Essay about Bioerosion and Reef Ecology - 3553 Words

Bioerosion and Reef Ecology The breakdown of calcareous substrates among coral reefs, or bioerosion, is a facet of reef ecology too often forgotten. The process plays a much more important role than it is usually credited with. Bioeroding species, consisting of many different types of organisms that act on the environment in a seemingly endless variety of ways, interact with the ecosystem and with each other as part of the reef growth and degradation cycle. The degradation portion of this cycle, the part that is most often overlooked, is essential for the development of reefs as the diverse and beautiful habitats that we know them as. Bioerosive interactions are very complex, and a general understanding of the process of bioerosion is†¦show more content†¦Bioerosion is among, if not the most important destructive force on the coral reef (Zubia and Peyrot-Clausade 2001). Total reef growth can be imagined as the sum of calcareous material production by organisms (bioconstruction) and the breakdown of tha t material by others (bioerosion). The interactions between bioconstruction and bioerosion are complex, dynamic, and varying (Naylor 2002). One researcher found that internal sponges alone were responsible for up to 23 kg per m^2 per year of skeletal breakdown (Spencer 2002), which is roughly equal to the fast growth of coral thickets. This illustrates that bioerosive sponges obviously play a significant role in reef ecology. What is bioerosion? Defined as the biological breakdown of calcareous reef materials, bioerosion is a â€Å"major structuring force in coral reefs† (Hutchings 2002). Calcareous materials are accumulated by corals, calcareous algae, and other marine organisms. Corals and calcareous algae, the key players in the production of the reef substrate, produce aragonite and calcite, respectively. Aragonite is a softer material than calcite and is more water soluble (Endean 1982). Underneath the growing surface of the coral reef is generally a material formed of pieces of aragonite coral skeleton (and other materials such as mollusk shells) cemented together by the deposition of calcite by growing calcareous algae. Bioerosion is responsible for the

Argument Analysis on Gay Marriage - 1483 Words

Argument Analysis on Gay Marriage There are many controversies surrounding todays world, such as abortion, animal testing, and social reform issues. It seems that no one can come to a common agreement on the legitimacy of these topics. Personal characteristics, such as upbringing, culture, religion and ethnicity, all play a role in determining ones feelings on a given controversial issue. However, one of the most protested and discussed issues in current political debate is same-sex marriage. There is no right or wrong answer to this question, only hard pressed arguments expressing speculation regarding supposed outcomes, benefits and possible tribulations that would come along with the endorsement of gay marriage. Such ideas are shown†¦show more content†¦He then ties his introduction back into the writing by again inferring that future generations of Americans will feel the most profound effects. Furthermore, he made a sub-claim that supports his argument by contending that gay men would undoubtedly be mor e adulterous and prone to divorce, which would, in turn, hurt divorces institution. He then supports his claim with evidence from Swedish gay marriage statistics that show divorce rates since the legalization of gay marriage have jumped well over 100 percent. In his conclusion, he implies that if gay marriage is all about love and affection, then who is to say that polygamy is wrong? What about marriage between relatives? This bit of information, although seemingly irrelevant in its placement, proves to be a good point. He ends by referring back to his introduction with the last line of the essay: Congressman Barney Frank asked what harm it does if he is allowed to marry his boyfriend. This is a reasonable question; the answer is that it would do little harm to those who are already married, but considerable harm to future generations of Americans. In my opinion, the essay lacks an abundance of supported claims but shows ethos through his general tone and attitude towards the subject. His points are below par and passive, which altogether is the main factor in disturbing some of the essays effectiveness. In the second essay, Gay Marriage: The Arguments and Motives, ScottShow MoreRelatedRhetorical Analysis Of `` The Best Argument Against Gay Marriage ``1022 Words   |  5 PagesRhetorical Analysis Robert George is a Princeton professor, an adamant dissenter of same-sex marriage, and was a strong supporter of Proposition 8. One of the most prevalent arguments used by Robert George to combat same-sex marriage was the â€Å"’common procreation’ rationale† which was the idea that marriage should strictly be heterosexual due to the ability to procreate (401). 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One of the perspectives states that marriage is a promise to aRead MoreGay Marriage Exploratory1196 Words   |  5 PagesExploratory Paper: Should Same Sex Marriage Be Legal? The proposed legalization of same-sex marriage is one of the most significant issues in contemporary American family law. As a heavily campaigned development currently discussed in law assessment; these extremely confrontational and debatable political questions are facing present day American courts. If same-sex marriage is legalized, its affect on the parents, children, same sex couples, families, and the social and political world willRead MoreLiterature Review Gay Marriage around the world is something of a controversial topic. Everyone900 Words   |  4 PagesLiterature Review Gay Marriage around the world is something of a controversial topic. Everyone has a different opinion on the rights of gay people and how exactly the matter should be addressed. 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What is Fire Regulation A Critical study of Death or Action Free Essays

