] It exists in the plant of coffee beans as a natural pesticide. Its formal name is trimethylxanthine, or in systematic naming 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine or 3,7-dihydro-1,3,7-trimethyl-1H-purine-2,6-dione.[9] The chemical formula of caffeine is C8H10N4O2. It is a polar[10] organic compound that contains carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen. Its density in solid form is 1.23 g/cm3. Due to the presence of nitrogen in the compound, caffeine is base in nature. Since it is a polar molecule, it is soluble to water, especially in hot water. The solubility of caffeine in water is 22 at 25, 180 at 80, and 670 at 100.[11] Under pressure of standard ambient temperature and pressure[12], the melting point of caffeine is 238[13] and it can also sublime at 178in nearly vacuum[14], which will be explained by phase diagram next. Phase Diagram: Three general phases of matter are solid, liquid and gas. Change of phase does not only depend on the temperature, but also the surrounding pressure acting on the chemicals. For example, the boiling point of water is 100, under standard ambient temperature and pressure. However, if the is placed in a lower atmospheric pressure, the boiling point of water is decreased since the vapor pressure is already greater than the atmospheric pressure, so water molecules can escape from the water surface in a lower required energy. Therefore, each compound can undergo phase change to the three phases in different combination of temperature and pressure. Figure 2 is a phase diagram of . The lines dividing the diagram into sections represent that under certain temperature and pressure, would undergo change of phase, which is equilibrium between the two phases that the line is dividing. For example, the red line, if A < 1, then the corresponding melting point increases, while the corresponding boil ing point, A, decreases. Each element has their own phase diagram to illustrate the transition of phases under different combination of temperature and pressure. Figure 3 is a phase diagram illustrating the phase transitions of caffeine, which is different from . This is critical in later interpretation of the result in the experiment. It is because roasting process involves temperature and pressure change. Roasting process: The main purpose of roasting coffee beans is to remove toxins, enhance the taste and concentrate the odor wanted. Since green coffee beans are hard, little smell and contain a lot of compounds that are bitter in taste. Therefore, by roasting, it can result in both physical and chemical change in the green coffee beans. Since caffeine is the main factor that is concerned in this essay, other chemical change will not be discussed. Although there are a lot different roasting processes in the industry, such as fluidized bed roasting, fast roasting or horizontal rotating drum, the basic process of roasting is similar. During roasting, there are 10% to 20% lost in weight from the green coffee beans. Here is a summary of roasting process of coffee beans: Heating of Green Coffee Beans from 3-5 minutes (about 25 to 100) The green coffee beans are heated so that the water in the original coffee beans evaporates at a very fast rate. As this point, the green coffee beans turn from green to yellow due to caramelization of sugar in the coffee beans. Heating of Yellow Coffee Beans from 5th-9th minutes (about 170to 200) The yellow coffee beans are further heated and start to turn to brown in color as more sugar being caramelized. Carbon dioxide and water are forced to escape out of the coffee beans due to the high pressure inside, as the temperature is very high, which also causes the expansion in size of coffee beans. The aroma also starts to give out at this stage. First crack from 10th-11th minutes (about 210) A first sound of crack gives out as the coffee beans expand to almost double in size from green coffee beans in high temperature. Familiar aroma is given out and the coffee beans turn golden brown at this stage. After this stage, according to different degrees of roasting required, the coffee beans will undergo different temperatures and time periods for further heating. During the process, the sugar is caramelized further and coffee oil is released. Light roast: To acquire light roasted coffee beans, the beans from stage 3 are to be roasted about one more minute in about 215 before the second crack. Medium roast: For further half to one minute from light roasted in about 230, a second crack occurs and it means medium roast is finished. Full roast: If continued for half to one minute from medium roasted in about 240, full roasted coffee beans are collected. Double roast: This is the most common final step that coffee beans would be roasted, which is acquired from continuing the roasting from full roasted coffee beans for about half a minute more in about 245. The sugar in the coffee beans at this stage is started to burn and degraded. The above heating process can be achieved by either roasting the coffee beans on a hot plate, which is a traditional roasting method in industry or in home roasting, or passing the coffee beans by high temperature steam. Method: Variables: Independent: Degree of roasted coffee beans Dependent: Caffeine extracted from the coffee beans (g) Controlled: Mass of roasted coffee beans (g) Brand of coffee beans (Starbucks) Apparatus: The following apparatus are used in this experiment. Chemicals: The following chemicals are used in this experiment. Procedures: Extracting chemicals compounds out of coffee beans Measure 100mL of distilled water by graduated cylinder Pour the water into a 200mL beaker. Place the beaker on a hot plate and heat the hot plate to 100. Place a weighing boat on an electronic scale and tare it. Measure 3g of coffee beans, in form of powder, on the electronic scale and record it. Add the 3g of coffee powder into the boiling water. Use glass rod to stir the solution during heating. After the water boils, which means it reaches 100, set the temperature to 80 and allow the solution to stand for 20 minutes to extract as much caffeine as possible. Explanation of Stage 1 procedure: Since caffeine is a polar molecule, it dissolves in water, especially in hot water. It is because increase in temperature leads to increase in solubility of solids, as less energy is required directly from the molecule to break the water molecules apart from each other. Use of distilled water instead of tap water is to prevent any interruption from foreign ions exist, such as decreasing the solubility of caffeine. The water volume to coffee powder mass ratio has to be large to ensure that there is enough water to dissolve caffeine. Hotplate is preferred as it is easier to manipulate the temperature. The decrease in temperature from boiling point is to prevent any further evaporation of water, which may decrease the amount of caffeine extracted from coffee beans powder. Also, the coffee beans have to be in powder form in order to increase the surface area to dissolve completely in the solution. Assumption in Stage 1 procedure: The coffee beans are originated from the same coffee beans farm. No other procedure apart from roasting and grinding is done. The coffee beans are roasted in the same method. The degree of roasting is exactly same as listed on the package. Separate caffeine from other chemicals in the solution Use filter paper and filter funnel to filter out large remaining solids. After the solution in stage 1 is cooled down, measure 2g of sodium carbonate by electronic scale and add it to the solution. Use glass rod to stir the solution and allows sodium carbonate to dissolve in the solution. Use a pipette of 25 mL to transfer 25 mL of dichloromethane to the solution in order to obtain accurate measurement and stir it with a glass rod for a few minutes. Pour the solution into a separating funnel and cover it.