Organizing Your Genealogy Files

Piles of copies of old records, printouts from genealogy websites, and letters from fellow genealogy researchers are sitting in piles on the desk, in boxes, and even on the floor. Some are even mixed in with bills and your childrens school papers. Your papers may not be completely disorganized -- if youre asked for something specific, you can probably find it, but it definitely isnt a filing system that you would describe as efficient. Believe it or not, the solution is as simple as finding an organizational system that suits your needs and research habits and then making it work. It might not be as simple as it sounds, but it is doable and will ultimately help to keep you from spinning your wheels and duplicating research. Which Filing System is Best Ask a group of genealogists how they organize their files, and youre likely to get as many different answers as genealogists. There are a number of popular genealogy organization systems, including binders, notebooks, files, etc., but there truly is no individual system which is best or correct. We all think and behave differently, so ultimately the most important consideration in setting up your filing system is that it must fit your personal style. The best organization system is always the one that you will use. Taming the Paper Monster As your genealogy project progresses youll find that you have numerous paper documents to file for each individual that you research -- birth records, census records, newspaper articles, wills, correspondence with fellow researchers, Web site printouts, etc. The trick is to develop a filing system that will enable to easily lay your fingers on any of these documents at any time. Commonly used genealogical filing systems include: By Surname:  All papers for an individual surname are filed together.By Couple or Family:  All papers related to a husband and wife or family unit are filed together.By Family Line:  All papers related to a specific family line are filed together. Many genealogists begin by starting with four such ancestral lines -- one for each of their grandparents.By Event:  All papers related to a specific event type (i.e. birth, marriage, census, etc.) are filed together. Beginning with any of the four systems mentioned above, you could then further organize your papers into the following categories: By Location:  Papers are first grouped by one of the four genealogy filing systems listed above, and then further broken down by country, state, county, or town to reflect your ancestors migration. For example, if you chose the Surname Method, you would first group all CRISP ancestors together, and then further break the piles down into the England CRISPs, the North Carolina CRISPs, and the Tennessee CRISPs.By Record Type:  Papers are first grouped by one of the four genealogy filing systems listed above, and then further broken down by record type (i.e. birth records, census records, wills, etc.). Binders, Folders, Notebooks, or Computer The first step to starting an organizational system is to decide on the basic physical form for your filing (piles dont count!) --  file folders, notebooks, binders, or computer disks. Filing Cabinet and File Folders:  File folders, probably the most popular organizational tool for genealogists, are inexpensive, very portable, and easily hold papers of different shapes and sizes. When dropped, however, file folders can become quite a mess -- with papers thrown out of order, and possibly misplaced. File folders make it easy to consult documents, but you have to be diligent about making sure the paper is put back where it came from. Once youve generated a lot of paper, however, the file folder system is the most flexible and expandable.Binders:  If youre someone who really likes to keep things together in one place, then organizing your printed genealogy data into binders may be a good option for you. This method standardizes your genealogical records into a regular size paper format. Documents that you dont wish to three-hole punch, can be added in polypropylene sleeves. Binders are portable and dont require a filing cabinet, however, if you do a lot of genealog ical research you may find that binders eventually become too cumbersome on their own.​Computer Disks, CDs, and DVDs:  Transcribing  or scanning genealogical documents into the computer can save quite a bit of space, and computerized organizational systems can greatly speed up tedious tasks such as sorting and cross-referencing. CD-ROM quality has also greatly improved, supposedly lasting indefinitely under proper storage conditions. But, will your descendants 100 or more years from now have a computer that can read them? If you choose to use your computer as your primary organizational system, consider also making and preserving copies or printouts of important documents. Once you get started organizing your genealogical clutter, youll probably find that a combination of storage methods works best. Some people, for example, use binders