Petroleum and Investment Grade Rating

Petrolera Zuata, Petrozuata C. A. case study â€Å"La Apertura† (The Opening) †¢ Target: Orinoco Belt heavy/extra heavy oil accumulation (biggest known in the world) †¢ Key Strategy: Opening Venezuelan oil sector to foreign oil companies †¢ How: Profit sharing agreements, operating service agreements, strategic joint-venture associations †¢ Ownership: PDVSA or subsidiaries contribute10 years), fixed interest rates, fewer more flexible covenants, larger amounts. – Cons: fund must be raised in a lump sum.Excess funds create a drag on earnings (negative carry) †¢ Rule 144A market (private placement market): – Pros: Like public bonds + speed, underwritten within six months – Cons: only qualified investors can invest in them Conditions needed: hot markets and investment grade rating What kind of debt to choose? †¢ The sponsors should use 144A (private bonds) to fund the deal because of the important advantages and the significant d isadvantages which can arise by using the other debt kinds. Rule 144A has big advantage of time – Markets seem to be going in the right direction (Hot markets) – What else is needed?†¦ (on the next slide: Investment grade) Investment Grade Rating †¢ Agencies look at 3 main factors: sponsors’ creditworthiness, project’s economics and Venezuela’s sovereign risk. †¢ Problem: Venezuela’s rating: S&P â€Å"B† Moody’s â€Å"Ba2† †¢ Petrozuata is strictly connected with country’s risks because it is controlled by PDVSA which is Venezuela’s state oil company and operates in Venezuela †¢ If Venezuela defaults on its debt Petrozuata will default too unless†¦ Conoco Inc. is a subsidiary of DuPont which operates worldwide and has investment grade rating †¢ Investing in Petrozuata is indirectly investing in DuPont †¢ If you invest in Petrozuata your real investment is also in Vene zuela and DuPont †¢ Petrozuata project has a very good structure and business projections †¢ Same comparables with other oil companies operating in other countries and having investment rate grading †¢ Ras Laffan example of oil company having higher rating than the country in which it operates(Qatar) In order to obtain investment grading it is very important to have DuPont in the deal †¢ If rating agencies consider the fact that Petrozuata will repay its debt although Maraven defaults on its part of debt because DuPont wants to mantain its good reputation it might obtain an investment grading †¢ If Venezuela is strictly linked to Petrozuata and has a â€Å"B† then Petrozuata should have at least a â€Å"B† rating plus a considerable bonus because the risk is diversified into DuPont †¢ Project’s base case DSCR would probably have to exceed 1. 0X †¢ Break-even point low enough so the project can cover all operating and financing costs if oil prices fall substantially Is it a good deal? †¢ We would invest in project bonds as they will likely yield a higher return compared to the 21% cost of equity. Factors that need to be considered: †¢ Hierarchy of payments is good (referred to â€Å"Cash Waterfall†) †¢ Balance Sheet and Income statement suggest PDVSA and DuPont are supposed to be solid companies †¢ Oil prices are not that volatile; fluctuating but arresting around a price between $20 and $25 per barrel (suggested nominal break-even price in 2008 $8. 3 per barrel) †¢ Lower operating costs with respect to competitors (cash operating cost around $3. 19 against industry median at $8. 55) †¢ More than enough heavy crude oil reserves to sustain the planned production according DeGolyer & MacNoughton (U. S. based oil consulting firm) †¢ Project’s design in accordance with good industry practice; complying with Venezuelan and International environmental laws as stat ed by Stone & Webster Overseas Consultants, a U. S. ngineering and consulting firm What should Conoco take into account? †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ True problem is not very favorable business environment Theoretically, if all contracts are respected and hierarchy of payments holds, the only entities bearing risks are PDVSA and DuPont with their capital investment Banks and whoever invests in project bonds according to the hierarchy of payments should be a safe investor Uncertainty in government’s future actions could be very harmful.Remember that in January 1976 the Venezuelan government nationalized the domestic oil industry and the compensation package was only 20% of market value!!! (according to foreign oil companies). Lending to Petrozuata is indirectly investing in Venezuela’s business environment and doing business with the government as PDVSA is 100% government owned, which has a non-investment grading by rating agencies †¢ What should Conoco do? Take carefully in consideration what has been mentioned †¢ Make an in depth analysis on Venezuela’s macroeconomic issues †¢ Try to revise the â€Å"Off take agreement† to be sure of having the right to buy the 104,000 BPCD at the pre-fixed price †¢ If benefits exceed these further costs then consider equity investment †¢ Otherwise the best move would be to take some other entity in the deal to diversify risks even more †¢ Personally, we would be very cautious with investing equity capital as Conoco.

Alcoholics Anonymous †Essay Essay

Alcoholics Anonymous came to be in Akron Ohio in 1935 It was formed by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob out of a desperation to stay sober and not quite knowing how to do so. Bill W. had the idea that maybe one drunk trying to help another stay sober might be the key. Originally Bill W. tried to get sober by attending a religious group, the Oxford Group, and his evolved into AA as we know it today. Bill W. had managed to put together six months of sobriety when he was out of town and was in a situation where he felt like he needed to drink. Instead of taking that first drink he reached out, trying to stay sober. He thought maybe if he helped another drunk, he would feel better and he did. This premise is still keeping drunks sober today. In the early days Dr Bob abd Bill W. would make their rounds to the hospitals trying to help others get sober. The original Big Book or book of AA was based on the fact that one-hundred people had managed to get sober at the time that book was written. Today there are thousands upon thousands of people who are recovering, not only from alcohol but many different kinds of addictions. One of the things that remains true are the original twelve steps of recovery. It is the telling of how the original pioneers got sob er and stayed sober. After all these years the program remains strong and is the spring-board for self-help groups. The twelve steps are the program of recovery and it is essential that people who want to recover and keep their disease in remission they should work the steps to the best of their ability. Many people don’t get past step 1; people falter on the steps based on what they believe at that particular moment. Many people can’t or won’t believe in something other than themselves, so step three is out-turning their lives over. Step four is a huge stumbling block, and then having to talk to someone else about what they did wrong is huge. My point is, is that is not easy. Recovery is not easy, the drinking and using part was the easier softer way. For people that would like a better life and would like to learn to live life sober, they must practice the principles of AA, it really is life and death. Many people die every day from this disease. It is my opinion that society has a responsibility to educate our children in that this is a horrific disease and anyone can become afflicted. The stigma associated with this must be eradicated in favor of a medical view that treats it as what it is; a  bio-psycho-social disease.

German Civilization(New German Cinema) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

German Civilization(New German Cinema) - Essay Example After the World War II, German film industry was in great turmoil due to the division of Germany wherein many people got separated from their families. Most films in 1950s were characterized as ‘escapist’ entertainment by critics because they shied away to address contemporary issues although they remained popular among German audience. However, with the advent of television box-office collection of such films began falling drastically and cinemas began to close. At the beginning of 1960s, German film industry became not only economically vulnerable due to lack of creative and artistic touch but was struggling for its survival. That is evident from the fact that in 1961, none of the German film got entry at the prestigious Venice Film Festival. That was also the time when the German market was largely in control of Hollywood movies. Film industry, especially young and talented film makers greatly needed financial support without which it was impossible for them to either make films or compete with Hollywood films in German market due to latter’s financial strength. The German governments support in this respect providing financial stability to the New German Cinema came very handy. Many makers of the New German Cinema also collaborated with the German TV. This is in sharp contrast with Hollywood movies where they compete with local TV for audience. The German governments support to the New Cinema through tax reliefs and bank credits made it possible for young makers to produce some of the great movies. Thus, the New German Cinema not only survived on government funding and support but prospered too – to be touted as National Cinema. Many films in The New German Cinema ran packed houses around the world. In ot her words, it helped made the national cinema popular internationally. The Oberhausen Manifesto is known as the beginning of the New German Cinema. Films made during this era made a clear departure from traditional cinema –

Aspirin Use and Pancreatic Cancer Mortality in a large United States Essay

Aspirin Use and Pancreatic Cancer Mortality in a large United States Cohort - Essay Example Jacobs et al. examined the association between these two through the Cancer Prevention Study II (CPS II), a large group of U. S. adults. In the past, aspirin use had been shown to decrease the risk of colon, stomach, and esophageal cancer in the same group. The group consisted of 1,184,588 people in all, with 508,318 males and 676,270 females who came from all U.S. states as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico (Jacobs et al. 2004, p. 524). In 1982, the group completed a four page questionnaire that gave data regarding â€Å"demographics characteristics and various behavioral, environmental, occupational, and dietary factors† (Jacobs et al., 2004, p. 524-525). In 1982, 1984, 1986 and 2000 follow ups were conducted to see if the group members were alive or dead. It was found that 28.1% of them had died and 0.2% could not be traced, whereas 71.7% were alive. A few of the participants had been excluded from the study based on their cancer history, cigarette smoking, o r missing data on aspirin use. Resultantly, 987,590 participants were left, out of which 4577 died from pancreatic cancer (Jacobs et al., 2004, p. 525). Statistics were gathered using the information given by the participants in their 1982 questionnaires, and the Cox model of proportional hazards was used to analyze the ratio of deaths caused by pancreatic cancer, and other potential risk factors, for instance cigarette smoking, dietary habits and family history of pancreatic cancer, were adjusted in the findings (Jacobs et al., 2004, p. 525). The frequency of aspirin intake was also taken into account, and it was discovered that most of those who took aspirin regularly, i.e. more than 30 times a month, were older and white, just like the majority of participants, who were mostly middle aged or elderly and white (Jacobs et al., 2004, p. 526). The results showed that there was no relationship between aspirin use and pancreatic cancer mortality. The result was similar

Factors of Optimizing Performance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Factors of Optimizing Performance - Assignment Example This essay explores the benefits of time management that include: an individual or group becomes more productive; feels less stressed, individuals are able to do the things they want, ability to relate more positively with others, individuals and groups get more things done. In order to be a good time manager, an individual needs to have strategies or understand methods that will help him or her manage time effectively. Different scholars have come up with various principles and methods of effective time management. There are ten methods of effective time management and these include the following: know what you want to achieve, focus on activities that add value, get a life, plan it out, stay focused, work expand to fill allotted time, do similar tasks together, say ‘no’, work in your prime time and lastly prioritize. Cole identified these ten principles and said that they act as the basis for an effective time management strategy. In knowing what you want to achieve it is imperative for an individual to set goals so as to be able to work towards the attainment of the set goals. It is important that you set the major goals first because these give your personal and work life a structure and purpose. After setting the major goals it is important to set the minor goals and these are important because they lead to the attainment of the set major goals. For example, for the author's case had begun as an operator of Grade two at ANZ and aspiring to be the operation state manager, my small goals are to be proficient in one job, gain experience, go for further learning before applying for the Job. All these will contribute to my attainment of the position as a state manager.

