Saturday, August 31, 2019

My Personal Accomplishment version 2

There are two experiences, which are very important to me. The first is being part of the Leland High School Speech and debate Team. The second is doing volunteer work at the World Children’s Fund (WCF). These experiences make me proud because they help me develop myself and give back to society at the same time. Through these experiences, I am able to enrich others as I enriched myself. Debate has always been my favorite subject. Engaging in a debate incorporates two distinctive life-learning skills. They are public speaking and problem solving. Most people are afraid of speaking in front of many people. However, I do not seem to be like â€Å"most people†. I do not fear public speaking. Instead, I enjoy it. I relish the feeling of standing in front of many people and being free to express myself. I savor the exhilaration of knowing that people listen to what I say. This makes me feel important and fulfilled. However, it is not only the feeling that matters. The skills, values and knowledge I acquire are also important. Through debating, I am able to develop my critical thinking and my creativity. I learn to examine arguments carefully and quickly to be able to retort wisely and on time. Debating also helps me improve my focus. A problem to be debated has certain limits. Relevant issues and controversies should not be ignored. Similarly, irrelevant issues and controversies should not be introduced. Lastly, debate exposes me to a wide range of topics- from international issues to national issues. Many facts I learned through debating, such as the Jenna 6 incident, has helped me a great deal during my high school years. I also learned a lot from seminars and trainings such as the Parliamentary Debate Camp held by the Stanford University National Forensic Institute. Another reason debate is important to me is that it helps me develop a sense of fulfillment. It helps me believe that I am capable of doing something. In the Parliamentary Debate Camp, I became a quarter-finalist in the Parliamentary Debate Varsity Division. I was also awarded the Super Distinction of National Forensic League this fall. I am able to prove my leadership skills by being the Chairman of the Parliamentary Debate Team. As the leader, I am responsible for around thirty freshman students and some older members. It is my responsibility to give lectures about debating and help others develop the capability to compete in upcoming tournaments. I run two classes a week and had completed over 100 PowerPoint lectures, by the end of the second semester last year. I also hold mock debates and private tutorial sessions to help other students to catch up. As the Chair, it is also my responsibility to communicate with other schools that are interested with debating, and give advice and information to administrators, students, and parents. For example, just last year, I assisted Bret Harte Middle School in creating a debate team. I confer with parents and students at the Bret Harte Middle School Cafeteria and give them tips on how to create a successful debate team. Knowing that people trust me with these responsibilities and that I am able to perform these responsibilities gives me a sense of accomplishment and allows me to believe in my own abilities as a debater, a thinker, a team member, a teacher and a leader. Another experience that I value the most is doing volunteer work for the WCF. It is a non-profit organization engaged in giving humanitarian aid to help and rescue children in need in developing countries, including those who are abandoned, distressed, endangered, exploited, homeless, hungry, sick or suffering. I coordinate production of humanitarian packages for distribution. We place stuffed animals, drinking water, MREs, antibiotics, band-aids, medical equipments, and other essential items into boxes and ship them to countries such as the Philippians, Africa, Vietnam and other developing nations. I consider helping in the WCF as one of my community obligations. It is an â€Å"obligation† because I believe that it is my duty as a member of society to always give back. Even though I cannot carry out more demanding roles like going directly to other countries, my contribution is also important. I feel that I am actually changing the world little by little. Through these experiences, I am able to give kindness and aid to others the same way that I received kindness and aid when I needed them most. Like these children, there was a time in my life when I was in need of help and attention too. This happened when I first came to the United States in 1996. I was then a foreigner who does not know how to speak English and communicate with the people around me. This made my assimilation into the American culture difficult. However, a few individuals took initiative to help me fit in. These individuals inspired me and my assimilation happened faster. Looking back, I still remember a 7-year-old child on his first day of school as a foreign exchange student sitting on a bench alone. He is bewildered with the English language and is too afraid to try to speak. He cried all night that night in bed. The next day, he expected to be alone again, but someone reached over and stuck a cookie in his mouth- a chocolate chip cookie. This led to a conversation and, by the time lunch break ended, the two children were already best friends. This initiated his acceptance into the society that he did not yet fully understand. It is a wonder how this foreign exchange student grew up to be me, not anymore alone and afraid of not being understood. It is also a wonder how, after eleven years, Corey Tucker, the boy with the cookie, is still my true and best friend. Yesterday, I proudly recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Even though I do not fully understand the meaning of â€Å"America†, I understand that America is the place where I belong. This feeling of acceptance was made by the kind efforts of the friends I made that day, most especially by Corey. Through the years, many other Corey Tuckers came into my life. This time, I want to be a Corey Tucker too. I want to be able to help others and give back the kindness I have received before. At present, knowing that I am able to do this through my debate class and the WCF gives me a feeling of calmness, peace and satisfaction that money cannot buy.

Ben Hill Griffin Jr.-Entrepreneur Extraordinaire

It is said that not all millionaires are people born with silver spoons on their mouths. This is quite true for Ben Hill Griffin Jr. (October 20 1910 – March 1, 1990), former U. S. senator and entrepreneur extraordinaire. Mr. Griffin’s success is said to have been borne out of his industrious and friendly nature, while others have jokingly stated that this was due to his ability to control weather, as he was born when a hurricane was passing by Florida.Mr.  Griffin’s success has also nothing to do with his educational attainment, he did studied agriculture in University of Florida but he eventually left the institution without finishing his degree (â€Å"Ben Hill Jr. †, 2006).He claimed that he never had to finish his degree because he felt that he had learned all that is needed to be learned from the University. He eventually paid his respects to the University by donating about 20 million dollars for research despite not being able to finish his degree there.His success as a citrus and cattle magnate were also attributed to his honesty and hands-on approach on things, though he often says that his luck has also played a role on his success. His citrus empire started with a 10-acre orange grove which he received as a wedding gift from his father. He tended this grove up until it grew and expanded into one of California’s largest (Youngblood, 1998). Among his many achievements was the establishment of the Ben Griffin Inc. , being Chairman of the Board of Alico Inc., President of the Florida Citrus Processors Association and Chancellor of Florida Southern College (â€Å"The Great Floridians 2000 Program†, 2006) . He always placed his feet on the ground by thinking as a small-scale entrepreneur rather than a tycoon. He often claims that he would rather know what exactly happen sin his company rather than have a big staff and that he prefers to stick with his policies than adapt policies from â€Å"big companies†. Mr. Griffin is often heard telling his employees to â€Å"Work hard and save† and to â€Å"Start little and watch it grow† (Trussel, 1989).Politically, Mr. Griffin was a democrat and was known to be a member of the Florida Legislature for about 12 years, the Florida Senate for 4 years and finally in the Florida House of Representatives for 8 years. He lost to Reubin Askew in the bid for being the Governor of Florida in 1974 (â€Å"Ben Hill Griffin Jr. †, 2006). Despite this, he passed several bills regarding the marketing and improvement of the citrus industry during his time as a law-maker, earning him high regards as the foremost authority in citrus-growing. Mr. Griffin Jr.died in March 1, 1990 and his death was considered to be a great lost not only for the citrus industry but also to the State of California as well. A year before his death, he was named by Forbes Magazine as one of the 400 hundred richest Americans at that time (â€Å"Ben Hill Griffin Jrâ € , 2006). His legacy has been passed on to his son, Ben Griffin III when he was named as Chairman of the Board and CEO of Alico Inc. One of the many companies that his father established during his lifetime. Like his father, Ben Griffin III exhibited strong work values during his 14 year tenure in Alico Inc.Among Ben Griffin III accomplishments include the establishment of Florida Gulf Coast University’s site, the development of about 15,000 acres of sugar cane in Florida and the expansion of the company’s agricultural aspects (â€Å"Ben Hill Griffin III Steps Down as Chairman of Alico Inc. †, 2004). U. S. Representative Katherine Harris, Ben Hill Griffin’s granddaughter, on the other hand inherited his grandfather’s political sense. She now serves as a 2nd term house member of Florida’s 13th Congressional District (â€Å"Katherine Harris†, 2006).Ben Hill Griffin’s down-to-Earth nature and achievements are not only remember ed by his political colleagues but also by the people who are very close to him: his employees. As one employee puts it â€Å"If Mr. Griffin ain't fussing at you a little bit, he don't like you. † References â€Å"Ben Hill Griffin Jr†. Wikipedia. (2006). Retrieved July 29, 2006 from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ben_Hill_Griffin â€Å"Ben Hill Griffin III Steps Down as Chairman of Alico Inc†. (2004). Retrieved July 29, 2006 from http://www. findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2004_Feb_26/ ai_113657585/print â€Å"Katherine Harris†. Wikipedia.(2006). Retrieved July 29, 2006 from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Katherine_Harris#Trivia â€Å"The Great Floridian 2000 Program†. (2006). State of Florida. Retrieved July 29, 2006 from http://www. flheritage. com/services/sites/floridians/? section=f Trussel, Tait. (1989). The Last of the Citrus Barons-Ben Hill Griffin Jr. U. S. Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved July 29, 2006 from http://www. findarticles . com/p/articles/mi_ m1154/is_n2_v77/ai_7002416/print Youngblood, Garret E. (1998). Ben Hill Griffin. The Ledger. Retrieved July 29, 2006 from http://www. theledger. com/static/top50/pages/griffin. html

