Latin influence in America social and cultural differences in Business Essay

Latin influence in America social and cultural differences in Business - Essay Example With regard to them, inside cohesiveness is important in that they want to guarantee that there are no betrayals within business. Apart from these attitudes of loyalty and brotherhood in a business, they also tend to have a sense of fair competition which is achieved through agreeing with the competitors and setting the standard of competition. These cultural attitudes towards business are founded on the earlier foundation of Latin business which would be more included to mafia like associations with string completion which went beyond just business competition. Americans have a different culture with regard business which conducts open competition, open membership which mean that the associates of a business do not necessarily have to be close members. Dogmatic loyalty is not necessary as the business are driven by a common agreement which is professional and written on paper as per the ay the business is supposed to be run. The Latin culture has been regarded by Americans as wrong and not good for business. It has also influenced American business in a number of ways. To begin with, most of these businesses have also invested in the American economy. Most mafia-like organizations which are of Latin origin and run in accordance with Latin culture can be seen as establishing their businesses in United States America. Unlike in earlier days where such businesses would operate unofficially and in most cases illegally due to their nature which was more criminal than anything else, today most of these businesses can invest in legitimate businesses such as the real estate (Forbes, Inc). In the modern America, these mafia-like busses own a substantive amount of the real estate wealth in major cities such as Los Angeles. They are able to operate legitimately and to have assets that are legal. This has influenced the way business is done in America, especially

Horror Film and Halloween Essay Example for Free

Horror Film and Halloween Essay Halloween is the one time of year when it okay to dress up as anything you want to be and it’s also when you can be celebrating all things horror and dead. Halloween started out as the celebration of the dead but has now grown into a wonderful time of costumes and decoration of scary fictional creatures. Dressing up as a scary character or a character you adore is one of the many perks of Halloween. Going to costume parties with friends and celebrating Halloween together. Watching horror movies and television specials about Halloween is exciting and it feels like more the holiday mood. Halloween is a celebration of the horror genre, dressing up and enjoying this holiday with people. Costumes are very important when it comes to celebrating Halloween. Children enjoy going out on Halloween and trick-or-treating with their costumes to celebrate (Halloween). For an older and mature get together some adults enjoy going to costume parties with their peers. In the olden days it was typical for costumes to be scary but nowadays people tend to dress up as their favourite pop star or a favourite character from a movie. Costumes are enjoyed by many people to be something scary or someone they admire. Going to a party or throwing a party is always expected to done during Halloween. This holiday celebration is enjoyed by everyone in certain countries. Many people attend a Halloween party to enjoy the costume their friends are wearing. The snacks and drinks are shaped and decorated as creepy creatures for the effects of Halloween. Even the music is themed to make the effects to feel realistic. People are attracted to Halloween and going to parties and enjoying it with friends is one of the many perks of this holiday. Enjoying the Halloween and getting into the spirit of this holiday makes it more enjoyable. The Halloween episode of a favourite T.V. shows really adds effects to the enjoyment of the season. This celebration is mostly about the mood of being scared and watching a lot of horror movies. The media has a huge influence on Halloween from movies, television specials and even themed music. Halloween is celebrated widely in certain countries. Halloween is a wonderful and exciting celebration made up by traditions and is enjoyed in certain countries. People enjoy dressing up as a favourite fictional character or someone real like a favourite role model. Going to parties and enjoying your costumes and celebrating this holiday with your friends. Most media like T.V shows will often make special episode for Halloween. People are attracted to Halloween because it is a unique Holiday that celebrates the dead.

The Benefits of Living in America. Essay -- USA, ESL essays

Fireworks cracking and lighting up the sky, hot dogs cooking on the grill, and a cold drink in a red, white, and blue paper cup. It is the forth of July, Independence day, the day Americans put all of their worries to the side to celebrate the freedom of the country that they live in, America. Those who live in the USA may experience more freedom and comfort then those who live in other parts of the world. America is highly praised for their education, diverse crowds, and socially accepting everyone despite their race, religion, or special needs. Many people from all over the world come to America to get a better education then the one being offered to them by their own country, mainly because of it's elite schools, endless study choices, and flexablility. Having the choice of where, what...

