Belonging creativwe writting Essay

It has been a year since I moved out of home to attend a prestigious school. I have met new people, made new friends, and gotten use to moving around this town since when I first arrived. Although I am extremely happy about where I stand today, I’ve started to get this uneasy feeling, is it because I haven’t been feeling well or is it because I’ve started to dream more about those back at my home town. I’m running late to school again, if mum was here I wouldn’t hear the end of how I’m going to be scolded by the teacher, as much as I hated hearing it I wonder why I’m remembering it now. I got to school 10 min late for the first period. I got scolded by the teacher and got held back in class for the time I lost. I looked out the window and remembered back at school at my home town, always causing mischief and constantly being scolded, I felt a little bit happy and nostalgic mesmerising the past. It was time for roll call. I had to give a note to the teacher explaining why I was late. Rather than being scolded, he gave me short lesson of advice on how to prioritize my time. At some point I looked around the class seeing all my friends talking and laughing, it reminded me back of back at school in my home town. It was the same, although when the teacher would try to give me advice I would argue, and frustrate the teacher. I acted like a child always thinking I was right. It made me giggle a bit of how much mischief I use to get myself into. The teacher asked me if I found anything he said was funny, I apologised for being rude and listened to what he had to say until the bell for recess rung. My close friends weren’t at school today, they had a field trip for biology so I sat by myself on the silver seats in the shade and took out my recess. Watching everyone talk and play made me feel a bit lonely, it reminded me of when I first moved here, I thought I wasn’t going to make any friends and I was too shy and afraid to talk to anyone so I sat by myself at recess. Although now it’s different I have good friends here that make me happy. Then I remembered my childhood friends, all the games we played, all the laughs we had, all the arguments and fights, it felt nostalgic it brought a smile to my face that I haven’t shown in a while and it also hurt me just as much when I remember the day I left to come to this school. I wonder if they still think about me, I wonder how they all are, are they fine, are they doing well, are they still the same even without me being there and causing mischief. I wonder. Recess finished, and now I have my Health and PE class. When I arrived at class, I found a substitute teacher. He announced that our teacher will not be teaching for the rest of the week as they are sick. Instead of giving out the work he allowed us to have PE for both periods, he gave out a range of sports for us to choose form, once we decided we were playing. Everyone was sweating and laughing and enjoying themselves. I remembered back at my old school in my hometown when we would trick the substitute teacher in letting us play for two periods and the ruckus we caused because of it, it made me laugh a little bit and continued to play. ` Class ended, everyone is tired and exhausted. I went down for lunch and saw my friends; they had come back from their trip. I felt a little relieved it let me forget about a little about leaving my old friends. We talked about their trip and what they did, it seemed like they had a lot of fun. As we finished our lunch and headed towards the field and we lie down in our usual spot and relax and talk about what ever came to our mind. Without noticing the lunch bell rang and we stayed, everyone was leaving but we were too busy chatting we didn’t notice. Then a girl came running to tell us we’d be scolded again if we were late again after lunch. As we walked towards class I couldn’t take my eyes off her, I’ve had a crush on her since I came to this school, I don’t know why but it feels as though I’ve known her from somewhere. Then once again I remembered the girl I liked in my old school, I could never talk to her, I was too shy despite my mischievous self. I felt a little down because in the end I never told her before I moved and kept thinking if the same would happen again. During the last two periods I slacked off a little trying to think why I’ve been thinking so much about my old friends, about my home town. I couldn’t come up with an answer, but it hurt, it hurt so much, that I didn’t feel like I belonged here, but why? I’ve made good friends here; I feel at ease, I even have someone I like so why does it hurt so much. The final bell rang and it was time to head home, I didn’t feel like going home so I took a detour and went the longer way around, a longer way than usual that I didn’t know where I was going but kept going. I found myself on top of a hill; there was a small field of grass going down the hill. I took my bag off and sat down. I remembered that when I always felt upset and lonely I’d run off to a secret spot behind the woods of the park in my home town. There would be a grass field just like this. It calmed me down it made me feel like I was back at home, I felt a little relieved. I stayed there for a while, until it started to get dark so I headed back home. On my way I bought a few things to make food at home, on my way home I kept thinking how much I wanted to see my friends and family once again, just once would be enough. I got towards my apartment and saw my light on, I ran, I ran as quick as I could, I swung open the door and said â€Å"Mom, dad I’m home.† I looked around and there was no one; it looks like I forgot to turn off the light before I left again. All these old memories of my home town made my edgy, and showed me just how empty I really was. I finally realised why it hurt so much, and why it wouldn’t go away, and why it kept hurting more and more every time I thought about it. The truth was I was trying to cover up the fact that I truly don’t belong here no matter how much I try my heart and memories are anchored back at home and that’s where they’ll stay.

Meaning of Life by John Cottingham Essay

Every person has questioned the meaning of life; It is an idea that can be traced through out the history of mankind. John Cottingham, author of â€Å"The Meaning of Life† is just one of the many who have tried to explain and simplify this complicated question. â€Å"The Meaning of Life† is a short but informative book that attempts to breakdown the meaning of life with as little religious intervention as possible, while at the same time, be able to â€Å"reveal how [religion] connects with values and commitments that we all share, and to find a way of accommodating it without the sacrifice of scientific or philosophical integrity. † (ix). In â€Å"The Meaning of Life† Cottingham offers insight on individualistic ethical ideals and alternatives to individualism, which can often be contrasted with the beliefs of Jean-Paul Sartre, who is one of the best known philosophers of the twentieth century. Cottingham uses chapter one to argue that individualistic ethical ideals are â€Å"compartmentalized† and â€Å"self-defeating. † He believes that having activities and achievements in ones life, like sports, are not enough to make ones life meaningful. Humans are complicated beings that require much more than a few simple success stories to be truly content with life. As Cottingham states, people have â€Å"biological imperatives (for food, warmth, shelter, procreation), social imperatives (the need to cooperate, the drive to communicate), emotional imperatives (the need for such things as mutual recognition and affection), and lastly and just as importantly what might be called ‘rational imperatives’. † (26) With out these four essentials, humans simply cannot be happy and live meaningful lives, though it may seem they do on the surface. One example Cottingham uses to display this belief is Gauguin the painter. Though Gauguin was a very successful painter, which some may argue was meaningful, his choices and actions are those of one who could be considered to be living a meaningless life. Yes, Gauguin was a successful painter, but he also left his wife and children to pursue this â€Å"self indulgent† career. By pursuing the one thing that made Gauguin’s life meaningful to him, he himself ruined any chance he had at truly living a meaningful life. This is because he had to sacrifice his biological, social, and emotional imperatives when he left his family and friends. While many philosophers strongly believe in individualism, Cottingham offers an alternative in his book. Theism is the belief in some type of deity. As Cottingham states â€Å"A worthwhile life will be one that posses genuine value – value linked to our human nature and the pursuit of what is objectively conducive to the flowering of that nature. † (32) Theists ultimately have something to work towards throughout their lives. With out this metaphorical ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ people could quickly lose the desire to live meaningful lives. Those without the belief that there is a purpose humans came to exist can be haunted by the thought that â€Å" if ‘space’ is all the home we have, then our journey, a journey out of nothing and towards nothing, risks appearing futile, as void of significance as the ultimate void that spawned us and will eventually swallow us up. † (34) With nothing to strive towards it is easy to live a compartmentalized, closed, and selfish life, abandoning the four imperatives mentioned previously and thus living a life with no meaning. By being open and integrated, Theists can share their experiences on their quest towards living a meaningful life. One person that would strongly disagree with Cottingham’s belief in theism is Jean-Paul Sartre. One major reason Sartre is so opposed to theism is because of his concept of freedom. To Sartre, freedom is not possible when a person has a designed end or purpose. People must be able to decide their own purpose on this earth, and if they believe they were put here with a predetermined purpose by a â€Å"higher being† they will be unable to decide what their purpose is on their own. In the case of Gauguin, Sartre would disagree with Cottingham in that he would see nothing wrong with Gauguin leaving his family to pursue his artistic talents. If Gauguin had not left to do what he wished with his life, Sartre would have argued his belief of â€Å"bad faith† which occurs when any person denies their human freedom because they want to avoid the dread of realizing that their existence means nothing if one does not create meaning for themselves. Gauguin must leave his family to discover the meaning of his life in Sartre’s view, while Cottingham believes that by leaving his family he loses three of his imperatives and will be unhappy and live a meaningless life. While both Sartre and Cottingham make interesting and valid points on leading a meaningful life, I agree with neither. Sartre would have encouraged Gauguin to leave his family and search for his own meaning, which I believe would have been very selfish and would have lead to a miserable, meaningless life full of guilt and loneliness. Even if Gauguin loved painting, spending a lifetime alone is undesirable for even the most introverted people. Though I disagree with Sartre’s reply, I also disagree with Cottingham’s belief that Gauguin should have stayed with his family in order to live a life with all of the four essentials mentioned previously. If Gauguin stayed with his family and stopped painting, he would live a life full of questions and regret that he didn’t take the opportunity to pursue his dream when he had the chance. Rather than having to pick one or the other (family or art) I believe Gauguin could have had the best of both worlds. He could have saved enough money to move his family to Tahiti with him, or could have looked for the beauty in his own home and family to inspire him. The meaning of life is a frightening idea that all people have questioned at some point in their lives. While Cottingham’s book is very interesting, it is certainly not for everyone. Cottingham does a superb job in helping the reader to decide on their own what a meaningful life is made of by offering multiple philosophies and beliefs in one short, easy to read book.

