Talisman Energy

Talisman Energy Inc. (Talisman) is an independent Canadian oil and gas producer. Talisman is a company that has been through a great deal of criticism due to their negative experience in Sudan in previous years. They were accused of numerous things such as fueling the civil war, believing the Sudanese Government was using oil revenues to purchase weaponry, and of being complicit in human rights abuses because of fees and royalties paid to the government for the rights to explore oil and gas.Now, Talisman is faced with the decision of whether or not they should enter into Kurdistan, knowing that the same thing can happen there as it did in Sudan. The KRG is asking for $220 million in exchange for allowing Talisman to search for oil reserves. Not knowing what the KRG will use the money for, whether it’s to improve economic development or to purchase weaponry creates a dilemma for Talisman. The board of directors had first-hand experience of the damage to Talisman’s reputa tion. With proper due diligence and continuous re-evaluation of the situation in Kurdistan, Talisman should now find it easier to discover political risk and solve problems before they arise.Problem StatementTalisman Energy Inc. has encountered problems in the past when entering into politically unstable markets in other countries. Now they are faced with the decision whether to enter the oil-rich Kurdistan region of Iraq, knowing there are great risks associated with it. If they decide to enter Kurdistan, can they do it without facing the same problems as they did in Sudan?AnalysisTalisman’s interest in pursuing oil exploration in the Kurdistan region of Iraq has been shaped by many factors. First being that Kurdistan is estimated to have 39 million barrels of oil reserves. Second, Talisman was optimistic about the opportunity for foreign oil companies to tap into Iraqi oil now that Saddam Hussein had been defeated. Finally, the Kurdistan area was viewed as significantly saf er than the rest of Iraq. Talisman Energy Inc. is a company who has experience doing business in countries with high political risk. Political risk can be caused by conflict and violence, terrorism and kidnapping, property seizure, policy changes, and local  content requirements (Wild & Wild, International Business, 2012). Corruption sometimes plays a role in international business. See table 1 for the Corruption perception index. The higher the CPI score the less corruptive the country is.Table 1 Corruption Perception Index CountryCPI ScoreFinland9.0 to 10.0 Canada8.0 to 8.9 United States of America7.0 to 7.9 Spain6.0 to 6.9 Hungary5.0 to 5.9 Greece4.0 to 4.9 Mexico3.0 to 3.9 Russia2.0 to 2.9 Iraq1.0 to 1.9Talisman is now faced with the decision of whether or not they should enter into Kurdistan given the uncertainty in such an unstable region. Have they done the proper due diligence to proceed into Iraq. Iraq is a region with high political risk see Exhibit 1 (Wild & Wild, Inter national Business, 2012).Exhibit 1 Political risk around the WorldIn retrospect, should Talisman have gone into Sudan?Talisman made a good decision by entering Sudan. They were aware of the risks but the rewards were potentially high. It was for this reason they took the chance. They were faced with many challenges such as being blamed for influencing the Civil War. Overcoming these challenges only made the company stronger and more knowledgeable for similar future situations. What are the learnings from the Sudan experience?Talisman learned a great deal from the Sudan experience. They established a dedicated Corporate Responsibility Group (CR) in response to the events in Sudan. The CR group have developed Talisman’s CR policies, procedures and  reporting protocols. Over the years, they have included government relations and responsibility for assessing the risks involved in new projects, especially when entering countries that have high political risk. The company has als o added the International Code of Ethics for Canadian Business to its existing corporate code of ethics (Talisman Energy Inc.: The Decision to Enter Iraq, 2009). For more information on how Talisman manages their corporate responsibility see Exhibit 2.Exhibit 2 Talisman managing Corporate Responsibility Their commitment to corporate responsibility is founded in their company values. Their people put these values into action daily. Their dedication to making Talisman a great corporate citizen is built into the policies, systems, procedures and practices they have put in place to keep them improving. Their values include: Safety: Their goal is to create working conditions that cause no harm to people. Passion: They inspire others by the passion they demonstrate in their work. Results: They have a bias for results and take initiative to get things done efficiently, creating value for their shareholders. Respect: They take time to consider and appreciate other people’s points of view and treat the environment with respect.Excellence: They strive for excellence in what they do and how they do it. Teamwork: by working effectively together, they can deliver results far beyond their individual capabilities. Honest communication: They show courage to speak honestly and support others to do the same. How much money can Talisman make by entering Iraq?If the U.S geological survey is correct in estimating Kurdistan to have 39 billion barrels of oil reserves, then Talisman can make an enormous amount of money by entering Kurdistan. The world demand for oil in 2008 is forecast at 87 million barrels per day and the price of oil was US$130 per barrel (Talisman Energy Inc.: The Decision to Enter Iraq, 2009). The profit would be in the trillions. These large figures could cloud ones judgement when making such an important decision as this. The resources are there to generate huge profits but the circumstances they have to go through to do so  will have to be examined. W hat are the costs and benefits for Talisman to enter Iraq?CostsA 220 million dollar payment has to be paid to the Kurdistan Regional Government. Talisman’s entry might be viewed as support for the Kurdistan government as it was in Sudan and as a result there could be opposition form the U.S government, which supports the unity of Iraq and the Iraqi central government. There has yet to be an agreement on revenue sharing (Talisman Energy Inc.: The Decision to Enter Iraq, 2009). This could cause problems between the central government and the Kurdistan Regional government. A decision to enter Iraq could ruin the reputation of the company if the same thing were to happen there as in Sudan. The Iraqi central government controls Iraq’s export pipeline system. Without the ability to export the oil, Talismans oil revenue would be significantly curtailed.Benefits†¢Have access to large amounts of oil reserves. †¢Financial growth resulting in trillions of dollars in pro fit. †¢An opportunity to invest in the region of Kurdistan. †¢An opportunity to increase the company’s overall market share. †¢An increased level of profit as a result of cheaper labour than other business ventures.Discussion of AlternativesThere are some alternatives that may help solve Talisman’s problems. Presented here are some advantages and disadvantages of each as well as how each would affect the company as a whole and the country in which it is conducting business. One alternative would be to become more involved in the country where the business is taking place. A positive image needs to be put forth. Talisman needs to show others that it wants to make a difference in the Kurdistan region. With the $220 million that is to be paid to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), it is possible that Talisman could approach the KRG and make some kind of a deal regarding the use of the money. Hopefully this will ensure that it is used to build affordabl e housing, hospitals, schools, roads, and improve drinking water.This has all been destroyed or damaged by past conflict within the country. The advantage of this action results in proving to others that the money is being spent to  improve economic development in the region of Kurdistan and not to create independence from Iraq. A disadvantage of this would be the actual cost to carry out such an amount of work. Ultimately, it would improve their public image and presence in Kurdistan and hopefully prevent any controversy while being there. Another alternative would be to continually evaluate their position while in Kurdistan. This involves evaluating risk to prevent unexpected risks from occurring or exposure to them. By doing this, Talisman would always be on top of the situation at hand and it will allow them to become more proactive in their presence there. It will also help them to decide to stay or leave at any particular time. An advantage of this would be awareness of the local conditions and political/economic environment.They would re-evaluate the risks on a regular basis. This should prevent them from making the same mistakes as they did in Sudan. A disadvantage of this again would be that it is more costly. In addition, Talisman is risking the chances of another company taking the opportunity to enter the region and gain control of the oil reserves. The end result would be that Talisman would be receiving constant updates on the situation in Kurdistan.RecommendationTalisman Energy Inc. is a company that has had their fair share of problems when dealing with areas involving high political risk, such as Sudan. During their time there, they learned a great deal about risk and what to look for to reduce it to an acceptable level for investment purposes. The best way to reduce risk is too continually evaluate the region in which they are conducting business. With all the experience that Talisman has gained in Sudan they should now have a higher level of knowledge and comfort in doing business in Kurdistan. Talisman should now find it easier to discover political risks in new investment ventures. By completing the proper due diligence and exploration of political, legal, social and human rights issues, they should excel in doing business in the Kurdistan region.One must always remember when conducting business in an area with high political risks come high cost. If Talisman decides to enter Kurdistan it has to make sure that the $220 million dollar payment to the Kurdistan Regional Government is transparent and that it meets the standards of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (Talisman Energy Inc.: The Decision to  Enter Iraq, 2009). A deal should try and be made with the KRG to ensure that the money be spent on economic development and not on weapons. This would show the people of the region and the world that Talisman wants to help the people of Kurdistan improve their country, while at the same time establish a viable relationship with the region in order to successfully operate its business in the oil industry. Talisman Energy Executive SummaryTalisman Energy Inc. (Talisman) is an independent Canadian oil and gas producer. Talisman is a company that has been through a great deal of criticism due to their negative experience in Sudan in previous years. They were accused of numerous things such as fueling the civil war, believing the Sudanese Government was using oil revenues to purchase weaponry, and of being complicit in human rights abuses because of fees and royalties paid to the government for the rights to explore oil and gas.Now, Talisman is faced with the decision of whether or not they should enter into Kurdistan, knowing that the same thing can happen there as it did in Sudan. The KRG is asking for $220 million in exchange for allowing Talisman to search for oil reserves. Not knowing what the KRG will use the money for, whether it’s to improve economic development or to purchase weaponry creates a dilemma for Talisman. The board of directors had first-hand experience of the damage to Talisma n’s reputation. With proper due diligence and continuous re-evaluation of the situation in Kurdistan, Talisman should now find it easier to discover political risk and solve problems before they arise.Problem StatementTalisman Energy Inc. has encountered problems in the past when entering into politically unstable markets in other countries. Now they are faced with the decision whether to enter the oil-rich Kurdistan region of Iraq, knowing there are great risks associated with it. If they decide to enter Kurdistan, can they do it without facing the same problems as they did in Sudan? AnalysisTalisman’s interest in pursuing oil exploration in the Kurdistan region of Iraq has been shaped by many factors. First being that Kurdistan is estimated to have 39 million barrels of oil reserves. Second, Talisman was optimistic about the opportunity for foreign oil companies to tap into Iraqi oil now that Saddam Hussein had been defeated. Finally, the Kurdistan area was viewed as significantly safer than the rest of Iraq.Talisman Energy Inc. is a company who has experience doing business in countries with high political risk. Political risk can be caused by conflict and violence, terrorism and kidnapping, property seizure, policy changes, and local  content requirements (Wild & Wild, International Business, 2012). Corruption sometimes plays a role in international business. See table 1 for the Corruption perception index. The higher the CPI score the less corruptive the country is.Table 1 Corruption Perception Index Country CPI ScoreFinland9.0 to 10.0 Canada8.0 to 8.9 United States of America7.0 to 7.9 Spain6.0 to 6.9 Hungary5.0 to 5.9 Greece4.0 to 4.9 Mexico3.0 to 3.9 Russia2.0 to 2.9 Iraq1.0 to 1.9Talisman is now faced with the decision of whether or not they should enter into Kurdistan given the uncertainty in such an unstable region. Have they done the proper due diligence to proceed into Iraq. Iraq is a region with high political risk see Exhibit 1 ( Wild & Wild, International Business, 2012). Exhibit 1 Political risk around the World)In retrospect, should Talisman have gone into Sudan?Talisman made a good decision by entering Sudan. They were aware of the risks but the rewards were potentially high. It was for this reason they took the chance. They were faced with many challenges such as being blamed for influencing the Civil War. Overcoming these challenges only made the company stronger and more knowledgeable for similar future situations. What are the learnings from the Sudan experience?Talisman learned a great deal from the Sudan experience. They established a dedicated Corporate Responsibility Group (CR) in response to the events in Sudan. The CR group have developed Talisman’s CR policies, procedures and  reporting protocols. Over the years, they have included government relations and responsibility for assessing the risks involved in new projects, especially when entering countries that have high political risk. The company has also added the International Code of Ethics for Canadian Business to its existing corporate code of ethics (Talisman Energy Inc.: The Decision to Enter Iraq, 2009).For more information on how Talisman manages their corporate responsibility see Exhibit 2. Exhibit 2 Talisman managing Corporate Responsibility Their commitment to corporate responsibility is founded in their company values. Their people put these values into action daily. Their dedication to making Talisman a great corporate citizen is built into the policies, systems, procedures and practices they have put in place to keep them improving. Their values include: Safety: Their goal is to create working conditions that cause no harm to people.Passion: They inspire others by the passion they demonstrate in their work. Results: They have a bias for results and take initiative to get things done efficiently, creating value for their shareholders. Respect: They take time to consider and appreciate other peopleà ¢â‚¬â„¢s points of view and treat the environment with respect. Excellence: They strive for excellence in what they do and how they do it. Teamwork: by working effectively together, they can deliver results far beyond their individual capabilities. Honest communication: They show courage to speak honestly and support others to do the same. How much money can Talisman make by entering Iraq?If the U.S geological survey is correct in estimating Kurdistan to have 39 billion barrels of oil reserves, then Talisman can make an enormous amount of money by entering Kurdistan. The world demand for oil in 2008 is forecast at 87 million barrels per day and the price of oil was US$130 per barrel (Talisman Energy Inc.: The Decision to Enter Iraq, 2009). The profit would be in the trillions. These large figures could cloud ones judgement when making such an important decision as this. The resources are there to generate huge profits but the circumstances they have to go through to do so  will ha ve to be examined. What are the costs and benefits for Talisman to enter Iraq?CostsA 220 million dollar payment has to be paid to the Kurdistan Regional Government. Talisman’s entry might be viewed as support for the Kurdistan government as it was in Sudan and as a result there could be opposition form the U.S government, which supports the unity of Iraq and the Iraqi central government. There has yet to be an agreement on revenue sharing (Talisman Energy Inc.: The Decision to Enter Iraq, 2009). This could cause problems between the central government and the Kurdistan Regional government. A decision to enter Iraq could ruin the reputation of the company if the same thing were to happen there as in Sudan. The Iraqi central government controls Iraq’s export pipeline system. Without the ability to export the oil, Talismans oil revenue would be significantly curtailed.Benefits†¢Have access to large amounts of oil reserves. †¢Financial growth resulting in trillio ns of dollars in profit. †¢An opportunity to invest in the region of Kurdistan. †¢An opportunity to increase the company’s overall market share. †¢An increased level of profit as a result of cheaper labour than other business ventures. Discussion of AlternativesThere are some alternatives that may help solve Talisman’s problems. Presented here are some advantages and disadvantages of each as well as how each would affect the company as a whole and the country in which it is conducting business. One alternative would be to become more involved in the country where the business is taking place. A positive image needs to be put forth. Talisman needs to show others that it wants to make a difference in the Kurdistan region. With the $220 million that is to be paid to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), it is possible that Talisman could approach the KRG and make some kind of a deal regarding the use of the money.Hopefully this will ensure that it is use d to build affordable housing, hospitals, schools, roads, and improve drinking water. This has all been destroyed or damaged by past conflict within the country. The advantage of this action results in proving to others that the money is being spent to  improve economic development in the region of Kurdistan and not to create independence from Iraq. A disadvantage of this would be the actual cost to carry out such an amount of work. Ultimately, it would improve their public image and presence in Kurdistan and hopefully prevent any controversy while being there. Another alternative would be to continually evaluate their position while in Kurdistan.This involves evaluating risk to prevent unexpected risks from occurring or exposure to them. By doing this, Talisman would always be on top of the situation at hand and it will allow them to become more proactive in their presence there. It will also help them to decide to stay or leave at any particular time. An advantage of this would be awareness of the local conditions and political/economic environment. They would re-evaluate the risks on a regular basis.This should prevent them from making the same mistakes as they did in Sudan. A disadvantage of this again would be that it is more costly. In addition, Talisman is risking the chances of another company taking the opportunity to enter the region and gain control of the oil reserves. The end result would be that Talisman would be receiving constant updates on the situation in Kurdistan.RecommendationTalisman Energy Inc. is a company that has had their fair share of problems when dealing with areas involving high political risk, such as Sudan. During their time there, they learned a great deal about risk and what to look for to reduce it to an acceptable level for investment purposes. The best way to reduce risk is too continually evaluate the region in which they are conducting business. With all the experience that Talisman has gained in Sudan they should now have a higher level of knowledge and comfort in doing business in Kurdistan.Talisman should now find it easier to discover political risks in new investment ventures. By completing the proper due diligence and exploration of political, legal, social and human rights issues, they should excel in doing business in the Kurdistan region. One must always remember when conducting business in an area with high political risks come high cost. If Talisman decides to enter Kurdistan it has to make sure that the $220 million dollar payment to the Kurdistan Regional Government is transparent and that it meets the standards of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (Talisman Energy Inc.: The Decision to

How has technology over the years affected society today?

