SWOT Analysis of Cedarville Jail

Introduction A mission statement provides an organization with direction, and assists in formulating strategies. As the new CEO of Cedarville jail, I will need to review the current mission statement in order to reflect the organization’s desired goals.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on SWOT Analysis of Cedarville Jail specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In order to write a mission statement of an organization, one needs to analyze the organization, with SWOT analysis method that examines strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats being the commonly used. The analysis helps to examine the internal and external factors affecting an organization (Bohm, 2009, p. 2). Thus, this paper will use the SWOT analysis tools to evaluate Cedarville Jail, and then develop its mission statement. Furthermore, the paper will also provide the jail’s statement of key objectives. SWOT Analysis Strength The jail has adequ ate housing facilities for both juvenile and adult inmates, in addition to superior security technology. Having been recently built, these facilities do not require expensive repairs or maintenance. Similarly, there is adequate support from governments and other stakeholder. Indeed, the government is willing to allocate additional revenue to the management of the jail. Besides, I have been provided with adequate time to effect the changes, with the assistance of my deputy. Weakness The major weakness facing Cedarville jail is the morality of personnel and their lack of proper training. The prevailing organizational culture is that of macho, rather than care giving and rehabilitation. Additionally, the jail lacks important amenities namely counseling, chaplain and library for both inmates and staff. Further, the financial status of the jail is in disarray, with the financial accounting department in need of restructuring. Another factor affecting the prison is reported case of drugs and substance abuse by personnel. In addition, there is inequality in recruitment of staff in the jail, with women exclusively being employed in the lowly clerical jobs only. Opportunities The jail usually benefits from substantial amount of grants from federal and state governments, thus has an opportunity to rehabilitate juveniles without financial strain. The jail also has the opportunity of cutting its operational costs by outsourcing certain services such as gardening, cleaning and janitorial services.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Threats The management of juvenile is under review, which can result to introduction of voucher program where juveniles will be moved to other facilities. However, the Cedarville jail will loss substantial amount of funding if this program is approved. Moreover, the county supervisors require changes in the jail to be effected in three mont hs. Mission Statement A mission statement outlines the direction a company wishes to follow (MyStrategicPlan, n.d). Thus, mission statements should capture the organization’s core purpose and motivate all stakeholders to achieve set goals (Talbot, 2003, p.10). The mission of Cedarville jail is to provide safe and secure environment for incarcerated persons, facilitate their rehabilitation through competent personnel. Statement of key objectives The mission of the jail will be attained through the following objectives: to train the workforce on appropriate methods of handling and rehabilitation of inmate, and provide necessary education and rehabilitation programs for incarcerated persons. Others include seeking to collaborate with local community to facilitate integration of ex-convicts in the community, and aiming to continuously improving security in the jail to prevent breakouts or suicides. Conclusion Generally, an organization’s mission statement addresses the pur pose of the organization, organization’s goals, and the reason why an organization exists. This statement helps to develop the organization’s goals and strategies. Additionally, mission statement should be concise and easy to understand. Before formulating a mission statement, a comprehensive evaluation of the organization is necessary, with SWOT analysis being the most commonly used model of evaluation. References List Bohm, A., 2009. The SWOT Analysis. Berlin: GRIN Verlag. MyStrategicPlan. N.d. Developing Your Mission Statement. Nevada: MyStrategicPlan.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on SWOT Analysis of Cedarville Jail specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Talbot, M., 2003. Make your mission statement work: identify your organization’s values and live them every day. Oxford: How To Books Ltd. This essay on SWOT Analysis of Cedarville Jail was written and submitted by user Cortez Washington to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

New Year Eve in Different Countries Essays

New Year Eve in Different Countries Essays New Year Eve in Different Countries Essay New Year Eve in Different Countries Essay Julia Deegan Ngan Do Eva Fraga November 15, 2012 Compare and Contrast New Year Eve in Different Countries Wouldnt it be fun to travel around the world and celebrate the New Year all year long? All over the world, people celebrate the New Year; This is one of the oldest of all holidays. Most New Year celebrations focus on family and friends, food and traditions, but not all of the celebrations take place on the same day or in the same way! Because people in different parts of the world use different alendars, accordingly, Mexico and Ukraine celebrate the New Year on the first day of January, whereas Vietnam keeps a lunar calendar. In Mexico and Ukraine official date of New Year celebrations is from December thirty-first to January first. Vietnamese New Year takes place from the first day of the first month of the Lunar calendar, and its around late January or early February, until at least the third day. New Year Eve is a time for families and friends to be tog ether. And while it has its traditions, this holiday is not so family-oriented in Mexico. A lot of people in Mexico are going to the beach and looking for a good time. On the other hand, for Ukrainian and Vietnamese people, it is a time for family reunions, they waiting for relatives to return home and gather around the table. Whether you celebrate with family or friends, New Years Eve dinner is usually a feast. The glasses are filled with champagne in every home, and that makes Mexico, Ukraine, and Vietnam look alike, however, the traditional New Years Eve food in Mexico, Ukraine, and Vietnam is different. In Mexico oast turkey or stuffed pork loin with pasta in a creamy sauce and a salad are favorites, whereas, fried sausages, cabbage rolls, jellied meats, vareniki, holubtsi and borsch are favorites in Ukraine. In Vietnam a special rice pudding with mung beans and pork, sweet beef, chicken, fish, and especially watermelon are eaten at New Year. Traditional Christmas Tree with toys and fireworks is a symbol of the New Year in Mexico and Ukraine, exception Vietnam. The last day of the year a plant such as the bamboo tree is planted in the ourtyard of Vietnamese homes. They decorate the tree with bells, flowers, and red streamers. The decorations are not for decorative purposes, but are to guard the family against evil spirits. In conclusion, the people in different parts of the world use different calendars. Some people celebrate the New Year with their friends, and other with their relatives. Mexico, Ukraine and Vietnam have different traditional meals, but every country enjoys this time of the year with their unusual for other countries food.