An ecosystem as a community Essay

Introduction An ecosystem is a community of living organisms (plants, animals and microbes) in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment (things like air, water and mineral soil), interacting as a system.[2] These biotic and abiotic components are regarded as linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows.[3] As ecosystems are defined by the network of interactions among organisms, and between organisms and their environment,[4] they can be of any size but usually encompass specific, limited spaces[5] (although some scientists say that the entire planet is an ecosystem).[6] Energy, water, nitrogen and soil minerals are other essential abiotic components of an ecosystem. The energy that flows through ecosystems is obtained primarily from the sun. It generally enters the system through photosynthesis, a process that also captures carbonfrom the atmosphere. By feeding on plants and on one another, animals play an important role in the movement of matter and energy through the system. They also influence the quantity of plant and microbial biomass present. By breaking down dead organic matter,decomposers release carbon back to the atmosphere and facilitate nutrient cycling by converting nutrients stored in dead biomass back to a form that can be readily used by plants and other microbes.[7] Ecosystems are controlled both by external and internal factors. External factors such as climate, the parent material which forms the soil and topography, control the overall structure of an ecosystem and the way things work within it, but are not themselves influenced by the ecosystem.[8] Other external factors include time and potential biota. Ecosystems are dynamic entities—invariably, they are subject to periodic disturbances and are in the process of recovering from some past disturbance.[9] Ecosystems in similar environments that are located in different parts of the world can have very different characteristics simply because they contain different species.[8] Theintroduction of non-native species can cause substantial shifts in ecosystem function. Internal factors not only control ecosystem processes but are also controlled by them and are often subject to feedback loops.[8] While the resource inputs are generally controlled by external processes like climate and parent material, the  availability of these resources within the ecosystem is controlled by internal factors like decomposition, root competition or shading.[8] Other internal factors include disturbance, succession and the types of species present. Although humans exist and operate within ecosystems, their cumulative effects are large enough to influence external factors like climate.[8] Biodiversity affects ecosystem function, as do the processes of disturbance and succession. Ecosystems provide a variety of goods and services upon which people depend; the principles of ecosystem management suggest that rather than managing individual species,natural resources should be managed at the level of the ecosystem itself. Classifying ecosystems into ecologically homogeneous units is an important step towards effective ecosystem management, but there is no single, agreed-upon way to do this. Classification Classifying ecosystems into ecologically homogeneous units is an important step towards effective ecosystem management.[42] A variety of systems exist, based on vegetation cover, remote sensing, and bioclimatic classification systems.[42] American geographer Robert Bailey defines a hierarchy of ecosystem units ranging from microecosystems (individual homogeneous sites, on the order of 10 square kilometres (4 sq mi) in area), through mesoecosystems (landscape mosaics, on the order of 1,000 square kilometres (400 sq mi)) to macroecosystems (ecoregions, on the order of 100,000 square kilometres (40,000 sq mi)).[43] Bailey outlined five different methods for identifying ecosystems: gestalt (â€Å"a whole that is not derived through considerable of its parts†), in which regions are recognized and boundaries drawn intuitively; a map overlay system where different layers like geology, landforms and soil types are overlain to identify ecosystems; multivariate clustering of site attrib utes; digital image processing of remotely sensed data grouping areas based on their appearance or other spectral properties; or by a â€Å"controlling factors method† where a subset of factors (like soils, climate, vegetation physiognomy or the distribution of plant or animal species) are selected from a large array of possible ones are used to delineate ecosystems.[44] In contrast with  Bailey’s methodology, Puerto Rico ecologist Ariel Lugo and coauthors identified ten characteristics of an effective classification system: that it be based on georeferenced, quantitative data; that it should minimize subjectivity and explicitly identify criteria and assumptions; that it should be structured around the factors that drive ecosystem processes; that it should reflect the hierarchical nature of ecosystems; that it should be flexible enough to conform to the various scales at which ecosystem management operates; that it should be tied to reliable measures of climate so that it can â€Å"anticipat[e] global climate change; that it be applicable worldwide; that it should be validated against independent data; that it take into account the sometimes complex relationship between climate, vegetation and ecosystem functioning; and that it should be able to adapt and improve as new data become available†.[42] Types Aquatic ecosystem An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem in a body of water. Communities of organisms that are dependent on each other and on their environment live in aquatic ecosystems. The two main types of aquatic ecosystems are marine ecosystems andfreshwater ecosystems.[1] Marine ecosystems: cover approximately 71% of the Earth’s surface and contain approximately 97% of the planet’s water. They generate 32% of the world’s net primary production.[1] They are distinguished from freshwater ecosystems by the presence of dissolved compounds, especially salts, in the water. Approximately 85% of the dissolved materials in seawater are sodium and chlorine. Seawater has an average salinity of 35 parts per thousand (ppt) of water. Actual salinity varies among different marine ecosystems.[2] Large marine ecosystems: (LMEs) are regions of the world’s oceans, encompassing coastal areas from river basins and estuaries to the seaward boundaries of continental shelves and the outer margins of the major ocean current systems. They are relatively large regions on the order of 200,000 km ² or greater, characterized by distinct bathymetry, hydrography, productivity, and trophically dependent populations. The system of LMEs has been developed by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric  Administration (NOAA) to identify areas of the oceans for conservation purposes. The objective is to use the LME concept as a tool for enabling ecosystem-based management to provide a collaborative approach to management of resources within ecologically-bounded transnational areas. This will be done in an international context and consistent with customary international law as reflected in 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.[1] LME-based conservation is based on recognition that the world’s coastal ocean waters are degraded by unsustainable fishing practices, habitat degradation, eutrophication, toxic pollution, aerosol contamination, and emerging diseases, and that positive actions to mitigate these threats require coordinated actions by governments and civil society to recover depleted fish populations, restore degraded habitats and reduce coastal pollution. Although the LMEs cover only the continental margins and not the deep oceans and oceanic islands, the 64 LMEs produce 95% of the world’s annual marine fishery biomassyields. Most of the global ocean pollution, overexploitation, and coastal habitat alteration occur within their waters. NOAA has conducted studies of principal driving forces affecting changes in biomass yields for 33 of t he 64 LMEs, which have been peer-reviewed and published in ten volumes.[2] Freshwater ecosystems: are a subset of Earth’s aquatic ecosystems. They include lakes and ponds, rivers, streams and springs, and wetlands. They can be contrasted with marine ecosystems, which have a larger salt content. Freshwater habitats can be classified by different factors, including temperature, light penetration, and vegetation. Freshwater ecosystems can be divided into lentic ecosystems (still water) and lotic ecosystems (flowing water). Limnology (and its branch freshwater biology) is a study about freshwater ecosystems. It is a part of hydrobiology. Original efforts to understand and monitor freshwater ecosystems were spurred on by threats to human health (ex. Cholera outbreaks due to sewage contamination). Early monitoring focussed on chemical indicators, then bacteria, and finally algae, fungi and protozoa. A new type of monitoring involves differing groups of organisms (macroinvertebrates, macrophytes and fish) and the stream conditions associated with them. Current biomonitering techniques focus mainly on community structure or biochemical oxygen demand. Responses  are measured by behavioural changes, altered rates of growth, reproduction or mortality. Macroinvertebrates are most often used in these models because of well known taxonomy, ease of collection, sensitivity to a range of stressors, and their overall value to the ecosystem. Most of these measurements are difficult to extrapolate on a large scale however. The use of reference sites is common when assessing what a healthy freshwater ecosystem should â€Å"look like†. Reference sites are easier to reconstruct in standing water than moving water. Preserved indicators such as diatom valves, macrophyte pollen, insect chitin and fish scales can be used to establish a reference ecosystem representative of a time before lar ge scale human disturbance. Common chemical stresses on freshwater ecosystem health include acidification, eutrophication and copper and pesticide contamination. Lake ecosystems :The ecosystem of a lake includes biotic (living) plants, animals and micro-organisms, as well as abiotic (nonliving) physical and chemical interactions.[1] Lake ecosystems are a prime examples of lentic ecosystems. Lentic refers to standing or relatively still water, from the Latin lentus, which means sluggish. Lentic waters range from ponds to lakes to wetlands, and much of this article applies to lentic ecosystems in general. Lentic ecosystems can be compared withlotic ecosystems, which involve flowing terrestrial waters such as rivers and streams. Together, these two fields form the more general study area of freshwater or aquatic ecology. Lentic systems are diverse, ranging from a small, temporary rainwater pool a few inches deep to Lake Baikal, which has a maximum depth of 1740 m.[2] The general distinction between pools/ponds and lakes is vague, but Brown[1] states that ponds and pools have their entire bottom surfaces exposed to light, while lakes do not. In addition, some lakes become seasonally stratified (discussed in more detail below.) Ponds and pools have two regions: the pelagic open water zone, and the benthic zone, which comprises the bottom and shore regions. Since lakes have deep bottom regions not exposed to light, these systems have an additional zone, the profundal.[3] These three areas can have very different abiotic conditions and, hence, host species that are specifically adapted to live there.[1] River ecosystem The ecosystem of a river is the river viewed as a system operating in its natural environment, and includes biotic (living) interactions amongst plants, animals and micro-organisms, as well as abiotic (nonliving) physical and chemical interactions.[1][2] River ecosystems are prime examples of lotic ecosystems. Lotic refers to flowing water, from the Latin lotus, washed. Lotic waters range from springs only a few centimeters wide to major rivers kilometers in width.[3] Much of this article applies to lotic ecosystems in general, including related lotic systems such as streams and springs. Lotic ecosystems can be contrasted with lentic ecosystems, which involve relatively still terrestrial waters such as lakes and ponds. Together, these two fields form the more general study area of freshwater or aquatic ecology. The following unifying characteristics make the ecology of running waters unique from that of other aquatic habitats.[4] Flow is unidirectional. There is a state of continuous physical change. There is a high degree of spatial and temporal heterogeneity at all scales (microhabitats). Variability between lotic systems is quite high.  The biota is specialized to live with flow conditions. Wetland ECOSYSTEM A wetland is a land area that is saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally, such that it takes on the characteristics of a distinct ecosystem.[2] Primarily, the factor that distinguishes wetlands from other land forms or water bodies is the characteristic vegetationthat is adapted to its unique soil conditions. Wetlands consist primarily of hydric soil, which supports aquatic plants.[3][4] The water found in wetlands can be saltwater, freshwater, or brackish.[4] Main wetland types include swamps, marshes, bogs and fens.[5]Sub-types include mangrove, carr, pocosin, and varzea. Wetlands play a number of roles in the environment, principally water purification, flood control, and shoreline stability. Wetlands are also considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of plant and  animal life.[6] Wetlands occur naturally on every continent except Antarctica.[7] They can also be constructed artificially as a water management tool, which may play a role in the developing field of water-sensitive urban design. The largest wetlands in the world include the Amazon River basin and the West Siberian Plain.[8] Another large wetland is the Pantanal, which straddles Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay in South America.[9] The UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment determined that environmental degradation is more prominent within wetland systems than any other ecosystem on Earth. International conservation efforts are being used in conjunction with the development of rapid assessment tools to inform people about wetland issues. Terrestrial ecosystem A terrestrial ecosystem is an ecosystem found only on landforms. Six primary terrestrial ecosystems exist: tundra, taiga, temperate deciduous forest, tropical rain forest,grassland and desert.