Active involvement through the study circle Essay

Introduction The Study Circle is a dynamic process wherein the experience and participation of the participants makes up the educational method for this program. Since its beginnings, it has been identified as an emancipatory method of teaching wherein a democratic arena for learning is present especially for young adults. The idea underlying this is that learning could be acquired through sharing of participating members (Putu, 2006). History of Study Circle Aiming at transforming his country, a place wherein widespread poverty and a great gap between the poor and rich exist, Oscar Olsson arrived at America in 1893. Olson is searching for a form of education or method that would be beneficial to transforming his country into a place where justice and liberty work side by side with democracy in order for its people to educate or learn by themselves (Andrews, 1997). Olsson soon found out what he was looking for in America in an unlikely place, an adult education movement sponsored by the Chautauqua literary and scientific circle. From this adult education movement, Olsson was able to discover a form of education called Study Circle and is being referred today as the â€Å"education by the people, for the people and of the people† (Andrews, 1997). After learning or finding out about the Study Circle, Olsson came back to his country which is Sweden and here he began to write a series of report about the Study Circle and incorporated his own theories and ideas about the method. At this time, Oscar Olsson principles and views are influenced heavily by John Dewey and it is known that he has the same philosophical, theoretical and practical approach to education to Tao Xingzhi and Yan Yangchu, both considered as scholars who were also influenced by Dewey’s teaching and principles (Persson, 2006). Olsson’s ideals made way for the creation of Sweden Study Circle in 1902 in the Lund branch of the International Order of Good Templar. First of its kind, the Study Circle emphasize four key areas concerning the Study Circle (Persson, 2006). They are the following: 1) In order for everyone to join the Study Circle, the program must be cheap and in doing so, no one would be desist in joining or participating in the program because of economic reason. 2) The method must be simple that everyone won’t have a hard time participating in the discussion regardless of educational background or schooling. 3) Participants shall meet as equals and have equal possibilities to voice out their opinions about their studies regardless of their social status or background. 4) Lastly, the library and books will play an important role in the education of the participants (Persson, 2006). For Olsson, the Study Circle is a method of organizing studies which focuses on the idea that every participant should educate himself. Study Circle educates its participants by letting them choose their own literature and actively communicating with other participants using their own knowledge during groups discussion and meetings. In doing so, Study Circle was known as forum of democracy, in which participants were held responsible for the contents and the method (Persson, 2006). Olsson also incorporated in the Study Circle the joy of learning. He reasoned out that by spending time and energy on education, the brain will get a strong impression that knowledge is pleasure. Furthermore, Olsson agreed that continuous education and questioning could only be supplied by a stable atmosphere and spirit (Persson, 2006). Review of Related Literature Basic Principles Underlying Study Circles Derived from the ideas of Oscar Olsson, didactic principles that emphasize the role of members in a group were laid down to ensure that the Study Circle would function and work according to its purpose (Brattset, 1982). The principles describe the method as an active process, wherein knowledge will be realized into actions and social changes that could promote development. According to Kindstorm (2002), the method espouses the following principles: 1) Equality and democracy – The principles of democracy and equality allow the members to work hand in hand by allowing the exchange of views and information through dialogues and conversation. 2) Change and action – Being responsible for the education of their fellow members, education on Study Circle won’t just be concern on education but also the development of each member. 3) Study Materials – Books and Libraries will play the role of teachers, as they will be the source of new knowledge and information for the members. What subject to learn or book to read will be decided upon by the members. 4) Freedom and the objectives of Study Circle – Study Circle emphasize the idea that freedom comes with responsibility. The members will have to work in accordance with organization’s framework while carrying out their educational duties and work. 5) Experiences and Co-operation – their will be no competing inside Study Circle and every members walk side by side with each other in trying to educate not only themselves but also their fellow members. Their experience and knowledge before entering the program will bring in new ideas and concept. 6) Active participation and continuous planning – Determining the education level inside a Study Circle will depend on how active the members will be in the program. It is through participating that members will have the chance to voice out their opinion and individual knowledge in front of other members and from this, learning from other people begins. Study Circle is built upon the active participation of its members. Furthermore, individuals may learn best by setting up objectives and goals that will serve as their guide during the program. Although things might have changed because of the year gap, Olsson’s ideas set the standard for future Study Circles. Although other ideas came after the first Study Circle was created, the principles that Olsson established were able to ensure that Study Circles will work as he envisioned them (Kindstorm, 2002).

Acquired capability and skills Essay

Looking at my overall capability and skills acquired in my current academic class, I argue that I had improved a lot since I started taking this course. The activities the professor provided gave me the opportunity to recognize my strengths and weaknesses in composition and other elements significant in completing and creating a good paper. Given this idea, I seek to elaborate on areas that I had sought to improve on and other specific elements that need further attention. At the same time, to support these claims, I shall provide several examples from my previous works to highlight changes that occurred. One relevant element in academic writing is the creation of thesis statement. This sentence/s provides readers direction of the topic and helps them better understand the relevance of the subject (UNC, p. 1). Seeing this, our professor taught us that creating thesis statement must then encompass all of the paper and effectively summarize and point out the arguments presented in a particular paper. Due to this, my first intention was creating such statement and find ways to persuade, entice or provide information to readers. Looking at my compositions, it can be seen that I had significantly changed the way I approached creating thesis statements. In my earlier compositions, these statements are either too vague for readers to comprehend or just implied in the paper. Due to this, I had to make the necessary adjustments to improve the way I compose such. However, this problem has been addressed accordingly in my last paper. In here, I placed the statement at the end of the paper which says that â€Å"The growing problem of poverty simply created the other problems concerning other facets of life; environmental issues, urban housing, health issues, corruption, and the like† (The Slum Residents Feed Off From Danger, p. 4). Seeing this, I feel that I need to improve in the way I create thesis statements. This is to further create impact in my papers and foster deeper understanding on my readers. Whether it is an informational or persuasive, I must find ways to align my paper accordingly to my given thesis statement. Another area that I had seen myself improve is the creation of supporting details to assist my given thesis statement. I had learned in class that for a paper to be academic, it must be able to provide details that will either supplement or sustain the arguments provided in the main idea. That is why, during the course of activities, I had tried to find ways to align my paper to the given topic I chose. For example, the flyer I created concerning malnutrition sought to bridge together the idea of how this issue has affected many and what ways can one try to address the issue. Assessing my current capabilities as far as this facet is concerned, I feel that I still need to improve in the way I link my supporting details to my main idea. This is because there are still several non-related topics that get inserted within my paper. At the same time, I must make sure that these details correlate and synchronize effectively within my work. By actively doing this, I can give readers an easier time in understanding and comprehending my overall intention for writing the paper. Introduction is also a vital element in the creation of an academic paper. This is because it gives readers the ability to become aware of either a backgrounder or the topic discussed in the paper. Having an effective introduction can entice readers to read the article and help them become acquainted with the issue given (UNC, p. 1). Looking at my personal experience in generating introductions, I feel that I had made considerable progress. Though at first this may seem to be the most difficult part of the paper to write, I sought out different strategies that can help me maximize my ability to create a good academic paper. Looking at my compositions, there is one paper that I feel provided a good opening for my paper. Since the topic I am talking about revolves around contact zones, I began my paper by describing the idea for readers to actively decipher what to expect in the paper. It mentions: It is important to understand that the social construction of racial, ethnic, and hierarchical differences, whether physical or cultural, exist as a human experience in the form of contact zones. (American Society and Contact Zones, p. 1). Thus, assessing my capabilities in this facet, I feel that I had made improvements in the way I construct introductory sentences that bridge the main idea or topic to the readers. However, I still feel that there are still setbacks that I need to address to be able to maximize my ability in creating effective statements. I need to make sure each time that this assertion coincides with what I want the readers to make sense of. As far as creating conclusions are concerned, throughout the duration of the course, I had tried to improve on the way I compose these statements. It has been taught that is necessary that I make a striking ending assertion so that it can stick to the mind of readers. Allowing these things to happen can help increase the strength of the paper and further justify the arguments I presented. Analyzing my success in doing this, I feel that I still need to improve in the way I do this because my ideas only try to point out again what I wrote in the previous sections (e. g. Global Community and American Society). Rather than just restating what I mentioned before, I must also highlight the overall stand of the paper and signify the justifications for advocating such belief. Lastly, I had also learned that my conclusion must not end in conveying another topic because it can make the readers confused and think that this is just another part of the paper. Structure, organization and coherence are the next elements I wish to evaluate myself on. These three factors also contribute to the ability of an academic paper to convey information and insights to readers. By taking into consideration the relevance of these ideas, I can increase the ability of people to actively learn from the process and prevent concepts and arguments to be scattered (Darmouth, p. 1). Assessing my growth in the element of structure, I feel that I have shown great strength in making sure that my composition fit a particular structure in the paper. In here, I approached each research in a different manner depending on the scope and tone that I wish to convey. For example, in my argumentative essay entitled Global Community, I structured the paper by first pointing out my main argument and then providing justifications and details to support the paper. On the other hand, in my flyer paper, I brought out the thesis statement and provided relevant information associated with the said topic which is malnutrition. Thus, I feel that I had shown advancement as far as this idea is concerned. For coherence, I still feel that I need to focus on increasing and establishing links in every paragraphs of my paper. This is because the ideas I present in every section seem to not directly relate with one another. Such can give my readers a hard time in establishing a link with the main idea presented and the way I seek out to justify each one. Seeing this, I need to come up with good transition statements that can help readers relate the concepts from the previous paragraphs to the next. These statements can either be in sentence pattern or words such as (1) Moreover, (2) Likewise, (3) In addition, etc. This can help supplement the way I address the paper and signify a new set of ideas to be introduced to the reader. Another strategy I wish to explore and improve on is making effective outlines for a specific research/academic paper. I had learned in class that by making outlines, I can effectively and efficiently prevent mistakes in organization and coherence because this can serve as the backbone for the paper. Allowing myself to device an outline for a specific topic, I can insert and attach important items and concepts on categories it best fits. The last part I wish to ponder on revolves around sentence construction, grammar usage and punctuations. Since I am dwelling with academic paper and not a personal blog it is essential that I see to it that my papers are proofread and follow the rules of the English language. This can then help me hone my grasp of the language and apply the standards I had learned. Reviewing my punctuation marks, I feel that I still need to master and learn several elements. This is because, I can see that I still common mistakes in placing periods, semicolons, colons and commas in a sentences. In here, I must review and understand where each one should be placed and under what conditions can they be only applied. Due to this, I feel that I had only satisfactorily achieved this element and needs to be further improved. As far as grammar usage is concerned, I also consider myself satisfactory because I still have to improve on the words I use in a specific sentence or paragraph. Since these words convey meaning in a particular argument or statement, it is essential that I choose the idea that best fits the description. Though I also learned that using simple words is good, however I must also make sure that these things never get repeated over and over in a particular paragraph. In the end, I feel that the subject has given me new avenues to improve and develop. Comparing my previous compositions, I had seen myself acquire new ideas and skills that can help boost my ability to write academic paper. However, I must also recognize that there are still elements that I need to work on. By constantly working and honing these things, I can maximize my ability and skills to serve my purpose not only in this subject but also for my own personal growth. Works Cited Darmouth. edu Writing: Considering Structure and Organization. 2005 accessed 1 June 2009 from UNC. edu Introductions. 2007 accessed 1 June 2009 from UNC. edu Thesis Statements. 2007 accessed 1 June 2009 from

