Lotus Car Rental Alternative Fuel Assessment Essay Example for Free

Lotus Car Rental Alternative Fuel Assessment Essay Introduction The creation of a fleet of alternative fuel sourced automobiles would be a wise decision for the Lotus Car Rental Company. There are two major issues that are on the minds of people these days, the environment and money. By creating a fleet of alternative fuel based automobiles the Lotus Rental Care Company can help ease the fears of people in both categories. By having the ingenuity to have a fleet of alternative fuel automobiles; the Lotus Car Rental will set themselves apart from the rest of the rental car companies. Lotus Car Care will be the leaders in environmentally safe car rentals. The following research paper will discuss the background of this topic, the costs of working with alternative fuel automobiles, the technical aspects of alternative fuel, the environmental aspects of alternative fuel as well as discuss some recommendations for the Lotus Car Rental Company. Background The Lotus Car Rental Company is looking into adding a fleet of alternative fuel sourced vehicles to their supply. Alternative fuel sourced vehicles are classified as being resources other than petroleum. A few of these sources are produced here locally and some are derived from renewable sources. They often produce less pollution than does gasoline. (Alternative Fuel Vehicles, 2012). Hybrids are also considered to be an alternative sourced vehicle. A Hybrid vehicle is one that utilizes more than one form of onboard energy to achieve propulsion (Edmunds.com, 2009). Financial Feasibility Several factors influence the financial feasibility of adding alternative fuel vehicles to the fleet: vehicle cost, maintenance, advertising, and return on investment. Additional considerations include: market share, future growth, and implementation cost. The first consideration is the cost of adding hybrid vehicles to fleet inventory. Individual vehicle cost ranges from $23,000 to $37,000 and the models available include Honda Civic, Volkswagen Jetta, Lincoln MKZ, and Lexus ES300H (Almeida, 2009). Fleet costs would be less depending on number of units purchased and vehicle upgrades. Lotus Rental Car’s rentals fall into three categories: economy, mid-size, and luxury. Based on a cursory review of Lotus Rental Car’s primary income producers, the number of hybrid vehicles added should fall within the three to five percent range for each category. The initial outlay should equal or be less than the number of vehicles within each specific category that will be retired within the purchase year. For instance, if ten percent of economy vehicles will be retired then five percent of the new vehicles purchased will be hybrid. By timing the introduction of the new hybrid vehicles with inventory retirement the initial cost outlay will be mitigated. The anticipated maintenance costs will be similar to the previous year’s cost and no change is expected. Income from vehicles retired is expected to equal the same percentage as non-hybrid automobiles and will not constitute a negative financial impact. Advertising is a major consideration, although the cost is not expected to increase. Target markets will be in major cities where Lotus Rental Car’s already has a large presence. Urban centers with environmentally conscious drivers are the best place to begin a new hybrid product line. Adding information regarding the new line to existing websites provides maximum exposure with minimal cost. Other markets include environmentally conscious corporate businesses that already have a corporate account with Lotus. Market share and future growth is connected to advertising and return on investment. The implementation costs are minimal. The monthly return on investment is tied to advertising, environmental activity, and rental cost. Advertising includes national campaigns and local markets. The rental market incorporates online sales and local customers. The majority of travelers will book a rental vehicle prior to arriving at the rental company. Pricing will play an important factor in a rental commitment. Up-sale will increase income potential. Economy vehicles rentals begin at $9.99 and increase, depending on the current sales program. The cost may decrease, depending on the number of days booked, special pricing, and additional sale of navigation, XM radio, and infant seats. However, the average rental price for an economy vehicle is $29.99 per day and hybrid vehicles rent from $65.99 to $159 per day. The return on investment per day would range from $35 to $129. It is clear the automotive industry is offering a variety of hybrid vehicles in response to customer demand. The future of the automotive industry includes alternative fuel vehicles of all models. As the automotive industry embraces hybrid sales that increase their market share, so should the vehicle rental industry. Entry into a new product line will have higher costs than non-alternative vehicles until the product becomes well immersed into the market. In the case of hybrid vehicles it is prudent that Lotus Rental Car adds hybrid vehicles to their urban centers and joins the environmental movement along with major vehicle manufacturers. It is clear that as time passes, a portion of new business will gravitate toward rental car companies that offer alternative fuel vehicles. Lotus Rental Car company will lose future market share and the expense of entering the hybrid market will increase if Lotus Rental Car company enters the market after its competitors (Schueneman, 2009). Technical Aspects One of the many advantages of owning a hybrid vehicle is saving money at the pump. Unlike your standard gas running car, this on average would do about 21 mpg highway and city driving. Hybrids on average are doing 30 mpg highway and city. An article written on nationalgeographic.com it shows the actual fuel saving over a year span â€Å"The average American driver between the ages of 34 and 55 drives 15,291 miles annually. Divide this annual mileage figure by 21 miles to the gallon for the standard model, and you will find that you would buy about 728 gallons of gasoline a year. In contrast, if you divide the annual miles figure by 30 for the hybrid, you would determine that the annual gas purchase would be of about 510 gallons. You would save 218 gallons of gas a year with the hybrid. Multiply this by a conservative $3.50 a gallon for a dollar savings of $763. By selecting the hybrid over the standard model, you would make up for the $5,560 difference in sticker price in seven to eight years. Subtract the maximum tax incentive and you could recoup the $2,160 difference in less than three years. Thus, in this example, you would save money either by paying full price and driving your hybrid for more than eight years, or by driving it for more than three years with a tax credit.†(Nationalgeographic.com by Lynne Haley Rose). So although the price tag is little higher on hybrids you will easily make your money back in the gas savings. Most people may think,† Yeah, you save on gas, but don’t get the as much horsepower when you purchase a hybrid vehicle.† The idea of combining electric and gas does seem to leave much room for speed and maneuverability. This assumption is not true; yes hybrids do have smaller gas engines, but they make it up with their electric engine. Coupled with the gas engine, the electric engine can send power to various parts of the car, mainly the wheels. This is a very good advantage over standard horsepower, because it could actually supply more power to the car; which increases its speed. With all this talk about horsepower and speed, we begin to think about maintaining a hybrid car. Once again, just because it’s a hybrid doesn’t mean it’s more expensive. Most of the basic normal maintenance requirements like oil changes and tune ups cost about the same as standard cars. They even have their own perks. A standard car requires an oil change every 3,000 miles; whereas hybrids are every 6,000 miles. One of the most expensive items on a hybrid is the car’s battery; which can run you up to 3,000 dollars. Don’t let this number scare you, because these batteries have no real recorded life expectancy â€Å"a long time† is what I kept seeing in my research. As said in (8 Reasons to Buy a Hybrid Car) â€Å"Theres no difference between a hybrid and the gas-powered car parked in your garage — it can accelerate just as quickly and cruise just as fast on the highway, and it handles just as smoothly. Most important, hybrids are just as safe to drive.