Business Etiquette and God

Business Etiquette and God Where Does God Fit In? Andrew Estep Liberty University Abstract This paper uses scripture from the Bible and many other credible sources to instruct the reader about the role God plays within business etiquette. The research targets business interactions from a Christian’s perspective. Many of the references used in this paper, have at some point or another, run or are running a legitimate company. The research conducted by each person comes from personal experience and other well established sources. If examined together, the writings of these authors coincide with one another and the word of God. All the research points to single thesis; God should be in the middle of our daily lives and especially our jobs. Also, in order to truly grasp the full meaning of living a Christ centered life, deeper learning and understanding is required. Tying God and etiquette together is essential for a Christian person aspiring to be a businessman or businesswoman. Within business etiquette, there lie many know how’s, why’s and what for’s. Business etiquette consists of mannerisms and ways of doing business appropriately. Without a standard of etiquette which is acceptable by all cultures and all peoples, business etiquette would become chaotic. Every group, language, and person would define their own ways, which if you are not happy with, too bad. Of course,etiquette varies slightly from one country and culture to another, but these variations are minor and if studied at a slightest bit would be easy to remember for future references. If asked, â€Å"What is business etiquette? † Most people would respond with something like this, â€Å"how to eat right, how to sit right, how to talk right, and how to dress right. This is correct to a certain extent but business etiquette requires a little more performance from an individual practicing it. If one truly wants to understand why and how etiquette is conducted, they must simply take a little more time in learning etiquette and maybe even researching the history for why things are done the way they are. Now, let us say one inquires as to how God a nd Christianity fit into business etiquette? In order to answer this inquiry, one must understand that business etiquette is a lot more intricate then the common thoughts it is associated with. Being a well mannered business person requires class and style which do not come with ease. These attributes are learned and practiced daily. Etiquette, if honest and real, can truly show a person’s heart. Real etiquette is seen from the outside and the inside of a person. Motives, thoughts, ideals, and character alike are the catalysts for the beginnings of a â€Å"type† of person. If the heart is pure, the man will be pure also, but if the heart is deceitful, so will be the man. Proverbs tells us, â€Å"A malicious man disguises himself with his lips, but in his heart he harbors deceit. Though his speech is charming, do not believe him. (New International Version, 2005)This paper will explore the different levels of doing business etiquette from a Christian perspective. A Christian is held to a higher standard, not necessarily by men, but rather by God. As a Christian, we are called to be lights in this world and to live for God’s glory so that he might be ple ased with us. C. S Lewis tells us, â€Å"For glory means good report with God, acceptance by God, response, acknowledgement, and welcome into the heart of things. †(Lewis, 2001) Since Christians are called to a higher standard, etiquette must be broken down even further and needs to include the minute details of life. These details include; rapports, money, walk with God, life perspective, choices, building a reputation and lastly our goals; not necessarily in that order. These seven categories are not the only areas involved with Christian etiquette, but rather seven of many. This paper will focus on these attributes and explain how Christianity and etiquette can be tied together in order to become Christian business etiquette. Within the human society and the world, a name is one of the most important aspects of a person, place, or thing. When speaking of a name, the prettiness of the names is not what is being discussed here, but rather what one thinks about the object or person being described. â€Å"Reputation and name are often linked, like hand and glove. There is value in a name. †(Pollard, 2006) To better understand the meaning of this, here are a few names; Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Ivan the Terrible, Enron, and Al-Qaida. On the opposite spectrum we have Billy Graham, Martin Luther King Jr. , C. S. Lewis, Gandhi, World Peace Organization, and Compassion International. Each one of these names has a deeper meaning associated with them. Hitler and Stalin were mass murderers, Enron was a cheating company and Al-Qaida is a terrorist funding organization. On the other hand Billy Graham, Martin Luther King Jr. , and Gandhi were and are people of noble character, World Peace organization speaks for itself and Compassion International is a light for children globally. The name of a person or an organization will either make them or break them. Proverbs says, â€Å"A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. (New International Version, 2005) A name becomes what it is by the way it is lived out. The individual or the company with the name cannot define its reputation, for it is the people around them who are the judges. The individual or the company can lead the direction of the people’s thoughts by how he or it acts. An evil person will be deemed evil, and a righteous person will be deemed righteous . William Pollard says, â€Å"What’s in our name? A rich heritage and legacy of the past and also a purpose and direction for the future. It is both valuable and fragile. It can be used or abused. It is an intangible asset of the firm. †(Pollard, 2006) Here Pollard is speaking of the company he once ran which can also be applied to a human name. Within business etiquette, if your name is already in shambles, the person whom you are trying to relate with will want nothing to do with you. This is why the Bible says in Ephesians, â€Å"Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. †(New International Version, 2005) A character who makes a name for themselves is usually a person who contains many great attributes. Most of all, he is a person who has learned for themselves the value of life and the secret of joyful living. The great thing about being a Christian, is knowing what one is working for and why. Let’s clarify though, that a Christian does not attain salvation by works, but rather by a relationship with Christ. Once a person becomes a Christian, they learn and want to be workmen for Christ Jesus. Ephesians says, â€Å"For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. †(New International Version, 2005) As a Christian then, it is important to work for God and His glory. A true believer would find joy in the workrather than it being a nuisance. There is a saying that if you enjoy your job, you’ll never work another day. Many people do not have such an attitude about their job and this negativity can be very unhealthy in a workplace. David Stewards says, â€Å"That kind of thinking not only makes work boring and tedious, it causes stress and sometimes leads to health problems. In addition, a negative person in the workplace can hurt the morale of coworkers. The negative effect can extend to customers and vendors. (Stewards, 2004) As can be seen, negativity in a workplace can have far more reaching effects then realized. Within business etiquette, how a person carries themselves and displays their demeanor is a crucial know-how. By displaying the joy of work, one can usually spread the ‘joy bug’ to the coworkers around them. Another way people view work is as deadlines, tedious tasks, large projects and just another paycheck. When viewed that way, it is impossible for work not to seem awful. One author says, â€Å"Beauty inspires hope, and provides a reason for seeing differently. Business can be beautiful, which is part of the reason it so engages our lives and imagination. †(Costa, 2005) Christians are meant to find joy in work, despite the type of work that it is. Gains and losses can apply for more than just capital, money and profits. Every time a decision to act in one way or another is made, it affects a gain or a loss in our standings with others. One author has described these standings as a spiritual capital account. Ken Eldred proposed an account like a bank account which can grow or shrink with deposits or withdrawals. The spiritual capital currency that is deposited (or withdrawn) is the exercise (or lack of exercise) of biblical principles: integrity, accountability, honesty, hope, love, trust, stewardship, fairness, order, loyalty, service, and so forth. †(Eldred, 2005) Christian businessmen, as stated earlier are held to a higher standard and are called to be leaders within their workplace. This is how business builds a good rapport with their customers. Even if this does not help them to get ahead in their financial standing, it helps them increase in their popularity standings. It is not always easy to do the right thing, and it is also not always easy to know what the right thing is. This is why God has instilled us with that all so small little voice (Holy Spirit) which speaks and guides us. Steward says, â€Å"Let’s give credit where credit is due. What people call a gut feeling isn’t what they think. I believe what we label an innate response is actually spiritually inspired. †(Steward, 2004) In business, people have to make quick choices on their feet, and it is important to make the right choices. Etiquette is about saying the right things at the right time so as to be competent or at least appear that way. We are to be diligent in what and how we say or approach people. The book of James says, â€Å"My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. †(New International Version, 2005) Money is yet another important topic, but one might wonder how money relates to etiquette. The society runs on money. Money is the fuel that makes our world go round and round. The way a Christian spends, makes, and views money reflects that persons understanding of its purpose. It also reflects on how he views his job, why he works and how hard he works. â€Å"The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. †(New International Version, 2005) Christians are called to give freely for everything we have comes from the Lord. â€Å"The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. †(New International Version, 2005) A Roman Catholic Priest named Paoli had associated money with grace. It probably could not be better explained then in the terms Paoli has provided. â€Å"Money represents an exchange of potentialities that depends on trust and circulates hope. None of us create money. We may earn and grow it, but like grace it is a value that exists beyond any one of us – that we participate in without any particular merit, and that ultimately passes through us. † (Costa, 2005) Money provides security; it gives hope to some and ideas of grandeur to others. When money is scarce, despair starts setting in, stress amounts, and pressures build allowing for fear to dominate the life. For a Christian, money is a tool for God’s purpose, and a Christian should not be afraid of finance shortages. By being an example in the workplace and by showing good stewardship of money, a person can have great influence on the coworkers in the workplace. â€Å"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? †(New International Version, 2005) Just as for any business man or company, increasing personal or shareholder wealth is the most important aspect of business. In order to attain this goal of any successful company, strategic vision is an essential element. â€Å"A strategic vision thus points an organization in a particular direction, charts a strategic path, and molds organizational identity. †(Thompson, Strickland & Gamble, 2007) For a Christian, a strategic vision comes from the Lord. Christians are called to follow God in all that they do with a mind set and understanding that God has the best plans for them. â€Å"’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. †(New International Version, 2005) God is a God of love, and he wants the best for his people. If the people come to him and just ask, He will provide for them and share with them His thoughts. â€Å"For God to do the outrageous through us, we need to be in agreement with Him and have a clear vision of where we are going. We need to identify how God is wo rking to further His Kingdom so that we can pull in the same direction. †(Eldred, 2005) Without this vision, the people are like sheep stranded in the wilderness without direction or a way back home. A mission statement is what defines a company, but without a vision, there can be no mission. Every mission has an end goal; this end goal is the vision being discussed. When it comes to leading people, vision is a necessity. â€Å"I strongly believe that in order to lead, one must have a vision. It’s the vision that provides the leader and his organization with direction. The lack of a vision is akin to raveling across the country with no roadmap and no destination. As a result, you turn in this direction, then go that way, meandering everywhere. †(Steward, 2004) Here is a very important question when it comes to being aligned with God’s vision. â€Å"How can you know God’s plans without knowing Him? A person, who does not spend time with God, doesn’t know God; therefore doesn’t have His vision. Jesus tells us in John, â€Å"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me. †(New International Version, 2005) As stated in the previous paragraph, it is really hard to know God without spending time and walking with H im. Walking consistently with God is the next stage of getting to know him and his business plans an individual’s life. Christians are called to live their life with Christ as their partner, brother, father, wife, etc†¦ John Costa points out a resemblance of how one is to live, that with the life of Christ. As suggested earlier, Jesus taught, preached and embodied a ‘double and’ theology. In every interaction or experience – for every decision or response – he insisted that binary exclusions be broken and that the intimate, loving presence of God be made near and dear. †(Costa, 2005) An important lesson to grasp from this is that people cannot do anything on their own. Every ability and success comes from the Lord. Proverbs says, â€Å"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (New International Version, 2005) Also, â€Å"He who t rusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe. †(New International Version, 2005) Walking in wisdom is another way of saying walking with God. For a Christian business man, losing sight of God could easily mislead the man down the wrong path. Many Christians claim to know God and to walk with Him. But many Christians are also fooling themselves and others around them. Sometimes these so-called Christian people know they are doing this, but sometimes they are truly buying into their own lie. The real test of walking with God comes when a man or a woman comes to a fork in the road. Not just a normal fork with easy decisions about which market to enter and such; this is too easy. The fork spoken of here has one road which takes them to United States and the other one to Mexico. Or to put it simply, they can either chose God or their business. If the business is heading in a direction away from God, what should one do? If a person is ordered to act in a way that goes against God’s thinking, what actions should they take? Our nation has a rich heritage of great Americans who risked their lives to stand up for their beliefs. †(Steward, 2004) Another business person says, â€Å"We seek to honor God as an end goal and recognize that growing profitably is a means goal. †(Pollard, 2006) If people chose idols such as success, money, and prestige over God, in the end God will not recognize them for loving him above all. The penalties for not choosing God could b e even far worse than expected. â€Å"Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers. †(New International Version, 2005) Walking away from what is known to be wrong is walking towards God. Choosing Jesus shows real faith and real commitment. When a person lives out their beliefs with their actions, it is called integrity. People with integrity can be trusted and relied on to do as they say. Christians are not supposed to be afraid of what others think of them when it comes to choosing between right and wrong. Jesus says, â€Å"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belong to the world, it would love you as its own. †(New International Version, 2005) A great verse to summarize this paragraph is found in Matthews 6:24, â€Å"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. †(New International Version, 2005) Many people would ask what some of the above paragraphs have to do with business etiquette. The answer to that question can be summarized in the following way: Etiquette is the interactions between people. People follow and lead by seeing or setting examples for one another. Christian business etiquette requires a higher standard to live by. In order to live by these standards, different outlooks on life have to be grasped and understood. For a Christian, these outlooks are associated with a life lived for Jesus Christ. In order to live a Christ filled life, certain practices and choices are required. These practices and choices, if done correctly, achieve the end goal of intertwining of God and business etiquette. By joining of God and etiquette together, types of pure actions and motives are produced. John Costa says in his book, Magnificence at Work, â€Å"Small things matter because any company or person that settles for less than magnificence in effect collaborates with the opposing multiplication of meanness. †(Costa, 2005) If the logic above is not simple enough, the following sentence should help: Christians are to display God in all that they do and say, this includes etiquette. References Costa, J. D. (2005). Magnificence at Work: Living Faith in Business. MontrA ©al: Novalis. Eldred, K. (2005). God is at Work: Transforming People and Nations Through Business. Ventura, CA: Regal Books. Gamble, J. E. , J. , A. , Thompson, A. , & Strickland, I. (2009). Crafting & Executing Strategy: Text and Readings (17 ed. ). Boston: Mcgraw-Hill College. Lewis, C. S. (2001). The Weight of Glory (New Ed ed. ). SanFrancisco: HarperSanFrancisco. Pollard, C. W. (2006). Serving Two Masters? : Reflections on God and Profit. New York: Harperbusiness. Shook, R. L. , & Steward, D. (2004). Doing Business by the Good Book: Fifty-Two Lessons on Success Sraight from the Bible (1st ed. ). New York: Hyperion. Zondervan. (2006). NIV Thinline Brown/Nero Black – FCS. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan.

Philosophy Assignment Essay

Philosophy Creative Assignment: Anticipating possible negative consequences or weaknesses of the proposed political system In the leadership of any political system, there will always be possible weaknesses. Therefore, it is necessary to anticipate these possible weaknesses or problems and try to correct them as much as possible. Concerning our proposed political system, which is aristocracy, several flaws or negative consequences may arise. Firstly, the leaders are divorced from the society of Springfield and they may not know what the people of Springfield actually need. The leaders are given absolute authority in running the society because only rulers have been identified as competent rulers who have passed all tests and undergone relevant training. However, as these leaders make governmental policies, they may fail to take into consideration what the people really need, especially since the people of the other classes, the laborer and the warrior classes, cannot challenge these leaders’ administration. To mitigate the negative effects of this problem, changes can be made to the proposed political system in the long term. A biannual meeting session between the leaders and selected people of the other classes can be introduced, whereby these people can raise their needs and concerns. That way, the leaders will know some, if not most or all of the major concerns and needs of the citizens of Springfield through the session, and this will go a long way in helping the leaders craft their governmental policies to address the needs of the citizens of Springfield. Another possible negative consequence which may arise from the proposed political system is that there will be no upward social mobility for the people of Springfield. Due to aristocracy, the people will be grouped into either one of the three different classes, the rulers, the warriors and the laborers. Once the people are grouped into their respective classes, there is no way for these people to make a switch in their roles, and this means the warriors and laborers are unable to rise in status and income no matter what. As these people will not enjoy any upward movement of the socio-economic ladder despite the effort they put into their jobs, unhappiness may become rife and many of the people who are reward-driven may produce slipshod work. All these will eventually lead to undesirable consequences, such as low productivity of the people. To tackle this possible negative consequence, the proposed political system (aristocracy) can be modified to allow people of the warrior and laborer classes to freely choose their roles and switch their roles, but with valid reasons (permanent injury to a warrior etc.). This way, the people of Springfield will be more contented with their roles since the roles they choose would suit their preferences and needs. Thus, the possibility of unhappiness among the people is minimized and productivity of the people will be maintained or even increase. Furthermore, as society progresses, the people of Springfield would be happy and contented and would not hesitate to put in their utmost effort into their roles to ensure that Springfield continues to prosper in the future. Word count: 498 words.

The Cinema Industry in Israel

The Cinema Industry in Israel theme of nationalism. Through this movie, the movie developer seeks to unite Palestinian soldiers against a common enemy Israel. This movie seeks to demystify the idea that Israel is a non-confront able state giving the fighters more hope of victory.

