The Best of Tsunami-Resistant Building

The Best of Tsunami-Resistant Building Architects and engineers can design buildings that will stand tall during even the most violent earthquakes. However, a tsunami (pronounced soo-NAH-mee), which is caused by an earthquake, has the power to wash away entire villages. Tragically, no building is tsunami-proof, but some buildings can be designed to resist forceful waves. The challenge of the architect is to design for the event AND design for beauty - the same challenge faced in safe room design. Understanding Tsunamis Tsunamis are usually generated by powerful earthquakes underneath large bodies of water. The seismic event creates a wave that is more complex than when the wind simply blows the waters surface. The wave can travel hundreds of miles an hour until it reaches shallow water and a shoreline. The Japanese word for harbor is tsu and nami means wave. Because Japan is heavily populated, surrounded by water, and in an area of great seismic activity, tsunamis are often associated with this Asian country. They occur, however, all over the world. Historically tsunamis in the United States are most prevalent on the West coast, including California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and, of course, Hawaii. A tsunami wave will behave differently depending on the underwater terrain surrounding the shoreline (i.e., how deep or shallow the water is from the shoreline). Sometimes the wave will be like a tidal bore or surge, and some tsunamis dont crash onto the shoreline at all like a more familiar, wind-driven wave. Instead, the water level may rise very, very quickly in what is called a wave runup, as if the tide has come in all at once - like a 100 foot high tide surge. Tsunami flooding may travel inland more than 1000 feet, and the rundown creates continued damage as the water quickly retreats back out to sea.   What Causes the Damage? Structures tend to be destroyed by tsunamis because of five general causes. First is the force of the water and high-velocity water flow. Stationary objects (like houses) in the path of the wave will resist the force, and, depending how the structure is constructed, the water will go through or around it. Second, the tidal wave will be dirty, and the impact of debris carried by the forceful water may be what destroys a wall, roof, or piling. Third, this floating debris can be on fire, which is then spread among combustible materials. Fourth, the tsunami rushing onto land and then retreating back to the sea creates unexpected erosion and scour of foundations. Whereas erosion is the general wearing away of the ground surface, scour is more localized  - the type of wearing away you see around piers and piles as water flows around stationary objects. Both erosion and scour compromise a structures foundation. The fifth cause of damage is from the waves wind forces. Guidelines for Design In general, flood loads can be calculated like for any other building, but the scale of a tsunamis intensity make building more complicated. Tsunami flood velocities are said to be highly complex and site-specific. Because of the unique nature of building a tsunami-resistant structure, FEMA has a special publication called Guidelines for Design of Structures for Vertical Evacuation from Tsunamis. Early warning systems and horizontal evacuation have been the main strategy for many years. The current thinking, however, is to design buildings with vertical evacuation areas: ...a building or earthen mound that has sufficient height to elevate evacuees above the level of tsunami inundation, and is designed and constructed with the strength and resiliency needed to resist the effects of tsunami waves.... Individual homeowners as well as communities may take this approach. Vertical evacuation areas can be part of the design of a multi-story building, or it can be a more modest, stand-alone structure for a single purpose. Existing structures such as well-constructed parking garages could be designated vertical evacuation areas. 8 Strategies for Tsunami-Resistant Construction Shrewd engineering combined with a swift, efficient warning system can save thousands of lives. Engineers and other experts suggest these strategies for tsunami-resistant construction: Build structures with reinforced concrete instead of wood, even though wood construction is more resilient to earthquakes. Reinforced concrete or steel-frame structures are recommended for vertical evacuation structures.Mitigate resistance. Design structures to let the water flow through. Build multi-story structures, with the first floor being open (or on stilts) or breakaway so the major force of water can move through. Rising water will do less damage if it can flow underneath the structure. Architect Daniel A. Nelson and Designs Northwest Architects often use this approach in the residences they build on the Washington Coast. Again, this design is contrary to seismic practices, which makes this recommendation complicated and site specific.Construct deep foundations, braced at the footings. A tsunamis force can turn an otherwise solid, concrete building completely on its side.Design with redundancy, so that the structure can experience partial failure (e.g., a destroyed post) with out progressive collapse. As much as possible, leave vegetation and reefs intact. They wont stop tsunami waves, but they can slow them down.Orient the building at an angle to the shoreline. Walls that directly face the ocean will suffer more damage.Use continuous steel framing strong enough to resist hurricane-force winds.Design structural connectors that can absorb stress. Whats the Cost? FEMA estimates that a tsunami-resistant structure, including seismic-resistant and progressive collapse-resistant design features, would experience about a 10 