[20] Use a stand to hold the separating funnel and allow the solution in it to separate into two immiscible layers. Precaution of Stage 2: Since dichloromethane is a volatile organic solvent, it is toxic when inhaled. Thus, starting from step 3 in Stage 2 and onward, all steps in the experiment have to be carried in the fume board. Make sure the opening of the separating funnel is closed before pouring the solution. Explanation of Stage 2 procedure: Apart from caffeine, the solution from stage 1 also contains different compounds extracted from the coffee beans, which are soluble in water too. The most abundant amount among the other compounds is tannin, which usually exists in plants products. Therefore, the addition of sodium carbonate is to remove those compounds other than caffeine by allowing those compounds to be more water-soluble and hence, allow them to dissolve in water instead of other solvents. The addition of dichloromethane is the most important procedure. It is a good organic solvent to dissolve caffeine. Although caffeine is a polar molecule and has dipole moment of 3.64D[22], it dissolves more readily in less polar dichloromethane, which has dipole moment[23] of 1.14D[24], while H2O 1.84D[25]. It is because caffeine is a large molecule, so small charges are distributed over a large distance, which makes the molecule less polar than water even though is has larger value of dipole moment than water. Therefore, it dissolves more readily in dichloromethane than in water. Since the polarity of dichloromethane is far less than water and is almost non-polar, it is not miscible with water, and due to its molar mass, 84.93g/mol, which is heavier than water molecule, 18.02g/mol, it sinks in the separating funnel. Assumptions in Stage 2 procedure: All caffeine in coffee beans dissolves in the boiling water from stage 1 All caffeine is dissolved in dichloromethane from water and no other compounds. Completion of caffeine extract (In fume board) Label a beaker for the number of trial of a particular kind of coffee beans. Weigh the mass of a beaker by electronic balance and record it. Place the measured beaker under the separating funnel and open the funnel to run the lower dichloromethane down to the beaker. Cover can be opened a little in order to add atmospheric pressure inside the funnel, so that solution can run down smoother. Close the cover of the funnel when reaching the separating line and allow the solution to run slowly. Close the funnel when the line of separation is reached at the tip of the funnel. Place the beaker with collected dichloromethane on a hot plate.[26] Turn the temperature of hot plate to 100. Wait until all solutions are evaporated and the beaker is dried and white crystals remain. Allow the beaker to cool down then measure the mass again on the electronic scale and record it. The difference between the mass of beaker in step 1 and step 9 in Stage 3 is the mass of caffeine extracted from the coffee beans. Explanation for Stage 3 procedure: Each beaker has different mass, so every individual mass must be weighed before usage. Step 1 must be done if trials are being done simultaneously. If some extra solutions from the upper part of the separating funnel are obtained, the entire procedure has to be started again. Since the boiling point of dichloromethane is 40, 100can make sure that any water and dichloromethane are evaporated while 100is still far lower than the point of sublimation of caffeine in vacuum. Assumption in Stage 3 procedure: All dichloromethane is collected in the beaker. Only caffeine remains in the beaker after evaporation of other solution. Finally, repeat the entire procedure to obtain 5 trials result for each kind of roasted coffee beans. Therefore, there will be 20 results obtained. After all procedures are done, make sure all the apparatus which have contact with dichloromethane are placed inside the fume board and all solutions are poured into a big beaker. Label the beaker as toxic organic waste in order to allow the technician to dispose or treat them correctly. Raw data: Observation: White precipitates remained. The precipitates are odorless. White precipitates stick on the bottom of the beaker. Conclusion and Analysis: From the calculations and Diagram 1, it can be seen that the percentages of caffeine existing in each coffee beans roasted in different degree are very closed. Therefore, the answer to the research question based on the result should be: the caffeine content in a coffee bean is not affected during the roasting process. The result is reliable since all percentages lie between 3.2% and 4.0%, which are between the greatest value of lower limits and the lowest value in the upper limits of all percentages. Moreover, the trend shows neither increasing nor decreasing as the degree of roasting increases. Thus, there should not be any relationship between the degree of roasting and the caffeine content in the corresponding coffee beans. I will now interpret the results with regarding the background knowledge. Referring back to the roasting process, it is clear that no chemical is added during the roasting process. However, the roasting process involves high temperature on direct heating with metal pans or using high temperature steam as alternative. One myth about the roasting process is that people claim that some caffeine is destroyed or evaporated during roasting under high temperature, so lighter coffee beans contain more caffeine than darker coffee beans. However, most of the roasting temperatures are under the melting point of caffeine, which is, indeed, not enough energy to destroy intra-molecular bonds. Although the temperature used for double roasted coffee beans are a little higher than the melting point of caffeine, the temperature only stands for about half a minute, which is not enough for the internal part of coffee beans to rise to melting point of caffeine. Neither, therefore, destroy nor evaporation of caffeine is unlikely to occur during the roasting process. Moreover, some myths say that due to the fact that the point of sublimation of caffeine is 178 and the temperature for full roast and double roast is already beyond that temperature, which exceeds 200, thus, the caffeine content in darker coffee beans is again described as less caffeine