Fatigue Essay Example for Free

Fatigue Essay This is a summary of Jane Brodys article, Fatigue. Fatigue is one of peoples most common complaints. Even though there is new technology that saves people from doing everything by hand people still complain about being tired. Brody stated that physicians reported people who tend to keep themselves busy with work tend to not be as fatigued. Tiredness mainly comes from not doing much rather than wearing yourself down. Overall, there are diverse reasons for people being tired. Being physically active seems to be the cure for fatigue. There are three kinds of fatigue. One is physical fatigue the second type is pathological fatigue and the third is psychological fatigue. These all have causes and cures for fatigue. Physical fatigue is caused by over working ones body. Another cause can be carbon dioxide and lactic acid that collects in the body which weakens the muscles. This prevents them from functioning effectively. Physicians recommend that rest is way to cure physical fatigue. Another type of fatigue is pathological fatigue. Pathological fatigue is a warning sign of a cold or disease such as cancer. After being ill or over worked one must give their body time to fully recover. A physical check-up is highly recommended to check if something is wrong with one self. Many times the cause for fatigue can be undetected or over looked. The third type of fatigue is psychological fatigue. Emotional problems like depression and anxiety are the cause of prolonged fatigue. Prolonged fatigue can cause ones denial of depression and the cause of it. Mainly when feelings arent expressed openly, the outcome is normally fatigue. One common fatigue syndrome is the Tired Housewife Syndrome in which young mothers stay home all day and have nothing to look forward to. The mothers soon develop resentment and envy towards their husband. The cure for this fatigue is professional counseling.

The Rain Man Essay Example for Free

The Rain Man Essay Of course I dont have my underwear. Im definitely not wearing my underwear. These are not boxer shorts. Mine are boxer shorts. These are Hanes 32 My boxer shorts have my name and it says RaymondI get my boxer shorts at K-Mart in Cincinnati. (Rain Man, 1988) This quote from the popular movie Rain Man perfectly captures the disorder that plagues Raymond Bobbitt, one of the main characters. He is a very particular man who must always do everything on a schedule; any disruption in this schedule completely turns his world upside down. He shows very little emotion, unless something happens to upset him, in which case he completely melts down. His behavior is almost that of a young child. However, he also has a very unique gift. He has an absolutely astounding memory and can recall the smallest details from events that occurred when he was just a young child. At one point in the movie, a lady drops a box of toothpicks and Raymond is able to immediately determine how many of the toothpicks spilled out of the box. The behaviors of Raymond Bobbitt, while very interesting, are nowhere near normal and they prevent him from functioning in any kind of normal society. It is because of this that I have determined he has a mental disorder and could benefit greatly from treatment. In order to diagnose Raymond, it is important to look at all of the factors that may contribute to his behavior. The DSM-IV multiaxial system is a great way to break everything down and do this. It has 5 sections that take a deeper look in to all of the factors that contribute to the possible mental disorder of a patient and provides a standard for classifying mental disorders. Because of this, it is heavily relied on when making an accurate diagnosis and will be used to diagnose Raymond. AXIS I: Axis one of the DSM-IV system is reserved for the clinical symptoms of the disorder. Raymond showed many of the typical clinical symptoms of a person with autism. The first symptom that they generally display is developmental regression. Most sufferers of autism do not show any signs of developmental problems until around 15-30 months. Since Raymond was a young child and not an infant when he was sent away to live at the care home, it can be assumed that he did not start to show problems until he was a young toddler, which is consistent with the autism diagnosis. Another clinical symptom of autism is abnormal reactions for environmental stimuli. This is clearly seen by Raymond when we see him completely melt down when the fire alarm goes off. The loud noise, which is not something that would bother normal people, is too much for him to handle. Abnormal social interactions are another thing that Raymond displays that is also characterized by autism. He cannot hold a normal conversation and has big problems understanding the social intentions of his brother as he takes him on their trip. It is also clear when you listen to the way that Raymond talks that he might suffer from autism; he refers to himself as â€Å"Raymond† instead of â€Å"I† and he often rambles on to no one in particular about his schedule or whatever else he is thinking at the time. The final characteristic of autism that is seen in Raymond is the stress that he feels whenever his routine is broken. (Brasic, 2013) When his brother takes him away from the care home and changes everything, Raymond displays significant anxiety. He insists that they watch Jeopardy at 5:00 and is constantly talking about what he should be doing at any given time. He starts to melt down when he is not doing what he normally does and continues on until his brother finally lets him get his way. AXIS II: Under axis II, the personality disorders and intellectual disabilities are assessed. There are several of these that are associated with both Raymond and Autism, specifically and autistic