Terrorism in the modern world Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Terrorism in the modern world - Essay Example The issue is further complicated when governments adopt violent tactics in the pursuit of their interests, provoking accusations of state terrorism. The quotation mentioned above from Giannini Riotta, speaking as the Deputy Editor of the Spanish newspaper Corriera del Sera, was made in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks of 2001 in the United States. The force of his statement is to argue that whereas terrorists formerly tried to gain publicity by staging events that the media could report on, they have now begun to specifically target media networks because in this way a terrorist â€Å"understands that that’s the right way to paralyse our world.† (Riotta, 2005) It is important at the outset to be clear about our definition of terrorism, as opposed to other activities which may involve some degree of violence tied to political motives. Wilkinson identifies five key features of terrorism: 1) It is premeditated and designed to create a climate of extreme fea r; 2) It is directed at a wider target than the immediate victims; 3) It inherently involves attacks on random or symbolic targets, including civilians; 4) It is considered by the society in which it occurs as ‘extra-normal’, that is in the literal sense that it violates the norms regulating disputes, protest and dissent; and 5) It is used primarily, though not exclusively, to influence the political behaviour of governments, communities or specific social groups. (Wilkinson, 1997, p.51) It is clear from each of these characteristics that a key distinguishing feature of terrorism is its intention to reach a far greater number of people than those immediately affected by any terrorist act. The media play a crucial role in providing a mechanism for passing on information, fear and all sorts of ideas from the terrorist group to the public at large. Journalists and editors have a responsibility to report the truth, and considerable lee-way in how they frame the facts and co mment on the issues. It is possible, for example, to report both the concerns of the terrorists and the dreadful consequences of their acts on innocent civilians, thus eroding arguments of terrorists by illustrating their disregard for human life. Journalists are not simply being used by terrorists, because they are responsible for what they write. Schmid and de Graaf focus on the modern mass media’s insatiable hunger for specatacle and drama and recommend a system in which journalists should have a voluntary code of conduct in reporting on terrorism and navigating the many moral dilemmas that arise in this field. Using the example of the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 by Lebanese Shia terrorists, Schmid and de Graf demonstrate the leverage which was gained by the hijackers, thanks to the mass media filming and commentating of the unfolding events. (Schmid and de Graaf, 1982, pp. 539-555) The visual elements of this â€Å"spectacle† ensured that it remained on televi sions and in newspapers throughout the world over several days while governments negotiated with the hijackers. The media sold many copies and filled many hours of airtime with commentary and debate, and this dependence of Western media on commercial income through sales can lead to a tendency to hype up and sensationalise terrorist activities. In the 1970s and 1980s there was an increase in the number of international terrorist activit

The Impact Of Airline Alliances Tourism Essay

The Impact Of Airline Alliances Tourism Essay At this moment, there are three main airline alliances around the globe. First of all, Star Alliance, which was created in 1997 and currently consisting of 27 member airlines (Star Alliance, 2012). Second, OneWorld, established in 1999 and presently having 12 members. Last, the youngest airline alliance is SkyTeam, formed in 2000 and consists now of 18 member airlines (SkyTeam, 2012). In the first chapter of this paper, the impacts of airline alliances on their members will be discussed. Second, the effects of allied airlines on non-member airlines will be argued. And finally, the influences of airline alliances on the airports they fly at will be explained. In each chapter, both positive and negative influences will be discussed. 1. Impacts on member airlines Positive impacts on member airlines Airline alliances have several positive impacts on their member airlines. In this paragraph, three examples of positive impacts will be explained. A first positive impact can be found in saving the airlines costs on various areas. For instance, when buying aircraft materials for maintenance purposes, member airlines can reduce the total costs by purchasing these resources together and may receive bulk discounts. The same counts for the bulk purchase of aircraft. For example, in 2003, four members of Star Alliance intended to bulk purchase up to 200 standardised regional aircraft (Doganis, 2006, p. 93). According to Doganis (2006), it is estimated that joint purchasing can cut the prices paid by up to seven per cent and eventually reducing the total invoice by up to a billion dollars every year (p. 93). Furthermore, the joint use of other services, for example ground handling or catering facilities, can also help in reducing airline costs (Bissessur Alamdari, 1998, p. 335). A second positive impact on member airlines can be retrieved in the increased passenger traffic. The cause of this increase is generally caused by the extension of the airlines network by