Representing the Profession in the Community Assignment

Representing the Profession in the Community - Assignment Example One may visit a doctor but never have sufficient time off the busy doctor’s schedule to get some crucial information. It is here that these nurses come in to save the day by offering information at no charge. These patients tend to want more time in explanation as some of their understanding may reduce and requires a lot of explaining. In this role, they act as teachers who nurse stress-preventive care to encourage patients to pursue healthier lifestyles. The real impact in this comes where the life expectancy goes higher (Salkind, 2006). Families will have each other longer in their lives with their loved ones. Nurses have the role of ensuring what the government promised is actualized, health care for all. It is their ethical accountability to make sure that everyone is taken care of where remunerations may available (Delehanty & Ginzler, 2006). Therefore, support of the introduction of a legislative agenda that would ease this situation would create more jobs. The agenda could probably see a certain nurse assigned to several patients above the age of 50. They would probably be located in a certain health facility and could visit their patients in their homes and only bring them to the health facility only when utterly important. This would assist in quick patient record retrieval given that the nursing individual would be privy to all the ailments encountered under their service. The legislative agenda would be required to see through more funding to reduce the involved constraints. This could also eventually be replicated to the entire family. Continuity in care would be easy to impleme nt. Under the role of improving healthcare in America, the nursing culture not only address the psychological needs but also the physical needs, spiritual needs where necessary are also bestowed on these nurses to offer hope, it’s a role in its making. They are included in the larger context which is important

Recruitment of a Star Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Recruitment of a Star - Essay Example 27). This allows for loyalty and dependency. He is the best fit or candidate for the job because of the above positive aspects as well as the intelligence he demonstrated during the interview. Letting Peter go was the biggest mistake that Stephen Conner made because he faced the biggest problem of finding the right replacement as soon as possible (Groysberg et al. 1). Time was the significant factor for Stephen since it was that time when the organization was in dire need of an experience, skilled and senior analyst so as to get started with PowerChip Company, their new client (Connor & York, 2011). Other than that, Stephen faced a lot of concerns from the organization’s senior executives regarding his decision of allowing Peter go. As a matter of fact, the senior executives were very disappointed with his decision to make Rina a substitute for Peter because Rina was an assistant to Peter and had joined the organization only three years ago yet they needed a senior and highly qualified analyst (Groysberg et al. 2). The organization needed a senior analyst who is amazingly intelligent and with very superior analytical skills just like Peter (Connor & York, 2011). So a candidate that needed to succeed or supplant Peter must possess the same characteristics or be of the similar cadre so as to fit on the same shoe quite easily. Peter was at all times a hard worker and an achiever and his priorities were resource management, time management as well as competency at work (Groysberg et al. 4). Therefore, to find the best fit or replacement look alike of peter, there must be a new Peter that has the similar skill set as well as attitude. From the list of the four candidates, the best fits are Sonia and Seth because of the following reasons. Sonia is a hard worker and an achiever. Despite the fact that she is working in a boutique, Sonia’s performance following the previous three years has tremendously grown

Confessions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Confessions - Essay Example Before confession, an old woman named Ryan, who was also his teacher, was the main person who framed his views about religion and the hereafter. She was the one who would mention hell every now and then. She always had a candle in her purse, which she used to symbolize hell. She would ask boys to hold a finger in the flame, and would tell that it was nothing as compared to eternal burning in hell. â€Å"Then she asked were we afraid of holding one finger-only one finger! - in a little candle flame for five minutes and not afraid of burning all over in roasting hot furnaces for all eternity† (O’Connor 2) was what she would tell the boys. Jackie got the idea that religion was all about burning people who did wrong deeds. He knew that life did not matter, as all that mattered was the hereafter in which God had to burn people in â€Å"hot furnaces† (2). Ryan was responsible for outlining these ideas of Jackie’s, as