Human Society

In discussion of inhumane treatment, a controversial issue is whether animals are entitled to their rights. While some argue that only humans have rights, others contend that animals should have the same privileges as humans. The author of â€Å"A Change of Heart about Animals,† Jeremy Rifkin, claims that animals should have better treatment. Rifkin rhetorically changes one’s view on this subject without the consent of the reader. Rifkin begins by showing the animals’ human qualities, then giving a counter statement to common objections, and finally ends it by utilizing negative language. Rifkin’s expressive strategy is to note the similarities between animals and humans. Rifkin mentions Koko, a 300-pound gorilla. Koko was able to learn sign language and yet some people never even learn how to communicate in sign language. Rifkin also notes the similarity between rats and humans. He states, â€Å"Recent studies in the brain chemistry of rats show that when they play, their brains release large amounts of dopamine, a petrochemical associated with pleasure and excitement in human beings. Rifkin shows that not only do animals have the ability to learn the things we do, but also have some features that we do. After providing the analogy between the two, Rifkin anticipated that many people would view animals as one of them. The result is that to believe that animals are not any different than us, so they shouldn’t be in the brutal situations they face every day. It also, makes much more likely to accept the statement he makes based on the similarities he provides, that we must work to increase the benevolent treatment of animals. Among Rifkin’s subtly persuasive strategies is to denote the common objections and give a counter statement. Jeremy Rifkin for showing us that science supports what we pet owners and animal rights activists have known in our hearts all along: animals have feelings and abilities not very different from humans. When will more people begin to realize that we share this world with many creatures deserving of our care and respect? Animals have a right to live without being confined, exploited, and tormented.

Cherish the Children’s Thinking Essay

Do you think teachers should cherish the children’ s thinking? Most people think the teachers should treasure the children’s thinking and give the children a space to think freely. It is important for children to cherish their chance to think freely, because they may lose the imagination when they grow up. If all people in the world do not have imagination, this world would not have some new technology products and this society won’t progress. This world needs to keep the pace of progress because no progress is backwards, for example the gasoline is less and less in the world, if scientists can’t create a new energy, then gasoline will disappear. So, this world need to progress by imagination and creativity. The teachers should train and treasure the children’s imagination in order to develop this world and keep progressing. Nowadays, most people have lost the ability of imagining because they had seen too many real things, for example they can†™t believe there are some aliens in this world. However, the children believe that the aliens are real in the world because the children are naà ¯ve and willing to trust anything. Thus, teachers should cherish the children’s freedom to think and make their thinking positive in order to develop their own better, earn more academic knowledge and change their lives in the future. Firstly, in order to get a better development of children, the teacher should make children’s thinking more positive. Ho (2007) argues that the American education is not advanced, but it is better in other ways than other countries from the article called â€Å"We Should Cherish Our Children’s Freedom to Think†. (page112) He compares the education of him and his son and discovers they are very different. He had to memorize something about academic knowledge, for example the main cities in the world, lines for Hamlet and a number of math formulas. In contrast, his son studied ever ything by some experiences, for example he drew a map from his home to school and label every street and building he passed when he was six years old. (Ho, 2007, page112) He agrees this learning method because this kind of education can help the children develop their ideas and creativity. The children are the hope of world, so the teacher must use current and suitable methods to educate the children in order that children develop better. Secondly, if the teachers make students study in the process of playing games and answer the questions actively, the children will earn more academic knowledge. If the children’s ideas are accepted by their teachers and their teacher praise them, the children will keep their thinking and want to get more praise. In this case, the teachers should praise the positive ideas of the children and veto the negative thinking. Ho’s teachers answered the question and gave them a correct answer only when they asked, and he didn’t have a chance to make a decision in many cases. However, his son got a good laugh and an A grade from his teacher when he asked his teacher question and told his teacher his ideas. (Ho) And Ho’s son learned the knowledge of history through play the role. (Ho) Those are good ways to educate, b ecause this way can make the student more confidence, more interested in study and study more industriously. Thus, they will get more academic knowledge. Finally, the people will be able to change their life through some original ideas if they keep their imagination and creativity. Nowadays, this world needs more new products that can attract your eyeballs. If you have the abilities of imagination and creativity, you can change the world. For example Steve Jobs, who is a legend in the world, changed the whole world. Because of his ideas, he created many technology products called iPhone, iPod, iMac and so on. Those products all changed the habits of people, for example many people always put the iPhone in the hand and watch it. Thereforeï ¼Å'the people of the whole world are fond of his product designed by him. Then he had become a rich and excellent man. Thus, we should treasure the thinking of childrenï ¼Å'either kill the imagination in order that they can get a better life in t he future and change this world. In conclusion, American education can make children think freely. For example Ho’s son drew a map when he was six years ago. Special method that is to praise children and play the role can make children earn more knowledge. Keeping the children’s thinking may make them get better life and become a person who can change the world such as Jobs. I think most countries can change their system of education and the teacher should use other ways to educate children. They should respect the children’s ideas and do not kill their imagination and creativity in order that children develop better, earn more knowledge and change their lives and world.

My Neighbor Totoro

JoAnna Carraway Professor Childs English 1301 26 Feb. 2013 My Neighbor Totoro Movie Review â€Å"My Neighbor Totoro† is a Japanese base children’s film animated in the 1980’s written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. This movie was different from American films. There is no fighting or bickering among the characters. The movie is based on two sisters and their father who moved to a new town to be closer to their mom; who is ill and in a hospital nearby. The girl’s father hires the neighbor as new babysitter whom they have never met before.In this film the Japanese culture is very different from American society today, but very inspiring and enjoyable for its young viewers. The two sisters Satsuki who is the oldest and Mei being the youngest were very excited about moving to their new home and closer to their mom. When they arrived to their new home the girls ran all through and around the house. Their dad introduces them to the neighbor, who was an old lady who was keeping the house up while it was empty. The neighbor told the girls to call her â€Å"Granny†. The girl’s father also told them that she would be the new sitter while he went to work.Her being the girls sitter was strange to me; because in this culture we live in today; us as parents we do not leave our children with strangers we know nothing about, so that didn’t set too well with me. He should have let the girls get comfortable, and get to know her first. The old lady seemed to enjoy the girls and the girls enjoyed her too. Granny had a grandson, who the girls passed along the way to find their new house. When the girls asked if he knew how to get to their new house, he told them it was haunted, but granny put a stop to the rumors.The father, who was a professor at the local college in town, was always busy and a bit inattentive to Mei. Satsuki who is only nine and attends school had to grow up very quickly; by helping with her litter sister combing h er hair and cooking for her while her mother is ill in the hospital. Both girls’s had a very big imagination. Mei wondered off into the woods one day while playing outside alone. Mei found a tree that had a path inside of its trunk, that’s when she found a spirit named Totoro. When she told her father and sister bout Totoro they didn’t believe her. Totoro was there to be with Mei when she didn’t have anyone else. Satsuki and Mei were looking forward to spending time with their mother on the weekend. It’s been awhile, so they were very excited about spending time with her. That’s when an urgent telegram was sent from the hospital concerning their mother. The girls panicked and were afraid something was wrong with their mother. They rushed off to use a phone to call their dad, but Mei got lost trying to keep up.Once Satsuki noticed Mei was missing she had the whole neighborhood was looking for her. That’s when she turned to Totoro for h elp to find Mei. Totoro got a cat bus that could fly up in the sky and look over the town to find Mei. They found her on a dark road crying; she was trying to get to the hospital to make sure her mother was ok. The cat bus was a big cat, with eyes as headlights, paws as wings and its body open up inside filled with soft cat hair as seats. This is what made the movie different imaginary flying cat bus and friends.It’s good to see that the girl’s imaginary friends were able to help find Mei and take them to the hospital to see if their mother is ok. In American movies you don’t see much of siblings like Satsuki and Mei. They were getting along, playing without fussing and fighting with each other. The two sisters were very loving and kind towards one another. This movie is a great movie for children to watch to learn and see how to get along and enjoy childhood even when things come up and the older sibling has to step up the take care of their younger siblings. M y Neighbor Totoro† is a good non-violent movie for kids to watch. â€Å"My Neighbor Totoro† is based on experience, situation and exploration—not on conflict and threat (Ebert, R). When looking for films for children you should look for films similar to â€Å"My Neighbor Totoro† for your children. A film with violence tends to put children on the wrong path at times. So we want them to see and learn it’s not all about fighting bickering amongst each other, but how to love, and help one another when situations come up. Work CitedEbert, R. Rev of My Neighbor Totoro , Dir Hayao Miyazaki. Roger Ebert. Dec 23, 2001. Greenberg, Raz. â€Å"Giri And Ninjo: The Roots Of Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro In Animated Adaptations Of Classic Children's Literature. † Literature Film Quarterly 40. 2 (2012): 96-108. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Feb. 2013. Klady , L. Rev of My Neighbor Totoro . Dir Hayao Miyazaki. Variety. Variety Media. May 5, 1993. W ed. Feb 2013. My Neighbor Totoro. Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. Perf. Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning. Studio Ghibi,1988. DVD

