History of Television Essay Example for Free

History of Television Essay Television Broadcasting Malaysian television broadcasting was introduced on 28 December 1963. Color television was introduced on 28 December 1978. Full-time color transmissions of grand launched until officially inaugurated on New Years Day 1982. There are currently 8 national free-to-air terrestrial television stations in Malaysia and 2 national pay subscription television stations in Malaysia. Out of eight television channels, four of them are available in Sabah and Sarawak, and the other four are available only in Peninsular Malaysia.Transmissions in Malaysia were black-and-white until 28 December 1978. First stereo audio broadcasting was introduced in 1985 by TV3. Five out of eight channels does not have 24-hour schedule. 24-hour television was introduced in Malaysia between 13 to 16 May 1989 on TV1. The first 24-hour broadcasting in Malaysia was introduced in 2007 by TV2. Local Programming RTM had local programmings in each state until 1984, and those local stations had been replaced by relay of RTM1. RTM1 had 1 hour of local programming between 1984 to 1992. Today, RTM broadcasts the same version nationwide except in Sarawak and Sabah, which still have some local programmings. RTM have plans to re-introduce the local channels after digital switchover. The local channels had the name RTM and state name, for example RTM Pinang for Penang. Each channel had its own schedule and broadcasting hours, and some programs relay from RTM1 and RTM2 (usually news programs and government programs). Between 1984 to 1992, the local programmings was around 5:00pm on RTM1. For the new local channels, the broadcasting hours are currently unknown. Today, RTM still broadcasting radio in local, but television in national.

Starting and Naming a Business Essay Example for Free

Starting and Naming a Business Essay Betty Wilson’s venture of opening a Christian Coffee House in Belmont, NC, presents her with abundant opportunities in selecting a business form. She is considering the following types of entities: 1) franchise, 2) sole proprietorship, 3) partnership of some sort, 4) corporation of some sort, 5) LLC, or 6) even as a joint venture. We will briefly explore each business option and give Betty concise recommendations as to what business form to pursue as well as what business partners to engage. Franchise A franchise is a legal agreement between franchisers and franchisees that consents use of the franchise’s trademark and trade name or marketing plan to sell products or services (Kubasek, Brennan, Browne, 2012, p. 791). Through a franchising arrangement franchisee can profit from implementing another’s efficacious business model. One of the most attractive advantages is the high probability of success of 90 % as compared to 20 % for small businesses (Staring and Naming a Business Presentation, 2012, Slide 9). Other advantages include established franchise reputation, operational support and training, product research and development, and better access to financing. On the downside, business plan rigidity can deprive the quality of customer service and hinder a creative business owner. Thus, both the Clayton Act regulates business competition and price discrimination (15 USC  §Ã‚ § 12-27; 36 Am J1st Monop etc  §Ã‚ § 141, 142) and the Sherman Act is a federal antitrust act (15 USC  §Ã‚ § 1 et seq; 36 Am J1st Monop etc.  § 141) protect the public and small business owners from monopolization and market power. Sole Proprietorship Sole proprietors own an unincorporated business on their own and this type of business constitutes the most predominant form of business enterprise in the United States (Kubasek, et al., 2012, p. 758). Advantages of a sole proprietor include complete decision-making power, flexibility, easiest and inexpensive to start, enjoyment of all profits, no corporate tax payments, and reporting losses and income on personal tax returns. A sole proprietorship is treated as one entity with the owner. The most significant disadvantage is total personal responsibility for all debts and liabilities, which constitutes the element of risk that drives away investors to more solid business ventures (Kubasek, et al. 2012, p. 758-759). Partnership General. Similar to sole proprietorship, this type of entity is uncomplicated and less costly to create. This is an association of two or more individuals who contribute labor, money, property, and skills and consequently share in the profits of the business. A general partner exists only if the profits are shared and do not only receive a wage or salary (Kubasek, et al., 2012, p. 759). Some of the most enticing features are sharing in the decision-making control, authority different aspects of the business (i.e., management, capital, etc.), and simplified taxing. As with a sole proprietorship, a disadvantage is that each partner has unlimited personal liability for all debts, contracts, and torts. And similarly to any conglomerate of people, differences in views, standards, performance, and expectations can undoubtedly clash and encumber profitable business management. Limited. Limited partnerships consist of both general and limited partners (Staring and Naming a Business Presentat ion, 2012, Slide 4). The main difference of limited partnership to general partnership is that limited partners are not liable in sharing the debts outside the funds they contribute to the partnership. A limited partner is vastly disengaged in management decisions and operations and function solely as contributors of capital. One of the main advantages of this business structure is that they enjoy direct contact to the flow of income. In North Carolina, limited partnerships