Analytic Report - Outsourcing Essay Example for Free

Analytic Report Outsourcing Essay Offshore outsourcing, the sending of jobs to lower wage countries, has become a very popular practice amongst U. S. companies seeking ways to cut back on their operating costs. The idea of outsourcing has made for a highly emotional situation because of two dramatically different effects: it leads to layoffs and dislocations for workers. Well-educated workers in other countries are willing to work for a fraction of the wages paid to Americans, resulting in massive savings for American companies. The U. S. mports goods that would cost higher to produce domestically, and it creates and sells to other countries goods that would cost more for them to create on their own. The immediate problem resulting from outsourcing jobs is workers in the U. S. can become unemployed. The problem that causes a debate over outsourcing is even though it promises a better life for all involved; it causes hardships on the American workers when they are laid off. Economists argue that outsourcing is a bad choice because of the workers that are being laid off and displaced. In analyzing the Case Study IV-3 IT Infrastructure Outsourcing at Schaeffer (A): The Outsourcing Decision, both sides of the outsourcing debate are well represented. Once the Schaeffer board assigned the highly ambitious growth goals to Reitzel, the Vice President of Human Resources made the recommendation that they outsource some of its IT processes and resources. During the initial evaluation of the possibility of outsourcing, Schaeffer determined what the benefits would be of having a vendor manage their IT. They determined that they would be able to focus on core activities during growth periods, which would help them to meet the goals set forth by the board. Outsourcing IT will allow them to remain focused on those business activities that are important without sacrificing quality or service to their customers. Next, they would be able to achieve reduced overhead costs and better operational control. An outsourcing company could bring better management skills to a company than what would otherwise be unavailable to them. Another added benefit would be staffing flexibility. Outsourcing will allow operations that have seasonal or cyclical demands to bring in additional resources when needed and release them when they are finished. Outsourcing these functions can provide the additional resources for a fixed period of time at a consistent cost. Continuity and risk management would also be greatly improved because when you have periods of high employee turnover which add uncertainty and inconsistency to the operations, outsourcing would provide a level of continuity while reducing the risk that a substandard level of operation would impact the company and its customers. They also determined that outsourcing could help diversify and develop the staff by bringing in people with skills that are needed within the company and by providing training opportunities that had not previously been available for current staff. Once the idea of outsourcing was presented, a task force was created to analyze their current processes and map them in as great a detail as possible. This would help them to determine exactly what their outsourcing needs were going to be. They brought on an outside consultant who provided them with advice on how to proceed as well as detailed templates to assist them in gathering the necessary information to help them create the Request for Proposal (RFP). They determined that they wanted to outsource the data center, distributed computing (all desktops), voice (telephones), data networks, and the helpdesk. It was also determined that they did not want to outsource their development resources. The task force spent a year gathering data and filling out the templates so that they had a complete picture of their current services to better understand their outsourcing needs. They then spent several months preparing a 200-page RFP that could be provided to possible outsourcing vendors. After receiving two strong proposal responses, it was determined that ABC Corporation would be the best fit for Schaeffer’s outsourcing needs. There was a lot of negotiation to be able to bring the price within the needs of the company, but after several weeks of back and forth an agreement was reached. The next step was to get Schaeffer’s top management’s buy-in to the task force’s recommended solution. However, once the task force report was circulated internally, there were a lot of perceived disadvantages raised by its managers. One of the first concerns that was brought up with the consistency and priority of service that Schaeffer would receive. Most outsourced IT contracts are for a relatively long time-period. This is because of the high cost of transferring assets and employees as well as maintaining technological investment. The long time-period of the contract can cause three particular problems. One, difficulties in getting out of a contract if the supplier turns out to be unsuitable; two, problems in foreseeing what the business will need over the life of the contract hence creating difficulties in negotiating new services; and three, almost insurmountable problems in re-creating an internal IT department after the contract period is over or the relationship is terminated. Another major concern that was discussed was the impact to employee morale with the inevitable reduction in Schaeffer IT personnel, where some would be absorbed by the vendor but most would be given a severance package and laid off. And the employees who remain may distrust management after outsourcing because they will become fearful that their position could be targeted next. Administration should treat morale problems seriously and will need to work with staff to rebuild their trust and loyalty. The company is a major employer in the area so the decision to outsource could also have a ripple effect in the community by damaging their reputation. The vice president for finance of the Colbert division brought up the concern that the major benefits of outsourcing would only be beneficial to the Reitzel division whereas the other two divisions would incur additional costs without additional benefits. This concern led to a third alternative being suggested; outsource the IT infrastructure just for the Reitzel division. Based on the information included in the case study for all three alternatives, outsourcing should be the chosen solution. It is the most