Effect On Air Pollution Of Kathmandu Valley

Effect On Air Pollution Of Kathmandu Valley Clean air is necessary for human health. Human body needs approximately 25 kg of air per day to keep up its requirement of oxygen (CEN, 2002). It replicates signifies the importance of air to human beings and any contamination in the air will have a direct impact on our health. Pure air consists 21% of oxygen 78% of nitrogen and 1% other gases. If the air composition is altered by the increase in concentration of certain gases or by intrusion of non-gaseous components like particulate matters, then the air is understood to be polluted and the components that alter the inherent compositional property of air are termed as air pollutants. Air pollution affects almost all aspects of the environment including the biota and the physical components where they strive on. A variety of sources have been identified as the components of the air pollution and they include both the natural and anthropogenic sources of origin; however, the anthropogenic sources of air pollution are more pronounced. Anthropogenic air pollutants are more harmful and include Particulate matter (PM), Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Carbon monoxide (CO), Lead (Pb), Ozone (O3) and Hydrocarbons (HCs). (CEN, 2002) Air pollution is a big issue all over the world mainly in urban areas because of fossil fuel driven transportation system.. Besides this, the unmanaged booming of urban settlements has helped to increase the concentration of air pollutants by limiting their horizontal dispersion thereby interfering with the health of people. Mainly, children, elderly and the patients of lungs and heart are more vulnerable to the effects of air pollution. According to Asian Development Bank (2001), in the South Asian Cities, approximately 100,000 premature deaths every year is caused by the detrimental effects of air pollution. Air Pollution in Kathmandu The issue of air pollution in Kathmandu Valley is continuously drawing the attention of concerned bodies and the gravity of the problem is growing year by year. Owing to the topography of Kathmandu Valley, growing population, haphazard urbanization and increase in vehicle density imparted as an effect of affluence and need to serve the growing population, the valley has been facing worse situation of ambient air every year. However, the issue of air pollution in Kathmandu Valley doesnt bear a long history as the development of road networks and history of transportation system in the valley do not have the long history either. Many researches and the discourse held within the country on air pollution has identified the transportation system and linked with it, the poor situation of the infrastructure as the root causes of air pollution in Kathmandu Valley. Regarding the dominant air pollutant of Kathmandu, it is Particulate Matter (PM), the concentration of which is observed higher d uring night in the winter due to the creation of inversion layer which acts as the blanket to trap pollutants. The PM concentration in Kathmandu has always exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) standard and National Ambient Air Quality Standard of Nepal. Besides particulate matters (PM10 and PM2.5) the concentration of other pollutants are not a major issue in Kathmandu Valley. Gaseous pollutants such as NO2 and SO2 are generally within standards but the concentration of NO2 is fairly high in areas with heavy traffic and this has the potential of future increase with further increase in number of vehicles operating within the valley. Another potential concern is the concentration of air toxins such as benzene and poly aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The concentration of benzene is within national standards but the national standard of 20 µg/m3 is itself fairly high. Although Nepal does not have any standards for PAH, monitoring done in 2003 indicated fairly high levels of these pollutants in Kathmandu Valley. (ICIMOD, 2007) PM2.5 is considered to be more hazardous than PM10. Although Nepal does not have any standards for PM2.5, some monitoring has been carried out for PM2.5 in Kathmandu Valley. (ICIMOD, 2007) Statement of Problem Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal is the focus of all the major facets of the country, namely economy, tourism, culture, politics, administration and natural environment. Due to the above reasons, the population of Kathmandu valley is increasing day by day. Apart from this, the infrastructure development has never been able to keep up with the unmanaged and accelerating growth. As a result, this has led to increase in slums, inadequate and polluted drinking water supply, polluted air to breathe, haphazard manner of dumping the solid waste in the neighborhoods. Every people have right to breath clean air. Increase in population, vehicular fleet, energy consumption and industries, mainly brick industries have contributed to degrade air quality in Kathmandu valley. Overall, the bowl or the cup shaped topography of the valley also has prevented the dispersion of air pollutants to longer distances. Research questions: The research will address following issues: 1. What is the main air pollution facing by local people in Kathmandu valley? 