Bilingualism And Bilingual Education Theories Essay

Bilingualism And Bilingual Education Theories - Essay Example One of the most common theories developed is the balancing theory. The theory, also referred to as the balloon theory, was first proposed by Fritz Heider. The theory is based on a motivational theory of attitude change. The theory draws a picture of the cognitive consistency motive as the primary drive towards a psychological balance. In bilingualism, the theory looks at the theory suggest that the languages in the subject are always in balance provided that the affect valence in the language development multiplies into a positive result (Baker, 2006, P165, Ll2).Jim Cummins one of prominent bilingual and second language researcher proposed the iceberg analogy. The iceberg analogy is a theory that is centered on a more accurate model that depicts the relationship between the mind and the bilingual acquisition (Baker, 2006, P167, Ll7). The model, common underlying proficiency (CUP) is presented in the form of two icebergs. The two icebergs appear separate on the surface an indication o f the outward difference between the two languages. Underneath the surface, the icebergs have fused an indication that both languages are stored in the in a single processing system (Baker, 2006, P165, Ll2). The two languages can access, contribute and make use of the central processing system.Cummins also contributed to the bilingual pool of knowledge by suggesting the threshold theory. This theory places a strong argument on language development in a balanced bilingual individual (Baker, 2006, P167, Ll2).

Breeding of the Giant Panda Bear Research Paper

Breeding of the Giant Panda Bear - Research Paper Example The panda is also called the giant panda to differentiate it from the red panda which is unrelated. This is a bear breed found in south western and central western China. The giant panda can be identified by the sizeable, unique black patches on its face, around the body, and its ears. The giant panda consumes bamboo despite belonging to the carnivorous group. Occasionally, giant pandas living in the forest consume meat in the form of carrion, rodents, or birds, wild tubers, and other grasses. Those that are held in areas for example, zoos, may eat specially cooked food, honey, bananas, eggs, oranges, fish, or yams. In addition, the giant panda’s habitat is located in mountain ranges, in central China. The giant panda has been forced to move out of lowland areas because of deforestation, farming, and other activities in the area (Lumpkin and Seidensticker 16). Currently, it is an endangered species. This paper will look at breeding of the giant panda bear. Giant pandas have a height of approximately two to three feet and may measure four to six feet in length. Male giant pandas are heavier and larger than female giant pandas. They can weigh 250 pounds while female giant pandas weigh below 220 pounds. The World Conservation Union has listed the giant panda as one of the endangered species in its Red List of Threatened Species. There are approximately 1600 giant pandas remaining in their natural habitats (Lumpkin and Seidensticker 25). ... For example, scientists have tried giving male giant pandas Viagra and also displaying videos of them mating. Nonetheless, it is in recent times that investigators have had accomplishments with breeding programs of captive male giants (Schaller 23). Current research shows that the breeding rate is one giant panda reproduced after every two years. Giant pandas attain sexual maturity between four to eight years. In addition, sexual activity in giant pandas may reach 20 years. During sexual activity, the female giant panda position’s itself in a crouching position with its head in a downward location. This allows the male giant panda mount her from the back. The time for copulation is short. It lasts for between thirty seconds and five minutes (Ryder 14). Nonetheless, a male giant panda may mount a female giant panda for a number of occasions to guarantee successful fertilization. If the female giant panda gives birth to twin cubs, only one of the two will continue to exist in th e harsh conditions. The female giant panda will choose the stronger of the two new born cubs, and the frail cub will perish. The female giant panda cannot provide sufficient milk for both the new born cubs. This is because female giant pandas do not amass fat. In contrast, male giant pandas do not assist in raising the cubs. Female giant pandas take almost 95 to 160 days to give birth after mating. The female giant may reproduce two young pandas but only a single one survives. Giant panda young ones may live with their mothers for approximately three years before living on their own. It can be presumed a female giant panda gives birth to a young one once in a year. The mating period lies between the months of March and May. This is a period when the female giant panda undergoes estrus. This

