Textbooks and books are here to stay Essays (1533 words) - Education

Textbooks and books are here to stay Publishing for the K-12 school market is an $8 billion industry, with three companies - McGraw-Hill, Pearson, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - capturing about 85% of this market. Tablets are a $72 billion industry with 42% of US adults owning a tablet. As tablets have become more prevalent, a new debate has formed over whether K-12 school districts should switch from print textbooks to digital textbooks on tablets. Although it is true and inevitable that Tablets help students better prepare for a world immersed in technology, there are numerous reasons installing tablets in K-12 schools is not very practical. Tablets are expensive, too distracting for students, easy to break, and costly/time-consuming to fix. Tablets also contribute to eyestrain, headaches, and blurred vision, increase the excuses available for students not doing their homework, require costly Wi-Fi networks, and become quickly outdated as new technologies are released. Handheld technological devices including tablets are associated with a range of health problems. Handhelds contribute to Computer Vision Syndrome, which causes eyestrain, headaches, blurred vision, and dry eyes, according to the American Optometric Association. People who use mobile devices more often have a higher incidence of musculoskeletal disorders associated with repetitive strain on muscles, including carpal tunnel syndrome, neck pain (text neck), shoulder pain, and fibromyalgia (Lin) (Fishman). In addition, manufacturing tablets is environmentally destructive and dangerous to human health. According to the New York Times, the adverse health impacts from making one e-reader are estimated to be 70 times greater than those from making a single book. One tablet requires the extraction of 33 pounds of minerals, 79 gallons of water, and 100 kilowatt hours of fossil fuels resulting in 66 pounds of carbon dioxide. Print books produce 100 times fewer greenhouse gases. Two gallons of water are required to make the pulp slurry that is pressed and heat-dried to make paper, and only two kilowatt hours are required to form and dry the sheets of paper (Goleman and Norris). Using tablets is also a significantly more expensive than using print textbooks. Implementing tablets in K-12 schools requires purchasing hardware (the tablet) and software (the textbooks), building new wi-fi infrastructure, and training teachers and administrators how to use the technology. Implementation costs for e-textbooks on iPad tablets are 552% higher than new print textbooks in an average high school. Lee Wilson, a prominent education marketing expert, estimated the annual cost per student per class with tablets to be $71.55 vs. $14.26 for print textbooks (Wilson). The higher cost of tablets also marginalizes poorer school districts and increases the digital divide. Rich school districts can afford to implement e-textbooks on tablets, while poor school districts cannot. Low income schools are less likely to implement an e-textbook program than to pay for teachers or basic classroom supplies. Even if we overlook the installation costs, there are still other finan cial hurdles to think about. Many students do not have sufficient home internet bandwidth to use tablets. Students need home broadband to access digital content and to complete Internet based homework, according to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, but about a third of Americans - 100 million people - do not have broadband internet at home ( Digital Textbook Playbook"). A 2010 FCC survey found that nearly 80% of K-12 schools reported broadband connections that were inadequate to meet their current needs (Fletcher, Schaffhauser, and Levin). As if purchasing and setting up tablets wasn't expensive enough, there is also a huge hidden maintenance fee that comes along with every tablet. A broken tablet requires an experienced technician to fix, which can be costly and time-consuming. On the other hand, textbooks can usually be repaired with basic supplies such as glue or tape. Another setback that comes with digital learning is technical difficulties. Print textbooks cannot crash, freeze, or get hacked. Unlike tablets, there is no chance of getting malware, spyware, or having personal information stolen from a print textbook. The average battery life of a tablet is 7.26 hours, shorter than the length of a school day. Tablets constantly need charging, increasing electricity demands on schools and the need for new electrical outlets ( What Is the

