Preventing Childhood Obesity Obesity - 1875 Words

Brieann Whittington Dr. Terry Eng. 102 25. Apr. 2017 Preventing Childhood Obesity Everyone in America has heard about the obesity epidemic, many could blame fast food, video games, or more television. Each of those things could be a contributing factor in this epidemic, but when we talk about obesity in the United States the first thing that usually comes to mind is adults. What about the children suffering from this epidemic, shouldn’t the overweight parents be to blame for this cycle of unhealthiness. Parents play a critical role in a child’s development. As well as the schools that teach children can play very important roles, especially if the parents don’t have knowledge or refuse to change their ways. The only way to change this†¦show more content†¦Being overweight growing up was hard, I struggled in middle school gym class, hated going outside and all I ever wanted to do was watch television. My parents did push for me to go outside which never worked out because I was a moody, â€Å"rebelliousâ⠂¬  teen. Though they did moderate my food consumption and that caused me to lose the weight I needed. After my parents started showing me a healthier life, I enjoyed it and decided to act on my own to lose more weight. I was in return a healthier happier kid that started making better grades. That is why I personally believe that through the parents and the schools we as a nation can make a change. With schools implementing healthier programs that get children moving and eating healthier it can help the schools in return. Schools that increase increase recess or add more physical education. Studies have even shown that more physical activity is extremely beneficial in the long run, it can improve student’s grades, health, and self-esteem (Potera). Children are in school anywhere from six to eight hours a day, most of the time sitting at a desk. Most schools do cut down recess or time to be physically active because they want them to have more educational time. Most schools don’t have any health programs in place or any health classes that are required for the matter. Just one simple twelve-week health and dance education classShow MoreRelatedPreventing Childhood Obesity1689 Words   |  7 PagesHeader: PREVENTING CHILDHOOD OBESITY Preventing Childhood obesity in school age Children Lakeisha L. Jones Nursing 531 September 6, 2010 Abstract Childhood obesity has become a worldwide epidemic. The obesity rateRead MoreChildhood And Adulthood Obesity And Preventing It1484 Words   |  6 PagesChildhood Versus Adulthood Obesity and Preventing It David Puttere ENG 122 English Composition II Professor Jennifer Chagala September 26, 2014 â€Æ' Obesity is an epidemic that American’s has faced in the past and in the future to come. Being overweight or obese puts you at risk for a number of diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, and many more. Obesity can be a risk to all of a human body system. As humans this is an everyday battle for some that inherit obesity fromRead MoreEssay on Preventing Childhood Obesity in Australia1427 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction â€Å"During the past two decades, the prevalence of obesity in children has risen greatly worldwide. 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Dancing With the Death Penalty - 578 Words

First of all death penalty is morally wrong. David Kennedy, director of the center for Crime Prevention and Control at John Jay college of Criminal Justice said,†...the application of power without justice is brutal. And there is nothing democratic about brutality†(Johnson2). This is statement is true. Killing someone is brutal and is not the most humane way of handling the situation. There is movement on mandatory minimums (sentencing), there is movement on solitary confinement, there is movement on the death penalty (Johnson2). Societies belief that all life is sacred would be violated by death penalty. Solitary confinement would be the most democratic way to deal with felons or offenders. That is my reasoning on why I believe death penalty is morally wrong. Secondly, Death penalty is difficult for state correction officials. 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Data or Security Breaches Issue and Organizations

Question: Discuss about the Data or Security Breaches Issue and Organizations. Answer: Introduction In 2015, many big industries faced data breaches. While the data breaches continuously increased in 2015, investments are likewise done in security technologies to overcome these hacking issues. This study includes the report of about top ten breaches which occurred in 2015 and reasons, impact remedies are also included in this paper. News Article The 10 Biggest Data Breaches Of 2015 written by Sarah Kuranda was published on July 2015 in online newspaper CRN News which has been discussed in this study. Justification 2015 was a very big year for data breaches, however, even 2016 is not exempt from data breaches. This news article is selected because it helps us to take a look back at the huge data breaches in 2015. In the year 2015, most of the industries such as healthcare, financial, education as well as federal markets are affected by a number of data breaches. This news article is commonly related to the information security and protection content, as this article helps the readers to learn about several data breaches that generally affect the data or information security or protection of the industries. This news article increases the customers' awareness about security concerns and helps them to invest in different data security technologies (Kuranda, 2015). In 2015, data breaches, data hacking as well as the cybercrime was on top business concerns that acquired more media attention as well as compromised the unity of different organizations. This news article helps to check that there is n o business organization which are left untouched or unaffected from this sort of Data security breaches in the year 2015. Reasons CareFirst: CareFirst BlueCross breach had occurred in May 2015, was a notable breach as it has affected the continued vulnerability of the healthcare organization. There are a lot of technical and nontechnical reasons which caused this data breach as the organization used Mandiant-led safety audit with the help of which hackers easily found and gained the access to the database in which information about members has been stored. Kaspersky: An alternate sort of cyber attack that was caused because of technical reasons as there is less security of data software used in the organization. In 2015, Kaspersky revealed that an infiltration has been done in its various interior frameworks. Kaspersky revealed its events as well as its venues with links about its sensitive meetings, including latest negotiations for the nuclear deals and this is the main reason for this data breach (Thole, Solms and Moll, 2015). Premera: This breach happened because the customers record frameworks of health insurance organization were not fully secured and Premera organization in March 2015 discovered that a breach affected its records of almost 11.2 million customers due to lack of security software (Serious data protection breaches to be heavily fined in UK, 2008). Harvard University: In July 2015 data breach occurred at the Harvard University education center. This breach influenced almost 8 schools and regulatory workplaces, However, it remained unclear which type of data was being hacked by the cyber criminals. Therefore, this also occurred because of the lack of security in Havards Database. Hacking Team: Technical reasons of this breach were that the Hackers were able to develop the spy tools to hack data from the Government agencies as well as some high-level hackers were able to hack the data of small hackers (NMC pledges to improve data-handling processes following security breaches, 2015). LastPass: In June 2015, password management organization LastPass disclosed that they are the victim of the cyber-attack in which data such as email addresses, servers passwords, reminders and authentication hash. This hack is done because of lack of encrypted passwords within the organization. Army National Guard (ANG): In July 2015 ANG faced a data breach and the reason for this data breach was that there was a very improper way to handle or manage transmission of data to the non-accredited information center through contract staff. Therefore, hackers easily get the access to the users accounts (Greene, 2015). Anthem: Anthem organization never applies any law to encrypt its information or data. Therefore, Anthem faced several civil lawsuits as they do not have any data encryption, which was also considered as a major technical reason for the security breach. According to the Bloomberg News, the organization itself may be responsible for the security breach as they were themselves changing their security passwords time and again (Kuranda, 2015). Office Of the Personnel Management: Reasons for this attack remains unclear because the attack was motivated through commercial industries. OPM association had been warned several times about its security fall and vulnerabilities, but they never took it as an important aspect, therefore, they had to face such security breaches (Major breaches affect millions, 2015). Impacts CareFirst: Information of about 1.1 million customers such as their name, date of birth, subscriber information and email have been compromised in this breach. Hackers encrypted the password and gained access to different Social Security medical reports and employment records. This also impacts the financial data of customers as well as of the organization (Ramanan, 2015). Kaspersky: This breach impacts the information about the latest cyber technologies developed by Kaspersky Lab. Attackers also attack several security frameworks developed by the organization and after being hacked these security frameworks are never been used (Kaspersky asks for decryption help, 2008). Premera: This breach impacts the personal details of the healthcare customers, hence, there is a loss of financial data of customers. Overall, results show that the breach in Premier causes a damage to the organizations reputation and it was considered that about 40% damage of its personal details has already been done. MultiBank Cyberheist: After this attack almost Twenty percent respondents reported that there is a worst business disruption as well as the cost to examine this breach damage to the financial status of an association (Kuranda, 2015). Harvard University: Theft and unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information of Harvards students and the university itself, were hit by a data breach in 2015. Almost 18,000 individuals had suffered due to this attack. Harvard University faces the challenge of highly tight budget as a high investment was required for the security of the Universitys database. Hacking Team: This breach puts a severe impact on the financial position of the organization. There was a loss of about $100,000 because of the data hack. The organization was not able to perform further activities to secure itself from further breaches (Whittaker, 2016). LastPass: In this security breach, a large number of personal passwords of individual accounts were stolen. The good thing about this was that the hackers weren't able to get customers encrypted password vaults. Still, this breach certainly sounds the worst, but the agreement among security professionals believe it is not the worst breach. Army National Guard (ANG): This breach potentially uncovered the Social Security number, street number and personal data of around 850,000 present and previous National Guard individuals. This breach also highlights the value of having very strong security approaches for inner threats, including those which were posed by the outside contractors (Kuranda, 2015). Anthem: Anthem breach caused system failures as well as data corruption in the organization. Attacks on the organizations website as well as on its internet gateway affect the customers. According to the technical staff of Anthem, there was a big loss of financial data. More than half of the customers were impacted by this security breach. Office Of the Personnel Management: This attack impacts on millions of workers of Personnel Management office. There was a minor impact of a security breach on the business of the organization. However, it has a major impact on the individuals as their personal details were stolen (Data breaches hit software firms, retailers and banks; some arrests made, 2014). Remedies CareFirst: Hackers are more targeting the healthcare industries for its repository's information. Therefore the affiliated security plan was built up in the association to stop hacking of data. Kaspersky: Kaspersky uses Moscow-based data security model and some new technologies, like Kasperskys Safe Operating Framework, Kaspersky Fraud Interference, along with Anti-APT model to secure its sensitive data. Premera: Premera organization makes it a smart-enough association so that it does not get duped by cyber crooks and social technology scams. Credentials are provided only to authenticated users (Kuranda, 2015). MultiBank Cyberheist: Association provides strong passwords to the users which are utilized as the master passwords to secure the user accounts and different security schemes are applied by the organization to stop this hacking. Harvard University: Harvard university should check for discrepancies on a daily basis. The organization also takes benefit of the credit policy, identity theft policy as well as monitoring service (British Airways among latest breaches, 2015). Hacking Team: Hacking team utilized continuous on-site checking of outsiders interference in the organization. They establish a genuine governance procedure that keeps an eye on what is done by third-parties which process their client's data. LastPass: LastPass agency encourages its executives, not to use passwords which are based on the data that is easily accessible through the social-media sites and rather use more secure passwords. Army National Guard (ANG): Wassenaar Agreement was utilized by the organization in which it continuously performs security researchers as well as it prevents the data by utilizing penetration testing software (A fifth of UK consumers are victims of theft via data breaches, 2015). Anthem: This issue will overcome only through the top-down policy which clearly describes an organizations hazard appetite and approaches from where, as well as how the critical data resources can be managed and stored. Office Of the Personnel Management: It is important to check how the sensitive data governs, as well as how the data security plans are arranged in the organization. Different governance policies have been used to acknowledge that who has the complete access to delicate information of the clients (Kuranda, 2015). Conclusion This study concludes that in 2015 many noteworthy security breaches occurred consistently which were considered as a major problem for industries who faced data breaches. Every industry such as retail, monetary, health care, legal and military associations should be focused regarding the security of their sensitive data. It has also been concluded that some serious steps should be taken by the associations against the hackers to stop all types of data breaches. References A fifth of UK consumers are victims of theft via data breaches. (2015). Network Security, 2015(12), pp.1-2. British Airways among latest breaches. (2015). Network Security, 2015(4), pp.2-20. Data breaches hit software firms, retailers and banks; some arrests made. (2014). Computer Fraud Security, 2014(8), p.3. Greene, T. (2015). Biggest data breaches of 2015. Kaspersky asks for decryption help. (2008). Network Security, 2008(7), pp.1-2. Kuranda, S. (2015). The 10 Biggest Data Breaches Of 2015 (So Far). [online] CRN News. Major breaches affect millions. (2015). Computer Fraud Security, 2015(10), p.3. NMC pledges to improve data-handling processes following security breaches. (2015). Nursing Standard, 30(12), pp.8-8. Ramanan, S. (2015). The Top 10 Security Breaches Of 2015. Serious data protection breaches to be heavily fined in UK. (2008). Computer Fraud Security, 2008(6), p.3. Thole, E., Solms, C. and Moll, C. (2015). Cyber Security: How to DealWith (Cross Border) Data Breaches?. Computer Law Review International, 16(5) Whittaker, Z. (2016). These companies lost your data in 2015's biggest hacks, breaches.

