_______________A Digital Age for Textbooks
______Every year, tens of thousands of textbooks are purchased by students from all around the world. Many of these textbooks are simply a new edition of a previously available version with merely a couple extra chapters and reorganized questions. In a world seeking new, more sustainable practices one would think combating this wasteful trend would be higher on peoples’ to-do list. The high cost and great importance of a quality education necessitates this issue to be of significant importance. The solution to this problem would be relatively simple if it were to be accepted wide scale, not only by students, but teachers, professors, and administrators as well. In an age where nearly every student has access to a computer, it is hard to imagine a reason why more institutions are not leaning toward alternative methods of textbook distribution, mainly e-books or other similar practices. Although physical textbooks seem to be the preferred form of educational assistance at most universities, schools should offer all of their textbooks in digital format as well because they are far more economical, easier on students, and less detrimental to the environment.
______To begin with, the price of textbooks can be ridiculously high with those numbers rising annually. The cost of quality printing ink runs at approximately eight-thousand dollars per gallon. Add to this the increasing cost of paper coupled with the necessity for new editions of any given book to be created every so often makes it no wonder why books become so prohibitively expensive. A major issue facing publishers of electronic books are concerns about piracy. However, this does not seem to be a legitimate hesitation due to the rate at which new editions replace old on a semi-regular basis. Some e-books already have security measures which prohibit the unauthorized redistribution of copyrighted materials. While this technique of digital protection against piracy has problematic in certain situations, it could easily be fixed for student applications in order to make it so these hitches are not problems. Distribution could be handled in several ways, one of the easiest being downloading the book off the Internet. Other possibilities would be leasing out thumb drives with certain books on them or even complete preloaded laptops.
______In many cases, textbooks can account for twenty to thirty percent of a students’ overall cost of education. By the end of ones’ college career these costs can be as much as three-thousand dollar, and occasionally well beyond that amount. The total cost of all books purchased is enough to buy several laptop computers each of which far more capable than displaying only static text and pictures. A growing number of colleges are starting to supply laptops to their students as part of their standard tuition. Recently, a new trend of mini laptops has overwhelmed the market as well. Laptops can be obtained for as little as two-hundred and fifty dollars each, a bill that can easily compete with an entire semester’s worth of books for some students.
______Lastly, the mass production of all these textbooks on a yearly basis is terrible for the environment. Even though nearly fifty percent of the product used in paper production at present is recycled not all of it can be. Not to mention the process of making paper itself is not nearly as clean as one might assume. Many toxic chemicals are used to bleach and break down the fibers from trees in order to create the desired type of pulp for different forms of paper. Most of the waste is generated as a side effect of updating content. Each time a new edition for a textbook comes out all the old editions currently in circulation become near obsolete. Fortunately, systems for recycling books are constantly being invented, still textbooks have a higher depreciation rates than most cars meaning sellers seldom make their money back.
______In closing, physical textbooks are just tremendously wasteful compared to the alternative of just releasing everything in a digital format. Presently, the cost of school is high enough that it does not make much sense to force students into spending more than some can barely afford especially when they do not have to. Some schools already offer leased laptops to their students and when comparing the price of textbooks themselves to a computer with numerous PDF documents the price is comparable if not greater. The most important reason we should offer text in both digital and physical format is so we can curb the amount of waste we produce from this overlooked source. After all, with computers being everywhere we should take full advantage of their capabilities.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Research Project Step 4: Rough Draft 2
_________Mass-Transit for the Future of Fairbanks
______Public transportation, an invaluable ally in the daily commute for some, a waste of time, money, and resources to the majority. Or is it? Unfortunately, in many situations, the latter seems to be true in most communities. The reasons for this are not too difficult to visualize. The accessibility and availability of these alternative commuting methods are constricted, limited to just a few transportation routes with infrequent and sometimes even unreliable service. The story is no different in Fairbanks. Even with recent improvements to the system, service is still lacking in some regards. The average wait time in Fairbanks between buses is about one hour. On top of that, the trips themselves can take two to three times as long as that same trip would take in a personal vehicle. Although Fairbanks currently has a system of buses providing public transportation, few residence consider the service a viable alternative to their daily commute. This is because they do not find it convenient enough. As a solution to this, methods of improving accessibility and overall usefulness of the system must be researched and considered; primary topics of focus including what compels people to use mass-transit, what kind of systems work well in our climate, and what kind of things do planners take into consideration when designing layouts.
