8.1: Why It Matters- Earthquakes
Interpret types, causes, effects, and scientific measurements of earthquakes and seismic waves
Introduction
Have you ever wondered why California or Japan has so many earthquakes? Have you ever been in an earthquake and felt the solid ground shake beneath your feet?
Imagine you are going about your normal routine for the day and it is time for you to wrap up your day to head home. As you start gathering your things to take home and work your way out to your car, the following happens (note that this video and the next contain no significant audio):
This earthquake measured a 9.0 on the Richter scale and was the most powerful earthquake to hit Japan and the fourth most powerful recorded by humans. Aftershocks numbered over 1,000, with some over a 6.0 on the Richter scale. Almost 16,000 people died, over 6,000 were injured, and 2,500 were missing. The earthquake also damaged a nuclear facility causing major radioactive leaks. The World Bank estimated the economic cost of damage at $235 billion!
Once the shaking subsided, the following happened:
Learning Outcomes
- Investigate the causes and common locations of earthquakes
- Compare and contrast properties and mechanics of different types of waves
- Define and compare magnitude versus intensity.
- Understand the hazards of earthquakes and recognize our limited ability to predict seismic activity.
Contributors and Attributions
- Authored by : Kimberly Schulte and Lumen Learning. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
- JAPAN - The Earthquake - 15 Minutes Live-Cam. Authored by : zSpaceTV. Located at : https://youtu.be/jBdvvXyS-r4 . License : All Rights Reserved . License Terms : Standard YouTube License
- Incredible footage of Incoming Tsunami Japan. Authored by : TimC. Located at : https://youtu.be/yiENf1f1tIA . License : All Rights Reserved . License Terms : Standard YouTube License
- Huge Landslide and Hill Collapse after Massive Earthquake in Nepal (2015). Authored by : viralTV. Located at : https://youtu.be/Say2HiVwqTU . License : All Rights Reserved . License Terms : Standard YouTube License


3.3: The Evolution of American Federalism
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Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Describe how federalism has evolved in the United States
- Compare different conceptions of federalism
The Constitution sketches a federal framework that aims to balance the forces of decentralized and centralized governance in general terms; it does not flesh out standard operating procedures that say precisely how the states and federal governments are to handle all policy contingencies imaginable. Therefore, officials at the state and national levels have had some room to maneuver as they operate within the Constitution’s federal design. This has led to changes in the configuration of federalism over time, changes corresponding to different historical phases that capture distinct balances between state and federal authority.
The Struggle Between National Power and State Power
As George Washington’s secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795, Alexander Hamilton championed legislative efforts to create a publicly chartered bank. For Hamilton, the establishment of the Bank of the United States was fully within Congress’s authority, and he hoped the bank would foster economic development, print and circulate paper money, and provide loans to the government. Although Thomas Jefferson, Washington’s secretary of state, staunchly opposed Hamilton’s plan on the constitutional grounds that the national government had no authority to create such an instrument, Hamilton managed to convince the reluctant president to sign the legislation. 20
When the bank’s charter expired in 1811, Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans prevailed in blocking its renewal. However, the fiscal hardships that plagued the government during the War of 1812, coupled with the fragility of the country’s financial system, convinced Congress and then-president James Madison to create the Second Bank of the United States in 1816. Many states rejected the Second Bank, arguing that the national government was infringing upon the states’ constitutional jurisdiction.
A political showdown between Maryland and the national government emerged when James McCulloch, an agent for the Baltimore branch of the Second Bank, refused to pay a tax that Maryland had imposed on all out-of-state chartered banks. The standoff raised two constitutional questions: Did Congress have the authority to charter a national bank? Were states allowed to tax federal property? In McCulloch v. Maryland , Chief Justice John Marshall (Figure 3.8) argued that Congress could create a national bank even though the Constitution did not expressly authorize it. 21 Under the necessary and proper clause of Article I, Section 8, the Supreme Court asserted that Congress could establish “all means which are appropriate” to fulfill “the legitimate ends” of the Constitution. In other words, the bank was an appropriate instrument that enabled the national government to carry out several of its enumerated powers, such as regulating interstate commerce, collecting taxes, and borrowing money.
This ruling established the doctrine of implied powers, granting Congress a vast source of discretionary power to achieve its constitutional responsibilities. The Supreme Court also sided with the federal government on the issue of whether states could tax federal property. Under the supremacy clause of Article VI, legitimate national laws trump conflicting state laws. As the court observed, “the government of the Union, though limited in its powers, is supreme within its sphere of action and its laws, when made in pursuance of the constitution, form the supreme law of the land.” Maryland’s action violated national supremacy because “the power to tax is the power to destroy.” This second ruling established the principle of national supremacy, which prohibits states from meddling in the lawful activities of the national government.
Defining the scope of national power was the subject of another landmark Supreme Court decision in 1824. In Gibbons v. Ogden , the court had to interpret the commerce clause of Article I, Section 8; specifically, it had to determine whether the federal government had the sole authority to regulate the licensing of steamboats operating between New York and New Jersey. 22 Aaron Ogden, who had obtained an exclusive license from New York State to operate steamboat ferries between New York City and New Jersey, sued Thomas Gibbons, who was operating ferries along the same route under a coasting license issued by the federal government. Gibbons lost in New York state courts and appealed. Chief Justice Marshall delivered a two-part ruling in favor of Gibbons that strengthened the power of the national government. First, interstate commerce was interpreted broadly to mean “commercial intercourse” among states, thus allowing Congress to regulate navigation. Second, because the federal Licensing Act of 1793, which regulated coastal commerce, was a constitutional exercise of Congress’s authority under the commerce clause, federal law trumped the New York State license-monopoly law that had granted Ogden an exclusive steamboat operating license. As Marshall pointed out, “the acts of New York must yield to the law of Congress.” 23
Various states railed against the nationalization of power that had been going on since the late 1700s. When President John Adams signed the Sedition Act in 1798, which made it a crime to speak openly against the government, the Kentucky and Virginia legislatures passed resolutions declaring the act null on the grounds that they retained the discretion to follow national laws. In effect, these resolutions articulated the legal reasoning underpinning the doctrine of nullification—that states had the right to reject national laws they deemed unconstitutional. 24
A nullification crisis emerged in the 1830s over President Andrew Jackson’s tariff acts of 1828 and 1832. Led by John Calhoun, President Jackson’s vice president, nullifiers argued that high tariffs on imported goods benefited northern manufacturing interests while disadvantaging economies in the South. South Carolina passed an Ordinance of Nullification declaring both tariff acts null and void and threatened to leave the Union. The federal government responded by enacting the Force Bill in 1833, authorizing President Jacksonto use military force against states that challenged federal tariff laws. The prospect of military action coupled with the passage of the Compromise Tariff Act of 1833 (which lowered tariffs over time) led South Carolina to back off, ending the nullification crisis.
The ultimate showdown between national and state authority came during the Civil War. Prior to the conflict, in Dred Scott v. Sandford , the Supreme Court ruled that the national government lacked the authority to ban slavery in the territories. 25 But the election of President Abraham Lincoln in 1860 led eleven southern states to secede from the United States because they believed the new president would challenge the institution of slavery. What was initially a conflict to preserve the Union became a conflict to end slavery when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, freeing all slaves in the rebellious states. The defeat of the South had a huge impact on the balance of power between the states and the national government in two important ways. First, the Union victory put an end to the right of states to secede and to challenge legitimate national laws. Second, Congress imposed several conditions for readmitting former Confederate states into the Union; among them was ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. In sum, after the Civil War the power balance shifted toward the national government, a movement that had begun several decades before with McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) and Gibbons v. Odgen (1824).
The period between 1819 and the 1860s demonstrated that the national government sought to establish its role within the newly created federal design, which in turn often provoked the states to resist as they sought to protect their interests. With the exception of the Civil War, the Supreme Court settled the power struggles between the states and national government. From a historical perspective, the national supremacy principle introduced during this period did not so much narrow the states’ scope of constitutional authority as restrict their encroachment on national powers. 26
Dual Federalism
The late 1870s ushered in a new phase in the evolution of U.S. federalism. Under dual federalism, the states and national government exercise exclusive authority in distinctly delineated spheres of jurisdiction. Like the layers of a cake, the levels of government do not blend with one another but rather are clearly defined. Two factors contributed to the emergence of this conception of federalism. First, several Supreme Court rulings blocked attempts by both state and federal governments to step outside their jurisdictional boundaries. Second, the prevailing economic philosophy at the time loathed government interference in the process of industrial development.
Industrialization changed the socioeconomic landscape of the United States. One of its adverse effects was the concentration of market power. Because there was no national regulatory supervision to ensure fairness in market practices, collusive behavior among powerful firms emerged in several industries. 27 To curtail widespread anticompetitive practices in the railroad industry, Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887, which created the Interstate Commerce Commission. Three years later, national regulatory capacity was broadened by the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, which made it illegal to monopolize or attempt to monopolize and conspire in restraining commerce (Figure 3.9). In the early stages of industrial capitalism, federal regulations were focused for the most part on promoting market competition rather than on addressing the social dislocations resulting from market operations, something the government began to tackle in the 1930s. 28
The new federal regulatory regime was dealt a legal blow early in its existence. In 1895, in United States v. E. C. Knight , the Supreme Court ruled that the national government lacked the authority to regulate manufacturing. 29 The case came about when the government, using its regulatory power under the Sherman Act, attempted to override American Sugar’s purchase of four sugar refineries, which would give the company a commanding share of the industry. Distinguishing between commerce among states and the production of goods, the court argued that the national government’s regulatory authority applied only to commercial activities. If manufacturing activities fell within the purview of the commerce clause of the Constitution, then “comparatively little of business operations would be left for state control,” the court argued.