2. What are the main institutional changes that have been made to control the air pollution? 3. What are strength and weakness of these institutional changes? 4. What further policy measures should be instituted to reduce air pollution to acceptable levels? 2. Background Kathmandu is the capital city of Nepal. The Kathmandu valley consists of three major cities i.e Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. Kathmandu Valley is situated in 27 ° 3730 N and 27 ° 450 N latitude and 85 ° 15 ´0à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ³ E and 85 ° 22 ´30à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ³ E longitude. And the Kathmandu valley is located at an altitude of 1350meters. The Kathmandu valley is oval shaped and surrounded by high hill range. And the area of Kathmandu valley is 340 sq.km and the total population of Kathmandu valley is 1,442,271(CBS 2001). The climate of Kathmandu valley is sub tropical temperate. Along with it have four seasons pre-monsoon, monsoon, post monsoon and winter. In general, average temperature in summer is 32 °c and in winter is 5 °c. Due to economic activity and high chances of opportunities and facilities many people from all around the country has been migrated in the Kathmandu valley and is been highly dense. Air pollution in the Kathmandu Valley has been one of the major problems. It can be said that air pollution started as the invention of road networks and automobiles. High population with unplanned and unmanaged urbanization, rapid increasing of automobiles, vehicles and industries are the factors in the causes of air pollution. http://www.tsiindia.com/img/nepal_map.gif (Source: http://www.tsiindia.com/img/nepal_map.gif, date:30th November 2010) According to the presentation given by traffic police, road length per traffic police has improved since 1995 from 2.3 km to 1.6 km that is good sign for better traffic management. Nevertheless, due to enormous rise in the number of vehicles in Kathmandu, the traffic police are laden with responsibilities of higher number of vehicles than they had to be for 1995. From 2002 to 2009, the total number of vehicles in Bagmati zone increased by 1.25 times than that was before 2002 from 176415 to 396151. The statistics show that the vehicles has progressively increased from 2002 to 2009, the only exception being at 2006/07 probably due to the cause of contemporary political situation. The number of vehicles for individual traffic police has increased from 165 in 1995 to 415 in 2008 i.e. more than 2.5 times. In reality, the number of vehicles a traffic police should look for is even higher because not all the traffic police within Kathmandu are in duty at the same time during a day. In the context of road length and vehicle numbers, the nominal increase in road length has resulted in crowding of roads. The population density per kilometer road length during 1995 was 1668 that rose to 2353 in 2008 while, the number of vehicles per kilometer road length in Kathmandu was 70 in 1995 that has risen by about four times i.e. 255 in 2008. Moreover, in case of Kathmandu the traffic congestion, in practice, is observed due to the inadequate road width and lack of proper identification of the road lane for vehicles moving from the opposite directions. The proper traffic management can thus be initiated with the demarcation of lane, which can, as additional benefit, reduce the vehicle collision and traffic accident. Figure : Comparison on Transportation Attributes for 1995 and 2005 (Source: Valley Traffic Control, 2009 where Blue colour shows 1995 and red is 2005) Causes of Air pollution: If any unwanted particles mixed in the air, it is called air pollution. It can cause for both human Well as environment also. Air pollutants can be in the form of solid particles, liquid as well as gas form. They are may be either natural or artificial. Main artificial air pollutants are Sulfur Oxides, Nitrogen Oxides, Carbon monoxide, Carbon dioxide, Volatile organic compounds, Particulate matters, ground ozone, ammonia etc. (Wikipedia). Sources of artificial air pollution are as follows: i) Rapid Urbanization ii) Vehicular emission iii) Industrial growth iv) Unmanaged disposal of waste etc. 3. THEORY 3.1 Concept of Institution: An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order or it may bee said as a set of some formal rules, regulation and norms of some formal rules, regulation and norms formulated to establish the smooth running society or to govern the behavior of human being in the society. Institutions are formed to formalize the society and to show the human being to act as a social animal. It is the outcome of the society and can be said as the need in the human community to harmonize the behavior of the people. The term institution is commonly applied to customs and behavior patterns important to a society, as well as to particular formal organizations of government and public service (Stanford Encyclopedia: social institutions). Although individual, formal organizations, commonly identifies as Institution may be deliberately and intentionally created by people, the development and functioning of institutions in society in general may be regarded as an instance of emergency, that is institution arise, develop and function in a pattern of social self organizations, which goes beyond the conscious intentions of the individual human involved (http://en .wikipedia.org/wiki/institution#aspects_of_institutions, 28th nov. 2010). The institution that has been established to enhance the quality of ambient air quality in Kathmandu is the outcome of the result from the air pollution. Those are not demand of the people but the result of the problem. The banning of two stroke vehicles in Kathmandu, banning of brick kiln factories was not in favor of people. It just hit on the head of the poor people in the society, but that was the outcomes of the problems not as the intentional outcomes. 