Kinotrope Technology in The Difference Engine Essay

Kinotrope Technology in The Difference Engine - Essay Example Charles Babbage, now known as Lord Babbage, invention leads to Britain being ruled by intellectuals. The Lord Byron, once Charles’s assistant, goes on to become Britain’s prime minister (Gibson & Bruce 67). Furthermore, the invention of the Difference Engine causes class warfare between the old guard and the new guard. The new guard wins this war, led by Lord Byron who assumes power after this upheaval. The novel is not one continuous narrative about Babbage rather it is the amalgamation of three stories. The novel first introduces the reader to Sybil Gerard, the daughter of a Luddite. Luddites, in this book, are the working class that oppose technology and are suppressed by the rulers (Gibson & Bruce 83). Sybil is not successful in her search for gainful employment and resorts to prostitution to make ends meet. Later she becomes the apprentice of a clacker under Sam Houston in the state of Texas. The second character is Edward â€Å"Leviathan† Mallory who has several titles under his belt. He is an explorer and a palaeontologist. His story revolves around the fact that he is being chased for his knowledge of a device known as the Modus (Gibson & Bruce106). The last character in the book is Laurence Oliphant who elaborates the misgivings of this Information age. The book requires one to brush up on the history on Europe and America. The brushing up helps in reducing confusion during the book as it relays an alternate history with real life characters (Rapatzikou 47). Moreover, the writers display depth in information on the technological capabilities that would be realistic in that period. Majority of novels adopt a utopian perspective in describing technologies in their novels. The culture of this generation still possesses barbaric practices such as slavery and sexism remain in force despite the technological advancement of the era. Other areas such as medicine are left in medieval status (McHale, Brian & Randall

Statement of Goals, Research Interests, and Experiences Personal

Of Goals, Research Interests, and Experiences - Personal Statement Example In the current environment of advancing technology, GIS plays an important role in the development of nations, which is especially true for the UAE, where expertise in this area is the need of the hour. Pursuing a master’s degree in GIS would equip me with the necessary knowledge and skills to help develop various aspects of the UAE, like building infrastructure, developing crime analysis database to reduce crime etc. Bringing this essential knowledge back to my country would enable us to advance and improve our current security systems and the quality of life for citizens in UAE. UMD University is renowned for its value based academic programs that offer opportunities of personal and professional growth. The myriad modules of course curricula are essential ingredients that provide students with a strong learning experience. Moreover, the learning platform offered by the university caters to the needs and requirements of diverse populace thus facilitating greater understanding of cross-cultural values and preparing students to meet the challenges of time. As a foreign student from Abu Dhabi, UAE, the invigorating environment and the academic program of the university not only meet my expectations but also represent my ideals. Participating in the UMD GIS Master program would help me realize my dream of improving the GIS Field in my country. I therefore strongly believe that the state of the art technology and innovative curricula of the UMD university program would help me meet the changing demands of the times, and allow me to make important contributions to my community. It would equip me with excellent academic qualifications and skills that could be judiciously exploited for the advancement of my country. My interest in studying GIS sparked when I was growing up in Abu Dhabi where I used to admire those who supervised construction sites near my home place. It intrigued me how they could go to places that were bare,

Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 23

Business Law - Essay Example In certain instances, there are likelihoods of laxity among people who feel inferior to others within the group. They would try to avoid assigned and prospective responsibilities by relying on the expertise and knowledge of others within the group. Furthermore, individuals associated with group thinking may lack confidence to defend their stands, ideas, and views if conflict exists with those of influential people within the group. Such people, usually, align and incline themselves to self-proclaimed leaders who deemed superior, and whom group members consider their decision as not only authoritative but of goodwill to the group. Jonestown’s case was no difference to group thinking scenario. The believer and followers of People’s Temple Full Gospel took an inferior profile to Jones, who misled them into believing even in the ideas not worth believing. They acted as though they had no independence of mind and thoughts; acting on impulse of hearsays, propagated by Jones to serve self-interest surrounded by malice and selfishness. Through social contagion and mass thinking, people of Jonestown had entrusted Jones with their property and valuables and made him the presumed controller of their property, children, and family members. Jones took advantage of the people’s inclination to group thinking and economically exploited the opportunity through his cult religion (Manning and Curtis 128). He recruited people whom he fooled with his fake miracles and testimonies. Many people made blinded decisions to join the church owing to influence and euphoria. The kind of trust Jonestown residents bestowed on Jones was overwhelming such that they found no reason to disregard his disguised assertions and calculated propaganda. Jones controlled the social lives of Jonestown and determined all dimensions of daily lives therein. He even controlled and determined what news broadcast