using code-sharing (Bissessur Alamdari, 1998). Code sharing is beneficial for both the selling airline and the operating airline. On the one hand, it is advantageous for the selling airline as it is selling a ticket of the operating airline under its own designator code. This means that the selling airline gained access to new markets without having to operate their own aircraft there. On the other hand, the operating airline is likely to carry more passengers on board as the tickets are sold through more distribution channels than rather its own. A third positive impact can be found in the area of labour costs. Nowadays, labour costs represent quite a considerable part of an airlines operating cost. As can be seen in table 1.1, wages and associated costs of labour mostly account for 20 to 35 per cent of the airlines total operating cost Doganis (2006, p. 119). According to Doganis (2001), labour costs differ more between airlines in the same markets, unlike other costs as ground handling, fuel and airport fees. Iatrou (2004) gives two reasons how an airline alliance could help in reducing labour costs. First, the number of sales and ground personnel could be reduced by sharing offices at bases of another member airline, instead of maintaining its own offices across the globe. Second, it is argued that alliances facilitate member airlines to resort to the low-wage structure of its partners, for example cabin and cockpit crew, without saving on employee quality. Table 1 Wages and associated costs of labour as a percentage of total operating cost, 2002 North American European East Asian/Pacific SAS 34.4 Air France 33.5 Iberia 31.6 Delta 31.0 American 30.4 United 29.0 Northwest 28.1 KLM 26.4 Continental 26.1 Cathay Pacific US Airways 25.4 Air Canada 24.7 British Airways 24.3 Lufthansa* 23.4 SIA Japan Airlines Thai All Nippon Korean *Note: Lufthansa excludes maintenance staff Source: Doganis (2006, p. 119) Negative impacts on member airlines Although alliances have several positive effects on member airlines, being in an alliance could also have some negative impact on member airlines. First, it is argued that participating in an alliance could affect an airlines brand image (Kleymann Seristà ¶, 2004). This problem may be triggered by the variety of images within the alliance. The authors suggest that it could be possible that an image for an alliance is created that is unlike the image of any of the affiliated airlines. However, a concession between the images of the most dominant member airlines is considered to be more likely. Especially for smaller airlines it could be considered to be hard to adapt to the created image of the alliance (p. 120). A second negative effect could be conflicting agreements. Iatrou (2004) explains that it is likely that all alliances members use the same supplier. Before an airline accesses to an alliance, it usually has long-standing relationship with different suppliers, such as catering, Central Reservation System (CRS) and so on. The airline may find it difficult to rescind these contracts because of possible penalties as a consequence. Moreover, when an airline agrees on a new supplier, it will very likely have to invest time and money in getting familiarised with the new suppliers and their systems (p. 114). This brings us to a third possible negative effect. Increased costs for an airline could be considered as another probable negative impact on member airlines. Next to the regular subscription fee that a member airline has to pay, Iatrou (2004) mentions the so-called sunk-costs for the airline. These tangible expenses cover all adjustments that have to be made in order to meet the alliances requirements, like the aircraft interior. These investments are to be made to ensure effective alliance operations and to have consistent commitment of the member airlines to the alliance. Especially for relatively small airlines, these costs can be seen as a considerable investment, which might make them more dependent on the alliance (p. 115-116). 2. Impacts on non-member airlines 2.1. Positive impacts on non-member airlines During the last decades, several so called alliances have been formed in the airline industry. According to Stanford-Smith, Chiozza Edin (2002), a strategic alliance can be explained as any form of long-term cooperation between. 2.2. Negative impacts on non-member airlines As for the negative effects on non-member airlines, the tough competition can be considered as the main one. Bjà ¶rk (2002) explains the consequences of competition between allied airlines and non-partner airlines. The author argues that airlines that dominate a hub are likely to receive a greater number of slot allowances at their main hubs, which will probably lead to some anti-competitive concerns. Bjà ¶rk continues by giving the example of a measure initiated by the US Department of Transport (DOT) to reduce this anti-competitive situation. First of all, the US DOT has recognised that where service in the market is constrained by slot availability, a hub carrier with access to a large pool of slots has even greater availability to respond in entry in an anti-competitive way because the entrant will be unable to add capacity on its own. As a consequence, in order to stimulate competition in some markets, the US DOT has granted a restricted number of slot freedoms to new airlines that wish to compete in that particular market. Regrettably, the approach of the US DOT did not increase the competition in these markets. The reason given for this was that new players do not find it economically justified to