Genetic Engineering The Frontier essays

Genetic Engineering The Frontier essays Science is a still somewhat obscure creature that continues to evolve, radically changing the face of mankind perhaps faster than its creator. The magnificent world of science has witnessed many profound breakthroughs and advances in this past century, but none as noteworthy as genetic engineering. As a subset of the more general subject of biotechnology, genetic engineering is the process of altering genetic material by purposeful manipulation of DNA (Wallace 339). To some, this field illustrates malicious scientists playing God, while to others it is a treasure chest of knowledge that holds the key to solving problems such as world hunger, cancer, and AIDS. Scientists have already been able to turn microbes into millions of tiny factories producing drugs, alcohol, and chemicals, and astonishing forecasts are being made for genetic engineerings future contributions to health, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture (Sylvester 2). By engineering the plants and other organisms that are the s ource for medications, possible defects that may occur due to mutations and genetic diseases can be avoided completely. This could not only produce a more effective medicine, but save lives as well. However, risks still remain in using genetic engineering to solve the worlds problems. Questions arise concerning ethics, public safety, and misuse by the economically or politically powerful, but how can we as human beings know what is truly to come? Read Aldous Huxleys ,A Brave New World, or perhaps Asimovs, Foundation. Truthfully, there is no telling what the future holds, other than the ability to research and understand more about this incredible science of genetics. It is worth taking the risk to gain more knowledge and try to solve these problems that plague the world than shut it back up in Pandoras Box. As a student, I find biology, specifically genetics, extremely fa ...

Global Warming and Its Effect on Marine Populations

Global Warming and Its Effect on Marine Populations Global warming, an increase in the Earths average atmospheric temperature that causes corresponding changes in climate, is a growing environmental concern caused by industry and agriculture in the mid-20th century to the present. As greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide and methane are released into the atmosphere, a shield forms around the Earth, trapping heat  and, therefore, creating a general warming effect. Oceans are one of the areas most affected by this warming. Rising air temperatures affect the physical nature of the oceans. As air temperatures rise, water becomes less dense and separates from a nutrient-filled cold layer below. This is the basis for a chain effect that impacts all marine life that counts on these nutrients for survival. There are two general physical effects of ocean warming on marine populations that are crucial to consider: Changes in natural habitats and food supplyChanging ocean chemistry/acidification Changes in Natural Habitats and Food Supply Phytoplankton, one-celled plants that live at the oceans surface and algae use photosynthesis for nutrients. Photosynthesis is a process that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and converts it into organic carbon and oxygen, which feed  almost every ecosystem.   According to a NASA study, phytoplankton is more likely to thrive in cooler oceans. Similarly, algae, a plant that produces food for other marine life through photosynthesis, is vanishing due to ocean warming. Since oceans are warmer, nutrients cant travel upward to these suppliers, which survive only in oceans small surface layer. Without those nutrients, phytoplankton and algae cannot supplement marine life with necessary organic carbon and oxygen. Yearly Growth Cycles Various plants and animals in the oceans need both a temperature and light balance in order to thrive. Temperature-driven creatures, such as phytoplankton, have started their yearly growth cycle earlier in the season due to warming oceans. Light-driven creatures start their yearly growth cycle around the same time. Since phytoplankton thrive in earlier seasons, the entire food chain is affected. Animals that once traveled to the surface for food are now finding an area void of nutrients, and light-driven creatures are starting their growth cycles at different times. This creates a non-synchronous natural environment. Migration The warming of oceans may also lead to migration of organisms along the coasts. Heat-tolerant species, such as shrimp, expand northward, while heat-intolerant species, such as clams and flounder, retreat northward. This migration leads to a new mix of organisms in an entirely new environment, ultimately causing changes in predatory habits. If some organisms cannot adapt to their new marine environment, they will not flourish and will die off. Changing Ocean Chemistry/Acidification As carbon dioxide is released into the oceans, the ocean chemistry drastically changes. Greater carbon dioxide concentrations released into the oceans create increased ocean acidity. As ocean acidity increases, phytoplankton is  reduced. This results in fewer ocean plants able to convert greenhouse gasses. Increased ocean acidity also threatens marine life, such as corals and shellfish, which may become extinct later this century from the chemical effects of carbon dioxide. Acidifications Effect on Coral Reefs Coral, one of the leading sources for the oceans food and livelihood, is also changing with global warming. Naturally, coral secretes tiny shells of calcium carbonate in order to form its skeleton. Yet, as carbon dioxide from global warming is released into the atmosphere, acidification increases and the carbonate ions vanish. This results in lower extension rates or weaker skeletons in most corals. Coral Bleaching Coral bleaching, the breakdown in the symbiotic relationship between coral and algae, is also occurring with warmer ocean temperatures. Since zooxanthellae, or algae, give coral its particular coloration, increased carbon dioxide in the planets oceans causes coral stress and a release of this algae. This leads to a lighter appearance. When this relationship that is so important for our ecosystem to survive vanishes, corals begin to weaken. Consequently, food and habitats for a great number of marine life are also destroyed. Holocene Climatic Optimum The  drastic climate change known as Holocene Climatic Optimum (HCO) and its effect on surrounding wildlife is not new. The HCO, a general warming period displayed in fossil records from 9,000 to 5,000 BP, proves that climate change can directly impact natures inhabitants. In 10,500 BP, younger dryas, a plant that once spread throughout the world in various cold climates, became nearly extinct due to this warming period. Toward the end of the warming period, this plant that so much of nature had depended on was only found in the few areas that remained cold. Just as younger dryas became scarce in the past, phytoplankton, coral reefs, and the marine life that depend on them are becoming scarce today. Earths environment is continuing on a circular path that may soon lead to chaos within a once naturally balanced environment. Future Outlook and Human Effects The warming of the oceans and its effect on marine life has a direct impact on human life. As coral reefs die, the world loses an entire ecological habitat of fish. According to the World Wildlife Fund, a small increase of 2 degrees Celsius would destroy almost all existing coral reefs. Additionally, ocean circulation changes due to warming would have a disastrous effect on marine fisheries. This drastic outlook is often hard to imagine. It can only be related to a similar historical event. Fifty-five million years ago, ocean acidification led to a mass extinction of ocean creatures. According to fossil records, it took more than 100,000 years for the oceans to recover. Eliminating the use of greenhouse gasses and protecting the oceans can prevent this from occurring again.