to 20% order-of-magnitude increase in total construction costs over that required for normal-use buildings. This article briefly describes design tactics used for buildings in tsunami-prone coastlines. For details about these and other construction techniques, explore the primary sources. Sources United States Tsunami Warning System, NOAA / National weather Service, tsunami.gov/Erosion, Scour, and Foundation Design, FEMA, January 2009, PDF at https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/20130726-1644-20490-8177/757_apd_5_erosionscour.pdfCoastal Construction Manual, Volume II FEMA, 4th edition, August  2011, pp. 8-15, 8-47, PDF at https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/20130726-1510-20490-1986/fema55_volii_combined_rev.pdfGuidelines for Design of Structures for Vertical Evacuation from Tsunami, 2nd edition, FEMA P646, April 1, 2012, pp. 1, 16, 35, 55, 111, PDF at https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1426211456953-f02dffee4679d659f62f414639afa806/FEMAP-646_508.pdf  Tsunami-Proof Building by Danbee Kim, http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2009/teams/2/danbee.htm, 2009 [accessed August 13, 2016]The Tech To Make Buildings Earthquake - and Tsunami - Resistant by Andrew Moseman, Popular Mechanics, March 11, 2011How to Make Buildings Safer in Tsunamis by Rollo Reid, Reid Steel

Why Black People Had a Complex Relationship With Fidel Castro

Why Black People Had a Complex Relationship With Fidel Castro When Fidel Castro died on Nov. 25, 2016, Cuban exiles in the United States celebrated the demise of a man they called an evil dictator. Castro committed a series of human rights abuses, they said, silencing political dissidents by imprisoning or killing them. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio  (R-Florida) summed up the feelings of many Cuban Americans about Castro in a statement he released after  the ruler’s passing. â€Å"Sadly, Fidel Castro’s death does not mean freedom for the Cuban people or justice for the democratic activists, religious leaders, and political opponents he and his brother have jailed and persecuted,† Rubio said. â€Å"The dictator has died, but the dictatorship has not. And one thing is clear, history will not absolve Fidel Castro; it will remember him as an evil, murderous dictator who inflicted misery and suffering on his own people.† In contrast, blacks throughout the African Diaspora viewed Castro through a more complicated lens. He may have been a brutal dictator but he was also an ally to Africa, an anti-imperialist who eluded assassination attempts by the U.S. government and a champion of education and healthcare. Castro supported the efforts of African nations to liberate themselves from colonial rule, opposed apartheid and granted exile to a prominent African American radical. But along with  these deeds, Castro faced criticism from blacks during the years before  his death because of racism’s persistence in Cuba. An Ally to Africa Castro proved himself to be a friend to Africa as various countries there fought for independence during the 1960s and ’70s. After Castro’s death, Bill Fletcher, Black Radical Congress founder, discussed the unique  relationship between the Cuban Revolution in 1959 and Africa on the Democracy Now! radio program. â€Å"The Cubans were very supportive of the Algerian struggle against the French, which succeeded in 1962,† Fletcher said. â€Å"They went on to support the various anti-colonial movements in Africa, including in particular  the anti-Portuguese movements in Guinea-Bissau, Angola, and Mozambique. And they were unquestioning in their support for the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa.† Cuba’s support to Angola as the West African nation fought for independence from Portugal in 1975 set into motion apartheid’s end. Both the Central Intelligence Agency and the apartheid government of South Africa tried to thwart the revolution, and Russia objected to Cuba intervening in the conflict. That didnt deter Cuba from getting involved, however. The 2001 documentary Fidel: The Untold Story chronicles how Castro sent 36,000 troops to keep South African forces from attacking Angola’s capital city and more than 300,000 Cubans aided in Angola’s independence struggle - 2,000 of whom were killed during the conflict. In 1988, Castro sent in even more troops, which helped to overcome the South African army and, thus, advance the mission of black South Africans. But Castro didn’t stop there. In 1990, Cuba also played a role in helping Namibia win independence from South Africa, another blow to the apartheid government. After Nelson Mandela was freed from prison in 1990, he repeatedly thanked Castro.   â€Å"He was a hero in Africa, Latin America, and North America for those who needed freedom from oligarchic and autocratic oppression,† the Rev. Jesse Jackson said of Castro in a statement about the Cuban leader’s death. â€Å"While Castro, unfortunately, denied many political freedoms, he at the same time did establish many economic freedoms - education and health care. He changed the world. While we may not agree with all of Castro’s actions, we can accept his lesson that where there is oppression there must be resistance.† Black Americans like Jackson  have long expressed admiration for Castro, who famously met with Malcolm X in Harlem in 1960 and sought out meetings with other black leaders. Mandela and Castro South Africa’s Nelson Mandela publicly praised Castro for his support of the anti-apartheid struggle. The military support Castro sent to Angola helped to destabilize the apartheid regime and pave the way for new leadership. While Castro stood on the right side of history, as far as apartheid was concerned, the U.S. government is said to have been involved in Mandela’s 1962 arrest and even characterized him as a terrorist. Moreover, President  Ronald Reagan vetoed the Anti-Apartheid Act. When Mandela was released from prison after serving 27 years for his political activism, he described Castro as an â€Å"inspiration to all freedom-loving people.