Essay on Botswana - 4082 Words

Botswana (1)The people of Botswana are presently torn between the survival of its ancestors’ cultural traditions and the growth of an optimistic republic. Within this study, the characteristics of Batswana’s lifestyles from the past, their present conditions, and outlooks upon the country’s future will be discussed. Botswana was born a country of flourishing diversity. It was a land inhabited by nomadic Bushmen (also known as San or Basarwa) and countless numbers of different tribes, who coexisted peaceably with one another. These people of ancient times lived contentedly through the land’s provisions of plants and abundant species of animals and through prosperous trade with each other. Today, this simple way of life†¦show more content†¦In accordance with environment and society, how human actions modify the physical environment will be viewed through the effects of the different lifestyles, in the past and present, of Batswana upon Botswana’s land, wildlife, and resources. How physical systems affect human systems will be explained in many aspects through the estate of Botswana’s ecosystems immensely, or variably, impacting the lives of Batswana and vice versa. Finally, the changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources will be perceived through people’s various actions partaking of the country’s provisions and the different values that a person holds depending upon their background in relation to Botswana. (3) Botswana is a landlocked country, which is bordered immediately south by South Africa, north and west by Namibia, north and east by Zimbabwe, and is connected by a narrow strip of land on its northern border to Zambia. On Botswana’s northwestern border, Namibia’s Caprivi Strip separates Botswana from Angola (Angola is Zambia’s western border) (5). The majority of Botswanas population, about 80% or four-fifths, is concentrated in a fifth of the countrys territory, which is a narrow, arable strip beside the easternmost Limpopo River (7, p.75). Only about 1% ofShow MoreRelatedColonization in Botswana1606 Words   |  7 PagesThe Impact of Colonization in the Country of Botswana Botswana’s peaceful transition to independence was unique and historical on the continent of Africa; yet Botswana’s road to a stabilized government and economic success lack perfection. Unlike any other country in Africa, Botswana applied for their independence from the British and their request was accepted. Simultaneously the British became the protectorate over Botswana territory at the request of the Tswana chiefs. According to GretchenRead MoreThe Aids Epidemic Of Botswana1850 Words   |  8 Pagesmany challenges, including starvation, poverty, Ebola and AIDS. AIDS, however, has become Africa’s biggest hurdle. 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Within only 30 years a very rapid economical growthRead MoreThe Economic Impact Botswana Has Faced Because Of Their Diamond Industry1685 Words   |  7 Pagesinvestigates the economic impact Botswana has faced because of their diamond industry. In this paper I will be discussing how Botswana has economically developed as well as the struggles the country has faced due to the diamond industry. We will also dive into how Botswana’s geographic location affects the diamond industry. Botswana is a small country roughly the size of Texas with a population of 1.7 million people(insert source). About four fifths of Botswana is desert; more specifically theRead MoreHow Pastoral Care Policy Has Contributed to the Management of Junior Secondary Schools In Botswana23474 Words   |  94 Pages2 What is pastoral care? 16 2.3 Perceptions about implementation of PC in schools 17 2.3.1 International Perspectives 17 2.3.2 Different perspectives about benefits of PCP. 19 2.3. Challenges of implementing PCP 20 2.3.4 Conclusion 22 2.4 Botswana perspective about implementation of PCP 23 2.4.1 Divisions and demarcations of school into houses 23 2.4.2 School leadership training 23 2.4.3 School supervision 23 2.4.4 Stakeholder partnerships 23 2.4.5 Role ambiguity 24 2.4.6 Socio-EconomicRead MoreDeveloping an Action Plan for Central Kalhari Game Reserve961 Words   |  4 Pages(CKGR), which is a destination located in central part of Botswana according to (Department of Wildlife and Nature Parks 2014). Furthermore this park is the biggest nature park in Botswana and the 3rd in Africa with 52 800 square kilometres. The main source of economic drive is through the tourism sector through the niche of wildlife tourism (Department of Wildlife and Nature Parks 2014). This niche makes a revenue turnout of 833 085 (Botswana Institutes of Policy Development 2006). CKGR takes prideRead MoreSurvival International : A Global Movement1802 Words   |  8 PagesParis, France; Madrid, Spain; and Milan, Italy. Survival International works with tribes in over 60 countries. (Survival International Website) Some specific areas during the researched time period of 2010 to 2013 include: India, Brazil, Paraguay, Botswana, USA, Tanzania, Peru, Congo, Ethiopia, Russia, Malaysia, Rwanda, Canada, Bangladesh, Colombia, Philippines, West Papua, Argentina, New Caledonia, Siberia, Sarawak, Orissa, Nicaragua, Central African Republic, Andaman Islands, and Kenya, which canRead MoreCorruption Of African Democratic Functioning772 Words   |  4 Pagessystematically abused for personal gain in one state after another, resulting in massive personal fortunes (Yeh, 2011). The purpose of this of this study is to compare corruption of government administration system in two countries: Liberia and Botswana Africa. 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The Theory Of Behaviorism And Autism Specialist - 962 Words

The goals of ABA are to increase desired behaviors (social interaction, playing appropriately), to teach new skills (self-help, communication), to maintain these behaviors (exercising self-control and guiding oneself through tasks), to understand how to move from one behavior to another (working form task to task in a classroom, transferring from one social interaction to another), and to reduce behaviors that interfere with dial life (self-injurious behavior or stimming). Hundreds of everyday communication skills, self-help skills, and educational milestones can be taught one at a time through ABA. It can take any hours each day for several years, but gradually the child is taught how to do everything a child should do in day-to-day life. And the child can be taught to want to do it. Behaviorism and Autism Specialist As a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) it is essential to know about the theory of behaviorism and how it applies to both the clinical and educational setting and working with students with autism spectrum disorder. Autism was first described in 1943 by Dr. Leo Kanner, a child psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Kanner used the word autism to describe the 11 children in his practice who preferred isolation to social engagement. This children all displayed extreme aloofness and total indifference to other people. They made little eye contact and did not engage in imaginary play. Some displayed an amazing ability forShow MoreRelatedEcological Systems Theory By Urie Bronfenbrenner1556 Words   |  7 PagesEcological Systems Theory The Ecological Systems Theory was founded by Urie Bronfenbrenner. This theory focuses on the impact of the environment on a child’s overall development. The identifying characteristics of Bronfenbrenner’s theory are the five systems used to organize external influences within a child’s development. These systems are the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. Each system is aligned with specific interaction levels. The microsystem is consideredRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesAssistant: Ashlee Bradbury VP Director of Marketing: Patrice Lumumba Jones Senior Marketing Manager: Nikki Ayana Jones Senior Managing Editor: Judy Leale Production Project Manager: Becca Groves Senior Operations Supervisor: Arnold Vila Operations Specialist: Cathleen Petersen Senior Art Director: Janet Slowik Art Director: Kenny Beck Text and Cover Designer: Wanda Espana OB Poll Graphics: Electra Graphics Cover Art: honey comb and a bee working / Shutterstock / LilKar Sr. Media Project Manager,

