How Do the films Pretty Woman and Maid in Manhattan Attempt to Revive Essay

How Do the films Pretty Woman and Maid in Manhattan Attempt to Revive the Screwball Genre - Essay Example However Comedy as truly said in the quote above is a serious business. It is a serious business because unlike a real life business, comedy has only one agenda to achieve and that is to make a people laugh and be merry. In this essay we are going to analyse what is comedy with reference to screwball genre of comedy. After we have a look at various types of genres in comedy we will look into screwball genre with help of two movies ‘Pretty Woman’ and ‘Maid in Manhattan’. How do we define comedy? It is basically professional entertainment consisting of jokes to make the audience laugh. It can be in various formats such as plays, films, television shows, etc. Comedy comes in various types. What makes us laugh while we are watching a comedy? We laugh when we find something funny especially when something in front of us is twisted and crooked than our expectations from a situation. For ex: We laugh when we see someone stepping on a banana skin and having a fall. D o we expect people to fall tripping over a banana skin? Yes we do. But what if someone does step on a banana skin and doesn’t fall? Or the person even tries to balance him or herself awkwardly to avoid the fall? The entire gesture of regaining balance and composure becomes hilarious than the actual fall. It is contrary to our expectations of a person tripping over a banana skin. This is one of the many situations which gets funny and causes humour or comedy. There is no definite situation why a person may or may not feel humorous or funny. Comedy hence is very difficult to predict. In literature or other art forms, all other forms are definite, be it tragedy, anger, frustrations, seriousness etc. The audience reaction is predictable because the form is designed with a distinct purpose. For Ex: A tragedy like Othello or Macbeth is definite in its purpose which makes the audience feel strongly about vanity of values and ethics in life. Hence making people laugh or comedy become s a business seriously done. Although the basic purpose is to make an audience laugh, the shades of humour change from each type. Ranging from a very light effervescent humour to black dark comedies, comedy is a medium used to comment on the paradoxes of society. It is often said that comedy is essentially a good tool to put a point across, because it acts like a fist in velvet glove. Considering this we can state that comedy has different styles and types or genres. Let us have a look at various genres of comedy: 1. Slapstick comedy: Slapstick is a boisterous comedy usually consisting of crude practical jokes and physical humour. The topmost name in slapstick comedy genre is of Charlie Chaplin. Audience ruptured into laughter while watching Chaplin on screen. For ex: He is walking on a footpath looking here and there and without noticing the electricity pole and suddenly bumps into it drives the audience mad with laughter. Slapstick is a form which has stayed longest in all the com edies presented so far. The latest example of slapstick comedy is Jim Carrey in the movie ‘The Mask’. The mask brings out the inner desires and emotions of the person who wears it. No other form of comedy would have done justice to the eccentricity of the character portrayed than slapstick. 2. Parody and Spoof: Parody is deliberate mimicking to cause humour. Although spoof and parody have a very thin line of

Life Cycle Assessment Of Laptops And Printed Notes Engineering Essay

Life Cycle Assessment Of Laptops And Printed Notes Engineering Essay For the last few years, the society had started to use electronic devices for reading instead of using printed paper especially for university students. However, the paper is still used for printing and other usage. Paper is one of the main causes of global warming as trees will be cut down and processed into wood as wood is the main ingredient of producing paper. Without trees, there will be less photosynthesis phenomena occurring to reduce carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is produced by human activities such as breathing, power generation, combustion etc. To reduce the cutting of trees, several electronic devices have been introduced to replace the paper used for several purposes. 1.2 Life Cycle Assessment Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a method used to analyze the impacts caused by products and services to the environment surrounding. It is used to study the life cycle from the extraction of raw materials, processing, transport, use, reuse, recycling or disposal of the products and services. There are four stages in LCA which includes goal identification, life cycle inventory, impact analysis and improvement analysis. LCA is used to identify and analyze the input and output of materials, energy and waste emissions in solid, liquid and gaseous state in order to make the improvement from the environmental impacts determined. (Life cycle assessment n.d) 2. Goal and scope definition 2.1 Goal of this study The goal of this study is to compare the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of the service between reading printed lecture notes and reading lecture notes on the laptop. