Social Media Is Retarding Our Communication Skills Essay Example for Free

Social Media Is Retarding Our Communication Skills Essay Social Media is Retarding our Communication Skills According to Cara Pring, writer and author of thesocialskinny. com, as of May, 2012, 62% of adults use some form of social media. If you observe any post secondary classroom before instruction begins, you’ll see the majority of students engrossed in some type of social media. We have become more comfortable engaging in the digital world than we are with the people right in front of us. Social media has allowed us to become more connected yet, potentially, more disconnected than ever before. Social media is creating a generation of â€Å"over-sharers†. This need to over share can also create a dangerous environment. We have become very comfortable telling the world things, which in years past, would have been considered private information. Facebook allows you to check in at a destination or share vacation photos in real time. While this need to over share can seem harmless, we are unwittingly telling sinister people that we are not home or maybe that we are home alone. We are slowly losing our ability to determine what information to keep private and what information to share. Social media is creating a false sense of connection and an atmosphere of friendship. According to Cara Pring, in 2012 Facebook had 845 million monthly active users and there was an average of 750 tweets made per second. We are doing a lot of communicating but are we really saying anything of value. The more â€Å"friends or followers† a person has the more popular they may feel. Unfortunately popularity does not equate to friendship. Social media only requires us to have surface relationships and does not require meaningful conversation. True friendship requires investing in a relationship through quality time with open and honest face-to-face communication. As a society we have come to value frequent communication rather than meaningful conversation. In an article written by Susan per Danko for Forbes magazine, about 7% of communication is based strictly on words while the other 93% is based on nonverbal communication, also known as body language. The words â€Å"I’m fine† may not always mean that everything is okay. Having the ability to hear and observe non-verbal cues allows you to understand more clearly the meaning behind the words. An email, text message or tweet can never really replace a telephone or face-to-face conversation that allows you to receive these nonverbal cues. Taking the time to build relationships through meaningful conversation will create friendships for lifetime instead of just acquaintances for today. Social media has created a generation with an addiction to over sharing, a need for popularity and a desire for constant communication. This ability to interact with other people 24/7 has driven us to simply share information rather than requiring us to develop relationships. We have moved away from social gatherings with face-to-face conversations in lieu of chat rooms and instant messaging. I do not look forward to the day when we will never have to physically interact with another human being.

Bluewater Case Study Essay Example for Free

Bluewater Case Study Essay * Was built on an old quarry brownfield land. * Employs around 7000 people. * Good disabled access and a range of things to do for all people. * Bluewater makes sure it remains sustainable – it has high operational standards, water usage is measured and controlled, energy is reduced as much as possible, it has a lake and wildlife area to introduce biodiversity, community partnerships, as little chemical use as possible and green transport e.g. buses. Positives of Bluewater * Was built on an old quarry brownfield land. * Employs around 7000 people. * Good disabled access and a range of things to do for all people. * Bluewater makes sure it remains sustainable – it has high operational standards, water usage is measured and controlled, energy is reduced as much as possible, it has a lake and wildlife area to introduce biodiversity, community partnerships, as little chemical use as possible and green transport e.g. buses. What does Bluewater have to offer? * Over 300 shops, * Over 50 restaurants to eat and drink in, * A cinema, * Boating and cycling facilities, * A mini sports stadium, * Places to cook, read, play on a computer, * Advice centres, * Homework help. What does Bluewater have to offer? * Over 300 shops, * Over 50 restaurants to eat and drink in, * A cinema, * Boating and cycling facilities, * A mini sports stadium, * Places to cook, read, play on a computer, * Advice centres, * Homework help. A bit about Bluewater * Bluewater is an out-of town regional shopping centre – (definition: a shopping centre containing over 50,000 square metres of gross retail area offering a wide range of comparison goods and services) * Bluewater is located in Greenhithe, Kent and is 17.8 miles east south east of London. A fifth of the UKs population are within an hour’s journey of Bluewater. * Bluewater has capacity for 13,000 cars, is close to the M25, has over 60 busloads arrive every hour and has train and coach links making transport links easy. * It is the largest out of town shopping centre in Europe- cost  £350m to build A bit about Bluewater * Bluewater is an out-of town regional shopping centre – (definition: a shopping centre containing over 50,000 square metres of gross retail area offering a wide range of comparison goods and services) * Bluewater is located in Greenhithe, Kent and is 17.8 miles east south east of London. A fifth of the UKs population are within an hour’s journey of Bluewater. * Bluewater has capacity for 13,000 cars, is close to the M25, has over 60 busloads arrive every hour and has train and coach links making transport links easy. * It is the largest out of town shopping centre in Europe- cost  £350m to build Negatives of Bluewater * Because of the amount of people travelling long distances to the site, congestion can be a problem, as well as noise and air pollution. * Although there are many bus links, they are not necessarily all over the country and access may be difficult for those who do not have cars. * Because many people from the area will chose to go to Bluewater rather than local CBDs, these areas begin to lose business and a lot of money. Negatives of Bluewater * Because of the amount of people travelling long distances to the site, congestion can be a problem, as well as noise and air pollution. * Although there are many bus links, they are not necessarily all over the country and access may be difficult for those who do not have cars. * Because many people from the area will chose to go to Bluewater rather than local CBDs, these areas begin to lose business and a lot of money.