Education And Capitalism Free Essays

Max Weber was a German sociologist and economist who contributed very much on economic and quite a durable and brilliant work on administrative system. Maxweber tried to provide ways to the people through which they could avoid oppression by suggesting ways and means like inciting people to encourage others to work hard and develop enterprises as well as making investments. This could enable them to grow economically. We will write a custom essay sample on Education And Capitalism or any similar topic only for you Order Now He also established theories like bureaucracy that addressed to better administrative methods that involved no authoritarianism. Capitalism. This can be defined as a means through which economic relations involving production means are organized. These may include enterprises, firms, knowledge or factories. A theory is a systematic organized knowledge as thought that explains some phenomena. It is an endeavour to understand each and a rational explanation of how something is put together or why it works and why it works that way. An idea is a concept, notion that one has on something. Capitalism according to Weber came into existence when the Protestants put influence on so many people to get motivated in working and work hard, developing so many big and prosperous enterprises. They also encouraged the people to participate largely in trade and make savings for investment. I also suppose that availability of free markets and opportunities for innovation are guaranteed. This essay is going to express the theories and ideas that were manifested on education and capitalism by Max Weber. Discussion. Max Weber suggested that strength of capitalism in a country or state is determined mainly by the power manifested by the country or state. This means that more powerful countries have stronger controls over their education and hence their education systems are well established and very worth. They also have a wide control over their worker regulations and therefore in relation to education, educational staff is well treated and motivation is ensured. This leads to improvement in education. According to Weber, capitalism evolved when the protestant ethnic influenced large numbers of people to engage in work in the secular world, developing their own enterprises and engaging in trade and the accumulation of wealth for investment. If a few become systematic in pursuit of money, others will end up as their employees. Max Weber’s theory of capitalism being a very strong tool used by the people to develop economically as well as socially has a very strong influence on education. This is related in that more educational institutions will be established in line with strong and stable economy. In addition, more people will be able to access education and this result to a more learned society where technology and innovation will be in abundant. Max Weber’s idea that bureaucracy should be ended in firms and such as industries and educational institutions that impacted a lot on education. Workers in educational institutions could now work freely without intimidation and even merit was employed in employment. Max Weber also is for the idea that capitalism in a major power system that any society or organization adapts. When adapted by a school which is an organization, a lot of activities like research and teaching will be on their way up. The capitalists also have a strong influence on the government and funding will be provided to the learning institutions. Funding to research activities will also be possible and hence growth in the learning institutions will be experienced. According to Max Weber’s ideas, capitalists were very hardworking people committed to seeing growth in economy and investing widely. Job opportunities were thus provided to those who acquired education and this led to very fast growth of learning institutions, both lower and higher. Generally, Max Weber’s ideas and theories have revealed that capitalism had many positive outcomes on education. The fact that it involved strong education to working hard towards economic and social growth, suggests that a strong base was built for development of education. Through establishment of strong economic base, it has been established that funding to the educational institutions was easy and this enabled conducting of researches building of learning resources like laboratories and acquisitions of learning materials to be very easy (Weber, 1978). He also goes further to address on the social, political and economic functions that resulted as evidenced in the increasing sense of conflict between individuals and organizations like schools. He used bureaucracy theory to do this and this led to a fairer, more impartial, more predictable, more rational and orderly organizational systems (Whimster, Sam, Lash, 1987). The workers in the educational systems could now be comfortable in their work. Authoritarianism in the capitalistic institutions was very much avoided. For a state or country that has a very strong capitalism, it has been established that their education background and development is quite easy since financial support is readily available. Mawebers theories and ideas on education and capitalism are still relevant to presently society. This is evidenced by the fact that those countries and states that have a strong economic growth are the ones likely to have prospered well in education. This is depicted in the technologies and innovations that are available in a country or a state (Political Writings, 1994). However, this does not lock out those developing countries. Capitalism is still taking effect in this countries and education on way up. This suggests that at one point t, these countries will be well established and education systems and background will be strong. Capitalism is a very strong tool in every society and it is this capitalist that influences the formation of policies and rules in any organization, institutions like schools as well as the entire governments. (Joseph, Jonathan (2003). They do this in capacity of politicians in the presently society making laws, policies and implementation still have a very strong influence from the politicians. Capitalism according to Maweber led to a strong economic base, which saw establishment of so many business enterprises and organizations. This led to increases need for labour and as a result many people had to provide labour in the enterprises something, which led to most people dropping their education. This is a negative effect of capitalism on education. Capitalisms also according to Maxweber insisted on division of labor (Runciman, 1972). This led to participation of the workers and consequently decline in performance. Conclusion. Capitalism as have been found out had and still has a very strong impact on education. Through capitalization, education finds a very strong base on which it grows to reach most of the people. This is ensured by strong economic ground that capitalism establishes whereby people as a result can access all the requirements necessary for acquiring education. Resources like learning materials are easily available and also schools and other learning institutions are widely established. Through capitalism, education is able to thrive very well and this means that people get educated which can be explained in terms of technological advancement of a country or state. This educated people will be able to discover new things through conducting researches as well as innovating new ideologies. Capitalism has also contributed to job opportunities through education. For example people learn new ideas and ways of doing things from maybe industries or other business enterprises. Those who pass knowledge to these people are themselves employees of these organizations and have acquired their jobs through intensified capitalism. Although capitalism somehow affected education earlier in that most people ended into providing labour in developing enterprises and industries failing to access education, the positive impacts are much more. Capitalism thus have a very great positive impact on education. How to cite Education And Capitalism, Papers

Effects of the Lgbt Community free essay sample

The Effects of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transsexual Community on Friends and Family. When someone of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transsexual community reveals their sexual orientation to someone who is close to them, those relationships tend to have both negative and positive effects. Many members of the LGBT community feel the need to hide who they are from the people they care about due to their fear of being misunderstood. Negativity can ruin the self esteem of someone of the LGBT community, whereas positivity can strengthen their self esteem. Many people base their opinions upon their religious views. Religious opinions often determine whether or not someone will be accepted or turned down and away from their family and friends. In many situations, when someone of the LGBT community is not accepted it is by someone who was raised on strong religious views and beliefs. My family is very religious, and they do not accept my cousin Josh for being bisexual. We will write a custom essay sample on Effects of the Lgbt Community or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page His parents, and the rest of my family, pretend like he isn’t a part of the LGBT community. He has to constantly hide who he really is from his own parents. I am the only one in the family who has loved and accepted his decision. I believe that support is the best thing anyone involved in the LGBT community could ask for. People who are more religious cannot accept a major change in society such as this one. They do not accept people of the LGBT community because they do not believe that people should love people of the same sex. They promote that people of the LGBT community will go to hell for their â€Å"infidelity†. Communities of moderately religious people are more accepting of people who belong to the LGBT community. In many situations that I have been involved with, I have noticed how even the smallest bit of acceptance can have the biggest impact on people who are a part of the LGBT community. I have noticed that some of Josh’s friends who do not make a certain religion a large part of their life are able to accept him more easily than a few of his other friends. Many people who don’t make religion a large part of their life are able to accept members of the LGBT community more easily because their thoughts are not sheltered by certain aspects of many religions. Many people in society today associate themselves with the LGBT community and consider themselves to be active in a particular religion. This demonstrates the idea that one can be active in both the LGBT community and in the religion of their choice. Many people who claim not to belong to any particular religion are more accepting of people who belong to the LGBT community. I have many friends whose families have accepted them as being members of the LGBT community; a large majority of these families do not claim to be a part of any religion. I believe that people who live life without claiming a religion tend to live more freely and are able to accept change when it is placed among them. One will notice that many people that claim to be Agnostic are more accepting to people of the LGBT community. They are more accepting because they do not live their life by certain Scriptures or rules assigned by any religion, which allows them to make their own decision in life without feeling as if they are doing something wrong. I believe if more people learned to accept the LGBT community for what it was; it would make our country, as a whole, a stronger entity. I have personally witnessed how a simple change of heart has made the life of a member of the LGBT community easier. There are many arguments amongst ourselves that tear our country apart, all because some people cannot love others for who they are. Most people are scared to accept change and accept that people can love members of the same sex because it is not something that they are used to. People should learn to love and accept others for who they are and for what they believe. If we were to open up our minds and hearts, more people would learn to trust the people they surround themselves with daily. It is important to show respect to people because negativity can cause more damage than what we tend to think. Nevertheless, it is not fair for people to have to hide themselves from the people they love. If society positively reacted to the LGBT community, the members would no longer feel the need to hide who they are.

Perfect School For An Ideal Education Essays - Teaching,

Perfect School For An Ideal Education Writing 121 16 November 2000 The Perfect School For An Ideal Education My idea of an ideal high school is one that students are proud of, at the same time receive a good education. To achieve this a school would need to have good teachers, qualified in the field in which they teach. Class sizes would have to be reduced to around twenty-five students, this way teachers could be more personal with their students. Teachers would have access to any materials or resources needed to do their job. Last but not least, the school would have to be appealing to the students and offer a pleasant environment. In high school I had a Government teacher named Mr. Bjorkman. He was also the coach for our varsity football team. You could tell he didn't know what he was teaching and was more focused on football. I didn't learn a single thing from his class. This is why a school would need to have qualified teachers in their classrooms. Students have different learning styles. Some are visual while others are auditorial, in some cases students may have a learning disorder. I have ADHD, which is a learning disorder. Before I received treatment I had a hard time paying attention and it also caused me to act up on occasion. My teachers thought I was a troublemaker so they always kicked me out of class. I wasn't given the opportunity to learn as much as the other students at my school. Not because I was a bad student, but because not one teacher took the time to try and help. This is why I believe a teacher needs to be able to distinguish between the two learning styles and disorders, so all their st udents receive an education. At my school there were days I sat on the floor because a classroom was missing desks. At times we were unable to locate a television and VCR to watch educational shows. You can't fix a car without having the right tools. The same goes for teaching. In order for students to reach their full potential you cannot deny teachers the materials needed to do their job properly. This is why a school needs to provide its teachers with whatever they need. I believe class sizes are an issue with all schools. Large class sizes make it difficult for teachers to get to know their students. It also makes it hard to get everyone involved in the class. When students aren't involved they get bored. When they get bored they don't want to be there so they skip school. A school would need to have a sufficient amount of classrooms and teachers. This would make it possible to bring the student to teacher ratio down to around twenty-five students per every teacher. With smaller classes it would be easier for the teachers to get everyone involved. It would also give the teachers a chance to get to know their students and make sure their keeping up with the rest of the class. If teachers knew their students it might encourage the kids to go to class because the teacher would notice if they weren't in class. I think a school should be clean and have curb appeal. No one wants to go to a dirty run down school. I believe it is important to put some thought into the colors picked for the interior of buildings. Different combinations of colors give off different vibes. I would pick a color scheme that gave off a good vibe. Every part of the school would be carpeted because it looks nicer than vinyl floors in my opinion. The school would have lots of windows and skylights in the classrooms. I would do this to bring in the sunlight because it gives you energy and makes people happy. The temperature would be set just right so that all the students were comfortable. Couches would be set up all over the campus so students have a place to hang out during breaks. The last thing done would be to make sure nice grass and big trees surrounded the school. This would be done because people feel more alive when green trees and grass surround them. By

