“One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop Essay

In her poem, â€Å"One Art,† Elizabeth Bishop constructs a poem that reveals a struggle with mastering the issue of loss. Through the use of a villanelle, Bishop utilizes the significance of structure and word choice to further the meaning of her work. Bishop crescendos each stanza to create a firm foundation for the dramatic conclusion, and incorporates expressive words throughout the poem to illuminate the last stanza’s attitude shift from that of carelessness to seriousness. The villanelle form is a type of love poem and Elizabeth Bishop’s use of this is appropriate for her poem about lost love. The first five tercets (three lined stanzas) begin by speaking of small objects (keys) then grow to large items (continents). The final stanza is a quatrain (four lined stanza) that contains the occasion and attitude shift of the poem. The poem’s first line â€Å"the art of losing isn’t hard to master† resurfaces throughout the text to reiterate the speaker’s opinion on the mastery of loss. And the repetition of the third line’s final word â€Å"disaster† is a key to the meaning of the poem. Bishop’s word choice furthers the significance of loss and love throughout the poem. Since the first and third lines repeat within the text the middle lines of each stanza remain different from each other. The endings of each middle line have the same rhyme pattern and collectively they spell out an ultimate loss-† intent†/ â€Å"spent†/ â€Å"meant†/ and â€Å"went.† The speaker, in the beginning, is impersonal and does not mention any valuable item which was lost. In the second stanza the speaker explains how to master the art of loss, and urges the readers to practice, making it a habit: â€Å"Lose something every day (line 4).† The â€Å"lost door keys, the hour badly spent (line 5)† become materialistic entities and lost time. The third stanza contains a dynamic list of uncontrollable loss. By choosing the phrase â€Å"losing farther, losing faster (line 7),† Bishop illustrates movement in time, ultimately symbolizing loss. The simple shift from the third stanza to the fourth allow for a more personal touch to the poem with the addition of the word â€Å"I.† Bishop chooses the â€Å"mother’s watch† to symbolize time and the link between generations. The lost watch makes tangible the feeling of inevitable loss. The speaker also sequences her losses- â€Å"my last†/ â€Å"next-to-last.† Stanza  five is the final tercet that includes materialistic items lost by the speaker. The loss of spacious and lavishing objects such as â€Å"cities†/ â€Å"realms,† â€Å"rivers,† and â€Å"continents† can not compare to the feelings the speaker acquires from the loss of love in stanza six. The final stanza, the quatrain, contains an attitude shift from that of invincibility to somberness. By implementing â€Å"you,† Bishop transformed the poem into a personal piece by breaking away from the pattern of inanimate objects and incorporating an actual being. Although the tone is of a more personal nature the details are still muffled. The parenthesis around â€Å"(the joking voice, a gesture/ I love)† creates a caesura for the reader, allowing a pause before confronting the uncertainty of the last lines. The first line refrain varies its form in line eighteen with the addition of the word â€Å"too† which seems to second-guess the original assertion that loss â€Å"isn’t hard to master.† And in the closing line the repetition of â€Å"likes† postpones the final word that the speaker is so hesitant to admit-â€Å"disaster.† The parenthetical statement â€Å"(Write it)† is a self-prompt that conveys the energy needed to actually allow the word â€Å"disaster† to be recognized. By putting it in writing the speaker is accepting the fact that they have not yet mastered the art of loss. Bishop’s use of the villanelle form and strong word choice collectively work together to illustrate the speaker’s private sorrows over a lost love without including a self-pitied tone. The poem reveals a struggle for mastery that will never be attained. One does attempt to master loss but the recognition of powerlessness may be a more efficient method to tame loss.