string(310) " Government Department given the power by this order is the Department of Finance and Personnel who will propose changes to all aspects of the regulations including fire safety after consultation with the Northern Ireland Building Regulations Advisory Committee and in line with powers conferred by the Order\." Introduction 1.0 Historical Background There has long been a concern with fire safety in buildings dating back many centuries. The earliest references to rules or what could now be termed legislation date back to Emperor Nero after the fire of Rome. We will write a custom essay sample on What is Fire Regulation? A Critical study of Death or Action or any similar topic only for you Order Now These rules appear somewhat reactive in that they where enacted following a major incident or tragedy of the time. The reasons for their introduction has changed little over the centuries with the public and governing authorities anxiety and concern to the fore in demanding actions following a serious loss of life or property. As time progressed the influence of European Directives, World Summits and Commerce added a voice to the demand for action and consideration of other issues such as the environment, business and heritage. In medieval England we see the first attempts to legislate for fire safety through simplistic rules developed due to problems at that time. In the middle ages houses were usually built of timber frames filled in with wattle and daub. Roofs were thatched and chimney construction basic, and within the congested walled towns houses were built in narrow streets with overhanging upper storeys. These factors combined with the central hearths and straw floor coverings enabled rapid fire spread and devastating conflagrations. William the Conqueror required that all fires be extinguished at night. The popular method of achieving this was to use a metal cover which excluded the air. This cover was called a Couvert Feu which in use became Curfew. In 1189 the first recorded attempts to legislate for fire safety were by the mayor of London who stated that all houses in the city were to be built of stone. Thatched roofs were not permitted and minimum dimensions were specified for party walls The common historical reference point for fire safety rules is the Great fire of London which occurred in the early hours of 2nd September 1666 and burned for 4 days. Five-sixths of the city was destroyed including 1300 houses and many major monuments. Although loss of life was minimal London acquired its first complete code of Building Regulations and means for its implementation. These are just the first historic dates in the evolution of fire safety legislation over time. There are many more famous dates where new legislation has being introduced however for this dissertation I want to focus on a few in more detail.. 1.2 Aim and Objectives Aim To identify case studies that have impacted on the fire regulations and to investigate what effect research has had on the fire regulations. Objectives Identify case studies that impinged on the fire regulations Investigate if and how research has improved the fire regulations over time And therefore ascertain if future research should be better focused Identify possible weaknesses in the fire regulations at present In this Dissertation I have taken the opportunity to review the history and evolution of Northern Ireland’s built environment fire safety legislation in order to achieve my aim and objectives. The identification of the most relevant pieces of fire safety legislation was carried out through a literature review on the subject and through discussions and structured interviews with key personnel involved in its use. 2.0 Literature Review The subsequent literature review is concerned with providing knowledge on the different fire legislation that is currently in use. 2.1 Fire Legislation in Northern Ireland The development of fire safety legislation particular to Northern Ireland is largely based on and is equivalent to legislation which has evolved for England and Wales either at the same time or frequently with a time delay of 3-5 years. Consequently the evolvement of fire safety legislation in Northern Ireland can be categorised as being reactive and overlapping. In general terms new legislation will be proposed through one of the following mechanisms: – By public pressure Government’s direction European pressure Fire safety legislation in Northern Ireland has two main strands, one seeks to ensure that buildings are designed and constructed in a way which will contribute to a reasonable degree of fire safety the other is concerned with the continuing control and management of the buildings while occupied. This consolidation of legislation into two strands developed following recommendations from Sir Ronald Holyroyd in 1970. The major pieces of legislation that are currently in force are as follows: – Design and Construction The Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 (Under the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) Order 1979) The Building (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006. The Building (Amendment No.2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006. The Building (Amendment No.1) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010. The Building (Amendment No.2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010. Buildings in Use The Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006. The Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010. This legislation forms the backbone of the fire safety requirements and implications placed on industry and essentially cover all use classes. Up until the 15th of November 2010 there was over 70 different pieces of legislation that was used for non-domestic buildings in use. The new legislation stated above replaced and simplified the old legislation into one document. The old legislation required buildings to obtain fire certificates and not all buildings were required to do this but the new legislation requires all non-domestic buildings to comply with fire safety duties such as carrying out a risk assessment. 2.2 Existing Authorities for Application and Enforcement of Legislation 2.2.1 Building Control Service In Northern Ireland District Councils have a statutory duty to enforce Building Regulations and they do this through their Building Control Services. At present in Northern Ireland there are 26 District Council areas each with its own Building Control Service. The power for District Councils to enforce the Building Regulations comes from Article 10 of the Building Regulations (NI) Order 1979. All district Councils carry this out through authorised officers of their Building Control Service. The power to make new Building Regulations or amend existing regulations also comes from the Building Regulations (NI) Order 1979. The current local Government Department given the power by this order is the Department of Finance and Personnel who will propose changes to all aspects of the regulations including fire safety after consultation with the Northern Ireland Building Regulations Advisory Committee and in line with powers conferred by the Order. You read "What is Fire Regulation? A Critical study of Death or Action" in category "Essay examples" The regulations are now expressed in functional terms such as an ‘adequate means of escape, which can be safely and effectively used at all material times’. This allows the designer flexibility in building form, which prior to 1994 would have been difficult to justify under the more rigid fire safety regime in place for the design and construction of new buildings. The designer now has the choice of following a specific fire safety code of practice such as technical booklet E or the BS9999 series to achieve a reasonable degree of fire safety. This is known as the ‘deemed to satisfy approach’ which by following the specific recommendations of the various codes in full a designer is deemed to have satisfied the functional fire safety provisions within the Building Regulations. In complex buildings or where a designer finds it difficult to comply with the provisions as set out in these codes there is the opportunity to follow an ‘alternative approach†™ whereby compliance with the functional regulations can be demonstrated by an alternative means, for example through fire safety engineering. The current provisions relating to fire safety in buildings as contained in Part E of the regulations can be seen in Appendix A In terms of the fire safety aspects of the Building Regulations a Fire Safety Panel has been set up to ensure consistency of approach in terms of interpretation and application throughout Northern Ireland. This fire safety panel consists of 8 members from Building Control Services throughout Northern Ireland to discuss all aspects of fire safety relevant to Building Control. 2.2.2 Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service for Northern Ireland. They are overseen by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Board (NIFRS Board). It is classed as a Non-Departmental Public Body with its funds allocated by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. The NIFRS Board was established on the 1st of July 2006 under the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006. It replaced the Fire Authority for Northern Ireland (FANI). The FANI was formed in October 1973 when, as the result of the reorganization of Local Government in Northern Ireland, the functions of the Belfast Corporation Fire Brigade and the Northern Ireland Fire Authority were combined. It was established by the Fire Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1973, and this piece of legislation was consolidated and expanded by the Fire Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1984. It was also in July 2006 that the Northern Ireland Fire Brigade (NIFB) changed to the NIFRS. The NIFRS is the main body responsible for enforcing the new Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 under The Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006. The NIFRS serves the entire population of Northern Ireland for the enforcement of the above legislation and this is carried out by the 4 area headquarters situated at various locations in the North, South, East and West of the province. Changes to this legislation are made by the relevant local government department who at present are the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. This department are advised on changes to legislation by the safety committee of the NIFRS. 3.0 Methodology The aim of my dissertation is as already stated is to identify case studies that impinged on the regulations and to investigate what effect research has had on the regulations. This will involve determining how the fire legislation has evolved over time and the factors that have influenced this. Through this I hope to find the answer to my title. Which has the most influence on the current evolvement of legislation; Research or fire tragedyThe methodology for this critical appraisal will involve the following research techniques:- Literature searches Identifying Case Studies Structured Interviews of key personnel Following the analysis of current situation of fire legislation an attempt will be made to identify the shortcomings of the present. 3.1 Literature Searches In order to undertake this dissertation it was necessary to carry out literature searches to get sufficient background information into fire safety. It was essential to determine the different fire safety legislation that is in place today and where it evolved from. It was also important to look at existing systems for application and enforcement of legislation in Northern Ireland. A full literature Review (see 2.0) on the subject was carried out utilizing a variety of sources detailed given in the bibliography. 