Free Essays on Teens And Alcohol

Teens and Alcohol Did you know that in America we have a growing underage drinking epidemic? Will according to a research investigation we do. The research conducted by Columbia’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), underage drinking has become an epidemic in America and alcohol is the number one drug used by teens. It has shown that teens begin drinking as early as middle school and by high school graduation 80% of teens have tried alcohol. Also according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, teens who start drinking by the age of 15 are four more times likely to develop alcohol dependency. They have shown that over 3 million teenagers are out right alcoholics and that several million more have a serious drinking problem. Both research groups agree that alcohol causes health problems and it is also a contributing factor in the top three causes of death among teens: accidents, homicide and suicide. In order to stop this epidemic, as a society we need to teach teens what alcohol is and what alcohol does to them. They need to know what harm alcohol does to them physically and mentally. They need to know that, not only does alcohol cause harm to themselves, but when they are drinking they can cause harm to others as well. That alcohol is a dangerous and can lead them into trouble. Alcohol is a drug made when fruits, grains and vegetables are fermented. This is when a process using bacteria and yeast causes the sugars in the original food to change chemically into alcohol. Fermenting is an everyday useful process that enables us to make medicines, cheeses, vitamins and citric acids. These things help us get better when sick and gives us some of the foods we eat. Alcohol is also used in everyday life as an antiseptic, sedative and even as a cleaning product, but when consumed it can be dangerous to our health. Alcohol is an addicting drug that impairs one’s ability signif... Free Essays on Teens And Alcohol Free Essays on Teens And Alcohol Teens and Alcohol Somewhere a mother waits up for her sixteen-year-old daughter who went to a â€Å"birthday† party with her new boyfriend. The girl’s curfew was ten o’clock and it is now twelve-thirty. There comes a knocking on the door, the mother opens it to find a police officer, hat in hand, trying to find the right words to break the news gently to the worried mother. The â€Å"birthday† party was really a beer bash and at ten o’clock when the girl finally made it clear that she had to go home, the young man who had already had far too much to drink, decided to drive her home, and passed out while driving, on the train track. The locomotive was traveling about 80mph carrying the car about two miles down the tracks. The girl never had a chance to get out of the car before the train hit. The girl died on impact and the boy was pronounced DOA at the local hospital. There is a worried mother pacing the floor†¦. How many mothers have to have their families shattered by the unexpected death of their children? It is hard enough for teenagers today to grow-up. The pressures of being young are, in some cases, overwhelming. However these pressures are doubled when these young people go out and get drunk every night. Teens who consume alcohol run the risk of not growing up mentally, damaging their internal organs, and they even risk their very life. Teenagers are dying way too young due to the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Young minds must be protected whether they want to be or not the legal age for the purchase and consumption of alcoholic beverages should be raised to twenty-five. Alcohol clouds the mind and numbs the brain. Heavy drinking causes the reflexes to be sluggish. When minors get drunk, their mental processes get messed up. Some teenagers think he/she really needs a drink in order to deal with school and homework. The scribbles they call penmanship would make a newborn baby’s scribbles... Free Essays on Teens And Alcohol Teens and Alcohol Did you know that in America we have a growing underage drinking epidemic? Will according to a research investigation we do. The research conducted by Columbia’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), underage drinking has become an epidemic in America and alcohol is the number one drug used by teens. It has shown that teens begin drinking as early as middle school and by high school graduation 80% of teens have tried alcohol. Also according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, teens who start drinking by the age of 15 are four more times likely to develop alcohol dependency. They have shown that over 3 million teenagers are out right alcoholics and that several million more have a serious drinking problem. Both research groups agree that alcohol causes health problems and it is also a contributing factor in the top three causes of death among teens: accidents, homicide and suicide. In order to stop this epidemic, as a society we need to teach teens what alcohol is and what alcohol does to them. They need to know what harm alcohol does to them physically and mentally. They need to know that, not only does alcohol cause harm to themselves, but when they are drinking they can cause harm to others as well. That alcohol is a dangerous and can lead them into trouble. Alcohol is a drug made when fruits, grains and vegetables are fermented. This is when a process using bacteria and yeast causes the sugars in the original food to change chemically into alcohol. Fermenting is an everyday useful process that enables us to make medicines, cheeses, vitamins and citric acids. These things help us get better when sick and gives us some of the foods we eat. Alcohol is also used in everyday life as an antiseptic, sedative and even as a cleaning product, but when consumed it can be dangerous to our health. Alcohol is an addicting drug that impairs one’s ability signif...

Lenovos Retail Supply Chain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Lenovos Retail Supply Chain - Essay Example The paper tells that Lenovo is an individual-technology firm that is worth approximately twenty-one billion dollars and the second biggest dealer of personal computers. The company’s head offices are in Beijing, China while a second head office is in Morrisville in the United States. Six Sigma is a collection of techniques as well as implements that assist in the improvement of elements which was established by Motorola and embraced as a business strategy for General Electric in 1995. Computer manufacturers have applied six-sigma for progressive quality enhancement as well as lean manufacturing with the aim of decreasing process wastage so that they can in the best way meet the needs of the customers. The focus of this comprehensive essay is to review Lenovo’s retail supply chain as well as logistics operations as well as the effect on costs and consumer experiences for the retail customers. Initially, Lenovo’s supply chain was not properly incorporated partially for the reason that it had been developed from a union between two firms that did not have the same characteristics. The company had different distributors in various regions of the globe, with varying customer bases and operating under different models. The initial supply chain was also not created to deal with the volumes that the company started attaining and this made deliveries arrive at their destinations late. The company embraced Workout, which is a group based improvement approach that was initially developed by General Electrics, whereby, all the core decision makers on a difficult issue converge in a room and remain there until they find a solution. In some cases, the productivity of the manufacturing line was able to be doubled as a result of this.

Ethical hacking Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ethical hacking - Coursework Example This note will self-destruct after you have read it. Or you could delete the note yourself ? Coursework Please complete this first section Your name Your Name Preferred email address Your working email address Lab Day Your Lab Day Lab Time Your Lab Time Please leave the remaining entries blank on this page, especially the red and yellow ones. They are the marking scheme for the coursework and as such must not be changed. The following marks cover most exercises. The marks will be averaged across your work, so that if you have some good and some bad labs they will balance out to an 'average' mark. Mark Specific Comments on individual lab exercises Description of Exercises [8 – 10] Excellent [5 – 7] Good but incomplete [3 – 4] Lack of clarity or content [1 – 2] Very Poor [0] No description /10 Method/Structure [41 - 50] Ideal content/structure [31 - 40] Very good content/structure [21 – 30] Good content/lacking some clarity or structure [11 – 2 0] Adequate/lacking content [0 – 10] Misleading/incorrect methods or structure /50 Activity and Results [19 - 20] Excellent [16 - 18] Covered well [10 - 15] Good, missing some elements [0 – 9] Very poor or missing most elements /20 Reflection [16 – 20] Excellent including related thoughts/ideas [11 – 15] Good, many areas covered [5 – 10] Relates only to lab outcomes with lack of personal insight [1 -4] Lack of depth of reflection / limited content [0] No reflection /20 Total /100 Lab Description Lab 2 - Essential TCP/IP tools Description of exercise Date lab undertaken: 15th October 2008 Operating System: Windows XP (state service pack) Exercise Description: [Describe the lab activity here. You should consider adding more than just my brief description.] Upon completion of this lab students will be familiar with a number of useful TCP/IP related tools and how to use said tools for diagnosing TCP/IP related problems. Method In this Lab we were intro duced to the tools used to identify where problems may be occurring on the network. The lab consisted of several activities that included the use of the following utilities: CMD to enable a command line window, IPCONFIG to check and change the status of network adapters, and finally PING to identify if the machine was able to verify connections between hosts. Lab setup The PCs in ASG21 were connected to the Internet and there was no specific configuration required. Activity Finding out what you IP settings are Tasks Detail of activity 1 Use cmd to open a command line window 2 Use ipconfig /all to identify the network adapter settings 3 Record the settings returned from ipconfig /all Activity Results Tasks Result. Give reason if result is FAIL. 1 PASS Successfully open a command line window using cmd 2 PASS Successfully used ipconfig /all to show the network adapter settings. 3 Details can be seen in the screenshot below Activity Setting the IP Address on your computer Tasks Detail o f activity 1 - 7 Use windows control panel to investigate and change the IP address from being dynamic to static. 1. Open control panel. 2. Select network connections 3. Select required connection. 4. Select the properties. 5. Select TCP/IP settings 6. Assign a manual IP address and apply it. 7. Once the address has been assigned, run IPCONFIG /ALL in a command line window to check that it has been changed.

