Enders Game Essay

Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card, is the story of Andrew â€Å"Ender† Wiggin, a third born child in a prejudiced, futuristic world, as he is recruited to train at battle school to fight the â€Å"buggers†, an alien species that previously tried to wipe out the human race. Little does he know that Colonel Graff, the commander of battle school, is the puppet master of a scheme to brutally train Ender to lead the human armies to wipe out the buggers; which he unknowingly does. To avoid political repercussions and the greedy hands of his older brother, Peter, Ender and his sister, Valentine, move to lead and populate the new colonies; this is where Ender finds the last bugger queen pupa and works to make it his personal quest to find a place for the species to repopulate and live in peace. The theme of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game is that sometimes you have to sacrifice the few for the sake of many. CHARACTERS AND POINT OF VIEW: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card is the backdrop to many in-depth characters that are essential to the plot. The story is written in the third person omniscient point of view but the reader really only hears the thoughts of Andrew â€Å"Ender† Wiggin, the child protagonist of the story. Ender is a round and dynamic character because throughout the story, you watch him grow up fighting prejudices and overcoming challenges that have been placed in his way by the secondary antagonist, Colonel Graff. The reader empathizes with Ender and feels his pain as he is given so many challenges that he almost breaks. The secondary antagonist is Colonel Graff, a flat but dynamic character who acts as a puppet master, controlling, isolating, testing, challenging, and ultimately molding Ender into a commander that can save the human race from the main antagonist, the Buggers. Graff is a dynamic character because at first he seems to only care about getting another kid through to see if they are the leader they need but later decides that he actually likes and cares for Ender. The reader feels a bittersweet empathy for Graff because of his disgustingly cruel acts upon Ender that will eventually lead to the saving of the human race. The main antagonist are a group of aliens that humans call â€Å"buggers† which is a flat, but dynamic race of alien which previously tried to wipe out the human race and have kept the humans in fear for over 70 years. This group is dynamic because when we are first introduced them, they are trying to kill the humans but later try to befriend Ender when they realize that he understands them and they leave their only chance for survival in his hands. Another key character is Ender’s brother Peter. Peter is the cruel older brother of Ender but is also the fuel to why Ender is tough on himself. Peter is a round, static character. He is a round character because we know all about him and his actions that make him who he is. The reader dislikes Peter because he is somewhat of an enemy to the main character and does not care for others. The final character is Ender’s loving sister, Valentine. Valentine is the older sibling of Ender and is his encouragement throughout the story. She is a round yet static character. While we know her very well and her true intentions, she never changes her stance on things or who she is. The reader likes Valentine because she is trying to encourage Ender and love him. LITERARY DEVICES: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card uses several literary elements throughout the book to help us understand what is happening. Symbolism, when on object or character is used to represent something else, is used throughout the book. One example is when Ender is back on Earth and is talking with Valentine about how much Ender despises himself. Ender says, â€Å"In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment do I also love him. I think it’s impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves. And then, in that very moment when I love them-â€Å". (238) This is a symbol because in this novel there is a frequent amount of love-hate relationships. Another literary device is foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is when something is said or done that hints at what is to come. Each chapter usually begins with a conversation between Colonel Graff and Anderson. The discussions that take place usually hint at things to come in the story. In the beginning of chapter three, Graff is having a conversation with Anderson and says, â€Å"Persuade him that he wants to come with us more than he wants to stay with her† (16). This is an example of foreshadowing because it hints to us that Graff will eventually convince Ender to come with him. The final literary device is irony. Irony is when what is said or done is opposite of what is expected. Ender’s Game shows dramatic irony when it tells us the conversation between Graff and Anderson in Chapter eight. Graff says, â€Å"†¦. Think of every impossible, unfair star arrangement you can. Think of other ways to bend the rules. Late notification. Unequal forces. Then run the simulations and see which ones are hardest, which easiest. We want to bring him along†. (97) This is dramatic irony because we know that these bad things will happen to Ender but Ender himself will not know. HOW READERS MAY RESPOND TO THIS WORK: The novel Ender’s Game is a complex, intricate story designed for teenage and adult readers who like sci-fi stories. This group of people would like this book because they could understand and empathized with the characters. The ending leaves the reader filled with confusing emotions. It leaves you feeling happy for Ender finally finding peace with himself but you still feel sad because you realize that while that is making him happy, he will never find true happiness with himself.

Evaluate the Relevance and Adequacy of the Balanced Score Card Essay

The Balanced Scorecard is a strategic performance management framework that has been designed to help an organisation monitor its performance and manage the execution of its strategy. Kaplan and Norton (1996a, 1996b) pointed out that the implementation of the Balance Score Card is to attain the following goals clarify and translate vision and strategy, communicate and link objectives and measures, plan, set targets, and align strategic initiatives; and enhance strategic feedback and learning. A growing number of firms are replacing their financially-based performance measurement and compensation systems with a â€Å"balanced scorecard† incorporating multiple financial and nonfinancial indicators. Proponents of the balanced scorecard concept contend that this approach provides a powerful means for translating a firm’s vision and strategy into a tool that effectively communicates strategic intent and motivates performance against established strategic goals (Kaplan and Norton, 1996). Kaplan and Norton (1992, 1996) developed the balanced scorecard concept to address the perceived shortcomings in financially-oriented performance measurement systems. The balanced Score card approach supplements traditional financial measures with non-financial measures focused on at least three other perspectives–customers, internal business processes, and learning and growth. According to the Financial Gazette dates 24 July 2009, it pointed out that more and more organisations today are resorting to the balanced scorecard as a performance management system. This method of performance management allows performance to be measured across four different perspectives, where traditionally it was based on financial indicators alone. The four balanced scorecard perspectives are financial, customer, internal business processes and learning and growth. Through the use of the various perspectives, the Balance Score Card captures both leading and lagging performance measures, thereby providing a more â€Å"balanced† view of company performance. Leading indicators include measures, such as customer satisfaction, new product development, on-time delivery and employee competency development. Traditional lagging indicators include financial measures, such as revenue growth and profitability. The Balance Score Card performance management systems have been widely adopted globally, in part, because this approach enables organizations to align all levels of staff around a single strategy so that it can be executed more successfully. The balanced scorecard’s relevance also lies as it lets executives see whether they have improved in one area at the expense of another .Essentially the balanced scorecard is a framework of the four most important aspects of an organization (financial, customer, learning and growth and internal business process) that enable predictions to be made about performance on a number of levels and this is shown below Financial Perspective The balance Score Card is relevant to the organization in the sense that it gives the organization the ability to provide financial profitability and stability (private) or cost-efficiency/effectiveness (public).Also it is fully adequate in most organization and is adequately distributed. The companies are able to succeed financially and the share holders will be happy because of the cash flow within the organization. Managers are able to track financial success and shareholder value. Customer perspective Furthermore the balance score card enables the organization to have the ability to provide quality goods and services, delivery effectiveness, and customer satisfaction by offering after sales service, visiting customers to verify whether the product they sold are of good quality and they are not problematic to the customer. Again The Balance score card enables the organization to be performing well in a business scenario by practicing customer ranking survey, customer satisfaction index and even market share.( Robert Kaplan and Dr. David Norton 1992).With The Balance score card managers the organization is able to cover customer objectives such as customer satisfaction, market share goals as well as product and service attributes. Internal Business Processes Internal processes that lead to high financial goals for example quality and product reliability, speed in fulfilling customer needs and also speed in response to customer complaints and these elements will have an impact on the service to customers. According to Arifinfo June 2, 2011, the internal processes include improving the quality and reliability products lowering the number of products that fail, increase speed of service developing innovation process and develop production capacity hence performance management is enhanced. Again organizations can cover internal operational goals and outlines the key processes necessary to deliver the customer objectives. Learning and Growth The Balance Scorecard is relevant and its adequacy lies on that it gives the organization the ability of employees, technology tools and effects of change to support organizational goals. A learning-and-growth metric (or employee metric) is a framework for quantitatively assessing employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention in the framework of the balanced scorecard (BSC).A metric that is not just behavioral and statistical but â€Å"developmental,† in the sense of development of adult mental growth over the life span (Laske, 1999a/b, 2000), adds to learning-and-growth enablers a second â€Å"tier† that refines the metricization of a company’s strategic human resources. The Learning & Growth Perspective focuses on the intangible assets of an organization, mainly on the internal skills and capabilities of the employees that are required to support the value-creating internal processes. The Learning & Growth Perspective focuses on human capital jobs and people issues, information capital systems and technology issues and organization capital that is organizational climate and quality of work-life. According to Van Eerde and Thierry (1996, he advocated that this approach allows companies to build consensus around the organization’s vision and strategy, effectively communicate strategic objectives, and motivate performance against established strategic goals. Although the balanced scorecard literature acknowledges that linkages to reward systems ultimately are required for the scorecard to create cultural change and improve economic performance, the specific form of these linkages remains an open issue. Balance Score card’s relevance and adequacy lies in that organizations enjoyed the following advantages Better Strategic Planning The Balanced Scorecard provides a powerful framework for building and communicating strategy. The business model is visualized in a strategy map which forces managers to think about cause and effect relationships. The process of creating a Strategy Map ensures that consensus is reached over a set of interrelated strategic objectives. Improved Strategy Communication & Execution The fact that the strategy with all its interrelated objectives is mapped on one piece of paper allows companies to easily communicate strategy internally and externally. Better Management Information The Balanced Scorecard approach forces organizations to design key performance indicators for their various strategic objectives. This ensures that companies are measuring what actually matters. Research shows that companies with a BSC approach tend to report higher quality management information and gain increasing benefits from the way this information is used to guide management and decision making. Improved Performance Reporting Companies using a Balanced Scorecard approach tend to produce better performance reports than organizations without such a structured approach to performance management. Increasing needs and requirements for transparency can be met if companies create meaningful management reports and dashboards to communicate performance both internally and externally. Better Strategic Alignment Organizations with a Balanced Scorecard are able to better align their organization with the strategic objectives. In order to execute a plan well, organizations need to ensure that all business and support units are working towards the same goals. Cascading the Balanced Scorecard into those units will help to achieve that and link strategy to operations. Better Organizational Alignment Well implemented Balanced Scorecards also help to align organizational processes such as budgeting, risk management and analytics with the strategic priorities. This will help to create a truly strategy focused organization. However, with the extra time and expense required to implement and operate the balanced scorecard and it is said by advocates that of about forty four percent encountered problems developing the extensive information systems needed to support the scorecard approach. The use of a large number of performance measures may also cause managers to spread their efforts over too many objectives, reducing the effectiveness of the incentive plan hence the relevance of the balance scorecard will be to a lesser extent. However, beside Balance Score Card there is also the Competitive Assessment Model where it assumes that organizations improve through a process of â€Å"rigid individualism† in which employees are ranked and rated against each other, driving performance on a comparative basis. This model sound to be more relevant to companies today in the sense that it enables companies to enhance competitiveness and aids managers in determining the key activities to address in order to improve corporate efficiency and effectiveness based on satisfying stakeholders.( Paul Watson, Dmitry Maslow and Nicholas Chileshe).This proves the point that the models from the West are relevant in the industry today.