Cadbury Schweppes Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Cadbury Schweppes Management - Case Study Example In these days, cocoa beans were being imported from south and Central America and West Indies. In fact the cocoa beans had so much value and were expensive. It could only be afforded with the wealthy and elite people of the society then. Experimenting with his pestle and mortar, John Cadbury produced a range of cocoa and chocolate drinks with the latter having sugar (Cadbury, 2008). In 1861, John Cadbury the founder handed over the business to his eldest sons Richard and George. It is to their leadership that the success of the Cadbury Brothers limited is owed. In 1899 the business became a private limited company and was branded Cadbury brothers Limited. The growth of the business led to invention of the chocolate bars which were now spiced up with milk The first milk chocolate that was ever made was course, dry and neither sweet nor milky enough for the public taste. At the same time, there was great competition from other continental manufactures of chocolate which led to the need of the Cadbury Company to launch other tastes and variety of chocolates one of them being dairy maid which later became dairy milk and finally evolved to be branded Cadbury dairy milk, which has a unique flavor and smooth. Cadbury Brothers limited later merged with Schweppes Inc in 1969 to form Cadbury Schweppes plc which is a confectionery and Beverage Company that processes non alcoholic beverage. It has an employee base of approximately 59000. Cadbury Schweppes Plc currently has its headquarters in Berkeley Square, London which is in England in United Kingdom. Cadbury Schweppes plc is principally involved in the manufacture, distribution and sale of branded beverages and confectionery, in addition to other related foods. It supplies its products through wholesale and retail outlets of the confectionery which are licensed and registered by the state in which they are located. Cadbury Schweppes plc trades in almost all the countries that are available worldwide because contemporary knowledge, it is one of the leading chocolate producers world wide. Cadbury Schweppes plc markets a range of chocolates, gum and sugar confectionery brands worldwide. These brands are in the form of bars, blocks, bagged pr oducts, packets, rolls, boxed assortments, chocolate eggs and novelties (Cadbury, 2008). There are various myths which have been propagated about management which are supposed to help organizations increase their earnings. Myths in the business arena usually come up as managers try to find ways to survive in the business world which is usually full of challenges and uncertainty. They provide some kind of hope as they provide something that managers can hold onto as they run their businesses. These myths usually influence the way companies make decisions and the way management run firms as much as the strategies have not been proved to be true. These myths help managers come up with a set of policies or strategies that they employ in order to help their organizations achieve certain objectives. Some of these myths according to Foss (2006) include the fact that it is harder to acquire a competitive edge if a company uses outside resources or resources it has purchased instead of using internally produced resources. The root cause of this misunderstanding cropped up from Co ol and Barney argument that only resources that cannot be sold by the company are considered to be valuable. Cadburys has not

Industrial Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Industrial - Assignment Example Over 40 persons were injured, businesses and homes were destroyed and the explosion detected as far as in the Netherlands on seismograph stations. There were investigation into the cause of the accident and the extent of the damage and this attracted legal action in which five companies were found guilty. This research paper will examine the incident at the Buncefield Oil Storage Depot and describe the events that led to the accident, its main causes and the preventive steps that should have been taken. It will further highlight the culture and management at the site in terms of safety systems and procedures implementation as well as the environmental impact and subsequent prosecutions. Design and maintenance shortcomings can be seen to be the aspects that sparked off a sequence of events that led to poor monitoring of this filling process and consequent explosions and fire. In 2005, located within the Buncefield Oil Storage Depot, a tank belonging to the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Ltd (HOSL) was filling with unleaded petrol on the night of 10th December. At around midnight of 11 December, tankers were barred from the terminal during which time stock checks were conducted for one and a half hours, without any reports of abnormalities (Nicholas & Whitfield 2013, p. 460). However, another hour and a half later, tank 912 did not register any changes on its level gauge even though it was still filling up. Initial approximations had indicated that the tank would have filled up and started overflowing by five in the morning, which it did. CCTV footage started showing vapour at 05.38 coming from the fuel that was escaping. Eight minutes later, the cloud of vapour is seen t hickening and spreading in all directions. At 05.50 the cloud was already flowing away from the facility and following the topography of the ground, spreading

IMPACT OF VIDEO GAMES ON STUDENT GPA and STUDY HABITS Research Paper

IMPACT OF VIDEO GAMES ON STUDENT GPA and STUDY HABITS - Research Paper Example According to Diamong and Sauer (2014) video games have no effect on GPAs. Specifically Math and Reading performance remain unaffected among adolescents. On their part, Mifsud, Vella and Camilleri (2013) cited mixed outcomes on learner literacy. Blumberg et al (2013) noted the lack of findings on the effects of violent video games on GPA prevents an informed position on the issue. In light of these balanced findings, common thing is that proper instruction could control any negative impacts of video games on GPA. Blumberg, F.C., Altschuler, E.A., Almonte, D.E., & Mileaf, M.I., (2013). The Impact of Recreational Video Game Play on Childrens and Adolescents Cognition. New Directions for Child & Adolescent Development, 2013(139), 41-50. Mifsud, C.L., Vella, R., & Camilleri, L., (2013). Attitudes towards and effects of the use of video games in classroom learning with specific reference to literacy attainment. Research in Education, 90,

IMC Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

IMC Analysis - Assignment Example As it can be seen in the videos, Coke’s big idea has been to set up interactive kiosks at different locations to spread and express the idea of happiness which the brand carries (Youtube, 2010; Coca-cola.com, 2012). The main purpose of Coke conducting these activations is to spread happiness in any form. This can be seen from the idea of Coke Happiness Machines which were installed in almost all major markets of Coke. Hence, Coke has successfully integrated its idea of giving spreading happiness through their brand activation campaigns (The Coca-Cola Company, 2009). In order to connect to the people, Coke revamps its packaging every now and then to engage the consumers with the brand. For example, in a CSR drive to save the Polar bears, Coca Cola revamped its packaging by adding Polar bears on the can for a specific period of time (The Coca-Cola Company, 2012). Besides this, to integrate their Super Bowl campaign which included commercials featuring Polar bears, Coke aimed to reduce its emissions by switching to hybrid trucks besides introducing biodiesel technologies (exploringpublicrelations.com, 2008). However, the main theme of this campaign was to save the Polar bears and not to create happiness as per its global brand value (exploringpublicrelations.com, 2008). Coke has been a long standing partner with soccer and to grab the opportunity of FIFA 2010, it gave a chance to consumers to win free tickets to FIFA through a lucky draw and even redesigned Coke Zero can to accommodate the scheme where the consumers would just need to look for the special can with a certain code which they would enter on the website www.cokezone.co.uk. They could even enter as many entries as they wished ((The Coca-Cola Company, 2009; The Coca-Cola Company, 2012). All of Coke’s endeavors were focused towards one common goal of giving people some

Investigating of British Consumer Behavior for Red Bull Essay

Investigating of British Consumer Behavior for Red Bull - Essay Example Survey questionnaires would be administered to select (about 100) college students with prior permission of the college authorities, after informing them of the purpose of the research. Qualitative date would be collected through face-to-face interview with proper analytical questions that can bring out the actual need of the consumer. Data from the survey questionnaires would be analysed through bar charts and pie charts while primary data from the interviews would be interpreted along with the theories of consumer behavior. Project time scale has been presented in the research proposal. Investigating of British Consumer Behavior for Red Bull Introduction Beverages market in the UK has been of interest to the marketers because of the trend of engaging in health and energy drinks. The key driver of sales growth in the energy drinks market has been healthy diet choices and healthy alternatives of which energy drink is a part. According to Langlois (2005) energy drinks market including soy-based/yoghurt drinks, sports/energy drinks are preferred over soft drinks. Health products can attract premium pricing and premium pricing means higher profit margins. Stimulants are believed to have a bad taste but this is not the case with Ant Natural Stimulation, which raises energy levels, helps fight ageing and enhances sexual vigour. The British consumers have become health conscious and would prefer to consume energy drinks (Functional Ingredients, 2002). Red Bull too is an energy drink and its selling proposition is that increases stamina and mental concentration (Berg, 2005). Red Bull is a kind of energy tonic, which has the potentiality to strengthen physical power and concentration level up to the mark. They advertise for their product as a drink â€Å"for the morning after over-doing it† (Smit & Rogers, 2002). Red Bull containing sucrose and caffeine has the potential to boost the energy levels. With a very high level marketing strategy, this energy drink is available in 100 countries all the world. It also boasts of a successful ratio of selling among its targeted mass, the young people and the athletes. Skillful marketing campaign and excellent distribution with good attractive packaging, this energy drink has owned the market with a successful grade. The main targeted mass for the owner of this he alth business, Dietrich Mateschitz, is to get the commercial approval. This was tough to get as the drink contains three times more caffeine than any normal health drinks. The European mass was unfamiliar with such energy drinks and as a result almost 50% of the consumers labeled it as something acidic. However, with a proper distribution and marketing strategy with young icons this drink sustain in the market (web, 2004). This paper proposes to investigate British consumer behavior for Red Bull. This is considered important because there have been reports that Red Bull has been banned in France, classified as a medicine in Norway, and in Japan it was available only at the pharmacies (BBC News, 2001). Three people are believed to have died in Sweden following drinking the Red Bull. Deaths in Europe and America have also been linked to Red Bull without proof of course. It is still considered as a drink that ‘gives you wings’ and has become the epitome of cool for the dot .com revelers at clubs and pubs from Los Angeles to Singapore. Question and Justification of This Paper: The quality of the product is not important for the study here; how

