Practices in International Human Resource Management Essay

Practices in International Human Resource Management - Essay Example One specific example of a company which has jumped on the bandwagon is Asea Brown Boveri (ABB). ABB is a merger of three nations including Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. It has employees in more than 140 countries, an executive team composed of Swedes, Swiss, Germans, and Americans, and a head office in Zurich. A former ABB President said that the conglomerate is an alliance of national companies with a worldwide organizational hub. There are certain similarities among nations but their also great differences. 2 Some are economically advanced while others are under political dictatorships. Some have citizens who are educationally and socially adept while others have people with minimum literacy and social skills development. Along with this line, human resources practices evolve to cater to the employment of individuals who come from various geographical locations, cultural heritage, and ethnic background. The challenge, however, is how to make things work under this specialized set-up in terms of which principles to follow in the entire human resources process of selection, recruitment, compensation and benefits, and career planning. This endeavor is very important considering that Maxwell insists that the more people are developed, the greater the extent of the company achieving its dreams, goals, and objectives. 3 The Human Resources Department (HRD) is now faced with looking for the right people who can run the global race. Most of the time, the preference is to get the local nationals or the citizens of the host country in which the company is situated. It is like a Canadian working for an American industry in Canada. The employee then is called a host-country national. In this way, labor cost is much cheaper compared with having to hire an expatriate (somebody living in a foreign country) who could either be a third-country national (a citizen of a country differing from the home or host country) or a home country national (an expatriate who is a citizen of the country where a multinational company is headquartered) to fill in the position.  

ECONOMIC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ECONOMIC - Essay Example s, property, unemployment, crime, money and corruption are leading indicator of measuring the state of macroeconomics in Sierra Leone (Todaro & Stephen, 2009). This paper reflects the relationship between human capital, income inequality and poverty, and how it affects development in context of EG and HD linkages. Human capital defines the growth rate of nation as evident in the context of Sierra Leone’s economic growth. The absence of subsequent investment in human capital and low level of investment in physical capital affect the rates of return in form human capital, especially education (Todaro & Stephen, 2009). If human and physical capitals mutually affect each other, then the policy problem enables both to increase rapidly. Acute shortages of medicine, skilled healthcare professional, robust power system, hygienic water and such basic amenities as sterilized gloves; Sierra Leone finds the adequate strategy to resolve the health issues of inhabitants. The poor health and education of Sierra Leone’s workers explains low income of the citizen as statistics of pregnancy death showing one in every eight cases in comparison to the United States figure of one in 4,800 and life expectancy of 41 years in not welcome figure (Scott Craft). The coverage of health services remains cau se of concern. Transportation difficulties to avail public services increases the opportunity cost. Cultural barriers further add the woes in accessing health services, especially for women, the lower class, and other vulnerable groups. Infrastructure development and government policies for basic health services will pay substantial dividends as better health will contribute to growth of Sierra Leone. The country depends on the sixty percent of its public expenditure from foreign governments and nonprofit organizations approximately exceeding the figure of $1 billion in aid (Scott Craft). The complex relationship between human capital and economic development needs optimistic approach

Internal Auditing Concepts for Small and Medium Enterprises

Internal Auditing Concepts for Small and Medium Enterprises INTRODUCTION 1.0 Background Internal auditing is an independent appraisal function established within an organization to examine and evaluate its activities as a service to the organization. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes (IIA, 2007). It delivers greater value to an organization by championing good governance, supporting enterprise risk management rollout, consolidating compliance processes, and potentially coordinating various other corporate monitoring functions (Rick Todd, 2008). Corporate governance is a set of processes, controls, and structures generally performed within the organization by, or on behalf of, stakeholders (including the board or other body directly appointed by stakeholders, to ensure that their interests are protected and their goals are achieved (Norman, 2007). Over the past years, there has been a loud call for â€Å"good governance† of organizations (Zeleke, 2007). In the wake of corporate scandals, widespread unethical behavior, and illegal activity in some of the most respected organizations, corporate governance has become important in both public and private organizations (Tumuheki, 2007). These accounting scandals and legislation highlight the critical role the internal audit function plays in corporate governance (Deborah et al, 2008). It is therefore not surprising that the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) puts a lot of effort in guiding its members to become corporate governance specialists, capable to assist both management and the board (Jan, 2005). Uganda, like other transition economies, now increasingly recognizes that corporate governance is an essential tool for prosperity and economic growth. (Tumuheki, 2007). For Small and Medium Enterprises, especially those with a serious desire to grow and perhaps someday get stock exchange listings of their own, they should consider adopting key elements of corporate governance as this will help them gain access to information and resources for growth. The presence of proper accounting and bookkeeping practices increases confidence in SMEs and makes them less risky to invest or finance. According to Wee Teck (2003), there has been a recent growing call for the application of corporate governance to SMEs. They argue that, corporate governance has similar benefits to SMEs as to listed companies and therefore similar guidelines that apply to listed companies should also be applicable to SMEs. 2.0 Statement of the Problem Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are critical for Uganda because of their role in economic growth and poverty reduction. A dynamic and vibrant SME sector will provide sustainable growth, generate jobs and therefore reduce poverty levels .As companies globally face issues relating to transparency, accountability and timely disclosure of material information, the concept of corporate governance and business ethics in SMEs has gained significant importance (Shahnawaz, 2003). In Uganda, SMEs which form 90% of the private sector, lack organised in-house procedures to manage and supervise internal controls, risk management, business performance and cash flows. This has caused a high collapse rate, with 40 % failing within one year and 80 % within five years (Kasule, 2008) despite the high formation rate. This has prompted me to look at the relationship between internal audit proficiency and corporate governance in the small and medium scale enterprises in Uganda. 3.0 Purpose of the Study The purpose of the study seeks to evaluate the relationships between internal audit proficiency and internal controls; internal controls and corporate governance; internal audit proficiency and risk management; internal controls and risk management; and risk management and corporate governance in Ugandas SMEs. 4.0 Objectives of the Study The specific objectives of the study are stated below: i To establish the relationship between internal audit proficiency and internal controls in SMEs ii To establish the relationship between internal control systems and corporate governance in SMEs iii To establish the relationship between internal audit proficiency and risk management in SMEs iv To establish the relationship between internal controls and risk management in SMEs v To establish the relationship between risk management and corporate governance in SMEs. 5.0 Research Questions i) What are the causes of lack of internal audit proficiency in Ugandas SMEs? ii) What role can internal audit proficiency play to promote good corporate governance in Ugandas SMEs? 6.0 Scope of the Study The study will focus on internal audit proficiency, internal controls, risk management and corporate governance practices in Ugandas SMEs. It will be conducted within Kampala District since Kampala area has the largest number of SMEs in Uganda. The SMEs will be studied under the following categories; trade and commerce, service and manufacturing. 7.0 Significance of the Study The study will benefit the SME sector since it will highlight areas of emphasis that they should take advantage of. Scholars and academicians may be inspired to carry out further studies based on these findings. The study is expected to boost the literature gap on internal audit and corporate governance in the SME sector. Policy makers and other stakeholders will benefit from the findings of this research since they will be able to draw conclusions based on the findings. 8.0 Conceptual Framework The conceptual frame work draws upon the works of Faudziah et al, (2005), Laura Michael, (2002) and Tushabomwe (2006) with adjustments made to fit SMEs in Uganda. It explores the relationship between two variables; internal audit proficiency and corporate governance in Ugandas SMEs. According to Gerrit Ignace (2006), internal controls more specifically and risk management have been considered fundamental elements of organizational governance and that, it is the job of internal auditors to help organisations accomplish their objectives by bringing systematic and disciplined approaches to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control and governance processes. Internal auditors have an important role in the corporate governance process (Jan, 2007) and therefore need to be out in front, leading organisations with regards to the internal control systems and also focusing on strategic business objectives. They also need to establish themselves as vital cogs in their organizations, rather than as observers who watch from the periphery and wait for events to impact them (Sawyer Vinten, 1996). Therefore their experience and skill in carrying out audit work is of great importance since constructive advice to the Board and management adds value to organizations. The following conceptual frame work will be used to guide the study.

Attitudes towards women, and their role in American Musical Theatre. Es

Attitudes towards women, and their role in American Musical Theatre. For my essay, I am going to look at the attitudes towards women, both from men and other women, and the significant role that that women had in telling the stories in American musical theatre. Showboat was the first musical of its kind. Up to this point, musicals consisted of songs and dances, with often feeble storylines based around the big stars. Showboat had a real story, adapted from a novel, and both the singing and dancing told the story. At the beginning of Showboat, after we have been introduced to the main characters, we hear the main female characters attitude towards men and love. 'Fish got to swim, birds got to fly, I got to love one man till I die. Can't help lovin' dat man of mine.' Julie seems like a surrogate mother to Magnolia, giving her advice, as we see Magnolia's relationship with her own mother is very strained. Parthy doesn't want her daughter to have anything to do with the stage or Ravenal, the two things her daughter is most passionate about. Julie, on the other hand, just offers Magnolia advice and listens to her. We see Magnolia and Parthy's differences highlighted by the composer's use of the perfect fourth to show Magnolias closeness with the river, and the augmented fourth or tritone to show Parthy's distance from the river and its ideals. We see a mother-daughter relationship, where the mother wants one thing for her daughter and her daughter wants the opposite. The action in the musical then jumps forward and we see a now married Magnolia, destitute in a boarding house. She has been abandoned by Ravenal, just as her mother predicted. We then see Julie, now an alcoholic, who has also been abandoned by her husband. Magnolia comes to audition for a job where Julie is working. She sings 'can't help lovin' dat man' and Julie leaves her job so Magnolia can have it. Magnolia doesn't see Julie, but Julie supports her in this way. The musical ends happily, with Magnolia, Ravenal and their daughter Kim being reunited. Showboat was totally revolutionary, and tackled issues that had never been looked at through this medium before. It paved the way for all kinds of other issues to do with women to be looked at. Porgy and Bess was a totally new concept. Not only did it have a black cast, but it showed the life t... ... but out of place in the liberal seventies. In conclusion, the attitude towards women has changed and developed with that in the developed world. Musicals have both reflected this, whilst at the same time maintaining a continuity of strong female characters. Musicals, whilst being looked at as 'light entertainment,' constantly looked at new issues, often to do with women, to challenge their audiences and society at large. The role women played was obviously integral to the musical's stories as well as also in raising these issues. The roles women played varied widely from mother, daughter, strong, weak, and authoratitive. The issues varied from domestic violence to single parents, and forced society to pay attention to the way these were affecting women's lives. This focus helped play a part in getting equal rights for women and reflects on the society we have today. Bibliography Enchanted Evenings - Geoffery Block Rodgers and Hammerstein Ethan Morden Gonzl's book of the Musical theatre Kurt Gonzl and Andrew Lamb The Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter Hamish Hamilton http://musicals.net http://libretto.musicals.ru http://www.stlyrics.com

