Why are Geographers interested in Marston Vale?

Marston Vale lies upon the Oxford clay, between Bedford and Milton Keynes in UK. The soils in this area are very fertile. Because the majority of English houses are built in bricks, and the location of Marston Vale is also near London, many brickwork industries were set in this area over last hundred years. Most of the clay extracted here is sent to London to build houses. Today, the extraction of clay and the brick making is still busy, and the Stewartby brickwork industry is one of the biggest industries formed in Marston Vale. Millions of tonnes of clay are extracted from the clay pit everyday, then the clays are transported by conveyor belt to the brickwork, where the clays are drained, moulded and then fired in kilns to make the red bricks that are used to build houses. After all the clay that is valuable to mine has been extracted, huge holes are left on the ground. The topsoil has been removed from the ground during clay extraction, and so no plants will be able to grow in such areas. The area turn to worse if there is rain, the whole area will turn muddy and dirty. A chain of pits stretches along the A421 from Bedford to the M1 near Milton Keynes. This was one of the worst areas of rural derelict land and damaged Ecosystem. The noise, pollution, traffic and bad view that has been produced by the extraction pit and brick making factory affect local residents badly. What can be done to improve the situation? In 1989, 12 National Community Forest project were launched. These Forest will cover 470,000 hectares , which take over 3.6% of all land area in England and Wales, nearly equal to half the total land area used by the National Parks. The Community Forests is a national programme of improving the environment, which affects half of the people in England. Improving the countryside around towns and cities by planting woodland is the main aim of the Community Forests, especially in the areas of the derelict land. This will improve the environment and benefits the local people. In theory, the land must be made to contribute the local communities, e.g.: Creating jobs, Creating farmlands, Creating an attractive environment, Creating a variety of different landscapes, Creating sports facilities, Creating settlements. The Marston Vale Community Forests. Marston Community forests is one of12 National community forests projects which introduced in 1989. The Marston vale community forests cover a total area which more than 150kmà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. About 25,000 people are living inside the forest area, about 145,000 people are living on the edge of the area, most of them are in Bedford and Kempston, about 500,000 people are living within 20 minutes' drive. (These figures are from GeoActive) In order to succeed in this project, local people should put efforts in planning, planting and looking after the woods that are planted. The past experience has shown us that most environmental management, which involved local people, are more likely to succeed. Local people are encouraged by the Forest team to grow their own seeds in Marston Vale Community Forest project. The results of that are small woodland have begun to grow in their villages. Forest team also need to encourage landowners to allow their land to be planted with trees and organise seed collection and planting days. (This information is from GeoActive.) From this act, we know that the Marston Vale Community Forest project does not just involve the restoration of the clay extraction pits, but also allows local people to get in. It encourages people to plant trees, to protect the woodland created, to take a part in the development of the forest. The most important thing is people will love what they have planted, in order to love the whole nature. The restoration of the clay extraction pits in Maston Vale community Forest. There are three possible ways to restore the clay extraction pit: 1) The main restoration for the clay extraction pits is by changing them to an artificial forest. The way of doing so is to spread 3-4 metres of topsoil over the top. Then trees may be able to be planted in. The local people are involved in the development of the Marston Vale community forest. The plan is for local people to plant 100 ha of woodland each year and 5 Km of hedgerow each year. Farmers can apply for grants from the Forestry Commission for planting woodland. 2) The huge hole left on the ground can also be turned into an artificial lake by pouring water into the pit, or just leave them until the rain season comes. Separate clay extraction holes may be joined together by digging out the soil between them. The Stewarby Lake is an example of this restoration. 3) There's also another restoration, which is making it into a landfill site. I personally think this is a fantastic restoration, because this is also a waste solution. Million tonnes of waste can be buried in the clay extraction every day. This solved the crisis of waste in London. After the waste is filled in, plants can also be planted on top. After a long time, a chemical reaction will be happen when the waste decays and the methane gas is produced in this process. We went to an L-field landfill site, which is run by Shanks company; more information on landfill site will be in the back. *Questions On my coursework. 1) How brickwork, clay extraction and landfill sites effects local people ‘s life 2) What's local people's knowledge on Marston Vale Community Forest Project? 3) How successful is the Marston Vale community forest project? Both in attempting to solve the problems of pits left on ground after the clay extraction, and to create the better environment for local people. These are three questions that I set through my coursework. The answers for these questions will be in the end of my coursework in details. For first data collecting, the school organised a day fieldtrip to the Marston Vale area. On the day of the fieldtrip, we visited the following places: *Community forest centre, the artificial forest that has been restored from pits. *Stewartby lake, an artificial lake in the forest, also a different landscape created from clay extraction pit. *The Quest pit, one of the present clay extractions pits run by Hanson Company. *Wootton village for the questionnaire, to ask a few questions on how the brickwork and the landfill site affects local residents. *Randalls Farm, to do some water tests on the Elstow Brook River located there. *Landfill, to see what is the landfill site is like. Issues in the Maston Vale to look at. A Geographer will particularly look at the environmental issues in this area, such as how clay extraction damages the area's Ecosystem, how this affects local people, and what can be done to solve the problems, and finally are these attempts successful or not, and what can be improved? To answer all these doubts, I will first introduce the area to the readers, give them the exact location of the Marston Vale area and what transportation is available to get there. To let readers understand more about my coursework, especially on the day we went to the Marston Vale. I'll explain clearly what we've done on the fieldtrip; where we did them; why we did them; and what are the data can tell us.

Minoan and Mycenean Cultures

In comparing the cultures of the Minoans and the Myceneans, it is best to identify first where they live. The Minoans are inhabitants of the islands off the Aegean Sea such as Crete and Santorini. Perhaps the greatest treasure they have ever made was the palace of Knossos which they covered with frescoes which are wet but surprisingly detailed. The frescoes depict the way of life of the Minoans which was mainly dependent and influenced by the sea. The paintings consists mainly of sea creatures such as dolphins, sea birds, fishermen with sizeable catches and women wearing beautiful dresses and pearl necklaces which were probably harvested from the sea. The Myceneans on the other hand lived Tiryns, a mountain-guarded city. They prefer war to arts since they are a nation of warriors. They built high hallways to defend their city from possible attacks of other people. Their way of life is shown in the different drawings, embroideries and decorations on vases, gold cups, daggers and other weapons. The Myceneans were a powerful people who liked to fight but traded with other people for materials that are not indigenous to their locality. They traded with the Egyptians for gold and like the latter; they created death masks of their dead rulers. The Minoans and the Myceneans, while differing in a lot of aspects, were alike in the sense that their cities are heavily defended. One is surrounded by the seas while the other by mountains. This fondness for fortifications must have been brought about by experiences and incidents of attacks coming from barbarians and pirates who might want to take the treasures and gold of these people. Both cultures, too, have high regard for their kings and rulers.

