Dream Research Project Essay Example for Free

Dream Research Project Essay What is a dream? Dreams are a symbol and link to the inner core of the human subconscious. Dreams as scientist say are stories our brains create while we are sleeping at night. Every dream is not the same, and their qualities depend, at least in part, on the stage of sleep in which they occur. There are different stages of sleep, REM sleep is the one dreams most appear in. REM stands for rapid eye movement in which brain activity is high and signaled by rapid horizontal movements of the eyes. Like all movies, dreams have story lines. Dreams in light sleep, stages 1 and 2, are like children’s movies short and simple. Dreams can be for as long as 20 minutes, to a few seconds. They can vary from normal and mundane, to surreal and bizarre. Dreams can often times drive creative thought, or provoke a sense of inspiration. Scientists believe everybody dreams, but sometimes we forget. We tend to forget when we naturally pass out of sleep through the traditional cycle. If a person is awoken directly from REM sleep (by an alarm clock), they are much more likely remember the dream from that REM cycle. Psychologists have also concluded that our daily activities while we are awake can have an affect on our dreams. However, scientists are unsure of what degree of an impact this makes on us. In one study a group of people wore red-tinted goggles before they went to sleep and there was another group that did not wear the goggles before they went to sleep. Even though anyone did not know the purpose of the study, when group that wore the goggles before they slept had woken the next morning, they had reported seeing more red images in their dreams than the people without goggles. According to First magazine, the average person has about 1. 460 dreams a year. That is 4 dreams every single day. In average you spend 10 to 30 percent of your sleeping time dreaming. You may think that vision is the only â€Å"dream sense† but it is not the only one. Vision is the prominent one, at least for sighted people. About half of all dreams an average person has have sound in them, but only 1 percent has taste, touch, or smell. However, a third of men and 40 percent of women have experienced smell or taste in a dream at least once in there life. Why do dreams occur? There is no shortage of theories as to why we dream. Some see dreaming as an important process through which all species with complex brains analyze and consolidate information. This is supported by the fact that most mammals dream. Other theories conclude that dreaming is nothing more than random brain activity that has little to no logical relevance. Another theory is that dreams reveal wishes or desires we are not aware of during waking hours. Unrelated to that completely another theory is that the human brain contains an ample overload store of information, memories, and emotions. During sleep, nerve cells fire at random, throwing bits of all of them together in random, wild ways. One of the first theories regarding dreams and dreaming was that Sigmund Freud. According to Sigmund Freud, dreams were heavy in symbolism and often showed the true intent and emotions of a human being. Freud saw dreams as wish fulfillment: disguised ways to satisfy unconscious desires that are too upsetting to face consciously. Dreams might therefore offer clues to unconscious conflicts. Freud For instance, sexual desires might appear in a dream as the rhythmic motions of a horseback ride, or conflicting feelings about a parent might appear as a dream about a fight. Freud called dreams the royal road to the knowledge of the unconscious mind. Freuds analysis of dreams brought about much controversy, especially amongst contemporary psychologists. Psychologists of today believe that dreams do have meaning; however, meaning is based upon the individual, not a set logic or theory as proposed by Freud. A very popular theory today is that dreaming specifically through REM sleep is essential for making memories. Several observations support hypothesis. For one when learning a new skill, REM sleep episodes are more frequent and last longer. When the new skill is mastered, those measures drop back to the normal average. Also during REM sleep, areas in the brain’s memory forming regions appear to â€Å"replay† patterns of nerve firing associated with the new learning.