Business Model of Total Essay

1 Introduction There is no special and particular slogan used by transmit through its products. Total is using different slogans for their several kind of product lines in the countries, where they sale the products. â€Å"Winners fill up with TOTAL!† is the slogan in Germany for the B2C segment for their filling stations. 2 Company Profile – TOTAL The former â€Å"Compagnie francaise des pà ©troles†, now TOTAL S.A., is founded on March 28th in 1924, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates. The history of TOTAL began in the Iraqi sands in the 1920s. TOTAL began its Upstream in the Middle East in 1924. Over the past decades the company grew up, developed and expanded its presence throughout the world. Since 1999, the company has strengthened itself by merging with PetroFina and, at the beginning of 2000, with Elf Aquitaine, so as to join the small club of oil and natural gas majors. Today TOTAL is one of France largest corporations and the world ´s fifth largest publicly-traded integrated international oil and gas company.3 TOTAL is committed to meeting growing energy demand while consistently acting as a responsible corporate citizen.4 The company is registered in office 2, place Jean Miller, La Dà ©fense 6, 92400 Courbevoie, France. Up to and including the fiscal year 2011, TOTAL, with all its subsidiaries and affiliates, employs 96.104 people. 3 Business Model Canvas – applied by TOTAL â€Å"A business model describes the rational of how an organization creates, delivers and captures value.†5 The Business Model Canvas uses nine different perspectives, in order to portrait where the value of a company is created. It focuses on customer segments, value propositions, distribution channels, customer relationships, revenue streams, key resources, key activities, key partnerships and cost structure.6 The following sections are going to elaborate the theoretic basis of the Business Model Canvas and how it is practically applied by TOTAL. 3.1 Customer Segments Customers are the heart of every business or commercial model. Therefore they are one of the most important stakeholders of a company and to have them is the basis requirement for an economic venture. In order to be successful on the market, products should be designed according to customers ´ needs. Those needs can either be common or rather specific. Customers should be segmented. This depends on different expectations towards profitability, distribution channel or especially the price. Those segments are also divided in groups like common needs, common behaviors or other characteristic features. Kinds of customers segments can be the mass market or the alcove market. 7 As general definition customer segmentation is understand as the act of separating a group of clients into sets of similar individuals that are related from a marketing or demographic perspective. For example, a business that practices customer segmentation might group its current or potential customers according to their gender, buying tendencies, age group and special interests.8 Due to the fact that TOTAL is a company in the sector of power production, they are purchasing the strategy of customer segmentation to fulfill the different expectations at a best possible rate. On account of the spheres of business TOTAL operates in the area of the mass market, if you would lay a focus on the petrol production. Therefore TOTAL is one of the biggest suppliers in the transportation sector. But the company’s products are segmented by the different market segments. The business segment mainly focuses on 3 different branches: upstream, downstream and the energy sector. These branches are divided as follows9:  · Upstream: oil and gas transportation, development and production, liquefied natural gas  · Downstream: refining, petrochemicals, specialty chemicals, marketing and the trading and shipping of crude oil and petroleum products  · Energy sector: equity stakes in coal mines, operations in the power generation and renewable energy 3.6 Key Resources Depending on the field of business companies need different resources. According to Canvas ´ describes the component of the key resources the most economic goods which are necessary for functioning a business model.26 According to Canvas` TOTAL has the four from Osterwalder/Pigneur mentioned key resources. Physically, intellectually, humanly and financially. To bore after oil and gas and to produce fuel, lubricants and other goods from that, it ´s necessary to have appropriate production plants and equipments. Because these are capital-intensive the financial resource arises from that. To open pools or to allow constructing new offshore construction works the enterprise needs the necessary financial items. Among other things these were gained in the course of the company ´s history. Chemicals and special fluids, also the different fuels, need the humanly and intellectually resources. The mixture of all these four resources gives TOTAL the possibility to handle its operations in 150 countries. That there ´s a dependence between the key resources is visibly with the fact that TOTAL invested â‚ ¬ 776 million for R&D in the year 2011. It ´s necessary to have a good combination between all key resources to get benefits of these investments. 3.7 Key activities The component of the key activities describes the most important things which an enterprise must do, so that its commercial model functions.27 In combination with key resources, key activities are responsible for creating unique products and services to carry out the value of the enterprise. The promotion of oil and gas, as well as the production of fuels belongs definitely to the key activity of the company. Secondly a very important one is the know-how and the ability to create a functioning logistics network to operate through the countries all over the world with the different suppliers and customers. 26 Osterwalder/Pigneur (2011) p.38 27 Osterwalder/Pigneur (2011) p.40 10 3.8 Key partners Key partners are the network of suppliers and partners who contribute to the success of the commercial model.28 First of all TOTAL endeavors to use local suppliers of goods and services as often as it ´s possible. This action contents to the local content programs. TOTAL stands for using local resources. Programs are aligned with the project ´s technical characteristics and local industry. Special key partners are not able to indentify. TOTAL mentioned by itself, that the company purchased â‚ ¬ 27 billion of goods and services from roughly 50,000 active suppliers worldwide. 3.9 Cost structure The cost structure describes all expenses which result by the execution of a commercial model.29 This is the definition within the Canvas` model. In general a cost structure is a method to determine how much it will cost a company to manufacture a product and how much profit will be recognized from manufacturing the product.30 TOTAL has a mix of cost-driven and value-driven business model. Covered to the limited reserves of the fossil raw materials TOTAL invests millions of Euros into Research and Development. It is for developing unique and innovative products for helping to reduce energy consumption but also to find new resources of raw material like oil and gas or coal. Secondly a great part of the R&D portfolio goes to the sector of renewable energy like solar and photovoltaic. The biggest part of the Total expenses falls to the production of the several economic goods. 4 Conclusion The TOTAL ´s business model is very effective. According to the several different economic goods TOTAL is producing, the customers are focused by creating value added processes that are fulfilling their basically needs along with a comprehensive growth of revenue. With production plants and service 28 Osterwalder/Pigneur (2011) p.42 29 Osterwalder/Pigneur (2011) p.44 30 http://businessdictionary.com/definition/cost-structure.html 11 stations in 150 countries, a sales of about â‚ ¬ 184,693 billion, purchasing goods & services of â‚ ¬ 27 billion from about 50,000 active suppliers worldwide TOTAL is the fifth biggest oil and gas production company of the world. In order to the growing markets in Asia, especially the Chinese market, TOTAL could be able to increase their sales because of the increasing energy consumption in this area. It is not easy to imagine, that they are able to enter new markets, because they are operating worldwide and satisfy the energy needs of the private and business customers all over the world. Taking into account of the dropping reserves of fossil fuels it becomes inevitably furthermore to engage very intensively in sector of the renewable energy.

Legal Aspects of Criminal Justice System

Jury nullification is basically the situation wherein a certain guilty person was given the judgment â€Å"not guilty† by the set of jurors or the jury itself when that person is believed to be guilty of the crime he or she is accused of. The Jury tends to play an immoral role against his or her job which is to give justified verdict to a certain crime and thus apply an altered decision into the accused. An example of a jury nullified case is the famous case during the year 1735. This case is the trial case of John Peter Zenger charged by the former Governor of the New York Colony, William Cosby. In this case, the verdict given by the Jury to Zenger is a â€Å"not guilty verdict† wherein all the facts where given that Zenger did all the crime which he is accused of (Institute, 1992). Another case is the case of William Pen wherein he as the accused was acquitted by the set of juries. This happened in the year 1670 in London; his case was Preaching Quakerism. During this period four from the twelve chosen jurors made a non-guilty verdict which led them to spend time in prison and pay the damages they created but before they get into imprisonment, one of the judges made his plea and was able to nullify the unjust law (Institute, 1992). In the negative side of the defendant, his rights were violated because the sixth amendment says that â€Å"a defendant should not be deprived and even oppressed from his legal concerns† (FindLaw, 2008). When jury nullification occurs the defendant will be deprived from knowing what’s really happening in the court wherein the case holds his/her right to freedom. The nullification of the Jury to the case could also affect the Judge final decision about the defendant if he or she will be acquitted. Thus, the judge final judgment could henceforth be negative for the accused or the defendant because the judge may think that the defendant just influenced the Juries who voted for the accused person’s acquaintance. References FindLaw. (2008). Right to a Speedy and Public Trial [Electronic Version]. Retrieved January 16 from http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment06/02.html.             Legal Aspects of Criminal Justice System Felony Disfranchisement is a process in which a convicted criminal lose his or her rights and property. It is also considered as â€Å"civil death†, whereby these persons would lose all rights and claim to property, including the right to vote. The felony disenfranchisement law was first implemented way back in ancient Romans and Greeks. Deprivation the convict’s right, confiscation of private properties and exposure to death are consequence of having a felony record during the earlier times. The Englishman gave birth to the disfranchisement of offenders in America. Nowadays, only three states in America continue to impose felony disfranchisement and the illegibility to vote to all citizens with a felony record which are states of Iowa, Kentucky, and Virginia. Conviction with felony record has its own consequence merely different from the felony disfranchisement implementation in earlier times. Today, felonies don’t have the right to vote, serve on a jury or even hold a position in the government which makes them different from an ordinary people, the lowest of the citizens. The implantation of felony disfranchisement is one of the political anomalies in America or even in other countries. As we all know, voting is a not only a privilege but a right that any man wants to exercise.  The United States Government eliminates constraints on voting whether by court or legislative action. The citizens convicted by felony are the only few who can not exercise their voting rights during elections (Rockville, 1986). Most of the pro – disfranchisement are arguing that giving the ex-felons a right to vote may serve as a risk in the society since an election process is a essential activity for the development of a state.  Pro – disfranchisement cited some problems that may occur when a offender is given a right to cast a vote. They say that it may harm the law if changed, voter fraud may occur or the â€Å"purity† of ballots may be affected (cited in Human rights Watch). These reasons are some of those who make the ex-felons unrightfully voters. A good example of a convicted felon was Richardson v. Ramirez who was barred from voting without violating the Fourteenth Amendment. Richardson v. Ramirez leaves open a valid claim that the unequal enforcement of disfranchisement laws is unconstitutional. Plaintiffs argued that California counties’ different interpretations of â€Å"infamous crime† meant that the law was unequally applied. The U.S. Supreme Court sent the case back to the California Supreme Court to decide this issue, but before it could rule, California changed its law (Brennan 2007). A guy named Baker v. Pataki from New York City was a very good example of â€Å"purposeful racial discrimination† having him convicted by felony. A mixed Afro-American Latino challenged New York’s federal court who denied the votes of several felony offenders, in prison or on parole. He said that these act is merely against the Voting Rights Act 1968 since it has a disproportionate racial impact. The lower court however dismissed the case reasoning that the U.S Supreme court in Richardson v. Ramirez upheld the disfranchisement law. They also found that Voting Rights Act did not apply to such laws. The effect of felony disfranchisement law has been drastically implemented in the past century since there are increasing numbers of criminals that are sentenced by felony; they are sent to prison and stay there for a long time. Voting is a right, and equal right must be given to a citizen even if he or she was an offender of the law. Issues in racial discrimination and human rights must take into consideration. References Human Rights Watch and the Sentencing Project (October 1998). Losing the vote: the impact of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   felony disenfranchisement laws in the united states. Retrieved January 17, 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.hrw.org/reports98/vote/ Westat, Inc. (December 1986). Historical corrections statistics in the united states.                                                                                                         