A Narrative History (Brief Eighth Edition) Questions about chapter Assignment

A Narrative History (Brief Eighth Edition) Questions about chapter 18-23. George Brown Tindall - Assignment Example This reduced the ability of the confederate to survive. Obstacles that hindered the provision of equal citizenship for freed African Americans The death of Abraham Lincoln was a major setback to the provision of equal citizenship opportunities to the freed African Americans; this was also compounded by the tendency of the Southerners to restrict citizenship to only the white population. The newly elected president Andrew Johnson also did not show any interest in granting the freed African American equal opportunities of citizenships. Reconstruction Amendments and their purposes Various amendments were implemented in America in order to reconstruct the various sectors that were affected by the civil war for instance: The thirteenth amendment which was meant to eradicate slavery. The fourteenth amendment was also implemented to facilitate the effective implementation of then Civil Act Rights of 1866. Consequently, the third amendment is the Fifteenth amendment which was formulated with an objective of granting the African American the right to participate in voting activities. Reconstruction Plans by Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson and Congressional Reconstruction President Lincoln before his death had plans to incorporate the southerners in to the Union whereby 10% of the voting populace from the respective states which had participated in the previous elections of 1860 would take an oath of Loyalty to the Union and accept eradication of Slavery. Andrew Johnson on the other hand, demanded that 50% of the voting populace from each state that had participated in the last election would swear an allegiance to the Union and would formulate a constitution that would adopt the Thirteenth Amendment. Consequently, the Congressional Reconstruction had plans with specific stipulations that posited that; voters from the individual state would swear loyalty to the Union followed by a formulation of a constitution in each state in accordance to the demands of the Congress. T he congress also planned each officer of the confederate write a letter of pardon which they would review and accept the requirements of the 13th, 14th and the 15th amendments. Industries that formed the basis of the Economy of the New South After the civil war, the economy of the New South was supported by various industries such as; textile industries, steel and Agriculture which provided employment to over 70% of the populace in the South. Reasons why the blacks were disenfranchised in the 1890’s and how it was accomplished The major reason why the Blacks were disenfranchised in the 1890’s was due racial hatred that existed between races; it was done through arbitrary registration activities, conducting literary tests, lynching, mob killing as well as poll taxes. Differences in philosophy of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois According to Booker T, the African American would only be granted their full citizenship through their hard word and education a proof to the whites of the patience and faithfulness in conducting their duties. Du Bois on the other hand, opposed Booker T and posited that the latter’s ideology would only perpetuate the sufferings of the blacks from the hands of the whites hence campaigned for political acts and the promotion of

Why didnt the South win the Civil War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Why didnt the South win the Civil War - Essay Example One answer is that the North won it. The South lost because the North outmanned and outclassed it at almost every point, militarily. Despite the long-held notion that the South had all of the better generals, it really had only one good army commander and that was Lee. The rest were second-raters, at best. The North, on the other hand, had the good fortune of bringing along and nurturing people like Grant, William T. Sherman, Philip Sheridan, George H. Thomas, and others. The South was way outclassed industrially. There was probably never any chance of it winning without European recognition and military aid. And we can now see in retrospect what some, like Jefferson Davis, even saw at the time, which was that there was never any real hope of Europe intervening. It just never was in England or Frances interests to get involved in a North American war that would inevitably have wound up doing great damage, especially to Englands maritime trade. Industrially the South couldnt keep up in output and in manpower. By the end of the war, the South had, more or less, plenty of weaponry still, but it just didnt have enough men to use the guns. It is one of the factors of lost that south was inherently weaker in the various essentials to win a military victory than the North (Holness, 2). The North had a population of more than twenty-two million people to the Souths nine-and-a-half million, of whom three-and-a-half million were slaves. While the slaves could be used to support the war effort through work on the plantations and in industries and as teamsters and pioneers with the army, they were not used as a combat arm in the war to any extent. So if the South were to win, it had to win a short war by striking swiftly--in modem parlance, by an offensive blitzkrieg strategy. But the Confederates had established their military goals as fighting in defense of their homeland. In 1861, when enthusiasm was high in the

EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF THE IMERGING OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY IN GHANA(CAN Essay

EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF THE IMERGING OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY IN GHANA(CAN GHANA AVOID A RESOURSE CURSE) - Essay Example Whether or not Ghana’s current institutional framework will be capable of meeting the challenges posed by oil exploitation, and will be able to use this opportunity to bring greater prosperity and stability to the country, is a difficult question. In this paper, the reasons why other oil producers have failed to make a success of this industry will be examined. Having made this analysis, recommendations will be given for how Ghana can channel its new mineral wealth into strong economic growth and an improvement in living standards across the country. Contents 1. Introduction 1.1 West African Oil Production 1.2 Western Interests 1.3 Advantages of West African Oil 1.4 The ‘Resource Curse’ 1.5 Ghana 1.6 Oil Exploitation in Ghana 1.7 Drilling Begins 1.8 Chinese Interest 2. Literature Review 2.1 Ghana’s Success 2.2 Kosmos-Exxon Mobil Contract 2.3 Warnings of a Resource Curse 2.4 The Beginnings of Insurgency 2.5 Excessive Borrowing 2.6 The Nigerian Experience 3. Methodology 3.1 Choice of Subject 3.2 Data Collection and Analysis 4. Recommendations 4.1 Democracy 4.2 Transparency and Accountability 4.3 Investor Confidence 4.4 Role of Foreign Oil Companies and Governments 4.5 Revenue Management 4.6 A Diverse Economy 5. Conclusion Bibliography Figures Fig.1. Sources of U.S. Oil Imports, 2007 Fig.2. Ghana’s offshore oil fields. Fig.3. ... line from landlocked Chad to coastal Cameroon, and new explorations for potential oil fields on the Atlantic coast were signs that the region was becoming one of the West’s major oil suppliers. There is a general consensus that the proven reserves of West Africa are greater than those of either North American or Eastern Europe and Russia, and current major suppliers are Nigeria, Angola, Congo (Brazzaville), Gabon and Cameroon. Indeed, Nigeria is the world’s sixth largest provider of oil, and Angola will probably prove to have more oil than Kuwait. In response to increased Western demand for oil, it is expected that Nigeria and Angola, the region’s two biggest producers, will double or even triple their output in the course of the next decade. 1.2 Western Interests During the Cold War, the United States in particularly was heavily engaged in Africa in a strategic and military capacity, as part of its fight against global communism. Its administrations were determi ned that the Soviet Union would be able to find extensive allies in the region. Economic assistance was offered through the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), both of which are heavily influenced by the United States government. United States engagement also the form of military intervention, in regions where Communist insurgencies threatened capitalist governments, regardless of whether or not the latter were setting an example of good governance. In Angola, for example, the United States launched covert and overt CIA and special forces operations, in collusion with several different groups, and was concerned above all that Communist forces in the country should not gain control over the oil reserves. This often involved supporting unrepresentative governments in Luanda or the

Research Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Research - Assignment Example Interviews: Are a good method of data collection as they are in the form of a one on one conversation and both the interviewer and interviewee play an important role to come up with a solution to the problem or the research study topic: Interviews are useful in communicating on deep and lengthily research topics as they provide more insight to a problem and they open up a good platform or discussion between the interviewer and interviewee. They produce a higher response rate from the interviewee. Lastly the data collected has a high probability to be accurate as compared to the other qualitative research methods. Some of the disadvantages of interviews include. First, the interviewer may not deduce the right data if they are not consistent with the questions. Secondly, it may be time and energy consuming setting up the interview. Thirdly, interviews are best done on a one on one perspective, thus limitation in the numbers. Fourth, great interviews require great and skilled interviewe rs. Lastly the interviewer may ask biased questions and get the wrong replies thus could lead to a complication in the data collected (MBAOFFICIAL, 2010). What is the importance of interviews with regard to the business research topic? Interviews are used so as to find out information from customers about the products that are recommended and their importance. The main question a consumer could want to know from the company is whether the products do work or not and if they have a guarantee on safety. Interviews can act as a form of gathering information from the company that manufactures the product and can be used to enhance a discussion and share the benefits of using the products, thus the interview in this scenario acts as a point of creating awareness about the product to its consumers. When the consumer wants to know more about the nutritional products that they can use and supplement, interviews on the product(s) can be used to give such information in depth and with clarity . Focus groups: Are also referred to as focussed interviews or group depth interviews are structured in a manner where a group of people are asked more information about their opinions about a particular topic, product or idea. This is an open kind of discussion with the other members in the group. The researcher in this case their work is to give opportunity to people to speak and air their views and the researched also manage the group or acts as the group moderator. The advantage of a focus group is the personal experience and touch of experiences shared among the members. They do provide information based on experiences. Secondly, if a company has new products that it want to project to the market, focus groups could be used to test the product and get the opinion of the product entry in the market and acceptance by other consumers. Thirdly, if a product company wants to introduce a new product to the market, then a focus group is better place to determine the competitors and al so come up with solutions that could help keep at par with the competing product in terms of packaging, pricing and advertisements. The disadvantage of this is that the researcher has little control over the group as compared to a one on one interview. A second disadvantage is that too much time can be wasted on issues that are not relevant to the topic. Thirdly, the information collected may not be related to the topic since the group members may add additional comments to

Ozone layer depletion Essay Example for Free

Ozone layer depletion Essay The increased cancer levels caused by exposure to this ultraviolet light could be enormous. Recent studies estimates that 60 million Americans born by the year 2075 will get skin cancer because of ozone depletion. About one million of these people will die. In addition to cancer, some research shows that a decreased ozone layer will increase rates of malaria and other infectious diseases. According to recent studies 17 million more cases of cataracts can also be expected. . The environment will also be negatively affected by ozone depletion. The life cycles of plants will change, disrupting the food chain. Effects on animals will also be severe, and are very difficult to foresee. Oceans will be hit hard as well. The most basic organisms such as plankton may not be able to survive. If that happened, it would mean that all of the other animals that are above plankton in the food chain would also die out. Other ecosystems such as forests and deserts will also be harmed. The planets climate could also be affected by depletion of the ozone layer. Wind patterns could change, resulting in climatic changes throughout the world. Global warming is the continuing rise in the average temperature of Earths atmosphere and oceans. Global warming is caused by increased concentrations of green house gases in the atmosphere, resulting from human activities such as deforestation and burning of fossil fuels. Some of the effects of global warming and climate change on the environment include the folloing

Advertising Subscription Mixed Revenue Models

Advertising Subscription Mixed Revenue Models A revenue model is the business plan for a company or website to make money. It is also known as business model. It is the amount of money that a company actually receives during a specific period, including discounts and deductions for returned merchandise. It is the top line or gross income figure from which costs are subtracted to determine net income. Revenue is calculated by multiplying the price at which goods or services are sold by the number of units or amount sold. There are many different types of revenue models but because of the importance of an Internet presence for any viable company, the below will discuss different revenue models which can be used on the Internet. It describes how the firm will earn revenue, generate profits, and produce a superior return on invested capital. It specifically describes different techniques or skills used in generating income from the publishers websites and the way a business, typically an online business, to convert its services. Common e-commerce revenue models: Web catalog revenue models Digital content revenue models Advertising-supported revenue models Advertising-subscription mixed revenue models Fee-for-transaction revenue models Fee-for-services revenue models Web catalog revenue models In this revenue model, the sellers print catalog and mail to prospective buyers. Buyers place order by mail or by phone to sellers. It proves to be successful for wide variety of consumer item. It is often called as the mail order or catalog model. When this company wishes to enter the e-commerce market, they transfer their catalog with online version. It is then called the Web Catalog Revenue Models after the catalogue model is expanded in this way. It works best for standardized products with little quality concerns such as (New) Books, music, videos, computers and consumer electronics and also wish to purchases such as gifts and electronics. A personal shopper application is used to create an interface that customer can virtually choose and purchase the products or goods. This is an intelligent program that learns the customers preferences and makes suggestions. Benefits of Web Catalog Revenue Model Such catalog can offer a high degree of configuration flexibility to its customers. To sell products and services such as books, music and videos. Luxury goods are made to provide information to shoppers not to generate revenue. Example: Computer companies such as QQeStore has a great success selling on the Web. FIGURE 1 Advertising-Supported revenue models Most television channel output is allowed by an Advertising-Supported Revenue Models. Broadcasters provide free programming to an audience along with advertising messages. It provides free programming to attract viewers, and then sell ads to marketers based on viewership. Some major problems had stopped the total success of online advertising. First is no proper usage has emerged on how to measure and charge for site visitor views. It is difficult for web advertisers to develop a standard for advertising charges. Stickiness of the website has an ability to retain visitors. Sticky content: e-mail, message boards and chat Non-sticky content: news and search In addition to the number of visitors or page views, stickiness is a critical element in creating a presence that attracts advertisers. If a website is sticky, people will spend more time on it, visit it always and bookmark it. The second problem is that very few websites have a sufficient number of visitors to interest large advertisers. Not very effective: Low CPM rates due to low ad effectiveness. Non-sticky content costs money Example:. Web portal- Site uses as a launching point to enter the web. Almost always includes a Web directory and search engine. FIGURE 2 Advertising-Subscription Mixed Revenue Models It has been used for many years by traditional print newspaper and magazines. Subscribers or visitors have to pay a fee and accept some level of advertising. Subscribers are generally subjected to much less advertising. Subscription fee charged for preferred content (like cable TV) examples like: New York Times (crosswords) Wall Street Journal (special articles) CBS Marketwatch (archived articles) AOL (monthly fee for ISP connection) Pornographic web sites. Usually a combination of free and premium content: Attract customers using free content, and then try to make them pay for premium content. Example: Business Week- Offers some free content at its Business Week online site and requires visitors to buy a subscription to the Business Week print magazine. FIGURE 3 Fee-for-Transaction Revenue Models Businesses offer services or charge a fee based on the number or size of transactions processed. Commission earned based on the volume of the transactions (the higher the volume, the higher the transaction fees will be) or fee per transaction conducted at the website (a fixed fee per trade regardless of the volume). A number of online travel agency began doing business on the web. Stock brokerage firms use a fee-for-transaction model. They charge their consumer a commission for each trade carry out but much cheaper than traditional transaction service providers. E-bay: Listing free + percentage of highest bid (commission). Ameritrade: $8 flat per trade. Expedia: $5 surcharge per ticket. Ticketmaster: Commission per ticker purchased. Plagiarism services: Surcharge per term paper downloaded Disintermediation Removal of an intermediary from a value chain. Reintermediation Introduction of a new intermediary. Online banking and financial services: important feature offered is account aggregation ability to obtain bank, investment, loan and financial account information from many websites and show it all in one location at the banks website. A bill presentment service provides an electronic version of an invoice or billing statement. Benefits of Fee-For-Transaction Revenue Model Automobile Sales- Auto dealers buy cars from the manufacturer and sell them to consumers. Insurance Brokers- Insurance companies have been slow to offer policies and investments for sale on the web. Example E-Bay- earned transaction fees from each successful transaction made by the bidders. FIGURE 4 Fee-for-Service Revenue Models The fee in this model is based on the value of the service provided. These are broker services or based on the number or size of transactions processed. Services range from games and entertainment to financial advice. Channel Conflict and Cannibalization Channel conflict: sales activities on a companys website create with its existing sale outlets-aka cannibalization because the websites sales consume sales that would be made in the companys other channels. Giving customers access to products through coordinated channels-channel cooperation. Benefits of Fee-For-Service Revenue Models Online games- Growing number of sites include premium games in their offerings and site visitors have to pay to play these premium games. Concerts and films- As more households obtain broadband access to the Internet, companies are providing streaming video of concerts and films to paying subscribers Professional services- State laws are one of the main forces preventing U.S professional from extending their practices to the web. Prepaid legal, dental insurance, warranty and others services marketed and sold through the Web. FIGURE 6 Conclusion The best revenue models that suit Cricket Sport E-Zine website are Advertising-Supported Revenue Model, because Cricket Sport E-Zine website services are either free. It also provides free programming to attract viewers and subscribers. Website are present accurate and helpful resources for subscribers. Stickiness of the website have an ability to keep visitors and attract repeat visitors. The publishing company earns money from advertisements and visitors or readers no longer have to pay to access. The content is basically paid for by money from the advertisers who in turn, gain exposure among the readers.