she would say, â€Å"All eternity! Just thin k of that! A whole lifetime goes by and it's nothing, not even a drop in the ocean of your sufferings† (2). Jackie’s perception of confession before the priest was also very pessimistic, and this perception had also been granted by the off-putting Mrs. Ryan. She had mentioned an account of a man who had made a bad confession. He stayed in guilty for many days to come, and finally went to priest for correcting his confession; but, he got burnt the night before the confession. For Jackie, that was the consequence of a bad confession, because he says, â€Å"This story made a shocking impression on me† (2). Hence, he believed that a bad confession led to horrible death. Moreover, he also believed that he was a great sinner, as Ryan would mention, off and on, that it was important to examine the conscience to be a good person. She would ask the boys if they loved their parents and other people whom they knew; and, Jackie knew that he was an ultimate sinner because he hated his grandmother and his sister. â€Å"I had no hope of ever doing anything else† (3) means that Jackie had become hopeless because his perception of religion had been deteriorated in a very bad way. That is why, the day he was going to confess, he looked back at the houses and metaphorically thought that it was like â€Å"Adam's last glimpse of Paradise† (4). However, Jackie confessed. It was a heart-wrecking experience for him. He could not find the courage in the first instance; but, he confessed before the priest the second time he got the chance to speak it all out. To Jackie’s surprise and contrary to what Nora had told him, the priest proved to be very understanding. He listened to Jackie’s intentions of killing the grandmother and Nora, and gave him three Hail Marys. That changed the world for Jackie. Previously he had thought of religion as a freaking thing that intended to give punishments only; but now, he understood that religion was not scary. He says, â€Å"I knew now I wouldn't die in the night and come back, leaving marks on my mother's furniture† (9), which shows that he was not worried of burning due to a bad confession or burning in hell anymore. Before confession, his state of mind was upsetting, which shows when he says, â€Å"the wind whistled outside so that the silence within seemed to crackle like ice under my feet† (4); but, after the confession his mental state had totally changed, which shows when

Case Brief No 1 Essay Example for Free

Case Brief No 1 Essay Citation: Harvestons Securities, Inc. v. Narnia Investments, Ltd., 218 S.W.3d 126 (2007) Plaintiff and Defendant: The plaintiff/appellant is Harvestons Securities, Inc. The defendant/appellee is Narnia Investments, Ltd. Facts: In year 2000, Narnia Investments, Ltd. sued Harvestons Securities, Inc. and several defendants in trial court of Texas. The trial court then granted a default judgment against Harvestons and in favor of Narnia that Harvestons has to pay $365,000, plus attorney’s fees, prejudgment interest, and postjudgment interest. Harvestons claimed that it had no actual knowledge of the pending litigation before November 15, 2004 and filed a timely restricted appeal. Harvestons contends that the service of process was defective due to the process was delivered to someone different than the one name in the citation, the person to which the process was delivered, JoAnn Kocerek, did not have a authority to accept the process on behalf of Harvestons or the Texas Securities Commissioner and the return of service does not show a valid manner of service. At last, the appellate court of Texas reverse the trial court’s default judgment and remand this case for further proceedings. Issues: (a) Did the return of service shows that process was delivered to someone other than the one named in the citation? (b) Did JoAnn Kocerek has the authority to accept process on behalf of Harvestons or the Texas Securities Commissioner? (c) Did the return of service show a valid manner of service? Holding: (a) Yes, the return of service shows that process was delivered to someone other than the one named in the citation. (b) No, JoAnn Kocerek did not has the autho rity to accept the process on behalf of the Harvestons Securities or the Texas securities Commissioner. (c) No, the return of service does not show a valid manner of service. Reasoning: (a) â€Å"The district clerk issued citation directed to Harvestons Securities Inc. by serving the Texas Securities Commissioner[,] 200 E 10th Street[,] 5th Floor Austin[,] Texas 78701. While â€Å"The return of service indicates that the citation was served on September 7, 2000, at 200 E. 10th, Austin, Tx. 78701 in Travis County . . . by delivering to Harvestons Securities, by serving the Texas Securities Commissioner, by delivering to JoAnn Kocerek defendant, in person, a true copy of this Citation together with the accompanying copy(ies) of the Petition attached thereto. â€Å"Though the letter states that the petition names Harvestons as a defendant, the letter does not state that the Commissioner received citation addressed to Harvestons. The documents attached to the certificates in question do not reflect a copy of any enclosure that may have accompanied the letter. Nor do these documents reflect that Harvestons received any letter from the Commissioner.