The accounting environment in the USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The accounting environment in the USA - Essay Example The amount of inventory in the warehouse of a company can decrease in value as prices of goods can go down in price due to market fluctuations. A good example of this phenomenon can be visualized in agricultural crops. These crops vary in price on a daily basis as their prices are traded in the open market as commodities. In any type of industry the market of value of inventory can vary and as a consequence it can distort the current assets account balance. Inventory is part of current assets. Accountants should always keep in mind the conservatism principle which states that when in doubt an accountant should choose the method that is less likely to overstate the assets or income of a company. The application of lower of cost or market is aligned with the conservatism constraint. Valuing inventory at lower of cost or market implies writing down inventory when the value of inventory is lower than its costs. There is a contra account in the balance sheet called Allowance to Reduce Inventory to LCM that is used to make the necessary adjustment. â€Å"This balance sheet account is used to report the amount that the inventory's market amount is below the inventory's cost amount†. The LCM method defines the market price of an item as the current replacement cost. An example of how to apply the method and its corresponding journal entry is illustrated below: Inventory value = $10000 Current replacement cost = $9500 $10000 – $9500 = $500 The $500 is considered a loss Journal Entry: Loss from Reducing Inventory to LCM $500 Allowance to Reduce Inventory to LCM $500 Capitalizing interest on building construction One of the characteristics of the construction industry is that projects take a long time to complete. Typically in business interest costs associ ated with financing any project are categorized as an expense. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) created a special rule for the construction industry that allows accountants to capitalize interest on construction project. FASB Statement No. 34 stipulates the guidelines that must be followed to calculate capitalization of interest in construction projects. It also states the disclosure requirements for capitalized interest in the financial statements of a company. The interest on any loan may only be capitalized while the construction occurs. There are certain criteria that must be met in order to be able to capitalize construction interest. The three criteria are: qualifying expenditures must already have been made activities to prepare assets for use must be in progress The firm must actually be paying interest (Young, 1994). At the moment that any of these three conditions seize to exist the company becomes ineligible to capitalize interest associated with constructi on projects. Any inventory used that is routinely manufactured or produced on a repetitive basis does not qualify for capitalization of interest if the inventory is purchased through debt (Young, 1994). Recording

Are people becoming too dependant on computers In a well-developed Essay

Are people becoming too dependant on computers In a well-developed , argue for or against people being too dependent - Essay Example Nevertheless, with the entry of the internet in the market, people have access to information, an aspect that makes them not to strive while looking for long-lasting solutions. This has reduced the level of innovation especially among the young people. Computers have brought a lot of changes, some of which have negative impact on the users. Initially, cases of obesity were very rare. People used to perform physical work which made them to remain fit. However, in the modern world, many things have been computerized. For instance, the transport system is more effective thanks to computers. Therefore, less people are opting to walk even for short distances (Jacko and Andrew 37). This aspect is having a major impact on the health of the people. Statistics indicate that the number of people suffering from chronic diseases that result from less exercise is increasing tremendously. If the trend is not arrested, the situation is likely to worsen each day. Initially, people used to interact and share ideas and concerns. The family members used to meet and discuss on issues that affected their relationship. However, overreliance on computers and computer-enabled technologies has affected the relationship between people. This is because computers users have been unable to control the time they spend on computers. This has even been accelerated with the entry of the internet. Initially, children used to spend their time playing with their friends. This enabled them to develop physically and psychologically. However, currently, they are spending much of their time chatting with friends or playing computer games. This is having a major effect on their health. Introduction of personal computers has increased people’s reliance on these devices. People are no longer willing to use the traditional means to get information. This has led to emergence of online courses, libraries, and other important resources. Although this breakthrough has made life easier for the

The Game Essay Example for Free

The Game Essay Every person has a different way of viewing success. In the movie â€Å"The Game†, each of the characters views success in their own specific and distinct ways. Nicholas has a more materialistic view of success contrasted by Conrad who lives a more easygoing life and Christine who is mostly a balance between the two. The various characters such as Nicholas, Conrad and Christine will achieve their success at the end of the movie, however each of them attain it in different ways. Nicholas Van Orton is the main character of the movie. At the beginning of the film, Nicholas appeared to be a very successful business man but lived in solitude. Divorced and alone, Nicholas now lived in a Mansion with his housekeeper, Elsa, as his only company. At this point of the movie, Nicholas seemed to perceive success as money. For his birthday, Nicholas is given by his brother a present to go to the CRS office and play a game. Once the game starts, he perceives his life as falling apart. His money is robbed form his bank account, his house is taken over by the CRS, and everywhere he went something mysterious happened to him. Nicholas saw success at this point as the survival of this horrible nightmare. With no money and anywhere to go, he decides to approach his ex wife for help. This might have been out of desperation, since he has not done such a thing in a long time. Parallel to this, he starts developing a relationship with Christine, a waitress in a restaurant which throughout the whole game will be there to help him. By the end of the movie, we see how Nicholas starts to realize how everyone surrounding him is a part of this â€Å"game† that wants to kill him. At this point he decides that the best thing is to kill himself since he has nothing to live for. Everything he had in life is gone. He throws himself from a building and surprisingly he lands on a giant air bag. This game was done by his brother Conrad as a birthday present. This whole nightmare instantly turned into happiness. Everything he just went through was a whole set up of a surprise party. He had not lost his house nor his money; everything was in-touch. After enduring through all the various games, Nicholas realizes that success does not only mean being a successful business person, but to be happy and have people that surround you. Throughout the movie, Christine appears to be an innocent person that coincidentally meets Nicholas. She helped Nicholas during the game to try to escape from the CRS agents, from people who wanted to kill him and also to try and get out of a solitary building. At the beginning, she helped Nicholas however, towards the end she played a role in robbing his bank account. At the end of the movie, we see how everything that has happened on the past couple of days, was a game. All of Nicholas possessions where intact and this was just all part of a game. By this time of the movie, we start realizing who the real Christine is. She is a woman whose goals of success are to make people happy. She achieves this goal by taking a job â€Å"the game† and go around the world in a mission to make other people happy. Christine’s view on success was through other people’s happiness. Conrad, Nicholas’ brother, has a unique personality. He was free-spirited, had a spontaneous character and wanted to live life to the fullest. He starts off the movie by saying how he fell asleep on the beach and when he woke up, he realized it was his brothers birthday. This scene of the movie gives us a sense of what character Conrad is. Even though he is not a successful businessman and does not have the same type of luxuries as his brother, he views his life to be a successful one. Conrad’s view on success was to live a happy carefree like free of any worries of having a set job or having any obligations. He has no interest in living the way his brother lived and even felt bad for him. This is why Conrad wanted Nicholas to participate in the game. He wanted Nicholas to open up his eyes of his unhappy life and appreciate other things apart from the materialistic ones. When the game is over Nicholas sees the value in trying to live a little bit more like Conrad, in not such a strict and orderly life without and personal relationships with other people. Nicholas, Christine and Conrad had very distinct views on success. On one hand Nicholas was all about the materialistic life, full of luxuries and a very successful business, yet with no personal relation. He ignores his ex-wife phone calls, does not have a good relationship with his brother and lives in a mansion with only his housekeeper Elsa. On the other hand, we have Christine and Conrad. Both of this characters view success in terms of happiness. Conrad is a free cared man that does not care about his money or any materialistic thing, he cared about the relationship with himself and how he felt about it. This is what made his happy. Christine, wanted to make people happy. She was part of the CRS agency who their job was to go around the world and make people happy. For me Christine is the most successful character. By doing the game and making people happy she achieves an internal happiness and a happiness for others. She not only succeeded in his work but also as a person. Although this three characters might seem they have nothing in common, we can see how all of them in one way or the other achieved their view of success. They where all successful in their own eyes. This movie demonstrates the perspectives of each individual when it comes to be successful.