flexible solution for their growth goals. Outsourcing would allow for them to expand in areas more quickly without all of the time and costs associated with startups. The vendor already has the infrastructure to support the areas that they most want to expand into, allowing for quicker turnaround times in meeting customer needs and wants, especially for new business growth. If they kept the IT in-house, they would need to make a substantial investment of both time and money in expanding their services and support that would be needed for new business and it would need to be done very quickly to be able to meet the goals set by the Board of Directors. If they tried to adopt the third alternative, of only outsourcing the IT for the Reitzel division, it would negate all of the time and cost savings of the consolidation of the divisional IT groups into a shared services solution. It would then cause duplication of work and processes between the in-house IT team and the outsourced group, which would be impactful to the overall costs for all divisions. Each solution had its own pro’s and con’s, and needed to be evaluated against the best interest in achieving Schaeffer’s overall goals in the marketplace. Like it or not, change is an integral part of todays business climate. In the workplace, changes can occur as a result of new thinking, advances in technology, innovation and progress, knowledge and communication, as well as mergers, takeovers, layoffs, and downsizing. A lot of the concerns and disadvantages were voiced after the task force’s recommendation had been developed, presented, and circulated within the company. Communication is key! This could have been avoided by having better communication throughout the life cycle of the whole process, from the information gathering, to the development of the RFP, and the presenting of the final recommendations. A lot of people probably felt blindsided by the proposed solution to outsource the IT infrastructure because they have been conditioned to fear change. We must not lose sight of the fact that change is normal, and most of us will experience unpredictable changes throughout our professional lives. However, there is no doubt that everyone views change from a different perspective than everyone else. Many employees believe that management doesnt understand their side of the story, and managers often feel it is the employees who dont understand why the change is necessary. This is why communication is so vital during any change circumstance. Its been said that lack of communication is the number one reason why relationships deteriorate between employers and employees. Change will require open communication on both sides. None of us want to acknowledge that we doubt our ability to integrate new ideas, use new technology, or adapt to new organizations. We dont even want to think about whats ahead when outsourcing a whole department: new management structure, new processes and procedures, new terminology, new titles and job descriptions, not to mention the loss of longtime co-workers, friends, and family. The more we fight and resist the change, the more painful and frightening the changes will be. Resisting doesnt keep a new idea from taking hold; it simply makes the process longer and more painful. Change will happen no matter what. We will handle it better when we learn to move with the change – not against it. Its natural to fear the unknown and lack of control when it comes to embracing a new concept such as outsourcing that goes completely against the traditional workplace structure. There will be a lot of struggle during the transition period. We know we will have to work a lot harder. Are we willing to let go of the present to embrace the future? We may not know what the future will bring, but we are responsible for what we bring to the future.

Negative Absolute Temperature Thermodynamics

Negative Absolute Temperature Thermodynamics T.H. Tennahewa Thermodynamics and Statistical mechanics at Negative Absolute Temperature We define the temperature, T; by in here S stands for Entropy which describes the measure of disorder in the system and U for Internal energy. In here x stands for the partial differentiation that should hold constant in the thermodynamic equation relating TdS and dU. this relation comes from the first law of Thermodynamics. That is; ; We can define temperature with relating Enthalpy (H) also. That is in here too y stands for the partial differentiation that should hold constant in the thermodynamic equation relating TdS and dH. Below is the derivation of above equation. We called absolute temperature as a temperature where on the Kelvin scale 0 K as the absolute zero point, where all motion in a classical gas would stop. Most systems, including a classical gas are limited to positive absolute temperatures. In order to be able to reach negative temperatures, a system needs to possess an upper bound for the energy of its particles, which is a maximal possible energy a particle of the system can have. This limit is not an external limit in the sense that there is just no more energy available. It is an internal limit the particles cannot absorb more energy even if there is plenty available. It is important to note that the negative temperature region, with more of the atoms in the higher allowed energy state, is actually warmer than the positive temperature region. If this system were to be brought into contact with a system containing more atoms in a lower energy state (positive temperatures) heat would flow from the system with the negative temperat ures to the system with the positive temperatures. By the definition of temperature we can describe above figure. If the energy in the system is minimum (Emin), all particles are in the lowest possible energy state and the entropy is zero. The curve is vertical at this point with an infinite slope and temperature is therefore zero. If the energy increases, the particles begin to occupy higher energy states, and the entropy increases. There are, however, always more particles at low energies than at high energies this is same as the usual Boltzmann distribution. (Figure 2 below) The slope of the entropy versus energy curve decreases and the temperature therefore increases. At some point, when there is enough energy in the system, the particles distribute equally over all energy states. Therefore the disorder and the entropy are maximum. The curve is completely flat at this point, with a slope of zero, and the temperature is therefore infinite. If