† (By Alan Rider Parents.com). Hybrids have come a long way since the first Prius 10 years ago. They’ve excelled in mpg, horsepower and style. There are a number of hybrids out there now and many styles to choose from in the standard and luxury lines. As far a comfortable ride, hybrids and standard cars are the same. Now, of course, if you go out and get a Lexus hybrid you’re going to have more luxuries than if you purchased a Toyota hybrid. Most cars you get know have all of the technical capabilities available and if they don’t they can be added. Technology will not stop growing and with that so will the new age of hybrids. Environmental Aspects Petroleum based fuels can create harmful emissions like carbon dioxide; nitrous oxides, and particulate matter, all of which degrade the environment (â€Å"5 things you need to know about alternative fuel vehicles,† 2008). These methane, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and other gasses are known as greenhouse gases. When these gasses build up they contribute to global warming. HybridCar.org claims that Hybrid vehicles produce 80 percent less greenhouse gases than conventional fuel based vehicles (Hybrid Cars And Pollution, 2005). Toxicity is another problem with petroleum fuel based vehicles. The producing of some forms of alternative fuels can create fewer toxins than those produced by traditional fuel vehicles. For instance, biodiesel is a fuel that is created from leftover vegetation like corn stalks. Biodiesel is biodegradable and non-toxic which makes it safe for the environment. Noise pollution is also a form of pollution. Car engines can produce 110 decibels of noise, which is twice as loud as a normal conversation.. The noise will come from the fuel pump, pistons and compressors that create the combustion and cycle the fuel. Vehicles with alternative fuel sources such as hydrogen fuel cells will produce no sound or vibration as they require no moving parts to produce fuel. Recommendations The research has shown that a fleet of alternative fuel sourced vehicles would be the best idea for everyone involved. The positive feedback generated by offering this fleet of vehicles would be astounding. The market for rental cars with alternative fuel capabilities is very small and the Lotus Car Rental Company would have the market cornered. The cost of maintain a fleet of these vehicles are no different than that of petroleum fueled vehicles. The consumer that is able to rent these vehicles will also benefit by being able to save more money on energy for the vehicle. The environment will also benefit from this addition to the Lotus Car Rental fleet. The amount of pollution and emissions that can be cut back will be helpful to the surrounding community and the future generations to grow up in the community. Conclusion The creation of a fleet of alternative fuel sourced automobiles would be a wise decision for the Lotus Car Rental Company. After conducting much research, the decision to incorporate a fleet of alternative fuel sourced automobiles would be in the best interest of the public as well as the company. The research has shown the monetary benefits, the technical benefits as well as the environmental benefits of acquiring a fleet of alternative fuel sourced automobiles. The benefits of having a positive company reputation are enormous. Having an environmentally friendly car rental company has the potential of being a lucrative decision. Living a green lifestyle has become an important thing in this day and age. The Lotus Car Rental Company will have cornered the market by having an entire fleet of environmentally friendly automobiles. References Alternative fuel vehicles. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/current.shtml Edmunds.com. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.edmunds.com/fuel-economy/what-is-a-hybrid-car-how-do-hybrids-work.html Almeida, A. (2009, August 13). Average Cost of a Hybrid Car. Retrieved from CarsDirect: http://www.carsdirect.com/car-pricing/whats-the-average-cost-of-a-new-hybrid-car Schueneman, T. (2009, February 12). Enterprise Rent-a-Car Adds 5000 Hybrids to its Fleet of Fuel Efficient Cars. Retrieved from sustainablog: http://sustainablog.org/2009/02/enterprise-rent-a-car-adds-5000-hybrids-to-its-fleet-of-fuel-efficient-cars/ 5 things you need to know about alternative fuel vehicles. (2008, July). greencar.com, (), . Retrieved from http://www.greencar.com/articles/5-things-need-alternative-fuel-vehicles.php Hybrid cars and pollution. (2005). Retrieved from http://www.hybrid-car.org/hybrid-cars-pollution.html

VitraHaus Construction Analysis

VitraHaus Construction Analysis The home of Vitra Home Collection, VitraHaus (2006-2010), is located on Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany.1 It was designed by Basel-based architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron and opened in 2010.2 The purpose of the VitraHaus was to provide a space to present Vitra Home Collection furniture arrangements in different style genres and also provide inspirational ideas for visitors home and their own taste in design.3 In Charles Ray Eames Showroom, this was overcome by use of precedents which includes minimalism and the architects previous projects in Munich, Basel, and Paris.4 A) Historical Introduction: The VitraHaus(fig.1) was initiated as the home of the Vitra Home Collection that launched in January 2004.5 The company Vitra is a manufacturer and retailer of many leading furniture designers works.6 Vitra is also known for the Vitra Campus(fig.2) that make up its premises in Wil am Rhein.7 It is where company s widely acclaimed architecture of museum, atelier, showrooms, warehouse and manufacturing buildings are situated which make up its premises.8 These buildings are known for its internationally recognized architects such as like Frank Gehry, Tadao Ando, Zaha Hadid, Nicholas Grimshaw, Alvaro Siza and Antonio Citterio as well as structures by Jean Prouv? and Richard Buckminster Fuller.9 Since its foundation in 1950, the company focused mainly on office furnishings and has targeted business clients until they launched its Home Collection in January 2004 with a new target group in mind: individual customers with an interest in design.10 It features collection of unique home product s including design classics, re-editions, as well as works by contemporary designers.11 The Vitra Home Collection was displayed in a former factory building on the main Vitra production site until the company decided to have a space solely serve for the Home Collection.12 To construct an additional space on the Vitra Campus, the company commissioned two Basel based architects Herzog and de Meuron in 2006 to design the home of Vitra Home Collection the VitraHause.13 The design development took place from 2006 to 2007 and the construction continued from 2007 to 2009 where the VitraHaus opened in Feburary 22nd 2010.14 The construction of VitraHaus was also a starting of a new chapter in the history of Vitra Campus since it was the newest addition in sixteen years since the last building the Vitra Design Museum by Frank Gehry in1994.15 B) Spatial Organization and Planning: The VitraHaus is a five storey structure with twelve houses within the building.16 (fig.3) The Charles and Ray Eames showroom (fig.4) is located in the third floor of VitraHaus with dimension of approximately 90sq.meter.17 The visitors discovery on the path through the VitraHaus starts from fourth floor of the building towards the lower floors.18 As one starts their tour in fourth floor loft, they are introduced to a spectacular view of the Tullinger Hill and the history of Vitra and the VitraHaus.19 After one has been introduced to a brief knowledge of the Vitra and its history of furniture, The Vitra Classic awaits in the third floor (fig.5) where Charles and Ray Eames showroom is located.20 The Vitra Classic floor can be reached by three different paths throughout the building.21 First is to take the main stair which connects all the floors in the building.22 This main stair will introduce you directly to Charles and Ray Eames showroom which is located in the North East side of the floor.23 The second method is to take a lift which also connects all the floors in the building.24 However, the lift will lead you to the other collection of Vitra Classics which is located in the South West side of the floor.25 But one can easily walk to the other side of the floor.26 The third is a spiral stair which is accessible from the second floor.27 On the arrival of this spiral stair, one can choose to walk straight forward to the South West part of the floor or turn around to visit the Charles and Ray Eames collection.28 As you enter the showroom (fig.6), the front facade with glazed gable ends opens up the room to the view of landscape and the Vitra Campus.29 The daylight from the window also makes the room feel more spacious. On the East of the room is the display wall with wall mounted shelving and colour coded signage to categorize Charles and Ray Eames designs.30 To the West side of the space, chairs are displayed on the floor along the wall with different flooring that separates between the display area and circulation floor.31 The West side of the space also has the spiral stairs which opened up upper part of the wall which gives view of second floor which presents the Living, Eating, and Working at Home collections.32 C) Materials and Construction Method(s): The VitraHaus is a five storey structure of stacked volumes of the archetypal house which comprised of twelve houses.33 Five houses are set at the ground floor with seven more houses are stacked up, intersected and in support of one another.34 Stacked into a total of five storeys and breathtakingly cantilevered up to fifteen metres in some places, the twelve houses, whose floor slabs intersect the underlying gables, create a three-dimensional assemblage ? a pile of houses that, at first glance, has an almost chaotic appearance.35 The VitraHaus rises above the other buildings on the Vitra Campus with maximum dimensions of 57 metres in length, 54 metres in width and 21.3 metres in height.36(fig.7) The deliberate intention was to grant an overview of the surrounding landscape, the campus as well as an overview of the Home Collection by constructing a vertically oriented structure with a small footprint.37 The charcoal coloured stucco on the exterior of the building unifies the structure, and connects it to the surrounding landscape.38 (fig.8) A wooden plank floors made from the local larch wood defines an open central area, where five ground floor buildings are grouped.39 (fig.9) It performs as a conference area, Vitra Design Museum Shop, business lounge and a Vitrine exhibition space, the lobby with a reception area and a caf? with an outdoor terrace for summer use.40 As interior and exterior spaces interpenetrate, so do two types of forms: the orthogonal-polygonal, as perceived from the exterior, and the organic, which produces a series of spatial surprises in the interior. 41(fig.10) It is a secret world that is intended by Herzog de Meuron with a suggestive, almost labyrinthine character. 