The Zen of Listening

Douglas, Susan. (2004). The Zen of Listening, in Listening in  : Radio and the American Imagination (22-39). Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press. Abstract Radio is examined here as a shaper of generational identities, as a uniting force for the creation of' †imagined communities† or nations, and as a nostalgic device with associational links in our past. In addition, it is portrayed as a powerful aural gadget that stimulates us cognitively not only through our imagination; our creation of images or ideas based on listening, but also through music, which engages us emotionally.Further discussed is a comprehensive history of radio in America and its contrasting relationship with newspapers and literacy, and television and its visual component. This contrast, and the existence of the radio and the ways we listen have important temporally bound characteristics that are important in understanding times, the medium itself and our relationship with it as it becomes engr ained or interwoven into our everyday lives.The text examines the social implications and reasons for being of radio and refers to various scholars who have examined the form and its effects of this revolutionary device which unites listeners through simultaneity of listening and the physical responses listening engenders. Through the physiological, social, cultural, and technological spheres of this medium, it is obvious that it is much more complex than commonly believed, and the text brings to light the ramifications of its introduction into a literary, visual culture, creating a hybrid America  : a conservative, literate society entwined with a traditional, preliterate. ral culture. Word Count  : 230 Keywords  : nostalgia, radio, imagined community, modes of listening, music, ritual Response †With radio, the interior †I† began oscillating with the voices of those never met, never even seen (31). † The permeating qualities of the †voices of rad io† in the minds of listeners is an issue, in my opinion, that clearly implicates radio as a persuasion tool, which is an element of the medium that appears to be neglected in the text.This neglect to fully examine the implications of the medium and the various elements that are quintessential to the formation of a complete and comprehensive understanding of the workings and complexities of radio presents a rudimentary portrait of the form which should definately be corrected. I argue that Susan Douglas presents an incomplete account of the rise of radio in her idealization of the medium and that, like the listener who is †inclined to remember [radio] at its best†, she fails to examine the intention of radio messages and focuses more on the experience of listening to the radio (Douglas, 2004, p. 5). Firstly, with a basis on the above sentence, she idealizes the form and effects of radio by overlooking or barely touching on the idea of the commercial hand that plays a rather large role in the medium, and affects the intentions and motives of the speakers and the content they disclose. Furthermore, the pervasiveness of these voices is cause for concern for listeners as they are prey to subtle influence from these †familiar voices† who infiltrate themselves into the very thoughts of individuals.Susan Douglas' article addresses many ideas that revolve around radio, but does not seem to pay much attention to the commercialization of the medium despite her mentionning that †by the 1930's, with the highly commercialized network system in place, a great majority of these voices—which sought to sound familiar, intimate, and even folksy—represented a centralized consumer-culture (Douglas, 2004, p. 31). ‘ Beyond the idealized concept of the †imagined community† and the positive unity it creates among the listeners, the commercial hand in the medium of radio implies a certain intention in the scale of the medium; one that seeks numbers. Douglas does mention that in an effort to maximize profits, the network and advertisers aimed for the largest possible audience, promoting the medium of radio as a †nation-building technology (Douglas, 2004, p. 24). ‘ This emphasis, however, on the maximization of profits casts doubt on the integrity and the intention of radio. The oscillating voices of †those never met, never even seen† which interact with the inner voice of the listener are tainted by an underlying struggle between social consolidation and betterment, and commercialism. This leads to the need to examine content and intention in radio, and to the need for a critical assessment of this revolutionary device.Secondly, these voices which penetrated our minds, spoken by unknown radio personalities, did more than allow us to free our imagination. In effect, these voices which now interacted with the inner voice of the individual could become subtle influences of ou r ideas, and beliefs without our even knowing. This danger, which I greatly believe is applicable in this mass medium, especially when taking into consideration the novelty of the device in the 1930's, could leave listeners unguarded against potential manipulation or influence.The idea that the voices of the radio speakers have a certain familiar or intimate quality illustrates this desire to identify with the listener, which leaves that latter to fend for himself in the identification of the veracity of messages, and in the intention of the speaker who is trained to please an audience. The various personalities that would speak to the nation through radio—the †politically powerful and the rich, [†¦ ministers, educators, [†¦] comedians, singers and actors†Ã¢â‚¬â€could have various intentions in their speeches; they could seek to sway auditors to favor certain ideologies, to act in certain ways, or could misdirect or misinform listeners (Douglas, 2004, p 31). Furthermore, the ability for radio to adjust to various circumstances of listening makes it even more alarming as it becomes the background music of our daily lives, making these voices that much more likely to become a part of our interior dialogue (Douglas, 2004).In conclusion, as mass media of various sorts—newspapers, television and radio—become national, and all-encompassing, the need for critical analysis of every aspect of each medium becomes necessary to understand the limitations of each, and their intentions. Since there are many underlying motives to every medium, especially commercial or political ones, and since mass media have developed into such huge social entities with powerful nfluence, it is important to think by ourselves, without the implication of unknown others in our reasoning; to question why we believe certain things, and how we came to so as to remain individuals in the mass, and to be able to ward off unwanted influences which may find their way into our subconscious. Word Count  : 782

How HR can contribute to CSR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

How HR can contribute to CSR - Essay Example Current paper aims to highlight the main aspects of the relationship between the human resources management and the corporate governance – especially regarding the role of HRM in the development of corporate social responsibility. Reference is made to Humphrey Group and specifically to the firm’s compensation ethics as used for evaluating the compensation of the firm’s top managers. The findings of relevant academic studies are presented and analysed aiming to show that HR can support the development of corporate social responsibility in Humphrey Group – as also in firms with different structural and operational characteristics. 2. Human Resources and Corporate Governance 2.1 Influence of HR on Corporate governance – modes, consequences The role of HR in corporate governance cannot be doubted. In fact, this role has many different aspects. In all organizations, HR department cooperates with the CEO in order to identify potential breaches of the firm ’s ethical rules. Beatty et al. ... The survey, which was conducted among focus groups, aimed to highlight the level at which ethical standards can interact or opposed with professional practices and rules within modern organizations. One of the most important findings of the above study has been the fact that, quite often, HR managers are asked to serve contradictory organizational needs, or else, to serve interests, which are opposed. These are the interests of stakeholders who are favoured by different organizational initiatives. On the other hand, it seems that HR professionals may not be always aware of their role. Instead, they are informed on the activities and decisions on which their power is justified, i.e. accepted by the Board of Directors (or the organization’s leader) but they are not aware of their actual capabilities regarding their role. At the next level, the study of Beatty et al. (2003) refers to a quite important issue: ‘the financial measurement and the rewarding systems’ (Beat ty et al. 2003, p.258) are often poor. In this case, executives need to identify a solution in order to ensure the fairness in their compensation. In most cases, the response of the firms to the claims for compensation, pension and so on, are expected to be negative – in case such claim is presented to the Board of Directors. In this context, the intervention of executives in the books of their organizations is often unavoidable, even if it is not legally justified. The most important finding of the survey conducted in the context of the study of Beatty et al. (2003) is the following one: in most organizations, ethical standards are highly promoted. However, in practice the limitation of violation of

Gender Roles Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gender Roles - Research Paper Example An important aspect of socialization is teaching children about the significance of gender roles and raising them in accordance with the acceptable norms and principles of a society. Gender roles have pivotal and ingrained importance in the structure of a society. For instance, in most societies, men are expected to acquire the role of a bread winner of the family and tackle tough household chores such as performing necessary yard work and tinkering cars. On the other hand, their female counterparts are expected to adopt the roles of being a mother, handle household chores, and look after their husbands. In accordance with Eagly’s social role theory, the occurrence of gender differences is a direct result of the fact that since childhood, men and women are guided by different role expectations. Gender roles are molded and influenced by a range of factors including social and biological factors. In simple terms, gender roles are a cumulative result of numerous factors (Weiten e t al. 2012). Environmental and Social Factors The social construction of gender roles is heavily guided by what a society considers as gender appropriate and inappropriate behavior. The appropriate behavioral characteristics are instilled in young individuals by a series of patient rewards and punishments. The power of reward and punishment shapes gender role and are considered as the key processes in operant conditioning. â€Å"Gender appropriate behavior† is reinforced by parents, teachers and peers while gender inappropriate behavior is eliminated by persistent punishments. In school and at home, boys are often told that â€Å"big boys don’t cry† whenever hurt themselves and if this inhibits their crying, they are rewarded with powerful reinforcements such as a pat on their backs or a smile. The tendency of boys to â€Å"act like a man† and suppress emotional displays is strengthened by a consistent pattern of similar reinforcements. Observational lear ning or imitation constitutes an important way for younger children to learn gender appropriate roles. Younger children imitate the behavior of an older sibling or parents to modify their own behavior accordingly. The social cognitive theory states that individuals who are powerful and nurturant are more likely to be imitated by younger children. During early childhood years, children imitate both genders but they are more likely to imitate individuals that are of the same sex. For this reason, girls are more likely to imitate their mothers and adopt feminine characteristics such as empathy, compassion, and nurturing. Furthermore, by imitating their mothers young girls start playing with toy stoves and doll houses. On the other hand, young boys follow in the footsteps of their fathers and by imitating masculine behavior, they prefer to play with miniature trucks and tool kits. In case of very young individuals, same gender peers serve as more influential models than parents. The ado ption of gender roles begins very early in the life of an individual. In a society, people are labeled and expected to have gender appropriate characteristics which plays an important role in the determination of appropriate gender roles. In accordance with a recent study, children start utilizing gender labels as soon they turn 19 months old. Therefore, the perception of gender labels coupled with the processes of reward and pun

The First Amendment and Its Impact on Education Essay

The First Amendment and Its Impact on Education - Essay Example But how can it be coercion? Those against the Pledge say that, like prayer in the classroom, is completely unconstitutional. But according to the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, it states just the opposite. The Constitution states that whether or not these are religious exercises, they shall not be impeded. No one forces students to partake in the saying of the Pledge of Allegiance and schools do not give preferential treatment to those that do. However, if a school decides to have an election for a student to present a message at a sports event of the school, then they should be able to. If, the student chooses to say a prayer so be it. Religion is stamped all over history. From the earliest days of man to the Holocaust to the Spanish Inquisition to the Reformation and to the Founding Fathers of our great Nation, religion was always there and prevalent in society. Thus, a student will never escape religion in his studies. In conclusion, if a person tries to stamp out prayer or the Pledge of Allegiance in schools by saying it is unconstitutional, then they are going to have to over haul all of the history texts that students study. Studying history may coerce our students into believing that there is a

How to Assure Information Continuity and Recovery in Business Coursework

How to Assure Information Continuity and Recovery in Business Continuity Planning and Disaster Recovery - Coursework Example While numerous weaknesses may be diminished or even eradicated through technical, management, or operational resolutions as part of the state’s general risk managing effort, it is practically impossible to entirely eradicate all risks. In numerous cases, critical assets may be located outside the organization’s control – for instance telecommunications or electric power – and the organization may be incapable of ensuring their accessibility. Therefore effective disaster recovery planning, implementation, and analysis are indispensible to diminish the risk of service and system unavailability. The production environment of an organization persistently evolves. Whether that is a result of software or hardware updates, the addition or removal of systems, or changes in configuration; the variance from the recovery answer grows broader with each change, increasing the chance of the failure of the solution. The maintenance of the technology recovery solution - both plans and recovery configurations - should be kept in lock-step with the production environment. One only has to look at the quantity of preparation, documentation updates and contract upgrades that occur in support of an exercise to see there’s a significant divergence which can occur over a fairly short period of time. All these factors can negatively impact recovery results. As much effort as is put into plan development, it’s surprising how many companies do not have sufficient detail in their recovery procedures that will support the recovery of their key technologies. Even companies that test often abandon their plans and instead rely on the knowledge of their people, or use their plans but never add the detail they need. This may be worse than not testing at all, since it creates the perception the plan will support a recovery; however if the primary team isn’t available during the incident, recovery can be challenging without access

Validity and Reliability on Emergency Preparation and Response in the Essay

Validity and Reliability on Emergency Preparation and Response in the World of Corporate Security - Essay Example In the context of my research, this means that I have to ask a content expert if my instrument in gathering data looks valid. Similarly, this may be undertaken by asking potential respondents about the face validity of my instrument through a pilot run of the survey. Yet still another measure of validity is content validity. In this type of validity, I am bound to do a content validity check and ask experts in the field of corporate security on their opinion about the instrument – that is, if they think that the instrument will be able to measure what I set it out to measure. Content validity has two subtypes, predictive validity and concurrent validity. One way of checking the predictive validity of my research tool is to see if it can predict other variables that are â€Å"logically related† to those which are measured by the instrument. If it does, that means that the instrument I constructed is content valid. On the other hand, concurrent validity works the same way as predictive validity; however, the measure of this is logical correlations with other variables that are assumed to be associated with those measured in the tool. Finally, I can also do a construct validity check. For example, if I am measuring the variables emergency preparation and response, they should correlate with other related constructs in an anticipated manner if my instrument does have construct validity.

