Archeology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Archeology - Essay Example Archaeology's close connection with history proves to be an important one. Historical accounts are often based on unearthed and discovered materials. Archaeological records are significant devices in history and anthropology (Neustupny, 1993). Thus, archaeology is an important tool in the continuous writing and understanding of man's history. As new evidences are uncovered, history as we know it may change and may evolve into a better and more truthful account of the past. However, the case may be the opposite, as what may happen if biased study or poor analysis of the excavated materials is carried out. In the end, the importance of archaeology in the uncovering of the very history of man cannot be undermined. "Archaeology has progressed," and the reason is that we, or most of us, no longer consider the creation theory of thousands of BC years (Johnson, 1999, p. 172). Archaeologists carry out important processes that lead to the significant part of their job. Traditional methods may be as what we see in films, and the modern practices have certainly improved. The systematic study of the past (Gamble, 2004) often starts with surveying areas. If significant conclusions are drawn from the initial process, then the excavation plan will proceed.

Airborne Express case study Essay Example for Free

Airborne Express case study Essay Airborne Express, an air express transportation company has succeeded to compete with a few big competitors such as Federal Express and United Parcel Service (UPS) even it does not have funding as much as its competitors. In 1996, it held third position in the industry with 9 percent of the market. Even Airborne is smaller size company compared to its main competitors, it still can survive with the competitive advantage through its resources and capabilities. With some unique resources and core competences, a company may have competitive advantage over its competitors, and this is the way small capital company able to compete with its competitors. Airborne Express is the first and only air express transportation company that owns an airport. Because of the limited control, Airborne has purchased an airline at Wilmington in 1980. Since then, the airport became the hub of the company, and all the operations of the company were conducted here. It is also the biggest privately owned airport in United States. With the ownership of the airport, Airborne is able to control the operations more easily. Besides that, Airborne does not need to pay for any landing or service fees to the airlines company like its competitors. Comparably, Federal Express and UPS own the planes but still need to lease the airport from other party. It helps Airborne to save a lot of costs. Apart from that, Wilmington airport is one of the strategic airports in United States. It means that the place is having a well weather record. For express air transportation industry, weather is a big factor that can affect the daily business operation. If the weather is bad, the shipments will not be sent to the final destination at the promised time. Time is the promise to the customers and it does affect the confidence of a companys customers. Besides airlines, Airborne also has a complete system of ground transportation. With the establishment of trucking hubs in some places, Airborne able to deliver the shipment that near to the hub using the ground transport. Almost 25 percent of the companys domestic volume is dealt with ground transport. However, the cost of service by ground transport is not transparent to the customers who assume that the packages are flown. Thus, the charge is same with the air-transported goods. Compare to air transport, ground transportation costs five times lower. From here, the profit margin  has been increased. In the other way, the company also can offer lower price for ground transportation packages. Instead of making more profit, the company can utilize the low cost benefit to compete with its competitors. In 1996, Airborne Express owned a fleet of 105 aircraft. To keep the capital expenditure down, Airborne has purchased only used planes. The planes will be modified to suit its specification for air express transportation. The cost of purchase and modification is $30million lower than purchasing a new plane. Compare to other companies, a big amount of money is being saved by Airborne. Further more, Airbornes DC-9 and YS-11 aircraft require only two person cockpit crew compared to normal three person crews required in Federal Express and UPS. Labour cost has been saved again. Airborne also have its own maintenance facility in Wilmington. It is the only all-cargo carrier to do so. It can handle most if the maintenance works except major engine repairs. It was estimate that the labour costs of $16 per hour is $49 lesser than the subcontracted labour cost. It was a major source of annual cost savings. Instead of serving all kinds of customers, Airborne decided to focus on serving the needs of high volume corporate accounts. It is because the severe competition and the cost of serving small customers. The company is able to establish scheduled pickup routes and use it as ground capacity more efficiently. Due to this factor, the unit cost structure has been reduced. According to the Airborne executives, their unit cost is $3 lower than its main competitor, Federal Express. Besides that, because of the different consumer behaviors between different groups, the focusing of the service is one of the ways to win a part of market in severe competition. By matching the needs of the groups, the company will have a better chance to win the customers than its competitors. Another aspects that Airborne get competitive advantage is the creation of the only privately certified Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) in United States at its Wilmington hub. In a FTZ, merchandise is tax-free and no customs duty is paid until it leaves. It is a big attraction to the foreign companies. The companies can keep their inventories in Wilmington hub, and the inventories  will be delivered to the destination by Airborne when needed. The local companies that implement Just-In-Time policy will prefer the service very much. It is because the inventories cost will bear by the suppliers that keep inventories in Airborne hub. For foreign companies, not only can satisfy the needs of local customers, but also can save the cost of tax and duty paid. The FTZ is a good factor that will help Airborne to set foot into the international market. However, because of the capital constraint, Airborne still unable to compete with Federal Express and UPS in the international market. Normally, large sizes A-containers are used in the air cargo business. Around $1million per plane is required to install cargo doors to take A-containers. To solve the problem, Airborne has developed C-containers that are six times smaller, and can fit through the passenger doors of the aircraft. The equipment to load the C-containers also about 80 percent less expensive than the equipment needed for A-containers. The shape of C-containers also designed to allow maximum utilisation of the plane space. To prevent other competitors copy the design, Airborne has taken out the patent on the C-containers. Therefore, C-containers seem to be the speciality of Airborne Express. It helps the company to save a lot of costs. It is a long term cost savings because it involves in daily operation. Therefore, it also a long term competitive advantage over the other competitors. Apart from that, through its subsidiary company, Advanced Logistics Services Corp., Airborne is promoting a range of third-party logistics service. It provides customers with the ability to maintain inventories in a 1 million square foot stock exchange facility located in Wilmington hub. The customers can choose to manage the inventories themselves or subcontract to Airborne. In stock exchange service, third party will involve in the instruction for movement of the inventories. It easier the process of the movement of inventories, and also help the customers to minimise inventory holding costs. Airborne is the first and only air express transportation company that provide this unique service. It actually involves a complex system. Therefore, knowledge or human resource is very important in order to develop the system. Since it is the only company, customers who interested  with the stock exchange service will come to Airborne. The unique competence gives Airborne a competitive advantage. Science and technology is developing rapidly in the world. Information system becomes more and more important in the business world. The more developed system a company has, the more competitive advantage it gets. Airborne uses three information systems to help in its daily operation. LIBRA II system is a metering device and computer software that easier the transaction between Airborne and customers. It also lowers Airbornes operating costs. FOCUS is the main system provided by Airborne and it benefits customers the most. It is a worldwide tracking system that help the customers to track the location their package through Internet link. It increases the companys reliability and service quality. With the trust on the company, customers will be more confident to give the job. The third system is the Customer Linkage electronic data interchange program. It eliminates repetitive data entry and paperwork by the customers. It also a system that created purposely to benefit its customers. The company also benefits from lowering the costs by eliminating manual data entry. From all the resources and capabilities mentioned above, we could realise that most of the competitive advantages Airborne has over its competitors is through costs reduction. According to Porters Generic Strategies Model, Airborne is actually implemented a cost-focus strategy to get the competitive advantage. Because of the lesser capital, Airborne is unable to compete with the giant of the industry, such as Federal Express and UPS. If Airborne can be the cost leader in the industry, it can give a severe competition to the competitors. Besides that, the unique resources such as C-containers and Foreign Trade Zone are also giving core competences to the company. In conclusion, facing the competition from competitors that have powerful funding, Airborne not only can survive, but also get a strong position in the air express transportation industry. A correct and suitable strategy adopted by a company can change the company position. A company, which can fully and smartly utilise its resources and capabilities, it can have  competitive advantage over the other competitors and it really benefits the company a lot.