42 On the path through the five storeys, the complexity of the interior space arises not only from the angular intersection of the individual houses but also from the integration of a second geo metrical concept.43 All of the staircases are integrated into expansive, winding organic volumes that figuratively eat their way through the various levels of the building like a worm, sometimes revealing fascinating visual relationships between the various houses, at other times blocking the view.44 The individual houses, which have the general characteristics of a display space, are conceived as abstract elements.45 With just a few exceptions, only the gable ends are glazed, and the structural volumes seem to have been shaped with an extrusion press.46 An important feature of the VitraHaus is the glassed end gables(fig.11); a feature which gives the house two personalities.47 By day the surrounding countryside appears to be drawn into the interior and to become almost a part of the decoration; in contrast, however, when darkness falls, the illuminated interior of the building glows from within, while its physical structure seems to dissipate.48 The rooms open up; the glazed gable ends turn into display cases that shine across the Vitra Campus and into the surrounding countryside.49 D) Furnishings and Ornamentation: The philosophy of Vitra Home Collection is to provide inspirational ideas for individuals home and their own taste in design rather than an interior design system or a homogeneous product line.50 Vitra Home Collection wishes to inspire customers to furnish their home as a process of collage of products and objects according to one s individual preferences and circumstances.51 To allow one to be inspired, and encourage to explore and heighten their sense of design, the interior of the overall space is very simple and furnishings are used as minimal as possible.52 The interior walls are finished in white which gives priority to the furniture displays and allow the characteristics of furniture presents its fullest .53 Since the space is used to showcase the retail furniture, series of wall shelving and signage are used to display.54 The white shelves are mounted in different levels with colourful signage to categorize the types of Charles and Ray Eames chairs into plastic, wire, aluminu m, and ply wood groups.55 The rugs or different variety of floor furnishings are used to give the boundary to the additional furniture displayed on the floor.56 The spot lightings are mounted in the ceiling as ambient light as well as to emphasize the products.57 Since there are minimal use of ornamentations, the abstract structural volumes interacting through the space and the glazed gable ends adds rhythm to the space.58 The high ceiling, white finishes, light wood floors, and large windows give spacious feeling to the space.59 Each house has a touch screen catalogue(fig.12) where each visitor can insert their VitraHause keycard and browse through Vitra s catalogue, purchase a product on a spot or learn about particular design or designer.60 The Vitra Classic Collection also features the Photo me La Chaise Armchair which is set of a La Caise Armchair by Charles and Ray Eames with a camera that allows visitors to have memorable photo time upon their visit to the VitraHaus.61 The photo can be stored in a personal VitraHause keycard and can be emailed later.62 E) Functions and Signification: Since the company Vitra is a manufacturer and retailer company that acquired licenses for the designs of Charles and Ray Eames in 1951, it is not a surprise to see that one of the showrooms in VitraHaus was dedicated to the designs of Eames.63 The Charles and Ray Eames showroom functions as a space that showcases the works of Charles and Ray Eames in different range of groups.64 The groups are categorized by the materials used in the making of the chairs which includes but not limited to; plastic, wire, aluminum, and ply wood.65 As mentioned earlier, the deliberate intention of the building was to grant an overview of the surrounding landscape, the campus as well as an overview of the Home Collection by constructing a vertically oriented structure with a small footprint.66 This has been illustrated in the Charles and Ray Eames showroom with large window that has an overview of the campus and the opening for the spiral stair case allows an overview of the Home Collection on lower floors.67 The philosophy of the Vitra Home Collection also has been demonstrated successfully in the space.68 The Vitra Home Collection s intention was to provide inspirational ideas for individuals own taste in design so one can furnish their home as a process of collage of products and objects according to one s individual preferences and circumstances.69 This philosophy is successfully delivered through minimal interior design of the space.70 It allowed the unique characteristics of each chairs to be presented in its fullest with the contrast of the white wall.71 This contrast and display almost creates an imagery of pallets of colourfull paints on a white canvas which inspires visitors to explore and imagine their own design of space.72 The special photograph set and digital catalogue also adds excitement and convenience to the visit.73 The space that is solely dedicated in respect of the design classic, with the company s philosophy of provide a space that can inspire one to build and develop their own design world.74 This suggests that the space not only functions as a showroom, but it also functions as a space for an education, preservation of stories, personal knowledge and to be one s muse.75 F) Designer s Sources/Inspirations/Influences/Precedents: The concept of the VitraHaus contains two direct quotations of the themes that appear repeatedly in the oeuvre of Herzog de Meuron: the theme of the archetypal house and the theme of stacked volumes.76 Herzog de Meuron has aimed not for virtuosity but innovation, looking always to the broader culture and art for inspiration.77 Referring to Andy Warhol, Jacques Herzog has said, He used common Pop images to say something new. That is exactly what we are interested in: to use well known forms and materials in a new way so that they become alive again. 78 Their influences of the archetypal house and theme of stacked volumes can be seen in many of their work from precedents to future projects that are in progress.79 The Goetz Collection, in Munich 1989-1992 (fig.13), St. Jakob Turm in Basel 2005-2008 (fig.14), and Rue des Suisses in Paris 1996-2000 (fig.15) are one of the precedents that has been designed by Herzog and de Meuron.80 Another form of their precedents study can be found at the Herzog and de Meuron Exhibition at the Walker Art Centre in November 2000 to February 2001.81 The exhibition included from material studies to technical drawings and from initial models to full-scale prototypes(fig.16).82 Here, many prototypes of stack up of geometrical shapes can be found.83 In VitraHaus, it was especially appropriate since the primary purpose of the five-storey building is to present furnishings and objects for the home.84 Due to the proportions and dimensions of the interior spaces ? the architects use the term domestic scale ? the showrooms are reminiscent of familiar residential settings.85 Architect Jacques Herzog, naturally, sees the situation somewhat differently.86 For Herzog, the project was a chance to get away from development driven architecture and a rare opportunity to complete an author driven project.87 Through the stacking and interlacing you not only create a multitude of new forms and architectural spaces but achieve a wonderful paradox: a simple, familiar house design which appears complex on account of the numerous intersections.88 This perceived complexity is further enhanced by the combination of the external orthogonal-polygonal form and the more organic internal form which results, principally, from the spiral staircases and occa sional open spaces and small side windows.89 Principally the black exterior allows the effect of floating houses by allowing the structure to merge with the darkness.90 In addition the anthracite of the VitraHaus contrasts with the brilliant white of Frank Gehrys neighbouring Vitra Design Museum.91

Emotion Equally Moral

Emotion Equally Moral ARE REASON AND EMOTION EQUALLY NECESSARY IN JUSTIFYING MORAL DECISIONS? Since the birth of human onto this earth, reasons and emotions are frequently used by us to justify any decisions made. However, to what extent that both of them play an important role in making decisions? This raises some arguable questions concerning reason and emotion; are they really equally necessary? Equally important means both factors must be present and without any of the factors which are reason and emotion, the decision cannot be justified. With that, I would say that reason and emotion have the same significant important role in justifying moral decision. Both of them work together to drive us in our daily life so the decisions made will be the best for the sake of human being. Thus, this essay will consider the equal role of reason and emotion in justifying moral decisions. First of all, how this two ways of knowing works together. Reason is the ability to think logically regarded as a basis for knowledge, while emotion is a strong feeling towards what you believed in and influencing behaviors. Reason and emotion are equally necessary in ethic as in justifying decisions emotion will be the catalyst for the next process which is reasoning. Rachel Carlson in his quote says, â€Å"If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow†. As example, the news of natural disaster of Cyclone Sidr in the southern part of Bangladesh because of the global warming effect, the picture of 273,000 houses were destroyed and 650,000 damaged and more than 3,000 people dead will emotionally affect the reader. Then, the emotions will tell us the sympathy to the victims of the disaster. It would stimulate the reason to the morality of the countries that let their factories released the gases that caused the global warming disaster. Here, the emotion is the catalyst for the reason to take place. However, without the reasoning, the information from the