Enemies of the cross and the qur'an the end of the soul Essay

Enemies of the cross and the qur'an the end of the soul - Essay Example Chapter 35 of the text specifically discusses the disproportionate level of impact that liberal ideology has had within Christianity as compared to Islam. One of the underlying reasons for this level of disproportionate impact has to do with the fact that a large portion of Christian ideology is predicated upon the ethos of miraculous occurrences. Whereas it is true that Islam is largely based upon an understanding of miraculous intervention as well, Christian dogma and doctrine loses a great deal of legitimacy when faced with a situation in which these miraculous occurrences might not in fact be true. Moreover, as a direct result of the liberal ideologies that came to pervade Christianity in the early 18th century, the overall extent to which learned individuals integrated with a belief in miracles began to decline rapidly; providing a situation in which the backbone and fundamentals of the Christian faith radically different from an interpretation of science or ideology of the early modern era. By means of contrast and comparison, Islam has fared rather well from the influences of liberalism. This has mainly to do with the fact that the tradition of Islam is not predicated upon the occurrences of miracles or the many different diverse approaches towards religious interpretation; that exist to such a wide degree under the umbrella of Christian denominations. The text further illustrates the fact that Islam has been able to incorporate key changes in technology, sociology, science, and other key fields without losing an inherent level of relevance to the lives of those who practice it. This can again by linked back to the fact that Islam is fundamentally different than Christianity in the fact that it is a more personal religious experience; as compared to the more group relevant dynamics that Christianity holds. Further,

GerontologyAlzheimer's and Dementia in Las Vegas Essay

GerontologyAlzheimer's and Dementia in Las Vegas - Essay Example In "Intervention Strategies for Exit-seeking Wandering Behavior in Dementia Residents," a study done to assess Alzheimer's patients who wander away from their long-term care facilities, it is noted that the patients are often disoriented and "lack even the most basic safety awareness" (277). In D. Riccio et al's "Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment in Female Elderly Patients with Alzheimer Disease and Other Types of Dementia," current treatments aren't always effective because "in the elderly, chronic comorbidities are more difficult to treat for the incompatible therapies and the likelihood of adverse outcome, including increasing disability and death" (344). For these reasons (and many more), Alzheimer's is considered to be a serious illness, deserving of attention. As of this year, about 35,000 Las Vegas residents have been diagnosed with dementia. That number is expected to increase to 100,000 Southern Nevadans by the year 2010 (Kumler, para. 16). The same journal article reads that 5 million Americans suffer from the disease. It costs about $18,500 to $36,000 per year, per person, to care for an Alzheimer's patient for a total of $100 billion annually in the United States. With these staggering figures, and projected increase of dementia in Las Vegas, it is no wonder that the city is making serious strides to take care of Alzheimer's patients, track promising therapies, and keep the public aware. Since 2006, the 2008 opening of the Lou Ruvo Alzheimer's Institute has been touted. This 55,000 square-foot facility will house patients afflicted with the disease. The institute is situated on 61 acres of land in downtown Vegas, and will also include an Alzheimer's Research Center, an academic medical center, and a hands-on museum where patrons can learn about the brain and its activities. The undated news report "Local Alzheimer's Study Looking for Volunteers" reads that this year may also be a big year for an active research study. Since "more than five million Americans are living with Alzheimer's - a 10-percent increase from just five years ago a local study may help researchers find more effective treatments" (Local, para. 1). According to this report, University of Nevada School of Medicine neurologist Charles Bernick said the only way to come up with effective treatments for Alzheimer's patients is to find new and different ways to study them. With that in mind, 30 Las Vegas residents, ages 75 and older, will be studied for four years. Intel Corp., maker of computer chips, has teamed up with the Alzheimer's Association in Las Vegas and Portland, Oregon to measure how memory changes in older people. One third of the 30 volunteers receives a laptop, and will be initially asked to identify five to 15 people with whom they regularly interact. Each of those people will be given a badge that monitors their entering and exiting the volunteer's residence. When the volunteer logs onto the laptop, pictures of those people will appear. The purpose is to track how much interaction with others each volunteer is receiving. The reason, perhaps, is so it can be determined if lack of communication or interaction with others is related to increased memory loss. Another facet of the research is called "caller ID on steroids." This

Analyze the passage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Analyze the passage - Essay Example If we regard our action first from the point of subjective inclination and then from the perspective of conformity to reason, we do not find a contradiction; we are led to realize the validity of the categorical imperative. The writer concludes that if duty has to be a practical and unconditional necessity of action and account for the legislative authority it can only be expressed in terms of categorical imperatives. If there is any such thing as an a priori notion of duty which is absolute, it must cover the willing and inclination of all human beings. They should conform to reason. Such duty is intrinsic and sublime and its validity gets diminished if it is dictated by subjective inclinations or natural dispositions. The reasons that the writer gives do support his point to a great extent. The writer’s views are important because everyone has certain duties and obligations in life. Our duties must conform to reason and we should not be liberal and compromising regarding our personal

Humanities II week one Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Humanities II week one - Essay Example His explanation is "If all men were good this precept would not be a good one but as they are bad and would not observe their faith with you, so you are not bound to keep faith with them† (Cunningham, & Reich, 2010, p.290). At present, I believe that there are Machiavellian politicians today and they are Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte. Adolf Hitler is a Machiavellian politician, because he criticized the role of the Church in society. It is unclear what Hitler’s religion is, though in principle, he admired Christian heritage, German Christian culture, and an Aryan Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, as shown in the Holocaust and some resources, he was bent to destroy the influences of Christianity and Judaism on his subordinates. This indicates his desire to control the Church and subjugate it under his political leadership. Furthermore, Hitler is Machiavellian, because he led with his mind and ruthlessness. He was a brilliant military leader who won several wars across Eur ope and developed widespread control in a small duration of time. He is also renowned as a seasoned politician, who knows what to say to inspire his people to support him. The German rearmament program gave full employment and an unreserved expansion of production, which strengthened by his foreign policy successes, through the Rome-Berlin pact of 1936, the Anschluss with Austria and the "liberation" of the Sudeten Germans in 1938, made Hitler popular and powerful. Hitler also used the Holocaust to advance racial cleansing. He believed that no matter how inhumane it was, it was part of the means to political greatness. Hence, Hitler justified the need for power to rationalize his means to his ends. Napoleon Bonaparte is Machiavellian, because he influenced the Church to reduce its hold on the people. Like Machiavelli, Napoleon believed that religion is like cement which can bond society together. According to Napoleon, religion advanced national unity and stopped class war; it made people weak and obedient. Unlike Machiavelli, however, he wanted to unite the State and the Church. He negotiated an agreement with the Pope. The Concordat of 1801 distinguished Catholicism as the favored religion of France, but not the state religion. The clergy would be chosen and paid by the State, but consecrated by the Church. Despite these laws, Napoleon was able to a have tighter leash on religion. In addition, Napoleon also addressed opposition with grand promises of success of his ruling. He is also a fox like Hitler, when dealing with his enemies. Lastly, Napoleon is also Machiavellian, because of his views of power. Even after being an Emperor of France in 1804, for the next eight years Napoleon dominated Europe through battling with a wide range of alliances, such as the combinations of Austria, Britain, Russia and Prussia. Many of his military victories were shrewdly planned. He believed in his power to stay in power and to keep his ruling intact. Adolf Hitler and Napol eon Bonaparte are Machiavellian politicians, because they were the fox and the lion. They ruled and expanded their dominions through power and persuasion. They were influential speakers and affected their people emotionally. Furthermore,

