Fair is Fair case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Fair is Fair - Case Study Example This is the only way through which contentment can be established (Simmons, 20). The principle of fairness applies where both parties in a dispute perceive the verdict as having not favored any side of the argument. While justice could rest on side of the case, fairness must be established with the interest of both parties in mind. Thus, although justice could stand on certain premises, which could be seen to be favoring either side of the argument, fairness stands as the middle ground between the disputing parties, ensuring that none will perceive the other party as having benefited more from the case (Simmons, 24). Therefore, fairness goes beyond just doing justice, by ensuring that both parties to an argument are contented, no matter where the justice stands. Fairness can go against justice, for the sake of establishing a middle ground and creating contentment to the parties involved in a case. Therefore, fair is fair

Catcher in the Rye Comparison to Author Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Catcher in the Rye Comparison to Author - Essay Example As Bloom (p.18) comments, â€Å"in addition to creating a maelstrom of controversy in its critical reception†, the novel clearly tell us about Salinger’s creativity, nature, and achievement. To illustrate, as a student, Salinger was considered poor in academics and he was criticized as the most worthless English student by one of his professors. He had to change a number of schools and had an unhealthy relationship with parents. In his novel, Salinger gave an identical image to Holden Caulfield. Holden also experiences such failures in his academics; fails to prove him better student and he was also sent away from parents for his studies. However, as Graham describes Holden, he was â€Å"expelled from his school, Pency Prep, just before the Christmas holidays for flunking everything else except English† (2007, p. IX).Salinger tried to explain much of his personal feelings and perceptions through Holden Caulfield in the Catcher in the Rye. â€Å"What I was really hanging around for, I was trying to feel some kind of a good-by. I mean I’ve left schools and places I didn’t even know I was leaving them. I hate that. I don’t care if it’s a sad good-by or a bad good-by, but when I leave a place I like to know I’m leaving it. If you don’t, you will feel even worse† (Salinger, 2007, chapter 1).

