Basketball as Religion in He Got Game Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Basketball as Religion in He Got Game - Essay Example After six years since then, Jesus has worked hard to become a brilliant prospective basketball player just at the age of eighteen. Several colleges are interested in him with lucrative offers of scholarship, and making a career with the NBA also remains an option. However, the Governor wants to sign Jesus with his alma mater, the Big State. With his power and influence, he releases Jake on parole for a week. If Jake is able to convince his son Jesus to play for Big State his sentence would be drastically reduced setting him free. Otherwise, he would be sent back to jail. Now an emotional tug of war begins. Jake seeks to convince his estranged son. Martha (Lonette McKee), who is Jesus’ younger sister, wants a better life and suggests his brother to look for more profitable opportunities. Jesus’ girlfriend, Lala (Rosario Dawson) plays a double dealing role in the complex environment with a ‘not so innocent’ approach. The characters like Jesus’ uncle, a unt, coach, etc. appear as both selfish and empathetic in the course of the drama. As Jake returns to his family, Jesus has to confront him and go through emotional ups and downs. On the other hand, he faces the contradictions, glamour, challenges, and dark realities of the multi-billion dollar basketball sports industry of America. At times, he is at the dilemma of horns, but the young athlete is a good-natured son who ultimately seeks reunion and peace with his lonely and troubled father. Basketball craze is a huge factor in the sports culture of American life. It has emerged as a multi-billion dollar business in the American sports industry. Almost all the resourceful and reputed colleges of the country are rivaling each other in order to leave a mark in the various basketball leagues. This helps them to levy high amounts of profits. On the other hand, there is the celebrated NBA, where several

Positivist, Interpretive and Constructivist Approaches in Social and E Literature review

Positivist, Interpretive and Constructivist Approaches in Social and Educational Studies - Literature review Example Reference to two chosen research articles will be used to illustrate how research styles are used today.   Those articles are,† Does the Auditory Saltation Stimulus Distinguish Dyslexic From Competently Reading Adults?† by Joanna Kidd and John Hogben (2007) and â€Å"In Maturation of Visual and Auditory Temporal Processing School-Aged Children† by Piers Dawes and Dorothy Bishop (2008). The attempt will be made through discussion to determine whether the approach used was positivist, interpretive or constructivist or a combination thereof.   The articles will also be compared to the qualitative and quantitative methods and whether they are empirical or non-empirical in a method. Ethics will be touched on as a necessary part of any research that is done today. To begin, let us discuss the different methods presently available for use in designing and carrying out research such as that noted above. In any research, there is a method used and though we would often think that the scientific method would always be used, that may not be true. The method of study is usually determined prior to the study being done. Will the study be empirical or non-empirical? Will it be Quantitative or Qualitative? What about positivist or interpretivist or maybe constructivist?   Sometimes the study itself will determine the method to be used. Sometimes there is a particular method or paradigm particularly appreciated by the researcher. Interpretive research is oftentimes seen as descriptive or summarizing in the method. This type of research obtains its data indirectly through other than direct research methods. The data may come from such places as academic books, policies, laws, or regulations (Xinping, 2002). Most of this type of research is done in a library with resources found there. The interpretive approach is described as often speculative, philosophical or impressionistic. The results of the research are not often used as any direct assistance to any future work.

