How technologies can be used to make the border system stronger Dissertation

How technologies can be used to make the border system stronger - Dissertation Example The topic of research is based on the concept of border security. In the past, the researcher has worked in the Homeland Security Centers of Excellence and it is through his experience at the department that directed him towards basing his research project on border security. Homeland Security dispatches a range of resources and funds to the federal, state and the local governments, allowing the amalgamation of a number of individually-operating agencies into a collective whole. The agencies work in collaboration with each other for the achievement of shared objectives. These objectives aim to uphold the integrity and security of the country and subserve to provide the utmost protection to the US population. The Homeland Security Centers of Excellence operate under the Office of University Programs and aim to recruit and attract renowned researchers and enthusiasts for carrying out research programs. The research brings together professionals from various fields and uses their expert ise to come up with solutions for homeland security. Each research center is affiliated with a university and their research ventures are supported and collaborated upon by a number of agencies including think tanks, laboratories, and private institutions. The research work carried out at the Security Centers is in line with the research requirements of the divisions of the Department of Homeland Security  Science and Technology Directorate. The collaboration helps to deliver top-of-the-line technology solutions for the problems facing the Department as well as the country on the whole (U.S. Department of Homeland Security 2009). In particular, one of the Centers, National Center for Border Security and Immigration, is focused on the promotion and enhancement of border security. This was the Center that I was associated with. The Centre is led and supported by two universities: one being the research co-lead while the other is the education co-lead. The Center is committed to the development of technologies, tools and sophisticated procedures to regulate and monitor immigration and business across the borders. This involves the development of projects that promote border security and make it stronger and more effective. There are a number of aspects relating to borders security that the Center focuses on; these include risks and weaknesses, better surveillance and screening, analysis of immigration patterns and improvements in immigration law enforcement (U.S. Department of Homeland Security 2009). The conditions that have developed after the 9/11 have exposed many gaps in the security and surveillance mechanisms. These gaps and vulnerabilities have become yet more acute in light of pressing security demands after the rise in terrorism over the previous years. Besides the post-9/11 conditions and terrorism there are other factors that have necessitated a revision of the immigration and border security systems. These include greater security reviews, insuffic ient collaboration with NGOs and the government, disputed policy tensions etc (Kerwin 2011). My research question is how important is border security today and what measures can be taken to improve it? The research project focuses in particular on the development and enforcement of better surveillance mechanisms and advanced technologies for regulating the influx of immigrants as well as goods such as false documents, illegal medicines, drugs and other illegal items. The project focuses on various aspects associated with development of such technologies, including their pros and cons. One of the key features that guarantees the success of a research project is the amount of information collected regarding it. Keeping this in mind, the research objectives can be defined as follows: Revisiting the importance of border security Identifying the need to develop better methods of surveillance and border security Reviewing the available literature and successful technologies used

Humanitarian Intervention Essay Example for Free

Humanitarian Intervention Essay By way of analogy, one should think of the world as a large neighborhood where people live and go about their business. Naturally, whenever one would ask for help, they would approach their neighbor for it and it is up to the latter to render that help or not if it is within their capacity to provide that help. The issue here now is what if help is not asked for and yet a neighbor sees trouble. Would he let them be or get involved to address the issue? Viewing it from a bigger picture, the world stage also faces this kind of problem. There are states that also face a similar situation. The challenge now is, should other states intervene even if they are not â€Å"invited? † This is the dilemma facing members of the international community today and even the United Nations, supposedly the first line of defense and the court of last resort of states that are in danger of becoming failed states or where political instability is too much for national governments to handle on their own or they became repressive towards their own people that the latter have nowhere else to turn to. There are some states that want to intervene in the affairs of other states precisely for this reason, which is primarily to help, nothing more. But this would present a dilemma. Which is more important or carries more weight, (international) human rights, or (national) sovereignty? Is there a distinction between â€Å"humanitarian intervention† and imperialism? What could be well-meaning intervention to help the poor and oppressed people of a particular country could be viewed as an invasion or an encroachment or violation of sovereignty and thereby earn the condemnation of the rest of the international