Pmc Case Answers Essay Example for Free

Pmc Case Answers Essay 1) List the important facts in the case. SAS Pvt Ltd is a rapidly growing software firm in IT industry. Employee compensation package is one of the major factors which help SAS to maintain its employee loyalty. They facilitate activities like game, sports, yoga etc, which helps the employee to feel more relaxed in their workplace. Both mental and physical strength is necessary for deliver a better result. Activities offered by company helps the employee to balance both work life and family life together. Working hours of company is scheduled in such a way that to ensure the employee work life balance. Company following a relaxed culture which avoid stress and tension which is the major problem which is seen in majority IT companies. Enough leaves and medical facilities are providing by company without any salary cut which will help the company to make a secure feeling among employees. Job security is the major factor which all employees are looking for. Even though company is not providing stock options and higher salary, employees won’t feel any bad about it because of the loyalty they have towards the company. Layoff rate of company is maintained in a minimum level when compare to competitors and which helps them to save employee replacement-related costs and lost work time. Even though they are spending more for employee compensation they have a high rate of return from that. 2) Are progressive HR practices like those at SAS, a cause or a result of high profits? Yes. By doing progressive HR practices company can maintain a loyalty among employees which helps the organization for better performance. Work life balance helps the employee to maintain a healthy family life along with job and they feel more secure in their job. It helps the organization to reduce the rate of layoff which is the major loss for a company. Company can save employee replacement-related costs such as recruitment, interviews, moving costs for new hires and lost work time. Following are some of the major benefits: Job satisfaction: Employees would be happy with their jobs and would love to work for you if they get fair rewards in exchange of their services. Motivation: We all have different kinds of needs. Some value achievement more than money, they would associate themselves with firms. A compensation plan that hits workers’ needs is more likely to motivate them to act in the desired way. Low Absenteeism: If they enjoy the office environment and are happy with their benefits and get what they need and want. Low Turnover: Employees don’t want to work for any other company if you offer them fair rewards. Advantage to Your Employees: Peace of Mind: Offering of several types of insurances to your workers relieves them from certain fears. Your workers as a result now work with relaxed mind. Increases self-confidence: Every human being wants his/her efforts to get acknowledgment. Employees gain more and more confidence in them and in their abilities if they receive just rewards. As a result, their performance level shoots up. 3) What possible problems could the management at SAS face (from employees) due to the benefits offered? If employees are getting more benefits like employees getting in SAS there is a chance to have a tendency to give second priority to work. It is because of less strictness about the timing and more benefit without any deduction in salary. And it can lead to a mismatch in benefit and productivity. Because they have lot of benefits but there is no specific par in terms of productivity an employee should have. It may leads to mismatch. 4) If you are appointed as the HR manager at SAS, what changes would you recommend in the compensation structure? If I am appointed as an HR manager then I will modify the existing salary. Main modification should be on productivity and benefits. If an employee is working more productively then benefit given also will be high. It is better to implement some specific target to each employee to achieve and if he/she achieved the target within the specific time then rewards should be given. Rewards can be in both tangible and intangible. It will give motivation to employees to attain more and its leads to increase in productivity. I will ensure a better career growth so that employee feels more responsible and loyalty towards the firm. â€Å"Work more†¦. get more †Ã¢â‚¬â€this will be the strategy in terms of Benefits.

