Friday, January 24, 2020

Traffic and Urban Congestion: 1955-1970 :: American America History

Traffic and Urban Congestion: 1955-1970 In 1960, Great Britain still had no urban freeways. But with the ownership of private cars becoming ever more common, the problem of congestion in British cities was unavoidable. Investigating the possibilities of freeways as alleviators of big-city traffic jams, the government-sponsored Buchanan Report was pessimistic: ... the study shows the very formidable potential build-up of traffic as vehicular ownership and usage increase to the maximum. The accommodation of the full potential is almost certainly beyond any practical possibility of being realized. There is thus no escaping the need to consider to what extent and by what means the full potential is to be curtailed.1. In the decades preceding this study, Americans faced much the same problem with transportation in their cities. But the American plan for dealing with urban congestion in the automobile age was very different. In 1954, President Eisenhower suggested that "metropolitan area congestion" be "solved" by "a grand plan for a properly articulated highway system." In 1956, the House Committee on Public Works urged "drastic steps," warning that otherwise "traffic jams will soon stagnate our growing economy."2. Confronting the same problem--urban traffic congestion--the British and the American governments responded with radically different solutions. In Britain, congestion in cities was understood to mean an excess of automobiles entering cities. The problem, to British planners, was to reduce relative reliance on the private car in order to allow better movement of traffic. But in the U.S., planners interpreted congestion as a sign that roads were inadequate and in need of improvement. In the face of traffic jams, the British tended to say, "too many cars!" while the Americans would say, "insufficient roads!" U.S. urban transportation policy was shaped by this tendency, from its origins in the 1940s until the mid 1960s. This essay makes a twin argument. First, the way in which U.S. urban transportation policy was formulated in the 1940s and 1950s precluded the British solution. Regardless of the relative merits of the British and American approaches, discouraging the use of the automobile was not an option American policy makers could consider. The American political culture could consider large scale domestic projects only with the cooperation of the private sector, and in the U.S. this meant largely automotive interest groups. The second point is that American urban transportation policy retreated from this position in the 1960s. By the 1970s U.S.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Filipino Games Essay

Like any other country in the world, Philippines have many different games that are played as a past time, or simply for recreational purposes. Some games are more popular and more well-known than the others, but the three games that stuck out at me were Tubigan, Sungka, and Culliot. Tubigan, also known as Patintero, is played outdoors. The players are divided into two equal teams. Based on a coin toss, one team becomes the runners, and the other becomes the tagger. The object of the runner is to get through all the lines back and forth without being tagged. To set this game up, the ground is marked off in a 5 or 6 meter rectangle divided into four equal parts. The taggers stand 1, 2, 3, and 4 on the marked lines. Tagger number 1 can go anywhere to tag the runners. Taggers 2, 3, and 4 must have both feet on the marked lines, and can only tag the runner as they cross their lines or as they get near them. As soon as the runners cross line 4, he must return to line 2 and call out â€Å"Tubig! † scoring a point for his team. The runners must score a clean pass within 2 minutes; otherwise a turnover will be called. Sungka, known as mancala in Southern Asia, has been around in the Philippines for as long as anyone can remember. The sungka board is a small treasure – the older it is, the more precious, it sits on a side table or a top bench, waiting to be played. The sungka board is a shallow boat made of solid wood. The whole length of the boat is lined in seven small bowls carved in pairs, with two large deep bowls carved out at both ends (bahay) for captured â€Å"sigay†. The props needed for this game are pebbles, â€Å"sigay† or shells, or seeds. In each small pit are initially 7 â€Å"sigay. † Sungka is always played by two people. At each turn a player empties one of his small pits and then distributes its contents in a counterclockwise direction, one by one, into the following pits including his own store, but passing the opponents store. If the last stone falls into a non-empty small pit, its contents are lifted and distributed in another lap. If the last stone is dropped into the player’s own store, the player gets a bonus move. If the last stone is dropped into an empty pit, the move ends. If the move ends by dropping the last stone into one of your own small pits you capture the â€Å"sigay† in the opponent’s pit directly across the board and your own stone. The captured â€Å"sigay† are deposited in your store. However, if the opponent’s pit is empty, nothing is captured. The first move is played simultaneously. After that play is alternately. The first player to finish the first move may start the second move. However, in face-to-face play one player might start shortly after his opponent so that he could choose a response which would give him an advantage. There is no rule that actually could prevent such a tactic. So, in fact, the decision-making may be non-simultaneous. You must move if you can. If you can’t a player must pass until he can move again. The game ends when no â€Å"sigay† are left in the small pits. The player who captures most â€Å"sigay† wins the game. The game culliot is similar to the game of tug-of-war. Two or more players can play this. The purpose of this team is to pull the other team over the borderline. The equipment needed is a 15-meter long rope with a diameter of 3. 81 centimeters. Each team must have an equal number of players. The teams are placed five meters away from each other. Both ends of the rope should be tied on the waist of the last player while the others hold on to the rope. A piece of ribbon or handkerchief is tied onto the centerline of the rope. Upon the signal to start, each team pulls the other, attempting to pull the opposing team over the borderline, thus becoming the winner. In my opinion, the cultural aspect of these games teaches teamwork, skill, wit, as well as strength. Growing up, I have played all of the above games. I had no idea that they were Filipino games, except for sungka. I like these games because it brought my family and I closer together; my cousins and I especially. These games taught us how to work as a team, think about our decisions before we make a move, and wit.

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Leadership Styles At Consulate Health Care Of West Palm Beach

Section 1 – Introduction This project discovers and defines the leadership styles founded at Consulate Health Care of West Palm Beach. I would like to mention two managers in this research paper, both working for the same company but with two different leadership styles. I will be comparing and contrasting their leadership styles, as well as making some suggestions based on the information provided. This organization was recently acquired by Consulate Health Care. Before that, Tandem Group was the owner of it, where the leadership style was quite different. As of today, this facility has an Executive Director who is in charge of all operations, as well as leading and managing. Consulate Health Care of West Palm Beach has a well design hierarchy structure, and every member of it contributes to the regular operations of the facility. With the recently change of our CEO, the company has been focusing in its employees and how to lead them, instead of managing. Section II - Background Consulate Health Care of West Palm Beach is a rehabilitation center, where it has space for 120 residents (that is how they call their patients). The majority of these residents are long term and have been living in this facility for over two years. This branch is situated in West Palm Beach and it was open back in 1997, formerly known as Tandem Health Care. As of today, it has 150 employees, among housekeeping, dietary aid, therapy, nurses, etc. Consulate Health Care never rests; it is open everyShow MoreRelatedProject Mgmt296381 Words   |  1186 Pages6.5.2.3 Critical chain method Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Reducing Project Duration Leadership Chapter 2 Organization Strategy and Project Selection 1.4 Projects and programs (.2) 1.4.1 Managing the portfolio 1.4.3 Strategy and projects 2.3 Stakeholders and review boards 12.1 RFP’s and vendor selection (.3.4.5) 11.2.2.6 SWAT analysis 6.5.2.7 Schedule compression 9.4.2.5 Leadership skills G.1 Project leadership 10.1 Stakeholder management Chapter 11 Teams Chapter 3 Organization: Structure