Inequality: Race, Crime, and the Law Essay

Policing and punishment in America is hardly colorblind. It is not a coincidence that minorities serve longer sentences, have higher arrest and conviction rates, face higher bail amounts, and are more often the victims of police use of deadly force than white citizens. When it comes to criminals, many people have a preconception of what a criminal is. Usually when people think of a criminal they picture a Black or Latino face. The thought of an Asian criminal is often related to Asian gangs. Interestingly enough, White people as a group are rarely associated with the thought of crime, even though they account for 70% of arrests and 40% of the prison population each year (Russel xiv). This seems to be overlooked, though, when people consider their stereotypical views. Minorities have become victims of these stereotypes in the U.S. courts by judges and juries as well as in their neighborhoods by local police. When asking for fairness, the desire isn’t for more rights for the criminally accused, yet for those rights of the accused to be fairly executed, before they are found guilty or innocent. This being because the system is unfair, it seems to be two different systems: one for the privileged, and one for the less privileged. Cops use methods of investigation and interrogation against minorities and the poor that wouldn’t be accepted against more privileged citizens. Courts assign public defenders to the poor in serious criminal trials that a rich person wouldn’t hire to defend them in a traffic court. Many minorities walk into a courtroom with the feeling that they are guilty until proven innocent. The complexion of their skin is too often viewed as negative. There is no doubt what the reason for it is. The evening news often leads off with a crime story, many times showing black males being taken away in handcuffs. Black females are portrayed as grieving mothers over the death or arrest of their son or daughter. This is shown so much that it’s impossible to ignore. I’m not denying that the ones shown on the news may, in fact, be guilty, but seeing it so frequently results in Americans incorrectly believing that most black men are criminals. On top of that, they connect the image of arrested individuals on the news, and begin  to stereotype all individuals they may come across personally that may have a similar appearance. Consequently, the thought of â€Å"black crime† comes to mind. I find it interesting how I have never heard the phrase, â€Å"white crime.† This leads us to racial profiling. Stereotypical views of minorities by police officers can lead to tragic situations. Amadou Diallo was a 22-year-old West African immigrant who lived in the Bronx, New York. He studied English and Computer Science in Singapore and Thailand before coming to America. A devout Muslim, he worked twelve hours a day selling videos to earn enough money to finish his bachelor’s degree. On February 4, 1999, as he was standing in the vestibule of his own apartment, about to open the door, four undercover police in plain clothes, members of the â€Å"elite† Street Crimes unit, approached him. What happened next is unclear, but when the dust settled, the four officers had fired a total of 41 times, at an unarmed man. Somehow, 22 of the 41 shots missed their target, though the officers aimed into a space not larger than a telephone booth. Of the 19 bullets that did hit Diallo, 11 hit him in the legs, five pierced his torso, one hit the right arm, one went through his chest and one entered through his back. The cops’ defense claimed Diallo was behaving suspiciously, and had not obeyed their command to stop. When Diallo raised his wallet, each one of them, imagined that this black man was raising a gun. Because this scared them, they shot at him 41 times. One year later, on February 25, 2000, the four cops were found not guilty of murder. Diallo’s fear doesn’t matter. Who cares that the skinny black immigrant must have been terrified to see four white guys bearing down on him like thieves or murderers? Not guilty, these four police officers are entitled now to return to their jobs, strap on their guns, and hit the streets armed with the same racism, the same fear that killed Diallo. Police brutality is known to be very common in the Bronx. With situations such as this one as well as the Rodney King incident in Los Angeles, Blacks have become to fear the police. When a police car approaches them, they can’t decide whether justice will be served or if the cop’s intentions are to harm or even kill them. The integrity of a police officer  is not guaranteed to the citizen. In past cases police have been known to plant fake evidence simply to have a reason to arrest a â€Å"suspect.† As a result, African-Americans make up about 12% of the general population, but more than half of the prison population (Cole 4). With so much injustice being done to minorities in general, how can you expect minorities to respect a system that doesn’t respect them? In fact, people are so quick to believe minorities are criminals that they are used as â€Å"fake† suspects by citizens who want to hide the real criminals. â€Å"Racial Hoaxes† are defined as: â€Å"When someone fabricates a crime and blames it on another person because of his race OR when an actual crime has been committed and the perpetrator falsely blames someone because of his race.† (Russel 70) The negative image of African-Americans has become so bad that â€Å"imaginary† Black people are invented as criminals. In some cases Black individuals were even chosen out of a line up and after being identified by who would end up to be the actual committer of the crime. Usually, somebody guilty of racial hoaxing is just charged with filing a false police report. On that note, hate crimes have been on the rise this past decade. There have been many race-related assaults on minorities. The majority of people arrested for Hate Crimes are White. So why is it that we rarely hear about â€Å"White crime?† Although the term â€Å"Black Criminality† is often used you never hear the term, â€Å"White Criminality.† White crime is rarely labeled. If the media feels the necessity to label crimes then when rural crimes take place they can easily call it â€Å"White crime.† When they label crime by race it gives the wrong impression that the criminals race had something to do with the reason he or she committed the crime. What most people do not know or realize is that White offenders are the most common. The following is taken from The Color of Crime by Katheryn Russell: Whites account for approximately 80 percent of those arrested: driving under the influence (86 percent), liquor law violations (80 percent), and drunkenness (81 percent). For these offenses White arrest rates are on par  with their percentage in the population. Table 7.2 also reports that Whites have high rates of arrest for several other offenses, including arson (74 percent), burglary (67 percent), loitering (76 percent), vandalism (73 percent), and sex offenses (75 percent). SOURCE: Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics (1991-1995), Bureau of Justice Statistics Whites also have a much higher rate of white-collar crimes. Criminologists Francis Cullen and Michael Benson state: â€Å"The costs of white-collar crime?the violence it entails, the money it transfers illegally, its damage to the moral fabric?may well outstrip the costs of traditional street crimes.†(Color crime PG 116) Still there is no annual count of white-collar crimes. Some say that criminologists don’t view them as real crimes. The belief that black crime is disproportionate is true, but the belief that African-Americans are responsible for a majority of crime is false. Why is it that we hardly see crime represented in other colors? There is no term â€Å"criminalwhiteman† yet people use the term â€Å"criminalblackman?† If more White criminals were in the media’s spotlight, the public image of crime would be completely different. Still, the Black stereotype will never go away unless the media exposes the â€Å"criminalblackman† as a misrepresentation. Whites who live in mainly suburban and rural areas, actually commit at a disproportionate rate as well. Only if the public could actually see the amount of Whites committing crimes, they would learn that their racial views about crime were misplaced. The O.J. Simpson case was proof of the racial division and views about how the law handles cases. Had he been an average middle or lower class Black man who couldn’t afford a good attorney, he would have definitely been found guilty. Even with such overwhelming evidence that this injustice exists to poor minorities, you would never know it by examining the outcome of most minorities accused of a crime. When it comes to statistics, lack of information may be misleading. The media’s overemphasis on how differently Whites and Blacks viewed the criminal case also masked the fact that many African-Americans believed Simpson was guilty, and many Whites believed he was not guilty. In a poll, it was found that 30% of Blacks believed he was guilty while the number of Whites who felt he was innocent outnumbered  Blacks 3: 1. (Color crime, 31). The public as a whole has a general misconception of the relationship between crime and race. Unfortunately, this misconception is brought into courtrooms. It’s no surprise that things are the way they are given the history of this country. You can change laws but you can’t change people. As long you have the image of minorities being portrayed as criminals in the media, the problem will exist. The problem only makes itself worse as it continues. Inequality is inevitable in today’s society. This nation is too busy dealing with the problems that arise from the views of race and crime to focus enough attention on fixing them. The problem can’t be fixed until we as a people can agree on what the root of the problem is. It begins in the communities and ends in the justice system. We must look inside the system and the role it play’s in society and what outcome we want from it. We need to use equality rather than personal views when making difficult decisions in society. Works Cited Cole, David. No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice System. New York: The New Press, 1999. Kennedy, Randall. Race, Crime, and the Law New York: Pantheon, 1997 Russell, Katheryn K. The Color of Crime. 1998. 10 Apr. 2002 http://emedia.netlibrary.com/reader/reader.asp?product_id=1331

