Twilight Essay - 1938 Words

The Myth of the Vampire in Twilight The myth of the vampire existed in a multitude of civilizations and cultures under various names such is strigoi (for the Romanian territory), Apotamkin, etc. But no matter the name, vampires will always refer to gothic creatures that drain the blood of humans, thus being monstrous. The first writer to introduce the vampire in literature was Lord Byron in the eighteenth century, but the most significant writer to develop the myth was Bram Stoker. He is the „father† of the vampire as he gave a complete description of the vampire in his most famous book† Dracula†. After the release of the book, the myth of the vampire became extremely popular amongst writers and as a consequence the books whose main†¦show more content†¦Another particularity of the eyes of a vampire is that they show whether a vampire feeds on human or animal blood. This is best shown in the baseball scene when James and the other vampires come and disrupt the Cullen’s game. The camera focuses on the eyes of every new vampire( which , as we were previously shown, attacked humans) and we can clearly notice that their eyes are scarlet red. So the redness of the eyes is an indicative of the fact that these vampires are not† vegetarians†. The similarities stop here. There are definitely very few elements which are kept from all the previous books that present vampires, and to sum everything up we know that they have cold and pale skin, the fact that they drink blood and the fact that they are very fast and strong. The differences are way more numerous that the similarities and in this part of the essay we are going to present just that. Stephenie Meyer also introduces a lot of new elements. For instance the most important entirely new element is that blood has a distinguished smell, a smell which can trigger the vampires hunting instinct. Edward calls the smell of Bella’s blood „ a drug† and „his personal brand of heroin†. First of all there is nothing that indicates Edward as a vampire apart from his cold and white skin( and the fact that he shines like diamonds but only in the sun). But if this were a novel written by let’s say Anne Rice, the vampire would definitely have fangs. StephenieShow MoreRelatedThe Twilight Saga Essay example1571 Words   |  7 PagesThe movie Twilight was produced in 2008 by â€Å"Summit Entertainment† and was significantly successful in the box office, resulting in the â€Å"Twilight Saga† to begin on film: in fall 2009 New Moon was released and Eclipse is set to air this summer. The â€Å"Twilight Saga† is directed towards many people, mainly the hearts of young teenagers because it allows for them to believe that there is someone for everyone. Stephen Marche suggests the Twilight is a film about love between a homosexual male and a heterosexualRead MoreEssay on Twilight - A Thrilling and Enthralling Read512 Words   |  3 PagesTwilight is an absorbing, rapid moving read written by Stephanie Meyer. It was her first book and an international best seller. It follows Isabella (Bella) swan, a seventeen year old girl as she moves to the small rainy town of forks to live with her dad Charlie. The first day of her new school she meets the Cullen’s, a mysterious inhumanely beautiful family, â€Å"they were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine. Or painted by an old master as theRead MoreThe Twilight Saga: Redefining the Vampire Essay837 Words   |  4 Pagesthink of the traditional pale-faced, malicious bloodsuckers, sporting a cape and killing people when they’re sleeping. Wrong! Nowadays, the image of a vampire is a handsome, polite, and loving person who protects humans. The new cultural phenomenon Twilight is building a new degrading image for vampires that slaps the face of all previous authors, directors, writers, etc. who contributed to giving th e monster its unique image in the past. Simply searching through articles, databases, and other resourcesRead MoreLife Lessons in The Twilight Series Essay604 Words   |  3 Pagesmyself asking as I began reading Twilight. At first some may chose not to read the books or see the movie because they feel a story based on vampires and werewolves is a little unbelievable. Twilight is about more than fictional characters and that is what attracted my attention to the series. It takes us on a journey of discovering that when true love is amazingly strong one can overcome any battle. Since discovering these series Stephanie Myers the author of Twilight has become such an inspirationRead MoreComparison Essay Twilight vs Vampire Diaries1282 Words   |  6 PagesIt’s easy to compare  Twilight  and  The Vampire Diaries, partly because they do have similar premises (teen girls in love with vampires attending  high school. The Vampire Diaries  and  Twilight  really bring different things to the culture of young adult vampire stories Sex is one of the differences that are easily compared between both shows. Specifically, who’s having it and who isn’t. In the first three novels of  Twilight, there is no sex between the protagonist, Bella, and her vampire boyfriendRead MoreNegative Stereotypical Gender Roles in Twilight Essay1165 Words   |  5 Pagestraditional gender roles have changed; however, societies and cultures are powerful that they try to convince people to keep those roles. Similarly, many authors embrace and support traditional sex roles through their books and movies. Twilight is one of the examples. Hence, Twilight reinforces stereotypical gender roles by portraying a supernatural strong male vampire, Edward, who has the capacity to protect and control his weak and submissive human, Bella; as a result, the author tries to show us that menRead MoreTwilight: Book vs. Movie Essay example2328 Words   |  10 PagesTwilight: Book vs. Movie When comparing the book Twilight, written by Stephanie Meyers, with the movie Twilight, screenplay written by Melissa Rosenberg and produced by Catherine Hardwicke, there are multiple visual differences between the two. Some important scenes were changed or even omitted from the original text, leaving noticeable gaps in the movie’s plot. 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Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, Twilight is a movie based on the first in a series of four best-selling novels by Stephenie Meyer. The movies main focus is on a teenage girl named Bella (Kristen Stewart) who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to the town of Forks, Washington to live with her father Charlie (Billy Burke). On the first day of school, she meets Edward (RobertRead MoreThe Night Of Search Of Human Blood1452 Words   |  6 PagesKia Frazier-Humphrey Professor Livanis English 17 November 11th 2016 Essay #2 If you were to ask people 10 years ago what came to mind when they thought about vampires, you would probably get answers that described frightening creatures that lurk in the night in search of human blood. These perceptions are usually brought on from one of the most famous vampire stories ever written; Dracula. Bram Stoker’s Dracula tells the story of Count Dracula and his bloodthirsty journey from his castle in Transylvania

