The Postal Age Book Review

The introduction used by Henkin was unique to the book. He utilized the story of Anthony Burns. A fugitive slave that was captured, Mr. Burns miraculously managed to write several letters from his jail cell in the state of Virginia, 1854. Mr. Burns managed to utilize the facilities postal system to communicate with his lawyer in Boston. Henkin used this story as a powerful introduction to the main portion of the book. The tome, The Postal age is broken down by Henkin into two distinct sections. Joining Network† which primarily focuses on the systematic nut and bolt spread of the postal system, how and what did people mailed and mail in a developing urban environment. The second section is â€Å"Postal Intimacy† which takes a look at the cultural aspect of letter writing styles and the cliches associated to its respective culture. Chapter Two, â€Å"Malleable matters† went on to discuss what people really mailed and how it was molded and evolved during his era of s tudy.Henkin spoke about the History of Transient newspapers were periodicals that were passed along by the post by someone other than the main publisher. People of that time used newspapers to relay information to recipients in very faraway places. This practice was fairly inexpensive as opposed to sending a regular letter. The postal bureaucracy didn’t agree with this practice and proceeded to shut it down. Sometime by the year 1845 Congress had actually passed an act the reduced the price of letters. This price reduction made it more attractive to send Letters as opposed to using Transient Newspapers.Henkin really didn’t cover much of the political legislation regarding such reforms. Covering such topics might have been helpful in completely understand the nuts and bolts of Joining a Network. Furthermore, Henkin addresses the rising transitory movements that were taking place during that time of the century. He addressed in particular how the migrant men of the Gold Rush and those of the Civil War wrote letters. During those times the men of the Gold rush were constantly surrounded be the debauchery of army camps and gold mining towns.Familial correspondence from mothers, sisters and wives became things that morally anchored these wandering men. This form of correspondence became a symbol of domesticity and moral influence. Men who had spend the previous night heavily drinking, carousing with prostitutes could open a letter from his loved ones and be swept up in a fit of repentance. The postal system wasn’t simply a form of communication but rather at times a moral anchor for those of which were a long ways from home. Mr. Henken went on to discuss the other types of the postal system

