My Grandfather, Albert S. Thanhauser - 909 Words

In 1952 my grandfather, Albert S. Thanhauser, waited in line with the incoming class of Air Force soldiers in upstate New York as they prepared to enter the Korean War. Each quaking private presented their papers to the stone-faced officer at the front of the line, to receive their military assignment. As my grandfather approached with his documentation, something peculiar happened. â€Å"Hmm†¦ Thanhauser,† muttered the gruff officer, â€Å"M.O.T.?† he asked quietly. A Brooklyn Jew, Al’s eyes lit up as he nodded and his papers were placed with the rest in the pile. M.O.T: Member of the Tribe, was an instantly recognizable code of camaraderie amongst Jews. Two weeks after this encounter, the night before being shipped off to Korea, Al received a memo: He was being pulled from the pack headed for Hell and instead was shipped to Japan to set up a flight school at an American base. The two years he spent on the airbase were some of the best of his life. Was this story was likely intended to instill me with a connection to Judaism? Was it just another of my Grandpa’s crazy stories? I had always focused on the result of this story - how it dramatically affected my grandfather’s life. But as I have grown older, the story has begun to resonate with me as beautiful demonstration of an act of kindness and virtue that I learn and grow from. The story of how my Grandfather’s Jewish identity spared him from the front lines of the Korean War and led him toward life-long adventure in Japan has been

Harvard Business Case Study China Walmart - 678 Words

Walmart- China 1. Customers patronize Wal-Mart China stores because they have low prices which are a great asset to china’s consumers who are more cost sensitive than other countries. Although, China’s consumers like to go to store after store to find the cheapest price, and of course Wal-Mart contains those low prices. Wal-Mart also established through studies and research that China’s customers valued great customer satisfaction which in return they displayed their loyalty by coming back over and over. Therefore, making some consumers skeptical to shift to Wal-Mart. Sustainability means everything to customers in China because like mentioned before consumers are loyal to the companies in which they have previously interacted with.†¦show more content†¦The public perception that a company renders when pertaining to creating a better environment is also a sustainability tactic used by Wal-Mart. In China they show that the environment is a concern by providing convenien t drop-off locations for batteries. This is to ensure they are not placed in landfills where they give off harmful chemicals that contaminate the ground water. 5. Wal-Mart China will show the government and employees that they are doing the best possible in advancing sustainability by showing that they are here to stay and stay in a better environment. They can also show that they care about their employees by providing incentives such as break times, vacation days, and special employee discounts. Global Express 1. This buyout would reduce competition in the European region, while giving a powerful firm a strong foothold in the European region. UPS’s old competitor DHL has been successfully operating in Europe since 2009 even through the recession. SO there would be larger companies in the European market, one which has little experience in the European market. Also, there will be a loss of smaller to medium size express-packaging businesses lose margins to global companies. 2. Prices in this market may continue to go down, because in 2009 DHLShow MoreRelatedBusiness Model Evaluation : Wal Mart s Global Logistics Empire Essay704 Words   |  3 Pagesreference to the China/Southern California connection), In Wal-Mart World, Brunn SD (ed), Routledge: New York; 227–242. Brandenburger A, Stuart HW, 1996, Value-based business strategy, Journal of Economics Management Strategy 5(1): 5–24. Brea-Solà ­s, H., Casadesus-Masanell, R. and Grifell-Tatjà ©, E, 2014, Business Model Evaluation: Quantifying Walmart s Sources of Advantage. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 9(1), pp.12-33 Casadesus-Masanell R, Ricart JE, 2010, From strategy to business model andRead MoreWalmart Success in China?1198 Words   |  5 PagesCase Study: Wal-Mart Stores â€Å"Every Day Low Prices† In China Webster University INTB 5000 1 Webster University 2 Wal-Mart Stores â€Å"Every Day Low Prices† In China FACTS: ïÆ'Ëœ ïÆ'Ëœ First opened in Shenzhen on August 12, 1996 As of December 2007 ïÆ'Ëœ ïÆ'Ëœ ïÆ'Ëœ 94 stores in 51 cities Employs 43,000+ associates Serves around 5 million customers per week ïÆ'Ëœ ïÆ'Ëœ ïÆ'Ëœ ïÆ'Ëœ ïÆ'Ëœ ïÆ'Ëœ ïÆ'Ëœ Transition from rural US to metro/urban in China Competitive analysis a core value of the company ï‚ § Shopping 1,500 items andRead MoreWalmart in China7398 Words   |  30 PagesImplications for the Operations StrategyWalmart Experience in China Ming-Ling Chuang1 James J. Donegan2 Michele W. Ganon3 Abstract Many multinational corporations are aware of the topology of the Chinese market, what they lack is an in-depth understanding and the skills needed for effective operations. The paper describes the challenges faced by walmart as it attempts to replicate in China their lean retailing successes elsewhere in the world. Walmart has so far failed to extend their oligopolistic dominanceRead MoreWalmart : Company Profile Case Study2534 Words   |  11 PagesWalmart: Company Profile This report looks, in detail at Walmart. A retail powerhouse which has been at the top of its game since not long after it was founded in 1962 (Jacques, 2002). The discount grocery retailer has evolved into what it is today by making careful and meticulous decisions to ensure it is highly profitable as well as affordable for all consumers. Sam Walton, the founder, is quoted to have said that his initial philosopher when he founded the company was that his undertaking shouldRead MoreSustainable Solutions11923 Words   |  48 PagesRunning head: SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS 1 Sustainable Solutions Paper Katherine Kem DBA Strategy Dr. Robert Hockin, Instructor February 21, 2010 Running head: SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS Sustainable Solutions Paper Walmart has some of the best supply chain methods in the market, and is working to become an industry leader in sustainability. 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The Amber Spyglass Chapter 15 The Forge Free Essays