The life and Legacy of George Orwell Essay Example for Free

The life and Legacy of George Orwell Essay George Orwell, a renowned novelist and essayist, is not only regarded for his multitude contributions to literature, he is well recognized as a â€Å"secular saint. † Fifty-seven years after his death, Orwell is acclaimed not only by thinkers and writers but also by the political left and right and those in between. He is a great story teller of truth and is revered by his moral courage, intellect and diamond-hard prose. Social historian Noel Annan once described him as â€Å"the first saint of our age† (Frankel, para. 2). Orwell, deprived of university training, is â€Å"quirky, fierce, independent and beholden to none. † Early Life and Works Born Eric Arthur Blair, this English author lived most of his life in poverty. He joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma from 1922 to 1927 before he returned to Europe to pursue his writing career (Widmann, para. 1). In 1936, Orwell (his pen name) joined the Republican forces in the Spanish civil war. He was wounded in fighting and later on had to flee Spain for his life. Orwell was always critical of communism and considered himself as a socialist. Over the next ten years, he would make his journey towards becoming famous—under a new name and with an altered identity. As Eric Blair, he experienced injustice and poverty and as George Orwell he began to look for their causes. His early experiences with totalitarian political regimes bore impact on his prose. After the publication of two of his greatest novels—Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, he confirmed his disgust over totalitarianism. In his essay Why I Write, he said â€Å"every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism†¦to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole. † During World War II, Orwell wrote a weekly radio political commentary where he countered German and Japanese propaganda in India (para. 5). His commentary work during the war at BBC gave him a solid taste of bureaucratic hypocrisy. This part of his life, many would later say, was his inspiration for his satirical, political novel Nineteen eighty-four, which had the most profound influence on historical revisionism. Until his death in 1950, Orwell would question almost every â€Å"official† or â€Å"accepted† versions of history. In his book Notes on Nationalism, he writes â€Å"if liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. † Animal Farm and Nineteen eighty-four Orwell became a world literary giant after the publication of the book Animal Farm. He began his masterpiece in the final years of World War II. With this (and later with 1984), he started his â€Å"thematic series† concerning abuse of political power (Pyle, para. 3). In Animal Farm, Orwell exposed the Soviet myth by incorporating it into a story that could be easily understood. It is also the first novel written exclusively for political purpose and by this, Orwell entered into a new realm of creative invention. This slight fable, scarcely longer than a short story led directly back to his first days in Barcelona. It tells of the story of abused and overworked animals in a farm that rebel against their abusive farmer, Mr. Jones. The animals’ paradise, however, would soon be commandeered and betrayed by a pig that bears a fleeting resemblance to Joseph Stalin (Gray, p. 9). The clear anti-Soviet parody did not appeal to a lot of publishers. The Animal Farm was turned down by more than a dozen publishers in England and the United States. But those who took a chance at this satirical fable were very much rewarded. The Animal farm was a hit and has sold dependably for 40 years. The success of the Animal Farm gave Orwell some sense of financial relief. He cut back on journalism and was given the chance to devote more time on his next best-seller, Nineteen eighty-four. This is Orwell’s most final and most famous book. He was already on his deathbed when it was published in 1949. The task of typing and revising the manuscript took their toll on his health and his tuberculosis worsened. The original manuscript that would later on re-surface reveals that Orwell considered different titles for his masterpiece. He planned on calling it â€Å"The Last Man in Europe†, â€Å"1980† and â€Å"1982† (p. 1). Tens of millions, from different generations have read it. It has been translated into 62 languages. Nineteen eighty-four tells of the story of Winston Smith, a minor bureaucrat in the totalitarian state of Oceania. Smith is working for the Ministry of Truth during the wars of the superpowers and constant changes in alliances. He rewrote old newspaper stories to conform to the