[1] A community of organisms and their environment that occurs on the land masses of continents and islands. Terrestrial ecosystems are distinguished from aquatic ecosystems by the lower availability of water and the consequent importance of water as a limiting factor. Terrestrial ecosystems are characterized by greater temperature fluctuations on both a diurnal and seasonal basis than occur in aquatic ecosystems in similar climates. The availability of light is greater in terrestrial ecosystems than in aquatic ecosystems because the atmosphere is more transparent in land than in water. Gases are more available in terrestrial ecosystems than in aquatic ecosystems. Those gases include carbon dioxide that serves as a substrate for photosynthesis, oxygen that serves as a substrate in aerobic respiration, and nitrogen that serves as a substrate for nitrogen fixation. Terrestrial environments are segmented into a subterranean portion from which most water and ions are obtained, and an atmospheric portion from which gases are obtained and where the physical energy of light is transformed into the organic energy of carbon-carbon bonds through the process of photosynthesis. Terrestrial ecosystems occupy 55,660,000 mi2 (144,150,000 km2), or 28.2%, of Earth’s surface. Although they are comparatively recent in the history of life (the first terrestrial organisms appeared in the Silurian Period, about 425 million years ago) and  occupy a much smaller portion of Earth’s surface than marine ecosystems, terrestrial ecosystems have been a major site of adaptive radiation of both plants and animals. Major plant taxa in terrestrial ecosystems are members of the division Magnoliophyta (flowering plants), of which there are about 275,000 species, and the division Pinophyta (conifers), of which there are about 500 species. Members of the division Bryophyta (mosses and liverworts), of which there are about 24,000 species, are also important in some terrestrial ecosystems. Major animal taxa in terrestrial ecosystems include the classes Insecta (insects) with about 900,000 species, Aves (birds) with 8500 species, and Mammalia (mammals) with approximately 4100 species. Organisms in terrestrial ecosystems have adaptations that allow them to obtain water when the entire body is no longer bathed in that fluid, means of transporting the water from limited sites of acquisition to the rest of the body, and means of preventing the evaporation of water from body surfaces. They also have traits that provide body support in the atmosphere, a much less buoyant medium than water, and other traits t hat render them capable of withstanding the extremes of temperature, wind, and humidity that characterize terrestrial ecosystems. Finally, the organisms in terrestrial ecosystems have evolved many methods of transporting gametes in environments where fluid flow is much less effective as a transport medium. The organisms in terrestrial ecosystems are integrated into a functional unit by specific, dynamic relationships due to the coupled processes of energy and chemical flow. Those relationships can be summarized by schematic diagrams of trophic webs, which place organisms according to their feeding relationships. The base of the food web is occupied by green plants, which are the only organisms capable of utilizing the energy of the Sun and inorganic nutrients obtained from the soil to produce organic molecules. Terrestrial food webs can be broken into two segments based on the status of the plant material that enters them. Grazing food webs are associated with the consumption of living plant material by herbivores. Detritus food webs are associated with the consumption of dead plant material by detritivores. Th e relative importance of those two types of food webs varies considerably in different types of terrestrial ecosystems. Grazing food webs are more important in grasslands, where over half of net primary productivity may be consumed by herbivores. Detritus food webs are more important in forests, where less  than 5% of net primary productivity may be consumed by herbivores. There is one type of extensive terrestrial ecosystem due solely to human activities and eight types that are natural ecosystems. Those natural ecosystems reflect the variation of precipitation and temperature over Earth’s surface. The smallest land areas are occupied by tundra and temperate grassland ecosystems, and the largest land area is occupied by tropical forest. The most productive ecosystems are temperate and tropical forests, and the least productive are deserts and tundras. Cultivated lands, which together with grasslands and savannas utilized for grazing are referred to as agroecosystems, are of intermediate extent and productivity. Because of both their areal extent and their high average productivity, tropical forests are the most productive of all terrestrial ecosystems, contributing 45% of total estimated net primary productivity on land. CAUSES OF DESTRUCTION The degradation of ecosystems is an environmental problem that diminishes the capacity of species to survive. This degradation occurs in different ways and is manifested in a reduction in the richness of the ecosystems as well as their biological diversity, and in the goods and services they can offer, thereby affecting indigenous and/or migratory species. The degradation of ecosystems due to overexploitation of their resources, though serving a short-term economic goal, has had direct negative effects on social welfare in the medium and long terms. As long as the ecosystem is not degraded, it represents a source of wealth for society, hence the importance of keeping it in good condition. One of the main causes that contributes to the degradation of ecosystems is the deforestation due to the advance of the agriculture frontier and inappropriate forest exploitation. More lands are deforested for commercial agriculture and live-stock rearing, and due to overexploitation of forest for wood and energy. In Nicaragua deforestation rates reach over 150,000 hectares per year and in Costa Rica over 18,500 hectares per year. At a lower scale, another problem is the uncontrolled fires used to prepare land for agricultural activities or to remove forest for the development of stock rearing areas. This practice eliminates the organic covering of the land, making it more susceptible to erosion by both  wind and water. In addition, the fires cause health problems and detract from the aesthetic value of the landscape. Accidental or natural fires are another case in point. They affect areas of natural forest. In the Upala and Los Chiles cantons, in Costa Rica, some 10,000 hectares were burned between 1998 and 1999. This problem is even more serious in the Nicaraguan territory of the basin. Equipment is lacking and communities need to be organized to control t hese fires as one of the main barriers to the burning of large areas. The construction of roads without proper drainage measures or in territories subject to penetration and settlement are high-stress factors for ecosystems, especially those which are highly fragile as a result of their weather conditions and the nature of their soil and water. Mining and the extraction of construction materials without taking measures to cushion the impact cause drastic changes in the natural landscape while degrading its valuable ecosystems. Wetlands are very fragile ecosystems that are being severely affected, causing a reduction in the number and diversity of the species of terrestrial flora, birds, reptiles, mammals, fish, and crustaceans. This problem results from excessive exploitation of wildlife species either to feed the population, to trade their furs, or to trade live species, and from sedimentation, which causes changes in water quality, thereby significantly affecting the reproduction of aquatic species that live and/or reproduce in the wetlands. The SJRB wetlands are very valuable ecosystems, which regulate the hydrological cycle and provide food and shelter for hundreds of species, including large quantities of migratory birds. One major cause of the deterioration of this ecosystem is the draining of wide areas of wetlands to give access to agricultural zones or human settlements. Aerial photographs of the Caà ±o Negro sector show how the pools of water have diminished over time, due in part to the drainage of wetlands for agricultural purposes and to the sedimentation occurring in recent years in the basin. Owing to the deterioration of these areas and the pressure of the neighboring communities on the use of the natural resources of the wetlands, it is necessary to draw up management plans to outline the socioeconomic characteristics of users and guidelines for usage, since people are highly dependent on these resources for their survival. A large portion of the ecological problems of the wetlands is due to ignorance of their benefits. The use of inappropriate fishing techniques endangers the  existence of certain species, altering the food chain of aquatic fauna and consequently deteriorating the aquatic ecosystems. This is the case of the bull shark that is now hard to find in Lake Nicaragua or in the San Juan River. In some cases, the introduction of exotic species endangers the existence of indigenous species with a high cultural value. Such is the case of the guapote, whose numbers are being reduced by the introduction of tilapias. The deterioration of ecosystems is exacerbated by the lack of an institutional presence in the territory, be it for technical or economic reasons, or a combination of both. As a result, laws on the regulation and control of natural resource use are not enforced. The participation of civil society in controlling the use and exploitation of natural resources is limited and, in many cases, very timid or markedly apathetic. One aspect that has not been evaluated in the degradation of the ecosystems is the incidence of different phenomena on these systems. The geographic location of the SJRB and the various geographic accidents encountered there render it susceptible to the impact of various events of this kind. In the SJRB there are a number of active volcanoes, which spew gas and ash causing damage to the plant life, the soil, polluting water bodies, and causing severe damage to entire populations. These volcanoes include the Masaya, the Maderas, and the Irazà º. Another natural phenomenon in the SJRB is landslides which, though located in specific areas, cause damage to the ecosystems, the soil, pollute water bodies, damage infrastructure and entire settlements. The Maderas volcano on the island Ometepe is a case in point. Similarly, during the last century, the SJRB has suffered the destructive effects of at least three hurricanes which, with their heavy rainfall, cause flooding damaging ecosystems, eroding soil, diverting river courses, causing severe damage to infrastructure and entire populations, resulting in the loss of human lives. Other natural phenomena that have caused damage to the ecosystems of the SJRB are the droughts that have occurred as a result of the El Nià ±o and seismic activity, which have changed river courses, particularly in the case of the Tipitapa River that provided a permanent connection between the Managua and Nicaragua lakes. As a result of an earthquake during the last century, the riverbed rose in a certain sector cutting off the existing connection between the two lakes. The degradation of the ecosystems makes the economic and social infrastructure of the SJRB more vulnerable and  increases the potential impact on the population. This vulnerability is reflected in shorter periods between the occurrence of floods or droughts and the soil becomes more unstable. Possible solutions to the problem of deterioration of the ecosystems include developing formal and informal environmental education programs to make farmers more aware of their actions; increasing enforcement of the existing l egislation; promoting proper natural resource management; and promoting the organization of grassroots groups to control burning from the outset. To prevent or mitigate the damage caused by extreme conditions, such as flooding and droughts and other effects of natural phenomena, it is necessary to set up and early warning system about possible swelling of water bodies and to monitor hydrometeorological behavior. It is also necessary to set up a seismographic network to monitor the behavior of volcanoes and tectonic faults. Similarly, social organization is necessary to design and test emergency plans for natural phenomena, to reduce the damage they cause. Institutions responsible for the control and regulation of natural resource use must be strengthened, both technically and economically, and be given the means for their mobilization. This would enable them to have a real presence in the territory. It is also necessary to create mechanisms for enforcing the current legislation. Conservation practices to save ecosystem Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the natural environment on individual, organizational or governmental levels, for the benefit of both the natural environment and humans. Due to the pressures of population and technology, the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently. This has been recognized, and governments have begun placing restraints on activities that cause environmental degradation. Since the 1960s, activity of environmental movements has created awareness of the various environmental issues. There is no agreement on the extent of the environmental impact of human activity, and protection measures are occasionally criticized. Academic institutions now offer courses, such as environmental studies, environmental management and environmental engineering, that teach the history and methods of environment protection. Protection of the environment is needed due to various human  activities. Waste production, air pollution, and loss of biodiversity (resulting from the introduction of invasive species and species extinction) are some of the issues related to environmental protection. Environmental protection is influenced by three interwoven factors: environmental legislation, ethics and education. Each of these factors plays its part in influencing national-level environmental decisions and personal-level environmental values and behaviors. For environmental protection to become a reality, it is important for societies to develop each of these areas that, together, will inform and drive environmental decisions.[1] How to Save Our Ecosystem Instructions Educate yourself about your local environment. Starting small and learning about the plants and animals in your immediate surroundings will give you an appreciation for the enormous variety of ecosystems on our earth. It will also help you understand how you fit into your natural surroundings and get you thinking about the effects of your actions. When you flush the toilet, where does your water go? When you wash the car and soap runs off into the street, what does that soap go on to affect? What animals do you disturb by replacing native vegetation with nonnative landscaping? Asking yourself these questions is a one of the first steps to reducing your carbon footprint. 2  Find an activist group in your area with a cause you support. It can be a local issue, such as preserving open space in your community, or a more widespread issue, like passing legislation that requires cars to produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Being part of a group allows you to meet like-minded people and work toward a common environmental goal. Sponsored Links Homeworks for free We answer 1000 questions daily Free and fast brainly.in 3Consider the implications of your consumerism. Everything you buy has a product life cycle, or a history of how it was produced using what materials. When possible, reduce the impact of your purchase by buying products that are made locally and/or are manufactured from recycled materials. 4  Eat local, organic food. Local food travels less distance from farm to your table, which means that it has a lower carbon footprint, is fresher, and supports your community’s farmers. Organic food is produced without the use of chemical pesticides or fertilizers, and without genetically modified crops. Chemical pesticides and fertilizers can get into the natural environment and harm existing plants and animals; genetically modified crops reduce biodiversity by encouraging a monoculture farm. 5  Travel wisely to decrease your carbon footprint. Use alternative methods of transportation whenever feasible—walk to the store, ride your bike to work, take public transportation downtown. When you do drive, accelerate and decelerate gradually to conserve gas. Also, make sure that your tires are properly inflated and that the emissions system on your vehicle is well maintained.