How Education Can Contribute To Peace

How Education Can Contribute To Peace First and Foremost, What is world peace? World Peace is an ideal of freedom, peace, and happiness among and within all nations and/or people. World peace is an idea of planetary non-violence by which nations willingly cooperate, either voluntarily or by virtue of a system of governance that prevents warfare. The term is sometimes used to refer to a cessation of all hostility among all individuals. (Wikipedia, World peace) We celebrate world peace on International Peace Day on September 21st. I think, without education, most of us wouldnt even know the meaning of peace. So as long as we learn and devote ourselves and our time, we will be peaceful. Peace has taught us a lot about Education and the same applies to Education. Education has made a big impression on world peace. Has it made a made a big impression on you? What is Education? Nelson Mandela once said Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. (Good reads, Quotes) I agree with him because education is in fact an important requirement of life. But this is just my opinion. Lots of people have different opinions about Education. Barack Obama said Im going to insist that weve got decent funding, enough teachers, and computers in the classroom, but unless you turn off the television set and get over a certain anti-intellectualism that I think pervades some low-income communities, our children are not going to achieve (Light a Fire, Educational Quotes) Aristotle said The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet (Heart quotes, Education) Galileo said I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldnt learn something from him (Heart quotes, Education) But I think, if youre able to read this and understand it, youre educated! Something important struck me as I was going through this website, it said I f you study to remember, you will forget, but, if you study to understand, you will remember. (Heart quotes, Education) Have you ever thought how something like Education has made an impact of peoples lives? But first we must ask ourselves, what is impact? Impact is the effect or impression of one thing on another. Children receive education at some point in their lives to enhance their social and intellectual abilities (Lynda Barrys the Sanctuary of School) Education can be given at any place at any time. But some people dont go to school. Why? When it comes to poor people, we can assume they cant afford it. But when it comes to rich people who can, what is the reason? Well, some rich children feel its ok to not attend school. I call this Lack of Courage. And some are simply influenced by their parents who are somewhat lazy and dont care about the educational rights of the child. When children choose education over drugs, thats a miracle (Bruce Almighty, Movie) Dont you ever wonder what education is like throughout Ethiopia? Education in Ethiopia has been dominated by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church for many centuries until so called official education was adopted in the early 1900s. Previous to 1974, Ethiopia had an estimated illiteracy rate well above 90% and compared poorly with the rest of Africa in the condition of schools and universities. Education received roughly 13% of the national budget in 1992. By 1995 the rate of illiteracy had dropped substantially to 64.5%. Projected adult illiteracy rates for the year 2003 even lower at 61.3% (males, 56.1%; females, 66.6%). (Education in Ethiopia, ONSOI) As of 1999, public expenditure on education was estimated at 4.3% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product).The current system follows very similar school expansion schemes to the rural areas as the previous 1980s system with an addition of deeper renationalization giving rural education in their own languages starting from the primary level (Wikipedia , Education in Ethiopia) Education can be provided into two types of school. Private (Like Sandford) and Government (run by the government where everything or almost everything is free). Ive learnt in both. From knowledge, I can say that students from government school take education more seriously than students from private schools. The reason for this is because that education is the only way to a better life, better job and better health for them. Like for example we, private school students can fail grade 10 and still have a chance in grade 11 (IGCSE) But government school students have only 1 chance in secondary school. If they fail grade 10, there is no IGCSE for them. Learning in a government school wasnt easy for me. I was used to private schools where if you forgot to hand in an essay or assignment, you get another chance. If you didnt hand in your assignment in government schools, youll get a slap in the face or a kick in the leg, which was very excruciating. But it was an amazing experience, getti ng perspectives from both schools and taking it with me to my journey as a student, a student whose obligation is to accomplish hers and hers familys potential. Also, we should consider the values which are essential, education will make you qualified for certain jobs and positions. Without it everybody in the world wouldnt know a thing. I will now demonstrate 11 interesting facts on education that you probably didnt know. 1. One in five adults in the developing world almost 862 million people cannot read or write. 2. Most illiterate persons are female. In more than 20 developing nations, illiteracy rates amongst women exceed 70%. 3. As much as 115 million children of primary school age are not enrolled in school. 4. More than 226 million children do not attend secondary school. 5. Many children who do enroll in school do not graduate with even the most basic reading and math skills because their schools do not have enough teachers, books or facilities to provide a quality education. 6. Across the world many children miss out on their education because: They are made to work to help support their families and many other reasons. 7. in most developing countries, public school is not free. The costs of books, uniforms, and teachers salaries are borne by the students families. 8. School fees and related costs are a co mmon barrier to education. These charges are a greater burden for children from poor families, and disproportionately affect those who are racial and ethnic minorities, members of Indigenous communities and migrants. 9. Girls are more likely to be excluded from school than boys when there isnt enough money to go round. As many as two out of three out-of-school children are girls. 