Offshore oil in gulf of mexico Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Offshore oil in gulf of mexico - Essay Example The original location of the oil industry was off the Louisianan coast. Though at first the production was negligible, it rose steadily such that in the 90’s it was producing around 25% of the world’s gas. The transformation of the offshore oil industry off the Mexican Gulf can be attributed to technological transformations and brisk entrepreneurship. The inventiveness turned the rather deserted Louisiana into a hub of prospering activity in terms of oil production. The industry at first got workers from around Louisiana but later workers came from all over the United States. It can be said that currently Louisiana is a major contributor to the United States’ economy. Consequently, people getting attracted to it were the expectations. After the Second World War, the veterans who came back home too part in the challenge of mining oil from the ocean floor. They were successful and the developing technology is continuously motivating their outcome as improvements to their system are made daily. The offshore mining industry now boasts over 4000 oil platforms that are active and pumping the petroleum to land (Fitzgerald 82). Offshore drilling for oil is quite challenging. Though the mechanism is mostly the same, the fact that this is being carried out miles away from the land makes it unique. The mechanism gets complicated when the sea floor is thousands of feet below sea level. In offshore drilling, artificial platforms have to be built for the drilling purpose. To highlight how complicated the process is, it is imperative to have an insight into the process of drilling in details. The artificial platform, for example, created to provide support for drilling is usually unstable due to water currents and the winds (Lloyd 45). In order to drill effectively in a non stable position, a drilling template is required. It is placed accurately by use of GPS and then a shallow hole is dug where it is cemented to the sea bed. That in place, the accuracy of the drilling is ensured without being hindered by the motion of the platform. A blowout preventer is installed too to prevent any gas from seeping out on the seabed and contaminating the water, just like in onshore mining. The rigs in this case have to be economized; there are movable rigs that are used solely for exploration because they are less expensive than the permanent ones placed after the oil deposits have been found. The whole offshore process is based on low cost production with a maximized profit but with utmost concern being environmental safety. However, environment safety in cases of offshore oil drilling has raised a lot of controversies (Fitzgerald 82). Though the oil mining along the Mexican gulf is economically beneficial, it significantly contributes to environmental degradation. Several critics have pointed out that off shore mining is not only dangerous but also risky. The industry has set up several safety policies but they are highly doubtable considering the explosions and oil rig accidents. For instance, in 2010, there was an explosion in one of the rigs that killed eleven people and left oil gushing at an estimated five thousand barrels per day. This oil spill with such intensity outdid its income by the damage it caused on the fisheries (Lloyd 45). The environment is the foremost thing that should be consider when taking part in any entrepreneurial activity. The question that has

Ethics in an Academic Environment Essay Example for Free

Ethics in an Academic Environment Essay Teachers hold the power and responsibility for building the foundations of intellectually and morally great minds. Since people spend a large chunk of their class and their entire formative years in school, their position and contact with young children and adolescents allows they shape and mold what these young people’s potentials and capabilities. Teachers have the opportunity to influence and inspire the future generations. As such, it is imperative that teachers become rightful role models of ethics for their students. Karl Menninger believed that â€Å"What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches† (cited in Hunter, 2006). Menninger’s statement stress that teachers should always be a good ethical example for their students to look up to and learn from. A teacher must show tact, tolerance and morally-charge decision-making; he or she has to refrain from preferring one student over the other and from demonstrating disrespect or irritation for any of his or her students (Hunter, 2006). In a nutshell, for a teacher to be an ethical one, he or she has to always depict professionalism. Teacher professionalism manifests as both an internal, personal practice and an explicit expression. Professionalism starts from the inside. A teacher needs to make a fundamental commitment to teaching and to all the people that his or her teaching will touch (Phelps, 2003). This commitment is actualized by a teacher’s shown competency in his or her field and his or her capacity for following the teachers’ manual or code of ethics. It is essential that teachers recognize that their accountability should lie first, foremost and only with the students they teach. Therefore, a teacher shows his or