string(263) " the rest of his life depended on what happened in that tiny triangle of metal, that point that searched out the gaps inside the atoms, and all his nerves trembled, sensing every flicker of every flame and the loosening of every atom in the lattice of the metal\." At that moment the Gallivespians, too, were talking about the knife. Having made a suspicious peace with Iorek Byrnison, they climbed back to their ledge to be out of the way, and as the crackle of flames rose and the snapping and roaring of the fire filled the air, Tialys said, â€Å"We must never leave his side. As soon as the knife is mended, we must keep closer than a shadow. We will write a custom essay sample on The Amber Spyglass Chapter 15 The Forge or any similar topic only for you Order Now † â€Å"He is too alert. He watches everywhere for us,† said Salmakia. â€Å"The girl is more trusting. I think we could win her around. She’s innocent, and she loves easily. We could work on her. I think we should do that, Tialys.† â€Å"But he has the knife. He is the one who can use it.† â€Å"He won’t go anywhere without her.† â€Å"But she has to follow him, if he has the knife. And I think that as soon as the knife’s intact again, they’ll use it to slip into another world, so as to get away from us. Did you see how he stopped her from speaking when she was going to say something more? They have some secret purpose, and it’s very different from what we want them to do.† â€Å"We’ll see. But you’re right, Tialys, I think. We must stay close to the boy at all costs.† They both watched with some skepticism as Iorek Byrnison laid out the tools in his improvised workshop. The mighty workers in the ordnance factories under Lord Asriel’s fortress, with their blast furnaces and rolling mills, their anbaric forges and hydraulic presses, would have laughed at the open fire, the stone hammer, the anvil consisting of a piece of Iorek’s armor. Nevertheless, the bear had taken the measure of the task, and in the certainty of his movements the little spies began to see some quality that muffled their scorn. When Lyra and Will came in with the bushes, Iorek directed them in placing branches carefully on the fire. He looked at each branch, turning it from side to side, and then told Will or Lyra to place it at such-and-such an angle, or to break off part and place it separately at the edge. The result was a fire of extraordinary ferocity, with all its energy concentrated at one side. By this time the heat in the cave was intense. Iorek continued to build the fire, and made the children take two more trips down the path to ensure that there was enough fuel for the whole operation. Then the bear turned over a small stone on the floor and told Lyra to find some more stones of the same kind. He said that those stones, when heated, gave off a gas that would surround the blade and keep the air from it, for if the hot metal came in contact with the air, it would absorb some and be weakened by it. Lyra set about searching, and with owl-eyed Pantalaimon’s help soon had a dozen or more stones to hand. Iorek told her how to place them, and where, and showed her exactly the kind of draft she should get moving, with a leafy branch, to make sure the gas flowed evenly over the work piece. Will was placed in charge of the fire, and Iorek spent several minutes directing him and making sure he understood the principles he was to use. So much depended on exact placement, and Iorek could not stop and correct each one; Will had to understand, and then he’d do it properly. Furthermore, he mustn’t expect the knife to look exactly the same when it was mended. It would be shorter, because each section of the blade would have to overlap the next by a little way so they could be forged together; and the surface would have oxidized a little, despite the stone-gas, so some of the play of color would be lost; and no doubt the handle would be charred. But the blade would be just as sharp, and it would work. So Will watched as the flames roared along the resinous twigs, and with streaming eyes and scorched hands he adjusted each fresh branch till the heat was focused as Iorek wanted it. Meanwhile, Iorek himself was grinding and hammering a fist-sized stone, having rejected several until he found one of the right weight. With massive blows he shaped it and smoothed it, the cordite smell of smashed rocks joining the smoke in the nostrils of the two spies, watching from high up. Even Pantalaimon was active, changing to a crow so he could flap his wings and make the fire burn faster. Eventually the hammer was formed to Iorek’s satisfaction, and he set the first two pieces of the blade of the subtle knife among the fierce-burning wood at the heart of the fire, and told Lyra to begin wafting the stone-gas over them. The bear watched, his long white face lurid in the glare, and Will saw the surface of the metal begin to glow red and then yellow and then white. Iorek was watching closely, his paw held ready to snatch the pieces out. After a few moments the metal changed again, and the surface became shiny and glistening, and sparks just like those from a firework sprayed up from it. Then Iorek moved. His right paw darted in and seized first one piece and then the other, holding them between the tips of his massive claws and placing them on the slab of iron that was the backplate of his armor. Will could smell the claws burning, but Iorek took no notice of that, and moving with extraordinary speed he adjusted the angle at which the pieces overlapped and then raised his left paw high and struck a blow with the rock hammer. The knife tip leapt on the rock under the massive blow. Will was thinking that the whole of the rest of his life depended on what happened in that tiny triangle of metal, that point that searched out the gaps inside the atoms, and all his nerves trembled, sensing every flicker of every flame and the loosening of every atom in the lattice of the metal. You read "The Amber Spyglass Chapter 15 The Forge" in category "Essay examples" Before this began, he had supposed that only a full-scale furnace, with the finest tools and equipment, could work on that blade; but now he saw that these were the finest tools, and that Iorek’s artistry had constructed the best furnace there could be. Iorek roared above the clangor, â€Å"Hold it still in your mind! You have to forge it, too! This is your task as much as mine!† Will felt his whole being quiver under the blows of the stone hammer in the bear’s fist. The second piece of the blade was heating, too, and Lyra’s leafy branch sent the hot gas along to bathe both pieces in its flow and keep out the iron-eating air. Will sensed it all and felt the atoms of the metal linking each to each across the fracture, forming new crystals again, strengthening and straightening themselves in the invisible lattice as the join came good. â€Å"The edge!† roared Iorek. â€Å"Hold the edge in line!† He meant with your mind, and Will did it instantly, sensing the minute snags and then the minute easement as the edges lined up perfectly. Then that join was made, and Iorek turned to the next piece. â€Å"A new stone,† he called to Lyra, who knocked the first one aside and placed a second on the spot to heat. Will checked the fuel and snapped a branch in two to direct the flames better, and Iorek began to work with the hammer once more. Will felt a new layer of complexity added to his task, because he had to hold the new piece in a precise relation with both the previous two, and he understood that only by doing that accurately could he help Iorek mend it. So the work continued. He had no idea how long it took; Lyra, for her part, found her arms aching, her eyes streaming, her skin scorched and red, and every bone in her body aching with fatigue; but still she placed each stone as Iorek had told her, and still the weary Pantalaimon raised his wings readily and beat them over the flames. When it came to the final join, Will’s head was ringing, and he was so exhausted by the intellectual effort he could barely lift the next branch onto the fire. He had to understand every connection, or the knife would not hold together. And when it came to the most complex one, the last, which would affix the nearly finished blade onto the small part remaining at the handle – if he couldn’t hold it in his full consciousness together with all the others, then the knife would simply fall apart as if Iorek had never begun. The bear sensed this, too, and paused before he began heating the last piece. He looked at Will, and in his eyes Will could see nothing, no expression, just a bottomless black brilliance. Nevertheless, he understood: this was work, and it was hard, but they were equal to it, all of them. That was enough for Will, so he turned back to the fire and sent his imagination out to the broken end of the haft, and braced himself for the last and fiercest part of the task. So he and Iorek and Lyra together forged the knife, and how long the final join took he had no idea; but when Iorek had struck the final blow, and Will had felt the final tiny settling as the atoms connected across the break, Will sank down onto the floor of the cave and let exhaustion possess him. Lyra nearby was in the same state, her eyes glassy and red-rimmed, her hair full of soot and smoke; and Iorek himself stood heavy-headed, his fur singed in several places, dark streaks of ash marking its rich cream-white. Tialys and Salmakia had slept in turns, one of them always alert. Now she was awake and he was sleeping, but as the blade cooled from red to gray and finally to silver, and as Will reached out for the handle, she woke her partner with a hand on his shoulder. He was alert at once. But Will didn’t touch the knife: he held his palm close by, and the heat was still too great for his hand. The spies relaxed on the rocky shelf as Iorek said to Will: â€Å"Come outside.† Then he said to Lyra: â€Å"Stay here, and don’t touch the knife.† Lyra sat close to the anvil, where the knife lay cooling, and Iorek told her to bank the fire up and not let it burn down: there was a final operation yet. Will followed the great bear out onto the dark mountainside. The cold was bitter and instantaneous, after the inferno in the cave. â€Å"They should not have made that knife,† said Iorek, after they had walked a little way. â€Å"Maybe I should not have mended it. I’m troubled, and I have never been troubled before, never in doubt. Now I am full of doubt. Doubt is a human thing, not a bear thing. If I am becoming human, something’s wrong, something’s bad. And I’ve made it worse.† â€Å"But when the first bear made the first piece of armor, wasn’t that bad, too, in the same way?† Iorek was silent. They walked on till they came to a big drift of snow, and Iorek lay in it and rolled this way and that, sending flurries of snow up into the dark air, so that it looked as if he himself were made of snow, he was the personification of all the snow in the world. When he was finished, he rolled over and stood up and shook himself vigorously, and then, seeing Will still waiting for an answer to his question, said: â€Å"Yes, I think it might have been, too. But before that first armored bear, there were no others. We know of nothing before that. That was when custom began. We know our customs, and they are firm and solid and we follow them without change. Bear nature is weak without custom, as bear flesh is unprotected without armor. â€Å"But I think I have stepped outside bear nature in mending this knife. I think I’ve been as foolish as Iofur Rakinson. Time will tell. But I am uncertain and doubtful. Now you must tell me: why did the knife break?† Will rubbed his aching head with both hands. â€Å"The woman looked at me and I thought she had the face of my mother,† he said, trying to recollect the experience with all the honesty he had. â€Å"And the knife came up against something it couldn’t cut, and because my mind was pushing it through and forcing it back both at the same time, it snapped. That’s what I think. The woman knew what she was doing, I’m sure. She’s very clever.† â€Å"When you talk of the knife, you talk of your mother and father.† â€Å"Do I? Yes†¦ I suppose I do.† â€Å"What are you going to do with it?† â€Å"I don’t know.† Suddenly Iorek lunged at Will and cuffed him hard with his left paw: so hard that Will fell half-stunned into the snow and tumbled over and over until he ended some way down the slope with his head ringing. Iorek came down slowly to where Will was struggling up, and said, â€Å"Answer me truthfully.† Will was tempted to say, â€Å"You wouldn’t have done that if I’d had the knife in my hand.† But he knew that Iorek knew that, and knew that he knew it, and that it would be discourteous and stupid to say it; but he was tempted, all the same. He held his tongue until he was standing upright, facing Iorek directly. â€Å"I said I don’t know,† he said, trying hard to keep his voice calm, â€Å"because I haven’t looked clearly at what it is that I’m going to do. At what it means. It frightens me. And it frightens Lyra, too. Anyway, I agreed as soon as I heard what she said.† â€Å"And what was that?† â€Å"We want to go down to the land of the dead and talk to the ghost of Lyra’s friend Roger, the one who got killed on Svalbard. And if there really is a world of the dead, then my father will be there, too, and if we can talk to ghosts, I want to talk to him. â€Å"But I’m divided, I’m pulled apart, because also I want to go back and look after my mother, because I could, and also the angel Balthamos told me I should go to Lord Asriel and offer the knife to him, and I think maybe he was right as well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"He fled,† said the bear. â€Å"He wasn’t a warrior. He did as much as he could, and then he couldn’t do any more. He wasn’t the only one to be afraid; I’m afraid, too. So I have to think it through. Maybe sometimes we don’t do the right thing because the wrong thing looks more dangerous, and we don’t want to look scared, so we go and do the wrong thing just because it’s dangerous. We’re more concerned with not looking scared than with judging right. It’s very hard. That’s why I didn’t answer you.† â€Å"I see,† said the bear. They stood in silence for what felt like a long time, especially to Will, who had little protection from the bitter cold. But Iorek hadn’t finished yet, and Will was still weak and dizzy from the blow, and didn’t quite trust his feet, so they stayed where they were. â€Å"Well, I have compromised myself in many ways,† said the bear-king. â€Å"It may be that in helping you I have brought final destruction on my kingdom. And it may be that I have not, and that destruction was coming anyway; maybe I have held it off. So I am troubled, having to do un-bearlike deeds and speculate and doubt like a human. â€Å"And I shall tell you one thing. You know it already, but you don’t want to, which is why I tell you openly, so that you don’t mistake it. If you want to succeed in this task, you must no longer think about your mother. You must put her aside. If your mind is divided, the knife will break. â€Å"Now I’m going to say farewell to Lyra. You must wait in the cave; those two spies will not let you out of their sight, and I do not want them listening when I speak to her.† Will had no words, though his breast and his throat were full. He managed to say, â€Å"Thank you, Iorek Byrnison,† but that was all he could say. He walked with Iorek up the slope toward the cave, where the fire glow still shone warmly in the vast surrounding dark. There Iorek carried out the last process in the mending of the subtle knife. He laid it among the brighter cinders until the blade was glowing, and Will and Lyra saw a hundred colors swirling in the smoky depths of the metal, and when he judged the moment was right, Iorek told Will to take it and plunge it directly into the snow that had drifted outside. The rosewood handle was charred and scorched, but Will wrapped his hand in several folds of a shirt and did as Iorek told him. In the hiss and flare of steam, he felt the atoms finally settle together, and he knew that the knife was as keen as before, the point as infinitely rare. But it did look different. It was shorter, and much less elegant, and there was a dull silver surface over each of the joins. It looked ugly now; it looked like what it was, wounded. When it was cool enough, he packed it away in the rucksack and sat, ignoring the spies, to wait for Lyra to come back. Iorek had taken her a little farther up the slope, to a point out of sight of the cave, and there he had let her sit cradled in the shelter of his great arms, with Pantalaimon nestling mouse-formed at her breast. Iorek bent his head over her and nuzzled at her scorched and smoky hands. Without a word he began to lick them clean; his tongue was soothing on the burns, and she felt as safe as she had ever felt in her life. But when her hands were free of soot and dirt, Iorek spoke. She felt his voice vibrate against her back. â€Å"Lyra Silvertongue, what is this plan to visit the dead?† â€Å"It came to me in a dream, Iorek. I saw Roger’s ghost, and I knew he was calling to me†¦ You remember Roger. Well, after we left you, he was killed, and it was my fault, at least I felt it was. And I think I should just finish what I began, that’s all: I should go and say sorry, and if I can, I should rescue him from there. If Will can open a way to the world of the dead, then we must do it.† â€Å"Can is not the same as must.† â€Å"But if you must and you can, then there’s no excuse.† â€Å"While you are alive, your business is with life.† â€Å"No, Iorek,† she said gently, â€Å"our business is to keep promises, no matter how difficult they are. You know, secretly, I’m deadly scared. And I wish I’d never had that dream, and I wish Will hadn’t thought of using the knife to go there. But we did, so we can’t get out of it.† Lyra felt Pantalaimon trembling and stroked him with her sore hands. â€Å"We don’t know how to get there, though,† she went on. â€Å"We won’t know anything till we try. What are you going to do, Iorek?† â€Å"I’m going back north, with my people. We can’t live in the mountains. Even the snow is different. I thought we could live here, but we can live more easily in the sea, even if it is warm. That was worth learning. And besides, I think we will be needed. I can feel war, Lyra Silvertongue; I can smell it; I can hear it. I spoke to Serafina Pekkala before I came this way, and she told me she was going to Lord Faa and the gyptians. If there is war, we shall be needed.† Lyra sat up, excited at hearing the names of her old friends. But Iorek hadn’t finished. He went on: â€Å"If you do not find a way out of the world of the dead, we shall not meet again, because I have no ghost. My body will remain on the earth, and then become part of it. But if it turns out that you and I both survive, then you will always be a welcome and honored visitor to Svalbard; and the same is true of Will. Has he told you what happened when we met?† â€Å"No,† said Lyra, â€Å"except that it was by a river.† â€Å"He outfaced me. I thought no one could ever do that, but this half-grown boy was too daring for me, and too clever. I am not happy that you should do what you plan, but there is no one I would trust to go with you except that boy. You are worthy of each other. Go well, Lyra Silvertongue, my dear friend.† She reached up and put her arms around his neck, and pressed her face into his fur, unable to speak. After a minute he stood up gently and disengaged her arms, and then he turned and walked silently away into the dark. Lyra thought his outline was lost almost at once against the pallor of the snow-covered ground, but it might have been that her eyes were full of tears. When Will heard her footsteps on the path, he looked at the spies and said, â€Å"Don’t you move. Look – here’s the knife – I’m not going to use it. Stay here.† He went outside and found Lyra standing still, weeping, with Pantalaimon as a wolf raising his face to the black sky. She was quite silent. The only light came from the pale reflection in the snowbank of the remains of the fire, and that, in turn, was reflected from her wet cheeks, and her tears found their own reflection in Will’s eyes, and so those photons wove the two children together in a silent web. â€Å"I love him so much, Will!† she managed to whisper shakily. â€Å"And he looked old! He looked hungry and old and sad†¦ Is it all coming onto us now, Will? We can’t rely on anyone else now, can we†¦ It’s just us. But we en’t old enough yet. We’re only young†¦ We’re too young†¦ If poor Mr. Scoresby’s dead and Iorek’s old†¦It’s all coming onto us, what’s got to be done.† â€Å"We can do it,† he said. â€Å"I’m not going to look back anymore. We can do it. But we’ve got to sleep now, and if we stay in this world, those gyropter things might come, the ones the spies sent for†¦ I’m going to cut through now and we’ll find another world to sleep in, and if the spies come with us, that’s too bad; we’ll have to get rid of them another time.† â€Å"Yes,† she said, and sniffed and wiped the back of her hand across her nose and rubbed her eyes with both palms. â€Å"Let’s do that. You sure the knife will work? You tested it?† â€Å"I know it’ll work.† With Pantalaimon tiger-formed to deter the spies, they hoped, Will and Lyra went back and picked up their rucksacks. â€Å"What are you doing?† said Salmakia. â€Å"Going into another world,† said Will, taking out the knife. It felt like being whole again; he hadn’t realized how much he loved it. â€Å"But you must wait for Lord Asriel’s gyropters,† said Tialys, his voice hard. â€Å"We’re not going to,† said Will. â€Å"If you come near the knife, I’ll kill you. Come through with us if you must, but you can’t make us stay here. We’re leaving.† â€Å"You lied!† â€Å"No,† said Lyra, â€Å"I lied. Will doesn’t lie. You didn’t think of that.† â€Å"But where are you going?† Will didn’t answer. He felt forward in the dim air and cut an opening. Salmakia said, â€Å"This is a mistake. You should realize that, and listen to us. You haven’t thought†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yes, we have,† said Will, â€Å"we’ve thought hard, and we’ll tell you what we’ve thought tomorrow. You can come where we’re going, or you can go back to Lord Asriel.† The window opened onto the world into which he had escaped with Baruch and Balthamos, and where he’d slept safely: the warm endless beach with the fernlike trees behind the dunes. He said: â€Å"Here – we’ll sleep here – this’ll do.† He let them through and closed it behind them at once. While he and Lyra lay down where they were, exhausted, the Lady Salmakia kept watch, and the Chevalier opened his lodestone resonator and began to play a message into the dark. How to cite The Amber Spyglass Chapter 15 The Forge, Essay examples

