Summary of the U.S. Space Shuttle Program

This is a summary of the Space Shuttle Program and will examine events that took place in the program starting with President Nixon's endorsement of the program and continuing to the last flight

Augustinus and Kant – Two Founders of Modern Thinking

A number of factors have contributed to spectacular technological progress in recent times, one of the most important of which, in my opinion, was the development of philosophical ideas, especially the concept of the autonomous subject. The key moment for theoretical foundations of that concept seems to be the publication of The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant. In my paper, I would like to show that the sources of the concept of the autonomous subject developed by Kant can be found in the philosophy of Saint Augustine, especially in his treatise “On the Holy Trinity”. I will try to underline the specific analogy between “the life of the soul” described by Augustine and Kant’s account of “pure reason”; to emphasize the remarkable parallel between the two works: “The Critique of Pure Reason” and “On the Holy Trinity”. Drawing such historical parallels is dangerous and may arouse doubts about one’s methodology. The two works are separated by a span of nearly fourteen centuries, two giants of philosophy who were their authors apparently had nothing in common. In spite of that, I will support the hypothesis that Kant’s theory is a philosophical development of intuitions formulated, in a metaphorical way, by Saint Augustine.A number of factors have contributed to spectacular technological progress in recent times, one of the most important of which, in my opinion, was the development of philosophical ideas, especially the concept of the autonomous subject. The key moment for theoretical foundations of that concept seems to be the publication of The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant. In my paper, I would like to show that the sources of the concept of the autonomous subject developed by Kant can be found in the philosophy of Saint Augustine, especially in his treatise “On the Holy Trinity”. I will try to underline the specific analogy between “the life of the soul” described by Augustine and Kant’s account of “pure reason”; to emphasize the remarkable parallel between the two works: “The Critique of Pure Reason” and “On the Holy Trinity”. Drawing such historical parallels is dangerous and may arouse doubts about one’s methodology. The two works are separated by a span of nearly fourteen centuries, two giants of philosophy who were their authors apparently had nothing in common. In spite of that, I will support the hypothesis that Kant’s theory is a philosophical development of intuitions formulated, in a metaphorical way, by Saint Augustine

Структура метакоммуникативного комментария и наивные представления о коммуникации (на материале русско- и белорусскоязычных интернет-форумов Беларуси)

The article discusses the factors of speaker’s choice of additional metacommunication moves in non-institutional internet communication. The study is based on Russian- and Belarusian-language internet forums of Belarus, which allows to observe directly the metacommunicative reflection of speakers. The research has a comparative aspect and focuses on similarities and differences in verbalised metacommunication conceptions of Russian and Belarusian-speaking Belarusians, caused by the attitude to the language of communication: the language situation of Belarus, in which formally equilateral languages have in fact unequal conditions of functioning, actualises the symbolic use of the Belarusian language. It has been established that the choice of additional metacommunication moves with a particular function in Russian and Belarusian-speaking internet communication is determined by such factors as speakers’ representations about the communication norms and focus on certain communication aspects; for the Belarusian-language internet dialogue a special relation to the language, conditioned by its ethno-consolidating and symbolic functions, becomes relevant.В статье рассматриваются факторы выбора говорящим дополнительных метакоммуникативных ходов в неинституциональном интернет-общении. Исследование проводится на материале белорусских интернет-форумов на русском и белорусском языках, что позволяет наблюдать спонтанную метакоммуникативную деятельность говорящих. Исследование имеет сопоставительный аспект и сосредоточено на сходствах и различиях в вербализируемых метакоммуникативных представлениях русскои белорусскоязычных белорусов, обусловленных отношением к языку коммуникации: языковая ситуация Беларуси, в которой формально равностатусные языки имеют в действительности неодинаковые условия функционирования, актуализирует символическое употребление белорусского языка. Установлено, что выбор дополнительных метакоммуникативных ходов с той или иной функцией в русско- и белорусскоязычном интернет-общении определяется такими факторами, как представления говорящих о нормах коммуникации и фокус на определенных ее аспектах; а для белорусскоязычного интернет-диалога релевантным становится и особое отношение к языку, обусловленное его этноконсолидирующей и символической функциями