Education in Barbados Essay Example for Free

Education in Barbados Essay Barbados had one of the oldest and most advanced education systems in the Eastern Caribbean in the late 1980s. Education dated back to 1686, when private funds were used to build the first school. Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, education was controlled by the Anglicans, who were later joined by other religious groups. By 1962 education was free for all nationals and administered primarily by the state. This trend continued, so that by 1984 only 4 percent of the primary and secondary schools were managed by churches. Barbados longstanding emphasis on education was evident in the values and goals of contemporary society. Education has traditionally been associated with success and upward mobility. In 1970 Barbados officially claimed to have achieved a 99-percent literacy rate, a figure that was questioned by some observers. Despite these doubts, observers generally agreed that in the 1980s literacy in Barbados exceeded the rates of other Caribbean societies. In 1984 Barbados had 126 primary schools, 110 of which were administered by the state. Approximately 1,350 teachers were available to instruct the 35,000 students. There were sixty-four secondary schools, five of which prepared students for technical careers. A total of 6,000 students attended secondary-school programs. Postsecondary education consisted of seven institutions that awarded degrees or certificates. Four schools offered specific vocational training: the Barbados Institute of Management and Productivity, the Erdiston Teachers Training College, the Tercentenary School of Nursing, and the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytecnic. Academic programs at the university level were conducted at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Barbados Community College, which offered vocational and technical classes as well. The UWI also included Codrington College, a local theological seminary. In 1979 the government created the Skills Training Programme to augment existing education programs. It was designed to fulfill the need for short but intensive training in vocational subjects and to prepare students for careers in mechanics, electronics, horticulture, masonry, plumbing, and other technical and vocational occupations. Although the educational infrastructure was designed to meet both the nations academic and vocational needs, observers seriously questioned Barbados ability to provide quality instruction in fields related to tourism,  agriculture, and manufacturing, the major economic undertakings in the 1980s. Few courses were actually offered in agricultural science and commerce; as a result, an inadequate number of Barbadians were being prepared to take on the responsibilities inherent in a growing economy. The education system was also criticized for being stratified along socioeconomic lines. In general, upper-class Barbadians prepared for university studies at the best primary and secondary schools, received a disproportionate number of scholarships, and had the best records for entering the professional disciplines. On balance, however, most Barbadians felt that the education system still afforded opportunities to achieve at least limited upward mobility. The government appeared to be attempting to address specific criticisms of its educational policy; its goals for Barbadian education in the 1980s included the promotion of equal educational opportunity and enhanced technical and vocational programs in all schools. In spite of its shortcomings, the Barbadian education system remained the best in the Eastern Caribbean in the 1980s.