Is fundamental analysis redundant Essay

Introduction Shortly after the stock market crash in 1929, as the first batch of financial experts in the Great Wall, Benjamin Graham and David Dodd firstly mentioned the concept in a book called security analysis: Based on public information that intelligent investors are able to analyse securities and determine whether the current price of stocks and bonds is over or below their intrinsic value. The Critical thinking and strong logic make this theory become the foundation of nearly all investments theories in Wall Street. Warren Buffett, John Neff, Peter Lynch and other famous investors become the  best practitioners in fundamental analysis. This essay will firstly introduce the related theories of fundamental analysis. Secondly, the essay will explain free cash flow model to equity valuation and the qualitative and quantitative factors of fundamental analysis. Thirdly, choosing a particular company analyses the relationships between the leading financial ratios and its stock price. Finally, indicating why financial ratios and free cash flow model cannot explain Berkshire Hathaway cooperation’s stock price changed during global financial crisis. Theory Aasuumption & Metholody Theory Fundamental analysis which is based on analyzing the intrinsic value of securities, focuses on factors affecting the stock price and its trend and lets investors determine what type of securities they choose to buy and when to buy. (Lee and Swaminathan 1999, 8 )The basic assumption of fundamental analysis is that value investors believe that the market price is determined by its intrinsic value and the stock price can reflect its intrinsic value in the long term. Cash flow model Fundamental analysts use cash flow model, dividend model to roughly estimate a company’s intrinsic value. They assume that the stock price of the intrinsic value is its present value of the stream of expected cash flows and the selected reference values are based on generating the cash flow data. For example, using free cash flow model to measure intrinsic value, investors firstly assume the observed company can increase at constant rate and then choose the reference value based on a constant growth rate (g)to estimate free cash flow the next 10 years. Secondly, they calculate the present value of the 10-year cash flow based on the constantly discounted rate (k). Secondly, they estimate the terminal value P10=free cash flow*(1+g)/(k-g) and calculate its present value. Thirdly, they get the present value of the company and calculate pre- share value: equity value/numbers of shares. Rational investors can make well-informed investment decisions according to the relationship betw een market price and intrinsic value. Qualitative factors On the company level, fundamental analysis focused on two factors: qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative and quantitative analyses have a dialectical relationship. Both analyses should join together to analysis and inspect on a particular company. Although qualitative analysis is used for physical areas, with the usage to tackle non-financial information, it can be widely useful in business and finance fields.(kesh and Raja 2005, 167) The qualitative analysis of the company level is concerned with products and services, competitive advantage, management efficiency, corporate culture. Advanced products can get increasing cash inflows and improve company value (Carter and Demissew 2008, 63) because booming demand for products and services can lead to a high reinvestment rate of the company, this creates additional wealth.( Madden 2007, 125) Competitive advantage can includes producing capacity and the efficiency of a company’s design and cost controlling better than the industry’s competitors. Generating a competitive advantage for a company will creates stakeholder value. (Vilanova, Lozano and Arenas 2009, 63) The improvement of management efficiency can lower operating costs and company culture can enhance corporate image, leading to improvement of company value. Quantitative factors The quantitative factors in fundamental analysis are based on a deep understanding of financial reports which is the process of identifying opportunities and threats from the company, so investors must be concerned with the balance sheet, cash flow statement and income statement analysis. Financial statements consist of all important historical information about the company’s operation management during a specific time period (quarterly, annually). All these information provide an overview of a company’s business activities and can help managers assess the company’s wellbeing. (Dayanandan 2010, 116) Financial statement Different users are interested in different areas of the financial statements. For example, investors and equity holders are concerned with  expected earnings and dividends of the observed companies. Company’s executives usually focus on the company’s capacity. Therefore, based on historical reports, different users can get valuable information about what they concentrate on. Financial statement analysis includes selected data from financial statements to predict the company’s financial health.( Hagos and Pal 2010, 441) Applying these data from financial reports, such as profitability ratio, liquidity ratio, management efficiency ratio, debt ratio, market performance ratio analyses year by year to determine whether to buy or sell observed companies. Based on analyzing financial statements, financial analysts are able to use profitability ratio, including gross margin, ROE to indicate how efficiently revenue is generated. The liquidity ratio such as current ratio, net working capital can be used to prove the firm’s ability to generate sufficient liquidity when needed and to meet short term obligations. For example, current ratio is an indicator as a rate of current assets to current liabilities. It measures the liquidity status of a company. With a higher current ratio over time, this company will be able to meet its current obligations and experience less financial risk.( Zaki, Bah and Rao 2011, 315) Table1 Sourced by Berkshire Year ROE Total asset turnover Debt/equity P/E P/B closed Price 2003 0.105 0.588 1.32 12.7 1.34 $84280 2004 0.085 0.394 1.20 18.8 1.6 $87900 2005 0.093 0.412 1.16 15.5 1.45 $88620 2006 0.102 0.397 1.27 12.5 1.27 $109990 Table 1 above shows the some figures provided by Berkshire corporation’s annual report from 2003 to 2006. During this period, the stock price has a significant increase from $67600 in Jan 2rd, 2003 to $109990 in Dec 1st, 2006. And from 2003 to 2006, Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s net worth is $13.6billion, $8.3billion, $5.6billion and 16.9billion respectively. Graph1: Berkshire Hathaway(BRK) Inc’s stock price between 2003 and 2006 Sourced by yahoo finance The increase of Net worth can indicate the stock price’s change during this period. The gain in net worth during 2003 was $13.6billion, which increased the per-share book value of its stock by 21% from $41727 to $50498. Because of good quarterly reports and an annual report, the stock price reflected the company’s performance, rising from $67600 to $89490. However, between 2004 and 2005, the gain in net worth increased $8.3billion and $5.6billion. Although in 2004 Berkshire’s book-value gain of 10.5% fell short of the index’s 10.9% return, the net worth fell from $13.6billion to $8.3billion, leading to fluctuation of the stock price during 2004. In 2005, the net worth fell to $5.6 billion because hurricane caused loss worth of $34billion. And in the stock market, the price fluctuated and even slightly increased. However, the price reflected the company’s performance. As a multi-business company, its main business-insurance company called GEICO improved its management efficiency at nearly 32% and warranty numbers increased by 26%. On the other hand, insurance float of BRK’s insurance company increased from 46 billion to 49 billion. Due to the capital cost rate of mostly 0% and improving competitiveness, its stock price rose sharply. Financial ratios (price to book ratio and earnings per share ratio) measure share price compared to earnings, book value per share and indicate whether the market overvalues, undervalues and appropriately values the firm’ shares. Managers use to assess investors’ perceptions of future prospects. Some investors invest in stock market based on analyzing financial statements. Table2 Table2 shows mainly the relationship between the book value and stock price. Financial analysts are willing to use book value to measure the stock price. From the table 2 above, the book value of the Berkshire Hathaway increases from $14426 in 1995to $70281 in 2006 and the company’s stock movements, rising from $31900 in 1995 to $110050 in 2006. In addition to particular years, these two charts reflect clearly whether a short term or a long term, the trend of the book value and stock price is roughly the same. In the long term, the growth rate of the net worth is a useful indicator to justify intrinsic value. From 1995 to 2006, the net worth of Berkshire Hathaway’s  net worth increased from $5.3billion to $16.9billion, more than 3.18 times growth during the period. Stock price had increased 3.44 times with book value 4.87 times. Although 1n 1999, the net worth fell to 0.358billion, in the long term, this company still had a significant increase in its stock market per formance. Analysts also can apply activity ratios such as total asset turnover ratio and average payment ratio period to measure management effectiveness in managing its assets and to determine whether the investment in particular asset categories is too high or too low and also find out the efficiency or speed in converting accounts to sales or cash. (Dayanandan 2010, 114)Debt ratios such as debt to equity ratio and debt ratio can indicate financial leverage and the apparent financial risk assumed by the firm’s equity holders. Application Dow Jones Graph2 Dow Jones industrial index Sourced by yahoo finance Graph2 shows the change of Dow Jones industrial index before, during and after global financial crisis. The global financial crisis started in 2007 because the burst of housing bubble caused credit crisis especially in the debt markets.( McCarthy, Solomonand Mihalekl 2012, 1277 ) the stock market highly violated between 2007 and 2009. For example, in United States, the stock market increased to the peak in October 2007 with the Dow Jones Industrial Average about 14,000. After that duration, the Dow Jones dropped sharply from 12,000 in August 2008 to 6,600 in March 2009. After 2009, there is significant increase until now, rising to 14,929. Company- Berkshire Hatchaways Berkshire’s core business for insurance business includes the property casualty reinsurance and special class insurance company. For the past 25 years, this company has increasingly strong capital and little debt, for shareholders to create the value of more than 25% growth on average every  year. Table 3 shows analysis ratios and stock price from 2006 to 2012. Table3 Year ROE Total asset turnover Debt/equity P/E P/B closed Price 2006 0.102 0.40 1.27 12.5 1.27 $109990 2007 0.109 0.43 1.24 13.8 1.51 $141600 2008 0.046 0.40 1.41 38.16 1.71 $96600 2009 0.059 0.38 1.19 18.1 1.11 $99200 2010 0.08 0.37 1.29 14.9 1.24 $120450 2011 0.06 0.37 1.32 19 1.18 $114755 2012 0.077 0.38 1.23 14 1.1 $133000 Sourced by Berkshire Graph3 Berkshire’s stock price between 2006 and 2012 Sourced by yahoo finance The gain in net worth during 2006 was $13.6billion, which increased the per-share book value of its stock by 18.4% to $109990. In 2007, the net worth is 12.3billion, which increased the per-share book value of its stock by 11% to $141600. However, in 2008, the stock price fell to $96600, and then there is an increasing trend from 2009 to 2012. Total assets turnover ratio Total assets turnover ratio measures the management efficiency of the firm in managing its total assets to generate sales. A high ratio suggests greater efficiency. Figures shown in table3, the total assets turnover ratio during global crisis had slight change between 0.37 and 0.40. However, the stock price changed sharply, so the stock price can not reflect the stability of this ratio. ROE indicates the rate of return realized by a firm’s shareholders on their investments and uses as an indicator for the company’s operation. Return on equity (ROE) Return on equity (ROE) is the best indicator to learn how much money a company is making for its investors and measurement of the company’s operations. (Dayanandan 2010, 117) However, ROE is also sensitive to leverage. Assuming that proceeds from debt financing can be invested at a return greater than the borrowing rate, ROE will increase with greater amounts of leverage. From 2007 to 2008, the debt to equity ratio increased by 13.7%, from 1.24 to 1.41. However, ROE rate fell sharply from 10.9% to 4.6%. Although ROE overreact to debt change, Berkshire’s fundamental did not change in 2008. Most of Berkshire’s business is affected by the economic significant downward in 2009. However, its manufacturing services and retail generated a lot of cash flow and continued to consolidate their market competitive advantage. Berkshire’s two most important businesses: business insurance and utilities also had a good growth rate. These businesses produced a large amount of business profits in 2008. P/E ratio P/E ratio is a common approach used by security analysts. In practice, investors usually use expected P/E ratio for the following year and analyse whether the stock price is overvalued or undervalued on the basis. P/E ratio indicates that a stock of its P/E rate over 30 is more likely to be overpriced. The P/E ratio in 2007 and 2008 is 13.8 and 38 respectively and the stock price during the period time of 2007 and 2008 is $141600 and $96600. The change of stock price is overreact to the pre-share earnings. P/B ratio P/B ratio gives some idea of whether an investor is paying too much for what would be left if the company went bankrupt immediately. From 2006 to 2009, P/B ratio increased or decreased had no direct correspondence with the stock price. However, to most companies, the book value is always lower than the stock price. Because most companies have intangible assets such as brand name, specialized skillsï ¼Å'product pricing power. These factors can not reflect in the balance sheet, but the long term trend of the market value is similar with book value. It seems that when P/B ratio increases, the gap between book value and stock price increases. On the other hand, the gap shows investors are willing to hold the stock due to its intangible assets. Cash flow model All these financial ratios cannot explain what happened in 2008 and using cash flow model to estimate the stock price also cannot explain this situation. Because investors assume the company can increase at constant rate. Although they use long-term GDP growth rate to reduce the risk of assessing value, this growth rate cannot explain and predict what happened during the investing period. They also use CAPM to measure discounted rate given by the risk-free interest rate plus a risk premium. The formula is ki=Rf+(Rm-Rf)ÃŽ ²i. However, ÃŽ ²sometimes cannot estimate risk between the market and stock. For example, a company’s market value increases from 10billion t0 20billion is less than market value of the company from 10billion to 3billion. If the company still operate well, from the market side, the risk of buying a company of the market value of 20billion is less than buying the same company of its market value of 3billion. Conclusion Therefore, during global financial crisis, fundamental analysis was useless. It is clear that during some periods the stock price is overvalued or undervalued significantly from its intrinsic value, leading to highly volatility of market price. Any market volatility is considered as irrational performances, so these market valuations caused by behavioral finance which do not have impacts on the company’s assets valuations and  operations. (Adams, Armitage and FitzGerald 2012, 157). In the long term, the trend of the stock price is similar to the trend of its intrinsic value. On the other hand, in the short term, market price is influenced and fluctuated by political, economic, psychological factors, so market price is always undervalued or overvalued, but it is fluctuating around the intrinsic value. Some research show that sometimes earnings information cannot react to the stock market simultaneously and all the public financial information pose a gradual influence on the stock market for a while. During global financial crisis, the stock price sharply fluctuated because of financial behavior. Debt crisis caused by housing loan had a significant impact on people’s confidence. Trader’s low confidence let them make decisions irrationally. Reference list 1. Lee, C.M.C. and Swaminathan, B. 1999. â€Å"Valuing the Dow: A bottom-up approach.† Financial Analysts Journal 55 (5): 4-23. 2. Kesh, Someswar. and Raja, M. K. 2005. â€Å"Development of a qualitative reasoning model for financial forecasting.† Information Management & Computer Security 13 (2): 167-179. 3. Carter, T. and Demissew, D.E. 2008. â€Å"Value innovation management and discounted cash flow.† Management Decision 46(1): 58-76. 4. Madden, B.J. 2007. â€Å"Guidepost to Wealth Creation: Value-Relevant Track Records.† Journal of Applied Finance 17 (2): 119-130. 5. Vilanova, M., Lozano, J.M. and Arenas, D. 2009. â€Å"Exploring the Nature of the Relationship Between CSR and Competitiveness.†Journal of Business Ethics 87: 57-69. 6. Dayanandan, R. 2010. â€Å"Working Capital Management for Sustainable Cooperatives.† Global Business and Management Research 2(1): 102-124. 7. Hagos, T.M. and Pal, G. 2010. â€Å"The means of analysis and evaluation for corporate performances. â€Å"Annales Universitatis Apulensis : Series Oeconomica 12 (1): 438-449. 8. Zaki, E., Bah, R. and Rao, A. 2011. â€Å"Assessing probabilities of financial distress of banks in UAE.† International Journal of Managerial Finance 7 (3): 304-320. 9. McCarthy, Mary., Solomon, P., and Mihalek, Paul. 2012. â€Å"Financial Crisis During 2007 And 2008: Efficient Markets Or Human Behavior?† Journal of Applied Business Research 28 (6): 1275-1281. 10. Adams, A., Armitage, S. and FitzGerald, A. 2012. â€Å"An analysis of stock market volatility.† Annals of Actuarial Science 6ï ¼Ë†1ï ¼â€°Ã¯ ¼Å¡153-170.

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 24

English - Essay Example At the same time, it is impossible to pretend he is not heading for disaster since the opening lines announce his death within the year. Red rose petals were a recurring theme throughout the movie. They were a symbol of control and power over Kevin Spacey. In their first form, his wife is seen tending to her roses with matching garden gloves and shears. They then morph into a symbol of power that a high school girl has over his sexual desires. At the end of the movie, roses are presented in a controlled environment by being putting in a vase. Also, the roses in this movie were the color of blood, which matched the murder at the end of the movie. The sets also related the controlled environment in which this family lived. The house was pristine inside and out with expensive couches, trendy dà ©cor, and the presence of white and blue being the most common. Jane’s room was the only room that used a warm color, red, and represented that she was the only character that was able to voice her unhappiness with the entire situation. Her father did not voice his discontent directly through speech, but more so through actions. The mother did not even realize her unhappiness until she found herself having an affair with a rival real estate agent. Even though Jane was able to voice her discontent, her complaints often went unnoticed as the gripes of a moody teenage. In essence, all of the characters were held in a vise of emotional numbness until Kevin Spacey’s

Describe The Here and Now Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Describe The Here and Now - Essay Example The piece has buoyant rhythms with unpredictable sense of emotions released by the lyrical sentences at the start, as well as at the end of each stanza. The highlighted poem is meditative with emotional moments that give anxiety in the entire poem. It uses heterophony as a way of presenting the message to the intended audience. The sonority and sensibility in unfolding the ideas and concepts in the poem make it interesting and memorable. The lyrics in the piece are metaphysical and touch on things that we cannot touch or even imagine, this makes it elusive and emotional. The here and now shows Theofanidis’ mastery of the orchestra and his strong sense for both drama and melody. The harmonized choral parts allow the lyrics to come out in a clear way. They are made clearer by the shorter sentences adapted by Theofanidis in his poetry piece. The whole piece is viscerally evocative, dramatic, presentational, pretentious as well as intended for meditation. It has been crafted to incorporate neo-romantic qualities similar to that of Shakespeare. The whole piece is quite informative and incorporates all the elements of a comprehensive dramatic poem. With the continuous improvement in the different genres, the poem needs to be all inclusive to accommodate all groups of audience including, the

Post Project Implementation Audit; Office Move Scenario Coursework

Post Project Implementation Audit; Office Move Scenario - Coursework Example h office furniture and personal belongings was by using the Monster Movers at $ 18,500 when added to the electrical installation costs of $ 12,000 makes $ 30,500. The lower costs were to use Willies Workers while the lowest was to use the services of staff workers and the members of the choral group with obvious incentives. Assuming the project manager was rational, the method that would minimize costs was chosen, the Willies workers. The costs were literally reduced owing to an incentive by the corporate manager of a bonus of half the amount of everything saved within a budget of $30,000. The costs optimization was possible by using Calvin’ s Cartage. The ability of the mover to meet risk insurance part was catered for by their insurance cover while saving on costs by quoting $9,950 (Project smart, 2010). The new office space comfortably accommodates 32 employees bigger than the previous that only settled in 24 employees. The office space also guarantees future expansion. Mov ing warehouse, stockroom and file archives first followed by desks, office equipments the following week made sure no employee or processes were disrupted. For electrical installations, an experienced electrician, whose record is known by the company, was hired. This contractor was identified and tendered because of trusted competence in handling lighting, power, wiring and cabling needs. Besides, the contractor had crew members available any time of the week. Weekdays allowed for critical layout of office design, changes were also made to electrical power service to cater for new Local Area Network, computer systems and desktop work stations. Satisfactory placement of lighting to meet new lighting arrangement was done. Office cubicles were retained as the previous one which brought a same... The client was contented with the ability of the project manager to engage and actively involve employees in the relocation exercise. The employee work time was not interrupted hence productivity within this period was not compromised. Employees showed support to any course that would improve and sustain company’s objectives. Their acceptance for relocation meant their desire to meet employer’s objectives and goals. Owing to the fact that all the furniture and equipment transfer was done within a given time and cost frame, the client would certainly approve of the method or process used.The aspect of employee participation in the exercise motivates and inculcates sense of ownership of the relocation exercise. It was not forced down their throats. Time management: Reasonable time for the project allowed successful delivery of office equipment to the new building.

