How poor public transit makes idiots of us all

America's mass transit systems are in a sorry state, and only a tiny minority of Americans makes use of them. For Kafui Attoh America's transit is "idiotic" in two ways: in the sense that it is stupid to have not invested more in it, and in the way it isolates those unable to use cars, excluding them from urban public ..

RESILIENT WOMEN, METISTIC SCIENTISTS: A MULTIPLE CASE STUDY OF HOW WOMEN NEGOTIATE THEIR SITUATEDNESS IN SCIENCE FIELDS

The concept of feminist metistic resilience postulates that the voiceless, the marginalized and the minority in societies employ strategies in order to turn tables in their favor. This study presents a qualitative analysis of how women, considered to be the minority, negotiate their situatedness in science fields in order to effect change in their lives or that of the society and why they become successful. By “situatedness,” I refer to the everyday life of women as they live and encounter people, society and culture, especially, the life of women who have transcended the culturally stipulated role of women and are excelling in a male dominated field. The study, in different dimensions, conceptualizes the reason for the fewer number of women in science; looks at how scientific methods and practices inhibit the development of women in science; and, finally, interrogates the question of objectivity in science. It becomes apparent, through feminist metistic resilience, that women become successful when they accept conventional practices in scientific arrangements and structures. They accept the practices by embracing and not questioning structures and arrangements that have shaped the field of science and by shifting shapes and assuming different forms in order to adapt to conditions they encounter. Apart from adapting and shape shifting, the women also become successful through environmental and social influences. My analysis suggests that more women can be encouraged to pursue science when women practicing science begin to question structures and arrangements that have shaped the practice of science over the centuries. The overall findings of the research provide implications for policy makers, educators and feminist researchers

Analytic Network Process (ANP) for Housing Quality Evaluation: A Case Study in Ghana

Quality of housing is crucial to an individual\u27s quality of life as it is known to affect human health and well-being. Several studies have employed different methods to assess housing quality. These methods, however, failed to account for the interdependence among the factors (criteria) used for evaluating the quality of housing. This thesis proposes an Analytic Network Process (ANP)-based framework, integrated into Geographic Information Systems (GIS), to assess housing quality. ANP is a multicriteria analysis method. It provides a tool for identifying the relative importance of all the elements (criteria) influencing a goal of decision/evaluation problem (e.g., the problem of evaluating housing quality). The method allows for incorporating dependence relationships into the multicriteria evaluation procedure. A case study of housing quality evaluation at the district level in Ghana using the framework is presented. A set of quality based indicators related to the physical (structural material, dwelling types, housing services), socio-economic (tenure and household density (overcrowding) and environmental (modes of solid waste and liquid waste disposal) aspects of dwellings was used for the evaluation. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The GIS-based ANP approach allows for examining spatial distribution of housing quality. It also identifies the most important factors (indicators) contributing to the variability of housing quality in Ghana

Assessing Commercial Organic and Conventionally Grown Vegetables by Monitoring Selected Heavy Metals Found in Them.

Commercially available organic and conventionally grown vegetables were studied by quantitative determination of selected metals in them and to determine if any differences found are statistically significant. These findings can help the consumers to determine if the vegetable products are within the recommended maximum limits as proposed by the joint FAO/WHO Expert committee on organic foods designation. Eight edible vegetables were purchased from local stores in both the organic and conventionally grown categories. Samples were digested with concentrated nitric acid and the metals monitored were zinc, copper, lead, iron, cadmium, and nickel using flame atomic absorption. The concentration range for the heavy metals found are as follows: Zn, 2.04-69.4; Cu, 0.35-15.1; Pb, 0.00-3.99; Cd, 0.00-0.74; Fe, 2.52-319; and Ni, 39.9-53.8 μg/g. It was found that in general, conventional vegetables contain higher amounts of most of the heavy metals studied as compared to their organic counterparts. The study also showed that all vegetables products contain below the permissible limits for Zn, Cu, Ni, and Fe. For Pb all vegetables exceeded the safe limit except organic cucumber and conventional cabbage. For Cd, organic lettuce and green pepper, and conventional leafy green, green pepper, and spinach all exceeded the limit recommended by FAO/WHO

Assessing the Awareness of Safety Rules in the Hospitality Industry in Ghana: A Case of Some Selected Hotels in the Accra Metropolitan Area

