Mechanical Engineering and Agriculture Essay Example for Free

Mechanical Engineering and Agriculture Essay Engineering is a rapidly developing career field. There are many reasons why I would like to become an engineer. I am interested in SIUE’s Mechanical Engineering program. Mechanical Engineering is an exciting career field. In my youth, I was constantly designing and building an assortment of contraptions out of LEGO’s and K’NEX pieces. These objects included rollercoasters, cars, buildings, tractors, and many other machines. Growing up on a farm, I have always been interested in agriculture. There are many reasons why I’m interested in the Mechanical Engineering program at SIUE. This program offers many challenges to its students while providing them with numerous opportunities to design and build many machines and devices. I have three cousins who are engineers. One of my cousins is a civil engineer, and the other two are mechanical engineers. The first mechanical engineer designs air ducts for commercial buildings. The second designs plastic containers for a variety of companies. While these are not related to my career interest, it shows the broad amount of jobs available to a mechanical engineer. This is another reason why this program interests me. In today’s economy, knowing there’s about a ten percent unemployment rate, the ability to have a very wide range set of skills is nearly a necessity. While building small toys out of plastic pieces is much different than designing the next rollercoaster, it is how I originally gained so much interest in engineering. At the age of seven, I received a rollercoaster K’NEX set for Christmas. We opened presents at about nine on Christmas Eve. By the time we were done, it was almost ten. I stayed up building the roller coaster and finished in about an hour and a half. The design was not very complex; however, it was taller than me at the time. I also built as many cars as possible out of my LEGO’s. The fact that it was always interesting, and still is, is the main reason why I am interested in engineering. Agriculture has had a major influence on my life. I live on a farm, and many people know the ups and downs of farm life. The fact that this career could give me the ability to work at a company like John Deere or Caterpillar is very exciting. Once I graduate, I plan to work in an agriculture related field. I have grown up around it and want to see the look on my dad’s face when I design him a better tractor or combine. The salary that comes with these jobs is also a bonus since I’m used to money being short at times. Engineering is one of the most interesting and broadest career fields today. I am very interested in Mechanical Engineering at SIUE. Whether I was building K’NEX rollercoasters or LEGO cars, I have been building since my youth. Growing up on a farm has given me background for my career interests and has been an important factor in choosing my major

