Cuban Vintage Car Culture

The purpose of this research was to investigate the culture surrounding the vintage American cars found in Cuba. Through preliminary research, the researcher determined Cubans are continuing to use these cars as a means of transportation as well as a source of income. They have kept the cars maintained by recycling parts from other cars, tractors, and boats, as well as buying new parts from the black market. Once they have been repaired, many owners around major cities use them as taxis. This is so that the owners can afford to maintain them as well as provide additional income for their families. The owners are required to pay the government about $600 a month to use them as taxis, but if used in Havana or similar sized cities, the owners can expect to make about$20-$30 per hour driving tourists. While in Havana, the researcher conducted observations, identifying many vintage cars and observing their treatment. Additionally, two interviews were conducted of an owner-operator of a 1953 Plymouth and a driver of a government owned 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air

The immediate impacts of devolution on the structure and financing of the WASH sector in Kenya

This paper outlines the immediate impacts of devolution on the structure and funding of the WASH sector in Kenya. WASH was one of the 14 sectors for which functions were devolved from the National level to 47 newly formed County governments. This change in the WASH sector structure follows a series of wider sector reforms during the 2000s which established a wide range of institutions which are still in the process of establishing their relationship with the newly formed county administrations. This paper outlines the institutional structure of the WASH sector through key legislation in the last 20 years. The paper then briefly reviews the consequence of devolution for public financial management (PFM) as well as the impact this has on WASH sector funding and financing

Cuban Vintage Car Culture

The purpose of this research was to investigate the culture surrounding the vintage American cars found in Cuba and how it compares to the car cultures in the U.S. Through preliminary research, Cubans are continuing to use these cars as means of transportation and a source of income. They have kept the cars maintained by recycling parts from other cars, tractors, and boats, as well as buying new parts from the black market. Once they have been repaired, many owners around major cities use them as taxis. While in Havana, I could observe many vintage cars and how they were used and treated. Additionally, I interviewed two drivers of vintage cars. One was the owner of a 1953 Plymouth, while the other was a driver of a government owned 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air. I found that most of the vintage cars around Havana are used as taxis. This is so that the owners can afford to maintain them as well as provide additional income for their families. The owners are required to pay the government about $600 a month to use them as taxis, but if used in Havana, the owners can make about$20-$30 per hour driving tourists

Financing WASH services to 2030 across Africa: Reflections from a 12 country policy dialogue

This paper summarises the reflections from a 12 country policy dialogue on financing WASH services to 2030 hosted by the Collaborative African Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI) in November 2017 in collaboration with Oxford Policy Management. The dialogue brought together director-level representatives from Ministries of Finance and Line Ministries with responsibilities for Water and/or Sanitation. This paper provides a brief summary of the current funding and financing trends in WASH before turning to the key reflections of stakeholders during the dialogue. The reflections of the senior government officials responsible for WASH indicate that additional investment is needed for the sector through governments own contributions and through innovative financing mechanisms

Group Q- Automatic Ball Launching Entity

The goal of the project is to create a machine that can track and aim at a target and deliver a tennis ball at a safe speed. The machine can be calibrated to ensure accurate aim. The application of the product is for entertainment and sports training, with calibration being able to be used to make easy shots for fun, and difficult shot for training. The device uses a two-axis rotation, allowing it to aim up/down and left/right. The device uses a microprocessor to calculate aim based on position of target and knowledge about the strength of the firing mechanism

Impacts on Multi-pulse Pulse Position Modulation Visible Light Communication from Outdoor Daylight Conditions

The growing deployment of light-emitting diodes as energy-efficient, cost-effective lighting for vehicles opens opportunities for visible light vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Leveraging existing headlights and taillights on cars for inter-vehicle communication offers an opportunity to save on both hardware costs and the use of the congested radio frequency spectrum. However, most vehicle-to-vehicle visible light communication investigations in the literature have been limited in range. This paper presents an overview of the factors impacting outdoor visible light communications at increasing distances and presents findings from outdoor testing at ranges approaching 200 m. Using software spatial filtering and multi-pulse pulse position modulation, strong throughput is shown at 50 m in daylight conditions, with improving symbol error rates achieved in outdoor daylight conditions at 100 m by increasing intensity modulation

