Philippine American history Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Philippine American history - Research Paper Example Existing studies are branded as â€Å"sketchy, superficial, and flawed in their methodology as well as their assumptions. Lamenting this neglect in the literature, the Filipinos ought to be considered as â€Å"forgotten Asian Americans† that â€Å"very little significant has been considered on them† and that in this group there is â€Å"no history, no nothing†. The institutional invisibility of the Filipinos and Philippines is considered to be connected to the historical amnesia as well as the self-erasure of the United States colonization of the Philippines and associated imperialism. From a cultural perspective, the academic neglect of the Filipinos results from the erroneous assumptions on the lack of authentic indigenous culture from the Philippines. This echoes the contention considered by researchers and anthropologists ignoring the group because they are considered to be â€Å"too westernized with no culture of their own.† Thus, this suggests that the history of Filipinos ought to be well understood within the context of the colonial and postcolonial associations exis ting between the united states and the Philippines (Lee, 366). Filipino Americans started settling after the Philippines were accepted as a territory of the United Kingdom in 1898. The Filipinos arrived as labors for the domestic and agricultural plantations as well as students. By 1930, the number of the Filipinos numbered to 45,026. Since then the population has grown tremendously. In 1970, the number of Filipinos was estimated to be 336,731, and it has numbered at least seven times to 2.4 million today making up almost 1 percent of the national population in the United States (Liu et al., 233). The Filipinos population is composed of the native Japanese and Hawaii population and the Hapas, who constitute at least 22 percent of the Filipino population in America. Due to the integration of the

Judy Bacas Great Wall of LA (Historical and Geographic and american Essay

Judy Bacas Great Wall of LA (Historical and Geographic and american dream aspect) - Essay Example The community in which it exists is also highly diverse, including residents of Mexican, Indian and African descent, making a history of this nature seem entirely appropriate for the area and necessary for the state. Each panel depicts a different event in California history while can be pieced together through the 1960s. By looking at the panels that depict the California Gold Rush and California’s role in World War II, it is possible to see how the American Dream was shared by people of all races in the first and defended by people of all races in the second. The panel depicting the California Gold Rush is an important point in history as it is the event that brought numerous white settlers out to the west to displace those individuals already living there. Panels before this depict the level of Indian and Mexican settlement that had already taken place, as well as Spanish domination. However, with the discovery of gold, more and more white settlers moved in from the east seeking their own fortunes. The panel begins innocently enough with the depiction of the discovery of gold and the arrival of gold seekers by ship. Here is the American dream in action, with people of all colors coming to the California coast to seek their fortunes and pursue the American Dream of some property, a home to call their own and the ability to make their own livings. Included in the image are portraits of Mifflin W. Gibbs, who is identified on the wall’s official website as the publisher of the first Black newspaper, and Mary Ellen Pleasant, also iden tified on the same site as a civil rights activist who helped defend Blacks arraigned under the fugitive slave laws. While the inclusion of these two figures is intended to indicate the positive impact of black people on California history, it also serves to remind viewers of the limited number of people of color that were able to have such an impact on the people of this time period. The inclusion of a

Petrochemical Industry Introduction To Chemical Engineering Assignment Engineering Essay

Petrochemical Industry Introduction To Chemical Engineering Assignment Engineering Essay Introduction Petrochemical industry is being chosen as our main topic for the introduction to Chemical Engineering assignment. Petrochemical is the second level products being derived from crude oil after several refining processes. These chemicals are typically extracted during the refining process as  crude oil  and gas are distilled or cracked, and they can be utilized in a wide variety of ways. Petrochemical can be used to manufacture polyvinyl chloride (PVC). PVC is one of the oldest synthetic materials with the longest history in industrial production.  Ã‚  Its early history is of multiple and accidental discovery in different places at different times as well as unsuccessful quests for commercial application. During the 1950s many more companies started to produce PVC and volumes increased dramatically around the world. PVC products rapidly became essential to the construction industry; the plastics resistance to light, chemicals and corrosion made it the best option for building applications. Improvement made to the materials resistance to extreme temperatures, allowed for PVC to be transporting water to thousands of homes and industries.  PVCs low cost, excellent durability and process ability make it the material of choice for dozens of industries such as health care, IT, transport, textiles and construction. The chemical process for making PVC involves taking the simplest unit, called the monomer, and linking these monomer molecules together in the polymerization process. Various additives including stabilizers and plasticizers need to be added to PVC resin to create a compound that meets the requirement of the end product and of the processing technology to be used.   