The Piper Oil Field Engineering Essay

The Piper Oil Field Engineering Essay Introduction On the night of June the 6th, 1988, an explosion took place on the Piper Alpha oil and gas production platform. It led to a series of fires that eventually melted the platform into the waters of the North Sea, killing a hundred and sixty seven men, and resulting in insurance losses of U.S. $3.4 billion. To date, it remains the worst offshore disaster in the history of the Petroleum industry, defined in terms of both human and financial loss. The images of horror broadcasted from the disaster site, the final tally of human lives lost, and the enormous financial loss shock Occidental Petroleum, the operator of the platform, violently. It has since become worthy of thorough examination, to fully assimilate the numerous lessons it has to offer. Ronin Advanced Systems investigated the events leading up to that night, pinpointing the deficiencies in the fragile Safety Matrix then applied by Occidental Petroleum, in order to provide viable recommendations that can help prevent such accident s from happening in the future and increase the overall Operational Safety of offshore installations. Purpose and Scope The impact of the Piper Alpha disaster on the Petroleum industry was huge. It was on such an unprecedented level that every oil company made it an absolute requirement to document it as a Case Study. The purpose of this research is to isolate the faults and errors carried out by both the management of Occidental Petroleum as well as the crew of Piper Alpha, which directly resulted in the disaster. This report will cover several topics regarding the Piper Alpha offshore production platform, including its location, construction, modification, Safety Matrix and Record, as well as the timeline of the disaster and its aftermath. Throughout the report, we do not include any on-site research from the Piper oil field. Assumptions Our recommendations are based on the assumption that the Piper Alpha disaster could have been completely avoided. This is in turn based on the fact that its management made a series of wrong decisions, which seriously compromised the safety level on board the platform and rendered its crew helpless in face of accidents. The failure of the crew to act appropriately with respect to the sequence of events of the disaster can only be attributed to the failure of Occidentals management. The assumption is also based on the factual and documented deterioration of the safety level on board the platform after its modification to produce gas. Several gas leaks were recorded and a research commissioned by Occidental to investigate the newly installed Gas Lines which found them of extreme risk was ignored. At the end of this report, we will prove without a shred of doubt that the assumption holds; thus, deeming our recommendation worthy of being put into action as soon as possible. Methods The information in this report was compiled from various sources including Lord Cullens Public Inquiry, numerous printed and electronic publications, video footage from the British Royal Air Force helicopters, as well as the numerous support vessels, that were present on site during rescue operations and the accounts of the survivors. Limitations As mentioned earlier, this research is limited to materials and information available in the Public Domain via the Internet, various publications, and recorded video footage. In addition, Ronin Advanced Systems was not able to send any personnel to the disaster site to perform on-location examination due to the following main reasons: The incident happened on July the 6th, 1988. The Piper Alpha offshore production platform melted down to its core. Furthermore, its remains were later detonated and removed by Occidental Petroleum. Piper oil field A hundred and twenty miles from Aberdeen, beneath some of the fiercest waters of the North Sea, lies the Piper oilfield. A joint venture of four companies, known as the OPCAL (short for Occidental Petroleum Caledonia) and led by Occidental Petroleum, obtained a license to explore those waters in 1972, after the British government allowed offshore exploration licenses in 1964 (Miller, 1991). The Piper oil field was discovered in the early months of 1973, prompting OPCAL to commission the construction of the Piper Alpha platform, as well as the pipelines and Onshore Support Installations. Oil production started in late 1976. At its peak, the Piper oilfield produced 30,000 tons of oil daily. Nearby, two more fields were discovered; those were the Tartan and the Claymore oilfields. Two more platforms were commissioned and named after the two fields respectively. The three vast oilfields Piper, Tartan and Claymore are usually referred to collectively as the Piper oilfield. Figure 1: Location of Piper Oilfield with respect to Aberdeen and Flotta Oil Facility As shown in Figure 1, OPCAL built the Flotta oil terminal on the Orkney Islands to collect and process oil from the three massive fields. As the development of the three platforms progressed, more oil and gas lines were laid, resulting in Piper being at the heart of a busy network of pipelines. Its platform acted as both a communication systems hub as well as an oil and gas collection point, before relaying it all onto shore on one main line, namely the Main Oil Line or MOL, which is the line seen connecting the Piper field and Flotta in Figure 1. This report will dedicate an entire subsection to further examine the pipeline network surrounding the Piper oilfield and its neighbouring counterparts. It will also discuss the impacts that network had on the level of Operational Safety on board the Piper Alpha platform and how it actively contributed to its tragic and total eradication off the waters of the North Sea. Piper Alpha Piper Alpha, the platform that exploited the Piper oilfield, stood tall at two hundred metres above seabed. Its sheer size made it seem almost indestructible. It was originally designed for oil production, but was later adapted to produce natural gas as well; a decision that proved to have tragic