AAS 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

AAS 4 - Essay Example These crimes usually take place where there are people of different ethnicity, culture, religion or background living together in a tense and unsocial environment that tends to create differences which, with the passage of time, increase and become more influential and dominating in the society so as to create an everlasting difference that transfers from one generation to another. Vincent Jen Chin was an Asian American who originally belonged to China. He was brutally murdered through assaults in the month of June; year 1982 in the city of Detroit, Michigan’s closed society of Highland Park. Ronald Ebens who was a Chrysler plant supervisor murdered him with assistance from his stepson, Michael Nitz. The assault included baseball bat blows to the head and possessed numerous characteristics falling in the context of hate crimes. The case carries great importance in the context of hate crime as the assassination caused an outrage from the public due to the soft sentencing of both the men in a plea bargain. Later a Federal prosecution was carried out which was an outcome of the public demand through alliance numerous Asian ethnic organizations. This is why the assassination is believed to be the commencement of a movement of pan-ethnic Asian Americans. (Yip) Ethnic issues are increasing in offices and schools where there are brisk socio-economic modifications and such issues are the consequence of uneven work and educational prospects or bias practices in employment of staff. Deterrence of hate crimes and gang movements in schools as well as offices are the duty of school, employers and the police, who must take measures to make plans to take care of such activities and resolve racial

Nature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Nature - Essay Example On the contrary, natural food products are not defined by any criteria or federal laws. Moreover, they are not defined by federal or legal supervision. Consequently, food products that are labelled as natural are composed of less chemical additives and preservatives compared to other processed foods. To this end, examples of natural food products include eggs, nuts, fruits, dairy products, vegetables, beans, apples, green tea among many more. Green tea is classified as a natural food product because it undergoes minimal processing stages. Furthermore, it contains the most natural antioxidant polyphenols. The most evident polyphenols are epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) (The George Mateljan Foundation). Moreover, as a natural food product, it is consistent with an array of ingredients that can consequently be traced back to nature. Evidently, green tea is a herbal extract from green tea leaves also known by the scientific name as Camellia Sinensis. The Camellia Simensis tree contains distinct flower and herbal infusions known as tisanes. The tree can grow naturally in the wild and reach heights of up to 30 feet. However, on tree plantations it is maintained as a shrub with heights of about 3 feet through constant pruning. Evidently, the green tea leaves achieve more flavour in the event that they are grown at higher altitudes. The green tea plants produce rich foliage, a berry and, a flower similar to camellia. In terms of harvest, only the youngest and smallest tea leaves are picked for tea. Moreover, when engaging in discussion pertaining to the green tea ingredients, it is more in recognition to the nutritional value. Consequently, the ingredients of green tea mainly refer to the natural nutrients present within it. Evidently, polyphenols or catechins are nutritional ingredients in green tea (The George Mateljan Foundation). Polyphenols are vital antioxidant ingredients. Moreover, they are naturally occurring ingredients found within the green tea leaves. Mo reover, polyphenols are equally present in vegetables and fruits that grow naturally. The polyphenols are credited with protecting the body from free radical damage. In particular, the polyphenols present in green tea is known as quercetin that is also present in citrus fruits. To this end, the quercetin polyphenols is known to relieve people from asthma and allergies. Green tea also contains other ingredients such as caffeine, theophylline, flavonols or tannin,copper, essential oils, nickel, vitamin C, carotene, vitamins B1, A, B12, P and K, iron, calcium, magnesium, saponins, strontium, zinc, theobromine, wax and fat. Interestingly enough, the quantitative contents of the ingredients depend on cultivation area of the leaves. To this end, the contents are influenced by the climatic region and altitude of the cultivation area. Furthermore, the quantitative contents are equally influenced by the growth stage of the green tea leaves. . In terms of processing, the harvested tea leaves are briefly steamed. Thus making them soft, pliable, and protected them from color change or fermentation. The steaming process is soon followed by rolling the leaves out and spreading them out for drying with a pan fried in a wok or hot air. This process continues until the leaves are crisp and greenish-yellow tea colour is produced. The resulting flavour is very

