The Function of Desire in Relationships Between a Man and a Youth Essay

The structure and capacity of various sorts of sexual connections were a significant piece of Athenian culture, and numerous standards and conventions conformed to these connections dependent on the mores of society. The male residents were viewed as the most significant fragment of the populace, and numerous Greek essayists address the social shows, goals, and convictions that conformed to these connections. The three principle sorts of sexual connections that included a male resident are marriage, the connection between a youngster and a more seasoned guide, and sexual experiences with whores. Plato’s Symposium, an exchange on the idea of adoration and want, portrays a large number of the convictions that Athenians held, particularly about the connection between a man and a young. The principle focal point of this paper is the perfect capacity and spot of want in these male with male connections, and the advantages this specific bond held for society. The socially acknowledged structure of these connections between an Athenian man and youth was described by interest and romance with respect to the man. He was to pursue an appealing youth, planning to make him his darling [eromenos]. The more seasoned man was relied upon to be the forceful accomplice, seeking after the adolescent out of his suggestive want. Thus, the adored was required to be the inactive accomplice, dismissing the man’s progresses for a decent measure of time, and afterward to enter the relationship to pick up the more established man as a guide, not as a sexual accomplice. This forceful man and aloof youth structure proceeded into sexual acts, with the more seasoned male going about as the prevailing, infiltrating accomplice, while the more youthful man was the latent open accomplice. As indicated by social guidelines, be that as it may, it was considered emascul... ...in parentage of any youngsters the spouse may bring forth after this time. In the domain of legislative issues, an inability to serve or to satisfy ones obligations was additionally a stain on the respect of the family and family-it is depicted as substantially more open than the perfect private bond among sweetheart and darling. This appearance of Celestial love profited both the sweetheart and adored, just as serving society by making a solid bond that was described by its respect and excellence. This security created the most remarkable type of steadfastness a resident man would understanding, and he accepts that more than some other dependability, this adoration would make men noteworthy in fight, legislative issues, and business so as to make their dearest glad. Thusly, the adored tried to learn structure his tutor so as to turn into a good resident and individual, in the end giving these qualities to his own darling.

What is the link between individual learning and organisational Essay

What is the connection between singular learning and hierarchical learning - Essay Example This principally requires the responsibility and commitment of the top administration since top administration essentially expect the dynamic force. The procedure of hierarchical learning incorporates presentation and usage of progress. Change presentation and execution is probably the greatest test before a director in light of the fact that the change causes upgrading of the hierarchical strategies which is against the privileges of a few partners, the greater part of which are inside the authoritative workforce. Similarly, singular learning is aimed at reflecting upon individual encounters so as to distinguish the mix-ups just as methodologies that might be received later on so as to stay away from them. As individual learning includes revising individual conduct to improve things, it is simply the principle segment advancement. Change is the essential component of both association learning and individual learning. The organization experiencing the change makes one not the same as the other, however both impact and are affected by one another. The connection between singular learning and the association learning is exceptionally solid but then feeble. The two may not generally be combined up with one another. An association might be able to take educated choices with the greater part regarding its staff being unlearned and the other way around. This paper examines the connection between association learning and individual learning. Singular learning, as the name shows, mirrors the level or degree to which people of an association are found out. Individual’s learning is of incredible centrality to the association since association accomplishes its goals with the endeavors of people that make some portion of it. Despite the fact that individuals’ learning is a significant component of authoritative accomplishment overall, yet it isn't the sole determinant of the accomplishment as the choices and activities coming about because of individuals’ learning need the help and endorsement of particular offices and specialists which are outside the ability to control of the people. In an authoritative arrangement, individuals are composed in a various leveled structure which is commonly known as the association structure. Various people are alloted various jobs and obligations inside the association structure and everyone is considered responsible as far as it matters for him of the game. As needs be, there is a circulation of dynamic force among the authoritative faculty. In an ordinary arrangement, subordinates normally are not associated with the dynamic and the top administration accept total dynamic force, however it is one of the trademark highlights of educated associations that they do include and pick up the assent of subordinates in the dynamic while resting a definitive force with the top administration. In the traditional arrangement, a subordinate might be educated, experienced and actually solid, however these characteristics of the subordinate are of little significance in light of the fact that their presentation is limited by the negligible job of the subordinate in the accomplishment of the hierarchical targets. The people don't expect enough rights to exercise and in this manner need to give up before the authoritative culture. Learned associations are described by the inclusion of complete association structure in the dynamic procedure. In spite of the fact t hat subordinates are not capable enough to comprehend the complexities and prerequisites of

Career Planning How to Choose and Climb the Career Ladder

Career Planning How to Choose and Climb the Career Ladder It’s rather common to find yourself in a job you don’t enjoy or simply discover yourself a bit lost about where you’re going professionally. At the same time, you probably have dreams of what you’d love to do, but you might not know how to go about achieving them. © Shutterstock.com | Sergey NivensIn these situations, career planning should be something to consider. In this guide, we’ll explain what career planning is and the steps you need to take to choose and climb the career ladder.WHAT IS CAREER PLANNING?Career planning is a process, which helps you manage and understand your own learning and development. It’s a long-term process and you should focus on career planning throughout your career. It’s therefore, not a one-time plan, but a creation of a plan, which you can regularly update and re-evaluate.Whilst you should regularly re-examine your career plan, there are a few occasions when it’s especially beneficial to do so.When you are starting at university or other career school.When you are about to finish your studies.During your career, especially when you are training or taking extra courses.During job changes, such as looking for new jobs or if you’ve lost your job.Although career planning is a process best started when y ou’re still studying, you don’t need to feel it’s too late to start if you’re in the later stages of your career. Wherever you are in life in terms of your career, you can always give it a better sense of direction by venturing into career planning.The aim of career planning is to help you:Better understand your interests, skills, values and preferences, especially regarding your career, but also personal life.Find the work and the learning options suitable for you in terms of your skills and goals.Ensure the work and career you choose fits your personal circumstances.Manage the changes that happen in both your career and personal life.Career planning isn’t difficult. In fact, it can provide more direction to your life and make your job more fulfilling and exciting.Listen to Apple CEO Tim Cooks experience with career planning. WHAT SHOULD YOU KNOW BEFORE CHOOSING YOUR CAREER LADDER?Career planning and career ladder climbing should always begin with two simple steps.First, you need to understand your strengths and weaknesses and second, you must figure out the skills your ideal job requires.Step 1: Mapping your strengths and weaknessesFinding the right career path is easier once you know more about yourself. It’s not a good idea to pick a job randomly, without thinking about the strengths your skillset and personality might bring to the role. In addition, understanding the weaknesses you have can eliminate the roles you would not enjoy.For example, not all of us are interested or even good at helping out other people. If you don’t critically analyze your own personality, you might find yourself in a customer service job you hate.The best way to start mapping out your strengths and weaknesses is by answering the following questions:What are my strengths? Perhaps you can speak five languages or you are good at solving problems. You want to use this as a guide to finding the careers that require these skills.What are my weaknesses? You might not be g ood at math or you don’t like to spend time with children. These can help you eliminate career paths, like accounting and nursing, which you are clearly not suited for.What are the things I want from a job? Do you want to be part of a team or work on your own? Is financial reward important to you? It’s crucial to think what ultimate drives you professionally.What are the things that are the most important to me, both in personal life and in a career? Are you more family or career oriented? Do you value having flexible schedule?The above questions are worthy of asking even if you are already employed. It’s never too late to start thinking about our own values and personality. It might well be that your strengths over the years have changed and it’s time to change the career path with them.Furthermore, you should also think about the follow-up questions:Where am I now professionally? This can be both the subject you’re studying or the job you currently hold.Where would I wan t to be professionally? What is the role you’d rather be in, in case it isn’t the one you are currently studying for or holding a job?If you are struggling with some of the questions, such as understanding your strengths and weaknesses, it can be a good idea to ask advice from friends and family. They might point out characteristics that you didn’t necessarily think as your strengths.Learn the key to success from Chess Grandmaster Gary Kasparov. Step 2: Mapping the skills needed for your ideal jobThe above is going to help you find a direction for your career path. You can examine your strengths and use them to find the ideal career for yourself. You can even use career tests for determining a list of suitable roles based on your personality.Your next move is to map out the skills you need to achieve in order to fulfil the dreams you have in terms of your professional goals. Start by answering the following questions:What careers meet my skills and my interests? Have a list of the roles that suit your skills and interests the best.What are the best ways to obtain the required skills? Is it by studying or through work experience, for example?What options do I have for pursuing my favorite career? Where do I find them? Does the career require a degree or a specific set of qualifications? How and where can you obtain them?What non-work activities am I pursuing that might help me? Depending on the career it might be that your hobbies give you an added advantage. For example, you might be an amateur photographer who wants to eventually become a renowned wedding photographer.The idea is to create a list of the options you have in terms of your career path. For instance, it can be possible to start your own bakery business by studying at a baking school or by pursuing it as a hobby at first.Check out the TEDx video about finding a career  youll love. PLANNING YOUR CAREER PATHThe above steps helped you understand your skills, needs and values, and to find out ho w these can help you get on the right career path. Your next move requires you to focus on creating a career path that gets you on the career ladder.Develop a career roadmapFirst, you need to develop a roadmap of the career goals you’d like to achieve. The roadmap should include the ultimate goal, the dream career or position you want to have. This could be the dream of starting your own construction business, becoming a CEO of a fashion company, or obtaining a good management job at a hospitality firm, for example.Furthermore, the roadmap needs to include the short-term milestones that get you closer to this ultimate goal. The milestones should be annual, meaning your ultimate goal is set to around 10 years time, for instance. For that duration, you can then identify 10 or less smaller milestones, which ensure you achieve the goal in time.Start by researching the different career routes that can get you there. For instance, in order to become the CEO, you might first want to gain experience as a middle manager, a senior manager and so on.Part of the roadmap will also include skill development. In most instances, in order to progress on the career ladder, you’ll need to constantly develop your skills and gain experience in the industry.When it comes to training and skills, think about:What are the new skills you need to meet your next career objective and to reach the milestone? Your next move might require a course on a specific subject or technique, such as the ability to use certain accounting software. You might also need to gain experience in middle management for three years before looking for a promotion. Maybe you need to be able to code.What are the new trends within the industry you need to know about? Your industry might have started using new technologies or techniques, which could help you on your career path. For example, as a beautician you’d need to learn about new facial care products and even techniques.Study your past routeThe second p art of the planning process is especially important for people who are already on the career ladder. It helps analyze the past choices and evaluate their importance going forward. Nonetheless, everyone should keep the step in mind, when re-evaluating his or her career path.The idea is to regularly look at the milestones created above and see if you are achieving your goals. You also want to focus on the right and wrong decisions you’ve made in terms of your career. By understanding the right moves and perhaps more importantly the wrong ones, you can use the knowledge to your advantage.For instance, you might realize that taking time off to study has stalled your career progression and it would be more beneficial to simply train while working.It’s auspicious to have a career roadmap, not just for the future, but also of the past. The roadmap of the past will allow you to reflect on the past choices. You should list all of your past career moves, both jobs and studies you’ve und ertaken. Include the changes you’ve experienced. Once you’ve done it, examine the roadmap closer.Ask yourself:What is good about your past choices? What are the roles that have got you ahead?What would you do differently now? Are there specific career choices that didn’t work out as well for you?HOW TO CLIMB THE CAREER LADDER QUICKER?Climbing the career ladder can be difficult, especially if you don’t have a career plan. Therefore, it’s essential to focus on the above points before you try to speed up your career progression. The above would have provided you with goals, short- and long-term, and cleared the path to achieving them.Once you are clear about your objectives, you can climb up the career ladder quicker by focusing on two steps. You want to learn to use your accomplishments as a tool and point out innovative ideas for your managers and colleagues in order to gain recognition.Step 1: Keep a record of your accomplishmentsSome people are rather shy when it comes to their achievements, but in order to climb the career ladder you must learn to take pride in the work you’ve done. You shouldn’t become arrogant, but you need to take ownership of your accomplishments.Start by keeping a clear record of the things you’ve achieved during your career. This should include promotions, bonuses for exceptional work and any other industry related awards you might have achieved. Include any other major accomplishments that can highlight a particular skill of yours. Perhaps you’ve been recognized by a charity or a non-profit organization for your voluntary or even paid work.Ensure the accomplishments reflect on the skills and characteristics required in the roles and jobs you are aiming for. When you are ready to move on the ladder, communicate these accomplishments clearly to the prospective employer. Remember that depending on the role and the point you are in your career, certain accomplishments are better suited for the application.You want to use the achievements at the core of building your resume, as they can instantly highlight the transferable skills you have. With a resume full of the right kinds of accomplishments, you can start taking your career to the next level.You shouldn’t just mention your achievements when applying for new roles.In fact, it is important to keep mentioning the positive feedback you receive to your managers. For instance, if your clients are telling you that you do an amazing job, you can let your boss know about it in a non-arrogant manner. You can write a quick note to them, saying, “Hi, just wanted to let you know that I sealed the deal with client A after weeks of negotiating. A just sent me email stating how happy they were with the results. Great news!”In short: Be the employee every employer wishes for. Step 2: Point out opportunitiesFinally, in order to boost your chances of being hired further on the career ladder and climbing closer to your goal, you need to be active in the work place. Taking the initiative and making recommendations around the workplace can ensure people take notice.If you identify a problem in an organization or simply a better way of doing something, don’t be afraid to talk about it with the management. Don’t suggest changes by saying, “You’re doing this wrong”, but point out the benefits of changing course.For instance, “I was thinking about the accounting software we use and found out about this other program. I looked at it briefly and it seemed to be able to do these two functions at the same time with less cost. I thought you might be interested in having a look.”You don’t want to be pointing fingers or accusing others of doing things wrong, but rather, explaining the benefits to everyone of the different approach.The saying, “The early bird gets the worm’ is true. If you are actively looking at ways to solve problems or improving the organization you work for, you are presenting yourself as an innovative and ent husiastic worker. The ability to think outside the box will surely be noticed by the organization.The ability to innovate also refers more widely to the industry you operate in. Don’t lie low and just hope you can climb the ladder some day. Become an active member within the industry and try to find ways to make it better. This means participating in business events, blogging about the industry, participating in seminars and speaking about the sector, and continuously improving your skills and understanding.Finally, a great way to network with contacts and to improve your career progression is by mentoring. If you can be the guide for new people in your organization or mentor other entrepreneurs, you create a powerful networking opportunity. Furthermore, you’ll also develop your personal brand into someone who’s trustworthy and helpful.Climbing the career ladder isn’t about elbowing other people out of the way. If you help others than they are more likely to return the favor . The young boy delivering goods at your company might well be the CEO of a company one day. If you gave him tips, he might well hire you as the VP of his company.CONCLUSIONChoosing the perfect career path requires careful examination of yourself and the options around you. It is important to take time to carefully map your interests and dreams because finding the right career will guarantee you’re more satisfied in your personal life as well.In order to steer your career towards the right objectives, you need to remember to stay positive and behave in a constructive and positive manner. Climbing the career ladder requires constant re-evaluation, but it’s always best achieved when you approach it positively.