Government Intrusion and Civil Liberties Essay -- Government

Most people have either read or heard of the book 1984 in some point in their high school career. Some may see it as just fictional literature that we learn in English class, but it could become seeing as to how our government is handling national security. In 1984, the author, George Orwell talks about a society in which one group of people runs society and everyone is under surveillance. This was something that people in the 1980s would not think possible, so how could Orwell have thought of this plot when writing the book during the 1940s? It could have been due to the progress in technology such as radio, film, television. The fear of government interference could have also been produced because World War II was present the time 1984 was created, from which Orwell twists in his book. What is even more interesting is that the Cold War is somehow described in 1984 and it pretty much became true. With the Cold War having taken place, U.S. citizens were worried that people am ong them could be a Communist; the enemy of the U.S. and capitalism. Because of their fear, people started to accuse one another of being communists, which led to them being imprisoned with little and what was, invalid evidence. This is now referred to as the ‘Red Scare’ where ‘Red’ symbolized Communism. After this so called war, there was a time of peace where the likelihood of there being another ‘Red Scare’ was very unlikely, until the unforgettable date, September 11, 2001, or often referred to as 9/11 where the government’s fear of terrorist presence begun. With the government’s fear of another 9/11, preventing this from reoccurring is very crucial to the United States politicians and so through the use of modern technology, they are willing an... ...geles Times, 29 Dec. 2011. Web. 28 May 2012. . Williams, Carol J. "Telecom Customers May Sue Government over Wiretapping, Court Says." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2011. Web. 28 May 2012. . Williams, Carol J. "Telecom Customers May Sue Government over Wiretapping, Court Says." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2011. Web. 28 May 2012. . Wing, Nick. "Indefinite Detention Blocked: District Judge Rules On Controversial Provision Of NDAA." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 16 May 2012. Web. 28 May 2012. . Government Intrusion and Civil Liberties Essay -- Government Most people have either read or heard of the book 1984 in some point in their high school career. Some may see it as just fictional literature that we learn in English class, but it could become seeing as to how our government is handling national security. In 1984, the author, George Orwell talks about a society in which one group of people runs society and everyone is under surveillance. This was something that people in the 1980s would not think possible, so how could Orwell have thought of this plot when writing the book during the 1940s? It could have been due to the progress in technology such as radio, film, television. The fear of government interference could have also been produced because World War II was present the time 1984 was created, from which Orwell twists in his book. What is even more interesting is that the Cold War is somehow described in 1984 and it pretty much became true. With the Cold War having taken place, U.S. citizens were worried that people am ong them could be a Communist; the enemy of the U.S. and capitalism. Because of their fear, people started to accuse one another of being communists, which led to them being imprisoned with little and what was, invalid evidence. This is now referred to as the ‘Red Scare’ where ‘Red’ symbolized Communism. After this so called war, there was a time of peace where the likelihood of there being another ‘Red Scare’ was very unlikely, until the unforgettable date, September 11, 2001, or often referred to as 9/11 where the government’s fear of terrorist presence begun. With the government’s fear of another 9/11, preventing this from reoccurring is very crucial to the United States politicians and so through the use of modern technology, they are willing an... ...geles Times, 29 Dec. 2011. Web. 28 May 2012. . Williams, Carol J. "Telecom Customers May Sue Government over Wiretapping, Court Says." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2011. Web. 28 May 2012. . Williams, Carol J. "Telecom Customers May Sue Government over Wiretapping, Court Says." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2011. Web. 28 May 2012. . Wing, Nick. "Indefinite Detention Blocked: District Judge Rules On Controversial Provision Of NDAA." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 16 May 2012. Web. 28 May 2012. .

Essays --

A.Plan of Investigation This study will seek to answer the question â€Å"How did the Treaty of Versailles during WW1 contribute to further conflict in the middle east?† I chose this topic because since my dad is in the air force he deals with the Middle East on multiple occasions. I thought it would be interesting to study this to see what could have been the cause of the crisis we see today. We could learn ways to handle the Middle East better by basing plans off what we know from WW1. In order to answer this question I have used the following methods of researching in peace settlement books and novels that talk specifically about the treaty of Versailles effect during WW1. I also did some research on some online articles. In order to study this topic I used the following sources; A Piece to End All Piece written by David Fromkin, and Kingmakers, The invention of the Modern Middle East written by Karl E. Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac. B. Summary of Evidence The treaty of Versailles was singed on June 28, 1919 . The main terms of this treaty were, Germany had to accept the Blame for starting the war, Germany had to pay  £6,600 million for the damage done during the war called reparations, Germany was forbidden to have submarines or an air force, her navy could only have six battle ships and an Army of just 100,000 men, and Germany was not allowed to place any troops in the Rhineland . Britain and France acquired Germany’s colonies. The conflicts in the Middle East started around the year 1914, the same year as World War 1 . World War 1 was always referred too as "the war to end all wars." The Treaty of Versailles decreased all power in the Middle East because the defeat of the Central Powers including Turkey which w... ... do not have much control over themselves anymore. The property loss and the displacement of their people was such a significant number that the mixing of people, and lack of populations created conflicts between the Middle Eastern countries . Tribes that were made in these territories started to fight over power and ruling of the land, and other conflicts arose from those. Such conflicts are still seen today relating to ideas like these. When the Treaty of Versailles was made, its points were not directed for the Middle East, but were for Germany . The idea that it would have such an effect on the Middle East, and would cause such conflict was not foreseen since it is considered to be such a small and a non-powerful area. But nevertheless, the Treaty of Versailles has played a large impact in the conflicts of the Middle East after World war One.

Price of Gasoline :: essays research papers

ANALYZING THE PRICE OF GASOLINE The assignment this week presents a problem where the American Automobile Association (AA) generates a report on gasoline prices that it distributes to newspapers throughout the state. It further states that on February 18, 1999, the AAA called a random sample of fifty-one stations to determine that day’s price of unleaded gasoline. The following data (in dollars) was given in this report: Table 1 - Prices of Unleaded Gasoline at 51 Stations 1.07  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.31  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.18  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.01  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.23  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.09  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.29  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.10  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.16  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.08 0.96  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.66  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.21  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.09  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.02  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.04  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.01  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.03  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.09  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.11 1.11  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.17  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.04  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.09  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.05  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.96  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.32  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.09  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.26  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.11 1.03  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.20  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.21  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.05  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.10  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.04  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.97  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.21  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.07  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.17 0.98  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.10  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.04  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.03  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.12  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.10  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.03  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.18  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.11  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.09 1.06  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Create a data array with the gasoline price data A data array is defined as â€Å"data that have been sorted in ascending or descending order† (Shannon, Groebner, Fry, & Smith, 2002, 72). The following section presents the data presented in Table 1 as a data array. Data Array 0.96, 0.96, 0.97, 0.98, 1.01, 1.01, 1.02, 1.03, 1.03, 1.03, 1.03, 1.04, 1.04, 1.04, 1.04, 1.05, 1.05, 1.06, 1.07, 1.07, 1.08, 1.09, 1.09, 1.09, 1.09, 1.09, 1.09, 1.10, 1.10, 1.10, 1.10, 1.11, 1.11, 1.11, 1.11, 1.12, 1.16, 1.17, 1.17, 1.18, 1.18, 1.20, 1.21, 1.21, 1.21, 1.23, 1.26, 1.29, 1.31, 1.32, 1.66 Data Analysis Given the data presented in the previous sections, the next few sections use two histograms to estimate the number of prices that are at least $1.15. The first histogram presents the data using five classes and the second uses fifteen. Histogram #1 Data Used in Histogram #1 (5 classes) Range  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.70  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   # of Classes  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  5  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Class Width  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.1400  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bin #  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Classes  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Frequency  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Relative Frequency  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cumulative Frequency  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cumulative Relative Frequency 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.9600 < 1.1000  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  27  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.53  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  27  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.53 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.1000 < 1.2400  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  19  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.37  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  46  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.90 3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.2400 < 1.3800  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.08  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  50  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.98 4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.3800 < 1.5200  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.00  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  50  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.98 5  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.5200 < 1.6601  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.02  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  51  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.00 Histogram #1 (using 5 Classes) Estimate of the Number of Prices that are at least $1.15 Using the histogram presented in the previous section, the estimate of the number of prices that are at least $1.15 is five. This is because the only values that can be counted fall into bins three, four, and five. Even though bin two may contain values that are above the $1.15 threshold, they can not be counted as they are not guaranteed to be above the stated value. Therefore the formula for the estimate is: Estimate = B3 + B4 + B5, where B3=4, B4=0 and B5=1. Histogram #2 Data Used in Histogram #2 (15 classes) Range  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.70  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   # of Classes  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  15  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Class Width  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.0467  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bin #  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Classes  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Frequency  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Relative Frequency  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cumulative Frequency  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cumulative Relative Frequency 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.9600 < 1.0067  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.08  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.08 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.0067 < 1.0534  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  13  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.25  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  17  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.33 3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.0534 < 1.1001  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  14  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.27  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  31  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.61 4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.1001 < 1.1468  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  5  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.10  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  36  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.71 5  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.1468 < 1.1935  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  5  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.10  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  41  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.80 6  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.1935 < 1.2402  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  5  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.10  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  46  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.90 7  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.2402 < 1.2869  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.02  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  47  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.92 8  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.2869 < 1.3336  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.06  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  50  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.98 9  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.3336 < 1.3803  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.00  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  50  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.98 10  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.3803 < 1.4270  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.00  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  50  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.98 11  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.4270 < 1.4737  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.00  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  50  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.98 12  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.4737 < 1.5204  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.00  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  50  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.98 13  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.5204 < 1.5671  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.00  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  50  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.98 14  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.5671 < 1.6138  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.00  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  50  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.98 15  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.6138 < 1.6601  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.02  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  51  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.00 Histogram #2 (using 15 Classes) Estimate of the Number of Prices that are at least $1.15 Using the histogram presented in the previous section, the estimate of the number of prices that are at least $1.