Tall Building And Urban Realms Cultural Studies Essay

Tall Building And Urban Realms Cultural Studies Essay There are more and more large scale high rise buildings in the city. What are they doing for us? As an important building type in city entity, they carry not only functional responsibility but also social public responsibility. Today, construction speed and height of the building seems to be a competition. But like other types of building, it cant be divorced from the specific building features and the surrounding environment. It cant ignore the need of social development. The most important point is the ground floor of tall building and the way of tall building melt into the urban realm. As designer, we should find the way to build up right relationship between tall building and people on the ground. From specific peoples lives, from the psychological characteristics and from the practical need of space, we should create better urban and architectural space. Ground floor of tall building is not only focusing on the scale, dimension, material, colour and detail. It cant help to creat e a humanized environment. This paper attempts to start with some failure and successful cases to study human behavior and psychological needs, then try to build a key points of ground floor of tall building and urban space. It will use environmental behavior, environmental psychology, visual perception, architecture and urban design principles to summaries the design element of the ground floor of tall building. Self-consciousness of tall building made the urban space fragmented, lack of comminuting and integrating with surrounding buildings. From the overall perspective of the urban environment, tall building shouldnt be self-exaggerated and totally against the context. It should coordinate as a whole. Philip Oldfield and Antony Wood talked about challenges for future tall building; they indicated that A second challenge for the tall building is to develop in design terms, and especially in the relationship between a tall building and its urban location. Many tall buildings historically seem to have been designed as either vertical extrusions of an efficient floor plan, or stand-alone pieces of high-rise urban sculpture. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Future tall buildings need to relate to their specific location beyond just becoming synonymous with that location the way forward is for the design to be inspired by both the physical and environmental aspects of place. (WOOD, A. OLDFIELD, P., 2009) FAILURE CASE STUDY JIN MAO TOWER The Jin Mao Tower is a landmark supertall skyscraper in the center of Lujiazui Finance and Trade Districts in Pudong district of Shanghai. Along with the Oriental Pearl Tower, it is a centerpiece of the Pudong skyline. At the ground level, the building has 3 main entrances to the lobby, two for the office portion and one for the hotel. Each entry is designed as a moongate. Each moongate consist of two glass layers that enhanced the entry sequence and give it a timeframe, a zone of through movement, not an instant threshold of crossing, from outside to inside. However, for the 420.5 meter height super-tall skyscraper, the 2 story tall entrances seem look like out of scale. In addition, the style of the entrances is not in the same design language with the body of the Jin Mao Tower, they are rather looking like a component which attached to the building after it finished. The base of the tower is surrounded by a landscape courtyard with a reflecting pool and seating, offering visitors a peaceful retreat from Shanghais busy street activity. But actually the connection between the tower and the street is not significant. Outside of this building, there is a public square right at a traffic junction. This cannot make the transition better and in fact it is not really comfortable for people using and create a strong barrier. 30 ST MARY AXE The 30 St Mary Axe is a famous landmark tall building in the financial district of London. It designed by Norman Foster and completed in 2003. It has 180 meters tall with 40 floors, mainly occupied by a head office of global reinsurance company Swiss Re. As the node of that district, it is a remarkable building with excellent concept of design by Norman Foster. But from the bottom, the building is basically closed to the walkway around. To ensure the integrality architectural form, the only opening point is the several peeled off triangle faà §ade. The public area outside the building is restricted by tedious side walk and unpleasant lineal seats along the street edge. The bottom public space is quite empty and has no public facility and activity. So if you spend some time there, you will find there are not many people actually want to stay on the seat and relax. More than this, the strong wind created by the building makes the place uncomfortable. For an important building of Lond on, the building did not play a friendly role to the public and there is rarely nothing green around the building at all. BROADGATE TOWER Broadgate Tower which just completed in 2009 is another skyscraper in the district, designed by SOM. It is standing in the northeast corner of the city, north of Liverpool street station. The tower was designed by SOM and actually those two commercial buildings formed vibrant public space in between which also a walkway connected to the station. Frankly speaking, the bottom area works very well inside the building, the large floor height of lobby was designed to allow transparent and reveal the context of the site. Outside the building, the most conspicuous space for public is the walkway between the two towers. The huge component create a shelter along the walkway, by the issue is the scale of those structure in the way of integrated with human scale. The out of scale and cause less using frequency and create uncomfortable public circumstance. SUCCESS CASE STUDY 122 LEADENHALL STREET 122 Leadenhall Street was a new office building on Leadenhall Street in the City of London, designed by Richard Rogers. It stands next to the public plaza. The challenge has been to continue the feeling of this plaza and the openness it brings whilst at the same time sticking a skyscraper on it. Rogers has taken things a step further and built a large amount of the base on stilts and surrounded on three sides of transparent cladding. They always consider the way in which the structure meets the ground and the way in which the lower level of the building relates to during the whole design process. Inside this lobby is an indoor garden creating the illusion of an open public space that is in fact internal. The clever move of providing clear views all the way through the base of the building to Leadenhall St on the other side helps remove the feeling on ground level of the building acting as a barrier. Architects really believe and insist what they are trying to achieve in this project, We are confident that this can be successfully resolved, and we think there is the potential for something special to be created. Interesting and high quality detailing at the street level is likely to be valuable in creating a successful environment.'