† T herefore the names are not identified. (b) â€Å"The face of the record does not identify Jo Ann Kocerek or her status or affiliation, if any, with the Texas Securities Commissioner. Neither the return nor any other portion of the record designates Jo Ann Kocerek as an authorized representative of the Commission or indicates that she has the authority to receive service on behalf of Harvestons or the Commissioner. Indeed, it is simply not possible to determine [**21] from the record who Jo Ann Kocerek is or whether she is an agent authorized to accept service on behalf of either the Commissioner or Harvestons. Without an indication on the face of the record of her capacity or authority, if any, to receive service, the granting of the default judgment was improper.† So JoAnn Kocerek was not authorized to accept the process. (c) Here exist an invalid manner of services because of the reasons above and therefore, â€Å"Further, a return of citation does not cease to be prima fa cie evidence of the facts of service simply because the facts are recited in a form rather than filled in by the process server. It is the responsibility of the party requesting service, not the process server, to see that service is properly accomplished. This responsibility extends to seeing that the service is adequately reflected in the record. If proper service is not affirmatively shown in the record, then error exists on the face of the record and a default judgment cannot stand.†

Operations Management in Action: Kier Group Plc Analysis

Operations Management in Action: Kier Group Plc Analysis Operations Management in Action For this assignment we have been asked to research the Industry sector, choose a business within that sector, and then analyse and evaluate the business we have chosen from an operations manager point of view. First we must know what the Industry sector is. According to oxford dictionary the word industry means ‘Economic activity concerned with the processing of raw materials and manufacture of goods’ (Oxford Dictionary. 2014).This means that the industry sector have businesses within it that deal with the processing of raw materials and manufacture of goods. This is also called the secondary sector or manufacturing sector. In 2009 the UK manufacturing sector generated  £140bn in revenue this is 11% of the UK total economy. This sector also employed 2.6 million people which equals out to be 8% of the UK workforce. The whole sector itself is spilt up into 14 different industries by the government which include textiles and chemicals (BIS. 2010). The business I have chosen is Kier Group plc. The reason that Kier Group plc fit within the Industry sector/secondary sector is because this is a construction firm that deals with turning raw materials in a finished products i.e. turning bricks into buildings. Kier Group plc offers their services to the public and private sectors, these services include ‘civil engineering, mining, mechanical electrical design and installation†¦ and 3D modeling’ (Kier Construction. 2014). An example of public sector customer would be the Northampton Borough Council in creating their new  £7 million North Gate Bus Station (Northampton Chronicle Echo. 2014). An example of a private sector customer would be Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd, as Kier Group plc did the King’s Cross Station roof refurbishment (Kier Group. 2013). Kier Group plc’s clients are often other business or large public bodies such as Councils due to their ability and proven track record with multi-million pound contracts that they are asked to do or win the contracts against other competitors such as Balfour Beatty PLC. Kier Group plc operate on a global scale however some parts within Kier Group plc work within the U.K. Any organisation can be shown as multiple of input/output diagrams in a hierarchy format. At the bottom of this hierarchy would be the customer’s needs being transformed into consumer satisfaction (Muhlemann, A. Oakland, J. Lockyer, K. 1993). As every business is made with the customer in mind even if the businesses overall goal could be to maximise profits they still need the customer. However other input/output diagrams in the hierarchy differ from business to business. As a car mechanic shop wouldn’t use the same ways to satisfy consumers as a bridal dress shop would. As Kier Group plc deals with construction it has a specific inputs and outputs. Five inputs of Kier Group plc would be skilled labour, high quality equipment, energy, building materials, and basic project designs. Three outputs of the company would be buildings, infrastructure, and recycled materials. Skilled labour is an input for Kier Group plc because to be able operate as a building business they would need skilled labour. This is because the jobs that the business could be doing may have a high risk of doing lots of damage not just money’s terms but in personnel terms as well. This would also be beneficial to the business as it could lead to being more productive due to the skilled labour however it would be costly hiring someone that’s highly skilled or even over skilled for the job rather than someone who could just about do the job. But in the company’s overview they want to offer clients ‘world-class solutions’ (Kier Group. 