community. The issue now is if the intervention undertaken is legitimate. Legitimacy of actions is not definite and is subjective, depending on how one views it. The Following are cases of humanitarian interventions conducted in the past and how did the international community react to it: East Pakistan (Bangladesh) – 1971: When British India became independent from Britain in 1947, it had adverse consequences, independence also led to the partition of India which saw the creation of a separate Muslim state of Pakistan. Pakistan, in turn, was divided into West Pakistan, where the seat of government is situated and East Pakistan, located along Indias eastern border. These two states are separated by India. Furthermore, despite carrying the same name â€Å"Pakistan,† these two states are culturally different despite being Muslim, those in the east speak Bengali, a language that is related to that of the Indians. The east Pakistanis did not feel any cultural affinity with those from the west and they feel marginalized. Because of this â€Å"cold† treatment from the west, they began batting for autonomy led by the Awami League of Sheik Mujibur Rahman. The leaders in the west saw it as an act of secession and moved swiftly to suppress it through military intervention. What happened next was a virtual civil war as the East Pakistanis, or Bengalis resisted the West Pakistanis, seeing them more as invaders and the latter responded with severe repression that saw countless atrocities being committed. The matter was brought up the United Nations (UN) where the actions of Pakistan was condemned yet no severe action was taken as the UN Security Council was divided with the United States and China backing up Pakistan and the Soviet Union on Indias side. The partiality of the superpowers prevented any punitive measures taken against Pakistan. India had been covertly supporting Bengali resistance served as the latters staging area for attacks against Pakistani occupiers. This led Pakistan to believe India joined the battle and the Third India-Pakistan War broke out. Eventually, Indian forces prevailed. India’s victory also assured the independence of East Pakistan which was renamed Bangladesh (Wheeler, 2000, pp. 63-64). Somalia (1992-1993): UN involvement in this East African nation stemmed from the famine that has nearly devastated Somalia. This was further exacerbated by the increasing anarchy brought about by the lack of a central government and with competing warlords vying for control as civil war broke out in 1991. The UN organized a peacekeeping mission called United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM) calling for the establishment of a security force of 50 UN troops in Somalia to monitor the ceasefire. Despite the UNs efforts, the ceasefire was ignored by the warlords, especially Mohammed Farid Aidid. Fighting continued and further intensified, jeopardizing UN relief efforts as they were targeted for attacks as well. The harassment of UN personnel prompted the intervention of the United States in what became Operation Restore Hope to ensure the continuation of the relief efforts and what makes American presence different was that it was authorized to utilize all necessary means to ensure the protection of the relief efforts which it initially did, conducting proactive military operations against militias until October on 1993, following the â€Å"Blackhawk Down† incident in October of 1993, the Clinton Administration, in a knee-jerk reaction to the casualties incurred (18 US soldiers killed and one captured), ordered the pull out of US forces from Somalia (Wheeler, 2000, pp. 172-176). The absence of American military muscle also led to the pull out of UN forces from the region as well and Somalia is still what it was 10 years ago where lawlessness still prevailed and this was further evidenced by the proliferation of pirates along the Indian Ocean which used Somalia as the base of operations owing to the lawlessness there. Rwanda (1993-1994): In the case of Rwanda, ethic conflict broke out between the Hutus and Tutsis. The UN intervened through the creation of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) on October of 1993 to oversee the peace efforts in the region. The biggest contributing countries along with Belgium were Ghana, Tunisia, Bangladesh, and Canada. In the latter part of 1993, both Hutus and Tutsis appeared to be honoring the Arusha Accords, and reaffirmed such commitment to creating a new, broad-based transitional government by the end of the year. However, things went sour following the downing of the aircraft carrying Rwandan President Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntarayima of Burundi. It inflamed hatred and a killing spree ensured. Among the first targets of the genocide were Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana and 10 Belgian members of UNAMIR after handing over their weapons to Rwandan government troops. In a knee-jerk reaction similar to what the Clinton Administration did following the international embarrassment the United States suffered in Somalia in 1993, Belgium pulled out its troops from UNAMIR and other contingents followed suit. UNAMIR was left with 270 soldiers supported by less than 200 local authorities. The UNAMIR did the best it could with what forces remained. As individuals and as a group, members of the UNAMIR forces did manage to save the lives of thousands of Tutsis in and around Kigali and the few areas of UN control. Despite their best efforts, to the eyes of the world, they appeared to be apathetic or indifferent, standing idly by as Hutus were murdering Tutsis on a larger scale. The French deployed troops following the outbreak of the genocide yet it was for the purpose of evacuating their embassy as well as several members of the late president’s cabinet (Wheeler, 2000, p. 219). The genocide eventually abated with the