Expression versus expectations in Chekhov’s The lady with the pet dog

In The lady with the pet dog, Chekhov’s notion of romantic love coincides with his idea of the duplicitous self and society. Central to Chekhov’s discussion of romantic love is the individual and the institutions that define him (in particular, marital and domestic ones) which Chekhov sees as anything but intact. What whole is perceived on the surface is in reality a fragmented clumsily held together by bogus and empty morality tantamount to hypocrisy. In this case, the romantic impulse comes as a liberating and redeeming sensibility. However, Chekhov asserts, the survival, let alone existence of the romantic love is possible only in the dark—in the small, private (and forbidden) enclave away from the persecuting and prying eyes of the collective. Chekhov (2007) writes of Gurov, â€Å"†¦everything that in which he was sincere and did not deceive himself, everything that made the kernel of his life, was hidden from other people; and all that was false in him†¦all that was open† (chap. IV). Indeed what stands out in Chekhov’s work is the clash between individual sentiments and social expectations; defiance versus the norm, liberating passion as opposed to the stifling demands of pseudo-propriety. Such contestation of values is played out in the characters of Anna Sergeyevna and Dmitri Gurov. Both are trapped and paralyzed by their family and marriages, relationships which are more nominal than actual. Both suffer from a breakdown of communication with their partners and more importantly, their selves. Hence, the disruption of self-expression. Their efforts toward self-definition and determination are brutally countered by the conventions of their sexuality and status. As a result, what occurs is an extinction of their personality and consequently, the imperilment of their love. In this climate, masks are the only means of self-preservation. Gurov, for one, is a man of several faces. His faà §ade appears to be in strict compliance with the behavioral codes attendant of his class and gender. His misogynistic gestures belie his genuine nature. He â€Å"always spoke ill of women, and when they are talked about in his presence, used to call them the lower race†¦. yet he could not get on for two days together without the ‘lower race’† (I). Convention, together with his pretensions, reduces Gurov to a flat and passive character. So flat, in fact, that his entire life and personality can be summed up by the following words: â€Å"He was under forty, but he had a daughter already twelve years old, and two sons at school† (I). In this respect, Gurov is a typical family man. He is head (or better yet, cog) of a family the stability and comfortability of which is owed more to economic and social factors than human warmth and understanding. The family stands for the simple reason that Gurov and his wife, no matter how superficially are playing their parts well. Paradoxically and yet, understandably, Gurov’s extra-marital affairs offer no significant threat to the solidity of his domestic sphere. His women are but fleeting muses, objects of a passion that fades just as quickly as it ignites. Such transient and cold encounters inevitably deteriorate: â€Å"†¦every intimacy which at first so agreeably diversifies life and appears a light and charming adventure, inevitably grows into a regular problem of extreme intricacy, and in the long run the situation becomes unbearable† (I). In a sense, Gurov’s relationships with other women are simply extensions of his mechanical family life. Gurov is deader than alive; older than his years. Despite his numerous preoccupations— â€Å"He already felt a longing to go to restaurants, clubs, dinner parties, anniversary celebrations†¦ entertaining distinguished lawyers and artists† (III)—his hunger for life and love remains unsatisfied. His romantic sensibility continues to stagnate. Gurov’s fate is a microscopic version of the spiritual inertia plaguing larger society. As Gurov laments, â€Å"What senseless nights, what uninteresting, uneventful days! The rage for card playing, the gluttony, the drunkenness, the continual talk always about the same thing† (III). Apparently the preoccupied life of the materially comfortable fail to fill the gaping hole within the individual, in this case, a premature organism at most. What intactness is gained through the observance of superficial social rituals is nothing but conformity and monotony. Gurov’s premature self translates to the frustration of his artistic sensibility. Gurov â€Å"had taken a degree in arts, but had a post in the bank; that he had trained as an opera singer, but ad given it up†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (I). Again, passion has given way to practicality and material considerations. Though practically nameless (indeed, one can only name her through Gurov, and partially at that), Gurov’s wife is far from being a peripheral and passive figure. She enters the story (one can even say, intrude) almost simultaneously as Gurov does. The first glimpse of Gurov is intertwined with that of her that one appears to be the foil of another. Chekhov’s description of her evokes strength (and to a degree, death and deadliness) uncommon of her sex: â€Å"†¦his wife seemed half as old again as he†¦. as she said of herself, intellectual. She read a great deal†¦he secretly considered her unintelligent, narrow inelegant, was afraid of her, and did not like to be at home† (I). His wife’s sense of individuality proves corrosive to their relationship. Not that Chekhov despises individuality in women, Anna’s struggle toward self-definition show otherwise. What makes Gurov’s wife’s fatal is that it consumes, by emasculating, Gurov. An individuality such as her hampers union and unity, disadvantageous to love. The juxtaposition of Gurov and his wife’s sensibility lays bare a glaring incongruity, symptomatic of the failure of their marital communication. The marital environment isolates them both. For Gurov â€Å"in his home it was impossible to talk of his love, and he had no one outside†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (III). And when his wife catches on and reacts to   his hints on love: â€Å"†¦no one guessed what it meant; only his wife twitched her black eyebrows, and said: ‘The part of a lady-killer does not suit you at all, Dimitri’† (III). Their marital union is grounded on repulsion and revulsion. In stark contrast to his wife is the character of Anna Sergeyevna, whose individuality, at least in the beginning, is yet to be defined. Which is not to say that she is empty, for like Gurov, Anna is in search of a life above the mundane: â€Å"To live, to live!†¦ I was fired by curiosity†¦I could not control myself; something happened to me, I could not be restrained† (I). The amorphousness of Anna and Gurov serves as a point of connection, a common ground for them. Anna’s gradual progression from anonymity to indiviulaity is paradoxically combined in her identity as â€Å"the lady with the pet dog†. When Gurov’s â€Å"romance with an unknown woman† (I) unexpectedly escalates to full-blown romance – â€Å"that sweet delirium, that madness† (II) — Anna’s personality becomes indelible: â€Å"Anna did not visit him in dreams, but followed him about everywhere and haunted him†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (II). Indeed, what marks Gurov’s love for Anna is its sense of permanence and identity. Anna’s face is not gobbled up by oblivion, nor does it fade in the crowd. To Gurov, she is the only â€Å"lady with the pet dog†. This sense of eternity is not bound to be challenged though. Society looms as a more powerful and sinister force in the lovers’ lives. Their love is taboo, a truth which they can only postpone but never defeat: â€Å"†¦it seemed to them that fate itself had meant them for one another, and they could not understand why he had a wife and she had a husband†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (IV). Chekhov does not negate the potency, even necessity of genuine romantic love. He does not offer false hopes about it either. Gurov and Anna can only dwell in the present; what the future has to offer is far from hopeful: â€Å"†¦and it was clear to both that they still had a long road before them, and that the most complicated and difficult part is only just beginning† (IV). References Chekhov, A. (2007). The lady with the pet dog. Retrieved December 1, 2007, from   http://www.enotes.com/lady-pet-text.

Effect of Tax on the Selling of Apples in a Small Scale Assignment

Effect of Tax on the Selling of Apples in a Small Scale - Assignment Example This scenario takes two rounds or instances of selling and the supplier’s interest are the amount of profit. According to the data, in round 1 the supplier sold a bushel of apples at $10 and the second round at $19. The formula to calculate profit is: In the second set of data, session #1 has apples sold for every unit from 1 to 20. The indication is that the demand for the apples is high when there is no tax charged during the buying and selling of the apples. The demand for the apples in the experiment is less elastic than the supply. In the second session, the supplier bears the tax burden. In the experiment, the apple supplier still has a seller cost of $18 for a bushel of apples. Above the seller cost, the supplier must pay a sales tax of $15. However, if the seller does not sell any apples, he does not pay either seller cost or sales tax. From the record of prices and profits, the supplier never sold a bushel of apples in either round 1 or 2 showing a significant decline in the profits to zero when the supplier pays the tax. From the second data set, session #2 indicates a drop in the supply of the apples. In the first 14 units sold, the sellers supply pattern indicates some increase in volumes of the sales of apple. On the other hand, from 15 to 20 units, the seller never sold any apples due to the high costs from taxes. The tax burden shifts to buyers in the third session. The supplier of apples in the first set of data does not sell any apples due to drop in demand since the buyers deter from buying. In the second data set, the buyers could still afford the bushel of apples for up to 12 units sold. From 13 to 20 units, the supplier does not sell any apples. This experiment uses a method of comparative statistics to analyze the effect of the tax on demand and supply. The economic theory that comes into play in this scenario is the optimal tax theory. This theory  suggests the best way to affect taxation with minimal distortion of the demand and supply. According to this theory, the sales tax imposed on suppliers and buyers has the same effect; reducing the demand and supply.

The movie 13th Warrior Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The 13th Warrior - Movie Review Example There are also references to the Cain killing Abel â€Å"this unhappy being had long lived in the land of monsters since the Creator cast them out as kindred of Cain.   For that killing of Abel the eternal Lord took vengeance.†( Heaney, 165).   Beowulf has taken 12 men to his last fight, just like Jesus had twelve disciples at the table during the Last Supper.   Probably, the author was trying to put Beowulf on the line with Jesus.   Beowulf went to kill the dragon in order to stop killings on innocent, just like Jesus has sacrificed himself to give salvation to the whole human kind.     The same elements of Christianity can be traced in the movie â€Å"13th Warrior†, however, with some differences.   For example, the movie starts with Arab meeting with his people to go on a quest.   This Arab is the narrator of the story, and, therefore, he is Muslim, not Christian.   However, all of those Christianity elements mentioned above (twelve people, referenc e to one God not many) still remain.   Such difference in representing religion is a bit confusing, because it is believed that Muslim religion belongs to the Pagan.   The Vikings (members of the Arab’s bang) showed in the movie were the part of the culture according to which there are numerous Gods and they reside on Mount Olympus.   The similarity between Arab and Beowulf is that both of them believe in one God.   From the other side, mentioning of the trolls, giants fighting ogres and elves which are plenty in the poem, are not part of the Christianity (Beowulf, 164).. Moreover, the mentioning to the idols is also part of the Paganism. These Pagan symbols and creatures are also present in the movie. Therefore, the depiction of Pagan religion in the poem and in the movie is the same. Another theme covered in the poem is the traditional funeral of that time. Both the movie and poem start with the funeral of the king which is described very vividly. As it is written in Beowulf, the warrior and king are set a float with all the possessions and then the raft is set on fire. â€Å"13th Warrior† presents this scene exactly the same. Afterwards the great feast comes to celebrate the death of the old ruler and the life of the new ruler. It is a very interesting historical tradition to make the celebration of the king’s death and life of new king at one day. It seems that joy and sorrow stand at one line. Further, the personality of Beowulf is depicted differently in the poem compared to the movie. For example, Beowulf has led his warriors in the search for glory (not because of his desire to be good) and decided to help the town only because this act will add up fame in his life. In the movie, it is presented differently: the warriors traveled to the village in order to relieve distress and for this reason they have offered their assistance. However, the courage of these warriors is equally appraised in the movie and in the poem: not a single person went to sleep

Culinary Tourism Food and Drink Product Inventory Assignment

Culinary Tourism Food and Drink Product Inventory - Assignment Example If the tourist people obtain their home country food in outside nations, they become highly attractive and visit the same in a frequent way (Knight, 2012). In relation to the above context, the assignment intends to create a food and drink inventory and likewise prepare a report based on culinary tourism food and drink products of a destination i.e. Sussex located in New Brunswick in the nation of Canada. Secondary method of data collection is appropriate for this research study to collect information for preparing the food and drink inventory report. It will be vital to mention in this regard that journals, articles and online sources relevant to specific topic of a study are deemed to be the decisive sources of secondary data collection method through which valuable and relevant information can be acquired. Through secondary sources, it is possible to gather accurate and recent information about any stated topic. Secondary data collection is also important for this research study to identify any sort of persisted research problem and derive effective solutions to resolve the same. It will be vital to mention in relation to the above context that the adoption as well as the review of varied secondary sources would certainly provide a better comprehension about how to promote the progression of culinary tourism specifically in Sussex, which is positioned in Canada. Apart from this, s uch sources would aid in examining the varied food products that persist in this specific region (Ut, 2013). It has been earlier mentioned that culinary tourism can also be related to food and drink tourism, which signifies that it is not only limited to food and drink sector, but also correlated to cultural aspects tourism. It can be ascertained that the food as well as drink menu is deemed to be different from one nation to another.