In the late 1800s, some states attempted to regulate working conditions. For example, New York State passed the Bakeshop Act in 1897, which prohibited bakery employees from working more than sixty hours in a week. In Lochner v. New York , the Supreme Court ruled this state regulation that capped work hours unconstitutional, on the grounds that it violated the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. 30 In other words, the right to sell and buy labor is a “liberty of the individual” safeguarded by the Constitution, the court asserted. The federal government also took up the issue of working conditions, but that case resulted in the same outcome as in the Lochner case. 31
Cooperative Federalism
The Great Depression of the 1930s brought economic hardships the nation had never witnessed before (Figure 3.10). Between 1929 and 1933, the national unemployment rate reached 25 percent, industrial output dropped by half, stock market assets lost more than half their value, thousands of banks went out of business, and the gross domestic product shrunk by one-quarter. 32 Given the magnitude of the economic depression, there was pressure on the national government to coordinate a robust national response along with the states.
Cooperative federalism was born of necessity and lasted well into the twentieth century as the national and state governments each found it beneficial. Under this model, both levels of government coordinated their actions to solve national problems, such as the Great Depression and the civil rights struggle of the following decades. In contrast to dual federalism, it erodes the jurisdictional boundaries between the states and national government, leading to a blending of layers as in a marble cake. The era of cooperative federalism contributed to the gradual incursion of national authority into the jurisdictional domain of the states, as well as the expansion of the national government’s power in concurrent policy areas. 33
The New Deal programs President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed as a means to tackle the Great Depression ran afoul of the dual-federalism mindset of the justices on the Supreme Court in the 1930s. The court struck down key pillars of the New Deal—the National Industrial Recovery Act and the Agricultural Adjustment Act, for example—on the grounds that the federal government was operating in matters that were within the purview of the states. The court’s obstructionist position infuriated Roosevelt, leading him in 1937 to propose a court-packing plan that would add one new justice for each one over the age of seventy, thus allowing the president to make a maximum of six new appointments. Before Congress took action on the proposal, the Supreme Court began leaning in support of the New Deal as Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes and Justice Owen Roberts changed their view on federalism. 34
In National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) v. Jones and Laughlin Steel , 35 for instance, the Supreme Court ruled the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 constitutional, asserting that Congress can use its authority under the commerce clause to regulate both manufacturing activities and labor-management relations. The New Deal changed the relationship Americans had with the national government. Before the Great Depression, the government offered little in terms of financial aid, social benefits, and economic rights. After the New Deal, it provided old-age pensions (Social Security), unemployment insurance, agricultural subsidies, protections for organizing in the workplace, and a variety of other public services created during Roosevelt’s administration.
In the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson’s administration expanded the national government’s role in society even more. Medicaid (which provides medical assistance to the indigent), Medicare (which provides health insurance to the elderly and disabled), and school nutrition programs were created. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965), the Higher Education Act (1965), and the Head Start preschool program (1965) were established to expand educational opportunities and equality (Figure 3.11). The Clean Air Act (1965), the Highway Safety Act (1966), and the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (1966) promoted environmental and consumer protection. Finally, laws were passed to promote urban renewal, public housing development, and affordable housing. In addition to these Great Society programs, the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the Voting Rights Act (1965) gave the federal government effective tools to promote civil rights equality across the country.
While the era of cooperative federalism witnessed a broadening of federal powers in concurrent and state policy domains, it is also the era of a deepening coordination between the states and the federal government in Washington. Nowhere is this clearer than with respect to the social welfare and social insurance programs created during the New Deal and Great Society eras, most of which are administered by both state and federal authorities and are jointly funded. The Social Security Act of 1935, which created federal subsidies for state-administered programs for the elderly; people with handicaps; dependent mothers; and children, gave state and local officials wide discretion over eligibility and benefit levels. The unemployment insurance program, also created by the Social Security Act, requires states to provide jobless benefits, but it allows them significant latitude to decide the level of tax to impose on businesses in order to fund the program as well as the duration and replacement rate of unemployment benefits. A similar multilevel division of labor governs Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance. 36
Thus, the era of cooperative federalism left two lasting attributes on federalism in the United States. First, a nationalization of politics emerged as a result of federal legislative activism aimed at addressing national problems such as marketplace inefficiencies, social and political inequality, and poverty. The nationalization process expanded the size of the federal administrative apparatus and increased the flow of federal grants to state and local authorities, which have helped offset the financial costs of maintaining a host of New Deal- and Great Society–era programs. The second lasting attribute is the flexibility that states and local authorities were given in the implementation of federal social welfare programs. One consequence of administrative flexibility, however, is that it has led to cross-state differences in the levels of benefits and coverage. 37
New Federalism
During the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon (1969–1974) and Ronald Reagan (1981–1989), attempts were made to reverse the process of nationalization—that is, to restore states’ prominence in policy areas into which the federal government had moved in the past. New federalism is premised on the idea that the decentralization of policies enhances administrative efficiency, reduces overall public spending, and improves policy outcomes. During Nixon’s administration, general revenue sharing programs were created that distributed funds to the state and local governments with minimal restrictions on how the money was spent. The election of Ronald Reagan heralded the advent of a “devolution revolution” in U.S. federalism, in which the president pledged to return authority to the states according to the Constitution. In the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, congressional leaders together with President Reagan consolidated numerous federal grant programs related to social welfare and reformulated them in order to give state and local administrators greater discretion in using federal funds. 38
However, Reagan’s track record in promoting new federalism was inconsistent. This was partly due to the fact that the president’s devolution agenda met some opposition from Democrats in Congress, moderate Republicans, and interest groups, preventing him from making further advances on that front. For example, his efforts to completely devolve Aid to Families With Dependent Children (a New Deal-era program) and food stamps (a Great Society-era program) to the states were rejected by members of Congress, who feared states would underfund both programs, and by members of the National Governors’ Association, who believed the proposal would be too costly for states. Reagan terminated general revenue sharing in 1986. 39
Several Supreme Court rulings also promoted new federalism by hemming in the scope of the national government’s power, especially under the commerce clause. For example, in United States v. Lopez , the court struck down the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, which banned gun possession in school zones. 40 It argued that the regulation in question did not “substantively affect interstate commerce.” The ruling ended a nearly sixty-year period in which the court had used a broad interpretation of the commerce clause that by the 1960s allowed it to regulate numerous local commercial activities. 41
However, many would say that the years since the 9/11 attacks have swung the pendulum back in the direction of central federal power. The creation of the Department of Homeland Security federalized disaster response power in Washington, and the Transportation Security Administration was created to federalize airport security. Broad new federal policies and mandates have also been carried out in the form of the Faith-Based Initiative and No Child Left Behind (during the George W. Bush administration) and the Affordable Care Act (during Barack Obama’s administration).
Finding a Middle Ground
Cooperative Federalism versus New Federalism
Morton Grodzins coined the expression "marble-cake federalism" in the 1950s while conducting research on the evolution of American federalism as a professor of political science at the University of Chicago. Until then most scholars had thought of federalism as a layer cake, but according to Grodzins the 1930s ushered in “marble-cake federalism” (Figure 3.12): “The American form of government is often, but erroneously, symbolized by a three-layer cake. A far more accurate image is the rainbow or marble cake, characterized by an inseparable mingling of differently colored ingredients, the colors appearing in vertical and diagonal strands and unexpected whirls. As colors are mixed in the marble cake, so functions are mixed in the American federal system.” 42
Cooperative federalism has several merits:
- Because state and local governments have varying fiscal capacities, the national government’s involvement in state activities such as education, health, and social welfare is necessary to ensure some degree of uniformity in the provision of public services to citizens in richer and poorer states.
- The problem of collective action, which dissuades state and local authorities from raising regulatory standards for fear they will be disadvantaged as others lower theirs, is resolved by requiring state and local authorities to meet minimum federal standards (e.g., minimum wage and air quality).
- Federal assistance is necessary to ensure state and local programs that generate positive externalities are maintained. For example, one state’s environmental regulations impose higher fuel prices on its residents, but the externality of the cleaner air they produce benefits neighboring states. Without the federal government’s support, this state and others like it would underfund such programs.
New federalism has advantages as well:
- Because of differences among states, one-size-fits-all features of federal laws are suboptimal. Decentralization accommodates the diversity that exists across states.
- By virtue of being closer to citizens, state and local authorities are better than federal agencies at discerning the public’s needs.
- Decentralized federalism fosters a marketplace of innovative policy ideas as states compete against each other to minimize administrative costs and maximize policy output.
Which model of federalism do you think works best for the United States? Why?
Link to Learning
The leading international journal devoted to the practical and theoretical study of federalism is called Publius: The Journal of Federalism . Find out where its name comes from.


3.6: The Rational State
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“The state in the sense of the rational state has existed only in the western world.”
NOTE ON SOURCE: This passage is from Wirtschaftsgeschicte , a collection of Weber’s lecture notes , first published after his death in 1923. The first English translation ( General Economic History ) was made in 1927, by Frank Knight, an American professor of political economy. It is known as the source of Weber’s institutionalist theory of capitalism. The selection below is direct from the Knight translation.