Gun Accidents Among Children

â€Å"Guns don’t kill people. People kill people. † This is a phrase that has been used carelessly over the years. Gun accidents are continuously increasing, and innocent children are the ones who are suffering from this carelessness. What happens when those guns lie in the hands of our children? Parents lose children, grandparents lose grandchildren, and siblings lose a brother or a sister. Every nine hours a child, under the age of fifteen, dies from a firearm accident. What could be done to ensure that tragedies like this do not happen?Children’s television programs should stop showing violence, parents and children need to be more educated on this issue, guns should be locked up, and gun laws need to be stricter. One reason why gun accidents are occurring with children is because of the violence shown on television programs and video games. Children watch more and more television each day. Children also rely a lot on video games for entertainment. The televis ion shows children watch oftentimes show violence. Video games show people killing â€Å"monsters† with guns. The monster then gets back up and the game continues.Children are very impressionable. What do children think when they see this? The children see this happening on games and television shows and believe the gun is just a toy. They do not see how truly dangerous guns are. Then, children see a real gun and play with it. They shoot themselves or another child believing that they will be just fine. This is because that is all they have ever seen. Parents need to monitor children’s television shows and video games carefully. Another reason why gun accidents are occurring with children is because of the lack of gun safety education with parents and children.Parents do not have a full understanding of how many accidents happen due to guns. Every parent should teach their children how dangerous guns are. Telling a child to not touch a gun is not enough. Explain to chi ldren what happens when they play with a gun. There are so many programs available for parents to learn as well as to teach children gun safety. Tell them how they, themselves, could get hurt or hurt another child. Teach them to never play with a gun, to let an adult know if they see one. A child as young as three has the strength to pull the trigger. It is a parent’s right to decide hether their children play with toy guns or not. If they choose to do so, educating them on the difference of a toy gun and a real gun is very important. Also, children should not be allowed to pretend to shoot a person. Children eight years and younger cannot tell the difference in a real or pretend gun. One of the most important reasons why gun accidents are occurring with children is because of the accessibility of guns. One-third of every American family that owns a gun does not keep it locked up. Having a gun â€Å"put up† is not going to stop a child from accessing it.In 72% of gun a ccident deaths, injuries, and suicides, in children from 0-19 years old, the gun was kept in their home, a relative’s home, or a friend’s home. That is a large amount of accidents that could have been prevented. Guns and ammunition should be locked up and the keys put away. Always keep the safety on on the gun. Keeping the safety on will prevent a child from unintentional harm if a gun is found. Guns are very dangerous and safety is very important. Never assume your child or other children will know the difference in real and toy guns.Be cautions if a gun is in the home, our children’s lives depend on it. The last reason why gun accidents are occurring with children is because of the gun laws. Laws should be stricter. Firearms should be very difficult to obtain. Gun laws should include a training course for anyone who owns a gun. No one should own a gun that does not understand how it works. An average, five hundred children die every year due to gun accidents. In a survey by Josephson Institute of Ethics, â€Å"36% of teenagers aged twelve to nineteen say they could obtain a handgun if they wanted to. Children get these handguns from people selling them on the street. Not every person should be allowed to own a gun. Laws are not strict enough, making purchasing guns an easy task. Parents feel the need to have protection because of the accessibility of guns. If guns were harder to obtain, parents would not have to worry so much. Keeping guns out of the hands of â€Å"bad people† can keep them out of the hands of our children. In conclusion, gun accidents occur with children and are increasing.Monitoring television programs and video games more closely, educating parents and children on gun dangers, locking guns up, and making gun laws stricter could prevent tragedies from happening. These are simple steps that make a huge difference. Do not risk the safety of children. Take precautions on preventing accidents. A change has to be ma de. Works Cited Anderson, George M. â€Å"America. † 172. 8(2010): p. 26-28. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. U. S. National Library of Health. Medline Plus. 18 April 2012. Web. 06 Nov, 2012. Source: Nemours Foundation. KidsHealth, Gun Safety. 2012. Web.

Environmental Scanning Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Environmental Scanning - Assignment Example Strategic partners are now tasked with the duty of revisiting the policies that they have established to fight bullying and taunting both on the field, and out of the field by its players. This is more so because the report sanctioned by the league in February showed that Martin had been bullied and taunted by his teammates in multiple instances (Associated Press, 2014). Though the Miami Dolphins are on the spot, they are not the only club which has been involved in cases of bullying and taunting. Other teams also have to keenly go through their policies as well, to ensure that all their players maintain proper behaviour that does not discriminate against any other players they are in contact with. As the Wall Street Journal reported in February, League executives are in agreement that steps need to be taken to ensure that similar incidences are curbed, and change the culture of football (Associated Press, 2014). Stakeholders in the sport have had to re-evaluate the efforts they have in position to mitigate the form of violence that bullying and taunting is. As a football club, Miami Dolphins needs to enforce stricter measures in order for the players in their club to feel safer while they play the game. Legal constraints and protections would help other players who might be sourced after to join the club. Stricter measures will also give their players better chances of advancing their careers since they will not be stigmatized as a team that tolerates violent

The effects of global recession on local economies Essay

The effects of global recession on local economies - Essay Example Multinational and international industries, local industries, government establishments and the consumers themselves are all affected by the changes in the economic standing of the country. Global recession has a great impact on the value of local and international currencies, generally affecting end-users and households. In effect, the buying capability of the consumers goes down. And because of how global recession significantly impacts consumers and local economies, I want to delve deeper into these effects. This paper will discuss the different areas of the local economy such as employment, investment spending, profit and capacity utilization. This will enable us to understand and demonstrate how local economies are able to survive or not. This paper also aims to compare and contrast the different theories associated with recession, like the neoclassical perspective and the Keynesian perspective, and how applicable it is on explaining the effects of global recession on local economies. To know the effects on the local economies at the present time, I will look at the volume of production and service of local companies in contrast to the demands of the market, the unemployment and employment rate and the success or failure of investment projects in contrast to the fluctuations of the value of the local

Early Greek Legacy - Choice of topics listed Essay

Early Greek Legacy - Choice of topics listed - Essay Example did not have any belief in material image of God- no creature can represent the creator. Whereas in Eastern religions like Hinduism, the material images of God is worshiped. They believed in the personality of human of being in God like he could be angry, even jealous, but his primary attributes were righteousness, justice mercy, truth and faithfulness. He is represented as king, Judge and shepherd. Whereas in Hinduism various deities are worshiped at shrines; the divine trinities, representing the cyclical nature of the universe, are Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer. The first books of Hebrew law contain legal writings of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. The fifth book of the Bible was called Deuteronomy [Second Law] primarily a report of the last words and deeds of Moses. It contains numerous laws, often in the context of interpretation and preaching whereas Hindu law preaches the birth, death and rebirth of living things, and its precepts cover many more activities than does any secular legal system. The Hebrew people gave Torah special reverence than the portion of the Hebrew Bible because the written Torah which consists of the five books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy .The scrolls are considered mostly holy. Whereas the Hebrew Bible which is also called as the Jewish Bible even though it consists of Hebrew Scriptures, 39 books originally written in Hebrew, except for a few sections in Aramaic, the script of Hebrew Bible was not given importance while compared to Torah which valued the tradition without any modification. In the case of the covenant between God and the Hebrew people, God’s obligation is conceived as the defense or vindication of the people .His righteousness is shown by his saving arts [see, for instance ,psalms 98:2;Isaiah 51:5] Hebrew’s obligation on the other hand ,is to obey the will of God as disclosed in the Torah, the law. Yes, each party honored the