Savant. The biggest personality disorder that is shown by Raymond and that is also exhibited by autistics is that he has extreme anxiety. (Mayo Clinic, 2013) It is clear by the way that he will not get on an airplane because there are no available airlines that have never experienced a plane crash. A normal person would not think that much in to getting on a plane, and they definitely would not know the statistics of every airline that there is. Even after they start driving, Raymond starts rambling off statistics about driving and car accidents, making it clear that he is not even comfortable riding in a car. You can also look back at some of the other examples that we have already looked at to show his elevated anxiety levels. When the fire alarm goes off, and he starts breaking down, he is reacti ng abnormally (the symptom from axis I); it is because of his extreme anxiety that he starts to display this behavior. The same goes for why he is constantly rambling and is so distressed about missing his shows, not having dinner at the right time and everything else that has changed in his schedule; he does all of this because he is suffering from constant anxiety due to his autism and his change in routine. Another thing to look at under axis II is his intellectual abilities. While he is not able to function as a normal person intellectually (another symptom of autism), he shows extraordinary abilities intellectually in other areas. He remembers specific events from his childhood starting at a very young age, and he remembers them with extreme accuracy and detail. He is also able to store things in his memory that no normal person would be able to, such as when he knew the one and only airline that had never had a plane crash (it was a very small and unknown airline at that) or w hen he knew all of the highway statistics concerning car accidents. It is also made clear that he is brilliant at math, counting and patterns when he is in Vegas and is counting the cards with ease. All of these amazing intellectual abilities that he shows are characteristics of a savant as well. (Hiles, 2002) AXIS III: Axis III is reserved for and physical problems that may be relevant in diagnosing or treating the mental disorder. For example, if a person is suffering from a mood disorder and they also have a disease which causes them pain or discomfort, then that might be something that contributed to their depression. (Edelson, 2013) Raymond does not display any of these however, so there would be no diagnosis for him under this axis. Axis IV: Axis IV is used to assess any environmental stressors that may affect the diagnosis or treatment or the mental disorder. This was a big factor in Raymond’s diagnosis and his display of symptoms. He was doing fairly well at the care home and, even though he was still displaying some symptoms of an autistic savant, he was able to live happily and relatively stress free. However, when his brother took him from his place of comfort, his symptoms got significantly worse. His anxiety levels went through the roof and it was clear that he was not handling the change well. He had lost his primary support group, which included all of the nurses at the hospital and he was left only with his brother who he had not seen since they were young children. This caused him anxiety because he was not familiar with him and his brother was not prepared to deal with all of the behaviors that Raymond displays. He was also showing elevated levels of anxiety due to his environment. When they left the care home, it was clear that Raymond did not want to go because he said it and started acting out. But his brother made him, and his actions just got worse from there. Every night Raymond would insist that they at least follow his schedule and he would start throwing a tantrum if they didn’t. Also, when they were in the casino, he could not handle all of the flashing li ghts and the ringing of the bells. This eventually led to another melt down. After being with his brother for almost their whole trip, it seemed like Raymond started to warm up to him a bit. Since his brother was the only constant during their trip, this again shows how much Raymond needs something consistent and some sort of routine, a need that is very common in autistic. (Bellini, 2013) AXIS V: Axis V is used for the Global Assessment of Funtioning (GAF). It is an evaluation of the patient’s ability to function in daily life and is based off of a 100 point scale (100 being the most functioning and 0 being the least). When looking at Raymond, I would assign him two separate GAF scores. When he is in an comfortable environment, such as when he is living in the care home, I would give him a GAF of 40 because he still displays symptoms and would not be able to keep a job and function in society, but he is not extreme. However, when taken out of his environment and put out in the world, I would give him a GAF of 20 because he starts to display extreme behavior and even becomes a threat to himself or others. (PsyWeb, 2013) There was a point when one of his melt downs became so bad that he started banging his head and hurting himself. He is in need of constant supervision when he is not in a comfortable familiar place. After taking a look at the symptoms that Raymond displayed (which include things like not making eye contact and constantly fidgeting, not seeming to hear when people talk to him and not being able to hold a conversation, and resting touch and changes in routine) and breaking them down with regard to the DSM-IV multiaxial system, I have determined that he suffers from Autism, and more specifically, he is an Autistic Savant. He would be classified as a Savant because he, while lacking in many areas, does have extraordinary skills in other areas. There was a time in the movie