Environmental impact of the life cycle of tap water with the life cycle of glass bottled water

Environmental impact of the life cycle of tap water with the life cycle of glass bottled water Abstract In this report, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology is applied to compare the lifecycle of tap water and bottled water using the four assessment methods. The results of inventory analysis and impact assessment shows that the tap water and glass bottled water production processes play an important role in almost all of the analysed parameters. The processes that have was examined include production and transportation, the quantification of the energy used and the potential contributions to impact categories was also evaluated. It was realised that the glass bottle water production shows a relatively higher energy requirement as well as overall higher contribution to environmental impact in Climate change, ozone layer, Exotoxicity, acidification/eutrophication, respiratory organics, respiratory inorganics, radiation, carcinogens, land use and minerals. 1:Introduction Presently, industries and businesses are assessing how their activities affect the environment due to increases environmental awareness. Also, the Society is becoming more concerned about the issues of natural resource depletion and environmental degradation and many industries have responded to this awareness by providing sustainable products and using sustainable processes. Drinking water is a basic necessity, but how can this basic need be satisfied in an environmentally friendly manner. This analysis compares the entire life cycle from the water extraction to serving it up in a glass bottle in a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The systems that have been assessed in this study are: the production of inputs of tap water and glass bottle, transportation, energy used and the manufacturing process. This study was carried out with the use of the SimaPro 7 software for the inventory and interpretation of the analysis. Eco-indicator 99 (l) V2.02/Europe El 99 l/l was used as an assessment method in which the various materials and products are weighted with regard to the impact caused by them to the environment. 2:Benefits of conducting Life Cycle Assessment * Life cycle analysis encourages a more informed and broader view of the environmental impact of a product. It helps decision-makers select the product or process that results in the least impact to the environment. This information can be used alongside other factors, such as cost and performance data to select a product or process. * LCA helps to avoids generalisations about the environmental performance of a product in isolation to its total life cycle. Rather, it openly acknowledges the assumptions made, and tests the effects of the assumptions. * LCA allows producers and consumers to compare relatively, the significance of different types of environmental impacts with caution. * LCA helps to avoid the Shifting environmental problems from one place to another; It allows a decision maker to study an entire product system thus, avoiding a sub-optimization that could result if only a single process were the focus of the study. For example, when choosing between two rival products, it may appear that product A is better for the environment because it generates less solid waste than product B. However, after performing an LCA it might be discovered that the first product actually creates larger cradle-to-grave environmental impacts when measured across all three media i.e. air, land and water e.g. it may cause more emissions of chemicals during its manufacturing stage. Therefore, the second product that produces solid more waste may be viewed as producing less cradle-to-grave environmental harm or impact than the first technology due its lower chemical emissions. This ability to track and document shifts in environmental impacts of products can help decision makers to fully characterize the environmental trade-offs associated with product alternatives. By conducting an LCA, analysts will be able to; * Analyze the environmental trade-offs associated with one or more specific products to help gain stakeholders acceptance for a planned action. * Quantify the environmental emissions to air, water, and land in relation to each life cycle stage and the major contributing process. * Develop an efficient assessment of the environmental consequences associated with a given product. 3:Challenges encountered in conducting Life Cycle Assessment Performing an LCA could be time and resource intensive. Depending on how comprehensive the user wishes to conduct, gathering the data can be problematic, and the availability of data can greatly impact on the accuracy of the final results. Therefore, it is important to consider the availability of data, the time required to accomplish the study, and the financial resources necessary against the anticipated benefits of the LCA. Table 1 below shows the general challenges of LCA. Table 1:The general challenges and difficulties of LCA methodology. Goal definition and scoping In conducting an LCA, the cost may be prohibitive to small firms; also, the required time to conduct LCA may exceed product development constraints especially for short development cycles; the temporal and spatial magnitude of a dynamic product system are complex to address; definition of functional units for the evaluation of design alternatives can be problematic; allocation methods used in defining system boundaries have inherent weaknesses; complex products (e.g. automobiles) entails huge resources to analyse. Data collection Availability