Shale gas Essay Example for Free

Shale gas Essay Would you make if you were Jane Barrow? Why that one? If I were Jane Barrow, I would suggest shale gas as the best. Since the industrial, electric power and residential make a large contribution for the use of natural gas, the stakeholder in these parts are very important. After multiattribute risk analysis, the chart from Exhibit 10 shows they are care about using energy produced in their own jurisdiction. From the Exhibit 3, with the increasing need of natural gas to satisfy consumption, more and more net imports have been done. Shale gas has the largest production capacity per day which is suitable for these stakeholders’ objective. This feature will satisfy most of the stakeholders. Although the project is the most expensive one, its huge production makes the profit the largest among these three. So after comparing these projects, I would make the recommendation for shale gas project. Which one of the three options is the most practical and economical? In my view, coal bed methane is the most practical and economical option. Among these three projects, tight sands gas has the best geological condition as in a remote area in West Taxes where fewer people live and it is least costly and has most profit per thousand cubic feet. However, since it has the lowest production capacity per day, the total profit is the lowest. The project of Shale gas, which locates in Pennsylvania, is the most expensive one, but the total profit is the highest. However, this project needs a lot of water from Delaware River that may affect the live of resident near the river. Since the affect of hydraulic fracturing is still unknown, the relative apartment and the residents nearby may against the action. The project of the coal bed methane is the best because it requires less fluid during hydraulic fracturing and is easily drillable which means it is relatively safe and has moderate cost. Rocky Mountain region, the project locates, has a population of 2000, which is suitable. The production capacity per day is well too. So after comparing these projects, the coal bed methane project is the best. What are you most worried about in this decision? The affect of hydraulic fracturing is still unsure. Once there’s an accident happens, it will be terrible as the press may aggressively propagate the fact and the relative apartment such as EPS may suggest prohibit the hydraulic fracturing method, which may bring a huge loss to the company not only the profit but also the reputation. Besides, the project may be resisted by the residents nearby since the shale gas project needs a lot of water from Delaware River. The lack data and analysis of the project may bring unpredictable risk to the company.

Application of LBM in Aerospace Industry

Application of LBM in Aerospace Industry INTRODUCTION: Requirement of precision components, complicated design, stringent standards and testing, unusual size of workpiece, restrictions in conventional machining processes has lead to development of advanced machining processes shortly AMP. In past few years, there were several AMPs developed such as electric discharge machining (EDM), electron beam machining, electrochemical machining, chemical machining processes (CMP), ultrasonic machining (USM), and jet machining processes abrasive jet machining, water jet machining, laser beam machining etc. Each of these AMPs has its limitations in workpiece material, shape etc. But LBM is the one of the AMPs where almost all material can be processed. One of major advantage of LBM is its ability to machine both conductive and non-conductive materials. Laser beam machining (LBM) is one of the most widely used thermal energy based non-contact type advance machining process which can be applied for almost whole range of materials. Laser beam is focused for melting and vaporizing the unwanted material from the parent material. As of now the major application on LBM is profile cutting of geometrically complex part and making miniature holes in sheetmetal. HISTORY OF LASER: In 1917, it was Albert Einstein who first told the world about the process called Stimulated Emission which makes the laser possible. In 1957, Gordon Gould, a Columbia University student designed the first laser device in his laboratory. However the first working laser (ruby laser) was found on 16th of May, 1960 by Dr. Theodore Maiman. This demonstration of ruby laser acted as entry door to this field. Till then lots and lots of researches have been done and various lasers were found. Some of major contributions and highlights are Gas laser which used helium and neon gases by Ali Javan during 1960, semi conductor laser by Gunther Fenner in 1962, CO2 