Resource and Talent Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Resource and Talent Planning - Essay Example Table of Contents 1.Introduction 4 2.The War for Talent 5 3.Factors affecting the War for Talent 6 4.Talent Management during Economic Downturns 7 4.1 Recruitment and Selection 8 4.2 Training and Development 9 4.3 Talent Retention 10 5.Conclusion 11 1. Introduction The war for talent has been as a result of an expanding global economy. This is because it has led to increased competition for talent around the globe. During times of slow economic growth or unusual economic crisis, management of talent remains a critical issue for organisations. This is because during such times, companies stand to lose valuable talents among their employees, if not careful. In order to succeed in the competitive global marketplace, organisations need to manage talent. Lockwood defines talent management as the application of systems created to improve productivity in the workplace or unified approaches by establishing better methods for inviting, cultivating, maintaining and deploying individuals with t he essential skills and abilities to fulfil present and forthcoming business needs (2006). It is a fact that the greatest challenge companies’ face in managing their work force is developing and retaining talent. Just like the rest of the world, talent management is constantly progressing. Different other factors also come into play in the effort to manage talent within organisations. These include partnerships, global development, and the economy that is constantly changing (Lockwood, 2006). At the centre of talent management is the belief that talent begins from the bottom of organisations and is present in individuals at all levels, and therefore everyone ought to be considered. The war for talent is influenced by factors such as increased movement of people across the globe, irreversible changes to cultures, skills and business environments, economic and demographic trends across the globe, and diversity, which all lead to competition for labour and labour shortages in or ganisations. To counter this, especially during times of slow economic growth, organisations focus on recruiting top talent, training and developing talent, and retaining good employees as discussed in this paper. 2. The War for Talent The term ‘The War for Talent’ was created by McKinsey & Company in 1997. During the time that this term came to being, many organisations had been experiencing the phenomenon associated with it, but they could not fully express it. According to Michaels, Handfield-Jones and Axelrod, â€Å"the economy was burning white hot in the late 1990s and companies were scrambling to hire and retain the people they needed† (2001, p. 1). During this time, organisations were offering substantial bonuses for those who signed contracts with them, highly qualifies employees were being headhunted before they even settled in their new jobs and majority of them were asking for salary increments barely three months after joining organisations (Michaels , Handfield-Jones and Axelrod, 2001). Companies experienced shortages for qualified employees to fill crucial positions, while those that were esteemed with such talents, such as consulting firms and

Problem of Evil Essay Example for Free

Problem of Evil Essay The traditional problem of evil emerges when people believe in and argue for the existence of a God who is both omnipotent and wholly good. According to Mackie’s study (1955), few of the solutions to the problem of evil could stand up to criticism. Today, someone suggests an alternative: God is not perfectly good, but maximally cool. By cool he means to be free from tension or violence. Since God is maximally cool, he is not so much concerned about either eliminating evil or maximizing goodness than promoting coolness. This God appears to be logically valid, but this essay will show that the existence of such God is impossible. First, we should ask this: if God aims to promote coolness, why would he bother to create evil? It is clear that evil is not cool, given that evil creates tension and violence. It may be replied that God is maximally cool and therefore creates anything based on his will and is not concerned with what happens to his creation afterwards. This reply is arguing that God created some cool thing which later then turned into the uncool evil. Then, the fact that uncool evil exists implies that God cannot make this uncool evil to be cool again, which contradicts with the premise that God is omnipotent. Secondly, good is also uncool. According to most theists, good is defined to be opposite to evil and thus always fights to expel evil (Mackie, 1955), so that good is in constant tension and possible violence with evil. Though the God in argument is claimed to be not perfectly good, this God is still good to a certain degree. Then he will still fights against evil and therefore is not always cool. This leads us to conclude that this God cannot be maximum cool. This guy in defense of the existence of a maximally cool God might argue that uncool is necessary as a counterpart to cool. It seems natural and necessary to consider why there should be uncool things if God is maximum cool. He might argue that if there were no uncool, there could be no cool either, in that if there were no violence or tension to be created and involved in, there could be no violence or tension to be free from. It might be that out of randomness, God created evil that generates tension and good that engages in tension against evil. To detach from involvement in tension or to destroy tension might create another tension and may incur violence. If God were to eliminate uncool things that he created, he would enter a tension between cool and uncool. Then, it would be uncool to make uncool things cool. Because God is maximally cool, he will not enter such tension and therefore he leaves good and evil as uncool as they are. By claiming that cool cannot exist without uncool, this guy shows that God cannot create cool without simultaneously creating uncool. This sets a limit to what God can do, which involves two possibilities: either God is not omnipotent or that omnipotence has some limits. If it is the first case, then we can deny the existence of a God who is omnipotent and maximally cool. If it is the second case, one may argue that these limits are logically impossibility. However, according to Mackie (1955), some theists hold the view that God can do what is logically impossible, while many theists maintain that God created logic. This leads us to the paradox of omnipotence, where we consider whether an omnipotent being can bind himself. According to Mackie, although we can avoid the paradox of omnipotence by putting God outside time, we cannot prove that an omnipotent God binds himself by logical laws. Therefore, it is a fallacious approach to prove the existence of a maximally cool and omnipotent by claiming that cool and uncool are counterparts to each other. To summarize, if a God is omniscience, then he must know the existence of uncool. If he is omnipotent and maximum cool, he will promote coolness to the maximum. However, we observe that there are uncool things which are against God’s will to promote coolness and which God cannot make them cool. Therefore, a God that is omniscience, omnipotent and maximally cool cannot exist. Works Cited J. L. Mackie, Evil and Omnipotence, Mind, New Series, Vol. 64, No. 254. (Apr. , 1955), pp. 200-212. In Pascal’s Wager, Pascal concludes that rationality requires people to wager for god. He bases his argument on mainly three premises. The first premise is his construct of the decision matrix of rewards. The second premise suggests that we are required by rationality to assign positive and not infinitesimal probability to God existing. The third premise states that we are required by rationality to perform the act of possible maximum expected utility. This essay will argue that Pascal’s Wager does not demonstrate solid prudential reasons for us to believe in God, by showing the third premise is not necessarily true. We consider that it is not in all cases that we are required by rationality to maximize expected utility. In Pascal’s Wager, we pay ‘one life’ to wager for God and obtain infinite expected utility. Paying finite amount to play a game with infinite expectation appear to be at our interests and can therefore serve as a prudential reason for us to wager for God. However, in certain cases, this action could be regarded as absurd and alternatively, and to the contrary, taking intuitively sub-optimal actions would actually maximize the expected utility. For example, the St. Petersburg paradox could be representative of this kind of situations. In the St. Petersburg game (Martin, 2011), we keep flipping a coin until we get a coin. The total number of flips, n, yields the prize which equals $2n. There are infinite sum of flips possible, so we have infinite number of possible consequences. The expected payoff of each consequence is $1 and therefore the ‘expected value’ of the game, which equals the sum of the expected payoffs of all the consequences, will be an infinite number of dollars. Then, intuitively we will be willing to play the game as long as we only need to pay a finite number of dollars, given that the ‘expected value’ of the game is infinite. However, Hacking (1980) suggested that â€Å"few of us would pay even $25 to enter such a game. † If we were to pay $25 for the game, half of the time we receive $2 and one quarter of the time the game pays $4, so the probability to break-even is less than one in twenty five. Still, because of the very small possibility of the number of flips to be greater than $25, the expected payoff of the game is larger than the $25 payment. According to standard Bayesian decision theory (Martin, 2011), we should play this game. Then again, because of the very small possibility of getting high enough payment, it is very likely that we will need to flip a coin longer than our physical possibility. In that sense, it will be absurd to pay this finite amount and flip longer than physical constraints for the infinite expected payoff. Therefore, it is not always true that rationality will require us to perform the act that yields maximal expected utility. In the St. Petersburg game we experiment infinitely many trials which yield infinite expectation. In Pascal’s wager, we have a single-trial which also yields infinite expectation. It seems natural for Pascal to assume that expectation is a good guide to solve this decision problem. However, according to Hajek (2012), we need to take variance into consideration to make better decision, because in this one-time shot, a large variance could lead us to an outcome which is much worse than the expectation. When the variance is small, it is probable to get an outcome close to the expectation. However, the further the distribution of outcomes spreads out, the more likely it is to get a bad outcome, and the less compelling the third premise seems to be. Assuming that the expectation of wagering for God is infinite, we can calculate the variance of the outcomes of the wager. Given the infinitely good of the good outcome and the status quo of the bad outcome, the variance is infinite. In the case of an infinite variance, due to our risk-aversion, we might be better off choosing to minimize variance than maximizing our expected utility. Indeed, if f2 is made as low as possible, the variance of wagering for God would be much greater than wagering against God. If the probability of the probability of receiving infinite good, is made as low as possible, the resulted variance might make we deviate much further away from the expected utility in an undesirable direction. Both cases above could happen, and if they do, we would feel less compelled by our rationality to maximize our expected utility because the large variance could lead us to a situation that is much worse than expectation. To summarize, Pascal’s premise three is not necessarily true. This premise says that we are required by nationality to maximize expected utility where there is one available. However, the St. Petersburg paradox suggests that rationality does not always require us to maximize our expected utility. Furthermore, in consideration of large variance, expectation might not be a good measure of choiceworthiness (Hajek, 2012). Without the validity of premise three, we cannot draw the conclusion that rationality requires us to wager for God. Therefore, Pascal’s wager does not solidly demonstrate that we have prudential reasons to believe in God. Works Cited Hajek, Alan, Pascals Wager, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed. ), URL = http://plato. stanford. edu/archives/win2012/entries/pascal-wager/ Martin, Robert, The St. Petersburg Paradox, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = . Hacking, Ian, 1980, â€Å"Strange Expectations†, Philosophy of Science 47: 562-567. According to Pollock (1986), you might be a brain floating in a vat filled with nutrient fluid. You do not realize that you are a brain in a vat because this brain is wired to a computer program that produces stimulation in brain to cause experiences that are qualitatively indistinguishable from normal experiences of being a human being. The problem lies exactly in that whether you are a brain in a vat or not, everything seems to be the same to you. Many philosophers have attempted to prove that you are not a brain in a vat and their approaches seem to be valid. Among those, Moore’s argument and Putnam’s argument are two influential but different approaches. This essay tries to show that you cannot use either of these arguments to prove that you are not a brain in a vat. While going through Moore’s argument seems to be an easy way to show that you are not a BIV (brain in a vat), it is not difficult to show how this approach is flawed either. By Moore’s argument, first you open your eyes and form perceptual knowledge that you have hands. Then you deduce that you are not a BIV which does not have hands and thereby you come to know that conclusion. However, it should be argued in the first place that your senses are not reliable. As Descartes argued in Meditations (1986), while you might form the perception that you are wearing a dress in the dream, you are actually undressed in your bed. The flaw in the logic of this approach can be demonstrated in the following analogous story. You see an empty glass on a table. The glass looks orange and in fact it is. You form perceptual knowledge that the glass is orange. You deduce that it is not colorless and filled with orange juice. You thereby come to know that the glass does not appear orange to you because it is colorless with orange juice filled in it. By assuming that there is orange juice in the glass, you establish that the glass does not appear orange to you because it is colorless with orange juice filled in it. Here the problem is that there is no orange juice and you are trying to prove there is orange juicy by assuming its existence. For the same token, if you are a BIV, then the hands that you perceive are hands* produced by one feature of the computer program. The premise asserting that you form a perception of hands is assuming that you are not a BIV and therefore can form a perceptual knowledge of hands. This is begging the question because we want to prove that we are not BIV. Therefore, you cannot prove that you are not a BIV by going through Moore’s argument. Another famous discussion is Putnam’s semantic arguments. One problem of this approach is the narrow scope of the arguments. Putnam started his arguments by drawing analogy between the mental image of a Martian and that of a BIV. Claiming that Mars does not have tree, Putnam established that BIV’s utterance of ‘tree’ has a different referent from the referent of a non-BIV speaking of a tree. While it is possible that you have always been a BIV since you come into being, so you have never seen a tree that a non-BIV sees. It is also possible that you have lived certain part of your life as a non-BIV and then at some point you are made into a BIV. For example, if you recall in The Problems of Knowledge (Pollock, 1986), by the time that Margot tells Mike that he is a brain in a vat, he has been a brain in a vat for three months. According to Margot, Henry, or the brain in a vat that Mike sees, receives a fictitious mental life that merges perfectly into Henry’s past life. To merge perfectly, the language and its referents that the computer generates for Henry must be indistinguishable from those before his envatment. Similarly, if Mike has been speaking English up until three months ago when he was envatted, his utterance of ‘Margot’ after envatment must have the same referent as the one he had before. It must be that now his words retain the same English referents to the same contents in order to achieve a perfect merge (Brueckner, 2012). This perfect merge makes brain* in a vat* the same as BIV, which means whether you are BIV or not, you always speak English rather than vat-English. Because there are no differences in the languages between BIV and non-BIV, the semantic arguments have nowhere to start in this case. Unless you know with certainty that all BIVs have been BIVs since they came into beings, you cannot use semantic arguments to prove that you are not a BIV. To summarize, Moore’s arguments appear to be an easy solution to the problem of knowledge, but these arguments are begging the question and therefore cannot refute the brain-in-a-vat hypotheses. It seems that Putnam’s arguments are more compelling, but still they fail to rule out all possible versions of the brain-in-a-vat hypotheses. Therefore, you cannot prove that you are a non-BIV by using either of these arguments. Works Cited Descartes, Rene. Meditations on First Philosophy. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1960. Print. Pollock, John L. Contemporary Theories of Knowledge. Totowa, NJ: Rowman Littlefield, 1986. Print. Brueckner, Tony, Skepticism and Content Externalism, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed. ), URL = .