Analysis and Asses the Challenges International Companies Face in China Free Essay Example, 2500 words

A large number of foreign companies, particularly consumer goods companies, position their products targeting the biggest and most sophisticated markets, such as Beijing and Shanghai. A number of global companies like the FMCG majors Coca-Cola, Nestl , and Procter Gamble are having good success having touched billion-dollar sales with this strategy. But other foreign companies have found or still finding it extremely difficult to cross even the break-even cost. It is such a difficult situation for the companies. Foreign companies will continue to target and strive in the premium segment as the market is still growing and margins are big enough to earn a reasonable return and also it is easy for them to strike a perfect or in other words easy communication with the elite segment. But whether foreign players have already hit the $1 billion mark or are still striving for their first $100 million, many companies expect big growth in the much larger middle- and lower-income segments, wh ich account for 90% by volume of China's entire consumer goods market. (forbes. com, 2004). The local companies just follow selling the concept and just have the strong communication advantage and nothing else. We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis and Asses the Challenges International Companies Face in China or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page Meanwhile, the Asian world was offered the empty promise, "Pepsi will raise your ancestors from the dead! " (Wadharmi).

The New House Bill 4321 - 1466 Words

The ombudsman is supposed to protect detainees who are part of the immigration system; to make sure that their rights have not been and are not being violated by those belonging to the immigration system. His position is supposed to change how detainees will be represented and treated while being held in detention centers. The position also entails that they have the right to give suggestions on how to improve the administrative practices, services, and responsiveness of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration. They also have other responsibilities in which their position is supposed to better the relationship of the Bureau, the detainees, and the people in the United States. The new House Bill was giving the ombudsman more responsibility than what the original bill had stated. There still was many issues within the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration. House Bill 4321 objective, for this section, was to increase the possibilities in how the ombudsman could help improve the depart ment. The new House Bill 4321 is fixing the issue that the people in the United States have with the people working in the detention center and how they function. People have many critiques on the cleanliness, structure, function, health facilities, respect, and accountability that detainees are receiving while being in custody. Many people criticize detention centers because they are not clean, and they have human being living in a place that is dirty and unsanitary. People fighting theShow MoreRelatedU.s. Lng Exportation Policy And The Wto8704 Words   |  35 Pagesashx?n= PETs= WTIMUS2f=W (last updated Oct. 22, 2014); US. Natural Gas Imports Exports 2013, U.S. ENERGY INFO. ADMIN., U.S. DEP T OF ENERGY, http://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/importsexports/annual/ (last updated May 28, 2014); 3 IHS, AMERICA S NEW ENERGY FUTURE: THE UNCONVENTIONAL OIL AND GAS REVOLUTION AND THE US ECONOMY 11 (2013). 9. See, e.g., AM. PETROLEUM INST., WHAT Is FRACKING AND UNCONVENTIONAL OIL AND NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENT? (2013), available at

Mind Styles examined in American Psycho Free Essays

Desires and fears seem so different, yet are at the root of each other. If you say, â€Å"l want to be loved,† it’s the same thing as saying â€Å"I’m afraid I won’t be loved. † Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and Ford Madox Ford’s The Good Soldier manage to show how similar desire and fear truly are. We will write a custom essay sample on Mind Styles examined in American Psycho or any similar topic only for you Order Now Wuthering Heights is saturated with desire and fear and the two play off of one another in a way that makes them so homogeneous. Similarly, The Good Soldier draws on the desires of many of the characters and in turn the fears, which encapsulate them. Both Bronte and Ford engage with these deas through the use of character, theme, and in a more generic way narration. Desire is linked most commonly with the romance novel, which is what The Good Soldier and Wuthering heights partially allude to. Many scholars classify Wuthering Heights as a gothic novel, even though the story centers around romance and relationships.. Wuthering Heights engages with the concept of desire from its opening pages. Bronte uses Lockwood’s desire for sociability or what could be looked upon as companionship, as an early device for a theme that is continued throughout the novel. The opening lines show Lockwood’s opinion of Heathcliff: .. Mr Heathcliff and I are such a suitable pair to divide the desolation between us. A capital fellow! He little imagined how my heart warmed towards him when I beheld his black eyes withdraw so suspiciously under their brows, as I rode up, and when his fingers sheltered themselves, with Jealous resolution, still further in his waistcoat, as I announced my name. (Bronte, 1847,2000:1) The opening lines of the novel show Lockwood relating his first visit to Wuthering Heights, and his initial meeting with Heathcliff. This extract shows the reader how much Lockwood yearns for companionship. The phrase suitable pair suggests that he and Heathcliff are quite similar. However we the reader know that this is far from the case. Heathcliffs abrupt and dismissive manner would be enough to deter any individual for want of his company, but this does not seem to perturb Lockwood. Lockwood continues to pay reverence towards Heathcliff coining him as ‘a capital fellow. Taken in its context this phrase suggests that Heathcliff is a first rate person. We can see that in this lonely secluded moor Lockwood seems to overlook Heathcliffs abhorrent nature in favour of his comradery. If we take the less obvious meaning of ‘capital’ we can see that this word applied to Heathcliff is appropriate in the sense of someone who has the desire to acquire capital and Heathcliff is Just that, someone who wants to have money and land. Desires in The Good Soldier are similarly expressed through relationships. At the beginning of Dowell’s narration he states: If for nine years I have possessed a goodly apple that is rotten at the core and discover its rottenness only in nine years and six months less four days, isn’t it true to say that for nine years I possessed a goodly apple? Ford, 191 5,2010:29) This quote encapsulates everything that is tlawed witn Dowell Narrating the story in retrospect Dowell is aware of all events that have passed, even if it is only through what he has been told from Edward and Leonora. The fact that Dowell compares the couple’s relationship to an apple gives one the impression that it is something that will not last for very long. The shiny nature of an apple is the couples’ fapde that Dowell does not wish to destroy. Even after learning of Edward’s relationship with Florence he still thinks of him as the English gentleman’ and has a high opinion of im throughout his narration. Not only is Dowell’s desire that of stasis but also of nostalgia. He does not wish to think of the couples’ relationship as rotten but only as it was seen from the outside, unblemished and oblivious. It is ironic that Dowell should describe the couples as ‘ four people with the same tastes, with the same desires’ even though they are polar opposites of one another (Ford, 191 5,2010:29) . Dowell is a passionless individual whereas Florence will go to any lengths to obtain her sexual desires. Edward and Florence share the same desire of adultery and social status. It would seem that both Dowell and Leonora have the same desire to help facilitate their partner’s secret affairs, although in Dowell’s case he is completely unaware of it. Ford uses Dowell’s naivety as a tool for his desire for things to remain as they are. In Wuthering Heights Bronte uses characterisation to build a foundation for a complex array of desires. According to Phillip Hill â€Å"Desire is marked by the use of language and signifiers, and is a ‘lack for something that is missing: the object of desire† (Hill, 1997:65). Bronte uses Cathys desire for Heathcliff as one of the main focal points of Nellys narrative. Cathys demand is to return to her childhood relationship with Heathcliff. Out of this comes her desire to be with Heathcliff. She states ‘ he shall never know how I love him†¦ because he is more myself than I am Once a desire is obtained then it is no longer remains the object of desire; another object will become substituted in its place How to cite Mind Styles examined in American Psycho, Papers