content that lighter coffee beans. It seems to be reasonable at first, but apart from temperature, we also consider the pressure in roasting process, since phase change depends on temperature and pressure as mentioned before in this essay. Considering the method of heating green coffee beans directly, in order to keep the temperature over 200, it is necessary that the system of the roasting process is under a closed condition, so that less energy is lost to the surrounding. According to the Ideal Gas Law, PV = nRT, where P is the pressure, V is the volume, n is the number of moles of gas molecules, R is the gas constant and T is temperature. As the system is closed, the volume, amount of gas and R, in deed, are constant. Therefore, if the temperature increases, the pressure also increases in the system. Same condition is in the method of using high temperature steam. Although it is commonly known that gas is the highest phase and the temperature cannot increase anymore, it is possible to create a steam with higher temperature than its boiling point, which is in a closed system. So if 200 steam is to be used, the roasting system has to be closed. Applying the same principle as before, the pressure also increases with the increase in temperature. Refer to figure 3, the phase diagram of caffeine. As the pressure increases, the blue line, the melting point of caffeine increases, the red line. Since the atmospheric pressure is increased to against the vapor pressure of caffeine, so more energy needed to break the forces between caffeine molecules in solid, which is an exothermic reaction[27]. Also, from the diagram, the line representing the sublimation point, purple rectangle, is only under relatively low pressure and temperature, as 178under vacuum condition, which is not the case in roasting coffee beans. Thus, it is incorrect to say that caffeine sublimes during roasting process. To conclude, high temperature and pressure in roasting process are the reasons that the caffeine content is not affected regardless the degree of roasting that the coffee beans have achieved. Therefore, even different degree of roasted coffee beans is used to brew coffee, the caffeine consumption is the same no matter which type of coffee you prefer. Indeed, decaffeinated coffee is not taken into account. Limitations and Evaluations: Random errors: Random error arises since caffeine may not be all dissolved in dichloromethane since it still has a little solubility in room temperature water. Furthermore, the caffeine extracted by dichloromethane may contain impurities, which affect the mass of caffeine recorded. Also, the measurement using graduated cylinder causes uncertainties. Moreover, the use of other equipments such as electronic balance, which causes 0.01g on the mass measured. Systematic errors: The quantity of sample is too small, which causes unclear results obtained since large difference may be obtained if sample has larger quantity. If there is any difference of caffeine content, it would be more obvious if increase the amount of each coffee powder sample used. However, due to the fact that school laboratory do not have a large beaker at the time the experiment was performed, which required more than 200mL, only small amount of sample in each trial can be used in order to keep a large ratio between the volume of water and the mass of the coffee powder. Moreover, the major systematic error is the separation of two layers in separating funnel. Since the running of dichloromethane into a beaker is manipulated by hands and through the observation. To ensure that all dichloromethane is collected, the closure of the separating funnel is a little delayed due to the bubbles in the separating line, which blurred the exact separating level. Therefore, a little solution of the upper part, which contains the impurities from coffee beans, is added into the dichloromethane in the beaker. After the evaporation, since sodium carbonate is added before and it has high boiling point due to its ionic structure, its mass contributes to the mass weighed on the electronic balance. Methods to resolve the major systematic error- Sublimation of caffeine: In order to resolve the major systematic error, a further step can be done if equipment is allowed in school laboratory. Since caffeine sublimes well under vacuum at 178, as no air molecules against the vapor pressure of caffeine, the collected caffeine can be placed into a flask connecting to a aspirator, which keeps the condition in vacuum, and have a cold finger above it and a heat source below the flask. Caffeine can then sublime and precipitate on the cold finger. Thus, pure caffeine can be collected and weighed. Further unresolved question and suggested investigation: Although the caffeine content is not affected by roasting, a step backward can result in an unresolved question, which is whether green coffee beans grown from different places contain different level of caffeine inside? A suggested way to do so is that; buy different coffee beans of same roasted level from different locations around the world. This can be done by using internet shopping. After, extract caffeine from each example and compare the caffeine content in each coffee bean from different location. Since there are more and more methods of roasting in the industry, such as fluidized bed roasting and fast roasting[29], it would be interesting to investigate whether these new methods of roasting can affect the caffeine content in the coffee beans even they are claimed to be same degree of roasting after all. Bibliography: A, Nehlig; JL, Daval; G, Debry (1992). Caffeine and the central nervous system: Mechanisms of action, biochemical, metabolic, and psychostimulant effects. Brain Res Rev FP, Meyer; E, Canzler; H,Giers; H. Walther (1991). Time course of inhibition of caffeine elimination in response to the oral depot contraceptive agent Deposiston. Hormonal contraceptives and caffeine elimination. Zentralbl Gynakol Oxford A-Z of Medicinal Drugs Oxford Press. Kent, Michael (1997). Oxford Food Fitness (A Dictionary of diet and exercise) Oxford University Press. Anderson, Jean; Deslein, Barbara. The Nutrition Bible William Marrow and Company, Inc. LEUNG, T. M.; LEE, C. C. Inorganic Chemistry and Chemistry in Action Fillans. Library for Science. . About.com Drug bank Purdue University Online Writing Lab Look for chemicals Carleton College » University of British Columbia Coffee-Makers-Cafà © Coffee-Tea Sweet Marias Sonora Environmental Research Institute, Inc. The Scripps Research Institute City Collegiate New Mexico Tech  «Ezine Article » Beverage.cc PubMed database Appendix Chemicals in green coffee beans Non-volatile alkaloids: Caffeine, theophylline, theobromine, paraxanthine, liberine, and methylliberine are present, while caffeine is the most abundant non-volatile alkaloid, which is about 1-2.5% w/w of a green coffee bean. Also, caffeine acts as a natural insecticide for the plant. Moreover, caffeines half life is 5.7 hours in a normal adult body.