My Unpredictable Journey Essay Example For Students

My Unpredictable Journey Essay Growing up, I had a few dreams of what I would want my adult life to be like. Of course, many have failed. Never was I someone to give up though but sometimes things just do not work out the way I had planned them to. If there is one thing I learned, it is for me not stick to just what I had planned because in times life gives me different ways of accomplishing my goals and they could be better than what I had pictured, as long as I am still getting to where I want to be. I have done so much in my life to get where I am right now, and I do not regret any of it. Everything I have gone through has just made me who I am. The strong independent individual I have become. It is important for me to have something I want to achieve, not only for myself, but for my family. I came from an unfortunate Mexican family, struggling to get by. It was tough, and I know I was little and do not remember much, but there is one thing I will always remember: Seeing the pain my mom went through, the struggle she went through trying to provide for her family. She was only seventeen and already set out on her own with a family. Selling fruit at the swap meet, and cleaning family members’ homes for some extra cash. After a while she took a friend’s advice and my mother and I moved to Las Vegas where she managed to find a job quickly and afford an apartment. Because of my past, I have some high standards for myself. I want to show my mom that all the hard work she did when she was young was worth it. I want to show her she raised a well-educated, successful woman, who never gives up no matter what the conditions are, just like her. Thinking back, I have set a lot of goals for myself. Some are short term, and some long term. Most of the goals I had set for myself fell apart, and some until this day I am still striving to accomplish. For example, some things I wanted to achieve but I could not accomplish are going to UNLV for nursing, purchasing my own car, and obtaining FASFA money. Now, these other things I am proud I have accomplished them. For example, I have a full time job; printing department manager at office depot, I was the first in my family to graduate High School and go to college, I attended a magnet High School and was in a medical program and graduated with an EMT-Basic certification. Now, like I had mentioned before, I did have some setbacks thus not accomplishing all the goals I had set for myself. I can only move forward though, which is what I did. All I had to do was either make new goals or justify the current ones I had to go along with what life had thrown at me. When I was young, I had always dreamed of becoming a nurse and helping those in need. Until this day I still dream of becoming a nurse and I am closer than ever, at least I like to think I am. The major setback in my life was that I got pregnant at Seventeen and had my first child my senior year of high school. I was alone, parents did not support me as much in the beginning and I was going through it alone. It was not until my son was about two months and I started taking one college class that my mother and father stepped in and helped. I say that was the worst thing to go through but it made me strong. I have had quite a few goals for myself; everyone should. But that is just my opinion. Sometimes the people who go through the worst come out doing just fine. .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3 , .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3 .postImageUrl , .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3 , .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3:hover , .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3:visited , .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3:active { border:0!important; } .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3:active , .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3 .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf58a9ff655ba76c1ffd53b5cbb07e8f3:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Cardinal Richelieu EssayIt took the hardest times in my life to make me stronger than I thought I was. I did not always have confidence in myself I felt and thought, â€Å"well, if no one from my family has been able to pass high school then what makes me think I will, and move onto college? † Eventually I grew out of that and look at me now, I set goals for myself and believed I could accomplish them, and now I am never doubting myself in anything. I do everything for my son, he is my only motivation and why I believe I can do it, and need to do it.

Complexities Of Farming Essays - Land Management,

Complexities Of Farming The complexion of farming is changing radically. The land cannot support as many farm families as it did in an earlier time. Small farms are being consolidated into larger ones. General farms, with several kinds of crops and a barnyard of farm animals, are yielding to specialty farms that concentrate on a single major crop. Family farms are declining; corporate farms are increasing. Efficiency is growing. Crops are changing. Techniques are improving. Just as the train, tractor, truck, and airplane changed farm life in the past, the computer and robotics are expected to change farm life in the future (AOL, 1997). And the outcome of this is that during the early 1980's and continuing, the farmer's source of income is indeed being stripped from him. What was once the only means of survival for these farmers, has now become distant memory. Farming techniques are undergoing tremendous changes. Farming will surely become more efficient throughout the world. It will also become more scientific and, in the process perhaps lose some of its romance. People who formerly lived on farms and have fond memories of their rural childhood will barely recognize the new farms. For farmers of the future, it will not be enough to know how to drive a tractor and plow a straight furrow. Farmers must change with the industry, as it becomes increasingly more sophisticated. The farmer must become more of a specialist to compete in the marketplace. This is a reason why many of today's farm families are on a decline; that is, that today's farmers are not able to purchase the latest machinery or equipment, for they have to be cautious about where they put their money. The 1980's sometimes referred to as the farm crisis decade of the 1980's, while the 1970's were referred to as the boom years. It was in this time period that farms expanded in si ze and farm numbers dropped. But in the 1980's, two unusual things happened. First, older farmers seemed to stay in farming longer. Some who might have retired didn't want to sell their land in a depressed market, unless forced by a lender. Second, some middle aged farm families with children who might succeed them quit, or discourage their children from pursuing a farming career. Other younger farmers who had recently borrowed to start farming or to expand their businesses were caught in the interest rate squeeze and forced out of business (Looker 1996, pp9). This fed the decline of family farms, for children, who grew up on farms, did not wish to take upon a career as a farmer, but venture into the city looking for better work and wages, effects that the farm life couldn't give. The decline of the family farm has been heralded for decades, as growing numbers of people moved from the country top the city, and then to the suburbs. According to an article in the USA Today, a 32-year-old dairy farmer from Fort Plain, N.Y., says You can get an 8 to 5 job, make a good living and still have (spare) time, and in the dairy business, there are huge cycles in prices. Just about the time you've caught up from a down cycle, another one comes along. This illustrates why young people are leaving the farm in search for better living conditions and money. Both the farmers and the academic experts talk about the key role of money in the decline of the family farm. The evolution towards larger farms and more sophisticated equipment puts the initial investment far out of reach for most young people. It's not a small business anymore, says John Scott, farm management and land economics professor at the University of Illinois-Champaign. And because farming is risky dependant on the weather, at the mercy of crop and livestock diseases and victim of wild price swings-banks are unwilling to lend money to finance startup operations, especially after the disastrous defaults of the late 1970's and early 1980's, when high interest rate plowed under many farms and left lender without uncorrectable debts. (USA Today) This shows us how hard it is for farmers to receive credit, to keep the operation of a farm working. And without this credit, many

Auditory Learning Strategies and Characteristics

Auditory Learning Strategies and Characteristics Do you prefer lectures over long reading assignments? Are you great at following verbal directions? Do you benefit from in-class discussions and receive great marks for class participation? If so, you may be an auditory learner. Auditory learning is one of the  three learning styles  established by the VAK model of learning. In essence, auditory learners retain information best when it is presented through sound and speech. Auditory learners generally remember what their teacher says and readily participate in class. They are good listeners and often very social, which means they can sometimes get distracted from the lesson by everything else going on in the classroom. Auditory learning methods range from studying with voice recordings to memorizing vocabulary words by inventing short songs. Strengths of Auditory Learners From kindergarten to calculus class, auditory learners will be some of the most engaged and responsive members of any classroom. Here are some of the strengths that will help them achieve success in the classroom: Good at explaining ideas out loudKnack for understanding changes in tone of voiceSkilled at oral reports and class presentationsUnafraid to speak up in classFollows verbal directions wellEffective member of study groupsGifted storytellerAble to work through complex problems by talking out loud Auditory Learning Strategies Those with an auditory learning style like to speak and hear others speak in order to learn, but they may have trouble reading silently or staying engaged in a completely quiet classroom. If you are an auditory learner, try these strategies to improve your learning experience. Find a study buddy. Team up with a study group or a reliable study partner and quiz each other on the content. Verbally reinforcing the information will help you retain it, especially if you have to memorize lots of details.Record class lectures. Ask your instructors permission to create audio recordings of class lectures. During class, focus your brain power on listening closely to the lecture. Youll process the information much better this way than if you try to jot down every word the teacher says. Later, you can listen back to the recording and take notes on the most important information.Sit near the front of the room. Find a spot in the front row so that you can hear every word of the lecture.Listen to classical music. Listen to lyric-free music while you study. (Music with lyrics may be too distracting.)Participate in class discussions as much as possible. Talking about your ideas and voicing your questions will increase your understanding of the material. Encourage other stud ents when they speak so that others feel just as comfortable as you do speaking in front of a group.   Record yourself reading key terms and their definitions out loud. Then, listen to the recording while you walk to class, exercise, or get ready for bed.Repeat facts with your eyes closed. This technique will help you focus your attention on the auditory process, rather than any other visual stimuli that might be in front of you.Read assignments out loud. If youre given a homework assignment that involves reading a lengthy chapter, dont feel like youre trapped into a silent reading session. Instead, curl up in your room or another study space and read aloud to yourself. (You can even make it interesting by using goofy voices.) Auditory Learning Tips for Teachers Auditory learners need to listen, speak, and interact in order to learn. They are often social butterflies. Help the auditory learners in your class put their gift of gab to good use with these teaching strategies. Call on auditory learners to answer questions.Lead class discussions and reward class participation.During lectures, ask auditory learners to repeat ideas in their own words.Record your lectures so that auditory learners can listen to them more than once.Allow any struggling auditory learner to take an oral exam instead of a written one.Create lesson plans that include a social element, such as paired readings, group work, experiments, projects, and performances.Modulate your vocal tone, inflection, and body language during lectures.Allow students with an auditory learning style to listen to approved music during silent study periods.