Marine Insurance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Marine Insurance - Essay Example The varied factors of floating policy along with marine open cover policy have been discussed with its conditions and aspects along with their roles in marine insurance. The discussion has provided an understanding that the marine insurance policy can be an extremely valuable component for the manufacturing organization in order to mitigate the risks of damage and loss during transaction of materials through the seas. Marine insurance is considered as a contract of insurance policies that cover up the losses or the damages for a person or a business entity that occurred during the transportation of the cargos or ships through the seas. Moreover, the marine insurance is a contract wherewith the insurer takes on to underwrite the assured with regard to various types of marine losses during acquired or transferred cargos or goods. The Marine Insurance Act 1906 (MIA), conveys certain consistency and uniformity that assures to be accomplished with the appropriate underwriting policies of the losses during the transportation of cargos or ships (Sitigorn n.d.). The â€Å"Floating Policy† is one of the major components that had been formulated under the MIA section 21. The floating policy possesses effective assurance of the goods and insured risks during the deliverance of the transported goods or cargos. The floating policy has been initiated comparatively at a large amount by the regular goods of the suppliers. The policy covers several shipments that are stated subsequently with other details. The floating policy is highly favorable for the exporters to avoid problems of issuing out another policy during every shipment (Insurance 2Day 2012). The floating policy within the MIA 1906 Act 29 depicts the insurance facilities in general terms. The policy makes use of the ship(s) name along with other particulars classified through succeeding statement in order to transport the cargos through the seas. The declaration may be formulated with

The US and European approaches to fighting terrorism Research Paper

The US and European approaches to fighting terrorism - Research Paper Example Terrorism can simply be defined as strategies to coerce or cause terror. The official Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) definition of terrorism takes apart domestic and international terrorism.The FBI (2002) explains, "Domestic terrorism refers to activities that involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any state; appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; to influence the policy of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States." It further says, "International terrorism involves violent acts or acts of dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any state, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or any state." (White p4)The European believes that the security at home and overseas can be accomplished if there is stability and development in the Mediterranean. In France where there is a large population of Muslim and Jews, practically every significant domestic political issue from crimes, immigration, and anti-Semitism, has an imperative Mediterranean dimension. They perceive that the source of terrorism lie in the economic, social and political discriminations that are prevalent on the southern seaside of the Mediterranean and as such can only be addressed through a broad structure that hits at the deepest causes of terrorism. During the time that the Soviet Union crumbled, the members of the European Union no longer saw possible North-South conflicts or nuclear threats. Instead, they saw various south-south conflicts and series of new transnational risks such as illegal trafficking of arms, drugs and even persons; terrorism connected to numerous religious issues; immigration. EU further believes that European security should be less focused on military conditions instead to s ocial and political development of Mediterranean. In the United States, the FBI is a part of vast criminal justice machinery tasked to maintaining legal and political order. They deal with terrorism based on how they perceive acts related to it. According to the FBI, "Terrorist acts are intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping and occur primarily outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they accomplished, the persons they appear intended to intimidate or coerce, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum." However, other people are apprehensive about the way the US defines terrorism since some in the Muslim countries believe that the values of the Islam are threatened by the materialism of the West. The US focus to fighting terrorism is to strengthen its military cap acities. They are plagued by what had happened during the 9/11 that US became aggressive in terms of fighting terrorism. Even when countries are cooperating fully, there is no way to suppress or prohibit every conceivable terrorist movement or conspiracy. A more realistic situation would be to increase considerably the costs and risks that criminals and terrorists face when they choose to engage in conspiracies. Further than that, more measures can be taken. The United States can work more with European partners to strengthen states in

Introduction to Tourism Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Introduction to Tourism Management - Essay Example Tourists are people who Are staying in another place away from home (for a maximum period of one year), but will eventually return home; Are part of leisure and tourism related activities; Visit for temporary short periods; Are on day trips (they may not be outside overnight); Are on business trips, which may not be holidays (Rowe, Smith and Borein, 2002, 3-4). The basic components of trade and tourism are: Fig 1: The core components of tourism management (Source: Rowe, Smith and Borein, 2002, 6). B. ‘Generating’ countries: The countries from where people tend to visit other places as tourists, or countries from where there is more outbound tourism, are known as tourist-generating countries. The term refers to places where people travel away from their home countries to other international places, for leisure purposes or for conducting business. This is a form of outbound tourism (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2010, 109). As for example, a busin ess group travelling from UK to US, for some important exhibition; or a family travelling from UK to France for a holiday. Here, UK is the generating country. C. Receiving countries: The countries to which people travel for leisure purposes or for conducting business related activities, are known as receiving countries. As for example, teams from various international destinations travelling to UK for taking part in the Olympics; or a group of Chinese tourists going to UK for sightseeing, or for visiting family and friends. D. Main tourism ‘receiving' countries of the world: Travel and Tourism is a popular worldwide activity, associated with leisure and holidays. In 2010, figures revealed that more 940 million tourists from all parts of the world entered various receiving countries, leading to an increase of 6.6% in tourism when compared to the 2009 figures, and the total receiving global tourism numbers rose to   euro  693 billion in 2010, equivalent to a 4.7% rise in   actual terms (UNWTO, 2011, 2). Owing to the 2007-08 economic downturns, international  tourism  suffered a setback, which started around June 2008. Here we find that the rise the global tourism arrivals in various receiving countries falling to 2% (especially during the summer season) (UNWTO, 2008, 1). This trend continued into 2009, when some countries were more affected than others owing to the worldwide outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus, and in an average almost a 6% fall in tourism for the receiving countries (fall of 4% in global arrival numbers, resulting in around 880 million international tourist ‘arrivals’ in 2009) (ibid). Travel and tourism is an important segment in the economic sector of many ‘receiving’ countries, while for some ‘receiving’ countries tourism is a vital sector where the nation’s entire economy depends on the revenues earned from travel and tourism for an overall growth and development. Receiving countr ies where tourism earns large revenue  are USA, UK, Spain, France,  Italy, Greece, Egypt,  Ã‚   Israel,  Lebanon,  Thailand, Fiji, Seychelles, The Bahamas,  Maldives,  and Philippines. Tourism brings in revenue from the payments made by the tourists for  the services and goods received; it creates various job opportunities within the  hospitality and service  that function within the travel and tourism. The hospitality and se

MSc Strategic Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

MSc Strategic Accounting - Essay Example Due to the fact that the strategic costing technique firmly implies long-term future oriented attributes, it can facilitate the organisations to reduce different types of accounting uncertainties (Cadez & Guilding, 2008). Critical Review of Literature With respect to the significance of the strategic costing, Cadez (2008) has mentioned that the notion of strategic costing has become a widely used technique for the organisations in case of proactively performing their range of accounting practices. In relation to the present fiercely competitive scenario of the global business environment, the organisations seek to integrate well-built Strategic Management Accounting (SMA) techniques in order to efficiently attain their strategic goals (Cadez, 2008). Contextually, it has also been found from the study in Qucosa (2006) that the concept of strategic costing constitutes a broad focus beyond the notion of controlling or reducing organisational costs associated with its range of business o perations. Moreover, the nature of strategic costing also encompasses cost information which is significantly recognised as one of the major attributes of making exceptional organisational decisions. In this regard, the study of Qucosa (2006) has further depicted a conceptual framework with respect to the major characteristics of strategic costing. Fig: Concept Strategic Cost Management (Qucosa, 2006) Philosophy: The philosophy of strategic costing can be considered as one of the major attributes which ensures to improve revenue as well as cost of the organisations. The concept of strategic costing significantly emphasises upon enhancing organisational productivity, capitalising in terms of profit enhancement along with augmenting customer satisfaction (Qucosa, 2006). Attitude: The concept of strategic costing constitutes a proactive attitude which ensures to encompass all the costs associated with the organisational processes that result from the management decisions. In this regar d, the attitude of strategic costing involves six important elements such as holistic nature, market orientation, anticipatory approach, continuousness, participative and cross-functional attributes (Qucosa, 2006). Techniques: Techniques can be recognised as the major attribute that exists within the concept of strategic costing. The concept of strategic costing firmly involves reliable techniques that are implemented by the organisations in order to accomplish their desired goals or obtain overall needs (Qucosa, 2006). The notion of strategic costing can also be considered as an effectual curriculum for the organisations. In accordance with the viewpoints of Banerjee (2006), it has been revealed that an effective practice of strategic costing tends to facilitate the firms to frequently analyse and recognise their major cost drivers, thus helping them to minimise costs and increase the overall value of the firms. Such types of management accounting programme plays a vital role for t he organisations in terms of preparing budget parameter as well as it also facilitates

Aviation Security 2 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Aviation Security 2 - Case Study Example It can either be private, run by the government or both (Zellan, 2003). This is because there are many airports with the three forms of ownership and operates smoothly. It is important for the airline to choose the best form of ownership (Zellan, 2003). Each form has some advantage sand disadvantages that should be well analyzed before a final decision is made. The three methods are good and have worked in many parts of the world but choosing the best option is the challenge. a. The government ensures that its people are well protected. It will do anything to guarantee secure flights for the passengers. This is why it came up with the Transport Security Administration after the September 11 accident (National Research Council (EÃŒ .-U.). & National Research Council (EÃŒ .-U.), 2003). b. There will be minimal financial constraints because the government will be responsible for providing funds that will ensure that all security details are in place (National Research Council (EÃŒ .-U.). & National Research Council (EÃŒ .-U.), 2003). c. All activities will be under the Federal Aviation Administration that is known for quality control this assures passengers that they will have the best that the government can offer (National Research Council (EÃŒ .-U.). & National Research Council (EÃŒ .-U.), 2003). a. The first disadvantage is in the delays in implementation of projects. The government has a history of, not implementing all the ideas right in time. There is historical evidence of the slowly run projects that have lead to inconveniences in the airline industry (National Research Council (EÃŒ .-U.). & National Research Council (EÃŒ .-U.), 2003). b. When funds are not available, there are no alternatives methods of looking for money. It has to be released by the treasury regardless of the delays (National Research Council (EÃŒ .-U.). & National Research Council (EÃŒ .-U.), 2003). a. All projects and operations will be successful because of completion from