Team Sports Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Team Sports Economics - Essay Example Also compared to others it is a small academic field altogether. The pioneer of this economics’ field is said to be S. Rottenberg, who happened to be working at the renowned University of Massachusetts as an economist. He focused on the market of baseball players and did a journal in 1956 entitled, â€Å"Journal of Political Economy.† 1(Kasenne, 2007 p1) This is a study which seeks to put its entire concentration on the aforementioned field of economics and it will go on to discuss the field in detail. The write out will vividly make a comprehensive and an unbiased look at the team sports’ economics. To this it will answer the study question, â€Å"How effective are the competition balance policies in the models of sport evidenced in North America and Europe?† Examples to make this topic more understandable and interesting to read will be given from the current professional leagues in these two nations. The study will start by looking at the North American case and then continue to have a look at the European case. Many are the times that leagues have not portrayed the best interests of the set policies by the bodies responsible. This has left the loyal fans of various clubs disappointed. European football has not been spared by negative scandals that strike leagues off the competitive balance. The study sets out by tackling of the North American scenario portrays a good number of professional leagues with the inclusion of National Basketball Association commonly known referred by the initials NBA, Major League Baseball- MLB, National Football League (NFL) and also the hockey league- National Hockey League (NHL). The leagues in entirety are privately owned with regards to individual teams involved. Thus, the league is a private team ownership kind of league run together with the administrators they use their discretion to choose. Administrators are commonly referred to as Commissioners. Apart from their being the sole determiners of the plays taking place for the branded league, these leagues also take part in ample activities like definition of territories, their protection, making decisions on the location of teams by way of relocation and expansion as well as making negotiations of players, players’ unions, location of teams and TV contracts. Besides these responsibilities the leagues may be with the competitive balance’s future interest. By way of default or from another perspective the owners’ of the teams’ agendas, the policies made by the league enhance level balance in the upholding of competitiveness. Expounding on this view, the Rottenberg’s sentiments are going to be cited. According to him, team fans would rather their teams won in close kind of games than any other outcomes. Fans also have another preference in their list and that is; there should be occasional hopes brought about by the form portrayed in the post-season plays by the teams that they support. Imbal anced games are, therefore, a counter-expectation on the preferences by fans. In other words, competitive balance is what is most preferred by team fans. In a case where in a league there are problematic imbalances the fans of this league that harbors losers will experience a decline in the interests they had for the teams they support. If the same fans continued supporting the league with the same level of thrill as before despite the losing team’

Guns and Other Weapons in Schools Research Paper

Guns and Other Weapons in Schools - Research Paper Example The origins of capital punishment date back to ancient times, where it was used to punish and deter crime; and as a political tool, to suppress rebellion and dissent among the masses (Aiken 207). One of the most famous examples of capital punishment is the death of the philosopher Socrates, who was required to drink poison for heresy (Schabas, â€Å"The Death Penalty† 164). Seventh century Athens, meanwhile, decreed capital punishment for any and all proven crimes (Murrie, Anumba and Keesler 125). Regio cites that ancient Babylon also decreed capital punishment for certain crimes - though it is surprising that murder was not among these. Research also highlights the role of religion in the origin of capital punishment - Islam, for example, commanded capital punishment for offenses such as treason and rape; while Mosaic Law did the same for other crimes (Regio). By the eighteenth century, British colonies were enforcing the capital punishment for over two hundred different crim es (Murrie, Anumba and Keesler 125). This shows a varied and liberal use of the death penalty; it is possible to infer from this kind of use that the barriers to putting someone to death for crime till the nineteenth century, were anything but great. Reviewing literature on capital punishment highlights two striking features of capital punishment in ancient and medieval times: the lack of due legal process preceding it, and the brutality characterizing it. Burns demonstrates how the witch hunts of Europe are a classic example of both these features - between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries, thousands were tortured and burned alive for practicing witchcraft, often after trials by ordeal - in a large number of cases, guilt was decided by submerging the accused in a body of water, and seeing whether the accused sank or floated (95). Jewish traditions included execution through stoning, crucifixion and sawing through convicts (Regio). The absence of an objective legal process i s also seen in the norm of torturing people who would not confess to their crimes; and executing criminals by boiling them - some for several hours - until they died (Regio). Researchers have argued that it is important to see all of this in context - olden times were different from the modern era, their societal laws and values built in an environment of fear, hardness and suspicion that had resulted from uncontrolled and rampant disease and death, as well as the difficulty of finding practical evidence (Schabas, â€Å"The Abolition of Death Penalty,† Burns 94) - but, whatever the debate on why capital punishment was so executed may be, what all researchers can agree on is a general lack of regulation and fairness in capital punishment before the modern era. With humankind’s progress towards civilization, both of these things have changed. Schabas believes this is because the advance towards civilization has changed the nature of human motivation - the author argues t hat the socialization and interdependence that characterize the modern era, also lead to a legal system where the promotion of ethics - and not harsh deterrence - becomes the core function of criminal law (â€Å"The Abolition of the Death Penalty†). Over the centuries, then, societies around the globe have moved towards a legal system which regulates the nature of capital punishment, and the reasons and processes for awarding it (Schabas, â€Å"The Death Penalty† 159). One of the first steps towards this was made in the 1966

Navigating Ethical dilemas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Navigating Ethical dilemas - Essay Example Based on the scenario presented, it is clear that Tom must make a decision that conforms to the standards of a professional organization guiding psychotherapy. According to the American Psychological Association (2010), psychologists are obligated to reverence the dignity as well as value each and every client or patient. Steve, as an individual, has a right to make his own decision provided it does not violate the rights of others or the constitution. In this regard, Steve has a right to treatment and therefore Tom has an obligation to treat him. In regards to human relations, psychotherapists ought not to discriminate any client on the basis of religious conviction, sexual orientation, background, or physical or mental disability (American Psychological Association, 2010). Toms failure to treat Steve could therefore be construed as inequitable prejudice. According to the scenario presented, Toms religion regards homosexuality as an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. The principal difficulty that may arise for the counselor in carrying out the ethical decision relates to violation of his religious beliefs. Secondly, treating Steve may appear as supporting gay rights and thus going against the views of Conservative Republicans of which he is a member. The notion of justice is one of the principles that govern ethical practices in psychotherapy. As elucidated by American Psychological Association (2010), it is the responsibility of all psychotherapists to treat all clients justly. In other words, all clients have a right to access and gain from all practices or activities related to psychotherapy. Further, American Psychological Association (2010) notes that psychotherapists must apply rational judgment and consequently implement preventative measures geared towards ensuring that their probable prejudice averts unfairness. Regardless of Toms reservations in regards to homosexuality, it is his responsibility as a

Health Information Essay Example for Free

Health Information Essay Not only is that important it also needs to be accurate and reliable medical information. All of the above information is not only very important it also impacts the HIPAA privacy rule. The Office for Civil Rights is responsible with its enforcement of the HIPPA Privacy Rule. Not only does it need to be enforced it needs to be constantly upheld at all times. This is necessary to protect both the patient and the medical professionals from unauthorized use of their health records and to allow medical providers access to secure, safe, accurate, and reliable medical information. The demand for information has risen from not only third party payers but in fact has risen from governmental entities. Patients now have to consent in order to accept health care treatment. As a result from the demand for patient information has brought forth a huge development between the law and medicine. There’s also the term informed consent. This is used in law to indicate that the consent a patient gives falls under certain minimum standards. Any informed consent can be said to have been given based upon a clear appreciation and understanding of the facts, implications, and future consequences of an action. Any patient who is concerned must have adequate reasoning faculties and must be in possession of all relevant facts at the time the consent was given. Both of these are needed in order to give an informed consent. To understand the responsibilities that confidentiality and informed consent place on health-care providers, The United States Congress created the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in 1996. This act provides protection of health care coverage for workers, and also protects the privacy and security of medical information. The HIPAA laws allow authorized medical professionals or healthcare organizations to have access to your private medical records. Anything a doctor, nurse or other health professional has written or discussed about your personal medical treatment is confidential. Medical data that is being held by your health insurance company is also kept confidential and also any billing information which is submitted by patients or a medical facility or your health insurance company. HIPAA restricts who can and can’t request access to patient medical information. It is very important that your medical provider have access to all of your health history. There are entities that can access your medical information without your written consent such as: employers, workers compensation are all exempt. School districts, state agencies, and law enforcement agencies or institutions are exempt from HIPAA laws and are not required to follow the privacy and security rules. It is very important that you fully understand your HIPAA rights before anyone consents to release any medical information to organizations that are not required to follow the privacy and security rules HIPPA has put in place to protect confidential information. ROI policies and processes need to be adaptive. The process should be changed to meet new regulatory requirements and technology. Changes to the HIPAA rules regarding the accounting of health information disclosures expected this year have the potential to dramatically expand HIM and ROI responsibilities and pose operable disputes. Health information exchanges are pushing the frequency and scope of how patient information gets transferred. All HIM professionals must continue to remain aware and on top of all changes to ensure HIPAA compliance and change processes accordingly. The HIPAA privacy rule has received both positive and negative effects on the release of patient information by healthcare facilities. The intention of HIPAA was to protect patient privacy and to promote security and confidentiality of all patient information; it has had some unintended consequences for facilities. Some of these unintended effects, discovered about some issues directly related to the release of patient information which has had an impact with the implementation of HIPAA. The biggest issues that were found were. Increases in the public’s misunderstanding about release of patient information, lack of an umbrella policy, regulation defining infractions, enforcement that allows individual institutions to make their own version, and challenges to health information management professionals in controlling safeguards related to release of information given the transition to electronic health records and the increased involvement of information technology. The findings from this research suggest there is a need for additional clarification of the regulations that are governing HIPAA, and its standardized instructions and extensive training of its healthcare workers. I have learned so much about how the release of information impacts the HIPPA Privacy Rule. I do believe the most impact comes from the public because most people don’t understand new health care practices such as: record keeping, obtaining verbal or written consent.