Managing Communications in the Garden Company Assignment

Managing Communications in the Garden Company - Assignment Example The Garden Company needs to upgrade its communication processes as well as its information and knowledge collection strategies. This can be done through the systematic evaluation of its key strengths and weaknesses. Basically, this paper has based the management of communications, knowledge, as well as information about the centre of focus being landscaping/gardening business. The Garden Company is the business title in this case. A number of decisions are needed in the organization in order to achieve long-term growth and profitability. These decisions should start with the need to enhance the communication processes in the organization. Communication processes should be able to use a number of strategies that can help to achieve the long-term goals within a short period of time. Furthermore, the goal should be to achieve the long-term strategic advantage with an emphasis on innovation. Communication processes should be strengthened for the benefit of the employees and the customer segments of the organization. Another critical area where decision making is required is that the information collection and management processes must be strengthened to ensure that customer loyalty can be attained. The organization must be able to devise a collaborative strategy for success (Gary, 2002: p. 4). The organization needs to have information regarding its critical goals and objectives. This is an important part of the decision making process. Furthermore, it needs to develop an institutional structure that can help to attain the critical goals within a short period of time. Planning and appraisal is another key area where success can be attained by the organization. Monitoring and evaluation are helpful in decision making as it helps to ensure the success of long-term strategies. These approaches should be based on a careful understanding of the external and internal environments. The external sources of information for the organization come by tracking the feedback obtained from the customers.  Ã‚  