arrival of a multi-national force from several African states. Yugoslavia (1995-Present): Following the collapse of the communist regime in Yugoslavia, age-old ethnic hatreds reemerged as pre-World War I states began to come back into existence as the nation Josip Broz Tito once ruled disintegrated. This was very apparent in the hatred towards the local Muslim population, particularly by the (Bosnian) Serbs. There were eight UN PKOs in the former Yugoslavia and they were made up of over 20 member states. Despite signing a truce, the civil war resumed and it was the Bosnian Muslims, and later the Kosovars who bore the brunt of Serb brutality which was presided over by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and Serbian leader Radovan Karadic. They invoked nationalism to inflame the passions of the Serbs who then proceeded to conduct â€Å"ethnic cleansing† which was underscored by the massacre at Srebrenica in 1995 which was supposed to be a UN â€Å"safe area† and this happened after Serb forces drove a UN peacekeeping contingent out when the latter could not defend themselves against a larger Serb force and had to pull out. In retaliation, there were some peacekeepers even held hostage by the Bosnian Muslims and used as human shields to force the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) into attacking the Serbs. Seeing the ineffectiveness of the UN PKO, NATO began to intervene to add more political muscle starting with air strikes to bring the Serbs back to the negotiating table and eventually deploying troops to enforce the peace in the troubled region as a â€Å"stabilization force† and took it upon themselves to go after Serbian war criminals (Wheeler, 2000, p. 16). Analysis: Upon close analysis, all these situation involved humanitarian intervention which called for the deployment of a military force to make humanitarian relief efforts possible. Among the given cases, it would be nearly impossible to determine which is the least justified. If there needs to be one, it would have to be India’s intervention in Pakistan’s civil war which became its war against Pakistan as well. It would be least justified if it is seen from a legal perspective. India was interfering in what seemed to be an internal dispute between Pakistan. Beyond the legal however, one has to take into consideration that India is flanked on both side by East (Bangladesh) and West Pakistan and strategically she would be in peril considering that her relationship with Pakistan is anything but cordial and as such would rather the face one opponent instead of two. Secondly, the Bengalis were closer to them than the Pakistanis despite being Muslim. Somalia, as well as Rwanda’ would turn out the ones that badly need humanitarian intervention. Given the utter lawlessness and chaos that has visited the country, it appears that the Somalis and Rwandans could not seem to address their problems and this thereby necessitates humanitarian intervention given the fact its people are suffering from famine and genocide respectively. Aid could not get through to them since there is virtually no government there to bring order and it is the warlords who are in charge and they care about is power. After seeing the UN as weak in enforcing its will, the United States, under the first Bush Administration, took the lead in bringing order back into Somalia but unfortunately the Clinton Administration took a different approach especially after the â€Å"Blackhawk Down† incident. Instead of following through to bring Aidid to justice, they decided to pull out. The same thing can be said in Rwanda as well, especially after the murder of the Belgian peacekeepers. Putting them together, the west appeared to be somewhat unwilling to make sacrifices to help address the problems of the Somalis and Rwandans, especially after the deaths of their people. It is as though they felt Africans were not worth saving or dying for and this has sent a wrong message – the west is unwilling to sacrifice for Africans and this also contains racist undertones and has placed a sense of embarrassment to the west for their apparent apathy or â€Å"cowardice† towards Africa. Yugoslavia proved to be the application of the lessons learned from Somalia and Rwanda as the Serbs went on an â€Å"ethnic cleansing† spree, killing Muslims. When news of the atrocities became known throughout the world, they took a stand and finally acted upon it with the deployment of NATO forces to enforce the peace but at the same time, operate with rules of engagement that would enable them to defend themselves appropriately while carrying out this vital mission. Wheeler’s point is that moral considerations should be taken into account. It can be inferred in his work that human life is the most precious thing on the planet and these are wasted or sacrificed needlessly by their own people and government for the sake of power or out of spite. Governments are supposed to look out for their citizens and if they cannot do this, who can the people turn to? This is a symptom of a failed state and it should be the moral responsibility of the international community to help restore order. The problem with laws, both national and international is that it is not perfect. Just because things are put into law does not mean it is perfect and explicit. Laws are inherently implicit as loopholes will be found and used to get around it and this is what prevents humanitarian interventions from taking place or condemn those who do intervene. Nevertheless, Wheeler presents a valid point in emphasizing the moral factor which he feels, as well as most of the world probably feels as well that as a (global) community, â€Å"neighbors† should look out for each other as well because what may seem an internal matter might someday move to their doorstep someday. This has to be addressed the soonest to preserve the peace and order in the community.