consequences. Producing almost ten percent of Britains North Sea oil and gas in 1988, Piper Alpha was highly productive. It was deemed a lucrative investment for Occidental Petroleum, shoring millions of dollars annually. It is assumed that at the time of the accident, the platform was the heaviest offshore production rig operating in the North Sea. Figure 2: Piper Alpha Offshore Oil Gas Production Platform Piper Alpha was a fixed platform constructed by McDermott Engineering at Ardesier and UIE at Cherbourg, with sections united at Ardersier during 1975 (Wikipedia, 2010). The platform consisted of four modules (A, B, C and D) separated by Fire-Proofed walls, and arranged such that the most dangerous works such as drilling were as far as possible from the Accommodation Block. At the time of the accident, the platform operated thirty-six well heads using various technologies that were then available. Figure 3, an East-side Elevation of the platform, illustrates its modular design and the locations of the areas of interest to the scope of this report, mainly Modules C, D and the Oil Separation Compartment in Module B. Figure 3: East Elevation of Piper Alpha the impacts of the 1980 Gas module fitting Impact on the platform Layout I Production Level 84 In 1980, a Gas Recovery Module was installed on the Piper Alpha platform. This decision left an unfortunate legacy in its design, as some of the gas compression works had to be sited in Module C, which was later called the Gas Compression Module. Figure 4 illustrates the layout of Production Level 84. It clearly shows how the compression works in Module C were close to many sensitive areas in Module D, such as: the Control Room, the Electrical Power Gas Turbine Generators, the Emergency Diesel Generator, the Fire Pumps Manual Control Panel and some of the Electrical Switch Rooms. The Accommodation Block, where the crewmen lived, was located above Module D, with the Helicopter Pad (or Helideck) on top of it as shown in Figure 3. Figure 4: Production Level 84 Firewalls Hazard: Blast-Proof Walls Since Piper Alpha was initially designed to produce oil, only Fire-Proofed walls were installed to separate its four modules instead of Blast-Proof walls, which are installed on gas production platforms. Figure 4 shows the locations of the Fire-Proofed walls as well as their ratings. The B/C and the C/D walls did not withstand the first explosion. Their failure was the beginning of the end for the platform. Hazard: Fire-Fighting System Piper Alpha was equipped with a state-of-the-art Automatic Fire-Fighting System. It relied on two different sets of pumps for operation; electrically powered and diesel powered. They would suck in huge amounts of seawater via underwater inlets to douse any fires. However, the safety procedures on the platform dictated that the system would be switched over to manual control in case divers were in the water regardless of their locations with respect to the inlets so that they would not get sucked in. That procedure never considered the possibility of a fire or an explosion blocking access to the Manual Control Panel, preventing the crew from operating the pumps and eventually causing the fire to rage unchallenged. ii deck support frame: level 64 Two large gas pumps, designated A and B, were placed in Module C. Those were responsible for pressurizing the produced gas and sending it to the offshore Manifold Compression platform MCP-01, some thirty miles to the North West of Piper Alpha. They were also responsible for providing the gas required for generating Electrical Power that fed the entire platform. They operated in redundancy; i.e. one was operated and the other was put on standby in case the former stopped working. Those two pumps were present on level 68, sixteen levels below production level number 84. Figure 5: Deck Support Frame of Level 68 Location of Pumps A B A pipeline eighteen inches in diameter acted as the Main Gas Line (MGL), carrying the gas production of Piper Alpha to the Manifold Compression Platform, MCP-01. A year later, another eighteen-inch pipeline was extended from the Tartan platform to Piper Alpha, in order to collect gas production from both rigs before sending it on the Main Gas Line to MCP-01. Later on, another sixteen-inch pipeline was extended from Piper Alpha to the Claymore production platform, to feed its onboard Gas Lift System. Hazard: Gas Lines In Figure 5, all gas lines also known as risers were secured with automatic Emergency Safety Valves (ESVs) and Pig Traps to cut off gas flow in an out of the platform in case of emergencies and failures. However, there were no Remotely Operated Shutoff Valves (ROSOVs) on any of the lines that the neighbouring platforms could use in case the ESVs had failed or in case things on Piper Alpha had gone out of control. Moreover, two years prior to June the 6th 1988, Occidental Petroleum commissioned a report to investigate the safety of the platform after the added functionality and pipelines. The report portrayed a fearful image, clearly warning of the dangers of the gas lines. The findings stated that those gas lines would take hours to depressurize, mainly due to their capacities that was defined based on their lengths and diameters. The report went on to speculate that should anything happen to those lines, they could result in a High-Pressure Gas Fire that would be virtually impossi ble to fight. Thus, putting the entire platform at risk, and threatening the lives of its personnel. Impact on the Pipeline network Since the Piper oilfield was the first to be discovered, and Piper Alpha was the first platform to come online, its historic development and that of adjacent fields meant that the platform would become a centre for communication systems, as well as oil transfer, reaching land-based operations (Drysdale Evans, 1998). The belated installation of the Gas Module, and the subsequent extension of Gas Lines, further complicated an already complex network of pipelines interconnecting the three platforms Claymore, Piper Alpha, and Tartan with one another as well as with MCP-01 and the Flotta oil