______The first thing people tend to concern themselves with when considering how they are going to get around is time and money. People want to be able to get from point A to point B as fast as possible while spending as little money as they can. Unfortunately, due to the way most communities, including Fairbanks', have expanded to cover large land space areas, this task is seldom an easy one to accomplish. However, with enough foresight and planning, a good system could do more for its riders and the community than just save them money. One interesting study conducted recently suggest that building alternative transit systems could result in a healthier population because the process of using them would require more physical effort on behalf of the public (Stokes, Robert J.). The majority of commonly built inner-city transportation systems are all electric, so they do not spread emissions everywhere they go. A positive side effect of a good transportation system that people seldom consider is its ability to make the need to own a vehicle not nearly as necessary. This can end up saving people thousands of dollars a year in car and insurance payments alone. Another benefit of getting more people to use public transportation would be increased safety. A sure fire way to avoid car accidents is to avoid cars.
______Currently in Fairbanks, our only option for transportation is our bus system, a network that only provides a realistic alternative for a very small demographic within the community. Even after recent changes to the system, the average wait time between stops at any given service point is still roughly one hour. That is much too long for anyone who does not always know exactly what their schedule is going to be. Another drawback of buses is the fact that they must follow all of the same rules of traffic as all other vehicles on the road. This can result in commutes that are longer than when a form of private transportation is used. One solution to this that many cities around the world are starting to enact are bus only lanes. These lanes allow buses to avoid traffic no matter what time of day it is. An article on greenlivingideas.com provides a fairly comprehensive breakdown on the different forms of mass-transit. As they point out, buses are only one of the four main forms of public transportation. The other three being heavy-rail, light-rail, and trolleybuses ("Greening Public Transportation"). Trolleybuses are environmentally friendly and easy to maneuver, but require a complex and costly grid of overhead lines for power. However, the fact that they can use roads instead of requiring rails does make them a more viable option. In the long run though, trolley buses only carry about the same number of people as a normal bus and are also bound by the rules of the road.
______Another alternative form of transportation is rail-based transit. There are two different categories of rail-based transportation: heavy-rail and light-rail. Both heavy-rail and light-rail trains run on the same type of tracks. Heavy-rail consist of trains with more cars, designed for carrying more passengers and equipment. Typically heavy-rail systems are only used for long distance transit, such as between cities. However, many subways and metros are also built for heavy-rail applications. Probably the most prominent and fastest growing forms of mass transit is light-rail. Light-rail is more desirable in numerous inner city applications. This is because frequent stops are more common and light-rail systems use less energy than heavy to get going. The fact that they are lighter also reduces stopping distance considerably, making them much safer when they have to operate in crowds. Fairbanks does not currently have a very extensive rail network. The current rail system runs to many important destinations around and outside of town. These destinations are high traffic areas and are important places of business. If the system was to be expanded the initial investment would be minimal, only requiring the purchase of a couple light-rail trams and construction of a few stations.
______Another form of mass transit that is often overlooked belongs in a category of its own, the monorail. Monorails are interesting because their tracks run at least ten to twenty feet above the ground. This completely removes them from traffic, allowing them to travel from station to station with ease. Monorails come in both suspended and supported varieties. Suspended monorails have the track above the car where as supported have the track below them. To add to their appeal they also tend to be cheaper to build per mile than conventional rail, about the same cost as a two lane freeway (Greenwood, Frank H.). There are several convenient things about having an elevated track. One of the main features being its minimal ground footprint, meaning it takes us less space than other forms of transportation. Another probably more important detail about having an elevated track for Fairbanks would be the low amount of heat transfer it would pose to the ground. The means that the track would not have much of an effect on the surrounding permafrost. Unfortunately, there are currently few companies that produce monorails and most systems require specific vehicle types for specific track types.
