5.04 Sinclair: Snoop for Scoop

5. 04 Sinclair: Snoop for Scoop! Part I: 1. Sinclair â€Å"muckrake† for social reform, by uncovering the terrible working conditions people in the meat industries were experiencing. After uncovering these terrible conditions Sinclair then wrote â€Å"The Jungle† which made the public aware of the terrible & unsanitary working conditions in the meat industry. Soon after, Americans demanded better regulations for the meat industry. 2.The Pure Food and Drug Act was established as a direct result of the public outcry from Sinclair novel â€Å"The Jungle†. 3. As a result of his novel Sinclair wanted to opened the public eyes to the terrible working conditions people were experiencing and how the meat products were being produced. In this he hoped to see changes in meat productions such as healthier productions and working conditions. Sinclair also wanted to help promote socialism. 4.Majority of the public was mortified that their meat was filled with contaminations & wanted this problem to be fixed immediately. Some on the other hand saw Sinclair's book as an exaggeration of what was really going on. Many people began to stop eating meat. 5. ABC News found that the conditions at Food Lion was mortifing. Food Lion was selling food that was rotten & washed them with bleach to get rid of the ordor. They also found cheese that was being gnawed at by rats. . Food Lion could not prove the findings were false. 7. The basis of Food Lion's lawsuit against ABC-News was that they were charged with fraud ,trespassing, and breach of duty. 8. In the jury's verdict they ruled against ABC News 9. The jurors' rationale for the verdict was that Food Lion Lion food recieved twice the amount as compensation for wages paid to producers because the jurors' believed ABC didn't have to lie to get the information about Food Lion Part II:I do believe journalists have a duty to be â€Å"watchdogs† for the public, but to a certain instinct. I say this because altho ugh it is apart of their profession if being a so called â€Å"watchdog† for the public means breaking morals & laws then it shouldn't be done. But then again I feel that we have to be our own â€Å"watchdogs† inorder to know what's really going on. I'm not sure of the name of the person who post I responded to, but the date of the post I replied to was on Thu Oct 11 09:36:35 2012 5.04 Sinclair: Snoop for Scoop 5. 04 Sinclair: Snoop for Scoop! Part I: 1. Sinclair â€Å"muckrake† for social reform, by uncovering the terrible working conditions people in the meat industries were experiencing. After uncovering these terrible conditions Sinclair then wrote â€Å"The Jungle† which made the public aware of the terrible & unsanitary working conditions in the meat industry. Soon after, Americans demanded better regulations for the meat industry. 2.The Pure Food and Drug Act was established as a direct result of the public outcry from Sinclair novel â€Å"The Jungle†. 3. As a result of his novel Sinclair wanted to opened the public eyes to the terrible working conditions people were experiencing and how the meat products were being produced. In this he hoped to see changes in meat productions such as healthier productions and working conditions. Sinclair also wanted to help promote socialism. 4.Majority of the public was mortified that their meat was filled with contaminations & wanted this problem to be fixed immediately. Some on the other hand saw Sinclair's book as an exaggeration of what was really going on. Many people began to stop eating meat. 5. ABC News found that the conditions at Food Lion was mortifing. Food Lion was selling food that was rotten & washed them with bleach to get rid of the ordor. They also found cheese that was being gnawed at by rats. . Food Lion could not prove the findings were false. 7. The basis of Food Lion's lawsuit against ABC-News was that they were charged with fraud ,trespassing, and breach of duty. 8. In the jury's verdict they ruled against ABC News 9. The jurors' rationale for the verdict was that Food Lion Lion food recieved twice the amount as compensation for wages paid to producers because the jurors' believed ABC didn't have to lie to get the information about Food Lion Part II:I do believe journalists have a duty to be â€Å"watchdogs† for the public, but to a certain instinct. I say this because altho ugh it is apart of their profession if being a so called â€Å"watchdog† for the public means breaking morals & laws then it shouldn't be done. But then again I feel that we have to be our own â€Å"watchdogs† inorder to know what's really going on. I'm not sure of the name of the person who post I responded to, but the date of the post I replied to was on Thu Oct 11 09:36:35 2012

