REPAYING A MORTGAGE

Mortgage payments consist of two parts: payments for interest and for principal. Interest is the fee for using the lender's money. Principal is the amount of the loan still owed. A portion of each payment pays interest and the remaining portion reduces the principal. The process of paying off the principal while paying interest is called amortization.

When a homeowner begins to repay his or her mortgage almost all of each monthly payment pays for interest. This changes as the loan ages, even though the amount paid each month may not change. Each month's payment reduces the principal by a small amount, therefore less interest is owed the next month. Since less interest is owed, more of the payment can be used to reduce the principal. Gradually less of each month's payment is needed to pay interest, and more goes to reduce the principal.

For example, if a person borrows $80,000 at 8.0 percent for 20 years to buy a home, he or she will make monthly payments of about $669.15. Out of the first month's payment, about $533.33 pays interest on the principal ($80,000 × 8 percent interest per year ÷ 12 months per year = $533.33). The balance of the monthly payment, $135.82, reduces the principal. The second month's payment is based on the new principal of $79,864.18. This time, $532.43 goes toward interest ($79,864.18 × 8 percent ÷ 12 months) and $136.72 reduces the principal. The relationship between the amount of each monthly payment that goes to interest and principal changes over time. The first 13 years of a 20-year mortgage—or about two-thirds its life—pays back half the principal. During the last seven years, more and more of the monthly payment goes to reduce the principal until the debt is completely paid. At the end of the 20-year, $80,000 mortgage, the borrower will have made 240 monthly payments totaling about $160,500.

KINDS OF MORTGAGES

The two most common mortgages in the United States are the fixed-rate mortgage and the adjustable-rate mortgage. With a fixed-rate mortgage, the interest rate stays the same over the life of the loan. With an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), the interest rate can change at the end of pre-determined intervals, such as every six months or every year. The interest rate is tied to changes in a published index that reflects the current interest rate. One widely-used index is the interest rate of United States Treasury bonds. If the index has gone up at the end of the adjustment period, the mortgage rate goes up, and thus the borrower's payment also goes up. Conversely, if the index has gone down, the mortgage rate goes down, and the mortgage payment goes down. Neither the lender nor the borrower can influence or predict in which direction the index will move. Most ARMs have a maximum interest rate cap.

Other, less common mortgages include the balloon mortgage and the graduated payment mortgage. A balloon mortgage is a short-term loan. The borrower makes payments for some period of time and then makes one large payment at the end. The graduated payment mortgage starts out with low monthly payments, which gradually increase over time before stabilizing.

In the United States certain government programs make it easier for borrowers to obtain a mortgage by lessening the risks for the lenders. Programs administered by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) help low- and moderate-income borrowers obtain loans for housing by providing insurance for lenders against borrower default. The borrower pays for the mortgage insurance by paying a fee to the FHA. If the borrower defaults, the FHA will compensate the lender should the house sell for less than the amount of the mortgage debt. The Veterans Administration (VA) administers programs that guarantee loans made to qualified veterans. If the borrower defaults, the VA repays the lender a specified part of the mortgage loan. Other agencies buy mortgages from lenders and sell them to investors. The money the lender receives from the sale can be used to issue additional mortgages. These agencies include the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA or “Fannie Mae”), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC or “Freddie Mac”), and the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA or “Ginnie Mae”).

Adult Education

Adult Education, all forms of schooling and learning programs in which adults participate. Unlike other types of education, adult education is defined by the student population rather than by the content or complexity of a learning program. It includes literacy training, community development, university credit programs, on-the-job training, and continuing professional education. Programs vary in organization from casual, incidental learning to formal college credit courses. Institutions offering education to adults include colleges, libraries, museums, social service and government agencies, businesses, and churches.

Adult education has long been important in Europe, where formal programs began in the 18th century. For example, the Danish folk high school movement in the mid-19th century prevented the loss of Danish language and culture that a strong German influence threatened to absorb. In Britain, concern for the education of poor and working-class people resulted in the growth of adult education programs, such as the evening school and the Mechanic's Institute, to expand educational opportunities for all people. After the Russian Revolution the Soviet government virtually eliminated illiteracy through the establishment of various institutions and extension classes for adults.

