Underground space use with urban sustainability Essay

Underground space use with urban sustainability - Essay Example Underground Space Use with Urban Sustainability Moreover, city planners are faced with a huge task of ensuring that services in urban areas are not disrupted; despite the high number of people streaming to urban centers, the quality of life in cities has to remain unchanged. Moreover, today, there is increasing advocacy on sustainable developments especially with regard to built environment. With increasing awareness on the need to preserve the environment, people are demanding stringent sustainability measures in built environment. Therefore, city planners face a daunting task of deciding the best way to come up with city master plans that ensure sustainability. An approach that has remained untapped in the development of many cities; the approach  promises great opportunities for expansion of cities within sustainable limits is underground urban infrastructure development. Bobylev (2009, 1129) observed that, in order for investors to develop private housing, they require enough transport infrastructure and enough energy supply , which depends on the transport available in such cities. This calls for the need to have proper integration of urban infrastructure development and sustainable development in cities. Therefore, to ensure sustainability despite the growing of urban cities, underground urban development promises potential opportunities, if proper city master plans are prepared to highlight proper urban underground infrastructure designs. Chow et al (2) noted that the ability to maximize space in towns and urban cities would be the greatest challenge for engineers and architectures in the near future. One of the benefits of urban underground infrastructure is that it offers city planners opportunities and space to relocate infrastructure projects such as railway lines, roads, recreational facilities, stores, sports facilities among other amenities. The need for mass transportation services and modern infrastructural development requires new and innovative ways to use the available dwindling space in cities (Chow et al, 3). As a result, efficient use of underground space will ensure planners, developers, landowners and other parties have exciting and untapped opportunities to expand construction projects. Many cities have managed to save huge spaces by designing efficient underground master plans for their transport systems, which has helped not only in reducing congestion but also in maximizing utilization of space in cities. One of the best examples of the huge impacts of underground urban master plan is the London underground station, an underground facility that has managed not only to reduce traffic in the city but also has reshaped the city and utility of space to the best extent possible. The design and the emergence of the London underground station challenged the limits of engineering and city master planning across the globe. The station is an excellent benchmark of what would become of many cities in the future. Space is rapidly becoming scarce while demand for sustainability and the demand for transportation services have increased. Therefore, the London station is an excellent case of typical modernism (Wright, 2011). The tube as it is commonly known made it possible for people to travel between several stations within London at record speeds. As a result, people were no longer willing to live in the city but opted to live away from the city where they can spend a few minutes to get to London (Wright, 2011). T

Cost Accounting Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Cost Accounting - Case Study Example The charging of the contracts by the company employees is supposed to account for the two types of contracts; fixed-price and cost type contracts. In this case, the contract charging by Jumbo Corporation employees, and the subsequent decision and activities undertaken by Frank and Harold pinpoint to fraudulent activities. This is because the contracts are charged inappropriately by having fixed-price contracts charged to cost type contracts. Even though the company’s accounting system released unidentified contracts in terms of their relative types, the corporation has a foreman in place to direct contract charging for both GO-1 and GO-2. The responsible parties are not executing their relevant duties, and thus the outcome of the contract charging can be termed to be fraud (Vona 157). Frank is guilty based on the unfolding events regarding contract charging in Jumbo Corporation. He is supposed to direct employees on which GO to charge their time. The role played by Frank shows that the corporation’s accounting system was not to blame for the failure to identify GO as to contract type. This failure was supposed to be corrected by Frank by being there to provide directions to the shop employees during contract charging. Instead of doing this, Frank feels that the system is working out for him. In other words, the current contract charging saves him trouble with the management. This is because the company reviews meet what Frank is supposed to achieve on a monthly basis. Although he is aware of the mistake being committed, he stays silent to have the process work out for him even further. This makes him engage in fraud in the sense that he conceals it. Harold is as well guilty of fraud. He noticed the pattern that the charging activities were taking and was pleased by that instead of taking relevant actions to correct the situation. The VP noted that the shop employees charged some fixed-price contracts to cost type contracts.