Persuasion Essay Against Online Eduation Essay

Nowadays, everything about the world is accessible at one’s fingertips. Left and right, technological advancements surge throughout stores, offices, and schools. Not only are schools becoming more technology friendly, but online schooling is also growing rapidly. These online schools are attracting millions of teenagers around the world, but they are not as good as they seem. Many teenagers who attend online schools prefer traditional schooling since online schools lack several necessary aspects for learning. Some feel like they do not learn much, if anything at all, and others dislike how detached they feel from their teachers or other students. Although education specialists claim that online education has more benefits, it should not replace traditional education used by the current school system. Granted, online education provides a more flexible schedule. Usually, the students who attend online school have very busy schedules, and online schooling allows them to have a schedule that fits their needs. These students do not have to follow a set time schedule. They are allowed to log in and out of their course whenever their schedule permits, and as long as they complete their assignments by a certain deadline, they pass the course. Also, if a student moves at a slower pace compared to other students, then that student can take his or her time with the lesson. Likewise, if another student learns much faster compared to the average student, then he or she can speed through the lesson without waiting for others. However, attending an online school will lead to a lack of social interaction. Students from online programs can talk to each other through student forums and discussion boards, but they have a very slim chance of meeting face to face considering many of these students live all around the world. With these student forums and discussion boards, the response comments can make an everlasting strand of posts, but no one will be interested enough to read all of them. All of these conflicts make it harder to create long-lasting friendships. In addition, these students do not really get to know each other. Besides that, these students do not get to experience all the activities that traditional schools have to offer like extracurricular clubs. They also cannot create those glorious memories that most people laugh at when they are older and reminiscing. Nevertheless, online education is much cheaper and can save a family a large amount of money. Since these families do not have to pay for tuition, gas, or housing, they can spend their money on other things like house improvements, bills, debts, necessities, college funding, etc. Also, for those who cannot afford to go to a university, an online degree is much easier to achieve. This helps many of those who could not afford to earn a degree to finally attain one. On the contrary, one cannot get as much help from an online program compared to a traditional school. Since online teachers have a limited role in teaching, they try to guide students through the pre-written material. If the teacher is not properly trained to teach online courses, then the students are forced to teach themselves the whole lesson. This can cause students to get frustrated with themselves and not be as motivated to complete their course. To add onto the problem, asking questions is highly more difficult. The students who have questions cannot just raise their hands or stop by their teacher’s office to ask them. They have to wait for answers through e-mails, talk to other students through student forums, or make some sort of appointment with the teacher. In the end, being online educated may involve more work and could take much longer to finish. Most importantly, some online credits are not accepted in traditional schools or colleges. Certain online credits are not accepted because their credits are either not up to par or have no relevancy toward the student’s major. Even though online schools have been given more credibility in the past few years, many still believe that online schooling is much easier than traditional schooling, so college administrators do not take online degrees seriously. Also, some online schools are not accredited by legitimate agencies, and credits from those schools are overlooked completely. In other words, educational specialists should not replace traditional education with online education. Once again, online education not only reduces social activity, but also takes away from the high school experience. In addition, online schools do not offer as much help for students as traditional schools. Lastly, some colleges and universities do  not even accept online credits. While online education may be more viable in the future, they are currently not in the best condition to be implemented into school districts. Until online education is more adaptable to the traditional model, it should not be allowed to jeopardize the learning experience of today’s students.