Alices Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass and What Al

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There: For Adults Only! Â   "'Curiouser and curiouser!'cried Alice" (Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 9). At the time she was speaking of the fact that her body seemed to be growing to immense proportions before her very eyes; however, she could instead have been speaking about the entire nature of Lewis Carroll's classic works Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. At first glance, the novels seem easy enough to understand. They are simple children's stories filled with fantastical language and wonderful worlds. They follow the basic genre of nearly all children's work, they are written in simple and clear language, feature a young hero and an amazing, unbelievable cast of characters, are set in places of mystery and illusion, and seem far too nonsensical and unusual for adults to enjoy. Even their author, Lewis Carroll, believed them to be children's stories. Yet Carroll and generations of parents and children have been wrong. While these stories ma y seem typical children's fare, they are distinctly different. Their symbolism, content, and message make the Alice books uniquely intended for adults. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson was born in 1832 in Victorian England. He was a mathematics professor, but he had a very peculiar dual identity. "Most of the time he was C. L. Dodgson, the shy, stammering mathematics professor, but on occasion he became Lewis Carroll, the dynamic fantasist and parodist" (Matuz 105). He began his career in writing by publishing typical and uninspiring tracts about mathematics and politics, but after an inspirational boat ride with three young girls, he began the... ...dventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll. The Sewanee Review XXXV (1927): 393-398. Hudson, Derek. "Lewis Carroll." British Writers 5 (1982): 265-266. Leach, Elsie. "'Alice in Wonderland' in Perspective." 1964. New York: Vanguard Press, Inc., 1971. Masslich, George. "A Book within a Book." The English Journal X (1921): 122. Matuz, Roger, ed. Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Detroit: Gale Research, Inc., 1991. Priestley, J. B. "A Note on Humpty Dumpty." I for One. London: John Lane, 1923. 194. Spacks, Patricia Meyer. "Logic and Language in 'Through the Looking-Glass.'" 1961. New York: Vanguard Press, Inc., 1971. Wilson, Edmund. "C. L. Dodgson: The Poet Logician." 1932. New York: Vanguard Press, Inc., 1971. Woolf, Virginia. "Lewis Carroll." The Moment and Other Essays. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1948. 83. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass and What Al Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There: For Adults Only! Â   "'Curiouser and curiouser!'cried Alice" (Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 9). At the time she was speaking of the fact that her body seemed to be growing to immense proportions before her very eyes; however, she could instead have been speaking about the entire nature of Lewis Carroll's classic works Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. At first glance, the novels seem easy enough to understand. They are simple children's stories filled with fantastical language and wonderful worlds. They follow the basic genre of nearly all children's work, they are written in simple and clear language, feature a young hero and an amazing, unbelievable cast of characters, are set in places of mystery and illusion, and seem far too nonsensical and unusual for adults to enjoy. Even their author, Lewis Carroll, believed them to be children's stories. Yet Carroll and generations of parents and children have been wrong. While these stories ma y seem typical children's fare, they are distinctly different. Their symbolism, content, and message make the Alice books uniquely intended for adults. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson was born in 1832 in Victorian England. He was a mathematics professor, but he had a very peculiar dual identity. "Most of the time he was C. L. Dodgson, the shy, stammering mathematics professor, but on occasion he became Lewis Carroll, the dynamic fantasist and parodist" (Matuz 105). He began his career in writing by publishing typical and uninspiring tracts about mathematics and politics, but after an inspirational boat ride with three young girls, he began the... ...dventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll. The Sewanee Review XXXV (1927): 393-398. Hudson, Derek. "Lewis Carroll." British Writers 5 (1982): 265-266. Leach, Elsie. "'Alice in Wonderland' in Perspective." 1964. New York: Vanguard Press, Inc., 1971. Masslich, George. "A Book within a Book." The English Journal X (1921): 122. Matuz, Roger, ed. Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Detroit: Gale Research, Inc., 1991. Priestley, J. B. "A Note on Humpty Dumpty." I for One. London: John Lane, 1923. 194. Spacks, Patricia Meyer. "Logic and Language in 'Through the Looking-Glass.'" 1961. New York: Vanguard Press, Inc., 1971. Wilson, Edmund. "C. L. Dodgson: The Poet Logician." 1932. New York: Vanguard Press, Inc., 1971. Woolf, Virginia. "Lewis Carroll." The Moment and Other Essays. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1948. 83.

