Archive for the ‘Opinions’ Category

Scholarly Article Critique


2011
12.01

http://0-search.ebscohost.com.maurice.bgsu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=31557611&site=ehost-live&scope=site

*For some reason I can’t get the link button to work from my Dashboard. I apologize for the long link.

 

The above link is for a scholarly article entitled Permanent Land-based Facilities for Tourism in Antarctica: The Need for Regulation.  The article is primarily about how Antarctica can be used for tourism and how difficult it would be to build land-based facilities (i.e. hotels, resorts, restaurants) that would be used solely for tourism.  It is designed to inform readers about how to best think about going about the process to increase tourism and to get tourists to stay longer throughout their stay.

The article was pretty well-written for a scholarly article.  The authors did not hold doctorate degrees, however, their credibility has been proven through other various research articles done on this field of research.  The article was not the typical research in which samples were used and surveyed to gather a conclusion, rather it was primarily done by gathering estimates and assumptions about the feasibility of building facilities in Antarctica.  The article was not the most exciting article to read but it was nonetheless interesting and thorough.  It includes the various regulations already set in place in Antarctica, the definition of land-based facilities, countries that have already claimed land there, and the future impacts on land-based tourism in Antarctica.  It seems to have covered all the bases in the research so as to distinguish it from an amateuar article to a high-regarded scholarly article.  The article lacks graphic representation or any sort of visual aides to help the reader understand the material.  Instead, the authors chose to break up the material through short sub0sections and bold titles in order to aide the reader in finding the material that he or she is looking for.  It seems that the article draws good conclusions based on the research and that it is useful in determining the impacts of land-based tourism.  The article does a good job of sticking to the topic and offering a non-bias representation of their findings.  overall, the article was well-done and seems to be very useful in the advancement of education in the field of tourism in Antarctica.

 

 

 

 

Ice Arena Reflection


2011
12.01

After visiting the newly remodeling BGSU Ice Arena, it was clear that the arena is on the uprise once again to being a top-notch facility.  I think that for the new renovations to the multi-purpose room, the locker rooms, and the team meeting room, everything has gone very well.  Compared to how the building used to look and what it looks like now, it is a great place for both the Bowling Green community and the BGSU community.

Looking around the building, it is obvious that the flooring and walls have been redone.  The flooring is now more practical with the inclusion of the rubber flooring that goes all the way around the facility.  The facility used to just have a cement floor that was unable to accommodate skating blades.  The rubber flooring allows skaters to put their skates on in any part of the building and walk to their destination in any part of the building.  The old flooring style only allowed for the skaters to take their skates on and off to walk to the various destinations within the building.  According the textbook, this type of flooring seems to be a relatively good choice for the arena.  The rubber flooring scores high in strength, thermal insulation, moisture protection, and abrasions resistance wearability.  Scoring high in those categories seems to very important for an ice arena considering there are sharp blades constantly wearing down on the floors, the area is always cold, and the blades will almost always be wet due to melted ice bits on the skates.

The walls of the facility have not necessarily been remodeled in the sense of material remodeling, however, they have been decorated more with the renovations.  They now include what looks like painted-on advertisements and mural-like paintings throughout the building.  They have also been spruced up with retired jerseys and old team photos throughout the years.  The walls are still a basic cement block style with a neutral off-white color to them, but the addition of paintings and pictures really adds to the aesthetics of the building.

I do believe that the facility is meeting the needs of the community and the students now more than ever.  Before the remodeling was put into the place, it was a hassle to rent out skates at the pro-shop located within the facility.  You had to get your skates from a little window that was inefficient for the workers to work fast and the same window was used for returns as well.  This all created a lot of congestion within the facility just for a basic skate rental on busy nights.  now, the pro-shop has been completely remodeled with new skates and a new desk area that allows for easy access and a more efficient way to get the skates to the guests.  The remodeling of the locker rooms were also a huge benefit to the facility because it helps attract more community events and tournaments that will in turn generate plenty of revenue for the facility.  It seems that the remodeling has really opened up the facility a lot and these two examples only scrape the surface about what all has been done to improve the facility to benefit both the student and residential community within BG.

The newly renovated pro shop at the ice Arena features an easier ice rental process, new skates, more equipment, and a concession stand.

 

 

 

AutoCAD vs. MacDraft Pro


2011
11.29

AutoCAD and MacDraft Pro are two very similar programs in the drafting and design category.  The biggest difference between the two are the quality levels and price ranges.  The MacDraft Pro is the top product within the Microspot company and will run for a price of about $350.  It is a relatively basic program running on 2D software and seems to be a cheap alternative to the more expensive and intricate AutoCAD.