The Great Cascadia Earthquake of 2xxx

The Great Cascadia Earthquake of 2xxx Cascadia is Americas own tectonic version of Sumatra, where the magnitude 9.3 earthquake and tsunami of 2004 occurred. Stretching off the Pacific shore from northern California some 1300 kilometers to the tip of Vancouver Island, the Cascadia subduction zone appears capable of its own magnitude 9 earthquake. What do we know about its behavior and its history? What would that great Cascadia earthquake be like? Subduction Zone Earthquakes, Cascadia and Elsewhere Subduction zones are places where one lithospheric plate plunges beneath another (see Subduction in a Nutshell). They create three kinds of earthquakes: those within the upper plate, those within the lower plate, and those between the plates. The first two categories can include large, damaging quakes of magnitude (M) 7, comparable to the Northridge 1994 and Kobe 1995 events. They can damage whole cities and counties. But the third category is what concerns disaster officials. These great subduction events, M 8 and M 9, can release hundreds of times more energy and damage wide regions inhabited by millions of people. They are what everybody means by the Big One. Earthquakes get their energy from strain (distortion) built up in rocks from the stress forces along a fault (see Earthquakes in a Nutshell). Great subduction events are so large because the fault involved has a very large surface area on which rocks gather strain. Knowing this, we can easily find where the worlds M 9 earthquakes happen by locating the longest subduction zones: southern Mexico and Central America, South Americas Pacific coast, Iran and the Himalaya, western Indonesia, eastern Asia from New Guinea to Kamchatka, the Tonga Trench, the Aleutian Island chain and Alaska Peninsula, and Cascadia. Magnitude-9 quakes differ from smaller ones in two distinct ways: they last longer and they have more low-frequency energy. They dont shake any harder, but the greater length of shaking causes more destruction. And the low frequencies are more effective at causing landslides, damaging large structures and exciting water bodies. Their power to move water accounts for the fearsome threat of tsunamis, both in the shaken region and on coastlines near and far (see more on tsunamis). After the strain energy is released in great earthquakes, whole coastlines may subside as the crust relaxes. Offshore, the ocean floor may rise. Volcanoes may respond with their own activity. Low-lying lands may turn to mush from seismic liquefaction and widespread landslides may be triggered, sometimes creeping along for years afterward. These things may leave clues for future geologists. Cascadias Earthquake History Studies of past subduction earthquakes are inexact things, based on finding their geologic signs: sudden changes of elevation that drown coastal forests, disturbances in ancient tree rings, buried beds of beach sand washed far inland and so on. Twenty-five years of research has determined that Big Ones affect Cascadia, or large parts of it, every few centuries. Times between events range from 200 to about 1000 years, and the average is around 500 years. The most recent Big One is rather well dated, although no one in Cascadia at the time could write. It occurred around 9 p.m. on 26 January 1700. We know this because the tsunami it generated struck the shores of Japan the next day, where the authorities recorded the signs and damages. In Cascadia, tree rings, oral traditions of the local people and geologic evidence support this story. The Coming Big One Weve seen enough recent M 9 earthquakes to have a good idea of what the next one will do to Cascadia: they struck inhabited regions in 1960 (Chile), 1964 (Alaska), 2004 (Sumatra) and 2010 (Chile again). The Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup (CREW) recently prepared a 24-page booklet, including photos from historic quakes, to bring the dreadful scenario to life: Strong shaking will last for 4 minutes, killing and injuring thousands.A tsunami up to 10 meters high will wash over the coast within minutes.Much of coastal Route 101 will be impassable due to wave and landslide damage.Parts of the coast will be cut off from inland cities when the roads are buried. Roads through the Cascades may likewise be blocked.For rescue, first aid, and immediate relief most places will be on their own.Utilities and transportation in the I-5/Highway 99 corridor will be disrupted for months.Cities may have significant fatalities as tall buildings collapse.Aftershocks will continue for years, some of them large earthquakes in themselves. From Seattle on down, Cascadian governments are preparing for this event. (In this effort they have much to learn from Japans Tokai Earthquake program.) The work ahead is enormous and will never be finished, but all of it will count: public education, setting up tsunami evacuation routes, strengthening buildings and building codes, conducting drills and more. The CREW pamphlet, Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquakes: A magnitude 9.0 earthquake scenario, has more.

People Have Become Overly Dependent on Technology Essay

People Have Become Overly Dependent on Technology - Essay Example The chief aim that humans seek to advance technologically is to make life easier and better. However, as humans make more innovations, they have also become more dependent on technology such that most aspects of human life cannot be sustained if technology was withdrawn. Off all the forms of technology, computer technology stands out to be the one, which has become a crucial part of human life. However, the list of technological devices and gargets that define the life of modern humans is endless. Numerous aspects of human life demonstrate the unlimited level of human dependence on technology (Hooff, Dijk, Bouwman, & Wijngaert, 2005). The list of aspects of human life that are extremely dependent on technology is endless. Technology has become part of human life without which life would be unimaginable. Even the simplest of human needs cannot be met without technology. A good example is food. Technology is considered important and process such as production, storage and food preparation enormously depend on technology. Some food types would not be in existence without technology. The extension of the shelf life of most human foods depends on technological devices. Food preparation processes such as cooking make use of technological devices. The quality of processed food depends on the type of technology used. The food production and processing industries are extremely dependent on technology. Since food remains the most crucial basic need for humans, it is thus correct to say that humans are excessively reliant on technology. Without technology, food shortage would be a serious predicament facing human beings (Ra hman & Raisinghani, 2000). Technological devices such as computers have become an essential need in running the daily activity of any organization, institution, or even business. Communication has become advanced and progressively dependent on technology. Communicating devices such

