Preschool and Elementary students often have all the expected speech sounds in their sound inventory but still can’t be understood. For lack of a better description they are just mumbling! They have reduced intelligibility in conversational speech and that can have a big impact on their success in the classroom. I’ve worked with quite a few mumblers over the years and thought I’d put all the strategies I use in one place.
I usually start by recording the student chatting in conversation and show them what they sound like to others. Awareness of their reduced intelligibility is a big part of the issue. Grab your iPhone and let them listen to his/her speech.
Next, introduce and explaining mumbling. I love this Flinstones example!
Although a bit exaggerated it will get his/her attention.
Up next play the Mumbling Game!
I like to play this YouTube and then play then try it! It’s a fun way to start listening to your own voice. Emphasize that you are mumbling because you don’t open your mouths.
Play this video and talk about how the mumbling is different! Did you notice that she had her mouth open? What was the problem? I think she was talking too fast and her words were running together.
Perspective Taking: Go back and watch the mumbling reporter video again. What do you notice about the way the people being interviewed feel? How can you tell they are uncomfortable? How does it feel if you can’t understand someone talking to you? If you’re talking and someone doesn’t understand you how will you know? Talk about eye contact, facial expressions, and verbal indicators.
Turtle Speech: I use an animal example to bring attention to rate of speech in my students. Print out the animal chart. Start by talking about which animal is the slowest and which is the fastest. Pick a sentence to say as fast as you can. “Once upon a time there were three bears that lived in a house in the woods.” That’s cheetah speech. It’s too fast. Now say it as slow as you possibly can. That’s slug speech. It’s too slow. Now say is slowly and clearly. That’s just right! That’s turtle speech. We want our speech to be turtle speech. If someone gives us a clue (facial expression, saying “huh”, or moving closer) we need to change to turtle speech. These sentence strips are available to download in this packet.
Pacing Board: Print out the pacing board included. Tap each turtle as you say a word. Highlight for your student that you are pausing a short bit between each word.
Now that you’ve broken it down and identified the difference between clear and mumbled speech, talk about how you will use this in the course of a regular day. Highlight times it is important to speak very clearly. Those might include: when on the phone, when speaking with adults, when talking in front of a class.
Lastly, pick a nonverbal cue that you’ll use to help your student in the future. You might cup your hand to your ear like you didn’t hear him/her or lap your finger to your lips. Now when you want to remind your student that he/she is mumbling, you can use the nonverbal cue. This will keep them alert without interrupting the message and also reduce any embarrassment they might have about being corrected in front of peers.
You can download the free pacing boards and turtle speech charts in my TpT shop. I hope they help improve your mumblers! Leave me a comment below and let me know if you’ve had success with similar ideas.
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Laura Spain says
Would you place a student in therapy although they are able to produce all age-appropriate sounds? This situation comes up occasionally at my school.
I guess it would depend on an educational impact. I would prob. start by putting them in an intervention group for 6 weeks and do RtI and then see where to go from there. I find most kids have the difficulty IN the classroom rather than 1-1 so working with the teacher would be really important.
What would you call mum long in a report? What is the professional term? Insufficient pauses? Difficulty with word boundaries? Thanks!
I would just address it as an intelligibility factor. There are norms for Intelligibility which can be referenced and you can do an intelligibility rating prior to the report.
I call mumbling imprecise articulation or imprecise consonant production and I diagnose it as dysarthria. Occasionally I call it cluttering, if I think it’s more fluency based than motor based. I have a couple of these kids every year and often have a very hard time explaining that it’s inappropriate to do years and years of therapy with these students: the ones who have all their sounds or only inconsistent errors when they’re speaking rapidly and running into complex, multi-syllable words. Teachers want their kids to sound like all the other kids but not everyone’s brains and bodies work that way. Jenna’s approach works well for me.
This is so helpful! I can’t wait to user it! !
I love some of these ideas. I am excited to give them a try. Do you have any classroom rating scales or something similar to help in the classroom?
I don’t have any off hand but I could prob. make one!
Have you since made any rating scales for teachers? I can’t wait to try these ideas!!
This approach is absolutely brilliant! And I can share this with my SLP-assistant. However, I would dearly love to see if you (or any other SLP) has a similar approach for the older kids, as I work with middle school kids, 7th & 8th graders. Thanks !
Hi Danni! Thanks! I don’t have anything specific but you can use the same approach but instead of ‘turtle speech’ call it your ‘speaker voice’ or ‘newscaster voice’. Look up formal speeches on YouTube and also google mumbling speeches and see what you find.
Excellent post! Can’t wait to use with my mumblers!
Adding these videos is genius! I’m bookmarking this to show to help teachers understand mumbling better as well.
Jennifer Tillock says
What awesome ideas, as always! I love the video ideas. My only suggestion is to find a turtle that looks happier. 🙂
This post was super helpful, and I especially loved the three videos! I have many teachers come to me telling me that a child needs speech services because he mumbles, even though the child is able to speak clearly. This will be great to support quick interventions (and my kiddos who mumble)!
Harriett Hughes-Rex says
Thanks so much for this. Have a 7th grader will try on since Mom & teachers can’t understand him.
Karen Dudek-Brannan says
Have you ever found that mumbling is associated with kids who have a tongue tie?
I have two students that come to mind when I read this post. One is an 8-year old and has always had sound errors and “mushy” sounding speech and slow progress in speech with multiple therapists. After suspecting for a time that his tongue mobility was still restricted (he had a revision at 2.5, but afterwards an SLP that evaluated him thought he may need another eventually), I finally referred him to a pediatric dentist who did a frenectomy. I notice a different in his speech already and that was just a couple weeks ago.
Now I’m in the middle of an evaluation with a similar situation-except this kid (5 years old) does not actually have any sound or phonological errors at the word level-but he has a dysarthric quality to his speech. His mom described it as “flat-tongued” speech, but his teacher has called it mumbling. I can see that the insertion of his frenum is very high on the lower alveolar ridge and he has dimpling of his tongue when he sticks it out, not to mention other issues with coordination and speech intelligibility. I’m concerned that there is a still a restriction that may impede progress once I start therapy (he’s also had a revision at 2.5, but there were concerns that it he would need another).
Regardless of what I do, it think this information you’ve posted would be helpful to use with or without the procedure (or for others working with students who’ve had tongue tie revisions).
I’m curious if anyone has used a similar program for this population.
I think this will be super useful! I don’t have many mumblers on my caseload but I have a lot of carryover students and have been attempting a few things with them including a pacing board but with little success. I think using the videos is a wonderful idea and I love the comment on using “speaker voice” for the older ones. Thanks for sharing all these wonderful ideas and products! You make it all look so easy and user friendly!
This is fantastic! I love how you went through your lesson in detail. As a CF, these types of posts are exactly what I look for– they’re EXTRA helpful. Thanks for sharing!
Wendy P says
Do you find any of your mumblers are actually clutterers? I work with preschoolers, so I see a fair amount of mumbling and otherwise unclear speech. At least twice in the last 5-6 years, though, I’m pretty sure I’ve dealt with cluttering.
I have a lot of kids on my caseload that mumble when they speak. This visual is amazing! Thank you so much!
Thanks for the helpful videos! Mumbly, muffled speech can also be sometimes due to enlarged tonsils, causing cul-de-sac resonance. Just another ground-level thing to rule in or out.
Very true! Thanks for commenting Emily!
cARMEN A. says
I had bookmarked this post because I knew I’d need it at some point and now is the time! Two questions:
1) Do you diagnose this as an articulation disorder even if single-word production is within normal limits?
2) Any great wording for describing this on a report? I’m thinking something like “speech sound production at the single word level is within the average range, however intelligibility decreases significantly in connected speech.” but if you’ve got anything different, I’d love to hear it.
No I don’t usually diagnose mumbling and I usually wouldn’t pick up a student for services for mumbling. I might see them through RtI instead. I think your wording sounds great!
Karin Manchack says
Thank you! I dislike referrals for mumbling. Drives me crazy. They can say all their sounds but many of these kiddos are unintelligible at times. With prompting they can usually speak more clearly.
What do you usually say to deny qualification?
I have a 4 year old who sounds like she is mumbling but I think it is due to lack of oral range of motion. Have you tried any oral-motor exercises to help improve intelligibility by increasing ROM?
Lori Price says
I learned in grad school that there’s no evidence that oral motor exercises, in the absence of speech, DO NOT improve speech sound production.
Now that I’m working in the field I see experienced SLPs using them. I’m so confused about this topic!
Dana Shultz says
Thanks for the ideas! How would you word your goal to address this?
I love this post! Thank you for sharing it. I’m also wondering about what a goal might look like for mumbling? I have tons of mumblers, but I’m not sure how to word a goal. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Awesome and fun post thank you 🙂
I used these videos today and your script for teaching about mumbling, and my PK kids loved it! We will continue to practice “opening our mouths” and “using turtle speech” as speech intelligibility strategies. Thanks for helping us all out!
I used these videos in therapy today, and played the “mumbling game” with a pre-K child. She had so much fun, and also immediately started to self-monitor for pacing and intelligibility. Wonderful suggestions! Thank you.