Friday, August 30, 2019

Project Management: Project Failures Sydney Opera House

PROJECT MANAGEMENT: PROJECT FAILURES Sydney Opera House CONTENTS Introductionp. 3 Historyp. 3 – 4 Stakeholdersp. 4 – 7 Stakeholder classificationp. 5 Stakeholder Power/Interest Gridp. 7 Causes for project failurep. 8-10 Lack of risk managementp. 9 Unrealistic timescale and Cost escalationp. 10 Recommendationsp. 10 – 14 Risk Managementp. 11 Forecastingp. 11 – 12Stakeholder Engagementp. 12 – 14 Conclusionp. 14 Referencesp. 15 – 16 Introduction For this assignment the project chosen to critically analyse its failure is the Sydney Opera House. Critically analysing its failure and its consequences and identifying bad project management procedures made me look into this project intensively and evaluate it as a project failure with a â€Å"happy end†.This assignment will be divided in three main parts which are History where it will be explained what the Sydney Opera house is and what was the purpose of the project, a Stakeholders section whe re the key stakeholders will be identified and discussed, a Project Failure section identifying what bad management procedures were taken and for last there will be a Recommendations section recommending new procedures to avoid an over budget and over timed project, which this is part of.For the architect – Jorg Utzon – it is his â€Å"masterpiece†, to Australia as a country it is their representative monument as World Heritage (Design5 final report 2010). Although project manager and client are now â€Å"happy† with the final product it can still be considered as a project failure due to a huge overrun budget and over timed project with consequences that are still being repaired, almost 40 years later. History In 2003 Utzon is awarded with the Pritzker, the architecture’s â€Å"Nobel†.It was said of Sydney Opera House (from now on in this assignment also known as ‘SOH’) that it is one of the great iconic buildings of the twenti eth century (Murray, P. 2004). It all started in 1957 when Utzon were chosen to be the architect for this project. Everything was going according with the project but two years after the new elected government (not the one that agreed with Utzon’s project) was getting impatient.More and more companies were being put into the project (in the final more than 165 companies, suppliers included, contributed to this project) and the costs were being added and the new government was pressing Utzon as much as the media trying to cut in costs and speed up the project*. They also decided to change the previous project after its construction as started and now instead of 2 theatre rooms they wanted 4*.Utzon was losing control of the situation and had an undesirable pressure under him. The initial cost was (Aus) 7 million dollars and in the end it has cost (Aus) 102 million dollars and a total of 14 years to be constructed, 6 more than it should be*. The Arup, engineers contracted for th e engineering part stayed until the end of the project but Utzon left in the end , after designing the roof but not concluding.It was hard to keep two of the key stakeholders happy, the minister David Hughes and the SOHEC – Sydney Opera House Executive Committee so he decided to quit blaming the first of lack of cooperation but in fact even the acoustic consultants did not agree between each other (Murray, 2004 :66) and as a result of all these changes of plans and misunderstandings the Sydney Opera House – finished by three local architects – still did not had the proper acoustic, which was the first main factor that lead to a new opera house*.Nowadays the Sydney Opera House is already seen as profitable since its cost was already covered by the revenue made from customers (tourists mainly) but further improvements on accessing conditions were taken. Stakeholders Before going back to the subject it is needed to take into account that a failed project is a proje ct that is cancelled before completion, never implemented, or damaged in some way. Other reasons that why projects fail are an absence of commitment, a bad project organisation and planning, a bad time management, lack of managerial control, extra costs among other problems.Among all these reasons the Stakeholders play a big part in the projects that they are involved and sometimes a project can go wrong depending on decisions taken by these groups. To start this stage of the assignment it is essential to identify the stakeholders – all the users that directly or indirectly affect positively or negatively – the project. (Polychronakis, 2011) The analysis will be assisted from the article â€Å"Toward a theory of a stakeholder identification and salience: Defining the principle of whom and what really counts†, determining which of the stakeholders hold which of its three attributes, one can identify stakeholders.Then Stakeholders can be analysed by its salience. Explaining briefly the three attributes power enables to act despite resistance of others, legitimacy is being seen as acting appropriately within context norms and urgency relates to time sensitivity and importance of the stakeholder (Mitchell 1997). Stakeholder Classification| | Power| Legitimate| Urgent| Type| Stakeholder Classification| | Power| Legitimate| Urgent| Type| | | | | | | NSW Government|   | x| x| x| Definitive| Public Works, David Hughes|   | x|   | x| Dangerous| Utzon|   | x|   | x| Dangerous| Arup|   | x| x|   | Dominant|SOHEC|   | x| x|   | Dominant| Design Team|   |   | x| x| Dependent| Engineer Team|   |   | x| x| Dependent| Consultants |   |   | x| x| Dependent| Suppliers |   |   | x| x| Dependent| Contractor|   |   | x| x| Dependent| Hall, Todd, Littlemore (Three architects hired)|   |   | x| x| Dependent| Construction Workers|   |   | x| x| Dependent| Public/Customers|   |   | x|   | Discretionary| Media|   | x| x  | x| Dangerous| There are 14 main stakeholders: NSW Government – Can be considered the client so its type is definitive, has the power to over ask and the project manager has to show urgency on keeping him happy.David Hughes – Having the role of Public Works minister for the new NSW government he has dealt directly with the project having the power to influence it and as a client’s representative has the same urgency status. Is considered Dangerous because although is not definitive (could be replaced for example) he affects directly the project as client representative (pressuring Utzon till he resigned) Utzon – Being the project manager and architect he presented the project and designed it so he has power on the project itself and on the staff.He has an urgent characteristic because he continuously needs to keep on track of the project’s milestones and delivery dates. Arup – as the engineers company they have some power on the project but no urgency at all since they work when it is told to but is legitimated to act within the norms but couldn’t deliberately change anything and was socially accepted. Is dominant because has a key role in the project. SOHEC – Although it has the power to demand certain characteristics and has legitimacy in the project it doesn’t have big urgency since it isn’t a client but a client’s influencer.Good to keep informed. Working staff (remaining stakeholders) – They don’t have great power but they are dependent on milestones so also they have the urgency to meet expectations. They also have their legitimateness since they depend on each other and need to coordinate their designed areas. Hall, Todd and Littlemore, the three architects that replaced Utzon don’t have any power since everything was planned and they only needed to re-design the roof in a way that could match the foundations.Public/Customers – Since the y are â€Å"watching† delays and over costs being paid from their taxes they are on the legitimate attribute because they are on the â€Å"socially accepted and expected behaviours† side (Mitchell 1997). Media – Has the indirect power of showing a project as a project success or failure. Meets the parameters of the legitimate attribute expecting behaviours and has the urgency of being time sensitive (generating news with the project delay). The main stakeholder was the architect, but Utzon was much more concerned with the design aspect rather than time and  costs objectives, which proved problematic.During the project, Utzon collaborated with Ove Arup, who was in charge of the structure and the engineering while subcontractors were in charge of mechanics, electrics, heating and ventilating, lighting and acoustics. There was no real project manager, but rather collaboration between Utzon and Arup. The other main stakeholder was the client, the state of New Sout h Wales (Australian government). A executive committee was created to provide project supervision but the members had no real technical skills.The government eventually became an obstacle to the project team by inhibiting changes during the progress of the operations  and thus contributed to cost overrun and delays. Finally, the public and media was an indirect stakeholder because they were concerned with the project’s success. Defining INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS. External stakeholders The external stakeholders can be considered as anyone outside the implementing organisations who could be affected by the project’s results.Internal Stakeholders Internal stakeholders are those associated with the process, typically members of the project team or the governance structure. After describing what internal and external stakeholders are, it can be specified what stakeholders need more attention, or in other words, need to be ‘more’ satisfied. It is know n that it’s impossible to keep all the stakeholders happy at the same time so the following picture will show that it was essential to keep NSW government and Mr.David Hughes happy (a reminder to say that the relationship between Utzon and David Hughes wasn’t good). The relationship with Arup should be stronger in order to have a better performance linking ‘departments’. As a result (of not doing it) the roof couldn’t match the foundations created by Arup (the roof was too heavy for the foundation’s material) and the amount of resources would not be so many times recalculated, it would have minimized the time spent and the money wasted. The relation with the media should also be managed better.The relationship between stakeholders was too ‘transparent’ and what was meant to be a huge partner advertising the project ended up pulling down the project in terms of future customer’s point of view (customers would be driven by t he media and associate the Sydney Opera House negatively). Also the relationship with the SOHEC could be better driven since it was the major beneficiated within the project. They did not pay for it (the government did) and they were represented by the ones that would use it the most but what was hope was turned into despair.   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | | POWER|   | Keep| Satisfied|   | Manage| Closely|   |   |   | | | SOHEC|   |   |   | NSW Government |   |   |   | | | Arup|   |   |   | David Hughes |   |   |   | | | Media|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | | |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | | |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | | |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | | |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | | |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | | |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | | |   | Monitor| Only|   |   | Keep| Informed|   |   | | |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | | | Design Team|   |   | Consultants|   |   |   | | Engineer Team|   |   | Suppliers |   |   |   | | |   |   |   |   | Contractor|   |   |   | | |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | | |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | | |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | |   | INTEREST|   | | | |   | Causes for project failure A project is a set of people and other resources temporarily assembled to reach a specified objective, normally with a fixed budget and with a fixed time period. Projects are generally associated with products or procedures that are being done for the first time or with known procedures that are being altered (Graham 1985).Sidney Opera house was meant to be the perfect construction that allied Utzon ’s genius and Arup’s structural expertise (Murray, P. 2004) but it is necessary to accept the fact that neither of them were a project manager, that just in the 70’s started to be another person rather than being an engineer or an architect (the project manager), so Utzon’s management skills were based on experience and knowledge in his sector rather than in project management itself (lack of planning and management skills), which changes perspectives.While Utzon had a masterpiece perspective, Arup had a task perspective. If they were project managers they would be more oriented to fulfil the stakeholder’s perspectives and the â€Å"business by project† perspective where they would focus on project investments and bene? ts, which include project results, project success, strategy, pro? t and bene? ts† (Bjorn Johs. Kolltvei, 2005). Another main point is the fact of the allowance for the project changes at any time. The Sydney Opera hous e was supposed to have 2 rooms but ended up having 4 rooms.So it can show some discrepancy between what was wanted (before and after the new government) and what was delivered. In this project particularly the Government has changed so it is hard to say that is someone’s fault but in fact it had an impact, always asking for changes and putting pressure in Utzon. This shows that the agreements between Utzon and the previous Australian Government did not have strong levels of engament with the internal stakeholders (government, Minister, SOHEC).According to the OGC – the UK Office of Government Commerce, it is essential to have â€Å"clear organisational boundaries† and â€Å"clear governance arrangements to ensure sustainability† and it did not happened in this project, where the pressure was horrendous on Utzon to be used as the responsible for this huge cost and time overrun (and he has his fault because of the massive fail when designing a roof not sust ained by its foundations and lack of cooperation with the Arup resulting on a bad choice of the materials for the roof) but Utzon can’t be blamed by the recurrent changes asked on the entrances (still eing re-arranged) and the halls, which had really poor acoustic quality. The Sydney Opera House was meant to be â€Å"one of the six best opera houses in the world†¦with a fine concert hall with perfect acoustics â€Å"(Murray, P. 2004) But at the same time Peter Murray also states that â€Å"(opera) however, was a minor interest. There were some local groups and the occasional tour from an Italian company but it was it†.This shows that a major stakeholder – the public – was not taken into consideration since the attraction was more international than national, but even there it failed(need to bear in mind that nowadays SOH is more profitable with huge concerts and museum and attraction because it was re-oriented for more than Opera concerts) . The (n ew concept) of the halls were against the musical competition rules (being put side by side) and the acoustic were really poor, so even thou the objectives were delivered they didn’t think properly about its benefits.Nowadays the Sydney Opera House had its changes especially in the access areas, parking and acoustics and now is used for the purpose of concerts and as a museum (tourist attraction). Lack of skills and proven approach to Project management and risk management As it is said, Project management was only developed in the 70’s and 80’s so the experience took place over the project management ‘science’ (not really developed during the 50’s) so it definitely lacked during the process. Error Margins completely wrong, years and millions more were used and that is the biggest signal of a Project that has failed, when its error margins do not apply.Fortunately the SOH was â€Å"re-used† in order to have â€Å"Return on Investmentà ¢â‚¬  but not delivering a project oriented to its benefits is definitely a signal of project failure. The pace of the project did not meet expectations, but those 14 years could have been less. Again the roof was the biggest problem. This has to be related with the lack of processes in place to ensure that all parties have a â€Å"clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities, and a shared understanding of desired outcomes, key terms and deadlines†( Office of Government Commerce, CP0015/01/05).Furthermore the integration of such a big supply chain and still Utzon couldn’t estimate the right amount of the right material for its foundations and roof (10%, 20% more resources on the overall budget is what it should be as part of the total budget and those 20% ‘extra’ would be used for any emergency) shows no scope and interaction with other participants (stakeholders). The entire novel cited before shows lack of understanding. Utzon designed a roof that couldn’t match with Arup’s foundations. Too many â€Å"tiers†, which goes against the prioritisation that is essential in a supply chain.So it crossed over three main causes for a project failure: Cost escalation, time escalation (error margins) and disturbance of the core processes (politics). Unrealistic timescale and Cost escalation? In the case of the Sydney Opera House incomplete plans, drawings and a lack of information about the material and the structure of its now-famous roof all added dramatically to the cost. The estimators (consultants, accountants, auditors) didn't make those errors; other members of the project team did (Utzon, Arup).When the construction started there was no clear  concept of how the roof might be constructed. It’s not that the estimates were wrong; it’s that there was nothing to base the estimates on in the first place. Much of the delay and cost overrun was caused by iteration on roof design and lack of Dat a, eventually landing on a solution that constructed the roof out of interlocking tiles, but this solution was only discovered after a lot of time and effort. PM effort is coordinated to reach a particular goal or perform some speci? c function. The ? eld demonstrates‘‘. . . means-end paradigm with a strong emphasis on discipline, goal seeking and end-item accomplishment’’ (Pollack, J. 2006) – this is why Utzon was a great architect and a bad project manager, because in this particular project he missed all these premises. Because of the time (the 50’s) some major knowledge can’t be used because it is unknown but it can be identified as lack of agile project management, a major failure to engage stakeholders, inappropriate leadership style (Utzon resigned before the project was completed), insufficient procedures (as it was said before relating cost and time escalation).Recommendations Field tells us that â€Å"projects fail too often because the project scope was not fully appreciated and/or user needs not fully understood. † The meaning of a project can be materialized in the Sidney Opera House, but although it was a project, it failed by several reasons. RISK MANAGEMENT The ‘‘. . . traditional thinking behind a project risk management (PRM) framework is essentially centrist, authoritarian. It . . . assumes that the central project manager knows best’’ (Williams 40, p. 219).Williams suggests that in Project Management participation and empowerment may actually increase risk by reducing centralised control. Without an agreement that could make Utzon stick on the project agreed before his risk management couldn’t fit in new perspectives from the client like more rooms (halls). Demanding more and asking to reduce time due to the existent delay that was not expected in Utzon’s margins based on the project’s milestones it shows that the pressure pretending to take power from Utzon (led to his resignation) ‘helped’ to make of this project a failure.So, Risk Management would be one of the main focuses if I was the Project Manager. Achieving milestones, regular monitoring, evaluating and updating risk management plans and risk registers and maintain risk management processes for the duration of the project. FORECASTING ; DEALING WITH EXTERNAL MOTIVES Essentially, projects are like organisations. They have project governance, internal management systems, a number of staff, external stakeholders, an external environment and goals, objectives and deliverables.However, project delivery in the construction industry comes with a higher degree of uncertainty due to Industrial factors, complexity and changing technologies and uniqueness of projects where time, cost and quality need to be managed, sometimes equally, sometimes differently. Time Quality Cost In this particular case I would set up a standard of quality and add 20% margin error on the budget for resources. With a focus on quality I would make sure that the project would stick on the agreed and every change emanded would have a new budget and time escalation so the Government would think twice before demanding. With a focus on quality and the cost already decided (with 20% for resources) the two main problems would be solved (the roof problem and the 50 million (AUS) dollars of cost overrun). Furthermore the time problem would be solved with an exact check point on milestones any delay would be due to external motives like a tropical catastrophe or any alteration decided by the government but they would know in advance the cost and time waste of their decisions straight away instead of ‘just’ demand alterations.STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT Strategic approach Stakeholder Engagement is designed to take account of all the individuals and groups impacted by the proposed change and achieve a deeper understanding of their various interests. So, as a proje ct manager I would make sure that the 6 principles below would be the ‘foundations’ of my relation with the stakeholders. Significance: deal with issues of significance to stakeholders and the agency. Completeness: understand the concerns, views, needs and expectations.Responsiveness: respond coherently and appropriately Communication: open and effective Transparency: clear and agreed information and feedback processes. Collaboration: work to seek mutually beneficial outcomes where feasible. Inclusiveness: recognise, understand and involve stakeholders in the process. Integrity: conduct engagement in a manner that fosters mutual respect and trust. (Australian Handbook for citizenship, Stakeholder Engagement Section, Strategic Policy Group, Implementation and Stakeholder Engagement Branch, 2008).Identifying the project’s stakeholders, assessing them, and determining how they should be managed is a part of that process. When engaging stakeholder it is needed to ide ntify, prioritise, understand and plan communications with stakeholders. When engaging stakeholder it is needed to identify, prioritise, understand and plan communications with stakeholders. The first and second points are already done with the stakeholder identification and classification above and also the Interest/Power grid designed before. As a reminder, Walker states that, 2003, p. 261).Apart from the stakeholder groups identifiable by their more obvious connection with projects there are clear and major groups that are invisible but whose cooperation and support is vital for project success(2003, p. 261) so I would manage my ‘tiers’ (in supply chain for materials) having three (tiers) for different specific materials instead of dealing with hundreds. Understanding stakeholders would be another important thing to start from. Apart from forecasting I believe that is one of the best concepts that have to be incorporated in a project manager preparation to start a pr oject.Asking himself â€Å"what†, â€Å"who†, â€Å"when† is really important and the understanding of the project’s deliverables leads to a better understanding of stakeholder’s needs. That leads to a better collaboration between manager and stakeholders. Mitchell states that â€Å"making collaboration between influential stakeholders and the project manager happen depends on personal behaviour changes by knowledge workers to not only work collaboratively but also to share knowledge. (Mitchell 2002, p. 59). Understanding Stakeholders leads to good communications.Following its key concerns and follow the Power/Interest grid leads to a good understanding between stakeholders and project manager so all the four steps has to be co-related. Conclusion Sydney Opera House is considered a project failure, failing on the time scale and cost overrun and the quality of it is still being refurbished but it is an international attraction and no tourist wants to miss it when they go to Sydney. Utzon delivered his masterpiece but in a project manager’s point of view he had his limitations.Bad forecasting, bad planning skills and lack of stakeholder engagement were the main reasons for this project failure and I would have focused on milestones, identifying stakeholders, prioritising necessities and having a clear cost/time perspective and also having a clear risk assessment. References Mitchell, K. (2002), â€Å"Collaboration and information sharing: an ROI perspective? †, The Public Manager, Vol. 31 No. 1, pp. 59-62 Lock, D. , Project Management, 5th edn. Gower, 1992. Nicholas, J. M. , Management of Business and Engineering Projects. Prentice Hall, 1990.J. K Pinto, J. E Prescot, Variations in critical success factors over the stages in the project life cycle Journal of Management, 14 (1) (1988), pp. 5–18 Kerzner H. , In search of excellence in project management. Journal of Systems Management, 1987, 30–39 Davi d I. Cleland, Lewis R. Ireland (2006). Project Management: Strategic Design And Implementation. 5th edn. McGraw-Hill Professional. pp. 17-35. A RETROSPECTIVE LOOK AT OUR EVOLVING UNDERSTANDING OF PROJECT SUCCESS Kam Jugdev; Ralf Muller Project Management Journal; Dec 2005; 36, 4; ABI/INFORM Global pg. 19 J.N Wright, Time and budget: the twin imperatives of a project sponsor. International Journal of Project Management, 15 3 (1997), pp. 181–186 Peter Murray (2004). The Saga Of Sydney Opera House: The Dramatic Story Of The Design And Construction Of The Icon Of Modern Australia. Bedford Park: Taylor ; Francis. p3-18. Bjorn Johs. Kolltveit et al. , Perspectives on project management, International Journal of Project Management (2006), doi:10. 1016/j. ijproman. 2005. 12. 002 Julien Pollack, The changing paradigms of project management, International Journal of Project Management (2006), doi:10. 016/j. ijproman. 2006. 08. 002 Williams T. Assessing and moving on from the dominant p roject management discourse in the light of project overruns. IEEE Trans Eng Manage 2005;52(4):497 Office of Government Commerce, CP0015/01/05, 2004 Field, Tom. (1997). â€Å"When bad things happen to good projects†, CIO magazine, Oct 15, 1997, Vol. 11, 2; pg. 54, 6 pgs. Lynda Bourne and Derek H. T. Walker Visualising and mapping stakeholder influence RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia (2003) Project Management Lectures from week 2 (1st semester) to week 7 (as of 2nd semester)