(CABE 2003) CHONGQING TOWER The Chongqing Tower is designed by Ken Yeang to accommodate the headquarters of the Jian She Industry Corporation Ltd in Chong Qing, China. The tower is conceived as a vertical extension of the roof garden of the exhibition hall. A spiral planter system encircles the tower bringing vegetation to the summit. The site edge is planted with hardy trees and plant species indigenous to Chongqing with the landscaping continuous from street level to the office tower. The rainwater at the podium section is collected through eco-cells. A number of Eco-Cell as vertical cellular slots are integrated into the exhibition hall podium with a spiraling vegetated ramp that starts from the basement up to the roof garden of the podium to bring biomass, vegetation, daylight, rainwater and natural ventilation into the inner depths of the floors. The eco-cells can harvest and recycle rainwater for watering the landscape areas on the green belt and to clean the cultural plaza. HEARST TOWER The Hearst Tower in Manhattan, which is designed by Norman Forster and Partners, is a 46-storey tall office building. It is not super tall, but the unique appearance of the Hearst Tower building enriches the skyline of the New York City. The Hearst Tower is erupting from a 40,000-square-foot six-story old building which is built 82 years ago. The existing cast-limestone building is become the base of the Hearst Tower. It is a light yellow limestone building, adorned with grandiose allegorical sculptures and monumental urn-crowned columns. The combination of the modern glass and steel body of the Hearst Tower with the traditional heavy stone material make a great contrast between the aesthetic and culture of time impact on architecture. The existing building was used for the Hearst Corporations magazine headquarters for more than 70 years. In the design of the Hearst Tower, Foster and partners ultimately decided to let the glass modern office building body radical way in involved gutt ing the original base building and preserve its exterior, the traditional look. But the original building is been opened up the interior by removing the existing floor plates, because the original floor-to-ceiling height of 11.5 feet cannot fully satisfy the state-of-the-art standard for the modern offices. Furthermore, this rehab would change the base structure becomes the communal spaces for the users in the tower, a lot better than the tower hit the ground and connect with the street directly. The team envisioned turning the hollowed-out volume into an interior town square, with the tower hovering above it. In the other words, the modern tower makes the original tradition building better Integration to the surrounding context, and the traditional building provide a gracious historical public ground floor space for the occupants, and also the intact old building exterior enriches the city with a historical element and maximized the building impact on the city. Those case studies reveal the present situation of some tall buildings built so far and the ground level of tall building design. Generally speaking, the ground floor of tall building is the transition space. The experience of entering a building influence the way you feel inside the building. If the transition is too abrupt there is no feeling of arrival, and the inside of the building fails to be an inner sanctum.'(Alexander, C. 1977, p. 549) It is blurry sometimes, but the fact is this role has huge impacts on spatial, virtual and cultural aspect. SPACIAL IMPACT First of all, it has to be enough space for access. It carries a lot duty but also allows public to participate. If it lack of this participation, then the bottom space will lose the social benefit. Thats simply not a good public place. If we want people to have good use of the space then essentially the space of ground floor should be simple and clear for people understanding the structure of the space. That means, not by using artificial sign and even architecture plan, the ground floor itself should be able to tell users the way of using it, where are the escalator and lift lobby, reception and relaxing place etc? Another point is the space should also be dynamic. The ground floor is the place to show the power of the entire building. As fuzziness of ground floor, people will be easy to find the dynamical mind balance. Different enclosure surfaces are sending different massages to the user of the space; people use the actions and elements to get the spatial perception. It becomes more about an information exchanging process and the ground floor becomes a comfort zone where people can communicate both physically and emotionally. Moreover, the dimension of the space can control the range of activity and the level of participation of people. The truth is people feel and behavior extremely differently in different scales. People cant get the sense of being the huge scale of modern urban surroundings. But for the ground floor space, it has to be comprehensive with enough activated volume. Ground floor space with lower floor height will constrain people both physically and emotionally. It is the most significant gathering place in any tall building, so the space has to be big for varied activities. VIRTUAL IMPACT There is a consensus of modern visual aesthetic theory and art creation. In any cases, if it cant be in control of the balance of entirety, it will never be a successful piece virtual artwork. The appreciation is primarily visual and kinesthetic. Buchanan indicated they should have character and coherence that acknowledge conventions and enter into a dialogue with adjacent buildings and have compositions that crate rhythm and repose and hold the eye. (Buchanan, P., 1988b, pp.25-7) Therefore, an inconsistent tall building introduced into the urban space could break the virtual balance. The bottom area, as the part of the space, should virtually coordinate with the surrounding. Recently, the faà §adism in Hong Kong and Canada raised questions about the value of retaining the faà §ade of an older building. It is dubitable, but from inside, maybe the bottom of new building could somehow be an extension of older one, the ground floor space could be well integrated but also showing the a esthetical impression, like Hearst Tower in New York. On the other hand, as we know, tall building can give an excellent perspective from distance; however, for people on the street, the virtual coherence is really the most important to adjacent streets. For this reason, on the street, the bottom part has to create an interface to connect with the outside. When there is appropriate virtual response from the interface to the urban space, people will easily get a livable expression and clear continuity. LACK OF CONSIDERATIONS IN DESIGN THE LACK OF PUBLIC SPACE Many tall buildings are lack of open public space for