Introduction – Why this is important and what to look for
This selection is from Part 4, “The Origin of Modern Capitalism” and follows closely the 29th chapter, entitled “the Rational State.” It is here that Weber articulates the political foundations of modern capitalism. Read this in conjunction with the following section, “Evolution of the Capitalist Spirit,” which focuses on the cultural foundations of modern capitalism. This section is also a useful introduction to Weber’s theory of politics and the state.
The Rational State
A. The State Itself; Law and Officialdom
The state in the sense of the rational state has existed only in the western world. Under the old regime in China, a thin stratum of so-called officials, the mandarins, existed above the unbroken power of the clans and commercial and industrial guilds. The mandarin is primarily a humanistically educated scholar in the possession of an administrative position but not in the least trained for administration; he knows no jurisprudence but is a fine writer, can make verses, knows the age-old literature of the Chinese and can interpret it. In the way of political service, no importance is attached to him. Such an official performs no administrative work himself; administration lies rather in the hands of petty officials. A state with such officials is something different from the Western rational state.
In reality, everything is based on the magical theory that the virtue of the empress and the merits of the officials, meaning their perfection in literary culture, keeps things in order in normal times. In essence, things are left to take care of themselves. The officials do not rule but only interfere in the event of disturbances or untoward happenings.
Very different is the rational state in which alone modern capitalism can flourish. Its basis is an expert officialdom and rational law.
The rational law of the modern Western state, on the basis of which the trained official renders his decisions, arose on its formal side, though not as to its content, out of Roman law. The latter was to begin with a product of the Roman city-state, which never witnessed the dominion of democracy and its justice in the same form as the Greek city. Under Justinian, the Byzantine bureaucracy brought order and system into this rational law, in consequence of the natural interest of the official in a law which could be systematic and fixed and hence easier to learn.
With the fall of the Roman empire in the west, law came into the hands of the Italian notaries. These, and secondarily the universities, revived Roman law. The notaries adhered to the old contractual forms of the Roman empire and reinterpreted them according to the needs of the time. At the same time a systematic legal doctrine was developed in the universities. The essential feature in the development was the rationalization of procedure. The magnificent administrative organization of the church required fixed forms for its disciplinary ends in relation to the laity and for its own internal discipline. The businessman could not permit commercial claims to be decided by a competition in reciting formulas. [1] This two-fold rationalization of procedure from the profane and the spiritual sides spread over the western world.
Although some see the revival of the Roman law as the basis for the downfall of the peasant class and the development of capitalism, all the characteristic institutions of modern capitalism have other origins than Roman law. The stock certificate comes from medieval law. The bill of exchange comes from Arabic, Italian, German and English law. The commercial company is a medieval product. So also the mortgage, and the deed of trust, as well as the power of attorney. None of these go back to the Romans.
The reception of the Roman law was crucial only in the sense that it created formal juristic thinking. In its structure every legal system is based either on formal-legalistic or on substantive-material principles. By the latter are to be understood utilitarian and economic considerations. In every theocracy and every absolutism justice is materially directed as by contrast in every bureaucracy it is formal-legalistic.
Formalistic law is calculable. In China it may happen that a man who has sold a house to another may later come to him and ask to be taken in because in the meantime he has been impoverished. If the purchaser refused to heed the ancient Chinese command to help a brother, the spirits will be disturbed; hence the impoverished seller comes into the house as a renter who pays no rent. Capitalism cannot operate on the basis of a law so constituted. What it requires is law which can be counted upon, like a machine; ritualistic-religious and magical considerations must be excluded.
The creation of such a body of law was achieved through the alliance between the modern state and the jurists for the purpose of making good its claims to power. In contrast to other areas of the world, the west had at its disposal a formally organized legal system, the product of Roman culture, and officials trained in this law were superior to all others as technical administrators. From the standpoint of economic history this fact is significant in that the alliance between the state and formal jurisprudence was indirectly favorable to capitalism.
B. The Economic Policy of the Rational State
For the state to have an economic policy worthy of the name, one which is continuous and consistent, is an institution of exclusively modern origin. The first system which it brought forth is mercantilism.
C. Mercantilism
The essence of mercantilism consists in carrying the point of view of capitalistic industry into politics: the state is handled as if it consisted exclusively of capitalistic entrepreneurs. External economic policy rests on the principle of taking every advantage of the opponent, importing at the lowest price and selling much higher. The purpose is to strengthen the hand of the government in its external relations. Hence mercantilism signifies the development of the state as a political power, which is to be done directly by increasing the taxpaying power of the population.
England is distinctively the original home of Mercantilism. The first traces of the application of mercantilistic principles are to be found there in the year 1381. In England it finally disappeared when free trade was established, an achievement of Puritan dissenters in league with industrial interests.
Questions for Contemplation and Discussion
- What does Weber mean when he denotes a state as “rational” or law as “rational”? Consider this rationality as an institutional element that arose over time and triggered new developments as well. What is the connection between rationality and capitalism?
- Why do absolutists states depend upon substantive-material legal principles? Can you think of a modern example?
- Who were the agents in the construction of our modern legal system? How does Weber explain the motivation for this development? What are the connections between the legal system, the state, and capitalism?
Concepts
Rational (Western) State
Rational-Formalistic Law
Mercantilism
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A reference to the ancient German legal trial, in which the losing party was the person who mispronounced or misrecited a standard formula. This is similar to the medieval witch trials in which innocence was found by sinking when thrown in a river, or other “judgments by God” through trials of ordeal. ↵


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acromegaly
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a disorder that results in overgrowth of bones in the face, hands, and feet in response to abnormally high levels of growth hormone
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dwarfism
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short stature secondary to a genetic or medical condition
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gestational diabetes
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a disorder that produces glucose intolerance during pregnancy as the result of dysfunction or delayed response of the beta cells to blood glucose
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glycemic index
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a system that ranks carbohydrate-containing foods on a scale from 1 to 100 based on their ability to raise blood sugar levels quickly or significantly
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human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG)
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a hormone that stimulates the corpus luteum to produce the progesterone necessary for promoting and maintaining a growing fetus; reduces the pregnant individual’s immune function to protect the fetus from immune rejection
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hyperemesis gravidarum
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a condition during pregnancy characterized by extreme, persistent nausea and vomiting
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hyperglycemia
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a blood glucose greater than 125 mg/dL or plasma blood glucose level greater than 150 mg/dL
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hyperthyroidism
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a clinically abnormal, elevated level of thyroid hormone in the blood; characterized by an increased metabolic rate, excessive body heat and sweating, diarrhea, weight loss, tremors, and increased heart rate
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hypoglycemia
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a blood glucose level at or less than 40 mg/dL
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hypothyroidism
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a clinically abnormal, low level of thyroid hormone in the blood; characterized by low metabolic rate, weight gain, cold extremities, constipation, reduced libido, menstrual irregularities, and reduced mental activity
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insulin-like growth factor (IGF)
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a peptide hormone that promotes bone and tissue growth
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malnutrition
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occurs when the body either does not receive sufficient nutrients or is unable to absorb essential nutrients, resulting in body composition changes and impaired functions
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puberty
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a stage of development in which sexual maturation and reproduction capabilities refine and mature
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relaxin
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a hormone secreted by the corpus luteum and then by the placenta to help prepare the body for childbirth
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thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)
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a hormone that triggers secretion of thyroid hormones by the thyroid gland
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thyroxine (T4)
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tetraiodothyronine (thyroxine) long-acting hormone released by the thyroid gland that can be converted to T3
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triiodothyronine (T3)
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hormone released by the thyroid gland to help regulate processes including metabolism, weight, and energy levels
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type 1 diabetes
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insulin-dependent diabetes; develops when insulin producing cells (beta cells) are destroyed in the pancreas, resulting in low to non-existent levels of insulin
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type 2 diabetes
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noninsulin-dependent diabetes; results from insulin resistance that develops gradually from obesity and aging


10.11: Training New Employees
- Compare and contrast various approaches to training new employees
You have hired who you think is the perfect new addition to your sales floor at your new retail home improvement store. No matter how perfect the fit is, the next step is making sure to train the employee effectively to help her feel comfortable in the position, and to insure she is meeting the requirements of your company. Each company will have a specific method to train their employees. These plans may be set up in an excel workbook format for consistency or a checklist. Small companies may have one employee training the new employee. Whatever the size of your company, the goal is the same: to create well-trained employees who knows the tasks and requirements of their position.
Orientation must happen first which includes the basics of hiring a new employee. All payroll paperwork needs to be completed, including the W-4, I-9 and any state forms that may be required. It may also be necessary to obtain direct deposit information from your new employee, or to have them complete paperwork for insurance programs or other employee benefit programs. This process should be done first, prior to beginning any training programs.This process will also include company overview, policies and procedures, compensation and basic safety rules. Depending on your organization, you may put other components into this process.
Once the employee has the general company overview, orientation for their particular job should begin. This will include department orientation, job duties and responsibilities outlined, policies and procedures clarified and tours and introductions to other employees. Again, depending on the size of your company, this may be over a few hours or over several days. Make sure you have an orientation plan in place, so new employees feel welcomed and comfortable in their new role.