Myer Holdings Ltd. and Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd Essay

Myer Holdings Ltd. and Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd - Essay Example by comparing the ratios of both companies for the years 2011 and 2012 individually and among each other in order to arrive at recommendations regarding the best entity for making investments. Myer Holdings Limited is one of the largest department stores groups of Australia being in the fashion industry since last 100 years. However, Harvey Norman Holdings is involved in the sale and distribution of goods under Harvey Norman brands via different independent franchises. The paper also outlines the limitations in the ratio analysis of the financial statements of these Companies. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 1.0 Introduction 4 1.1 Ratios Analysis 5 1.1.1 Liquidity Ratios Analysis. 5 1.1.2 Leverage Ratios Analysis. 6 1.3 Recommendation and Conclusion 11 References 12 1.0 Introduction This report outlines the ratio analysis of the financial statements of Myer Holdings Limited and Harvey Norman Holdings Limited for the periods 2011 and 2012. The paper also highl ights the limitations of evaluations using ratios analysis. As outlined in the Harvey Norman corporate website the Harvey Norman Holdings Limited is involved in giving the franchise agreements to independent business entities for the supply of household and office equipments under the banner of Harvey Norman. It deals in a wide variety of goods and the business is spread over many geographical regions. (Harvey Norman Company 2008) As per the Myer holdings official website the company claims to be ‘Australia’s largest department store group, and a leader in Australian retailing’ involved in the management and running of departmental stores and retail business especially of fashion goods all over Australia. (Myer Holdings Company 2012) 1.1 Ratios Analysis Accounting ratios are calculated in a way that relationships between two or more figures of the financial statements are evaluated. In this part the ratios provided for Myer Holdings Limited and Harvey Norman Hold ings Limited for 2011 and 2012 are compared. 1.1.1 Liquidity Ratios Analysis. Liquidity is defined as the ability of a company to realize value in money. The liquidity ratios are used to evaluate the financial stability of a company in short term. (Kishore 2009, p.62). The following liquidity ratios are provided in the question: Myer Holdings Limited Harvey Norman Holdings Limited Key Ratios 2011 2012 2011 2012 Current Ratio 0.81 0.88 1.64 1.63 Quick Ratio 0.12 0.11 1.3 1.35 As per Kishore current ratios are defined as a measure of the short term solvency of a company. (Kishore 2009, p.62). It indicates the amount of current assets that are available to discharge every $1 of current liability. The current ratio of 1 or more shows that a company is in a solvent position indicating having enough assets to discharge its liabilities. As per the given ratios it is quite evident that the solvency position of Harvey Norman with a current ratio of 1.63 in 2012 is much better than that of My er Holdings with a current ratio of 0.88 in 2012. It can also be concluded that the solvency position of Myer Holdings Limited have improved by 0.07 from 2011’s 0.81 to 2012’s 0.88. As far as Harvey Norman Holdings is considered there is an extremely minor deterioration in the year 2012 by 0.01. Quick ratio is used to evaluate the ability of a company to discharge its current liabilities from the realization of quick assets (current assets – inventories). This ratio gives out the amount in $ of the quick assets available with the company to discharge current liabilities worth $1. (Kishore 2009, p.63). As evident from the given data, Harvey Norman Holdings Limited seems to be highly stable in this regard with a quick

Human Resources Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Human Resources Management - Essay Example General Motors stands proudly as an organization that holds the status of global market leader due to the outstanding performance of its employees around the globe. By recognizing the value of its human capital, the company has managed to achieve its organizational goals from many years. Like many other organizations, GM is also faced with different challenges that have influenced its competitiveness in the market. I have carefully analyzed and discussed all the key aspects. This essay is divided into three parts each discussing different key aspects of HRM in General Motors; an organization which is known all around the globe. The company holds a strong competitive position in the market. In the first part, I have surveyed and analyzed the three competitive challenges that have influence the HRM practices within this company. These challenges include sustainability, technology and globalization. Their advantages and disadvantages have also been discussed. In second part, I have disc ussed the role of skills, behavior and culture in a corporate business environment. However, in the last part I have discussed the two out of the some basic HRM practices such as, reward management and training and development in the selected company along with their level of consistency within the

Lifelet assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Lifelet assignment - Essay Example I am currently working in the physics lab at Stanford University as part of my graduate school studies. I am so very pleased that I was able to land this position as it took ten days (at ten letters per day) worth of e-mailing just to get the professor’s attention regarding my desire to participate in Stanford lab activities. The university staff was very helpful in writing the necessary recommendation letters so that I could succeed in America and I will be forever grateful for their assistance. I came to the United States on May 22, 2005, arriving in San Francisco. At first, I have to admit that I was quite overwhelmed by the architecture and the vast variety of food available on market shelves. People always seemed to be rushing around which was quite different than the culture in Korea who are more laid back in terms of managing personal and business-related priorities. I have to admit that I, at first, expected that America would have similar cultural values and beliefs, however this personal misconception gave me somewhat of a rude awakening. For instance, Koreans are generally more open about expressing their personal feelings because of the collectivist culture which exists overseas. Most everyone in Korea shares similar beliefs and values, making it easy for most everyone to relate to one another. Americans are very individualistic and are more reserved when it comes to self-expression and generally work on their own, unique life agendas. When I first began working in the Stanford lab environment, I was taken aback by Americans’ reservations about discussing personal issues and did not find the highly collaborative environment I was expecting. In Korea, people who work together generally become very close and share their life stories, such as birthdays, family issues, and their areas of personal interest. During the first portion of my lab work at the university, I really did

The Disintegration of Yugoslavia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Disintegration of Yugoslavia - Essay Example This was based on absence of an effective social and legal framework that resulted into distrust within the family settings, anxiety among ever-smaller divisions, and divisions among heirs over landholdings. Despite gaining independence from Ottomans, Serbia has continued to suffer agricultural crisis until today (Silber & Little, 1996). Despite the theological argument over use of Cyrillic contrary to Latin alphabet or adherence to pope as authority of the bishop, Slovenes, Serbs, and Croats differences involved a great deal. Croats were considered traitors to hereditary Habsburg because they declined to surrender their local traditions and Catholicism. Similarly, Bosnian Muslims were considered servants to old Ottoman oppressors because of their cleavage to Islam. Therefore, disintegration of Yugoslavia was ascribed to the perceptions of Muslims and Catholics as demons in accordance with the dominant Serbian Orthodox theology (Cohen, 1995). In regards to Serbs, conflicts emerged among landlords or family members over property ownership due to conversion of landlords to Islamic religion. Market haggling and peddling characterized entrepreneurship in Yugoslavia. Development of Serbian bourgeoisie into class was belated despite its late arrival on the historical scene. However, the Croats and Slovenes were prepared for the arrival of capitalism in the Balkans (Schwartz, 1999). This was exemplified by the embedded attitudes that were held towards property. Serbianism was symbolized by burning of property registers as a means to protest against Muslim domination in Yugoslavia and deep ambivalence about the broader legal; and social reality beyond the nuclear family settings. Disintegration was aggravated by existence of mistrust towards laws outside the family in addition to Ottoman land records due to their implication of foreign governance (Silber & Little, 1996). However, the differences which

Luxury e-commerce advantages & disadvantages Essay

Luxury e-commerce advantages & disadvantages - Essay Example Though advancements like e-commerce or e-business has favored to an extent, but there are some drawbacks too, which often gets sidelined by the human setting of the present world. This study will give a critical view of how luxury e-commerce is important and what are the gaps that need to be covered in the modern business system (Okonkwo, 2007). Background As trends changed it brought changes in the human setting, like people got more to the use of e-commerce and e-business. On a similar node, luxury is part of the glimpse where e-commerce brought luxury brands on high human accessibility. There came up luxury e-portals like Net-a-Porter which facilitated buyers on luxury boutique and designer clothing. Net-a-Porter being UK’s top selling online forum stocked 3000 brands at one time of selling, which was all to favor the luxury patrons on the internet (Roberts, 2010). On the earliest luxury facilitated people where it became more than a necessity and something associated with the desires. Luxury was first sought as an idea of a peculiar, but later as fashion industry revolved and brands came up luxury became part of peoples’ lives (Danziger, 2005). The same perception revived on e-commerce where an estimated 95% buyers’ populace was only on the luxury. ... Today consumers not only trace luxury in goods or service, but they also expect luxury in the method of deliverance and service (electronic trade and provision). It was the year 1990 when Amazon gave origin to the concept electronic trade and distribution. Ebay was the second major contributor to e-commerce, a competitor of Amazon which evolved in the same year of e-business (Schneider, 2011). It was the start of electronic based distribution (1995) when AltaVista, Lycos and Yahoo! came more with the luxury brands on their distribution and selling (Schneider, 2011). Later on MSN and Hermes also promoted luxury on the online buying and selling, as they were on a great response from luxury excavators (Okonkwo, 2010). Apart from all the persistence of luxury on e-commerce and trade has also aware the modern business specialists (Schneider, 2011). They have understood that luxury is a core preference of the buyers, where e-commerce is the right forum to distribute it. This is how luxury is widespread to all parts of the business system, from buyers to sellers and from marketers to branders respectively (Danziger, 2005). Definition to E-Commerce and E-Business With the plethora of globalization and internationalization, small and large business firms have identified e-commerce as a forum to exchange (Saunter, 2012). The core activities of a business like supply, distribution, promotion and marketing of goods have become achievable on the e-commerce and e-business. E-commerce is a term that indicates electronic business commerce, where businesses are sold, expanded and developed on the basis of large consumer presence on the internet (Dave, 2008). E-commerce is a combination of two things,

Censorship on the Community Essay Example for Free

Censorship on the Community Essay The Effect of Censorship on the Community and People in the Novel â€Å" Fahrenheit 451† The Novel Fahrenheit 451 exploited censorship and all the negative thing that can occur when a society is censored. There were many examples in this novel. In the Novel Guy Montag finds out that censorship is a big part of his community and realizes that has a negative effect and need to be abolished before it changes humans for good. â€Å"If you hide your ignorance, no one will hit you and youll never learn. †(Ray Bradbury). This quote is stating that since books are censored and people in Montag’s area cannot read, they will not gain intelligence. They are hiding their ignorance by refusing to read books. Books hold information and many things that can open someone’s eyes to the world to understand it. In this novel there are no books aloud, and if a citizen has a book or books, the books are burned to ashes inside the home. The community lives in fear of firefighters. Montag is a firefighter who loves burning books, at first, but then runs into a stranger who changes his perspective. As Ray Bradbury said â€Å"we were putting one foot in front of the other†(Ray Bradbury). That is exactly what the Clarisse was doing when she ran into Montag. Clarisse doesn’t believe in all the censorship and act different from the rest of the future community. She doesn’t believe in the books, the schools, and the television programs being censored. The television programs keep people away from the books and the schools teach students that books are bad and not needed. The schools also censored what the kids were able to do and the activities they participated in. Society lives in fear in the novel Fahrenheit 451. Towards the middle of the novel, the fire fighter, Montag realizes that censorship is wrong and starts collecting books on his own. He soon starts going against society and all the censorship. He starts reading the books and tries to get his wife to read them as well. Soon the fire fighters turn on him and make him burn don’t his own house. This shows the censorship causes distrust, fear, injustice, and the breaking of bonds on a society. After he burns his own house, he ends up killing his boss because of how he acts and Montag realizes that his boss might actually want t die. The censorship has killed society. It causes violence, ignorance, wars, and people who live in fear or cowardly. Many civilians are violent and commit suicide also no one seems to care because it has become normal. No one seems to care about others and society is in a cave. In Conclusion censorship has a terrible effect on the community in Fahrenheit 451. All the extra problems and violence is unneeded. It is all caused by the deep cave that censorship brought the place into. The only way the help is by reading the books so the spread of knowledge can occur. The community is always on the brink of war with jets flying around and bomb shelters everywhere. The effect of censorship doesn’t lead to anything good, and is always going to end up with a bad ending. The Novel Fahrenheit 451 shows a perfect example of what censorship does to a society. The school becomes a violent place and the people that are supposed to help people stop caring. Plus all the serious things are taken for nothing as it becomes a casual normal thing for people to harm themselves or commit suicide. Censorship is terrible and shouldn’t be able to happen anywhere. Everyone should be able to have their own views and opinions on a wide variety of topics. The more people express their ideas the more the world will grow and knowledge will spread. People will become wise, more intelligent, and more willing to learn what other people have to share. This Novel is the perfect example of censorship is a terrible thing. Work Cited Bradbury, Ray D. Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury | Books. Harper Collins, 2001. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. . Bradbury On Fahernheit 451. Interview by Haper Collins. RayBradbury. Haper Collins, 2001. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. . Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451 Quotes. By Ray Bradbury. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2012. .