3.2 Resource Use and Resource Regimes: Those goods which consists of a natural or human made resource system whose size or characteristics makes it costly but not impossible to exclude the people from getting benefits from its use are generally known as common-pool resource (CPR) or it may be called as common-property resources. Since the common-pool resources are open access, there is the problem off congestion or over use. Unlike public goods, they are subtractable. A common pool resource for example air is a large stock but only provides the limited quantity of extractable unit and over use will create problems as we are here to discuss the air pollution in Kathmandu. A common property regime is a particular social arrangement regulating the preservation, maintenance, and consumption of a common pool resource. The use of the term Common property resource to designate a type of good has been critized, because common pool resource is not necessarily governed by common property regimes.(http://en.wikkipedia.org/wiki/commo n/pool/resource,date26th Nov.2010). Example may be taken as the air in Kathmandu which is the common pool resources. It allows certain amount of pollutants but beyond this the gets polluted. There will be various consequences as it gets polluted. Because the core resource is vulnerable, it is subjected to congestion, over use and ultimately pollution. Any system has their own certain capacity to cope with the change and beyond that the system gets disturb and in case off air in Kathmandu, situation came due to the dramatic increase in population and excessive use of vehicles that run by the fossil-fuels. The use of common pool resources can be continuously done as the loop if they are managed properly and carefully exploited because they form the positive feedback loop since they are stock variable but the haphazard use of it deteriorates the stock and disrupt the flow variable for good. 3.2.1 Resource Use in Kathmandu: Open access Market Effect of distribution No rules As shown in the above figure, the air in the Kathmandu was open access and there was no any rules concerning the use of it and the ownership for it. As the time passes, there araised several agents and market introduced. The outcome of the dramatic increase in the population in the city results in the excessive use of vehicles for the transportation system. Unfortunately those vehicles are run by fossil fuel which when used emit air pollutant in the atmosphere. So there is the pollution problem in the valley. Now government has their head towards it and they are formulating institution to enhance thee quality of it. Though the air in the valley is open access but there are some rules concerning the use of it. Thee government have introduced green tax, banning of diesel running three wheelers etc. Now the system approaches where it is still the open access but with market, shown in the figure above. There are some rules concerning the use of it and hence thee distributional have came into action in this case. 3.3 Framework for Analyzing for resource use problem Air in the Kathmandu valley is common property and is open access. At the time passes, the technology has developed as well as the population of city increase dramatically. This is partly due the centralization and civil war in Nepal. If the natural resources was vast compare to the capacity of people to use it, there could be no problem (vatn, 2005), but here the thing is just opposite to that. Technology Attributes of the resources: Outcomes -resource use -state of resource Agents and aagents choices Patterns of interaction Institutions- regimes Convention Norms Formal rules (Source: Vatn, 2005,) (Figure: Framework for analyzing resource use problems) Finally this aspect has influence has chose new institution and government of Nepal formulated some rules and regulation for the enhancement of air quality in Kathmandu valley. Along with this, different Medias, NGOs, INGOs are involved to motivate people regarding air pollution. The institution such as banning of two stock vehicles, relocation of Himal cement factory, introduction of green tax was introduced. Although there are many such many rules regulation and acts came into existence but some the institution lack third party control system. The government formulated the rules and people were not seemed to walk along with this change. Since there was lack of third party no body were there to check and control the implementation of such policies. With regards to institution we may also distinguish between operational rules, rules