Fire Protection Hydraulics and Water Supply Essay

Fire Protection Hydraulics and Water Supply - Essay Example o different parts of a building and for local distribution to the miniature network of pipes in the building and they convey water to these respective regions in large quantities. They are more reliable when two or more primary feeder systems are extended by independent means from the supply source to the most important regions of the municipality (Brannigan & Corbett ,2008). Secondary feeders are water distribution systems that are made up of network of pipes that are quite smaller in size to the Primary feeder system. They strengthen the water distribution system and are surrounded by different sections of the primary feeder system. The Secondary feeder system helps in the full concentration of water and control the rate of fire flow that is required at a particular region in a building. It is necessary to give two water delivery directions to any spot; hence the secondary feeder system must be arranged in loops (Brannigan & Corbett ,2008). Distributors are the smallest class of the water distribution system as they consist of much smaller mains when compared to the primary and secondary feeder system. The distributor system is mainly used for specific fire hydrants and individual units of users(Brannigan & Corbett

Vallone v CNA Financial Essay Example for Free

Vallone v CNA Financial Essay In Vallone v. CAN Financial, this lawsuit is a purported class action brought on behalf of individuals who elected early retirement from the Continental Insurance Company in 1992. Plaintiffs allege that health care benefits promised to them as part of the early retirement package were terminated in violation of federal and state law. Along with hundreds of other Continental employees nationwide, plaintiffs elected to accept the package from Continental known as the Voluntary Special Retirement Program (VSRP). The VSRP provided early retirees with special health care benefits that differed from the benefits extended to regular retirees under Continentals Comprehensive Health Care and Dental Plan (the Plan). One such feature involved the Retiree Health Care Allowance, a subsidy from Continental provided to help offset the cost of retiree health care benefits. Under the Plan, employees had to retire at age 62 or older and have 25 years or more of service to qualify for the maximum retiree health care allowance. An employee retiring before the age 62, or with less than 25 years of service, would receive a reduced health care allowance. Early retirees under the VSRP, however, were to receive the maximum health care allowance, regardless of their age or years of service. Features such as this one enticed plaintiffs and hundreds of others to take early retirement. In August 1998, CNA informed all retired Continental employees that, as a result of the merger of health care plans, the retiree health care allowance contributions would end on December 31, 1998. Upset by the termination of the health care allowance, some early retirees under the VSRP decided to challenge CNAs actions. In August and September 1998, plaintiffs Vallone and Heidemann telephoned officials at CNA, arguing that the early retirees were given a lifetime health care allowance and inquiring about whether there would be a review of the termination of benefits. They were informed that CNAs actions were appropriate and final, and that no reconsideration or other remedy was available. Dissatisfied with the responses they received from CNA officials, plaintiffs filed this purported class action lawsuit on behalf of the approximately 500 or more persons nationwide who retired under the VSRP. In their complaint, plaintiffs allege that the termination of the retiree health care allowance violated the Employee Retirement Income and Security Act (ERISA) and state common law. On December 28, 2000, the district court granted CNAs motion for summary judgment on the plaintiffs claims of wrongful denial of benefits under ERISA (Count II), breach of ERISA and common law contract (Count IV) and equitable estoppel (Count V). On March 28, 2003, the district court granted CNAs motion for summary judgment on the plaintiffs one remaining count, their breach of fiduciary duty claim (Count III). The whole of this argument is to show that these individuals â€Å"retired† during the term of the agreement. No matter what new companies when merged or not does in the future you at-least have to fulfill and honor what agreement was in place before that time. Five Star Transportation v. NLRB In early January of 2003, nearing the expiration of the Districts contract with First Student, the District began organizing the bid process for awarding the 2003-2006 bus services contract.   As a part of the bid specifications distributed to potential vendors, the District required that any new vendor give current drivers â€Å"first consideration for employment.†   At the January 16, 2003 â€Å"bid opening† meeting, Five Star submitted the lowest bid. Thereafter, on January 21, Clifford wrote to the District expressing his concern that Five Stars bid was so low-nearly $300,000 lower than the then-current contract-that it was questionable whether it would be able to maintain the drivers wage and benefit levels, and the safe and effective service, then provided by First Student. Because of this a letter was sent out from the school board to Five Star Bus Company, saying that all employees must be paid the union wage and other items with no response. The school board also talked and had them write letters of the former Five Star employees, who were also trying to get back on board with the bus company if they are awarded the contract. After Five Star was awarded the bus services contract, seventeen former First Student drivers who were members of the Union bargaining unit applied for a position at Five Star. Of these, only six were hired. The company admits that the sole reason the other eleven applicants were not hired or even considered was because they had written letters critical of Five Star. On August 14, the Union filed a charge against Five Star with the NLRB alleging that â€Å"by failing to hire former unionized Belchertown bus drivers, the Company had discriminated against them because of their protected and concerted activity.† A three-member panel of the NLRB reviewed the ALJs findings and the parties exceptions and supporting briefs.   It divided the eleven drivers into three categories:  (1) those whose letters had failed to raise common employment-related concerns; (2) those whose letters primarily raised such concerns; and (3) those whose letters primarily disparaged Five Star. The NLRB concluded that Five Star had violated only as to the six drivers belonging to the second group, because only those drivers actions were protected by the Act. It ordered these drivers reinstated and granted back pay with interest. This goes back to over a half century of established National Labor Relations Act both with its hiring and firing practices. Five Star was very in the wrong and should have been better about their hiring and what they used against the employees or hopeful employees to choose for hire. Doing a bit more research on the Five Star bus company and for the contract from 2003-2006, I found that the company had a very bad reputation for poor maintained busses with many break downs. The school was very dissatisfied with the bus company over the three years and did not renew their contract.

