In Defense of the Liberal-Arts Approach to Technical Writing

Englis

Applications of Kinneavy 'Theory of Discourse' to Technical Writing

Writin

Why do children bully?

I, Elizabeth, first became affected by bullying when I was bullied as a child. I couldn’t understand why I was bullied, and why, even though some people were aware of this, it continued to happen. I was called racist names and physically assaulted, people used to spit in my hair, and sometimes, when I was hiding, several people would search for me to threaten and push me. As an adult looking back, I realise that as the bullying grew in severity, I became known and targeted as a ‘victim’. When I later researched bullying for my undergraduate degree, the academic literature made me feel ashamed of being a victim, particularly when I read a description from Salmivalli et al. about ‘helpless’ and ‘provocative’ victims1. I remembered what my experience felt like as a child: the cold sweats, being frightened of school every day, unable to concentrate on my work. I became weak, anxious and I could hardly eat

Design of a Versatile, Teleoperable, Towable Lifting Machine with Robotic Capabilities for Use in Nasa's Lunar Base Operations

The lifting machine will assist in lifting cargo off of landers sent to the Moon and in the construction of a lunar base. Three possible designs were considered for the overall configuration of the lifting machine: the variable angle crane, the tower crane, and the gantry crane. Alternate designs were developed for the major components of the lifting machine. A teleoperable, variable angle crane was chosen as its final design. The design consists of a telescoping boom mounted to a chassis that is supported by two conical wheels for towing and four outriggers for stability. Attached to the end of the boom is a seven degree of freedom robot arm for light, dexterous, lifting operations. A cable and hook suspends from the end of the boom for heavy, gross, lifting operations. Approximate structural sizes were determined for the lifter and its components. However, further analysis is needed to determine the optimum design dimensions. The design team also constructed a model of the design which demonstrates its features and operating principals

Understanding Tibetan Religions Through Artistic Conventions

Buddhists believe in attaining enlightenment; gaining a special kind of knowledge or understanding. This is no easy task, but a more recent artistic convention helps to guide a devotee towards understanding the basics of Buddhism; the Field of Accumulation, or Refuge Field. This is a painting composition that hierarchically arranges the most sacred elements in the tradition, from which merit can be accumulated. However, in Tibetan and Himalayan art, this composition is a more recent development and is also used by the religion Bön. According to the Himalayan Art Resources website, the earliest examples of the Nyingma Tradition occur in the nineteenth century. The Nyingma Lineage Refuge Field dated 1800-1899 is the earliest example from this source (item no. 90503). This type of Refuge Field is the visual companion for the Longchen Nyingtig practices as taught by Jigme Lingpa and further explored in Patrul Rinpoche’s Words of My Perfect Teacher. This source also contains examples of Bön Refuge Fields, and claims that these examples only appear in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries; The Shenlha Okar painting is a particularily interesting example of a Bön deity (item no. 200013). Due to the similarities in composition, the interaction between Buddhism and Bön in the Tibetan region, and the relatively close beginning of this composition within both religions, there arise many questions; the most significant question being: How can a distinction be made between Tibetan Buddhist and Bön Refuge Fields since they are so closely associated? I intend to compare the Tibetan Buddhist and Bön Refuge Field works artistically and religiously to determine what distinctions can be made between the two

UCD Candidates in the Hydra Cluster

NGC 3311, the giant cD galaxy in the Hydra cluster (A1060), has one of the largest globular cluster systems known. We describe new Gemini GMOS (g',i') photometry of the NGC 3311 field which reveals that the red, metal-rich side of its globular cluster population extends smoothly upward into the mass range associated with the new class of Ultra-Compact Dwarfs (UCDs). We identify 29 UCD candidates with estimated masses > 6x10^6 solar masses and discuss their characteristics. This UCD-like sequence is the most well defined one yet seen, and reinforces current ideas that the high-mass end of the globular cluster sequence merges continuously into the UCD sequence, which connects in turn to the E galaxy structural sequence.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Information overload: CCTV, your networks, communities and crime

Electronic surveillance continues to play a central but often unobserved role in contemporary Western societies and attempts to police them. This paper focuses on closed circuit television (CCTV) footage and its technological implications, particularly relating infrastructure and data storage and integrity. While CCTV might appear attractive in augmenting law enforcement systems, the authors argue that the debate on use of CCTV in crime prevention remains incomplete without an effective understanding of the diverse costs. This discussion reveals startling ICT resource needs and associated costs, together with very specific technological capacity. These contribute significantly to the costs of such systems, reinforcing the authors’ argument that CCTV is no golden bullet for law enforcement