Literature Review On Leadership Effectiveness Management Essay

Literature Review On Leadership Effectiveness Management Essay In the previous chapter it was discussed the purpose and reason for this investigative study on leadership effectiveness and its possible mediating affects on subordinate job satisfaction. The chapter will critically review the literature characterised the ideas and topics surrounding: This chapter will seek to critically review the literature surrounding: General concepts and models that have been developed discussed on leadership, competences and job satisfaction Influence of competences on the style of leadership Influence of leadership style on subordinate job satisfaction By reviewing existing literature will aid in highlighting, indentifying and discussing factors of a critical nature thus allowing sound understanding when taking the influences of competences on leadership style and its ripples on subordinate job satisfaction, if any. The contents of this literature review will dispense: A definition and explanation of leadership through the use of academic principles, conceptualization and models where suited. Complimented with competences profiling and subordinate job satisfaction when introduced. The critical evaluation will look at key authors and their insights in the areas of leadership styles and competences. To observe areas which have been the focal points of interest based on the topics being acknowledged, research will be made on leadership style and impact on subordinate job satisfaction. Based on what has been revealed whilst reviewing literature will allowed what has been learnt and to pin any hypostasis by what has been viewed. (Please note that some of these paths may and may not follow suit to allow for consistency) Leadership The concept of leadership has had multi attempts to define and evolve what leadership is more often or not proving to be an enigma for theorists and practitioners. These attempts have grown from fields such as management, psychology, ideology, anthropology and sociology. With so much attention Burns (1978) described the matter by stating that leadership is one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth (p. 2). Having been numerous attempts in defining the meaning for the term leadership, this has resulted in taking many interpretations. Stogdill (1974, citied in Northouse, 2007, Pg 2) pointed out in a review of leadership research, there are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are people who have tried to define it. In Stogdills Handbook of Leadership that was revised and expanded by Bass in (1981) highlighted different definitions and conceptions of leadership had previously been reviewed briefly by Morris and Seeman (1950), Shartle (1951a,b , 1956), L.F. Carter (1953), C. A. Gibb (1954, 1969a), and B. M Bass (1960). This is only a small numerical amount compared to Crainer (1995 cited in Mullins 2007, pg363) that it is claimed there are over 400 definitions of leadership and it is a veritable minefield of misunderstanding and difference though which theorists and practitioners must tread warily. At best of times theoretical perspectives define the concepts being views as a trait, behavioural style, the manipulation of individuals and groups derived through interaction, influence to gain followers and the situation in which its attended. The constant upheaval of leadership suggests that many investigators see leadership as a key structural beam for organisational effectiveness and its influences on the performance; OEs arent just segmented to monetary turnover but a measure of a dependant variable that is employee job satisfaction (Robbins, 2003). Traits Theory of Leadership From the 1930s the trait theory of leadership have been under Jerry et al (1984) , Wexley et al (1984), Smelser et al (2002) Moran et al (2007) Behavioral Theories of Leadership Michigan Ohio Situational Theories of Leadership The theory of situation leadership primary principle distinguishing leadership effectiveness in an particular situation and also what leadership style is most suited to be active in that situation. Most, if not all situational theory hinges on that the style of leadership obtained by a manager should acknowledge sets of circumstances: Management elements such as competencies, personalities and drive Employee elements such as needs derived from personalities, drive and skills Group effectiveness such as task, structure and development Organisational procedures such as standards, rules, power and timing The idea of situational leadership have recognisable and influential models that circulate around this phenomenon, these are indentified as: Fiedlers Model Contingency Houses Model of Path-Goal Fiedlers Contingency Model Fieldler (1967) based his theory on explaining that two variables that have a direct impact the performance of a group. These two variables are widely known as style of leadership and situational favourability. Fiedler (1967) asserted that the most profound leadership trait and situational favourability is distinguished by their similarity that causes the effectiveness of a leader. When leadership trait is said; it is the personality that causes relationship-oriented or task-oriented leader. Fielders contingency theory has come under criticism like most theorists do. The criticism came from the likes of Ashour (1973) Vecchio, (1977) (1983) which suggest the method of measuring the variables and the empirical research conducted were insufficient in allowing for the theory to have any validly. Such an observation is farcical simply because Fiedler has spent years tuning and perfecting his well established and used theory. Houses Path-Goal Model House (1971) based his theory from Vrooms expectancy theory. House (1971) suggests in order for a leader to motivate its subordinates by a way of two means firstly to recognise between individual subordinate needs and an organisations goal(s) by understanding the relationship between the two factors and secondly the leader must state and ease the chosen course not only for the organisational goal(s) but as well as fulfilling their own individual needs. Houses path-goal theory is very much influenced on situational characteristics. Thus allowing its ability to predict the effects it has on behavioural structuring. House also suggests the expectancies and motivations in subordinates are created through the behaviour of the leader this in turn would create job satisfaction by subordinates recognising their capabilities and the weight they perceive their job would get results. Drenth et al (1998) raised a number of criticisms regarding the path-goal theory they asserted that Houses theory doesnt cultivate the collective members as a whole based on behaviour and performance. Secondly they highlight the relationship between leadership behaviours and the group may be heavily influenced by environmental interactions. Lastly it is suggested that when empirical studies are conducted using the path-goal theory most enthusiasts use standardised leadership styles to measure the variable of effectiveness. Morden Management LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES AND SKILLS JOB SATISFACTION Fulfilment Theory Discrepancy Theory Equity Theory Herzbergs Two-Factor Theory Focal Theoretical Research Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper Row. Robbins, S.P, (2003). Organisational Behaviour. 10th Ed. Pearson Education, New Jersey Jerry, L., Gray, A., Starke, F. (1984). Organizational behaviour: Concepts and applications. New York: A Bell and Howell Co. Inc. Wexley, K, N., Yukl, G. A., (1984). Organizational behaviour and personnel psychology. US: Richard D Irwin Smelser, N, J., Baltes, P, B., (2002) International encyclopedia of the social behavioral sciences. Oxford: Elsevier Inc Moran, R. T., Harris, P,R.,, Moran, S. V., (2007) Managing cultural differences: global leadership strategies for the 21st century 7th ed. Oxford: Elsevier Mullins, Laurie J. (2007) Management and organisational behaviour / Laurie J. Mullins . 8th ed. . Harlow : Financial Times Prentice Hall Northouse, P, G., (2007) Leadership Theory and Practice 4th ed. United Kingdom: Sage Publications. Bass, B, M., (1981) Stogdills Handbook of Leadership Revised and expanded Edition. New York: The Free Press Gordon, J. R. (1987). A diagnostic approach to organizational behavior. New York: Allyn and Boston Fiedler, F. E. (1967) A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness, New York: McGraw-Hill. Vecchio, R. P. (1977) An Empirical Examination of the Validity of Fiedlers Model of Leadership Effectiveness, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 19: 180-206. Vecchio, Robert P (1983) Assessing the Validity of Fiedlers Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness: A Closer look at Strube and Garcia, Psychological Bulletin 93: 404-8 Ashour, A. S. (1973) The Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness: An Evaluation, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 9(3): 339-55. Lawler, E. E., III (1973). Motivation in work organizations. Brooks/Cole Publishing Company: Monterrey, CA. Locke, E. A. (1969). What is job satisfaction? Organizational behavior and human performance. In E. E. Lawler (1973). Motivation in work organizations. Brooks/Cole Publishing Company: Monterrey, CA. House, R, J., A Path-Goal Theory of Leadership Effectiveness, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. XVI(1971), 321-38 Drenth, D J P., Thierry, H., De Wolff, J, C., 1998 A Handbook Of Work And: Organizational Psychology united kingdom Psychology Press Ltd