present party ideology. He uses Newspeak, the official language at that time. Newspeak is a version of English being pared down to make unconventional opinions that are impossible to conceive. There was no privacy and Smith, along with all Party members, worked on two-way tele-screens. Posters that declare â€Å"Big Brother is Watching You† are all over the place. Smith, however, would commit a â€Å"thoughtcrime. † He would live by the phrase â€Å"down with Big Brother† instead. He would also have a love affair with a co-worker called Julia, considered a heinous crime because all loyalty belongs to the Party. He will be relentlessly tortured in Room 101 until he could no longer take the pain. He would then suggest that all punishment would be inflicted on Julia instead. This abolishes his integrity but would make him a good Party member. The terms Big Brother, Ministries of Truth and Love, the thought crime and thought police, the memory hole, Room 101 and hate week have now become part of our vocabulary. Orwell, for his part, became the standard adjective when referring to the gap between political language and moral reality (Frankel, para. 7). Orwell fought the worst tendencies in politics and society, and in his two greatest works, he did so by using fundamental sense of decency (Gray, p. 10). Legacy and Contribution Orwell did not mean for Nineteen eighty-four to be his final work. Reports say that in one of his last conversations before he died, he said he have some more books to write. He even married a woman 15 years his junior while he was confined in a hospital. He believed that when one is married and has a wife, he would have more reasons to live. Orwell had three more months. He was only 47. Orwell’s childhood friend once said that the tragedy in the author’s life is that when he achieved fame and success, he was already a dying man and â€Å"he knew it† (Pyle, para. 2). But his mystical status as the greatest novelist of his time would outlive him. Orwell did not only write two of the greatest novels in history. He laid down the standards of a true classic. A Time Magazine cover story in 1983 described him as a man of letters who attempted to â€Å"change the world by changing the word. † Orwell is laso known for his insights about politics. He decried bureaucratic hypocrisy and totalitarianism for as long as he lived. He invented a different language through Newspeak to be able to shape reality. His friends would always regard him as an intellectual. He was always straight and solemn. He held back every emotion and he rarely smiled (Frankel, para. 15). As a novelist, they say, he hates being edited and no one ever tried mucking his works. After all, they say, his manuscripts do not need editing as they always come in perfectly, even the commas. From the start, his writing was essentially personal (Menand, para. 4). He put himself and his experiences at the center of his non-fiction works and many of his essays. He made use of personal anecdotes and stories and knowledge in political journalism to stress his points. Orwell, however, never intended to make himself a hero. What he has is a rare talent of relating with his audience, not as a literary man or a reporter, but as himself. In short, before he made the readers believe in his works, he made them believe, first of all, in him. In 1984, a new 17-volume edition of his complete works was published in the United States. A wax figure of the phenomenal author has also been installed at a museum in London. Scholars have continued debates on the political implications and literary genius of his novels. Orwell’s two final books immortalized him as one of the best novelists in history. More than half a century since he died, his works are still regarded as must-reads and have cemented their place on popular culture. The relevance of his novels has outlived him. Works Cited: Gray, Paul. â€Å"That year is Almost Here. † Time Magazine. (28 Nov. 1983). 2 Oct. 2007 http://www. time. com/time/covers/0,16641,19831128,00. html. Frankel, Glenn. â€Å"George Orwell at 100: Revisiting a Life Steeped in Contradictions. † Washington Post Foreign Service. (25 June 2003). 02 Oct. 2007. Menand, Louis. â€Å"Honest, Decent, Wrong: The Invention of George Orwell. (27 Jan. 2003). 02 Oct. 2007. http://www. newyorker. com/archive/2003/01/27/030127crat_atlarge. http://www. netcharles. com/orwell/articles/col-revcon. htm. Pyle, Steve. â€Å"George Orwell’s Animal Farm: The Little Book that Could. † The Antigonish Review. (23 Feb. 1999). 02 Oct. 2007. http://www. antigonishreview. com/bi -111/111-pyle. html. Widmann, Richard. â€Å"George Orwell: Background. † 02 Oct. 2007. http://codoh. com/thoughtcrimes/tcportorw. html.