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of printed and computer document as learning materials for an undergraduate engineering student of Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus is conducted. The LCA of this study is done by the undergraduate Civil Engineering students of Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus. The results of this study is based on the two reports titled Scanning Life Cycle Assessment of Printed and E-paper Documents based on the iRex Digital Reader by Sebastiaan Deetman and Ingrid Odegard in March 2009 and Life Cycle Assessment of a Laptop Computer and its Contribution to Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Anh Hoang, Wei li Tseng, Shekar Viswanathan and Howard Evans. The study will compare the environment impacts of the printed paper and laptop. 2.2 Scope of this study Scope of this study consists of function and functional units. Function of the product will be analyzed and functional units will be included in this study is used to make comparison of the services and the LCA of the laptop. 2.2.1 Function Laptop can be useful in reading lecture notes and making notes in a document files. These are the functions that will be analyzed. However, laptop can also be used to read online newspaper, journals, magazine and for doing assignments. These functions will not be included in this study but they can definitely help in reducing the environment impacts. The use of Microsoft Office software in laptop enables students to make own notes and read lecture notes for e-paper and printed documents. This function has made the comparison between computer documents and printed paper viable. In this report, it is assumed that the time taken for a student to download lecture notes from the BlackBoard System used by Swinburne University of Technology into the computer is the same. Therefore, it can be excluded from this study because initially, both alternatives need to use this function. Besides, the wireless connection in Swinburne University should be neglected as both printed notes and e-notes require the wireless connection to download the lecture notes from the BlackBoard System. 2.2.2 Product System a. Manufacturing The manufacturing and assembly of components for the laptop including packaging result in releasing greenhouse gases. b. Distribution To distribute the laptop to retails, transportation of the laptop is included in this study. The greenhouse gases also will be released through the transports used. c. Use The usage of the laptop will be four years equivalent to the four years course. The total usage of laptop including lecture, tutorial and self-study per unit for one week is included in this study. So, the laptop usage for one year can be calculated. d. End of life End of life in this study is about recycling a laptop that can no longer be used or function anymore. The laptop will be recycled under the US recycling requirements. 2.2.3 Functional Unit The functional unit of LCA is to study the service of the paper used for printing notes for a student which is four years as the engineering courses for Swinburne University of Technology takes four years to complete. However, the laptop is assumed to replace all the printed notes in this study throughout the four years course. The assumptions of the laptop and printed paper that need to be taken into the consideration in this study are as shown as below. Assumptions: 1. The life span of the laptop and printer are four years as engineering courses take four years. 2. Plug is used for laptop for all the time instead of using battery. 3. Laser printer is used for printing. 4. Wooden uncoated paper is used for printing. 5. The printed paper is in greyscale. 2.2.4 Impact Categories In this study, the laptop usage and the printed paper are compared to analyze the data of greenhouse gas emission for both alternatives which contributes to Global Warming Potential (GWP). 3. Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) In this report, the data collected are the manufacturing, distribution, use and end-of-life of a standard laptop. The CO2-e emission of each stage are also calculated and included in the report. 3.1 Inventory of Laptop Computer 3.1.1 Manufacturing It includes the manufacturing and assembly of components as well as manufacturing and assembly of laptop which comes with packaging. On the whole, the greenhouse gas emission is approximately 160 kg CO2-e which is obtained from the graph on a report entitled Carbon Footprint of a Typical Business Laptop from Dell which is written by Markus Stutz (2010). 3.1.2 Distribution Transportation of laptop by all means to assembly locations and distributed to local retails, including transportation to customers themselves. For this report, the greenhouse gas emission of distribution of laptop is approximately 50 kg CO2-e (Stutz 2010) following the US region. However, the transportation may vary with region. So the emissions will vary as well but not much difference. 