Black Hawk Down: Narrative Theory Analysis

Black Hawk Down: Narrative Theory Analysis In 1993, over one hundred US soldiers were dropped into the urban heart of Mogadishu, Somalia. The purpose was to perform an operation to capture a violent warlord by the name of Mohamed Farrah Aidid and his closest members. The purpose of the operation was to quell the ongoing civil war. The war was taking a devastating toll on the civilian population as supply and food shipments from Red Cross agencies were hoarded. Starvation was the warlords main weapon. It was decided by the US that intervention was the only way to prevent the continuation of the atrocities. Unfortunately, the US soldiers were not prepared to face the tactical nightmare Mogadishu would become when two of their helicopters were shot down during the operation. All the stories of the soldiers involved were later recorded and written in a book by Mark Bowden, entitled Black Hawk Down. It was this book that a screenplay and eventually a feature film would be based on in the 2001 adaptation Black Hawk Down, directed b y Ridley Scott. If anyone had previously seen a Ridley Scott film, they would know that he is meticulous in creating detail and realism. Black Hawk Down does nothing less than emanate this style of directing. He has helped push a new wave in directing style, where realism in situations and characters account for as much of the movie as the plot. These both apply to narrative and genre theories. The new elements that have been inserted into the creation of the war movie genre and narrative have added new depth and meaning to what we see and understand about the people who fight our wars. The image of the US soldier has been elevated to almost mythic proportions, partly due to ad campaigns, but also to the portrayal of war and the realism that moves us closer to the fighting than we can ever imagine. The beauty is that the answers are explained by philosophical geniuses who have all contributed theories to understanding why we think in certain ways and experience certain pleasures. Ev erything we interpret is relative to our own experiences. The purpose of this essay is to analyze Black Hawk Down using the various narrative theories of these intellectuals. Some provide thoughts on the narration of the story such as Propp, Todorov, Barthes and Levi Strauss, while others look at the genres and their various approaches to creation and production; finally, semiotic analysis allows us to know how we interpret the images we see (both syntagmatically and paradigmatically). Narrative theory applies to the structure of the production, whether it is in film, television, literature or radio. Analysts of narrative theory usually grasp the basic structure of the particular genre before viewing the production based on formulaic series of events associated with that genre. These series of events that have an appearance of repetition, according to Valdimir Propp, are called narratemes. According to Propp, depending on the medium/genre, the events can be predetermined by using his 32 narrative functions and 8 spheres of action. The medium does not have to include all 32 of his functions, but the ones they do contain will always happen in a specific order. Another theorist by the name of Todorov came along and simplified what Propp had been writing about. He generalized narratives to follow the path of equilibrium-disequilibrium-equilibrium. This is where Black Hawk Down takes a turn to the unique side. Because of the nature of the conflict, equilibrium never tru ly existed from the beginning. There may have been equilibrium in the US troops position, but the overall conflict presides over any minuscule balance. The movie begins panning over malnourished Somalis affected by the starvation campaign of Farrah Aidid while text scrolls across the screen explaining the situation. The first glimpse of US troops occurs here when the viewer watches them fly overhead in an SH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. The troops begin to watch a Red Cross shipment of food and supplies getting hoarded by the warlord Aidids men. The disequilibrium we had set in the beginning of the movie gets thrown to another level when civilians are shot attempting to take some food. This is where the movie continues to present its uniqueness. As the movie progresses, nothing goes as planned during the operation to capture the warlord. In the process of putting troops on the ground, two helicopters are shot out of the sky by Somali guerillas, further pushing the stability of the movi e. This is why Todorov generalized about the narrative theory: not everything follows a standard, and the ones that dont stand out, good or bad. In this case, the movie created a cinematic experience like most great war movies: immersive, intense and filled with feminine and masculine narratives (discussed later on). The movie eventually reached as much equilibrium as allotted due to the situation. In the end, 17 soldiers had been killed for an operation that was meant to be more than a grab-and-go. But one key aspect to Todorovs theory is that the ending is ideologically significant. How it achieves this closure reveals how narratives function to maintain/challenge established power relations in society. Quite close to how the movie began, it ended, but this time with closure and equilibrium. The music and setting were serene with a feeling of despair, fitting the mood of both dying and/or dead civilians/soldiers because of the conflict in Mogadishu. To the soldiers at the end of t he movie, it no longer became a fight for their own lives, but that for their fellow soldiers. A bond throughout the movie was created between them, and although some were lost to the fighting, the bond never disappeared. This is visible at the end of the movie when Josh Harnetts character Eversmann spoke to a fallen soldier about returning home and talking to his parents about who he was, what he did, and why they should be proud of him. It was an underhanded way of making us look at relationships the soldiers built instead of letting us take a step back and ask why they were there in the first place. What makes this so ideologically significant? It is in the beginning of the movie when disequilibrium was first established: there were soldiers that were aware of this situation and asked what the purpose of the occupation was. This