Age Related Nuclear Cataract Treatment

Age Related Nuclear Cataract Treatment P750 LOGBOOK 5 STUDENT ID : 6469969 Age related nuclear cataract is the anterior segment disease and it is the clouding of ocular lens characterized by reduced antioxidant levels in the lens core. Antioxidant cystine is a amino acid having molecular weight 240.3 g/mol and solubility of 50 mg/ml in 1 M Hcl is used to prevent cataract formation. To treat cataract, cystine is applied topically in the form of eye drops. The factors that reduce cystine bioavailability are, Tear film :- Topically applied drugs will first encounter tear film and it is considered as first protective structure. Nasolacrimal drainage system :- After the application cystine eye drops tear fluid turnover doubles it is called as washout effect. Due to pH and foreign body sensation reflex tearing will occur. Cornea :- It is the main mechanical barrier. Due to its sandwich like structure drugs with molecular weight less than 5 K Da and partition coefficient of 10 to 100 can pass through it. Cornea is composed of three layers, the outermost layer is epithelium which is lipophilic in nature, middle layer is stroma which is hydrophilic in nature and innermost layer is endothelium which is lipophilic in nature. FORMULATION PARAMETERS : The formulation parameters to be considered in formulating a topical cystine eye drops are, Physico chemical drug properties :- Partition coefficient log p of the formulation should range from 10 to 100. Molecular weight – molecular weight of the formulation should be less than 5 K Da. Charge – charge of the drug should be positive. Buffer capacity and pH :- eye drops should be formulated with a pH range of 7.0 to 7.7. If the pH is 7, 99% of the drug remains in unionized form and favors the permeation through lipophilic epithelium. If the pH is more than 7, most of the drug ionizes and easily diffuses through the hydrophilic stroma. Viscosity : viscosity of the eye drop preparation must be around 15 m Pa. Instillation volume :- instillation volume must be less than 30 Â µl because cul – de – sac can hold up to 30 Â µl. Osmotic pressure :- osmotic pressure of the eye drop must range between 310 to 350 m osm/kg Antioxidants :- cystine itself acts as a antioxidant, no other preservatives are required. FORMULATION APPROACH : Colloidal ocular delivery systems like micro emulsions are used to deliver the antioxidant cystine in the form of topical eye drops. Micro emulsions : Micro-emulsions acts as vehicles for the delivery of antioxidant cystine in the form of topical eye drops. In micro emulsions phase transition will occur between the bi-continuous micro-emulsion, oil in water emulsion, water in oil emulsion, and lamellar crystals. Components of micro emulsions are, Water. Oils like mineral oil, vegetable oils, di and triglycerides, fatty acid ester. Surfactant – non ionic, amphoteric and less commonly anionic and cationic surfactants are used. Co-surfactant – short and medium chain alcohols are used as co-surfactants. Advantages of phase transitions of micro-emulsions W/O micro :-emulsion : these micro-emulsions are responsible for protection of water soluble drugs and sustained release of water soluble drugs. O/W micro-emulsions :- these micro-emulsions are responsible for increasing solubility of lipophilic drugs. Bi-continuous micro-emulsions :- these micro-emulsions are having good wetting and spreading properties on the ocular surface hence these are used in ocular drug delivery systems. Micro-emulsions are having low viscosity hence it is easy to instill. These micro-emulsions are thermodynamically stable. These are easy to prepare, no mixing is required. In these micro-emulsions we can detect the phase separation easily, drug precipitation and microbial contamination. Micro-emulsions are used as vehicles due to solubilization of hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs. By using the micro-emulsions as vehicles we can increase the bio-availability of drugs. Glaucoma is anterior segment disease characterized by raised intra ocular pressure, which results in the loss of regional ganglia cells and degeneration of optic nerve. Glaucoma is the main ocular disease responsible for blindness. Antisense oligonucleotides (As ODN) helps in curing glaucoma disease. Antisense oligonucleotides (As ODN) : These are single stranded DNA fragments of 10 to 30 nucleotides, complementary to the target mRNA. Mechanism of action – Generally, DNA transcripts mRNA in the nucleus and this mRNA enters into the cytoplasm and ribosomes translate the mRNA. Finally results in the formation of proteins. Antisense oligonucleotides (As ODN) having complementary base sequence to that of mRNA binds with mRNA and prevents the formation of Cx proteins from it. Delivery route : I would like to choose intra-vitreous delivery route because, periocular injections of antisense oligonucleotides is responsible for poor stability and it is difficult for antisense oligonucleotides to penetrate through the cells. Intra-vitreous injection : It is the injection of antisense oligonucleotides into the vitreous with the help of a needle. In the treatment of many of the ocular diseases intra-vitreous administration of drugs is used. Advantages of intra-vitreous injection : This delivery route is responsible for achieving high concentration of drug in the vitreous. There will be no side effects, because it is not a systemic administration. Disadvantages of intra-vitreous injection : From the vitreous, many drugs are rapidly cleared due to blood – retinal barrier, therefore repeated dose administration is required. Frequent injections leads to endopthalmitis, lens damage, detachment of retina. FORMULATION PARAMETERS :- Chemical modification : chemical modification of antisense oligonucleotides leads to increased or decreased solubility, stability etc.. Phospho-diester group :- By replacing oxygen from the phospho-diester group with sulphur, stability and solubility increases and RNase H cleavage will occur. By replacing oxygen with methyl group there is increased stability but decrease in solubility, due to lack of charge cellular uptake will not occur, no RNase H activity. Sugar moiety modification :- By adding a alkyl group at the 2nd position of ribose, there is increase in hydrophilicity and binding affinity but mismatches will occur and no RNase H cleavage. Other modification :- Replacement of phospho-diester group with polyamide results in high affinity to mRNA but aqueous solubility decreases, cellular uptake decreases and no RNase H cleavage. FORMULATION APPROACH :- To prevent antisense oligonucleotides (As ODN) from enzymatic degradation and to improve the cellular uptake a variety of formulation approaches have been put forward. They are, liposomes, nanoparticles, peptides, dendrimers, and physical methods. Among these i would like to choose multi functional dendrimer carriers. Dendrimer carriers :- Dendrimers are branched molecules and spherical in nature. Dendrimers are divided into low molecular weight and high molecular weight species. The properties of dendrimers depends on the functional groups at their molecular level. Dendrimers are cationic in nature and possess positive charge on it. Antisense oligonucleotides shows its therapeutic effect at cytoplasmic level and these antisense oligonucleotides are anionic in nature and possess negative charge. During the formulation, dendrimer undergoes complexation and condensation with antisense oligonucleotides. The functional groups present at the molecular level are. Cell penetrating peptide :- TAT peptide is derived from human immunodeficiency virus and it acts as a cell penetrating peptide. TAT helps in cellular uptake of dendrimer antisense oligonucleotide complex. Fusogenic peptide :- Dendrimer- antisense oligonucleotide complex binds to the cell membrane than enters in to the cell through endocytosis. These fusogenic peptide helps in endisomal escape. Influenza virus hemagglutinin subunit-2 is a fusogenic peptide. Lipoamino acid :- This functional group helps in improving permeability and stability. Example, C14 Disadvantage of dendrimer carrier : cytotoxicity increases due to the presence of cell penetrating peptides and fusogenic peptides REFERENCE :- Dr Ilva Rupenthal lecture notes given on 4th April 2014.

Uniting the Nation: Everyone Needs a Tattoo :: Solutions Papers Proposal Essays

Uniting the Nation: Everyone Needs a Tattoo   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I think I was sixteen when I first wanted to get a tattoo, but then again I also wanted to get my ear pierced and die my hair blue. Well I'm eighteen now, my hair is red, well the red it’s been since I've had hair and neither of my ears are pierced but I did end up getting that tattoo. In fact I also got him a friend. Now I'm stuck with two of them, but I don't have any regrets, not yet anyway.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The plan for getting a tattoo was mine and my friend's. We said that on graduation night we'd do it, but I wasn't eighteen yet so we never did. My friend’s desire faded, but mine seemed to stay constant. I always planned on it but never had the bucks or the time. That's what I said atleast. The truth was I never had the nerve. But who can blame me? That's quite the plunge. There is no going back with this one. So I came up with a plan. A plan to make sure I wouldn't back out again. I told a girl. I invited her to come and ogle me while I get my body marked for life. With a chick looking on what am going to do? "No I'm sorry. I decided not to purchase." I don't think so. So I picked her up and we were off to the tattoo parlor.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   We got in and looked around for a good long while. Finally some one came up and asked if he could help us. It was pretty good customer relations for the type of business. I told him that I wanted to get a tattoo, and had a design that I drew up. The day before that same guy gave me an estimation of eighty dollars for my design, so I made sure to mention that so that the price wouldn't rise while he was looking at it. He said okay, and went behind the counter to trace the design on special paper that puts an ink on your skin. When that happens the artist can trace the pattern instead of just doing something free hand.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   My pattern was something very close to me. Something that I thought about long and hard. Its a red spider on a black web.