3.2 Case Studies As already mentioned the basis of my dissertation was to identify case studies that changed the fire regulations so therefore it was crucial to look through the history of the fire legislation. It was necessary to identify the different pieces of legislation that have being introduced between the period of the first legislation being introduced until present and to determine the reasons new legislation came into place. For the scope of this dissertation it is not possible to examine every fire that occurred throughout the centuries. Therefore I am going to choose a few of the most recent fires that changed the fire legislation and focus on what caused the fire, how many people were killed and the legislation that came into place as a result of that tragedy. 3.2.1 Summerland Leisure Centre, Isle of Man, 1973 Figure 1 External view of the Summerland leisure complex (Rasbash, 2003 pg.36) Figure 1 shows Summerland leisure centre before the fire destroyed the building in 1973. The fire was started by children at 7.30pm in a small kiosk adjacent to the centre’s mini-golf course at point X (See Figure 2). The exterior wall beside where the kiosk was on fire was clad in Galbestos. This was a bitumen coated steel material that had passed a standard fire test but after this fire the material was found to have a limited fire-resistance. There was a cavity of 0.3m wide and 12m long between the steel outer layer of the exterior wall and the inner wall which was made of Decalin ‘†¦ fibreboard (class 4, which is the lowest grading in the BS 476, Part 7 Spread of flame test).’( Rasbash, 2003 pg.36). The fire spread to the fibreboard inside the cavity which caused an explosion which in turn ignited the Oroglas, highly flammable acrylic sheeting which was covering the roof and most of the wall shown in figure 1 and 3. The fire spread across the length of th e leisure centre in just under 2 mins. The Oroglas melted so burning melted material fell causing more fires to start and also injured those trying to escape. It is quite obvious from the materials chosen for this building that the designer either had no consideration or knowledge of the flammability properties these materials contained. Figure 2 Main Solarium level, Summerland (Rasbash, 2003 pg.37) An interesting point in this case is that the fire services were not called for nearly thirty minutes and the call was made from a ship at sea who could see the fire. There were some 3000 people present in the building at the time of the fire. Therefore when signs of the fire were spotted this caused people to panic and rush to the exits. In total fifty people were killed in this fire. Their bodies were found in different parts of the building. Some were found on staircase 1 shown in figure 2. This was an open staircase that people were using to escape from the upper floors and was fully exposed to the burning flames. Stairway 2 was a protected stairway and was actually supposed to be used in a situation like this. However more bodies were found here as a permanent opening was made between one of the floors so the stairway could be used as a service stairway. Another factor that caused some of the deaths was the fact that some of the exit doors were locked which lead to people getting crushed. The building after the fire was extinguished can be seen in figure 4. The death toll in this fire brought about a public inquiry. The inquiry lasted from September 1973 to February 1974. The delay in evacuation and the flammable building materials were condemned and changes to the building regulations to improve fire safety were introduced. Figure 3 Summerland roof in flames. ([Summerland] n.d. [image online] Available at [Accessed 18 April 2011]) Figure 4 Summerland Building after fire was put out. ([Summerland] n.d. [image online] Available at [Accessed 18 April 2011]) 3.3.2 The Stardust Dance Club, Dublin, 1981 The Stardust fire which killed 48 people and seriously injured 128 occurred in the early hours of the 14th February 1981. It was first thought that the fire started in a balcony inside the building. The initial inquiry into the fire stated that the fire was arson. However in July 2008 an independent examination of the evidence rejected the initial findings. They could find no evidence as to where or how the fire started but they did put forward their findings to say the fire could have started in the lamp room due to an electrical fault which was beside the store room in the roof space (see figure 5). The only evidence the committee had to support this was that there had previously being electrical faults in the lamp room. The contents of the store beside the lamp contained extremely flammable materials which only would have helped spread the fire. Figure 5 The fire was first spotted in a balcony inside the building. At this point staff evacuated users of the balcony but the other patrons of the building were not informed of the fire nor was an alarm sounded. The fire spread to the west alcove (see figure 5). This area at the time of the fire was empty and partially cut of from the dance hall by a roller blind. The west alcove as can be seen from figure 6 had raised seating. The seating and backrests in this area were covered with thick PVC polyurethane foam. The back wall which the last row of seating was resting against, was covered with carpet tiles which had a class 3 or 4 performance in the standard spread of flame test. The ceiling was also covered with insulating tiles. Figure 6 Stardust club interior (section) showing west alcove (Rasbash, 2003 pg.39) At some point the roller blind was opened and at this time the fire rapidly took hold. The carpet tiles quickly became involved and within seconds all the seats in the alcove caught fire. The dance area quickly became engulfed in smoke and flames. The lighting failed which caused mass panic. Immediately people rushed for the exits only to find some of the exits were locked or obstructed in some way. This caused many people to get trampled. Some of the patrons also mistook the male toilets for an exit and once there found steel bars covering the windows. Experiments during the initial investigation showed that the seats were exposed to heat well in excess of that which would require spontaneous ignition. Figure 7 Figure 8 A lot more people could have being killed in this fire if the part of the ceiling hadn’t collapsed. This collapse allowed for some venting of the smoke and fire. However if some basic rules such as provision of fire extinguishers and fire exits being kept clear had being followed a lot more people could have being saved. In the aftermath of the fire comparisons were made with the Summerland disaster. A number of recommendations were made to improve fire safety. (This can be seen in more detail at http://www.lenus.ie/hse/bitstream/10147/45478/1/7964.pdf) 3.2.3 Henderson’s Department Store, Liverpool, 1960 The Henderson Department Store fire was one of the worst in Liverpool’s history. The fire ripped through the store and killed eleven people. One person fell to their death and the other ten were found inside the store. Many different things contributed to the loss of life in this fire. A fire drill was never practised, there was no fire alarm and the fire brigade were not called straight away. A factor that caused the spread of fire was that the doors had all being jammed open as it was a warm day.The materials the building was constructed from also played a part. Figure 9 Henderson’s Store on Fire ([Henderson’s] n.d. [image online] Available at [Accessed 19 April 2011] There some 400 people in the store on the day of the fire. The general manager of the store was the first to spot the fire on the third floor. He called the reception to tell them to phone the fire brigade but for some reason the phone call was not made for another five minutes. The staff tried to extinguish the fire with no success. By the time the fire brigade reached the store the upper parts of the building had completely taken hold of by the fire with smoke and flames evident. When the fire brigade arrived at the scene there were people standing on the ledges of the building. One person fell to their death and the other six were rescued. Shortly after the fire brigade arrived they had to retreat from the building as the fire was too dangerous. For many hours after the fire began the fire brigade tried to get the fire under control. Once the fire had being put out ten bodies were found inside the store. Figure 10 Inside Henderson’s Store after fire ([Henderson’s] n.d. [image online] Available at [Accessed on 19 April 2011]) The fire is thought to have started from an electrical fault but as the building was completely destroyed there was no evidence to back this up. As a result of this fire new laws were brought in to make conditions safer in shops and offices. This new legislation was brought in 1963 and was called the Office, shops and Railway Premises Act 1963. 3.2.4 Woolworths, Manchester, 1979 Similar to the Henderson’s fire; the Woolworths fire was Manchester’s worst fire disaster. It occurred in the month of May 1979. This fire led to major shake ups in the UK fire legislation which in turn had a big impact in the fire legislation for Northern Ireland. Ten people were killed in this fire due to smoke inhalation. The fire started near a wardrobe beside the furniture display area. There was maybe over 70 people on the floor where the fire started. As can be seen from figure 11 all the stairwells were well positioned for means of escape. What also can be seen from figure 1 is that all the bodies were found very close to the exit stairwell. Figure 11 Floor layout of floor that was on fire in Woolworths ([Woolworths floor plan] n.d. [image online] Available at [Accessed on 19 April 2011]) The floor manager first spotted the fire but at no time was a call made from the store to the fire brigade. The floor manager tried to fight the fire himself. At the time of the fire the store had no fire certificate which was required under the fire legislation however the store was in the process of obtaining one. There were no sprinklers in the store either but this was not a requirement under the legislation. Figure 12 Woolworths store on fire ([ Woolworths] n.d. [image online] Available at [Accessed on 19 April 2011]) Many factors were responsible for the loss of life in this fire. First of all the staff did not raise the alarm and the fire training was poor and needed improvement. A major contribution to the loss of life was the inhalation of polyurethane fire gases. These came of the polyurethane foam upholstered furniture which after the fire was found to burn very easily. From the experiments that were carried out after the fire it was found that sprinklers could have helped those killed reach the exit stairwell and to safety. Figure 13 Woolworths during fire being distinguished ([ Woolworths] n.d. [image online] Available at [Accessed on 19 April 2011]) Although this fire was a tragedy as already mentioned it brought round changes to the fire legislation. It led to the requirements that owners of stores have a responsibility to train their staff in what to do in the event of a fire. It also meant that large retail stores had to have sprinklers installed. The major change came in the form the type of fillings that were allowed to be used in upholstery furniture. All of these came about as a result of the Woolworths fire and therefore has contributed to preventing similar tragedies and saving a lot of lives. Summerland, Stardust, Henderson’s and Woolworths are just a few of fires throughout the centuries that have impacted the fire legislation. There are many more fires that have had some sort of impact. As already mentioned I wanted to identify case studies that impacted the fire legislation but for the scope of this dissertation I was only able to go into a select few in more detail as can be seen in 3.2. However I would like to quickly mention a few other high profile cases. A major fire occurred in 1887 where 186 people died. This was the Theatre Royal in Exeter which probably assisted in the incorporation of provisions for means of escape in places of public resort within the Public Health Acts Amendment Act 1890. The Eastwood Mills fire in Keighley in 1956 where 8 people died led to introduction of â€Å"The Fire Precautions At 1971†. This fire also led to the fire brigade being made responsible for the means of escape. â€Å"The Fire Precautions Act 1971† was introduced after the fire at The Rose and Crown Hotel in Saffron Waldon. This fire occurred in 1969 and killed 11 people. A more local fire I would like to mention occurred at Maysfield Leisure Centre in Belfast in 1984. 