Antarctica: Fact Sheet

Introduction
The continent of Antarctica is home to a uniquely beautiful and harsh environment that has changed little in the last 30 million years. The continent, approximately twice the size of Australia, lies mainly within the Antarctic circle and is surrounded by ocean. It is covered almost entirely by a sheet of ice and snow which has an average thickness of approximately 6,500 feet, comprising slightly more than 90% of the world's ice and 70% of the world's freshwater resources. This thick sheet of ice - also known as the ice cap - reflects most of the heat generated by the sun back into the atmosphere, leaving the continent with an annual mean temperature of -57º Fahrenheit. Antarctica is the world's coldest and most pristine environment. The continent is also the driest and windiest landmass on Earth; with winds reaching speeds of up to 200 miles per hour and areas where rain has not fallen in millions of years. Antarctica also is the highest continent on earth, with an average elevation of 7,380 feet.

Oil Exploration
Antarctica's serenely primitive wilderness faces an uncertain future as debate continues over the question of tapping into the continent's wealth of mineral resources. Beginning in the early 1950s, scientists began to notice the value inherent in such an unusual and largely undiscovered continent and began establishing research stations there. By 1958, the International Geophysical Year (IGY) saw twelve countries establish over 60 bases, both on and around the Antarctic continent, with some countries claiming parts of Antarctica as sovereign territory. The countries initially involved in the scientific body known as the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) included the United States, Chile, Argentina, Norway, France, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Belgium, Russia and Japan. SCAR now includes Germany and Poland as members of the organization which aims to coordinate a number of scientific and working group programs and to further facilitate the sharing and planning of scientific information relating to Antarctic research, such as Climate Change.

The successful establishment of SCAR and the IGY in Antarctica was due in large part to cooperation between the countries involved, and led directly to the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in 1959, which has administered Antarctic affairs since 1961 when it officially entered into force. The Antarctic Treaty, signed during mounting Cold War tensions, successfully banned all military activity, nuclear testing, and the dumping of radioactive materials on the continent. The 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, also known as the Madrid Protocol, entered into force in 1998 and serves as an additional mechanism for ensuring the protection of the Antarctic environment. The Madrid Protocol goes further than the original treaty as it designates Antarctica as a natural reserve devoted to peace and science and places a moratorium on mining and drilling for oil for a minimum of 50 years. The Protocol sets forth basic principles and detailed, mandatory rules which apply to all human activities in Antarctica.

The call for an environmental protocol to the Antarctic Treaty came after scientists discovered large deposits of natural resources such as coal, natural gas and offshore oil reserves in the early 1980s. Antarctica is considered to be part of the theoretical super-continent known as Gondwanaland, which separated near the end of the Paleozoic era and consisted of South America, Africa and Australia. And, because it once was completely covered in vegetation, many scientists believe it may hold one of the last supergiant oil fields yet to be discovered. The continental shelf of Antarctica is considered to hold the region's greatest potential for oil exploration projects, and although estimates vary as to the abundance of oil in Antarctica, the Weddell and Ross Sea areas alone are expected to possess 50 billion barrels of oil - an amount roughly equivalent to that of Alaska's estimated reserves. However, Antarctica's extreme conditions make oil field accessibility in many areas economically problematic.

Nevertheless, following the energy crisis of the 1970s, several oil companies looked to Antarctica as a possible solution to future world oil shortages by announcing plans to exploit the continent's resources. The necessary conditions for economically-sound oil production projects were beginning to ripen along with high oil prices and demand, and improved drilling technology. The prospect that Antarctica's fragile wildnerness could be tainted as a result of oil exploration and drilling activities resulted in the mobilization of several conservation groups who were intent on preserving the continent's status as the most pristine in the world.

On January 28, 1989 the Bahia Paraiso, an Argentine navy transport ship hauling supplies and tourists, ran aground approximately two miles off the coast of Antarctica in the vicinity of Palmer Station. Although no one aboard the ship was injured, the wreck proved to be a setback for the nearby coastal ecosystem, as a 30-foot gash in the ship's double-walled hull released some 250,000 gallons of diesel fuel and other petroleum products into the surrounding area. The effects from the fuel spill on the local flora and fauna were mostly limited to various sea bird, krill and moss populations, with few populations seeing mortality rates greater than 20%. Because the Bahia Paraiso spill was reportedly the first known accident of its kind in the Antarctic region, the accident alarmed environmental groups, which viewed the incident as a foreshadowing of future accidents if trends in tourism and ship transport were to continue at their current pace along the continental fringe.

The devastating March 24, 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound two months later sent an even stronger alarm around the world to dozens of international environmental organizations for the need to protect Antarctica's unique environment from similar accidents. Although avoiding altogether the issue of sovereignty claims, the development of the 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty is viewed as a model for future environmental treaties which employ the precautionary principle towards natural resource exploration.