Hackers Hell Essay Example For Students

Hackers Hell Essay To deal with hackers who break through office systems through the Internet it is important for information managers to understand their enemy well. If they have sound background knowledge about hackers, they might be prepared to deal with them in a much more effective method. Hackers are very educated often mostly university or high school students who try to break through systems for which they have no authorization. They deal poorly with people, have few friends and less relationships, but at the same time are very smart. Therefore they revert to computers because they know computers will not reject them. With bulletin board communication they can form social relationships but those are behind the screen, where hackers feel shielded. (Pfleeger, pp.12-13)Hackers justify the crime of cracking through systems by stating that nobody gets hurt in this situation. Hacking can be done without having a conflict with any human. Hackers also usually work in groups, and when they do so they be come more dangerous to office systems. By sharing information they manage to put together a solution that would allow them to break in a office system. The news media has labeled hackers as mere children who play pranks. (Pfleeger, p.13) Even Amy Wohl who is a noted information systems consultant states that ?the hacker risk is the smallest of the computer crime risks.? (Ray, p. 440)Amy Wohls statement is incorrect because due to the hacking of automated office systems millions of dollars in damages have occurred. According to the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) the increase attacks by hackers through the Internet has jumped to 323% since 1992. Total losses to the U.S. industry are approximately $2 billion per month. Thus it is very essential for information managers to know about the different problems hackers can create for automated office systems through the Internet. (Anthes ?Hack Attack.?, p.81)One of the main problems that hackers can cause is that they can br eak into office electronic mail (e-mail) messages. This can be especially dangerous for those office systems who use electronic mail as their main source of communication.. Electronic mail on the Internet is as confidential as a postcard. After the sender transmits the message, it travels from one network to another until it reaches its recipient. Therefore, hackers can easily break into electronic mail while it is traveling towards its destination. Further, when it reaches the recipient there will not be any evidence of tempering with the e-mail. (Rothfeder , p. 224-225) Another tool that hackers use is called a sniffer. A software which can be easily planted in an organizations system, works like a concellead recorder and captures e-mail messages as they are exchanged. (Behar, p.35) Hackers value e-mail because it contains valuable information. They can find anything from secret strategic plans to log-in passwords required to get into the office system. Once they have this vital i nformation, hackers can have access and cause major damage to the office system. (Rothfeder, p. 225) One of the victims of e-mail hacking was Wind River Systems. A software company, Wind River Systems has a communication system where they exchange e-mail with customers on the Internet. By trying a few passwords on the office system, hackers were able to access the system of Wind River Systems in California and France. When a expensive bill for accessing the Internet came to Wind River Systems, they found that hackers had gotten in their communication system. Wind River Systems discovered that due to the intrusions hackers obtained programming codes which could have the potential to hurt future performance of the company. (Behar, p.33)Penetrating electronic mail is just one way hackers intrude and destroy office systems. Banks who have established office system that provide online banking services to clients also face problems. One of the first Internet banks, Security First Network had to stop hackers from electronically breaking into account files in the first few months of its operations. In addition, Citibanks office system was also hacked when a Russian hacker electronically transferred $11 million from New York to Finland, Israel, and California. These incidents leaves many banks in doubt whether they should have systems that are capable of providing customer service on the Internet. Instead, banks such as Chase Manhattan are collaborating with companies like Checkfree, Intuit, and Microsoft. The reason is that these companies offer private consumer banking networks that have powerful security schemes. Thus the cost of office automation would be justified because hackers will not find it easy to break into the banking networks protected by such firms as Microsoft. In contrast, other financial institutions such as Bank of America are willing to take the chance and implement their systems so that they are capable of providing better services to customers on the Internet. (Rothfeder, p. 229)One more deadly tactic that hackers can employ against office systems is stop their connection to the respective Internet serviece provider (ISP) that host almost a thousand corporate web sites. This method is called denial of service whereby hackers interfere with the office system communication such that office systems cannot gain accesss to its ISP. When office systems communicate with their ISPs they use a three-way handshake process whereby they first send a signal, the ISP receives that signal, and then the ISP re-sends the signal to the office system so that a connection can be established. Hackers have found a way to disrupt this process by interfering with the last part of the three-way handshake. Instead of the signal going back to the office communication system the hacker directs it to another direction. Thus, the office communication system never connects to its ISP and therefore cannot obtain mail or connect to other web sites. The nat ure of this attack creates ineffectiveness for office systems who have implemented the Internet as part of their communication systems. There is no use for a communication system which cannot be used. Furthermore, if Hackers cant break into the system they can make many services of the Internet unavailable to the office. violates one of the goals of information security. This presents a serious challenge to office automation specialist who must realize now that even if their communication systems are tamper proof hackers can still deny them external communication. (Cobb, pp. 37-38)To combat the attacks of hackers, office automation specialist can employ a number of tactics that would ensure that their office systems remain safe. Certain guidelines and technologies can be applied by information managers when they are in the analysis and design phase of office automation. To begin with, information managers must maintain guidelines that minimize risk when using the Internet. These gui delines can be in the form of rules for employee Internet usage. The main intent of these guidelines is to limit the use of Internet for business purposes only. Most employees use the Internet for personal reasons such as when they surf sex and pornographic material on the Internet. This not only creates security leaks for the office system, but also makes Olsons Theory a strong phenomena in the office environment. Employees are less productive in their work which results in soft dollar loses for the company. Nonetheless, controlling employee use of the Internet is nonproductive. The solution is to educate employees about the proper use of the Internet, explain them the disadvantage that occur if the Internet is used improperly, yet at the same time accept the fact that employees will still look at web sites that are not business related. Nevertheless, it is wise to develop detailed Internet polices in terms of usage so that employees know the consequences of wrong abuse. (Wagner, p .55) According to Barry Weiss, a partner at Gordon Glickson, a Chicago law firm that specializes in information technology legal issues, for the Internet to be used as a effective tool for communication companies need ?to define policies and procedures to avoid risk.? (Wagner, p.58) Another method in which companies can protect their office systems from hackers is by asking employees to develop and maintain smart passwords. Employees should not write down their passwords and leave them near a computer. They should create password which relate to people closely related to them. Also they should not share their password with anyone and near should they store their passwords in the computer. Passwords become hard to crack by hackers when they have both upper case and lower case letters as well as digits and special characters. Further, the should be long and should be able to keyed in quickly so one can follow when typing on the keyboard. (Icove, pp.135-136)Having strict guidelines is one solution to minimize hacker intrusions. Employing technologies is another solution to accomplish the same goal. One specific technology to implment in the office network is called firewall. This tool combines the technology of hardware and software and functions by protecting the office network when it is connected to the Internet. A firewall analyzes data and accepts only the data that is approved by the information manger. The firewall collects all users in one area and views whether they are performing an approved activity such as sending electronic mail to clients. Since all the activity has to pass and be approved through one checkpoint this tool is useful for controlling data and keeping logs of the users activity. Adding a firewall in the office system can be done in two ways. It can be purchased as a package from a vendor or it can be built. Logically it is cheaper to build a firewall, a good choice for those information mangers who are operating on a strict budget. (An derson, pp. 106, 108) When buying a firewall from vendors it can get very confusing since there are a lot of varieties and costs that each vendor offers. There are more than 40 vendors in the market who offer new releases in less than a year. However, this trend is also changing. The National Computer Security Association (NCSA) has developed a program which will make it easier for information managers to select a firewall from numerous packages. It will do that by establishing performance standard needed for an effective firewall. Based on this criteria it will test and certify those firewall packages which meet its criteria. The certification concentrates on security threats that are high to a automated office systems. This includes how often the hackers attack the firewall, how easily they can penetrate the firewall and how much damage they cause once they penetrate the firewall. Naturally, the lower the frequency in these criteria the more chance for the firewall package being p assed. Besides certifying firewall the NCSA will also collaborate with vendors to create standard language for firewall and publish more documentation so information managers have a chance to make a better decision when they are thinking to implement firewall in their office systems. (Anthes, ?Firewall chaos.? P.51) A firewall is not the ultimate solution because it cant keep out viruses or traffic that goes to the internal network though another connection, however ?it is still the most effective was to protect a network thats connected to the Internet? (Anderson, p.106)Another method to protect data is the use of encryption technology. This comes especially useful when data is sent through external communication systems where there are great chances for it to be intercepted by hackers. Electronic mail can greatly benefit from this technology. Encryption is a software program which creates a key with two divisions. One is the public key and one is the private key. The public key is given to those with whom communication is usually conducted. After writing the electronic mail the message is encrypted with the recipients public key. Due to encryption there is a digital lock placed on the message, so even if a hacker intercepts the mail while it is traveling to the recipient, the contents of the message are unobtainable. Upon receiving the message the recipient uses the software to verify that the recipients public key was used to encrypt the mail. After the confirmation the software decrypts the encrypted message using the private key of the recipient. (Rothfeder, pp. 224-225) Moreover, two high tech companies have teamed up to develop a hardware based encryption technology. This is specially targeted to make electronic commerce more safer to carry out over the Internet. Separating the encryption functions from the processor and handling them through another hardware piece will make it much harder for hackers to intercept office data and also free up much proce ssing power required to encrypt large important business documents. Multiple applications can use this encryption peripheral to make their data safe. If hackers attempt to break into the hardware encryption device the data will be immediately deleted and thus would be useless for the hackers. (Vijayan, p.45)Lastly, corporations can out-source their security needs to special computer security firms who specialize against hacker intrusion. One such company is Pilot Network Services. Pilots client hook their office system networks to the companys service centers around the country. This way Pilot is able to supply supervised Internet access. The system is run by a team of electronic specialist who monitor it on a 24 hour basis. Happy clients such as Twentieth Century Fox value Pilots services because they get around 30 intrusions daily which they are able to block. Sometimes Pilots engineers let the hackers in a office communication system to observe and learn about their activities so they can be more knowledgeable on how hackers attack. (Behar, p.36) Other forces that corporations can out-source to protect their office systems are called tiger teams. These tiger teams hack their clients computer to point out weaknesses in the communication system. This way the weaknesses can be corrected and the system protected. Tiger teams usually attack their clients system through the Internet, but also warn that potential hazards can occur through other channels such as operating systems. (Doolittle, p.89)In the current computing environment it is essential to have a security plan for those companies who use the Internet as their main source of communication. If a plan does not exist the damages can mean failure for a company. Consequently, it is essential for information managers to employ the solutions presented in this paper when they are automating their office system. Business English: Describing Charts, Graphs, and Diagrams Essay Bibliography:Anderson, Heidi. ?Firewalls: Your First Defense? PC Today, May 1996: pp.106, 108-109. Anthes, Gary H. ?Firewall chaos.? Computer World, February 1996: p. 51. Anthes, Gary H. ?Hack Attack.? Computer World, April 1996: p. 81. Behar, Richard. ?Whos Reading your e-mail Fortune, February 1997: pp. 29-36. Cobb, Stephen. ?How Safe is the Internet Internet Java Advisor, January 1997: pp.36-38,41. Doolittle, Sean. ?Special Forces On Call? PC Today, May 1996: pp.89-91. Icove, David, Karl Seger, and William VonStorch. Computer Crime. California: OReilly ; Associates, Inc., 1995. Pfleeger, Charles P. Security in Computing. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall International, Inc., 1989. Ray, Charles, Janet Palmer, and Amy Wohl. Office Automation : A Systems Approach. 2nd ed. Ohio: South-Western Publishing Co., 1991. Rothfeder, Jeffery. ?No Privacy on the Net.? PC World, February 1997: pp.223-229. Vijayan, Jaikumar. ?Making the Web a safer place.? Computer World, April 1996: p. 45. Wagner, Mitch. ?Firms spell out appropriate use of Internet for employees.? Computer World, February 1996: pp.55,58.