the total energy in the system is further increased, more particles will occupy high energies than low energies this is same as the inverted of the Bolt zmann distribution. Because the energy distribution becomes narrower again, disorder and entropy starts to decrease. This is not a usual behavior because usually entropy increases with increasing energy. The slope of the curve is negative in this region and therefore the absolute temperature is negative. If the energy in the system is maximum (Emax), all particles are at their maximum possible energy. The entropy is again zero. The curve is again vertical therefore the temperature is again zero, but this time it is negative values. Thus, while a temperature of positive and negative infinity is physically identical, temperatures of positive and negative zero are very different. Because of that we could write temperature range as +0 K, +300 K, , +∞ K, −∞ K, , −300 K, , −0 K. Figure 2- The Maxwell- Boltzmann distribution In the Carnot cycle of a heat engine heat absorbed from the hot reservoir and heat rejected to the cold reservoir while work done by the system. In that case we define the efficiency of the process as, In here Q1 is a heat absorbed at temperature T1 and Q2 is a heat rejected at temperature T2. In heat engine T2 / T1 2 / T1 > 1, therefore efficiency is negative and can be very large. In this case work has to be supplied to maintain the cycle. It should be noted that when Carnot cycle is operated between two negative temperatures that is work is done by the machine while heat absorbed from cold reservoir and rejected to hot reservoir. Efficiency of the system is not only positive but it is also less than unity. Thus at both positive and negative temperatures cyclic heat engines which produce work have efficiencies less than unity that is they absorb more heat than produced work. Second law of thermodynamics should have to modify to use with this kind of Carnot cycle. In there, entropy formulation and Clausius statement remain unchanged and Kelvin-Plank formulation has to be changed. They are mentioned below. Entropy formulation The entropy of a system is a variable of its state and the entropy of an isolated system can never decrease. Clausius Statement It is impossible to construct a device operating in a closed cycle that will produce no other effect than the transfer of heat from a cooler to hotter body. Kelvin- Plank formulation It is impossible to construct an engine, which is operating in a cycle produces no other effect except to external heat from a single reservoir and do equivalent amount of work. Modified statement: It is impossible to construct an engine that will operate in a closed cycle and produce no effect other than the extraction of heat from a positive temperature reservoir with the performance of an equivalent amount of work or the rejection of heat into a negative temperature reservoir with the corresponding work being done on the engine. Carathà ©odory form In any neighborhood of any state there are states that cannot be reached from it by an adiabatic process. Both first and second laws of thermodynamics can be used at negative temperatures as at positive ones to derive other thermodynamic relations. From these laws it is interpreted that the difficulty of heating a hot system at negative temperatures is analogous to the difficulty in cooling a cold system at positive temperature. The important requirements for thermodynamical system to be capable for negative temperature are: The elements of the thermodynamical system must be in thermodynamical equilibrium among themselves in order to describe the system by temperature. There must be an upper limit of the possible energy of the allowed states of the system. It is need a lower bound for the energy in order to get positive temperatures and an upper bound in order to get negative temperatures. The system must be thermally isolated from all systems which do not satisfy both of the above conditions. To satisfy the second condition negative temperatures are to be achieved with a finite energy. In thermal equilibrium the number of elements in the mth state is proportional to the Boltzmann factor; here Wm is energy of the mth state. Boltzmann distribution function which is formed using Boltzmann factor is given below. In negative temperature case when Wm increases with that Boltzmann factor increases exponentially therefore high energy states are more occupied than low energy states. As a result of this we could say that without an upper limit to the energy negative temperatures could not be achieved with a finite energy. Since most of the systems do not satisfy this conditions negative temperatures are occurs rarely. Spin systems sometimes form the thermodynamic systems which can describe by using temperature. In there for a system of electron spins in a lattice, a temperature such that the population of the energy levels of the spin system is given by the Boltzmann distributionwith the spin temperature. To achieve thermodynamic equilibrium various nuclear spins must interact among themselves. This happened due to nuclear spin-spin magnetic interaction. Subatomic particles like electrons, protons and neutrons can be imagined as spinning on their axes. In many atoms these spins are paired against each other, such that the nucleus of the atom has no overall spin. In some atoms the nucleus has shown overall spin. The rules for determining the net spin of a nucleus are given below; If the number of neutrons  and  the number of protons are both even, then the nucleus has  NO  spin. (Classical Particles) If the number of neutrons  plus  the number of protons is odd, then the nucleus has a half-integer spin (i.e. 1/2, 3/2, 5/2) (Fermions) If the number of neutrons  and  the number of protons are both odd, then the nucleus has an integer spin (i.e. 1, 2, 3) (Boson) It is defined in Quantum mechanics that a nucleus of spinIwill have 2I+ 1 possible orientations. A nucleus with spin 1/2 will have 2 possible orientations. In the absence of an external magnetic field, these orientations are of equal energy. If a magnetic field is applied, then the energy levels split. When the nucleus is in a magnetic field, the initial populations of the energy levels are determined by thermodynamics, as described by the Boltzmann distribution. It means that†the lower energy level will contain slightly more nuclei than the higher level†. It is possible to excite these nuclei into the higher level with electromagnetic radiation. The frequency of radiation