A Very Brief History of the American Automotive Industry...

Purchasing a car is one of the biggest and most important decisions that someone will make during their lifetime. Over the past several years, the prices of a vehicle have increased significantly due to the rise of inflation. Economists compare averages of vehicles to calculate and determine the cost of every vehicle that ends up on the car lot. To determine the cost they interpret all the above information and include everything from the cost of making the vehicle to the time of selling it. In the long run, the demand for vehicles is inelastic because they become a necessity for many people. However, in the short run, the demand is elastic because the purchase of a new vehicle can be put off for a while. After the steam engine was†¦show more content†¦This new industry not only created many jobs for the assembly line in the factories, but because the cars were made of steel and rubber many other industries was boosted in employment as well. As these cars became more popular, like most things in the United States, this market became very appealing to businessmen. Entrepreneurs became intrigued by the enormous demand for the automobile, so slowly more and more companies started to develop and evolve the model T into the cars and trucks we see on the roads today. The automobile industry has fluctuated greatly through the past several decades. In 2008 the United States economy entered a recession, which took a huge toll on the automobile industry. The industry was dramatically hurt by the increase in fuel prices due to the energy crisis in 2003-2008 (Industry Facts). This caused a huge decrease in sales of SUV’s and trucks since they had the lowest mile per gallon ratings. General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler used these types of vehicles as their primary target because they were the highest profit yielding type of automobiles. As the price of fuel increased, the sales started to slide for the three major companies, so they had to make price cuts and discounts on their vehicles in order to stay afloat. However, even this could not help save and some of the automobile producers had to file for bankruptcy and get government bailouts, GMShow MoreRelatedThe Effect Of Lean Production On A Process Plant Essay1138 Words   |  5 PagesHARRY DEB OLE Griffith School of Engineering, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD4222, Australia This paper presents a review of the use of Lean Production in a process plant. It defines lean production as a process putting into consideration the history and the reason it was formulated. It also considers the application, benefits and the barriers to the effective maximization of the process. Keywords: Lean Production, Process plant, Definition, Applications, Benefits, Conclusion 1. DefinitionRead MoreFord Essay1041 Words   |  5 PagesMotor Company Final Paper – ECO201 14EW1 Karen J. 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Civilizations Influence on Asia and Europe free essay sample

Civilizations Influence on Asia and Europe The break of the European civilization in existence in the 17th century was based upon the change on religious views and motivation for advancement within the culture. The people of Europe looked to other countries where the gain of independence was soon to be sought and perused that dream during these times. With laws of government that became unjustly to the lower class and harsh treatment to the poor and women are only some of the few things that had an influence on the culture during this time. Asia had a development of a new government and social strengths. With the expansion of commercial trade Asia had became a hot commodity making it a resource for all countries that looked to them for trade. Even today we rely on Asia when it comes to trade and development within our economy from transportation to entertainment. The cultural difference of the two was that one was more resourceful than the other. Comparing the two, both were able to expand their trade system and still had a cultural ethic of discrimination towards the lower class and mistreatment towards the women in their cultures. In Europe, reformation was one of the influential factors toward the people of the country. It was one of the most important divisions of the religion we now know as Christianity. Within this movement the Catholic Church was divided into two areas. One is being Protestant, which is one of the four principal traditions within the Christian religion. Its originator, Martin Luther, was the first to lead the Reformation in the year 1517 after the disappointment he carried with the Catholic Church. His purpose for this dramatic change against the Catholic Church was to create doubt amongst the followers of the Catholic Church and to intimidate them into changing their ways. One of where they believed that in order for them to get into heaven they must pay their tithe and offerings to the church. The Protestants believed that the