when his brother takes him to Vegas and tells him to count cards in blackjack and Raymond (having to prior training) is able to do it with ease. His symptoms under the DSM-IV model are extremely consistent with those of an autistic savant. He displays all of the clinical symptoms (axis I) that an autistic would display, including abnormal social behavior, the inability to hold a normal conversation and the constan t fidgeting. These behaviors are also consistent with the autistic and savant personality disorders and mental abilities (axis II), including the extreme anxiety and the extraordinary abilities in specific areas. There are not necessarily any physical problems (axis III) that contribute to being an autistic savant, and Raymond did not show any of these either. His environment (axis IV) however, did play a significant role his behavior and that is very common with autistics as well. (First Signs, 2012) After diagnosing Raymond as an autistic savant, the most important treatment that I would recommend for him would be to return to the care home and live the rest of his life there. When treating autism, there is no one set treatment because every person with autism is unique. (Autism Speaks, 2013) Since we were able to see how Raymond responded to living in the care home and sticking to a strict routine, we were able to see that it worked for him. This plan, and the routine that was tailored for him, worked to minimize his symptoms and reduce his behavioral problems. As far as him being a savant as well, there really is no treatment needed for that because it does not pose a problem in his life. It is a talent that he lives with and not something that needs to be fixed. If Raymond is returned to the care home and his familiar schedule, there is no reason that he cannot live out the rest of his life as happily and comfortably as possible. References Autism Speaks. (2013). How is Autism Treated? Retrieved from: http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment Bellini, Scott. (2013). The Development of Social Anxiety in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders. Retrieved from: http://foa.sagepub.com/content/21/3/138.short Brasic, James. (2013). Autism Clinical Presentation. Retrieved from: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/912781-clinical Edelson, Steven. (2013). Research: Autistic Savants. Retrieved from: http://www.autism.com/index.php/understanding_savants First Signs. (2012). DSM-IV Criteria Pervasive Developmental Disorders. Retrieved from: http://www.firstsigns.org/screening/DSM4.htm Hiles, David. (2002). Savant Syndrome. Retrieved from: http://www.psy.dmu.ac.uk/drhiles/Savant%20Syndrome.htm Mayo Clinic. (2013). Autism. Retrieved from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/autism/DS00348/DSECTION=symptoms PsyWeb. (2013). Axis V- Global Assessment of Functioning Scale. Retrieved from: http://www.psyweb.com/DSM_IV/jsp/Axis_V .jsp

Mechanical Strength of Mild Steel

Mechanical Strength of Mild Steel Introduction CE 2.1 One day on National Geographic channel I was watching a program in which they were experimenting with the finite element analysis software to observe structure and thermal load effects on the wing of Boeing 747s wing. Luckily, during the same time, in my 8th semester back in 2013 we were taught the introduction to Finite Element Methods by our professor, Dr. Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhary in University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore. The curiosity in that subject laid the initial foundations of my interesting project named as Drop Test Calculations for Mild Steel where I worked as a Team Leader. This experience paved my way to two more leadership roles. Background CE 2.2 It was almost four years in UET Lahore. And being a student of engineering I almost had the fundamental knowledge of the field by that point. I wanted to use my theoretical knowledge in some practical way. I had already studied the mechanics of materials 1 and 2. And performed various experiments in lab to find out the material properties such as; ductility, malleability, brittleness and toughness. In 8th semester ANSYS was being used as external load analysis software in Finite Element Analysis course. I was assigned a project to select a topic and perform it in the lab and as well as analyze it using ANSYS. That was a good opportunity to gain practical experience and integrate the knowledge of Mechanics of Materials and Finite Element Analysis. Nature of Project: CE 2.3 This project included the calculation for drop testing of mild steel. In industry and real world different items and object face different kind of environmental conditions. Drop testing was used for shock loading effects. First of all, theoretical modeling was done for drop table to check either items can survive shock or not. Then commercial finite element software was used to investigate the response of drop table. Objective of the Project: CE 2.4 The objective of the report was to determine mechanical strength of mild steel. I had to use drop testing method then I investigated its behavior on finite element software. Nature of My Particular Work Area CE 2.5 In this project, I had to perform calculations for drop table by taking it as a fixed beam at both ends and applying a sinusoidal shock load of 100 gram. Then calculations were made to calculate the maximum binding stress produced in drop table. CE 2.6 Organizational Structure CE 2.7 Statement of Duties Being leader of the group my scope of duties included: To plan the project for timely completion. To make work packs to ensure health and safety. Conduct meeting with members and supervisor for mutual feedback. Theoretical calculation of drop test mechanism on mild steel. Report writing and technical presentation. Personal