Problem Solution Global Communications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Problem Solution Global Communications - Essay Example Global communications is one of the many aching companies within the telecommunications industry. Too much competition within the industry has lowered GC stock values by more than 50%. GC's senior leader team has developed a new strategic globalization plan to realize growth and profitability. The plan would introduce new services, making new alliances and implying cost cutting measures. Cutting cost would include laying off huge numbers of employees and hiring others from India and Ireland. The Technologies workers union has tried to work with GC to face its financial problems. They reduced 20% of employee's education and health benefits. They expected GC to keep all of its employees and try to improve things for them in the future. CG never involved the union towards formulating its new strategic plan. The union was shocked that they were never involved in suggesting alternatives. Laying off huge numbers of employees and using thousands of foreign employees will set a precedent for the whole industry. The union president decided to utilize all of its resources to stop GC's plan and help huge numbers of employees save their jobs. World wide competition within the telecommunication industry has lead to diminished returns. GC is under tremendous economic pressure as its stock has depreciated more than 50% in the last three years. The senior leader team of CG ... World wide competition within the telecommunication industry has lead to diminished returns. GC is under tremendous economic pressure as its stock has depreciated more than 50% in the last three years. The senior leader team of CG has put together a strategic plan to save the company and become a global corporation. They decided to cut costs by outsourcing small business technical centers to low cost more technical sophisticated centers in India and Ireland. They also decided to compete in local markets and step up towards globalization. The downside of their plan was the huge number of employees that would be laid off or relocated with salary cuts. They decided to soften the blow of their plan by explaining to the employees and the unions the challenges they face. They decided to bring career counselors to help laid off employees with their future jobs. They also decided to create a new set of values to reflect today's realities. They aimed at communicating their new plan in a way that would address the union and employees concerns. The workers union reduced 20% of employee's education and health benefits . The union accepted to give up these major benefits to enable GC to cope with its financial difficulties and survive in its competitive environment. The union hoped that by giving up such benefits, CG would retain its current body of employees and would make things better in the future. The union considers GC's new plan unethical as it manipulate around current contract conditions. GC excluded inputs from the union and employees while formulating its new plan. They gave all reasons for the union to reject their plan. The union president declared that he opposes CG's new strategic plan. He threatened to do all

Is the death penalty effective Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Is the death penalty effective - Essay Example The society is one which requires deeply and desperately at all times, a capital punishment. If not for the punishment, there would have been a much higher level of murders across the world. Without the capital punishment, the population would tend to use, ‘mob mentality’ in situations where the emotions get out of hand. There are a number of cases, both simple as well as more intense where people have lost their lives and it is important to note that without the prevalence of a death penalty, there would not be any deterrent to murder. If a person was simply to be locked in jail with complete access to food, clothes, and shelter without having to earn it, then people would take this option and would never worry about murdering anyone (Davis, 1998). In simple terms, our society is filed with a number of criminals and is not civilized enough to manage without a clear set down deterrent for the crime. Hence, it is necessary for the death penalty to be applied to ensure a s afer society. A number of experts have also pointed their views to the ineffectiveness of the death penalties and have also brought out the fact that in spite of the death penalties that are being used within the countries, there are still a number of people who tend to do the crime. The process of giving the death penalty is a long one with the criminals living comfortably in prison and this to a great extent tends to reduce the effectiveness of a death penalty. As a deterrent, it is important that the criminals are not given a chance and are executed right away to make the punishment a successful one (Dieter, 1998). However this clearly is not possible considering the number of laws and regulations that need to be considered before giving a person a death sentence, thereby making this method ineffective and inefficient. I personally believe that the death penalties are a very effective method of conducting the society and criminals that have committed murder. This is mainly because, the

What precisely is HRM and what evidence is there to support the Essay - 2

What precisely is HRM and what evidence is there to support the contention that it is linked in some way to improvements in a firms performance - Essay Example This field of management looks into the most effective utilisation of the employees to achieve organisational and individual goals. An important feature of this human resource management is that it is people oriented. It looks into the welfare of the employees and evolve the best arrangement for the employee and the organisation such that the organisational goals are met. It is a line responsibility. The human resource managers not only gives advice to their department regarding the issues relating to human resources but also to other departments. HRM is common to all organisations. It is not only a feature of the industrial world but it is hugely relevant in the fields of service, sports organisations, religious organisation, social organisations etc. Since HRM is mainly focussed on the issues relating to the people and due to the varying nature of the people the job of the human resource managers becomes a challenging task. It is a development oriented integrated approach. It not only tries to attain the individual goals of the employees but also the organisation and the society as a whole. (Randhawa, 2007) HRM is the integral part of the management activity. The objective of the HRM is to see the effectiveness and the efficiency of the organisation. This they can do by helping the organisation to reach its goals, employ the skills and ability of the work force efficiently, to provide the organisation with well trained employees, look after the employee’s job contentment and self actualisation. The most important is the communication with the employees so that the employees are aware of the various policies undertaken by the management. (Randhawa, 2007) There are several formal

