Designing a Remote Navigation System

This project involves the design and implementation of a global electronic tracking system intended for use by trans-oceanic vessels, using the technology of the U.S. Government's Global Positioning System (GPS) and a wireless connection to a networked computer. Traditional navigation skills are being replaced with highly accurate electronics. GPS receivers, computers, and mobile communication are becoming common among both recreational and commercial boaters. With computers and advanced communication available throughout the maritime world, information can be shared instantaneously around the globe. This ability to monitor one's whereabouts from afar can provide an increased level of safety and efficiency. Current navigation software seldom includes the capability of providing upto-the-minute navigation information for remote display. Remote access to this data will allow boat owners to track the progress of their boats, land-based organizations to monitor weather patterns and suggest course changes, and school groups to track the progress of a vessel and learn about navigation and science. The software developed in this project allows navigation information from a vessel to be remotely transmitted to a land-based server, for interpretation and deployment to remote users over the Internet. This differs from current software in that it allows the tracking of one vessel by multiple users and provides a means for two-way text messaging between users and the vesseI. Beyond the coastal coverage provided by cellular telephones, mobile communication is advancing rapidly. Current tools such as satellite telephones and single-sideband radio enable worldwide communications, including the ability to connect to the Internet. If current trends continue, portable global communication will be available at a reasonable price and Internet connections on boats will become more common.

Growth of transcendental meditation: a sociological study

Sociology, in concerning itself with methodology and cultural determinism,may have overlooked the value of human experience in determining social action. We feel that the structural-functionalist point of view is not mutually exclusive with that of symbolic interaction theory. The field of collective behavior has not adequately explained a certain incidence of human activity called Transcendental Meditation. This paper will define Transcendental Meditation in sociological terms and explore its growth in terms of structural-functionalism,as well as in terms of the symbol-making faculty of human experience. In the first chapter, the author will state his biases and background as well as the problem and purpose of the paper. In the second chapter, Transcendental Meditation will be defined through an explanation of its concepts in sociological terms. A view of the TM program will also be reported. Following this in the third chapter, the origins of TM will be discussed~showing its basis to be in a tradition of Indian gurus and following its development in the United states until the present. The history of TM will proceed through biography of leading figures, with special mention of innovations in the TM institution of teaching and events in the growth of the 'movement' of TOO that are of key importance. Having set down the history of TM, in the fourth chapter we will discuss TM in terms of various sociological models. We will try to identify TM as either a social movement; a charismatic organization or a bureaucracy. In the fifth chapter we will look more closely at the structure of the organization that teaches TM in regard to its own functioning; that is, compliance, communication, socialization and recruitment, and also in regard to its relationship with national institutions, such as military, industry, religion, and government. Finally, we will explore TM in terms of individual and group goals and offer an explanation defining the growth of TM. Throughout-the paper, sociological perspectives will be applied to phenomena that exist in the society today. It is not within the scope of this paper to verify all the sociological implications and appraisals offered. It is hoped that this will not invalidate the ensuing discussion. It is also hoped that this paper will expand the horizons of sociology and offer some direction in future studies of collective behavior. If this is accomplished, the author will be gratified and indebted to his teachers. If not the author takes full responsibility. This paper is dedicated therefore to Mr. Birge, Mr Morrione, Mr. Geib as well as to my parents who have encouraged me, my friends whom I have interviewed, and to His Holiness, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi whose teaching has uplifted hundred of thousands of people in the world and may bring about the development of new thresholds of peace and prosperity for mankind.

Mercury content of tobacco products

Mercury contamination of food products results from contact with soil, water, and air polluted with mercury from industrial sources, as well as from the use of mercury-containing pesticides and fungicides on plants. A method was developed for extracting mercury from tobacco products. The mercury content of various tobacco products was determined, using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer.