Gymnastic Techniques Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gymnastic Techniques - Essay Example Many components work together to make a gymnastic composition successful. An element is the shortest gymnastic exercise that is complete ((Jastrjembskaia, Titov 1999 pg 4). Each element consists of different movements of some of the various body parts (movements may be with or without apparatus). A movement is change in the orientation or position of the whole body or one of its parts. In a competition, judges judge each element according to some characteristics. These characteristics include originality, degree of difficulty, virtuosity of performance and mastery Each element technique has its own basis which includes the movements of the exercise and which distinguish an element from other elements (Jastrjembskaia, Titov 1999 pg 4). The basis of an element technique develops from independent preparatory, main and finishing phases. In the preparatory phase, all the body movements of the technique are involved in preparing a way for the main phase. For instance, a gymnast needs a preparatory phase to attain good speed or rotary motion to throw an apparatus. The main phase of the element includes all the movements performed according to the objective of the element (Jastrjembskaia, Titov 1999 pg 6). For instance if a gymnast is about to perform jump or leap the main objective is the gymnast's flight. If a gymnast is about to throw an apparatus then the main objective is the apparatus's flight. In finishing phase, a gymnast completes the objective he started in the main phase. The gymnast also changes his direction or speed of motion in this ph ase. For instance, in order to land from a leap, a gymnast in finishing phase stops his momentum and speed that he needed to make the leap. Spondylolisthesis among GymnastsYoung female gymnasts engaged in training and practice all year round place excessive demand on their back all year round. In a study, on one hundred female gymnasts, incidence of pars intercularis defect was four times higher than the incidence of 2.3% reported in general female Caucasian population (Jackson, Wiltse and Cirincione, 1976, pg 68). In another study young female Caucasian volunteers participated that represented their different teams in gymnastic competition from national to international levels (Jackson, Wiltse and Cirincione, 1976, pg 68). In the study, a questionnaire answered by each girl listed her height, weight, hours of practice per week and years in competition. In this study, eleven of one hundred females evaluated had bilateral L5 intercularis defects (Jackson, Wiltse and Cirincione, 1976, pg 68) Six of these had first-degree spondylolisthesis of L5 on S1. Eighty-nine had no pars intercularis defect. Of these eighty-nine girls, nineteen had an episode of back pain signinificant enough to interfere with their training. In the group of girls with spondylolisthesis, six of the eleven had prior back pain (Jackson, Wiltse and Cirincione, 1976, pg 68) . The girls with pars defects described their pain as dull aching and cramping. It was persistent and usually not related to specific injury but was aggravated markedly by activities like hyperextension (Jackson, Wilt

The Organizations Culture at Coca Cola Assignment

The Organizations Culture at Coca Cola - Assignment Example They also keep an eye on their employees via management but offer to help out individuals within the culture. In his interview with Juan Johnson, vice president at Coca Cola, Vasquez (2004) discusses the organizational culture as one of success, and one that focuses on employee happiness. Organizational members of Coca-Cola learn the culture through interaction with other members as well as attending various employee training programs. In his interview with Juan Johnson, vice president at Coca Cola, Vasquez (2004) discusses this concept. The members and Coke are constantly interacting with each other and by doing this, they learn what the organizational culture is all about. The training provided by Coke allows them to gain a very great understanding of what the organization wants in general. Since group work and collaboration is always expected, Coke expects that its workers will learn how to work well together and take lessons from management on how to stay motivated. How management motivates their organization can affect the productivity and thus the profitability of an organization. Coke is very focused on strong motivation within the company. Motivation defined is the individual forces that account for the direction, level, and persistence of a  personal effort expended at work. (Vasquz, 2004) There are different ways to motivate one’s workforce. The culture at Coke is generally positive, although there are conflicts within the organization. All organizational cultures have conflicts within them. Management must find ways to deal with conflicts quickly and fairly. Not all conflicts are negative. Tension between senior managers and line management during a budget formulation is an example of a beneficial conflict. This conflict can add efficiency in the company. It requires the line management to stretch their limitations in order to achieve results. In order for positive results, meetings must be managed well so that managers can be motivated. Negative conflict must be managed as well. If the conflict involves a workflow process a manager can reduce interdependence.

Learning What Was Never Taugh Essay Example for Free

Learning What Was Never Taugh Essay In this short story, author Sabine Reichel tells her tale of growing up in a post-WWII Germany education system. Her main focus is the lack of history being taught at that time. The specific history she is referring to being that of Adolf Hitler, the holocaust, and the Third Reich. She looks at her own experience with her teachers and then talks at length about an interview she conducted later in her life with an older man who was a teacher in post-war Germany. This teacher, Casar Hagener, was a relatively young man at the time of the war and was very much against what was going on. Reichel conducted this interview when Hagener was seventy-six. He speaks of being forced into the Nazi party, being drafted, and his contempt for his contemporaries. The majority of her experience with teachers involves them dancing and side-stepping around the entire block of time that Germany was at war. The piece concludes stating that the German students today know more about Hitler and the Third Reich than any previous generation. Reichel could give more fact than observation if this piece were to truly hit home. She merely gives her own biased observation of what was going on with her teachers rather than any facts or case studies. Her inductive makes the story a bit weak in my opinion. I didn’t really find much to sink my teeth into in this story as Reichel only gives her point of view. There are no facts backing up her claim that German students today know more about Hitler and the Third Reich than any other generation. The language used in the story is quite descriptive. There were a few images that jumped off the page at me. One in particular was, â€Å"The dark clouds were gone, the past had been left behind, and he turned jocular and voluble again. † Another device used in the story is the simile. For instance when Reichel says the German youth must be, â€Å"resilient as leather, fast as a weasel, and hard as Krupp steel. The other example being, â€Å"A house without a fence is disorderly, like a coat with a missing button. † I read this story immediately after writing my response to Hotel Rwanda and it made me think about how much history repeats itself. In thinking about the genocide in Rwanda and the lack of action from the international community I think about the lack of action right now in Darfur. Watching Hotel Rwanda, I could only think that the international community would learn from what happened in Europe during WWII and learn from that.

Find out the difference Essay Example for Free

Find out the difference Essay I am trying to find out the difference in flight time, of a weighted paper helicopter, on comparison to a mass of blue tack with equivalent mass. Variables Things that could be investigated are:   Wing span which would effect the air resistance of the helicopter   Mass attached to helicopter   Wing area   Increase the mass of the helicopter by adding more paper clips which I predict would effect the rate of which the helicopter would fall. Measurement and different interpretation of these variables could be made for example, increasing the amount of mass then compare it with air resistance by timing a piece of blue tact of same mass. Hypothesis What I predict will happen is, as the mass of the blue tact is increased the speed in which it falls will be increased too. Also I predict that as the mass of paperclips are added to the helicopter the faster it will fall. The reason and objects stay at rest is because the two forces on the object are equal. Things that effect the rate of which the paper clip fall are gravity and air resistance: * If an object is released above the ground it falls, because it is attracted towards the earth. This force of attraction is called gravity. As an object falls through air, it usually encounters some degree of air resistance. Air resistance is the result of collisions of the objects leading surface with air molecules. The actual amount of air resistance encountered by the object is dependent upon a variety of factors. To keep the topic simple, it can be said that the two most common factors, which have a direct effect upon the amount of air resistance, are the speed of the object and the cross-sectional area of the object. Increased speeds result in an increased amount of air resistance. Increased cross-sectional areas result in an increased amount of air resistance. I think when theres more paperclips (when the helicopter is heavier) its time of fall would decrease. I think this will happen because the force pulling the helicopter down (weight/gravity pull) is larger when its heavier whereas air resistance is the same. The reason it will fall is due to gravity acting on the mass at nearly 10meters/sec. But the reason why the ball of blue tack and the helicopter will have varying flight times is due to air resistance. A way of increasing an objects rotational momentum is to put most of its mass as far from the centre of rotation as possible as this will maximise its speed and therefore give it more momentum. If a spinning object has more momentum when its mass is far from the centre of rotation, then it must require more energy to make such an object go the same speed as one with its mass in the centre of rotation. In the preliminary tests I decided I would use medium strength sugar paper. The clock is to be started from the top of the ceiling at 2. 5metres and then stopped when the helicopter touches the floor Method. You want to find out the comparison in flight time between the blue tack and the paper helicopter; the helicopter design, which should be used, is attached. Paper helicopter must be kept to the same design each time. First the paper helicopter should be weighed with the specified amount of paper clips on an electronic scale, then the weight should be recreated with a piece of blue tack rolled into a ball. The height of the drop should be stated, then the paper helicopter and blue tack should be dropped at separate times while being timed with a stop watch and recorded. This should be repeated 3 times to make sure no mistakes occur. It is fair test because: 1. Electric scales are used to make sure the measurement are as precise as possible. 2. The test is committed inside thus avoiding wind, which would effect the experiment. 3. It is repeated 3 time in order to make sure no anomalies occur. 4. The same height of which it is dropped will be kept. Some of the variables that can be changed are the weight and design of the helicopter but those will be kept the same by simply making sure accuracy and care is performed. The clock is to be started from the top of the ceiling at 2. 5metres and then stopped when the helicopter touches the floor Risk Assessment. Well the experiment is fundamentally safe with the only danger being that of which you stand on to reach the desired height on to drop the helicopter and the ball. Diagrams Results Analysis The experiment was repeated so that we have 3 separate results for accuracy. What I found out was that although the mass are the same for both object this doesnt mean that they will have the same amount of flight time. This is due to the varying air resistance of the two objects. My results proved my hypothesis to be correct and I also found out was that the higher the mass on the helicopter the faster the helicopter span. As gravity pulls the helicopter down, air pushes up against the blades, bending them up. Because the blades are slanted slightly, some of that push becomes a sideways push. Because you have two blades that are pointed in opposite directions, the two opposing pushes of air cause the helicopter to spin. The rotation speed increases as the weight (paper clips) increases, but a point is reached where additional weight pulls down with such force that the wings move upward and the plane falls like and falling object. Air resistance is proportional to the falling bodys velocity squared. For an object to experience terminal velocity, air resistance must balance weight. An example that shows this phenomenon was the classic illustration of a rock and a feather being dropped simultaneously. In a vacuum with zero air resistance, these two objects will experience same acceleration. But this does not happen on Earth. Air resistance will equal weight more quickly for the feather than it would for the rock. The reason why the helicopter with most paper clips fell faster was due to Terminal Velocity. So a helicopter with more paperclips will experience a Terminal Velocity greater that a helicopter with less paperclips. Trends that happened in the experiment include that as the mass increased on the helicopter the time to fall was shortened and with continued tests would equal out to the same flight time of the ball of blue tack, reducing the effect of air resistance drastically. The paper helicopter initially accelerates due to the force of gravity, because the downward force due to his weight is the only force acting on him. Then it starts to experience frictional force of air resistance in the opposite direction. As the helicopter increases in speed eventually the force due to air resistance is equal to the force due to his weight. This means that the air resistant force is equal to the force due to the weight. This means that the resultant force acting on him is now zero and it continues to fall a constant speed called the terminal velocity. Conclusion What I found out was that as the mass increased on the helicopter the effect of resistance on the helicopter dropped on comparison to the blue tack ball. I found out that although two objects may be the same mass it depends on the other forces effecting it, and in this case it was air resistance acting upon it. The helicopter was better shaped to stay in the air longer, but as the mass increased the wings were unable to open. Evaluation The results did fit into a clear pattern and are as expected, as the mass was increased the rate in wish it fell was faster and as you can see by the comparison of the blue tack it was getting close to the rate of the blue tack. For one example of a slight anomaly is in experiment 1 at the weight at 2. 2g It seems out of place. The results seem reliable and follow a trend with minimal anomalies. Preliminary tests were completed and no alterations were made, as the tests were a success. In the preliminary tests I decided I would use medium strength sugar paper. Some of the reasons that could have caused the anomalies are:   The accuracy of taking the timing could have been at fault   The releasing of the helicopter Things that made the test unfair are:   Every time you put a paper clip, centre of gravity / centre of mass is different. What would have been better to get a precise reading to the falling would have been to use a laser trigger to set the stop clock off because for people to be split second accurate it would be extremely difficult if not in possible. To extend my experiment I would like to drop the helicopters with greater masses on but be able to record the timing of them accurately. References 1. The essentials of AQA science: Double Award Coordinated Physics 2. Key science by Jim Breithaupt Chris Sommers Page 1 10/05/2007.