bible is the final source of authority for all of Gods followers, not the church. Some of its denominations are still around in todays society, which we know them as Lutheran, Methodist, and Baptist. He thought that the people should not be able to buy their way out of punishment for their sins. Europe was also going through the phase of mistreatment towards its commoners and lower class citizens. The Aristocrats, seen themselves as people with more worth than those of a common status and seek to treat the lower class with the most disrespect . Women were also seen as an unequal acquaintances and not even allowed to be spoken to as a man. Land lords were the worst when it came to habitual security towards the lower working class because they raised the taxes and abused their laborers believing that physically hurting them would motivate them to work harder. The education system in Europe around this time was also limited to where women were not given the same knowledge as the men. With this unfair treatment the commoners, who were a high status than the serfs, felt that they had no power or say in anything than the aristocrats, even though they were not physically treated like peasants were. With emotional distress like this, it was very common for the commoners, peasants and serfs to fall into many cases of depression and overwhelming distress. With the attitudes of such unequal treatment is what gave the Europeans a motivation to want to branch out into the world and discover new opportunities for trade and even democracy. 7th century Asia consisted of similar attitudes as the Europeans did towards their government and lower class. In Asia the treatment of women was very common and maliciously intended. India and China share almost a similar beginning in their civilization and dynasties. It is believed that civilization in China originated around yellow river in 2700 BCE and all began with dynasties beginning with Shang dynasty which was founded in 1800-1500 BCE. Much of the Chinese philosophies revolve around Confucianism which emphasized on conformity by moral excellence and respect for the elderly and superiors in the society. They believed there would be good governance if people adopted confusion teachings. They worked more towards harmonizing with nature. Chinas foundation was solidly founded on Confucian foundation despite the inception of Buddhism. In India, the treatment towards the women was the same. If a woman was to not be able to bare a child for her husband that was something to frown upon. The Indians sold more to the Romans than they bought from them making a lot of wealth from them which lead to the mitigation and collapse of the Mauryan Empire. The Kushans who invaded were later assimilated to the Indian and further adopting the Indian language and intermarried with the royal families of India. Various dynasties fell among them the Maghadha who were conquered by the Andhara. Chinas Luoyangs royal palace was burned, Imperial tombs were looted. The Jin emperor was carried off and forced to become a cupbearer, until Liu Chong had him executed. Among the southerners they refused to cooperate with the government at Jiakang. But Jin Yuandi was patient. His regime avoided interfering with the privileges of the souths elite family, and eventually Jin Yuandis regime persuaded the elite to cooperate with it. Across the Silk Road, the Buddhists of Northern China remained connected to Central Asia and India, and Buddhism was a conduct for Hellenistic culture from Central Asia. From Buddhism, many Chinese gathered that China was not the only civilized country in the world. They learned respect for India and felt compelled to re-examine the theory that the Chinese emperor was the Son of Heaven and enthroned at the center of the world. In translating Buddhism to Chinese, Taoist words were used. And through mistranslation, Chinese Buddhism acquired a belief that was foreign to Buddhism elsewhere. Buddhism became the favored religion among the chieftains, and more popular among the masses in the north. Buddhism spread through all classes of Chinese, influencing art, thought and daily customs. Tea, which was mostly used by Buddhists, became Chinas national drink, and Buddhists introduced the Chinese to the wearing of cotton. Buddhisms great temples influenced Chinese architecturea counter to Confucianisms condemnation of complex buildings as an extravagance. In the place of the contempt for which Confucians had held the writing of stories and novels, Buddhism gave this kind of writing new prestige. Across the Silk Road, the Buddhists of Northern China remained connected to Central Asia and India, and Buddhism was a conduct for Hellenistic culture from Central Asia. From Buddhism, many Chinese gathered that China was not the only civilized country in the world. They learned respect for India and felt compelled to re-examine the theory that the Chinese emperor was the Son of Heaven and enthroned at the center of the world. In translating Buddhism to Chinese, Taoist