Importance of Petrochemical Industry in Our Society The petrochemical industry is a complex industry that affects all spheres of life. Most items used in everyday life such as plastic products and soaps owe their existence to petrochemicals. The petrochemical industry connects downstream sectors such as pharmaceuticals with the upstream oil and gas industry.   The petrochemical industry converts feed stocks such as naphtha and natural gas components such as butane, ethane and propane through steam cracking or catalytic cracking into petrochemical building blocks such as olefins and aromatics. While olefins include ethylene, propylene, methanol and C4 stream such as butadiene, aromatics include benzene, toluene and xylene. The petrochemicals of commercial importance in the petrochemical industry include ethylene, propylene, benzene and xylene. These petrochemical building blocks are further processed to yield final products such as paints, polyester and plastics. Take ethylene for instance. It is processed into ethyl benzene, ethylen e oxide, ethylene dichloride, ethyl alcohol, acetaldehyde and polyethylene. These undergo further transformation to yield a wide range of products such as tyres, detergents, agrochemicals and plastic products. Originally, most plastics were made from the resins of plant matter. But it wasnt long before plastics were developed from petrochemicals. The packaging industry, the leading user of plastics, accounts for about one-third of total U.S. production. The building industry ranks second, which uses plastic to make  insulation, moulding, pipes, roofing, siding, and frames for doors and windows. Other industries, including automobile and truck manufacturing, also rely heavily on plastics. The United States was hardly alone in its rising use of petroleum products. Throughout the world, increased industrialization and rapid population growth created new and greater demands for oil. By the late 1950s, petrochemicals became one of the largest industries, and control over the sources and transportation of oil became a major national and international political issue. The Supply and Demand The raw material used for the production Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) is Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM). Naphtha, which refers to a several different liquid mixtures of hydrocarbon, is the major feed stock used for the production of VCM. The global VCM supply capacity in the year 2009 was 40.0 million tons which 50.8 % of it is based on Naphtha as feedstock. 27.2 % of the global capacity was based on Natural gas for feedstock followed by 17.2% by coal while only 4.7 % of the global capacity was based on other feed stocks. In terms of region oriented, Asia- Pacific had the largest production capacity in 2009 with 18.1 million tons of production which stands 45.1% of the market share followed by Europe with a production capacity of 10.4 million tons and a share of 25.8%. The Middle East had the capacity of 2.0 million tons and a share of 5.2% while South and Central America were closely behind with 1.6 million tons of production capacity with a share of 3.9%. Based on the report Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM) Global Dynamics to 2020, global VCM demand in the year 2000 was 20.7 million tons and it grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8% from the year 2000 to 2009 in which the demand in the latter year had reached 29 million tons. The report has also indicates that there will be increase in demand of VCM with growth of are a CAGR of 5.4% from 2009 to 2020. This means if the reports expectation is correct, the demand of VCM this year will be 32 million tones and by the year 2020, the demand will be reaching 50 million tones. Out of the 29 million tons of VCM demand in the year 2009, Asia-Pacific has the highest demand in the industry with 16.4 million tons with a major share of 56.4%. The North America had a demand of 5.9 million tons and its share was 20.3% while Europe had a VCM demand of 4.8 million tons, followed by South and Central America with demand of 1.2 million tons. The demand share owned by Europe was 16.5% while 4.1% of demand market share is occupied by South and Central America. The Middle East had a demand of only mere 0.8 million tons along with demand share of only 2.7%. In conclusion, we can see that the major demand of VCM is in Asia Pacific and this is also where the production capacity of VCM is highest in a region around the world. Hence, we can conclude that the production capacity is usually closely related to the demand of the region. Prospect of the industry The production of PVC is a chemical industry. To be more specific, it is a synthetic material industry. It is considered a segment of overall chemical industry with manufacturers representing 20% of chemical industry. The plastic industry, which manufacturing of PVC is, stands around 70% of the whole synthetic material industry which also includes rubber and manmade fibres. The production of PVC requires a lot of process which in turn will require a big plant for the manufacturing as well as storing. The manufacturing process is complex which requires an expertise in the field. Hence, the industry requires the skill and knowledge of a chemical engineer to maintain the plant as well as solving problem that exists within the manufacturing process. Besides, transportation of raw materials is also needed to be coordinated by the manufacturer to lower to cost to yield more profit. From the supply and demand perspectives, both of it is growing from year to year basis which is thoroughly discussed at Supply and Demand section. The reason to the increase in demand is due to the usage of this PVC material, mainly