Maternal Mortality Is on the Rise: 8 Things To Know
When a woman dies in pregnancy, childbirth, or the postpartum period, it means there is an infant who will never know his or her mother. There is a tremendous sense of loss, grief, fear, and blame, as well as new, unexpected responsibility for the other parent and the family’s extended community.
Maternal mortality has been rising in the United States. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) counted 1,205 U.S. women who died of maternal causes in 2021, compared with 861 in 2020 and 754 in 2019.
There are many reasons for the increased risk of pregnancy complications that lead to maternal death, ranging from women getting pregnant at older ages, to inequities in health care, to a rise in chronic health conditions. But about 84% of pregnancy-related deaths are thought to be preventable, according to data from state committees that review maternal deaths.
“Women with pregnancy-related health complications may not always recognize the early warning signs of their illness. And even if they do, the providers may miss or cause a delay in diagnosis, which can lead to more serious or even deadly consequences,” says Monique Rainford, MD, a Yale Medicine obstetrician-gynecologist.
Dr. Rainford discussed the reasons for rising maternal mortality rates in the U.S. and what changes need to be implemented to bring those numbers down.
1. What is maternal mortality?
Maternal mortality (or death) is the term for when a mother dies from a pregnancy-related health issue or an existing condition exacerbated by pregnancy. It can occur at any time during pregnancy or in the 42 days after giving birth. (The 42-day timeframe is part of the World Health Organization [WHO]’s definition and was used in the CDC’s recent maternal mortality report.)
The maternal mortality rate, which is based on the CDC’s numbers (gathered from National Vital Statistics System data), is the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. The 1,205 deaths in the U.S. in 2021 translate into an overall maternal mortality rate of 32.9 per 100,000 live births compared with 23.8 in 2020 and 20.1 in 2019.
Some experts believe a 42-day postpartum period does not accurately capture all pregnancy-related deaths, and more are starting to consider that problems can arise up to a full year after childbirth, Dr. Rainford explains. “Forty-two days is based on the idea that, physiologically, a mother’s body returns to normal about six weeks after she gives birth,” she says. “Most things usually do return to normal, but the medical community has started to realize that there are still many mothers who are not quite back to normal physiologically—or otherwise—at that point.”
2. Why is maternal mortality especially high among Black women?
Black women face a much higher risk of maternal death—there were 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births among Black women in the U.S. in 2021.
“There are multiple reasons for such a high risk,” says Dr. Rainford, the author of "Pregnant While Black: Advancing Justice for Maternal Health in America."
One is what is referred to as “allostatic load,” the cumulative physiological effects of chronic stress. Studies have shown that Black women’s biological age (a measurement of the pace at which the body has aged) can be up to 10 years older than that of their white counterparts, presumably because of allostatic load, Dr. Rainford says, adding that 10 years makes a significant difference because the risk of maternal death goes up significantly with age. “Furthermore, many believe this earlier health deterioration is due to the chronic stressors of racism.”
Overt and implicit bias from health care providers is also a contributing factor, says Dr. Rainford, citing stories in the news about Black women and families who say doctors ignored their reports of symptoms and requests for help. “Implicit bias, in which a person isn’t aware of their bias, is particularly problematic. For instance, a caregiver may think they are doing the right thing for their pregnant patient, but their implicit bias against the woman’s race affects the care they deliver.”
3. How is age a contributing factor to maternal mortality?
The term “advanced maternal age” is used in obstetrics to describe mothers who will be 35 or older on their estimated due date. The median age of mothers giving birth rose from 27 in 1990 to 30 in 2019, according to U.S. Census data.
While many women 35 or older have healthy pregnancies, the risk of dying in pregnancy increases with age—the rate of maternal mortality in the U.S. in 2021 for women under 25 was 20.4 per 100,000 live births and 31.3 for women ages 25 to 39. For women ages 40 and older, however, the rate was 138.5 per 100,000 births.
“Health risks increase as we age, and, thus, older women are more likely to have health conditions when they get pregnant,” Dr. Rainford says. For example, in women over 35, there is an increased risk of health issues, such as gestational diabetes or preeclampsia, and complications, such as having a Cesarean section, problems in labor, and postpartum bleeding. Women in this age group are also more likely to have multiples (such as twins or triplets), which pose a higher risk of pre-term delivery, among other issues.
While older women can’t eliminate their risk, they can take steps to reduce it, Dr. Rainford adds, emphasizing that nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress management, and appropriate prenatal care all contribute to the mother’s health.
4. How has COVID-19 contributed to maternal deaths?
A quarter of maternal deaths were associated with COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021 combined, according to a report on maternal mortality in October 2022 by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. COVID-19 can pose higher risks to pregnant women, whose bodies are undergoing physiological changes, such as decreased lung capacity and a weakened immune system. And these bodily changes can continue in the postpartum period, Dr. Rainford adds.
The deaths may have been caused by COVID-19 directly or by pre-existing conditions exacerbated by the virus, Dr. Rainford explains. “For instance, if you are pregnant and have chronic hypertension, your risk of dying from a COVID infection increases,” Dr. Rainford says. “But, other contributing factors, including social stressors, can adversely affect your health. And stress affected everyone during the pandemic.”
The CDC recommends COVID-19 vaccines to anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding, or who is trying to get pregnant or could become pregnant in the future.
The hope is that COVID-19 will be less of a problem with greater immunity to the virus and improved treatments, adds Dr. Rainford. “It is reasonable to expect that the 2022 maternal mortality data will improve compared with 2021, when there was an increase in the number of COVID-related maternal deaths.”
5. What health conditions are driving the high number of maternal deaths?
Chronic health conditions, in general, have become a contributing factor, Dr. Rainford explains. “More women than before are coming into pregnancy with a pre-existing condition,” she says. “That puts them at an increased risk of developing new conditions during pregnancy or worsening existing ones.”
Heart disease and stroke are leading causes of maternal mortality, and cardiomyopathy (a weakened heart muscle) is the most common cause of death one week to a year after delivery. In addition, hypertension, which affects a growing number of Americans, can lead to preeclampsia, a condition marked by high blood pressure, proteinuria (protein in the urine), and/or signs of liver and kidney damage that can develop after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Preeclampsia also poses a higher risk for stroke and other problems after delivery.
Another underlying cause of death is mental health conditions. Perhaps surprisingly, both suicide and homicide are considered leading causes of death both during pregnancy and the postpartum period. “If you develop postpartum depression, for instance, it puts you at a higher risk for suicide,” Dr. Rainford says.
6. How does prenatal care affect maternal mortality?
Early and regular prenatal care improves the chances of a healthy pregnancy. This can start with a visit to the obstetrician before a woman gets pregnant to discuss, among other things, updating immunizations, reviewing medical and genetic histories, and controlling any pre-existing health conditions. A provider will also make recommendations to help ensure the baby will be healthy, such as increasing folic acid intake (this alone provides a 70% reduction in the risk of neural tube defects, which include medical conditions such as spina bifida).
Once a woman becomes pregnant, the first prenatal visit should be scheduled in the first trimester (the first 12 weeks). Follow-up appointments should occur throughout the pregnancy for physical exams, weigh-ins, and blood pressure checks, as well as continued discussions about diet, exercise, and any questions that come up. There may also be blood and imaging tests, including ultrasounds, to assess the health of both the mother and fetus.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) advises additional visits, as needed, starting in the first three weeks after the baby is born, with a final checkup within the first 12 weeks after giving birth. Some women may require continued medical visits, especially if they experienced any pregnancy complications.
7. What else can women do to help reduce the risk of maternal death?
As soon as a woman knows she is pregnant, she should immediately book an appointment with her doctor or the obstetrics practice or clinic where she expects to receive care, obtain confirmation of the pregnancy, if necessary, and start following her doctor's advice, Dr. Rainford explains.
Sometimes, women will need to do research and advocate for themselves to get the support they need, she adds. "It's important to have a good therapeutic relationship with your medical provider," she says. "Women should pay attention to their instincts when they meet a new provider, especially if anything makes them feel uncomfortable."
She also recommends having a doula—a woman without formal obstetric training whose job is to provide guidance during labor. “Doulas are a form of social support; they're knowledgeable and can help with advocacy,” she says.
If a woman develops a complication when her pregnancy is already underway, she should not hesitate to ask for a maternal-fetal specialist, Dr. Rainford adds. (The CDC has a list of warning signs for complications that may develop during pregnancy and up to a year after delivery.)
“The models of care for delivering a baby are changing,” she says. “Obstetrical care was once mainly the work of physicians, but now advanced practice registered nurses [APRNs] and midwives provide it, too. While these practitioners may be excellent, they may not have training in high-risk pregnancy, so it’s important to know when to ask for help.”
8. What institutional changes are needed to help reduce maternal mortality?
Broader change is needed, Dr. Rainford says. “While women can play a role, I think the responsibility is largely in the hands of institutions to improve the health care they deliver to pregnant women,” she says.
Black pregnant women, in particular, suffer the worst maternal health disparities, she adds. “Even a low-risk Black woman entering pregnancy is significantly more likely to die than a similarly low-risk white woman,” Dr. Rainford says. “Furthermore, high-income non-Hispanic Black mothers have worse maternal and infant health outcomes than low-income non-Hispanic white mothers, which suggests a system failure rather than a woman not taking care of her health.”
Those things need to change, but that shouldn’t make women feel as though they can’t take initiative, she adds. Women can maintain their health and seek out medical care they feel comfortable with, and they can reach out to family, friends, and anyone else they have available to create a support network, she explains.
“The people around you can make a difference in the success of your pregnancy. For example, a friend or family member could say, ‘Let's go for a walk to get you some exercise,’ or, ‘I'm going to prepare a healthy meal for you.’ Or, they can just ask, 'How are you doing? Can I help take care of the other children and give you a break?’ All of those things help support a woman through pregnancy,” she says.