comminuting on ground level. They usually have expanded podium building, but those kinds of space are normally unpleasant for people to rest or stop by when they walking through. The sense of communicating is crucial to the ground level. The lack of public space could also cause badly in finical return, Antony Wood summarized eight design principles for more appropriate tall buildings of the future. He pointed out such spaces have been proven to improve the quality of the internal environment which has an impact on the productivity of workers, satisfaction of residents etc. This will have a direct financial returnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ From large scale of perspective, he also said that Social sustainability on an urban scale is a major challenge for our future cities. (WOOD, A., 2008) THE LACK OF OVERALL PLANNING OF PUBLIC FACILITIES Tall buildings next to each other need the spatial continuity. The entrances for pedestrian and vehicle, the ground lobby and the podium, the facing and height of the entrances, they should be precisely planed by the designer. Without this planning, the street becomes a barrier of buildings which cut the city into pieces. It brings user inconvenience and increases the city traffic load. From inside, this situation has led to a lack of interior planning for functional facilities. In many lobbies of tall building, the arrangement of facilities is not in the appropriate way. The position of the escalator and the lift is not comfortable and efficient for people using. Transportation is also a crucial point. It affects the type and efficiency of the space. Common issues are crowded and poorly managed crossing, narrow and boring pavements, unpleasant subways etc. Effective reasonable design of the spatial environment can help to expand outdoor space, connect street, gourd floor and first f loor so that it could became a three dimensional space with good permeability between inside and outside, creates more active street in the meantime. By all means, a more humanistic integration of sharing facilities should be pushed. THE LACK OF CONSIDERATION OF ECOLOGICAL DESIGN The greening rates are generally low in most tall buildings ground level. In many ground lobby, the space is restrained and functionally organised. As the increasing number of tall building, the level of green covering will draw more impact on greenery of the city. It will accelerate the deterioration of the urban environment. Ken Yeang wrote about ecological design in tall building, he thought tall building is not an ecological building type but to design ecologically is crucial today. Especially at ground level, it doesnt only means to import greenery at ground level or introduce natural light into the lobby. The space between entrance and lobby could be a continuity of ecological environment, inside the lobby there is an opportunity to integrate with more sustainable functions, such as garden, rainwater collection, natural air-condition etc. Or even from a larger scale, the designer should consider the surrounding circumstance like what Leadenhall did; the site has tied together b y the sequences of greenery and public space. KEY ASPECTS IN DESIGN GROUND LEVEL OF TALL BUILDING INTEGRITY Integrity refers to the combination of urban relationships, construction, transportation, open space, ecosystem and cultural heritage. The ground floor of tall building integrated with complex architectural form. It is not only an extension of indoor space, but also the external units of urban environment. The bottom of tall building is the agency to make architectural space break their close form and be involved into multi-level, multi-factor dynamic open surroundings. OPENESS There is an open trend of modern city. The bottom of the building should be open to the street, community or park. The indoor space and semi-interior space are combined with the urban space. They form sharing space with a variation in size, shape and function which not only belongs to building but also to the city. There is no obvious boundary between the bottoms of each building; street, sidewalk, pedestrian bridge and park are smoothly blended together. It reduces the congestion sense of space and expands the activities space, together makes our city a more livable place. COMPLEXITY Complexity means the overlapping of varied functional levels, the linkage and permeability of different units. It is based on the compatibility of people behaviors in the city, such as shopping, walking, resting and other social leisure activities. The ground floor of tall building should accommodate a wide range of urban activates. The ground space should integrate with road and square and provide more contents with hybrid configuration, such as retails, leisure and entertainment, like what Hybrid Link did in Beijing. It should aim to meet the public diverse requirements and to make the hierarchy of urban space composited. WALKABILITY Walkability in public space is the fundamental point of urban humanness. As traffic into the city, it breaks the traditional feature of urban pleasant. The design of ground floor should take people out of the tension of traffic, create a relief comfort zone. On the ground floor, the principle is to let pedestrian have the priority and traffic go around, by organising of traffic, so that to provide a safe, comfortable pleasant, continuous walking space. People are willing to walk to their destination in 7-10 minutes. The parking area could be underground, so people could get rid of cars on the ground. The entire ground level should allow and encourage people to walk free like the podium of Chongqing Tower. This kind of area should make people walk intimately and create a feeling of belonging and emotional identification. CULTURE The design of ground floor should respect the cultural context, so that residents could get the sense of identity. The public space of ground floor can reveal the cultural content, not only in architectural style but also maintain or respect the scale of street, the way of people moving around and the living habit. In conclusion, as the age of high rise, what citizens really get from the building? How should the tall building hit the ground? Ground floor of tall building should effectively link the outdoor space with the building, relieve urban pressure, increase the coverage of greenery, improve the urban ecological environment and provide a platform for comminuting. It is a long term process, but with the better consciousness and technology it will enhance the flexibility and compatibility. As all the study of failure cases and successful cases, the importance and advantage of good design of ground level is conspicuous but we still could see so many unfriendly building sitting in the city by the sidewalk. The tough part for designers in the future is to really integrate those crucial points or principles in every project. People are looking forward a spectacular and innovative way of connection between skyscrapers and urban realm.