Climate Change
Because of its influence on world weather and climate patterns, Antarctica lies at the heart of the debate on climate change and has become the premier location in which to study the effects of global warming. Over the course of the past 50 years, Antarctica's average year-round temperature has warmed by about 3-4 degrees Fahrenheit - more than 10 times the average worldwide increase during that period. As a result of these increases in temperature (which are not necessarily the result of global warming), the Antarctic continent has experienced changes in its landscape and ecology. Scientists are also concerned that with such dramatic increases in the icy continent's temperature, significant rises in global sea levels could occur if Antarctica's thick polar ice sheet melts. The West Antarctic ice sheet alone, if melted, could raise average sea levels around the world by about 20 feet, resulting in the flooding of low-lying coastal zones.

Despite the numerous scientific research bases located on the continent, Antarctica produces negligible amounts of greenhouse gases and is not considered to be a significant contributer to the problem of global warming. In 1998, Antarctica produced 0.06 million metric tons of carbon, 100% of which came from the burning of petroleum fuel products. Carbon dioxide is the chief culprit among the greenhouse gases, which are blamed for contributing to a process called global warming. The theory of global warming states that as carbon dioxide and other 'greenhouse gases' continue to accumulate in the earth's atmosphere, the earth's natural warming process known as the 'greenhouse effect' is intensified, thus resulting in higher global temperatures.

The effects of climate change on Antarctica vary from migrations of seal and penguin populations to other parts of the continent to abrupt changes in the glacial landscape. In March, 2000 the Larson B ice shelf in northern Antarctica - an area the size of Delaware - broke away from the continent and retreated into the sea. Similarly, in January, 1995, the Larson A ice shelf calved away from the continent, disappearing into the sea and bringing with it part of an Argentine base camp. Ice shelf instability is created as a result of higher sea and air temperatures, and a number of northern ice shelves have displayed similar trends such as the Wordie, Muller and Prince Gustav Channel shelves.

Perhaps most vulnerable to the effects of Antarctic climate change are the continent's wildlife populations. Increasing temperatures, less ice, and more snowfall have altered the patterns and habitats of several Antarctic species, such as the southern fur and elephant seals and Adelie and Chinstrap penguins. Although the past 20 years have seen an increase in the numbers of Chinstrap penguins on the continent, the opposite is true for the Adelie penguin. As temperatures have increased, removing significant portions of sea ice, krill (a tiny shrimp-like crustacean) populations in certain areas have decreased significantly due to a reduction in the amount of their food source - algae - which grows on the bottom of sea ice. As krill is one of the mainstays of the Adelie penguin diet, the Adelie penguin population has decreased by almost 50% in some areas. Rising Antarctic temperatures also have resulted in more snowfall on the continent; making breeding difficult for the ice-loving Adelie penguins. Seal populations, on the other hand, have benefited from the reduction in sea ice as they prefer breeding and feeding in open waters. Several seal populations in Antarctica have increased their numbers by over 300% in the last 20 years.

Fascinating Facts about Antarctica

By Region & Empire
(separately):

The Power of Positive Thinking

Key Point
You are what you think. You feel what you want.

Why Think Positively?

All of our feelings, beliefs and knowledge are based on our internal thoughts, both conscious and subconscious. We are in control, whether we know it or not.

Aim high and do your best

We can be positive or negative, enthusiastic or dull, active or passive.

The biggest difference between people is their attitudes. For some, learning is enjoyable and exciting. For others, learning is a drudgery. For many, learning is just okay, something required on the road to a job.

"Most folks are about as happy as they
make up their minds to be."
Abraham Lincoln

Our present attitudes are habits, built from the feedback of parents, friends, society and self, that form our self-image and our world-image.

These attitudes are maintained by the inner conversations we constantly have with ourselves, both consciously and subconsciously.

The first step in changing our attitudes is to change our inner conversations.

What Should We Be Saying?

One approach is called the three C's: Commitment, Control and Challenge.

Commitment
Make a positive commitment to yourself, to learning, work, family, friends, nature, and other worthwhile causes. Praise yourself and others. Dream of success. Be enthusiastic.

Control
Keep your mind focused on important things. Set goals and priorities for what you think and do. Visualize to practice your actions. Develop a strategy for dealing with problems. Learn to relax. Enjoy successes. Be honest with yourself.

Challenge
Be courageous. Change and improve each day. Do your best and don't look back. See learning and change as opportunities. Try new things. Consider several options. Meet new people. Ask lots of questions. Keep track of your mental and physical health. Be optimistic.

Studies show that people with these characteristics are winners in good times and survivors in hard times.