news cannot be organized and to sort out the news in the rational way. The emotion make the reader of the news felt sympathy to the victims of the cyclone and the reason makes sense of the emotion part and end up with the moral decisions of the news. As Joseph Cook aptly commented, â€Å"Conscience is our magnetic compass; reason our chart†. Even reason and emotion equally necessary in justifying moral decisions, somehow reason play more important role as it can explain certain things that cannot be explained by emotion. In justifying a decision, it must be reasonable and acceptable. Emotion can distract what is wrong and what is right because it depends solely on what a person sees and feel. Thus, reason must present in the process to justify and correct what emotion think of. As example, if a pregnant women wanted to have an abortion. On the emotion level, she might think that having a baby is a burden for her. She just wants fun from the sex but she refuses the baby. She wants to get rid of the baby so that she does not have to take care of the baby and continue with her previous life. Her immediate response is the option to abort the baby. At that particular time, it may be right for her to abort the baby. But then, the feeling of a mother declines her to do the abortion and the reasoning process began. She started to consider the debate, ‘it is killing, and the baby deserve a live. Perhaps she might consider that it was not the babys fault, so why should the baby take it. Or maybe she poss ibly will consider her religion not allow abortion. So, the reasoning process continues until the women can justify her decision to do the abortion or not. Here we can see both are equally significant. Reasoning comes from the emotion process but the emotion itself cannot justify the decision that going to make. Thus, one cannot take place without the other. However, in this so-called civilization era where the cost of living is increasing, the option to abort the baby will be the most suitable choice for most of the people. Their reasoning brought them to that kind of decision because they claim having a baby will cost them a lot and they cant afford it. Even though they will feel it is a cruel action through their emotion, but it does not prevent the mother to abort that baby. In view of the fact that emotion is a feeling that is given form by a thought, it is usually bounded from the past experience that would influence the emotion that is created. If the past experience of the person is good, the person will have the good side of emotion or otherwise, the experience will end up with the bad emotion toward something. As a case in point, a person witnesses a horrible accident happened in front of his eyes. He can see the victims of the accident screaming for help. Very luckily, the person has some knowledge about the medical knowledge especially in emergency situation. However, because of the past experience where he failed to save a few lives after he gave the medical treatment, the person felt guilty and had the trauma. His emotion tells him not to help the victims as they would die because of him by justifying the action from his past experience. But then, he tries to reason his emotion; does it an appropriate action to let the victims that are really i n need for some help as he was able to help them? Does it worth him just to see them helplessly facing the end of their life? After a battle between his emotion and reason, in the end he might decide to help the victims. Even though in this example it is seen like reason is overpower emotion but actually they are equal. Someone may argue that reason is the cause that makes him to help the person. But in reality if his emotion is not stable enough or he did not have the confidence to help them but his reason push him to help, the probability that the victims would survive is low because he does not has the mental strength or something to inspire him to help them. This is just like what Winston Churchill has said, â€Å"Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself believe†. After his reason corrects his emotion or change the perception made by his emotion to inspire him, then he was able to help them. By looking at this example, it is clearly seen that reason has been plays the role the change the emotion of the person and the emotion has justified the decision that he going to make. Here, at first emotion stimulate the reason to work and in the later stage reason corrected and stimulates the emotion. Both of the factors play such equal role in justifying the decision as one might get it wrong without another one or perhaps the decision cannot be justified. There are some limitations where sometimes reason and emotion do not equal in making an ethical issue. This is frequently happen in the religious belief, field of works, and the level of knowledge of the person. In the religion such as Islam and Christian, bigamy (polygamy, adultery) is prohibited in those religions. Although a person wants to have more wives or having a little experience of sex before marriage which comes from his emotion, he cannot do that because of his religion. His reasoning will prevent him to do it as it is against the belief of him to his religion. In the field of work such as judge, emotion must be put aside to justify the verdict that going to make. A judge must only depends to the reason from the facts either the accused person is guilty or not. This is the situation where reason and emotion do not play equally necessary in justifying moral decisions. In conclusions, reason and emotion equally necessary in justifying moral decision, because emotion can change according to situation but reason will justify the emotion with logic and hence will drive us to the correct interpretation of the ethical issue. But, reason can only exist and be significant if and only if emotion exists. Emotion will be the catalyst for reason to work. In most of our life, we cannot deny the role of emotion and reason. However, other ways of knowing such as perception and language also can be important in justifying moral decisions but reason and emotion exist in the equal way to justify any moral decision that we make in our life. Therefore, reason and emotion are equally necessary in justifying moral decisions.

Franklin Roosevelt :: essays research papers

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt was born in Hyde Park, New York on January 30th, 1882, the son of James Roosevelt and Sara Delano Roosevelt. His parents and private tutors provided all of Franklinà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s formative education. Roosevelt attended Groton, a prestigious preparatory school in Massachusetts between the years 1896-1900; he received a BA degree in history from Harvard University in only three years (1900-1903). Franklin next studied law at New Yorkà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Columbia University. When he passed the bar examination in 1907 he left the school without taking a degree. It wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t until 1910 that he entered politics and was elected to the New York State Senate as a Democrat. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“He became the leader of a group of insurgent Democrats who prevented the Tammany candidate, William F. Sheehan, from being chosen for the U.S. Senate.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Goldberg) Roosevelt allied himself with Woodrow Wilson in election of 1912. Because of his efforts Woodrow Wilson appointed him Assistant Secretary of the Navy, he held that position from 1913 to 1920. In 1920 he ran as a vice presidential nominee with James M. Cox who lost overwhelmingly to Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge. The summer after while vacationing at Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Roosevelt contracted à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis).à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?(Watts) He never regained the use of his legs. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“He established a foundation at Warm Springs, Georgia to help other polio victims, and inspired, as well as directed, the March of Dimes program that eventually funded an effective vaccine.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Goldberg) In July 1932, Roosevelt was chosen by the Democratic Party as its presidential candidate to run against the Republican incumbent, Herbert C. Hoover. In November, Roosevelt was overwhelmingly elected President. He entered the White House at the worst of times, the economic structure of the country severely damaged. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Fear and despair hung over the nation.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Rooseveltà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s inaugural speech had words of hope for the troubled country---à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itselfà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?---à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“This Nation asks for action, and action now. We must act and act quickly.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? And act quickly he did in what became known as the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Hundred Days.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? He and his administration rushed a series of anti-depression measures through congress; all of these changes to the American economy became called the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“New Deal.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Some of the m ajor changes included Government agencies, most notably the Agricultural Administration and the Public Works Administration were setup to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“reorganize industry and agriculture under controls and to revive the economy by a vast expenditure of public funds.