In other areas of the world adult education movements are of a more recent origin. In 1960, Egypt established a “schools for the people” system designed to educate the adult population. The pattern used is similar to that developed in Britain a century ago. After many years in which the primary educational concern was with creating public school systems, in the 1970s countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America began to increase opportunities for adult education. Innovative programs involving the mass media are being used in many countries. Tanzania, for example, has used mass-education techniques and the radio to organize national education programs in health, nutrition, and citizenship. In the 1980s, international educational exchange programs involving short-term nondegree study in specialized fields grew in popularity in the United States and many other countries.

A literate population is a necessity for any nation wishing to take advantage of modern technological growth. For instance, research has shown a direct relationship between literacy among women and improved health and child care in the family. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has long supported the concept that education must be considered an ongoing process. UNESCO has encouraged literacy programs, agricultural extension, and community instruction. The low cost and flexibility of such programs make adult education suitable for many areas of the world that do not yet have formal school programs.

New York Stock Exchange

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), one of the largest markets in the world for trading stocks and bonds, based in New York City. In 2001 the NYSE listed—that is, traded—the stocks of about 3,000 companies, valued at about $17 trillion. Non-U.S. stocks play an increasingly important role on the NYSE. More than 400 non-U.S. companies were listed on the NYSE in 2001, more than triple the number five years ago. Trading at the NYSE is initiated by stockbrokers acting on behalf of their clients. These brokers place orders with certain members of the exchange called specialists, who concentrate on trading specific stocks. The broker and the specialist negotiate to arrive at a price for the stock.

The NYSE began in 1792, when a group of stock and bond brokers gathered in a park in downtown New York City and agreed to meet daily at that location to trade financial instruments, such as stocks and bonds. By 1794 the exchange had moved indoors to the Tontine Coffee House, on the corner of Wall and Water Streets. In 1817 the exchange moved closer to its present Wall Street location, drew up a formal constitution, and named itself the New York Stock and Exchange Board. As New York City became the financial center of the United States during the 19th century, the New York Stock and Exchange Board became one of the most important financial trading centers. By 1863, when it changed its name to the New York Stock Exchange, the exchange was trading the stocks and bonds of the major industrial and railroad corporations of the day. Today, the NYSE is often referred to as the big board because it lists more major corporations than any other exchange in the United States.

American Stock Exchange

American Stock Exchange (AMEX), market for trading stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments, based in New York City. AMEX is one of the largest markets for financial trading in the United States. In 2001 about 700 companies were listed on the exchange and the market value of their stocks totaled about $100 billion. AMEX is the third largest stock exchange in the United States, behind the New York Stock Exchange and The Nasdaq Stock Market.


Trading on AMEX is initiated by stock brokers acting on behalf of their clients. These brokers place orders with members of the exchange called specialists, who concentrate on trading specific stocks. The broker and the specialist negotiate to arrive at a price for the stock.

In addition to trading stocks and bonds, AMEX pioneered trading in derivatives, a type of investment based on the performance of an underlying asset or financial index. For example, AMEX trades Standard & Poor’s Depository Receipts (SPDRs), which are derivatives tied to the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. This index records the ups and downs of the stock market in the United States by measuring the performance of 500 selected stocks. The SPDRs are traded like stocks, but their price fluctuates according to the value of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. See also Standard & Poor’s Indexes.

The American Stock Exchange originated in the 19th century in the streets of the financial district of New York City where brokers would meet to trade stocks and bonds. In 1908 these brokers formed an organization known as the New York Curb Agency. In 1911 the organization changed their name to the New York Curb Market Association. The association, also known simply as the Curb, moved to offices at Trinity Place in downtown New York City in 1921. In 1953 the name was changed to the American Stock Exchange. AMEX was traditionally known as the home of oil and mining companies’ stock, but over time it began listing the stock of many different kinds of companies.

In 1998 AMEX merged operations with the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., the organization that manages The Nasdaq Stock Market, to form the Nasdaq-AMEX Market group. The combined company oversees operations of both exchanges but maintains AMEX and Nasdaq as separate stock exchanges.

