Food Insecurity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Food Insecurity - Essay Example As far as hard statistics go, the Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO) estimates that over 852 million people in the world struggle from chronic hunger, while a much larger 2 billion faces constant fear of starvation due to poverty (FAO,2003). Being the most basic of necessities, providing easy and affordable access to nutritious food is paramount to stopping deaths due to hunger, malnutrition, and diseases worldwide. While the issue of food insecurity plagues primarily the developing and developed countries, the developed world isn't immune to it altogether. In the United States, 10.9% of the households were food insecure at least some time during the year, of which, 4.0% were very food insecure for some time during the year (United States Department of Agriculture,2007). The states with the highest food insecurity during 2004-06 were Mississippi (18.1%), New Mexico (16.1%), and Texas (15.9%), while North Dakota (6.4%) had the lowest food insecurity. (Household Food Security in the United States, 2006 Food insecurity in United States households is usually recurrent or episodic, but not chronic (unlike that in developing and undeveloped countries). This means that these households faced shortage and anxiety over food for not more than 1 or 2 months, and not the whole year round. Some particular household groups are more susceptible to food insecurity than others, with prevalence of food insecurity much higher than the national average. These groups include households headed by single women (30.4%), and single men (17.0%), Black (21.8%) and Hispanic (19.5%) households. Households with income below the official poverty line had the highest prevalence of food insecurity (36.3%). Of the 12.6 million households with food insecurity, 10.32 million live in metropolitan areas, making the access to a nutritious source of food a non-issue (USDA, 2007). Thus, food insecurity in these metropolitan areas results primarily from poverty or occasional natural causes (such as natural disasters), u nlike undeveloped and developing countries where food availability and not affordability is a major cause of food insecurity. Women, due to their roles in managing family feeding are at heightened risk of food insecurity. Lower levels of education and inequality in terms of employment opportunities, as well as biological factors such as pregnancy and childbirth make single women without spouses especially susceptible to the consequences of food insecurity. The median income of single women over 16 yearsin the United States is $22,097, compared to $32,396 for males (United States Community Survey, 2006). Consequently, households headed by single women also show a much larger deviation in terms of food insecurity than the national average (30.4% compared to the national average of 10.9%). Poor education is one of the primary causes for this deviation, as the median income of single females with less than high school education is $13,255, compared to $49,164 for single females with graduate or professional degrees. Children are another major cause of poverty and the resulting food insecurity in households headed by single women with no spous

Vultures and Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes Essay Example for Free

Vultures and Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes Essay At a first glimpse of these two poems you would think that they were very different and about completely opposite things. But when you read each poem and understand each of there messages and meanings you will find that they are, in fact, alike in many ways. Both Vultures and Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes are both comparative poems. Vultures is comparing nature with evil, and Scavengers is comparing rich to poor. The structure of Scavengers and Vultures is different yet alike in some ways. In Scavengers the poet talks about the Scavengers in a truck and then the beautiful people in a Mercedes, similarly the poet of Vultures describes a vulture first and then the Commandant at Belsen second. Both poets illustrate the rich and the poor, evil and nature separately, one after the other. In Scavengers there is an opening stanza, a descriptive stanza then a final closing stanza, throughout this poem in switches from the Scavengers to the beautiful people rapidly, comparing and contrasting them; whereas in Vultures there are four stanzas, the first describing a vulture, the second joining the vulture and commandant together, the forth describing the commandant and the final one joining the two together again and ending the poem. Both poems are non traditional in that neither