Diversification within UK Private Real Estate Portfolios

Diversification within UK Private Real Estate Portfolios A Critical Appraisal of the Literature on Diversification within Private Real Estate Portfolios in the United Kingdom   Abstract One of the two major ways in which institutional investors can invest in real estate is private real estate. Private real estate is to purchase un-securitized real estate directly through property pools, commingled real estate funds (CREFs), syndications or separate accounts that are managed by professional real estate portfolio managers or investment advisors. This form of ownership will henceforth be referred to as private real estate. There are different drivers of investing within the private real estate portfolios, including markets, sectors, management, area/building specific, scale, diversification, liquidity, tax and governance risks. The private real estate has a low level of linear dependence on equity, so private real estate requires the diversification of its portfolios. This paper provides a critical appraisal of the literature on diversification within private real estate portfolios. Does a U.K. market need to do the diversification within private real estate portfolios when British people need it? Not really. Literature Review Investment in private real estate offers considerable advantages: it is a tangible asset with low volatility; and it generates an attractive income stream and long-term capital appreciation and particularly strong diversification benefits to stocks and bonds. Thus, there is extant literature showing that private real estate has a significant place in the U.S. mixed-asset portfolio: see Ziobrowski and Ziobrowski (1997); and Firstenberg, Ross Zisler (1998); among others. Researchers conducted several studies on real estates role as a component of asset-only portfolios, specifically focusing on real estates diversification benefits. These studies compensate for some of the issues with real estate data, in particular, that of valuation smoothing. Most of these studies conclude that the allocation to real estate should be from 10% upward. The results indicate that limited diversification benefits can be gained from international investments in pure office strategies, particularly for multi-asset investors seeking to reduce risk stemming from the capital markets. Existing empirical evidence is generally consistent with firm owners portfolio diversification having a positive impact on their firms risk taking (e.g., Amihud and Lev (1981) and Faccio, Marchica and Mura (2011)). The general theme in the existing literature is that firm riskiness can be reduced primarily by means of choosing safer investments, i.e. investments that result in lower cash flow volatility or stock return volatility (e.g., Lyandres, Marchica, Michaely, and Mura (2015) and Faccio, Marchica and Mura (2011)), or lower correlation with the rest of the firm decision makers cash flows (e.g., Amihud and Lev (1981) and Gormley, Matsa and Milbourn (2013)). The association between private (constrained) firm owners portfolio diversification and investment is negative and significant in most cases (Lyandres, Marchica, Michaely, and Mura, 2015). Lyandres, Marchica, Michaely, and Mura (2015) study possible endogeneity of firm owners portfolio diversification and of firms private status does not seem to drive their results. The inclusion of owner fixed effects does not impact the qualitative relation between owners portfolio diversification and private firms capital investment (Lyandres, Marchica, Michaely, and Mura, 2015). However, the fixed-effects results may still be affected by self-selection: better-diversified owners may select to invest in companies with higher investment rates, which better their risk preferences. Lyandres, Marchica, Michaely, and Mura (2015) suggest the firms capital investment depends on portfolio diversification of their controlling owners; the effect of owners portfolio diversification on firms investment levels depends crucially on firms financial constraints: the investment-diversification relation is positive for relatively unconstrained firms and is negatively for relatively constrained ones. Owner fixed-effects, a quasi-natural experiment, and instrumental variable analysis suggest that this result is not driven by potential endogeneity of owners diversification. A matched-sample analysis, selection model, and an alternative measure of financial constraints show that Lyandres, Marchica, Michaely, and Mura (2015)s findings are also not driven by the endogeneity of their proxy for financial constraints. The analysis builds on and extends that of Hoesli et al. (2004) but broadens the length of the time series and the depth of analysis as they pertain to the real estate portfolio. They concluded that both domestic and international real estate contribute with risk diversification, and therefore portfolio efficiency, to the multi-asset portfolio and that the data support an allocation to real estate of between 15 and 25%, depending on risk preferences and the investors country of domicile. The purpose is to investigate how the composition of a real estate portfolio affects the ability to achieve risk diversification when management costs are taken into account and after removing the assumption that investors can only by a real estate market portfolio. The analysis contributes to the body of knowledge by exploring how the type of underlying tenant demand type affects the portfolio composition problem for real estate investors and thus how real estate strategies should be fashioned to more effectively support overall portfolio objectives. Hoesli and Lizieri (2007) report correlations close to zero for private real estate in the UK. Lizieri (2013) finds that the correlation of the private real estate varies significantly over the market cycle, tending to increase in periods from 1995 to 2010 of poor stock market performance. Lizieri (2013) finds that the correlations of private real estate with equities and bonds changed in the last five years of the sample from around zero to 0.4 and -0.5 respectively. This would indicate that the diversification benefits from real estate disappear when they are most needed. However, it is also found that when the variance is decomposed, a high proportion of private real estate variance cannot be explained by wider capital market factors, which indicates substantial diversification benefits. Even though data construction issues for private real estate cannot be ruled out, Lizieri (2013) concludes that the results support the diversification role of the private real estate. Ang (2012) explores the characteristics of real estate in the context of its real asset characteristics along with real estates role in the asset allocation puzzle. Ang (2012) concludes that real estate is different from other asset classes in several respects: the idiosyncratic risk, the heterogeneity of the assets and requirement to actively mange real estate holdings. Ang (2012) also points out the difficulty of including real estate in any asset allocation model on par with stocks and bonds because direct real estate total returns are not returns in the same sense as are total returns for the other asset classes. This is because real estate total returns are not transaction based nor is there a way to measure the whole market. Ang (2012) does not say that real estate has no role to play but rather that the only return derived from real estate measured on the same frequency as the return on mature asset classes is the income return. Diversification of the Private Real Estate Portfolios with Equity REIT shares An examination of resulting efficient frontiers and their corresponding optimal portfolio weights across various levels of expected return reveals that the ability of public real estate to rebalance and diversify private real estate only portfolios, using either long or short positions, is very much in doubt (Seiler, Webb and Neil Mye, 2001). Private real estate helps reduce the risk of a portfolio because it has less than a perfect correlation with stocks, bonds and all other assets. Qualitative Analysis Standard Markowitz portfolio selection model assumes jointly normal and symmetric distributions. If that holds, then mean, variance and covariance are sufficient to define effective diversification strategy. Traditional diversification strategies no longer provide desired level of protection in bear markets. Portfolio risk and expected value fall in bear markets are systematically understated. Traditional notions of risk-return trade-off are systematically overstated. Frequent portfolio rebalancing needed to maintain target level of risk, leading to higher transaction costs. For example, Stichting Pensioenfonds X: Asset Mix is an archetypical private real estate portfolio. 9% property allocation is reasonable for a well funded and growing scheme if assume under-performs equities and out-performs bonds and adds some diversification. Higher portfolio diversification reduces the variance of owners portfolio return and its covariance with the firms cash flow. As a result, higher portfolio diversification of firm owner lowers the risk avoidance incentives and leads to increased risk taking by the firm. The direct effect of higher owners portfolio diversification on an unconstrained firms capital investment is through the reduction in the variance of owners wealth and the resulting decrease in his or her risk-avoidance incentives. A more diversified owner is less concerned with higher cash flow volatility resulting from higher operating leverage, and chooses a higher level of capital investment. The result is a positive relation between owners portfolio diversification and firm investment for unconstrained firms. The mechanism behind the negative relation between a constrained firms investment and its owners portfolio diversification is different. A constrained firm cannot increase its capital investment level in response to an increase in firm owners portfolio diversification, as its investment is determined by the investment capacity constraint. The only channel the constrained firm can use to alter its cash flow volatility is the riskiness of its investments. The scale/diversification of assets depends upon the genuine efficiency from scale, diversification and impact on equity rising and the decrease of the default. The portfolio of loans demands diversification during the debt and credit crisis. High correlation among portfolios means diversification across sectors relatively little impact on risk reduction in UK historically compared to specific risk. The degree of portfolio diversification of a firms controlling owner may influence its choice of riskiness of firm strategies. The reason is that an expected-utility-maximizing risk-averse owner takes into account the variance of the private real estates overall wealth when making decisions on behalf of the firm the CEO controls. Drivers of diversification from equities Drivers of rents Demand-GDP, business and financial services, consumer spending, distribution, general price inflation, technology, profitability and other investment sentiment drivers. Supply-Construction, planning, obsolescence Drivers of yields Interest rates/term structure, credit availability, credit sentiment (high grade versus low grade), property sentiment. Other factors Tax/political risks, property specific (e.g. lease structures) The earlier studies revealed real estate, with all its illiquidity, management intensity and information asymmetry, does exhibit characteristics that complement the multi-asset portfolio by contributing diversification (Lekander, 2015). But the findings go further to suggest that diversification objectives in low-risk overall strategies are best achieved via types of real estate in which the tenant demand is less affected by global factors, whereas diversification strategies for higher overall risk strategies are best supported by real estate strategies focusing on globally dependent real estate (Lekander, 2015). When accounting for the cost of liquidity, by defining the market value as the mean of the buyer reservation price distribution, a different return pattern emerges. This has implications on the correlation characteristics of real estate, reducing the real estates diversification potential. A similar bias affects investment indices through the population of transactions available to the appraiser to determine price evidence. As such, there is a risk that the return indices measuring private real estate performance are based on market evidence that suffers from selection bias and appraisal smoothing, thus skewing the characteristics of the private real estate returns. A form test of the superiority of economic-based diversification strategies for real estate portfolio diversification was undertaken by Mueller (1992). Mueller (1992) showed that a diversification strategy based on his own classification, which relies solely on economic base, provided even greater risk-adjusted return possibilities. Data and Quantitative Analysis Model The estimates produced and updated are based on a two-quadrant approach looking at private real estate (holdings of funds and other private investors) and private real estate debt (lending by banks and other institutions). I consider a situation in which a firms controlling owner is entitled to a proportion of the firms cash flow. In addition, the firms owner is endowed with initial wealth x outside of the controlled firm, which is invested in an imperfectly diversified portfolio with a normally distributed return, whose mean is and whose standard deviation is . Our model abstracts from the reasons for imperfect diversification of the firms owner, which is a feature consistent with the data. The focus is on the effects of imperfect diversification of owners portfolios on controlled firms investment strategies. I assume that the firms controlling owner is risk-averse and that the CEO maximizes the expected utility of his or her terminal wealth, . This utility is given by , where is the firm owners Arrow-Pratt coefficient of absolute risk aversion. Assuming that the firms cash flow (discussed below) is normally distributed, investors expected utility maximization simplifies into the mean-variance criterion: . The model shows that in order to understand the impact of firm owners portfolio diversification on firms investment strategies, it is crucial to consider simultaneous choices of both the level and riskiness of firms investments. The analysis focuses on the relation between owners portfolio diversification and firms investment level, extends and complements the existing literature that focuses on the riskiness of firms investment. The interaction between these two decisions results in a non-trivial and somewhat surprising relation between owners portfolio diversification and the level of her or his firms capital investment. Comparative statics Lemma 1: If the investment capacity constraint is not binding in equilibrium, then the firms equilibrium level of capital investment and its riskiness, and respectively, are given by the following system of equations: , subject to . I am interested in the effects of controlling owners portfolio diversification on the choice of the level and riskiness of capital investment of constrained and unconstrained firms. In what follows, we present comparative statics of the firms investment level and its riskiness with respect to the standard deviation of the owners portfolio, . I also graphically illustrate these comparative statics using the numerical example to help explain the intuition. Totally differentiating the unconstrained equilibrium conditions in (3) and (4) with respect to owners portfolio standard deviation produces the following result: Proposition 1 For a firm whose capital investment is unconstrained in equilibrium, , equilibrium level of capital investment and its riskiness, and respectively, are decreasing in the standard deviation of firm owners portfolio, . The owners objective function is: subject to Maximizing the owners expected utility in (5) with respect to , while assuming that the investment capacity is binding, i.e., that , leads to the following result: Lemma 2 If the investment capacity constraint is binding, , then the firms equilibrium riskiness of investment, , is given by the following equation: Data The UK data are from the Investors Chronicle Hillier Parker (ICHP) Index and comprise 32 semi-annual observations from 1977 to 1993. The UK data are available disaggregated by three property types (offices; industrial; and retail) and by 11 regions (London, South East, South West, East Anglia, East Midlands, West Midlands, Wales, Yorkshire and Humberside, North, North West, Scotland). The data exclude shopping centres, mixed use buildings, and business space. Data for the U.K. 11 regions were also aggregated to produce three super regions as suggested by Key et al. (1994). These regions are London, South and North. Quantitative Analysis Results The estimated correlation matrices for the three UK property types and three UK regions are shown in Table I and II. As the number of regions differs from the number of property types, there is no test for the UK 11 region data comparable with the one undertaken above. It is, nonetheless, informative to analyse this data. This is done by calculating the correlations between all market segments, in which a market segment is defined as one property type in one region. The full matrix is given in Table III. In the UK it is a conventional wisdom that retail property offers least scope for regional diversification: retail sales tend not to have strong regional differences and the supply response of the retail property market does not differ significantly across regions. In contrast, in the office market, as the London market is driven by the financial sector has a strong international dimension; opportunities should exist for regional diversification within the office market. Table I. UK correlations based on semi-annual returns for 11 regions and three property types (1977-1993) In conclusion, the results show that the scope for diversification within a region varies from region to region and is greatest the further from London, while the diversification within property type is generally limited but is better for office and industrial property. Retail property is poorly correlated with either industrial or offices. Thus, full diversification by both property type and region is to be preferred. Table II Insignificant correlations between market segments by property type, based on semi-annual returns, UK, 1977-1993 IPD/MSCI Data to Explore the Most Important Characteristics of Diversification in Private Real Estate MSCI IPD is the only global provided of appraisal-based total return indices for private real estate across a number of different geographical markets. In this subsection, we look at the main factors affecting the performance of financial investments, i.e. economic growth, inflation and interest rates. These are the most important characteristics in driving differences in performance across the private real estate market over the past few decades. Also, the impact of these factors is partially overlaid with endogenous dynamics of real estate markets resulting from lagged responses of supply and demand. This subsection mainly suggests a specific real estate factor may exist that drives real estate returns but is not common with the drivers of equities or bonds, indicating the existence of long-term diversification benefits of private real estate. Table III: Comparison of key statistics for selected total return indices in the UK UK (1990-2014, monthly) Average return Standard deviation Sharpe ratio Private RE (smoothed) 7.46% 3.76% 0.69 Private RE (unsmoothed) 7.46% 7.49% 0.37 Private Re (trans.-based) 10.39% 8.84% 0.06 Source: IPD and EPRA. IPD data available since 1987 but presented since 1990 to align with other indices. Sharpe ratio calculated relative to three-month T-bills. Table IV: Overview of average annual returns and volatilities for selected international private real estate indices Table IV summarizes the risk-return statistics of the IPD and NCREIF indices across a number of countries. Whilst we are aware that the statistical significance of comparisons based on only few observations is low, it is striking that the UK market is among the most volatile ones. The broad market opinion that the UK real estate market observes tends to see stronger cyclical movements. On the other hand, the UK private real estate market offers higher liquidity and market depth. Changes in the levels and volatility of returns from commercial real estate investments in the UK over a rolling ten-year view is presented in Figure 1. Figure 1: Rolling ten-year average returns and return volatilities in the UK The risk-return profile of the UK market shows a regime shift following the financial crisis. Also, for the UK, unsmoothed real estate indices show Sharpe ratios comparable or slightly above the levels measured for equity and bond indices. However, one needs to consider that risk-return profiles may not be stable over time. Also, the risk-return profiles of investments may be different for long-term investors, although there is no conclusive evidence that the reduction of the effective volatility should be higher for real estate than for other types of assets. However, the fact that a high proportion of the return is derived from income may indeed favor real estate in the long term. Real estate factor The existence of a specific real estate factor is highly relevant for the construction of investment portfolios based on fundamental factors. Recent research supports the existence of such a factor for commercial private real estate. In order to verify the existence of a real estate factor, I ran a factor analysis for the UK following the reasoning of Mei and Lee (1994). Monthly data were used in the UK. A higher absolute value for a loading means that the factor has a higher impact, positive or negative, on the returns of the index, while a value close to zero indicates no significant impact. Table 5: Factor loading of stocks, bonds and alternative real estate index returns Source: my own calculations. The highest absolute loading for each index has been highlighted in bold in Table 5. While the levels of the loadings are not directly interpretable, the regularity in their relative values is striking. Factor F1 loads highly on stock market indices and on pubic real estate indices. In fact, it appears to represent mainly listed real estate, while pure stock indices are also influenced by F3. Factor F2 loads very highly on all private real estate indices, both smoothed and unsmoothed, as well as transaction-based indices. Factor F3 loads most strongly on bond indices and to a lower extent on stock indices. It appears justified to label F1 as a stock market factor and F2 as a real estate factor, while F3 could be associated with monetary factors such as interest rates. The above results represent a strong indication that the factor that drives direct real estate returns may indeed differ from the one that drives the returns of equities or bonds. While it is impossible to conclude on t he basis of this analysis what particular risks or drivers this factor might reflect, they seem to be different to the risks and drivers behind the equities or fixed income, which should create diversification potential. Conclusion The sections above have provided a critical appraisal of the literature on diversification within private real estate portfolios. For the UK, the opposite result was obtained for retail property and diversification across both property types and regions was to be preferred for the other two property types. The results offer some insights into real estate performance and may offer some input into the determination of a diversification ion strategy for a real estate portfolio. There are two major qualifications on the results. The first is that they are historical results and they may not be a good proxy for the future correlations. Historical returns are unlikely to be a good proxy for future returns and that probably also holds for the correlations calculated between real estate categories. The second qualification is that investors have objectives, which are more complex than just the trade-off between the level of period return and volatility of period return. Behind the analysis of regional economic base is the reasonable presumption that similarity in economic structure and performance should lead to similarity in real estate performance. However, such analyses, which focus on demand proxies, ignore supply or, at best, assume no differences in supply responses across property type or region. Testing the economic base ideas with highly disaggregated returns data is therefore very important. The UK data allow comparisons of the economic similarity of regions and the similarity of property performance. It would then be possible to infer from the UK results whether the proxying of real estate performance with economic performance is valid and perhaps at what spatial scale. Table III Real Estate Portfolio Diversification References Amihud, Y. and Lev, B., 1981. Risk reduction as a managerial motive for conglomerate mergers.   The bell journal of economics, pp.605-617. Ang, A., 2012. RealAssets. Columbia Business School Research Paper No. 12-60.   Faccio, M., Marchica, M.T. and Mura, R., 2011. Large shareholder diversification and corporate   risk-taking. Review of Financial Studies, 24(11), pp.3601-3641. Firstenberg, P.M., Ross, S.A. and Zisler, R.C., 1988. Real estate: the whole story. The Journal of  Portfolio Management, 14(3), pp.22-34. Gormley, T.A., Matsa, D.A. and Milbourn, T., 2013. CEO compensation and corporate risk:   Evidence from a natural experiment. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 56(2), pp.79-101. Hoesli, M., Lekander, J. and Witkiewicz, W., 2004. International evidence on real estate as a   portfolio diversifier. Journal of Real Estate Research, 26(2), pp.161-206. Hoesli, M. and Lizieri, C., 2007. Real estate in the investment portfolio. A report for the   Investment Strategy Council of the Royal Ministry of Finance. Key, T., Zarkesh, F., MacGregor, B. and Nanthakumaran, N., 1994. Understanding the property   cycle. Main report: Economic cycles and property cycles. London: RICS. Lekander, J.R., 2015. Real estate portfolio construction for a multi-asset portfolio. Journal ofProperty Investment Finance, 33(6), pp.548-573. Lizieri, C., 2013. After the fall: Real estate in the mixed-asset portfolio in the aftermath of the   global financial crisis. The Journal of Portfolio Management, 39(5), pp.43-59. Lyandres, E., Marchica, M.T., Michaely, R. and Mura, R., 2015. Owners Portfolio   Diversification and Firm Investment: Evidence from Private and Public Firms. Mueller, G. and Ziering, B., 1992. Real estate portfolio diversification using economic   diversification. Journal of Real Estate Research, 7(4), pp.375-386. Seiler, M., Webb, J. and Neil Mye, F., 2001. Can private real estate portfolios be   rebalanced/diversified using equity REIT shares?. Journal of R