Training can also be called “on-boarding.” Some large companies have entire online systems set up with checklists to onboard new employees. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has excellent resources to use in implementing an on-boarding process for new employees. If you decide to work in the human resources area of your company, it is strongly encouraged to join SHRM to be kept current on all aspects of human resource management, due to frequent changes in the laws and guidelines surrounding employment.
Training is the process of learning the steps and processes of the job. It is like a course to learn the position. Training is also a continuous process, as new equipment, machinery or processes develop. Training is a complex and ongoing process, which starts when an employee is hired, and continues through the length of employment.
Starting with a training needs assessment, which helps managers determine what training needs to be provided is a good idea. Then programs can be put together to meet the needs of the employees and departments. There are several different ways to offer training:
- Lectures. Can be effective, but not a good way for all learners or all positions. Some people have the ability to learn by listening, but others need a more hands on approach.
- Practice. This method is more effective for most learning processes. Imagine you are hired to work at the checkout terminal of a retail grocery store. Would it be more effective to have a cart full of groceries to practice with, or listen to someone walk you through the process? Most people would learn better by practicing!
Adults may need a different training process, especially if an adult is already skilled in the area they will be working in. Treating adults as partners in the learning process, rather than as passive participants is important. Offer practice situations to help them see how your organization does a certain task. Make sure to offer assignments and practice that encourages critical thinking and effort to learn the process, and that correlate closely to the work they will be doing.
Training is a very important component of the on-boarding process. Make sure to put together a good program that helps employees feel confident in the tasks needed to fulfill their job roles.
Contributors and Attributions
- Training New Employees. Authored by : Freedom Learning Group. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution


3.12: The role of resources in the capability approach
In section 2.6.4 we discussed property A4, which stresses the importance of the difference between means and ends in the capabilities approach. In section 2.6.5, we discussed property A5, which claims that in the capability approach functionings and capabilities form the evaluative space. From these two core properties from module A, some may draw the conclusion that resources are no longer important in the capability approach. This is a mistake. Resources are important, although in an instrumental manner.
Firstly, a focus on functionings and capabilities does not necessarily imply that a capability analysis would not pay any attention to resources, or to the evaluation of social institutions, economic growth, technical advancement, and so forth. While functionings and capabilities are of ultimate concern, other dimensions can be important as well, but in an instrumental way, or as indicators for what ultimately matters. For example, in their evaluation of development in India, Drèze and Sen have stressed that working within the capability approach in no way excludes the integration of an analysis of resources:
It should be clear that we have tended to judge development by the expansion of substantive human freedoms — not just by economic growth (for example, of the gross national product), or technical progress, or social modernization. This is not to deny, in any way, that advances in the latter fields can be very important, depending on circumstances, as ‘instruments’ for the enhancement of human freedom. But they have to be appraised precisely in that light — in terms of their actual effectiveness in enriching the lives and liberties of people — rather than taking them to be valuable in themselves. (Drèze and Sen 2002, 3)
Second, once we have decided which capabilities are relevant, we need to investigate the determinants of those capabilities — the factors which affect their emergence, size and robustness. As figure 2.1 illustrates, these determinants include resources, a person’s set of conversion factors and structural constraints. Hence if we want to expand the capabilities of a person or a group, these are the levels at which we could intervene. Resources are not the only things that matter, and for some capabilities that we try to expand or try to equalise, resources may not be the most effective factor of intervention. At the same time, it is also clear that resources are very important for most capabilities and there are hardly any capabilities where resources play no role at all. Being able to buy presents enhances the capability of affiliation and social interaction; being able to get the best medical care enhances the capability of health; and being able to afford time off and time to travel enhances the capability to enjoy nature. Hence even those capabilities that could be seen as non-material dimensions of advantage are nevertheless also aided by the availability of resources, albeit probably not in a linear way, and perhaps only up to a certain threshold level. If a capability analysis is aimed at making an intervention, then the exact relationship between resources and functionings needs to be studied for each capability analysis, rather than being assumed to have a certain shape.
Third, in empirical research there are often data constraints that force scholars to work with resources as proxies for valuable functionings. There is nothing inconsistent in taking that path, as long as one is careful in the conclusions that one draws from an analysis of resources. Moreover, if one uses multiple resources, such as a combination of income, time, and human and social capital (e.g. Burchardt 2010), then the informational riches of the analysis increases, compared to a one-dimensional monetary analysis.


9.4: Implement Nutritional Strategies to Impact Hematological Wellness
By the end of this section, you should be able to:
- 9.3.1 Assess the client for readiness to learn.
- 9.3.2 Teach nutritional strategies to optimize hematological wellness.
Holistic Nursing Assessment of the Client
Assessing clients for nutritional influences on hematologic wellness must encompass the client and their support circle. The nurse should consider the different realms the client may be impacted by in their nutritional choices (Figure 9.4). For example, adolescents, who may be adequately knowledgeable about nutrient-rich food sources, may choose less-healthy options at school due to peer influence. The nurse should help clients visualize potentially challenging situations. Visualization of the situation—and how to respond to the situation—can empower clients to improve their attitude and practice of healthy eating and is part of a holistic approach to fostering hematologic wellness (Wiafe et al., 2023).
Age-Specific Considerations
For infants, school-aged children, and adolescents, determining where children spend their time and with whom is an important step in developing a holistic approach to nutritional interventions. The modern family is diverse, and often consists of multigenerational members and different households influencing each other’s health practices. Gaining the confidence of the family unit’s influencer(s) requires a nurse’s thoughtful approach and cultural sensitivity (Barnes et al., 2020). For infants, family traditions regarding the addition of solid food and cow’s milk to the diet can contradict current evidence-based recommendations and can result in nutritional anemias. Discussing menstruation may be taboo for some female adolescents and thus result in undisclosed menorrhagia and secondary iron-deficient anemia. Older adults are often uncomfortable discussing oral health issues and economic burdens that may have led to late recognition of malnutrition. The nurse is in a unique situation to holistically assess clients and their families utilizing active listening and therapeutic communication strategies.
Client Teaching
As the teaching session begins, the nurse should ask the client to describe what they already know about the health concern and should be prepared to adjust their educational plan. If the client reports having nutrient-deficient anemia but does not understand what anemia is, the educational plan should start with an overview of the function of red blood cells and how they are produced in the body. Most clients will struggle with adherence to a nutritional plan (meal plan) if they do not understand why the modification is necessary. This is a component of determining the client’s health literacy . Other variables of health literacy to consider include:
- Language spoken and read
- Cultural considerations regarding who should be present for the educational session
- The learning style of the client and their significant other as applicable
- External constraints (time, state of health)
Learning Modalities
Taking advantage of technology and existing reputable resources can be a time saver for both the nurse and the client. Reputable references may be available electronically and/or in writing. Determining access to a computer or internet service is vital if relying on an electronic modality for content. Additionally, consideration of the material in the client’s primary language cannot be overlooked. Potential options include:
- One-on-one teaching
- Group or family teaching
- Demonstration—including food preparation and shopping
- Printed materials
- Videos, podcasts, applications for smart phones
- Community resources
A list of client education resources is included at the end of this chapter.
Read the following clinical scenario and then answer the questions that follow. This case study is a follow-up to Case Study Parts A and B.
Grant starts discharge education with Ms. Foster by sharing his intended goal and time frame for completion. Ms. Foster’s daughter offers to retrieve the car to expedite discharge. Grant suggests that she stay for the education and participate in identifying potential barriers to the plan. Ms. Foster reports that her anemia should be resolved since she received a blood transfusion. Grant explains to Ms. Foster that the lifespan of transfused red blood cells is approximately 60 days and that she will need to start oral iron replacement therapy as soon as possible to restore her hematologic wellness. He then modifies his educational plan to include an overview of red blood cell production, signs and symptoms of anemia, and the expected time for recovery of symptoms.
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Family presence
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Medical diagnosis
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Family medical history
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Hearing or vision changes
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Cognitive function
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Preferred spoken language
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Level of alertness


2.2.5: Corporate Organization
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Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Recognize the steps to issue a corporate charter.
- Know the states’ rights in modifying a corporate charter.
- Discuss factors to consider in selecting a state in which to incorporate.
- Explain the functions and liability of a promoter.
- Understand the business and legal requirements in executing and filing the articles of incorporation.
As discussed in Section 21.4, corporate status offers companies many protections. If the owners of a business decide to incorporate after weighing the pros and cons of incorporation, they need to take the steps explained in this section.
The Corporate Charter
Function of the Charter
The ultimate goal of the incorporation process is issuance of a corporate charter. The term used for the document varies from state to state. Most states call the basic document filed in the appropriate public office the “articles of incorporation” or “certificate of incorporation,” but there are other variations. There is no legal significance to these differences in terminology.
Chartering is basically a state prerogative. Congress has chartered several enterprises, including national banks (under the National Banking Act), federal savings and loan associations, national farm loan associations, and the like, but virtually all business corporations are chartered at the state level.
Originally a legislative function, chartering is now an administrative function in every state. The secretary of state issues the final indorsement to the articles of incorporation, thus giving them legal effect.
Charter as a Contract
The charter is a contract between the state and the corporation. Under the Contracts Clause of Article I of the Constitution, no state can pass any law “impairing the obligation of contracts.” In 1816, the question arose whether a state could revoke or amend a corporate charter once granted. The corporation in question was Dartmouth College. The New Hampshire legislature sought to turn the venerable private college, operating under an old royal charter, into a public institution by changing the membership of its board. The case wound up in the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that the legislature’s attempt was unconstitutional, because to amend a charter is to impair a contract. Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward , 17 U.S. 518 (1819).