† He applauded Cuba for remaining independent in spite of fierce opposition from imperialist nations such as the United States. He said that South Africa also wished â€Å"to control our own destiny† and publicly asked Castro to visit. â€Å"I haven’t visited my South African homeland yet,† Castro said. â€Å"I want it, I love it as a homeland. I love it as a homeland as I love you and the South African people.† The Cuban leader finally traveled to South Africa in 1994 to watch Mandela become its first black president. Mandela faced criticism for supporting Castro but kept his promise not to ignore his allies in the fight against apartheid. Why Black Americans Admire Castro African Americans have long felt a kinship to the people of Cuba  given the island nation’s considerable black population. As Sam Riddle, political director of Michigan’s National Action Network told the Associated Press, â€Å"It was Fidel who fought for the human rights for black Cubans. Many Cubans are as black as any black who worked in the fields of Mississippi or lived in Harlem. He believed in medical care and education for his people.† Castro ended segregation after the Cuban Revolution and gave asylum to Assata Shakur (nee Joanne Chesimard), a black radical who fled there after a 1977 conviction for killing a state trooper in New Jersey. Shakur has denied wrongdoing. But Riddle’s portrayal of Castro as a race relations hero may be somewhat romanticized given that black Cubans are overwhelmingly poor, underrepresented in positions of power and locked out of jobs in the country’s burgeoning tourism industry, where lighter skin appears to be a prerequisite to entry. In 2010, 60 prominent African Americans, including Cornel West and filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles, issued a letter attacking Cubas human rights record, especially as it related to black political dissidents. They expressed concern that the Cuban government had â€Å"increased violations of civil and human rights for those black activists in Cuba who dare raise their voices against the islands racial system.† The letter also called for the release from prison of black activist and physician Darsi Ferrer. Castro’s revolution may have promised equality for blacks, but he was ultimately unwilling to engage those who pointed out that racism remained. The Cuban government responded to the concerns of the African American group by simply denouncing their statement.

Moral & Cultural Relativism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Moral & Cultural Relativism - Essay Example One person may hold the opinion that strawberry flavor is sweeter than a Vanilla flavor. According to that person, no reasoning can be applied to decide whether his opinion concerning the taste is right or wrong. In this case, the opinions concerning ice cream tastes are relative. In the context of mathematics, when one presents a calculation like 3+3=5, we term the situation as wrong. We do not say that the calculations depend on the taste and perception of the person doing it but we say that the person is wrong. In this case, there are clearly defined standards that differentiate right from wrong. This mathematical example amounts to a context of absolutism. When extended to the contexts of morality, these contexts lead to the aspects of moral relativism and moral absolutism (Rauchut 349). Moral Relativism vs. Moral Absolutism Moral relativism advocates that there are no universal or defined moral standards governing social situations within any given social setting. Moral relativi sts advocate that there are no moral codes of conducts which apply universally at all times. With respect to this assertion, no one can say that someone is wrong or right because such a claim would amount to judging people based on some standards, which is contrary to the ideas of moral relativism. ... In the context of morality, absolutism asserts that moral codes of conduct are relevant at all times, regardless of the situation surrounding the same moral codes. However, moral absolutism allows for flexibility when evaluating morally violated contexts. Absolutists usually allow for the reasoning on the code of conduct with respect to the situation under consideration. For example, according to moral absolutism, the act of killing is wrong. However, the situation surrounding the action might justify the action as appropriate, but not as right. Therefore, moral absolutism acknowledges the existence of universal moral principles everywhere in the world (Rauchut 361). Arguments for Moral Absolutism In the context of morality, I will stand for the aspect of moral absolutism, and stand against moral relativism. In moral absolutism, one can judge a situation as right or wrong, irrespective of the situation under consideration. In the context of social interactions within any given human population, there are situations which are guided by some set of moral principles. For example, stealing is wrong. It is natural to see a parent disciplining a child because the child has stolen from a neighbor. According to absolutism, the act of stealing is based on the unnecessary economic predicament caused by that action to the victim. Therefore, moral principles advocate that it is absolutely wrong to steal, irrespective of the situation. If moral relativism were applied in such a situation, it would argue that the parent should not judge the child as right or wrong by the act of stealing; hence the child would not have been punished. Therefore, moral absolutism helps in developing