10. Social traditions and deep-rooted religious and cultural beliefs are most often the barriers to expanding girls educational opportunities in undeveloped countries around the world. And last but not least, 11. Educated girls and women are less vulnerable to HIV infection, human trafficking and other forms of exploitation, are more likely to marry later, raise fewer children who are more likely to go to school, and make important contributions to family income. (Facts on Education, Dosomething.org) Have you ever tried and compared education in LEDCs and MEDCs? Why dont we take Afghanistan and Italy for example? Afghanistan had an early childhood development program which provides environmental influences, which gradually interact with the developing abilities and disposition of young children to help develop social, emotional, physical, intellectual, and creative aspects of their personality. However, for the underprivileged children with social, economic, educational or emotional deficiencies, these programs provide stimulations designed to remove obstacles to learning (The EFA 2000 Assessment: Country Reports). The following table is extracted from UNESCO-IBE (2011), (World Data on Education VII ed. Islamic Republic of Afghanistan). It clearly shows the education/schooling system in Afghanistan. In Italy, Education for all means, in the perspective of UNESCO, the commitment of the 187 member countries to provide every human being with the real possibility of achieving at least that minimum educational attainment which allows a person to participate fully in the cultural, social, political and economical life of his/her country. The year 2000 assessment is then for UNESCO a very important step in the way towards that fundamental objective. It gives every country the opportunity of reviewing its recent past in the light of the effort made so that basic education becomes a reality for all (The EFA 2000 Assessment: Country Reports) Since 2008, the Pearson Foundation (Independent non-profit organization that aims to make a difference by promoting literacy, learning, and great teaching), the nonprofit arm of one of the nations largest educational publishers, has financed free international trips some have called them junkets for education commissioners whose states do business with the company (New York Times, Free Trips Raise Issues for Officials in Education) Many people in the world are trying to promote education for all. One of those people is Barack Obama. Barack Obama is encouraging people to follow the Education law, Similar to the Chinese government trying to encouraging the Chinese population to follow the One child policy. If you dont know, Education law is the area of law relating to schools and that deals mainly with schools, school systems and school boards charged with educating our children. President Barack Obama said No Child Left Behind. Obama said a few years ago that he was frustrated that Congress didnt act to change the law that he has said is flawed, so he was moving forward with an effort to let qualifying states circumvent it. His plan allows states to scrap a key requirement that all children show they are proficient in reading and math by 2014. To qualify, the states must submit a plan showing how they will meet certain requirements such as enacting standards to prepare students for college and testing for those standards, and by making teachers and principals more accountable by setting guidelines on evaluations (Fresno bee, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011) Shiza Anam, a six year old girl, is living with her mother, two brothers and two sisters in red light area, Lahore. Her mother is a worker who hardly earns an amount of Rs. 7000/ month (US $ 83 / month) from prostitution. With this limited income she is hardly able to meet the daily expenses of food and other requirements of the family. Her mother is not able to bear the expenses of her education and health care. Her two sisters and two brothers are also not going to school as her mother is not in a position to bear the expense of their educations. Her mother wants her to be a prostitute in future but she does not want to be a prostitute. She wants to get an education and to become a teacher in her life. She thinks that education is the best way to fight against deprivations, poverty and to get rid of the prostitution. But her mother does not have enough resources for her education. She does not know about her father as her mother is a sex worker. Her mother also does not know about her husband and the father of Shazia Anam. Currently Shaiza is going to Sheed School but she is looking towards the donors to help her to meet the expenses of her education. (Givology, learn to give, give to learn) Millions of people around the world can relate to Shizas story. To conclude, Education is an essential necessity of life and we all have the right to learn and respect anothers freedom of learning. I think positive change is possible. Youths are fighting for jobs and education is a campaigning organization fighting against mass unemployment. The Scottish say fight their system demand our future. Wisconsin families support a strong public school system because education is the key to creating a better future for our children by attracting companies and jobs to our community. In Addis Ababa, education is a key weapon in preventing girls from falling victim to child trafficking (Education in Ethiopia, UNICEF) If you want to be in education, said Canada, you cant be prepared to accept failure. (Fighting for education, and nations future, Harvard University) Word Count: (Excluding citations): 1993 Work-Cited List World Peace Wikipedia, 24 November, 2008, Web. October 31, 2012, Good Reads Famous Quotes, 22 November 2010, Web. October 31, 2012, Education Heart Quotes, June 27, 2008, Web. October 31, 2012, < http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/helenkelle101301.html> The Sanctuary Of School Lynda Barry Essays and Term Papers, 14 April, 2011, Web. October 31, 2012, < http://www.studymode.com/subjects/the-sanctuary-of-school-lynda-barry-page1.html> Education in Ethiopia Onsoi Blog, 25 July, 2012 ,Web. October 31, 2012, What are county EFA reports? Country Reports, 2000, Web. October 31, 2012, < http://www.unesco.org/education/wef/countryreports/home.html> Free Trips Raise Issues for Officials in Education Education, The New York Times, October 9, 2011, Web. October 31, 2012, Most states to seek exception to education law Publication, Daily Sparks Tribune, 30 October 2011, Web. October 31, 2012, < http://dailysparkstribune.com/view/full_story/16040963/article-Most-states-to-seek-exception-to-education-law> TVET formal, non-formal and informal systems World TVET Database, 2011, Web. October 31, 2012, < http://www.unevoc.unesco.org/worldtvetdatabase1.php?ct=AFG>