Commands and Requests in Spanish Without the Imperative Mood

Commands and Requests in Spanish Without the Imperative Mood Although the imperative mood is frequently used to tell or ask people to do something, other verb forms also are used. This lesson covers some of the most common non-imperative ways of giving commands. Infinitives as Impersonal Commands The infinitive (the unconjugated verb form that ends in -ar, -er or -ir) is frequently used, especially in print and online rather than verbally, to give commands to no one person in particular. It is seen most commonly on signs and in written instructions. Examples: No fumar. (No smoking.) Hacer clic aquà ­. (Click here.) No tocar. (Do not touch.) Sazonar los frijoles y servirlos en un plato. (Season the beans and serve them on a plate.) Colgar el telà ©fono y esperar. (Hang up the telephone and wait.) Use of Present and Future Tenses to Give Commands As in English, the present and future indicative tenses can be used to issue emphatic commands. Using the present and future tenses in this way normally wouldnt be done when youre trying to be diplomatic; more likely, they would be used when simple persuasion hasnt been successful or if youre trying to be particularly matter-of-fact. Examples: Comers el brà ³coli. (You WILL eat the broccoli.) Me llamas maà ±ana. (You call me tomorrow.) Indirect Commands By using the subjunctive mood in a clause beginning with que, it is possible to indirectly give a command to someone other than the person being spoken to. As the following examples indicate, a variety of English translations can be used, depending on the context. Examples: Que Dios te bendiga. (God bless you.) Que vaya à ©l a la oficina. (Have him go to the office.) Que me traiga ella sus archivos. (Tell her to bring me her files.) Que en paz descanse. (May he rest in peace.) First-Person Plural Commands There are two ways to give a command to a group that includes yourself: use followed by the infinitive, or use the first-personal plural subjunctive form of the verb. These are typically translated in English by using lets. In the negative form (lets not), the subjunctive form (not no vamos a) is typically used. To say lets go, use vamos or vmonos; to say lets not go, use no vayamos or no nos vayamos. Examples: Vamos a comer. (Lets eat.) Comamos. (Lets eat.) No comamos. (Lets not eat.) Vamos a hacerlo. (Lets do it.) Hagmoslo. (Lets do it.) No lo hagamos. (Lets not do it.)

Improving School Lunches (for Kids and the Environment)

Improving School Lunches (for Kids and the Environment) Now that many schools have stopped selling sodas and other unhealthy vending machine items to their students, improving the nutritional quality of cafeteria school lunches is on the agenda of many parents and school administrators. And luckily for the environment, healthier food usually means greener food. Connecting School Lunches with Local Farms Some forward-thinking schools are leading the charge by sourcing their cafeteria food from local farms and producers. This saves money and also cuts back on the pollution and global warming impacts associated with transporting food long distances. And since many local producers are turning to organic growing methods, local food usually means fewer pesticides in kids’ school lunches. School Lunches Linked to Obesity and Poor Nutrition Alarmed by childhood obesity statistics and the prevalence of unhealthy foods offered to students in schools, the Center for Food and Justice (CFJ) in 2000 spearheaded the national Farm to School lunch program. The program connects schools with local farms to provide healthy cafeteria food while also supporting local farmers. Participating schools not only obtain food locally, they incorporate nutrition-based curriculum and provide students with learning opportunities through visits to the local farms. Farm to School programs now operate in 19 states and in several hundred school districts. CFJ recently received significant support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to expand the program to more states and districts. The group’s website (link below) is loaded with resources to help schools get started. USDA Offers School Lunch Program in 32 States The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) also runs a Small Farms/School Meals program that boasts participation in 400 school districts in 32 states. Interested schools can check out the agency’s â€Å"Step-by-Step Guide on How to Bring Small Farms and Local Schools Together†, which is available free online. Chef Alice Waters Teaches School Lunch Cooking Classes Other schools have taken the plunge in their own unique ways. In Berkeley, California, noted chef Alice Waters holds cooking classes in which students grow and prepare local organic fruits and vegetables for their peers’ school lunch menus. And as documented in the film, â€Å"Super Size Me,† Wisconsin’s Appleton Central Alternative School hired a local organic bakery that helped transform Appleton’s cafeteria fare from offerings heavy on meat and junk food to predominantly whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables. How Parents Can Improve School Lunches Of course, parents can ensure that their children eat well at school by forgoing the cafeteria offerings altogether and sending their kids to school with healthy bag lunches. For on-the-go parents unable to keep up with a daily lunch making regimen, innovative companies are beginning to sprout up that will do it for you. Kid Chow in San Francisco, Health e-Lunch Kids in Fairfax, Virginia, New York City’s KidFresh and Manhattan Beach, California’s Brown Bag Naturals will deliver organic and natural food lunches to your kids for about three times the price of a cafeteria lunch. But prices should change for the better as the idea catches on and more volume brings costs down.

Mountain Lion Population Model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mountain Lion Population Model - Essay Example gic study mode considering Goldman’s findings of 1946 who stated that due to Texas being neighbors with Mexico, there will always be a significant number of mountain lions in Texas. The distribution of mountain lions is mainly in the west and south Texas which borders Mexico. However, the true population distribution is not known because there is no study that has been done before to determine the distribution (McKinney, 2003). I feel that she could have included the history about the lions in the article, considering historically the entire of Texas was inhibited with , Puma concolor, a lion species (McKinney, 2003). This species was famous among people living in Texas then because they viewed them as a threat to their livestock. However, early 1890’s, the mountain lions were being killed at an alarming rate which in turn lead to drastic decrease in population. Also, to be added in her findings are the strategies suggested in the survey that needs to be put in place. The study gave the following management plans that should be undertaken to control the lion numbers such as establish sink areas for rearing goat and sheep where no predators allowed, establish source areas where the lions reproduce without any interference and construct stable areas where harvesting can be done to control the mountain lions group (McKinney, 2003). In conclusion, including the history and the three strategies is very important because mountain lions also contribute to the ecology and it is also of social and economical value to Texas. For example, lions help control the population of animals such as deer and other species which in turn help maintain vegetation cover, thus achieving a balanced ecology. The study indicated that most of the lions killed are female and the current rate of killing is higher than the rate at which the lions reproduce. Due to the killing, the existing populace mainly comprises of young lions and this is not healthy for any animal populace

What It Means To Be A Coast Guard Wife Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What It Means To Be A Coast Guard Wife - Essay Example In grasping the idea of protection as the chief aim of a coast guard on duty, a wife must instill in herself a gentle but firm heart at thoughtfulness when peril strikes and the better half guards someone else's life at the expense of his. More than awareness of how significant the profession is in times of real coastal emergencies, lifetime partnership with a man of the coast entails aligning thoughts, goals, and actions with the professional objectives of the latter. It means exhibiting a profound level of support to his cause that extends to getting involved in strengthening the man's faith in himself both emotionally and psychologically. Taking part in a routinary mission to prevent smuggling or intercept contraband trading is truly a tough work to accomplish so a coast guard's wife must possess the courage to accept any unforeseen circumstances especially the worst. She must not be susceptible to easily losing heart when her husband experiences distressing situations in the cour se of providing intense security in aiding vessels or merchant sailors for instance.

The Mystery of Pain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Mystery of Pain - Essay Example Rehabilitation trouble could be reduced if methods like virtual reality are adapted as in the case of "virtual reality for soldier's burn pain" where the patient's brain is diverted by means of cool virtual reality game, providing a sense of chill rather than heat of the pain. This alters the perception of sensory stimulation. In future the technique could gain advantage as it has potentials to calibrate neurons not to have sensation of pain. When human mind perceives the thought of suffering, pain is felt, eventually this very thought leads to enhanced discomfort and the individual recedes from cure because of distress. On the other hand animals do the reverse, they heal their injuries in a natural way. Thus, psychological focus plays an imperative role in sensing pain. It is established fact "little knowledge is dangerous". A person who himself is a physician knows the intensity of injury and is bound to feel more pain as compared to the individual who does not possess sound medica l knowledge, if both encounters the same degree of injury. Here again psychology plays the key role.

GDP in China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

GDP in China - Essay Example The national government of China too had acted out in a similar way to prove its worth over time, as the present discussion would reveal. Economic Growth of China The graphical depiction underneath is indicative of the economic fluctuations that the nation underwent during the last 10 years. It clearly shows how the nation had gone through fluctuations over time even though it had maintained a continued upward stride. However, the growth rate of GDP dipped down to its lowest during 2009-10, primarily due to the global financial shock which had hindered economic activities in many parts of the world. The primary cause behind China’s fast increase in growth rate had been its foreign trade policy of maintaining a positive current account balance. In other words, the nation complied to the export led growth strategy which is why it managed to accumulate a large volume of foreign exchange reserves. This factor alone led to a gradual appreciation in the rate of exchange of Renminbi against US dollars. The economic fluctuations which the nation underwent over time had hence, been basically the result of economic shocks arising in foreign nations, or to be precise, the Western economies which count for the highest demand for Chinese goods. Remedial measures and consequences GDP growth in China dipped down to its lowest between 2009 and 2010, when the Western economies had been the affected badly by the financial crisis. The prime reason behind this had been the high dependence of China upon its export revenues derived from the US and European economies. However, the national government of China soon framed policies which could recoup the nation from the looming crisis. The administration injected a sum of Renminbi 4 trillion within the nation in order to bail its various sectors out of the crisis. This infusion actually helped the nation’s industrial production to gain momentum once again and so did the rate of profit of the manufacturers. Furthermore, th e national government also decided to raise its total investment in fixed assets; to be precise, the growth in fixed asset investment during the first half of 2009 rose by 7.2 percentage points as against that exactly a year before. The government also took measures to accelerate the aggregate domestic demand in order to save the indigenous industrial houses. The sale of consumer products in the nation reached the level of 5,871.1 billion Yuan, which is found to be a growth of 16.6 percent after adjustment for price factors. However, though the national government framed policies to save the domestic economic environment, it had no hold over foreign operations, which is why it could not get over its deflating current account position. This resulted to a depleting foreign reserve position and thus, a depreciating rate of exchange. But, irrespective of its trade position, both the rural and urban populations of the nation experienced a slight increase in their per capita levels of inc ome. Moreover, the national government’s objective had been to bail out the nation out of any hints of recession. Thus, it implemented ways through which the flow of money within the nation could be maintained. The financial houses within the nation thus, invented ways to instigate people towards demanding more loans so as to keep the velocity of money within the nation high. The higher the money supply in an economy, higher will be the domestic

