Week 17: Summaries of Essays.

In the essay "Children Need to Play, Not Compete," written by Jessica Statsky, explains the importance of having fun and not being in a competitive environment where physical and psychological problems may occur. Highly competitive sports are too often played to adult standards. She explains, "they eliminate many children from organized sports before they are ready to compete, they are actually counterproductive for developing either future players or fan." Competitive sports are also physically harmful because they entice children into physical actions that are bad for developing bodies. Children are also easily influenced by their parents high standard that they cannot rely on their own self esteem or confidence to do well in life. The essay "Sticks and Stones and Sports Team Names" written by Richard Estrada illustrates the importance of respecting cultural names, more specifically to Native Americans and their ancestral tribes. The essay is truly pointless and not important. The best argument in his essay is in paragraph 11: "What makes naming teams after ethnic groups, particularly minorities, reprehensible is that politically important groups continue to be targeted, while politically powerful ones who bite back are left alone. How long does anyone think the name 'Washington Blackskins' would last? Or how about 'the New York Jews'? The essay "Working at McDonald's" written by Amitai Etzioni illustrates the importance of education and avoiding the low paying jobs because they are not career builders. Most teens get jobs when they are young and often drop out of high school because they believe that their job offer them enough money to support themselves. They completely ignore the fact that getting a higher education can offer higher benefit and a larger salary. A lot of the money spent are on non beneficial materials. Although having a job can teach a person responsibility and time management, it is better to stay in school! The essay "Boys Here, Girls There: Sure, If Equality's the Goal" written by Karen Stabiner explains that single sex schools can be beneficial.

Week 16: Big Bang, Galaxies, Black Holes, Chances of Life.

The universe originated from a singularity, a single point in space, in which matter and time expanded outward. Matter came together, as gravity pulled them inward due to the unbalance and imperfection of nature. Most of the matter was hydrogen and as the matter came together in a web-like structure, other elements were formed due to the the density of the mass. Heavier elements, such as helium were formed and as they compressed, nuclear fusion occured and other heavier elements were produced. Iron, oxygen and other elements were formed and are essential to the formation of life. Luckily, by some chance, the early stars in our galaxy exploded in a supernova as they grew old, and those matters and elements were recycled in a nebula of gas that later formed our solar system.
Scientist explains that life occurred due to a miracle. Our solar system happen to have the right material to form life. The sun was the right size to burn for billion of years and for life to evolve. The earth is the right size and contain the right material to form life... iron in the core to have a protective magnetic field. The distance between the earth and sun is perfect. Any inches closer and life would not exist.
Now lets understand black holes. The term black hole is used because light cannot escape the black hole's immense gravity and in general relativity, black holes have infinite density because of its immense gravity, and therefore, stretches the fabric of time and space inward. Black holes are in the center of most galaxies and not everything gets pulled in. There are escape velocity in which an object reaches a terminal point, and escapes the inward-pull. If it was true that black holes "sucks" in everything, then there would be nothing in space. Quasars are new galaxies in which black holes pulls in too much matter and have to force the matter out in a jet-like stream that burns at millions of degree. Sometimes galaxies even collide with one another due to the attraction of the black hole's gravitational pull. Objects near the black holes rotate at a tremendous rate at a couple million of miles an hour and that may include stars, not just gases or other materials.

Week 15: My summary of the Creation in Genesis NIV

In Genesis 1:3-5, God made an equal division between light and darkness. This great division shows that God is creating order and balance, setting fundamental laws that would govern the Earth (Asimov 21). The division between day and night indicates that time became relevant in regards to the 24-hour for Earth to make a complete rotation around its axis. On the second day, God separated the waters and called the expanse above the water “sky”(verse 6-8). Modern scholars interpret the expanse above the water as cloud and rain on account of the separation between the two waters(36). On the third day, God separated the land from the sea and introduced vegetation that would consume the land (verse 9-13). Vegetation was only possible because of the separation between the water and sky so rain may fall on to the land. In verse 14-19, God created the sun, moon, planet, and stars. The sun would govern the day and the lesser lights would govern the night (verse 16). In verse 14 God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years…” This indicates that Earth is now in orbit with the sun and that each full rotation will last 365 days and seasons will depend on the location of Earth’s orbit around the sun. Verse 14 is usually seen as a contradiction to verse 3-5 when God created light and separated the day from night. Asimov explains, “Light was already created on the first day, but the light-giving objects in the heaven were created only on the fourth day.” Essentially, the light that was created on the first day was not contained until the fourth day when God created the sun, which is merely an object to hold the light (Asimov 41). On the fifth day, God created living creatures that would rule over the sky and sea (verse 20-23). In verses 24-31, wild animals, livestock, and insects were created on the sixth day so they may inherit the land and that man, created in His own image, would rule over all the living creatures and vegetation on Earth. God created the Heaven, Earth, Mankind, and all the living creatures in six days. And on the seventh day, God rested from His work and made that day holy (Chapter 2:2-3).