The Research of Ground Services, Airlines and Airports Relationship

The research of ground services, airlines and airports relationship Abstract The purpose of this report is to investigate the airport ground services, the relationship between airports and airlines, and the scope of ground services. The results indicated that airports are multifunction service center that offer a large range of services to airlines and their passengers, airports and airlines are highly interdependent. However, the relationship between airports and airlines become competition, privatization, and globalization within the industry. 1. 0Introduction Airports are an essential part of the air transport system. They provide all the infrastructure needed to enable passengers and freight to transfer from surface to air modes of transport and to allow airlines to take off and land’(Anne 2012, p. 1). It is argued that the elementary airport infrastructure are composed of runways, taxiways, apron space, gates, passenger and freight terminals, and ground transport intercha nges. In order to be capable of fulfilling their role within the air transport industry, airports aggregate many different of facilities and services (Anne 2012).These services could include ‘air traffic control, security, fire and rescue in the airfield’ (Anne 2012, p. 1). Handling facilities are provided to passengers with their baggage, transport between aircraft and terminals, and handling within the terminal. On the other, airports also provide a large range of commercial services consist of shops and restaurants to hotels, conference services and business parks (Anne, 2012). This report will analyse the crux ground services to the airlines at airport, it will also illustrate the relevance between airport and airlines.Finally, it will state the process and activities of ground services. 2. 0Findings 2. 1 Key ground services The crux ground services of airport are ground services. Ground handling activities at airports are extremely significant to airlines (Anne 201 2). They influence both to an airline’s expense and the quality of service which airports offer to their passengers. Ground handling services could divide into ‘passenger handling, baggage handling, freight and mail handling, ramp handling, fuel and oil handling, and aircraft services and maintenance’. Anne 2012, p. 126) These activities are often provide between ‘terminal or traffic handling, which is passenger check-in, baggage and freight handling, and airside or ramp handling, which covers activities such as aircraft loading and unloading, cleaning and servicing’ (Anne 2012, p. 126). Occasionally, these services are provided by the airport operators, however, most of airports are provided by airlines or handling agents (Anne, 2012). 2. 2 The relationship between the airports and airlinesTyler (2011), IATA’s director general and CEO argues that ‘airports and airlines share a common interest in making aviation safer, more secure, user- friendly, operationally efficient and environmentally responsible’. It is argued that ‘an airport and an airline at one airport are, by nature of the business, jointly making a business project at the airport’ (Hihara 2010, p. 2). Airport is to provide related service to airlines, in exchange for landing fee, at the same time, airline provide air transport service to the airport, with or without stimulative money from the airport.These two services are not separable in one sense that each service may not exist without the other. ‘Also they are in a strategic complementary relationship, where one side’s effort could improve not only its own but also the other side’s contribution to the value of the joint project’ (Hihara 2010, p. 2). For instance, airport aims to improve airport services for purpose of increasing the charm of the airport and help airline’s isolated achievement to bring more passengers, as a result of both ending u p in enjoying more incomes. Therefore further efforts arising from such contractual relationship in addition to such interdependent relationship could have the potential to significantly enhance the values of the project both sides are participating in’ (Hihara 2010, p. 2). However, Anne (2012) argues that ‘airline–airport relationship is changing, being driven by trends towards greater competition, privatization, and globalization within the industry’.At the same time, ‘the airline–airport relationship is starting to become much more to do with the linking of two privately owned international companies, rather than two state owned organizations operated within the limits of national laws and regulations’ (Anne 2012, p. 132). 2. 3 Ground Services Model There are three kinds of ground handling models, historically; ground handling services may often controlled by the national airline or airport operator. Some airport operators such as Mi lan, Rome, Vienna, and Frankfurt airports, which have been heavily involved in such activities, earn very significant revenues from such activities – sometimes over half the total income of the airport’ (Anne 2012, p. 126). On the other side, the airlines operator will just pay rental fees and perhaps a small concession fee to the airports, and airlines or third party ground handling companies would provide the handling services. ‘Countries in Europe where the national airline has had a handling monopoly include Spain with Iberia and Greece with Olympic’ (Anne 2012, p. 26). It is believed that ‘European airports showed 44 per cent of aircraft movements were handled by airport operators, 27 per cent were self-handled by the national carrier, 8 per cent were handled by the national carrier for other airlines, 7 per cent were handled by independent ground handlers, and the remaining 14 per cent were self handled by other airlines. By contrast, in terms of passenger numbers, only 16 percent were handled by the airport operator, again 7 per cent by independent ground handlers and the rest by airlines’ (Anne cited in Deutsche Bank, 2012).Furthermore, ‘the relationship between airports and airlines in the United States is unique and so is worthy of special consideration’ (Anne 2012, p. 129). Anne (2012) also argues that ‘the airports and airlines enter into legally binding contracts include airport use and lease agreements which detail the fees and rental rates which an airline has to pay, the method by which these are to be calculated and the conditions for the use of both airfield and terminal facilities’.The key reason for the existence of these agreements is private bondholders need a formal relationship between the airports and airlines before investing in the airport. 2. 4 The scope of airport ground services Ground handling as the most significant services to airlines at airport, it could be div ided into three aspects, passenger handling, cargo handling and ramp handling. Passenger handling †¢ Ticking: ticket reservation, ticker sales, cancellations, and rebooking †¢ Check-in: check-in service and issue boarding cards Boarding: check boarding card, cross-checking passenger list, check identification and call missing passengers †¢ Flight information: flight timetables, passenger and baggage information †¢ Pick-up service: baggage tracing and delivery †¢ VIP and individual service: provide special service to VIP, child, disabled and elderly †¢ The other services: seating, restroom, toilets, duty-free stores, finance, etc. ( Munich Airport, 2013) Cargo handling †¢ Document handling: mail and necessary paper handling ( Munich Airport, 2013) †¢ Baggage handling: it could be divided into two parts . Departure baggage handling: deliver baggage to check-in, tagging and weighing, transport of baggage to airside, arranging and packing, deliver baggage to planeside and loading onto aircraft (Ashford, N. , Stanton, H. , and Moore, C. ,1997) 2. Arrival baggage handling: unloading from aircraft, deliver to terminal, arranging and loading onto claim devices, transport to reclaim area, announcement of baggage reclaim, and transport from reclaim area. (Ashford, N. , Stanton, H. , and Moore, C. 1997) Ramp handling †¢ Towing: towing of aircraft †¢ Maintenance: flight inspection, air conditioning, ground power supply, and deicing. †¢ Replenishment: fueling, catering †¢ Sanitation: fuselage and cabin cleaning. ( Munich Airport, 2013) 3. 0 Conclusion Based on findings, it can be found that the crux ground services of airports are ground handling, airports and airlines are highly depend on each other, they are multifunction service center that provide a large range of services o airlines and their passengers on the medium or marginal site of an air trip. However, the relationship between airports and airlines beco me competition, privatization, and globalization. References Ashford, N. , Stanton, H. , and Moore, C. 1997 , Airport Operations, 2nd edn, McGraw-Hill, New York. Anne, G 2012, Managing Airports, Taylor and Francis publishing, London, UK, viewed 10 April 2013, RMIT University library database. Hihara, K 2010, Analysis on Airport-Airline Relationship with Risk Sharing Contract, viewed 10 April 2013. lt; http://www. pp. u-tokyo. ac. jp/research/dp/documents/GraSPP-DP-E-10-001_ITPU-DP-E-10-001. pdf>. Munich Airport 2013, business and partners, ground handling services, viewed 10 April 2013. < http://www. munich-airport. de/en/business/branchen/gh/index. jsp>. Tyler , T 2011, ‘Innovation in Airline-Airport Cooperation’, Press room, 2 November, viewed 10 April 2013. < http://www. iata. org/pressroom/pr/pages/2011-11-02-01. aspx>.