History of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

History of the Lewis and Clark Expedition On May 14, 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark left from St. Louis, Missouri with the Corps of Discovery and headed west in an effort to explore and document the new lands bought by the Louisiana Purchase. With only one death, the group reached the Pacific Ocean at Portland and then returned back to St. Louis on September 23, 1806. The Louisiana Purchase In April 1803, the United States, under President Thomas Jefferson, purchased 828,000 square miles (2,144,510 square km) of land from France. This land acquisition is commonly known as the Louisiana Purchase. The lands included in the Louisiana Purchase were those west of the Mississippi River but they were largely unexplored and therefore completely unknown to both the U.S. and France at the time. Because of this, shortly after the purchase of the land President Jefferson requested that Congress approve $2,500 for an exploratory expedition west. Goals of the Expedition Once Congress approved the funds for the expedition, President Jefferson chose Captain Meriwether Lewis as its leader. Lewis was chosen mainly because he already had some knowledge of the west and was an experienced Army officer. After making further arrangements for the expedition, Lewis decided he wanted a co-captain and selected another Army officer, William Clark. The goals of this expedition, as outlined by President Jefferson, were to study the Native American tribes living in the area as well as the plants, animals, geology, and terrain of the region. The expedition was also to be a diplomatic one and aid in transferring power over the lands and the people living on them from the French and Spanish to the United States. In addition, President Jefferson wanted the expedition to find a direct waterway to the West Coast and the Pacific Ocean so westward expansion and commerce would be easier to achieve in the coming years. The Expedition Begins Lewis and Clarks expedition officially began on May 14, 1804, when they and the 33 other men making up the Corps of Discovery departed from their camp near St. Louis, Missouri. The first portion of the expedition followed the route of the Missouri River during which, they passed through places such as present-day Kansas City, Missouri, and Omaha, Nebraska. On August 20, 1804, the Corps experienced its first and only casualty when Sergeant Charles Floyd died of appendicitis. He was the first U.S. soldier to die west of the Mississippi River. Shortly after Floyds death, the Corps reached the edge of the Great Plains and saw the areas many different species, most of which were new to them. They also met their first Sioux tribe, the Yankton Sioux, in a peaceful encounter. The Corps next meeting with the Sioux, however, was not as peaceful. In September 1804, the Corps met the Teton Sioux further west and during that encounter, one of the chiefs demanded that the Corps give them a boat before being allowed to pass. When the Corps refused, the Tetons threatened violence and the Corps prepared to fight. Before serious hostilities began though, both sides retreated. The First Report The Corps expedition then successfully continued upriver until winter when they stopped in the villages of the Mandan tribe in December 1804. While waiting out the winter, Lewis and Clark had the Corps built Fort Mandan near present-day Washburn, North Dakota, where they stayed until April 1805. During this time, Lewis and Clark wrote their first report to President Jefferson. In it, they chronicled 108 plant species and 68 mineral types. Upon leaving Fort Mandan, Lewis and Clark sent this report, along with some members of the expedition and a map of the U.S. drawn by Clark back to St. Louis. Dividing Afterward, the Corps continued along the route of the Missouri River until they reached a fork in late May 1805 and were forced to divide the expedition to find the true Missouri River. Eventually, they found it and in June the expedition came together and crossed the rivers headwaters. Shortly thereafter the Corps arrived at the Continental Divide and were forced to continue their journey on horseback at Lemhi Pass on the Montana-Idaho border on August 26, 1805. Reaching Portland Once over the divide, the Corps again continued their journey in canoes down the Rocky Mountains on the Clearwater River (in northern Idaho), the Snake River, and finally the Columbia River into what is present-day Portland, Oregon. The Corps then, at last, reached the Pacific Ocean in December 1805 and built Fort Clatsop on the south side of the Columbia River to wait out the winter. During their time at the fort, the men explored the area, hunted elk and other wildlife, met Native American tribes, and prepared for their journey home. Returning to St. Louis On March 23, 1806, Lewis and Clark and the rest of the Corps left Fort Clatsop and began their journey back to St. Louis. Once reaching the Continental Divide in July, the Corps separated for a brief time so Lewis could explore the Marias River, a tributary of the Missouri River. They then reunited at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers on August 11 and returned to St. Louis on September 23, 1806. Achievements of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Although Lewis and Clark did not find a direct waterway from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, their expedition brought a wealth of knowledge about the newly purchased lands in the west. For example, the expedition provided extensive facts on the Northwests natural resources. Lewis and Clark were able to document over 100 animal species and over 170 plants. They also brought back information on the size, minerals, and the geology of the area. In addition, the expedition established relations with the Native Americans in the region, one of President Jeffersons main goals. Aside from the confrontation with the Teton Sioux, these relations were largely peaceful and the Corps received extensive help from the various tribes they met regarding things like food and navigation. For geographical knowledge, the Lewis and Clark expedition provided widespread knowledge about the topography of the Pacific Northwest and produced more than 140 maps of the region. To read more about Lewis and Clark, visit the National Geographic site dedicated to their journey or read their report of the expedition, originally published in 1814.

Trombone Ensemble essays

Trombone Ensemble essays SWT Trombone Ensemble On the evening of November 11,1999, the Southwest Texas Trombone Ensemble provided an apprehensive crowd with a truly wonderful performance. Starting with Sonata No.1 for Trombone Choir by Evan Copley, the ensemble exhibited fabulous variety in both the note and the speed in which they were playing. This skill mindfully produced a range of emotions, including anxiety and uneasiness. Charles R. Hurt, the conductor of the ensemble, skillfully piloted the ensemble in formulating an eerie feeling. I envisioned a cemetery scene with the light fog, worn tombstones, and mourners draped in black. The mood changed for the better with the arrival of the allegro, bringing with it a sound of a climax which flutters ones emotions. Sonata No.1 concludes climaxing one final time with a abrupt, powerful end. A highly emotional piece by Kazimierz Serocki titled Suita na 4 Puzony flowed placidly interrupted every so often by sounds of concern, as if someone were about to be attac ked by suprise. All the feelings produced in the intrada are subdued by the depressing, dark, cold canone. Its a slow melody of sadness but a sadness of extreme measure. A low pitch adds to the aura of mortality. These two particular feelings, anxiety and gloom, are toyed with throughout. During the arietta, a splendid job was done in building up the final Toccatina. There seemed to be a competition of sorts between the ensemble with sounds coming from each horn individually and sporadically. This effect created quite a frantic and raving atmosphere. To conclude the piece, the ensemble triumphantly came into unison, exploding with sounds of victory for the audience to discuss with one another during intermission. Following the intermission, the terrific trio of Joel Davidson, Joe Kramer, and Mike Lawson performed David Potters Aria ...

Salary Negotiation for Women Close the Pay Gap! Part 1

Salary Negotiation for Women Close the Pay Gap! Part 1 Salary Negotiation for Women: Close the Pay Gap! Part 1 The following story, one that a friend related to me just a couple of days ago, has become all-too-familiar: Judy (fictitious name), a part-time assistant in my friend’s office, was offered a full-time position at a salary lower than she deserved, and lower than she had made in previous positions. She felt underappreciated, but wanted the full-time position. So she went home to discuss it with her husband, and came back the next day with her decision. She would accept the job. She did not negotiate, but instead accepted the low-ball offer. What she didn’t know is that the hiring manager had been prepared to give her more- if she had chosen to ask for it. Now, not only is Judy’s salary below her worth, but all her raises in the future will be based on a low starting point. To me, this situation is very sad. You’re probably aware of the pay gap between men and women in the workplace. Perhaps you’ve heard the statistic that women earn 80 cents to every dollar that men earn. The gap persists after controlling for college major, occupation, employment sector, and even requests for time off. Strikingly, this number varies depending on ethnicity: Asian women earn 94 cents to the men’s dollar; white women 82 cents, African American women 68 cents, and Hispanic women 61 cents. So while it does seem that the gap is due to underlying sexism and racism, some of it could also be due to women’s failure to ask for what they deserve. I wonder, are Asian women just better negotiators than their white, African American, and Hispanic peers? While the answer to that question is still a mystery to me, I learned a ton about the topic of salary negotiation in a webinar presented by Professor Deborah Ellis for YaleWomen, Salary Negotiation. Professor Ellis addressed the pay gap for women and how women can start making inroads into that gap through salary negotiation. In salary negotiation, there is nothing to fear but fear itself. Many women are scared that by negotiating they will lose the position completely- but that rarely happens. You might lose the negotiation, but you won’t get a worse package than what you were already offered. And more often, you’ll get what you want. One mid-level lawyer reported: â€Å"I negotiated, and there really wasn’t any back and forth. He just said yes to the request I made.† Hmmm†¦ Maybe men who are hiring are more scared of you than you are of them. They don’t want to lose you and they have already chosen you as the best person for the job. So you are in a position of power. Use it! Salary negotiation works for women! I wish more women understood their position of power and would reap the benefits of salary negotiation. But a study at Carnegie Mellon revealed that only 7% of women grad students negotiated vs. 57% of men. The average salary bump for negotiating was 7.4%, which translated to $500K over the course of a career! If you are a woman who doesn’t negotiate for your salary, I hope you’re getting that women DO succeed in salary negotiation. And you can too. There’s neuroscience at work here: If you think you will do well, you will do better than if you think you won’t do well. One way to convince yourself that you will do well is to know that others have succeeded before you. Women face unique challenges in salary negotiation. Many of the barriers to salary negotiation are internal. I’ve addressed some of those above. Also, women historically have a harder time advocating for themselves than they do for other people- but they are better than men at â€Å"representational negotiation†- fighting to get something for another person. Here’s a nifty trick offered by Professor Ellis: If you think you don’t deserve more for yourself, negotiate for someone else in your life, like your family, or even your dog. But ask! There are also external barriers faced by women. The reality is that women who make demands can be seen as adversarial or confrontational. So how you ask makes a difference. Here are some techniques to work against the negative perceptions that are out there: Don’t make demands in writing. Have a conversation, preferably in person or by Skype. Phone is okay too but it’s great to be able to see each other. Yep. Be friendly. Use â€Å"we† instead of â€Å"I†- make it about the team and working together toward a common cause. Express enthusiasm about the job from the get-go. Never say it’s non-negotiable. Ask questions vs. making demands. Examples: â€Å"Would you consider a salary of $xxx?† â€Å"What would you think of my working from home†¦?† Use humor. Use the power of silence. Let them fill the silence. Overall, keep in mind that the goal for both you and the employer is a continuing relationship. Both of you want to reach an amiable win-win solution. I hope you’re feeling more confident that you can go and negotiate for the compensation you want. Next week, I’ll share more about the nuts and bolts strategy of salary negotiation, which applies to men and women alike.

Research business proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Research business proposal - Essay Example In addition to integration into corporate structures and processes, CSR also frequently involves creating innovative and proactive solutions to societal and environmental challenges, as well as collaborating with both internal and external stakeholders to improve CSR performance (McDonald & Rundle-Thiele, 2008). The proposed research paper will address the issue of definition as well the nature of the challenges calling for public and private sector action on the CSR front. It also intends to outline components that can be used by businesses and other organizations to review and potentially enhance their performance in relation to CSR. It will further explore the best practices on the part of industry to attain positive and proactive outcomes on CSR. Additionally, the proposed research paper will also provide an outlook of Industry activities and initiatives that support the promotion of CSR and that define and provide pragmatic viewpoints on the linkages between CSR and innovation. It will also offer some recommendations for the further exploration of CSR. There are different concepts and factors that are considered of importance in the operation and management of different types and forms of organizations. One of the said factors is the corporate social responsibility or CSR. The terms can be considered synonymous to corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship or responsibility in business. ... 3.3. Data collection method . 15 3.4. Ethical issues.. 16 3.5. Data analysis & Nature and form of results... 17 3.6. Variables 17 4.0. References 18 5.0. Appendix. 19 1.0. Introduction 1.1. Background There are different concepts and factors that are considered of importance in the operation and management of different types and forms of organizations. One of the said factors is the corporate social responsibility or CSR. The terms can be considered synonymous to corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship or responsibility in business. The main principle for the said concept is the need of the company to take responsibility on its operation on the basis of the fact that the establishment of an enterprise can affect the community and the environment one way or another (Catalyst Consortium, 2002). The detrimental effects of the continuous industrialization and modernization of the corporate world had turned the trend of the organizations and companies from the objectives of financial prowess solely towards expansion of aims and priorities in terms of responsibilities thus including the welfare of the environments and surroundings including the adjacent communities and other issues related to ethics and behaviours of the employees and the members of the company or organization. The CSR then can be defined on the basis of giving attention to three objectives that includes the profitability in the financial aspect, the social responsibility and the environmental issues and concerns (Catalyst Consortium, 2002). 1.2. Problem Statement and objectives Corporate social responsibility can be said as idea whereby business organizations consider the interests of society by taking obligations for the