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING - Essay Example â€Å"The terms depreciation and amortization have various meanings in finance and investing. For example, depreciation can refer to the devaluation of a currency, and amortization can be used to describe the payment structure in a common type of loan† (What is the difference between Depreciation and Amortization? 2003). Depreciation is charged to tangible assets, whereas amortization is charged to intangible assets. Fixed or tangible assets are those assets of the organization, which last more than one year, for example: furniture, buildings and machinery. Intangible assets are invisible assets that incur cost to the company, in terms of brand recognition, intellectual property and goodwill. Both amortization and depreciation are non cash cost of the industry and they cause reduction in the earning, whereas, on the other hand, they lead to an increase in the cash flow. The reason for recording depreciation as a cost is to increase the early purchase cost of the fixed asset mo re than its useful life. Whenever an industry makes its financial statements, it records a cost of depreciation to assign the loss in price of equipment, machines and other fixed assets it has purchased. On the other hand, unlike other costs, depreciation is a non-cash charge. This means that no money is actually paid at the period in which the expenditure is incurred. The function of depreciation is to match the price of a creative asset to the incomes earned from using the asset. Since it is difficult to observe a direct relation to revenues, the asset’s price is usually assigned to the years in which the property is used. â€Å"Depreciation systematically allocates or moves the asset’s cost from the balance sheet to expense on the income statement over the asset’s useful life. In other words, depreciation is an allocation process in order to achieve the matching principle; it is not a technique for determining the fair market value of the asset† (What is the Purpose of Depreciation, 2004). The International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) states that it is appropriate for plant and machinery to be depreciated and intangible assets to be amortized by employing a revenue-based amortization or depreciation method. A revenue based amortization or depreciation process is one that is derived from the transaction between price and units, and this considers the possible future fluctuations in price as the basis of depreciation distribute the quantity of an asset that is to be amortized or depreciated. Tax benefits are also likely to arise along with depreciation. While depreciation stands for non-cash payments in the income statement, it does decrease the industry’s net income. Lesser net income will result in a lesser tax liability. To expand this benefit, industries frequently utilize an accelerated depreciation process. According to the International Accounting Standards Committee, depreciation is the part of the depreciable p rice of an asset more than its expected useful life. â€Å"Depreciation for the accounting period is charged to income either directly or indirectly. Thus, it is clear from the above definition that depreciation is a loss arising on account of circumstances, some of which are known whereas others are not† (Need Help with Accounting Assignment? 2002). The Internal Revenue Service provides organizations with an

Explore one of the major battles of the Civil War in detail. Who were Research Paper

Explore one of the major battles of the Civil War in detail. Who were the important figures What events or trends played a - Research Paper Example The significant figures of the battle are the generals from the Union and the Confederacy, while the critical events were Sherman’s earlier dismissals of reports of Confederate sightings, the initial fighting, Johnston’s death, and the successful counterattacks that Grant ordered and Buell reinforced. The effects of the Battle of Shiloh on the Civil War are the recognition of the true intensity, duration, and consequences of the Civil War and the importance of experienced soldiers and officers in winning the war. The Major Players of the Battle of Shiloh The decisive figures of the Battle of Shiloh were Major General Ulysses S. Grant and Major General Don Carlos Buell for the Union, and General Albert Sidney Johnston and General P.G.T. Beauregard for the Confederate, although General Sherman affected the unpreparedness of the Union too. Chuck Veit underlines that the first battle of Shiloh occurred five weeks before the April attack, one which already foreshadowed poor planning and intelligence assessment on the part of higher military officers of the Union. Winston Groom specifically blames General Sherman for his â€Å"folly† because he disregarded mounting reports regarding advancing Confederate lines (46). Groom narrates that, two days before the attack, Major Elbridge G. Ricker already reported to General Sherman that they encountered a Confederate group with artillery only two miles from the latter’s headquarters (46). Instead of verifying the veracity of this report, General Sherman easily dismissed Ricker and said: â€Å"Oh, tut-tut. You militia officers get scared too easy† (Groom 46). He also reproached Ricker for inciting a battle when the Union troops were not yet fully prepared (Groom 46). Groom lamented that instead of physically reinforcing the vulnerable Pittsburgh landing, where the Union soldiers were, Sherman focused on drilling exercises (46). General Grant, moreover, greatly relied on General Shermanâ€⠄¢s assessment of intelligence information and determination of enemy threat. Grant sent a telegram to Major General Henry Wager Halleck, a higher-ups officer in St. Louis, that the enemy stayed in Corinth and would not likely attack them, though they were prepared in case they did (Groom 47). Unknown to the Union generals, Confederate General Johnston wanted to take initiative after the defeat at Forts Henry and Donelson. Blair Howard describes Johnston’s awareness of the vulnerability of their Corinth position and that he knew that Grant was still waiting for Don Carlos Buell’s army as reinforcement (45). Johnston planned what seemed to be inconceivable to General Grant and General Sherman, doing an offensive on the Union’s own front yard (Howard 45). Johnston wanted to attack Grant’s forces on April 4, but bad weather delayed him (Howard 45). By the eve of the April 6 attack, Johnston’s army of 44,000 already moved around two miles south of Shil oh Church, the outermost border of the Union army, with the element of surprise on their side (Howard 45). The Turning Points in the Battle of Shiloh The opening attack happened at Fraley Field, as the sixth of April of 1862 began. Union officers in the high command constantly rebuffed reports of advancing Confederate soldiers, but Captain Gilbert D. Johnson, a company commander in the 12th Michigan, was already suspicious of

Price control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Price control - Essay Example Price control policies in history were put in place as portion of a larger income policy package while inducing wage controls as regulatory element. Price control takes two forms, a ceiling price (maximum) and the floor price (minimum) that can be charged in a market. These two forms of price control act as a regulatory element during shortages to prevent from market inflation (Rockoff, 67). The application of price control is comprehensible. However, price controls fail to safeguard many consumers and offend others. Controls hold out the promise of protecting individuals that are struggling to meet increased price. Therefore, the prohibition against moneylending, charging high interest on loans, is projected to protect individuals who are obligated to borrow out of desperation. For instance, the maximum price for bread was theoretical to protect the have-nots, who relied on bread for their survival. The rent controls were proposed policies to protect those who were renting when the demand for houses exceeded the supply thus; landlords were getting ready to â€Å"gouge prices† to their tenants (Stern, 140). Despite the appeal of frequent use of price controls, economists opposed them except in times of emergencies. According to statistics of 1992, 76.3% of the economists interviewed agreed with the slogan, â€Å"A ceiling on rents reduces the quality and quantity of house available.† An extension of 16.6% agreed with qualifications, and only 6.5% disagreed with the statement. Similar results were observed when the economists were interviewed about price controls: 8.4% agreed with the report: â€Å"Wage-price controls are a useful policy option in the control of inflation.† An extra 17.7% agreed with the results; however majority of the economist disagreed with the statement by 73.9% (Rockoff, 82). The main cause why majority of economists are cynical about price control is that they alter the allocation of resources. Remark made by an economist

Protestant Reformation Essay Example for Free

Protestant Reformation Essay In the early sixteenth century, Western Europes religious face was dominated by the Roman Catholic faith. The Catholic Church was the sole athority power of day to day values, and before long, conflicting social and political issues began to shake the foundation of the corrupt Catholic Church. Moreover, Western Catholics began to realize the corrupt nature of the Church; as the selling of indulgences was challenged by Martin Luthers 95 Theses, the hierarchal nature of the Church was displayed via blatant acts of simony, and the concept was purgatory was outwardly questioned. Ultimately, as westerners caught wind of the aforementioned doings, an attempt to reform the Catholic Church began brewing: the Protestant Reformation. This Reformation ultimately led to several significant social and political consequences. On one note, the Reformation led to the once-all Catholic western Europeans being separated into several demographics: Catholic Christianty, Protestant Christianty, and Orthodox. As a result, the belief of the founder Jesus Christ was magnified, as well as the belief of the Bible as a doctrine of salvation (in the Protestant faith). Consequently, the popularity of the Bible led to it being printed in vernacular rather than Latin, and thus the Bible began to appeal to a larger audience rather than solely the wealthy and educated. This accessiblity to the lower class revealed the teachings of faith to a previously uninformed demographic. Also, Protestantism had created a new, highly individual spirituality. Survival and salvation depended upon inner faith and self-disclipline, thus a larger emphasis was made on personal commitments and values. As the teachings of the Bible were made more widely availible, the aforementioned notions became more widely available. With this newfound knowledge, and with the economic power of the church now lessened, there came a growth of induvidual liberty. These newfound attitudes and economic turn-around consequently reflected principes of, and led to, capitalism. On another hand, another consequence of the Reformation was many dispays of intolerance. More specifically, King Phillip II of Spain and Bloody Maryof England actively persecuted Protestants. Also, with the Reformation leaving the Churchs power teetering, several Rulers were empowered against the Church. Henry VII, for example, nullified the Popes powers, and in turn the Rulers of Europe had the power to rule their countries however they wished, from square one. This, ultimately, gave rise to the notion of nationalism, which gave rise to the growth of the modern state. Conclusively, the effects of the Protestant Reformation were very much significant. Starting in the hands of Martin Luther, the reform not only tore apart the religious unity of Europe at the time, but also contributed to induvidual attitudes and values, the growth of nationalism and the modern state, but also shined a light on the path to a capitalistic society.

