Calgary - freesmoke city

One of the most controversial topics in the city of Calgary is the smoke-free bylaw that took place on January the 1st , 2007. The new law bans smoking at public places with just few exceptions. Those who are excluded from the implementation of the law are some casino and bingo halls; still they have been given one year exception. In the end, according to the new regulation, no one would be able to smoke in public places from 2008 and on. Nowadays, bars and restaurants have small designated smoking areas. In addition, one can appreciate how people are smoking outside buildings. I can have a cigarette outside the Education Tower at the University. However, we do not know what would be the future. Apparently the trend is that you will not allow smoking in any public place. Perhaps the only place where you will be able to do it will be in your backyard, if you have a house, or in your apartment’s balcony. And I wonder how bad the decision made by the city council is. Let’s faced it, of course those who do not smoke might be completely agreed with the decision. But for those who smoke, like my case, what are the consequences of it. Well, definitively this is a good topic for a debate, so what I am going to present is a good fact to be considered. From the business perspective, to go smoke free is because of the costs associated with smoking. Imagine this, there is a study from the year 1997 showing that each smoking employee costs an employer up to $ 2565 (http://www.smokefreecalgary.com/). These costs are related to: an increase in absenteeism, a decrease in productivity, a decrease in life insurance premium, and the costs of building specific smoking areas. So I do not know you, but if I were the owner of a company, I will definitively take advantage of a law preventing employees from smoking. In conclusion, besides the healthy reasons attached to a non smoking policy, there are other points of view good to be awarded of while having under consideration the new banning law.

Golf – how is it played!

Having acknowledged the basics of a golf course and the equipments used for golfing, it is time to explain how the game is played, a few rules, and other aspects that the reader may or may not find interesting. Golf is a sport where an individual hits a ball as many times as it is needed in order to complete a round of holes. The holes can be par 3, 4 or 5, which is the way each hole is classified. Par is the number of strokes that a skilled player should require to complete a hole. For example, in a par 4, one is supposed to complete the hole in four attempts. And I say “supposed” because even though it could be seen easy to do, is not. These kinds of holes are designed so a skilled golfer could reach the green with two strokes, and then roll the ball into the hole in two more. Either as singles or in groups of two, three, or four people, players walk or drive in motorized carts over the course. The player whose ball is the farthest from the flag (which stands on the hole) plays first until they all finish. Although being a game that depends on individual skills, golf could be performed in teams, and there is a variety of options for that. As we said before, hitting a golf ball could be seen as an easy task, but hitting it in a proper way requires a combination between physical and mental abilities. From the physical point of view the process depends on the swing that one makes. It should be a balance between your back swing and forward swing. The way a person stands, the distance from your feet to the ball, the amount of power you use while swinging are other physical factors involved. However, the mind plays an important role while golfing; moreover, you can say that is what makes the difference between amateurs and professional. A professional shows a level of mental focus with each stroke that sometimes even the hardest situation is turned into an easy one, but sometimes even the best golfer goes through very disappointed times because even the luck makes his touch in this game. I have had golfing since I was nine years old, and I can say without hesitation that is one of the most challenging sports I have ever played. But I can also state that is one of the most gratifying ones in which one learn and put in practice almost every mental skills. I encouraged the reader to practice it, you will not regret.

Golf - clubs

As per our previous blog, there is a specific club for each place of a hole. The woods are used usually for long shots from the tee or any other part where the ball stands and that requires achieving long distances. They are called “woods” because originally they were made from wood, but it is important to notice that nowadays the manufactures use special types of metal as building materials. Secondly, we can find the irons in a set of clubs. Even though they can also be used from the tee (depending on the distance between it and the green), they are basically designed for hitting the ball on the fairway, the rough, or the bunker. It is important to say that typically they are numbered from 3 to 9, then, the majority of the golf players have a PW (pitching wedge) and a SW (sand wedge). These last two irons are employed for very short distances, less than 100 yards. The SW is a special club very useful if someone has to play the ball from the sand. Generally speaking, for both woods and irons, the lowest the number marked on the club, the longest the distance someone could hit the ball. In other words, if you hit the ball with a 5 iron, you might probably hit the ball longer than if you hit the same ball with a 7 iron using the same force and having the same swing. The final component of a golf set is the putter. It is used on the green where precise shots are required. All the clubs have three parts: a grip, a shaft, and a head.