Materialism in George Eliots Silas Marner Essay -- essays research pa

Materialism in George Eliot's Silas Marner After contemplating which theme would be best to illustrate in my paper, in the end, I chose "Materialism vs.Relationships". In certain spots in the novel, it seems, George Eliot attempts to prove that the love of others is ultimately more valuable and fulfilling than the love of money. In my opinion, the actions of few characters could be viewed as materialistic, but I managed to find three: Dunstan Cass, William Dane, and Silas Marner. First, William Dane, Silas's friend and deacon of the church in Lantern Yard.William murdered the ill senior deacon of the church while watching over him. Silas was supposed to watch over him that night. The next day, when the senior deacon was found dead and his money missing, Silas was immediately questioned and accused. William, of course, didn't defend him. He even married the woman Silas was engaged to. Instead of remaining a good friend and deacon, he chose to steal the senior deacon's money and leave Silas to deal with the consequences. Now, on to Silas Marner. After fleeing to Raveloe, S...

Securing The Electronic Operating Environment Essay -- Information Tec

Purpose Operating systems, applications, databases, and other types of information processing systems are the core element for all business operations all through the private and public sector environments. Because no information system is bulletproof, nor is there any way to ensure complete safety while using any type of electronic device it is essential to practice vigilance at all times. Viruses, Trojans, worms, and other malicious tools are used daily by hackers at an attempt to compromise sensitive data and integrity of information systems. Without stable, secure applications and operating systems that have been updated with the latest patches, and tested for durability to provide a secure computing environment, the confidentiality, integrity, and availability to the entire domain and infrastructure are at risk. Differentiating between the good and bad is crucial to the protection of IT assets and personnel. This report will evaluate operating system and application security, methods us ed to verify authenticity, and reveal the most common vulnerabilities found throughout various digital operating environments. Digital information security can be defined best as the protection of IT assets and services against unauthorized access. An authorized user or service with legitimate permission to access sensitive data systems or applications may engage in malicious activities such as inputting incorrect data into the system to force others to repeat the same task over. Although these types of activities may not cause immediate irreversible damage to the infrastructure it still remains important to prevent such incidents from occurring before they escalate into something more serious. For this reason it is essential to not onl... ...mes - Politics, Breaking News, US and World News. Retrieved May 27, 2012, from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/sep/13/computer-based-attacks-emerge-as-threat-of-future-/?page=all Johnson, R., & Merkow, M. S. (2011). Security policies and implementation issues. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Operating System and Process Monitoring Tools. (n.d.). Department of Computer Science & Engineering . Retrieved May 24, 2012, from http://www.cse.wustl.edu/~jain/cse567-06/ftp/os_monitors/index.html Thielen, D. (1992). No bugs!: delivering error-free code in C and C++. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley. Virtual machine Definition from PC Magazine Encyclopedia. (n.d.). Technology Product Reviews, News, Prices & Downloads | PCMag.com | PC Magazine. Retrieved May 24, 2012, from http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,1237,t=virtual+machine&i=53927,00.asp