are strictly controlled by the Uniform Partnership Act (1941, c. 374, s. 1; 2000 140, s. 101(j); 2001 487, s. 20.) administrates the creation, operation, and liquidation of all partnerships formed. Finally, at any time a limited partnership agreement is breached, the business entity is treated as a general partnership. Corporation A corporation is a separate legal entity that possesses distinctive liabilities and privileges than that of their members or shareholders. As an investor, a corporation’s advantage is liability for their own investments especially in risky investments (Kubasek, et al., 2012, p. 760). Among the various types of corporations for Betty to select from, an S corporation is an enticing venture for new entrepreneurs given that it grants limited personal liability for debts, sharing of corporate profits, and taxation relief. Double taxation is a main disadvantage of C corporations but not for S corporations. The General Corporation Law (Corp C  §Ã‚ §100-2319) treats S corporations similarly to partnerships for taxation purposes. Limited Liability Company (LLC) As a hybrid of partnerships and corporations, LLC’s provide limited liability for debts and flexibility to be taxed as a partnership or corporation (Staring and Naming a Business Presentation, 2012, Slide 5). Some specific advantages include being empowered authorities in the management of the business, diversity of members, limited liability, pass-through taxation, and less paperwork (appreciated by many). A drawback of this business structure is the need for a tailored operating agreement that specifies the specific needs of the company. Joint Venture A joint venture is a business partnership that usually involves a specific purpose or goal for its formation and the partnerships dissolve after the goal is attained. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) normally does not recognize a joint venture as a legal entity so it is treated as a partnership (Staring and Naming a Business Presentation, 2012, Slide 8). This is advantageous in that the partners equally distribute authority to govern, share profits and losses, and contribute labor, money, property, efforts, and skills to expand the success of the business project (Kubasek, et al., 2012, p. 759). According to the Small Business and Work Opportunity Tax Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-28), the only type of qualified joint venture that cannot be treated as a partnership it that of an unincorporated business between a husband and wife. The main disadvantages of joint ventures are uneven collaboration, expertise, management styles, and research to reinforce sound decisions. Recommendation Business name. To determine corporate name availability, Betty must comply with statutory requirements to allow her to name the coffee shop â€Å"Gathering Place.† After utilizing the search engine for the Department of the Secretary of State North Carolina to determine the name availability â€Å"Gathering Place,† generating fifteen results. The businesses range from motels, publishers, books stores, churches, and pastry and coffee shops. Under the hospitality industry, two food service businesses resulted that are Gathering Place Cafà © Sweet Treats, Inc. located in Archdale, NC and The Gathering Place and Bake Shoppe of Fayetteville, NC. Some of the basic apprehensions to the name is that it is confusingly similar and it doesn’t target the desired consumer market. Because it is in a town with no businesses with the same title, Betty can definitely brand her business with the â€Å"Gathering Place† title. Business type. In hindsight, a LLC would grant Betty needed flexibility given the diversity of interested business partners. This business structure is well suited for individuals who can invest into a new venture and have many interested parties as well as needed beneficiaries of taxation privileges. The Delaware Limited Liability Company Act (C  § 18-1101(b) set precedent to the freedom of contract of LLC’s and obligations set forth in operating agreements. Betty would be legally well protected if she entered business with John (husband), Alice (sister), or Erma (neighbor). My recommendation would be for Betty to include John and Erma in the business endeavor and keep Alice outside the endeavor given the strong opposition of her husband. Final Thoughts We can find numerous Bible passages that warn against unequal yoking (i.e., 2 Corinthians 6:14). I would advice Betty to enter into an LLC with her husband John and Neighbor Erma. In spite of her confused perfection of her â€Å"Christian† worldview, Erma can prove to be a good business partner and profit from being in business with a mature Christian such as Betty. References Clayton Act (15 USC  §Ã‚ § 12-27). Corporations Division for Department of the Secretary of State North Carolina (2012). Retrieved from http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/corporations/searchresults.aspx?onlyactive=OFFWords=ALLsearchstr=gathering%20place Delaware Limited Liability Company Act (C  § 18-1101(b). General Corporation Law (Corp C  §Ã‚ §100-2319). Kubasek, N. K., Brennan, B. A. Browne, M. N. (2012). The legal environment of business: A critical thinking approach (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Liberty University (2012, Spring). Staring and naming a business. Legal Issues in Business class presentation. Retrieved from http://bb7.liberty.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-15354309-dt-content-rid-74512567_1/courses/BUSI561_D10_201220/presentations/Module%207/index.html Small Business and Work Opportunity Tax Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-28). Uniform Partnership Act of North Carolina ( §Ã‚ § 59-31).