processing facility. Figure 6 shows this complex network of oil and Gas Lines connecting the four platforms and onshore installations. The Main Oil Line (MOL) carried oil from Piper to Flotta. Oil was routed from Tartan to Claymore, via a separate line, and from there it was sent onto the MOL, some thirty-five miles west of Piper. The MOL also carried the main communication cable (originating at Piper Alpha) between the three rigs and Occidentals Control Centre (OCC) on the Orkney Islands. Hazard: Oil Back Pressure The legacy of that design had not only reduced the level of Operational Safety on board of Piper Alpha significantly, but also it had put the entire communication system at risk. The design simply jeopardized losing all cable-based communications with OCC, in case an explosion or a massive rig fire took place. Furthermore, due to the lack of any Remotely Operated Shutoff Valves (ROSOVs) which would prevent the back flow of oil because of pressure differences and/or major failures in the Emergency Safety Valves (ESVs) the design exhibited a Back-Pressure nature that would allow oil from the Tartan and Claymore platforms to flow directly back into Piper Alpha instead of going down the Main Oil Line to shore should Piper Alpha stop pumping oil. That hazard was an important factor in fuelling the oil fire that started in the Oil Separation compartment in Module B on board of the platform in peril. Figure 6: Claymore, Piper, Tartan Pipeline Network spiral to disaster The common image of the disaster can be attributed to a single devastating explosion on board the Piper Alpha. In fact, once it took place, the catastrophe unfolded gradually. During one crucial hour, there were critical moments that it could have been averted. However, an unfortunate series of events led to the total destruction of the platform. On the morning of July the 6th, Pump A was undergoing routine maintenance and its pressure valve was removed for inspection. Another maintenance overhaul, which would have taken two weeks, was scheduled for the same pump but had not begun then. The valve removed was placed between the pump and the gas pipe feeding it. The service crew sealed the pipe with a Blind Flange; a flat metallic disc used to temporarily cover pipes and risers during various routine maintenance jobs. When the Day Shift ended at 6:00 PM, the job was not done. The supervising engineer prepared a Permit-to-Work (PTW) stating that the pressure valve was removed and that the pump should not be started under any circumstance (Wikipedia, 2010). The engineer then headed to the Control Room, where he found the platforms manager busy. He chose not to inform him that Pump A was out of order, and instead signed the new PTW, placed it on the managers desk and left to the Accommodation Block. This was the first critical moment in the timeline of the accident. The failure of the engineer to inform the manager with the serious condition of the pump is nothing but a clear example of terrible lack of communication between colleagues. It showcases a superficial attitude and approach by Occidentals personnel towards Safety. This failure is one of the main reasons of the disaster, if not its main trigger. An hour later, another maintenance job was taking place underwater; divers were carrying out a routine inspection and welding job on one of the pipes. Therefore, and as we explained previously, the Automatic Fire-Fighting System was switched to manual control. This was a safety practice to ensure that divers would not get sucked in through the underwater inlets of the powerful fire extinguishing pumps. It is worth noting that on other platforms Fire-Fighting systems were controlled manually only if divers were very close to the inlets. This practice, which was enforced to ensure the safety of the divers, reduced that of the platform drastically and deprived it from an automated response by the Fire-Fighting System that could have saved it from its fatal doom; yet another critical moment down the course of the horrible disaster. At 9:45 PM, Pump B suddenly stopped and could not be restarted. The pumps were responsible for providing gas to the Gas Turbine Generators, which in turn provided the entire platform with Electrical Power. The sudden stop of Pump B, and the failure to restart it, threatened the total loss of Electrical Power during ongoing drilling operations. This meant that the drilling head could get stuck at enormous costs. The system provided fifteen minutes of backup power, via the Emergency Diesel Generator, during which the only two choices were either restarting Pump B or bringing Pump A online; a crossroads that sent the platform and its crewmen down the spiral to disaster. Pressured as time went by with no success at restarting Pump B, the engineer who was sent down to inspect the pump was forced to consider bringing Pump A online. He returned to the Control Room on level 84 and searched through the PTWs, trying to determine whether Pump A could be started or not. He located the PTW for the General Overhaul that had not started then, yet failed to find the newer one that stated that the pumps pressure valve was removed. He signed off the General Overhaul PTW and returned to level 68 to start Pump A. The reason why the engineer could not find the newer PTW is simple; the pressure valve was in a different location from the pump and therefore its permits were stored in a different box, as PTWs on board the platform were sorted by location. The engineer never checked the PTW box for the location where the pressure valve was. None of the personnel present in the Control Room then was aware that a vital piece of the pump had been removed. The platforms manager assumed from the existing documents that it would be safe to start Pump A (Wikipedia, 2010). In fact, no one noticed that the pressure valve had been removed as it was placed several metres above the ground of level 64. Furthermore, it was blocked from line-of-sight by gas risers. Ten minutes later, Pump A was started, allowing gas to flow into it in the absence of the pressure valve, which quickly