Japanese Art

Japanese Art and Architecture, works of art produced in Japan from the beginnings of human habitation there, sometime in the 10th millennium bc, to the present.
Historically, Japan has been subject to sudden invasions of new and alien ideas followed by long periods of minimal contact with the outside world. Over time the Japanese developed the ability to absorb, imitate, and finally assimilate those elements of foreign culture that complemented their aesthetic preferences.

The earliest complex art in Japan was produced in the 7th and 8th centuries ad in connection with Buddhism. In the 9th century, as the Japanese began to turn away from China and develop indigenous forms of expression, the secular arts became increasingly important; until the late 15th century, both religious and secular arts flourished. After the Ōnin War (1467-1477) Japan entered a period of political, social, and economic disruption that lasted for nearly a century. In the state that emerged under the leadership of the Tokugawa clan, organized religion played a much less important role in people's lives, and the arts that survived were primarily secular.

Japanese art is characterized by unique polarities. In the ceramics of the prehistoric periods, for example, exuberance was followed by disciplined and refined artistry. Another instance is provided by two 17th-century structures that are poles apart: Katsura Detached Palace is an exercise in simplicity, with an emphasis on natural materials, rough and untrimmed, and an affinity for beauty achieved by accident; Tōshōgu Mausoleum is a rigidly symmetrical structure replete with brightly colored relief carvings covering every visible surface. Japanese art, valued not only for its simplicity but also for its colorful exuberance, has considerably influenced 19th-century Western painting and 20th-century Western architecture.

JŌMON AND YAYOI ART
KOFUN ART: HANIWA
ASUKA AND NARA ART
HEIAN ART
KAMAKURA ART
MUROMACHI ART
MOMOYAMA ART
ART OF THE EDO PERIOD
ART SINCE 1867

White House

White House, official residence of the president of the U.S., built in its original form between 1792 and 1800, and situated at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, D.C. Known variously through its history as the President's Palace, the President's House, and the Executive Mansion, the building has always been most popularly known as the White House. This designation became official in 1901, when Theodore Roosevelt had the name engraved on his stationery. It has been the home of every president in American history with the exception of George Washington, who approved the act that led to its construction. Although the White House has been subject to numerous renovations and additions, it has retained its classically simple character.

The site and the surrounding landscaped lawns and gardens of the White House occupy 7.31 hectares (18.07 acres) and include numerous trees of historical interest. Constructed of Virginia sandstone, the main building is a stately, white edifice, 52 by 26 m (170 by 85 ft), built in the classical style associated with the 16th-century Italian architect Andrea Palladio. An Ionic portico (1829) on the north side faces Lafayette Square. On the south side is a semicircular portico (1824) with a private entrance on the ground floor.

Additions to the original building include the low-lying terraces or pavilions, which were constructed (1807) during the administrations of Thomas Jefferson and reconstructed on those designs in 1902. The West Terrace (50 by 11 m/165 by 35 ft) connects with the three-story Executive Wing (1902) containing the president's office; the East Terrace (66 by 11 m/215 by 35 ft) joins the three-story East Wing (1942).

Solar Energy

Solar Energy, radiation produced by nuclear fusion reactions deep in the Sun’s core. The Sun provides almost all the heat and light Earth receives and therefore sustains every living being.


Solar energy travels to Earth through space in discrete packets of energy called photons (Electromagnetic Radiation). On the side of Earth facing the Sun, a square kilometer at the outer edge of our atmosphere receives 1,400 megawatts of solar power every minute, which is about the capacity of the largest electric-generating plant in Nevada. Only half of that amount, however, reaches Earth’s surface. The atmosphere and clouds absorb or scatter the other half of the incoming sunlight. The amount of light that reaches any particular point on the ground depends on the time of day, the day of the year, the amount of cloud cover, and the latitude at that point. The solar intensity varies with the time of day, peaking at solar noon and declining to a minimum at sunset. The total radiation power (1.4 kilowatts per square meter, called the solar constant) varies only slightly, about 0.2 percent every 30 years. Any substantial change would alter or end life on Earth.