There were two objectives for the discussion. First, to discuss the link between climate change and sustainable development. Second, to discuss the various challenges and opportunities related to climate change and sustainable development goals.
Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Agreement
Last year, as many as 193 Member States of the United Nations unanimously adopted a global agenda, 17 Sustainable Development Goals, to end poverty by 2030 and pursue a sustainable future. Whereas, 196 Parties to the United Nations Framework convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted a landmark deal, the Paris Agreement, to combat climate change, and unleash actions and investment towards a low carbon, resilient and sustainable future.
The Sustainable Development Goals not only contain a distinct climate change goal (Goal No. 13), but climate action is also integral to the successful implementation of most of the other SDGs under the agenda.
The UNFCCC Secretariat outlined three factors that affect every goal:
- Climate Impacts Eat Away at Every Positive Human Goal
- Sustainability Demands Rapid Progress to Low-Carbon State
- Inequality, Ignorance and Injustice Kill Effective Climate Action
As stated by the Executive Director of the UNFCCC: “Key actors across government, the private sector and civil society, are shaping their vision on how they can best contribute to that objective. We have a short window of opportunity to align strategies and to sharpen the focus on the urgency of implementation. Strategic approaches developed this year will shape the overall path for years to come.”
Rachmat Witoelar, President’s Special Envoy for Climate Change welcomed participants and encouraged stakeholders to collaborate, including national government, sub-national governments as well as non-state actors, to address climate change and to achieve sustainable development goals.
The roundtable discussion had two eminent resource persons:
Dr. Shiv Someshwar, Director, Climate Policy at the Center on Globalization and Sustainable Development, Earth Institute, Columbia University
Dr. Jatna Supriatna, Chairman of Research Center for Climate Change, University of Indonesia and Chairman of the Sustainable Development Solutions Indonesia Network (SDSN).
A changing climate (variability of climate), according to Dr. Shiv Someshwar, is the dominant rival for development in developing countries. In addition to mitigation and adaptation that continue to be the concerns of the global community, three other aspects important for developing countries:
- Complexity, encompassing population growth; aspirations of communities to achieve social welfare similar to developed countries; exchange of ideas, information and knowledge; and the economic relation between supply and demand.
- Uncertainty in the social, environmental and political aspects of economic growth.
- Spatiality in terms of local complexities in the context of global climate change.
Meanwhile, Dr. Jatna Supriatna stressed the importance of understanding that the 17 Sustainable Development Goals are interrelated, not only as the root causes relationships but also in their system dynamics.
As an example, the system approach is beneficial in recognizing the complexity of the energy sector, which demonstrates the need for a shift from fossil energy to renewable energy (by looking at the variables of climate change, air pollution, energy security, and affordability).
In the current critical situation of climate change, the need for dissemination for public awareness becomes vital. Because climate change is likely to change all aspects of human life.
Last September, as Chairman of SDSN Indonesia Dr. Jatna Supriatna launched the Indonesia SDSN Youth Network. Its mission is to empower Indonesian youth to create sustainable solutions. Through education and cooperation it aims to amplify the tremendous energy and capabilities of youth in generating broader buy-in for the Sustainable Development Goals.
The round table discussion on Climate Change and Sustainable Development was well attended by representatives of Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Ministry of Communication and Information, Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Ministry of Public Works and Housing, Civil Societies, and Universities.
Indonesia is obliged to put forward its national interests, while continuing to contribute to the fight against climate change and achieving sustainable development goals. It would be ideal if all developing nations replicate these measures, and in turn push developed nations to do more and to take the lead on necessary actions.
Text: Amanda Katili Niode. Manager, The Climate Reality Project Indonesia.
Image: United Nations


The term ‘full’ coverage is thrown around constantly, but do you really know what’s covered? It’s necessary know the definitions of different coverage as this tells you exactly what your coverage protects, from liability and property damage policies to medical bills and GAP insurance. Some of these may be mandatory, others highly recommended and a few others would be value additions to your coverage. It is necessary to understand what each coverage entails. A more detailed explanation and examples of coverage can be found here.
Liability Coverage: It consists of two types of coverage, the Bodily Injury (BI) liability and Property Damage (PD) liability. In Bodily Injury liability, other people’s injuries or deaths, for which you are the cause, are covered. It also provides insurance in case the legal judgement goes against you in a serious accident case. It does not cover your injuries but the other party’s. Property damage liability encompasses all the damage caused by your car to other people’s property. Both these coverage provide you with legal defense in case the other party files a lawsuit. Having coverage is mandatory in most states.
Physical Damage Coverage: Comprehensive and collision coverage come under this category. Comprehensive coverage covers your vehicle and other vehicles in case of damage to them other than by collision, e.g., theft, damaged by flood, fire etc. The amount of repairs made depends on the deductible you choose to pay. Collision coverage covers your car when it hits or is hit by another car. It fixes the car for the full amount minus the deductible you choose.
Uninsured and Under-insured Motorist Coverage: Such coverage take care of covering bodily injuries that you, your household or your passengers sustain and property damages caused by uninsured or under-insured drivers when they’re at fault. It covers all the medical expenses up to the limit on your policy. In case of property damage, if you don’t have collision coverage, this coverage takes care of the repairs to a certain limit and if you do have collision coverage, the uninsured motorist insurance only pays the collision deductible. This applies to only certain states.
Other Coverage: There are a lot of other coverage such as the Personal Injury Protection Coverage, Basic and Additional Reparation Benefits, First Part Benefits (medical) etc. in the Personal Injury Protection coverage. The rate varies from State to State. Basic and Additional reparation benefits covers medical expenses to a certain extent and is usually a primary over health insurance. It is optional and cannot be combined with Medical Payments coverage. First Part Benefits-Medical also covers the medical expenses of the insured and the household involved in the accident, up to a certain limit.
Medical Payments Coverage: Protects the insured, the household involved in the accident and pedestrians, regardless of fault, to a specific limit. Work Loss helps regain lost wages. Gap insurance is optional for buyers who lease their cars and involves collision and comprehensive coverage. It protects you if your car is considered a total loss and helps you reimburse the amount difference in the actual value of car at the time of loss and the amount owed to the finance company. Accidental Medical Protection Plan covers you or your family (if covered under the policy) if the accident occurs in a private vehicle, and it covers this without any deductibles.
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Little Emperor Syndrome
||This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.
The Little Emperor Syndrome (or Little Emperor Effect) is an aspect of China's one-child policy where only children gain seemingly excessive amounts of attention from their parents and grandparents. Combined with increased spending power within the family unit and parents' general desire for their child to experience the benefits they themselves were denied, the phenomenon is generally considered to be problematic. Andrew Marshall even argues that it is shaping Chinese society in unexpected ways that may culminate into a future "behavioral time-bomb."
Little Emperors are primarily an urban phenomenon. The one-child policy only applies to urban communities and, given the value of labor, only children are not prevalent within rural communities. Economic development has not had as large an impact outside of urban centers.
Socio-economic implications
China's economic growth has tremendously elevated the annual per capita income of urban areas as women have become increasingly represented in the workforce, frequently resulting in families with two sources of income. This greatly improved purchasing power coupled with excessive pampering of only children is the cause of increased spending on children. From toys to clothes, parents shower their child in material goods and give in to every demand; it is common for children to be the "best-dressed members of their families."
Recently, it has become common for nearly half a family's income to be spent on the child. This effect has become considerable enough to be noticed on a global scale: marketing groups attribute a near doubling of platinum jewelry sales in China to "China's 'spoiled brat' generation."
Parental expectations
Little Emperors also bear the burden of heavy expectations. Parents who feel they lost their chance in the Cultural Revolution ("compensation syndrome") put immense pressure on these children to succeed and compete academically. From an early age parents push their only child to educational extremes as they cater to their whims; "though many of these precocious kids can recite the English alphabet or read newspapers in traditional Chinese characters by the time they're 10, their parents often still perform basic tasks for them: fixing their hair, tying their shoes, wiping their bottoms." Boarding school, private English lessons, music lessons and an additional range of extracurricular activities are the normal fare; though after tough competition, only two percent of the Little Emperors will be able to study at a university.
Household structure
One factor frequently associated with the Little Emperor effect, the four-two-one family structure refers to the collapse of the traditionally large Chinese family into four grandparents and two parents doting on one child. Beyond the obvious further funneling of resources towards the whims and potential of the only child, this four-two-one reconfiguration of the familial structure has distinct ramifications for Chinese society. The Little Emperors of the one-child policy have warped the traditional family beyond recognition; "in the past, the power in a household devolved from the father," who ruled over a multitude of offspring.
Now the household structures itself entirely around the one child. This shift from earlier structures that supported the culture of filial piety has caused much concern; "traditionally, a great number of children, particularly sons, was seen as proof of the family's standing and it guaranteed the continuity of ancestor-worshipping customs." The most salient issue stems from the worry about who will look after the elderly. Aside from a potentially radical shift in cultural norms concerning the treatment of the elderly, this new family structure poses a purely demographic problem: "the composition of the dependent population is shifting away from children toward elderly population."
Religion and psychology
Many Chinese families use traditional Confucian values to teach their only child. Confucianism considers Ren (love and social responsibility) the core emotion that inspires other moral concepts in personal motivation. The child often receives too much love and has been highly mentally and physically restricted to devote themselves to a heavy load of schoolwork, considering that the economic future of the family depends on their success. Such a situation can directly lead to the overindulgence of the child thus reversing traditional Confucian values of Ren (仁) and filial piety (xiao 孝) There is also evidence that many young Chinese feel heavily burdened and a huge sense of responsibility toward their parents, understanding that their success can have crucial consequences for their family.
Depending on specific family conditions and a child's outlook, this burden can lead to a diligent lifestyle by youngsters or to a more rebellious attitude to traditional codes or to not being able to cope with such pressure nor to develop self-discipline.
The combination of immense pressure to excel and extreme pampering is reported to have resulted in a stunting of social and emotional growth. The perceived maladjustment of the Little Emperors is an exaggerated subject within the media; "the government has [tried] to cope with the Little Emperor problem through frequent cautionary stories in the press." These stories depict children hanging themselves after being denied sweets and cases of matricide in retribution for a scolding or late dinner. The discussion of Little Emperors has saturated public discussion concerning the one-child policy in Chinese and international media.
Psychological studies do not support this view or, at best, offered mixed results. Results from earlier studies are inconsistent with some more recent studies that suggest there are no reliable differences between only children and those with siblings. However, a survey published in 2013 on 431 Beijing adults finds that those who had grown up after the introduction of the one-child policy were lacking "entrepreneurial drive and the willingness to take risks. This even had a significant impact on career choices.
See also
- Marshall, Andrew. "Little emperors." The Times (London, England) 29 Nov. 1997: 44.
- Branson, Louise. "China's brat pack; Generation of only-children." Sunday Times (London, England) 19 June 1988.
- Cutler, Blayne. "China's little emperors." American Demographics Mar. 1988: 58.
- Shao, Paul Herbig, and Alan T. "Marketing implications of China's 'little emperors..'" Review of Business 16.1: 16(5).
- Gooding, Kenneth. "Producers benefit from the 'spoiled brat' effect." The Financial Times 22 June 1998.
- Reese, Lori. "Children's Palace: China Copes With the One-Child Policy, 1980 A Generation of Little Emperors." Time International 27 Sept. 1999: 88.
- Hussain, Athar. "Demographic transition in China and its implications." World Development 30.10: 1823(12).
- Psychological problems in the post 90s generation (Chinese; 90后易出现的心理问题) - Psychology Center of Shandong Normal University
- Vanessa L. Fong. Only Hope: Coming of Age Under China's One-Child Policy. Stanford University Press, 2004, 256 pp.
- Chinese Singletons - Basic ‘Spoiled’ Related Vocabulary, Thinking Chinese, September 2010.
- Wan, et al. "Comparison of personality traits of only and sibling school children in Beijing." Journal of Genetic Psychology 155.4: 377(12).
- Shen, "Moral values of only and sibling children in the mainland China." The Journal of Psychology 133.1: 115(11).
- Mara Hvistendahl, "Making a Selfish Generation by Fiat." Science, 11 January 2013: 131.
- "China’s One Child policy creates ‘risk-averse’ adults." The International News, 12 January 2013.
- "China’s One-Child Policy Yields Adults Fearing Risk." Bloomberg News, 10 January 2013.