laser by Kumar Patel on 1964, Nd-YAG laser by Geusic in 1964 etc. The first excimer laser was demonstrated in 1970 by Basov et ah and it was liquid xenon which was excited with a pulsed electron beam. The first commercial application of continuous wave CO2 lasers was made during 1967 by Western Electric and the first successful industrial application of laser cutting was die-board slotting. Whereas now, lasers have been into many areas such as aerospace, die and mold manufacturing, biomechanical devices, automotive, electric, and electronic industries etc. Likewise many studies have been made to find many such lasers and also studies were done to improve / optimize the working parameters of the lasers. FUNDAMENTALS OF LASER: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation LASER is a device which produces a monochromatic light beam where all the waves are coherent. LASER consists of four primary components: Active medium: It contains atoms whose electrons are excited to higher energy levels by an energy source. They are solid crystals such as ruby or Nd:YAG, liquid dyes, gases like CO2 or Helium/Neon, or semiconductors such as GaAs. Excitation Mechanism: Excitation mechanisms pump energy into the active medium. Three basic method of excitation are optical, electrical or chemical. High Reflectance Mirror Partially Transmissive Mirror The major principles of Laser are stimulation, amplification and population inversion. Lasing action: When energy is applied to a laser active medium electrons are raised to an unstable energy level then spontaneously decay to a lower relatively long-lived metastable state. There is possibility to pump large amounts of energy since electrons in this state will not spontaneously return to their ground energy level; thus we can obtain a population inversion in which most of the atoms are in a metastable state. Lasing action is initiated by an electron after achieving population inversion. If the photon released is of exactly the right wavelength it will stimulate an atom in a metastable state to emit a photon of the same wavelength (Stimulated Emission). Large amount of these stimulated photons will be lost when they interfere with the sides of the lasing active medium. However if the photons travel parallel to the long axis of the optical cavity they will continue to stimulate emissions of photons having the same wavelengths which combine coherently until they reach the mirrored ends of the optical cavity. This stimulated emission continues as the beam strikes the 100% reflective mirror and gets reversed to strike against the partially reflecting mirror. A small portion of the coherent light is released while the rest is reflected back through the lasing medium to continue the process of stimulating photons. Types of Laser: There are several types of lasers available based on active medium (solid, liquid or gas), types of gases used, types of crystals used, and mode of operation (continuous wave, pulsed, q-switched) etc. But only few lasers are used for industrial application called as material processing lasers. The commonly used lasers in industries are: CO2 Gas lasers; Nd-YAG solid state laser and Excimer laser. CO2 lasers tend to be high powered (up to 3 kW) and are used in the continuous-wave mode. The Nd-YAG lasers are used in the pulsed mode and can achieve peak powers of 7-10 kW. Mechanics of Laser: The mechanism of material removal during laser beam machining includes four different stages such as: Warm up Melting, Vaporization, Chemical degradation / plasma shielding The material is heated above its melting point when a high energy laser beam is focused on workpiece surface. The melted or vaporized material is then removed by using high pressure assist gas. Unlike other processes, LBM is a thermal process and the effectiveness depends on thermal properties of the material rather than its mechanical properties. This is the major characteristics for which hard-to-machine material such as titanium alloys, super nickel alloys etc and highly brittle material such as glass, ceramics etc can be processed by LBM. NEEDS OF LASER IN AEROSPCE INSUSTRY: As mentioned earlier, lasers are employed much more in material processing industries than other industries. And current scenario of material processing, application of lasers plays a vital role in aerospace industry. The following are some of key points which explain the reason behind this: Cooling holes: Aerospace engineering technology is growing rapidly and the components are exposed to ever increasing exhaust and combustion temperatures. Hence cooling is very much required in order to withstand those high temperatures. One of method is to have cooling holes on TBC (thermal barrier coated) layers. Modern aircraft has nearly 100,000 such cooling holes which are made by laser drilling