her professionalism in how he or she prepares and plans how he or she could impart knowledge to the students in best way possible. Apart from making sure students understand what he or she is teaching to them now will have a high, enduring quality and will have more than just academic significance to students’ lives. To motivate and help them give their best effort every single day and to every single student, Phelps (2003) believes that teachers ought to accept and embrace all the challenges and hardships the journey of educating and aiding the youth’s learning may possess. In doing so, teaching is elevated to more than just a job for teachers but a calling. Professionalism requires teachers to invest themselves physically, mentally and emotionally in the process of the student’s education. This act allows teachers to make personal connections with students. Personal connections, relationships and bonds with one’s students are generally positive and helpful qualities. However, heavy emotional investments can also pave the way for the loss of professionalism, for which personal sentiments were invested in the first place. Emotional investments and personal connections can destroy professionalism and lead to a bending of the credibility of teacher-student ethics when they become the main object of teacher-student relationships instead of one of its reinforcements. When a teacher forms personal opinions or connections with one or a few particular students, it leads to a closeness or familiarity that can affect a teacher’s ethical conduct and professionalism. Examples would be developing a romantic relationship with a student or creating a hierarchy of student’s value based on a personal favoritism. Apart from creating partialities in favor of a student, personal opinions could further cloud a teacher’s judgment and create bias against a student or certain students. In both aspects, the founding of personal opinion can seriously hamper a teacher’s potential to be at his or her most professional best. Teachers are therefore reminded to abide by the code of ethics and ensure the protection of the rights of students, each and every single student (University of Iowa [UI], 2008). Teachers are encouraged to build rapport and make students comfortable in their presence enough for the students to liberally and honestly participate and contribute to class discussions. However, teachers are responsible for ensuring that there is still a professional boundary between them and student to prevent their relationship from getting too casual (UI, 2008). Teachers should instill and model fairness for all students of all racial, ethnical and economic background. Overall, ethics between teachers and students depend on the level of professionalism the teacher has. Teachers’ positions or social roles emphasize respect for one’s profession and the people they encounter. Teachers should direct all of their efforts and prioritize above all how they have contributed to students’ learning and development. References Hunter, D. (2006, Oct. 18). Teacher’s ethics. Articles Base. Retrieved March 13, 2009 from http://www. articlesbase. com/article-marketing-articles/teachers-ethics-64131. html Phelps, P. (2003). Teacher Professionalism. In Find Articles. Retrieved March 13, 2009 from http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_qa4009/is_200310/ai_n9335958 University of Iowa. (2008). The importance of teacher ethics. Retrieved March 13, 2009 from http://www. education. uiowa. edu/resources/tep/eportfolio/07e170folder/Ethics. htm

Practice Of The Motivational Interviewing Approach Social Work Essay

Practice Of The Motivational Interviewing Approach Social Work Essay Critically analyse your practice of the Motivational Interviewing approach with specific reference to your classroom learning and work placement On reflection I have learnt a great deal about the MI approach, putting the classroom learning into practice, then reviewing my performance on the DVD has been a fundamental part of my learning process. Although being familiar with many of the techniques, which are similar to skills I already possess, the actual approach was new to me. In brief MI allows a normally client lead Person Centred Approach to have direction by allowing clients to recognise their ambivalence acknowledging that change is possible and cultivating their innate forces to make necessary changes that are acceptable to them. I have recognised that for myself Im going to need to practice, review and hone my techniques awareness with implementing this model. It is emphasised with MI that the spirit of the approach is conceivably more important than techniques used . I feel the only real way to describe this phenomena is to acknowledge that the spirit would be how the therapist presents themselves the way that he/she utilises the techniques. With MI it is the clients responsibility to resolve their ambivalence finding intrinsic motivation to change problematic behaviours, not the therapists to impose or suggest change. The counselling approach is generally a soft, quiet eliciting style, which places importance on the working relationship being a partnership. The extreme contrast to MI would be confrontational approaches, which may attempt to break a clients denial through authoritative derogatory shaming