The Unnecessary Death of Jessica Hathawaye :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

The Unnecessary Death of Jessica Hathawaye When will the day come when parents realize children are not possessions to be manipulated!? Children are people, too, and need guidance - don't we all? - but is it necessary to force our beliefs and practices upon them, demanding they emulate only the lifestyle we lead? It sickens me to see the tragic waste of human life, specifically the lives of children. Going one step further, it sickens me to see parents who lack the common sense that God gave a dog! One can't drive an automobile without passing a test, but any idiot can have a child. It wasn't bad weather that killed Jessica Hathaway. It was the effects of her mother's non-conformist lifestyle and preaching. Imagine a small seven year old girl, living in a quiet town on the coast of northern California. One would envision the child playing with dolls, serving tea from her Barbie play-time tea set to her mom or dad, maybe even showing off her schoolwork from the day's lessons in grammar school. A very believable childhood scenario. Not for Jessica Hathaway. Jessica wasn't allowed to play with dolls or teddy bears. Jessica Hathaway wasn't allowed to go to grammar school with the other children. Jessica wasn't even allowed to read children's books. Introducing New Age mother and self-acclaimed spiritual healer, Lisa Hathaway, Jessica's mother. Lisa has her own ideas about how to raise her children, as do we all, but Lisa's ideas ride the fence between extreme New Age philosophy and 60s idealism. Lisa encouraged Jessica to follow her bliss, though it seems obvious the real encouragement was to follow her mother's bliss. A seven year old child finds bliss in a chocolate candy bar, or in playing house with friends, but certainly not in reading technical material from an equestrian magazine or flying a plane across the country. Jessica Hathaway never watched television; there wasn't one in her house and she wasn't allowed to watch anyone else's. Truthfully, we all could use a little less television. Jessica didn't go to school, Lisa felt the children should forge their own way in life. Real life the best tutor, experience the best preparation. That could apply to an eighteen year old, but a seven year old? Lisa failed to file a home-schooling plan with local authorities, another display of her anti-conformist attitude. School is an unfit place for my children, Lisa has said.

Academic Life Essay

New generation of students in university may change their major. When university starts a student is asked to succeed a certain type of courses or requirements to graduate. There is no dead line to take a new path. Thus, it can happen that suddenly for some reasons students change their major ; namely, due to the will of some parents, the student not having passing grades, and the student changing his mind. The first reason that leads a student to change his major may come from his parents. Sometimes children don’t have the choice to follow their own studies. They have to execute whatever their parents want. In this case, nothing is expecting from the child beyond to obey. When students are pushed like this, it mostly happens when a member of the family has previously succeeded well. The child is placed in a position where he has to walk behind the one who was successful. Therefore, whatever the major the student has decided to take, the final decision belongs to the parents. The second cause is failing in class. Many students are not taking their academic life seriously enough to get passing grades. This situation shed light on the fact that there is no choice other than withdrawal the course and look for a new area where the student will feel more comfortable. Many reasons can be found for the failure of students ; however, their own responsibility was engaged when they have decided to pick those majors. As serious students, they should be aware of their behavior during the whole studies period. Accordingly to the cause of this paragraph, students may have no other solution than changing their way. See more: Old Age Problem essay The last and main cause that pushes a student to change his major is the changing of mind. University starts very early in a student’s life, so for this reason it can happen that his first choice of major was wrong. As a result, he can choose to change it by simply switching to another major and complete his studies. In this case, it is very important for the student to follow exactly the type of studies that suit him the best for his own success. For example, a student who applied for the Law course suddenly realizes that it doesn’t concur with his skills. The only escape is to find something more suitable. In other words, the choice of major is not permanent. Hopefully, every student can move to a new major without  complications. It should be clear that even if it is an easy thing to do, it has to be taken with precaution because changing major imply a new education. It has many positives effects but it should remains in coherence with the studies of the student. S omehow, when it is easy for students, the good grades will follow.