This decision pleased incorporators because it implied that once a corporation had been created, the state could never modify the powers it had been granted. But, in addition, the ruling seemed to favor monopolies. The theory was that by granting a charter to, say, a railroad corporation, the state was barred from creating any further railroad corporations. Why? Because, the lawyers argued, a competitor would cut into the first company’s business, reducing the value of the charter, hence impairing the contract. Justice Joseph Story, concurring in the Dartmouth case, had already suggested the way out for the states: “If the legislature mean to claim such an authority [to alter or amend the charter], it must be reserved in the grant. The charter of Dartmouth College contains no such reservation.…” The states quickly picked up on Justice Story’s suggestion and wrote into the charter explicit language giving legislatures the authority to modify corporations’ charters at their pleasure. So the potential immutability of corporate charters had little practical chance to develop.
Selection of a State
Where to Charter
Choosing the particular venue in which to incorporate is the first critical decision to be made after deciding to incorporate. Some corporations, though headquartered in the United States, choose to incorporate offshore to take advantage of lenient taxation laws. Advantages of an offshore corporation include not only lenient tax laws but also a great deal of privacy as well as certain legal protections. For example, the names of the officers and directors can be excluded from documents filed. In the United States, over half of the Fortune 500 companies hold Delaware charters for reasons related to Delaware’s having a lower tax structure, a favorable business climate, and a legal system—both its statutes and its courts—seen as being up to date, flexible, and often probusiness. Delaware’s success has led other states to compete, and the political realities have caused the Revised Model Business Corporation Act (RMBCA), which was intentionally drafted to balance the interests of all significant groups (management, shareholders, and the public), to be revised from time to time so that it is more permissive from the perspective of management.
Why Choose Delaware?
Delaware remains the most popular state in which to incorporate for several reasons, including the following: (1) low incorporation fees; (2) only one person is needed to serve the incorporator of the corporation; the RMBC requires three incorporators; (3) no minimum capital requirement; (4) favorable tax climate, including no sales tax; (5) no taxation of shares held by nonresidents; and (5) no corporate income tax for companies doing business outside of Delaware. In addition, Delaware’s Court of Chancery, a court of equity, is renowned as a premier business court with a well-established body of corporate law, thereby affording a business a certain degree of predictability in judicial decision making.
The Promoter
Functions
Once the state of incorporation has been selected, it is time for promoters, the midwives of the enterprise, to go to work. Promoters are the individuals who take the steps necessary to form the corporation, and they often will receive stock in exchange for their efforts. They have four principal functions: (1) to seek out or discover business opportunities, (2) to raise capital by persuading investors to sign stock subscriptions, (3) to enter into contracts on behalf of the corporation to be formed, (4) and to prepare the articles of incorporation.
Promoters have acquired an unsavory reputation as fast talkers who cajole investors out of their money. Though some promoters fit this image, it is vastly overstated. Promotion is difficult work often carried out by the same individuals who will manage the business.
Contract Liability
Promoters face two major legal problems. First, they face possible liability on contracts made on behalf of the business before it is incorporated. For example, suppose Bob is acting as promoter of the proposed BCT Bookstore, Inc. On September 15, he enters into a contract with Computogram Products to purchase computer equipment for the corporation to be formed. If the incorporation never takes place, or if the corporation is formed but the corporation refuses to accept the contract, Bob remains liable.
Now assume that the corporation is formed on October 15, and on October 18 it formally accepts all the contracts that Bob signed prior to October 15. Does Bob remain liable? In most states, he does. The ratification theory of agency law will not help in many states that adhere strictly to agency rules, because there was no principal (the corporation) in existence when the contract was made and hence the promoter must remain liable. To avoid this result, Bob should seek an express novation, although in some states, a novation will be implied. The intention of the parties should be stated as precisely as possible in the contract, as the promoters learned in RKO-Stanley Warner Theatres, Inc. v. Graziano , (see Section 21.7.3 “Corporate Promoter”).
The promoters’ other major legal concern is the duty owed to the corporation. The law is clear that promoters owe a fiduciary duty. For example, a promoter who transfers real estate worth $250,000 to the corporation in exchange for $750,000 worth of stock would be liable for $500,000 for breach of fiduciary duty.
Preincorporation Stock Subscriptions
One of the promoter’s jobs is to obtain preincorporation stock subscriptions to line up offers by would-be investors to purchase stock in the corporation to be formed. These stock subscriptions are agreements to purchase, at a specified price, a certain number of shares of stock of a corporation, which is to be formed at some point in the future. The contract, however, actually comes into existence after formation, once the corporation itself accepts the offer to subscribe. Alice agrees with Bob to invest $10,000 in the BCT Bookstore, Inc. for one thousand shares. The agreement is treated as an offer to purchase. The offer is deemed accepted at the moment the bookstore is incorporated.
The major problem for the corporation is an attempt by subscribers to revoke their offers. A basic rule of contract law is that offers are revocable before acceptance. Under RMBCA, Section 6.20, however, a subscription for shares is irrevocable for six months unless the subscription agreement itself provides otherwise or unless all the subscribers consent to revocation. In many states that have not adopted the model act, the contract rule applies and the offer is always revocable. Other states use various common-law devices to prevent revocation. For example, the subscription by one investor is held as consideration for the subscription of another, so that a binding contract has been formed.
Execution and Filing of the Articles of Incorporation
Once the business details are settled, the promoters, now known as incorporators, must sign and deliver the articles of incorporation to the secretary of state. The articles of incorporation typically include the following: the corporate name; the address of the corporation’s initial registered office; the period of the corporation’s duration (usually perpetual); the company’s purposes; the total number of shares, the classes into which they are divided, and the par value of each; the limitations and rights of each class of shareholders; the authority of the directors to establish preferred or special classes of stock; provisions for preemptive rights; provisions for the regulation of the internal affairs of the corporation, including any provision restricting the transfer of shares; the number of directors constituting the initial board of directors and the names and addresses of initial members; and the name and address of each incorporator. Although compliance with these requirements is largely a matter of filling in the blanks, two points deserve mention.
First, the choice of a name is often critical to the business. Under RMBCA, Section 4.01, the name must include one of the following words (or abbreviations): corporation, company, incorporated, or limited (Corp., Co., Inc., or Ltd.). The name is not allowed to deceive the public about the corporation’s purposes, nor may it be the same as that of any other company incorporated or authorized to do business in the state.
These legal requirements are obvious; the business requirements are much harder. If the name is not descriptive of the business or does not anticipate changes in the business, it may have to be changed, and the change can be expensive. For example, when Standard Oil Company of New Jersey changed its name to Exxon in 1972, the estimated cost was over $100 million. (And even with this expenditure, some shareholders grumbled that the new name sounded like a laxative.)
The second point to bear in mind about the articles of incorporation is that drafting the clause stating corporate purposes requires special care, because the corporation will be limited to the purposes set forth. In one famous case, the charter of Cornell University placed a limit on the amount of contributions it could receive from any one benefactor. When Jennie McGraw died in 1881, leaving to Cornell the carillon that still plays on the Ithaca, New York, campus to this day, she also bequeathed to the university her residuary estate valued at more than $1 million. This sum was greater than the ceiling placed in Cornell’s charter. After lengthy litigation, the university lost in the US Supreme Court, and the money went to her family. Cornell University v. Fiske , 136 U.S. 152 (1890). The dilemma is how to draft a clause general enough to allow the corporation to expand, yet specific enough to prevent it from engaging in undesirable activities.
Some states require the purpose clauses to be specific, but the usual approach is to permit a broad statement of purposes. Section 3.01 of the RMBCA goes one step further in providing that a corporation automatically “has the purpose of engaging in any lawful business” unless the articles specify a more limited purpose. Once completed, the articles of incorporation are delivered to the secretary of state for filing. The existence of a corporation begins once the articles have been filed.
Organizational Meeting of Directors
The first order of business, once the certificate of incorporation is issued, is a meeting of the board of directors named in the articles of incorporation. They must adopt bylaws, elect officers, and transact any other business that may come before the meeting (RMBCA, Section 2.05). Other business would include accepting (ratifying) promoters’ contracts, calling for the payment of stock subscriptions, and adopting bank resolution forms, giving authority to various officers to sign checks drawn on the corporation.
Section 10.20 of the RMBCA vests in the directors the power to alter, amend, or repeal the bylaws adopted at the initial meeting, subject to repeal or change by the shareholders. The articles of incorporation may reserve the power to modify or repeal exclusively to the shareholders. The bylaws may contain any provisions that do not conflict with the articles of incorporation or the law of the state.
Typical provisions in the bylaws include fixing the place and time at which annual stockholders’ meetings will be held, fixing a quorum, setting the method of voting, establishing the method of choosing directors, creating committees of directors, setting down the method by which board meetings may be called and the voting procedures to be followed, determining the offices to be filled by the directors and the powers with which each officer shall be vested, fixing the method of declaring dividends, establishing a fiscal year, setting out rules governing issuance and transfer of stock, and establishing the method of amending the bylaws.
Section 2.07 of the RMBCA provides that the directors may adopt bylaws that will operate during an emergency. An emergency is a situation in which “a quorum of the corporation’s directors cannot readily be assembled because of some catastrophic event.”