Prof Rose Cory (left) and her group just returned from a summer field season in the Alaskan Arctic. Cory and her group are studying biogeochemical processes across permafrost soils that are important in the global carbon cycle as part of Cory’s recently awarded CAREER grant. Permafrost soils store about 17 billion tonnes of carbon; that is twice the amount of carbon in the atmosphere today. Frozen for thousands of years, the organic carbon in permafrost soils has not been participating in the modern active carbon cycle. But the Arctic is warming faster than any place on Earth, causing thawing of permafrost soils. Once thawed, the organic carbon in previously frozen permafrost soils can be converted to CO2, a greenhouse gas, which then be released to the atmosphere, causing a positive feedback loop that could amplify global climate change. Cory and her group are studying how and how fast this soil organic carbon can be converted to CO2.
PhD student Adrianna Trusiak (left) is investigating a novel, abiotic (redox) reaction mediated by iron that may lead to the conversion of soil carbon to CO2. In the photo, Adrianna and Rose are collecting soil water from the tundra, quantifying the dissolved iron and organic carbon present, and then testing how redox reactions of iron may control the oxidation of the organic carbon to CO2. They are the first to study this process in natural soils and waters, and have found that iron is playing a key role in this abiotic process that is important for carbon cycling on a landscape scale across the Arctic.


Cley, clabber or glaur is a kynd o syle that is slairgy tae the titch. It is aften uised in the makkin o gairdenin pats. Dependin on the kynd, it whiles haes a shairp textur, an is whiles gey mingin. Cleys are complex materials containin mony different kynds o atoms, houaniver, aw cleys conteen lairge nummers o silicon (Si) an oxygen (O) atoms, jyned thegether for tae mak silicate. Thay furm whan stanes are brak doun or wathered. For tae mak laim, cley is moolded in shape, dried, an than fired in a furnace or kil for tae mak it haird.
|Wikimedia Commons haes media relatit tae Clay.|


Science does not support the notion of remarkable weight loss by typical waste elimination.
Do We Sweat It Off?
It might appear that dieters lose significant weight through perspiration. The revered reward for high intensity workouts is being drenched with sweat. It is true that perspiration weighs something.
However, the weight of fluid depletion is quickly regained by drinking water or beverages with electrolytes soon after workouts. This does not mean perspiration is without benefits.
Sweating regulates body temperature, helps keep your skin and hair healthy, and is a good indicator of workout intensity. But do not confuse this popular biomechanical dehydration with significant fat burning.
So how does excess weight or fat leave your body? Come on nutrition, dermatology, and gastroenterology experts! Three… two… one? If you guessed number two, you are not alone. Anecdotally, the loss of pressure and bloating that follows a good bowel movement suggests the relief of fat or at least some weight through this method.
The average poop weighs around 1/4 to 1 pound (113–454 grams). People who engorge substantial meals pass the higher volume of fecal matter.
Science does not support the notion of remarkable weight loss by means of defecation. Though visceral fat cells shrink and expand, they are not expelled through the digestive tract. It takes an average of 33 hours to pass consumed food out of the body.
Normal bowel movement intervals vary for each person, ranging from three times per day to once every three days. Do not resort to laxatives as a weight-loss method.
Most of your body fat is broken down into carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, according to a 2014 study published in The BMJ. Carbon dioxide is excreted through breathing, and water leaves your body in the forms of sweat and urine.
Take a deep breath. According it researchers, lungs are the primary excretory organ for fat. So breathe harder during workouts. Visceral fat is not eliminated through bowel movements.
There are both invasive and non-invasive options for fat reduction. A non-invasive option is CoolSculpting®. According to its website, this is a fat-freezing technology that gives long-term results. At a certain temperature fat cells freeze. Once this happens, your body naturally eliminates the dead cells in 2–6 months or more, resulting in up to 20%–25% reduction of fat in a treated area.
You might talk about losing weight. But what you really want is to decrease circumference. A popular invasive fat-reduction option is liposuction. As the name implies, fat is literally sucked from your body.
Serious complications include deep vein thrombosis, organ perforation, bleeding, and infection. Risk increases when treating areas covering a greater percentage of the body, incisions are numerous, vast amount of tissue is removed, or concurrent surgeries are performed. Death occurs in about one per ten thousand patients.
The laparoscopic adjustable gastric band (lap-band) reduces stomach capacity by means of a silicone band. The surgical procedure is performed through a small incision. In February 2011, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded approval of adjustable gastric bands to patients with a BMI between 30 and 40 and one weight-related medical condition. Though the band is removable, it is not entirely reversible as adhesions and tissue scarring are inevitable.
One of the most invasive bariatric surgical options for morbid obesity (40+ BMI) is gastric bypass (GBP) surgery. The stomach is divided into a small upper pouch and a much larger lower “remnant” pouch. Then the small intestine is rearranged to connect to both.
Any GBP leads to a marked reduction in the functional volume of the stomach, accompanied by an altered physiological and physical response to food. A study from 2005 to 2006 revealed that 15 percent of patients experience complications as a result of gastric bypass, and 0.5 percent of patients died within six months of surgery due to complications.
Loss of significant weight through various bariatric surgeries can result in excess skin. Pregnancy stretches abdominal muscles in addition to skin. One of two surgical procedures addresses this. A panniculectomy removes panniculus, or excess skin, from the lower abdomen. Abdominoplasty also tightens abdominal muscles.
The Master Cleanse is promoted as a detoxifying process (functions of liver and kidneys). The creator, Stanley Burroughs, provides detailed instructions for those with preexisting health issues since no medication is recommended while detoxing. Participants can lose, on average, 2 pounds per day while consuming only liquids—largely due to taking in few calories. Without significant changes to eating and fitness routine, expect to regain most, if not all weight after resuming food consumption.
Though not advocating such severe nutritional deprivation, solid matter (along with copious liquid) continues to pass days after the last solid meal. This is partly attributed to elimination of particulates lodged within colon folds with non-soluble dietary fats, dead bacteria, living bacteria, and toxins.
You do not need to go on a liquid diet to lose weight. If you decide to do so with your physician’s approval, there are less extreme alternatives to the Master Cleanse. Both soluble and insoluble fibers aid bulk elimination. Eat three well-balanced meals per day with fibrous snacks in conjunction with regular exercise and drink plenty of water.
Healthy Weight Loss
Burning more calories than you consume forces your body to access energy previously stored as fat. Build as much lean muscle as you can since muscle mass increases your metabolism for burning calories.
A website you will love to hate is CalorieKing. (Smartphone app is available.) It details the amount of physical exercise required to burn calories for virtually any meal you consume. This may either encourage more physical activity or cause you to make healthier food choices. Combine aerobic (cardiovascular) and anaerobic (muscle-building) exercises with vigorous exhalation to burn calories, reduce fat, and feel A Bit More Healthy.