Virtual Reality in Construction

Introduction Over the past 3 decades, building design has become increasingly complex due to the necessity of having to incorporate both the technological aspect of modern living (i.e. electrical wires, telecommunication systems, and interior ventilation) as well as the increasing popularity of built in appliances and furniture (i.e. hidden storage spaces, movable beds, etc.).Advertising We will write a custom coursework sample on Virtual Reality in Construction specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This, according to Goulding et al. (2012), has lead to numerous problems within the industry wherein architects, builders and engineers alike need to deal with having to translate complex 2D designs on paper into a working and functioning interior and exterior of a building in real life (Goulding et al. 2012, pp. 103-116). Not only that, one of the more unfortunate trends in the present day construction industry is the need to construct bui ldings within a relatively short period of time in order to save on the cost of labor and utilities. As a result, some construction projects tend to run 24 hours a day with multiple labor shifts being implemented in order to ensure that the building is completed as fast as possible. Li et al. (2003) states that such a method of construction, while impressive in terms of cost savings and completion time, can lead to mistakes in the building design since supervisors cannot be around 24 hours a day to ensure that the designs are completed according to their specifications (Li et al. 2003, p. 561). Another factor that should be taken into consideration is the fact that many constructions companies around the world, particularly those in China and the Middle East, tend to hire foreign design firms in order to create visually stunning buildings that have complex inner workings. At times the normal working relationship between an architect, the building’s engineers and laborers does not exist since the architect is on another continent and has merely provided the designs necessary for the building’s construction and nothing more.Advertising Looking for coursework on other technology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It is due to the factors that have been mentioned that it is necessary for a new system to be implemented that allows for the visualization of the design as well as allows for better collaboration between the architect, engineers and builders to ensure that the design elements, both aesthetic and functional, are implemented in the right way when a building is being constructed. Historical Background Originally, the use of virtual reality in construction within the past decade has been limited to 3D object design wherein separate 3D representations of the exterior and interior of the buildings are designed utilizing 3D Max and other types of software in order to create a representation o f what the interior and exterior of the building is supposed to look like (Qinping 2011, pp. 116-118). Such systems though have been limited to a primarily video based format with no level of interactivity being incorporated into the representation. It merely shows how the design is supposed to look like but does not create an accurate gauge of how particular types of design implements are supposed to be implemented (Animesh et al. 2011, pp. 789-A3). It also did not give a sufficient approximation of space and was universally panned by various architects as a waste of resources due to the amount of time that was needed in order to create a 3D model that could actually be considered an accurate representation. While it continues to be in use within the industry till this very day, its use has been limited to interior design such as helping engineers determine how elements such as fixtures, lighting and other such elements should be implemented. Over the past 4 years though, there has been considerable progress in implementing more technologically complex methods in construction wherein 3D virtual reality technology has been utilized in urban planning as well as transport projects in various countries such as Japan and France (Grant 2010, pp. 60-65).Advertising We will write a custom coursework sample on Virtual Reality in Construction specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This type of technology utilizes graphics systems such as CAD, CAM and EDA in order to create a realistic 3D representation of urban landscapes in order to help city planners see how certain types of planned infrastructure projects would impact particular cities (Grant 2010, pp. 60-65). While lacking in the immersive quality of a true 3D experience, this iteration of the technology at the present does show its viability as a means of enabling architects and engineers alike to get a better visual grasp of how a particular building project will lo ok like when established within a cityscape as well as its overall visual appeal. It should be noted though that this iteration of the technology, while effective in showing cityscape perspective, is severely lacking in detail when it comes to representing the various details of a building (Manca Brambilla Colombo 2013, pp. 1-9). There is no software at the present with the capacity to translate architectural design schematics into actual 3D representation. Though there are software products which can create an accurate visual representation of the exterior and interior, when it comes to the placement of supports, the location of circuit breakers and wiring, as well as the design of a building’s internal methods of transportation (i.e. elevators and stairwells) such software simply does not have the capability nor the capacity to be able to do so. Studies do note that with the current progress of technology a fully immersive virtual reality software for architects can be dev eloped within the next 2 to 3 years, however, it will depend on the demand for such technology. Types of Virtual Reality There are currently two types of virtual reality systems that are currently available, immersive and non-immersive systems. Immersive systems utilize a combination of a large headset meant to shut off the â€Å"real world† from the senses of the user and immerse them into a virtual reality environment.Advertising Looking for coursework on other technology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This is accomplished by having the headset dominate both a subject’s visual stimuli as well as their auditory stimuli. The end result is that based on what they see and hear, the subject will â€Å"feel† like they are in another environment. Non-immersive systems are standard computer terminals that utilize 3D rendering technology in order to display a 3D environment/object on a computer screen (Roquilly 2011, pp. 653-671). This is the predominant form of virtual reality at the present due to the current limits of technology, however, it is expected that the truly immersive 3D experience will be made available within the next few years. Components of Virtual Reality System The components of a virtual reality system are actually quite simple; the first is the use of an immersive environment device, normally a visor or helmet that goes around a person’s head, that is utilized in order for the user to see the virtual environment created by the computer (Hadikusumo Rowlinson 2002, p. 501). The second component is a method of interaction with the virtual system, this usually comes in the form of a mouse and keyboard however there have been other iterations that have been developed in the form of virtual reality gloves that allow users to â€Å"touch† and manipulate the structures within their environment. The last component of this system comes in the form of a computer that can run the entire simulation. While these technologies have been around for quite some time, the fact remains that there has been an insufficient amount of progress in developing a system that is exclusive to the construction industry alone (Ren et al. 2004, pp. 639-649). A majority of virtual reality systems today are primarily training or gaming related applications. While there are systems that have been developed for the express purpose of 3D modeling and rendering, these applications are primarily used in creating computer games and lack the necessary software infrastructure to judge the stability and effectiveness of various types of building designs. Applications of Virtual Reality The applications of VR technology in construction range from enabling architects and engineers to examine the stability and effectiveness of a design and make the necessary changes to enabling engineers and even construction workers to make design recommendations and actually mold the VR image in such a way so as to reflect such changes (Roquilly 2011, pp. 653-671). The most ideal form of VR technology for the construction industry would be a software program that takes the entirety of a building’s designs and creates a fully functional 3D representation of it. The end result is a 3D model that can be â€Å"explored† by a viewer enabling them to see the design elements in a far less complicated manner as compared to looking at a building’s design blueprint. The technology would enable engineers and architects to potentially spot design f laws and correct them within the program itself instead of during the construction phase of the building. Such a process could potentially save a company millions of dollars in redesign/reconstruction expenses and enable the building to be constructed in a faster and more efficient manner (Wu et al. 2011, pp. 1851-1876). Other potential applications of the technology come in the form of being able to â€Å"move walls out of the way†, this method involves being able to remove certain aspects of the building’s design such as walls, stairwells and other impeding objects in order to examine the underlying superstructure behind them (Hadikusumo Rowlinson 2002, p. 501). This would be done in order to determine if the building design is placing undue pressure on structural supports and if so would require a degree of redesign. Normally, such a feat would be impossible in the case of traditional methods of construction given that removing a significant part of a wall could ha ve dire circumstances for the superstructure as a whole. This shows how virtual reality systems are an effective means of investigating the design of a building without have to incur significant risk or cost in the process. Virtual Reality In Building Design As explained by Ibrahim et al. (2008), one of the advantages of VR technology is that it enables architects and engineers alike to be able to experiment with a variety of design elements and see their outcome (Ibrahim et al. 2008, pp. 73-84). For example, the game â€Å"Mine craft† (a sandbox game that allows for the construction of nearly any type of structure so long as it is composed of square blocks) has actually become a part of several college architecture courses since it enables students to create a variety of designs and test their overall level of effectiveness. The same can be said for virtual constructs wherein the viability of design features, the effectiveness of interior design planning as well as In Space Planning Through the study of Kang et al. (2010) involving 3D imagery technology and its possible uses in design and construction, Kang et al. (2010) mentions that VR technology would be an invaluable resource for space planning since it would enable architects to place and test a variety of infrastructures for a building to see which would be the most feasible and aesthetically pleasing (Kang et al. 2010, pp. 1000-1015). This is usually done by first creating a template of the desired shape of the construction project and building up on that by putting features such as a skyline, a large lobby and other such features. The advantage of this method lies in its ability for the building’s designers to see the visual and operational appeal of a particular design. This results in a far better means of construction since designers will be able to tell immediately if their chosen design fits the intended purpose of a building (Sampaio Henriques 2007, pp. 124-134). Another factor th at should be taken into consideration is the fact that VR technology would allow designers to increase or decrease the open spaces in the interiors of a building (Whyte 2003, pp. 565-572). This enables them to determine the best ratio between the need for openness as well as necessity of having sufficient functionality (Whyte 2003, pp. 565-572). In Interior Designing Based on all that has been mentioned so far regarding the capabilities of VR technology, it already becomes obvious that its beneficial use in interior design stems from its capacity to be able to introduce a large variety of possible design iterations within a relatively short period of time. As a result, this can improve the rate in which the interiors of a building are designed and implemented resulting in a better construction process. In Lighting Design In the study of Klein (2007) which examined the application of VR technology in interior design, Klein (2007) notes that testing the effectiveness of certain lighti ng fixtures is far easier in a virtual environment as compared to real life (Klein 2007, pp. 36-50). The reason behind this is quite simple, VR technology allows the user to cut and paste a lighting fixture in any location in a room within a few seconds in whatever way or number they choose. This enables an interior designer to immediately determine the most effect method of interior lighting within a select space. Such a feat is not possible in the case of traditional methods of lighting design wherein designers have to rely on pre-established lighting patterns due to the inability to test where lighting would be most effective (Sampaio Henriques 2007, pp. 56-61). Attempts to do so normally take a considerable amount of time and resources which would be better utilized in other aspects of the construction project. This shows how VR technology can actually make the interior design of buildings that much more effective since it can help to reveal the best position for placing the li ghting fixtures within a room or expansive area (i.e. a lobby). In Heating Ventilation And Air Conditioning One of the main problems in the construction industry at the present is examining whether the heating and air conditioning shafts are placed in such a way that they perform in an efficient manner. While it may be true that during the design phase of a building the architect can draw from a large swath of literature that helps to explain effective ventilation placement, the fact remains that you will not really know there is a problem until you have actually constructed the building and tested the system (Sampaio Henriques 2008, pp. 7-14). VR technology helps to get around this dilemma by setting up a virtual simulation for the ventilation system within a 3D model of the building. Through this process, any problems in the design and implementation of the ventilation system can be resolved while the building is still in the planning stage. This helps to expedite the constructio n process and helps to ensure that costly mistakes are once again avoided (Sampaio Henriques 2008, pp. 7-14). Virtual Reality In Construction Planning And Scheduling Current 4d Planning Approaches Current approaches in 4D planning approaches involve the use of software such as CAD, CAM and EDA in order create virtual simulations of buildings and urban areas. Unfortunately, while the external and internal aesthetic quality of the buildings are superb, there is a distinct lack in sufficient structural programming wherein the building is a building based on appearance and does not take into consideration the physical rules of construction (Woksepp Olofsson 2008, pp. 520-528). This means that the building lack the fundamental rules of construction essential in determining the structural stability of the design elements utilized. Current Limitations Some of the current limitations of the technology come in the form of an insufficient physics infrastructure to actually determine whether a building’s design is actually structurally feasible. Current VR approaches focus mainly on the aesthetic quality of the design and lack a program that proper examines the structural stability of the building’s frame versus the types of supports, designs and spaces utilized (Woksepp Olofsson 2008, pp. 520-528). This is a severe limitation given the necessity of determining whether a building is structurally sound or not. Benefits Of Implementing VR In Construction To Increase The Project Quality And Profit Based on what has been presented so far, it can be seen that there are numerous benefits to implementing VR in construction. VR technology enables architects, engineers and ground personnel to see what the intended outcome of a construction project should be, identify mistakes in the design and make changes prior to the building being constructed (Nikolic et al. 2011, pp. 421-429). As a result, this ensures that when a building is constructed various mistakes rela ted to poor design decisions or errors in the design process are completely avoided which reduces the associated costs such mistakes often entail. Conclusions Overall, what this paper has shown is that VR technology is an effective means of visualization of the design of a building as well as allows for better collaboration between the architect, engineers and builders to ensure that the design elements, both aesthetic and functional, are implemented in the right way when a building is being constructed. Unfortunately, a majority of virtual reality systems today are primarily training or gaming related applications. While there are systems that have been developed for the express purpose of 3D modeling and rendering, these applications are primarily used in creating computer games and lack the necessary software infrastructure to judge the stability and effectiveness of various types of building designs. However, once the software and hardware has improved within the next few years, it can be expected that VR technology will gain main stream acceptance within the construction industry. Reference List Animesh, A, Pinsonneault, A, Sung-Byung, Y, Wonseok, O 2011, ‘An odyssey into virtual worlds: exploring the impacts of technological and spatial environments on intention to purchase virtual products’, MIS Quarterly, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 789-A3 Goulding, J, Nadim, W, Petridis, P, Alshawi, M 2012, ‘Construction industry offsite production: A virtual reality interactive training environment prototype’, Advanced Engineering Informatics, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 103-116 Grant, A 2010, ‘Virtual everything’, Discover, vol. 31, no. 7, pp. 60-65 Hadikusumo, B, Rowlinson, S 2002, ‘Integration of virtually real construction model and design-for-safety-process database’, Automation In Construction, vol. 11, no. 5, p. 501 Ibrahim, Y, Kaka, A, Aouad, G, Kagioglou, M 2008, ‘As-built Documentation of Construction Sequence b y Integrating Virtual Reality with Time-lapse Movies’, Architectural Engineering Design Management, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 73-84, Kang, L, Moon, H, Dawood, N, Kang, M 2010, ‘Development of methodology and virtual system for optimised simulation of road design data’, Automation In Construction, vol. 19, no. 8, pp. 1000-1015 Klein, H 2007, ‘From Romanticism to Virtual Reality: Charles Babbage, William Gibson and the Construction of Cyberspace’, Interdisciplinary Humanities, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 36-50 Li, H, Ma, Z, Shen, Q, Kong, S 2003, ‘Virtual experiment of innovative construction operations’, Automation In Construction, vol. 12, no. 5, p. 561 Manca, D, Brambilla, S, Colombo, S 2013, ‘Bridging between Virtual Reality and accident simulation for training of process-industry operators’, Advances In Engineering Software, vol. 55, pp. 1-9 Nikolic, D, Jaruhar, S, Messner, J 2011, ‘Educational Simulation in Construction: Vir tual Construction Simulator’, Journal Of Computing In Civil Engineering, vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 421-429 Qinping, Z 2011, ’10 Scientific Problems in Virtual Reality’, Communications Of The ACM, vol. 54, no. 2, pp. 116-118 Ren, A, Wen, Y, Chen, C, Shi, J 2004, ‘Modeling of irregular structures for the construction simulation in virtual reality environments based on web’, Automation In Construction, vol. 13, no. 5, pp. 639-649 Roquilly, C 2011, ‘Control over virtual worlds by game companies: issues and recommendations’, MIS Quarterly, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 653-671 Sampaio, A, Henriques, P 2007, ‘Virtual Reality Models used on the Visualization of Construction Activities in Civil Engineering Education’, International Journal Of Social Sciences, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 56-61 Sampaio, A, Henriques, P 2008, ‘Virtual Reality Technology Applied on the Visual Simulation of Construction Activities’, Open Construction Building T echnology Journal, vol. 2, pp. 7-14 Sampaio, A, Henriques, P 2007, ‘The use of virtual reality models in civil engineering training’, International Journal Of Simulation Modelling (IJSIMM), vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 124-134, Whyte, J 2003, ‘Innovation and users: virtual reality in the construction sector’, Construction Management Economics, vol. 21, no. 6, pp. 565-572 Woksepp, S, Olofsson, T 2008, ‘Credibility and applicability of virtual reality models in design and construction’, Advanced Engineering Informatics, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 520-528 Wu, D, Zhu, H, Zhen, X, Fan, X 2011, ‘Tools and equipment modeling for interactive assembling operating in a virtual environment’, International Journal Of Production Research, vol. 49, no. 7, pp. 1851-1876 Xiangyu, W 2007, ‘Using Augmented Reality to Plan Virtual Construction Worksite’, International Journal Of Advanced Robotic Systems, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 501-512 This coursework on Virtual Reality in Construction was written and submitted by user Cailyn Lee to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Terrorism Creates Fear to the World essays

Terrorism Creates Fear to the World essays The United States and its Western allies say Teheran's real goal is to build nuclear weapons and have threatened sanctions. Washington has hinted a military strike is not out of the question. Fears that Iran is trying to build nuclear warheads were aggravated when diplomats said UN Inspectors may have found traces of highly enriched uranium on equipment from an Iranian research center linked to the military. This is one example of how terrorism creates fear to the world. Different war weapons, threats of killing innocent civilians, and threats of destructing the world, are some form of terrorism that the world is facing these days; especially rampant since the 7/11 attack in the year 2001. Different issues were thrown and are being discussed by many international groups who are concerned on the peace and safety of all nations. In the news, there can never be an episode where information about planned terrorist attacks or events of terrorism will be out of news discussion. Although the nuclear and terrorism issues are not on the agenda of many political discussions, it will always take part in conversations as the threat it brings can never be overlooked. The question is how long can every nation stand the destructions of terrorism? How long can the world be united in fighting problems of terrorism? Dialogue is the best way as most may have perceived. But will the terrorists be open for dialogues that are meant to stop their ideologies? As Washington suggests, "By all appearances up to now they only seem to engage in delaying and stalling while going down the road of acquiring a nuclear weapon" Convicted Al-Qaeda plotter Zacarias Moussaouri stunned a US courtroom with an admission that he was supposed to hijack a fifth plane on Sept 11, 2001, and crash it into the White House. Asked who had told him to fly a plane into the White House, the accused replied "Osama Bin Laden". Mr. Bin Laden has been among the top terr...