2014)which suggests that the highly skilled labour would be used. High quality equipment is would be a specific input for Kier Group plc due to the nature of the job that the business gets inquired about. These can be very complex jobs such as the Kings Cross Station roof refurbishment. Not only did they refurbish an iconic building roof, the station had to stay open with thousands of people walking underneath the building work. This shows the high quality equipment would be needed as an input. The reason that energy is needed as an input as the business would be using computers to design projects and also it would be needed to power equipment on site. It is a needed input in this business. Building materials are a vital input to the business as they are needed to get to the final product. Without these, the business would not be able to run as a construction business. Kier Group plc need to start from a basic project design to be able to make what the customer want like the business to make. That’s is why basic project designs is a needed input for the business. As Kier Group plc have architects that would design the final product from these basic project designs whether it would be a finish building or a new part for railways. A specific output for Kier Group plc would be buildings as this is the main product/good that the business produces. They way in which this would be produced from inputs would be via project process. Project production is a type of production that has low volume of products but high variety between each one. This means that each new project would be different from the last using different materials with different quantities. They also have to be made in a fix location which is one of the classifications of a project production. During the production of each building uses a mixed process technology it uses manual and mechanised. This means that during the production of each building there are parts which are done via hand with no machinery and there are parts where machinery is utilised but under the control of humans (Evens, J. 1993). Infrastructure in another output of Kier Group plc as it doesn’t only make buildings it also builds roads, railway parts and much more which is a vital part in the UK’s infrastructure. These would also be produced in a project production as each part of infrastructure they make would be different from another part. One other output the Kier Group plc produces are recycled materials. Kier Group plc has a recycling service which is used in many counties. Recycled materials go through many processes. It is made via continuous flow production as it has a high product volume, there’s some although not much product variety. During the processes the recycled material goes though there are a high number of automated and specialised equipment that does a large amount of the work. There is also labour that take out any rubbish that can’t be recycled or shouldn’t be in that particular recycling line this doesn’t require high skills. The reason that it is not a Mass production is that there isn’t any variety between each product at the end (Evens, J. 1993). The demand for the products and services the Kier Group plc produce usually depend on the economic state of the country but there are also other factors the affect the demand for the business. These factors include: globalisation, demand for more sustainable construction, demographic changes and increasing importance for technology use in construction. The demand for the products and services that Kier Group plc produce usually depend on the economic state of the country but there are also other factors the affect the demand for the business. These factors include: globalisation, demand for more sustainable construction, demographic changes and increasing importance for technology use in construction. The reason that the state of the economy affects the demand for Kier Group plc’s products and services is because buildings and infrastructure is capital which helps boost long term growth. These are the first things that are cut if the economy was to go into decline. When the recession hit in 2008 according to House of Commons there was a fall by 6.2% in gross value added for the construction industry, followed by a 7.9% fall in GVA, then an increase by 1.1% in 2011, and then followed by a 6.0% drop in GVA during the double dip recession (Rhodes, C. 2013). This data shows there is a correlation between the construction industry including Kier Group plc and the state of the economy. The demand for more sustainable construction also impacts the stability of the demand of