to organize proven family and file folders for miscellaneous research on unproven connections, neighborhood or locality research, and correspondence. It is important to keep in mind that organization is and always will be a work in progress. Organizing Your Genealogy Using File Folders To set up and use file folders to organize your genealogy records you will need the following basic supplies: A filing cabinet or file boxes with lids. The boxes need to be strong, preferably plastic, with horizontal inner ridges or grooves for letter-size hanging files.Colored, letter-size hanging file folders  in blue, green, red, and yellow. Look for ones with large tabs. You can also save a bit of money here by purchasing standard green hanging file-folders instead and using colored labels for the color-coding.Manila folders. These should have slightly smaller tabs than the hanging file folders and should have reinforced tops to last through heavy use.Pens. For best results, use a pen with an ultra fine point, felt tip, and black, permanent, acid-free ink.Highlighters. Buy highlighters in light blue, light green, yellow, and pink (dont use red because it is too dark). Colored pencils also work.Labels for file folders. These labels should have blue, green, red and yellow strips along the top and permanent adhesive on the back. Once youve assembled your supplies, its time to get started with the file folders. Use different colored file folders for the lineages of each of your four grandparents -- in other words, all folders created for the ancestors of one grandparent will be marked with the same color. The colors you select are up to you, but the following color choices are the most common: BLUE - ancestors of your paternal grandfather (fathers father)GREEN - ancestors of your paternal grandmother (fathers mother)RED - ancestors of your maternal grandfather (mothers father)YELLOW - ancestors of your maternal grandmother (mothers mother) Using the colors as outlined above, create a separate folder for each surname, writing names on the hanging file tab insert with the black permanent marker (or printing inserts on your printer). Then hang the files in alphabetical order in your file box or cabinet by color (i.e. put the blues alphabetically in one group, the greens in another group, etc.). If youre new to genealogy research, this may be all you need to do. If you have accumulated a lot of notes and photocopies, however, it is now time to subdivide. Here is where you need to choose how you want to organize your files. The two most popular methods as discussed on page 1 of this article are: by  Surname  (further broken down as needed by Locality and/or Record Type)by  Couple or Family Group The basic filing instructions are the same for each, the difference is primarily in how they are organized. If you arent sure yet which method will work best for you, try using the Surname method for one surname and the Family Group method for one or two families. See which one suits you best, or develop your own combination of the two. Family Group Method Create a family group sheet for each married couple listed on your pedigree chart. Then set up manila folders for each of the families by putting a colored label on the file folder tab. Match the label color to the color of the appropriate family line. On each label, write the names of the couple (using the  maiden name  for the wife) and the numbers from your  pedigree chart  (most pedigree charts use the  ahnentafel numbering system). Example: James OWENS and Mary CRISP, 4/5. Then place these manila family folders in the hanging folders for the appropriate surname and color, arranged in alphabetical order by the husbands first name or in numerical order by the numbers from your pedigree chart. In the front of each manila folder, attach the family group record of the family to serve as a table of contents. If there was more than one marriage, make a separate folder with a family group record for each other marriage. Each family folder should include all documents and notes from the time of a couples marriage. Documents which pertain to events prior to their marriage should be filed in the folders of their parents, such as birth certificates and family census records. Surname and Record Type Method First, sort your files by surname, and then create manila folders for each of the record types for which you have paperwork by putting a colored label on the file folder tab, matching the label color to the surname. On each label, write the name of the surname, followed by the record type. Example: CRISP: Census, CRISP: Land Records. Then place these manila family folders in the hanging folders for the appropriate surname and color, arranged in alphabetical order by the type of record. In the front of each manila folder, create and attach a table of contents that indexes the contents of the folder. Then add all documents and notes which correspond to the surname and type of record.

Democracy Has Been Claimed As An Example Of Realism...