Women and Education Essay -- Educating Female History Argumentative Es

Women and Education An education holds significance to many people for a variety of reasons. For some, it may be the route to a desired career or just the next step after high school. For others, attending a university is a way to increase their awareness of other viewpoints through the exposure to the diverse culture represented on a campus. In evaluating the value and significance of my own education, I reflected on the education of the women of the 19th century. Their outlook on education is somewhat different than ours today because of the fact that it was difficult and rare to be an educated woman during this period. Today we posses the freedom to pursue almost any field available. However, in some instances we face lower salaries and in some cases less respect than men with the same training. Only 16% of college and university presidents and 25% of chief academic officers are women. Chief business officers are 13% women. We must educate and prove ourselves so that our daughters experience greater opportunities than we do as we experienced more than our ancestors because of their hard work. The female gender throughout early history has been characterized as a homekeeper. They were not the bread bearers of the family partially because work was dominated by manual labor. Men were naturally more suited to these jobs due to their superior strength. As time progressed, business progressed. A successful business began to rely on brain power instead of muscle power. Women can participate in this type of work just as efficiently as men. Unfortunately, many of the men and women of this period were reluctant to change the long tradition of women remaining in the home. Therefore, the development of women’s le... ... with expressions of deference† while the â€Å"avenues to which stand ever wide open, yawning like the gates of hell.† To be forced into a day to day activity devoid of you interest is similar to a prison sentence. The frustration of possessing passion for something unreachable fueled the rebellion of the women insisting on making education available. Through my research into the history of developing education for women and making it acceptable, I have come to appreciate it on a different level. My education is not only a result of my hours of studying, but of the people throughout many decades who suffered without the same opportunities I have and faced constant criticisms to do what they choose. What I take away from this university is one of the only things you can count on, knowledge. Knowledge that allows me the freedom to do whatever I choose in life.

Essay example --

TO STUDY THE HEAD HUNTING RECRUITMENT PROCESS IN MOTHER DAIRY. INTRODUCTION Indian Dairy Industry: A Profile Indian Dairy’s production level is expected to be tripled by the next 10 years in the view of expanding potential for export to Europe and the West. In the coming years WTO regulations will come in to force in all the developing countries which are among big exporters today. India is the lowest cost producer of per litre milk in the world. Because India is the lowest cost producer of per litre milk in the world, therefore Multinational companies are planning to expand their activities in India. Many milk producers have obtained various certificates for good quality standard from the authorities, which help them to market their product in the foreign market in the processed form. Business Environment Of Dairy Industry India had an acute shortage of milk but gradually it has transformed to the world’s leading milk producer over the span of three decades. This phenomenal success was achieved because Government of India had started this initiative called â€Å"Operation Flood â€Å"and it intensely focused on dairy development activities. In that initiative urban markets were linked to rural milk shed through the development of a network of village cooperatives for procuring and marketing milk. Emerging Situations In India, Dairy is currently the top ranked commodity. Dairy Sector hold a strong position in the GDP, but still it receives less Government funding than the agriculture sector. Since, the population is growing and with that the national income of the people are also growing, they are becoming health conscious and the demand for milk is also growing, therefore this is a serious matter because of the slowdown in the growth of ... ...ficiency and spread its entire work force. They focus more on providing a rigorous training facility to the young recruits so that they are well prepared to face the competitive world. Mother Dairy primarily focuses on the middle class families because they have a strong value system, so they have that urge of learning new things and to work with full dedication. Since, Mother Dairy has moved on from the Transactional HR to Transformational HR that’s why it has been visiting more to various recognised and prestigious campuses for recruiting young talents. Mother Dairy also provides opportunities to young emerging students from various campuses to work with them in the form of summer internship and live projects. By doing this internship’s and projects the students get very good exposures regarding how the real live corporate world is and how it functions.

Operational Research Essay

Stock control or Inventory control has been in use for a long time. While small organizations may use manual methods to track their stock, complex global organizations make use of sophisticated systems like ERP’s to handle inventory control. There are various stock control methods in use. The methods used by a business organization depend upon not only the size and complexity but the type of industry it is in. A DIY superstore may use a method like the Order Point where the demand is driven by the customer’s buying patterns with little or no control by the manufacturer. As against this, a stock control method like MRP is used in companies like the Executive Upholstery Company where demand is dependent upon sales forecast and the sales orders. In the following paragraphs the stock control methods used by Executive Upholstery Company and DIY superstore are examined and also compared with each other to provide insights into the two methods discussed. Order Point Method – DIY superstore Supermarkets, warehouses and even some manufacturing companies tend to use Order Timing Decisions or Order Point methods for inventory control where the demand is not certain. The demand pattern in a DIY superstore is seasonal and is dictated by the consumers. The demand is independent of the manufacturing processes and many variations in demand need to be considered while controlling the inventory. Traditionally stock control was done using guess work to identify the stock levels and re order points. Factors like Safety Stock, EOQ, an Lead Times were not considered. Because of the huge numbers of items involved, and also the need to cope up with variable and uncertain demand patterns, manual methods gave way to some techniques like ABC/ VED analysis; Forecast Order Point. In ABC analysis, for instance, the inventory is categorized by the importance of the contribution to the final product cost. Some classification can be the ‘most important’, ‘important’ and ‘less important’. In the Forecast Order Point method of stock control, the future demand is calculated using the historical demand patterns. Time series methods like simple average, weighted average and exponential smoothing methods can also be used to forecast demand more accurately. In the DIY superstore example, the simple average method was used to forecast demand and lead time. Based on the 5 weeks of Master Production schedule, re order point for various items for the week6 were determined. Table 2 below shows the reorder point for the various items based on the 5 weeks of maser Production Schedule. The inherent problem with this technique is that it assumes that the forecast is near accurate and there is safety stock. In a weighted average method of forecasting technique, weighting to the most recent demand is given more and less to the earlier weeks. Techniques like Exponential smoothing are used to forecast the demand more accurately when there are trends in data and data is available for a longer period of time. Considerations like Safety stock and Service Level need to accounted for while using any forecasting technique. MRP in Executive Upholstery Company MRP is used when the demand is more certain and is based on sales forecasts, sales orders. It uses a time phased production schedule dictated by the capacity available. MRP uses, apart from this top level demand, inputs like Bill of Material, Stock on hand, Purchase orders already placed. Bill of materials lists all the parts and components required to make finished products and subassemblies. A structure diagram for BOM can be made using various levels with the finished product being at level 1. Manufacturing organizations do use stock files and work order files. Stock files list current stock of all parts: finished, raw material and sub assemblies. Work order files list replenishment orders which have been already placed. The main consideration of MRP is to produce a set of ‘time phased requirements’ (orders) for each component in the system at specified intervals of time – days or weeks. The first step in MRP is to identify the Gross Requirements for each component or assembly – how many in each time period. The Gross Requirements for each part in the example at table 1 is arrived at by identifying the demand quantity of each of the three types of chairs (Captain, Recliner and Director) from the Master Production Schedule and multiplying this quantity by the quantity in each part in its bill including the parts of sub assemblies and then adding them up all to arrive at the total demand for each part. While calculating the Gross Requirements, the lowest level components are used. Also, the beginning inventory(stock on hand) as well as the purchase orders pending were taken into consideration while calculating the net Requirement for each part. Another concept used in the example in Table1 is the Planned Order Releases which are scheduled orders by taking into consideration lead time, lot sizes. Summary MRP solves more complex issues like which part to order and when for a production process which are not easily amenable in a stock control method like Order Point. Order Point calculations do not take into consideration lot sizes, safety stock, and the more methodical approach of calculating Gross Requirements and net Requirements of each part involved in a finished product.