______The main thing urban planners have to study when designing layouts for transit systems is the movement of people. When do people travel, and to where? Weekday mornings people flow from residential areas to business areas and back again after work. Evenings are usually when most people go shopping. Friday and Saturday nights people are looking for entertainment, whether it be going out to the movies or out drinking and dancing, while Sundays tend to be a day for rest with few people going out and about. Defining a cities highest traffic areas and planning to build the system around these pivotal parts is another problem urban planners face. These planners would be interested in light rail systems because they excel at getting people to and from heavy congested areas quickly and are often cost effective (Neal, Jim). Places like downtown, the Carlson Center, the airport, the west and east shopping areas, and UAF would be examples of some high traffic areas in Fairbanks. Along with route design, planners also have to figure out a way to pay for the systems themselves. An article from MassTransit discusses how the Santa Barbra and Ventura County is attempting to pass a small sales tax that will go entirely toward funding local public transportation systems (Chang-Yen). The price per mile for construction of a light rail system ranges from about ten to one-hundred million dollars per mile, depending on how much of the system is underground (Middleton, Jim). For comparison, road construction cost between three to twenty million dollars per mile depending on building conditions ("Highway Construction Cost"). Cost and layout are only the first concerns of a planner. Probably the most important process is figuring out how to encourage people to actually use it. The website publictransportation.org has a plethora of information that have to do with ways to make mass transit systems more enticing for the average person. Such information like, “For every dollar spent, the average household spends eighteen cents on transportation, and ninety-four percent of this goes to buying, maintaining and operating cars,” really illustrate for people how much money can actually be saved by simply choosing to use public transportation over their own cars or trucks. It also mentions the federal Transportation and Equity Act for the 21st Century, an incentive program for commuters who use public transportation or vanpools, allowing them a tax-free monthly benefit of up to one hundred dollars (“Facts on Public Transportation.”).
______The first and most important task for urban planners will be to figure out how to make the public transportation system desirable to the general public. That is because people want to get from point A to point B quickly and cheaply. There are many options for public transportation out there. Buses are currently the primary form in Fairbanks, though the ground work for rail based transportation is in place. One of the popular and arguably most efficient forms of inner city transportation is the light rail tram systems. This is because they can move the a large amount of people in the shortest amount of time and can accomplish it while using the least amount of energy. Fairbanks would be a city that would benefit greatly if its public transportation system was improved. Fairbanks is still full of potential and with enough planning and foresight we could build a highly efficient and cost effective mass transit system.
_____________________Works Cited
Stokes, Robert J.; MacDonald, John.; Ridgeway, Greg. Health & Place. March 2008. Vol. 14 Issue 1, p45-58, 14p.
“Greening Public Transportation.” Green Living Idea's. Oct. 27, 2007.
< http://greenlivingideas.com/public-transportation/greening-public-transportation >.
Greenwood, Frank H. "Monorails for Metropolitan Transportation". Transportation Journal. Fall 1963. Vol. 3 Issue 1, p26-29, 4p.
Neal, Jim. "Light-rail as planned". Civil Engineering. April 1998. Vol. 68 Issue 4, p54, 4p
Chang-Yen, Anna. “Santa Barbara Panelists Say Transit Solutions are Local, not Federal.” MassTransit. Jan 26th, 2009.
< http://www.masstransitmag.com/web/online/Top-Transit-News/Santa-Barbara-Panelists-Say-Transit-Solutions-are-Local--not-Federal/3$7820 >.
Middleton, Jim. "The Status of North American Light Rail Projects." Light Rail Central. October 23, 2002.
< http://www.lightrail.com/projects.htm >.
"Highway Construction Cost". Washington State Department of Transportation. July 12, 2004.
< http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/biz/construction/pdf/HighwayCosts.pdf >.
“Facts on Public Transportation.” Public Transportation Takes Us There.
< http://www.publictransportation.org/facts/ >.
______Public transportation, an invaluable ally in the daily commute for some, a waste of time, money, and resources to the majority. Or is it? Unfortunately, in many situations, the latter seems to be true in most communities. The reasons for this are not too difficult to visualize. The accessibility and availability of these alternative commuting methods are constricted, limited to just a few transportation routes with infrequent and sometimes even unreliable service. The story is no different in Fairbanks. Even with recent improvements to the system, service is still lacking in some regards. The average wait time in Fairbanks between buses is about one hour. On top of that, the trips themselves can take two to three times as long as that same trip would take in a personal vehicle. Although Fairbanks currently has a system of buses providing public transportation, few residence consider the service a viable alternative to their daily commute. This is because they do not find it convenient enough. As a solution to this, methods of improving accessibility and overall usefulness of the system must be researched and considered; primary topics of focus including what compels people to use mass-transit, what kind of systems work well in our climate, and what kind of things do planners take into consideration when designing layouts.