Profit and Corporate Hurdle Rate free essay sample

Currently, Teletech Corp. is using a single corporate hurdle rate to evaluate its investment decisions in its products and systems segment as well as its telecommunications segment. We will write a custom essay sample on Profit and Corporate Hurdle Rate or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Using only one hurdle rate doesn’t take into account the risk that the company faces within each segment. Investors demand higher returns for riskier investments. Victor Yossarian is concerned about the low returns for the high risk in the products and systems segment, this is why he wants to abandon this segment. Using two hurdle rates adjusts for the risk in each industry allows the company to adequately value each segment. Our analysis will show that by using two hurdle rates it will lower the cost of equity and WACC for the less risky telecommunications segment, while raising the cost of equity and WACC for the more risky products and systems segment. Lastly, our calculation of the economic profitability for each industry using the segmented hurdle rates will show that Teletech may be overvaluing its products and systems segment while undervaluing its telecommunications segment. This implies that Teletech should reallocate its capital in order to increase economic profitability . Introduction We will conduct an industry comparison analysis to show how the the company’s cost of borrowing and beta compares to its competitors. Next, we will explain why it is more beneficial for the company to use segmented hurdles rates rather than the corporate hurdle rate currently being used. We will then calculate a new hurdle rate and the economic profit for each division. Then, we will explain how capital restructuring can increase our profits for each segment. Lastly, we will address the concerns with the company’s recent performance and the future direction of the company. Industry Comparable Analysis Prior to any action, we will examine Teletech Corp’s market debt to capital and market debt to equity in comparison with a few selected competitors. In Exhibit One, all three comparable companies have a beta lower than 1. 05, which allows them to raise capital at a lower the cost of equity. However, when you compare market debt to equity, it is lower than the industry average showing that more equity can be issued. They also have a market debt to capital of 22%, which is below the industry average as well. The mean for this section is 28. 10%, which gives us an idea of where the ratio should be in comparison with Teletechs’ top competitors. Based off industry average, Teletech can increase their margins by becoming more levered. Now we will compare the products and systems segment using the same base of measurement with more focus towards the beta. Displayed on Exhibit One, the mean of the three companies is 1. 30, which is a substantially higher beta than Teletech corporate beta of 1. It is likely that the company can choose to raise capital from the wrong source; which shows’ when you compare its’ corporate debt to equity of 29% to an industry average of 9. 2%. This leads to the assumption that the capital structure that management has in place is inadequate in terms of risk and reward. Due to several outliers in this segment, we believe the industry average should be a little higher. Our assumption is that the the market debt to equity for the new segmented PS should be somewhere in between. This is discussed in the capital restructuring section of this analysis, where we assume a 15% weight of debt to calculate the new WACC. Telecommunication Services In order to calculate the new hurdle rate for the telecommunications segment we first had to calculate the cost of equity using the capital asset pricing model. We used the corporate risk free rate and market risk premium and the average beta for the telecommunications segment to make this calculation. As demonstrated in Exhibit Two, the cost of equity is lower than the corporate rate. Next, we calculated the WACC using the new cost of equity and the average market value of debt in the telecommunications segment. Exhibit Two shows that the WACC is lowered when using the market value of debt and new cost of equity. This means that shareholders will require a lower return on their investments and will cost the company less while raising equity, and issuing debt at a lower rate than the 9. 3% corporate rate currently being used. The segmented hurdle rates allow for lower cost of debt than the corporate hurdle rate. Lastly, we calculated the economic profitability using both the corporate hurdle rate and the segmented hurdle rate. Using the corporate hurdle rate, we calculated an economic profit that was negative, which can be shown in Exhibit Three. However, when we use the segmented hurdle rate the economic profitability is positive, which is shown in Exhibit Three. This shows that we are undervaluing the telecommunications segment when we use the corporate hurdle rate. Products and System Segment Our next objective was to determine what was the weighted average cost of capital for the products and systems segment. First, we needed to calculate the cost of equity for this segment. The risk free rate and risk premium were given to us and we calculated the beta by taking industry averages in the telecommunication equipment industry and the computer and network equipment industry. In Exhibit Four, the calculation can be shown and the result is a cost of equity for this segment of 12. 1%. The next step was to determine the overall weighted average cost of capital for this segment. We were given the after-tax cost of debt, but we had to determine a suitable weight of debt for this segment. The weight of debt was determined by calculating the average market value of debt to capital in the telecommunications equipment industry and computer and network equipment industry. We determined a suitable weight of debt of 9. 2% and a weight of equity of 90. 8% based off the average market value of debt to capital for the telecommunication equipment firms and computer and network equipment firms. This segment is riskier than the telecommunication services segment, so less debt is issued in this segment. In Exhibit Four, the calculation for the WACC is shown resulting in 11. 4% cost of capital for this segment. We decided to determine what the economic profitability of this segment was using the new segmented WACC. First, we had to calculate the capital employed in order to correctly figure out the profitability. We were given the return on capital for the segment of 11% and the net operating profit after taxes of $480 million. We calculated the capital employed and by using the newly determined capital employed, we plugged the new hurdle of 11.  4% and the given return on capital into the economic profitability formula. Exhibit Five shows the calculations for both the capital employed and the new economic profitability using the new segmented hurdle rate resulting in an economic profitability of $-17. 41 million. We wanted to do a comparison analysis using the corporate hurdle rate and the segmented hurdle rates for each segment. We used the same capital employed that we calculate d above and just plugged in the corporate hurdle rate instead of the segmented hurdle rate. Exhibit Five shows the calculation using the corporate hurdle rate resulting in economic profitability of $78. 19 million. Capital Restructuring After calculating economic profitability for both the telecommunications services segment and products and systems segment using both the newly calculated segmented hurdle rates and also using the corporate hurdle rate, we decided to do a comparison. Exhibit Six shows the economic profitability for each segment. However, the products and systems segment is still underperforming and has negative economic profitability. The segmented hurdle rate shows that the capital structure of the firm does not properly allocate the optimal capital that could result in much larger economic profits than using a single corporate hurdle rate. The telecommunications services segment has strong performance and low risk, so we determined that we could issue more debt in this segment and decided a weight of debt of 40% was suitable based on performance and comparable firms. Exhibit Seven shows the new WACC with a 40% weight of debt and 60% weight of equity resulting in a lower WACC then using the 27. 1% industry average debt weight. The products and systems segment is struggling to make economic profit, but we believe that even with the riskier characteristics of this segment that slightly raising the weight of debt above the industry average was a suitable option. The average weight of debt for the industry was 9. 2%, but this resulted in negative economic profit. So, we decided to push the weight of debt to 15% in order to just make this segment profitable without creating major debt risk. We decided to issue more debt because Teletech is a more diversified company that allows the risk to be separate out between the two segments instead of just one industry. Exhibit Seven shows the calculation for the products and systems segment using the newly determined weight of debt of 15% and weight of equity of 85% resulting in a factorial decrease in the WACC to 10. 96%. Exhibit Eight shows the new comparison analysis using the new WACC from the capital restructuring and shows that both segments are profitable. Conclusion After determining separate WACCs, we calculated economic profit for each segment discovering that products and systems was underperforming. Using comparable firms, it was evident that there was an opportunity to issue further debt. With the new debt weight, products and systems segment became profitable without significantly impacting this segment’s debt risk. The new debt structure and positive economic profitability would provide increased value for shareholders including Victor Yossarian. We believe that products and systems segment improves the horizontal diversification of Teletech and allows the debt risk to be more separate out with more segments.

Inside The Island essays

Inside The Island essays The time of 18th century and onwards, aspects of Australian life, attitudes and values reflected European origins. Views of the landscape, xenophobic attitudes, powers struggles, relation with the original inhabitants and different class are dealt with in Louis Nowras Inside the Island. This play deals with the survivors of post-colonial Australia's legacies of class inequality, imperial racism, native dispossession and the cultural displacements of a multicultural migrant society. Set in a farming district of western New South Wales in 1912, it is demonstrated how a matriarchal imitation of English society is destroyed by an outbreak of 'holy fire', madness from a wheat fungus. The characters attitudes towards the Australian landscape are of a realistic kind. Lillian Dawson, the central character, makes numerous comments on Australia having a dreadful climate and how everything seems so exaggerated around her. Mrs Dawson has family in England. Her lace and lemonade, her church-going, her charitable works and hospitality hide a cruel streak and a snobbish, hollow heart. The notion of colonialism is further developed by Lillians view of the land, and the treatment of the Aborigines. We learn from Lillians dialogue with the Captain that a portrait painting of Lillians father was painted by an Aboriginal youth who in doing so has rejected his own Aboriginal culture by portraying a trait of European culture. The juxtaposition of his resulting suicide and Lillians welcoming of refreshments shows her complete disregard for Aborigines. We can also see that Lillian is delighted as she effectively converted...one of the lubras by influencing her to sing hymns and admiring Lillians fair skin, making an exact contrast with their own dark skin. Once a colony has been established, it has to defend itself from outsiders. This is how Lillian and perhaps many other Britis ...