King Henry VIII Essay example -- Biography

King Henry VIII Born the second son of a royal family, Henry Tudor lived a very interesting life. His future was intended to be the head of the Roman Catholic Church and that fate ended with the death of his brother, Prince Arthur. Henry’s majestic life was full of sports, women, and faith. The young King acceded his father to the throne, married six women, and began the English Reformation when he broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and created his own religion. On the 28th day of June 1491 at Greenwich Palace, Elizabeth of York gave birth to her third child Henry Tudor. Henry was named after his father Henry VII and he was the couple’s second son, which meant that there was no chance for him to reign as King since he had an older brother, Arthur (â€Å"Henry VIII King of England† 1). Henry became the Duke of York in 1494 at age three. Since Henry was the second born son of the King of England, he was to take a secular role in the Catholic Church, probably being the Archbishop of Canterbury. Knowing his future of the role in the Catholic Church, Henry’s education was based on theology (Henry VIII Early Life 1). He received a good education and was very talented. Playing musical instruments, being a good linguist, and playing sports were just a few of his talents. Growing up Henry gradually increased his status and by age ten Henry became heir apparent when his older brother Arthur died from â€Å"sweating sickn ess† in 1502 (Henry VIII Early Life 1). Just a few months before Arthur’s death, Henry played a major role in the joining of marriage of Arthur, Prince of Wales, and Catherine of Aragon (Williamson 1). After the death of Arthur, the heir apparent, King Henry VII wanted to keep a marital alliance between Engl... ... Henry VIII approved for Miles Coverdale to publish an English translation of the Bible from the Latin version. In 1537 Thomas Matthew’s translation was circulated through the church and it formed the foundation for the Great Bible that began its circulation in 1539. The Great Bible was rewritten and edited many times and eventually became the Bible used by the Anglican church (Fry 101). The Church of England that broke away from the Roman Catholic Church was known as the Anglican church, meaning â€Å"of England† (Reid 1). Over the years of his reign, King Henry VIII became famous for his numerous wives and his break from the Roman Catholic Church. Henry accomplished many things, one of which was the beginning of the English Reformation. Most of King Henry VIII’s reign was focused on producing a male heir to the throne, which took him numerous wives to obtain.

