Homework help?

[luvxander]

Below the cut, I have typed out the instructions we were given for our assignment in Natural Hazards class. I have no idea how to even begin this paper. Papers are the worst thing ever for me, because I suck at research for anything at all.

If anyone can give me some pointers, places to research, or even WHAT to research, I would be eternally grateful.

And if anyone wants to just write it for me, I wouldn't mind that either.



What is the vulnerability of a region to a disaster? In this assignment, you will select a small region to study in the US to answer that question. You may not select any region in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, or Florida.

When at the vulnerability of a region, the characteristics of the region influence the severity of the disaster. You may want to consider several factors related to hazard vulnerability, including: transportation network, poverty level, population density, types of structures, topography, and location, as the factors pertain the types of hazards that affect your region. Focus on, at most, two hazards for the entire region. You should consider the following questions factors in addition to two other factors of your own choosing:

Transportation Network: Given the hazard(s), what is the ideal transportation network? Should the region have adequate transportation leaving the region? Is the type of transportation system vulnerable to the hazard? For instance, is the area just connected to other transportation with a single bridge?

Poverty Level: What is the poverty level for the major city in the region? How would that affect the vulnerability?

Population: What is the population? How many people could potentially be affected?

Population density: What is the density? How would that influence the affect and effect of a disaster?

Community characteristics: What is the age of the community? What are primary types of building? What materials are the buildings made of?

Physical geography: How would the topography interact with the disaster? Does the climate influence the region's vulnerability?

The paper is to be typed, double-spaced, 1 inch margins, in 12-point Times New Roman font. The paper is to be between 5 1/2 pages to 10 pages. You may wish to include images, maps, or diagrams with your report, but those are not included in the overall page count.

Comments

[inkandchocolate.livejournal.com]

Ye gods... my brain would leak out my ears if I tried that one, sweetheart. I am so sorry. I am at the "fire bad, tree pretty" level of brain power these days.

I could write you porn? Just to ease the pain?

[luvxander.livejournal.com]

Porn would be ever so welcome. Do you think you could do old skewl Xander/Riley? I'm in a mood, it seems.

[inkandchocolate.livejournal.com]

Mmm, old skewl it is, darling. Stay tuned.

[luvxander.livejournal.com]

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[inkandchocolate.livejournal.com]

Anything in particular you want me to *ahem* hit?

[luvxander.livejournal.com]

hmmm....Xander has a military kink, obviously. And when Riley's all commanding and "in charge" it makes Xander completely weak in every possible way. That's all I can think of for now.

[inkandchocolate.livejournal.com]

Your wish is my command!

[luvxander.livejournal.com]

Well hell, if you'd said that to begin with, I'd have been wishing for you to write my paper. LOL

[inkandchocolate.livejournal.com]

*comment fail*

LMAO

[luvxander.livejournal.com]

Hee!

[inkandchocolate.livejournal.com]

Declassified Military Jargon

I ♥ you, BB!

[luvxander.livejournal.com]

I ♥ you more, Boo!

[saifai.livejournal.com]

Good god you've got a lot of work ahead of you. I'm really good at papers, but this would be a serious challenge for me. You'll need to find out if your area has and problems. Like in my area, we're in an arid region (only 2" of rain a year away from being a desert). But we've also got a gihugic damn. So if we flooded, there would be a no water soaking into the soil. That would be an example of physical geography. Another thing to look for, and you might actually have to make some phone calls for this one, find out if they have an Emergency Preparedness Plan in place. If there's a disaster, what's the chain of command in the area? Do they have any contingency plans in place if networks go out, etc? Most of that information may be online, but if the smaller the area the more likely they've not implemented any sort of digital networking with other agencies. Your poverty level will be important to know, as those are the folks people forget about. They won't have the means necessary to move on a dime, so how does the emergency plan they have in place address that issue?

First place I'd look for information is the government website for that area. You'll need to look into the Transportation, Inter-agency Fire Centers (the people that help coordinate forest fires, etc), and even land management people. There's a very real chance that the individual agencies will have answers for you. There are agencies that handle local emergencies, but when I did a project on this in school a couple years ago (and mine was a group project with four people helping me BTW) I found that many agencies have never heard of them or even know what they're supposed to do. I actually know the guy that does projects for them in my area, and nobody I talked to had even heard of the place.

I wish I could give you any once place to start with research, but you really will have to make some phone calls. A lot of research can be done online (wikipedia is your friend), but you'll have to figure out the logistics yourself from the clues you find.

O.O I wish you good luck!

[luvxander.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your help. I chose Seattle as the region to focus on, because they have a big old Volcano sitting up there and I happen to love volcanoes. I've managed to get almost three pages done with the help of Google and some government websites. I have some phone calls planned to the city officials and even state officials for tomorrow, plus I'm going to put in a call to a fema office and see if they can't give me some help.

But all that is going to wait until tomorrow. For now, I'm going to take my Glee CD and go out and drink my stress away.

[saifai.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you got a great start! :D Volacanoes are a good one to do. Also a good excuse to watch natural disaster films as research, like that one with Tommy Lee Jones and Anne Heche... Volcano.

Glee and drinking sounds awesome. :D

[saifai.livejournal.com]

Ooh! Just got a local article about our national guard having helicopters for "civilian emergency use". So another idea? Hadn't thought of that avenue.