The way Homer conveys his stories to the audience :: Literature

The Way Homer Conveys his Stories to the Audience Homer who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey used a number of different techniques to convey his poems and stories to his audience. I will be writing about these in this essay. Right from the beginning of Book 9 we see Homer’s ability to convey the story well, he starts it with a monologue from Odysseus to King Alcinous on his adventure. It gets right into the action which would’ve held his audiences interest throughout. He finds ways to get around justifying things by ‘pushing’ Odysseus right out of the known world round Cape Malea into the unknown. He is then allowed to create a fictional world, another dimension where he cant be corrected. He creates islands and peoples, whole civilisations of monsters. This I believe is an excellent example of Homers good composition. He also weaves all these stories together from old folk tales and although there are some slight mistakes he was reciting it by mouth so couldn’t just press the ‘backspace key’ he had to carry on even if he had made a mistake. The Cyclops story and others were probably not told together like they are in the Odyssey, they would’ve been told by different groups and tribes around fires. So this is another example of well Homer composes the whole story into one massive epic poem which is the Odyssey. Another example of his good composition is how he makes the whole thing into a formula, in formulaic epithet. Not many people could probably do that straight away. He sometimes goes on auto-pilot by using the same phrases. E.g. â€Å"As soon as Dawn appeared, fresh and rosy-fingered.† This shows another good example of Homer’s composition excellence. Homer does make mistakes though, he sometimes when trying to weave the folk tales gets them jumbled up and doesn’t correct them. E.g. â€Å"The Cyclops then washed this meal down with unwatered milk† It was not normal then to water milk and isn’t now. We believe Homer made this mistake purposefully, as in the original the Cyclops may have been drinking wine but that would mean the rest of the story wouldn’t work so he quickly replaced wine with milk but didn’t get rid of unwatered.

Arabizi Effects on the Arabic language Essay

I. Introduction: Whenever you walk at the campus of the American University of Sharjah, you will definitely find the young Arab girls wear trendy Western dresses as well as the Arab boys wear stylish Western clothes. And even students with more conservative dresses seem more Western than Eastern. No matter how young Arab people wear or look like nowadays, they even tend to be different in the language they use in typing and communicating. There is a widespread linguistic phenomenon that tremendously encroaches their lives and ultimately leads them to write in an unusual language. This language is well-known nowadays among Arabs especially the youth as â€Å"Arabizi†. Arabizi, a slang term derived from the words arabi or Arabic and englizi or English, is used to describe the melding between Arabic and English (Yaghan, 2008). It is a common contemporary trend for typing that has largely spread among young Arabs who use Arabic numerals and Latin characters to communicate, i.e. â€Å"5alas† . Given the linguistic, cultural and social significance that Arabizi has in contemporary society, indeed it is extremely interesting and also important to deeply investigate this phenomenon in order to determine  its dimensions, causes and possible consequences. Questions, controversies and concerns have been heavily raised over this issue. Questions like â€Å"Why do young people use Arabizi?†, â€Å"To what extent will it affect our language which is a critical component of our Arabic identity?† and so on have been asked by many specialists and scholars and even ordinary people. Some users may think it is helpful and easy to communicate, but also others are concerned about how Arabizi can dramatically affect our Arabic language. Linguistic scholars specifically are concerned about the severe results of the continuous use of Arabizi in our daily activities that may lead at the end to the extinction of our language. Therefore, this paper will investigate the effects of Arabizi on the Arabic language as a major component of identity focusing on students from the American University of Sharjah. II. Literature Review: Technology and Language Arabizi may be considered as a new phenomenon in contemporary society; however, its origin goes back to the mid-1990s with the introduction of technology (Warschauer, 2002). Technology that was supposed to convert the world into a global village removing all borders among people, in reality worked reversely in categorizing people as well as countries into haves and have nots (Warschauer, 2002). That is if a product is made in the United Kingdom or the United States, it is up to the consumer whether to adapt to English or decide not to use the product at all. Dr. David Wilmsen, a professor of Arabic at the American University of Beirut that has written comprehensively on linguistics, considers cell phone as the critical Western product that created Arabizi in the Arab world (Salhani, 2013). According to Dr. Wilmsen, when mobile phones were firstly introduced to the Arab world, they were very expensive and keyboards came with Latin characters. Elites who could afford it, communicated t hrough messages easily in English. However due to the increasing demand, mobile phones became inexpensive and owned by almost everyone. Those people might not know English but they wanted to use the simplicity of the English keyboard on their mobile phones and the result was Arabizi (Salhani, 2013). Although cell phones and other technological means are provided nowadays with Arabic keyboards, Arabs still  do not use it and prefer to write in Latin characters. Bruna Kesserwani, the Middle East Regional Director of the World Youth Alliance, on a personal side finds it easier to write in Arabizi in spite of using both Arabic and English in workplace and daily life. However, Kesserwani strongly believes that Arabizi might have severe cultural and linguistic consequences (Salhani, 2013). Education System and Language The impact of Arab’s over-reliance on English-based technology has affected many other critical aspects of Arab society. As Warschauer explained throughout his book, university-level courses that are taught in English are expanding nowadays to further include other linguistic courses such as Arabic. Consequently, parents are forced to register their children in English-based schools so they can afford a good job in the future and maintain a high status in society (2002). However, this desire for upward social mobility has led to â€Å"cultural-linguistic dualism† (Findlow, 2006). Therefore, Arab youth can speak, interact and even live with a linguistic mixture of Arabic and English. However, this phenomenon can lead us to recognize these dramatic concepts â€Å"language death†, â€Å"language loss†, â€Å"language decay† and even â€Å"linguistic genocide†, which convey the increasing concerns about the future of the Arabic language (Findlow, 2006). Education has a critical role to play in the discourse of how the Arabic language is rapidly disappearing from new generations’ lives and heavily displaced by English. Schools nowadays in the Middle East adopt English as the major language of teaching and as a consequence they are teaching Arabic to Arab students as a foreign language: usually one hour a day (Dhabi, 2004). According to Dr. Saiyad Ahmad, assistant professor of Eastern Studies at the American University of Sharjah, â€Å"most Arab youth don’t know their language†. He highlighted the critical responsibility of the education system in maintaining the Arabic culture and heritage. According to him, â€Å"nowadays, if someone doesn’t know English, they’re seen as uneducated †¦ people have forgotten other ways and means of thinking†. â€Å"We have effectively lost our authenticity †¦ our ideas are not our own, but are imported like other products,† he added (El Darawy, 2005). Personal Justifications for Using Arabizi To assess the role of Arabizi in contemporary society, there is an inherent need to deeply answer the question â€Å"why young people nowadays use Arabizi?† In a study conducted by Dr. Mohammad Yaghan, a group of high school students were asked about their reasons and justifications for using Arabizi in their daily lives. One of the reasons was that teenagers nowadays find Arabizi a trend in which they would like to belong to and by that way they will blend easily with similar group members. Other students believed that classical Arabic letters should be used for educational purposes but not for slang. Also, students explained how Arabizi is useful in expressing issues that cannot be expressed otherwise in classical Arabic letters. Economics is another major reason of using Arabizi, since the number of characters allowed in a message written in English is much larger than that in Arabic. Last but not least, participants expressed their preference of Arabizi over pure Arabic or English as it is a flexible system, not taught and free of errors (Yaghan, 2008). In addition, many Arabs feel that Arabic is very complicated and therefore they wanted to combine their mother tongue with English to create Arabizi which is somehow easier in communication (Salhani, 2013). In an interview conducted with college students at the American University in Cairo asking about their logic for using Arabizi as a means of communication with their friends, students emphasized two main points. Firstly, they explained how Arabic restricts them from discussing everyday topics and on the other hand how melding Arabic and English allow them to talk freely about their daily issues. Secondly, they illustrated