Brigham Young University Hawaii, or "BYU-Hawaii" for short, is an undergraduate university that educates 2,400 students from Asia, the Pacific islands, the United States, and other parts of the world.
The campus is in Laie, Hawaii. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was founded in 1955 by the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - David O. McKay.
Australopithecus africanus
Austalopithecus africanus was first discovered by Raymond Dart in 1925. He found a well-preserved skull of a young australopithecine, three to four years old. This skull is often called the Taung Child, after Taung, South Africa where it was found. It is perhaps the most complete skull of "A. africanus" known. Based on current data "A. africanus" dates to between 3.03 and 2.04 million years ago.
"Australopithecus africanus" had a dish shaped facial structure with teeth that were large compared to modern humans. While it had larger front teeth compared to the back, the emphasis was on back tooth grinding. Males had a sagital crest on the tops of their skulls. Large muscles were attached to this ridge that helped to support the heavy jaw.
Australopithecus
Australopithecus is a genus of extinct hominids closely related to humans.
The first "Australopithecus" described was the Taung Child, discovered by Raymond Dart, and described in 1925.
Their remains are mostly found in East Africa, and the first fossil is from 3.9 million years ago (mya). The split from other apes would have taken place earlier, perhaps about 5 mya.
It is widely believed that the group of which they are part gave rise to the genus "Homo", and hence to human beings.
The genus "Australopithecus" originally included two rather different forms. One form was lightweight: the gracile australopithecines. The other form was bulkier, the robust australopithecines.
It is still under discussion whether they should be put in separate genera. Here we treat the gracile forms; the robust forms are described elsewhere as "Paranthropus".
Gracile australopithecines shared several traits with modern apes and humans. They were widespread throughout Eastern and Northern Africa 3.9 to 3 million years ago.
The brains of most species of "Australopithecus" were roughly 35% of the size of that of a modern human brain. This is not much more than the brain of a chimpanzee. Brain size in hominins does not increase significantly until the arrival of the genus "Homo".
The Taung specimen had short canine teeth, and the position of the foramen magnum was evidence of bipedal locomotion.
Most species of "Australopithecus" were diminutive and gracile, usually standing between 1.2 and 1.4 m tall (approx. 4 to 4.5 feet). There is a considerable degree of sexual dimorphism. Modern hominids do not show sexual dimorphism to the same degree — particularly, modern humans display a low degree of sexual dimorphism, with males being only 15% larger (taller, heavier) than females, on average.
In "Australopithecus", however, males can be up to 50% larger than females, though usually less pronounced than this.
The skeleton, the fossil footprints found at Laetoli, Tanzania, the canine teeth and the foramen magnum all show that these apes had achieved bipedalism.
"Australopithecus africanus" used to be regarded as ancestral to the genus "Homo" (in particular "Homo erectus").
However, fossils assigned to the genus "Homo" have been found that are older than "A. africanus". Thus, the genus "Homo" either split off from the genus "Australopithecus" at an earlier date (the latest common ancestor being "A. afarensis" or an even earlier form, possibly "Kenyanthropus platyops"), or both developed from a common ancestor independently.
According to the Chimpanzee Genome Project, both human ("Ardipithecus", "Australopithecus" and "Homo") and chimpanzee ("Pan troglodytes" and "Pan paniscus") lineages diverged from a common ancestor about 5 to 6 million years ago, if we assume a constant rate of evolution.
However, hominins discovered more recently are somewhat older than the molecular clock would suggest. "Sahelanthropus tchadensis", commonly called ""Toumai"" is about 7 million years old and "Orrorin tugenensis" lived at least 6 million years ago. Since little is known of them, they remain controversial because the molecular clock in humans has determined that humans and chimpanzees had an evolutionary split at least a million years later.
One theory suggests that the human and chimpanzee lineages diverged somewhat at first, then some populations interbred around one million years after diverging. More likely, the assumptions behind molecular clocks do not hold exactly. The key assumption behind the technique is that, in the long run, changes in molecular structure happen at a steady rate.
Researchers such as Ayala have challenged this assumption.
Homo
Homo is a genus of upright primates that walk on two legs, with the only living species being "Homo sapiens" (Humans).
The genus began about 2.3 million years ago. Their ancestors were almost certainly some line of Australopithecine apes.
The physical characteristics of these species are larger brain (above 900ml), and various changes to the skeleton which improve walking and running ability. As the process continues, the forehead becomes more vertical, the skull becomes rounder, the teeth are reduced in size, arms are shorter and legs are longer, and the skeleton becomes more delicate. All species used stone tools, but there is no evidence of when language developed. Human evolution is a much studied topic.
Poverty in India
Poverty in India is an important issue. India has some of the poorest people in the world.
The Government of India says that the poverty line for rural areas is ₹ 816 per month and ₹ 1000 per month in urban areas. This means that many people do not have enough money. India's proposed but not yet adopted official poverty line is ₹972 (US$14) a month in rural areas or ₹1,407 (US$21) a month in cities.
In India, the average calorie requirement of an average man is 2400 calories per day in Rural area and 2100 calories per day in Urban area.
In 2012, the latest report by the Planning Commission of India (Tendulkar Committee) reported that 26% of all people in India fall below the international poverty line of US$1.25 per day. Over the last decade, poverty has been witnessed a consistent decline with the levels dropping from 37.2% in 2004-05 to 29.8% in 2009-10. The number of poor people is now estimated at 250 million.
In 1947 the average income in India was similar to South Korea. South Korea became a developed country by the 2000s, but India did not.
For the first 40 years, India followed the Soviet-style economic planning, nationalization programs and government ownership of industry. Its economic growth averaged about 3.5%, while Asian economies such as South Korea grew on average more than twice that rate annually. Adjusted for population growth in India, its income per head grew at 1.49% annually, while incomes of South Koreans - rich and poor - rose rapidly.
India's Soviet-style economy included the "Licence Raj": the elaborate licences, regulations and red tape needed to set up and run a business in India between 1947 and 1990. The License Raj was a result of India's decision to have a planned economy, where all aspects of the economy are controlled by the state. Licences were only given to a select few. Corruption flourished under this system. Under this system, the country created few jobs and little wealth. Widespread poverty remained.
The Christian Community
The Christian Community (original German name: "Die Christengemeinschaft") is a Christian denomination. It was founded in 1922 in Dornach (Switzerland) by a group of theologians and pastors, led by the Protestant pastor Friedrich Rittelmeyer. He was helped by Rudolf Steiner, the Austrian philosopher and founder of anthroposophy.
List of Melbourne railway stations