Use of Transition Metals in Nanotechnology

Use of Transition Metals in Nanotechnology Part 1: Introduction 1.1Â   Nanotechnology or nanotech is the branch of engineering that deals with things smaller than 100 nanometers. It is the study of the controlling of matter on an atomic and molecular scale. It deals with creating of nanoparticles and of manufacturing machines which have sizes within the range of 1 to 100 nanometres. Nanotechnology offers the potential to overcome many of the serious issues facing mankind over the coming decades. Climate change, pollution control and prevention, access to clean water, falling energy reserves and the diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer all represent significant challenges to man and the planet. New scientific and technological breakthroughs will be needed to deliver solutions. Over the last decade almost $50 billion of government funding has been invested into nanotechnologies, and this investment is now starting to bear fruit with a steady stream of commercially viable nanotechnologies which are positively impacting human health, the environment and technology. Gold is at the forefront of this nanotechnology revolution. 1.2 What are Transition Metals? Elements whose atom has an incomplete d sub-shell, or which can give rise to cations with an incomplete d sub-shell. They are ductile, malleable, and conduct electricity and heat. Their valence electrons are found in more than one shell, that is why they have more than one oxidation number. Some of the transition metals that are used in nanotechnology are Gold, Platinum, Iron, Cadmium, Nickel, Cobalt. 1.3 Transition Metals which are used in Nanotechnology Gold Platinum Nickel Cobalt Iron Cadmium Part 2: Project Overview 2.1: Why Transition Metals can be used in nanotechnology? Explanation of some of transition metals which can be used in nanotechnology:- 2.1.1: Gold Gold is widely used to build nanostructures because it is relatively chemically inert, although gold clusters can become quite reactive as they get smaller. Indeed, positive gold ions can react with noble gases, and gold particles just a few nanometres in diameter can act as catalysts in many reactions, as can single gold atoms bound in suitable complexes. The nobility of gold and its resistance to surface oxidation which makes it ideal material for wide range applications in nanotechnology. Gold nanoparticles have a colour varying from red to purple depending on particle size, a property that can be successfully exploited in a range of applications. 2.1.2: Nickel The reason for working with nickel is that it responds to electrochemistry, has good mechanical and corrosion properties and is inexpensive. It is strong and cheap and easily processed in this particular style. 2.1.3: Iron Iron oxide nanoparticles are considered promising because they are maneuverable by remote magnetic fields, and can be coated with various marker molecules to make them stick selectively to tumors and other targets within the body. The particles can also be made to carry anti-cancer drugs or radioactive materials directly to a tumor. Magnetic nanoparticles designed to attach to cancerous tissue can also be made to heat up by using a remote, alternating magnetic field, thereby selectively killing cancer cells in a process called magnetic hyperthermia. 2.2 Use of Transition metals in nanotechnology 2.2.1: Gold Gold nanoparticles are a popular choice for medical research, diagnostic testing and cancer treatment. By using gold nanoparticles it improves the drug delivery efficiency of anticancer drug. It may sound odd, but the dye in your blue jeans or your ballpoint pen has also been paired with gold nanoparticles to fight cancer. This dye, known as phthalocyanine, reacts with light. The nanoparticles take the dye directly to cancer cells while normal cells reject the dye. Once the particles are inside, scientists activate them with light to destroy the cancer. Similar therapies have existed to treat skin cancers with light-activated dye, but scientists are now working to use nanoparticles and dye to treat tumors deep in the body. 2.2.2: Platinum The researches in their latest word incorporated platinum metals into their nanotubes structures. Platinum can add useful catalytic, electronic, luminescent, and magnetic functionalities to the nanotubes. Catalysts are used with fuels such as hydrogen or methanol to produce hydrogen ions. Platinum, which is very expensive, is the catalyst typically used in this process. Companies are using nanoparticles of platinum to reduce the amount of platinum needed, or using nanoparticles of other materials to replace platinum entirely and thereby lower costs. 2.2.3: Nickel Applications for nickel nanocrystals include numerous catalytic functions such as in the anode of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) or in the conductive electrolytic layer of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, in replacement of platinum. Also, substituting all or a portion of the platinum with nickel nano particles in automotive catalytic converters would significantly reduce their cost and in coatings, plastics, nanowire, nanofiber and textiles and in certain alloy and catalyst applications . Further research is being done for their potential electrical, dielectric, magnetic, optical, imaging, biomedical and bioscience properties. Nickel Nano Particles are generally immediately available in most volumes. Nickel nanoparticles could even be used in biomedical applications, such as implants that dispense drugs, though the metal would likely be coated to prevent possible allergic reactions. The metals magnetic properties make it a natural choice for magnetic applications. 2.2.4: Cobalt The nanoparticle films of transition metals such as iron, nickel, or cobalt may be used to catalyse the growth of carbon nanotube. The Nickel or Cobalt nanotubes with larger diameters(around 160 nm) show a nearly isotropic magnetic moments arranged in a vortex state at zero field. 2.2.5: Iron Hot iron nanoparticles could be used to carve electronic circuits out of graphene sheets. The excellent electronic properties of graphene have prompted scientists to try cutting it into nanoribbons, which might be used in electronic devices of the future. Attempts with lithography, however, have left rough edges to the nanoribbons that could affect their performance. Widely used iron nanoparticles exhibit toxic effects on neuronal cells. Iron is an essential nutrient for mammals and most life forms and iron oxide nanoparticles were generally assumed to be safe Part 3: Analysis 3.1 Nanotechnology and Cancer In a study published in the July 2007 issue of Analytical Chemistry, scientists from Purdue University detailed their use of gold nanoparticles to detect breast cancer. Their work, along with similar studies at other universities, has the potential to radically change breast cancer detection. The procedure works by identifying the proteins found on the exteriors of cancer cells. Different types of cancer have different proteins on their surfaces that serve as unique markers. Nanorods, gold nanoparticles shaped like rods, use specialized antibodies to latch onto the protein markers for breast cancer, or for another cancer type. After the nanorods bind to proteins in a blood sample, scientists examine how they scatter light. Each protein-nanorod combination scatters light in a unique way, allowing for precise diagnoses. The use of gold nanoparticles is not new to this study. These tiny particles it would take 500 of them to span the width of a human hair are particularly suited to detect toxins, pathogens and cancers and are a subject of much experimentation. The scientists at Purdue used nanorods capable of attaching to three types of breast cancer markers, with two of the markers identifying how invasive the cancer is. The lead researcher on the study, Joseph Irudayaraji, said that these nanorods could one day form part of a much more thorough test, binding to up to 15 unique markers. Using nanorods cuts the price of the diagnosis by two-thirds compared to the similar method of flow cytometry, in which fluorescent markers bind to cancer cells. Flow cytometry requires a bigger sample size with thousands of times more cells than is needed for nanorods, meaning that nanorods are capable of helping to determine earlier diagnoses. Nanorods prove much less invasive than some other methods because they use blood samples and dont require a biopsy. Part of the cost savings comes from scientists being able to use a conventional microscope and light source to view the samples, unlike other methods that employ expensive microscopes or lasers. In a different study, Dr. Irudayaraj showed that gold nanorods could be used to detect cancer stem cells. The discovery is particularly valuable because cancer stem cells cause the out-of-control growth that makes malignant tumors so deadly. Dr. Irudayaraji said that gold nanoparticles could be widely available for cancer diagnoses sometime in 2011. Besides being part of exhaustive tests that can detect cancers early on, nanoparticles may also form the basis of future cancer treatments. Lasers that react with gold nanoparticles could be used to destroy cancer cells. Or, nanoparticles could be used as targeted drug-delivery systems. Part 4: Conclusion After the completion of the term paper on Use of Transition Metals in Nanotechnology I got many new things to learn about. The term paper helped me to know more about nanotechnology and the different transition metals and about its use in nanotechnology. The nanoparticles, how it is useful in treatment of cancer, and its uses in biomedicals and others. The term paper also gives the structures of some of the transition metals nanoparticles and about the extensive use of the transition metals in nanotechnology. I have worked very hard on this project and wanted to build it in a very simple and lucid manner so that it could be easy for the reader to go through and understand the term paper. Hopefully, I think that you would have gained some knowledge on transition metals nanoparticles and could have well understood it. I grant a sincere apologize if any mistake would have crept in my work.

