The Definition of Suburban Sprawl

Suburban sprawl, also called urban sprawl, is the spread of urbanized areas into the rural landscape. It can be recognized by low-density single-family homes and new road networks spreading into the wild lands and agricultural fields outside of cities. As the popularity of single-family houses rose during the 20th century, and as mass ownership of cars allowed people to get to homes located far outside of city centers, new streets spread outwards to serve large housing subdivisions. Subdivisions built in the 1940s and 1950s consisted of relatively small homes built on small lots. Over the next few decades, the average house size increased, and so did the lot they were built on. Single-family homes in the United States are now on average twice the size of those inhabited in 1950. One or two-acre lots are now common and many subdivisions now offer homes each built on 5 or 10 acres — some housing developments in the western US even boast lots 25 acres in size. This trend leads to a hungry demand for land, accelerating road construction, and further spilling into fields, grasslands, forests, and other wild lands. Smart Growth America ranked US cities along criteria of compactness and connectivity and found that the most sprawling large cities were Atlanta (GA), Prescott (AZ), Nashville (TN), Baton Rouge (LA), and Riverside-San Bernardino (CA). On the flip side, the least sprawling large cities were New York, San Francisco, and Miami which all have densely populated neighborhoods served by well-connected street systems allowing residents close access to living, working, and shopping areas.   Environmental Consequences of Sprawl In the context of land use, suburban sprawl takes agricultural production off from fertile lands forever. Natural habitats like forests get fragmented, which has negative consequences for wildlife populations including loss of habitat and increased road mortality. Some animal species benefit from the fragmented landscapes: raccoons, skunks, and other small scavengers and predators thrive, driving down local bird populations. Deer become more abundant, facilitating the spread of deer tick and along with them, Lyme disease. Exotic plants are used in landscaping, but then become invasive. Extensive lawns require pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers that contribute to nutrient pollution in nearby streams. The housing subdivisions making up most of the sprawl are generally built well away from industry, business, and other employment opportunities. As a result, people need to commute to their workplace, and since these suburbs are generally not well served by public transportation, commuting is most often done by car. When using fossil fuels, transportation is a major source of greenhouse gases, and because of its reliance on commuting by car, sprawl contributes to global climate change. There Are Social and Economic Consequences of Sprawl Many municipal authorities are finding out that low density, large-lot suburban areas are a bum deal for them economically. The tax revenue from a relatively small number of residents may not be enough to support the construction and maintenance of the miles and miles of roads, sidewalks, sewer lines, and water pipes needed to service the scattered homes. Residents living in the denser, older neighborhoods elsewhere in town often need to essentially subsidize the infrastructure on the outskirts. Negative health outcomes have also been attributed to living in suburban sprawl. Residents of outlying suburban areas are more likely to feel isolated from their community and be overweight, in part because of their reliance on cars for transportation. For the same reasons, fatal car accidents are most common for those who have longer commutes by car. Solutions to Combat Sprawl Sprawl is not necessarily one of those environmental issues against which we can identify a few simple steps. However, awareness of some of the potential solutions can be enough to make you a supporter of important change initiatives: Be a supporter of smart growth programs at the county and municipal levels. This includes programs that revitalize development in already built-up areas. Reinvesting in neglected city centers is part of the solution, as is taking care of an abandoned property. For example, an abandoned shopping mall can be turned into a medium-density housing development without the need for new water pipes, road access, or sewage lines.Support mixed-used development. People like to live in close proximity to where they can shop, recreate, and send their kids to school. Building these types of neighborhoods around public transportation hubs can create very desirable communities.Support your local land use planning efforts. Consider volunteering for the town’s planning board and advocate for smart growth. Attend fund-raising activities for your regional land trust, as they work hard to protect prime farmland, working waterfronts, exceptional wetlands, or intact forests.Support sensible transpor tation policies that complement smart growth. This includes affordable and dependable public transportation options, investments in maintaining the existing road network instead of expanding it, building bike paths, and developing programs to make business districts pleasant places to walk.Make a personal decision to live in a less environmentally impactful way. Choosing higher density housing can mean lower energy needs, a more active lifestyle, and proximity to work, interesting businesses, art venues, and a vibrant community. You will be able to fulfill most of your transportation needs by walking, bicycling, or public transit. In fact, in a comparison of the environmental virtues of city vs. rural living,  urban dwellers have the edge.In a paradoxical but very understandable way, many people choose to move to low density, outlying suburban areas to be closer to nature. They feel that these large lots close to agricultural lands or forests would put them in close proximity to w ildlife, with more birds visiting their feeders and ample opportunity for gardening. Perhaps this appreciation of nature makes them predisposed to finding other ways to reduce their carbon footprint.