Samsung Mobile Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Samsung Mobile Company - Essay Example Therefore an information audit is vital in determining whether a company is utilizing its information resources adequately to enable it to compete favorably within the business environment. As a result it is evident that an information audit has a major contribution to a company’s information systems strategy. This paper gives a critical analysis of the contribution of information audit to the information systems strategy with special reference to the Samsung Mobile Company which is the case study in this discussion. In addition, the application of competitive intelligence in strategic information system analysis is discussed in this paper with examples of Samsung Mobile Company’s Critical Success Factors being used to discuss how information audit contributes to a company’s information systems strategy. Bateman (1997, p. 167) asserts that it is through an information audit that a company is able to identify all the information resources available to it. Samsung Mobile Company has vast information resources both within and outside the organization. These resources include human expertise. Information can also be obtained through research on specific aspects of business operation such as marketing and training. Identification of the information resources of the company is crucial to enable the management come up with strategic information system strategies. ... These strategies include the development of various computer applications which are to be used in effective management of the company’s resources as a way of facilitating the achievement of objectives. According to Chen et al. ( 2010, p. 233), the production and marketing functions of a company perform optimally when information systems are used to facilitate the production process of a company in addition to the promotion of its brands. This is essential in making a company have a competitive advantage over other businesses dealing in the same line of products. Through an information audit, Samsung Mobile Company will be able to have strategic plans for the application of technology in promotion of its mobile products to have a competitive advantage over its competitors such as Nokia and Sony Erickson. As explained by Dubois (1995, p. 20), an information audit is essential for all organization because it enables them to identify and determine their information needs. Informat ion is very essential in any production company because it acts as the most important resource for the successful achievement of goals and objectives. Samsung Mobile Company should do an information audit to enable its management to make strategic plans on the information technology which is needed to enable the company meet its information needs. For example the company needs information about the political, economic, social and technological environment which will allow it to compete favorably with other mobile manufacturers. However Akhavan, Jafari and Fathian (2006, p. 97) point out that identification of the information needs during an information audit should focus on the information which

The central ethical issue Essay Example for Free

The central ethical issue Essay At first glance, it can be difficult to immediately discern and identify the main, or central, ethical issue that revolves around the case (‘Parenting Parents’) that chronicles Mary’s struggles pertaining to her parents’ problem about substance use and abuse. It is because there are some other issues that can also be of ethical and moral concern. Firstly, we can directly question the integrity of Mary’s parents by giving their children a â€Å"burden† because of their being alcoholic. Moreover, although they can fulfill their functions as parents and as members of the community, it is evident that they did not live as a good example to their growing children because of their inclination and addiction to alcohol, which caused worries to their children, especially to Mary. On the other hand, since Mary’s parents were able to consult their physician, they should also have received an adequate advice, aside from receiving a mere prescription of medication, or perhaps a referral to a specialist, in order to correct their alcohol abuse and alleviate their condition. Unfortunately, in Mary’s eyes, the condition of her parents seemed to have been aggravated with the addition of the narcotic medication into their system (body). In this regard, a greater responsibility is now placed on the prescribing physician due to the fact that Mary’s parents believed that there was really nothing wrong with the dosage and that it was â€Å"legally prescribed†. Therefore, the central ethical issue in the case must be on the appropriateness, or otherwise, of the actions of the prescribing physician (by prescribing higher dosage of narcotic medication), as well as the fact that there was no sufficient information given to them about the treatment regimen, thus leaving inadequate knowledge and augmenting Mary’s apprehension about the status of her parent’s health. II. Research 1. http://www. pubmedcentral. nih. gov/articlerender. fcgi? tool=pmcentrezartid=1769525 The research-article by Robert L. Fine (2007) entitled ‘Ethical and practical issues with opioids in life-limiting illness’ explores the vast ethical and practical concepts pertaining to narcotic pain management. The article presented a substantial connection of ethics and practice through purposeful application of knowledge and evidence-based practice. Further, the article also refutes some common psychosocial and practical misconceptions about narcotics such as the beliefs that these medications cause respiratory depression and addiction. Moreover, the said article is especially relevant to this paper because it renders a significant idea about the higher dosages of narcotics to alcoholic patients, which, according to Fine, is because of their â€Å"incredible tolerance to opioids or narcotics†, thereby necessitating an increased dosage to effectively manage their pain while having a â€Å"strict dosing protocols and written contracts†. Hence, the article emphasized that patients who are substance abusers (like Mary’s parents) should be managed with compassion and suggested the importance of providing information and conducting proper education, not only to the patients but also to their families and significant others, regarding the overall effects of the medication in order to correct the underlying misconceptions and lessen their anxiety, as well as referring them to addiction specialists or psychiatrists. 2. http://www. ama-assn. org/ama/pub/physician-resources/medical-ethics/code-medical-ethics/opinion9032. shtml The above link represents a portion of the American Medical Association’s Code of Ethics, specifically the subtitle on ‘Reporting Adverse Drug or Device Events’ (American Medical Association â€Å"Opinion 9. 032†). In this manner, it is stipulated in this portion that the physicians have an ethical responsibility to report actual or potential adverse reactions of a certain medication or a devise to the broader medical community. Moreover, the said article augments that physicians belong to a group that could best monitor and report any adverse or untoward reactions, as well to communicate relevant information about to a certain drug or medication (American Medical Association â€Å"Opinion 9. 032†). Thus, this article poses its relevance to the central ethical issue in this paper since it highlights the physicians’ responsibility to provide and communicate information to all stakeholders. 3. http://clinicalcenter. nih. gov/participate/patientinfo/legal/bill_of_rights. shtml The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center’s article on the ‘Patient Bill of Rights’ is the one that is represented by the above link. In so doing, the so-called patient bill of rights typifies the right of the patients to complete current information pertaining to all aspects of their care, which must obtained from the physician. Moreover, all the necessary information must be given in â€Å"easily understandable terms† (National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center â€Å"Patient Bill of Rights†). As such, the said article is relevant to this paper because it highlights the importance of providing information about the patients’ treatment, which fairly includes the medication regimen that is particularly involved in the discussion of the central ethical issue of this paper.