Environmental Economics Essay

Agriculture has an instrumental role and close association in preservation and conservation of the environment and economic development. It promotes environment diversity and enhances the creation of artificial habitats. The green biomass that covers many fields forms a basis of aesthetic to the human emotions. Intensified uses of chemical in agricultural production threaten the above benefits that arise from agricultural fields. In the recent past, a growing concern has been raised with regard to the negative impact arising from agricultural related activities and policies. Legalization of substances such as pesticide and fertilizer enhance negative consequences on the environment. They contain toxic elements thus causes pollution of surface water and underground water, drainage of wetlands, air pollutions and loss of diverse life forms and habitats. Settlement scheme in implemented on fragile lands such swamps, disturbances the ecological balance in the area. Environmental issues can be resolve by promoting organic agriculture, establishing relevant institutions, formulation of legislation and policies. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members agreed that reforms should, to the extent possible, simultaneously enable progress to be made on trade liberation and environment. They also agreed to uphold the need to integrate agricultural development with environmental issues. (OECD 1993, p, 24-50) The focus of this study is therefore to examine the risk of inorganic agriculture against organic agriculture on the environment and thereafter formulate alternative strategies to foster sustainability. Environmental issues are diverse and multi-disciplinary in nature since they cut across all sectors of the economy and cultures. Unsustainable agriculture and increase in populations in the world modifies environmental issues. Population increase exerts high pressure on the economic processes to stretch, in most cases beyond the natural sustainable limit, to accommodate the excess demand (Sandler, Todd. 1997, p, 34-73) In response, the world has embarked on intensified adoption to scientific invention and advancement in technological development to improve production. Organic means of production are therefore considered redundant and barbaric in favor of inorganic agriculture. Unsustainable means of production, consequently, have widened and continue to widen environmental global challenges that threaten to cripple and suffocate the world’s economy. Studies have shown that increased use of chemical, such as pesticides and fertilizers for production in farming activities perpetuates the environmental global challenges. This puts the future livelihood for mankind at a stake and uncertain. It is therefore important to examine environmental challenges attached to intensive use of chemical for agricultural production and thereafter provide an alternative strategy to enhance sustainability. (Dutch Committee, 1994, p, 30-50) Intensified use of chemical for production is largely attributed to agricultural and industrial revolution. Population has also influenced the need to use chemicals to increase food production to meet the ever growing world demand for food. Initially, the above means of agricultural production were common in Europe and Asian continent. Abject poverty in the world has created great desire and demand for technological innovation to increase food production. Globalization and scientific advancement has therefore provided a solution to the world food demand problem. However, the solution comes with a bundle of side effects. Technological and scientific information transfer, particularly, to African countries, where poverty is obsolete and unsustainable (Andersons, L. and Bruce, Yundle, 2001, p, 50-200) Over the last three decades there has been an increasing global use of chemicals for agricultural production. Traditionally, production was based on organic means thus less environmental concerns. Merchandised agriculture has raised the public concern over the nature of the problems that arises from agricultural production. These problems are diverse and wholly attributed to environmental pollution caused by intensified use of pesticide and fertilizers. (Uri, Noel, 1999, p, 23-123) The problems are aggravated by improper management of agricultural chemicals thereby causing serious environmental issues. These pose a great problem to the survival and well-being of humanity, particularly those living in developing world. This is because fertilizers and pesticides are agent of pollution to water bodies, food sources, land, air and vegetation. The development of agriculture production through specialization and intensification of land use in recent decades has given rise to a wide range of environmental effects, both within the agricultural industry itself and increasingly, externally to it. The recognition and understanding of these consequences of modern high technology agriculture developed in the 1970s and during the 1980s progress was made in addressing these impacts. Some problems still remain however and will be of increasing importance. (OCED, p, 177) The use of chemicals for agricultural production therefore will continue to compromise the environmental sustainability. The World Health Organization estimates that about a quarter of the diseases facing mankind today occur due to prolonged exposure to environmental pollution. Most of these environmental related diseases are however, not easily detected and may be acquired during childhood and manifest later in adulthood. The indiscriminate and excessive use of agrochemicals for crop protection represents by far the greatest threat to human health, to the genetic stock of the population and to sustain agriculture and environment. At a United Nations seminar in Nairobi Kenya in 1984, it was reported that almost 370,000 people suffer from pesticide poisoning and about 10,000annually die due to poisoning. Recently, the World Health Organization estimated 500,000 fatalities due to pesticide poisoning in developing world. This WHO’s report further claims that another 400,000 cases of poisoning were due to pesticide handling and usage. (Mervyns, p, 12) From the quotation above, it is clear that the impacts of agrochemical increases with time and magnitude. This kind of trend is unsustainable and therefore threatens the future of humanity. The impact of pesticide and fertilizer on human health is crucial and therefore should never be under-estimated. The traces of these chemical causes inhalation problems. Accumulation of the elements in the body system affects the free circulation of blood in the body. Biodiversity forms a basis upon which the world’s beauty, emotional fulfillment and aesthetic appeal are based. Agriculture spices up the aesthetic-array of the world. It also creates artificial habitats that shelter migratory organisms such as birds, insects and animals. It therefore follows that agricultural production is a gene bank for scientific development. Intensive use of pesticides and fertilizers puts the existence of nature in it natural form at stake. This is because chemicals kill organisms that perpetuate natural fertilization processes thereby hindering the natural form of nature stabilization. Chemical enhances the process of mutation. This leads to evolution of hybridized species of pests which are resistant to natural mean of pest control and at times even resistant to pesticides. Loss of biodiversity as a result of chemical use in agricultural production is therefore eminent. It has been reported that, â€Å"The first sub lethal effect of a pesticide on a bird was probably the eggshell thinning phenomena first described by Ratcliff. DDE, the stable metabolite of DDE is reported to be the cause of eggshell thinning and consequent decline in the breeding success of birds of prey. † (Mervyns, p, 78) Equity is a controversial aspect of resource distribution in the world. The gap between the rich and the poor is quite disheartening. Economic processes and advancement also work towards widening the gap. Commercialization of agriculture with intensive use of chemicals, poses environmental degradation. This consequently deprives the land of its ability to naturally produce food thereby lowering its production yield. The poor depend totally on the environment for their livelihood. Inorganic agriculture is a world’s strategy to check the gap between the poor and the rich. It is widely believe that many people in the world sleep without food for many days. Increased food production, will therefore help to resolve one of the greatest challenges that is threatening to tear the earth a part. However, inorganic farming has failed to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich. The efficiency of using chemicals to increase food production is questionable. Traditional means of production were more manual, labor intensive and time consuming with minimum negative impacts to the environment. Current means of agricultural production are merchandized and more efficient as compared with the traditional methods. However, with regard to the environmental challenges, the efficiency of inorganic production to address the abject poverty in the world is low. Ecology is defined as the domestic site of organism, knowledge and the sum of the relation of the surrounding world. It is a self sustaining environment. Ecology is always sensitive to changes. Introduction of foreign substances such as traces of pesticides and fertilizer modify the ecological characteristic and identity. Nutrients like nitrate and phosphate are normally washed down into water bodies when it rains. This initiates the process of eutrophication. Eutrophication is a process whereby the water experiences enrichment with nutrients of nitrate and phosphate. Consequently water lilies, phytoplasm and algae blooms to experience luxuriant growth. This phenomenon has negative impacts on the functions of the water body. In the first place, Algae bloom forms a green like layer on top of the water thereby hindering penetration of light to the water body. Due to high accumulation of substance in the water, decaying process increases. This causes a biological oxygen demand which leads to suffocation of aquatic lives in the water body. Bad smell arises from the water body as a result of decaying processes. The value of water for domestic use therefore reduces.