needed is determined by the difference in energy between the energy levels. This spin-spin process can be characterized by using relaxation process. Nuclei in the higher energy state return to the lower state by emitting the radiation. At radio frequencies, re-emission is negligible. There are two main relaxation processes; Spin lattice (longitudinal) relaxation Spin spin (transverse) relaxation Spin lattice relaxation (T1) Nuclei which are in a sample create a complex magnetic field. The magnetic field caused by motion of nuclei within the lattice is called thelattice field. This lattice field has many components. Some of these components will be equal in frequency and phase to the Larmor frequency of the nuclei of interest. These components of the lattice field can interact with nuclei in the higher energy state and cause them to lose energy returning to the lower state. The energy that a nucleus loses increases the amount of vibration and rotation within the lattice resulting in a tiny rise in the temperature of the sample. The relaxation time,T1(the average lifetime of nuclei in the higher energy state) is dependent on the magnetogyric ratio of the nucleus and the mobility of the lattice. As mobility increases, the vibrational and rotational frequencies increase, making it more likely for a component of the lattice field to be able to interact with excited nuclei. However, at extremely high mobilities, the probability of a component of the lattice field being able to interact with excited nuclei decreases. Spin spin relaxation (T2) This is describing the interaction between neighbouring nuclei with identical precessional frequencies but differing magnetic quantum states. In this case, the nuclei can exchange quantum states; a nucleus in the lower energy level will be excited, while the excited nucleus relaxes to the lower energy state. There is nonetchange in the populations of the energy states, but the average lifetime of a nucleus in the excited state will decrease. This can result in line-broadening. Most of the nuclear systems don’t satisfy the conditions in negative temperatures. By looking at all these things we can conclude that although the phenomena of negative temperature is a fully valid concept in thermodynamics and statistical mechanics they have less important than phenomena of positive temperature. 1

My Blattiphobia :: Example Personal Narratives

Blattiphobia A great wave of fear filters through the body at the thought of creatures that slither and crawl. Of all the bugs, snakes, and spiders in this vast universe the appearance, feel, and behavior of the tree roach can induce a panic as intense as a heart attack. The appearance of a roach is fearful in itself. One of the frightening things about a roach is its shape. It is scary to think how aerodynamic its body is. The roach can flatten its body like a pancake, making it appear to move through walls. The "V" shaped antennae appear to be picking up human emotions, especially fear. The size of a roach can send my heart into my throat. I have seen roaches on my countertop two and one half inches long. Johnny Carson had an African variety on his show that was three inches long. It's frightening to think roaches are so big that Raid had to create a motel for them. Seeing a roach crawling in filthy places reminds us of the germs it carries. My skin shudders when I see a roach in the toilet. Roaches love to crawl in the grime under the kitchen sink. I once saw a roach bouncing in the dirt of one of my potted plants as if it were a puppy who had just received a bath. Fear can turn into convulsions as actual contact with a roach is made. Every nerve fires at the same time when a roach crawls on the skin. I became physically ill with fear when a roach ran up my bare leg. Once one jumped from a box into my lap and all my extremities thrashed about while trying to remove the bug from my skin. The ultimate contact was when the roach ran across my face; I wanted to die! Getting a roach caught in my hair was frightening--no, traumatic. A romantic evening on the porch turned into a scene out of "Psycho" when a roach dropped on my hair. Dinner was ruined when a roach dropped down the back of my dress at an outdoor restaurant. Momentary skin contact with a roach is bad; stepping on one spells phobia. The crunch of a big roach as it is stepped on sends waves up my spine.

Intolerance: Minority Group and Society Essay

1. What are some of the ways groups of people are identified? There are many ways that a group of people can be identified but the four criteria for classifying minority groups are race, ethnicity, religion, and gender. Race is mainly determined by the color of someone’s skin, hair (in some instances eyes), height, and bone structure of the human body: big head, narrow eyes, tall short. Ethnicity is determined by where you were born and raised and what cultural patterns. Religion and is determined by what your beliefs and religious group you are a part of. Gender is determined easily enough but it does matters if you are male or female for the fact that each is treated differently. Males seem to have it easy most of the time and woman are always treated as though they are weaker. These four criteria’s are the main ones but there are so many more such as age, disability status, physical appearance, and sexual orientation they all are used to group people. There is always another factor that is sometimes over looked and that is our appearance; skinny, fat and even what we wear are we well dressed and clean all of the time or are we in regular day to day clothes or are we dressed in rags torn, ripped and dirty clothing. Also there is the money factor how much does one have or don’t have to many people the money factor matters most people like to know that they know people with money. Are these people wealthy with more money than they will every need or do they just have enough or do they struggle or worse yet do they not have anything leaving them going from home to home or street to street or going to government and privet programs for help. 2. Why do people label and group other people? I have thought about this question and it made me realize that not only do people label and group other people but we also label ourselves putting ourselves in categories that please us. Plus it gives us our sense of belonging to something that most people â€Å"need† to feel. Getting back to the question; I think it is something that we all do whether we realize it or not. Labeling and grouping help