Immune Responses of Cytokine Adjuvented DNA Vaccine

Immune Responses of Cytokine Adjuvented DNA Vaccine KOTLA SIVAREDDY Title for the Ph.D Thesis â€Å"Study on Immune responses of Cytokine Adjuvented DNA vaccine (genes coding for structural proteins) for FMD delivered by cationic PLG micro particles†. Objectives: To clone gene coding for structural protein of FMDV in eukaryotic expression vector (pC DNA) under CMV promoter. To clone bovine interleukin 18 gene in suitable cloning vector and express the same in Bacterial/yeast expression system for characterization of expressed recombinant protein. To construct a vaccine construct consisting of FMDV P1 (structural), 3C (Viral protease), and Bovine interleukin 18 genes in eukaryotic expression system under CMV promoter (pC DNA). To study the expression of the vaccine constructs in vitro in BHK-21cells. PLG micro particles’ preparation and characterization. To study the immune responses of the DNA vaccine in experimental animals (guinea pigs / cattle). Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) caused by foot-and mouth disease virus (FMDV) is an infectious disease affecting cloven-hoofed animals, and poses a serious threat for animal health and exacts an economic toll on the livestock industry. FMD viral genome is a positive-sense single stranded RNA of approximately 8.5kb. The viral RNA genome is translated as a single polypeptide precursor that is subsequently processed by virus-encoded proteases 2A and 3C to produce the structural and non-structural proteins required for virus assembly and replication. One of the initial polypeptide cleavages, mediated by the 2A protein, is a co-translational cleavage at its own C terminus to release it from the 2B protein. The viral 3C proteinase subsequently processes the structural protein precursor, P1-2A, into the capsid proteins, VP0, VP3, and VP1, and the non structural peptide, 2A. These proteins then self assemble to form empty icosahedral capsid particles that contain 60 copies of each protein. Immu nological studies have identified linear and conformational sites that are present on both empty capsids and virions, and antiserum raised against either form has the same serological specificity. Thus, the structural protein precursor, P1-2A, and the 3C protease of FMDV are desirable immune antigens for new vaccine development. In countries where disease eradication has not been achieved, vaccination plays a crucial role in its control. Although inactivated virus vaccines effectively prevent FMD, they have several limitations like short duration of immunity, incomplete viral inactivation and virus escape from vaccine producing facilities. As a result, alternative approaches are being investigated, including the construction of modified live virus, subunit vaccines, synthetic peptides, naked DNA plasmids. DNA vaccination which offers several promising features i.e., DNA is convenient to manufacture and store, its production is safe, sequences from circulating strains can be easily i ncorporated in the vaccines, and it also allows the discrimination of the infected from the vaccinated animals. Several reports have shown the efficiency of DNA vaccination to induce protective immunity in the mouse model. However, the primary difficulty with DNA vaccination is its poor immunogenicity in target species. Cytokines are being used as molecular adjuvants by co administering with DNA vaccines to improve the efficacy of the vaccine. Cytokines play an important role both in the development of a functional immune system as well as in the responses of the organism to infection. Interleukin18 (IL18) is a potent interferon ÃŽ ³ (IFNÃŽ ³) inducing factor (IGIF), enhances Th1 immune responses. Recent studies have shown that IL18 also promote Th-2 type responses and increases dendritic cell (DC) number in lymph nodes in mice. In addition, IL18 has been used as an adjuvant to DNA vaccines for classical swine fever virus, pseudo rabies virus, porcine reproductive and respiratory sy ndrome virus.IL18 was co expressed along with FMDV VP1 in Pichia as fusion protein has enhanced humoral responses and marginally the CMI response in mice. Recombinant fowl pox co-expressing FMDV P1 2A3C and IL18 enhanced the immune responses and gave higher protection in swine Many other studies have shown the positive effect of plasmid encoding the IL-18 as a molecular adjuvant on DNA vaccinations. Efficacy of DNA vaccine could be improved by the inclusion of adjuvants and good vaccine delivery systems. Importantly, cationic microparticle with adsorbed DNA induced enhanced immune responses in comparison to naked DNA and this enhancement was apparent in all species evaluated, including nonhuman primates. Cationic PLG microparticles appear to be effective predominantly as a consequence of the efficient delivery of the adsorbed DNA into DC. Following administration, the micro particles are also very effective at recruiting DC to the injection site, and the micro particles also protect adsorbed DNA against degradation in vivo. A second useful property of micro particles is that they can present multiple copies of antigens on their surface, which has been shown to be optimal for B cell activation. The main advantage of this type of association is the efficient immobilisation of plasmid DNA on the microparticle surface without compromising its integrity. Moreover, after administration, the release of cationic DNA complexes from the surface appeared to facilitate the transfection of cells .At this point, it is not completely understood, whether the adsorption on cationic micro particles can protect plasmid DNA from cleavage through endonucleases after administration in vivo. Nevertheless, release of cationic DNA complexes is expected to provide better protection as compared to release of free DNA. Beside their inherent safety and ease of administration, they improve the DNA capture by antigen presenting cells (APC) and stimulate APC maturation. DNA delivery via PLG has been successfully used to vaccinate against several infections in mice, guinea pigs and even in macaques models. 1. AMPLIFICATION and cloning of gene sequence coding for P12A 3C FMDV serotype ‘Asia1’ gene coding for the polyprotein, P1-2A (2.3 kb) was amplified from viral genome, of the serotype ‘Asia1’ polyprotein gene, using VP4L (Bac) and 2AR (E.coR1) primers. Cloned in to pC DNA at E.co R I, BamHI sites. Ligated and transformed in to DH alpha 5 cells. Transformants are screened by colony PCR by using insert specific primers. Orientation was checked by PCR. Insert release was confirmed by RE digestion by using E.co R I, Bam HI. 3C coding sequences were amplified from clone available in lab. 0.6 Kb was amplified .The purified amplicon was digested and ligated in to p C DNA and transferred in to competent DH5à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¡ cells upon screening by PCR and by re digestion positive clones were conformed. 2. Cytokine amplification (IL18) and cloning in prokaryotic / yeast pC DNA expression vector and characterization of expressed protein. Interleukin 18 (IL18) modulates immune functions by inducing interferon–Î ³(IFN-ÃŽ ³) production and promoting Th1 immune responses. In the present study I amplified and cloned the sequence (582 bp) encoding full length bovine IL18 from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) stimulated with Phytohaemoglutinin (PHA). Nucleotide and the deduced amino acid sequence of the cloned IL18 showed an identity of 86-98% with IL 18 sequences of the other ruminants compared. The insert was sub cloned in to eukaryotic expression vector (PcDNA) .The specificity of the expressed IL 18 was confirmed by western blotting. The insert was sub cloned in to pET 32a vector and expressed in E.Coli as fusion protein of 42kDa. The specificity of the expressed IL 18 was confirmed by western blotting. The biological activity of the purified protein was analysed for its ability to induce IFN-ÃŽ ³ production in PBMC as measured by Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and quantitative polymerase cha in reaction (qPCR). IL18 anti FMD viral activity was conformed in vitro in BHK-21 cells by using plaque assay; viral replication was quantified by Real time PCR, ELISA and titration assays. 3. Study of the expression of the constructs in vitro in BHK-21 Cells Expression of cloned P12A3C and IL18 genes were studied in mammalian expression system for confirming the frame and intactness. The P12A3C, IL18 genes cloned under Eukaryotic promoter was transfected in BHK 21 cells with lipid based lipofectamine. Subsequently, the proteins were confirmed by Western blotting by using using anti FMDV serotype ‘Asia’, serum from experimentally infected cattle. IL18 transfected cell lysate showed 18 KDa by using human IL18 Mab. 4. PLG microparticles preparation and characterization The PLG/CTAB micro particles were prepared using a solvent evaporation technique essentially as described previously and briefly, the micro particles were prepared by emulsifying 10ml of a 6% (w/v) polymer solution in methylene chloride with 1ml of TE buffer at high speed using an soniprep. The primary emulsion was then added to 50ml of distilled water containing CTAB (0.5%, w/v). This resulted in the formation of a water/oil/water emulsion which was stirred at 6000rpm for 12h at room temperature, allowing the methylene chloride to evaporate. The resultingmicro particles were washed in distilled water by centrifugation at 10,000 Ãâ€" g and freeze dried. The plasmid construct was adsorbed onto the microparticles by incubating 100 mg of cationic microparticles with 100 mgs (1 mg/ml solution) of plasmid DNA at 40C for 6 h. The coated microparticles were then separated washed with TE and freeze-dried. Amount of plasmid adsorbed on PLG particles was quantified by eluting the DNA by 0.2 N NaOH (incubation for 10 h at 4 0C and measuring the Optical Density (OD) at 260 nm. Blank PLG micro particles controls were run simultaneously to deduct background value. The size distribution of the micro particles was determined using a particle size analyzer and electron microscopy. 5.A. Evaluation of the Immunological response of various DNA vaccine constructs in guinea pigs. Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) can be controlled by regular vaccination and restricting the movement of animals infected in the endemic countries.. DNA vaccine construct was made with P1-2A3C coding sequences of serotype Asia1 in p C DNA. To evaluate the optimal dose of the construct in guinea pigs, the plasmid was coated on cationic Poly Lacto-co-Glycolide (PLG) micro particles was injected in to guinea pigs at 2,5,10,15,20,30 ug doses intramuscularly. Sera samples collected from the vaccinated animals at 21st dpv were evaluated for immune response by Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Serum neutralization test (SNT) and MTT assay. Maximum ELISA / SNT titers and MTT stimulation indices were observed at 10  µg dose which also gave 83% protection when the guinea pigs were challenged with homologues virus. 10ug was found to be the optimal dose to guinea pigs. P12A3CpCDNA and bovine IL-18 pcDNA plasmids were constructed under CMV promoter and the coated with Cationic PLG microparticle, immune response of the co administered constructs was evaluated in guinea pigs. Both the plasmids constructed under CMV promoter and 10 µgs each of the plasmids were inoculated intra muscularly in guinea pigs with a booster dose at 21st day post vaccination (dpv). Both humoral and cellular immune response were analysed by IgG1, IgG2 enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Serum neutralization test (SNT) and MTT assay. Th1, Th2 cytokine profile was analysed by real time PCR and the phenotyping of T cell sub population in the peripheral blood was performed by flowcytometry. The results have sown significantly higher humoral and cell mediated immune responses in P12A3CIL18+PLG group than P12A3C IL18, and inactivated virus vaccine inoculated groups. Similarly, higher CD4, CD8 population and Th1, Th2 cytokine levels were seen in former group. P12A3CIL18+PLG vaccine protected all the six animals when challenged with homologous virus compared to five in inactivated virus vaccine group respectively. These results have shown that the plasmid encoding for P12A3C pcDNA when co inoculated with IL18 and PLG induce higher and protective immune responses, suggesting rBoIL-18 and Micro particles has a potential to enhance the efficacy of vaccine against FMD. 5. B Evaluation of the Immunological response of various DNA vaccine constructs in Cattle. Healthy male cattle calves of local breed ( Hallikar Breed) of 6 months to one year age group were purchased from local village shandy( cattle market). These animals were housed in healthy animal shed facilities available at IVRI Animal experimental station at Yelahanka , Bangalore. After initial quarantine the animals were bled and the sera were screened for FMDV antibodies for serotype Asia 1 by SNT. The FMD antibody free animals were divided in to 6 groups of six animals each namely Group I to Group IV. All the group were vaccinated with each construct with 200 ug injected by intramuscularly except conventional vaccine group injected with 2 ml of FMDV Inactivated vaccine. One group kepted for control group (vaccinated with PBS) .After 21 st days of first vaccination with same amount booster dose was injected P12A3CpCDNA and bovine IL-18 pcDNA plasmids were constructed under CMV promoter and the coated with Cationic PLG microparticle, immune response of the co administered constructs was evaluated in guinea pigs. Both the plasmids constructed under CMV promoter and 200 µgs each of the plasmids were inoculated intra muscularly in calves with a booster dose at 21st day post vaccination (dpv). Both humoral and cellular immune response were analysed by IgG1, IgG2 enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Serum neutralization test (SNT) and MTT assay. Th1, Th2 cytokine profile was analysed by real time PCR (ÃŽ ³IFN, IL4, IL2, ÃŽ ±IFN, IL12, IL25,TLR-4,TLR3,TLR-2,IL8,IL10) and the phenotyping of T cell sub population (CD4 and CD8) and intracellular cytokine molecules (ÃŽ ³IFN, IL4, IL2) in the peripheral blood was performed by flowcytometry. The results have sown significantly higher humoral and cell mediated immune responses in P12A3CIL18+PLG group than P12A3C IL18, and inactivated virus va ccine inoculated groups. Similarly, higher CD4, CD8 population and Th1, Th2 cytokine levels were seen in former group. P12A3CIL18+PLG vaccine protected four out of six animals when challenged with homologous virus compared to 3 in inactivated virus vaccine group respectively. Non structural proteins,ELISA conformed in challenged animals.These results have shown that the plasmid encoding for P12A3C pcDNA when co inoculated with IL18 and PLG induce higher and protective immune responses, suggesting rBoIL-18 and Micro particles has a potential to enhance the efficacy of vaccine against FMD Journal papers and conference/seminar papers from Doctoral research work 1. Expression of Bovine (Bos indicus) interleukin-18 inEscherichia coli and its biological activity.Kotla Siva Reddy, Dowlathabad. Muralidhar Rao, Hosur Joyappa Dechamma,Veluvarthy V.S. Suryanarayana and Golla Ramalinga Reddy.Published in Microbiology and Immunology 2010; 54: 564–567. 2. Enhancement of DNA vaccine (P12A3C-pcDNA) efficacy against Foot- andMouth Disease by co-administration of Interleukin-18 expressing (IL18pcDNA) plasmid in Guinea Pigs. Siva Reddy .K. Muralidhar Rao.D., Badrinaryana.M. Suryanaryana.VVS. and Reddy G.R. Accepted in FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology. Dec -2010 1–9. 3. Dose optimization of Cationic PLG micro particle coated DNA vaccine against Foot and Mouth Disease in Guinea pigs. Siva Reddy, K.,Rashmi., B.R., Muralidhar Rao, D., Dechamma H.J., Banumathi .N., Suryanarayana V.V.S and Reddy .G.R. accepted in J.of Life science.(Article in press) 4. Cytokine profile studied by Real time PCR in FMDV antigen stimulated Bovine PBMC cells. Siva Reddy .K., Muralidhar Rao,D.,PrabhuDas,K., Suryanaryana.VVS., Reddy ,G.R. Accepted in Journal of Biotechnology , Bio engineering and Bio –Informatics. (Article in press). 5. Bos indicus Interleukin 18 complete coding sequence published in NCBI Gen bank .SivaReddy,K., Muralidhar Rao,D., Dechamma,H., Banumathi,N.,Suryanaryana,V. and Reddy,G. Acc.No. FJ985771 6. Enhancement of DNA vaccine (P12A3C-pcDNA) efficacy against Foot- andMouth Disease by co-administration of Interleukin-18 expressing (IL18pcDNA) plasmid in Guinea Pigs. Siva Reddy .K. Muralidhar Rao.D., Badrinaryana.M. Suryanaryana.VVS. and Reddy G.R. Presented in Society for applied biotech biotechnology (SAB) annual conference at Dharmapuri Dec 17,18 7.Bovine Interleukin -18 inhibits Foot-and-Mouth Disease virus Replication in BHK- 21 cells. K. Siva Reddy, D.Murali Dhar Rao, Kakoli Ahmed, H.J Dechamma N.Bhanumathi ,VVS Suryanarayana ,G.R Reddy presented at VIROCON 2010 XIX National Conference RECENT TRENDS IN VIRAL DISEASE PROBLEMS AND MANAGEMENT SVU Tirupathi, Mar 18-20 ,2010 . 8. Cationic Micro Particle (PLG) coated DNA vaccination Induces a long term immune response and Protective Immunity against Foot –and-Mouth disease virus. K. Siva Reddy, Rashmi Dechamma N.Bhanumathi ,VVS Suryanarayana ,G.R Reddy Presented at VIROCON 2010 XIX National Conference RECENT TRENDS IN VIRAL DISEASE PROBLEMS AND MANAGEMENT SVU Tirupathi, Mar 18-20 ,2010. 9. Dose response studies of ID- p VAC (SECRETORY VECTOR CONSTRUCT) coated on cationic PLG micro particles against FMDV in guinea pigs. Siva Reddy K., Reddy G.R. Presented at SBC Annual conference Impact of Basic and Translational Research on Medicine, Agriculture and Industry, IIT Madras 18-20 DEC -2008. Communicated Articles 1. Cationic Micro Particle (PLG) coated DNA vaccination induces a long term immune response and Protective Immunity against FMD in GuineaPigs. Siva Reddy ,K ., MuraliDhar Rao,D.,Rashmi, B.R., Dechamma H,J., Banumathi.,N., Suryanarayana V.V.S and Reddy G.R Communicated in to Vet Immunology and Immunopathology(Under review). 2. Bovine Interleukin 18 inhibits Foot and mouth disease virus replication in BHK-21 Cells. K. Siva Reddy, D.MuraliDhar Rao, K.PrabhuDas, VVS Suryanarayana,G.R Reddy communicated in to Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry. 3. Enhanced efficacy of a Foot and mouth disease DNA vaccine (P12A3CpcDNA) by adsorption onto cationic PLG microparticle in guinea pigs .K. Siva Reddy, D.MuraliDhar Rao, K.PrabhuDas, VVS Suryanarayana ,G.R Reddy communicated into International journal of Immunopharmacology.