SUPREME COURT CASE Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SUPREME COURT CASE - Assignment Example The City of New London, Connecticut sought to force the sale of some private property to be used for an urban redevelopment project. Some of the owners objected to the sale. The city government then proceeded to assert eminent domain powers under the Fifth Amendment, via the Fourteenth Amendment, which explicitly applies the Constitution to the States. Traditionally, â€Å"public use† had been interpreted as things or media the public actually used. In the Kelo case, the City of New London sought to justify the eminent domain seizure because the urban redevelopment project would generate tax revenue for a blighted urban area. The Court sided with the city and allowed the forced sale under the Fifth Amendment. This is a significant case because of the awesome power it bestows on municipal governments. They now have the power to seize property not just for sewers or roadways but also for urban development. To see the potential for corruption is not terribly difficult. A rich rea l estate developer could bribe city officials to force a private property owner to sell his property.

The crisis of trust as a major issue in the relationship among Essay

The crisis of trust as a major issue in the relationship among business organizationsand their customers - Essay Example The lost of credibility is central in the crisis of trust. The crisis of trust can be understood from two major perspectives; First, business to business and second business to individual customers. A business organization is a customer to another business organization when one buys goods and services from the other. This could be in the form of buying raw materials from a business for the purpose of producing it to a finished products or when a business rent the equipments of another business in order to further its business operation. There is a business to an individual customer relationship when the individual buys goods and services from a business organization. Whichever way one chooses to look at the issue, crisis of trust can emanate if proper management techniques was not ensured. Few examples will help us to understand the point. To buttress the point more succinctly, Crisis of trust in Bank of America Corporation (BAC): Bank of America Corporation is the one of the largest financial institutions in America. It is a multinational bank with headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. According to the BMO capital market result, the bank is ranked as the highest financial institution in America by assets. ... This enviable record helped in no small measure in building the public trust which the bank has. Regrettably, in 2010, the bank was accused by the USA government for defrauding organizations and institutions especially schools, hospitals, and government institutions through investing the revenues from the municipal bond sales. The bank however agreed to have defrauded the institutions and accepted to pay damages at the tune of $137.7 million, including the payment of $25 million to the coffer of the Internal Revenue Service, as well as $4.5 million to the attorney general of the state. Hence, it was reported that the former Bank Executive of the famous Bank of America, Douglas Campbell pleaded guilty to the charges of distrust, wire transfer, and conspiracy to defraud the bank1 Because of this development, the famous bank started loosing customers; people started withdrawing their money because of distrust. Crisis of trust in the UK media: In the recent times, majority of the Europea ns are displeased with the manner in which the media reports issues. The media was alleged to hide certain information from the public. It was alleged that the media is more interested in getting story than telling the truth. This development has eroded the trust which people have on the media. The role of the media as a watchdog in the democratic process is no longer feasible, as some people argued. In the United Kingdom, people see the media from the point of carrying social stories rather than conveying the latest political development in the nation. Example, the tabloids are always inundated by stories about celebrities and campaigns, rather than reporting the latest political development in the country. This is certainly not healthy in a country

Belmar beach Essay Example for Free

Belmar beach Essay Being from the jersey shore there is many options to choose from, but Belmar beach is the most beautiful and exciting beach. Every time you go to Belmar beach there is always someone new to sit down and have an ice cold drink with. Belmar is also known to have the best over-head waves that look smooth and glossy from the sun reflecting off the water. My favorite place to hangout is at Belmar beach on a hot sweaty day with a cool ocean breeze filled with a lot of variety of people. Belmar beach is always filled with tourist from all over the world, who tend to make the beach look filthy and covered with trash everywhere. However, on its lonely deserted days its impeccability is hard to miss. The sunlight gleaming off the ocean surface onto the lightly shaded grey boardwalk. Having a loud atmosphere as well, it’s hard to say that one won’t get distracted a little with its blissful music surrounding you corner by corner. On the contrary, when in need for a serene soothing place, Belmar can contain one of the most nerve-calming areas such as its Cafes or its nearby vast lake. My favorite days to go to Belmar beach is on a hot peaceful day with huge over-head waves that are smooth to surf. I like to sit in the water looking and listening to the peaceful waves crashing onto the jetti spraying mist in the air. After having a work out in the water from the ferocious waves and powerful currents there are many restaurants to choose from that have amazing scenery of the beach and with food that is ridiculously good. However, you can also get the softest and most delicious mouth melting ice cream right on the boardwalk. Furthermore, Belmar is filled with thrilling and exciting activities to do on the most boring and tiresome days. To begin with, individuals who are into the sport of surfing can be fascinated with its graceful dominate blue waves. For the people who prefer fishing, its resourceful waters contain one of the most beautiful fish in the seas. Now for the more reserved people who like to keep to themselves, quiet and peaceful spots are available. Since any type of environment can be seen inhabiting Belmar, not one type of individual will stand out. Overall, Belmar beach has everything to offer with the beautiful beach, amazing memories, and filled with many exciting activities to do. Going to Belmar beach will keep you occupied the entire day, filling your emotions with joy and excitement. Belmar will also give you amazing views of the ocean’s waves perpetually crashing onto the damped sand. Ultimately, making Belmar the most tranquil and relaxing beach to go to.

Dramatic and relevant to a modern audience Essay Example for Free

Dramatic and relevant to a modern audience Essay Lots of the characters under go personal development: for example Reverend Hale, who at first is all to eager to shout witch but in the end is very disbelieving. My personal belief is that the events are a testament of how people shouldnt live in a social structure that is overly tight. A crucible is a metal container in which metals are melted to extract their pure element from the impurities. This can easily be linked to the play: first witches supposedly boil potions in cauldrons and a synonym for cauldron is crucible. Secondly, it has a metaphorical meaning: the society of Salem is being heated and stirred in an attempt to remove the impurities and leave only the pure members of the society. An artificial Noahs Ark, as it were, however this plan backfires some. Act 1 mainly revolves around Abigail and the girls being caught dancing in the woods. The drinking of blood is supposedly a charm to kill Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail wants to be with Proctor after Elizabeth kicked her out for having an affair with Proctor: I know that you clutched my back out side your house and sweated like a stallion when ever I come near, or did I dream that? It is she put me out, you cannot pretend it were you. I saw your face when she put me out. You loved me then and you do now! Abigail Proctor is fighting an internal conflict; we know that on one side he wants to be with Abigail because: [Looking at Abigail now, the faintest suggestion of a knowing smile on his face] Stage direction But we also know that he feels very guilty about Elizabeth: I mean to please you Elizabeth Proctor However, he does tell Abigail that he wants nothing more to do with her: Abby, I may have thought of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched Abby. Proctor All the time this encounter has been in occurrence, sexual tension is building in the audience. They are also learning about Proctors and anti-hero characteristics. We learn that his name is not entirely white. He is not perfect, and the same applies to most of the characters, they all have good and bad points. I think there are two important points here. One is that Abigail is trying to seduce Proctor with seductive language, and two: Betty is only pretending to be inert. She would have heard all of this, and that is most likely the reason behind her getting up and trying to jump out of the window. Also in Act 1 Abigail threatens marry Warren, Betty and the other girls against telling anyone anything: Let any of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you and you know I can do it I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down Abigail It is here that we learn just how aggressive and manipulative that Abigail really is. She was trying to manipulate Proctor and now she is being extremely aggressive and even explicit towards the girls. We can tell that this is a frantic and tense moment on stage by the over average use of exclamation marks and use of short sentences. We can also see physical violence from Abigail as she violently shakes Betty around. Visually this would be interesting for the audience, creating both anger and tension. There is contrast in the loud violence of this moment to the quiet seduction from Abigail before. Act 2 contrasts from the end of Act 1, in the fact that it is a calm and peaceful scene, over the loud fear-driven hysteria of the end of Act 1. Proctor comes home from seeding his farm late at night, and he sits down to eat, with Elizabeth. From the general feel of the scene we can gather that the common room of Proctors house is cold, empty and unwelcoming. This parallels with the relationship between John and Elizabeth. Theres is a great amount of tension between the pair, and they idly make chit-chat at the table, as they feel they need to: Proctor: Pray now for a good summer. Elizabeth: Aye It should be noted that it is Proctor who is trying to make conversation; Elizabeth is spoiling his attempts with one-word answers. Proctor is feeling frustrated because Elizabeth is not acknowledging that Proctor is trying his hardest to repair the relationship. He is forever claiming his desire to please Elizabeth: I mean to please you Elizabeth. Proctor I believe that the audience would to be getting frustrated with Elizabeth not forgiving him. The tension in the audience would also rise, due to the complete lack of any sexual tension. Arthur Millers The Crucible raised issues that were as relevant in the 1950s as they were today. The idea of conformity will always exist. People who define this ideologies and beliefs by which groups of people live will always exist. As will accusations made towards one group from another group, to solve their problem, or help their cause. Arthur Millers play took on some very strong issues, that are still relevant to date, it is one that cannot be ignored because of Millers ability to touch issues and themes that have plagued mankind all through history, and will continue to do so in the future.