3.1.3 Use The life span of the laptop is estimated to be four years which is assumed to be used for the whole four years course of engineering students of Swinburne University Sarawak. One laptop is used by one student only. It is assumed that for one week, the total usage (hours) of laptop is 28 hours inclusive of 3 hours lecture, 2 hours tutorial and 2 hours of self-study per unit. There are four units altogether so 7 hours multiply by 4 equals to 28 hours. Assuming two semesters which consists of 32 weeks (inclusive of exam weeks) are equivalent to one year, the total hours is 896 hours. Hence, for four years, the total hour is 3584 hours. To calculate the power consumption and greenhouse gas emission, the mode taken into consideration is Active mode. Based on the report written by the students of National University entitled Life Cycle Assessment of a Laptop Computer and its Contribution to Greenhouse Gas Emissions, the electricity used for average Active mode is 0.032 kWh. The power consu mption is tabulated in the table below. Electricity Used (kWh) Hours for 4 Years Power consumed (kWh) Active (Average) 0.032 3584 114.69 Based on the report too, the formula is converted to kWh. Hence, the greenhouse gas emission for usage is equal to 45.88 kg CO2-e. 3.1.4 End-of-life Once the laptop can no longer be used or it is unable to function anymore, the laptop will be sent for recycling. Sometimes laptops can be reformatted but it will not perform as well as before. Hence, according to Stutz 2010, it is assumed that 75 percent of the laptop will be recycled under the US recycling requirements. So, the greenhouse gas emission of -30 kg CO2-e is obtained. Stages Kg CO2-e released Manufacturing 160 Distribution 50 Use 45.88 End of life -30 Total 225.88 Table 1: The CO2e emission for laptop 3.2 Print Alternative Other alternative is that, the lecture notes, tutorial sheet and solutions can be printed out for study. The significant part which manipulates the GWP value is the type of paper used for printing. In this inventory, woodfree uncoated paper will be used to print out the lecture notes as well as tutorial questions. The GWP of manufacturing, distribution, use, end-of-life stage was taken from the LCA done by the ecoinvent for the inventory of the print alternative. 3.2.1 The use of printer A laser printer is used to print all the lecture notes and tutorial exercises. According to the report of LCA done by the student of University of Technology in Delft, they are using the process description of Ecoinvent database, which includes the life-time of printer, energy use during 3 different operational modes(active, stand-by and off), the print speed and average paper consumption. These numbers were all converted to an average inventory for an hour of printer use, as summarized in Table 4 below [Lehmann, 2007]. Process/part description Amount (per hour of printer use) Unit Ecoinvent name Electricity use 0.0402 kWh Electricity, low voltage, production UCTE Printing paper 0.214 kg Paper, woodfree, uncoated, at regional storage [RER] Laser Printer Scenario 1: Scenario 2: piece piece Printer laserjet, b/w, at plant [GLO] Toner 0.0644 kg Toner, black, used for printing [RER] Transport 0.0215 tkm Transport, freight, rail[RER] Table 1: The usage of printer and papers per hour In table 4, the usage of printer, paper and toner was converted to per hour usage. This is because Ecoinvent database recorded the lifetime of a printer is about four years. However, the usage of the laserjet printer will not be operating twenty four hours per day for four years. Therefore, the inventory is converted to per hour determination. 3.2.2 Paper Uncoated woodfree paper is the type of paper that we used most for printing. The dataset of the production and distribution of the type of paper is based on the Ecoinvent database. And according to the database, the uncoated woodfree paper contains at least 90% of fibres in the form of chemical pulp. Calculation: The estimation of paper used in 4 years. The approximate number of paper used for 1 chapter=15 sheets There total chapters for 1 subject= 8 chapters Subjects in 1 semester= 4 Semesters in 1 year=2 There are approximately 960 sheets of paper used in one year. And one student will consumed approximately 3840 sheets of paper in four years time. Paper disposal There are three types of paper disposal flows are defined in Ecoinvent, they are: Â · [G139] disposal, paper, 11.2% water, to municipal incineration [CH] Â · [G449] disposal, paper, 11.2% water, to sanitary landfill [CH] Â · [G1984] paper, recycling, with deinking, at plant [RER] The first two processes, however, differ from the third. The disposal processes have economic outflow the service of the disposal of 1 kg of the paper, as what is expected. A physical mass of recycled paper is the output for the recycling flow. According to Ecoinvent, there isnt recycling paper service and recycling gives out recycled paper as output. This means that the printer not only provide service of printing, but also produce recycled paper. Part of the total process to the recycled paper and part of the total process to the use of printer were allocated. This means that the environmental impacts of recycling the paper as waste are taken into account. 4.0 Impact Assessment This stage is to assess the impacts will affect on human health and the environment associated with energy and raw material inputs and environmental releases quantified by the inventory. We have done the impact assessment for the category of global warming potential (GWP). From the result, we do a comparison of CO2-equivalent between the laptop and printed paper. 