in piping but also diversify to other utilities like plastic for manufacturing of table lamp. On the other hand , the supply of raw material increases due to the demand. The industry plays an important role to the consumer in providing them the product as well as to the economy in making profit and providing jobs opportunity. Impact on the Environment During the manufacturing of PVC process, wastes such as production residue sand installation waste which give impact on the environment will be released out. vinyl chloride monomer is used to produce the  polymer  polyvinyl chloride  (PVC). VCM can be a carcinogen, can cause a rare form of cancer which known as angiosarcoma. Excluding its flammability potential at release, VCM quickly dissipates posing slight threat to human health in form of diluted form and quickly degenerates when exposed to normal daylight as in the open atmosphere. During the polymerization process, basically all of the VCM is changed into the inert polymer chains that form the PVC plastic. The possibility of residual unpolymerised VCM to stay on in the polymer and eventually transfer into food from PVC packaging is high. Some of the liquid  petroleum  hydrocarbon  will be released into the environment like the  ocean  or  coastal waters due to human activity, and is a form of  pollution. In case the balance of ecosystem will be affected. In the process, the combustion of fossil fuels produces greenhouse gases and other air pollutants as by-products. In Addition, oil spill is a release of a petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment due to manufacturing PVC process. In other to reduce the impact on the environment, an capable waste management system will reduce the not being re-used and make the most of the use of economically and environmentally rational recovery schemes. Step of Incineration with Energy Recovery can be taken. Oil that used in PVC production can be utilised as a minimum twice, Incorporating PVC consumer products can be under controlled and reduces the amount of PVC going to landfill and reduces the pollutions. The modern incinerators are equipped with pollution control equipment and run to the highest standards therefore it can help to minimise the release of emissions to the environment. In addition,  mechanical and feedstock recycling can implemented Moreover, anything of the PVC recovery process, residual fraction of waste is contained which not recyclable. Controlled landfill still remains a disposal option in the limited fraction. The consumer product which containing PVC presence in landfill does not constitute a major risk to the environment is confirmed by finding of independent studies. .   Processes how PVC is manufactured (Electrolysis, Chlorination VCM Cracker) 1 Electrolysis: Electrolysis, is a method of using electric current to drive a non-spontaneous chemical reaction. In the production of the PVC, chlorine is produced by separating the chlorine and sodium ions of a salt brine using the method of electrolysis. The electrolysis of salt brine will produce hydrogen gas and chlorine gas. 2 Chlorination: Chlorination is the process of adding chlorine into ethene to produce ethylene chloride also commonly known as vinyl chloride. The chlorine is from the process of electrolysis of brine salt from previous process. In chlorination , chlorine is added to ethene to replace two H atom from the molecule without breaking the double bond in ethene to produce 1,2-dichloroethane. Iron (III) is used as catalyst in the process .   CH2=CH2 + Cl2 > ClCH2CH2Cl   3 Thermal cracking(VCM Cracker): The main purpose of this process is to obtain the chloroethene also known as VCM. This is done because VCM couldnt be obtained by simple chlorination of ethene. Hence, this process is carried out to removed one atom of chlorine from 1,2-dichloroethane as well as recovering the carbon-carbon double bond to obtain VCM. Basically the process is being carried out with condition of 500  °C with pressure ranging from 15 atm to 30 atm. Under that condition, 1,2-dichloroethane decomposes to produce chloroethene (VCM) and hydrogen chloride.   ClCH2CH2Clà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢CH2=CHCl+HCl (Prepared by Lim Chung Kin, 0902959) (4 Quenching,5 cooling water ,6 purification) Cracking furnace effluent must be quenched, or cooled rapidly, to keep coking at a minimum. Therefore, the hot effluent gases are typically quenched and partially condensed by direct contact with cold EDC in a quench tower. Alternatively, the hot effluent can first be cooled by heat exchange with cold liquid EDC furnace feed or by vaporizing boiler feed water (BFW) to produce high pressure steam in a transfer line exchanger (TLX) prior to entering the quench tower. This arrangement saves energy by decreasing the amount of fuel needed to fire the cracking furnace and/or steam needed to vaporize the feed. Then it will undergo the Purification process. Water elimination in a VCM purification system is achieved through on condition that a separation of a liquid mixture which consist of water, hydrogen chloride, and vinyl chloride into a hydrogen chloride distillate stream and an essentially pure vinyl chloride product stream in distillation column; and a drying system is placed in fluid communication with the distillation column midsection at a connection point where the water reached sufficient concentration so that a water functional mass transfer flux from a withdrawn midsection stream into a drying agent is provided. The temperature control in this column achieves EDC-water separation control. The VCM produced in the pyrolysis section is separated in the VCM purification section. In the HCL column, temperature control is used to distil HCL off the top of the mixed feed containing mainly EDC, VCM and HCL. The bottom product is fed to the VCM column, where the temperature is