Breaking Out of Paris Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Breaking Out of Paris - Essay Example The stories I could tell you about one celebrity, where he liked to go, and what he liked to do once he got there: you’d be amazed. I was never going to marry any of them, I was just there for the money. I could tell as soon as I went into their house what was sellable, when the maid would be stuck upstairs all day, and how we were going to break in the back and take the lot. Jones was different. He put his hand past me, to lean on the bar, and started quoting me long lines from Surrealist pamphlets and telling me about the freedom of the individual, every few minutes ordering himself another drink, and insisting that I join him. . I don’t know where, or how, but somewhere along the line, I ended up in his room. Once he was asleep, dreams considerably assisted by the consumption of so many cocktails, I went through his things. I know, I know, and you can judge me all you want, but I don’t pretend to be anything more than what I am: a cheap tart with sticky fingers. I have some very pretty dresses though, and I like nice things. As I opened his case, I saw instantly that my first assumptions had been right, and he was not the wealthy young businessmen he pretended to be. There had to have been more than five passports in there, none of them in the name of Cadillac Jones, and each giving a different nationality. I remember staring at the pictures, watching them go fuzzy, and then I don’t remember anything until the next morning. I thought at first he had slipped me a mickey, and I reached out my hand certain that my purse would be gone. Instead, there was a note pinned to the inside: It wasn’t any trouble to get in to see him: I think he knew deep down that this would happen, and he had gone out to find the right women, the thieves and gangs, who could help him pick that lock and walk away. I had thought our meeting a coincidence. Now I know it was as carefully planned and plotted as everything else. He greeted me

News media Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

News media - Research Paper Example The principle of this article was to make clear to the public about the dangers of meat product consumption. In addition, it would arouse the government to introduce activities that could tame unscrupulous meat packagers and processors. In this sense, this article is intended for responsible entities such as the USDA. It is also projected to the public and institutions such as public schools. For the public, it is vital that they assess the credibility of restaurants and retail houses. On the other hand, the government should attain information about the potent of the current food industry for respective reactions. This is a NY Times piece that was published in the month of October and in the 2009. New York Times is an approved entity that specializes in various kinds of informative articles. They range from investigative reports to reactionary opinions. According to New York Times, Moss is a Pulitzer winning journalist that has been specializing in investigative and informative pieces. In this sense, his pieces would be mostly objective and vent oriented. Mr. Moss has a high level of credibility since he specializes in food industry. His Pulitzer price was based on the E.Coli virus report about Stephanie’s situation. Since 1994, the government banned grocers and meat companies from beef that carries the virulent strain of E.Coli (Moss 1). The scientific name of the virus relates to 0157:H7. It came into public focus in 1994 because of an outbreak which resulted into the deaths of four children. In spite of its age since the 1994 scare, many individuals still sicken of this deadly pathogen. In spite of Ms. Smith’s extreme reaction to E.coli strain, it is discernible that the system was lousy in its meat safety procedures (Moss 1). This is exemplified in the trace of her infection through corporate records and interviews. This makes beef consumption a dangerous

Critically evaluate how the recent recession has been affecting Essay

Critically evaluate how the recent recession has been affecting strategic marketing management practices of Apple - Essay Example By 1980 as the sales of the company were experiencing a high the company also grew considerably in size, by the time the Apple III was launched, the company employed several thousand people and was conducting international business (apple-history, 2013). Lisa and Macintosh are hall mark products of the Apple Company. During the 1980’s the Mac II gave the windows a really tough time, taking it to the verge of a flop, due to its expandability and viability (apple-history, 2013). The release of power books in 1991 put Apple back in the race it was losing against windows 3.0, and advancements were being made at the same time towards the PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) (apple-history, 2013). Formerly known as Apple Computer; Apple Inc. is currently the biggest tech company in the world that employs more than 49,400 people and gross profit of more than $ 65 billion (Rodrigo, 2012). Competitors Apple’s competitors in the technology and computer industry are Microsoft, Dell, M otorola, LG, and Nokia. ... comes from its diverse line and range of products and the software and hardware integration of their range of products; which they have achieved over the years (Magee, 2011). Apple has led to the jointed manufacturing of computers and mobile devices, whereas this was previously done by separate companies (Magee, 2011). This allows for shared functioning and information processing, connectivity is the main feature giving these products a competitive edge (Magee, 2011). Impact of Recession The recession did not impact Apple Inc. as expected and rather than suffering massive losses like its counterparts it just received a jolt at its retail stores (MaCNN, 2009). The number of visitors per Apple retail store suffered a drop of 1.8%, and the revenues fell 17.4 percent (MaCnn, 2009). 2008 saw a drop for the company’s revenues by 0.6 percent in the last three month period (Oliver, 2009). Apple saw the revenue decrease on per store basis but as a whole the Mac sales increased year ove r year as compared to 2008 (Oliver, 2009). Apart from suffering a drop in terms of visitor per retail store the concept that Apple retail store follow, showed the success of the strategies employed by Apple (Oliver, 2009). According to Carl Howe, who is the director of consumer research for the Yankee Group said that the company is really tested during a recession, and for Apple, the ‘ think different’ motto appears to be working really well (cited in Rodrigo, 2012). Where economies, banks and companies have drastically suffered at the hands of the recession, Apple has maintained its record sales. Recession tests companies by better execution and Apple is achieving that (Howe, cited in Rodrigo, 2012). Apple’s share value doubled during 2008, the year the recession hit the hardest and