of data and access can be limiting e.g. proprietary data; data quality, including bias, precision completeness and accuracy ,are frequently not well addressed. Data Evaluation Sophisticated models and model parameters for evaluating resource depletion, human health and ecosystem, may not be available or their ability to represent the product system may be repulsive. Thus most times, uncertainty analyses of the results are often not conducted. Information transfer Design decision-makers often lack knowledge about environmental effects, and aggregation and simplification techniques may distort results. Synthesis of environmental effect categories is limited because they are incommensurable. According to (Keoleian, 2003)Both cost and time constraints currently limit the practice of LCA. Most small companies are not likely to be able to afford specializing in LCA and even for larger firms, the benefits of investment in LCA may not be apparent immediately. In some cases, possible cost savings may not be identified unless full cost accounting systems have been instituted. Therefore, in other for it to be more cost effective, it should be incorporated into the existing environmental management system and information systems within a firm. Also, LCA will not conclude on which product is the most cost effective or works the best. Therefore, the information developed in an LCA should be used as one component of a more comprehensive decision process in assessing the trade-offs with cost and performance, an example is Life Cycle Management. 4:Present quality examples of uses of LCA. One example of the uses of Life cycle assessment is its application in the pulp and paper industry. Life cycle assessment is used to compare the environmental impact of the use of two kinds of fuel i.e. heavy fuel oil and natural gas, in the pulp and paper production process. Another, LCA methodology can be applied to agricultural production. An example is the Life cycle analysis of sugar beet production using different forms of nitrogen fertilizers. It could be used in this aspect to quantify and evaluate the impact of the choice of different N fertilisers on the environmental burden associated with the sugar beet production system. Also, it could be applied in the bakery industry. An example is the life cycle analysis of bread production by comparing homemade bread or industrial bread. In this context, it could be used to compare the environmental effects of producing bread at home or at the bakery showing which type of bread production has less environmental effects and how the environmental effects can be reduced. 5:Guidance and LCA standards There are international standard which help us undertake LCAs in a standard way. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies) and the ISO technical committees produce international standards on a variety of topics. The ISO 14000 series The ISO 14000 series relates to numerous facets of environmental management. These series includes ISO 14040 14043 and they were prepared by the Technical Committee ISO/TC 207, Environmental Management Subcommittee SC 5, Life Cycle Assessment. While ISO recognizes that LCA is still in a growing stage of development, ISO 14040-14043 is a consensus-based, voluntary set of standards pertaining to LCA. ISO 14040 Environmental management Life cycle assessment Principles and framework: Specifies the general framework, principles, and requirements for conducting and reporting life cycle assessment studies, but does not describe the life cycle assessment technique in detail. ISO 14041 Environmental management Life cycle assessment Goal scope and definition and inventory analysis: Specifies the requirements and procedures for the compilation and preparation of the definition of goal and scope for an LCA and for performing, interpreting, and reporting a life cycle inventory (LCI) analysis. ISO 14042 Environmental management Life cycle assessment Life cycle impact assessment: Describes and gives guidance on the general framework for the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) phase of LCA, and the key features and inherent limitations of LCIA. It specifies requirements for conducting the LCIA phase and the relationship of LCIA to other LCA phases. ISO 14043 Environmental management Life cycle assessment Life cycle interpretation: Provides requirements and recommendations for conducting the life cycle interpretation in LCA or LCI studies. It does not describe specific methodologies for the life cycle interpretation phase of LCA and LCI studies. (Dooley, 2002) ISO 14040:2006 Environmental management Life Cycle Assessment Principles and framework PAS2050:2008 Specification for the assessment of life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of goods and services (Patterson, 2009) These standards set out the general process that should be followed when undertaking any Life Cycle Assessment and are not legally binding or enforceable. 6:Methodological framework 6.1:General requirements This analysis was performed using a methodological framework based on ISO (International Organization for Standardization) recommendations stated above and according to ISO, there are four phases in LCA: goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation. 6.2:Goal and scope definition 6.2.1: Purpose The purpose of this study is the identification and assessment of the environmental impacts associated with the production, use, disposal and recycling of tap water and glass bottle water. The main reason for conducting this study is to compare the environmental impact of the life cycle of tap water with the life cycle of glass bottled water, to provide information on which of production processes has less environmental impact, to understand which of the processing stages account for the highest or lowest environmental effects and to evaluate how the environmental impacts can be reduced. 