controlled to purify VCM as overhead product and the recovered EDC is recycled back to the EDC purification section After the VCM purification process, it is ends up in the feed to the oxychlorination process. If acetylene is allowed to enter the oxychlorination reactor, the acetylene would be readily converted to perchloroethylene and other heavily chlorinated by-products, resulting in a significant HCL efficiency loss. Consequently, the HCL recycle stream is usually passed through a hydrogenation reactor to selectively convert the acetylene to ethylene, which makes more EDC downstream. Hydrogenation is generally carried out in a fixed bed reactor packed with catalyst made from a precious metal on an inert support. Hydrogen is added to the feed in stoichiometric excess to ensure conversion of acetylene to ethylene. The reaction is temperature dependant, with lower temperatures being preferable to maximize conversion to ethylene. If the temperature is too high, a fraction of the acetylene may be further hydrogenated to ethane. (Prepared by Hew She Luan, 0905291) (Stripping, Centrifuging, Drying and Sieving Process) 7 Stripping: In all of the processes used to produce PVC, unreacted VCM is present at the end of the reaction. VCM is a carcinogenic substance and its removal from PVC is very important for both avoiding downstream emission and for recycle purpose. Superheated steam is injected into the polymerization product in the reactor. The steam causes unreacted VCM to vaporize making it easy to remove. The temperature of the steam injected into the polymerization product should be 180 while the pressure should be 10 bar. 8. Centrifuging: During this step, PVC is separated from VCM. The water to the inlet of the centrifuge is filtered to prevent PVC from being contaminated by impurities in the water. Nexis T filters rated at 10m are recommended to filter the water. 9. Drying: Most of the water is removed when the slurry passes through the centrifuge. A damp cake of polymer leaves the centrifuge and is conveyed into the fluid bed dryer. Here, the remaining water contained in the porous grains evaporates as a stream of heated air bubbles through the polymer powder. In order to minimize the emissions, the moist air is wet-scrubbed before discharge into the atmosphere.    10. Sieving: After the drying process, the PVC will go through sieving process where the PVC is separate into different sizes for further processing. (Prepared by Cody Yip Jun Kit, 10UEB00894) (Storage and Handling, Control Room and Polymerization) 11. Storage and Handling VCM must be stored in a tightly closed container in a cool, well ventilated area, away from direct sunlight, heat and incompatible materials .VCM can be stored in steel tanks at ambient temperature. The drums must be equipped with self closing valves, flame arresters and pressure vacuum. Consider installation of leak detection and alarm for storage and use area. VCM should not be stored below ground level. 12. Control Room A Control Room is the room where pumps, fans, blowers, mixers, mills and centrifuges are controlled by variable speed drives and soft starters. Minicomputers are used to control chemical reactors in the PVC production process. Computer control can bring advantages to a batch process, closer control of the process, major gains in safety and the opportunity to use larger, more efficient processing equipment. Under manual control, a polymerization cycle might take about 14 hours but computer control can cut this time to about 8 hours. Computer control also offers substantial gains in accuracy and safety. A typical computer controlled reactor stands about six stories tall and hold 30,000 to 50,000 gallons. While in manually controlled plants, each reactors capacity is between 2,000 and 7,000 gallons. Computer control enables PVC plants to meet new OSHA standards, effective April 1, 1976, that will limit the exposure of workers to VCM vapors. VCM vapor is a known human carcinogen. If inhaled or absorbed through the skin, it may be harmful. VCM vapors may be a reproductive hazard. 13. Polymerization The process of polymerization links together the vinyl chloride molecules to form chains of PVC. The PVC produced in this way is in the form of a white powder. This is not used alone, but blended with other ingredients to give formulations for a wide range of products.   In the polymerization process practically all of the VCM is processed into the inert polymer chains that make up the PVC plastic. It is possible for extremely low levels of any residual depolymerised VCM to remain in the polymer and eventually migrate into food from PVC packaging, but only at levels. Polymerization of PVC is divided into 2 types which is emulsion polymerization and suspension polymerization. Emulsion polymerization involves the polymerization of monomers in an aqueous medium containing surfactant and a water soluble initiator, producing PVC lattices. PVC lattices are colloidal dispersions of spherical particles, ranging in size between 0.1 and 3.0 ÃŽÂ ¼m. Most PVC lattices are spray dried and then milled to obtain fine powders, made up of agglomerates of latex particles. When mixed with plasticizers they disperse readily to form stable suspensions. During mixing most of the agglomerates are broken down into the original latex particles. Such dispersion of fine particles in plasticizers are known as plastisols or pastes, and the powder is called dispersion or paste polymer. The surfactant layer around the particle surface prevents their adsorbing the plasticizer at room temperature so they can be used as liquids and may then be spread on to fabric or other subs trates, poured on molds, or deposited on formers to produce flooring, wall covering, artificial leather, balls, toys, or protective gloves. There are other grades of PVC polymers, produced by emulsion polymerization, that do not