Very Short Wedding Toasts :: Wedding Toasts Roasts Speeches

Very Short Wedding Toasts The Light that Shines There is a light that shines beyond the heavens; this is the light that shines in your heart when you are in love. "May you have warmth in your igloo, oil in your lamp and peace in your heart!" ~Eskimo Proverb The Days of your Life May you live all the days of your life. — Jonathan Swift From this Day Forward May the face of every good news, And the back of every bad news, Be toward you, From this day forward. No Sorrow May the goblets of life hold no dregs of sorrow. Happy Endings I love weddings. They are where strange tales begin and happy endings are possible. Your Grandchildren’s Hair May I see you grey And combing your grandchildren’s hair. Your Right Hand May your right hand always Be stretched out in friendship And never in want. Luck Always remember, if you’re enough lucky to be married to _______, then you’re lucky enough! Misfortune May misfortune follow you the rest of your life, but never catch up. Mountain Girl Marry a mountain girl and you marry the whole mountain. The Bannister of Life As you and your wife slide down the bannister of life, May the splinters never point the wrong way. Your Laugh May your laugh, your love and your wine be plenty, thus your happiness will be nothing less. Your Enemies, Enemies. May God bless and keep in good health your enemies, enemies.

Prison and County Correctional Faculties Overcrowding Essay

The subject of prison overcrowding has been an issue for many years. It is not just the prisons that are overcrowded but also the county correctional facilities. In the U.S.A. today 1 in nearly 100 Americans are currently incarcerated (â€Å"Alec†, 2014). The reasons that the numbers are so high are due to the many different laws and strategies that have been put into place to try and stop crime. Laws such as â€Å"The three strikes law† that California implemented calls for mandatory sentencing for repeat offenders and New York’s â€Å"Broken window† stagey that calls for all crimes big or small to be prosecuted. These are good in theory but can also cause the prison system to be over loaded with offenders. In an effort to provide an example of overcrowding I chose the state of Tennessee to look at their inmate numbers and how the lack of space causes the overcrowding. There are 14 prisons in the state of Tennessee, 11 of them are run by the Department of Corrections and three are run by private companies. Each facility is up to 90% capacity and currently there are 20,476 people incarcerated in Tennessee prisons (â€Å"Alec†, 2014). There are 759 correction officer employed though out these prisons, and as you can see by the number there is an abundance of inmates compared to the amount of officers able to patrol this beat. In looking at the statistics one must not just look at current offenders that are serving time, also the offenders that are out on parole and probation. In the state of Tennessee alone there are 13,546 people on parole and 57,234 people on probation (â€Å"Alec†, 2014). There are only 759 officers for all these offenders. This number is where a lot of the influx of inmates comes from. The offenders that become inmates are not just due to fresh crimes. They are more often than not offenders that have reoffended or violated probation or parole. It is not just the prison facilities that are overcrowded; it is also the county corrections facilities or otherwise known as the county jails. As a former corrections officer I saw the overcrowding first hand, in  a jail that was made to house 180 inmates, there are currently to date 279 people taking up space in this jail. There is a small population of inmates with in this facility that are awaiting a bed in prison, so they are stayi ng in the county jails due to the fact they cannot move on to the prison system. They are serving TDOC time with the county; due to this jail being overcrowded they will often ask other jails that are within a certain radius to take inmates for safe keeping. This then transfers the inmate from one county jail to another, causing overcrowding for them. It is just they are less over crowded then the jail asking for the move. As discussed earlier, the new laws enacted and strategies put into place are done to prevent offenders from continuing to offend. It is used almost as a scare tactic; however most offenders that have more than one offense on their record are not unfamiliar with jail and trouble. They have more than likely been in and out of correctional facilities since they were young. I think for a slim few these laws and