The study sought to assess the awareness of safety rules in the hospitality industry in Ghana, with the search light on the operations of some ten Hotels in the Accra Metropolitan Area as well as the head office of the Ghana Tourist Authority. Among other objectives the study assessed the knowledge of management and employees concerning health and safety in the hotels, explored the existing rules and regulations regarding health and safety by management to protect employees, and examined the existing national policies on Health and safety in the hotel industry. In conducting the study, the researcher employed the purposive sampling technique to approach officials of the Ghana Tourist Authority as well as management members of the ten hotels for their views on health and safety. Random sampling technique was used to select respondents from the employees of the hotel. The questionnaire technique was adopted as the research instrument while Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used to facilitate the analysis of the information captured on the field. Findings of the study indicated that management members of hotels are aware of the laws on health and safety practices that should be maintained in their hotels, such information has not been readily made available to the employees. The employees however are aware of their obligation to ensure that their places of work are healthy and safe. The study also discovered that the hotel has emergency exist, fire extinguishers, first aid box etc., which are used as strategies to combat eventualities such as fire outbreaks. It is recommended that owing to the challenges tourist board faces in sanctioning hotels that default in health and safety standards as a result of political interference, highly place politicians must be educated on the need to allow formalities to prevail so as to instill discipline in the hospitality industry. Ghana Tourist Authority was also advised to organise compulsory sensitization workshop on health and safety standards for hotel employees so as to step up their awareness in modern standards for running the hotel industry. The study concluded that although hotel managers and operators are mindful of the health and safety standards required of them, they hardly disseminate such information into their employees thereby keeping them in the dark about modern standards and the national policy on hotel safety standards. Keywords: Health and safety rules, hotels, Ghana Tourist Authority, purposive and random sampling technique.

Rights in Transit: Public Transportation and the Right to the City in California\u27s East Bay

In recent years, a number of researchers in geography and in urban studies have taken to the idea of the right to the city. These scholars have drawn on the idea to frame debates on topics as wide ranging as urban social movements, the regulation of urban public space, to the relationship between cities and citizenship. Implicit in this literature is a conception of the city and of urban space in which political conflict and class struggle are dominating features. This dissertation seeks to add to that discussion by focusing on debates over transit policy in California\u27s East Bay. In addition to contributing to scholarship on the right to the city, this dissertation also broadly encroaches upon work in transportation geography. Drawing on three months of fieldwork, this dissertation makes two arguments. First, it argues that debates over rights ought to matter for those interested in the geography of urban transportation, and second, it argues for seeing urban mass transit as central to securing a right to the city. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with transit activists and a focus group with transit dependent riders, I highlight the degree to which the democratic rights of many East Bay residents hinge upon transit access. For many of these residents, a right to the city means a right to transit. Across six chapters of the dissertation, I also focus more broadly on the relationship between transit policy and conflicts over rights -- whether these conflicts take the form of labor disputes or civil rights lawsuits. These conflicts, I argue, have shaped the geography of transit in the region. While the dissertation highlights the importance of rights and the right to the city for understanding both the geography of urban transit, as well as transit\u27s role in the public life of cities, it also highlights some of the challenges and contradictions associated with the idea of the right to the city. Toward the end of the dissertation I address these challenges and contradictions head-on by arguing for understanding the right to the city as a right against the idiocy of urban life

Democracy Takes Another Step Forward in #GhanaDecides 2016

Kafui Tsekpo and Alexander Afram analyse the implications behind the 2016 general elections in Ghana

Fabrication and Testing of a Low-Cost Wind Turbine Blade using Bamboo Reinforced Recycled Plastic

Wind energy, as a sustainable energy option is gaining research attention due to its price competitiveness relative to conventional energy sources. This study presents the fabrication and testing of a low-cost wind turbine blade using bamboo fibre with recycled plastic. Bamboo fibre was extracted from raw bamboo and combined with adequately conditioned Recycled High-Density Polyethylene (RHDPE) to form a composite which is 25% bamboo fibre and 75% RHDPE. The composite materials was then used to fabricate a turbine blade which was tested and the results compared with typical performance indices for a turbine blade made of fibre glass for comparative analysis. The turbine blades were installed at a height of 10 meters at the test site and monitored. Results showed the energy per unit cost (kWh) for the composite material was lower than that of the glass fibre with a life cycle of 107 for glass fibre and 106 cycles for the bamboo plastic. Stress and deformation analysis showed a higher value for glass fiber compared with the composite material. It can be deduced that composite material matrix possesses the desired properties and energy per unit cost ratio for consideration in building wind turbine blades