is why the ending of the movie is ideologically significant to established power relations, those between soldiers and their commanders, and how it came to a sincere closure to make everything seem justified. The idea that there are characters within a scripted movie that are given these lines reflects the observational talent the screenplay writers and directors have. It makes a bold statement to society that we are aware. Along with Propp and Todorov, another man by the name of Roland Barthes came and attempted, successfully, to answer the question of the narrative theory. In Roland Barthes theory, he used five codes in order to form a network of meaning. This network, in turn, provides a framework for analyzing texts or in our case, a war movie. The codes are as following: action, enigma, semic, symbolic and cultural. Lets begin with the idea of a cultural code. The cultural code is constituted by the points at which the text refers to common bodies of knowledge through a social construct. This makes the viewer have to have prior knowledge in order to understand the reference. These references are easily-identified traditions that could be scholarly, historical, mythological or stereotypical. In this case, the reference, and respectively the entire movie, was based on a time period in 1993 when the US attempted to quell a civil war. So between the traditions of history, scholar, myth, and stereotyping, history plays a large role. Black Hawk Down was created almost 10 years after the event. This gave the public enough time to move past the events, but also after only 10 years, it could still be on the minds of people who were old enough to comprehend and understand the conflict. To continue with Barthes codes, symbolic would be the next easiest to interpret. It exists to explicate the complexities of an element in the text. One of the most important entrance points into the symbolic is the antithetical because concepts suggest their opposites, which is argued by Levi-Strauss in the binary opposites theory. But the symbolic code does not merely break the code into binaries; instead it eradicates the boundary between opposites creating a disturbance in classification. (Coward) There are many elements to this movie that can be seen as symbolic. As stated earlier, the image of a US soldier means so much more that what can be seen on the surface. This movie attempts, and in reality, accomplishes, the symbolic image of a soldier. The image gets elevated to another level, the level of being mythic. To quote Eric Bana who plays Hoot, Whe n I get home peoplell ask me, Hey Hoot, why do ya do it man? Why? Just some war junkie? Ya know what Ill say? I wont say a goddamn word. Why? They wont understand. They wont understand why we do it. They wont understand that its about the men next to you, and thats it. This is what embodies the American soldier today. It is about defending the country, yes, but more so about keeping the man next to you alive so he can go back home someday. Another symbolic image, which is the basis for the movie, is the downing of not one, but two of our helicopters. We have two massive machines facilitating the most advanced technology available that get shot down by a bunch of ill-trained guerillas from a country torn by war. More so than just that, after the second helicopter was overrun by guerillas and civilians, the military machine became nothing more than a toy with young kids jumping on the rotors. The image of this alone creates more than a feeling of defeat because it was scaled down from being a symbol of Americas productive might to nothing. Two more codes written by Barthes include the semic and action (also known as proairetic). These codes are easily interlaced with other theories. Semic is closely related to semiotic analysis which focuses upon pieces of data in order to suggest abstract concepts. Semiotic analysis is on the conscious of the person viewing the object or product. We see or hear something and chose to recognize it as we have been taught. If we do not recognize it, we try to group it into a category in which we do understand. Semiotics will always be an interesting concept to study because of its conscious and subconscious nature. We recognize that the movie is based on real events, with that being the sign, but the individual stories paint the signified. On the other end, to look at syntagmatic codes, all you have to do is look at the narrative because it refers to how the product uses/used a series of images to create meaning in the viewers mind. The proairetic code is closely related to the texts nar rative structure. The basis of the proairetic is the dependency of syntagmatic codes along with the narrative theory (already discussed) as to understand the meaning of the images. The final code in Barthes theory is enigma, or hermeneutic. Elements of the text that contribute to these codes are the devices used to define and then reveal or solve a mystery. What keeps us intrigued is the process in which they solve the mystery presented in the beginning of the episode, hence the hermeneutic code. Ricoeur distinguishes between two forms of hermeneutics: a hermeneutics of faith which aims to restore meaning to a text and a hermeneutics of suspicion which attempts to decode meanings that are disguised. (Josselson) Finally, another contributor to the criticism and theory of the narration in stories was Levi-Strauss. He believed in the theory of binary oppositions, underscoring the concept of differences. From birth, we learn differences rather than relations. Males distinguish themselves by images and understanding that they are not like their mothers, rather than the fact they are like their fathers. Barthes has a sound theory in the case of narratives, but it can also be tied into Todorovs. Although through Barthes we look at the minuscule vs. the big picture, little equilibriums can be found through binary oppositions. The idea is that binary opposition is an inherent, structurally based concept on the Western tendency to group into hierarchy. This is a conception derived from Ferdinand de Saussure, a Swiss linguist whose ideas laid the foundation for many of the significant developments in linguistics in the 20th century. His work in structuralism is a tangible point of departure that moves us into the post-structural criticism that is deconstruction. Throughout the movie