form plastisols and that are used as blends with suspension PVC grades for extrusion application or in the manufacture of battery separator plates. These so-called emulsion polymers are of only minor economic interest. Sales in latex form are very limited; lattices are used in water-based paints, printing inks, and impregnated fabrics. (Prepared by A. Srinyanavel 0904742) (Packing and dispatch, compounding, converting and recycling) 14. Packing dispatch: In this process, soft PVC is packed on a semi-automatic snaking machine or manually, depending on the size, shape, and length and intended use of final product. The length of the roll cut on a stumble varies for fix packages form 10m to 100 m. However, other lengths are also obtainable upon appeal. Rolls are provided with 3 binding strips and marked with markets badges. Some soft PVC sizes are packed into polyethylene foil to provide appropriate security against incidental scratch or corrosion of their functionality. 15. Compounding: This process involves storage, conveying, metering, mixing, and cooling. All these operations occur prior to the actual melt compounding. The distribution becomes harder because the filler loading level is increased and the surface area of the mineral filler increases. The surface area increases rapidly due to the particle size decreases. These are important steps in the process that can affect the quality of PVC. If these requirements are not met completely, the final products physical properties will be affected. 16. Converting: This process is either makes final PVC products for sale or makes components for further uses. Different additives like stabilisers and plasticisers need to be added to PVC resin to create a compound that meets the requirement of the final product and of the processing technology to be used. Compounding may be carried out by the converters or by separate compounders who supply ready-made blends prepared for processing. The PVC compound is then converted by processes such as extrusion, moulding and calendaring. 17.Recycling: Polyvinyl Chloride can be reused; however the purity of the material tends to degrade with each time of reuse cycle. In addition, the separation of the different additives and compounds forming the plastic makes recycle a difficult process. The biggest problem with PVC recycling is that it is difficult to automate the sorting of plastic waste, and so it is labor-intensive. There are three ways of PVC recycling: mechanical recycling, mechanical recycling for mixed plastics and feedstock recycling. (Prepared by Cheah Kai Mun, 0904128) Role of chemical engineer in petrochemical industry Beneath all of the general responsibilities listed above, a petrochemical engineer must engage in numerous specific duties on a daily basis. The first duty which the petrochemical engineer is responsible for completing is research. The petrochemical engineer must take careful steps to ensure that what they are looking to manufacture and how they are looking to manufacture a product is the right avenue to pursue. The way to resolve this issue is by doing a lot of research on a variety of topics relating to petrochemical engineering. The petrochemical engineer is also responsible for designing a variety of items and this is a very important duty which they must complete. A petrochemical engineer must design various items such as measurement and control systems, petrochemical manufacturing equipment and petrochemical manufacturing processes. This is a major duty on the part of the petrochemical engineer and one which must be carried out with preciseness at all levels and stages.   A petrochemical engineer must also engage in a wide array of analyses. The things which the petrochemical engineer must analyze include test data, engineering design, design problems and research findings. The petrochemical engineer must take painstaking measures to adequately analyze these items as the outcome of the project could very well depend on the analysis which is undertaken by the petrochemical engineer.   One who is an engineer must develop certain procedures and policies as well so that there will be smooth operations all the way around the board. Various procedures and policies such as safety procedures, data tables and employment policies may all be in the hands of the petrochemical engineer. A senior level petrochemical engineer will have more to do with regard to developing policies and procedures within the company orcorporation.   The preparation of multiple reports is also in the hands of the petrochemical engineer. The petrochemical engineer must prepare data which specifically details the findings of certain tests and evaluations. These reports can be text or tables depending on the type of report which is needed.   A petrochemical engineer will also deal with other individuals a great deal. The reason for doing so is to relay the results and findings as well as oversee other petrochemical engineers and related workers in their field. From time to time, petrochemical engineers must lecture to their peers and the general public regarding their job and role in society. The Skills/Knowledge required by the engineer In the oil and natural gas industry such as PVC manufacturing industry, the Petrochemical Engineer is playing a important role. With all the products derived from crude oil it is practically impossible to imagine a world without them.   Act as a petrochemical engineer, several skills and knowledge are needed. Petrochemical engineers should be expert in analytical things. They need constantly putting their creativity to work, efficiently and on a large scale, transforming combinations of elements of matter, synthesizing new materials.  