enter into a market which is dominated by a single hub airline in order to participate (Young, 1999). Bjà ¶rk (2002) argues that this reasoning can be easily relied on the market shares of hub airlines. Figure 1 shows the airline market share at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport over 2011. It can be clearly seen that KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL) is by far the largest operator at Schiphol Airport with a market share of nearly 50 per cent. A hub carrier as KLM has created over the years a constant increase share of available slots at their hub airports, which according to the author are called fortress hubs (p. 29). However, congested hubs are not the only causes of anxiety on anti-competition. Figure 1 Airline market share at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport over 2011 based on air transport movements Source: compiled by the author; data source Schiphol (2011, p. 25) As airlines join together in alliances the aviation market will become more concentrated. This will increase the risk of collusion between the remaining market participants. At many of these airports governments have found it necessary to divide runway utilisation into time-defined segments known as slots and allocate them to airlines that wish to operate from the airport. 3. Impacts on airports 3.1. Positive impacts on airports The presence of airline alliances has various positive impacts on airports. As all members in an alliance have an extended destination network, because of the connectivity possibilities of their alliance partners, it can be argued that the number of transfer passengers at airports increases. Figure 2 shows that the number of transfer passengers at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands has rose steadily from 18 million in 2004 up to 20.3 million in 2008 (Schiphol, 2011). It can be believed that the presence of the SkyTeam alliance, which uses Amsterdam Schiphol as a hub, has contributed to the growth of transfer passengers. As a consequence, this increasing number of transfer passengers has also a positive effect on the purchase of duty-free products in the airport shops. In order to increase the sales at airport shops, an airport can decide on opening speciality stores which may interest international transfer passengers. To come back on the example of Amsterdam Schiphol, in the past years it has opened more luxury duty-free stores as a reply to the increasing demand by especially Russian and Asian transfer passengers. This includes a Finest Spirits Cigars store and a store that focusses on the sale of various chocolate products. (Schiphol, 2011, p. 58). Figure 2 The number of transfer passengers (in millions) at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (2004-2011) Source: compiled by the author data source: Schiphol (2012) 3.2. Negative impacts on airports In contrast with the various positive effects of airline alliances on airports, there are also some downsides. As airline alliances bring an increased number of additional traffic, congestion at an airport can be considered as a negative effect, particularly at peak times. Especially when there is an ineffective use of the airport infrastructure, it can be hard to harmonise the flights in a short timeframe (Dennis, 2001). At many of this type of airport it has been considered unavoidable to split the use of the runway into time-defined segments commonly known as slots (Bjà ¶rk, 2002, p. 28). According to IATA (2011), slots can be defined as a permission given by a coordinator for a planned operation to use the full range of airport infrastructure necessary to arrive or depart at an [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] airport on a specific date and time (p. 11). Besides, most flights at hubs are scheduled in so called waves. In each wave, a large number of arriving flights in a short timeframe is followed by more or less the same number of departures, after allowing some time for reallocation of passengers and luggage. For example, figure 3 shows the wave system of Germanys flag carrier Lufthansa at Munich Airport, which consists of four waves during a regular weekday. Figure 3 Wave-system analysis, Lufthansa, Munich Source: Burghouwt (2007), p. 69 As airports do not have an unrestricted peak capacity, especially during such a wave, airlines are ought to adapt their schedules. Dennis (2001) discusses two main options for rescheduling. First, flights can be added to the borders of the present waves. Second, new waves can be developed to accommodate these additional flights. With regard to the number of connections, the first option is more likely to be chosen. However, while extending the current wave, the connection time will also increase. Figure 4 implies that a wave with approximately 50 aircraft is likely to be the best option. Passing this number could involve extra waiting time for passengers, which could result in an increased peak load on the terminal building (p. 2). A second negative impact on airports is the investment that airports have to make for alliances in order to accommodate seamless transfer connectivity. In order to reduce the Minimum Connecting Time (MCT) for passengers, airports have done some adjustments to their infrastructure. An example is Brussels Airport in Belgium, which upgraded their customs and immigration facilities to create a better flow of passengers transferring from a Schengen origin to a Non-Schengen destination. Some airports are not designed to accommodate traffic from airline alliances. For example, when an airport has multiple terminals that are not located near each other. This might take a passenger a long time to transfer when alliance partners are spread over multiple terminals, affecting the MCT as well (Dennis, 2001). Figure 4 Increase in connections with wave size (based on 60 arrivals/departures per hour and 30 minute minimum connecting time) Source: Dennis (2001, p. 2). Conclusion During the last decades, several so called alliances have been formed in the airline industry. According to Stanford-Smith, Chiozza Edin (2002), a strategic alliance can be explained as any form of long-term cooperation between