Nitrification Process in Landfill Leachate Treatment

Nitrification Process in Landfill Leachate Treatment CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Overview Landfilling is one of the oldest and common methods used for waste disposal. It is perceived as the most economical and environmentally acceptable technique. It is a complex system with physical, chemical, and biological processes. While undergoing the process of wastes degradation, there is the production of highly contaminating liquid, leachate, and polluting gases. If discharged in an uncontrolled and non-engineered manner, leachate will contaminate groundwater bodies and subsequently jeopardizing the ecosystem. There is a network for the collection the contaminants. The gases such as methane and carbon dioxide are flared before they can affect the atmosphere. The leachate generated, requires treatment before discharge and it is the main problem. In Mauritius, there has been an upsurge in the amount of wastes generated due to rapid industrialization. A structure for solid waste management was necessitated which resulted in the construction of Mare Chicose Sanitary Landfill Site. Over the years, there has been an increase the volume of wastes being disposed and consequently, a rise in the amount of leachate generated. As previously mentioned, the polluting liquid requires treatment prior to disposal. Nowadays, we do have laws that are regulated by the Wastewater Management Authority Act and the organization operates under the aegis of the Ministry of Public Utilities. After treatment leachate shall comply with the standard limits for effluent discharge as shown in Appendix C. Many studies have been carried out for the treatment of leachate and various methods are available. There are several parameters that define the treatment method. The treating technique shall be efficient, cost-effective with minimum input, flexible and if possible usage of the effluent. Aim and Objectives The aim of the project is the study of the nitrification process in the treatment of landfill leachate. The project had the following objectives set: To determine the suitability and efficiency of a SBR and co treatment method for the treatment of landfill leachate. To find the concentration at which ammonia nitrogen is toxic to microorganisms. To design a suitable tank for the method being adopted. To assess the cost-effectiveness of the treating system Structure of Thesis The remainder of this thesis is organized as follows: Chapter 2: gives a brief overview of landfilling process, describing the various components of a landfill. There is a description of the Mare Chicose Sanitary Landfill Site and a summary of typical leachate effluent. Chapter 3: deals with the treating options available for wastewater treatment particularly leachate. The efficiency for ammonia nitrogen removal is outlined and a reviewing some case studies on biological treatment of landfill leachate. Chapter 4: describes the methodology adopted for leachate treatment. Chapter 5: gives a detailed analysis of the results obtained and assessment of various parameters. Chapter 6: consists of the design a treating system for leachate. Chapter 7: describes the cost effectiveness of the treatment methods and some recommendations for improvement of the designs. CHAPTER 2 REVIEW of LITERATURE 2.1. Landfill A landfill may be defined as a physical facility used for the disposal of residual solid wastes in the surface soils of the earth (Tchobanoglous et al.). Nowadays, the term sanitary landfill is more usually utilized to describe an engineered facility, designed, operated and monitored with the foremost objective of reducing environmental and health hazards. According to Tchobanoglous, a landfill may be categorized with respect to the incoming waste materials. There are various criteria that are considered before the design and construction phases. The site cannot be close to water bodies, highways, any residential areas or even airports. The main reason is the pollution accompanied by the operation of such a site which will eventually disturb its surrounding environment. Another factor is the hydrogeology of the site, groundwater maps are prepared by studying the different soil stratum. This helps in determining the permeability of the soil, the depth to groundwater, the direction of groundwater flow and hydraulic gradients. If clay is to be used as a liner, then borrow sources are found. Landfill Components Liner: It is a barrier that will prevent the leachate and other liquids from penetrating the soil. It can be made of clay, synthetic materials or both which is known as composite liner. This barrier also restricts the underground migration of landfill gases. Cap system: Usually a soil cover placed over the landfill at completion of filling, also known as final cover, with vegetation grown over it. The cover may consist of geosynthetic materials also, thus hindering the escape of landfill gases to the air and restricting the infiltration of rain into the landfill (Bagchi, 1994). Gas management system: As shown in the diagram above, these are a series of gas wells that removes methane and other decomposition gases from the landfill for flaring and reuse. The methane gas may be used in the electricity production. Leachate management system: A number of horizontal and vertical pipes placed just above the liner that drains and collects leachate. Afterwards the polluting liquid may be brought to a retention pond. Mare Chicose Sanitary Landfill Site Over the last few years, a rapid development at socio-economic levels has brought an upsurge in the amount of wastes generated in Mauritius. There was a need for an integrated solid waste management programme. The Mare Chicose Sanitary Landfill is the only waste disposal site for Mauritius till date. The site is located in the southern part of the island near a small village called Cluny. It receives mostly municipal solid wastes and therefore categorized as a Class à Ã‚ ¨ type. The site was previously operated by STAM Ltà ©e, from 1997 to 2006, and presently by Sotravic Limità ©e/ Bilfinger-Berger consortium. The amount of wastes disposed at the landfill has nearly tripled over the years, reaching to a daily value of about 1,200 tonnes. The percentage of incoming wastes is summarized below: The field capacity of the landfill was already attained and currently there is an extension of works on existing cells. The site is comprised of six cells and actually the fifth one is in use. Prior to disposal at the landfill, the wastes are compacted at transfer stations. The wastes are dumped from a tipping point and soon, they are spread over existing wastes by means of specialized vehicles. At the end of the day, a cover is placed to reduce the amount of windblown debris. Both clayey and geosynthetic liners were used on the site. The amount of leachate being carted away for the period of January 2007 December 2007 is 110 858 m3. Actually, no leachate treatment is being carried out. Among the landfill gases produced methane is the most dangerous and it is dealt with in a controlled environment. The gas is being collected by means of pipelines and subsequently flared. Leachate The definition according to EPA is as follows; â€Å"Water that collects contaminants as it trickles through wastes, pesticides or fertilizers. Leaching may occur in farming areas, feedlots, and landfills, and may result in hazardous substances entering surface water, ground water, or soil.† Leachate can be described as a highly contaminated liquid, containing a considerable amount of dissolved and suspended solids that has percolated down through wastes. The leachate quality varies throughout the operational life of a landfill and long after its closure. There are three broad and overlapping phases of waste decomposition, in which chemical and biological processes give rise to both landfill gas and leachate during and beyond the active life of the site (Carville et al.). Phase 1: Oxygen present in the wastes is rapidly consumed by aerobic decomposition. This phase has duration of less than one month and is normally relatively unimportant in terms of leachate quality. This phase is exothermic and high temperatures may be produced. If some of this heat is retained, then as a result of that the rate of the upcoming phases is increased. Phase 2: Anaerobic digestion is comprised of the following four phases; Hydrolysis: A chemical reaction where large polymers are converted to simple monomers. Acidogenesis: A biological reaction where the monomers are converted to volatile fatty acids. Acetogenesis: A biological reaction where the fatty acids are converted into hydrogen, carbon dioxide and acetic acid. Methanogenesis: The acetic acid is converted into acetates. Hydrogen is used up to convert the acetates into methane and carbon dioxide. Anaerobic and facultative microorganisms hydrolyze cellulose and other putrescible materials such as complex carbohydrates, fats and proteins to soluble organic compounds. These hydrolysis products are then fermented during acidogenesis to various intermediates such as volatile fatty acids and alcohols. Finally, these intermediates are converted during acetogenesis to acetic acid, carbon dioxide and hydrogen. The high content of putrescible material in the waste may sustain acidogenic conditions for quite some time and provide a rich feed stock for methanogens subsequently. Leachate from this acidic phase typically contains a high concentration of free fatty acids. It therefore has low pH of 5 or 6, and will dissolve other components of the wastes, such as the alkaline earths and heavy metals, which can be mobilized in the leachate, possibly as fatty acid complexes. The leachate also contains high concentrations of ammoniacal nitrogen and has both a high organic carbon concentration and a biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). Phase 3: Conditions become more anaerobic as waste degradation proceeds and methanogenic bacteria gradually become established. These start to consume the simple organic compounds, producing a mixture of carbon dioxide and methane that is released as landfill gas. The carbon dioxide tends to dissolve producing the very high bicarbonate concentrations typical of Phase 3 leachates. The rate at which this phase becomes established is controlled by a number of factors, including the content of readily putrescible waste. Since the majority of the organic compounds are high molecular weight humic and fulvic acids, the leachates are characterized by relatively low BOD values. Ammoniacal nitrogen continues to be released by areas of the waste where phase 2 is continuing and generally remains at high concentrations in the leachate. Falling redox potential immobilizes many metals as sulphides in the waste. (Source: www.wikipedia.com/leachate) Typical leachate effluent Leachate is usually termed as a high strength wastewater. The polluting liquid has a high concentration of contaminants and varies throughout the landfill age as shown in the table below. From the above table, it noticed that leachates are normally alkaline having a pH of 6.0-8.4. The average COD value is found to be 5000 mg/l and the ammoniacal nitrogen remains within a similar range 900-3000 mg/L for all most of the sites. As it has been portrayed, the leachate does not meet the requirements for discharge either in sewers or surface water (see Appendix C) and this clearly indicates a need for treatment. CHAPTER 3 Treatment Options Overview Most landfills operate their own onsite leachate pretreatment and treatment facilities. Three types of treatment are possible physical, chemical and biological. Usually they are used in conjunction with one another. The constituents of leachate and availability of resources determine the treatment method to be adopted. Therefore, it should be efficient, flexible and an economical option. The leachate quality is highly dependent on the waste materials being disposed and the stage of their anaerobic decomposition. Hence, there is a variation in the constituents concentration. It has been observed that throughout the life cycle of a landfill, the ammonia nitrogen concentration remains very high. Amongst several usual parameters, ammonia nitrogen is a key one as it influences the selection and the design of the treating system. Physical Treatment Ammonia Stripping Ammonia can be removed by the air stripping technique which consists of blowing air through the wastewater. The method is based on the following equation; The above equation is highly dependent on the pH so that an exchange of ionic forms can take place. The equilibrium constant for this reaction is 10-9.25 at 18 ° C (Sorensen, 1993). pH = 9.25 + log [NH3] / [NH4+] From the above equation a pH greater than 10 is needed for releasing the ammonia gas. At normal temperature only 2% of the gas is liberated and therefore the wastewater should be heated to increase the efficiency of the treatment process. In achieving relatively low effluent values of ammoniacal-N (e.g. Reverse Osmosis The process consists of applying a pressure to the wastewater, i.e. the leachate, which passes through a semi permeable membrane. The water molecules present in the wastewater will pass the membrane forming the permeate and the contaminants remaining are the concentrate. The main advantage of using such a system is the removal of non-biodegradable compounds such as residual COD, heavy metals and chloride ions together with other large molecules present in leachate. The concentrate produced is a major issue as it is highly toxic to the environment. It is usually recirculated in the landfill or disposed off-site for storage. The removal rate of the contaminants is usually greater than 99.6 %. The plant is usually operated in more than one stage and occupies less space when compared to other treating systems. The process is currently in use in several countries such as France, Germany and Holland (IPCC, 2007). Activated Carbon Adsorption Activated carbon is used as an adsorbent for the removal of organic compounds. It is used in one of the following forms, powdered and granular. Due to the high cost of activated carbon, it is normally utilized for polishing after biological treatment. With an optimum dose and sufficient contact time, a considerable decrease in COD and BOD concentration can be achieved by this method. In the powdered form, the carbon is meant for single use and it loses its adsorption capacity and therefore cannot be reactivated. The mixed liquor must then be treated to remove the PAC, by