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Risk management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Risk management - Assignment Example Therefore, in order to reduce the effects of risks so as to maintain the functioning of the organization in an effective way, risk management practices are extremely essential. It is because; it is the most synonyms term associated with each and every business organizations. What is risk management? Risk management is recognised as the process to identify, assess and control varied types of business risks by implementing various strategies and policies. However, in spite of implementation of varied types of strategies, some of the risks are entirely unpredictable in nature and so it’s beyond one’s control. Therefore, it might be stated that risks management is one of the most essential requirements of any organization, operating successfully or desiring to enter into a new foreign market. This paper is divided into four parts highlighting the significance of risk management processes. Along with this, it also describes about the most essential risk management decisions of an organization entering a foreign market. Side by side, it also describes the importance of direct costs and its benefits for an organization, while entering a new market. ... Side by side, any organization desiring to enter into a foreign market also tries to enhance its brand image and equity in the market among other contenders. However, prior entering any new foreign market, an organization desires to make an evaluation plan to analyse and identify the upcoming risks or challenges. It is done so that the members of the organization might plan for the strategies that might resolve those risks. Therefore, the risks that might be faced by an organization in entering a foreign market are described below- Political risks- this type of risks arises, when the government of a country suddenly changes its policies and strategies. However, such changes in the policies create high level of risks mainly for the new entrants (Khatta, 2008, pp. 457-469). This is because, as the organization newly entering a foreign market is entirely unaware about the policies and regulations so it affects negatively over its operations and functions. As a result, it reduces the tot al sale and profit margin of the organization among other contenders. Therefore, in order to stabilise the operations, management of the organization tried to implement the strategies according to the rules and regulations of that country (Tarantino, 2010, pp. 467-489). Legal risks- this type of risks arises due to changes in laws of the country such as tariffs and quotas etc. Due to which, it affects significantly on the operations and profit margin of a new entrant thereby declining its brand image and reputation in that market among others. Therefore, in order to cope up with such dilemma, the organization desires to enhance its profit margin and product lines to attract more customers. Social risks- the changes in the customer habits and preferences