6 people died and in 1988 amendments were made to the Fire Services Order (N.I.). This ensured that gym mats were enclosed in fire resistant doors with strips and seals on the doors. The last fire I want to include occurred at Bradford Football Stadium in 1985. 56 people were killed at the stadium that day but not all were killed by the actual fire some suffered from crushing. This led to the introduction of â€Å"Fire Safety and Safety of places of sports Act† in 1987. 3.3 Structured Interviews In an attempt to achieve a number of my objectives it was important to interview key personnel involved in the enforcement and implementation of fire legislation in Northern Ireland. The key personnel identified were as follows:- 1)Building Control – Damian Mc Murray (Group Building Control Officer for Londonderry) 2)Building Control – Brian Ritchie (Operations Manager for Building Control Lisburn Headquarters) 3)Building Control – Donal Rogan (Building Control Manager for Belfast Headquarters) 4)Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service – Victor Spence (Group Commander for personnel and training south area command) 5)Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service – Mark Deeney (District Commander Londonderry District) 6)Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service – Bill Wildson (District Commander Coleraine) The structured interviews were developed for the purpose of gathering information in relation to Northern Ireland’s built environment fire safety legislation see Appendix A. These initial interviews were used to gain an understanding and insight into the following: – Current fire safety legislation and responsibility for enforcement. (Primary legislation and subsequent Regulations or Statutory Rules). What effect research had on fire legislation and to determine the future of research. Current procedures for liaison between statutory bodies. How fire safety legislation for Northern Ireland evolves and is implemented Views on the future of Fire Safety Legislation in Northern Ireland. Current problems, difficulties and weaknesses in established fire safety legislation in Northern Ireland The interviews were carried out in person with each of the individuals involved, following a briefing on the background to the dissertation. Full details of these interviews including, discussions, answers and information gleaned is contained in Appendix A. This information was utilized to establish all the current fire safety legislation and fire safety provisions applicable to buildings in Northern Ireland, the regulatory bodies involved, current consultation procedures and their professional opinion on the current situation of research. 4.0 Discussion Although the world has changed a great deal from the fire of Rome the reactive nature of our fire safety rules now termed legislation and regulations has not, with current legislation continuing to develop in a piecemeal fashion as it did over the many preceding centuries. The information attained from the literature review gave me a good basis to identify the case studies needed for this dissertation. The literature review gave me an in depth knowledge of the different fires that occurred over time and their significance to the fire legislation. From this I was able to choose four key case studies that would hopefully back up the aim of my dissertation which I believe they have. Starting of with the Summerland disaster the delay in evacuation and the flammable building materials used were condemned. Because of this tragedy changes were made to the building regulations to improve fire safety. The same can nearly be said for the Stardust fire in Dublin in terms of the materials used. They too were extremely flammable contributing to the loss of life. But other factors contributed to this fire as well see 3.2.2. This tragedy also led to improvements in fire safety. The other two case studies I researched in more depth were two shopping stores; Henderson’s in Liverpool and Woolworths in Manchester. As in the first two case studies after these fires took place changes to the legislation were introduced. Between these two fires sprinklers in large retail stores became a requirement. There were controls put on the type of foam to be used in furniture and they also led to owners having a requirement to train their staff in the event of a fire occurring. As can be seen from these case studies and the other fires I briefly mentioned there seems to be a common theme of fire legislation being introduced after a loss of life in fire. The structured interviews undertaken for this dissertation helped me establish what impact research have on the fire legislation. From talking with key personnel within building control and the NIFRS I have found that the general feeling is that research probably doesn’t have enough of an effect. However this was not a negative point its just reality there is only so much research bodies can do with limited funds. The work they do carry out at the minute is invaluable and naturally if more funds were available more could be done. But even if that was the case I found out that the majority of the personnel I interviewed believe that it is always easy to see the faults after a major incident has occurred. Sometimes it will take a loss of life for people to sit up and question what went wrong and then make steps to rectify these faults within the fire legislation. A point was made in the first interview that I then proceeded to ask as one of my questions in the following interviews. Sometimes people react too quickly after loss of life in a fire has being experienced. This led to the fire legislation in the past being too stringent with strict constructional specifications. Sometimes it is better to sit back let a little time pass and then investigate should changes be made in a more rational manner. At present the fire legislation is less strict. Within building control designers can refer to part E of the building regulations or to BS: 9999 to provide the minimum requirement for fire safety to new buildings. Rigid controls are being replaced by a more flexible system which allows other solutions to be considered. Fire engineering is being used more to provide software that helps in fire safety. As already mentioned the general opinion from the interviews was that research into fire safety at the minute maybe isn’t changing the main fire legislation. However research bodies are doing as much as they can with the funds they are getting. Even though research has not impacted the legislation it does have an impact in fire safety. Research bodies carry out valuable experiments on new products that come out and state that they have fire resistance materials. Any product that states this has to provide a certificate from a recognised research body shown the fire resistance capabilities. The general consensus form the interviews was that if research bodies had more funding in the future maybe changes to fire legislation would come from here instead of having to wait for a fire tragedy to happen and loss of life to be experienced. However this seems very unlikely. Both the literature review and the structured interviews helped with the final objective of my dissertation; Identify possible weaknesses in the fire regulations at present. In relation to the construction of new buildings, the change of use or alteration to existing buildings the legal requirements in terms of fire safety appears simple. A designer or building owner must look to the Building Regulations section E or BS: 9999 to establish requirements in terms of fire safety. This is the first strand of fire safety legislation discussed earlier, which seeks to ensure that buildings are constructed in a way which resists the spread of fire and allows the occupants to escape if fire should break out. The only weakness that got pointed out to me in the interviews was that any new legislation brought under building control only applies to new build and some areas new builds only count for a small proportion of the buildings in that area. However it would be very hard to bring out legisla tion that applies to existing buildings. For example if all existing buildings were to have sprinklers installed it could cost millions and it might not even save any lives. As I mentioned there are two main parts of legislation for building control to follow however there are also many different pieces that are referenced within these documents and have to be referred to as well. One of the things mentioned to me in the interviews would be good if all these documents could be put into one similar to what the NIFRS have now but he said this probably would never happen. The second strand of legislation deals with buildings already in use. As already mentioned new legislation was introduced in November 2010. But before this was introduced there were a lot of weaknesses in the legislation that was in place beforehand. Although my aim is to see if there are any weaknesses in fire legislation at the minute I feel it is necessary to identify weaknesses that were present up until a short time age. Mainly a lot of the legislation overlapped for e.g. if there was a building with a number of different functions all the relevant legislation would have to be applied making it very complicated and difficult to understand. However the new legislation has replaced these with two new simple pieces of legislation. Weaknesses were also present in enforcement procedures. The timescale for cases to be heard in court were too long and the penalties did not match the crime. Therefore the penalties did not provide a deterrent to operators of premises. Again the new legislation changed this with failure to comply with the new legislation could result in imprisonment which is a much harsher punishment than before. Also if death occurred as a result of a fire the persons responsible for that building could be charged with corporate manslaughter. The old legislation required buildings to have a fire certificate but the new legislation requires the employer in the workplace or anybody who has any degree of control over a premise to undertake a risk assessment. This means the responsibility for fire safety is placed with the owners and not the fire brigade. This is good as owners will have more awareness of what is needed to keep a building safe from fire as before with the legislation being so complicate d alot of owners did not understand the legislation and had no legal responsibility to ensure the building was safe from fire. The new legislation applies to all non-domestic buildings in use, whereas before hand each piece of legislation