4.1 Break-even Point: GWP Break-even point is when the GWP of both alternatives is the same occur. This can determine which alternative is more sustainable to the environment. When the GWP of both alternatives meets at this point, their emission is equal. After that, based on different situation, which ever goes higher is considered as not sustainable. GWP (kg CO2 equivalents) Print Alternative Scenario 1 Printing 3840 pages for four years Printing with woodfree uncoated paper 13.53 Laptop 225.88 Table: GWP values (in CO2-eq) of printed notes and laptop usage. From the table above, the relationship between the print alternative and laptop computer between two scenarios was assumed. After that, it can generate the graph as seen in figure below. Figure: From the figure, the impact assigned to the laptop computer remains constant as it is used daily for reading and studying. The graph shows the GWP of print alternative is much lower than the laptop computer. The break-even point is too far that it is probably about 70000 prints for four years. 5.0 Improvement Analysis Based on the research done, the usage of e-paper (laptops) still releases quite a high amount of CO2e which leads to Global Warming Potential. Hence, a few improvements to reduce emissions should be done. Improvements that could be done are as follows: Optimization of electricity usage when manufacturing laptops Minimize the number of transportation of laptops by distributing as many laptops as possible delivery process Turn off laptop when it is not used (i.e when taking a break from studying lecture notes) Purchasing laptops which has Energy Star label. Energy Star is a program by US government which helps to protect environment using superior energy efficiency. (Energy Star n.d.) Public awareness give talks on managing electricity and power usage In order to reduce the effect of global warming potential for paper, improvement can be done in the ways of: Conserving paper by printing on the both sides of the paper. Select to print what is really needed. Print only a few pages that are needed instead of the whole book. Recycle the used paper and use sustainable paper too. Return the empty printing cartridges to the supplier for recycling. 6.0 Conclusion From the life cycle assessment, we have compared the carbon dioxide equivalent of a laptop and paper for four years. It is shown that the CO2-e of a laptop is higher than paper. In other words, print alternative is a better choice to reduce the environmental impacts. It is more environmental friendly to study the lecture slides by printing paper instead of using laptop as paper emits less CO2e. The results above can only be applied to study lecture notes, not for office use and others.

Graduation Speech: The Future is Bright :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Our most distinguished guests, beloved parents, members of the faculty of County High School, fellow members of the graduating class, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Four years ago, a new high school was established in the County area. Its establishment created mixed feelings. and expectations from the community. Questions such as: What kind of a high school could this be? Would this be able to uphold academic excellence as well as social and cultural values which most parents would like their children to internalize and live with? Would this be able to provide for the well-balanced development of a child's intellectual and artistic faculties? Would this institution be able to turn out students who could be responsible leaders, and patriotic citizens of the United States of America; citizens who could uphold the ideology many Americans had fought and died for? My fellow members of the class of 2012, after four years of being nurtured under the wings of that institution which is no other than our beloved Alma Mater of County High School, it is with pride and privilege that I say "Yes," rather, we say "Yes" -- County High School has met the community's expectations on the quality of graduates it could yield. We, the members of the class of 2012, are the epitome of what County High School is as training grounds for young adults and future leaders of our community and of our country. Our achievements as students in the last four years all attest to this legitimate claim. Yes, we are the proud graduates of County High School and to all my fellow graduates, please accept my warmest greetings on this momentous day. Next week's commencement exercises will mark the realization of our high school dreams and achievements, the dawning of new challenges and opportunities to pursue college education, and setting the vision for our own professional development. Equally deserving, I would also like to congratulate and express our heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to our parents, teachers and administrators, with whom we proudly share our achievements and our joys. This diploma is our gift to you who have cooperatively worked together to see us through four years at Washington High School. To our parents, your immense love and support had provided us with strength and determination to go on when in our youth we did not know which road to take; we could not discern what was appropriate and not; in those critical moments of indecision, you were always there to offer the best for us; in our painful moments of loss as well as our hard fought victories you were there to encourage and protect us.