An Voluntary Control Over More Automatic Brain Systems

Pedretti, Pendleton Schultz-Krohn (2006) define attention as being this voluntary control over more automatic brain systems to effectively select and manipulate sensory or stored information briefly or for sustained periods. One component of attention is this term ‘sustained attention’, which is the ability to consistently engage in an activity over time without loosing concentration (Willard Spackman, 2014). Willard Spackman express that repetitive and predictable activities place less demands on sustained attention. Attention process training (APT) is a computerized training program that provides practice in five types of attention: focused, sustained, selective, alternating and divided (Park, Proulx Towers, 1999). Several research studies have concluded that specific components of attention need specific training and that with sufficient training it is possible to improve aspects of attention and other cognitive functions (Park et al, 1999; Sohlberg, McLaughlin, Pavese, Heidrich Posner, 2000). Before each task is completed, the requirements are briefly explained and usually take between 2-3 minutes to complete. A low level evidence †¦ by Park et al (1999) concluded that the APT program improved the functioning of specific cognitive processes underlying attention but not general cognitive functioning. The APT program was designed to last for 40 hours with an average of 20 sessions. If the participant were to make three or more errors these tasks were repeatedShow MoreRelatedHow The Body S ystems And The Components That Make Up That System1077 Words   |  5 PagesMusclar system/ thermoregulation †¢ List all of the organs and or components of the system. 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She has not been able to turn to her family for support for fear of their reactions to her illness. One morning she finally breaks down and tells her husband about the cancer. Instead of being devastated and turning his back on his wife, the husband supports the wife, every step of the way, andRead MoreThe Effects of Alcohol on the Human Body1420 Words   |  6 Pagesin the future. Alcohol, specifically ethanol, depresses the central nervous system and it has many side-effects. Cell membranes in the human body have high permeability to alcohol, so alcohol diffuses into nearly every biological tissue of the body once it gets into the blood stream (Dasgupta 2011, pg. 88). It starts affecting the body and mind from the second one sips it. After taking it for a while, one starts feeling more sociable, but drinking too much makes basic human functions like walking orRead MoreScsd1374 Words   |  6 Pagesthat lie beneath it from  radiation, desiccation,  toxins, invasion by pathogens, and physical  trauma; (2) the regulation and exchange of chemicals between the underlying tissues and a  body cavity; (3) the secretion of hormones into the blood vascular system, and/or the secretion of sweat, mucus, enzymes, and other products that are delivered by ducts;  (4) to provide  sensation. Location of an Epithelial Tissue: Epithelium lines both the outside (skin) and the inside cavities and  lumen  of bodiesRead MoreA Motivated Tactitian3391 Words   |  14 PagesBackground A motivated tactician, according to Fiske and Taylor (2013), refers to people’s tendency to depend on relatively automatic processes or alternatively on more controlled ones depending on situational and motivational demands. This term implies that individuals elect social cognitive processes based on the circumstances of the situation and the amount of motivation present. It is important to note, however, that there is no stark line that differentiates these processes, rather they existRead MoreThe Scientific Arguments Which Contain Freedom And Soft And Hard Determinism3111 Words   |  13 PagesIt seems to us that we are in control of our mind and body as a unified self. It means that we have free will to act. We can imagine it is like a homunculus in the Cartesian Theater which is responsible for making every decision in our brain. However, unless we can prove there is a homunculus in our brain, there is no consciousness. 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This review will also reference and analysis res earch that has been conducted on synesthesia in the brain when stimulating two senses at once, the time course in neural activity of these senses, and patients with color-music synesthesia in the regards of intensity of white matter in the brain. The article will review the procedures, methods, and results of

World Wide Web and E-commerce Winter Free Essays

string(1959) " Issues Channel conflict Occurs whenever sales activities on a company’s Web site interfere with existing sales outlets Also called cannibalization Channel cooperation Giving customers access to the company’s products through a coordinated presence in all distribution channels An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 23 Strategic Alliances and Channel Distribution Management Strategic alliance When two or more companies join forces to undertake an activity over a long period of time Account aggregation services Increase the propensity of customers to return to the site Channel distribution managers Companies that take over the responsibility for a particular product line within a retail store An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 24 12 Creating an Effective Web Presence An organization’s presence The public image it conveys to its stakeholders Stakeholders of a firm Include its customers, suppliers, employees, stockholders, neighbors, and the general