operation. Airframe weight: One of major criteria of any aircraft is the weight. Many improvements and experiments are going on to lessen the weight of airframe structure. Also it enhances low fuel consumption. High strength aluminum alloys are used for this process. It is found that almost 80% of material used in commercial aircraft and 50% material used in military aircraft is of this aluminum alloy. Laser cutting is one of highly recommended for processing this material. Reduce cost: In this present scenario, cost reduction plays an important role in any industry. With increasing price of petroleum, one of strategy is to reduce total manufacturing cost, labor cost in particular. CNC controlled motorized laser can be used for drilling and cutting purposes which reduces the manufacturing cost. MAJOR LBM PROCESSES USED IN AEROSPACE INDUSTRY: There are two major LBM processes employed in aerospace industry namely, laser drilling and laser cutting. In this report I have made some investigation on two case studies, one for laser drilling and another for laser cutting. Laser Drilling: In laser drilling process is a thermal process which incorporates high energy laser beam which is focused on particular area where the material gets vaporized to form holes on workpiece. There are two types of laser drilling process, percussion laser drilling and trepan laser drilling. Percussion laser drilling: Percussion drilling is drilling where it directly punches the workpiece material where there is no relative movement of laser or workpiece. Thus the processing time is much less when compared to trepan drilling process. Also for drilling 100,000 holes in aircraft components such as turbine blades, airfoil vanes etc, percussion drilling is recommended. Trepan drilling: This drilling involves cutting around circumference of the hole. Thus it takes more time than percussion drilling since it has to go around the circumference to make a hole on workpiece material. Laser cutting: Laser cutting process involves basic principle of mechanics of laser i.e. high energy laser beam is focused to particular area on the workpiece where the material is melted above its melting point. Then the molten material is removed by coaxial assist gas jet or induced vapor pressure thus forming the cut kerf. There are three types of laser cutting processes, laser fusion cutting, laser flame cutting and sublimation cutting. Laser fusion cutting: In this process inert gas such as nitrogen, argon etc is used as assist gas. This process fully depends on the energy of laser beam which is used for high alloyed steels. Laser flame cutting: Oxygen is used as assist gas in this process and it is widely used for low alloyed steels. This process receives some amount of energy from exothermic reaction of the workpiece material. Also the laser power is lower when compared to laser fusion cutting. Sublimation cutting: The material is molten by absorbed laser energy until it partially evaporates. This requires high power densities with much slower speeds than other to cutting processes. CASE STUDY # 1: LASER DRILLING OF MULTILAYER AEROSPACE MATERIAL Objective: As mentioned earlier, aerospace components requires thousands of cooling holes to dissipate the heat of combustion and exhaust gas. These components are given a coating called TBC thermal barrier coating to protect the components from direct exposure to the corrosive environments. Thus the objective of this case study is to investigate and optimize the optimum parameters related to quality of drilled holes on a TBC, thermal barrier coated material. Some of such parameters are mentioned in below figure. Experimental Setup: Laser system: The experiments are made using Nd-YAG JK704 laser with lens of focal length: 120mm. Oxygen is used as assist gas. Previous studies by Corcoran et al identified oxygen as the suitable assist gas for this process. The below chart shows the specification for JK704 laser system. Workpiece setup: Experiments are carried out using Rene 80 substrate coated with TBC. Here yttria stabilized zirconia is used as TBC and it is bonded with the substrate material by means of plasma sprayed MCrAlY bind coat. The material thickness is about 3.6mm. The material composition of Rene 80 is: Ni= 60.0%, Cr= 14.0%, Co= 9.5%, Ti= 5.0%, Mo= 4.0%, W= 4.0%, Al= 3.0%, C= 0.17%, B= 0.015% and Zr= 0.03% Procedure: One-at-a time approach is the traditional approach for conducting laser drilled experiments. In this approach only one parameter is changed keeping all others as constant. But this is time consuming and most importantly interactions of parameters are not considered which may lead to wrong results. Thus Taguchi type approach is considered where orthogonal array was designed to reduce the number of experiments required. From 108, the experiments are reduced to 18. Holes were