The Historical Developments in the United States that Presented New Essay

The Historical Developments in the United States that Presented New Opportunities for Women in Society - Essay Example The industrial revolution One of the most significant contributions of the industrial revolution at the end of the nineteenth century is the rise of the status of women. Women during this period were preferred by factory owners because they could be easily employed, they could be underpaid and could be required to work longer hours. This situation divided the home and workplace. Often times, women were found to be competing with jobs in the factories which were originally male dominated. The way of life of women began to change with the introduction of technologies and the coming of the consumer society. According to, Butler Chris,(2007) women found plenty of time to stay home and be associated with â€Å"housewife role†. Women used their extra time to be related in social and political issues. At first they started participating with church activities who also discussed same issues. A middle class society eventually emerged wherein women spent more time at home and did more s pending. In time they were considered as an important aspect of the emerging society during the half of the nineteenth century (Butler, Chris). Thus, at this time the rise of women’s status began and then the isolation of women ends. The rising status of women in education The rising status of women led to other opportunities. More women were seen in the workplaces, and were encouraged to pursue secondary and college course. By the end of the 19th century, the number of women students greatly increased. According to Women’s International Center (WIC), in 1870, an estimated one fifth of resident college and university students were women and by 1900, this proportion had increased to more than one third. The figure obtained in WIC states that at the beginning of the 20th century women had: obtained l9 percent of all undergraduate college degrees, and by 1984, this figure increased to 49 percent. Women also increased their numbers in graduate study, by mid l980, women wer e earning 49 percent of all masters degrees and about 33percent of all doctoral degrees. In l985, about 53 percent of all college students were women. (WIC) As such, many courses became female dominated like nurses, teachers and secretaries. As women began to be accepted in society, many of them took casual dancing and sports. Their rising status allowed them to participate in sports like crocheting, biking and horseback riding. Even the clothing of women at the twentieth century was less confining. (Butler, Chris). In recent events, women became more daring, as they take part in swimming, tennis and other athletic fields. We even see women boxers and other extreme sports. Important women in history The end of women’s isolation allowed them to become more visible in the society. It had encouraged women to participate in politics, and to organize reforms movements. In the 18th and 19th century, the way women were treated gradually changed. For instance, the achievements of Eli zabeth of England in the 18th century, Catherine the Great of Russia in 18th century and Queen Victoria of England in the 19th century have been properly noted and recognized, WIC said. From

Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Music - Essay Example Moreover, it should be of very high popularity among listeners and performed by various artists over the years. Race music refers to all recordings produced and performed by African American musicians for African American spectators while hillbilly is an old-time music presented by and for southern whites (Starr and Waterman 109). According to them, both terms are used to distinguish and promote music of the south. These are used by the music industry to provide â€Å"racially segregated markets† because racial isolation was still not considered to be illegal during 1954 in United States (Frith, Straw and Street 259). Race records and hillbilly both incorporated popular music in their respective genre. Music was even used to separate the whites from the black. Although some would take it negatively, the blacks used the term race to refer to the African-American people. Twelve-bar blues progression is a very common form of blues. It is a twelve-measure long. It is a standard rhythm with three four-measure segments (Vincent). This progression uses three cords: â€Å"the Tonic (I), Dominant (V) and Subdominant (IV)† (Bennett-Lovsey n. pag.). It commonly has a three-line pattern of lyrics, the AAB pattern, with first two lines repeated or almost the same, and the other one is a response to the previous lines. Austin defined big band as a musical group presenting and performing jazz, which came out to be famous from 1930s to 1940s. It normally has brass, woodwind, and rhythm instruments with almost twenty-five musicians. The rhythm section of the big band is composed of keyboards or piano, synth, guitar, bass, and drums. Often times, percussion instruments are also added such as tumbadora or congas and bongo drum or a pair of smaller and larger Afro-Cuban drums, guiros, and vibraphone (Austin). Austin further added that rhythm section serves as the band’s stimulus and is very important to the band and to

The Historical Developments in the United States that Presented New Essay

The Historical Developments in the United States that Presented New Opportunities for Women in Society - Essay Example The industrial revolution One of the most significant contributions of the industrial revolution at the end of the nineteenth century is the rise of the status of women. Women during this period were preferred by factory owners because they could be easily employed, they could be underpaid and could be required to work longer hours. This situation divided the home and workplace. Often times, women were found to be competing with jobs in the factories which were originally male dominated. The way of life of women began to change with the introduction of technologies and the coming of the consumer society. According to, Butler Chris,(2007) women found plenty of time to stay home and be associated with â€Å"housewife role†. Women used their extra time to be related in social and political issues. At first they started participating with church activities who also discussed same issues. A middle class society eventually emerged wherein women spent more time at home and did more s pending. In time they were considered as an important aspect of the emerging society during the half of the nineteenth century (Butler, Chris). Thus, at this time the rise of women’s status began and then the isolation of women ends. The rising status of women in education The rising status of women led to other opportunities. More women were seen in the workplaces, and were encouraged to pursue secondary and college course. By the end of the 19th century, the number of women students greatly increased. According to Women’s International Center (WIC), in 1870, an estimated one fifth of resident college and university students were women and by 1900, this proportion had increased to more than one third. The figure obtained in WIC states that at the beginning of the 20th century women had: obtained l9 percent of all undergraduate college degrees, and by 1984, this figure increased to 49 percent. Women also increased their numbers in graduate study, by mid l980, women wer e earning 49 percent of all masters degrees and about 33percent of all doctoral degrees. In l985, about 53 percent of all college students were women. (WIC) As such, many courses became female dominated like nurses, teachers and secretaries. As women began to be accepted in society, many of them took casual dancing and sports. Their rising status allowed them to participate in sports like crocheting, biking and horseback riding. Even the clothing of women at the twentieth century was less confining. (Butler, Chris). In recent events, women became more daring, as they take part in swimming, tennis and other athletic fields. We even see women boxers and other extreme sports. Important women in history The end of women’s isolation allowed them to become more visible in the society. It had encouraged women to participate in politics, and to organize reforms movements. In the 18th and 19th century, the way women were treated gradually changed. For instance, the achievements of Eli zabeth of England in the 18th century, Catherine the Great of Russia in 18th century and Queen Victoria of England in the 19th century have been properly noted and recognized, WIC said. From

Compensation Laws and Legislation Research Paper

Compensation Laws and Legislation - Research Paper Example Medical treatment requires that an employer or an employers insurer pay the medical bills and requirements, of an employee injured in the course of duty, or gets sick due to work related factors. Vocational rehabilitation requires an employer to offer rehabilitative services to an employee who gets disabled due to work related factors, and is unable to get employed due to that disability. All these requirements of the law are discussed giving examples of related court cases. The court cases illustrate different situations that arise in workers compensation laws, and provide guidance to employers on what they should do when faced with similar situations. Pieces of legislation relating to compensation are covered under Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA). This legislation ensures workers are paid their medical, disability, and other related benefits in case one gets ill or gets hurt on the job. The benefits are paid to an employee’s dependents if the employee gets killed on the job. The laws are designed to ensure employees who become injured or disabled are given financial support. These laws also guide employers to provide necessary compensation and avoid the need for litigation (Hwang & Kleiner 70). Some laws also protect the employers by getting rid of liability of co-workers in most accidents, and by limiting the amount an injured employee can be paid. Federal Employees’ Compensation Act is specific to federal employees only, but there are Workers’ Compensation Acts established by each State that guide employers in those States. This paper is focused on discussing the three critical pieces of legislation relating to compensation. Workers’ Compensation Act ensures employees get their benefits through three main programs; medical treatment, wage replacement, and vocational rehabilitation. These three programs are considered the most critical parts of the Workers’ Compensation Act (Hwang & Kleiner 70). These are payments made by a

Beer Economics - Supply and Demand Essay Example for Free

Beer Economics Supply and Demand Essay The laws of Supply and Demand may be a simple concept except when it comes to beer. Two large beer companies have formed an Oligopoly and have taken the power from the people. Income high, or income low, beer will be purchased even if the price is not always right. A social gathering is not social without the presence of beer. Beer has been a growing industry year after year. The craft, or microbrewery industry, has grown tremendously since the early 1980s, and the Brewers’ Association reckons that there are now over 1,500 brewing companies in the country, a level not seen since Prohibition was introduced in 1919 (Krafoff, 1). Pabst Blue Ribbon, in 1890 the most popular beer in the U. S. , has seen its market share drop to 2. 8%, but it has enjoyed a resurgence due to its cheap price, decent taste, and new-found cachet among urban hipsters (Krafoff, 1). The beer market is a completely open market. Anyone with a marketing idea and a recipe can get a contract brewery to make the product (Krafoff, 1). Almost every bar has a dozen taps with independent and local brews, but there are two definite brands you won’t ever have to look hard for: Coors and Budweiser. As recently as 2004, 64 percent of the global beer market ownership was fragmented among ten beer corporations (Anderson, 5). In 2008 the merger of Anheuser-Busch (A-B) and global giant InBev created the world’s largest brewer: Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI), followed by SABMiller (second-largest) and Molson Coors Brewing Company (fifth-largest) (Anderson, 5). To better compete with ABI’s growing world beer market share, SABMiller and Molson Coors combined their U. S. and Puerto Rico operations to establish their joint venture, MillerCoors LCC (Anderson, 5). With these massive consolidations, the two beer giants (ABI and MillerCoors) now have combined control of more than 40 percent of the world beer market and 80 percent of the United States beer market (Anderson, 5). MolsonCoors operates in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Their products include Coors Light, Coors, Keystone Light, Blue Moon, MGD 64 and many other recognizable beers. Their number one competitor is Anheuser-Busch. Their products include Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob, Shock Top and many others. The beer market has formed into a classic oligopoly: a market with just a few firms dominating the industry. Both MolsonCoors and Anheuser-Busch have substantial market power and control over beer prices. They are mutually interdependent. MolsonCoors can’t raise the price of Coors Light unless Anheuser-Busch raises the price of Bud Light. Both companies are forced into the game theory. They have to play a guessing game of what the other company is going to do and lower or raise their prices based upon their assumptions. It may seem easy for them to just agree to the same price and share the market. Unfortunately, that is called a cartel, and is illegal in the United States. Their products have few substitutes and complements. A substitute of beer is wine as the cross-price elasticity is . 23. A complement to beer is hard liquor as the cross-price elasticity is -0. 11. Beer is an elastic product because it is not a necessity. Demand is highly affected by price. An example of this is highly popular discount brands such as Keystone Light. MolsonCoors products are equally as elastic as their competitor Anheuser-Busch. They offer discount beers as well as microbrew style beers. Beer is an inferior good. As income falls, quantity of beer demanded falls. Beer has a negative income elasticity of demand of -0. 09. This is because when society becomes richer (income rises); things such as fine wines and spirits are substituted for beer. Beer has a couple factors working in its favor. First, the United States is in a recession, thus income is low, and the quantity demanded of beer is high. Second the marginal utility of beer increases as more is consumed. The utility of one beer is high but increases with every added beer. This is a major advantage to the two beer giants and their profits. There is not an infinite supply of a given beer. This seems unimportant when no one wants said beer, but is important when it is in high demand. Ideally, the amount of beer will meet (or come close to meeting) the desire for it, meeting a market equilibrium. It may not taste like it, but our beer is actually in danger. The popularity of corn-based ethanol has already caused a tight market for malt, one of beers three critical ingredients, as farmers increasingly forgo the barley crops used to make it in favor of more profitable corn (Boyer, 1). This has caused a worldwide shortage in hops, thus a large increase in price. Barley has risen from $157. 6 USD per metric ton in March 2007 to $202. 53 USD per metric ton. The other key ingredient in beer (along with water), hops is a flower that gives beer flavor and aroma (Boyer, 1). The shortage comes after a decade-long surplus discouraged farmers from planting the crop, which grows on trestles and can take years to mature (Boyer, 1). Since 1994, the amount of farm acreage planted in hops worldwide has declined by about half (Boyer, 1). Together, the two mean the beer industry now faces a 10 to 15 percent shortage (Boyer, 1). On the upside, water, aluminum and yeast are widely available and have stable prices. According to MolsonCoors financials, their total revenue (p x q) is $3,254,000. We can assume that they sell every beer at about $3 which would make their quantity sold at approximately 1,084,667 cans. That’s billions! This business model seems to be working. Molson Coors is currently earning economic profits. Their current net income is 670 million dollars. The stockholders’ equity is currently 7,779. The current prime rate is 3. 5% so by multiplying that by the stockholders’ equity we can assume the owner’s implicit costs are approximately 272. 7 million dollars. MolsonCoors generates profits of about 397. 03 million dollars per year. Beer is a profitable product because it is widely sold in many markets and, despite rising costs, fairly inexpensive to produce. Since MolsonCoors has been a company for many years, they have low long run average total costs. Over the years they have been able to decrease their operating costs and increase production and in doing so, reaching a point of economies of scale. Below is a fictitious example of how as quantity rises, total costs only rise a little bit.