The Unbelieveable Advancements in Technology Essay

Technology now a days is an important aspect of our daily lives. Technology is constantly improving its applications and the way we communicate with the rest of the world. It is almost impossible to believe what the technology has achieved. The best example for this is the fact that the man with the name of Neil Armstrong became the first human to step into the surface of the moon on July, 1969. An estimated of 500 million people worldwide watched this event, the largest television audience for a live broadcast at that time. It is incredible just to think what advances on technology can achieve. If all that happen in 1969, imagine the big change that technology has suffered until now 2014. Until today I personally am amazed. But†¦show more content†¦In almost all ways because while in school the teacher gave us the homework of investigating the biography of Abraham Lincoln, the first resource we are searching is internet and internet is a way of communication because the in formation that we can find in the web is information that is being transmitted to us from different sources. Finally, the professional aspect is as important as social and education. In the professional world there is more than just working or traveling. For example, if you got a job that requires you being sat in front of a desk and you need a computer for that, that’s Info Tech as well. In the professional area the communication is extremely important in order to be aware what is happening with the company. It also help people find a job because now a days it is necessary to know how computers work, when you are applying for a job almost all companies require applicants to apply via internet. It is also helpful for people who have a degree in something, using internet you can find a job related with your career. Technology has a great impact in our lives now a days and one of those big impacts is the communication, communication is fundamental in contacting loved ones , friends, and some other relations we could have. Communication it’s also important to understand better the education we are receiving and is an easier way to find information quickly. BetterShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Ray Bradbury s Fahrenheit 4511193 Words   |  5 PagesA society ruled by technology; where â€Å"family† is the television set across the room, is it really fiction or are the scary accurate depictions of the future coming true today? In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, ideas such as dystopian society, the dulling of emotions, personal freedom, and government censorship are utilized to illustrate how technology, the advancement of society, and government control has blindfolded the population from the creativity, knowledge, and truth of the past. BradburyRead MoreSave the Girl Child1473 Wor ds   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"Save the Girl Child† It is said that god created mothers because he could not be present everywhere. It is unbelieveable to realize that a gods representative is countinuously killing someone beautiful even before she can come out and see the beauty of nature. Let us consider some facts - In india , she is the goddesses to be revered , in the form of Laxmi ( Goddess of wealth ) , Saraswati ( Goddess of knowledge ) and Sita ( ideal consort of Lord Sri Ram ) and even in the form of Durga ( KillerRead MoreSave Baby Girl2560 Words   |  11 Pagesthe challenges and choices that her mother faces. It is only when she herself becomes a woman that she can fully appreciate her mother â€Å"Save the Girl Child† It is said that god created mothers because he could not be present everywhere. It is unbelieveable to realize that a gods representative is countinuously killing someone beautiful even before she can come out and see the beauty of nature. Let us consider some facts - In india , she is the goddesses to be revered , in the form of Laxmi ( Goddess

Does the Media Promote Terrorism Free Essays

Assignment: Some scholars argue that too often the media helps promote terrorists’ agenda. Others, however, disagree. What is your own position on the media’s role and impact in covering terrorist cases? Organize your reply by selecting three case studies that, by employing the same assumption or hypothesis, appear to compose a pattern that supports your opinion. We will write a custom essay sample on Does the Media Promote Terrorism? or any similar topic only for you Order Now Your answer should not exceed five hundred words (about two double-spaced, typed pages). Does the Media Promote Terrorism? The news media of American society does not encourage terrorism. The only thing that the media encourages is knowledge of what is going on around the world. Unfortunately, some terrorist organizations use the news media to gain recognition for their groups causes and goals. Most of the time, the media will serve as force to gain citizen support for the government’s actions against a terrorist movement. The only problem with having the freedom of press that the United States enjoys is that everyone has a voice. When it comes down to an American killing an American, the media is not allied with the terrorist. Americans do not like to see fellow citizens die at the hands of a terrorist, especially by an American terrorist. Timothy McVeigh, probably unknowingly, helped in decreasing the number of American terrorist. McVeigh’s act, bombing the Murrah building in Oklahoma City, was seen as so repulsive that many law-abiding people attracted to militias simply walked away. The majority of Americans didn’t want to be associated with anything like the killing of 168 Americans, even though McVeigh had only attended a few militia meetings. (Mahan Griset, p. 225) The media coverage for the bombing in 1995 gave the American public the education needed to assess what was going on in the militant organizations across the United States. No one truly believes that the media plan or suggest terrorist attacks to groups or individuals. But the action of the media has been scrutinized intensely in recent years to determine whether media coverage of terrorist events caused terrorists to choose one particular choice of action over another. (Combs, p. 179) The education of American citizens is an invaluable tool that is channeled through the media for the benefit of all citizens. With the help of the media, the people get all of the facts and are able to form their own opinion about what is going on, who is responsible for events, and how future events can be avoided. The media and the government have common interests in seeing that the media are not manipulated into promoting the cause of terrorism or its methods On the other hand, neither the media or policymakers want to see terrorism, or counter terrorism, eroding constitutional freedoms including that of the press–one of the pillars of democratic societies. (Perl) In conclusion if terrorists seek media attention and are given after an attack, their act will be seen as successful so, by not overruling other ‘real news’ media, have the ability to affect the scale of an attack. With today’s worldwide Internet accessibility to anyone at anytime the support and especially funding of terrorism acts may increase. But, however, the ‘CNN affect’ in other words may increase the number of casualties from a terrorist attack if international press exaggerating the hatred towards terrorism and ‘war on terror’. Out of this it is clear that media as the ‘voice of the people’ encourages the scale of the terrorist attack but not the actual terrorist attack in itself. References Combs, C. (2010). Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century ( 6th Ed.), Charlotte, NC.: Pearson Mahan, S. Griset, P. (2008). Terrorism in Perspective ( 2nd Ed.), Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications. Perl, R. (1997). Terrorism, The Media, and the Government: Perspectives, Trends, and Options for Policymakers Retrieved Febraury 25, 2011 from http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/crs-terror.htm. How to cite Does the Media Promote Terrorism?, Papers