strategies are effective. I also feel that there are not enough programs to rehabilitate offenders; if the idea is to keep these people out of jail then society has to help them become a respectable part of it. In order for these programs to work research shows they much include; academic education, vocational education, moral recognition therapy, reasoning and rehabilitation, cognitive restructuring, cognitive behavioral treatment for sex offenders, behavioral treatment for sex offenders, surgical treatment for sex offenders, multi-system therapy, drug courts, drug treatment in the community they live, incarceration based drug treatment (â€Å"Analyzing the Effectiveness of Rehabilitation,† 2009). There must be a curriculum to these programs; the effort put forth to succeed must be done by the offender. There are many people in the prison system that with the correct amount of reconditioning can become law abiding citizens. One such program in the state of Tennessee is called Tennessee Reentry Collaborative, this program that was established in 2004 and works directly with The Tennessee Department of Corrections. Through the establishment of this program, smaller programs were formed that are local to all surrounding prisons and county jails. This program works closely with The Department of Homeland Security, Department of Children Services, Department of Veteran Affairs and many other agencies with in the state. These programs work together to establish regulations and rules that the programs must follow  (â€Å"Tennessee Department Of Corrections†, 2014). Another program that is located in Tennessee is called â€Å"Take One. This program enables the community to take control of the rehabilitation of offenders. The program Take One main purpose to the have individual organizations agree to mentor just one returning offender and his/her family for a period of one year. The offender is given an assessment and after they are classified the organization that chooses to help them with their rehabilitation begins to meet with the offender. This is usually about one year prior to release. Unlike some offenders, there are many that once their time is served they have no obligation to see a parole or probation officer. So once back in to society they have no guidance. This program helps keep them on track and continuing to get them the help they need to keep on the right path (â€Å"Tennessee Department Of Corrections†, 2014). References ALEC. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.alec.org/initiatives/prison-overcrowding/prison-overcrowding-tennessee/ Analyzing the Effectiveness of Rehabilitation. (2009, May). , (), . Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1160&context=srhonorsprogTennessee Department of Corrections. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.tn.gov/correction/rehabilitative/trec.html

Oedipus Rex – Entrapment of Mankind Through Reasoning

For example, when Alias and Oedipus Rexes were reveled with their prophecies, they tried to divert themselves away from it. As a result, they reverted themselves into the prophecy, therefore fulfilling it. Although man tries to control their own fate, in reality, such control is impossible and cannot be possessed. Through the use of Oedipus' life decisions, diction, and connotation of words to display the idea that man's most powerful attribute fails mankind. In other words, through Oedipus Rexes, Sophocles shows that reasoning cannot give mankind the power and control they sire. Therefore, such control and power for mankind does not exist.Oedipus Rexes proves that man's most powerful attribute Is reasoning. Sophocles gives his readers the idea that mankind is trapped through their most powerful attribute. Oedipus Rexes believed that he could escape the reality of his prophecy through his attempts to reason throughout it. However, his aim to avoid the prophecy using reason failed him . As the prophecy was revealed to Oedipus, he believed he could avoid it by leaving Corinth and the family whom he believed was his own blood. However, this thought of his is what failed him and lead to Oedipus actually fulfilling the prophecy.This decision leads mankind to believe that they can control their life through reasoning. As Oedipus moves onto Thebes, he crosses through the road where three roads meet. At this exact road, he meets Alias, his father, whom he does not know. Alias and Oedipus begin a feud start brawling with one another. Thus, completed. Although Oedipus continues onto Thebes and solves the sphinx's riddle, his success leads him into the second part of his prophecy being fulfilled