Democracy Essay -- Politics Voters Voting Essays

Democracy In the 2000 presidential election, less than 59% of our population saw fit to even vote. 80.5% of those voting were white, that's roughly 60% of the white population. Of the meager 19.5% of the vote the non-white population represented, less than 51% of non-whites able to vote actually did (Census). What does this mean? How can democracy – a republic like ours – correctly function without a more complete representation of opinion from its people? Former UCLA Law professor Julian Eule argued in his essay â€Å"Judicial Review of Direct Democracy† that the framers of our constitution set up the republic to in effect protect us from ourselves, to protect us from this sort of majority rule.(Eule) I believe that this misrepresentation is responsible for racist legislation and legislators. A recent NAACP resolution stated "The American people deserve political leaders who make clear, concise and well-reasoned decisions based on fact and clearly informed by all people involved, not leaders that perpetuate erroneous assumptions and ill-informed deductions based on racial and ethnic stereotypes," in reference to North Carolina Representative Howard Coble's remarks supporting former president Roosevelt's internment of the Japanese during World War II. (NAACP) The japanese internment has long been a dark blot on American history, but this legislator, this elected legislator seems to not represent a majority opinion of the people he represents. As well, NAACP president Kweisi Mfume remarked "President Bush continues to nominate right-wing extremists to the federal bench," in reference to the proposed confirmation of Jeffrey S. Sutton as a 6th Circuit Appeals Court judge, a position that demands a truly neutral position. Jeffrey S. ... ... the Total Voting-Age Population, by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin, for States: November 2000 US Census Bureau 27 Feb. 2002 <http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/voting/p20-542/tab04a.txt> Julian N. Eule, â€Å"Judicial Review of Direct Democracy, â€Å" 99 Yale Law Journal 1503 1990. Anti-Affirmative Action Proposition Passes In California CNN AllPolitics 6 Nov. 1996 <http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/news/9611/06/ballots. california.209/index.shtml> University of California Engineering Enrollment Rates (Undergraduate) Career Recruitment Media, Inc. 2003 <http://www.graduatingengineer.com/articles/minority/05- 01-01-t1.html> ACLU Says Expected White House Brief Opposing Minority Equality in College Admissions Shows Lack of Commitment to Racial Justice ACLU 15 Jan. 2003 <http://www.aclu.org/RacialEquality/RacialEquality.cfm?ID= 11620&c=134>