Research shows that,
"... people who begin consciously to modify their inner conversations and assumptions report an almost immediate improvement in their performance. Their energy increases and things seem to go better ..."

Commitment, control and challenge help build self-esteem and promote positive thinking. Here are some other suggestions.

7 Suggestions for Building Positive Attitudes

• In every class, look for positive people to associate with.
  
• In every lecture, look for one more interesting idea.
  
• In every chapter, find one more concept important to you.
  
• With every friend, explain a new idea you've just learned.
  
• With every teacher, ask a question.
  
• With yourself, keep a list of your goals, positive thoughts and actions.
  
• Remember, you are what you think, you feel what you want.

        Reading Books Is Important To Development

Reading is important for many reasons. Some of these reasons are very practical, while others less tangible, and not so obvious. When we teach our children to read at an early age and to improve their reading we are preparing them to be productive adults in the future.

Not only is reading a required skill to complete school and then university it is also a needed skill in adult hood. The ability to read and learn new things through out your life keeps your brain young and health.

With the ability to read comes the ability to understand and comprehend new subject matter that you have not previously been expose do. Perhaps you have a health problem you wish to research. If you can read well you can learn plenty about your health issue.

People that predict the future previously predicted that printed material would go by the way side with the advent of higher technology. In fact the opposite has occurred. With the advent of the internet more and more reading is required on a daily basis. There will never be the paperless society that was once believed to be just around the corner.

Rather what the computer has done is give the operator’s the ability to take data and reproduce it over and over in different reports and documents. So rather than decreasing the amount of reading it has actually increased the amount of reading. Because computers have the ability to endlessly analyze we know can read on endlessly.

When you are surfing around the internet reading various information you must have a good level of reading in order to sore through the information, sorting out authentic information from junk. As important as reading is, you must also be able to think critically to help determine truth from fiction.

It’s a known fact that the more children read the better they can read. The more they can read and the better the comprehension becomes the more they enjoy reading. Reading actually becomes much more than a fundamental need. It becomes an enjoyable pass time.

If you get your children to read out loud they will learn proper grammar and pronunciation. Reading out loud enhances their spoken language development and helps them learn to express themselves clearly and concisely.

By exposing your children to books, magazines, and the web your children will be exposed to new words. Even if they don’t quite understand the work they will figure it out through association or the use of a dictionary. This not only allows their vocabulary to grow it deepens their level of understanding.

Reading opens doors for your child that will continue through to adulthood. They can learn about things that interest them but that they are not able to physically explore. Space is a great example. Perhaps your child has an interest in the stars. Well of course they cannot visit the other solar systems but by being able to read they can bring the solar systems to them and learning can be a lifetime adventure. And of course with the web the amount of free information available has grown by leaps and bounds.

So with books or any form of reading no longer do far away places need to be foreign or not understood. This has another added benefit. As adults the more we understand the more accepting we are and the less afraid we become of the unknown which is no longer unknown.

You’ve all heard the term “global village.” This is how the world is now seen. With technology came the ability to unite with people from another part of the globe. And when you feel in touch with another culture you tend to care a great deal more about what happens to them. They become real and exist in your world. So improved reading can actually lead to a more peaceful world.

Books also allow children to roll play. They can pretend they are a King, a great warrior, a caveman. They can place themselves in the story. Look what has become with Harry Potter. The phenomenon grew like wild fire and not just movie attendance. The books have sold in record numbers. Because reading gives you the chance to engulf yourself in the story and become part of it.

Reading can also enhance a child’s social skills. Although reading is normally a solitary activity it can be a social activity as well. A parent reading to a child encourages social interaction. A class room that has a reading hour encourages social interaction. Reading groups bring children together to read and discuss books which are excellent for developing social skills, especially analytical social skills.

E-books which are found on line can improve your child’s fine motor skills and their eye hand coordination. They must type click and pick. Move forward, backwards, and otherwise interact with their screen and keyboard to get the material they want.

As you can see reading is a vital skill that all children need to master. Do your child a favor and spend extra time with them to help them learn to read. There is no other skill you will teach your child that will have as much impact throughout their life. Once your children appreciate the magic of reading a whole new world opens up to them. Reading does matter!

Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory. This means that as a publisher you may reprint the articles that are included in our site, as long as the article is unedited and the author box is included with it's live hyperlinks.

Curing Gout — My Personal Discovery

Guess what! I stumbled on a way to cure my gout! It happened when I cured my sleep apnea!

What’s The Connection?