Marcus Aurelius once said, â€Å"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.† Literature begs to give us a representation of truth but only real life succeeds in showing the actual truth. One literary movement, realism, began out of the world’s quest for truth and reality in a time of confusion and rebuilding. Henry Adams’ novel Democracy has been claimed as an example of realism literature; one can explore this claim through the lens of one particular passage: â€Å"In short, the artist is compelled to exhibit the world rather as we would wish it to be, than as it was, or is, or, indeed, is like shortly to become† (161). This historical novel addresses the United States’ attempt at reconstruction following the country’s civil war, in which it wrestles with questions of progress, reality, and reconciliation with the past. The novel has been categorized as a realism narrative but throug h close analysis it can be determined that this story of conflict does not fall under the criteria of realism literature. Realism is a literary movement that spans from 1860 up until to around 1890. This type of literature is a reaction from society no longer agreeing with the Romantic mindset of idealism. The days had passed of wishful, idealized, and fantastical versions of the how the masses viewed the world. Realism is an effort to represent reality, document experience that is based in the here and now, with a focus on characters ratherShow MoreRelatedModernism in the Old Man the Sea3759 Words   |  16 PagesModernism in Earnest Hemingway’s Literature â€Å"The Old Man and the Sea† Introduction: 1. The definition of Modernism 2. The definition of Realism 3. The definition of terms 4. The significance of the study Chapter one: 1. The theory of Modernism 2.1. Stream of consciousness 2.2. Internal monologue 2. 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Utilitarianism Free Essays

Adam Smith’s â€Å"invisible hand† tend to maximize utility because it will result in the most favorable happiness/unhappiness ratio. On the hand) Advocates of stakeholder theory argue that all stakeholders (shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, society etc) should be taken into considerations erectly in the utilitarian calculation and that this would be a more ethically defensible approach. † Choose one side of this argument and use a utilitarian framework to argue in favor, using the framework to show the weakness in the opposite view Introduction Utilitarianism is a Justification for free-market capitalism. We will write a custom essay sample on Utilitarianism or any similar topic only for you Order Now It is a moral perspective that aims to achieve the greatest social benefit net of social cost or, more express informally as â€Å"one that maximizes utility’ Both shareholder and stakeholders are theories of Corporate Social Responsibility (CARS) and deciding the role of a firm. It can also be used as guidance for business ethics, because employees of a corporation should make decisions according to following theory â€Å"an action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more favorable than unfavorable† theory. Unfortunately, the theories are very much at odds. Before choosing any side of argument, it is important for us to provide an outline of the theory, as we understand it. The origins ideas of shareholder theory were started by Adam Smith’s (1776) from the book â€Å"The Wealth of Nations† more than 200 years old. In brief, it surrounded the dead that the firm’s main purpose of is to generate profit and thus increase shareholder wealth. Freeman (1994) defined the term â€Å"stakeholder† as â€Å"any cluster or person that can influence or be influenced by the objectives set by the organization’s† In general the concept is about what the organization should be and how it should be conceptualized. Stakeholders can be employees, suppliers, customers, local communities, MONGO and many other more. In this essay I argue in favor of stakeholder theory explaining how positive relationship can create competitive advantage in corporations. Following that, I explain the limitation of the opposite view. Finally, I draw some conclusions. Strength of Stakeholder Theory Engaging different stakeholders’ of the corporation require establishing good lines of communication and improving relationship with them. Once this relationship had been established, stakeholders can have their say and the firm can listen and respond. Roger Martin who is the head of University of Torso’s Rattan School of Management calls on organizations which focus on maximizing shareholder value (often referred to as maximizing shareholder wealth) is â€Å"tragically flawed premise†, ND argues that â€Å"it is time to abandon it. † Instead of concentrating on shareholder value, it should aim to maximize customer satisfaction. † This was supported by Paul Pullman who told the Finance Times when he became a boss of Milliner. In his speech, he mentioned that: â€Å"He does not work for the shareholder and to be honest, he work for the consumer and the customer†¦ He is not driven and will not drive the business model by driving shareholder value. † – Paul Pullman All managers are representative of all stakeholders and have two duties to carry