Dark green religion and hunting Essay

Hunting and Dark Green Religion with a Twist of Sport Hunting Dark Green Religion and hunting go hand in hand in the traditional sense. According to Dark Green Religion, as exemplified by Bron Taylor, the death of an animal should be appreciated and teach us the ethics of loving and caring for the bounty of our planet. Farm animals are killed all the time with the justification that they are for food. The conditions those animals deal with are explicitly anti-DGR. There are several types of hunting but the main two are hunting for subsistence and sport hunting. Hunting for food is acceptable because since the beginning of time, animals eat other animals, due to our carnal nature. Numerous environmentalists, in accordance with Bron Taylor, agree that hunting is a life function for almost all animals its either for survival or for food, therefore it is acceptable, but the death of an animal should come at a price of great sadness and appreciation. Dark Green Religion and its followers believe that animals have some sort of spiritual value, this leads them to respect all living things whether they are sentient beings or not. Humans are omnivores by nature, so eating dead animals is as natural as it can get, as long as it is not factory farmed. One thought that arises is what is naturally acceptable and what is not? In the wise words of Henry David Thoreau what is wild is good or â€Å"all good things are wild and free. †1 Anything that is untainted by humans is natural, just like killing for food is natural, but killing to show off skill is not because other animals in the wild do not kill for pleasure or thrill. It is either for food or for self-preservation in some rare cases. Through the various DGR literature pieces that are analyzed in this paper there is a spectrum in the environmental literature. 2At one end is the view that hunting is justified only for self protection and for food, where no other reasonable alternative is available. Most writers, in this case Bron Taylor, Gretel Van Wieren, and Priscilla Cohn, also agree that hunting is sometimes justified in order to protect endangered species and threatened ecosystems where destructive species have been introduced or natural predators have been exterminated. Others, especially in western society, accept hunting as part of cultural tradition or for the psychological well being of the hunter, sometimes extended to include recreational hunting when practiced according to â€Å"sporting† rules. Nowhere in the literature as far as DGR is concerned is hunting for fun, for the enjoyment of killing, or for the acquisition of trophies defended. 3 Imagine being an animal†¦ getting chased and shot at by humans for pure enjoyment. It cannot be fun especially if they miss the vital organs and you are in severe pain. Sometimes the hunt will take hours and the animal will drag its mutilated body around trying to die in peace because that is all it can do at that point. Animals can feel pain just like us. In a movie that Dr. Ellard showed to us in class, a man with special powers transferred the pain and sadness of a dying deer to a hunter, the hunter screamed and writhed in pain. That just makes you think what must have been going through the deer’s brain. At what point is it acceptable to kill animals? For instance, killing in self defense is justified only if no effective nonlethal means is available. Some say the thrill of the hunt makes it worth whatever the cost may be. Killing to obtain trophies would be justified and only if trophies are an important nonsubstitutable good, or if some other important substitute good cannot reasonably be achieved by any other means. 4 Others say hunting does have a thrill but it shouldn’t be the only thoughts going through your head. According to Bron Taylor no small numbers of DGR folk hunt. Taylor does not approve of trophy or sport hunting. In his words; although there is nothing wrong in my view with appreciating and enjoying all that goes with the hunt, this is best combined with the feelings of sadness that I hope also comes with the taking of life. Dark Green Religion gives wildlife intrinsic value and a sort of spiritual relevance. Wild life is to be revered, not conquered and made to look inferior. 5 Humans are a part of the whole circle of life, and we should stay within our circle and not go out and destroy it. Bron and I discussed the main reason to which degree hunting should be considered acceptable. I think hunting is justifiable for food, as a philosophical understanding that we are not superior but rather are a part of nature and like other organisms, kill to survive and thrive, and it is also justifiable, sometimes, to promote the health of an ecosystem and the viability of other species populations. 6 According to Gretel Van Wieren agrees with me that there is less harm done in hunting that there is factory farming. In our case up here in the northeast, we have hunted the wolves to extinction in our region. The wolves were the main predators of the deer  population, since all the wolves have been killed; now it is our responsibility to hunt the deer since they are constantly overpopulating the region and devastating the flora of the region along with farmland. Bron Taylor and his colleagues who are mentioned above, joined us in our discussion, agreed with me wholeheartedly thru the lens of DGR. According to Ted Kerasote, avid outdoorsman, hunter, and author, buried in our animal nature lies an important but unstated fact: The drive to hunt and the drive for sex have much in common. Both are primal and both can be thanked for our presence here today. While the drive to hunt is less obvious than the drive for sex, the former probably contributed more to our culture. Sex is accomplished by two, but hunting is often accomplished in cohesive and enduring groups. 7 Before we became hunters, we met our need for animal protein by snacking on insects, snails, fledgling birds and other slow creatures too small to share. But hunting produced large, festive meals too grand to be eaten by any one person, meals which could feed large groups of people who would stay around the carcass not only to be sure of their shares but also to defend the meat from scavengers. 8 Based on the facts presented by Kerasote hunting, therefore, made us social. Since we have evolved and advanced so much that hunting is outdated in most cases, we hunt for other reasons. Hunting has brought us subsistence, and then the social aspect took over and now we are acting in the reverse direction of why we started hunting in the first place. The social aspect has led us to believe that hunting is acceptable just for the social aspect and not for that which it was originally intended. On the other hand, certain people, hold that animals were not put on earth for our use, certainly not so that we can kill them for pleasure. To the various DGR people mentioned in the paper, sport hunting is no more exalted than pulling the wings off flies. What the issue comes down to, then, is this: Now that we have become an industrialized society, should we indulge our instincts at the expense of other intelligent forms of life? That question has been very intelligently addressed in Ted Kerasote’s book called Bloodties. He makes a big a point in his introduction to the book that as long as we hunt locally (so that we don’t burn fossil fuel getting to our quarry) and as long as we eat the victim, we do infinitely less harm to the overall environment than we do by eating ordinary supermarket vegetables. After all, the vegetables are grown by an energy-hungry agribusiness whose pesticides decimate the ecosystem and whose combines fatally batter hundreds of small animals (insects, toads, snakes, ground-nesting birds, mice, voles, woodchucks, striped squirrels, weasels, skunks, foxes) in the course of each harvest. But venison is in dramatic contrast to the vegetables resulting from that harvest, as well as to feed-dependent pork, beef, mutton, chicken and turkey. Unlike agricultural produce, venison requires no pesticide or fossil-fuel to grow, and results in the loss of just one life: the deer’s. 9 Why don’t we all see this? Because to many of us, the little animals in the crops are vermin and the deer are Bambi, yet as Kerasote points out, life is precious to all creatures. This point that he makes shows us how deep this animal harm goes, people who are vegans probably do not think this deep. The land cleared for their food was once a home to animals. That same land is annually inhabited by other animals and every year they get killed or chased away by machinery. Kerasote hunts, probably very well. As a hunter he sounds more like an Inuit or a Bushman (or more like a wolf or a mountain lion, to name two other hunters of the deer) than like the camouflage-clad, beer-sodden macho types with automatic weapons who infest the woods each fall. And because he’s a hunter, Kerasote’s descriptions of hunts are realistic perfection, his detail is very vivid and proves the reader with imagery that makes you want to hunt. The thrill of the hunt is what our ancestors must have followed in order to even overcome the challenge of hunting with stones and on foot. Trophy hunting is the selective hunting of wild game animals. Although parts of the slain animal may be kept as a hunting trophy or memorial (usually the skin, antlers and/or head), the carcass itself is seldom used as food or mostly it is considered useless and thrown away. 10 Sport hunting goes back to ancient Mesopotamia and Persia. Kings would conduct lion hunts from chariots, and would often stock their lands with the beasts for this purpose. One of the oldest legends in history–Gilgamesh–celebrates his killing of lions and other beasts, mythic and real. Hunting–whether for food or for sport–has been directly tied to the extinction of megafauna in the Ice Age 41,000 years ago. The advent of firearms made hunting easier, and hunting expeditions (like the safaris of the 19th and early 20th centuries) became popular. 11 Before conservation laws, virtually anything was deemed fair game: elephants, tigers, rhinos, gorillas, wolves, deer, elk and most other large animals. Most of the animals involved with trophy hunting are either endangered or on the watch list. â€Å"Sport† hunting is a brutal business. It means taking the life of an innocent animal for personal gain. The hunting industry doesn’t like the word kill because it exposes the lie that animals die peacefully after being arrowed, shot, trapped, choked and generally tortured to death. So they sanitize the cruelty of hunting by using euphemisms to describe their evil deeds. 12 To make matters worse, not all of these animals that are hunted for sport are eaten; this promotes the lack of appreciation for their life. It is certainly true that many hunters seek to kill trophy animals which are precisely the animals that the species can least afford to lose: the â€Å"genetically prime† animals. 13 Since hunters look for the prime animals to kill, the stunted and genetically unfit animals are allowed to breed and then the offspring have less of a chance of surviving which further hinders the population as well as the hunters that are still hunting the species. A chief of this would be hunting elephants with big tusks. When the animals with big tusks are poached, the remaining population has to breed with males that would have otherwise lost in fights over mating partners. Since these elephants are genetically inferior precisely due to the size of their tusks, they are less likely to survive because during the dry season they will not be able to dig for water, and their offspring would have to endure the same problem. This would cull the population to the point where there would not be enough healthy elephants to keep the population alive. This just goes to show how such small actions by mankind can lead to such adverse effects for animals. Sport and trophy hunting have other deleterious effects on animal populations, as I discussed earlier in the paper with my example of the deer and wolf dilemma in northeast America. Hunting for sport has obliterated species. The dodo bird’s disappearance along with passenger pigeons’ is attributed mostly to sport hunters, and the historical decimation of the American buffalo from sport hunters nearly pushed that species to total extinction. Big game hunting was a craze in the 1800s, and their effect on animal populations was devastating. Sport hunters of the time were ignorant of issues like sustainable breeding populations, and there were no protected species until the first conservation laws were passed in the 20th century. 14 Dark Green Religion people have made it their mission to let society know of the harm they are causing by hunting for pleasure. If you look at the bigger picture here, anything that humans do for pure pleasure generally has a harsh consequence for the environment. If we paid attention to the devastation we cause we would probably help reduce the amount of damage we cause to our one and only planet. If the â€Å"pros† of sports hunting can be outweighed the â€Å"cons† by so much more it makes an obvious statement against sports hunting. Sport hunting has the direct effect of reducing animal populations; unless it is tightly regulated, this form of hunting can decimate species and disrupt the balance of ecosystems. 15 In many cases sports hunting has already upset an established ecological balance as in the case of the white tailed deer and the wolves. The message of DGR people is quite clear at this point, and we see that in some cases advocacy helps, but illegal sports hunting still proceeds unhindered in many cases and we need to help raise support against it by denying a market for illegal animal products. According to various environmentalists along with Bron Taylor, Gottlieb, and Henry David Thoreau, in order to fix the problem, we need to identify the problem and advocate to the public to the point where the public will be scrambling for a solution on their own. As these various authors are working on advocating the problem, the environment and society are still on a downhill plunge. In some cases we need visceral Dark Green Religion to come in explain why some groups regard wilderness with such reverence. It is because of Dark Green Religion that I even wanted to write this paper. I hope the rest of the world is as understanding as I am and attempt to do as much as anyone can to help improve the situation, because that is the only way change will occur. Bibliography Gunn, Alastair S. â€Å"Environmental Ethics and Trophy Hunting. † Ethics & the Environment. no. 1 (2001): 68-95. Kerasote, Ted. Bloodties: Nature, Culture, and the Hunt . New York: Random House, 1993. Priscilla Cohn Ethics and Wildlife: Hunting Myths, Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen, 1999. Swan, James A. In Defense Of Hunting. New York: Harper Collins, 1995. Tallmadge, John, â€Å"Deerslayer with a Degree,† in Mark Allister (ed. ) Eco-Man: New Perspectives on Masculinity and Nature, University of Virginia Press, 2004, 17-27 Taylor, Bron. Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2009. Wade, Maurice L. â€Å"Animal Liberationaism, Ecocentrism, and the Morality of Sport Hunting. † Journal of the Philosophy of Sport. (1990): 15-27.