public An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 25 Achieving Web Presence Goals Objectives of the business Attracting visitors to the Web site Making the site interesting enough that visitors tay and explore Convincing visitors to follow the site’s links to obtain information An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 26 13 Achieving Web Presence Goals \(continued\) Objectives of the business Creating an impression consistent with the organization’s desired image Building a trusting relationship with visitors Reinforcing p ositive images that the visitor might already have about the organization Encouraging visitors to return to the site An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 27 Profit-Driven Organizations Toyota site A good example of an effective Web presence Provides links to Detailed information about each vehicle model A dealer locator page Information about the company and the financing services it offers An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 28 14 Toyota U\." Introduction to E-Commerce Revenue Models Objectives In this chapter, you will learn about: Revenue models How some companies move from one revenue model to another to achieve success Revenue strategy issues that companies face when selling on the Web An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 2 1 Objectives (continued) Creating an effective business presence on the Web Web site usability Communicating effectively with customers on the Web An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 3 Revenue Models Mail order or catalog model Proven to be successful for a wide variety of consumer items Web catalog revenue model Taking the catalog model to the Web An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 4 2 Computers and Consumer Electronics Apple, Dell, Gateway, and Sun Microsystems have had great success selling on the Web Dell created value by designing its entire business around offering a high degree of configuration flexibility to its customers An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 5 Books, Music, and Videos Retailers use the Web catalog model to sell books, music, and videos Among the most visible examples of electronic commerce Jeff Bezos Formed Amazon. com Jason and Matthew Olim Formed an online music store they called CDnow Used the Web catalog revenue model An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 6 3 Luxury Goods People are still reluctant to buy luxury goods through a Web site Web sites of Vera Wang and Versace Constructed to provide information to shoppers, not to generate revenue Web site of Evian Designed for a select, affluent group of customers An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 7 Clothing Retailers Lands’ End Pioneered the idea of online Web shopping assistance with its Lands’ End Live feature in 1999 Personal shopper Intelligent agent program that learns customer’s preferences and makes suggestions Virtual model Graphic image built from customer measurements An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 8 4 Flowers and Gifts 1-800-Flowers Created an online extension to its telephone order business Chocolatier Godiva Offers business gift plans on its site An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 9 Digital Content Revenue Models Firms that own intellectual property have embraced the Web as a new and highly efficient distribution mechanism Lexis. com Provides full-text search of court cases, laws, patent databases, and tax regulations ProQuest Sells digital copies of published documents An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 10 5 Advertising-Supported Revenue Models Broadcasters provide free programming to an udience along with advertising messages Success of Web advertising is hampered by No consensus on how to measure and charge for site visitor views Stickiness of a Web site: the ability to keep visitors and attract repeat visitors Very few Web sites have sufficient visitors to interest large advertisers An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 11 Web Portals Web direct ory A listing of hyperlinks to Web pages Portal or Web portal Site used as a launching point to enter the Web Almost always includes a Web directory and search engine Examples: Yahoo! , AOL, AltaVista An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 12 6 Advertising-Subscription Mixed Revenue Models Subscribers Pay a fee and accept some level of advertising Typically are subjected to much less advertising Used by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 13 Advertising-Subscription Mixed Revenue Models (continued) Business Week Offers some free content at its Business Week online site Requires visitors to buy a subscription to the Business Week print magazine An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 14 7 Fee-for-Transaction Revenue Models Businesses offer services and charge a fee based on the number or size of transactions processed Disintermediation Removal of an intermediary from a value chain Reintermediation Introduction of a new intermediary An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 15 Fee-for-Service Revenue Models Fee based on the value of a service provided Services range from games and entertainment to financial advice Online games Growing number of sites include premium games in their offerings Site visitors must pay to play these premium games An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 16 8 Fee-for-Service Revenue Models (continued) Concerts and films As more households obtain broadband access to the Internet, companies are providing streaming video of concerts and films to paying ubscribers Professional Services State laws are one of the main forces preventing U. We will write a custom essay sample on World Wide Web and E-commerce Winter or any similar topic only for you Order Now S. professionals from extending their practices to the Web An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 17 Revenue Models in Transition Subscription to advertising-supported model Microsoft founded its Slate magazine Web site An upscale news and current events publication Charged an annual subscription fee after a limited free introductory period Was unable to draw sufficient number of paid subscribers Now operated as an advertising-supported site An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 18 9 Advertising-Supported