Engineering Activity CE 2.8 I started with literature review about drop testing and FEA on internet and library. Subsequent discussions with my professor led me up to kick off my calculations. The second step of course was to select certain parameters and their dimensions for drop testing. These parameters are given in the table below. The drop table material and the shock load value was assigned to us by our professor. I chose the dimensions of the table and mass of test item carefully. If the mass of the table is too less it wont be able to bear the shock itself let alone the test item. To make things more clear, test item is always on the top of table when shock is being applied on it. Now the next step was to calculate the weight of the table.Table thickness = d = 0.0125mTable length = l = 0.3mTable width = b = 0.3m Weight of the table =W1 = density * volume*gW1 = 86.75 NWeight of the test item = W2= 20KG = 196 NTotal Weight = W = W1+W2 = 282.75 N Moment of Inertia = I = 4.88 * 10-8 m-4 The rest of the calculations are shown belowTo calculate shock factor, F, I needed to calculate . Shock duration, , is 0.01 s and the natural time period, , is given as below: Where ,, is the static deflection and is calculated as follows: Where, W = Weight per unit length, N/m = E = Youngs modulus of Elasticity of Mild Steel = 210 x 109 N/m2 So, after substituting the values in the above equation Hence, As a result, CE 2.9 By using the graph below in Figure 1, we deduce that F factor comes out to be 1.2. Figure 1: Calculation of Factor F Moreover, some of the basic calculations are done below: Dynamic load is calculated as Pd = F * M * AA= Applied Shock = 100gM= Total Weight/gravitational force (g) Therefore , Pd = 33930 Newton Now, I have to calculate maximum bending stress Max Bending Stress =(Bending Moment * Distance from axis)/ Inertia Max Bending Stress = 48.88 MPa I verified the bending moment calculations as they were performed by my team mate and it is beyond the scope of this report to discuss it fully here. CE 2.9 According to the principle of mechanics, if the maximum bending stress produced by the applied load is less than the ultimate tensile strength of the material then the material can withstand the applied load without failure and vice versa. In this case, since the ultimate tensile strength of mild steel is 165 MPa which is greater than the maximum bending stress of 48.88 MPa produced by the applied load, drop table will easily sustain the 100 g shock loading. CE 2.10 Computational dynamics came into play in the form of FEA as I used ANSYS to simulate static deflection of the drop table subjected to 100 g shock loading. The load is applied on the top surface of drop table in form of pressure and both ends of the table are fixed by using fixed support. Material properties used for the drop table are shown in the figure 2 below. Figure 2: Material properties of the test piece CE 2.11 I still remember that there came a point where my team was very much stressed out because of the criticality of the extensive calculations involved. In fact, my team failed in couple of iterative processes and they wanted to give up on this project. I summoned a meeting where I emphasized on the fact that every failure is itself a step towards success. By omitting those factors which are causing us disappointment should be identified and removed. My team appreciated the gesture and went on to complete the project with more enthusiasm and that is when we finally got the 3D mesh of the work piece as shown below in figure 3: Figure 3: 3D meshing of the drop table The parameters for meshing details are show in figure 4 below. Figure 4: Meshing parameters obtained during FEA CE 2.11 After the meshing, the sinusoidal shock load of 100 g, shown in figure below, depicts that the maximum Von Mises stress produced in drop table amounts to be 50.23 MPa. Our theoretical calculated maximum stress comes out to be 48.88 MPa. Again, I can surely say that this stress is within the bearable load limits of the table load and hence wont fracture. The stress patterns are shown in figure 5 below. Figure 5: Static structural analysis of drop table CE 2.12 Mild steel is a very stiff material so a very high shock wave is generated when drop table hits the mild steel. On the other hand, due to its stiffness the duration of the shock is very low. In case of mild steel peak shock value calculated was 55.84 g when a drop table is dropped from a height of 330 m. Below figure 6 depicts this behavior in the form of a graph. Figure 6: Shock loading VS Time Graph CE 2.13 Von Mises stress contours produced when drop table strikes with mild steel attached sensors are shown in the figure below. Stress contours clearly shows that high stresses are produced in region where drop table makes contact with the object. Highest stress produced is 49.9 MPa as shown in figure 7. Figure7: Von Mises stress contours produced in case of mild steel programmers contact CE 2.14 As we had to use Lab with heavy machinery and metal pieces, I made sure that every used proper safety procedure such as wearing PPE. Toolbox talks and near miss discussions were conducted before every session. That was the reason project was completed without any accidents. Summary CE 2.15 The timely completion of this project boosted up my technical knowledge and had an ever lasting impact on my people and time management skills. Later on, during one of my internships I realized that my quality check department was facing a material failure issue. Keeping in view this project I performed the drop testing and deduced that the material wasnt strong enough to resist the stresses and buckled in extreme loading conditions. My study was well praised and they switched from Steel to Aluminum and since then have got fewer failures.