Random house Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Random house - Assignment Example On their part, publishers can exercise their bargaining powers by becoming the largest players in the industry through, for example, mergers and acquisitions (Bickert et al 4). Competitive rivalry is manifested by the presence of numerous publishers offering diverse products. Consolidation in book publishing affords a publisher more presence in both local and international markets, enabling them to reach a wider and more diverse market. For example, following consolidation with a publisher that focuses on a particular language or of area of interest, the parent company will be able to bring the market targeted by its new merger or acquisition into its profitable operations (Bickert et al 5). Based on the operations, for example, of a publisher that targets a Spanish-speaking market, the benefits can be considerably large, since the Spanish-speaking market is wide-spread. Another example of a large benefit would be consolidation with a publisher that targets the Chinese market, where 51 percent of citizens in China live in cities with stable consumption of education in the form of published books. Random House’s five elements of strategy included digitalization; internationalization; mergers and acquisitions; strengthening of the core business; and responding to the shifting consumption of media (Bickert et al 5). Digitalization would ensure that they conform to the emerging trend of online reading and, hence remain relevant in the industry. Internationalization was meant to reach a wider, global market while mergers and acquisitions would facilitate the internationalization strategy. Strengthening of the core business meant that the existing assets for example the 20-meter high warehouse, would continue being in use while responding to shifting media use meant the publisher would serve emerging markets as well. The main benefits Random House draws from being part of a corporate parent like Bertelsmann is that it operates