Golf - Overview

Tonight, I have chosen this topic because one of the best golf tournaments in the world will be played this weekend, “The Master”. The tournament is one of the four majors played during a regular PGA season (Professional Golf Association), and could be considered a dream come true for those who won it. But let’s go back to our topic, an amazing game called golf. One can track the history of the sport back to the 1400’s when it is said that the first game took place at the Bruntsfield Links of Scotland. However, the exact date of its invention remains a mystery. What could be definitively assured is that the Scots are responsible for its creation, and the way we play it today is pretty much how it was played at least three centuries ago. Basically, golf is a sport in which an individual player hits a ball into a hole using a variety of clubs. Usually the target is to complete eighteen holes in a round with the fewer amounts of hits or strokes possible. A golf course, where the sport usually takes place, is a vast portion of land in which the holes are built according to a previous design. A tee, the fairway, the rough and a green are the main four components of each hole. Sometimes, in order to add more difficulties to a hole, sand traps or bunkers (as they are referred to in the golfer vocabulary) are placed in specific points of the hole being played. The tee is the place where each player hits the ball for the first time while playing a hole. The fairway is known as the portion of the hole where the ball is supposed to be after being hit the first time. The rough on the contrary, is any place surrounding the fairway. Finally, the green is a small part where the hole itself is. The game is played with a set of clubs (special made sticks), and there is a specific club for any occasion. In my next blog I will chat more about how the clubs are used and I will detail a bit better how golf is played.

A convenient truth!

Today, I am going to blog about one topic that caught my attention last night while I was watching the news on the BBC channel. It is a story that made me think about how unfair or undemocratic a so called great democracy could be. But before doing so, I apologize if I hurt anyone’s feelings because what I am going to mention in the lines beneath could be seen as an attack on a particular country. On the contrary, it is not my intention; it is only my reflection of the program I have seen.
Yesterday night, a documentary on a new Arabic TV show was presented. As the majority of the news channels, they broadcast daily news. This specific channel covers information from the hectic Middle East region. However, unlike its western counterparts, it offers the things from another point of view. A point of view that perhaps does not match the ways things are shown by the programs we, western people, traditionally watch. Still, what makes this channel unique is that it presents a different perspective in a language now being understood by more and more people all over the world, English. According to the documentary, the main goal of this program is to show a distinct opinion to the world, or at least to those who can deal with the language spoken.
What raised concerns in me was the fact that according to the program, a certain democratic government is encouraging the private companies within its boundaries to avoid transmitting the aforementioned channel signal. Apparently, they are doing so by manipulating the situation telling the TV companies that it is a patriotic behavior. And I wonder what could be the consequences for the TV chains if they do not pay attention to the advice of the government. Does not that attend to the concept of democracy? Where everyone is supposed to have the right to choose and structure its own opinion about a specific topic even knowing that journalists could also manipulate a fact. In my opinion that is one of the advantages of democracy, and it should be respected by everyone.

Unemployed!

This time I will not blog about any scientific topic. I will not even blog about the beauties of my country. Perhaps what I am going to talk about you will find it improper or uninteresting, yet it is something related to my personal life. Since the beginning of the semester, I started working at the Dino’s athlete department as an event staff. Even though the experience did not fulfill me with any professional knowledge since it was completely unlinked to what I used to do for living, it did allow me to live an interesting new experience.
Working in a Canadian environment surrounded by English native speakers, definitively has made me improve not only my listening skills, but it has helped me getting more confidence regarding my speaking. I have to recognize that sometimes is very challenging to do so because at times people speak so fast that it is very difficult to catch up with some dialogues. Additionally, this experience has also helped me with my finances. Although I just worked on weekends, it was enough to earn a few hundreds. But as any part time job, everything comes to an end. Unfortunately this end arrived before I was expecting it and as the Dinos season finished, the event staff become unemployed. So, if anyone knows about any weekend opportunity, please do not hesitate to contacting me.

Natural Gas: environmental effetcs.