approaches stripping away individuals defences and rebuilding their identities with societies or groups philosophies . The therapeutic approach of a pure Person Centred counselling model essentially relies upon the three core conditions of Congruence, Empathy and Unconditional Positive regard these conditions contribute to the presence of the Counsellor influencing the relationship formed with the client. With addiction treatment settings where time constraints are prevalent Motivational Interviewing can allow more structure direction being applied to the normally client lead Person Centred Approach. By developing discrepancy between client beliefs and problematic behaviours direction can be achieved. According to   when discrepancy becomes large enough and change seems important, a search for possible methods for change is initiated (p. 11). I have already integrated some use of MI into my practice however, Im aware at times my agencies policies and procedures are in conflict with the MI spirit. Recently, I have had to check my own incentives in using MI, making sure Im not implementing it as a form of manipulation to move clients into adherence with agencies policies, which would blemish the spirit of the MI approach. The compatibility of the MI approach in my place of work is questionable in some areas. Our treatment modality is a 12 step abstinent based approach, which immediately arises two conflicts with the MI spirit. Firstly, not all clients may wish total abstinence and those who do may wish to achieve it in some way that is not 12 step orientated. It is agency policy that all clients attend 12 step fellowship meetings every evening during their treatment duration. In our treatment setting the MI approach has proven to be useful in several areas when clients initially arrive in treatment anxiety levels are high if not addressed can lead to dropout. Application of MI here can help the client focus on the influencing factors that motivated them to contemplate treatment in the first place. In addition, MI is acknowledged a beneficial approach to use with angry clients especially the principals of rolling with resistance and the expression of empathy . Although the clients have attended our treatment facility for a variety of reasons, it is difficult to place them all in one bracket concerning the stages of change model. Taking into account their alcohol / drug use the vast majority would be in either contemplation or active change. Some clients may display signs of resistance to change around other areas of their life which may include being in a relationship with a partner who is still active in addictive behaviour. Many clients also have difficulty with assertiveness, which is going to be necessary to develop for them to help maintain addiction free lifestyles. It is a process of change for clients conversely many of these distinct essentials are met with varying degrees of resistance by individual clients. The first example Im going to use is a male client of 42 years of age who has been dependent upon substances for twenty years. He displays high levels of interest in the abstinent approach registering high using a Likert assessment tool to gauge his Willingness, Ability Readiness regarding an abstinent way of life. With reference to his substance use, I would assess him to be in the action stage of Prochaska and DiCliemente The stages of change (see appendix A). He has a partner who still is a substance user; he displays high levels of resistance to changing this area of his life and feels that he will be able to change her view on substance taking once he returns home after the completion of his treatment. I have been affirming the client consistently with the changes he has made to his behaviour whilst in treatment and with permission from him, pointing how his changes are in line with the 12 step abstinent based approach. What Im trying to achieve is too reinforce his belief in himself about this particular approach. By doing this I feel that there are inconsistencies further developing between his two cognitions I want to remain substance free, yet I want to go home to my partner who is a substance user. As he is now beginning to question his own thinking, I can see that the cognitive dissonance is beginning to have an effect Im hoping he will seek to alter the risky dissonant cognition by remaining in Bournemouth to attend aftercare. A client we recently had at our facility who presented for cannabis use, and admitted his main motivation for being in treatment was to avoid going to prison displayed resistant behaviours towards the treatment modality. His resistance would manifest in ways of walking out of group therapy, getting up and walking around whilst clients were presenting personal assignments generally showing no respect for what other clients were trying to achieve. The application of MI in this instance was quite difficult as a direct approach in line with agency policy and procedures needed to take place first. We had tried on several occasions not to take too much notice of the unacceptable behaviours he presented which could be considered rolling with resistance, however eventually had to enforce an ultimatum. In circumstances like this I found it very difficult almost impossible to remain in a totally pure orientated spirit of