Litter Control :: Environment Ecology Littering

Litter Control Litter control is not only an important issue to me but to this state and country. Programs such as Keep America Beautiful and adopt-a-highway are designed to promote a clean environment by educating people and creating projects to help improve the environment (Keeping America Beautiful). Growing up I learned the importance of having a clean environment. It improves the quality of life, it increases your confidence level, and it makes you proud of your community. I feel strongly about this issue because there are a lot of people who just do not care. South Carolina has a goal of making people aware of the environment. The state government has started a campaign called Palmetto Pride (Diane Marlow). The promotion tactics that they use includes South Carolina officials and well-known people promoting beautification of the state. I also have a goal of making people aware of the environment and I decided that creating a project with children would be very effective. I always thought children were excellent people to work with. They are eager to learn and to show enthusiasm. My plan was to work with the children of St. Lawrence’s Place. That idea was sparked from my University 101 instructor. There I hoped to design a trash-pickup program similar to the one that the adopt-a-highway program had. Along with the program, I would have educated the children about litter prevention and the importance of a clean environment. Instead of walking along a highway collect trash we would wander around St. Lawrence’s Place looking for trash and items to be recycled. Unfortunately, the program could not be carried out because of scheduling problems. Luckily, there was an adopt-a-highway project going on in my hometown during the time of fall break. Adopt-a-highway is a program of public service for volunteers to collect trash along the highways of America. The group agrees to pick up trash at the minimum of three times per year. There is an age limit for this program. Those that are interested must be at least twelve years of age to participate in the trash pick-up. The adopt-a-highway program also educates people about litter prevention and recycling (Adopt-a-highway). On October 15, I arrived on Main Street with some of my friends and former classmates. Main Street is a very busy road that connects to a highway.

Marketing Management – Coca Cola India

Coca Cola India's Thirst for the Rural Market Coca Cola India's Thirst for the Rural Market: ‘Thanda' Goes Rural In early 2002, Coca-Cola India (CCI) (Refer Exhibit I for information about CCI) launched a new advertisement campaign featuring leading bollywood actor – Aamir Khan. The advertisement with the tag line – ‘Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola' was targeted at rural and semi-urban consumers. According to company sources, the idea was to position Coca-Cola as a generic brand for cold drinks. The campaign was launched to support CCI's rural marketing initiatives. CCI began focusing on the rural market in the early 2000s in order to increase volumes. This decision was not surprising, given the huge size of the untapped rural market in India (Refer Exhibit II to learn about the rural market in India). With flat sales in the urban areas, it was clear that CCI would have to shift its focus to the rural market. Nantoo Banerjee, spokeswoman – CCI, said, â€Å"The real market in India is in the rural areas. If you can crack it, there is tremendous potential. However, the poor rural infrastructure and consumption habits that are very different from those of urban people were two major obstacles to cracking the rural market for CCI. Because of the erratic power supply most grocers in rural areas did not stock cold drinks. Also, people in rural areas had a preference for traditional cold beverages such as ‘lassi'6 and lemon juice. Further, the price of the beverage was also a major factor for the rural consumer. CCI's Rural Marketing Strategy CCI's rural marketing strategy was based on three A's – Availability, Affordability and Acceptability. The first ‘A' – Availability emphasized on the availability of the product to the customer; the second ‘A' Affordability focused on product pricing, and the third ‘A'- Acceptability focused on convincing the customer to buy the product. Availability Once CCI entered the rural market; it focused on strengthening its distribution network there. It realized that the centralized distribution ystem used by the company in the urban areas would not be suitable for rural areas. In the centralized distribution system, the product was transported directly from the bottling plants to retailers (Refer Figure I). However, CCI realized that this distribution system would not work in rural markets, as taking stock directly from bottling plants to retail stores would be very costly due to the long distances to be covered. The company in stead opted for a hub and spoke distribution system (Refer Figure II). Under the hub and spoke distribution system, stock was transported from the bottling plants to hubs and then from hubs, the stock was transported to spokes, which were situated in small towns. These spokes fed the retailers catering to the demand in rural areas. CCI not only changed its distribution model, it also changed the type of vehicles used for transportation. The company used large trucks for transporting stock from bottling plants to hubs and medium commercial vehicles transported the stock from the hubs to spokes. For transporting stock from spokes to village retailers, the company utilized auto rickshaws and cycles. Commenting on the transportation of stock in rural markets, a company spokesperson said, â€Å"We use all possible means of transport that range from trucks, auto rickshaws, cycle rickshaws and hand carts to even camel carts in Rajasthan and mules in the hilly areas, to cart our products from the nearest hub. â€Å"7 In late 2002, CCI made an additional investment of Rs 7 million (Rs 5 million from the company and Rs 2 million from the company's bottlers) to meet rural demand. By March 2003, the company had added 25 production lines and doubled its glass and PET bottle capacity8. Further it also distributed around 2,00,000 refrigerators to its rural retailers. It also purchased 5,000 new trucks and auto rickshaws for boosting its rural distribution. Through its rural distribution initiatives, CCI was able to increase its presence in rural areas from a coverage of 81,383 villages in 2001 to 1,58,342 villages in August 2003. Apart from strengthening its distribution network, CCI also focused on pricing in rural market. Affordability A survey conducted by CCI in 2001 revealed that 300 ml bottles were not popular with rural and semi urban residents where two persons often shared a 300 ml bottle. It was also found that the price of Rs10/- per bottle was considered too high by rural consumers. For these reasons, CCI decided to make some changes in the size of its bottles and pricing to win over consumers in the rural market. In 2002, CCI launched 200 ml bottles (Chota Coke)9 priced at Rs 5. CCI announced that it would push the 200 ml bottles more in rural areas, as the rural market was very price-sensitive. It was widely felt that the 200 ml bottles priced at Rs. 5 would increase the rate of consumption in rural India. Reports put the annual per capita consumption of bottled beverages in rural areas at one bottle as compared to 6 bottles in urban areas. The 200 ml bottles priced at Rs. 5 would also make CCI competitive against local brands in the unorganized sector. It was reported that in the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat the local cola brands such as Choice and Tikli cost only half the price offered by CCI, which gave them the advantage in garnering the major market share before CCI came out with Chota Coke. CCI also targeted the rural consumer aggressively in its marketing campaigns, which were aimed at increasing awareness of its brands in rural areas. Acceptability The initiatives of CCI in distribution and pricing were supported by extensive marketing in the mass media as well as through outdoor advertising. The company put up hoardings in villages and painted the name Coca Cola on the compounds of the residences in the villages. Further, CCI also participated in the weekly mandies10 by setting up temporary retail outlets, and also took part in the annual haats11 and fairs – major sources of business activity and entertainment in rural India. CCI also launched television commercials (TVCs) targeted at rural consumers. In order to reach more rural consumers, CCI increased its ad-spend on Doordarshan. 12 The company ensured that all its rural marketing initiatives were well supported by TVCs. When CCI launched Chota Coke in 2002 priced at Rs. 5, it bought out a commercial featuring Bollywood actor Aamir Khan to communicate the message of the price cut and the launch of 200 ml bottles to the rural consumers. The commercial was shot in a rural setting. In the summer of 2003, CCI came up with a new commercial featuring Aamir Khan, to further strengthen the Coca-Cola brand image among rural consumers. The commercial aimed at making coke a generic name for ‘Thanda. ‘ Of the reason for picking up the word ‘Thanda', Prasoon Joshi, national creative director – McCann Erickson, the creator of the commercial, said, â€Å"Thanda is a very North India-centric phenomenon. Go to any restaurant in the north, and attendants would promptly ask, ‘thanda ya garam? ‘ ‘Thanda' usually means lassi or nimbu pani, ‘garam' is essentially tea. Because the character, in itself, represented a culture, we wanted to equate Coke with ‘Thanda', since ‘Thanda' too is part of the popular dialect of the north, thus making ‘Thanda' generic for Coca-Cola. With the long-playing possibilities of the ‘Thanda' idea becoming evident, ‘Thanda' became the central idea. Once we decided to work on that idea, the creative mind just opened up. â€Å"13 Between March and September 2003, CCI launched three commercials with the ‘Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola' tag line. All the three commercials aimed to make rural and semi-urban consumers connect with Coca-Cola. The first ad featured Aamir Khan as a ‘tapori' (street smart); in the ad he makes the association between Coca-Cola and the word ‘Thanda. ‘ The second commercial in the series featured Aamir Khan as a ‘Hyderabadi shop-keeper'; here again he equates the word ‘Thanda' with Coca-Cola. The third commercial featured Aamir Khan as a ‘Punjabi farmer' who offers Coca Cola to ladies asking for Thanda. The three commercials showed progression in associating ‘Coke' with ‘Thanda' in a rural/semi-urban context. In the first commercial the connection of Coke with Thanda was made, in the second one there was a subtle difference, with the shopkeeper asking customers to ask for Thanda instead of Coke, and the third commercial showed that when one asked for Thanda, one would get Coke. Analysts said that all the three commercials succeeded in make rural consumers connect to Coke and increased awareness of the brand among them. Along with TVCs, CCI also launched print advertisements in several regional newspapers. Future Prospects CCI claimed all its marketing initiatives were very successful, and as a result, its rural penetration increased from 9% in 2001 to 25% in 2003. CCI also said that volumes from rural markets had increased to 35% in 2003. The company said that it would focus on adding more villages to its distribution network. For the year 2003, CCI had a target of reaching 0. 1 million more villages. Analysts pointed out that stiff competition from archrival PepsiCo would make it increasingly difficult for CCI to garner more market share. PepsiCo too had started focusing on the rural market, due to the flat volumes in urban areas. Like CCI, PepsiCo too launched 200 ml bottles priced at Rs. 5. Going one step ahead, PepsiCo slashed the price of its 300 ml bottles to Rs 6/- to boost volumes in urban areas. (Refer Exhibit III for Pepsi Co's rural marketing initiatives. ) In early 2003, CCI announced that it was dropping plans to venture into other beverage businesses. Company sources said that increasing volumes of cola drinks had made the company rethink its plans of launching juice and milk-based beverages. In 2002, CCI had announced plans to launch beverages such as nimbu paani (lemon juice), fruit juice, cold coffee, and iced tea in collaboration with Nestle India. 14 Though CCI was upbeat because of its early success in its drive to capture the rural market, the question was whether the company would be able to take this success further. A major media setback occurred in August 2003, when the Delhi-based Center for Science and Environment announced that it had found high pesticide content in soft drinks manufactured and sold by both cola majors. Around same time BBC Radio in its program – ‘Face the Facts' alleged that Coke's plant in Kerala was making excessive use of groundwater resources in the region and was also contaminating the groundwater through discharge of toxic elements, thereby harming the land, water resources and also the food chain in the region. Though CCI refuted these allegations, the company reportedly experienced a considerable decline in sales after August 2003. With many social and political groups becoming active against the cola companies in rural areas, it remains to be seen whether CCI will be able to quench its thirst for the rural market.