La Esperanza

Poems

Primitive art as it relates to contemporary design

For the most part, my project has been of an individually rewarding nature due to an extensive amount of reading and studio work. My paper functions as the major means of communication of my own experiences and findings. It is an attempt to share with others the ideas which I have found particularly stimulating and worthwhile during the course of the year. In other words, the written portion does not intend to summarize all of the phases of primitive art which I have studied during the past year; rather, it is indicative of the type of pursuit with which I became involved. It is neither a historical survey nor a specific and thorough study of one area of primitive art. Instead, my paper is a series of essays focusing upon primitive art in general, and upon some of the aspects of primitive art with which I became concerned in particular.

Mural Painting

For my freshman Jan Plan at Colby I painted a mural in Runnals Union illustrating a William Blake poem. This effort began a four year painting project which I pursued my sophomore and junior years by finishing the Hall of the Machines in Runnals and by commencing the Paper Wall in Roberts. As a Senior Scholar, I've continued my undertaking by painting eleven more panels. Eight of these are in the Paper Wall and the other three are in the Spa in Miller Library. In my wallpainting up until this year my major interest has been in a strong two-dimentional design created by color juxtaposition. Over these two semesters I've developed a greater concern with the role of color value contrasts in achieving a sense of three-dimensional space. As one views my paintings in chronological order, he can see that gradually colors become less intense, value contrasts more effective, and subject matter becomes based on observation rather than imagination. Please judge my achievement solely on observation of the walls in these three rooms as this paper is only a very brief catalogue of works and the slides are not the best reproductions.

Beyond the Threshold: Life in the New Russia

Amanda Sprang spent nine months, from September of 1995 to May of 1996, studying at Colby College's program in St. Petersburg, Russia. Through contacts made during previous trips to Russia in middle and high school, Amanda was able to quickly rekindle her old friendships and make new ones with many young Russians from different backgrounds. The following work is a collection of twelve essays about life in the New Russia. The essays are framed by a foreword and an epilogue that help place the entire work in a historical context. Although the theme of each essay emerges from a particular incident, within every story Amanda has addressed numerous topics relating to Russian life in today’s changing society. Her first essay, “Art Klinika," takes place in an avant-garde night club in St. Petersburg, and includes a brief yet impressionable, encounter with three young Russian men. “The Birthday Party” recalls a wild evening at the home of her close friend, showing how the Russians greet special occasions. Both the third and fourth essays take place in Moscow, where Amanda returns to visit old friends. These two essays portray the lives of the new economic elite in comparison with the average citizen, as well as show how young Russians face the new challenges that greet them. "Politics Russian Style" recalls a political rally in St. Petersburg, and attempts to shed light on the wacky political world of an infant democracy. Chapters Six through Ten take place away from the western cities of St. Petersburg and Moscow, as Amanda brings us to the cold, mysterious land of Siberia in the dead of winter. She recounts her five day train ride with a retired, high-powered, Communist party official, her experiences in the provincial city of Irkutsk, and a brief trip to a Buddhist monastery and, later, an excursion to Lake Baikal. Back in St. Petersburg, Chapter Eleven gives a humorous account of a ski trip with several Russian friends. Amanda finishes her work with her final chapter, “The Dacha," which describes a weekend spent at a Russian country home with her friend's family.

Opting out of oppositionality : toward an informed and engaged "third wave" feminism