MI. To say that I have mastered the concepts principles of MI would be a significant over estimation. I have furthered my knowledge of the contributing elements of MI which included the stages of change model, the techniques used to work with ambivalence resistance. Most importantly, I have learnt above all else MI is about allowing the client to be the expert and for me to be mindful of the type of language that I use. The spirit of MI I have no real problem with other than perhaps on occasions avoiding the expert trap generally I do present myself within the spirit of this model. The application of this particular model Im using at work in a tentative way, in other words Im applying it in certain situations where perhaps I feel confident to use it. An example of this would be, when clients seem to be making rash decisions to leave treatment or are displaying ambivalence about an abstinent approach. After reviewing the DVD it is clear to me that I lack confidence in the application of the MI approach. I do however feel though that practice and reviewing my practice can only help with me developing my implementation of this approach. I feel that I need to be more mindful of the language I use whilst working with clients. As it became apparent to me whilst reviewing the DVD that I can without realising fall into traps. An example of this would be at the end of the session I asked my client if I could give him something to take away. On reflection, I could have asked him how he felt he could assess his decision on getting a shed. My future development is going to involve applying reviewing my practice, what I have started to look for at my work setting in my own practice and that of my work colleagues is to identify what clearly is not MI. Some observations I have acknowledged not only with this approach are the ethical conflicts that can arise between benevolence autonomy . On reflection, the example I used earlier on in this assignment with a male client whose partner remains in active addiction. His autonomy was to return home after treatment completion my interest or benevolence is with the safety of the client. As a professional, I know it would be risky for him to return home to someone who remains actively taking illicit drugs. The question is do I then use MI as a way to manipulate the client? My answer is yes of course I do. Questionably is this really in the pure spirit of the approach? Appendix A The Stages of Change Intervention process using the Stages of Change model Source; Adapted from the work of Prochaska and DiCliemente

Computer Viruses and their Effects on the Computer :: Computers Software Technology Essays

Computer Viruses and their Effects on the Computer In our health-conscious society, viruses of any type are an enemy. Computer viruses are especially pernicious. They can and do strike any unprotected computer system, with results that range from merely annoying to the disastrous, time-consuming and expensive loss of software and data. And with corporations increasingly using computers for enterprise-wide, business-critical computing, the costs of virus-induced down-time are growing along with the threat from viruses themselves. Concern is justified - but unbridled paranoia is not. Just as proper diet, exercise and preventative health care can add years to your life, prudent and cost-effective anti-virus strategies can minimize your exposure to computer viruses. Because Symantec is the world's largest supplier of anti-virus technology, we are uniquely able to offer comprehensive virus protection options and service plans. As an introduction, we offer this white paper series. In concise text, graphs and illustrations, we will give you a overview of: A history of computer viruses Who writes viruses - and how they can reach you The early warning symptoms of virus infection The real numbers behind the growth of viruses and their costs How viruses work - and how virus protection can stop them Anti-virus tools from Symantec for enterprise-wide, multi-platform, state-of-the-art protection What, Exactly, Is A Computer Virus? A computer virus is a program designed to replicate and spread, generally with the victim being oblivious to its existence. Computer viruses spread by attaching themselves to other programs (e.g., word processors or spreadsheets application files) or to the boot sector of a disk. When an infected file is activated - or executed - or when the computer is started from an infected disk, the virus itself is also executed. Often, it lurks in computer memory, waiting to infect the next program that is activated, or the next disk that is accessed. What makes viruses dangerous is their ability to perform an event. While some events are benign (e.g. displaying a message on a certain date) and others annoying (e.g., slowing performance or altering the screen display), some viruses can be catastrophic by damaging files, destroying data and crashing systems. How Do Infections Spread? Viruses come from a variety of sources. Because a virus is software code, it can be transmitted along with any legitimate software that enters your environment: In a 1991 study of major U.S. and Canadian computer users by the market research firm Dataquest for the National Computer Security Association, most users blamed an infected diskette (87 percent).