to AdvertisingSubscription Mixed Model Salon. om Operated for several years as an advertisingsupported site Now offers an optional subscription version of its site Subscription offering was motivated by the company’s inability to raise additional money from investors An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 19 Advertising-Supported to Feefor-Services Model Xdrive Technologies Opened its original advertising-supported Web site in 1999 Offered free disk storage space onli ne to users After two years, it was unable to pay the costs of providing the service with the advertising revenue generated Later switched to a subscription-supported model An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 20 10 Advertising-Supported to Subscription Model Northern Light Founded in August 1997 as a search engine with a twist Revenue model Combination of advertising-supported model plus a fee-based information access service January 2002 Converted to a new revenue model that was primarily subscription supported An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 21 Multiple Transitions Encyclop? dia Britannica Original offerings The Britannica Internet Guide Free Web navigation aid Encyclop? dia Britannica Online Available for a subscription fee or as part of a CD package 1999 Converted to a free, advertiser-supported site 001 Returned to a mixed model An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 22 11 Revenue Strategy Issues Channel conflict Occurs whenever sales activities on a company’s Web site interfere with existing sales outlets Also called cannibalization Channel cooperation Giving customers access to the company’s products through a coordinated presence in all distribu tion channels An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 23 Strategic Alliances and Channel Distribution Management Strategic alliance When two or more companies join forces to undertake an activity over a long period of time Account aggregation services Increase the propensity of customers to return to the site Channel distribution managers Companies that take over the responsibility for a particular product line within a retail store An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 24 12 Creating an Effective Web Presence An organization’s presence The public image it conveys to its stakeholders Stakeholders of a firm Include its customers, suppliers, employees, stockholders, neighbors, and the general public An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 25 Achieving Web Presence Goals Objectives of the business Attracting visitors to the Web site Making the site interesting enough that visitors tay and explore Convincing visitors to follow the site’s links to obtain information An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 26 13 Achieving Web Presence Goals (continued) Objectives of the business Creating an impression consistent with the organization’s desired image Building a trusting relationship with visitors Reinforcing pos itive images that the visitor might already have about the organization Encouraging visitors to return to the site An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 27 Profit-Driven Organizations Toyota site A good example of an effective Web presence Provides links to Detailed information about each vehicle model A dealer locator page Information about the company and the financing services it offers An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 28 14 Toyota U. S. Home page An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 29 Profit-Driven Organizations (continued) Quaker Oats Web site does not offer a particularly strong sense of corporate presence Site is a straightforward presentation of links to information about the firm Redesigned site is essentially the same as the previous version An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 30 15 Quaker Oats Old Home Page An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 31 Quaker Oats Home Page: 1999 Redesign An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 32 16 Not-for-Profit Organizations Key goal for the Web sites Information dissemination Key element on any successful electronic commerce Web site Combination of information dissemination and a two-way contact channel An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 33 Web Site Usability Motivations of Web site visitors Learning about products or services that the company offers Buying products or services that the company offers Obtaining information about warranty, service, or repair policies for products they purchased Obtaining general information about the company or organization An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 34 17 Web Site Usability (continued) Motivations of Web site visitors Obtaining financial information for making an investment or credit granting decision Identifying the people who manage the company or organization Obtaining contact information for a person or department in the organization An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 35 Making Web Sites Accessible One of the best ways to accommodate a broad range of visitor needs is to build flexibility into the Web site’s interface Good site design lets visitors choose among information attributes Web sites can offer visitors multiple nformation formats by including links to files in those formats An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 36 18 Making Web Sites Accessible (continued) Goals that should be met when constructing Web sites Offer easily accessible facts about the organization Allow visitors to experience the site in different ways and at different levels Sustain visitor atten tion and encourage return visits Offer easily accessible information An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 37 Trust and Loyalty A 5 percent increase in customer loyalty can yield profit increases between 25% and 80% Repetition of satisfactory service can build ustomer loyalty Customer service is a problem for many electronic commerce sites An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 38 19 Usability Testing Companies that have done usability tests Conduct focus groups Watch how different customers navigate through a series of Web site test designs Cost of usability testing is low compared to the total cost of a Web site design or overhaul to E-Commerce An Introduction Winter 85, 39 