Theoretical Accounts of Great Power Politics

Theoretical Accounts of Great Power Politics Postcolonialism is primarily concerned with the south, the subaltern and its past because as Abrahamsen argues, Any understanding of contemporary IR requires a careful account of the multiple and diverse power relationships that link the North and the South, both in the colonial past and the postcolonial present. (Abrahamsen, 2007) Postcolonialism finds its origins in work done with a view to give a voice to the history of the south and the subaltern that was not heard as it was silenced, even gagged by the actions of imperialist Europe. Postcolonial theory places the south and the subaltern at the centre of analyses. (Abrahamsen, 2007) It is a contextually new area of theory within the sphere of international relations that has emerged out of literary and cultural studies. The most significant movement that began postcolonial work was (and still is) the subaltern studies group that (re)examined Indian history and historiography. (Goss, 1996) The connection postcolonialism shares wit h Indian historiography stems from the counter hegemonic aspirations shared by both, Postcolonialism has strong affinities with Indian historiography, which has been motivated by a desire to retell history from the counter-hegemonic standpoints of the colonised. (Abrahamsen, 2007) On the whole postcolonialism does not, however, call for the return to a pristine, unspoilt pre-colonial culture, (Abrahamsen, 2007) and many even claim that this would be detrimental if not impossible. I will explore postcolonialism through looking at some of the key contributors to postcolonial study, namely Fanon and Said with a briefer look at Spivak and Bhabha. Within this I will touch upon the influences that came from the field of post-structuralism with writers such as Lacan, Faucault and Derrida. I will then look at the concepts of hybridity, ethnicity and location that have become revised and this more compelling in recent postcolonial work before finally looking at some criticism that has been a imed at postcolonial theory, notably from Hobson. Fanon was a very influential part of early postcolonialism; his work can be divided into three separate sections, investigating black identity, the resisting colonisation and the process of decolonisation. Fanons search for black identity is best demonstrated in his work Black Skin, White Masks. In this work Fanon suggests that colonialism and its deep rooted ideas of white racial superiority (Fanon, 1967) over non-white people has formed a sense of severance and estrangement in the self-identity of the non-white colonised people. The history, culture, language, customs and beliefs of the white coloniser are, under colonial rule, to be regarded as universal, the norm and better or higher than those of the indigenous colonised people. This produces a strong sense of inadequacy throughout the colonised and eventually, in order to counteract these feelings of inadequacy, this leads the colonised to adopt the culture and customs of the colonisers. Within the colonised this forms a divide d sense of self in identity shaping and a feeling of alienation from their own culture. Fanon also suggests that the taking on of the colonisers language and forms of representation is additionally detrimental to the indigenous people as representational stereotypes are created which were more often than not reflected on the colonised as primitive and uncivilised, as Fanon puts it, As I begin to recognize that the Negro is the symbol of sin, I catch myself hating the Negro. But then I recognize that I am a Negro. (Fanon, 1967) It is clear that Fanon is greatly influenced on the subject of identity by post-sctructuralist thinker Lacan. Particularly Lacans concept of the mirror-stage of identity formation, which occurs in early childhood and is linked to the idea of an image of completeness in the body of another person independent of the self. Fanons second phase of work relates to the struggle against colonialism (Fanon, 1967), which has strong links to his involvement in the Algerian War of independence which eventually saw him exiled from Algeria. His work on this area can be found mostly in his books Dying Colonialism and Toward the African Revolution, and with the revolutionary nature and context in which these works were written it is not surprising to discover they were heavily influenced by Karl Marx and Western Marxism. Fanons arguably most significant work on the struggle against colonialism was his interest and concern with history, much of which in his book The Wretched of The Earth. Fanon believed that the struggle against colonialism crucially involved the colonised claiming back their history from the negative or non-existent accounts that had been shaped by the colonisers. He emphasizes the crucial significance of the culture and representations of their past being essential to the formation of both new pos itive forms of identity formation and new forms of social organisation which are required in the newly independent post-colonial era (Fanon, 1967). It is the process of decolonisation which characterises Fanons third stage of critical work. Beside the recovery and reconstruction of their own history and culture as the foundation for the new post-colonial forms of nation and national identity, (Fanon, 1967) Fanon also considers two additional ideas which are of central interest to later postcolonial work. These two ideas are the concepts of colonial space and ideas related to the role of the middle class intelligentsia, sometimes called the comprador bourgeoisie, in new postcolonial nations. Both of these ideas were born out of Fanons belief that it is key for the nations that the world has given birth to in the postcolonial era to create original forms of social democracy instead of using existing colonial institutions and merely swap indigenous people into already existing administrative positions. Fanon uses the example of city