International Hrm And Comparative Hrm Management Essay

International Hrm And Comparative Hrm Management Essay The growth in international trade and globalisation has encouraged firms to expand their operations worldwide, which has resulted in the emergence of new markets such as China, India, South East Asia and Latin America. This trend has also been accompanied by an increased level of competition amongst firms at both national and international level. The challenge of managing a workforce worldwide with different cross-cultural skills, competencies and demographic characteristics means that managers can no longer rely on traditional HRM models developed for Anglo-Saxon countries. Many firms underestimate the complexities involved in international operations, and there is some evidence to suggest that business failures in the international arena may often be linked to poor management of human resources (Desatnick Bennett, 1978). Western academics and practitioners have thus moved from traditional international HRM issues to the area of comparative HRM. In order to maximize cross-national management capabilities, there is need to understand how employees in different national settings respond to similar concepts within their particular functions. This essay has been structured as follows. In the next section, I will examine the difference between international and comparative HRM. I will then look at the way comparative HRM assist academics and practitioners appreciate the differences in the strategies and processes in MNCs. A conclusion is then presented. Difference between international and comparative HRM International HRM has been defined as HRM issues, functions, policies and practices that result from the strategic activities of MNEs (Scullion, 1995). IHRM deals principally with issues and problems associated with the globalisation of capitalism. It involves the same elements as domestic HRM but is more complex to manage, in terms of the diversity of national contexts and types of workers. The emphasis is on the MNCs ability to attract, develop and deploy talented employees in a multinational setting and to get them to work effectively despite differences in culture, language and locations. International HRM tends to mitigate the impact of national culture and national employment practice against corporate culture and practices. Comparative HRM, on the other hand, is a systematic method of investigation that seeks to explain the patterns and variations encountered in cross-national HRM rather than simply describe HRM institutions and practices in different societies. According to comparative HRM literature, different national business systems arise from differences in specific historical, cultural and institutional heritage in certain countries. Comparative differences occur due to decisive historical events such as the process of industrialisation or due to the legacy of pre-modern forms of social organisation. Hofstedes (1980) adopted the culturalist perspective where he argued that national business styles emerge due to ingrained cultural attitudes and mental schemas. He described culture under five dimensions which are power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation. Other researchers claim that HR management practices differ between nations due to the presence of specifically national institutions such as education, banking services or state/legal support. In what ways (if at all) does an understanding of comparative HRM assist academics and HR practitioners appreciate the difference in the strategies and processes in MNCs which are often termed as International HRM? The contrasted view to a divergence point mentioned above is that some academics claim that with HRM policies and practices are becoming universal (tending more towards the dominant American models) and that country-of-origin effects are no longer relevant. The pressure to build standardised operations internationally is strongest in sectors where competition is highly internationalised and where firms compete on the basis of a similar product or service across countries such as in cars and fast foods. They have put forward several reasons to explain this trend. Firstly, all MNCs operate in one global market and therefore have to respond to the same environmental pressures such as globalisation and technology, the growth in international trade and the move towards an internationally-integrated financial system. Secondly, the widespread practice of benchmarking best practice in terms of cost, quality and productivity may also have contributed to convergence of international HRM models for e.g. Japanese style lean-production system in the 1980s and 1990s. Moreover, these pressures towards convergence stem in part from the influence of MNCs themselves through their ability to transfer practices across borders and erode country-of-origin effects. Finally, the formation and development of like-minded international cadres mostly from American or European business schools may have contributed to homogenised international HRM policies and practices. Since the early 1990s, the international HRM literature has been dominated by models and typologies aimed at identifying how international HR fits with organisational strategy. Bartlett and Ghoshal (1998) argue that the main issue for all multinational companies is the need to trade-off the advantages global efficiency namely the coordination of its operations to achieve economies of scale and scope as opposed to the need to differentiate its products and services to meet the local demands. They also identified a third pressure, namely worldwide innovation and learning, whereby firms are encouraged to support innovation and learning across their network of subsidiaries rather than simply relying on research and development at the headquarters. MNEs then follow the appropriate HRM policies and practices according to the structure of the organisation, the competitive strategy chosen or stage of corporate evolution reached. Below, the Taylors (1996) model of strategic international HRM has been described. Exportive This is essentially a model where the HQ management takes home country management approach and try to implement them in their foreign subsidiaries in order to achieve economies of scale. In this model, there is a system of hierarchy and a centralised control. This is especially useful in instances of uncertain political environment and high risks demanding greater control from corporate parents. Given this pattern of centralisation, there is a considerable amount of forward policy transfer and less reverse transfer from subsidiaries to the HQ, i.e. they rely mainly on the technical know-how of the parent company. Global firms offer products or services that are standardised to enable production to be carried in a cost-efficient way. Their subsidiaries are not subject to rigid control except over the quality and the presentation of the product or service. This structure is normally associated with the American firms with their formalised, bureaucratic control and a dominant finance sy stem to internalise risks. Adaptive Differences in the host environment demands and conditions mean that overseas subsidiaries have to operate independently. This is common where departing from established practices in host environments is unlawful. For example, in some Germany, there is a legal obligation to negotiate with employee representatives concerning major organisational changes. In other cases, transferring practices may be legal but would go against traditional practices at the risk of losing goodwill from staff. Firms may decide to forgo HQ control if there is the possibility to exploit most efficiently the local labour markers. For example, MNCs which origin from high-cost highly regulated economies such as Germany may well choose not to transfer important elements of their HR systems such as collective bargaining or apprenticeship if they move to lower wage, lightly regulated economies such as China. Integrative It is also argued that the more management processes and activities can be integrated across geographical boundaries, the easier it is to share resources and knowledge. They can identify and best use the skill and management talent that exists across the MNC network allowing for both global integration and local differentiation. As mentioned previously, international HRM processes consist of the same activities as domestic HRM but applied in an international context. These include an accurate human resource planning to ensure that the MNCs have the right people at the right place around the world, good staffing policies that capitalise on the world-wide expertise of expatriates and locals, performance appraisals that fit with the competitive strategies of the HQ, adequate training and development to ensure that expatriates do not suffer from culture shock and compensation policies that are strategically and culturally relevant. The focus in international HRM strategy is how MNEs coordinate their geographically dispersed operations strengthening the organisational culture, promoting commitment and encouraging willingness in employees to act in the interests of the firm. Recruitment and selection of international managers Employees play a crucial role in sustaining and coordinating their geographically dispersed operations. The challenge is that of resourcing international operations with people of the right calibre. Traditionally, MNEs sent expatriates, i.e. a parent country national abroad to ensure that the policies and procedures set by the parent -company were being followed as well as to bring expertise to the local employees. However, the high number of expatriate failures has meant that more and more MNEs are turning to host country nationals to satisfy the international staffing needs. The prominent reason to explain international assignment failures was the inability of the expatriate or his family to cope with the culture shock. Researchers revealed that international business travellers faced problems in their personal lives and were victims of stress. Moreover, changes in legislative conditions affecting labour relations combined with security issues have made it more costly to use expatr iates at senior management positions at subsidiary level. The advantages of employing local nationals are that they are familiar with local markets, the local communities, the cultural setting and the local economy. They speak the local language and are culturally assimilated. They can take a long-view and contribute for a long period (as distinct from expatriates who are likely to take a short-term perspective). Expatriates are only used as technical troubleshooters and general management operatives. This means academics need to find the best ways to recruit and select local managers and help them cultivate a global perspective rather than a narrow outlook on how to conduct business in the local environment. International pay and reward and performance management The concept fair pay and reward is also subject to different interpretations depending on the national business system. Triandis (1998) differentiated between vertical cultures which accept hierarchy as given whereas horizontal cultures accept equality as given. In individualistic cultures, there are few rules and norms about correct behaviour and employees expect to be rewarded on their own merits and performance. Countries like US feature at the higher end of the individualistic spectrum. On the other hand, collectivism emerges in societies that have many rules and regulations about correct behaviour. In these societies, employees accept rewards or recognition on the basis of their seniority, efficiency and conformity with the organisational values rather than on the basis of their creativity or professionalism (Pascale and Athos, 1981). China is an example of a collectivist society. In such societies, rewards for individual performance or differentiating between employees are not acceptable. Indeed, the prevailing view is that it takes the contribution from everyone to achieve continuous improvement (kaizen) in Japanese enterprise. Singling one employee may cause him to lose face and consequently a loss of goodwill for the expatriate manager. Moreover, an understanding of the body language is vital for senior expatriate managers when providing feedbacks. While in individualistic society, it is perfectly acceptable for a subordinate to participate in a discussion with his senior, in collectivist societies such as India, disagreeing with ones supervisor is considered disrespectful. Furthermore, countries like Korea and Taiwan prefer more subtle ways of communicating feedbacks. Up-front reprimand or performance appraisal is likely to clash with the societys norms of harmony and the employees may view it as a personal affront. Understanding these local customs and mapping them across countries is an exciting field of study for researchers interested in global performance management systems. Training and development Training and development is vital to ensure that the workforce remains competent and flexible by developing the know-how thought necessary for success in the company and on the job. Scholars have highlighted the importance of national culture on training and development in terms of the hard and soft approach. The hard approach views employees in the organisation as a mere resource to achieve goals of the organisation while the soft approach views them more as valued assets capable of development (Tyson and Fell, 1986). This approach obviously influence the level amount of institutional (percentage GDP) spent on education. The German tradition adopts the soft approach and relies on formal apprenticeship, functional rotation and career path where technical expertise is gradually developed. UK which support the hard approach, believes that the individual is responsible for funding his own education and career advancement. This difference in national training and education systems will m ean that the skill and competence profile of the workers available on the labour market will vary from one country to another. Comparative studies have also shown that there are national differences in the way that managerial careers and management development are organised. Both Japan and France rely on elite recruitment, that is, future managers are decided at the point of entry based on their exceptional qualifications. This contrasts with the American belief of self-improvement where the philosophy is its never too late to change. Also, there are also noticeable differences in the teaching and learning style across countries. The idea of working in groups is more natural to Asian than individualist Anglo-Saxon managers. German and Swiss managers favour structured learning environments and coming to the right answers and are tolerant of confrontation. Asian countries, in contrast, are more concerned about status differences and may be unwilling to exchange ideas against their mentors. This will consequently impact on the format of delivering training for the practitioner, whereby the Asian employees might prefer lecture-type training and German and Swiss might prefer the seminar-type interpersonal interaction. Employment relations Finally, the type of employee relations pursued by the MNE depends principally on the national business systems characteristics of the both the home and host countries. According to Hall and Soskice (2001), there are two varieties of capitalism: Liberated market economies and coordinated market economies. In liberal market economies, firms coordinate their activities primarily via hierarchies and competitive market arrangements. Market relations are characterised by arms length exchange of goods and services and formal contracting. The demand and supply of goods and services are regulated though market mechanisms. There are comparatively fewer state controls. Nations like US and UK fall under this category of market. Consequently, US MNEs adopt a short-termist shareholder value mentality which means they are less willing to offer secure employment to their workers. Therefore, management of labour in the US mirrors the economic model of demand and supply, with market determined wages, hire-and-fire practice and many workers employed on a temporary basis. Employers in US are also more resistant to trade union organisations than in other developed industrial democracies and the legal support for trade union organisations and collective bargaining are relatively weak in the US compared to those in other countries. In contrast, in coordinated market economies, firms depend more heavily on non-market relationships to coordinate their activities with other economic actors. These non-market modes means there is greater reliance on private information inside networks and a greater reliance on collaborative relationships. Coordinated market economies are also characterised by a higher degree of government intervention. Countries such as France, Italy and China are examples of such economies. To illustrate, countries like Germany and Japan have adopted the long-termist approach whereby the interests of stakeholders are considered rather than simply of shareholders. This means these MNEs can offer its employees long-term employment. German trade unions are considered as a powerful stakeholder in the labour market and have the right of collective bargaining, i.e. employers need to so consult their workers before any major changes are carried out. To conclude, the basic purpose of examining human resource from a comparative and international perspective is that it contributes to an understanding of the extent to which there are differences between organisations and their subsidiaries located in different countries. The main difference between comparative and international HRM is comparative HRM seeks to explain the differences arising between different business systems while IHRM downplays the importance of host and home country differences. The greater cultural distance between home country and host country, the harder it will be for the MNCs to transfer home country philosophies and practices. This impact on the way HR practitioners have to implement their policies but opens up new avenues for research for the academics.

The End Of The World :: essays research papers

The End of the World Have you ever wondered when the world is going to come to a stop?. Have you ever stopped to think about all of those physic predictions that so many have made? I hope to provide an insight to the world of Armageddon. It is almost inevitable that the world and the human race end someday, but just how soon? Millennialists, people who believe that the world is going to end on a set date saying that the date will be May 5, 2000. If their calculations are right, then we only have 6 years to live. "Millennialisim has been present in just about every generation since the birth of Christ--and just about every crop of millennialists has been disappointed" 300 years ago, Nostradamas predicted all of the popes, correctly up until the year 2000. According to Nostradamas we only have 4 popes left until "A horrible fiery death to all humankind"Â © Further more he predicted the southern California' 92 earthquake, 300 years ago!!. Many people believe that the world will end in the form of world war III. Imagine if another Hitler came along, with the weapons that he could get a hold of biological, nuclear and chemical warfare, think how devastating it would be if that happened. People like Hitler are called anti-Christ. Nostradamas also predicted that the third anti-Christ (there have already been 2)would be born in 1970, his name unreleased to the public. Supposedly he will start world war III in Asia some where. "Millinnialism sells, and that's an indisputable fact. There's money in Armageddon" Deep in the heart of Arizona there are about 300 people who think that they will be prepared for Armageddon. The quaint town of misty falls has been preparing for Armageddon for 10 years now. They have build in total 40,000 sq. of underground bunkers lined with lead, some of them family size, some of them big enough to hold 75 people comfortably. The bunkers are stocked with enough food and other essentials to last for seven years. These troopers did not only pack food, they have educational computers, lots of condoms (What else do ya do?) "when doomsday doesn't come the millennialilst response is that the calculations need re-tuning and doomsday is still imminent"Ä Others who have had visions have seen great natural disasters, one man saw in a vision that he saw a map of the united states with half of it