Aristotle’s Theory of Virtue and Happiness Essay

Aristotle was one of the most respected philosophers of all time. He wrote on many subjects covering a wide range of topics; politics, psychology, metaphysics, logic and ethics. In the article â€Å"Nature of Virtue† written by Aristotle, his theory of a persons happiness and good morals is explained. I agree that a human’s goal in life is to be happy, and to live a good life but happiness and good do not come hand in hand. In this paper, I disagree with Aristotle’s proper function argument. The word happiness is a much broader term to Aristotle than what we think of. (Johnston, Para. F) By happiness he means successful, living a good life and physical well being. A fully happy life would include success for themselves, their family and descendants. The idea of good and happiness according to Aristotle is based around the proper function argument. The proper function argument is basically that every man is brought to this earth to have a function. Happiness is the main goal in someone’s life, and this comes with a function. â€Å"For all things that have a function or activity, the good and â€Å"well is thought to reside in the function. † We are not on this earth to merely live, but to do our best to live well. (Cahn 113) Something is good if it performs its proper function for example, a good movie. If you watch a movie and you think its good, than it has performed its proper function. The purpose of broccoli is to feed and give people nutrition, the purpose of a truck is to transport objects, and the purpose of one human may to be a plumber. Fixing sinks and toilets is this human’s function, and if done successfully, happiness will be achieved. â€Å"The function of humans is an activity of the soul and must act in accordance with virtue, or goodness. † A person can only be happy when they are fulfilling their function. (Cahn 114). When a person is fulfilling their function, they are eudaimon. Eudaimonia is the Greek term for happiness and living well. When someone takes part in Eudaimonia, they are taking part in â€Å"the activity of the soul in accordance with excellence, virtue or what is good for† (â€Å"The Human good and Function Argument†) In Aristotle’s view, human beings are the only species that have the potential to live a better life. He believes living well creates happiness, the final goal for human beings. Reaching a goal drives every behavior, and the goal of humans is to attain goodness and excellence. He also states that every man should pursue happiness and happiness is attainable by all people. (â€Å"Traditional Virtues and The Skeptic†. ) I disagree with these statements; being happy, and being evil can happen at the same time. For example, the Romans lived very happily even though their actions were evil. The Roman’s believed they were the most superior and advanced society yet they found pleasure and happiness in torturing and killing Christians for sport. The Roman’s lived in a world of evil, and they were undoubtedly happy. Aristotle’s objection to my example of the Romans would be that the Roman’s took their pleasure to the extreme with their lavish lifestyles, which lead to their downfall and demise. Aristotle would use his theory of the â€Å"Golden mean† to object to the Roman’s happiness. For Aristotle living life well involves â€Å"using the virtues we were intended to use, including chiefly reason, but also courage, honesty, and moderation in pursuing pleasure. † (Stevenson 67). Every good thing exists between two bad things. So anything is achievable as long as it is not taken to excess. Aristotle’s example for this is that if 10 pounds is too much for someone too eat, and 2 pounds is too little, than 6 pounds being the mean, would not be the exact amount that person should eat to be satisfied, but is something to aim towards. (Cahn 117). Aristotle’s â€Å"golden mean† says that you should not do anything to the excess, or you will only hurt yourself. â€Å"If you overindulge in physical pleasures, your health will deteriorate. † (Stevenson 67. ) In other words, the Roman’s overindulged in their pleasure, which lead to their own pain and suffering in the end. If it is true that you cannot experience goodness unless you are happy, and you cannot be happy if you take action into extremes, than it must be true that the people in poverty cannot be good. Every society has had its rise and fall in power, so does that mean that people that live on the under side of the extreme, or in Aristotle’s example, to only eat two pounds of food, can never achieve goodness because they are not happy? For example there is a poor child in Africa who is living in severe conditions, with no food, and not enough water. He is doing everything he can in pursuit of happiness. He goes to church, he helps his parents out with the family, and he is doing his best in school. However, he is hungry and living in unhappiness because of his terrible situation. Because this boy is not happy, does this mean he is not a good person? Happiness is attainable to all people, but how is happiness attainable by this boy? Living to the extreme may cause unhappiness in some situations, but it is quite often that living in moderation can lead to unhappiness as well. Moderate behavior will not always bring happiness. For example, someone who is very passionate and romantic may find that moderate behavior does not suit his or her needs. â€Å"One can not be happy if forced to control oneself in all situations of life. † (Popkin 10) A human wants to live life the way they desire, and to seize from acting how you feel does not lead to happiness. Aristotle’s theory is based around the fact that good morals come from habit. You must be taught to be good in order to be good. According to Aristotle, your characteristics come from your actions; in other words, you â€Å"become good by doing good† (Cahn 113). Under Aristotle’s theory, to be a good person, you must have been taught to be good at a young age to acquire good morals. â€Å"In order to profit from the sort of study he is undertaking, one must already have been brought up in good habits†(â€Å"Traditional Virtues and The Skeptic†. ) This means the group of people with potential to have virtue and happiness is limited. It is limited to the people who come from a family with good ethics. The only people who are going to become good, are the people who are already well on their way to be good because their family is training them to be this way. But what about the people who come from bad families? Or what about the people who were raised by ethically good families? For example, a child who was brought up by parents who had no ethics or good morals at all. The mother was a drug addict, and the father ran away while the child was at an early age. The child wasn’t taught anything about morals, and did not have a proper upbringing what so ever. Everything the child knew was learnt on his own, and he decided who he wanted to be an acted in relation to this. This child ends up being a good person, has a good job, and lives in happiness. When Aristotle makes the point that you must have had exercise in virtues, he does not have any proof that this is always true. â€Å"What Aristotle owes us, then, is an account of these traditional qualities that explains why they must play a central role in any well-lived life. † (â€Å"Traditional Virtues and The Skeptic†.), Aristotle must explain to us why being trained by a guardian is required in order to end up living a complete life. In conclusion, Aristotle’s theories are applicable in some situations, but should not be applied in all situations. You can be happy and evil at the same time; you do not have to be good in order to be happy. Aristotle objects by saying you cannot be happy and live to extremes, however you can also be happy and over indulge at the same time. It is also possible for someone to live well, have virtue and happiness even when they had not been brought up this way. They can learn on their own, characteristics can be defined by who you want to be. Aristotle says that happiness is attainable by all, but if you follow the Aristotle’s theory, you will find that happiness is limited to a certain group. Works Cited Johnston, Ian. † Lecture on Aristotle’s Nicomachaean Ethics. † Records. November 18th, 1997. http://records. viu. ca/~johnstoi/introser/aristot. htm. April 15th, 2010. Cahn Steven. â€Å"Exploring Ethics. † Aristotle: The Nature of Virtue. Ed. Steven M. Cahn. New York: Oxford University Press. 2009. Pg 113-117. â€Å"The Human Good and Function Argument. † Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2001. May 1st, 2001. http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/aristotle-ethics/#HumGooFunArg. April 15th, 2010. â€Å"Traditional Virtues and The Skeptic. † Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N. P. May 1st, 2001. http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/aristotle-ethics/#HumGooFunArg. April 15th, 2010. Stevenson, Jay. â€Å"The Complete Idiots Guide to Philosophy. † The Golden Mean. Ed. Drew Patty. 2nd Edition. 2002. Pg 67. Popkin, Richard. â€Å"Philosophy Made Simple. † Criticism of Aristotle. Richard Popkin and A. Stroll. New York, 1993. Pg 10-11.