Child Labor in the 19th Century

Child Labor in the 19th Century The Industrial Revolution, one of the mainly crucial periods of change in Great Britain, occurred because of the stable political, social, and economic, stance of the country, as well as brought lasting effects in Britain in each of these areas. With its rapid growing monopoly on ocean trade, its renewed interest in scientific invention, and its system of national banks holding tight to its financial security, Britain was, at the time of the Industrial Revolution, ready for change. It was the great historical era we call the Industrial Revolution which would forever revolutionize city life, social class structure, the power of the British nation amongst others of the world, the fabrication of machinery, and the power of the economy of Britain. Because of the Industrial Revolution, never again would the British have to suffer the results of no changes concerning the inequalities of the working world, nor doubt the power of their country, yet come to view the word technology in a compl etely new way. Throughout the early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution extend hugely all over Britain. The use of new Technology such as steam-powered machines, led to an massive raise in the number of factories particularly in textile factories or what is called mills. Samuel Greg who owned the large Quarry Bank Mill was one of the first factory owner to use the new technology . With the increase of those factories, families began to move from the countryside into towns searching for better life and better paid work. The incomes that a farm worker was getting ,were very low, were not enough to feed his family and there were less jobs working on farms because of the of new machines such as threshers and other inventions. Also thousands of new workers were needed to work machines in mills and the factory owners built houses for them. Cities packed to overflowing and Manchester was mainly bad. To conquer this labour shortage factory owners had to find other ways of obtaining workers. One key to the problem was to get children from orphanages and workhouses. These children became known as pauper apprentices. This involved them signing contracts that nearly made them the property of the factory owner. even Many families were unwilling to let their children to work in these new textile factories. Children of poor and working-class families had worked for centuries before industrialization assisting around the house or helping in the familys enterprise when they were capable. The practice of placing children to work was first documented in the Medieval period when fathers had their children roll thread for them to weave on the loom. Children did a range of tasks that were auxiliary to their parents but critical to the family economy. The familys household needs determined the familys supply of labor and the interdependence of work and residence, of subsidence requirements, family relationships constituted the family economy', and household labor needs. Body: Britain became the first country to industrialize. And for that reason, it was also the first country where childrens nature in work changed so radically at a point child labor was seen as a leading political issue and a social problem. One of those first factory owners that used the system (pauper apprentices) was Samuel Greg who had the huge Quarry Bank Mill . Greg had complexity finding sufficient people to work for him. Manchester was a bit far, by eleven miles away and local villages were extremely small. The workers that have been imported needed cottages, and these cost about  £100 each. By 1810 Greg became certain that the best solution to the labour problem was to build an Apprentice House near the Quarry Bank mill and to obtain children from workhouses. The building for the apprentices cost  £200 and provided living accommodation for over 90 children. The first children to be brought to the Apprentice house came from local parishes like Macclesfield and Wilmslow, however, later he went as far as London and Liverpool to look for these young workers. To give confidence to the factory owners to take workhouse children, people like Greg were rewarded between  £2 and  £4 for each child they employed. Greg also demanded that the children were sent to him with two shifts, two pairs of stockings and two aprons. The 90 children (30 boys and 60 girls) made up 50% of the total labor force. The children received their lodging and board, and two pence every week. The younger children worked as scavengers and piecers, but after a two years, they were permitted to become involved in spinning and carding. Some of the more older boys became skilled mechanics. John Kay published The Moral and Physical Conditions of the working Classes in 1832, Engels wrote his well-known The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 based on the plight of the Manchester underclass, and in 1842 Edwin Chadwick published his Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population. Official paupership figures for the Township of Manchester were the highest in Britain higher even than in Londons east end. Children faced a huge change as they observed working in textile mill was completely different from working at home. In the textile mill, Children worked from Monday to Saturday, beginning work from six in the morning and finishing at seven in the evening, with only one hour break for lunch between twelve and one. If children were late because of the work they were fined. If children fell asleep or made just a mistake on the job they were beaten. Childrens income were very low, sometimes just a few pence for working sixty hours in a week, there were rules and regulations. Children workers must arrive at the mill by certain time. Lateness was punishable with a fine. Everybody worked a number of hours and no-one was allowed to leave before a certain time. All this was a new experience for children, even where they lived. The circumstances they used to live in were awful, the apprentice House jerry built, without control or regulation of any kindthere was even less water and services, and no effort to give privacy of any kind. Children worked in shifts and shared beds. Nine or ten children were sharing one bedroom, and al thosel ninety children shared the three toilets. It was moist there were no double brick walls, and no damp-proof courses. Rain leeched between the walls, and even in summers, damp rose up the walls. The only break from damp was the building of cellars to contain it. However, these cellars unavoidably became dwellings for subtenants. Even the conditions at the Mill working environment were horrible; it was built on a massive open plan scale so that the foremen could see every single child worker. If they thought that workers werent working hard enough or absent they were punished. The rules for working in the mill were posted on walls but that was not enough as most of the children workers were not educated and could not read them. Child workers had no rights and sometimes missed their dinner breaks because the foreman ordered them to keep on working. Children who worked long hours became very exhausted and found it hard to maintain the rapidity required by the superiors. Children were usually beat with a strap to make them work quicker. Some were dipped head first into the water reservoir if they became sleepy. Children were also punished for arriving late for work and for chatting to the other children. Parish apprentices who ran away from the factory were in danger of being sent to jail. Children who were cons idered potential runaways were located in irons. One of the main complaints made by factory reformers concerned the state of the building that they children were forced to work in. A statement published in July 1833 confirmed that Quarry Bank Mill was ill-drained, no conveniences, low-roofed, dirty;; ill-ventilated;; for dressing or washing; no contrivance for carrying off dust and additional effluvia. Robert Southey (1774-1843), the poet and historian, arrived in Manchester in 1808, pretending to be a Spanish traveller. He was given a guided tour at Quarry Bank mill and saw sights which makes me thank God I am not an Englishman. While his guide was praising the principles of child labour, Southey was looking at the unnatural dexterity with which the fingers of these little creatures were playing in the machinery, and when his guide told him that the mill worked twenty four hours a day, Southey concluded that if Dante had inhabited one of his hells with children, here was a scene worthy to have supplied him with new images of torment. Until the Factory Act of 1833, the factories were free to decide on the working hours. The laborers usually worked for more than twelve hours without breaks. Consequently, child laborers suffered lack of sleep and were more vulnerable to mistakes and injuries. Matthew Crabtree was one of the forty-eight people whom the Sadler Committee interviewed in the year of 1832. According to the Sadler Report that catalyzed the Factory Act of 1833, Crabtree had worked in a factory from the age of eight. He had worked sixteen hours a day, from five a.m. to nine p.m. He usually went to sleep immediately after supper, and was woken up by his parents every morning. According to Crabtree, he was very severely and most commonly beaten whenever he was late to work. The fear of being beaten, said Crabtree, was sufficient impulse to keep up with his work despite his drowsiness. a few child laborers were from deprived working families who could not afford to feed themselves without the children contributing financially. Even with the childrens income, the majority of families were hardly capable to sustain themselves. in addition, the child laborers regularly complained about the quality of food given in the place of work. Some testified before the Parliament that they could not eat the meager meal they were given because of exhaustion and pollution. The photographs of childhood workers testify malnutrition and abuse. Child laborers have smaller build than their wealthier peers, yet the wrinkled faces covered with soot block the viewer from accurately concluding the childrens age. The child workers were under the supervision of strangers factory managers who were employed by the factory owners. Also, the work did not require much finesse, and there were many unemployed children willing to substitute the workers place. Consequently, the factory managers did not carry the responsibility of the welfare of the workers; they were simply paid to ensure that the factory is operated smoothly. As we can convey from the above text the treatment of children in the factories was often cruel and extreme. The childrens safety was generally neglected and it did prove fatal on numerous occasions. The youngest children, around the age of eight, were not old enough to activate the machines and were commonly sent to be assistants to adult main workers. The people in charge of the factorys whereabouts would beat and verbally abuse the children, and take little consideration for the workers safety. Girls could not be the exception to beatings and other harsh forms of pain infliction; children were dipped head first into the water cistern if they became drowsy. The girls were also vulnerable to sexual harassment. Trivial mistakes due to lack of sleep resulted in serious injuries or mutilation. The Sadler Report commissioned by the House of Commons in 1832 said that: there are factories, no means few in number, nor confined to the smaller mills, in which serious accidents are continually occurring, and in which, notwithstanding, dangerous parts of the machinery are allowed to remain unfenced. The workers were in most cases abandoned from the moment of the accident with no wages, no medical attendance, and no monetary compensation. The regulation was harsh and the punishment inhumane and sporadic. Such punishment for being late or not working up to the work assigned would be to be weighted. An overseer would tie a heavy weight to workers neck, and have him walk up and down the factory aisles so the other children could see him. This punishment could last up to an hour. Weighting led to serious injuries in the back and the neck. In addition to the above the violators sometimes had to pay the consequence monetarily! Elizabeth Bentley, before the Sadler Committee in 1832, mentioned that she was usually quartered; If we were a quarter of an hour too late, they would take off half an hour; we only got a penny an hour, and they would take a halfpenny more. Some witnesses compared themselves as slaves, and the overseer as slave drivers. One could argue that lack of schooling had forced the children to factories, and mandatory schooling was the key to eradicating industrial child labor. It is true that illiteracy blocked the children from elevating the social and economic hierarchy. However, the Education Act of 1870 contained provisions to allow school boards to compel attendance but necessary by-laws were not enforcement to implement these provisions. In short, the mandatory schoolings in Britain were introduced too late to critically contribute to the reform. Also, one could argue that mandatory schooling would only wear off children who are already exhausted from long hours of tiring labor. Schooling did little good to children who were physically deprived. Lack of sleep will most likely risk dangers of lethargy and expose the children to more accidents. Child workers generally labored to assist the task of the adult workers; the two labor populations did not directly compete with each other. Therefore, one could argue that the child workers considerably contributed to the impoverished family income. As the children were regarded source of labor for long, some did not object to sending their children to factories. Even if others did not approve of the treatment in workplaces, they had no valid and legal means to protest. Most statistics that are available could not be completely trusted. One especially was careful not to depend entirely on skewed numbers or individual case studies. Also, throughout history, many scholars and ideologists have distorted the facts to prove their assertions. Until the child labor issue became a state issue, most of the investigators touched only the surface of the problem. The factory overseers could easily usher the investigators away from the truth. Also, the survey has not been conducted systematically as to portray an accurate sketch of the labor picture. On the other hand, some reports have been accused of exaggerating the current situation to bring the child labor issue to a state concern. Major government reports on child labor were uneven in the coverage, focusing predominantly upon children in industrial occupations. In addition, some determined historians have maneuvered the statistics to exaggerate child labor as an example of corruption and depravity when child labor helped improve the familys financial status. Conclusion Industrial child labor has occupied only a small portion of the child labor population. Also, it had lasted for a fleeting moment in British history. However, child workers in industrial workplaces need to be highlighted as history in which children were placed under the custody of a stranger in a confined, unwholesome space; the children were exposed to a higher possibility of abuse and mistreatment. Although child labor in Britain shared similar characteristics with other industrialized countries of a later period of time, the British government relatively peacefully restricted the employment of children. The publicity of the special commission reports and the attention of the public had contributed greatly. Child labor, as much as it is criticized for its faults, should be analyzed, considering every possible factor. It is true that the child laborers have suffered from exploitation and unintended neglect, yet the family wouldve starved if not for the contribution of the children. History should not be hastily judged, but observed objectively for futures sake.