My Childhood Days Essay

It was a green world where I was born. I was born and raised in a small town which could almost know as countryside. Now, the small town has already collapsed and turned into a developing-city. It is so sad that I can only recall my childhood days in my mind instead of visiting the small town. It was a small town with warm-hearted villagers. We were all friends and always share our foods and games. Mak Kwan had the most famous cooking while En. Chong could fly the kite highest. Hmm†¦ I could still smell the curry in the air! My brother and I, we used to rush to Mak Kwan’s home and asked for curry when we smell it. Mak Kwan never decline and always offers us a big bowl of curry to share with our family. The satisfaction is so hard to describe. In my childhood days, I loved to fish in the rivers. Especially hand-fishing! I never like to fish with the rods because it is too messy. Although I like to fish, I am not good at it. So, it was always a big surprise for me when I succeeded to catch a fish. It made me smile all the day because I was over the moon! I usually went fishing with my brother. Not like me, he was good at hand-fishing. He could always catch a basket-full of fish. But, we only chose a fish to bring home and let the others go. Brother said that this was to make sure that there are always fishes in the rivers. One day, I watched â€Å"Recess† and I was so impressed by the tree-house. I asked for permission to build a tree-house, and my father promised to make me one! God is so good to me! My dad said that it was his dream when he was small too, so, he tried to make his and my dream came true. Then, we started to proceed. First, we selected a tree which was suitable to build a tree-house. After that, we drew a simple blue-print of the tree-house. We chopped down some trees and cut them into boards (it was not encouraged to cut down trees at that time, but no one stopped us because everyone was excited to see the tree-house). After three months, it was done! Not as luxurious as the one in â€Å"Recess†, but it was pretty good. At that time, I thought that I would become a good architect because I could design and build. Now, I learned that I was naive and stupid. In my childhood days, it was not only my playground, but also my safe haven when I was scolded by my parents. It use d to be my home to home. In the small town I lived, there was a small jungle. My brother and I enjoyed jungle trekking and explored some new things in the jungle. We had an album named ‘Jungle Diary’. We wrote down all the interesting incident during the exploration. We also collected the unique leaves, sticked it in the album and did some notes. We also liked to observe the animals’ lifestyle. We had an old digital camera, we shot the photos of the birds and wrote down the characteristics. It was fun. One time, we followed a deer along and accidentally went in too far into the jungle. We got lost! It was a terrible incident, I absolutely don’t want to recall it. In my childhood days, all the children in the village loved to fly kites. As I said before, En. Chong could fly the kites highest. So, he taught us how to fly the kites high in the sky. It was all about control. If the string is too tight, It breaks, but if it is too loose, it can’t go high. Just like our life. In a windy season, we organized a small kite-flying competition. Although it was small, everyone took it seriously. Because the design and beauty of the kites would be judged, we had to do it on our own. No shop would sell the kites at that time to prevent us from cheating. Of course, En. Chong was the busiest person because everyone asked for his help to make sure the kites could fly. En. Chong is a selfless person, he never declined to teach. He said that he was happy that many people tried to learn the way of making a good kite. It was not easy as what we thought, I failed three times before I got it. It was a big day, the competition. I didn’t win the first p lace, but it was a very memorable incident. I am not going to forget it. There were else more funny and wonderful memories in my childhood days. Unfortunately, kid nowadays can’t experience these funny things anymore. In the city now, people don’t even bother to know their neighbour’s name. The river is polluted, the tree with tree-house is gone, no more jungle for us to explore, and how often can we see the kites in the sky? They said it is the inevitable price for the modernization and industrialization. Yes, thanks to the development, and the pollution. I am glad that I was born in the 90s. Shame for the 00s, all they have is the internet. In the time comes, we will learn that how much hurts we had brought to our Mother Earth.