Key Takeaway
Articles of incorporation represent a corporate charter—that is, a contract between the corporation and the state. Filing these articles, or “chartering,” is accomplished at the state level. The secretary of state’s final approval gives these articles legal effect. A state cannot change a charter unless it reserves the right when granting the charter.
In selecting a state in which to incorporate, a corporation looks for a favorable corporate climate. Delaware remains the state of choice for incorporation, particularly for publicly held companies. Most closely held companies choose to incorporate in their home states.
Following the state selection, the promoter commences his or her functions, which include entering into contracts on behalf of the corporation to be formed (for which he or she can be held liable) and preparing the articles of incorporation.
The articles of incorporation must include the corporation’s name and its corporate purpose, which can be broad. Finally, once the certificate of incorporation is issued, the corporation’s board of directors must hold an organizational meeting.
Exercises
- Does the Contracts Clause of the Constitution, which forbids a state from impeding a contract, apply to corporations?
- What are some of the advantages of selecting Delaware as the state of incorporation?
- What are some of the risks that a promoter faces for his or her actions on behalf of the corporation? Can he or she limit these risks?
- What are the dangers of limiting a corporation’s purpose?
- What is the order of business at the first board of directors’ meeting?


5.8: From Mythology to History
The terms “mythology” and “history” may seem, by modern definitions, to be antithetical. After all, mythology refers to stories that are clearly false, of long-forgotten gods and heroes and their miraculous feats. History, on the other hand, refers to actual events that involved real people. And yet, the idea that the two are opposites would have seemed baffling to a typical resident of the ancient Mediterranean world. Rather, gods and myths were part of the everyday life, and historical events could become subsumed by myths just as easily as myths could become a part of history. For instance, Gilgamesh, the hero of the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh , was a real king of Uruk, yet he also became the hero of the epic. Each Greek city-state, in particular, had a foundation myth describing its origins as well as its own patron gods and goddesses. Etiological myths, furthermore, served to explain why certain institutions or practices existed; for instance, the tragic trilogy Oresteia of the Athenian poet Aeschylus tells the etiological myth for the establishment of the Athenian murder courts in the Classical period.
Yet, while the Greeks saw mythology and history as related concepts and sometimes as two sides of the same coin, one specific mythical event marked, in the eyes of the earliest known Greek historians, the beginning of the story of Greek-speaking peoples. That event was the Trojan War.
Homer and the Trojan War
It is telling that the two earliest Greek historians, Herodotus, writing in the mid-fifth century BCE, and Thucydides, writing in the last third of the fifth century BCE, began their respective histories with the Trojan War, each treating it as a historical event. The Homeric epics Iliad and Odyssey portray the war as an organized attack of a unified Greek army against Troy, a city in Asia Minor (see map 5.5.1). The instigating offense? The Trojan prince Paris kidnapped Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. This offense, interpreted as a slight to Menelaus’ honor, prompted Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and Menelaus’ brother, to raise an army from the entire Greek world and sail to Troy. The mythical tradition had it that after a brutal ten-year siege, the Greeks resorted to a trick: they presented the Trojans with a hollow wooden horse, filled with armed soldiers. The Trojans tragically accepted the gift, ostensibly intended as a dedication to the goddess Athena. That same night, the armed contingent emerged from the horse, and the city finally fell to the Greeks. Picking up the story ten years after the end of the Trojan War, the Odyssey then told the story of Odysseus’s struggles to return home after the war and the changes that reverberated throughout the Greek world after the fall of Troy.
The Homeric epics were the foundation of Greek education in the Archaic and Classical periods and, as such, are a historian’s best source of pan-Hellenic values. A major theme throughout both epics is personal honor, which Homeric heroes value more than the collective cause. For example, when Agamemnon slights Achilles’ honor in the beginning of the Iliad , Achilles, the best hero of the Greeks, withdraws from battle for much of the epic, even though his action causes the Greeks to start losing battles until he rejoins the fight. A related theme is competitive excellence, with kleos (eternal glory) as its goal: all Greek heroes want to be the best; thus, even while fighting in the same army, they see each other as competition.  Achilles’ selection of the second option made him the inspiration for such historical Greek warriors and generals as Alexander the Great, who brought his scroll copy of the Iliad with him on all campaigns. Finally, the presence of the gods in the background of the Trojan War shows the Greeks’ belief that the gods were everywhere, and acted in the lives of mortals. These gods could be powerful benefactors and patrons of individuals who respected them and sought their favor, or vicious enemies, bent on destruction. Indeed, early in the Iliad , the god Apollo sends a plague on the Greek army at Troy, as punishment for disrespecting his priest.
It is important to note that while the Homeric epics influenced Greek values from the Archaic period on, they do not reflect the reality of the Greek world in any one period. Furthermore, they were not composed by a single poet, Homer ; indeed, it is possible that Homer never existed. Because the epics were composed orally by multiple bards over the period of several hundred years, they combine details about technological and other aspects of the Bronze Age with those of the Dark Ages and even the early Archaic Age. For instance, the heroes use bronze weapons side-by-side with iron. Archaeological evidence, however, allows historians to reconstruct to some extent a picture of the Greek world in the Bronze Age and the Dark Ages.
Greece in the Bronze Age, and the Dark Ages
While there were people living in mainland Greece already in the Neolithic Period, historians typically begin the study of the Greeks as a unique civilization in the Bronze Age, with the Minoans . The first literate civilization in Europe, the Minoans were a palace civilization that flourished on the island of Crete c. 2,000 – 1,450 BCE.
As befits island-dwellers, they were traders and seafarers; indeed, the Greek historian Thucydides credits them with being the first Greeks to sail on ships. Sir Arthur Evans, the archaeologist who first excavated Crete in the early 1900s, dubbed them Minoans, after the mythical Cretan king Minos who was best known for building a labyrinth to house the Minotaur, a monster that was half-man, half-bull. Bulls appear everywhere in surviving Minoan art, suggesting that they indeed held a prominent place in Minoan mythology and religion.
Four major palace sites survive on Crete. The most significant of them, Knossos, has been restored and reconstructed for the benefit of modern tourists.
Historians hypothesize that the palaces were the homes of local rulers, who ruled and protected the surrounding farmland. The palaces seem to have kept records in two different writing systems, the earliest known in Europe: the Cretan hieroglyphic and Linear A scripts. Unfortunately, neither of these systems has been deciphered, but it is likely that these were palace inventories and records pertaining to trade. The palaces had no surrounding walls, suggesting that the Cretans maintained peace with each other and felt safe from outside attacks, since they lived on an island. This sense of security proved to be a mistake as, around 1,450 BCE, the palaces were violently destroyed by invaders, possibly the Mycenaeans who arrived from mainland Greece. Recent discoveries also suggest that at least some of the destruction may have been the result of tsunamis which accompanied the Santorini/ Thera volcanic eruption in the 1600s BCE.
The Mycenaeans, similarly to the Minoans, were a palace civilization. Flourishing on mainland Greece c. 1,600 – 1,100 BCE, they received their name from Mycenae, the most elaborate surviving palace and the mythical home of Agamemnon, the commander-inchief of the Greek army in the Trojan War. The archaeological excavations of graves in Mycenae reveal a prosperous civilization that produced elaborate pottery, bronze weapons and tools, and extravagant jewelry and other objects made of precious metals and gems. One of the most famous finds is the so-called “ Mask of Agamemnon, ” a burial mask with which one aristocrat was buried, made of hammered gold.
The Mycenaeans also kept palace records in a syllabic script, known as Linear B. Related to the Cretan Linear A script, Linear B, however, has been deciphered, and identified as Greek.
Archaeological evidence also shows that sometime in the 1,200s BCE, the Mycenaean palaces suffered a series of attacks and were gradually abandoned over the next century. The period that begins around 1,000 BCE is known as the “Dark Ages” because of the notable decline, in contrast with the preceding period. The Mycenaean Linear B script disappears, and archaeological evidence shows a poorer Greece with a decline in material wealth and life expectancy. Some contact, however, must have remained with the rest of the Mediterranean, as shown by the emergence of the Greek alphabet, adapted from the Phoenician writing system towards the end of the Dark Ages or early in the Archaic Period.


16.5: Physiology of the Nervous System
Major Functions of the Nervous System
Three main functions of the nervous system are sensation, response, and integration. [1]
Sensation
The first major function of the nervous system is sensation (i.e., receiving information about what is happening within or outside the body). Our five senses receive sensations from the outside world, and various receptors within the body receive internal sensations. [2]
Read more information about the five senses in the “Sensory System Terminology” chapter.
Paresthesia (par-es-THĒ-zh(ē-)ă) refers to an abnormal sensation in the extremities (i.e., numbness, tingling, and pain), and anesthesia (an-ĕs-THĒ-zhă) refers to a lack of feeling or sensation.