out: ) To ensure that the stakeholders rights in the firm are not violated; ii) To balance the legitimate interests of the corporation’s investor, individuals and constituencies that contribute to the company’s wealth creation and other activities through voluntarily or involuntarily. The objective of the corporation is to maintain profit minimization and always remain a going concern. Researches had been done to analysis and understand about whether and how a good stakeholder relationship correlation can ensure a corporation’s success and it is proven it help in certain ways. Positive Stakeholder Relationships Create Competitive Advantage in Corporations â€Å"It doesn’t matter how good the market research is and how bright the management team is, and it is the quality of relationships among all people in the organization that has enormous bearing on the quality of decisions and their execution. † – Jeff Mooney, Chairman CEO, AW Food Services From the above citations, we can interpret that all stakeholder relationships between the firm must be taken into the utilitarian calculation in order to gain market share between the competitors in the market. It is manifested in six ways: Organization and the shareholder’s relationship With the popularity of social media, it makes it possible for many big corporations around the world to be boycott by advocacy groups through public awareness and the corporation’s image and revenue have suffered damage as a result, in most cases the markets that is affected is only a small part of their overall customers. For example: â€Å"Don’t Buy It† campaign was launched to boycott Mediumistic because they plan to extract minerals from the sea from one of the world heritage reserve which whales and endangered species came to breed. In additional to corporation’s image and revenue, it might create a risk to the shareholder as there is a possible of more long term damage impact for shareholder value of controversies. Some of items are difficult for companies to discuss and quantify and may include: 1) Loss of license and unable to operate in certain part of the world (Egg: Monsanto Withdrawing Applications to Grow New GUM Crops in Europe) 2) Eliminate of supplier or employers of choices to work with or in the corporation. Egg Shell’s experience after twin shocks incident) ) Loss of the value of the brand This will results in extra direct cost the firm need to re-invest to gain back the reputation. Organization and employee’s relationship In today’s highly competitive markets, innovation plays a key role for firm’s to survive in the market and to be success. Research has proven that highly innovative corporation is through having good relationships with the top management and sta ff of the company and among themselves (Cook and Wills, 1999). Organization and supplier’s relationship Similarly, good relationships with business partners such as suppliers are basic acquirement to innovation too as well as to ensure effectiveness and efficiency. Additional to that, this kind of relationships require more flexibility and are dependent on mutual trust, sharing of knowledge and communication between the supplier and corporation. (Matthews et al, 1998) Organization and local community’s relationship Due to the increase power of the media and technology in the world, companies also recognize that a relationship with the local community is also important. This is especially true where everything can be known almost instantaneously in our networked world. This was illustrated in the case of Shell and Merck in the US. Shell I-J tows a used oil rig into the North Atlantic Ocean to sink it after four years of study and approval. Non Government Organization (Greenback gallivanted Community) opposes to the sinking, and ordered the company to stop. As a result, Shell suffered damage such as finance lost and threats against the service stations. Organization and customer’s relationship With the increase demand in the service sector, the relationships with its customers are important. Brand loyalty had also been recognized as valuable intangible assets such as loyalty and customer happiness has facilitated financial value of brands. Organization and other stakeholders relationship When firm have positive relationships with other’s stakeholder, it provides the firm the opportunities to develop new markets between different stakeholders and industries. For example: BP successfully bid for oil right in Alaska is due to positive reputations for community involvement. Corporate Social Responsibility and Finance Performance Studies had been conducted using CARS databases to establish relation between measurements of stakeholder relationships and the corporation’s finance reforming. (Collins and Operas 1995 and Haddock and Graces 1997) Firms that had strong finance are able to invest in corporate social responsibility, such as establishing good employee relations, showing concern to the environment, or community relations with the local people the corporation invested in. In return, it can help the company to promote respect in the marketplace. Additional advantage for corporation is that it can help the firm to gain a possible listing in the stock exchange. As such, this may enhance the company’s stock price making it more profitable and shareholders happier. Weakness of Shareholder Theory In general, shareholder theory encompasses the idea that the main purpose of business firm’s main purpose of is to generate profit and thus increase shareholder wealth. Adam Smith summaries in his book what is invisible hand: â€Å"Every individual necessarily labors to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it He intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for society that it was no part of his intention. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good (Adam Smith – 1776). † Unfortunately, this theory is often mistaken by the managers in several ways. Firstly, manager often misunderstood the statement that they can do anything to make a profit; even the theory urges manager to do so through legal means. The maximizing of shareholder (often referred to as maximizing shareholder wealth) was often the topic of many professions in economic and finance communities until 2002 where a lot of corporate executive was charged. We must remember that shareholder get their capital returns through: I) profit of the corporation paid out in form of dividends. The original idea of shareholder theory and Minot Friedman citied in his essay: â€Å"The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Profits. – Minot Friedman (1970)† We can interpret that the theory talks about dividends is increase through profitability rather than increase share price in a stock market. Many critics the hooray had drove many executives in the corporation to behave in such a way and it must be Jettisoned and bankrupt. Secondly, Argument had been voiced against the theory is that a focus on shareholder wealth encourages businesses to focus on the corporation’s short-term profit minimization (Smith, AAA). In this view, you will be putting a risk to the relationships that will determine the success of the corporation in a long run. † Thirdly, even the shareholder-friendly USA does not have a legal requirement for managers to act according to a shareholder’s advantage and in fact there is a law for erectors to consider also other interest too. Although firm that are willing to have an openly pledging to their shareholders seem to do better in comparison with others, this doesn’t mean maximizing the shareholder’s value is the business society’s most desirable corporate target or that markets for good and services, wealth and labor which stress the managers to seek on that specific goal. Fourthly, markets are imperfect which mean that profit minimization is not clearly defined and there is possible of conflicts of interest or in many cases unresolved. Under this assumption financial researches have shown that stakeholder-oriented firms are usually more successful than shareholder-oriented firms, because market forces are forcing it to do so. Lastly: Some claim that the theory does not encourage shareholder to treat their employees and other stakeholders Justly. This argument has a simple counterargument. Imaging treating a company’s stakeholders badly will result the business to fail as they may not want to have any business dealing with company. Corporation that treats its employees poorly is probably going to suffer by having an uncommitted and weak workforce. As a result, such a company’s profits would suffer too. Conclusions The purpose of this essay is not to provide a correct argument to the fundamental question, which theory is better on deciding how a corporation should be in today’s current world, neither to determine the beneficial on the two theories. Although the shareholder theory seems an idealistic for implementation, but short of good reasons and argument for convincing the stakeholders, whereas the stakeholder theory try to avoid some major weakness in the argumentation, but has to come up with an idealistic method for implementation. How to cite Utilitarianism, Papers

Plutonium Essay Example For Students

Plutonium Essay Plutonium, Our Countrys Only Feasible SolutionShould we begin to manufacture one of the most destructive and infamoussubstances on the face on the Earth once again? The engineers say yes, butthe public says no. The United States stopped making this element with theban on manufacturing nuclear weapons. But with the continuing problem withour ever diminishing energy sources, some want us to begin using morenuclear energy and less energy from natural resources. This paper is goingto discuss what plutonium is, the advantages and disadvantages of its use,and why we should think about restarting our production of this usefulAfter the United States dropped Fat Man and Little Boy on Japan endingWorld War II, the public has had some type of understanding about thepower of plutonium and its devastating properties, but that is all anyoneAfter WWII, Americans started to think about what the atomic bomb could doto the U.S. and its people. When anyone mentioned plutonium or the wordnuclear the ide a of Hiroshima or Nagasaki being destroyed was the firstthing people thought about. No one could even ponder the idea that itcould be used for other more constructive things like sources of energy orto kept a persons heart beating. Then we started to build more reactorsand produce more of the substance but mostly for our nuclear weaponsAlong with reactors, sometimes comes a meltdown which can produce harmfuleffects if it isnt controlled quickly enough. After such instances as theHanford, Washington reactor meltdown and the accident in the U.S.S.R. atthe Chernobyl site, no one wanted to hear about the use of plutonium. TheUnited States government banned nuclear testing and also ended theproduction of plutonium.