Water Is A Limited Resource Environmental Sciences Essay

Water Is A Limited Resource Environmental Sciences Essay Water is a limited resource whose quantities and quality are declining for an ever increasing world population. In the future this scarce resource needs to be managed better and efficiently. Water is the main theme of my research because it is undoubtedly the most critical and vulnerable resource to humans and entire ecosystems. In order to understand the physical and biogeochemical processes that affect this resource, I have focused current research in water, agriculture and forest resources. The primary focus of my research is to improve our understanding of the hydrologic and terrestrial processes regulating the quality and quantity of water in watersheds, so better environmental policy and management strategies that protect water, soil and other natural resources can be developed. My research addresses both managed and natural systems, considers processes at small to large river watershed scale, and uses combined effort of field monitoring, modeling and application of results to real world problems. It is my view that only by integrating across scale and between disciplines we will ever be able to understand these interactions and their potential implications at different scales. Building on my expertise, past and current research experiences, I have three broad and somewhat overlapping research themes. They are: 1. Land use change and management impacts on water quality and quantity, 2. Impact of climate on hydrologic and terrestrial processes, and 3. Bridging basic research and modeling efforts for effective management and policy decisions. Impact of land use on water quality: Many of my research projects have characterized the relationships between land use management, patterns, and sources of runoff, sediment, and nutrients in the landscape and used this information to predict stream water quality/quantity. For example, in my doctoral dissertation research I assessed the impact of land use and management practices on water quality/quantity for a drinking water supplying watershed and lake. To do this I combined stream monitoring, and distributed watershed modeling. My study site included both agricultural areas that have best management practices already implemented and forested areas with minimal human impacts. Assessment of the impacts of BMPs on water quality is challenging because implementation of whole-farm management programs has been on-going in the watershed; farms where BMPs had not been implemented were not available for monitoring in the current study. Consequently, the classic paired watershed approach in volving comparison of treated vs. control subwatersheds was not possible. Minimal divergence of water quality between watersheds dominated by forest land use and those dominated by agricultural land use provided indirect evidence of agricultural BMP effectiveness. Individual cell contributions to total yields of water, sediment and nutrients at the outlet were calculated, facilitating identification of specific cells contributing disproportionately to non-point source pollutant inputs. Effectively, those are the areas where management intervention may provide the greatest impacts on maintenance and improvement of water quality. This type of comprehensive watershed scale research not only allows us to quantify the effects of management practices on surface water quality, which are to be significant, but gives us clearer insight into controlling processes and their distribution in a watershed. I recently used a similar modeling study approach to quantify snowpack distribution in New York City (NYC) water supply watershed, as snow is an important component of the water resources of New York State and the watersheds and reservoirs of NYC water supply (Pradhanang et al, 2011, Hydrological Processes). I will continue to expand this type of research to larger systems by incorporating geospatial information and remote sensing into both the field and modeling components of my research. My research results have shown that when studying at the large scale response, it is important to consider small areas of a landscape or spatially distinct zones. One challenge that will be critical in future work will be determining how to effectively monitor and model small scale processes, particularly with respect to biogeochemical processes, while also applying small scale processes to larger systems. Impact of climate on hydrologic and terrestrial processes: My ongoing research in this area focuses largely on determining relationships among biogeochemical processes, hydrology, and the influence of climate in both the US and Nepal. Since 2009 I have been involved with researchers from New York City Dept. of Environmental Protection tasked with assessing effectiveness of land and watershed management practices to ensure abundant, clean water in the New York City Watersheds. In addition to land use impacts on water quality and quantity, another major concern in the watershed is the influence of climate change on terrestrial biogeochemistry, water quality, and water quantity. One of my roles has been to develop and test basin scale hydrologic models designed to capture the variable source area (VSA) hydrology that dominates the region, and that will provide accurate estimates of both water quality and quantity. As part of this effort I have updated, modified, and applied model that i s currently being used, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) which were not originally designed to capture the complexity inherent in saturation excess runoff process. I used streamflow predictions from SWAT-WB (modified version) to assess effects of climate change and potential changes in hydrologic indicators (Pradhanang et al., JAWRA in revision). Currently, I am working towards simulating nutrients in agriculture dominated watershed. Rising atmospheric CO2 concentration, higher temperatures, changes in precipitation pattern, duration and frequency will have significant effects on vegetation and crop growth affecting food security. I have applied watershed and ecosystem model in order to effectively understand potential effects. I have recently worked with a graduate student at City College of New York to couple watershed models distributed snow model and also with radar and other remote-sensing techniques. My future research in this area will build and expand on identifying and quantifying hydrologic processes controlling biogeochemical fluxes in the landscape, especially those most relevant to anticipated environmental changes associated with climate change. I also plan on expanding my work in places like Nepal where the potential impact of global climate change on soil and water resources could be devastating and where resources for solving the resulting problems are least available. Of particular concern is resultant impact on agricultural productivity due to changes in hydrology, either climate driven or as a result of manipulations to hydrology (e.g., irrigation), or soil quality. Thus, a better understanding of the hydrological and biogeochemical systems in these areas and their linkages to climate are critical to improving the quality of life around the globe. 3. Bridging basic research and modeling to management and policy: Work that interfaces directly with planners, managers, land owners, and policy makers is some of the most rewarding of my (short) career. For instance, results from Ph.D. research are currently being considered in New York to identify source areas and effectively apply management plans in identified sources. My on-going research in New York is a good example in which I have worked directly with New York City Dept. of Environmental Protection scientists and managers to develop and assess water quality protection strategies for the New York City water supply. I am also involved with USAID as well as federal, regional, and local community leaders in a project entitled à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“adaptation of livestock smallholders to climate change in Nepalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ , a project assessing the historic, current, and future of livestock resources in the Gandaki River Basin (GRB), Nepal. This project is truly interdisciplinary, bri dging the fields of hydrology, engineering, agronomy, soils, economics, social science, and climatology as well as watershed stakeholders and government officials in a dynamic and rapidly changing region of the world. Nepal holds vast potential (both beneficial and dire) to influence global issues such as human induced climate change, economics, and population pressure. I find it exciting to work on a project with potential global impact. My role involves developing models of hydrology and crop growth to determine potential effect of climate change on streamflow and crop yield in GRB that can have direct impact on livestock water management and feed and fodder availability. The model integrates our current knowledge of spatial and biogeochemical processes and a large amount of remotely sensed information (TRMM derived rainfall, ensemble forecasts, Landsat imagery, etc). In fact, remote sensing platforms are essential for large scale modeling and analysis of climate and terrestrial s ystems, especially for parts of the world with little reliable ground monitoring. The implications of this project are far reaching and will inform governments and watershed stakeholders on the consequence of factors both within and beyond their control. Moving forward, I would like to keep these types of linkages between my research and environmental managers.

