Two Perfect Pages
We all know that water does a lot for us, and has for a very long time. What many don’t know is how it all started and how far our water system has come. Although many people do not have a clear understanding of how important it is and it’s taken for granted. There are still big controversies over water rights today, just as there were 100 years ago. Our water system has come a long way. When I say that, I mean the different methods of irrigations, recycling, replenishing, and filtering that we have today. Except we could be putting this resource is a lot of harm just by the way we are using it. We do not realize the amount of water that we are wasting and what it is doing to us. That long hot shower that many have to have effects farmers’ and ranchers’ water rights that put food on their table.
If I could turn back time I would offer some good advice that I learned while reading these articles and gaining a lot of knowledge about the past of water. I would first start by telling Turkey, Iraq, and Syria that by cutting water and resources off from one another, will not solve anything at all. From reading these articles it seemed as though they were too busy fighting with one another over water that they just kept making the situation worse. Some good advice for them would be better management. Stop, think, and manage would have been a lot more useful during these tough times. Management will do wonders when one actually sits down and analyze a situation and take action on it. By recycling their water they would not have had the conflict of sucking their aquifers dry. Aquifers are non-replenish able, that seems very scary. Although with proper action this issue could be reduced.
Turkey went through a long dispute about their river water system a while ago. Tukey, Syria, and Iraq all share the Twin Rivers. Turkey was known for many different things, one of them was their strong military power. They were well known for their forces and equipment which helped aid them in water controversies because often times no one wanted to go face to face with them. Another thing that they were known for was being “water rich” which actually is a false perception on Turkey. It wasn’t until 1953 that Turkey really became water rich, this was because of their new Directorate of State Hydraulic Works. This system of water works helped them so much that they became hated even more than they were before. While other areas used up almost all their water supply, Turkey wouldn’t even use half of their supply. This was possible because of their hydraulic water basins. One can see that if people really go the extra mile to conserve and replenish something. It really can make a huge different. Turkey was taking huge steps into making things easier for them and their citizens, and they accomplished that.
I do think that leaders would view my suggestions of better management, and recycling worth implementing. It’s amazing how much easier and rational things can be when everyone quits fighting and puts their heads together, I understand this was a time of war but they did more than just kill people, they killed their water supply at their own fault.
Some pieces of information that I would need that I did not get while reading these articles would be their global warming and climate conditions during this time. Today this type of information comes in very handy when deciding how they will manage their water. Also things such as rainfall are very important to know. What were their water laws? Who made the decisions and why? Did they have any actual knowledge of the system or were they just born into the position?
Two Perfect Pages
1.2 Bridges
When photographed both the Golden Gate Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge are admired for their architecture. While scrolling through images on Flickr it became apparent that the Golden Gate Bridge is admired for its color and how it prominent image within the bay. On this specific website there were no photographs that were taken on the bridge itself, always from a distance. On the other hand, there were many more photographs of the Brooklyn Bridge from a pedestrian’s point of view, as the many different cables on the bridge create very interesting photographs. From looking at the photographs of the two bridges, the Golden Gate Bridge appeared to symbolize a gateway to either the bay or the ocean on the other side. When looking at the Brooklyn Bridge it seemed that the connection of two important cities was the main focus.
The Brooklyn Bridge, having opened in 1883, was very sturdy for its time. Roebling had designed the bridge to be stronger than it needed to be because the science of bridge building had not been figured out yet. I think that if the science had been better during the developing we would not have the iconic bridge, with many cables and huge towers, that we do today. The intricate design is what makes it so remarkable. The bridge was originally designed for vehicles, like carts and carriages, and pedestrians. This bridge has more emphasis on accessibility for pedestrians; the walkway is down the center, with car lanes on the outside. The Golden Gate Bridge has walkways as well, but it is apparent that the bridge was primarily designed for vehicles with many car lanes, and sidewalks on the side.
In comparison to the Brooklyn Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge is just as breathtaking but much sleeker. The opening for the Golden Gate was just over 50 years after the Brooklyn Bridge’s, and engineers began to have a greater understanding of ways to build bridges. It was designed to be more flexible, to withstand the wind it would encounter. Had the bridge been built at the same time as the Brooklyn Bridge it is possible that the design would have been bulkier and not as iconic.
Both bridges have had minimal changes through the years, none of them effecting the overall appearance. By both New York City and San Francisco deciding to keep their historical images they are appreciating their city’s past, and our country’s past. Even being on opposite sides of the country, both cities are places of innovation and change, but they know it is important to celebrate history and to be proud of what came first.
Planner’s Beliefs and Values
One value that I found especially prominent of Burnham was the love and loyalty he had for his family. On page 128, the book tells about how the construction of the Columbian Exposition was so demanding that Burnham was having to live full-time in Chicago and rarely ever saw his family because there was never enough time. But despite the distance and time apart, he never let his wife forget that he missed her and was thinking of her. He would write his wife Margaret several letters each week, because telegrams weren’t private enough. On page 128 he writes to her, “You must not think this hurry of my life will last forever. I shall stop after the World’s Fair. I have made up my mind to this.” To me, that shows the caliber of Burnham’s loyalty and love for his wife because he was very successful at his engineering practice, but was willing to give it all up after the Fair so he wouldn’t need to be away from Margaret and their five kids anymore because he loved them.
Olmstead was in charge of all the landscaping at the World’s Fair. Right from the beginning, it’s clear that this man had his own beliefs about the proper way to handle and view landscaping. On page 50 the book tells how it was his life’s mission to “dispel the perception that landscape architecture was simply an ambitious sort of gardening and to have his field recognized instead as a distinct branch of the fine arts, full sister to painting, sculpture, and brick-and-mortar architecture.” Olmstead absolutely detested traditional landscaping, but he was one of the only people that did. He saw landscaping as a chance to capture natural beauty and he never gave up on his vision of doing so. But, he wasn’t very successful with this non-traditional approach. What this tells me is that he also valued diligence, originality and staying loyal to his own vision.
Holmes was a man who absolutely valued wealth and a prestigious reputation in society, to a fault that he was willing to achieve it through lying and deceiving. He was always scheming, finding ways to make money without ever having to spend any. He used the vulnerability of others, especially women, to position himself in a way that made them swoon over him and adore him immediately. On page 36 the book says, “To women as yet unaware of his private obsessions, it was an appealing delicacy. He broke prevailing rules of casual intimacy; He stood too close, stared too hard, touched too much and long. And women adored him for it.” He was a cunning and physically attractive man, and these are the skills he played into to get him anything he wanted. On page 37 Holmes used these very skills to persuade an old woman to give him her drug store, where he later made a lot of money and avoided a lot of responsibility.
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