people to determine who we should or who we should not interact with. It helps people and sometimes it does just the opposite and destroys people it’s like having a power a power to have some control over other people. I can almost see it in another time a man running through the streets with a label machine placing labels on everyone’s forehead yelling â€Å"You are who I say you are! † Scary thought! We constantly label people in a negative light due to difference of opinion due to religion, political view, sexual preference, parenting method you name it we do it, even children do this and it is not done intentionally they were not taught this, too me it almost seems like it is a defense mechanism keeping themselves even ourselves safe from what we may consider to be harmful. In the end people are just that â€Å"people† we are nothing more and nothing less. People label others either to feel empowered or to praise someone but in the end we are Human Beings and that is it. We may think and act differently but we are what we are and if people could just except that then the future might not ever have to deal with the positive and mainly the negative effects that come with being labeled and tossed into a group that was thought up by others. Resources Schaefer, R. T. (2012). (Ch. 1 & 2) Racial and ethnic groups (13th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Lessons Learned from Fall of Karna Essay

Karna is one of the central characters in the epic Mahabharata, from ancient India. He was the King of Anga. Karna was one of the greatest warriors whose martial exploits are recorded in the Mahabharata, an admiration expressed by Krishna and Bhishma within the body of this work. Karna was the son of Surya and Kunti. He was born to Kunti before her marriage with Pandu. Karna was the closest friend of Duryodhana and fought on his behalf against the Pandavas in the famous Kurukshetra war. Karna fought against misfortune throughout his life and kept his word under all circumstances. Many admire him for his courage and generosity. It is believed that Karna founded the city of Karnal. Many believe that he was the greatest warrior of Mahabharata since he was only able to be defeated by Arjuna along with a combination of three curses, Indra’s efforts and Kunti’s request. Karna’s father was the solar deity Surya and his mother’s name was Kunti. Karna was born before his mother’s marriage to prince Pandu. The story of Karna’s miraculous birth is this: When Kunti was a young woman, a wise though irascible old man, the sage Durvasa, visited her father’s palace, where Kunti served him with utmost care for an entire year. Pleased by her service and hospitality, the sage foresaw that Kunti would have difficulty having a child after her marriage to Pandu, and granted her a boon to overcome this difficulty. By this boon she could call upon any god of her choice, and receive a child through him. Out of curiosity, Kunti still being unmarried, she decided to test the power of the mantra and called upon the god Surya. Compelled by the power of this mantra, Surya appeared before her and handed her a son, who was as radiant and powerful as Surya himself. The baby was wearing armour (‘Kavacha’) and a pair of earrings (‘Kundala’). Though Kunti had not physically given birth to the baby, she was unwilling to be accused of being an unmarried mother and so with the help of her maid Dhatri, she placed the baby Karna in a basket and set him afloat on ‘Ashwa’ a tributary of the holy river Ganges, the Ashwanadi, in the hope that he would be taken in by another family. The child Karna was found by Adhiratha, a charioteer of King Dhritarashtra of Hastinapur. Adhiratha and his wife Radha raised the boy as their own son and named him Vasusena. He also came to be known as Radheya, the son of Radha. The name Karna, however, denotes ‘ear’, because Karna was born with divine earrings. The emotional bond between Karna and his foster parents would remain strong throughout his life, filled with love, respect and affection. Karna happily performed his duties as their son, but as he grew up, he became more interested in the art of warfare than in merely being a charioteer like his father Adhirata. Karna met Dronacharya, who was an established teacher in the art of warfare. Dronacharya taught the Kuru princes, but refused to take Karna as his student, since Karna was a son of a charioteer and Dronacharya only taught Kshatriyas, or warriors. After being refused by Dronacharya, Karna sought his brother Shona’s help. But according to Indian culture, to learn an art you must have a guru (teacher), so Karna appointed the sun god as his guru, learned to wield his weapons during the day by gathering information about the various ayudhas (weapons) and practiced with them after sundown. Such was the life ok Karna, valiant, courageous and above all generous. Battle at Kurukshetra forms a vital part of the great epic of Mahabharata which was believed to have continued for eighteen days. The battle dates from 5561 BC to 800 BC and it is based upon the astronomical and literary information from the epic itself. The mythology of the Kurukshetra war is also traced to the Battle of the Ten Kings which is also described in the Rig Veda. As per Aryabhatta, the great mathematician and astronomer of India, the Mahabharata was fought during the year 3137 BC. It was also known as the â€Å"Battle for Dharma†. In this battle at Kurukshetra two families, the Pandavas and the Kurus fought for kingship and the supportive kings took part in the Great War and war ended with the victory of the Pandavas. Karna was the great tragic hero of the Mahabharata. He was a brave and expert warrior, who was first son of Kunti and thus the half-brothers of Pandavas. Duryodhana was his friend and appointed him as a King of Anga. But legend exceeds far more his role of just being a King. Karna also fought the great Battle of Kurukshetra for the Kaurvas. Karna fought the great battle of Kurukshetra with a great courage and grace. But he entered the battlefield only at the eleventh day as he felt insulted because Bhishma, the chief in commander of Kaurava’s side assigned Karna with a less important position. Bhishma knew that Karna was Kunti’s son and he did not want that brother’s fight among themselves. For that reason he wanted to put Karna away of battlefield. On the thirteenth day of battle, Dronacharya organized ‘Chakravyuha’, a specific arrangement of the army. Only Arjun and Krishna knew how to invade ‘vyuha’but they were purposefully taken to another side of battlefield. Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu knew how to go inside the Vyuha. He entered there alone and was killed by seven warriors, among which Karna was also present. On the nightfall of fourteenth day, Bheema’s son Ghatotkacha started killing the Kaurava army in a mass. Duryodhana requested Karna to stop him and Karna employed the Shakti weapon on him. After being used once, Shakti returned to its real owner, Indra. Now Karna did not have any divine weapon to kill Arjuna while Arjuna had a wider range of divine weaponry. However Karna knew that he must face Arjuna in the battle and one of them would certainly die. On the fifteenth day of the war, Dronacharya, the gurus of Pandavas and Kauravas died in the battle and Karna was appointed as commander-in-chief of Kaurava’s side. Karna had individual confrontation with all the Pandavas, except Arjuna and he defeated all of them but did not kill anybody as he promised to Kunti. On the seventeenth day of battle, Arjuna and Karna finally confronted. The two of them were greatest among all the warriors. Karna had a bow gifted by Parashurama known as Vijaya (Pinakin). On Duryodhana’s request, Shalya who was the maternal uncle of Pandavas became the charioteer of Karna. Karna did not have the Shakti weapon with him anymore. The battle was indeed an intense display of amazing archery, valor and courage. Since Karna had no divine weapon, he devised an intelligent strategy to defeat Arjuna, which was entirely based on his personal ability. Karna set naga-astram on Arjuna targeting his head. Krishna, being the charioteer of Arjuna, plunged the chariot in the earth to save Arjuna. The fierce arrow thus hits Arjuna’s only saving his life. During this severe combat, Karna’s chariot wheel got stuck in loose soil as per the curse on Karna given by the Brahmin, Karna asked Shalya to get down and take the wheel out of the mud but Shalya refused. Then Karna got down by himself to take out the chariot and asked Arjuna for a recess in the battle. Arjuna agreed but Krishna reminded him Karna’s merciless nature while killing his son Abhimanyu. Karna was not able to lift the chariot wheel nor could he recall how to use the ‘Brahmastra’ as per the curse of Parashurama. In the meanwhile Arjuna administered the terrible weapon ‘Anjalika’ on Karna and beheaded the great warrior. After Karna’s death Kunti revealed the secret of Karna’s birth to her sons. Pandava grieved Karna’s death. Yudhisthira was especially stirred at this incident. He cursed all women that henceforth they would not be able to keep a secret. Karna was the tragic hero of epic Mahabharata. He was a brave hero and courageous spirit who fought against his destiny all his life. His death was also tragic though full of courage, valor and honor that took him to rise to immortality beyond the moral death. Karna was famous for his generosity and an example of a futile life in spite of having all the good qualities. Karna’s character in the Mahabharata is one that has fascinated everyone. His story is one of the saddest, since he was ill-fated ever since his birth. There are valid reasons, though, for all of his actions and their repercussions. Karna, though born a prince, was brought up by a poor father and this led to a refusal for teaching by Dronacharya, the teacher of princes. Karna eventually approached Parashurama who taught him the usage of Brahmastra but also cursed him for killing his cow. This curse led to Karna’s downfall, as explained here: Once in the ashram of Parashurama, Karna fired an arrow aimlessly and a cow belonging to a Brahmin died. The Brahmin cursed him saying â€Å"Let the wheel of your chariot get stuck in the mud and at that very instant let someone kill you. This is your punishment for killing an innocent cow†. Aimless actions almost always have unwanted consequences and this seemingly harmless action cost Karna heavily, as this is exactly how he was killed in the battle of Kurukshetra. Indra (the king of Gods), father of Arjuna did not want Karna to become more powerful and hence ensured that Parashurama found out that his disciple was not a Brahmin. At that instanct, Parashurama cursed Karna, a Kshatriya, for lying and said, â€Å"When you are fighting with an enemy and the enemy is about to kill you, you will forget everything you learnt from me†. At the battle of Kurukshetra, at a crucial moment, Karna forgot the holy incantations required to fight Arjuna and this led to his defeat. Duryodhana had become a good friend of Karna, made him a prince and hence Karna joined the Kauravas. Along with Duryodhana, he developed hatredness towards Arjuna and all the other Pandavas,unaware that they were his brothers. Indra soon devised a plan to get hold of the earrings and the divine armor of Karna, which would protect him at all times. Suryadeva, Karna’s father, advised him to not give his armor and earrings to anyone. But when Indra pretended to be an ordinary Brahmin and asked for the armor and earrings, Karna gave them away as he had immense respect for Brahmins and was a kind man. This left him very vulnerable in the battle field. After the Kurukshetra war was declared, Kunti approached Karna, hoping to make him change sides. She accepted him as her son and asked him not to wage a war against his own brothers. But Karna refused, saying he would not fight any of her sons except for Arjuna. He said he was highly indebted to Duryodhana and it was time for him to show loyalty and gratitude to his dear friend. Such intense loyalty and ethics are traits of a good man, but Karna failed to see the difference between the right and wrong. Apart from the humiliation of Draupadi, which Karna did with the Kauravas, his other biggest mistake was killing Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu, by unfair means and in a way that was against the fair code of war. He was compelled by his loyalty to Duryodhana but going against what is right is not justifiable. Thus Karna and Arjuna got involved in an intense fight. Karna first used the Sarpastra, an arrow which is shaped like a snake, aiming it at Arjuna’s throat but Lord Krishna, Arjuna’s charioteer, managed to save Arjuana. Though the arrow flew back to Karna and asked him to use it again, Karna refused to do so as he promised his mother that he would never use the same weapon twice. Karna was always a man of his word and this again is the trait of a highly righteous person. But his failure to judge the consequences of such promises led him into trouble.