Sociology and Why young people commit crime

Sociology and Why young people commit crime Sociology, along with certain other multidisciplinary focuses, provides a number of reasons for why young people commit crimes. Chief amongst these is a lack of employment, the breakdown of the family, urban decay, social disenchantment, social alienation, drug abuse, and a host of others. For example, it had been proposed that integration be viewed through patterns of role relationships  [1]  however on the other hand it had been argued that new legal powers essentially comprise an extension of punitiveness underpinned by stigmatising and pathologies constructions of working class families.  [2]  In both cases, separated by a number of years, a number of factors are to blame the state, parents, and so on but little if any answers are proposed. Sociology in its broadest forms offers a prescriptive view of the world and this can leave it lacking when tasked with answering questions that arise out of its interests but which its interests cannot qualify. As a 2006 study on you th crime in nova Scotia put it, youth crime is multifaceted. On the one hand, most youth commit crime, and most typically grow out of crime as they age. Longitudinal studies further suggest there are several risk factors that place certain youth at increased risk of offending. At the same time, there are youth with many risk factors who never participate in offending behaviour while there are youth with few risk factors who have established criminal careers.  [3]  It is here that sociology comes unstuck, unable to handle the sheer multi affectedness of youth crime with an academic outlook that seeks to place youth into easily identifiable boxes. It is here That criminology, psychology, psychiatry, and social policy step in to try and make sense of this multiplicity and advise on policies which can both decrease the number of youths committing crimes, whilst encouraging those already in such a position to leave it behind. According to most commentators, growing out of crime is on the increase. Furthermore, a lot of youth crime is to a certain extent, to be expected, quite aside for reasons of social delinquency. The establishment of the new youth justices system was a reaction to this fact. As sociologists noted that certain levels of delinquency were normal, a new policy entered in the UK that sought to treat all crimes as punishable by a formal criminal justice sanction. The effects of this have been to label a young offender as an offender from an early age. On youths, this has a number of effects. The first is to further entrench criminality into the culprit, whilst the other aims to encourage the youth of the pointlessness of crime , providing punishments that equal the crime, but that also aim to dissuade against further criminal acts. Questions also arise about how to differentiate between males and females. Goldson and Muncie  [4]  note that women tend to grow out of crime earlier than boys. Whilst a sociological approach to this seeks to question why this may be, the criminological approach must make do with knowing that after the age of 18, youth offending begins to fall, particularly self-reported offending. As youths mature, they tend to swap certain crimes for others. Thus shoplifting and burglary decrease whilst fraud and workplace theft increase as they enter the labour market. These are questions best answered by the statistician than the sociologist. Theories that rely on concepts of individual pathology are redundant in the light of sociological developments in criminology. In recent years, there has been a wholesale turning away from concepts of individual pathology in sociology, necessitated by advancements in criminology which place a greater social burden on the reasons for crime. Haines draws a contrast between individualised explanations of criminal behaviour and approaches which seek to place crime in its situational and social context.  [5]  However, the positivist view that Darwinian notions of physiognomy may in some way be responsible for defining characteristics of a criminal are by now very outdated. More modern theories of criminality, derived in part from sociological studies, but also from the dismantling of the Darwinian myth of universal positivism, have led researchers to take the view that criminals are made, rather than born. That means that they are socialized in a society that views criminal behaviour as entirely rational and in keeping with the social and cultural norms of that milieu. Whilst exceptions still abound, particul arly in the case of the clinically, ill, this view informs much policy thinking and policies aimed at reducing youth crime. There are of course exceptions to this, but they remain very much the exception. Individual pathology is so closely linked with the notion of pathology that it is too universal, cutting across all classes, as to be specific enough to the rigours of criminological profiling. Criminology in its current incarnation looks at why crime exists in society and in order to do that, it needs to look at the ills of society. Taking their cues from Marx and Engels, the modern idea of criminology seeks to give answers that look at social questions as much as pathological ones. Accordingly, the individual pathology model is a control oriented ideology which serves to locate the causes of problems in specific individuals and which supplies the relevant knowledge and understanding to develop the appropriate technologies and social policies for controlling deviant members. Crimi nological theorizing thereby becomes a means of providingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a means of legitimating current policies which become justified as forms of treatment rather than punishment.  [6]  In this argument, the archaic individual pathology view becomes not only outdated, but also unfairly punitive, prescribing a series of judgments upon a larger, unclassifiable group. It strips the moral imperative from those enlisted to uphold it, and takes an awkwardly narrow view of society as a whole.

Subversion of Class and Gender Roles in Jane Austens Persuasion Essay

Subversion of Class and Gender Roles in Jane Austen's Persuasion      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Jane Austen's Persuasion, Mrs. Croft makes but few appearances and delivers little dialogue.   Nevertheless, Austen gives her significant narrative and thematic importance.   Mrs. Croft provides a foil for several of the Elliots, while developing a commonality with the frequently ostracized Anne.   This bond between Mrs. Croft and Austen's heroine valorizes Mrs. Croft's radical views concerning feminism and marriage.   Beyond signifying a paradigm shift in such social morals, though, the roles of Admiral and Mrs. Croft allow Austen to subvert the dominant upper class culture.   By exhibiting superior but genuine manners, by demonstrating the complacency of the dominant culture, and by exerting their own counterculture, Admiral and Mrs. Croft expose both the foolishness and the artifice of their upper class acquaintances.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Austen clearly contrasts Mrs. Croft with Sir Walter, Elizabeth and Mary, and therein reveals the selfish and impractical nature of luxury, saying, "none of us expect to be in smooth water all our days" (50).   She admits to the confinement of a frigate, but notes that "any reasonable woman may be perfectly happy in one" (50, italics mine).   Meanwhile, Sir Walter cannot imagine life without "[journeys], London, servants, horses . . ." (10), and, for Elizabeth, "the sacrifice of one pair of horses would be hardly less painful than of both" (10).   Mrs. Croft thus highlights the Elliots' frivolousness.   The Crofts also illustrate Sir Walter's vanity, by moving his several looking glasses into storage, since Admiral Croft requires only one.   Similarly, Mrs. Croft exposes Mary's self pity, allowing us to co... ...ne Elliot as worthy not only of the noble relations of their family, but also of the superior culture of the Crofts.    Works Cited and Consulted Austen, Jane.   Persuasion.   1993.   Ware, Herts:   Wordsworth, 1996. Craik, W. A. Jane Austen in her Time. London: Nelson, 1969. DaDundo, Laura. "Jane Austen" Concise Dictionary of British Literary Biography. Vol. III. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1992. Harmon, William, and C. Hugh Holman. Handbook to Literature. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1986. Magill, Frank N., ed. English Novel: Richardson to Hardy. Pasadena: Salem Softbacks, 1980. Southam, Brian. "Jane Austen." British Writers. Vol. IV. Ed. Ian Scott-Kilvert. New York: Scribners, 1981. Tanner, Tony. "In Between: Persuasion." Persuasion. By Jane Austen. Ed. Patricia Meyers Spacks. New York: Norton and Co., 1995.   

Mgt/311 Motivation Strategy Plan Essay

Abstract This paper will review the motivational strategies that best suits each of the three employees based on their characteristics. I would go on to describe the motivational strategies I have chosen and why they would suit theses three individuals. This paper will also point out the motivational theories that are best connected to the motivational strategies I have chose I have come up with motivational strategies that I felt was appropriate for all three individuals based on their portfolio from their self-assessments and their characteristics. In order to do this I had to evaluate each of the individual’s characteristics and see what best suited their interests. Mike is able to make reasonable decisions but could at times make rash decisions which could have a negative affect the way he makes decisions regarding his job. He lacks self-motivation when it comes to his employment. Mike is mildly emotional although it he may become overwhelmed under pressure. He has a relatively positive emotional outlook when it comes to his job. Mia tends be able to valuable decisions regarding her life and job which is a positive feature for her job. She also tends to be self-motivated but may become bored with her job from time to time. Mia emotions could interfere with job related issues because she seems to be highly emotional. She is able to work under li ttle to no supervision Positive emotional outlook about her job but this could fluctuate depending on stress level which means she would be open and receptive to helping others. Ray has a good since of direction when it comes to making decisions he too could work well under little to no supervision. He tends to be self-motivated but may need a boost here and there due to lack of interest. Like Mike Ray tend to have mild emotional reactions to job duties and job related stress but seems to be able to regulate his emotions. Great positive emotional outlook toward his job and tend to be very helpful to others. There are a few motivational strategies that I have chosen these strategies are in place to suit each of the three individuals. The strategies I have chosen is merit based pay plan, flexible benefits, employee recognition, employee involvement programs and bonuses. Each of the individual’s characteristics that benefits from one or all of these choices. The merit based pay plan would help the individual engage in their jobs better because great performance equals a great raise. Flexible benefits also helps them to choose benefit package that best suits their individual needs, this is seen as a perk of the job. Employee recognition would suit each of the individuals because this would help them feel good about the work they are doing and would make them want to keep doing a great job, it would also boost their confidence. Employee involvement is another strategy I would use because this would give the individuals to become more involved with not only their assigned job but with other things in the company as well. This would also help them to do things out side of their job and expand their knowledge. Lastly I chose bonuses I feel as if the company is doing well it would be because of the employees and the bonuses would also give the individuals something to look forward to and help them to want to keep up their performance because if their performance goes down the production of the company goes down and so will the bonuses (Robbins and Judge, 2011). The two motivational theories that are connected to my motivational strategies are two, factor theory and expectancy theory. According to Robbins and Judge (2011) expectancy theory is a theory that believes that employees would be motivated to a high level of effort when they feel as if it would lead to a better performance appraisal. The two motivational theories believe that a person is basic and their attitude towards their work could determine their success or failure (Robbins and Judge, 2011). With my strategy I not only want the individuals to have a good attitude towards their job but to also feel appreciated for doing their work. References Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational Behavior (14th Ed.). River, N.J. Pearson/Prentice Hall. University of Phoenix. Employee Portfolio: Motivation Action Plan. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, MGT/311 Organizational Development website.