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

ANY Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

ANY - Coursework Example However, proper tool selection is a critical and a difficult undertaking. The methodology defines specific deliverables and artifacts that are created for the purpose of maintaining an application. The programming languages also known as codes are used to instruct the computer to perform certain tasks. Therefore, the programmer must complete the objective of making the language easy to comprehend and efficient in the sense that few instructions are written to complete the required task. It is significant to note that the languages range from first-generation to fifth-generation languages. However, these languages are set by ANSI and ISO which guarantee program portability among operating systems and application programs (Systems Architecture Sixth Edition Chapter 10 25). In the compilation process, the program editor ensures that input is from the programmer, program, template or both. The output also referred to the source code should be partial or complete. The output is stored in a file and the file is named to indicate its functionality as well as the programming language. Therefore, the compiler checks syntax errors, translates code into instructions and generates CPU instructions among other instruction (Systems Architecture Sixth Edition Chapter 10). Most importantly, the compiler completes data declaration, data operation, control structures and functions which include subroutine calls. Link editing is also carried out by the link editor and searches for external function calls in the compiler library. Link editing is either dynamic or static. In addition, interpreters are part and puzzle of the software development lifecycle. They interleave source code translation, foresee link editing and execution. After interpreting, symbolic debugging is carried out. It refers to the use of an automated tool for testing executable programs. This is enhanced through the use of symbol

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Religion and Theologyy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Religion and Theologyy - Essay Example Theology helps to learn religious traditions; this is a system of theoretical principles that derives the religious practices. According to H. Dermot McDonald, religious experience does possess a sense of adequacy and completeness. Theology has facilitated Christianity towards human values to the fullest. The impact of Jesus in the lives of people since ages has never passed by with absolute positives like none before. History talks about many skeptics and critics whose lives have also been transformed completely. Different factors that facilitate the Christian values into human lives, it is quiet important to analyse and understand certain aspects about Jesus if he had claimed to be God ever, if the Bible had the authority in human life, and if a person is a Christian, does it in any way matter as to how a life is lead. These factors have always been the focal areas of interaction many times. According to John 10:30 Jesus says â€Å"I and the Father are one†, but Jesus never said the words precisely as â€Å"I am God†. This means that Jesus never said that he was God ever; in fact he referred to the Father and him as equals, with Father, Son and the Holy Spirit in the form of Trinity. Secondly the point if Bible has authority over human life; Bible is the essence of timeless truth rather than an authority. According to N.T Wright, the question posed is how the Bible could be authoritative; he brings up the views that most of the Bible does not consist of rules and regulations or a list of detailed commands that are to be obeyed, nor does it have creeds in it. There is no such Biblical doctrine of having authority of Bible and rather it is the root path to human beings towards reformation of life. The scriptural values one could follow to have an intimate relation with God. Thirdly, leading the way of life as a Christian emphasizing on the way life is lead. It lies in the works that one does in his life, where his reward comes from. Obedience and faithfulness are very essential to lead life close to God. Did Jesus claim to be God? To understand more precisely about the aspect of Bible, did Jesus ever claim to be God, when Jesus declared as per John 10:30 â€Å"I and the Father are one† his statement meant that he and his father were of similar nature and essence. John in his context reiterates the in-depth truth and concept linked to Jesus, wherein he says â€Å"the word was God† and â€Å"the word became flesh† according to John 1:1, 14 from the scripture. The verse elucidates that Jesus is God in the Human Flesh. In the book of Revelation, an angel instructs the apostle John to worship only God; on the other hand Jesus in the Bible receives worship at various instances. People have been worshipping him at different phases. Jesus never opposed the people not to worship him. Jesus never claimed himself to be God. But the point that could be emphasized is that if Jesus were not God, he would have certainl y told the people who worshipped him, not to do the same. Jesus was the word, a word which was with God, a word which was God himself. A primary aspect that could be observed is that Jesus had sacrificed his life for human kind, in a way where people could repent and come back to the righteous life. His death has paid the penalty for the sins of this world. Jesus has given an infinite penalty for human beings for the sins of people. This shows that Jesus was God and such an instance could happen only from an infinite entity as a whole. Jesus life on earth has been a journey that changed the lives of many. The scriptural verse as per 1 John 2:2 says â€Å"He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world† It can be stated that only God could take the sins of

Monday, August 26, 2019

Bibliography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bibliography - Essay Example Investors who are risk-averse and are searching for a recognized periodic payment arrangement usually prefer to invest in bonds. On the other hand, investors who wish to risk more than is the case with bondholders, and are seeking to be included as joint partners in a corporation. Investors who are risk-averse and are searching for a recognized periodic payment arrangement usually prefer to invest in bonds. On the other hand, investors who wish to risk more than is the case with bondholders, and are seeking to be included as joint partners in a corporation. The source describes one disadvantage in investing in stocks being that they do not necessarily guarantee returns. Bonds, however, guarantee returns (Kristof, 17). The source also states that there are greater prospects of high returns with stocks, even though there is also the likelihood of losing money. Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of each? Milevsky, Moshe. Are You a Stock or a Bond?: Identify Your Own H uman Capital for a Secure Financial Future, Updated and Revised. New York: FT Press, 2012. The source describes stocks and bonds as being types of investment that give people the chance to invest their money in a specific business establishments in the hope of accruing handsome profits in future. Though both of these have a number of similarities, they also differ considerably in many ways. Both of these financial tools, in general, allow an individual to be able to invest in private or public companies, in the hope of being a future beneficiary through accrued profits. Stocks, which define the ownership shares in a corporation, are often the most favored by short time investor. One disadvantage in investing in stocks is that they do not necessarily guarantee returns. Bonds, however, guarantee returns. Therefore, there are greater prospects of high returns with stocks, even though there is also the likelihood of losing money. The source asserts that stocks are descriptive of a busin ess’s shares (Milevsky, 84). When a shareholder uses his own money to buy stocks from the company, he is actually acquiring ownership of the business. When the business realizes any profit, a percentage of it is given to the shareholders. In the matter of bonds, when a person invests in them, he is actually lending money to the business in question with the expectation that the firm will reimburse the bonds' amount along with a pre-determined interest rate on a definite time period. According to the source, business establishments may need to raise capital in such ways in order to expand into different localities or new ventures. They also raise capital in order to fund their businesses. Usually, it is the developing businesses that favor issuing stocks to get the necessary finances as this facilitates their growth while helping them to avoid accumulating more debt. The larger corporations are more likely to prefer acquiring capital by availing bonds without giving the chance of ownership to additional shareholders. The Risks involved in making investments in stocks and bonds Bernstein, William. The Ages of the Investor: A Critical Look at Life-cycle Investing. New York: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012. The source states that for the most part, making such investments in a company always has different risks for the shareholder; but can also deliver handsome profits (Bernstein,

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Chloride Concentration in South Florida Canal Essay

Chloride Concentration in South Florida Canal - Essay Example The Florida canals are located in South Florida is occupies a relatively low-lying highly carbonate area in terms of the topographical dimension. The area receives a relative relief rainfall pattern and the rainfall distribution is 10mm over 100 Km range. South Florida lies mainly on bedrock whose composition was mainly carbonated material, which was formed over one twenty years ago. The South Florida canals are mainly wetlands forming a critical component of the ecosystem. The increasing levels of chlorine and other chemicals in the canal is a major concern for the government and researchers in general (Gleason 165). Agricultural, household and industrial activities contribute a lot to the increasing levels of chemicals in the canal over the last one hundred years. The quality of water bodies in the Florida canal is deteriorating because of several factors such anthropologic activities, wetlands eutrophication and methylmercury pollution in the canal. Eutrophication is mainly caused by high levels of phosphoric materials from the industries. Marine life in the canal is deteriorating as a result of methylmercury pollution from industrial activities (F. McPherson 59). Moreover, the rate at which the wetlands dry is increasing as due to anthropogenic activities in the Florida canals. This affects the effectiveness at which water flows into the canal that is a big blow to the ecosystem balance. This research, however, focuses on determining the levels or concentration of chloride in the Florida canals.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Healthcare Marketing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Healthcare Marketing - Research Paper Example The Affordable healthcare Act however does not just look at the issue of affordability, it looks on so many factors. The factors that the Affordable healthcare Act has addressed are so many that they could not have been implemented all at once without causing some disruption in the market. As a result, it is being implemented in steps, with the last bit expected to be implemented in 2022, over twenty years after the first bit was implemented in 2012. One of the biggest problem that have faced the American healthcare in the last few decades was not just the inability by millions of Americans to afford health insurance, but the fact that insurance companies have been seen to not be faithful to their promise after a patient who has been paying them premiums gets sick (Selker & Wasser, 2013). This has been a challenge and many Americans have suffered in the past because they would hope to be covered when they were sick only for the insurance company they had insured themselves through coming up with excuses as to why they cannot be compensated. The affordable care act is very useful in making sure that the insurance firms will have to be accountable in making sure that they cover the patients when they get sick (Zuniga, Marks, & Gostin, 2013). This is going to bring in a new paradigm in the healthcare market. Definitely, the fact that most people were losing hope with insurance firms meant that they were choosing to not buy health i nsurance. This meant that even those who could afford healthcare insurance were becoming suspicious and refusing to buy it, thus increasing the number of people who have not been covered. The other issue that the affordable healthcare act seeks to solve is the issue of insurance companies refusing to pay out when an applicant makes an honest mistake on their application. This is one issue that has stained the American healthcare insurance and needs to be addressed. The affordable