Kier Group plc’s products and services because if the business doesn’t offer the right amount of sustainable construction or by offering ‘green’ alternatives they may lose customers and clients. As new legislation is soon to be coming into action due to the UK’s recent air pollution issues this would mean a possible overhaul of more carbon producing processes. However to overcome this Kier Group plc currently generates 10% of its revenue by using recycled material, low energy alternatives and more sustainable materials (Fry, C. 2014) Every business needs demand to be able to sell its good and/or services however you need to be able to have enough capacity to meet this demand. Capacity planning is vital in operations strategies. Capacity is best when it around 75-90% utilised. Having capacity between these levels means that you should still be able to cope with new clients without having to turn larger clients down and also you won’t be running with excess capacity. Excess capacity is a large cost on businesses and may lead to layoffs and department closures (Hill, T. 1991) There are 3 different strategies that a business can use to plan capacity to meet demand. These policies are: Matching Capacity with Demand, Excess Capacity, and Capacity Shortage Policy. Matching capacity with demand means that the business tries to keep as close to demand as they possibly can. This policy means that it sometimes has excess capacity in which it has the ability to get more clients or customers. However it also means there is a shortage of capacity. During these times a business would have to subcontract out work to get a short term increased capacity or they would lose sales this could come from poor quality of work from being rushed to compete work. A Capacity Shortage Policy is when there is a gap between the demand and the capacity where demand is always higher than capacity. As there is a high capacity utilisation this means there is a strong return on investment. This type of policy is usually best for goods or services that usually relate to status or are in fashion. This would mean that there is a high capacity utilisation which in turn leads to a strong return on investment. For example the iPhone 4 White. When it came out it was being sold quicker than it was being made. The way that Kier Group plc plan their capacity is by a strategy called Excess Capacity Policy (Fry, Colin. 2014). This policy means that the business has a goal of maintaining enough capacity to be able to meet with demand or to reduce the chance of not meeting demand. Although this policy can lead to higher costs than the other two polices it is the best policy for this business. This is because the business does not know if they are going to win a bid for a client so there needs to be spare capacity in case they do win the bid. As large construction businesses get invited to present their bid on large projects so the business always need to be prepared for these invites. Kier Group plc could better utilise operations management to counter some of the challenges that it has in the ever changing market place. It could utilise Lean Operations more this is because there is going to be more legislation regarding reducing waste and carbon footprint. It’s better to be proactive to changes in legislation than to be reactive as it shows the business has a strong CSR which customers and clients look for. Lean Operations is minimising the amount of waste there is in order to operate quicker, produce higher quality work and also to operate at low costs. The reason that lean operation is suited for Kier Group plc is because in the lean approach there is a focus on producing only when there is a need to produce, this does mean there is a lower capacity utilisation however this fits in well with the Excess Capacity Policy has the business already is implementing. Some of the techniques that could be used in lean operations for the business could be JIT supply and Total Involvement. JIT supply means just in time supply. This means that you wouldn’t receive materials until you need those materials (Hill, T. 1987). This would be useful in the business because it means there wouldn’t been material they don’t need wasting space in a construction site. For example the wouldn’t need a road tarmaer when the drainage is still 3 days away from being completed not only could it be wasting space it could be in the way of workers increasing the distance from the materials they’re using to the place where they need to use them. If 10 workers had to go an extra 20 seconds out of their way whilst this tarmacer was 3 days early and each worker had to do this trip 40 times a day that adds an extra 400 minutes on their travel overall on the 3 days the tarmacer was there. With JIT supply the tarmacer would arrive on the day it was needed saving the 400 minutes which could have been wasted. Total involvement is when everyone within the business is aware of the lean approach of the business. If everyone is doing it, it would become second nature to abide by the 5S’s of lean operations. These