how comfortable they feel when they use Arabizi to talk about taboos and other issues that cannot be expressed in Arabic such as sex (Yaghan, 2008). Not only young Arab people have justifications and causes for using Arabizi, but also elder people do have their own defense for using it. Those young people who use Arabizi will soon graduate and get jobs, but they will also transfer with them their own way of typing and communicating. Ali Nasser, a 24 year old employee, sees no problems in using Arabizi. He considers Arabizi as a valid means of communication in emailing other co-workers and communicating inside the organization. Furthermore, he believes that Arabic  is difficult for typing and expressing the self and other everyday topics. Personally, he does not see any indication that Arabizi weakens his Arabic, but rather people are over romanticized about this matter (Ghanem, 2011). The Internet and Arabizi The internet and online usage of language reveal how complicated the issue is. A study on young internet users in Egypt was done by Mark Warschauer, a professor at the University of California, Ph.D. in Education program and founding director of UCI’s Digital Learning Lab, to determine which language they use on the internet. The study found that Arabic was rarely used on the internet, but rather a mixture of Arabic and English was commonly used by the participants. This â€Å"Romanized Arabic† as Warschauer called it, was heavily used in informal emails and online chatting. According to Warschauer, this phenomenon gave its users a new universe in which they can freely discuss different religious and political topics, due to the absence of an explicit authoritarian censorship in a context where informality was the basis (Attwa, 2012). In another study conducted in Egypt, Singapore and Hawai’i, online language use was analyzed to examine webs of interrelationships. The study concluded that in a world where English is the dominant language, there is a major contradiction between global networks and local identities (Warschauer, 2002). This major online presence in young Arab people’s lives can have major consequences on their belief system and language which is a critical component of their identity. A study on technology and youth at the University of Melbourne showed that communication technologies strongly empower young people to create and maintain a sense of identity, power and unity (Carroll, Howard, Vetere, Peck & Murphy, 2001). Since this created identity is the outcome of complex electronic interactions, then the required language for communication is what forms the user’s identity (Markham, 2008). Therefore, when Arab youth choose to construct their Arabic language with Latin letters, they create their own linguistic identity in the way they want to represent themselves to the entire world (Markham, 2008). In a study intended to investigate the impact of the internet in the Arab world, Arabs’ perceptions and opinions about the influence of the internet  on their belief system, language and identity were deeply investigated. It showed that the majority of well-educated Arabs are concerned that their inherited social norms are harmed by the internet and other new technologies. They also indicated their annoyance about Arabizi as a threat to their language as well as their identity (Loch, Straub, & Kamel, 2003). However, all individuals as well as countries kowtow to modern technology in all its forms which shapes their beliefs, behaviors and actions (Brette, 2003). Not only technology users have opinions and thoughts about this matter, but also people who are in position to affect how the Arabic language can be used on the internet have their own points of view. According to Fayeq Oweis, manager of the Arabic localisation team at Google, â€Å"Arabic is a thriving language and can be adapted to modern technology† (Al Tamimi, 2012, para.1). Oweis believes that there are basically three dangers that threaten the Arabic language in the Arab world. The first is using foreign terminologies in spite of the existence of Arabic synonyms. The second is writing Arabic but using foreign characters, which is heavily and commonly used on the internet. The third is including different dialects in the sentence. In Oweis’s opinion, the best way to avoid these three threats is to use correct and proper Arabic not only in everyday use or formal communication, but also in the technology field (Al Tamimi, 2012). In order to put this solution into practice, Google has introduced â€Å"Google Ta3reeb† in 2009 (Al Tamimi, 2012). This program came out due to the increasing use of Arabizi on the internet, so it automatically translates Arabizi into classical Arabic. Therefore, Google is seriously contributing to the survival of the Arabic language by preserving its existence on the internet. Arabizi and Identity An extremely significant question imposes itself on the scene, whether Arabizi negatively affects our language and identity or it simply finds a common ground to unite Arabs everywhere. According to a study conducted in order to investigate what Arabs think about the effect of Arabizi on their Arab identity, users affirmed that Arabizi does not negatively affect their identity as Arabs, but rather it helps them finding a common ground in which  they can easily belong to (Abdel-Ghaffar, N., et al, 2011). However, Abdel-Ghaffar found that Arabizi does not facilitate the communication process among Arabs but rather it makes it vaguer, inconsistent and misunderstood in many cases (Abdel-Ghaffar, N., et al, 2011).This is because Arabizi users use Arabic numerals mixed with the closest English counterpart to express what they want to communicate. For example, the Ø · can be represented with â€Å"6† or â€Å"t†, which creates inconsistency in communication (Attwa, 2012). T herefore, Abdel-Ghaffar suggested that using Arabic letters is the most effective, consistent and overall the clearest means for communication in Arabic (Abdel-Ghaffar, N., et al, 2011). Many Arabs consider Arabizi as a major threat or even a war against the Arabic language and they are concerned that it will further weaken the language or even replace it in the near future. Some Arabs even believe that if young Arab people continued to use Arabizi transferring it to the next generations, the Arab world can be imagined without Arabic language in few decades. According to Miral Dibawy, a university graduate and addicted user of Arabizi, Arabizi has weakened her Arabic language and she even needs to write firstly in Arabizi and then translate it whether in Arabic or English (Ghanem, 2011). On the other hand, Dina Jamal, a university student, does not use Arabizi although all friends do because she strongly considers it as a major threat to the Arabic language (Ghanem, 2011). Also, Taiba Al-Amoudi, an Arabic teacher, argued that Arabizi was severely affecting her students’ linguistic abilities (Ghanem, 2011). In order to determine the extent to which Arabizi can really affect our language and identity, we should definitely consider Edward Said case which is to some extent similar to what the Arab youth experiences nowadays. Said represented the issue of having unsettled identity since he was raised in a bicultural family, uncertain about which language or which identity he should more belong to (Said, 1999). This description of Said’s conflicting childhood in reality reflects today’s young Arab people, since they are enrolled in English-based schools but they communicate at home mostly in Arabic. Thus, they want to combine these two different languages together to represent themselves in a way that satisfies their needs (Kramsch, 2000). III. Research Question: Based on secondary data and another primary research, survey, the focus of this paper is to deeply investigate the consequences of using Arabizi on the Arabic language. The primary research was conducted at the American university of Sharjah, in order to reveal and determine the dimensions of this matter. Thus, the following research questions needed to be investigated: RQ1: What are the students’ motives to use Arabizi? RQ2: How do students perceive Arabizi and its effects on the Arabic language? RQ3: How does students’ proficiency in Arabic relate to the use of Arabizi? RQ4: How does students’ high school system relate to the use of Arabizi? Therefore, the independent variables are high school background, proficiency in Arabic, age, gender and nationality. And the dependent variable is the use of Arabizi. IV. Methodology: 1. Participants This study was limited to investigate participants from different ages, genders, colleges and nationalities at the American University of Sharjah. The sampling technique that was used to select participants in this research project was a simple random sample. The number of participants was 150 AUS students (N= 150). The ages of participants in this study range from 17 to 26 years old and the average ranged from 20-22 years (Appendix 1). The gender ratio is 1:1, so 75 males and 75 females participated in this study. Participants were chosen from the following available colleges at the American University of Sharjah: College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), College of Architecture, Arts and Design (CAAD), College of Engineering (CEN) and SBM (School of Business and Management). The final psychographic quality that was studied in this project is nationality. Nationalities were divided into the following four categories: 1) GCC Countries, 2) Al Sham Countries, 3) North Africa and 4) Other. Th e purpose of this categorization is to achieve simplicity. Participants from Al Sham countries made up 50% of the participants (Appendix 2). 