I'm Afraid of That Water Lassiter, Luke Eric; Hoey, Brian A; Campbell, Elizabeth
2020, 2020-04-01
eBook
On January 9th 2014, residents across Charleston, West Virginia, awoke to an unusual liquorice smell in the air and a similar taste in the public drinking water. That evening residents were informed ...that the tap water in tens of thousands of homes, hundred of businesses, and dozens of schools and hospitals - the water made available to as many as 300,00 citizens in a nine-county region - had been contaminated with a chemical used for cleaning crushed coal. This books tells a particular set of stories about that chemical spill and its aftermath, an unfolding water crisis that would lead to months, even years, of fear and distrust. It is both oral history and collaborative ethnography, jointly conceptualised, researched, and written by people - more than fifty in all - across various positions in academia and local communities. I'm Afraid of That Water foregrounds the ongoing concerns of West Virginians (and people in comparable situations in places like Flint, Michigan) confronted by the problem of contamination, where thresholds for official safety may be crossed, but a genuine return to normality is elusive.
The End of the Paper Trail Hatfield, Jim
Insurance & Technology,
03/2005, Letnik:
30, Številka:
3
Trade Publication Article
It's not often that an insurer can cut costs and improve competitive advantage at the same time. So, when Novato, CA-based Fireman's Fund Insurance Co (FFIC) saw an opportunity to do just that, the ...carrier moved quickly. Prior to 2003, FFIC printed, collated and shipped thousands of policy documents to agencies. That cost time and money on both ends, so the company decided to put as much of the paperwork as possible online. In August 2002, FFIC issued an RFP for a minimally invasive solution that could cope with eight different policy issuance systems and a legacy printing process. After narrowing the vendors to three, FFIC selected Toronto-based Xenos' d2e Platform to convert its IBM Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) files into a format that would work on the Web.
Click to Pay Hatfield, Jim
Insurance & Technology,
02/2005, Letnik:
30, Številka:
2
Trade Publication Article
Improvements in operational efficiency can help healthcare organizations keep themselves off the critical list. With that in mind, in 2000, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (Wellesley, MA) turned to ...online billing to expedite receivables and boost customer service. HPHC evaluated three vendors before settling on Natick, MA-based edocs because of the vendor's strong track record for providing e-billing solutions and customer service platforms to health plans. The vendors teamed with Harvard Pilgrim IT specialists to customize edocs' technology and integrate it with the health plan's existing online enrollment program. The system went live in 2000 and has required no major upgrades. According to HPHC, the online billing solution has reduced administrative costs and improved the carrier's cash flow, and has been popular with customers.
Be All You Can Be Hatfield, Jim
Insurance & Technology,
01/2005, Letnik:
30, Številka:
1
Trade Publication Article
To ensure its ability to sustain growth, Melville, NY-based AutoOne Insurance, which was formed in 2001 and more than doubled in size in 2003, adopted the Opus Suite of performance analytics tools ...from Opus Consulting Group (Chicago). AutoOne manages assigned risk obligations for its parent company, OneBeacon Insurance Group (Boston; approximately $320 million in annual revenue in 2004), a unit of White Mountains Insurance Group (Hanover, NH), and more than 30 other carriers. Opus tailored the solution to AutoOne's unique business needs. The solution integrates data feeds from various systems to compile data on work volume, work completed and available resource hours, and enables AutoOne to measure the amount of time people spend on their core work functions against a consistent standard.
Built to Last Hatfield, Jim
Bank Systems & Technology,
01/2005, Letnik:
42, Številka:
1
Trade Publication Article
LaSalle National Bank officials don't consider themselves lucky. They credit thorough emergency planning and effective disaster recovery systems for preventing loss of life and preserving business ...data in the five-alarm blaze at the company's 45-story headquarters in Chicago on Dec. 6, 2004. The fire occurred on the 29th and 30th floors, which housed the bank's trust department, a research unit and a credit training group.