As we have previously indicated in the last blog, there are important advantages that make natural gas a better option among the fossil fuels currently used. The most important one is the way it affects the environment. Nowadays, natural gas is considered by many people as the less harmful and most friendly of the hydrocarbon resources. In the lines beneath, this text will cover some of those environmental issues related to the use of natural gas.
Among all the fossil fuels, natural gas is the cleanest one. In almost every combustion process, such as the one that takes place while burning gas, carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor, sulfur dioxide (H2S), and nitrogen oxides (Nox) are the primary products release to the into the environment. However, the amounts of each one of these products is far smaller than the amounts released by the combustion of heavier fossils like coal and fuel oil. The reason is linked to the fact that natural gas is mainly composed of methane (CH4), whose molecules contain lighter chain of carbons. Additionally, contrary to other hydrocarbons, natural gas does not release considerable quantities of ash particles which are another important pollutant usually invisible or imperceptible to the human eye.
Green house emissions, smog, air quality, industrial and electric generation emissions, and pollution form the transportation vehicles are some of the problems our society is facing right now. As human population continues to grow, we begun to use more and more resources and fossil fuels are our fist choice. A simple example is represented by the use of cars and other common methods of transportation, but cars or any other transportation vehicle are a necessity. Thus, the emissions released into the atmosphere keep increasing with the time. The rate of emissions stands side by side the consumption of fuels. Natural gas, even though does not eliminate the problem, it minimize the effect. For example, vehicles operating with compressed gas have reductions in carbon monoxide (CO2) emissions of 25% in comparison to those emitted by traditional gasoline or diesel cars.

Natural Gas, where does it come from?

One of today’s most popular sources of energy is natural gas. Even though it belongs to the family of the hydrocarbons, there are a lot of differences between the traditional oils, resulting from the process of upgrading the petroleum, and the natural gas. These differences can be more appreciated in the way the resource is storage, handled, and the environmental connotations related to its production and use.
In order to understand how natural gas is used, it is very important to explain first where the source does come from. Natural gas, as it was indicated above, is a hydrocarbon that we can find in the under ground. Usually, the way to reach it is by drilling a well, a term used in the Oil & Gas industry regarding the place where great many amounts of resources, and particularly petroleum and gas could be found. Gas, generally speaking, is obtained associated or not associated with petroleum. This means that while drilling a prospective well people can obtain a fluid composed by both petroleum and gas, or a fluid whose main composition is only gas. Once the fluid has been discovered it is necessary to condition it for commercial purposes. This goal is achieved with the help of chemical and mechanical processes, whose principal objective is to remove impurities from the fluid, impurities such as water, soil, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), and carbon dioxide (CO2). However, the story does not end at the point where gas is suitably produced; moreover, it is just the starting point for a long trip. The next stage to obtaining natural gas, better known as methane (CH4) is based on a chemical process of separation, where the gas current is divided in its primary elements for which methane is the major one. Once the process of separation has been completed, the quantities of natural gas are ready to continue the journal using pipelines and many types of equipment until the end point or final customer.
This blog only covers the basic principle of natural gas production. In the next blog, I would like to talk about what makes natural gas different from other hydrocarbons.

Los Roques

A lot of people think about the Caribbean beaches and only picture places such as Jamaica, the wonderful beaches of Mexico, or the famous islands in the Caribbean Sea like Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic. However, unless you know someone who is familiar whit the entire region, it is very difficult to find places as beautiful as the ones aforementioned. An example of that if Los Roques, an archipelago located in the waters of Venezuela.
At a distance of about 168 km away form the harbor of La Guaira, Caracas, Los Roques is group of keys formed by more than 50 islands. The most important, El Gran Roque or the Great Rock, is the only one inhabit and is where the airport is located. The other important islands are Francisqui, Nordisqui, Madrisqui y Crasqui.
Los Roques is considered a paradise by those who have had the pleasure of visiting it. As many other wonderful places in the Caribbean Sea, is a place full of spectacular beaches and splendid blues characterizing its waters. But what make Los Roques different are two very important features. First, the huge extension of its peaceful waters, the presence of lagoons in the middle of some of its keys, and the quality of the white sand of its beaches. Secondly, although it is an excellent place for tourism, the archipelago remains unknown for a great many tourists around the world and there is not a big infrastructure development there, so the keys stay almost as in their natural ecosystem. It does not mean that you will not find a bed where to sleep; on the contrary, any one interested in spending a whole weekend in this paradise can choose among a variety of lodges or inns.
Los Roques is an ideal place for snorkeling, fishing, windsurfing, or kite surfing, and if you ever decide to go there you will never forget it.