Supply and Demand The Case of Milk

Supply and Demand The Case of Milk Milk prices are soaring. Millions of consumers all over the world buy milk products on a daily basis and are not willing to give them up. Climate change, competition among biofuel producers, trade policies and other factors drive global milk prices and turn milk into one of the most expensive food products (Arnold, 2007). â€Å"Cows are fed with corn and as more corn is diverted to energy production, feed costs and dairy farmers in turn pass those costs up the food chain† (Doherty, 2007).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Supply and Demand: The Case of Milk specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Simultaneously, international milk producers fail to cope with the growing demand for milk. The demand for milk products is at all-time high (Arnold, 2007). The roaring global economy and rising incomes in India, China, and Latin America make the task of producing enough milk extremely challenging and virtually unachievable (A rnold, 2007). Milk products are similar to gasoline: consumers cannot give them up even when the price grows unbearable (Doherty, 2007). Financial experts predict that, as the price of milk increases, the demand for milk products is likely to remain unchanged (Doherty, 2007). Apparently, the elasticity of demand for milk and milk products is extremely low. Put simply, the global demand for milk and milk products is not responsive to changes in milk prices. It should be noted, that elasticity is the central measure of market responsiveness in microeconomics (Baumol Blinder, 2008). The main determinants of demand elasticity include the nature of the good, availability of substitutes, household budgets, and passage of time (Rittenberg Tregarthen, 2011). The nature of the good is directly related to demand elasticity: necessities like food products tend to have inelastic demand curves (Baumol Blinder, 2008). This is particularly the case of milk, since many consumers perceive milk as the fundamental ingredient of their diets and large food manufacturers use milk in their products. Milk does not have close substitutes, and substitutability remains one of the main factors of demand elasticity in microeconomics (Baumol Blinder, 2008). Given that the demand for milk is highly inelastic, the demand curve for milk will look as follows: Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Fig.1. Inelastic demand for milk and milk products. Thousands of consumers spend their budgets on milk, because they believe it to be useful for their health. Consumers take the usefulness of milk for granted (Doherty, 2007). They treat milk as an excellent source of cheap proteins (Doherty, 2007). Therefore, if an advertising campaign spreads the message that milk helps to reduce weight, the quantity demanded will soar. Fig.2. Changes in quantity demanded and price after the adverti sing campaign. The price of milk in the short-term period will remain unchanged, as the growing demand for milk products does not reduce the costs of milk production. In short-term periods farmers will also experience the shortage of supply. In the long run, the price of milk will increase to create new market equilibrium. A mad cow disease epidemic will reduce the amount of milk in the market. The quantity demanded will drop, since customers will not be willing to purchase milk products and get infected. The supply curve will move to the left together with the demand curve. The price of milk will remain unchanged.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Supply and Demand: The Case of Milk specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Changes in the price of milk will cause no shifts in the demand curve. However, the quantity demanded will change. Consumers will want to purchase more milk at a lower price. An increase in the demand for milk products will manifest through movements along the demand curve. However, as the demand for milk increases, most farmers will fail to supply enough milk to the market, followed by the shortage of milk products. Consequentially, changes in the price of milk may move the supply curve to the left: possibly, milk manufacturers will have to adopt new technologies to meet the growing demand for milk. How the government price ceiling for milk affects the supply and demand of milk products depends on whether the ceiling price is below or above the market-determined equilibrium. Actually, the government price ceiling for agricultural products is a frequent object of microeconomic analysis. The government is believed to produce heavy influences on the stability and equilibrium in the milk market. The government-imposed price ceiling above the market-established equilibrium price will have no effects on either the supply or demand of milk. By contrast, the ceiling price below the market-e stablished equilibrium will cause profound effects on the supply and demand of milk. Farmers will not be able to charge the market price for milk. Some suppliers may choose to leave the milk market. Reduced supply will cause the shortage of milk products in the market. Consumers will fail to meet their demand for milk and milk products. Price control is one of the most controversial aspects of the market-government relationship. Government price ceilings reduce consumer prices, whereas price floors increase firms’ revenues and incomes (Economics Help, 2008). Consumers believe that government price ceilings limit suppliers’ ambitions and make goods and service affordable. Government price ceilings alter the market equilibrium in the agricultural market. Price controls are associated with numerous disadvantages. First, government price ceilings lead to the shortage of goods in the market (Economics Help, 2008).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Second, government controls of minimum prices raise consumer prices and result in oversupply of products and production inefficiency (Economics Help, 2008). Given that milk does not have close substitutes and is considered a food necessity, its demand is inelastic. As a result, any increase in price for milk will inevitably lead to an increase in total revenues, as slight reductions in quantity demanded are a trifle, compared with the revenues earned from increased prices (Quick MBA, 2011). Conclusion Milk prices are soaring. More consumers are willing to have milk in their diets. Climate changes, new technologies, and increased consumer incomes make the task of producing enough milk virtually unachievable. The elasticity of demand for milk and milk products is extremely low. Put simply, the global demand for milk and milk products is not responsive to changes in milk prices. Many consumers perceive milk as the fundamental ingredient of their diets and large food manufacturers use m ilk in their products. Milk does not have close substitutes, and substitutability remains one of the main factors of demand elasticity in microeconomics. When an advertising campaign spreads the message that milk helps to reduce weight, the quantity demanded will soar. Changes in the price of milk will cause no shifts in the demand curve. Any increase in price for milk will inevitably lead to an increase in total revenues, as slight reductions in quantity demanded are a trifle compared with the revenues earned from increased prices. References Arnold, W. (2007). A thirst for milk bred by new wealth sends prices soaring. The New York Times. Retrieved from nytimes.com/2007/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04milk.html Baumol, W.J. Blinder, A.S. (2008). Microeconomics: Principles and policy. Boston: Cengage Learning. Doherty, R.E. (2007). Milk demand stays strong despite high prices. Reuters. Retrieved from reuters.com/article/2007/06/20/us-milk-prices-idUSN2024940220070620 Economics Help . (2008). Price controls – advantages and disadvantages. Economics Help. Retrieved from economicshelp.org/blog/economics/price-controls-advantages-and-disadvantages/ Quick MBA. (2011). Price elasticity of demand. Quick MBA. Retrieved from quickmba.com/econ/micro/elas/ped.shtml Rittenberg, L. Tregarthen, T. (2011). Principles of microeconomics. Flatworld Knowledge. Retrieved from flatworldknowledge.com/node/28279#web-28281

Influence of Marius essays

Influence of Marius essays Throughout time, certain individuals have been known as revolutionaries. Some of these were political, others social, others military. While some excel in one of these realms, the greatest figures will impact all of these. Marius was the most revolutionary of the individuals that shaped the course of the Roman Revolution, in that his action departed the most radically from the traditional framework of the Roman mos maiorem and from the actions of his predecessors. One of the grandest impacts Marius had was on the political and social scene. To fully understand the how remarkable his political career was, one must first consider that he was born into a poor family of little political esteem. In fact, his family had never seen a senator elected, and there is little belief that any other significant political position was held by a relative. At the time, it was very unusual that anyone of such a background would even consider a political aspiration. This in itself makes Mariuss first political appointment so remarkable. In fact he denounced the traditional social education of the Greek language and other qualities associated with social standing. In a strong step in political reform, Marius proposed a bill that effectively limited aristocratic domination of the electoral process. This strong step certainly did nothing to endear him to many reputable politicians, but did show his aspiration to change the political system from its socia l base. Marius took another unusual step toward political change, when he successfully sought absentee reelection. As his career continued, so did his ambition. While he continued to attack conceptions of nobility, he continued to win election. Even though terms in office generally was considered the informal limit, Marius continued through the fifth term to a seventh consecutive term. This unprecedented reign definitely changed the Roman poli ...

Risk Assessment for Effective Physical Security Term Paper

Risk Assessment for Effective Physical Security - Term Paper Example ever, not treated with the same magnitude as technical intrusions such as hacking, computer virus and invasion of spyware programs.2 What many security strategists fail to understand is that both attacks carry the risks of equal magnitudes. Whether the intruder gained the unauthorized access by physically bypassing the security systems or electronically infiltrating the firewalls and other measures the potential detrimental effects of having the organization’s data or other possession in the wrong hands is the same. 3 To that end, physical security threats should be treated with the same magnitude as other non-physical security threats. Physical security measures are the measures instituted to prevent any unauthorized access of the organization’s property, secure facilities, data, and resources from damage. These damages could be in form of data or property theft, espionage, vandalism and even gross terrorist attack. The physical security measures, therefore, is a combination of multi-layered security systems which operate independently to prevent physical security threats. This paper will analyze the importance of physical security measures then the critical considerations used for physical security risk assessment in order to institute an effective physical security system. Physical security systems appear in different forms and perform different tasks. It is important to note that none of the systems is capable of independently and effectively protecting the organization against physical intrusion.4 The various systems operate independent of one another, but cooperate with each other in order to form an effective whole. The doctrine of synergy, which implies that the whole is better than the sum of its individual components, has great relevance and application in designing an effective physical security system. In order to ascertain an effective physical security system, it is imperative to determine the different types of systems that interact to create

Leading, Managing and Developing People in the Workplace Essay

Leading, Managing and Developing People in the Workplace - Essay Example From the discussion it is clear that the current competitive global economy requires companies to train and develop its employees of risk losing market share. Although there are high costs involved in training and developing the employees, the benefits of training will ultimately outweigh the associated costs. Several management practitioners have pointed out that training and development ensures that the organisation as the right mix of skills at all management levels.This paper discusses that ABB Company will be capable of attaining a competitive edge in the modern business environment through continuous training and developing the workforce especially on emerging engineering technologies. The attainment of the mission and vision of the organisation is dependent of the skills level of the employees. In addition, training and development will motivate the workforce thus leading to higher job satisfaction and productivity.  Competitive companies will engage in strategic planning th rough the use of acquired knowledge in order to meet the objectives and mission of the company. Accordingly, the human capital of the organisation can be viewed as a key success factor thus organisations must strive to train and retain the workforce.  Companies that commit resources to training and development ultimately enjoy an expanded market share, loyal employees and increased profitability thus facilitating the attainment of the organisational mission.... Competitive companies will engage in strategic planning through the use of acquired knowledge in order to meet the objectives and mission of the company (Bee 1994). Accordingly, the human capital of the organisation can be viewed as a key success factor thus organisations must strive to train and retain the workforce (Gary and French 2010). Companies that commit resources to training and development ultimately enjoy an expanded market share, loyal employees and increased profitability thus facilitating the attainment of the organisational mission. Some companies are committed to spending a certain percentage of their revenues towards employee training and development in order to meet the modern business challenges. In addition, the companies require the staff to dedicate a number of working hours towards improving their skills and attitudes through training and development. These companies will be in a position to attract qualified workforce, due to the good reputation associated wit h training and development of employees (Boydell & Leary 2006). The six ‘Es† of training Engage: - Training and development enables the employees to understand and appreciate the policies of the organisation. For instance, the employees of the company can be able to understand how new working methods will contribute to improvement in product quality. Accordingly, training and development is essential in embracing new organisational culture since the employees are able to enhance team work in the organisation. Educate: - The main purpose of training is to acquire knowledge that is essential in understanding work expectations and responsibilities. Since ABB employees may be moved from one country to the other, the companies must ensure that employees