6.2.2: Functional Unit (FU) The main purpose of the functional unit is to provide a reference unit to which the inventory data are normalised. In this assessment, the appropriate functional unit of water is related to 1 kg of portable water to be consumed and the equivalent amount which is 750 grams of water in the bottle 6.2.3:Study Questions The study seeks to answer the following questions: * What are the environmental impacts of tap water and glass bottle production? * What are the different materials used in the manufacture of these two products? * Which of the production processes has less environmental impact? 6.2.4: Product description The products being assessed are glass bottle and tap water. The raw material used in the production of glass bottle are dolomite, sand, feldspar, limestone, silica sand, natural gas, 2 litres of water and electricity while the raw material used in the production of the tap water are water from lakes, water from river and underground water, chlorine, hydrogen peroxide, ozone, charcoal and electricity. 6.2.5: Product system boundaries The system being assessed produces glass bottle water and tap water using the typical life cycle stages. * Cradle to material production for glass bottle and reuse. * Treatment and distribution of tap water. 6.2.6:Process flow charts The process flow for the glass bottle is represented in figure 1 below and it includes the following; Water, dolomite, soda, limestone, feldspar, sand, silica sand, natural gas, electricity, transport and waste disposal (land filling and recycling). Figure 3:The network of the Life cycle analysis of the glass bottled water. Figure 4:The network of the Life cycle analysis of the tap water. 6.4.2:Impact Assessment of the tap water and glass bottle water The comparison is made up of the environmental impact of glass bottled water and tap water. For the glass bottle water, the environmental impact is also determined by the power requirements, the basic infrastructure and in this case, the waste disposal scenario is taken into consideration which involves the recycling of the glass. The power requirements and basic infrastructures includes; Electricity, soda powder at the plant, natural gas, transport, manufacturing of the empty white glass bottle and assembly of glass bottle full of water. The analysis of the inventory carried out for the tap water shows that the environmental impact of tap water is determined by power requirements and by the basic infrastructure i.e. the electricity production medium, the pump station, portable water , water supply network and supply of water. By contrast, the recycling equipment used in water treatment is less relevant in this context. The power consumption figures (percentages) are relatively accurate as they make a 100%. Eco Eco-indicator 99 (l) V2.02/Europe El 99 l/l method was used in this study with regards to all the impact categories. For each of the two systems analysed using the SimaPro 7 LCA software, the potential contribution to climate change, ozone layer, Exotoxicity, acidification/eutrophication, respiratory organics, respiratory inorganics, radiation, carcinogens, land use and minerals are characterized. The results are presented below in histograms and in tables. Generally there are 3 steps in Life Cycle Inventory Analysis, namely: * Classification and characterization, * Normalization, and * Weighting Classification and characterization are mandatory element while normalization and weighting are optional elements (Guinee, 2002; Hauschild, Jeswiet, Alting, 2005; ISO14000, 2000). 6.4.3:Characterisation Chart 1:The characterisation under impact assessment for the life cycle analysis of the glass bottle. According to the characterisation chart above, the environmental impact is at the waste disposal scenario and assemble of glass bottle full of water but less at the transport process for all the impact categories. Table 4:Table showing the characterisation result of the impact category in glass bottled water Climate change Climate change is the change in the statistical distribution of weather over a period of time ranging from decades to millions of years. From chart 1 above, the main cause of climate change is more evident during the assembly of glass bottle full of water, emission of CO2, NOx, SO2 etc during the waste disposal stages and at the transport stage due to emission of CO2 by the lorry. These are indicated in table 4 above where they contributed 1.49E-9, -5.92E-8 and 1.31E-9 respectively. Ozone layer The ozone layer is a layer in Earths atmosphere containing relatively high concentrations of ozone (O3). This layer absorbs about 93-99% of the suns high frequency ultraviolet light, which is potentially damaging to life on earth. From chart 1 above, the main cause of the ozone layer is assembly of the glass bottle full of water, emission during the waste disposal stage and the transportation stage. These are indicated in table 4 above where they contributed 3.71E-11, -7.45E-12 and 6.47E-13 respectively. Ecotoxicity Ecotoxicity refers to the potential for biological, chemical or physical stressors that affects the ecosystems. Such stressors might occur in the natural environment at concentrations, densities or levels high enough to disrupt the natural biochemistry, behaviour and interactions of the living organisms that comprise the ecosystem. From chart 1 above, the main cause of the