America and the Second World War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

America and the Second World War - Essay Example They also honor the people who leave legacies through being good at doing something or achieving a great feat in their lifetimes. This kind of lifestyle has largely remained unchanged especially for the German people hence views about them will always remain same (Burgan, 55). The real surprise is the fact that an individual in this society who has done so much and achieved great things ends up living his sunset years in a manner that does not befit a person of his caliber which is directly influenced by the leadership in place. I would pursue the following themes: Education, Politics, Inter-cultural relations, and Family Unit and Socio-cultural activities. The most important thing I have learned from this course is that if anyone obliges him or herself to work hard, then definitely they will end up successful. Anyone who is illustrious is bound to succeed. It does not matter what a personal background or start point is, if they work hard then surely they will succeed in anything they set their minds. The context here is about an American president by the name Mr. Woodraw Wilsons. During campaigns for the presidency of the United States of America, he had used the aspect of not getting America involved in world wars as his main bait for winning re-election, which he did narrowly. Then after that, he changes his policy. He felt that if America wanted to have a greater say in world matters, then it had to involve itself in war and through this get as many allies as possible. And as such President Wilsons, in an effort to make America not to remain neutral in a world war, made a proclamation of May 1917 before Congress and for a declaration of war to be made on the Germans (Burgan, 45). In my opinion, the Zimmermann telegram was not a valid reason for getting into war but was simply a pretext.

If I Could travel back to any point in history,what would it be and Essay

If I Could travel back to any point in history,what would it be and why - Essay Example America’s growth began to slow down and many were lucky to even have food to eat. There were also serious droughts that created what is known as the dust bowl. This made it hard to grow food which only added to the affects of The Great Depression. Pictures can barely even describe the actual pain that many had to go through once they lost everything. It would be a great experience to actually be able to see firsthand what The Great Depression was actually like. What would be the most amazing is to see how many kept positive although going through such a bad time. Techniques used by many to keep positive and moving forward can be used today. This would be helpful since currently we are experiencing events similar to The Great Depression. Going back into history to see what works and what doesn’t would be beneficial to many and that’s why if I could travel back in time, I would travel to experience The Great

Concrete mixing Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Concrete mixing - Lab Report Example e is influenced by the chemical composition of the cement, hydration as well as development of microstructure, admixtures, and characteristics of the aggregate. In addition, the quality is strongly influenced by placement, consolidation, as well as curing. The performance of the concrete throughout its service life is also largely influenced by the method employed in mixing, placing, curing and transporting the concrete. It is also necessary for the civil engineers to perform various quality control tests which should include slump tests, air content tests, as well as strength-gain-with-time tests. It is a well known fact that concretes which are considered as good and those considered as bad may have the same ingredients. The difference between good and bad concretes may come about due to the expertise of the engineer as well as the technicians who handle the concrete during construction. Concrete has been employed in many more applications in the past few decades due to the advances that have been made in concrete technology. It is necessary for civil and construction engineers to be aware of the available alternatives to the conventional concrete, roller-compacted concrete and fiber-reinforced concrete. The weight of air entraining agent should 0.05% of cement. Air is entrained in the concrete by the air-entraining admixtures which contain surface-active agents which are concentrated at the air-water interface. Bubbles are formed readily when the surface tension is lowered, and the bubbles stability remains after being formed. The mixing water foams with the air-entraining admixtures and the formed consequently locked into the paste during the hardening of concrete. The entrapped air voids are not the same as entrained air voids. This is because the air voids are formed by chance when air enters the fresh concrete during mixing whereas the entrained air voids are formed on purpose as described above. The size of the entrapped air voids can be as large as 3 mm

Austrian and Post-Keynesian theories of the competitive process

Austrian and Post-Keynesian theories of the competitive process The Austrian School is a heterodox school of economic thought that emphasizes the spontaneous organizing power of the price mechanism, which was influential in the late 19th and early 20th century (Boettke, 2008). After the 1870s, Marxism spread rapidly in the ranks of workers, and the economic theories that defended for the capitalists went bankrupt. The Austrian economics based on three core concepts: entrepreneurship, subjectivism and market process, which became popular after that. The Post-Keynesian school of thought was developed in the debate with the neoclassical synthesis. After The General Theory of Keynes was published, some different points of view on the practical problems arose in the followers of Keynes, and gradually formed two opposing schools of thought: neoclassical and the Post Keynesian School. The theoretical foundation of Post Keynesian economics is the principle of effective demand, that demand matters in the long as well as the short run, so that a competitiv e market economy has no natural or automatic tendency towards full employment (Arestis, 1996). The objective of this paper is comparing and contrasting Austrian and Post-Keynesian theories of the competitive process. The similarities and differences between these two theories will be stated orderly. Although Austrian and Post-Keynesian theories are two different schools of thought, they still have some degree of similarities. First, they both advocate uncertainty. Next, they both cannot be regarded as profit maximizers. Last, the competitive process is seen as a dynamic process by both theories. First of all, for the Austrian approach uncertainty is pervasive. One of the Austrians core concepts is entrepreneurship. Austrian school thinks that the community is a collection of individuals. Individuals economic activity is a microcosm of the national economy. Through the interpretation of individual economic activities, reasoning illustrates the complexities of real economic phenomena. Entrepreneur is the individual here in the real economy. They are all different in each other. Therefore entrepreneurs in particular always face fundamental uncertainty. Kirzner (1973) emphasized the uncertainty present in all human decision-making, has primarily focused on the entrepreneurial market process. For the Post-Keynesian approach firms pricing behaviour is determined by a mark-up rule. This behavioural approach to pricing is partly in response to the imprecision of price setting in conditions of uncertainty. Uncertainty is the fundamental element of Keynes theory, and Post-Keynesian fo llowed and developed it. In the Post-Keynesian theory of agency, agents are non-optimisers due to fundamental uncertainty. According to Fernando Ferarri Filho (2001), in a context in which time is historical, economic agents do not decide future actions on the basis of statistical series analyses or beliefs justified by experience. To the contrary, decision-making is classified as an environment of true uncertainty. They are not the rational calculators of standard theory. This suggests some overlap with Austrian theory. Second, in Austrians term, entrepreneurs display purposeful pursuit of profit in the competitive process, which provides market order. It cannot be regarded as profit maximizers due to fundamental uncertainty. However profit is still therefore important in motivating agents. Neoclassical