Research on Work-Family Balance Essay Example for Free

Research on Work-Family Balance Essay Introduction The mastering of a foreign language opens the roads for the transit of citizens whether for work, business, or tourism purposes, as well as for cultural and informational exchanges of all kinds. In this light, the status of English as a global language in politics, economics, education and the media, especially the Internet, is widely acknowledged. Typically, ESP has functioned to help language learners cope with the features of language or to develop the competences needed to function in a discipline, profession, or workplace. (Helen. Basturkman. 2006:6) Learning, as a language based activity, is fundamentally and profoundly dependent on vocabulary knowledge. Learners must have access to the meanings of words which is technical, related to their subject matter. †¦knowing the technical terms†¦is not a sufficient condition for successful reading of specialized material. It was, in fact, the non-technical terms which created more of a problem. (Cohen et al. 1988:162) For many people vocabulary, particularly specialist vocabulary (or terminology), is a key element of ESP. Despite this, vocabulary studies and, in particular, the teaching of vocabulary appear to have been somewhat neglected in ESP( Laufer p-167, Swales p224). Reading, for students of English for specific purposes (ESP), is probably the most important skill in terms of acquiring new knowledge. It does, however, often pose learning problems, especially with respect to vocabulary. The psycholinguistic model of reading widely favoured in linguistics and cognitive psychology in the 1960s and 1970s considered that the main constructs underlying reading are making predictions and deducing meaning from context (cf.Goodman 1976:127). However, during the 1980s, the interactive approach to reading became dominant, in which it was proposed that successful comprehension is achieved by the interactive use of two reading strategies: the top-down approach (i.e. making use of the readers’ previous knowledge, expectations and experience in reading the text) and the bottom-up approach(i.e. understa nding a text mainly by analyzing the words and sentences in the text itself: cf. Sanford Garrod 1981; Van DijkKintsch 1983; Carrell 1988. Research in ESP reading (e.gSelinker Trimble 1974; Cohen et al. 1988) provides empirical support for the interactive framework, finding morphonographemic word-processing skills to be a major component of reading. It has also, since the 1980s, been broadly agreed among researchers (cf. Kennedy Bolitho 1984; Trimble 1985; Cohen et al. 1988) that for non-native ESP readers the most problematic element in comprehending scientific and technical (ST) texts is a set of vocabulary items that has been variously labeled technical and semi-technical. Whatever the name given to the words in this group, if they appear to hinder students of ESP in comprehending texts in their discipline, it is worthwhile for language teachers and ESP practitioners to seek ways in which learners’ lexical repertoires can be raised to at least the threshold level of skilled readership in their chosen fields. It is known to most second language learners that the acquisition of vocabulary is a fundamental and important component in the course of their learning. A good mastery of vocabulary is essential for ESP/EFL learners, especially for those who learn for specific purpose or expect to operate at an advanced level in English. ‘It is wise to direct vocabulary learning to more specialized areas when learners have mastered the 2000-3000 words of general usefulness in English’ (Nation, 2001:187). I will identify the types of vocabulary in ESP texts and their relative importance. I will provide an overview of some key issues relating to the teaching of ESP vocabulary. Types of vocabulary In teaching and learning vocabulary, it’s essential to distinguish between different types of vocabulary because different types of vocabulary need different focus and treatment or some types of vocabulary will be given priorities and emphases in teaching and learning according to leaners’ different aims of learning. 1. Core and non-core vocabulary One way of looking at the status of words in lexical fields is to consider whether some words are more core, or central to the language, than others. The idea that there might be a core or basic vocabulary of words at the heart of any language is quite an appealing one to language educators, for if we could isolate that vocabulary then we could equip learners with a survival kit of core words that they could use in virtually any situation, whether spoken or written, formal or informal, or any situation where an absolutely precise term, might be elusive and where a core word would do. (McCarthy.1990:49) As the word ‘core’ suggests, core vocabulary refers to those words that are more central to the language than other words and tend to be the most frequently occurring ones. ‘People prefer to use such words because they do have core meaning-potential’ (McCarthy, 1990). They are thought to be more ‘core’ because it is easy to find an antonym, also t hey are neutral in formality and usable in a wide variety of situations. Furthermore, an important point is that such words can be used to paraphrase or give definitions of other words. For example, (McCarthy, 1990) the following instruction is given : [decide which is the core word in the set of words: slim, slender, thin, emaciated and scrawny and we can easily figure out that ‘thin’ is the core word] Core vocabulary: words of neutral meaning in any lexical set; core words collocate more readily with a wide range of words, they may be used in a wider range of registers, and are usually involved in the definition of non-core members of their set. In ESP teaching, we may come across subject-specific vocabulary, which is non-core as far as the language as a whole is concerned. ‘This is because it is not neutral in field and is associated with a specialized topic’ (Carter, 1988:172).They are subject-specific core vocabulary; conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone, limestone and dolomite, gypsum, phosphate, iron, oxide, crude oil, hydrocarbons-compounds, hydrogen, sulpher, oxygen and nitrogen, gaseous fuels, methane, synthetics, fossil fuels, igne ous rocks, metamorphic rocks. In fact that the need of ESP students is to learn such above mentioned core vocabulary in written and spoken language in their profession, ESP students with specific and academic purpose may need to acquire technical and semi-technical words in their specialist texts which are in need for them to learn and use it in speech and writing documents. Specialist vocabulary can be core in the job establishment where specialist use it frequently and in need, as well as during the ESP classes where ESP teacher and student’ fruitful interaction and it is very central for communication, especially, writing documentations where specialist uses core-specialist vocabulary as well as ESP student may learn that core vocabulary in texts which are full of technical and semi-technical vocabulary and which is central to learning. 2. Spoken and written vocabulary The spoken text is an example of what Ure(1971) calls ‘language-in-action’, that is , people are using language as an accompaniment to the action they are engaged in, and the feeling of lightness or heaviness of vocabulary is what Ure calls ‘lexical density’(McCarthy:1990:71) The written text is less dependent on physical context and its words make specific reference to items in the situation. Speaking versus writing is one important dimension affecting lexical density, but some spoken modes(e.g. oral narrative, or a formal lecture) might be lexically quite dense.(McCarthy.1990:71) Although most of the existing literature on vocabulary has grown out of the study of written texts. spoken texts seem less ‘dense’ than the most written texts in vocabulary items, which is characterized in language-in –action texts; repetition and lexical negotiation occur much more often in spoken discourse than in written texts; vague and rather general words are more frequently used in everyday talk than in written texts. Spoken vocabulary is what we got from written vocabulary to use orally, by contrast we can’t use full written information in speech as well as possible, there are a lot of written information in the past and in the present, for using significant ideas, at first, we should consider which is more available and more demanding for job and for daily life to use. ESP students who study the written texts, based on technical and semi-technical vocabulary, consequently, will product spoken vocabulary which is resulted from the information of written vocabulary. That’s why spoken and written vocabulary is essential in ESP courses. 3. Procedural vocabulary Vocabulary used to explain other words, to structure and organize their meaning. Procedural Vocabulary consists of words with a high indexical potential, which means that they can be interpreted in a wide range of ways. Identifying items in the lexicon that seem to carry a heavy work-load(e.g. the core vocabulary) must include a consideration of how some words are characteristically used to talk about other words, to paraphrase them and define them and to organize them in communication. Widdowson(1983) describes this kind of vocabulary as ‘procedural’. Robinson (1988) refers to ‘this simple lexis of paraphrase and explanation’ to illustrate procedural vocabulary and calls the procedural words ‘the main element in our interpretation and categorization of specific frames of reference’:Ver-mic-u-lite-type of Mica that is a very light material made up of threadlike parts, that can be used for keeping heat inside buildings, growing seeds in, etc.(McC arthy.1990:51) We need sense (relations between words) and denotation (relations between words and the world) in conjunction. However, learners at all levels will need to confront the procedural lexicon of the language they are learning (McCarthy.1990:52) Widdowson (1983:92) makes a distinction between words which are schematically bound and words of high indexical (or procedural –they are synonymous) potential. The schematically bound words narrow the frames of reference and identify particular fields; ‘hydrometer’ has low indexical potential and will occur in a narrow range of texts identifiable within certain scientific and technical fields (McCarthy.1990:51) Procedural vocabulary is characteristically used to talk about, paraphrase, define and organize words in communication. They are commonly used in dictionaries to give definitions. Students of Petroleum engineering may find them useful when learning other words for the accumulation of their vocabulary. It is true that students are required procedural vocabulary that helps them understand the technical vocabulary used in the process of establishing word meaning. The important role of procedural vocabulary lies, therefore, in the assumption that meaning is not static, but can be negotiated through interaction between participants hence, demanding when? and why? Because of unknown technical and semi-technical vocabulary, which is quite complicated to understand, and is the main tool in the texts to apprehend their own specialty. ESP teachers should give definitions by using procedural vocabulary, which may give a specific description of the word. On the other hand, to use procedural vocabulary, ESP students need to know, approximately 2000 vocabulary words. After having gained them, students are able to define the technical and semi-technical vocabularies which are very complicated to comprehend and to predict. However, with the help of procedural vocabulary use, I believe that ESP teachers, after having used the procedural vocabulary, could give the exact definition of the unknown word. Consequently, ESP students may guess what it is in L1. That’s why the use of procedural vocabulary is essential in ESP classes. 