Essay --

The drinking age in America should be changed and it is because the tax revenue caused by the increased population of drinkers will be paying more taxes for the alcohol produced. The maturity of the adult population changes through the span of three years, but adults can drink in other countries while fighting for it. In the year of 1919 prohibition for alcohol was introduced into America. The tax revenue from alcohol would increase due to the population of people buying alcohol would increase. Between the age of eighteen and twenty, there is a no tolerance for alcohol law throughout America. In the state of North Carolina, along with other states, at the age of twenty-one and older the alcohol level is 0.08 percent. Many European and South American countries have lower drinking ages, such as Germany being sixteen. However, teenagers in Germany can only buy beer instead of liquor. Introducing minor alcoholic beverages to adults at the age of eighteen reduces the amount of negative ef fects of drinking too much alcohol. Australia‘s drinking age is eighteen; however, some citizens in their country disagree with the drinking have tried to increase the drinking age to twenty-one to follow America. Fifty percent of Australians are for increasing the age, but fifty percent are for the drinking age of eighteen. Increasing the drinking age in Australia would not keep eighteen year-olds from drinking. The law of drinking at a lower age also applies to the standards in America. Many adults in America at the age of eighteen have no drinking privileges, which affects the maturity and economy drastically. Alcohol can affect adults of various ages, but the legal age of drinking has a lack of adults paying due to the drinking law. Adults at the... ...ld increase because there would be more jobs and more rules for drinking at eighteen. Other countries such as Germany, Australia, and United Kingdom believe their youth is more mature, because their drinking age is lower. The youth in other countries, such as Germany, show more responsibility when drinking alcoholic beverages. Germany and the United Kingdom have an increased population of children drinking at a younger age, but introduce it to children safely. The population of drinking is more common in European countries which show that there are fewer alcoholics that affect society. Teenagers in other countries become a large part of society at the age of most children in America are becoming average drivers. However, the maturity of citizens in European countries varies depending on the drinking age. Many adults would mature faster and have more jobs and taxes.

Lead Systems Eng :: essays research papers

20th Century Genius I selected Carl Jung at the beginning of this course because I had done some general research on a few of the people that were on the list, which was supplied in our course module. When I came to Carl Jung I found that he was born in Switzerland just north of Geneva. At the time I was living in Geneva, and I felt it would be interesting to do research on someone who was from Switzerland. What I leaned about Carl Jung was fascinating, although there is so much more to lean about this individual and also his area of genius. Many of the concepts certainly would take more advanced study and research. However, I believe he is a good candidate for 20th century genius and he deserves that distinction. Carl Jung, pronounced (Carl Young), is an intellectual genius and his field of genius is in the science of psychology. The science or field of psychology is truly left to those with intellectual prowess, however, from what I have learned about this man, is that he is not only a participant of this field, but he also has shaped and made significant contribution to this, the science of psychology. I believe it takes a genius no less to study psychology, but even more so to shape and lead in this field. Psychology is such a difficult, complex and advanced study because the human mind, emotions and human behavior is so very complex. The word, †Complex† is interesting because it was Carl Jung who coined that term in a book he published titled, â€Å"Studies in word association†, but more on that later. Psychologists have little more than their intellect as tools to rely on. What is interesting about Carl Jung is that part of his life falls along the fringe of our studies over the past five weeks. For example, he was born in Switzerland and his father was a protestant priest. We also learned that Switzerland is where Calvinism really took hold. These things, the birth of Protestant and Calvinism began as a result of the Reformation, which we learned earlier in our studies. Also, one of his theories about the unconscious falls on the fringe of our recent studies in art. So, to study Carl Jung I felt really tied in nicely with our study of Humanities. First, a little background on Carl Jung.

Interaction Between Teenagers and Their Parents Essay

In my opinion, there is not enough interaction between teenagers and their parents these days. I think it is true because of career of their parent, modern technology, and distance between them. The first reason is the career of their parent. The parents always hope their children were life in the best condition and were taken care in the best services. So they try to earn more money in order to pay for the fee of education of their children. It make them word harder, and they lost the time for talking and playing with their children. Therefore, more and more children feel familiar with butler than their parents. The second reason is the distance between them. Their parent attempt to get promote in their work so they work more than another coworker. They make more money and their children have better teacher, life condition and the butler who take care the children replacing their parent. The children grow up in the butler hand so the children feel familiar with butler and sometimes think butler is more important than their parents. Finally, the modern technology is a big trouble made increasing the distance between them. Nowadays, there are many modern technology staff to children enjoy such as, the computer, PlayStation, and entertainments. The children have many friend online and they spend much time on internet with friend instead of helping their parent do housework or get actually experience from their parents. In short, interaction between teenagers and their children is less and less so the parents need care their children more and make them become a useful and responsible person. The children need to be grow up in loving.