theory assume that manufacturers pursuit profit maximization, but we all know there is another voice in society requiring manufacturers to take social responsibility. Social responsibility will increase the companys operating costs, which is not conducive to their competition in the market. So, non-profit-maximizing firms will be sustained by the loss of profits and investment capacity and continuous losses, and finally be forced out of the market. Austrian school advocates idealism and they do not believe that firms select the behaviour of pursuit profit maximization. In post-Keynesian economics, firms are not assumed to maximize profits as well, as is clear in Lavoie (1992, p.105), The standard cri tique of the neoclassical theory of the firm is that profit maximization is not possible because of the lack of pertinent knowledge due to an uncertain environment. Profit maximization is then replaced by profit satisfying. Firms are assumed to set themselves threshold levels of profits; that is, minimum levels of profits or of rates of return. Furthermore, the firms overall objective is the pursuit of power. This involves attempting to control its environment. To become powerful, firms must be big; to become big, firms must grow. Growth is the subjective and profits are the means to realize this objective. However, maximizing growth does not equal to maximizing profits. Firms maximize the rate of growth, subject to various finance and expansion constraints. Last, both school of thoughts believe that there is no absolute equilibrium in the competitive process. The Austrian school views competition as a dynamic process, and sees the market process is driven by entrepreneurial activity. Continual change comes from uncertainty gives rise to the process of market activity. This process provides a more fluid account of market activity, than is typical of standard or neoclassical theory. The equilibrium approach of standard theory, it is claimed, cannot capture the dynamics of the competitive process. The dynamic competitive process of entrepreneurial discovery is one which is seen as trending systematically toward, rather than away from, the path to equilibrium (Kirzner, 1997). In contrast to the equilibrium dynamics of standard theory Austrian economics advocates process dynamics. The process of competition is ever changing and open-ended, and cannot be represented by equilibrium. Furthermore, Hicks, who first introduced the term traverse in to economics, characterized it as the path which will be followed when the steady state is subjected to some kind of disturbance (Hicks, 1973, p.81). In other words, the traverse defines the movement of the economy outside equilibrium. It plays a particularly role in Post-Keynesian theory, as most Post-Keynesian economists have serious doubts about the relevance and usefulness of equilibrium analysis (King, 2003, p.355). Therefore, Post-Keynesian economists analysis the economic phenomenon based on a dynamic competitive process as well as Austrian school. On the other hand, there are also many differences between Austrian theory and Post-Keynesian theory of the competitive process. It is mainly reflected in three aspects, basic principles and methodology, views on competition, theories of agency. First, Austrians are concerned with how a whole economic system works. The individualism and subjectivism of theoretical assumptions is a major concern. They avoid tunnel vision and investigate how the specialized activities of millions of persons, who are making their decisions in a decentralized manner, can be coordinated. The relevant knowledge, such as resources, technology, human wants, and market conditions, is inevitably fragmented among millions, even billions, of separate human minds (Yeager, 2001). Therefore, in Austrian terms there would be no competition in perfect competition as there is no role for entrepreneurial activity. Because entrepreneur will not stay in a market which cannot make abnormal profits. However, Post-Keynesian economists are typically more concerned with explanation than prediction as well as distribution, particularly at an aggregate and systemic level, but not with standard welfare economics. The realism of theoretical assumptions is a major concern . They believe that oligopoly is the normal state of affairs in most markets and oligopolists will typically hold some degree of excess production capacity. The degree of monopoly will vary across different markets. These are different from Austrian economics. Next, the second difference is the views on competition. In the Austrian school, competition is redefined in terms of entrepreneurial rivalry. Entrepreneurs play a crucial role by noticing missed opportunities and discover an act upon new pieces of information. The Austrian school of economics argues that true competition is a process rather than a static condition. For competition to be improved and sustained there needs to be a genuine desire on behalf of entrepreneurs to engage in competitive behaviour, to innovate and to invent to drive markets forward (Riley, 2006). In an uncertain environment entrepreneurial activity is characterised by error and errors lead to change. In contrast, Post-Keynesian economics argues that competition is inherently about dominance. Dominance here indicates dominant firms set the price in the market. The Post-Keynesian economics believe that market cannot determine the prices. Prices are administered in accordance with firms objectives and are not ty pically market-clearing prices due to the pursuit of power. Therefore, firms use a mark-up pricing rule, which is price equals average cost plus mark up. The Post-Keynesian school of economics argues that market dominance is merely perfect and markets are prone to reinforcing dominance over time. Finally, theses two school of thoughts advocate different theories of agency. On the one hand, Austrian theory is strongly individualist. All theory is based on individuals, which are entrepreneurs instead of firms or industries or other higher-level agents. But some Post-Keynesian theories are concerned with the social and historical location of economic actors. On the other hand, because of fundamental uncertainty, agents in Austrian theory are broadly rational but they are not the rational calculators of neoclassical theory. But agents do behave with intent. They engage in purposeful action and can make qualitative judgements. This radical subjectivism leads to an interest in individual rights over welfare considerations. These diverse activities are interdependent; yet no particular agency takes charge of coordinating them, and none would be competent to do so (Yeager, 2001). However, agents in Post-Keynesian theory are central to understanding how markets work. King (2003, p.1) argued that since agents make choices, they must possess a capacity that enables them to accomplish this. The idea of making a choice involves more than just a random or capricious action. To make a choice is to engage in an intentional act based upon reasons and beliefs, which must be possessed by agents. Furthermore, agents cannot be optimisers because they have to deal with uncertainty in attempting to establish their dominance. The role of uncertainty is perhaps less positive than it is in Austrian theory. In conclusion, this paper compared and contrasted Austrian and Post-Keynesian theories of the competitive process. First, the three similarities between these two theories of the competitive process were stated. Both Austrian and Post-Keynesian theories advocate uncertainty in the competitive process. Both these two schools cannot be regarded as profit maximizers. And the competitive process is seen as a dynamic process by both theories. Then the differences between these two theories been shown. The differences are mainly reflected in three aspects, basic principles and methodology, views on competition, theories of agency. Austrians are concerned with how a whole economic system works. The individualism and subjectivism of theoretical assumptions is a major concern. Competition is redefined in terms of entrepreneurial rivalry. And Austrian theory is strongly individualist. All theory is based on individuals, which are entrepreneurs instead of firms or industries or other higher-lev el agents. However, Post-Keynesian economists are typically more concerned with an aggregate and systemic level, but not with standard welfare economics. The realism of theoretical assumptions is a major concern. Competition is inherently about dominance. And they are concerned with the social and historical location of economic actors.