Relativist Morality Is Unfair Discuss

Relativist Morality is unfair discuss Relativist morality could be seen as unfair, when looked at closely and seen from critics’ point of view it becomes clear that it is easy to question perhaps because of its weakness as a moral system. The weakness could somewhat be perceived as making Relativist morality unfair. A relativist cannot pass judgement but yet to be true to their name ‘relativist’ they would be practising ‘do not pass judgement’ thus they are preaching to others that they should not do something in order for others to follow relativism. This concludes that relativism is self – refuting because a concept of relativism has been broken in order to follow it. This could be seen as unfair because to put relativist morality into practice would involve relativists telling an individual what to do, regarding personal idea raises the question ‘ if being relativist means you are able to break a rule you live by, then it is not fair in terms of my attitudes to ethical understanding. However it could be said that it’s not unfair as its one thing that relativists ask people to do in order to consider living from a relativist’s point of view. In real life relativism would be extremely hard to live by in all situations, and again the idea of unfairness can be applied. If for example a relativist lived in a society that refuses to punish an individual that kills a child, then they are entitled to not like this as it is their opinion but but  they are not obliged to judge the abusers actions as unjust. It is apparent that killing a child is unjust and wrong but yet a relativist has no right to declare the murderer as guilty of wrongdoing, this rise a question ‘If we are certain that murder of a child is wrong, then how can relativism exists? ’ How can it be fair to not be able to label something seen as cruel , as unjust and thus wrong how can it be possible to not see this as unjust? And how is this fair on the victim? That their death was in fact not wrong and not unjust because the actions were committed subject to the perpetrator’s moral understanding of what is right and good or because their society claims that this is right and good. Relativists see no universal absolutes so nothing is universally bad or is it universally good thus this means that blame and praise would become nonexistent because praise comes from doing something good but without good this would be virtually impossible because good would not be judged and therefore it could not be praised in a moral sense. This again could be seen s unfair because it could an act of kindness but yet there is no absolute good in the act for example helping an elderly person with their shopping this is neither seen as good or bad and therefore no praise could come of doing what is believed to be good. Relativists can’t make charges of unfairness, despite what they may feel personally, say the relativist thought that it was unfair for Nazi Germany to slaughter many Jews , but Germany thought these actions to be correct because it is relative to their society then Germanys would say they were being fair and thus must the Relativist. Many individuals will question this because these people that were slaughtered were innocent but yet a relativist would have see these acts as fair, it does not seem fair to have an opinion that these acts were unfair but have to agree that they were fair. How is this view fair for the millions of innocent Jews that were slaughtered?. There would be no prison if moral relativism was to be put into practise because if there is not universal good or bad, then no law would be in place because nobody can decipher the truth thus punishment would be nonexistent because there is no need for anybody to be punished if no one has the right to pass judgement on whether their actions are right or wrong and the reason for imprisonment is because someone has committed crime thus there is no reason for prison to exists however then how would society function, in a recognizable fair way for example the idea of shoplifting this would not be controlled neither would happenings such as rape. This would not be fair because individuals could hurt or steal because it was their moral understanding of good etc so harm would not be seen as bad and neither would theft and the country would therefore not be able to run because people would live how they pleased subject to their moral understanding. This type of life for people would not be fair with no guidelines people would be free do what they like causing pain to other psychically and emotionally and this would not be fair. In conclusion it can be said that relativist morality would not be fair because of the complications it would have when followed correctly and how difficult it would be followed properly. It would cause many problems in reality that would not be fair on individuals.

American Civil War Battles

American Civil War Battles The battles of the Civil War were fought across the United States from the East Coast to as far west as New Mexico. Beginning in 1861, these battles made a permanent mark upon the landscape and elevated to prominence small towns that had previously been peaceful villages. As a result, names such as Manassas, Sharpsburg, Gettysburg, and Vicksburg became eternally entwined with images of sacrifice, bloodshed, and heroism. It is estimated that over 10,000 battles of various sizes were fought during the Civil War as Union forces marched towards victory. The battles of the Civil War are largely divided into the Eastern, Western, and Trans-Mississippi Theaters, with the bulk of the fighting taking place in the first two. During the Civil War, over 200,000 Americans were killed in battle as each side fought for their chosen cause. The battles below are arranged by year, theater, and state. 1861 Eastern Theater April 12-14: Battle of Fort Sumter, South CarolinaJune 3: Battle of Philippi, VirginiaJune 10: Battle of Big Bethel, VirginiaJuly 21: First Battle of Bull Run, VirginiaOctober 21: Battle of Balls Bluff, Virginia Western Theater August 10: Battle of Wilsons Creek, MissouriNovember 7: Battle of Belmont, Missouri At Sea November 8: The  Trent  Affair, at Sea 1862 Eastern Theater March 8-9: Battle of Hampton Roads, VirginiaMarch 23: First Battle of Kernstown, VirginiaApril 5: Siege of Yorktown, VirginiaApril 10-11: Battle of Fort Pulaski, GeorgiaMay 5: Battle of Williamsburg, VirginiaMay 8: Battle of McDowell, VirginiaMay 25: First Battle of Winchester, VirginiaMay 31: Battle of Seven Pines, VirginiaJune 8: Battle of Cross Keys, VirginiaJune 9: Battle of Port Republic, VirginiaJune 25: Battle of Oak Grove, VirginiaJune 26: Battle of Beaver Dam Creek (Mechanicsville), VirginiaJune 27: Battle of Gaines Mill, VirginiaJune 29: Battle of Savages Station, VirginiaJune 30: Battle of Glendale (Fraysers Farm), VirginiaJuly 1: Battle of Malvern Hill, VirginiaAugust 9: Battle of Cedar Mountain, VirginiaAugust 28-30: Second Battle of Manassas, VirginiaSeptember 1: Battle of Chantilly, VirginiaSeptember 12-15: Battle of Harpers Ferry, VirginiaSeptember 14: Battle of South Mountain, MarylandSeptember 17: Battle of Antietam, MarylandDecember 13: Battle of Fredericksburg, Vi rginia Trans-Mississippi Theater February 21: Battle of Valverde, New MexicoMarch 7-8: Battle of Pea Ridge, ArkansasMarch 26-28: Battle of Glorieta Pass, New MexicoDecember 7: Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas Western Theater January 19: Battle of Mill Springs, KentuckyFebruary 6: Battle of Fort Henry, TennesseeFebruary 11-16: Battle of Fort Donelson, TennesseeApril 6-7: Battle of Shiloh, TennesseeApril 12: Great Locomotive Chase, GeorgiaApril 24/25: Capture of New Orleans, LouisianaJune 6: Battle of Memphis, TennesseeSeptember 19: Battle of Iuka, MississippiOctober 3-4: Second Battle of Corinth, MississippiOctober 8: Battle of Perryville, KentuckyDecember 26-29: Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, MississippiDecember 31-January 2, 1863: Battle of Stones River, Tennessee 1863 Eastern Theater May 1-6: Battle of Chancellorsville, VirginiaJune 9: Battle of Brandy Station, VirginiaJuly 1-3: Battle of Gettysburg, PennsylvaniaJuly 3: Battle of Gettysburg: Picketts Charge, PennsylvaniaJuly 11 18: Battles of Fort Wagner, South CarolinaOctober 13-November 7: Bristoe Campaign, VirginiaNovember 26-December 2: Mine Run Campaign, Virginia Trans-Mississippi Theater January 9-11: Battle of Arkansas Post, Arkansas Western Theater Fall 1862-July 4: Vicksburg Campaign, MississippiMay 12: Battle of Raymond, MississippiMay 16: Battle of Champion Hill, MississippiMay 17: Battle of Big Black River Bridge, MississippiMay 18-July 4: Siege of Vicksburg, MississippiMay 21-July 9: Siege of Port Hudson, LouisianaJune 11-July 26: Morgans Raid, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, OhioSeptember 18-20: Battle of Chickamauga, GeorgiaOctober 28-29: Battle of Wauhatchie, TennesseeNovember-December: Knoxville Campaign, TennesseeNovember 23-25: Battle of Chattanooga, Tennessee 1864 Eastern Theater February 16: Submarine  H.L. Hunley  Sinks USS  Housatonic, South CarolinaFebruary 20: Battle of Olustee, FloridaMay 5-7: Battle of the Wilderness, VirginiaMay 8-21: Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, VirginiaMay 11: Battle of Yellow Tavern, VirginiaMay 16: Battle of New Market, VirginiaMay 23-26: Battle of North Anna, VirginiaMay 31-June 12: Battle of Cold Harbor, VirginiaJune 5: Battle of Piedmont, VirginiaJune 9, 1864-April 2, 1865: Siege of Petersburg, VirginiaJune 11-12: Battle of Trevilian Station, VirginiaJune 21-23: Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road, VirginiaJuly 9: Battle of Monocacy, MarylandJuly 24: Second Battle of Kernstown, VirginiaJuly 30: Battle of the Crater, VirginiaAugust 18-21: Battle of Globe Tavern, VirginiaSeptember 19: Third Battle of Winchester (Opequon), VirginiaSeptember 21-22: Battle of Fishers Hill, VirginiaOctober 2: Battle of Peebles Farm, VirginiaOctober 19: Battle of Cedar Creek, VirginiaOctober 27-28: Battle of Boydton Plank Road, Virginia Trans-Mississippi River April 8: Battle of Mansfield, LouisianaOctober 23: Battle of Westport, Missouri Western Theater May 13-15: Battle of Resaca, GeorgiaJune 10: Battle of Brices Cross Roads, MississippiJune 27: Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, GeorgiaJuly 20: Battle of Peachtree Creek, GeorgiaJuly 22: Battle of Atlanta, GeorgiaJuly 28: Battle of Ezra Church, GeorgiaAugust 5: Battle of Mobile Bay, AlabamaAugust 31-September 1: Battle of Jonesboro (Jonesborough), GeorgiaNovember 15-December 22: Shermans March to the Sea, GeorgiaNovember 29: Battle of Spring Hill, TennesseeNovember 30: Battle of Franklin, TennesseeDecember 15-16: Battle of Nashville, Tennessee 1865 Eastern Theater January 13-15: Second Battle of Fort Fisher, North CarolinaFebruary 5-7: Battle of Hatchers Run, VirginiaMarch 25: Battle of Fort Stedman, VirginiaApril 1: Battle of Five Forks, VirginiaApril 6: Battle of Saylers Creek (Sailors Creek), VirginiaApril 9: Surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia Western Theater March 16: Battle of Averasborough, North CarolinaMarch 19-21: Battle of Bentonville, North CarolinaApril 2: Battle of Selma, Alabama