I begin by citing a definition of "third wave" from the glossary in Turbo Chicks: Talking Young Feminisms at length because it communicates several key issues that I develop in this project. The definition introduces a tension within "third wave" feminism of building and differentiating itself from second wave feminism, the newness of the term "third wave," its association with "young" women, complexity of contemporary feminisms, and attention to multiple identities and oppressions. Uncovering explanations of "third wave" feminism that go beyond, like this one, generational associations, is not an easy task. Authors consistently group new feminist voices together by age under the label "third wave" feminists without questioning the accuracy of the designation. Most explorations of "third wave" feminism overlook the complexities and distinctions that abound among "young" feminists ; not all young feminists espouse similar ideas, tactics, and actions; and for various reasons, not all young feminists identify with a "third wave" of feminism. Less than a year after I began to learn about feminism I discovered Barbara Findlen's Listen Up: Voices From the Next Feminist Generation. Although the collection nor its contributors declare association with "third wave" feminism, consequent reviews and citations in articles identify it, along with Rebecca Walker's To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Voice of Feminism, as a major text of "third wave" feminism. Re-reading Listen Up since beginning to research "third wave" feminism, I now understand its fundamental influence on my research questions as a starting point for assessing persistent exclusion in contemporary feminism, rather than as a revolutionary text (as it is claimed to be in many reviews). Findlen begins the introduction with the bold claim, "My feminism wasn't shaped by antiwar or civil rights activism ..." (xi). Framing the collection with a disavowal of the influence women of color's organizational efforts negates, for me, the project's proclaimed commitment to multivocality. Though several contributions examine persistent exclusion within contemporary feminist movement, the larger project seems to rely on these essays to reflect this commitment, suggesting that Listen Up does not go beyond the "add and stir" approach to "diversity." Interestingly, this statement does not appear in the new edition of Listen Up published in 2001. And the content has changed with this new edition, including several more Latina contributors and other "corrective" additions.

A Study in the Theology of Christian Social Action

In this paper I have attempted to present a summary of my exposition of the theology of Rauschenbusch and Niebuhr, and of my own understanding of the issues of Christian Social Action. I have tried to reproduce in this short space the thought of these men, in a manner which should make it comprehensible and which should relate it to the larger questions of social action. This year’s work as a Senior Scholar has proved invaluable because of the discipline of self-directed study which the work taught, and because of myriad possibilities of future investigation which it has suggested. I hope that someday this present manuscript may be expanded into something more substantial. The personal value of such a project, in my opinion, must be measured by the contribution which the project makes to the individual’s general experience, and not merely by the written work which is produced. Therefore, although this manuscript is rather brief, it represents a great deal of value which I feel that I can measure only by my own experience.

Psychological and biochemical mechanisms of schizoprenia

Schizophrenia is a disease whose physical cause is unknown despite the attempts of several research teams to discover a physical basis for it. Some success has been gained in genetic studies which indicate that schizophrenia is an inherited disability. However, since research tools are at present so sadly inadequate, the value of pursuing a genetic line of reasoning is questionable. To compensate for the lack of biochemical certainties in treating mental illness, psychological theories have been constructed to explain the schizophrenia syndrome. Normal personality is seen as the resultant of environmental and inherited influences. Involved in the formation of personality are the processes of differentiation and integration, maturation of inherited traits, and the learning processes. As personality develops. consciousness of the self, inferiority feelings, and compensatory mechanisms, and the transformation of interests into drives exert a decided influence upon personality growth. Finally, in the mature personality, an integrating philosophy of life, a large variety of interests, and the possibility of self-objectification become evident.

The Physiological, Enzymatic, and Genetic Characterization of Staphylococcus sp. Chromium (VI) Reductase Function

A strain of Staphylococcus isolated by Dr. Fekete at the Sandia National Laboratory toxic metal dumping site in Sandia, New Mexico. has been found to reduce toxic Cr(VI) to the less toxic Cr(IlI) state. We have ascertained the environmental parameters for optimal bacterial growth and Cr(VI) reduction. This knowledge may be employed in a comprehensive bioremediation scheme designed to accelerate natural reparation of that Sandia ecosystem. In addition we have investigated the genetic and enzymatic basis for this Cr(VI) reducing ability. This information may allow us to create more effective bioremediation schemes based on the comprehensive knowledge of enzyme and gene function. Preliminary investigations have been carried out toward this end which may serve as the basis for a more thorough investigation.