Media †Genre Conventions of a Horror Film Essay

Settings: The setting for a horror film is usually shot in isolated, abandoned locations for example at a haunted basement, attic or loft. This is because these settings create a sense of tension and an eerie atmosphere to the audience. The more dramatic and action packed scenes are usually shot in the night because people are more vulnerable at this time and is where more â€Å"scary† events are expected to happen, however footage can be taken anytime during the day. Examples of locations are: Graveyard, Churches, Hospitals, Basements, Attics and Lofts. Horror films are used to create a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience’s primal fears. Themes: Horror films often feature scenes that startle the viewer. Themes like the supernatural, good vs evil and death are commonly used in this genre. Horror films often deal with the viewer’s nightmares, hidden fears, and terror of the unknown. Plots within the horror genre often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event, or person, commonly of supernatural origin, into the everyday world. The presence of characters like children are used because they come across as innocent to the viewer, when in the fact they hold a hidden agenda and so surprises the audience when they see the child possessed by an evil spirit. Other characters include ghosts, aliens, vampires, werewolves, curses, satanism, demons, gore, torture, vicious animals, monsters, zombies, cannibals, and serial killers. The hero (protagonist) is usually seen as the victim, the villain (antagonist) is usually of supernatural origin that scares the audience. Narrative structure and technicality: The narrative structure of horror films is commonly using Todorovs theory – Equilibrium, Disruption, Resolution and new equilibrium. This is used, so the beginning of the film explains who most of the characters are and gives the audience the chance to guess who the protagonist and antagonist are of the film before the action begins. Although the characters are usually faced with an obstacle that they have to overcome either alone or as a group. As the characters are in the process of resolving their problems it usually ends with a twist, and surprises the audience with the fact that the antagonist wasn’t who they anticipated it to be. The technical features of horror movies are high/low camera angles for effect and to show power of the characters, jump cuts to show quickening of time, diegetic sounds for realism, non-diegetic sounds for example monster sounds to scare the audience and low-key lighting to emphasize a shadow effect. The technique iconography is used in horror movies for example weapons (guns and knives) , blood to show a death or someone injured, religious symbols to emphasize religious backgrounds for instance satanic beliefs or Christianity, dark coloured clothing and costumes as well as dark and dominant make up for the antagonist character to emphasize a frightening image. Target audience of horror films: The horror film style has changed over time, but in 1996 Scream set off a â€Å"chain of copycats†, leading to a new variety of teenage, horror movies. This new approach to horror films began to gradually earn more and more income as seen in the progress of Scream movies. The importance that horror films have gained in the public and producers’ eyes is one obvious effect on our society. Horror films’ income expansion is only the first sign of the influences of horror flicks. The role of women and how women see themselves in the movie industry has been altered by the horror genre. In early times, horror films such as My Bloody Valentine (1981), Halloween (1978), and Friday the 13th (1980) pertained mostly to a male audience. Their main focus was to express the fear of women and show them as monsters; however, this ideal is no longer prevalent in horror films. Women have become not only the main audience and fans of horror films but also the main protagonists of contemporary horror films. The horror industry is producing more and more movies with the main protagonist being a female and having to evolve into a stronger person in order to overcome difficult obstacles. This main theme has drawn a larger audience of women movie-goers to the theaters in modern times than ever historically recorded. Movie makers also go as far as to integrate women relatable topics such as pregnancy, motherhood and babysitting jobs into their films in order to gain even more female oriented audiences

Free Essays on Blidness of Oedipus

One of the main underlying themes in Oedipus is blindness. Not just physical blindness, but intellectual blindness as well. The blindness issue is an effective contrasting method for Oedipus at different points in the play. You can’t just simply say "blindness", because, it has a double meaning. It can be broken down into two components: Oedipus's ignorance to see the truth, and his willingness to see. Throughout the play, these two components are always at the center of the action. In the beginning of the play, Oedipus has perfect physical vision. However, he is blind and ignorant to the truth about himself and his past. He desperately wants to know, to see, but he cannot. At this point, it is obvious what Oedipus's action must be: to overcome the blindness. All of his actions thereafter are to that end. Ironically, into the play is introduced a prophet, a seer, Teiresias, who is physically blind, but who can see with his mind the truth and flaws of others. This just reaffirms Oedipus as a man ignorant to the true appearance of things - this blind man can "see" the truth about Oedipus, yet Oedipus, in all of his physical perfection, cannot. Toward the end of the play, it is shown how Oedipus learns the true nature of things, his past is revealed to him and he learns that the oracle was correct. Now Oedipus has gone full circle: he can see all to clearly what the truth is, but he desperately does not want to accept his fate. So, in response, Oedipus commits an act of would-be escapism: he blinds himself so that he may not see. Unfortunately, this does not help his problem. I think it was an act of cowardice because he didn't want to accept the situation the way he "saw" it, and decided instead not to see it at all. A lesson can be learned from all of this, that is that even the greatest of all men can fall to the smallest of things, especially their blindness to the truth.... Free Essays on Blidness of Oedipus Free Essays on Blidness of Oedipus One of the main underlying themes in Oedipus is blindness. Not just physical blindness, but intellectual blindness as well. The blindness issue is an effective contrasting method for Oedipus at different points in the play. You can’t just simply say "blindness", because, it has a double meaning. It can be broken down into two components: Oedipus's ignorance to see the truth, and his willingness to see. Throughout the play, these two components are always at the center of the action. In the beginning of the play, Oedipus has perfect physical vision. However, he is blind and ignorant to the truth about himself and his past. He desperately wants to know, to see, but he cannot. At this point, it is obvious what Oedipus's action must be: to overcome the blindness. All of his actions thereafter are to that end. Ironically, into the play is introduced a prophet, a seer, Teiresias, who is physically blind, but who can see with his mind the truth and flaws of others. This just reaffirms Oedipus as a man ignorant to the true appearance of things - this blind man can "see" the truth about Oedipus, yet Oedipus, in all of his physical perfection, cannot. Toward the end of the play, it is shown how Oedipus learns the true nature of things, his past is revealed to him and he learns that the oracle was correct. Now Oedipus has gone full circle: he can see all to clearly what the truth is, but he desperately does not want to accept his fate. So, in response, Oedipus commits an act of would-be escapism: he blinds himself so that he may not see. Unfortunately, this does not help his problem. I think it was an act of cowardice because he didn't want to accept the situation the way he "saw" it, and decided instead not to see it at all. A lesson can be learned from all of this, that is that even the greatest of all men can fall to the smallest of things, especially their blindness to the truth....

