Lava Mae
In many cities in the United States, the number of homeless people is increasing because the cost of rent is rising and there are fewer homes that they can afford. One such city is San Francisco, California. It is estimated that over 8,000 people are living on the streets there. With no homes, it is not surprising that these people often do not have ( 21 ). In fact, the city has only about 20 public showers available for the homeless.
In 2013, businesswoman Doniece Sandoval came up with an interesting project, called Lava Mae, to help the homeless with this problem. Sandoval heard that the city was going to replace many of its public buses, so she raised money to purchase some of them. She then turned them into places where the homeless can shower. Each bus has two large bathing areas, as well as clean toilets. Most homeless people also do not have soap or towels. ( 22 ), Lava Mae provides such supplies for everyone who comes.
Sandoval’s solution has one major advantage. The shower buses can be driven around to different places in the city each day. Also, Sandoval worked with the city to get permission to use water from fire hydrants around the city. In this way, the shower buses can go to the homeless people, so the people themselves ( 23 ) to a place to wash their bodies. Now, other cities are showing interest in Sandoval’s idea of changing buses into mobile showers for the homeless.
Go with the Flow
In recent years, climate change has been causing sea levels to rise in many parts of the world. According to scientists, this problem ( 24 ). They say that, by the end of this century, sea levels are expected to rise by about a meter worldwide. Consequently, major cities like London and New York could end up covered in water due to flooding. In fact, in some cities, flooding is already occurring.
In response to this, city planners and engineers have begun efforts to build barriers, such as dams and large concrete sea walls, to protect cities from water. This has helped a little. Unfortunately, though, these kinds of barriers may not ( 25 ). This is because scientists believe that powerful storms are likely to increase due to climate change. The high waves produced by such storms could easily reach over the barriers, spilling water into cities that barriers currently protect.
Although this seems like bad news for coastal cities, some architects believe it is a chance to reconsider how water is used. In fact, according to Koen Olthuis, the founder of a Dutch company called Waterstudio, more water is not necessarily a problem, but can actually be a solution to many modern problems. For example, dams that are built to protect cities from water can also be used to produce electricity. ( 26 ), by creating buildings that float on top of water, the buildings will be able to move with the rising water levels. In this way, cities can work with water, rather than fight against it.
From: Larry Spears ＜l-spears3@toosoft.com＞
To: Angela Landers ＜a-landers1@toosoft.com＞
Subject: S7 Software Conference
Dear Ms. Landers,
I’m sending you an e-mail today about the S7 Software Conference that will be held in Los Angeles this summer. Our company has decided to participate in S7 again this year. We plan to use the event as an opportunity to show some of our new ideas to the public. Therefore, we will need some employees to show products from each of our software development teams at S7.
Your team will also need to present one new product. As the team leader, you must select one employee to attend the event and to give a presentation. That person will also have to spend time meeting people and answering questions about our company. Peter Harris from the accounting department will book plane tickets and hotel rooms for the trip.
The product you choose must be something interesting that has not been advertised yet. We want it to be a surprise for the audience. The presentation will be on the main stage at S7, so make sure the employee you select is a good speaker and comfortable in front of a large audience. We will discuss the details of the event at a special managers’ meeting next month. Meanwhile, please let me