Market Management – Aramex

Aramex Assessing Brand Strategy: And the small shall act big†¦ Aramex is a fast growing brand with an exceptional business model which has been present in the middle east reigon for nearly 30 years and with a culture focused on innovations and entreprenuership, it is aiming to be recognised as the fifth global express and logistics service provider Brand Personality: Started very small with a strong visionary personality and alot of ambitious to grow big, Aramex is a founding member of the Global Distribution Alliance. What makes Aramex different from other express companies in the market? Armex is the only ‘All in one total transportation provider’, with high level of customised transportation solutions providing diversified services like international express delivery, freight forwarding, logistics, domestic express delivery, document management and a shopping online service which is one of their extremelly succesful world-class innovations called â€Å"shop and ship† where customers can go online and get a US- or UK-based address assigned by Aramex, do their shopping and get their packages delivered to that domestic address in the US or UK.Aramex picks up (the shopping) and brings it over to the region (the shipping). Delivery Unlimited: The slogan reviles the willingness of the company to have a footprint on each corner across the globe, expansions strategies have already taken place as the company have announced the acquicition of Ireland-headquartered Aquaship Agencies, which will strengthen the presence of Aramex in the Irish market and will expand its ocean freight capabilities in Europe.What Message do they deliver on their websites? Aramex develops a unique brand image through their website, they show excellency in all areas, they have developed many electronic tools enabling the customers to manage their shipping needs, tools such as Shipment Status Notification where customers can get updates on their shipments on daily or w eekly basis. Customers also can track their shippments by SMS, just by sending their shippment number to Aramex.All these services benefiting the customers which are done in a unique way have made aramex to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of their customers. How do their staff interact with customers? Speed, reliabilty and trust can be easily noticed in aramex staff, they are every where, offices, motorcycles,vans, trucks, boats and 24 hours call center and social netwroking websites. A customer can contact aramex on their Facebook page, simply by writing his/her query on their wall and aramex will reply instantly.With a team who is expert in their field, they can easily manage customers requirments. What customers think when they think of Aramex? Always there on time, and to reach that, aramex is proactive in engaging with their customers , they have a highly Trained Customer Management Teams who conduct customer survays to have a better understanding of customer needs in or der to improve the quality of their customer services.Features/Benefits of Aramex services: Aramex makes offers from time to time to attarct potential customers and to atract thir current customers to a particular service, few months ago MasterCard cardholders would receive 50% off the membership and 10% off all shipping charges. This offer enabled cardholders to enjoy Shop and Ship's renowned convenience and reach at even lower rates.