Customer-Centric Web Site Design Putting the customer at the center of all site designs Guidelines Design the site around how visitors will navigate the links Allow visitors to access information quickly Avoid using inflated marketing statements An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 40 20 Customer-Centric Web Site Design (continued) Guidelines Avoid using business jargon and terms that visitors might not understand Be consistent in use of design features and colors Make sure navigation controls are clearly labeled Test text visibility on smaller monitors Conduct usability tests An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 41 Connecting With Customers Personal contact model Firm’s employees individually search for, qualify, and contact potential customers Prospecting Personal contact approach to identifying and reaching customers Mass media approach Firms prepare advertising and promotional materials about the firm and its products An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 42 21 Connecting With Customers (continued) Addressable media Advertising efforts directed to a known addressee Also called mass media One-to-many communication model Communication flows from one advertiser to many potential buyers One-to-one communication model Both buyer and seller participate in information exchange An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 43 Business Communication Modes An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 44 22 Summary Models used to generate revenue on the Web Web catalog Digital content sales Advertising-supported Advertising-subscription mixed Fee-for-transaction and fee-for-service Companies undertaking electronic commerce initiatives sometimes Form strategic alliances Contract with channel distribution managers An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 45 Summary (continued) Firms must understand how the Web differs from other media Enlisting the help of users when building test versions of the Web site is a good way to create a site that represents the organization well Firms must also understand the nature of communication on the Web An Introduction to E-Commerce Winter 85, 46 23 How to cite World Wide Web and E-commerce Winter, Essay examples

Disaster Risk Reduction free essay sample

This guidance note focuses on construction design, building standards and site selection, and their role in the mitigation of risk due to natural hazards. The note provides general guidance for design professionals and funding organizations involved in development projects concerning the construction of new infrastructure, strengthening intervention on existing infrastructure and post-disaster reconstruction. It provides guidance for analyzing the potential threat posed by poor construction and inappropriate land use in hazard-prone areas. Only formal constructions (mainly buildings) are considered and some guidance is given on designing structural intervention (construction or strengthening) plans to help mitigate risk from natural shards to vulnerable people, their livelihoods and the local economy. No specific technical solutions for the latter are proposed as each location and hazard requires a solution tailored to local needs and resources. However, references for further reading on technical issues are provided.Hazard risk mitigation infrastructure is not covered by this guidance note. 1. Introduction A significant part of development assistance is spent on the construction of infrastructure in developing countries. However, these investments and associated development gains can be lost in seconds in the event Of a natural izard event (see Box 1). The majority of human and direct economic losses from a natural hazard event occur as a direct result of damage to the built environment and/or ineffective early warning and evacuation systems.The negative impact of natural hazards on communities can be limited by taking such hazards into consideration when selecting sites, designing new infrastructure and strengthening existing infrastructure. The exclusion of hazard mitigation measures in development projects is unacceptable in view of the increasing disaster risk in developing countries caused by environmental degradation (see Guidance Note 7) and growing arbitration, with the accompanying rapid increase of poorly built housing, uncontrolled use of land, overstretched services and high population densities.Consequently, development organizations should be accountable for the hazard-proofing measures they include in their construction projects, and for the losses resulting from their inclusion. This applies to projects where a han ds-on approach is adopted or where the work is carried out by others.BOX 1 Consequences Of ignoring hazards in construction The following examples show how the lack of hazard measures or reliance on coal best practice only can lead to large human and economic losses and set back development goals in the event of a natural disaster: ; In the years preceding the May 2000 floods, the World Bank financed the construction of 487 schools in Macaque according to local building practice. However, during the floods 500 primary schools and seven secondary schools were damaged or destroyed, 1 severely setting back development goals. World Bank.Hazards of Nature, Risks to Development: An GIG Evaluation of World Bank Assistance for Natural Disasters. Washington, DC: World Bank, Independent Evaluation Group, 2006. Available at: http://www. Workloads. Org/ gig/underestimates/ Gu i dance No et 12 The Caribbean Development Bank, the Limited States Agency for International Development (SAID) and the government of Dominica funded the construction of a deep-seawater port in Woodbine Bay, Dominica. The Delft Hydraulics Laboratory (Netherlands) carried out a specializes study of the hazards at the port and submitted a report. The contractors who designed the port ignored the maximum wave height indicated in the report and built the port to withstand waves of less than half that height. In 1979, one year fà ªte the completion of the project, port structures and facilities were severely damaged by Hurricane David. Repair costs amounted to ISIS 3. 