words were used. And through mistranslation, Chinese Buddhism acquired a belief that was foreign to Buddhism elsewhere belief in a soul that an imperishable part of ones humanity. Perishable part of ones humanity. But conflicts existed between Buddhism and Taoism. The Taoists were devoted to nature while Buddhists believed in withdrawal from nature. India advanced with time by giving its citizens freedom to apply their skills in mathematics, art and architecture among other things making them rich and dominant. Hindu religion got a boost from the royalties which saw it regaining ground from Buddhism which had taken root. As this was in the beginning of the development of the countries in Asia, the 17th century changes came from the factors of older culture related ethics and influential social standards. Women in Asia had similar characteristic treatment traits that made them inferior to the men. Women were seeked as pleasure principals and pro-creators, with the idea that they were not to enjoy any aspect of their lives. When the rise of Buddhism and Confucianism began the high standard they carried for living had decreased. In china, the women were seen as less than a man but about a little more than a slave. The ability to have a voice or make a self-made decision was not an option for the Chinese women. Even as children, females were sold in the city for services toward the men, most likely ended up in brothels. The men even controlled their way of managing the lifestyle for their children and house hold. In the country of India, the caste system is what made advancements towards its culture. With this in place many of its people believed that you were born into what ever you became or were at that time. Even if you were seen as intelligent or found a lump sum of money, your destiny is what determines your lifestyle and future (which is ridiculous). The women in this culture was also given mal-treatment and seen as nothing more than a pro-creator and had to be obedient. The Indians believed that the women in their country should be humble and never arrogant or rude. If a wife was to disobey her husbands instruction, she was sought to be punished physically. The Japanese culture, women were not even allowed to sit, bathe, or stand in the same place as men were. Intimacy was ordered and not a choice for most Japanese women, along with friendship, by their parents. The rules the women had to obey in their culture were that of obedience. The irony of these countries in the Continent of Asia is that the dominant religious views speak on how people should respect each other and all men are created equal. With such transformation and discrimination amongst the classes the Europeans and Asians civilizations were the same in many ways. They both discriminated against the women, which we still had problems with over seas and had a great deal of maltreatment towards people of the lower class. In Europe, the taxes were high on the poor and so was the malicious intent the upper class consciously placed on the poor. In Asia, the same methods were taken into action as the Indians had the caste system. As the government had a fear into the countries, villages developed their own systems to follow. Even as these influences took over the changes made in both cultures was detrimental and beneficial. With the expansion of trade to both countries gave more opportunities for power and wealth. When the Asian became a source for the other world countries, they began to gain more than lose. Since the Europeans looked in the third world countries for spices and silks, all of what was needed; there was still not as much power on their behalf as the Asians. Even today, after the fact that the Europeans had came to America to begin a democracy based economy, the need to network with third world countries still exist. Reference: Dennis Sherman, A. Tom Grunfeld, Gerald Markowirz, David Rosner, and Linda Heywood. , (2006) World Civilizations: Sources, Images, and Interpretations (4th Ed. Vol. 1). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

The Truman Show Essay Example

The Truman Show Essay Whether it was intentional can be debated, but the makers of the movie â€Å"The Truman Show† made an effective argument against structural-functionalism as a theory of social development. On the show within a movie, Truman was the lead character in a television show that revolved around his life. He was placed into the show and the surrounding stage/town at birth, and all the decision regarding other actors’ reactions to him were scripted based on his actions. Truman, of course, believed that this was real life. In the movie, product placement within the town was based on the shows advertisers and every need that Truman had was met in some way by the show’s producers. The problems that are the core plot of the movie develop when it becomes clear that the need the producers cannot meet is his need for self and for happiness. This shows us the core failings of the structural-functionalism theory of