Factors that are Affecting the Environment

Factors that are Affecting the Environment 1D.8  Identify the human activities that affect the Earth and its environment. There are various human activities that affect the Earths environment these are : Air Pollution from burning of Fossil fuels Water Pollution from use of fertilizers and dumping of trash 2D.P8  Describe the human activities that affect the Earth and its environment. Air pollution from burning of Fossil Fuels The transportation used in day to day life produces a lot of smoke and harmful gasses such as Carbon Monoxide, Carbon dioxide Sulfur dioxide. It is released in the air from the combustion of fossil fuels; this pollutes the air. Inefficient engines release excess carbon monoxide ; a poisonous gas harming organisms in that environment. Sulfur dioxide can mix with water in the clouds and form an acidic solution which contributes to acid rain, this acidity damages plants and aquatic ecosystems as some organisms cannot survive in acidic environments. Acid rain also damages and erodes some man-made structures such as limestone statues etc. Carbon dioxide emissions also contribute to the global warming of the planet, as it builds up in the atmosphere it gradually traps heat which over time raises the temperature of the planet; this can be fatal to all ecosystems and environments. Water Pollution from use of fertilizers and various waste materials The rise of capitalism and consumerism has led to a growth of various products and food being produced at a faster rate. Modern Agriculture uses many synthetic fertilizers which dominantly contains the essential nutrients for plant growth such as nitrogen, potassium phosphorus. They are given to plants to enhance their growth maximize their yield. When applied, the excess fertilizer or nutrients can leak from the soil into nearby water sources as the minerals are very soluble in water; this pollutes the water and starts the process of eutrophication and harms the aquatic ecosystem.   Eutrophication starts when Excess fertilizer enters a water source such as a lake The excess fertilizer in the lake boosts the growth of all the aquatic plants at an elevated scale Algae overtime covers the surface of the lake preventing sunlight from reaching the plants underneath, in turn, the plants die and oxygen is no longer produced from them. The dead plants in the lake then are decomposed by aerobic bacteria which use the oxygen up while doing so, this leads to a gradual decline of oxygen in the lake. Over time the lake goes lifeless as there is no longer enough oxygen to sustain the aquatic organisms in it Fertilizers are fatal to aquatic ecosystems and environments in excess. In addition sewage and waste products can also runoff or end up in aquatic environments and either kill the organisms in it or pose a serious hazard to its inhabitants. 1D.9  Identify natural factors that have changed the surface and atmosphere of the Earth. The Natural factors that have altered the earths surface and atmosphere are : Earthquakes from the movement of tectonic plates Volcanic Eruptions from Volcanic activity 2D.P9  Describe natural factors that have changed the surface and atmosphere of the Earth. Earthquakes from the movement of tectonic plates An earthquake is a sudden violent movement of the upper crust caused by either the movement of large tectonic plates or heavy volcanic activity. When the tectonic plates suddenly move it   causes the entire ground to shake and break apart. some earthquakes make the ground shake so violently that it destroys entire landscapes and environments. However, earthquakes can also cause landslides and tsunamis, change geology and ruin natural habitats of many living creatures. For instance, when an earthquake happens in the middle of the ocean, it can create waves that are so large that they destroy coastlines, cities, and forests hundreds of miles away. Earthquakes have helped to shape the Earths landscapes, but they also continue to alter those landscapes. Earthquakes are dangerous to human, plant and animal life, and when large earthquakes occur, they have the power to drastically change the surface of the Earth. Volcanic Eruptions from Volcanic activity Volcanic eruptions involve the incursion of liquid magma into a physical environment, and the effects include major transformations, ranging from the formation of new land to the destruction of the viability of an existing environment. Just one example of the creation of new land comes from the Hawaiian Islands, which appeared as magma cooled into land after eruptions. As lava flows across the ground in the wake of a volcanic eruption, any existing plant life is at risk of immediate destruction. When lava mixes in with melting snow or rain water, the flow speeds up, and the environmental effects accelerate as well, because the destructive effects of the lava largely remain, but the spread is generally wider and takes place more quickly. An example of this took place in Montserrat when Chances Peak entered a phase of eruption between 1995 and 2000. In 1995, the mountain began giving off signs of coming activity through eruptions of ash and dust. The most intense eruptions took place in 1997, and 11,000 people were evacuated to the northern end of the island as well as to other islands. The result of the eruptions involved the covering of the capital in mud and ash, and the destruction of more than a dozen settlements which have been rendered uninhabitable.        Ã‚  

Sherwood Anderson Life And Influences :: essays research papers

LaBrie 1 Sherwood Anderson's life experiences And the way they influenced how he wrote Sherwood Anderson often wrote of other people's misery in his short stories and used it in ironic ways when writing his endings. After reading several of his these stories and reading several biographies of his life, I have come to the conclusion that Anderson's life experiences greatly influence the method in which he wrote them. Also, when comparing some of his stories to his life, you will see that many of them can be closely compared to difficult times in which he went through while growing up and as a grown man. Sherwood Anderson was born into a rather impoverished circumstance in a small Ohio village named Camden. His father was a heavy drinker and had a particular hard time keeping a job. His mother was a hard working woman with strict religious beliefs and always taught her children to work as hard as they could. Anderson was the third of seven children, making his family large and hard to support. Anderson was not an exceptional student, but rather was average grade wise. He graduated grammar school and completed nine months of highschool. Anderson was forced to drop out because he needed to work for his family and bring in more income than his mother and two brothers were making. Anderson worked as a laborer in 1896- 1898, then served in the Spanish American War. He attended Wittenburg Academy in Springfield, Ohio, in 1900, then went to Chicago. In Chicago he worked at a produce warehouse, and when he was in his teens he began working as an editor for an advertising agency. In 1904 he began to display unusual talent for success in the mail- order paint business. LaBrie 4   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In addition to having financial problems Anderson also had numerous family problems. I believe that this is the reason that Anderson would use love in his stories and have his characters unable to be with that love.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Anderson was first married on May 16, 1904, to Cornelia Lane of Toledo. He fathered two sons, Robert Lane and John Sherwood, and a daughter, Marion with her. On July 27, 1916, Anderson divorced his current wife and married Tennessee Claflin Mitchell on July 31, at Chateaugay, New York. This marriage had many difficulties since Anderson and Claflin did not agree on most things such as business and family life. Because of this, they divorced in 1924, and after this Anderson married Elizabeth Prall.

Essay --

More tragic play The tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark is the most popular works of William Shakespeare. Probably the popularity of this play lies in the use of character of Hamlet in exemplifying the human mind through its complex workings. Hamlet’s internal dilemma of making the decision whether he should revenge the death of his father or not was a crucial turn in his life as the state of mind was the main reason which effected the decision power one makes in his life. His uncle Claudius was the one who murdered his father and the moment when the ghost of Hamlet’s father appears and asks Hamlet as to when the revenge of his foul and most unnatural murder is to take place. From this point onward Hamlet is under a constant dilemma. He does not find himself ready to take the revenge. If Hamlet had killed Claudius at the first opportunity than the revenge would have been taken but his internal dilemma would have never been solved. This play became very popular and the reason for the popularity was Shakespeare’s use of the character Hamlet and through this character he has tried to exemplify the complex workings of human’s mind. Shakespeare used emotion, reason and attitude of Hamlet to allow the readers to form an opinion or make a judgment about the basic aspects of the life of human beings. The reason the prince could not take the revenge of his father’s death was that he was a man of great moral integrity and to take revenge was an act which was against his deepest principals. Some of the other behaviors of the prince was that after the death of his father Hamlet became so disenchanted with his life that he lost all his desire and will to take any kind of revenge. Due to the delay in revenge Shakespeare was able to develop th... ...a proper burial for her brother and in ‘Oedipus the King’ son has killed his father and married his mother while Glass Menagerie is the only play which is giving us the picture of real life and this the reason that I have chosen this play as my favorite. This play is more tragic of the above plays as it is a tragedy emerging from real life. The condition of the apartment shown in the play is very much common in the country. In poor countries even worse apartments are found. In the play all the characters are going through a frustration and no one is happy from his present state of mind. The wife is lonely as her husband has left the home. The son and daughter are not satisfied as the son is planning to escape and the daughter is playing the records over and over again to show her frustration. This play is a true tragedy found in the richest country of the world.