My essay will contain facts and answers about cell phones and if they are helping us or not and also how smart phones are actually making us stupid. It is getting bad, 37% of adults have admitted to being addicted to their smart phones while 60% of children and teens have admitted to being addicted to their smart phones. And Apple isn’t exactly helping with this. They have sold 33. 8 million I phones, 14. 1 million I pads and 4. 6 million Macs this quarter. In case you didn’t know a quarter in the business world is 4 months.And that’s just Apple alone, in the first three months of 2013 there have been an estimated 405 million cell phones sold with 216 million being smart phones and 189 million being regular cell phones. Smart phones, they have completely changed the way we communicate. We use them for everything entertainment, math, translation of languages, cameras, and even the Internet it really is mind blowing to think of what can be done with a Smartphone. H ave you ever heard someone say â€Å"there’s an app for that†? Well that’s because there is probably an app for just about everything.There are apps that your animals can play apps for your toddler and for your parents too. Whatever happened to cat toys, hot wheels and books? I mean honestly smart phones kill, how many lives would have been saved if we didn’t have smart phones how many lives could we have saved if we didn’t have that one app or internet connection? It’s also been worse since texting was made illegal because everyone try’s to hide it under the dashboard or god knows what other ways people try to hide phones, takes their eyes off the road and then veer and crash.It has got to the point where every part of daily life is run by our phones we use them to fall asleep wake up figure out what clothes we want to wear today and so on. Did you know sixty two percent of Americans admitted to relying on smartphones to get through their day? But on that note don’t get me wrong there are some advantages to smartphones like how they are a popular communication device, some apps are useful, the built in gps can get you out of some bad situations. it really just depends on the user it could be a 16 year old girl sending 30 texts a minute or it could be a 50 year old man taking 15 minutes to say what’s up.Which leads to another point of why old people shouldn’t use smartphones they set themselves up to be a danger to society if god wanted someone to take 15 minutes to say â€Å"hey† he would have given them a stutter. They need help most the time they use it, it would be simpler to own a regular phone that costs twenty dollars than have a three hundred or four hundred dollars. And when they do have smartphones they don’t use ninety percent of the apps or things like that when that’s what smartphones are for.

Preventing Falls in Long Term Care Setting Essay

Preventing Falls in Long Term Care Setting - Essay Example This study explores the prevalence and significance of falls in the long term care setting before discussing five nursing interventions that can be instituted to manage the problem. This is followed by an appraisal of the anticipated outcomes after implementation of the five strategies. The study draws from Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) Best Practice Guideline (BPG) and a number of peer reviewed scholarly articles. The Prevalence and Significance of falls in the Long Term Care Setting According to McCarthy, Adedokun and Fairchild (2011) present statistics that capture the seriousness of falls in the long term care setting. A nursing home containing 100 beds reports between 100 and 200 falls among the residents annually. Elderly patients in the long term care setting are three times as likely to experience falls in comparison to their community-dwelling counterparts. The scholars’ report further state that falls are the leading cause of fatal and non-f atal injuries to individuals over the age of 65. RNAO (2005) reports 84.8% of all hospital injury admissions of individuals above the age of 65 are the result of falling. One in ten of emergency room visits among the elderly arises due to serious falls, while the incidences increase proportionately to age. Ferris (2008) attributes the disparity between long term care residents and community dwellers to the likelihood of having more comorbidities and advanced levels of diseases such as dementia. The significance of falls in the long term care setting is further underpinned by the contribution of falls to morbidity and mortality, decline in functional disposition and depression among other impacts on the elderly. Another perspective of the issue shows that a good number of falls may go unreported, which limits the capacity of data seekers to correctly capture the contribution of falls to elderly residents’ morbidity and mortality. Falls potentially cause more serious impacts an d implications than the grim statistics presented. Thus, falls in the long term care setting are an issue of great significance in case the outcomes of long term care settings are to improve. Nursing Interventions to Prevent Falls in the Long Term Care Setting The seriousness of the issue of falls among residents of long term care homes makes it necessary to institute evidence-based and informed prevention strategies. The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) Best Practice Guideline (BPG) provides evidence-based strategies to prevent falls and thus will be the focus of this study. The first prevention strategy entails sensitizing the residents on the importance of vitamin D supplementation among other dietary, lifestyle and treatment choices for osteoporosis (RNAO, 2005). There exists sufficient evidence showing that decline in bone density among the elderly is directly associated to increased risk of falls. Elderly patients may have higher risks of vitamin D defic iency due to limited exposure to sunlight and skin changes associated with ageing. Bischoff-Ferrari et al. (2009) support RNAO’s position through their study indicating that vitamin D supplementation significantly reduces patient’s risks of falling. Their meta-analytic evidence indicates a reduction of 22% in falls among patients in the healthcare setting. The second prevention strategy involves assessing and modifying the long term care setting environment as a component of fall prevention strate

The Funding Sources of Cleveland Treatment Center Assignment

The Funding Sources of Cleveland Treatment Center - Assignment Example TheTreatment Center was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1972 and is certified by the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addictions Services. The CTC, one of the largest freestanding chemical dependency facilities in Ohio, employs 27 staff, with the capacity to serve 350 clients. Cleveland Treatment Center is funded by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, the Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services Board of Cuyahoga, the City of Cleveland Workforce Development Act Area II, the City of Cleveland Department of Health. CTC a fully accredited service provider in Northeast Ohio by the Commission on Accreditation on Rehabilitation of Facilities (CARF) as an Opioid Treatment Program (OTP) and Prevention/Diversion: Alcohol and other Drug Addictions-Adults Program. The mission of the Cleveland Treatment Center is to enhance the health and well-being of residents of Northeast Ohio by providing state-of-the-art, cost-effective, abstinence-based drug treatment, prevention, and health promotion services (www.clevelandtreatmentcenter.org). The Cleveland Treatment Center Staf will provide specialized, state-of-the-art, scientifically-based substance abuse treatment, which is continuously responsive to the needs of the clients and their families (www.clevelandtreatmentcenter.org). Cleveland Treatment Center, Inc. is a chemical dependency treatment and prevention organization that is governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees which represents a cross section of constituencies throughout Cuyahoga County. CTC has operated to improve the health and well-being of residents of Northeast Ohio by providing state-of-the-art, cost effective, abstinence-based drug treatment, and prevention and health promotion services. Since 1972 and is certified by the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug- Addictions Services. CTC, one of the largest freestanding chemical depndency facilities in Ohio employs 32 staff.

Target market Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Target market - Article Example een various audiences it becomes simple for them to establish what consumer segments to accurately support their business and whether they are going to be converted into return-customers. A restaurant that has identified a target market will also have a clear focus of what it wants to do and avoid a general approach in an extremely differentiated market place. This means that such a restaurant will take into consideration such factors as gender, age, technological sophistication and lifestyle. Thus making out a target market offers a clear focus to the restaurant on the possible niche of the audience that they want to serve. Lastly identifying a target market will help the restaurants in evaluating the specific segments of their consumers that are most likely to purchase their products, thus assisting them in prioritizing their resources accordingly. In addition the restaurants will also precisely plan and pinpoint their consumers’ wants and needs. One such technique is generational marketing that defines potential consumers by economic, demographic, age, and social

Justice in Greek Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Justice in Greek Philosophy - Essay Example Plato, one of the Greek's ancient philosophers, ideally believed that sense-gained knowledge remains impure and confused, and that only the soul that contemplates and turns away from thinking carnally can receive true knowledge. He also believed that only the soul can know real essences of things, acquire knowledge of forms since the world as seen by the eye is nothing short of an imperfect copy (Bakalis, 2005). The immense dialogue in the Republic is opened by questioning the nature of justice. Several definitions of justice are proposed which are found to be inadequate except that at least more emphasis is put on Sophist, Thrasymachus' definition. According to this young man, justice is anything the strongest man decides that it is. Further, he states that whatever is in the strong man's interest is just. This argument is dismissed by Socrates after proving that strong personalities rarely get to know whatever is in their best interest; this cannot be just since justice in itself is a virtuous (Griffin, Boardman & Murray, 2001). Plato had quite a different view of justice; he believed that an answer exists that derives basically from reality's nature. In his republic, justice is defined as wisdom, courage and self-control; something close to righteousness and morality. In Greek, the Republic refers to the character or order of a political society; its regime type or constitution. The republic also refers to the city-state governance in a Socratic dialogue written in 380 BC by Plato. The republic is a most influential work of political theory and philosophy, and is Plato's best work. In fictional dialogues with foreigners, Athenians and Socrates, Plato discusses the meaning of true justice (Griffin et al., 2001). He seeks to establish whether man is happier when just or unjust by imagining a society that is governed by the guardians and philosopher-kings. The dialogue also goes further to discuss the role of philosophers, the place of poetry, the Theory of Forms and the soul's immortality. Plato's Republic is to-date considered in respect of western philosophy to be one of the most influential works. The Republic essentially deals with the subject of how one can live well. This inquiry into how one can live a good life was shaped into two parallel questions: (1) what does an ideal state look like, or what is state justice (2) What makes a just person These questions naturally encompass others such as: how should the state citizen be educated, what arts need to be encouraged, what kind of government should state adopt, who should govern and what rewards should the governor receive, what is the soul's nature and what afterlife and divine sanctions exist (Griffin et al., 2001). The dialogue proceeds to cover almost all aspects of Plato's thought. Platonic thought as described by several central aspects that exist in the dialogue can be summed up into three main points; the nature of justice, the ideal republic and the allegory of the divided line and the cave (which attempt to explain the theory of forms as perceived by Plato). THE IDEAL REPUBLIC According to Socrates, if a person can define what a just state looks like then the person can apply that analogously to the just man. Plato on his part exposes in detail how a state can have wisdom, courage, justice and temperament - four great virtues. In his utopia, Plato divides men

Should thin people have to pay Medicare and other health costs Research Paper

Should thin people have to pay Medicare and other health costs - Research Paper Example In this article, Bhattacharya and Sood address the economic costs of obesity to the society. Through various statistics the authors found out that the existing healthcare program caters for the problems of obese people through the use of funds from normal individuals which should not be the case. Regarding this , the authors suggest that the obese individuals should pay higher premiums to cater for their healthcare problems and to be more cautious with their dietary choices. The importance of this article to this bibliography is that it brings an economical analysis of the costs of obesity. Bhattacharya, Jay, et al. "Does Health Insurance Make You Fat?" July 2009 . Web. 17 April 2012. In this article, the authors critically analyze the concept of healthcare premiums. The authors argue that health insurance tend to make individuals less concerned about their health problems hence increasing cases of obesity. The authors have also indicated that programs such as Medicaid and Medicare fail to address the problem of obesity.... Regarding this , the authors suggest that the obese individuals should pay higher premiums to cater for their healthcare problems and to be more cautious with their dietary choices. The importance of this article to this bibliography is that it brings an economical analysis of the costs of obesity. Bhattacharya, Jay, et al. "Does Health Insurance Make You Fat?" July 2009 . Web. 17 April 2012. In this article, the authors critically analyze the concept of healthcare premiums. The authors argue that health insurance tend to make individuals less concerned about their health problems hence increasing cases of obesity. The authors have also indicated that programs such as Medicaid and Medicare fail to address the problem of obesity. Moreover, the authors have suggested that a difference in wages in which obese people are paid less will help them to take necessary measures regarding health. This article is important to this annotated bibliography as it addresses the concept of pooled insu rance in which obese people benefit unfairly from premiums paid by normal individuals. Bauer, Brad. â€Å"Higher Premiums for Obese Workers Growing.† News and Sentinel, 20 November 2011. Web. 17 April 2012. Bauer is a consultant in insurance-related matters, whose articles on healthcare insurance demonstrate his experience in the field of insurance. In this article, Bauer has highlighted that obese people benefit more from healthcare since they pay equal premiums with normal people. In this article, the author articulates that premiums are being internalized so that the obese individuals can bear the burden that results from costs of catering for their health

Issues Regarding Ranking of People Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Issues Regarding Ranking of People - Term Paper Example hoot-out, Zimmerman was arrested by the police; the police arrived at the scene about two minutes after the shooting, in response to a distress call made by Zimmerman (Bell et al. 89). After his arrest, Zimmerman was put under police custody, treated for the head injuries that he claimed were inflicted on him by Trayvon, and was later questioned for five hours, regarding the events leading to the shooting. However, after a few hours, Zimmerman was released, and the police chief in charge of the case gave a variety of reasons for the release, including that he had acted in self-defense (Bell et al. 88-89). The police chief also maintained that the â€Å"stand your ground statute† did not allow the police to arrest Zimmerman for the controversial murder of the teenager, irrespective of the victim’s civil rights as well as the human rights of all Americans (Hancock 1). This paper will explore the event of Trayvon’s killing, with the aim of showing how the event led to an inequitable society, the resolution of the event and its effects. Despite the fact that Zimmerman, a Hispanic had shot Trayvon, an African-American dead, and despite the fact that the case was evidently an extreme one, Zimmerman was relelased after a few hours. The social stratification between the African-Americans and Americans of American descent demonstrated the social construction of social stratification for the different classes, and the case ended with an inadequacy of the attention warranted by the murder of Trayvon (Day-Vines et al. 401). The lack of equitability in society was evidenced by the responses offered to the murder, including that little attention paid to the fact that the police had ordered Zimmerman to stop pursuing Trayvon, yet he went ahead to shoot him dead. Secondly, there was the issue that, despite the fact that Zimmerman did not have any credible reasons to suspect that Trayvon was planning or in the process of committing a crime, the investigating officers paid