ecotoxicity is assembly of the glass bottle full of water, emission during the waste disposal stage and the transportation stage. These are indicated in table 4 above where they contributed 0.00779, -0.0171and 0.000516 respectively. Acidification/eutrophication Acidification is a natural process used to describe the loss of nutrient bases i.e. calcium, magnesium and potassium through the process of leaching and their replacement by acidic elements such as hydrogen and aluminium. Eutrophication is the increase in the concentration of chemical nutrients in an ecosystem to an level that it increases the primary productivity of the ecosystem. From chart 1 above, the main cause of the Acidification/eutrophication is assembly of the glass bottle full of water, emission during the waste disposal stage and the transportation stage. These are indicated in table 4 above where they contributed 0.022, -0.00425 and 0.000211 respectively. Respiratory organics From chart 1 above, the main cause of the respiratory organics is assembly of the glass bottle full of water, emission during the waste disposal stage and the transportation stage. These are indicated in table 4 above where they contributed 2.2E-10, -8.4E-11 and 2.02E-11 respectively. Respiratory inorganics From chart 1 above, the main cause of the respiratory inorganics is assembly of the glass bottle full of water, emission during the waste disposal stage and the transportation stage. These are indicated in table 4 above where they contributed 3.57E-7, -1.56E-7 and 2.94E-9 respectively. Radiation Radiation is energy that travels in form of waves or high-speed particles. It occurs naturally in sunlight and sound waves. If exposed to small amounts of radiation over a long time, it increases the risk of cancer and it can also cause mutations in genes, which could be pass on to generations after exposure. From chart 1 above, the main cause of the radiation is the assembly of the glass bottle full of water, emission during the waste disposal stage and the transportation stage. These are indicated in table 4 above where they contributed 1.11E-10,-1.25E-11 and 1.02E-12 respectively. Carcinogens A carcinogen is any substance or radiation, that is an agent directly involved in the exacerbation of cancer or in the increase of its propagation. From chart 1 above, the main cause of the carcinogen is the assembly of the glass bottle full of water, emission during the waste disposal stage and the transportation stage. These are indicated in table 4 above where they contributed 1.99E-8,-1.03E-8 and 3.41E-10 respectively. Land use Land use is the modification of natural environment into built environment such as fields, pastures, and settlements. From chart 1 above, the major impact on land use is caused by the assembly of the glass bottle full of water, emission during the waste disposal stage and the transportation stage. These are indicated in table 4 above where they contributed 0.00345,-0.00942 and 0.000176 respectively. Minerals Minerals are naturally occurring solid formed through geological processes with characteristic chemical compositions, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. From chart 1 above, the major impact on mineral is caused by the assembly of the glass bottle full of water, emission during the waste disposal stage and the transportation stage. These are indicated in table 4 above where they contributed 0.00586,-0.00357 and 0.00034 respectively. NB: From the characterisation impact category, the negative number for the waste disposal stage is caused by the uptake of carbon from the atmosphere during the water disposal scenario. Chart 2:The characterisation under impact assessment for the life cycle analysis of the tap water. From the characterisation chart above, the environmental impact occurred at the supply of water stage for all the impact categories. Table 5:Table showing the characterisation result of the impact in the tap water 6.4.4:Normalization Normalization is defined as the extent to which an impact category contributes to the total environmental burden (Guinee, 2002). When the values are normalized, comparison between impacts can be made. From chart 3 below, It was found that the main impact is from the assembly of glass bottle full of water. The main substances that contributed to this impact are; Carbon dioxide, fossil, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, lead, nitrogen oxides, particulates and sulphur oxide emissions that occurred during the manufacturing of the empty white glass bottle. The second impact is the waste disposal, this impact is caused during the waste scenario. The third impact being transport caused due to emission from the lorry taking the bottles to the retailer. Chart 3:The normalisation under impact assessment for the life cycle of glass bottled water Table 6: The normalisation under impact assessment for the glass bottled water. Chart 4: The normalisation under impact assessment for the life cycle of tap water From the chart 4 above, It was found that the main impact is from the supply of water. The main substances that contributed to this impact are aluminium, chloride and chlorine emissions that occurred during the production of the portable water. Table 7: The normalisation under impact assessment for the tap water 6.4.5:Weighting Weighting is a process by which indicators are aggregated into a single score. It makes use subjective weighting factors (Soares, Toffoletto, Deschenes, 2006). Based on table 7, the weighting under impact assessment for the life cycle of the glass bottled water is given the same as normalization. The main impact occurred at the assembly