Week 14: My thoughts and research of Airbags

Airbags were first introduced in the late1960s. The automotive company, Chrysler, were the first to make a production car with that safety feature. The airbag was invented by John Wenrick, a retired industrial engineer. Since the year 1998, all cars in the United States are required to have airbags on both the driver and passenger sides. According to statistics, airbags reduce the risk of dying or serious injury in a frontal crash by thirty percent. Today, there may be up to eight airbags in a single car.
Before looking at the details of the inner workings of an airbag, we need to understand the laws of motion. Moving objects have momentum unless an outside force acts on the object. A car traveling at a certain speed comes to a sudden stop, objects that are not attach will continue going at that speed. That is why airbags and seatbelts are important to have in order to decrease the risk of death or injuries. Bringing momentum to a halt requires a force acting over a period of time. Airbags are to increase the time of impact and to distribute the force across a larger surface area. Airbags also slows down the speed of the passenger between a small time frame. The time period between the deployment of an airbag is about a fraction of a second.
The airbag inflation system contain three main component: the bag, inflator, and the crash sensor. The bag is made of nylon fabric and is folded inside the steering wheel, dashboard, seats and or doors. The sensor sends a signal to the inflator to inflate the bag when it is activated. The activation itself is a process. Inflation happens when there is a collision force equivalent to running into a wall at ten to fifteen miles. A mechanical switch is activated when a mass shift closes a electrical contact, which alarms the system that an accident occurred. The inflation system contains chemicals that actually ignites and cause a small explosion. Sodium azide reacts with potassium nitrate to produce nitrogen gas which inflate the airbag. The airbag itself is deployed at 200 mph! The gas is then released through the tiny holes in the bag to create a soft cushion for the passenger to land on. This process happens in one-twenty-fifth of a second. Any earlier or later can result in an injury caused by the airbag and not by the car accident. The powdery substance released by the airbag is cornstarch or talcum powder. They are use to keep the bags pliable and lubricated when in storage.
Most up-to-date cars have more than two airbags because a collision can occur at all angles. Side torso airbags inflate between the door and the occupant. These airbags are to prevent any injury to the pelvic and lower abdomen region. Many different design come into play when constructing a side airbag. Manufactures have to shape the airbag to where it can cover a large according to the design of the car. There are also curtain airbags that deploy overhead near the top of the door frame to prevent any head injuries. Some airbags even maintain inflation up to seven seconds for rollover protection. Knee air bags were introduced in 1996 on a Kia Sportage vehicle. The airbag is located beneath the steering wheel to prevent any collision on the lower body.

Week 13: Griffith Observatory

My trip to the Griffith Observatory was a worthwhile experience. Although I did not learn any new material, I did enjoy my visit at the observatory. I had studied astronomy outside of class because of its great interest. My favorite part about the trip was the “Centered of the Universe” show. The show portrayed each event with great details highlighting every important scene. The Big Band Theory interest me the most because of its vast uncertainty. How did it start and why? Why did atoms suddenly come together at that time? Why not another time? There are so many questions to ask and nobody can truly give an answer. We just don’t know. The universe was formed around six billion years ago and is continuing to expand and galaxies are spreading further apart. Galaxies were form due to gravity, pulling particles together in a web-like structure, called dark matter. Astronomers explain that dark matter acts like a scaffold on the universe and that dark energy permeates all of space and increases the expansion rate. I find it strange that Astronomers can explains all of this in detail without being able to see dark matter or dark energy. But black holes cannot be seen, and yet scientists are able to claim its existence by studying the surrounding structure of the black holes. Maybe dark matter and energy do exist, but it is still in a hypothetical form.
During my visit at the observatory, I did not look through the telescope. It is something I will do when I receive the opportunity. I was never able to understand how telescope works. I understand that there are a series of mirrors in different shape and size, but how can one truly see a far distance? I know that light is captured and is redirected in many ways until it reaches the peep-hole, but it is out of my understanding to comprehend such a technology. The light that we see are old, so the current time of the object that we are looking at may not be in that same position or condition. Were looking at the past?
I understand that my paper does not describe my views or thoughts about the experience at the observatory, but a lot of my thoughts and questions did arise from the visit to the planetarium.
Another concept that I do not understand is why time decreases gravity is present. If I have two clocks that are set at the same time and I set them a great distance from each other, they should read the same time. I understand that time is older as one approaches the center of the universe, but the rate of time around gravity should not change. For example, a person that lives in California should have the same time as a person living in Florida, but the time may be read differently because of Earth’s rotation. Time itself is not changed, but can be read differently. So how do gravity increases the rate of time?
Other than theses thoughts, I did find it interesting how the planetarium had weight measures for each of the planet in our solar system. The pendulum at the main interest also intrigues me. I don’t understand how the movement of the Earth effects the circular motion of the pendulum.