2. Procedure: This primary research project was conducted through distributing printed surveys among AUS students during one week (from June 30th to July 7th 2013). Our main objective for this project was to randomly collect unbiased, rational and representative data. The data was collected from the Chemistry Building, Nab, Library, Student Center, Guys’ dorms and women’s dorms. It took around 10 minutes for participants to complete the survey. After the data was collected, we used the recommended ‘IBM SSPS Statistics Software’ to analyze the collected data. This software was very useful for the analytical and the reporting process that is basically due to the multiple integrated modules that we could easily use to get precise and exact reports. We were able to get accurate representation as well as attain reliable outcomes for our survey findings. In addition, due to the variety of the provided options in this software, we were able to get a full representative image of the results through descriptive statistics and many other statistical representations. 3. Measure: For the measurement process, we used the Likert scale as an effective, representative and accurate method. This scale provides respondents with the following five degrees of agreement: Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree and Strongly Disagree. It quantifies the responses and allows for mathematical analysis. Also, it allows participants to respond with a flexible degree of agreement instead of forcing them to take a determined position. The collected data from this scale was easily and accurately used to create charts that represent how opinions are distributed across the population. Moreover, it allows for comparisons between and among the founded results. The Likert scale was used with the following questions: â€Å"Do you feel that Arabizi helps you express yourself more clearly?†, â€Å"In my interactions with others, I often do you mix English and Arabic?†, â€Å"Some people think that communicating in Arabizi, makes its users seem smarter?† and â€Å" I believe the use of Arabizi will negatively affect my proficiency in Arabic?†. V. Results: Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation HighSchool of participant 150 1.00 2.00 1.2267 .42008 Arabic proficiency of participant 150 1.00 5.00 2.5467 1.10876 Arabizi makes participant smarter 150 1.00 5.00 3.4133 1.08180 Arabizi negatively affects Arabic 150 1.00 5.00 2.5200 1.12160 Age of participant 150 1.00 4.00 1.6800 .66877 Paticipants College Year 150 1.00 4.00 2.6400 1.07616 Participants uses Arabizi with people who don’t speak English or Arabic 150 1.00 4.00 1.6733 .58501 Collage of participant 150 1.00 4.00 2.6200 1.00782 Gender of participants 150 1.00 2.00 1.5000 .50168 Participant mixes English and Arabic 150 1.00 5.00 2.5333 1.04699 Use of Arabizi makes clearer 150 1.00 5.00 2.4400 1.05855 Participants use Arabizi 150 1.00 4.00 2.2933 1.09634 MotherTongue of participant 150 1.00 4.00 1.4200 .97808 Nationality of participant 150 1.00 4.00 2.1600 .95594 Valid N (listwise) 150 Figure 1.1: Descriptive Statistics of 150 surveys Figure 1.2: Participants feel Arabizi express them clearer Figure 1.3: Participants Mix of English and Arabic Figure 1.4: Arabic proficiency of participants Figure 1.5: Relation between High school and use of Arabizi of participants Figure 1.6: Arabizi negatively affects Arabic VI. Discussion: The outcomes of the survey of 150 participants were not unexpected as they relate to the discoveries of past researches and findings referred in the literature review. To begin with, the table above contains the descriptive statistics of the 150 participants (Figure 1.1). For instance, the mean respond regarding the question of â€Å"Does Arabizi makes you feel smarter?, is 3.4133. Since the variable 3 is neutral and 4 is disagree, then the greater part was sort of inside that run. The same procedure is valid to each question. Regarding the research question expressed in part III, the question states; â€Å"Do you feel Arabizi helps you express yourself more clearly?† is replied through the pie outline in Figure 1.2. More than 36.7% of the members demonstrated that they use Arabizi in their daily communication since it helps in communicating their statements. The minimum picked reply, which just included 4.7% of the participants, was on the grounds that the individual they ar e conversing with can’t comprehend Basic English. This percentage indicates that teenagers and youth are adapting more to the use of Arabizi in their daily interactions more than ever before. The discoveries of this pie graph are parallel to what Ghanem (2011) discovered in her interviews with college scholars. Indeed, Bruna Kesserwani said the same thing (Salhani, 2013). Figure 1.3 and figure 1.5 illustrates the participant’s response to mixing English and Arabic in their daily interactions according to their education. The outcomes that are delineated in the figure indicated that the majority of participants come from English-based educational system. Then again, to evade misconceptions, the degree of every high school foundation was figured. For the individuals who went to an Arabic-based high school, the proportion of participants finding Arabizi express their ideas more clearly it is below 20% which approximately (=0.15). For the individuals who went to an English-based high school the degree is above 80% which (=0.85). The dispersion of both degrees is exceptionally far from each other with nearly 0.7 contrasts, which is high. The third question, â€Å"How do participants characterize their proficiency in  Arabic?† is diagramed in Figure 1.4. It indicates that the capability of a participant in Arabic dialect is identify with the practice of using Arabizi. The individuals who appraised themselves as phenomenal in Arabic had the most astounding degree of individuals who likewise said that they don’t use Arabizi; so they manage every dialect as its own particular. Moreover, participates who evaluated themselves with Average or above average in the language proficiency had an extremely thin rate of individuals who don’t use Arabizi; the larger part whose Arabic proficiency is below average uses it. This comes to accept that one’s capability in Arabic does influence his/her use of Arabizi. This comes as an inseparable unit with data addressed in figure in 1.5 with respect to the high school educational system of participants. One may go to an English-based high school, however be extremely exceptional at Arabic from his/her friends or any outside elements, which makes him/her barely Arabizi and consider it as a lifestyle habit. The fourth question addressed in figure 1.6 whether participants believed Arabizi will negatively affect their proficiency in Arabic. It showed that 50 participants and above are neutral about it, they don’t believe that the usage of Arabizi will negatively affect their proficiency level of the Arabic language. In contrast, 35 participants believe that Arabizi can form a threat to the Arabic language usage among youth and teenagers. Furthermore, around 9 participants do not believe that Arabizi is causing any threat to the language. These findings are constant with the Warschauer’s thoughts, as he believes that this phenomenon will lead to the death and loss of the Arabic language. The ultimate two questions were addressed when participants were asked about their opinions â€Å"If Arabizi threatens the existence of Arabic language?†. Therefore, most of the participant’s responses were balanced between supporting the statement and rejecting the statement. For instance a female participant clarifies her opinion saying, â€Å"No, it doesn’t because Arabic still exists as a spoken language, it’s just the form that is changing†. Another Female contradicts with that opinion saying, â€Å"I strongly disagree, because it’s a common language among all Arabs†. Females’ responses differed from males’ ones, for instance; a male participant who wrote unordinary response â€Å" no, it will help us learn new words from both  languages† while other male expressed a suggestion â€Å" simply, enrich and enlarge the areas of Arabic language usage, also encourage people to use it†. The differentiations of male and female opinions ranged between 17 to 22 years demonstrates to what extreme the language is important to the participant and to what extent it relates to his/her identity as an Arab. On the contrary, the survey shows large enough rations of unexpected responses that reflect the awareness of participants to the existence of Arabic language. The second question was â€Å"why do you use Arabizi?