Essay --

The concept of Social Darwinism was initially perceived in European culture in 1877 as a concept used by sociologists with Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theories providing justification for exploitation. Darwin’s theories provided that animals and plants evolved into different species undergoing a process of natural selection, and animals included humans that undergo the same natural selection process as animals. Darwin’s theories were applied to human society in the attempts to answer issues on why there are rich people and poor people, or why there are people who are dark-skinned and others lighter. Social Darwinism became the new tool of the 1800s to give justification for imperial conquest around the world. Christianity was the strong armor used by Europeans to justify their activities of territorial expansion wherein sacred missions such as the Crusades against Islam as well as the efforts to unify Germany, and the colonization of the New World were use d to cover the political and economic motivations of European imperialists. However, in the early part of the 19th century, the sacred mission of religion was no longer accepted as appropriate cover for Imperialism with the increased literacy in Europe through the Enlightenment movement which promoted the widespread use of reason. European imperialism made Great Britain to have control over great world regions dominating over the conquered peoples of their territories. The Europeans believed that the people of its colonies must be controlled over by the more intelligent Europeans and justified their control until Charles Darwin’s work of On the Origin of Species. This published work was highly opposed to by the church and the bible and was further perceived as an urge... ...oor, less successful, or to the disadvantaged minorities in society as such assistance would unnaturally promote the survival of these weaker groups of people and only allow them to reproduce and spread this defective genetics. Justifications for business practices supported by theories of laissez-faire systems were manifested in workers being overworked and underpaid. Practices of social Darwinism created a great gap between wealth and poverty. Social Darwinism as employed by the Europeans negatively affected natural processes of human social structures in social, political, and economic components to justify imperialism, racism, and capitalism. Charles Darwin may not have primarily extended his theories to human society, but European imperialists took advantage of his concept and for generations have unfortunately succeeded in today’s constant racism issues.

The Case Against Science Essay -- Philosophy Religion Papers

The Case Against Science Science has become an unreliable epistemological resource for several reasons. First, the assumptions of science are suspect. Second, the scientific method exhibits narrow limits to the acquisition of universal knowledge. Third, the conclusions of the scientific community at large are questionable and inadequate. Fourth, the practice of science has developed a particular perspective about its place in the world of knowing that diminishes all other avenues of knowledge, to its detriment. Finally, the practice of science involves a philosophical approach which makes scientism and "pure science" hard to differentiate. Thus, science itself, as an epistemological discipline, has been discovered to be unworthy of the extreme admiration granted it by the present technology-loving world. 1. The assumptions of science are suspect. Historically and philosophically, empiricism has been shown to have clear limitations, since many persons recognize that reality consists of things which can be known through the human senses as well as things which are not known by them. In fact, the very foundational assumptions of science are suspect. Markos indicates that "many of the givens we take for granted (most notably, that the foundation of all true knowledge is material, empirical, and quantifiable) are as recent as they are unproven" [1]. There also appear statements that seem to indicate that scientific assumptions should not be challenged. "No one would today think to ask why the interior angles of a Euclidian triangle sum to precisely 180 degrees. The question is closed because the answer is necessary "[2]. The answer may be necessary but perhaps is not true; perhaps it is only a convention for the use of th... ...rk: New American Library and University of Chicago Press, 1986. Lewis. C.S. Miracles. New York: Macmillan, 1978. Markos, Louis A. "Myth Matters," Christianity Today. Christianity.com, 16 April 2002. Otto, Rudolf. The Idea of the Holy: An Inquiry into the Non- Rational Factor in the Idea of the Divine and Its Relation to the Rational. London: Oxford University Press, 1970. Park, Robert. Voodoo Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Schleiermacher, Friedrich. On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers. New York: Harper and Bros, Publ., 1958. Singh, Jagjit. Great Ideas of Modern Mathematics. New York: Dover Publ., Inc., 1959. Trefil, James and Robert M. Hazen. The Sciences: An Integrated Approach. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2000. Trueblood, D. Elton. Philosophy of Religion. New York: Harper and Bros. Publ., 1957.

Thoreau’s Belief in Government

Thoreau's â€Å"Resistance to Civil Government is the conformation of his desire for a free thinking nation that knows right from wrong and is willing to fight for what they believe in. But while these ideals are true and good in moderation, they can be made wrong if followed to the extreme. I believe that while Thoreau was a great writer with great ideas, a lot of what he believed was a little too over the top. Americans, by inalienable right, have the freedom to speak their opinions without fear of persecution. It is this amendment that has led the country through some of its greatest movements and has supported its best causes.Henry Thoreau was very fond of the freedom of speech, and made this quite clear by his many essays regarding the government. However, as he says in â€Å"Resistance†, the power of speech is not enough. One must â€Å"do† something in order to get what they want. In Thoreau's case, this consisted of living alone in the woods, not paying taxes a nd rotting in jail for a night. While it is often said that actions speak louder than words, I believe that a well written speech can do a lot more good than a halfcocked action.For, Thoreau's achievement did not come from spending a night in jail, but from using the experience symbolically in a published work. Had he not written about it, no one would have known, and the statement would not have been made. Thoreau seems to have thought himself above his fellow Americans in intelligence, despite his claims to the contrary. His seclusion from his neighbors so that he could meditate on his own, his constant use of words like â€Å"ignorant† to describe his countrymen, and his refusal to pay his taxes for â€Å"a society that he has not joined† all show of his arrogant nature.Thoreau tried to save face by visiting his neighbors once in a while in order to appear sociable, and he claimed that he was okay with paying taxes for the institutions that he took part in. But if I had been Thoreau's neighbor, I would have been offended by his visits, knowing that he comes only to patronize and bombard me with his superior knowledge. I also feel that such a man of the people, as Thoreau claimed to be, should be more than willing to support a tax for an institution he freely chose not to be a part of if only to support his fellow man who does not feel the same way.Resistance† is full of Thoreau's ideals and beliefs, and while they may seem solid on the surface, they are backed by the arrogant views of a man that believes his opinion is best. Just because Thoreau's ideas work for him, do not mean that they would work for all of America. And even though he spins his words in such a pretty and convincing way, I personally can find better ways to make a difference than sitting, uselessly, behind bars.