World Luxury Goods Industry Essay Example for Free

World Luxury Goods Industry Essay Luxury goods have more than the ordinary and necessary characteristics compared to other products of their category. Their characteristics can be divided into 6 parts Symbolism, Price, Extraordinariness, Rarity, Aesthetics and Quality. The global market size for the industry has been at a growth rate of 9% per annum. This trend has been seen in the market since 1995 till 2000. The luxury market took a hit from 2000 to 2004 when incidents like the September 11 and SARS epidemic took place during those years. The market was at a standstill till 2005 when it caught pace again until the subprime financial crisis. Recent years the growth rate has been at 11% average and this has been happening since 2009. At 2013 the market is sized at Euro 212 billion and has great potential going forward. The 10 % growth estimated for the market in 2013 represents the fourth straight year following the great recession that luxury goods revenues will grow annually by double-digits. Americas region is also projected to benefit from the market, with revenues growing by 13 percent by year’s end and Asia-Pacific sales particularly driven by China India are projected to grow by 18 percent. Growth in Europe is expected to be at 5 percent this year showing that the economic trends in these areas have affected the market for luxury goods. It is estimated that the luxury goods market will grow, in real terms by 4-6% per year between 2013-2015 increasing the market to between â‚ ¬240 and â‚ ¬250 billion by 2015. There has been a shift towards online sales in this segment with this medium continuing to grow faster than the rest of the market, at 28% annual growth for the year and reaching close to 10b Euros, nearly 5% of total luxury sales which larger than the luxury revenues of Germany. In online sales, shoes are the top-performing category. This level of online penetration is when brands have to treat their online channel as a integral part of their competitive strategy, rather than an an extra source of revenue. When we see the different products types in the industry it is seen that the Accessories highlights the best performance over the period 2007-2011 led by the emerging markets customers preferences with respect to luxury accessories. We see a shift in the market trend in apparels where the mens luxury sales increased by 16% in 2011 surpassing sales to woman. Mens luxury goods in 2011 accounted for 40% of the global luxury market up from 35 % in 1995. As you can see in figure above that the accessories and hard luxury goods have seen an increase in segment. In the luxury goods market the Italian brands have increased to gain the largest market share of luxury sales, moving from 21% in 1995 to 24% in 2013 almost equalling French brands market share of 25%. But in a consolidating market, French conglomerates are a driving force, owning 29% of the market compared to 25% in 1995. Key Figures Category Revenues Growth Forecast. 2012 (est) 2012 Leather Goods â‚ ¬33bn 16% Shoes â‚ ¬12 bn 13% Men’s Apparel â‚ ¬26 bn 10% Women’s Apparel â‚ ¬27 bn 9% Fragrances â‚ ¬20 bn 4% Cosmetics â‚ ¬23 bn 5% Jewelry â‚ ¬11 bn 13% Watches â‚ ¬35 bn 14% Total â‚ ¬212bn 10% The different players in this market are different for different product types like in the luxury watches segment it is Rolex, Omega etc, mens and womens apparels segment it is Armani, Burberry etc and leather goods segment it is LVMH, Ralph Lauren etc. Similarly many more in other segments and below are the different luxury goods brand with LVMH leading in revenue terms. Porter’s 5 forces model. THREAT OF NEW ENTRANT: Capital Requirement: The capital requirements for manufacturing, setting up stores and maintaining them are all very high. The break-even for these brands is very high. Their marketing and management costs such as rent, high salaries for craftsmen, heavy promotional activities etc. are very high too. A study indicated that they need to have 400 stores to develop a truly global presence. Brand Loyalty: The brand image associated with luxury brands and the loyalty created through CRM programs and exceptional service levels is very high for existing brands in the market space. However, the industry has been experiencing declining brand loyalty in emerging markets since their purchases are driven by status and show off motives and hence brand switching between brands perceived to have similar status is increasing. Nevertheless it takes considerable amount of time and expenditure to build its brand loyalty. Scale economies: It has been observed that consolidation of brands in the luxury market help in achieving higher economies of scale. Consolidation helps in increasing bargaining power with suppliers, obtaining operating synergies say in advertising etc., better financing options and risk management through diversification in the brand portfolio of the companies. LVMH, PPR (Gucci), Prada Group, Richemont have all undergone consolidation. Exclusive access to suppliers and distributors: Many brands in this segment have acquired their suppliers or have exclusive arrangements to protect their competitive advantage and insulate against rising costs in future. Also the numbers of distribution points are increasing as emerging markets are growing and luxury malls are coming up. For instance, LVMH acquired Leman Cadran and ArteCad SA- watch dial manufacturers and Delos Bottier, French artisan shoemaker. Retaliation from existing Cos- The powerful established brands tend to retaliate against the smaller and newer brands by say preventing them from having access to multi-brand retailers. Therefore we see that the threat of new entrant is high. THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES: Middle price brands: The growing mid ranged, high street brands pose as a possible substitute to the luxury brands. During economic crisis consumers tend to â€Å"trade down. † Counterfeit goods: The manufacturing and sales of counterfeit goods from Countries like China is growing. Quality design: increased internet accessibility and online shopping has made is easy for fast fashion brands to replicate designs and fashion trends of luxury brands within days/weeks of the fashion shows. There are no monetary switching costs to customers. However, there is a loss of prestige which is important to luxury brand buyers. Therefore the threat of substitutes is moderate. BUYER’S BARGAINING POWER: Decreasing buyer concentration: The number of buyers relative to suppliers is increasing. Only 50% of the 1. 6 MN wealthy were as rich 4 years ago. Level of dependency on buyer: The industry is heavily dependent on top-tier customers, mostly on a small super affluent population. Celebrities etc. being early adopters can drive consumption but single buyers cannot determine prices. Switching costs: There are emotional switching costs involved. With introduction of loyalty programs and associated privileges, the switching costs have increased. Possibility of backward integration by customers is very low. So on the whole, the bargaining power of buyers is low. SUPPLIER’S BARGAINING POWER: Number of suppliers: The raw materials are limited and exclusive. There are limited high skilled workers and there is also growing shortage since not many youngsters are willing to learn. For instance, Couture-level embroiderers in France have dropped from 10000 in 1920 to 200 in 2013. Level of Dependency: Some key components and materials are outsourced. For eg: LV outsources its monogram leather, in 2012, Chanel ordered large chuck of leather from a supplier in case they wouldn’t find more. Supply substitutes: Most materials are highly specialized and difficult to substitute. Switching costs to new suppliers are high since the quality is at risk and there is a past coordinating experience which is important. Forward integration possibility is very low since the luxury groups are much more experienced and wealthier than their suppliers. Thus, the bargaining power of suppliers is moderate to high. COMPETITIVE RIVALRY: Competitive structure: The industry has an oligopoly structure since it is dominated by few large independent players. LVMH, Richemont and PPR Gucci are the big three. Demand conditions: The demand is growing and will grow at a relatively high pace as China and Hong Kong markets grow further. Exit Barriers: Some brand exist despite the fact that they do not make any/much profits due to emotional reasons. For instance, Christian Lacroix hasn’t made any profit in 22 years. There are some highly specialised supply chain components that may be very difficult to sell. Chanel has 6 atelier d’arts under it which has no alternative usage. The rivalry among existing competition is high. Luxury Goods-Developed Countries Overview. There is so much talk about China, Brazil and other emerging markets as the future of luxury market while there is some truth to it we cannot ignore the developed markets. The current growth and hot spot for luxury goods is still in the developed countries. American region is the king of luxury spending; it grew at 4% in 2013 compared to 2012. There has been growth in the number of new store opening in tire two cities in these developed countries going to show that companies see potential in the smaller region and there is increase of disposable income in the smaller cities. Visitors from developing countries still prefer to buy luxury goods from the developed countries; this has also led to an increase in the demand of luxury goods in the developed countries. According to Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study Spring 2013 there are significant regional differences in the luxury market developed countries and all of them have their unique differences. Some of them are: Europe will see 2% growth in the luxury spending in the next few years, with increasing spending by tourists even though there is lower spending by European nationals. Tourist spending is driving half of revenues in Italy, 55% of revenues in the U. K. , and 60% of revenues in France. Japan has experience a decline in luxury spending by 12%. Although in real terms, the consumption has increased as the country has emerged out of stagflation. The Middle East continues to be relatively strong, with a 5% growth. The demand for Luxury goods remain strong in Dubai, while Saudi Arabia is also gaining share to become the region’s second largest luxury market. As these countries are oil rich they like the flamboyance and luxury. Online sales, of Luxury goods have gained popularity in the last few years in the developed countries. They are growing faster than the brick and mortar stores, turning in 28% annual growth for last year and reaching close to 10 billion Euros. In online sales, shoes are the top-performing category. With online penetration high, brands should treat their online channel as an integral part of their overall channel strategy, rather than an just an another source of additional revenue. According to the â€Å"Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study† finds accessories, including leather goods and shoes, have definitively become the largest segment, growing 4% for 2013 to reach 28% of the total revenues. Apparel is now a quarter of the market, growing at 1%, Apparel was very popular couple of years ago. Perfumes and cosmetics had a 2% growth in 2013. Luxury cars, wine and spirits, hotels, in-home and out-of-home food, home furnishings, and yachts all show growth, with luxury cars, wine and spirits, and hotels outpacing personal luxury goods and leading to an overall 2013 market of â‚ ¬800 billion of affluent spending, up 6% over 2012.compared to 25% in 1995. The luxury goods market in the developed countries is becoming very complex and in some areas is starting to look like the fast-moving consumer goods Industry. Brands have to adapt themselves by bringing in the level of detailed customer insight to standout of the clutter. While this Industry is still showing steady but not extravagant growth, brands need to adjust to a new set of scientific tools in order to keep up with other markets. CAGE Framework for Developed Countries Cultural Luxury Goods Industry in Developed countries over the years have matured and have formed definite distribution channels where most of the time they try cross selling to their existing buyers. However new customers enter the market, they account to an addition of 1%-3% of the total population involved in the luxury goods instry In Developed countries Culture is often considered with income level to follow a trend related to luxury goods. Considering a people with zero income level when shifts to a income level and wants to buy a luxury good his decision is dependent upon the income he is currently earning and the culture he is following in the ratio of 3:2. Administrative Initially as taxes were collected in the form of luxury tax from the customers in developed countries, they were indifferent to it as they had a considerable large amount of disposable income. Over the years as people entered the luxury market they got affected by such high rates. The government how of such countries depend on these taxes as they generate a large amount of revenue. Geographical Most of the developed countries are the manufactures of these luxury goods they tend to be cheaper in these countries. As the demand of the countries is very high they tend to acquire the fixed costs at an early stage, later just trying to recover the variable cost making it cheaper. Most of these developed countries have access to superior products used in manufacturing these products thus making the end products to be easily manufactured and thus slashing the rates, thus inducing more customers to buy the product Economic Differences GDP and per capita income of the developed countries is high compared to other emerging countries. Thus showing they have a higher disposable income and standard of living is high proving that they can afford luxury goods as their basic necessities of life is fulfilled. Luxury Goods-Developing Countries Overview. When we talk about developing economies we will be taking into account Brazil China and look at the luxury goods market in these two economies. Almost half of the luxury goods produced worldwide are sold in the emerging markets with China leading the way. The luxury goods market has seen tremendous growth in China whereas the same growth hasn’t been replicated in India Brazil because of some regulatory issues (high import duties). Looking at China, the GDP has been growing at almost 10% y-o-y which has been increasing the denomination of wealthy Chinese in the country. When you look at the Luxury market, the Asia-pacific region has been the best performer with a growth rate of 25% in 2011 and accounting for about 29% of the worldwide revenues. The growth of this market in China has been tremendous which can also be put down to the fact that many e-commerce players have come in to fray which give the digital consumers a chance to make use of the price advantage. The market has been helped by the fact that there has been a shift in the mentality of the Chinese people wherein they want the real stuff now rather than settling for the counterfeited goods. In addition to this due to the weakening Euro and the increase in the number of upper class citizens the Chinese people have been undertaking more and more overseas trips which in turn has increased the revenues for the Luxury market. Now coming to Brazil, the luxury goods market was about 2. 7 billion dollars in 2012, and the expected growth rate was estimated to be about 15-25% for the next five years which was put down to the fact that it has become the 7th largest economy in the world the purchasing power and the income rate for an average Brazilian is growing. Brazil now has 36 billionaires 165,000 millionaires out of which about 50% are below the age of 35, which will help boost the luxury goods market in the country. Now because of the unique services that are being provided to the consumers in Brazil, also the payment plan by installments and also the fact that a huge number of showrooms are being opened in the country the consumers are willing to buy the luxury goods for which they had to go abroad in the earlier days. STRATEGY – STRUCTURE PERFORMANCE STRATEGY: Strategic approach to product offer and price positioning. Focusing on the E-commerce platform as well in order to cater to the increasing number of digital consumers Opening up of new stores and availability of quality products easily. Focus on the retail chains in order to aid the distribution as this is the highest grossing medium (Omni-channel Retailing). Increase of scale in order to improve margins. Shift towards the accessories sector as this has the highest growth rate amongst the Luxury goods market. Store experience. Real time communication between the brand and the consumer via blogs communities. Off-price outlets. Consolidation. Diversification. STRUCTURE: Oligopoly: Very few luxury groups dominate the market. Large number of small individual brands. Individual brands being introduced by the large market players. Big Three LVMH Richemont PPR Gucci PERFORMANCE: A CAGR of +25% in China for the luxury goods revenues over the period 2008-11. A CAGR of +18. 3% in China for E-commerce buys during the period 2007-10. 31% increase in constant value terms for Brazil, 72% for China 86% for India over the period 2008-13.