applied to a certain type of building and not all buildings were covered. As this new legislation has only recently being introduced it is hard to determine if there are any weaknesses there. The general feeling from the interviews was that the new legislation looks to be safe at the minute but only time will tell if that is the case. Conclusion Having undertook this dissertation through a literature review, identifying case studies and carrying out interviews I believe it is obvious that fire safety legislation has evolved and developed in a piecemeal fashion – primarily as a reactive process to particular fire incidents and tragedies. However although in the early days legislation came from fire tragedies nowadays changes are more likely to come from the industry such as business wanting their product to be included in the legislation. In the past we didn’t have people trying to make a living out of fire safety. Changes can also come about from environmental impacts. Some products cannot be used anymore because they harm the environment and as already mentioned European directives have a say as well. So I think it would be correct to say that the answer to my title â€Å"Fire Regulations: A reaction to death or an action from research† is a bit of both and a variety of other factors. From the case studies it is also evident that research did have a positive influence. Although these influences were after the fires occurred through the experiments carried out key changes were made and harmful products banned from being used. At present research bodies are still carrying these important experiments and tests on new products being introduced to the industry. In general the fire legislation at the current state seems to be very good. The legislation is detailed enough to ensure the safety of lives in buildings but also enables designers more freedom in their design than was allowed in the past. Hopefully in the future any new legislation or changes to existing legislation is brought around through research or the other sources mentioned and not a direct result of death in fire. Bibliography 1 THE FIRE SAFETY ADVICE CENTRE (2003). History of Fire Safety Legislation [Online]. Last accessed on 22 November 2003 at URL:http://www.firesafe.org.uk/html/history.htm. 2 FIRE NET (2003) History of Fire Safety Legislation and Other Interesting Dates [Online]. Last accessed on 22 November 2003 at URL:http://www.fire.org.uk/fpac/leg.htm#20 3 SAFETY POLICY DIRECTORATE (2003). Workplace fire safety [Online]. Last accessed on 22 November 2003 at URL:http://www.hse.gov.uk/spd/spdfire.htm 4 HOUSE OF COMMONS INFORMATION OFFICE (2000). Northern Ireland Business and Legislation [Online]. Last accessed on 23 November 2003 at URL:http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/LO8.pdf. 5 HOUSE OF COMMONS INFORMATION OFFICE (2003). Statutory Instruments [Online]. Last accessed on 23 November 2003 at URL:http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/LO7.pdf. 6 HEALTH AND SEFETY EXECUTIVE FOR NORTHERN IRELAND (2003). List of Health and Safety Subordinate Legislation [Online]. Last accessed on 23 November 2003 at URL:http://www.hseni.gov.uk/legislation/list of subordinate legislation1.pdf. 7 HEALTH AND SEFETY EXECUTIVE FOR NORTHERN IRELAND (2003). List of Health and Safety Primary Legislation [Online]. Last accessed on 23 November 2003 at URL:http://www.hseni.gov.uk/legislation/list of Prim legisln.pdf. 8 Home Office et al (1999). Fire Safety ‘An Employers Guide’. Her Majesty’s Stationary Office. 9 The Department of Trade and Industry (1994). Fire safety legislation and Enforcement – Report of the Interdepartmental Review Team. 10 Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (2002). A consultation Document on the Reform of Fire Safety Legislation 11 Design Principles of Fire Safety Chapter 2 The Legislative Framework 12 DETR (2001). Building Regulations and Fire Safety Procedural Guidance 13 DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT. The Fire Services (Factory, Office and Shop Premises) Order (Northern Ireland) 1986. Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland 1986 No. 355, London 1986. 14 DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT. The Fire Services (Non- Certified Factory, Office and Shop Premises) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1986. Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland 1986 No. 352, London 1986. 15 DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT. Health and Safety. Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000. Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland 2000 No. 388, London 2000. 16 DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT. The Fire Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1984. Statutory Instruments of Northern Ireland 1984 No. 1821 (N.I. 11), London 1984. 17 DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT. Licensing of Places of Entertainment. The Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) (NI) Order. Statutory Instruments of Northern Ireland 1985 No. 1208 (N.I. 15), London 1985. 18 DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT. Fire Services. Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001. Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland 2001 No. 348, London 2001. 19 DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND PERSONNEL. The Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000. Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland 2000 No. 389, London 2000. 20 DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE. The Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) Order 1979. Statutory Instruments of Northern Ireland 1979 No. 1709 (N.I. 16), London 1979. 21 DEPARTMENT FOR SOCIAL DEVELPOMENT. The Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 2003. Part 4 ‘Houses in Multiple Occupation’. Statutory Instruments of Northern Ireland 2003 No. 412 (N.I. 2), London 1984. 22 DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT. Housing (Management of houses in Multiple Occupation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993. Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland 1993 No. 38, London 1993. 23 Office and Shop Premises Act (NI) 1966 24 DEPARTMENT OF MANPOWER SERVICES. Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978. Statutory Instruments of Northern Ireland 1978 No. 1039 (N.I. 9), London 1978. 25 FACTORIES ACT (NI) 1965 26 BILL HIRST. Fire Legislation – Is It an Unnecessary Burden?, Facilities, Vol. 12 No. 8, 1994, pp 10-14, MCB University Press. 27 RICS. Rethinking Control of Buildings, RICS Building Control Forum Survey and Review Document, P11 Project Number IBC 9903 28 DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. Health and Safety. Enforcing Authority Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997. Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland 1997 No. 229, London 1997. 29 DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT. The Fire Services (Hotels and Boarding Houses) Order (Northern Ireland) 1985. Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland 1985 No. 183, London 1985. 30 DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT. The Fire Services (Hotels and Boarding Houses) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 1986. Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland 1986 No. 28, London 1986. 31 DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT. The Fire Services (Leisure Premises) Order (Northern Ireland) 1985. Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland 1985 No. 137, London 1985. 32 DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT. The Cinemas (NI) Order 1991. Statutory Instruments of Northern Ireland 1991 No. 1462 (N.I. 12), London 1991. 33 DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.Co-ordination and Effectiveness of Fire Safety in Northern Ireland – Report 1985 34 KNIGHT. Knights Guide to Fire Safety Legislation, Charles Knight Publishing Croydon 35 ANDREW ARDEN AND CHRALES CROSS. The Housing and Building Control Act 1984. Sweet and Maxwell, London 1984 36 PW JACKSON. Local Government. Butterworths, London 1972 37 JAMES A. HOLLAND AND JULIAN S WEBB. Learning Legal Rules 4th Edition. Blackstone Press, London 2002 38 TREVOR MARTIN. Building Control in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Building Standards Journal pp19-21 March-April 2001 39 HL MALHOTRA. Fire Safety in Buildings, BRE Report 987. December 1986 40 CIBSE GUIDE. Fire Engineering 2nd Edition. CIOB Services Engineering Section 2 ‘Legislation Standards and Strategy Web Sites www.hseni.gov.uk www.hse.gov.uk www.odpm.gov.uk www.parliament.gov.uk www.firesafe.org.uk www.fire.org.uk www.info4localgov.com www.nifb.org.uk Electronic Information Services Fire Worldwide Legislation Direct Statutory instruments UK Statutory instruments Barbour Index Building Control and NI Butterworths legal updater Full Text Electronic Journals Fire safety Journal Faculty Subject Guides Engineering and Built Environment – Internet Subject Guides – ‘Fire Safety 1 Popplewell, O., Committee of Inquiry into Crowd Safety at Sports Grounds: Final Report, HMSO, London, 1986. 2 Fennell, D., Investigation into the King’s Cross Underground Station Fire, HMSO, London, 1988. 3 Butler, C. P., ‘Notes on the charring rates in wood’, Fire Research Note 896, 1971. 4 Report of the Tribunal of Inquiry on the Fire at the Stardust, Artane, Dublin, Stationary Office, Dublin, 1982. 5 Woo, K. H., Final Report of the Inquiry into the Garley Building Fire on 20th November 1996, Hong Kong: Government Printer, 1997 6 Morris, W. A., ‘Stardust Disco Investigation – some observations on the full-scale fire tests’, Fire Safety Journal 7, 255-65, 1984. 7 Video: ‘Anatomy of a Fire’, Building Research Establishment, Garston, Watford, 1982. 8 Karlsson, B, ‘A mathematical model for calculating heat release rate in the room corner test’, Fire Safety Journal 20, 93-113, 1993 9 Grant, G. B. and Drysdale D. D., ‘Numerical modelling of early fire spread in warehouse fires’, Fire Safety Journal 24, 247-278, 1995. 10 Moodie, K., ‘The King’s Cross Fire: Damage assessment and overview of the technical investigation’, Fire Safety Journal 18, 13-33, 1992. 11 Roberts, A. F., ‘The King’s Cross Fire: a correlation of eyewitness accounts and results of the scientific investigation’, Fire Safety Journal 18, 105-121, 1992. 12 Simcox, S., Wilkes, N. S., and Jones, I. P., ‘Computer simulation of the flows of hot gases from the fire at the King’s Cross Underground Station’, Fire Safety Journal 18, 49-73, 1992. 13 Drysdale, D. D., Macmillan, A. J. R., and Shilitto, D., ‘The King’s Cross Fire: experimental verification of the ‘trench effect’, Fire Safety Journal 18, 75-82, 1992. 14 Moodie, K., and Jagger, S. F., ‘The King’s Cross Fire: results and analysis from the scale model tests’, Fire Safety Journal 18, 83-103, 1992. 15 Woodburn, P., and Drysdale, D. D., ‘Fire in Inclined Trenches: the dependence of the critical angle on the trench and burner geometry’, Fire Safety Journal 31, 143-164, 1998. 16 Woodburn, P., and Drysdale, D. D., ‘Fire in Inclined Trenches: time-varying features of the attached plume’, Fire Safety Journal 31, 165-1172, 1998. 17 Janssen, J. J. A., Building with Bamboo: a Handbook, pp.21 Intermediate Technology Publications, London, 1988. 18 Babrauskas, V., and Williamson, R. B., ‘Post flashover compartment fires: basis of a theoretical model’, Fire and Materials 2, 39-53, 1978. 19 Drysdale, D. D., Introduction to Fire Dynamics, Second Edition, JohnWiley and Sons, Chichester, 1998. http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_B_PROCEDURAL.pdf How to cite What is Fire Regulation? A Critical study of Death or Action, Essay examples