Human sexuality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Human sexuality - Essay Example Golanty and Edlin (196) describe experiment where persons got alcohol with tonic or tonic without alcohol, and it was told to the randomly taken subjects that they drink alcohol. These persons, regardless whether their drinks contained alcohol or not, demonstrated sexual desire. Alcohol decreases the level of self-control of increases the level of aggression. ‘Alcohol myopia’ when a person ignores negative consequences and is focused on the sexual context is a known result of the alcohol consumption (Bancroft 406). As alcohol decreases control of own behavior, it becomes one of the strongest predictors of the sexual aggression (Rosental 412). Alcohol is just a symbol of establishing the proper sexual behavior. Biological impact of alcohol is harmful for the human sexuality. Chronic alcoholism is the main risk factor. Alcohol decreases sexual desire for both male and female. The most commonly reported problem for male alcoholics is erectile dysfunction. Ejaculatory incompetence, erectile impotence and premature ejaculation occur less frequently. Typical problems of the female alcoholics are lack of orgasm, lack of sexual interest, lack of sexual arousal or pleasure, lack of lubrication, painful intercourse and muscular spasms (Aluko et al. 1281). The mechanisms of alcohol’s impact on the human sexuality are not well understood. It acts as depressant and sedates on the brain cells decelerating the brain activity. The researches results show that chronic intake of alcohol may significantly decrease the level of testosterone for male persons. The low level of testosterone can be a possible explanation for the sexual dysfunctions of male alcoholics. Another effect of alcohol the retardation of blood congestion and swelling in the genitals, as well as decrease of the vaginal blood volume. It can explain the erectile dysfunction due to altered blood flow to genitalia and/or

NASA General Aviation Propulsion (GAP) Diesel Engine Research Paper

NASA General Aviation Propulsion (GAP) Diesel Engine - Research Paper Example NASA’s General Aviation Propulsion (GAP), started in the 2000, is one of the programs that have pioneered to revolutionize the aviation industry and transform the development of engines of future. The aim of the program is to develop an innovative engine which ushers in affordability, comfort and reduced cost for the aviation industry. The new engine is to reduce noise and vibrations and load on pilot for monitoring the plane, thereby adding greater comforts to the passengers. The aim of the paper is to discuss on GAP programme implications in the aviation industry and describe the working and usage of two engines developed as a part of the project. The paper also analyzes the challenges faced during the development and aviation industry in general. The advantages of new engines in terms of cost and efficiency have been dealt in detail in the paper. The new programme has been developed by NASA in collaboration with Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiment (AGATE). The GAP engine runs on 200 HP, liquid cooled, two stroked engine that runs on jet fuel. The engine is expected to cost half the price of conventional engines of 200 HP. This would make the new engines a major success in terms of fuel efficiency by reduction in the dependency for leaded gasoline thereby improving maintenance, passenger comfort and ease of use. Teledyne Continental Motors, Aerosance Cirrus Design, Hartzell Propeller, Lancair and Mod Works together partnered with NASA to develop diesel engine, an advanced piston engine. Although being heavy diesel engines are the reliable engines which combine technologically advanced construction coupled with two stroke engine. The GAP diesel engines offers noise and vibration free facility to the passengers with low speed propellers, feasible technology to use. With less than one-fourth of fuel consumption as compared to the current engines, the new GAP engines offer reliability, comfort, and greater control over the design and process