[31] Proteins and amino acids Proteins and amino acids make up 8-12% w/w of a green coffee bean. Carbohydrates Carbohydrates account for 50% w/w of a green coffee bean, mostly polysaccharides. Lipids Lipids, ester, long chained unsaturated fatty acids and amides are found in green coffee beans. The fatty acid is saturated during roasting process, which accounts for the coffee oil. Non-volatine chlorogenic acids Chlorogenic acids are antioxidant. They are good for health, but 70% of them are destroyed during roasting process. Volatile compounds Volatile compounds are found in green coffee beans as aldehydes, short-chained fatty acids and nitrogen containing aromatic molecules. However, the aromatic molecules in green coffee beans are unpleasant, which is the reason that coffee beans are roasted in order to form pleasant odor of aromatic molecules. Degree of roasting It can be seen that although dipole moment of caffeine is very large, larger than water, the size of the molecule is very large compared to water and dichloromethane. Therefore, charges are spread widely, which makes the polarity of caffeine molecule less polar. Thus, caffeine dissolves more readily in dichloromethane than in water or sodium carbonate, which is ionic compound. Sodium carbonate is used to react and make some compound other than caffeine to be more soluble to water, such as tannin.[34] Nehlig, A, Daval JL, Debry G (1992). Caffeine and the central nervous system: Mechanisms of action, biochemical, metabolic, and psychostimulant effects. Brain Res Rev Meyer, FP, Canzler E, Giers H, Walther H. (1991). Time course of inhibition of caffeine elimination in response to the oral depot contraceptive agent Deposiston. Hormonal contraceptives and caffeine elimination. Zentralbl Gynakol Oxford A-Z of Medicinal Drugs, Oxford Press. Michael Kent (1997). Oxford Food Fitness (A Dictionary of diet and exercise). Oxford University Press. Jean Anderson, Barbara Deslein. The Nutrition Bible. William Marrow and Company, Inc. Volatile means tendency of vaporization. w/w = weight/volume percentage solution Library for Science: http://www.chromatography-online.org/directory/analt-235/page.html About.com: http://chemistry.about.com/od/moleculescompounds/a/caffeine.htm Drug bank: http://www.drugbank.ca/cgi-bin/getCard.cgi?CARD=DB00201 Electrons are unevenly distributed. Purdue University Online Writing Lab: http://employees.oneonta.edu/knauerbr/chem226/226expts/226_expt06_pro.pdf 25and 1 atm T. M. LEUNG, C. C. LEE, Inorganic Chemistry and Chemistry in Action, Fillans. Look for chemicals: http://www.lookchem.com/Caffeine/ Original from Carleton College: http://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/equilibria/other_diagrams.html Red line added as example. Original from University of British Columbia: http://www.chem.ubc.ca/courseware/123/tutorials/exp10A/sublimation/ Coffee-Makers-Cafe: http://www.coffee-makers-cafe.com/coffee-roasting.html#roastHomeCoffee-Tea: http://www.coffee-tea.co.uk/commercial-roasting.php Sweet Marias: http://www.sweetmarias.com/roasting-VisualGuideV2.php The method of extracting caffeine from coffee is improved by myself from originally design from Sonora Environmental Research Institute, Inc.: www.seriaz.org/downloads/4-caffiene.pdf All coffee beans are from same brand- Starbucks. Using separating funnel is more accurate than pouring the solution in another beaker by hand and using filter paper to remove the remaining unwanted solution from the original design. Fig. 4 separating funnels diagram is from Jindal Medical Scientific Instrument D = Debye = unit of dipole moment. Look for chemical: http://www.lookchem.com/Caffeine/ Dipole moment is the vector sum of polarity. The Scripps Research Institute: http://www.scripps.edu/chem/finn/Scipdfiles/dipolemoments.pdf City Collegiate: http://www.citycollegiate.com/dipolemoment.htm Calcium sulphate is not used as mentioned in the original procedure, since it cannot be removed after wards, which could affect the mass of caffeine collected. Exothermic reaction means there is a net energy given out as heat. New Mexico Tech: http://infohost.nmt.edu/~jaltig/Chem333LCaffeine.pdf Ezine Articles: http://ezinearticles.com/?A-Look-at-the-Coffee-Roasting-Processid=1802022 Beverage.cc PubMed database Sweet Marias Rare case that the coffee beans are totally blackened. Sonora Environmental Research Institute, Inc.

Adverse Impacts of Landscape Fragmentation on Biodiversity :: Environmental Ecosystems Essays

Adverse Impacts of Landscape Fragmentation on Biodiversity Landscape fragmentation can impose devastating and irreversible consequences on the biodiversity of ecosystems. Because of the conflicting interests between ecology and human economic benefit, it has become increasingly important to find solutions for a harmonic balance. It is imperative for people to recognize the impacts of biodiversity loss and increased extinction of many species. These impacts must be understood in order to protect landscapes and the immense biodiversity they contain. Raising environmental consciousness through education and public cooperative efforts, as well as promoting resource conservation and changing consumptive patterns, are just a few ways that we can begin to protect biodiversity. What is landscape fragmentation? Landscape fragmentation can be characterized as a break up of a continuous landscape into more smaller, less-connected patches by roads, clearing for agriculture, commercial and residential development, and timber harvesting. Clear-cutting can break up mature, contiguous forest until the clear-cut area has regenerated to a point that it does not act as an ecological barrier to interior species or species that rely on continuous, mature forests. Much of the work that has sought to measure landscape pattern and habitat fragmentation comes out of the disciplines of conservation biology and landscape ecology (Theobald 1998). These disciplines are founded on the premise that landscape patterns strongly influence and are influenced by ecological processes (Forman and Godron 1986). How does landscape fragmentation affect species diversity? Landscape fragmentation contributes to loss of migratory corridors, loss of connectivity and natural communities, which all lead to a loss of biodiversity for a region. Conservation of biodiversity must include all levels of diversity: genetic, species, community, and landscape (CNHP 1995). Each complex level is dependent upon and linked to the other levels. In addition, humans are linked to all levels of this hierarchy. A healthy natural and human environment go hand in hand (CNHP 1995). An important step in conservation planning, in order to guarantee both a healthy natural environment as well as a healthy human environment, is recognizing the most endangered elements. Biodiversity is influenced by landscape fragmentation at various scales of space and time. The extinction of ecosystem types and component species may cause an increased patchiness of the landscape, resulting in lower population sizes and decreased connectivity. As a result, inhabitants may experience decreased dispersal abilities and lowered gene flows between populations.