of them begin every line with a capital letter. Scavengers has no punctuation but some lines begin with a capital letter implying a sentence structure. In scavengers the lines are indented in an irregular manner to create an affect; the affect is to break up the poem on the page, in the same way that the people in the poem are separated by lifestyles. Vultures has very little punctuation and is written in a narrative style. The lines are very short so that on the page the poem looks rigidly set left with two indentations where stanzas begin but without a break on the page as is usual. This is to emphasize the rigid nature of the concentration camp. Chinuna Achebe, the poet of Vultures, uses imagery to create the picture of the ugly bird Bashed in head rooted in a dumb of gross feathers This description give you a vivid portrait of a vulture, the poet also portrays a vulture as a monstrous animal, They picked the eyes of a swollen corpse and ate the things in its bowels These descriptive phrases create an image of an evil bird, which she then goes on to compare to a commandant, saying that this evil man is so much worse than a vulture. This is very effective because the reader already has an awful image of a vulture in their head and then to say that this man is as evil if not more gives great impact to the reader. Likewise the poet of Scavengers also uses imagery to describe the different people in the poem. Grey iron hair and hunched back, like some gargoyle Quasimodo A hip three-piece linen suit with shoulder length blond hair These two descriptions of the different people are very contrasting not just in appearance but the poet also uses these descriptions to show the different lifes these people live. The poet of Scavengers uses repetition to build up effect. In the opening stanza, when describing the beautiful people in a Mercedes, the poet uses the word elegant to describe both the car and the couple. Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the poet of Scavengers, uses repetition here to convey how rich and important these people are. In the same way the poet of Vultures uses alliteration. The drizzle of one despondent dawn This is to construct the depressed feeling of the vulture and to set the tone of the poem. Both poets use similes and metaphors to display a vivid image. In Scavengers Lawrence Ferlinghetti uses a simile to describe the older of the two Scavengers, Like some gargoyle Quasimodo The reference to Quasimodo has great effect because people already know the story of the Hunchback of Notre Dame and he is portrayed as being an ugly creature, so the implication is that the scavenger is of the same nature. In the same way, the poet of Vultures uses similar techniques when describing a vulture, Bone of a dead tree Here Chinua Achebe uses metaphorical images of death to confirm in the readers mind the grotesque bird which she is describing; also the image of death corresponds with the cruelty the commandant imposes upon others. Another example of the effective use of language in Vultures is her use of the idea of the cremated people as being like a roast meal and then going on to pick up the idea by referring to his tender child. The poet of Scavengers uses a powerful metaphor to bring the poem to an end. Across that small gulf in the high seas of this democracy I think that this last sentence is like the key to the whole poem. I believe the poet is mocking the American democracy by sarcastically referring to democracy which implies equality; having shown that these two sets of people can never be equal. He draws attention to the importance of this last sentence by using similar sounding words seas and democracy. I perceive the underlying message behind the political meaning to be one of hope because towards the end he says, As if anything at all were possible I think he means in the future equality may be possible. The point the poet is trying to make in vultures is that while we may not like what vultures do, it is there nature to do those things but for a human to behave in a similar way is inhuman. His behaviour is compared with a normal human in his relationship with his child. The very last stanza invites the reader to think about whether this humanity is good, because even somebody who acts in a monstrous way can also act in a human like way, or bad, because it shows that ordinary people can act in an evil way. I think both poems are trying to show the readers how others live. They describe the different hardships people have to live with, being discriminated against, not having rights or equality. The two poems prove that the world is not a perfect place and that we shouldnt take everyday possibilities for granted, because some people dont get chances.