Athens: The History of the City Essay -- History Historical Papers

Athens: The History of the City The Beginnings The Athenians have made it their boast that they had never been conquered. Both Achaean and Dorian invaders passed them by, possibly because their rocky plain was far less fertile than the rich valleys of Argos or Sparta. Thus the Athenians represented, or claimed to represent, the purest and most ancient Grecian stock, descended from the gods themselves (Ellis). The initial name of Athens was Akte or Aktike, named after the first king, Akteos (http://www.sikyon.com/Athens/ahist_eg01.html). Her second name, Kekropia, came from the king, Cecrops, who succeeded Akteos by marrying his daughter. According to the legend, his lower body was that of a dragon. During his reign, goddess Athena and Poseidon were competing for the protection of the city and each one offered presents. Poseidon struck the rock at the Acropolis with his trident (the three marks can be seen behind the Erectheion) and a spring with salted water gushed up. With the blow also leaped the first horse, ready to serve the man faithfully, while Athena offered an olive tree. The legend tell us that all the men of Athens voted for the gift of Poseidon and all the women, for the gift of Athena. Because there was one woman more than the men, goddess Athena was selected and from her the city took her name. The Era of Kings Under King Cecrops, the city was founded with the name Athens 1550 B.C.? Cecrops built the city on a steep rocky hill that is known today as the Acropolis, and is also known as the sacred hill (Ellis).? Athens became one of the first city-states. A city-state consists of a city and the surrounding region ruled by a king.? Kings ruled the area until 682 B.C (World Book).? After rule by kings ended... ...29 Jul. 2002. 12 Dec. 2003. 2)Athens World Book Encyclopedia.1990. 3)Athens, Greece. Wguides.com. 12 Dec. 2003. . 4) Ellis, Edward S., and Charles F. Horne. ?History of Athens Greece.? The Story of the Greatest Nations and the World?s Greatest Events, Vol. 1. 12 Dec. 2003 http://www.publicbookshelf.com/public_html/The_Story_of_the_Greatest_Nations_and_the_Worlds_Famous_Events_Vol_1/history_beh.html>. 5) The Official Website of the Olympic Movement. 9 Dec. 2003. . 6) Procopiou, Angelo. Athens: City of the Gods. New York: Stein and Day, 1964. 7)The Religion in Greece: Information about Greece Religion.? Greeka.com: The Greek Islands Specialists. 12 Dec. 2003. .

Married Women who Cheat on their Husbands Essay -- Marriage

Married Women who Cheat on their Husbands Marriage is a bond between two people who love each other. These are two people, who decide to become one, unite their love, start a family together, and spend the rest of their lives with each other. After explaining the significance of such an immense obligation, the question still remains .Why should a person place themselves in a situation they are not truly committed to? The answer can be one or many explanations, and just one solution may not always be the case. Love, sex, and confidence are just some of the reasons that women cheat. Some women don’t receive these things from their husbands so they feel the need to search for them in other places. In the bond of marriage a woman is giving herself to her husband .She is offering him all of her love. What happens if the love becomes weak, grows old, or turns sour? She will yearn for romance, or whatever it was that made her happy. She will search for the missing part of her marriage, and the aspects that her husband lacks will be found in another man. This will be her search to fulfillment or completion. â€Å"She wants to be dined, courted, and romanced. When she tries to be romantic with her husband, he ignores her and continues to read the newspaper or watch sports on the television.†(Norment).The same degree of love that was there in the beginning of the marriage has slowly depleted. Small factors in a marriage may lead to bigger problems in the future. If a woman’s hus...

Stomata Density

Stomata are tiny pores found on the epidermis of the leaf, surrounded by guard cells. [1] Their main function is gas exchange [1] for photosynthesis and respiration. The development of stomata on the leaves of a plant is determined by interaction between different genes and environmental factors. A few studies have been conducted in order to establish a relationship between stomatal densities and given environmental factors. Research has shown that stomatal densities are controlled by environmental conditions during leaf development, but are fixed after the leaf matures. [2]The article â€Å"The influence of light on stomatal density of a tomato† by A. P. Gay and R. G. Hurd describes their findings that plants grown under high light intensity have more stomata per 1 mm 2 than plants grown under low light intensity. [3] The purpose of my investigation is to determine whether there is a correlation between the light intensity and the stomatal density on lavender leaves and wheth er the initial height of the plants influences the stomatal densities. The hypothesis is that an increase in the light intensity will lead to an increase in the stomatal density of the lavender leaf.The first aim of this investigation was to find whether there is a significant correlation between the stomatal density of lavender plants and the light intensity under which they are grown. The second aim of the investigation was to find out whether the initial height of the plant influences its stomatal density. Cuttings were taken from lavender plants to ensure that all the plants were genetically identical and that the only changes occurring in the stomatal density would be due to environmental conditions. Four cuttings were short (3 cm initial height) and four were tall (6 cm initial height).The cuttings were put under compact fluorescent light bulbs with four different power ratings (8, 11, 14, and 20 W). One short and one tall cutting were put under each of the four light bulbs fo r 28 days in order to grow them. Both the short and the tall plants showed a positive correlation between their stomatal densities and the light intensity. The correlation was statistically significant at a 0. 025 significance level according to the Pearson product-moment correlation test.The short and the tall plants grown under the same light intensity did not show any  statistically significant difference between their stomatal densities. The first aim of this investigation was to find whether there is a significant correlation between the stomatal density of lavender plants and the light intensity under which they are grown. The second aim of the investigation was to find out whether the initial height of the plant influences its stomatal density. Cuttings were taken from lavender plants to ensure that all the plants were genetically identical and that the only changes occurring in the stomatal density would be due to environmental conditions.Four cuttings were short (3 cm ini tial height) and four were tall (6 cm initial height). The cuttings were put under compact fluorescent light bulbs with four different power ratings (8, 11, 14, and 20 W). One short and one tall cutting were put under each of the four light bulbs for 28 days in order to grow them. Both the short and the tall plants showed a positive correlation between their stomatal densities and the light intensity. The correlation was statistically significant at a 0. 025 significance level according to the Pearson product-moment correlation test.The short and the tall plants grown under the same light intensity did not show any statistically significant difference between their stomatal densities. When trying to explain the correlation, it is important to consider what stomata are in the first place and what their most important functions are. Stomata are tiny pores [1] found on the epidermis of the plants and their main role is gas exchange between the leaf and the environment. Although stomata l development is essentially controlled by different genes, the environment also has a significant effect on stomatal development.Using plants that are clones in the investigation means that they all have the same genetic material and any changes in stomatal density on their leaves should be due to environmental factors. [9] Both light intensity and carbon dioxide concentration have been shown to influence the frequency at which stomata develop on the leaves of plants. [8] Plants can respond to changes in environmental conditions by changing their stomatal frequency. Recent research has shown that signals from older leaves can influence the development of stomata on the younger leaves.In that way, if the environmental conditions to which the older leaves are exposed change, then the younger leaves can increase or decrease their stomatal density; this physiological adaptation can help the plant cope with the changing environment. Why is the increased light intensity leading to increa sed stomatal density? Photosynthesis is the process by which plants synthesize glucose from carbon dioxide and water. The energy of the reaction is supplied by the sunlight. However, there are two main stages in photosynthesis – light-dependent and light-independent stages.The light-dependent stage depends on the light because the energy from the light is used to split water in the process of photolysis and excite electrons in the chlorophyll. [11] The products from the light-dependent stage are ATP and the electron acceptor – reduced NADP. [11] The products from the light-dependent stage are fed into the light-independent stage of photosynthesis, the Calvin cycle. [11] Carbon dioxide is fixed in the light-independent stage and converted to glucose; in the Calvin cycle, the products of the light-dependent stage are needed. So, more ATP and reduced NADP will result in an increased rate of carbon fixation.If the rate of carbon fixation increases, the rate at which carbon dioxide diffuses in and out of the leaf will increase. The light intensity is simply the energy per second per unit area carried by the incident light and it is proportional to the number of photons per second carried by the incident light. [12] Higher light intensity means more photons per second resulting in more electrons per second that would be excited during the light-dependent stage of photosynthesis, and more ATP and reduced NADP are produced. Therefore, increasing the light intensity will increase the overall rate of photosynthesis.The rate of gas exchange will increase as a result. Coming back to the main function of the stomata, increasing the rate of gas exchange may lead to increased stomatal density on the epidermis of the leaf. The adaptation leads to higher carbon dioxide assimilation as the results of recent studies have shown. [2] However, the energy of the incident light arriving per second is also proportional to the wavelength of the light. Therefore, the light intensity depends on the light wavelength. Plants have combinations of chlorophyll pigments [11] that absorb sunlight from the visible spectrum.The light of wavelengths 400-500 nm and 650-700 nm [11] is absorbed the most. These are blue and red light, respectively. Lavender grows well under compact fluorescent light bulbs. [13] By placing colored filters in front of the light bulbs, it can be established which color of light is most suitable for growing lavender and whether the color of light affects the stomatal density. To determine whether there is a statistically significant difference between the stomatal densities on the tall and short plants grown under the same light intensity, the Mann-Whitney U test is used.The null hypothesis is that there is no statistically significant difference between the stomatal densities of the tall and the short plants grown under the same light intensity. The null hypothesis may be rejected if the calculated value of U is equal to or smaller th an the critical value. The critical value for U for 10 sets of data is 16. [7] Looking back at the results section, all the calculated values of U are bigger than the critical value, so the null hypothesis is accepted. The initial height did not seem to influence the stomatal development in my investigation.