Ilm M3.01 Solving Problems and Making Decisions

ILM management Course Shaun Barratt Work based assignment:M3. 01 Problem Solving The Joint Service for Disabled Children is a partnership developed by Enfield’s Children’s trust. It comprises specialist, inclusive, voluntary, health and education services to support and promote opportunities for all disabled children and their families in Enfield. The service is open to any disabled children and young people who have significant global delay, autism or life threatening conditions under the age of 18. In my role as inclusion development manager I am responsible for enabling disabled children and young people to access mainstream activities of their choice within the borough. I provide the resources, staff and training for any universal activity to support identified disabled children. This ensures that all disabled children and their families are supported to take part in and enjoy local community life, whenever possible using local childcare facilities, leisure and recreational activities. I am also part of the management team tasked with generating new ideas to improve the lives of disabled children and their families. It is this role that we were presented with the following problem – Significant numbers of parents have presented to the service requesting over night respite (essentially a night away for their child at a recognised respite provider). The cost of over night short breaks (respite) is highly significant in the services overall budget, far in excess of any other service we provide, and even a small increase would put a huge strain on resources. Far more cost effective is to build support mechanisms around the child and family in their own homes. This is done by building packages of support which provide short breaks but without the huge cost of outside provider overnights. So in order to understand this issue more we firstly needed to ascertain what it was about the overnight breaks which were so appealing and see if we could find another possible solution. We decided to utilise our parent’s forum to generate ideas. Understandably this generated a wide array of reasons for why parents valued over nights so highly, however there were significant threads and themes which consistently appeared and by far the most significant was that a high proportion of parents identified the need for a full night sleep, something they are unable to achieve due to being disturbed by their disabled child. In addition when asked about factors which significantly affect their quality of life sleep deprivation was one of the most significant factors right across the spectrum of need and demographic. There is a wealth of evidence to support the notion that sleep problems are far higher in the disabled population than in mainstream families (Pahl and Quine 2004) The service holds an away day twice a year and part of the session was given to a brain storming session around the issue of sleep problems and what we as a service should do to address them. By involving the team in this process this will ensure that any ideas generated will have team ownership. A number of ideas were put forward, but by consensus there were four areas which were felt were appropriate responses to the issue of demand for increase in over night provision. [pic] The first option was for the team to think more laterally in terms of what we offer to parents. This could be done by identifying key areas in the day that parents were struggling with and identify additional support during these times. This could be around bed times and waking times etc. nd in turn offering parents more support to recharge batteries through offering additional short breaks (a short break is an activity such as playschemes or after school groups etc). Another solution would be to analyse what the service is spending in other areas and cut other budgets significantly to fund additional overnights and in a similar vein to task the team with finding more cost effective over night breaks by opening up to tender to find possible other cheaper providers. The final and most popular idea was to offer some form of sleep counselling to enable parents to gain back control of this part of their lives through behaviour management and support to change their child’s sleep habits. A simple decision making grids illustrates how this might meet the main areas of need as identified by the parents. Decision making model Criteria |Offer more diverse |Sleep intervention |Offer increased over |Find cheaper over night | | |respite |program |night respite |options | |Cost |( |( | |( | |effective | | | | | |Parental approval |( |( |( | | |Long term sustainability| |( | | | |Improved sleep | |( |( |( | |opportunities in short | | | | | |term | | | | | |Improved sleep in the | |( | | | |long term | | | | | Intuitively the sleep intervention program is an appropriate response as it directly responds to the parents need for their sleep deprivation to be addressed. It’s more sustainable than the others and it’s focussed on the area identified and not just fire fighting and therefore a potentially proactive way of working which is easier for staff to identify with. It’s cost effective with just the initial outlay and staff counselling time. Its solution focussed with clear parameters on intervention times. Parents will hopefully support something which gives them a long term solution to their problem and not just a short term solution which is offered by overnights. A potential sleep programme training course was identified which would involve five members of staff being identified to be trained to become sleep counsellors. They would work directly with the parents and enable the arents to change bedtime routines and behaviours in order to improve sleep patterns in the child. Before presenting to the joint service steering group we carried out an SWOT analysis to anticipate issues which may be raised in the presentation. SWO T analysis of sleep program Please see appendix (1) The use of a SWOT analysis provides a methodical and honest assessment of our services strengths and weaknesses for carrying out a defined sleep program. It will also expose threats which may pose a threat to its sustainability and opportunities afforded by the process. The objective of the analysis is to ascertain whether the sleep program is a viable affordable, sustainable response to the need for a sleep intervention process. Strengths in more detail The major strength of the programme when functioning to its potential is its affordability and sustainability. Even a minor reduction in over night’s expenditure will see the program more than pay for itself. The initial outlay of training could be offset against respite savings. The difficulty is that preventative work is difficult to quantify and illustrate as it hasn’t happened, but a reduction in the number of looked after children may be used as a key indicator. The program clearly tackles the root cause of the presenting problem; whereas overnights give short term relief to parents the sleep problem itself is still there in the future. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that improved sleep is positively correlated with improved cognitive performance (The national Sleep Foundation 2004) This would also have significant impact on incidences of challenging behaviours, reducing it dramatically (Green et al 2010) and better quality of life indexes for parents of disabled children (Prosper, Mard and Beecham 2011), both of which could act as markers for the success of the program. The practical applications of a sleep program can be applied to other complimentary areas of work (Sleep Scotland 2001) such as home care and other counselling conditions. Weaknesses in more detail Identification of our weaknesses needed to be done as constructively as possible with no blame or finger pointing, however several key points emerged The first is can the staff hours be found to sustain a sleep program? How can we illustrate that time spent in the program will in the long term reduce hours in other areas. Have the current staff gr oup the necessary communication skills to make effective counsellors? As the sleep service grows there will become a need for additional staff time, resources as well as someone to coordinate the service administer the service and manage the new counsellors. A fundamental question is it possible for the recruitment process to reflect the need for new workers to potentially add to the service. Marketing and branding are also time consuming as the service grows. All these growth factors had to be factored in to produce a long term picture Opportunities in more depth There are opportunities to offer the counselling service to outside agencies with a cost attached. There is no other comparable service within the borough so this is a viable option. This could help in sustaining the service or even to expand it. The publicity afforded of a proactive response to significant and widespread sleep problems, identified by the parents of Enfield themselves, will help put the service in a positive light. This in turn will help our cause when decisions on future cuts are made. This is in turn compliments the move politically for parents to have more control over their lives. Pro active