Exploration Of The Matthew Shepard Event Essay -- Homosexuality Crime

Exploration Of The Matthew Shepard Event The human body is an object in which one lives and the medium through which one experiences oneself and the world. Claims on ideology and space are ultimately vested in the human body, and thus conflicts about belief systems and territory are often contested violently on physical bodies. Gay bodies become entangled in violence when they enter into arenas that combat certain ideas. Gay bashing illustrates incidences all in which bodies experience physical injury. In modern U.S. communities various militant conservatives target homosexuals in "gay bashing." Mathew Shepard's brutal murder in 1998 illustrates a relatively recent incident in which the human body becomes politicized. What is the process by which the pain and death of Shepard's body transform the personal to the political? What does "gay bashing" mean to attackers, victims and their communities? If gay bashing is about violence and being gay is at least partially about sex, then what is the relationship between them? What framework attends to both the sexual and nonsexual activities among contemporary American males? In Between Men, Eve Sedgwick sleds light on the boundaries separating sexual and nonsexual male relationships. According to the author, homosocial and homosexual do not necessarily have to occupy two different, non-overlapping spheres. " 'Homosocial desire', to begin with, is a kind of oxymoron. "Homosocial" is a word . . . [that] describes social bonds between persons of the same sex; it is a neologism, obviously formed with analogy with "homosexual," and just as obviously meant to distinguish from 'homosexual'" (Sedgwick 1985:1). Sedgwick contends that it would be more useful to view homosocial and homosexu... ...riarchy is the right of men to "hit on" women while remaining safe from not being "hit on" by anyone else, especially another man. Patriarchy, imbued with hierarchical meanings, gives heterosexual men something to loose. As practiced in contemporary America, patriarchy uses homophobia as structural support. Gay bashing exemplifies homosocial behavior's contribution to US patriarchy. The human body is both an object in which one lives and a site of political articulation. The struggles within many societies begin and end within the terrain of the human body, which though has no referential meaning becomes embodied by meaning within context that ultimately has a stake in the body. . Works Cited: 1. Kaufman, Moises. 2001. The Laramie Project. New York: First Vintage Books. 2. Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. 1985. Between Men. New York: Columbia University Press.

Felon Disenfranchisement Essay

Disenfranchised felons should be reintegrated into society and recover their right to vote. Disenfranchisement is the harshest civil sanction imposed by a democratic society. Some of the problems involved with disenfranchisement include racism, inaccurate polls, and the massive amount of people affected. If the voice of the entire population does not include all sources and agendas, the polls will not be accurate. In Camilli’s research, it is assumed that the enfranchisement of the population is important for a fair and effective democratic community: those governed by this community must be able to vote. (2-3). Racism, although seemingly not the topic at hand, is indeed a primary contributor to this problem. One such limitation of felon disenfranchisement is the disproportionate impact of felon disenfranchisement on racial minorities in the United States, also the close election vote totals in recent prominent elections which may have been swung by the existence of felon dise nfranchisement. As Joseph Camilli points out, disenfranchisement has a disproportionate impact upon racial minorities. African Americans are affected more and also men are affected more in general. This brings forth the argument that the outcome is racist or even sexist. This is important when looking at recent elections involving racial minorities (3). Even if the desire is not intended to have racist outcomes, sometimes disenfranchisement laws still do. In Elizabeth Hulls research, she explains the number of black juveniles in the penal system, forty percent of whom will be prohibited from voting during some or all of their adult lives is astoundingly high. Many are first-time offenders who readily accept a guilty plea in exchange for probation. In the process, they often forfeit voting rights before they have even had an opportunity to exercise them. Given these consequences, it is hardly surprising that the United States Civil Rights Commission recently concluded that the disenfranchisement of ex-convicts is â€Å"the biggest hindrance to black voting since the poll tax†(Hull 1). In retrospect, maybe disenfranchising the nation’s future is not the best idea. Racism is a large problem of disenfranchisement. Disenfranchisement also affects this