there are little battles between these binary oppositions that create balance to the characters and plot, and therefore, the narrative. It is in this way that characters create conflict and story. Because of the nature of military action, you will always have a mix of young and old, those who are eager to get into a fight and those wish to make it back. There is a sense of wisdom in the older characters where little things make a difference. One great example would be after the convoy, coming back from Mogadishu, refuels and rearms to get back to the fight. The leader Struecker says very little to a young man who has lost the will to continue because he has seen death around him. Its what you do now that makes a difference. That is the kind of wisdom expected from leaders. They push a person to think hard about how they want to be remembered. In this case, the young man Thomas, heroically grabs his g ear and jumps into one of the last Humvees to return to the fight. It is here where the little battles are won. Another great example of the binary opposite would be the difference between America and Somalia. In the movie, you have a highly trained force of soldiers who become quickly outnumbered by ill-trained guerillas. Looking beyond that, the conflict can be portrayed as a Third World country versus an international superpower. Along with the theories, there is 1 more key point that needs to be made on narrative theories. Narrative structures are experienced differently from person to person, but there are two groups where the content allows us to make generalizations (while there still may be some anomalies): male and female genders. Producers of the content that is viewed, read, or listened to by these two distinct audiences must appreciate the differences between the genders. The feminine narrative appeals to women because it involves relationships and complex issues with characters while masculine narratives appeal to men based on action and multiple climax points. Black Hawk Down cannot be labeled as a chick flick, but it is feminine narrative. This can be determined by the relationships and complex emotions displayed between the soldiers to each other. The movie has many climactic moments, but it also reaches out to the audience to be understanding of the position the men have been put in to. It is ho w they interact that will determine their fate giving an aura of brotherhood. But, in recent years complications have arisen as how to define shows or movies. Movies can no longer be just feminine or masculine or else the audience will not be pulled in. This can be attributed to the change in social behavior and norms. We are becoming progressively equal in the male/female world. Falling back to the 1950s at the height of streamlined sexism, creating a movie appealing to one sex or the other would have been appropriate. But today as audiences tend to be more socially adept, directors and writers must look to create not just a movie, but a complex experience. This is why narratives are beginning to have very complex, multi-episodic stories that are not only using both gender narratives, but also the blending of genres. Black Hawk Down was a blending of fact and fiction into an action/war drama. The US/UN mission in Somalia had originally been to assist in the distribution of food and supplies to thousands of starving Somalis. Farrah Aidid was the warlord who used this aid to consolidate his power base. It was this reason that led the US to create the operation. But instead of a one-hour operation, the US soldiers walked into the middle of a Somali civil war. This movie had not only the cooperation of the US military, but also the use of weapon systems and soldiers, some of whom were involved in Somalia. The movie is unique, and historical. It demonstrates the heroism that continues to this day, of those Americans who volunteer to serve their country, and to be willing to sacrifice their lives for people in countries not their ownà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The movie highlights the officers and NCOs who fought their way out of hell, some who returned a second time to ensure that no one was left behind. This cost them dearly. Their families and brothers in arms today keep their memories alive by honoring them with decorations ranging from the Medal of Honor to the Purple Heart. I was privileged to know and serve beside some of them. While this movie was being filmed, cast members and crew were asked to do their best in portraying the real heroes, keeping cliches at a minimum, and honor the memory of those lost. While there are composites of participants, there are also real people who carry on the traditions of the services today, from Col. McKnight to W/O Durant and others. Though a Blackhawk went down, the Rangers today still Lead The Way. -Jim Banzai McClain. If it were not for philosophers who have contributed theories to understanding why we think in certain ways and experience certain pleasures, nothing could be logically explained. Everything we interpret is relative to our own experiences. Propp, Todorov, Barthes and Levi Strauss, all made narrative theory the driving factor in crit ical analysis of modern media. Bruner, Jerome. Acts of meaning; 1990, Cambridge, Massachussets : Harvard University Press. Freeman, M. Why narrative? Hermeneutics, historical understanding, and the significance of stories; Journal of Narrative and Life History; 1997 Vol. 7, p169-176, 8p. Grà ¼nbaum, Thor. Action between Plot and Discourse. Semiotica 165.1-4 (2007): 295-314. Hà ¤nninen, Vilma. A Model of Narrative Circulation. Narrative Inquiry 14.1 (2004): 69-85. Human Communication as Narration: Toward a Philosophy of Reason, Value, and Action; Fisher, Walter R.; 1987, Columbia : U of South Carolina. Josselson, Ruthellen. The Hermeneutics of Faith and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Narrative Inquiry 14.1 (2004): 1-28. Redick, Kip, and Lori Underwood. Rationality and Narrative: A Relationship of Priority. Philosophy Rhetoric 40.4 (2007): 394-405. S/Z By: Coward, Rosalind; pp. 176-81 IN: Newton, K. M. (ed.); Twentieth-Century Literary Theory: A Reader. New York, NY: St. Martins; 1997. xix, 306 pp. The Way We Think: Conceptual Blending and the Minds Hidden Complexities; Fauconnier, Gilles; Turner, Mark; 2002, New York. Wyatt, Neal. Exploring Nonfiction. Library Journal 132.3 (2007): 32.