Rate of reaction between Hydrochloric Acid and Calcium Carbonate Essay

Rate of reaction between Hydrochloric Acid and Calcium Carbonate Calcium carbonate reacts with hydrochloric acid to form carbon dioxide gas. One way of following the rate of reaction at which it reacts is to measure the volume of carbon dioxide produced at certain time intervals during the reaction. CaCO + 2HCl CaCl + H O + CO =========================== Calcium Carbonate + Hydrochloric Acid Calcium Chloride + Water + Carbon Dioxide Equipment --------- Delivery tube Conical flask Hydrochloric acid Calcium carbonate chips Burette Beaker Electric scales Measuring cylinder Tub Water Electric timer Goggles Retort stand The different factors that can affect my experiment are the temperature, the concentration of my reactants and the surface area, also adding a catalyst. We have decided to test different concentrations of hydrochloric acid for our experiment because it will give us sufficient results to make our evidence reliable. RATE OF REACTION BETWEEN HYDROCHLORIC ACID AND CALCIUM CARBONATE LOW CONCENTRATION HIGH CONCENTRATION I think that during our experiment, the higher the molarity of acid the quicker the rate of reaction will be, I think this because of the collision theory. If the solution is made more concentrated, there will be more particles in the solution. This makes collisions between important molecules more likely and will collide more often. At the beginning of the reaction, there are lots of reactants particles (and no products). This means a lot of productive collisions between reactants. As time goes on these reactants will become less and less (because reactants have been turned into products), therefore less collisions, so the rate of reaction will slow down. If the molarity of the acid concentratio... ...act same size we could use 2 chips in one experiment and get 1g then we could use 4 chips in another experiment and still get 1g. This meant that the surface area for the hydrochloric acid changed in each experiment for it to react and collide with. I could have stopped this by sieving so I would get chips that are of the same or close enough the same surface area. Overall my results are fairly reliable, yet could be subjective to change if better methods were available. If I was to do my experiment again I would make sure I would do it all on the same day and maybe change the limits of the products so that the results we got could be more accurate and we would have less anomalous results like the 2.5 molar experiment. However, if I did this experiment again I would expect the same results and patterns that I have got apart from the 2.5 molar and 3 molar experiments.

Anne Carson Essay

â€Å"Early one morning words were missing.† When I first read Short Talks, I had difficulty understanding why Anne Carson wrote about what she did, and thought that some words must have been missing. I was confused as to how they all fit together and it was only after further consideration that I came to see how the sections unite into one cohesive piece. Anne Carson’s Short Talks is a series of short reflections on different subjects that at first do not seem to be related, but through her use of cyclical images and consistent use of historical facts in fiction, the piece gains a cohesive quality that unifies the work. Throughout this piece Anne Carson references many historical figures. She mentions many famous people, including Frans Kafka, Gertrude Stein, Prokofiev, and Sylvia Plath, and by referencing these people she borrows from the authority they hold in the readers mind to strengthen her own work. She even references Frans Kafka multiple times, which acts to reinforce her authority. She references him first in the short talk â€Å"On Rectification† about his life and wife, and then brings him up again in â€Å"On The Anatomy†. By having her texts refer back onto themselves in an authoritative way, she strengthens her reliability in the reader’s mind as well as the relatedness of the different Talks. Anne Carson goes further than just bringing up historical figures. She also references many historical works of art as well as facts. The way in which she does this unifies her talks in a way that seems scientifically reliable. It appears as though she has facts to base her talks on, which stops the reader from wondering for too long if she is any sort of authority on the subject. She places these historical references throughout the text to curb the readers questions, as if to say â€Å"look, I’m not making this up, see this fact? I am talking about real things, go look it up if you want.† She starts off the talks with a fact asserted alongside her assumptions. In â€Å"Homo sapiens† she says the phases of the moon were inscribed on the handles of the tools, so they could be â€Å"reminded of her presence† while they worked. While the tools may actually have had the phases of the moon inscribed upon them, it does not mean the inscriptions were used for th at purpose at all. Anne Carson asserts historical assumptions with historical fact consistently throughout her text, which serves to unify the text. Yep, she plays with that strict division between fact and fiction. I think she is showing us that the way she knows these facts is filtered through her aesthetics and her particular way of perceiving — even though she is a classics scholar, her facts are inevitably fictionalized. Anne Carson also uses many cyclical imagery to unite her work. There are many reappearing images in this work, including the moon, travel, and art, but one great use of imagery is her use of water. Water appears in many of the talks, including â€Å"On Waterproofing†. This short talk is particularly important because it gives a deeper meaning to the appearance of water. This is a very strong, emotionally charged, talk, and whenever water appears in the peace emotions seem to flow with it. In â€Å"On Waterproofing† the mother dies shortly after the father shines her shoes so they are â€Å"waterproof†. Water also appears again when she is looking for her lost lover she crosses rivers, and the strong emotions of loss are again connected with water. Water is also a very cyclical element. Water exists in the water cycle, and the water cycle is also related to the moon and its cycles. These are wonderful details to notice. I loved these sections too! Water is also important in more subtle ways throughout the text. In â€Å"On Trout† the cyclical nature of water is more subtly referred to. Trout live their lives entirely in the water, and their life cycle depends on swimming upstream to spawn. Anne Carson says that some trout do not spawn upstream, and says that these â€Å"remaining trout† survive the winter by finding somewhere very deep in the water to hide. This reference brings up imagery of both the water cycle and the life cycle of trout, but also reinforces the watery imagery throughout the text, which ultimately serves to unite the short talks as a whole.