Besides, it is important to determine the most effective processes for normal production. For example, Design and develop newest and enhanced processes and equipment for converting the raw materials into products by using computers to simulate and control such processes. Other than that, creative and innovative thinking with excellent problem solving skills is important to a petrochemical engineer. In order to have an organized and high quality products being designed, engineers should always troubleshoot environmental problems in industrial processing and manufacturing plants. Just in the same way, efficient, safe and environmentally responsible plant operations needed to be ensured. Moreover, planning, organizing, and prioritizing tasks skills across multiple projects are needed by an engineer. They acquire excellent both spoken and written, communication skills, and cooperate well in teams with people from different backgrounds and disciplines. Engineers, technicians, supervise technologists, and other involved in related activities. Additionally, participates aggressively in new product introduction are motivated, including influencing the design of the product to ensure manufacturability and quality conformance, testing the dependability of prototypes and managing the alteration into production.   Applying mathematical and scientific principles are needed too. Some of the processes such as catalytic cracking is developed by Petrochemical engineers to break down the complex organic molecules found in crude oil into much simpler molecules. Conclusion In a nutshell, chemical engineers need to possess skills, knowledge and experience in order to make the conversion of raw materials that enter the reactor into a useful product that leaves the reactor a success as well as minimizing the damage done to the environment. PVC production is still in demand worldwide even though everyone realizes that PVC takes a long time to decompose. However, the production of PVC will not be stopped as other industries still rely on plastics to manufacture or to pack their products. The industrial method to produce PVC involves 17 processes according to our group research and among the 17 processes some actually emit harmful materials or gases as a byproduct that causes damage to the environment. However, these processes must be made as environmentally friendly as possible to produce PVC without damaging the environment.

Drugs: How Danagerous Is It? Essay -- essays research papers

Drugs: How Danagerous Is It? Drugs have infiltrated our cities, our towns and our lives. Though a small percentage of people use drugs, they do attempt to spread their plague among others. But, how dangerous are these mind suppressors? Do they kill like the statistics show, or is it a coverup to stop people from having a good time? Even in Franklin County, there are drugs. How bad is the problem? It is worse then most people think, but what can we do about it? Can we do anything about it? Marijuana is the drug of choice among most addicts. It is provided cheap and is easily available. Overdosing it on this drug is not possible, or at least dying of an overdose, thus making it seem safe. The high is described as a rush of calmness and relaxation. People under the influence feel relaxed and as if their problems are gone. The most common method of doing this drug is smoking it. The leafy plant is dried and smoked in a joint, or a rolled cigarette with a paper mouth piece. It can also be smoked in a bong, or pipe. Another method is eating the leaves of the plant. They must be cooked in some sort of fat. Marijuana is fat soluble, and for the reason, must be cooked in butter, lard, milk, or other substance. A new method is being tested. It includes "baking" the marijuana under a flame without burning it. It is nearly the same as smoking it, but there is no smoke, which may limit the chance of lung cancer. Yet is this drug safe? No. The short term effects, besides the calmness are the following: temporary memory loss, rapid heart beat, and dizziness. The long term effects include the following: Lung cancer, heart problems, and immune system disorders. The equivalent of one joint is four cigarettes, or ten seconds of car exhaust. No one sees the dangers of this drug, and they usually do not care about them, making it even more dangerous. LSD, or acid, is a synthetic drug that was originally found on the skin of a mushroom. This is considered a psychedelic drug. It is very cheap, usually $4 - $5 a trip. A trip usually consists of 500-600 "mics" of acid. It can be made from morning glory, wood petroleum and other chemicals. The high is very interesting. It is described as non-real. It brings reality and imagination together in a utopia of relaxation. This may sound good, but people tripping on acid do not realized what they are doing and could j... .... This drug is by far the most dangerous of the popular drugs. They often link it to violence and gangs. The drug problem in Franklin County isn't as large as in cities, but is existent. People use drugs, mainly because of peer pressure. Most people would not agree with this, but it is true. Ignorance is a major player in the drug problem. People don't realize HOW dangerous it is. If all people understood the information in this report, the problem could go decrease. It was stated that if marijuana was legalized, the drug problem would cease. This does have some truth to it, but most people say that marijuana leads to other drugs, but studies show that approximately 5% of people who try marijuana try other drugs. Marijuana does not lead to other drugs. However, this does not nullify the fact that marijuana kills people. It does it with the same potency of cigarettes. This is due to the fact that people do not smoke 40 joints a day, like some cigarette smokers, they smoke about two joints a week. But, there is not excuse for other "hard drugs" like LSD, heroin and cocaine. People need to learn what they are doing to themselves; that is the key to solving the drug problem.