It was a pitch dark night in Wawashan river at early March. A group of Michigan state University's students were learning a unusual skill in direction of their professor, Jerry Urquhart; How to catch a living crocodile with bare hands. According to the joke of Jerry; if you are studying biology and wildlife, you have to know how to handle them in their natural environment. In order to pass the course, students have to catch a crocodile bare handed.
Tonight was the night to pass this test and with the fourth trial; a success, a reptile was captured by bare hand. Everybody was cheering. And everybody wanted to hold the not so big crocodile and get a picture of the situation. Crocodile did not make too much efforts to escape or to harm anybody. After a while, it was left to go back to the black depths of Wawashan river.Hostal Garifuna organizes night tours to river Wawashan not only to see Caimans and alligators but Burn water -phenomena (micro-organisms which emits a powerful green light in nigh time when water is agitated) The cost of the trip varies from 30 to 60 usd / person -depending the amount of participants. If you are interested, ask the tour from hotel administration.


If you are thinking of adopting a child, a good place to begin is by learning the different types of domestic adoption.
Did you know there are different types of domestic adoption? If not, you're not by yourself. Adopting a child starts out as an emotional event. After the emotions have settled in, it's time to do your homework. One of the first things to learn are the different types of domestic adoption. Let's begin the quest.
More and more people, in America, are wanting to adopt a child. One reason it's especially prevalent right now has to do with the rage going on in Hollywood with many couples adopting children. This couple getting the most press is the mega-couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
In a general way, people understand what adoption is. But there remains for most people some obscure details that go unknown. For instance, a couple may wonder if there are there different types of domestic adoption? What is the adoption process like? What's the difference between adoptive children and foster children?
These are all important questions, each of which this article will touch on briefly. First of all, there are two major types of adoption: domestic and international. This article will focus on the various kinds of domestic adoption in the United States. The most important thing to keep in mind is that once an adoption has been finalized, adoptive children and biological children are no different under the eyes of the law. Whether adopted or born into the family, all children are equal members of the family system.
The first type of domestic adoption is an Open Adoption. There are actually two definitions for this term. When used in the United States, open adoption most commonly means an adoption in which the birth parent(s) is(are) involved in the process and remain so even after finalization. Typically, birth parents will choose to meet prospective adoptive parents before choosing to place their child in their care. This is usually done before the baby is born. The two sets of parents can agree that the birth parents will be allowed to remain involved in the child's life, albeit in a non-parental role. Phone calls, letters, and regular visits are not uncommon in this sort of arrangement.
This term can also be used to indicate a type of adoption in which the adopted person has access to their own files and records. In the United Kingdom, for example, adopted children are granted this right upon turning 18.
This second of the types of domestic adoption is a modification of the above arrangement. Semi-open adoption involves significantly less involvement in the child's life on the part of the birth parent(s). Adoptive parents and birth parents may still meet face to face prior to undertaking the adoption process, but typically there is no physical contact beyond that. The birth parents and the child may occasionally exchange photos or letters.
In this type of domestic adoption, minimal information is shared between birth and adoptive parents prior to placement. After the finalization of the adoption, adoptive and birth parents share no information. This type of adoption can take place in cases of child abuse or neglect, or when the birth parent(s) has(have) specified that they want no contact.
Foster Care Adoption:
This occurs when a foster child is adopted by their foster parents. Children may be placed in foster care for a number of reasons, one being abuse or neglect. They may remain foster children-- meaning that the foster parents are guardians, but the children are not legally their own-- or the foster parents sometimes choose to adopt them. Upon finalization of the adoption, the foster child officially becomes the child of their former foster parents.
If you're planning to adopt, understanding the different types of domestic adoption is a good place to start learning the process. And there is a lot to learn. But, like all those before you, you can make this wonderful event happen. It takes patience (lots of patience), knowledge and being proactive. There will be a lot of necessary steps to take to put yourself in place to adopt the child of your dreams.
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- Afterword by Audrey R. Chapman
A PDF of the Afterword by Audrey R. Chapman can be found here.
- Material for Further Research
This list of books, journal articles, Council resources, and websites is a useful starting point for those wishing to do further research on some of the various topics presented in Teaching the Violent Past.
- About the Editor and Contributors
This section presents short biographical notes on the volume editor and chapter authors.
- Teaching the Violent Past: Table of Contents
This is a general table of contents for "Teaching the Violent Past."
- Teaching the Violent Past: Expanded Table of Contents
The expanded table of contents includes an outline and summary for each chapter.
- Introduction by Elizabeth A. Cole, Editor
| Elizabeth A. Cole
Download and read the complete Introduction to Teaching the Violent Past.
- Teaching the Violent Past: Questions for Further Discussion
These discussion questions, to be used with Teaching the Violent Past, are designed to help generate discussion and to help supplement the reader's understanding.
- Comments and Reviews