Human racial inequality from early colonization to Civil War Essay

Human racial inequality from early colonization to Civil War - Essay Example The act of enslaving other people, highlights on the paradox of the great American history, founded based on the ideals of fostering freedom and equality. In essence, the ramification of such paradox lingers in the American society, even at the present (Dempsey 129). Race as a term, defines a social category classified in terms of social conventions and in this light, racial boundaries, are often drawn to mean different things. In the United States, one may be categorized as â€Å"Black† incase that person belong to a lineage of African ancestry. In essence, such categorization or classification denotes an extreme type of binary racial categorization and reflects on the trend on how individuals were classified in the United States, after the end of the Civil War. In America, the act of propagating inequality during the period of colonies to the end of the Civil War did not affect only one group, the African Americans, but also, other minority groups as well. Racism, has a prof ound impact in the American society and continues to impacts on the lives of all American citizens including, the Whites (Seligman 78). The Whites, during this period, were oppressed in two different ways that includes a repeated division of political and social movements that undermines individual’s capacity to oppose the existing types of inequality and power. In this sense, the elite and those in power continue to capitalize on the race issue as a tool to divide people while, amassing more power for purpose of protecting the interests of their class. Around 1880s, there existed a political movement consisting of subsistence farmers and workers in the Midwest and the south. This movement appeared as though making some inroads in their quest against the elites in the south and other large landowners. This populist group, posed a challenge to the political elites of the time however, racial conflict, ended up disintegrating the unity among the agrarian populists thus contribu ting to the fall of the movement (Seligman 80). On the other hand, the second manner in which the existence of inequality affect the lives of the disadvantaged Whites of that period, involved, undermining the universalistic aspects related to the welfare state. This programs, are supposed to benefit everyone in the society, however, such programs, are contrasted with the identified programs meant only to benefit a designated group. At the period the welfare program was implemented in the United States, opposition emerged from the Democrats in the South concerning universalistic policies since, such policies may benefit both the White, as well as the African Americans. These in essence, are ideals propagated because of advancing racist notions as evident from the conservative Southern Democrats (Young 20). On another note, when the European settlers migrated to America, there was already an indigenous population residing in that region of the world and had control over their economic resource, which, was land. In order to amass this resource, the British colony engaged in acts of displacement to confiscate the land from the Native community. The government of the United States later used this practice as the saying

Supremacy of European Union Law Over National Law: The Factotame Case E

The establishment of the European Union gave birth to various institutions, which bring order and reform to member states. One of these institutions which is extremely important the European Court of Justice as it interprets the laws of the European Union and makes sure that all the laws are applied in the same with in all of the European Union countries. Aside from interpreting laws it also settles legal disputes between the European Union government and the various institutions in the European Union. The jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice encompasses: solving disputes from country to country and within an institution, individuals, companies or organization, if the European institution threatens rights. One such case, which was brought forth by an individual to the court, is the Factotame case. Before we embark upon why the Factotame case was brought fort to the court it is extremely important for us to know about the composition of the European Court of Justice. The court is made up of twenty-seven judges, one from each member state. There are eight â€Å"advocates – general† whose job is to present opinions on cases, which are brought before the Court. The appointment of judge and advocate general is determined by each member state of the European Union and they are appointed for a six-year renewable term. Due to the large number of cases brought forth to the European Court of Justice, in an effort to better serve the constituents the General Court decides over certain cases. The General Court decides over cases that encompass private individuals, companies and organizations. The court has a President, which is elected by all the judges for a renewable term of three – years. The primary j... ...ate of discrimination of any sort and it will not tolerate any acts that are passed any government, which promotes discrimination of any sort. Works Cited "Clients." Thomas Cooper:Factortame The Background. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. . The Common Fisheries Policy. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. . "Court of Justice of the European Union." EUROPA -. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. . "European Court of Justice." European Court of Justice. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. . Ian Bache, Stephen George & Simon Bulmer, Politics in the European Union, Oxford University Press, 2011.