Friday, August 23, 2019

Relationship between Terrorism and Religion Essay

Relationship between Terrorism and Religion - Essay Example Principally, this ideologically has driven our world since the twentieth century, and it is now making way to the twenty-first century. Also, now it appears to have settled in people in a more ‘religious accommodating’ manner. The final years of the twentieth century, in fact, already underwent an exceptional resurgence of historical religions in numerous parts of the globe, comprising the former USSR, Eastern/Central Europe, as well as China. It is not restricted to only the rebirth of historical religions or faiths, but also extended to the surfacing of neo-religious groups such as the New Age spirituality, as well as the surge of faithfully based experiences and practices ranging from medicine to meditation. These movements have made their way into societies and communities all through the globe where definite levels of freedom for spiritual and religious groups are present. Religious values and views play a significant role in the lives of individuals as they cope wi th issues affecting their communities. Religions educate people concerning ultimate views on believers’ lives. They also offer a core vision for people’s lives, which habitually shades its followers’ socio-political hopes, behaviors and engagements. Therefore, the significance of religion to terrorism cannot be overlooked. This paper will focus on the relationship between terrorism and religion based on what these three authors say in their writings: Brigitte Nacos, Martha Crenshaw and Richard Connerney. These articles are â€Å"The Making of Terrorists: Causes, Conditions, Influences;† â€Å"The Logic of Terrorism;† and â€Å"Islam† respectively.... The author also touches on the new-fangled and past/historical trends of terrorism. Extensively discussing the subject â€Å"What is terrorism?,† the author, a celebrated expert in this field, visibly discusses and explains terrorism’s numerous causes, strategies and actors, as well as counter- and anti-terrorist responses. This article, in addition, outstandingly examines terrorism’s relationship with religion, the public and the media. Highly readable and also comprehensive, â€Å"The Making of Terrorists: Causes, Conditions, Influences† introduces the readers to significant concepts and theories in the study of terrorism with its relation to religion and political turmoil. It also helps them challenge presumptions of this vital, as well as complex issue. Any macro level matter, according to Nacos (61), cannot be tackled without being receptive to realities of religion experienced by humans. Whether the hope of humanity will be formed by the ‘clash of ignorance,’ the ‘clash of societies,’ the clash of religions/faiths and traditions, or conflicts between the ‘West and the rest’ is difficult to predict. It might be an amalgamation of a number of the above because they are all intricately related (Nacos 61). Also, it might be caused by the surfacing of previously unclear issues or problems of polarization. Nacos gives the instance of the 9/11 attacks where Muslim terrorists from the Middle East decided to attack the famous American Twin Towers. In the past, there has always been a religious conflict between the people of the Middle East and the Americans. This was the main reason that according to Nacos (62) led to the bombing of the American Twin Towers. Therefore, Nacos concluded in her article that a

Universal Grammar in Second Language Acquisition Research Paper

Universal Grammar in Second Language Acquisition - Research Paper Example This paper is a reflective essay on Universal grammar in Second Language Acquisition. Universal Grammar is a concept appropriate to the linguistic competence issue, for instance, a notion concerning the grammatical representation nature. Although Universal Grammar affords constraints on potential grammars in the acquisition process, it is not an acquisition theory. This fact is often misconstrued, possibly owing to expressions like LAD (Language Acquisition Device) that numerous persons earlier equated with Universal Grammar. Nevertheless, it might be more correct to consider Universal Grammar as merely part of Language Acquisition Device or faculty of language. The Language Acquisition Device will as well have to encompass learning ideologies, triggering algorithms, and processing doctrines. In other terms, on top of a constraints theory on Inter-Language representation, a concept on means of acquiring that representation is needed; a developmental theory (whether it is in first Language or second Language acquisition) (Epstein, Flynn & Martohardjono, 1996). Although Universal Grammar adds to enlightenment on languages’ acquisition, this is in the manner of how learners happen to know properties, which go far past the input; how learners know that particular things are impossible, why parsing are of single sort instead of another. Universal Grammar claims that these properties about language do not require to be learned. What motivates for Universal Language? It is the assertion that, however, in the instance of L1 (first languages), there exists a rational language acquisition problem, an incongruity amid what enters (specifically, the primary dialectal data) as well as what gets out (a parsing). In other terms, the input establishes the output (Epstein, Flynn & Martohardjono, 1996). Supposing a rational problem of first languages acquisition, persons have inquired whether the case is the same for second languages. This inquiry remains dominant - do second language learners get insentient information (a psychological representation), which goes further than the second language input? If they do, can alternative causes of this information be eliminated, for instance, the first language? The solidest example for the function of Universal Grammar in Second Language Acquisition is that the second language elements cannot be acquired from input only or from input and non-domain-specific learning doctrines or from the first grammar only (Schwartz & Sprouse, 1996). Supposing that there exists indeed a rational problem of second language acquisition, investigators have enquired more Universal Grammar-specific enquiries. In the ‘80s, the Universal Grammar question seemed comparatively straight forward (as well as relatively universal): Is Universal Grammar available (or reachable) to second language learners? Do inter-language grammars show proof of being restrained by Universal Grammar principles? Several principles were explored, such as the ECP, Binding Principle A and Subjacency. The hypothesis was that if one can establish that certain Universal Grammar principle works or does not work, then this simplifies to other philosophies, hence to Universal Grammar

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Human genome online assignment Essay Example for Free

Human genome online assignment Essay 1) If genetic manipulation does become a reality, I think allowing non-disease characteristics to be altered would have serious ethical and social implications. Screening for diseases and treating or eradicating them totally would be a huge benefit to mankind, but to use genetic technology to produce â€Å"designer babies† will most likely lead to a social divide similar to that portrayed in the movie â€Å"Gattaca† (De Vito and Niccol, 1997). Such technology would most likely be expensive and only those who can afford it will benefit and gain undue advantage over those not fortunate enough to have the financial means to avail of the technology, leading to a social system where you have the genetically-enhanced superior class and the â€Å"inferior† citizens conceived the natural way. 2) I don’t think life insurance companies should have access to a person’s genetic information. As it is, I believe insurance policies already hold a lot of stipulations that policy holders more often than not, end up receiving the short end of the bargain. If insurance companies find out that a person has a predisposition to a disease, they could easily refuse to provide that person with insurance and that I think, would be unfair since they would be depriving that person of his need to secure financial aid in case he does get sick. In the interest of fairly sharing risks though, insurance companies may be allowed limited access to genetic information. Limited, because I believe the welfare of policy holders should still be of topmost priority and any form of discrimination against individuals should not be allowed. 3) Yes, I believe that the information from the Human Genome Project (HGP) will bring tremendous benefits to a lot of people in the next 20 years. Technology develops at a very fast pace and it is not impossible that Collins’ predictions may very well come true. Already, the underlying genetic problems responsible for certain diseases have already been identified and with the genetic map from the HGP, the causes of a lot of other afflictions will be identified and from there, therapies can and will be developed. Even though custom-made therapies will most likely be more difficult to develop and perfect, the identification of disease genes will still greatly benefit the general population (Nova Online, 2001). 4) I think we are not that prepared for the implications that will result from the applications of these information. Right now, our society is already struggling with various other ethical issues in other biotechnological fields like stem cell research and it would be too naive to ignore the present and potential issues that may arise due to the far-reaching consequences of the HGP. 5) I don’t think employers should have access to an individual’s genetic information since there is the danger that a person may be discriminated on the basis of his genetic profile. As of present, I think discrimination may be viewed as singling out an individual for what he is (e. g. his race, gender, etc. ), but to discriminate someone based on his genetic profile would also mean discriminating him for what he could be. A person can be at risk for a certain disease but that’s just it – it’s a probability, not a guarantee. Besides, it would also mean discounting a person’s capabilities in spite of whatever genetic condition he may have. There have been countless stories of people overcoming their disabilities so there is no reason that one should be discriminated or favored based on his genetic makeup. 6) I don’t think it is that surprising, especially if I consider that like me, these lower organisms are alive, so it’s really just logical that we do share something in common. Considering though how much more complex we seem to be compared to these organisms, then yes, it is surprising that we don’t seem to be that genetically different from them. 7) I believe that testing of unborn children should be confined to deleterious genes, i. e. those that have serious and possibly life-threatening consequences such as that with diseases. I believe it’s a matter of putting things in perspective. Traits and disabilities like homosexuality or color blindness may be undesirable but they really seem trivial compared to serious afflictions that may mean life or death for the child. 8) If it’s a curable or preventable disease, then I would probably be in favor of being tested so that I can take the necessary steps to prevent or prepare myself in case I do get sick. However, I can’t say that decision would be as simple in the case of non-treatable diseases, because as with the woman who tested positive for a BRCA mutation (Nova Online, 2001), knowing that I am at risk for a disease that has no cure will probably mean that I will be living my life everyday with a sword hanging over my head and it would be very hard to live life that way. 9) Yes, I would want my mate and I to be tested if we were carriers for a disease prior to having children. I wouldn’t want to take the risk of bearing a child only to have him/her suffer from the disease that we carry when we could’ve spared him/her from that difficult life. I believe that I owe it to my future child to have myself and my partner tested. 10) I don’t think genes or genomic material should be patented because as Lander has observed, apprehensions over whether a particular gene or part of the genome has already been patented has become a limiting factor in that drug companies usually wouldn’t want to take the risk of working on treatments that might already be protected by a patent (Nova Online, 2001). I believe that there are several ways that scientists can approach a disease and develop a treatment for it, so why patent genes or genomic material? Why not just let everybody have access to such information so that not only one drug company can work at a specific disease but rather several, so that there’s a better chance that one of them will be able to develop a treatment which they would then have all the right to patent? Let’s take for example the case of cystic fibrosis. The gene responsible for this disease was discovered way back in 1989 and yet no cure has been discovered up to now (Nova Online, 2001). It only goes to show that identifying the gene responsible for the disease does not automatically mean that the cure would also be discovered consequently, so why allow the burden of further limitations brought on by patents? References: De Vito, D. (Producer), Niccol, A. (Director). (1997). Gattaca [Motion Picture]. USA: Sony Pictures. NOVA Online. (2001). Cracking the code of life. Retrieved May 30, 2007, from http://www. pbs. org/wgbh/nova/genome/program. html.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Prototype of 3D Cadaster Polygonal Model