resulted in an overpressure the Blind Flange could not withstand. Gas started to leak at very high pressure and in great amounts, with audible sounds that took the crewmen on level 64 by surprise. The leak triggered several gas alarms. However, at exactly 9:50 PM, and before anyone could realize the situation and plan a response, the gas ignited and exploded, blowing through the Fire-Proofed walls. In the initial blast, the Fire-Proofed walls B/C and C/D failed. Panels from the C/D wall were propelled into Module D, destroying the Control Room, the Emergency Diesel Generator, and the Gas Turbine Generators, starting a hydrocarbon fire fed by a mixture of gas and diesel and blocking access to both the Manual Control Panel of the Fire-Fighting System as well as the Lifeboat Entry Points. The platforms manager quickly pressed the Emergency Shutdown button, closing the Emergency Safety Valves (ESVs) on the sea lines and ceasing all oil and gas production, before ordering an evacuation of the Control Room. This should have isolated the platform entirely from the flow of oil and gas. However, Panels from the failing B/C Fire-Proofed wall flew into Module B, rupturing another gas pipe as well as the main oil separation manifolds, starting an oil fire in the Oil Separation compartment, which spread out to all of Module B within a few minutes. Figure 7: The Initial Fire on Piper Alpha. Black smoke indicating an Oil Fire is seen rising from Module B The manager headed to the Radio Room, where he ordered a Mayday call to be transmitted. The Radio Room was then evacuated and all personnel headed to the Fire-Proofed Accommodation Block awaiting further instructions or evacuation by helicopters. Although Occidentals management was aware that a gas explosion on board Piper Alpha would be devastating, the managers on Claymore and Tartan never Shutdown oil production after they received the Mayday transmitted out of the burning platform. Even though black smoke could be seen on the horizon, which meant that there was an oil fire, the managers never suspected the failure of the Emergency Safety Valves (ESVs). The oil fire, fed by oil from Tartan and Claymore, heated up the Tartan Gas Line to the point it failed. The pipeline ruptured, releasing 15~30 tonnes of gas (pressurised to 120 ATM) per second. The gas burst into a massive fire ball that engulfed the entire Piper Alpha platform as well as a Fast Rescue Craft launched from the Multi-purpose Vessel Sandhaven. This situation was exactly what the report commissioned two years earlier had warned against; a High-Pressure Gas Fire that would be impossible to put out. At this critical moment, the fate of the platform had already b een decided, with no viable means of reversing it. The massive fire ball can be seen in Figure 8, as it instantaneously contained the platform and darkened the clear blue sky above it. Figure 8: Sequence of Images taken from a Video Footage captured by a Support Vessel showing the Explosion of the Tartan Gas Line. MV Lowland Cavalier can be seen on the Right As Figure 8 vividly illustrates, the wind was blowing in the direction of the Helideck, which in turn pushed fire and smoke towards it, making any helicopter landing absolutely impossible and an act of suicide. No further instructions were given to the trapped crewmen, who took shelter in the Accommodation Block, while smoke began to penetrate it. Some were seen jumping off the platform and into the water, against what their training instructed. Ironically, those were the ones who survived the tragic ordeal. The actions of two crewmen are worth noting. As the situation worsened, they donned Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and tried to make their way to the Manual Control Panel of the Fire-Fighting System to start the diesel pumps. Those two men were never seen again and their bodies were never recovered. Nearby, and as the situation rapidly escalated, the managers on Claymore and Tartan believed that they did not have the authority to order an Emergency Shutdown of production without first consulting their superiors. The initial explosion knocked off the main communication line with OCC; however, Tartans manager somehow contacted his superior, and was instructed to stay online and continue pumping gas and oil. Meanwhile, Claymores manager tried for more than twenty minutes to raise OCC by satellite phone, but to no avail. When he finally succeeded at contacting his manger, the MCP 01 Gas Line failed and exploded, as they were speaking, at exactly 10:50 PM. It was not until that point that Claymores manager finally ordered an Emergency Shutdown of production, after receiving instructions from his superior, who also instructed him to contact Tartan and tell them to shutdown as well. Figure 9: Sequence of Images taken from a Video Footage captured by a Rescue Helicopter showing the Explosion of the MCP 01 Gas Line. The MSV Tharos can be seen on the Right By the time both platforms had ordered an Emergency Shutdown, there was no turning back for Piper Alpha; the platform was destined to burn for hours more to come, until the pipelines were depressurised, and all the hydrocarbons they carried were depleted. The fearsome heat ate its way at the machinery and steelwork comprising the once gigantic platform in a tremendous scene that horrified everyone who saw it. The final chapter in the disaster was inevitable and quite expectable. The gas line feeding Claymore finally failed and ruptured at 11:20 PM. The third explosion was the final nail in the platforms coffin. After withstanding the intense heat for more than an hour, the Generation and Utilities Module D, home to the Accommodation Block, finally slid into the sea. Most of the platform soon fell after it. Forty-five minutes past midnight, the entire platform was gone, and only Module A was all that remained. Figure 10: Image from Video Footage taken by a Rescue Helicopter landing on the MSV-Tharos as the Final Explosion of Claymores Gas Line take place The Role of nearby Support vessels The Multi-purpose vessel LowLand Cavalier (mv lowland cavalier) Although