Three Phase Systems

Three Phase Systems Determine the neutral current in the unblanced 4-wire star power system shown in figure1. Express the answer in both complex number and polar forms. Use a simulator to confirm the magnitude of the nuetral current which is eqaluated. Given that, Z1 = 40 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‚  50 ° Z2 = 10 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‚  30 ° Z3 = 25 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‚  60 ° V1 = 230 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‚  0 ° V2 = 230 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‚  120 ° V3 = 230 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‚  240 ° à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ § To Find Neutral Current by Calculation: To find the neutral current, first we have to find I1, I2 and I3 and then add them together to get the neutral current. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ § To find I1: I1 = I1 = I1 = I1 = (5.75 ) A (Polar Form) Current in Rectangular Form: I1 = (3.69 -j 4.40) A à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ § To find I2: I2 = I2 = I2 = I2 = (23 90) A (Polar Form) Current in Rectangular Form: I2 = (0 +j 23) A à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ § To find I3: I3 = I3 = I3 = I3 = (9.2 180) A (Polar Form) I3 = (-9.2 +j 0) A (Rectangular Form) Now to find neutral current IN, we need to add I1, I2 and I3 IN = I1 + I2 + I3 IN = (3.69 -j 4.40) + (0 +j 23) + (-9.2 +j 0) IN = (3.96 + 0 9.2) +j (-4.40 + 23 + 0) IN = (-5.51 +j 18.6) A (Rectangular Form) IN = 19.39 106.50 A (Polar Form) à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ § Using TINA Simulation: Use the three-wattmeter method on a simulator to determine the total effective power dissipated in Figure1. Confirm this answer by calculation. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ § Using TINA Simulation: à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ § Total Effective Power Dissipated in Figure1 by Calculation: To find total effective power dissipated, first we have to find P1 eff, P2 effand P3 eff à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ § To find P1 eff : P1 eff P1 eff = cos 50 P1 eff = 850 W à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ § To find P2 eff : P1 eff P2 eff = cos 30 P2 eff = 4581.27 W à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ § To find P3 eff : P1 eff P1 eff = cos 60 P1 eff = 1058 W P total = P1 eff + P2 eff+ P3 eff P total = 850 + 4581.27 + 1058 P total = 6489.27 W If V1 went open circuit, calculate the new value of neutral current for Figure1. if V1 went open or is at fault then I1 will become zero and the neutral current will be the sum of the other two currents I1 and I2 IN = I1 + I2 + I3 V1 went open so, I1 = 0 therefore, IN = 0 + I2 + I3 IN = I2 + I3 IN = (0 +j 23) + (-9.2 +j 0) IN = (0 9.2) + j (23 + 0) IN = (-9.2 + j23) A (Rectangular Form) IN = 24.77 111.80 A (Polar Form) Single-core Three-Phase Double-Wound Transformer Introduction: Transformer is a static device which transfers electrical energy or power between two or more than two circuits using phenomena of Electromagnetic induction. It takes the current of one voltage and converts it into a different voltage. The amount of transferred energy from Primary circuit to the Secondary Circuit is equal, and the losses are ignored. The frequency of the circuits does not change but the voltage and current of each of the individual circuit is changed, it is increased or decreased, unless we use the transformer as a one-to-one isolating transformer. Basically, the transformer perform the function of changing electricity from high to low voltage by making use of the following properties of electricity. Magnetism is always present around in an electric circuit. Magnetic field is always changed by changing the strength or moving the conductor therefore voltage is induced. Voltage is known as the measure of the Force or Pressure that is used to push the electrons around the circuit. Electricity at a higher voltage goes in the transformer and runs through the large number of coils that are wounded around the iron core. As the current is changing, the core magnetism will also be changing. A wire with less coils around the iron core is known as the output wire and the changing magnetism produces current in the wire. When the number of coils are less that means less voltage and more coils means more voltage. Therefore, the voltage is either stepped down or stepped up according to the number of coils in the wire. A common transformer involves a ferromagnetic core which ensures that values of magnetic flux linkage remain high. But there are some factors related to the ferromagnetic materials that are responsible for part of the loss associated with power transfer. These losses are as follows: 1. Core losses: Core losses can be classified as the sum of eddy currents losses and the hysteresis loss. Hysteresis loss: Energy that a magnetic material soaks in cannot be recovered completely. Core of the material is excited by an A.C source, the flux density rises and falls with the magnetic field strength or current which is basically sinusoidal. When the magnetizing