subsequent processes, such as coagulation, flocculation, or filtration. In the granular form, the carbon can be used again but must be removed which requires specialized equipment (IPCC, 2007). Biological Treatment Processes The treatment process is comprised of growing and reproducing microorganisms in a controlled environment to stabilize organic matter. There are two forms of growth process attached and suspended. In suspended growth treatment systems, microorganisms are maintained in suspension within the wastewater whereas in the attached growth process, the biomass grows and is retained on a medium. Attached Growth Processes Percolating filters Rotating biological Contactors (RBC) Suspended Growth Processes Aerated lagoons Activated Sludge Process (ASP) Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) Combined treatment with domestic wastewater (co treatment) Percolating Filters It is an aerobic biological treatment system. Wastewater flows over a fixed and inert medium to which biofilms are attached and trickles down under gravity. The medium may be made up of different materials such as plastics and gravels and the depth of the filter is normally 2-4 m. The effluent is passed through a clarifier to remove biological solids. The percolating filter has many disadvantages concerning the treatment of landfill leachate. The system is efficient mostly for the treatment of low strength leachate. A recurrent problem is the clogging of the filter media and vulnerability to shock-term load (IPCC, 2007). Rotating Biological Contactors The process consists of large diameter steel or corrugated plastic media centered around a horizontal shaft, usually placed in a concrete tank. The media is slowly rotated (mechanical or air drive). At any given time during the rotation, about 40% of the media surface area is in the wastewater. Organisms in the wastewater are attached and, multiply on the rotating media until they form a thin layer of biomass. RBC is most effective for treating methanogenic than acetogenic leachates and for concentrations of ammoniacal-N below 500mg/l. The rotating biological contactor may have operational problems, since high concentrations of degradable COD can result in excessive sludge growth, and clogging of interstices within rotors (IPCC, 2007). Aerated Lagoons Aerated lagoons are operated by a combination of aerobic and anaerobic processes. The lower part of the lagoon converts the settled solids and sludge into carbon and methane by the action of anaerobic decomposition. The upper part is usually aerated, surface aeration or by algae present, to oxidize compounds from the anaerobic zone. Effluent is withdrawn from the upper zone, generally over an overflow arrangement. For discharge into surface waters, a secondary settlement lagoon or reed bed filtration system is needed for wastewater polishing. The constraints of the system are as such it requires large space and is quite sensitive to temperature changes. There is the possibility of odurs emanating from the lagoon. The main concern is the inability to provide consistent and reliable design in order to meet the discharge limits. Activated Sludge Process It is the most widely used aerobic biological process for treatment of domestic wastewater. It operates on the basis of a continuous inflow of wastewater. The latter is completely mixed and aerated for certain period of time, giving rise to mixed liquor. For nitrification to occur the sludge age must be greater than 8 days, so that the nitrifying bacteria can grow sufficiently large in numbers to exert an oxygen demand. The mixed liquor is allowed to settle in the clarifier and the biomass is returned to the aeration tank. The clarified effluent is decanted for disposal or tertiary treatment. The ASP is a continuous process and leachate cannot be treated directly, it requires dilution due to ammonia toxicity. Sequencing Batch Reactor The reactor is a slight modification of the ASP. It operates on a fill-and-draw basis using the suspended growth process. The SBR utilizes a single tank which accommodates aerobic biological treatment, flow equalization, settlement of solids, effluent clarification and decanting. Thus, it is usually described as operating in time rather than space when compared to conventional ASP. The reactor consists and operates under the following cycles: Fill: During the fill operation, volume and substrate (raw wastewater or primary effluent) are added to the reactor. The fill process typically allows the liquid level in the reactor to rise from 75% of capacity (at the end of idle period) to 100%. During fill, the reactor may be mixed only or mixed and aerated to promote biological reactions with the effluent wastewater. React: During the react period, the biomass consumes the substrate under controlled environmental conditions. Settle: Solids are allowed to separate from the liquid under quiescent conditions, resulting in a clarified supernatant that can be discharged as effluent. Decant: Clarified effluent is removed during the decant period. Many types of decanting mechanisms can be used, with the most popular being floating or adjustable weirs. Idle: An idle period is used in a multitank system to provide time for one reactor to complete its fill phase before switching to another unit. Because idle phase is not a necessary phase, it is sometimes omitted. Advantages of the system It requires small space as a common tank is used for the various unit processes. Flexibility in operating the reactor. The reaction time can be controlled and settling can be achieved under quiescent conditions. There the elimination of the return sludge pumping when compared to the ASP. Disadvantages of the system A higher level of sophistication is required (compared to conventional systems), especially for larger systems, of timing units and controls. Potential of discharging floating or settled sludge during the draw or decant phase with some SBR configurations. Combined Treatment with Domestic Wastewater It is a combined method for treating domestic wastewater and landfill leachate. Both wastewater and leachate can be treated at suitable mixing ratios (Aktas, 2001). Domestic wastewater can provide phosphate while leachate can provide nitrogen based nutrients, thus compensating for nutrients deficiency. Hence, nutrients need not to be supplied. Leachates from older landfills have a lower BOD/COD value and a smaller biodegradable organic fraction. There may not be sufficient COD to support denitrification of nitrate, a supplementary source of organic carbon is required to ensure adequate denitrification. Synthetic chemicals, such as methanol or acetic acid, are effective but quite expensive. It is necessary to find an alternative cost effective source of easily biodegradable carbon (Zhang, 2005). The mixing ratios are determined or else there will be nitrification inhibition by the presence of excess free ammonia. Case studies for biological treatment of landfill leachate The Buckden Landfill Site has been operational since 1994 and has been successful in treating landfill leachate for more than 10 years. The landfill site uses twin sequencing batch reactors, each designed for treating up to 100 m3/day. The effluent is then treated by means of reed bed and an ozonation plant for wastewater polishing and removal of pesticides. The plant has a design loading rate of 0.02 0.040 kg N/kg MLVSS. The plant has been successful in removing ammonia nitrogen from 331 mg/L to 0.27 mg/L. Only the COD value has not met the discharge limits ( The main running costs are due to electricity for aeration and for ozonation. There is also the use of sodium hydroxide for automatic pH control, and of phosphoric acid for provision of phosphorus as a nutrient, which are relatively small costs. Another case is a South-African landfill which receives up to 2000 tonnes of MSW each day. Up to 80 m3/day of leachate are generated, which have to be treated to very high standards. The treatment system is made up of a SBR with final polishing through a reed bed planted with Phragmites. The SBR is highly efficient for ammoniacal nitrogen removal from over 1200 mg/l to less than 1.0 mg/l. COD values are reduced by 60% from raw leachate values of over 2000 mg/l (Robinson et al., 2005). CHAPTER 4 MATERIALS AND METHODS 4.1. Overview This chapter deals with the methodology adopted and is comprised of the following phases: Sampling Sample preservation Wastewater characterization Leachate Wastewater from SMTP Sludge Biological treatment of landfill leachate using a SBR Co-treatment of landfill leachate with wastewater from SMTP Testing Results and analysis Conclusions Sampling Sampling is done to represent a certain population, in this case wastewater, on which tests are performed and the results symbolize the wastewater characteristics. This can be achieved by two methods: composite sampling and grab sampling. A composite sample consists of collecting samples at regular interval in time. This will be representative of the average wastewater characteristics. A grab sample is based upon obtaining a distinct sample regardless to its flow or time of the day. If the wastewater quality is not highly variable, the results obtained from grab sampling will tend to corroborate composite ones. Both methods are used and for this project the grab sampling technique was adopted. Sample Preservation Soon after the samples were collected, they were tested and if not possible, they were preserved. The latter is crucial step as most of the wastewater constituents have to be kept as are in their original state. They were incubated at 4 ° C and when necessary pH control was done by adding sulphuric acid. Subsequently, this will stop all the biological activities. Wastewater Characterization The next step after sampling is characterization, i.e. determining the level of constituents present in the wastewater. As a fact of that, the treatment method is selected and applied to the polluting material. Each time, when new samples were obtained, they were characterized in compliance with Standard Methods of Testing. For the project, characterization has to be done for these materials; Leachate The leachates were delivered at the UOM Public Health Laboratory, on the 23rd October 2007 and 9th January 2008, and were characterized for the main polluting parameters. Then the sample was preserved till the treatment starts. Domestic Wastewater The domestic wastewater was collected at SMTP. The sample was collected from the primary clarifier after degriting has been done on the following dates: 26th February and 3rd March 27, 2008. The samples were immediately characterized and then used. Sludge For nitrification to take place there should be microorganisms feeding on the organic matter, but leachate does not contain any. Therefore, the returned sludge from SMTP was collected and brought to the UOM Public Health Laboratory. The sludge was allowed to settle and the supernatant was discarded, the residual left was used for testing. As a result of that the sludge concentration was increased and smaller amount is required for biological treatment. A TSS was carried out and the value obtained was used for calculations. The sludge was also studied under the microscope determining the microorganisms present and their conditions. Biological Treatment of Landfill Leachate using a SBR The first option for treating leachate was the biological treatment by making use of a SBR. It was made up of the following phases: fill, react, settle and decant. The reactor consisted of sludge, water and leachate with varying composition. Their volumes were calculated such that the ammonia nitrogen concentration is about 50 mg/L in the reactor. The latter was aerated for a period of 24 hours. The main polluting parameters were monitored and accentuating upon the level of ammonia nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen. The system was run for a number of cycles and then denitrification phase was operated. Experimental Procedure A reactor of capacity 20 L was considered with an MLSS concentration of 4000 mg/l. The dissolved oxygen concentration had to be greater than 2 mg/l and this was achieved by the means of air diffusers. The diffusers provided the mixing within the reactor. Immediately after the setting out of the reactor, a grab sample was collected and was tested. These values were set as baseline. After 24 hours of aeration, another sample was collected from the reactor and tests were performed. The critical parameter i.e. ammonia nitrogen was observed and if, the value is not within the discharge limits then it aerated till the expected result is obtained. The biomass required nutrients which provided in the form of Potassium Hydrogen Phosphate. In order for the treatment to take place, we had to cater for alkalinity and this was achieved by the addition of concentrated sodium hydroxide. Thus the nitrification process was being monitored until no further treatment. A total of 3 sequential batch reactors were operated. After the operation of the third reactor, the denitrification phase was initiated. All the air diffusers were switched off and acetic acid was added to the reactor. The dissolved oxygen concentration was monitored till it reached the zero value and the nitrate nitrogen concentration was measured. Co-treatment of Landfill Leachate with Wastewater from SMTP The other alternative is a combined method, treating domestic wastewater and leachate together. The treatment is biological in nature using a SBR with phases; fill, react, settle and decant. The treating system consisted of aerating the SBR, composed of sludge, domestic wastewater and leachate, for a period of 24 hours. The volume of leachate was gradually increased until no further treatment was observed. The main parameters were monitored, laying emphasis on the nitrification process. The values were recorded and analyzed. Experimental Procedure Small reactors of capacity 5 L each were considered with an MLSS concentration of 1500 mg/l. The first SBR was made up of 100% DWW and sludge only, the second one 95% DWW, 5% leachate and sludge, the third one 90% DWW, 10% leachate and sludge and so on. An example is being shown below. The dissolved oxygen concentration was kept greater than 2 mg/l by the use of air diffusers which also provided the mixing within the reactor. Immediately after the setting out of the reactor, a grab sample was collected and was tested. These values were set as baseline. After 24 hours of aeration, another sample was collected from the reactor and tests were performed.