approaches are also always easier to â€Å"sell† to staff by addressing the cause rather than fire fighting the effects. In its favour additional funding streams are available to those ideas generated and supported by parents and children. More effective use of money and resources will also appeal to stakeholders. The positive outcomes of a sleep program such as improved concentration of children resulting in a reduction of incidences of challenging behaviour, and increased educational achievement is going to appeal to a number of partners, which may influence them to invest. Finally and most importantly, an effective service will put less pressure on other related services resulting in economies for the stakeholders Threats in more depth The current economic climate is going to have a huge bearing on the success or otherwise of the project. Given this there is a danger that parents may interpret this as a cost cutting measure around over nights. Parents may still need overnights despite intervention making it a costly additional service. Research needs to be carried to ensure their isn’t a larger service such as MENCAP that can deliver the sleep service more economically. Does the political economic downturn means that projects which offer projected savings are less attractive than short term cuts to services? In order for the service to grow future training opportunities are essential, is this going to be viable when it’s acknowledged that the first budgets to be reduced are training budgets. Are the funding streams used currently likely to remain as further cuts are deemed necessary? Will the outlay of intense training be viable if staff retention is problematic? Could collaborative efforts for example coordinating approaches with medical interventions i. e. use of melatonin in conjunction with psychological interventions be more cost effective? Inter agency working is essential for the sleep program to succeed, is the communication system robust enough for multi agency support? Will cuts mean only front line services that are statutory in nature be preferred over seemingly peripheral services such as a sleep counselling service? Will elements of the service be put out to tender and is this likely to be picked up in this? Given the threats outlined by the swot analysis it is clear that in order to present a convincing case to our steering group it is necessary to present an outline and costing for how the service might develop. The main objective would be could we illustrate the effectiveness of the sleep program as an intervention? Could we illustrate parental satisfactions as a response to sleep issues? Therefore we identified a diverse number of partners to carry out a pilot project. With it being multi agency the strain on any one service could be portrayed as manageable. The SWOT analysis illustrated that there are major potential benefits to partner agencies so there involvement and investment was essential. We would carry out analysis of the success or otherwise of a sleep clinic with a small number of parents from diverse backgrounds. They would be asked to fill in a number of satisfaction questionnaires prior to and after the intervention. Feedback on behavioural changes from a previously obtained baseline would be obtained from partner agencies involved ie schools. We would need to highlight circumstances when the intervention could have most benefit i. e. care plans in child protection cases, complex issue children or families in other types of crisis. All of these will have great appeal to senior management teams. After the pilot parents and senior management would be invited to a presentation of the results. An exercise would be given to the parents whereby they become budget holders. They would be â€Å"given† the money that they are entitled to for their children. They would then be given the costs of all services available to them. By this means parents will be able to see for themselves the cost effectiveness of the intervention and the huge costs of over night respite. They would be empowered to know how they could have a substantial package of support around them for the cost of very few overnights. The issue of sleep programs would be shown to be a very cost effective tool in obtain a good nights sleep. Finally the sleep clinic team would present to all partner agency staff. Cascading of skills would be essential and appeals for constructive critisism of the scheme could be made. Essentially there has to be a selling process and ownership of the service throughout the joint service. If it is then a viable option we would meet with managers to move the project forward!!! Appendix 1 |Strengths |weaknesses | |(i) Affordability and sustainability |(i) Is there sufficient availability of staff to undertake the | |(ii) Tackles root cause of presenting problem |training | |(iii) Cognitive improvements as a result of better quality |(ii) Staff skilled enough to communicate at the highest level |sleep |in order to make venture successful | |(iv) Improved Staff skills set |(iii) Who has time to coordinate project? | |(v) cascading of skills will appeal to budget holders |(iv) Therapeutic change can be time consuming | |(vi) reduction in aggressive incidences which are as a direct |(v) Does recruitment reflect the need for these particular | |result of sleep deprivation |skills? | |(vii) additional resource to offer families in crisis child |(vi) Who is going to marke t and brand the service? |protection etc |(vii) Need for administrator and stats holder | |(viii) a new approach to empowering parents to enable them to | | |take control of their own lives | | |opportunities |Threats | |(i) Outsourcing counselling service to other agencies if proved|(i) Parents may interpret this as a cost cutting measure around| |successful |over nights | |(ii) Response to significant and widespread sleep problems |(ii) Parents may still need overnights despite intervention | |identified by the parents of Enfield themselves |making it costly additional service | |(iii) Above (ii) compliments the move politically for parents |(iii) Could a larger organisation undercut the sleep service? |to have more control over their lives |(iv) political economic downturn means | |(iv) addressing the cause rather than fire fighting the effects|(1) long term savings options less attractive than short term | |(v) Additional funding streams are available to those ideas |cuts | |generated and supported by parents and children |(2) Training budgets are the first to be cut when money is | |(vi) More effective of money and resources will appeal to |tight – threat to future growth | |stakeholders |(3) Service once offered will need to grow to meet need is this| |Improved concentration of children and young people resulting |viable? |in a reduction of incidences of challenging behaviour, and |(4) Are there more cost effective services already in existence| |increased educational achievement |that that Enfield could tap into instead | |An effective service will put less pressure on other related | | |services | | ———————– Need for more overnights and better quality of sleep Increase in overnights by moving other budgets Offer diverse options to support parents in coping Support parents in managing their sleep Seek out cheaper respite units

World War Two Weapons essays

World War Two Weapons essays My report is on the Weapons of World War Two. There are many weapons in world war 2 but im going to go over just a few of the weapons that made the greatest effect on the oppositions. Here are a few weapons that the allies had that made the greatest affect against the opposition. The T-34 was by far the best tank design in world war 2. In addition to having an excellent combination of firepower, armor, mobility, its superb design, which made it very simle and durability. This made it possible to mass produce it in enormous numbers, and gave it very high field and combat reliability, two critical attributes which the advanced german tanks lacked. It was the main war winning weapon of Russia in world war 2.(www.qt.org/worldwar/weapons) As a result of the need for an all-purpose main battle tank, the T-34 was developed as a medium tank descendant of those fast light tanks, but designed to be a capable main battle tank. The T-34 was lower in height than german and american tanks, which was better in using the terrain for taking cover and make it a smaller target to hit. It had sloped armor in both the front and side hull and the turret, which made it harder to penetrate, and of course it had a powerful 76mm gun, which was then a large caliber, and sufficiently thick armor. During world war 2 the gun of the T-34 was upgraded to a more powerful long-barrel 76mm gun and later to 85mm gun, to keep up with the advances in german tank guns and armor. (www.qt.org/worldwar/weapons) The germans were shocked when they met the first T-34 tanks in combat when they invaded Russia. The germans so appreciated the performance of the T-34 that when the german military discussed the development of their next tank, the Panther, one of the suggested designs was simply a german copy of the T-34. The Panther was just a mock up of the T-34 which was also the best tank the germans had.(www.qt.org/worldwar/weapons) There were only small n...