4.Technical and semi-technical vocabulary Many ESP teachers have found that vocabulary can be one of the major problems that effect students’ understanding of scientific and technical texts. According to Kennedy Bolitho (1984), Trimble(1985) and Nation (1990), the difficulty lies not with technical vocabulary as such but, as Cohen et al. (1988: 153) put it: †¦even students with mastery over the technical terms become so frustrated in reading technical English that they seek native-language summaries of the English texts, or native-language books covering roughly the same material, or do not read the material at all, but concentrate rather on taking verbatim lecture notes. ESP students generally find their difficulties in reading Petroleum engineering texts because of not knowing technical and semi-technical vocabulary in L2, and this does indeed appear to be one of their major problems in comprehending texts of their subject area, especially during second and third years of study. Many of the problems that the students encounter in using English are related to comprehension, and are caused by their limited knowledge of vocabulary, including crucially, a lack of awareness of polysemy. Increasingly researchers have favoured the view that such an area of vocabulary creates significant barriers to students’ understanding of (ST) texts, but the discussion has been complicated by the use of several different terms for what appears to be the same intermediate-level area of difficulty, for which commentators such as Cowan (1974), Robinson (1980), Trimble(1985) and Tong(1993a, 1993b) use the term sub-technical vocabulary, while others use non-technical with or without (cf. Barber 1962; Nation 1990; Tao 1994), and still others use semi-technical (St John Dudley-Evans 1980; Farrell 1990; McArthur 1996b). We cannot teach our scientific and technical students the whole of the scientific vocabulary: this is beyond the capacity of any individual. Nor do we normally want to teach them the specialized technical terms of their own subject†¦.what the English teacher can usually hope to do is to teach a vocabulary which is generally useful to students of science and technology-words that occur frequently in scientific and technical literature of different types. Some of these words will be technical ones, but many will not. The real justification for having highly specialized texts is to achieve face validity. Learners may be more motivated by them, because they make the language seem more relevant. But learners can be fickle. And if the use of such texts makes work in the classroom difficult, learners will soon lose their liking for such texts (Tom Hutchinson and Alan Waters.1995:162) Coxed and Nation(2001) categorize vocabulary for teaching and learning into four groups of words: high frequency words, academic vocabulary, technical vocabulary, and low frequency vocabulary. They argue: ‘when learners have mastered control of the 2,000 words of general usefulness in English, it is wise to direct vocabulary learning to more specialized areas depending on the aims of the learners’ (p. 252-253).( Helen. Basturkemn.2006:17). According to Bloor and Bloor(1986), teaching a specific variety of English (ESP) can start at any level including beginners. Moreover, learning from the specific variety of English ( for example, English for doctors, English for hospitality), is highly effective as learners acquire structures in relation to the range of meanings in which they are used in their academic, workplace, or professional environments (Helen. Basturkmen. 2006:17) Sager(p-98) writes: terminology is an applicable field of study concerned with the creation, collection and ordering of the vocabulary of special languages†¦..this work is carried out by relatively few people for the benefit of all users of special languages. Sager notes the assumption that specialized communication can be made more effective If terms are formed according to certain prevailing patterns which have a predictive value. Alber-De Wolf( p-167) suggests that a good knowledge of term-formation processes improves the reading skills necessary for reading foreign LSP but most work in terminology is aimed not at teachers but at translators and, increasingly, at machine translation and the development of term banks( Ross, Thomas). Sager makes the important observation that terminology is not so fixed as might be supposed. (Pauline Robinson. 1991:27) Voracek compares terminology across the natural sciences and social sciences. He suggests that because political terminology can never be emotionally neutral, it can be hardly accurate and unambiguous and it will always cause problems for translators and interpreters. Economic terms, while emotionally neutral, also cause problems of translation across economic systems (Pauline Robinson.1991:27). In fact, technical terms which are used only in a specialized field are sometimes less troublesome than vocabulary that looks familiar. Students recognize the need to find meanings for technical terms, and most dictionaries define them. On the other hand, students assume they already know the meaning of an ordinary word, so they do not try to find a specialized meaning for it (Virginia French Allen.1983:88). Technical vocabulary is words or phrases that are used primarily in a specific line of work or profession. Similarly, engineer of petroleum engineering field needs to know technical words such as organic decay, conglomerates, clay schist , siltstone, limestone, dolomite, gypsum, phosphate, iron, oxide, crude oil, hydrocarbons-compounds, hydrogen, sulpher, oxygen and nitrogen, gaseous fuels, methane, synthetics, fossil fuels, igneous rocks, metamorphic rocks and may acquire technical and semi-technical vocabulary in the Petroleum engineering texts where they come across frequently, and words which most people outside of that industry never use. In terms of language content, there is little reason why , say, a Biology text should be more useful to a Biology than, say, a Physics text. There is no grammatical structure, function or discourse structure that can be identified specifically with Biology or any particular subject. Such things are product of the communicative situation (lecture, conversation, experiment, instructions) and the level (engineer, technician, manager, mechanic, university)there are only two ways in which the subject has any kind of influence on the language content We can distinguish four types of vocabulary: -structural: are, this, only, however; -general: table, run, dog, road, weather, cause; -sub-technical: engine, spring, valve, acid, budged; -technical: auricle, schist some, fissure, electrophoresis. Technical vocabulary was used far less frequently than the non-technical. These technical terms are also likely to pose the least problems for learners: they are often internationally used or can be worked out from knowledge of the subject matter and common root. (Tom Hutchinson and Alan Waters.1995:166) Comprehension in the ESP classroom is often more difficult than in real life, because texts are taken in isolation. In the outside world a text would normally appear in a context, which provides reference points to assist understanding (Tom Hutchinson and Waters.1995:16) In terms of teaching in ESP, it is most important to make a distinction between the two types of vocabulary: technical and semi-technical because they are of great importance for learners to study English for specific purposes and academic purposes. Baker(1988) lists six categories of vocabulary, all of which relate to EAP. They are: 1. Items which express notions general to all specialized disciplines; 2. General language items that have a specialized meaning in one or more disciplines; 3. Specialized items that have different meanings in different disciplines; 4. General language items that have restricted meanings in different disciplines; 5. General language items that are used to describe or comment on technical processes or functions in preference to other items with the same meaning, for example occur rather than happen. 6. Items used to signal the writer’s intentions or evaluation of material presented (Dudley-Evans and St John. 1998:83). Dudley-Evans and St John (1998:83) suggest resolving the overlapping six categories (Baker, 1988:91) into two broad areas: A) Vocabulary that is used in general language but has a higher frequency of occurrence in specific and technical description and discussion. B) Vocabulary that has specialized and restricted meanings in certain disciplines and which may vary in meaning across discipline. It is quite clear that the first area would be referred to as semi-technical and the second area would be regarded as technical vocabulary. We can examine the following text to illustrate the difference among them below. Some extracts are taken from the texts of Petroleum engineering field, to analyze which is technical and semi-technical and what students of this area study during the class and what kind of information a ESP teacher should provide within the class. These texts are central in the heart of learning and there is a need, lack, desire of students to be competent with. In the second and third year courses, students of the Petroleum engineering field, in Karshi Engineering-Economics institute, the faculty of Oil and Gas, in Karshi, Uzbekistan, study this specialty in English during English classes. How may we inform them about the specific knowledge of their profession if we are not subject matter teachers? We are English language teachers who did not study the specialty of these students at all. Consequently, only the job for us to do is to teach these texts, which are written in English and specially contain technical and semi-technical vocabulary. 1. The thickness of the layers of sedimentary rocks may vary greatly from place to place. They can be formed by the mechanical action of water, wind, frost and organic decay. Such sedimentary as gravel, sand, and clay at the beginning and conglomerates, sandstones and clay schists later are the result of the accumulation of materials achieved by the destructive mechanical action of water and wind (extract from the text ‘Sedimentary Rocks’ M.Ya. Barakova.1977:74-75) 2.The most principal kinds of sedimentary rocks are conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone, limestone and dolomite. Many other kinds with large practical value include common salt, gypsum, phosphate, iron oxide and coal (extract from the text ‘Sedimentary Rocks’ M.Ya. Barakova.1977:74-75) 3. Fossils are usually found in sedimentary rocks, although, sometimes they may be found in igneous and metamorphic rocks as well. They are most abundant in mudstone, shale and limestone, but also found in sandstone, dolomite and conglomerates (extract from the text ‘Fossil Fuels’ M. Ya. Barakova.1977: 108-109) 4. Liquid fuels are derived almost from petroleum. In general, natural petroleum, or crude oil, as it is widely known, is the basis of practically all industrial fuels. Petroleum is a mixture of hundreds of different hydrocarbons-compounds composed of hydrogen and carbon together with the small amount of other elements such as sulphur, oxygen and nitrogen. Petroleum is associated with water and natural gas(extract from the text ‘Fossil Fuels’ M. Ya. Barakova.1977:108-109) 5. Of gaseous fuels the most important are those derived from natural gas, chiefly methane or petroleum. Using gaseous fuels makes it possible to obtain high thermal efficiency, ease of distribution and control. Today, gas is widely utilized in the home and as a raw material for producing synthetics. (extract from the text ‘Fossil