Prototype of 3D Cadaster Polygonal Model Abhijit Gujar Table of Contents 1.Introduction 1.1.Background and Justification 1.2.Literature review 1.2.1.Review on concept though and ideas 1.2.2.Review on approaches 1.3.Research problem 1.4.Research objective 1.4.1.General objective 1.4.2.Specific objective 1.5.Research questions 1.6.Research limitations 2.Research design and methods 2.1.Study area 2.2.Data 2.3.Software and hardware requirement 2.4.Research design matrix 3.Framework 3.1.Research framework 3.2.Thesis framework 3.3.Work plan framework 4.Reference 1. Introduction 1.1. Background and Justification Urbanization is an inevitable part of the economic development process for any country and is considered a global phenomenon (Rigg et al., 2009) . However, it is only in recent years that the rate of urbanization has begun to accelerate. More than half of the world population is dwelling in urban area. Urbanization is one of the inevitable phenomenon right now, as the result of this there is need and growth of high rise buildings which are having many types of uses and new types of shared ownership and also underground infrastructure such as sewage, train tunnels (subway), electrical and communication network is becoming dense and complex more over multi-use of land parcel creates new problems and challenges. (Jazayeri, Rajabifard, Kalantari, 2014) Traditionally the land parcel information which includes geometric, visual and legal data is managed in 2D. It is difficult in 2D map to make simple operation such as volume of space, cannot perform various spatial analysis that is necessary in various other field of urban planning as the data is in 2D. 3D visualization for dissemination is very difficult using just the 2D data in cadaster system (Mohamed Anders, 2012). This is where the 3D cadaster comes into light.endi One of the biggest hurdle in developing the 3D cadaster is the creating the 3D building geometry representation that are suitable for 3D cadaster. Although there are CAD model available that represent the 3D blue print of the building, the real on ground situation can be different then what is on the CAD model so it is necessary to calculate the 3D measurements of actual built building. I want to research how we can create a 3D model that is suitable for 3D cadaster, one of the possible methods can be using laser scanning data. Laser scanning data has very high accuracy which is suitable for land administration needs. AHN -2 (Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland) is the project in Netherlands that aims to collect high resolution laser data of entire country (van der Sande, Soudarissanane, Khoshelham, 2010). Although AHN-2 data is accurate the point density is not enough to be able to convert it into a polygonal geometry model as the AHN-2 is taken from high altitude it covers the roof of buildings adequately but the facades of the building generally have less point density which results in anomalies. The proposed solution to take multiple images of the building from all the sides (facades) to construct a point cloud of that building, the minimum number of images required will be analyzed using techniques discussed in (Alsadik, B., Gerke, M., Vosselman, G., Daham, A., Jasim, L. ,2014), then register this point cloud with the AHN-2 point cloud then this point cloud is used to generate 3D model 1.2. Literature review This section talks about the concepts, ideas that are discussed throughout this proposal. Cadaster: Urbanization is a process by which town cities are slowly transformed from rural form to urban form 3D cadaster: Cadaster registers real status of real estate objects until now the spatial information use to register the legal status of land in two dimensional systems that is a parcel is defined by 2D juridical boundaries. 3D cadaster What is a 3D Model A 3D Model is a mathematical representation of any three-dimensional object (real or imagined) in a 3D software environment. Unlike a 2D image, 3D models can be viewed in specialized software suites from any angle, and can be scaled, rotated, or freely modified. The process of creating and shaping a 3D model is known as 3d modeling Laser scanning Laser scanning is technique of controlled deflection of laser beam visible or invisible to capture the information of target in 3D from airborne or terrestrial platform. Airborne laser scanning is carried out from aircraft while terrestrial laser scanning can be done from a stationary or moving platform. Point cloud: point cloud is a set of 3D points in the same coordinate system. Often intended to represent a external surface of an object. Point cloud file is just the set of numbers representing X, Y, Z in coordinate system. Point cloud registration: Point cloud registration is a process of merging 2 separate point cloud having different origin and into one . Stratified sampling method: Stratified is probability sampling technique in which the researcher divides the entire population into different groups and then sample is collected from equally from each group. So that the selected sample can represent the population well. 1.3. Problem statement In past recent years there has been a lot of development in 3D. Netherlands is actively promoting for participation of over 65 private, public and scientific organizations to promote the use of 3D information covering issues such as acquisition, standardization, storage and use (Elberink, Stoter, Ledoux, Commandeur, 2013). Although there are many paper that suggest different methods to extract building from point cloud I want to look into alternative way of designing a 3D model of building by combining two point cloud from different sources. 1.4. Motivation 1.5. Research objective Research objectives are divided into general objective and specific objective. General objective is overall goal of research and specific objective are the objectives that are needed to complete general objective. 1.5.1. General objective To develop and test a prototype of 3D cadaster Polygonal model of building by combing the AHN-2 data with point cloud created by multiple high quality images of the building from all the facades. 1.5.2. Specific objective To formalize a benchmark for constructing a prototype 3D modelof buildingsatisfying the requirement for 3D cadaster. To create a prototype 3D model of a building using the benchmark. To evaluate applicability of developed 3D model based on developed benchmark. 1.6. Research questions Specific objective 1: To formalize a benchmark for constructing a prototype 3D model of building satisfying the requirement for 3D cadaster. What are important feature, constrain and requirement to construct a 3D model of a building for 3D cadaster? What are the criteria of sampling buildings (e.g height, type, length, width, building complexity of structure) Specific objective 2: To create a prototype 3D model of a building using thebenchmark. Which image processing techniques are better for 3D cadaster? Which is appropriate 3D model for 3D cadaster? And why? (wireframe , surface or solid) Specific objective 3: To evaluate applicability of developed 3D model based ondeveloped benchmark. What is the strength and weakness of derived 3D model? What are the reasons of strength and weakness? How can we access the accuracy (X,Y) of the 3D model using the existing 2D cadastral database? How can we access the accuracy (Z) of the 3D model using the CAD model? What are the possible recommendations to improve developed method? 1.7. Research limitations The current research limits extracting the model of building from the exterior of the building and does not covers the interior design and structure of the building. 2. Research design and methods In this section briefly describes the how the research will attempt to accomplish the formulated research questions. It includes the description of study area, people, data requirement, software to be used, proposed workflow/methodology. 2.1. Study area Study area for this project is Enschede. Results from the specific objective one will be used to select sample building of different type, height, volume so that it can represent the building population well. 2.2. Data Data description Data use Data source Airborne laser data for study area To create model PDOK Images of building taken from all the sides For Image base modeling field work CAD model of the building To assess accuracy (z) of developed model Cadaster, Netherlands. 2D Cadastral data of the selected buildings To assess accuracy (x,y) of developed model Cadaster, Netherlands. 2.3. Software and hardware requirement Software / Hardware Use/ application PCM Point cloud segmentation, manipulation and visual interpretation ImageModeler To convert point cloud to 3D model Matlab Coordinate system transformation 3DF Samantha AutoCAD CAD model analysis Endnote Reference management Microsoft Word Thesis preparation Professional camera To capture building images 2.4. Research design matrix Research Sub-Objective Research Question Research Method Required input data Anticipated Output To determine important factors for constructing 3D model ofbuilding satisfying the requirement for 3D cadaster. What are important feature, constrain and requirement to construct a 3D model of a building for 3D cadaster? Literature review, expert consultation, Case study, previous research papers, Case study, Literature, research paper, sample data from cadaster. List of important characteristics/functions/ features. In order to select the buildings for modeling, what are the parameters of sampling (selection)? Stratified sampling method Building type database Selection of types of building to study for modeling To create a prototype 3D model of a building. How can we create a point cloud from the images of building? Literature review, expert consultation, Case study, previous research papers High quality images of the building from all facades. Point cloud data How can we filter unwanted data (noise) from both of the point cloud? Literature review, expert consultation, Case study, previous research papers Two point cloud from previous objective Noise free point cloud How can we create a 3D model of building from point cloud? Literature review, expert consultation, Case study, previous research papers Noise free point cloud 3D model of a building To evaluate applicability of developed 3D model in context of 3D cadaster standards derived from objective one. What is the strength and weakness of derived 3D model? What are the reasons of strength and weakness? Comparison with the result derived from first objective. Visual and statistical analysis. Output from the first objective. Output from second objective. A summarizing list of strength and weakness of the derived output, discussion, conclusion and recommendation. How can we access the accuracy (X,Y) of the 3D model using the existing 2D Kadastral database? Output from second objective. Database for that specific building from Kadaster Table of accuracy analysis. How can we access the accuracy (Z) of the 3D model using the CAD model? Output from second objective. CAD model of same building 3. Framework Framework is structure to organize concepts or steps of the research process for better communication with intended readers. 3.1. Research framework Research framework will depict the overall structure and sequence of the major activities, task within each activity are of equal importance and cannot be skipped. Figure 2: Research Framework 3.2. Thesis framework Thesis framework describes and introduces the chapters that will be included in the main thesis. Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter one offers the justification background of research it also discusses the research problem, research objective, research questions, any previous work done related to this research Chapter 2: Literature Review and concepts Chapter two will go more deep into the concepts and the terms their meaning.Various terminology used in research. Chapter 3: 3D Cadaster In this chapter we will talk about what is 3D cadaster? Why it is useful? Which countries are implementing/ implemented 3D cadaster? How these countries have implemented it? Chapter 6: Field work This chapter discuses about the pre field work and field work . Chapter 5: Source of 3D data In this chapter we will discuss about the various sources of the 3d data that are available in Netherlands. We will compare the advantages and disadvantages of each one. Chapter 6: Technique of modeling In this chapter we will discuss about the various methods, procedure, software’s, algorithms related to 3D modeling. Chapter 7: Accuracy assessment In this chapter we will discuss technique and method of analysis and comparison of the derived model with the benchmark that we obtained from the first objective of research. Chapter 8: Prototype In this chapter we will display the obtained results and then will discuss the finding of the prototype. Chapter 9: Conclusion and Recommendation This chapter consists of the conclusion derived from the results and recommendation for further improvement. 3.3. Work plan framework Work plan framework depicts the activity and time allocated for each activity. Table 1: Work Plan 4. Reference Elberink, S. O., Stoter, J., Ledoux, H., Commandeur, T. (2013). Generation and Dissemination of a National Virtual 3D City and Landscape Model for the Netherlands. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 79(2), 147-158. Jazayeri, I., Rajabifard, A., Kalantari, M. (2014). A geometric and semantic evaluation of 3D data sourcing methods for land and property information. Land Use Policy, 36(0), 219-230. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2013.08.004 Mohamed, E.-M., Anders, Ãâ€". (2012). Feasibility of Building Information Models for 3D Cadastre in Unified City Models. International Journal of E-Planning Research (IJEPR), 1(4), 35-58. doi: 10.4018/ijepr.2012100103 van der Sande, C., Soudarissanane, S., Khoshelham, K. (2010). Assessment of Relative Accuracy of AHN-2 Laser Scanning Data Using Planar Features. Sensors, 10(9), 8198-8214. doi: 10.3390/s100908198 Rigg, J., Bebbington, A., Gough, K. V, Bryceson, D. F., Agergaard, J., Fold, N., Tacoli, C. (2009). The World Development Report 2009 â€Å"reshapes economic geography†: geographical reflections. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 34(2), 128–136. doi:10.1111/j.1475-5661.2009.00340.x FACULTY OF GEO-INFORMATION SCIENCE AND EARTH OBSERVATION – UNIVERSITY OF TWENTE