     A gout attack is caused when uric acid reaches such high concentration in the blood that it precipitates as monosodium urate crystals which then become deposited in a joint, often causing severe and widespread pain and inflammation in that joint and the area surrounding it. Sleep apnea (literally, absence of breathing) in adults occurs when the tissues around the soft palate and the pharynx have become flabby usually due to age and/or obesity, so that they relax during sleep sufficiently to close off the air passage to the lungs. Usually, after many seconds of apnea the reduction of oxygen to the brain causes an unconscious response that jolts the sleeper to open the airway so that breathing is restored, at least until the next apnea episode occurs a short while later. Almost everyone who has sleep apnea is also a snorer, but not all snorers have sleep apnea. Sleep apnea in particular and sleep disorders in general have been recognized as problems by the medical profession only in the last few decades. Much more remains to be learned.

     So what could be the connection between sleep apnea and gout? I asked every physician I came in contact with that question, including my rheumatologist (joint disease specialist). All were clueless. But I trusted my own observation that my gout disappeared immediately and completely as a direct result of my sleep apnea cure. As of this writing I have been gout free for over sixteen months, except for one event, which I will describe later. Before my sleep apnea cure I would have gout attacks every few weeks, with varying degrees of severity, over a period of at least fifteen years.

     After realizing the connection between my gout and sleep apnea, and that no doctors recognized the connection, I began researching as much information as I could about these conditions. I was able to piece together information from articles in medical journals that confirm the connection. This information was first published around 1990, but nobody pieced it together until now. I sure wish that I had known about it years ago, so that my gout would have alerted me to resolve my sleep apnea before it led to any serious problems. For everyone else's benefit, I have included a list of references to those medical journal items at the end of this article, as well as one that I wrote recently to synopsize this information for doctors. In layman’s language, they describe how reduction of oxygen in the blood, which results from sleep apnea, has been shown to cause the cells in the body to begin to disintegrate and generate an excess of uric acid in the blood. Drinking alcohol has a similar effect on the cells, but it may be even more pronounced in causing gout by the fact that alcohol helps to induce sleep apnea. In some people, including me, the excess uric acid precipitates to cause a gout attack (and maybe uric acid kidney stones as well.)

     Other evidence that further corroborates their connection is that the typical (with some exceptions) profile of the person who first experiences either gout or sleep apnea is the same—MOM (middle-aged, overweight, male). Second, sleep apnea and gout are both far more common in women after menopause than before menopause. In addition, a large neck circumference is associated with both gout and sleep apnea. The most important piece of evidence, though, is that the onset of a gout attack commonly occurs when the gout sufferer is asleep. That was always my own experience as well.

     I don’t know how commonplace this connection is in other people. One other person has posted a web message at www.sleepnet.com/apnea81/messages/648.html about his gout disappearing when he resolved his obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Former U.S. President Taft is known to have had gout and is now reputed to have had sleep apnea, because his own journals record him frequently falling asleep at meetings. But sleep apnea was not known in Taft’s time. Of the four acquaintances of mine who have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, none has ever had gout. (None of us is obese either, even though sleep apnea is much more common in obese people.) In fact, the percentage of people that have gout is much smaller than the percentage that have sleep apnea. Thus, it is clear to me that there is not a one-to-one correspondence between gout and sleep apnea or obesity. Yet to be determined is how high a percentage of gout sufferers also have sleep apnea, and vice versa. Some gout sufferers test high for uric acid in their blood. My tests were always normal, and maybe that is a factor that distinguishes those with the sleep apnea connection from those with a different underlying cause for their gout. Medical science needs to conduct some epidemiological studies to answer these questions.

How I Discovered My Sleep Apnea

     My discovery of sleep apnea occurred because of an astute physician who was treating me in the hospital for another ailment, and he knew that sleep apnea was implicated in that ailment. In the presence of my wife, he asked if I snore. Before I could respond, she jumped in quickly with a passionate and animated description of my snoring. Then the doctor turned his questioning to her, and he paid as much attention to me as he did to the furniture. He next asked her if it ever seems like I stop breathing in my sleep, and she replied affirmatively.

     I am extremely grateful that my wife was there to answer that question. I knew that I had been accused of snoring, and I begrudgingly accepted that as fact. I thought I knew what sleep apnea was, but if anyone were to ask me if I had it, I would have said no. My limited knowledge of sleep apnea was that people who had it would nod off during the day, and even fall asleep while driving. Since I didn’t have those symptoms, I thought that I didn’t have sleep apnea. I now know that a person can have sleep apnea without those symptoms.

     This physician arranged a consultation for me with a pulmonologist (lungs)/sleep specialist who had me tested overnight with a monitoring device called a pulse oximeter. This machine had a cable attached to a sensor that slips over a finger, and illuminates it like ET’s finger. It is not uncomfortable to be connected to it. It measures both the pulse rate and the blood’s oxygen saturation percentage. The machine that was attached to me was able to print out a reading every few minutes on a thermal paper tape so that my overnight readings were recorded for examination in the morning. The first sign of a possible sleep apnea problem is to see if overnight the oxygen saturation level ever dips below 90%. Mine dipped down to 80%. I was recommended to have further, more extensive testing as an outpatient in the hospital’s sleep lab. But to me the problem was clear, and worrisome.