concerning the defining of operation rules and finally external arrangement / rules. The operational rule defines the everyday regulation regimes. (Vatn, 2005). The next important factor to take into consideration is agents and agents choice. Here the structure of institution greatly helps to motivate the people. Institution in Nepal was so formed that people were motivated and aware of air pollution and its impact to some extent. But the technology did not fit the resource use. As being the developing county the people do not have any option rather than to use fissile fuels as the main source of energy for the transportation system. At the same time dramatic increase in population in the city force to consume more fuel energy and Kathmandu valley stood first in position in term of vehicle registration in Nepal. So the air being the open access was very vulnerable to risk. Eventually due interaction of technology and choice of agents the problem of air pollution came in the valley. There difficulties are mainly due to four factors. Basically regime is not able to motivate correlation action in accordance with what is demanded given resource characteristic, technology, number of agents and corruption by the government official. Corruption is so deep rooted that one can easily break up the institution formulated by the state. This can be seen as the drawback of the system or the lack of motivation. If outcomes are not in accordance what is expected or wanted agents can change institutional structures. In principal this may occur at all level, with regards to conventions, norms and formal rules (Vatn, 2005). However, changing such rules and regulation certainly need considerable time and result of such change to the institution can only be noticed after some period of time. 3.4 Air as a common pool resource in Kathmandu Goods or resources can be generally classified into two groups. They are Excludable or Non-excludable and Rivalry or Non Rivalry. When a person or a firm can set a barrier on his/her property like land to prevent the use of it by other are called excludable goods and those where the demarcation is not possible are called non-excludable goods. When the goods at one time prevent the use off same good simultaneously by other is called rivalry goods and on the other hand, just like air, the of which can never stop other to use it at the same time is called non-rivalry goods or resource. Exclusion costs (TCs) Low High I III II IV Yes Rivalry in use or consumption No (Source: Vatn, 2005, pp 263) (Fig: Characterization of resources or goods according to the cost of exclusion and rivalry in use or consumption). While goods of type I are typically labeled Private goods, type II and type IV are called goods and public goods, respectively. With regards to type III, common-pool-resourceis an often used concept. In the tradition of leaping of resource characteristics to regime implication, type I is often equated with private property and markets, II with clubs, III with standard common property or open access and IV with state/public property. (Vatn, 2005, pp 263) 3.4.1 Rivalry goods As we are discussing about the in the Kathmandu valley, it can bee seen that the resource is rivalry type. In Kathmandu valley, different types of factories, industries, vehicles are continuously meeting the air pollutant which ultimately invited the pollution problem and all the citizens are suffering from it. In the case of rival goods, the core problem is that of external effect. This is typically the case for many environmental resources where use-at least beyond the certain level-reduce its quantity and/or quality (Vatn, 2005, pp263). Therefore air in case of Kathmandu valley can be considered as rival goods. 3.4.2 Non-Excludable goods When the goods are private or owned by certain people or organization, than the demarcation is very easy that means transaction cost is very low. But when thee goods or resources are open access or common property, the exclusion cost is very high because the typical demarcation is not possible. In this case, air is common property and everybody in the city can use it undoubtly and the transaction cost is very high 3.5 Mechanism to reduce air pollution: The pollution problem in Kathmandu can be seen as the outcome of excessive energy used and technological development. This can simply be framed as follows: Production Input Output 3.5.1 Taxation input Basically the major pollution problem in the valley is due to the excessive use of the vehicles which are runes by the petroleum products. So air pollution can be reduced by introducing the tax in the fossil fuel. This is the best way because there is low transaction cost in doing so. High tax in the fule wills automatically reduce the use of private vehicles and the public vehicles uses will be increased to the considerable extent. 3.5.2 Taxation in production and technology On the other hand, this can be done by introducing the tax in the technology that means motor car, private vehicles, and factories, industries which use energy and emit the pollutants in the air and also providing the subsidy to those who use bicycle or electronic means of transportation. As the government of Nepal is doing , banning of diesel running three wheelers, two stock vehicles are also the way to enhance the air quality to some extent. This is a very simple way and there is low transaction cost in introduction such institutions but this dominantly hit the poor in the society. 