In order to make early action disaster plans more effective, we need to change cultural values in order to make locals more accepting of the plan, according to Andrew Collins's article titled "Why Disaster Warning and Development Go Hand in Hand" and published on SciDev.net, an internet science forum. Regardless of whether or not the article was actually well-written, Andrew Collins certainly has the authority to write it; he's the director of the Disaster and Development Centre at the British Northumbria University. After reading so many articles that didn't give the author's credentials (or, in worse cases, name) it's nice to see a publication that cares about the credibility of its work.
Author Andrew Collins mostly relies on his credibility as a disaster expert in order to make his points. The appeal to ethos is sudden but present; even at the beginning of the article, he is introduced as "disaster policy expert Andrew Collins." He goes on to make a series of broad claims and statements of fact; if the author wasn't so qualified to write on the subject, I would expect to see sources and backing, but because Collins is credible I trust that the information is accurate.
I don't think the article achieved its purpose because I'm not really sure that it had a purpose. Perhaps an outline would've helped, because the piece starts shaky and goes nowhere. With a plea so abstract as "improve disaster warning systems," one must ground their argument in specific examples of how they want this to be done, and Mr. Collins does not do this. I've learned that personal circumstances and cultural values play a part in disaster readiness, but have not learned the author's plan for how to use them to improve. Although the article seemed promising in theory, there isn't much to take away.
http://www.scidev.net/global/disasters/opinion/why-disaster-warning-and-development-go-hand-in-hand-1.html
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