History of Panama Canal Essay

Christopher Columbus was on his fourth voyage and he was looking for a way to China. That’s when he came across the country named Panama, which stretches only 60 miles, where he found Indians who had tons of gold. But he was looking for a way to China so he sent his brother Bartholomew to search for more gold. At first Indians were willing to lead the Spaniards to the gold, but eventually they got tired and led the Spanish back to the coast. When the Indians did this they were abused. Eventually the Indians fought back and drove of the Spanish. Balboa is one of the people who found tons of gold and sent it back to Spain, but saved a lot for himself. With his earnings he decided to Balboa decided to settle in Hispaniola as a planter. But after some time he ended up in debt and had to abandon his life as a planter. Trying to escape his creditors Balboa hid in a ship and tried to escape, from Santo Domingo to San Sebastian, and was successful. When they arrived at San Sebastian, they discovered that it had been burned to the ground. Balboa convinced the others to travel southwest with him to a spot he had seen on his earlier expedition. In 1511, Balboa founded a colony, the first European settlement in South America – the town of Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darien. Balboa married the daughter of Careta, the local Indian chief. Soon after, in 1513, he sailed with hundreds of Spaniards and Indians across the Gulf of Uraba to the Darien Peninsula. Balboa headed an overland expedition west through very dense rainforests. Along the way they fought many local Indians and destroyed one Indian village, killing hundreds of Indians. Balboa was the first European to see the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean. Balboa and his men then traveled to the ocean and claimed it and all the land that touched it for Spain. The building of the Panama Canal came to light during the 1530’s. As they began to transport their riches back to the Spanish homeland, they were always interested in more efficient routes. It was suggested to Spanish Ruler Charles V that Panama might serve as an ideal place to construct a water passage joining the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. This would considerably cut the time it took to otherwise sail around the southern edge of South America. But wars back home put the idea on hold. In 1845 French company called the Compagnie de Panama wanted a railroad built by Colombia across Isthmus and administer it for 99 years. However in 1848 they couldn’t pay for it and lost their rights regarding the railroad. In 1848 the California gold rush occurred. This alone caused heavy traffic across the Isthmus of Panama. Later that year in December, U. S Company, the Panama railroad company negotiated a new contract with Bogota, Colombia to build the railroad across the Isthmus in 6 years. Part of the contract said that the trip would be guaranteed in less than 12 hours. The railroad was built and completed the journey in 4 ? hours. But Matthew Fontaine Maury, leading U. S. government scientist wrote to congress that the railroad Isthmus of Panama will lead to the construction of a ship canal between the two oceans, for a railroad can’t do the business which commerce will require it. Railroad was expensive it cost $250 in gold to ride the 47 miles. It cost 10-15 cents a pound to carry a passenger’s baggage. Express freight and merchandise was charged $1. 80 per cubic foot. Railroad Company made more than $7 million. This was too expensive for normal people and Maury’s words of 1849 came true as men from around the world began to arrive to build the Panama Canal. The first country to try and build the canal was France. Ferdinand de Lesseps, who supervised the Suez Canal, was interested in building the Panama Canal. He joined several French businessmen to form a private company with an impressive name: the Societe Civile Internationale du Canal Interuceanique du Darien. The societe sent Lucien Napoleon- Bon parte Wyse, grandnephew of the 1st French emperor, Napoleon Bon parte to Panama in early November 1876, to survey the site for a canal and, more important, to secure the permission of Colombia for such a project. Colombian government and Wyse had an agreement. That for an initial payment of nearly $200,000 as well as yearly rental fee, societe was granted permission to build and administer a canal for 99 year lease. Colombia gave societe a belt of land 200 meter wide across the entire width of Panama. However at the end of 99 years the canal and land would be returned to Colombia. In 1873 U. S. had conducted surveys of a potential route across Panama, but had rejected it. Wyes never did surveys, and decided to use the notes of U. S. surveys instead. After that he left Panama for home to report to Lesseps. The French plan was simple a channel across the Isthmus at sea level. They would follow a route that ran close to the existing Panama railroad. They planned to use the railroad to transport supplies and haul away the excavated dirt. Once the excavation had reached sea level the canal itself would be dug another 27 ? feet deep, and 72 feet deep at its bottom. They planned to complete the canal in 12 years. However the idea of sea level canal was impossible to achieve. Charges river valley, through which and canal would have to go through stood at an altitude of 80-100 feet above sea level. Nobody including de Lesseps ignored this problem and said it was not serious. However the French never finished the sea level canal. 1000’s of men died of malaria, yellow fever and other diseases. Eventually in 1889 the French court also declared the French canal company was bankrupt. In 1903 Panama declared its independence from Colombia and wins it with the help of U.  S. Soon the Hay- Bunau – Varilla treaty was signed which gave U. S. the right to build a canal through Panama. At this time President Roosevelt was in charge. Roosevelt wanted to build the canal to increase America’s navy power, and it made the trip from the east coast to the west coast of the U. S. much shorter than the route taken around the tip of South America. 1904, the Americans’ first year in Panama, mirrored the French disaster. The chief engineer, John Findlay Wallace, neglected to organize the effort or to develop an action plan. The food was putrid, the living conditions abysmal. Political red tape put a stranglehold on appropriations. Disease struck, and three out of four Americans booked passage home. Engineer Wallace soon followed. The Americans had poured $128 million into the swamps of Panama, to very little effect. Wallace’s replacement was John Stevens. Stevens had built the Great Northern Railroad across the Pacific Northwest. In rough territory from Canada to Mexico, he had proven his tenacity. And his new plan of action would ultimately save the canal. Stevens began work not by digging, but by cleaning. Thanks to the work of WILLIAM GORGAS, the threats of yellow fever and malaria were greatly diminished. Then on February 12, 1907, a dispirited Chief Engineer Stevens resigned, and Goethals took over as the chief engineer. Colonel George Washington Goethals, an Army engineer with experience building lock-type canals, assumed the Chief Engineer’s post. Demanding and rigidly organized, Goethals quickly picked up where Stevens left off. America had to face a couple of problems. First they had to dig at the Culebra Cut, where 100,000,000 cubic yards of earth and rock would have to be removed. The workers there made ten cents an hour — moved as much as 200 trainloads of spoil a day. When mudslides filled the Cut repeatedly, Goethals simply ordered it dug out again. There were accidents of all sorts, lost equipment, and deaths, but there was progress. The engineering problems were enormous. Because the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are at different elevations, a series of three sets of water-filled chambers, called locks, that raise and lower ships from one level to the next, had to be excavated and constructed.