Balance Sheet

The AMR Corporation has the highest debt to equity ratio (Google, 2010). The company with the lower debt to equity ratio in the meantime is Southwest Airlines. AMR Corporation might have chosen to have a high debt to equity ratio because it believes that it can manage to experience rapid growth and sales in their business. They took on such a huge amount of debt because they believed that the interest rate would prove to be manageable and reasonable given the level of sales they will experience. AMR Corporation is very optimistic with its outlook in short.The amount of debt the company has taken is very dangerous. It is imperative that they pay it off immediately to lower the chances of getting bankrupted in case they can’t manage the monthly payments. The opposite can be said of Southwest airlines. The company is expecting lower sales volume or profit margin that is why they keep their debt levels to a minimum (Welsh, 1996). The company is well known for its cheap and no fril ls flight that is why they know they will have a lower profit margin. The company is trying to protect itself from any potential danger.In the event their sales level would drop even more, the increased obligation to pay their debts would not be as heavy. This strategy is suitable for Southwest Airlines because they are providing economical flights for their passenger. The company relies on volume to make their sales and not on a high profit margin. The company does not want their thin profit margin to be eaten up by huge debt interest rates (Harvey, 1995). We can infer from the financial ratio that they intend to grow organically and not by outside financing. The debt level they have is perceived to be very manageable.They are merely taking advantage of debt to provide a measure of added income generating assets. The bulk of their growth and capital needs would all be derived from their sales. The Continental Airlines is somewhat in between the two extreme types of companies. They are aggressive enough to take considerable debt but not too optimistic as to reach 4. 25 in their long term debt obligation to equity. Their long term debt to equity ratio is merely 1. 8 which seems small enough compared to AMR corporation. It can be inferred that the continental corporation has a moderate outlook compared to the two others.Continental is optimistic enough to take advantage of loans to increase their coverage and business operations (Gold, 2006). They are not overly optimistic however to borrow more than twice the amount of their own equity. The economic situation has to be favorable for them to be able to pay their debts. They are not in a dangerous position however, like AMR Corporation with extreme amounts of debts. The AMR Corporation in contrast has to experience several years of extremely profitable operations in order to pay off their debt obligations.The debt ratios of the three companies are basically indicating the same thing. The only difference with the debt ratio from debt to equity ratio is the base figure used in the denominator. The debt to equity ratio is more accurate in describing the situation of the company because it uses the actual equity invested by investors (Revsine, 2004). The ratio does not take into account the liabilities as part of the assets to be used for the computation. Naturally, the ratio for debt to equity will be bigger than the ratio using just the plain asset figure. The interpretation of the ratios remains fundamentally the same.The meaning of the ratio is still the capability of the company to pay off its debts relative to its assets. In case of bankruptcy, the ratio indicates whether the company is capable of paying off the debt amount by selling all of its assets. References: Google, (2010), â€Å"Southwest Airlines† http://www. google. com/finance? q=southwest+airlines Google, (2010), â€Å"AMR Airlines† http://www. google. com/finance? q=NYSE:AMR Google, (2010), â€Å"Continental Ai rlines† http://www. google. com/finance? q=NYSE:CAL&fstype=ii Damodaran, A. , (2005), Finding the Right Financing Mix: The Capital Structure Decision, http://pages.stern. nyu. edu/~adamodar/pdfiles/cfovhds/capstr. pdf Welsh, I. , (1996), A Primer on Capital Structure, The John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles Gold, J. , (2006), Reducing a Company's Beta- A Novel Way to Increase Shareholders Value, Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, , Vol. 18, No. 4 (Fall) Harvey, C. , (1995), The Capital Structure and Payout Policy, WWWFinance, http://www. duke. edu/~charvey/Classes/ba350/capstruc/capstruc. htm Revsine, (2004), â€Å"Financial Analysis and Reporting†, New York, Pearson Hall

Pros and Cons of FDRs Brainchild: The New Deal