Hazing Essay for Law Essay

Hazing is a term that many people are familiar with, but not everyone thinks of it in the same way. Hazing can be defined as â€Å"any act that endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student, or that destroys or removes public or private property, for the purpose of initiation, admission into, affiliation with, or as a condition for the continued membership in a group or organization.† The issue of hazing can be controversial at times because some feel that it is nothing more than a way for a group to bond, but others fight against all kinds of hazing because of their belief that hazing is a serious threat to those who have to endure it, especially the youths of the world. Hazing is most often associated with fraternities, but it is an issue in many different organizations, including sororities, the military, athletic teams, student clubs (such as marching bands), and in high schools. Those who have never been involved in hazing may wonder why the victim would agree to the often humiliating or dangerous initiation rituals. The most common answer to this question is that they participated because they believed it would give them a sense of belonging, despite the fact that these so-called traditions may harm the participants. Most anti-hazing laws make it clear that it does not matter if a person consented to be subject to hazing because of the pressure they are under at the time and their lack of knowledge about what the process would involve. One of the most common forms of hazing, especially within fraternities and sororities, is the forced consumption of alcohol, often in lethal doses. One such incident involved Chuck Stevens, who was taken from his dorm in New York State, locked in the trunk of a car, and forced to drink a mix of bourbon, wine, and beer. Chuck died as a result of being hazed, and his mother, Eileen, has since founded the Committee to Halt Useless College Killings, or C.H.U.C.K., in memory of her young son. This organization promotes awareness and educational programs, tries to find alternatives to hazing, and works towards stricter anti-hazing laws. People’s perception of exactly what hazing is often varies form person to person, which makes it hard to separate acceptable traditions from unacceptable traditions. Even people who have witnessed hazing rituals or been a part of a hazing ritual are reluctant to label it â€Å"hazing† because of the stigma associated with the word. Victims of hazing will often not report the incident because they are unsure if what they suffered is classified as hazing and they are afraid of no longer being a part of the group they had worked so hard to join. A study conducted at Alfred University explored the various reasons why anyone would want to participate in a hazing ritual. Nearly half of those surveyed answered because they thought it was fun and exciting, but the majority of those students were only subjected to humiliating hazing. Other reasons include they were scared to refuse, they felt it brought the group closer, they wanted to get out some aggression through fighting, and they were immature when they agreed to the hazing. The study also discovered that many students did not know whether hazing was illegal in their state, and that if there was a law, it made no significant difference in the level of hazing behaviour. Hazing is something that occurs much more than we are aware because most incidents go unreported. Those students who did report hazing also reported both positive and negative consequences of the actions committed by them and by others. A common occurrence among those hazed was depression, which often included anger, and if the hazing was physical, the victim may suffer internal bruising and pain. Not all hazing has such serious penalties, though, and one positive aspect that was reported by students is that they felt they had gained a valuable life experience and had been able to mature. The outcome of hazing is different for each person who goes through it and it all depends on what type of hazing they endure and for what purpose they felt it was worth agreeing to. Aside from hazing taking place in the fraternities and sororities of universities, it is also a dominant problem in schools athletic teams. † Nearly 80 percent of student athletes reported being subjected to one or  more hazing behaviours, ranging from shaving their heads to being tied up and paddled, as part of their team initiations.† Amazingly, only twelve percent of these students were willing to call what they had gone through hazing. Many rookies, especially males, are also forced to humiliate themselves and others through some kind of sexual abuse or nudity, such as walking around naked while holding another mans genitals. Members of the University of Vermont’s hockey team in reportedly carried out this shocking behaviour in October of 1999. Former UVM hockey player Corey LaTulippe, who filed a civil lawsuit against the university, has told the media that he was repeatedly subjected to hazing by other members of the team, and that school officials did nothing to end it. Women’s athletic teams also face hazing rituals, but they are more likely to embarrass their rookies, where men are more likely to be involved in extreme hazing, such as beatings or theft. In addition to hazing being a major component of universities and high schools, it is also an issue that the military must deal with constantly. Military hazing â€Å"can be used to describe anything from a good-natured punch on the stripes when someone is promoted, to Navy chiefs who make a new chief wear a dress, to boot camp activities when superiors or peers try to transform a balky recruit into a trustworthy team player.† Hazing is an issue for branches of the military all over the world, including Canada, the United States, and Russia. Hazing in the Russian armed forces can be particularly harsh, considering that many first-year soldiers die at the hands of their â€Å"grandfathers,† or their superiors. In the United States, the public knew nothing about military hazing until 1956, even though it began over a century ago. Just a few short years ago, there was a scandal that rocked the military when videotapes of Marines participating in blood pinnings were released to the media. This initiation ritual involved Marines ramming gold-wing pins into the chests of fellow Marines, which sickened all those who viewed the graphic footage. Despite the many dangers that are associated with hazing, experts warn against eliminating it altogether. Sociologist Jamie Bryshun has said that â€Å"the traditions often run too deep, and nothing any coach or university administrator says or does can end them.† There is fear that if all hazing  is completely forbidden, then the organizations will just take it underground, where it may become even more dangerous. Different groups have tried to come up with alternatives to hazing, such as planning special events as a way for the members to bond with each other. The penalties for participating in hazing are on the rise. Hazing is now illegal in 41 states in the U.S.A., and many are working towards increasing that number. Under Texas law, hazing has been committed if a person engages in hazing, solicits, encourages, directs, aids, or attempts to aid another in engaging in hazing, intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly permits hazing to occur, or has firsthand knowledge that a hazing incident is being planned or has occurred and does not report their knowledge to the proper authorities. Even if the person has agreed to be a part of the hazing activity, it is still classified as hazing and charges could still be filed. Some criminal penalties include: a fine up to $1000 and/or up to 180 days in jail for failing to report hazing, a fine of $1000-$5000 and/or 180 days to one year in jail for being involved in hazing that resulted in serious bodily injury, and a fine of $5000-$10000 and/or one to two years in jail for participating in hazing that resulted in the death of someone. Despite the increase in awareness about the subject of hazing and the tougher anti-hazing laws, it is still a major problem for organizations all over the world. Even though many have died and countless others have been hospitalized, the trend of dangerous hazing has continued to grow, and it will not end until groups such as universities and the military receive a major wake up call. It is up to the leaders of the organizations to ensure that all its members are made to feel safe and no longer pressured to participate in activities that they know could endanger their lives.

Overdraft

An overdraft is when one has overdrawn at the bank. Meaning there is a negative balance due to spending more than the money that is in the bank. Bank overdraft is a temporary facility whereby a bank customer can withdraw more money than what is actually available in his/her account. Obviously the money doesn’t belong to them but belongs to the bank, so this money will need to be paid back. Normally, paying back is automatically done when money goes into the person’s account.However, a small amount of interest based on the amount overdrawn and the length of time overdrawn is charged, a bank overdraft is also a type of loan which can be used if required to provide additional working capital for a short period of time when there is a cash deficit. An overdraft is particularly useful when one has regular sales and purchases coming out of the account which could result in bad cash flow situations. The best thing to do is to avoid overdrafts entirely.Do this by creating a bud get, keeping an extra cash cushion in your account, managing your checkbook and checking your balance before making a purchase or writing a cheque. The advantage of a bank overdraft is that it is there when you need. It allows you to make essential payments whilst chasing up for your own payments, and helps to maintain cash flow. You only need to borrow what you need at the time. Overdrafts are also easy and quick to arrange, providing a good cash flow backup with the minimum of fuss.The disadvantages of a bank overdrafts is that it carries an interest and fees which is often at much higher rates than loans. This makes them very expensive for long term borrowing. You also face large charges if you go over the agreed overdraft limit. Unless specified in the terms and conditions, the bank can recall the entire overdraft at any time. This may happen if you fail to make other payments, or if you have broken terms and conditions; though sometimes the banks simply change their policies.Ov erdrafts may need to be secured against your business assets, which put them at risk if you cannot meet repayments. Unlike  loans  you can only get an overdraft from the bank where you maintain your current account. In order to get an overdraft elsewhere you need to transfer your  business bank account. Situation: Mr. T applied for an overdraft facility with collateral. He mortgaged his house in order to get an overdraft facility of RM200,000 with an interest of BLR-2. 2% with HSBC Bank (BLR-Base lending rate).RM200,000 is deposited into his account upon the completion of security documentation. Interest is only payable for the amount of money utilized and he is given a tenor of 10 years to repay back. If he does not utilize the RM 200,000, he need not pay any interest to the bank for that month. The bank only calculates interest for the utilized amount only on a daily basis. However, if he doesn’t utilize any money, the bank may impose a service charge. This type of ov erdraft facility is best for businessman.