AutoCAD will run for a price of about $11,000 for the top line of product.  It is 3D and of a much higher quality.  This software is primarily used for businesses in which the software is vital for the survival of the company.  It is highly intricate and detailed.  It is not something that seems eay to learn and can be mastered by trained professionals.

As a student or amateur at building design, it seems to be much more useful for me to buy the MacDraft Pro instead of the AutoCAD software.  It is much cheaper and still allows me to do what I want to accomplished.  The MacDraft is also compatible for the AutoCAD which means that if a colleague has AutoCAD and needs to send me a file, MacDraft can open the file.  I think that for the price and usage of the product, the macDraft is the product for me, however, if I were a professional or owned a company that needs a higher-quality software, I would definitely go with the AutoCAD software because of its detail and reliability.

Capital Planning


2011
11.11

Capital planning is a career field that has many rewards, such as: seeing a campus grow, planning for the future, helping recruitment efforts, and beautifying the campus. It also comes with many struggles, such as: budgeting, lack of funding, difficult choices, and making decisions that can last for decades.

The rewards are all intrinsic to a capital planner. It is a job of pride in a job well done because they want to see the campus grow and succeed. They have an opportunity to create history within a college campus and to have an impact on the layout of campus that can stay for generations to come. These rewards are what helps capital planners go about their days in their career and motivate them to keep planning the campus’ future.

On the other end of the spectrum, capital planners must make difficult decisions. They have to decide whether to preserve history at a high cost or demolish history at a low cost. They have to decide how to properly spend their limited budget resources and what buildings are beyond the point of repair and remodeling. Capital planners have to make these difficult decisions in order to reap the benefits and rewards of being a capital planner. If they make the right decisions then their job is very rewarding. If they make the wrong decisions then their job can be a disaster that could have a long-term impact.

I think that BG’s capital planning is closely related to Akron University’s capital planning of a few years ago. I remember when I was doing a college visit over there 4 years ago they were building quite a few new buildings, including a new football facility. The tour guides said that a lot of the buildings were built in the past few years in order to beautify the campus and keep up with other university’s capital planning spending. The campus looked really nice and modern once it was completed and almost had me as a student. I see Bowling Green as being like Akron because of all the construction and new facilities on campus in order to better attract incoming freshman.

No Impact Man


2011
11.11

The event I went to for the No Impact Man author visit week was the author presentation. Author Colin Beavan discussed some motivations for writing his book, anecdotes to help explain some key points, and some statistics to help support his ideas. The presentation lasted about an hour and wasn’t too bad. I especially enjoyed the anecdotes that he told to relate the topic to us as college students.

The presentation influenced my thoughts on how the Earth is impacted by people such as myself in a small, but meaningful way. I never really thought about how much I waste through everyday activities. I often just throw things away and I don’t look at how much waste I actually accumulate. I have started to look more at how much waste I have been using and what I could have recycled. I think that taking it in small steps to change my lifestyle will help me out in the long run. I have never been one for recycling and reducing waste, so changing from that lifestyle to the opposite lifestyle will be hard. I think just realizing how much I waste and what I can do to help the Earth is a good step and a good influence on changing my lifestyle.

I think that this presentation related well with the course concept of building facilities according to LEED certification standards. The entire presentation was on how we can be more resourceful in the environment and reducing our waste to a near zero level. LEED certified buildings are about as sustainable as they get and they help reduce waste. It fits in well with the presentation because the author talked about how we need to start taking responsibility for our own waste and start the trend of being sustainable. LEED certified facilities help start that trend in the hopes that more facilities will follow the trend in the years to come.

Unfortunately I was not able to obtain any materials to prove I was at the presentation. I forgot to grab a pamphlet or a photo from the presentation. It was in the ballroom in the Union and I st on the left-hand side facing the speaker. There was a book signing booth directly in front of my section and the podium was in the middle. There were a few hundred people in attendance but certainly not near the amount of people that there was seating available for. Hopefully that kind of proves that I was there.

Risk Management and Negligence


2011
09.29

After reading the Steinbach article about the increase of track & field event injuries/deaths I believe that there was negligence throughout the majority of the article.  The article explained a numerous amount of incidences of field related injuries and deaths, however, in general I felt that there was some negligence in most of the cases.  To support this opinion I will review the four elements of negligence that ultimately define what is negligent and not: Duty, The Act, Proximate Cause, and Damage or Harm.