How I Cured My Sleep Apnea

     At the sleep lab I was attached to many types of sensors all over my head and body to monitor many things overnight, including sleep apnea. I found out in that test that my blood oxygen saturation level had dipped as low as 88%. It was still below the 90% target, but I wondered why it was so much higher than the 80% measured in the hospital.

     In my investigation of sleep apnea, I learned that an effective remedy for some people is to avoid sleeping on one’s back, since in that position the airway is more likely to become closed. It just so happened that when I went to the sleep lab I was engaged in a bout with sciatica that was more painful when I slept on my back, so I tried not to sleep that way. Previously in the hospital, however, I didn’t have the sciatica pain, and I purposely slept on my back to avoid disturbing my IV drip. While I was in the hospital I had a gout attack. I subsequently learned that gout sufferers are more likely to have an attack in the hospital than at home. I now know why.

     There are established methods to allow sleep apneacs to avoid sleeping on their backs. One method is to insert a tennis ball in a sock and pin the sock to the back of one’s pajama tops. The idea of this method is to arouse the sleeper by the ball’s discomfort if he ever turns over onto his back. Since I don’t like to wear pajama tops, I cut two slits in a tennis ball through which I slipped an elastic belt. When I went to bed I buckled the belt around my torso with the ball in the back.

     In order to test the effectiveness of my method, I rented a tape-printout pulse oximeter from a medical supply company for $50 (not covered by my health insurance) to use for several nights in my own bed. With the ball, my lowest reading was 94%. I tested without the ball one night and found several times when my percentage dropped to 87%, even though I tried to sleep lying always on my side.

     During subsequent use of my belt and tennis ball method, I found that I would occasionally awaken lying on my back with the ball pushed aside. I upgraded my method to straddle my spine using the belt with two tennis balls, one of which I jokingly labeled "Venus" and the second of which I labeled "Serena". Since then I introduced a second upgrade by replacing the tennis balls by Wiffle® perforated plastic softballs*. Compared to the slitted tennis balls, the Wiffle® balls are larger, less compressible, lighter weight, come with the slits built into them, and dry faster after washing. The one time that I suffered a gout attack with the balls in place, I awakened to find my neck turned so that my body was lying on its side and my head on its back, my wife was complaining about my excessively loud snoring, and my foot was screaming with the searing pain of gout.

     I know that avoiding sleeping on one’s back is not sufficient to prevent apnea for many sleep apneacs. There are other methods that are much less user friendly, such as a pressurized CPAP mask or even surgery. The ball method is the simplest and most user-friendly one that I know, and I could demonstrate its effectiveness for me by my own testing. And I continue to demonstrate its effectiveness by remaining cured of gout.

      In order to mitigate my gout, my physicians had advised me to avoid eating foods with high purine content. Following that advice produced at best minimal benefit for me. The foods that I used to avoid, I now eat with relish, and I have had no gout attacks. What matters is not how I eat, but how I sleep.

Epilogue

     It is now more than 18 months after I first cured my sleep apnea by using the ball method to keep me from sleeping on my back. For the past four weeks I have tried sleeping without a net, so to speak, to see if I had trained myself well enough to stay off my back without the balls. It worked - no gout. I just rented a pulse oximeter again for four nights to see if the numbers were good. They're great!

Recommendation

     If you suffer from gout, check with your doctor about getting tested for sleep apnea. If your doctor needs convincing, provide him or her with the list of references below. Based on my own doctor's new results from screening his gout patients for sleep apnea, it appears that almost everyone with gout also has sleep apnea. While overcoming your gout is important to achieve, overcoming your sleep apnea is even more important because sleep apnea can have life-threatening consequences over the long term, such as high blood pressure, heart arrhythmia, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and even sudden death, as happened with former football great Reggie White. Overcoming your sleep apnea not only will stop your gout, but it also will greatly reduce your risk of future development of these life-threatening diseases. Heed the alarm that your gout is screaming at you!

         
*WIFFLE is a registered trademark owned by The Wiffle Ball, Inc., Shelton, CT, and is used with the written permission of that company.
         

References

[1] Abrams B. Gout Is an Indicator of Sleep Apnea, Journal SLEEP Feb 2005;28(2):275.

[2] Grum CM. Cells in Crisis: Cellular Bioenergenics and Inadequate Oxygenation in the Intensive Care Unit, Chest 1992;102(2):329-30.

[3] Hasday JD, Grum CM. Nocturnal Increase of Urinary Uric Acid:Creatine Ratio: a Biological Correlate of Sleep-Associated Hypoxemia, American Review of Respiratory Diseases 1987;135:534-38.