Comprehensive Land Use Plan of Pasay City

COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN OF PASAY CITY SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE 2. 0 2. 1 THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT Geography, Location and Area The city of Pasay is located in the western coast of Metro Manila or the National Capital Region (NCR). It is bounded in the north by the city of Manila, in the northeast by the city of Makati and the municipality of Taguig, in the west by the city of Paranaque, and in the west by the Manila Bay (See Figure 2. 1). The city is located approximately at latitude 14? 32†² and longitude 121? 00†². In terms of area, Pasay is the third smallest political subdivision among the cities and municipalities of NCR.The area distribution of the city per Barangay is shown in Table 2. 1. Table 2. 1 Area Distribution (in Hectares) Brgy. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 48 Area 1. 48 4. 37 1. 84 2. 89 1. 53 1. 47 2. 58 1. 94 1. 43 2. 99 1. 82 1. 89 13. 95 2. 48 3. 61 1. 3 0 1. 69 4. 61 1. 10 2. 25 1. 78 0. 56 4. 14 2. 44 2. 16 1. 86 1. 90 3. 82 1. 88 1. 18 2. 80 2. 97 5. 88 2. 93 3. 56 4. 43 4. 56 8. 40 5. 53 5. 53 4. 20 2. 66 1. 69 5. 94 2. 73 3. 90 1. 80 Percent to Total (%) 0. 08 0. 24 0. 10 0. 16 0. 08 0. 08 0. 14 0. 11 0. 08 0. 17 0. 10 0. 10 0. 7 0. 14 0. 20 0. 07 0. 09 0. 26 0. 06 0. 12 0. 10 0. 03 0. 23 0. 14 0. 12 0. 10 0. 11 0. 21 0. 10 0. 07 0. 16 0. 16 0. 33 0. 16 0. 20 0. 25 0. 25 0. 47 0. 31 0. 31 0. 23 0. 15 0. 09 0. 33 0. 15 0. 22 0. 10 Brgy. 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 98 Area 2. 26 2. 37 1. 01 1. 94 2. 25 1. 01 0. 91 4. 31 3. 79 3. 55 0. 40 0. 49 2. 18 1. 15 4. 45 2. 81 1. 83 1. 56 1. 24 6. 12 1. 02 1. 47 6. 06 3. 30 9. 34 50. 45 4. 22 3. 33 4. 20 2. 64 1. 62 0. 71 2. 11 1. 31 3. 88 1. 56 1. 22 3. 19 1. 24 2. 00 1. 73 2. 28 2. 79 2. 91 2. 51 2. 26 4. 9 Percent to Total (%) 0. 13 0. 13 0. 06 0. 11 0. 12 0. 06 0. 05 0. 24 0. 2 1 0. 20 0. 02 0. 03 0. 12 0. 06 0. 25 0. 16 0. 10 0. 09 0. 07 0. 34 0. 06 0. 08 0. 34 0. 18 0. 52 2. 79 0. 23 0. 18 0. 23 0. 15 0. 09 0. 04 0. 12 0. 07 0. 22 0. 09 0. 07 0. 18 0. 07 0. 11 0. 10 0. 13 0. 15 0. 16 0. 14 0. 13 0. 24 Brgy. 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 148 Area 1. 09 1. 11 1. 42 2. 51 0. 91 1. 13 2. 24 2. 82 0. 90 1. 78 1. 50 1. 41 2. 84 2. 38 2. 12 2. 35 1. 38 2. 26 2. 64 2. 88 2. 02 0. 99 0. 91 2. 4 2. 37 1. 22 2. 90 2. 26 1. 21 2. 82 2. 28 2. 73 2. 82 1. 23 4. 04 3. 05 2. 52 1. 29 1. 33 1. 10 1. 69 1. 11 5. 88 7. 02 6. 65 3. 33 9. 83 Percent to Total (%) 0. 06 0. 06 0. 08 0. 14 0. 05 0. 06 0. 12 0. 16 0. 05 0. 10 0. 08 0. 08 0. 16 0. 13 0. 12 0. 13 0. 08 0. 12 0. 15 0. 16 0. 11 0. 05 0. 05 0. 15 0. 13 0. 07 0. 16 0. 13 0. 07 0. 16 0. 13 0. 15 0. 16 0. 07 0. 22 0. 17 0. 14 0. 07 0. 07 0. 06 0. 09 0. 06 0. 33 0. 39 0. 37 0. 18 0. 54 Brgy. 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 198 Area 2. 4 4. 10 1. 64 0. 94 1. 52 2. 23 1. 93 1. 93 2. 95 1. 69 5. 46 3. 10 2. 23 1. 37 7. 13 2. 12 1. 38 2. 16 3. 07 1. 46 3. 05 3. 65 1. 41 2. 44 1. 52 2. 25 4. 48 3. 58 7. 05 46. 20 2. 34 9. 69 543. 89 8. 63 18. 31 2. 88 16. 62 8. 79 2. 67 60. 81 45. 60 18. 81 13. 99 4. 87 3. 85 2. 83 18. 09 Percent to Total (%) 0. 16 0. 23 0. 09 0. 05 0. 08 0. 12 0. 11 0. 11 0. 16 0. 09 0. 30 0. 17 0. 12 0. 08 0. 40 0. 12 0. 08 0. 12 0. 17 0. 08 0. 17 0. 20 0. 08 0. 14 0. 08 0. 12 0. 25 0. 20 0. 39 2. 56 0. 13 0. 54 30. 13 0. 48 1. 01 0. 16 0. 92 0. 49 0. 15 3. 37 2. 53 1. 04 0. 78 0. 27 0. 21 0. 16 1. 00The Official Website of Pasay City www. pasay. gov. ph 1 COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN OF PASAY CITY SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE 49 50 4. 02 0. 95 0. 22 0. 05 99 100 1. 88 3. 38 0. 10 0. 19 149 1 50 1. 19 1. 89 0. 07 0. 10 Area of Barangays 1 to 201 Reclamation Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex TOTAL AREA 199 200 201 1,399. 50 213. 66 191. 95 1,805. 11 5. 25 4. 81 33. 75 0. 29 0. 27 1. 87 77. 53 11. 84 10. 63 100. 00 The city has a total area of 1,805. 11 hectares. The city proper or Barangays 1 to 201 occupies around 1,399. 50 hectares or 77. 53 percent the total area. The Cultural Center Complex occupies around 191. 5 hectares (10. 63%) while the rest of the reclamation area covers an area of 213. 66 hectares (11. 84 %). The Barangay Map is shown in Figure 2. 2. 2. 2 Geology Pasay consists of two terrain units, an eastern undulating section and a western alluvial portion, which extends into the Manila Bay. The undulating to gently sloping terrain is underlain by a gently dipping sequence of pyroclastic rocks essentially made up of tuffs, tuffaceous sandstones and conglomerates belonging to the Guadalupe formation. This formation is represented by massive to thickl y bedded lithic tuff and tuffaceous sandstone.Based on the Geologic Map of Pasay (Figure 2. 3), the two major geologic formations are: Quarternary Alluvial (QA1) which is comprised of detrital deposits mostly silt, sand and gravel; and Guadalupe formation (GF) of which the upper member (Diliman Tuff) is thin to medium bedded, fine-grained, vitric tuffs and welded volcanic breccias with subordinate amounts of tuffaceous, fine to medium grained sandstone. Members of the Pleistocene Guadalupe Formation underlie almost half of the terrain where Pasay lies. These are mainly Alat Conglomerate and Diliman Tuff.Early Pleistocene to late Pleistocene conglomerate, silty mudstone and tuffaceous sandstone comprise the lower member while late Pleistocene wellbedded tuff units make up the upper member. The constituents of the Diliman Tuff were most likely derived from a volcano on the central lobe of Laguna de Bay to the south based on its aerial distribution pattern and lithological similarity w ith those in the northern vicinity of the central lobe of Laguna de Bay. On the other hand, Quartenary alluvial deposits of the Marikina Alluvial plain and Pasig River Delta plain cover western areas of the city.The presence of the marine sediments suggest that the quartenary alluvium was probably deposited after uplift of the Guadalupe formation. 2. 3 Physiography Metro Manila's physiography is divided into six zones namely, the Manila Bay, the Coastal Margin, the Guadalupe Plateau, the Marikina Valley, the Laguna lowlands and the Laguna de Bay. Pasay City belongs to the Coastal Margin or the low lying flat strip of land east of Manila Bay with an elevation of less than 5 meters above mean sea level. This zone also occupies portions of Valenzuela, The Official Website of Pasay City www. pasay. ov. ph 2 COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN OF PASAY CITY SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE Malabon, Caloocan, Navotas, Manila, Paranaque, Las Pinas and the reclaimed portion of Manila Bay 2. 4 Topography, Ele vation and Slope The western part of Pasay City is level to nearly level while its southeastern part is gently sloping to gently undulating. It is characterized by coastal plains along the Manila Bay in the west and sloping areas extending in the south-east direction. Surface elevations range from 2 meters above the mean sea level on the coastal plains and 24 meters on the southeast part of the city. . 5 Land and Associated Soil Characteristics As per Metro Manila Land Resource Evaluation Project by BSWM, Pasay has the following land and soil characteristics (Figure 2. 4): Active Tidal Flats (Coastal Landscape) Active tidal flats, with an almost flat relief, have an elevation that ranges from 0 to 1. 5 meters, sometimes reaching up to 3 meters above the mean sea level. This land system has very poor drainage characteristics. Waterlogged areas may pose a corrosion problem to underground uncoated steel pipes or structural reinforcement.Poor drainage is also a problem in sewage disposa l in areas which are not served by public sewer facilities. It is further characterized by slow permeability, high compressibility, and possible flooding during seasonal high water table. Soil texture or the different sizes of particles in the soil mass are clay, silty clay, and sandly clay loam. The parent materials of this land classification are tidal mudflats with muck and peat locally, alluvial sediments. Former Tidal Flats (Coastal Landscape) The former tidal flats consist of areas more inland and slightly higher than the active tidal flats.They occupy the almost flat plains, backswamps and depression of the coastal landscape formed from marine and flovio-marine deposits. Slightly lower then the alluvial plain, its elevation ranges from 2 to 5 meters. It has slow to moderate permeability and a soil texture of clay to silty clay loam. Moreover, it is poorly drained, prone to moderate seasonal flooding, highly compressible, and corrosive to uncoated steel. Its parent materials a re alluvial sediments, former tidal mudflats underlain with peaty and mucky materials. . Water Resources Characteristics 2. . 1 Surface Waters 2. 6 Pasay City is bounded in the west by Manila Bay. It is traversed by two minor rivers that feed the Paranaque River namely the Estero de Tripa de Gallina and Maricaban Creek. The city lies within the Manila Bay Watershed area. The bay has a catchment area of about 17,000 square kilometers that is made up of about eight river basins, nearest of which to the city is the Paranaque-Las Pinas river basin. This river basin is subsequently made up of three major rivers, the Paranaque, Las Pinas and Zapote Rivers.These river systems essentially serve about 1,500 hectares of low-lying areas along the Manila Bay and functions as 3 The Official Website of Pasay City www. pasay. gov. ph COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN OF PASAY CITY SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE the principal drainage channel of the area. The geomorphic setting of these lowlying areas and the hy draulic action of the Manila Bay basin and the South China Sea make the area vulnerable to flooding, a condition aggravated by the inadequate capacity and poor maintenance of the drainage facilities. 2. 6. 2 GroundwaterPasay is situated on a delta which has produced locally-confined aquifers. Groundwater utilization, however, has resulted in significant draw-down causing much land subsidence and saline water intrusion particularly in the coastal areas. The groundwater basin contains several connected and interrelated aquifers, composed of tuffaceous sandstone and conglomerates belonging to the Guadalupe Formation. These facets of Guadalupe Formation in the southeastern part of the city have thickness of approximately 1,300 to 1,200 meters. Recharge to the aquifers comes from rainfall and inflow from the extension of these aquifers.However, these are already over exploited due to uncontrolled pumping and excessive underwater withdrawal, a practice done principally by high-density res idential, commercial and industrial establishments. This situation leads to a partial depletion of the aquifers resulting in the lowering of water levels and high pumping costs. Almost 2000 wells have been drilled in the aquifers of the Guadalupe Formation for the commercial and residential users. Some of these wells go as deep as 300 meters. In 1990, total pumpage reached 339. 