Price Setting as the Art of War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Price Setting as the Art of War - Essay Example Past historical data can provide insight into the willingness of people to pay more for an item. Take for example food items such as vegetables. The prices of vegetables fluctuate a lot due to supply and demand factors. If in the past customer was willing to pay $3 for a lettuce, then the company knows that it can increase its price to that threshold in the future. Past data has to be analyzed to determine how much volume of sales was generated at higher price points. Â  It is always a smart strategy to gain insight directly from the customers. The use of surveys can help a company determine if customers are willing to pay more for a good or service. The survey has to be well designed to include questions associated with the subject. For example, you can ask a customer if he is willing to pay more if the item the company sells increases in quality. Historical sales data can also be useful because they establish purchasing patterns. Â  The prices of sporting events in different spots vary depending on the team. For example, the New York Yankees can charge higher entrance prices than the Florida Marlins due to the fact that New York is a bigger marketplace. The record of the team also influences in the pricing for sporting events. Teams with winning records can charge more than the team with losing records. I consider pricing to be the art of diplomacy. Prices are set based on set variables such as quality, value, and marketplace. Items sold in flea markets are going to be cheaper than items sold at the mall. Â  

THE DEVILS BRIGADE Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

THE DEVILS BRIGADE - Research Paper Example One of the major milestones in this journey was the establishment of the First Special Service, otherwise called the Devil’s Brigade or the Black Devils’ Brigade. The special unit among the United States forces was formed in the course of the World War II. Initially, the plan was to incorporate Canada and Norway in establishing a special elite force that would help in the activities of the war. However, Norwegian forces withdrew leading to collaboration between the United States Forces and Canada1. The conception of the idea to establish a special elite unit in the Army and the subsequent implementation took place between March and July 1942. This period was characterized by extensive research by a British scientist and extensive analysis by United States commanders. The special unit started their training in Montana at Fort William Henry Harrison before moving to other areas such as Camp Bradford and Fort Ethan Allen in Vermont. The forces lasted for the period between July 1942 and December 1944.1 The unit had three battalions made up of Canadian and American volunteers who engaged in intensive training in skiing, parachuting, amphibian warfare, mountain and demolition operations among other specialized skills. The elite forces were distinct, from their bi-national uniform to their specialized fighting skills. The soldiers engaged with war in Italy and Southern France before their disbandment late 19441. History The historical perspective of the First Special Service dates back in March 1942. The United States forces were allied to the British forces. A British Combined Forces Scientist, Geoffrey Pyke conceived the idea of establishing a special unit that would be capable of among other fighting activities engages enemies under harsh weather conditions in winter. Pyke’s proposed Plough Project involved the creation of traceable vehicles, designed to carry the soldiers and their war paraphernalia across the surface filled with snow. He pre sented the idea to the chief of the Combined Forces, Lord Louis Mountbatten and the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill both of whom admired the idea. Pyke’s idea was sold to the United States Chief of Staff, General George Marshall due to several constrains by the combined forces and Britain. The Canadian Department of Munitions and supply came up with a vehicle called ‘the penguin’ while United States engaged its automobile manufactures through the National Research council in developing a vehicle that was named ‘Weasel’2. In embracing the idea, the United States decided to collaborate with Canadian and Norwegian Forces in establishing the Unit. Unfortunately, the Norweian forces failed to participate. The recruitment for the soldiers in was done on voluntary basis, advertisements were rolled calling on young people between ages 21 and 35 years with special preference given to the hunters, lumberjacks, rangers, game wardens among others2. Cana dian commitment was declared on 26th June, 1942 after which the Minister of National Defence of Canada authorized a battalion of six hundred and ninety seven Canadian soldiers for training in the United States on July 14th, 1942. The project was scheduled to start in

It is said that Mark twain in his writing tried to release human mind Essay

It is said that Mark twain in his writing tried to release human mind from moral, religious and literary standards and show the - Essay Example â€Å"There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth.† (Twain 72b). Twain’s attempt to release the mind of humans from the standards that has been set for them by the society could be seen in Huckleberry’s Finn when he wrote that, â€Å"But I reckon I got to light out for the territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she’s going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can’t stand it. I been there before.† (Twain 569). Twain used the character of Huckleberry to show an individual’s attempt to break away from the standard that the society set for him. Mark Twain used the character of Huck to show the extent at which humans tried to free themselves from what was perceived as societal norms and values. Huckleberry kicked against his adoption by Aunt Sally as he knows that Sally is someone that would likely try to instill some societal values and norms in him and he has not come to terms with this fact. The truth of life according to Mark Twain is a situation where humans can be made to enjoy life without anybody setting standards and values for them. Mark Twain believes that people should be made to do the things they feel is the best for them without being conformed to some stereotyped rules and precepts. This way, people would not have to live a hypocritical life and a life of lies and deceit.

Enviroment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Enviroment - Essay Example re not controlled by forest guards and other environmental conservationists in conjunction with the citizens, then reforestation is all that will be done and before those trees grow to curb the carbon dioxide, it will be several decades. Widespread destruction of forests is one of the setbacks that is being experienced not only in United States but in other continents too like Australia and this has meant that the governments are spending most of their conservation resources meant to benefit the future generation’s environment fighting these fires. This impact negatively on the rest of the population who have to continue waiting before the environment becomes better. The Copenhagen Agreement of 2009 is a continuation of the Kyoto Protocol and is aimed on ensuring climate change impacts are dealt with not only on paper but on the ground too. It especially focuses on cutting deeply the global emissions which are the greatest headache for climate change (Fabra and Mackenzie, 295). Blevins, Gene. â€Å"Wildfire grows chases thousands out of Southern Calif. Forest.† NBCnews, 3/9/2012. Retrieved from:

In the Cloud Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

In the Cloud - Essay Example A number of options are available for individual use such as Dropbox, which is until to date the best cloud storage option at no charge available. Another option is the windows Skydrive, which offers a great option for people with lot of small files to share (Kunal, 2010). Both options are worth using as they provide a variety of features that suit individual needs. Cloud computing has gained popularity so easily amongst public, private and hybrid users due to its capabilities and efficiency it offers. Compared to traditional databases, cloud computing has proved more capabilities and efficiency, hence rapid growth and acceptance. Cloud focus is to maximize the effectiveness of shared resources. It saves money and time making business more responsive to the needs of clients. There is a large variety of options to access internet like Ipads, mobile phones, and Netbooks hence greater efficiency and improved service to customers (Kunal, 2010). Cloud software is cheap compared to traditional database software. Among other benefits associated with cloud and storage are; ease in collaboration, universal access, pooling of resources and energy efficiency. With cloud computing, doing business becomes easier for both managers and employees since clients accounts are accessible from anywhere (Kunal,

Wil Haygood Paper Essay Example for Free

Wil Haygood Paper Essay On September 12th, I attended the talk with Wil Haygood discussing his new movie â€Å"The Butler. † It seemed that the entire community came together to see Wil Haygood speak that night. The entire gym was filled to see Wil, and you could tell that he was very appreciative. I am really glad that I chose to go to the talk rather than the movie because I got to hear about Wil Haygood’s life and how the movie really came to be. I can always go and see the movie whenever I want, but this was a great chance to see what Wil has to say and listen to him talk about his inspiration behind the book and movie. ODU’s manager of communications, Thomas Brockman, introduced everyone that was a part of the event. First, Don Davis was introduced because she made the Butler book possible. Davis was the publisher of â€Å"The Butler. † Next, Steven Reece came to the podium. He had a 22 year career at the Washington Post and edited Haygood’s original article. These two people were extremely significant in the success that â€Å"The Butler† has had. Finally, the author, Wil Haygood, was introduced. I was excited to hear about his journey and his perseverance in making all of this possible. Wil Haygood was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, where his career as a writer began. He attended Ohio Dominican University as a high school student and received his bachelor degree from Miami University of Ohio. It is inspiring that someone as successful as him has roots from ODU. In high school he was accepted into the Upward Bound Program and it remained the greatest moral movement in United States history. It is great that Haygood was getting involved at such a young age and trying to make a difference in our country. Haygood had become successful during his career as a journalist. His success as a writer had only developed more when he received a call from a lady that told him about Eugene Allen. This call is what started it all. He relentlessly pursued to get a hold of Allen and had to make 57 different phone calls until he finally reached him. Haygood was not going to let anything get in his way of getting to talk to Eugene. Eugene worked as a White House butler for 34 years and never missed a day of work. He served as a butler from Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan. Allen agreed for Haygood to come over and speak with him. However, before he said anything Mrs. Allen had to make sure Haygood was a good person. Finally she gave Eugene permission to show Haygood the basement. The basement was dedicated to the presidents and his life. All of this gave Haygood critical information to be able to write about Eugene. I always commend people that go out and find these stories because without Haygood we would not know about Eugene Allen. Many obstacles got in Haygood’s way where he could have called it quits, but he kept moving forward. Once the book came out it was an instant New York Times Best Seller. It is considered one of the best political books of the year. I have not had a chance to read the book yet, but after hearing from Wil Haygood it is definitely a book that I want to read. History can tell us so much about our country and this book can tell us more in depth about the history that Eugene Allen was a part of. I am glad I attended this event because it showed me that if one really wants something, then he should go after it. Failure is always going to happen, but if one never goes out and tries, he would never know if he could actually achieve his goal. Haygood made a name for himself by putting himself out there and making a difference. I want to be an individual that makes a difference and Haygood has given me inspiration to go after what I want.