Tools of Monetary Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Tools of Monetary Policy - Essay Example We consider these one by one in what follows. i) The required reserve ratio To understand the operational mechanism of this particular monetary policy tool, it is imperative to understand what the monetary base of an economy is. Essentially, the monetary base of an economy is defined as being the sum total of all cash holdings and reserves in the economy, i.e., the monetary base MB = C+R where C = currency/checkable deposits and R = total reserves. Further, R = RR+ER where RR is the required reserves and ER is the excess reserves. Required reserves are determined through the required reserve ratio (r) which is set by the central bank. The central bank sets the ratio of total deposits that commercial banks and other financial lending institutions have to hold as reserves. The excess reserves are the reserve holdings maintained by these banks for liquidity concerns or prudence over and above the stipulated required reserve holdings. The required reserve ratio is the policy tool by regu lating which the central bank can control the amount of excess reserves and thus loanable funds of the banks. Thus by controlling these reserves the money supply in the economy can be regulated. If the central bank intends to undertake expansionary monetary policy it can do so by relaxing the reserve requirement and consequentially increasing the amount of loans that can be made in the economy. If on the other hand it needs to conduct contractionary monetary policy, it can do so by making the reserve requirement more stringent. ii) The discount policy The discount rate is one of the monetary policy tools of the central bank of an economy. It is the rate of interest that the central bank charges for short term loans that it forwards to other banks that require such loans to cover shortages in their liquidity requirements. Discount policy affects the money supply of an economy through two channels: first, by affecting the discount rate on loans and thus in turn affecting the amount of loans indirectly and secondly, by altering the amounts of the short term loans directly. In case of the first channel, that is changing the discount rate, this may or may not have an impact on money supply depending on the position of the demand for reserves (RD). The effect of increasing the discount rate on the money supply is shown below in diagram 1. In part (a), the demand for reserves is not high enough and as a result there are no changes in the equilibrium reserve holdings. In part (b) there is a high demand for reserves and as a consequence, there is a decline in the equilibrium reserve holdings. Figure 1: Impact of increases in the discount rate In the diagram above, there is an increase in the discount rate from to . Consequentially the supply of reserves schedule rises from to . However, observe that in part (a) the demand for reserves are lower than in part (b). In particular the demand for reserves schedule is not high enough in part (a) to substantiate any efficacy o f increasing the discount rate. In fact in such a scenario, a decline in the discount rate could have an impact by increasing the equilibrium reserve holdings if the rate is lowered below the bank rate. However, this will make sense if the resulting effect of increased money supply is the desired result. As a result, albeit the increase in the discount rate leads to a rise in the supply of reserves, there is no change in the equilibri