Mexico Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Mexico - Research Paper Example Mexico got its independence from Spain on the 21st of September 1821. It was declared and established as an independent republic in 1824. It is also known as the United Mexican States. Mexico went through numerous challenges because of invaders and other kinds of national problems that affected it throughout the twentieth century. It has risen from its troubled past, however, and is currently one of the most popularly liked and thriving nations of the world. Mexico is the fifth largest country in North America and the thirteenth largest in the whole world. Mexico fits in geographically with North-America, but ethnologically, it is part of Latin America (Nationsonline.org, n.d.). Mexico has the highest population in all of Spanish-speaking countries in the world. Around 70% of the people live in urban areas (Nationsonline.org, n.d.). Based on some estimates, the population of the area around Mexico City is roughly 18 million, which means it has the highest population concentration in the Western Hemisphere (Nationsonline.org, n.d.). The capital of Mexico is Mexico City. It has always been the centre of economic, political, social and cultural values of the nation, even before Mexico became a part of Spain. But when Mexico became independent, ultimately, Mexico City was made the capital of the United Mexican States. The flag of Mexico is quite different from other flags of the world. It is not only unique, but also holds a very deep and interesting story, as well as strong facts about the country Mexico. The flag consists of three colored bands placed in a vertical manner. Starting from the left, the first band is of green color, which represents hope, joy, love and prosperity (Barbezat, n.d.). The second band is of white color, which depicts peace, unity, and honesty (Barbezat, n.d.). The third band has the color red, which symbolizes courage and strength (Barbezat, n.d.). Initially, the green stood for independence, white symbolized religion, and red represented the union of Americans and Europeans; however, during the secularization of the country under President Benito Juarez (president of Mexico from 1858 to 1872), the implications of the colors were changed: green meant hope, white for unity, and red for the blood of the national heroes (Barbezat, n.d.). In the center of the white band is The Mexican Coat of Arms. It is composed of an eagle eating a snake on top of a cactus (Barbezat, n.d.). The Mexican Coat of Arms is based on an Aztec legend, which narrated the way in which t he Aztecs came to select the site where they built their capital city of Tenochtitlan (where Mexico City is located at present). The Aztecs, also called as the Mexica ("meh-shee-ka"), were a nomadic people who came from the north of the country (Barbezat, n.d.). The god of war, Huitzilopochtli, showed himself in a dream of an Aztec leader. Huitzilopochtli told this leader that they should settle in the land, where they would find an eagle sitting on top of a prickly pear cactus with a serpent (Barbezat, n.d.). The Aztecs saw this eagle in a quite inhospitable place, a swampy location in the middle of three lakes, but they believed in this vision and built the grand city of Tenochtitlan (Barbezat, n.d.). The currency of Mexico is â€Å"Peso.† Though American and Canadian dollars are accepted at some places where there are maximum visits of tourists, the peso is widely used in every area of Mexico. III. Mexico is widely famous around the world for innumerable features, includin g its astounding natural beauty, as well as man-made amusements. It is a well-developed country and is popular in different parts of the globe. These are some of the reasons that attract tourists towards Mexico. Tourists are usually found in almost every season of the year, especially during school and office vacations, and there are many tourists who enjoy living the Mexican lifestyle for a few days. IV. The following are some of the discussions about language, art, marriage,

Blooms Research and Response Essay Example for Free

Blooms Research and Response Essay Each domain has its own set of specific expectations. Bloom broke down his taxonomy into different levels of complexity. They are arraigned in a hierarchy from less to more complex. When teaching, the educator will use the levels so that mastery of the first level is necessary by the learner before the next level can be achieved. The Cognitive Domain focuses on knowledge and developing the skills of comprehension, it also uses critical thinking skills. There are six levels of complexity in this Domain: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. The Affective Domain focuses on how the learner deals with emotions and with his ability to feel empathy for others. Bloom broke down this domain into five levels: Receiving (awareness), Responding (active participation in the learning process), Valuing, Organization, and Internalizing (values held that influence a behavior so it becomes a characteristic). The third domain, the Psychomotor Domain was not broken down into subcategories by Bloom but by Simpson in 1972. The Psychomotor Domain focuses on the ability to manipulate an object physically. This domain has seven levels: Perception, Set (readiness to act), Guided Response, Mechanism, Complex Overt Response (the ability to perform without hesitation), Adaptation, and Origination. When used, Bloom’s Taxonomy will provide the educator with a measurable way to assess the level of comprehension of the taught information by the learner (â€Å"Big Dog and Little Dog’s Performance Juxtaposition,† 2010). Nurses can use Bloom’s teaching method in educating patients with chronic diseases. First the nurse must assess the patient for level of understanding and readiness to learn. The nurse uses the Cognitive Domain to teach the patient about his specific disease and to facilitate understanding of all concepts associated with the disease and its treatments. In following the hierarchy the nurse would start with the simplest information and ideas and increase the complexity of the information after the patient has exhibited comprehension of the previously taught material. Using the Affective Domain the nurse helps the patient deal with his emotions related to his diagnosis and to attach a value to it. Once a patient has processed the information given to him, realizes the importance of managing his care and placing a value on its importance, he is ready to use the psychomotor domain. The educator uses the Psychomotor domain to teach the skills portion of education. Diabetics need to learn how to use blood glucose testing equipment; patients may need to learn how to self-catheterize these are just two examples of skills that nurses teach that fall under this domain. There are many areas of education a nurse teaches daily. One of which is the information given to patients with chronic diseases in order for them to achieve or maintain self-sufficiency. Bloom’s teaching method gives those patients the best chance at mastering the necessary information and skills needed to live day-to-day with a chronic illness.