Environmental policy Essay

â€Å"Environmental policy can’t be based solely on efficiency arguments. Issues of ethics are at least as important.† Discuss The above statement is true to a certain extent and in the course of this essay a balanced discussion will be presented in the hope that the outcomes will prove this to be true. To begin, the thoughts of some Russian intellectuals will be put forwards on the subject of Utilitarianism and why efficiency is self-destructive in the long run, thus supporting the statement â€Å"Environmental policy can’t be based solely on efficiency arguments.† To lead on from this there will be a dialogue as to the problems faced by old command and control (hence forth referred to as CAC) policies such as direct regulation and emissions fees from an efficiency and ethical viewpoint. Then, these methods of environmental policy and the ideas of Ronald Coase will be highlighted as an example of ethical influence in possible environmental policy as well as from an efficiency standpoint. Following this will be an outlining of the development of the U.S Tradable permits approach to air pollution control and the ethical influences therein. Taking the ethical issues point raised in the title statement one step further then leads onto the idea of ethical considerations. These have been based around an anthropocentric perspective, thus far and so at this point some views from an eco-centric stance will be considered. To do this, A. Leopold’s ‘The Land Ethic’ will be looked at. The rights of nature will be brought under the umbrella of Ethical issues and discussed from a policy perspective. What economists mean by â€Å"economic efficiency†, is that â€Å"in an ideal economic system, goods worth more than they cost to produce get produced, goods worth less than they cost to produce do not.† (D. Friedman. 2004) This holds firm throughout this discussion, along with the idea of efficiency as it is defined as both: â€Å"The production of the desired effects or results with minimum waste of time, effort or skill,† (dictionary.com 2004) and as â€Å"A measure of effectiveness; specifically, the useful work output divided by the energy input in any system† (dictionary.com 2004). In different aspects of environmental policy, these different definitions of efficiency hold true, though it is clear that they all have the same thing in mind when referring to efficiency. As it Stands, Utilitarianism (the theory of Jeremy Bentham) is an example of efficiency if it were to be applied to policy. Valdimir Odoevsky, â€Å"one of the most brilliant and influ ential representatives of progressive thought [in Russia]† (A. Frolova 1998) of his time, produced a development of the utilitarian theory of J. Bentham, which is illustrated in Alla Frolova’s article ‘Ecological reasoning: Ethical alternatives’. The utilitarian approach to life as put across by Odoevsky, who states that â€Å"utility is an essential driving force of all human actions,† (A. Frolova 1998) it is said to be the driving force for all laws, legislations, activities and morals. It is also suggested that under the notion of utilitarianism, utility should be allowed to take the place of all notions of so called consciousness, so called inborn feeling, all poetical dreams and fantasies. This is a very powerful tool for the representation of efficiency as the sole driver of any policy decisions, even environmental ones, however it is a valid viewpoint where ethics is not taken into consideration. Odoevsky talks of a civilization called Benthamia where under the concept of utility everything runs in a sustainable way. However it is when a new civilization is founded outside of Benthamia that the problems associated with a system void of ethics emerge. Through the use of political intrigues, deceit, and bribery, as well as organizing quarrels among any rival civilizations that emerge in order to weaken them for the benefit of Benthamia, the Benthamites extend their power. After they have sufficiently weakened a civilization to the point where that civilization is of no further use to Benthamia, the weakened civilization is taken into full possession either by the acquisition of it (at the cheapest efficient price) or by the use of force. All of these points are seen to be ethically wrong in today’s world where ethics is â€Å"A set of principles of right conduct† (A. Frolova 1998) and even when there is a call for utilization of â€Å"deserted islands† (A. Frolova 1998) rather than taking over the crushed neighbors of Benthamia, the suggestions are condemned and those who put them forwards are said to be â€Å"idle dreamers† (A. Frolova 1998). In Odoevsky’s vision of utilitarianism, Benthamia is torn apart from within due to different self interests associated with differing social situations throughout the growing civilization and as it is put by Odoevsky â€Å"One day glorious Benthamia ceased to exist.† (A. Frolova 1998) Odoevsky perceives nature as sensitive and responsive in regard to human morals and this representation of efficiency as the sole driver of decision making shows that ethics are important in every aspect of what we do. Less extreme examples of efficiency in environmental policy can be seen when looking at cases such as the policy relating to dealing with the inefficiencies associated with the production of steel. Classic approaches to the problem of the externalities of steel production include direct regulation by the government based on telling the steel industry how much they can pollute, as well as emission fees (called Pigouvian taxes). Emission fees are based around the concept of charging steel companies for the damage done by its pollution. The idea of direst regulation is seen to be an inefficient environmental policy whereas emission