[4] McKeon, JL.,et al “Urinary Uric Acid with Obstructive Sleep Apnea,” American Review of Respiratory Diseases 142 (1), 1990, pp. 8-13.

[5] Sahebjani, H., “Changes in Urinary Uric Acid Excretion in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Before and After Therapy with Nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure,” Chest 113(6), 1998, pp. 1604-1608.

[6] Saito, H., et al, “Tissue Hypoxia in Sleep Apnea Syndrome as Assessed by Uric Acid and Adenosine,” Chest 121 (55), November 1, 2002, pp. 1686-1694.

[7] Schafer, H., et al, “Body Fat Distribution, Serum Leptin, and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Men with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (Clinical Investigations),” Chest, Sept. 2002, pp. 829-839.

[8] Silverberg, DS., et al, “Treating Obstructive Sleep Apnea Improves Essential Hypertension and Quality of Life,” American Family Physician, Jan. 15, 2002, pp. 229-240.

[9] Brown, LK., “A Waist Is a Terrible Thing to Mind: Central Obesity, the Metabolic Syndrome, and Sleep Apnea Hypopnea Syndrome (editorial),” Chest, Sept. 2002, pp. 774-778.

[10] Khokhar, N., “Hyperuricemia and Gout in Secondary Polycythemia Due to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease,” Journal of Rheumatology 7(1), Jan.-Feb. 1980, pp.114-116.

[11] Khokhar, N., “Gouty Arthritis in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease,” Archives of Internal Medicine 142(4), Apr. 1982, p. 838.

Learning Technique

Y.Niraula

Preface

Studying is not a natural phenomenon. It is something, which has to be developed, and usually does not come natural to most people.

One of the biggest misconceptions about studying is the big mystery about how to do it. Another misconception is that some people are just naturally better at it than others. They seem to have been born with a gift that makes learning come easy for them.

In the public school system students are taught the three basic R’s: Reading, Riting and Rithmetic, but they are usually not taught how to study.

Learning how to ride a bicycle, to drive a car, or to do any similar type activity takes practice and needs to be approached with a plan and procedure for accomplishing the task. Learning to study is no different. It takes a plan, procedure, practice and a desire to be successful. Productive Study Techniques is designed to give you the tools needed to achieve proper study skills. The one very important element this technique does not have is motivation, which is where you come in. Without motivation learning will not occur. Productive Study Techniques will not work without a motivated learner. Learning requires work, effort, and a commitment to achievement. These ingredients can only be added by the learner.

This is a self-help textbook written in simple and easy-to-understand language. It is designed for someone who wants to learn. It offers no tricks or short-cuts. What it does offer is a systematic method for establishing a productive approach to learning. It will assist you in learning how to learn.

Productive Study Techniques is designed to eliminate poor study habits and replace them with productive ones that are adaptable to your needs and life style. It is designed to help you develop a method whereby you can learn and establish the skills needed to achieve success in forming productive study habits. You will learn ways to organize your approach to studying which will lead you to more effective and efficient study habits. It is not a quick fix approach to let you just get by. Nor is it an approach designed just to help you get better grades, even though it will. It is an approach concerned with the process of learning.

Productive Study Techniques is a blueprint for forming productive study skills for undergraduate, graduate and even doctoral level students. Even though this book was written with college students in mind, Productive Study Techniques is effective in learning any new material and lends itself to any type of studying needs.

Productive Study Techniques can be applied to any form of learning such as high school classes, the G.E.D (general education development) exam, or correspondence courses. It can help improve your career or even help you prepare for job advancement. This method is designed for any and all forms of learning.

Productive Study Techniques is a total approach to studying, and more importantly, to learning. The worse thing you can experience is the loss of some sleep. The best thing is you will learn something and, better yet, even learn how to learn. Productive Study Techniques will allow you to create productive study habits, which will ensure your learning success.

Dr. Lamon H. Small.

Introduction

This book was written to fill a void, a void, which lasted for many years. From grade school through the doctoral program, I was never taught how to study. The system was too busy teaching me and ignored my needs to learn how to learn. I was one of the majority who struggled with learning not because I did not have the ability but simply because I did not have the proper training on how to study the material I needed to learn.

College was going to be different, or at least I thought it was. Boy, was I fooled! I remember one of my first college classes where the instructor said, "The biggest problem students have in school is they do not know how to study." During the following years many other instructors made the same claim, though no one did anything about it.

Think back through your own years of education. Were you ever taught how to study? You had to do homework assignments, take tests, prepare book reports, and even give oral presentations. Do you remember being taught how to study? Even in college, everyone assumes you already have obtained the required skills that will guarantee your success in college. It is ironic that you are given all this knowledge and held responsible for it, yet the system overlooks telling you the best way to learn it.

