Measuring social, economic and environmental sustainability at the enterprise level: a case study of an Australian Utility Corporation’s Sustainability Report

The debate on a sustainable future for Australia has focused enterprises on developing triple bottom line or sustainability reports. Enterprises now commonly provide reports to their stakeholders on sustainability. However it is argued in this paper that shortcomings in current reporting practices are limiting the measurement of sustainability. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the most commonly applied consistent framework for enterprises, recommends the application of indicators that consider the inter-relations between the economy, society and the environment. However, these recommendations are not generally being translated into practice by firms. The environmental aspects of enterprise sustainability reports tend to be privileged over the social and economic components. Indicators of the social and economic impact of an enterprise generally draw upon productivity and human relation measurements rather than measures directly relevant to the impact of enterprise actions on the community. To illustrate these arguments we offer a case study of the Australian Gas Light Company, (AGL), 2004 Sustainability Report, and a critique of the GRI. AGL is a large Australian energy company. We argue that inter-related indicators tend not to be considered within enterprise sustainability reports. It is argued that social and economic externalities of enterprises have an impact on surrounding communities and hence should be measured and reported in conjunction with environmental factors. Moreover, these reports should to be developed in a manner that enables the context of sustainability to be adequately explored

Dark side illuminated: imaging of Toxoplasma gondii through the decades.

In the more than 100 years since its discovery, our knowledge of Toxoplasma biology has improved enormously. The evolution of molecular biology, immunology and genomics has had profound influences on our understanding of this ubiquitous bug. However, it could be argued that in science today the adage "seeing is believing" has never been truer. Images are highly influential and in the time since the first description of T. gondii, advances in microscopy and imaging technology have been and continue to be dramatic. In this review we recount the discovery of T. gondii and the contribution of imaging techniques to elucidating its life cycle, biology and the immune response of its host

Designing excellence: Creation of a production system and visual identity for Areté, the Honors College newsletter

In this writeup, I describe the process and results of redesigning the Honors newsletter and creating a production system to guide its staff in efficient and consistent publications. My redesign included researching what other publications are doing; choosing fonts, colors, and a layout scheme; and creating templates and style guides. The production system includes an ideal schedule, staff member job descriptions, and a flowchart of how the system should work. I also created and included a writing style guide, which (along with the design style guide) is meant to be updated as needed

Cinematrope

My body of work involves photographic and video explorations around the concept that cinema has a great influence over who we are as a culture and as individuals. I use the tableaux technique to illustrate the archetypal language of film through fictional film stills. Congruously, I use video to interject myself into scenes from movies, referencing the way viewers mentally project themselves into movies as they watch them. I am interested in decoding visual stereotypes promoted by cinema through the lens of my own experience with movies

Development of a Pilot Selection System for a Midwestern University Aviation Program

This paper discusses the evaluation of an existing selection system for a Midwestern University\u27s Aviation Program and attempts to find significant predictors of pilot performance using personality measures including the Five Factor Scale, Cockpit Management Attitudes Questionnaire, Self Monitoring Scale, an Integrity Scale, and cognitive measures including Block Counting, Rotated Blocks and Numerical Reasoning. Data from 24 student pilots was examined with bivariate correlations and stepwise regression and results indicate personality plays a role in predicting successful pilot performance. The CMAQ, extraversion and block counting measures were positively correlated with facets of performance including decision making in-flight, consistently arriving on-time for lessons, and situational awareness in-flight, respectively. Also, agreeableness predicted a negative relationship with situational awareness in-flight and instructor rating of performance. Based on the results, it is suggested the current selection measure consist of the Five Factor Scale, CMAQ, Block Counting and Rotated Blocks measures and be validated in the future to evaluate reliability

A Polynomial in A of the Diagonalizable and Nilpotent Parts of A

Any square matrix A can be decomposed into a sum of the diagonal (DA) and nilpotent (NA) parts as A = DA + NA. The components DA and NA commute with each other and with A. For many matrices A; B, if B commutes with A, then B is a polynomial in A; this holds for DA and NA. Following a Herbert A. Medina preprint, this paper shows how to construct the polynomials p(A) = NA and q(A) = DA. Further, the Jordan canonical form J is a conjugate QAQ^-1 of A; this paper demonstrates that the conjugation relating J and A also relates NA and NJ and DA and DJ, respectively