Light vs. dark

In the myth of the cave Plato and Socrates discuss the theory of having prisoners trapped in a cave chained, in where they are shown figures of the world being cast by shadows. Until one of the prisoners is dragged out into the real world and he experiences a change in perspectives. After realizing how wrong his perspective of the world was, he decides to share this information with the rest of the prisoners that are still trapped in the darkness of the cave.The other prisoners were so full of their own perspective, disbelieving that there was a world different than what they believed in, that they threatened to kill him if he spoke another word of nonsense. The prisoner returned to the outside world and left the other prisoners in the darkness of their ignorant ways. In â€Å"A Very old Man With Enormous Wing†, one day as Pelayo is disposing of crabs in the ocean, he notices an angel lying in the sand ill, he decides to take him home and keeps the old man caged in his chicken coop. fter a ew days Pelayo and his wife Elisanda start to noticed that their ill son is cured and healthy. They seek help from the priest who believes he is the devil since he dint speak God's language. People came from far and close to see the old man with their own eyes. Elisanda saw a great opportunity and started to charge people admission to see the angel, making her and Pelayo wealthy that they build a new home for themselves. When the old man regained his health and strength he disappears never to be seen or heard from again. The characters in â€Å"A Very Old Man with EnormousWings†, by Gabriel Marquez relate to the characters in Plato's â€Å"Myth of the Cave† because they are blinded by their perspective and there are similarities in the surroundings from both of the stories. Perspective; a particular evaluation of a situation or facts, especially from one person's point of view, is both a positive and negative thing in both of the stories. In the beginning the prisoner had this perspective that he strongly believed that the shadows that he was being shown all his life were what the world consisted off. When he did get the chance to go into the real world, he was hesitant and had to be dragged out of the cave.Once he stepped out of the darkness of the cave, he saw the light and came to the conclusion that all this time he was wrong for thinking that way. He tried to share his knowledge with the others that believed that the prisoners they were in was the world of sight. It is then, when he steps back into the darkness once more that he realizes how ignorant people could be, Socrates himself once said â€Å"That the unexamined life is not worth living†. Not bothering to question the chance or possibility of their being another world than the one they believe to be real.In the case of Pelayo and Elisanda in the beginning their perspective about the old man was that he was gruesome looking and that he was dangerous. They planned o n letting him regain his strength and send him of to sea with enough food and water to last him for three days. After seeing that there ill son became healthy since the old man had arrive, the thought of him not being such a negative thing crossed their mind. They ended up becoming egan to spread that the old man had powers that could cure others illness, that it led a leper, a blind man, and a paralytic to come visit the old man hoping for a miracle for the price of a nickel.Leaving with a miracle they didn't have in mind; the blind man didn't recover his eye sight but he did grow three new teeth, the paralytic who didn't get to walk but almost won the lottery, and finally the leper whose sores sprouted sunflowers. In the end Pelayo and Elisanda changed their perspective on the old man being dangerous and having powers that made miracles happened, but lso changed their financial status they went from being poor to becoming so wealthy they were able to build a big house that keep th e crabs out.The surroundings in both of the stories can relate to each other. In Platos story the prisoners are trapped and chained inside a cave, while the old man was kept locked away inside a chicken coop. in both stories the prisoner and the angel are surrounded by people that are too arrogant to accept the fact that there might Just be a world that's different than what they believe in. If they were able to change their perspective and step outside of the darkness and into the light there whole life would have changed completely.As it did for the prisoner who got his freedom into a whole new world he was amazed and curious about, while Pelayo and Elisanda not only became used to the old man towards the end, but also became very wealthy because of him. Both Plato's and Marquez story's share similarities from the characters to even the surroundings, from being trapped in a cave to a chicken coop. The way the prisoner saw how completely rong his perspective of the world was, that it was more than Just shadows being cast on a wall.How Pelayo and Elisenda were once scared of the old man with enormous wings until they changed the way the saw the old man. That they even allowed their son to play inside the chicken coop with the angel, leading to both the old man and child to catch chicken pox together. Most importantly how Plato uses the darkness of the cave to represent the ignorance we could have if we don't bother to question the world we live in, and Marquez uses the money to symbolize the root of all evil.

Fair Value Accounting Essay

Topic: To what extent is â€Å"Fair Value Accounting† an effective method in measuring the values of financial instruments in financial statement? In recent years, the breakout of global financial crisis has raised controversial debates about whether or not fair value accounting (FVA) is an effective method in measuring the values of financial instruments (Laux & Leuz, 2009). As two main accounting standards around the world, both International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and US Financial Accounting Standards (FAS) have adopted FVA as an accounting method to judge the values of some financial instruments (Mala and Chand, 2011). This essay will argue that although FVA can provide timely and transparent price information to the users of accounting information in some cases, there are potential problems of FVA in measuring the values of financial instruments on account of unreliable evaluation models, biased prices in inefficient markets and a negative price contagion effect. There are three main parts in this essay. Firstly, it will give the definition of FVA and then it will analyze why the effectiveness of FVA may be limited from three aspects, namely unreliable evaluation models, biased prices in inefficient markets and a negative price contagion effect. At last, it will consider the pros of FVA regarding the timely and transparent information it provides in some cases and analyze the pros. According to Financial Accounting Standards 157, fair value accounting can be defined as â€Å"an accounting method to measure the values of assets and liabilities based on the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date†. That is to say, FVA relies on the actual market prices of the financial instruments and records the exact market prices on the financial statements. In fact, FVA replaces historical cost accounting (HCA) with the development of accounting standards (Boyer, 2007). Compared with FVA, historical cost accounting can be described as an accounting measurement of values based on the original or historical cost when the company got the assets or liabilities. For example, a company bought a stock for 50 pounds last year. In this year, the price of the stock increases to 100 pounds. Under FVA, the company should record the value of  the stock at 100 pounds this year while 50 pounds will be recognized under HCA. As the replaced FVA has been regarding as accelerating the global financial crisis, it draws a lot of attention in respect of its potential weaknesses in the accounting field. Firstly, the model to estimate fair values of financial instruments in illiquid markets seems to have insufficient reliability (Laux & Leuz 2009 and Mala Chand 2011). If the markets for the identical or similar financial instruments whose values need to be evaluated are active, the available prices can be used to evaluate the fair values of them (Laux & Leuz 2009). However, if the markets do not exist, which means the the markets are inactive or illiquid, the fair evaluation model is needed to estimate the fair value of the financial instruments (Ball 2006). Specifically speaking, the model to evaluate fair values of financial instruments rely on the future cash flow of the financial instruments and borrowing rate of the company. The future cash flow can be described as the future cash inflow (income) and outflow (expense) brought by the financial instruments whilst the borrowing rate of a company can be considered as the cost of capital which can be invested in other investments rather than the financial instruments. The users of the evaluation model should firstly predict the future cash flow of the financial instruments and then use the borrowing rate of the company to calculate the present fair values. Ljiri (2005) states that using model to estimate the values of financial instruments provides significant discretionary power to the users and gives uncertainty, which may influence the objectivity of the valuation of financial instruments. Indeed, the same financial instrument could be evaluated differently on account of different estimation of future cash flows and distinct borrowing rate. Because the users of the evaluation model have the power to forecast the future cash flow, different users may have distinct estimations of the same financial instrument based on their perspectives of its future profitability. In addition, different companies may have different borrowing rates due to distinct industries involved. Thus, the above two uncertain factors affects the objectivity of the fair evaluation of the financial instruments, which limits the reliability of the evaluation model. Secondly, the inefficient markets could distort prices, which has a negative effect on the basis of FVA (Laux & Leuz 2009). An inefficient market can be defined as a market in which the prices of financial instruments can not be measured accurately due to the inefficient information it provides (Aboody et. al 2002). Additionally, Lim and Brooks (2010) review the empirical literature about the evolution of market efficiency over time and find that the market cannot be always efficient and market inefficiency can be easily caused by investor irrationality and liquidity problems. That is to say, the market prices of financial instruments could be distorted by biased behaviors of investors, such as overconfidence or overreaction to a stock, and liquidity problems, such as illiquid market for a long-term bond. What’s more, the distorted prices can not reflect the real values of financial instruments, which makes FVA lose the reliable basis to measure the fair value of financial instruments. Therefore, the biased prices in the inefficient markets tend to the appropriateness of fair evaluation of financial instruments. Thirdly, Laux and Leuz (2009) argues that FVA could enforce negative price contagion in the financial markets, which has been considered as the main cause of rapid spread of global financial crisis. It is argued that FVA has stimulated the financial crisis in a vicious spiral and leading to the spread and depth of the financial crisis (Begtsoon 2011, Allen and Carletti 2007, Appelbaum 2009 and Jones 2009). To be specific, after financial crisis broke out, the liquidity of financial instruments’ markets dried up, which means very few trades of the financial instruments existed in the markets (Begtsoon 2011). As a result, the market pricing mechanism became dysfunctional because the prices should be evaluated from very few trades, which resulted in low prices of financial instruments (ibid). In turn, the low prices put pressure on the financial statements of some financial institutions in terms of assets depreciation under FVA (Allen & Carletti 2008). In order to keep capital requirements, the financial institutions had no choice but to sell assets at low prices, which led to lower prices of financial instruments in the markets and stimulated further assets depreciation on other financial instruments’ financial statements under FVA  (Plantin et al. 2008a). To sum up, the prices in the market could negatively influence the evaluation of financial instruments under FVA and at the same time, the evaluation of financial instruments under FVA could have a further negative effect on the market prices, which forms a vicious circle that can speed up the price contagion and fluctuations. Nevertheless, supporters of FVA believe that FVA can provide transparent and timely information for the users of accounting information (Brown 2008). As Hughes (2009) says, the function of FVA is â€Å"like that of the thermometer-it mirrors reality, it does not create it†. Since FVA can reflect what is happening in the market on the financial statements immediately, it allows the information users to get easy access to the most timely and transparent market information. In addition, Hinks (2009) argues that the useful information provided by FVA allows the investors and regulators to approach to the up-to-date position of financial institutions and encourage them to make corrective decisions. Indeed, it cannot be denied that FVA can provide prompt and transparent price information in some cases. However, it is not always the case which contributes FVA to an effective measurement to value financial instruments. First of all, in an illiquid or inefficient market for some financial instruments, even if FVA could provide timely price information of the financial instruments, the timely information provided is unreliable, which leads to the uselessness of the timely and transparent information provided by FVA. Secondly, even though the financial instruments have an active or efficient market, FVA cannot result in increased transparency of information in financial statements as expected (Krumwiede 2008). Thirdly, under FVA, timely price information would lead to volatility of financial statements (Barth 2004). The continuous volatility of financial statements causes confusion for the users of accounting information and raises the company’s cost to keep accounts. Hence, although FVA could offer some timely and transparent information to the users, these information limits to some extent because of unreliable information, limited transparency and volatility of financial statements. In conclusion, this essay has discussed three aspects limiting the effectiveness of FVA to measure the values of financial instruments, including evaluation model, inefficient markets and price contagion effect. In addition, it also considers the pros of FVA in terms of timely and transparent information provided in some cases. It can be concluded that even though up-to-date and transparent information could be provided by FVA occasionally, the effectiveness of FVA to measure the values of financial instruments has been limited due to the unreliable evaluation model, distorted prices in inefficient markets and a negative price contagion effect. Because of word limit, this essay cannot cover the detailed application of FVA to specific kind of financial instrument. However, the above discussion can clearly show that FVA has some general problems in measuring the values of financial instruments. Based on above analysis, it can be suggested that the problematic aspects of FVA could be improved or revised by providing more clear explanation and more specific regulations by the constitutors of accounting standards and for some specific financial instruments with illiquid or inefficient markets, it is better to use some other methods to measure their values.