3.5.3 Taxation in Output There is another way of controlling the air pollution but the transaction cost in very high in doing so. The introduction of emission tax can be very good way to enhance the air quality. Here the transaction cost will be fairly very high. 4. Methods For fulfilling the study objectives, a systematic study approach was followed. The major base for research founded with the collection of relevant secondary data and information from various national and international sources. The field-based study could not be done. The following process are done: Literature Review Secondary Data Collection Data Analysis Draft Report Preparation Final Report Dissemination 5. Analysis Increasing number of vehicles without extension of roads is diagnosed to be the major problem in Kathmandu. The growth of the vehicles in Kathmandu is a major concern to traffic police, vehicle drivers, and pedestrians. From the result, it is observed that the road length of Kathmandu is increasing very nominally while the numbers of vehicles are increasing with an exceptional growth rate and it ultimately help to increase air pollution. 5.1 Causes of Air Pollution Air pollution causes by both anthropogenic as well as natural sources. Anthropogenic source is the main cause in Kathmandu valley than that of natural source. Mainly fossil fuel combustion and other activities like brick factories, unmanaged road system, stone grinding factories are added pollution. Vehicle system is the main source to emit carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxide. Approximately 67 percent of Particulate matter is supplied by vehicular emission in Kathmandu valley. 5.1.1 Sources of air pollution Sources of air pollution are of two types: Natural and artificial. Main sources of artificial air pollution are as follows: A) Rapid Urbanization: Kathmandu valley has very fertile land, but nowadays it is known as unmanaged urban area. The main cause of this is Kathmandu-centric development and migration of people due to insurgency and political conflict. It is the biggest city of the Nepal and about 20 percent urban people live here. The population increase rate here is as twice as national rate of 2.2%. (ICIMOD, 2007). B) Vehicular Emission: It is the main source for air pollution. According to the Department of Transportation and Management, Government of Nepal, the first bus service in Nepal commenced in1957 and since then the fleet has grown substantially. The cumulative vehicular number in Bagmati zone (administrative zone where the vehicles of Kathmandu Valley are registered) was 176,415 in 2001 and it reached 396,151 in 2008. Most of the vehicles registered in Bagmati zone is used in Kathmandu valley. This record shows the rapid increment of vehicles in Kathmandu valley. Vehicle number in Kathmandu has been increasing rapidly in the last five years. C) Industrial Emissions: About two-fifth industries in Nepal are located in Kathmandu valley. According to the Department of Cottage and small industries, there were 14,971 up to 2006. Out of them, 111 are brick kilns and 89 are stone crushers. They contribute 14% of the total particulate matter in Kathmandu valley. Management of solid waste is another problem which also causes air pollution and vulnerable to health. (ICIMOD,2007) 5.1.2 Effects of air pollution The effect of air pollution is high in human health. High exposure in air pollution may cause chronic bronchitis, lung cancer, asthma and other respiratory problems. It also affects cardio vascular system and nervous system (Lahiri, 2003). Particulate matter is the main problem of Kathmandu, which not only affects the health but also the tourism industry. Due to the poor health, human productivity is also loss. All these impacts finally affect the economic system of individual as well as of state. The long term study of health impact due to air pollution is yet to be conducted in Kathmandu Valley. However, Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre (CWIN) surveyed about 60 children who were working as staffs on three-wheelers in valley and result showed that 84% staffs were suffering from eye problem, 82% chest pains, 66% were suffering from coughs and 58% by headaches. Similarly 45% children were suffering by respiratory problem. Shakya S conducted a study incorporating questionnaires to the traffic police. He observed that out of 90 traffic police, most of them were suffering from diseases related to nervous and respiratory systems. Similarly, Clean Energy Nepal (CEN) also did a questionnaire survey for the people who live near to the brick industries and in control area. The study revealed that 54% out of surveyed people near to the brick kiln were suffering from respiratory problem and 41% people in the control area were affected by respiratory disorder. The other problems due to air pollution are as follows: Acid rain Ozone layer depletion Reduction of visibility In context of Kathmandu, the issues of acid rain and ozone layer depletion are not very significant as both of these issues are the outcomes of the heavy industrial pollution. The formation of the photochemical smog and acid droplets due to hydration of the SOx and NOx are not well defined in the pollution status of the ambient air of Kathmandu. As mentioned in the earlier sections the concentrations of both these gases are well below the standards set by the Government of Nepal and WHO. However, regarding the visibility the problem perpetuates in Kathmandu during all seasons with even more pronounced effects during the winters when temperature inversion takes place. The visibility problem is basically caused by the particulate matters and the problem subsides only during the periods of heavy rainfall. 