Nihilism of the Female Gender Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nihilism of the Female Gender - Essay Example The Lowrider magazine is a monthly that focuses solely on the Lowrider model of cars. The magazine relies mostly on female models to advertise its cars. These advertisements normally contain images of the cars themselves, almost naked women and other graphics depicting the allure of the vehicles. While many may claim that depicting women as sexual objects is good for business, it does not that doing so is right. The use of demoralizing gender depictions in media advertising is both stereotypical and inhuman. Lowrider magazine is just one example of how women allow themselves to be used in derogatory situations just so as to please other people. The advert in the August issue of Lowrider magazine under discussion is featured under the article 1963 Chevrolet Impala - Ladies Night Out by Mike Landers. The advert is a two-page spread that specifically features a beautiful model sitting on the rear end of a sporty lowrider (car). The car being advertised is multicolored, most of it black, orange and yellow. Images of naked or scantily dressed women mark its decoration. Although the car covers a significant portion of the advert, the scantily dressed model is central in the picture. The woman has a broad smile on her face and assumes a sexy pose; her breasts thrust forward and her butts thrust in the opposite direction in a near sitting position. The woman is positioned close to the shiny spare wheel that is locked at the rear of the 1963 Chevrolet Impala. The beautiful lowrider is colorful and is presented as an object worth admiring, more like the model in stilettos. The words used in this specific advert imply that the car gives a feeling of majesty and designed to give utmost comfort and leisure. J Ayala, the model featured in the magazine is wearing thongs, a beautiful precious bangle on her right hand and white thongs on her breast, her nipples clearly exposed. She is also wearing a white g-string leaving most of her body nakedly exposed. On her ears, Ayala is wearing flowing earrings that match her bra partly covered with her long hair. She has a tattoo on her abdomen near her belly button and decorations of different colors on both of her feet. Her finger and toe nails are well manicured and her face neatly laced with make-up. Lowrider magazine is full of content that highlights the notion that sex sells. Body images of women are used to emphasize the attractiveness of the lowrider cars on sale. The written content is full of sexual innuendo that is meant to attract male customers. On the cover of every magazine issue, there is normally an attractive woman dressed only in bikini and many times standing next to an equally attractive car (Lowrider Magazine). It is clear from the advertisements and content of the Lowrider magazine that the specific target audience are men, mostly those who are aged between 20 and 40 years. Lowriders are well known as being flashy cars, the type that any man between 20 and 40 years would like to own. It is also a well known fact that sex sells, especially where men are concerned. Therefore, including sex symbols alongside the advertisements is a logical way of improving sales by attracting as many customers as possible. The median age of the target audience is likely to be around 25 to 30 according to the type of adverts on the magazine pages. Many of these men are likely to be single and living on their own and not in their parents’ house. They are economically stable since they can afford the lowriders. Most of the customers and target customers are also likely to be in

Community Nutrition Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Community Nutrition - Research Paper Example Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Unhealthy nutritional patterns impact the health of family members and can potentially lead to health problems such as obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, or Type 2 diabetes. To achieve their optimal health, family members need to have a healthy nutritional intake. Nutrition is defined simply as the nutrients the body needs for the body to function. The effectiveness of body functioning depends on which nutrients a person takes in and whether the nutrients meet the physiological needs of the body. Family members living together in a household have access to the same foods, influencing the nutritional intake of family members, so it is important to address nutrition and nutrition promotion from a family perspective and not limit it to individual family members. All families experience some form of cost constraints, yet families with limited resources may find it more challenging to access adequate nutritional resources. Typically, low-nutrient, low-density foods—high in carbohydrates—are less expensive than foods with greater nutrient density. Families who cannot afford nutritionally sound, energy-dense food are more likely to be overweight or obese, which can lead to secondary health problems (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, & U.S. Department of Agriculture,www.healthierus.gov). Cultural factors can also influence the nutritional intake of families, impacting food selection, meal preparation, and portion sizes. In some cultures, specific food items are on the table with every meal, such as tortillas or potatoes. Specific types of meat or vegetables may not be served or may be limited based on cultural or religious views. The family structure has been changing in America as well as globally. A variety of factors have led to alterations in family structure, including shifting parental roles, single-parent homes, and economic

Teenage Smoking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Teenage Smoking - Essay Example As per the findings of Holm et al, 80% of all smokers in the United States begin smoking even before the age of 18 (27). Because of the increased threat it raises to health and personal integrity, the prohibition of teenage smoking has become the most essential legal concern. In the United States, the issue has been a topic for debate for several decades between tobacco selling tycoons and social activists. Evidently, as an amicable solution to the controversial issue, the legal age of smoking should be raised, when at the same time, teenage smokers are perceived as vulnerable group that requires comprehensive care. The minimum legal age either for using or purchasing/selling tobacco products varies from country to country with an average range of 18-24. In most of the European countries including Poland, Serbia, Portugal, France, and UK the minimum legal age for smoking cigarettes is now 18. In contrast in the United States, there is no unified regulation on this issue and the minim um age restriction varies from state to state. Although 18 has been generally accepted as the minimum age, the decision is left to the discretion of states. For instance, many states including Alabama, Alaska, New Jersey, and some other counties of New York have recently reset the minimum age for smoking from 18 to 19. As per the Revised Washington Code, a person under the age of 18 who purchases or attempts to purchase, possesses, or attempts to possesses, obtain, or attempts to obtain cigarettes or tobacco products commits a class 3 civil infraction under chapter 7.8. (RCW 2002). Obviously, teenage smoking has to be approached with a socio-psychological perspective other than merely considering it as a health issue. Arguments favoring the rise of legal age to 19 or 21 strongly opine that teenage smoking indicates the behavioral inconsistency among adolescents which can be resolved only through comprehensive programs with the collective involvement of various governmental and non-g overnmental organizations. In order to define the behavioral changes of teenagers with regard to smoking as a symptom, we need to analyze some other aspects of this controversy. Researchers are deeply at odds regarding the factors that determine one’s behavior. Despite the actual trait, behavior of an individual is primarily determined by situational variables and environment. Hence, a person’s behavior is ever changing depending on the situation, place, and the surroundings. If an individual demonstrates exceeding emotional attachment or detachment to anything that comes within his personal environment it presumably point to a behavioral problem. This can be true with the adolescent smokers no matter how they got into this risk group. Several attempts have been made to reduce the use of tobacco products among the youth in the United States notably since 1996 as Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revised its previous policy. As Jacobson notes, the initial step the Stat es took was to introduce provisions ‘to suit tobacco industry to recover healthcare costs associated with smoking among medical recipients’ (1). One of the notable actions implemented with intent to reduce teenage smoking is the hike in cigarette price which according to some researchers has brought about significant decline in smoking habits. As Jacobson states, â€Å"the cost of cigarettes faced by teenagers can be raised through both price and non-price measures. Policy makers at the federal, state, and local levels can increase the price of cigarettes by raising cigarettes excise taxes-perhaps the most direct route of action† (Jacobson, 178). Admittedly, till date, the smoking

The Role Of Technology In Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Role Of Technology In Education - Essay Example Nagel said, â€Å"Technology is woefully inadequate in most classrooms despite the progress schools have made in bringing computers and the Internet to students and staff, and these groups need still greater access if technology is to become a reliable tool for teaching and learning.† A lack of technology use by teachers to communicate instructional activities in the classroom is evident. Teachers fail to use technology due to inadequate training or staff development activities provided to teachers. Educators reported inadequate resources in the area of education technology support, including inadequate professional development or training. Education administrators reported that after teachers attended professional development activities and training for technology support or integration, only 61percent felt prepared to make effective use of educational technology for instruction.Despite the disparities in schools that use technology and those that do not, teachers remain chal lenged with the efforts of using various technologies in instruction, and using various assessment strategies using technology in the classroom. For whatever reasons, teachers use far less technology than is expected to result in minimal technology exposure for students in public schools, which causes a halt and a fall in students’ academic success. For the high percentage of minority students without access to the Internet or a computer except at school, this is a serious concern that requires immediate investigation. Teachers are doing a grave disservice to these students. The relations among and between students and teachers is devalued without the use of technology intertwined with the curriculum. School communities are suffocating in our society due to the lack of technological support required to assist with students’ academic success. Recommendations As the world continues to embrace the ever-changing technological aspects of society, the methods used to teach students must also change.

Describe with NAMED examples, the potential risks and benefits Essay

Describe with NAMED examples, the potential risks and benefits involved in the use of genetic manipulation of plants to improve yields of species of agronomic - Essay Example e this problem by modifying plants altering its genetic make up through genetic engineering producing a desired trait they wanted to resolve world economic problem. They are now producing variety that are high yielding , resistant to drought, insect pest and disease resistant, saline and water logged resistant, weed and pesticide tolerant and even improve the its nutritional value. Coupled with these discoveries, there are some potential risks in genetic modification (GM) in plants that are harmful both human and mother earth. In Human, some GM products would cause allergies as a result of new unidentified proteins gene transferred into unrelated organisms (Campaign Web site) that may create new allergen that causes an allergic reaction in susceptible individuals (GMO Web site). Bernstein, et. al. (cited GMO Website) reported that allergic reactions in human occur when a normally harmless protein enters the body and stimulates an immune response to proteins. There are reports that any allergic reaction to food can be serious, even life-threatening, and leads to anaphylactic shock (Campaign Website). The consumption of GMO product will increased cancer rates from Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH). This hormone was injected into cows in order to increase milk production and also human insulin- Like Growth Factor (IGF-1). This IGF-1 was observed to trigger breast, prostate and colon cancer based on reported studies (Environment website). Examples: 3. Bacillus thuringiences (Bt) can be found in corn, potatoes and cotton caused allergic reaction to some people. It will provoke some kind of immunological allergic changes like asthma and other allergic reaction to human based on the study of Ohio crop pickers and handlers as reported in Science News, 1999 (cited Campaign Web site). Second, through genetic modification plants were able to develop Antibiotic Resistance. Plants become resistant to antibiotics when genes that confer antibiotic resistance are inserted

The Role Of Technology In Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Role Of Technology In Education - Essay Example Nagel said, â€Å"Technology is woefully inadequate in most classrooms despite the progress schools have made in bringing computers and the Internet to students and staff, and these groups need still greater access if technology is to become a reliable tool for teaching and learning.† A lack of technology use by teachers to communicate instructional activities in the classroom is evident. Teachers fail to use technology due to inadequate training or staff development activities provided to teachers. Educators reported inadequate resources in the area of education technology support, including inadequate professional development or training. Education administrators reported that after teachers attended professional development activities and training for technology support or integration, only 61percent felt prepared to make effective use of educational technology for instruction.Despite the disparities in schools that use technology and those that do not, teachers remain chal lenged with the efforts of using various technologies in instruction, and using various assessment strategies using technology in the classroom. For whatever reasons, teachers use far less technology than is expected to result in minimal technology exposure for students in public schools, which causes a halt and a fall in students’ academic success. For the high percentage of minority students without access to the Internet or a computer except at school, this is a serious concern that requires immediate investigation. Teachers are doing a grave disservice to these students. The relations among and between students and teachers is devalued without the use of technology intertwined with the curriculum. School communities are suffocating in our society due to the lack of technological support required to assist with students’ academic success. Recommendations As the world continues to embrace the ever-changing technological aspects of society, the methods used to teach students must also change.

Importance Of The Internet Essay Example for Free

Importance Of The Internet Essay The Internet is very helpful for businesses all over the world. It helps speed up many processes in a cost-effective way. Yet the usefulness of the Internet depends on what types of services and products each business. And how they take advantage of what is available. Many businesses may benefit a great deal more than others may. And there are many different benefits depending upon the types of the business, whether it is a supplier, a distributor, or a retailer. Some of the benefits could be; creating a new client base, product analysis, market analysis, expert advice and help, recruiting new employees, fast information access, wide scale information dissemination, fast communications, cost-effective document transfer, peer communications, and new business opportunities. Finding new clients is not as easy as most may think. This process involves an in depth market analysis, product marketing and consumer base testing. Where if a business where to use the Internet it would be much easier because the Internet has several million people from all over the world looking for businesses to invest or subscribe to. It is very easily recruit new clients or customers if your presence on the Internet is known. If your business was on the Internet you will be able to do product analyses and comparisons and report your findings on the net. You may also be able to find at least one other person who will be familiar with a product that you Thompson, 2 are testing or about to purchase or invest in. You can get first hand reports on each product before you purchase it. The Internet has many surveys for an analysis of the market for a new product or idea. These surveys are easy to reach many people so you are able to determine the satisfaction of the users of each product. This will enable you to be able to satisfy your customers easily because most of these are anonymous you will be able to get accurate information to help you understand what is preferred by your customers. The Internet has many experts on it who make it very easy for you to find them. You may even be able to get free advice and help with problems you might have come across from the same people who are paid very highly for  their consulting services to large organizations. There are many web sites that have job listings online for employers. Qualified employees always post new resumes to the site. This may inform the employers of the skills hopeful employees will have to offer. So the employee will not have much trouble looking for prospective employers. Getting information over the Internet is much faster on most occasions than doing it via fax or postal courier services. Countries around the world are available to interact with. You can lessen the possibility of the receiver not getting the information needed. You can place documents on the Internet and make them instantly accessible to millions of users. This provides an effective method to present information to the public. This also will improve the availability Thompson, 3 of the documents to a client base larger than the circulation of many major newspapers. Electronic mail, also known as email has provided to be an effective solution to the problem of telephone tag. This still has the speed of telephone conversations and still provides the semi-permanence of postal mail. This can be sent from just about anywhere where there is an Internet service. This takes a very short period of time and saves a lot of money over postal or courier services, which can also suffer late deliveries, loss or damage. So as you can see the Internet is very valuable to many businesses all around the world. It allows things to be processed faster and for the most part much safer. I think that it would be in the best interest of most businesses to participate actively in the Internet.