A Litte Kindness Goes a Long Way Illustration Essay

A Little Kindness Goes A Long Way Have you ever thought about what happens when people are kind, or how it feels to be filled with benevolence to other human beings? Recently I have found myself being very kind to other people and having concern for their feelings. Time flies by too fast to be hateful or rude to other people. We as humans often underestimate the power of kindness and caring, and don’t take into consideration of other peoples feelings. A simple smile or an honest compliment can change somebody's life.One example of showing kindness or curiosity for somebody elses feelings happened to me at the Country Market, the store i work at. It was about 8:00 p. m. on a tuesday night when I had just finished for the day and was coming home from school and the gym. I stopped at Country Market, and I went inside to get a drink and pay for my gas. The lines for the cash registers were filled on both sides with about 10 customers waiting at each. I was third in line, behind a middle aged man in his 40’s, and finally an elderly man in front of the line was checking out.The elderly man was in his upper 70’s, and he had a handful of groceries. The cashier asked the man if he needed help out, he replied â€Å"No thank you I can take this out myself†. The old man was struggling to get his groceries, and I noticed the middle aged man was hesitating to help him, so I set my drinks down and went up to the counter and grabbed his groceries and took them out. Little did I know when I was carrying out the mans groceries the middle aged man saw my act of kindness, and he paid for my drinks and my forty six dollars in gas.Another example of ways to show kindness and how it can impact other people's lives is just by smiling. The power of smiling is amazing, and it takes little or no effort and does not cost you anything. There is a website called To Write Love On Her Arms. TWLOHA is an anti-suicide non profit organization that aims at random acts of kindness or speaking out to those in need. They have a forum on their website about smiling and there has been a handful of cases where teenagers were thinking about committing suicide or feeling so down that they did not wanna live.These teenagers told their stories on this website and there were two that I read that was very sad. This girl said that she was going to kill herself, and the only reason that she did not is because a random old man opened a door for her at school and said â€Å"Smile it looks beautiful on you†. Now this young woman works for TWLOHA and is helping other people with their problems. Other examples of kind acts giving good karma is a story of an old man that works out at my gym with me by the name Jason Overstreet.Jason told me that he was in the drive through for Taco Bell when he decided to pay for the vehicle behind him. He said â€Å"he felt like a million bucks the rest of the day†. A week or so went on when Jason decided to go back t hrough Taco Bell again when he went to get his food from the drive through window. The girl that was working the window recognized him, and told him â€Å"It was really an amazing thing you started the other day. While you bought that lady’s lunch then she bought the car behind hers.It was like a chain reaction that lasted about 7 cars†. Jason was astonished at what he had started just by one simple act of kindness. Anyone can give random kindness anytime of the day. All they have to do is share a bit of their lives with others, or make a simple smile. When you are kind, you bring joy and happiness into the lives of others, and you will also be happier, too. Share your happiness with others, because happiness and kindness make the world go around. You never know when you can change someone's life with a simple smile.

African-Americans Struggle to End Segregation Research Paper

African-Americans Struggle to End Segregation - Research Paper Example The issue of racial inequality that typecast African Americans through time continues to be controversial in nature and perspectives. Diverse scholars, historians and philosophers have delved into the historical travails of African Americans since these people have felt not only isolation, but the more drastic prejudice and discrimination due to color and roots of existence. The rich legacy of the story of struggles and triumphs of this race in American history is, in itself, a remarkable feat. In this regard, the aim of the current research is to provide an opportunity to analyze a major social, economic, military, and technological issue since the Civil War, trace its significance over time, and examine the ways in which it contributed to an â€Å"ending of isolation† in the United States. Accordingly, a central theme of this course is the â€Å"end of isolation† which the textbook describes in relationship to technology, politics, military, culture, and society. At times, the ending of isolation has resulted of periods of tension and struggle. In this regard, the essay will describe the historical context of each question within the topic and trace the significance of this issue over time from 1865 to the present. Further, the discourse would present an assessment of the challenges involved in the ending of this isolation, as well as the key people involved in the struggles. The essay would hereby proffer pertinent highlights of African American’s pursuit and determination.... Further, the discourse would present an assessment of the challenges involved in the ending of this isolation, as well as the key people involved in the struggles. The essay would hereby proffer pertinent highlights of African American’s pursuit and determination in ending of isolation through time. Historical Background August (2009) has clearly indicated that to understand racial inequality, there is a need to trace the roots of oppression in America. As averred, â€Å"race and racial inequality have powerfully shaped American history from its beginnings. Americans like to think of the founding of the American colonies and, later, the United States, as driven by the quest for freedom – initially, religious liberty and later political and economic liberty. Yet, from the start, American society was equally founded on brutal forms of domination, inequality and oppression which involved the absolute denial of freedom for slaves† (August, 2009, p. 1). The mindset of the white race typecast African Americans then, as slaves, and therefore inferior and subordinate. Lawson (2010) emphasized that â€Å"racial segregation was a system derived from the efforts of white Americans to keep African Americans in a subordinate status by denying them equal access to public facilities and ensuring that blacks lived apart from whites† (Lawson, 2010, par. 1). As expounded, before the Civil Rights movement, African Americans were geographically located only in the Northern and Upper Southern parts of the United States. Further, there was a Supreme Court ruling under â€Å"Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) that African Americans were not U.S. citizens, northern whites had excluded blacks from seats on public

