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While the report "Coal Ash: A 130 Million Tons of Waste" (reported by Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes on CBS) highlights an environmental issue with...

This "60 Minutes" report, aired on October 1, 2009, reports on the waste products of burning coal to create electricity. Much of this waste is coal ash, which contains mercury, arsenic, lead, and other toxins, and is dumped into wet ponds. As a result, this waste can pose environmental hazards of great magnitude.

This situation relates to psychology because it is an example of a concept called "diffusion of responsibility." In this situation, people are...

This situation relates to psychology because it is an example of a concept called "diffusion of responsibility." In this situation, people are less likely to take responsibility for their actions because they are members of a large group, so the responsibility for their actions seems unclear. For example, the American power industry is very large, so it's unclear who exactly should take responsibility for spreading environmental waste. Each company breaks up the responsibilities for creating and spreading the waste among many people, so it seems unclear who has the ultimate responsibility. However, this is no excuse for these companies to create situations that pose major health risks for people in the community in which the waste is deposited. In addition, the power industry is invested in reporting and communicating as little about accidents and problems that relate to their practices to the general public as possible.

This issue can also be looked at through the lens of business ethics. Many corporations have started to use a model called the "Triple Bottom Line," or TBL. In this model, corporations have responsibility not only for economic results but also for ensuring environmental sustainability and social sustainability. This means that they must evaluate their actions to see if they not only result in profits but also in long-term protections for the environment and for people in their community. The actions of the power industry clearly do not achieve the "Triple Bottom Line."

Suppose the probability of success of an event is `s` and the probability of failure is `t.` What is `s+ t` ?

Hello!

A sample space is the set of all possible outcomes of experiments. Any event may consist of zero, one or more outcomes.

The first thing we need to know to answer this question is that, by definition, the probability of entire sample space is 1 (or 100%, if you want).

Also we need to know that for any two incompatible events (those that have no common outcomes) A and B, the probability of event...

Hello!

A sample space is the set of all possible outcomes of experiments. Any event may consist of zero, one or more outcomes.

The first thing we need to know to answer this question is that, by definition, the probability of entire sample space is 1 (or 100%, if you want).

Also we need to know that for any two incompatible events (those that have no common outcomes) A and B, the probability of event "A or B" is the sum of their probabilities, P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B).

Now we can solve the problem. Denote our event as A and its failure (not A) as B. Then it is given that P(A) = s and P(B) = t. Also A and B are incompatible and any outcome is in A or in B (success or failure, no third possibility), so (A or B) is an entire sample space.

Finally, we have

1 = P(entire sample space) = P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B) = s + t.

So the answer is s + t = 1.

What is the significance of the title of William Wordsworth's poem "Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802"?

In his poem “Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802,” William Wordsworth describes the image of London he and his sister saw as they traveled across the bridge early in the morning. She wrote about the sights in her journal, and it affected him deeply, which led him to write the poem. Therefore, he named the poem based on his experience, which justifies the title.

Although Wordsworth is known for his works about nature, this...

Although Wordsworth is known for his works about nature, this sonnet is written about the beauty London portrays on a late summer morning.

A sight so touching in its majesty:

This City now doth, like a garment, wear

The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,

He goes on to describe the sights of the city including the ships, towers, and quiet buildings in the clear air. This is not the norm for the city during the day or during other times of the year. The city is bustling and noisy with smoke from chimneys billowing in the air. Therefore, it is important that Wordsworth date the poem, and describe his vantage point in its title. The poem describes the city in a different light than most observers were accustomed to.

All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.

Never did sun more beautifully steep

In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;

Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!

What do the lives of great men teach others in "Psalm of Life" by Longfellow?

The lives of great men set an example for people, teaching them that they can make their lives "sublime," or lofty in thought and purpose, and then leave behind something worthwhile, such as noble deeds. In this manner, then, others can follow in their footprints:

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time;

In his poem, Longfellow exhorts his...

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time;

In his poem, Longfellow exhorts his fellowmen to live worthwhile lives with a strong heart for any fate. In this way, people set examples for those who follow, hopefully inspiring them in turn.

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labor and to wait.

"The Psalm of Life" verses carry a strong and encouraging message to live life fully and with the idea that one's life serves as an example to those who come afterwards and may wish to follow those "footprints on the sands of time."

Just as the Psalms of the Bible inspire, Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life" is meant to inspire those who read it to live better, more productive lives: "Learn to labor and to wait."

Describe the theme of growth in The Secret Garden using examples from the book.

Mary Lennox's physical and emotional growth in The Secret Gardenparallels the growth of the secret garden itself. At the beginning of the book, when she lives in India, Mary is described as "the most disagreeable looking child ever seen" (page 3). In addition to looking horrid, she is also described as "sickly" and "fretful." Ignored by her parents and placated by her servants, she has very rude behavior and refers to her servant as...