SOLAR ENERGY STORAGE DEVICES
Because of the intermittent nature of solar radiation as an energy source, excess solar energy produced during sunny periods must be stored. Insulated tanks commonly store this energy in hot water. Batteries often store excess electric energy produced from wind or photovoltaic devices. One possibility for the future is the use of excess solar-generated electric energy as a supplemental source for existing power networks. Uncertain economics and reliability, however, make this plan difficult to implement.

Mountain Climbing

Mountain Climbing, ascending mountains, most commonly as a recreational activity. Mountain climbing is popular worldwide, wherever hills rise high enough to provide challenge. The activity’s rewards include the physical exertion it requires, the satisfaction of overcoming difficulties by working with others, the thrill of reaching a summit, and the unobstructed view from a mountaintop. Exploration and research are other reasons that people climb mountains.

Ascents can be either non technical (a hike up a path or a scramble over rocks, not requiring the safety of a rope), or technical (a climb up more difficult terrain that requires the use of rope and other specialized equipment). This article focuses on technical climbs, which involve all the elements of simple hikes but also require advanced knowledge and equipment. Making technical climbs is also known as mountaineering.

Since ancient times, people have viewed mountain peaks as towering objects of myth, spiritual inspiration, and romantic beauty. Early peoples made ascents only to hunt game, to rescue lost or strayed animals, or to gain a military advantage over an enemy. Eventually, the unknown and inaccessible ceased to be something to be feared and avoided, and the conquest of the major mountain peaks and ranges of the world began. Mountaineering as a sport was born on August 8, 1786, with the first ascent of Mont Blanc (4807 m/15,771 ft), one of Europe’s tallest peaks. Since that ascent, mountain climbing has evolved into three related sports: alpine climbing, ice climbing, and rock climbing. These sports require the same fundamental techniques.

Rock Climbing Equipment

Rock climbing shoes resemble toughened ballet slippers, made of supple leather or synthetic materials. They have sticky rubber soles, and toes and heel-liners made of rubber. All climbing shoes and slippers should be fitted snugly around the foot. Climbers use gymnastic chalk (magnesium carbonate) to dry sweat from their hands and fingers while climbing. The white powder is carried in a small pouch called a chalk bag that is attached to the climber’s harness.

Because rock climbing requires plenty of innovative, supple movements, clothing should be lightweight, comfortable, and nonrestricting. T-shirts, shorts, and tights made of cotton, Lycra-cotton blends, and other synthetic materials are popular. Rock climbers also use athletic tape to protect fingers, knuckles, and wrists during difficult climbs.

History of Mountaineering

People have long climbed mountains for necessary daily activities such as retrieving lost animals and hunting, but technical climbing as a sport has a much shorter history. The sport’s history is often described in terms of first ascents, the conquering of previously unscaled mountains or, on mountains that have already been climbed, the accomplishment of previously untried and unclimbed routes.

After the ascent of Mont Blanc in 1786, people began to organize expeditions to make first ascents. Some of the most challenging mountains were found in the Himalayas of Central Asia, which contain many of the world’s highest peaks. In 1953 New Zealand climber Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay made the first ascent of the world’s highest mountain, the Himalayan peak Mount Everest (8848 m/29,028 ft). A year later Italian mountaineers Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli ascended the world’s second highest mountain, K2 (8611 m/28,250 ft).

As more of the world’s mountains were climbed for the first time, mountaineers sought to challenge themselves by using more difficult routes and by climbing with less assistance from climbing partners. Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner and Austrian climber Peter Habeler became the first to scale Everest without bottled oxygen in 1978. Two years later Messner returned to climb Everest completely alone and without oxygen.

During the 1980s and 1990s ascents became even more daring, and some climbers attempted to ascend different series of related summits. In 1985 American climber Dick Bass became the first mountaineer to climb the highest mountain on each of the seven continents, collectively referred to as the Seven Summits. In 1986 Messner finally completed his goal of climbing the 14 highest mountains in the world—a feat that took him 17 years to accomplish. All are higher than 8000 m (26,247 ft) and located in Nepal, Pakistan, China, and Tibet.