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Platos Apology And Charges Against Socrates Religion Essay

Platos Apology And Charges Against Socrates Religion Essay In the Socrates Apology, the Socrates is charged against the following: First thing that Socrates is charged against by the jury is his refusal to believe in gods whom the state believes in. Second charge is being responsible for teaching people to disbelieve the gods. Socrates is thirdly charged for corrupting the young by infusing in them the spirit of criticism. Final charge which Socrates is accused of is that he does wrong by speculating about the heavens and things beneath the earth as if he is a scientist and by making weaker reasons to be stronger thus acting like sophist. He studies things in the heavens and below the earths Socrates is an accused of being an evildoer person who is curious and walking in the air searching things that are under the earth and those in the skies thus he is identified by the jury as being a natural philosopher and according to the society of the time now termed as archaic or originary societies people are able to make sense of both the world around them and even of themselves through telling of stories that relate to gods and therefore making such gods to be fashions who are responsible fro ruling the world. Therefore by Socrates undertaking curios studies of things in the heavens that may refer to gods that people worship and things on the ground probably the people themselves makes him an evildoer because what he does is in opposition to the traditional belief of the people of the land where gods were believed to be divine and no body was supposed to investigate and question on them in any way (Brickhouse Nicholas, 2004). He makes the worse argument into the stronger (better) argument In this charge Socrates is accused using his oratory skill to persuade people in there society and make them adopt and believe in his point of view despite the fact that he knows little or nothing of what they are talking about. He is very ignorant of the subject he teaches people and that makes him to be considered a sophist an individual who go from city to city training people especially the youth in order to gain political powers thus becoming un trusted by many people of the society. Therefore Socrates is liable to be charged of being a sophist an act distasted by the members of the society. Socrates claims that the oracle at Delphi is responsible for his behavior as he thinks he is the wisest man based on the fact that he recognizes that he knows little of worldly things and given the fact he knows that he knows nothing make shim the wisest a claim which most of the people knows is wrong. In his defense Socrates say that he does no consider himself an orator in any way and unless it meant speaking the truth and honestly about what he knows. He defense himself from using his oratory skill to argue out weak arguments thus making then better and hence making the youth in the city to belief in his ideas and belief which are not based in any knowledge. He is guilty of corrupting the young In addition to the above charges Socrates is also charged with corrupting the minds of the young members of the society who are easily convinced to believing in appealing things and issues. This charge is based on the idea that Socrates cunningly uses his oratory skills to persuade the young into believing in his ideas which were based on his ignorance rather than on knowledge. Socrates is accused of going around in the society telling youth why they should not belief in gods which the society belief in and regards as divine and by teaching them that sun was a hot rock instead of Apollo thus he is to be helped responsible for corrupting the minds of the young in the society. This accusation is based on his sophistic beliefs that make shim to emphasize on rhetoric and reason, become skeptical on issues regarding knowledge and morals and finally that he takes payments fro his teachings which serve to corruption the youth in the society (Reeve, 1989). In defending himself against the charge that he has corrupted the young Socrates claims that he has never been a teacher in a sense that he can impart knowledge to others therefore he can not be held responsible for citizens who becomes corrupted. He goes further to challenge the jury that if he really made any one adopt bad behaviors why is it that none of them had come out to be a witness, or equally the same why there was none of the relatives of the corrupted youth to testify against him? Socrates concluded his defense by saying that since no one has come out to accuse him of the change that the jury is accusing him he can attest to the fact that many of the relatives of the youth in the city associates with him and in fact they where in the courtroom to support him. To complement his defense against corrupting the youth Socrates claims that he is a Gadfly that constantly agitates the horse preventing it from becoming sluggish and from sleeping thus considering himself as blessin g to these youth rather than a corruptor (Hackforth,1933). He does not believe in the gods of the city Final charge which Socrates is accused of is by not believing in the gods that the city considered divine and worshiped. The people in the city derives their political powers from gods who in turn regard themselves as divine as they consider themselves empowered by these gods as they can trace themselves and their ancestry to their gods. Thus people in the society dont care what one believe in but its a mandatory requirement that everyone in the society gives due honor to the gods of the city which they lived in failure to which is considered treason as it undercuts the authority and legitimacy of the ruling regime. Therefore by Socrates having being initially accused of natural philosopher, he is also accused of refusing to believe in gods of the city thus legitimizing the acclaimed rulers of the city and all those who ruled in the past. By Socrates curiously investigating on gods and regarding the sun as a hot rock instead of regarding it as Apollo makes him an offender in the soci ety who is liable to be judged by the jury for refusing to acknowledge the city gods and the divine emperor (Brickhouse, 1989). During his defense against the charge of not believing in the gods that the city believed in he claims that people have misunderstood his true activity and relates to the Delphic oracle where he was told that he was the wisest of all men despite having known himself as an ignorant person. But after testing the Delphic oracle to find a wiser person among the politicians,poets and craftsmen he never got one making the wisest as he was aware of his ignorance unlike other who though they wise but were not and that is why he never belied in the gods that the less wise leaders believed in. He finally catches his accuser by offering contradictory explanation that he is not a person capable of believing in false gods thus becoming an atheist but also he cant allow himself to belief in divine things that will render him an atheist also. Generally Socrates argues that al the charges he is accused of are all false and that such charges were brought by his enemies who had ulterior motives and most probably such motive have nothing to do with searching for the truth or for the good neither for the Athenians nor the sate therefore the jury should not be treating him as criminal who had corrupted the minds of the youth and an atheist ,he should be accorded respect an honor of a hero who has served nothing more than helping his society (Reginald, 1980). Based on the knowledge obtained from the jurys accusation dreaded against Socrates as well as from the defense the accused has given concerning the charges he faces as well as the rule of law of the state I find Socrates not guilty. My verdict is based on the fact that the jury has heavily and solely relied on the prevailing laws which do not sufficiently find Socrates an obvious violator of the law. Fr instance his changes regarding corruption of the youth in the society does not present sufficient witnesses who can attest to his violations of the law and the he was acting upon his belief which the law does not prohibit any one from believing in what they want to. Based on his defense on refusing to belief in the gods of the city he doesnt break the law has he has the right to belief in what he wishes to therefore the implied effects of spreading his doctrines and ideas lacks a basis of argument as non of his supposed student have caused ant trouble as it regards to the authority and legitimacy of the state leaderships. Finally given that Socrates who could have otherwise fled and saved his life his decisions and actions though out his trying has shown that he is not a person guilt of what he does and therefore does portrays a citizen who expects to be charged justly and family by the states thus implying that he is probably a person of decent character and stable principle which should be respected by the state.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Television Violence Negatively Impacts Children Essay -- Critical Thin

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Littleton, Colorado; Springfield, Oregon; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Pearl, Mississippi. These previously unknown suburban cities will forever be branded into our minds. These cities are linked by one devastating factor: young students firing upon fellow students and educators. What causes these young people to "snap" causing the violent shooting sprees? Although the events are too recent to fully understand their causes, we can try to understand what led to the disastrous situations. The impact of television violence on youth behavior has been an issue for many years. Television stations and their executives tend to deny television's contribution to youth violence. In the following paragraphs, I will use various examples to demonstrate the impact television has had on youth violence. This will be accomplished by: discussing the problems associated with television viewing, identifying violence on television, portraying the effects of television violence on younger people, and revealing ways to reduce violence on television. This paper explores these topics by using multiple statistics, by incorporating the views of several public officials and authors, and through my own views as well. In 1939, at the World's Fair, television first came into our lives. In 1938, author E. B. White told Harpers Magazine: "I believe that television is going to be the test of the modern world, and in this new opportunity to see beyond the range of our own vision, we shall discover either a new and unbearable disturbance of the general peace or a saving radiance in the sky. We shall stand or fall by television, of that I am sure." ( Murray, 1) E. B. White foresaw the problems associated with television when TV first arrived, but I do not ... ...ww.aacap.org/publications/factsfam/violence.htm DeMoss, Jr. Robert G. Learn to Discern. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992. Goodwin, William. Teen Violence San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 1998. Gore, Tipper. Raising PG Kids in an X-Rated Society: What Parents can do to Protect Their Children From Sex and Violence in the Media. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1987. Landau, Elaine. Teenage Violence. Englewood Cliffs, CO: Julian Messner, 1990. Margolis, Jeffrey A. Teen Crime Wave: A Growing Problem. Issues In Focus Series. Springfield, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1997 Miller, Maryann. Coping With Weapons and Violence in Your Schools and on Your Streets. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 1993. Murray, John P. Children and Television Violence. Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy, 1993. Volume 4, Number 3, pp 7-14   

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Fredrick Douglass Essay -- essays research papers fc

The purpose behind Fredrick Douglass’s Narrative was to appeal to the other abolitionists who he wanted to convince that slave owners were wrong for their treatment of other human beings. His goal was to appeal to the middle-class people of that time and persuade them to get on board with the abolitionist movement. Douglass had a great writing style that was descriptive as well as convincing. He stayed away from the horrific details of the time, which helped him grasp the attention of the women who in turn would convince their husbands to help by donating money and eventually ending slavery. He used his words effectively in convincing the readers that the slave owners were inhuman and showed how they had no feelings for other human beings. Although Douglass appealed to the middle-class people, he upset other Northerners at the same time, mainly the slave traders, because he was destroying their business. Through personal anecdotes, Douglass draws an accurate picture of slave l ife. Simultaneously, he chooses these events for how they will affect the Northern audience’s opinion of southern slaveholders (Quarles ii). Douglass uses family relationships, starting with his own birth, to gain the compassion of his target audience. He never knew the identity of his father, but it was â€Å"whispered† (Douglass 2) that it was his master. Douglass mentions this to demonstrate how the â€Å"master in [many] cases, sustains to his slaves the double relation of master and father† (2). This was so...