structure to suggest that these colonial institutions are fundamentally racist because they replicat e, repeat and (re)create the concepts and ideas of the colonisers. This can be demonstrated through the fact that most colonial cities have areas within them where the colonial administration and businessmen live and work. These are regions of privilege which often reject indigenous people and in doing so reaffirm the ideologies of the colonisers. Fanon believes in a large scale rebuilding (Fanon, 1967) of these urban areas and all other types of colonial administration and government in an approach which will create more democratic, postcolonial forms of social organisation, in order to systematically reject the ideologies which support colonial rule. Fanon also adds that the educated groups of the colonised population need to recognise that their education is founded on the ideologies and the beliefs of those who colonised them and even though they themselves are the indigenous people, they need to be careful not to reproduce the colonisers concepts and beliefs when reconstructing in the postcolonial era. Said is, along with Fanon, one of the most important academics within postcolonial theory, It is Ahmad who has identified Saids lasting contribution, as the first to provide, a whole critical apparatus for defining a postmodern kind of anti-colonialism which, also for the first time, had little (if no) relation to Marxism (Goss, 1996) Saids most famous work, Orientalism, was a pioneering analysis of the stereotypes and colonial assumptions that are inherent in Western representations of the Orient. For Said the Orient was the people and cultures that extended from North Africa and the Middle East. In Orientalism, the argument he makes is that that the representation of the orient in the West has been as the binary opposite of the West or Occident. Said examines the Wests view of the Orient and believes that the way the Orient is seen by the west is as encapsulating everything they find awkward or unsettling to their dominant image. The West projects this fantasy image onto the largel y unknown orient and in this sense it is seen as the occidents other. Said follows this on with a discussion of how the western depictions of the orient work to re-impose colonial domination by using their own western beliefs and culture as a way of counteracting the deficient, potentially harmful qualities of local, inferior cultures. Said also believes that this Orientalism he speaks of comes in two separate forms, drawn from Freudian ideas Said labels them latent and manifest Orientalism. Said describes latent and manifest orientslism respectively as, an unconscious (and certainly an untouchable) positivity and the various stated views about Oriental society, languages, literatures, history, sociology and so forth. (Said, 1973) Essentially latent Orientalism is, as Kennedy puts it, a collective and unconscious shared set of images and attitudes that does not change through time. (Kennedy, 2000) Manifest Orientalism follows on from this as the expression in words and actions of la tent Orientalism. The negative representations and stereotypes touched upon by Said are examined further by McLeod in Beginning Postcolonialism. He looks at the defamatory way in which the Middle-East is portrayed from an orientalist perspective. A summation of the ways in which the East is represented by the West is presented by Mcleod, The orient is timeless i.e. without a concept of history until given one by the west, strange, feminine, and degenerate. In short, the East is everything morally negative in comparison to the Wests moral superiority. (McLeod, 2000) The foundations on which Said builds his work on the representations of the East by those in the West are significantly influenced by French post-structuralist Faucault and his works The Archaeology of Knowledge and Discipline and Punish. Said uses Faucaults ideas on the formulation and use of a discourse to try to firmly establish the concept of orientalism. For Foucault, a discourse is a body of thought and writing that is united by havin g a common object of study, a common methodology, and/or a set of common terms and ideas. (Klages, 2001) The archaeology Foucault undertakes is to unearth the characteristics that underpin certain statements and then try to define the reasons and situations under which these statements go on to form a discourse. There is, what some might call, a formula for identifying these statements as a discourse, I will use Saids work on Postcolonialism as an example to explain each criteria. Primarily and fundamentally the statements making up the discourse should all have a shared element of analysis, in the case of Said the element of analysis is, of course, the orient. Secondly all statements should have a shared style of rhetoric, in the case of Said this is the rhetoric of the colonisers and their belief in the West being over and above the East. Thirdly the statements need to have a logical structure of concepts, in this case concepts such as capitalism and liberalism that have evolved o ut of the Wests supposedly superior rationality. Finally there needs to be a connecting theme that runs through all the statements, within Saids work we can say that this theme is the West over and above the east in their moral, cultural and intellectual standings. Having mentioned Faucault I think it is also necessary to talk about the important influence of another post-structuralist theorist on postcolonial theory, namely Derrida. Derrida is heavily connected with the approach to critical analysis known as deconstruction, which is defined by Chambers dictionary as an approach to critical analysis applied especially to literary texts which asserts that it is impossible for any text to communicate a fixed and stable meaning, and that readers should leave behind all philosophical and other concepts when approaching a text (Chambers Dictionary, 1997) One of the themes of deconstruction is to