as he meets Coast, marries her, bears children with her, and birth children of incest.In spite of the fact that Oedipus' best characteristic is his constant attempt to reason, it's his exact reasoning and questioning that lead him to the â€Å"truth† of the prophecy. Despite Oedipus' failed attempts to control the prophecy, Alias is also another culprit of failed attempts to reason. Alias, King of Thebes, birth a child with Coast and believed that he could become the next ruler of Thebes. However, a prophecy was told to Alias that his own son would soon murder him and take over. At this very moment, he decides It's best to bind Oedipus' feet and send him away to die.He does not realize, however, that this decision leads him Into the entrapment of his own life. He fulfills the actual prophecy when he tries to take Oedipus out of his life. This Is another failed attempt of reason. Therefore, man's most powerful attribute of proves that reasoning brings mankind doom. As Alias did not want his baby to kill him, he sends the baby away. The Old man sees the baby and picks it up because no mortal being would see a baby hurt and abandoned without having to pick it up. He gives the baby to his King of Thebes because he knows they cannot bare a child, feeling pi ty for them all.Oedipus himself hears about the prophecy and runs away from it. All these people, all these steps were made from attempts to reason and control the world, when in reality, it ultimately failed. Mankind cannot use their so- called â€Å"most powerful attribute of reasoning† to control their lives. If reasoning brings doom to mankind, what is the purpose of reasoning itself? Sophocles answers this question by proving through Oedipus Rexes that reasoning traps mankind, making mankind limited. The Chorus, whom supports Oedipus the most out of all characters of the play, reveal their thoughts and true emotion towards the doom of Oedipus.Through their character, Sophocles conveys the pity one may feel towards Oedipus whom was a great man dealt with UN inevitable doom. In a passage by the Chorus on pig. 18, they stated, â€Å"A prince of men/ Whose loot what citizen/ Did not with Emmy see,] How Deep the billows of calamity/Above him roll/Watch therefore and regard t hat supreme day;/And of no mortal say/That man is happy,† datelined by no grievous ill/He pass Life's goal In this passage, the Chorus shows how great of a man Oedipus was, nonetheless, how great of a King he was.He was not only great because of his role as King, he was great because he reasons. However, this characteristic of constant reasoning, to pursue and search for the truth leads to the fulfillment of the prophecy. When the Chorus says, â€Å"billows of calamity', they talk about the mass destruction Oedipus was placed in. On that day, he was realized he entrapped himself into the prophecy. Therefore, Oedipus acts as a representation of mankind, conveying the idea that seasoning dooms us all and traps mankind. Mankind is under the illusion that control exists and reason works.Through the first half of the stanza, the Chorus exemplifies their support for Oedipus. He was a Prince out of all the men, who gained respect and order from his people. After Oedipus discovered h is tragic state in the prophecy, such a situation could not be explained. It was disastrous, catastrophic, devastating, but all these words do not show how grievous this day was for Oedipus. He believed he escaped the prophecy and lead to be a King, a King of whom many honored. He set out to believe that he must save his city from disaster, from the plague, when he was the plague himself.The Chorus tells the readers to watch the day Oedipus fell into the prophecy and learn that no human being is lucky. No man has a goal, for their most powerful attribute fails them ultimately. Therefore, no man is lucky until they are dead. Sophocles shows through Oedipus Rexes that reasoning cannot give mankind the power and control that they desire. Through the understanding of the way Alias and Oedipus both failed at their attempts to reason and the Journey Oedipus invests myself into throughout the play, readers are able to see how Oedipus portrays a representation of mankind.Through his represe ntation, one may find that although doom upon him. This leads to the idea that reasoning fails mankind and the purpose of reasoning is invalid. Sophocles uses Oedipus life decisions, diction, and connotation of words to display the idea that man's most powerful attribute fails mankind. Although man tries to control their own fate, in reality, such control is impossible and cannot be be possessed.