Free Essays on Leadership Development Plan

Self Assessment Strengths: Strength’s that I posses are very important when in becoming a great leader. The strength’s that I posses are good listening skills, persuasion, determination, compassion, honesty, and respect. I feel that in order to be a leader, listening is just as important as talking. When people take the time to listen they may learn new information that they never knew before. What I do, is instead of missing out on something I like to take in all the information that I can and then combine it with my own so that I can produce a much clearer image when I speak. My second strength persuasion, is a key role in being a leader to me. If subordinates have a different idea then their leader does, persuasion has to be executed in order for the group to accomplish the task on hand. Determination, which is my strongest strength, helps motivate me to succeed and be good at what I do. It helps me to complete my task without any hesitation. When there is something that I want to accomplish m y determination makes me work as hard as I can in order to be successful. My fourth strength, compassion helps me creates a comfortable atmosphere letting the people around me know that I care and that if there is anything wrong I am here to help. Honesty and respect both are my way of getting to know people better. When I first meet a person I let them know nothing but the truth, so that from the beginning they know that this man is sincere and that he is trustworthy of a friendship. Respect has to be earned, but to me I always give respect when I meet a person and from then on it can either go up or it can go down whichever way that person wants it. Weaknesses: Weaknesses that I posses are easy to manage and can be controlled if I take the time to work on them. Weaknesses that I have are laziness, having a short attentio... Free Essays on Leadership Development Plan Free Essays on Leadership Development Plan Self Assessment Strengths: Strength’s that I posses are very important when in becoming a great leader. The strength’s that I posses are good listening skills, persuasion, determination, compassion, honesty, and respect. I feel that in order to be a leader, listening is just as important as talking. When people take the time to listen they may learn new information that they never knew before. What I do, is instead of missing out on something I like to take in all the information that I can and then combine it with my own so that I can produce a much clearer image when I speak. My second strength persuasion, is a key role in being a leader to me. If subordinates have a different idea then their leader does, persuasion has to be executed in order for the group to accomplish the task on hand. Determination, which is my strongest strength, helps motivate me to succeed and be good at what I do. It helps me to complete my task without any hesitation. When there is something that I want to accomplish m y determination makes me work as hard as I can in order to be successful. My fourth strength, compassion helps me creates a comfortable atmosphere letting the people around me know that I care and that if there is anything wrong I am here to help. Honesty and respect both are my way of getting to know people better. When I first meet a person I let them know nothing but the truth, so that from the beginning they know that this man is sincere and that he is trustworthy of a friendship. Respect has to be earned, but to me I always give respect when I meet a person and from then on it can either go up or it can go down whichever way that person wants it. Weaknesses: Weaknesses that I posses are easy to manage and can be controlled if I take the time to work on them. Weaknesses that I have are laziness, having a short attentio...

The Broken Window Fallacy

The Broken Window Fallacy If you read the news, you may have noticed that journalists and politicians often like to point out that natural disasters, wars, and other destructive events can boost an economys production because they create demand for rebuilding work. Granted, this may be true in specific cases where resources (labor, capital, etc.) would otherwise have been unemployed, but does it really mean that disasters are economically beneficial? 19th-century political economist Frederic Bastiat offered an answer to such a question in his 1850 essay That Which Is Seen and That Which Is Unseen. (This was, of course, translated from the French Ce quon voit et ce quon ne voit pas.) Bastiats reasoning goes as follows: Â   Have you ever witnessed the anger of the good shopkeeper, James Goodfellow, when his careless son happened to break a pane of glass? If you have been present at such a scene, you will most assuredly bear witness to the fact that every one of the spectators, were there even thirty of them, by common consent apparently, offered the unfortunate owner this invariable consolation- It is an ill wind that blows nobody good. Everybody must live, and what would become of the glaziers if panes of glass were never broken?Now, this form of condolence contains an entire theory, which it will be well to show up in this simple case, seeing that it is precisely the same as that which, unhappily, regulates the greater part of our economical institutions.Suppose it cost six francs to repair the damage, and you say that the accident brings six francs to the glaziers trade- that it encourages that trade to the amount of six francs- I grant it; I have not a word to say against it; you reason justly. The glazier comes, performs his task, receives his six francs, rubs his hands, and, in his heart, blesses the careless child. All this is that which is seen.But if, on the other hand, you come to the conclusion, as is too often the case, that it is a good thing to break windows, that it causes money to circulate, and that the encouragement of industry in general will be the result of it, you will oblige me to call out, Stop there! Your theory is confined to that which is seen; it takes no account of that which is not seen.It is not seen that as our shopkeeper has spent six francs upon one thing, he cannot spend them upon another. It is not seen that if he had not had a window to replace, he would, perhaps, have replaced his old shoes, or added another book to his library. In short, he would have employed his six francs in some way, which this accident has prevented. In this parable, the thirty people telling the shopkeeper that the broken window is a good thing because it keeps the glazier employed are the equivalent of the journalists and politicians who say that natural disasters are actually an economic boon. Bastiats point, on the other hand, is that the economic activity generated for the glazier is only half of the picture, and its, therefore, a mistake to look at the benefit to the glazier in isolation. Instead, a proper analysis considers both the fact that the glaziers business is helped and the fact that the money used to pay the glazier is then not available for some other business activity, whether it be a purchase of a suit, some books, etc. Bastiats point, in a way, is about opportunity cost- unless resources are idle, they must be shifted away from one activity in order to be shifted toward another. One can even extend Bastiats logic to question how much of a net benefit the glazier receives in this scenario. If the glaziers time and energy are finite, then he is likely shifting his resources away from other jobs or pleasurable activities in order to repair the shopkeepers window. The glaziers net benefit is presumably still positive since he chose to fix the window rather than carry on with his other activities, but his well-being is not likely to increase by the full amount that he is paid by the shopkeeper. (Similarly, the suit maker and book sellers resources wont necessarily sit idle, but they will still suffer a loss.) It is quite possible, then, that the economic activity following from the broken window merely represents a somewhat artificial shift from one industry to another rather than an overall increase. Add into that calculation the fact that a perfectly good window got broken, and it becomes clear that its only under very specific circumstances that the broken window could be good for the economy as a whole. So why do people insist on trying to make such a seemingly misguided argument regarding destruction and production? One potential explanation is that they believe that there are resources that are idle in the economy- i.e. that the shopkeeper was hoarding cash under his mattress before the window was broken rather than buying the suit or the books or whatever. While it is true, under these circumstances, that breaking the window would increase production in the short-term, it is a mistake to assume without sufficient evidence that these conditions hold. Furthermore, it would always be still better to convince the shopkeeper to spend his money on something of value without resorting to destroying his property. Interestingly enough, the possibility that a broken window could increase short-run production highlights a secondary point that Bastiat was trying to make with his parable, namely that there is an important distinction between production and wealth. To illustrate this contrast, imagine the world where everything that people want to consume is already in abundant supply- new production would be zero, but its doubtful that anyone would be complaining. On the other hand, a society with no existing capital would likely be working feverishly to make stuff but wouldnt be very happy about it. (Perhaps Bastiat should have written another parable about a guy who says The bad news is that my house got destroyed. The good news is that I now have a job making houses.) In summary, even if breaking the window were to increase production in the short run, the act cannot maximize true economic well-being in the long run simply because it will always be better to not break the window and spend resources making valuable new stuff than it is to break the window and spend those same resources replacing something that already existed.