drilled on Rene 80 substrate surface by percussion laser drilling using the laser system as mentioned earlier. The mean diameters were recorded using profilometer. The following output responses were recorded: Remelt layer thickness; Microcracking depth and Spalling Delamination of TBC. Results: After recording the values as mentioned in the experimental procedure, a chart was plotted which gives the direct comparison of results of 18 experiments. The Taguchi analysis gives the output responses of Remelt layer thickness and microcracking depth which can be then compared with the OEM (Original equipment manufacturer) vane airfoil standards. This is to check whether the attained values are within the mentioned values mentioned in the standards. As per OEM standards, the remelt layer thickness Higher S/N ratio is preferred in S/N analysis. By using the results from Chart 4 i.e. parameter effects plot, the optimum parameters can be obtained for laser drilling of Rene 80 sample. These optimum parameters are chosen in such a way that the remelt layer thickness, microcracking and Delamination of TBC are minimized. Based on derived optimum parameter table, microcracking confirmation tests are carried out to validate the findings. It was found that the laser drilled holes posses very little microcracking at these optimum parameters (Table 3). Three iterations were made, say A, B and C and micrographs were obtained. Conclusion of case study #1: The parameters considered for this study are pulse energy, pulse width, pulse shape, TBC density and the gas pressure. The investigation and results of above case study provides the following conclusions: Pulse energy: High pulse energy reduces the level of microcracking and low pulse energy reduces the level of melting of remelt layer thickness. It is also found that interaction occurs between pulse energy and pulse width. Pulse width: The severity of microcracking and Delamination i.e. the spalling is reduced considerably when shorter pulses are used. Pulse shape: Pulse shape do not have adherent effect on remelt layer thickness whereas in order to minimize delamination, a ramp-up pulse is recommended and to minimize microcracking, a treble pulse is recommended. TBC density: The TBC density has very little effect on the remelt layer thickness, however high density TBC yielded least delamination of bond coat and the TBC used. Gas pressure: Higher the gas pressure is better the output parameters. Gas pressure of 70 psi was found to reduce all the three output response parameters remelt layer thickness, microcracking and delamination. Some pictures showing the laser drilled holes on aircraft turbine component. CASE STUDY #2: LASER CUTTING OF AEROSPACE ALUMINIUM: One of primary goal of aerospace industry is to lessen the weight of airframe structure. This has advantage of saving fuel consumption, and hence the cost. High strength aluminum alloys were used for these applications and laser cutting is one of process which is recommended for processing high strength aluminum but there are some challenges which has limited conventional laser cutting for this application. Objective: Thus, the objective of this case study is to investigate the challenges of conventional laser cutting and study the proposed solution to overcome these challenges. Conventional laser cutting: The usage of conventional laser cutting is limited to process aluminum alloys used in aerospace application is because of two major reasons, It produces cuts with poor surface finish and Large heat affected zone (HAZ) is created. These poor machining characteristics of laser cutting decrease the fatigue life of components which is very essential for aerospace applications. The mechanisms of laser cutting process is, when a high energy laser beam is focused on the workpiece the material gets melted and vaporized and then a assist gas jet is used to drag the molten material away from the workpiece material. If these dragging requirements are not more pronounced, then the molten material may remain in the cutting edge of the workpiece which yields to very poor quality cut and also large HAZ is generated in the cut edge. These all combine to affect the overall mechanical performance of the workpiece material. The best method to improve the dragging efficiency is to increase the gas pressure of assist gas jet. This is required in order to establish a laminar boundary layer between assist gas jet and the molten material. The dragging of molten material is more efficient as a result viscous and pressure drag of the assist gas jet which are the driving force of removal of molten material from the workpiece. Gas pressure cannot be increased beyond 2 bar in conventional laser cutting as it uses converging coaxial cutting head. Any pressure more than 2 bar yields to more aerodynamic interactions. Due