Healthy vs Healthful

Healthy vs Healthful Healthy vs Healthful Healthy vs Healthful By Maeve Maddox A reader wonders about the use of the adjectives healthy and healthful: Would you please do a segment explaining how, when, and why healthy and healthful should be used correctly. My tentative belief is that people are healthy or not so; and that foods are healthful or not so. Am I correct? Many speakers like to draw a strict difference between these two adjectives, but it’s not necessary. The argument Some speakers insist that healthy must be applied only to someone or something that enjoys good health: The healthy children ran and played in the sunshine. Every country desires a healthy economy. Healthful, on the other hand, is to be used only to describe something that promotes or contributes to bodily health: The parents petitioned the school authorities to provide more healthful school lunches. The healthful ingredients include broccoli and cabbage. The reality When it comes to standard usage, healthy is used with both meanings by the majority of speakers and writers. In The New York Times, for example, one may read about both â€Å"healthy children† and â€Å"healthy breakfasts.† Both adjectives have been in the language for a very long time. The first OED citation for healthful with the meaning â€Å"wholesome, health-giving† is dated 1398. The first example of healthy with the same meaning is dated 1577. If making a distinction between healthy and healthful gives speakers a sense of satisfaction, then they should do so. However, they needn’t criticize the majority of speakers who use healthy with both meanings. The usage that pains my grammar nerve is this: How to Eat Healthy New Year’s Resolution to Eat Healthy A few speakers may say, â€Å"Eat healthfully,† but the online evidence suggests that healthy is about to morph into an adverb. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:The Meaning of "To a T"Excited ABOUT, not "for" Parataxis and Hypotaxis

Phosphoaspirin (MDC-43) a novel benzyl ester of aspirin, inhibits the Essay

Phosphoaspirin (MDC-43) a novel benzyl ester of aspirin, inhibits the growth of human cancer cells - Essay Example This study by Zhao, Mackenzie, Murray, Zhang, and Rigas (2009) aims to observe the anticancer activity and mechanism of the new phosphoaspirin (MDC-43). For the purpose of this study, several reagents were purchased, or gifted, from different pharmacological companies. Cell cultures were grown in the laboratory in line with the American Type Culture Collection instructions. The trypan blue exclusion method was used to measure the cell viability and growth. Moreover, the cell cycles were analyzed following standard PI protocols (Zhao, Mackenzie, Murray, Zhang, and Rigas 2009, p. 512). Human cancer cells derived from colon, pancreas, breast, liver and lung were used in this study; these are some of the major and most common forms of cancer and account for around â€Å"54% of all new cases of cancer in the USA† (Zhao, Mackenzie, Murray, Zhang, and Rigas 2009, p. 517). All cell lines that were studied showed that Phosphoaspirin was more powerful than aspirin in preventing cancer cell growth (Zhao, Mackenzie, Murray, Zhang, and Rigas 2009, p. 513). Moreover, phosphoaspirin was also shown to stimulate the creation of reactive oxygen species (Zhao, Mackenzie, Murray, Zhang, and Rigas 2009, p. 514). The study also observed that phosphoaspirin had an inverse effect on thiol levels in the cells, and produced intrinsic apoptosis (Zhao, Mackenzie, Murray, Zhang, and Rigas 2009, p. 514-516). Furthermore, the phosphoaspirin also increased cell signaling in some cells, however, the effect was limited to protein activation alone (Zhao, Mackenzie, Murray, Zhang, and Rigas 2009, p. 516). The data collected by the study clearly demonstrated that phosphoaspirin has a strong reduction effect on human cancer cells. Moreover, the effect is stronger than that of aspirin, as well as being more generalized. The strength of phosphoaspirin was found to be more uniformly superior to ordinary aspirin; however, no reason

How the Internet has Changed the way we live Essay

How the Internet has Changed the way we live - Essay Example Department of Defense gave birth to ARPANET which later became the internet. The visionaries who saw great potential in using computers to share information on research in scientific and military fields laid the spark of internet's birth. In 1962, J.C.R. Licklider of MIT proposed a global network of computers. Leonard Kleinrock developed the packet switching which is the basis of internet connections. In 1965, Lawrence Roberts connected a Massachusetts computer with a Californian one over dial-up telephone lines. The ARPANET, first brought online in 1969, initially connected four computers at universities in southwestern US. Ray Tomlinson, in 1972, brought e-mail to ARPANET. He was the one who introduced the symbol-@- to connect the username and address. The internet was designed to provide a communication network that would resist nuclear attacks. The early users were computer experts, engineers, scientists and librarians. During the '60s and '70s, Frederick G. Kilgour of the Ohio College Library Center led networking of Ohio libraries. In the mid 1970s, New England, the southwest states, Mid Atlantic states, etc. joined it to form national, later, international networks. The ARPANET matured in the '70s due to the TCP/IP architecture proposed and developed by Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf. USENET was born in 1979 with the Unix to Unix Protocol invention. Newsgroups were introduced to exchange information throughout the world. Though it was not a significant part of the Internet (due to the lack of TCP/IP), it played a vital role in the development of the Internet. BITNET appeared in1981 and it connected the mainframes of IBM and also provided mail services. SCNET, developed in 1984, grew into NSFNet, the backbone of Internet. In 1986, when it was developed, it gave access to a number of super computing centers. More departments started making use of the Internet. Hence, more tools and resources were needed. More universities, organizations and libraries got connected and Internet became harder to track. In 1991, the first friendly interface to the Internet was developed. In July, 1992, Delphi, the first national commercial online service offered Internet access to its subscribers. In 1993, Microsoft Internet Explorer was developed. With the release of Windows 98 which the browser well integrated in the desktop, Bill Gates capitalized on the Internet. The Internet Boom The impact of the Internet is too enormous that it takes a lifetime to elaborate on it. Business entered the Internet arena. Advertising showed up to attract consumers. Online shopping entered a faster pace. Consumers found it easy when they could compare prices. Delphi's free offer of web pages, chat rooms, community building centers, etc. made the Internet more and more on demand. High-speed connections spread. Cable modems and digital subscriber lines replaced the older, slower ones. Wireless access bloomed. Now, we even have small, portable devices that can be used to access the Internet like, the pocket PC, game machines, GPS devices, etc. Let us discuss how Internet affects the various fields of our day to day lives. IMPACTS ON BUSINESS In the beginning, the use of Internet remained to searching and mailing. With the rise of more innovations, people started applying technology to various fields. Business is one such field which was rewritten by the entry of Internet. ECONOMY We saw the days when anything was

Use of Bathroom Scenes in the Film Pulp Fiction Essays -- Pulp Fiction

Bathrooms are filthy. They are grimy, soiled porcelain wastelands swarming with harmful bacteria and human waste. And they’re one of Quentin Tarantino’s favorite tools to use on the big screen. If one were to study the history of American media, he or she may notice that bathrooms are scarcely pictured. In fact, it wasn’t until the 1960 release of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho that a toilet was shown in cinema. The featured toilet caused quite a stir among critics, and became a symbol of American ethics. Quentin recognized the subject of morality that resided in the use of bathrooms and used it to his advantage. In his 1994 release, Pulp Fiction, Quentin frequently uses the bathroom to make the viewer question his or her ethical views. The first instance of the bathroom being used to elicit a questioning of ethics within the audience occurs during the sub story of Mia and Vincent Vegas. In this scene, two questions of ethics are brought forth. After a long, fun night Vincent returns with Mia to Marsellus Wallace’s estate. He promptly announces that he has to use the restroom, and leaves Mia alone. Once alone in the bathroom, we see Vincent talking to himself in the mirror, trying to persuade himself to leave Mia alone for the night. Vince is quite obviously attracted to Mia, and Mia seems willing to spend more time with him. He has to decide whether to stay longer and risk taking advantage of Marsellus’ wife or to leave immediately, wishing her a good night and ending his relationship with her. This creates tension and allows the audience to consider their own moral standpoint in regards to the situation. The second questioning of ethics that occurs in this scene begins to take place moments after Vince leaves the bathroom. We h... ... side with. Again the audience must consider their own moral stance in regards to the situation in order to reach this conclusion. As proved in this clever arrangement of bathroom scenes, Quentin Tarantino is a creative albeit unorthodox director. Though he draws inspiration from a vast expanse of resources, this Quentin’s productions are undoubtedly unique. Through his clever use of the bathroom as a means through which to bring forth a questioning of ethics, Tarantino has again proved his creativity as a director. This movie made me think. This movie made me reevaluate my moral values and empowered me to challenge my own ethical views. This movie literally taught me more about myself than I had previously realized. We can only hope Tarantino continues to produce such impactful films so we can continue to explore our values the way Pulp Fiction has allowed us to.

Harrison Bergeron Essay

Kurt Vonnegut’s short story â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† is about a futuristic society where beauty is destroyed to create equality. It centers around the highest official, appropriately named, the General Handicapper. His only role to to seek out and find to people who are skilled, pretty, or good at sports and forced them to hide away these talents through masks and waits. It is through basic literary elements that Vonnegut creates and develops the theme that general conformity leads to the deformation of humanity. The short story begins in the future, â€Å"The year was 2081† and Vonnegut immediately puts out the benefits of this futuristic society, stating â€Å"everybody was finally equal† and not just equal â€Å"before God† but in â€Å"every way† possible (Vonnegut, 1968, p. 7). Vonnegut’s description foreshadows what is to come in the novel and certainly this forced equality can only lead to a dangerous and potentially deadly ending. Conformity and the effects of uniformity is a common theme in the bulk of science fiction literature and Vonnegut’s short stories are no different. However, in â€Å"Harrison Bergergon† not just the theme of uniformity is explore but also the stripping away of humanity. This short story, the government forces everyone to be equal –â€Å"nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. † (Vonnegut, 1968, p. 7). Government agents force people who are beautiful to wear ugly masks and people who are thin are forced to carry around weights. The goal of all this control is to make sure that everyone has the same handicaps, the same features, and the same feelings. Even odder is that smart people were forced to wear radios which interfered with there brain functional creating a human society where everyone was equally stupid. By eliminating the the issues, which modern society still deals with, of racism, sexism, and discrimination based on looks, Vonnegut’s future society should be healthy and happy because everyone is the same. However, in the pursuit of equality the loss of humanity took place. Humanity is based on the idea of independence and individualism. The featured protagonist of this short story and namesake is Harrison Bergeron. He is a bright and friendly boy who has the most hated qualities in his society. He is intelligent, handsome, tall, and strong. Due to Harrision’s features he is required to do several things to compensate for all his good quality. He is subject to radio noises which stops his concentration and focus. He has to carry hundreds of pounds of extra weight. He also have to wear sun glasses which gives him a head and he has to undergo surgery fort o make him ugly. While awaiting his surgery he escapes and takes over a news station. On air he takes off his handicaps and is revealed to society. When enters the station he is looks â€Å"like a walking junk yard,† required to wear â€Å"a red rubber ball for a nose, keep his eyebrows shaved off, and cover his even white teeth with black caps at snaggle-tooth random† ( Vonnegut, 1968, p. 21). He also meets up with a ballerina and she too casts off her imposed disabilities. When the couple dances they shrug off the law of gravity and the laws of motion as well,† leaping to kiss the thirty-foot ceiling until finally â€Å"they remained suspended in air inches below the ceiling, and they kissed each other for a long, long time. † It is then that Glampers enters with her shotgun† (Vonnegut, 1968, p.  22). Unfortunately both are killed by the General Handicapper. As a sub plot his parents are watching the news station but once everything is said and done they can not remember what has happened due their forced handicaps. Irony is another literary device that Vonnegut uses in this short story. Vonnegut comments on the look-ism which is apparent in American society. Vonnegut even appears cynical about what passes as average in America. â€Å"Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn’t think about anything except in short bursts† (Vonnegut, 1968, p. 20). The observation on the ballerinas continues the undercutting humor: â€Å"They weren’t really very good–no better than anybody else would have been, anyway† (Vonnegut, 1968, p. 20). Heavy irony emerges in the plodding Hazel’s missing the point, as when she sympathizes with the stuttering announcer for trying â€Å"real hard† to do his best or suggests George might remove some of his weights in the evenings. Compounding the irony she says, â€Å"‘I think I’d make a good Handicapper General. ‘ ‘Good as anybody else,’ said George. † The range of sounds and the comic brutality of their effect provides another source of comedy. One of George’s winces prompts Hazel to ask the cause. â€Å"Sounded like somebody hitting a milk bottle with a hammer,† he replies. Another sounds like a twenty-one gun salute that leaves George â€Å"white and trembling† and leaves two of the ballerinas on the floor clutching their temples. The final one is a riveting gun. â€Å"Gee–I could tell that one was a doozy,† said Hazel. â€Å"You can say that again,† said George. â€Å"Gee–† said Hazel–â€Å"I could tell that one was a doozy. † (Vonnegut, 1968, p. 41) Hazel’s stupid behavior and mindset symbolizes the dumbing down of America. In addition the television is equally symbolic. When this book was written, the television was now found in every home throughout the country. It became the way that people communicated and received news. Reading, literature, and human interaction decreased and was replaced by the mindless chatter of television shows and governmentally run news broadcasts. Hazel’s aversion to the old days when she could be made to feel like â€Å"something the cat dragged in† (Vonnegut, 1968, p. 22) obviously is not very persuasive The narration in â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† is also interesting. This is because the narration is third person, as if person is looking back on the events that just happened. Third person omnipresent is an interesting choice for narration because it allows the reader into the minds of all characters. For example Vonnegut reminds the readers, in third person narration Nobody can be in any way superior to anybody else, as guaranteed by â€Å"the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of the agents of the United States Handicapper General† (Vonnegut, 1968, p. 20). In particular, the motivations of each character which inspire their actions and words. â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† is a very unique short story because Vonnegut manipulates basic literary elements and creates a satire of American ideals and societal norms. Vonnegut is able too, in a tongue and cheek manner, show how the government can create a society which lacks humanity. A government that is left uncontrolled can exert such great power that it can destroy what makes human unique creatures on this planet. In doing so, people become mindless and vulnerable to the governmental propaganda that tells the citizens of a society that these rules are for their own good.