Toronto students from St. Clement’s school form bond with Cree community in Moose Factory
Explore This Story
Sitting in a classroom studying the challenges of aboriginal life is one thing, but heading north over the Christmas break to witness the struggles first-hand is a much different form of education.
That’s what eight students from St. Clement’s School in Toronto discovered when they boarded a train on New Year’s Day and travelled to Moose Factory, where they did volunteer work for 10 days with the Moose Cree First Nation.
“For those 10 days, the girls learned to make moccasins and mittens, they took us out on the land and taught us how to snare rabbits, prepare traditional game, and live on the land in a cabin without running water or a bathroom,” says Nora Scott, who teaches native studies to Grade 11 and 12 students at St. Clement’s.
“We learned about the struggles these people face and we were overwhelmed by their resilience and innovative ways of dealing with life and working hard to ensure a positive future.”
St. Clement’s students have developed a strong bond with the Moose Cree community, following summer excursions in 2010 and 2011, last month’s trip, and two return visits to Toronto by a Cree drumming group.
Although the trips have helped students understand the challenges of native communities, many feel their volunteer work back home is equally valuable.
“We think the post-trip, action-work we’ve done in our own SCS community is almost the most important part of the trip,” says Grade 11 student Margaret Irwin. “Even though we go there to do service in the health centre and high school, the learning we gained from there and the service we can do back home is really important.”
The school has held fundraisers, book drives and sports equipment drives to provide resources to the community.
“The fundraisers are for the youth centre there, because it’s the only place youth have to go hang out,” says Irwin. “They always struggle to find money to fund the youth centre. It’s important they have this place to go.”
Scott says the girls return from the trips inspired to create change. “A lot of students come back ready to create awareness workshops, and spread the word to think about what’s going on in Northern Ontario.”
The partnership with the school began when Scott organized a canoe trip along the Moose River in 2010, after her students expressed an interest in learning more about aboriginal issues and history.
The group of students and teachers rode the train for a day and a half to Cochrane, and then took another train to Moose River Crossing. From there, they paddled for five days.
“That led us to Moose Factory, where the Moose River ends and spills out to James Bay,” says Scott. “The fact we paddled the river and wanted to learn about the native community’s relationship with the land — there is an element of respect there. An elder told me he shared his stories with us because, ‘you have paddled the same river my people have travelled’.”
The teens were shocked by the conditions they found —gravel roads, modest homes filled with large multi-generational families and poor attendance at the local high school — but they were also overwhelmed by the generosity of spirit expressed to them.
While there, the students helped out at the local hospital and volunteered at the health centre and community garden. “We got to know and meet the community members and leaders and elders,” says Scott. “Right away there was a huge connection.”
For Grade 12 student Charlotte Butler, the highlight of the 2010 trip was meeting a group of drummers called the High Ridge Singers. Comprised of boys and men ages 14 to 24, the group was formed three years ago to preserve the Moose Cree culture and promote a healthy lifestyle free from drugs and alcohol.
“Moose Factory and Moosonee have struggled with a youth suicide epidemic and they have really had to pull together,” says Scott. “That’s why the drumming group has come together to be an example of living a good life and revitalizing the community’s culture and traditions.”
“That’s a really moving part of the trip, when we sit down with these boys and hear them talk about what their peers are going through and what their hope for the future is,” she adds.
“It’s one thing to talk about it in the classroom but so much more meaningful to go up there and talk to people and create a long-lasting partnership. It has created a friendship between the two schools.”
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When Hurricane Irma made landfall in the United States last weekend, it first brought its fury to the Florida Keys. For much of the past century the roseate spoonbill — that funky, pink shorebird with a bill shaped like a serving utensil — has called this island chain home. But about a decade ago, researchers observed a remarkable and unprecedented shift: Spoonbills were abandoning their historic nesting grounds in staggering numbers, aiming instead for somewhere higher and drier on the mainland.
If spoonbills can't find adequately shallow water, they can't feed; and if they can't feed themselves, they can't feed their chicks. Adding several centimeters of water into the wetlands where spoonbills traditionally bred (as has occurred over the past 10 years in the Florida Bay, thanks to wetter winters and higher tides) significantly changed the landscape, eliminating the habitats where these gangly waders had long found dinner. When the spoonbills realized it was no longer possible to live on the Florida Keys, they left.
It's time for humans to learn from them. That two storms of Harvey and Irma's caliber would make landfall in the United States during the same swampy fortnight seemed exceptional at first — and then, of course, it didn't. That's because surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic, where many hurricanes are born, are between 0.5 degrees Celsius and 1 degree Celsius above average this year. Warmer seas, combined with higher atmospheric temperatures, feed storms, helping turn average hurricanes into spectacularly destructive events. Add accelerated sea level rise into the mix, and you get large swaths of North American coastline inundated in previously unimaginable amounts of water.
Many living in Louisiana, New York, on the edges of the Olympic Peninsula and all along the coast of Alaska have recently found themselves in the same difficult position as those recovering from Harvey and Irma, weighing the same limited choices. Irma killed about 30 people in three states, wrought extensive damage on Florida's economy and, combined with Hurricane Harvey, racked up costs already estimated to surpass those of Hurricane Katrina. Retreat or rebuild? Some have followed the spoonbill's example and headed for higher ground. But legal and regulatory conditions don't make moving away from increasingly dangerous coastal areas easy. If we're going to adapt to climate change without loss of life and unnecessary financial hardship in Harvey- and Irma-like storms, federal, state and local governments need to start financing and encouraging relocation.
In late 2012, just a few weeks after Hurricane Sandy inundated more than 400,000 New Yorkers, an unexpected cry started rising from the edges of Staten Island. Along the eastern shore, residents were banding together and asking the state to pay pre-storm prices for their flood-prone homes. Instead of returning and rebuilding, they decided they would rather relocate. Some posted signs on their lawns that read "Mother Nature wants her land back " or "Buy out wanted, buy out needed ."
Nine grass-roots buyout committees formed in the storm's wake. Members went door to door, gauging interest, raising awareness and mapping the areas where they no longer felt safe living. Rather than viewing retreat as further evidence of the systemic marginalization of their borough, many working-class Staten Islanders began to see it as a chance to finally move away from the flooding and long-term neglect that contributed to their vulnerability. It was an opportunity for a fresh start.
Eventually, residents brought their case directly to New York's governor, who praised them for coming together to make a difficult decision. In January 2013, he announced that he would use federal Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds (made available after major storms to help communities address recurrent issues) to purchase homes in three areas. Then those homes would be knocked down, giving the wetlands a chance to return so they might provide a buffer against storms to come. Some 500 residents have applied for buyouts since Sandy, and entire neighborhoods are now being demolished along the island's shore.
Retreat is slowly gaining traction as a climate change adaptation strategy. Simple enough on the surface, it amounts to relocating or demolishing structures that are threatened by erosion or regular flooding. But while the process may be straightforward, the politics surrounding it are less so: Not only is it difficult to get a group of people to agree to leave en masse, it is even more difficult to require them to stay in the area. Otherwise, local governments are faced with a significant loss in tax revenue and in some cases the devaluation of nearby properties. But there are ways to address these downsides. In New York, for instance, residents were offered a 5 percent bonus on closing if they could prove that they would use the money to purchase another home within the county.
I was teaching on Staten Island when Sandy swirled ashore. And I would visit the buyout area often in the year after the money was allocated, speaking with residents as they prepared to move. Some didn't go far. After losing her brother in the storm, Patti Snyder relocated a mile inland, to higher ground; others, like Danielle Mancuso, went farther afield. "There's no ocean in Goshen," she told me the day I called, saying she was headed upstate. For the most part, folks who received buyouts (not everyone who wanted one got one) were pleased, not only because they had finally received the help they felt they'd long deserved, but also because they had come together to demand what each on their own could not. The storm that eventually broke the community apart had, if only momentarily, also brought it closer together.
For now, significant barriers remain to considering retreat as a form of recovery. For one, if you carry a National Flood Insurance Program policy, you are required by law to rebuild on your land, even if it has repeatedly flooded. There is even a term for structures that have been inundated and rebuilt more than 10 times: "Severe Repetitive Loss properties." Many of them are located, perhaps not surprisingly, in Houston and South Florida. They account for roughly 0.5 percent of the flood insurance program's portfolio and more than 10 percent of its spending. A recent study by the Natural Resources Defense Council found that, in most cases, it is less expensive to buy out these homes than it is to cover the cost of repairing and rebuilding after ever-more-common floods.
When Congress votes on whether to reauthorize the deeply indebted flood program this month, it could remove the regulation that those who file claims must rebuild near the wrack line. Instead, the program could offer discounted flood insurance to homeowners in the highest-risk areas, with a caveat: In return for lower premiums, those homeowners would agree to accept buyouts if their properties were damaged during a flood. This would help keep insurance rates affordable for low- and middle-income homeowners (a daunting task given that the program is both federally subsidized and tens of billions of dollars in debt) while encouraging folks to move out of harm's way.
Meanwhile, in the wake of Irma and Harvey, local floodplain managers can pursue buyouts where the cost of mitigation may eclipse the cost of retreat. And those who are faced with the difficult task of recovery can ask whether they want to return. If the answer is no, then the community can band together and seek money to relocate through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.
The superlatives used to describe Irma and Harvey, and Sandy and Katrina before them, are starting to sound eerily familiar: "unprecedented," "record-breaking," "game changer." But the game hasn't actually changed much: We continue to backfill and build atop our buffering wetlands, and we continue to be shocked when those places flood. We continue to rely on flood insurance rate maps that use models generated from the past to predict present and future risk. But as polar ice caps melt, sea levels rise and storms intensify, the past is proving to be an increasingly unreliable guide.
We have the emotional resources to make the move, to walk away from the places that have long defined us, especially when those places are changing irrevocably. What we need now, more than ever, is to realize that our collective well-being — of the human and non-human communities along the water's edge — hinges upon how good we get at demanding that relocation be considered a form of adaptation and funded as such. Those with the most resources will be able to make the transition with relative ease, but what about those with less? For them, only good policy choices aimed at encouraging and supporting relocation can ensure a stable future.
All around us, the landmarks by which we have long navigated are beginning to slip beneath the surface of the water. Like the spoonbill, it's time to aim for higher ground.


- slide 1 of 3
Machine designer is the one who designs the machine and its various elements. A good machine designer possesses some skills that help him/her design the machine elements and machine that meet all the needs of the designer and that helps develop the high quality machine at lowest possible costs. These skills help the machine design engineer consider all the relevant parameters in the broad sense and understand their effects on machine. The good designer has knowledge of wide range of subjects related to the machine that helps them find out the best solution to the problem. Their communications skills help them communicate their problem to others and get find the solution of the problem from different sources.
- slide 2 of 3
Some Importanct Skills the Machine Designer should possess
Here are some important skills that a good machine designer should possess.
1) Inventiveness: This skill is the foundation stone for a good machine design engineer. Any new design starts with the need or some objective. A good designer should have inventiveness, which is the ability to think of or discover valuable and useful ideas or concepts for the things or processes to achieve the given objective. Without inventiveness the designer cannot start the process of machine design.
2) Engineering analysis: Engineering analysis is the ability of the designer to analyze the given component, system or the process using engineering and scientific principles. The designer who possesses this skill will be able to find answer to the engineering related problems very quickly for he or she knows what exactly the problem is and where it is.
3) Engineering science: This is another skill without which the designer will just not be able to do any designing. A good designer is the one who has thorough knowledge of and in depth training in the engineering science in which they are doing designing. For instance, if the person doesn’t know what the refrigerator is and other basics of mechanical engineering how will they be able to design the refrigerator?
4) Interdisciplinary ability: A good design engineer is the one who has the ability to solve the problems not only those related to his/her specialty, but also have the ability to competently and confidently deal the basic problems or ideas from other disciplines which are in some or the other manner linked to the machine they are designing.
5) Mathematical skills: All types of designs involve lots of mathematical calculations and iterations. A good designer should have the knowledge of all the basics and advanced mathematical concepts so that they can be applied fruitfully and effectively wherever required.
6) Decision making: During designing many times a number of uncertain situations arrive, in such cases the designer should be able to take the decision with balanced mind considering all the relevant factors involved. If the person doesn’t maintain the balance of mind and doesn’t consider all the relevant factors there are greater chances of taking the wrong decision.
7) Manufacturing processes: The design engineer should have the knowledge of the manufacturing process like cutting, drilling, milling etc and the knowledge of all the machines. They should also the knowledge of potential and limitations of all the machines and manufacturing processes which may be old or new.
8) Communication skills: Communication skill is the ability of the design engineer to express oneself clearly and persuasively orally, graphically as well as in writing.
These are the important skills that the machine design engineer or rather any designer should posses. Apart from this there are many other skills desired from a good designers, these are: skill in design, good judgment, simulation skill, measurement skill, thought skill, work in team, ability to make conclusion etc.
- slide 3 of 3
Book: Machine Design by Dr. P. C. Sharma and D. K. Aggarwal
Skills a Good Machine Designer should possess
This is the series of articles on Machine Design or Mechanical Design. Machine design and drawing are very important subjects of mechanical engineering. No produce can be manufactured without designing it. Here some basic concepts of machine design or mechanical design have been covered.