Case Study Of Adidas Management Essay

Case Study Of Adidas Management Essay Adidas is a Germany shoe, clothing and apparel company that also own Reebok, Taylor Made and Rockport. Adidas is the largest sportswear company in Europe and is the second only to Nike as the largest sportswear company in the world. The company sports the recognizable logo of three slanted parallel bars of ascending height. Adidas was founded in 1924 by Adolf Dassler, but it did not become a fully registered company until 1940. Its headquarters are located in Herzogenaurach, Germany, the hometown of its founder. Although many believe that Adidas stands for All day I dream about soccer the true origin of the name comes from the amalgamation of Adolfs nickname, Adi, and the first three letter of his last name. Adidas specializes in the design and manufacturing of footwear, sportswear, sports equipment and, yes, even toiletries, most notably, deodorant. However, the company first gained international recognition in 1936 at the Summer Olympic in Berlin, where it outfitted U.S. track star Jesse Owens with its track shoes. Owens won four gold medals in the games. With a specifically stated Corporate Strategy, the company needs to ensure that their organizational structure will allow for and be flexible to this strategy being sought after. Their objectives outlined in the corporate strategy ensure the mission statement will translate into action, while also guiding and coordinating decisions. There is no purpose in having well thought out strategic objectives, but no structure and cohesion to attain these objectives. The Adidas Group comprises of a four person executive board, including one Chief Executive Officer and three board members representing the shareholders and six members representing the staff. The Supervisory Board advices and supervises the executive board in matter concerning the management of the company. It is the role of the supervisory board to ensure that the pathway and vision determine by the executive board is forthrightly followed by the rest of the organization from the top, all the way down to those entrusted with man ufacturing their products. The strengths of ADIDAS are strong management team and good corporate strategy in North American and overseas markets, brand recognition and reputation, diversity and variety in productions offered on the web (footwear, apparel, sporting, equipment, etc.), strong control over its own distribution channel, strong customer base, and strong financial position with minimal long term debts. Weakness of ADIDAS is negative image portrayed by poor working condition in its overseas factories, and E-commerce is limited to USA. 2.0 Management Organisation and the management activities necessary for the functioning of the organisation, management can be defined as the process of planning, organizing, leading and controlling the resources of the organisation to predetermined stated organizational goals as productively as possible. A concise description of each of the fundamental management functions will further explain the concept of management and the nature of the management process. Planning Controlling Leading Organising Resources Human Financial Physical Information Performance Achieve goals Products Services Productivity Profit Figure 1 the four fundamental management functions constituting the management process. 2.1 Planning Planning is the first step of the function of management. Planning involves deciding in advance what has to be done, when, how and whom it has to be done and how the results are to be evaluated. The function of what has to be done involves identification of alternatives and selection of one of them. According to Henri Fayol, it is the plan of action to be followed, the stages to go through and methods to use. It is kinds of future picture wherein proximate events are outlined with some distinctness whist remote events appear progressively less distinct. The term planning has been defined by different management thinkers who laid emphasis on the various features of planning. According to George R. Terry, planning is the selecting and relating of facts and the making and using of assumptions regarding the future in the visualization and formulation of proposed activities believed necessary to achieve the desired results. A plan is like a map, when you following a plan, you can always see how much you have progressed towards your project goal and how far you are from your destination. Knowing where you are is essential for making good decisions on where to go or what to do next. The most important is to ensure that everyone is clear of what to accomplish. Planning meaning is how setting goals and defining the actions necessary to achieve the goals, in light of the situation. That is situation must be analyses or understood and the appropriate goals and actions must be determined in order to take advantage of opportunities and how to solve problems. Basic management function involving formulation more than one detailed plans to achieve optimum balance of needs or demands with available resources. First, the planning process is identifies the goals or objectives to be achieved and formulates strategies to achieve them. The Managers throughout the organization must develop goals, strategy, and operational plans for their work groups that contribute to the success of the organizations as a whole. Planning is also crucial for meeting your needs during each action with your time, money, or other resources. With careful planning you often can see if at some point you are likely to face a problem. It is much easier to adjust your plan to avoid overcome crisis, rather than to deal with the crisis when it comes unexpected time. Example Adidas plans to expand their operations in Europe, so they need consultation to the Government of Germany. They have been granted landing rights in Paris and are awaiting further details from authorities. In addition, planning has a different meaning depending on the political or economic context in which it is used. Two attitudes to planning need to be held in tension on the one hand we need to be prepare for what may lie ahead, which may mean contingencies and flexible processes. There is one thing on which every manager can expect to be appraised, the extent to which he or she archives his or her units goals or objectives. Whether its a work team or a giant enterprise, the manager in charge is expected to move the unit ahead, and this means visualizing where the unit must go and helping het there. Organization exits to achieve some purpose, and if they fail to move forward and achieve their aims, to that extent they have failed. On the other hand, our future is shaped by consequences of our own planning and actions. Planning in organization and public policy is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a program. In the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to set a desired target or goal on some scale. Business planning is like water to a thirsty plant. It keeps our business vital and thriving. Without business planning, business will never improve as it could may even lose or bankrupt. Many small business or stall owners dont have the business planning so they cant earn so much profit when their doing business. Their business unable further progress and stagnant it is, eventually as to close to close shop or behind other competitors. The rapid of change in todays business world and globalization is making it increasingly necessary that mangers keep their plans current. Strategic management is the application of the basic planning process at the highest levels of the organization. Through the strategic management process, top management determines the long-run direction and performance of the organization by ensuring careful formulation and strategies. For example, top management may ask middle and lower-level managers for inputs when formulation top-level plans. Once top-level plans have been finalized, different organizational units may be asked to formulate plans for their respective areas. A proper strategic management process helps ensure that plans throughout the different levels of the organization are coordinated and mutually supportive. The slogan of Adidas is Impossible is Nothing. The mission of Adidas is to be Best Sport Brand in the world. They had achieved the mission but in this strong competitive era, too many company like Nike and Reebok also want to be globally recognized brand, but they will work hard to achieve their goals. Adidas is passionate about all sports. So Adidas Company will try their best for planning new product or equipment for athletes. As part of their End-to-End Planning initiative they have been focusing on implementing an optimized demand planning process and system more than 20 countries in Europe. They standardized or partially automated certain planning functions to increase forecast accuracy. Following the first wave of implementations in 2008, they continued the roll-out to the remaining European countries throughout 2009. Hereafter, they expect to continue the roll-out to other key Adidas Group markets such as Japan. They set up a dedicated Profitability Management department to monitor macroeconomics trends, forecast the impact on product and supplier cost and devises their supply chain profitability strategy. In addition, their development teams also contribute significantly to this initiative by engineering their products with a stronger focus on price. Throughout 2009, they also engaged their supplier with the aim to increase transparency and predictability in costing. Such as, they closely tracked raw material costs and leveraged this information to consolidate volumes. This allowed them to negotiate more effectively and offset cost increase. In addition, their sourcing teams improved their products allocation process to better utilize suppliers capabilities and take into account of total supply chain cost. Moreover, by leveraging consolidated volumes, their Transport and Customs team success negotiated reduced transportation cost and optimized shipment routes with their service providers. In conclusion, planning is very important for the organization to achieve their goals and objectives. Especially, current globalization every organization is using latest technology to do the market analyses and compressive planning. In order for them to survive and growth, for example, in year 2008, financial crisis, many banks in US will decline bankrupt. This is because of their poor planning. 2.2 Organising According to Haimann, Organisation is the process of defining and grouping the activities of the enterprise and establishing the authority relationship among them. The study of Haimann mentioned definitions makes it clear that on the one hand organization is a process to define and classify the functions to be performed for the attainment of the objectives of the organization, and on the other hand, it is an art to establish sweet relationship among different persons. There are two concept are prevalent about organisation. In the other word, there are two meaning of organization: Organising as process: According to the first concept of organising, it has been considered as a process. In the other word, organising is not function that can be performed at a single stroke, but it is a chain of various functions. It includes getting information about objectives, deciding various activities and grouping them, determining important activities, allowing authority and responsibility, etc. Organising is related to human being and human conduct is deeply affected by the condition of work, their competency and capability, changes in the internal and external environment of the organisation. The process of organising has also to be changed according these changes. Hence, organising as a process can also be described as dynamic element. Organising s a structure of relationship: according to this concept, organising is treated as a structure of relationship. Under this various posts are created or established and the mutual relationship of employees working on various posts, their authorities and responsibilities are defined. Relationship lays down as to who is the superior and who is the subordinate. Various posts in different department of the organization are mostly permanent. Therefore, organisation as a structure of relationship is called static element. So far as the similarity between both the concepts is concerned, business organisation is looked upon as a group of different parts under both the concepts. These parts are both tangible (like human, material, machine and money) and intangible (like authority, responsibility, function and objective). Both the concepts lay stress upon the establishment of relationship between these two parts. On the contrary, there are certain different between both the concepts. According to the concept of organizing as a process organizing is that function which continues throughout the existence of the enterprise and changes go on taking place in it. Herein man is the central point. In the other words, many factors affect them and changes have to be introduced accordingly. On the other hand, according to the concept of organizing as a structure of relationship, posts are established in the organisation and authorities and responsibilities of each post are determined. Therefore, here under this concept more attention is paid to post which are stable than to men. In order to complete the organisation function of management, there are eight steps had to be taken. First step in the process is to know about the objectives of the enterprise. Although the determination of the objectives of an enterprise is done under the first function of management, i.e., planning but before commencing the process of organizing clear and detailed information about these objectives has to be obtained. On the basis of the information about objectives various function designed to achieve these objectives are determined. For example, it can be the objectives of the enterprise to produce sport shoes. In this respect information about how many types of sport shoes will be manufactured, whether the necessary parts required for manufacturing sport shoes will be manufactured or purchased, how extensive the sales area will be or will it be state, the whole country or international? After having learnt about the objectives of the enterprise, necessary functions to achieve t he objectives are determined. For example, a sport shoes manufacturing company can have different activities like purchase of raw material, purchase of manufactured parts production, advertisement, sales, arrangement of finance, research, accounts, correspondence, keeping stock of material, recruitment of employees, etc.. In order to achieve the objectives of the enterprise grouping of various activities is done. Under the grouping of activities all the similar type of activities are given to one particular department. For example, the activities like the purchase of raw material, purchase of ready-made parts, production, stocking the material, research, etc., are assigned to the production department. Similarly, advertisement and sales activities are given to the marketing department and department of finance take care of finance account and correspondence. Taking into consideration the importance and quantity of the work a department can be further divided into many branches or su b-departments. For example, under the department of production, purchase department, stock department, and research department, etc., can be established to get the benefit of specialization. It makes the optimum utilisation of human and material resources possible. The forth step is to key activities signifies the importance of this activities in the achievement of the objectives of the enterprise. Such an activities needs special attention. It depends on the objectives on the organisation to determine the key activity. Thus, in all the organisations key activity can be different. In the given example of a sport shoes producing company the main problem can be of advertisement because only an effective and large scale advertisement can attract the attention of the consumers toward a new product. Thus, in this case the function of advertisement is the key activity which requires the utmost attention. For this purpose the advertisement activities should be taken from the purview of the marketing department and be handed over to the newly created advertisement department so that the superior officers are in direct touch with this department and they are in a position to pay full attention to it. After dividing the various activities into different departments and sub-departments and having determined the activity that each individual is expected to perform, his responsibility is fixed. In other words, what they are to do for the attainment of the objectives of the organisation. For example, the purchase manager will be given the responsibility for the purchase of goods; the sales manager will be responsible for sales; the advertising manager will be responsible for advertisement and the finance manager will take care of the responsibility of finance. A person who is saddled with a responsibility must be given some authority too. Authority means the freedom of taking decision, guiding the subordinates and the freedom of supervising and controlling. Authority should be in proportion to the work or responsibility. If the responsibility is greater than the authority given and is insufficient to cope with the responsibility, the responsibility cannot be discharged successfully. F or example, if a marketing manager is assigned the responsibility of increasing sales but has not been given the authority to appoint sales representatives needed for the job, the increase in sales cannot be expected. So long as the authority to discharge the responsibility is not given, the person concerned has not accountability. It is only after granting authority to an individual that he can be made accountable. When two or more than two persons work for the attainment o common goals their inter-relationship must be defined very clearly. Everybody should know who is his superior and who is his subordinate? For example, the purchase manager will be the superior for all the employees of the purchase department. They will receive order from him and will also be responsible to him. On the other hand, the purchase manager will get orders from the General Manager and will be responsible to him. Defining clearly the inter-relationship helps in establishing coordination. Organising it i s not only such an activity which includes determination of activities; and the defining of the inter-relationship but it also ensure the optimum utilisation of human resources by providing physical resources and the right environment. For example, the factory and the office should be located at a proper place so that the employees can perform better. 2.3 Leading Leading is influencing people so that they will contribute to the organisation and group goals; it has to do predominantly with the personal aspect of managing. All managers would agree that their most important problems arise from people-their desires and attitudes, their behavior as individuals and in groups-and those effective managers also need to be effective leaders. Since leadership implies followership and people tend to follow those who offer a means of satisfying their own needs, wishes, and desires, it is understandable that leading involves motivation, leadership styles and approaches, and communication. The leading and motivation function is concerned with the human resources within an organisation. Specifically, leading is the process of influencing people to work toward a common goal. Motivation is the process of providing reasons for people to work in the best interest of an organisation. Together, leading and motivation are often referred to as directing. We have already noted the importance of an organisations human resources. Because of this importance, leading and motivation are critical activities. Obviously, different people do thing for different reasons, then they have different motivation. The managerial function of leading is management as the art of getting things done willingly, with and through other individuals. Management is concerned with two key aspects, i.e., material resources or things and human resources or individuals. Material resources are susceptible to scientific or mechanical treatment because they are subject to the laws of mechanics. However, human resources cannot be subject to such treatment. Through the power of leadership and the science of cooperation, managers may evolve n effective method of integrating the interest of individuals and the business organisation. Management can expert its power with or through individuals but never over them. In other words, authority may be imposed by managers from above. However, authority should be supported, nourished and recognized by the subordinates from below for it to be meaningful and for it to work smoothly. The source of the power of management is the medium of leading, motivating, teaching, influencing, counseling, coaxing, delegating, and setting an example. Therefore, a manager plans, organizes, leads and control the employees working with him or her. The master key which leads to successful management of any business enterprise is motivation. It is responsible for ensuring productivity of human resources. It can make an individual carry out a particular activity. Thus, it assumes great importance in modern business management. Employees can be motivated by financial and non-financial incentives. The power of motivation is enhanced by effective communication and participation. Proper informatio n feedback is essential for effective motivation and leading. Leaders are a special breed of individuals who can move people toward the attainment of established goals. Such power does not emanate through the use of force or fear. Only dictators apply force in order to lead people. True leaders inspire and motivate people to perform activities in line with the objectives of the organisation. According to the theory of Fiedler. Fred Fiedler assumes that it is not easy for managers to be flexible in their styles of management, especially if their management style has made them successful as managers. He argues that any attempt to change a managers style of leadership to conform to changing situation that help in determining effective leadership. These are leader-member relation. This is the most important influence on the effectiveness of the manager. A manager who is loved and respected by his subordinate can easily motivate them to accomplish the tasks. He does not have to use formal power on his subordinates. The task structure can clear-cut and step by step procedures or instructions on tasks provide the manager a greater authority. He can measure work performance. On the other hand, if instructions are not clear, subordinates may disagree or question such instructions. Besides that, the position power also important. The power of the person depends on his position. Fo r example, presidents of corporations, comptrollers, or budget officer have high-position power. According to Path-goal theory, this was formulated by Robert House and Martin Evans. This theory is based on the expectation of rewards. The source of reward is the leader. Thus, the manager should reward the good service or performance of his subordinate in order to influence them to work on established objectives. Rewards are in the form of promotion and pays, as well as support, encouragement, security, and respect. However, leadership styles also affected the motivation to the subordinate. A leader using the suitable leadership styles will lead the subordinate makes a best task performance. Leadership was viewed as a combination of personality traits, such as self-confidence, concern for people, intelligence, and dependability. Achieving, a consensus on which traits were most important was difficult, however, and attention turned to styles of leadership behavior. In the last few decades, several styles of leadership have been identified: authoritarian, laissez-faire, and democratic. The authoritarian leader holds all authority and responsibility, with communication usually moving from top to bottom. This leader assigns workers to specific tasks and expects orderly, precise results. At the other extreme is the laissez-faire leader, who gives authority to employees. With the laissez-faire style, subordinate are allowed to work as they choose with a minimum of interference. Communication flows hor izontally among group members. Leader as laissez-faire style gives employees as much freedom as possible to develop new products. The democratic leader holds final responsibility but also delegates authorities to others, who determine work assignments. In this leader styles, communication is active upward and downward. Employee commitment is high because of participation in the decision-making process. This style of leadership use to encourage employees to become more than just rank-and-file workers. The Adidas set up their way to leading the company, to make their brand more famous. They improve their quality of product to make their product become more good and durable. Adidas not only manage their way on production, they also have a good leading in the process of production. Adidas patient to leading and manage their employee from first step process of production to the end process of production, this cause their company can become so success and famous in today. If have a good leader, is the reason that will success in any condition .So that, if need a good team is cant without a good leader. Conclusion, leading is a process that cant less when doing anything. Leading is important to organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal. When have a good leader, the team have the high percentage to complete their work with nicely or perfectly. 2.4 Controlling Controlling is the process of evaluating and regulation ongoing activities to ensure that goal are achieved. To see how controlling works, consider a rocker launched by NASA to place a satellite in orbit. Do NASA personnel simply fire the rocket and then check back in a few days to find out whether the satellite is in place? Of course not. The rocket is monitored constantly and its course is regulated and adjusted as needed to get the satellite to its destination. Controlling is the management function in which performance is measured and corrective action is taken to ensure the accomplishment of organizational goals. It is the policing operation in management, although the manager seeks to create a positive climate so that the process of control is accepted as part of routine activity. Controlling is also a forward- looking process in that the manager seeks to anticipate and prevent it. The manager initiates the control function during the planning phase, when possible deviation is anticipated and policies are developed to help ensure uniformity of practice. During the organizing phase, a manager may consciously introduce the deadly parallel arrangement as a control factor. Close supervision and a tight leadership style reflect an aspect of control. Through reward and positive sanctions, the manager seeks to motivate workers to conform, thus limiting the amount of control that must be imposed. Finally, the manager develops specific control tools, such as inspection, visible control charts, work counts, special reports, and audits. The basic control process involves three phases that are cyclic: establishing standards, measuring performance, and correcting deviation. In the first step, the specific units of measure that delineate acceptable work are determined. Basic standards may be started as staff hours allowed per activity, speed and time limits, quantity that must be produced, and number of errors or rejects permitted. The second step in the control process, measuring performance, involves comparing the work (i.e. the goods produced or the service provided) against the standard. Employee evaluation is one aspect of this measurement. In manufacturing, inspection of goods is a routine part of this process; studies of client satisfaction are key elements when services are involved. Finally, if necessary, remedial action is taken, including retraining employees, repairing equipment, or changing the quality of the raw materials used in a manufacturing process. Several features are necessary to ensure the adequacy of control process and tools: Timeliness: The control device should reflect deviation from the standard promptly, at an early stage, so there is only a small time lag between detection and the beginning of corrective action. Economy: If possible, control devices should involved routine, normal processes rather than special inspection routines at additional expense. The control device must be worth their cost. Comprehensiveness: The controls should be directed at the basic phases of the work rather than later levels or steps in the process; for example, a detective part is best inspected and eliminated before it has been assembled with other parts. Specificity and appropriateness: The control process should reflect the nature of the activity. Proper laboratory inspection methods, for example, differ from the financial audit and machine inspection processes. Objectivity: The process should be grounded in fact, and standards should be known and verifiable. Responsibility: Control should reflect the authority- responsibility pattern. As far as possible, the worker and the immediate supervisor should be involved in the monitoring and correction process. Understandability: Control devices, charts, graphs, and reports that are complicated or cumbersome will not be used readily. Controlling activities require the manager to maintain a mindset that continually looks for ways to improve individual, team, and organizational performance. Performance standards describe a model of excellence for work activities and serve as the basis of comparison between actual and desired work performance. Other important controlling functions are continual employee feedback and employee performance appraisal activities. Employee performance appraisals must be ongoing objective and based on established performance standards. A manager should never wait until the annual performance review to discuss problem or deficiencies with a staff member. Consistent, day-to-day feedback and coaching about job performance clarifies expectations, improves the quality of work, and allows the manager to correct problems before they become serious. Coordination of elements of a system is one aspect of managerial control to reach effective outcomes. Other managerial control elements are financial management, compliance, quality and risk management, feedback mechanisms, performance management, policies and procedures and research and trend analysis. These elements are used by managers to communicate to reach a goal, track activities toward the goal, guide behaviors, and coordinate efforts and decide what to do. Managerial coordination and control are important to the success of any organization (McNamare, 1999a, 1999d). Ongoing, careful review using standardized documents, informatics systems, and standardized measured avoids drift and the waste of time and resources that occur when direction is vague. Well-exercised, managerial control is flexible enough to allow innovation yet present enough to effectively structure groups and organization toward goa

Critique of Humes Analysis of Causality Essay example -- Philosophy P

Critique of Hume's Analysis of Causality Hume's analyses of human apprehension and of causality were the most penetrating up to his time and continue to have great influence. Contemporary Spanish philosopher Xavier Zubiri (1893-1983) has examined both and identified three underlying errors: (1) the failure to recognize that there are three stages of human intellection, and especially that the first, primordial apprehension, has quite unique characteristics; (2) the attempt to place an excessive burden on the content of impressions while ignoring what Zubiri terms their 'formality of reality'; and (3) the failure to recognize that functionality, not causality, is the basis for most of our knowledge. Causal chains in general cannot be adequately known, and therefore are not and cannot be the basis of our knowledge of the external world. Only in the area of persons and morality does causality play a critical role. I. Introduction Causality has been a pivotal concept in the history of philosophy since the time of the Ancient Greeks. After David Hume, however, many have questioned whether there is (or can be) any metaphysical meaning of causality, or valid inferences based upon it. Xavier Zubiri (1898-1983) has rethought and reformulated the question of causality in light of its historical roles, well-known criticisms, and relevant contemporary knowledge. In doing so, he has achieved a unique perspective on the subject which should be of great interest to those concerned with causality and any of its applications. II. Hume's critique of causality The figure of David Hume looms large in the philosophical tradition of English-speaking countries; and his two famous analyses, of human apprehension and of causality, were the... ..., (First volume of trilogy, Inteligencia sentiente), Madrid: Alianza Editorial/Sociedad de Estudios y Publicaciones, 1980, p. 82-83. (Hereafter, IRE; unless otherwise indicated, all translations of Zubiri are by the author). (6) IRE, p. 257. (7) IRE, p. 104. (8) Xavier Zubiri, Inteligencia y razà ³n, (Third volume of trilogy, Inteligencia sentiente), Madrid: Alianza Editorial/Sociedad de Estudios y Publicaciones, 1983, p. 45. (Hereafter, IRA). (9) Xavier Zubiri, Inteligencia y logos, (Second volume of trilogy, Inteligencia sentiente), Madrid: Alianza Editorial/Fundacià ³n Xavier Zubiri, 1982, p. 39-40. (Hereafter, IL). (10) Treatise of Human Nature, p. 74. (11) IL, p. 40. (12) IL, p. 41. (13) IL, p. 41. (14) Xavier Zubiri, Los Problemas Fundamentales de la Metafà ­sica Occidental, Madrid: Alianza Editorial/Fundacià ³n Xavier Zubiri, 1994, p. 229.