______The first thing people tend to concern themselves with when considering how they are going to get around is time and money. People want to be able to get from point A to point B as fast as possible while spending as little money as they can. Unfortunately, due to the way most communities, including Fairbanks', have expanded to cover large land space areas, this task is seldom an easy one to accomplish. However, with enough foresight and planning, a good system could do more for its riders and the community than just save them money. One interesting study conducted recently suggest that building alternative transit systems could result in a healthier population because the process of using them would require more physical effort on behalf of the public (Stokes, Robert J.). The majority of commonly built inner-city transportation systems are all electric, so they do not spread emissions everywhere they go. A positive side effect of a good transportation system that people seldom consider is its ability to make the need to own a vehicle not nearly as necessary. This can end up saving people thousands of dollars a year in car and insurance payments alone. Another benefit of getting more people to use public transportation would be increased safety. A sure fire way to avoid car accidents is to avoid cars.
______Currently in Fairbanks, our only option for transportation is our bus system, a network that only provides a realistic alternative for a very small demographic within the community. Even after recent changes to the system, the average wait time between stops at any given service point is still roughly one hour. That is much too long for anyone who does not always know exactly what their schedule is going to be. Another drawback of buses is the fact that they must follow all of the same rules of traffic as all other vehicles on the road. This can result in commutes that are longer than when a form of private transportation is used. One solution to this that many cities around the world are starting to enact are bus only lanes. These lanes allow buses to avoid traffic no matter what time of day it is. An article on greenlivingideas.com provides a fairly comprehensive breakdown on the different forms of mass-transit. As they point out, buses are only one of the four main forms of public transportation. The other three being heavy-rail, light-rail, and trolleybuses ("Greening Public Transportation"). Trolleybuses are environmentally friendly and easy to maneuver, but require a complex and costly grid of overhead lines for power. However, the fact that they can use roads instead of requiring rails does make them a more viable option. In the long run though, trolley buses only carry about the same number of people as a normal bus and are also bound by the rules of the road.
______Another alternative form of transportation is rail-based transit. There are two different categories of rail-based transportation: heavy-rail and light-rail. Both heavy-rail and light-rail trains run on the same type of tracks. Heavy-rail consist of trains with more cars, designed for carrying more passengers and equipment. Typically heavy-rail systems are only used for long distance transit, such as between cities. However, many subways and metros are also built for heavy-rail applications. Probably the most prominent and fastest growing forms of mass transit is light-rail. Light-rail is more desirable in numerous inner city applications. This is because frequent stops are more common and light-rail systems use less energy than heavy to get going. The fact that they are lighter also reduces stopping distance considerably, making them much safer when they have to operate in crowds. Fairbanks does not currently have a very extensive rail network. The current rail system runs to many important destinations around and outside of town. These destinations are high traffic areas and are important places of business. If the system was to be expanded the initial investment would be minimal, only requiring the purchase of a couple light-rail trams and construction of a few stations.
______Another form of mass transit that is often overlooked belongs in a category of its own, the monorail. Monorails are interesting because their tracks run at least ten to twenty feet above the ground. This completely removes them from traffic, allowing them to travel from station to station with ease. Monorails come in both suspended and supported varieties. Suspended monorails have the track above the car where as supported have the track below them. To add to their appeal they also tend to be cheaper to build per mile than conventional rail, about the same cost as a two lane freeway (Greenwood, Frank H.). There are several convenient things about having an elevated track. One of the main features being its minimal ground footprint, meaning it takes us less space than other forms of transportation. Another probably more important detail about having an elevated track for Fairbanks would be the low amount of heat transfer it would pose to the ground. The means that the track would not have much of an effect on the surrounding permafrost. Unfortunately, there are currently few companies that produce monorails and most systems require specific vehicle types for specific track types.