Gegraphy and disease -- Based on your annotated bibliography, you will Research Paper

Gegraphy and disease -- Based on your annotated bibliography, you will write a to increase your understanding of - Research Paper Example Background Information Countries which have a higher economical ability such as Canada and the United States record different types of diseases and health issues from those that are developing. Because of this, it is easier to study and establish the dynamics that surround the individual’s health. In the same note, countries that are located in tropics are likely to have the citizens develop diseases such as malaria and other climatic diseases while those away such as Canada are likely to experience to have cancerous related diseases (MacLeod, Finlayson, Pell & Findlay, 1999). The environment, which the individual lives in, can also determine the level of health that the residents can have. People living in urban areas are likely to have diseases such as asthma and lung infection because of the constant polluted environment that they have to cope with everyday. Ethnicity and the background culture are also determinants of the type of medication which the people seek .The exerc ise will give an example of the Ghanaian immigrants who live in Europe who seek the biomedical attention while they also seek the alternative traditional medicine. This medicinal mix is termed as pluralism. The exercise will look at these illustrations in detail and give an insight into the same. The four-fold section of this study will look at the factors that surround the health sector’s dimension mostly by basing the argument on the area of study that is rural Canada. This is because the dynamics that surround the rural setting in the country have for a long time been seen to be not equitable. With this is in mind, the majority of the sources that this study is going to use have a basis in the Canadian health sector but with a global insight on the aspects that concern disease and its relationship with geography. The Concept of Geography and Disease Population Density and Disease Cities around the world are growing at an exponential rate. The aspect of housing and accommod ation is becoming a challenge because of the population in surge. Canada which is a first world country has a relatively organized urban area as Jerret, Eyles, Dufournaud and Birch (2003) illustrate. The New York City on its part is one of the most populated cities in the world and because of this; its neighborhoods such as Bronx and Brooklyn have had a serious problem with new infections such as for asthma and lung cancer. This is because of the fact that fumes and smoke emanates from factories and the industrial section of the city. The situation is also made worse by the exposure and contact with unhygienic conditions present in the place. The high population density of other places in the African continent such as Nairobi and Johannesburg has seen the increase of slums and other informal settlements. This therefore implies that the hygienic conditions that are shared in this place are stretched to the limit. Poor sanitation coupled up with unsafe drinking water and poor educatio n on sanitation sees the increase of diseases such as cholera dysentery and other diseases. Population increase makes it difficult to plan on different sections that affect the people such as the health aspects. The financial aspect of the health sector needs to be adequate in order to contain infections as well as other

Online Education Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Online Education - Research Paper Example From this research it is clear that the Internet and intranet hold enormous potential for the rapid dissemination of knowledge and information to a worldwide workforce when utilized correctly. However, online-based education comes with its merits and demerits. Online education comes to extensibility, accessibility and suitability. It means that users can proceed through a training program at their pace and place too. Considering they do not need to be in class at a given time of the day, students can access online training at anytime. Additionally, they can receive as much training as they want since the internet is rich in information. By not physically being available in class, the students will save time and costs of travelling to class every day. It will also give convenience to students since they attend classes in their own time.This paper discusses that online education provides collaborative and explanatory environment. It enables students to explore more with other students, through online forums, like Course Info's Discussion panel and talk, give communal areas to rely information. Additionally, online education is cheaper. It cuts on transport cost where the learner is required to travel to attend classes, the cost of buying teaching materials such as textbooks, chalkboards and acquisition of the physical learning environment. Some of the cost used in meeting requirements for online education may not exist in traditional education.

Aristotelian Universals and Platonic Universals Essay

Aristotelian Universals and Platonic Universals - Essay Example Conflict of Universals: Conflict of universals or problem of universals is quite a long debated issue among the philosophers. The basic point of argument remains the same whether the universals exist or not. There has always been an attempt to ' "account for the phenomenon of similarity or attribute agreement among things." Whether a table made of rock or a stone both are similar or both have attributive agreement, having the common characteristic of hardness. This problem has given birth to two different disciplines in philosophy, namely, Realism and Nominalism. The realists are of opinion that universals exist on account of attributive agreement and Nominnalists opine that universals are non existent because they cannot explain attributive agreement among particulars. Platonic Universals: The idea of Platonic universals sometimes appears to be obscure or fruitless but his theory is one of the major foundations for epistemology and metaphysics. According to Plato, a universal is independent, non temporal and non spatial. A universal is something that cannot be perceived by senses and its knowledge comes through thought. The objects of thought that independently exist, establish the foundation for Platonic universals. ... But this very attribute of greenness is not something tangible and it cannot be experienced through senses. But at the same time Plato also specified that the green color of grass is not the only virtue that distinguishes it from other green colored in the world. Grass is never a leaf of a tree. In addition to its greenness, the grass is grass due to its unique attributes. Thus, by adopting the theory of Platonic universals, an individual can make clear distinction between all particulars in the world. Aristotelian Universals: Plato's disciple Aristotle came up with a very different idea about universals and the theory of Aristotelian universals produces a landmark solution to the problem of universals and conflict between realists and nominalists. According to Aristotle, universals can simply be classified into three categories, Relations, Types and Properties. The great philosopher further stated that universals exist in those places only where they are exemplified or instantiated and they only exist in things, never apart from things. Aristotle clearly stated that a universal is "'identical in each of its instances." So, in simple terms, Aristotle's theory says all green things in this universe are similar as there is a same universal or attribute, i.e greenness. This unique approach of Aristotelian theory removes several puzzles from the theories of universals in the metaphysical context. First, according to Aristotle, universals can be exemplified several times. He repeatedly emphasizes over the conception of "'one and the same universal" that, according to him, can be witnessed in every particulars. Now at this point common perception experiences a problem. It is hard to believe for an

Occupational Safety and Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Occupational Safety and Health - Essay Example Department of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Administration). For achieving the specified reductions in the incidence of fatalities, injuries or illnesses OSHA will adopt a dynamic methodology for identifying and addressing the target sectors and hazards which require direct intervention. Though Direct Interventions are an integral part of workplace safety and health, however lasting solutions should be there for the employers, workers to inculcate the safety and healthy culture in the workplace. OSHA would ensure that the resources devoted to achieve this goal should have the ability to replicate the agency’s effectiveness through the instillation of safety and heath values among the broad population through strict compliance, innovation and dedication. OSHA should improve its intelligence gathering, analytical and evaluation capabilities and should also ensure that they inculcate in their staff the requisite knowledge, skills, diversity and the abilities to address the concerned health and safety issues through the use of informational technology and other supportive systems (U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health