Human Race

A response to Mark Twain’s â€Å"The Lowest Animal† (1896) By: Thanusha Sritharan Is the human race cruel or just selfish? The human race is one of many distinct species in the world. Human beings share most of their traits and behaviors with other animals. The act of cruelty and violence to one another is one of the behaviors that humans differ from animals. In the essay â€Å"The Lowest Animal† (1896), Mark Twain claims that man can be cruel and wasteful in his lifetime. Although his statement does not imply to all humans, the moral sense enables us to do wrong.With the proof of news reports and media it is evident that man is cruel to animals, the society and to their household. When compared to people, dogs are known as a man’s best friend. Even though they are four-legged canines, dogs have a heart like gold. Dogs are also known for their ability to help people with visual impairments. They are very loyal and lovable to their owners and others. A stud y conducted by Mark Franz states that dogs happen to have a higher level of decency when compared to humans. In Toronto, a 32-year old woman, Alice Marcial, strangled her pet dog Jacob to death.This news article is very relevant to Mark Twain’s quote â€Å"Of all animals man is the one that is cruel. He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it† (pg. 238). Not only do humans find pleasure by inflicting pain on animals but they also engage in public killings as a source of entertainment. Many people in the world live their life according to their sets of beliefs and values. In the world we live in today people feel the need to judge and have a say in others life choices. In Papua New Guinea, a mob tortured a group of woman who was accused of witchcraft.This mob tortured this group alive in front of hundreds of horrified witnesses including their family. To support this news article a quote my Mark Twain can be used, â€Å"Man is a religious animal † (pg. 237). This quote proves the fact that a man loves his religion and he only plays by his religion. Although witchcraft is not a religion it is something that group believed in. The act of shunning someone based on their religious choices is morally wrong and should not lead to any form abuse or death. In third world countries people abuse children in my different ways just to teach them a lesson.This happens every single day to millions of children around the world. Child abuse is something not to be taken easily. It is seen as a major social problem and it is one of many causes of the children’s death. For example, in Saudi Arabia a five-year-old Saudi girl was beaten to death by her father when in front of her entire family. There was no specific reason for this abuse but it cost the life of a five-year old girl. This news article can be supported by a Mark Twain quote, â€Å"Man is a cruel animal† (pg. 237).This quote proves the fact that man could do an ything to accomplish something regardless of who the victim is. With the proof of news reports and a study it is evident that man is descended from animals. Some people choose to do evil things even though they have conscious of what they are doing. A reason why people do this is because the moral sense enables men to do wrong. In the world we live today everyone makes mistakes. In fact this is not an excuse to make a cruel, unforgiving fault that could change yours or that person’s life.

Does Word Length or Orthographical Neighbourhood Size?

Does Word Length or Orthographical Neighbourhood Size Effect Working Memory? Abstract Baddeley, Thomson and Buchanan (1975) were the first to systematically examine the effect of word length on memory finding that short words were recalled more easily than long words. This became known as the word length effect (WLE; Baddeley et al. 1975). Since this study WLE was further examined and presented mixed results (e. g. Baddeley, 2000; Cowan et al, 1992; Lewandowsky & Oberauer, 2009; Lovatt, Avons & Masterson, 2000).In 2011 Jalbert, Neath, Bireta, and Surprenant suggested that previous research conducted may have been subject to a confounding variable, orthographical neighbourhood size (ONS). In a study by Jalbert, Neath and Surprenant (2011) it was concluded that neighbourhood size, not length of the word, is important; therefore forgetting in short-term memory may be due to other variables than decay. The present study was further investigating the effect of word length and ONS by using 2Ãâ€"2 within groups ANOVA. The independent variables were word length and ONS.They both had two levels: 1 syllable (short) and 3 syllables (long) for word length and 3-5 neighbours (small) and 7-9 neighbours (large) for neighbourhood size. Words for the ONS were selected using MCWord, an online orthographic database (Medler & Binder, 2005). The dependent variable was the number of words successfully recalled in the correct order. It was hypothesized that short words would be recalled better than long words, and that words with a large ONS would be recalled better than words with a small ONS.There will be no interaction between the two groups. There were eight participants (Leeds Met undergraduates) selected through convenience sampling. The experiment was run with the use of E-prime (Schneider, Eschman, & Zuccolotto, 2002). Participants were presented with six words then words were displayed on the left side of the screen, participants were asked to indicate the order in which th ey had been presented in. The number of correctly recorded words was used as the measure of the accuracy of their memories.Results showed that there was no significant effect on the ease of recall relating to either word length or ONS, therefore not supporting the hypotheses or previous research. This could be due to a small sample size. The different stimuli used may also have been problematic as previous research indicates (Bireta, Neath & Surprenant, 2006). This may imply that there is another reason for why forgetting occurs and it is not specifically related to decay or ONS. Further investigation into this is recommended. References Baddeley, A.D. , Thomson, N. , & Buchanan, M. (1975). Word length and the structure of short-term memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 14, 575–589. Baddeley, A. D. (2000). The episodic buffer: A new component of working memory? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4, 417–423. Bireta, T. J. , Neath, I. , & Surprenant, A. M. (2006). The syllable-based word length effect and stimulus set specificity. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 13, 434–438. Cowan, N. , Day, L. , Saults, J. S. , Kellar, T. A. , Johnson, T. , & Flores, L. 1992). The role of verbal output time in the effects of word length on immediate memory. Journal of Memory & Language, 31, 1-17. Jalbert, A. , Neath, I. , Bireta, T. J. , & Surprenant, A. M. (2011). When does length cause the word length effect? Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 37, 338–353. Jalbert, A. , Neath, I. & Surprenant, A. M. (2011). Does length or neighbourhood size cause the word length effect? Memory and Cognition, 39, 1198-1210. Lewandowsky, S. , & Oberauer, K. (2009).No evidence for temporal decay in working memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Association Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35, 1545-1551. Lovatt, P. , Avons, S. E. , & Masterson, J. (2002). Output decay in immediate serial recall: Speech time revisited. Journal of Memory & Language, 46, 227-243. Medler, D. A. , & Binder, J. R. (2005): MCWord: An on-line orthographic database of the English language. Schneider, W. , Eschman, A. , & Zuccolotto, A. (2002). E-Prime User's Guide. Pittsburgh: Psychology Software Tools, Inc.

(History class) Movie Review. Long list to choose from Review

(History class) . Long list to choose from - Movie Review Example Vito is the patriarch of the Corleone family. He is a cunning Mafia leader called the Godfather. Michael Corleone is the youngest son of Vito. At the start of the movie, he is detached from the Mafia and appears to be advancing toward a political career. Eventually, he decided to drop his plans and take over the family business and the Corleone household. A ruthless Mafia boss with no patience for disloyalty or rebellion, Michael is even more motivated, harsher, and riskier than Vito. This essay critically reviews the film. Summary World War II was over. Don Vito is seen dealing with residents of the New York Italian neighborhood who are nervous to ask for his assistance. Accompanying him is Tom Hagen, Don Vito’s attorney and amigo. Singing can be heard from outside, where the marriage ceremony of Connie, Don Vito’s daughter, to Carlo is occurring. The balladeer Johnny Fontane attends the party to sing for the guests. Among the guests is Michael, who has removed himself from the illegal operations of his family. He tells his girlfriend Kay Adams how Johnny was rejected for a starring role in a movie due to his philandering. Don Vito was appalled by such actions, but as the godfather of Johnny he felt obliged to force the film producer Jack Woltz to cast Johnny for the main role. The intensity of the criminal activities of Don Vito is exposed at a business gathering. To prevent angering his political connections, he declines to give protection to Sollozzo, who is ‘The Turk’ in his drug operations. Don Vito is able to save himself from an assassination even though his bodyguard Paulie is not around. Fredo, Don Vito’s middle son, is revealed to be incompetent at dealing with such situation. Sonny, the hot-tempered oldest son of Don Vito, has Paulie murdered for abandoning his responsibility. Sollozzo is exposed as the mastermind of the assassination attempt. When Michael finds out from a newspaper what happened to his father, his loyalty to and love for his family is renewed. At the hospital where Don Vito is confined, Michael finds out that the guards have been pulled out under police directives. He averts another murder attempt on Don Vito’s life, kills Sollozzo and the cop protecting him and runs to Sicily. There he gets married to a native girl, but she died from an explosion which is intended for Michael. The conflict persists in New York, with Sonny being murdered in a surprise attack. Don Vito attempts to stop the internal feud by demanding a meeting of family leaders. An agreement is reached, the payment being that Don Vito has to allow the drug trade. Michael goes back to New York and looks for Kay, who agrees to marry him. Don Vito passes on the business to Michael, who decides to legitimize it and transfer it to Las Vegas. The bedridden Don Vito cautions Michael that whoever arrives to set up a business discussion with the other families will deceive him. The foreseen event arrives at Don V ito’s funeral. Michael is determined to avenge their family and his father’s death. He is godfather to the child of Connie and Carlo, and the murder of his enemies happens during the baptismal. Carlo is executed when he discloses his betrayal. Michael’s path is ready. The movie begins with a father looking for justice for his child after her aggressors have been given a postponed sentence. The shot

Role of Accreditation in Healthcare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Role of Accreditation in Healthcare - Essay Example Research shows that accredited health facilities offer a high level of patient care and service than unaccredited institutions. In essence therefore, by accrediting health facilities, government and registered healthcare accreditation bodies are offering patients with a map on where and where not to seek treatment. Without accreditation, people seek healthcare services would easily fall for quacks, and in the process endanger their health. The second role of accreditation is that it acts as a basis for protecting and fighting for patient rights (Manley et al, 2008). What this means is that in case health provision goes wrong and harms a patient’s health, the patient has a basis for seeking legal redress. For instance, a patient can seek legal help through the accreditation body. Alternatively, the patient can enjoin the accreditation body, when seeking legal redress from an accredited healthcare organization. Without accreditation and clear cut rules on how healthcare facilities should handle their patients, it would be difficult for a patient to seek legal redress in case something goes wrong. This is because; there would be no set benchmarks against which, health care service is measured against. The third role of accreditation in healthcare is statistics, budgeting and government fiscal planning. What this means is that through accreditation, the government is able to collect variable data on the current status of the healthcare sector (Sears et al, 2015). For instance, the government can easily collect data from accredited institutions on the prevalence of lifestyle diseases like diabetes. It can then act on such data and come up with measures for combating such diseases. Without accreditation, it would be difficult to know how many healthcare facilities are in operation leave alone collect valuable healthcare data from them.