untangle the dichotomies, or binary oppositions more specifically, that make up Western and Western-derived thought. There are an almost endless number of these binary oppositions; examples would include male-female, mind-body, rational-emotional, north-south and western-eastern. According to Derrida there is a hierarchy present in all binary oppositions with one term being dominant over the other. Importantly Derrida also suggests that the terms on each side of the dichotomy define each other and consequently are not secure. Starting with Fanon postcolonial theory has also paid a great deal of attention to these binary oppositions, particularly the ones closely related to colonialism, and the hierarchy that exists within them. Another two influential postcolonial thinkers come in the form of Spivak and Bhabha; the areas on which they focus, feminism and post-modernism to name two, and have become crucial to the thought within postcolonialism. In looking at their work it is clear that two key themes that yet again turn up are identity and representation. A great deal of work within the postcolonial sphere has been focused upon the relationship between representation and the forming of identity. Within this area there are three concepts that have been used to shed analytical light onto the subject, namely hybridity, ethnicity and cultural location. These concepts are, evidently, connected but postcolonialists dont limit themselves to these areas of critical analysis. Hybridity is essentially the mixing of two, or more, cultures, languages, beliefs or social patterns. It is seen by many, including Bhabha as a form of resistance, Hybridity, for Bhabha , is a sign of resisting domination. Hybrid identities can engender new forms of being that can unsettle and subvert colonial authority. (Abrahamsen, 2007) Hybridity can be linked with previous ideas in postcolonialism, the idea of retrieving postcolonial forms of history, culture and language in order to create new national identities is mentioned throughout postcolonial works. However, the migrations that occur inside and outside the colonies i.e. colonisers migrating into the colonies and the colonised migrating out to the colonial powers, has resulted in a much higher level of hybridity within national identities than initially thought. It had been in many early postcolonial works that one of the most prominent forms of collective resistance was the focus on a separate identity and being culturall y distinct from the colonisers. It has recently been shown how difficult identity construction of this sort is and further investigation is being undertaken in this area. The conditions under which hybridity occurs in postcolonial societies can consist of mass recognition of cultural suppression, a colonial invasion with the purpose of securing control politically and economically, and when colonial settlers migrate into an area and make the indigenous people conform to their new social patterns. It could be argued that an example of the indigenous people conforming to new social patterns can be found with the aborigines in Australia, colonisers introduced them to much stronger alcohol than they had ever been used to and alcohol abuse is now a major issue within aborigine culture, Aborigines are twice as likely to die from the effects of alcohol as their non-indigenous counterparts. (Mecer, 2007) Examples of hybridity within national identity can be seen by means of sport throughout the world, football, rugby and cricket are all of English invention and can be identified as the national sports of countries that used to be British colonies i.e. Football in African countries such as Ghana, Rugby in Australia and Cricket in India. Ethnicity, some would say, is connected directly to the idea that hybridity is strong in national identities within postcolonial areas. Previously in postcolonial theory much of what now falls under the banner of ethnicity used to be labelled race. The main reason for this is centred on the idea of blackness and being black as an identity. This idea of blackness stemmed predominantly from physical characteristics as an indicator of identity. Although this found a use when it came to the fight against racism and colonialism it came to be thought of as homogenising the experiences of all black people. Consequently this view also simplified the assorted and varied cultures within the black community. In addition to this, the idea of being black as an identity was prone to privileging black people by identifying them as the only ones to suffer from racism and colonialism. Subsequently within postcolonial work the term race has been ousted in favour of the term ethnicity. The concept of e thnicity distinguishes between cultures, religions and social activities that comprise a cultural identity whereas the physically based concept of race tends to homogenise. Additionally the move towards ethnicity shows a clear acknowledgement of hybridity and cultural identity and consequently beings them closer to the surface of critical activity within postcolonialism theory. Given the extra focus on the previously mentioned concepts of cultural identity and hybridity coupled with the move from race to ethnicity, the comprehension of the concept of cultural location necessarily becomes more sophisticated. It is no longer concerned with the analysis of a specific geographical area so much as the analysis of the cultures, religions and social activities which interact to produce a cultural identity. This change in focus away from the geographical means that crucially important populations that may have migrated around, or out of, a colonised land, perhaps taking their culture with them, are not left out of postcolonialist work. Consequently a deeper and more complex research can be undertaken on the concepts of racism and colonialism. There has been some criticism thrown at postcolonialism, perhaps as it has many branches the reach into different areas, Hobson for one argues that