An Overview of Scandium (Sc or Element 21)

An Overview of Scandium (Sc or Element 21) Basic Facts Atomic Number: 21Symbol: ScAtomic Weight: 44.95591Discovery: Lars Nilson 1878 (Sweden)Electron Configuration: [Ar] 4s2 3d1Word Origin: Latin Scandia: ScandinaviaIsotopes: Scandium has 24 known isotopes ranging from Sc-38 to Sc-61. Sc-45 is the only stable isotope.Properties: Scandium has a melting point of 1541 Â °C, a boiling point of 2830 Â °C, a specific gravity of 2.989 (25 Â °C), and valence of 3. It is a silvery-white metal which develops a yellowish or pinkish cast when exposed to air. Scandium is a very light, relatively soft metal. Scandium reacts rapidly with many acids. The blue color of aquamarine is attributed to the presence of scandium.Sources: Scandium is found in the minerals thortveitite, euxenite, and gadolinite. It is also produced as a byproduct of uranium refinement.Uses: Scandium is used to make high-intensity lamps. Scandium iodide is added to mercury vapor lamps to produce a light source with a color resembling sunlight. The radioactive isotope Sc-46 is us ed as a tracer in refinery crackers for crude oil. Element Classification: Transition Metal Physical Data Density (g/cc): 2.99Melting Point (K): 1814Boiling Point (K): 3104Appearance: somewhat soft, silvery-white metalAtomic Radius (pm): 162Atomic Volume (cc/mol): 15.0Covalent Radius (pm): 144Ionic Radius: 72.3 (3e)Specific Heat (20Â °C J/g mol): 0.556Fusion Heat (kJ/mol): 15.8Evaporation Heat (kJ/mol): 332.7Pauling Negativity Number: 1.36First Ionizing Energy (kJ/mol): 630.8Oxidation States: 3Standard Reduction Potential: Sc3 e → Sc E0 -2.077 VLattice Structure: HexagonalLattice Constant (Ã…): 3.310Lattice C/A Ratio: 1.594CAS Registry Number: 7440-20-2 Trivia Scandium was named after Scandinavia. Chemist Lars Nilson was attempting to isolate the element ytterbium from the minerals euxenite and gadolinite when he discovered scandium. These minerals were primarily found in the Scandinavia region.Scandium is the transition metal with the lowest atomic number.The discovery of scandium filled a spot predicted by Mendeleevs periodic table. Scandium took the place of the placeholder element eka-boron.Most scandium compounds have scandium with the Sc3 ion.Scandium has an abundance in the Earths crust of 22 mg/kg (or parts per million).Scandium has an abundance in seawater of 6 x 10-7 mg/L (or parts per million).Scandium is more abundant on the Moon than on Earth. References: Los Alamos National Laboratory (2001) Crescent Chemical Company (2001)Langes Handbook of Chemistry (1952)CRC Handbook of Chemistry Physics (18th Ed.) International Atomic Energy Agency ENSDF database (Oct 2010)

Environmental ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Environmental ethics - Essay Example r, some argue that a good way to do so would be to develop a non-anthropocentric ethical outlook that would taken into account rights of the animals and change the way people interact with nature. This paper will present how Islam can shape relationship between people and nature. By far the concept of oneness of God should be seen as an essential one in Islam. What is more important is that it is not found on theological level only, but is implemented on every other level. In other words, while Islam is a religious tradition, it also has some ideas that are relevant to the environment. It is estimated that the Quran has around 650 references to ecology (â€Å"Environmental Ethics in Islam†). However, one of the most important ones is the understanding that God is one and all environment belongs to Him. Therefore, people simply must not harm nature in any way. The most important thing about environmental ethics of Islam is that God Said in Quran: â€Å"And He has subjected to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth - all from Him. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought† (Qurad 45:13). It is suggested that when God created everything in the world, He left different signs in His creation that would reflect his majesty and glory. That is why a true believer should look at the environment as a collection of signs that show how great God is. With this idea in mind, it is absolutely impossible to permit any kind of harmful actions towards the nature and that would be seen as a deliberate ruining of harmony which was established by God Himself. The Quran states that all things in the world are â€Å"created in proportion and measure† (Quran 54:49). That is why if a person makes any change in the environment, for example by making an entire species extinct, than this balance is broke once and for all. What is more important is that people do not possess wisdom to restore the balance; that is why they should never perform actions that have