Has the IMF played a condtructive or destructive role Does it serve Essay - 1

Has the IMF played a condtructive or destructive role Does it serve any purpose in the 21st century - Essay Example The IMF has grown and experienced changes over the last years. Many have embraced this change, while there has been some that have not accepted it. Its members have been increasing, from the initial thirty to over 188 members. This organisation claims to foster financial stability, global monetary corporation and economic stability to its members (Freytag pg 20-30). Its objectives are geared towards promoting international economic, Corporation, creation of employment, establishing sustainable exchange rate and availing funding to its member states. The role of the international fund about the 21st century is addressed by analysing the success and failure rate. Since its debut, this organisation has funded numerous nations, where there has been failure or success. The facts present a concrete factor that present this organisation as failing. Though there are success cases, the failures often lower the impact of these cases. One notable case is the one witnessed in Tanzania. After the IMF stepped in to save this declining economy, its economy lowered. The employment rate decreased and the literacy level dropped. All this occurred within period from 1985 to 2000 (Research Activities of the International Monetary Fund: January 1991-December 1998 pg 26-30) Conclusively, the role played by this organisation cannot be ignored. It continuously helps nations to recover from economic failures. It is lending surveillance police have benefited many and still proves to in years to come. In order to change the faulty image over the years, there must be some adjustments. This adjustment will enhance its role and make it productive as many presume it to

In What Ways Did Dengs Leadership Bring Change to China in the Late 1970s and 1980s Essay Example for Free

In What Ways Did Dengs Leadership Bring Change to China in the Late 1970s and 1980s Essay After Mao’s death in 1976, Deng abandoned the Maoist economic model and decided to open China up to free market economic reforms and Western style capitalism all carefully controlled by the state still. He also introduced the One Child policy. The domestic social, political, and most notably, economic systems would undergo significant changes during Dengs time as leader. The goals of Dengs reforms were summarized by the Four Modernizations, those of agriculture, industry, science and technology and the military. The strategy for achieving these aims of becoming a modern, industrial nation was the socialist market economy. For agriculture, it changed for the better. Deng first took steps to repair the damage done to farm production during the Great Leap Forward. In place of the communes he established the contract responsibility system. Under this arrangement, the government rented land to individual farm families, who then decided for themselves what to produce. The families contracted with the government simply to provide a certain amount of crops at a set price. Once the contract was fulfilled, the families were free to sell any extra crops at markets for whatever prices they could get. This chance to make more money by growing more crops greatly increased China’s farm production. Since the introduction of the contract responsibility system, Chinese farmers produced about 8 percent more each year than they did in the previous year. And many farmers have benefited greatly from the new plan. Under the contract responsibility system, families still did not own the land. The long-term leases awar ded by the government, however, helped to develop an â€Å"owner† attitude among the farmers. As a result, many families have made improvements to the land. As for the economy, Deng attracted foreign companies to a series of Special Economic Zones, where foreign investment and market liberalization were encouraged. Which meant that China needed Western technology and investment, and that it could open the door to foreign businesses who wanted to set up in China. The reforms centered on improving labor productivity as well. New material incentives and bonus systems were introduced. Rural markets selling peasants homegrown products and the surplus products of communes were revived. Not only did rural markets increase agricultural output, they stimulated industrial development as well. With peasants able to sell surplus agricultural yields on the open market, domestic consumption stimulated industrialization as well and also created political support for more difficult economic reforms. Another change for China was it’s industry, the four modernizations affected the industry positively. It provided electricity in the rural areas, industrial automation, a new economic outlook, and greatly enhanced defense strength. His program for industry had two goals. First, he wanted people to spend more money on consumer goods. Therefore, he changed the focus from heavy industry to light industry, the production of small consumer goods such as clothing, appliances, and bicycles. He also wanted factories to step up production. So he gave more decision-making power to individual factory managers. And he started a system of rewards for managers and workers who found ways to make factories produce more. All in all, these changes brought good results, and changed China for the better and is the China that is here today. Deng’s leadership really helped modernize China.

