Texas History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Texas History - Essay Example He further states that the region is called ‘Land of Contrasts’ owing to its variation in landscape since four out of eight geographic terrain making up North American Topography marks the state (3). Schmidly states that the Grasslands stretch from Canada to the High Plains till the prairies, sandy beaches and marshes marking the coastline, in addition, the western region of the state is overshadowed by the mountainous ranges and desert, which are separated by Rio Grande, a major river of Texas (307). He further states that in the east, Big Thickets and Pineywoods represent sections of the forest that stretches all the way till the Appalachians, in the south a subtropical Rio Grande Valley dots the southern Texas, these landscapes meet in Central Texas where the country includes a mixture of grassland, shrubs and forest (307). McComb states that the average rainfall recorded drops from fifty-eight inches per year in the east to eight inches in the west, while heavy snowf alls are a rare commodity but there are records of blizzards on the High Plains (5). He reveals that despite of the southerly breezes the summers are quite hot, during the 1980 summer, the temperature of 105 to 110 were common in the state which permits a prolonged growing season in the south (7). Procter and McDonald state the sufficient archeological evidence exists which confirms the fact that migrants belonging to Asia crossed the Bering Land Bridge forty thousand years ago and became the early occupants of America collectively known as Paleo Indians (3). They divulged the fact that archeologists unearthed the oldest human signs in the state almost thirty thousand year old whose cultural complexes are known as Lano and Falsom suggesting that Paleo Indians made Texas their abode for thousands of years. Foster indicates that early study reveals that the native tribes of Texas exhibited a broad range of cultures and lifestyle, reflected by their abstinence and settlement patterns o ver the state (233). He is of the opinion that most of them were agriculturist who constructed villages near the major rivers, while small proportion of them were dispersed groups whose mean of sustenance were fishing, collecting local plant products and hunting small woodland games. He further stated that spanning the stretches of Central, West and South Texas were semi nomadic groups who moved occasionally to other states of America for subsistence and followed the traditions of Homo Sapiens of the Old World which thrived thirty thousand years ago. Q.2) Identify the important explorers of Texas. What motivated these men to risk their lives in a distant, inhospitable land? Answer) According to Bolton and Barker, Spanish occupation of Texas did not happen by chance, it was a result of a series of pre-planned explorations of the land with the suitability of settlement in mind (1). He suggested that the main reason behind the capture other than the French advances in the region, was t he search of kingdom of Quivira, a part of myth and romances associated with Texas, where crockery was manufactured of precious metals such as those of gold and wrought plate, even their vessels, tips of arrows and lances were made out of gold due to it being in plentiful supply and no other metal were known for its existence along with another myth that the kingdom of Texas has lavishly built towns and buildings where grain grew in such abundance that it was fed to their horses (2). Klos is of the opinion that the European powers made Texas a ‘horse and gun’ junction, French and the English traders traded guns with the Indians in Texas to win over their

The Transportation Security Administration Essay

The Transportation Security Administration - Essay Example The TSA is also charged with the responsibility of inspecting rail cars, looking for bombs at checkpoints in and around the country's airports, and patrolling subways (Transport Security Administration, 2008). To better understand the TSA, it is crucial that we look at its mission and core values, and how they have been achieved. As already mentioned, the TSA is mandated to protect the transportation systems of the country in a way that would ensure free movement of people and trade. Its vision, though not yet attained, is to persistently guide the standards for distinction in transportation security through its processes, technology, and people (Transport Security Administration, 2008). To achieve its shared goals and enhance its mission performance, the TSA has set aside some core values. Let me present them in a summary form for they will be instrumental in gauging the situation at TSA and how improvements need to be carried out. Though its mission, vision, and core values may reflect a picture of a very efficient and effective agency, TSA has been faced by numerous scandals and criticisms since its inception in 2001. Judging by the magnitude of some of the high-profile scandals, the situation at TSA can be said to be pretty bad. ... Team spirit TSA is made up of respectful, open, and dedicated people in the business of improving the lives of others. TSA takes pride in challenges, success, and aims at winning in all its endeavors. TSA takes pride in building teams around its core strengths. Evaluating the situation at TSA Though its mission, vision, and core values may reflect a picture of a very efficient and effective agency, TSA has been faced by numerous scandals and criticisms since its inception in 2001. Judging by the magnitude of some of the high-profile scandals, the situation at TSA can be said to be pretty bad. Let me analyze the scandals and criticisms one at a time so that the real picture of TSA inefficiencies and how it can improve can be drawn out. TSA Scanners and screeners Judging by what happened on September 11 2001 in the United States after the terrorists strike, TSA should be in the forefront to ensure that such an occurrence do not happen again. Many innocent people lost their lives in that fateful day when terrorists hijacked some planes only to ram them against the World Trade centre. Against this backdrop, TSA was established and given the mandate of checking for bombs and other dangerous weapons from passengers, especially those boarding aero planes, and those on transit (Boyd, 2005). But the TSA scanners and screeners are not up to this task. In recent tests conducted to ascertain whether their scanners could detect bombs, 75 percent of fake bombs could not be identified by their security screeners at LAX. 60 percent of fake bomb components could not be smoked out in Chicago O'Hare by TSA security scanners. Detection levels by private security firms were much higher, with only 20