Portrayal

This thesis is in addition to my thesis series, Portrayal, a group of selected photographs. In this essay I outline the contents and developments of the series of photographs by the same name. It includes information on the artistic techniques employed, concepts and considerations taken into account when making the photographs including the relationship with and presentation of the subject, the exhibition of the photographs, and influences on the specific composition and tone of the photographs. The images in Portrayal are not candid or objective views. Each is constructed based upon the negotiations with the subject and represent an edited view of the subject. Portrayal provides a unique examination of a cross section of a specific group of artists all connected geographically. This structure made it possible for a group of viewers to interact with each other both as subjects and as part of the selected piece of the art community

Professional closure : the case of the professional development of nursing in Rotorua 1840-1934 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Nursing at Massey University

The argument that the development and progress of nursing in Rotorua were influenced by the forces of professional closure, and that nursing practice throughout New Zealand reflected this during the period 1840-1934, is the focus of this thesis. Rotorua provides a unique backdrop against which to examine the professional development of nursing as it encountered and exerted the forces of professional closure. For centuries the Maori had utilized the curative powers of the thermal district, incorporating this ancient knowledge into their lifestyle and culture. As Europeans gained access to the region, they recognised and exploited the therapeutic properties of the mineral rich springs, mud pools and thermal waters. Health and tourism became inextricably intertwined at Rotorua, as the government developed the spa resort with aspirations of achieving international acclaim As the boundaries between various medical and health services became more distinct, claims to professional exclusivity emerged. Each health occupational group adopted rules of closure as they attempted to secure a position of privilege in the expanding health care system. Nursing's rules of closure effectively marginalised and excluded the untrained nurse while elevating the status of the trained nurse. As the new century unfolded, institutionalised medical care expanded in Rotorua with the development of scientific knowledge and new technologies. In the spa setting of the Sanatorium Hospital and Baths, nursing complemented medicine. The difference between the trained and the untrained nurse became increasingly apparent. However, legislation aimed at improving standards of health and welfare effectively subordinated nursing to medicine in Rotorua's intensely patriarchal, hierarchical hospital structure. The value of the trained nurse, highlighted during World War I, was reinforced during the national emergency created by the 1918 influenza pandemic. The New Zealand Army utilised the spa treatment for sick and wounded soldiers, then as it withdrew its services from the hospitals, Rotorua's school of nursing for a short time (1923-1932), prepared nurses to replace the military nurses. The school closed, unable to maintain the required standards as nursing strengthened its rules of closure and tightened control over its own professional practice. For more than ninety years the status of nursing in Rotorua parallelled the status of nursing in New Zealand generally. During this period the emerging profession attempted to shed its image of domestic servitude to claim an elite and exclusive position within the developing health care system. However, unable to achieve the vital element of professional self-determination, nursing failed to significantly raise its status above that of a vocation, prior to 1934

Signs in the Song: Scientific Poetry in the Hellenistic Period

My dissertation examines the works of three poets, Aratus, Apollonius of Rhodes, and Nicander, as scientific poetry. Rather than focusing on either literary or scientific material within them, I show that such a distinction is artificial and both literary and scientific interests are reflected in all aspects of these works. I argue that we should view the poems as serious attempts to discuss scientific matters, and that their intent to do so also impacts their own understanding of their poetry. In the introduction, I establish the parameters of my project, explain my definition of science, and discuss the lines of argumentation ancient scholars used to address the question of a poetâ??s authority to speak about scientific subjects. In my first chapter, I address Aratusâ?? Phaenomena as a poem about signs. Aratus ties his astronomical and meteorological information together through the unifying theme of semiology, and he focuses on the human ability to recognize signs and use them for practical purposes. My second chapter addresses Apollonius of Rhodesâ?? position within contemporary geographical debates, in particular about the use of Homer as a source. Apollonius uses his poetry to argue not only that Homerâ??s geography is authoritative but also that epic poetry has a prominent place in the discipline. In my final chapter, I focus on how Nicander establishes his relationship with Aratus as a way of legitimizing his subject of study, toxicology, and as a place of departure to secure his own position in the poetic canon. Nicander evinces a particular interest in taxonomy, and experiments with several different ways of organizing his information, while also exploring human mortality and the dangers of interactions with nature. All of this is united in his interest in names, as a means of differentiating species of venomous snakes and as a means of counteracting mortality by ensuring oneâ??s legacy. Each of these poets has a different goal in their works, but none of these can be cleanly separated into the literary and the scientific