John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men :: Essays Papers

Of Mice and Men Summary This story is about Lennie Small and his friend, George Milton, both of them were forced to leave weed because Lennie was accused of raping a girl. This book was set in Salinas Valley, California. The book begins with the two of them hiding from the mad townspeople. Lennie had a tendency to grab things and not let go, yet he was unaware of his own strength. This problem got them into trouble a lot. Chapter One: Lennie and George are hiding. They were forced to leave Weed because Lennie was accused of rape. They went from ranch to ranch. They sit and talk and disgust their plans are for the next day, then they go to a ranch and George does all the talking. Chapter Two: Lennie and George arrived at the ranch were his new home is. He asks them for both of their names, and where they worked before and what skills they have. George answers every question for Lennie that makes the boss curious. He asks George why he always answers the questions for Lennie, thinking that is trying to get Lennie’s pay. Then he tells him that Lennie is a little slow. After he left, Candy came in and so did Curley. Once he left, George and Candy talked about him. Candy said that Curley hates men who are bigger than him. Candy also said that Curley's wife is a flirt. Soon after, Curley's wife entered looking for her husband. After flirting with George and Lennie, she leaves. Chapter Three: Slim's dog just had puppies and Lennie asked if he could have one. Slim said yes. George told Slim about the incident in Weed. He also told him that Lennie had a problem where he has to touch pretty things, so he grabbed a girl’s dress. The girl started to scream. So he held on tighter because he was confused. The girl accused Lennie of rape and they had to leave town. Carlson tried to convince Candy to shoot his dog because it was so old and in constant pain. Candy finally said yes after arguing and then he shot the dog, and buried it. Several minutes later Curley came into the bunkhouse looking for his wife. He was told that no one had seen her around and was about to leave but he noticed that Slim was not there, either.