of glass bottle full of water. Followed by waste disposal and transport impact. Chart 5: The weighting under impact assessment for the life cycle of glass bottled water Table 8:The weighting under impact assessment for the glass bottled water Chart 6:The weighting under impact assessment for the life cycle of tap water Based on table 8 below, the weighting under impact assessment for the life cycle of the tap water is given the same as the normalization. The main impact from the supply of water. The main substances that contributed to this impact are aluminium, chloride and chlorine emissions that occurred during the production of the portable water. Table 9:The weighting under impact assessment for the tap water Conclusion / Recommendation From the analysis conducted, tap water contributed the least damage to the environment while glass bottle contributed the highest damage to this category. However, tap water still contributed even at a moderate effect and efforts are needed based on reducing the damages that could happen. Thus, from an environmental point of view, tap water is generally preferable to glass bottled water. If, as an exception, bottled water is consumed, its production process is much more relevant for its environmental impact than its assembly. Among the impacts identified are; * The empty glass bottles production process contributes damages to the human health and the ecosystem quality. * The electricity generation process which uses natural gas has reduced the natural resource. To overcome these problems, suggestions of corrections are as follows: 1. The use of plastic bottles water to replace the glass bottle water 2. The reliance on natural gas for electricity generation is suggested to be combined with other two types of renewable electricity generation namely: * Using 25% solar energy (considering most manufacturing industries to divert into the use of solar energy). * Using 25% hydro-electric energy 25% considering the fact that electricity could be generated from the flowing water in the water treatment plant. * Using 50% natural gas. References Air pollution information system website (2010) Acidification [online] Available from: http://www.apis.ac.uk/overview/issues/overview_acidification.htm [Accessed 12th April 2010] British Standard, Environmental management Life cycle assessment Principles and framework. ISO 14040, 2010. Curran (2006) US EPA Life Cycle Assessment: Principles and Practice. US EPA; Office of Research and Development; NRMRL; Sustainable Technology Division. Dooley. R (2001) Life Cycle Assessment Tools to Measure Environmental Impacts: Assessing Their Applicability to the Home Building Industry. NAHB Research Centre, Inc. 400 Prince Georges Blvd. Upper Marlboro, MD 20774 Jungbluth (2006) Comparison of the Environmental Impact of Tap Water vs. Bottled Mineral Water. i -ESU-services, Kanzleistrasse 4, CH-8610 Uster, Switzerland Keoleian. A (2003) The application of life cycle assessment to design. National Pollution Prevention Center, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Dana Building, 430 E. University, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1115, USA Lopes. E and Dias. A et al (2002) Application of life cycle assessment to the Portuguese pulp and paper industry. Department of Environment and Planning, University of Aveiro, 3810 Aveiro, Portugal, Journal of Cleaner Production 11 (2003) 51-59. Medline Plus website (2010) Radiation Exposure [online] Available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/radiationexposure.html [Accessed 12th April 2010] Patterson. T (2009) LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA). Sustainable Environment research centre, University of Glamorgan.

Gender Inequality Essay -- Sexual Inequality

It is only recently that sociology has begun to explore the topic of gender. Before this, inequalities within society were based primarily on factors such as social class and status. This paper will discuss gender itself: what makes us who we are and how we are represented. It will also explore discrimination towards women throughout history, focusing mainly on women and the right to vote, inequalities between males and females in the work place and how gender is represented in the media. The term ‘gender’ was coined by John Money in 1955: â€Å"Gender is used to signify all those things that a person says or does to disclose himself/herself as having the status of a boy or man, girl or woman, respectively† (Coleman and Money, 1991, 13). In sociological terms, gender is a division between men and women which is clear in society throughout the past - for example, in Ancient Egypt with the idea that there was little point in teaching women to read and write. Gender inequalities can be seen throughout many different aspects of our daily lives – from the gender pay gap, to gender discrimination in television adverts. These inequalities are accepted readily in today’s society and most fail to see that direct gender discrimination is still very much a problem in society today. In 1988, Bretl and Cantor conducted a study into gender representation in television programs and advertisements. It was found that women were more likely to be filmed in a domestic situation and portrayed as being unemployed, working part-time or in low paying jobs such as catering and sales. It was also found that 90% of the time a narrator would be male, and women were more likely than men to be seen advertising household goods (Furnham, A. Mak, T. 1999, 414). It... ...eadmin/DU/Academics/course_material/hrge_04.pdf (Accessed 19/10/11) Wright, O (2011). ‘Princesses to be given equality of succession’, I newspaper. OECD (2002) ‘Women at work: who are they and how are they faring?’ http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/28/58/18960381.pdf (Accessed 18/10/11) Arnst, C. (2007) ‘Women and the Pay Gap’ Bloomberg Businessweek http://www.businessweek.com/careers/workingparents/blog/archives/2007/04/working_women_a.html (Accessed 17/10/11) Carmen, D. (2007) ‘Why do men earn more? Just because’ Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_5735341 (Accessed 17/10/11) Barclay, A. Clarke, G. Drew, A. Morrison, I. (2007) Higher Modern Studies Course Notes. Leckie and Leckie. Allen, K. (2010) ‘Equal pay for women not likely till 2067, says research’ The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/aug/19/equal-pay-women-2057 (Accessed 23/10/11)