The Legacy of the Canadian Residential School System

We all have an identity in this world. When we were born as human beings, we were all given an identity based on our gender, ethnicity, and the society we were born in. This identity is further strengthened by our experience throughout the journey to adulthood, creating a bond and belongingness to one’s own culture. When a language is eventually learned during childhood, it becomes one of the major factors in determining our identity. Cultural customs are also integrated into our minds as we grow up.As we approach adulthood, our basic cultural identity is shaped; we maintain our cultural identity as we enter the local society, as it is the label that sticks with us for the rest of our lives. Along the way, we have the freedom to choose which of the religions to believe in, but our choices will most likely be affected by our identities as well. The First Nations people in Canada are suffering from a loss of language, religion, and identity due to the horrible past they had suff ered in the past century.In the 1880s, the residential school system was established by the government of Canada (Miller 2011). From then on, First Nations children were forced to attend these Catholic schools instituted based on European standards and regulations. Injustice went on for almost another century, in which many First Nation cultures were diminished and obliterated. Steven Harper may have apologized to the First Nations for the rest of the Canadians, but the damage is already done (Dorrell 2009). The Residential School System extinguished the hopes of Canadian First Nations in maintaining their own cultures.In this article we will use St. Mary’s, a residential school located in Mission, BC, as a case study to investigate the severity of the impact the RSS had on First Nations cultures. Language is the mean of communication of a society and a significant factor in cultural and social development. It is also the distinct identifier of a specific culture. By analyzin g the complex systems of the languages of different cultures, sociolinguists can relate the languages’ properties to aspects of the culture.Language is also tightly intertwined with the culture of a civilization: the Chinese and Japanese consider calligraphy—the act of writing in an unique but artistic way with ink brushes—a major art along with music, painting, and the chess game of Go; the Medieval Romans were inefficient and limited in their mathematics due to their numeral system until the Arabic system was introduced. In short, languages can be considered as the backbone of a culture. It is also the backbone that the First Nations began to lose as soon as the Residential School System was initiated.In residential schools, any languages other than English were forbidden; the violators of this rule were severely punished. In Terry Glavin’s Amongst God’s Own, one of his interviewee Meredith Hourie (2002: 61) commented that the nuns at St. Maryâ⠂¬â„¢s referred to the native tongues as â€Å"devil’s language†; in their eyes, speaking another language in a Catholic residential school is blasphemous. Benjamin Paul Millar (Glavin 2002: 66) felt that he was beginning to improve in his native language until he was discouraged by slaps in the face and on the backside for breaking the rules; now he could only recall a few words of his native tongue.Genevieve Douglas (Glavin 2002: 62) admitted that she cannot understand her own native language due to the policies at St. Mary’s; students were not allowed to answer to questions unless they can fully interpret what was asked and know how to respond in English, hence the students had to focus their limit in language acquisition on English. Children who were new to the residential schools (such as St. Mary’s) were not familiar with these rules. They felt alienated and were desperate to fit in.As a result, these new First Nations students had to resocializeâ⠂¬â€or â€Å"Westernize†Ã¢â‚¬â€themselves in order to survive. While these cases might seem trivial at first glance, consider this: there were 80 residential schools scattered across Canada at its peak, with over 11000 students being taught (Kirmayer, Simpson, and Cargo 2003). The magnitude is immense, and numerous dialects of the native tongues were lost. It is also worth noting that the majority of students who enrolled in St. Mary’s had Western first names and last names instead of native ones.Under these circumstances, a child would feel even more out of place when comparing one’s own name to the elders’ more native names. They might believe that they were not welcomed in their society and opt to blend into the Western society instead. For instance, a Scotland-born Chinese child would likely to grow up to be more attached to the Scottish culture if his last name was chosen by his parents to be McGregor instead of Lee. Traditions are also identifiers for the cultures they belong to. Each culture has their unique customs, beliefs, and mythologies.For example, the Gods with the most power in terms of mythologies are mostly male due to the fact that almost all