The Use Of Skype Education Essay

The Use Of Skype Education Essay The rapid growth and interest of college students in Computer Mediated Communication and social media has impacted the second language learning and teaching process. This study is a reflection of a pedagogical experience that attempts to analyze the use of Skype as a Synchronous Communication tool in regards to the attitudes of students in learning a foreign language when interacting with native speakers and engage in conversation. The participants are Spanish foreign language students at Fordham University in New York City and English foreign language speakers at a Jesuit University in Bogotà ¡, Colombia. Students were paired up and were required to set up online conversation meetings. The results of this pilot project suggest that students felt more interested to engage in conversation with native speakers and exchange personal and academic information as wells as other aspects of their culture using the target language rather than completing language laboratory activities or writing compositions. Key words: Computer mediated communication, Skype, socio-cultural competence, synchronous communication El continuo interà ©s y la rà ¡pida evolucià ³n de la comunicacià ³n a travà ©s de la tecnologà ­a y las redes sociales en estudiantes universitarios han transformado el proceso de enseà ±anza y aprendizaje de los idiomas extranjeros. Este estudio es una reflexià ³n de una experiencia pedagà ³gica que busca analizar el uso de Skype como una herramienta de comunicacià ³n sincrà ³nica en cuanto a las actitudes de los estudiantes en el proceso de aprendizaje de un idioma extranjero con la interaccià ³n de estudiantes que son hablantes nativos para participar activamente en conversaciones. Los participantes de este proyecto son estudiantes de espaà ±ol como idioma extranjero en Fordham University en la Ciudad de Nueva York y estudiantes de inglà ©s como idioma extranjero en una universidad jesuita en la ciudad de Bogotà ¡, Colombia. Los estudiantes fueron emparejados con el propà ³sito de organizar sesiones en là ­nea y hablar usando el idioma que està ¡n aprendiendo. Los resultados de este proyecto piloto indican que los estudiantes se sintieron muchos mà ¡s interesados en conversar con hablantes nativos para intercambiar informacià ³n personal, acadà ©mica y cultural haciendo uso del idioma que està ¡n aprendiendo en lugar de hacer ejercicios y escribir composiciones en el laboratorio de idiomas. Palabras clave: comunicacià ³n a travà ©s de la tecnologà ­a, Comunicacià ³n Sincrà ³nica, Competencias Socio Culturales, Skype Introduction As a young college language instructor, I find myself always trying to provide my students with opportunities in which they can see a real purpose of using L2 (foreign language) outside the conventional classroom where interaction is often reduced to their peers and instructor. The idea of this project was to encourage my students to speak via Skype with other college Spanish native speakers with like-minded interests -lifestyle, culture, education, and food -through the use of Computer Mediated Communication (CMC). The idea of this project started in one of my graduate courses at Fordham University when I had to survey a sample of Jesuit undergraduate students and their likelihood to interact with their surrounding community. Fordham Universitys main campus is located in the Bronx. The New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo surround the campus. However, Fordhams main campus is located in a community where there is a large low income Hispanic and African American population wher eas the demographics at Fordham is mostly a white upper middle class student body. The survey aimed to understand how much interaction existed between these two communities Fordham students and the surrounding community. Based on the results of the survey, most of the students prefer to spend their free time either on campus or in Manhattan. I also realized that specifically my Spanish students would not take advantage of the Hispanic population to practice their Spanish skills as they felt English would be an easier way to communicate. Consequently, I thought that as a language instructor, I would need to provide my students with a setting in which they feel comfortable and make use of the target language specifically with native speakers who have similar interests or experience similar learning conditions. This article summarizes a pedagogical experience with the purpose of sharing with other language colleagues how I started and structured the project and it also reflects upon its outcomes. Literature Review Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) CMC is defined as the process of creating, exchanging, and perceiving information via networked telecommunications systems facilitating the encoding, transmitting, and decoding of messages (Romiszowski Mason, n.d.). CMC was the result of linking different computers and having people interact by sharing messages and data. CMC spread rapidly and it allowed people from geographically dispersed locations to communicate replacing traveling and Face-to-Face (FtF) meetings with more efficient ways to instantly communicate. Different studies have shown that FtF gatherings give speakers with higher positions or power in any organization a larger portion of speech time while CMC meetings offer an equal share of the meeting participation (Walther, 1996.) Other studies, on the contrary, suggests that CMC does not contribute to active participation because it is assumed that in many CMC discussions a few members dominate the floor and the rest of the members become lurkers or passive recipient s. Both offline and online discussions have passive recipients; this implies that CMC does not discourage active participation and learning (Romiszowski Mason, n.d.). Allowing students to interact with others considering their mutual interests and giving them the freedom to make their own choices when learning a foreign language is essential to motivate them. Bastidas (2002) proposes integrative and instrumental motivation affecting foreign language learners. On one hand, integrative motivation suggests the interest of learners in the community and culture that involves the second language. Instrumental motivation, on the other hand, refers to the specific goals of the students. Bastidas also shows the communicative need to use any foreign language as an aspect affecting learners motivation. He explains that many language students feel demotivated to learn a foreign language because they think the L2 is neither important nor useful for them. Additionally, more than a real life experience, I wanted this project to be an exposure to the target language with native speakers. Fordham University is located in a highly populated Hispanic community in th e Bronx. Unfortunately, many Fordham students do not take advantage of this opportunity to practice Spanish with native speakers. Noam Chomskys innatist theory (Lightbown Spada, 1993) suggests that after that critical period of humans to learn a second language, input exposure is essential to gain L2 proficiency. For this reason, a project including input exposure with native speakers would stimulate students interest in engaging in conversations using the target language. Synchronous and Asynchronous Communication The continuous growth of Internet-based communication and college students interest in social media and networking seems to have a greater impact in the way they interact with others nowadays. These types of communication can be Synchronous or Asynchronous. Synchronous Communication or real-time communication refers to face-to-face discussions among people, whereas Asynchronous Communication (delayed communication) suggests a significant time delay between receiving and sending messages (Romiszowski Mason, n.d.). Hence, the inclusion of a computer-based activity and synchronous communication in my instruction was necessary in order to encourage and engage my students in the L2 learning process. I believe that real time communication would allow learners to provide instant feedback to each other, to emotionally bond, and to be spontaneous. According to Celce-Murcia (2001), the use of media in language classes only brings the outside world to the classroom and makes the learning proce ss more exciting and meaningful. Nevertheless, the only purpose of this project was not the improvement of L2 speaking proficiency but it also aimed to raise awareness in students about other cultures. In other words, I wanted to promote and instill values of inclusion, tolerance, and diversity as a principle of life in this globalized world. Teaching culture in a language class results in better communicators of L2. Culture is understood as body language, gestures, concepts of time, traditions, and expressions of friendliness. Consequently, linguistic proficiency is not enough for a second language learner social cultural competence is fundamental for a more proficient and effective L2 speaker. Hymes (1996)  [1]  also stresses the importance of socio cultural competence by saying that an individual who is not aware of the appropriateness norms accepted in a determined community is likely to be placed in a position of inequality. Similar Projects Other instructors and universities have implemented and explored a similar project, like the one I proposed at Fordham University, with positive results. Dickens (2009) shared an experience of two classes (one from the US and the other from Italy) in which students were initially paired up and required to interact with their partners discussing about different aspects of their life and classes topics using Twitter. After a couple of months the instructors decided that it would be appropriate to have them interact on video chat using Skype. Dickens report about the experience is positive. Students were able to communicate in the target language and to simultaneously multitask (surf on Facebook, share videos on YouTube, Google information, etc.) Alas, most of the session was held in the students native language. In a different experiment, Carney (2008) started a project in which an English class interacted with a Japanese class through the use of blogs, wikis, Skype text, voice, and vi deo chat and the exchange of homemade DVDs movies. Skype sessions in general were set up so that four English class students talk with one Japanese student. Each English class student had to prepare different questions to ask their Japanese partner. Some of the Japanese students were not able to speak due to the lack of web cams and computers. In general, this was a great experience for these students. The author recognizes the importance of CMC and its impact in foreign language classes. Project Objectives There were three major objectives identified at the beginning of this pilot project which will serve as an assessment of the achieved goals: Provide students with a space in which they can practice their listening and speaking skills in the L2 with native speakers by means of interactive and contextualized conversations online. Encourage students to learn from their partners culture, country, and traditions. Give the students the opportunity to interact in real life situations using the target language. Participating Institutions The two participating institutions are private higher education universities under the Cura Personalis (care of the other) philosophy and Jesuit Tradition. Fordham University is the Jesuit University in New York City. Fordhams Department of Languages and Literatures requires undergraduate students to take up to five levels of a foreign language aiming to develop the linguistic proficiency and cultural competence of Fordham students. The Colombian University in Bogota is a Jesuit University offering its community with quality Catholic education. The Department of Languages offers an undergraduate program qualifying its students to become language teachers. Participants A total of 50 students participated in this project. The participants are students from Fordham University (25 students) and from a Jesuit University in Bogota, Colombia (25 students.) Fordham University students are English native speakers learning Spanish in high beginner level courses. Students in Colombia are Spanish native speakers in intermediate English courses. It is important to clarify that Fordham students are studying Spanish (or any foreign language offered at the Department) as a mandatory language course during five (5) academic semesters. Some of them might want to minor in this language. The students at the Colombian university are future language teachers who are majoring in English. Fordham students age in average is 19 years old; whereas their online partners age in Colombia raged between 20 to 45 years old. The technological skills of the students were not considered when implementing this project. Pedagogical Proposal This pedagogical experience attempts to determine if there is any relationship between the implementation of Internet-based Synchronous Communication and the interest of foreign language students and native speakers to engage in conversation and learn about their culture. In order to start this project, a written proposal was submitted to the Chair of the Fordhams Department of Languages and Literatures and the Spanish Language Coordinator. In this document, objectives, description, proposed activities, projected timeline, proposed partners, and their responsibilities of the whole project were specified. The Chair at Fordham University had two important concerns about this initiative: 1. safety of students and 2. feasibility of the project. With the support of the Faculty Technology Center at Fordham University, I was able to persuade the Chair that there were no risks associated with the use of Skype for educational purposes and that its viability was directly related to the collaboration of the other university and the participation of the students. I should note that at Fordham University, foreign language students are required to attend the language laboratory two hours every week. For that reason, I decided to merge this project within the labora tory activities grade. As part of the curriculum at the Department of Modern Languages, language students are required to go to the language laboratory one hour a week. During this time (students are free to decide when to go to the laboratory from Monday to Saturday in a specific schedule) students listen to the audio section of their workbook as well as they complete different grammar exercises on line as part of their course evaluation. Roger Goodson (2005) states that some faculty members and administrators are normally resistant to include technology in their instruction because of time constraints, their demanding academic workload, lack of training, and insufficient research proving the effectiveness of E-learning. It is common to see some institutions still reluctant to explore technological changes in instruction, as it was the example of San Jose State University (SJSU.) The Associate Vice-President of San Jose State University proposed to ban Skype at the University imply ing that Skype might infect the institutions computers with viruses and that Skype might distract students and professors in the classrooms. One faculty member expressed his concern and called the institution luddite about this issue and explained the reasons why Skype should not be banned: 1. Skype allows communicating at no cost with other colleagues around the world, 2. There are many international students who might use Skype to communicate with other students, and 3. Foreign Language instructors have started to use Skype to have their students communicate with other students who are native speakers of the language they are learning Shaw (2006.) When the Chair of the Department at Fordham approved this pilot project, I immediately contacted different universities in Colombia. However, I thought that it would be a good idea to work with another university under the same Jesuit philosophy. Fortunately, a Jesuit University in Bogota, Colombia responded with great interest and eagerness in starting the project as soon as possible. The Chair of the Department of Modern Languages in Colombia designated his English Speaking Advanced class to take part in this linguistic experiment. The groups were not chosen based on any specific criteria. My two Spanish courses would participate in this project. At the Jesuit University in Colombia, the Chair chose that specific class because he was the professor in charge and had asked his students about their interest in partaking in this initiative, which had a positive reaction by the students. I clarified that this was intended to be a pilot project, which if it were to result with positive outcomes could be institutionalized by Fordhams Department, or at least it would encourage other instructors interested in creating a similar online community with their students. Community Development in general refers to the notion of people living close by to each other, face-to-face interactions, companionship, and support at different levels (Wellman, 1999.) However, in online communities the lack of physical location, verbal, and nonverbal cues implies impersonal relationships not able to build a community. However, other studies suggest that online communities can be built if participants have similar interests regardless their physical location they might find as an obstacle to communicate Face-to-Face (Romiszowski Mason, n.d.). Once the project was presented and approved by the two universities, it was necessary to establish a clear set of stages and assigned responsibilities to each instructor in order to launch this initiative. Table 1 describes the different stages that were considered. Task Observations Person in charge Outlining responsibilities A list of responsibilities was outlined and shared to students, professors, and administrators. Instructor at Fordham University. Pairing up students It was easier for the instructor in Colombia to pair the students as he had more students in his class than I did in with my two classes. Instructor at the Colombian University. Choosing topics for each session Both instructors agreed that each session should focus on content, culture, and grammatical structures, which would reinforce the topics, learned in classroom. Both instructors. Setting up a chronogram Considering that the end of the semester was coming soon for both universities, it was important to use the time wisely. Both instructors. Table 1. Stages of the Project The first step was to inform all the participants (instructors, students, and administrators) about their responsibilities regarding this project as shown in Table 2. Instructors Pair up students based on their proficiency level Monitor that students are attending their Skype meeting Make sure that students are respectful with their peers time Remind students to be punctual Decide the topics the students will be discussing Communicate with the other instructors if there are doubts or suggestions Provide a space for the students with the necessary technology to access to Skype Students Be punctual Speak only the language they are required to speak during the session. Prepare enough questions to carry out the conversation. Submit a screen shot of their Skype conversation in order to confirm that they actually had a conversation with their assigned partner and the required time for each session Administrators Establish the partnership between the two universities Attend the on line meeting in December to analyze the effectiveness of the project Table 2. Participants Responsibilities Participants received an email with their respective responsibilities. Consequently, a list of Fordham students was sent to my colleague in Colombia. He was in charge of pairing up his students with mine. His class was considerably bigger (in terms of number of students) compared to my two classes together at Fordham. There were not any specific criteria when pairing up the students it was just a simple matching exercise from two rosters. Then, each student received an email with a list in which they would find their matches for the fours sessions. The list included