San Diego Desalination Plant as a Stepping Stone to a Greener City

The Carlsbad Desalination Project is well on its way to production and it is geared to be a solid contributing factor to San Diego as an ecologically green city. A serious drought has taken the state by storm and a new water source that provides the needs of 300,000 San Diegans is an important step in the right direction of revamping the city for the next generation.

To be certain the desalination comes with a heavy $1 billion dollar price tag that will take some time to pay off. However, it does provide a significant reduction in water consumption for the city somewhere in the 9% range. This means San Diego has a water sources that shaves off another 10% of water usage on top of water conservation efforts.

Considering that it is unlikely that the city will find an untapped source of natural water soon such plants make sense in today’s world. San Diego will stand out as one of the cities in the future that can not only provides water but also contributes to the development of more eco-friendly cities that leave less damaging footprint on the environment.

I believe this to be an important selling point for the city. As local government and stakeholders think about long-term plans they can capitalize on the areas natural beauty, background and resources by engaging in environmentally friendly changes. We can see the tip of the ice berg with new bike lanes. The possibilities are great for other projects.

Someday San Diego may produce another desalination plant. The ocean is plentiful and can potentially provide higher percentages of water as technology improves to reduce household and construction costs that are prohibitive in other communities. Perhaps someday we may be choosing to build another desalination plant if the Chargers decide to move to the scorched earth just to the North.  
What is the economic contribution of a green city?

Solar Powered San Diego Encourages Ecological Advancement

San Diego is well on its way to becoming a city destined for environmental salvation. According to the non-profit Environment California Research & Policy Center San Diego Ranks second in the nation in terms of solar power usage. We are doing well in protecting our environment and ensuring a sustainable future. That doesn't mean we can't do more.

Creating streamlined processes for solar power installation approval as well as encouraging higher levels of solar power reliance is beneficial for setting the framework for sustainable cities. If there are any unnecessary restrictions on installing solar panels it will raise the overall customer costs and slow the pace of solar integration.

There are advantages to developing solar panels that include less reliance on outside sources of energy, lowering long-term costs, and reducing environmental costs. As more renewable sources are developed the city will lower its overall carbon footprint and slow its contribution to environmental problems.

Finding the right policies, awareness processes, and incentives helps to ensure people make a equitable choice to use renewable sources. With solar panels there is often a higher initial investment but much lower costs spread out over the duration of the panels. Making sure people understand where they can get panels and their true costs can tip the scales in consumer choice.

Solar panels and ecologically designed cities are the way of the future. Those cities in the process of transformation and building new infrastructure should consider the benefits of developing ecologically sound practices. San Diego is in a strong position to foster ecological hubs that spur new industries in environmental and blue economic development. 


http://www.environmentcaliforniacenter.org/

Protecting San Diego Coasts

Coastal Days by Murad Abel

The ocean coastline is one of the most important assets of San Diego and California in general. It is such a popular natural resources that much of San Diego was developed off of this coastline. Warm weather, sunny beaches, and clean coasts draw around 33 million visitors a year, $8.4 billion in spending, and $388 million in taxes annually (1).  With such a valuable asset each person has a responsibility to respect and protect the environment.

If you have ever walked on the beach, surfed in the middle of day, threw a line off one of the piers, or sun tanned at the beach you will quickly learn how important this asset really is. A great many people spend hours, some a lifetime, around the beaches and enjoy them to the fullest. An entire culture as developed off of the sand.

You will also notice that the closer you get to the beach the more expensive housing becomes. Areas like La Jolla are in the millions of dollars. People pay a premium to both buy and live near the beach. As you move inland the housing becomes cheaper. The coast has created its own economy with housing, restaurants, events, and outings.

The city does a solid job keeping trash bins empty, enforcing clean up, and encouraging the protection of their most important asset. Despite the cities best efforts it is up to San Diegans, and visitors to keep the coast clean. Each of our actions contribute to the growing pollution problems of our coastline.

According to San Diego Coast Keeper, a non-profit focused on the coastline, a huge percentage of pollution comes from locals (2). Run off from trash, pesticides, animals, etc... can make their way into the water and cause their illness. It is advised not to go into the ocean directly after rain due to the buildup of pollutants that make their way into the ocean.

There are a few things we can do that help to ensure that we are limiting the amount of trash and pollutants in our environment. Seeking environmentally friendly products, recycling, picking up trash, using natural landscape, donating to environmental organizations, and frequenting businesses that support the environment are part of the process. You can always check out some of the environmentally friendly businesses below:

San Diego Government Listings

San Diego Yelp Listings

San Diego Loves Green

Greenopia

US Green Chamber of Commerce

The Picture "Coastal Days" shows a bright sky with puffy clouds.  The cliffs, coast, and oceans are bright and eye catching. The picture helps show the beauty and life that exists on the coast and appears to be nearly perfect in environmentally cleanliness. You may purchase the picture in poster form on the Creative Works page or Fine Art America.

Poem: Summer Storms

Call for Papers: GE-International Journal of Engineering Research

Paper Submission Date: 20^th January, 2014 

www.gerp.co.uk

Call for Submission Vol 2 Issue 1
FROM

Double Blind

GE-International Journal of Engineering Research ISSN: 2321-1717
Indexed / Listed at: International ISSN Directory, Paris 

Submission

Research paper prepared in MS word template with double – column in single spaced typed pages should be submitted electronically as attachment at E-mail Id of Journal mentioned below. The manuscripts in all the subject areas are welcome. Moreover, submitted manuscript must not be previously accepted for publication elsewhere. 