postcolonialism is plagued by its constant expansion, The term postcolonial seems increasingly to be straining at its seams, incorporating a proliferating series of theories with varying ontologies and epistemologies many of which are incommensurable, as even some postcolonialist recognise. (Hobson, 2007) On top of this he claims that the postcolonialist view point is narrow sighted and overlooks a vast period of time in empires did not cover the world, East/West relations have, for the majority of world historical time existed outside the orbit of empire, thus rendering a central focus on imperialism as inadequate to the task of revealing Eastern agency. (Hobson, 2007) He then argues that even though postcolonialism claims to try and undo, the Eurocentrism produced by the institution of the Wests trajectory, (Goss, 1996) it is still fund amentally flawed and even Eurocentric itself, Postcolonialists refuse to grant subjectivity to Eastern actors and thereby deny them agency. (Hobson, 2007) I have looked at the arguments and ideas put forward by the most influential writers in postcolonial theory. Fanons search for black identity, struggle against colonisation and process of decolonisation investigation, I believe, are very persuasive. Especially his look at black identity as I believe the majority of ones identity is formed through similar concepts to Lacans mirror-stage identity formation. Another convincing argument, for me, is that regarding stereotypes, binary opposition and deconstruction. A great deal is tied up within our languages, evident when there isnt a translation of certain words from one language into another. Consequently it can only lead to false understandings and misinterpretations throughout the world, especially in those places where languages are forced to co-habit such as colonial, and now postcolonial, areas. Essentially I think it is important to tackle the problem and discover the source of Western bias that undeniably exists in the contempora ry world. In addition to this, perhaps more importantly, the countries and people who have been suppressed, silenced and denied a history need to be compensated, if not least through continuing study I this area. The need, in nations, or groups which have been victims of imperialism to achieve an identity uncontaminated by universalist or Eurocentric concepts or images. (During, 1990)

Fluoride Essay -- essays research papers

Fluoride Fluoride is a mineral that occurs naturally in almost all foods and water supplies. The fluoride ion comes from the element fluorine. Fluorine, the 13th most abundant element in the earth's crust, is never encountered in its free state in nature. It exists only in combination with other elements as a fluoride compound. Fluoride is effective in preventing and reversing the early signs of tooth decay. Researchers have shown that there are several ways through which fluoride achieves its decay-preventive effects. It makes the tooth structure stronger, so teeth are more resistant to acid attacks. Acid is formed when the bacteria in plaque break down sugars and carbohydrates from the diet. Repeated acid attacks break down the tooth, which causes cavities. Fluoride also acts to repair areas in which acid attacks have already begun. The remineralization effect of fluoride is important because it reverses the early decay process as well as creating a tooth surface that is more resistant to decay. Community water fluoridation is the adjustment of the amount of the beneficial trace element fluoride found in water to provide for the proper protection of teeth. Fluoridation has been widely utilized in this country since 1945. It does not involve adding anything to the water that is not already there, since virtually all sources of drinking water in the United States contain some fluoride. Fluoridation is a form of nutritional supplementation that is not unlike the addition of vitamins to milk, breads and fruit drinks; iodine to table salt; and both vitamins and minerals to breakfast cereals, grains and pastas. The protection of fluoridation reaches community members in their homes, at work and at school -- simply by drinking the water. The only requirements for the implementation of fluoridation are the presence of a treatable centralized water supply and approval by appropriate decision makers. Some people believe that there are effective alternatives to community water fluoridation as a public health measure for the prevention of tooth decay in the United States. The fact of the matter is that while other community-based methods of systemic and topical fluoride delivery (i.e. school-based fluoride mouthwash or tablet programs) have been developed over the five decades that water fluoridation has been practiced, none is as effective as community water fluori... ...ny evidence to show that dental fluorosis is a precursor to any disease or dysfunction. Mild to moderate dental fluorosis is no more a pathological condition than is having freckles. There has never been a single valid, peer- reviewed laboratory, clinical or epidemiological study that showed that drinking water with fluoride at optimal levels caused cancer, heart disease, or any of the other multitude of diseases proclaimed by very small groups of antifluoridationists to be caused by fluoridation. Because fluoride is so effective, those fortunate enough to be provided with fluoridated water can count on an up to 40- to 50-percent reduction in the number of dental cavities they would have experienced without fluoridation. Fluoridation is an extremely cost-effective public health measure because the technology is so simple and the fluoride so inexpensive. Studies indicate that a $100,000 investment in water fluoridation prevents 500,000 cavities. Moreover, for each dollar invested in fluoridation, over $80 in dental treatment costs are prevented, amounting to an 80:1 benefit-to-cost ratio. Few disease prevention efforts, public or private, achieve that level of return on investment.