Per Business Insider, Forty-Two Million Prostitutes Work

Per Business Insider, forty-two million prostitutes work in both legalized and illegalized countries. Many countries have taken different legal paths to deal with prostitution. These paths include; prohibition, making all forms of prostitution illegal; legalize, making all forms legal; and decriminalizing, normalizing prostitution. The debate of how to handle prostitution cannot be discussed until prostitution is understood. The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes prostitution as â€Å"the practice or occupation of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment.† Prior to the nineteenth century, prostitution in the US was legal in red light districts, zoned areas where there was little conflict between communities and businesses, and the†¦show more content†¦As the policies currently stand in the US, no health requirements for prostitutes are in place and this damages public health. The justice system assumes that deterring people from participating in prostitu tion will prevent the spread of sexual transmitted diseases but this is not the case and has not always been the argument against prostitution. In an article called â€Å"Why is Prostitution Criminalized? An Alternative Viewpoint on the Construction of Sex Work,† by Rebecca Hayes-Smith and Zahar Sherkarkhar, researches argue that before the nineteenth century the debate was based on moral grounds, but after the nineteenth century it was shifted to the medical issues. It is especially interesting that, â€Å"At the time doctors urged the government to regulate and license prostitution so that prostitutes would be required to take medical exams,† because medical professionals were only wanting exams while the government pushed that illegalization was the only way to prevent the spread of STDs (Smith and Sherkarkahr 45). Nonetheless, protecting prostitutes and clients from STDs is a big concern in all countries but illegalization is not the way to protect the public. In an article â€Å"What to know about Nevada’s legal brothels,† by Michael Martinez, he discusses the different health regulations that brothels in Nevada abide by. It is noted that, â€Å"The state board of health requires sex workers to undergo testing for sexually transmitted infections. Monthly blood testing isShow MoreRelatedSame-Sex Marriage and Religion: An Inappropriate Relationship8330 Words   |  34 Pagesin our society over many years now, appearing in several ballot initiatives such as California s Proposition 8. The idea of allowing two people of the same gender to enter into the institution of marriage has brought out drastic emotions and reactions from many different groups of people. Those who engage in the debate believe strongly in their convictions; the two loudest voices tend to come from the gay community and the religious community, the former arguing in favor of same-sex marriage andRead MoreAutobilography of Zlatan Ibrahimovic116934 Words   |   468 Pagesclub management became nervous. I was their biggest investment ever, and I didn t feel good in the new lineup. I was too expensive not to feel good. Txiki Begiristain, the sports director, was pushing me; he said I had to speak with the coach. Work it out! I didn t like it. I m a player who accepts the situation. But sure, fine, I did it! A friend of mine said Zlatan, it s like if Barca bought a Ferrari but are driving it like a Fiat, and I thought, yeah, that s a good argument. Guardiola