6 million cubic meters. 2. 6. 3 Water QualityAvailable data from government agencies such as the DENR-EMB have indicated that the near-the-shore waters of Manila Bay, together with the major rivers in Metro Manila, are considered biologically dead. The water quality in Manila Bay has progressively deteriorated due to domestic, industrial and agricultural wastes being dumped uncontrollably in the waterways. This present state is likewise being attributed to inadequate drainage facilities and the discharge of untreated domestic and industrial wastewater due to inadequate wastewater collection, treatment and dis posal facilities.Based on the sampling conducted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in each month of the year 2000, water quality as per dissolved oxygen, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and the total suspended solid level in various stations of the Paranaque-Zapote River are shown in the following tables. Two stations were located within Pasay City, Tramo and MIA Road. Table 2. 3 Annual Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L) in the Paranaque-Zapote River System, 2000 Station Tramo MIA Road La Huerta Paranaque Zapote Quirino Monthly Ave. Standard, mg/L Location Tramo, Pasay City MIA Rd. Pasay City Paranaque City Paranaque City Las Pinas City Paranaque City Jan NS NS NS NS NS NS NA 5 Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 0. 21 NS 0. 0 0 0. 1 0. 9 1. 3 1. 2 0 NS 0 0. 06 NS 3. 8 0 0 0. 0 0. 0 1. 0 0 NS 0. 0 0. 51 NS 12. 0 0 4. 0 13. 4 0. 0 2. 8 0 NS 0 4. 89 NS 3. 6 0 1. 0 9. 5 4. 0 5. 4 0 NS 4. 2 0. 1 NS 0. 0 0 0. 8 9. 4 1. 2 1. 6 0 NS 0 NS NS 12. 0 0 2. 0 11. 4 0. 0 0. 6 0 NS 0. 0 1. 15 NA 5. 2 0 1. 3 7. 4 1. 1 2. 1 0 NA 0. 7 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 Annual 0. 4 0. 5 3. 6 3. 6 1. 5 3. 3 2. 1 5 The Official Website of Pasay City www. pasay. gov. ph 4 COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN OF PASAY CITY SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILETable 2. 4 Annual BOD (mg/L) in the Paranaque-Zapote River System, 2000 Paranaque Tramo MIA Road La Huerta Paranaque Zapote Quirino Monthly Ave. Standard, mg/L Location Tramo, Pasay City MIA Rd. , Pasay City Paranaque City Paranaque City Las Pinas City Paranaque City Jan NS NS NS NS NS NS NA 10 Feb 10 17 16 7 30 NS 16 10 Mar NS NS NS NS NS NS NA 10 Apr May Jun July Aug Sep 15 32 17 26 23 6 15 38 12 17 32 10 11 39 16 13 32 4 22 29 17 26 33 13 32 39 5 12 16 8 3 23 14 12 33 2 16 33 14 18 28 7 10 10 10 10 10 10 Oct 23 23 27 14 21 23 22 10 Nov Dec Annual NS 17 19 NS 13 20 NS 20 20 NS 10 19 NS 33 22 NS 15 16 NA 18 19 10 10 10Table 2. 5 Annual Total Suspended Solid Levels in the Paranaque-Zapote River System, 2000 Paranaque Tramo MIA Road La Huer ta Paranaque Zapote Quirino Monthly Ave. Location Jan Feb Tramo, Pasay City NS 20 MIA Rd. , Pasay City NS 20 Paranaque City NS 30 Paranaque City NS 20 Las Pinas City NS 30 Paranaque City NS NS NA 21 Mar NS NS NS NS NS NS NA Apr May Jun July Aug Sep 20 10 10 20 30 40 80 30 20 30 30 40 100 30 10 30 20 30 70 30 20 20 30 30 60 20 10 70 30 30 50 10 20 50 40 40 63 22 15 37 30 35 Oct 40 40 40 30 30 30 35 Nov Dec Annual NS 30 24 NS 20 34 NS 40 37 NS 20 30 NS 40 36 NS 20 33 NA 28 32The sampling results show that dissolved oxygen levels in the two Pasay stations are way below the standards while the BOD concentrations are way above standard. 2. 7 Atmospheric Characteristic From the nearest PAGASA station at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), climatological data from 1950-1995 were obtained. Tables 2. 6 and 2. 7 show some of the significant data. 2. 7. 1 Climate The climate of Pasay is classified as Type 1 under the Corona classification used by Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) depending on rainfall pattern.It is characterized by two pronounced seasons: rainy season from May to October and dry season from January to April, when rainfall drops to 10-30-mm/ month. In general, Metro Manila is directly influenced by an average of 2 to 3 tropical cyclones per year. 2. 7. 2 Rainfall The PAGASA station recorded an annual rainfall amount of 1,149. 2 mm with a total of 113 rainy days between the years 1961-1995. The rainy months of May – October indicated monthly rainy days of 7- 20 with the month of July recording the highest at 20. The highest amount of rainfall for the period 1949-1995 was 427. mm recorded on February 1,1962. 2. 7. 3 Temperature Pasay has an average normal annual temperature of 27. 5  °C. The warmest months are April, May and June while the coldest months are December, January and February with the minimum temperature of 25-26 °C. The highest 5 The Official Website of Pasay City www. pasay . gov. ph COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN OF PASAY CITY SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE temperature was recorded on May 18,1969 at 38. 1 °C while the lowest was recorded at 14. 6 °C on February 1, 1962. 2. 7. 4 Relative Humidity Relative humidity or the percentages of water vapor in the air ranges, in onthly values, from 66% to 81% with an annual average of 75%. These values indicate that Pasay is relatively humid. 2. 7. 5 Wind Speed and Direction The annual prevailing wind direction in the area is towards the east. The average annual wind speed is 3. 0 meters per second (mps). High wind speed occurs in March to April while low wind speed happens in September to November. The highest wind speed of 56 mps was recorded on November 14, 1977, going in a western direction. The Official Website of Pasay City www. pasay. gov. ph 6 COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN OF PASAY CITY SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE Table 2. Climatological Normals Month January February March April May June July August September October November December ANNUAL Source: Note: Rainfall Amount 8. 5 2. 9 6. 2 13. 2 101. 6 244. 5 363. 0 414. 1 309. 0 221. 4 121. 1 43. 7 1849. 2 No. of Rainy Days 2 1 2 2 7 15 18 20 17 13 10 6 113 Temperature ( °C) Max 30. 3 31. 2 32. 7 34. 3 34. 2 32. 5 31. 3 30. 8 31. 0 31. 1 31. 0 30. 3 31. 7 Min 20. 9 21. 2 22. 4 24. 0 24. 9 24. 5 24. 1 24. 0 24. 0 23. 5 22. 8 21. 7 23. 2 Mean Dry Bulb Wet Bulb Dew Point VP (mbs) 25. 6 25. 3 21. 9 20. 5 23. 9 26. 2 26. 0 22. 0 20. 3 23. 7 27. 6 27. 4 22. 8 21. 0 24. 6 29. 29. 0 24. 0 22. 1 26. 4 29. 6 29. 3 24. 9 23. 4 28. 4 28. 5 28. 2 25. 0 23. 9 29. 5 27. 7 27. 4 24. 7 23. 7 29. 2 27. 4 27. 0 24. 7 23. 9 29. 5 27. 5 27. 1 24. 8 24. 0 29. 7 27. 3 27. 0 24. 3 23. 3 28. 5 26. 9 26. 6 23. 6 22. 5 27. 1 26. 0 25. 7 22. 7 21. 5 25. 5 27. 5 27. 2 23. 8 22. 5 27. 2 Relative MSL PRESS. Humidity (mbs) 74 70 67 66 70 77 80 83 83 80 78 77 75 1013. 5 1013. 5 1012. 7 1011. 2 1009. 4 1008. 8 1008. 3 1008. 1 1008. 9 1009. 7 1011. 0 1012. 6 1010. 6 Wind Speed an d Direction Direction Speed E 3 E 4 E 4 E 4 E 4 W 3 W 3 W 3 W 2 E 2 E 2 E 3 E 3 Cloud Cover (Octa) 4 4 3 3 5 6 6 7 7 6 5 5 5Days TSTM 0 0 0 1 7 11 12 9 11 9 2 0 59 With LTNG 0 0 1 4 16 16 16 10 15 10 3 1 92 PAGASA Station at 429-NAIA (MIA), Pasay City, located at 14 °31’N latitude and 121 °01’ longitude with elevation 21. 0 m from period 1961-1995. Table 2. 7 Climatological Extremes Month January February March April May June July August September October November December ANNUAL Period of Record Source: Notes: High 35. 8 34. 8 36. 5 37. 8 38. 1 38 36 35. 2 34. 9 36 35. 8 34. 2 38. 1 Daily Highest Rainfall (mm) Temperature ( °C) Date Low Date Amount Date 7-89 14. 8 18-61 55. 3 3-70 28-80 14. 6 1-62 16. 5 27-50 30-78 16 3-63 35. 12-71 23-48 19. 4 17-68 63 4-92 18-69 19. 1 11-50 229. 1 27-60 2-91 20 22-54 316. 8 27-85 6-91 18. 3 28-48 472. 4 20-72 29-89 17. 4 9-49 401. 8 10-47 9-79 19. 1 15-50 228. 8 8-63 24-76 18 23-81 274. 5 9-78 17-72 17. 2 26-49 121. 7 14-77 28 -79 16. 3 18-55 110. 5 30-50 5-18 14. 6 2-1 1962 472. 4 7-20 1972 1969 1947-1995 1949-1995 Speed 20 20 26 20 31 36 36 30 26 27 56 25 56 Wind (mps) Direction E-NE E E E SW S W WSW NW W W NW W 1950-1995 Date 12-86 28-88 29-92 6-86 22-76 29-64 8-86 16-84 27-78 18-85 19-70 30-50 11-19 1970 High 1,022. 30 1021. 4 1021. 1 1019. 9 1015. 9 1015. 9 1014. 9 1015. 2 1015. 2 1017 1019. 1020. 9 1022. 3 Sea Level Pressure Date Low 27-87 1004. 4 1-62 1005. 0 2-87 1004. 7 23-87 1003. 8 9-57 992. 2 6-66 974. 2 7-53 994. 2 12-58 992. 8 20-65 988. 9 25-86 977. 9 3-89 899. 4 8-60 996. 2 1-27 899. 4 1978 1950-1995 Date 1-50 15-52 8-84 25-71 17-89 29-64 15-83 24-78 30-95 14-70 3-95 15-64 11-3 1995 PAGASA *Station at 429-NAIA (MIA), Pasay City, located at 14 °31’N latitude and 121 °01’ longitude with elevation 21. 0 m from period 1961-1995. *No record for the period 1941-1945 The Official Website of Pasay City www. pasay. gov. ph 7 COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN OF PASAY CITY SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE 2. 8Air Quality Pasay City is already experiencing a deterioration of its air quality. This may be attributed to the congestion of people, improperly maintained vehicles servicing them, and the significant percentage of pollutive firms with inadequate air pollution control devices and facilities operating within the area. The National Ambient Air Quality and Noise Standards are prescribed in Table 2. 8 and Table 2. 9 respectively. Table 2. 8 National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Source Specific Pollutants *POLLUTANTS (a) 1. Ammonia 2. Carbon Disulfide 3. Chlorine and Chlorine compounds expressed as Cl2 4.Formal dehyde CONCENTRATION (c) ug/Ncm 200 30 100 ppm 0. 28 0. 01 0. 03 AVERAGING TIME (min) 30 30 5 METHOD OF ANALYSIS/ MEASUREMENT (b) Nesselcrization/Indo Phenol Tischer Method Methyl Orange 50 0. 04 30 5. Hydrogen Chloride 6. Hydrogen Sulfide 7. Lead 8. Nitrogen Oxide 9. Phenol 10. Sulfur Dioxide 11. Suspended particulate Matter – TSP PM – 10 200 100 20 375 260 100 470 340 300 200 0. 13 0. 07 0. 2 0. 14 0. 03 0. 18 0. 13 30 30 30 30 60 30 30 60 60 60 Chromotrophic acid method or MBTH-Colorimetric method Volhard Titration with Iodine solution Methylene Blue b AAS Griess-Saltzmans 4-Amineantipyrine Colorimetric- PararosanilineGravimetric -do- Table 2. 9 DENR Standards for Noise in General Areas, dB(A) AREA Schools/hospitals Residential Commercial Light Industrial Heavy Industrial DAYTIME 50 60 65 70 75 MORNING/EVENING 45 50 60 65 70 NIGHTTIME 40 45 55 60 60 2. 9 Geologic and other Natural Hazards No traced earthquake fault line traverses the city of Pasay. However, the city is not spared from other related geologic hazards such as tsunamis, ground shaking, and liquefaction. Tsunamis are giant sea waves generated by under the sea earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Not all submarine earthquakes, however, can cause the occurrence of tsunamis.Tsunamis can only occur when the earthquake is shallow-seated and strong enough (M 7. 