Respond to a student's posting with significant comments that demonstrate critical thinking by asking additional questions or adding to the body of knowledge started. If you argue, controversial issues use a reference to support your argument that adds credibility to your position. Your response to your peers work should be engaging and informative with good substance. Your responses should contribute in a meaningful way to helping advance our knowledge of the topics the class explores.  All follow-up responses should require 250-300 words.

Good Afternoon Prof. and Class,

I am requesting approval for continued research on the working title of…

    "Extraterrestrial Intelligence: Ancient Civilizations and Modern Scientific Discoveries”

Throughout millennia, people of all nationalities and religions have speculated on the idea of extraterrestrial contact. With over half the world’s population believing in some form of alien life, it is difficult to discount the possibility. The religions of the world, as of 2012, are 33% Christian, 24% Muslim, and 15% Hindu (The Top Three Religions) (Grover, 2018). Each of these religions share a commonality in the form of extraterrestrial life. Christians and Muslims refer to extraterrestrials as angels, while Hinduism refers to them as "gods". Nearly all of the ancient religions, from around the world, refer to extraterrestrials in one way or another. Greeks, Romans, Incas, Aztecs, Mayans, and Egyptians all believed in extraterrestrials, in the form of their "gods". With over half of the world’s population believing in extraterrestrial life, and nearly 80% of the world population believing in a mainstream religion, is the idea of extraterrestrial life still controversial?

In the Peer-reviewed journal, titled “Strategic Ignorance and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: Critiquing the Discursive Segregation of UFOs from Scientific Inquiry”, outlines the underlying issue, regarding scientific stigma on the study and communication of the existence of extraterrestrial life. The scientific community, as a whole, inhibits public understanding of science, dissuades academic inquiry within the physical and social sciences, and undermines progressive space policy initiatives. (Todd, 75-95)

On 27 February, 2008, Steven Hawking presented a speech, at the TED2008 conference in Monterey, California. This article follows, primarily along the opposing lines of what Steven Hawking’s speech, titled “Questioning the Universe” delivered, about the possibilities of extraterrestrial life. Hawking was quoted as stating “we don’t seem to have been visited by aliens”, “I am discounting the reports of UFO’s”, Why would they only appear to cranks and weirdos?”, Despite an extensive search by the SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) project, we haven’t heard any alien television quiz show. This probably indicates that there are no alien civilizations at our stage of development within the radius of a few hundred light years.”, and “If there is a government conspiracy to suppress the reports and keep for itself the scientific knowledge the aliens bring, it seems to have been a singularly ineffective policy so far”. (Todd, 75-95)

Adam Todd goes into great detail and length, in his peer-reviewed article describing how Steven Hawking’s quotes are flawed. “We don’t seem to have visited by aliens.” Is the first quote that Adam denounces as an “argument from ignorance”. He describes the quote as “hawking exclusively evokes a particular kind of alien visitation event: Overt contact”, which is what Hollywood movies depict as alien visitation. Another quote of Hawking’s that Adam dissects is “Why would they appear to only cracks and weirdos?”. Adam describes Hawking’s quote as “the rhetorical question device includes an emotional dimension, expressing mild indignation and sarcasm, and thus works to endear Hawking to his audience.”. (Todd, 75-95)

This article provides detailed accounts of underlying issues regarding the scientific community and extraterrestrial intelligence. What the article does not include is the history of extraterrestrial intelligence in the ancient world, or current and emerging possibilities of extraterrestrial contact. I wish to conduct a research proposal, proposing the idea that extraterrestrials helped shape modern civilization by engaging in ancient civilizations. The research conducted will be primarily focused on ancient religious theology and scientific discoveries of unknown origins in the modern world. The discovery of extraterrestrial life if vital to all of Earths inhabitants. It will answer all the life-long questions and help propel us into the next age of civilization. 

Bibliography

Adam Todd. “Strategic Ignorance and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: Critiquing the Discursive Segregation of UFOs from Scientific Inquiry”. Taylor&Francis. 27 April, 2018. Vol.16(1), p.75-95. [Date accessed] 11 December, 2018. https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/doi/full/10.1080/14777622.2018.1433409?scroll=top&needAccess=true

Nathan Glover. “90% of American Believe in a Higher Power”. World Religion News. 26 April, 2018 [Date Accessed] 11 December, 2018.  https://www.worldreligionnews.com/religion-news/90-americans-believe-higher-power

SETI. “2020”. 2018. [Date Accessed] 11 November, 2018. https://www.seti.org/

  You were recently hired as an Occupational Safety and Health consultant for Gemstone Fabricators, which is a medium sized manufacturing facility that makes stainless steel counters, containers, and carts for the food prep and restaurant industries. Several years ago, Gemstone decided it wanted to become an OSHA VPP site. It also wants to send the application to OSHA in the upcoming year. Further, there is a keen interest to align with the ANSI/AIHA Z10 standard.