fees are said to produce an efficient amount of steel as well as an efficient amount of pollution control. In the real world however emission fees policy is not efficient as it is difficult to measure what the damage caused is as well as it being inefficient to spend time looking for the damage caused. These two policies are based around the idea of efficiency in the steel industry (as an example), though with the insight of R. Coase and the introduction of what many have dubbed â€Å"Coase Theorem† social cost can be associated with efficiency to create a better overall way of viewing the problem of externalities through the introduction of property rights. Rather than a system whereby the government defines the measures that need to be taken by industry or where it is left to the polluter to deal with the control methods as with the previously mentioned CAC policies, the idea of Coase’s theorem defines a policy where, â€Å"if transaction costs are zero – if, in other words, any agreement that is in the mutual benefit of the parties concerned gets made, then any initial definition of property rights leads to an efficient outcome† (D. Friedman. 2004) The way that his argument is put across in the article entitled ‘the Swedes get it right’ is based around the cost of abatement of pollution in a steel factory Vs. the cost of changing downwind land use from a resort to a timber forest. The article, written by D. Friedman, puts forwards a very efficient environmental policy whereby the distribution of property rights leads to the internalization of externalities and the most cost effective outcome on a social level. Under the notion of Coase theorem, if it is cheaper for the resort to pay the factory for the cost of pollution abatement rather than change his own land use then this should be done, producing a situation where everybody is happy and the overall conditions are more desirable. This efficiency based policy is seen to be an advancement of old efficiency based policy though there are still problems associated with it due to the fact that ethics are not considered. One of the largest problems noted by Coase is the idea of the â€Å"Public Good Problem† (D. Friedman. 2004). If there are many different people living downwind of a factory and they contribute to the abatement of the pollution, then if one person does not pay because doing so wont make a difference to whether the abatement is paid or not and the abatement does go through, then that person is seen to be a â€Å"free rider† (D. Friedman. 2004) getting abatement for free. This is why air pollution in Southern California still persists, as there are millions of people living in the area it is hard to get a situation where everyone pays for the abatement of pollution and it is not possible to re-locate this vast number of people. Coase argues that it is not the externalities that essential ly create the problem, but that it is the transaction costs. A policy approach to the environment that has taken ethical issues into consideration can be seen in the US formation of a tradable permit approach to air pollution control. In the discussion about the US system ethical consideration is defined in either of two contexts: â€Å"(1) when the decisions seem to reflect altruistic concerns which transcend self-interest and (2) when the decisions seem to provide special treatment to ‘rights’ which seem to have a special moral justification† (T. Tietenberg. 1998). The emissions trading program is set out as a straight forwards, flexible market based policy where the trading of permits is allowed and efficiency is increased due to the self interests of the participating industries. Through the acquisition of an â€Å"emission reduction credit (ERC)† (T. Tietenberg. 1998) this trading can take place and to acquire this ERC a company must lower its emissions to a point below the required level put forwards by the Cle an air act. Further efficiency is established by the way that the ERC system allows new firms to come into the market, thus, â€Å"by introducing the offset policy EPA [the Environmental protection agency] allowed economic growth to continue whilst insuring progress toward attainment.† (T. Tietenberg. 1998) The efficiency of the tradable permits system can be seen by analysis, which concluded that â€Å"the proposed 0.01 g per leaded gallon (gplg) standard would result in $36 billion ($1983) in benefits (from reduced adverse health effects) at an estimated cost to refining industry of $2.6 billion.† (T. Tietenberg. 1998) As well as being implemented at a national level. Tradable permit systems have also been applied at a regional scale, with air pollution in California being an example of this. RECLAIM (Regional Clean Air Incentives Market) shifts the burden of identifying the appropriate control strategies from the control authorities to the polluter (a point that made direct regulation an inefficient policy based solution, as previously mentioned), and thus the system again proves to be effective due to the fact that now, pollution prevention is given an economic underpinning. Along with these examples off efficiency, the tradable permits system, when compared to emissions char ges and emission standards comes out as a far more effective environmental policy. Ethics can be observed in the Tradable permits approach however, and evidence seen in the paper ‘Ethical influences on the evolution of the US tradable permit approach to air control’ suggests that ethical considerations have played a role in shaping the environmental objective, the choice of instruments, the definition of the tradable commodity, the treatment of shutdown credits, the relationship to traditional regulation and the rules governing permit trades. Thus it is the opinion of the author T. Tietenberg, that ethical influences on the evolution of the US tradable permit approach have been â€Å"blended with pragmatic and political concerns to forge a compromise approach† (T. Tietenberg. 