9 million (estimated for 1982), 41 per cent of the ports construction costs. The Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project (CDMA) determined that strengthening the port structures at the design stage would have cost only 10 per cent of the construction costs. The 2001 Bush earthquake in India led to widespread damage, including the collapse of 461 ,593 rural houses of rubble masonry construction. Good seismic codes of practice exist in India, but their non enforcement, combined with poor inspection procedures, led to the failure and heavy damage of 1 79 high-rise reinforced concrete buildings in Metadata, 230 kilometers away from the epicenter. Damage to port operations and industry resulted in approximately CSS$ 5 billion of direct and indirect losses. Hurricane Mitch, which hit Honduras in 1998, resulted in a loss equivalent to 41 per cent of the country gross domestic product (GAP). 4 Hurricane Luis in 1995 caused losses to Antigen and Barbuda equivalent to 65 per cent of their GAP. 5 In January and February 2001, two major earthquakes devastated II Salvador. More than 1 65,000 homes were destroyed and 1 1 0,000 damaged. In the most affected areas, up to 85 per cent of the houses were destroyed. The degree of destruction can be attributed to two main factors: the building material used and the quality Of construction and maintenance. 2. Current state of the art In past development initiatives involving the construction of infrastructure, the option of designing and building to reduce the vulnerability of infrastructure to natural hazards has often been ignored due to the perceived higher costs and lack of appropriate expertise. Furthermore, the selection of he location for services or critical facilities has often been made on the basis of land cost and availability, rather than from consideration of safety from potential natural hazards.Typically, development organizations rely on best local practices in hiring contractors to undertake construction work. Problems arise when best local practice does not incorporate the use of any building codes for hazard resistance or uses building codes that inadequately account for local hazards. The latter type Of code typically exists in countries where infrequent natural hazards occur or where there is an incomplete satirical record of past natural disasters. This results in hazard or zoning maps that do not adequately represent the frequency of occurrence or potential magnitude of natural hazards (see Guidance Note 2). Even when appropriate building codes exist, their correct application requires skilled engineers, architects and builders and effective enforcement and inspection procedures. Poor governance and corruption, leading to, for example, abuse of land use controls and building permits and codes, and illegal expansion of buildings, often exacerbate damage caused by disasters. In addition, most evolving countries lack certification and licensing processes for professionals and enforcement procedures are non-existent.Enforcement procedures have, however, also been found to be ineffective in some developed countries, as was highlighted by Hurricane Andrew (1992) in Florida, ASSAI, and the Commit earthquake (1999) in Turkey. The adoption of best local practice and of opportunity-based land use can, therefore, lead to a promotion of existing weaknesses in buildings and infrastructure. Funding and development organizations alike need to ensure that experienced hazard specialists and engineers coo rdinate or implement instruction projects (by either employing them directly or ensuring that the contracted work will be led by such people).This specialist (or team of experts, depending on the number of hazards and scale of the project) should set a framework for the design and construction, which may then be executed by other engineers, builders and workers. 2 3 4 5 6 2 COM. Costs and benefits of hazard mitigation for building and infrastructure development: A case study in small island developing states. Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project publication series. Washington, DC: Organization of American States, 2004. Available at: http://www. As. Org/CDMA/document/ papers/items. HTML MAE. The Bush Earthquake of 2001. CD Release 01-04.Mid- America Earthquake Center Reconnaissance Report, 2001. Gunned-Jones, A. Land-use planning: How effective is it in reducing vulnerability to natural hazards? Institute of Civil Deference and Disasters Studies, 2006. Available at: http://www. Acids. Org/ Gibbs, T. How can the resilience of infrastructure be increased? Proceedings of the 82nd Hilton Park Conference, Weston House, West Sussex, England, 9-1 1 September 2002. Dowling, D. M. Adobe housing in El Salvador: Earthquake performance and seismic improvement. In Rose, W. I. Et al. (des), GSA Special Paper 375: Natural Hazards in El Salvador.Geological Society of America, 2004, up 281 -301 Oversimplifications-Disenfranchisements s aster Risk Reduction Contrary to common perception, the implementation of hazard-proof measures in building can be relatively inexpensive in terms of construction costs. What can be expensive is the provision of an effective framework for the take-up of these measures (e. G. , the provision of skills training appropriate hazard studies, research into low-cost strengthening solutions). However, if an effective mechanism exists for the enforcement of quality control and codes of practice, these costs will all be covered by the construction industry.The problem in many cases is the lack of legal mandating of building codes and consequent lack of their enforcement, which puts the onus on agencies commissioning and funding development projects also to provide the necessary research and development, training and education. However, CDMA found that the development and enforcement Of appropriate building codes and standards do not make development costs prohibitive. An investment in disaster mitigation can result in a manifold saving in disaster relief and development setbacks (see Box 2).Where development agencies have invested in the promotion of hazard-resistant construction, many of the projects have been well thought out and have shown large benefit (see Box 3). Box 2 What is the cost? The implementation of hazard-proof measures in building can be relatively inexpen sive and provide longtime benefit to development projects: ; The implementation of simple modifications to improve the cyclone-resistance of (non-masonry) catch or temporary houses in Bangladesh is only 5 per cent f the construction costs. ; Introducing earthquake-resistance principles (optimum layout, use of capacity design principles and more stringent criteria for the design of connections) in the design stage of modern infrastructure will increase the construction costs by 5 to 14 per cent. ; The retrofit for hurricane resistance of the Victoria Hospital (SST Lucia) in 1993 and the Princess Margaret Hospital (Dominica) in 1980 was estimated by Consulting Engineers Partnership to be, respectively, 1 per cent and 2. 