Engrave New Footprints In The Sand :: essays research papers

There were two strolling hearts that reposed on a huge rock at a near shore. As the sunset revealed its passion, they watched over the two sets of footprints they engraved in the sand. The scene had made them thought of eternity..two becoming one. There was heaven in their hearts and each step engraved a zeal of an endless love. But such heart-felt scene ended when the waves of the sea rushed towards the shore and washed the sand, leaving the sets of footprints unseen. Suddenly, the lovely sunset was covered with dark clouds and the soft breeze altered into a fierce wind. Heaven, then, became an illusion; the dream ended into a nightmare. And the rock were both of them once dreamt was left alone, all alone... When we fall in love, it is our great desire to let the feeling remain in hearts. Often, we feed this feeling by clinging to the other. Sometimes the demand for satisfaction is needed because of the fear of starving the heart. As we marvel towards the odyssey of our lives, we may pass to the point wherein our hearts become empty and longing. We feel the need to quench ourselves by seeking the oasis of love. Still, there are hearts that remain at lost and leave themselves to die and wither. Many of us find it easy to play the melodies of love, but when things get rough and out of tune, we would actually avoid it and sometimes, go silent. There is also a tendency to give up and escape from the reality. We must remember that the more we unravel the wonders of love, the more challenges we have to take. The sweetness of life's bitter can be achieved if we accept the challenges of love. This acceptance motivates us to grow.

Love is Like Water Essay

Love is Like Water, We can Fall in it, We can Drown in it, But we can’t Live Without it Men are born inferior to women. Now I’m Sure there are many men who disagree, however it is a scientific fact. Any person born with the ‘y’ chromosome is born inferior. The conflicting views of men and women have been questioned and debated for centuries. For many years it is said that the male species are superior to women. It wasn’t until August 18, 1940 men deemed women smart enough to vote and have our own political voice. Men have always been the dominant species in most anything in society. It wasn’t until recent studies that show women actually have higher IQ’s then men. It is believed that juggling family life and building a career on top of that has made women smarter. In reality Women and men brains are just wired differently. Men differ from women with their emotions, their affection and also their communication skills. Women are said to be more emotional than men The fact of the matter women do actually communicate with through emotions and intimacy. Research shows that women use language as a way to maintain and develop relationships. Women tend to react more emotionally than men, resulting in submerging themselves, (mind body and soul) into making decisions. For example, women often ask there signficant other â€Å"are you listening† and the man replies â€Å"yes honey I’m listening† and then we reply â€Å"what did I just say† It’s because women feed off of body language. We believe that if your not looking at us, youre not listening. Men see women as less competent to making decisions that involve a lot of thought, and this is due to women’s emotions. Which is probably why a women have never been elected to be president. Women are just more emotional when it comes to, Movies, relationships, and everyday life trials and tribulations. Women use words to start and continue a relationship with a person they find special and close to their heart. They focus more on what they say and do when conversing, which explains why they also find listening an important part in a conversation. Those are the causes that affect women more then men. The difference of emotion is mostly noticed during the midst of a relationship, when a woman seems to not be understood by men and vice versa. Men on the other hand impulsively react to situations for the sake of having a reason to do so. Men tend to simplify their communication in times of  hardship, they do not ex press themselves they way women do. Many women believe that men are very simple minded with no knowledge of anything, and don’t care about anything. In reality most men can communicate and their patterns for thinking are based on logic and reasoning. Men communicate as a way of power rather than as a way of reaching out to another person. For men, conversation is the way you negotiate your status in the world and keep people from pushing you around. They use their communication skills to preserve their independence. Men tend to think that it is logical to state how important their lives are so that they would rise above other men and be seen as the â€Å"Alpha Male†. During a conversation, body language seems to play a much smaller role for men. Men tend to be less skilled at using body language to influence communication without seeming to be doing so. The male’s brain has a greater mass and more gray matter, which leads to a higher ability to process information as facts instead of their emotions like women. Women show affection in a lot of ways. Women show their affection by physical touch, holding hands, giving hugs, or rubbing our significant others back. Some women do it by saying nice things. Some do it by giving gifts. Other women may show their affection by cooking you tasty dinners. There are a lot of ways to show affection, and no two women show it in exactly the same way. â€Å"Actions speak louder than words† is actually more than a clichà ©, it’s truer of men than it is for women in regard to how they show affection. men are more likely to show affection in unspoken ways through actions. There is less subtlety with men. When a guy cares about you, he is likely to find ways to spend time with you, whether enjoying your company or sharing activities such as movies, bowling, miniature golf etc. When a man cares about a women he wants to show her off. studies show that, even if a man is not particularly confident, he will try to engage in physical intimacy with the one he loves and cares deeply about. Women relationships focus on making connections talk is crucial to this process. Sharing secrets, relating experiences, revealing problems and discussing options are essential during a woman’s development. Women generally take another approach to relationships. Their mate is not less profound, it’s just different. focusing on activities rather than conversation. Men believe communication should have a crystal clear purpose. Every conversation is suppose be problem solving or a point that needs to be made. Communication  is used to get to the root of the an issue as efficiently as possible. Women uses communication to discover how she is feeling and what it is she wants to say. She sees conversation as an act of sharing and an opportunity to increase intimacy with her partner. A women tries to dispose negative feelings to strengthen her bond with the man she loves. Although there are many diffrences between men and women. For the most part, men and women use, and prefer, the same ways of comforting their partner.

Comtemparory Business

There are many companies that make products that go head to head. Coca Cola and Pepsi are an example of such reveries. There has been many taste test and competitions that Involved the soda kings. This reverie has been going on for over a century. (See appendix 1) The start of this long standing soda war began 1 886 when creator John S. Pentameter developed the original recipe for Coke. Then 13 years later Pepsi creator pharmacist Caleb Abraham developed his formula. By this time Coca-Cola was already fulfilling order that totaled a million gallons per year.Coke hen continue to develop its iconic bottle in 1921, they then secured huge name endorsements deals, expanded to Europe and Cuba, Canada and Panama. In the Interim, peeps went bankrupt because of WI In 1923. Pepsi Is fully revived fully In 1931 and begin a campaign to rival coke back and forward. Although Pepsi never really tops Coke in soda sales the Pepsi Company is still more profitable than Coke due to their diversity of th e many other products they sell. Coke spends a half a billion more on advertising than Pepsi. (See appendix 2) (Basin, 2013) Corporate CulturePerformance with a purpose Is the PepsiCo corporate culture motto. The PepsiCo CEO, Indri K. Onion, states: Ethics and growth are connected is a broadly shared understanding in today's business world. But these words appeared in the PepsiCo Annual Report back in 1968?just three years after the Pepsi-Cola Company and the Frito-Lay Company merged to form PepsiCo. It is a testament to how long we have treasured the belief that corporate capabilities and corporate character are not Just Integrated, but Inseparable. (Company T. P. 2013) Here she Is stating that ethics Is an Intricate part of PepsiCo culture and It has en for many, many years. This is before it has been before it has been set and a standard in the business world today. She goes on to speak about how this ideal has made Pepsi the innovator and leader in such areas from civil rights t o scholarships to recycling. The Pepsi Company believes that its investment in the future by way of environmental protection, Investing back Into the community and performance with purpose keeps the company ahead of the global challenges shaping the industry.Coca Cola Company's President and COO Glen Walter states that: Since our first odd fountain sales in 1886, we have been a driver of marketplace innovation and an investor in local economies. Today we lead the beverage industry with more than 500 beverage brands including four of the world's top-five sparkling brands. But while our business opportunities are enormous, our commitment to our consumers and the communities In which we operate Is even greater. According to the website the company's focus is Sustainability and growth.The company strives to continue to be a leader of the soda world. The mission statement reads: Our Roadman starts with our mission, which is enduring. It declares our purpose as a company and serves as the standard against which we weigh our actions and decisions. To refresh the world†¦ To create value and make a difference. (company T. C. , 2013) It seems that the Coca Cola Co does not talk about it ties and comments to the community and the future but Just to the sustainability of the company.The advisements appear to be community based it does not seem to resonate through the corporate culture. The difference of corporate culture seems to be Pepsi seems to embody forwardness of the company and community since sass's. Whereas n the other had Coca Cola seems to Just in the recent 20 years or so adopted the community with the development of its Coca Cola Foundation. Benefits of competition The battle between the two great giants has sparked new and innovative ways to stay above the competition.One example of a intense exchange that take place during the Cola Wars was Coca-Cola deciding to a strategic retreat minion, by publicizing its plans to bring back the original coke recipe after the introduction of New Coke. The wars also lead to Pepsi realizing that its grip on the soda world was not as evident ND they decided in 1965 to diversify and acquired ownership of Frito-lay Company. (Basin, 2013) Another benefit of the wars are the introduction in the late sass, Pepsi launched its most profitable long-term strategy of the Cola Wars, called Pepsi Stuff.This was a point system where Pepsi consumers drank Pepsi and received points to buy free Pepsi lifestyle merchandise. After researching the company launched the program and it gained instant success. Millions of patrons take part in the program. This move also made Pepsi highly popular and it outperformed Coke during the summer of the Atlanta Olympics which is in the hometown of Coke. Later in 2005 Coca-Cola and Pepsi started a â€Å"cyber-war† with the re-introduction of Pepsi Stuff in 2005 ; Coca-Cola strikes back with Coke Rewards.A third benefit is in 1985, Coca-Cola and Pepsi were launched into sp ace aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. The companies had invented special cans to test packaging and dispensing systems for use in zero G conditions. The experiment was classified a failure by the shuttle crew, primarily due to the lack of both refrigeration and gravity. But this pushed the companies and it lead to the invention of the Coca-Cola fountain dispenser. (Russell, 012) Continue to Thrive I speculate that Pepsi will continue to bill there brand threw the food brand versus just focusing on the soda side of things.Coca Cola now is focusing plans to focus on build its brand throughout the world and community. The Journey is called Me, We and the world. The company has made the statement that they are committed to grow the business in an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable way. (Company T. C. , 2013) These statements are a part of their investment sustainability plan. The soda wars have gone on for centuries and although never company will admit o the ongo ing competition, they both are innovators in the world of business and will continue to forge on to success.