Experiment for Cancer Risk Factors

Experiment for Cancer Risk Factors Curiouser and Curiouser The case-control method used to identify risk factors for cancers relies on prior knowledge about the possible link between the cancer and the risk factors. It is a powerful method as the following two cases show. Asbestos In the 1970s, a series of studies identified the risk factor for a rare form of lung cancer called mesothelioma. Case-control studies pinpointed the risk to certain professions: insulation installers, shipyard workers, etc. The statistical analysis pinpointed the risk factor to be exposure to asbestos. Subsequent tort litigation and government oversight precipitated a reduction in occupational exposures to asbestos, reducing the risk of mesothelioma. Diethylstilbestrol (DES) Diethylstilbestrol (DES) is a synthetic hormone prescribed to pregnant women in the 1950s to prevent premature deliveries. In 1971, case-control studies found that women with vaginal and uterine cancer had not been exposed to estrogen directly, but their mothers had been. DES, the carcinogen, did not cause cancers to women treated with the drug, but it caused cancers to their daughter who were exposed to the drug in the womb. *** But what if the exposure responsible for the disease is unknown? A Test for Chemical Carcinogens Normally, a strain of Salmonella, a bacterial genus, cannot grow on galactose. But when exposed to certain chemicals, it could acquire a gene mutation that enables it to grow on galactose. By counting the number of growth-enabled colonies form, one can quantify the mutation rate in any experiment. In the late 1960s, Bruce Ames, a bacteriologist at Berkeley, used this technique to test thousands of chemicals on their capacity to create mutations in Salmonella, and created a catalog of mutagens chemicals that increased the mutation rate. He observed that chemicals that scored as mutagens tended to be carcinogens. Ames didnt know why mutagens could induce cancer. But he had demonstrated a practical way to find carcinogens. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) In the early 1970s, Baruch Blumberg, a biologist in Philadelphia, discovered that a human hepatitis virus can cause chronic inflammation that leads to cancer. In 1966, Blumberg discovered that individuals carrying the Au antigen (a blood antigen present in several Australian aboriginals) often suffered from chronic hepatitis. Upon further analysis, he found out that au was not a blood antigen but a viral protein floating in the blood. Blumbergs lab isolated the virus in the early 1970s, and called the virus hepatitis B virus (HBV). HBV infection caused a broad spectrum of diseases, ranging from acute hepatitis, to chronic cirrhosis in the liver, and to hepatocellular cancer. HBV is a live carcinogen capable of being transmitted from one host to another. By 1979, Blumberg and his team had found a vaccine for HBV. The vaccine cannot cure the cancer, but it can reduce the incidence of HBV infection. Helicobacter Pylori (H. Pylori) In 1979, at the Royal Perth Hospital in Australia, Barry Marshall and Robin Warren wanted to investigate the cause of gastritis. Patients with gastritis are   predispose to peptic ulcers and stomach cancer. Warren believed that gastritis was caused by a yet unknown species of bacteria. But he was ridiculed by mainstream doctors who did not believe any bacteria could live in the stomach. To prove his point, Marshall and Warren set out to culture the bacteria using brushings from patients with ulcers. But no bacteria grew out. Over a busy Easter weekend in 1982, Marshall had forgotten to examine the culture dish for bacteria for a few days. When he remembered and went to examine them, he found bacteria colonies growing out in the dish. Warren and Marshall called it Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). To prove H. Pylori caused gastritis, they inoculated pigs with the bacteria. But the pigs did not get ulcers. In 1984, after failed attempts to infect piglets, Marshall fasted until 10 am and then drank a Petri dish containing cultured H. Pylori, expecting to develop an ulcer. Within a few days, Marshall was violently ill, and diagnosed with gastritis. H. pylori was indisputably the cause of gastritis. By the late 1980s, several epidemiological studies had linked H. pylori-induced gastritis with stomach cancer. Randomized trials run on the western coast of Japan showed that antibiotic treatment reduced gastritis and gastric ulcers, and reduced the incidence of gastric cancer. But the it would not cure the cancer once manifested. A Spiders Web If cancer truly transitioned from a precursor lesion precancer to its full-blown form slowly, and methodically, then perhaps one could intervene by attacking its precancer, thwarting the progression of the cancer at its earlier stages. There are two forms of prevention. In primary prevention, you prevent a disease by attacking its cause. For example, stop smoking for lung cancer, or a vaccine against HBV for liver cancer. In secondary prevention, you prevent a disease by screening for its early presymptomatic stage. Pap smear and mammography (discussed below) are examples of secondary preventions. The Pap Smear Secondary Prevention for Cervical Cancer George Papanicolaou, a Greek physician, arrived in New York in 1913. After a few months selling carpets, he found a research position at Cornell University studying the menstrual cycle of guinea pigs. He found that cells shed by the guinea pig cervix could foretell the stages of the menstrual cycle. By the late 1920s, Papanicolaou had extended his technique to human patients.   In 1928, he reported that uterine cancer could be diagnosed by means of a vaginal smear. But the importance of his work was not recognized. Between 1928 and 1950, Papanicolaou delved into his smears ferociously. He became known for his invention of the Papanicolaou test, commonly known as the Pap smear or Pap test. He knew normal cervix cells change in step-wise fashion in time. Might cancer cells also change in a slow stepwise way from normal to malignant? Could he identify intermediate stages of cancer? A thought occurred to him at a Christmas party in 1950. The real use of the vaginal smear was not to find cancer, but to detect its precursor. In 1952, Papanicolaou convinced the NCI to launch a clinical trial of secondary prevention using his smearing technique. In the cohort of about 150,000, 555 women had invasive cervical cancer, while 557 had preinvasive lesions. Early stage preinvasive lesions were curable by a simple surgery. The women with preinvasive lesions had no symptoms. Had they not been tested, they would never have suspected they would develop cervical cancer. The average age of diagnosis of women with preinvasive lesions was about 20 years younger than women with invasive lesions. The Pap smear would detect cervical cancers at an early stage while it is still curable 20 years before they become invasive, giving women a chance to treat it before it evolves into cancer. Mammograms Secondary Prevention for Breast Cancer In 1913, Albert Salomon, a German surgeon, performed a study on 3,000 mastectomies. He studied the X-rays of the amputated breasts after mastectomies to detect the shadowy outline of cancer. Salomon called his technique mammography. He was able to establish the difference as seen on an X-ray image between cancerous and non-cancerous tumors in the breast. But his studies were interrupted by the Nazis in the mid-1930s. He lived in a concentration camp until 1939 when escaped the camps to Amsterdam and vanished underground. Mammography, as he called his technique, languished in neglect. By mid-1960s, with radical surgery being challenged, mammography re-enter X-ray clinics, championed by radiographers such as Robert Egan. Egans mammograms could now detect tumors as small as a grain of barley. But would screening women to detect such early tumors save lives? HIP Trial In 1963, three men set out to investigate whether screening asymptomatic women using mammography would improve mortality from breast cancer. The three men were Louis Venet, a surgeon; Sam Shapiro, a statistician; and Philip Strax, an internist. They wanted a randomized, prospective trial using mortality as an end point to test mammography. The trial, launched in December 1963, was kept simple. Women enrollees in the New York Health Insurance Plan (HIP) between 40 and 64 years old were divided into two groups. One group was screened with mammography, and the other not. If a tumor was detected by mammography, the women would be treated according to the conventional treatment available at that time. In 1971, the initial findings of the trial were remarkable. 62,000 women participated; about half had been screened by mammography. There had been 31 deaths in the mammography group and 52 deaths in the control group. The percentage reduction in mortality from screening was about 40 percent. Breast Cancer Detection and Demonstration Project The positive results of the HIP trial prompted the American Cancer Society to launch a called the Breast Cancer Detection and Demonstration Project (BCDDP). The project, backed by Mary Lasker and virtually every cancer organization in America, intended to screen 250,000 women in a single year. Problems with the HIP study As the BCDDP forged ahead, people were casting doubts over the HIP study. The study had a potential flaw. They had decided to exclude women with prior breast cancer. So they dropped women who had had cancer from each group. But they may have over-corrected: more patients with prior cancer were dropped from the screened group. Critics now charged that the excess mortality in the control group was due to the fact that it was mistakenly overloaded with patients with prior breast cancer. The Canadian Trial In Canada, researchers launched their own mammography trial in 1980. But there was a flaw with the study: a woman was randomized after her medical history and examination. The allocations that emerged after the nurse interviews were no longer random. Women with abnormal breast were disproportionately assigned to the screened group. That explains why the results of the CNBSS were markedly negative: The breast cancer mortality of women in the screened group was higher than the unscreened group. Malmà ¶ Mammographic Study In 1976, 42,000 women enrolled in the Malmà ¶ Mammographic Study. Half of the cohort was screened yearly, and the two groups have been followed closely ever since. In 1988, the study reported its results. Women older than 55 had benefited from screening, with a reduction in breast cancer mortality by 20 percent. Younger women had no benefit from screening. In 2002, an analysis combining the experience over fifteen years was published in the Lancet. In aggregate, for women aged 55 to 70, mammography screening had resulted in 20 to 30 percent reductions in breast cancer mortality. But for women under 55, the benefit was negligible.

Point of view Tell-Tale Heart Essay -- essays research papers

Essay #1: â€Å"Tell Tale Heart†. Poe writes â€Å"The Tell Tale Heart† from the perspective of the murderer of the old man. When an author creates a situation where the central character tells his own account, the overall impact of the story is heightened. The narrator, in this story, adds to the overall effect of horror by continually stressing to the reader that he or she is not mad, and tries to convince us of that fact by how carefully this brutal crime was planned and executed. The point of view helps communicate that the theme is madness to the audience because from the beginning the narrator uses repetition, onomatopoeias, similes, hyperboles, metaphors and irony. "True!--nervous--very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses--not destroyed--not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heavens and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad?" "...Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me.† As you can see this man is clearly mad, because this story is told in the first person it helps you understand the character even better, because we are seeing what exactly is happening to him moment by moment. It helps us understand what is going on in his head because we are getting to know him through out the story. The repetition in this story is phenomenal. He uses is constantly adding to the... Point of view "Tell-Tale Heart" Essay -- essays research papers Essay #1: â€Å"Tell Tale Heart†. Poe writes â€Å"The Tell Tale Heart† from the perspective of the murderer of the old man. When an author creates a situation where the central character tells his own account, the overall impact of the story is heightened. The narrator, in this story, adds to the overall effect of horror by continually stressing to the reader that he or she is not mad, and tries to convince us of that fact by how carefully this brutal crime was planned and executed. The point of view helps communicate that the theme is madness to the audience because from the beginning the narrator uses repetition, onomatopoeias, similes, hyperboles, metaphors and irony. "True!--nervous--very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses--not destroyed--not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heavens and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad?" "...Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me.† As you can see this man is clearly mad, because this story is told in the first person it helps you understand the character even better, because we are seeing what exactly is happening to him moment by moment. It helps us understand what is going on in his head because we are getting to know him through out the story. The repetition in this story is phenomenal. He uses is constantly adding to the...