Definition of the Preterite Tense in Spanish

Definition of the Preterite Tense in Spanish Definition of the Preterite Tense The preterite (often spelled preterit) verb tense is the tense that expresses an action that took  place at a definite time in the past. It is contrasted with the imperfect tense, which expresses an action that took place at an indefinite time or has not been completed. The preterite is the tense that would normally be thought of as the past tense in English. The preterite is also known as the simple past tense in English and as the pretà ©rito indefinido or pretà ©rito perfecto simple in Spanish. When To Use the Preterite In general, the preterite is used in referring to events that happened at a specific time or to repeated events that happened over a specific time. A simple example would be Ayer yo buscaba las llaves (I looked for the keys yesterday) because the event happened at a specific time. If youre talking about something that didnt occur at a particular time, you usually would use the imperfect tense. For example, you might say, Yo buscaba las llaves en todas partes (I looked for the keys everywhere), as its unspecified when you did the searching. Some Spanish words and phrases, sometimes known as indicators, always or nearly always are used with the preterite. Among the common ones: anoche (last night)anteayer (the day before yesterday)h3Miscellaneous Facts About the Preterite/h3el aà ±o pasado (last year)ayer (yesterday)hace _____ (_____ ago)el mes pasado (last month)el otro dà ­a (the other day)la semana pasada (last week) Conjugation of the Preterite Here are the regular  conjugations  for the preterite  -ar,  -er, and  -ir  verbs. The endings, added to the verb stems, are shown in boldface: Example  -ar  verb  cantar  (to sing): yo cantà ©Ã‚  (I sang)tà º cantaste  (you sang)usted/à ©l/ella cantà ³Ã‚  (you/he/she/it sang)nosotros/nosotras cantamos  (we sang)vosotros/vosotras cantasteis  (you sang)ustedes/ellos/ellas cantaron  (you/they sang) Example  -er  verb  temer  (to fear): yo temà ­Ã‚  (I feared)tà º temiste  (you feared)usted/à ©l/ella temià ³Ã‚  (you/he/she/it feared)nosotros/nosotras temimos  (we feared)vosotros/vosotras temisteis  (you feared)ustedes/ellos/ellas temieron  (you/they feared) Example  -ir  verb  partir  (to divide): yo partà ­Ã‚  (I divided)tà º partiste  (you divided)usted/à ©l/ella partià ³Ã‚  (you/he/she/it divided)nosotros/nosotras partimos  (we divided)vosotros/vosotras partisteis  (you divided)ustedes/ellos/ellas partieron  (you/they divided) Note that in the first-person plural or we forms, the forms are the same for both the  present  and imperfect tenses. In other words,  cantamos  can mean either we sing or we sang. Context will nearly always tell you which translation is appropriate. Sample Sentences Using the Preterite Pablo me hablà ³. (Pablo spoke to me.) Ana escribià ³ la carta. (Ana wrote the letter). Hace dos aà ±os fuimos a Nueva Zelanda. (Two years ago we went to New Zealand.) Se se cayà ³ tu celular al agua y no sabes que hacer, no desesperes. (If your cellphone fell into the water and you dont know what to do, dont worry.) Se puso el sol. (The sun set.) Compraron dos respiradores para el hospital. (They bought two respirators for the hospital.) El aà ± aà ±o pasado, esperamos las lluvias, pero nunca llegaron. (Last year we expected the rains, but they never came.) Anteayer estudiamos la epidemia de Barcelona de 1821. (The day before yesterday we studied the 1821 Barcelona epidemic. Note that without anteayear, the sentence would be ambiguous as to whether the studying occurred in the past or is currently taking place.) Ayear  fui el mejor dà ­a de mi vida. (Yesterday  was the best day of my life.) Mirà © a la derecha y ella mirà ³ a la izquierda. (I looked to the right and she looked to the left.)   Miscellaneous Facts About Using the Preterite The preterite is nearly always used in discussing events that happened only one time. El concierto fue un à ©xito. (The concert was a success.) One use of the preterite is to indicate that a process has become complete. La estudiante alcanzà ³ el tà ­tulo de campeà ³n. (The student took  the title of champion.) The preterite can also be used to indicate the beginning of a process: Guillermo conocà ­ a mi madre. (Guillermo met my mother. Note that conocer can mean to know or to meet. The translation of met is used because it refers to the moment that the two people began to know each other.)Tuve el coche perfecto. (I got the perfect car. If you used the imperfect form, tenà ­a, the verb would indicate ownership of the car rather than the obtaining of it.)

A Review of Software Tools for Quantitative Data Analysis

A Review of Software Tools for Quantitative Data Analysis If youre a   sociology student or budding social scientist and have started to work with quantitative (statistical) data, analytic software will be very useful to you. These programs force researchers to organize and clean her data and offer pre-programmed commands that allow everything from very basic to quite advanced forms of statistical analysis. They even offer useful visualizations that will be useful as you seek to interpret your data, and that you may wish to use when presenting it to others. There are many programs on the market, but unfortunately, they are quite expensive to purchase. The good news for students and faculty is that most universities have licenses for at least one program which students and professors can use. In addition, most programs offer a free, pared-down version of the full software package which will often suffice. Heres a review of the three main programs that quantitative social scientists use. Statistical Package forSocial Science (SPSS) SPSS is the most popular quantitative analysis software program used by social scientists. Made and sold by IBM, it is comprehensive, flexible, and can be used with almost any type of data file. However, its especially useful for analyzing large-scale survey data. It can be used to generate tabulated reports, charts, and plots of distributions and trends, as well as generate descriptive statistics such as means, medians, modes and frequencies in addition to more complex statistical analyses like regression models. SPSS provides a user interface that makes it easy and intuitive for all levels of users. With menus and dialogue boxes, you can perform analyses without having to write command syntax, like in other programs. It is also simple and easy to enter and edit data directly into the program. There are a few drawbacks, however, which might not make it the best program for some researchers. For example, there is a limit on the number of cases you can analyze. It is also difficult to account for weights, strata and group effects with SPSS. STATA STATA is an interactive data analysis program that runs on a variety of platforms. It can be used for both simple and complex statistical analyses. STATA uses a point-and-click interface as well as command syntax, which makes it easy to use. STATA also make it simple to generate graphs and plots of data and results. Analysis in STATA is centered around four windows: the command window, review window, result window and variable window. Analysis commands are entered into the command window and the review window records those commands. The variables window lists the variables that are available in the current data set along with the variable labels, and the results appear in the results window. SAS SAS, short for Statistical Analysis System, is also used by many businesses; in addition to statistical analysis, it also allows programmers to perform report writing, graphics, business planning, forecasting, quality improvement, project management and more. SAS is a great program for the intermediate and advanced user because it is very powerful; it can be used with extremely large datasets and can perform complex and advanced analyses. SAS is good for analyses that require you to take into account weights, strata or groups. Unlike SPSS and STATA, SAS is run largely by programming syntax rather than point-and-click menus, so some knowledge of the programming language is required.