Bigfoot Essay -- essays research papers

Bigfoot For over a 150 years man has been troubled by one great mystery, a mystery that has baffled all who have witnessed it and all who have tried to solve it. This mystery is commonly known as Bigfoot, a tall hairy man/ape who lurks in the woods in almost every country on this planet. Some say it is just an ape, some believe it is a man in costume, and others are true believers of this hairy phenomenon. For more than a decade and a half this creature of myth has caused enormous contradictions in the field of science, bringing about one question. Does Bigfoot exist? Throughout the 150 year history of Bigfoot many concerns have raised, the most in number have been from Native Americans. The Karok Indians tell of an â€Å"upslope person† who lurks far up in the mountains (Gaffron, 22-24). Some medicine men have told stories of â€Å"snow-walkers† that haunt the Forrest depths (Short). The creatures North American habitat covers over 125,000 square miles of forest, contained in the states of Oregon, Washington, and California, constituting a large number of Native American tribes to encounter and frighten (Gaffron, 22). This phenomenon is not just a Native American one told by medicine men, and tribe leaders, Bigfoot plays an enormous role in the ancient folklore of such civilizations as, the Russians, Greeks, and Anglo-Saxons (Brunvand). These civilizations have been around for hundreds of years, and have been telling stories of Bigfoot long before any one; they hold the true key to Bigfoot’s history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As the environment changes so does the Bigfoot. The Yeti, known as the legendary man of the Himalayas, is the Bigfoot of Nepal, China, and Siberia. Numerous descriptions state the Yeti resembles a primitive humanlike being (Gaffron, 52). Four major types of Bigfoot have been recorded, each one having its own distinct differences. The Teh-Ima is 4 feet tall, being the smallest of the four and is located in lower mountain regions. The Meh-The, slightly resembling a gorilla, has a big pointed head and large square teeth, it is slightly larger than the Teh-Ima. The Duz-Teh being the third largest resembles a bear and is approximately six to eight feet tall. The largest of the group is the Bigfoot of North America weighing as much as 1,000 pounds, and over eight feet tall (Gaffron, 44-46). These Bigfeet have there own characteristics and traits, each one ad... ...the footage; if they were to attempt it, it would require a whole new system of artificial muscles and an actor who could walk like a Bigfoot (Gaffron, 72-76). In the thirty-five years since this footage was taken nothing has been able to prove the existence of Bigfoot more than it has.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For thousands of years myths of an upright man/ape have been told in dozens of cultures and for 150 years its sight has baffled science and caused irreversible controversies in its theories. Weather Bigfoot is just another branch of primates or an early form of humanity which failed to evolve; it is the duty of science to seek truth no matter how controversial the findings may be. Works Cited â€Å"Abominable Snowman.† Microsoft Encarta 2009 Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. Jan Harold Brunvand: Microsoft, 2009. â€Å"California Sightings List.† Bigfoot Encounters. 19 January, 2006. Fahrenbach, W.H. â€Å"Bigfoot Biology.† Bigfoot Encounters. 19 May, 2008. Gaffron, Norma. Bigfoot: Opposing Viewpoints San Diego: Green Haven Press inc. 2007 The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization. 25 October, 2009. Thomas, Roger F. â€Å"The Patterson – Gimlin Film.† BIGFOOT: Fact or fantasy? 25 June, 2008.