Law 421 Week 2

Role and Functions of Law Paper Amber Freetage Law/421 November 19, 2012 Eric Nord No matter where we are in our country, we are surrounded by many of them, and guarded by few. Some are short; some are long but no matter what they control every potential move we make day in and day out. We are talking about laws. By definition laws are, â€Å"a rule or set of rules, enforceable by the courts, regulating the government of a state, the relationship between the organs of government and the subjects of the state, and the relationship or conduct of subjects towards each other,† (Law.N. d. ). Over the years, our laws have changed and been added to in order to protect not only us as individuals but our businesses as well. Even though there have been limits placed by the U. S. Supreme Court, our Congress still exercises very broad powers to pass laws where the activity being regulated affects interstate commerce in any way (Chapter Two. P. 32). they have the authority to maintain chan nels of interstate commerce, the instrumentalities of interstate commerce, and the articles moving in interstate commerce.For our business’ this means that the Congress gets to have control or at least the final say with any involvement with vehicles used in shipping, our railways, and our beloved highways. Meaning any business transactions that are from state to state or across country the Congress can step in and change things to accommodate the law. For our business’ that rely on tourists, which many of our ocean front city’s do, it means that the cost for being open, staying open, and selling prices of items may be affected.This is true because Congress has the power to tax the citizenry and to spend the federal government’s money in any way that they see fit, as long as it generates common defense and general welfare. Another use of commerce power is within the Civil Rights Legislation. This commerce power is one that has affected our businesses, sch ools, and everyday lives because it gave Congress the power to ban any form of discrimination in places of public use (hotels, restaurants, stores).Placing this ban against discrimination allowed everyone the chance to shop, stay, work, and eat wherever they chose because those businesses made purchases or held business activity out of state. â€Å"States often wish to regulate commerce that crosses into their state borders. States are free to regulate commerce so long as (1) it does not impose a discriminatory law (such as a tax) on out-of-state businesses, and (2) the state law is a legitimate effort to regulate health, safety, and welfare,† (Chapter Two. P. 35)While we cannot go into deep detail of every law that regulates and mandates us to maintain a strict lifestyle or to keep a legit business’s doors open it is very important that laws are taken seriously so that lawsuits are prevented and as individuals, we are not put behind bars. While laws can be hard to und erstand, the ones that pertain to us as people are known or learned from experience or from our teachings. As a business owner take the time to know what guidelines we must follow in order to keep our job.In a previous employment position, knowing the laws came to be very informative. Federal laws are set to every state and no one can change them, except for the President, or Congress if all in agreement or high votes, but get to know the state laws where you reside. In a previous occupation, learning the laws became much easier when pointed in the right direction. As a full time employee, working no less than eight hours a day it became very apparent that I should be entitled to a break of some sort, but was not given one.After a few other employees started to mention this as well, we began to look into what we were supposed to be given as a break. To our surprise in an eight-hour day we should be given no less than a thirty minute break for lunch and two ten minute breaks to use t hroughout the day, according to the State work laws. However, when we looked through our employee handbook, breaks are not mentioned at all. When we asked management about the issue we were told, â€Å"Your breaks are in between customers. A little extreme but okay so we kept asking and we found out that since North Carolina is a right to work state there is nothing we can do but work as we are scheduled without breaks or be in fear of losing our job all together. So, you see laws are very important to learn and keep up with because you can be getting taken advantage of without even knowing what you are entitled. References Chapter Two: Business and the Constitution (p. 32-35). (n. d. ). Retrieved November 19, 2012 Law. (n. d. ). Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Retrieved November 19, 2012, from Dictionary. com

Learn How to Conjugate Tourner (to Turn) in French