Orion Shield Project free essay sample

Scientific Engineering Corporation (SEC) had decided to compete for Phase I of the Orion Shield Project. The Director of Engineering Henry Larsen, wanted to employ an engineer to the role of project manage instead of an experienced project manager. Enter Gary Allison an experiences Project Engineer with absolutely no formal Project management experience. Gary was known around the organization as a knowledgeable with numerous years of Project Engineer expertise. It appears Henry intentional wanted someone with limited Project Management knowledge in the hopes of being able to easily control the situation and to get his way without much resistance. The ethical and management challenges faced by Gary in the implantation of the Orion Shield Project will be discussed in this analysis. Gary wasted time doing administer work and did not focus enough attention on properly managing the project. Due to the poor management of time and resources benchmarks were not meet which caused production and cost delays. Henry’s decision to select new materials without consulting Gary was extremely inappropriate and caused major disruptions with the SEC and the client. Gary should have never been offer the role of Project Manager. Project Management is a job that requires a great deal experience which Gary lacked. Henry put Gary in very difficult position when he offered him the role. If Henry truly believed Gary had the potential to be good Project Manager he should have an offered Gary an assistant project management role. This position would have allowed Gary to learn on the job and gain experience. A Cost-reimbursable contract would have been a better option for SEC. This contract would have required detailed budgets that indicate the intended use of the funds as this detail helps define appropriate and allowable expenditures. A Cost-reimbursable contract would have better motoring, accountability and incentive to meet deadlines. The saying â€Å"lead by example† speaks volumes in this case. In a sense Gary was doomed for failure because he lacked guidance and support from Henry. There were no guidelines set of what was expected causing the project to become disorganize. Introduction: In this analysis I will discuss the technical, ethical, legal, contractual and other project management issues which occurred during the execution of the Orion Shield Project. In order to put new NASA regulation Henry felt it necessary to change the strategy of the organized without fully brainstorming the cause and effects of his actions. One of the major mishaps was hiring Gary to lead and manage this project. Ethical and Legal Issues: Gary had no project management experience so it was unsuitable for the Director of Engineer Henry Larson to hire Gary to take on seem an important project. Henry intentional wanted someone with limited Project Management knowledge in the hopes of being able to easily control the situation and to get his way without much resistance. One example of Henry using his rank over Gary to be unethical was when Gary mentioned the present model would not support required temperatures over 130 degrees. Henry dismissed Gary’s concerns and instructed Gary not to admit this noncompliance issue with the client in order to maintain the NASA contract. Even with no project management experience Gary should have known this disclaimer was not ethical and been a whistle blower and reported Henry to his superior. Henry was aware it was â€Å"Unethical† to conceal and misrepresent the actually specification results. With this knowledge he still he proceeded concealing and misrepresenting results which resulted in the clients being forced to change their specifications under pressure In the ninth week without informing or advising Gary, Henry presented a type of new material to the project. Henry introduced this new material in hopes of it meeting the heat specifications. Henry had good intentions but he never reviewed this important change with Gary or anyone on the team. Gary only discovered this critical change when they were weeks from a crucial milestone. SPI understandable was not pleased unexpected change in the project. No one likes being caught off guard especially when you are paying for a service. This event also made Gary seem incompetent in leading this project to completion. All this could have been avoided if Henry would have followed protocol. Another important unethical issue is Gary had concealed the short shelf life of five years of the new material to top management of SEC and client. In essence the client is not really getting what they are paying for. PMI notes the importance of conducting work in an ethical manner (Schwalbe, 2009, p. 23). This allows workers to develop confidence in the project which increases moral and performance. (Schwalbe, 2009, p. 23). A good project manager should be transparent and exhibit truthfulness in business dealings (Schwalbe, 2009, p. 23). Contract issues: A Cost-reimbursable contract would have been a better option for SEC. This contract would have required detailed budgets that indicate the intended use of the funds as this detail helps define appropriate and allowable expenditures. A Cost-reimbursable contract would have better motoring, accountability and incentive to meet deadlines. SEC was offered a fixed price contract for ten months. The fixed contract as well as mis management caused the project to go over budget. Thus the risk was on the shoulder of SEC if it costs more to provide the goods or services than originally assumed. SEC did not foresee any problems arises with the project therefore the settled on a fixed contract. SEC had to spent money for testing the new material that was not called out in the program plan. From the start Gary did not submit the required meeting minutes which resulted in the customer insisting on daily calls to track progress. This caused in more administrative work hours and budget over run. Project Management Issues: The management structure for the Orion Shield Project did not allow Gary the project manager full authority over the project and project funding. Gary had limited control over schedule and process of tasks throughout the duration of the project. Although a balanced matrix structure organization notes the importance for a project manager, giving the project manager total over the project an money does not exist in this model (PMBOK, 2008, p. 30). At the start of the project Gary had challenges finding appropriate and qualified team members. This critical task during project planning sets the foundation for a successful project. This complication in his staffing management plan was stressful for Gary as a result costing him time and money. For example, since Gary did not have adequate administrator staff we wasted a lot of time doing administer work instead of Project Management work. It is essentially that a project manager communicates with other managers within the company to balance and share resources so the staffing needs can be meet throughout the company (Schwalbe, 2009, p. 225). Gary did not work with the other managers to acquire the staff he needed set a well-rounded team. Gary also did not have the negotiating skills required to gain access to vital engineering staff for the production of the Orion Shield Program The top executives in the company should have realized that Gary’s team was under staff and step in to get him the appropriate resources he needed. The failure of an important project like this makes the whole organization look bad so it is in top managements best interest for allocation resources fail. Gary also struggled in terms of his balance between RD and administrative task. Due to his lack of experience and staff he was not able to concentrate his time and energy on his project management activities. A project manager has to maintain balance in terms of – scope, schedule, and cost. Due to Gary’s lack of experience he failed to use a cost management plan to track and monitor expenses. There was no cost check and balance system in place. With this project any changes to the budget should have been reviewed and approved by a delegate of both the company and the client. On more than one occasion Gary was blindsided because he was not made aware of changes in the project. Both Gary and Henry did not look at the long terms results of their decisions. Focusing on short term objectives in project management and dismissing risk in the future will produce a failed project. It is the role of project management to foresee potential risk and find suitable solutions. (Schwalbe, 2009, p. What should been done for successful Project Completion: Henry should have offered Gary the opportunity to attend project management training and allowed him to work as an Assistant Project Manager to get on the job training. Customer and employees should have been involved in major decision making. Do not conceal or misrepresent information to employees and customer. Roles and responsibilities need to be clearly defined by Project Manager. This is especially true for staff being brought in from other departments. Document action items at meetings, meeting minutes, focusing on key decisions and send them out quickly. Project schedule must be realistic and risks need to be managed. Conclusion: In conclusion a seasoned Project Manager should have been selected to a positive and effective completion of this project. The top executive at the company should have provided a checks and balance and recognized Gary was not qualified for the role of Project Manager. SEC should have negotiated a Cost-reimbursable contract.

One Poet Two Poems Essays - Because I Could Not Stop For Death

One Poet Two Poems Two Poems. Two Ideas. One Author Two of Emily Dickinson's poems, Because I Could Not Stop For Death and I Heard A Fly Buzz-When I Died, are both about one of life's few certainties: death. However, that is where the similarities end. Although both poems were created less than a year apart by the same poet, their ideas about what lies after death differ. In one, there appears to be life after death, but in the other there is nothing. Only a number of clues in each piece help us determine which poem believes in what. In the piece, Because I Could Not Stop For Death, we are being told the tale of a woman who is being taken away by Death. This is our first indication that this poem believes in an afterlife. In most religions, where there is a grim reaper like specter, this entity will deliver a person's soul to another place, usually a heaven or a hell. In the fifth stanza, Death and the woman pause before ...a House that seemed A Swelling of the Ground- The Roof was scarcely visible- The Cornice in the Ground- (913). Although the poem does not directly say it, it is highly probable that this grave is the woman's own. It is also possible the woman's body already rests beneath the soil in a casket. If this is at all accurate, then her spirit or soul may be the one who is looking at the house. Spirits and souls usually mean there is an afterlife involved. It isn't until the sixth and final stanza where the audience obtains conclusive evidence that Because I Could Not Stop For Death believes in an afterlife. The woman recalls how it has been ...Centuries- and yet feels shorter than the Day I first surmised the Horses' Heads were toward Eternity- (913). To the woman, it has been a few hundred years since Death visited her, but to her, it has felt like less than 24 hours. Since the body cannot live on for hundreds of years, then it must be none other then the soul who has come to the realization that so much time has passed. The final part with the horses refers to the horse drawn carriage the woman was riding in when she passed away. In those two final lines, the horses seem to be leading her into Eternity, possibly into an afterlife. It is just the exact opposite is Dickinson's other poem, I Heard A Fly Buzz-When I Died, With this particular piece of literature, the clues which point to the disbelief in an afterlife are fewer and not as blatant, but are all still present. In this poem, a woman is lying in bed with her family standing all around waiting for her eventual death. While the family is waiting for her to pass on, she herself is waiting for ...the King... (914). No, we're not talking about Elvis, but instead this King is some sort of omnipotent being, a god. Later as the woman dies, her eyes (or windows as they are referred to in the poem) fail, then she ...could not see to see- (914). When she says this, what she seems to mean is she could not see any of the afterlife or Kings she expected to be there. The woman's soul drifted off into nothingness with no afterlife to travel to. To conclude, the beliefs of the two Dickinson poems in regards to life after death differ significantly. In one, life does exist, in the other it does not. To determine which poem believes in what, one must dig through the clues in each.