Video game controversy Essay Example for Free

Video game controversy Essay Technology has (had) come a long way since the early years of life. The use of technology to humans, is to enhance or improve whatever it may be to have a much quicker advancement or have a better and easy going lifestyle. But in the more recent years, technology has turned for the worst. Specifically speaking, video games. Video games in its early years were meant for a positive use, much like any other type of game; to simply act as a fun activity to pass time. That is not the case anymore because of how dangerously advanced and addicting video games can be. In fact it’s so dangerous nowadays that countries like South Korea are contemplating whether or not to ban video games. Why is it dangerous? Video games influence a type of negative social behavior, has a direct correlation to the cause of Insomnia, and is relevant to the increasing obesity rates in America. Playing video games can lead to many negative effects on a person. Video Games influence a type of negative social behavior. â€Å"The effects of videophilia are substantial and include obesity, attention disorders, lack of socialization and poor academic performance† (Video Game Addiction). The person (game player) may lose social skills and qualities depending on the level of video game addiction. Usually, the player is spending so much time on the game that he/ she is neglecting other areas of life. A common sign of video game addiction is constantly talking about the game almost constantly. â€Å" It is more likely to talk down upon a peer after a violent video game session† (Tiret). These types of social skills are not acceptable to continuously practice. The people that talk down on peers because of the violent video game session could go into depression or anxiety because of what others say or think about them. Young Children love playing rated M 18+ games that contain violence and other profound content (Parks). â€Å" the more time children and teens spend playing violent video games the more likely they are to display aggressive behavior† (Tiret). The more violent the game is, the more violent the player will be. It’s morally wrong to be mean for absolutely no reason towards other human beings. The effects on aggressive behavior can be long lasting (Tiret). A build up in anger is not healthy. If the constant aggression keeps up, the aggressive person will be ostracized by classmates or friends. Insomnia is easily caused by the lack of sleep, which is a common symptom of a video game addict. â€Å"Studies have shown that people deprived of contact with nature were at greater risk of depression and anxiety† (Wilderness Adventure). â€Å"In a study by Breslau and associates, patients with insomnia were nearly 4 times more likely to suffer major depression than those without insomnia† (Johnston). A depressed person will look at everything negatively and have no motivation to go outside. The person may even view his/ her life not even worth living. Stress and depression can be caused by a variety of things resulting in insomnia. Stress may be caused by hours on the computer playing a game without rest. Depression may hit the person, depending on intimacy with the video game, once he/she loses a lot. â€Å" insomnia and its associated daytime sleepiness had significant negative effects on cognitive functioning and impaired their subjects’ ability to perform ordinary tasks† (Johnston). â€Å"Excessive Sleepiness has been linked to learning disabilities in children and cognitive and memory problems in adults† (Johnston). If this keeps up then the next generations will become less capable than the ones before which shouldn’t happen. Remembering what you ate for breakfast will be very difficult. â€Å"Poor sleep hygiene includes an irregular sleep schedule, stimulating activities before bed†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Mayo Clinic). The ‘stimulating activities’ could translate into playing video games before you sleep. The effects of the stimulating activities causes the person to stay awake longer in bed. Some argue video games can be healthy to a person. One of the biggest positive effects video games can have on a person is the fact that makes people happy. As a result, video games have become an easy scapegoat for numerous violent tendencies and social behaviors. Video games are indeed a scapegoat, but it doesn’t hide the fact that the people who play these games as a scapegoat are neglecting themselves from the real world. These people will not get to experience what it’s really like in the real world. Based on solid scientific evidence, video games may actually fill basic human needs that the real world fails to satisfy (Shapiro). This applies to people who have social anxieties causing these people to refrain from the outside even more. The people are not completely solving their problems, only temporarily. It is not the game’s fault for these negative effects. There are millions who play the game and don’t go out and do the negatively portrayed actions on the news. The criminals mention the games’ names and blame the games. Violent games are very influential on a person. â€Å"Reality is too complicated to blame playings games, moving pictures, or letters on a page† (Parks). Games are where people get ideas from. Life is commonly sealed into one perception for a person, and curiosity comes from ideas that have never been heard of before. Addiction of video games can easily lead into obesity which is a dangerous and lethal disease. Video games create an obstacle for children. â€Å"Children today spend an average of 6 hours each day in front of the computer and TV, but less than 4 minutes a day in instructed outdoor play† (Wilderness Adventure). There is an extreme amount of physical inactivity. The calories are not burned which turn into fat later on. â€Å"Getting less than seven hours of sleep a night can cause changes in hormones that increase your appetite† (Mayo Clinic). Less sleep IS a vital cause of obesity. Eating most of your calories at night contributes to weight gain. â€Å"Overweight and obesity are linked to more deaths worldwide than underweight† (WHO). Being overweight and obese brings cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and even some cancers. The obese people are not outside and running which leads into no training for the cardiovascular system. While playing video games, gamers do not pay attention to what they eat which could lead into a massive buildup of diabetes. â€Å"More than 40 million children under the age of five were overweight in 2011† (WHO). 41% of certain cancer burdens are attributable to overweight and obesity. Children who play video games fit into this category. The topic of video games being perceived as a positive thing today is growing out of hand. It’s like spreading a humongous lie to gullible innocents. Affecting social behavior in a negative manner, causing obesity, and developing insomnia are serious matters. The negative effects of playing video games are severe and the idea of playing video games should not be taken lightly.