Tired Of Dancing To Their Song: An Assessment of the Indigenous Womens Reproductive Justice Funding Landscape

The Ms. Foundation for Women's Pocket Change: How Women and Girls of Color Do More with Less report revealed a dearth of philanthropic dollars for Indigenous women and girls. Less than 3% of the more than $350 million in foundation funding was allocated for this group, which has enormous ramifications especially when it comes to reproductive justice.Pocket Change set the stage for larger conversations and initiatives that addresses the historically low levels of philanthropic investment in Indigenous women and girls – examining the needs of Indigenous communities, with Indigenous leaders, to understand how such funding discrepancies are a direct byproduct of colonization and institutional systems and how to shift the philanthropic paradigm to one that prioritizes Native communities.In our convenings with Indigenous women, what emerged as funding priority was the lack of quality health care and that the limits placed on Native women's reproductive choices are directly tied to colonization. Instead of being relegated to a secondary issue, Indigenous Women's Reproductive Justice must be put front and center and made part of a fully inclusive conversation.This assessment, informed by an Indigenous Women's Council, discusses how funders' priorities are not aligned with the needs of the very people who are most lacking reproductive justice and shares their recommended actions to advance reproductive justice in Indigenous communities

Recent performance of a national-scale rural sanitation programme in Ghana

This paper documents recent successes and challenges in a national scale rural sanitation programme implemented by the Environmental Health and Sanitation Department (EHSD) – Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources and UNICEF in Ghana. It highlights recent successes and challenges in programming, with special attention paid to the district-level enabling environment factors that support and hinder successful implementation. The programme began in 2012/13 and was rolled out in five of Ghana’s ten regions. Disappointing initial results led to substantial adjustments in programme approach followed by a rapid acceleration in results. Qualitative research was conducted in a mixture of high, medium, and low performing districts to identify the enabling environment and factors that have supported and hindered progress. The paper concludes by presenting a summary of the key differentiating factors that explain some of the difference in performance

The evolution of rural sanitation approaches in Ghana

Over the MDG period Ghana made little progress on rural sanitation. Between 2000 and 2015 the proportion of the rural population openly defecating only fell slightly from 32% to 31%; in the context of Ghana’s rapid population growth this means there was a large rise in the number of people openly defecating across the period. This paper summaries the current approaches taken in the Rural Sanitation Sub-sector in Ghana, and the evaluation of these approaches over time. The results are based on a series of interviews with key sector actors. The review highlights the modification of approaches over time in response to challenges and concludes by presenting some of the key remaining challenges facing the sector

Force of Beauty or Object of Desire? The Priming Effects of Makeup Video Advertisements on Self-Objectification in College Women

Women are too often valued for their beauty and have shifted their focus from character to body improvement (Brumberg, 1998). Objectification theory (Frederickson & Roberts, 1997) posits that sexual objectification socializes females to evaluate themselves based on looks. Self-objectification is the attempt to control this external perception by monitoring one’s physical appearance. Women are more likely to think “How do I look?” than “What am I capable of?” The priming effects of positive and negative body-focused makeup advertisements on college-aged women’s level of self-objectification were examined in two separate studies. In study one, 87 participants viewing positive vs. negative advertisements reported more traits and abilities; this was especially true for high self-objectifiers. Participants viewing positive advertisements reported more positive emotions, suggesting the salutary role that positive messaging may play. Results were replicated in study two, with 172 participants who viewed positive vs. negative advertisements reporting significantly fewer body shape statements, more trait and abilities, as well as more physical competence statements. In addition, individuals who viewed advertisements with non-objectifying content responded with a significantly greater number of positively valenced statements and significantly fewer negative statements about themselves in comparison to women who viewed objectifying advertisements. These results suggest that marketers should eschew advertising that sexually objectifies women and promotes unattainable beauty goals. Future research should evaluate cumulative and long-term effects of advertisement and examine whether exposure that leads to lower levels of objectification also minimizes negative consequences associated with objectifying media influences (e.g., body shame, depression, eating disorder)