Project -litterature review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Project -litterature review - Essay Example Epstein focused much of her work on homework practices and home-school education, including how parents can monitor and assist at home (Epstein, 1983). The literature review will describe the benefits of parental involvement in terms of achievement of their children at school. In this chapter I will look at successful programmes such as Every Child Matters and Sure Start, models of parental involvement, relations between staff and parents, preparation of children academically, parenting techniques and the link with achievement, and conclude with the summary. The involvement of parents has been effectively linked with children’s academic achievement throughout their time at school. The early years in school can be an exciting and emotional period for children and their parents in meeting the staff in school. Families, like teachers, create homes that promote learning, and reinforce what is being taught at school, and build the values and skills children need to become responsible adults (Henderson, 1995). Most children will take time to settle as it will be difficult to form new bonds of attachment with the staff. As for parents, it will give them the opportunities to talk, discuss many issues surrounding their children as well as to express their wishes and expectations. Abbott et al (1989) claim a parent has a positive interest in, and expectations of, the school which their child attends. To help children take this new experience in their stride, many schools including the school where I work now offer home visits to the families before the child starts school. This will help to build a sense of confidence and a chance to find out more about what to expect and how the school staff will deal with a child who needs time to settle in a new environment. The National Association of Head Teachers (1988), defining and describing a home-school contract of partnership states that this model

Web-based training Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Web-based training - Essay Example The world is discovering a new instructional tool, the Internet, which defies geographical, financial, and time boundaries.Member firms of the trade association worldwide are employing the World Wide Web to give employers, employees, and those wishing to gain knowledge more opportunities to learn. Web-based training and instruction strategies employ the Internet in delivering instructional information. A current training method can be supported by web-based instruction can support an existing teaching method or computer-based instructional methods can be used instead of the existing method of training. These act as an extension of businesses, firms, and industries in providing learning opportunities to various individuals such staff members and employees.Training via web-based instructional intervention and information literacy allows users to learn at their convenience as the Internet allows learning, instructing, and training to go on regardless of location and time. The instructio n is not limited to an office, conference room, or classroom at a set hour. Users work according to their learning style and pace. Traditional training and additional education usually causes users to work at the pace of others and various learning styles cannot be accommodated. Learning may be hindered. Additional advantages are online education provides more affordability, flexibility, and options. Also, opportunities for learning, growth, and increased jobs are also a plus with training via technology. There is much literature on the topic of transferring the skills to those who are being trained. The goal of empowering employees, staff members, and students to use resources without assistance can be achieved in a number of ways. Some of these different avenues include learning via general tours, special group sessions, online tutorials, semester-long courses, office training sessions, company training opportunities, or a combination of these. Student's Last Name 2 Aim To evaluate and gain a better understanding of web-based instructional (training) intervention and information technology and to determine the feasibility of delivering online training for a trade association or a similar organization Literature Review New technologies throw open possibilities of doing old things in a new way. This has happened in the provision of many services. "Education has not lagged behind in adopting the new technology in its service. It has welcomed the new Internet technology with open arms, and on its part, the Web has more votaries at its shrine than that of any other computer innovation," reports McCormack and Jones (1998, p. xi.). Knowledge provided traditionally by trainers and instructors is now accomplished via the Internet, computer-based training, and various methods delivered by technology. These delivery methods are now being used with traditional training and/or in place of the standard ways of learning and training. The use of the World Wide Web (WWW) as an instructional tool is gaining momentum as companies and businesses resort to it as a useful tool in the armoury of their professional devices. Students, professionals, and workers also use it in learning and training. Strategies that employ the Web as the repository for instructional information are known as Web- Based Instruction (WBI). Web-Based Instruction via information technology can support an existing teaching method or be used as a replacement, but according to McCormack and Jones, the former is currently the most common (p. 2). Web-Based Instruction (or training) can also provide tools and services that offer an extension of what teachers, parents, and other individuals try to teach and instill in their students, employees, and others. There are many websites that offer this service. One such example can be found at www.interventioncentral.org. Intervention Central (2006), found at this website, provides an

A passage to India Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

A passage to India - Essay Example Aziz and friends longs for the company of an English man, the common wish of the Indians during that time. Both, Aziz and Fielding have similarities in their behavior that they are curious in Indian mysteries. Moreover, Fielding has high respects for Indian tradition and is high tolerant. It may be this common fact that befriends them. The western similarity of Aziz is clear when Moore explains her experience with Aziz in the mosque. Only much later Ronny and others realize that she was speaking about a Muslim, who exactly follows the western way of living. The words of Miss Quested are notable in this context when she exclaimed, â€Å"A Mohammedan! How perfectly magnificent!† (Foster 9). 2. What do you think really happened to Adel Quested in the cave? What might the echo signify symbolically in the novel? Adel Quested had a wild experience in the Marabar Caves where she was overcome with claustrophobia like Mrs. Moore. When she entered the cave alone, the echo of the sound a nd loneliness might have frightened her. This actually caused for her fainting and misunderstanding that Aziz molested her. However, the echo in the cave has symbolic significance in the novel with various propositions. There have been many inferences among the critics regarding this symbol. But one can see echo representing climax of horror of the novel.

Academic software Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Academic software - Coursework Example In this paper we specifically highlight the benefits of Inspiration software to both teachers and students. Inspiration provides teacher with lesson plan books and visual learning tools. The lesson plan books give teachers practical ideas and step-by-step directions on how to engage students in activities that inspire creativity, thinking and learning. Teachers are also provided with examples of templates and diagrams that they can use to develop students’ cognitive abilities in a wide-range of subjects and topics. Teachers are therefore able to be more effective with regards to transferring knowledge to their students. Furthermore, by supporting visual learning Inspiration software caters for students with learning challenges such as autism, dyslexia, visual or auditory processing disorders and so on. On the other hand, the students benefit from the ability to visualize and develop their ideas using visual maps, and to communicate these ideas with their teachers or fellow stu dents. One challenge that many students face is visualizing what the teacher is explaining especially if it is a new concept, but with Inspiration the students can see what the teacher is explaining for example in courses such as Biology or Chemistry.

History homework Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

History homework - Assignment Example 7. Overseers were responsible for supervising slaves in large plantations. Overseers were you and ambitious southern whites. Overseers were only hired by rich planters so they could relieve themselves from the duty of supervising. The rich planters used to indulge in other activities such as finance and marketing affairs while they were not supervising slaves. 8. According to historians, the relationship between the slaves and the planters was paternalistic. This means that the planters awarded slaves with food and clothing for their hard work and obedience. 9. According to George Fitzhugh, women and children had only one right and that was the right to protection. According to George Fitzhugh, the right to protection was that it was obligatory for women to obey. 10. During plantation life the southern white women had to experience the issue of miscegenation. Miscegenation refers to the number of children produced by the relationship of female slaves and their owners. This issue was very painful for the slave owner’s wives. 15. The small farmers of the southern regions were producing cash crops and cotton, they were helped by the rich farmers in their plantation activities and the rich farmers even provided them with machines for farming purposes. 16. The farmers living in the upcountry areas were not able to prosper due to their geographical location. Their means of transportation were limited and their land was not very fertile. They used to rely on production of tobacco, subsistence crop and low amount of cotton. 2. The proposition given by David Wilmot was that slavery should be prohibited in the territories obtained from Mexico; the idea was supported by Northerners. On the other hand, Southerners were against this idea. Thus, Senator Cass proposed that the new territories should decide themselves whether they want to prohibit or accept slavery. 4. The Compromise of 1850 consisted of 4 propositions, the compromise

Strategic audit of Asics Corporation Research Paper

Strategic audit of Asics Corporation - Research Paper Example It entails evaluating a corporations’ performance measured against its overall corporate (and business) strategy. Companies initiate strategic audits in situations where there is a disparity between its corporate performance and its strategic corporate goals. The corporate and business performance of a corporation is affected by both internal and external factors as well as the activities of competitors within the same industry. A strategic audit is an important tool for company managers and boards to pinpoint problems and hurdles preventing the achievement of their corporate strategic plans. This paper will evaluate the corporate performance of Asics Corporation by appraising the external factors, internal factors, the industry it operates in and its competitors. It will also draw conclusion and strategic recommendations based on the analysis done. Literature review Institutions are unable to discharge their corporate governance duties effectively until the boards concerned fully take ownership of the organizations’ strategy by conducting thorough audits much in the same way that financial audits are done (Rabate, 2007). Strategic audits are therefore indispensable tools for helping management and boards make competent and sound decisions about the firm in order to achieve its strategic plans. The performance of an organization in achieving its corporate plans are affected by both internal dynamics such as management, business strategies and key decisions for instance on production methods. External factors that include economic, political, and environmental as well as demographics affect the company’s performance. In evaluating internal factors, the age of the firm, its production processes and competencies, strategy, competencies and strategies in marketing and its management will be the centre of focus. This will be done using b usiness tools of SWOT analysis and PESTEL analysis. SWOT means Strengths, Weaknesses, opportunities and Threats and evaluates both the internal and external environment in which a firm operates. SWOT utilizes an integrated approach in auditing a firm and is one of the most useful and widely used tools to evaluate an organization logically, and if properly used is an important strategic planning tool (Ferrell & Hartline, 2008). External PESTEL on the other hand stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal factors as they affect an organization and this mainly evaluates a firms’ external operating environment (Lorat, 2005). Political factors affecting Asics Operating globally in different political environments requires Asics to adapt and abide by business and corporate regulations in countries it has presence in like North America and Europe. These are in terms of taxes to be paid and business regulations. Economic factors affecting Asics For eign exchange fluctuations greatly affect Asics financial performance, for instance in 2008, its third quarter performance was lower than expected due to large swings in foreign exchange rates. This for instance saw its shares falling by 15 percent (Hall, 2008). The global financial crisis saw its 2010 earnings and revenue fall compared to 2009, after a three-year period of steady rise in revenues (â€Å"Financial Times†, 2012). Social factors The world’s populations are beginning to put greater effort into their health and fitness,