the Lowland Cavalier was the closest to Piper Alpha at the time of the initial explosion, she was only equipped as a Diving Support vessel then. She pulled away to safety immediately, after signalling the underwater divers to surface. Her role in the disaster was limited to reporting the first explosion. Figure 11: Recent Photos of the MV Lowland Cavalier The Multi-purpose vessel Silver Pit (mv silver pit) The Fast Rescue Craft MV Silver Pit was a converted fishing ship, with a small Landing Area (yellow circular area seen in Figure 9). It was the first support vessel to respond. The largest number of survivors thirty-seven out of fifty-nine was recovered by her crew. Her coxswain, James Clark, received the George Medal a second level civil decoration of the United Kingdom Commonwealth in recognition of his tremendous efforts in the Search Rescue operation (Scottish TV, 2010). Figure 12: Image taken from a Video taken by a Rescue Helicopter during a Winch-Recovery of a Survivor picked up by the MV Silver Pit the Multi-purpose vessel sandhaven (mv sandhaven) Though her actions show obvious disregard for common logic and safe practices, the efforts exerted by the crew of the Sandhaven were remarkable; they raced against time to rescue Pipers oilmen from the raging inferno. In an insane act of bravery, and in defiance to every safety rule and procedure known in the world of Offshore Rescue Operations, she approached the burning platform to a very close distance, launching a fast rescue boat with three men on board that rescued six of Pipers crewmen. However, when the gas line from Tartan exploded, a massive fire ball engulfed the burning platform as well as that boat, killing two of its crewmen along with all of survivors. The lone survivor on board that boat, Ian Letham, was also awarded the George Medal in recognition of his participation in the relief efforts during the tragic ordeal. Figure 13: The Tharos (Left Background) Sandhaven (Small Red Boat) next to Piper Alpha just as Tartans Gas line exploded the Multi-purpose Support Vessel Tharos (msv tharos) The Tharos was a semi-submersible, multi-purpose support vessel. She comprised several roles such as Fire-Fighting, Construction, Accommodation and Diving Support. She also carried a fully operational hospital and was equipped with a massive Helideck. She was commissioned by Occidental Petroleum precisely to deal with emergencies on offshore platforms. On June the 6th, 1988, and by pure chance, she was anchored close to Piper Alpha. She should have been a Godsend; however, upon approaching the burning platform, her crew started her water cannons too fast, tripping the Fire-Fighting system and wasting ten long minutes before successfully restarting it. Furthermore, those cannons were deemed very powerful, thus restricting the Tharos to as where to use them; since the stream could seriously injure or even kill anyone it hits. Figure 14: Images taken from Video Footage taken during the landing of a Rescue Helicopter on the Helideck on board the MSV-Tharos showing the Vessels powerful cannons engaged in Fire-Fighting Operations Figure 12 shows how close the Tharos was anchored to Piper as well as the locations of the MV -Lowland Cavalier and the MV Silver Pit mentioned earlier in this section. Figure 15: Locations of Support Vessels from Piper Alpha Worse still, the Tharos was equipped with an extensible bridge that could have worked as an escape route for the personnel trapped onboard, but due to flaws in its design it proved useless. The extension mechanism was too slow, taking five minutes to move two feet; so to extend to its full thirty metres, it would have taken over an hour. At 10:50 PM, the Tharos ran out of time; the MCP-01 Gas Line ruptured and burst. A huge fireball burnt brightly in the dark sky over the North Sea, and to date is considered an icon of the Piper Alpha disaster. The gas burning was more than the entire consumption of the United Kingdom. The intense heat threw the Tharos back, forcing her to return the bridge into its storage position, and from then on, her crew could only witness as Piper slowly melted and collapsed (McGinty, 2009). Figure 16: Screenshot from a Video Footage taken by a Surveillance Camera on board the MSV-Tharos showing the Extensible Bridge being extended towards Piper Alpha Figure 17: The Tharos docked to Piper Alpha via its Extensible Bridge Weeks before the Disaster Figure 10 shows the extensible bridge docked to Piper Alpha weeks before the disaster. Had the Tharos attempted to approach Piper to such a close distance, the situation would have turned into a nightmare, and the Tharos would have been engulfed in flames just like the Sandhaven. The Tharos continued fighting the fire from a safe distance until the morning of the following day. Divers from the Tharos recovered many bodies from the sea bed and from the galley area of the Accommodation Block, where most of the crewmen onboard gathered awaiting extraction by helicopter. The vessel supported the Fire-Fighting and Well Kill operations that eventually led to the extinguishing of the burning well three weeks later (Wikipedia, 2010). The Aftermath The Day After With the break of light of the following day, the scale of the disaster was unravelled. The entire platform melted down to its core through the night and sank into the sea. Ironically, Module A, once considered the most dangerous section of the platform, remained fairly intact. That was attributed to the fact that the Fire-Proofed wall separating modules A and B did not fail. Of the massive platform, only what shows in Figures 15 and 16 was what was left. Figure 18: Module A carrying a sign with the platforms number and name Piper A Figure 19 : The Remains of Piper Alpha with the MSV-Tharos in the Background Human Loss A total of a hundred and sixty seven men lost their lives in the disaster; of which, a hundred and sixty five were Piper Alpha crewmen. A hundred and sixty four of them died on site and one died later in hospital. Two crewmen from the MV Sandhaven died, along with six survivors from the platform, when their fast rescue craft was engulfed in flames after the explosion of Tartans gas link. Only sixty one men survived, almost all because they had decided to ignore what little training they had been given and jumped off the burning platform. Financial Loss The total financial loss amounted to U.S. $3.4 billion. It was paid in full by insurance companies that insured the platform and the personnel against operational hazards. The insurance companies also covered the cost of the Clean-Up operation. Damage to Public Image Occidental Petroleum claimed that their Safety Record was impeccable, claiming that it was the first time in twelve years that they had had a causality in the North Sea. However, their statement was challenged when various sources revealed that an oilman died four years earlier on board Piper Alph