The New Deal & FDR The implementation of the New Deal was a necessary, yet highly criticized, and controversial time in our nation's history. Its creation, by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, helped to resurrect a crumbling economy and put Americans back to work. However, like most things in life, there are always two sides to every story. This paper will explore both the pros and cons of FDR's, brainchild, the New Deal. In addition, it will argue that regardless of a positive or negative public opinion, there is no negating the fact that the New Deal was a pivotal movement and progressive step forward in our nation's history.The presidential election of 1932 favored Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt over current president, Herbert Hoover, by a staggering 7 million popular votes. It seemed that the citizens of the great United States of America had spoken; they were ready for change. FDR believed that the solution to the economic crisis could be achievable, but only by having a more involved government. He held firm that giving the federal government more control in the nation's economy could begin to undo the damage caused by the Great Depression.Roosevelt promised a New Deal to the American public; a conglomerate of government programs aimed at revitalizing the economy by restoring our banking system and creating new jobs. Almost immediately following his inauguration, FDR closed down all the banks in the country for four days and called an emergency hearing with Congress. The Emergency Banking Act was created, which â€Å"gave the government the opportunity to inspect the health of all banks† (Franklin D. Roosevelt – American Heritage Center, Inc. ).The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, was also created to insure consumer and business deposits up to $5,000 (a far cry from today's $250,000). FDR, urged Americans to trust in banks again. Ultimately, he wanted to see people embrace the concept of consumer capitalism. In short, h e called for every citizen to march to their local bank, and show good faith by depositing all their life savings. Once the banks had the support of the public, they could in turn, begin making loans again. These loans funded the creation of new businesses and the restoration of the old ones.Businesses were then able to hire or re-hire workers, and in many cases, increase wages as well. With higher wages comes greater spending power. The goal was to see the population of the U. S. become a nation of consumers once again. By pouring their money and capital back into the economy, U. S. citizens could play a role in getting American back on her feet. A provision of the New Deal, called the Civil Works Administration, or CWA, was created to â€Å"give the unemployed jobs building or repairing roads, parks and airports and providing psychological and physical boosts to its 4 million workers† (Franklin D.Roosevelt -American Heritage Center, Inc. ). A similar program, called the Civ ilian Conservation Corps, or CCC, was an environmental program that helped 2. 5 million unmarried men return to work maintaining beaches and forests and also gave jobs to 8500 women. Other successful programs that are relevant to today's modern society are programs such as Social Security, the National Labor Relations Act, or Wagner Act; which protects workers' rights to assemble, or unionize.In addition, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was passed, which abolished child labor and set the minimum wage. While the New Deal had a great many triumphs, some may argue that though the tragedies were few, they had a far more devastating impact on the economy. Roosevelt implemented such controversial programs as the National Industrial Recovery Act, or NIRA, which was created to bolster the decreasing price of industrial goods. Unfortunately, there were some unforeseen and catastrophic consequences. When higher wages went into effect, prices rose too. Thus, consumers stopped buying. The continuous cycle of overproduction and underconsumption put businesses back into a slump† the law was later ruled unconstitutional (Norton et al, 698). Another controversial provision of the New Deal was the Agriculture Adjustment Administration, or AAA, which attempted to raise farm prices. It used special tax funds to pay farmers to refrain from raising certain crops or breed certain types of animals.They figured the lower production would help to increase prices of other agricultural products. All it did was anger the general populous, who thought this was atrocious. People were starving and homeless and the federal government was essentially wasting food! This program was ruled unconstitutional, shortly after it was proved a failure. Though Roosevelt had many ups and downs during his 12+ years as President, he successfully began the process of getting the nation back on its feet.He created the New Deal, though it was not the end all be all of the economic crisis, it contri buted to the demise of the Great Depression in a broader sense. It restored the public faith in banks and got many, many Americans back to work. Works Cited Norton, M. , Katzman, D. , Blight, D. , Chudacoff, H. , Logevall, F. , Bailey, B. , Paterson, T. , Tuttle Jr. , W. A People and a Nation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 2007. Print. Franklin D. Roosevelt – American Heritage Center, Inc. http://www. fdrheritage. org/new_deal. html 26, October 2012. Web.