Evolution Lab

Associate Level Material Appendix O EvolutionLab Report |Ful | | |Date | | Use this document to report your findings from the EvolutionLab Exploration Experiment. The lab report consists of three sections: Data, Exploration, and Lab Summary. Data: copy any data, graphs, charts, or notes that you have saved in your EvolutionLab online notebook into this section. Exploration: Answer the questions.The questions in the Exploration section are the same questions in your EvolutionLab instructions. Lab Summary: Write a 100- to 200-word summary. Data To copy your data from your online notebook into this section, click on Export Graph and then copy and paste your data into this section. You must disable your pop-up blocker before exporting. Identify each set of data with a title. Exploration Answer the following questions in fewer than 100 words: Activity 1: Modes of Natural Selection What type of selection is taking place on Wallace Island? Explain.Directional Selection is taking place. Th e beak size is increasing on Wallace Island from 11. 85 to 19. 13, and the population is increasing as well. This is because there are more seeds available that the birds can eat. What type of selection is taking place on Darwin Island? Explain. Directional selection is taking place. The beak size increases slowly, from 12. 47 to 26. 95. The population decreased because of the lack of seeds available for the birds to eat. Explain the reason for any differences in population numbers between the two islands.The population increased on Wallace island because there were more seeds for the birds to eat, meaning there was more of a chance for them to survive and reproduce. The population decreased on Darwin island because there were no seeds for the birds to eat and without an abundant food supply they can not reproduce. Activity 2: Extinction Develop a hypothesis to predict what conditions would lead to extinction of a finch population. If there was no participation on a small island the Finch would become extinct.Which of the parameters is most important in determining whether a population goes extinct? Variance is most important What are at least two different sets of conditions that may lead to extinction? Small Island, no precipitation Small Island, No variance Summarize the steps you took to complete the experiment you designed. I set the parameters on precipitation to 0, and the island size to . 3km. I then ran the experiment for 300 years. Summarize the result of the experiment you designed. The Finch was extinct by 2033.The beak size stayed the same until extinction. Lab Summary Address the following points in a 100-to 200-word summary: Summarize the general principles and purpose of the lab. This lab is designed to help understand how precipitation, variance, and area have a role in the evolution of a species, in this case, Finches. It also explains the different types of selection. Explain how this lab helped you better understand the topics and concepts addressed this week. This lab really helped explain the concept of evolution.Not only did it cover population grown/ decrease but it also covered the changes that animals go through to adapt to their ever changing environments. Describe what you found challenging about this lab. I did not really find anything challenging about this lab. The information was very easy to understand and the set up was easy to work with after completing previous labs. Describe what you found interesting about this lab. I found it interesting to see how one parameter can have such a large effect on a species, even over a relatively small (300 year) amount of time. Evolution Lab Evolution Lab The finches on Darwin and Wallace Islands feed on seeds produced by plants growing on these islands. There are three categories of seeds: soft seeds, produced by plants that do well under wet conditions; seeds that are intermediate in hardness, produced by plants that do best under moderate precipitation; and hard seeds, produced by plants that dominate in drought conditions.The lab is based on a model for the evolution of quantitative traits-characteristics of an individual that are controlled by large numbers of genes. These traits are studied by looking at the statistical distribution of the trait in populations and investigating how the distribution changes from one generation to the next. For the finches in Evolution Lab, the depth of the beak is the quantitative trait. I investigated how this trait changes under different biological and environmental conditions.I manipulated various biological parameters (initial mean beak size, heritability of beak size, variatio n in beak size, fitness, and clutch size) and one environmental parameter (precipitation) of the system, and observed changes in the distributions of beak size and population numbers over time. Assignment 2: The Influence of Precipitation on Beak Size and Population Number The first experiment is designed to study the influence of beak size on finch population numbers. For finches, deep beaks are strong beaks, ideally suited for cracking hard seeds, and shallow beaks are better suited for cracking soft seeds.I experimented first with the finches’ adaptation and evolution of their population over 300 years, and changed the Wallace birds beak size to 28mm, and Darwin’s birds stayed at the default of 12mm. I hypothesize a since there are more hard seeds (64%) on the islands than soft seeds (4%). The birds with the smaller beak (Darwin) will not be able to get enough food which may cause some of the birds to die, resulting in a decrease in the smaller beak bird’s po pulation and an increase in the larger beak (Wallace) birds population because of the larger beak size better able to eat hard seeds.Darwin: Red Wallace: Blue I observed that the Darwin birds (smaller beak) actually grew up to about 25mm, as well as the Darwin bird’s population grew over time. The Wallace bird’s beak stayed the same as well as the population stayed steady but grew. The data actually refutes my hypothesis because I didn’t expect the smaller beak sized birds to grow to adapt to the seeds, I expected them to die off. This next experiment is designed to explore the effect of precipitation on finch beak size and population numbers.The experiment was to see how a decrease in precipitation on Darwin Island might affect beak size and how a decrease in precipitation might influence population numbers for these finches over time. I hypothesize a decrease in rain will produce more hard seeds because the hard seeds favor drought conditions, while the other seeds will not increase. And the decrease in rain may only slightly cause the finch population to decrease at first, but then will increase and stay steady as the birds have time to adapt to the drought conditions and their beaks will evolve.I observed that the beak sized for Darwin’s birds supported my hypothesis in that the birds beak sized increased with time. And the population did what I thought too, in that it decreased at first and then increased steadily. I then ran another experiment for 200 and 300 years separately. I observed that the 200 years population and beaks did about the same as the 100 year experiment. Which still confirm my hypothesis. But the 300 years, the bird’s populations and beaks sizes on both islands increased, but that the Darwin birds eventually passed Wallace’s birds in population and beak sized.I then performed the same experiment for both Wallace Island and Darwin Island simultaneously. I noticed that the 100 and 200 years beak size and population both increased and, but Darwin’s birds were still behind Wallace island birds. But then at the 300 year both beaks and populations were almost the same increase. My hypothesis on how an increase in precipitation on Darwin will influence beak size is that the beak sizes should become smaller and more shallow because the increase in rain will make softer seeds and smaller, shallow beaks are better for soft seeds. And the bird’s population will increase..I observed just what I hypothesized – the beaks grew smaller and their populations grew huge. When I reran the experiment I observed that Wallace island birds also followed the similar growth for beaks and population as the Darwin birds. When I ran the experiment by increasing precipitation on Wallace Island to 50 cm/year and increasing beak size to 28 mm, for 300 years, I observed the beak sized actually decreased slightly and the population stayed steady and in line with the Darwin birds. Next experiment I decreased beak size on both of the islands to an intermediate value. I decreased rainfall on one island to a value close to zero.On the other island, I increase rainfall close to the maximum value and ran the experiment for 300 years. I observed different effects on each island. On the Darwin island with a medium beak size and almost no rain had increase in beak size and population. The Wallace birds with a medium beak size and lots of rain had a decrease in beak size and a steady increase in population. Assignment 4: Effect of Island Size My hypothesis for what effect an increase in island size will have on beak size and finch populations is that the beak size will have an increase and population will increase.I began my experiment by leaving all other parameters at their default values. Then changed the island size of Darwin to the highest it could go to 1km. The beak sized increased as predicted and so did the population increased. When I decreased island size, the beak size grew and the population dropped off first in the beginning but then increased with time. Based on previous experiments if I decrease the clutch size the birds populations will decrease a great deal. Also if I decrease the heritability parameter, and decrease clutch size the populations decrease – which looked like to the point of extinction.