In going through the application submission materials, you noticed something that threw up a red flag, however. Although there was an accountability requirement specified in front-line workers’ performance evaluation documentation for safety performance, there was no such requirement in the performance evaluation documentation for supervisors, managers, or executives. Your discussions with employees also suggest that, although the employer wants the front-line workers to be heavily involved in the safety effort, they are not always sure exactly what they are supposed to be doing to help move the company’s safety programs forward.

Another issue that concerns you is that the effort to implement a safety and health management systems approach appears to be somewhat piecemeal. You are finding it difficult to identify a clear Plan-Do-Check-Act approach to continuous improvement.

Please compose a two-page document for your client to include your evaluation of these deficiencies along with an explanation of the significance of these problems in relation to the safety and health management systems approach. Your goal is to help the employer understand why these issues need to be attended to prior to submitting your application. In your

response, be sure to do the following things:

· Include an introduction that establishes the issues and provides necessary background information.

· Assess the importance of establishing safety accountability measures for managers, employees, and safety professionals.

· Appraise the assignment of safety-related job tasks.

· Apply the Plan-Do-Check-Act framework to resolve a safety deficiency.

Your paper must be a minimum of two pages, and it should be in APA format. You must use a minimum of one scholarly resource. Any information from this source should be cited and referenced in accordance with APA guidelines.

  

INDIVIDUAL PROJECT 1

In this assignment, you will investigate the biotic and abiotic structure and function of an ecosystem. You will also investigate how ecosystems recover from disturbance naturally and through human restoration.

Choose 1 of the following ecosystems:

• Tropical rainforest
• Grassland
• Coral reef
• Estuary
• Desert

You will write an APA-style research paper about your choice of ecosystem, including the following elements:

• Describe where this type of ecosystem might be located. Name 1 specific example.
• Describe the structure of the ecosystem.
• • List at least 3 specific examples of both abiotic components and biotic       components for the ecosystem type selected.
•         Describe the function of the ecosystem
• • In your own words, explain or define biogeochemical cycle.
  • Describe the steps in the carbon cycle as an example of one biogeochemical cycle.
•         Describe disturbance and recovery
• • Describe 1 natural and 1 human-caused disturbance to the ecosystem that you have chosen.
  • Describe the damage to the ecosystem for each example, including how the abiotic and biotic characteristics of the ecosystem changed.
• Provide 2 examples of natural resources provided by the ecosystem that you have      selected.

• How       can these be sustained into the future?
• How       can humans act as good stewards to assist ecosystem recovery? Provide 1       example specific to the ecosystem that you have chosen.

In the United States, some scientists, sociologists, and politicians propose that the access to environmental quality is not evenly distributed across the socioeconomic classes. In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina hit the New Orleans area, this concept became the center of many conversations. Take some time and investigate the issues surrounding the poor environmental conditions during Hurricane Katrina and the days to follow. Investigate the concept of unequal access to environmental quality.  Decide if you believe that the impact of the hurricane was felt equally through all socioeconomic classes. Why or why not? If you ran the disaster program, what would you have done differently?  For this assignment, you will compose a letter to the U.S. President. Use the questions above as a guide to compose your letter. Make sure that your letter answers all of these questions and contains facts and examples that support your opinion and suggestions. You must provide at least 4 facts or examples that support your opinion.

Your letter must be a minimum of 500 words, be prepared in a Microsoft Word document, double-spaced, and in 12-point font (Times New Roman or Arial). Be sure to use proper spelling and grammar.  Your work must include all references consulted or it will not be accepted. Using other’s work without citations is considered plagiarism.

Criteria    1. Shows evidence of research.   

                      2. Shows an understanding of the events surrounding the hurricane.  

                      3. Shows evidence of the demographics of the areas greatest hit.   

                      4. Expresses an opinion of whether the impact was felt evenly.   

                      5. Substantiates his/her opinion with facts.   

                      6. Offers suggestions on what could have been done differently.

  

1.Describe how your organization or an organization you are familiar with manages occupational safety and health. To what extent are executives and facility managers committed to the OSH effort, and to what extent are front-line employees involved? What level of effort is exerted to ensure that hazards are evaluated and controlled? Are there continuous improvement efforts in place?
 

Your journal entry must be at least 200 words. No references or citations are necessary.

2. Explain the five-why technique, and describe how this technique can be used in incident investigation to identify potential causes that may tie to deficiencies in processes and management systems rather than mistakes made by workers?
 

Your response must be at least 75 words in length.

3. Compare and contrast the concepts of macro and micro thinking as they relate to safety and health management in the workplace. Which is more in alignment with the safety management systems approach and why?
 

Your response must be at least 75 words in length.

4. Appraise the concept of organizational culture and its relationship to successful implementation of safety management systems.
 

Your response must be at least 200 words in length.

5. In the conclusion to Chapter 4, Manuel states that top-level decisions largely cause potential for human error, and this impact spreads through the entire organization. Please examine this statement with respect to how it aligns with the tenets of the safety management systems approach to produce desired results.
 

Your response must be at least 200 words in length.