† Generally, most respondents said that they use it because it is trendy and much easier to use. A male participant said â€Å"it helps me use both the expressions from Arabic and English to express myself more vividly† another male explains why he uses Arabizi saying â€Å"due to the lack of practice of using Arabic letters†. On the other hand, females had other reasons why they use Arabizi â€Å"it makes texting faster, certain regional accents cannot be typed in formal Arabic language†. Our interpretation of Arabic language from the analysis of these two questions revealed the opinions of participants including males and females and where they see the Arabic language position in their lives. The responses of respondents and our interpretation ma tches Dr. Mohammad Yaghan group study when he asked students about their reasons of using Arabizi. One of the reasons that teenagers use it is that they find it a trend to which they would like to belong. VII. Conclusion: This research has multiple useful and worthy implications. It added to the reasons of using Arabizi. Also, it revealed participants’ own beliefs and thoughts about the consequences of using this way of typing. Furthermore, it showed the correlation between the school system and the use of Arabizi. This research project was carefully done to attain its goals. However, there were some inevitable shortcomings and limitations. One of these limitations was the time. Since we had limited time during the short summer course, we conducted our primary research throughout only two weeks. If we had more time, we could ask and survey more number of participants to enhance the generalizability of the results. Secondly, the designed survey for this project was somehow long which led some participants to skip or ignore open questions. Thirdly, that data we entered in IBM SPSS Statistics Software were done manually. Thus, it is subject to human error. Another limitation  is the place. We distributed surveys to only AUS students, so the answers cannot be generalized to any other places. The recommended future research of this project is to deeply investigate the influence of parents or the old generation on the use of Arabizi by the youth. Recently, this topic is one of the top controversial issues that need to be seriously investigated to determine its dimensions. VIII. References: Abdel-Ghaffar, N., et al. (2011), Arabizi or romanization: the dilemma of writing Arabic texts. Jil Jadid Conference. University of Texas, Austen. Attwa, M. (2012). Arabizi: A writing variety worth learning? An exploratory study of the views of foreign learners of Arabic on Arabizi. American University in Cairo. Arabic Language Institute 11. Retrived from http://dar.aucegypt.edu/handle/10526/3167 Al Tamimi, J. (2012, March 7) An Arabic speaker with a deep passion for his mother tongue, Gulf News. Retrieved from http://gulfnews.com/business/features/an-arabic-speaker-with-a-deep-passion-for-his-mother-tongue-1.990966 Brette, O. (2003). Thorstein Veblen’s theory of institutional change: Beyond technological determinism. European Journal History of Economic Thought, 10(3), 455-477. Carroll, J., Howard, S., Vetere, F., Peck, J., & Murphy, J. (2001). Identity, power and fragmentation in cyberspace: Technology appropriation by young people. Interaction Design Group, Department of Information Systems, The University of Melbourne, 1-10. Dahbi, M. (2004). English and Arabic after 9/11. The Modern Language Journal, 88(4), 628- 631. El Darawy, N. (2005, July 16) Death of a language, Gulf News. Retrieved from http://gulfnews.com/about-gulf-news/al-nisr-portfolio/notes/articles/death-of-a-language-1.294152 Findlow, S. (2006). Higher education and linguistic dualism in the Arab Gulf. British Journal of Sociology of Education 27(1), 19-36. Ghanem, R. (2011), Arabizi is destroying the Arabic language, Arab News. Retreievd from http://www.arabnews.com/node/374897 Kramsch, C. (2000). Language and culture (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. (pp.8-14). Loch, K, Straub, D. & Kamel, S. (2003). Diffusing the Internet in the Arab world: The role of social norms and technological culturaltion. IEEE Transactions on Engineering 5(1), 45-63. Markham, A. N. (2008). The methods, politics, and ethics of representation in online ethnography. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials (3rd ed., pp. 247-283). Said, E. (1999). Out of place: A memoir. New York, NY: Knopf. (Ch. 1) Warschauer, M. (2002). Languages.com: The Internet and linguistic pluralism. In I. Snyder (Ed.), Silicon literacies: Communication, innovation and education in the electronic age London: Routledge. (pp. 62-74). Yaghan, A. M. (2008). â€Å"Arabizi†: A contemporary style of Arabic slang. Design Issues 24(2), 39-52. Retrieved from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/desi. IX. Appendix: YOUR ID_______________ Your Name ( optional) ________________ â€Å"Arabizi† is a slang term (slang: vernacular, popular informal speech) describing a system of writing Arabic using English characters. (Example: ya3ni) 1. What kind of high school did you go to? Private School Public School 2. What is your mother tongue? Arabic English French Other 3. Do you use Arabizi dialy ? Always Most of the times Sometimes Rarely 4. Do you feel that Arabizi helps you express yourself more clearly? Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree 5. How do you characterize your proficiency in Arabic?: Excellent Above Average Average Below Average Poor 6. In my interactions with others, I often do you mix English and Arabic? Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree 7. Are you used to Arabizi to an extent that you use it even with people who do not necessarily speak Arabic or English? O Yes O No 8. Some people think that communicating in Arabizi, makes its users seem smarter? Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree 9.I believe the use of Arabizi will negatively affect my proficiency in Arabic? Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree 10. Some people think that Arabizi threatens the existence of the Arabic language, what’s your opinion? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 11. Can you tell why do you use Arabizi? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 12. Gender: Male Female 13. Age: 17-19 20-22 23-25 26+ 14. College: CAS CAAD

Toxic Water

Turn the tap on and drink a glass of water. Does it taste funny? Is it clear? The water you are drinking may be toxic without any such indicators. Water is all around us; it is essential for life. Over two thirds of earth’s surface is covered by water, ___________________but everyone only wants and need clean water. Each year, water pollution increases and continues to be responsible for harming our environment. According to Duhigg (2009) of the New York Times, more than 100 wells were polluted by agricultural runoff within a few month time period, affecting livestock such as pigs and cows (n. . ). Water pollution is a silent and deadly pollution – bacterium can be tasteless, colorless, and scentless. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2009) says that the United States has the safest water supplies in the world, but states that when water sources became contaminated, they can easily cause widespread sickness and disease from waterborne germs including Cryptosporidium, E. coli, Hepatitis A. , Giardia intestinalis, and other pathogens. Despite progress reducing water pollution from the largest sources, our country still faces serious pollution challenges. Violations are still too widespread, and enforcement too uneven. We need to do better controlling pollution. Water pollution can occur through natural process, but many times water pollution is mostly a result of human activities. Water is used every day in our homes and industries; the average of water use in the United States is approximately about 100 gallons per day per person. The water we use and drink is taken from lakes, rivers, and wells and from underground (groundwater); and after we have used and contaminated it, most of it returns to these locations (DES, n. d. , p. 1). Everyone must be aware of pollution in order to avoid it. Despite the efforts to decrease water pollution, the USA continues to faces a serious pollution challenges (US Environmental, 2009, n. p. ) Pollution is all around us; no one is safe, therefore the federal and state government and especially the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must reinforce the rules and to prohibit pollution and to protect public health. Through this paper I will be addressing the followings: 1. How do people know if water is safe? 2. Who is responsible for ensuring water is safe? 3. What are the effects of consuming toxic water? . How can people protect their families from toxic water? How do people know if water is safe? Is your drinking water safe? The CDC and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), reports that people getting sick from drinking tap water is unusual (Dean, 2009, n. p. ). The EPA states that â€Å"the Unite States enjoys one of the best supplies of drinking water in the worldâ₠¬  (2003, p. 1). Over the years many people did not worry about their quality of water, the EPA assures that tap water in the USA meets the federal and state standards ( 2003, p. 1). In the other hand, Who is responsible for ensuring water is safe? Congress Passed a law in 1974 to protect public health by regulating the nation’s public drinking water supply and protecting sources of drinking water what is called the Safe drinking water Act (SDWA) (EPA, 2003, p. 2). The EPA is responsible for regulate What are the effects of consuming toxic water? According to Monroe County Department of Environmental Services (DES), â€Å"Some major types of water pollution include microbiological, chemical, oxygen depletion, nutrients, and suspended matter (n. d. p. 2). Microbiological: Disease-causing (pathogenic) microorganisms, like bacteria, viruses and protozoa can cause swimmer to get sick. People who eat contaminated fish and shellfish can become ill. Some serious diseases that are waterborne are polio and cholera (DES, n. d. p. 2). Chemical: There are many varieties of chemicals from industries, such as metal and solvent, and even chemicals which are formed from the breakdown of natural wastes (i. e. ammonia) poisoning fish and other aquatic life and polluting water. (DES, n. d. p. 2). DES states that â€Å"Pesticides used in agriculture and around the home are other types of toxic chemicals† (n. d. p. 2). Other material such as detergent foam and oils float that have water ody, many times offensive odors, these chemical are responsible for making rivers caught on fire. Do to the chemical wastes many times flammable, the Cuyahoga River, Ohio, caught fire (n. d. p. 2), so what are people drinking? Oxygen-depleting Substances: Nutrients: How can people protect their families from toxic water? Conclusion â€Å"To keep this used water from spoiling our water resou rces, pollutants must removed from the water before its discharged back into the environment† (DES, n. d. p. 4). To improve water quality state and federal water program must be enforced to address serious new threats (EPA, 2009, p. 6).