current increases the flux density also increases but there comes a point after which if there is any further increase in the current, flux density is saturated. If the current is reduced from the saturation point to zero, flux density will start to decrease. When the value of the current reaches upto zero the flux density should also become zero but it does not become equal to zero. Some of the flux density will still be present in the material for the zero current, which is called as a residual magnetic flux. Thus, the total amount of energy used to magnetize the material cannot be recovered back and this energy is trapped within the material core and is dissipated as a form of heat. Area of B/H curve gives the hysteresis loss, larger the loop the greater the energy required to create the magnetic field. Eddy current losses: If a coil is wrapped around a core made up of some material and an A.C source is applied to circuit, eddy current losses take place. As the supply to the coil is changing or alternating which produces an alternating flux in the coil. The varying flux in the core induces e.m.f in the core material due to which eddy currents start to flowing in the core material. Therefore, the energy is lost or dissipated in the form of heat because of eddy currents. The laminations in the core can reduce the eddy current losses. Thin sheet steels which are separated from each other must be used because these insulated sheets reduce the amount of the current flow and hence the eddy current losses. 2. Copper losses: Copper loss occurs when the transformer is loaded, the input power is dissipated as heat in the primary and secondary windings of the transformer because these windings have internal resistance. When the load is low, the amount of heat produced is small but at high loads the amount of heat produced becomes significant. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Construction of Single-core three-phase double wound Transformer: A single-core three-phase double wound transformer consists of three sets of primary and secondary windings, individual set winded on each leg of the core made up of iron. The windings consists of turns made up with the insulated wire. These coils are then mounted on a magnetic core material in such a way that the magnetic flux produced by one coil increases and ensures that the most of the magnetic flux links with the second coil so that mutual induction is being increased. The coils are spaced 120 degrees apart. The transformer is filled with a dielectric oil and thus provide insulation in-between the winding and case. These windings are either connected in star or delta configurations. Delta Connection: Delta system proves excellent for distribution system for short distances. These types of transformers are used in neighbourhood and commercial loads of small magnitude near to the substations. There is one kind of voltage present between the 2 wires in the delta system. This system is shown by a Triangle. The voltage between any two wires will be the same and from each individual point of the Triangle, wire emerges which represents a three phase. Star Connections: For a star connection, voltage of two lines is the same as the voltage on a 3 phase system. In Star connection, each of the windings are made up connecting each individual winding end to end and this point is the star point or neutral point of connection winding. Connection for neutral and 3 phase connections are then taken out of transformer. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Applications of Transformers: Transformers in Electrical Engineering: An electrical engineer may put a transformer in a circuit for many reasons. If the device being powered require higher power than what is available locally or the powered device needs frequency matching, a transformer is placed in such circuits. For example signal and audio transformers are used to couple amplifiers and microphones to the input of the amplifiers. Power Utilities: When driving through a rural area, power polls and overhead power lines can be seen and transformers are placed on these power polls by power utilities. Utility substations make use of transformers to deliver power of certain usable level and quality to consumers and businesses. Power Generation and Distribution: Electrical power is generated at the power station and this electrical energy is then transferred to the consumers through high tension power lines. To distribute the electricity from the power station to the consumer, different transformers are used in stepping up and stepping down the voltage up to the certain level. Commercial use: Every electrical device uses transformer in one way or another. Almost every commercial building has at least three or four large high power transformers in order to provide required voltages to operate overhead lightning system, telephone system, heating, operating electrical equipment in labs and much more. Transformers in home: There are a lot of transformers used in many appliances at our homes that require different voltages for their operation. Electric appliances like dishwasher, washing machine, microwave and fridge require comparatively high voltages between 110 and 240 volts, the devices like laptops and charger mobile phones and MP3 players require relatively low voltages. A laptop charger requires up to 15V while mobile phone charger requires up to 6V and M3 chargers require up to 12V to charge up their batteries. Thus, these appliances have small transformers built in them which convert the domestic supply of 110-240 volts into a low voltage that they require for their operation. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Power Transmission and Distribution System: Three-phase system is used in power transmission because less amount of conductor is used to transmit electrical energy to different places. Three conductors carry 3 alternating currents peak values of which reach at different intervals of time. If a conductor is taken as a reference point, there is a delay of time by one third and two third of a cycle of the current for the remaining two currents. Because of this delay in the available phases, constant power is transferred over each cycle of current. There can or cannot be a neutral wire in three-phase systems. Neutral wire is used to allow a higher voltage while still supporting the appliances operating at lower single phase voltages. As loads can directly be connected between the phases so there is no neutral current wire in high voltage distribution. There are many factors that make three-phase system very desirable and reliable in electric power systems. In a load which is linearly balanced, the phase currents cancel each other and add up to give a zero which also helps in eliminating the neutral wire. Phase conductor carry same amount of current which means that they all can have a same size of conductor for balanced conditions. Moreover, the transfer of power in the system is constant for a linear system, it reduces the vibrations in a system. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Generation: Electricity is generated at the power station at around 10kV by rotating a coil in the magnetic field. In power stations, all the generators are synchronised so that they all produce electricity that oscillates together. For more efficient generation, three windings are used on the generator to produce three-phase electricity. Sources for power generation: For distribution, the following types of resources are available for the generation of the electricity. Conventional Methods: Thermal energy: Thermal energy or the Nuclear energy is used to produce steam for the turbines that drives the rotating AC generators to produce electrical energy. Hydro-electric: Potential of water is stored at a higher altitude and is made passed through the turbines which in turn drive the generators. Non-Conventional Methods: Wind power: Winds blowing at high speeds are used to drive the turbines that are coupled to the rotating AC generators. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Transmission: Transmission has an important role between the production of power and the usage of power. Transmission lines carry high voltage electricity over long distances from power plants to the consumers. Once the power is generated. It is send to the substation in the power plant where the voltage is stepped-up using step up transformer for transmission purposes. When the voltage is stepped up, it helps in the reduction of the transmission losses. It is then sent to the grid station from where it is further transmitted to different cities. Why there is a need to step up the voltage for transmission: For transmission over long distances, transmission lines are made up of conducting materials like aluminium and power loss is always associated with these conducting materials. This is because if the current through the wire is I and the resistance of the wire is R then an amount of electrical power I2R is dissipated as heat. This will result in a much less power at the receiving end than the actual power generated at the station. Thus, when power is transmitted at a high voltage, wires of low current carrying capacity are used so there is no need of thick wires that cost considerably high instead they can be replaced by thin wires that cost less. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Distribution: Substations reduce the voltage of the electricity from the transmission lines. The power grid is connected to the different parts of the country and it distributes the power in different cities through transmission lines. The transmitted power from the power grid is stepped-down to 110,000 volts from 230,000 volts using a step-down auto transformer. Then for the distribution of power for industrial uses, the power is again stepped-down to 11,000 volts from 110.000 volts by step-down transformer located in the streets. This reduction in the voltage increases the current in the wires and thus the losses but greatly reduces the cost of power poles and increases the safety. The distribution substation further reduces the voltage to 230 volts or 440 volts for the local transmission for domestic purposes depending upon the need of the user. Some business and houses require two or three-phase power supply while the others only need single phase supply. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Operation of the transformer: Transformer works on the principle of mutual induction. According to Faradays Law of electromagnetic induction: Rate of change of flux linkage is directly proportion to the induced emf in a conductor or coil with respect to time. When primary winding is connected to a voltage source, an AC flows through it and which produces a continually changing magnetic flux that surrounds the winding. This changing magnetic flux flows to the secondary winding as some flux from primary winding will be linked to the secondary winding. As magnitude and direction of the flux is continually alternating, change of flux takes place in the secondary winding. According to Faradays law of electromagnetic induction, this changing magnetic flux produces an induced electro motive force or simply the voltage in the secondary winding of transformer therefore, a current start to flow if the circuit is closed. The rate at which the flux changes depends upon the amount of the flux which is linked with the secondary winding of the transformer. Therefore, it is important to link all the flux from the primary winding to the secondary winding of the transformer. It can be done by putting a low reluctance path which is usually common to both of the windings and that low reluctance path is known as the core of the transformer. Three-phase Induction Motor Introduction: Electric motor is a device which performs the operation of converting electrical energy into a mechanical energy. The induction motor is known as a three-phase AC motor which is widely used in the industrial applications as they are: Self-starting. Their construction is simple and compact. Less expensive. Require minimum amount of maintenance. More reliable and highly efficient. Additional starting motor is not required and do not required to be synchronised. Induction motor is also known as asynchronous motor. Due to inductive coupling, the generated electromagnetic power is transferred to the secondary winding. These windings are being separated by air gap between them. The induction motor consists of a Stator and a Rotor. The motor frame is permanently attached with windings of very low resistance. When current and voltage is applied to the terminals of Stator windings, a magnetic field is produced. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Applications of three-phase induction motor: Induction motors are most demanded motors in the industry. Some of their applications are given below: Industrial drives make use of 3 phase cage rotor motors because they are pretty simple, efficient and are not costly. Single phase induction motors are used where the load is comparatively smaller. These motors are being

Environmental Protection Must Be Our Top Priority :: Environment Earth Nature, pesticides, pollution

A few years ago, Time magazine published a special issue entitled "The Century's Greatest Minds." It was the fourth in a Time series on the 100 most influential people of the century, this particular issue focusing on "Scientists and Thinkers." On the cover, Albert Einstein is pictured on a psychiatrist's couch, hands crossed over his chest, a depressed look cloaking his face. Dr. Sigmund Freud, seated in a chair near the couch, pen and pad in hand, is leaning in toward Einstein, excitedly waiting to perform some bit of psychoanalysis on the saddened scientist. A framed picture of Jonas Salk rests on the side table; a portrait of John Maynard Keynes hangs from a nail in the wall. In the background, resting atop a bookshelf, is a stone bust of Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring. She finds herself in quite excellent company not only on the cover, but in the interior of the magazine as well. Carson was the only environmentalist and the only woman featured in the entire issue. Evidently, her impact in the world of "scientists and thinkers" was a tremendous one, and, as mentioned in Matthiessen's Time article, her book, Silent Spring, is "nearly 40 years later . . . still regarded as the cornerstone of the new environmentalism."1 Matthiessen goes on to write that "one shudders to imagine how much more impoverished our habitat would be had Silent Spring not sounded the alarm."2 This is indeed a worthy claim by Mr. Matthiessen, but he correctly uncovers a bigger and more alarming truth when he says, "the damage being done by poison chemicals today is far worse than it was when she wrote the book."3 In fact, since 1962, pesticide use in the US has doubled.4 As an environmentalist (or a "radical" environmentalist, as I am often labeled by members of the mainstream environmental movement), I feel it is my duty as a protector of the Earth's well-being to write this editorial as a means of bringing into the American consciousness a variety of frightening environmental issues. Though some of you may be aware of these problems, I know many are not, and thus may be shocked to learn about the degradation of our Earth and the people living in it. Indeed, I truly believe that "since the dawn of the industrial age, America has behaved like an alcoholic with a good job—prospering despite a lifestyle that jeopardizes the future and ruins much of what is good with irresponsible behavior.