After many years of struggling and a lot of trial and error, I developed a system that worked for me. It lessened the amount of time required to study and considerably increased my productivity and grade point average. The trick was not to study more but to study more wisely and to make the time I spent studying work for me. It is the quality of studying that counts; not the quantity of time spent studying. The key elements are ability, desire, motivation, attitude, and the proper study techniques. Ability by itself will not do it.

I also learned I was the one responsible for learning how to study. It was not the responsibility of the higher education system to teach me how to study. The responsibility was all mine.

When I sat at my desk (actually it was the kitchen table and sometimes even spread out on the bed) with all my study materials, I usually spent more time daydreaming than I did studying. Does this sound familiar? I took mental trips to the beach, fishing, or just daydreaming about anything and everything that had nothing in the world to do with studying. I spent hours, only going through the paces of studying. This is what I, like most students, called studying. What it really came down to was that I had spent very little time actually studying. I was not being productive at all.

It was not that I did not want to study; I just did not know how to study. I did not even know how to start the process. The only thing I had on my side was a determination to sit there until I learned the material. As I learned later, this is a good attitude to have but a poor approach to studying. You will learn it is not the amount of time spent studying that counts. Rather, it is being more efficient and effective with your time that is important. Getting the most out of your studying efforts means being productive when you study.

Those were extremely trying and confusing times. I made the same statement you probably have made after taking a test on which I did not do well: "I don’t know why I didn’t do well on that test; I spent hours studying." When, in fact, I had not. I had spent hours going through the paces but accomplishing very little productive studying. Therefore I did not learn the material.

Not doing well on a test that you think you have studied for can destroy self-confidence and make you doubt your own abilities. It can, if you let it, destroy your hopes and dreams. It may even create doubt about your abilities as a college student. This is one very important reason for creating productive study skills.

The more concerned you are with learning, the better your grades will be. There is a definite relationship between the amount of productive time spent studying and the grades earned. Grades are a reflection of how well you have learned the material.

Working in the college and university environment I have seen students who had spent many hours studying and still do poorly on exams for which they thought, or at least said, they were prepared. They became confused and frustrated when they received their poor grades. If this pattern continued, they usually became dropouts or students who did not live up to their potential. Most students in this situation will not seek any type of help. The sad part of this is they will struggle for no good reason.

Help is available. Learning to study is not as difficult as it is made out to be. Once you learn how to study, productive studying can be fun. That’s right, FUN! If you do not think learning is fun, then the first thing you have to do is change your attitude about the learning process. Poor study habits will cause a negative attitude about learning. It is now time to change that attitude.

You are very fortunate to live in a country that allows everyone the opportunity to better themselves through higher education. This country is so supportive of education for all that it not only makes education available to everyone, it even makes education mandatory for its youth.

You are allowed to fulfill your goals through college and vocational training. This country appropriates billions of dollars in financial aid to help those who could not attend college without some financial assistance.

With this commitment to education, it is ironic that we rank almost last in academic skills when compared to other countries. When educators are asked what the number one problem students have in school, they generally answer, "Students do not know how to study." This is your opportunity not to become a statistic.

College can and should be one of the best times of your life. College exposes you to new horizons, ideas, and concepts. It will change you as a person and change your entire life forever. This is why it is so important to have productive study skills that will allow you the time to enjoy college life. Productive Study Techniques will help lessen any undue stress associated with college. Remember that this is not just restricted to college. You can apply Productive Study Skills to any form of learning.

Chapter 1

Getting Started

There are many ingredients involved in creating good study habits. They include motivation, skills in reading, note taking, listening and test taking, among others. The most important of these ingredients is Motivation!

As with anything in life, if you are not motivated to do it, chances are you will not. Therefore, to be successful in forming productive study skills and becoming successful at it, you must first feel a need to achieve.

You will find that studying is not as difficult as you have been telling yourself. Learning to study is no different than learning anything new. You must first have a need to learn. You then go through those seemingly awkward steps, those where you are very conscious of what you are doing and seem somewhat uncomfortable about the process. It seems that you will never conquer it. Then once you learn the process or material, it becomes second nature and easy. It is then difficult to imagine that it was as hard a task as you once thought it was. It is no different with learning how to learn.

Replacing old, poor study habits with new, productive ones is not going to happen over night. The poor study habits you have are a product of many years of poor training, negative thinking, and negative feedback received from the process. The feelings you have about your abilities are also a product of those years of telling yourself you have poor study habits and not doing anything to correct them. Over the years you have probably created a learned helplessness attitude about your abilities.

How many times have you said that you are going to do something as soon as you get around to it? Well, you no longer have that excuse. Here it is!