How does Hamlet deal with the revengers r&amp Essay

Revenge is defined as â€Å"retaliation for an offence or injury†; Hamlet has two main reasons for needing revenge, political and moral. Politically he has to kill Claudius for the offence of denying Hamlet, the heir to the Danish kingdom, his usurped crown. He also has a moral reason, as the â€Å"son of a dear father murdered†(II. ii. 581); he has a duty to extract revenge for the injury; and filially to protect his mother by ridding her of an incestuous and immoral marriage to a murderer. He has no doubt even to himself that he does have this dutiful role to perform,† I know my course† (II. ii. 596). To seek this revenge he would have to kill Claudius and his mother, for they are both guilty of having impure souls. But one of the very first internal conflicts Hamlet has is when the Ghost tells him â€Å"nor let thy soul contrive Against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven†¦ † (I. iv. 85). This leaves him in great turmoil, as he can justify to himself the killing of Claudius, but not letting his mother live. He is so overcome with a sense of purity and morality, especially with concern to women, it does not seem right to him that something so tainted should be allowed to carry on in the world. He wants his perfect revenge, one that would satisfy his meticulously accomplished conscience, but he can not carry it out, so instead he declines it altogether, or at least puts it off in stages, until he can prove it to himself and can put it off no longer. He is willing to taint his own soul and so go to hell and enter a damnation possibly even worse than that in which the Ghost resides, which he tells Hamlet just to know about would, â€Å"harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, make thy two eyes like stars start from their spheres, thy knotted and combini d locks to part, and each particular hair to stand on end like quills upon the fretful porpentine† (I. iv. 16). Yet he is willing to suffer all this for the sake of revenge in killing Claudius, to avenge his father, so to save his mother, to â€Å"leave her to heaven† (I. v. 86), when even he is not allowed this blessing. What he is giving up to be the dutiful son and revenge his fathers murder in comparison to what Gertrude is giving up leaves his worse off than her, even though she has been an adulterous wife. Therefore her being allowed to live on in sin is as wrong not only on her part, but also on Hamlets for allowing it to be. Hamlet knows what he is sacrificing of himself, his immortal soul, if he is to take on the revengers’ ri le. It is a heavy burden to carry, and not one that he is willing to undertake lightly, so he wants to be absolutely certain of Claudius guilt before taking action. For as certain as he is of the course of action that must be taken, the truth of the Ghosts words must be ascertained, for when Hamlet converses with him he does not know for certain if it is â€Å"a spirit of health or goblin damned, bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell, be thy intents wicked or charitable† (I. iv. 40). So to affirm the facts for himself, Hamlet has the players perform the play and watches for Claudius’s reaction to his own murderous and incestuous actions being acted out before him. For Hamlet this is supposed to be a resolution, a confirmation of his suspicions before he can act, a catalyst to spur him on depending on the success of his experiment. Hamlet becomes angry and disgusted with himself; he can’t understand his own lack of passion, even after proving to himself that Claudius is guilty. He is very aware of himself not crying in the rehearsal of the play, when the players are moved to tears over the story of the â€Å"rousid vengeance† (II. ii. 486) of Pyrrhus, Priam and Hecuba. As soon as he is alone, he bursts out â€Å"O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I! Is it not monstrous that this player here, But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, Could force his soul so to his own conceit That from her working all his visage waned, Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect†¦. And all for nothing† He feels miserable at his deficit, he is forced to compare himself and he comes of he worse. † What would he do had he the motive and the cue for passion that I have? †¦ Make mad the guilty and appal the free†. He again feels this lack of justified fervour when young Fortinbras goes to battle to fight and possibly to die for a land that is acknowledged to be not worth the sacrifice â€Å"we go to gain a little patch of ground that hath in it no profit but the name† (IV. iv. 18). This is again someone showing emotion and action when there is not as much reason to do so as there is for Hamlet. When he is alone he sees what Fortinbras has done as being honourable and a rebuke of his