2 per cent of their contemporary replacement costs. 9 3.Merging hazard-risk considerations in construction rejects An integrated and comprehensive approach is necessary to improve the safety of buildings from natural hazards. This includes investing in strengthening existing structures and promoting safer building in development projects and post-disaster reconstruction projects. In hazard- prone countries, it is essential that both funding and development organizations ensure that engineers specializes in hazard-resistant construction be consulted in the initial stages of construction projects.BOX 3 Some observed successes Ascertaining whether the use of safe building or strengthening techniques successfully provides adequate hazard resistance is not easy, a s the constructions have not been subjected to the hazard they were designed for. Some exceptions do, however, exist: ; In 1977, following a cyclone that devastated coastal areas Of Andorra Pradesh, India, a voluntary group, AWARE, built 1 ,500 houses in Krishna District. These houses followed the Central Building Research Institutes cyclone-proof designs, which consisted of concrete block (made of cement and granite rubble) walls with a reinforced concrete slab roof.Of these houses, 1,474 withstood the stronger cyclone that hit the region in 1990. 10 7 COM (2001 Lewis, J. And Chisholm, M. P. Cyclone-resistant Domestic Construction in Bangladesh. In Hodgkin, R. L. P. , Sera, S. M. , and Chuddar, J. R. (des), Implementing hazard-resistant housing. Proceedings of the First International Housing and Hazards Workshop to Explore Practical Building for Safety Solutions, Dacha, Bangladesh, 3-?5 December 1996. 9 Gibbs (2002); see footnote 5. 10 Sir, AIMS. And Reedy, IA S. The cyclone-prone coastal region of the State of Andorra Pradesh, India A state-government approach.In Susan, Y. Et al. , Developing building for safety programmer: Guidelines for organizing safe alluding improvement programmer in disaster-prone areas. London: Intermediate Technology Publications, 1995. In Peru, sheets of welded steel mesh covered in cement-?sand mortar were applied to the walls of existing adobe houses during a prototype strengthening programmer. When the Reequip earthquake shook Peru in 2001, these houses survived undamaged, while nearby houses collapsed or were severely damaged. Al Only two schools were left standing in Grenade after the passage of Hurricane Ivan (September 2004).Both had been subject to retrofit through a World Bank initiative. One of the schools was used to souse displaced persons after the event. 12 After the passage of Typhoon Asians in the Philippines in 1987, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, in consultation with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADAPT), constructed 450 housing units. They were designed with a core shelter consisting of concrete footings with steel post straps bolted onto four wooden corner posts and frames, roof frames and trusses. Indigenous materials were used for all roof and wall cladding.The houses resisted two subsequent typhoons without significant damage. 13 Between 27 August and 18 September 1 995, Hurricanes Luis and Marilyn caused damage to 876 housing units in Dominica causing a total loss of LIST$ 4. 2 million. The small wooden houses that were destroyed did not comply with local building codes. But all the buildings that had been retrofitted, which consisted of simple modifications to local construction, through the CDMA Safer Construction Programmer successfully withstood the hurricanes. 14 On 29 May 1 990, an earthquake of magnitude 5. Struck the Alto-Mayo in north-eastern Peru. The poor standard of construction (mainly houses made of typical or rammed earth) resulted in the loss of over 3,000 houses; 65 people were killed and 607 injured. Technological Intermediate (IT Peru)1 5 introduced an improved quinces house, which slightly modified traditional technology in order to reduce vulnerability to future earthquakes. When a second earthquake of magnitude 6. 2 hit the region in April 1 991, 70 quinces houses had been built and local people could see for themselves that they were more hazard resistant.A further 1, 120 quinces were built with aid from IT Peru over the next five years and later, local people built another 4,000 similar houses. In order to set the design criteria for a risk reduction project, the hazards, the rent risk and level of risk that is socially acceptable must be identified. A multi-hazard appraisal should be carried out at an early stage to identify the types of hazards, their likely severity and recurrence (see Guidance Notes 2 and 7). An evaluation of the current risk includes identifying locations most likely to become unsafe in the event of a natural hazard (e. . , areas prone to flooding. Landslides or earthquake-induced liquefaction) and assessing their land use, as well as assessing the ability of local construction to resist the identified hazards. A survey of existing buildings and infrastructure can identify significant vulnerabilities prior to the occurrence of a hazardous event. In a post-disaster scenario, lessons can be learned from the behavior of different construction types during the event. Post-disaster diagnostic surveys should be integrated into disaster reconstruction programmer.In order to determine the socially acceptable risk, 16 local and national building codes, 17 international legislation and good practice should be examined to obtain an idea of current accepted levels of risk for different hazards and infrastructure. For example, in the case of most earthquake engineering odes, Structures of normal importance are designed to withstand an earthquake with a 10 per cent probability of being exceeded in 50 years (i. E. , an event with a return period of 475 years). The local government and community should then be consulted and a level of risk determined for the design.It is important to note that the level of socially acceptable risk will vary according to the use and importance of the facility and the desired post- natural hazard event performance. Finally if, for the identified hazards, the level of current risk is greater than that which is socially acceptable, then the deed for hazard-proofing (and/or re-sitting) is established, and the socially acceptable risk and identified hazards become the design criteria for the new construction or strengthening works. 