to this MSD mach shock disk, a normal shock wave is created which produces serious degradation in gas jet and reduces the dragging capacity. Proposed laser cutting: The drawbacks of conventional laser cutting can be addressed by using Converging diverging (supersonic) nozzle instead of coaxial nozzle Different geometrical configuration of assist gas jet such that it is in off-axis with the laser beam. Using converging- diverging nozzle, we can produce a fully expanded free-jet where MSD can be avoided. Thus we can produce cut of superior finish and also the HAZ is significantly reduced. Experimental setup: The experimental setup used for proposed laser cutting is as follows: Laser used: CO2 slab laser (Rofin DC 035) Output power: 3.5 KW Mode of operation: CW, continuous wave mode Nozzle: Self designed cutting head (supersonic head) Experiments were conducted using conventional and supersonic cutting head and results were recorded. Comparison of results: The workpiece material used fro this experiment is 2024-T3, high strength aluminum alloy. The results were recorded and compared to conventional laser cutting. It was found that the finish was superior and HAZ was reduced than conventional laser cutting. A Challenge in proposed solution: One of major drawback in proposed solution is that, for cutting complex contours the supersonic cutting head has to be changed frequently to remain tangent to the cutting direction. This drawback can be overcome by using a motorized off-axis nozzle controlled by a CNC controller. Conclusion of case study# 2: The following are the conclusion derived from above case study is that by using a cutting head supersonic, off-axis (non coaxial) nozzle can process high strength aluminum alloys with An excellent and superior finish. Negligible heat affected zone, HAZ can be obtained. Production rates can be increased since cutting speed is increased. By using a CNC controlled motorized off-axis cutting head, parts with complex contours can be processed. Labor costs can be reduced as laser is fully automated. CONCLUSION: In this report, a brief discussion about the two major laser beam machining used in aerospace industry, laser drilling and laser cutting were discussed. Also two case studies related to respective process were studied and results were mentioned. LBM is widely used in aerospace applications and more and more researches are going on to improve the current laser technology and many new trends directions were forecasted in this aerospace engineering field. REFERENCES: A.Corcoran, L.Sexton, B.Seaman, G.Bryne, The laser drilling of multi layer aerospace material systems, Journal of material processing technology (2002) A.Riveiro, F.Quintero, J.Pou, F.Lusquinos, R.Comesana, J.del Val, M.Boutinguiza and R.Soto, Laser cutting of aerospace aluminum Avanish Kumar Dubey, Vinod Yadava, Laser beam machining-A review, International Journal of Machine Tools Manufacture, 2008 The Fascinating world of sheetmetal, Dr.Hubert Bitzel Johanna Burchertt F. Dausinger, B.G. Teubner, Strahlwerkzeug Laser: Energieeinkopplung und Prozesseffektività ¤t, Stuttgart, 1995 www.optoIQ.com www.rofin.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_cutting Lecture notes by Prof. A.Senthil kumar, Mechanical Engineering department, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

Dangerous Offenders Legislation Essay examples -- essays research pape

The new Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act (2003) In Queensland permits prisoners to be kept in prison beyond their release date where a court finds that there is a ‘high degree of probability’ that they represent a ‘serious danger to the community’. Other jurisdictions have enacted similar legislation to restrict the release of prisoners assessed to be dangerous. Do you think that dangerousness legislation of this sort is justified or unjustified? Several states across the Country have enacted or attempted to enact legislation which can enable detention of a prisoner past his/her release date. This type of legislation’s general purpose is to provide a mechanism whereby prisoners who, if released pose an unacceptable risk of committing further serious offences, may be detained where it is deemed appropriate to do so for the protection of the community (Field, 2003). The most recent of these being the Queensland Government’s passing of the Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act 2003. Similar laws were introduced in New South Wales in 1994, however they were ultimately ruled invalid by the High Court. Prior to this in 1991 Victoria enacted legislation known as the Community Protection Act 1990, which allowed for the continued detention of one prisoner known as Garry David. Whilst this Act applied to no one else the Victorian Government attempted to broaden the legislation with Draft