American History 1946-1976

The United States is a nation of immigrants. The resident population of the country comprises people who came from abroad or are descendents from overseas. Black were said to be some of the earlier migrants but they were considered to be slaves prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. The transformation of the American society is not possible without the outburst of population influx. The industrial revolution made it possible for transportation and communication, resulting in a massive economic transformation for America. In the early part of American history, immigration rules had been lax.It was not until 1819 when the first immigration statistics had been collected when the topic of immigration was laid on the table for lawmakers (McClenaghan, 1988, p. 170). Given the abundance of fertile land in the country which necessitated workers, immigration was deemed on a positive note. However, the end of the Civil War saw closing of the land frontier. There was no shortage of manpower an d the sudden boom of population and spirit of nationalism had started to take its toll among immigrants. The end of Civil War was witnessed by European immigrants who had already settled in the county starting 1820.The Irish, for instance, had left Ireland due to the severe British regimen ruling in their country (May, 1989, p. 479). Likewise, the European War saw many Italians, Greeks, Polish, Germans and other non-English speaking people coming to America. In Unit I, which covers the 1865- 1876, life for American immigrants mirrored the agony of reconstruction the country was facing at that time. As the country was struggling with picking the pieces of an embattled nation, immigrants continued to flock America. Some southern and northern states had put up bureaus to draw immigrants.The Contract Labor Law of 1864 stated that the federal government would assist an immigrant in his journey by a â€Å"lien on his or her wages† (Tindall and Shi, 1999, p. 938). The law was revoke d in 1868. Majority of non-English speaking immigrants toiled as laborers, porters, peddlers, while those who spoke English were able to find higher paying jobs. By 1870, the country had around 39 million people, 3 million of whom were immigrants or those born abroad and settled in America (Divine, Breen, Fredrickson, and Williams, 1991, p. 549).There were also immigrants from Asia. In the early 1850s, Chinese immigrants went to California to work in gold mines (Brinkley, 2003, p. 446). By 1865, more than 12,000 Chinese had found work in building the transcontinental railroad. The Central Pacific which was then responsible for building the western part of the road had 90% of Chinese in its labor force. One social issue they faced was discrimination. While it was true that corporations preferred hiring Chinese because of their tenacity and commitment to work, many Americans resented this.More jobs were being given to Chinese because they were also willing to work for fewer wages, som ething which did not sit well with Americans. As one editor of the New York Nation said, the Chinese were responsible for creating a â€Å"disgusting habits of thrift, industry and self-denial† (Tindall and Shi, 1999, p. 947). With the country tiding in on Reconstruction, the economy was not in a good shape and Americans blamed the Chinese and other immigrants (May, 1989, p. 481). Discrimination in California, where most Chinese immigrants had taken residence, started to brew.The Workingmen’s Party, for instance, was intense in goading the government to pass laws to victimize Chinese. The Sidewalk Ordinance which banned people carrying their merchandise on a pole to walk on the sidewalk (p. 481). At that time only Chinese carried their goods this way. The discrimination was this obvious: the anti-Chinese sentiment was growing. The Panic of 1873 fueled this tension and the Congress soon acted with an exclusion act in 1879, which ban the import of Chinese workers (Bragdo n, McCutchen, and Ritchie, 1996, p. 532).In response to the issue, the Chinese did nothing, continuing to work, toiling in vast drainage and irrigation projects (Brinkley, 2003, p 446). It was initially rejected by President Hayes citing the Burlingame Treaty of 1868, which made China a â€Å"most-favored nation† when it comes to travel and immigration (O’Neill, 2002, p. 240; Tindall and Shi, 1999, p. 947). However, as constructions of railroads were finished, demand for laborers waned and in 1882, President Arthur approved a ten-year suspension called the Chinese Exclusion Act. In 1902, the act suspended indefinitely.The outcome was limitation in the number of Chinese immigrants coming in to the country but their number had already increased due to marriage and birth within their community. The tide of American immigrants continued from 1877- 1920. In fact, it was during this period where around 14 million Europeans made America their residence (May, 1989, p. 482). It used to be that immigrants came prior to 1890 came from northern and western Europe. However, the year 1885 saw a tremendous increase of immigrants coming from southern and Eastern Europe (Bragdon, McCutchen and Ritchie, 1996, p.529). Furthermore, America welcomed immigrants from Canada, Mexico, Latin America and Japan (Brinkley, 2003, p. 502). Chinese immigrants, despite the Chinese Exclusion Act, along with the Japanese continued to flock America (p. 502). In 1880, there were around 75,000 Chinese in California, 1/9th of the state’s population (Tindall and Shi, 1999, p. 946). In 1870, the number of Japanese immigrants were roughly about 56; however by 1900-1909, the figures increased significantly to an estimate 7000 (p. 481).By 1890, four out of five people living in New York was born abroad; the state also become home to more Irish than the Irish people living in Ireland (p. 937). The appeal of America was probably due to the hardship their respective countries were expe rienced. The surge in immigration was responsible for the growth of the country, especially its urban growth as most immigrants were lured by the city, where the realization of the American dream had already begun. Europeans crossed the Atlantic in hopes of a better future in the cities of America (Jordan and Litwack, 1991, p. 504).As the new immigrants began to settle in the cities, they started to live in homogenous neighborhoods. Thus, there existed a Little Italy and a Jewish Lower East Side on the side of New York and Chinatown. These small enclaves allowed the immigrants to retain their sense of community. In 1920, Chicago had around 1 7 Little Italy colonies spread out in the city (p. 943). Ellis Island in New York became the port of immigrants. This reception center situated in an island off the New Jersey coast became the first soil that immigrants stepped on upon entering the United States (pp.940). The ethnic neighborhood facilitated for what could have been an easier ass imilation for these immigrants. They recreated their own churches, synagogues, and even printed their own newspapers (p. 531). However, the influx immigration created not only social problems but economic and as well. Immigrants had a hard time finding decent jobs, often toiling in sweatshops, factories and mines. The atmosphere of nativism, where native-born should be favored instead of immigrants in just about anything, was developing.Native-born Americans started growing prejudice against them, threatened their entry in the country. The differences not only in language, dress and customs made Americans fear for this looming social changes. Immigrants were easily the subject of hostility. Literary problems also started to arise, especially for those non-English speaking immigrants. The Japanese, for instance, started learning the American way of living, learning English and sending their children to public schools (May, 1989, p. 481). However, this did not sit well with Americans. In 1906, the San Francisco school board issued an order to separate Japanese children from the other students. When the Japanese government protested, President Roosevelt intervened. An agreement in 1908 centered on an agreement limiting the number of Japanese immigrants to the country (Jordan and Litwack, 1991, p. 506). California, which in earlier years, resented the presence of Chinese immigrants, passed an Alien Land Law, which banned Japanese from possessing agriculture land (p. 506). As labor unions began to form around the country, immigrants were still not accepted.For one, they received fewer wage. For a dollar that an American-born laborer received, Italians received 84 cents, Hungarians 68 cents and others 54 cents (Katz, 1993, p. 73). Furthermore, Americans organized themselves to counter the growing number of immigrants. They formed group such as the American Protective Association, which was against Catholic immigrants. The largest labor union, the AFL or American Fede ration of Labor excluded immigrants. As America continued to plunge into urban growth, political corruption became prevalent. Americans blamed corruption as the cause of the growing immigration.In response to this, immigrants chose to remain loyal to their employees. As civic reformers talked of cleaning up the government and expressing their contempt on immigrants, the bosses showed appreciation to their employees by helping them process their naturalization proceedings and helping them when they got into trouble (Jordan and Litwack, 1991, p. 507). With regards to the labor union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWWW) was formed in 1905 to include all workers regardless of race, skill and gender (Katz, 1993, p. 73). The outcome of this was that immigrants had started to stand up for what they believed in.racial segregation still existed but the process of keeping their identities intact had begun. An example was the creation of French-language parochial schools in New England. Put up by French Canadians, the schools had grown to 179 elementary and 28 high schools in America (Katz, 1993, p. 15). It was a clear sign that immigrants were determined to stay in the country. Child labor laws prohibited immigrant children to work, forced them instead to go to schools. With the compulsory education laws, children of immigrants became indoctrinated with the American values and English values (p. 642).Majority of these children were responsible of passing their learning to their non-English speaking parents. The years 1921-1945 saw a decrease in the number of immigrants. Following the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, the list of requirements and restriction on immigrants had tightened. For instance, immoral persons and anarchists were banned to enter US in 1903, illiterates in 1917 (McClenaghan, 1988, p. 170). By 1920, roughly 20 various immigrant groups were not able to step in the country (p. 170). The lives of American immigrants became harder, especially with th e mounting antiforeign and anti-Black sentiment around the country.This period ushered in the Progressive spirit, which focused on every aspect of American life, including those of immigrants. This time saw reforms in what Progressives deemed as the evils of the American system. Discrimination and prejudice still reigned in the country, despite the fact that American immigrants have been in the country for years One political problem they faced was religious problems. As World War I erupted, many Europeans fled their countries and sought refuge in America. The â€Å"new immigrants,† as they were known, were mostly Jewish or Roman Catholics (Divine, Breen, Fredrickson, and Williams, 1991, p.630). American Protestants feared that their religious values would shadow the presence of Catholics. Some employees also declined Irish applicants, to the extent of posting an â€Å"Irish need not apply† signs (Jordan and Litwack, 1991, p. 483). The Catholic Church was then dominate d by the Irish, thus became the subject of religious persecution. Additionally, various religious discrepancies among immigrants themselves caused more misunderstanding. To cite, Russian and Polish Jews had different traditions from Sephardic and German Jews (Tindall and Shi, 1999, p. 945).In response to this issue, the immigrants continued to go about their own ways. They formed groups, recreated their own churches and synagogues. The outcome of doing this was it strengthened the unity among immigrant groups. They became more close-knit, living in homogenous areas of the city. It was also during this period when immigrants faced greater social and political problems. Agitation towards immigrant became full-blown. Xenophobia or the fear of strangers became the growing sentiment in the country. The â€Å"new immigrants† made Americans alarmed over â€Å"race suicide† (Jordan and Litwack, 1991, p.63). For instance, Kenneth Roberts wrote in the popular Saturday Evening Po st that Polish Jews should be avoided for they were â€Å"human parasites† and that immigrants of Nordic, Alpine, Mediterranean and Semitic ethnicity were not only â€Å"worthless and futile† but â€Å"good-for-nothing mongrels of Central America and Southeastern Europe† (p. 630). Another problem which immigrants faced which further planted the seeds of the sedition was the celebrated case involving two Italian anarchists named Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. An anarchist is someone who does not believe in any form of government.The two were arrested for a payroll robbery and murder in Massachusetts (p. 629). They were sentenced to death although evidence against them was inconclusive. They were electrocuted in 1927, amidst a series of worldwide remonstration (p. 629). Some people believed that they were innocent and the reason that they convicted was because of their political beliefs. Moreover, it was during this year when Red Scare pervaded the United S tates. A few years ago, communists, called Reds, took control of the Russian government. The communists believed that the government should take control of everything, like farms and factories.This train of thought contrasts with the American system of free enterprise (Divine, Breen, Fredrickson, and Williams, 1991, p. 692). Americans soon began fearing that communists living in the US would do embark on this. It did not help that during this time, labor unrest was notorious, stimulating more trepidation on Americans. To assuage their fears, some Americans revived the Ku Klux Klan, which was exclusive for â€Å"native-born, white, gentile Americans† (p. 693). The organization, started during the Reconstruction heyday, attacked not only black people but immigrants, Jews, and American Indians (p.693). In the mid 1920s, the group boasted of around five million members (p. 694). The revival of the Ku Klux Klan, the Red Scare and the conviction of the Italian immigrants made Congr ess pass the Emergency Quota Act in 1921 which restricted immigration to the country (Bragdon, McCutchen and Ritchie, 1996, p. 717). Immigration was limited to 3 percent of the nationality already in the US (p. 717). The act became a permanent policy three years later and in 1927 a total of 150,000 immigrants were to be admitted per year, divided based on the 1920 census (p. 717).Japanese immigrants were completely excluded with the passing of the Japanese Exclusion Act in 1924. In response to the overwhelming problems that beset the immigrants, the immigrants had no choice but to comply with the laws. In some cases, like with the Japanese, the exclusion greatly damaged diplomatic relationship between the two countries. At the height of the war, Japanese-Americans were forced to move to â€Å"relocation camps† (Divine, Breen, Fredrickson, and Williams, 1991, p. 738). Japanese-Americans who lived on the West Coast were accused of helping the Japanese sabotage the country (p. 7 38).For some immigrants, the restriction and growing anti-immigrant sentiment thrown at them were not enough to make them waver and give in. They remained steadfast and continued living in proximity, becoming stable in the process. They formed groups such as the La Orden de Hijos de America, which comprised white Chicano workers fighting for their U. S. citizenships (Katz, 1993, p. 15). Despite the discrimination and maltreatment, many Japanese- Americans volunteered during the War. It paid off. In 1988, the Senate issued a public apology and provided a tax-free payment of $20,000 to surviving Japanese-Americans (p.738). Following World War II, Unit IV, covering the years 1946-1976, life for immigrants was much better. Despite the inequalities in America, many people chose to live in the country, some sought political asylum and freedom from oppression. Others simply wanted to have a better future in the US. In the 60s, where call for civil rights where at the forefront, many Americ ans demanded for immigration reforms. In July 1963, President Kennedy recommended to scrap the national origins quota system (Divine, Breen, Fredrickson, and Williams, 1991, p . 882).The Immigration Act of 1965 restricted the number of immigrants to 170,000 per year per country and phased the national origins quota altogether (Brinkley, 2003, p. 835). In the 70s, immigrations increased to 433, 600 a year (Jordan and Litwack, 1991, p. 892). The 60s saw a surge in Mexicans migrating to the country. One literary problem they faced was language barrier. Some Latinos who established their presence in America could not speak nor understand English. This proved to be a big barrier in applying for jobs and immersing in the American life.Several employers took advantage of this and exploited Mexican workers. In response to this, several Mexican Americans founded labor organizations to help them get jobs and receive due benefits. In doing so, they strengthened their ethnicity. With regards to their language, in 1974, the United States Supreme Court approved the right of non-English speaking students to seek education in their own language. Thus, the idea of bilingualism was injected into American culture. After the Vietnam War, several Asians took refuge in America. The door of immigration opened again for the country.In the 80s, legal immigration in the US was estimated at 7 million people (Tindall and Shi, 1999, p. 1653). It was also the first time that majority of these immigrants did not come from Europe (p. 1653). The new wave of immigrants, mostly from Asia and Latin America, reopened the old wound of ethnic conflict. One social problem these new immigrants faced were still discrimination. In 1994, California passed Proposition 187, which banned illegal aliens to have access to school, medical care and other social services (Bragdon, McCutchen and Ritchie, 1996, p. 1019).This created friction between the legal immigrants and the illegal ones. Some preached that th is is completely bigotry. Adding more salt to the wound was the 1998 approval of ending bilingual education in California. In response to this problem, immigrants worked to enter the country legally. Although there are aliens flooding the country from time to time, Immigration Services has employed a stricter guideline. Several ethnic groups have also asserted themselves. The entry of ethnic studies program in school and universities is one way of embracing cultural differences between Americans and differences.This is one outcome that immigrants had wanted to achieve from the first time they stepped foot in the country. The presence of immigrants in the United States has earned the country the moniker of being a melting pot. The country is a multi-cultural society with each group respecting the other. Mayor Share James of Newark, New Jersey, noted that America’s diversity is its strength (Bragdon, McCutchen and Ritchie, 1996, p. 1020). This makes sense. Since the discovery o f America, it has always been varied. Different cultures and ethnic background make it unique, in the same vein that the differences provide a sense of heritage.It makes America culture colorful. It is sad for a fact that it took people years to understand this and that the forefathers of immigrants had to endure torture and humiliation but the appointment of the first Black American president in the country is probably a sign that yes, the country is ready for change. References Bragdon, H. , McCutchen, S. and Ritchie, D. (1996). History of a free nation. Ohio: Glencoe/ McGraw-Hill. Brinkley, A. (2003). American history a survey USA: McGraw-Hill. Divine, R. , Breen, T. H. , Fredrickson, G. , Williams, R. H. (1991). America the peopleand the dream. Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Company. Jordan, W. and Litwack, L. (1991). The United States 7th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Katz, W. (1993). A history of multicultural America. USA: Sleek- Vaugh Company. May, E. (1989). A proud nation. Illinois: McDougal, Littell and Company. McClenaghan,W. (1988). Magruder’s American government Massachusetts: Prentice Hall. O’Neill, W. (2002). United States. In The New Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 29 USA: Britannica Inc. Tindall, G. B. , and Shi, D. (1999). America a narrative history. USA: W. W. Norton and Company.