Free Glass Menagerie Essays: The Character of Tom Wingfield :: Glass Menagerie essays

The Character of Tom Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie  Ã‚   Tom Wingfield is a determined young man. He has decided against everyone else in his family's wishes that he wants to leave the dismal life of a factory job, to pursue a chance in the Merchant Marines. He realizes that he would be running off like his father and this is probably the only thing that kept him from leaving this long. Amanda, Tom's mother, deep down knows the day is coming that Tom will leave. She says "But not till there's someone to take your place." She wants Laura, if not herself to be taken care of. At that moment in the play Tom is the breadwinner in the family and up to this point Tom is the underpriviledged child that wants to move on. He wants to pursue his dream, a more adventurous life. Tom was a likable character until we find out he didn't pay the electric bill with the intended money. When Jim is over and he says "I paid my dues this month, instead of the light bill". At this point, Tom becomes a more selfish character. There is less sympathy given in his d irection. In fact, this is probably where we feel a little more sorry for Amanda. Amanda has probably not done everything right for her family, but her intentions have always been good. Tom has lost patience and wants to pursue his journey away now. There's no waiting to save the money for the dues. He doesn't stop going to the movies for a week or quit smoking to save money. He takes the money for the light bill. We know this is a painfully big deal and he has intentionally hurt his family at this point. He knows he has put himself in a position of no turning back. Now, he has to go. As if to make it okay in someway, he says, ""I'm like my father. The bastard son of a bastard! See how he grins? And he's been absent going on sixteen years!" Now we know, he doesn't plan to come back. He has justified his not feeling obligated to his family by saying he gets it naturally. He is his father's son. Of course we have to decide if Tom has a choice. Is Tom withering away where he is. His family is full of dysfunction and he wants to help Laura out also.

We Must Save the Rainforests :: Argumentative, Persuasive, Environment

Rainforests, should we cut them down or not? Probably one of the biggest questions the world has to overcome. Sure, rainforests supply us with a lot of resources and we could surely not live without cutting some of them down, but should we be cutting them down at the rate we are? To be exact, the statistic estimates 1.5 acres of natural rainforests are being destroyed every second. While this practise supplies us with resources like timber for furniture, it also reduces the amount of oxygen supply. Rainforests once covered 14% of the worlds land surface, however now it only covers a mere 6%. It is estimated that all rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years. Trees are becoming more needed and used everyday. We need them cut down for many reasons such as paper and timber, while also needing them ‘untouched’ for other reasons like oxygen, we have to ask ourselves, which is more important? At the current rate, most of the rainforests are being cut down for resources like paper and timber, but less importance is being placed on main resources like oxygen. Simply speaking, rainforests are basically the foundation of the earth. The most important role that rainforests play is ‘the lungs of the earth’. This is extremely vital to the earth’s survival as the trees and plants absorb carbon dioxide which they use to help grow and let out oxygen which we need to live. This system is known as the carbon-oxygen cycle and with numbers of rainforests declining, it is highly threatened. The largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon, alone is known to produce half of the world’s oxygen. A break down in the carbon-oxygen cycle means that we will not only have less oxygen, but an increase in carbon dioxide which eventually leads to global warming. This occurs as carbon dioxide traps heat which actually keeps the earth warm, with the right amount of carbon dioxide that is. This is called the greenhouse effect and occurs naturally however due to decreasing number of trees, there is more carbon dioxide than needed which trap s extra heat making the earth hotter than needed, this is known as global warming which also causes a rise in sea level. The world’s climate is kept stable and suitable to live in, mainly by rainforests, in a number of ways. They are often known as ‘climate controllers’. They keep the planet cool, as they absorb much of the suns heat, instead of reflecting it back into the atmosphere. We Must Save the Rainforests :: Argumentative, Persuasive, Environment Rainforests, should we cut them down or not? Probably one of the biggest questions the world has to overcome. Sure, rainforests supply us with a lot of resources and we could surely not live without cutting some of them down, but