The New Brutalist Architecture Anthropology Essay

The New Brutalist Architecture Anthropology Essay New Brutalist architecture is the outcome of a British architectural ethic named New Brutalism. According to Peter and Alice Smithson, the term was coined from a newspaper paragraph heading which, by poor translation of French, called the Marseilles Unità © by Le Corbusier Brutalism in architecture[1]. The Smithsons anointed their own British brand of Modernism by adding New both because they came after Le Corbusier and also in response to the style of the Architectural Review which at the start of the 1950s sunned many articles on the New Monumentality, the New Empiricism, the New Sentimentality etc.[2] Thus, New Brutalism was set to up be the direct line development of the Modern Movement. According to Banham (1966), whilst the terms Brutalism and New Brutalism are often used interchangeably, it is important to distinguish the meanings of the two terms as this paper will be focusing on the latter. Brutalism, though a British term, refers to an architectural aesthetic that is characterised by sticking repetitive angular geometries, and where concrete is used. A building without concrete can achieve a Brutalist character through a rough blocky appearance, and the expression of its structural materials, forms and services on its exterior. Another common theme is the exposure of the buildings functions in the exterior of the building. Banham (1966) summarises the key characteristics of Brutalist architecture as formal legibility of plan, clear exhibition of structure, direct and honest use of materials and clear exhibition of services. Thus, Brutalism casts back in time to include Le Corbusier as one of its important contributors. On the other hand, New Brutalism was coined before any New Brutalist architecture was built. It is an ethic, not aesthetic and is associated with socialist utopian ideology supported by Peter and Alison Smithson and the Team 10 group of architects amongst which they belonged. It is more related to the theoretical reform in urban theory proposed by CIAM than to bà ©ton brut. Thus, having originated from entirely different, organic theoretical doctrines, the British brand of Brutalism has considerable differences to Brutalist architecture from the continent. New Brutalism was born in the post-war era, almost exclusively in the Architects Department of the London County Council (LCC) the only place where young graduated architects such as Peter and Alison Smithson and many   from the Architectural Association school (AA) could find work in London. Many architects who have returned from the world had fought to make the world safe but the economic terms of the price of victory was heavy and the country faced long periods of austerity resulting in shortages, a shortfall in housing and social services. It was a time of benevolent socialism and commitment to the welfare state following the election of the Labour Government in 1945. The government had assumed responsibility for the welfare of the people in a way that would have been unthinkable in the 1930s.[3] Many houses of the working class poor that were in the centre of large industrial cities such as London, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham have been destroyed. In London, Abercromb ie and Forshaw published the County of London Plan which described the challenge faced by the government. The report recognised that there is abundant evidence that for families with children, houses are preferred to flats. They provide a private garden and yard at the same level as the main rooms of the dwelling, and fit the English temperament.[4] But, to put everyone in houses would result in the displacement of two-thirds to three-quarters of the people. The planners wished to minimise the out-movement of jobs. They settled on 136 persons per acre which based on the research they did put one third of the people in houses, and some 60 per cent in eight- and ten- storey flats; about half of families with two children will go into flats, but even this density meant the overspill of 4 in 10 of all people living in this zone in 1939. Furthermore, there was the sense of lesprit nouveau of making a fresh start after the cleansing effect of the war. The London architectural debate was fractionized; largely between the student generation and practicing establishment architects. The Establishment architects tended towards Socialist political alignment, with the welfare state architecture of Sweden as the architectural paradigm. For the whole generation of graduating architects from the AA were strongly influenced by the ideas of Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe; the Ville Radieuse and the Unità © dHabitation suggested a model to be applied by good hard socialist principles in good hard modernist materials.[5] They felt the Establishment architects were tending towards what they saw as a softer and more humanist Modernism, a retreat from the pre-war, heroic form of Modernism[6]. The Architects Department at the LCC provided a model in the early years; it had an unusually free hand, because the Ministrys ordinary co st sanctions did not apply to it[7]. It first produced the great Corbusian slabs which culminated in the only true realisation of the Radiant City in the world the Alton West estate in Roehampton[8]. The New Brutalists concept of order is not classical but topological: its implementation on a site could have involved judging the case on its merits (i.e. land form, accommodation required, finance available) rather than in accordance with a pre-established classical or picturesque schema.[9] Thus, they distinguish themselves from the earlier Brutalists such as Le Corbusier who proposed in his 1925 Plan Voisin to bulldoze most of central Paris north of the Seine in order to replace it with a hard of identical sixty-story towers. The Swiss architect was working in an inter-war Paris of exuberant, chaotic and often sordid everyday life[10] when the city was racked by disease and slums. He believed in centralising order (The design of cities was too important to be left to citizens[11]). His plans always relied on his famous paradox: we must decongest the centres of our cities by increasing their density; in addition, we must improve circulation and increase the amount of open space. T he paradox could be resolved by building high on a small part of total ground area[12]. This vision required clearing entire sites (WE MUST BUILD ON A CLEAR SITE! The city of today is dying because it is not constructed geometrically[13]). In war-torn London, the New Brutalists had the luxury of bomb-cleared sites but they also had a greater awareness for the historical fabric of the place-the designers of the Barbican estate built around St Giles church which survived the bombing and designers of Park Hill in Sheffield preserved old street names from the slum for their elevated walkways. Le Corbusier developed his principles of planning most fully in La Ville Contemporaine (1922) and La Ville Radieuse(1932). The plans differed in their recommendation for social distribution. The Contemporary Citys clearly differentiated spatial structure was designed to reflect a specific, segregated social structure: ones dwelling depended on ones job[14]. The residential areas would be of two types: six-storey luxury apartments for professional white collar workers (e.g. industrialists, scientists and artisits), and more modest accommodation for workers, built around courtyards, with less open space. These apartments would be mass-produced for mass-living. The apartments would all be uniform, contain standard furniture and be collectively serviced much like a hotel. Le Corbusier also designed entertainment and cultural complexes close to the middle-class in the centre of the city. The blue collar workers would not live like this. They would live in garden apartments within satellit e units. A different and appropriate sort of green space, sports facilities and entertainments would be available for these residents. Many aspects of New Brutalist architecture echo ideas from the Contemporary City. Income segregation has been practiced to different extents; the Barbican estates apartments vary between elaborate and fashionable layouts on the affluent south side (where the tenants were mainly city workers) and simpler layouts and designs on north side where social housing is concentrated[15]. Furthermore, whole out of town social housing estates such as Thamesmead have been built to resemble Le Corbusiers satellite units. By the time of the Radiant City, though the tenets of the Corbusian religion remained unchanged, there were important theological variations.   Everyone will be equally collectivised and live in giant apartments called Unità ©s. Every family will get an apartment not according to the breadwinners job, but according to rigid space norms: no one will get anything more or less than the minimum necessary for efficient existence. Everyone will enjoy collective services such as cooking, cleaning and childcare. Similarly, New Brutalist architects have tried to logically work from basic human needs in order to distinguish the necessary from the unnecessary and thereby simplifying existing architectural conventions to create an efficient living or working space[16]. However, rarely have they attempted to create truly mixed-income neighbourhoods, having concentrated on social housing estates. Although the recent redevelopment of Park Hill estate in Sheffied is mixing affordable and commerci al residential housing in the Brutalist estate, it cannot be said that mixed-income communities were a tenet of New Brutalism. Brutalist architecture quickly became the official architecture of the Welfare State. Criticisms of its severe problems took a very long time to come. In order to see why, it is important to appreciate how bad were the original dense rows of smoke-blackened slums that the towers replaced. Six years of war had reduced those parts of London and the great provincial cities to a sinister squalor. For two decades, any social disbenefits of modernist planning and its transformation of the town passed largely unremarked[17]. Criticisms rapidly became deafening in the 1970s after the subsidy system had been recast and local authorities were already phasing out their high-rise blocks. Though the outburst was triggered by the collapse of a building in a gas explosion, the majority of the complaints were eloquently summarised by Kenneth Campbell, who was in charge of housing design at the LCC and GLC from 1959 to 1974, to be the lifts (too few, too small, too slow), the children (too many), and the management (too little)[18]. Most importantly, critics like to point out that the true cause of all such problems, of which Corbusier is a fully culpable as any of his followers, was that the middle-class designers had no real feeling for the way a working-class family lived[19]; in their world [children] are not hanging around the landing or playing with the dustbin lids[20]. Chapter Two Dreams v Reality Inside the Minds of Brutalist Architects The sin of Corbusier and the Corbusians thus lay not in their designs, but in the mindless arrogance whereby they were imposed on people who could not take them and could never, given a modicum of thought, ever have been expected to take them[21] Corbusian Brutalism and New Brutalism suffered very much similar design failures, and the two have often been combined or confused in ridicule. However, this chapter points out that New Brutalism should not be indiscriminately blamed for deigning solely for the ideals of the middle-class, or that the designers similarly imposed the designs upon such unwitting residents without considering their social-economic needs and lifestyle. With ambition for a new approach to modernist architecture, the New Brutalists sought to exploit the low cost and pragmatism of mass produced materials and pre-fabricated components[22], mixing uses instead of segregation (as in Le Corbusiers design of La Ville Radieuse), designing specific to location and purpose and to use their signature elevated walkways which they named streets in the air. A satisfactory analysis of the architecture would evaluate the performance of such design features one by one, in essence performing an autopsy and separating the healthy organs, from the moderately healthy and the failed. After the procedure is over the pathologist may wonder why certain failed organs were designed in a way that may have been responsible for putting them in the line of trouble. To understand this we will look at what the architects were trying to achieve and the sources that influenced them. Peter and Alice Smithson wished to achieve the Virgilian dream the peace of the countryside enjoyed with the self-consciousness of the city dweller into the notion of the city itself[23]. Thus, unlike Ebenezer Howard who created the garden cities to combine the benefits of the countryside with the utility of city services, the Smithsons wished to take the garden city back into the city. They sought control and calm as key qualities in the modern city. They were also inspired by the flood of new consumer technologies and advertising. The Smithsons felt Le Corbusier was the first to put together the world of popular and fine arts towards the end of his life in Unità © dHabitation in Marseilles. They felt he viewed historic art possibly the classical origins of heroic architectural principles not as a stylistic source but as a pattern of organisation, and a source of social reform and technological revolution[24]. The Smithsons themselves recognised that advertising was making a bigger contribution to the visual climate of the 1950s than any of the fine arts. Advertising was selling products as a natural accessory to life and is packed with information for the average man it had taken over from fine art as the definition of what is fine and desirable by society. They recognised that the mass produced consumer goods had revolutionised the house without the intervention of the architect. However, they also felt that pre-fabricated buildings built for utility and not aesthetics (e.g. schools and garages) have adapted to the built environment a lot better to the existing built environment than buildings designed by fine art architects. Thus, in context of the desire to create calm and safe dwellings for the city dweller, architectural should be developed for the machine-served city. As with the majority of architects of their age, the Smithsons were profoundly influenced by the architecture of Mies van der Rohe. The Smithsons in particular stated that they were profoundly changed by two of Rohes themes: 1. To make a thing well is not only a moral imperative, but it is also the absolute base of the pleasure of use 2. The machine-calm city. No rhetoric, just ordering of elements to effect a gentle, live, equipoise ordinary quality. Neoclassicism.