Fuels) (extract from the text ‘Fossil Fuels’ M. Ya. Barakova.1977:108-109) The technical vocabulary is quite obvious. The items are: organic decay, conglomerates, clay schist , siltstone, limestone, dolomite, gypsum, phosphate, iron, oxide, crude oil, hydrocarbons-compounds, hydrogen, sulpher, oxygen and nitrogen, gaseous fuels, methane, synthetics, fossil fuels, igneous rocks, metamorphic rocks, and etc. The semi-technical vocabulary items are as follows: mechanical action, liquid fuels, petroleum, industrial fuels, natural gas, raw material, layers, abundant, accumulation, destructive and chiefly, ease of distribution and control etc. As every specialist has their own specific vocabulary to use in speech and writing, the technical and semi-technical vocabulary is also the main source for Petroleum engineering students to go through. In fact, to succeed in comprehending the written vocabulary and spoken language in this area, ESP students should have access to these technical texts where they can find a way to know about this specialty in English. Technical and semi-technical vocabulary is the main instrument for survival in this area of study. As we can see from above, learners who will do academic study in English must focus on academic vocabulary which is variously known as ‘general useful scientific vocabulary’ (Barber, 1962) and semi-technical vocabulary (Farrell, 1990), because they need to exhibit a wide range of academic skills like reading about research papers in their own fields, listening to teachers speak about their work, writing academic papers and presenting oral or written evaluations of methods or results in many cases, or writing documentations of the industrial company where the learner may use technical words , which is very needful , and use it for communication with foreign company by doing export or import business. Technical and semi-technical vocabulary, which is used in this text, may not be occurred in the texts of other fields of study, for example, medicine, business, but it can occur in other parts of engineering areas. We may use general vocabulary in all fields of study where technical and semi-technical vocabularies of petroleum engineering field occur. With its importance shown above, technical vocabulary or semi-technical vocabulary should be given priority in teaching by ESP teachers because, according to Dudley-Evans and St John (1998:83), this type of vocabulary is used in general life contexts but has a higher frequency of occurrence in scientific and technical descriptions and discussions, especially in their specific field and conferences, meetings referring to specialty. ESP teachers should teach learners general vocabulary as well as technical vocabulary that has a higher frequency in a scientific field such as: -general: thickness, place, wind, frost, value, common, and etc. -petroleum engineering: organic decay, conglomerates, siltstone, limestone, dolomite, gypsum, phosphate, iron, oxide, crude oil, hydrocarbons-compounds, sulpher, oxygen and nitrogen, gaseous fuels, methane, synthetics and etc. -verbs: vary, achieve, found, form, derive from, include, compose, associate, obtain, utilize, produce. -collocations: destructive mechanical action, organic decay, accumulation of materials, hydrocarbons-compounds, associate with. The issue of teaching technical vocabulary It is often claimed that it is not the job of the ESP teachers to teach technical vocabulary (Barber, 1964; Higgens, 1966; Cowan, 1974). In general, we agree it is not but it may be the duty of ESP teachers to teach vocabulary in certain circumstances. Beyond the duty of ESP teacher In discussing the teaching of ESP it has often been said (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987; Higgins, 1966)that the teaching technical vocabulary is not the responsibility of the EAP teacher and that priority should be given to the teaching of ‘semi-technical’ or ‘core vocabulary’. The technical vocabulary is rather more complicated than the simple notion that the ESP teacher should not touch it. While in general we agree that it should not be the responsibility of the ESP teacher to teach technical vocabulary, in certain specific contexts it may be the duty of the ESP teacher to check that learners have understood technical vocabulary appearing as carrier content for an exercise. It may also be necessary to ensure that learners have understood technical language presented by a subject specialist or assumed to be known by a subject specialist (Dudley-Evans and St John. 1998:81) In any ESP exercise which exploits a particular context, that context will use certain technical vocabulary. It is important that both the teacher and the learners appreciate that this vocabulary is acting as carrier content for an exercise, and is not the real content of the exercise. However, students usually need to be able to understand the technical vocabulary in order to do exercise (Dudley-Evans and St John. 1998:81) How do we deal with this technical vocabulary? In some circumstances a term will be cognate with the equivalent term in the students’ first language and will not therefore cause difficulty. If the term is not cognate and is unfamiliar, then it may need to be introduced and explained before the exercise is tackled. In many cases there is a one-to-one relationship between the terms in English and the learners’ L1 and so it will be enough to translate the term into the L1 after a brief explanation (Dudley-Evans and St John. 1998:81) A technical word is one that is recognizably specific to a particular topic, field or discipline. It is likely that they can only be learned and understood by studying the field. Such words are considered to be the responsibility of the subject teachers. Strevens (1973:223) claims ‘that learners who know the scientific field may have little difficulty with technical words; but a teacher who may not have a great deal. We can examine the examples in the given text. Technical words like organic decay, sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic rocks, limestone, clay schist, methane and others are specialized words in the field of petroleum engineering, which may be quite easy for a student in L1, who studies the petroleum engineering. However, it is a different matter for ESP teachers. There are some other technical words that are quite familiar to learners even if learners are not studying the specific discipline to which the technical words belong because the words are widely, even internationally, known. Some very frequently occurring words in computer science, such as browser, program, log, hypertext and internet, are quite familiar to learners and these technical words have a high frequency occurrence in the texts of computer sciences and in information. The English teacher is an ideal informant, who may inform the students of the petroleum engineering field with the information of their profession in L2 for non-native speakers. Even if it is the beyond of his/her duty, the English teacher should certainly explain the technical and semi-technical words in L1 or in L2 for successful learning. As a matter of fact that English teacher teaches texts, which are full of technical and semi-technical vocabulary. That’s why ESP teacher should know the subject matter in L1 and in L2, if not, not be able to teach the students of petroleum engineering field because of not knowing specialist knowledge. Furthermore, even he/she can’t translate the text. As a result, no well-designed teaching will be done. A teacher of General English may not know the technical and semi-technical words because she/he is not a specialist of this area. For example, the English teacher who teaches medical students should know the medical terminology. If she/he does not know the technical vocabulary relating to medicine, how can she/he help the translation of meaning of medical treatments or drugs which is being manufactured in Foreign country, most medicine production instruction is written and explained, given information about medical drugs, and available devices in English. That’ why the role of Technical and semi-technical vocabulary is not only valuable in the Petroleum engineering field, but also important in other fields of study. The ESP teacher should corporate with subject matter teacher in order to know subject matter for successful teaching. Which vocabulary type should the ESP teacher teach? According to Hutchinson and Waters, (1987) ESP should be seen as an approach to language teaching, which is directed by specific and apparent reasons for learning. The main of their vocabulary acquisition is surely academic vocabulary and they mainly learn technical and semi-technical vocabulary of their specialty in texts, which are main support for learning their specific field through unfamiliar words. The text is an informant where has full of special information for learners’ desire, and learners try to predict what the word is about with his/her specific background knowledge and define the word. Nowadays, a lot of Educational grant programmes demand English knowledge as well as with specific disciplines, where learners study subject matter in English. That’s why learner, who is willing to study in European or US, Foreign universities and desires to make a progress in profession, consequently, needs to learn technical vocabulary. Learning technical and semi-technic al vocabulary is the most essential need for such desire, and teaching technical and semi-technical vocabulary is more demanding. Learnability Ease or difficult in the learnability of vocabulary is not unconnected with the notion of frequency, since the most frequent words will probably be absorbed and learnt simply because they occur regularly. But words may be easy or difficult for a variety of other reasons, and may need special attention or focus in teaching. 1. Words may present spelling difficulties. Even native speakers of English have difficulty remembering whether single or double consonants appear in words like ‘occurrence’, ‘parallel’, and ‘beginning’. Languages with more regular spelling patterns present fewer difficulties of this kind. 2. Words may present phonological difficulties, either because they contain awkward clusters of sounds ( English ‘thrive’, ‘crisps’), or because spelling interfaces with perception of what the sound is (English ‘worry’ is regularly pronounced by learners as if it rhymed with ‘sorry’). Such words may be effectively learned in all other respects, but pronunciation may remain a long-term difficulty, especially where old habits are ingrained. 3. The syntactic properties of words often make them difficult. In English, ‘want’ presents fewer syntactic difficulties than ‘wish’, ‘want’ is followed by an infinitive and / or an object; ‘wish’ may be followed by a variety of verb patterns in ‘that’ clauses, as well as by the infinitive. 4. Words may be perceived as very close in meaning by the learner, and therefore difficult to separate one from another. ‘Make’ and ‘do’ are notorious in this respect in English. Learners of Spanish often find it difficult to separate ‘ser’ and ‘estar’, which to the English-speaker seem both to mean ‘be’. The difficulty, or lack of difficulty, a word presents may override its frequency and/or range, and decisions to bring forward or postpone the teaching of an item may be based on learnability. Published materials handle features of learnability and difficulty in different ways.p-86 (McCarthy) Difficulty and learnability cut right across the notions of frequency and range. We cannot predict that just because a word is frequent it will be learnt quickly and thoroughly or, conversely, that, because a word is infrequent, it will not be easily learnt. Technical and semi-technical vocabulary has also difficulties for pronunciation and for communication to study.