Did You Know Water is life. You need water to eliminate toxic substances, produce digestive enzymes, maintain healthy skin, hair and organs, and to help your body absorb essential vitamins, minerals and natural sugars. Water also regulates body temperature, stimulates metabolism and helps promote regularity. Fluids other than pure water don’t act the same as water in your body, and they don’t meet your needs for hydration like water does. Most people are slightly dehydrated from relying on other fluids besides water for their fluid intake. Coffee, tea, alcohol, sodas (or any other caffeinated beverages) don’t count; they’re diuretics, which means they actually remove water and nutrients from the body.
Chronic dehydration has been linked to the following symptoms and disease processes: Fatigue, constipation, headaches, indigestion, muscle and joint aches and pains, high blood pressure, depression, allergies, lack of mental clarity, skin issues and excess weight.
Whenever you’re thirsty or hungry, reach for water first to see if it satisfies you. At Hydration Sticks we recommend drinking spring water—Evian or Fiji bottled water is preferred (due to proper pH levels). Drink as many ounces of water every day as are equal to half your body weight in pounds (e.g., body weight 150 pounds = 75 ounces of water a day). Use more water in hot weather or after strenuous exercise. When you’re actually drinking enough water, your urine will be essentially clear.
Many digestive problems, joint and muscle issues, problems with fatigue and even your complexion will clear up with the use of more water, especially when you limit or eliminate fluids that actually dehydrate your body (sodas/caffeinated beverages/alcohol).
It’s okay to drink some water with meals because digestive enzymes are hydrolytic (they are activated by water). So drinking a little water with meals is fine . The bulk of the water you drink throughout the day, however, is best taken between meals.


Rice University researchers have determined that two walls are better than one when turning carbon nanotubes into materials like strong, conductive fibers or transistors.
Rice materials scientist Enrique Barrera and his colleagues used atomic-level models of double-walled nanotubes to see how they might be tuned for applications that require particular properties. They knew from others' work that double-walled nanotubes are stronger and stiffer than their single-walled cousins. But they found it may someday be possible to tune double-walled tubes for specific electronic properties by controlling their configuration, chiral angles and the distance between the walls.
The research reported in Nanotechnology was chosen as the journal's "publisher's pick" this month. The journal also published an interview with the study's lead author, Rice graduate student Matías Soto.
Carbon nanotubes, grown by various methods, come in two basic varieties: single-walled and multiwalled (those with two or more walls). But double-walled tubes hold a special place in the hierarchy because, the researchers wrote, they behave somewhat like single-walled tubes but are stronger and better able to survive extreme conditions.
The Rice team found there's even more to them when they started looking at how the inner and outer walls match up using tubes with zigzag chirality. Because the electrical properties of single-walled tubes depend on their chirality - the angles of their hexagonal arrangement of atoms - the researchers thought it would be interesting to learn more about those properties in double-walled tubes.
"We saw that the interwall interaction could affect the electronic properties of double-walled carbon nanotubes and decided to study this effect in a more systematic way using computational simulations," Soto said.
It turned out that both the distance between the walls -- as small as a fraction of a nanometer -- and the individual chirality of the tubes impact the double-walls' electrical properties. In addition, the researchers found the diameter of the tube -- especially the inner one, with its more pronounced curvature -- has a small but significant impact on the structure's semiconducting properties.
Breaking it down further, they determined that semiconducting nanotubes wrapped around metallic, highly conductive nanotubes could be the best candidates for tuning the band gap, the property that defines the value of a semiconductor.
"The most interesting thing we found was that when you combine a metallic with a semiconductor, the band gap depends on the distance between them," Soto said.
It's not yet possible to do so, but the ability to adjust the distance between walls may lead to nanotube transistors, he said.
Other nanotube configurations may be best for turning into macroscopic carbon nanotube conducting wires, particularly with metallic-metallic nanotubes, the researchers found.
Co-authors of the paper are Rice graduate students Travis Boyer and postdoctoral researchers Santoshkumar Biradar and Liehui Ge; Robert Vajtai, a senior faculty fellow at Rice; Alex Elías-Zúñiga, a professor at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico; and Pulickel Ajayan, Rice's Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor in Engineering and a professor of materials science and nanoengineering and of chemistry. Barrera is a professor of materials science and nanoengineering.
Read the abstract at http://iopscience.
This news release can be found online at http://news.
Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews
Lab talk post about the discovery: http://nanotechweb.
Enrique Barrera: https:/
Rice Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering: https:/
Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,888 undergraduates and 2,610 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked among some of the top schools for best quality of life by the Princeton Review and for best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance.


Mold compound is a key element of an IC package, thus the impact on IC reliability is significant. JCET’s moldflow analysis includes void prediction, wire sweeping and warpage simulation. To ensure the reliability of IC packages, the AutoCAD Moldflow and Moldex3D tools are used to predict the following physics.
JCET’s void prediction covers three different processes: (1) tradition capillary underfill, (2) the molded underfill (MUF), and (3) the compression molded underfill. For fine pitch flip chip bumping array, void generation can be a serious issue causing the short of the electrical connections and the cracking of the bumps. JCET’s characterization team focuses on the prediction of void generation before manufacturing. The early stage finite element analysis (FEM) numerical simulation not only can predict the risk of voids, but also provides the best economic approach without the need for trial and error during package development. The filling, packing and curing of the molding compound are considered to ensure the best IC reliability.
The prediction of the deformation of the wire during the mold compound flow is essential for the package design and IC reliability. Wire sweeping may be dramatically reduced when the package configuration, package orientation on a substrate strip, and mold compound processing factors are optimized.
JCET’s warpage of IC package is caused not only by differences in the material properties, but also by the processing factors or manufacturing procedures. Traditional mechanical simulation usually considers only the material properties and temperature excursion without considering the detailed chemical kinetics of mold compound during the manufacturing steps. JCET’s research and development (R&D) accounts for the in-line processing parameters, particularly the manufacturing and processing of the mold compound material to form the IC packages on a strip. The in-line manufacturing parameters, such as pressure, temperature, shrinkage, and processing timing, have to be carefully considered in order to accurately predict the warpage.


Diane Sullivan is a Medford mom of four kids who has relied on government food benefits to afford groceries during tough times.
“It’s really served as a lifeline,” Sullivan said.
The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — formerly known as food stamps — is providing a lifeline for a growing number of people as unemployment numbers surge amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Since the beginning of the public health crisis, the weekly average number of SNAP applications received has increased by nearly 400%, according to the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA).
When it comes to limiting her risk of exposure, Sullivan said she worries about every trip inside the grocery store.
“I’m thinking about it constantly,” she told me. “We are being asked to stay home and keep our families safe. But then on the hunt for food, we expose ourselves.”
Sullivan, an anti-poverty advocate, said this predicament highlights an equity issue.
While many consumers purchase groceries online, and even have them delivered to their doorsteps, Sullivan and others who receive SNAP benefits do not have that option.
That’s because EBT cards can only be swiped in person, forcing a shopper to go inside a store for groceries.
Carolyn Villers, the executive director of the Massachusetts Senior Action Council, said the issue is especially relevant for the population at greatest risk of COVID-19 infection.
More than a quarter-million households in Massachusetts will see a bump in their SNAP benefits thanks to a federal relief package passed by Congress. Villers said a third of those recipients include someone 60 or older.
“It put them in a very vulnerable position,” Villers said. “As a community, we need to think outside the box rather than leaving people to figure it out for themselves.”
Massachusetts Congressman Jim McGovern has been trying to figure out what it would take to allow the state’s EBT cardholders to purchase groceries online.
“If we could do thing to help people get their food, but also protect them, we should pursue that,” McGovern said.
The federal lawmaker wrote to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) at the beginning of April to ask about nationwide implementation of online purchasing for SNAP recipients.
According to an agency spokesperson, a handful of states are currently participating in an online purchasing pilot program, including Alabama, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, Oregon and Washington. Several other states were approved to participate and have started preparing for launch.
The USDA spokesperson said the responsibility is on state agencies to work with their third-party EBT processors and any retailers who wish to participate. Right now, Amazon and Walmart are the approved nationwide retailers participating in the pilot program. Other regional retailers like Hy-Vee and Safeway are also involved.
McGovern said a change in Massachusetts would take time and require testing of the new technology to ensure it doesn’t jeopardize the functionality of the benefits system. It is not as easy as flipping a switch, the lawmaker said.
“We have an immediate problem,” McGovern said. “We are not going to figure everything out in the next week or two. We need to do the next best thing.”
So what is the next best thing?
According to a written response McGovern received from the USDA, the federal agency recommends something a lot of grocery stores are currently offering: curbside pickup.
However, retailers would have to be willing to let SNAP recipients order groceries online, and then pay with their EBT cards when they arrive in their vehicles.
Brian Houghton, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Food Association, said he is not aware of any stores planning to allow customers to drive up and pay with an EBT card using a mobile point of sale system in the parking lot. Houghton said many retailers only have stationary systems.
“Our members right now are doing everything they can to keep their shelves stocked, to keep their customers and workers healthy, and it’s just a challenge to do all that in these unprecedented times,” Houghton said.
From her Medford home, Sullivan said she understands the demands and pressure facing retailers. But she hopes they consider the idea, both for customers and employees working on the front lines.
“It’s incredibly important for all of our health and safety,” she said.
According to a DTA spokesman, the agency’s EBT vendor estimated it would take two to four months, at best, to make online purchasing a reality in Massachusetts.
Instead, the DTA spokesman said the focus on processing the surge of SNAP applications and exploring options with an immediate impact, like the curbside pickup idea.
“We are pursuing all operational and policy solutions to help the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable individuals and families purchase healthy food and meet their basic needs,” the agency said in a written statement.