Study of Proteinuria: Isolation of Proteins from the Nephrotic Syndrome

One of the most puzzling phenomena of abnormal renal physiology is the occurrence of the nephrotic syndrome. The syndrome has been defined by a collection of clinical and pathological symptoms, but there is no correlation between the clinical and pathological symptoms nor is the etiology of the syndrome known. Proteinuria is probably the most distinguishing feature in the nephrotic syndrome, and there are two possible explanations for its occurrence: (1) the excessive amounts of protein found in nephrotic urine could be due to an increased basement membrane permeability in the glomerulus of the kidney or (2) dysproteinemia. An attempt has been made to evaluate the theory of dysproteinemia in connection with the syndrome. The albumin fractions of nephrotic urine have been studied for their amino acid composition by separating them from the urine by paper electrophoresis, hydrolyzing them, and identifying the amino acids present by two-dimensional chromatography. There seem to be no variations in the qualitative makeup of nephrotic albumin from that of normal albumin, but the literature shows that there are some slight variations in the quantitative amino acid composition of nephrotic albumin compared with normal albumin. More extensive and highly developed experimentation along the lines of protein structure and composition must be done before it can conclusively be stated that dysproteinemia is of importance in the nephrotic syndrome.

Intent and Method: A Study of Female Characters in Aeschylean and Euripidean Drama

Aeschylus and Euripides used tragic female characters to help fulfill the purpose of religious celebration and to achieve the motivation of public reaction. The playwrights, revising myths about tragic woman and redefining the Greek definition of appropriate femininity, supported or questioned the very customs which they changed. Originally composed as part of a religious festival for Dionysus, the god of wine, revelry and fertility, the tragedies of Aeschylus and Euripides were evaluated by Aristotle. He favored Aeschylus over Euripides, but it appears as if his stipulations for tragic characterization do not apply to Aeschylean and Euripidean women. Modem critics question both Aristotle's analysis in the Poetics as well as the tragedies which he evaluated. As part of the assessment of Aeschylus, the character of the Persian Queen, Atossa, appears as a conradiction the images that Greeks maintain of non-Greeks. The Persians is discussed in relation to modem criticisms and as on its function as a warning against radical changes in Athenian domestic life. The Oresteia, a trilogy, also charts the importance of an atypical woman in Aeschylean tragedy, and how this role, Clytaemnestra, represents an extreme example of the natural and necessary evolution of families, households and kingdoms. In contrast to Aeschylus' plea to retain nomoi (traditional custom and law), EUripides' tragedy, the Medea, demonstrates the importance of a family and a country to provide security, especially for women. Medea's abandonment by Jason and subsequent desperation drives her to commit murder in the hope of revenge. Ultimately, Euripides advocates changes in social convention away from the alienation of non-Greek, non-citizens, and females. Euripides is, unfortunately, tagged a misogynist by some in this tragedy and another example-the Hippolytus. Euripides' Phaedra becomes entangled in a scheme of divine vengeance and ultimately commits suicide in an attempt to avoid societal shame. Far from treatises of hate, Euripidean women take advantage of the little power they possess within a constrictive social system. While both Aeschylus and Euripides revise customary images and expectations of women in the context of religiously-motivated drama, one playwright intends to maintain civic order and the other intends to challenge the secular norm.

Be the Change You Wish to See: National Attiudes and Climate Change Policy

A multitude of views characterize what should or should not be done about climate change, and in the past decades, nations have acted very differently in the face of climate change. This study explores factors that affect individuals' attitudes and concerns towards the environment and how those attitudes ultimately affect climate change policy. One model investigates the link between individual attitudes and countries' actions on climate change, and the results show that attitudes indeed matter in the implementation of policy. Different measures of democracy such as freedom of the press also prove to be important as channels for these attitudes. A second model identifies a number of political, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics that matter for people's attitudes towards climate change.

Musilian Concept of Modern Man

German-Austrian Robert Musil (1880-1942) is considered an artist with an extremely unorthodox conception of art to a basic human problem. In his time, there existed a dissociation of substance from social values. Musil actually started with this foundation in considering the taunting dilemma that the accelerating technology of the century is overstepping each day the ability of the human mind to adjust to it. Musil maintained that social organization, patterns of thought and cherished ideals correspond to a reality that no longer exists