Метакоммуникативные комментарии в интернет-диалоге: возможные основания классификации

This article discusses three reasons for the typology of metacommunicative statements: the object of statements (the referent and reflexivity / non-reflexivity of the statements), a way of expressing metacommunicative intentions, and the pragmatic orientation of the statements, the article as well discusses the problems of classification, in particular, the difficulties of distinguishing metatext and metacommunicative comments. The analysis is performed on the basis of the popular Belarusian Internet resources.Three reasons for the typology of metacommunicative statements give the opportunity to construct their model, systematizing all the variety of real metacommunicative statements. Modelling structural and substantial characteristics of metacommunicative statements allows to identify those aspects of communication that are important or, on the contrary, unimportant in the eyes of a speaker, as well as the preferences of native speakers in the expression of metacommunicative intentions.В статье рассматриваются три основания для типологии метакоммуникативных высказываний: объект высказывания (референт и рефлексивность / нерефлексивность высказывания), способ выражения метакоммуникативного намерения и прагматическая направленность высказывания, а также обсуждаются проблемы классификации, в частности, трудности разграничения метатекстовых и собственно метакоммуникативных высказываний. Анализ проводится на материале популярных белорусских интернет-ресурсов. Три основания типологии метакоммуникативных высказываний дают возможность построить их модели, систематизирующие все разнообразие реальной метакоммуникации. Моделирование структурно-содержательных характеристик метакоммуникативных высказываний позволяет выявить как те аспекты коммуникации, которые являются важными или, наоборот, несущественными в глазах говорящих, так и предпочтения носителей языка в выражении метакоммуникативного намерения

21 Gdańsk Demands – a Political Monument

In the history of European civilisation there have been several documents of particular cultural weight and symbolic meaning. From Magna Carta Libertatum of 1215 to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from 1948 we can trace the development of political ideas which, while being rooted in religious and philosophical thought, have had a strong impact on the lives of whole societies. In this article I attempt to look at the famous 21 Gdańsk demands from that perspective. The document, signed in August 1980 kindled a peace process which culminated in the collapse of communism in Europe. I would like to infer a relation between the possibility of signing such a document and the election of Karol Wojtyła as Pope. It also seemed interesting to compare the content of the 21 Gdańsk Agreement with that of the less well-known Rzeszów-Ustrzyki Dolne Protocol signed several months later.In the history of European civilisation there have been several documents of particular cultural weight and symbolic meaning. From Magna Carta Libertatum of 1215 to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from 1948 we can trace the development of political ideas which, while being rooted in religious and philosophical thought, have had a strong impact on the lives of whole societies. In this article I attempt to look at the famous 21 Gdańsk demands from that perspective. The document, signed in August 1980 kindled a peace process which culminated in the collapse of communism in Europe. I would like to infer a relation between the possibility of signing such a document and the election of Karol Wojtyła as Pope. It also seemed interesting to compare the content of the 21 Gdańsk Agreement with that of the less well-known Rzeszów-Ustrzyki Dolne Protocol signed several months later

A Study in Application of Positive Reinforcement for Improving Listening Achievement

The purpose of this study was to (1) determine the effectiveness of utilizing positive reinforcement techniques to improve listening awareness during the process of receiving verbal instructions; (2) evaluate the use of reinforcement schedules with and without positive reinforcement; (3) determine to what extent a formal program utilizing reinforcement procedure compares with the absence of such procedure in a classroom

Landing Profile Development During the Early Shuttle Program

I was asked to speak about my experiences as an astronaut during the early Shuttle program. There were many challenging and exciting things that I participated in during the Shuttle program but the item I believe is most appropriate for this audience is the development of the landing trajectory for both manual and automatic landings of the Space Shuttle