0) to displace parts of the seabed and disturb the water over it (PHIVOLCS). The coastal area of Pasay City is among the most hit by tsunamis and have a high potential for future tsunamis. Typhoons and their associated hazards, such as strong winds, storm surges, and floods, are among the most recurrent and damaging calamities our country is The Official Website of Pasay City www. pasay. gov. ph 8 COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN OF PASAY CITY SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE prone to.Some 20 typhoons pass the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) every year. These are most frequent during the months of May to December with peak occurrences in the month of November. Of the total 325 typhoons recorded to have crossed the PAR from 1948 to 1978, about 20 passed through Metro Manila. One of these, Typhoon Yoling, was the most severe, registering a maximum wind speed of 200 kph and bringing 24-hour rainfall on the Metropolis. Residential areas, infrastructure, power systems, and other utility installations experienced heavy damages, some of which took months to restore. . 10 Environmental Management 2. 10. 1 Water Management To address the countrywide water crisis which adversely affects the health and well being of the population, food production and industrialization process, the National Water Crisis Act of 1995 was enacted. Some of the issues related to the water crises are: water supply, water distribution, financing aspects, privatization of state-run water facilities, the protection and conservation of watersheds, and pilferage of water, including the serious matter of graft and corruption in all the water agencies. . 10. 2 Air Quality Management The Clean Air Act of 1999 recognizes that the responsibility of cleaning the habitat and environment is primarily area-based, thus, a local government concern. In terms of air quality management, it stipulates that: LGUs shall share the responsibility in the management and maintenance of air quality within their territorial jurisdicti on. LGUs shall implement air quality standards set by the Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB) in areas within their jurisdiction.Provided, however, that in cases where the board has not been duly constituted and has not promulgated its standards, the standards set forth in this Act shall apply. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources shall provide the LGUs with technical assistance, training and a continuing capabilitybuilding program to prepare them to undertake full administration of the air quality management and regulation within their territorial jurisdiction. The LGU, for one, is responsible for attaining and maintaining the ambient air quality standards within their respective airsheds.The designation of airsheds shall be on the basis of, but not limited to, areas with similar climate, meteorology and topology which affect the interchange and diffusion of pollutants in the atmosphere, or areas which share common interest or face similar development programs, prospe cts or problems. The DENR bases such ambient air quality standards on World Health Organization (WHO) standards, but shall not be limited to nor be less stringent than such standards. The initial lists and values of the hazardous air pollutants are provided in the DENR mandate.The Official Website of Pasay City www. pasay. gov. ph 9 COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN OF PASAY CITY SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE 2. 10. 3 Land Management All the barangays of the city have Cadastral Maps which are being used for taxation and other legal purposes. On the other hand, prior to this undertaking, a Zoning Ordinance in 1981 was being used to guide developments and land uses in the city. 2. 10. 4 Solid Waste Management (SWM) At present, the city of Pasay disposes of its solid waste in the San Mateo Sanitary Landfill and the Payatas dumpsite.As per a JICA study on Solid Waste Management for Metro Manila involving government agencies such as DECS, DENR and MMDA, Pasay City along with Taguig, Pateros and the c ity of Makati shall be accommodated in the proposed Transfer Station within Fort Bonifacio and then dumped in an inland landfill site to be later specified. (Figure 2. 5 refers) All barangays are covered by solid waste collection, which is handled by the local government and private contractors. Solid wastes are collected daily on main thoroughfares and every other day in the rest of the city. However, the collection systems accommodate urgent requests by residents.Table 2. 10 Existing Solid Waste Disposal Methods Method Population Served Residents of each Barangay Whole city Responsible Agency/Entity Barangay Officials Equipment Facilities Push Cart Financing/ Operating Costs Remarks 1. Push cart collection Not recommended since collectors tend to throw their garbage anywhere †¢ Presentations †¢ Diesoline Expenses †¢ Salaries of the personnel 2. Collection by trucks, Transfer and Transport 3. Experimental Waste Segregation 51 Families Private sector/ Solid Waste Cont ractors: †¢ Excellent Trucking Services, †¢ Greenline Onyx, †¢ Leg Hauling, and †¢ RM Maintenance Services SWM Compactors Office of the Mayor Trucks (10 wheeler dump truck) †¢ Open-Top Compactors †¢ Pay loaders †¢ Shovels †¢ Sacks Garbage Compactors Diesoline Expenses Maintenance of the facilities A project adopted by the Maryville Association Source: Solid Waste Management Office 2. 10. 5 Drainage and Flood Control System The Tripa de Gallina and Libertad pumping stations (PS), the Buendia and Libertad Outfalls or Channels are currently servicing the drainage requirement of the city. The Tripa de Gallina PS has a drainage area of over 1,700 hectares. Part of the storm runoff from the Estero de Tripa de Gallina enters the Libertad PS via the Buendia and Libertad Outfalls.The rest are discharged into the Paranaque River. The Estero, however, shows a fluctuation in profile due to the deposit of sediment and garbage, and insufficient improvement of the Buendia Channel. This condition is caused largely by poor sewerage and improper solid waste disposal. A considerable volume of wastes accumulates in the retention pond of the reclamation area. In areas along esteros and creeks occupied by a number of squatter shanties, wastes are directly discharged into the waterway. At present, the local government employs flood control measures such as annual 10The Official Website of Pasay City www. pasay. gov. ph COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN OF PASAY CITY SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE clearing of all waterways and sedimentation (desilting of riverbeds) accompanied by a proper garbage and waste disposal system. The adjoining upstream areas of the Libertad Reclamation Area is being drained through the Libertad, Buendia, and EDSA outfalls. Their existing discharge capacities are much smaller than their design capacities due to siltation. Garbage inflow at the inlets of these outfalls aggravates the problem. 2. 10. Disaster Management The warning sy stem for both typhoons and floods in Metro Manila are operated by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). It monitors the meteorological and hydrological conditions and issues periodic reports. This report contains a warning if the conditions entail risks to the population. The warning system for typhoons works separately from the warning system for floods. 2. 11 Land Suitability Assessment In coming up with an effective land utilization system, the physical and environmental attributes of Pasay City must be considered.Areas of physical constraint for further developments in the city should be delineated. Maps indicating the city's relevant physical and environmental attributes are generated and translated into degrees of concern. References used for this purpose include materials from the local government, BSWM, and PHIVOLCS. Some of the environmental concerns such as flooding, drainage, river preservation, liquefaction hazard, and industrial zones were reflected in maps and discussed briefly. These are subsequently used to delineate the areas of various degrees of development suitability.Flood Hazard Areas Besides natural factors, other aspects that tend to aggravate flooding problems in Metro Manila include the following: Infrastructure development leading to the creation of more impervious areas, resulting to higher peak run-offs that usually cause standing floods; Inadequate or non-existent drainage system; Improper solid waste disposal that leads to the clogging of drainage systems, further lowering their water retaining capacity; Heavy siltation of rivers due to previous floods, indiscriminate dumping of garbage, encroachment of squatters and slum dwellers, and limited maintenance works; and Institutional problems and financial constraints which delay implementation of proper flood control measures. Flooding within Pasay City are generally concentrated along Taft Avenue and the areas along the Estero de Tripa de Gallina and Maricaban Creek (Figure 2. 6). The Official Website of Pasay City www. pasay. gov. ph 11COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN OF PASAY CITY SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE River and Coastal Preservation As shown in Figure 2. 7, the following are the river preservation zones of the city: †¢ Rivers and streams – These critical areas consist of easements of about 3 to 20 meters from both sides throughout the entire length of any river or stream. Areas within this range are subject to easement of public use in the interest of recreation, fishing, floatage, etc. Coastal Zone – This includes areas one kilometer from the coastline of the Manila Bay, which is city waters, and 200 meters from the coastline inland. †¢ Areas of no significance – Areas outside the range mentioned above are nonenvironmentally-critical areas.Liquefaction Hazard Liquefaction is associated with the phenomenon of quick-condition failure which is generally obtained when pore water in a liquefied layer rises into overlying near-surface sediments that results in a condition resembling quicksand. Areas that are prone to liquefaction are those underlain by water-saturated, thick fine to coarse sand layers such as those along the Pasig River Delta Plain, lake shore areas of Laguna de Bay and the shorelines of Manila Bay. Figure 2. 8 shows the city’s Liquefaction Hazard Map with potential zones classified into high, moderate and low based mainly on the presence of clay layers which help inhibit liquefaction.Industrial and Airport Zones The attribute features of this map are based on the constraints on acceptable noise and air pollution levels for developments around existing industrial establishments. These noise and air pollution levels conform with the DENR Guidelines (Figure 2. 9). †¢ Development restriction guidelines for various noise zones are: – from 45 to 55 dBA. Section of contiguous areas which are primarily used for residential purposes. – from 55 to 65 dBA. Primarily for commercial area – from 60 to 70 dBA. Reserved as a light industrial area – from 65 to 75 dBA. Primarily reserved as a heavy industrial area. Development restriction guidelines for various source-specific air pollutants, such as emission of dust, dirt or fly ash based on DENR standards.