Robert Frosts the Road Not Taken Essays

Robert Frosts the Road Not Taken Essays Robert Frosts the Road Not Taken Paper Robert Frosts the Road Not Taken Paper Essay Topic: The Poetry of Robert Frost The Road Tim Parr English 102 Professor Scollon â€Å"The Road Not Taken† Robert Frost, born March 26, 1874, is considered by most to be one of America’s leading 20th Century poets. Some of his most famous works include The Road Not Taken, Design, and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. Frost won an unprecedented number of literary, academic, and public honors because he allows readers of different experience to relate to his poetry. Frost’s poetry is based mainly upon the life and scenery of rural New England and the language of his verse reflects the compact idiom of that region. Although he concentrates on ordinary subject matter, Frost’s emotional range is wide and deep and his poems often shift dramatically from a humorous tone to the expression of tragic experience. He uses vivid imagery, calm words, and rhythm that set a somewhat tranquil mood for every reader. He uses every aspect of the poem to play on the senses, through his creation of vivid images and varying moods. With all of these tools Frost intends to convey his own unique views as the speaker to his audience. Regardless of the original message that Robert Frost had intended to convey, his poem, The Road Not Taken, has left its readers with many different interpretations. The poem is most commonly interpreted as an advertisement of individuality, but that definition is dependent on whether or not there is a road not taken in Frost’s poem. Many scholars believe that Frost was too ambivalent in his descriptions of the two roads, and have therefore challenged the existence of a less traveled road. The poem simply takes a satirical look at the uncertainty of having to make choices at all, but one might argue that it urges readers, not to forge new roads, but to take pride in the ones they have already chosen. Frost begins The Road Not Taken by creating a mental image of a traveler stopped at a fork in a path, much like a person who is trying to make a difficult decision. The road that will be chosen leads to the unknown, as does any choice made in life. In an attempt to make a decision, the traveler looks down one road as far as he or she can. â€Å"And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the under growth;† As much as he or she may strain his or her eyes to see as far as the road stretches, eventually it surpasses his or her vision and he or she can never see where it is going to lead. The speaker realizes that much like anyone making any kind of decision, their destiny cannot be seen, only the choices they can make. When the traveler finally decides, the lines: â€Å"Then took the other, just as fair And having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear,† possibly describe the speaker’s innate desire to not necessarily follow the crowd. This may be because of a feeling of unhappiness that was experienced by copying the actions of those before him or her, instead of making an individual decision. The desire to travel down both paths is expressed and not unusual, but the speaker of this poem realizes that the decision is not just a temporary one and â€Å"†¦doubted if I should ever come back. † At the end of The Road Not Taken, regret hangs over the traveler. He or She realizes that at the end of life, â€Å"somewhere ages and ages hence†, the speaker will have regrets about having never gone back to explore the road not taken. The traveler, however, remains proud of the decision and recognizes that it was the paths chosen that made life turn out the way is has. â€Å"I took the road less traveled by and that has made all the difference. † In this poem there is no judgment, no specificity, no moral but simply a narrator who makes a decision in their life that affects the rest of its course. At least, this is what I personally take away from the reading of Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken. One of the great aspects of literature is that anyone can get just about anything they want to from any one piece of literature. Now I will focus on some commentary from a few authors who knew Robert Frost more intimately than I do, and are well more qualified to provide analysis of his poem. In Robert Frost: The Trial by Existence, Elizabeth Shepley Sergeant locates in Frost’s letter Crossing Paths the source for â€Å"The Road Not Taken. † To Susan Hayes Ward the poet wrote on February 10, 1912: â€Å"Two lonely cross-roads that themselves cross each other I have walked several times this winter without meeting or overtaking so much as a single person on foot or on runners. The practically unbroken condition of both for several days after a snow or a blow proves that neither is much travelled. Judge then how surprised I was the other evening as I came down one to see a man, who to my own unfamiliar eyes and in the dusk looked for all the world like myself, coming down the other, his approach to the point where our paths must intersect being so timed that unless one of us pulled up we must inevitably collide. I felt as if I was going to meet my own image in a slanting mirror. Or say I felt as we slowly converged on the same point with the same noiseless yet laborious stride as if we were two images about to float together with the uncrossing of someone’s eyes. I verily expected to take up or absorb this other self and feel the stronger by the addition for the three-mile journey home. But I didn’t go forward to the touch. I stood still in wonderment and let him pass by; and that, too, with the fatal omission of not trying to find out by a comparison of lives and immediate and remote interests what could have brought us by crossing paths to the same point in a wilderness at the same moment of nightfall. Some purpose I doubt not, if we could but have made out. I like a coincidence almost as well as an incongruity. † Elizabeth Sergeant Shepley ties the moment with Frost’s decision to go off at this time to some place where he could devote more time to poetry. He had also, she implies, filed away his dream for future poetic use. That use would come three years later. In 1914 Frost arrived in England for what he thought would be an extended leave from farming in New Hampshire. By all the signs he was ready to settle down for a long while. Settling in Gloucestershire, he soon became a close friend of Edward Thomas. Later, when readers continued to misread â€Å"The Road Not Taken,† Frost insisted that his poem had been intended as a jest at the expense of his friend and fellow poet. For Thomas had fussed over choices of the most minor sort made on daily walks with Frost in 1914, shortly before the writing of the poem. Living in Gloucestershire, writes Lawrance Thompson, Frost had frequently taken long countryside walks with Thomas. Repeatedly Thomas would choose a route which might enable him to show his American friend a rare plant or a special vista; but it often happened that before the end of such a walk Thomas would regret the choice he had made and would sigh over what he might have shown Frost if they had taken a â€Å"better† direction. More than once, on such occasions, the New Englander had teased his Welsh-English friend for those wasted regrets. . . . Frost found something quaintly romantic in sighing over what might have been. Such a course of action was a road never taken by Frost, a road he had been taught to avoid. If we are to believe Frost and his biographer, The Road Not Taken was intended to serve as Frost’s gentle jest at Thomas’s expense. Most evidence supports the notion that Robert Frost was displeased with the persistent misinterpretation of his poem by analysts, and this is supported in his Biography as well by Lawrence Thompson in Selected Letters by Robert Frost. â€Å"A short time later, when â€Å"The Road Not Taken† was published in the Atlantic Monthly for August 1915, Frost hoped that some of his American readers would recognize the pivotal irony of the poem; but again he was disappointed. Self-defensively he began to drop hints as he read â€Å"The Road Not Taken† before public audiences. On one occasion he told of receiving a letter from a grammar-school girl who asked a good question of him: â€Å"Why the sigh? † That letter and that question, he said, had prompted an answer. End of the hint. On another occasion, after another public reading of â€Å"The Road Not Taken†, he gave more pointed warnings: â€Å"You have to be careful of that one; it’s a trick poem – very tricky†. Never did he admit that he carried himself and his ironies too subtly in that poem, but the circumstances are worth remembering here as an illustration that Frost repeatedly liked to â€Å"carry himself† dramatically, in a poem or letter, by assuming a posture not his own, simply for purposes of mockery – sometimes gentle and at other times malicious. † Even though The Road Not Taken was misinterpreted by readers and analysts as it was defined by Frost does not in any way dampen the meaning readers can take away from the poem. That is the beauty of poetry; it can have any meaning that anyone wants to assign to it†¦even if the author disapproves. So again I will say that I view The Road Not Taken as a metaphor for the decisions you make in life. No matter how well you choose or don’t choose, you will always have regrets, but in the end hopefully you are pleased with the roads you have taken. Work Cited Sergeant, Elizabeth Shepley. Robert Frost: The Trial by Existence. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1960 Thompson, Lawrance. â€Å"Selected Letters of Robert Frost† Best of Frost. Shefali Tripathi Mehta and Anando Banerjee, Jan. 2000. Web. 17 Jun. 2011. bestoffrost. com/what-inspired-the-road-not-taken/.