Learn How to Conjugate Tourner (to Turn) in French If you guessed that the French verb  tourner  means to turn, you would be correct. The similarities between the English and French make it easy to remember. French students will be happy to know that this is a regular verb, so conjugating it isnt too difficult, either. The Basic Conjugations of  Tourner Among all the French verb conjugations you can study, tourner falls into the largest category. As a regular -er verb, the conjugation pattern you see here is the same for the majority of French verbs, including retourner (to return), tomber (to fall), and countless others. Consider studying a few at a time to make each just a little easier to remember. To begin, the indicative mood includes the basic forms of  tourner. Here you will find the present, future, and imperfect past tenses, which you will use frequently in French conversations. Start by recognizing the verb stem (or radical) as  tourn-. From there, use the chart to learn which ending is applied that corresponds to both the subject pronoun and the tense of your sentence. You will get results such as  je tourne  (I am turning) and  nous tournerons  (we will turn). Present Future Imperfect je tourne tournerai tournais tu tournes tourneras tournais il tourne tournera tournait nous tournons tournerons tournions vous tournez tournerez tourniez ils tournent tourneront tournaient The Present Participle of  Tourner As with all regular -er  verbs, the  present participle  is formed by adding  -ant  to the radical. This produces the word  tournant. Tourner  in the Compound Past Tense You will use the  past participle  tournà © and an auxiliary verb when forming the  passà © composà ©Ã‚  of  tourner. This is the compound past tense used often in French.   To form it, conjugate  avoir  to the present tense, then add  tournà ©. This results in things like  jai tournà ©Ã‚  (I turned) and  nous avons tournà ©Ã‚  (we turned). More Simple Conjugations of  Tourner Your use of  tourner  in French conversations will have a good foundation if you concentrate on the forms above. It will be even better if you know  the subjunctive  and  the conditional  forms. Each has their use in further defining your meaning: the subjunctive questions the act of turning and the conditional says its dependent on conditions. In written French, it is very likely that you will find  the passà © simple  and  the imperfect subjunctive. While they may not be used frequently, they are still good to know. Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je tourne tournerais tournai tournasse tu tournes tournerais tournas tournasses il tourne tournerait tourna tournt nous tournions tournerions tournmes tournassions vous tourniez tourneriez tourntes tournassiez ils tournent tourneraient tournrent tournassent When you want to tell someone to Turn! or use  tourner  in similarly direct sentences,  the  imperative  is used. This is where you can skip the subject pronoun and simplify it to Tourne ! Imperative (tu)              tourne (nous)     Ã‚  tournons​​ (vous)        tournez

How to Remember What You Read Using Sticky-Note Flags

How to Remember What You Read Using Sticky-Note Flags How often have you read a book from start to finish, only to discover that you havent retained very much of the information it contained? This can happen with any type of book. Literature, textbooks, or just-for-fun books can all contain information you really want or need to remember. There is good news. You can remember the important facts of a book  by following  a simple method. What You Need Book that is interesting or required readingColored sticky-note flags (small)Pencil with eraser (optional)Note cards Instructions Have sticky notes and a pencil on hand as you read. Try to get in the habit of keeping supplies on hand for this active reading technique.Stay alert for important or pivotal information. Learn to identify meaningful statements in your book. These are often statements that sum up a list, trend, or development in an assigned reading. In a piece of literature, this may be a statement that foreshadows an important event or a particularly beautiful use of language. After a little practice, these will start to jump out at you.Mark each important statement with a sticky flag. Place the flag in position to indicate the beginning of the statement. For instance, the sticky part of the flag can be used to underline the first word. The tail of the flag should stick out from the pages and show when the book is closed.Continue to mark passages throughout the book. Dont worry about ending up with too many flags.If you own the book, follow up with a pencil. You may want to use a very light pencil ma rk to underline certain words that you want to remember. This is helpful if you find that there are several important points on one page. Once you have finished reading, go back to your flags. Re-read each passage that you have marked. Youll find that you can do this in a matter of minutes.Make notes on a note card. Keep track of all your readings by creating a collection of note cards. These can be valuable at test time.Erase the pencil marks. Be sure to clean up your book and remove any pencil marks. Its okay to leave the sticky flags in. You may need them at finals time! Additional Tips In the course of reading a book, you may come across several noteworthy statements in each chapter or a single thesis statement in each chapter. It depends on the book.Avoid using a highlighter on a book. They are great for class notes, but they destroy the value of a book.Only use a pencil on books you own. Dont mark library books.Dont forget to use this method when reading literature from your college reading list.