Agriculture and Population Growth Essay -- Agricultural Economy Scienc

Agriculture and Population Growth The earth is increasing its population by 90 million people per year, and yet we still have 5.9 billion people left to feed and to give shelter (Mitchell, 1998). Along with the increase in the population, there are also more people on Earth who are living longer lives. The global population boom has coincided with the improvement of health, and of productivity, around the world. On average, the human population today lives longer, eats better, produces more, and consumes more than at any other time period in the past (Eberstadt, 1995). Agriculture feeds people, but will it be able to feed the expanding global population, especially with its exponential increase? One way for the population of today and tomorrow to live in harmony in regards to nourishment provided by the environment is to be able to intensify agricultural yields. With a projected population of 10 billion people, an increase of global average grain yields from 2 to 5 tons of grain per hectare would ensure a per capita diet of 6,000 calories and would save a land area twice the size of Alaska (Waggoner, 1994). Most of the world’s increased output is no longer a result of expansion of area used in agriculture, but resulting from the intensification of production on existing agricultural areas. In the last 50 years, agriculture has intensified and yields per hectare have been rising. Intensification has allowed for a reversal of destruction of land. More land has been spared due to increased intensities. In India, 42 million hectares of land have been spared, approximately the size of California and globally, the world has saved an area the size of the Amazon (Ausubel, 1996). Of all human activities, agriculture transforms the... ... and supported in a sustainable manner, agricultural intensification might just be able to keep up with the demand. In the up-coming decades, we will soon find out. Bibliography Ausubel, Jesse H. 1996. Can Technology Spare the Earth? Scientific American 84; Pages 166-178. Brown, Lester R. 1997. Can We Raise Grain Yields Fast Enough? Worldwatch 10(4): Pages 9-17. Eberstadt, Nicholas. 1995. Population, Food, and Income: Global Trends in the Twentieth Century. The True State of the World. Pages 7-48. Mitchell, Jennifer D. 1998. Before the Next Doubling. http://www.worldwatch.org/may/1998/98-1.html. March 1, 1998. Vitousek, Peter M. et al. 1997. Human Domination of Earth’s Ecosystems. Science. Vol. 277. Pages 494-499. Waggoner, Paul. 1994. How Much Land Can Ten Billion People Spare for Nature? Council for Science and Technology, Ames, Iowa.

Letting Go of Old Friends…

Village of Schaumburg Sex, Age, and Employment Demographics The village of Schaumburg is a large village located in  Cook County in Northeastern Illinois. The village is a northwestern suburb of Chicago and is part of the Golden Corridor. Schaumburg has the reputation of being the model community of Cook County. Schaumburg is located roughly 28 miles (45  km) northwest of the Chicago Loop  and approximately 10 miles (16  km) northwest of O’Hare International Airport. As of the 2011 community survey the Village of Schaumburg had a total population of 49. 0% of males and 50. 10% of females. It can be determined by the chart below that the populations of females in the village of Schaumburg make up approximately 37,160 while males come in at 37,038. These estimates were based on a total population of 74,198 people. For this paper the focus will remain on the population of males and females in two separate subgroups of 18years of age and over and 65 years of age and over. I will also discuss the emphasis that is associated with these age factors and the employment rate in Schaumburg.According to the 2011 American Community Survey for the village of Schaumburg, the total provisional population of males and females 18 years and over stood at 59,489. The percentage break down of the population of males 18 years and over has a percentage of 48. 10%, while the percentage for females 18 years and over consist of 51. 90%. In contrast, the percentage of males ages 65 years and over is 39. 20% while females 65 years and over maintains a percentage of 60. 80%.Based on the information provided it can be determined that the village of Schaumburg has an increased population of males and females over the ages of 18. My theory is that the Village of Schaumburg is heavily populated with younger adults due to the opportunity of jobs the village has to offer. Major corporations like Motorola, IBM, and Comcast hold company headquarters in the Village of Schaumburg. Wor king class adults are more willing to live in communities that are abundant with job opportunities.According to the economic characteristics for the Village of Schaumburg the overall employment status stood at 61,311. The breakdown of the populace in the work force outweighs the total number of unemployment citizens in the village. The percentage of employed citizens is right around 66. 30%, while the unemployed come in at a low 4. 90%. It is evident that the Village of Schaumburg maintains a steady employment rate due to the numerous employment options available in the area. I found the low 2011 unemployment rate in Schaumburg surprising, considering that the overall economies unemployment rate was at 8. %. Based on the information provided it can be determined that the Village of Schaumburg is a community that has a population that is heavily populated by young adults. The influx of adults can be contributed to the accessibility and variation of jobs in the area. Also, the notable changes that were brought about in the year 2000 with attractions such as Streets of Wood field, Game Works, and the Convention Center attributed to the increase of young adults and the working class citizens in the Village of Schaumburg.

Ltcm (Long Term Capital Management)