[25] The first point touches on the material aspect of Rohes love for perfection of detail and the use of the finest quality of materials, with the greatest care. The Smithsons felt Rohe had a special feeling for materials as luxury the observer is made aware of the essence of each material[26] Interestingly, this focus on the existential qualities of concrete and the keenness to use the material for its physical characteristic has enjoyed a recent revival in architecture. Conversely, there is debate with regards to the reason why the Smithsons and the Modernist architects before 1980s used the material so liberally. Sarah Williams Goldhagen believed that the Smithson did employ concrete for its physical properties whereas Adrian Forty argues that such conclusions are misguided in part because the Smithsons themselves tried to appeal to a later audience by discussing their earlier works in a new light in their publications. Forty believes that the Modernist architects of per-1980s were p rimarily interested in the form of their structures; further that in the ordinariness of their forms and the unremarkable, smooth and grey expanse of concrete they sought to achieve an abstract formlessness, as if literally urging the structure to disappear with irrelevance. Thus, concrete was not chosen because it was concrete, but rather because it had the properties the architects desired. The latter explanation seems to be the case of the Smithsons in 1974 when they wrote that many old cities the feeling of control is derived from the repetition of the use of materials on every roof, the roofs having been built at the same pitch, with similar roof lights etc. This suggests that perhaps the repeated use of concrete in so many parts of the building was not motivated by its suitability but by the need to repeat and extend control. The Smithsons were keen for their repetition of elements to seem to derive from the intention of the whole, rather than seeming to have been designed as one separate entity which is then repeated. They found that a repetition with subtle differences used by Rohe in creating a large at-the-whole-community-scale central open space was life-including[27]. They also felt that a building is more interesting if it is more than itself if it changes the space around it with connective possibilities but by a quietness that until now our sensibilities could not recognise as architecture at all. They felt a sense of wellbeing can be found if the built-form and the counterpart space are locked together[28]. The recognition that a building is not alone, that it exerts an influence on its surroundings and needs to interact with it to be successful seems now far off from the emphasis of todays planning policies for high quality, inclusive design which should integrate into existing urban form and the natural and built environments[29]. However, what sounded similar is very different in practice as we can see in Robin Hood Gardens, a project by the Smithsons where they consciously incorporated their vision of inclusive design. We can see that the buildings were definitely designed with the central space in mind they are even curved according to the landscape features. However, the estate does not integrate with buildings of the surrounding areas very well in terms of scale or layout. Critics state that it failed to come to terms that existing spatial fabrics held memory and value[30]. People adapt slowly to change a building that nods to the original fabric will aid the adaptation process . This design fails to be inclusive for the surrounding areas that are outside the architects control and thus does not fall into the broader scope of todays standard of good design. However, an earlier project by the Smithsons was a widely held success for integrating well within and introducing variations to the City of London. This was the Economist Plaza which was completed in 1964. A group of three office towers built on a picturesque piazza to allow pedestrian movement independent of the road system with street level access to services and shops, it broke the London tradition of the closed block, and may be considered the precursor of later office developments such as Broadgate[31]. However, its success was also attributed to restraint that was sensitive to context, by the use of stone instead of concrete to assimilate choice of material of older buildings nearby, and designing on the basis of an ancient Greek acropolis plan to maintain with the scale and governing lines of tr adition-bound St Jeremys Street. The successful features of this project also marked a retreat from Brutalism to the restrained Classicism of Mies van der Rohe[32]. The Economist Plaza is an example of how the Smithsons usually go about the designing process they conducted length research into the working practices of the journalists of the Economist magazine in order to create the most efficient structure. Their aim was for their buildings to be specific to their location and purpose[33]. They also took inspiration from the works of others. At the time when the Smithsons were compiling their entry to the Golden Lane housing competition between 1951 and 1953, they had contact with the Hendersons who were conducting social studies in the East End of London. This steered their reading of the city towards a form which reflected the structure of human association. This led to their radical suggestion that the street and housing blocks might multiply in a random and biological way to form a network overlaid on the existing city in a way reminiscent of molecular patterns or fractals. Thus, the topography or the context of a specific site would mould the disposition of the project. The idea of a network is based on the Smithsons belief that a community cannot be created by geographic isolation which, they feel, was the mistake made by English neighbourhood planning (through grouping around an infant school, community centre or group of shops), and the Unità © concept of Le Corbusier[34]. They aspire to aid social cohesion through the looseness of grouping and ease of communication. They felt the quintessential role of the planner is to create a sense of place by encouraging the creation of non-arbitrary groupings and effective communication, making possible groupings based on the family, street, district, region and city apparent. To maintain the looseness of grouping and the ease of communication, density must increase as population increases. The Smithsons believed that we must build high to avoid eating up farmland and creating congestion and increasing travel time on the roads. The architects recognised that high-rise living led to problems such as deprivation of outdoor life, the ineffectiveness of vertical communication, and difficulty in forming friendships for the lack of horizontal communication at the same level[35]. And so they proposed an ambitions vision of a multi-layered, city, leaving on the ground the support networks such as freight and utilities. In large cities, such things as light industries, workshops, clinics, shopping centres and small hotels could easily be located on raised levels: integrated with the deck-dwelling pattern the hope is that the advantage of close physical proximity will draw people to the clearly different districts of the city cause an urban revival a new city in which the home will be very much the centre of all activities[36]. The council house in the UK should be capable of being put together with others in a similar sort, so as to form bigger and equally comprehensive elements which can be added to existing villages and towns in such a way as to revitalise the traditional hierarchies, and not destroy them. The architects felt that building imitation market towns both inside and outside cities deny them the right to be urban forms because they do not engage with the pre-existing community to which they have been attached. The architects were also interested in achieving clarity between private and public space, much like Le Corbusiers Unità © which preserved the individual in seclusion while giving expression to the communal life and faith of the Order with a double-height collective space, and links through the balconies with the world outside. The interior street provides an enclosed world of neighbours whilst the shopping arcade and the roof space belong to and give expression to the total community.[37] The Smithsons were keen to preserve this divide: From the moment the man or child steps outside his dwelling our responsibility starts for the individual has not got the control over his extended environment that he has over his house[38].     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Smithsons entry for Golden Lane failed but their design laid the foundations for the development of streets in the air. The streets in the air are a reinterpretation of East End bye-law streets because the Smithsons saw that such traditional streets in the East End function well as a main public forum for communication, as a playground for children and provide open space for public gatherings and large scale sociability in working class Britain. To fulfil these functions in a Brutalist apartment block, Le Corbusiers rue intà ©rieure-the double-loaded, long, dark corridor on the inside of the building will need to be moved to the exterior. They will be 12 foot wide, continuous and reach every part of the development. At Park Hill estate, Sheffied, the architects even made sure that original Victorian street names were kept and neighbours from the original slum area where the estate replaced were housed next to eachother. This contributed to the initial popularity of the estate b ut it could not stop problems of crime and dilapidation following. It is interesting to compare the fates of Robin Hood Gardens and Park Hill. The vertical circulation system and access from streets in the air were said to make the Robin Hood estate unpopular[39]. However, it was also blamed for disagreeing with the Smithsons idea at Golden Lane of housing elements forming networks or clusters and the Team 10 premise that a buildings first duty is to the fabric in which it stands by having been divided into two building blocks. They do not demonstrate, by combining into a longer entity the potential for a city wide pedestrian network[40]. On the other hand, Park Hill estate does join up into a large entity but its 12 foot decks were in turn blamed for providing quick getaways for burglars and other criminals. Neither building realised the dream of the elevated community utopia. Does this suggest that streets in the air in actuality never got off the ground? The Barbican estate offers safe and secluded elevated decks with beautiful views over the e state but it does not serve as a social gathering place for the residents nor a playground for the children. It seems somehow it is extremely difficult to recapture the East End feel in the Smithsons signature design feature. At the CIAM conference in 1953, they attacked the decades-old dogma propounded by Le Corbusier and others that cities should be zoned into specific areas for living, working, leisure and transport, and that urban housing should consist of tall, widely spaced towers[41]. The Smithsons ideal city would combine different activities within the same areas. However, the legacy of CIAM and of Le Corbusier was a significant burden and will take time to wear off[42]. By the close of 1960s, there was a shift from the raw Brutalism of the 50s to a gentler and more refined form of architectural language[43]. Team 10s urban productions were marked by a distinct retreat from the early mobility-driven solutions to solutions based on the metamorphosis of inherent qualities of existing urban structures where large open sites were concerned; or rehabilitation and reuse of existing structures combined with new small-scale interventions, were existing structures are concerned. In effect, many of the so called Post-Modern revolutions of 1970s, including participation, rehabilitation, restoration, preservation, and political reorganisation, had been pre-dated by Team 10s thinking during 1960s.[44] Does this suggest that the New Brutalists finally acknowledged the mistakes of their designs and retreated? Such an interpretation would have ignored the context of 1950s where a quick solution was needed to re-house many people from bombed out regions in the centre of industrial cities and putrid slums. However, haste is a lazy excuse for questionable design. It cannot be ignored that the hard concrete aesthetic and morphological autonomy in part alienated Brutalist works from their residents and ended up forming ghettos for housing for the lower classes. In fairness, many estates in Britain were brought off the peg by local authorities too lazy or unimaginative to hire architects and planners of their own[45] that resulted in appalling dimness and dullness[46]. But, the original designs from New Brutalist architects also proved to be design disasters. Despite their efforts to accommodate the working class into their towers, they designed buildings with features that were highly uns uitable for such residents and eventually drove them away. Chapter 3 Design Failures According to R. K. Jarvis[47], Le Corbusiers urban design principles belong to the artistic tradition in urban design, sharing the umbrella term with Camillo Sitte, Gordon Cullen, Roy Worskett and the Ministry for Housing and Local Government in London which designed the post-war British towns and villages. From first appearances, such principles could not be more different. Sittes emphasis artistic principles in city building is the direct aesthetic antithesis to modernists conception of Order by pure geometry; and neither would have tolerated the rows of front-and-back garden semi-detached houses of post-war England. Martin Kreigers Review of Large Scale Planning[48] sets out three binds the set of limitations of particular attitudes that are common with all urban designers of the artistic tradition. Firstly, the desire for a formal, general model which will provide a scientific foundation for planning analysis and proposals can be seen just as clearly beneath Sittes sensual and overwhelmingly visual impressions as Le Corbusiers utilitarian explanations of the benefits of international-style living. Guidelines, whether calling for That the centre of plazas be kept free or WE MUST BUILD ON A CLEAR SITE!