nation’s polls because large groups of people are not represented. The sheer number of felons with no right to vote skews the elections, especially those on the local level, and smaller communities. If the amount of felons were not so great, it may not be such an important issue. Since about one out of every forty-four people cannot vote, it implies that the polls are not accurate. Disenfranchisement is crippling in some areas where voting should be important. Small communities are completely underrepresented, and a small group has a larger influence. This has a large impact on certain issues when the entire population is required to make a sound choice. Felons have paid their debt to society; they should be reintegrated into mainstream society as smoothly as possible. It also may be a deterrent to future crime if they were to be able to re-experience a normal life, and include all of the rights they were missing. Perhaps they would even un derstand how important their rights were and serve to discourage fellow members of the community from future crime. Ex-Felons deserve the right to vote and for a strong democratic community should not be disenfranchised. In some cities, more than 50 percent of young African-American men are disenfranchised. A vast majority of prison inmates are African-Americans. Twelve percent of all African-American men in their twenties are incarcerated. This suggests that of the current population, more than a third of the black male community will be disenfranchised. More than a third of the 4.7 million disenfranchised felons are African-Americans. In four of the states with lifetime bans for felons, a quarter (Virginia, Iowa) and a third (Florida, Alabama) of all black men are ineligible to vote. As noted in Guy Stuart’s research, between 1935 and 1970, about 106 out of 100,000 Americans were incarcerated in federal or state prison; by 1980, the rate was 139 per 100,000; and in 2000, it was 478 per 100,000. The increases have not been solely confined to those incarcerated; the jail population and the number on probation and parole have also increased, from 662 per 100,000 in 1980 to 1,878 in 2000. Furthermore, the high incarceration rates disproportionately affect African Americans and Lati nos (5). â€Å"In its 1974 decision in Richardson v. Ramirez, the Supreme Court held that this language in the Fourteenth Amendment (the so-called Penalty Clause) provides an affirmative sanction for at least some forms of felon disenfranchisement,† (Hinchcliff 1). Hinchcliff also points  out that disenfranchisement upon minorities right now is greater than in any other time in history, especially upon African American males (1). The amending law in 1984 specified that if they resulted in racism despite intentions, it would be unconstitutional. About 3.9 million citizens in the U.S. were not able to take part in this year’s election, because of U.S. disenfranchisement laws regarding convicted felons. It is also important to focus on future obstructions such as how much the United States population has increased in the past few decades. Further obstructions that impede felons’ reintegration and lifelong barriers that affect their entire future are difficulties in employment, buying or renting a house, going to college, and other advantages open to the public. These ex-felons are continually punished by society. They must state if they have a felony when attempting to gain a job. The federal government claims that it is the stateà ¢â‚¬â„¢s prerogative. This causes much confusion, and many felons were able to vote in their area but did not know it due to the common misconception that felons could not vote. Some states ban voting by felons on probation or parole or even those who are no longer under any supervision by the criminal-justice system. Felons should be punished but not continually throughout their lives. Once their debt to society has been repaid, why should their rights still be forfeited? If people show criminals that their votes counted after they were released from prison perhaps it would encourage law abiding behavior. Why should these felons be excluded when they are also affected by elected leaders? According to Siegel’s research, Today, there are over 1. 5Million adults currently incarcerated in state or federal facilities, with an additional 700,000 individuals serving time In local jails (Sabol & Couture, 2008). Minorities of color are severely overrepresented within the criminal justice system. (Despite representing 13 percent of the U.S. population, African Americans compose 38 percent of presently incarcerated inmates; similarly, Hispanic total just over 15 percent of the overall population and 20 percent of inmates. (1) According to the research done by Guy Stuart, U.S. incarceration rates have been rising quickly in the past few decades. Most of the country has disenfranchisement laws. Almost forty percent of those disenfranchised are African American men. Slightly over six percent of the African American community has been disenfranchised. â€Å"This level of disfranchisement may have  had a significant impact on electoral outcomes in a number of states over the past twenty years, largely because those disfranchised would more likely have voted for the Democratic Party candidate† (1). Some people suggest a cool down period. They believe the felon should have to wait for years after serving his/her sentence. Sometimes this is so far out of hand that the felon would die of old age before he/she could vote again. They should be given the chance to prove they have been rehabilitated. Another