Practical Proposal

Should Minnesota’s County Road Commissions Take on More Responsibility? Katherine Monrowe ENG 101b Professor B. Hatchett November 10, 2008 November 8, 2008 Mr. Walter Hooper Chairman of T. R. County Road Commission 1881 Labree Ave. Thief River Falls, MN 56701 Dear Mr. Hooper, Enclosed is my proposal that the T. R. County Road Commission begin to plow and/or sand the main business commuter roads more frequently after and during inclement weather. During the past couple of years, the road commission has been too ill prepared to deal with the winter weather, and the lack of preparedness has caused many unfortunate accidents.My proposal would provide concerned Thief River Falls residents with a renewed sense of security. I believe that if the road commission were to increase the amount of times that the roads are plowed during and after winter weather, residents would feel more loyalty and respect towards those who work for our county, and it would help residents to have a safer c ommute to their jobs and their homes. Thank you for taking the time to read and consider this proposal. Sincerely, Katherine Monrowe Should Minnesota’s County Road Commissions Take on More Responsibility? The winters in Northern Minnesota are harsh, cold, and dangerous.The average snowfall for the state falls between 30 and 38 inches per year. Within the past five years, the temperatures have been known to fluctuate greatly; from warmer temperatures during the day, to below freezing through the night. These temperature changes can cause dangerous road conditions, such as black ice, which can harmful or even deadly. Along with the weather changes, the county road commissions throughout Minnesota have been making changes as well; they have, significantly, cut back on the amount of time and effort that they spend plowing, sanding, and/or salting the roads.These cut backs may seem minor, but they are resulting in many unnecessary accidents and less than desirable driving conditio ns. This forces residents to ask the question, should Minnesota’s country road commissions take on more responsibility? I believe that the best solution to this problem would be to designate specific times of the day, during the winter months, to plowing/sanding/salting, and require that more attention be paid to the roads when the weather conditions are dangerous.I think that if the residents of Thief River County, and potentially the entire of state Michigan, were provided with a safer commute, they would feel more loyalty and respect towards those who work for our county. After the state of Minnesota implemented many budget cuts, funding was cut too many important organizations, one being the county road commissions. Our government officials fail to recognize all that entails these budget cuts. Not only have the driving conditions suffered, but parking lot conditions have also.The handicap parking spaces are completely disregarded, causing handicapped and elderly citizens to risk injury by parking or walking through snow and ice (Schneider, 2001). Not only are those who drive themselves affected by the winter road conditions, but those who utilize public transportation are affected as well. If the road commission is slow to take care of roads, then public transportation (e. g. buses, taxis, etc†¦) will be late to pick up its passengers. This, in turn, will make its passengers late for work and may cause them to lose their jobs.Also, some may argue that there is always a risk while driving, and more time spent taking care of the roads during the winter will not lessen the risk. However, M. Peden states, â€Å"While in practical terms it may not be possible completely to eliminate all risk, it is possible to reduce the exposure to risk of severe injury and to minimize its intensity and consequences (2004). † Peden’s quote states exactly the point that I am trying to prove. I understand that the risk will not be completely taken away; however, the hances can be significantly reduced if the roads are plowed and sanded. It is clear to see that the budget cuts are more of a risk, and the increase in accidents and the need for tow trucks have cost the state even more money. Marina Fulton, of Kingston, has a thirty-minute commute to her office and when the weather is at its worse, Fulton has to leave an extra hour early just to make it to work on time (2008). Obviously, the winters of Northern Minnesota are going to be dangerous, even though the road conditions could be improved.However, if the roads were properly taken care of, residents would have more time to get to their jobs