Study On The Seagate Technology Buyout Finance Essay

Study On The Seagate Technology Buyout Finance Essay Motivation and structure of the transaction. In early 1999, Seagate was planning on major restructuring proposal with the private equity firm, Silver Lake partners L.P. The plan implied a leveraged buyout of Seagates disk drive operations, followed by the tax free acquisition of Seagates remaining assets by VERITAS Software Corporation. The choice for this two step transaction was mainly a result of Seagates 40 percent ownership of VERITASs common stock. In the previous year the share price of VERITAS increased significantly and the market value of Seagates share in VERITAS had come to substantially exceed Seagates entire market capitalization. The value gap was a result of the perceived tax liability by the market if Seagate were to sell its VERITAS stake and Seagates core disk drive operations were not fully valued in the market due to increased interest in Internet firms and cheaper data storage providers. The two-step transaction was thus believed by Seagates management to genera te significant wealth gains for its shareholders. Before making their decision Seagates has to consider some alternatives to the previously described restructuring in order to address its low stock price. The company could sell the company as a whole, repurchase its own stock or sell off part of the VERITAS stake, or undertake a tax-free spin-off of either the disk drive business or its stake in VERITAS. We address each of these alternatives next. Seagate could choose to sell itself to other companies that may be interested. A merger or acquisition, in this case, could be either horizontal or vertical. Whereas a horizontal merger or acquisition could be beneficial for Seagate, because of the even higher market in the very competitive disk drive market, a vertical merger would be less successful as the company is already vertically integrated. However, it would be ideal for Seagate to be acquired by VERITAS as it holds 40 percent of its shares. But VERITAS was not interested in entering into the disk drive industry as management believed this was to far away from their core software business. A second alternative for the company is to sell its VERITAS stock or repurchase its own stock partially in the open market, however. However both actions proved to be ineffective. First Seagates ability to sell of VERITAS shares was limited by a prior agreement made with VERITAS. Even if they could sell off the entire VERITAS stake, it still seems an undesirable outcome since the transactions would be taxable on both the corporate as personal accounts. Second when the company performed a repurchase it had little impact on its stock price. A tax free spin-off would imply that Seagate spins off one of its business units, the core disk drive business or the VERITAS stake as an entirely new company. However the internal revenue code, as part of the US statuary tax law, requires that both the distributing corporation and the controlled corporation must be engaged immediately after the distribution in an actively conducted trade or business for a five-year period. Furthermore it also states that the corporate divisions lacking a business purpose can not be accomplished tax free (IRS, 2003). Clearly the VERITAS stake corporation will not satisfy these conditions and thus a tax free spin-off is unlikely. Besides the distribution must be the last resort for solving the business problem. In other words, it must be established that the business problem cannot be solved otherwise. This condition also does not hold since, as we will later see, the proposed two step transaction remains as a valid alternative. After reviewing these alternatives the proposed two step transaction seems to be baneful, mostly due to its low tax nature. As indicated in the case the stock-for-stock swap qualifies as a reorganization under the Internal Revenue Code, thus avoiding the tax implications as a swap. VERITAS will swap 109,330,300 shares for 128,059,966 shares previously owned by Seagate, and the tax advantage will be Huge as no personal or corporate taxes have to be paid on the transaction. Furthermore the decrease in total outstanding shares associated with the deal will cause earnings per share to rise, cetris paribus. In total this would be in the benefits of the VERITAS shareholders, enabling the two stage transaction to be pursued on their behalf. Seagates shareholders also benefit from the potential restructuring program. First they will receive 109,330,300 shares that have experienced a price increase of 200 percent after the half year that followed VERITAS acquisition of Seagates Network and Storage group. Compared to the 25 percent increase over the same period of its own shares this is a significant difference. Furthermore they will receive an additional amount generated from the sale of Seagates disk drive manufacturing assets (including $765m of cash) to the Suez Acquisition Company. The benefits to be received here, and thus also the potential benefits of Silver lake Partners L.P. are thus for the main part determined by this price, which was not determined yet. Seagates employees will also benefit from the two step transaction as their incentive to perform increases significantly when the new Suez Acquisition Company is no longer tight to VERITAS performance. Corporate governance is now considerable tighter than in th e old situation. A sincere loser of the reorganization is the government that could have gained more in taxes if one of the pre-described alternatives were chosen. Levering the buyout There are a number of benefits of leveraged buy outs. Business efficiency improvements, increased interest tax shields, change of management or improved management incentives and higher firm value are the most important possible effects. In the case Seagate an increase of the stock price was the most important target of the leveraged buyout. Before the leverage buyout Seagates stock price was more and more tied to VERITAS stock price. The performance of Seagates main business was a subordinated parameter. The trial to increase the stock price by means of selling VERITAS shares and buy own shares in the open market did not lead to the aimed target. Therefore a leveraged buyout was a possibility to lose the stock price from the performance of VERITAS. Besides of this main purpose to disconnect the stock price development from VERITAS also other positive effects of leveraged buyout could be realized, as the improvement of the market position of Seagate from a strategic and long-term point of view. As a consequence a higher probability to secure a positive stock price development after being on the stock market again can be attained. Another positive aspect of leveraged buyouts are taxes that can be saved through higher debts and interest that is tax-deductible. Although it should be considered that interest cannot be deducted unlimited because of interest barrier rules or earnings stripping rules. Therefore the interest only can be deducted to a certain extent, depending on the debt-to-equity ratio. There are specific regulations that differ from country to country. In case of cross-border leveraged buyouts the situation should be analyzed separately. Within the EU there is no different treatment in cross-border situations because of the freedom of establishment and the freedom of capital of the EC Treaty. A decisive argument of leveraged buyouts is the possibility that enterprises that were poorly managed before their acquisition can undergo valuable corporate reformation when they become private. An important change in the corporate structure is often the modification and replacement of the management staff or improved management incentives. In the Seagate case Silver Lake was convinced about the abilities of the management team. Silver Lake argued that the members of the management team had over ten years of experience in the disk drive industry and underlined that it was an important condition of the deal that the six top managers were taken over. In many articles it is argued differently as a restructuring without modification of management staff is much harder and there is a stronger opposition against many unpleasant but necessary changes. As incentives the management had to convert a portion of their Seagate equity into new equity and also got some deferred compensation. The re jection of unnecessary company sectors as well as the reduction of excessive expenditures also is an important factor for the success of the deal. In the leveraged buyout market stable and predictable cash flows and significant tangible assets which can be provided as security for bank loans are positive preconditions. These are features that make an enterprise for private equity firms interesting to invest. In the 1980s and early 1990s industrial companies were strongly favored and technology business was avoided. This has changed as the technology sector has become more and more important and in the last years this sector has become increasingly more interesting for Private Equity investments (von Nell-Breuning/2010). The disk drive industry as part of the technology sector is distanced by heavy price competition, short product life cycles which are often no longer than six months and high expenditures on RD. These are features that make buyouts very risky. It makes it difficult to predict cash flows, which plays a significant role for the success of a leveraged buyout. Nevertheless Silver Lake was convinced that in general the disk drive industry market development would be extremely positive and that the disk drives would be the key technological component in hardware products. It also should be taken into account that Seagate had a number of characteristics that were from a positive nature for a leveraged buyout like vertical integration for a better competitive position on the market. But also high RD while using up cash is a positive aspect to prevent market entry of smaller, less well-capitalized competitors. Another advantage of Seagate was the relatively high equity ratio compared with the technological industry. The equity ratio of Seagate was 26.6 per cent in June 1997, it was 29.6 per cent in June 1998 and in June 1999 the equity ratio constituted 23.9 per cent. The equity ratio of its competitors were lower, f.ex. the competitor Quantum HDD only had an equity ratio from about 13.5 per cent. The average equity ratio of mature industries is between 20 and 25 per cent depending on the country. Capital Structure In order to assess the capital structure of the deal and in essence the amount of debt the Luczo and the buyout team should take it is necessary to estimate the firm value. Two model are being considered for this task. The first one is the relative valuation model. The rationale for relative valuation stems from the notion that the intrinsic value of an asset is difficult to estimate. Its value can be measured by the price the market is willing to pay for its assets, based upon its characteristics. The second model being considered is the DCF model. When comparing relative valuation with DCF, one advantage over DCF is the reflection of market perceptions on the value of the company. Thus, in a perfect market, the perceptions of future prospects are already reflected in the stock price. It requires less information than DCF models and is therefore less prone to estimation errors. In addition, managers are often judged on a relative basis and relative valuation might therefore match th eir needs and horizons. Markets are assumed to make mistakes when pricing assets across time. DCF valuations detach themselves from market valuations and assess the fundamentals underlying the firm and its growth perspectives. Relative valuation leads to a reasonable estimate when there are many comparable assets that are priced in the market and a common variable can be applied to standardize the prices. Although the case offers some information on competitors we deem the data to be insufficient. Even more, relative valuation works best for investors that usually have relatively short investment horizons as it is rather difficult or impossible for the market to perceive long-term growth perspectives. In general a private equity investment(PE) spans on a 5 to 7 years time line meaning the PE investor has a medium to long-term investment horizon. More confidence in reasonable firm value estimation is thus assigned to the DCF valuation. The fundamentals of a company provide a prudent basis for estimations. Assumptions for the estimations are transparent while these are rather not in the case of relative valuation. A DCF valuation can be applied to long-time horizons and is thus more applicable for investors with long-term investment perspectives. In addition, a fundamental approach might work as a catalyst that moves the price in the market towards the real value of the assets. Silver Lake Partners L.P., as the bidder for the controlling stake of the company is interested in deriving the firm value, meaning the value of the equity stake in association with debt. Cash flows coming from operating activities would therefore need to be estimated. A first step concludes in the calculation of free cash flows to firm (FCFF). The FCFF is computed based on the following assumption: The company management provides three different projections for the buyout team: The Base Case, The Upside case and The Downside Case, each differing in EBITA and Revenues values. Capital expenditures and Depreciation are to remain the same in all three cases. The values used are provided in the operating performance projections table of Seagate. The working capital(WC) is mentioned in the case as being historically equal to 0 for the industry so the change in WC is to be ignored. According to this values the FCFF can be computed. After total cash flow is calculated, it is brought back to NPV using the companys weighted average cost of capital (WACC). The WACC, which is defined by the relative cost of the companys debt and equity is also viewed as the required rate of return for the company and its investors to compensate them for the inherent risks of ownership and realization risk for projected cash flows. The value for the risk free rate and the market risk premium have been set as given by Damodaran(2010) as 3.20% and 2.05% respectively. The beta of the company is supplied by the case as 1.2. Thus we come to the value of 6% for the WACC. Based on the values of the FCFF and WACC computed we can now asses the present value of the firm in the years to come. By summing up this values for the required time horizon we get to the firm values for the three cases Figure 1 Firm value analysis As it can be noticed the firm values for the cases register important differences. The Upside case stands out. Comparable to this the Downside Case has a much smaller difference. In order to better account for the possibility of worse than expected, but more importantly, for better than expected performance in the company we consider that the average of the three values should be used as the firm value and as the price the buyout team should pay meaning US$2.224 billion. We have determined a purchase price of $2.22 billion that Silver Lake Partners will pay to acquire the operations of Seagate. This will be a leveraged buyout that includes two different equity sources and two different debt sources. Our proposed capital structure will consist of 79% percent equity and 21% percent debt. This structure was chosen based on the BBB three-year median rates as referenced in the case (Exhibit 11). The EBIT Interest Coverage ratio set the median value over 1997 to 1999 of 3.9x. In order to get the highest value for the firm when deciding to sell it, the PE firm will try to maintain its rating or even to improve it so it makes sense to consider the BBB value as appropriate. Even more lower rating will also mean higher interest rates for its debt. Using this value and the EBIT values provided for the case we can compute the amount of interest that the firm can afford to pay every year. It can be noticed in Exhibit 1 that the lowest value for EBIT is predicted in year 2000 so it makes sense to consider this value as a benchmark as the following years the performance is expected to improve. Starting from amount of interest that the firm can afford to pay every year we calculated the value of debt that the firm has to take in order to be required to pay that amount of interest. This adds up to US$468.31 meaning 21% of the price recommended for the deal. By comparing this result with the values provided in Exhibit 11 from the case it can be noticed that the firm will remain under BBB rating. The remaining 79% is to be provided by the buyout team in form of equity. It should also be considered that Silver Lake Partners L.P. will receive US$765 million by acquiring Seagate, funds that can be used as equity for the deal. Figure 2 level of debt analysis In order to better assess the impact of the three scenarios on the capital structure of the deal we also used the values computed under The Base Case, The Upside Case and The Downside Case. Again it can be noticed that the better performance predictions stand out. This is based on the possibility that in the latter years of the investment the firm will perform over the expectations even though 2000 is perceived as the same in all cases.