With your new "Round To It" it is now time to start the learning process. Make a few copies of your "Round To It" and place them at your study area and other places as reminders.

You must have confidence in yourself. If you do not believe in yourself, then no one else will. Your success in college, as in life, depends on one person and one person only—YOU. It is no different with studying. You are the only one who can do anything about your study habits. Learning is no accident; it requires effort and planning. It does not occur overnight, and it involves an element of time and effort. It is the same as learning anything else. You have to learn how to learn. This requires a desire and a willingness to achieve.

Students usually feel that all material required to learn should be covered in the classroom. Some students think they can absorb enough during the class through osmosis (learning just by being exposed to the material) to learn enough to get by. The first problem with this is that it simply does not work. The second problem is learning involves much more than just getting by.

Learning does not take place in the classroom; instruction does. The classroom is only a catalyst to the learning process. It merely brings everything together. The majority of learning will occur during the studying process. The instructor in the classroom is there to help guide you through the learning process.

You probably have told yourself repeatedly that you have poor study habits. And more than likely you have convinced yourself you really do have poor study habits. You have created a self-fulfilling prophecy. That is, you have told yourself that you cannot, and now you are living up to your own beliefs and limited expectations. Once you have done this you have defeated yourself, and usually for no logical reason. Stop and think about it for a while. Really be honest with yourself. Do you have poor study habits or have you adopted that loser’s limp of "Well, I don’t do well because I just have poor study habits" or "I'm just not a good test taker." It becomes an easy way not to assume responsibility for yourself. That is about to change!

READING SKILLS

Reading skills are extremely important. Poor reading skills will dampen learning. You have a pretty good idea of your own reading skills. If not, you should be tested. This can be done in a number of ways.

If you are entering college, you will take an entrance exam. If you are currently enrolled in high school, consult your school counselor. If you are not currently enrolled in the public school system, check with the school board to see if there is a program offered to the public. If not, check with a local university or college. Testing can also be done through private sources such as a psychometrist or psychologist.

If you are not comfortable with your current level of reading skills, by all means now is the time to do something about them. If you are a slow reader or read material and have a problem with comprehending or retaining the information you read, then you need some assistance in improving your reading skills.

If this is your case, do not worry; there are many good programs to help improve reading skills. If you are currently attending college, check with the college counseling or advising office. If you do need help in reading, by all means do not delay. The better your reading skills the more effective you will be at studying.

WRITING SKILLS

Writing skills are no less important than any of the other skills needed to be successful. Writing skills do not seem that important during the process of studying, but they will help in writing out your notes and putting them in a more comprehensive format.

Writing skills will prove to be very important during essay tests, term papers, reports, and note taking. It is very important that you are able to express yourself in writing. Therefore, if your writing skills are not adequate, and most students’ writing skills are not, work on improving them. This can be accomplished through courses in English or writing or with the help from writing labs or tutors.

LISTENING SKILLS

Listening skills are not to be taken lightly or taken for granted. It is not a passive process of just sitting there quietly while someone else talks. Rather, it is an active process that requires motivation, skills, and practice. The following are some factors that will have an effect on your ability to pay attention and listen to a lecture.

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  • The instructor. Some will be easier to listen to than others will. With some, you will have to employ more listening skills.

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  • The material presentation. This will depend on the types of classes you are taking. These will range from large lecture-only classes with no student participation to small lecture classes that allow for more student-teacher interaction.

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  • The subject matter. The better you like the subject, the more apt you are to pay attention.

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  • Listener motivation. The listener must have a desire or interest in the material in order to apply the listening skills required to absorb that material.

Listening skills require a lot of practice to develop. You must first become aware of the fact that you must be attentive to what is being said and relate it to the course being taught.

Chapter 2

Learning

Let’s start with what learning is, and then look at learning in relation to performance. Performance is considered the better part of learning. Why? Well, to put it one way, that’s the way learning is measured. This is when learning is considered to have taken place.

Learning is a process of acquiring new information and knowledge. It can also involve the altering of information that has already been learned and also the relearning of old material. Learning requires a need or desire to acquire knowledge. To put it another way, the learner must be in a readiness state by being motivated to learn. Nothing can be accomplished without some form of learning taking place.

Learning requires motivation, time, and effort. Learning depends on the amount of attention exerted by the learner. Learning can be very disturbing and frustrating or it can be very exciting and fun. This usually depends on the material and the motivation of the learner.

New and learned knowledge is information that is unknown or not understood by the learner before the process of learning begins. There is a difference between knowing something and understanding something.

Basically there are three stages to the learning process: studying, learning, and understanding.

Studying is the process of the grouping together and organizing of the material to be learned. It is the basic process of memorizing the material.

Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge and knowing the material studied. This is when the new knowledge is entered into memory. It i