5.2. Policies and institutional arrangements for managing emissions from motor vehicles: A number of programs have been done to fight against the air pollution in Kathmandu Valley. Some are given below. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 1991, government stopped to register three-wheelers. It was the first response related to air pollution of Kathmandu valley. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 1994, government place emission standards for in-use vehicles. Green stickers were given those vehicles which met emission values. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Ministry of Population and Environment was established in 1995. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Environmet Protection Act 2000 and Rules were enacted in 1997. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 1998, the government formulated NVMES in 2000; these standards, equivalent to EURO-I emission norms, went into effect from January 2000. All new means of transportation imported from abroad since then have had to meet the terms. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 1997 the government decided to provide financial support to battery-operated electric three-wheelers. It was given in the form of tax breaks. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 1999, diesel three-wheelers were banned in Kathmandu Valley. Similarly it was banned in other cities also. Vehicle owners were given tax incentive to buy new vehicles. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In November 2000, the government decided to ban public vehicles older than 20 years. Similarly it banned all two stroke vehicle in Kathmandu Valley. The policy was followed from 16 November, 2001. Government tried to follow this rule strictly but was unable to put into practice the decision. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In late 2000, two-stroke motorcycle registration was restricted. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The vehicle run by LPG and CPG (compressed natural gas) was improved from 2000. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 2001, government decided adds 10% extra tax for the vehicle having older than 15 years. This is the first case that government linked between tax and vehicle age. It helped to discourage the use of older vehicles. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 2001, The National Transport Policy was formulated. This policy is directly related to clean transportation system. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 2003, the National Ambient Air Quality System for various air pollutants was established. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Two-stroke three-wheeler vehicles were banned from 2004 in the Kathmandu Valley. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Government closed Himal Cement Factory to control the air pollution which was situated near the valley. (Source: Dahal, 2006) Government has formulated and applied many rules and regulations to address the air pollution of Kathmandu valley, but the graph below shows that the main air pollutants Total Suspended Particulates (Particulate matters) is increasing every year. (Source: MoEST Report 2006) 5.3. Strength and weakness of these institutional changes: It is found that reforms in existing institutional set up is likely to bring some positive impact on the air quality of Kathmandu valley. Removing two stroke vehicles from the valley have reduced the air pollution as well as noise pollution. It has also helped to reduce the energy consumption because the two stroke vehicles use more fuel than other. However, the rules and regulations are no implemented because of the political instability and corruptions. The economic condition of the country has also impacted on the implementation the institutions because the government has not allocated sufficient fund for environment. In Nepal there is separate ministry dealing with environment (Ministry of Environment), however, the establishment of the local authority like environment department and its associated regional and district bodies, to effectively deal with the problems related to environment has not been materialized yet, even after more than a decade has passed with the establishmen t of environment ministry. The establishment of environment department is still in the stage of planning and government has made efforts to establish it in near future, but according to the government financial constraint

Conflict between Individuality and Conformity in The Bell Jar Essays