Bill proposals which ultimate ly lapse in the face of wide ranging criticism from lawyer, psychiatrists and academics. (Greig 1995) This type of legislation has been devised to allow for the detention of people based upon assessments of risk of re-offending, this essay will explore the concerns with these practices. This essay further aims to explore the moral and practical implications of such sentencing provisions and the impact it has on the whole Justice System. The writer will also address the conflicting goals of Corrections and the purpose and impact of indefinite sentencing while exploring the justifications against such legislation. This essay also aims to show that even though we may feel disgust for these types of offences we must remember the fundamentals of the Criminal Law system and understand that people are entitled to equality and fairness in the eyes of the law. It has been suggested that this type of legislation has largely been introduced to fi... ...on. However the subjective nature of detaining someone after their release date is further complicated by the fact that there is no accurate basis for determining which offenders are likely to re-offend and which ones are not (Wortley and Smallbone, 2003). Is this type of legislation justified? In simple terms no. It removes basic human rights such as the Common Law belief of innocent until proven guilty, it also takes away the adversarial nature of our justice system and replaces it with the possibility of arbitrary imprisonment (NSW Law Commission, 2004). This type of legislation also fails to adequately balance the goals of Imprisonment instead focuses on the punitive goals and contradicts the goal of rehabilitation. People detained under this legislation can be forgiven for arguing that they are being punished over and over again for their crimes whilst some offenders get to serve their time and move on with their lives. Unfortunately the very principle of the legislation is to detain offenders until they are no longer a risk, when in reality the risk of re-offending could escalate because of the powerful feeling of injustice created by the legislation. WORD COUNT: 2367

A Study of Perspectives Essay -- Paris Burning Film Movies Essays

A Study of Perspectives Livingston's documentary Paris is Burning inspired an awareness of being that I had not previously experienced. The film urges the spectator to reevaluate not only one's breadth of knowledge of the black gay culture in the 80's, but also the perspectives from which one views the film. Personally speaking, the easiest evaluation of the latter topic would be the perspective of a privileged white straight female born into a sheltered and socially traditional household. This background would thus color my reaction to the film: one of intense sadness for the featured interviewees who yearned for an existence which was mostly unobtainable except in the case of extreme sacrifice and typically led to social ostracizing and ridicule (even in some cases, death) – yet this existence they yearned to emulate was something I had been born into without struggle nor appreciation, it was simply my life. But one could say my perspective of pity and guilt was actually somewhat of a perversion of the deeper meaning of the film. My feelings were not enlightened but the opposite – I was subjugating the people's identities in the film by not recognizing their independent validity, and only reacting to their performance of emulation with condescending sympathy. My depression over the film resulted not from what Bell Hooks's depression stemmed as she explains her views on the film: " [It is] a documentary affirming that colonized, victimized, exploited black folks are all to willing to be complicit in perpetuating the fantasy that ruling-class white culture is the quintessential site of unrestricted joy, freedom, power, and pleasure." (Hooks, Is Paris Burning? pg. 149) I was only saddened by the fact that the performers in... ...int their faces brown and wear prosthetic breasts and butts would reference historical oppression, but that this historical oppression still effected people of today and was not simply a story of past times, but a continuing struggle. Like the deeply rooted racism and classism of Paris is Burning, a film seemingly celebrating the culture and people it serves to eventually dehumanize, the actions of Bert and Ernie stood for much more than two Haverford students lacking perspective and foresight. Bert and Ernie's actions stand for a more deeply rooted problem of young people today forgetting that we are still struggling for equality and respect within our society and that no one is immune from this necessity for empathy and understanding. Works Cited: Hook, Bell (1992). Is Paris Burning? , Black Looks. (pp. 145-156). The Muppets Abstract. Oct. 5th, 2004.