History homework Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

History homework - Assignment Example 7. Overseers were responsible for supervising slaves in large plantations. Overseers were you and ambitious southern whites. Overseers were only hired by rich planters so they could relieve themselves from the duty of supervising. The rich planters used to indulge in other activities such as finance and marketing affairs while they were not supervising slaves. 8. According to historians, the relationship between the slaves and the planters was paternalistic. This means that the planters awarded slaves with food and clothing for their hard work and obedience. 9. According to George Fitzhugh, women and children had only one right and that was the right to protection. According to George Fitzhugh, the right to protection was that it was obligatory for women to obey. 10. During plantation life the southern white women had to experience the issue of miscegenation. Miscegenation refers to the number of children produced by the relationship of female slaves and their owners. This issue was very painful for the slave owner’s wives. 15. The small farmers of the southern regions were producing cash crops and cotton, they were helped by the rich farmers in their plantation activities and the rich farmers even provided them with machines for farming purposes. 16. The farmers living in the upcountry areas were not able to prosper due to their geographical location. Their means of transportation were limited and their land was not very fertile. They used to rely on production of tobacco, subsistence crop and low amount of cotton. 2. The proposition given by David Wilmot was that slavery should be prohibited in the territories obtained from Mexico; the idea was supported by Northerners. On the other hand, Southerners were against this idea. Thus, Senator Cass proposed that the new territories should decide themselves whether they want to prohibit or accept slavery. 4. The Compromise of 1850 consisted of 4 propositions, the compromise

Mathematics and English Sentences Essay Example for Free

Mathematics and English Sentences Essay The order of operations was developed years ago. Someone just decided on an order in which operations should be performed. It has nothing to do with magic or logic. Some one decided to adopt a way, and it has been followed through out history. It makes communication easier. Punctuation marks are used in any language to make clear what we want to say. Punctuation marks are just as important in number sentences as they are in English sentences. Without being told by a symbol or some other means, we do not know whether to do the multiplication or the addition first. To avoid the confusion of such an expression naming two different numbers, let us use parentheses to indicate which operation is to be first. When part of a number sentence is enclosed within parentheses, think of that as naming one number. It is commonly agreed that when more than one operation, or all of the operations, are indicated in the same expression, we multiply and divide first, then add and subtract going from left to right. Just as punctuation marks are used to make sentences, the order of operations are used to make math sense. Whenever the order of operation is not indicated by grouping symbols, there is a standard order of operations to be followed. That order is Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition and Subtraction from left to right. In mathematics, more than in some other forms of written expression, ambiguity must be eliminated. Otherwise, different people may assign different meanings to the same symbols, and communication is faulty. Ambiguity is eliminated using grouping symbols and the order of operations rule.

Cultural Diffusion and Imperialism

Cultural Diffusion and Imperialism World has now become a global village. By global village what we mean is that everything is available to every person through the process of free information flow (Ascher, 2010). Globalization has brought everything closer and that has happened through cultural diffusion. Now to understand what cultural diffusion is, we first have to have a fair idea over what is diffusion. Secondly there is well defined process through which a culture is diffused in other cultures and makes it mark. This culture diffusion affects international business to the core because when we say that globalization have made its presence felt in the global economy, we see that it is there because of culture diffusion in different ways. This has also lead to come sort of cultural imperialism which we shall discuss in length in paragraphs to come. Culture diffusion happens when non material and material culture travels to another culture (Wise, 2008). How this happens is a million dollar question which needs to be answered correctly and to the point. To have a profound knowledge over how it happens we go to the basics of it which is culture hearth. Now culture hearth is a place where civilizations first began and then they spread to different areas. Nowadays culture hearths are considered to be in those countries which are well developed and whose culture gets diffused to other developing countries because they have to be in tandem with each other so to have a good and viable trade. If we talk by considering the present world and international trade, we see that this cultural diffusion has spread many cultural straits wherever they got a chance to get diffused. Sometimes this spread is so rapid that no one can find out its origin, timing and spread. There are two different ways in which a culture is diffused to another culture ; one is acculturation and another is Assimilation (Howes, 1996). Both are the ways in which culture is diffused in another culture. In acculturation what happens is that some cultural traits of strong cultures are being taken up by weak cultures like in ancient times we see that Spain had some cultural traits which are taken from Aztecs. Similarly if we see examples in the modern world we observe that a very common greeting hello is also a cultural trait which is being taken by many cultures as a greeting by default. Why that happened so? Because it has its roots in western world and as West dominated for the last two centuries, all the trade, rules and policies were being written and implemented by Western countries which influenced weak cultures to adopt the greeting and many other things which now we call globalization. On the other hand, another way in which a culture can be diffused is through assimilation. In assimilation what happens is that cultures are intertwined with each other in such a way that it is hard to distinguish between where its origin had been. Lets for example when Arabs came to Indian Subcontinent, the Indians had nothing than a piece of cloth worn up to their knees with an open jacket as their vests but Arabs brought a new culture of a full length suit of cloth covering whole body. Now after centuries the Mongols and the warriors from Afghanistan brought minor changes to the original dress which made people easy to carry, walk and most of all made it best attire which can be used for combat purposes also. End result was that the whole thing got assimilated with each other so quickly that there was little difference left between what people wear in Arabian countries mainly the natives of Arab Emirates and the people wear in subcontinent. It specially pertains to the dressing of men. Other thing which effects diffusion is the cultural barriers, time and distance delay and lastly physical barriers (Rauth, 2004). Cultural barriers includes things which are not acceptable to other culture at any cost for example Mc Donald came up in India with its different burgers mainly in beef but as Indians hold cow as sacred, they do not go for it so Mc Donald have to introduce veggie burgers instead of beef as local cultural barrier never allowed any assimilation or acculturization to take place. In time and distance delay, diffusion is hampered because time and distance which it would take to reach another culture would be more and then would become less futile for example Eskimos who live at poles, their cultures and way of living is different from us and still they are yet to have culture diffusion (Howes, 1996). Time and distance delay is somewhat linked with the physical barriers also which also helps in making things bad for cultural diffusion to take place for example t he terrain which is very tough to pass would obviously make things worse for people to travel hence making it hard to diffuse a culture or similarly a sharp weather change would also create a physical barrier for culture diffusion to take place as it would be difficult to take things from one culture to another as culture traits differ from each other or not even close to each other. That culture is diffused either in expansionary diffusion or relocated diffusion (Said, 1994). We have seen that expansionary diffusion have taken place in most of the places in world where West culture is being adopted by the elite and now it is being transmitted to the lower end of the population. This sort of diffusion is known as hierarchical diffusion in where the spread of a new culture takes place from top to bottom. Example of this is the coffee shops like star bucks, which had no concept in south Asia but they are brought by Westerners who came here for business purposes. They first inculcated the trend in elite and now it is being adopted by every person as it have has transformed many old kiosks for betel leaves and cigarettes into coffee shops. Similarly blackberries; many corporate customers have this gadget in their hands which is attracting other upper middle class people to have it too so to have some satisfaction. Other types include relocation diffusion which happen s when people take their innovations with them to a new place like for example Jews. Jews in Europe were really good in scientific knowledge and due to their astuteness they were being victimized and were sent to concentration camps. When after the world war they relocated themselves in different parts of the world, they went with their knowledge and innovations which brought a lot of prosperity around the globe. Another example of it can be AIDS which spread through relocation diffusion as disease is carried by one person who migrates to another society with having a different culture. Now as diffusion is discussed at length, we now see that whether cultural imperialism can be established through cultural diffusion? Yes to some extent I would agree to it because in international business when there is trade and goods flow from one place to another, it not only takes a new product across the borders but also takes its culture to another place. In other words level of diffusion depends on the factors discussed above and also on a culture being strong as to the culture where it is being diffused as being weak (Hobson, 2010). Like for example the trend of suits around the world, from where it came? It came and assimilated in our culture because it was being followed by a strong culture or in cultural hearth which is American and Europe and from there it diffused to all parts of the world. Mens formal suitings, as we all know, have such an importance that now if a south Korean business tycoon needs to do a deal with his Indian counterpart to open up a microchip factory in Delhi, they would be following their own business rules and formalities but their attire would be formal and would follow the strong cultures dress code which is to have a formal dress suit. Moreover the casual dress in China, a decade ago was not jeans and a tee shirt but now they have taken the affect of American culture as it diffused into their society but why? Because more than 70 percent of Chinas trade is bound for America so Chinese have adopted some practices of American culture which shows us that yes there is diffusion of culture but that does not proves cultural imperialism at any point; people went towards tee shirts and jeans because they were easier to handle, according to the young generation, as compare to traditional safari suits for men and traditional Chinese for women. Apart from this, cultural diffusion does not reflect cultural imperialism for example whole world is following more or less same accounting principles so the rules of debit and credit are same so to imply that it is a product of a particular nation or it is a part of any culture would be a gross mistake. Yes its true that methods of accounting were first brought up by Chinese but significant changes were made throughout.

Emily Grierson? Need for Control in William Faulkners A Rose for Emil

Emily Grierson's Need for Control in A Rose For Emily In William Faulkner's "A Rose For Emily," Emily Grierson is a woman who is   used to being controlled by her father.   When her father dies, she believes that she has control over him.   Forced to lay her father to rest, Emily turns to her father's equivalent:   Homer Barron.   Emily soon finds that Homer does not plan on staying, so she decides to kill him.   By killing Homer, Emily believes that she can keep him and control him forever.   Emily Grierson wants to be in control but feels that she cannot tame the domineering men in her life, at least, not while they are alive, so she gains control of them after their demise.  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One can clearly imagine the timid Emily standing behind her towering father.   "Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip."   Emily's father not only dominates the portrait but dominates Emily as well.   Emily's father controls her every move.   She cannot date anyone unless her father approves, yet he never approves of any of the few men that do show interest in her.   "None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such."   Unable to find a good enough suitor, Emily has no choice but to stay and care for her governing father.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When her Father dies, Emily cannot bury him because she feels like she has finally tamed him.   Emily's father can no longer controll her.   With his demise, Emily is now in control of her life, and in control of her father.   The day after Emily's father died, the local women pay a visit to Emily.   "Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her fac... ... to keep him with her forever.   "And that was the last we saw of Homer Barron."   No one saw Homer alive again.  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Clearly, Emily was tired of men controlling her, and although she could not control them while they were alive, she did have complete control over them when they died.   Thirty years after Homer's disappearance and after Emily's demise, the villagers made a gruesome discovery;   they found the remains of Homer, proving that Emily found a way to keep him and control him.   "For a long while we just stood there, looking down at the profound and fleshless grin."   Indeed, Emily kept her lover and controlled her lover for thirty years.   Works Cited Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." The Norton Introduction to Literature. By Carl E. Bain, Jerome Beaty, and J. Paul Hunter. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1991: 69-76.