social development. In the structural-functionalism theory of social development, a person’s physical and social development are reliant on the social institutions in their lives. The theory asserts that society meets the biological and social needs of the individual through institution. Thus, Truman’s need for warmth, love, and protection could be met through his family. His need for faith and a spirit of community could be met through his church and even his need for self-fulfillment could be met through his work. The major failing of the theory is that it does not address the needs of the spirit or the soul or possibly the intellect. Each of these hard to define portions of what makes a human being a person and vice versa were ignored in â€Å"The Truman Show†. We will write a custom essay sample on The Truman Show specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Truman Show specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Truman Show specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Though Truman occasionally had conflicts when warranted by the ratings war, he never was forced to resolve conflicts in a manner that leads to personal development. The solution was either given to him or taken out of his hands, leading to a deep-seated unhappiness that Truman can neither explain nor define. Truman has been taught that his life is meant to be ordinary, that he is successful, in a fashion, as an insurance clerk and married to a beautiful woman. He has had the best friend since he was seven years old. It appears that producers have met all of Truman’s needs. But much like the theory of structural-functionalism does not take into account personal desires, Truman’s world begins to crumble and he begins to suspect something is up when he meets Lauren on the street and falls in love with her. The character Lauren is quickly written out when her family moved to Fiji and Truman develops a desire to go to Fiji to find her. The show and the theory met his needs for companionship and for a sexual relationship with his â€Å"wife† Meryl, but never accounted for the something else that is the spark of love. The theory in essence dismisses human emotion as an impact on social development and relies on the most physical state of social needs, not the emotion that accompanies them. The â€Å"producer† of the television show within the movie did the same thing. He made certain that Truman’s physical needs were met, but never considered the need for other forms of stimuli. Another prime example of this is the manner in which they deter Truman’s efforts to explore. Though it seems like a basic human need to understand and possibly control their environment, the producers induced such fear in Truman that he could not even explore the island that was his set. When he attempted to do so, producers used a viscious dog to scare him back into the controlled environment. They also had his â€Å"father† drowned in an early season to ensure that Truman would develop an unreasonable fear of water and thus be confined to the imaginary â€Å"Seahaven†. In fact, producers were so interested in controlling Truman’s environment that they had an environmentally controlled dome, regulating temperatures and the weather. In his mythical home of â€Å"Seahaven†, Truman never had to worry about anything, even the weather. This utter lack of conflict in his life lead to a very status quo existence, another of the key criticisms of structural-functionalism. The person is never challenged, never able to or even desiring to, improve themselves or their situation. Perhaps the most telling failure of the Truman television show and of structural functionalism is the failure to understand the desires of the heart. Truman wants to explore his world and eventually, even fear cannot hold him back any longer. In addition, after meeting Lauren, his desire to see her again upsets his world view and helps him to overcome his fears. Ultimately, the structural-functionalism employed by the show failed to me his transcendent needs. If we were discussing Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, we would be talking about the need for self-fulfillment. Up until that state, it is beleiveable that the world around us could provide for our basic needs and development. However, ultimately that need for self-fulfillment is internal and cannot be controlled or aided by outside forces. By meeting all of Truman’s basic needs, food, shelter, sex, etc. they allowed him to develop to the point where he could consider self-fulfillment and nothing in structural-functionalism or in the Truman show allowed for that. In essence, the lack of conflict in his early life, which was dominated by structural-functionalism lead to the need for conflict; the need to be challenged, to compete and to win and to fail. In the end, â€Å"The Truman show† demonstrates very vividly that a single sociological theory cannot be used to describe a development process completely, but may be used to explain some stages of that development.