IELTS Syllabus Design Essay Essays

IELTS Syllabus Design Essay Essays IELTS Syllabus Design Essay Essay IELTS Syllabus Design Essay Essay 1. Introduction The affiliated English for academic intent ( EAP ) course of study is designed for an IELTS readying class. which peculiarly focuses on the listening trial. The grounds behind this pick are that IELTS readying class is really popular in China. and to be a specializer on learning IELTS listening aligns with the author’s calling program. All scholars are male and female Chinese pupil aged between 18 and 25. who seek third instruction in English-speaking states. Additionally. all of them are in the intermediate degree. and they wish to acquire a good class in the listening trial. This will be a five-week instruction. and three hours per hebdomad with a different unit. Additionally. it will be used in a conjectural category in a private linguistic communication school. and the approximative figure of pupils for each category is 25. In the undermentioned parts. the writer will foremost give the definition of course of study. and the importance and necessity of set abouting needs analysis. Then there will be a presentation of the affiliated course of study design. which include the justification of the selected types of course of studies and the pick of the choice and scaling of content. At last. a decision will be given to summarize the cardinal points in this essay. 2. The definition of course of study Basically. a course of study is a specification of what is to be included in a linguistic communication class ; and it concerns the choice of points to be learnt and the scaling of those points into an appropriate sequence ( Jordan. 2003 ; Hamer. 2002 ) . Additionally. Nunan ( 1988 ) defines course of study to a wide and a narrow attack. In a wide position. the course of study and methodological analysis should be together. because the trouble of separating content and undertakings with the development of communicative linguistic communication instruction ( CLT ) . Whereas. a narrow position considers separating syllabus design and methodological analysis: course of study design basically focuses on the choice and scaling of content. while methodological analysis is more about the choice of larning undertakings and activities ( Nunan. 1988 ) . Associating to the attached course of study. because listening is regarded as a receptive accomplishment. and it requires few activities than productive accomplishments. such as authorship and speech production ( Hyland. 2006 ) . Hence. the affiliated course of study is designed under the narrow position. and it is orientated with the choice and scaling of content. 3. Needs analysis The term ‘analysis of needs’ first appears in a published study study of linguistic communication instruction by Michael West in 1926 ( West. 1994 ) . However. there was small attending given to the demands analysis in the undermentioned decennaries. The ground could be the traditional belief of establishing course of study on linguistic communication constructions instead than on single scholar demands at that clip ( Richards and Rodgers. 1986 ) . With the development of linguistic communication instruction. the term ‘need analysis’ was re-raised by the Council of Europe Modern Language Projects group in the seventiess. and needs analysis is recognised as the starting point for inventing course of studies. classs. Martials and the sort of instruction and acquisition that takes topographic point ( Strevens. 1977 ; Coffey. 1984 ; Fatihi. 2003 ) . Similarly. Jordan ( 2003 ) besides suggests that planing a course of study should affect analyzing demands analyses and set uping ends. In the interim. the construct of learners’ demands becomes more broader. which refers non merely to the linguistic communication cognition and accomplishments that for certain mark state of affairs intents. but besides refers to necessities. deficiencies. wants. desires. motives. restraints and demands. which could be lingual. affectional. stuff or institutional ( Hutchinson and Waters. 1987 ; Allwright. 1982 ) . Harmonizing to Brown ( 1995:36 ) . needs analysis is defined as â€Å"the systematic aggregation and analysis of all subjective and nonsubjective information necessary to specify and formalize defendable course of study intents that satisfy the linguistic communication acquisition demands of pupils within the context of peculiar establishments that influence the acquisition and learning situation† . And there are several cardinal inquiries need to see when carry oning a needs analysis. As Jordan ( 2003 ) suggests and farther summarises in the Figure 1. they are: * Why is the analysis being undertaken? ( E. g. to find the type of course of study and content ) * Whose demands are to be analysed? ( E. g. the learners’ ; the teachers’ ; the sponsors’ ) * Who performs the analysis? ( E. g. patron ; teacher ; pupil ) * What is to be analysed? ( E. g. mark state of affairs ; present state of affairs ; lacks ) * How is the analysis to be conducted? ( E. g. questionnaires ; trials ) * When is the analysis to be undertaken? ( E. g. before the EAP class ) * Where is the EAP class to be held? ( E. g. the learners’ ain state ) Figure 1. Needs analysis: sum-up Beginning: Jordan ( 2003 ) . Chapter 2. pp. 29. The significance of carry oning a needs analysis is that it is a device to cognize the learners’ necessities. demands and deficiencies. which straight determines the type of course of study and content. every bit good as the rightness and effectivity of the class ( Fatihi. 2003 ) . Besides it is a procedure for placing the instructional aims in a valid course of study. in order to ease the acquisition for linguistic communication scholars ( Jordan. 2003 ) . However. there are besides some restrictions of demands analysis. which include 1 ) the complicity of change overing demands into ends since â€Å"an appraisal of single demands could ensue in multiple class objectives† ( Dubin and Olshtain. 1986: 102 ) ; 2 ) the deficiency of an effectual demands analysis process. as most demands analysis processs fail to work out the spring between demands analysis and stuffs development ( West. 1994 ) ; 3 ) the cogency and dependability of the instruments used in a needs analysis and the consequences obtained ( Van Hest and Oud-de Glas. 1990 ) . Despite those restrictions. it is still deserving making needs analysis because some surveies have showed that it can be good for the development of course of study ( Bosher A ; Smalkowski. 2002 ; Chaudron et Al. . 2005 ) . 4. Showing syllabus design 4. 1 Choosing course of study types There are assorted types of course of study design that have been used over the last few decennaries ( Yalden. 1987 ) . Generally. a figure of different types of course of study can be subsumed under two wide headers ; viz. . the product-oriented course of study which focuses on the terminal consequence. and the process-oriented course of study which focuses on the agencies to an terminal ( Nunan. 1988 ) . The assorted types syllabus under these two wide headers have been listed in the Figure 2. Additionally. a skills-based course of study that is based on one or more of the four traditional linguistic communication accomplishments is highlighted in Jordan ( 2003 ) . It seems that this type of course of study is on the half manner between merchandise course of studies and procedure course of studies as suggested by Robinson ( 1991 ) . Furthermore. another independent course of study is lexical course of study which was ab initio done by the work of COBUILD since 1980 ; and it is on t he footing of vocabulary and lexis ( Lewis. 1993 ; Harmer. 2002 ) .

Sylvia Plath Research Paper Example

Sylvia Plath Research Paper Example Sylvia Plath Paper Sylvia Plath Paper Essay Topic: Anne Sexton Poems Sylvia Plath (October 27, 1932 February 1 1, 1963) was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born In Boston, Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge, before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer. She married fellow poet Ted Hughes in 1956 and they lived together first in the united States and then England, having two children together, Frieda and Nicholas. Plath suffered from depression for much of her adult and in 1963 she committed suicide. 2] Controversy continues to surround the events of her life and death, as well as her writing and legacy. Plath is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for her two published collections, The Colossus and Other Poemsand Ariel. In 1982, she won a Pulitzer Prize posthumously, for The Collected Poems. She also wrote The Bell Jar, a semi- autobiographical novel published shortly before her death. Plath was born on October 27, 1932, in the Massachusetts Memorial Hospital, in Bostons Jamaica Plain neighborhood. [4] Her mother, Aurelia Schober Plath (1906- 1994), was a first-generation American of Austrian descent, and her father, Otto Plath (1885-1940b was from Grabow, Germany. ] Plaths father was an entomologist and was professor of biology and German at Boston university; he also authored a book about bumblebees. On April 27, 1935, Plaths brother Warren as born[4] and In 1936 the family moved from 24 Prince Street In Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, to 92 Johnson Avenue, Winthrop, Massachusetts. [81 Plaths mother, Aurelia, had grown up in Winthrop, and her maternal grandparents, the Schobers, had lived in a section of the town called Point Shirley, a location mentioned in Plaths poetry. While living in Winthrop, eight-year-old Plath published her first poem in the Boston Heralds childrens section. [9] In addition to writing, she showed early promise as an artist, winning an award for her paintings from The Scholastic Art amp; Writing Awards in 1947. 10] Otto Plath died on November 5, 1940, a week and a half after Plaths eighth of complications following the amputation of a foot due to untreated diabetes. Raised as aunltarlan Christian, Plath experienced a loss of faith after her fathers death, and remained ambivalent about religion throughout her Ilfe. He was burled In Winthrop Cemetery; visiting her fathers grave prompted Plath to write the poem Electra on Azalea Path. After his death, Aurelia Plath moved her children and her parents to 26 Elmwood Road, Wellesley, first nine years sealed themselves off like a ship in a bottleÐ ²Ãâ€šÃ¢â‚¬ beautiful inaccessible, bsolete, a fine, white flying College years [edit] Plath attended Bradford Senior High School (now Wellesley High School) in Wellesley, graduating in 1950. [4] Smith College, in Northampton, Massachusetts In 1950, Plath attended Smith College and excelled academically. She wrote to her mother, The world is splitting open at my feet like a ripe, Juicy watermelon. [13] She edited The Smith Review and during the summer after her third year of college Plath was awarded a coveted position as guest editor at Mademoiselle Magazine, during which she spent a month in New York City. 4] The experience was not what she had hoped it would be, and it began a downward spiral. She was furious at not being at a meeting the editor had arranged with Welsh poet Dylan Thomas†a writer whom she loved. She hung around the White Horse bar and the Chelsea Hotel for two days hoping to meet Thomas, but he was already on his way home. Many of the events that took place during that summer were later used as inspiration for her novel The Bell Jar. [1 5] During this time she was refused admission to the Harvard writing seminar. [13] Following electroconvulsive therapy for depression, Plath made her first edically documented suicide attempt in late August 1953 by crawling under her house and taking her mothers sleeping pills. She survived this first suicide attempt after lying unfound in a crawl space for three days, later writing that she blissfully succumbed to the whirling blackness that I honestly believed was eternal oblivion. [4] She spent the next six months in psychiatric care, receiving more electric and insulin shock treatment under the care of Dr. Ruth Beuscher. [4] Her stay at McLean Hospital and her Smith scholarship were paid for by Olive Higgins Prouty, ho had successfully recovered from a mental breakdown herself. Plath seemed to make a good recovery and returned to college. In January 1955, she submitted her thesis The Magic Mirror: A Study of the Double in Two of Dostoyevskys Novels and in June, graduated from Smith with highest honors. [17] She obtained a Fulbright scholarship to Newnham College, Cambridge, in England, where she continued actively writing poetry and publishing her work in the student newspaper Varsity. At Newnham, she studied with Dorothea Krook, whom she held in high regard. [18] She spent her first year winter and spring holidays traveling around Europe. Career and marriage [edit] Plaths stay at McLean Hospital inspired her novel The Bell Jar In a 1961 BBC interview (now held by the British Library Sound Archive),[19] Plath describes how she met Ted Hughes: I happened to be at Cambridge. I was sent there by the [US] government on a government grant. And Id read some of Teds poems in this magazine and I was very impressed and I wanted to meet him. I went to this little celebration and thats actually where we met Then we saw a great deal of each other. Ted came back to Cambridge and suddenly we found ourselves getting married a few months later We kept writing poems to each other. Then it Just grew out of that, I guess, a feeling that we both were writing so much and having such a fine time doing it, we decided and world-wanderer with a voice like the thunder of The couple married on June 16, 1956, at St George the Martyr Holborn in the London Borough of Camden with Plaths mother in attendance. Plath returned to Newnham in October to begin her second year. In early 1957, Plath and Hughes moved to the United States and from September 1957 Plath taught at Smith College. In the middle of 1958, the couple moved to Boston. Plath took a Job as a receptionist in the psychiatric unit of Massachusetts General Hospital and in the evening took creative writing seminars given by poet Robert Lowell (also attended by the writers Anne Sexton and George Starbuck). Plath and Hughes first met the poet W. S. Merwin, who admired their work and was to remain a lifelong friend. Plath resumed psychoanalytic treatment in December, working with Ruth Beuscher. [4] Chalcot Square, near Primrose Hill in London, Plath and Hughes home from 1959 Plath and Hughes travelled across Canada and the United States, staying at he Yaddo artist colony in New York State in late 1959. The couple moved back to the United Kingdom in December 1959 and[22] lived in London at 3 Chalcot Square, near the Primrose Hill area of Regents Park. Their daughter Frieda was born on 1 April 1960 and in October, Plath published her first collection of poetry, The Colossus.