Professional solutions to the impact that the increasing concern of Research Paper

Professional solutions to the impact that the increasing concern of how alcohol consumption affects the rate of interpersonal vi - Research Paper Example Excessive consumption of alcohol in most cases pose a health risk for many individuals and each year several deaths related to alcohol consumption are reported (Smith 145). Understanding genes causing alcoholism is vital in finding lasting solutions to the problem of alcoholism, and scientists in Finland have been concentrating in gene therapies to identify these genes related to alcoholism. Individuals addicted to alcohol consumption have numerous gene constitutions that interact with environmental factors to influence them into drinking and result into the drinking problem. Gene therapy has helped in understanding gene vulnerability which is significant in finding curative measures in helping those individuals who are heavy consumers of alcohol. In addition, scientists have discovered and are still discovering various drugs that have the ability to suppress the alcohol genes in individuals. An example is that aldehyde dehydrogesnase has been discovered to help in neutralizing the G ABA gene which has been discovered influence addiction of alcohol in individuals. Scientists are also advocating for educational programs to help in solving the high rate of interpersonal violence caused by excessive alcohol consumption amongst individuals. ... Therefore, scientists are emphasizing on the need to sleep to help in solving the problem of loneliness and prevent consumption of alcohol in individuals who drink because they are lonely or need instant gratification from various issues affecting their lives (Hardie & Ben 54). Examples of these programs include off-time pubertal training which is used to predict physiological activity of individuals to interpersonal stress caused by excessive consumption of alcohol. In addition, the government and non-governmental organizations have introduced programs on drug and alcohol abuse to help alcohol addicts to recover and quit their drinking habit by pointing out the risk and involved and also offering counseling services for those who are affected and those who are already addicts. Scientists have also proposed educational programs within the country to help in solving the problem of underage drinking amongst teenagers and grown-ups within the country. This assist in solving the problem of interpersonal conflict amongst individuals. They are school strategies which are emphasizing on the adaptation of behavioral theory and useful information amongst individuals. In addition, they have actively involved the community and family to form strategies to prevent drinking amongst individuals and bring to an end interpersonal conflict associated with alcohol (Criminology and Criminal Justice: Theory Research Methods and Statistics 120). An example of these programs includes strengthening families program which was started to improve relationships in families and also social skills of individuals. Resistance skill programs have also been introduced to help in the prevention of interpersonal conflict associated

Management Skills - CIMA Official Learning System Enterprise Managemen Annotated Bibliography

Management Skills - CIMA Official Learning System Enterprise Management - Annotated Bibliography Example This paper is being carried out in order to establish a comprehensive and academic discussion of leadership and management – how to establish efficacy in these areas based on practical concepts. In the book by Norton and Hughes (2009), the authors discuss different management skills and one of these skills is delegation. Their discussion on delegation points out how a leader or a manager discusses to the members of the team or the organization about the task or the activity which has to be carried out and what each of them has to do in order to contribute to the accomplishment of the task (Norton & Hughes, 2009). In their discussion, the authors were able to point out that the leader is actually not fully capable or competent in carrying out the task which is needed to complete the activity; hence, such tasks are assigned to different people who are more capable (Norton & Hughes, 2009). Delegation is about empowering each member of the team and giving each member a chance to be a leader and a chance to contribute to the bigger goals of the organization or the team. The authors discuss in their book that delegation is about allowing the members of the team to make mistakes à ¢â‚¬â€œ and to correct such mistakes – without the fear of being blamed for such mistakes (Norton & Hughes, 2009). In the above article, the website Mind Tools discusses principles which can be applied by a person in order to ensure successful delegation. The website first emphasizes that it is important to clearly articulate or express the desired outcome to the members of the group. It is therefore important, to begin with, end goals in mind and to specify how results can be gained from the end goals (MindTools, 2010). The constraints and boundaries also have to be identified, including the lines of authority and responsibility for each member of the group. It is also important to empower the members through the delegation process and in letting them decide which tasks can be assigned to them (MindTools, 2010).

Apple Inc. Integrated Marketing Communication Essay

Apple Inc. Integrated Marketing Communication - Essay Example The present study would analyze the business strategies of Apple Inc one of the most formidable brands present in the market. The choice of the organization assumes significance considering the magnanimous image of the brand that is known as a synonym for innovations in the business markets. Origin Growth and History of Organization Apple Inc is a US based multinational organization engaged in manufacture of digital electronics and computer hardware equipments. The company was founded in the year 1976 by the name of Apple Computers Inc and since then it has grown into a mammoth organization with a formidable brand image. In the year 2007 the company renamed itself as Apple Inc. The company is presently listed on the bourses of the NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange. The company is presently headed by Steve Jobs one of the most dynamic business leaders of the modern world. The company is known for its innovations in technology and bringing out cutting edge technology products that are unmatched by any of its competitors in the market. Apple Inc was one of the pioneers in the industry that designed computers like mackintosh (Apple, 2011). Analysis of Company’s Vision and Mission Statement The mission and vision of the organization is to be an innovative market player that manufactures products that are unique, distinctive and highly innovative in the market. The main mission statement of the organization is â€Å"an apple at every desk† (Birnbaum, 2009). The company aims to create innovations that are simple yet elegant and are highly technology intensive. The company’s mission is to provide the best quality and innovative products to customers across the globe. The company aims to be a global leader in its product category and has accordingly made a global presence by having a dedicated presence in almost all the major economies of the world. The vision and mission statements can be largely correlated with its business strategies that involved launch of products like I-phones, I-pad’s that are highly technology intensive and have attracted a huge attention from the target market audience b y virtue of their innovative features. Product Portfolios Apple Inc has an impressive product portfolio comprised of a large array of innovative product offerings. Apart from the company’s traditional products like Mac the company also manufactures a range of other products including iPod’s, iPhone, and iTunes. IPod’s include portable music players that have a sleek design and highly attractive features that allows audio as well as video files to be run by the user. I phone is yet another innovation developed by the organization in the lucrative mobile telephone segment. The unique product tries to amalgamate the excitement of a mobile phone with innovative features like excellent graphics and computing options. The delightful looks make it an attractive option for any individual. Apple also made a foray into the software industry with the launch of the Apple I tunes. This product is essentially a music player that is compatible with both iPods as well as person al computers. In addition to this the company has also produced software’

Rhetorical analysis essay Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Rhetorical analysis essay - Assignment Example In his commencement address to the graduating class of 2005 at the Stanford University, Steve Jobs strives to uphold his argument that one should pursue their dreams without allowing challenges to stop them (â€Å"Stanford University† 1). Steve Jobs tells three stories of his life to convince the students to focus on their dreams and disregard all challenges, which would stop them. He told the students to use such challenges as opportunities to achieve more. The address focuses on three stories that would have prevented Steve Jobs from achieving his dreams but instead he used them as stepping stones to learn and record huge success in technology. Steve Jobs derives various arguments in the three stories regarding the family challenges at his childhood, professional challenges at his workplace, and health challenges from his diagnosis with cancer (â€Å"Stanford University† 1). In establishing his argument, Steve Jobs uses different rhetorical strategies and establishes his credibility to convince the target audience on the need to focus on one’s goals and use challenges as opportunities to succeed in life. For us to understand the intentions of Steve Jobs in developing an\d utilizing his argument on TED Talk during the commencement address at the Stanford University, we must analyze the target audience, apparent purpose of the argument, and the context where the argument occurred. Steve Jobs argues that challenges will always be there in our pursuit for success but we should always maximize the challenges and treat them as opportunities to achieving our dreams. The context of Steve Jobs’ argument emanates from his personal experiences where he faced many challenges before making immense contributions in modern technology. Moreover, various statistics showing how graduates lose their dreams after facing serious challenges in life developed the context of his argument. Moreover, the fact that Steve Jobs never graduated from college and the idea of

Impact of Interest Rate Liberalisation on Chinese Economy Essay

Impact of Interest Rate Liberalisation on Chinese Economy - Essay Example China is currently a key player in BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and is a signatory of major international agreements (Peng, 2009). This has put pressure on the country to liberalize its interest rates and cause it to be determined by the forces of demand and supply. This project takes a critical look at the changes in the interest rate of China and its impact on the Communist Structures of Country viz Savings, State-owned Enterprises and other systems of the controlled economy. A controlled economy maintains pre-determined rates that are fixed by the leaders in order to attain a given target. However, with the pressure on the country to use the forces of demand and supply to fix macroeconomic policies, the Communist structures and the Capitalist world come face-to-face. This research seeks to examine the impact and implications of this conflict on structures in the Chinese economy. Also, it will examine a real case involving the impact of these static interest rates on the Bank Capital Adequacy Ratio. The inferences and conclusions of this research will provide authoritative text and information about the trends in the nation under review. Through this, other scholars and researchers would be able to build on it and benefit from it. In other words, this project seeks to bring new knowledge into the world. The aim of the paper is to examine â€Å"The Dynamics of Changes in Chinas Interest Rate Liberalisation and its impacts on the Communist Structures of the economy: SOEs, Savings and Investments and the Measures to be Taken and The Impacts on Bank Capital Adequacy Ratio†. In attaining this end, the following objectives will be examined: The hypothesis tested in the research is that: â€Å"The Chinese Economy is doing quite well under the Communist Structures. The introduction of interest rate liberalization is going to disrupt the system and lead to major adjustment problems.

The Reasons for the Popularity of Plastic Surgery in Recent Years Essay Example for Free

The Reasons for the Popularity of Plastic Surgery in Recent Years Essay Outline: a. Children Should /Should Not Be Left Fortunes Nowadays, whether children should be left fortunes has been a controversial issue. As far as I am concerned, children should not be left fortunes for the following reasons. First of all, children may be extravagant with the money that is left to them. Secondly, children were too small to have a right value of money. Finally, children can really experience life from pressure. All in all, it’s more wise that children should not be left fortunes, which may make children really experience all aspects of life. b. Books or Films should be censored As our society become increasingly complicated, books and films also have been affected in their contents. Because of the existence of some harmful information, books or films should be censored. In the first place, people in reality will be affected in their conducts by the violence in books and films. Besides, censorship is a necessary step to protect children from those harmful things. In addition, censorship also do good to our society. To sum up, many people will benefit from censorship. Therefore, books or films should be censored. c. People’s Worth Is Shown in the Reward they Earn Different people vary in the points of view on people’s worth. For me, people’s worth isn’t only shown in the reward they earn. First, there is no doubt that the reward they earn is a part of their worth. Besides, what they have made to contribute to society is the important part to show their worth. All in all, people’s worth is shown not only in the reward they earn but also in the contribution they make to our society. d. Opportunity and Resolution Is the Key to Success As we all know, success depends on various factors. Among them, I think opportunity and resolution is the key to success. First at start, opportunity can lead you to success because opportunity always waits for people who have prepared well. Then resolution will promote you to put into practice, which can make you become closer to success. In a word, although there are many other factors would affect success, opportunity and resolution still is the key to success. e. Yuanming Yuan (the Round Bright Garden)Should or Should Not Be Restored Yuanming Yuan, as our great historical relics, has been destroyed many years ago. I strongly hold that it should be restored. First, it should be restored in order to remember the humiliation we have suffered. Second, we should educate our descents though this. What’s the most important, it’s the great masterpieces of our ancestors and bears our cultural relieves. All in all, we should definitely rebuild our Yuanming Yuan. f. Clothes Make a Man or Cosmetics Make a Woman People are not always perfect. But to some extent, clothes make a man or cosmetics make a woman. First, people can cover their weaks through proper clothing and make-up. Then what they wear and look like can embody their inside. In a word, appropriate clothing and make- up make people. Composition: g. In recent years, plastic surgery has been very fashionable, especially among young people. They think it is important for their sense of self-confidence regarding their appearance, or in getting a job. What is your opinion about plastic surgery? Please write an essay on the following topic. The Reasons for the Popularity of Plastic Surgery in Recent Years In recent years, plastic surgery has become very popular especially among young people. The motive of people who accept plastic surgery varied. But in my opinion, there are two main reasons for the popularity of plastic surgery in recent years. In the first place, it can enhance their sense of self-confidence regarding their appearance. Because we all know that people who will do plastic surgery are often not satisfied with their own appearances. The effect of plastic surgery cannot be underestimated, which would really improve one’s thought to their appearance. A good appearance will make people feel confident to everything. Besides, plastic surgery can help in getting a job. In such a crucial society, a good appearance can help in some kind of work. Although we thought it is unfair, this phenomenon still exist in our society. We can’t deny it but to enhance ourselves. From what have been listed above, we may reasonably arrive at the conclusion that plastic surgery really dose help in many aspects. But I hold that beauty is only skin-deep, and we should try our best to become a competent and well-trained person.