Research Paper African Folklore Essay Example

Research Paper African Folklore Essay Example Research Paper African Folklore Essay Research Paper African Folklore Essay Children wonder about the aspects of life and one of the best methods that is used to answer their young minds is literature. Children’s literature has is a new genre that has been growing vastly over the years. Like most genres there is no single or widely used definition.In this research, knowledge of Africa’s folklore and folktale will be discussed. Africa is a rich continent that has a strong history of producing folklore is Africa. Africa is the second largest continent in the world, and is the home to millions of folklores. Like other types of literature, African folklore started by oral tradition. Oral tradition was a part of everyday life for many Africans. Storytellers help capture time and the main idea of important facts. The art of storytelling is to capture the past and to give listeners an idea of why something is. Oral traditions have been the most influential factor of African folklore. The linkage between oral tradition and the written works are necessary for being able to understand the actual literary work. Just like the oral tradition written literature is a combination of real and some false events that may be believed as real.It combines, on one hand, real facts (contemporary world) and history (realistic world of the past) and, on the other, myth and hero, with metaphor being the agent of transformation. Myths are normally an emotional feature that involves the gods and creation, with the essence of a belief system. It is often descried as the driving force of a people, that emotional force that defines people. Typically, the image perceived of African literature is a combination of myth and history. The history that was once just told orally are now recorded and are known as folklore. According to Brian Sutton-Smith, â€Å"In earlier definitions, attention was given predominantly to traditional stories, dances, proverbs, riddles, poetry, material culture, and customs, passed on orally from generation to g

Latino/a Sexuality and the Heteronormative

Latino/a Sexuality and the Heteronormative In his novel The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz examines Latino identities and sexuality, and the ways in which both are affected and informed by violence. This violence is enacted through institutions like the state, through representation and misrepresentation, and by the very nature of sex and sexuality. Diaz gives an analysis of identity and sexuality, pointing to the way in which it is not only formed and generated by oneself, but also put on and impressed, through violence or with violent repercussions. Reinaldo Arenas’s autobiography Before Night Falls conveys similar themes as Diaz’s novel about the way in which sexuality is policed through violence from the stateparticularly in the form of dictatorships. Arenas depicts life in Cuba at the time of Castro, discussing how Castro, and the state, presented homosexuality as evidence of being unpatriotic and against nationalism, as well as grounds for torture and imprisonment. Many of the men who engage in homosexual acts are not homosexual themselves, and it is in fact such policing that causes more sex acts to occur. This environment of violence and sexuality, then, also carries over to all other aspects of life. Similarly, Diaz discusses the way sexuality comes into play in the Dominican Republic, during the time of Trujillo. Oscar’s mother Beli falls prey to the violence of the state in the form of an attack sanctioned by Trujillo’s sister, who does not agree with her relationship with her husband, the Ga ngster. In this way Diaz, like Arenas, dismantles the idea of the state as a noble protector and enforcer of just laws, illustrating the ways in which it in fact carries out injustices, and performs its own agenda. Both authors also describe how such violent enforcement does not garner successBeli continues to have an amorous relationship with the Gangster, even after the attack, and Arenas continues to have sex with men, in fact gaining more opportunities for sex acts due to state oppression. Foucault, in his The History of Sexuality, discusses the idea of the repressive hypothesis, talking about how sexuality is thought of as having a history of repression, and discussions of sexuality have been withheld since the Victorian era. Foucault points to the inaccuracy of this claim, stating that silence itself performs a certain kind of discourse, and the repression of discourses on sexuality are instrumental in their formation. Diaz, too, discusses a similar idea regarding the withholding of informationhe relates a story in which Abelard, Oscar’s grandfather, is imprisoned and violently tortured by Trujillo for hiding away his daughter and wife from his rapacious sexual appetite. He then contrasts this narrative with mention of another possible reason for his imprisonment, relaying information about a possible book that Abelard could have written about Trujillo, displaying the supernatural qualities of Trujillo and his regime. In doing so, Diaz gives mentions la pagina blanca, the information that is missing or unknown from such narratives, and the ways in which it can speak louder than any words can. The erasure of violence from public knowledge, as well as the erasure for the reasons for its production, does not remove knowledge of its existence or its effects. In this way, sexuality and violence, even when being given the illusion of being silenced, emerge and are spoken about even through its absence from public discourse. Ricardo L. Ortiz, in his article â€Å"Cultural Erotics of Cuban America† analyses the impact of Arenas’s life and death. As a homosexual, Arenas was placed outside of the context of Cuban nationalism, even being categorized as a terrorist subject in regards to his homosexuality, and through his death, Arenas simultaneously reaffirmed his identity as a Cuban in spite of being outside of Castro’s nationalist project, and attacked him as the cause of his death. Ortiz discusses Arena’s death in a pro-life context of protest through calling