Managing Activities to Achieve Results Assignment

Managing Activities to Achieve Results - Assignment Example ISO 14001 lays down certain tools and principles for efficient management of the environment and also can provide certificates to authenticate an organization’s adherence of principles. It does not enforce any compulsory rules for effective environmental activities, but provides a framework that can guide an organization towards achieving an effective system of environmental management. The principles set by ISO 14001 can be applied by any organization irrespective of its activity or sector. A company or organization that uses ISO 14001 can ensure proper assessment of environmental impacts and improvement steps can be duly taken. This can have a favorable impact on the management body of the company, its employees and external stakeholders. There are various advantages attached to ISO 14001. It can ensure effective management of environment impact which results in reduction of waster disposals and energy consumption. It can also enhance efficiency in the activity level of busi ness thereby minimizing costs incurred for running of the business. It also paves the way for developing opportunities needed for expansion of business. ISO 14001 can help the organization to abide by legal obligations and this can attract more stakeholders and gain high trust level of the customers. Finally, it prepares the organization to confidently adapt to changing structure of the business (ISO-14000 – Environmental management, 2013). Sutton Chemicals Ltd. I. Sutton Chemicals Ltd. manufactures chemicals and this is a hazardous activity. The company has a previous bad record of accidents and poor health and safety management. Problems relating to safety measures are not only present in the production area, but also members in the administration departments have been facing several accidents and mishaps. In many cases employees had to take three days leave from work in order to recover from injuries sustained during the accidents. Among the various reasons that have been attributed to the accidents in the administration departments are poor ventilation, incorrect chairs and badly adjusted computer monitors. For Sutton Chemicals Ltd., it is advisable to use the environmental standards set by ISO 14001. This will help the organization to assess and monitor environmental issues and their impacts, and likewise reduce the risks arising from the environment. Misuse or inefficient management of chemicals can cause many environmental perils. Chemicals can pollute the air and cause bad odour leading to respiratory problems and dizziness among workers. By adopting the ISO 14001 standards, organizational activities can be more effective with reduced risks which can benefit the company because costs can be curbed and profits can be enhanced. The environmental policies and regulations that are laid down by the ISO demand that â€Å"companies set specific, measurable and timely objectives and targets† (BSI helps to reduce..., n.d.). ISO 14001 can guide Sut ton Chemicals Ltd. to fulfill its mission of securing a cultural environment in the workplace with minimum risks related to health and safety. Also, the chemicals produced can be preserved and sustained with efficient management. It is essential in a chemical factory that chemicals be handled in safe manner as it is good not only for the workers and other employees but also good for the business. Proper and sustainable management of

Summary for chapters 3,4,5 from (The Economics of women,men,and work) Assignment

Summary for chapters 3,4,5 from (The Economics of women,men,and work) - Assignment Example In this book, Chapter Three is all about family as an economic unit where the lesson tries to throw light on the changes that occurs after the marriage in the couple’s life and the changing family structure. The chapter tries to focus on the implications that these changes have on the market outcomes and new data on the allocation on the housework between the men and the women. The family is such a unit where the adult members are held responsible to make informed as well as rational decisions which will help to maximize the well being of the family. It has been frequently the case that women are more productive than men in home and men are more productive in the market. The main reason behind this is that both men and women are traditionally raised with different expectations. Moreover both the sex receives different education and training. It has also been found that women are basically discriminated in the labor market and it is because of this discrimination that the marke t earnings of the women are lowered as compared to men. The chapter tries to explain the importance of both spouses being employed in the family. If one of the spouses becomes unemployed then the earning of the other would be beneficial in these regards to cover at least the household expenses. After the marriage the complete picture changes and the change is found in the lives of the coupled family. The most affected factor is the income of the family. There is increase in the expenses of the family and men are held responsible for it. Employed women show less interest in the household work and are also characterized to be more educated then men. Allocation of time among the households and the labor market hold optimum importance in Chapter Four. In this chapter, the author tries to thoroughly review the trends in the labor supply of women and men to the market. The lesson wants to focus on the participation of

An introduction to John Miller Chernoff's book on Africa Rhythm , Essay

An introduction to John Miller Chernoff's book on Africa Rhythm , discuss the Dundun ' hour glass' or 'tension' drum - Essay Example The book talks about varied aspects of African music are it political, spiritual or social. In the book Chernoff tries to convey a sense of the African music from an exclusively African point of view. In that sense the writer had been extremely successful in conveying to the Western readers the varied unfamiliar concepts of the African music by using the terms that aptly facilitate understanding without giving up or losing anything pertaining to the distinct uniqueness and individuality of the African music. Chernoff delves on this both personal and universal dilemma by saying that â€Å"How can we bring something of a different order into our world of understanding and at the same time recognize and appreciate it on its own terms (3).† The writer not only tries to communicate to its readers what the West African music is, but also tries to elaborately and in and interesting way explain to them as to why it is so. Chernoff successfully relates the varied and multifarious inter actions and trends in the African music to the essential multiplicity and diversity of the social forces pervading the African cultural landscape. The beauty of Chernoff’s approach is that it explains the African music as it is, without trying to correlate or link it to the similar trends existing in the Western music.

Change mangement Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Change mangement - Case Study Example This identified the country among the best countries with air airline facilities until after the Second World War. Airline industry in the country started operating in the year 1910 and offered diversified services such as transporting passengers, commodities, parcels and even medical supplies. Development in the industry however begun with construction of aircraft models in the late 19th century but the models were only constructed in the 20th century and approved in the year 1909 before the first flight occurred in the year 1910. Military application of airlines followed two years later and the services were used in many European countries. A number of aviation colleges were also established in the same decade. In the following decade, flight trials were conducted across international airlines before diversified airline services were offered. The country’s airline industry has however continued to experience changes in its internal and external environments to warrant notabl e changes. Qantas is one of the significant developments in the industry (Australian Government, 2008). Competition within the industry is partially regulated by the country’s political environment. The Trade Practice Act is an example. The industry however allows for market forces’ effects, in competition, such as â€Å"predatory pricing† that offers large firms an advantage over small firms in the industry (Parliament of Australia, n.d., p. 1). The industry’s competitive environment has also shifted from its previous duopoly system to a competitive market system. Some of the major players are Qantas, virgin Blue, and Ansett group among others and the firms use product differentiation as the major tool to attracting and retaining their customers. Qantas however remains the largest controller of the industry’s market in Australia (Parliament of Australia, n.d.). Qantas, one of the major players in the Australian airline industry, has a rich history that extends

Becoming an ATF Agent Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Becoming an ATF Agent - Essay Example All ATF agents are required to receive at least a bachelor’s degree. The individual must be at least twenty-one years old and no older than thirty-seven. There are a number of smaller requirements as well. In these regards the individual must, â€Å"Complete and pass the ATF special agent assessment test and the Treasury Enforcement Agent exam† (Jess, 2011). Potential ATF agents also undergo stringent background testing, including a polygraph test. In addition, it’s noted that you will need to, â€Å"undergo a physical exam and drug screening. If you are selected to become an agent, you will also participate in a much more specific law enforcement training program† ("Criminal justice degrees," 2011). While ATF agents must receive a four-year degree, there is not a specific major or degree the individual must receive; although many ATF agents pursue studies in criminal justice, law, or related fields. In addition there are specific paths within the ATF that require post-graduate coursework. In terms of cost, there is a great amount of cost differential based on the type of education – public or private – the individual seeks. In addition, concerns related to room and board also make the cost highly relative. Once individuals are hired as ATF agents there is also a considerable amount of training. It’s noted that the individual undergoes, â€Å"9 weeks in Glynco, GA where new agents are trained in surveillance, arrest techniques, firearms training and other skills.   New agents then spend 13 weeks at FLETC where they are trained on explosives, bomb scene investigation and other similar areas† ("Atf agent career," 2011). Even as there are considerable requirements to become an ATF agent, the beginning salary is commensurate with the extensive training; in these regards, beginning agents make approximately $25,000 per year, but within a few years can make nearly $50,000. In conclusion,