Free Speech Freedom Of Speech - 1403 Words

FREE SPEECH Freedom of speech is perhaps the most precious tenets of liberal democracies accorded to the citizens of the free world. The United States, and the rest of the Western society is known to be the cradle of democratic principles, and this can be evidenced by the level of freedom accorded to the citizens of the United States and the West in terms of speech. The freedom of speech gives an individual an opportunity to speak his or her mind and also give his or her opinion, sometimes on very sensitive topics, without any fear of reprisal (Melkonian, 2012). The exercise of freedom of speech goes along way down the history of human civilization, and only positive results are there as the fruit of such level of human freedom. The world is a better place today, no doubt, because some men and women stood up their ground to speak their mind about what should be done and how things should be done to ensure prosperity. Despite the many gains of freedom of speech, the tragic reality is that some places still have the retrogressive rules that curtail people’s freedom to free speech, just to protect the ruling regimes (Melkonian, 2012). Throughout the history of human civilization, there has never been any doubt as to whether freedom of speech should be exercised or not. The only bone of contention, as far as freedom of speech is concerned has always, and will always remain on the limit of this freedom. In this era, the limit to this freedom of speech is being questioned moreShow MoreRelatedSpeech Free Speech On The Freedom Of Speech1380 Words   |  6 Pagesmake no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. This freedom of speech clause as included in the First Amendment guarantees the citizens of America to express information and ideas freely. But is all form of speech free? On the most basic level, this clause allows for the expression of an opinionRead MoreFree Speech Or Freedom Of Speech Essay911 Words   |   4 PagesIntroduction America is known as The Land of Freedom, basically we are entitled for legal freedom to do whatever we wanted to. However, the freedom of speech has been challenged by many university students and educators recently. In their argument, they believe that free speech has triggered students’ unhappiness and jeopardize campus’ safety. What is the free speech or freedom of speech? According to dictionary, freedom of speech is the right of people to express their opinions publicly withoutRead MoreFree Speech Freedom Of Speech1689 Words   |  7 PagesBenjamin Franklin once said, â€Å"Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech.† With this quote in mind, freedom of speech should surely be guaranteed right in a every institution. There are various forms of free speech to powerful speeches at a peaceful protest to a girl posting a selfie. Freedom of speech is the key concept that is ba sis of every human right. This inherent right should be protected and supported inRead MoreFree Speech Freedom Of Speech1180 Words   |  5 PagesFree speech shall not incite evil and hatred in this country. The First Amendment prevents the government from infringing upon our freedom of assembly and speech. â€Å"The disability is so complete that Congress is expressly forbidden to enact laws respecting an establishment of religion, or laws abridging the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech and press, and the right to petition the government† (Bybee). As a whole, our founding fathers only had good intentions with regards to First AmendmentRead MoreFree Speech Freedom Of Speech1786 Words   |  8 PagesIntroduction Freedom of speech is a right of every American that is protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. This democratic freedom allows citizens to speak and express themselves freely. Public school teachers and students are also free to express themselves, however they can both be limited by school administration. The goal of this paper is to analyze free speech as defined by the First Amendment and discussed limitations placed on teachers and students by schoolsRead MoreFree Speech On Freedom Of Speech1929 Words   |  8 Pagesthe use of hate speech on college campuses. These limitations on free speech strike at the heart of law and justice within our society. To tolerate these restrictions sets dangerous precedents and unveils dangerous consequences. Speech codes that limit speech and expression beyond the limits of the first amendment are not justified because they harm society and the intellectual integrity of a university while failing to adequately suppor t those students victimized by hate speech. Colleges play anRead MoreFree Speech : Freedom Of Speech1889 Words   |  8 PagesFreedom of Speech The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects freedom of speech among other valued standards. The First Amendment states that â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceable to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances† (U. S. Constitution). What does it mean by â€Å"Congress shall make no law†¦abridgingRead MoreFreedom Of Speech : Free Speech1296 Words   |  6 PagesFreedom Of Speech In 399 B.C, the Greek Philosopher Socrates was persecuted for an early argument promoting free speech. Later on, The Protection of Speech was first introduced when the Magna Carta was signed in 1215, and in 1948, the United Nations stated that free speech is a human right and drafted into the international Declaration of Human rights.The government doesn t have the right to make a law abridging the freedom of speech because Free Speech is a form of democracy and it s a fundamentalRead MoreFreedom Of Speech And Free Speech1737 Words   |  7 Pages Freedom of Speech can only go so far before it starts to impede the right of the others, and free speech does not come before other people’s given rights.. According to Steven J. Heyman in the article â€Å"Free Speech Has Limits,† freedom of speech comes tied together with respecting the freedom of other and the rights of other people (par. 4). The author goes on to say that cutting off other peoples rights in the name of free speech can be seen as wrongful and can be faced with consequences (parRead MoreFree Speech Freedom Of Speech886 Words   |  4 Pagesunlike any other. The issue? Free speech. Protesters from both sides of the the political spectrum are outraged. leftists claiming that free speech is â€Å"being used as a cover for spreading hate in America†, that people like the infamous Yiannopoulos (a conservative political commentator known for making offensive statements and supporting â€Å"white supremacy, transphobia, and misogyny†) are do ing harm with their first amendment right, while conservatives are claiming free speech is being threatened by the

World War II Battle of Crete

The Battle of Crete was fought from May 20 to June 1, 1941, during World War II (1939 to 1945).  It saw the Germans make large-scale use of paratroopers during the invasion.  Though a victory, the Battle of Crete saw these forces sustain such high losses that they were not used again by the Germans. Fast Facts: Battle of Crete Dates: May 20 to June 1, 1941, during World War II (1939-1945).  Ã‚  Allies Army and CommandersMajor General Bernard FreybergAdmiral Sir Andrew CunninghamApprox. 40,000 menAxis Army and CommandersMajor General Kurt StudentApprox. 31,700 men Background Having swept through Greece in April 1940, German forces began preparing for the invasion of Crete. This operation was championed by the Luftwaffe as the Wehrmacht sought to avoid further engagements prior to commencing the invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa) in June. Pushing forward a plan calling for the mass use of airborne forces, the Luftwaffe gained support from a wary Adolf Hitler. Planning for the invasion was permitted to move forward with the restrictions that it does not interfere with Barbarossa and that it utilizes forces already in the region. Planning Operation Mercury Dubbed Operation Mercury, the invasion plan called for Major General Kurt Students XI Fliegerkorps to land paratroopers and glider troops at key points along Cretes northern shore, to be followed by the 5th Mountain Division which would be airlifted into captured airfields. Students attack force planned to land the bulk of its men near Maleme in the west, with smaller formations dropping near Rethymnon and Heraklion to the east. The focus on Maleme was the result of its large airfield and that the attack force could be covered by Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters flying from the mainland. Defending Crete As the Germans moved forward with invasion preparations, Major General Bernard Freyberg, VC worked to improve Cretes defenses. A New Zealander, Freyberg possessed a force consisting of around 40,000 British Commonwealth and Greek soldiers. Though a large force, approximately 10,000 lacked weapons, and heavy equipment were scarce. In May, Freyberg was informed via Ultra radio intercepts that the Germans were planning an airborne invasion. Though he shifted many of his troops to guard the northern airfields, intelligence also suggested that there would be a seaborne element. As a result, Freyberg was forced to deploy troops along the coast that could have been used elsewhere. In preparation for the invasion, the Luftwaffe began a concerted campaign to drive the Royal Air Force from Crete and establish air superiority over the battlefield. These efforts proved successful as British aircraft were withdrawn to Egypt. Though German intelligence wrongly estimated the islands defenders to only number around 5,000, the theater commander Colonel General Alexander Là ¶hr elected to retain the 6th Mountain Division at Athens as a reserve force. Opening Attacks On the morning of May 20, 1941, Students aircraft began arriving over their drop zones. Departing their aircraft, the German paratroopers met fierce resistance upon landing. Their situation was worsened by German airborne doctrine, which called for their personal weapons to be dropped in a separate container. Armed with only pistols and knives, many German paratroopers were cut down as they moved to recover their rifles. Beginning around 8:00 AM, New Zealand forces defending Maleme airfield inflicted staggering losses on the Germans. Those Germans arriving by glider fared little better as they immediately came under attack as they left their aircraft. While attacks against Maleme airfield were repulsed, the Germans succeeded in forming defensive positions to the west and east towards Chania. As the day progressed, German forces landed near Rethymnon and Heraklion. As in the west, losses during the opening engagements were high. Rallying, German forces near Heraklion managed to penetrate the city but were driven back by Greek troops. Near Maleme, German troops gathered and began attacks against Hill 107, which dominated the airfield. An Error at Maleme Though the New Zealanders were able to hold the hill through the day, an error led to their being withdrawn during the night. As a result, the Germans occupied the hill and swiftly gained control of the airfield. This permitted the arrival of elements of the 5th Mountain Division though Allied forces heavily shelled the airfield, causing significant losses in aircraft and men. As fighting continued ashore on May 21, the Royal Navy successfully dispersed a reinforcement convoy that night. Quickly understanding the full importance of Maleme, Freyberg ordered attacks against Hill 107 that night. A Long Retreat These were unable to dislodge the Germans and the Allies fell back. With the situation desperate, King George II of Greece was moved across the island and evacuated to Egypt. On the waves, Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham worked tirelessly to prevent enemy reinforcements from arriving by sea, though he took increasingly heavy losses from German aircraft. Despite these efforts, the Germans steadily moved men to the island through the air. As a result, Freybergs forces began a slow fighting retreat towards the southern coast of Crete. Though aided by the arrival of a commando force under Colonel Robert Laycock, the Allies were unable to turn the tide of the battle. Recognizing the battle as lost, the leadership in London instructed Freyberg to evacuate the island on May 27. Ordering troops towards the southern ports, he directed other units to hold open key roads south and prevent the Germans from interfering. In one notable stand, the 8th Greek Regiment held back the Germans at Alikianos for a week, allowing Allied forces to move to the port of Sphakia. The 28th (Maori) Battalion also performed heroically in covering the withdraw. Determined that the Royal Navy would rescue the men on Crete, Cunningham pushed forward despite concerns that he might sustain heavy losses. In response to this criticism, he famously responded, It takes three years to build a ship, it takes three centuries to build a tradition. During the course of the evacuation, around 16,000 men were rescued from Crete, with the bulk embarking at Sphakia. Under increasing pressure, the 5,000 men protecting the port were forced to surrender on June 1. Of those left behind, many took to the hills to fight as guerillas. Aftermath In the fighting for Crete, the Allies suffered around 4,000 killed, 1,900 wounded, and 17,000 captured. The campaign also cost the Royal Navy 9 ships sunk and 18 damaged. German losses totaled 4,041 dead/missing, 2,640 wounded, 17 captured, and 370 aircraft destroyed. Stunned by the high losses sustained by Students troops, Hitler resolved never to conduct a major airborne operation again. Conversely, many Allied leaders were impressed by the airbornes performance and moved to create similar formations within their own armies. In studying the German experience in Crete, American airborne planners, such as Colonel James Gavin,  recognized the need for troops to jump with their own heavy weapons. This doctrinal change ultimately aided American airborne units once they reached Europe.