Concept of God According to Descartes Essays

Concept of God According to Descartes Essays Concept of God According to Descartes Essay Concept of God According to Descartes Essay so his view of the soul predated Christianity. Plato (ca. 428-348 B. C. ) saw mans existence as divided into the material and spiritual, or Ideal, realms. Plato reasoned that the soul, being eternal, must have had a pre-existence in the ideal world where it learned about the eternal Ideals (William S. Sahakian, History of Philosophy, 1968, p. 56). In Platos reasoning, man is meant to attain goodness and return to the Ideal through the experiences of the transmigration of the soul. Thus secular philosophies sanction the idea of the immortal soul, even though the Bible does not. Believe it or not, Gods Word teaches something entirely different. History of a Controversial Teaching The doctrine of the immortal soul caused much controversy in the early Catholic Church. Origen (ca. 185-254) was the first person to attempt to organize Christian doctrine into a systematic theology. He was an admirer of Plato and believed in the immortality of the soul and that it would depart to an everlasting reward or everlasting punishment at death. In Origen De Principiis he wrote: The soul, having a substance and life of its own, shall after its departure from the world, be rewarded according to its deserts, being destined to obtain either an inheritance of eternal life and blessedness, if its actions shall have procured this for it, or to be delivered up to eternal fire and punishments, if the guilt of its crimes shall have brought it down to this (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 4, 1995, p. 240). Origen taught that human souls existed before the body but is imprisoned in the physical world as a form of punishment. Physical life, he reasoned, is a purification process to return humans to a spiritual state. Later Augustine (354-430) tackled the problem of the immortality of the soul and death. For Augustine death meant the destruction of the body, but the conscious soul would continue to live in either a blissful state with God or an agonizing state of separation from God. In The City of God he wrote that the soul is therefore called immortal, because in a sense, it does not cease to live and to feel; while the body is called mortal because it can be forsaken of all life, and cannot by itself live at all. The death, then, of the soul, takes place when God forsakes it, as the death of the body when the soul forsakes it (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 2, 1995, p. 245. ) The influences of pagan Platonic philosophy on Origen and Augustine are profound. Richard Tarnas, in his best-seller The Passion of the Western Mind, points to this influence: It was Augustines formulation of Christian Platonism that was to permeate virtually all of medieval Christian thought in the West. So enthusiastic was the Christian integration of the Greek spirit that Socrates and Plato were frequently regarded as divinely inspired pre-Christian saints (1991, p. 103). Centuries later Thomas Aquinas (ca. 1225-1274) crystallized the doctrine of the immortal soul in The Summa Theologica. He taught that the soul is a conscious intellect and will and cannot be destroyed. A few centuries later the leaders of the Protestant Reformation generally accepted these traditional views, so they became entrenched in traditional Prot estant teaching. The immortality of the soul is foundational in Western thought, both philosophical and religious. Belief in going to heaven or hell depends on it. But does the Bible teach that death is the separation of body and soul or that the soul is immortal? Hebrew Understanding of the Soul The Hebrew word translated soul in the Old Testament is nephesh, which simply means a breathing creature. Vines Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words defines nephesh as the essence of life, the act of breathing, taking breath The problem with the English term soul is that no actual equivalent of the term or the idea behind it is represented in the Hebrew language. The Hebrew system of thought does not include the combination or opposition of he body and soul which are really Greek and Latin in origin. The Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible makes this comment on nephesh: The word soul in English, though it has to some extent naturalized the Hebrew idiom, frequently carries with it overtones, ultimately coming from philosophical Greek (Platonism) and from Orphism and Gnosticism which are absent in nephesh. In the Old Testamen t it never means the immortal soul, but it is essentially the life principle, or the living being, or the self as the subject of appetite, and emotion, occasionally of volition. That nephesh doesnt refer to an immortal soul can be seen in the way the word is used in the Old Testament. It is translated soul or being in reference to man in Genesis 2:7, but also to animals by being translated creature in Genesis 1:24. Nephesh is translated body in Leviticus 21:11 in reference to a human corpse. The Hebrew Scriptures state plainly that, rather than possess immortality, the soul can and does die. The soul [nephesh] who sins shall die (Ezekiel 18:4, 20). The Old Testament describes the dead as going to sheol, translated into English as hell, pit or grave. Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 describes sheol as a place of unconsciousness: For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished King David laments that death extinguishes a relationship with God. For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave who will give You thanks ? (Psalm 6:5). The immortal-soul concept isnt part of the Old Testament, but it began to make inroads into Jewish thought as Jews came in contact with Greek culture. In the first century the Jewish philosopher Philo taught a Platonic concept: The death of a man is the separation of his soul from his body (The Works of Philo, translated by C. D. Yonge, 1993, p. 37). Philo followed the Hellenistic view that the soul is freed upon death to an everlasting life of virtue or evil. In the New Testament the Greek word translated soul is psuche, which is also translated life.   Ã‚  Ã‚   In Psalm 16:10 David uses nephesh (soul) to claim that the Holy One, or Messiah, wouldnt be left in sheol, the grave. Peter quotes this verse in Acts 2:27, using the Greek psuche for the Hebrew nephesh (notice verses 25-31). Like nephesh, psuche refers to human souls (Acts 2:41) and for animals (it is translated life in the King James Version of Revelation 8:9 and 16:3). Jesus declared that God can destroy mans psuche, or soul (Matthew 10:28). If the Old Testament describes death as an unconscious state, how does the New Testament describe it? No one wrote more about this subject than the apostle Paul. He describes death as sleep (1 Corinthians 15:51-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Many people are surprised to find that the term immortal soul appears nowhere in the Bible. However, though the Scriptures do not speak of the soul as being immortal, they have much to say about immortality. For example: You know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him (1 John 3:15). Paul told the members of the congregation in Rome to seek immortality (Romans 2:5-7). He taught Christians at Corinth that they must be changed and put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:51-55). Paul proclaimed that only God and His Son possess immortality (1 Timothy 6:12-16) and that eternal life is a gift from God (Romans 6:23). The most powerful words come from Jesus Himself: And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:40). True Origin of Immortal-soul Teaching Weve seen in this brief look at the supposedly