1998). This means that even if ethical issues are considered they do not hold as much weight as efficiency arguments and result in efficiency bias compromises. This can be seen in the case of shut down credits. Among the various ways of creating credits this has been the most controversial point. It is controversial, ethically, because the economic incentive should be targeted at positive actions to reduce pollution through the investment of new control equipment and not through shut-down (which is where a factory is shut down to create a large number of tradable ERC’s). As a result the compromise has produced a situation whereby â€Å"all shut-down credits either revert to the control authority or they could be freely transferred to buyers† (T. Tietenberg. 1998). This is a result that doesn’t stop the process of shut-downs (as would be ethically acceptable) but allows the process to continue but with efficient outcomes rather than hoarding of ERC’s. The ethical issues that have been represented in the case study of Tradable permits in the US have been examples of human-centric ethics focusing on welfare. Some environmentalists, such as A. Leopold focus more on eco-centric ethics and present an argument that through social evolution the land itself should be considered as a member of the community which is taken into account in environmental policy. Leopold, in his article, ‘The Land Ethic’ explains his concept and the problems associated with achieving this goal. It is said to be the case that our educational and economic system is heading away from, rather than towards â€Å"an intense consciousness of land† (A. Leopold. 1949) . Leopold shows through the use of specific examples how there are essentially two different types of conversationalists, as Leopold puts it there are the â€Å"economic value grabbers† (A. Leopold. 1949) and those that see â€Å"land as biota† (A. Leopold. 1949) and worr y about the secondary functions of things such as forests. Leopold gives a good illustration of this through the use of sport and meat. Group A, the economic value grabbers, when presented with the idea, will think efficiently about the subject, being satisfied with the thought that these are things that ‘come from’ nature. Group B however, worries about biotic side issues, for example the cost in predators of producing a game crop. Whereas the ideas associated with Coase’s theorem are related to the health issues and other things that affect humans living downwind of the factory, it is the conclusion of Leopold that, â€Å"A land ethic, then, reflects the existence of an ecological conscience, and this in turn reflects a conviction of individual responsibility for the health of the land† (A. Leopold. 1949). This view holds that the land is to be conserved or protected as some sustainability policies are currently leading towards. It is the opinion of Leopold that sustainability policy should be based around ideas of eco-centric ethics rather than being based around the idea that it is a ne cessity to promote sustainable policies from a human centric point of view. To conclude it can be said that efficiency is still the main focus of environmental policy making however over time the emergence of ethics in policy has emerged, though ethical issues are not considered to be at least as important as efficiency arguments. It has been said that â€Å"without some kind of ethic (a theory of right and responsibility) and some kind of axiology (or value theory) we lack guidance and direction for tackling problems, whether global, environmental, or otherwise† (R. Attfield. 1999). The discussion in this essay has led towards an outcome that supports the statement to a certain degree. It has been shown through the use of the utilitarian argument and some CAC policy methods that efficiency is not the only thing that has to be considered in environmental policy making, and the US case-study supports the notion that a certain amount of ethics has to be involved. But the nature of the ethics that is applied is essentially Human-centric and to consider ethical issues in environmental policy to be as important as efficiency the idea of a land ethic is an important one. As Leopold says himself the idea of a land ethic is not yet public opinion and in fact is only being kept alive by a minority who has revolted against modern trends of efficiency and human-centric ethics. Ethical issues are not as important as efficiency arguments in environmental policy though if the land ethic were to become a popular opinion through re-education and a shift in social thinking then there is a hope that in time the statement will be completely justified. References A. Leopold (1949) The Land Ethic. In: A Second County Almanac. Oxford University Press. Oxford. Alla Frolova (1998) Ecological reasoning: Ethical alternatives. Ecological Economics, 24. p.169-182. Dictionary.com (2004) http://dictionary.reference.com/ David Friedman The Swedes get it right. http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Libertarian/The_Swedes.html (2004) Robin Attfield (1983) The Ethics of Environmental Concern. Basil Blackwell. Oxford. Robin Attfield (1998) Existence value and intrinsic value. Ecological Economics, 24. p. 163-168 Robin Attfield (1999) The Ethics of the Global Environment. Edinburgh University Press. Edinburgh. Robert Elliot (1995) Environmental Ethics. Oxford University Press. Oxford. Tom Tietenberg (1998) Ethical influences on the evolution of the US tradable permit approach to air pollution control. Ecological Economics, 24. p. 241-257. Student no. 00020854702E