Cultural Awareness Of Sub-Saharan Africa - 1069 Words

What is culture, one might ask? According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, culture is the â€Å"customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group or the characteristic features of everyday existence (as diversions or a way of life} shared by people in a place or time† (Culture). Five major characteristics that define a culture include culture is learned, culture is shared, culture is symbolic, culture is all-encompassing, and culture is integrated. Culture depends on the human capacity for cultural learning that encompasses shared rules for conduct and that are dependent upon symbols. Cultures can be integrated by using â€Å"social and economic forces, core values, and key symbols† (Mirror for Humanity,†¦show more content†¦Savannas have wet and dry seasons and go from extremes like drought and fires ignited by lightning. Lastly, tropical woodlands have a more defined dry season with hot temperatures (Global Warming). One of the poorest regions in Africa, the Sub-Saharan region has suffered throughout the years while being labeled with some of the least developed countries in the world. Diseases like malaria have struck this area hard. In 2007, the population of this portion of Africa was 800 million, with a growth rate of 2.3%. Many of the countries in this region have very high fertility rates with more than 40% of the population in this region 15 years of age or younger. Infant mortality, HIV/Aids, and other figures are also astounding. Because this region is lacking infrastructures, this stifles their economic growth. However, this region does export many minerals, like gold and bauxite. Universities located within the Sub-Saharan region experienced triple growth in enrollment from 1991 – 2005. Many of those college-educated students are now coming to countries like the United States and Europe to live and work. This region of the world includes about 1,000 languages spoken. â€Å"Th e causes for conflicts in modern day Africa cannot be understood without an appreciation of the struggle between traditional African culture and its clashes with Muslim and European cultures. Understanding Africa’s tripleShow MoreRelatedEffects Of Religion On The Northern Africa And Southern Asia1171 Words   |  5 PagesEffect of Religion and Oil in Northern Africa and Southwestern Asia The Northern part of Africa (Maghreb) and the Southwestern Asia regions constituting Levant, Anatolia and Mesopotamia are considered to be the birthplace of the world’s 3 major religions. Also, this region accounts for more than 60% of the world’s oil reserves. Religions  have had significant effects on the region adding to its strengths and detriments just as has oil contributing to its growth and at the same time its wars.    CitiesRead MoreHiv / Aids And Aids1597 Words   |  7 Pageslife, and there is no complete cure yet at the moment. Based on the most recent WHO (World Health Organization) data, approximately 35 million people are living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2013, and remarkably more than 23 million people in sub Saharan Africa experience the most severe HIV/AIDS epidemics. Despite the fact there are still a large population of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world, a lots of human efforts have been putting on the prevention of the disease since the beginningRead MoreDeveloping Sub Saharan Africa Essay1158 Words   |  5 PagesSome of the world’s poorest countries, with some of the highest child labor and illiteracy rates lie in Sub Saharan Africa. People generally associate the region only with poor economic conditions and all of the social disorder that goes along with 3rd World Status. While some of this reputation is deserved, many people are also failing to see the vast potential for this part of the world. There are several factors that African governments should look into if they want to effectively and efficientlyRead MoreThe Epidemic Of Tuberculosis, Kenya, Uganda And The Democratic Republic Of The Congo1665 Words   |  7 Pagesnot treated. (The World Health Organisation) (2015a) The world health organisation (WHO) (2015b) reports that 95% of these deaths are in resource poor areas. This essay will focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, an area with a wide proportion of resource poor settings. WHO (2015d) estimated around 3.2million people in Africa to have TB, with a mortality rate of 450,000. Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo were in the top 25 countries in the world for TB mortality andRead MoreWhat Social Factors Have Driven the Spread of Hiv/Aids in Sub-Saharan Africa?3708 Words   |  15 PagesWhat social factors have driven the spread of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa? The Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a disease of the immune system caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). HIV is transmitted via unprotected sexual intercourse, contaminated blood transfusion, contaminated hypodermic needles, and from an infected mother to child during pregnancy, delivery or breastfeeding. There is currently no cure for HIV/AIDS. AIDS is a debilitating condition that has great socialRead MoreChildren With Hiv / Aids843 Words   |  4 Pagesdangers of smoking, but that they maintain their smoking habit and continue to cause harm to their bodies. This concept is similar to what we have learned in class about how people respond to HIV/AIDS. Though many of the individuals living in sub-Saharan Africa—where HIV infection is the highest—know of the risks associated with infection and how the virus is transmitted, they continue to engage in risky behavior. Also relating to what we have learned in class in regards to educating people, M r. WestonRead MoreSpread Of Hiv / Aids1574 Words   |  7 PagesThe Spread of HIV/AIDs in Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa has been singled out as having the most serious HIV epidemic in the world. There is need to curb the spread of HIV in the continent by leveraging the knowledge and skills necessary to understand the factors responsible for the spread of the disease. This paper attempts to investigate the risk factors involved in the spread of HIV and how to reduce HIV prevalence regardless of these risks factors. The paper then goes a step further andRead MoreNight Fix Solar Panels1150 Words   |  5 Pages My company is Night Fix Solar Panels. The company is funded by direct investments. The company is a manufacturer of concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar panels and offers installation as well. The company will market it panels in the sub-Saharan region of Africa. The company specializes in CPV panels that use the sun as a power source to supply electricity with higher efficiencies than conventional flat panel collectors. The company’s trademark is the blue thin film coating of theRead MoreThe Demographic Transition Of Nigeria996 Words   |  4 PagesWhile some countries have quickly transitioned from high birth, high death to low birth, low death, others have struggled to move from one phase to the next, or what scholar refer to as a stalled demographic transition. Nigeria—as well as much of Sub-Saharan African—exemplifies such stagnation in demographic shifts. Nigerian population growth rate has declined more slowly than most areas of the world. Not only do fertility and mortality remain high, progress in reaching the replacement rate has stagnatedRead Moreâ€Å"Gender Inequality Exists to Some Extent, in Most Areas of Society, in All Countries of the World†. Geographically Examine This Statement.841 Words   |  4 Pageselections, as well as vote in elections. Sub-Saharan Africa is another area in which women’s empowerment is being promoted. This time through giving women mobile phones to help improve their lives slightly. Statistics show that within Sub-Saharan Africa 300 million fewer men than women have mobiles. So the plan was to issue 150 million mobiles to women across the region. It is thought that mobiles can help with literacy, health programs and project awareness, developing small businesses, and gaining