Taino Lifestyle Essay Example for Free

Taino Lifestyle Essay The Arawak/Taino society was basically a very gentle culture. It was characterized by happiness, friendliness and a highly organized hierarchical, paternal society, and a lack of guile. Each society was a small kingdom and the leader was called a cacique. The cacique’s function was to keep the welfare of the village by assigning daily work and making sure everyone got an equal share. The relatives of the caciques lived together in large houses in the center of the village. These houses reflect the warmth of the climate and simply used mud, straw and palm leaves. The houses did not contain much furniture. People slept in cotton hammocks or simply on mats of banana leaves. The general population lived in large circular buildings called bohios, constructed with wooden poles, woven straw, and palm leaves. At the time of Columbus there were five different kingdoms on the island of Hispaniola. The Indians practiced polygamy. Most men had 2 or 3 wives, but the caciques had as many as 30. It was a great honor for a woman to be married to a cacique. Not only did she enjoy a materially superior lifestyle, but her children were held in high esteem. HOUSING AND DRESS The Arawak/Taino used two primary architectural styles for their homes. The general population lived in circular buildings with poles providing the primary support and these were covered with woven straw and palm leaves. They were somewhat like North American teepees except rather than being covered with skins they needed to reflect the warmth of the climate and simply used straw and palm leaves. The caciques were singled out for unique housing. Their house were rectangular and even featured a small porch. Despite the difference in shape, and the considerably larger buildings, the same materials were used. When the Africans came beginning in 1507 they introduced mud and wattle as primary building materials. However, there is no record of the Arawak/Tainos having used these materials. The house of the cacique contained only his own family. However, given the number of wives he might have, this constituted a huge family. The round houses of the common people were also large. Each one had about 10-15 men and their whole families. Thus any Arawak/Taino home might house a hundred people. The houses did not contain much furniture. People slept in cotton hammocks or simply on mats of banana leaves. They also made wooden chairs with woven seats, couches and built cradles for their children. In addition to houses the typical Arawak/Taino village contained a flat court in the center of the village which was used for ball games and various festivals, both religious and secular. Houses were around this court. This was a hierarchical society, and while there was only one cacique who was paid a tribute (tax) to oversee the village, there were other levels of sub-caciques, who were not paid, but did hold positions of honor. They were liable for various services to the village and cacique. Stone making was especially developed among the Arawak/Tainos, but they seem not to have used it at all in building houses. It was primarily used for tools and especially religious artifacts. The men were generally naked, but the women sometimes wore short skirts. Men and women alike adorned their bodies with paint and shells and other decorations. FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Arawak/Taino diet, like ours, centered around meat or fish as the primary source of protein. There never were many wild animals to hunt on Hispaniola, but there were some small mammals which were hunted and enjoyed. They also ate snakes, various rodents, bats, worms, birds, in general any living things they could find with the exception of humans. They were able to hunt ducks and turtles in the lakes and sea. The costal natives relied heavily on fishing, and tended to eat their fish either raw or only partially cooked. Since they did grow cotton on the island, the natives had fishing nets made of cotton. The natives of the interior relied more on agriculture and de-emphasized meat or fish in their diet. The Taino had a developed system of agriculture which was environmentally friendly and almost maintenance free. They raised their crops in a conuco, a large mound which was devised especially for farming. They packed the conuco with leaves which improved drainage and protected it from soil erosion. One of the primary crops cultivated by the Taino was cassava or yuca, which they ate as a flat bread. They also grew corn, squash, beans, peppers, sweet potatoes, yams, peanuts as well as tobacco. (As an aside I would like to comment that many people in the pre-Columbian Americas had virtually work free agriculture. This system meant that people living in these materially simple social systems had enormous amounts of free time and often developed elaborate religious rites which took a lot of their time, but also had highly developed systems of games and recreation. There are some nice advantages to very simple living and diet!) One of the Arawak/Taino’s primary crops was cassava. This is a root crop from which a poisonous juice must be squeezed. Then it is baked into a bread like slab. The current method of doing this in Haiti produces a flat bread, sort of like a stale burrito or pizza shell. The Arawak/Taino grew corn (maize), squash, beans, peppers, sweet potatoes, yams and peanuts. They not only had cotton, but they raised tobacco and enjoyed smoking very much. It was not only a part of their social life, but was used in religious ceremonies too. TRANSPORTATION The Arawak/Taino had no large animals like horses, oxen or mules to ride or use for work. But they did have river and sea transportation. They used dugout canoes which were cut from a single tree trunk and used with paddles. They could take 70-80 people in a single canoe and even used them for long travels on the sea. These dugouts allowed fishing the few lakes of Hispaniola as well as fishing out a bit off the coast. DEFENSE The Arawak/Taino themselves were quite peaceful people, but they did have to defend themselves from the Caribs who were cannibals. The Caribs of this area were centered at what is today Puerto Rico, but some did live in northeast Hispaniola, an area that today is the Dominican Republic. The Caribs were war-like cannibals. They often raided the more peaceful Arawak/Tainos, killing off the men, stealing and holding the women for breeding, and fattening the children to