immortal soul that the Bible teaches no such concept. The idea filtered into Western thought through Greek philosophy. Its origins are older than Athens, in fact as old as man. The concept of the immortal soul was introduced into mans thinking at the earliest beginnings of human history. God told the first human beings, Adam and Eve, that if they sinned they would die and return to the dust from which He had created them (Genesis 2:17; 3:19). Satan, the embodiment of evil, the powerful entity who opposes God, assured them they wouldnt die (verses 1-5). Satan slyly injected into Eves consciousness the notion that God was lying and that she and her husband would not die, thus ingraining the unscriptural teaching of the immortality of the soul into human thought. Satan has since deceived the world on this important understanding as well as many other biblical truths (Revelation 12:9). Much f the world, including millions of people in religions outside of traditional Christianity, are convinced they have- or are- immortal souls and hope they will go to a happy place or state of being immediately after they die. Soul/Nephesh According to Judaism The Hebrew word for soul, nephesh, does not mean what you say it does, if you want to use Judaica as an original source. The fou ndation of Judaism, according to Judaism, is Kabbalah. The Kabbalistic meaning of nephesh/soul is that the one soul of the Creator that has been divided into many parts among mankind and awaits its reunification in the final correction. This is actually the root of our belief that all souls will be eternally okay, in the end. The Biblical Answer to Death Yet the Bible plainly teaches that the dead lie in the grave and know nothing, think no thoughts, have no emotions, possess no consciousness. Does this mean death, the cessation of life, is final, the end of everything? The Bible answers this question too. Although mankind is physical, subject to death, the good news is that God promises a resurrection to eternal life to everyone who repents, worships God and accepts Jesus as the Messiah and His sacrifice. The first resurrection to immortality will take place when Christ returns to establish Gods Kingdom on this earth. Later will come another resurrection- to physical life- for people who had never had a relationship with the Father and Jesus Christ. They, too, will gain the opportunity for immortality. The true final answer is not death but resurrection. From the above it is clear that the concept of immortality of Soul is actually not a Christian concept and there is no reference to it in the Holy Bible. Even if one does not want to rely too much on the above view of the Biblical verse, still one can say that immortality of Soul cannot be a Christian concept because according to Christian belief, the God is the Supreme commander and if our souls were immortal then there would not be any difference between the earthly human beings and the Divine God. And for human beings to be at par with the Supreme Commander is impossible. If one does not want to take this argument also then and stick to the belief that immortality of the soul is actually a Christian concept and Descartes has not proved it according to C. F. Fowler in his book, â€Å"Descartes on the human soul: philosophy and the demands of Christian doctrine,† from Descartes writing it is understood that the Soul is immaterial as against the body which is material. And if the Soul is immaterial then it cannot be put to death from this one can say that Descartes has proved the immortality of the Soul. So either way one can succeed in defending Descartes and say that the Catholic Church made a mistake by condemning Descartes writings.

What is Democracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

What is Democracy - Essay Example This paper will examine the role of democracy in fostering equality, creating the concept of ‘the greater good’, its values of sovereignty and fostering good interpersonal relationships as well as its values of liberty. Democracy is all about representation and giving the people a voice (Brodie et al., 2014 pg 31-45). This was evident in the direct democracy system that was used in ancient Greece, where all people had a voice and participated in the decision-making process, which became the principle within democracy (Brodie et al., 2014 pg 31-45). In practice, all citizens had the ability to influence the direction of policies adopted by the state via the voting process (Brodie et al., 2014 pg 31-45). However, the huge population in contemporary times means that such as model would not be reasonable because the process would be too lengthy to respond to urgent matters. Instead, an indirect model has been adopted, one where a select group of people make the decisions for the rest of the population (Brodie et al., 2014, 2-15). Therefore, the role of the policy-making bodies in contemporary times, in accordance with the existing democratic principles, is to make policies that benefit the people who v oted for those in government (Brodie et al., 2014, 2-15). From this assumption, it follows that policies should be evaluated by their ability to reflect the needs of the citizens in the country (Brodie et al., 2014, 2-15). For example, in present day America, Americans put pressure on the government to recall troops from war-torn areas if the presence of these troops in battles is not in the best interests of citizens. Therefore, the best democratic practices have to allow citizens to make changes while also simplifying life as much as possible. The concept of the greater good, as a democratic principle, examines the role of elected leaders to fulfill the wish of their voters (Brodie et al., 2014, pg

GLOBAL FINANCIAL MARKETS - LAW AND PRACTICE Essay

GLOBAL FINANCIAL MARKETS - LAW AND PRACTICE - Essay Example ? According to Kravitt (1998), securitisation works by employing superior knowledge about the behaviour of particular assets with the help of structures that could promote a more efficient management of assets. In most legal systems around the world, securitisation can only be achieved by separating the assets subject to the securitisation from the wealth or the originator, which is in this case, the B Bank of Ruritania. In order to separate the assets subject to securitisation from the wealth of the originator, such assets must be transferred to a special purpose vehicle (SPV). An SPV is a company whose sole purpose is to serve as a financing, holding, servicing, and liquidating assets (Kravitt et.al 1998). The isolation of the assets in securitisation is made to more efficiently deal with the indirect effects of securitisation such as but not limited to the following: (1) the attempt of the parties to the transaction to cause such transfers to be "true sales† thereby effectively eliminating the ability of the originator to call on such assets in the event where the originator becomes bankrupt (2) to cause the "perfection" of the purchasers interest in the assets which are made subj ect to the transfer, (iii) protection on the part of the SPV, its operations and structures to make the SPV "bankruptcy remote"2. Part of the securitization system is the issuance of asset-backed securities (ABS) and the securitisation of receivables. In the case of Milroy v Lord (1862)3, the court ruled that â€Å"it is possible in equity to alienate a right under a contract, such as debt or other chosen action by the means of an equitable assignment or by a declaration of trust†.4 By virtue of this decision of the Court, we can safely say that B Bank can exercise its right to turn the non-liquid assets into marketable securities. As it is, the requisites of the legality of the transaction are hereby fulfilled. Note that since the B Bank of Ruritania may use either the mortgage