Sound Essay -- Hearing Papers

Sound It may be commonplace to point out that acoustic reality and perceptual reality are different. In a live performance situation, for example, no matter how still the audience, the environment will be full of sounds extraneous to the music. If a tape recorder were positioned somewhere in the midst of such a situation, and if a segment of the resulting tape were submitted to digital sound analysis, the results would highlight the difference between what one heard during the performance (what is presumably captured on the tape), and what analysis confirms the tape actually contains. Sound analysis reveals the behavior of sound in the physical world. In this case, analysis would show that soundwaves from all the sound sources in the environment -- the various instruments of the performance, perhaps the stirring of the audience, or the sound of vehicles passing beyond the confines of the performance context -- the multitude of acoustic elements that make up each of these sounds do not rema in conveniently grouped by source. Rather, the components of all these sounds mix together, combining into a single, very complex waveform which is represented on the tape and revealed through analysis. This is because sound waves are additive, like waves in water, multiplying in quality rather than quantity. In the simplest possible terms, what digital analysis uncovers are the acoustic features of the sounds captured by the tape recorder; what are actually heard are the perceptual features of the same sounds. The acoustic and perceptual characteristics of sound are not the same, nor in many cases is there a one-to-one correspondence between them. Parameters of Sound In a very general sense, sounds in a normal environment consist o... ...on provided by either form of presentation is an approximation at best, limited by the resolution capabilities of both the digitizer and the analyzer, as well as by the fineness of detail possible in the graphic display of the software. It is also important to be cautious in considering which details of the visual representation of a sound sample are salient to the sound as perceived; often the picture of a sound will include clearly visible elements which are acoustically present in the sound but too short in duration, or too soft in intensity to register perceptually. A useful maxim in this regard is the following: If a discrete element is filtered from a sound with no difference to the resulting tonal sensation, then the element is unimportant to the final percept and need not be considered in interpreting the data, no matter how blatantly it appears in analysis. Sound Essay -- Hearing Papers Sound It may be commonplace to point out that acoustic reality and perceptual reality are different. In a live performance situation, for example, no matter how still the audience, the environment will be full of sounds extraneous to the music. If a tape recorder were positioned somewhere in the midst of such a situation, and if a segment of the resulting tape were submitted to digital sound analysis, the results would highlight the difference between what one heard during the performance (what is presumably captured on the tape), and what analysis confirms the tape actually contains. Sound analysis reveals the behavior of sound in the physical world. In this case, analysis would show that soundwaves from all the sound sources in the environment -- the various instruments of the performance, perhaps the stirring of the audience, or the sound of vehicles passing beyond the confines of the performance context -- the multitude of acoustic elements that make up each of these sounds do not rema in conveniently grouped by source. Rather, the components of all these sounds mix together, combining into a single, very complex waveform which is represented on the tape and revealed through analysis. This is because sound waves are additive, like waves in water, multiplying in quality rather than quantity. In the simplest possible terms, what digital analysis uncovers are the acoustic features of the sounds captured by the tape recorder; what are actually heard are the perceptual features of the same sounds. The acoustic and perceptual characteristics of sound are not the same, nor in many cases is there a one-to-one correspondence between them. Parameters of Sound In a very general sense, sounds in a normal environment consist o... ...on provided by either form of presentation is an approximation at best, limited by the resolution capabilities of both the digitizer and the analyzer, as well as by the fineness of detail possible in the graphic display of the software. It is also important to be cautious in considering which details of the visual representation of a sound sample are salient to the sound as perceived; often the picture of a sound will include clearly visible elements which are acoustically present in the sound but too short in duration, or too soft in intensity to register perceptually. A useful maxim in this regard is the following: If a discrete element is filtered from a sound with no difference to the resulting tonal sensation, then the element is unimportant to the final percept and need not be considered in interpreting the data, no matter how blatantly it appears in analysis.

History Behind Moulin Rouge the Movie Essay

It was 1899 in Paris. France. it was the clip of the Bohemian Revolution. and it was the summer of love. Christian. played by Ewan McGregor. was a author and came to Paris to see this revolution and be surrounded by the creative persons. vocalists. and terpsichoreans of this new Bohemian universe. Small did he cognize that he would see something he had ne'er felt before but ever believed in: love. Moulin Rouge. directed by Baz Luhrmann. is an keen film musical based off of a existent life nightclub called Moulin Rouge in Montmartre. The film tells the narrative of the love trigon between Christian. Satine aka the â€Å"Sparkling Diamond† of the Moulin Rouge. played by Nicole Kidman. and The Duke. Although Christian and Satine are fictional characters. the narrative includes existent life characters such as Harold Zidler. the co-mastermind of the Moulin Rouge and Toulouse-Lautrec. a celebrated Gallic creative person. Moulin Rouge is a great expression into what life was like ba ck in Paris in 1900. but besides adds in the love narrative between Christian and Satine to do for a great film musical. In the beginning of the film. Christian’s optimistic love shines some light into Satine’s dark mercenary world. To do a life. Satine became a concubine at the Moulin Rouge. She gets paid for doing work forces believe what they want to believe. so she sells her organic structure to do money. She erroneously became attracted to Christian for his pure and optimistic belief in love. Sing that Christian did non hold a batch of money. she becomes hesitant of loving him because he would non be able to back up her and her dreams of being an actress. With Christian’s pure and optimistic belief of love. he captures Satine’s bosom by loving her for who she truly is. non for what she is. Although Satine dies in the terminal of the film. Christian learns that true love lasts everlastingly even through decease. Harold Zidler. who is non a fictional character. is the adult male who helped to run the existent Moulin Rouge nightclub. In the movie. and in existent life Pari s. Zidler was the adult male who was. â€Å"a ‘brother’ to the creative persons and the adult male in the shadows who watched over the terpsichoreans and the remainder of the forces with a benevolent oculus and ruled with an Fe fist† ( History ) . In the movie he is the 1 who is in charge of doing certain everything goes absolutely at the nightclub and makes certain all his terpsichoreans. particularly Satine. cognize what they are supposed to make and who they should affect that dark. Not merely did he run the Moulin Rouge he was besides a showman and performed with his terpsichoreans in the shows. Toulouse-lautrec was besides an of import individual when it comes to the nightclub in Paris. In the movie he does non hold a immense function other than aid Christian acquire inside the Moulin Rouge and happen a manner for him to run into Satine. In Paris in the 1900’s. though. he is said to hold been â€Å"the eyes of the Moulin Rouge. † Toulouse-Lautrec attended every eventide show when the nightclub opened ; and as mentioned before he was an creative person. so every dark he would sit in a corner and pull the terpsichoreans accompanied by a glass of common wormwood ( History ) . The fact about the common wormwood is besides in the film ; Toulouse-Lautrec. Christian. and a few others take a shooting of common wormwood before they head to the Moulin Rouge one dark and the following few proceedingss of the movie are merely filled with pure daftness and hallucinations. His graphics. though. was highly of import in the success of the Moulin Rouge. â€Å"In 1891. he drew the first advertisement posting for the Moulin Rouge. which today remains the best known image of the Moulin Rouge around the world† ( History ) . His work is still celebrated today and without him the Moulin Rouge in Paris would non be every bit good known as it is today. The terpsichoreans of the Moulin Rouge were Masterss of the â€Å"cancan. † One of the stars and besides known as â€Å"Queen of the Cancan† was Louise Weber. but her moniker was â€Å"La Goulue. † She is non specifically in the movie. but in a life about her. it states that. â€Å"one eventide when she was dancing a frantic cancan. between two cartwheels she spotted the Prince of Wales. who had come to pass an eventide on his ain at the Moulin Rouge. and called out. with the Parisian cheek for which she was good know. ‘Hey. Wales! The champagne’s on you? ’† ( History ) . La Goulue is relatable to Satine in the movie. because Satine was besides the star and best terpsichorean and she spotted Christian the first dark he was at that place and while she was dancing called him out in forepart of everyone who was in attending at the Moulin Rouge that flushing. Moulin Rouge is one of Baz Luhrmann’s best movies. The film came out in June 2001 and has won many awards and is one of the best films in the musical genre. The set design. costumes. casting of functions. and music all is so absolutely set together to make this superb movie. Luhrmann. who besides co-wrote the film with Craig Pearce. traveled to Paris with Pearce and the production interior decorator to carry on historical research and compose the outline for the film. â€Å"To find ways to picture 19th century Paris and the Moulin Rouge as it may hold felt to its audience so – at the cutting border of sex. music. dance. theatre and modern thought – the film makers immersed themselves in the vicinity. locales and civilization of their story† ( Luhrmann ) . Through their research and larning about the civilization. they came to understand that the Moulin Rouge was a nine that brought all different categories together and Pearce quotes that is the equivalent of â€Å"Studio 54 in New York in the late 70’s ; a topographic point where the rich and the powerful can blend with the immature. the beautiful and the penniless† ( Luhrmann ) . This is shown in the film because we see the powerful. such as The Duke. and so Christian who is merely a author. come to the same nine to see the same thing. adult females and amusement. The first half an hr of the film is nonstop music. dancing. visible radiations. and merely perfectly craziness. Audiences are non given a opportunity to â€Å"relax† and merely easy take the film in ; it is fast paced and keeps the film spectator on their toes merely waiting for what will come following. In a film review. shortly after it came out in 2001. the film referee describes Moulin Rouge as â€Å"grandiose. glorious. absinthe-soaked surplus. † When cinematography. Luhrmann wanted everything to be over the top and wanted more out of the production ; more vocals. more sound. more colour. more everything ( Kaplan C. D. ) . This is what it was like in the existent nightclub. the dance and vocals were all so intense and brainsick so the work forces would be to the full entertained and ne'er acquire bored. There was a batch traveling on in Paris in the late 1880’s and 1890’s. The Eiffel Tower was built. the first cinematographic showing was shown by the Lumiere brothers. and the most celebrated nightclub opened its doors. â€Å"The public came in mass to detect this excessive topographic point with its immense dance floor. mirrors everyplace. and galleries that were the last word in elegance. to blend with the rabble and misss of easy virtue† ( History ) . The Moulin Rouge was a topographic point for the rich and hapless work forces to come for dancing. music. and amusement from the ladies ; it is said to hold been an ambiance of â€Å"total euphory. † This was a clip where workers. blue bloods. creative persons. and the middle-class could all gather together to see nightclubs. music-halls. and other dark clip activities. As mentioned before. this film takes topographic point during the Bohemian Revolution. This revolution was non a revolution of contending. but a revolution of art and civilization. It was a clip for artisits. poets. author. vocalists. terpsichoreans. and anyone else who wanted to show themselves to demo off their endowments and be recognized. These were the â€Å"child ren of the revolution† ( Moulin Rouge ) . In the beginning scenes of Moulin Rouge. Christian is told that to truly be a kid of the revolution. he has to believe in beauty. freedom. truth. and most significantly love. Which of class he believes in love. it is what he lives for and as stated earlier. he is given the opportunity to see love for the first clip. Not merely is the film based off of the existent nightclub in Paris. but it is besides partially based on the Grecian myth of Orpheus and partially on the opera La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi ( IMDb ) . The Grecian myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is slightly like the narrative between Christian and Satine. Orpheus is said to hold been the best instrumentalist that of all time lived and until he met Eurydice. he lived his merely and heedlessly. Orpheus and Eurydice fell in love and it meant everything to both of them but person else wanted Eurydice’s beauty and wanted her but she did non care for this other adult male. To do a long narrative short. she ends up deceasing and Orpheus attempts to acquire her dorsum from the underworld but could non salvage her ; all he had left was the love they one time had ( â€Å"Orpheus† ) . For Christian. he lost Satine and would ne'er acquire her back once more but what he got from her decease was a narrative of true love that he has to portion with the universe. Satine was already deceasing before she fell in love with Christian. but at least she was able to decease cognizing what it was like to be in love. The opera La Traviata is another love narrative that ends tragically. Violetta. who is a concubine. claims that love means nil to her until she meets a immature adult male named Alfredo which makes her so inquire if he could be the adult male that she could love. In the terminal of the narrative. though. Violetta is diagnosed with TB and does non hold long to populate and dies at Alfredo’s pess ( â€Å"La Traviata† ) . This opera. the myth of Orpheus. and Moulin Rouge. are all similar in the manner that the adult female ne'er truly believed in love until they met that one adult male that changed their positions on love. there are challenges to confront one the adult male and adult female autumn in love. and so it is the adult female who dies in terminal go forthing their lovers all entirely. Each narrative is a small different but the same basic thought. from the opera and Grecian myth. are evident in the movie. From 20th century Paris. the Bohemian Revolution. the myth of Orpheus. Harold Zidler. and other historical minutes. Moulin Rouge is a 1 of a sort musical movie that is an astonishing piece of work put together by Luhrmann. Knowing the history behind the movie makes it exciting to watch and understand what it was similar back in Paris in 1899. Plants Cited â€Å"The History of the Moulin Rouge and its Shows. † Moulin Rouge. Fr. Le Bal du Moulin Rouge. n. d. Web. 17 Nov. 2011.Kaplan. C. D. Rev. of Moulin Rouge. by Baz Luhrmann. Louisville Eccentric Observer. Louisville. Ky. : 30 May 2001. Vol. 11. Iss. 30 ; pg. 21â€Å"La Traviata. † The Metropolitan Opera. N. p. . n. d. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. Luhrmann. Baz. . and Craig Pearce. commentary. Moulin Rouge. Dir. Baz Luhrmann. Perf. Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. Twentieth Century Fox. 2001. Film. Moulin Rouge. Dir. Baz Luhrmann. Perf. Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. Twentieth Century Fox. 2001. Film. â€Å"Moulin Rouge. † IMDb. IMDb. com. Inc. . n. d. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. â€Å"Orpheus and Eurydice. † Paleothea Myths. N. p. . 10 Jan. 2008. Web. 18 Nov. 2011.