Oodgeroo Noonuccal Biography Essay Example for Free

Oodgeroo Noonuccal Biography Essay Oodgeroo Noonuccal was born in 1920 on Stradbroke island (Minjerriba to the Aboriginal people), which was in Queensland, and she was born into the Noonuccal people of the Yuggera group. She was an actress, writer, teacher, artist and a campaigner for the Aboriginal people. Oodgeroo shared a trait with her father that was the sense of injustice. She left school at the age of 13 and worked as a domestic servant until 1939. After that she volunteered for service in the Australian Woman’s Army Service. Between 1961 and 1970 Oodgeroo popular poetry and writing made her very popular to the aboriginal people, Torre Strait Islanders and the people of Queensland. Oodgeroo Noonuccal became the first published Aboriginal woman when she wrote ‘We are Going’, which was sold out in only three days breaking some Australian records. Between 1964 and 1988 Oodgeroo wrote many Children’s books, short stories, new poems, essays and speeches. Oodgeroo Noonuccal was involved in many Aboriginal right organizations. Now her work is recognized worldwide and the themes in most of her poems in the need for peace between the black and white Australians. Her aboriginal upbringing helped her for inspiration, what she used to be surrounded to and the way she had been treated. Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s father had taught her to be stubborn and to be proud of being Aboriginal and with this, Oodgeroo would push through discriminations and penalties. Oodgeroo’s campaigning for Aboriginal voting rights started in 1960 when she strived for equality. She traveled Australia giving talks and doing all sorts of stuff to make more people aware. Finally in 1967 the campaigning showed to be successful and the Aboriginals got their rights. When she tried to campaign Globally nobody would listen to her and she got quite frustrated. She went back to her home, on Stradbroke Island, to build an Aboriginal Museum but the government would not allow it.