Immigration law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 1

Immigration law - Essay Example However, the blurring of the distinction between the need to legislate for immigration on the one hand and protection from terrorism on the other is further perpetuated by the patchwork of piecemeal immigration legislation in the UK, which is further compounded by the legal rights of asylum seekers. On the other side of the legal spectrum, the implementation of the Human Rights Act in 1998 (HRA) enshrines the fundamental rights and freedoms of the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law. From an immigration policy perspective, the most important rights relied on in immigration cases have been the Article 5 right, which prohibits detention without trial and the right not to be subjected to degrading treatment under Article 3. Additionally, Article 14 guarantees rights under the ECHR. On the one hand, these fundamental freedoms are essential to the function of the UK as a democracy. On the other hand, the reliance on the ECHR rights through the HRA 1998 arguably undermines immigration rules and legislation, which enables the UK immigration system to be exploited1. However, it is precisely this paradox within the law that enables the changing Governmental policy from circumventing both entrenched immigration and asylum rules and human rights protection on grounds of â€Å"national security†2. This is particularly evidenced by the implementation of the controversial Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2003 (ACTSA), which permits derogation from the ECHR. The contradictory nature of UK immigration policy and compliance with human rights highlights the inherent flaw in enacting knee jerk legislative responses to socio-economic issues. This further highlighted by the dichotomy in protection afforded by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) 1950 and the Convention on the Status of Refugees 1951

Ralph K. Andrist's The Long Death Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ralph K. Andrist's The Long Death - Essay Example achinery, the railroad, concepts of private property, and the capitalist economic system all served to further isolate the Indians both geographically and economically. By 1864, the Native territory had been shrunk and was on a path to the coming reservation system that would be the death knell for the Indian culture and way of life. The violence that began at Sand Creek in 1864 culminated in the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre and signaled the passing of the great North American Indian civilizations. While the violence against the Native Americans did not begin at Sand Creek in 1864, it was the most egregious violation of human rights that had been perpetrated on the Indians to that date. In the early morning hours of November 29, 1864 US soldiers from the Colorado Territory militia and cavalry brutally attacked a Cheyenne settlement that was occupied by some 700 unarmed inhabitants, mostly women and children (Andrist 91). The Indians had been isolated on a small tract of land to make their territory available to the Gold Rush. Estimates vary on the number killed, but may have been as high as 500 fatalities. This was a peaceful village that had been led to believe that they were under the protection of the Army. In the summer of 1864 John Evans, Governor of Colorado, issued a proclamation of safety for all Plains Indians that demonstrated their peaceful intentions by placing themselves in the custody of the Army (Keenan 104). The Indians were told to fly an American flag as a sh ow of their loyalty as a means of protection. However, the American flag and a subsequent white flag both went unheeded as the troops attacked. The commanding officer at Sand Creek, Colonel Chivington, ordered the attack and was personally responsible for the degree of brutality exhibited. Prior to the onslaught Colonel Chivington "believed it to be right and honorable to use any means under Gods heaven to kill Indians that would kill women and children and damn any man that was in sympathy

Article Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Review - Article Example However, not only were their actions racist, albeit disguised thinly, â€Å"[b]ut the new policies were also deeply embedded in widespread and widely shared assumptions† (Kessler-Harris 2010, 437) that can only be classified as sexist. Those busy in reforming the law made it clear that they were more interested in safeguarding what was, then, classic American way of life, than safeguarding the rights of all. The reforms that were proposed sought to take contributions from all working people, yet it did not give back the money as Social Security to all who had contributed. Families of men, and then too those belonging to certain occupations, were entitled to the money in case of the death of the man. However, what is interesting is that widows who remarried or who did not have young children and had not reached the age of 65 yet were excluded. Moreover, the social security of a widow â€Å"was to be reduced or eliminated if her earnings exceeded fifteen dollars a month† (Kessler-Harris 2010, 439). In order to win over the racists who were still present in Congress, the reformers also kept in hidden clauses that ensured that colored workers will not be entitled to the Social Security money. Fields of employment which were predominantly black, like agricultural workers, were excluded from the entitlement list. The reformers excluded household workers from the list of the entitled class of workers, and with 90% of the household working force being female and 45% of it being black (Kessler-Harris 2010), they not only excluded women, but caused the black women a double jeopardy of sorts, as most of the men in their family were already excluded based on the racist reforms. Of course, this clearly suggests that they thought a woman was to be subservient to a man and it was the duty of the man to provide and for a woman to take care of the home. Therefore, a widow who remarried or who had old children had someone else to look after her and so was not considered entitled.

Marriage Problems Essay Example for Free

Marriage Problems Essay Few of us do like to be told what to do. Hitting each other between the eyes with issues you know you know your partner is insecure about will not help you resolve the issue. The silence or fights that usually follow just perpetuate the cycling of pursuing behavior followed by distancing behavior. Help lead an obstinate partner to make some choices for him\herself. Friends, lovers, and business partners learn what your vulnerabilities and insecurities are just by spending time with you. You can avoid cycling into repetitive arguments by discussing your own fears and areas of vulnerability. Leslie could tell Jim that she worries about being a nag and knows that her request is not nagging just a request for cooperation. The conversation with Jim can continue now. Leslie could further ask what needs to happen first before they attend to chores. Leslie has given Jim room now to make a choice. He might say he wants to pay bills, work out, make love with her, before they clean the house. You want to move toward shared decision making to move away from power struggles. Good friendship, love, and business relationships are built on mutual trust, respect, cooperation and reciprocity. If you are not cooperating with each other, each person must look at themselves and come up with what each willfully says, does or does not say or do that is contributing to the problem. Next, you can discuss what each of you are willing to do to change yourself. All relationships need elasticity to grow over time. Remember that it does take two to tango. A relationship problem is always our problem. Together you create the peacock dances and together problems can be resolved. You show you care about having a healthy relationship when you are willing to rationally and calmly resolve conflicts. Know when to disengage as well as engage in a conversation. When a person is under the influence of substances or too angry to talk, wait for a clear headed time frame to talk. Some behaviors are always unacceptable. Dont fight dirty. No one drives you to drink or strike another person. When behavior is extreme, you are out of touch with yourself and control with yourself. You always have the choice to be extremely aggravated and express that long before you feel like acting out your anger by drowning your feelings or striking out. Debt If you and your spouse jointly apply for a credit card or loan, both your credit scores will be checked to approve the application. If one or both of you have bad credit, there’s a chance your application won’t be approved. Or, if the application’s approved, the interest rate and fees might be higher than if the spouse with the higher credit score applied separately. With joint accounts and accounts on which one spouse is an authorized user, the history of the account is reported on both spouses’ credit reports, even if only one spouse actually uses the account. On joint accounts, both spouses are responsible for making credit card and loan payments. Furthermore, if the account becomes delinquent, the creditor or lender will attempt to collect from both spouses. With authorized user accounts, only the primary account holder is legally responsible for paying the credit card debt.

Equality in School Finance Essay -- essays research papers fc

Equality in School Finance In The Story of the Education Dollar, Odden, Monk, Nakib and Picus describe some basic facts about education spending in the United States to facilitate an understanding of the level and uses of the federal government's policies on education funding. The purpose of the authors' discussion is to argue that public education facilities need to change their focus on the consumption of educational resources to a focus on producing high levels of student achievement. They contend that such a redirection in focus will require large improvements in student achievement, given that only about 10 percent of students currently attain the desired level of achievement across the board in mathematics, science, writing, history, geography and civics. James Traub expands on their discussion to argue for the necessary inclusion of after-care activities for inner-city youth in any successful educational spending program. Odden et al. note that their analysis of spending patterns across the 50 states is supported by the conclusions reached by the Finance Center of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE), although the results of their research did diverge in some significant ways. Odden et al. examined spending and staffing patterns at the district and school levels. They also scrutinized staffing patterns of expenditures by function and program and spending across curriculum content areas in California, Florida and New York. Their major conclusion was that while there had been considerable national investment in public education during the 20th century, as a rule the funds were distributed unfairly and used ineffectively. The largest portion of increased spending during the 20th century occurred to hire more teachers to reduce class size and to provide more out-of-classroom services, particularly for special education purposes. However, they argue that neither strategy boosted student achievement very much. Also, although education spending has increased teachers' salaries, it has not been used to improve the quality of the teachers. Notably, Odden et al. found that both low-spending and high-spending school districts fund education spending in the same proportions, meaning that high-spending districts tend to have lower class sizes and higher teacher salaries. The authors argue this discrepancy reflects the "fiscal regulariti... ...otes that while we must, as Odden et al. advocate, approach each reform program as though it could provide unlimited success, we must also take into account the demonstrated limitation of such programs. Significantly, blacks still score about 200 points lower than whites on College Boards and an average 17-year-old black student reads at a 13-year-old level. Thus, Traub argues, schools are not the final arbiter of student achievement. He contends that a child's home life and social culture, which can fail to nurture mental and intellectual stimulation, should be taken into consideration when drafting reform programs. He suggests the inclusion of programs such as Impact, a multi-purpose, social service program that offers year-round day care, adult literacy programs, and health care programs. At the least, the calls for the need for after-school activities that provides an alternative environment for inner-city youth. Bibliography Odden, Allan, Monk, David, Nakib, Yasser and Picus, Lawrence. "The Story of the Education Dollar." Phi Delta Kappan (October, 1995): 161-168. Traub, James. "What No School Can Do." New York Times Magazine (January 16, 2000): 52-91.