Bege-101 Assignment Session 2012 Solve

DRAFT Meeting Agenda MEETING TITLE: Project Sponsors Council DATE: Friday, January 22, 2010 TIME: 10 a. m. – 12:30 p. m. LOCATION: Washington State Department of Transportation, SW Region 11018 NE 51st Circle, Vancouver, Washington 98662 TIME 10:00 a. m. AGENDA TOPIC Welcome Approve Dec. 4, 2009 Meeting Summary 10:05 a. m. Conceptual Finance Plan Overview and Discussion 10:25 a. m. Tolling Study Committee Findings 10:55 a. m. Break 11:10 a. m. Performance Measures Advisory Group Report 11:40 a. m. Performance Measures Application Example 11:55 p. m. Hayden Island Update 12:30 p. . Adjourn TRANSIT DIRECTIONS from PORTLAND: From Downtown Portland, take C-TRAN Express Bus #164 to the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center. Transfer to Bus #80 (Van Mall/Fisher's) eastbound to 49th and 112th Avenue. WSDOT SW Region Headquarters is 2 blocks north of this bus stop. TRANSIT DIRECTIONS from VANCOUVER: From Downtown Vancouver take C-TRAN Bus #4 (Fourth Plain) eastbound to the Vancouver Mall Transit Center. Other buses to Vancouver Mall are #32, 72, 44 and 78. From the Mall Transit Center, transfer to Bus #80 (Van Mall/Fisher's) eastbound to 49th and 112th Avenue.WSDOT SW Regional Headquarters is 2 blocks north of this bus stop. For detailed trip planning, please contact the two transit agencies: C-TRAN, www. c-tran. com, 360-695-0123, or TriMet, www. trimet. org, 503-238-RIDE Meeting facilities are wheelchair accessible and children are welcome. Individuals requiring reasonable accommodations may request written material in alternative formats or sign language interpreters by calling the project team at the project office (360-737-2726 and 503-256-2726) one week before the meeting or calling Washington State's TTY telephone number, 1-800-833-6388.Meeting Summary MEETING: DATE: LOCATION: Columbia River Crossing (CRC) Project Sponsors Council December 4, 2009, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm Port of Portland, 121 NW Everett Street, Portland, OR ATTENDEES: Adams, Sam Brag don, David Garrett, Matthew Hansen, Fred Hewitt, Henry (Co-chair) Leavitt, Tim Pollard, Royce Stuart, Steve Mayor, City of Portland Council President, Metro Director, Oregon Department of Transportation General manager, TriMet Past chair, Oregon Transportation Commission Chair of the Board of Directors, C-TRAN Mayor, City of Vancouver Chair, SW Washington Regional Transportation CouncilS TAFF: Brandman, Richard Wagner, Don ODOT CRC project director Regional Administrator, Washington State Dept. of Transportation Note: Meeting materials and handouts referred to in this summary can be accessed online at: http://www. columbiarivercrossing. org/ProjectPartners/PSCMeetingMaterials. aspx Welcome and public comment Co-chair Henry Hewitt thanked attendees for coming and announced that PSC members co-chair Hal Dengerink and Secretary Paula Hammond could not be at today’s meeting. Due to the large number of sign-ups for public comment, testimony will be limited to one minute per person .The Council will accept written comments, as well. Representative Tina Kotek, Oregon state legislator for House District 44 in north and northeast Portland: I support the project and have submitted written testimony from my comments at the state legislative hearings held Nov. 19 in Salem. If the project has additional questions to resolve, please do it quickly and don’t delay the project at the risk of missing federal funding. I want to thank the residents from Hayden Island and ask CRC staff to listen to them and help solve some of the livability challenges on the island posed by the proposed design refinements.Ed Garren, citizen co-chair of the Hayden Island Plan: I was always in favor of the bridge as it was proposed. It was a state of the art bridge, like a beautiful Lexis Hybrid. These refinements turn it into a 20year old Oldsmobile that needs a ring job. It’s going to be dirty, with pumps running 24/7 for a hundred years, and will destroy the livability of the Hayden Island community. You’re not following appropriate processes. It’s different from what we were sold by the CRC for two years. People are upset about the lack of input and this bait and switch.The impacts to Hayden Island are spread throughout the draft environmental impact statement, ambiguous, and difficult to find. Hayden Island is not well-served by this proposal. Shannon Palermo, StopTheCRC. org: My main concern is this continues to ignore environmental and social justice issues. The Coalition for a Livable Future and Bicycle Transportation Alliance recommendations have been completely ignored. There have been no recommendations for environmental justice. We can do this better in Portland. We need to make policy that accounts for peak oil and climate change.I would like a supplemental EIS that accounts for environmental and social justice issues and includes asthma rates in north and northeast Portland where I live. 1 360/737-2726 503/256-2726 WWW. COLUMBIAR IVERCROSSING. ORG 1/25/2010 700 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 300, VANCOUVER, WA 98660 DECEMBER 4, 2009 | MEETING SUMMARY COLUMBIA RIVER CROSSING COLUMBIA RIVER CROSSING (CRC) PROJECT SPONSORS COUNCIL Donna Murphy, Hayden Island resident: I just moved to the island in June. We deal with a lot of noise from trains, planes, and autos, but we love living along the river. Mayor Adams, please imagine living there.We’re senior citizens. I’m going to do all I can to get our voices heard. We need a Safeway, a pharmacy, and our gas station. Roger Staver, chair of Hayden Island Neighborhood Network (HINooN): My group sent the project a letter regarding impacts of the refinement package on Hayden Island. As you consider suggestions in our letter, please remember that Hayden Island is the most impacted area in the project. It’s an island isolated by the channel and the river. The recently approved Hayden Island Plan had as a goal the ability of residents to stay on the island to meet their basic needs.The project refinements force us off the island. We cannot go to a neighborhood somewhere else; we have to stay on the island. Peg Johnson, Hayden Island resident: I have been very involved in CRC planning since 2005. We continue to support this project for the most part, but the refinement package makes things worse than they were in the first place. I’m asking you to keep Hayden Island and livability in mind, which means sustainability. If you go forward with refinements, please dedicate yourselves to making the most that you can of the situation on Hayden Island.Our letter reflects our specific points. Rex Burkholder, Metro Councilor for district 5, former member of the CRC Task Force: I urge the project to keep working on this. We need to continue problem solving and my letter contains further comments. I give you my support for your work. Kathryn Williams, business and rail manager for the Port of Portland: We have been supportive of the bi-state effort to improve I-5 and the related interchanges. We’re especially interested in how the refinements affect the Marine Drive interchange. We support the refinements in the package and urge you to move forward.Ginger Metcalf, Identity Clark County, Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, and Columbia River Crossing Coalition: The private sector continues to invest in infrastructure that allows job creation, but a corresponding public investment in transportation has been slower in coming. If we want to compete in the global economy, we must invest in our freight infrastructure. To build a culture of sustainable success, we need to make the economic connection between jobs and how the states spend money. The business community is behind you.John Mohlis, Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council: The project has been scaled down appropriately. We want to move this project forward, so if there are refinements that need to be made, please do that. The construction industry is in a depression, not a recession. Every month that this project is delayed, more people will lose their homes, their health insurance, their homes, and will cash in their 401k accounts to send their kids to college. Please work together and move this forward. Walter Valenta, Portland resident: I have been working on this project for a long time.This is an important milestone, but it’s one of many. This is the belt-tightening part. What’s important is that as we tighten it, we don’t sell out the core values of our community. We must make the land use and transportation system on Hayden Island work together. We can’t quit caring about design. We can’t assume that by making it cheaper we’re going to make it ugly. This bridge can represent the values of Portland. Marion Haynes, Oregon Business Association: Businesses around the state depend on this bridge. The need for it has been clearly articulated for a decade.We appreciate the staff responsivene ss to scaling back the project size. There are more details to work out, but businesses around the state are counting on you to move this forward. Ed Lynch, former member of the CRC Task Force: Our forbears paid tolls on the ferry and bridges in the past. Tolls for bridge users ought to be paramount in addition to any other funds. Secondly, if we’re going to build the bridge, let’s build it right. Think of the Sydney, Australia bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge and Transbay Bridge, all built in the 1930s. They’re still in use today because they were done right.Let’s build to the full width and do it right the first time. Anonymous: I’m against any further spending on the CRC bridge. Why wasn’t the $3. 6 billion cost part of the original proposal if it will accomplish the same thing as the earlier proposal? You seem unwilling to tell the public what it’s truly going to cost. If this is a regional transportation necessity, a regional ga s tax is in 2 360/737-2726 503/256-2726 WWW. COLUMBIARIVERCROSSING. ORG 700 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 300, VANCOUVER, WA 98660 DECEMBER 4, 2009 | MEETING SUMMARY COLUMBIA RIVER CROSSING COLUMBIA RIVER CROSSING (CRC) PROJECT SPONSORS COUNCIL rder. If you’re going to toll the new bridge to reduce traffic, then tolling the current bridge for that reason should work too. Why not toll the current bridge? Least-cost options should be used first, not last. On I-5 there are approximately 300 cars for every truck. This is not a jobs program. We have lots of community needs that will create long-term sustainable jobs. We shouldn’t borrow more money from Asia. Burdening me with debt does not stimulate jobs. Elson Strahan, president of Fort Vancouver National Trust: I also provided written testimony.I was pleased to support our final recommendation as a member of the CRC Task Force despite knowing of the impacts to our site and that it would require mitigation. Because of these imp acts, mitigation is an absolute federal requirement as part of the National Highway Act and National Historic Preservation Act. We and the City of Vancouver have approved the design concept for the Community Connector. We look forward to it being integrated into the project. Paul Jeffery, Portland resident: I moved to Portland 10 years ago for its reputation as a place that does things differently.The proposed Mt. Hood expressway was blocked by citizens and that made me feel great about moving here. The CRC wants to turn Portland into another failed city. I don’t want that to happen. This is not a project for the 21st century; it’s rooted in a mid-20th century approach to problems. David Rowe, resident of Battle Ground, Wash. , and former member of the Clark County High Capacity Transit Task Force, speaking as a private citizen: In my letter to Gov. Gregoire, I asked her to imagine a morning commute to downtown Portland in a lounge chair with coffee and a view of Mt.Ho od. You arrive at Portland Union Station. This is possible if the existing Columbia River rail bridge is modernized. This would be much cheaper than the current proposal. This kind of service is already in place with the Westside Express Service commuter rail in Washington County. Chris Rall, citizen of Portland: I am concerned about the resiliency of our transportation infrastructure. We don’t have a system that will handle increases in gas prices very well. This project is going in the wrong direction and is going to double the width of the freeway.As a taxpayer, I’m concerned about that kind of investment. I’d like to see least-cost options, phasing, and smaller projects that could meet the needs in that area. Todd Coleman, deputy executive director of the Port of Vancouver: The Port supports the refinements package. In Washington, one in three jobs is related to trade. While we prefer a six-lane option, we understand the need for compromise with a five-lane option for now. We’re also a member of the 75member Vancouver Freight Alliance, which supports the refinements proposal, as well.In the end, both sides of the river will have to compromise, but this option provides 90 percent of the benefits at 75 percent of the cost, so we recommend you move forward with these refinements. Jim Howell, an opponent of the Mt. Hood Freeway: It’s time to stop this one million dollars per month madness. The myth of 15 hours per day of congestion is a disingenuous scare tactic by the Oregon and Washington highway departments. It is based on the ridiculous assumption that nothing can be done to stem freeway traffic. Non-freeway solutions were never seriously considered.It’s time to go back to the drawing board. Chris Smith, citizen transportation activist: It’s important to get the Purpose and Need Statement right. It leads with congestion and doesn’t mention either global warming or peak oil. State and local governments have adopted strong policy statement regarding these. I urge you to amend the Purpose and Need and then do a supplemental draft EIS. Joe Rowe, Portland resident: I live two blocks from I-5 and Rosa Parks Way. I can see cars bumper to bumper during rush hour at Albina Street because drivers know that getting off the freeway is faster than staying on I-5.I hear politicians lie and say they’re environmentalists and say we need this project for the jobs. The cost does not include the cost of the bonds to buy this bridge on credit. It will become a $10 billion bridge because the cost of this bridge will double just like the tram. Richard Bullington, Clark County resident: How is light rail to Clark County a good use of public money? For 12 trains an hour, you move maybe 2,400 people per hour in the peak direction. To spend $750 million to serve that number of people seems a bit ideological. I rode the MAX to get here, so I’m a train guy, but please think about this. 360/73 7-2726 503/256-2726 WWW. COLUMBIARIVERCROSSING. ORG 700 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 300, VANCOUVER, WA 98660 DECEMBER 4, 2009 | MEETING SUMMARY COLUMBIA RIVER CROSSING COLUMBIA RIVER CROSSING (CRC) PROJECT SPONSORS COUNCIL Brian Gard, co-executive director of the Columbia River Crossing Coalition: I urge you to approve the refined package. Please see my letter for more detail. Please consider the breadth of support for this project as reflected in our list of members. We ask that you keep this project moving forward. The work done to date is good work.The work to be done by 27,000 workers who will build the crossing will be good work, as well. Carl Larson, Portland resident: The bridge we have today is inadequate. As a bicyclist, I hate to ride across it. The way I get stuff via freight is stuck in single-occupancy vehicle congestion. But the $4. 2 billion plan to fix it still prioritizes single-occupancy vehicle travel. The cheap knock-off being proposed today does a worse job. We sho uld go back to the drawing board and put our money where our mouth is. Chelsea Wright: I’m opposed to this bridge because there are better options that haven’t been onsidered. I’m a big fan of public transportation. If you have all this technology and the money available, why wouldn’t you consider other options? It’s obvious that a car-oriented culture is a destructive way of life. Please consider the effects to future generations. Mara Gross, policy director with Coalition for a Livable Future: We have long supported a solution to I-5 that supports reliable transit, transportation, supports good land use planning and addresses global warming. Your proposal is a non-solution. You still have 12-lanes capacity and no plan for how to manage demand.Thank you to Mayor Adams and Council President Bragdon for their comments, and to Mayorelect Leavitt for his comments about low-income communities and communities of color. The refinement plan makes a decisi on with hundreds of millions in public dollars to avoid environmental review. We need a new plan that puts the values of this community first. Pam Naugle: I’m a 16-year resident on Hayden Island in the mobile home park. Sixty percent of us are disabled and seniors. Our Safeway store is our only source of fresh food and pharmaceuticals. You need to think before you tear down a store that is so vital to our living.For those of us who don’t own a vehicle and can’t afford lift services, please think this over seriously. Michelle Poyourow, advocate for the Bicycle Transportation Alliance: Our two primary interests in this project are that it include a great walking and biking route and that it foster healthy, bikable neighborhoods on both sides of the river. The CRC plan considered earlier and also today fails on both counts. It was only after two years that the BTA became an opponent of the project. It will take more than refinements of a plan based on flawed assump tions and weakly defined outcomes.Please start with a new vision for success that is a truly green project we can support. Jonathan Irwin: Those of you who are elected will be accountable for your decisions. Please rethink and redraft this plan with true public involvement and local control. Please keep the departments of transportation at the back burner since they’re just road builders. You need to more carefully consider climate, equity, public transit, walking and biking options. For everyone here today opposed to the bridge in its current form, there are 100 more who have to be at work or didn’t know this was happening.Ed Barnes, Vancouver resident, former member of the Washington State Transportation Commission and former co-chair of the I-5 Transportation and Trade Partnership: For the last 15 years, I’ve talked to hundreds of people on both sides of the river about this project. It may have some flaws, but overall it covers all the elements for bicyclist s and pedestrians, freight, transit and commuters. You need to do something. Something is better than nothing. This project will also create jobs for the unemployed. Marcela Alcantar: I’m a small business woman.I’m concerned that there aren’t many people of color in this room today and in the past. I’m concerned about the lack of leadership on that. I believe in this project and that it will create jobs and sustainability. I’ve been asking for opportunities for firms like mine and I haven’t seen it happen. Please consider professional services like mine on this project. Ron Swaren: The problem with the CRC proposal is that it’s not realistic. Our metro area is slated to grow and having one or two crossings is not enough for this region. Our group has advocated a third bridge, which would be cost effective and incorporate solutions.Andrew Plambeck, Portland resident: I’m concerned about our tax dollars going to this project. May or Adams and Councilor Bragdon have released a very thoughtful statement. Redesign this project from the group up to reduce emissions and prioritize alternative transportation. Our city and region depend on it. 4 360/737-2726 503/256-2726 WWW. COLUMBIARIVERCROSSING. ORG 700 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 300, VANCOUVER, WA 98660 DECEMBER 4, 2009 | MEETING SUMMARY COLUMBIA RIVER CROSSING COLUMBIA RIVER CROSSING (CRC) PROJECT SPONSORS COUNCILTom Buchele, Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center at Lewis and Clark Law School: We represent groups like the Coalition for a Livable Future and others concerned with the NEPA process. The draft EIS was deeply flawed. There needs to be a supplemental draft EIS. Regulation 40cfr1502. 