The Crime Survey For England And Wales Criminology Essay

The Crime Survey For England And Wales Criminology Essay The National Statistician in 2011 acknowledged that the exclusion of crimes against children from the BCS estimates has been considered a major gap. As a result, in 2009 the survey was extended to include children aged between 10 and 15 (Home Office Statistical Bulletin 2010/11, p. 20). This may help in gaining further knowledge of the full extent of crime in Britain, although this process also comes with its own limitations. The children may not be entirely accurate in their accounts, or fear what may happen to them after responding. The Crime Survey for England and Wales measures the extent of crime in England and Wales by asking people whether they have experienced any crime in the past year.  The survey has measured crime in this way since 1982 and is an important source of information for the government about the extent and nature of crime in England and Wales. It also aims to enquire information regarding the location and timing of crimes, the offenders characteristics and the relationship between victims and offenders (Office for National Statistics, 2012).    A separate survey (the Scottish Crime and Justice survey) measures the extent of crime in Scotland. The survey is conducted by TNS-BMRB on behalf of the Office for National Statistics. Evidence in support of this argument comes from The Home Office (2011) which stated: the BCS offers a more dependable measure of trends in crime as it has a consistent methodology and is unaffected by changes in levels of reporting to the police, recording practice or police activityHowever, the BCS does not aim to provide an absolute count of crime in England and Wales, but to produce estimates of crimes experienced by adults aged 16 and over resident in households. (Home Office Statistical News Release: Crime in England and Wales, 2010/11). Therefore, the survey is not representative of the whole population of Britain and cannot be used to give an overview picture of crime, due to the nature of its sample. Moreover, the survey does not cover all offences such as homicide, fraud and drug offences. On the other hand, police recorded figures have a greater coverage of offences compared to those of the BCS. For example, homicide is not covered by the surveys. Sexual victimisation questions are asked in a separate form, and results are not included in the main total of crime collected by the BCS, due to their delicate nature (Home Office, 2011). Office for National Statistics, 2012): Latest figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) for the year ending June 2012 show a 6 per cent decrease in overall crime against adults compared with the previous years survey. This continues the downward trend in recorded crime, seen since 2004/05. (Ref 6, the Guardian) There were 9.1m reported crimes in 2011/12, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, but less than half as many 3.9m were recorded by the police. (Ref 13 Home Office, 2010/11, p. 15-16) Police recorded crime has been subject to major changes in recording practice over time, making interpretation of long-term trends for this series is difficult. The BCS and recorded crime provide generally good coverage of crime committed against the public, particularly for offences involving physical harm, loss or damage to property. Recorded crime is limited to those offences which come to the attention of the police, and is affected by changes to reporting rates, recording practice and police activity. Thus for the crime types and population it covers, the BCS is the best long-term measure of crime trends. However, the BCS is limited in its coverage to crimes against those residents in households and so cannot cover all crime types (for example, homicide, crimes against businesses and other organisations and drug possession). Crime is recorded according to the victims account of events, rather than requiring criminal intent to be proven. Th e BCS asks about individuals experience of crime, irrespective of what action was subsequently taken. For police recorded crime, the victim-focused approach is enshrined in the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS).The NCRS states that all incidents reported by a victim to the police should be recorded, if the events described amount to a crime in law and unless there is credible evidence to the contrary. The drop in crime since the mid-1990s is because of improved property and vehicle security, economic influences, social change, use of CCTV and other local crime reduction initiatives and changes in policing and the wider criminal justice system. Pg. 22: A range of non-notifiable crimes may be dealt with by the issuing of a Penalty Notice for Disorder, a Fixed Penalty Notice or prosecution at a magistrates court. Along with non-notifiable offences dealt with by the police (such as speeding), these include many offences that may be dealt with by other agencies for example, prose cutions by TV Licensing or by the DVLA for vehicle registration offences. These counts only relate to offences where action has been brought against an offender and guilt has either been ascertained in court, or the offender has admitted culpability through acceptance of a penalty notice. These crimes generally only come to light through the relevant authorities actively looking to identify offending behaviour. However, they do illustrate that, taking the broadest definition of crime, the main BCS and Recorded Crime statistics only cover a fraction of total criminal behaviour. Crime and society in Britain, Hazel Croall, 2011, p. 40: The role of victims and the public varies with the offence. Some maybe relatively invisible or the victim is totally unaware of any harm or actions regarded abnormal. For example the sexual abuse of children takes place in a private and children are often unaware that something is wrong. Some incidents such as theft at work may result in dismissal only and not involve criminal proceeding. Such incidents are therefore missed out in total crime accounted for by the police records and CSEW. Croall, 2011, Pg. 51: victim surveys use standard classifications of crime missing out white collar and financial crimes, the CSEW is based on households omitting organisations such as businesses, hospitals, schools and care homes, omitting young teenagers and kids, respondents definitions of crime are limited by their memory and restricted to crimes which they are aware of and miss out those they cannot detect themselves, the surveys capture s ingle incidents and underestimate the full extent of repeat victimisation. Pg. 52: self-report surveys that find out how many times the population have participated in criminal activity, provide more detail about the class, age sex or race of those that have admitted to offending. They are often used with young people and therefore provide extremely valuable information about participation in crime. However respondents, particularly children, may be afraid to answer properly as they fear parents might see their answers, or others may exaggerate, hence affecting the accuracy of responses given. These surveys have been restricted to young people making it harder to question other groups of people such as senior executive about embezzlement. Pg. 60: Muir 2010 found that crime has always been and remains higher in England and Wales than in Scotland and Northern Ireland having much lower levels of crime, using a comparison of crime surveys across the UK for 2008/9 figures. Pg. 61: Moreov er, Higgins and Millard 2009 argue that Wales which is generally combined with England has lower rates for most types than England. Tierney, 2006, Pg. 34: before 1992, the BCS used to survey households randomly chosen from electoral registers, however thereafter, the Postcode Address File was used. Pg. 35: Although the BCS provides large numbers of crime incidents not present in police recorded crime figures, this only applies to certain offence categories, rather than crime in general. Pg. 38-39: victim surveys just like police recorded crimes; do not pick up all criminal offences, such as for those under 16 years. Including corporate and organised plus occupational crimes; theft from businesses (shoplifting, insurance fraud), criminal damage, or crimes without victims, plus taxation and social security fraud. Victims may be scared, embarrassed or unaware they are victims. Pg. 41: according to class conflict theories, statistics provide an insight into the class based nature of the criminal justice system, as well as being manipulated to suit the interests of the powerful plus provide indicators of the inequalit ies and biases inherent in the system itself and in a capitalist society in general. Also one must consider the links between criminal activity, police clear up rates and various community-based initiatives. Tierney, 2006, Pg. 44: changes to counting rules in 1998 mainly affected violent crime and led to some previously less serious, non-notifiable assaults being categorised as notifiable. In 2002, police had to take victims account at face value, until proven otherwise, resulting in increasing the number of offences recorded. This is a further illustration of the socially constructed nature of criminal statistics. Pg. 20: Maguire 1994 suggests crime itself is a social contrast and statistics that relate to it are socially constructed. Croall, 2011, p. 42: the higher rates of reporting property crimes, especially car thefts, result from the requirements of insurance policies. Potential crimes come to the attention of police and other law enforcement agencies by being directly encountered or reported, with the majority being reported to the police by the public (Maguire 2007). Law enforcement decisions affect all subsequent stages when a crime is encountered or reported. Not all complaints are recorded, creating a distinction between offences reported to and recorded by the police. Offences may not be recorded because they are not regarded as sufficiently serious or defined as involving no crime (Coleman and Moynihan, 1996). Croall, 2011: Changes were made in police recording procedures following the introduction of the national crime recording standards (NCRS) in 2002. These have a major impact on the reliability of official statistics, especially as recording practices in different areas and jurisdictions may vary , complicating any comparisons. They also affect overall increases and decreases and changes can create apparent crime waves. Recorded crime series were affected by new counting rules from 1998 onwards and by the NCRS from 2002 onwards. Pg. 44:.most police forces are encouraged to be cost effective and as a result successive governments have introduced diversionary schemes where offences are dealt with out of court such as on-the-spot fines. This underlines the existence of an unknowable dark figure of crime which is never recorded in the official statistics. Therefore officially recorded crimes and convicted offenders are those that have survived the process of attrition and are not representative of all who break the criminal law. Pg. 45: crimes which are more visible and take place in public are more likely to be processed than those taking place in private. For example street crimes of young people are more likely to be counted than crimes of white collar offenders which take pl ace in the offices or crimes which take place in the home, further distorting the relationships between age, gender or social class and offending. Variations in the proportions of crimes counted means that it can rarely be said with any certainty that any particular kind of crime is rising or falling, as any apparent increases or decreases could merely represent a change in the proportion of crimes reported to or recorded by the agencies. Changes in police recording practices can create crime waves or alternatively reductions in crime. On the other hand, more policing can increase crime rates, by catching more and recording more crime. Home office, stats bulletin, 2010/11, Pg. 24: Together they provide a more comprehensive picture than could be obtained from either series alone. However, neither the BCS nor police recorded crime aim to provide complete counts of crime. The coverage of police recorded crime statistics is defined by the Notifiable Offence List1, which includes a broad range of offences, from murder to minor criminal damage, theft and public order offences. However, there are some, mainly less serious offences that are excluded from the recorded crime collection. These non-notifiable crimes include many incidents that might generally considered to be anti-social behaviour but that may also be crimes in law (including bye-laws) such as littering, begging and drunkenness. Other non-notifiable offences include driving under the influence of alcohol, parking offences and TV licence evasion. The survey also excludes some other offences for which it may not be possible to collect robust estimates of crime l evels (such as sexual offences). However, the BCS does capture other information about such offences. The BCS is a face-to-face victimisation survey in which people resident in households in England and Wales are asked about their experiences of crime in the 12 months prior to interview. Until recently the BCS did not cover crimes against those aged under 16, but since January 2009 interviews have been carried out with children aged 10 to 15. Experimental statistics for children are shown separately. Pg. 26: For the crime types and population it covers, the BCS provides a better reflection of the extent of household and personal crime than police recorded statistics because it includes crimes that are not reported to or recorded by the police. The BCS is also a better indicator of long-term trends because it is unaffected by changes in levels of reporting to the police or by police recording practices. Although the focus of ensuring comparability over time means that the BCS does no t include some relatively new crimes in its main crime count, such as plastic card fraud, these are asked about and presented. BCS estimates for 2010/11 are based on face-to-face interviews with 46,754 respondents. The BCS has a high response rate (76%) and the survey is weighted to adjust for possible non-response bias and to ensure the sample reflects the profile of the general population. Being based on a sample survey, BCS estimates are subject to a margin of error. Police recorded crime statistics are administrative data based on notifiable crimes that are reported to and recorded by the police in England and Wales. Unlike the BCS, recorded crime includes crime against commercial and public sector bodies, and so-called victimless crimes (such as drug possession offences). Recorded crime figures provide a good measure of trends in well-reported crimes (in particular, homicide, which is not covered by the BCS), can be used for local crime pattern analysis and are important indicators of police workload. However, there are also categories of crime whose numbers are heavily influenced by the extent to which police proactively investigate. Police recording practice is governed by the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS). The NCRS was introduced nationally in April 2002 to ensure greater consistency and transparency of crime recording between forces, together with a victim focus where crimes reported by the public are recorded unless there is credible evidence to the contrary. Crime data are collected from police forces for each crime within the Notifiable Offence List and according to Home Office Counting Rules. Police recorded crime figures should be seen as a product of an administrative system where rules can be subject to different interpretation a nd, for some categories of crime, can reflect police workload and activity rather than underlying levels of crime. Pg. 27: While the coverage differs both in terms of offence types and population groups, property crime accounts for the majority of both BCS and recorded crime (77% and 70% respectively) with violence, including robbery, accounting for most of the remainder 23 per cent of BCS crime and 22 per cent of recorded crime. Pg. 17; the introduction of the NCRS in April 2002 considerably increased the recording of less serious violent crime by the police and figures are not directly comparable across this break in the series. Philip Schlesinger Howard Tumber, 1999, Pg. 7: new forms of crime have emerged: hard drug trafficking, terrorism and corporate fraud. Page 144: developments in police work such as computer use and forensic science, this allows for more crime to be detected. Newburn, 2012, the guardian: theft has become much more difficult.  Then there is surveillance. While the impact of CCTV is generally much less than one would imagine given how widespread it has become, it is effective in some areas and is an aid to the police and private security. There are now more police officers than there were 20 years ago. Add in  Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) security guards and the gradual re-emergence of other jobs with a partial safety and security focus (ticket inspectors, caretakers, park keepers and the rest) and you have a substantial expansion of the eyes and ears available for crime prevention. Home Office Statistical Bulletin, 2010/11: Pg 29-30: BCS crime fell markedly between 1995 and the 2004/05 BCS. Since 2004/05 the underlying trend in BCS crime has continued to be downward, although at a slower rate and with some fluctuation in year-to-year estimates. Recorded crime fell each year until 1998/99 when the expanded coverage and changes in the Counting Rules resulted in an increase in recorded offences; this was followed by the introduction of the NCRS in April 2002, although some forces adopted NCRS practices before the standard was formally introduced. The introduction of NCRS led to a rise in recording in 2002/03 and, particularly for less serious violent crime, in following years as forces continued to improve compliance with the new standard. From 2001/02 to 2003/04 there was considerable divergence in the trends for BCS and police recorded crime, mainly associated with police recording changes (which particularly influenced violence against the person). Since 2003/0 4, despite some fluctuations, trends have been more consistent between the two series.