Letter to Obama in Praise :: Barack Obama President

Obama for America P.O. Box 8102 Chicago, Il 60680 Senator Obama, or to whom it may concern, I am filled with confidence at the progress that has been made in so short a time in our country. When I began learning about politics, you could say that I was extremely naÃÆ'Â ¯ve. I had thought that there was no such thing as ?war? anymore- only something that happened in the past. I was devastated to learn that there still is and still will be wars and any other such excuses for fighting. Likewise, I was surprised at the close-mindedness of Americans concerning race and religion. To learn that every president we?ve had for the past 200 years have been white men- and no other- quite dispirited me, but now something momentous has occurred, not only is there a man of a different racial background running, but a woman as well! I would never have expected us to break our prejudices so quickly, but here it is! We?ve gone through a revolution of thought and can only hope that everything in the future goes as well as possible to show that a woman or a black man can run the country as well as, if not more, efficiently that any of our previous presidents. In order to secure a prosperous presidency, you must consider the good of the people, which brings me to my main issue: the healthcare system. While is may be adequate, there are so numerous an amount of deficiencies and problems with it that it can hardly be described as ?good?. For instance, elderly, middle-class Americans who are retired or still have jobs often take ill due to age. With the impossible healthcare prices and various loopholes and excuses not to cover cases by the insurance companies, it?s ridiculous to assume that the elderly will be able to take care of themselves without going bankrupt or having to leave retirement to pick up another job. The same can be said for anyone who finds themselves unable to procure enough money for their sky-high medical bills. The result is that millions of American are wallowing in debt without light of ever seeing their way out. Perhaps, a way of solving this issue is to put a flat rate on all prescription as well as require all employers to provide full health coverage and retired senior citizens to have free healthcare. More to the point- All the Americans should be able to have free healthcare.

A More Responsible Approach to Animal Research, Testing, and Experiment

It’s Time for a More Responsible Approach to Animal Research, Testing, and Experimentation The debate about using animals for medical testing has been raging for years. The struggle always seems to be between extremist animal rights activists who believe that animals should never be used for research, and scientists who believe that any use of animals is acceptable. There are a growing number who argue that there must be a reasonable middle ground. I contend that there must be a significant decrease in the number of animals used by humans to further human goals. I will give a historical account of animal use, provide some statistics about animal use, present some arguments against the use of animals and present Singer's view as well as my own. To conclude I will present a new idea that has become important to the animal protection movement, paving the way for more moderate discussion concerning animal welfare. Animals were used for the study of the life sciences in ancient Greece. To learn about body functions scientists would cut into a live animal to observe the processes that were occurring. Animals have been used for centuries to help researchers understand the various organs of the body and their functions as well as to hone their surgical skills (jhsph). In the 19th century there was a rise in biomedical research and a subsequent rise in the number of animals used in experiments. Then came the birth of the animal rights movement in a large scale. Bentham's question of whether or not animals can suffer became the rallying cry of the animal protection movement at the time. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Great Britain and in the United States was created in the 19th century... ...you can have longer, fuller looking lashes. Then consider the alternatives. Lists of companies that use animals for testing are published on the web. Ask questions about what is happening in the basement of this very building. I'm not advocating the complete abolishment of testing but rather, a responsible outlook on the types of testing done and the alternatives. WORKS CITED * "Alternatives to Animal Testing on the Web." http://altweb.jhsph.edu/  Ã‚  Ã‚   * Burne, Jerome. "Animal Testing is a disaster." The Guardian. 24 May 2001. http://www.guardian.co.uk/ * "Questions and Answers about the Animal Welfare Act and its Regulations for Biomedical Research Institutions." USDA. http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/legislat/regsqa.htm * "Research Animal Use - Types Numbers and Percentages." The Humane Society of the United States. http://www.hsus.org/