Workshop 2, week 3 Syndicate 1 1. The collapse of Trio Capital demonstrated the way in which hedge funds and funds of hedge funds can be overly complex, unclear and lacking in transparency, particularly for retail investors. a. Briefly summarise what has happened in the case of Trio Capital last year in 2012 in Australia The collapse of Trio Capital is the biggest superannuation fraud in Australian history. Trio Capital was the trustee of a numbers of super funds governed by the APRA (Ryan, S. , 2011).It also had a number of managed investment schemes, like ARP Growth Fund and Astarra Strategic Fund. An American lawyer, Jack Flader, controlled the hedge funds in the Caribbean in behalf of the company with the $180 million from Trio Capital’s schemes (Ryan, S. , 2011). When those funds collapsed, Australian investors funds disappeared. The company had very poor corporate governance, and at least one of the directors had fraudulent conduct and has gone to jail (Ryan, S. , 2011). Liquidators have record $300 million assets, but more than $ 200million are still missing (Ryan, S. 2011). More than 6000 investors lost money and some of them lost their entire retirement savings (Ryan, S. , 2011). And 5000 of those investors share $55 million taxpayer-funded levy to compensate the loss (Ryan, S. , 2011). However more than 600 investors will not get any compensation because the hedged funds they invested were self- managed and not governed by the APRA (Ryan, S. , 2011). 2. Discuss the regulations that were in place with regard to hedge funds in Australia and what the changes that are in place are.Firstly, Lacking of universal definition of â€Å"hedge funds† has been a problem. Hedge funds have five unique characteristics defined by the regulations. According to Class Order [CO 12/749] Relief from the shorter PDS regime, a responsible entity using expression of â€Å"hedge funds† must exhibit two or more characteristics from the following list: (i) U se of investment strategies intended to generate returns with low correlation to equity and bond indices and/or complex investment structures (ASIC, 2012) (ii) Use of everage to increase returns (ASIC, 2012); (iii) Use of derivatives for speculative purposes (ASIC, 2012); (iv) Use of short selling (ASIC, 2012); or (v) Performance fees (in contrast to fees based on funds under management (FUM)) (ASIC, 2012). However, after the scale collapse of Trio Capital and other funds, hedge funds mangers might try to avoid labelled as hedge funds due to poor reputation.Secondly, improving disclosure promote more efficient capital market, help disclosure relevant information, reduce the possibility of omitting important information, concentrated on the information need of the investors, and be flexible to adapt investors’ information needs changes (ASIC, 2012). Under Corporations Act. 3 Pt 7. 9 requires the Product Disclosure Statement need to be prepared to the offer of interests, and on going disclosure obligation and requirements on advertising and publicity for the offer of interests(ASIC, 2012) .In detail, PDS must: (a) Be worded and presented in a clear, concise and effective manner (s1013C(3)) (ASIC, 2012); (b) Make specific disclosures (s1013D), including among other things about the significant risks associated with holding the product (ASIC, 2012); and (c) Include all other information that might reasonably be expected to have a material influence on the decision of a reasonable person (when investing as a retail client) about whether or not to invest in the product (s1013E) (ASIC, 2012).In addition, Ch 5C has further requirements on hedge funds, including the registration need to be label as a managed investment scheme operated by a responsible entity which holds an Australian financial services (AFS) licence, and to have a scheme constitution and compliance plan (ASIC, 2012). 3. Describe the roles of investment banks and merchant banks, with an emphasis o n the nature of their off -balance-sheet business, in particular mergers and acquisitions. The merge and acquisition services income of the investment banks and merchant banks are large.In 2003 the total amount of advisory fees that charged exceeded $596 million in USA, suggesting that investment banks earned a significant amount of income for providing M&A advice (Walter, Yawson & Yeung, 2007). The advisory services offered by investment banks usually related to various aspects of the acquisition and sale of company and assets such as business valuation, negotiation, pricing and structuring of transactions, and procedure and implementation (Water, et al. , 2007).One of the most important analyses is called dilution analysis, which requires updated skills about M & A accounting. Investment banks also provide â€Å"fairness opinions† which usually involved documents attesting to the fairness of a transaction (Water, et al. , 2007). In some cases, firms interested in M & A advi ce will contact an investment bank directly to process a transaction in mind. However, in the majority cases, investment banks will pitch ideas to potential clients.After a general introduction of investment banks services in merger and acquisition, the specific roles will be provided below: First, investment bank plays an advisory role for both buyers and sellers. When investment bank takes the role of an advisor to potential sellers, this is named as a sell-side engagement (Water, et al. , 2007). On another hand, when investment banks act as an advisor to the acquirers, this is called a buy-side assignment (Water, et al. , 2007). Other services include advising clients on hostile takeovers, joint ventures, h, buyouts and takeover defense.Secondly, investment bank also plays a due diligence role. Due diligence means gathering, analyzing and interpreting the target company’s financial information, compared with its historical and projected financial results, assessing potenti al synergies and evaluating operations to identify opportunities and challenges (Water, et al. , 2007). Due diligence is used to investigate the risk and give client a true financial picture of the acquiring company. Clear the benefits and challenges of the transaction.Off balance sheet business means the business involved an asset or debt or financing activity is not record on the company’s balance sheet (Wikipedia, 2013). For example, financial institutions have business like asset management or brokage service to their clients. The assets (often securities) usually belong to the clients directly or in trust, the company has no direct claim to these assets or has no direct obligation to these liabilities (Wikipedia, 2013). The company usually has responsible for some fiduciary duties to the client.Financial institutions may report off –balance sheet items in their accounting statements or may also refer to â€Å"assets under management† on off balance sheet it ems. Under current accounting rules, the accounting distinction between on and off-balance sheet items are quiet detailed and depend on the degree of management (Wikipedia, 2013). In this case, investment banks help buyers and sellers to process the transaction in merge and acquisition. The assets and liabilities involved in merge and acquisition is directly controlled by the buyers and sellers rather than the investment banks.Hence these assets or liabilities should be recorded on the off-balance sheet of the investment banks. Syndicate 2 1. Describe the key factors, strategies that led to and the lessons learned from the demise of Long Term capital Management. Provide a brief summary of what happened and what were the strategies used by the fund. ( ,reference reading , reading ) Summary of what happened: Long-Term Capital Management was a hedge fund management company that involves absolute-return trading strategies accompany with high leverage nature.The firm's key hedge fund wh ich called Long-Term Capital Portfolio initially succussed with after fees yearly returns over 40% in its first years. However due to the influences from Russia financial crisis and its high leverage, in 1998 it lost $4. 6 billion in less than four months. There were a wide range of companies and individuals affected by LTCM’s loss. In order to prevent chain reaction, Federal Reserve’s financial intervention and other companies taken over required and the company closed down in early 2000. The strategies:Initially, the company use complex mathematical model to analyse fined income bond to demonstrate arbitrary trade (usually pick up American, Japan and European government bond) Government bond is a term contract, which means in the future, at a fixed time, they will receive a fixed amount money. When the bond firstly issued, the difference of price has been minimised. Hence, according to economic theory, any price gasp will be fulfilled by arbitrary. The price differen ce between 30 years government bond and 29 times 9 month bind should be very small. And both of them will be mature about 30years later.However these two bonds will have slightly difference due to liquidity difference. So through a serious of financial techniques, buy 29 year 9 month bond and sell 30 years bond before the 30 years bond just issued, the profit becomes possible (Edwards, F. R. , 1999). But using the price difference and arbitrary was not sustainable. Hence the LTCM must use high leverage to generate more returns. In 1998, the company only had 47. 2 billion by them self, but financed funds about 1245 to 1290 billion, which means the leverage ratio exceed 25 (Edwards, F. R. , 1999).And the majority of the funds are invested in derivatives which is extremely risky (Edwards, 1999). Lessons: Limited leverage should be required for companies to reduce solvency risk. Arbitrary will not sustainable for the long period. The company lack of sustainable strategy. Disclosure of i nformation is quiet important. This will reduce the investors gambling act and let them realise the true risk. 2. Refer to the case of LTCM. Imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery. What problems does this create in financial markets? Does this cause financial market crises or is it only a problem when a crisis occurs?Problems: Leverage ratio exceeds to 25, which is too high. Arbitrary is not sustainable, hence the long term investment strategy is absent. The funds amount is large; hence it is difficult to recover the loss. This will increase the possibility of the financial crisis to happen. Because LTCM is extremely high risk company, even though all the company’s partners are graduated from world’s leading universities like MIT Harvard, and they have complex mathematic model, but its high leverage financing structure and business activity nature (e. g. edge, derivative) determined LTCM is an extremely high risk company. Those high-educated partners us e other person’s money to take risk without nominating the true risk. If the principal knows the risk, they might not invest in this company. As one company failure will cause others loss money. If the same investment strategies apply to all the companies in this industry, then the failure will expand to the whole industry, and have various chain reactions. Hence it is not only a problem when financial crisis occur, it actually will becomes the perpetrator to cause the financial crisis. . Explain the structure, roles and operation of managed funds and identify factors that have influenced their rapid growth. Structure: the variety of assets is wider same as the management styles range. Some portfolios are conservative and some are aggressive. Different structure is aim to achieve different portfolio goals, timeframe and risk tolerance (ASX, 2013). Roles: A management fund is a tool for investors to accumulate wealth. Managed funds can invest in a portfolio rather than a singl e security.The portfolio assets include wide range of financial products like domestic shared, international shares, fixed income securities, unlisted private companies and specialist sectors (ASX, 2013). Thereby the diversification of the portfolio reducing the risk of single security falls. Also managed funds can provide professionally managed portfolio to meet the need of customers who do not have time or the skill to manage (ANZ, 2013). Also managed funds can be bought and sold freely on ASX like share, hence the liquidity risk is low, and if you need money you can immediate trade at current price (ASX, 2013).What is more, it could help start at small, which means investor can invest a small amount of money and reach the same diversification as the large amount money (ANZ, 2013). Operation: Managed funds invest client’s money on the behalf of clients. They generally put same appetite clients’ money together to the selected portfolio (ANZ, 2013). The portfolio asset s include wide range of financial products like domestic shared, international shares, fixed income securities, unlisted private companies and specialist sectors (ANZ, 2013). Factors influence their rapid growth:There are four factors influence its rapid growth. Firstly, entry, exit and ongoing management fees reduce the return (ANZ, 2013). Secondly, diversification can limit portfolio risk but it may also dilute profits (ANZ, 2013). Thirdly, there might be more tax payment compared with funds managed by client themselves, or more adjustments made by the portfolio manager, more tax applies (ANZ, 2013). Fourthly, the owner lost control of the money (ANZ, 2013). Losing control of your money – others may be involved in making decisions regarding where your money is invested. Reference List:ANZ. (2013, March 15th). Managed Funds. Retrieved from: http://www. anz. com/personal/ways-bank/work-life-financial/personal-finance/managed-funds/ ASIC (2012, September). Hedge funds: Improvi ng disclosure. Retrieved from:http://www. asic. gov. au/asic/pdflib. nsf/LookupByFileName/RIS-hedge-funds-published-18-September-2012. pdf/$file/RIS-hedge-funds-published-18-September-2012. pdf ASX. (2013) Managed Funds. Retrieved from http://www. asx. com. au/products/managed-funds. htm Edwards, F. R. (1999) Hedge Funds and the Collapse of Long Term Capital Management, Journal of Economics

First Perceptions of Blanche Dubois Essay

â€Å"What are your early perceptions of Blanche? † In what ways has Tennessee Williams created this response? The delineation of Blanche Dubois as seen in the first chapter of Tennessee Williams ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ is one of astonishment and acceptance. She has obviously had to travel some distance to reach her destination and I think that this has taken its toll on Blanche and affects her patience later on in the scene, and which may also explain her growing hysteria. The first time the Blanche is depicted by the stage directions, the reader (or view of the play) obviously notices that she does not fit in with the poor, run down area of New Orleans that she had entered: â€Å"Her expression is one of shocked disbelief†¦ looking as if she were arriving at a summer tea or cocktail party in the garden district†¦ Her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light. There is something about her uncertain manner, as well as her white clothes, that suggests a moth† From this description, we can infer that, like a moth that is attracted to the light or flame, which will undoubtedly burn it, she too could be attracted to something that could hurt her in some way. The white that she is wearing also suggests purity and innocence, possibly reflecting her arrival to the alien world. Throughout the first scene, Blanche is constantly interacting with the different characters of the play, including Eunice, Stella and Stanley. She also only talks to these characters singularly, which allows for dramatic irony to develop and also concentrates the interaction between her and another character, which allows her to express her different views to the three characters in the opening scene. I think this allows Blanche to communicate different aspects of her character, and her social class, which seems to alter the way she communicates with the different characters she encounters. Blanche talks to Eunice as if she has not spoken to someone of Eunice’s class very often. She responds to Eunice with short and simple answers and does not seem to want to get into a conversation with her. Towards the end of their conversation, Blanche seems to get impatient, as she wants to be left alone and has a small outburst: â€Å"What I meant was I’d like to be left alone†. I think this reflects Blanche’ belief of her social class, and that she is above others (especially the black, lower class). After her encounter with Eunice, Blanche is given a short amount of time to reflect on her new surroundings, which she is obviously not comfortable with or use to by her statement to herself: â€Å"I’ve got to keep hold of myself†. This shows the tension and hysteria building up within her, which will later on be released. Blanche is much more open and talkative with her sister, and is thrilled to see her, although disappointed to see that Stella is living in such an area of New Orleans. There seems to be tension between the two sisters, created by their uneasiness of how they talk of their past and the anxious, tension building stares that they give each other, and the way that Blanche seems to control the conversation; trying to keep herself talking until she has to stop and realize the reality of her situation and where she is. Blanche also seems to be very defensive of herself, and talks of her pain of watching the people around her die in her own home. She seems to think that Stella may look down on her for losing Bell Reve, and becomes hysterical towards the end, until she reaches another climax and bursts out with: â€Å"I let the place go? Where were you? In bed with your – Polak! † . Blanche also seems concerned with her own self image: â€Å"But don’t look at me, Stella, no, no, no, not till I’ve bathed and rested! â€Å". I think that this also is due to her class and her belief that she is of a higher social status than the people around her (with the possible exception of her sister). Her other weakness seems to be her drinking. She nervously looks around in Stella’s and Stanley’s flat for some alcohol and has some, but later on says (indirectly) that she had not had one and that she would only drink one a day. I think this may show Blanche’ nervousness and what she may do when she is nervous. She therefore may use alcohol as an escape from reality, and the place, which she finds herself in. Blanche seems a bit uneasy around Stanley when they first encounter, and is much less talkative than she is to Stella (possibly, again due to her social class beliefs). Also, I think she is not used to people being so direct with her, as Stanley asks her a personal question to do with her last love quite early. This ends in a climax and her proclaiming: â€Å"I’m afraid ‘m going to be sick†. Looking at the scene as a whole, I can see that Blanche is not use to her new environment, and that she is finding it difficult to get used to her settings, possibly because she was caught completely by surprise when she discovered where her sister lived. This I think has took its toll on Blanche as it has weakened her throughout the first scene and made her slightly hysterical.