Has the World Treated Me Fairly or Unfairly? Essay

Everyone has a different perspective on fairness of the world, people would say that the world has been fair, unfair, or both to their lives. I stand where I believe the world has been fair to my life. Living in Saipan gave me a lot of opportunities and great moments. I received great education and got a chance to share passion with other good people. Everyone gets a chance to enjoy their lives, and I think that so far I have gotten that chance. I can say I had lucky breaks. I got to travel the world with the people who share a common passion and interest with me. Looking back, I received all that I could but sometimes I regret not taking the given opportunities which could have left a different impact in my life. Unlike the mainland, we do not have much facility, resources and a great economy. Despite of lacking needs, I received great education from great educating minds. It was my fortune to enroll in a school that provided musical education, a school concert band program. Even in a bad economy, our high school band (which I was in) got invited to the New York Music Festival and got a chance to play on the world’s most prestigious stage of Carnegie Hall. Unfortunately, because of band I had to give up my chance to take AP classes due to conflict in class schedule. I had to think it over twice by giving up something I love for another great opportunity, or keep this opportunity that was given to me and start fresh. I know it was a given chance for me, but then I chose band because by that time, band has become a big part of my life. Through my dedications in music I was able to enjoy doing what I love with my friends and family, traveling to places like New York, Guam, and London. If this was not my luck break, I don’t know what is. During my last year in high school I joined the â€Å"We the People† team which was a class/club that was formed to compete in the â€Å"We the people national competition†. I wasn’t even interested in this class because I know that I am not a great public speaker, nor even interested in the law. As time passed, I got more interested in my subject and tried harder every day. I interacted more with my teammates and learned to be a better public speaker. As by default, we won the finals in the CNMI and what great news, we got to go to the national finals that will be held at Washington D.C. It felt like it was worth the time I had put into this program, and my team. This was a chance for me to improve myself in many ways. I got a unique education from a Supreme Court judges and law clerks, not everyone gets a chance to even enter the Supreme Court. This was a precious chance for me to prove myself to the world and show the people what I got. Everyone can be lucky. If there is an opportunity, don’t miss it. Take those opportunities when they are given to you even if you have to give something up, there is always going to be another opportunity waiting for you. You can make yourself a lucky person if you try hard. When there’s something that you want, go strive for it and achieve it. Don’t be afraid to see what’s there waiting for you ahead. As it came to the end of my senior year, everything felt like as if thing were moving in life speed. 4 years has gone by so fast! When I look back into it, I pretty much had a great high school life. My parents are great people, I have great friends, just thinking about being here gave me so many opportunities, or should I say I am a lucky person? Living in Saipan, I received great education and got a chance to share passion with other good people. Everyone gets a chance to enjoy their lives, and I think that so far I have gotten that chance. I can say I had lucky breaks.

Hamlet’s and Laertes’ Revenge: Which One Seems More Justified Essay

When one does an intentional (or even unintentional) act to the detriment of another, the aggrieved party or his or her loved ones may vow for vengeance against the perpetrator of the act. It has always been the kind of emotion that causes a person to feel hatred, show hostility, and display aggressive behavior, revealing the worst of him or her. Revenge can sometimes be bitter and relentless, but some people also call it sweet and fulfilling at times. Thus, it has been a common theme and concept in literature. The world of literature has been flooded with numerous tales about revenge and its consequences. Although most of these stories are tragic and melodramatic, they have nonetheless created a remarkable impact on the readers’ consciousness about the reality and nature of revenge. Shakespeare has been proven by history itself to be a one-of-a-kind literary artist who was able to launch and create many successful tragic plays about revenge. One of his most popular plays about this emotion is that of the life of Hamlet, the prince of Denmark. In this play, Hamlet found several reasons to kill and to make a lot of people suffer due to the death of his beloved father who was mercilessly murdered. However, in the play, there is another character who had the same reason to of taking revenge — Laertes, whose father was killed by Prince Hamlet himself, and whose sister killed herself because of the sorrow brought by their father’s death. Considering Hamlet’s and Laertes’ vow for vengeance, it can be inferred that although they both share the same reason for being revengeful, only Hamlet’s revenge appears to be justifiable in the sense that he knew the truth behind his father’s death, whereas Laertes was blinded by Claudius’ lies and took revenge upon the wrong person. Hamlet’s Revenge The cause of death of Prince Hamlet’s father was actually unknown to the entire kingdom. After his father’s death, his uncle Claudius married his mother and took over the throne. It was only when the spirit of his father appeared in front of them when the real reason of his death was unfolded. The ghost revealed that it was actually the ambitious Claudius himself, the brother of Hamlet’s father, who killed him in order to put the entire kingdom as well as his wife in his possession. Angered by the ill-fate of his father and the unforgivable, abusive, and unjust actions of his uncle Claudius, Hamlet vowed to take revenge on Claudius in order to give his father’s horrible death its due justice. The knowledge of his father’s murder and of his mother’s betrayal of her wedding vows with Hamlet’s father filled him with so much anger and vengeful spirit, as clearly reflected in the following lines: Oh God! A beast that wants discourse of reason Would have mourn’d longer – married with mine uncle, My father’s brother; but no more like my father Than I to Hercules. Within a month, Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears Had left the flushing in her gallà ¨d eyes. (1.2.150-155) This was the start of his revenge. After this point, he almost went mad with all the thoughts that kept running inside his head. He was torn between morality and his revengeful feeling towards his uncle and those people who betrayed his deceased father. However, if one would look closely and analyze Hamlet’s revenge, although it may look relentless and heartless, it all boils down to the fact that Hamlet realized that his father, whom he loved so much, had been mercilessly killed for selfish reasons. His anger as a son can completely be understandable since readers would be able to understand that a son’s love for his father will always be immeasurable. To think that Hamlet did all he could to be at the least careful of not punishing innocent people, it can be said that he never aimed to do worse things than avenging his father’s death. Laertes’ Revenge Just like the reason behind Hamlet’s aggressive revenge, Laertes also lost two of his love ones. That is why, in a fit of rage, he fearlessly faced Hamlet whom he believed was the sole reason behind the loss of his family. His father, Polonius, was accidentally killed by Hamlet who mistakenly identified him as Claudius, while Opehlia, Laertes’ sister, died by drowning herself into a river due to the unbearable grief caused by his father’s death. Thus, just like Hamlet, Laertes was crushed by the incidents, and he felt the same kind of anger and pain just like what Hamlet felt. However, recalling how Laertes got hostile towards Hamlet, it can be observed that Claudius made him believe that Hamlet was to blame for his father’s and sister’s deaths. Hence, brokenhearted at that time and naturally vulnerable and helpless in that condition, Laertes was easily convinced and moved by Claudius’ words. Thus, he started to feel that overwhelming anger and drive to kill Hamlet regardless of what ways or process he had to go through. The events which occurred next were a series conspiracies and plots that Laertes made in order to bring Hamlet down. He also went to Claudius to seek help and advice as to how to kill his mortal enemy. His mind was then clouded by Claudius’ deceiving words which allowed evil to close Laertes’ heart to anything and made him a relentless and merciless enemy of Hamlet. He also succumbed to the evil plans of Claudius that were designed to kill Hamlet in the surest of ways. Although Hamlet succeeded in killing Laertes first, he was still wounded by the sword covered with poison which immediately cut his breath shortly after Laertes fell to the ground. Thus, it may seem that the driving force behind Laertes’ revenge was the deception of Claudius. Unlike Hamlet, Laertes’ revengeful acts were pushed and encouraged by someone else’s motives and intentions which were that of Claudius. As it appears, while Hamlet decided on taking revenge on the people who brought upon his father’s death, Laertes, who went so weak to deception, was nothing but Claudius’ dummy who did just what the deceitful character wanted, without knowing the truth behind the deaths of his loved ones. Which Revenge Appears More Justified? Upon exploring Hamlet’s and Laertes’ revenge, it appears clearly that both of them felt anguished and pained due to the death of their loved ones. The death of Hamlet’s dear father was so cruel and unjust that he himself felt that he should do what he can to make his father’s murderers pay for the crime that they committed. On the other hand, the reason behind Laertes’ revenge was merely fed by Claudius’s lies who wanted to eradicate Hamlet as his opponent from the kingdom. It clearly implies that Laertes’ revenge was pushed through by deceitful and selfish reasons which covered his eyes from seeing the truth behind his family’s death. With this, it can be safe to say that Hamlet’s revenge is more justified in the sense that he knew the truth that his father has been murdered and therefore, justice must make the murderers pay for their crime, while in Laertes’ case, he had been so weak to deception that his anger and hostile treatment of Hamlet had no real and true basis. The tale which made him so angry had been fabricated by Claudius’ lies which made him fight for the wrong reasons and kill the wrong person. However, in whatever ways revenge is justified by others, it is still unacceptable to me since no one must take justice in his or her own hands. To fulfill their vengeance, Hamlet and Laertes had to hold justice in their hands, but as it appears, a person can easily be deceived; therefore, one’s revenge can always be misled, just like what happened to Laertes. Hamlet’s revenge only appears justifiable as he knew the truth completely. Thus, although Hamlet and Laertes shared similar reasons behind their revenges, only Hamlet’s revenge appears to be justifiable in this context.