Dell vs. Hp Performance & Finanical Analysis

Financial Analysis Common-Size Analysis Common-Size Income Statement Analysis The common-size income statement for Dell shows a relatively flat history for cost of goods sold compared to sales from 82. 27% in 2006 to 82. 49% in 2010. Dell’s five year average for cost of goods sold to sales was 82. 23%, which is bit higher than HP cost of goods sold to sales five year average of 75. 96%. This in turn gives HP higher gross revenue than Dell most likely through means of obtaining raw materials and goods at lower costs, giving HP greater ability for an increased profit margin.This increased profit margin can allow for HP to offer more discounts then Dell may be able to afford, or increase spending in areas of investment for the company. Another area of interest within the common size income statement is related to selling, general and administrative to sales. Overall through the years 2006 to 2010, Dell saw an increase in this area growing from 9. 05% in 2006 to 12. 22% in 2010. M eanwhile, HP experienced the exact opposite effect, with this category declining from 12. 29% in 2006 to 9. 99% in 2010. According to Dell’s annual report, the major increase was due to the acquisition of Perot Systems.It also appears that over the last five years, Dell’s strategy of products directly to customers has been adopted by many competitors, allowing the competitors to decrease some of their overhead and commissions paid to retailers, all the while increasing sales. In the same time span as competitors partially adopted the strategy that made Dell prominent, Dell began to place more products in retail stores to compete directly on the front lines with its competition, as mentioned in their Management’s Discussion and Financial Analysis meetings.This approach FINANCIAL ANALYSIS OF DELL AND HP has caused a good percentage of the sales revenue to go to retailers and distributors, thus straining the ability to maximize net income for the present. Research, development and engineering for Dell as a percentage to sales were 0. 82% in 2006 and slightly grew to 1. 18% in 2010. HP research, development and engineering to sales is roughly 3 times the amount that Dell dedicated; however, HP has drawdown their research, development and engineering to sales from 3. 92% in 2006 to 2. 35% in 2010.The five year average in this category for Dell was 0. 99% and HP was 3. 04%. Even with HP’s much higher research, development and engineering to sales percentage than Dell, HP has a higher operating expense, but since their cost of goods sold to sales is lower, it gives HP the edge in producing a higher operating income than Dell. Overall net income to sales decreased for Dell throughout 2006 to 2010, with a major decrease happening in 2010 and overall having a five year average of 4. 51%. In 2006 the net income to sales was 6. 46%, then in 2009 it dropped to 4. 6%, but in 2010 was when the major drop happened, resulting in net income being jus t 2. 71%. The main contributor to the drop in net income to sales was from operating expenses, with one component being the increase in research, development and engineering, but the primary increase coming from the selling, general and administrative category. Increased operating expenses are reflective of Dell’s push of broadly branching out into the retail market. HP’s net income to sales remained flat during the same time span, with a five year average of 6. 88%.The basically net zero increase in net income can be attributed to the economic downturn, and its rippling effect on customers. Common-Size Balance Sheet Analysis The common-size balance sheet of Dell reflects a current assets to total assets five year average of 74. 91% and shows a short term liabilities to total liabilities and shareholders’ equity five year average of 63. 72% covering years 2006 to 2010. Dell’s current assets and current liabilities both decreased from 2006 to 2010, but the ir current liabilities decreased at a faster rate than their current assets did.The gap between the two in 2006 was roughly 7% and had increased to 16% by 2010, providing plenty of opportunity to grow and develop the company further in their plans. HP common size balance sheet represents a different story. Their a current assets to total assets five year average was 49. 45% and short term liabilities to total liabilities and shareholders’ equity five year average was 42. 37% across years 2006 to 2010. Both accounts FINANCIAL ANALYSIS OF DELL AND HP 7 decreased slightly over the years, and by 2010, HP had a gap of current assets to current liabilities of only 4%.Potential investors will focus on this close margin because HP may start to become too heavily leveraged, which could hinder their ability to expand. It could also pose the problem of decreasing the percentage amount that HP reinvests back into the company, due to using assets to pay off short term liabilities. Within Dell’s current assets, short term investments to total assets decreased from 8. 67% in 2006 to 1. 11% in 2010. Many of these short term investments had matured and were sold. The additional cash on hand helped decrease accounts payable, which decreased from 42. 4% in 2006 to 33. 80% in 2010. Reducing its liabilities strengthens Dell financial health, yet further liquidity and asset utilization ratio test should be conducted to determine if their more solid financial standing is long term or simple a one year over year change. Dell’s inventory to total assets remained mainly the same over the five year span with 2. 53% in 2006 and 3. 12% in 2010. This is a reflection Dell’s strategy of keeping on hand inventory levels low and only producing the amount able to quickly sell. HP inventory to total assets changed substantially from 9. 5% in 2006 to 5. 19% in 2010. The drop in inventory percentage to total assets is a representation of HP improved strategy to minimize holding periods by taking delivery of inventory and manufacturing immediately prior to sale or distribution of product to customers. It is also reflective of the aggressive discounting that HP conducted as a result of the economic downturn. Dell’s long term debt to total liabilities and shareholders’ equity increased substantially from 2. 69% in 2006 to 10. 15% in 2010 with average long term debt of 4. 71%.The major increased indicates that the company was dependant on long term debt to finance its acquisition of Perot Systems in 2010. HP long term debt to total liabilities and shareholders’ equity followed the same path by increasing from 3. 04% in 2006 to 12. 26% in 2010. This increased in total debt is explained in their annual report as being spending on acquisitions and share repurchases. Debt to equity ratios are needed to be further evaluated to determine the risk factor for this increased level of liabilities. Comparative Analysis Comparative Income Sta tement AnalysisDell’s net revenue sharply declined from 2008 to 2010, going from 6. 47% to (13. 42%), as a result of the economic downturn, as individual customers put off luxury purchases such as computers and commercial customers put off bulk computer orders for a later to be determined FINANCIAL ANALYSIS OF DELL AND HP 8 date. On average, the net revenue growth was 1. 86% while cost of goods sold was 2. 05%. Cost of goods sold increased faster than sales, lowering its potential gross profit. Even though selling, general, and administrative was reduced substantially from 2008 level of 26. 3% down to (8. 97%) in 2010, its growth rate averaged 9. 45%, which outpaced net revenue on average. The drop in selling general and administrative was due to decreases in compensation, advertising expenses and improved controls during the downturn. The growth rate of cost of goods coupled with the economic downturn, found Dell with a (31. 91%) operating income for year 2010. A large decre ase in the market yield of over 200 basis points from 2009 was the cause for the (210. 45%) for investments and other income n 2010. Net income average was (10. 8%) over years 2006 to 2010, with major causes for this being lower sales due to economic downturn, decreases in investments, increases in tax liabilities and higher cost of a hedging program. Much like with Dell, the economic fallout had its effects on HP. Their net revenue severely decreased from 13. 50% in 2008 to (3. 22%) in 2009. The dollar depreciation to the euro played a large part in this drop for its European sales. However, unlike Dell, HP rebounded in 2010, increasing sales up to 10. 02%, which can be attributed mostly in part to HP’s acquisition of EDS. HP’s annual cost of goods averaged 7. 4%, which was lower than their net revenue average of 7. 96%. This led to a more favorable net income on average, indicating HP’s ability to better control its operating income through successful marketin g or more effective investment approaches over the years. Comparative Balance Sheet Analysis Dell’s five year average total current assets growth rate was 7. 75%, which was higher by a slim margin over average total current liabilities of 7. 27%. The relationship was consistent with the common size analysis giving support to Dell’s capability to cover short term liabilities with current assets.However, caution should be raised and solvency ratios further investigated as Dell’s current assets dipped below its current liabilities in 2010 by a comparison of 20. 32% to 27. 60%. Its competitor HP current liabilities growth rate average is out pacing its current assets growth by almost double with rates of 10. 88% to 4. 68%, respectively. This should bring caution to HP to get control of its short term liabilities growth rate, but not be too alarming, considering that by its common-size comparison, the company presently has enough current assets to pay for its short t erm liabilities.FINANCIAL ANALYSIS OF DELL AND HP 9 Dell’s accounts receivable rate of growth was 11. 90% on average, growing faster than the company’s average sales rate, 1. 86%. This relates to the increase in the collection period in days also increasing over this five year span. The category of property, plant and equipment grew for Dell at an annual rate of 6. 12%, with the majority of this growth happening in years 2006-2008. Plant, property and equipment declined in years 2009-2010, (14. 66%) and (4. 2%) respectively, which coincides with the company’s declining sales growth over these same years. On average, Dell’s total liabilities grew 11. 36% annually, compared to its total liabilities and shareholders’ equity growth rate average of 8. 21%. This highlights the company’s candidacy for potentially becoming a long-term solvency risk. Financial Ratio Analysis Liquidity Current Ratio and Acid Test Ratio Average current ratio for Dell w as 1. 19 and the acid test ratio was 1. 14. These averages are better in comparison to HP’s current ratio of 1. 17 and acid test ratio of 1. 0, which tells that Dell has more current assets to cover its short term liabilities and makes Dell a safer and more financially strong company. HP had a risky year in 2008 when its current ratio fell below 1. 00, ending at 0. 98, but shouldn’t be focused on too much considering that their net revenue in sales averages 7. 96% growth rate and is averaging a 39. 33% net income growth rate. Collection Period Dell’s ability to collect customers payments on accounts receivable is stronger than HP’s, with Dell taking 32. 04 days on average compared to HP’s 49. 74 days.While both companies collection period was longer than the normal business benchmark of 30 days, Dell was much more successful in collection from its customers and thus reduced the liability for risky accounts receivable. The shorter period for collect ion also enables Dell to pay for its inventory and not have to expose them to greater amounts of short term debt through increased working capital financing. Days to Sell Inventory Dell inventory holding period was much shorter than HP, with Dell having days to sell inventory ratio of 6. 70 on average and HP having an average ratio of 32. 2. Dell operates in a FINANCIAL ANALYSIS OF DELL AND HP 10 slightly leaner production manner than HP and is able to quickly move inventory through its distribution networks. The quicker a company is able to sell its inventories, the quicker the clock begins to receive payment to be able to pay back money owed on inventories acquired and sold, and not have to increase your working capital financing. Capital Structure and Solvency Debts to Equity Ratios Dell’s five year average of total debt to equity was 5. 23, compared to HP lower average ratio of 1. 5. This shows that Dell had more debt (creditors) financing than equity (shareholders) finan cing. Long term debt for to equity on average for Dell was 0. 29 and HP was 0. 22. While many feel that debt from creditors is more harmful because of the interest paid on the principle borrowed, the advantage here is that once the creditor is paid back, they are gone and off the payroll. Whereas equity financing involves more shareholders owning parts of the company, which reduces the dividend payout per shareholder as well as waters down earnings per share.Dells approach to being more heavily financed through debt than equity may be in an attempt to keep earnings per share at an increased level. Return on Investment Return on Assets and Return on Common Equity An important ratio is the return on assets ratio for its ability to measure earnings per dollar from its assets. The five year average for return on assets of Dell was 13. 06% while HP’s was 9. 07%. This higher percentage for Dell reflects a more efficient use of its assets and higher earnings from products sold per c ompany asset.Both companies have strong return on assets that goes to show the loyal base of customers each brand name of the two companies has. Return on common equity is another important profitability ratio. This ratio measures the earnings success of its capital investments through common shareholders. The return on equity for Dell averaged 81. 46% while HP averaged 23. 91. An observation of this profitability measure shows that Dell is possibly much more attractive for potential investors for its ability to effectively manage and use funds generated through shareholders equity.Operating Performance Profit Margin Ratios Dell’s gross profit margin average of 17. 77% was lower than HP’s average of 24. 04% HP controls a larger portion of the computer market as represented through this ratio. Dell also FINANCIAL ANALYSIS OF DELL AND HP 11 posted lower operating profit margins and pretax profit margin compared to HP. Dell’s higher selling, general and administrat ive expenses are cause for lower operating and pretax profit margins, partly due to new retail and certain global distribution relationships.As expected from the precursors above, net income was also lower for Dell when compared to HP. Dell needs to encroach more forcefully into HP’s large market share to positively influence its sales. Operating expense components should be addressed as well to find cost savings measures to increase operation income in order to ultimately increase its net income. Asset Utilization Cash Turnover The measure of how efficient a company utilizes its cash and cash equivalents to create sales revenue is depicted with the cash turnover ratio. In respect to this ratio, Dell averaged 5. 0, while HP averaged 7. 09. This showed that HP used its cash and cash equivalents more efficiently to build revenue. On the other hand, it shows that HP used its cash and cash equivalents while Dell refrained from using its cash and cash equivalents, as evident in th e common size analysis, showing that Dell retained on average 31. 77% of cash and cash equivalents to assets while HP averaged 12. 41%. Inventory Turnover Inventory turnover represents how fast companies turn their inventories into sales revenue. Dell had a much slower inventory turnover on average, 58. 8, than HP’s 11. 86. Over the past five years more companies have became better at the Dell model of sales direct to customers which has overall effected Dell’s sales as evident in the comparative analysis showing on average Dell grew sales by 1. 86% while HP grew at 7. 96%. Also, HP has become more efficient in their inventory distribution cycle and the amount of inventories held in relation to total assets, dropping from 9. 45% in 2006 to 5. 19 by 2010. Dell’s turnover ratio was directly affected by its increase in inventory to total assets growing from 2. 53% in 2006 to 3. 2 % by 2010. The increase in Dell’s inventories to total assets percentage couple d with declining sales growth over the past five years was a cause for their much higher inventory turnover rate. Total Assets Turnover Total assets turnover measures how efficiently a company utilizes total assets to create sales revenue. On average, Dell’s ability to generate more profit from its assets was roughly FINANCIAL ANALYSIS OF DELL AND HP 12 double that of HP, being 2. 15 to 1. 07 respectively. This shows that for overall assets held, Dell had a better record of generating sales.Market Measures Price to Earnings Ratio and Earnings Yield The price to earnings for Dell on average was 16. 35, lower than HP’s 18. 52. From this statistical ratio, HP is able to show that its investors have higher expectations of their company performance by being committed to paying a higher price per share to own HP stock over the past five year time span. However, with Dell showing better results when it came to liquidation and return on investment, they are able to portray to potential investors that they are the better buy at a lower price per share when compared to HP.Earnings yield represents the amount of earnings generated for every dollar invested. Here, Dell has a better showing on average with 7. 02% compared to HP’s 6. 25%. This ratio can be another point of persuasion that Dell is the better buy for it being properly priced when talking of earnings yield over the years 2006 to 2010. Summary of Financial Performance and Suggestions for Improvement Both Dell and HP have the financial statistics showing why they are strong competitors in an ever evolving industry.In an industry that attracts potential customers by offering the latest, fastest and greatest products, Dell needs an increase their amount of research, development, and engineering to sales percentage. Dell can no longer rely on just offering cheaper products because offering the newest technology and quality of product has moved to the forefront of consumers’ minds. It wou ld be wise for Dell to focus on precise areas where they have a strong competency and not try to be all things to everyone. One area they may rethink of pushing into is their expanded exposure into retail stores.Considering that Dell is fairly new to the retailing segment, their ties to the retailing market are not as strong as many of its competitors who have long withstanding relationships with retailers. These long withstanding relationships with retailers give companies like HP an advantage over new comers to retail stores, such as Dell, and possible over the next year or so, Dell should rethink this new part of their strategy. At the moment, the amount of increased funds used on selling, general and administrative has not equally translated into higher sales revenue.