Impacts of Total Productive Maintenance Essay

But there are some companies who have failed to gain advantage and some who are skeptic about its implementation. This leads us to know more about how TPM impacts different components of different organizations. This article focuses on some components such as overall effectiveness and cultural impacts of TPM on an organization. It concludes in building and maintaining a supportive culture and how overall effective helps in gaining a competitive edge over a long period of time. Any organization want to chase in world class competition must give customer satisfaction by providing reliable product or service on time at lower prize then others. One of the premises is that good maintenance and plant engineering process gives fundamental success in manufacturing (Hanson, 1995; Madu 2000). So the organization must reduce the unnecessary cost of time and material by reducing maintenance cost. And to reduce the maintenance cost is one of the reason to develop manufacturing technology like TPM (total productive maintenance). TPM is introduced by Seiici Nakajima in late 1970s in Japan, which made major influence over the economic progress of Japanese manufacturers (Willmott, 1994). TPM is basically a program to improve maintenance effectiveness of equipment throughout its life in the organization by the participation and motivation of all workforces from top management to the line employee from all department of an organization (Nakajima, 1988). The main goal of TPM to achieve maximum productivity with only limited investment in maintenance. This goal can be achieve by increase the overall equipment effectiveness(OEE) by reducing the losses, by improving existing maintenance system, by implementing autonomous maintenance and by increase a skill and motivation of operators from individual and group development (Willmott, 1994). And also by proper maintenance of equipment and facilities for best performance in order to reduce their life cycle cost. One of the properties of TPM is that production operators assist to repair the equipments when it is down and thus they share their effort in preventive maintenance and in turns improvement in process (Jostes & Helms. 994) In this term paper we focus on impacts of TPM. Many companies such Steelcase, Tennessee Eastman(Garwood, 1990), Nissan(Suzuki, 1993) adopted TPM are satisfied with the technique and find significant reduction in break down labor rates, lost of production, setup cost and cost per maintenance unit(Koelsch, 1993). TPM helps to planned and controlled the maintenan ce expanse(Adair-Heely, 1989) and reduction in maintenance force. For example a person who pays for preventive works are no more needed after implementing TPM, because TPM terns all activities of PM works to production forces. TPM gives opportunity to all individuals to express idea to improve the process and become a more familiar with tools and techniques to solve the problems and this effect directly to the capability of organization. TPM also helps to maintain consistency in quality of the product as well as reliability of product, the things that expect from the customer which interns helps to satisfy the customer. The basic aims of TPM is to double productivity and eliminate the loses, to create bright, clean and pleasant factory, to empower people and facilities and, through them, the organization itself (Wireman, 1991).