English Colonies of the Chesapeake Bay and New England regions Essays

English Colonies of the Chesapeake Bay and New England regions Essays English Colonies of the Chesapeake Bay and New England regions Essay English Colonies of the Chesapeake Bay and New England regions Essay Essay Topic: Confessions Compare and Contrast the English Colonies of the Chesapeake Bay and New England regions. What were their similarities and differences? At the beginning of the 16thcentury, there were two English colonies in the US: the Chesapeake Bay and New England. Despite them being created by English immigrants pursuing distinct goals, these colonies differed by a lot of factors including the purpose of their immigration and approaches to providing economic and social policies. The main purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast these two sights and find out reasons for their development. After John Rolfe discovered that the lands of the Chesapeake Bay were appropriate for planting tobacco and other technical cultures, a lot of English people decided to move to Maryland and Virginia to build farms and become rich. Therefore, people who moved to the Chesapeake Bay did that not because they were suffering from persecution in their home country, they did that pursuing exclusively lucrative goals (Stefoff, 2008). The main class was formed from gentry, aristocratic classes of England, who had moved there with their servants. As the residence of the province which offered high opportunities, settlers created particular borders for new migrants: they needed to pay for their settlements by working a number of years for existing settlers. After the number of workers on plantations decreased, farmers started buying slaves from Africa so that to the beginning of the 18thcentury they comprised two-fifths of Marylands population (Stefoff, 2008). The political power was implemented by landowners, lawyers or wealthy merchants; nevertheless, their acts still abided principles of English constitution and they were still respecting the English crown, unlike those preferring more liberal views. Most immigrants in the Chesapeake Bay retained their Anglican religious views although a lot of Presbyterians and Catholics were living in these counties (Russel, 2000). Settlers of New England colonies were not like those who moved to fruitful Chesapeake lands starting from the main purpose of their departure. Most of them came to new lands not to become richer but to escape religious persecution which they had been suffering from in England. They viewed new lands as places with religious freedom; that is why they refused to obey prescriptions of the Church of England and worshiped freely. The dominating religious views were mainly Puritanical, other confessions were not so popular there. Talking about economic policy, they provided policies of old England with minor changes explained by territory differences. New England was never a region with a rapidly growing economy; it did not have developed plantation aristocracies and slaves trade system like farmers in the Chesapeake Bay did. While settlers of Maryland tried to retain religious tolerance, New England settlers were more concerned about the religion which was fundamental for their social stru cture where every member had to be the member of a church. However, settlers there were much more hospitable than those in southern counties. The political structure was much more liberal; nevertheless, their political structure was still under control of Great Britain (Murrin, 2008). Consequently, although New England and the Chesapeake Bay colonies were created by English people, they provided distinct economic and social policies which were the main causes for different levels of their economic development. Whereas the Chesapeake colonies were inhabited by English gentries who desired to become richer, New England colonies were known as places where people could find religious freedom and absence of strict control by the government. Despite these counties using quite different social policies, they both accepted all challenges related to moving to new settlements and successfully built the foundation of the modern USA states which now are located on these lands. References Murrin,J.M. (2007).Liberty, equality, power: A history of the American people. Princeton, NJ: Recording for the Blind Dyslexic. Russell,D.L. (2000).The American Revolution in the Southern colonies. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Co. Stefoff,R. (2008).Cities and towns. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.

Anxiety disorder Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Anxiety disorder - Essay Example Anxiety can be that severe, or it could be simple little fears that many people share. Many people are afraid of the dark, and get extreme anxiety if they are left in a dark room, or in a place with no lights. Claustrophobia is another common fear or anxiety, where a person gets extremely uncomfortable when they are cramped in tight spaces for a period of time. The phobias however, can range to other extreme, irrational phobias, such as autophobia, the fear or being alone, which can ultimately develop into being afraid of your own shadow and reflection. These types of extreme phobias often lead to painful and life effecting anxiety attacks. The anxiety caused by these mental conditions can hinder a person’s life, and could even have greater negative consequences than that. Anxiety is a mental condition that affects everybody. From being anxious about the little things, or developing full blown anxiety attacks, anxiety affects everyone at one point in their lives. This hard to deal with nervous breakdown can have negative impacts on the rest of our lives, as well as how we view the world. Whatever if is you are afraid of, chances are it causes you some anxiety. This fear, or irrational sense of fear from, or cause by something, can sometime have a root in your past, but other times it cannot. This fear can also come at you all of a sudden, or some phobias or anxieties develop over time, and thus may be rooted somewhere in your past. Anxiety and fear can result from these phobias, and can lead to unwanted mental conditions or even hinder your everyday, normal routine and life activities. This is an unwanted result of the anxiety, which often leads a more negative then positive result on the person who is under an anxiety attack from their fear of phobia. An exact definition of what exactly anxiety is, is slightly hard to come by,

Inclusive education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Inclusive education - Essay Example Rather than viewing the situation in such a way, the educator would do better to view the ultimate diversity that such a situation could bring to the table and work to make it beneficial for all involved. Secondly, with regards to the perception that a teacher has with relation to a student with a disability, this has a prominent role with regards to whether the student himself/herself will achieve a level of success. In this way, the reader can be made intimately aware of the way in which perception of disability has a unique and powerful effect on the level of educational attainment that can be realized (Morsink, 1984). As such, the educator must be made aware of their engrained prejudices that exist so as to seek to identify these and work to lessen their effect on the application of education and the approaches that they exhibit both inwardly and outwardly with regards to the students with disabilities within their classroom. Not only is such an approach to disability disheartening to the child himself/herself, it also is oftentimes outwardly visible; although the educator may wish to conceal this, to the other students within the classroom. In this way, the preconceived notions of whether or not a student is able to integrate well with the other students, the course, and/or the material is oftentimes of far greater importance than whether or not the student is truly and innately capable of integrating with the material. Ultimately, what the reader can infer is that the approach to the situation is what is most important from the educator’s standpoint. If one seeks to push back against the inclusion of children with special needs, they should only do so based upon concrete facts and/or evidence and not due to any preconceived and unsubstantiated beliefs with regards to the overall effect that such an inclusion

Boundary Location Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Boundary Location - Assignment Example This boundary allocation was considered very important. This is because it was meant to give a clear direction on different boundaries of regions (Keen 1995). This was meant to create peace in those regions. It is important to note that lots 12 and 13 were bordering each other. These lots were supposed to be differentiated properly to avoid conflicts between the neighbors. It must be noted that these two lots were put in to place by professionals who understood how to divide boundaries. It must be noted that lot 12 and 13 were divided in accordance to legal requirements that regulates issues that pertain to land (Conrow 2003). Boundary location between lots 12 and 13 was done in a better way. These boundaries were put in place by legal experts. Let me also note that location of these boundaries is in tandem with laws that regulate land in the country. It is important to note that the allocation of the two boundaries took long time. This was contributed by the complications and complexity of the whole process. It is also important to note that boundary location between lot 12 and 13 put in to account the interests of the residents in those regions. It is therefore important to highlight this will result in to creation of peaceful coexistence between the two neighbors. According to me, allocation of lot 12 and 13 was legal and proper (Wilson 2010). The part shown in figure 3 is not part of my client’s property. This is because this part has been demarcated clearly. According to the picture, my client does not deserve this region because it is within another person’s land. Let me highlight that clear demarcations, as fences should be used to differentiate different regions. This will ensure that there is no conflict between residents in those regions (Anderson 2011). The owner of cottage has to realize that it is located in another person’s land. According to the figure, demarcations show clearly that it within another