(Ref. 5) Now we are in a dilemma. We are in need of future sources of energy to power our nation. We arerunning out of coal and oil to run our power plants.(Ref. 7) We also needit to further our space exploration program. People need to understand theadvantages to using plutonium and that the disadvantages are not ascatastrophic as they seem. With the turn of the century on its way, thereemergence of plutonium production will need to be a reality for us toIn 1941, a scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, discoveredsomething that would change our planet forever. The mans name, Glenn T. Seaborg, and what did he discover?, the element plutonium.(ref. 10)Plutonium, or Pu #94 on the periodic table, is one of the most unstableelements on the earth. It is formed when Uranium 235, another highlyunstable element, absorbs a neutron. Plutonium is a silvery-white metalthat has a very high density of 19.816 g/cm3.(ref. 10 ) It has beenrarely found in the earths crust but the majority of the substance has tobe produced in the cores of nuclear reactors. Plutonium can be found fifteen different forms, or isotopes and their massnumber can range from 232-246.(ref. 13) Radionuclide batteries used inpacemakers use Pu-238, while Pu-239 is used in reactors and for Nuclearweapons.(ref. 13) This paper will focus on the isotopes Pu-238 and Pu-239. Plutonium can be very advantageous for the United States. It can be usedfor several purposes. The three major advantages to using this element arefor an energy source, power for nuclear propulsion in space explorationand thermo-electric generators in cardiac pacemakers. The first use for plutonium, nuclear power, is obviously the mostbeneficial use. Plutonium 239 can be used to power nuclear reactors. Theaverage nuclear reactor contains about 325 kilograms of plutonium withinits uranium fuel.(ref. 7) This complements the uranium fission process. With the continually decreasing supply of coal and oil to power ournation, we need a substitute to complement our energy needs and right nowthe best replacement is that of nuclear energy.(ref. 7) At the momentthere are one hundred and ten nuclear power plants in the United Statesand they produce one-fifth of the nations electricity. Nuclear energy hasbeen proven to be the cheapest, safest, cleanest and probably the mostNuclear power plants do not use as much fuel as the plants burning coaloil. One ton of uranium produces more energy than several million tons ofcoal and plutonium can produce much more energy than uranium.(ref. 12)Also the burning of coal and oil pollute our air and the last thing weneed is more pollution to worsen the greenhouse effect. Nuclear power plants cannot contaminate the environment because they donot release any type of pollution.(ref. 2) Plutonium can also be recycledby using a enrichment process. This will produce even more energy. Coalis left by their use s is what has been contaminating our atmosphere sinceYou might ask how exactly is plutonium converted into an energy source?Well it is obviously quite complicated to explain. Basically, power comesfrom the fission process of an atom of the element and produces over tenmillion times the energy produced by an atom of carbon from coal. Onekilogram of plutonium consumed for three years in a reactor can produceheat to give ten million kilowatt-hours of electricity. This amount isenough to power over one-thousand Australian households.(ref. 7) Presented with this information, it is only common sense that we shouldnot depend upon fossil fuels to take us into the 21st century. It isobvious that our future lies in the hands of nuclear reactors and the useThe second major use for plutonium is for space exploration with itspower nuclear propulsion. Nuclear electric propulsion is using energy fromplutonium to power space vehicles.(ref. 3) One of the major goals of NASAspace program is to, one d ay, get to Mars, and it looks like the only wayit is going to happen in our current fiscal condition, is if we useplutonium, instead of chemical fuel, to power our explorations. Nuclearelectric propulsion can be defined as using small plutonium based bricks,to power space vehicles for interplanetary trips. Nuclear electric systemsprovide very low thrust levels and use only very small amounts of fuelduring the voyage.(ref. 3,4) Using electric propulsion also allows the useof less fuel making the spacecrafts launch weight much lower than it wouldThe last beneficial use for plutonium is for cardiac pacemakers. Thethermo-electric generator which is powered by radionuclide batteries thatOne of the obvious uses of plutonium, whether is an advantage ordisadvantage, is for weaponry. It is an advantage if we need to use itagainst a foe, but it is disadvantageous is our foes use it against theNow that we are at the hands of the Non-proliferation Treaty and the TestBan Treaty, we no longer can make and/or test nuclear weapons.