9c requires a SDEIS if there are substantial changes or new information, and we think $650 million is a substantial change. There is new information expected from the tolling study, so this shouldn’t all be dumped in the FEIS, as that would be a travesty of the NEPA process.David Thompson, Portland resident and retired physician: I encourage people to get their colonoscopies and cholesterol checked. We’re not going to meet our environmental goals with the way this project is designed. I read The Oregonian today saying we’re looking at the next hundred years with this project and I don’t believe it. When I jogged over here I was almost run over by a 16-year old in his brand new car talking on his cell phone. We have too many cars in this city, state and world. This is a good opportunity to figure out an alternative.Erick Reddekopp, co-chair of Hayden Island Livability Project, a grassroots group: You’re receiving over 600 petition signatures against the refinement package due to the impacts including the Safeway store and other restaurants and businesses on the island. It’s disturbing to hear that money and funding seems to be the biggest reason to do this refinement package now. I’m unemployed so I unde rstand the need for jobs. But this is our chance to be a progressive city again. The refinement package has so many problems with it. Sharon Nasset: Thank you for not limiting public comment to 30 minutes.The PSC has not had a representative of the community and neighborhoods. You need an environmental justice representative to sit there from each side of the river. You haven’t followed the NEPA process with a full range of alternatives. There must be a supplemental draft EIS with the amount of changes proposed. For those who want to get more involved on a third bridge proposal or to stop this process, 5003 N. Lombard has a huge space and we’re glad to have people come work on this process. Herman Kachold: I’m involved with the Hayden Island Livability Project, a new grassroots group.We need more crossings, a bridge to the west of the rail bridge and one at 33rd Avenue. Spread the traffic out more. That would be a better approach. Tom Dana, co-chair of the Hayde n Island Livability Project and former steering committee member for the Hayden Island Plan: It’s clear the comments here are 10 or 20 to 1 opposed to this proposal. This bridge is for 100 years. Let’s not cave in to immediate pressure just to get it done. Let’s go back and look at what really needs to be done. Kaitlin Hale, StopTheCRC Coalition, resident of SE Portland: I urge you to reconsider the revised plan you might be voting on today.We need transportation options for people, not more single occupancy vehicles. I urge you to solve traffic congestion, climate change, and the lack of employment in our region, and social and environmental justice by not rushing through with this plan and going back to the drawing board. Transportation infrastructure doesn’t just happen but exists in our cities and region and needs a bigger picture viewpoint. Dan McFarling, Portland resident: When this project was first initiated, the focus was on how to accommodate mo re motor vehicles. That’s a major flaw.Instead, how can we meet our community and transportation needs? If you would read the proposals in the Smarter Bridge brochure, you’d see that it provides better options for a phased, affordable project and a stronger economy. Pam Ferguson, resident of Hayden Island manufactured home community and member of the Hayden Island Livability Project: Thank you for allowing more time for public comment. I represent a group with over 1,700 residents, 60 percent of whom are seniors. They don’t drive off the island, which is a good thing. Please give Safeway or a grocery retailer special dispensation.Co-chair Hewitt thanked the commenters. 5 360/737-2726 503/256-2726 WWW. COLUMBIARIVERCROSSING. ORG 700 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 300, VANCOUVER, WA 98660 DECEMBER 4, 2009 | MEETING SUMMARY COLUMBIA RIVER CROSSING COLUMBIA RIVER CROSSING (CRC) PROJECT SPONSORS COUNCIL Draft refinement recommendation Mayor Adams inquired whether PSC will be asked to vote on a recommendation at today’s meeting. Cochair Hewitt said he doesn’t foresee a vote and cannot anticipate outcomes of the meeting. Discussion may require more time and another meeting. Hewitt introduced the CRC presenters. Staff presentationRichard Brandman, CRC project co-director, said the project has been working hard for the last six months to refine the project design, reduce costs, and address issues raised previously and again this morning in public comments. The project wants to achieve nearly the same benefits as the previous proposal, and still meet the purpose and need goals, but at a lower cost. The refined design has been reviewed with the CRC’s senior staff advisory group, the CRC Performance Measures Advisory Group, the freight community, and others. There is a lot of technical documentation behind the proposals and staff can share those with PSC if desired.Staff has analyzed the five-mile project area from one end to the other using the purpose and need goals — such as transit, freight and safety — as well as standard value engineering techniques and a consideration of what elements can be deferred or reused. The revised cost estimate range is $2. 6 to $3. 6 billion, with a likely cost of $3. 2 billion. Kris Strickler, deputy project director, gave an overview of the proposed design refinements, starting from the Marine Drive interchange at the south and going north. Marine Drive is the largest freight access interchange.The staff recommendation still includes a single-point urban interchange with one traffic signal. Moving north, the North Portland Harbor bridge would be reused and the highway mainline profile would be lowered on Hayden Island. For the river crossing, Strickler said, some of the cost savings came from having more information about soil conditions and liquefaction characteristics. Other savings come from a proposed 10-lane bridge with standard shoulders, rather than a 12-lan e bridge. It’s smaller than the original proposal by 16 feet total (eight feet per bridge).In Vancouver, two areas would be refined: The northbound lane from SR 14 to SR 500 would be reduced and the SR 500 north ramps would be eliminated. In the future, SR 500 has several intersections that would be converted to full interchanges. There are elements that staff proposes not be included in the project’s initial capital investment; a discussion about that would happen for future prioritization. Patricia McCaig, CRC communications, said staff has presented information on the design refinements to many audiences over the last several weeks.A key theme staff heard was the desire, especially from Hayden Island residents, for an opportunity to provide comments directly to the PSC, which is why an extended public comment session was included in today’s meeting. For the freight community, the proposals for the Victory Blvd. braid and Marine Drive interchange were cause fo r concern; they were afraid it would impede traffic performance for freight. But, she said, they ultimately understood that the refinements meet the initial needs and urged the project to move forward. Mayor Adams, she added, has been very clear about the importance of Marine Drive and Hayden Island.The intent of the Hayden Island Plan and the CRC’s involvement has been to improve the livability, safety, and access on the island. The refinement was hard for many people to hear because they had spent so much time working on the Hayden Island Plan. But there is a growing appreciation for the benefits of the refinement coupled with real concerns about the potential for losing the Safeway grocery store and effects to access on and off the island. Today, connectivity on the island is very difficult. Staff believes that the refinement proposal improves this by including the new east/west Tomahawk Island Drive connection.There is support for this new road but concern that the refine ment proposes recessing it below grade in a way that might discourage that connectivity. There is also concern about potential detrimental effects to commercial and retail space on the island. Hayden Island residents also want to see improved bike and pedestrian connectivity. McCaig directed members to their packet of materials, which contains about 20 letters and emails with a mix of views, from those who support the refinements to those who don’t, and those in the freight community who accept the refinements but believe that moving from 12 to 10 lanes is shortsighted. 6 60/737-2726 503/256-2726 WWW. COLUMBIARIVERCROSSING. ORG 700 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 300, VANCOUVER, WA 98660 DECEMBER 4, 2009 | MEETING SUMMARY COLUMBIA RIVER CROSSING COLUMBIA RIVER CROSSING (CRC) PROJECT SPONSORS COUNCIL There is widespread understanding, she concluded, of the fundamental need to reduce the project cost and still protect its function and benefits. Discussion The discussion below touched on the project schedule in relation to federal funding deadlines, as well as each PSC member’s views of the proposed design refinements. In addition, a guiding policy statement proposed by Mayor Adams and Council President Bragdon on Dec. (see appendix) informed the discussion. Co-chair Hewitt said some PSC members are ready to adopt the refinement and others are not. He suggested scheduling a meeting in January for a fuller discussion not only of the refinement but also of the performance measures, effects to Hayden Island, and more. He added that the right partner agency staff should be co-located at the CRC project office and integrated with CRC staff to work on issues that need to be addressed. But, he said, we should applaud the work completed to date. Mayor Adams said that is a very useful suggestion.The issues PSC needs to discuss merit more frequent meetings for a period of time. Mayor Pollard said he would like to remind everyone of the constraints from federal fundi ng deadlines. Richard Brandman clarified that the project is on course to complete the final environmental impact statement in summer 2010 and have a record of decision by the end of 2010, which would allow final design in 2011, followed by transit funding, and the start of construction as early as 2012. Mayor Adams said the Obama administration has pushed back by 18 months the federal transportation funding reauthorization.For the public’s benefit, he said, there isn’t a firm deadline that would block the funding application. He asked for clarification whether there is any agency deadline. The urgency is real, he said, but we do have more time than today or next month to address these issues. Director Garrett responded by saying it’s a very fluid conversation and we can’t rely on that 18-month time frame. We need to continue communicating with the federal delegation. While there’s not a specific calendar, he said he would be very nervous to say we have 18 months. The project needs to move forward.The federal government is going to move forward, we just don’t know when. Mayor Adams said he is not suggesting a delay of 18 months, but he does not think a decision about refinements is needed in January. Director Garrett said there is time to engage this issue. He highlighted the importance of articulating what outstanding questions still need to be answered. There are jobs, he said, not only through the laborers but also the design work. Mayor Adams said there are opportunities for more jobs in the short run with professional service firms.Metro Council President Bragdon said that when the project does move forward, there needs to be broad support. Let’s look at a budget, he said, in terms of fiscal capacity, not just a specific price tag. What’s a realistic assessment of the funding prospects in the two state legislatures? We should start with what’s our foreseeable revenue, he said. Co-chair Hewitt: We’ll include financial information on the next agenda. Mayor Adams said he provided half a dozen questions via email to CRC staff regarding design refinements and still needs some follow up.Mayor Adams provided PSC members with copies of the project’s initial written responses to these questions and an internal memo written by the city attorney’s office (see appendix). Mayor Pollard said sometimes staff doesn’t know what PSC members want and that members need to make it clearer to staff. Regarding decision making, he said PSC wants staff to keep doing analysis that moves the project forward. For the proposed design refinements, he can accept the ones in Vancouver, but hopes some accommodations can be made for Hayden Island. He said he has been working on this bridge for more than 10 years.The Vancouver City Council voted unanimously over a year ago for a 12-lane bridge. Anything other than that is unacceptable for the City of 7 360/737-2726 503/256-2726 WWW. COLUMBIARIVERCROSSING. ORG 700 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 300, VANCOUVER, WA 98660 DECEMBER 4, 2009 | MEETING SUMMARY COLUMBIA RIVER CROSSING COLUMBIA RIVER CROSSING (CRC) PROJECT SPONSORS COUNCIL Vancouver. There is a letter dated Jan. 27, 2009 from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), outlining the agency’s support for a 12-lane bridge. The bridge isn’t being built for single-occupancy vehicles from Vancouver.It’s for the economy of the entire region and the West Coast. Please look beyond the short term. Everyone in this room has an agenda, but our positions should be based on the future needs of the region. Through all these meetings, he said, we agreed on certain things: Portland wants light rail and tolls, Vancouver wants highway lanes. What does Vancouver get out of this deal? A 10-lane bridge that doesn’t meet the needs of the future. I understand it could be striped for 12 lanes in 10 or 15 years. But who is going to give that exception? Probably FHWA. How do we know they’ll look favorably upon it?That exception is needed now for the future. If it can’t be provided, the Vancouver City Council probably won’t support it. Who in this room is looking out for those people not born yet? We talked about making the most environmentally correct bridge. We can do that. General manager Fred Hansen said there are obviously going to be studies forthcoming regarding performance measures. TriMet has embedded staff at the project office. The Hayden Island Plan is very important. TriMet staff has been working very hard to preserve and enhance the island’s livability.The refinements make that a challenge; we must wrestle with that. How can we use transit-oriented development funding tools to create the vision for a whole range of services on the island, including grocery stores and pharmacies? Station area development around the light rail station is a catalyst to achieve that. We all recognize that any l arge project like this is difficult to move forward without consensus and I trust that we’ll get there, he said. Director Garrett thanked Mayor Pollard for his leadership and long-time participation in the project.He said there is staff embedded at the office but it’s incumbent upon PSC members to be specific with their concerns because their questions have a cost. He said he has told Council President Bragdon that he is struggling with concerns about the pathway for funding because the project is walking down the same pathway as any other project. Director Garrett said he appreciates the passion and concerns of the Hayden Island residents; none of that is lost on ODOT or the CRC project. He said the CRC project can help to grow a community with transit-oriented development on Hayden Island, which will happen only because of the project.He said he wants something to bloom there and that the catalyst is the CRC project. Councilmember Leavitt said that from the C-TRAN pe rspective, they’re trying to meet the needs of the 21st century. He doesn’t see lanes getting widened south of the project area. But he’s very optimistic about the project. Over a year ago, the C-TRAN board of directors agreed that public transit is a vital part of the project. C-TRAN is committed to improving transit access, including with express buses. The project needs to achieve social, environmental, and fiscal equity.We want to be ready to jump when federal funding is ready, he said. Today is another step forward in a dynamic and evolving process and he is looking forward to staff working closely together. Commissioner Stuart said there is a reason why he’s wearing his University of Oregon shirt today. He has lived in both states and cities of this project. He said we talk about a vision for the future, but a lot of times it’s a different vision. We’re trying to bridge not just two states but two visions. With the proposed design refi nements, there is a path to success.It involves a lot of what Council President Bragdon and Mayor Adams have put forward with the use of performance measures to guide the process. If we can show that it’s from a sense of priority and the parts of the vision we share, he said, it’s going to require us agreeing on key performance measures. We let the experts do their work to run the data. If we can get to that, he said, he sees a good chance of moving forward in a way that is right for both sides of the river. He said he sees the path forward; it’s just going to take a lot of work to get there.Co-chair Hewitt said he has letters from Co-chair Hal Dengerink and Secretary Paula Hammond, endorsing the design refinements and asking the project to move forward. Council President Bragdon said he thinks the group agrees on some common goals, but the flaws in the design refinements are the same flaws he sees in the original proposal. The common goals have not been applied in the refinements. In the case of Hayden Island, the project is supposed to make it a better place, but that objective has not been met. We have to be very sophisticated and look to new methodology, not that which was state of the art 20 years ago.Going forward, he said, let’s link hands on the broader values we agree on. He said he respects the discipline of traffic engineering as much as he 8 360/737-2726 503/256-2726 WWW. COLUMBIARIVERCROSSING. ORG 700 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 300, VANCOUVER, WA 98660 DECEMBER 4, 2009 | MEETING SUMMARY COLUMBIA RIVER CROSSING COLUMBIA RIVER CROSSING (CRC) PROJECT SPONSORS COUNCIL does physicians or accountants, but we need to bring more to bear on it. He said he cannot vote for any more blank checks on this project. He has asked for information and independent audits. We need to work much more closely together.If we do that, we’ll have something we can be proud of. Co-chair Hewitt disagreed with Council President Bragdon about aba ndoning the goals and said the refinements are consistent with them. But, he said, we’ll have to discuss this more in forthcoming meetings. Mayor Adams said he wants to lay out why now is the right time to pursue what he and Council President Bragdon have put on the table in the form of their guiding policy statement (see appendix). Since March, Adams said, he has been part of a climate action planning process and has become smarter about what it means to plan for climate action.As a result, some of the questions have become more compelling in the last 7-8 months. He looks forward to working with Mayor-elect Leavitt, but the question of tolls is on the table and it’s a fundamental part of the project’s purpose and need. Mayor Adams said he is accountable to bringing the right project to his city council, and if future trips gridlock in the City of Portland, we’re in big trouble. Because of his work on the Sellwood Bridge, he also fears that CRC could cons ume future available funding for other projects. He said CRC will have to be the most actively managed transportation system in the U. S. it’s the least-cost approach. Lastly, Hayden Island is a feisty, wonderful group of Portlanders who have worked with the City on the Hayden Island Plan. There will be no net loss of local services on the island, he said, and whatever we move forward with must have a solution. Co-chair Hewitt clarified some of the PSC’s next steps: To reconvene in January and possibly more frequently; to continue integrating staff in the project office so there is a transparent relationship; to continue working on details of the design refinements and performance measures and how they connect; to have a more specific understanding about how refinements fit nto a realistic budget; and to talk about Hayden Island, the environment, and livability issues; and to continue the discussion in a collegial and positive way. He said Councilmember Leavitt will be attending the next PSC meeting as the Mayor of Vancouver. Cochair Hewitt thanked Mayor Pollard who, he said, is a man of great character. He has always been constructive and has held the best interest of the community in mind. Tolling study update This agenda item was not covered and will be discussed at a future meeting. Performance measures updateThis agenda item was not covered and will be discussed at a future meeting. Next meeting Friday, January 22, 2010 | 10:00 a. m. – 12:30 p. m. Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) 11018 NE 51st Circle, Vancouver, WA Appendices Appendix A Columbia River Crossing: Road to Construction, December 2, 2009 Policy Statement from Council President Bragdon and Mayor Adams Appendix B Email correspondence between Catherine Ciarlo of Mayor Adams’ office and Richard Brandman, CRC project director, November 30, 2009 Appendix C Memorandum from Terence Thatcher, Deputy City Attorney, o Catherine Ciarlo, Office of Mayor Sam Adams, December 4, 2009 9 360/737-2726 503/256-2726 WWW. COLUMBIARIVERCROSSING. ORG 700 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 300, VANCOUVER, WA 98660 APPENDIX A Columbia River Crossing: Road to Construction Policy Statement for Council President Bragdon and Mayor Adams December 2, 2009 I. Guiding Policy Statement A change in direction is needed for the Columbia River Crossing Project to be successfully accomplished. The current proposal is mired in financial challenges, and the region risks missing critical federal deadlines unless we change course.The project refinement recommendation before the PSC would defer or remove certain elements of the proposed project and result in a cost reduction of $515 – $650 million, or roughly 15% of project capital costs. We believe that this is a step in the right direction, but more fundamental change is required to: †¢ match the scope and scale of the project to realistic federal, state and local revenues (including tolls), essentially designing the project to budget †¢ design the project to achieve specific performance measures †¢ make essential, urgent project decisions in collaboration with members of the Project Sponsors Council and their staffs daylight the project’s internal decision making to ensure an unrestricted flow of information to make all of the above possible In addition, it is important to underscore that we reject calls from project opponents to cancel or â€Å"restart† the project, as too much solid work has already been done. II. Refinement Action Requested at December 4th PSC Meeting We believe that an informed endorsement of any project changes by the PSC is critical to advance the project However, the materials provided for the December 4th meeting do not include adequate analysis of â€Å"refinement† impacts to support a decision.The PSC has previously requested that the project team use the performance measures being developed by the Performance Measures Advisory Grou p to guide the project refinement process and assess the effect on key interests and stakeholders, such as the freight industry and the ports. We have not yet seen analysis of potential refinements according to those specific measures. While we understand the need to move the project forward, the likely 18-month delay in federal transportation bill reauthorization gives us a window to make sure we get the project right.We believe the current proposal contains incomplete and potentially flawed assumptions underlying the original proposal, particularly assumptions about demand forecasts, tax and toll revenues available for the project, and what those revenues can buy. In addition, we need to see performance-based criteria used to guide reconfiguration of the project, as the PSC has requested. The Project Sponsor Council needs to see clearly how the project – and proposed refinements – stack up against those criteria, including cost. APPENDIX AWe are proposing that PSC ag ency staff work directly with CRC project staff in a short, defined window to continue the current refinement work to create a realistic road to construction that includes: 1. A reliable budget based on realistic revenue projections; 2. A realistic assessment of the relationship between tolls, updated demand forecasts, desired land use patterns and size of the CRC facilities 3. Project elements that are firmly based in performance outcomes 4. Recognition that the interstate system must function in concert with local ystems In short, we believe the Project Sponsors Council needs to make decisions about the many attributes of the project based on how different options perform, for the goals we all agree on. We need to have that information before us so we can realistically evaluate options and buy the best product which available resources can buy. APPENDIX B APPENDIX B APPENDIX C APPENDIX C APPENDIX C The conceptual finance plan below shows a range of CRC Project cost estimates based on the proposed project refinement recommendations and the latest results of the Cost Estimate Validation Process (CEVP).Costs and revenues are shown in year -ofexpenditure dollars. The finance plan is preliminary; refinements are in process based on the recent results from the toll sensitivity, CEVP, and other analyses. The finance plan may be adjusted based on legislative, DOT, FHWA/FTA, public, and PSC reviews. Preliminary Finance Plan Scenarios In Billions of Year-of-Expenditure Dollars 60% Probability 90% Probability Highway Transit $2. 40 $0. 79 $2. 65 $0. 89 Total $3. 19 $3. 54 $1. 15-$1. 29 $0. 75-$0. 85 $1. 15-$1. 19 $0. 40 $0. 75-$0. 79 $1. 25-$1. 49 $0. 90-$1. 00 $1. 15-$1. 39 $0. 40 $0. 75-$0. 89 $3. 19 $3. 54 Cost RevenuesTolls ODOT and WSDOT Federal Highway Transit (New Starts) Total The plan calls for securing $400 million in Projects of National and Regional Significance funding from the upcoming federal transportation reauthorization act. While the toll rate struct ure for the CRC Project will not be established until after tolling is authorized by the Washington legislature, the range of financial capacity from tolls that are shown above are based on the Tolling Study Committee analysis, which found a variety of rate structures capable of providing the amounts shown; no specific toll rate structure is assumed in the finance plan.The amount shown for the DOTs is subject to an intergovernmental agreement between the DOTs allocating cost responsibility and legislative approvals of the required funding, and could vary depending on final disposition of other elements of the f inance plan. The New Starts funding presumes the recent statutory language secured by Senator Murray, and requires FTA approval of a Full Funding Grant Agreement based on the New Start rating regulations. Appendix C – CRC Tolling Study Committee ReportTravel Demand Forecasting, Revenue Projections, Determination of Net Revenues, and Financial Capacity Analysis Travel D emand Forecasting Regional travel demand models are used to forecast how people may choose to travel in the future given projected growth patterns for population and employment as well as future transportation facilities. The Portland-Vancouver area regional travel demand model used for the Columbia River Crossing (CRC) project was developed jointly by the Portland-area Metro Regional Government (Metro) and the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council (RTC).The model, run by Metro and peer-reviewed by a national panel of experts in October 2008, applies a four-step process in estimating future travel demands: Step 1: Person-trips are estimated from adopted regional growth projections and adopted regional transportation plans. Growth projections include population and employment forecasts throughout the metropolitan region. Transportation plans include future transportation facilities, including roadways, transitways, and bicycle and pedestrian facilities.Step 2: Predicte d person-trips are then distributed to zones across the metropolitan region. Over 25,000 network routes, or â€Å"links,† are used in the model, as well as over 2,000 transportation analysis â€Å"zones. † The model predicts how many people will want to travel from one zone to another via different links. Step 3: Person-trips between each of the zones are broken down by mode of travel (drive alone, carpool, transit, bicycle, walking) based on each option’s attractiveness when considering travel time and cost, as well as each traveler’s socioeconomic characteristics.Travel costs include parking fees, transit fares, tolls, and automobile operating costs. Step 4: The model assigns each trip to a specific routing in the model’s network. For the CRC’s tolling analysis work, the model predicts how many people are projected to cross the Columbia River on I-5 and I-205 via automobile and transit. The model is used to predict weekday peak period vehi cle volumes across each bridge, which are later used to develop daily traffic demands.The regional travel demand model is appropriate for comparing the relative weekday effects of travel across the Columbia River for different tolling scenarios. The model used for tolling analysis purposes allows relative generalizations to be made about I-5 and I-205, including vehicle and transit trips, and the duration of vehicular congestion experienced along each river crossing. Daily and hourly traffic volumes in 2030 would vary for the I-5 bridge and the I-205 bridge with different tolling levels.Based on information included in the model regarding how much people value their time for different types of trips, lowering or raising toll rates affects how many people choose to pay the specific toll, divert to the alternative bridge, travel during another time of the day, take transit, or travel to a different destination altogether. The scenario analysis found: CRC Tolling Study Committee Report Appendix C 1 January 2010 †¢ For most of the I-5 only toll scenarios, the majority of drivers would not change their travel patterns.Some would choose a new destination or a non-tolled route. Diversion to transit is minimal due to the already increased ridership associated with project improvements. †¢ Route diversion tends to increase as toll rates increase; however, the percentage of diversion tends to be lower during peak periods when travelers’ willingness to pay tolls may be higher and/or alternative routes are congested, and thus, time consuming. †¢ For scenarios that toll both the I-5 and I-205 bridges, traffic levels would be higher on I-5 and lower on I-205 compared to tolling only the I-5 bridge.However, compared to the No Toll project scenario, total cross-river traffic demand would be less on both the I-5 and I-205 bridges as many trips would divert to transit or not be made across the Columbia River. See the attached spreadsheet titled Traffic Eff ects for Tolling Scenarios for more detailed information about traffic diversion, average daily traffic volumes and hours of congestion predicted for each of the tolling scenarios. Additional work refining one or two likely scenarios will be undertaken to inform financial planning and final rate setting prior to issuing toll revenue bonds.That analysis would independently review and refine many key assumptions, including land use projections, and also examine parts of the network beyond the I-5 and I-205 river crossings, such as key interchanges with these highways, and critical roadways and intersections. An updated and detailed toll traffic and revenue report is warranted before issuing debt, and would be required by the credit rating agencies if any of the bonds were to be backed solely by toll revenues. Revenue ProjectionsThe annual traffic and revenue projections produced for the CRC project are derived from outputs of the Metro regional travel demand model. The Metro model emp loys inputs for users’ values of time as a surrogate for the relationship of time and cost reflecting the potential toll on the I-5 bridge crossing. The regional model was further supplemented by the development of a corridor level traffic model (VISSIM) which provided traffic operation capabilities to estimate the effect of future congestion in the corridor.This became the basis for â€Å"post-processing† the model results to refine traffic demand projections. The traffic and revenue projections show both the annualization of the direct Metro model results and the refined post-processed results, the latter of which bracket the mid-range of anticipated traffic and revenue impacts. Ten toll scenarios that vary toll rates and toll locations (I-5 only or both I-5 and I-205 bridges) were developed by the CRC team for analysis, in conjunction with the Oregon and Washington departments of transportation.Toll rates were assumed to vary by time of day according to a fixed sche dule that applies higher toll rates in peak periods and lower rates during off-peak times when demand is less. Toll rates were originally specified in constant year 2006 dollars in the project’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS); however the actual tolls paid are assumed to increase with expected inflation, projected at 2. 5 percent per year. See Exhibit 1 for information about each scenario. CRC Tolling Study Committee Report Appendix C 2 January 2010It is expected that the toll collection will be all-electronic, which allows tolls to be collected without toll booths causing drivers to slow down to pay tolls. Thus, drivers would either have a transponder, paying the rates noted in Exhibit 1, or the vehicle would be identified via the license plate, in which case a $1. 00 â€Å"pay-by-plate† processing fee would be added to each transaction. For example, a vehicle traveling during the peak period (6 am to 10 am) without a transponder would be charged $2. 00 pl us the $1. 00 processing fee, or $3. 00 for their trip in one direction.Exhibit 1. Tolling Scenarios Evaluated Min/Max Toll Rate (2006$) Tolling I-5 Only Scenario 1D Additional Price Points Scenario 1E 1. 5x DEIS Toll Rate Scenario 1F 2x DEIS Toll Rate Scenario 1G 3x DEIS Toll Rate $2. 69 / $5. 38 $3. 00 / $6. 00 Flat Toll Rate $2. 02 / $4. 03 $2. 00 / $4. 00 Scenario 1C $1. 34 / $3. 36 $1. 50 / $3. 00 Lower than DEIS Toll Rate $2. 22 $1. 00 / $2. 50 Scenario 1B $1. 34 / $2. 02 $1. 65 DEIS Toll Rate $1. 34 / $2. 69 $1. 00 / $1. 50 Scenario 1A Min/Max Toll Rate (2018$) $1. 00 / $2. 00 Scenarios Analyzed Tolling I-5 and I205 DEIS Toll Rate 1. 34 / $2. 69 Scenario 2A DEIS Toll Rate $2. 00 / $4. 00 $2. 69 / $5. 38 Scenario 2B Lower than DEIS Toll Rate $2. 00 / $3. 00 $2. 69 / $4. 03 Scenario 2C Lower I-205 Toll I-5: $2. 00 / $4. 00 I-205: $2. 00 / $3. 00 I-5: $2. 69 / $5. 38 I-205: $2. 69 / $4. 03 1 2 Toll Schedule Type Symmetric Variable Toll Schedule Symmetric Fixed Toll Schedule July 1, 2018 (FY 2019) Each Way Symmetric Variable Toll Schedule 1 Pre-Completion Tolling Tolling Start Date $4. 03 / $8. 07 $1. 00 / $2. 00 Tolls Collected Each Way Symmetric Variable Toll July 1, 2013 Schedule (FY 2014)Southbound Symmetric Variable Toll July 1, 2018 2 Schedule (FY 2019) Only Pre-Completion Tolling to be added to any other scenario A round-trip toll is collected on scenarios tolling Southbound only The rates for commercial vehicles are assumed to be proportionately greater than passenger cars, roughly as a function of the number of axles for a commercial vehicle. For the purposes of this analysis, it is assumed that commercial vehicles will pay on an N minus one basis based upon axles, that is, a five-axle truck would pay four times the passenger car rate (five minus one times the passenger rate).Model volumes were provided for medium (three-axle) and large (five-axle) trucks. The exact commercial toll schedule will be a function of the future development of the electr onic toll collection system. Toll schedules assumed for each scenario are shown on the attached spreadsheets, Toll Rate Schedules for I-5 Scenarios and Toll Rate Schedules for I-5 and I-205 Scenarios. CRC Tolling Study Committee Report Appendix C 3 January 2010 Determination of Net Revenues To arrive at the portion of revenues available to support financing via the repayment of debt, several eductions must be made from gross toll revenues and fees. Key among these deductions is the obligation to pay for toll collection and facility operation and maintenance (O) costs for the bridge and roadway. The deductions from gross revenues include the following: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Potential toll revenue lost due to uncollectable accounts Credit card and banking fees associated with toll payment and accounts Toll collection operations and maintenance costs, including maintenance, periodic replacement of equipment, back office costs and bridge insuranceRoutine operations and mainten ance of the bridge and roadway facilities Facility O costs include routine maintenance of the bridge and all roadways within the project area as well as incident response for the project area. After gross revenues have paid all of the above deductions, including toll collection and facility O costs, the remaining net revenue is available for debt repayment. The net revenue stream represents the cash flow that can be used directly for financing to repay bonds, or to directly pay for construction if pre-completion tolling is implemented.In addition to bond repayment, there will be a periodic need for renovation and rehabilitation activities for the project. These costs are assumed to be funded out of excess net revenues after annual debt repayments that result from the debt service coverage requirement placed on net revenues. A reserve account may be created that would be funded from these excess net toll revenues. Financial Capacity Analysis Tolling the I-5 bridge does not have the f inancial capacity to yield a funding contribution equal to the $2. 38 billion cost in year of expenditure dollars for the highway portion of the project.Rather, a number of funding sources will likely be needed to build the project, including federal and state (Oregon and Washington) funding sources combined with funding from tolls. For the purposes of this analysis, the bridge is assumed to be substantially completed by the end of fiscal year 2018, with revenue operations beginning on July 1, 2018 (state fiscal year 2019). Toll bond proceeds are assumed to be received in the middle and latter years of construction to maximize their funding contribution, and other funding CRC Tolling Study Committee Report Appendix C 4 January 2010 ources are assumed to cover construction costs in the initial years. Other project improvements to the highway and interchanges would continue into 2019, and the last bonds needed to fund these completion activities are assumed to be issued after tolling has commenced. The CRC toll bonds were assumed to be backed by other revenue sources, and the full faith and credit of one or both states to provide the bonds with a credit rating and interest costs equivalent to that of general obligation debt of either state. The use of toll bonds will increase the total costs paid during and after construction due to the added interest and issuance osts. However, these financing costs are treated separately from the project capital cost during construction. Increased use of toll bonds will increase the total costs paid due to added interest and issuance. The construction cost does not increase as a result; rather it adds a financing cost both during and after construction. State-backed bonds are limited by Washington State Constitution to a 30 year repayment period. Accordingly, debt with the maturity of up to 30 years was assumed to maximize the total proceeds that can be generated by the forecasted net toll revenue stream.A minimum debt service coverage factor of 1. 25 was assumed for state-backed debt whereby net toll revenues were maintained at 1. 25 times the projected annual debt service. The intent of this is to provide some protection against draws on the revenue sources pledged to backup toll revenues, such as motor vehicle fuel tax revenues, in the event of lower-than-projected toll revenue performance. Interest rates on state-backed bonds are assumed to be 6. 00 percent for current interest bonds (â€Å"CIBs†) and 6. 50 percent for capital appreciation bonds (â€Å"CABs†), based on the current double-A credit ratings in both states.Issuance costs are assumed to be 0. 2 percent of the total par amount of bonds issues for state-backed bonds. Additional costs would include 0. 5 percent of the par amount for current interest bonds for underwriting (underwriter’s discount) and 1. 0 percent of the par amount for capital appreciation bonds. Interest is assumed to be capitalized through the year befo re the project comple