Doing Business in China Essay

China is an evolving economy that offers lot of market prospects for foreign venture. It is an independent country located in East Asia. Currently China is the world’s most populous country, with its population of over 1. 35 billion. China’s land size is approximately 9. 6 million square kilometers and it is the world’s second-largest country after Russia. In contemporary eras, China plays an important role in calling for free trade areas in the Asia Pacific Region. China proposed a new East Asia Summit (EAS) framework as a forum for regional security issues in 2004. The EAS, which includes ASEAN along with India, Australia and New Zealand, held its first summit in the year 2005. Since 1978 with the introduction of economic transformations, China today has turn out to be the world’s rapid-growing key economy. China is the world’s second-largest economy together in term of its nominal total GDP and purchasing power parity. As of 2013, China ranked at number 91 at ‘Doing Business’ provided by the World Bank. Its GDP per capita currently stands at $6,075, while the total GDP sums up at $12. 05 trillion. Although the country has a huge potential for economic progression offering access to a huge market and significant savings in labor costs, cautiousness must be used due to differences in the political and cultural environment that create risk and pose uncertainty for foreign investors. In addition, China is also the world’s biggest exporter and importer of products and goods. China is also a member of WTO, APEC, the G-20, and many others. Not to forget, China has been considered as a probable superpower up to this date. Regardless of achievement made by China, it encounters a range of obstacles to China’s future economic advancement. To overcome such obstacles, it must maintain a great growth rate, improve the economic system, uphold better international support, and transform the responsibility of China government in its system of economy. As stated in the World Bank recently, China is the world’s third largest trading country, right after the United States of America and Japan. Economic Issues In recent years, China has become one of the primary selection of the world’s destination of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and among the figures counted in its FDI are 27% of the value added production, 4. 1% comes from its national tax revenue, and another 58% or so comes from its foreign trade. This has been proved where more than 190 nations invest in China, and according to a survey done by Member Priorities Survey, most of the multi-national corporations do their FDI in China is because they want to serve its domestic market and the local consumers, not to export back to each of the MNC’s home country. The Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) developed a plan to improvement the foreign direct investment, back in 2006, which stressed the correlation between national safety and foreign investment. NDRC proposed to government of China to slowly decrease its restrictions and limitations on MNCs. MNCs also are being asked by the NDRC to intensify its investment and production in China. The aim of this move is to heighten innovation’s liberation for Chinese corporations. In addition, foreign investment must be directed at high-technology and manufacturing industries, infrastructure improvement and not to forget the environmentally friendly protection. Figure 1 : Regional share of GDP & resident population in year 2009. Although China’s economy has been liberalized since 1980s, the country still hurts from insufficient number of mode of transportation, communication’s variety, and energy capitals. China also commence the construction of a major highway to link cities in China, in order to provide a world class infrastructure in the coming years. From this, we can see, it might be costly in term of land transportations for MNCs to conduct its businesses in China. Moreover, currency manipulation undergoes by China back in 2008 is disturbing its own economy. Gladly, the condition has improved by years, and the Treasury Secretary said that the appreciation of the Yuan (Chinese currency) might be a win-win situation for the global’s economy. Figure 2 below shows the Yuan per dollar rates and how China’s currency has moved from 2009 until this year. Figure 2 : Value of China Yuan to US Dollar In trade, the major industrial exports for China are manufactured products, fabrics, clothes, together with electronic appliances. Thus, if you want to invest in China, these areas are the most profitable for any MNCs to do their business in China. Furthermore, the prominent export materials are magnesium, mercury, tungsten, tin, salt, and antimony. Currently, China is the world’s largest manufacturer of aluminum based on data from China trade. Participation of China in World Trade Organization (WTO) has made China ompetitive in the world’s market. Political Issues As stated in the Chinese Constitution, â€Å"China is a socialist state under the public’s democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on alliance of workers and laborers. † The government of China contained a system of congresses of the people and multi-party collaboration and soundings of politics under the guidance of Communist Party of China and this following political system in China ensure that CPC maintain its power as the only party in China, which based of the socialist system. Proceeding into the political risk, the chance of nationalization of industries needs to be taken into account, as this has already happened in 1949. Thus, any MNCs that want to invest in China have to think twice, in which industries are opened to investors, and which industries are closed and prohibited for investors to invest in it. Figure 3 will sum the opened and closed industries for foreign investors. Another unique political risk in China is the continual clash between China’s central government and the regional governments over applicable laws. The outcome of this conflict, is making it challenging for MNCs working in China to recognize and identify which rules are applicable, and which rules are not. Moving on towards the political stability in China, it still remains a big question to the foreign investors as the Tiananmen Square massacre has scared of foreign businesses and a big drop in many areas can be seen, which include foreign investment and tourism. At the same moment, China’s improvement in its economy since 1978, the lives of its citizen has improved drastically, an increase in social movement, and stretched the area of personal freedom. What this meant is that people can enjoy wider travel’s freedom, more and more employment opportunity, and access to information, although it is not very opened yet. Moreover, in latest years, China has passed new laws which include the criminal and civil laws to protect citizens and foreigners. Cultural Issues China’s population is estimated to be around 1,360,691,561 as of this year, and expected to be increased rapidly in times. This rapid growth of population in China is because the death rate among its citizens has dropped drastically in recent years. To cater this increased population crisis, the central government has encouraged the one-child family program. Advice of family planning and birth-control are provided by the government itself. Although most of the world see Chinese culture as an extremely complex one, but most scholars around the world come up to an agreement that even though it is diverse, many Chinese shared the same characteristics. These same characteristics are based of the Confucian philosophy influence which becomes the core of most Chinese today living in China. One of the most significant values in its culture are the importance of family, classified structure of common life and the importance on hard work along with accomplishment. The Chinese culture can be sorted as collectivist, since in many ways, the family unit takes superiority over its individual members in a family and the children must not answer back to the elders. Looking into Hofstede’s cultural factors which are measured on five dimensions, which are power distance, individual versus collectivism, masculinity versus feminity, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation versus short-term orientation, tables below are the results of China’s assessment. Cultural Dimensions| Results| Power Distance| The less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. On the collectivist side, we find societies in which people from birth onwards are combined into strong, cohesive in-groups, often extended families which includes uncles, aunts and grandparents which continue protecting them in exchange for absolute loyalty. China rank 10th in the Individualism ranking. This may be attributed, in part, to the high level of emphasis on the collectivist society imposed by the communist rule compared to the values of individualism. The low individualism ranking also demonstrates a close and committed group orientation, either the family, extended family, or extended relationships. The society fosters strong relationships where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group. Masculinity vs Feminity Hofstede’s study revealed that women’s values differ less among societies than men’s values and men’s values from one country to another contain a dimension from very assertive and competitive and maximally different from women’s values on the one side, to modest and caring and similar to women’s values on the other. Ranked at 66th, China is a masculine society –success oriented and driven. The need to ensure success can be exemplified by the fact that many Chinese will sacrifice family and leisure priorities to work. Service people (such as hairdressers) will provide services until very late at night. Leisure time is not so important for them. An example is the migrated farmer workers will leave their families behind in faraway places in order to obtain better work and pay in the cities. Uncertainty Avoidance It indicates the extent to which a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations. Unstructured situations are novel, unknown, surprising, and different from usual. Uncertainty avoiding cultures try to minimize the possibility of such situations by strict laws and rules, safety and security measures, and on the philosophical and religious level by a belief in absolute Truth. People in uncertainty avoiding countries are more emotional, and motivated by inner nervous energy. The opposite type, uncertainty accepting cultures, are more tolerant of opinions different from what they are used to; they try to have as few rules as possible, and on the philosophical and religious level they are relativist and allow many currents to flow side by side. Ranked at 30th, China has a low score on uncertainty avoidance. Chinese are comfortable with ambiguity; the Chinese language is full of ambiguous meanings that can be difficult for Western people to follow. Chinese are adaptable and entrepreneurial. At the time of writing the majority (70% -80%) of Chinese businesses tend to be small to medium sized and family owned. | Long-term orientation vs short-term orientation| Both rated values of this dimension are found in the teachings of Confucius. However, the dimension also applies to countries without a Confucian heritage. Ranked at 118th, China is a highly long term oriented society in which persistence and perseverance are normal. Relationships are ordered by status and the order is observed. Nice people are thrifty and sparing with resources and investment tends to be in long term projects such as real estate. Traditions can be adapted to suit new conditions. Chinese people recognize that government is by men rather than as in the Low LTO countries by an external influence such as God or the law. Negotiation At negotiating stage, both buyer and seller have to come to an agreement on how the deal ended and what will the price be. MNCs should decide if they want to set up a new joint venture or wholly-foreign owned enterprises to take over the seller’s business in China, or to purchase equity interest of the business. The deal structure is particularly important from tax perspective. The tax costs bear by the buyer and seller vary significantly which have a big influence on the final cost of the deal. During the negotiating process, an excellent advisory team can be a strong asset, which is to manage the financial, legal, tax and valuation issues that will determined the right price and structure of the deal. The main reason why deals did not go well in China is the incapability to link and associate the price expectations between foreign buyer and local seller. In this situation, an adviser will come in handy to manage valuation and contract term negotiation. For closing the negotiation, buyers need to ensure that all require approvals have been issued all relevant supporting documents are correct and agreed upon by both buyer and seller. Both parties in this negotiation need legal advisers to draft and finalize the sales and purchase agreement. This document is a detailed contract that contains the transaction details during the due diligence process. For example, it contain rights to protect the buyer from any unexpected post-negotiation results. Business Ethics In order to have a very successful FDI in China, MNCs must apply this business ethics in their daily business life, or else, they will have a big problem upon them. The important practices to be a business standards within China, is by having a local Chinese employee to be the face of your company’s code of ethics. Secondly, make sure the code of ethics are translated into the native language in China. Double check the translation to ensure it is fully accurate and correct. Next, is by having a common ground. Most of the values, for example the significance of family are common in Chinese culture, where you must respect the elders or seniors in the organization. During the training sessions, discuss scenarios that could happen in China. Don’t just translate any cultural situations into the local language. Consider reframing some of a large, international company’s core values to align with local cultural values. For example, in a culture that values community, focus on the community aspects of the company’s values. Not to forget, focus on the sustainability of the company, so employees understand the advantage of following the code of conduct. What works and what doesn’t work in China? What works are MNC’s can simply translate the company’s code of conduct into the local language. The CEO and other leaders should mention the code of conduct in everyday discussions about business, not just in one annual training presentation. Local management too should understand that the corporate code of conduct is part of their everyday job. What doesn’t work is a code of conduct that is written in English and not translated into the local language, or that has a lot of references to other countries’ laws and regulations, will not be effective overseas. What partially works is that it is vital for a high-level official from headquarters to visit the company’s Chinese offices and introduce the code of conduct. But this is only a first step. Without follow-up from local managers, employees may receive the code politely, then revert to old ways of doing business as they are not being forced upon and opt for a status quo since they are comfortable with it. Core values are important in China, but it’s also important to remember that people in different cultures may interpret them differently. MNCs can try separating core values, such as fairness or integrity, from the specifics of how those values are implemented. The values themselves are probably shared among cultures, but how they are put into practice may vary. Conversation is critical to making sure your shared core values create an ethical culture. Regularly engage both managers and workers in overseas offices in discussions about how to best implement the core values. The most effective processes and procedures to detect ethical and compliance problems are to remember that despite what MNCs intend in their policies, being a whistleblower is frequently very difficult. Consider separating the reporting process for whistleblowers from the HR and legal departments. Allow employees to report concerns to someone with direct access to the board of directors. In addition, a few MNCs create a regulator position that is filled by a senior manager for a year. This person helps resolve concerns about company practices. For a code of conduct to work for MNCs in China, it requires a quick yet thoughtful response to complaints. A â€Å"ready, fire, aim† approach will be just as harmful as not taking complaints seriously. Have investigations conducted by people with experience and training in conducting complex investigations. Lastly, try to understand the business model and being willing to ask questions, which is one way to catch problems early. An executive who knows the business well will know to ask, for example, how the business just landed a big contract it had never before been able to get, or why business in a particular region increased so much ore than in others. If it looks too good to be true, start asking questions. It may not be true. Conclusion Leading business in China can be difficult due to the many indecisions and differences in the economic, political, and cultural environment. The Chinese prefer doing business with MNCs they know, so working through an intermediary is crucial in China. Business relationships are built formally. It is important to be persistent as it takes an extensive amount of time to build business relationship which is also bound with enormous government bureaucracy. The Chinese see foreigners as representatives of their company rather than as individuals. Rank is extremely important in business relationships and you must keep rank differences in mind when communicating. The Chinese prefer face-to-face meetings rather than written or telephone communication. Meals and social events are not the place for business discussions but social etiquette is important to follow. Some of the cultural values that govern business practices relate to setting up appointments one-to-two months in advance and preferably in writing. The Chinese view punctuality as a virtue. Arriving late is an insult and could negatively affect your relationship. It is important to pay attention to the agenda as each Chinese participant has his or her own agenda that they will attempt to introduce. You are also advised to send an agenda before the meeting so your Chinese colleagues have the opportunity to meet with any technical experts prior to the meeting. To conclude, it is important is to learn about cultural and political differences and their impact on business practices and business conduct in China.

Video games Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Video games - Essay Example The player develops the sportsman spirit and learns to take failures into stride. Instead of going to sleep during daytime, it is better to play some inspiring video games that boost the energy level as they enliven the spirits of the player. The thinking capacity of the mind sharpens as you think of moves and counter moves. One also develops a challenging trait which enables an individual to face difficulties with courage in real-life situations. With the theory/practical knowledge available through the internet, an individual gets the knowledge of different types of games from many countries. To play a game, an individual need not leave the place of residence, and waste time and money on conveyance and relax in the homely atmosphere and adjust the playing time according to convenience. Drew Guarinà ­ (2013) writes â€Å"A study from the University of Padua throws cold water on the idea that video games are bad for the brains of young children. In February, the Italian researchers presented evidence that playing fast-paced video games can improve the reading skills of children with dyslexia†. By playing the same videogame a number of times, we attain perfection and speed. Winning the games provides the satisfaction and confidence and that will help us in real-life situations. So we should develop the art of playing video games without getting addicted to