______The main thing urban planners have to study when designing layouts for transit systems is the movement of people. When do people travel, and to where? Weekday mornings people flow from residential areas to business areas and back again after work. Evenings are usually when most people go shopping. Friday and Saturday nights people are looking for entertainment, whether it be going out to the movies or out drinking and dancing, while Sundays tend to be a day for rest with few people going out and about. Defining a cities highest traffic areas and planning to build the system around these pivotal parts is another problem urban planners face. These planners would be interested in light rail systems because they excel at getting people to and from heavy congested areas quickly and are often cost effective (Neal, Jim). Places like downtown, the Carlson Center, the airport, the west and east shopping areas, and UAF would be examples of some high traffic areas in Fairbanks. Along with route design, planners also have to figure out a way to pay for the systems themselves. An article from MassTransit discusses how the Santa Barbra and Ventura County is attempting to pass a small sales tax that will go entirely toward funding local public transportation systems (Chang-Yen). The price per mile for construction of a light rail system ranges from about ten to one-hundred million dollars per mile, depending on how much of the system is underground (Middleton, Jim). For comparison, road construction cost between three to twenty million dollars per mile depending on building conditions ("Highway Construction Cost"). Cost and layout are only the first concerns of a planner. Probably the most important process is figuring out how to encourage people to actually use it. The website publictransportation.org has a plethora of information that have to do with ways to make mass transit systems more enticing for the average person. Such information like, “For every dollar spent, the average household spends eighteen cents on transportation, and ninety-four percent of this goes to buying, maintaining and operating cars,” really illustrate for people how much money can actually be saved by simply choosing to use public transportation over their own cars or trucks. It also mentions the federal Transportation and Equity Act for the 21st Century, an incentive program for commuters who use public transportation or vanpools, allowing them a tax-free monthly benefit of up to one hundred dollars (“Facts on Public Transportation.”).
______The first and most important task for urban planners will be to figure out how to make the public transportation system desirable to the general public. That is because people want to get from point A to point B quickly and cheaply. There are many options for public transportation out there. Buses are currently the primary form in Fairbanks, though the ground work for rail based transportation is in place. One of the popular and arguably most efficient forms of inner city transportation is the light rail tram systems. This is because they can move the a large amount of people in the shortest amount of time and can accomplish it while using the least amount of energy. Fairbanks would be a city that would benefit greatly if its public transportation system was improved. Fairbanks is still full of potential and with enough planning and foresight we could build a highly efficient and cost effective mass transit system.
_____________________Works Cited
Stokes, Robert J.; MacDonald, John.; Ridgeway, Greg. Health & Place. March 2008. Vol. 14 Issue 1, p45-58, 14p.
“Greening Public Transportation.” Green Living Idea's. Oct. 27, 2007.
< http://greenlivingideas.com/public-transportation/greening-public-transportation >.
Greenwood, Frank H. "Monorails for Metropolitan Transportation". Transportation Journal. Fall 1963. Vol. 3 Issue 1, p26-29, 4p.
Neal, Jim. "Light-rail as planned". Civil Engineering. April 1998. Vol. 68 Issue 4, p54, 4p
Chang-Yen, Anna. “Santa Barbara Panelists Say Transit Solutions are Local, not Federal.” MassTransit. Jan 26th, 2009.
< http://www.masstransitmag.com/web/online/Top-Transit-News/Santa-Barbara-Panelists-Say-Transit-Solutions-are-Local--not-Federal/3$7820 >.
Middleton, Jim. "The Status of North American Light Rail Projects." Light Rail Central. October 23, 2002.
< http://www.lightrail.com/projects.htm >.
"Highway Construction Cost". Washington State Department of Transportation. July 12, 2004.
< http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/biz/construction/pdf/HighwayCosts.pdf >.
“Facts on Public Transportation.” Public Transportation Takes Us There.
< http://www.publictransportation.org/facts/ >.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Week 10 - Proposal Draft - A Digital Age for Textbooks
____Every year, tens of thousands of textbooks are purchased by students from all around the world. Many of these textbooks are simply a new edition of a previously available version with merely a couple extra chapters and reorganized questions. In a world seeking new, more sustainable practices, one would think combating this wasteful trend would be higher on peoples to-do list, especially with the cost and quality of education being such a priority. Unfortunately, few people seem to realize how simple the solution to this problem could be. Especially in this age where nearly every student has access to a computer, it is a wonder why more colleges have not looked into e-books as an alternative methods of distribution. Although physical textbooks seem to be the preferred form of educational assistance at most universities, schools should offer all of their textbooks in digital format as well because they are cheaper to produce and upgrade, easier on students, and better for the environment.