attention to the flaws and injustices of the Cuban government, while claiming sexuality as an element necessary for sustaining life. Similarly, Diaz constructs a similar understanding of Oscar’s death in his novel. Oscar essentially commits suicide by choosing to stay with Ybin, in spite of knowing that her violently angry boyfriend will come after him. As Ybin’s boyfriend is employed by the state, he can be s een as a manifestation of its violence, as well as a re-embodying of the violence of state enacted in past times, to Beli. Oscar’s sexuality comes to be the cause of his death, and he comes to fulfill his Dominican identity through its expression. As such, both authors point to the nature of protest through death and beyond life, and Latino sexuality as crucial to understandings of Latino identity. Further, the state can be evidenced as manipulating representations of sexuality for its own aims. In A Queer Mother For a Nation, Licia Fiol-Matta analyzes how the state became encapsulated in the image of Gabriela Mistral, and why she became a symbol for the nation. Mistral’s masculine, gender-queer identity and demeanor allowed her to be taken seriously in spite of being female, and still encompass desired state-sanctioned feminine traits like motherhood. Mistral followed in the state’s racist rhetoric, maintaining an â€Å"othering† gaze against blacks and pushing for racial cleansing through producing more white-mixed offspring. This racist rhetoric provided the state with a language in which to â€Å"other† black populations through the passive violence of exclusion and negative representation. Similarly, Diaz presents the figure of Oscar Wao in an interestingly contradictory light. He does not possess any of the traits of a stereotypical Dominican, and throughout his life finds it extremely difficult to flirt, date, or have sex with any girls because of his extremely nerdy and socially awkward personalityeventually coming to do violence to himself in part because of his inability to perform this aspect of his identity and sexuality. In spite of this, he eventually fulfills the saying that no Dominican man dies a virgin, by having sex with his prostitute girlfriendand in doing so comes to exemplify the idea that even as an exception to the rule, he can perform his â€Å"Dominican-ness† to the fullest. As such, Diaz examines in a tongue-in-cheek manner the way Latino bodies are stereotyped, even inside of the Latino community, and the violence of this type of representation, as well as the affect it can have on identity. In this way, both authors discuss the politics of representation and the contradictory and performative nature of identity and sexuality. Philippe Bourgois, in his anthropological analysis of Puerto Rican street life depicted in In Search of Respect: Selling Crack en El Barrio performs a similar violence through his representation of Latino bodies. As an outsider to this community, Bourgois casts an â€Å"othering† gaze on Puerto Rican crack dealers and creates a culture of difference between readers (as well as himself) and the members of the community he depicts. One of the aspects of this distance comes from an eroticisation of violence in the name of providing unadulterated truth (and of course, for consumer marketability)which brings to mind questions of, when is it okay to reproduce structures of violence, when doing so produces the same violence? Diaz asks a similar question in his reproduction of stereotypes of oversexed, hypersexual Dominicans in the figures of Yunior and Oscarwhat is authorial responsibility, especially in regards to the understandings of readerships? How can this violence be avoided? Diaz himself constructs problematic depictions of females and female sexuality, describing women in a somewhat chauvinistic lightmany of the female figures are represented as objects for the males to conquer through sexual pursuit. For both authors, the replication of such structures supports and reproduces racist and sexist ideas through consumerism. Such ideas then become part of a system of capitalism, providing interesting implications regarding the â€Å"selling† of problematic constructions of identity and sexuality. And as sexuality plays a large part in understandings of the formation of identity, these types of representations can have the effect of creating an environment in which violence becomes normalized in everyday consciousness. In his theoretical work Disidentifications, Jos? Esteban Munoz discusses his theory of disidentification, stating the ways in which categorization through sexuality and race, among other things, allows for a dismissal of or limiting understandings of identity. Disidentification, then, becomes a survival strategy, a way of avoiding the way in which representation can be unrelatable, or reproduced through the systemic violence of rearticulation. Much as Munoz examines the work of Carmelita Tropicana or Marga Gomez, and how they reclaim possibly harmful representations through camp, Diaz reproduces tongue-in-cheek stereotypes of Dominican identity and sexuality, and provides alternative representations of Latino identity and sexuality through his characters. Lola, for example, is represented as having a very present sense of sexuality, but is costumed in the role of a â€Å"goth.† Both writers point to the importance of the multiplicity of identity, and find ways to articulate La tino identity and sexuality that do not conform with the violence of heteronormative ideals. Junot Diaz examines the nature of identity and sexuality in regards to Latino bodies, and the ways in which they are impressed, manipulated, or reproduced through violence. Disidentification, perhaps, provides a necessary step towards providing an alternative consciousness and understanding of identity that does not become enmeshed in the culture of differenceand asks further questions about the way hegemonic society, institutions, and normalized violence enforces and regulates these ideas. How, then, can we use disidentification to further remove ourselves from the violent and harmful heteronormative? And what are the ways we can imagine ourselves in a more broad, inclusive sense of being?