eat. Thus the Arawak/Taino had some weapons which they used in defense. They used the bow and arrow, and had developed some poisons for their arrow tips. They had cotton ropes for defensive purposes and some spears with fish hooks on the end. Since there were hardwoods on the island, they did have a war club made of macana. This was about 1†³ thick and reminds one very much of the cocomaque stick used in later Haitian days. They did not develop any armor or specifically defensive weapons (shields, etc.). RELIGION AND MYTH The Arawak/Taino were polytheists and their gods were called zemi. The zemi controlled various functions of the universe, very much like Greek gods did, or like later Haitian Voodoo lwa. However, they do not seem to have had particular personalities like the Greek and Haitian gods/spirits do. There were three primary religious practices: Religious worship and obeisance to the zemi themselves Dancing in the village court during special festivals of thanksgiving or petition Medicine men, or priests, consulting the zemi for advice and healing. This was done in public ceremonies with song and dance People had special dress for the ceremonies which included paint and feathers. From their knees on down they would be covered in shells. The shaman (medicine man or priests) presented the carved figures of the zemi. The cacique sat on wooden stool, a place of honor. (There are many surviving stone carvings of the cacique on his stool.) There was a ceremonial beating of drums. People induced vomiting with a swallowing stick. This was to purge the body of impurities, both a literal physical purging and a symbolic spiritual purging. This ceremonial purging and other rites were a symbolic changing before zemi. Women served bread (a communion rite), first to zemi, then to the cacique followed by the other people. The sacred bread was a powerful protector. (The interesting similarities between this ritual and the Christian practice of eucharist is obvious!) Finally came an oral history lesson — the singing of the village epic in honor of the cacique and his ancestors. As the poet recited he was accompanied by a maraca, a piece of hardwood which was beaten with pebbles. There was an afterlife where the good would be rewarded. They would meet up with dead relatives and friends. Since most of the people they would meet in this paradise were women, it is curious to speculate if it was mainly women who were considered good, or if some other reason accounted for this division of the sexes in the afterlife. There are many stone religious artifacts which have been found in Haiti. The zemi take on strange forms like toads, turtles, snakes, alligators and various distorted and hideous human faces. The zemi, as well as dead caciques, have certain powers over the natural world and must be dealt with. Thus these various services are ways of acknowledging their power (worship and thanksgiving) and at the same time seeking their aid. Because of these powers there are many Arawak/Tanio stories which account for the origins of some experienced phenomena in myth and or magic. Several myths had to do with caves. The sun and moon, for example, came out of caves. Another story tells that the people lived in caves and only came out at night. One guard was supposed to watch carefully over people to be sure they were well divided in the land. However, one day he was late in returning and the sun caught him and turned him into a stone pillar. Another Indian became angry at the sun for its various tricks and decided to leave. He convinced all the women to abandon their men and come with him along with their children. But, the children were deserted, and in their hunger they turned into frogs. The women simply disappeared. This left the men without women. But, they did find some sexless creatures roaming around and eventually captured them. (Actually they used people with a disease like mange since they had rough hands and could hold on to these elusive creatures.) However, they tied these creatures up and put woodpeckers on them. The birds, thinking these were trees started pecking on them and carved out the sex organs of women, thus re-establishing the possibility of survival. A different myth simply tells that once there were no women. Man brought woman from an island where there were only women. The origin of the oceans was in a huge flood which occurred when a father murdered his son (who was about to murder the father), and then put his bones in a calabash. The bones turned to fish and then the gourd broke and all the water of the world flowed from the broken gourd. GENOCIDE AGAINST THE ARAWAK/TAINO INDIANS There is a great debate as to just how many Arawak/Taino inhabited Hispaniola when Columbus landed in 1492. Some of the early Spanish historian/observers claimed there were as many as 3,000,000 to 4,000,000. These numbers seem to be based on very little reliable evidence and are thought to be gross exaggerations. However, since nothing like a census was done, the methods for estimating the numbers are extremely shaky, whether by these early historians or later critics. One long technical article on the population comes in the with the low estimate of 100,000. Several other modern scholars seem to lean more forcefully in the area of 300,000 to 400,000. Whatever the number, what happened to them is extremely tragic. They were not immune to European diseases, especially smallpox, and the Spanish worked them unmercifully in the mines and fields. By 1507 the Spanish were settled and able to do a more reliable job of counting the Arawak/Tainos. It is generally agreed that by 1507 their numbers had shrunk to 60,000. By 1531 the number was down to 600. Today there are no easily discerned traces of the Arawak/Tanio at all except for some of the archaeological remains that have been found. Not only on Hispaniola, but also across the Windward Passage in Cuba, complete genocide was practiced on these natives. Disease was a major cause of their demise. However, on Columbus’ 2nd voyage he began to require a tribute from the Arawak/Tainos. They were expected to yield a certain quantity of gold per capita. Failing that each adult of 14 was required to submit 25lbs. of cotton. For those who could not produce the cotton either, there was a service requirement for them to work for the Spanish. This set the stage for a system of assigning the Arawak/Taino to Spanish settlers as effective slave labor. This system contributed significantly to their genocide.