Energy Production Opportunities From Community Waste Water Environmental Sciences Essay

In 2002 and 2003, the late Richard Errett Smalley ( 1943-2005 ) , Nobel Laureate in Chemistry ( 1996 ) , devised a list of the 10 most urgent jobs confronting humanity in the following decennaries [ 1 ] . Clean H2O was ranked as the 2nd most of import challenge for world. The standard that Smalley used to rank these jobs was their impact on other facets of human life. Water straight influences critical countries such as wellness and sanitation, resource efficiency and the protection of the environment. Urban H2O ingestion varies mostly from over 1 Ts per capita in developed states ‘ larger metropoliss to simply 3 L in the 3rd universe ‘s urban countries [ 2 ] . In the US, approximately 3 % of the one-year energy ingestion ( 75,000 to 100,000 GWh a twelvemonth ) is used to handle H2O and waste H2O in municipal installations [ 3 ] . In the peculiar instance of efficient waste H2O intervention, it is interesting that the cardinal literally lies in the job itself: waste H2O contains 9 times more energy than is used to handle it [ 4 ] . This means that H2O has a antic renewable potency, fact which is of great relevancy for a proper ecological record and for countries where clean H2O is merely barely available. A twosome of methods for roll uping energy from waste H2O have been tried with assorted grades of success. Biogas production through the agitation of organic affair is the most normally used method and presently has a recovery efficiency of approximately 40 % [ 5 ] , [ 6 ] . Sludge incineration is besides used in order to dispose of solid affair and generate thermic energy for intervention workss [ 6 ] . Rearward osmosis, which has proven its efficiency in handling salt H2O, late entered use for cleaning industrial waste H2O [ 7 ] . Apart from these conventional methods, several new attacks have been studied, taking at a better energetic efficiency. The Microbial Fuel Cells ( MFCs ) are at the head of these fresh promotions [ 8 ] . A MFC typically works this manner: at the anode the organic affair is oxidized by micro-organisms ; the negatrons so travel through an external conductive wire to the cathode, therefore bring forthing electrical energy, while protons are transferred through a proton-exchange membrane. At the cathode, the negatrons combine with the protons and with O from the ambiance and form clean H2O. For the clip being, development is still in an early phase and important work has to be done for obtaining designs that can do MFCs feasible for all-out applications. The simplified theoretical account of a MFC is shown in Figure 1. Another possibility for H2O purification, already in usage as a desalinization engineering, is utilizing solar energy in a solar-still of assorted forms and designs – Figure 2 [ 9 ] .2. Short description of Buzau waste H2O intervention unitI was really excited by the proposed subject and so I decided to see with my ain eyes a waste H2O intervention unit. I chose the Waste Water Treatment Unit from the metropolis of Buzau ( WWTUB ) , as it corresponds to European Council Directive [ 10 ] , and I was given all the necessary information and the chance to take exposures of the chief constituents of the installing. In the Figure 3 the chief constituents of the unit are presented. The station is designed to function an tantamount population of 235,000, handling more than 72,000 m3/day of waste H2O. Under certain conditions conditions, a partial intervention of up to 120,000 m3/day is possible. The station treats waste H2O, pluvial H2O and industrial H2O after partial intervention. At this clip, WWTUB is handling about 22,000 m3/day of waste H2O ensuing in about 200 m3/day of sludge. The electrical energy necessary is 6,628 kW/day for H2O and 212 kW/day for sludge, ensuing in a monthly ingestion of about 212,040 kilowatts. From the biogas that is obtained about 72,540 kilowatts are produced each month, guaranting all thermic energy that is needed for the procedure of sludge treating and for internal usage. From the appraisals of the proficient staff, when the Cogeneration station will be connected to the National Electrical Network, the sum of produced energy will be significantly increased. The chief stairss in the intervention procedure are presented in the Figure 4 and include: – Primary intervention: harsh screen of big objects ; all right screen of big suspensions, littorals, and lubricating oil ; primary deposit. – Secondary intervention: consists of biological intervention through activated sludge and O extract through aeration. After the secondary deposit, 75 % of the sludge is sent back into the circuit, while the remainder of 25 % plus the sludge from the primary deposit is operated on ( through thickener, anaerobiotic digestion and centrifugal desiccation ) ensuing in biogas and solid mass ( fertiliser ) . The biogas is used to obtain electrical and thermic energy through a cogeneration system or a thermic station. – Tertiary intervention: has the intent of extinguishing extra compounds ( N and P ) and to disinfect the H2O. The riddance of N is done biologically by nitrification and subsequent denitrification, which transforms the nitrate into N, which is sent into the ambiance. Phosphorus riddance is performed chemically. The resulting H2O is sent into the Buzau River.3. Practical thoughts for energy efficient community waste H2O interventionFrom the showing of scientific literature, there is clearly an huge energetic potency in waste H2O. Unfortunately, up to this twenty-four hours this potency has been mostly underused, usual waste H2O interventions, although critical, being energy-consuming procedures. As depicted in the simplified diagram of an usual waste H2O intervention works ( Figure 5a ) , there are at least six stairss that require energy, for merely one measure that can bring forth thermic and electrical energy. As mentioned in the debut portion, the two methods that retained my attending were the Microbial Fuel Cell ( MFC ) and Solar Distillation ( SD ) . Even if these methods are in their early phases of development, and may be for the clip being unproductive, they do hold the possible to boom in the hereafter. My thought consists in uniting these methods in what I have named â€Å" A intercrossed MFC-SD waste H2O intervention works † and turn the separate restrictions of both methods into a cumulated advantage. Although such a intercrossed works affecting MFCs and solar stills would still necessitate electrical energy to run ( for all pumping operations ) , we can safely presume that this sort of works will hold a lower ingestion of energy and it could besides bring forth plenty electrical power to prolong itself. As it can be seen by comparing Figures 5a and 5b, the energy consuming/ energy bring forthing stairss ratio is 5/4 ( for the intercrossed works ) , a much better ration t han 6/1 ( for the usual works – Figure 5a ) . There are several advantages of this type of works, schematically represented in Figure 5b, that will be discussed individually for MFCs and solar distillment operations.3.1. Microbial fuel cells and plat-microbial fuel cell operationsSince MFCs and Plant Microbial Fuel Cells ( PMFCs ) [ 11 ] require organic affair to feed the micro-organisms ( chiefly anaerobic bacteriums, such as Shewanella oneidensis and Geobacter sulfurreducens ) , after a first harsh separation of big mechanical drosss, the waste H2O is introduced in the first MFC, where, at the same time with the bacterial debasement of organic affair and subsequent production of electricity, the aqueous slurry is thinning. After the first measure of solar vaporization, the staying slurry has concentrated plenty to be submitted to a 2nd MFC intervention where staying organic affair is farther decomposed by the same bacterium. The staying sludge after a 2nd solar distillment is used as food for the PMFC unit, where farther energ y is produced. The PMFC unit serves besides as a â€Å" baby's room † for bacterial population that is used to sow MFCs 1 and 2, but besides as â€Å" filter † to retain CO2 evolved in the MFCs. Indeed, in order to minimise the cost of the runing units, graphite electrodes can be used, the C easy transforming itself in CO2. Thus, evolved CO2 in MFCs 1 and 2 will function a dual intent: one as portion of the photosynthetic procedure in phytoplankton, algae and aquatic flora in the PMFC, and another one as hydrogen carbonate anion ( HCO3- ) , functioning as a scavenger for heavy metals. However, there are already surveies covering with the decrease of CO2 emanations [ 12 ] . In Figure 6, a PMFC is intuitively represented. The construct of MFCs is comparatively new ( less than a decennary old ) , but at that place already are rivals in the immature market of industrial and semi-industrial microbic cells, such as the Israel-based company, suggestively named Emefcy Co.3.2. Solar distillment operationsThe chief advantage of this operation is obtaining pure H2O at lower costs, a H2O that does n't necessitate a subsequent biological or chemical auxiliary purification measure. A proper design of the solar still could speed up the vaporization and H2O roll uping procedure [ 13 ] . An advantage of solar distillment is that it can besides disinfect the waste H2O, since most micro-organisms are sensitive toward UV radiation [ 14 ] ( that is the ground for which after the SD measure, waste H2O must be re-inseminated with microbic populations from the PMFC ) . However, a certain disadvantage could originate from the location and operating hours of these units. On the other manus, if the location permits it, before its discharge in next watercourses, this H2O could be used to bring forth more electricity in a micro-hydroelectrical works.4. DecisionIn my sentiment, the high energy potency of waste H2O must be regarded in position and with trust in adult male â₠¬Ëœs possible to bring forth efficient solutions. Bearing this in head, we must excite research on utilizing this possible and use the consequences on a graduated table that is going larger and larger. This is the lone manner we will accomplish better practical solutions and lower costs. There have been infinite jobs in world ‘s history that seemed impossible to be solved in an efficient and economical mode. However, we have ever managed, through wonder and doggedness, to happen inexpensive solutions that could be applied at a big graduated table. Take the computing machine, for case. Who would hold thought a twosome of decennaries ago that this machine, that used to make full an full room and was merely accessible to some, would of all time turn out to be literally at manus for about anyone. I am certain that, with the right support, my thought of sublimating H2O utilizing Microbial Fuel Cells and Solar Distillation can go a world excessively!