own inaction, whereas before when talking to Fortinbras’ captain, he had been cynical as to the actions they were carrying out. He analyses himself as â€Å"thinking too precisely on th’event – A thought which, quartered, hath but one part wisdom and ever three parts coward† (IV. iv. 41). He sees his need to think things through before acting as a deplorable weakness. Even he can see hat he is being weak minded and indecisive. But even when convinced he can’t kill his uncle deliberately, in a rage he thinks he has killed him, but it was just Polonius. Having proved Claudius’ guilt, Hamlet now has to act, and yet does not act straight away, but postpones it, indicating that there are also other deeper subconscious reasons that could affect him. The death of his father at the beginning of the play and the hasty incestuous marriage of his mother upset him greatly and have led to his obsessions with death, decay, sin the body and its parts and with women, purity and the defiling of them. We can see this from speeches such as, â€Å"O that this too too sullied flesh would melt†¦ Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His cannon ‘gainst self-slaughter. † (I. ii. 129) â€Å"Frailty, thy name is woman. † (I. ii. 146) â€Å"For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog, being a good kissing carrion – have you a daughter? † (II. ii. 181) â€Å"Or in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil† in which Hamlet is clearly fixed on purity, women, death and suicide. Claudius being a murder and committing incest and yet still having the crown of Denmark and outwardly appearing to be just, honourable and a good leader (quote? ) could explain why Hamlet often confuses the order of society in his speeches. This can be seen when he calls himself a â€Å"rogue and peasant slave† (II. ii.547) when he clearly isn’t, or when he calls himself â€Å"unpregnant† and likens himself to a â€Å"whore† in the same soliloquy, when he obviously is not. To Hamlet, Claudius is tainted and impure in mind and action, yet he is a good ruler of Denmark, a good king, and a good diplomat. He is efficient, confident, in control of affairs, in every way assured and poised. Hamlet identifies with Claudius in a way that restrains him from being able to kill him, hamlet has all the ability and the necessary desire, but Claudius has everything Hamlet wants, which leads to internal sub-conscious conflict on as well as his conscious conflicts. His mother’s ability to alter the direction of her affection from one person to another so suddenly hurts Hamlet, as having to share her with his own father was difficult enough, but at least was understandable. He is now jealous that someone else holds such high regard in her affections but at the same time is disgusted with her for loving someone else. But as his jealousy is repressed, as he doesn’t even admit to himself that he is jealous of his mother’s lovers, all he feels is a deep sense of disgust towards Gertrude that helps him deal with his rejection. Hamlet could be suffering from the theory that Freud developed, the Oedipus theory. This states that as children, young boys feel great bitterness and resentment towards their fathers for making them share their mothers affections and for having sexual relations with their mothers which the young boys also desire, and so they view their fathers as rivals that they would rather have out of the way. These thoughts are repressed as a form of defence for fear that their fathers will realise what they are thinking. To compensate for this they resolve the complex by over identifying with their fathers and adopting many of their fathers’ attitudes. This could be used to explain Hamlet’s impediment and self-frustration towards his revenge. He tries to carry out the task, but he is held back in some way, because he cannot kill a person who he recognises as so like himself in what he wants to be like and wishes he could do. His desires towards his mother have been so long repressed that they are now repulsive to him, but yet her remarrying brings those thoughts to his attention. He sees someone taking the place of his father in her affections, the place that he has long coveted. The nature of this usurper, a relative, makes the link between the two even more incestuous in Hamlet’s mind and even more connected towards him. This, coupled with the fact that Claudius is able to gain his mother’s affection by killing old Hamlet, ridding him, once again something that Hamlet has long wanted to do but repressed from himself, hinders Hamlet greatly from carrying out his revenge. When Hamlet discovers the identity of his father’s murderer his first instant reply is â€Å"O my prophetic soul! My uncle? † (I. v. 40). This does imply that unconsciously the idea had been in his mind and had suddenly been brought back to his awareness.