cultures are male-dominant. In ancient Greek mythology, Zeus was regarded as the ruler of Mount Olympus and said to be the â€Å"Father of Gods and Men† by Hesiod, reflecting the differences in the status of genders in ancient Greece. In Chinese mythology the Gods were told and categorized as emperors, royal families, and government officials, ultimately referring to the hereditary monarchy political system that the dynasties of China followed for millennia.While First Nations traditions may not be as well known as the bigger cultures in other parts of the world, they have their unique and intriguing perspective in the world they live in. Their view on how all things ranging from animals to inanimate objects have spirit and soul is echoed by Plato’s world-soul idea. However, their inspirations cannot be further explored in the future since these First Nations beliefs are facing extinction. These traditional practices such as Shamanisms were discouraged, as they were viewed as witchcraft in the eyes of Catholicism.Due to the nature of residential schools, children could hardly see their family during their time as a student. Wayne Florence (Glavin 2002: 68) was severely injured by one of the nuns at St. Mary’s, and even then he could not gain the privilege to meet with his family, or even talk to them through the phone for that matter. This separation leads to the inability to learn of and be familiar to their customs. Not only were the children prohibited from learning of their own cultural religion and heritage, they were led and forced to believe that there is only one â€Å"correct† religion—Roman Catholicism.According to Catholic rules, all other religions are false and are blasphemous. First Nations students lear ned that they were not born with freedom, but with sins to be cleansed of; this idea induced fear in them and contempt in their traditions. Aside from a loss of culture, it was estimated by scholars that as many as half of the children died during their involvement in the residential schools, either from abuse or committing suicide (Robertson 2003). We are living in the generation of globalization. In Canada, it is not uncommon for one to have multiple cultural backgrounds.We can notice numerous people of Chinese descent who do not know a single word of Mandarin nor Cantonese; Scandinavians who do not feel the urge to assimilate into another culture’s customs, and even Indian-Canadian comedians who became successful amongst the public by showing observational humor with regards to racial dissimilarities. These people of the general public—whose voices can be heard through the media—are of a majority; whether they are currently living in their affiliated society they were born in or have their homes on the other side of the globe, they feel that they are a member of their culture.No matter which part of the world it is, dates with cultural significance like Christmas, the Lunar New Year, and the Ramadan are celebrated and practiced annually. The same cannot apply to the First Nations in Canada after the residential school system tragedies. Imagine that no one can understand your first language and cultural customs—while communication with others will still be possible through other means like secondary and body language, you can hardly feel the familiarity and ease in comparison to talking freely in your own first language. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?If you know a language but no one else can comprehend it, does it still exist? If no one in the world other than you knew the family gathering tradition on Thanksgiving, would this day still mean anything at all? While these question s may seem hypothetical to us, the First Nations in Canada are facing these issues today. Writings and symbolic arts in dying tribes may never see their original meaning comprehendible ever again. Canada may consider First Nation reserves and universities as national treasures, but the fact is that cultural maintenance in these smaller tribes is not encouraged and our treasure is continuously decreasing in depth.All cultures in the world are established by the contributions of their people over time; they are the condensation of knowledge, customs, heritage, and language. Each culture is unique in its own way, and should be preserved with the most effort. However, not only did settlers and colonizers took over the First Nations’ lands by force, they also nearly wiped out their culture with a weapon in the form of the Residential School System. These residential schools, such as St.Mary’s, denied the students of their chance to inherit their respective culture, and even took away some of their lives as a byproduct in resocialization. As a result, First Nations languages and traditions were lost; some First Nation survivor might even be the last remaining member of his or her tribe. These are losses that we simply cannot put ourselves into their perspective. I sincerely hope that the government of Canada will not only compensate, but also try their best to maintain the enduring First Nations cultures someday; an apology is simply not enough.