Purity in its Sense Essay

Puritans have established a very conservative culture that seeks to impose on its believers a way of life that strictly adheres to God’s biblical laws. Small mistakes are virtuously corrected but a sin such as adultery merits the disdain of the whole community. Despite the Puritan principle that one must continually cleanse himself through following the rules of conduct that society has structured, it has not taken into consideration that forgiveness is a strong dictate of God in order for one to truly deserve his kingdom.   Senseless yet purifying are the morals of Puritans even for men and women who had gone astray.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the book, The Scarlett Letter, its author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, sought to show the foolishness of Puritans to follow God’s laws while the community is prone to misjudgments on people’s characters. It has led to their minister’s, Arthur Dimmesdale’s, hypocrisy in dealing with his own fear of being ostracized by society. This social stigma has also brought forth Roger Chillingworth’s idea of revenge against the preacher and his wife as he tries to do so without embarrassing himself as a man fooled by Hester. It has condemned Hester Prynne to a life of misery and shame because of her adulterous relationship with a man whose identity was hidden from the public. It has likewise shunned her daughter, Pearl, and given harsh scrutiny to the actions of such an innocent child. These misjudgments were all part of the author’s critique of how Puritans can blindingly follow a very â€Å"moral† life when it actually pushes people towards immorality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dimmesdale hid behind the cloak of his position in society to avoid the social injustices that he would have gotten if he honestly proclaimed his wrong acts. Arthur Dimmesdale was highly revered by everyone because of his ministry of humility and kindness.   However, the Puritans were so blinded by his stature and seemingly wise image that they could not understand that he was actually giving his sermons based on his own dealings with sin. Instead of revealing the truth, he had succumbed to the mental torture of his guilt.   He was driven to punish himself privately to endure the mask that he had created to avoid being outcasted. The moral code of Puritans had turned him into a prisoner of his own secrets.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although the author lacked enough description of the town’s reaction to Dimmesdale’s revelation of his immoral mistakes, readers are still led to believe that Puritans did not have any discrimination on one’s gender when sin was the topic.   The first chapters of the novel were explicit in showing how the people were thirsting for Hester’s revelation as to who was her lover and that all were waiting to give their own judgments on the mysterious person. There were many instances wherein the people had asked for her lover’s name so that he shall also share Hester’s punishment. The scarlett letter on Hester’s clothing is proof that the community disdains not only her act of infidelity but also her loyalty to a co-sinner by not divulging his identity publicly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, Dimmesdale still seems to have gotten a lighter treatment from society because his declaration of the truth was still twisted by some people at the end of the story.   Instead of getting angry, the shocked community had different views on what had transpired and were focused on explaining Dimmesdale’s death instead of his immoral acts.   These may probably be because he was well-respected and had already passed away and not because he was male. It is very ironical that he, the preacher, became free to be happy only when he was able to finally declare the truth which released him from the confining binds of a Puritan society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Roger Chillington decided to avoid the Puritan society’s condescension by hiding his true personality in the guise of a doctor instead of a husband seeking revenge on his unfaithful wife and her lover. Although his embarrassment really did not have anything to do with his own wrongdoing, it drove him to seek revenge deceitfully and thus pushed him to immoral acts too. There is also the probability that Puritan culture was so conservative that a man of knowledge such as he felt tied down in his thirst for information that could further his career. Instead of criticizing a husband’s intentional abandonment of his wife in pursuit of something earthly such as knowledge, the community absolved him by the sheer adulterous act of Hester.   This may seem that in some principles, the Puritan society can actually be more biased when it comes to the male gender.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Despite society’s burning scrutiny of Hester because of her mistake, she seems to show that her grasp of God’s love is clearer compared to those who have condemned her. Shunned as one who does not know how to obey God’s will, people looked down at her and tended to view her as a sinner who did not understand what God was asking of her.   Her reflections throughout the story show how much she has taken each embarrassing glance and condescending remark as her way of penance to purify herself in the eyes of God. The strength of her own faith was able to make her endure all that society had to spit on her shamelessly. In embracing the true teachings of a Puritan life, she was able to recognize her daughter, Pearl, as a unique gift from her God that could help achieve her happiness despite society’s snub. Despite her mistakes, she was able to rely on God’s teachings to pursue a selfless life of serving her daughter and others through kind acts of charity instead of giving in to the temptation to join a cult that would go against her Puritan community. She had a better grasp of what it meant to be a Puritan compared to all of those who were busy adhering to every rule of their society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pearl was the subject of intense hatred because she was the symbol of the immoral deeds of her parents. Puritans, despite their profession of love for God, had forgotten that Pearl was innocent of any of the crimes committed by her father and mother.   The child was seen as wild in the eyes of the community and they were bent on separating her from Hester because she needed to be protected from her mother’s seemingly twisted view of faith. The Puritans took it upon themselves to decide upon the lives of Hester and Pearl making it look like it was their moral obligation to ensure that Pearl learned their faith better.   The community’s judgmental nature showed that they were willing to play god in the life of a guiltless child but it was the girl’s unique and powerful innocence that drove both her parents to strive for atonement for their previous sins. The Puritans perceived Pearl as the bad fruit of sin but it was this child that made Hester tightly hold on to her faith despite the odds against them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Puritans strived so hard to maintain clean souls by taking very conservative principles based on their Christian beliefs. However, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel totally criticized this aspect of Puritan life by showing how the lack of understanding of their faith has led them to misjudge sinners instead of truly showing compassion as Christ did when He was alive. The author attacks the Puritan culture’s sense of propriety by showing how real sinners can actually be more devoted to preserving God’s will on earth.