(ref. 5)This should help end ideas about nuclear war and other disadvantages tohaving plutonium in other countrys supplies. Now that we have recognizedthree important uses for Plutonium and that the threat of nuclear war isno longer as feasible as before, we should recognize the disadvantages ofthis great energy source. They mostly have to do with excess waste andhealth effects from the use of nuclear energy. In 1986, a reactor located in Russia at the Chernobyl power plant had ameltdown and radiation escaped from the plant.(ref. 8) Several dozen diedfrom this incident. Nuclear explosions produce radiation. When it comeswithin human contact, radiation hurts cells which can sicken people. Thecause of the Chernobyl meltdown was mostly because of human error. Theytried to perform an experiment at a time when they shouldnt have, andmany people paid for their incompetence. There are waste disposal problems that occur with the use of nuclearreactors. Wast e also produces radiation which can be lethal. Since wastecan hurt and kill people who come in contact with the substance, it cannotbe thrown away in a dumpster like other garbage. Waste has to be put incooling pools or storage tanks at the site of the reactors. Anotherproblem is that the reactors can last for a maximum of fifty years. Eventhough plutonium is chemically hazardous and produces harmful radiation,it isnt close to being the most toxic substance on the planet. Suchsubstances as caffeine or radiation from smoke detectors, that have thesame amount of mass as plutonium, can have a greater toxicity.(ref. 2)There are basically three ways plutonium can hurt humans. The first isingestion. Ingestion, though not totally safe, it is not as bad as wethink. The fact is, plutonium passes through the stomach and intestinesand cannot be absorbed and therefore, is released with other waste weThe second route plutonium can take to be hazardous is through openwounds. This form of contact is very rare and basically cannot happen ifthe element is handled correctly with protective measures such as correctclothing and health monitor procedures.(ref. 1)The last, main threat to our society comes from inhalation. If inhaled,plutonium is exhaled on the next breath or gotten rid off through themucous flow from the throat and bronchial system and released as withingestion. However, some could get trapped and put into the blood streamor lymph nodes.(ref. 1) This has the possibility to cause cancer in thefuture. This might sound frightening, but what we need to realize is thattype of substance is part of some of our daily lives. The problem of inhaling Pu-239 isnt much different than inhaling suchradionuclides like decaying particles from radon. Radon is a radioactivecancer.(ref. 6) It comes from the decay of uranium in soil, rock andwater. Inhaling this substance can damage your lungs and lead to cancerover a lifetime. Everyone who lives in homes, works in offices or goes tosc hool, can be affected by the gas. If you live in a brick house, youcould be taking a serious risk if you dont get the radon level tested. A1990 National Safety Council report showed that radon causes, on theaverage, approximately 14,000 deaths a year and can go as high as 30,000After learning about what radon gas can do to humans, shouldnt we be moreconcerned about what a naturally occurring substance can do rather thanworrying about what plutonium, and its rare contamination might do. Also,how many American citizens will actually have a chance to come in contactwith any plutonium isotope in their life time?As you can see, if we start to produce plutonium once again, we willbenefit greatly from its use. We can use it to help power nuclear reactorswhich can power our nation. It can also be recycled and used once againwhich is one thing fossil fuels cannot do. Nuclear electric propulsion andits use of plutonium will help power space exploration into the nextcentury and maybe even get us to Mars. Pu-238 is also helpful in poweringcardiac pacemakers, one of the great biomedical inventions of the1900s. Pur carum EssayWith these constructive and productive uses, we shouldnt even debate onthe fact that we need plutonium for the future. You may think that byproducing plutonium, it will automatically go toward our nuclear weaponsprogram. With non-proliferation and testing banned, this, obviously, is nolonger an option. What about nuclear waste and radiation exposure? Well,unless an individual does not use safety precautions and other preventivemeasures when and if he handles the substance, he or she shouldnt expectless of radiation poisoning and contamination. If youre still concerned about exposure to nuclear radiation, youre infor a big surprise when you find out you cant avoid it. There is more ofradon gas than there is from plutonium.(ref. 6) After considering allthese factors, whether they are advantages or disadvantages, it is obviousthat the use of plutonium is, in fact, feasible and the disadvantages arehighly unlikely to affect your health and well being. You probably should be more worried about dying in an automobile accident or a plane crash. 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