Duty:

Many of the incidences occurred at either a high school or college level event.  There is a duty by the coaches and the event officials to oversee that the event is ran properly.  It was brought up through the article that the officials would only govern the field when the actual competition was going on — not during warm-up or practice times.  This meant that the players, some of which might have been inexperienced, were allowed to throw their objects at any given time.  The officials and coaches have a duty throughout the event that everyone is safe, no matter when the competition is being held.

The Act:

The throwing and field events are inherently dangerous.  However, not many people see them as dangerous because incidences are thought of to be rare.  The article even states “Still think such incidences are far-flung?  A single track practice…resulted in unrelated injuries to two students.  One, a 12th grader, was impaled through the chest by a javelin.  Minutes later a 7th grade shot-putter ran out to retrieve his throw when a shot hit him in the head.”  Since many people do not realize that such incidences are common, it is up to the people in charge to make sure that they know.  Between 1983-2007 there were 59 total direct, catastrophic injuries resulted from field events alone.   Yet, only in recent years have they started to post warning signs and make the play of field safer with more netting/fencing and bigger “safety areas.”

Proximate Cause:

For proximate cause, it is likely that the event in which officials were required to watch over and regulate warm-up times, many of these injuries would not have happened.  Coaches should have also made stricter rules on the time intervals and safety when it comes to throwing the objects.  It would have been safer to say that you can’t throw for 2-3 minutes in between throws to allow ample time for the field to be cleared.  Many of the incidences were caused by people not having enough time to clear the field and as a result, the thrower would throw the object, unaware that someone was walking across the field that wasn’t there when they began their throw.  Tighter safety observations would have prevented many of these injuries.

Damage or Harm:

Obviously many of these incidences were very serious.  There were fractured skulls, comas, stitches, impalement, and even death.  The harm done to some of these individuals can never truly be compensated for because of the extent of their injuries.  some of the injuries required reconstructive surgery or resulted in brain damage.  The negligence of the event staff for the field events were ultimately at fault for failure to recognize these safety concerns that resulted in damage and harm among the individuals and their families.

 

The facility itself plays a major role in the safety of the contestants and onlookers.  It is difficult for an official or a coach to protect everyone at the facility if the shot put area is within 15 feet of the long jump area.  If that were the case then it would be very difficult to make sure that no errant shot puts go near the long jump track.  The way the facility is designed and its proper use of signage plays a major factor in how to keep everyone safe.  In Chapter 2 of the book, it is recommended that “at the very least, the jumping and vaulting runways can be placed outside the track.”  This can be to make room for the other field events or the same recommendation can be for the other field events if space is willing to accommodate.  The major factor within a high school facility is that there is often not enough room to move all field events outside of the bleacher area so they must make short cuts in order to keep all field events within the football field confines.  A way to also prevent injury and death if the space is limited is to simply add signs warning people of the potential dangers of flying objects.  With these signs it is very important that they be placed near the throwing areas or before entering the field.  Since the age ranges of the spectators and competitors may vary, the book suggests “it is also important to place signs in normal sight lines.  Placing signs too high, too low, or off to the side makes them less visible.  It is important to remember that sight lines vary according to the user’s height.”  It is difficult to gauge who will be reading the signs, but it is important for facilities to put more signs in more places to avoid people overlooking them or not seeing them at all.

 

Sustainability Advancement Opinion


2011
09.21

Water Harvesting: Doing some basic research on this topic has led me to believe that this is a great idea for the advancement of facilities.  It is a great way to avoid some municipal costs of getting city water and avoids putting chemicals in the ground.  The basic process is shown below:

Depiction of Rain Water Harvesting

As seen in the image above Rain Water Harvesting is relatively simple and sustainable.

For larger facilities, this process is genius to help conserve water costs and make sure that the landscaping is receiving natural water.  For facilities that might experience droughts this system helps preserve the little rainwater that happens to fall down or can act as a long-term storage system before the drought hits.  Since all of the water is being put back into the earth at some point or another, the mass production of these storage tanks shouldn’t disrupt any sort of water cycle over a period of time either.

Natural Lighting: This when a facility decides to incorporate more windows and glass structures to help light the building during the day and avoid high energy costs associated with heat.  It has also been proven that natural lighting help with overall mood and energy in some facilities such as nursing homes and hospitals.  I do believe that this is a great advancement with new facilities, however, it would be costly and time consuming to produce the same effect on outdated buildings.  If facilities can incorporate natural lighting into their building structure then there could be a significant reduction in energy being used and that in turn will help the environment and help create a sustainable facility environment.  To read further about this topic and a case study conducted by the University of Florida and Emory University, view this PDF website:

 


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