Investing in Futures and Options Essay

INTRODUCTION Of late, investors who are in the stock and commodity are focusing their attention towards risk management especially due to high volatility nature. Since these volatility movements are uncertain, it has become foremost cause of vagueness for such investors. Since the globalization of trade and free trade between major countries has become the order of the day, all most all the investors have to be under mercy of the exchange rate fluctuations which results in volatility   .The notion that exchange rates , profitability and other factors   influence a firm’s value and therefore the price of its stock is widely held by financial analyst ,economists and corporate managers . The liberalization of economic policies and investment policies due to world trade organization’s (WTO) free flow of investments and trade between member countries and bilateral free trade agreements between countries have augmented internationalization of economic activity and exceptional era of world wide currency and interest rates instability. To counter these financial risks, new pioneering concept commodity and stock market hedging techniques have nurtured at a rapid speed. The main feature of the using derivatives through hedging is to have control over the financial risk and minimizing the effect of uncertain cash flows. Financial institutions have come to rescue to these corporations who have exposure to financial risk with the range of products to assist in risk management. By far the most significant event in finance during the past decade has been the extraordinary development and expansion of financial derivatives. These instruments enhance the ability to differentiate risk and allocate it to the investors most able and   willing to take it – a process that has undoubtedly improved national productivity growth and standards of living .’ Allen Green Span, Chairman, Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve System. The structural advantage of derivatives i.e. leverage or gearing   makes them suitable for managing risk can also result in the generation of leveraged profits or in the event of adverse market movement , a significant losses. The main advantage of gearing is that the buyer or seller need only to cough up a small proportion of total price at the time of deal is executed. It may be 1% and 8% depending upon the volatility of the underlying commodity or instrument. In the case of exchange traded transactions, this deposit is recognized as â€Å"initial margin† and is expected to reflect the amount by which the price of a contract may vary in one day’s trading. At the day end, all contracts will be valued and if the price has been found to move against the position, the losing party will have to pay further â€Å"variation margin† calls. In contrary, if the price movement is positive, credit will be given to the party .It is this element of gearing that provides the opportunity to make large gains or losses. Prudent handling of this leverage will result in considerable profit maximization and if it handled inexpertly, may generate losses .In some cases , these losses though high but they are few in number when measured against volume of business and number of participants in derivative business .The contributory factors for sustaining loss includes excessive position taking ( in relation to capital) , fraudulent activity , unexpected market moves, ineffective risk management, insufficient product understanding and inadequacies in corporate policy governing their use. What is a derivative? Derivative is a mathematical word which refers to a variable, which has been derived from another variable and they have no values of their own. Derivatives derive their value from the value of some other asset, which is referred as the underlying. For instance, a derivative of the shares of AT & T Corporation (underlying), will derive its value from the share price (value) of AT & T Corporation. Likewise, a derivative contract on wheat depends upon the price of wheat. An agreement or an option to buy or sell the underlying asset of the derivative up to a certain time in the future at a predetermined price i.e. the exercise price by way of special contract is known as derivative contract. The contract also has a flat expiry period mostly in the range of 3 to 12 months from the date of origination of the contract. The price of the underlying asset and the expiry period of the contract determine the value of the contract. Financial derivatives comprises of underlying financial asset like currency, debt instruments, equity shares, share price index etc.Exchange-traded derivatives are derivative contracts that has been standardized and traded on the stock exchanges. Over-the –counter derivatives is one which has been customized as per the requirements of the user by negotiating with the other party involved. Some of the common forms of derivatives are Futures, Forwards and Options. Futures: Futures are the derivative contracts that give the holder the chance to buy or sell the underlying asset at a pre-specified price some time in the near future and usually thy come with standardized form like contract size, fixed expiry time and price. The future market is one where continues auction market and exchanges presenting the recent information about the supply and demand as regards to individual commodities or financial instruments like stocks . In other words, future market is one where buyers and sellers of variety of commodities, financial instruments get together to trade. The main aim of the future market is to manage price risk. The future price risk is averted by buying or selling futures contract, with a price level arrived at now, for items to be delivered in future. This is achieved by hedging which helps to shield against the risk of an adverse price change in the near future or use of futures to lock in an acceptable margin between their purchase and their selling price. In futures, bankers, farmers, traders, manufacturers will arrange for the purchase or sale of a futures contract. In future market, commodities are broken down into five categories namely agriculture, metallurgical, interest bearingassets, jndexes and foreign currency. Agricultural futures market includes oats, corn , wheat , soybeans , soy meal ,soyoil,sunflower oil ,cattles , live hogs   and pork bellies, lumber , plywood ,cotton, coffee, cocoa, rice, orange juice and sugar. For every one of these commodities, different contract months are available and it depends upon the harvest cycle. More aggressively traded commodities usually have more contract months available and a new type of contract is available almost every month to meet the growing institutional and corporate market. Futures on Metallurgical Products: Petroleum products and metals is being covered under this group and it includes platinum, gold, silver, palladium, copper, gasoline, crude oil, propane and heating oil. Every month a new type of contract emerges to cater the needs of ever increasing institutional and corporate market. Assets which bears interest: This has its origin during 1975 and products in these categories include treasury bonds, Treasury Bills, Municipal Bonds, Treasury Notes and Eurodollar deposits. It is also possible to trade contracts with the same maturity but different expected interest rate differentials. Futures on Indexes: Now futures are available on most chief indexes such as New York Stock Exchange Composite, S&P 500, New York Stock Exchange Utility index, Russell 2000, Commodity Research Bureau (CRB), S&P 400 Midcap, FT-Se 100 Index (London) and Value line. These stock index features are settled in cash and there is no delivery of goods is involved in this method. A trader has to settle his positions by buying or selling an offsetting position or in cash at expiration. Foreign Currency Futures: During the post war period, the exchange rates and interest rates were stable and the mechanism of fixed exchange rates of the Bretton Woods era enabled the corporations to know in advance their foreign exchange liabilities for their imports. But the collapse of Bretton Woods’s system after the war resulted in the introduction of general floating exchange rates replacing the earlier fixed system. The introduction of floating exchange rates have resulted in large unexpected movements in exchange rates that too in unforeseen directions and magnitudes which affected interest rate movements as the monetary establishment tried to influence the exchange rates by movements in interest rates. It is to be noted that the forward market in currencies is much bigger than the foreign exchange futures market. Further, there are cross currency futures that are being traded and these includes Deutsch mark / yen, Deutsch mark / French franc. Forwards & Options: Forward is another form of a derivative contract but tailored to the needs of the user in terms of expiry date, contract size, and price. These contracts confer the holder the option to buy or sell the under lying at a pre-determined price some time in the future .Call option is one where the buyer has given his option to buy the underlying at the near future .Where as an option to sell the underlying at a specified price in the future is called as Put Option. As regards to the option contract, the buyer is not obliged to exercise the option contract. Generally, options can be traded on the stock exchange or on the OTC. In option, the participants may assume a position in an underlying futures contract at a certain price which is known as exercise or strike price within a particular period of time. The price or premium of the option is determined through action market trading. Swaps: Swaps contract was introduced in 1981 and can be considered as one of the latest financial innovations to manage financial risks. The contracting parties are obliged to exchange specified cash flows at specified intervals under a swap contract. In a nutshell, a swap contract can be defined as a series of forward contracts put together. If the exchange of interest rate payments in one currency for payments in another currency is devised, then it amounts to a currency swap. If the exchange between two parties of interest obligations or receipts in the same currency on an agreed amount of notional principal for an agreed period of time is devised, then it is known as interest rate swap. An interest rate swap is an agreement between two parties to exchange interest payments calculated on different bases over a period of time. Under interest rate swap, one party to the contract makes fixed –rate payments while the other party’s payments are based on a floating rate such as LIBOR. For instance, if a company which has borrowed from a bank at a floating rate (7 m LIBOR) may want to swap that for a fixed rate (7m LIBOR) so that they can cover the risk if the interest rates go up. On one side, they pay 7% (of the agreed notional principal) and receive 7m LIBOR and on the other side they pay 7m LIBOR straight out to repay their loan. Thus they have converted a floating rate loan into a fixed rate loan. The said bank may manages its own risk from the above swap transaction by backing it out with another swap , say by paying 6.95% for 7m LIBOR and thus they earn a profit of 0.5% difference thus avoiding the risk in the interest rate changes . The other different types of interest rate swap are: Basis swap: For instance, swapping 2m LIBOR for 4m LIBOR. Basic swaps are mostly used by mortgage companies because the get the mortgage payments on monthly basis. Both fixed Currency Swap : Both fixed and say fixed $ for fixed  £ Both floating currency swap: 2m $ LIBOR for 4 m Yen LIBOR. Cross Currency Swap: fixed  £ for 2m CHF LIBOR. Companies derive more flexibility to exploit their comparative advantage in their respective borrowing markets under currency swaps. Under interest rate swap, corporations try to focus on their comparative advantage in borrowing in a single currency in the short end of the maturity spectrum vs. the long –end of the maturity spectrum. USES OF DERIVATIVES: Derivatives are mainly used for speculation or hedging. For speculation, derivatives offer us leverage. For instance, instead of buying  £ 5Million bond in the anticipation that its price will rise up, one can buy an option on that bond, which might only cost  £ 2000. The profit chances or opportunities are the same less the price of the option but the risk is much less as the most we can loose in this deal is the option price ( £ 2000). For hedging, derivatives let you to seal the price now for a trade in future or at least limits the rise or fall of that price. An UK company holding a US bond which is on the verge of its maturity could buy an interest rate option to guarantee the dollar / sterling rate did not diminish the value of its bond. Volatility is regarded as the most precise measure of risk and its return. The greater the volatility, the greater the risk and the reward as it is evidenced in the transaction from bull to bear markets. It is to be observed in the bearish market, volatility and risk augment while returns disappear including short –selling returns. History: The very first exchange for trading derivatives started by Royal Exchange in London, which allowed forward contract. Likewise, the first future contract was introduced to Yodoya rice market in Osaka, Japan in 1650. Then in 1848, Chicago Board of Trade was started to handle futures market of US. Russell Sage, a famous New York financier introduced synthetic loans using the principle of put-call parity. Sage could able to create a synthetic loan by fixing the put, call and strike prices with interest rate poignantly higher than the US usury law permitted. Chicago Mercantile Exchange started International Monetary Market in 1972 which permitted trading in currency futures. The Chicago Board of Trade started first interest rate futures in 1975.Treasury bill futures contract was introduced in 1975 by Merc. The Chicago Board Options Exchange was started in 1973 and there were publications for the first time option pricing model of Fischer Black and Myron Scholes. Chicago Board Options Exchange created an option on an index of stocks which was originally known as CBOE 100 index which later known as S&P 100. During 1980, Swaps and other over-the –counter derivatives were introduced. It was in 1994, the derivative trade witnessed a series of huge losses and this affected experienced trading firms like Metallgesellschaft and Procter and Gamble. Orange country, California which is the America’s wealthiest