Sexual Abuse and Young Children Essay -- Child Abuse Essays

As reported in Child Maltreatment 2013, out of the estimated 905,000 victims of child abuse and neglect reported in the United States in 2013, 8.8% were victims of sexual abuse. 1 This means that in that year over 79,600 children were sexually abused in the United States. â€Å"There is general agreement among mental health and child protection professionals that child sexual abuse is not uncommon and is a serious problem in the United States.† 2 Sexual abuse has a very broad definition. According to the American Psychological Association, â€Å"a central characteristic†¦is the dominant position of an adult that allows him or her to force or coerce a child into sexual activity.† 3 The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act defines sexual abuse as: A. â€Å"the employment, use, persuasion, inducement, enticement, or coercion of any child to engage in, or assist any other person to engage in, any sexually explicit conduct or simulation of such conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct; or B. â€Å"the rape, and in cases of caretaker or inter-familial relationships, statutory rape, molestation, prostitution, or other form of sexual exploitation of children, or incest with children† 4 There are many different types of sexual abuse, some more extreme than others. Sexual abuse falls into two categories: contact and non-contact. 5 Sexual abuse involving contact â€Å"may include fondling a child's genitals, masturbation, oral-genital contact, digital penetration, and vaginal and anal intercourse† and non-contact sexual abuse could include â€Å"exposure, voyeurism, and child pornography.† 6 All sexual abuse, no matter how severe or mild by definition, is damaging to the young child and can affect his/her neurological and psychological development and health, and affect him/her throughout life. Sexual abuse negatively affects a young child’s neurological development. It causes toxic stress, a type of stress which children are unable to manage by themselves. 7 According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, exposure to toxic stress during early childhood can impair and disrupt development of brain circuits, which â€Å"can cause an individual to develop a low threshold for stress, thereby becoming overly reactive to adverse experiences throughout life.†8 High levels of stress hormones can also affect the child’s immune system and cause â€Å"cog... ... Symptoms  · Attempts to touch the genitals of others  · Sexualized play  · Detailed and age-inappropriate knowledge of sexual activity  · Excessive masturbatory behavior  · Reluctance to undress  · Avoidance of touch  · Increased startle response  · Hypervigilance  · Extreme fluctuations in heart rate (above 100 bpm or below 60 bpm)  · Sleep disturbance (bed wetting, nightmares)  · Drastic change in appetite somatic complaints  · Enuresis/encopresis  · Substance use  · Fatigue/exhaustion Emotional Symptoms  · Regression to younger developmental stage  · Lack of affect  · Withdrawal/depression  · Anxiety/irritability/fear  · Phobias  · Excessive guilt  · Feelings of helplessness  · Low self-esteem  · Obsessive ideas  · Self-hate  · Hyperalertness  · Dissociation Behavioral Symptoms  · Abrupt change in behavior or personality  · Aggression  · Excessive crying  · Over compliance  · School adjustment problems/sudden drop in school performance  · Temper tantrums  · Truancy or runaway behavior  · Self-mutilating/suicidal ideation/gestures/attempts  · Flashbacks/Avoidance  · Nightmares  · Lack of trust/social isolation/lack of friendships  · Hyperarousal ChildTrauma.org Sexual Abuse and Young Children Essay -- Child Abuse Essays As reported in Child Maltreatment 2013, out of the estimated 905,000 victims of child abuse and neglect reported in the United States in 2013, 8.8% were victims of sexual abuse. 1 This means that in that year over 79,600 children were sexually abused in the United States. â€Å"There is general agreement among mental health and child protection professionals that child sexual abuse is not uncommon and is a serious problem in the United States.† 2 Sexual abuse has a very broad definition. According to the American Psychological Association, â€Å"a central characteristic†¦is the dominant position of an adult that allows him or her to force or coerce a child into sexual activity.† 3 The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act defines sexual abuse as: A. â€Å"the employment, use, persuasion, inducement, enticement, or coercion of any child to engage in, or assist any other person to engage in, any sexually explicit conduct or simulation of such conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct; or B. â€Å"the rape, and in cases of caretaker or inter-familial relationships, statutory rape, molestation, prostitution, or other form of sexual exploitation of children, or incest with children† 4 There are many different types of sexual abuse, some more extreme than others. Sexual abuse falls into two categories: contact and non-contact. 5 Sexual abuse involving contact â€Å"may include fondling a child's genitals, masturbation, oral-genital contact, digital penetration, and vaginal and anal intercourse† and non-contact sexual abuse could include â€Å"exposure, voyeurism, and child pornography.† 6 All sexual abuse, no matter how severe or mild by definition, is damaging to the young child and can affect his/her neurological and psychological development and health, and affect him/her throughout life. Sexual abuse negatively affects a young child’s neurological development. It causes toxic stress, a type of stress which children are unable to manage by themselves. 7 According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, exposure to toxic stress during early childhood can impair and disrupt development of brain circuits, which â€Å"can cause an individual to develop a low threshold for stress, thereby becoming overly reactive to adverse experiences throughout life.†8 High levels of stress hormones can also affect the child’s immune system and cause â€Å"cog... ... Symptoms  · Attempts to touch the genitals of others  · Sexualized play  · Detailed and age-inappropriate knowledge of sexual activity  · Excessive masturbatory behavior  · Reluctance to undress  · Avoidance of touch  · Increased startle response  · Hypervigilance  · Extreme fluctuations in heart rate (above 100 bpm or below 60 bpm)  · Sleep disturbance (bed wetting, nightmares)  · Drastic change in appetite somatic complaints  · Enuresis/encopresis  · Substance use  · Fatigue/exhaustion Emotional Symptoms  · Regression to younger developmental stage  · Lack of affect  · Withdrawal/depression  · Anxiety/irritability/fear  · Phobias  · Excessive guilt  · Feelings of helplessness  · Low self-esteem  · Obsessive ideas  · Self-hate  · Hyperalertness  · Dissociation Behavioral Symptoms  · Abrupt change in behavior or personality  · Aggression  · Excessive crying  · Over compliance  · School adjustment problems/sudden drop in school performance  · Temper tantrums  · Truancy or runaway behavior  · Self-mutilating/suicidal ideation/gestures/attempts  · Flashbacks/Avoidance  · Nightmares  · Lack of trust/social isolation/lack of friendships  · Hyperarousal ChildTrauma.org