names and emails. The final stage of the project required each instructor to choose the topics. It was the responsibility of each professor to decide the topics students would be discussing in every session. Each session was expected to last approximately 15 to 20 minutes and it was expected to be conducted by students as follows: use of the target language previously determined (English or Spanish), personal introductio ns (as every session they were paired up with different partners), discussion of a previously determined topic. The topics varying from academic structure, personal interests, gastronomy, etc. were carefully selected so that students have a wide exposure to new vocabulary, expressions, and especially culture. The sessions were organized as shown in Table 3. Session Language Topic In charge One Spanish Exchange personal information (names, hobbies, favorite food, sports they practice) Also get to know about each other. Understand how easy or difficult is to learn English or Spanish. Fordham Two English Compare academic structures from their schools and the differences of educational system. University in Colombia Three Spanish Compare lifestyle, culture, gastronomy, and currencies. Fordham Four English Understand how languages are taught in the US from elementary school through the university. University in Colombia Table 3. Organization of the Sessions Students were required to prepare questions and organize their ideas in order to have a meaningful conversation during the following week. Furthermore, each Fordham student was required to snap a screenshot of their Skype conversation records as a proof that they did Skype with their assigned partners. All the conversations were set up by each student at different times and days (within a week period) this with the purpose of giving students the opportunity to organize their busy time and also to give students a sense of belonging to the project. One important aspect to mention is that the administrators did not ever set up a meeting to discuss the outcomes or implications of the project due to the lack of time. When the project was over the university in Colombia was already in winter break. Findings In this section, the advantages and weaknesses during the completion of the project will be described. In addition, I will mention the opinions and thoughts of 18 participant students who were surveyed after the project was finished. Starting the project was somehow challenging due to the lack of time and the resistance of the administrators to approve the project. Additionally, the communication between the two universities was slow. As it was previously mentioned, each student was randomly paired up with another one from the other university. In order to set up their online meetings they emailed each other. Students reported that their partner did not respond their emails in a timely fashion or kept postponing the meeting, and some others never got an answer from their partner. One student said: I thought it was very interesting and cool to learn about the life of a complete stranger! Sometimes communication was difficult but it was a good experience. This frustrated a big part of the students because it did not allow them to ever experience a conversation My student never answered my emails so we were not able to talk via Skype. A student added. Sometimes there were problems related to technological issues an d Internet connection, which prevented students to have voice conversations. Nonetheless, students opted to chat instead. A great part of participants described their Skyping experienced as interesting and fun. In their own words they said: I found it extremely useful and fun. It was very interesting to speak with my partner and I believe that she and I will probably continue speaking even though the assignment has finished. I would definitely do it again and hope I have the chance to in the future. Another student added: I did enjoy interacting with a student from another country. I found it relatively easy to understand her but harder to express my own ideas. No matter the skill level or level of success, I think it is always helpful though to get practice speaking with someone who knows the language so well. Each session was supposed to last between 15 to 20 minutes. However, most of the sessions ended up exceeding this time limit because they truly enjoyed conversing with their peers. Other students thought it was rude to conclude a conversation in only 15 minutes and they allowed more time to this activity even if they were only text chatting. Only one student requested to be given a different Skype partner. One of them was more than 20 years older than the other participant creating an uncomfortable environment in the younger student. Based on the student at Fordham, her Skype partner made her feel uncomfortable as in their first email that they had exchanged, the student in Colombia had expressed that he had physical issues that prevented him of speaking. He was asking to have someone else participate in the sessions. The student at Fordham thought it was not a good idea and as a Fordham professor I am not allowed to ask her to do something when she has expressed that it makes her feel uncomfortable. Therefore a new Skype partner was assigned to her. Throughout the development of the project some students, who were able to set up their online meetings, expressed during class that they were bonding while many others felt discouraged because they never had the opportunity to speak. It is important to note that this pilot project has led to a possible partnership between Fordham University and AUSJAL (Asociacià ³n de Universidades Confiadas a la Compaà ±Ãƒ ­a de Jesà ºs en Amà ©rica Latina), which is an Association of Jesuit Universities in Latin America. A representative from AUSJAL has contacted me with the purpose to start a possible project in which these types of online environments would benefit students from various Jesuit universities in South America and the United States. Opinions of the Participants A number of 18 participants in this project completed an online survey on Survey Monkey (www.surveymonkey.com) about three different aspects regarding the development of the project as shown in Table 4 and Table 5. The third aspect was an open-ended question in order to understand the opinions of the students and their likelihood to participate again in a future similar project. Surveymonkey.com provides users with free web-based surveys. I chose this website because the website helps you to create any type of survey with predetermined formats. Additionally, Surveymonkey.com does not require a software installation, everything is self-explanatory and most importantly the basic features are free. Based on the answers from Table 4, it can be inferred that after different Skype sessions, students mostly learned about their partners culture regarding personal information, similar interests, and education. The results suggest that students in general were not able to exchange as much information as expected about their regions food, their schools academic structure, and quality of life in their countries. 1. Which of the following aspects do you think Skype sessions helped you learn about your partners culture? Completely disagree Somehow disagree Agree Somehow agree Completely agree Food 27,3% 27,3% 9,1% 27,3% 9,1% Education 0,0% 8,3% 33,3% 25,0% 33,3% Academic Structure 16,7% 8,3% 33,3% 33,3% 8,3% Personal Information 8,3% 0,0% 25,0% 8,3% 58,3% Similar Interests 0,0% 0,0% 41,7% 33,3% 25,0% Quality of Life 8,3% 25,0% 41,7% 16,7% 8,3% Table 4. Cultural Appreciation According to Table 5, students seemed to have a greater difficulty trying to set up a Skype session with their partners than expressing their ideas and carrying out spontaneous conversations. Additionally, participants also believed that understanding their partners ideas was challenging. 2. Considering that your Skype partners were college students with similar interests but they were people you did not know, to what degree was it easy or difficult to interact with them using the language you are learning? Very easy Easy Difficult Very Difficult Understand your partners ideas 25,0% 16,7% 50,0% 8,3% Set up a Skype session 16,7% 8,3% 33,3% 41,7% Carry out a spontaneous conversation 25,0% 25,0% 16,7% 33,3% Express your ideas 8,3% 33,3% 25,0% 33,3% Table 5. Degree of Difficulty in Communication Finally, based on the surveyed student responses, it can be inferred that most of the participants thought that the Skype Project with a foreign country did allow them to learn something new about another culture. Many students were surprised that, different from the US, the majority of Colombian college students live with their parents when they attend college. Also, students at Javeriana University do not use their institutional email account as frequently as many American college students do. In general, participants felt that the project was much more fun than going to the language laboratory and writing compositions. Although, they expressed that communication was somehow difficult due to technological inconveniences (e.g. Internet connection, time flexibility, lack of web cam), participants acknowledged the importance of getting to know people from other countries who are native speakers. Most of the participants agreed that setting up meetings was by far the most tedious part of the project because of their busy schedule, their lack of interest of some participants, and the fact that they were talking to, in literal words, a complete stranger. In addition, the idea to participate in a similar project seems to be a viable one for many of them because they think these types of experiences forced them out of their comfort zone. Unfortunately, some other students were not able to provide any feedback because they were never able to speak with their Skype partner because they never got a response to set up a meeting. Conclusions and Implications The idea of this pilot project between Fordham University and the Jesuit University in Colombia was to understand if Internet-based Synchronous Communication would motivate