Guardian Ad Litem

Purpose: To become acquainted with court-appointed advocates for children (minors) and vulnerable adults (mentally disabled, elderly, etc.)

Outcome: You will demonstrate a working knowledge of basic family law procedures.

What is a Guardian Ad Litem?

A Guardian Ad Litem is a court appointed official (usually an attorney) who represents an individual that cannot legally defend or represent himself/herself in a legal action. This could be a lawsuit, family law issue, settlement negotiation and, in some cases, inheritance issues.

Children under 18 years of age, adults with dementia, mentally challenged individuals, etc. are all considered vulnerable by the court. So, during a nasty custody battle a Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) is appointed to represent the child.    If there is more than one minor child in a family law issue then each child is appointed their own GAL to represent them. The GAL will make home visits, talk to the child, family friends, etc. and be a part of any settlement negotiation. The Judge will always ask the GAL for a report. The GAL's main goal is to represent the child and settle issues in the child's best interest. The parents have little or no say in the matter. In family law matters, it was usually their bickering and inability to resolve issues involving their children that required the appointment of the GAL in the first place.

GAL's also investigate issues of child abuse, when one parent is accusing the other, to see if there is any validity to the claims. Sometimes parents just accuse the other of horrendous acts just so they get custody and child support. The children are the silent victims in these cases and the GAL's are there for the children.

GAL's are not only appointed in family law issues. Years ago, my children were a part of a personal injury lawsuit and each of them had a GAL appointed to them to be a part of the monetary settlement negotiations. They also had a say in where and how the settlement would be placed and when it could be given to them (at age 18 or later). Parents do not have any legal right to a child's settlement money and the laws were changed to enforce that issue years ago.

Assignment:

I want you to research how to find a Guardian Ad Litem in King County and in a two to three paragraph paper tell me how you find one, what are the requirements and when would one be necessary.

1. A 14ft long simply supported beam of A992 steel is laterally braced only at its ends. It has a uniformly distributed dead load of 2k/ft. and uniformly distributed live load of 3k/ft. Determine: Size based on bending.
   determine Factored loads, bending moment,
   Determine Allowable Bending Moment based on Lb
   compare actual to allowable
   check deflection with 5wL⁴/384EI
   Check Shear determine Maximum shear Vu compare to allowable .6FyAwCv
   

Primary clarifier effluent was analyzed for solids content by an analytical laboratory. A 250-mL sample of the effluent was filtered through a laboratory (1 micrometer) filter. A 241-mL sample of the filtrate contained 89 mg of salts as dissolved solids (Residue 1). Solid residue from the filtration was dried overnight at 105 deg C and weighed 37 mg (Residue 2). What were the concentrations of total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, and total solids in the primary clarifier effluent?

describe the examples of treatment sludges for solar drying, thermal drying and combustion applications in summary with their technical details.

Part 1

Select all answers that are correct

Group of answer choices

a. Sulphate, silica, carbonation and chloride can cause chemical damage to concrete.

b. Concrete is a mixture of Portland cement, water, aggregates and admixtures.

c. Concrete can be damaged by fire, freezing weather, aggregate expansion, bacterial corrosion and leaching.

d. None of the answers is correct.

e. Concrete has been around for thousands of years.

Part 2

Chemical admixtures:

Group of answer choices

a. can increase the curing rate.

b. can slow the hydration rate.

c. Are the largest component found in concrete. Concrete is mostly admixture.

d. Cement is an example of an admixture.

e. Include accelerators, retarders, corrosion inhibitors, workability agents, bonding agents.

A 60-acre medium-density residential property experienced a peak storm event that produced 5.7 inches of rainfall over a 330-minute period. The property has a slope of 3.1% and has sandy soil characteristics. What is the peak runoff flow rate in units of ft3/s?

What could be the implication(s) in the following case?

1 The feed solids concentration too low and insufficient biogas generated during anaerobic digestion.

2 Lack of proper lubrication of the gearbox mechanism of the digester

3 Allowing air into the digester when withdrawing of supernatant phase

4 Sludge pumping (primary sedimentation) is too low.  

.5 Sludge pumping (primary sedimentation) is too high
6 Accumulation of debris on mechanical bar screens during preliminary treatment.

A large 20-story steel structure is planned for an office building the Denver Metropolitan. The exploration program revealed that foundation soil comprises of 25-foot clay with undrained shear strength of 1,000 psf overlying a thick stiff clay shale with the undrained shear strength of 3,000 psf. To avoid construction noise, the architect selected 3-ft diameter drilled shaft foundation. The drilled shafts are socketed 15 feet in the stiff clay shale. Calculate:

a. The ultimate capacity of the drilled shaft.

b. Estimate the total structural dead load.

c. Estimate the office building life load.

d. At a factor of safety of 2,5, how many drilled shafts would be required?

Note: When you suspect some missing information, please make reasonable assumption(s) and process with your solution. Clearly show why assumption(s) is needed.

A community has two waste sources S1 and S2 having option to dispose waste at either
landfill LF1 at $4/tonne, or LF2 at $6/tonne. S1 and S2 generate waste at 150 tonnes/week and 300
tonnes/week, respectively, and transportation costs are $8/tonne (S1 to LF1), $7/tonne (S1 to LF2),
$6/tonne (S2 to LF1), and $5/tonne (S2 to LF2). (A) (2 points) At which landfills should S1 and S2 dispose
the wastes to minimize total cost of transportation and disposal? (B) (4 points) What are the minimum
costs of transportation and disposal ($/week) for S1, S2, and total community? (C) (4 points) What are
the minimum transportation costs ($/week) for S1, S2, and total community?

An emergency response unit is preparing for a hurricane (and the potential for a prolonged power outage). As part of their preparation, they are filling Yeti Tundra 110 coolers with ice. The inside dimensions of each cooler is approximately 15 inches high, eleven inches wide and 30 inches long. Based on these dimensions, the volume capacity of each cooler is 4,900 cubic inches and the external surface area of the four sides plus top and bottom is given as 1,800 square inches. The sides, top and bottom of the Yeti coolers is made of 2-inch polyurethane with an R-value of 14 (ft²-°F-hr/BTU).

If each cooler is being filled with 84 pounds of ice and the average outside temperature is expected to be 81°F, how many days will it take for all of the ice to melt? (For your calculations, assume that the temperature inside the coolers is 32°F and that the coolers remain closed.)

Discuss the differences between Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids in terms of shear stress vs. shear rate characteristics.

How does an interior designer blend lighting design into overall design?

How does an interior designer blend lighting design into overall design?

Give three advantages and three disadvantages of source separation of waste for recycling

Engineering Ethics

• Consider Mary's preparation before visiting the site. Did Mary fulfill her professional obligation to her employer? Give an argument for your answer with reference to the ASCE code of Ethics.

• Consider Mary's preparation before visiting the site. Did Mary fulfill her professional obligation to her employer? Give an argument for your answer with reference to the ASCE code of Ethics.

• Consider Mary's preparation before visiting the site. Did Mary fulfill her professional obligation to her employer? Give an argument for your answer with reference to the ASCE code of Ethics.

• Suppose that Mary's boss, after hearing of her experiences on the first day, assigns Alex, a more experienced engineer, to accompany her to the site. Rather than simply advising and supporting her, Alex takes over the inspection process, ignoring Mary but also preventing the cold joint problem. Analyze the ethical positions of Mary, Alex and their boss.

• Imagine yourself as an expert witness for Spire Engineering. How would you assess the actions of Mary and her boss with respect to the firm's liability.