Artificial Life :: essays research papers fc

Artificial life (commonly called a-life) is the term applied collectively to attempts being made to develop mathematical models and computer simulations of the ways in which living organisms develop, grow, and evolve. Researchers in this burgeoning field hope to gain deeper insights into the nature of organic life as well as into the further possibilities of COMPUTER science and robotics (see ROBOT). A-life techniques are also being used to explore the origins and chemical processes of metabolism. Some investigators have even proposed that some digital "life" in computers might already be considered a real life form.BackgroundThe term artificial life was coined in the 1980s by Christopher Langdon, a computer scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Santa Fe Institute. Langdon organized the first experimental workshop on the subject at Santa Fe in 1987. Since then other a-life conferences have taken place, drawing increasingly wider attention and a growing number of participants.Theoretical studies of a-life, however, had been in progress long before the 1980s. Most notably, the Hungarian-born U.S. mathematician John VON NEUMANN, one of the pioneers of computer science, had begun to explore the nature of very basic a-life formats called cellular automata (see AUTOMATA, THEORY OF) in the 1950s. Cellular automata are imaginary mathematical "cells"-analogous to checkerboard squares-that can be made to simulate physical processes by subjecting them to certain simple rules called algorithms (see ALGORITHM). Before his death, von Neumann had developed a set of algorithms by which a cellular automaton-a box shape with a very long tail-could "reproduce" itself.Another important predecessor of a-life research was Dutch biologist Aristid Lindenmeyer. Interested in the mathematics of plant growth, Lindenmeyer found in the 1960s that through the use of a few basic algorithms-now called Lindenmeyer systems, or L-systems-he could model biochemical processes as well as tracing the development of complex biological forms such as flowers. Computer-graphics programs now make use of L-systems to yield realistic three-dimensional images of plants.The significance of Lindenmeyer's contribution is evident in the fact that so-called "genetic algorithms" are now basic to research into a-life as well as many other areas of interest. Genetic algorithms, first described by computer scientist John Holland of the University of Michigan in the 1970s, are comparable to L-systems. A computer worker trying to answer some question about a-life sets up a system-an algorithm-by which the computer itself rapidly grades the multiple possible answers that it has produced to the question.

Jehovah’s Witness Study Notes

Jehovah's Witnesses was first started by Charles Taze Russel in Pittsburgh around 1870. What led Charles Russel to first start the denomination was when he tried to convert an atheist to Christianity and ended up being converted instead, not to atheism but to agnosticism. Important Religious Beliefs Witnesses rely on the authority of the Bible when they live their day to day life. They believe that the bible is a gift from God that tells humans about what God is like, how to cope with problems, and how to please God. Jehovah’s Witnesses affirm full inspiration of the bible by God and the preservation if its copies over the centuries. Jehovah’s Witness have a special translation if the Bible called the New World Translation Witness believe in only one God. They stress the fact that God has revealed his personal name to humanity, which is Jehovah. Jehovah, in the book, has a spirit body and lives in heaven, but sees all things. While Christians believe that Jesus was â€Å"fully God, fully man†, Witnesses teach that Jesus was not God, but God’s first official creation. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that that they: Teach the truth about God, provide a model of a perfect life for people to follow, and he sacrificed his life to set humans free from sin and that his crucifixion was not on a cross but a upright stake. Customs and Practices Jehovah’s Witnesses baptize those of age who have made a decision to join the faith. Baptism is done by full entrance in water. After one is Baptized they are to include regular attendance at Kingdom Hall meetings and evangelism. Witnessing and Evangelism is the most know to other religions, it is done door-to-door. Witnesses who are employed full time (and are known as Kingdom publishers) devote 100 hours each month to witnessing. Paid employees of the Watchtower Society who are expected to spend about 150 hours per month on evangelism. Jehovah’s Witnesses hold religions services in buildings called Kingdom Halls (could be rented). There are no crosses displayed inside or outside the Kingdom Hall. Holy Books Jehovah’s Witness have a special translation if the Bible called the New World Translation. The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, there are six volumes between 1950 and 1960. Membership Today Since 1995 the Watchtower society have quickly become less encouraging. Similarities and Differences Both religions believe in only one God and both live lives that are guided by a book, the bible. Differences include that Witnesses must advertise their practice and attend meetings 3 times a weeks, while Catholics are free to live the lives they feel are best suited for them.

Investing Stocks and Bonds Essay

Investing in Stocks and Bonds Stocks and Bonds are different in many ways. A stock is a portion or share of the ownership of a corporation. A share will give the owner of the stock the company’s profits or loses over time. The good thing about stocks is they can be sold at almost any time as long as there is someone willing to buy. A bond, on the other hand, is a fixed interest financial asset issued by governments, companies, banks, and other large entities. Bonds also are called funds. Bonds pay the owner a fixed amount a specific date, or on specified dates depending on the type of bond. If the bond is a discount bond, then there is one pay date at the end. If the bond is a coupon bond, then it pays a fixed amount over a specific time. The time could be by month, or by year. My team was assigned the task of investing 120,000 dollars over ten years. We were to invest 80% of 120,000 dollars in stocks and 20% in bonds. We invested in six different stocks and two bonds. Also, we split the money. Therefore, we each invested 6,000 dollars per year in three stocks and one bond. The first stock I decided to invest in was Nike Inc. Nike Inc. is a strongly advertised and a well-distributed company (Nike). Nike Inc. is known well across the world (Nike). When it comes to shoes, clothes, or sports apparel, everyone has at least one item of Nike. In most cases, people own multiple things of Nike equipment. Nike Inc. spends great amounts of time and money on their products (Nike). Also, Nike Inc. is extremely popular among sports. That is relevant because I am an athlete, and own many Nike products. Almost every pair of shoes I own is Nike, besides dress shoes. This all proceeded to tell me, as an investor, to get involved in a part of the company. I took 2,000 dollars of the 6,000 dollars and invested in Nike Inc. Every year for ten years I bought 2,000 dollars worth of shares. The number of shares each year ranged from 24 shares to 42 shares of Nike Inc. stock. In April of 2007, there was a stock split for Nike Inc. The shares split 2:1. So the number of shares I owned up to that point doubled. I owned roughly 197 shares before the 2:1 split. After the split I accumulated about 395 shares. The total number of shares at the end of ten years was approximately 527 shares. My shares sold for $89. 34 each. The total earned from Nike Inc. was $47,130. 76. Another stock is Buckle Inc. This is another company in the clothing industry; however, Buckle Inc. urprised me with how well they did. Buckle Inc. is a popular clothing store for young adults (Buckle). They have jeans, dress shirts, shoes, and other clothing (Buckle). Their products can get expensive, but they are made well (Buckle). Many young adults shop at Buckle Inc. for the variety of trendy options they offer (Buckle). This is relevant beca use I am a young adult, and have shopped at Buckle before. I also know many friends and family who has shopped in Buckle as well. If someone asks around looking for a nice pair of jeans the answer is, â€Å"Have you tried Buckle? They have a nice selection. Like in Nike Inc. , I took 2,000 dollars to invest in this fine company. In 2001 when I started, the shares were quite low in price. The first year I owned over 100 shares. Unlike Nike Inc. , there was more than one split for Buckle Inc. There were two stock splits within the ten years. One split came in January of 2007, and another split came in October of 2008. Both of the stock splits were 3:2 splits. Prior to the first split I owned around 460 shares. After the split I owned about 690 shares. Before the second split I had approximately 786 shares. Following the second split I owned around 1,180 shares. The total number of shares in the end was about 1362 shares. Each sold for $44. 21 coming to a total of $60,238. 45. The last stock I invested in was in the outrageous oil and gas industry. The oil and gas industry can be a risky investment; therefore, I was not guaranteed to come out on top or, in another words, succeed. If success were the outcome, the profit would be fairly significant. I tried Chevron Corporation because they seemed reliable compared to other oil and gas companies (Chevron). Chevron Corporation has been known to strive beyond expectations, and care for the safety of the workforce and environment (Chevron). Chevron products are recognized for their quality, performance, and technology around the world (Chevron). I decided to be on the safe side and only invest 1,000 dollars in Chevron Corporation because of the risk factor that comes into play with the oil and gas industry. Chevron Corporation actually did well after all. The share prices were high to start with. Chevron Corporation had one stock split within the ten years. In September of 2004, the 2:1 split helped my number of shares go from about 48 shares to around 97 shares total. In the end I owned a total of approximately 180 shares. These shares sold for a big $105. 38 each. This nearly doubled the 10,000 dollars. The total after the ten years in Chevron Corporation was $18,982. 67. The one mutual fund I invested in was with PIMCO. This global investment authority offers many different bonds such as: absolute return bonds, asset allocations, convertibles, municipal bonds, core bonds, etc. (PIMCO). The bond I chose was a core bond. This bond was the PIMCO Total Return Fund. This particular fund focuses on a solid core fixed-income (PIMCO). The fund will typically invest in a diversified portfolio of securities (PIMCO). One thing I noticed when researching PIMCO Total Return Fund was that the worst one year return for this bond was 0. 28% (PIMCO). This made PIMCO a reliable source in my eyes. I selected to invest 1,000 dollars with PIMCO because it is a popular, reliable investment company. The shares for this fund had a low price. Each share was $10. 65 in July of 2001. This investment consisted of many more shares at a much lower price. I owned roughly 90 more shares every year. The total number of shares after ten years was about 1030 shares. Each share sold for $11. 12. This gave me a total of $11,456. 71 in returns. After investing 60,000 dollars over ten years in three stocks and one bond, I accumulated a total of $137,808. 59. Buckle Inc. was my best investment earning $60,238. 45 over ten years. Surprisingly Buckle Inc. was able to triple its profit over the total ten years I invested. Nike Inc. over doubled in the ten years. Nike Inc. did quite well throughout the ten years. Chevron was the least earning stock; however, this investment earned almost double the 10,000 dollars initially spent on the stock. The PIMCO Total Return Fund was what Dr. Duke considers a low risk/low reward investment. The PIMCO Total Return Fund was conservative. The total at the end of ten years in the PIMCO Fund was $11,456. 71. This fund earned a small amount over 14% profit. This was actual a very respectable profit for a mutual fund. Overall the total return from all the investments was a tremendous profit. Going from 60,000 dollars to 137,000 dollars was remarkable. Not everyone succeeds in the market; however, this is a great illustration of how well someone can do in the world of investment when it comes to stocks and bonds. Works Cited â€Å"Buckle Inc. † Buckle. com: Men’s and Women’s On-Trend Fashion Clothing & Designer Jeans