Week 12: TLW Ch.20-23

As the five continue on their journey through Tibet, they meet the same kind villagers that gave them a place to rest and food to eat. The six met a missionary and a shepherd along the journey and had supplied them with great help and hospitality. Marchinkovas died in his sleep while they were on their daily rest. The group were shocked because he was not ill or showed any kind of discomfort. The five were on a trek to India and had to cross the Himalayan Foot-Hills. The Five claimed to had seen the yeti, an abominable snowman, during their journey through the Himalayan. In chapter 22, while the Five were on their way on the snowy trail, Paluchowicz fell from the white cliffs and vanished into the mist. They were in disbelief because he made a vast journey of 4000 miles and died recklessly. At the end, soldiers near the India border rescued Mister Smith, Rawicz, Kolemenos, and Zaro. When they were in recovery, they all suffered mentally. Even though Rawicz had food, he would always store his bread in his clothe or under the pillow. They were in delusion. It has been 18 months of traveling and old habits die hard. But at the end, they recovered and what had been a month, felt like a night's rest for them. In conclusion, they went their seperate path and Rawicz joined the Polish Army and started a new life with a new family. What I didn't understand was why Rawicz did not try to find them after their separation.

Week 11: summary on 197-210

Alexander Cheung writes an opposing essay about the legality of file sharing. Napster created a program that allowed people around the world to download any kind of music. The music industry did not approve of such program that would steal away their business. They took legal action against Fanning, the creator of Napster, in a publicized court case. The music industry succeeded and shutdown Napster’s operation, but his peer-to-peer file sharing still functioned. The P2P program enabled people to download music and other files from different users. Matthew Scrivner from his essay, “In Defense of Music…” explains that, “music is not a tangible object, but rather experiences that cannot be owned by anyone save for the individual listener.” In contrast, Spanier argue that illegally downloading music can be seen as plagiarism is not a good argument. Music and plagiarism does not correlate well because of their vast differences. Music does not support the educational goal, but plagiarism and the stealing of music can be seen as a copy righted material because its an intellectual property. Amos Esty in “Investigating a Mega-Mystery,” explains that the early inhabitants of this planet drove large land animals to extinction. He says, “humans moved rapidly through the Notrth America continent, wiping out most megafauna.” Even in this century, people or continuing to hunt down animals to near extinction. Many animals become endangered and therefore, are protected by special agencies. In recent date in Africa, they are only about 15,000 lions reaming compared to 2 decades ago when 150,000 lions were thriving. Many organizations are helping to protect wildlife from extinctions, creating barriers around national forest to protect them from the thriving species; humans. But some argue that rapid climate change can also play a role in the exticntion of animals, but climate is always changing. There are still a large debate on the issue because there is no singularity in the matter. Noah Feldman, in “America’s Church-State Problem,” explains that evangelicals and protestants do not focus on of religious traditions but rather focus on identifying moral values that can be shared by everyone. He added, “If we could be more tolerant of sincere religious people drawing on their beliefs and practices to inform their choices in public realm, and at the same time be more vigilant about preserving our legacy of institutional separation between government and organized religion, the shift would redirect us to the uniqueness of the American experiment with church and state.” In the early times, church governed the government itself until they were separated by the powers invested by the people who rose against the church. In modern time, the system is balanced in a way that we become operational, maintaining the separation of church from state. Although it is acceptable to have a religious perspective in a given position, it is not ideal because it may influence the choices a person may make that can affect many lives who are not of the same faith.