The Piper Oil Field Engineering Essay

The Piper Oil Field Engineering Essay Introduction On the night of June the 6th, 1988, an explosion took place on the Piper Alpha oil and gas production platform. It led to a series of fires that eventually melted the platform into the waters of the North Sea, killing a hundred and sixty seven men, and resulting in insurance losses of U.S. $3.4 billion. To date, it remains the worst offshore disaster in the history of the Petroleum industry, defined in terms of both human and financial loss. The images of horror broadcasted from the disaster site, the final tally of human lives lost, and the enormous financial loss shock Occidental Petroleum, the operator of the platform, violently. It has since become worthy of thorough examination, to fully assimilate the numerous lessons it has to offer. Ronin Advanced Systems investigated the events leading up to that night, pinpointing the deficiencies in the fragile Safety Matrix then applied by Occidental Petroleum, in order to provide viable recommendations that can help prevent such accident s from happening in the future and increase the overall Operational Safety of offshore installations. Purpose and Scope The impact of the Piper Alpha disaster on the Petroleum industry was huge. It was on such an unprecedented level that every oil company made it an absolute requirement to document it as a Case Study. The purpose of this research is to isolate the faults and errors carried out by both the management of Occidental Petroleum as well as the crew of Piper Alpha, which directly resulted in the disaster. This report will cover several topics regarding the Piper Alpha offshore production platform, including its location, construction, modification, Safety Matrix and Record, as well as the timeline of the disaster and its aftermath. Throughout the report, we do not include any on-site research from the Piper oil field. Assumptions Our recommendations are based on the assumption that the Piper Alpha disaster could have been completely avoided. This is in turn based on the fact that its management made a series of wrong decisions, which seriously compromised the safety level on board the platform and rendered its crew helpless in face of accidents. The failure of the crew to act appropriately with respect to the sequence of events of the disaster can only be attributed to the failure of Occidentals management. The assumption is also based on the factual and documented deterioration of the safety level on board the platform after its modification to produce gas. Several gas leaks were recorded and a research commissioned by Occidental to investigate the newly installed Gas Lines which found them of extreme risk was ignored. At the end of this report, we will prove without a shred of doubt that the assumption holds; thus, deeming our recommendation worthy of being put into action as soon as possible. Methods The information in this report was compiled from various sources including Lord Cullens Public Inquiry, numerous printed and electronic publications, video footage from the British Royal Air Force helicopters, as well as the numerous support vessels, that were present on site during rescue operations and the accounts of the survivors. Limitations As mentioned earlier, this research is limited to materials and information available in the Public Domain via the Internet, various publications, and recorded video footage. In addition, Ronin Advanced Systems was not able to send any personnel to the disaster site to perform on-location examination due to the following main reasons: The incident happened on July the 6th, 1988. The Piper Alpha offshore production platform melted down to its core. Furthermore, its remains were later detonated and removed by Occidental Petroleum. Piper oil field A hundred and twenty miles from Aberdeen, beneath some of the fiercest waters of the North Sea, lies the Piper oilfield. A joint venture of four companies, known as the OPCAL (short for Occidental Petroleum Caledonia) and led by Occidental Petroleum, obtained a license to explore those waters in 1972, after the British government allowed offshore exploration licenses in 1964 (Miller, 1991). The Piper oil field was discovered in the early months of 1973, prompting OPCAL to commission the construction of the Piper Alpha platform, as well as the pipelines and Onshore Support Installations. Oil production started in late 1976. At its peak, the Piper oilfield produced 30,000 tons of oil daily. Nearby, two more fields were discovered; those were the Tartan and the Claymore oilfields. Two more platforms were commissioned and named after the two fields respectively. The three vast oilfields Piper, Tartan and Claymore are usually referred to collectively as the Piper oilfield. Figure 1: Location of Piper Oilfield with respect to Aberdeen and Flotta Oil Facility As shown in Figure 1, OPCAL built the Flotta oil terminal on the Orkney Islands to collect and process oil from the three massive fields. As the development of the three platforms progressed, more oil and gas lines were laid, resulting in Piper being at the heart of a busy network of pipelines. Its platform acted as both a communication systems hub as well as an oil and gas collection point, before relaying it all onto shore on one main line, namely the Main Oil Line or MOL, which is the line seen connecting the Piper field and Flotta in Figure 1. This report will dedicate an entire subsection to further examine the pipeline network surrounding the Piper oilfield and its neighbouring counterparts. It will also discuss the impacts that network had on the level of Operational Safety on board the Piper Alpha platform and how it actively contributed to its tragic and total eradication off the waters of the North Sea. Piper Alpha Piper Alpha, the platform that exploited the Piper oilfield, stood tall at two hundred metres above seabed. Its sheer size made it seem almost indestructible. It was originally designed for oil production, but was later adapted to produce natural gas as well; a decision that proved to have tragic consequences. Producing almost ten percent of Britains North Sea oil and gas in 1988, Piper Alpha was highly productive. It was deemed a lucrative investment for Occidental Petroleum, shoring millions of dollars annually. It is assumed that at the time of the accident, the platform was the heaviest offshore production rig operating in the North Sea. Figure 2: Piper Alpha Offshore Oil Gas Production Platform Piper Alpha was a fixed platform constructed by McDermott Engineering at Ardesier and UIE at Cherbourg, with sections united at Ardersier during 1975 (Wikipedia, 2010). The platform consisted of four modules (A, B, C and D) separated by Fire-Proofed walls, and arranged such that the most dangerous works such as drilling were as far as possible from the Accommodation Block. At the time of the accident, the platform operated thirty-six well heads using various technologies that were then available. Figure 3, an East-side Elevation of the platform, illustrates its modular design and the locations of the areas of interest to the scope of this report, mainly Modules C, D and the Oil Separation Compartment in Module B. Figure 3: East Elevation of Piper Alpha the impacts of the 1980 Gas module fitting Impact on the platform Layout I Production Level 84 In 1980, a Gas Recovery Module was installed on the Piper Alpha platform. This decision left an unfortunate legacy in its design, as some of the gas compression works had to be sited in Module C, which was later called the Gas Compression Module. Figure 4 illustrates the layout of Production Level 84. It clearly shows how the compression works in Module C were close to many sensitive areas in Module D, such as: the Control Room, the Electrical Power Gas Turbine Generators, the Emergency Diesel Generator, the Fire Pumps Manual Control Panel and some of the Electrical Switch Rooms. The Accommodation Block, where the crewmen lived, was located above Module D, with the Helicopter Pad (or Helideck) on top of it as shown in Figure 3. Figure 4: Production Level 84 Firewalls Hazard: Blast-Proof Walls Since Piper Alpha was initially designed to produce oil, only Fire-Proofed walls were installed to separate its four modules instead of Blast-Proof walls, which are installed on gas production platforms. Figure 4 shows the locations of the Fire-Proofed walls as well as their ratings. The B/C and the C/D walls did not withstand the first explosion. Their failure was the beginning of the end for the platform. Hazard: Fire-Fighting System Piper Alpha was equipped with a state-of-the-art Automatic Fire-Fighting System. It relied on two different sets of pumps for operation; electrically powered and diesel powered. They would suck in huge amounts of seawater via underwater inlets to douse any fires. However, the safety procedures on the platform dictated that the system would be switched over to manual control in case divers were in the water regardless of their locations with respect to the inlets so that they would not get sucked in. That procedure never considered the possibility of a fire or an explosion blocking access to the Manual Control Panel, preventing the crew from operating the pumps and eventually causing the fire to rage unchallenged. ii deck support frame: level 64 Two large gas pumps, designated A and B, were placed in Module C. Those were responsible for pressurizing the produced gas and sending it to the offshore Manifold Compression platform MCP-01, some thirty miles to the North West of Piper Alpha. They were also responsible for providing the gas required for generating Electrical Power that fed the entire platform. They operated in redundancy; i.e. one was operated and the other was put on standby in case the former stopped working. Those two pumps were present on level 68, sixteen levels below production level number 84. Figure 5: Deck Support Frame of Level 68 Location of Pumps A B A pipeline eighteen inches in diameter acted as the Main Gas Line (MGL), carrying the gas production of Piper Alpha to the Manifold Compression Platform, MCP-01. A year later, another eighteen-inch pipeline was extended from the Tartan platform to Piper Alpha, in order to collect gas production from both rigs before sending it on the Main Gas Line to MCP-01. Later on, another sixteen-inch pipeline was extended from Piper Alpha to the Claymore production platform, to feed its onboard Gas Lift System. Hazard: Gas Lines In Figure 5, all gas lines also known as risers were secured with automatic Emergency Safety Valves (ESVs) and Pig Traps to cut off gas flow in an out of the platform in case of emergencies and failures. However, there were no Remotely Operated Shutoff Valves (ROSOVs) on any of the lines that the neighbouring platforms could use in case the ESVs had failed or in case things on Piper Alpha had gone out of control. Moreover, two years prior to June the 6th 1988, Occidental Petroleum commissioned a report to investigate the safety of the platform after the added functionality and pipelines. The report portrayed a fearful image, clearly warning of the dangers of the gas lines. The findings stated that those gas lines would take hours to depressurize, mainly due to their capacities that was defined based on their lengths and diameters. The report went on to speculate that should anything happen to those lines, they could result in a High-Pressure Gas Fire that would be virtually impossi ble to fight. Thus, putting the entire platform at risk, and threatening the lives of its personnel. Impact on the Pipeline network Since the Piper oilfield was the first to be discovered, and Piper Alpha was the first platform to come online, its historic development and that of adjacent fields meant that the platform would become a centre for communication systems, as well as oil transfer, reaching land-based operations (Drysdale Evans, 1998). The belated installation of the Gas Module, and the subsequent extension of Gas Lines, further complicated an already complex network of pipelines interconnecting the three platforms Claymore, Piper Alpha, and Tartan with one another as well as with MCP-01 and the Flotta oil processing facility. Figure 6 shows this complex network of oil and Gas Lines connecting the four platforms and onshore installations. The Main Oil Line (MOL) carried oil from Piper to Flotta. Oil was routed from Tartan to Claymore, via a separate line, and from there it was sent onto the MOL, some thirty-five miles west of Piper. The MOL also carried the main communication cable (originating at Piper Alpha) between the three rigs and Occidentals Control Centre (OCC) on the Orkney Islands. Hazard: Oil Back Pressure The legacy of that design had not only reduced the level of Operational Safety on board of Piper Alpha significantly, but also it had put the entire communication system at risk. The design simply jeopardized losing all cable-based communications with OCC, in case an explosion or a massive rig fire took place. Furthermore, due to the lack of any Remotely Operated Shutoff Valves (ROSOVs) which would prevent the back flow of oil because of pressure differences and/or major failures in the Emergency Safety Valves (ESVs) the design exhibited a Back-Pressure nature that would allow oil from the Tartan and Claymore platforms to flow directly back into Piper Alpha instead of going down the Main Oil Line to shore should Piper Alpha stop pumping oil. That hazard was an important factor in fuelling the oil fire that started in the Oil Separation compartment in Module B on board of the platform in peril. Figure 6: Claymore, Piper, Tartan Pipeline Network spiral to disaster The common image of the disaster can be attributed to a single devastating explosion on board the Piper Alpha. In fact, once it took place, the catastrophe unfolded gradually. During one crucial hour, there were critical moments that it could have been averted. However, an unfortunate series of events led to the total destruction of the platform. On the morning of July the 6th, Pump A was undergoing routine maintenance and its pressure valve was removed for inspection. Another maintenance overhaul, which would have taken two weeks, was scheduled for the same pump but had not begun then. The valve removed was placed between the pump and the gas pipe feeding it. The service crew sealed the pipe with a Blind Flange; a flat metallic disc used to temporarily cover pipes and risers during various routine maintenance jobs. When the Day Shift ended at 6:00 PM, the job was not done. The supervising engineer prepared a Permit-to-Work (PTW) stating that the pressure valve was removed and that the pump should not be started under any circumstance (Wikipedia, 2010). The engineer then headed to the Control Room, where he found the platforms manager busy. He chose not to inform him that Pump A was out of order, and instead signed the new PTW, placed it on the managers desk and left to the Accommodation Block. This was the first critical moment in the timeline of the accident. The failure of the engineer to inform the manager with the serious condition of the pump is nothing but a clear example of terrible lack of communication between colleagues. It showcases a superficial attitude and approach by Occidentals personnel towards Safety. This failure is one of the main reasons of the disaster, if not its main trigger. An hour later, another maintenance job was taking place underwater; divers were carrying out a routine inspection and welding job on one of the pipes. Therefore, and as we explained previously, the Automatic Fire-Fighting System was switched to manual