are sort, straighten, shine, standardise and sustain (Muhlemann, A. Oakland, J. Lockyer, K. 1993) Sort means to eliminate what is not needed and to keep whatever is needed in the production of goods. Straighten means to place tools and equipment is such a way that is it easily accessible as lots of time is spent looking for tools that have been misplaced. Shine is to keep things clean and tidy. This could lead to less injuries due to slipping over dirt or waste packaging. Standardise means to keep to a certain level of cleanliness and sustain is to keep to this standardisation throughout each product life cycle. These methods of lean operations keep Kier Group plc near the top of the construction market as they would be less wasteful, operate with lower costs and also could lead to a better workforce from total involvement as everyone would feel they are impacting the businesses performance. References – BIS. (2010). Manufacturing in the UK.An economic analysis of the sector. 1 (1), p11. Evens, James (1993).Applied Production and Operations Management. 4th ed. Eagan, Minnesota: West Publishing Company. p126-127. Fry, Colin., 2014. Interview. 25 March. 18:00 Hill, Terry (1987).Small Business Production/Opertations management. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan education ltd. 147-148. Hill, Terry (1991).Production/Operations Management. 2nd ed. Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall Internation (UK) Ltd. p47-49. Kier Construction. (2014).GROUP STRUCTURE.Available: http://www.kier.co.uk/about/group-structure.aspx. Last accessed 22/03/2014. Kier Group. (2013).KINGS CROSS STATION ROOF REFURBISHMENT.Available: http://www.kier.co.uk/case-study/view-all/kings-cross-roof/case-study.aspx. Last accessed 24/03/2014. Kier Group. (2014).COMPANY OVERVIEW.Available: http://www.kier.co.uk/about/company-overview.aspx. Last accessed 20/03/2014. Muhlemann, A. Oakland, J. Lockyer, K (1993).Production and Operations Management. 6th ed. London: Pitman Publishing. p3-395. Northampton Chronicle Echo. (2014).Your questions answered about the new North Gate bus station.Available: http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/business/business-news/your-questions-answered-about-the-new-north-gate-bus-station-1-5888441#. Last accessed 23/03/2014. Oxford Dictionary. (2014).industry.Available: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/industry?q=Industry. Last accessed 25/03/2014. Rhodes, Chris. (2013). Construction Industry.Economic Policy and Statistics. 1 (1), p1-3. By Chris FryBUS2010-STD

Functional areas of a business

Functional areas of a business Outcome 1 Avril Montgomery 1) Open System An open systems approach is a business approach that emphasizes commercially supported practices, products, specifications and standards. Motorola is an open system. Using this approach assists their long term success. They are able to produce an appropriate output as they know the importance of gaining input from their surroundings. As a global leader in a wide range of technologies, the most important aim of Motorola is to maintain their position. Motorola is knowledgeable to the fact that technology develops rapidly and in order to access these technologies customers will require the latest modern products. They aim to distinguish themselves from their competitors by creating cutting edge designs that meet the expectations of the customers. The launch of the worldwide marketing campaign Mobile Me which includes innovative design and wireless features has set them apart from their competitors. Their range of Bluetooth wireless devices enhances the mobile experience for customers. M otorola is aware of the effect mobile phones and other electronic products have on the environment. They apply technical skills to decrease negative effects to the environment at each stage of the product life cycle. One of their goals with regard to the environment is to produce products which contain minimal amounts of poisonous chemicals or to cut them out completely. 2) Structure During the 1980s, due to other mobile phone companies such as Nokia, Samsung and Sony creating strong competition, Motorola struggled to keep up. In order to reverse the slump in sales, top managers at Motorola decided to improve the quality. This change was needed due to global competitors and changing technology. The plan was to aim for zero defects in the production. Motorola implemented a system called Six Sigma. Six Sigma is a business management strategy which attempts to identify and eliminate the causes of defects and mistakes in the manufacture and business process. The program was stretched out from operations to the other functional areas sales and marketing, personnel and human resources. Reorganising into four business areas during 2005, allowed Motorola to improve their response to the needs of the customers and environmental changes that have taken place. As 58% of the companys total sales were made up from mobile devices, Motorola views this as a significant contributor to their organisation. 