Sustainability in Construction and the Integration of Building Essay

Sustainability in Construction and the Integration of Building Services - Essay Example It is in this context, two documents were determined to provide solutions to the built environment designs. The solutions proposed were different from one another because the first one was a proactive solution and the second one was a reactive solution to climate change. The CIBSE Briefing 8 (2003) was focused on providing new buildings and refurbishments design and operation solutions. The purpose of this proactive solution was to minimise or reduce the use of energy, which was identified as the major source of carbon emission that causes climate change. Meanwhile, the CIBSE Briefing 10 (2004) provided solution that focused on the reduction on the impact of climate change on the built environment. It is considered as a reactive solution because the design responded to the effects of climate trend to the built environment particularly to the thermal comfort. On the other hand, the former briefing was considered as proactive solution because it tried to prevent the causation of climat e change before it emerges. Further, both the information on the briefings was considered useful. However, the application of the building designs could be practicable to new buildings and refurbishments. It could also be used for existing buildings at the expense that it would need massive renovation. Likewise, the built environment design strategies that will be presented in the discussion could be considered in designing a social housing development in an inner city because they ensure economic and environment sustainability. Discussion Designing buildings to address the cause of climate change In the first document, the high consumption of electricity was the key issue. Therefore, it provided several recommendations which will serve as guidelines for the engineers and building designers in designing new built environmnet. The purpose was to provide the required internal environment and services with minimum energy use in a cost effective and environmentally sensitive manner (CIB SE, 2003, 1). The recommendations have included the following: energy- efficiency should be integrated in the client’s brief with all the necessary details support such as energy consumption targets, power density, and energy-efficient equipments to be installed, i.e. CHP or variable speed drives. The energy-efficient plan document should be compared to the standards set by the regulation policies. At the same time to be constantly reviewed while the design is in its installation process. The briefing also recommended that in designing building, design team should be considered and appointed before the building started in order to ensure good interaction between the disciplines. Project targets and life cycle costing should be utilized to promote teamwork. Third recommendation, design built form and services carefully in order to keep energy demand to a minimum. Further, using renewable energy sources, ambient energy and passive solution was also suggested in order to achieve this objective. Fourth, the use of ventilation hierarchy (see diagram below) as a guide was also recommended in order to minimize uncontrolled air infiltration. If possible find economical and environment friendly way to generate ventilation. Avoid the use of air conditioning since it could consume up to 50% of energy. Source: CIBSE, 2003 In addition, the building designers should incorporate in the design to optimize the use of heat gains, natural ventilation, and

Poverty and Obesity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Poverty and Obesity - Essay Example Additionally, individual view on obesity contributes to the prevalence. Obese children are at risk of developing high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, metabolic syndrome, behavior, and learning disorder, psychosocial health problems such as low self-esteem, and depression (Ogden et al, 2010). Indeed, there are various healthcare teams involved in health care education that include practicing nurses, parental and healthcare professionals, community and government health workers. These healthcare teams help in identifying children at-risk, provision of medical referrals, educating parents on the resultant health risks, encouraging consumption of nutritional balanced diets, promoting increased physical activities, and offering counseling for physical and emotional support. Indeed, through the healthcare teams we can clearly assess childhood obesity and promote obesity prevention. Ogden, C., Molly, M., Lamb, M., Carroll, M., & Flegal, K. (2010). Obesity and Socioeconomic Status in Children and Adolescents: United States, 2005-2008. NCHS Data Brief No. 51 Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health