The Stupidest Angel Chapter 11

Chapter 11 A SLUG TRAIL OF GOOD CHEER He might have been made of polished mahogany except that when he moved, he moved like liquid. The stage lights reflected green and red off his bald head as he swayed on the stool and teased the strings of a blond Stratocaster with the severed neck of a beer bottle. His name was Catfish Jefferson, and he was seventy, or eighty, or one hundred years old, and not unlike Roberto the fruit bat, he wore sunglasses indoors. Catfish was a bluesman, and on the night before the night before Christmas, he was singing up a forlorn twelve-bar blues fog in the Head of the Slug saloon. Caught my baby boning Santa, Underneath the mistletoe (Lawd have mercy). Caught my baby boning Santa, Underneath the mistletoe. Used to be my Christmas angel, Now she just a Christmas ho. â€Å"I hear dat!† shouted Gabe Fenton. â€Å"Sho-nufF, sho-nuff. True dat, my brutha.† Theophilus Crowe looked at his friend, just one in a whole line of awkward, heartbroken men at the bar, rocking almost in rhythm to the beat, and shook his head. â€Å"Could you possibly be any whiter?† Theo asked. â€Å"I gots the blues up in me,† Gabe said. â€Å"She sho-nuff did me wrong.† Gabe had been drinking. Theo, while not quite sober, had not. (He had shared a toothpick-thin spliff of Big Sur polio weed with Catfish Jefferson between sets, the two of them standing in the back parking lot of the Slug, trying to coax fire out of a disposable lighter in a forty-knot wind.) â€Å"Didn't think you muthafuckas had weather here,† Catfish croaked, having sucked the joint so far down that the ember looked like the burning eye of a demon staring out of a cave of dark finger and lip. (The calluses on the tips of his fingers were impervious to the heat.) â€Å"El Ni;o,† Theo said, letting loose a blast of smoke. â€Å"Say what?† â€Å"It's a warm ocean current in the Pacific. Comes up the coast every ten years or so. Screws up the fishing, brings torrential rains, storms. They think we might be having an El Nià ±o this year.† â€Å"When will they know?† The bluesman had put on his leather fedora and was holding it fast against the wind. â€Å"Usually after everything floods, the wine crop is ruined, and a lot of cliffside houses slide into the ocean.† â€Å"And dat because the water too warm?† â€Å"Right.† â€Å"No wonder the whole country hate your ass,† said Catfish. â€Å"Let's go inside fo' my narrow ass gets blowed back to Clarksville.† â€Å"It's not that bad,† said Theo. â€Å"I think it'll blow over.† Winter denial – Theo did it, most Californians did it – they assumed that because the weather was nice most of the time, it would be nice all of the time, and so, in the midst of a rainstorm, you'd find people outdoors without an umbrella, or when nights dipped into the thirties, you'd still see someone dip-pumping his gas in surfer shorts and a tank top. So even as the National Weather Service was telling the Central Coast to batten down the hatches, as they were about to get the storm of the decade, and even though winds were gusting to fifty knots a full day before the storm made landfall, the people of Pine Cove carried on with their holiday routine like nothing out of the ordinary could happen to them. Winter denial: therein lay the key to California Schadenfreude – the secret joy that the rest of the country feels at the misfortune of California. The country said: â€Å"Look at them, with their fitness and their tans, their beaches and their movie stars, their Silicon Valley and silicone breasts, their orange bridge and their palm trees. God, I hate those smug, sunshiny bastards!† Because if you're up to your navel in a snowdrift in Ohio, nothing warms your heart like the sight of California on fire. If you're shoveling silt out of your basement in the Fargo flood zone, nothing brightens your day like watching a Malibu mansion tumbling down a cliff into the sea. And if a tornado just peppered the land around your Oklahoma town with random trailer trash and redneck nuggets, then you can find a quantum of solace in the fact that the earth actually opened up in the San Fernando Valley and swallowed a whole caravan of commuting SUVs. Mavis Sand even indulged in a little California Schadenfreude, and she was a Californian born and raised. Secretly, she wished for and enjoyed the forest fires every year. Not so much because she liked watching the state burn down, but because for Mavis's money, there was nothing better than watching a burly man in rubber handling a hefty hose, and during the fires, there were plenty of those on the news. â€Å"Fruitcake?† Mavis said, offering a suspicious slice on a dessert plate to Gabe Fenton, who was drunkenly trying to convince Theo Crowe that he had a genetic predisposition toward the blues, using some impressively large words that no one but he understood, and periodically asking if he could get an ;amen; and â€Å"five up high,† which, as it turned out, he could not. What he could get was fruitcake. â€Å"Mercy, mercy, my momma done made a fruitcake look just like that,† Gabe howled. â€Å"Lawd rest her soul.† Gabe reached for the plate, but Theo intercepted it and held it out of the biologist's reach. â€Å"First,† Theo said, â€Å"your mother was an anthro professor and never baked a thing in her life, and second, she is not dead, and third, you are an atheist.† â€Å"Can I get an amen?!† Gabe countered. Theo raised an eyebrow of accusation toward Mavis. â€Å"I thought we talked about no fruitcake this year.† The prior Christmas, Mavis's fruitcake had put two people into detox. She'd sworn that it would be the last year. Mavis shrugged. â€Å"This cake's nearly a virgin. There's only a quart of rum and barely a handful of Vicodin.† â€Å"Let's not,† Theo said, handing the plate back. â€Å"Fine,† Mavis said. â€Å"But get your buddy off his blues jag. He's embarrassing me. And I once blew a burro in a nightclub and wasn't embarrassed, so that's saying something.† â€Å"Jeez, Mavis,† Theo said, trying to shake the picture from his mind. â€Å"What? I didn't have my glasses on. I thought he was a hirsute insurance salesman with talent.† â€Å"I'd better get him home,† Theo said, nudging Gabe, who had turned his attention to a young woman on his right who was wearing a low-cut red sweater and had been moving from stool to stool all night long, waiting for someone to talk to her. â€Å"Hi,† Gabe said to the woman's cleavage. â€Å"I'm not involved in the human experience and I have no redeeming qualities as a man.† â€Å"Me either,† said Tucker Case, from the stool on the other side of the red-sweater woman. â€Å"Do people keep telling you that you're a psychopath, too? I hate that.† Tucker Case, under several layers of glibness and guile, was actually quite broken up over his breakup with Lena Marquez. It wasn't so much that she had become a part of his life in the two days he had known her, but that she had begun to represent hope. And as the Buddha said: â€Å"Hope is merely another face of desire. And desire is a motherfucker.† He'd gone out seeking human company to help dilute the disappointment. In another time, he'd have picked up the first woman he encountered, but his man-slut days had left him lonelier than ever, and he would not tread that lubricious path again. â€Å"So,† Tuck said to Gabe, â€Å"did you just get dumped?† â€Å"She led me on,† Gabe said. â€Å"She tore my guts out. Evil, thy name is woman!† â€Å"Don't talk to him,† Theo said, taking Gabe by the shoulder and unsuccessfully trying to pull him off his bar stool. â€Å"This guy's no good.† The young woman sitting between Tuck and Gabe looked from one to the other, then to Theo, then at her breasts, then at the men, as if to say, Are you guys blind? I've been sitting here all night, with these, and you're going to ignore me. Tucker Case was ignoring her – well, except for inspecting her sweater cakes as he talked to Gabe and Theo. â€Å"Look, Constable, maybe we got off on the wrong foot –  » â€Å"Wrong foot?† Theo's voice almost broke. As upset as he appeared, he appeared to be talking to the woman in the red sweater's breasts, rather than to Tucker Case, who was only a foot beyond them. â€Å"You threatened me.† â€Å"He did?† said Gabe, angling for a better look down the red sweater. â€Å"That's harsh, buddy. Theo just got thrown out of the house.† â€Å"Can you believe guys our age can still fall so hard?† Tuck said to Theo, looking up from the cleavage to convey his sincerity. He felt bad about blackmailing Theo, but, much like helping Lena hide the body, sometimes certain unpleasantries needed to be done, and being a pilot and a man of action, he did them. â€Å"What are you talking about?† Theo asked. â€Å"Well, Lena and I have parted ways, Constable. Shortly after you and I spoke this morning.† â€Å"Really?† Now Theo looked up from the woolly mounds of intrigue. â€Å"Really,† Tuck said. â€Å"And I'm sorry things happened the way they did.† â€Å"That doesn't really change anything, does it?† â€Å"Would it make a difference if I told you that I absolutely did not harm this alleged Dale Pearson, and neither did Lena?† â€Å"I don't think he was alleged,† said Gabe, slurring at the breasts. â€Å"I'm pretty sure he was confirmed Dale Pearson.† â€Å"Whatever,† said Tuck. â€Å"Would that change anything? Would you believe that?† Theo didn't speak right away but appeared to be waiting for an answer from the decolletage oracle. When he looked up at Tuck again he said, â€Å"Yeah, I believe you.† Tuck nearly aspirated the ginger ale he was drinking. When he stopped sputtering he said, â€Å"Wow, you suck as a lawman, Theo. You can't just believe a strange guy who tells you something in a bar.† Tuck wasn't accustomed to being believed by anyone, so to have someone take him at face value†¦ â€Å"Hey, hey, hey,† said Gabe. â€Å"That's uncalled for –  » â€Å"Well, fuck you guys!† said the woman in the red sweater. She jumped up from her stool and snatched her keys off the bar. â€Å"I am a person, too, you know? And these are not speakerphones,† she said, grabbing her breasts underneath and shaking them at the offenders, her keys jingling cheerfully as she did, completely defusing the effect of her anger. â€Å"Oh – my – God,† said Gabe. â€Å"You can't just ignore a person like that! Besides, you're all too old and you're losers and I'd rather be alone on Christmas than spend five minutes with any of you horn dogs!† And with that she threw some cash on the bar, turned, and stormed out of the bar. Because they were men, Theo, Tuck, and Gabe watched her ass as she walked away. â€Å"Too old?† Tuck said. â€Å"She was what, twenty-seven, twenty-eight?† â€Å"Yeah,† Theo said. â€Å"Late twenties, maybe early thirties. I didn't think we were ignoring her.† Mavis Sand took the money off the bar and shook her head. â€Å"You were all paying her proper attention. Woman's got some issues when she's jealous of her own parts.† â€Å"I was thinking about icebergs,† said Gabe. â€Å"About how only ten percent of them show above the surface, yet below lies the really dangerous part. Oh, no, I got the blues on me again.† His head hit the bar and bounced. Tuck looked to Theo. â€Å"You want some help getting him to the car?† â€Å"He's a very smart guy,† said Theo. â€Å"He has a couple of Ph.D.s.† â€Å"Okay. Do you want some help getting the doctor to the car?† Theo was trying to get a shoulder under Gabe's arm, but given that he was nearly a foot taller than his friend, things weren't working very well. â€Å"Theo,† Mavis barked. â€Å"Don't be such a friggin' wanker. Let the man help you.† After three unsuccessful attempts at hefting the bag of sand that was Gabe Fenton, Theo nodded to Tuck. They each took an arm and walked/dragged the biologist toward the back door. â€Å"If he hurls I'm aiming him at you,† Theo said. â€Å"Lena loved these shoes,† said Tuck. â€Å"But you do what you feel like you need to.† â€Å"I have no sex appeal, a rum-pa-pa-pum,† sang Gabe Fenton, in spirit with the season. â€Å"My social skills are nil, a rum-pa-pa-pum.† â€Å"Did that actually rhyme?† asked Tuck. â€Å"He's a bright guy,† said Theo. Mavis creaked ahead of them and held the door. â€Å"So, I'll see you pathetic losers at the Lonesome Christmas party, right?† They stopped, looked at one another, felt camaraderie in their collective loserdom, and reluctantly nodded. â€Å"My lunch is coming up, a rum-pa-pa-pum,† sang Gabe. Meanwhile, the girls were running around the Santa Rosa Chapel, putting up decorations and preparing the table settings for a Lonesome Christmas. Lena Marquez was making her third circumnavigation of the room with a stepladder, some masking tape, and rolls of green and red crepe paper the size of truck tires. (Price Club in San Junipero only sold one size, evidently so you could decorate your entire ocean liner without making two trips.) The act of serial festooning had taken Lena's mind off her troubles, but now the little chapel was starting to resemble nothing more than the nest of a color-blind Ewok. If someone didn't intervene soon the Lonesome Christmas guests would be in danger of being asphyxiated in a festive dungeon of holiday bondage. Fortunately, as Lena was moving the ladder to make her fourth round, Molly Michon snaked a foot inside and pulled the chapel's double doors open; the wind from the growing storm swept in and tore the paper from the walls. â€Å"Well, fuck!† said Lena. The crepe paper swam in a vortex around the middle of the room, then settled into a great wad under one of the buffet tables Molly had set up to one side. â€Å"I told you a staple gun would work better than masking tape,† Molly said. She was holding three stainless-steel pans of lasagna and still managed to get the oak double doors closed against the wind with her feet. She was agile that way. â€Å"This is a historical landmark, Molly. You can't just go shooting staples into the walls.† â€Å"Right, like that matters after Armageddon. Take these downstairs to the fridge,† Molly said, handing the pans to Lena. â€Å"I'll get you the staple gun out of my car.† â€Å"What does that mean?† Lena asked. â€Å"Do you mean our relationships?† But Molly had bounded back out through the double doors into the wind. She'd been making more and more cryptic comments like that lately. Like she was talking to someone in the room besides Lena. It was strange. Lena shrugged and headed back to the little room behind the altar and the steps that led downstairs. Lena didn't like going into the basement of the chapel. It wasn't really a basement; it was more of a cellar: sandstone walls that smelled of damp earth, a concrete floor that had been poured without a vapor barrier fifty years after the cellar had been dug and so seeped moisture and formed a fine slime on top in the winter. Even when the stove was cranked and an electric heater turned on, it was never warm. Besides, the old, empty pews stored down there cast shadows that made her feel as if people were watching her. â€Å"Mmmm, lasagna,† said Marty in the Morning, your drive-time dead guy in the a.m. â€Å"Dudes and dudettes, the little lady has certainly outdone herself this time. Get a whiff of that?† The graveyard was abuzz with moldy anticipation of the Lonesome Christmas party. â€Å"It's highly inappropriate, that's what it is,† said Esther. â€Å"I suppose it's better than that horrible Mavis Sand woman barbecuing again. And how is it that she's still alive, anyway? She's older than I am.† â€Å"Than dirt, you mean?† said Jimmy Antalvo, whose faceprint was still embedded in a telephone pole on the Pacific Coast Highway, where he'd hit it at age nineteen. â€Å"Please, child, if you must be rude, at least be original,† said Malcolm Cowley. â€Å"Don't compound the tedium with cliche.† â€Å"My wife used to put a layer of hot Italian sausage between every layer of cheese and noodles,† said Arthur Tannbeau. â€Å"Now, that was some good eatin'.† â€Å"Sort of explains the heart attack, too, doesn't it?† said Bess Leander. Being poisoned had left a bitter taste in her mouth that seven years of death could not wash away. â€Å"I thought we agreed not to talk about COD guilt,† said Arthur. â€Å"Didn't we agree on that?† COD was shorthand of the dead for Cause of Death. â€Å"We did agree,† said Marty in the Morning. â€Å"I do hope that they sing ‘Good King Wenceslas, † said Esther. â€Å"Shut the fuck up about ‘Good King Wenceslas, would you? No one knows the words to ‘Good King Wenceslas, no one ever has.† â€Å"My, my, the new guy is cranky,† said Warren Talbot, who had once been a painter of landscapes but after liver failure at seventy was fertilizing one. â€Å"Well, it's gonna be a great party to listen to,† said Marty in the Morning. â€Å"Did you hear the constable's wife talking about Armageddon? She's definitely taking a cruise down the Big Nutty.† â€Å"I am not!† shouted Molly, who had come down to the basement to help Lena clear space in the two refrigerators for the salads and desserts that they had yet to unload. â€Å"Who are you talking to?† said Lena, a little frightened at the outburst. â€Å"I think I've made my point,† said Marty in the Morning.