Evaluation of Sigmund Feud and his theory

Evaluation of Sigmund Feud and his theory Sigmund Freud may have pioneered psychoanalysis and initiated interest in behavioral patterns, but some of his concepts/theories are controversial. Sigmund Freud is one of the well know scientist of his time in the area of psychology, he is intentionally referred to as the godfather of psychology. Freud was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, who created an entirely new approach to the understanding of the human personality. He is regarded as one of the most influential and controversial minds of the 20th century. Sigismund (later changed to Sigmund) Freud was born on the 6 May 1856 in Freiberg, Moravia (now Pribor in the Czech Republic). His father was a merchant. The family moved to Leipzig and then settled in Vienna, where Freud was educated. Freuds family was Jewish but was himself non-practicing. In 1873, Freud began to study medicine at the University of Vienna. After graduating, he worked at the Vienna General Hospital. He collaborated with Josef Breuer in treating hysteria by the recall of painful experiences under hypnosis. In 1885 Freud went to Paris as a student of the neurologist Jean Charcot. On his return to Vienna the following year, Freud set up his private practice, specializing in nervous and brain disorders. The same year he married Martha Bernays, with whom he had six children. Freud developed the theory that humans have an unconscious in which sexual and aggressive impulses are in perpetual conflict for supremacy with the defenses against them. In 1897, he began an intensive analysis of himself. In 1900, his major work The Interpretation of Dreams was published in which Freud analyzed dreams in terms of unconscious desires and experiences. In 1902, Freud was appointed professor of neuropathology at the University of Vienna, a post he held until 1938. Although the medical establishment disagreed with many of his theories, a group of pupils and followers began to gather around Freud. In 1910, the Intentional Psychoanalytic Association was founded with Carl Jung, a close associate of Freuds, as the president. Jung later broke with Freud and developed his own theories. After world war one, Freud spend less time in clinical observation and concentrated on the application of his theories to art, literature, and anthropology. In 1923, he published The Ego and the Id, which suggested a new structural model of the mind, divided into the Id, the Ego, and the Superego. In 1933, the Nazis publicly burnt a number of Freuds books. In 1938 shortly after the Nazis annexed Austria, Freud left Vienna for London with his wife and daughter Anna. Freud was diagnosed with cancer of the jaw in 1923, and underwent more than 30 operations. He died of cancer on 23rd September 1939. (http://bbc.com.uk/history./freud_sigmund.shtml) Freud studied hysteria at length, and became involve with Josef Breuer. Dr. Breuer became Freud mentor, and together they co-authored a book on hysteria. It was during these studies that Freud came to realize that the personality was made up of having three aspects the id, ego, and super ego, (Krogh, D.). The id is the part of personality that is responsible for survival and self gratification, it is our primitive mind. It is the source of our libido and has only one rule, satisfying the pleasure principles, (Gay, P.). The ego deals with our rational thought, it develops our growing awareness that you cannot always get what you want. It has a tough job compromising negotiation between the id and the super ego. It pleases the id but also remains responsible and bears the long term consequences in mind. The super ego is the last part of the mind to develop. It is best described as the moral of personality. The super ego has two sub systems, those been the ego ideal and conscience. The ego ideal lays down the laws regarding positive behavior and standards which the ego must live up to. The conscience are the sets of rules which define deviant behavior, it houses thoughts and behaviors that would result in punishment if they were to be acted out. Freud was also responsible for defining the five stages of psychosexual development, which are briefly explained below. Stage One: The oral stage, (0-18 months). During this stage, the physical focus is on the mouth. The young child receives libidinal pleasures while feeding. Any problems at this stage, for example, over indulgence or privation could lead the child to an oral personality in adulthood suggesting, that the adult would partake in extensive oral activities e.g. smoking, drinking, or eating disorders, (Gay, P.). Stage two: The anal stage (18-36 months). Freud believed that the child experienced erogenous pleasure while defecating. Potty training takes place round about this time, so that the child had to learn control over its bowels. Also the caregiver puts emphasis on the child to control urges regarding deviant behavior (often called the terrible twos). If the caregiver is too controlling the child is likely to grow to have a retentive personality e.g. the adult will have rigid thought complexes, be overly organized, and obsessed with neatness. On the other hand, if the caregiver is not controlling enough, the child will grow up to be messy, untidy and could possibly be defiant with little self-control, (Feldman, R, F). Stage Three: The phallic stage (3-6 years).The physical focus at this stage for both boys and girls is the penis boys wonder why girls havent got one. In return, girls start noticing that they are without one and become curious. Also during this stage, Freud suggested that children have sexual feelings for the opposite sexed parent, (so they deal with Oedipus and Electra complexes respectively). Boys experience castrations anxiety and girls suffer penis envy (the lack of). Fixation at this stage could result in promiscuity and immoral behavior, (Feldman, R,F.). Stage four: The latency stage,(6 years to the onset of puberty). This is a calm period where virtually no psychosexual conflicts are taking place. Boys and girls tend to be gender aware thorough this stage and have little in common with the opposite sex, (Feldman, R.F.). Stage five: The genital stage (post puberty). If all transitions of the above stages have been smooth and the caregiver has responded in a relevant well balanced manner. A healthy competent adult should emerge, fully equipped to contribute to society emotionally, and physically. If on the other hand, one or more of the transitions have been impaired, a fixation of the impaired stage will occur. Stress will trigger the adult to regress to the particular impaired stage in question, (Feldman, R,F). As straight forward and relevant as Freuds theories were, he was not without criticism , Carl Jung, Karl Krus et al, and T.S. Szasz are among a few who strongly object to Freuds findings (Robinson, P. Feud and his critics). Could they have a point? For all Freuds genius, he failed to incorporate genetic influences regarding behavior in his studies. Freud dealt only in the unconscious mind, with a few age related triggers thrown in, and that our whole personality is based on the development of these triggers. These triggers were purely Freuds interpretation. Behavior on the other hand, deals solely with environmental factors, and believes that babies are born as a blank slate, often termed tabula rassa Freud is also accused of been totally subjective and having a bias attitude. An example of this would be that he based all his findings on his recollections and findings (Robinson, P. Freud and his critics). He did conduct research using his youngest daughter Anna, but this form of opportunity sampling is not productive, because being his daughter, she would strive to produce socially desirable answers. When conducting psychoanalysis, Freuds patients were always middle class women. This was not a representative samples of the population, the data collected from his analysis would again be bias. Other arguments against the proficiency of Freuds practices are that due to patient Problems occurring in childhood, this may result in parental blame. There are also problems surrounding false memory syndromes, it has been found that patients receiving Freudian analysis have imagined childhood abuse. These allegations could be imagined and have no facts, (Robinson, P. Freud and his critics). Also the whole model of psychoanalysis is non-scientific, it cannot be falsified. So there we have it, the basic from which Freud conducted his psychoanalysis. In its day it was a revolution but certainly not without opposition, as previously discussed Freud managed to put words, terms, and phases to complex notions regarding personality and unravel almost simplify intricate developmental processes, enabling Freudian psychologists to accurately define and hopefully rectify a patients regressed emotional problems. Was Feud practicing a pseudo-science? Are his findings mere quackery? Were his theories on psychoanalysis a revolutionary breakthrough? Either way people will remain divided.

Dont Drink and Drive :: Legal Issues, Social Issues, Informative

Topic: Don’t Drink and Drive Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that action is needed to deal with the problem caused by motorists’ who drink and drive. General Purpose: Solving the problems caused by drinking and driving will require action by friends, family, and law enforcement. Thesis Statement: Drinking and driving not only endanger your life, it endangers the lives of the innocent victims whose path you cross. Introduction: While watching TV one night, a special news report came on. There was a terrible accident in Marshal County involving a drunk driver. Six children were killed in the crash, a man driving a blue sedan had hit head-on with a mini van, carrying six children and their grandmother. All the children were pronounced dead at the scene, the grandmother and the man driving the sedan were the only survivors. Body: A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Don’t drink and drive, period. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The cemeteries are full of people who thought they were â€Å"Ok to drive† along with the innocent victims whose paths they crossed. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Support law enforcement. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Don’t complain that an officer gave your kid an MIP, DUI, or DWI†¦ thank them. Transitions: Now that we’ve seen how drinking and driving are serious problems for motorists’ and their communities, let’s look at some causes. B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"It causes the deaths of over 16,000 people in America every year, an average of 44 each day, one every 33 minutes.† Conclusion: â€Å"Drinking and driving and alcohol abuse are claiming the lives of thousands of young people each year. If you critically injure or kill someone after making