Brown v Board of Education Essay -- Civil Rights Movement

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the seventeenth day in May 1954 a decision was made which changed things in the United States dramatically. For millions of black Americans, news of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education meant, at last, that they and their children no longer had to attend separate schools. Brown v. Board of Education was a Supreme Court ruling that changed the life of every American forever. In Topeka, Kansas, a black third-grader named Linda Brown had to walk one mile through a railroad switchyard to get to her black elementary school, even though a white elementary school was only seven blocks away. Linda's father, Oliver Brown, tried to enroll her in the white elementary school, but the principal of the school refused. Brown went to McKinley Burnett, the head of Topeka's branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and asked for help. The NAACP was eager to assist the Browns, as it had long wanted to challenge segregation in public schools. Other black parents joined Brown, and, in 1951, the NAACP requested an injunction that would forbid the segregation of Topeka's public schools (NAACP). The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas heard Brown's case from June 25-26, 1951. At the trial, the NAACP argued that segregated schools sent the message to black children that they were inferior to whites; therefore, the schools were unequal. The Board of Education's defense was that, because segregation in Topeka and elsewhere pervaded many other aspects of life, segregated schools simply prepared black children for the segregation they would face during adulthood. The board also argued that segregated schools were not necessarily harmful to black children; great African Americans had overcome much more than just segregated schools and became very successful. The request for an injunction pushed the court to make a difficult decision. On one hand, the judges agreed with the Browns; saying that: â€Å"Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children...A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn† (The National Center For Public Research). On the other hand, the precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson allowed separate but equal school systems for blacks and whites, and no Supreme Court ruling had overturned Plessy yet. Be... ...tock market among black Americans have rocketed since the 1980s. The political and economic force of that black middle class continues to bring America closer to the vision of racial equality that Dr. King might have dreamed of 50 years ago. The Supreme Court's May 17, 1954, ruling in Brown v Board of Education remains a landmark legal decision. This decision is huge not only because it changed the history of America forever but also because it was a huge step for blacks in the United States. This decision would eventually lead to the full freedom of blacks in America. Brown v Board of Education is the "Big Bang" of all American history in the 20th century. Works Cited Cozzens, Lisa. â€Å"Brown v Board of Education.† Watson.org. 1995 . NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. â€Å"Brown v Board of Education Matters to All Americans.† Brown Cronicles. 2003 . Patterson, James. â€Å"Brown v Board of Education: A Civil Rights Milestone and Its Troubled Legacy (Pivotal Moments in American History).† Oxford University Press., 2001. The National Center For Public Research. â€Å"Brown v Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) (USSC+).† Supreme Court of The United States. 1982 .

Lucy Liu :: Charlies Angels

Lucy Liu Lucy Liu is an important figure in the Asian American community. She is one of the few Asian actors who sas made it big in the film world. She has starred in a television series, "Ally McBeal," and also in movies. Her biggest impact in the film world has been the movie Charlie's Angels, in which she instills strength in being a woman and also brings in elements of her Asian background. Lucy Liu has indeed broken the stereotype of Asian Americans as she is not passive or submissive. Lucy Liu has become an important figure in the Asian American community. In a quote by AskMen.com, â€Å"Lucy Liu has broken the mold that Asian actors are prone to passivity, and made herself a veritable star.† She is seen as a serious actress because her popularity is soaring in Hollywood. Hollywood has a very minimal Asian influence, but Lucy Liu has made it as a sought-after star. One of her most memorable characters is her being one of the three agents in Charlie’s Angels. Typically, most of the Asian women in the past have been created to have stereotypes such as the â€Å"dragon lady†, who is a beautiful evil villain, and other characters that are passive and submissive to their men. Lucy Liu’s character in Charlie’s Angels is a strong, powerful woman. Although this is just a fictional character, the way her character is perceived is that she is in control of her situations and she is able to â€Å"kick butt.† It gives me pride knowing that a person of my ethnicity can become so successful, and it gives me hope that I can accomplish great things as well. Her character shows that Asian women are not just two dimensional.