11 Blonder, Garcia and Breeze (2003). 12 World Bank. Grenade, Hurricane Ivan: Preliminary Assessment of Damages, September 17, 2004. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2004. Available at: http://stereoscopes. Workloads. Org/ANTISMOG/Resources/ grenade_assessment. PDF 13 Deacon, D. Typhoon resistant housing in the Philippines: The core Shelter project. Disasters, 16 1992. 14 COM. Toolkit: A Manual for Implementation of the Hurricane-resistant Home Improvement Program in the Caribbean. Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project publication series. Washington, DC: Organization of American States, 1999. Available at: http://womb. As. Org/CDMA/document/toolkit/toolkit. HTML 15 Based on Maskers, A. The Alto-Mayo reconstruction plan, Peru -? an MONGO approach.In Susan et al. (1995) and in Ferreira, P. , Post-disaster housing reconstruction for sustainable risk reduction in Peru, Open House International, 2006, 31(1 16 Socially acceptable risk is the probability of failure (damage) of infrastructure that is acceptable to governments and the mineral population in view of the frequency and size of natural hazards, and the infrastructure use, importance and potential consequences of its damage. For example, it is unacceptable that a nuclear power station be damaged by any natural hazard event; the acceptable risk is, therefore, zero.In most cases constructing buildings and infrastructure that can fully resist the largest possible natural hazard is uneconomical (and often unjustified due to the rare nature of some natural hazards). Hence a limited risk is accepted. 17 Building codes are defined as standards and guidelines for the construction of alluding and infrastructure to a minimum level of safety for the occupants. See COM, Hazard-resistant Construction. Washington, DC: Organization of American States and Squids Unit of Sustainable Development and Environment, 2006. Available at: http://www. As. Org/CDMA/gabbled. HTML OVERCOMPENSATIONS Box 4 -Tools for Mainstreaming D Challenges, opportunities and good practice in post-disaster reconstruction Post-disaster reconstruction projects present a real opportunity for the introduction of hazard-proof measures in construction and land use planning. Heightened hazard awareness and increased funding for construction can be rareness to promote these measures and to achieve the legislative reforms required for regulating land use, hazard-resistant building code change, enforcement and construction quality control.Development and humanitarian agencies should take a coordinated approach to reconstruction in a post-disaster scenario. Furthermore, local or national governing bodies must support major reconstruction initiatives. It is important that viable institutional frameworks and appropriate funding partnerships are established. Reconstruction should not be precipitate. Immediate needs can be addressed with temporary measures and a realistic timescale sh ould be established which will allow hazard-proof design experts to be consulted and long-term goals to be considered in the reconstruction. Social needs, land availability and economic constraints mean that it is not always possible to secure land that is safe from all hazards in post-disaster reconstruction. However, it is still possible to reduce future losses from disasters through appropriate construction and planning measures. It is important to note that resources made available immediately after a disaster for reconstruction will probably not be available for longer-term opacity building or to bring about a change in practice.One solution, contained in the United Kingdoms Department for International Development (DAD) Disaster Risk Reduction policy paper, 1 8 is to set aside 10 per cent of disaster funds to reduce the impact of related future disasters. Throughout the project design and implementation it is essential that local stakeholders are actively involved. Local stakeholders include the direct beneficiaries, the wider affected community, local authorities, government and local academic and building experts. This will aid in the development of a rule sustainable technical solution (for infrastructure strengthening or reconstruction) and will increase acceptance of the project. A sustainable and successful project goes beyond site selection, the choice of a sustainable solution and training of local builders, to also involve issues of land tenure, finance, education for risk awareness and future maintenance (see Box 5). Box 5 Beyond building Proposing safe building or repair and strengthening practices is not sufficient to ensure take-up by communities.Integrated, community-based approaches for safer building should be promoted by: ; raising hazard awareness wrought education; ; community participation in developing the project, in decision-making and in design selection; ; developing locally acceptable, affordable and sustainable technological improvements; ; developing effective ways of communicating technical messages to target groups; ; skills development training for local builders and craftspeople; ; improvement of general living conditions; ; training architects and engineers (in both public and private sectors), building officials and building by-l aw enforcement officers; and ; community-based disaster preparedness planning. 19 Hospitals are critical facilities for post-disaster relief, and it is not only the loss of structural integrity that can compromise operation but also damage to hospital equipment and to surrounding infrastructure (e. G. , loss of access, water supply and electricity). Full structural, contents and systems network risk analyses should be carried out. The pan American Health Organization (PAPA)20 provides a series of guidelines for such analyses. Apart from the enormous emotional impact of student deaths, damage to schools and the loss of teachers have a negative impact on the education of survivors. Schools