Nuclear Weapons

The invention of nuclear weaons has been one of the most significant events in the history of humanity. It not only changed the conduct of military warfare, but also completely transformed the geo-political equation by placing humanity’s level of control on its own future through coming in possession of such omni potent means that could wipe out every form of life from earth overnight. The memories of the atomic attack on the Hiroshima and Nagasaki have lived as a constant reminder of the supreme havoc that atomic bombs can inflict. These memories are reinforced further by the repeated instances of nuclear testing and research into the production of atomic weapons that are much more powerful and lethal in comparison of their predecessors. The pursuance of the research into atomic and nuclear weapons, or the weapons of mass destruction, has created a deep ideological and political divide in the world. On the one hand are people supporting nuclear weapons, arguing them as essential tools   to maintain prospects of global peace and also as means to ensure the safety of nations possessing them. While on the other side are people, who see nuclear weapons inherently as a threat to the survival of mankind and campaigning for a world without fear and apprehensions; for a world of the post nuclear age where the veil of the threat of an impending catastrophe is forever lifted over. This paper shall look into the debate on the nuclear policy and relevance of nuclear weapons as a medium to ensure global peace, while critically evaluating the arguments presented on both the sides. It shall also look into the prospects of a nuclear free world and the visions such world entails for humanity. Constructing a nuclear doctrine The debate on the feasibility and utility of nuclear weapons has raged since the day the first military use of nuclear weapons was reported on 6th August, 2006   (Katz, 1987). The standard argument of the advocates of nuclear doctrine have centered on the deterrent effect of the nuclear weapons against any potential attack or threat of aggression (Franklin, 1991). One of the most frequently cited example is that of role played by nuclear weapons in bringing a swift end to the Second World War, with minimum possible casualty in the process (Graham, 2005). They validly argue that without the strikes, Japan would have continued to fight till the last man down, taking up the number of casualties on both sides as well as war expenditures to enormous levels (Franklin, 1991). Since then, the nuclear doctrine has been religiously incorporated in the defense strategy of every major nation, with immense literature created to cite the absolutely necessity and inevitability of nuclear weapons as the only possibly way to ensure global peace and a war free world (Franklin, 1991). Post the end of the Cold War proponents of the nuclear policy have further argued the necessity of effective nuclear policy, especially in the view of the dangers posted by spilling of nuclear weapons in the hands of some of the non responsible nations (Graham, 2005). However, the doctrine of nuclear deterrence has been severely arraigned by the critics for its short comings and narrow visions that it take of subtlety of world geo-politics and the overly simplistic way in which it treats the question of deterrence and global peace (Gottemoeller, 2002 ). Nuclear policy and the race on building up nuclear arsenal have been criticized from ethical, moral, political, practical and strategic point of view over more than half a century, especially in the context of the modern history of humanity that has been torn apart by unimaginable horrors of wars and genocide in the 20th century (Muller, 2004). Thinkers, intellectuals and scientists and many military strategists have strongly argued for a nuclear free world, based on the strong premises that peace is impossible to achieve from those tools that have capacity to utterly destroy life (Cimbala and Scouras, 2002; Cortright, 1999). Their argument is persuasive to reason as it is ironical as a concept and theory to achieve peace by destruction. The only probable way by which nuclear weapons can bring peace is through complete annihilation of people, creating a world where no life would exists to conflict and compete. Even the history of the post nuclear world does not inspire any confidence in the effectiveness of nuclear weapons as a deterrent (Graham, 2005). In more than sixty years after the end of Second World War, innumerable conflicts and at least three wars of international proportion, involving nations equipped with nuclear power have belied the theory that nuclear weapons can act as any potential deterrent to wars (Cimbala and Scouras, 2002). It only creates a danger in escalation of threats of nuclear arm race, where nations without nuclear weapons are trying to possess these coveted means of mass destruction, to create a world of nuclear mutual self destruction (Franklin, 2002). It’s a fact that technology can not be limited as a prerogative to a limited number of nations, as the this dangerous technology spreads out, there are every possible chances that it can be utilized by at some point of time, by some irresponsible and unaccountable regime to create a havoc of unparalleled magnitude (Muller, 2004). The theory of nuclear deterrence also looses its credibility in the face of rise of terrorism as the new danger facing the new world (Graham, 2005). Nuclear deterrence did not act as any deterrent to the attack on the World Trade Centers in 2001, or in London bombing in 2006. On the contrary they create a new and infinitely more powerful threat where possible proliferation of nuclear weapons to terrorist groups can jeopardize the entire concept of national defense strategies of many nations. Conclusion Nuclear weapons can not act as means to achieve global peace. They are weapons of mass destruction, weapons that can kill hundred of thousands of people instantly, razing civilizations to dust, leaving behind death and a scarred earth that would be inhabitable for many generations. This trail of death can not be a harbinger of peace. Global peace can only be achieved by systematic end of nuclear arsenals, and strictly banning the research, testing and possession of nuclear weapons. 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