Basics of the Civil War essays

Basics of the Civil War essays The Civil War, which began in 1861, was fought for a variety of reasons. One reason would be the dispute between sides about the federal government. The two sides could not agree on what powers the states did and did not possess. A major issue in this was the dispute over slavery. Southern states believed it was their right to have slavery and that it wasn't the federal government's call. The north, on the other hand, saw it wrong and brutal. After being threatened by the government, the southern states began seceding from the nation so they could maintain the rights and powers they believed to be theirs. There were several battles in the Civil War. Some of the major battles include Bull Run, Antietam, Gettysburg and the Siege of Vicksburg. At the battle of Bull Run, the North failed to take advantage of their position and defeat the South quickly. This battle could have ended the war if the North had won. At Antietam, the Union defeated General Lee's first attempt to invade the North. The Vicksburg campaign gave the North control of the Mississippi River, which affected trade and the southern economy. Probably the most famous of all, the battle of Gettysburg defeated General Lee's second invasion of the North. There were many key leaders in the Civil War that played important roles in the outcome of the war. General Ulysses S. Grant was the leading general of the Union who led them to many great victories. He was in war once before and resigned due to a drinking problem and missing his wife and children. Grant eventually went on to be president after the war. General Robert E. Lee was the leading general of the Confederacy but was first asked to be the leading general of the Union, by Lincoln. He refused and returned home to support his people. General William T. Sherman was famous for his "March to the Sea" through the south to the east coast. He burned everything in his way including Atlanta and many other important cit...

REFLECTION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

REFLECTION - Essay Example However, the persuasive lesson encourages me to use knowledge and skill that I had not realized that I already have. Nonetheless, the classroom games were the basic concepts that introduced me to the basic concepts for convincing or lobbying for something I deemed indispensable for me or rather something I needed from my fellow student through persuasive arguments or reasoning. Additionally, during the course, I learnt to choose my own persuasive words and statements towards analyzing different definitions associated with persuasive techniques (Souter and Billout, 2007). After learning the different persuasive techniques applied in oral argument, I am now capable to apply different, independent persuasive techniques in different writing activities as well as in analyzing other students’ works in line with their effective use of persuasive techniques. Despite the technicality in the strategies used in developing persuasive writing, the course taught me numerous, persuasive strategies toward effective, persuasive writing. Among the most vital persuasive wring strategies is the understanding the concepts of the subject (Souter and Billout, 2007). I achieved this technique through listening and analyzing various persuasive speeches and writings that were found in other media of communication including the newspaper, television, magazines, and internet. Through reading and use of these media of communication, I learnt to look for words, word phrases, and persuasive writing techniques including reasoning, counterarguments, repetitions, and comparisons. These techniques improved my reading and thinking skills (Souter and Billout, 2007). Other essential element of persuasive writing that I learnt during the course is the breaking down persuasive elements either to be used in a speech or writing. The essence of breaking persuasive elements is to have a clear introduction to the argument (Souter and Billout, 2007). Moreover, I through this requirement,

Philosophy Or Beliefs About Grammar Teaching Article

Philosophy Or Beliefs About Grammar Teaching - Article Example This report explores an in service English teacher teaching of grammar in a second language classroom at Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston Salem North Carolina. The main objective is to focus on the perspective of personal pedagogical system, beliefs, knowledge, theories, assumptions, and attitudes that plays a significant role in shaping a teachers’ way of teaching. It throws light on the teachers' actual practices in an adult high intermediate ESL classroom. Forsyth Technical Community College is a preparatory type of institution that prepares ESL students to easily engage in the community, and bring their language skills to the required standard usage of English within the community. Enrollment into Forsyth Technical Community College is non-selective with incoming students being enrolled into different levels ranging from beginner to high intermediate. Enrolment using an in-house placement test is a priority, implying that students advance to upper levels when they improve their English language skills at that specific level. The institution set speciï ¬ c learning objectives for each level which were assessed by in-house tests and which teachers were required to teach towards. One set of objectives related speciï ¬ cally to the teaching of grammar. The institution has two fully equipped writing labs and a small corner library at the main hall. The labs are equipped with fifteen computers with numerous software programs installed and the internet is accessible on each computer for the student use. Regular classrooms are arranged to accommodate 15-20 students and this ensures improved interaction between the teachers and students. The classrooms are carpeted and contain whiteboards, overhead projectors and a chair used by the teacher and students during presentations. All teachers working in the institution, including the participant of this report, teach full-time (20-25 hours per week). Students are mostly have Spanish as their first language. During the study, some students had recently arrived in the United States while others had been around for a period of time and they aged 25-35. The teaching context is a monolingual setting where all teachers are native speakers of English. The preparatory school does not have its own sy llabus and in-house textbooks and the teachers are encouraged to select textbooks and adapt to a syllabus that suits their students or teaching contexts to ensure the success of the teaching process. This is because a curriculum is often perceived by teachers as being fairly rigid. The participant teacher background Data on this report was collected through five non-participatory classroom observations. I refrain from naming the participant and restrict the following information to only assist readers in making sense of the specific features of the context to protect his anonymity. Prior to conducting this report I made a pre-observation interview with the instructor to see if he would be willing before formally requesting his participation as I felt that would provide an improved overall picture in order to determine the kinds of teaching beliefs he was mostly interested in and to what extent he put those beliefs into practice in L2 teaching. The Participant of this report was a 36 -year-old native English speaker with an overall experience of ESL of 7 to 10 years. He taught ESL classes at various levels from beginner to upper intermediate. He started his career at the elementary level for two years and then started teaching at the ESL adult-level for the last six years in programs which service adult refugee and continuing education populations. He had other teaching experiences prior to his present ESL positions. He held an ESL teaching certificate, as well as a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. Philosophy or beliefs about grammar teaching The perceptions the