The Religious Differences :: essays research papers

What I am going to say would offend most people, as I plan to be blunt. I think that most Religions are shams. It is obviously something, like Myths, made to explain the world. But certain religions, such as Christianity, are as corrupt as the people considered evil in these very religions.An example that I can think of right off the top of my head is something I saw when I was flipping through the channels on TV. I happened to pass the bible channel and there was this show on. I was curious and I left it on this show for a few seconds. They were talking about the Bible, and what I heard sickened me. They were talking about a passage in the book of Leviticus. A man of Egyptian and Israeli descent was passing through an Israeli camp. He happened to make a remark about God and they sentenced him to death by stoning. This appalled me. Doesn't Christianity also teach people to respect human life? Is life so unimportant that every time someone says something bad about God that he should die? Does God want human sacrifice? I certainly wouldn't worship an awful God like that.And how about Hell? I once read Dante's Inferno and you wouldn't believe the people who are supposed to go to Hell! Among them are: Homosexuals, Atheists, Opportunists and, the most loathing of all, Pagans! Among the Pagans are anyone who worshipped a different God, people who weren't baptized and people who were born before Jesus Christ.Yet, I must admit, there are some religions that seem to be O.K. Most of these are religions based on teachings and ideas rather than some tyrannical God. These religions include Hinduism, Shinto and Buddhism. Among these religions, the most appealing to me would be Buddhism. It teaches that all life is sacred and that people should always be striving to do their best to reach perfection or, as it is commonly referred to, Nirvana.It wasn't derived from some almighty being made up by superstitious peasants. It was formed by a ruler named Siddhartha. This is his story.Buddha was a ruler who was born in Kapilavastu, India, just outside present day Nepal. He showed an early inclination to meditation and reflection, displeasing his father, who wanted him to be a warrior and ruler rather than a religious philosopher. Yielding to his father's wishes, he married at an early age and participated in the worldly life of the court.

Cash Buget Essay

The Cash Budget One of the major functions of corporate finance is to anticipate the need for funds in the company. Although there are several methods for forecasting these needs, the cash budget is the most accurate (and most commonly used) method available. Cash flows through a company like water flows through a pipe. (See the cash flow pipeline.) A cash budget essentially maps out these cash flows and indicates the period in which they will occur. Cash budgeting, at its core, is a very simple procedure that simulates cash flowing through a company. If we can accurate estimate (1) the amounts and (2) the timing of these cash flows, then we can also estimate whether the company will experience a shortage of cash (or an excess of cash) during any given month. The primary cash inflows for a company consist of (1) cash sales and (2) collection of accounts receivable. An accurate sales forecast is a necessity if we are to construct an accurate cash budget. If we then know the terms that we sell on (2/10, net 30, for example) and the past payment experience of our customers, we can estimate the amount and timing of these collections. The primary cash outflows are generally (1) payments on purchases, (2) labor costs, and (3) capital purchases (i.e., fixed assets). Other large payments may include rent, taxes, and These and other cash outflows must be estimated as to the amount and timing of the payments. Pro Forma Statements It is also useful to know what the company’s income statement will look like for the forecasted period and what the balance sheet will look like at the end of the forecasted period. If either of these two statements show weaknesses, we can plan now to take steps that will prevent these deficiencies from occurring. Fortunately, cash budgets and pro forma statements are easily programmed using electronic spreadsheets like Microsoft Excel. This is especially handy since cash budgets involve a large number of relatively simple calculations. Spreadsheets Cash budgets are usually placed on an electronic spreadsheet, where data may be entered and updated frequently. The two spreadsheets below are examples of spreadsheets for 3-month and 12-month planning periods. An Illustration Let’s consider a sample cash budgeting problem, with its solution. An explanation of how the numbers are determined may be seen by clicking on the appropriate links in the â€Å"Solution† section of this page. A SAMPLE PROBLEM Glenda Byers has gathered the data below needed for the preparation of a cash budget for the months of October, November, and December. SALES: (Actual sales for August and September, forecasted sales for October – February) August | $ 45,000 | September | 54,000 | October | 65,000 | November | 75,000 | December | 93,000 | January | 71,000 | February | 55,000 | Based on the past history and current credit terms offered by her firm, Glenda has estimated the following payment schedule for sales: 25% of total sales will be cash sales;   60% of total sales will be collected in the month following the sale; 15% of total sales will be collected in the second month following the sale . (Note: Notice that since the three above collections total 100%, no bad debts on accounts receivable are anticipated. If we anticipated a 2% bad debt rate, we could change the 15% number above to 13%. We would then be anticipating that we would collect only 98% of the total sales.) PURCHASES The company’s markup on inventory is two-thirds of the cost (e.g. a $40 profit on an item which cost $60.) In other words, the cost of the merchandise is 60% of the final selling price. The firm purchases enough inventory to cover sales one month in the future. Based on current credit terms, Glenda expects the following repayment schedule: 12% of purchases are paid for in cash; 78% are paid one month following the purchase, and 10% are paid for two months after the purchase. EXPENSES (per month, unless otherwise noted): Mortgage Payment | $ 2,300 | Wages and Salaries | 3,200 | Lease Payments | 750 | Capital purchases (to be purchased in October) | 7,600 | Property Taxes (to be paid in December) | 11,800 | Other Expenses (%) | 10% of sales | FURTHER ASSUMPTIONS 1. Cash: * As of October 1st, the firm has $3,000 in its checking account at the bank. * The firm desires to have a minimum cash balance of $3,000 at all times. 2. Loan Information: * As of October 1st, the company’s loan balance was $2,000. * The company’s bank requires that interest be paid each month. The interest to be paid is the interest due on the previous month’s loan balance. The interest rate is 1.0% per month on the outstanding balance at the end of the previous month. 3. Fixed Assets: The firm depreciates all capital equipment purchases over a five-year period using the straight line method. 4. Minimum inventory: The firm keeps $30,000 of safety stock on hand at all times.

Flight or Fight Response

Flight or Fight Specific Purpose: Inform people about the â€Å"Fight or Flight† response and the better understand the way the body responds to certain stress. I. Introduction: Driving your parents home one night you begin to lose control of the car and crash. You're able to escape the car unharmed, but notice one of your parents are stuck inside with the door jammed and the car on fire. Your heart rate begins to rise and you feel this surge of energy flow through your body. You react and rip the door off the car and save your parent. This may sound like a story off a movie, but could and has actually happened in reality for some people.The surge of energy that allows our bodies to do extraordinary and unreal things is called adrenaline. This adrenaline comes from the body’s response, which is called the â€Å"Fight or Flight† response. Today I’m going to inform you about the chemical adrenaline, what the fight or flight response is, and how it is both go od and bad for us. A. Attention Getter: I’m going to use a narrative introduction, which involves loved ones in distress. B. Relevance to Audience: Everyone will want to know how the fight or flight can be activated and also everyone experiences stress throughout their lives. C.Thesis: What is the chemical adrenaline and the fight or flight response and also what are the pros and cons. D. Credibility: I experience adrenaline in sports every day and have done many research papers on it in High School. E. Preview Main Points: The main points include what adrenaline is, what the fight or flight response is and what the pros and cons are. F. Transition to First Main Point: So what’s adrenaline? Most of you might already know about it and may have experienced it in your life. II. First main point. The chemical adrenaline. A. Adrenaline is a chemical reaction that is produced by two adrenal glands, located by kidney. Harrison) 1. The glands produce the chemical and pump into the bloodstream when the body is exposed to a potential threat. (Harrison) 2. Since the adrenaline must go through the whole body, it may take a couple seconds to fully feel the effect of the adrenaline rush. a. It raises the heart rate and blood pressure. b. Changes the flow of the blood directly to the muscles. (This makes you faster and stronger. ) B. Some people have different effects to it than others as well. 1. A person might feel energized, have a weak stomach, and or shaky and confused during the rush. ( Harrison) 2.Some people might even feel like they are in slow motion or have tunnel vision. a. Sometimes may not feel pain at all. b. Not all these experiences may occur during the rush but some will. Transition to Second Main Point: All of these effects are helping prepare the body to flee or fight. This is the â€Å"fight or flight† response. III. Second main point. Fight or Flight response. A. The fight or flight response is the body’s self-defense mechani sm, that prepares the body to flee or fight from a dangerous or harmful situation. (Babu) 1. When our bodies experience an overwhelming amount of stress that may seem harmful the reaction is triggered. . The action is able to be triggered because of the hypothalamus. Which is an area of the brain the starts a sequence of cell firing and chemical release that prepares our body. (Babu) a. People may be able to lift cars during the response or run at world record speeds. b. The chemical that is released is adrenaline. Transition to Third Main Point: Now that you know what and how the response works, you need to know what the pros and cons are of the response. IV. Third main point. Pros and Cons. A. The pros of the response. 1. When the response is triggered it changes the flow of blood directly to our muscles and limbs more.Allowing us to be stronger and faster. 2. Also are pupils dilated and our awareness increases, allowing us to scan the environment. (Babu) a. All these signs allow the body to be put in the best physical and mental shape. B. Cons of the response. 1. As the response makes us more aware of things around us, some may become paranoid and hurt innocent people. 2. It can also change the way we feel pain. Our body might allow us to lift a car, but afterwards we may be feeling the pain of lifting the car. Some muscles might tear without us knowing. (Babu) C. Optional)So while the response might be good, it can also be very devastating. Transition to Conclusion: Now knowing what adrenaline is, how it is used in the flight or fight response and the pros and cons of response, you can be more aware of your body’s reactions to harmful stress. V. Conclusion. A. Is included in the transition. B. So the next time you feel harmed or threatened, you will feel the adrenaline rush and activate your bodies fight flight response. And who knows may even pick up a car. Note: Must meet collegiate standards of grammar, full Sentences throughout, double spaced, o ne inch margins, 12 inch Times New R