city was declared as bankruptcy due to derivative trading and use of leverage in a portfolio of short -term Treasury securities. DERIVATIVES OR DESTRUCTIVE? A CASE STUDY OF BARINGS, UK. Baring Brothers, a British merchant bank went to bankruptcy in 1995 after incurring a whooping loss of  £ 860 million occurred on the Singapore and Osaka derivative exchanges. Nick Leeson, the bank’s star trader and absence of management controls to monitor his activities were the main reasons for this debacle. During the period between 1992 and 1995, Lesson built up positions in futures and options contracts on the Nikkei 225 stock exchange index, which proved highly profitable in the early years. Futures positions were bought by Lesson on the Nikkei index and financed cash calls on them as they fell in value by selling put options on the contract, thereby producing a straddle and thus betting against volatility of the market. Simex derivative exchange in Singapore were used to book the contracts and he run a hedged position on Nikkei index futures and make money by arbitraging between Singapore and Osaka markets. However he ceased hedging on the purchases made in Singapore and took on risk. Due to unexpected volatility in the market, losses were incurred and these losses in fact exceeded the net worth of Baring Bank .Lesson was later imprisoned for the falsification of records in an attempt to cover up his activities. The rationale of this case law is to elucidate how a bank can face bankruptcy if there is no proper risk management system is in force. The case also establishes the concept of ‘value at risk ‘(VAR) which is a simple method to express the risk of a portfolio. Because of the recent derivatives disasters, end-users, regulators, financial institutions and central bankers are now resorting to VAR as a method to foster stability in financial markets .The case illustrates how VAR could have been utilized to Baring Bank case to warn its management of the risk they were facing in advance. VOLATILITY: Volatility has its effect on administered market and it is high when both supply and demand are inelastic and liable to random shocks. According to Rudiger Dornbusch, market always overshoots in reaction to unexpected changes in economic variables. Volatility is a type of market incompetence and it is a reaction to uncertainty and excessive volatility is unreasonable. Volatility in stock and commodity market is represented by sharp changes in prices and inventory levels and level of volatility itself has fluctuated over the time. Changes in future prices, spot prices and inventories are influenced by changes in volatility Volatility is a determinant of changes in price expressed in percentage terms without regard to direction especially in stock price and stock index levels , commodities and in financial intermediaries .For example , an increase from 200 to 201 in one index is as same as the volatility terms to an increase in 100 to 101 in another index , because both changes are 1% and as this 1% increase is equal to volatility terms to a 1 % price decline .There are four ways to explain the volatility or movement and they are historical volatility , future volatility , expected volatility and implied volatility . Historical volatility is an appraiser of actual price variation during a particular period in the past. Future volatility refers annualized standard deviation of daily returns during particular future period basically between current and an option expiration. Expected volatility is an investor’s forecast of volatility utilized in an option method to gauge the theoretical value of an option. Implied volatility is the volatility percentage that illustrates the current market price of an option and it is the indicator of an option’s price. Volatility is described as standard deviation of the yield of an asset and the value of an option always increases with volatility. The greater the volatility, the higher the option chance during its life and convertible to the underlying asset at a marginal profit and this methodology has been proved in the Black-Scholes formula. Black-scholes formula yield results during trends and unsuccessful when the market change sign. â€Å" The implied volatilities are efficient forecasts of future volatility since varying market conditions cause volatilities to change through time stochastically and traditional volatilities   can not correct itself to varying market conditions as ghastly .Stochastic volatility contradicts the assumption required by the Black-Scholes model –if volatilities do modify stochastically through moment in time, the Black-Scholes method is no longer the correct pricing method and an implied volatility derived from the Black-Scholes formula provides no fresh information. Black-Scholes formula is lacking on certain issues like the oblique volatilities of various options on the identical stock tend to differ disregarding the formulas hypothesize that a single stock can be correlated with only one value of implied volatility. The Black-Scholes formula mainly ignores the distribution of stock prices in US market.   Some studies have revealed severe deviation from the price process fundamental to Black-Scholes formula like excess kurtosis, skewness, time varying volatilities and serial correlation. Further Black –scholes deals with stochastic volatility poorly and it relies on impractical assumption that market dickers endlessly thereby ignoring institutional constraints and transaction costs. Stock Charting: Stock charting is the process of a graphical sequence record enables it easier to dapple the effect of cardinal happenings on authoritarian security’s price., its functioning over a period of time and whether it’s trading its higher or its lower or in between these. Traders are very particular in daily, intraday data to forecast short-term price movements.   Investors rely on weekly and monthly charts to mark long term trends and movements. Line chart, Bar chart, Candlestick Chart and point and figure chart are some of the examples of stock charting method.   Arithmetic and semi-log arithmetic scales are two methods of price scaling used in the stock charting method. When the price range is hemmed within a tight range and used in general for short-term charts and trading. Semi-log scales are useful for long term charts to estimate the percentage movements over a foresighted period of time including large movements. Stock and other securities are estimated in relative terms through tools lime PE, Price/Revenues and Price/Book and as such it will be more useful to analyse in percentage terms. Ocillator: This is an indicator which is calculated by taking 10 day moving average of the difference between the numbers of advancing and defining issues for authoritarian given index. An indicator will reflect whether an index is gaining or losing impetus, so the size of the moves is more significant than the level of the current reading. The level of the reading is influenced by how the oscillator changes each day thereby dropping a value ten days ago and adding today’s value. The scale in moves is also helpful when it is compared with the divergence from the index price. If the Dow climaxes at the same time, the oscillator peaks in overbought area and suggests a top. Divergence is said to be negative and momentum is declining when index makes a new high but the oscillator fails to make a higher .One can buy if the index declines at this point but oscillator moves into oversold territory. If the oscillator rises above a previous overbought level though the index rises but does not make new heights, it is said to be upside momentum exists to continue the rally. Support: A support level is the price at which buyers are anticipated to enter the market in considerable numbers to take control from sellers. As the market has its track record, when price falls to a new low and then soars, the buyers who ignored on the first low will be persuaded to buy if price returns to that level back .Fearing of missing out the opportunity for the second time, these traders may enter into market in adequate numbers to take control from sellers. As the result, there is a rally strengthening sensitivity that price is unlikely to fall further thereby creating a support level. Resistance: The price level at which the sellers are anticipated to enter the market in sizeable numbers to take control from buyers is known as resistance level. If price makes a new High and then move back, sellers who ignored the previous High will be predisposed to sell when price returns to that level back. Fearing of missing the opportunity for the second time, these sellers may enter the market in large numbers to overwhelm buyers. As the result, market perception will be reinforced that price is unlikely to increase higher and form a resistance level. CANDLE CHARTING: It is a price chart that shows the open, low, the high and close for a stock each day over a specified period of time .It is known as Japanese candles because they used to analyse the price of rice contracts. When the close is higher than the open , the same is represented by an white empty box in the candle charting .When the close is lower than the open , then it is represented by a solid black candle ,Colored candles are used to reflect the day’s volume. Investment strategies in stock and options Following is the most of common investment strategies for keeping investment objectives, financial means and risk tolerance. Despite of market crash in 1929, market break in 1987, market correction in 1989 and though the prices of all securities fell down drastically but broad movement of the market has seen their value steadily increased. One of the strategies is to buy and hold for long the high quality stocks or futures of stock or commodities .The buy –and-hold strategy offers one to profit from this long term forward trend of the stock market. Further, dividend investment plan offers small investors a painless method of building wealth. Dollar –Cost Averaging: This is also a long term strategy and one has to invest in a stock or mutual fund or futures at regular intervals monthly, quarterly or semiannually. The success of dollar-cost averaging relies on consistency of amount invested and the regularity of the payments so as to minimize pricing and timing risk. The success of the Dollar cost averaging depends upon the following factors. The plan for the investment should be for a long period i.e. from 7 years to 10 years .In the last 100 years, there were about 40 recessions or market corrections or a downturn about every 3 years and If one carry on to invest through about three of these corrections, the profits of dollar-cost averaging tend to be maximized. 2 .Investment at regular intervals is most preferred. Investment should be made regularly regardless of the price of the stock. Give preference to high quality of stocks or mutual funds and a company or fund with history of habitual dividend payments and possible for capital appreciation is a better choice. One has to make sure that he has enough strength so that he can adhere to the plan through highs and lows and sell out at the peak and thus the money allocated for dollar-cost averaging result in wealth-building funds, not committed funds.[i] Going Short: An investor who prefers short i.e. enters into futures contract by agreeing to sell and deliver the underlying at a price and wishes to make profit from declining price levels and thereby selling high now , the contract can be repurchased in the future at a lesser price thus creating a profit for the investor. 16.Spreads: It involve taking benefit of the price difference between two different contracts of the same commodity and spreading is believed to be the most conventional forms of trading in the futures market because it is much safer than the trading long / short futures contract. There are different types of spread namely calendar spread, inter-exchange spread and inter-market spread. Swing Trading: It denotes a technique of placing emphasis on playing the swings in the PPS, selling on the highs and buying on the lows rather than the swiftness of the trade. To complete the swing trade, it may need more than a day, a week or authoritarian month or longer period and channeling stock is pursued by the some swing traders. Flipping: It refers the process of trading a stock very quickly with in minutes or hours etc as past as possible may be on the same day. It is often used to explain a buy and sell with a share that is running and where the trader buys the stock as it is moving up and sells the same on even a higher point in a short period of time. A flipper aim is to maximize his profits by emphasizing on fast trades to earn quick profits. The risk is also less downside as the trader sits in a stock for a less time. [i] Hall, Alvin D., and Carolyn M. Brown. â€Å"Investment Strategies Made Easy: Here’s How to Overcome Your Fears of the Market and Invest like a Pro.† Black Enterprise Mar. 1994: 66+. 2.Fisher, Black and Myron Scholes, â€Å"The pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities â€Å"The Journal of Political Economy, 81,637-654. 3.Mackay, Charles. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds: New York, Harmony Books (1980). 4.Chance .Don M.† A Chronology of Derivatives† Derivative Quarterly, 2 (winter, 1955) 53-60. 5.Thomas L. Friedman ,The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century Stephen Leeb, Glen Strathy ,The Coming Economic Collapse: How You Can Thrive When Oil Costs $200 a Barrel 7.George A. Fontanills, Tom Gentile The Volatility Course 8.George Soros, Paul A. Volcker The Alchemy of Finance (Wiley Investment Classics) 9.John C. Hull Options, Futures and Other Derivatives (6th Edition) 10.Marc Allaire ,The Options Strategist 11. George Kleinman, Trading Commodities and Financial Future: A Step by Step Guide to Mastering the Markets (3rd Edition). 12. Sheldon Natenberg ,Option Volatility & Pricing: Advanced Trading Strategies and Techniques Jeffrey M. Christian, Commodities Rising: The Reality Behind the Hype and How To Really Profit in the Commodities Market. John J. Murphy ,Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets: A Comprehensive Guide to Trading Methods and Applications (New York Institute of Finance John F. Carter, Mastering the Trade (McGraw-Hill Trader’s Edge) 16. Joseph Kellogg, Trading From the Inside 17. Thomas N. Bulkowski ,Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns (Wiley Trading) 18.Stephen W. Bigalow, Profitable Candlestick Trading: Pinpointing Market Opportunities to Maximize Profits