control. This was a safety practice to ensure that divers would not get sucked in through the underwater inlets of the powerful fire extinguishing pumps. It is worth noting that on other platforms Fire-Fighting systems were controlled manually only if divers were very close to the inlets. This practice, which was enforced to ensure the safety of the divers, reduced that of the platform drastically and deprived it from an automated response by the Fire-Fighting System that could have saved it from its fatal doom; yet another critical moment down the course of the horrible disaster. At 9:45 PM, Pump B suddenly stopped and could not be restarted. The pumps were responsible for providing gas to the Gas Turbine Generators, which in turn provided the entire platform with Electrical Power. The sudden stop of Pump B, and the failure to restart it, threatened the total loss of Electrical Power during ongoing drilling operations. This meant that the drilling head could get stuck at enormous costs. The system provided fifteen minutes of backup power, via the Emergency Diesel Generator, during which the only two choices were either restarting Pump B or bringing Pump A online; a crossroads that sent the platform and its crewmen down the spiral to disaster. Pressured as time went by with no success at restarting Pump B, the engineer who was sent down to inspect the pump was forced to consider bringing Pump A online. He returned to the Control Room on level 84 and searched through the PTWs, trying to determine whether Pump A could be started or not. He located the PTW for the General Overhaul that had not started then, yet failed to find the newer one that stated that the pumps pressure valve was removed. He signed off the General Overhaul PTW and returned to level 68 to start Pump A. The reason why the engineer could not find the newer PTW is simple; the pressure valve was in a different location from the pump and therefore its permits were stored in a different box, as PTWs on board the platform were sorted by location. The engineer never checked the PTW box for the location where the pressure valve was. None of the personnel present in the Control Room then was aware that a vital piece of the pump had been removed. The platforms manager assumed from the existing documents that it would be safe to start Pump A (Wikipedia, 2010). In fact, no one noticed that the pressure valve had been removed as it was placed several metres above the ground of level 64. Furthermore, it was blocked from line-of-sight by gas risers. Ten minutes later, Pump A was started, allowing gas to flow into it in the absence of the pressure valve, which quickly resulted in an overpressure the Blind Flange could not withstand. Gas started to leak at very high pressure and in great amounts, with audible sounds that took the crewmen on level 64 by surprise. The leak triggered several gas alarms. However, at exactly 9:50 PM, and before anyone could realize the situation and plan a response, the gas ignited and exploded, blowing through the Fire-Proofed walls. In the initial blast, the Fire-Proofed walls B/C and C/D failed. Panels from the C/D wall were propelled into Module D, destroying the Control Room, the Emergency Diesel Generator, and the Gas Turbine Generators, starting a hydrocarbon fire fed by a mixture of gas and diesel and blocking access to both the Manual Control Panel of the Fire-Fighting System as well as the Lifeboat Entry Points. The platforms manager quickly pressed the Emergency Shutdown button, closing the Emergency Safety Valves (ESVs) on the sea lines and ceasing all oil and gas production, before ordering an evacuation of the Control Room. This should have isolated the platform entirely from the flow of oil and gas. However, Panels from the failing B/C Fire-Proofed wall flew into Module B, rupturing another gas pipe as well as the main oil separation manifolds, starting an oil fire in the Oil Separation compartment, which spread out to all of Module B within a few minutes. Figure 7: The Initial Fire on Piper Alpha. Black smoke indicating an Oil Fire is seen rising from Module B The manager headed to the Radio Room, where he ordered a Mayday call to be transmitted. The Radio Room was then evacuated and all personnel headed to the Fire-Proofed Accommodation Block awaiting further instructions or evacuation by helicopters. Although Occidentals management was aware that a gas explosion on board Piper Alpha would be devastating, the managers on Claymore and Tartan never Shutdown oil production after they received the Mayday transmitted out of the burning platform. Even though black smoke could be seen on the horizon, which meant that there was an oil fire, the managers never suspected the failure of the Emergency Safety Valves (ESVs). The oil fire, fed by oil from Tartan and Claymore, heated up the Tartan Gas Line to the point it failed. The pipeline ruptured, releasing 15~30 tonnes of gas (pressurised to 120 ATM) per second. The gas burst into a massive fire ball that engulfed the entire Piper Alpha platform as well as a Fast Rescue Craft launched from the Multi-purpose Vessel Sandhaven. This situation was exactly what the report commissioned two years earlier had warned against; a High-Pressure Gas Fire that would be impossible to put out. At this critical moment, the fate of the platform had already b een decided, with no viable means of reversing it. The massive fire ball can be seen in Figure 8, as it instantaneously contained the platform and darkened the clear blue sky above it. Figure 8: Sequence of Images taken from a Video Footage captured by a Support Vessel showing the Explosion of the Tartan Gas Line. MV Lowland Cavalier can be seen on the Right As Figure 8 vividly illustrates, the wind was blowing in the direction of the Helideck, which in turn pushed fire and smoke towards it, making any helicopter landing absolutely impossible and an act of suicide. No further instructions were given to the trapped crewmen, who took shelter in the Accommodation Block, while smoke began to penetrate it. Some were seen jumping off the platform and into the water, against what their training instructed. Ironically, those were the ones who survived the tragic ordeal. The actions of two crewmen are worth noting. As the situation worsened, they donned Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and tried to make their way to the Manual Control Panel of the Fire-Fighting System to start the diesel pumps. Those two men were never seen again and their bodies were never recovered. Nearby, and as the situation rapidly escalated, the managers on Claymore and Tartan believed that they did not have the authority to order an Emergency Shutdown of production without first consulting their superiors. The initial explosion knocked off the main communication line with OCC; however, Tartans manager somehow contacted his superior, and was instructed to stay online and continue pumping gas and oil. Meanwhile, Claymores manager tried for more than twenty minutes to raise OCC by satellite phone, but to no avail. When he finally succeeded at contacting his manger, the MCP 01 Gas Line failed and exploded, as they were speaking, at exactly 10:50 PM. It was not until that point that Claymores manager finally ordered an Emergency Shutdown of production, after receiving instructions from his superior, who also instructed him to contact Tartan and tell them to shutdown as well. Figure 9: Sequence of Images taken from a Video Footage captured by a Rescue Helicopter showing the Explosion of the MCP 01 Gas Line. The MSV Tharos can be seen on the Right By the time both platforms had ordered an Emergency Shutdown, there was no turning back for Piper Alpha; the platform was destined to burn for hours more to come, until the pipelines were depressurised, and all the hydrocarbons they carried were depleted. The fearsome heat ate its way at the machinery and steelwork comprising the once gigantic platform in a tremendous scene that horrified everyone who saw it. The final chapter in the disaster was inevitable and quite expectable. The gas line feeding Claymore finally failed and ruptured at 11:20 PM. The third explosion was the final nail in the platforms coffin. After withstanding the intense heat for more than an hour, the Generation and Utilities Module D, home to the Accommodation Block, finally slid into the sea. Most of the platform soon fell after it. Forty-five minutes past midnight, the entire platform was gone, and only Module A was all that remained. Figure 10: Image from Video Footage taken by a Rescue Helicopter landing on the MSV-Tharos as the Final Explosion of Claymores Gas Line take place The Role of nearby Support vessels The Multi-purpose vessel LowLand Cavalier (mv lowland cavalier) Although the Lowland Cavalier was the closest to Piper Alpha at the time of the initial explosion, she was only equipped as a Diving Support vessel then. She pulled away to safety immediately, after signalling the underwater divers to surface. Her role in the disaster was limited to reporting the first explosion. Figure 11: Recent Photos of the MV Lowland Cavalier The Multi-purpose vessel Silver Pit (mv silver pit) The Fast Rescue Craft MV Silver Pit was a converted fishing ship, with a small Landing Area (yellow circular area seen in Figure 9). It was the first support vessel to respond. The largest number of survivors thirty-seven out of fifty-nine was recovered by her crew. Her coxswain, James Clark, received the George Medal a second level civil decoration of the United Kingdom Commonwealth in recognition of his tremendous efforts in the Search Rescue operation (Scottish TV, 2010). Figure 12: Image taken from a Video taken by a Rescue Helicopter during a Winch-Recovery of a Survivor picked up by the MV Silver Pit the Multi-purpose vessel sandhaven (mv sandhaven) Though her actions show obvious disregard for common logic and safe practices, the efforts exerted by the crew of the Sandhaven were remarkable; they raced against time to rescue Pipers oilmen from the raging inferno. In an insane act of bravery, and in defiance to every safety rule and procedure known in the world of Offshore Rescue Operations, she approached the burning platform to a very close distance, launching a fast rescue boat with three men on board that rescued six of Pipers crewmen. However, when the gas line from Tartan exploded, a massive fire ball engulfed the burning platform as well as that boat, killing two of its crewmen along with all of survivors. The lone survivor on board that boat, Ian Letham, was also awarded the George Medal in recognition of his participation in the relief efforts during the tragic ordeal. Figure 13: The Tharos (Left Background) Sandhaven (Small Red Boat) next to Piper Alpha just as Tartans Gas line exploded the Multi-purpose Support Vessel Tharos (msv tharos) The Tharos was a semi-submersible, multi-purpose support vessel. She comprised several roles such as Fire-Fighting, Construction, Accommodation and Diving Support. She also carried a fully operational hospital and was equipped with a massive Helideck. She was commissioned by Occidental Petroleum precisely to deal with emergencies on offshore platforms. On June the 6th, 1988, and by pure chance, she was anchored close to Piper Alpha. She should have been a Godsend; however, upon approaching the burning platform, her crew started her water cannons too fast, tripping the Fire-Fighting system and wasting ten long minutes before successfully restarting it. Furthermore, those cannons were deemed very powerful, thus restricting the Tharos to as where to use them; since the stream could seriously injure or even kill anyone it hits. Figure 14: Images taken from Video Footage taken during the landing of a Rescue Helicopter on the Helideck on board the MSV-Tharos showing the Vessels powerful cannons engaged in Fire-Fighting Operations Figure 12 shows how close the Tharos was anchored to Piper as well as the locations of the MV -Lowland Cavalier and the MV Silver Pit mentioned earlier in this section. Figure 15: Locations of Support Vessels from Piper Alpha Worse still, the Tharos was equipped with an extensible bridge that could have worked as an escape route for the personnel trapped onboard, but due to flaws in its design it proved useless. The extension mechanism was too slow, taking five minutes to move two feet; so to extend to its full thirty metres, it would have taken over an hour. At 10:50 PM, the Tharos ran out of time; the MCP-01 Gas Line ruptured and burst. A huge fireball burnt brightly in the dark sky over the North Sea, and to date is considered an icon of the Piper Alpha disaster. The gas burning was more than the entire consumption of the United Kingdom. The intense heat threw the Tharos back, forcing her to return the bridge into its storage position, and from then on, her crew could only witness as Piper slowly melted and collapsed (McGinty, 2009). Figure 16: Screenshot from a Video Footage taken by a Surveillance Camera on board the MSV-Tharos showing the Extensible Bridge being extended towards Piper Alpha Figure 17: The Tharos docked to Piper Alpha via its Extensible Bridge Weeks before the Disaster Figure 10 shows the extensible bridge docked to Piper Alpha weeks before the disaster. Had the Tharos attempted to approach Piper to such a close distance, the situation would have turned into a nightmare, and the Tharos would have been engulfed in flames just like the Sandhaven. The Tharos continued fighting the fire from a safe distance until the morning of the following day. Divers from the Tharos recovered many bodies from the sea bed and from the galley area of the Accommodation Block, where most of the crewmen onboard gathered awaiting extraction by helicopter. The vessel supported the Fire-Fighting and Well Kill operations that eventually led to the extinguishing of the burning well three weeks later (Wikipedia, 2010). The Aftermath The Day After With the break of light of the following day, the scale of the disaster was unravelled. The entire platform melted down to its core through the night and sank into the sea. Ironically, Module A, once considered the most dangerous section of the platform, remained fairly intact. That was attributed to the fact that the Fire-Proofed wall separating modules A and B did not fail. Of the massive platform, only what shows in Figures 15 and 16 was what was left. Figure 18: Module A carrying a sign with the platforms number and name Piper A Figure 19 : The Remains of Piper Alpha with the MSV-Tharos in the Background Human Loss A total of a hundred and sixty seven men lost their lives in the disaster; of which, a hundred and sixty five were Piper Alpha crewmen. A hundred and sixty four of them died on site and one died later in hospital. Two crewmen from the MV Sandhaven died, along with six survivors from the platform, when their fast rescue craft was engulfed in flames after the explosion of Tartans gas link. Only sixty one men survived, almost all because they had decided to ignore what little training they had been given and jumped off the burning platform. Financial Loss The total financial loss amounted to U.S. $3.4 billion. It was paid in full by insurance companies that insured the platform and the personnel against operational hazards. The insurance companies also covered the cost of the Clean-Up operation. Damage to Public Image Occidental Petroleum claimed that their Safety Record was impeccable, claiming that it was the first time in twelve years that they had had a causality in the North Sea. However, their statement was challenged when various sources revealed that an oilman died four years earlier on board Piper Alph