Outsiders Book and Movie Comparison Essay

The book and the movie of the Outsiders are two very different stories. The book has so much more detail then the movie. The movie is not the most detailed but it does get its point across. There are may similarities and also many differences between the two the book is by far more interesting and more detailed then the movie. I enjoyed the book a lot and the movies a lot but the movie was missing a lot. A few similarities between the movie and book are that the movie still has the complete Greaser gang Pony, Johnny, Soda, Darry, Dally, Two-Bit and Steve. They still have some of the more sad part like when Johnny and Dally die. There is still lots of conflict between the Greasers and the Soc’s. There is still the situation where Johnny kills one of the Soc’s and Johnny and Ponyboy both skip town. They still go to the church and hide out for 5 days. They still save the little kids from the burning church house. They still have the rumble and they also still win it. The settings are both still the same they both take place in Tulsa Oklahoma in the mid 1960’s. They both still have the same conflicts and the same out comes to the conflicts. Both the book and the movies are very much alike. There are still a few differences like in the book, there is a rich west side and a poor east side. In the movie, there is a rich south side Soc and a poor north side Greaser. Darry doesn’t treat Pony as bad in the movie as he did in the book . Pony takes the death of Johnny and Dally a little less harder the movie then he did in the book. The movie dosen’t mention Sodapops horse Mickey Mouse. Sodapop and Dally aren’t blonds like they are in the book, instead they are brunettes in the movie. The church that Ponyboy and Johnny run away to isn’t on a hill it is just out there. The movie also never mentions sodapops girl friend. In the book Soda gives Ponyboy money while in the book he didn’t. Also the book was written in Ponyboy’s perspective and the movie was not, the movie was written in everyone’s perspective. In the Movie the Socs were from the South instead of the West. Ponyboy doesn’t smoke as much in the movie as they said so in the book. Ponyboy Curtis in the fourteen-year-old boy that explains the story in both the book and the movie, and also the youngest of the greasers. Ponyboy is ery intelligent compared to the rest of the gang he is most defenatly the smartest to them all. Because his parents have died in a car accident, Ponyboy lives with his two brothers Darry and Sodapop in both the book and movie. Darry repeatedly accuses Ponyboy of lacking common sense in the book more so then in the movie, but Ponyboy is a much brighter then his brother takes him for. Throughout the novel, Ponyboy struggles with class division, violence, innocence, and familial love but in the movie they dont focus on his school as much. He matures over the course of the book and the movie both. Darrel Curtis Ponyboy’s oldest brother. Darrel, known as â€Å"Darry,† both in the book and in the movie. He is a twenty-year-old greaser who is raising Ponyboy because their parents have died in a car crash. Strong, athletic, and intelligent, Darry has quit school in the book and in the movie. He works two jobs to hold the family together. One of the leader of the greasers, he becomes an parent role model for Ponyboy. He also makes good chocolate cake, which he and his brothers eat every day for breakfast in the book but the movie really does not mention it. The other greasers call him â€Å"Superman. † Sodapop Curtis Ponyboy’s fun, intergetic, handsome brother. Sodapop is the middle Curtis boy. Ponyboy admires Sodapop’s good looks and charm. Sodapop is really a great person in both the book and the movie his plans are to marry Sandy , a greaser girl. Two-Bit Mathews The joker of Ponyboy’s group. Two-Bit, whose real name is Keith, is a wise-cracking greaser who regularly shoplift he gets in trouble a lot more in the movie more so then in the book. He loves his sleek black-handled switchblade so much in both the book and the movie. Dallas Winston the toughest hood in Ponyboy’s group of greasers. Dallas, known as â€Å"Dally,† is a big bad teen who used to run with gangs in New York shown both in the book and the movie. He has an elfin face and icy blue eyes and, unlike the others he do not put grease in his white-blond hair. Dally’s violent tendencies make him more dangerous than the other greasers in both the book and the movie, and he takes pride in his criminal record more so in the book then the movie. Sandy is Sodapop’s girlfriend in both the book and the movie. Sandy is pregnant with another boys child and moves to Florida to live with her grandmother in both the book and the movie. Like the other greaser girls, Sandy only is shown in the book and the movie when the boys mention her. Cherry Valance Bob’s girlfriend, she is a Soc cheerleader. When one night Ponyboy meets her at the movies in both the book and the movie. Cherry’s real name is Sheri, but people call her Cherry because of her red hair. Ponyboy and Cherry have so much in common, and Ponyboy feels comfortable talking to her more so mentioned in the book then in the movie. This is why I say the book of the Outsiders is far better then the movie. The movie is missing lots of detail and the book is far more interesting then the movie.