Mary Lennox's physical and emotional growth in The Secret Garden parallels the growth of the secret garden itself. At the beginning of the book, when she lives in India, Mary is described as "the most disagreeable looking child ever seen" (page 3). In addition to looking horrid, she is also described as "sickly" and "fretful." Ignored by her parents and placated by her servants, she has very rude behavior and refers to her servant as a "pig" (page 3).

After her parents die and she is sent to her uncle's house in Yorkshire, England, Mary begins to become less contrary. Martha, the maid at her uncle's house, treats Mary in a kind but disciplined way that does Mary good. Burnett writes about Martha, "there was something comforting and really friendly in her queer Yorkshire speech and sturdy way that had a good effect on Mary" (page 15). Mary spends all day playing outside, and "when she sat down to her supper at night she felt hungry and drowsy and comfortable" (page 25). She grows less cross and healthier in her body. Over time, she develops sympathy and befriends a robin. She says to the robin, "Would you make friends with me" in a voice that is "soft and eager and coaxing" (page 22). This tone of voice is new to her, and the robin eagerly befriends her.

Mary later befriends Colin, an ill boy she hears crying in her uncle's house. Colin turns out to be her cousin, and he cannot walk well. Instead of being rude to him, as was her tendency in the past, she turns to keeping him company. Eventually the two children wander into the secret garden that their uncle keeps locked. Mary and Marta take Colin there to help him get stronger. Mary also tends to the care of the garden, just as she tends to the care of Colin. As the garden grows, so also do Mary and Colin grow towards emotional and physical health.

How are the lives of the three female characters in Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" symbolic, and how are they significant to the theme of the story?

Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use" examines the lives of black women in rural America in the 1960s. The story addresses the pivotal moment the African-American community was facing as it re-evaluated its identity amidst changing times.

There are three female characters in the story: a mother and two daughters, Dee and Maggie. Each woman in the story represents a facet of the choice African American women faced at that moment in history.

Maggie
Maggie is the younger daughter who still lives at home with her mother. She is soon to be married and partakes in familial traditions, such as sewing quilts. Maggie represents a woman who has chosen to keep African-American traditions alive and close as she moves into adulthood.

Dee/Wangero
Dee is the daughter who has moved out of the house and is with a Muslim man. She is in the process of redefining her identity. Instead of embracing her rural heritage, she is distancing herself from it. She instead chooses to identify with African tribal heritage in a movement known as Cultural Nationalism. She has changed her name from Dee to Wangero. At birth, she was named after her Grandma Dee. The fact that she is deciding to no longer identify with that familial name illustrates the way she is distancing herself from her roots. Dee represents the choice to distance the past rather than keep it close.

Mother
The mother serves as the entity which can observe these two daughters and two choices at once, then make a decision between them. Walker's choice to use first person narration creates a vehicle to invite the reader into the decision between the daughters. Walker ends the story with the mother deciding to give the quilts to Maggie. With this ending, Walker shows that the better path for African-American women is to keep tradition close, rather than put it at a distance.

What happens to the lawyer at the end of the story "The Bet"?

In the end of the story, "The Bet," the lawyer despairs of life, and he reneges on the wager with banker.

In their bet about which is crueler, live-long imprisonment or capital punishment, the banker and the lawyer wager their futures. The young lawyer argues that life on any terms is better than death. In his hubris, the lawyer raises the bet that he can stay in isolation from five years to fifteen.
And, so, the banker, who reminds his young foe that "voluntary confinement is a great deal harder to bear than compulsory," arranges for the lawyer to dwell in a small lodging in the his garden. The prisoner is allowed a musical instrument, and he is permitted to write letters and smoke and drink wine.

The first year the lawyer is very lonely. In the second year, his piano remains untouched, and he stops reading. He writes copious letters long into the night; in the morning he rips up what he has written. By the sixth year, the lawyer begins to study languages. He also reads the works of many of the great minds of the world, only to find that "the same flame burns in all of them." Some years he reads, then others he does not. Then, in the last two years, he reads books of all kinds indiscriminately. Finally, he writes a long letter to the banker, stating,

I despise freedom and life and health and all that in your books is called the good things of the world.

Further, he declares that he has traveled and done many things vicariously through books. In addition, books have given him wisdom.
But, he despises it all:

It is all worthless, fleeting, illusory, and deceptive, like a mirage.

From all his readings, the lawyer has learned the vanity of human desires; certainly, the desire for material gain corrupts the soul. The lawyer has spent the last fifteen years searching for meaning in life and not found it. Moreover, he feels life is beyond comprehension. So, he writes that he will prove how he despises all that people live by in renouncing "the two million of which I once dreamed as of paradise and which now I despise." He declares that he will leave a few minutes before the time fixed so that he will break the contract.

So, in the end the lawyer departs as he has written that he will, breaking the contract. On the following morning, watchmen run to the banker, telling him that they have witnessed the lawyer climbing out of a window, going to the gate, and disappearing. Hearing this, the banker goes to the lodging and grabs the lawyer's long letter, locks it up in a fireproof safe, and says nothing of it.