3) Organisational concepts Motorolas structure is based on their products, these are: Connected home solutions Connected home solutions Government and enterprise mobility solutions Networks Motorolas functional areas are: Research and development Sales and marketing Personnel and human resources Functional areas were set up by Motorola to support the product areas. Marketing is a very important area as the views of customers can be obtained to determine what they want. It is essential for the marketing and the research and development areas to work together to meet the needs of the customers. Technology is always advancing which means that the research and development area must stay ahead to include these advances in their design. To adjust to environmental changes, it is necessary for all functional areas to work together. 4) Advantages of Motorolas structure Continual development of knowledge in dealing with Motorolas complex products The structure allows Motorola to react quickly to environmental changes. This allows the company to respond to technological change. This form of structure allows Motorola to be extremely client orientated Disadvantages of Motorolas structure As the emphasis is the product, Motorola may have a problem of coordination They may be an apparent redundancy of effort and not much cooperation between product areas Managers may focus on their line of work to the disadvantage of the company as a whole. 5) Internal stakeholder Motorolas business unit is managed by Ronald Garriques. He is responsible for the mobile devices business unit and has the authority to guide the business unit for defining the strategy for mobile devices. He must guide the mobile device business to succeed otherwise he will be responsible for any failure and have to accept that responsibility. He has authority in the organisations formal structure. In terms of the informal structure of the organisation however, his authority is limited as this is normally governed by a group of individuals. His power could be undermined by the group of individuals, which could perhaps be detrimental to the business. External stakeholder Greenpeace is a worldwide campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment. As an external stakeholder in Motorola they could have a big effect on the formal structure of Motorola. Although Greenpeace have no power in the formal organisation, they have influenced Motorolas behaviour in terms of the environment as Motorola have a policy and commitment regarding this issue. They can exert some degree of authority, by persuading Motorola to train their staff on environmental issues and getting them to have an environmental policy. Through education programmes, they have the power to influence groups of individuals, making them aware of the harmful effects that the substances in mobile devices has on the environment.

San Gabriel River and its drainage problems :: essays research papers fc

In 1938, the San Gabriel Mountains (Los Angeles, USA) experienced heavy amounts of rain. This then led to mass movement, such as mudslides, and flash flooding, which flushed through downtown LA, damaging buildings, homes and vehicles. After these events, a flood committee was formed, and networks of hard defences were set up along the long profile of the San Gabriel River. The aim: decrease the hydrograph, and reduce the risk of flooding. In the upper course of the San Gabriel River, the San Gabriel Dam was built. This is a filtering dam, and uses sluice gates to prevent large boulders from progressing down river. By doing this, the amount of sediment in the river decreases, which reduces the possibility of flooding from high sediment yield, and in the case of a flood, there will be no harmfully large sediment. Problems, however, are that the velocity of the river increased as there is less load to carry, which makes the erosion process scarce, as attrition and corrasion cannot take place. Also the riverbed and slip-off slopes of the river are very weak and can erode easily from hydraulic action. Then there are open dam systems, like Santa Fe and Maddock, where the river is stored and filtered of its sediment. This shares the same benefits of the sluice gates, however, it means no natural levees can form on the riverbanks. Further downstream, there are large control dams and artificial diversion-zone river basins, like the Wittier Narrows. When the river begins to flood, the control dams close, and form a barrier. This completely prevents the river from flowing downstream. The water is then detoured into the artificial basins, like the Wittier Narrows where it is stored until the river returns to its normal level. Then the control dams gradually re-release the stored water into the stream flow. This is effective as it prevents the flooding entering the downtown area. It also allows for things like hydroelectric power and water supply to be easily obtainable, without affecting the main river flow itself for too long. This problem is that this can lead to the starvation of habitats living alongside the river, as there is no water flow.