University College London: Library DDA works PPG15 justification. Conservation strategy report.

Introduction: This report has been prepared for the Estates and Facilities Division of University College London (UCL). UCL needs to make alterations to the Wilkins building to improve access to the library (on its upper floors) by the end of the year in order to comply with the terms of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). In December 2003 Alan Baxter & Associates produced draft Management Guidelines for UCL which identified what is significant about the UCL buildings and to help streamline the process of gaining future listed building consents. This report is based on these Management Guidelines but includes information from the recent opening-up works. The Wilkins Building is Grade I listed. The new access proposals involve removing a staircase, one of which was inserted by TL Donaldson in 1849-51, and installing a lift (along with a new staircase) to provide access for the mobility impaired to the library. This report has been written to accompany an application for listed building consent, and to demonstrate that the alterations are required by the DDA, and are justifiable in terms of the criteria set out in PPG15. Although the proposed works affect only one part of the building, it is important to see them in the wider context of the building. This document begins by outlining the history of the Wilkins building as a whole, from its construction in 1827-9, through various modifications (notably by Donaldson), its reconstruction and restoration by A E Richardson following war damage, to its present day form (Sections 2 and 3). Section 4 also looks at the building as a whole, defining what elements of it contribute most particularly to the ‘outstanding’ architectural and historic importance given by its Grade I listing. These wider sections allow the current proposals to be assessed both for their impact on and the access benefits that they will bring to the building as a whole. Section 5 therefore focuses on the proposals to provide Disability Access to the library, describing and justifying them according to the criteria of PPG15, showing how they achieve an acceptable balance between the legitimate access requirements of those with disabilities and the special architectural and historic importance of the building

Commodity Exchanges and the Privatization of the Agricultural Sector in the Commonwealth of Independent States—Needed Steps in Creating a Market Economy

Pre-revolutionary commodities exchanges in Russia and their extinguishment by the Bolsheviks are examined, and the role thereafter by Soviet central planners in the distribution, import and export of agricultural commodities is described. It is argued that the privatization process in the CIS must include incentives for the development of an exchange system for agricultural goods

The Commodity Exchange Monopoly – Reform is Needed

In theory, the commodity futures markets are the essence of competition. All orders are required to be exposed to trading pits where traders vie competitively and aggressively to assure the best possible execution price. On the surface, as observed from the exchange galleries or on television, the exchanges do appear to be highly competitive, particularly when one views hundreds of traders screaming and gesticulating wildly for orders. The now famous sting operations on the Chicago exchanges in 1989, however, have provided dramatic evidence that a dangerous symbiotic relationship has developed among traders on the floor that is undermining competition and threatening the integrity of the system. When these non-competitive arrangements are coupled with the fact that floor traders enjoy a decided time and place advantage over all persons off the floor, and since by law all orders must come to the floor for execution, the market loses its surface aura of maximum competition. Instead, the exchanges may rightly be viewed as having a statutory monopoly that is undermining competition in the futures industry at the expense of the public. That statutory monopoly should be broken and effective floor trading practices and procedures should be established in order to prevent the type of conduct that was exposed by the Chicago sting operation. This article will describe the background of futures regulation and the role now being played by futures trading in the financial markets. The article will then discuss and propose reforms that are needed to assure effective regulation. Specifically, Part I of the article will discuss the present regulatory scheme under the Commodity Exchange Act. This part includes a discussion of the regulatory background of futures trading, and it describes statutory provisions that are designed to prevent fraud and trading abuses. Part I of the article also discusses some of the numerous regulatory problems and concerns that the government has faced in the futures markets, and it reviews some of the more abusive trading practices that have been uncovered by the Chicago sting operation. Part II of the article focuses on a core provision in the Commodity Exchange Act that requires futures instruments to be traded on licensed “contract markets.” Part II suggests that the solution to many of the present regulatory shortcomings is to loosen this statutory monopoly so that competition may operate more fully. This approach will assure that the marketplace, and not artificial regulatory barriers, determines whether particular commodity interests are traded on the exchanges. Part II also proposes that public representation be required on the boards of the exchanges as well as their committees so that the power of the exchanges, which has long been used to block regulatory reforms, is diluted.Part III discusses some other shortcomings in the present regulatory system that have fostered and encouraged the abuses exposed by the Chicago sting operation. This part also addresses some gaps in the Commodity Exchange Act that prevent effective regulation and it proposes reforms in the manner in which futures trading is conducted on the floors of the exchanges so as to assure maximum competition and efficiency