Conflict between Individuality and Conformity in The Bell Jar    In Sylvia Plath's novel The Bell Jar, Esther Greenwood seems incapable of healthy relationships with other women. She is trapped in a patriarchal society with rigid expectations of womanhood. The cost of transgressing social norms is isolation, institutionalization and a lost identity as woman. The struggle for an individual identity under this regime is enough to drive a person to the verge of suicide. Given the oppressive system under which she must operate, Esther Greenwood's problems with women stem from her conflict between individuality and conformity.    In formulating my topic, I have relied on Adrienne Rich's book Of Woman Born, as well as Cathy Griggers' essay "Lesbian Bodies in the Age of (Post)mechanical Reproduction." Rich discusses the cultural institutionalization of motherhood, while Griggers brings a Feminist and Marxist perspective to the topic of lesbian body image in a capitalist, market-driven society. Both consider the effects of patriarchy and heterosexism in their treatment of the experience of lesbians in society. I found these texts to be very helpful in offering an explanation of Esther's harsh negative reaction to Joan, as well as in illustrating the anxieties of women in an androcentric, heterocentric, and conformist society.    Esther's fundamental problem with female relationships is best exemplified in her conflict with mothering and mentoring figures. These women defy her desire to be independent and free. Rich describes the tendency toward matrophobia, the fear of becoming one's mother. She explains that "the mother stands for the victim in ourselves, the unfree woman" (236). This fear of becoming like the mother/... ...rginia Woolf and Walter Pater. New Haven: Yale UP, 1980.    Minow-Pinkney, Makiko. Virginia Woolf & the Problem of the Subject. Sussex: Harvester P, 1987.    Moi, Toril. Sexual/Textual Politics; Feminist Literary Theory. London: Routledge, 1985.    Oberg, Arthur. "Sylvia Plath and the New Decadence." in Butscher, Edward, ed.    Phillips, Robert. "The Dark Funnel: A Reading of Sylvia Plath." in Butscher, Edward, ed.    Plath, Sylvia. The Collected Poems. Ed. Ted Hughes. New York: Harper and Row, 1981.    Rose, Jacqueline. The Haunting of Sylvia Plath. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1992.    Rosenblatt, Jon. Sylvia Plath: The Poetry of Initiation. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 1979.    Smith, Pamela. "Architectonics: Sylvia Plath's Colossus." in Butscher, Edward, ed.      

Amtrack Case Study

In the given Amtrack case study provided, which involved a train in an accident that caused forty seven deaths can   be perceived as an ethical issue that is based on whom to blame on some situation which arise and uncertain.The ethical issue lie on who to blame among the main stakeholders, where the main stakeholders in this situation include the engineers, the national transportation safety board, conductor and assistant conductor CSX Transportation Inc and also WGN company.The main decision makers in the case include the media, the United States government and also the National Transportation Safety Board.The Amrack company had a cooperate social responsibility of ensuring that it promoted the social welfare of the community in which its operated a part from the benefits that it got from its operations.The company had a cooperate responsibility of following the legal procedures which are set by the relevant authorities in ensuring improved social welfare of the community (Loudon , 1986).For example the company was expected to adhere to the measures which were set by National Transportation Safety Board in improving the passengers safety when on board, but the company otherwise decided not to follow the rules by not   equipping the train with the sensor which was meant to detect the bridge damages.The company may have also perceived the equipping of the train with the sensor as a cost which was meant to make them loose economically, therefore decided to do without the device at the expense of endangering the passengers lives.The company also has a cooperate social responsibility in protecting the human lives on board, which it traded by not fixing the sensor to the train implying that they valued money more than human lives.Philanthropy is another social cooperate responsibility that involves the donating an aid to a charitable cause in improving the welfare of the community that a company is operating in, and this should depend on the wealth level of the donating company.Law provides a basis for an ethical decision on the legal, economic, ethical and philanthropic issues of cooperate social responsibility. Law provide that the companies should adhere to the set standards of operating which are intended to improve the welfare of the community and this include the rules for the protection of humanity and the environment.The companies are expected to observe some safety measure during their operation to ensure that the participates in their operation, both the workers and the users of their products are safe.The law also provide that companies are expected to instill the safety measures despite the cost of implementing the safety measures. Companies are