American Indian Hist

The question of what motivates people more when they act – cultural priorities, such as religion or tradition, or the so-called â€Å"rational† motivations, such as economics and politics – has been one long debated on. This debate has been quite fierce, members of both sides providing valid and powerful arguments to support their claims. One of the focal points for this discussion are the people known under the blanket term â€Å"Native Americans†. Where did their motivations stem from? Was it merely pragmatism, a wish to get the most out of any outsiders? Or was culture and tradition vital to decision making?It is doubtless that both of these factors were present, however, the question is, which was the initial factor of influence, dominating thought and action. Scholars have attempted to prove points both ways. I support the side which claims that culture was the primary factor. I shall first provide counter-arguments to the opposing side, then provide supporting arguments for my own claim. First, however, it must be noted that Native Americans is a very catchall term, which is used for lack of a better one. As the website of the Native American research center states, â€Å"It must be emphasized that no one person speaks for Indian People.There are nearly three hundred distinct American Indian Nations in the present United States. Each has its own language and history, its own sacred places and rituals. Each is rooted in and part of the land out of which it grew. â€Å" There are dozens of tribes, including some that are officially considered extinct now, that had quite different customs. If we say that there were Native Americans and they had one kind of culture and, as a consequence, had the same customs, we may just as well say that there are Europeans and they have one culture, completely losing the obvious distinctions between different nations.The cultures of different tribes of Native Americans are very different  œ to deny this would be to unjustly diminish their cultural value – and yet there are cultural tendencies, and there are exceptions. I will attempt to prove that the tendency is to use tradition as a guideline, and the occasions where â€Å"pragmatical† reasons have been primary are the exceptions verifying the rule. First I shall examine the political argument. It seems very difficult to think that â€Å"politics† in the sense that we understand them now had an influence on the Native Americans.When we think of â€Å"politics† we think of diplomatic traditions, of treaties that are made to be broken, of backstabbing. This, however, was not the dominant case with Native Americans. As Dee Brown wrote in his book â€Å"Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee†, â€Å"So tractable, so peaceable, are these people,’ Columbus wrote to the King and Queen of Spain [referring to the Tainos on the island of San Salvador, so was named by Columbus], ‘that I swear to your Majesties there is not in the world a better nation.They love their neighbors as themselves, and their discourse is ever sweet and gentle, and accompanied with a smile; and though it is true that they are naked, yet their manners are decorous and praiseworthy. † This was verified a number of times by other observations, Columbus’s report being merely the most famous occasion. Time after time, the settlers used the same tactic. While officially recognizing the natives as owners of the land, they used any tactic possible to get them to sell the land, up to getting the chief of the tribe drunk.Then, once the treaty – which usually went along the lines of â€Å"There are white men on your lands now anyway, but give us a part of your land, and we will not go on your land without your permission. † – was signed, in a few years the expansion continued in the same manner, and new treaties were signed. Despite these circumstances, there have b een virtually no instances of the treaties between the Indians and the Europeans being broken by the Indians – however, Europeans were breaking these treaties constantly, in 99% of the cases!One would think that if politics were the defining factor in the Native American’s way of dealing they would have changed their tactic after the first few times these treaties were broken – they were not fools, and hundreds of years of such tactics would have destroyed even the most saintly naivete. So the conclusion must be that there was something more than mere hope that the white men would see reason standing behind these promises that forced the Native Americans to keep them. The next common choice for primary motivation is economics.However, despite the fact that the Indians had private property and were no strangers to trade, this could hardly be the dominating motivation. First of all, the Indians were completely self-supporting. Even if they did require something es sential they could not produce themselves – which was fairly rare – other Native American tribes generally proved much better business partners, generally being more honest than the Europeans. Consequentially, all the Europeans could offer them were luxuries. This, naturally, should not be underestimated as a lure in any way.However, a trade which truly entails only luxuries is always small by necessity. In any case, trade relationships were not nearly so large-scale as in the Old World. They could not have been the driving motivation Also, we have numerous documents that detail the interaction between Native Americans and European settlers. The initial reply to the abovementioned land-selling treaties was nearly always quite similar. For instance, an excerpt from the 1752 Abenaki Conference between Captain Phineas Stevens and the St.Francis Indians shows the Indian’s attitude to these treaties: â€Å"4 – But we will not cede one single inch of the lands we inhabit beyond what has been decided formerly by our fathers. 5 – You have the sea for your share from the place where you reside; you can trade there; but we expressly forbid you to kill a single Beaver, or to take a single stick of timber on the lands we inhabit; if you want timber we'll sell you some, but you shall not take it without our permission. † And there exists a number of other documents revealing a similar attitude.Could this, in truth, only be showing that the Indians merely wanted a better deal? One could naturally gain a leeway in trade by keeping the land and selling its resources. However, it is a basic law of economics that one wishing to trade must meet the demand. Had this trade in itself been a factor of dire importance to the Indians, they would have put forth an effort to convince the Europeans that trading would prove profitable. However, the attitude that prevails in documents is one of indifference. It seems like the Indians did not care f or the presence of Europeans.If the white men wished a trade, then they would get a trade. If they did not, the Indians seemed perfectly content to let them live without making any more contact than absolutely necessary. Trade was not of importance – it influenced the relationship between the natives and settlers when it was present, but it was by no means the most important factor. On the other hand, tradition and culture was of extreme importance, influencing entire tribe’s behaviors – especially such a part of culture as religion. For Native Americans religion was of utmost importance.Even the Canadian Jesuit missionaries remarked that the Native Americans were highly religious – and not in the â€Å"Sunday Christian† sense, either, but with deep roots and a great influence of every aspect of their lives. This is a characteristic feature of most tribal societies, where little distinction is made between the sacral and the mundane. However, for I ndians religion had special relevance, as it was one of the things that allowed them to cling on to their cultural identity, saving them from assimilation. Yet even before this was a relevant factor, religion permeated nearly every aspect of Native American life.Their religion was (and remains) one of pure personal experience, not leaving any room for dogma. The Native American worldview is mythological. For all practical purposes, this means that religious factors such as hunting rituals and their theoretical results are the perceived as being absolutely as physically real as an arrow fired into an animal, having the same kind of cause-and-effect that a physical event might. A deal with a spirit, for instance, is treated as seriously as a treaty with a human. A spirit’s warning was heeded as much as a human’s would, with absolutely the same kind of discretion.And magical means of solving problems were taken as absolutely valid. One of the most well known incidents was in 1876, before the battle at Little-Big-Horn when the famed Sitting Bull performed a three-day shamanic ritual to decide what to do with the white men, staring at the sun and wounding himself until he fell unconscious. After he came to, he announced that the white men were there for the Indians to take, because he saw white men fall into the Indian’s camp headfirst, losing their hats, meaning they would be the killed by the Indians.Also he announced that â€Å"They had no ears†, i. e. they were deaf to reason, giving the Indians a moral right to attack. This is not the only incidence of religion influencing political activity. The Ghost Dance religion can be cited as another famous example, showing how Native American religion changed with the times, how it adapted to the flow of time and adopted alien cultural notions and yet survived without losing all of its cultural value, keeping the spirit, though changing the form.One might say that this lack of dissemination between regular life and religious life simply brings more factors into the political games. Religious leaders are used as figure heads for power play, and spirits are dealt with in the same manner humans are dealt with – if, indeed, the shamans who contact the spirits even believe in them and not use them as a means of their own power and control! This is, however, hardly the case, as there are numerous arguments against this position in the study of tribal societies as a whole.Firstly, their religion was always very personal. Every single Indian had their own religious experience and, as with any religion that requires its neophytes to work out their own niche – clergy being needed only in extreme cases – it is always very strong. The strength of this experience makes it difficult to give anything that is lower than it is a higher priority. The Native Americans did not believe in their gods watching over them – they knew the gods were there as much as t hey knew that their teepee was still standing.And while white men were considered a temporary nuisance, guests or invaders at best, and were treated that way, the gods were almost like family, and treated with necessary respect and given due priority. Second, as the phenomenon of the Ghost Dance shows, the acts done out of religion were not necessarily the wisest politically – such as the sending out of search parties to look for the Messiah said to be an incarnation of Jesus, and this at the time when men were crucial to survival – so faking divine inspiration for political power is ruled out.So, if the leaders genuinely believed in what they saw, the fate of hundreds and thousands rested within religion – more than enough to define it as one of the crucial influencing factors. It can be seen that politics and trade simply not as much of an influence on life, while religious and cultural activity was always extremely important, guiding the life of every Indian to a certain extent. This was the source of much misunderstanding, since for Europeans politics often took the leading role when religion failed to provide the necessary support and guidance.This made both sides misinterpret the others’ actions, resulting in a long and bloody war that spanned generations. The Native Americans also had also led wars between each other in the past; they were no strangers to military tactics. However, their wars had rules – ones that the settlers naturally broke, thus spelling defeat for the natives. This also shows just how big a role does tradition play in Native American society – had they adapted to the way of war which the Europeans brought to them, they would have survived losing less than they did.In conclusion, it can be said that, as we have seen, purely empirical evidence proves that the Native Americans did not use either politics or economics as the prime guideline for building the relationships either among themselves or between them and Europeans. These factors were not considered firsthand in any crisis situation, and even 370 years of war against the Europeans did not put them very high on the list of priorities. However, ethics and religion made quite an impact on the decisions made by the Native American people, and remain influential factors in their thinking to this day.This was the true motivation of most Native Americans, and remains so up to modern times. Works cited. 1. American Indian Culture Research Center: http://www. bluecloud. org/dakota. html 2. Dee Brown, â€Å"Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West†, Henry Holt & Company; Reprint edition (February 1, 1991) 3. Terry L. Anderson, â€Å"Dances with myths – truths about American Indians' environmental ethics†, Reason, February 1997. 4. Ghost Dance Religion: http://www. bgsu. edu/departments/acs/1890s/woundedknee/WKghost. html 5.Cultures of North America: http://www. mnsu. edu/emu seum/cultural/northamerica/index. shtml 6. Cultures of North America: http://www. mnsu. edu/emuseum/cultural/northamerica/index. shtml 7. David Stannard, â€Å"The American Holocaust†, Oxford University Press, 1992. 8. The Massacre at Wounded Knee: http://www. hanksville. org/daniel/lakota/Wounded_Knee. html 9. The Wampum Chronicles: Mohawk Territory on the Internet: http://www. wampumchronicles. com/index. html 10. George E. Tinker, â€Å"Religion†: http://college. hmco. com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_032600_religion.htm 11. NativeWeb: http://www. nativeweb. org/ 12. Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. Compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler: http://digital. library. okstate. edu/kappler/Vol1/HTML_files/toc. html 13. Abenaki Conference with Phineas Stevens. Documents Related to the Colonial History of the State of New York Vol. X. pg. 252-254. Donated by Jeffery Miller – Administrator of Fort #4. http://www. avcnet. org/ne-do-ba/doc_1752. html 14. The M anataka Oath, Creed and Code of Conduct: http://www. manataka. org/page182. html