argument against this unjust disenfranchisement is the felon knew the crime called for punishments, including loss of privileges. Some people believe since they already knew the punishments involved, that the ex-felons should not be given a second opportunity. A felony should not call for a lifetime punishment, especially when the crime does not always fit the punishment. Disenfranchisement is immoral, unbeneficial, and illegal. Unless an ex- felon has committed voter fraud, why should their punishment include disenfranchisement? Since it affects largely African American men more than other cultural and ethnic backgrounds, it has perhaps unintended racist outcomes. Felons have already paid their debt to society with the ir prison time and any fines they may have had to pay. A life sentence is an unnecessary addition to their sentence. They may not feel very accepted by people if they cannot vote. Normally people may want an ex-felon to feel very at home in society so as not to alienate them. Polls that are accurate are important to all people, because they do not just affect law-abiding citizens. They also affect felons and ex-felons. Works cited Camilli, Joseph â€Å"Minnesota’s Felon Disenfranchisement: An Historical Legal Relic, Rooted in Racism, That Fails To Satisfy a Legitimate Penological Interest.† Hamline Journal Of Public Law & Policy 33.1 (2011): 235-267. Legal Collection. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. Hinchcliff, Abigail M. â€Å"The ‘Other’ side Of Richardson V. Ramirez: A Textual Challenge To Felon Disenfranchisement.† Yale Law Journal 121.1 (2011): 194-236. Academic Search Elite. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. Hull, Elizabeth. â€Å"Disenfranchising Ex-Felons: What’s the Point?† 1 Mar. 2003. Web. 3 Mar. 2013. Siegel, Jonah A. â€Å"Felon Disenfranchisement and the Fight for Universal Suffrage.† Social Work 56.1 (2011): 89. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. Stuart, Guy. â€Å"Databases, Felons, and Voting: Bias and Partisanship of the Florida Felons list in the 2000 Elections.† Political Science Quarterly 119.3 (2004): 453-475. Academic Search Elite. Web. 23 Apr. 2013.

Engineering Is a Very Important Part of Our Society Essay

Engineering is a very important part of our society, both now and in the past. It is a major that opens a wide variety of career opportunities for you after college. Engineering is what keeps our nation moving and up to date with technology. It is a very strong appealing major in college due to the amount of average income, and also it appeals to many individuals likes in a career. It has the highest paying income straight out of college, and that increase in pay usually does not stop, it just keeps increasing. Another appealing aspect of a career in engineering is the possibility to work for a foreign company, and no matter where you live in the United States, your income never decreases due to the other local income. It is a rewarding career, both financially and mentally. This is one of those careers that you feel a great deal of self-worth after completing an assignment, or creating something new and improved to keep up with technology. It is a major that requires more time and effort than most other majors. You need to apply yourself or you will just fall behind and most likely just drop the major all together. Whether you choose general engineering or a more difficult division such as mechanical or To become a successful engineer is to ensure a spot in our future. Almost every type of engineering will be required to run our world, now and in years from now. Engineering is very important aspect of our working world. It keeps us going and up to date with technology. Without engineers, there would be no moving parts, which means no cars, planes, video games and anything else you can think of that requires moving parts to operate. Over all engineering is concerned with technology and keeping the world going. In the future, near or far, engineering most definitely has its place in our world. If the future holds a few big technological advances or a lot, engineers will still be there making sure everything runs smooth and properly. A world without engineers could only exist if everything made, was made to perfection and would never fail or break down. For now, we need to keep putting out successful engineers into our working world, and make sure that there is a future. l or aerospace, your major is the most difficult one you can choose. I recently interviewed Jack Byrd, an engineering professor at West Virginia University, on Mechanical Engineering. The interview detailed the importance of engineering and the process he went through to be where he is today. This interview would be an insight to anyone who has the slightest interest in engineering or becoming an engineer and what it takes to become a successful engineer. After college is where your education really takes its part in your life. Even though your schooling is over, it plays one of the biggest roles in all your opportunities after you graduate. Once you get your resume around, you have many possibilities and opportunities ahead of you to choose The world is changing rapidly. From the Stone Age to the Iron Age today we are living in an ultramodern era where things which were not even thought of earlier have become vital necessities in our life. For example, light in those ages was to be got only from sun for a limited part of day. But now we have electricity for all time use. Thanks to Thomas Alva Edison who by inventing electricity illuminated the whole world.