Importance of Communication Essay

First, in order to communicate effectively, a person needs to know what barriers there are, and there are many. I will do my best to explain the barriers of effective communication and how to overcome them. These barriers include Language, defensiveness, misreading of body language, noisy transmission, receiver distortion, power struggles, self-fulfilling assumptions, supervisors hesitation to be candid, assumptions, distrusted source, perceptual biases, interpersonal relationships, and cultural differences1. So now, let us break these barriers down, starting with language barriers. Language barriers include using words that could imply another message than the one that the sender wants to send. Moreover, the reason for this is that each person will interpret some words differently. So, in order to transmit the message that you want to send make sure that the words you use to send the message cannot imply anything that you do not want sent. The next barrier is defensiveness. Most of the time when trying to conduct a face-to-face meeting with someone to communicate some flaws in a persons work performance or just to ask them a question on what they have done make sure the message is concise and clear. Most people will get defensive when the person being Importance of Communication SPC Eric J. Seiberling – 3 counseled has a distorted perception on what is being covered, or a feeling of implied guilt of wrongdoing without having a chance to explain ones actions. A person will also get very defensive when any anger or a feeling of negativity is being transferred to them from an issue the sender has at home or with another co-worker. In addition, a person will get extremely defensive when there has been a trend of negative distortions of counseling in the past; a person would feel as if the sender is still beating an issue that was resolved prior to this session. Noisy transmission is another barrier to effective communication. Noisy transmission happens when the messages being convoluted with erroneous information or a common inconsistency in relaying the message from bouncing around the subject or hitting numerous subjects when wanting to convey a message about one, certain subject. Another sticking point is receiver distortion. This happens when the receiver subconsciously has selective hearing and hears what they want to hear and completely miss the intended message. This also happens when the receiver and sender ignore the non-verbal cues each other is not noticing or taking into account the way each other is acting or feeling, by not noticing a subtle thing like body language. Power struggles is something that a superior needs to watch out for, this will kill any attempt to communicate a plan to a group. For instance if a subordinate has the superior’s job in their crosshairs that person will have a distorted view of the message that is trying to be conveyed. People who have not had a vast majority of the same experiences will not understand or even be able to decode what the manager is trying to say. Assumptions are a major killer of effective communication. Most people will assume that everyone understands the problem the same way that they do. When in most cases, that is not the case. Some people will see a problem in a different perspective. When that happens the receiver will wonder what the sender is complaining about because they do not see the same problem and will refuse to see the problem in the same light. When a supervisor is basing his counseling on a certain source that some subordinates do not trust the supervisor is accomplishing nothing in the counseling. The supervisor might want to make sure there is more than one source of information. When there is more than one source of information then it will not become a value judgment against the supervisor or the subordinate. When conveying a message a person must make sure, they are not portraying any perceptual biases in the message. In saying that do not go into a meeting with any stereotypes of the people that attend. Basic communication requires that the receiver can decode the senders meaning and if the sender is convoluting the meaning in their own experiences, background, values, aspirations, or assumptions, the receiver might not understand because they did not have the same experiences, background, values, aspirations, or assumptions. This is a major issue in communicating with people from different geographical areas, and different generations. So, after explaining all the major barriers of communication, now will be the time to defeat these barriers and start communicating effectively. Moreover, if someone is not communicating effectively, the messenger is not communicating at all. In addition, if they are not communicating at all, the receiver will have no clue on what is going on and what needs to happen. The army says since leadership is about getting other people to do what you want them to do, it follows that communicating—transmitting information so that it’s clearly understood—is an important skill. 2 In order to communicate effectively a person must understand the different forms of communication.