South America Free Essays

string(29) " low and geologically young\." Introduction The continent of South America has about one-eighth of the Earth’s land surface, situated between latitudes 12 °N-55 °S and longitudes 80 °-35 °W; no other continent has a greater latitudinal span. Eighty percent of its land mass is within the tropical zone, yet it extends into the subantarctic. The extensive zones of temperate and cold climates in the vicinity of the Equator, in the Andes, are unique. We will write a custom essay sample on South America or any similar topic only for you Order Now The land area of about 17,519,900-17,529,250 km? is under the jurisdiction of 13 countries (Table 49); French Guiana is governed as an overseas department of France. The region’s 1995 population of c. 320 million people is estimated to reach 452 million people in 2025. Three of the world’s 21 megacities are in South America: Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro (WRI, UNEP and UNDP 1994). Geological setting Although the neotropics may be conveniently considered as a single phytogeographic unit, the region is geologically complex. The neotropics include not only the South American continental plate but the southern portion of the North American plate, as well as the independent Caribbean plate (Clapperton 1993). The complicated geological history of the region, for example as these plates intermittently separated and collided through the Cretaceous and the Tertiary, provides the milieu within which plant evolution has been superimposed. South America has been an island continent during most of the period of angiosperm evolution, whereas Central America constitutes one of the two tropical parts of the Laurasian â€Å"world continent†. Both South America and North America have been moving westward, roughly in tandem, since the breakup of Pangaea in the Mesozoic. In contrast, the Antillean plate with its flotsam of Antillean islands formed only during the Cenozoic and has moved in a retrograde eastern direction, at least with respect to its larger neighbours. Whereas South America and North America have been widely separated through most of their geological histories, there has been generally increasing contact between them through most of the Cenozoic, culminating in their coalescence with formation of the Isthmus of Panama c. 3. 1 million years ago (Keigwin 1978). The date of this epochal event in neotropical geological history has been gradually estimated to be younger, with estimates of 5. 7 million years ago giving way to as recently as 1. 8 million years ago (Keller, Zenker and Stone 1989). In addition to their Pleistocene connection via the Isthmus of Panama, South America and North America apparently were more or less directly interconnected via the protoAntilles for a short time near the end of the Cretaceous, prior to formation of the Caribbean plate (Buskirk 1992). The outstanding geological feature of South America is the Andes, the longest mountain range in the world, which extends in a nearly straight line of over 7000 km from the north to the southern tip of the continent. The Andes have the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere, the highest mountain in the world’s tropics, and as measured from the centre of the Earth (rather than metres above sea-level), the highest mountain in the world. The most important break in the north-south sweep of the â€Å"cordillera† is the Huancabamba Depression in northern Peru, where the eastern chain of the cordillera is entirely ruptured (by the Maranon River) and even the western chain dips to 2145 m (at the Abra de Porculla). The existence of this massive mountain range has had profound effects on plant and animal evolution in South America, and consequently has profound effects on essential conservation priorities. In essence, the Andes represent a classical plate tectonic upthrust of continental rock, as the leading edge of the westward-moving South American plate collides with the oceanic Pacific plates. The Southern Andes are the oldest, with significant uplift already present in early Cenozoic times, prior to the Oligocene. Most of the uplift of the Central Andes was in the Miocene or later, whereas most of the uplift of the northern portion of the cordillera has been Plio-Pleistocene (van der Hammen 1974). To the north the Andes become more geologically complex, breaking into three separate cordilleras on the Ecuador/Colombia border. Much of the north-western margin of South America, including Colombia’s western and central cordilleras, appears to be amassed â€Å"suspect terrane† rather than an integral part of the South American continental plate (Juteau  et al. 1977; McCourt, Aspden and Brook 1984). Much of the rest of the South American continent consists of two great crystalline shields that represent the western portion of what was once Gondwanaland. The north-eastern portion of the continent constitutes the Guayana Shield, whereas much of Brazil south of Amazonia is underlain by the Brazilian Shield. These two major shields were formerly interconnected across what is today the Lower Amazon. They consist of a Precambrian igneous basement overlain by ancient mucheroded Precambrian sediments. The Guayana region has been the most heavily eroded, with basement elevations mostly below 500 m interrupted by massive flattopped table mountains, the fabled â€Å"tepuis†, typically rising to 2000 m or 2500 m. The peak of the highest of these, Cerro Neblina or Pico da Neblina on the Venezuela/Brazil border, reaches an altitude of 3015 m and is the highest point in South America outside the Andes. The tepuis and similar formations are highest and most extensive in southern Venezuela, becoming smaller and more isolated to the west and east where La Macarena near the base of the Andes in Colombia and the Inini-Camopi Range in French Guiana respectively represent their ultimate vestiges. The quartzite and sandstone of the Guayana Shield erode into nutrient-poor sands, and much of the Guayana region is characterized by extreme impoverishment of soils. The rivers draining this region are largely very acidic blackwater rivers, of which the Rio Negro is the most famous. The Brazilian Shield is generally higher and less dissected, with much of central Brazil having an elevation of 800-1000 m. The Brazilian Shield is mostly drained by clearwater rivers such as the Tapajos and Xingu. In contrast to these ancient shields, the Amazonian heartland of South America is low and geologically young. You read "South America" in category "Essay examples" Prior to the Miocene most of Amazonia constituted a large inland sea opening to the Pacific. With uplift of the Central Andes, this sea became a giant lake that gradually filled with Andean sediments. When the Amazon River broke through the narrow connection between the Guayanan and Brazilian shields near Santarem, Brazil, Amazonia began to drain eastward into the Atlantic. Nevertheless, the region remains so flat that ocean-going ships can reach Iquitos, Peru, which is only 110 m above sea-level, yet 3000 km from the mouth of the Amazon and less than 800 km from the Pacific Ocean. Most of Amazonian Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia is below 200 m in elevation. The process of Amazonian sedimentation is continuing, as the sediment-laden white-water rivers course down from the Andes, continually changing their channels and depositing and redepositing their sediments along the way. About 26% of Peruvian Amazonia shows direct evidence of recent riverine reworking (Salo  et al. 1986). With the lack of relief, it is not surprising that rather fine nuances of drainage, topography and depositional history are often major determinants of vegetation. Like Amazonia, some other distinctive geological features of the South American continent are relatively low, flat and geologically young, such as the chaco/pantanal/pampa region to the south, the Venezuelan/Colombian Llanos to the north and the trans-Andean Choco region of Colombia and Ecuador to the west. Large portions of these areas have been inundated during periods of high sea-level in the past, and large portions of all of these regions are seasonally inundated presently. One aspect of the geological history of Latin America that has received much biogeographic attention is the series of Pleistocene climatic fluctuations and their effects on distribution and evolution of the present neotropical biota. It is clear from the palynological record that major changes in vegetation were associated with the cycles of Pleistocene glaciation (e. . van der Hammen 1974), although to what extent lowland Amazonia was predominantly drier (e. g. Haffer 1969; van der Hammen 1974), colder (Colinvaux 1987; Liu and Colinvaux 1988) or both, and how this affected the Pleistocene distribution of tropical forest, remain hotly contested (Colinvaux 1987; Rasanen, Salo and Kalliola 1991). Although most of the corroborative geomorphological evidence for dry periods in the tropical lowlands during the Pleist ocene is now otherwise interpreted (Irion 1989; Colinvaux 1987), some new data look promising. There are also several other theories that attempt to explain aspects of present biogeography on the basis of past geological events, including river-channel formation and migration (Capparella 1988; Salo  et al. 1986; Salo and Rasanen 1989), hypothesized massive flooding in south-western Amazonia (Campbell and Frailey 1984), and the formation of a putative giant Pleistocene lake in Amazonia (Frailey  et al. 1988). Mesoamerica For its size, Middle America is even more complex geologically than South America (see Central America regional overview). Nuclear Central America, an integral part of the North American continent, reaches south to central Nicaragua. The region from southern Nicaragua to the isthmus of Darien in Panama is geologically younger and presents recent volcanism, uplift and associated sedimentation. Like South America, the northern neotropics have a mountainous spine that breaks into separate cordilleras in the north. In general the Middle American cordilleras are highest to the north in Mexico, and lowest in Panama to the south-east. In Mexico, the geological picture is complicated by a band of volcanoes that bisects the continent from east to west at the latitude of Mexico City. This â€Å"eje volcanico transversal† is associated with the Mexican megashear, along which the southern half of the country has gradually moved eastward with respect to the northern half. In southern Central America, volcanism has been most intensive in Costa Rica, which has two sections of its Central Cordillera reaching above treeline. In northern Costa Rica and adjacent Nicaragua the volcanoes become gradually reduced in size and more isolated from each other to the north. Similarly in Panama the Central Cordillera is over 2000 m high to the west near the Costa Rican border but only about 500 m high in most of the eastern part of the country. In central Panama, the Panama Canal cuts through a continental divide of only 100 m elevation, and in the San Juan River/Lake Nicaragua area of Nicaragua the maximum elevation is even less. For montane organisms, these interruptions in the cordillera represent major biological discontinuities. The Yucatan Peninsula area of Mexico, Guatemala and Belize represents a geologically anomalous portion of Middle America. It is a flat limestone formation more like the Greater Antilles or Peninsular Florida than the mountainous terrain and volcanic soil of most of Middle America. Limestone is otherwise relatively rare in the continental neotropics, in contrast to many other parts of the world, with small outcrops like those in the Madden Lake region of central Panama or the Coloso area of northern Colombia being associated with peculiar floras. These areas, like the Yucatan Peninsula, tend to show distinctly Antillean floristic affinities, paralleling the geological ones. Caribbean The Antillean islands constitute the third geologic unit of the neotropics (see Caribbean Islands regional overview). The Antilles make up in geological complexity what they lack in size. The most striking geological anomaly is Hispaniola, which is a composite of what were three separate islands during much of the Cenozoic. In addition to being completely submerged during part of the midCenozoic, the southern peninsula of Hispaniola was probably attached to Cuba instead of Hispaniola until the end of the Cenozoic. Jamaica too was completely submerged during much of the mid-Cenozoic, and has a different geological history from the rest of the Greater Antilles, with closer connections to Central America via the nowsubmerged Nicaraguan Rise. Possibly a collision of the western end of the Greater Antilles island arc with Mexico-Guatemala fragmented its western end to form Jamaica. Also phytogeographically and conservationally important, some of the Antilles have extensive areas of distinctive substrates. In addition to large areas of limestone, most of the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico) have significant areas of serpentine and other ultrabasic rocks formed from uplift of patches of oceanic crust during the north-eastward movement of the Caribbean plate. The Lesser Antilles are small and actively volcanic. Most of the other smaller islands are low limestone keys with little or no geological relief. These patterns are clearly reflected in the Antillean flora. The most striking concentrations of local endemism occur in areas of ultrabasic rocks or on unusual types of limestone on the larger islands. The Lesser Antilles, Bahamas and other smaller islands have only a depauperate subset of the generally most widespread Antillean taxa. Vegetation The neotropics include a broad array of vegetation types commensurate with their ecological diversity. Along the west coast of South America are both one of the wettest places in the world – Tutunendo in the Choco region of Colombia, with 11,770 mm of annual precipitation, and the driest – no rain has been recorded in parts of the Atacama Desert of Chile. The largest tract of rain forest in the world is in the Amazon Basin, and Amazonia has received a perhaps disproportionate share of the world’s conservation attention. While the forests of Upper Amazonia are the most diverse in the world for many kinds of organisms, including trees as well as butterflies, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, other vegetation types have equal or greater concentrations of local endemism and are more acutely threatened. In particular, the plight of dry forests and of Andean montane forests are beginning to receive increased attention. Some isolated areas of lowland moist forest outside of Amazonia also have highly endemic floras and are currently much more threatened than Amazonia. In the following paragraphs are sketched the major neotropical vegetation types, followed by a conservation assessment of each. At the very broadest level, the lowland vegetation types of South America and the rest of the neotropics may be summarized as: 1. Tropical moist forest (evergreen or semi-evergreen rain forest)  in Amazonia, the coastal region of Brazil, the Choco and the lower Magdalena Valley, and along the Atlantic coast of Central America to Mexico. 2. Dry forest (intergrading into woodland)  along the Pacific side of Mexico and Central America, in northern Colombia and Venezuela, coastal Ecuador and adjacent Peru, the Velasco area (Chiquitania) of eastern Bolivia, a broad swath from north-west Argentina to north-east Brazil encompassing chaco, cerrado and caatinga, and with scattered smaller patches elsewhere. 3. Open grassy savanna  in the pampas region of north-eastern Argentina and adjacent Uruguay and southernmost Brazil, the Llanos de Mojos and adjacent pantanal of Bolivia and Brazil, the Llanos of Colombia and Venezuela, and the Gran Sabana and Sipaliwini savanna in the Guayana region. 4. Desert and arid steppe  in northern Mexico, the dry Sechura and Atacama regions along the west coast of South America between 5 °S and 30 °S, and in the monte and Patagonian steppes of the south-eastern part of the Southern Cone of South America. 5. The  Mediterranean-climate region  of central Chile. 6. The  temperate evergreen forests  of southern Chile with an adjacent fringe of Argentina. More complex montane formations occur along the Andean Cordillera which stretches the length of the western periphery of South America, in the more interrupted Central American/Mexican cordilleran system, in the tepuis of the Guayana region and in the coastal cordillera of southern Brazil. Moist and wet forests In general, forests receiving more than 1600 mm (Gentry 1995) or 2000 mm (Holdridge 1967) of annual rainfall are evergreen or semi-evergreen and may be referred to as tropical moist forest. In the neotropics, lowland tropical moist forest is often further subdivided, following the Holdridge life-zone system, into moist forest (2000-4000 mm of precipitation annually), wet forest (4000-8000 mm) and pluvial forest (over 8000 mm). Nearly all of the Amazon Basin receives 2000 mm or more of annual rainfall and constitutes variants of the moist forest. There are also several major regions of lowland moist forest variously disjunct from the Amazonian core area. These include the region along the Atlantic coast of Central America (extending into Mexico), the lower Magdalena Valley of northern Colombia, the Choco egion along the Pacific coast of Colombia and northern Ecuador, and the coastal forests of Brazil. Lowland moist forest is the most diverse neotropical vegetation type, structurally as well as taxonomically. In most lowland moist-forest and wet-forest regions around a quarter of the species are vines and lianas, a quarter to a half terrestrial herbs (including weeds), up to a quarter vascular epiphytes and only about a quarter trees (Gentry and Dodson 1987; Gentry 1990b). To the extent that smaller organisms such as herbs and epiphytes may demand different conservation strategies than large organisms like trees (or top predators), this habitat diversity assumes conservation importance. Diversity patterns are also important for conservation planning. There is a strong correlation of plant community diversity with precipitation – wetter forests generally are more botanically diverse. For plants the most speciesrich forests in the world are the aseasonal lowland moist and wet forests of Upper Amazonia and the Choco region. For plants over 2. 5 cm dbh in 0. 1-ha samples, world record sites are in the pluvial-forest area of the Colombian Choco (258-265 species); for plants over 10 cm dbh in 1-ha plots, the world record is near Iquitos, Peru (300 species out of 606 individual trees and lianas). Concentrations of endemism do not necessarily follow those of diversity. Local endemism appears to be concentrated in cloud-forest regions along the base of the northern Andes and in adjacent southern Central America (cf. Vazquez-Garcia 1995), and in the north-western sector of Amazonia where the substrate mosaic associated with sediments from the Guayana Shield is most complex (Gentry 1986a). Overall regional endemism in predominantly moist-forest areas is greatest in Amazonia, with an estimated 13,700 endemic species constituting 76% of the flora (Gentry 1992d). However many of these species are relatively widespread within Amazonia. The much more restricted (and devastated, see below) Mata Atlantica forests of coastal Brazil have almost three-quarters as many endemic species (c. 500) as Amazonia and similarly high endemism (73% of the flora) (Gentry 1992d). Moreover a larger proportion of the Mata Atlantica species probably are locally endemic. On the other side of South America, the trans-Andean very wet to wet and moist forests of the Choco and coastal Ecuador are also geographically isolated and highly endemic (cf. Terborgh and Winter 1982). Estimates of endemism in the Choco phytogeographic reg ion are c. 20% (Gentry 1982b). Probably about 1260 or 20% of western Ecuador’s 6300 naturally occurring species also are endemic (Dodson and Gentry 1991). For the northern Andean region as a whole, including both the coastal lowlands of western Colombia and Ecuador and the adjacent uplands, Gentry (1992d) estimated over 8000 endemic species, constituting 56% of the flora. Moreover this is probably the floristically most poorly known part of the neotropics, perhaps of the world, surely with several thousand mostly endemic species awaiting discovery and description. Dry forests There are seven main areas of dry forest in the neotropics, and by some estimations this may be the most acutely threatened of all neotropical vegetations. The interior dry areas of South America are outstanding in their regional endemism, estimated at 73%. Two of the most extensive neotropical dry-forest areas represent manifestations of the standard interface between the subtropical high pressure desert areas and the moist equatorial tropics. In Middle America, this area of strongly seasonal climate occurs mostly along the Pacific coast in a narrow but formerly continuous band from Mexico to the Guanacaste region of north-western Costa Rica. There are also outliers farther south in the Terraba Valley of Costa Rica, Azuero Peninsula of Panama, and even around Garachine in the Darien (Panama), partially connecting the main Middle American dry forest with that of northern South America. These western Middle American dry forests are made up almost entirely of broadleaved deciduous species. In addition, the northern part of the Yucatan and large areas of the Antilles are covered by dry-forest variants. Most of the Caribbean dry forests are on limestone, and their woody species tend to be distinctively more sclerophyllous and smaller leaved than are the Pacific coast dry-forest plants. In the driest areas, both these types of dry forest tend to smaller stature and merge into various kinds of thorn-scrub matorral. In South America, only the extreme northern parts of Colombia and Venezuela reach far enough from the Equator to enter the strongly seasonal subtropical zone. Floristically and physiognomically this northern dry area is very much like similarly dry areas of western Middle America. The strongly seasonal region