Fiber optics technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fiber optics technology - Essay Example ITU-T G.651 and ITU-T G.652 (standard SMF) are the two compositional standards (Alwayn, 2004). Standards that relate to performance govern transmitters and receivers and include; Optical Transport Network the, Synchronous Digital Hierarchy, etc. Other standards are developed for specific niches. For instance, fiber optics in satellite communication begs other standards to adhere to. The deposition of dopants can be done in three standard ways: inside, outside and axial vapor deposition (Held, 1999). Moreover, advances in the use fiber optic systems has created a demand for standards that enable interoperability between telephone companies and interexchange carriers. Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) in Europe and Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) in North America (Held, 1999) are data transportation vehicle capable of supporting data rates in gigabyte range. There is not just one way of implementing fiber optic technology. For instance, the most common way for this implementation is a high-speed fiber optic local area network (LAN). Before implementing this technology, a feasibility study is made. If a company needs to go into an area where there are no pre-existing cable networks then implementation is much easier. Fiber optic technology is very different from DSL services, therefore, implementing a new technology in a blank area is much easier. However, if there are copper wires installed for transmitting data then cost justifications, minimizing disruptions for the use of SML and the cost for connecting to NPS backbone LAN, need to be made (Ee, 2004). The demand for high-speed internet usually drives the service providers to move to a better technology. The greatest hurdle preventing the widespread implementation of fiber optics is its cost. Implementing new fiber optic network is a troublesome task especially when old infrastructures like DSL and cable are already serving the customers

Abdurrahman Zeitoun and The Hero with a Thousand Faces Essay

Abdurrahman Zeitoun and The Hero with a Thousand Faces - Essay Example The object of this paper is to depict the journey of a real life hero seen through Campbell’s version of heroic adventure and dilemma. Campbell has put forward three main criteria as features of a Hero’s journey. The actions and adventures of a real life personality, Abdulrahman Zeitoun are assessed on the basis of the criteria mentioned by Campbell. The altruistic deeds of Zeitoun has placed him on the altar of a modern day Hero and can be a guiding light for the young generation to be strong and fearless in all difficult situations. The mythological set up of Joseph Campbell’s book The Hero with a Thousand Faces has expressed the adventures of an emerging Hero. With many mythological examples the book explains how different people can display courage in the face of adversities and achieve the status of a Hero by fulfilling the call of their missions. The journey of the Hero starts when he gets a call for a mission and on basis of the call he steps in a hitherto unknown and supernatural world from the comforts of his ordinary world. In this journey he faces many hurdles which he overcomes with great display of courage and determination. Eventually, he returns to his homeland equipped with all the powers of a superhero and from then on he uses his power for the welfare of his people. There are three different stages of the journey to heroism and they are Departure, Initiation and Return. The journey that one has to make in his life indicates moving forward without any hesitation and. The journey is full of challenges that one has to overtake with sheer integrity and willpower. Only by overcoming the fear of the unknown, one can emerge victorious as a true hero. The mythological journey of the Hero depicted in this book can act as an inspiration for generations to come. (Campbell, xxiv) Campbell depicts in his book the three stages through the story of a mythological character’s journey and his adventures. He uses various appropriate examples from mythology and religious history to describe the journey of his hero. He embarks on the journey when he gets a call from the supernatural and the first stage of the journey begins when he faces Separation from his own ordinary world. (Campbell, 45-53) â€Å"A sharpened edge of a razor, hard to traverse, A difficult path is this—poets declare!† – (Campbell, 21) Every man who dares to respond to the call of the unknown knows very well the dangers lurking ahead and he alone has to face them with courage and determination. (Campbell, 21). Initially he refuses to respond to the call but then he is assured of supernatural assistance. This gives him the courage to embark on his journey and face the challenges ahead. The second stage is about the hero’s Initiation to the supernatural world. In his journey to this mystic world he faces many tough challenges and tribulations but every time he overtook them and achieved victory with his extraordinary po wers. His bravery won him the good fortune of meeting the Goddess. â€Å"At their word, the word which tortures the spirit, The sick woman was turned into a corpse, The corpse was hung from a stake† – (Campbell, 99) The hero of every era at one time or the other in his life has to confront his other self either by being absorbed by it or by absorbing it. Life will throw at him challenges which will require him to let go of his pride and inhibitions and he must surrender himself to the flow to rediscover himself. In this journey the Hero was provoked towards temptations and like any ordinary man he surrendered his will power to such provocations. Still, the Holy Father gave him the chance to atone for his weakness and thus he received the chance to cleanse himself of his sins. Gradually he gets elevated to divine status and he is bestowed with powers