Macbeth: The Role of Gender and Position Essay

In Macbeth, many elements that affect the story’s plot and outcome; however, gender and position of power play the most important role of the story. For example, Lady Macbeth continuously wants to be changed into a man in order to get certain duties done that Macbeth is hesitant to do. Also, Lady Macbeth uses the power of belittling Macbeth’s masculinity to further drive his actions in the play. Lastly, the witches’ predictions of Macbeth’s future affect and change him through the position of power he will soon possess. Overall, many aspects of the play foreshadow and affect the ending of the play; however, sex (gender) and power have the biggest impact. Throughout the course of the play, Lady Macbeth constantly exerts the fact that she does not want to be a female. Lady Macbeth wants to be changed into a man because she would hold more power, and be able to escape the stereotypes associated with being a female. Such stereotypes include, not being capable to do certain activities men can, being fragile, and having a frail attitude about oneself. One example of Lady Macbeth wanting to become a male is when she states â€Å"Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here . . .† (Shakespeare 33) Lady Macbeth’s statement implies the obvious, which is, due to her being a female she is unable to murder Duncan (aside from his resemblance to her father) and wants to be â€Å"unsexed†. Another example of Lady Macbeth despising being a female is when she states â€Å"That no compunctious visitings of nature shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between th’ effect and it,† (Shakespeare 33). Lady Macbeth’s statement basically states that she wants to be ridden of the â€Å"visitings of nature† because they distract her from her purpose and goal. Lady Macbeth’s gender affects her role in her husband’s life, and she despises the fact. Lady Macbeth continuously despises being a female. In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth constantly manipulates her husband Macbeth by testing his masculinity. In order to manipulate Macbeth and get him to do certain actions, Lady Macbeth simply makes comments testing his masculinity such as â€Å"When you durst do it, then you were a man . . .† (Shakespeare 43). In the passage, Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan because the murder will prove himself being a man. Lady Macbeth constantly uses Macbeth being a male against him. Mark Lugris states â€Å"Influenced by his wife, Lady Macbeth, the general kills the reigning King and steals the throne,† (Lugris). Lugris’ statement best explains the reason Macbeth murders Duncan. Without his wife’s influence, Macbeth probably wouldn’t have killed Duncan. Mahatma Gandhi states â€Å"Man’s nature is not essentially evil. Brute nature has been known to yield to the influence of love. You must never despair of human nature,† (Gandhi). Gandhi’s statement applies to Macbeth’s situation because, like the quote states, Macbeth is not essentially evil; however, his love for his wife influences his decisions; furthermore, the only reason Lady Macbeth has influence on Macbeth is because of her constant testing of his manhood. Lady Macbeth is able to have influence on Macbeth and his decisions because she uses his manhood against him. Throughout the play Macbeth, Macbeth’s attitudes and goals change all because of his strive for power. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is loyal, and trustworthy. Towards the end of the play, however, Macbeth is power-hungry, delusional, and disloyal. Macbeth states â€Å"I know I am thane of Glamis, but how of Cawdor?† (Shakespeare 19). At the moment when Macbeth makes his comment doesn’t believe the witches’ predictions because he is loyal to Duncan and would never kill him; however, Macbeth ends up committing the murder of Duncan because of his crave for power. Macbeth eventually lets his new position of power get to his head and orders for Banquo, who was once his best friend, to be killed. After Banquo is murdered, Macbeth tells the murderers â€Å"Thanks for that. There the serpent lies,† (Shakespeare 101). Macbeth’s statement shows the fact that he only cares about himself. Abraham Lincoln states â€Å"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power,† (Lincoln). Lincoln’s statement applies to Macbeth because Macbeth is only corrupt when given power. Also, Jimmy Hendrix states â€Å"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace,† (Hendrix). Jimmy’s statement demonstrates Macbeth because if Macbeth would have chosen his love for his friends and family, he wouldn’t have become corrupted by his power. Lastly, the young siward states â€Å"The devil himself could not pronounce a title more hateful to mine ear,† (Shakespeare 183). The Young Siward’s comment is a realization in the play because towards the end of Macbeth, Macbeth has built a bad reputation for himself. He was noble and just in the beginning, but now, people are fearful and hateful towards him. Macbeth has now become a tyrant due to his position of power. Overall, power greatly influences the play Macbeth. Throughout the play Macbeth, the fact is vividly clear that many themes and ideas play a role in the outcome; furthermore, the most influential factors of the play are gender, and position of power. The factors, gender and power, evolve into conflicts amongst the characters. Such conflicts include, Macbeth killing Banquo, and Lady Macbeth influencing Macbeth. Gender and power are the key elements of the play.

Robert Brownings My Last Duchess Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Robert Brownings My Last Duchess - Essay Example In this manner she is finally entirely within his grasp. In life the Duchess had been free-spirited and blessed with a sunny disposition which had irked the Duke as he felt he could not suppress and possess her completely. In the finishing lines of the poem the Duke makes an allusion to Greek mythology which further illustrates his manic need for control and his inherent pride-"Notice Neptune, though/Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity/Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me! The poem is written using iambic pentameter and rhymed couplets. This sets the tone for the poem, and the language thus used gives the reader an impression of power wielded by the narrator. Another poetic device called the enjambment is used so that the lines at times have an unfinished feel creating a hanging effect, and ultimately creating a mood of apprehension as the Duke makes his chilling revelations. He is a compelling narrator and the words he uses have a subtle yet forceful quality to them.

Maritime Transportation Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Maritime Transportation Industry - Essay Example However, the maritime transportation industry could be considered as having reached its peak and is now falling out of popularity due to the many problems and challenges the industry is now facing. These problems are listed and discussed in the following: Unlike trucks and planes, ships operate in a much more extreme environment. The ship, exposed to highly-corrosive and oxidative seawater, develops rust easily and can have its parts heavily damaged in just one delivery especially if it encountered storms during the trip. Compounding the problem is the incrustation of ship hulls, particularly the underside, by bacteria, algae and other sea organisms. Incrustations destroy paint making it easier for the metal of the ship to corrode. A heavy layer of organisms increases drag and leads to higher fuel costs. It can also cause accidents, impaired navigational ability and even the loss of the vessel. These are grave problems unique only to the maritime shipping industry which makes it more dangerous than other transportation method. (GAO, 2002) One big problem with the maritime transportation industry is that it is very sensitive to instabilities in the industry. In the 1980s, the changing pattern of international trade combined with rapid technological developments resulted in many structural and technological changes in the world shipping industry (Sussman, 2002). The fast rise and fall of other industries that were sources of job orders of the maritime industry meant that there could be a rapid decline or surge in seaborne trade. A decline could wreak havoc in the maritime transport industry because the maritime transport fleet is unable to respond quickly as existing tonnage cannot be easily redeployed and contractual obligations for the construction or order of additional ships cannot be easily removed without substantial financial penalties. This characteristic of maritime transport could lead to excess tonnage situations such as what happened in the 1970s when seaborne trade started to diminish, especially in the pe troleum trades. The result was that there was a severe imbalance between supply and demand which peaked in 1983 when surplus tonnage amounted to 28.5% of the world fleet. This means that when there is a decline in maritime trade, the maritime transport would easily suffer from huge losses incurred in contract obligations and fall out of the industry which creates a void in suppliers of the service. (Department of Transportation, 2007; Pedraja, 1994) 2.3 Restrictive Shipping Practices According to Donn (2006), unlike air and land transport of goods,

Is spanking child abuse Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Is spanking child abuse - Research Paper Example Spanking is the most commonly used form of this technique and can be defined as striking the child’s buttocks with an open hand with sufficient force as to cause pain but not leave any injurious marks or long term harm. This paper will consider the corporal punishment known as spanking and answer whether such punishment is tantamount to child abuse (Brouwer and Knox). The first question to ask in order to establish whether or not there is any link between physical abuse and spanking to begin with is; what exactly is child abuse? Child abuse unfortunately does not have clear criteria which defines and differentiates it from forms of child maltreatment. Often researchers employ the use of surveillance and reporting in order to ascertain whether a child have been abused though there is no clear consensus as to which level of maltreatment constitutes abuse among researchers. Child abuse given its nature may be defined by how differently children may perceive the act according to the age they are at the time. Given the definition just given it can be seen how spanking may be perceived to be child abuse (Whitley, Tajima and Herrenkohl). Child specialists have actually defined the connection between the two to a point where spanking is actually found to be the first step in the road to child abuse (Brouwer and Knox). It must be said that from a humanitarian and moral standpoint children must always be protected from abuse of all types. As an adult it is the duty of both parental authorities and Guardians to establish and maintain the protection of the child from such harmful circumstances. Though the question is asked that even if children must be kept away from abusive practices that may ham their development it must be asked what if there is a need for the use of sub abusive violence. When we define sub abusive violence it can be said