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Geography Coursework Keswick

General aim: To find whether Keswick is a honeypot site. Specific Hypotheses: To test the general aim to prove that Keswick is a honey pot site, we will investigate 3 specific hypotheses: 1. Keswick town centre caters mainly for its tourists in its land use. 2. Keswick demonstrates some of the key problems associated with honeypot sites. 3. Keswick attracts a high proportion of non-local visitors. What is a honeypot site? A honeypot site is a site where there is attractive scenery or historical interest, and tourists visit in large numbers. Honeypot sites are areas which attract many tourists. They are so called because tourists flock to these places like ‘bees around honey'. Problems with a honeypot site The large number of tourist causes many problems in and around Keswick. These problems include – * Litter and pollution * Noise pollution * Vandalism * Traffic Congestion – This is a problem in the village to both locals and visitors. There is a large car park, with space for coaches, and public toilets but as peak times the parking provision is not enough and the congestion spoils the character of the village and affects its enjoyment by all. You can read also Classifications of Restaurants * Footpath erosion resulting from overuse. This is particularly the case around popular natural attractions. * Conflict with other landusers e.g. farmers and walkers How are these problems are being tackled? Footpath erosion – Improvements such as surfacing paths in local stone or re-routing certain paths have been undertaken to reduce the impact of erosion. An increasing number of litter bins have been provided throughout the village. What benefits are created by Tourism in the area? Social Benefits: * Jobs are created * Crime reduces due to higher levels of employment Economic Benefits: * Jobs are created. Therefore people have more money to spend on local goods and services. * Multiplier effect – by creating a factory and providing new jobs, the local economy grows by more than the original cash injection What is a National park? * National parks provide for tourists facilities * They encourage tree planting * They give advice to land uses * They arrange talks and guided walks * They mark out footpaths for you to walk along * They buy land to protect its character * They monitor and clean pollution * They provide on information service * They encourage suitable developments * The refuse permission for unsuitable buildings * The lake district is the largest National park in England * It is 885 square miles in size * There is 11 National parks in England * There are 1800 rules for footpaths in the countryside Introduction to Keswick Tourism is the world's largest industry, with annual revenue of almost $500 billion. And it is growing fast, with airline arrivals expected to double by 2010. In 1950 25 million international arrivals were recorded worldwide a figure which has risen to 500 million by 1996. Leisure is estimated to account for 75 per cent of all international travel. The World Tourism Organisation estimated there were 694 million international tourist arrivals in 2003, a drop of 1.2 per cent (attributed to the problems of the Iraq conflict, SARS and a generally weak world economy). Arrivals have picked up in 2004, and they are expected to reach 1.6 billion by 2020. Domestic tourism (people going on holiday in their own country) is generally thought to be 4-5 times greater than international arrivals. Globally, tourism accounts for roughly 35 per cent of exports of services and over 8 per cent of exports of goods. Tourism is now the world's largest employer. In 2001, the International Labour Organisation estimated that globally over 207 million jobs were directly or indirectly employed in tourism. In the UK alone, 10% of total employment is in the tourism sector. People who have employment within the UK usually earn a high salary compared to the rest of the world and people consider that they must strike a work/life balance and hence spend more time on holidays. The UK has seen a greater increase in car ownership since the 1950's when in 1951 only 1 in 20 families's had a car, by 1996 this figure had risen to 71% of all UK families owned at least 1 vehicle and by 2005 this figure has risen with many families owning 2 vehicles. The increase in car ownership obviously goes hand in hand with an improvement in the transport system of the UK which since the 1950's has seen improvements in roads especially motorways and urban by-passes have resulted in driving times between places reduced and encourage people to travel more frequently and greater distances. Keswick has excellent an excellent road system and is easy to reach being just 20 minutes along the A66 trunk road from junction 40 of the M6 motorway. As mentioned above a major factor for the increase in tourism in the Keswick area has been a change in lifestyle compared to the 1950's, people are retiring early and living longer and are able to take advantage of their greater fitness, also many people due to retiring early and greater disposable income has seen an increase in people buying 2nd homes in the Keswick area. There has been an increase in active holidays compared to the 1950's with a lot more people involved in water sports and fell running etc which the Keswick area offers a wide choice of such activities. Since the 1950's now almost everybody has a television and many have access to the internet, there is a greater ability to access information about holiday and tourism in general and the tourism industry use all means of advertising. There has been an increase in Green tourism or sustainable tourism which the Lake District and Keswick are a prime example where tourism is needed to benefit the local economy and the environment with people visiting the area and not spoiling the natural beauty of the area. With the increase in tourism since the 1950's there have been several areas described as Honey pot Sites In geography, a honey pot is a particularly popular attraction within a managed tourist area, such as a national park. Honey pot sites are often encouraged because they concentrate the damage caused by tourists on small sites, making conservation easier in other parts of the managed area. The problem is how to preserve the honey pots natural beauty and their unspoilt quality while providing facilities for the hordes of people who arrive at peak summer periods. The main problem with Honey pot sites is too many tourists overcrowding small places. Due to the fact that footpaths are been overused, they get eroded casing the council to pay out a large sum of money to repair these paths. There is a high level of litter, vandalism and trespassing on Honey pot sites which causes discomfort and trouble to those who live there this has sparked off a conflict between local farmers and tourists which has caused, restricting tourists access to footpaths, bridleways and separating activities, e.g. Water Skiing and Angling. Also roads have been congested by heavy Lorries, local traffic and tourist traffic which has caused scenic routes separating local and tourist traffic. A National Park is an area of great natural beauty can be preserved and enhanced, and so that enjoyment of the scenery by the public can be promoted. There are12 National parks in England these 11 parks contain some of the most diverse and spectacular upland and a variety of scenery which in turn provides a wide range of recreational activities. All the parks provide basic opportunities for walking, riding, fishing and water sports. These parks are within easy reach of both urban and rural conurbations, they all have motorways running near them which make them all easy access sites. National Parks are mostly owned privately (81%) , mainly by farmers with 6% owned by the Forestry Commission, 5% to the National Trust , 3% to the ministry of defence , 3% to the water authorities. The aims of National parks were updated in 1995, the aims were: 1. To conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the National Parks. 2. To promote opportunities for the public understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of the Parks. The idea for a form of national parks was first proposed in the United States in the 1800s where National Parks were established to protect wilderness areas such as Yosemite this model has been used in many other countries since, but not in the United Kingdom. After thousands of years of human integration into the landscape, Britain lacks natural areas of wilderness. Furthermore, those areas of natural beauty so cherished by the romantic poets were often only maintained and managed in their existing state by human activity, usually agriculture. In1931, Christopher Addison chaired a government committee that proposed a ‘National Park Authority' to choose areas for designation as national parks. A system of national reserves and nature sanctuaries was proposed: 1. To safeguard areas of exceptional natural interest against (a) disorderly development and (b) spoliation; 2. To improve the means of access for pedestrians to areas of natural beauty; and 3. To promote measures for the protection of flora and fauna. In 1947 by a Government committee, this time chaired by Sir Arthur Hobhouse, which prepared legislation for national parks, and proposed 12 national parks. Sir Arthur had this to say on the criteria for designating suitable areas: â€Å"The essential requirements of a National Park are that it should have great natural beauty, a high value for open-air recreation and substantial continuous extent. Further, the distribution of selected areas should as far as practicable be such that at least one of them is quickly accessible from each of the main centers of population in Wales and England Lastly there is merit in variety and with the wide diversity of landscape which is available in England and Wales, it would be wrong to confine the selection of National Parks to the more rugged areas of mountain and moorland, and to exclude other districts which, though of less outstanding grandeur and wildness, have their own distinctive beauty and a high recreational value.† History Granted its market character by Edward in 1276. Keswick was an important wool and leather centre until about 1500. Location Keswick is standing on the shore of Derwentwater at the junction north, south east and west routes through the Lake District. It is situated in the north of the Lake District it is surrounded by lots of tall mountains. Carlise to Keswick 39m, Penrith 20m, Windermere 23, and Workington 22. Maps Here are some maps to show you where about Keswick is positioned. Map of Great Britain Map of North West Map of Cumbria Map of Keswick As you can see Keswick is very accessible due to the many roads that go through it and pass close by. Landscape around Keswick The Landscape around Keswick has stunning scenery, it has many lakes and mountains near by and it has vast countryside. It also has a well kept old town centre which is very popular for tourists, where they can buy souvenirs and enjoy dinner at the many restaurants. Here are some pictures to show why Keswick is a honeypot site because of its breath taking scenery. Here is at the centre of Keswick where there are many shops. Here is a picture of one of Keswick's beautiful lakes Here is one if the breath taking views that attract hikers and walkers to go to Keswick. A glacially eroded landscape Tourists are attracted to the Lake District by the spectacular landscape, which has been formed mainly by glacial erosion. The world's climate is continuously changing. Between 14 and 20 glacial periods have occurred in the last 1 million years. The most recent ice age started 100 000 years ago and ended 10 000 years ago. During it, ice sheets covered most of Britain north and the Midlands and changed the landscape by glacial erosion and deposition. A glacier is a mass of moving ice. It erodes by two main processes: * Plucking: water enters cracks in the rock and freezes so that it is attached to both the rock and the glacier. When the glacier moves, the block of rock is pulled out of the ground. * Abrasion: Blocks of rock (or load) in the base and sides of the glacier are scraped over the rock surface. They scratch it, making parallel groves called striations. Abrasion has a sandpaper effect so the rock surface looks smooth. Frost shattering also occurs in glacial environments. This is a weathering process, not an erosion process. When water enters a crack in the rock it expands by 10 per cent. The ice pushing on the sides of the crack it widens it. Blocks of rock can then fall on to the glacier from the valley side above. Frost-shattered rock surfaces are easier for glaciers to erode by plucking. Corries are produced by glacial erosion. Red tarn corrie is an armchair-shaped hollow on the eastern side of Helvellyn mountain in the Lake District. It is 0.5 km wide and 1km from the front to back. The steep back and side walls are up to 220 m high. A small round lake called Red Tarn lies in the hollow in the base of the corrie. The water is kept in by a rock ridge on the floor of the corrie called a rock lip. The quickest way to identify a corrie on a map is to find a round lake less than 0.5 km in diameter with a U-shaped pattern of contours. How ever many of them do not have lakes in them. Here is Red tarn corrie Conclusion My conclusion is that Keswick is defiantly a honeypot site, and that it is a honypot site because of its location and beautiful scenery. I also think that in time to come Keswick will still be honeypot site for years and years.