Safe Distances :: Personal Narrative Religion Papers

Safe Distances Evolution at its most basic is the process by which a species puts barriers between itself and extinction. Anytime a species finds a way to increase its individual organisms' ability to reproduce, it has put a little extra distance between the species and total annihilation. For example: the peacock's elaborate tail, which ensures his success in propagating his genes, also makes him an easy catch for predators. One might imagine that the peacock could simply have invested in a foreign sports car to attract the opposite sex. I was 15 the first time I made my own blood run. I was sitting in the crowded closet, feeling that iron-in-my-stomach sensation that had been with me more and more since my grandmother had died, since my father had started screaming so much, since my feelings for school had gone from run of the mill adolescent angst to extreme boredom, frustration, outrage over the absurdity of it all. I would sit some nights like a toddler in the darkness of my closet, morosely rehashing my grievances against life, lost in a forest of sweaters and skirts. I would brood, and think and will myself not to cry until the effort became too great and I'd give in and wring my hands and rain tears on my sneakers and sandals and sensible dress shoes in silence until the iron had dissolved enough that I could stand straight again. The Hebrew's relationship with God starts out as extremely simple and extremely personal. God chooses his favorites with frightening randomness, picking otherwise unremarkable second sons to succeed their morally ambiguous, but also chosen, fathers. God's actions in Genesis are often inexplicably random, even petty. God forbids his first human creation to eat a certain apple, and then puts a whole tree full of the forbidden fruit right in front of them. When they finally give in and taste test what they shouldn't have, Adam and Eve are banished from paradise and consigned to death. God's actions here seem cruel and unfair, or at the very least, unfathomable to human minds. We can't help but feel a little outrage and confusion over the events of Genesis. Why wasn't Lot's wife allowed to look back (19:26)? Why did God just up and slay Er (38:7)? How could Cain be allowed to live after killing his brother (4:15), when God was willing to kill all the children on earth with one gigantic flood in order to cleanse the earth of sin (6:13)?

Humane Education Essay

The material devised and discussed briefly by Dr. Chauvin argues primarily on the validity of humane education and the rationale for the possibility of an educator promoting and advocating the concept. It is not something new. Observations concerning infants and people in general who tend to be attracted to animals have become important aspects not only in the educational setting but also specially in the therapeutic set-up and this is probably the main reason that educators are encouraged to implement or even just entertain the idea in the classroom setting. There writer did explain the advantages of having a pet and how teacher or instructor paves the way for the students to imitate him/her in the care, attention and manner of attending to a creature. The article tackled as well the precautions a person or family must bear in mind or understand before embarking on owning or taking care of an animal by primarily providing brief descriptions of the animals least likely to be of help to the animals most likely to possess value of developing â€Å"humaneness† to a person or child. The article posited that certain limitations must be in place where the school setting is concerned once the students and/or teacher decide to own a pet or animal. II. Discuss the pros and cons of animals in the classroom The pros: A child or person has direct physical access to an animal. Vicariously watching what the particular animal may need and how it will be in association or relationship with people or fellow creature itself (Chauvin, p. 21). It allows the opportunity for students to learn what it is like to be responsible and how or manner of learning the skills that are necessary to be able to work and behave with creatures but most especially towards fellow human beings (Chauvin, p. 21). The trait of empathy is an important characteristic for any person to possess. However, while some have this to some degree, many individuals still do not have the trait or has become elusive for them. It usually takes time and effort to be able to learn and adapt the skill of empathy. Empathy is the ability to feel what the other person feels much like putting oneself in the shoes of another (Chauvin, p. 21). The cons: The article or material warns of problems that may be faced by a person or child especially if he/she did not bother to take the time to learn the basics about the project. Moreover, it implies that anyone interested must be prepared for the setbacks or downsides (Chauvin, p. 21). Anyone on this kind of project must appreciate or anticipate the expenses that might be incurred; more of which are unforeseen most of the times (Chauvin, p. 21). III. Why you will or will not have animals in your classroom. It is a very wonderful and amazing idea because it removes boredom and predictability when this is followed. But if I were to decide I would probably have it like a â€Å"show and tell† type rather than having animals left in the classroom. It is indeed costly on effort, time and money/expense. Not only that, the hidden danger of dealing with animals which will not rule out the possibility of attack on the child/individual (Chauvin, p. 21). The â€Å"show and tell† type may be revised to suit the rationale and intentions of this project to encourage students towards becoming more humane or empathetic. This can be done by having the activity done on a regular basis so that students are followed up what they do at home with their pets and do reflections whether something in the attitudes and behavior of the student has changed considerable or not. Importance of â€Å"humane† education is not just a very trivial thing or idea. The project is significant on the matter of coexistence especially that this planet has become one global village as they say. Reference: Chauvin, Wynter. Animals and children