An Examination of Community Acceptance in Shirley Jacksons The Lottery Essay

An Examination of Community Acceptance in Shirley Jacksons The Lottery - Essay Example Thus, the entire community evolves into a monstrous entity consuming itself, the ramifications of which hinge upon the acceptance of the individuals involved, as will soon be examined. Yet a result cannot happen without cause. Therefore, one must examine both the origins of the lottery as well as its ongoing impact, as will be discussed through the course of this paper. To understand the full impact of the lottery upon the community, one must first understand what the ritual and the black box represent. They symbolize, in a more modern from, the nature of society to hold onto ceremony beyond the origins of its purpose. This is comparable to the pagan holidays that survived the arrival of the Christian calendar by either being adopted under a new guise or tolerated despite disapproval. The former exists in such parallels of Christmas or Easter to traditional seasonal celebrations; the latter is found in the example of Halloween. The lottery itself falls more in the realm of Halloween - indeed, is held in the same area used for Halloween activities - as it seems an act of sacrifice whose origins no one can recall. Yet the superstitious adherence is evident not only in the fact that it is still practiced, but also in the reverence with which the citizens hold the box, which despite its dilapidation, is believed to contain portions of the original box used by the founders of the village. Other aspects of the event the "tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly every year," as well as a "ritual salute" given by the official prior to each participant drawing from the box, only reinforce both the ritualistic and pagan aspects of the sacrifice. Perhaps Old Man Warner's saying of "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon." is most exact roots of the process. Regardless, the fact that these social pleasantries, along with other traditional paraphernalia, have been abandoned indicates that whatever fear initiated the lottery originally made a strong enough impression in the collective psyche that the ritual is continued beyond its need. The lottery has become the appendix of the civic body: useless, its purpose obsolete yet still deadly. Whatever the initial justification for this yearly atrocity, the true evil is its continuation, both in blindly following tradition without reason and the social pressure of conformity. Old Man Warner, as the eldest member of the community, seems to represent the general opinion of the community, calling the north village a "pack of crazy fools" for discussing a cessation of their lottery, prophesying a regression to dwelling in caves if the abandon this element of 'civilization'. The most frightening aspect of the entire event is the casual aspect of human nature regarding public execution. Hangings have been cause for morbidly lighthearted social gatherings for centuries however, the blas attitude the villagers have about an event that may very well cause their own demise is chilling. It is a comment on the horrible feedback loop that the lottery has caused, for, once the necessity of the sacrifice is accepted without question, the community accepts it as just another "civic activ ity". Being selected by the lottery is then like jury duty, or rather being drafted, with the understanding that the individual

Fat Tax Essay Example for Free

Fat Tax Essay This report proposes that these costs and problems need to be addressed, and one avenue through which they can be is a junk food tax. This report proposes that there be a federal tax placed on junk food purchases, similar to the taxes placed on gasoline and tobacco products. This tax would dissuade people from purchasing unhealthy food items. At the same time it would help the nation offset some of the financial costs that obesity has generated. The proposition is not a fix-all, but it is a good start. Taxation of Junk Food, A Proposition to Battle the Obesity Epidemic in America Obesity is a condition that can be found in nearly every social class, geographic location, and age group in our society today. Every year there are more people who fit this profile; more people who are obese. While many view this condition as merely a cosmetic one, the truth is that there are serious consequences to being overweight. Some of these consequences include: the health risks such as diabetes and heart disease, early death because of those conditions, economic impacts due to lower productivity, astronomical health care costs, and numerous social problems that arise due to the lethargy and early mortality of obese parents and the inactivity of overweight children. These issues are significant, and need to be addressed in order to solve the problem. First, the causes of obesity must be understood, so that adequate solutions can be generated. Then solutions need to be created and put into effect such that the causes of the epidemic will be addressed at a minimal social cost. The information in this report shows that a large portion of those who suffer from obesity can attribute a large portion of their weight to junk food. This food is high in calories and low in nutritional value. This report also shows that many of these people choose to consume these products due to its convenience and relative low cost. I propose that in order to address this cause, and decrease consumption of junk food due to convenience and low cost, a federal tax should be levied against all foods that fit the profile of a junk food. I propose that this action would decrease economy purchases of less nutritious foods, and encourage consumers to consume more healthy diet options based on economic feasibility. Â  The Obesity Epidemic The issue of obesity is one that is complex and widespread. In order to understand the scope and implications of this condition, one must first understand what it is, and who it affects. Not everyone who is overweight is obese. Scott Ingram describes the difference between obesity and overweight as overweight being anyone who weighs more than the someone in the normal range for how old and tall they are, while in order for a person to be labeled obese, they must have enough body fat to put them 20 percent higher or more than their ideal weight (Ingram, 2005, p. 23). In other words, if a person’s ideal weight for their height and age is 140 pounds, and they weigh 150 pounds, they are overweight; but if they weigh over 168 pounds they are obese. This difference is important, as it indicates exactly how much overweight obese people are. They are all more than 20 percent over their target weight, which is significant enough to cause the problems that are being discussed in this report. The health and social issues caused by the state rest of the population that have not reached the 20 percent mark, but are still overweight are not even considered in this report. However, these issues will be positively affected by this proposal as well. It is also important to note that this problem is not isolated to a specific group of individuals, although there are groups that are higher risk than others.

Dance Essay -- essays research papers

1. What are the innovations of Isadora Duncan, Denishawn, Martha Graham, and Cunningham. Discuss these in relation to style, technique and theory.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many Historians say that Isadora Duncan was the first dancer to present â€Å"modern dancing† to the public. Duncan felt that the pointe shoes and costumes that ballerinas wore were to restrictive. She began to dance in a way that seemed to be more natural to her. Her inspirations came from the movements of the tress, the ocean and other forms from nature. Her techniques included hopping, swaying, skipping and running. She felt these type of movements were natural and expressive. Also, the history of the Greeks inspired her to dance barefoot and wear tunics similar to those of Greek style. Isadora Duncan paved the way for all modern dancers and choreographers who were to follow her. Learning About Dance pg.61-62   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Denishawn was a dance school created in 1915 by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn. Denis and Shawn were greatly inspired by different cultures, especially the Asian cultures. Although the dances Denishawn performed weren’t authentic, they were still able to bring other countries dance views to American audiences. The purpose of Denishawn was to educate the â€Å"total† dancer. Meaning to bring together the body , mind and spirit. Learning About Dance pg. 62-63   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Martha Graham developed a technique known as â€Å"contracting† and â€Å"releasing† through the ...

Free Essays on Vouchers, School Choice, and Charter Schools :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

School Choice and Charter Schools    I am not so sure I am for or against the idea of school choice as much as the idea for educational equality. If school choice and charter schools are the way this country will gain equity in the schools then I am for school choice. I feel that the impoverished are not going to get the best education that is available to them in their area. If the town fifteen miles away is a much better school, both educationally and developmentally, then I believe that the student that goes to school A should have the opportunity to attend school B. Why should someone who was born into an underpriviledged home live an underpriviledged life? This child did not choose to be born into this family, so I believe we should give them some kind of choice in their lives. A good education, along with other assets that one can gain through education, is the answer to bettering one's life. It gives these childrenm the choice to make a different life for themselves and for their children.    I am not so sure that there is an ideal school choice program, but then again does there really have to be? Choice is choice. If I am given the opportunity to choose, I will most likely make the right decision or I will fix the mistake that I made. If people are given the chance to better their lives, they will take that opportunity, if they are smart. We, as change agents, are not responsible to hold the hands of those who do not take the bull by the horn! There is only so much people can do for others. Give them the choice, and if they take it greeat, and if they don't, what else can we possibly do.    I think the only responsibilty of the change agents are to inform the public of their choices. Let the public know what is out there, and what the benefits are to school choice. Most people are going to wonder why they should take the trouble to transport their children to a school that might be a little farther than the school in the neighborhood. I believe that it is also very important to give many choices. I think it would be a mistake to limit the students to certain schools. Free Essays on Vouchers, School Choice, and Charter Schools :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics School Choice and Charter Schools    I am not so sure I am for or against the idea of school choice as much as the idea for educational equality. If school choice and charter schools are the way this country will gain equity in the schools then I am for school choice. I feel that the impoverished are not going to get the best education that is available to them in their area. If the town fifteen miles away is a much better school, both educationally and developmentally, then I believe that the student that goes to school A should have the opportunity to attend school B. Why should someone who was born into an underpriviledged home live an underpriviledged life? This child did not choose to be born into this family, so I believe we should give them some kind of choice in their lives. A good education, along with other assets that one can gain through education, is the answer to bettering one's life. It gives these childrenm the choice to make a different life for themselves and for their children.    I am not so sure that there is an ideal school choice program, but then again does there really have to be? Choice is choice. If I am given the opportunity to choose, I will most likely make the right decision or I will fix the mistake that I made. If people are given the chance to better their lives, they will take that opportunity, if they are smart. We, as change agents, are not responsible to hold the hands of those who do not take the bull by the horn! There is only so much people can do for others. Give them the choice, and if they take it greeat, and if they don't, what else can we possibly do.    I think the only responsibilty of the change agents are to inform the public of their choices. Let the public know what is out there, and what the benefits are to school choice. Most people are going to wonder why they should take the trouble to transport their children to a school that might be a little farther than the school in the neighborhood. I believe that it is also very important to give many choices. I think it would be a mistake to limit the students to certain schools.