of northern South America also includes the open savannas of the Llanos extending from the Orinoco River west and north to the base of the Eastern Cordillera of he Colombian Andes and the north slope of the Coast Range of Venezuela. Large areas of the lowlying, often poorly drained Llanos are seasonally inundated, especially in the Apure region. The main area of tropical dry forest in South America is the chaco region, encompassing the western half of Paraguay and adjacent areas of Bolivia and Argentina, south of 17 °S latitude. The â€Å"chacoâ₠¬  is physiognomically distinctive in being a dense scrubby vegetation of mostly smallleaved, spiny branched small trees interspersed with scattered large individuals of a few characteristic species of large trees. To the south, the chaco gives way to the desert scrub of the Argentine monte. There is a distinctive but generally neglected area of dry forest at the interface between the chaco and Amazonia in Bolivia. The names Chiquitania and Velasco forest have been used locally in Bolivia to refer to this vegetation, which extends from the Tucuvaca Valley and Serrania de Chiquitos in easternmost Santa Cruz Department interruptedly westward to the base of the Andes and along much of the lower Andean slopes of the southern half of Bolivia. This region of closed-canopy dry forest is physiognomically similar to that of western Central America, with tall broadleaved completely deciduous (caducifolious) trees. Although it has been locally regarded as merely representing the transition between the chaco and Amazonia, it is a floristically and physiognomically distinctive unit that should be accorded equivalent conservation importance to the other major dry-forest vegetation types (Gentry 1994). The chaco is adjoined to the north by two large and phytogeographically distinctive areas of dry forest, the cerrado and caatinga, which cover a small portion of easternmost Bolivia and most of the Brazilian Shield area of central and north-eastern Brazil. The typical vegetation of the â€Å"cerrado† region consists of wooded savanna with characteristically gnarled sclerophyllous-leaved trees with thick twisted branches and thick bark, widely enough separated to allow a ground cover of grass intermixed with a rich assortment of woody-rooted (xylopodial) subshrubs. The cerrado also includes areas where the trees form a nearly closed canopy (â€Å"cerradao†), and large open areas of grasses and subshrubs with no trees at all (â€Å"campo limpio† and â€Å"campo rupestre†). Although the cerrado is appropriately considered a kind of dry forest, some cerrado regions actually receive more rainfall than do adjacent forest regions; excess aluminium in the soil may be as important as the climate in determining its distribution. The even drier forest of the caatinga of north-eastern Brazil extends from an appropriately subtropical 17 °S latitude farther north to a surprisingly equatorial 3 °S. Why this region should have such low rainfall remains poorly understood. Another climatic peculiarity is the irregularity of its rainfall, not only with low annual precipitation, but also with frequent years when the rains fail almost completely. The typical vegetation of the â€Å"caatinga† – relatively low, dense, small-leaved and completely deciduous in the dry season – is physiognomically similar to that of the chaco. The final major South American dry-forest area is the coastal forest of north-western Peru and south-western Ecuador. Even more anomalous in its geographical setting than the caatinga, this dry-forest region is positioned almost on the Equator. The occurrence of dry forest so near the Equator is due to the offshore Humboldt Current. While similar cold-water currents occur along mid-latitude western coasts of other continents, the Humboldt Current is perhaps the strongest of these and is the only cold current reaching so near the Equator. The dry forest of coastal Peru and adjacent Ecuador is (or at least was, see below) physiognomically similar to that of western Central America, tall with a closed canopy of broadleaved completely deciduous trees. There also are a number of scattered smaller patches of tropical dry forest and/or savanna in various interAndean valleys, around Tarapoto, Peru, the Trinidad region of Bolivia, Brazil’s Roraima area, the Surinam/Brazil border region, on Marajo Island, and in the pantanal region of the upper Paraguay River. Grasslands and deserts Grasslands and deserts occupy smaller areas of the neotropics than they do in Africa or most higher latitude continents. The main grassland region of the neotropics is the pampas region between about 39 °S and 28 °S and encompassing most of Uruguay as well as adjacent eastern Argentina and southernmost Brazil. The other major grassland area is the llanos region of Colombia and Venezuela. Smaller predominantly grassland regions occur in north-eastern Bolivia (Llanos de Mojos) and the south-eastern Guayana region (Gran Sabana and Sipaliwini savanna). There are also areas with few or no trees and dominated by grasses in the cerrado and pantanal regions of Brazil, and scattered outliers associated with local edaphic peculiarities elsewhere. None of the major grassland regions has many endemic species, in contrast to the campos rupestres of the Brazilian Shield and the Guayana area whitesand savannas, which have many endemics. This contrast is especially marked in southern Venezuela where some savanna patches have clay soils and a llanos-type flora of widespread species, whereas others have sandy soils and a flora of Amazonian affinities with many endemic species (Huber 1982). The desert regions of Latin America are confined to northern Mexico, the monte (Morello 1958; Orians and Solbrig 1977) and Patagonian steppes of Argentina, and the narrow Pacific coastal strip of northern Chile and Peru. The 3500-km long South American coastal desert is one of the most arid in the world – most of it is largely devoid of vegetation. This region is saved from conservational obscurity, however, by the occurrence of islandlike patches of mostly herbaceous vegetation in places where steep coastal slopes are regularly bathed in winter fog. Although these â€Å"lomas† formations are individually not very rich in species (mostly fewer than 100 spp. ), they have a very high degree of endemism due to their insular nature. The overall lomas flora includes nearly 1000 species, mostly annuals or geophytes. Diversity and endemism in the lomas formations generally increase southward, where cacti and other succulents are also increasingly represented (Muller 1985; Rundel  et al. 991). Montane vegetation The main montane-forest area of the neotropics is associated with the Andes. A major but more interrupted montane-forest strip is associated with the mountainous backbone of Central America. Venezuela’s Cordillera de la Costa phytogeographically is essentially an Andean extension, although geologically distinct from the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes. The tepui summits of the Guayana Highlands, though small in area, constitute a highly distinctive and phytogeographically fascinating montane environment. The Serra do Mar along Brazil’s south-eastern coast is mostly low elevation but has a few peaks reaching above treeline with a depauperate paramo-like vegetation. The Andes may be conveniently recognized in three segments: northern – Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador; central-Peru and Bolivia; and southern-Chile and Argentina. In general the northern Andes are wetter, the central and southern regions drier. The main biogeographic discontinuity in the Andean forests is associated with the Huancabamba Depression in northern Peru, where the extensive system of dry interAndean valleys of the Maranon River and its tributaries entirely bisects the Eastern Cordillera and is associated with a topographically complex region having unusually high local endemism. Treeline in the tropical Andes occurs around 3500 m, depending on latitude and local factors. Above treeline, the wet grass-dominated vegetation of the Venezuelan, Colombian and northern Ecuadorian Andes is termed â€Å"paramo†; this drier vegetation, occurring from Peru to Argentina and Chile, is the â€Å"puna†. Colombian and Venezuelan paramos are characterized by  Espeletia  (Compositae) with its typical pachycaul-rosette growth form. The vegetation above treeline of most of Ecuador and northernmost Peru, locally called â€Å"jalca† in Peru, is ecologically as well as geographically intermediate; although generally called paramo in Ecuador, this region lacks the definitive  Espeletia  aspect of the typical northern paramos. While individual high-Andean plant communities are not very rich in species, many different communities can occur in close proximity in broken montane terrain. Thus the several high-Andean sites for which Florulas are available (Cleef 1981; Smith 1988; Galeano 1990; Ruthsatz 1977) have between 500-800 species, approaching the size of some lowland tropical Florulas. The moist Andean slopes generally show a distinctive floristic zonation, with woody plant diversity decreasing linearly with altitude from c. 1500 m to treeline. Below 1500 m Andean forests are generally similar both in floristic composition and diversity to equivalent samples of lowland forest. There are also structural changes at different elevations. For example hemi-epiphytic climbers show a strong peak in abundance between 1500-2400 m, epiphytes are usually more numerous in middleelevation cloud forests, and the stem density of woody plants is usually greater at higher elevations (Gentry 1992a). While the northern Andes have cloud forest on both western and eastern slopes, increasing aridity south from the Equator limits cloud forest to an ever narrower band on the Pacific slope. South of 7 °S latitude, forest on the western slopes of the Andes is restricted to isolated protected pockets, and the predominant slope vegetation becomes chaparral, thorn scrub and desert. One of the most striking features of the Andes phytogeographically is the high level of floristic endemism. In part this is associated with the discontinuity of high-altitude vegetation types, which are strongly fragmented into habitat islands. In addition to microgeographic allopatric speciation related to habitat fragmentation, it seems likely that unusually dynamic speciation, perhaps associated with genetic drift in small founder populations, may be a prevalent evolutionary theme in Andean cloud forests (Gentry and Dodson 1987; Gentry 1989). The combination of high local endemism (Gentry 1986a, 1993a; Luteyn 1989; Henderson, Churchill and Luteyn 1991) with major deforestation makes the Andes one of South America’s conservationally most critical regions. As with the dry forests, the Andean forests have recently begun to receive greater conservation attention (Henderson, Churchill and Luteyn 1991; Young and Valencia 1992). Estimates of deforestation for the northern Andes as a whole are generally over 90%. Some areas are even more critical – perhaps less than 5% of Colombia’s high-altitude montane forests remain (Hernandez-C. 1990) and only c. 4% of the original forest persists on the western Andean slopes of Ecuador (Dodson and Gentry 1991). Most of the northern Peruvian Andes are similarly deforested (cf. Dillon 1994). Although relatively extensive forests still remain on the Amazonfacing slopes of Peru and Bolivia, much of this area is being actively deforested, in large part to grow â€Å"coca† (Erythroxylum coca) and opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). Flora From a conservation perspective, the neotropical region merits very special attention. Just as South America is sometimes called the â€Å"bird continent†, the neotropics might well be termed the â€Å"plant continent† in deference to their uniquely rich botanical diversity (Table 50). If current estimates are accurate, the neotropical region contains 90,000-100,000 plant species, twice to nearly three times as many as in either tropical Africa or tropical Australasia (cf. Prance 1994). The last great places for plant collecting are in the northern half of South America (J. Wurdack 1995, pers. comm. ), which is two to four times less documented by herbarium specimens than elsewhere in the tropics (cf. Campbell 1989). Some of the main relatively unexplored areas (according to Wurdack) are, in Brazil: Serra de Tumucumaque (Tumuc-Humac Mountains), along the border with Surinam and French Guiana; slopes, especially the eastern slopes, of Pico da Neblina; in north-western Mato Grosso State, along the Linea Telegrafica; in Venezuela: slopes and talus forests of the tepuis; aramos west of Pinango (north of Merida); eastern slopes to Paramo de Tama (State of Merida, near border with Colombia); in Colombia: Paramo de Frontino (west of Medellin); Cuatrecasas’ headwater localities of collection in western Colombia, particularly in the Department of Valle del Cauca (cf. Cuatrecasas 1958); upper elevations of the Serrania de La Macarena (Department of Meta); in Ecuador: Cordillera de Los Llanganates (which is east of Ambato) (cf. Kennerley and Bromley 1971); Cordillera de Cutucu (Province of Morona-Santiago); Cordillera del Condor, along the border with Peru; in Peru: elevations above 700 m of the Cerros Campanquiz, which are mostly in the Department of Amazonas; the eastern cordillera in the Department of Amazonas, Province of Chachapoyas (e. g. the Cerro de las Siete Lagunas east of Cerro Campanario); portions of the Cordillera de Vilcabamba (which is north-west of Cusco), including the northern Cutivireni region (Villa-Lobos 1995); and in Bolivia: the easternmost Andes and granitic outliers in the Department of Santa Cruz. Floristic diversity is very asymmetrically distributed in South America (cf. Table 51). If the nine phytogeographic regions recognized by Gentry (1982a) for the neotropics are taken as a basis, Central America with Mexico (Mesoamerica) and Amazonia are the richest in species, with each of these two regions having about a quarter of the neotropical total. At the opposite extreme, the Antilles have an estimated 9% of the total neotropical flora and the Caribbean coastal region of Colombia and Venezuela has only 8%. The minuscule area of the Guayana Highlands (above 1500 m) accounts for only c. 2. 5% of the neotropical flora, but has one of the highest rates of endemism (65%) in the region (Berry, Huber and Holst 1995). The three main tropical South American dry areas together include a relatively low 11% of the neotropical species total. Intermediate levels of regional plant species richness are found in the Northern Andean and Southern Andean regions and the Mata Atlantica area of Brazil, which each have between 16-18% of the tropical flora of the neotropical region. Regional endemism is greatest in Amazonia including lowland Guayana (76%), but almost as great in coastal Brazil (73%) and the chacocerradocaatinga dry areas (73%). In contrast, those two Andean subregions, Central America, and the Antilles have endemism levels of 54-60%, and the northern Colombia/Venezuela region only 24%. Farther south in the Southern Cone of South America, the monte of Argentina is estimated to include 700 species with 5% endemism, and Patagonia 1200 species with 30% endemism. Chile as a whole has 5215 species (Marticorena and Quezada 1985; Marticorena 1990), with 1800-2400 in the Mediterranean-climate area of central Chile where endemism is high, perhaps greater than for any of the equivalent tropical regions. The reasons for the unique floristic diversity of the neotropics as compared to Africa or tropical Australasia continue to be hotly debated. A popular theory is allopatric multiplication of species in habitat-island forest refugia during Pleistocene glacial advances (Haffer 1969; Prance 1973, 1982). Africa, which is higher and drier, would have had fewer refugia and more extinction. Tropical Asia was less affected, being buffered by the nearby ocean due to the island status of its components and by its proximity to a rain source from the Pacific (the world’s largest ocean). Other theories, not necessarily mutually exclusive (cf. Terborgh and Winter 1982), focus on explosive speciation in the more extensive cloud-forest area of the neotropics (Gentry 1982a, 1989; Gentry and Dodson 1987); â€Å"Endlerian† speciation associated with habitat specialization in the uniquely complicated habitat mosaic of north-western and north-central Amazonia (Gentry 1986a, 1989; Gentry and Ortiz-S. 993); speciation associated with riverine barriers to gene flow in the largest river system of the world (Capparella 1988; Ducke and Black 1953); or biogeographical phenomena associated with the Great American Interchange and stemming from the direct juxtaposition of Laurasian and Gondwanan elements via the Isthmus of Panama (Gentry 1982a; Marshall  et al. 1979). Social an d environmental values, and economic importance The indigenous groups (nations) of South America (Gray 1987) are varyingly diverse peoples who often partly depend directly on the natural environment for their biological and cultural well or survival. Their approximate presence is shown inTable 52. As the site of one of the Vavilovian centres of domestication, South America has played an important role in providing plants useful to people. The Andean centre of domestication rivals the Indo-Malayan and Mediterranean areas as the region that has produced the most important crop plants. Tobacco, potatoes, grain amaranths, quinoa, peanuts, lima beans, kidney beans, tomatoes and perhaps sweet potatoes and pineapples all derive from the Peruvian Andes and immediately adjacent egions (Anderson 1952). Based on land-race diversity, western Amazonia was the centre of domestication of a series of less well-known but increasingly important crops, including â€Å"pejibaye† or peach palm (Bactris gasipaes), â€Å"biriba† or â€Å"anona† (Rollinia mucosa), â€Å"abiu† or â€Å"caimito† (Pouteria caimito), â€Å"sapota† (Quararibea cordata), â€Å"araza† (Eugenia stipitata), â€Å"uvilla† (P ourouma cecropiifolia) and â€Å"cubiu† or â€Å"cocona† (Solanum sessiliflorum) (Clement 1989). Of the 86 major crops and their more than 100 species included in a summary of crop plant evolution (Simmonds 1976), 24 crops are neotropical in origin either wholly (19) or partly (5). Also, a host of South American forest plants are used locally but have not reached world commerce. Amazonia is especially rich in wild fruits (e. g. Duke and Vasquez 1994). For example around Iquitos, Peru, 139 species of forest-harvested fruits are regularly consumed, 57 of them important enough to be sold in the local produce market (Vasquez and Gentry 1989). There are a multitude of other uses for neotropical plants. Gentry (1992b) notes that 38% of the Bignoniaceae species of north-western South America have specific ethnobotanical uses and suggests that this could be extrapolated to 10,000 species with uses in this part of the world alone. Many studies have shown that the direct economic value of such products can be very high (e. g. Peters, Gentry and Mendelsohn 1989; Balick and Mendelsohn 1992). In a single hectare of speciesrich tropical forest near Iquitos, 454 of the 858 trees and lianas of dbh 10 cm or more have actual or potential uses (Gentry 1986c), with the hectare of forest potentially producing US$650 worth of fruit and US$50 worth of rubber per year. If the 93 m? of sellable timber worth US$1000 is included, the net present value of the hectare of forest is US$9000, far more than the net present value of managed plantations or cattle-ranching. Additionally, the major role of forested areas in controlling erosion, recycling rainfall and as a carbon sink are now well known. As the territory with the largest tropical forest remaining in the world, South America plays a major role in providing such regional and planetary environmental services. Return to Top Loss, threats and conservation Although the neotropical region has the most forest, it is also losing more forest each year than any other area of tropical forest (Myers 1982; Reid 1992). In western Ecuador only 4% of the original forest cover remains (Dodson and Gentry 1991). Much attention has focused on Brazil, which includes 48% of the South American area. Perhaps the most definitive satellite analysis of deforestation in Amazonia to date (Skole and Tucker 1993) indicates that as of 1988 only c. 10% of Brazilian Amazonia had been deforested, but if allowance is made for a 1-km edge effect, fully 20% of Brazilian Amazonia had been impacted. Deforestation in Rondonia alone has been c. 4000 km? per year, reaching almost 40,000 km? r 15% of the state by 1989 (Malingreau and Tucker 1988; Fearnside 1991). In coastal Brazil estimates of surviving forest range from 2% (IUCN and WWF 1982) to 12% (Brown and Brown 1992). Burgeoning populations are the biggest factor in the ongoing losses, although political and economic instability in some areas, and short-sighted â€Å"development† programmes in other areas, also play significant roles. In most of the neotropics, unl ike much of the Old World, commercial lumbering operations have played a relatively small role so far. Conservational awareness throughout the region has increased dramatically in the past few years. Not only are increasing numbers of National Parks and similar conservation units being set aside, but there is also rapidly growing interest in the possibility of sustainable use of tropical forests as a conservation strategy. Unfortunately many destructive and unsustainable uses of forest can masquerade behind the banner of sustainable use. Making this promising new concept fulfil its potential remains a major challenge. Similarly the growing appreciation of the potential value of biodiversity has been accompanied by too much political preoccupation and posturing about sovereignty over potential genetic resources. Despite such problems, it is clear that the diversity of rain-forest plant life is intrinsically valuable. South America, botanically the richest continent, is also the greatest repository of potentially useful plants. Conservation of South America’s plant diversity is clearly a world conservational priority. How to cite South America, Essay examples