should we be cutting them down at the rate we are? To be exact, the statistic estimates 1.5 acres of natural rainforests are being destroyed every second. While this practise supplies us with resources like timber for furniture, it also reduces the amount of oxygen supply. Rainforests once covered 14% of the worlds land surface, however now it only covers a mere 6%. It is estimated that all rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years. Trees are becoming more needed and used everyday. We need them cut down for many reasons such as paper and timber, while also needing them ‘untouched’ for other reasons like oxygen, we have to ask ourselves, which is more important? At the current rate, most of the rainforests are being cut down for resources like paper and timber, but less importance is being placed on main resources like oxygen. Simply speaking, rainforests are basically the foundation of the earth. The most important role that rainforests play is ‘the lungs of the earth’. This is extremely vital to the earth’s survival as the trees and plants absorb carbon dioxide which they use to help grow and let out oxygen which we need to live. This system is known as the carbon-oxygen cycle and with numbers of rainforests declining, it is highly threatened. The largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon, alone is known to produce half of the world’s oxygen. A break down in the carbon-oxygen cycle means that we will not only have less oxygen, but an increase in carbon dioxide which eventually leads to global warming. This occurs as carbon dioxide traps heat which actually keeps the earth warm, with the right amount of carbon dioxide that is. This is called the greenhouse effect and occurs naturally however due to decreasing number of trees, there is more carbon dioxide than needed which trap s extra heat making the earth hotter than needed, this is known as global warming which also causes a rise in sea level. The world’s climate is kept stable and suitable to live in, mainly by rainforests, in a number of ways. They are often known as ‘climate controllers’. They keep the planet cool, as they absorb much of the suns heat, instead of reflecting it back into the atmosphere.

The Wound Dresser – John Adams

The second piece I reviewed was entitled The Wound Dresser. This is a composition for chamber orchestra and baritone singer. John Adams based this piece off of The Wound Dresser, a poem by Walt Whitman. The poem was written in in 1865 and was based on Whitman’s experiences working as a nurse in the American Civil War. John Adam’s is most often recognized as a minimalist, and well known for his pieces Doctor Atomic, and Short Ride in a Fast Car. You can hear examples of minimalism all throughout the piece.What I found interesting was that when Adams was working on this piece, his father was dying of Alzheimer’s disease. This gave Adams the ability to connect with Whitman’s poem on a much deeper level. Not just by having an awareness of dying, but by caring for people who are dying. Lyrically, this piece start out with a man reminiscing of caring for wounded soldiers in the hospital. It was his job do change the dressings on the wounded soldiers. What I noti ced most was how Adams reflected the mood and tone of the lyrics by using odd combinations of instruments, and unusual harmonic combinations.The bugle style trumpet, with a synthesizer, and some extreme ranges on the first violin produce a sense of misery or weakness that couples with the baritone’s lyrics perfectly. The first violin’s solo was beautiful but yet projected a somehow painful, sorrowful feel. When the strings all began to play, it was slow The piece starts out with just violins, and the first violin playing a solo in an usually high register. The double basses begin playing legato and slowly fading in and out. If pain and sorrow could be written through music, then John Adams did it in this piece.I heard them eventually playing pizzicato, with strings still sweeping in and out. That moment was beautiful. There was a trumpet solo, which somehow sounded distant. Upon reflection I realized that it had the same effect that Adams used in his piece Distant Trum pet written in 1986. The lyrics were shockingly disturbing. Not something that I was expecting to hear. They were many points in the baritone’s melody that it sounded atonal. It was dark, and miserable from every end. Lyrics like â€Å"come, sweet death† implying that death would be complete joy for him.I couldn’t quite pick a structure out of the piece, but at the end, I heard a returning theme in the first violin. All in all, this piece was beautifully miserable. Like always, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the CPO. I heard the Chorus for the first time, I also heard a synthesizer be used for the first time. I hope to hear different versions of Ave Maria and Ode Joy as well. This experience was impacting and inspiring. It made me desire to strive to a new level in my musicianship that I have never been to before.