likely to avoid taking some safety measures because of the costs involved in the implementation, therefore law is meant to ensure that the safety measures are in place.Companies are certain to value profits more than the human lives therefore posing an ethical problem (Bentham, 2007). L aw is needed in protecting humanity because it will ensure that companies are protecting humanity despite their much interest in profit maximization.Most cooperation are profit maximizing and for that reason they do not like spending in charitable activities toward the improvement of the community welfare as a cooperate social responsibility, otherwise they perceive the donations as a waste of resources.This situation call for the act of law to ensure that the companies provide for charitable activities aimed at improving the welfare of the community in which they operate in so as so make their operations reflective of the society in which they operate in (Hess and Bales, 2007).Law is therefore meant to make them contribute to charitable activities in proportion to the companies' wealth, hence the promotion of philanthropy.Conclusion and Recommendations.From the Amtrack case study, the main ethical issue is the conflicting interests in society which gave an opportunity for the occur rence of the accident. The Amtrack company is concern with lowering its operating costs at the expense of human safety who use the company train. The National transport safety board is also concerned with the safety of the passengers.Due to the conflicting interests in the society as portrayed in the case, there occurs the need for having set rules which are meant to cater for the interests of all persons in society.The rules which are part of the country of the country's law should be set in a manner in which all the parties' interest are considered and judgement made on   the basis of mutual benefits.The positive implication of the recommendation is that order will be restored in society as everybody will be expected to behave in a manner in which is expected to promote the general good of everybody. The negative implication of the recommendation is that some entities in societies will feel restrained in achieved their interest at the expense of the other entities' welfare.The p ossible criticism over the recommendation is that, it is difficult to exactly draws a balance over interests because the interest of individuals' are varied thus a unattainable.The best possible way to address the criticism is to make a judgement based on the premise that one is expected to behave in manner in which he   or she   may expect to be treated when in a situation like that of his or her neighbor in promoting the general happiness.ReferenceBentham J., 2007, An Introduction to the Principals of Moral and Legislation, Dover Pubns, pp 14 Loudon M., 1986,   Philanthropic Economy, E. Churton, pp 13 Hess A. and Bales J., 2007, Design Professional and Constarctive Manager Law, American Bar   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Association, pp 28   

Kristallnacht - The Night of Broken Glass

On November 9, 1938, Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels announced a government-sanctioned reprisal against the Jews. Synagogues were ravaged and then burned. Jewish shop windows were broken. Jews were beaten, raped, arrested, and murdered. Throughout Germany and Austria, the pogrom known as Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) rampaged. The Damage Police and firefighters stood by as synagogues burned and Jews were beaten, only taking action to prevent the spread of fire to non-Jew owned property and to stop looters - upon SS officer Reinhard Heydrichs orders. The pogrom spanned the night of November 9 to 10. During this night 191 synagogues were set on fire. The damage to shop windows was estimated at $4 million U.S. dollars. Ninety-one Jews were murdered while 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to camps such as Dachau, Sachsenhausen, and Buchenwald. Why Did the Nazis Sanction the Pogrom? By 1938, the Nazis had been in power for five years and were hard at work trying to rid Germany of its Jews, attempting to make Germany Judenfrei (Jew free). Approximately 50,000 of the Jews living within Germany in 1938 were Polish Jews. The Nazis wanted to force the Polish Jews to move back to Poland, but Poland did not want these Jews either. On October 28, 1938, the Gestapo rounded up the Polish Jews within Germany, put them on transports, and then dropped them off on the Polish side of the Poland-Germany border (near Posen). With little food, water, clothing, or shelter in the middle of winter, thousands of these people died. Among these Polish Jews were the parents of seventeen-year-old Hershl Grynszpan. At the time of the transports, Hershl was in France studying. On November 7, 1938, Hershl shot Ernst vom Rath, the third secretary in the German embassy in Paris. Two days later, vom Rath died. The day vom Rath died, Goebbels announced the need for retaliation. What does the word Kristallnacht mean? Kristallnacht is a German word that consists of two parts: Kristall translates to crystal and refers to the look of broken glass and Nacht means night. The accepted English translation is the Night of Broken Glass.