Quality Metal Service Essay

An overview of cost, profit, revenue, and investment centers Cost classification in accounting also involves the allocation of costs, revenues and responsibilities to various centres or departments. These centres include: == Cost centres == Revenue centres == Profit centres == Investment centres Cost Centres A cost centre (CC) is a unit, location or department where cost data is collected. The purpose of the cost centre is to collect, analyze and ascertain costs in its immediate context. Cost centres usually have cost units—units or equipment for which costs are determinable or attributable. Overheads and direct costs constitute the cost structure of a CC. Since many activities in an organisation involve costs, a cost centre is a fundamental aspect, especially as profit and investment centres can be cost centres. According to the ACCA Study Text (Management accounting, c 1999), cost centres can manifest themselves as a project, a machine, department or overhead costs. One should note that a specific cost centre might not necessarily have other functions. CCs are not limited to production and manufacturing, since they can also be attributed to service centres, like commercial bank branches for example. Revenue Centres These centres deal exclusively with revenue. Even though costs may arise from these areas, the revenue centre is not accountable for costs. Its purpose is primarily to maximise sales and revenue. Profit centre The profit centre addresses both costs and revenue. Therefore, the manager responsible for a profit centre is accountable for the purchases and sales for that unit, department or branch. Since both revenue and costs fall under the purview of the profit centre, it is both a cost and revenue centre, although a revenue centre is not a profit centre and a cost centre might not necessarily be a profit centre. Investment centres Investment centres are profit centres that are accountable for cost, revenues and net assets for capital investment. This unit is assessed by return on investment and is a cost centre. Managers in an investment centre are responsible for purchasing capital or non-current assets and making investment decisions with capital. Investment centres Investment centres are profit centres that are accountable for cost, revenues and net assets for capital investment. This unit is assessed by return on investment and is a cost centre. Managers in an investment centre are responsible for purchasing capital or non-current assets and making investment decisions with capital. Responsibility centres are the umbrella term for cost, profit, revenue and investment centres, since their performance is under the direct control of a manager. The cost centre concept is present in profit and investment centres. The profit centre can be stand alone or, with additional responsibilities, an investment centre. Revenue centres operate in a similar manner to cost and profit centres, but their managers are primarily responsible for maximizing revenues and sales. An accountant needs to know the different types of centres to understand the information needs and requirements of the managers of the various units. Responsibility Centres A responsibility centre is an organizational subsystem charged with a well-defined mission and headed by a manager accountable for the performance of the centre. â€Å"Responsibility centres constitute the primary building blocks for management control.† It is also the fundamental unit of analysis of a budget control system. Aresponsibility centre is an organization unit headed by a responsible manager. There are four major types of responsibility centres: cost centres,revenues centres, profit centres and investment centres. Cost Centre A cost centre is a responsibility centre in which manager is held responsible for controlling cost inputs. There are two general types of cost centres: engineered expense centres and discretionary expense centres. Engineered costs are usually expressed as standard costs. A discretionary expense centre is a responsibility centre whose budgetary performance is based on achieving its goals by operating within predetermined expense constraints set through managerial judgement or discretion. Revenue Centre A revenue centre is a responsibility centre whose budgetary performance is measured primarily by its ability to generate a specified level of revenue. Profit Centre In a profit centre, the budget measures the difference between revenues and costs. Investment Centre An investment centre is a responsibility centre whose budgetary performance is based on return on investment. The uses of responsibility centres depend to a great extent on the type of organization structure involved. Engineered cost centres, discretionary expense centre, and revenue centres are more often used with functional organization designs and with the function units in a matrix design. In contrast, with a divisional organization designs, it is possible use profit centres because the large divisions in such a structure usually have control over both the expenses and the revenues associated with profits.