Gillette Case Essay

President, new business development, Gillette Safety Razor Division (SRD) Problem: Ralph needs to achieve company targets for earnings growth for his division by developing a new business product. Ralph has commissioned an extensive investigation into the blank cassette tape market and he views this market as poised for substantial growth and opportunity over the long-term range of ten to fifteen years. Ralph feels that his division is well positioned to enter the market through utilization of its many core strengths. Market Overview The current blank tape market segment has many weaknesses, such as, lack of widespread distribution, lack of media coverage, poor product display and packaging, and lack of a true market leader. These weaknesses in the blank cassette tape market are all areas where Gillette has developed strong core competencies in their Safety Razor Division. The blank cassette tape market is segmented into three distinct product markets: Professional quality, Standard Quality, and Budget Quality and within those segments there are recording lengths of 30, 60, 90 and 120 minute cassette tapes. Bingham’s consultants have focused on the 60-minute cassette tape market in particular. Gillette Safety Razor Division Decisions Gillette has four product options: 1. ) do not enter market. 2. ) enter professional tape market 3. ) enter standard tape market. 4. ) enter the budget tape market. The professional quality market offers the greatest margin on products, but it is also the smallest segment in the market. The professional segment will also have the most competition as more established tape makers enter the market. As such, the fierce competition may potentially saturate the market and decrease the margins on these tapes and make it less appealing in the long run. Alternatively, standard tape market has moderate margins, but is a highly growing segment and is ready for a market leader, such as a company like Gillette. Lastly, the budget market has the lowest profit margins, the highest volume sales, but also requires a high volume of sales in order to be profitable due to the significant fixed costs associated with manufacturing. Gillette’s manufacturing constraints make it difficult for Gillette to enter the budget product market and Gillette would not want to damage its brand name by affiliating with a lower end product such as the budget quality tapes. (See appendix for quantitative analysis) Recommendations & Conclusions The Gillette Safety Razor division should enter the Standard Quality 60-minute cassette tape market and target the teenager and student market as it is a growing segment and offers much potential. Gillette should distribute the tapes using their established channels and wholesalers. Gillette should promote this new line through an aggressive advertising program as a high standard quality tape free from the defects of budget cassette tapes and with greater quality than the average standard tape. Gillette should leverage its brand name to promote the quality and value of these tapes. Gillette’s pricing for the standard quality tapes should be priced at the regular retail price with the design that consumers will choose Gillette’s product and pay more than the discounted brands due to Gillette’s high quality and brand name. In this scenario, Gillette’s monthly break-even quantity would be 518,758 units and it would make a monthly profit of $92,867 if it conservatively sells 750,000 units/mo. in year one. Annualized, the company’s net profit would be $1,114,400 at 9,000,000 units sold. Â  

Accounting Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Accounting - Thesis Example The accounting standard deals with the disclosure of important accounting rules followed in presenting and preparing financial statements. In the early years, this activity was recommendatory in nature. Throughout this period, this was recommended for utilization by business firms listed on a familiar stock exchange, and other huge industrial, commercial and business enterprises in the private and public sectors. This accounting standard is accounting for fixed assets. In various enterprises these assets are grouped into different groups, for instance buildings, land, plant and machinery, furniture and fittings, vehicles, goodwill, patents, trade marks and designs. â€Å"This Standard deals with accounting for government grants. Government grants are sometimes called by other names such as subsidies, cash incentives, duty drawbacks, etc† (Accounting Standard (AS) 12: Accounting for Government Grants 125). FASB Statements and Standards. ICAEW: Library & Information Service. 2012. Web. 08 February 2012. < http://www.icaew.com/en/library/subject-gateways/accounting-standards/us-accounting-standards/fasb-statements-and-standards

Asian philosphy Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Asian philosphy - Article Example Ideally, establishing the distinctions between these two aspects enhances the understanding that one has pertaining to Asian philosophy. First, Advaita Vedanta philosophy humans have souls in them and despite the fact that humans live distinct lives physically; the souls are usually never separate. Advaita Vedanta philosophy is usually a key pillar in the study of Hinduism in temples and determines individual behaviors among individuals. Samkhya on its part, provides a different school of thought pertaining to Asian philosophy, as it maintains more realistic metaphysical perspective in the view of occurrences. It does this by the combination of the teachings and doctrines of the Sankhya philosophy and the physical practice of yoga and its significance to humans. In better understanding of the Sankhya philosophy works to provide the theory behind understanding the metaphysical reality of the world, while Yoga allows practicing individuals to actually apply in use all the internalized aspects pertaining to the philosophical teachings themselves. In summary, Sankhya can be termed as the motive power of the universe upon which the soul

Description of African immigrants living in the U.S Essay

Description of African immigrants living in the U.S - Essay Example At the end of 1970s, African immigrants constitute around 2 percent of total legally accepted immigrant population in America. In the subsequent decades their share in total immigrant population increased, but not very significantly. For example, in 1980s as well as in 1990s, their share in total immigrant population stands at a level around 3 percent. (Gordon, 92-94, Arthur, 1-2) The countries of Africa from where migration of people to America is mostly taking place over the years are â€Å"Nigeria, South Africa, Liberia, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia and the Horn of Africa (Mainly Ethiopia, Somalia, and Eritrea)† (Arthur, pp. 2). Among all these countries, Nigeria constitutes the highest percentage of African immigrants in U.S.A. followed by Ethiopia. For example, in 1998, 17 percent of total African immigrants in U.S.A. cane from Nigeria, while 13 percent came from Ethiopia. According to a report published by Immigration and Naturalisation Service in 1971, most of the African immigrants came to America from the northern part of the continent, particularly from countries like Egypt and Morocco. However, over the years immigration from North Africa has slowed down significantly, while immigration from Sub-Saharan countries has got a high pace. The African immigrants in U.S.A. can be treated as a part of the brain drain process, i.e. the pr ocess of migration of talent on an international basis, from less developed countries to the industrialized developed nations of the world. Most the African immigrants presently living in America have already gathered experiences of urban life and interstate migration within their own countries prior to their arrival in the land of America with a hope to further enhance the prospects of their future. (Arthur, 1-2) Over the years, number of Africans living in U.S.A with an expectation of better life has increased. For examples, during 1970, around 61,463 Africans were living in America, while by 1980, this

Finance Policy and Practise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Finance Policy and Practise - Essay Example The LTV ratio is used to determine whether the borrower is likely to default. A borrower who is considered rational is likely to default when the value of the collateral falls below the value of the loan by an amount which equates to the net cost of the transactions such as relocation expenses, future payments for being deficient and the stigma attached to the situation (Crawford and Rosenblatt 1995, cited in Qi and Yang 2009). There are various ways in which a bank such as VB may become exposed to default and these are matters to be discussed. 1.1 Assessment of Estimated Property Values In assessing the value of a property and the annual rental price a number of formulas are used. The gross rent yield and the price/rent ratio are very useful formulas. Global Property Guide (2012) indicates that the gross rental yield on UK properties is 3.43% and the price rent ratio is 29 yrs. The price/rent ratio was used to calculate the property values and the gross rental yield was used to calc ulate the rental. ... -to-value (LTV) ratios and interest cover (the number of times interest is covered by rental income) will be used to assess Virtual Bank’s existing property loan portfolio. 2.1 Loan-to-Value Ratio The loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is the standard risk measure that is used by lending institutions to analyse the risk attached to their loan portfolio. The formula for calculating LTV is: current value of property/loan. LTVs are rated as high, moderate or low. LTV’s in excess of 80% are considered high, 60 to 80% moderate and below 60% low. The information on sheet 1 shows that the LTV ratios after the revaluation are between 15.8% and 52.9%. This means that loans are properly secured and so VB faces no major risks as borrowers are not likely to default under the current valuation. 2.2 Assessment of Interest Cover The interest cover represents the number of times interest is covered by the operating profit from the property. The formula is operating profit before interest and ta x (PBIT)/interest expenses. Interest cover of 3 times or more are generally considered acceptable while 2 times and under are considered low (BPP 2009). The information on the spreadsheet labelled Sheet 3 indicates that the interest cover for all but three (3) loans is in the acceptable range of between 3 and 16 times. However, the loans to Plane (5,100), Russet (4,000), and Pearmain (8,000) show interest cover of 2.4, 2.1 and 2.5 respectively. These loans represent 4% ((17,100/428,448)*100) of the total loans drawn. This is a small percentage and there is no cause for a major concern because the interest cover although not in the acceptable region is still above 2. 3.0 Strategy for risk reduction The overall risk on the loan portfolio is considered low. However, there are some strategies that can be

The Classification of People or Individual on the Face of Law Essay

The Classification of People or Individual on the Face of Law - Essay Example Congress has been given big latitude to regulate commerce with any foreign nations and among other of its several states. Constitution, in this case, confers power and legal justification for the federal governments to control the commerce of the state. Commerce regulation involves a wide range of control that includes the exchange of goods and services. However, the definitions of commerce have been a very controversial one. The very constitutions that have given latitude to the Congress to regulate commerce do not explicitly define the commerce that it intends the Congress to be regulated. In its inadequacies, the constitution does not clearly describe the social intercourses between citizens of different states. Consequently, the constitution leaves a huge gap in identifying the commerce and the dividing line between the state power and those of the federal government. Wherefore, with this wide gap of the inadequacy and incompleteness of the clause, there is a legal problem in its application. In particular are the cyberspace and the federal power in regulating it while excising the commerce clause. Considering the case of American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan vs. the federal government, the association complained against the application of the commercial clause because they termed it criminalizing online communication and termed it as violation of the freedom of speech and a violation of the commerce clause that is provided in the constitution of United States of America.

What do you expect to get from your electives for your subject Essay

What do you expect to get from your electives for your subject - Essay Example All of these categories are essential to our learning. Our minor courses serve as refreshment for us not to forget the basic know how of education. They are like touches of the foundation of every aspect of study. Our major subjects are essential for us to master our chosen fields of study. Finally, we have our elective subjects which give us additional knowledge and make us understand our major field better. To begin discussing what an elective subject is, let me begin with its brief definition. Elective subjects are subjects that a student chooses to deepen knowledge or skill in a particular area. This can be from another related major (UTS: Engineering FAQ, 2007). From this definition, we can conclude why students need to take up elective subjects. It is a well known fact that every field of knowledge is interrelated and interconnected with each other. Therefore, one should have an understanding of the different areas in connection with his/her major. This will give a person a wider perception of things he/she should be acquainted with in his area of specialization. As an example, you cannot expect someone to be a good doctor in the future without the basic understanding of anatomy or a background about biology. This is true in any other areas of study whether it is in the field of science or engineering. With regards to my course, I would like to extract it from point to point. The definition of Mechanical Engineering is the broadest among all other kinds of engineering (â€Å"What is†). The simplest and shortest, on the other hand, that can be found on any other internet site is the application of scientific and mathematical principles to practical ends such as the design, manufacture, and operation of operation of efficient and economical structures, machines, processes, and systems (â€Å"Engineering†). It sounds simple as it seems from the definition. On the contrary, this major is interconnected and interrelated to all