Death of a Modernist Salesman Essay -- Death Salesman essays

Death of a Modernist Salesman      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The modernist movement in writing was characterized by a lack of faith in the traditional ways of explaining life and its meaning.   Religion, nationalism, and family were no longer seen as being infallible.   For the modernist writers, a sense of security could no longer be found.   They could not find any meaning or order in the old ways.   Despair was a common reaction for them.   The dilemma they ran into was what to do with this knowledge.   Poet Robert Frost phrased their question best in his poem â€Å"The Oven Bird.†Ã‚   Frost’s narrator and the bird about which he is speaking both are wondering â€Å"what to make of a diminished thing† (Baym 1103).   The modernist writers attempted to mirror this despair and tried to superimpose meaning on it or find meaning in it.   The old frames of reference were no longer meaningful.   Newer ones had to be sought.   This belief gave them license to create new points of reference, which at least held some meaning for them, or to comment on the remains of the old.   These writers referred often to shattered illusions, feelings of alienation, and the fragmentation of the remains of tradition.   Although society was making technological advances, many of these writers felt that it was declining in other ways.   They saw this progression as being made at the expense of individuality and the individual’s sense of true self-worth. Arthur Miller’s writings are characteristic of this movement.   Miller is a playwright whose works reflect the major themes of modernism.   Death of a Salesman, which is perhaps his best-known piece, is a perfect example of this.   In it, he addresses the common modernist themes of alienation and loneliness through both his portrayal of society an... ...l.       Works Cited Baym, Franklin, Gottesman, Holland, et al., eds.   The Norton Anthology of American Literature.   4th ed.   New York: Norton, 1994. Corrigan, Robert W., ed. Arthur Miller.   Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1969. Costello, Donald P. â€Å"Arthur Miller’s Circles of Responsibility: A View From a Bridge and Beyond.† Modern Drama. 36 (1993): 443-453. Florio, Thomas A., ed. â€Å"Miller’s Tales.† The New Yorker.   70 (1994): 35-36. Hayashi, Tetsumaro.   Arthur Miller Criticism.   Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1969. Martin, Robert A., ed. Arthur Miller.   Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1982. Miller, Arthur.   The Archbishop’s Ceiling/The American Clock. New York: Grove Press,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1989. ---.   Death of a Salesman.   New York: Viking, 1965. ---.   Eight Plays.   New York:   Nelson Doubleday, 1981.      

Shattered Glass

Bobby Taggart December 10, 2012 Tracy Crow Journalism Shattered Glass Response The movie â€Å"Shattered Glass† is about a journalist who writes for the New Republic Newspaper, who later gets caught for fabricating 27 of his stories. The journalists name is Stephen Glass. Glass was 24 when started working writing and reporting for the New Republic. The New Republic is a well-known newspaper located in Washington D. C. Glass has had a reputation for having the most vivid stories. Glass’s first suspicion of fabrication was noticed when he wrote a story about the ACU (American Conservative Union).The Chairman of the ACU David Keene, first questions his story. His story contains a description of drunken tricks by young Republicans and mini-bars. Stephen’s boss confronts him about the situation. Turns out that his story was true, except for one small detail about how there were no mini-bars but just fridges available to rent with alcohol in it. The young journalists, newest story comes about in a staff meeting, which is about Ian Restil, who is a teenage hacker. Restil hacked into Jukt Micronics security systems. Jukt Micronics proceeds by hiring the teenage hacker.After the issue is printed, the editor at Forbes Digital Tool questions his reporter Adam Penenberg how he didn’t get the story on this teenage hacker who is hire by Jukt Micronics as a security consultant. Penenberg begins to investigate the article, as it already appears to be fishy. After more and more research, Penenberg takes his research to his boss showing him that nothing in the article exists. He then begins by making a phone call to Stephen for contact information on his sources mentioned in the article. The phone numbers given from Glass to Penenberg were made up as well.Stephen’s editor along with Forbes Digital Tool’s editor in the end found out that none of his sources existed. Stephen’s editor figures out that his brother lives in southern Ca lifornia, who has been setting up voicemails on his number to back up the fact checking process for him. This movie showed me how important it was to have all of your sources available and credible. Fabricating quotes is a serious manner in the journalism world. Fabricating anything can ruin an individual’s reputation as a writer and can even take down an entire newspaper just like the New Republic Newspaper.Journalism is a load of work. Taking shortcuts in journalism will catch up to you and haunt you throughout the rest of your career. Writing for a newspaper takes many countless hours of hard work without doubt. Therefore, fabricating anything in journalism can lead up to you being sued. Overall, this movie showed me a lesson personally and I’m living up to the consequences right now. If you put the time and effort into getting important information, the results will show the rewards.