Fashioning a Fraud Case Study free essay sample

In this article, Bobbie Jean Donnelly was a fraudster who used Travel and Expense reimbursements to defraud her company. Donnelly figured out how to manipulate her travel and expense reimbursements to eventually defraud her company of about $275,000. Had her company had proper controls in place for travel and expense reimbursements, wouldn’t have occurred to this magnitude. Donnelly was targeted in an internal investigation because she was one of three employees with the highest amounts of travel and expense reimbursements hers totaling, $115,000. One of the red flags in the case was the fact that Donnelly’s supervisor had only submitted $40,000 in travel and expense reimbursements that year. It turned out that Donnelly had been using several different schemes to accumulate such an outrageous amount of travel and expense reimbursements. The first of these schemes would be the mischaracterized expense reimbursements scheme. The flow of fraudulent behavior follows Exhibit 7-4 in Wells text. We will write a custom essay sample on Fashioning a Fraud Case Study or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Donnelly incurs a non-business expense such as a personal flight to Italy. She prepares the expense report for the flight and attaches the receipt to the expense report, which needs verification from a supervisor. She then forges the signature of her supervisor and sends the expense report to accounts payable. A check is issued to Donnelly to reimburse the expense and the expense is coded to â€Å"travel and entertainment. † Without proper controls of which and for how much TE expenses will be reimbursed with reasonable limits, it is easy to mischaracterize an expense. Donnelly also used fictitious expense reimbursements schemes to defraud her company. This type of scheme follows Exhibit 7-6 in Wells’ text. Donnelly prepares a report claiming a fictitious expense such as samples. Donnelly would use a credit card statement as her supporting document and then again forge her supervisor’s signature to gain approval. The expense report is sent to accounts payable and a check is issued to Donnelly to reimburse the expense and the expense is coded to â€Å"travel and entertainment. Another type of fictitious reimbursement expense was also created using taxi receipts. When this scheme was used, Donnelly would also follow Exhibit 7-6 from Wells, and prepare an expense report claiming numerous taxi expenses. For supporting documentation she would alter or photocopy the original receipt and then change amounts of tip or total. These could have either been forged or given to the supervisor who at first glance may not realize that these are fict itious documents. This type of fraud is difficult to prevent but can easily be detected. Fictitious reimbursements can be detected by; â€Å"expenses that are consistently rounded off, patterns in which expenses are consistently for the same amount, reimbursement requests that are consecutively numbered, or receipts that do not look professional or lack information. †(Wells, 187-188) Preventing and detecting reimbursement expenses can be very challenging and time- consuming for companies. However, in order to prevent these schemes, a company needs to have explicit policies that clearly convey to each and every employee what will and will not be reimbursed. Donnelly was able to defraud her company out of a quarter of a million dollars in a short two-year period. In order to prevent these schemes and not use up so much time, Kessler points out that there are â€Å"tools that could be used to examine and parse such data [which] include IDEA Data Analysis Software, Audit Command Language (ACL), Excel, Access, SQL, SAS—generally any database or query software. These programs can be very helpful for any company. Works Cited Kessler, B. (2007). Fashioning A Fraud. Journal Of Accountancy. Wells, J. (2008). Principles of Fraud Examination. New Jersey: John Wiley Sons, Inc.