Response
The nervous system produces a response based on sensations received. For example, if our hand accidentally touches a hot stove, the nervous system automatically and quickly moves the hand away. Responses can be classified as voluntary (such as contraction of skeletal muscle) and involuntary (such as contraction of smooth muscles, regulation of cardiac muscle, and activation of endocrine glands). [3]
Voluntary responses are governed by the somatic nervous system, and involuntary responses are governed by the autonomic nervous system. The somatic nervous system is responsible for conscious perception, senses, and voluntary motor responses. An example of the somatic nervous system is when a person purposefully takes deep breaths to quell feelings of anxiety. [4]
The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is responsible for involuntary regulation of body processes to maintain homeostasis. For example, sweat glands are controlled by the autonomic nervous system. When a person receives the sensation of feeling hot, the ANS system processes this information and automatically creates a response of sweating to help cool down the body. [5]
The autonomic nervous system is further divided into the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for “fight or flight” responses, and the parasympathetic nervous system controls rest and digestive functions. [6]
Integration
Stimuli are interpreted and acted upon by the brain during a process referred to as integration. The brain analyzes stimuli with other perceived stimuli, memories of previous stimuli, or the person’s emotional state and generates a specific response. For example, a person may receive an internal sensation from the bladder for the need to urinate. However, the brain analyzes that stimulus and integrates it with the awareness of being in a public area and postpones the response to urinate until there is time to locate a nearby restroom. [7]
Higher Mental Functions
The cerebral cortex performs higher mental functions referred to as cognitive abilities. The responsibilities for these cognitive abilities are distributed across regions of the cortex, and specific locations can be said to be responsible for particular functions. For this reason, if a particular area of the brain becomes injured or diseased, specific cognitive abilities are affected. [8]
Cognitive abilities can be classified by four areas: orientation and memory, language and speech, sensorium, and judgment and abstract reasoning [9] :
- Orientation and Memory : Orientation (or-ē-ĕn-TĀ-shŏn) is the patient’s awareness of their immediate circumstances. In the medical field, this is typically referred to as “being oriented to person, place, and time.” An adult with normal cognitive functioning is aware of their name, where they are and why, and the date. This function occurs in the prefrontal cortex, and it can be temporarily or permanently affected by many medical conditions. Memory (MĔM-ŏ-rē) refers to how the brain stores and remembers information. It is a function of the temporal lobe.
- Language (LĂNG-gwij) and Speech (spēch): Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area are involved in speech and language. See Figure 16.7 [10] for an illustration of the location of Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area in the brain. Both areas are found in a person’s dominant hemisphere, which for most people is the left side of the brain. Aphasia (ă-FĀ-zh-ē-ă) is the inability to speak. Aphasia associated with Broca’s area is known as an expressive aphasia (eks-PRĒS-ĭv ă-FĀ-zh-ē-ă), which means that speech production is compromised, leading to broken, slow, or hesitant speech. Receptive aphasia (rĭ-SEP-tĭv ă-FĀ-zh-ē-ă) is associated with Wernicke’s area, which is a loss of understanding of speech content.
- Sensorium (sĕn-SAWR-ē-ŭm): Sensorium refers to interpretation of sensory stimuli, as previously discussed in this section. The cerebral cortex has several regions responsible for sensory perception.
- Abstract reasoning (ăb-străkt RĒ-zŏn-ĭng) and judgment (JŬJ-mĕnt): Abstract reasoning and judgment refer to making sense of concepts and making appropriate decisions. For example, when your alarm goes off in the morning, you must decide whether to hit the snooze button or jump out of bed. You use judgement and abstract reasoning to decide if the ten extra minutes of sleep is worth rushing through your morning routine or risking being late. The decision you make can potentially impact the rest of your day. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for these functions of planning and making decisions. [11]
- This work is a derivative of Anatomy & Physiology by OpenStax and is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Access for free at https://openstax.org/details/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e ↵
- This work is a derivative of Anatomy and Physiology by OpenStax licensed under CC BY 4.0. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology/pages/1-introduction ↵
- This work is a derivative of Anatomy and Physiology by OpenStax licensed under CC BY 4.0. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology/pages/1-introduction ↵
- This work is a derivative of Anatomy and Physiology by OpenStax licensed under CC BY 4.0. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology/pages/1-introduction ↵
- This work is a derivative of Anatomy and Physiology by OpenStax licensed under CC BY 4.0. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology/pages/1-introduction ↵
- This work is a derivative of Anatomy and Physiology by OpenStax licensed under CC BY 4.0. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology/pages/1-introduction ↵
- This work is a derivative of Anatomy and Physiology by OpenStax licensed under CC BY 4.0. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology/pages/1-introduction ↵
- This work is a derivative of Anatomy and Physiology by OpenStax licensed under CC BY 4.0. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology/pages/1-introduction ↵
- This work is a derivative of Anatomy and Physiology by OpenStax licensed under CC BY 4.0. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology/pages/1-introduction ↵
- “ 1605_Brocas_and_Wernickes_Areas-02.jpg ” by OpenStax College is licensed under CC BY 3.0 ↵
- This work is a derivative of Anatomy and Physiology by OpenStax licensed under CC BY 4.0. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology/pages/1-introduction ↵


6.5: §49. Other Noun-forming Suffixes (-IA, -MONIUM)
In the three previous sections, you have seen the most important ways of deriving Latin nouns from Latin adjectives. Later in the course you will meet other noun-forming suffixes that are added to verb bases. There are two morphemes which Latin uses mainly to turn concrete nouns into abstract nouns, but does occasionally attach to adjective bases. One is the suffix -IA , joined to noun bases in milit-ia (< miles , milit-is , “soldier”), custod-ia (< custos, custod-is , “guard”; English custody) , and in-somn-ia (< somnus , “sleep”). This morpheme is added to adjective bases in memor-ia (< memor , “mindful”) and inert-ia (< iners, inert-is , “sluggish”). Another suffix that has affected English is – MONIUM , which Latin usually adds (by means of a connecting vowel) to nouns: English matrimony and patrimony come from matr-i-monium and patr-i-monium ; testimony from test-i-monium (< test-is , “witness”); and acrimony from acr-i-monium (< acer , acr-is , an adjective meaning “sharp”). Alimony and parsimony go back to Latin verb bases that mean “nurture” and “scrimp,” respectively. From the not-so-private life of actor Lee Marvin, English acquired the amusing BLEND [1] palimony . Needless to say, Latin had no “palimonium.” [2]
-
A BLEND, known also as a PORTMANTEAU word, runs two other words into a single combined form—here,
pal + alimony
; cf.
smoke + fog = smog
. It was Lewis Carroll, a master of the art, who coined the term “portmanteau” in
Through the Looking-Glass
(where Humpty Dumpty is explaining to Alice the strange words in “Jabberwocky.”) ↵
-
Don’t try to force
pandemonium
into the -
monium
category. Its Miltonic source is a Greek compound noun that will be seen later. (And it doesn’t mean “a place for pandas”!) ↵


18.1: Static Electricity and Charge - Conservation of Charge
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Define electric charge, and describe how the two types of charge interact.
- Describe three common situations that generate static electricity.
- State the law of conservation of charge.
What makes plastic wrap cling? Static electricity. Not only are applications of static electricity common these days, its existence has been known since ancient times. The first record of its effects dates to ancient Greeks who noted more than 500 years B.C. that polishing amber temporarily enabled it to attract bits of straw (Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\)). The very word electric derives from the Greek word for amber ( electron ).
Many of the characteristics of static electricity can be explored by rubbing things together. Rubbing creates the spark you get from walking across a wool carpet, for example. Static cling generated in a clothes dryer and the attraction of straw to recently polished amber also result from rubbing. Similarly, lightning results from air movements under certain weather conditions. You can also rub a balloon on your hair, and the static electricity created can then make the balloon cling to a wall. We also have to be cautious of static electricity, especially in dry climates. When we pump gasoline, we are warned to discharge ourselves (after sliding across the seat) on a metal surface before grabbing the gas nozzle. Attendants in hospital operating rooms must wear booties with a conductive strip of aluminum foil on the bottoms to avoid creating sparks which may ignite flammable anesthesia gases combined with the oxygen being used.
Some of the most basic characteristics of static electricity include:
- The effects of static electricity are explained by a physical quantity not previously introduced, called electric charge.
- There are only two types of charge, one called positive and the other called negative.
- Like charges repel, whereas unlike charges attract.
- The force between charges decreases with distance.
How do we know there are two types of electric charge ? When various materials are rubbed together in controlled ways, certain combinations of materials always produce one type of charge on one material and the opposite type on the other. By convention, we call one type of charge “positive”, and the other type “negative.” For example, when glass is rubbed with silk, the glass becomes positively charged and the silk negatively charged. Since the glass and silk have opposite charges, they attract one another like clothes that have rubbed together in a dryer. Two glass rods rubbed with silk in this manner will repel one another, since each rod has positive charge on it. Similarly, two silk cloths so rubbed will repel, since both cloths have negative charge. Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\) shows how these simple materials can be used to explore the nature of the force between charges.
More sophisticated questions arise. Where do these charges come from? Can you create or destroy charge? Is there a smallest unit of charge? Exactly how does the force depend on the amount of charge and the distance between charges? Such questions obviously occurred to Benjamin Franklin and other early researchers, and they interest us even today.
Charge Carried by Electrons and Protons
Franklin wrote in his letters and books that he could see the effects of electric charge but did not understand what caused the phenomenon. Today we have the advantage of knowing that normal matter is made of atoms, and that atoms contain positive and negative charges, usually in equal amounts.
Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\) shows a simple model of an atom with negative electrons orbiting its positive nucleus. The nucleus is positive due to the presence of positively charged protons . Nearly all charge in nature is due to electrons and protons, which are two of the three building blocks of most matter. (The third is the neutron, which is neutral, carrying no charge.) Other charge-carrying particles are observed in cosmic rays and nuclear decay, and are created in particle accelerators. All but the electron and proton survive only a short time and are quite rare by comparison.