and feel safer on their way. I believe that if the T. R. county road commission were to implement the suggestions in this proposal in January of 2009, they’d be able to get a â€Å"head start† on the months in which winter is its harshest. Linda Boonstrand, of Thief River, stated â€Å"I would definitely feel safer driving wit h my two young daughters if the road commission were to take care of the roads more thoroughly (2008). With the advances in technology that our country is continuing to make, road commissions should be able to find out when inclement weather in on its way and be prepared to take care of the roads (Committee on Weather Research for Transportation, 2004). In conclusion, I am calling upon my county to spend more time taking care of the roads during the winter months, especially more during inclement weather. I believe that the extra time spent clearing/sanding/salting the roads throughout the winter will result in a safer and happier community.Thank you for taking the time to review and consider this proposal. I look forward to hearing from you. Works Cited Boonstrand, L. (December 6, 2008) Personal interview. Committee on Weather Research for Surface Transportation. (2004). Where the weather meets the road: a research agenda for improving road weather services. Washington, DC: Nationa l Academies Press. Retrieved December, 6, 2008, from NetLibrary Database. Downs, A. (2004). Still stuck in traffic: coping with peak-hour traffic congestion. Washington, D. C. Brookings Institution Press.Retrieved December, 6, 2008, from NetLibrary database.. Fulton, M. (December 5, 2008) Personal interview. King, K. (2002, May 23). New budget calls for slight trims in city taxes, staff – Manager Holt says the city’s â€Å"lean operation† continues. The Grand Rapids Press Online. Retrieved on December, 7, 2008, from Newsbank database. Peden, M. M. (2004). World report on road traffic injury prevention. Geneva WHO. Retrieved December, 6, 2008, from NetLibrary database. Schneider, J. (2001, January 29). Tight spot. The Lansing State Journal Online. Retrieved on December, 10, 2008, from Newsbank database.

Mental Health Project

My initial reaction to the news would be one of worry and apprehension. I know that mentally ill people may be violent in some ways and that they may wander around the community and with my young child at home, the negative scenarios would be endless. On the other hand I know that mentally ill people can also be cured and they should be given the chance to have their lives back as fully functioning members of society. With a halfway house as a neighbor, I would think that it would probably pose a threat to our way of life and the safety of my child. Its because the proximity of the center to us would disrupt our way of life for example I would not have peace of mind knowing that mentally-ill people are beside us, thus it would possibly lead to over protectiveness. I would also be overly concerned of who my child interacts with especially if the mentally-ill residents are allowed to roam the premises. I would also probably think that the neighborhood is not a safe and healthy community to raise my child. The stigma and the negative attitudes of people to the half-way house is also not far from reality and maybe as neighbors people would think of us differently also. Having a half-way house for mentally-ill people as a neighbor brings mixed emotions, fear, anxiety, pity and generally I would be upset. I would fear that the residents in the facility would harm us and especially harm my child. I would be anxious of the stress of having mentally-ill neighbors, that I might always be thinking of how they would affect our daily lives. I would also feel pity for those mentally-ill people because they do deserve a place to stay where they can get better before being institutionalized. And in all honesty, I would be upset by the fact  that as a health care provider, I should not be feeling and thinking this because I know that they can do get better and I should not be too narrow minded about it. Based on my feelings and thoughts about the halfway house, I would probably wait and see whether what the conditions are in the facility is and how it impacts the community before I decide to leave the community. Since I don’t want to be consumed by my irrational thoughts about the matter and I also don’t want to risk the safety of my child, then I would try my best to be objective in the decisions that I would make. Bibliography Atkinson, R. et.al (1998). Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 8th ed. New York, Prentice-Hall