Donald Trumps Immigration Rhetoric

Donald Trumps Immigration Rhetoric Immigration has always been a controversial subject in the United States. As a new administration begins its four-year reign, many illegal immigrants are worried about their positions within the U.S. For centuries, immigrants have migrated to the U.S. in hopes of obtaining the â€Å"American Dream.† However, when Trump announced his intention to run for the presidency, the American Dream seemed to become inaccessible for many hopeful Mexican and Muslim immigrants. Trump’s campaign rhetoric hit home for many Americans, and his ideals made him a forerunner for the Republican party. His fear mongering resonated with what so many white, Midwestern and Southern Americans believe: illegal Mexican immigrants are coming into America to rape our women, murder us, and take away jobs from hardworking citizens and Muslim immigrants are coming here to create terror. This led him to propose the building of a wall between the U.S. and Mexican border. He also proposed a travel ban on p eople from six majority Muslim countries. These, he deemed were a safety measure. As Trump continuously utilized institutional racism to grow his popularity among U.S. voters, Mexican and Muslim immigrants’ fears heightened. His controversial election shocked the world, leading many world leaders to welcome immigrants into their countries with open arms. Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, especially pushed back against Trump’s proposed bills. Throughout this dark time in American politics, Canada has continuously led by example as to how immigrants should be treated. Recently, the Trump administration executed a mass-deportation of many illegal immigrants back to Mexico. With tensions already heightened between Mexico and the U.S., this angered the Mexican government. Throughout Trump’s campaign, he ignorantly stated that Mexico would be paying for a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border. However, Mexican President Enrique Peà ±a Nieto has continuously stated that Mexico would not pay for such an extravagant measure. Further, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray has said that he will vigorously fight the deportations of undocumented immigrants back to Mexico, as well as refuse to accept any non-Mexicans sent across the border (Agren and Stanglin). Videgaray has also said that the treatment of Mexican migrants in the United States will top Mexico’s agenda when President Nieto meets with the U.S. Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security. This announcement came shortly after Trump’s administration unveiled its tou gh new guidelines for enforcing immigration laws (Agren and Stanglin). The Trump Administration’s new guidelines are an example of the bullying that was prevalent during his campaign, and that is continuing well into his presidency. The Mexican government has even suggested it will go to the United Nations to defend the rights of its migrants (Agren and Stanglin). Trump gained popularity because of his so-called tough-on-crime platform, however, he incessantly forces his political ideals on the world, straining U.S.-World relations. Mexico is an important ally, but Trump’s unfair proposals are further damaging an important relationship, as well as potentially hurting the American economy. Although the Department of Homeland Security has said the new directives focus on criminals and those who pose a threat to the U.S., they expand the authority of federal agents to deport most of the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States (Agren and Stanglin). Mexican immigrants are not the only ones who Trump attacked on the campaign trail. He also proposed a ban on Muslims. The Muslim ban is an extremely offensive and racist directive, as it is like that of Adolf Hitler’s when he terrorized Germany’s Jewish community. The Muslim ban is yet another example of Trump’s use of ones’ identity to instill unnecessary hatred. Recently in the news, many immigrants from seven majority Muslim countries have been stopped at airports upon entering the U.S.   Many of these Muslims work for U.S. companies or are students, teachers, and people trying to visit their family members. On January 31st, 2017, Trump signed an executive order that indefinitely suspends admissions of Syrian refugees and limits the flow of other refugees in a process he has coined as â€Å"extreme vetting.† This executive order was a way to make good on one of his campaign promises to tighten border security and halt certain refugees from entering the U.S. According to CNN, the order bars all persons from certain terror-prone countries from entering the United States for 90 days and suspends the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days until it is reinstated only for nationals of countries for whom members of Trumps Cabinet deem can be properly vetted. The countries impacted by this hurtful ban are Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia. His order also set out to cancel the Visa Interview Waiver Program, which once allowed repeat travelers to the United States to be able to forgo an in-person interview to renew their visa (Merica). Under the new order, these travelers will now have to have in-person interviews. Fortunately, Democrats across the country vigorously fought this unlawful ban. A Washington state federal judge issued a temporary nationwide restraining order which stopped President Trumps executive order banning citizens of seven countries from entering the United States (Seipel). The travel ban unfairly targets Muslims and violates the constitutional rights of immigrants and their families. Just like Mexican immigrants, Muslims have been targeted by Trump and racially profiled. After Trump was elected as the 45th President of the United States, Canada began to prepare itself for a surge in Mexican migrants. Canada reportedly lifted the visa requirement amid the uncertainty of Donald Trump’s promises to crack down on undocumented immigrants. Mexican visitors will now no longer need visas to enter Canada. This momentous move has Canada anticipating an influx in Mexican tourists and business travelers. The visa was enacted in 2009, by Canada’s previous Conservative government to address an increase in â€Å"bogus† refugee claims (The Guardian). This visa lift, instated right after Trump’s vows to expel millions of illegal immigrants, could cause a substantial increase in Mexican asylum seekers. According to The Guardian, between the years 2005 and 2008, refugee claims from Mexico nearly tripled. This made Mexico the number one source country for claims, with more than 9,400 claims filed by Mexicans in 2008. However, only 11% were accepted (The Guardian). The previously Conservative Canadian government embraced the visa as a means of border control. However, the Canadian government was pressured by Mexico to end the policy after the number of asylum seekers plummeted in 2015. Justin Trudeau, the current Canadian prime minister agreed to get rid of the visa in exchange for Mexico expanding its imports of Canadian beef (The Guardian). In an interview, Justin Trudeau stated that this move would make it easier for Canada’s Mexican friends to visit while helping grow Canada’s local economies and strengthen their communities. During the time the visa lift was announced, no one believed that Trump stood a real chance of winning the presidency against Hillary Clinton, the popular democratic candidate especially after his vows to build the wall along the shared border of the U.S. and Mexico.   Although Canada lifted the visa requirement for Mexican travelers without anticipating Trump’s presidency, it came at a time when Mexican migrants needed it the most. Canada has proven itself to be a leader and a friend in a difficult time for immigrants worldwide. An immigration lawyer in Toronto, Lorne Waldman, said that the lifting of the visa requirement is going to be a major factor attracting people to come to Canada. Anticipating an influx of migrants, Waldman compared it to the wave of Muslims that entered Canada after 9/11. As Muslims saw a significant crackdown on immigrants entering the U.S. from the Middle East, there was increase in the number of people who crossed the border from the U.S. into Canada at that time. Since day one of his campaign, Trump has used racist lingo. In his first speech, back in 2015, he labeled Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals. He also went on to say that Mexico is not sending their best people, rather they’re sending people with lots of problems. He further stated that Mexican immigrants were bringing in drugs and bringing in crime. A few weeks later, he labeled Mexican immigrants as â€Å"killers.† Trump’s continuous use of hateful rhetoric is damaging. By labeling these people, he is instilling fear in the American people of a group of individuals, who for the most part, just want to create better lives for themselves. Trump even went so far as to say that the Mexican government was purposely sending us criminals because they don’t want to deal with them. By making false accusations, Trump is creating an unnecessary hatred of a group of people who are in the United States to obtain the American Dream that for over two hundred years, we have proudly represented as a core American value. By 2016, President Trump had made numerous racist remarks about people with Mexican heritage. He criticized a federal judge who presided over a fraud case against Trump University. He angrily suggested that the court ruling wouldn’t be fair because the jurist was Mexican. Curiel, an Indiana native, refused to dismiss the civil lawsuits Trump was facing. At many of his rallies, supporters chanted â€Å"build the wall,† a rallying cry of thinly vailed racism.   His hurtful rhetoric promotes racism. NPR published an article on Trump’s CPAC appearance. President Donald Trump made the claim that while he was speaking, immigration officers were out finding gang members, drug dealers and criminal aliens and throwing them out. Trump’s claims falsely create assumptions of the type of people coming the United States. As a third-generation American, I find these to be incredibly hurtful. My great grandparents fled from Nazi Germany to Colombia in hopes of a better life. From Colombia, they traveled to the United States. My great grandparents, just like so many other immigrants, came to the United States to follow the American Dream. The United States provides hope for so many people, and Trump has continuously made offensive statements that tarnish the American ideals. Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau weighed in on Trump’s controversial immigrant ban. He tweeted that Canada would welcome immigrants and refugees fleeing from persecution. He mentioned that diversity is where Canada’s strength lies. He also tweeted a #CanadianIsACanadian.† It is leaders like this who better the world. Trump has continuously bullied people and shamed them for their identity. He claims that refugees want to hurt Americans, however most of them just want to escape the war-torn countries they come from. Canada has also announced that they will continue to accept asylum seekers who are crossing the U.S.-Canada border. The number of refugees crossing the border into Canada has increased in recent weeks amid fears that President Trump will crack down on illegal immigrants. Trudeau told parliament that Canada remains an open country because Canadians trust their immigration system and the integrity of their borders and the help they provide for people looking for safety (Reuters). Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen also said Canada would continue to honor the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement (Reuters). This agreement requires Canada to turn back refugees if they make asylum claims at Canadian border crossings with the United States. However, Amnesty International and other groups are worried that the United States is not safe for refugees and are pressuring the Canadian government to abandon the agreement. The United States has always been considered the home of the free which is why it is such an attractive location for immigrants. Trump has made it okay for people to be openly racist. White nationalist groups across the country have voiced their support for his presidency and Trump has not denounced them. Steve Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist, is chairman of the alt-right website Breitbart News. Bannon’s ex-wife has accused him of being anti-Semitic. Bannon’s nomination was controversial as he is known to be racist. It is choices like these that make minorities feel unwelcome in the United States. Former president Barack Obama touted the United States as an accepting nation of people from all walks of life. He championed the U.S. as a provider of hope for immigrants worldwide, and as a country which allows immigrants to celebrate their heritage. Trump is leading America down a different path, a path that only celebrates white Americans, and leaves minorities flailing and feeling like they don’t belong. Recently a Kansas man shot and killed an Indian engineer, injured another and also an American. He reportedly yelled â€Å"get out of my country† and was making racial slurs prior to the incident. This is not the first time a racially-motivated act of violence has been perpetrated in recent months. When Trump began campaigning for his presidency, racist white Americans were reported to have committed hate crimes more than once. In some areas of the United States, Nazi propaganda has popped up, a seemingly common trend as Trump became president which has made immigrants, refugees, people of color, and the like uncomfortable. In fact, many people are starting to feel unsafe leaving their homes due to the horrific acts of violence that are taking place. Geana Javier, a columnist for the Daily Evergreen, recently wrote an article on hate speech abusing free speech rights. She acknowledged that we have reached a time where political divisiveness has attained extreme levels (Javier). It seems that since Donald Trump’s election, people have used the right to freedom of speech as a shield to protect hate speech.   As previously mentioned, Trump stated that Mexico is not sending the U.S. its â€Å"best people,† but instead rapists and drug dealers.   Geana Javier states that these comments target an entire ethnic group and paints them in a negative light. Through these sorts of statements, Trump has disguised his racist opinions as immigration policies. Trump is instilling fear in the American people of an entire ethnic group who, for the most part, are good people. Immigrants have not contributed any more to crime than was already happening in the United States. It is deeply distressing that intolerant social views are reflected in current political policy. Yahya Abu Romman, a 22-year-old language major, does not feel welcome in the United States. He is a Jordanian citizen, but Syrian born. Upon his college graduation, he planned a six-week trip to the United States to celebrate. He landed in O’Hare International Airport a few days after Trump’s travel ban was instated. It was there and then that the positive impression of the U.S. which his father had instilled in him evaporated (Arraf). Romman’s father was a graduate from the University of Illinois. He’d always told Abu that America is the land of justice, opportunity, generosity and kindness (Arraf). Upon landing at O’Hare, however, a border officer could not understand why Romman did not have a Syrian passport. Discussion ensued about his brother who had lived illegally in the U.S. and overstayed a visa before becoming a citizen (Arraf). Emails were found by the border guards on Romman’s phone to flight schools he’d applied to in the U.S. The officer was not convinced that he was not planning to stay in the U.S. after flight school. This led to Romman’s visa being cancelled. When he wanted to call the Embassy before signing the papers agreeing to being deported, he was threatened by the border officer and told that if he did not sign, he’d be banned from entering the U.S. ever again. Romman had visited the U.S. before and felt that the people were welcoming. At the present time, however, he feels that is not the case.   In his opinion, he is safer remaining in Jordan: America was an opportunity for people here before. But now, no one is actually thinking about the United States for a future place to live (Arraf). It is experiences like these that make many people wary of Americans. Trump has made it clear that if you are not white and a native-born American, you are not worthy of respect. A cinematographer was barred from entering the United States to attend the Oscars after his film was nominated for an academy award. The 21-year-old worked on the harrowing film of his home country’s civil war, The White Helmets, according to TIME Magazine. The Department of Homeland Security decided at the last minute to block Khaled Khateeb from traveling to Los Angeles for the Oscars (Katz). Because Khateeb was travelling from one of the Muslim majority countries which Trump had banned, he was barred entrance into the United States. This is just another example of how Trump is using immigration laws to promote his racist agenda. His ban affects many people from all over the world who have legitimate reasons for travelling to the United States. Khaled Almilaji is yet another victim of Trump’s controversial ban. He has been stranded in Turkey since January 2017. His wife, who is pregnant with their first child, patiently awaits his return to Rhode Island. A student at Brown University, Almilaji has worked feverishly to keep up with his classes from overseas. After a federal judge froze Trump’s ban, Almilaji had hope of returning to his wife. Unfortunately, his hopes were dashed as he realized the new reality for Syrians trying to study in the United States. Khaled Almilaji has said that now Canada is looking like a better option. Paul Davidson, the president of Universities Canada, has said they have seen an influx of applications from international students. The Universities Canada website, dedicated to providing information about schools in the country, has doubled in views since November (Students Turn to Canada in Trump Immigration Era). Canada’s most elite universities including McGill, McMaster and the University of Toronto saw large increases in applications from students in the United States. Rebekah Robinson, a senior at a predominantly white school in Maryland mentioned she was attracted to the University of Toronto because of the diversity of its student body (Students Turn to Canada in Trump Immigration Era). Robinson, who did not support Donald Trump in the recent presidential election, said that his nomination made Canada even more appealing. This is not an uncommon story in recent months. Typically, the flow of students has been greater from north of the border rather than south, however that it is changing as tensions in the United States continue to grow. Because of the recent changes in immigration policies in Canada, it is easier for international students to study there and stay upon graduation. When students were asked why they were interested in the University of Toronto, many reasons were cited, most notably that the University of Toronto is ranked among the top five public universities internationally and that it is a globally friendly college in a globally friendly country (Students Turn to Canada in Trump Immigration Era). Over the years, Canada has made attracting talent from around the world a focal point. The University of Toronto is no different, and proudly boasts that its doors are open to the world. The United States, however, is the opposite. Unlike Canada, the United States is now a dangerous place for many foreign nationals to be. President Donald Trump has continuously used demeaning terminology and racial slurs during his campaign and his presidency which has led many people of color to question their safety in a country which has for so long championed itself as the land of the free. Donald Trump’s hateful rhetoric makes it okay for people to be openly racist, and even worse, express it. Trump’s hate speech does not only affect Muslims and Mexicans.   Since the election, more than 1,000 hate crimes have been recorded. The Southern Poverty Law Center indicated that these numbers were normally expected over a six-month period. Further, there have been at least sixteen attacks on synagogues and other Jewish centers. Donald Trump, unfortunately, has kept relatively quiet about many of these anti-Semitic episodes. When reporters pressed him on it, Trump repeatedly stated that he was not racist, nor was he anti-Semitic. He even went so far as to say that any anti-Semitic behavior was the work of his political opponents (Memoli). There has been a surge in racist and anti-Semitic graffiti and vandalism since Trumps election, including the use of Nazi imagery. According to CNN, an astounding forty-eight Jewish Community Centers reported bomb threats in the month of January alone. Trump, who claims to love Jewish people, is under scrutiny for his lack of action and his indifference to these hate crimes perpetrated on the Jewish community. Trump’s Muslim ban is a prime example of his racist agenda and a measure that Canada has openly opposed. After Trump announced his plans to propose a ban, Justin Trudeau tweeted that Canada would be a welcoming place to all. Universities Canada has also expressed their support of internationals fleeing persecution, by welcoming students, faculty, and staff from around the world to its campuses. Unlike the United States, Canada proclaims that international immigrants bring new knowledge, talent, and skills to higher education, research, and innovation to the benefit of all Canadians (Students Turn to Canada in Trump Immigration Era). Some Canadian schools even offered to waive application fees for students who were affected by the order, and to consider transcripts of those hoping to complete academic work in Canada (Students Turn to Canada in Trump Immigration Era). Trump’s ban is an impediment to the free flow of people and ideas and the values of diversity and inclusion, which are of the utmost importance in a strong society. ATTN Video posted a video on Facebook which addressed how the economy would suffer without immigrants. According to ATTN Video, America would lose up to 70% of its farm workers, which would lead to skyrocketing food prices. Agricultural production could lose as much as sixty billion dollars. Job creation would also decrease as immigrants contribute to population growth which in turn increases the demand for workers. To say that the reason people don’t have jobs because of immigrants is untrue and ignorant. Without immigrants, social security would take a serious hit because not enough taxes would be paid in. In 2010, undocumented workers alone contributed 13 billion dollars to the fund. Experts say that increasing immigration could actually save social security. Instead of helping â€Å"make America great again,† Trump’s views and policies on immigration which are not based in fact, not only promote racism, but hurt the economy and ruin relations between the U.S. and other countries. Canada has said it will allow 300,000 immigrants to enter the country in 2017. Although this target is unchanged from that of 2016’s plan, it is well above the average number of immigrants who were admitted from 2011 to 2015. John McCallum, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, has said that making 300,000 the permanent target will lead to economic growth. Canada, which has an aging population and needs a younger population to boost its economy, is hoping that robust immigration will help address this problem.   And, over the next five years, Canada is hoping to increase the number of immigrants they accept to 450,000. Donald Trump wants to impose laws against immigrants which will be detrimental to the United States’ economic growth. The United States is a nation full of immigrants. Without these hardworking individuals, the economy will suffer. Immigrants start businesses and are thirty percent more likely to do so than people who are non-immigrants.   In fact, immigrants comprise eighteen percent of all small business owners in the United States today. Immigrant-owned businesses also create jobs for American citizens. The Fiscal Policy Institute did a study in 2007 on businesses owned by immigrants and found that 4.7 million people are employed by immigrants who own businesses. Not only do immigrants create jobs for millions of Americans, they are also more likely to create jobs for other immigrants. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 7.5 percent of the foreign born are self-employed compared to 6.6 percent among the native-born (Furman and Gray). Immigrants are an important part of the American economy. They offer innovative thinking, which in turn helps the United States develop cutting-edge technology. Donald Trump would like the American people to believe that we do not need immigrants and has continuously promoted the idea that immigrants are dangerous to the United States and to its people. He would like people to believe that Mexican immigrants are drug dealers, murderers, rapists and other criminals and that Muslim ones are more likely to be terrorists than non-Muslim American citizens. Fortunately, not all Americans hold the same beliefs as our current President.   At least thirty-seven cities across the United States have indicated that they will not comply with Trump’s aggressive immigration policies. These cities, known as â€Å"sanctuary cities,† tend to be located in some of the more liberal areas of the United States. Cities including San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and New York have stood in defiance against the new President of the United States. In retaliation, President Trump has stated that he will cancel federal funding directed to these cities, which may limit this act of federal disobedience. Donald Trump has made good on many of his promises regarding immigration through the many executive orders he has issued. These radical actions against immigration have made many feel less secure, and in some cases, downright terrorized. Trump has signed two executive orders that direct the Department of Homeland Security to start building the wall along the border with Mexico. This promise was a cornerstone of his campaign. Many are concerned that it will ramp up the repression of the undocumented and anyone who is suspected of being undocumented to a whole new level. His travel ban, another executive order Trump hoped to pass, targeted Muslims and singled them out as being more likely to commit terrorist acts and therefore, they must all be kept out. This ignorant belief highlights the fact that racism is still prevalent in the United States. It is astounding that a nation which is so diverse, voted for a man like Donald Trump. The hate and ignorance at the core of his political agenda, which is directed at some of the most vulnerable groups of people in the United States and the world, is clear. Among the provisions within Trump’s executive orders for his so-called wall is the instruction to detain every single undocumented immigrant. This also includes families with children who have been captured by the Border Patrol and who are held in a facility. His executive order would get rid of agents’ discretion to detain and release people under the condition that they appear for an asylum interview or court date (Katch). This means that detainees will have a much harder time obtaining legal representation and gathering evidence and witnesses to make their cases in court. Trump also gave the Border Patrol the ability to deport detainees who are waiting for their court dates. Another one of his executive orders will revive a program that was shelved by the Obama administration. This Secure Communities program allows for people who are processed in local jails to be checked against immigration databases. If any matches turn up, ICE is able to ask local law enforcement to hand over their prisoners for deportation (Katch). Both these orders tighten regulations on border crossing and immigrants. Most of the people migrating from Mexico to the United States do so to escape the hardships they face living in Mexico.   Their goal is to earn money to send home. Trump’s initiatives are yet another example of his distaste for immigrants. The fear immigrants harbor is well-founded. Trump has openly made hateful forms of Islamophobia and xenophobia central to his message from the beginning, and even though the campaign has ended, he has yet to back down. His racial rhetoric was made as an attempt to appeal to middle-class and working-class white Americans who harbor resentment towards a perceived â€Å"rigged system† which Trump has claimed numerous times benefits not only the rich, but the â€Å"line-jumping† immigrants who take jobs ahead of those who were born in the United States (Katch). He has maintained that these U.S. born Americans â€Å"played by the rules.† Throughout his campaign and presidency, Donald Trump has used hate speech and racist rhetoric to paint hard-working immigrants in a negative light.   He has continuously spoken negatively about minorities who are the backbone of the United States.   Our country, which has always prided itself on being the land of the free, is suddenly not so. The United States is now an unsafe place for people of color to settle. Donald Trump has employed well-known racists in his cabinet, and has yet to address the racially-motivated hate crimes that are occurring nationwide.   As a result, people have come to believe that under his presidency, hatred and racism is allowed. For years, people have flocked to the United States in hopes of attaining the American Dream. With Donald Trump as president, fewer people feel comfortable settling here. He has used racial slurs to tarnish the identity of millions of people and has made an effort to demonize them. Throughout this dark time in the United States, Canada has lead with the utmost grace. Canada has welcomed thousands of people into their country, and has let the world know that diversity is welcomed and wanted. Unlike Donald Trump, who seems to be advocating for a white America, Canada has graciously accepted immigrants and treated them with respect. The current president has lost sight of what it truly means to be an American. The United States, once a place where anyone could pursue their dreams, is now a place where many people are unsure of their future. In this dark time in American politics, Canada has led by example of how immigrants should be treated. Donald Trump and the American people could stand to learn a thing or two from our neighbors in Canada. Works Cited Canada PM: Will Not Halt Illegal Border Crossing Despite Opposition. Reuters. 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