More about this track
Inspired by the work of dutch painter Piet Mondrian (1872 – 1944).
The golden section, also referred to as the golden ratio, divine proportion and the golden mean is a number approximately equal to 1.618. Represented by the Greek letter phi (Φ), it is sometimes thought to be the most pleasing shape to the eye.
Φ proportions are found in design, architecture, art and sometimes in nature. Structures such as Notre Dame, the Great Pyramids and the UN headquarters have been based on Φ. In art you can find its proportions in Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”, Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam” and Mona Lisa.
You can find phi underlying many product logos like Pespsi, Atari and Toyota and in product design – from the new VW beetle and Aston Martin’s redesigned DB8 and Rapide S to Timberland boots and pretty much anything that Apple does.
In the natural world – the body proportions of living beings, the growth patterns of many plants, insects and the model of the universe.


Bhutan history is very rich, stone tools, weapons, elephants, and remnants of large stone structures provide evidence that Bhutan was inhabited as early as 2000 BC, although there are no existing records from that time. Historians have theorized that the state of Lhomon (literally, "southern darkness"), or Monyul ("Dark Land", a reference to the Monpa, the aboriginal peoples of Bhutan) may have existed between 500 BC and AD 600. The names Lhomon Tsendenjong (Sandalwood Country), and Lhomon Khashi, or Southern Mon (country of four approaches), have been found in ancient Bhutanese and Tibetan chronicles. The Dzong in the Paro valley, built in 1646. Buddhism was first introduced to Bhutan in the 7th century AD. Tibetan king Songtsän Gampo (reigned 627 to 649), a convert to Buddhism, who actually had extended the Tibetan Empire into Sikkim and Bhutan, ordered the construction of two Buddhist temples, at Bumthang in central Bhutan and at Kyichu (near Paro) in the Paro Valley. Buddhism was propagated in earnest in 746 under King Sindhu Rāja, an exiled Indian king who had established a government in Bumthang at Chakhar Gutho Palace. Trashigang Dzong, built in 1659. Much of the early bhutan history is unclear because most of the records were destroyed when fire ravaged the ancient capital, Punakha, in 1827. By the 10th century, Bhutan's political development was heavily influenced by its religious history. Various subsects of Buddhism emerged that were patronized by the various Mongol warlords. After the decline of the Yuan dynasty in the 14th century, these subsects vied with each other for supremacy in the political and religious landscape, eventually leading to the ascendancy of the Drukpa Lineage by the 16th century. A thrikhep (throne cover) from the 19th century. Throne covers were placed atop the temple cushions used by high lamas. The central circular swirling quadrune is the gankyil in its mode as the "Four Joys" Until the early 17th century in Bhutan's history, Bhutan existed as a patchwork of minor warring fiefdoms, when the area was unified by the Tibetan lama and military leader Ngawang Namgyal, who had fled religious persecution in Tibet. To defend the country against intermittent Tibetan forays, Namgyal built a network of impregnable dzongs or fortresses, and promulgated the Tsa Yig, a code of law that helped to bring local lords under centralized control. Many such dzong still exist and are active centers of religion and district administration. Portuguese Jesuits Cacella and Cabral were the first recorded Europeans to visit Bhutan, on their way to Tibet. They met Ngawang Namgyal, presented him with firearms, gunpowder and a telescope, and offered him their services in the war against Tibet, but the Zhabdrung declined the offer. After a stay of nearly eight months Cacella wrote a long letter from the Chagri Monastery reporting on his travels. This is a rare extant report of the Shabdrung. After Ngawang Namgyal's death in 1651, his passing was kept secret for 54 years; after a period of consolidation, Bhutan lapsed into internal conflict. In the year 1711 Bhutan went to war against the Mughal Empire and its Subedars, who restored Koch Bihar in the south. During the chaos that followed, the Tibetans unsuccessfully attacked Bhutan in 1714. In the 18th century, the Bhutanese invaded and occupied the kingdom of Cooch Behar to the south. In 1772, Cooch Behar appealed to the British East India Company which assisted them in ousting the Bhutanese and later in attacking Bhutan itself in 1774. A peace treaty was signed in which Bhutan agreed to retreat to its pre 1730 borders. However, the peace was tenuous, and border skirmishes with the British were to continue for the next hundred years. The skirmishes eventually led to the Duar War (1864 to 65), a confrontation for control of the Bengal Duars. After Bhutan lost the war, the Treaty of Sinchula was signed between British India and Bhutan. As part of the war reparations, the Duars were ceded to the United Kingdom in exchange for a rent of Rs. 50,000. The treaty ended all hostilities between British India and Bhutan. During the 1870s, power struggles between the rival valleys of Paro and Tongsa led to civil war in Bhutan, eventually leading to the ascendancy of Ugyen Wangchuck, the ponlop (governor) of Tongsa. From his power base in central Bhutan, Ugyen Wangchuck defeated his political enemies and united the country following several civil wars and rebellions during 1882 to 85. In 1907, an epochal year for the country, Ugyen Wangchuck was unanimously chosen as the hereditary king of the country by an assembly of leading Buddhist monks, government officials, and heads of important families. John Claude White, British Political Agent in Bhutan, took photographs of the ceremony. The British government promptly recognized the new monarchy, and in 1910 Bhutan signed the Treaty of Punakha, a subsidiary alliance which gave the British control of Bhutan's foreign affairs and meant that Bhutan was treated as an Indian princely state. This had little real effect, given Bhutan's historical reticence, and also did not appear to affect Bhutan's traditional relations with Tibet. After the new Union of India gained independence from the United Kingdom on 15 August 1947, Bhutan became one of the first countries to recognize India's independence. On 8 August 1949, a treaty similar to that of 1910, in which Britain had gained power over Bhutan's foreign relations, was signed with the newly independent India. In 1953, King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck established the country's legislature, a 130 member National Assembly to promote a more democratic form of governance. In 1965, he set up a Royal Advisory Council, and in 1968 he formed a Cabinet. In 1971, Bhutan was admitted to the United Nations, having held observer status for three years. In July 1972, Jigme Singye Wangchuck ascended to the throne at the age of sixteen after the death of his father, Dorji Wangchuck. So as you see Bhutan history is short but interesting.


From Immigration to Inspiration
The Catholic Heritage Center & Museum focuses on the Perry County communities of Apple Creek and Biehle and their deep roots in the Catholic faith. This museum opened their doors in 2012 next to the historical and beautiful St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and outdoor grotto located in Apple Creek, Perry County, Missouri.
Utilizing the once St. Joseph Apple Creek school building, a small band of local volunteers have created a mesmerizing trip back into time centered around the once thriving communities of Apple Creek and Biehle. From tools of the local trade, advertising memorabilia and family keepsakes you will be able to relive the once hustling and bustling life of small town America. These two communities both centered around their Catholic churches, St. Joseph of Apple Creek and St. Maurus of Biehle and deeply rooted in their faith have preserved a breathtaking collection of Catholic religious artifacts. From bibles printed in their German ancestral language, Priest chasubles of astonishing design and workmanship and multiple church artifacts. Through your visit here you will be delighted, amazed and inspired by the people, their communities and their journey.


46th Congress of the European Regional Science Association: "Enlargement, Southern Europe and the Mediterranean", August 30th - September 3rd, 2006, Volos, Greece
Turkey has many geological disadvantages such as sitting on top of active tectonic plate boundaries, and why having avalanche, flood, and landslide and drought prone areas. However, this natural structure is inevitable; the only way to survive in such a harsh geography is to be aware of importance of these natural events and to take political and physical measures. Natural hazards are generally forgotten shortly after a while. Many projects that are planned to mitigate future hazards are suspended soon after natural hazards happened. Instead of taking pre- disaster measures and precautions, only emergency measures for recovery and post- disaster aid to the victims of a calamity are applied. Izmir which is the third biggest city in Turkey survived as a big city throughout its history of 5000 years and has been frequently renovated under geopolitical and geological influences. Izmir has been greatly affected by some disasters such as earthquakes, fires, epidemics and etc. Thus many edifices that would reflect historical background of the city did not survive until today and present remains are generally few and known only by experts and the neighboring people (Towards Agenda 21 in Izmir, 1998). Population increases and its development pressures on rural areas are inevitable problems for Izmir. Urban housing supply could not meet the demand, the housing policies could not be integrated with that of urban land and the housing subsidies could not help to serve low-income groups. Natural environmental features of Izmir increase its natural hazard risks. Izmir has sloppy topography that surrounds the city shape. Further more, soil geology is unsuitable for to settle down in built up area. On the other hand natural hazard risks increase because of the spread of the illegal urban settlements and because of the feeble building types. The major aim of this research is to bring up the magnitude of natural hazard risks in Izmir built-up zone, not being taken into consideration adequately. Because the dimensions of the peril are not taken seriously enough, the natural hazard risks, which are commonly well known, are not considered important or they are being forgotten after some time passes. Within this research, the magnitude of natural hazard risks for Izmir is being presented in the scope of concrete and local researches over Izmir risky areas.