____To begin with, textbooks are ridiculously expensive. The cost of quality printing ink runs at roughly eight-thousand dollars a gallon. Add to this the rising cost of paper and the fact that these publishers find it necessary to create a new edition for any given book every couple of years and it is no wonder why these things cost so much. However it does not explain why these publishers continue to choose print over PDF format. One thing publishers seem to be concerned about is piracy, though it does not seem like the most legitimate concern considering the rate at which old material is replaced by new writings. E-books has a security measure that does not allow a copy of the file to be created, and while this protection method has proven to be quite problematic in some situations, it could easily be worked with for student applications as to not be an issue. One simple method of distribution could be to lease out thumb-drives with the digital text loaded onto them that the students could use to read, but only the school would have access to in order to alter or upgrade.
____In many cases, textbooks can account for anywhere from twenty to thirty percent of a students overall class cost. By the end of ones college career, these cost can top the range of three-thousand dollars or more. Enough to purchase several laptop computers, each capable of so much more than just displaying text. Not that paying for ones textbooks is a bad thing, but when the main goal of many students is to go to school to earn an education so that they can make the world a better place, it feels pretty counter productive to contribute so greatly to such a wasteful practice in the process. Schools could very easily lease laptops to students for digital text for way cheaper than what they end up spending by buying printed textbooks.
____Lastly, the mass production of all these textbooks on a yearly basis is terrible for the environment. Even though nearly fifty percent of the product used in paper production these days is recycled, not all of it can be. Not to mention, the process of making paper itself is not nearly as clean as one might assume. Several toxic chemicals are used to bleach and break down the fibers from trees in order to create the desired type of pulp for different forms of paper.
____In closing, physical textbooks are just plain wasteful compared to the alternative of just releasing everything in a digital format. The cost of school these days is high enough and it does not make any sense to force students into spending money in areas they really should not have too. Some schools already offer leased laptops to their students and when comparing the price of textbooks themselves to a computer with a bunch of PDFs, the price comes out to roughly the same, if not far better.
____To begin with, textbooks are ridiculously expensive. The cost of quality printing ink runs at roughly eight-thousand dollars a gallon. Add to this the rising cost of paper and the fact that these publishers find it necessary to create a new edition for any given book every couple of years and it is no wonder why these things cost so much. However it does not explain why these publishers continue to choose print over PDF format. One thing publishers seem to be concerned about is piracy, though it does not seem like the most legitimate concern considering the rate at which old material is replaced by new writings. E-books has a security measure that does not allow a copy of the file to be created, and while this protection method has proven to be quite problematic in some situations, it could easily be worked with for student applications as to not be an issue. One simple method of distribution could be to lease out thumb-drives with the digital text loaded onto them that the students could use to read, but only the school would have access to in order to alter or upgrade.
____In many cases, textbooks can account for anywhere from twenty to thirty percent of a students overall class cost. By the end of ones college career, these cost can top the range of three-thousand dollars or more. Enough to purchase several laptop computers, each capable of so much more than just displaying text. Not that paying for ones textbooks is a bad thing, but when the main goal of many students is to go to school to earn an education so that they can make the world a better place, it feels pretty counter productive to contribute so greatly to such a wasteful practice in the process. Schools could very easily lease laptops to students for digital text for way cheaper than what they end up spending by buying printed textbooks.
____Lastly, the mass production of all these textbooks on a yearly basis is terrible for the environment. Even though nearly fifty percent of the product used in paper production these days is recycled, not all of it can be. Not to mention, the process of making paper itself is not nearly as clean as one might assume. Several toxic chemicals are used to bleach and break down the fibers from trees in order to create the desired type of pulp for different forms of paper.
____In closing, physical textbooks are just plain wasteful compared to the alternative of just releasing everything in a digital format. The cost of school these days is high enough and it does not make any sense to force students into spending money in areas they really should not have too. Some schools already offer leased laptops to their students and when comparing the price of textbooks themselves to a computer with a bunch of PDFs, the price comes out to roughly the same, if not far better.
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