Angel Falls

Salto Angel or Angel Falls is considered one of the natural wonders of the world. This fall is also considered the world’s highest free-falling waterfall with a total high close to the one thousand meters, and they are situated in the south east area of Venezuela, in a the middle of the Canaima National Park in which is known as La Gran Sabana or The Great Plain. The falls receive their name after an American aviator named James Crawford Angel visited them in the year 1935, when they really became familiar to the Western world. The indigenous term used for the falls is Kerepakupai-meru which apparently means “waterfall of the deepest place”. And I say apparently because this is what I found on the internet and I have no idea of the Pemon language which is the one responsible for the name aforementioned.
This amazing creation of the nature is a gift for human kind. The waterfalls them selves and all the surroundings typified by countless rivers, lagoons, rain forests, savannas, and a particular mountain formations called Tepuys which are impressive table top mountains, involves visitors in a unique experience. Angel Falls and the Canaima National Park is one of the places perfect for those who love the environment and would like to experience a real contact with an untouched ecosystem. Besides the features describe before, one can also find the magic and reality of the fauna and flora characteristic of that particular atmosphere.

Venezuela - Heritage

Venezuela is a country with a superficial area of about 952.000 square meters, located on the northern coast of South America. It was discovered by Christofer Columbus during his third trip to America when he and his crew reach the shores of today’s country eastern region. The population of Venezuela, approximately 26 millions of people, is mainly Mestizo, which is a mixture of three different races, the white Europeans, the Amerindians who lived in the region before the Spanish conquest the black Africans who were brought form Africa to work as slaves in the old cotton plantation during the first three centuries of the country’s existence. The European immigration in my country occurred in two periods of time or tides. The first one took place when Venezuela was colonized in the beginning of the 16th century, and this wave last over 200 years. The second wave took place after WW II, leading Spaniards, Portuguese, Italians, Germans, and people from other European nationalities to amass Venezuela as their new country. Thus, this combination of nationalities has resulted in a multicultural society with a diverse heritage background, so nowadays is not easy to find someone under his or her twenties with a homogeneous cultural background.

1. Why I came to U of C to do Leap Course

More than eight months ago, in Venezuela, my home country, when I first went into the internet looking for English-speaking programs, one of the premises that I considered while doing the research was the fact that I wanted to study in a program held by the university where I was interested in pursuing my graduate studies. Consequently, I wanted to feel the culture and living experiences of the school of my choice, and I also wanted to remain involved some how with the Energy industry, and as you may know, Calgary is a city driven by an energetic one. I choose University of Calgary because it has developed graduate programs helping those who wish to continue their career within the boundaries of the field aforementioned, acquire a great deal of knowledge related to it. Thus, I thought that by experiencing U of C, I would have had a better perception of this school, the people, and the city as a whole. That perception has not changed not even a little, and today, I am more convinced that this is the place where I would like to study my degree.
In my opinion, The Leap program in conjunction with the experience of being in Calgary are the best tools for international students chasing academic studies. U of C offers two main English-speaking programs for international students. I have had the opportunity to study both of them since I arrived last September. The first one, ESL (English as a Second Language), is an excellent experience of getting to know the Canadian culture while practicing your fluency. Leap, on the other hand, is an experience that prepares you for future studies whether they are undergraduate or graduate studies. I believe the Leap represents the next step in the process of learning English, focusing it in an academic way and training prospective U of C students for better future academic performances.
Having a romantic language as my mother tongue, it is important to say that more than just the speaking differences between Spanish and English, there are plenty grammatical rules that make academic communication in both languages very dissimilar. The Leap program deals with this fact, and with the quality of its teachers, staff and based on a demanding course, helps students improve their communication skills in a way people can use English accurately and effectively. Unfortunately, I have not reached that goal yet, but I am sure this program will set the basis for a good path.

Leap 4 and blogs

Having moved up to Leap 4 has been one of the most rewarded thing I have heard since I arrived in Calgary. Eventhought my placement test did not reflet my skills, and I was very upset and dissapointed with it, this week I had the opportunity to show and improve in my performance. Fortunetly, the staff found me a place in the level 4; however, being placed here represents such a great challenge that it makes me feel excited just thinking about it. Had the opportunity to study and work with students with a high level in their english proviciency will defenitly push me up in the process of learnig the language. I am looking forward to have the experience.

As far as blogs concerns, firts of all I have to be honest this is the first time that I heard the word in my life. I might probably have heard it somewhere some time watching a movie, but I guess I could get the meaning because I did not know what it means; therefore, there is no much information I can provide about it since the is certain degree of ignorance in what ever I say. However, I also look formward to write freely in a space where you do not have to talk about an specific topic, and you can choose by yourself.