Place to submit research:

editorgerp@gmail.com

Last day of submission: 20^th January, 2014 

David Hume’s Construction of Senses, Thoughts and Science

David Hume was a Scottish Philosopher (1711-176) who gained fame and wealth as an essayist and historian. He spent a considerable amount of time discussing the non-intellectual aspects of human experience and the factors that create knowledge. His arguments were more in line with naturalist, pragmatists, and positivists. He believed that the relations of ideas and matters of fact are the greatest place to start a concept. 

In his work, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding the section Origin of Ideas is of significant interest. He believed that the senses are only representations of actual objects within the environment. There is a fundamental difference between experiencing and the reflection of experience. The experience and then the reflection lead to the formation of thoughts. 

Impressions come from the senses. The senses of taste, sight, smell, hearing, and touch draw information from the environment in different ways. This information is used to make conclusions from the available data. Multiple conclusions can be used to construct larger and larger understandings of the environment.  To have full understanding one must conceptually blend the conclusions to make stronger cognitive maps. 

Rational thought is the process of understanding clearly, what the five senses are bringing forward. Those who have the ability to sense their environment more are able to draw greater amounts of information that leads to higher complexities of thought. This creates an accuracy that is rooted in rationality but beyond the sensory impressions of others. 

Science is the testing of senses to ensure that the most information is drawn from the environment, a type of cause and effect. Validity increases when multiple people experience the same phenomenon and can describe that phenomenon in rational ways (i.e. we all know what the color red is). The problem is that this is a common experience but ignores the concept that red is more accurately based in the reflection of light (a non-common experience that is valid). 

Learning and thought formation is a concept of awareness. Awareness is processes of helping other people construct various data to come to rational conclusions.  If they do not understand the factors, cannot put them together, or are not willing to pay attention they cannot come to the same conclusions.  Open mindedness is a frame of mind, meaning that one is open to different possibilities and makes rational judgments based upon the quantitative (rational) analysis of those possibilities.

What are your assumptions not based in fact that hold you back from understanding?

The Origin of Color

Higher Employee Performance through Path-Goal Theory

The Path-Goal theory helps to define methods and pathways to successful achievement of organizational objectives. The theory postulates that leadership behavior is subject to the satisfaction, motivation, and performance of their subordinates. Strong leadership implies that such leaders should engage in behaviors that enhance employee abilities and reduce deficiencies. Organizations can do this through coaching, counseling, servant leadership, and engagement. The specific style of leadership and direction are based upon two contingencies that include the environment and the employee characteristics. Through the use and application of Path-Goal Theory organizations can realize higher performance.

The path-goal theory was originally developed by Robert House in 1971 and then revised again in the mid 1990’s. The theory came into business as a strong approach of managing employees and improving upon their overall performance. The ultimate goal is to provide them a path to achieve their objectives through proper communication and encouragement.  It is seen as a method of encouraging engagement.

The success of leadership depends in part on environmental factors and follower characteristics. 1.) Environmental factors relate to culture, power dynamics, team characteristics, etc… that is outside the employees control. 2.) Employee characteristics are those individual characteristics that depend on employees themselves such as employees’ needs, locus of control, experience, perceived ability, satisfaction, willingness to leave the organization, and anxiety. Proper leadership requires the ability to adjust that leadership style based upon these two contingencies. 

A study conducted by Sikandar Hayyat explored path-goal models of leadership and found that both directive and participative leadership styles encourage higher levels of performance (2012).  The study also indicates that subordinate job expectations are influenced heavily by leader behaviors. Directive styles are more focused clarifying paths while participative styles are more beneficial in setting, clarifying, and achieving goals. Employees take cues from their leaders to determine proper courses of action.

The directive style offers paths for employees to accept or reject while the participative style tries to draw subordinates into defining and understanding these goals. It is possible to see the benefits of directive methods once employees have been acclimated into a company and trust the organization while the participative style may be more beneficial for new employees that seek direction but must willingly accept paths and goals as appropriate. The researcher Robert House actually suggested a servant leadership style as most appropriate.

Columbia Records is an excellent example of an organization that used Path-Goal Theory to realize objectives. They inspired performance, contentment, and motivation by clarifying paths on how to achieve goals, rewarding employees once they have achieved those defined goals, and removing organizational obstacles that lowered the chances of employees being successful (Vandergrift & Matusitz, 2011). The process and its defined goals were transparent and trusted by employees which lent to higher levels of engagement.

The path-goal theory is one method of viewing leadership and workplace engagement. Organizations that seek to increase employee’s abilities should think about how their leadership provides appropriate direction on expectations, reward employees who follow appropriate paths, and encourages employees to adopt those paths for themselves. Through proper management organizations can realize higher levels of performance beyond job descriptions and basic standards. 

Kinicki, A. & Kreitner, R. (2009). Organizational Behavior: Key concepts, skills & practices (fourth edition). McGraw-Hill Company.

Malik, S. (2012). A study of relationship between leader behaviors and subordinate job expectations: a path-goal approach. Pakistan Journal of Commerce & Social Sciences, 6 (2). 

Vandergrift, R. & Matusitz, J. (2011). Path-goal theory: a successful Columbia Records story. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 21 (4).