The charges of electrons and protons are identical in magnitude but opposite in sign. Furthermore, all charged objects in nature are integral multiples of this basic quantity of charge, meaning that all charges are made of combinations of a basic unit of charge. Usually, charges are formed by combinations of electrons and protons. The magnitude of this basic charge is
\[|q_e|=1.60\times 10^{-19}C \nonumber\]
The symbol \(q\) is commonly used for charge and the subscript \(e\) indicates the charge of a single electron (or proton).
The SI unit of charge is the coulomb (C). The number of protons needed to make a charge of 1.00 C is
\[1.00C\times \dfrac{1 proton}{1.60\times 10^{-19}C}=6.25\times 10^{18} protons \nonumber\]
Similarly, \(6.25\times 10^{18}\) electrons have a combined charge of −1.00 coulomb. Just as there is a smallest bit of an element (an atom), there is a smallest bit of charge. There is no directly observed charge smaller than \(∣q_e∣\) (see Things Great and Small: The Submicroscopic Origin of Charge), and all observed charges are integral multiples of \(∣ q_e ∣\).
THINGS GREAT AND SMALL: THE SUBMICROSCOPIC ORIGIN OF CHARGE
With the exception of exotic, short-lived particles, all charge in nature is carried by electrons and protons. Electrons carry the charge we have named negative. Protons carry an equal-magnitude charge that we call positive. (Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\)) Electron and proton charges are considered fundamental building blocks, since all other charges are integral multiples of those carried by electrons and protons. Electrons and protons are also two of the three fundamental building blocks of ordinary matter. The neutron is the third and has zero total charge.
Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\) shows a person touching a Van de Graaff generator and receiving excess positive charge. The expanded view of a hair shows the existence of both types of charges but an excess of positive. The repulsion of these positive like charges causes the strands of hair to repel other strands of hair and to stand up. The further blowup shows an artist’s conception of an electron and a proton perhaps found in an atom in a strand of hair.
The electron seems to have no substructure; in contrast, when the substructure of protons is explored by scattering extremely energetic electrons from them, it appears that there are point-like particles inside the proton. These sub-particles, named quarks, have never been directly observed, but they are believed to carry fractional charges as seen in Figure \(\PageIndex{5}\). Charges on electrons and protons and all other directly observable particles are unitary, but these quark substructures carry charges of either \(-\dfrac{1}{3}\) or \(+\dfrac{2}{3}\). There are continuing attempts to observe fractional charge directly and to learn of the properties of quarks, which are perhaps the ultimate substructure of matter.
Separation of Charge in Atoms
Charges in atoms and molecules can be separated—for example, by rubbing materials together. Some atoms and molecules have a greater affinity for electrons than others and will become negatively charged by close contact in rubbing, leaving the other material positively charged. (Figure \(\PageIndex{6}\)) Positive charge can similarly be induced by rubbing. Methods other than rubbing can also separate charges. Batteries, for example, use combinations of substances that interact in such a way as to separate charges. Chemical interactions may transfer negative charge from one substance to the other, making one battery terminal negative and leaving the first one positive.
No charge is actually created or destroyed when charges are separated as we have been discussing. Rather, existing charges are moved about. In fact, in all situations the total amount of charge is always constant. This universally obeyed law of nature is called the law of conservation of charge .
LAW OF CONSERVATION OF CHARGE
Total charge is constant in any process.
In more exotic situations, such as in particle accelerators, mass, \(\Delta m\), can be created from energy in the amount \(\Delta m=\dfrac{E}{c^{2}}\). Sometimes, the created mass is charged, such as when an electron is created. Whenever a charged particle is created, another having an opposite charge is always created along with it, so that the total charge created is zero. Usually, the two particles are “matter-antimatter” counterparts. For example, an antielectron would usually be created at the same time as an electron. The antielectron has a positive charge (it is called a positron), and so the total charge created is zero. (Figure \(\PageIndex{7}\)) All particles have antimatter counterparts with opposite signs. When matter and antimatter counterparts are brought together, they completely annihilate one another. By annihilate, we mean that the mass of the two particles is converted to energy E , again obeying the relationship \(\Delta m=\dfrac{E}{c^{2}}\). Since the two particles have equal and opposite charge, the total charge is zero before and after the annihilation; thus, total charge is conserved.
MAKING CONNECTIONS: CONSERVATION LAWS
Only a limited number of physical quantities are universally conserved. Charge is one—energy, momentum, and angular momentum are others. Because they are conserved, these physical quantities are used to explain more phenomena and form more connections than other, less basic quantities. We find that conserved quantities give us great insight into the rules followed by nature and hints to the organization of nature. Discoveries of conservation laws have led to further discoveries, such as the weak nuclear force and the quark substructure of protons and other particles.
The law of conservation of charge is absolute—it has never been observed to be violated. Charge, then, is a special physical quantity, joining a very short list of other quantities in nature that are always conserved. Other conserved quantities include energy, momentum, and angular momentum.
PHET EXPLORATIONS: BALLOONS AND STATIC ELECTRICITY
Why does a balloon stick to your sweater? Rub a balloon on a sweater, then let go of the balloon and it flies over and sticks to the sweater. View the charges in the sweater, balloons, and the wall.
Summary
- There are only two types of charge, which we call positive and negative.
- Like charges repel, unlike charges attract, and the force between charges decreases with the square of the distance.
- The vast majority of positive charge in nature is carried by protons, while the vast majority of negative charge is carried by electrons.
- The electric charge of one electron is equal in magnitude and opposite in sign to the charge of one proton.
- An ion is an atom or molecule that has nonzero total charge due to having unequal numbers of electrons and protons.
- The SI unit for charge is the coulomb (C), with protons and electrons having charges of opposite sign but equal magnitude; the magnitude of this basic charge \(|q_{e}|\) is
- \(|q_{e}|=1.60\times 10^{-19}C\)
- Whenever charge is created or destroyed, equal amounts of positive and negative are involved.
- Most often, existing charges are separated from neutral objects to obtain some net charge.
- Both positive and negative charges exist in neutral objects and can be separated by rubbing one object with another. For macroscopic objects, negatively charged means an excess of electrons and positively charged means a depletion of electrons.
- The law of conservation of charge ensures that whenever a charge is created, an equal charge of the opposite sign is created at the same time.
Glossary
- electric charge
- a physical property of an object that causes it to be attracted toward or repelled from another charged object; each charged object generates and is influenced by a force called an electromagnetic force
- law of conservation of charge
- states that whenever a charge is created, an equal amount of charge with the opposite sign is created simultaneously
- electron
- a particle orbiting the nucleus of an atom and carrying the smallest unit of negative charge
- proton
- a particle in the nucleus of an atom and carrying a positive charge equal in magnitude and opposite in sign to the amount of negative charge carried by an electron


<IP_ADDRESS>: Semicolons
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Semicolons
The Semicolon: It’s Not a Strong Comma
It’s true. The semicolon is used for more things than just winking in text. ;)
One of the main uses of a semicolon is to separate two independent clauses.
The semicolon isn’t like a comma; it’s really more like a period. Using a semicolon like a comma can definitely create some trouble.
First, let’s take a step back and explain the difference between an independent clause and a dependent clause. An independent clause expresses a complete thought. An independent clause is usually called a sentence. Conversely, a dependent clause is a group of words that may contain a subject and verb but does not express a complete thought.
Examples:
Independent clause:
I ran quickly to escape the zombie I encountered on Main Street.
Dependent clause:
Although I ran quickly to escape the zombie I encountered on Main Street,
Can you see the difference?
The first example is a complete sentence, and the second example isn’t. Of course, we also know the first one has a happy ending, and we aren’t so sure about the second one.
So now that you understand what an independent clause is and that a semicolon connects two independent clauses, we can begin to look at how the semicolon can be used.
Joining Clauses
Semicolons to Join Clauses
You should use a semicolon when you’re joining two independent clauses without a connecting word. The semicolon functions, structurally, just like a period. The difference is that the semicolon between the two independent clauses shows they are connected, as illustrated in the following examples:
If you want me to vote for you, you are going to need to tell me what I want to hear; if you are lying, I guess I will worry about that later.
I am so tired of spending so much money on canned food for my zombie apocalypse hoard; I am pretty sure the grocery store clerks are laughing at me behind my back.
In Lists
Using Semicolons in Lists
So right after telling you that semicolons shouldn’t be used like commas, we should discuss one situation where the semicolon does function more like a comma. However, this is a very particular situation, so you’ll want to pay close attention.
You should use semicolons when you are separating items in a list that contain commas. Here is an example:
At the Comicon conference, I met Jeanne, from Dallas, Texas; James, from Bend, Oregon; and Stacey, from Bangor, Maine.
Because the items in the series contain commas themselves, it would be confusing to add more commas to the situation. In this particular instance, the semicolon separates the items in a series.
Tips from the Professor
Semicolons can feel a little confusing because sometimes they’re used to separate items in a series, as mentioned on the previous page, but they are really nothing like a comma. In terms of sentence structure, they can separate independent clauses, just like a period.
If you have the habit of using a semicolon like a comma, it’s important to work to break that habit. When you edit your writing, it’s a good idea to circle all of the semicolons you have used. Then, ask yourself why each semicolon is there. If you’re using it like a strong comma, you’ll need to revise.
The following video from the Grammar Professor can help you if you continue to struggle with semicolons.