Greek Gods in Antigone

Charles Wallace Mrs. Lopale CP English 10 7 May 2012 The Greek Gods and Their Role in Antigone The Greek gods were thought of as the most powerful forces to ever exist in ancient times. In turn, they played a pivotal role in the Greek people’s lives. Their power and influence over the Greek people is evident in many of the stories in Greek literature. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, the most powerful Greek gods, each played a part in the story of Antigone by Sophocles. Throughout the play, â€Å"God† refers to Zeus, the king of gods. Antigone’s main motive for defying Creon is that she does not think Creon is doing what the gods would want. Which of us can say what the gods hold wicked. † That quote means that Antigone does not think people can understand the way gods think. Haimon references Zeus when asking Creon not to punish Antigone too harshly. Creon swears to the gods that he will kill Antigone in front of Haimon. At the end of the play, Creon realizes th at â€Å"the laws of the gods are mighty, and a man must serve them to the last day of his life. † The messenger also prayed to Persephone and Hades to beg that Haimon and Antigone are still alive. Antigone knew that she would die if she went against Creon, but figured disrespecting the gods was more dangerous.She had so much faith in the gods that she never doubted that she was doing the right thing – â€Å"I know I am pleasing those I should please most. † Although the gods were rarely directly mentioned, they were in control of mostly everything. (Sophocles. ) There are three main Greek gods, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. They are the most powerful gods because they are the sons of the most powerful titan, Cronus. They rule the three domains of Earth. Zeus is king of the sky and heavens, Poseidon is king of the sea, and Hades is the ruler of the Underworld.They got assigned their domains in a random draw. (Gall. ) Zeus is the king of all the gods. He controls th e sky and heaven domain, and is the most powerful of all the gods. His weapon is a thunderbolt, in which he uses to cast lightening down at people. The eagle, scepter, or the lightning bolt is usually used as a symbol for Zeus. The Oak tree is also a sacred symbol of his. Greek mortals made many sacrifices to him and built many sanctuaries in his honor. In ancient Greece, any mortal who claimed to be a child of Zeus gained instant respect from the other mortals.He was also looked at as not just one of the many gods, but God himself. Zeus has been mentioned in nearly every work of ancient Greek literature that has survived to the present day. (Gall. ) Zeus’ story is a lot like Oedipus’, Antigone’s father, story. Uranus, the first king of the universe, and Gaea, the Earth mother, made a prophecy that Zeus would become king of the gods. Cronus knew that one day, one of his sons would overthrow him, so he swallowed every child that his wife, Rhea, gave birth to. How ever, when the sixth child was born, Rhea hid him and tricked Cronus in to swallowing a stone instead.She fled to the island of Crete and left Zeus there, fearing for her safety. When Zeus grew up, he knew he was ready to defeat his father. He knew he would need held, though, so he got his wife, Metis, to feed Cronus a herb that would make him throw all of Zeus’ brothers and sisters up. It worked, and Hera, Demeter, Poseidon, Hades, and Hestia were freed. Together, they all defeated Cronus, and Zeus was the new king of the gods. (Gall. ) Poseidon is the Greek god of the sea. He is known for being violent and moody, and he carried a three-pronged spear called a trident.The horse and dolphin are considered his sacred animals. Poseidon is often referred to as the â€Å"Earth shaker†, because he sends out earthquakes when he is not happy. He is also the son of Cronus and Rhea, and is the second most powerful god. He is one of the three supreme gods of the Earth. (Gall. ) I n one of his temper tantrums, Poseidon realized he was not happy with his ocean domain, and wanted to try and overthrow his brother, Zeus, and become king of the gods himself. Poseidon asked for help from Apollo, the god of light and music. Together, they bound Zeus with chains.Zeus had too much strength and power and freed himself very quickly. Zeus was furious with Apollo and Poseidon. As punishment, he sent them to work as laborers for Laomedon, the king of Troy, a city in what is now considered Turkey. Laomedon promised a very big reward if they could build a wall around the city of Troy. However, after they built the wall, Laomedon refused to honor his agreement and did not pay them for their work. In turn, Poseidon and Apollo sent a plague and a sea monster to destroy the city of Troy. (Gall. ) Hades is the Greek God and ruler of the Underworld.He is often associated with wealth and agriculture. He is also the son of Cronus and Rhea and the third most powerful Greek god. Unlik e his two brothers, his realm cannot be seen by anyone living. The Greeks believe that his name, Hades, means â€Å"The Unseen One. † He is the only god that does not live on Mount Olympus; he has his own glittering palace made of pure gold and gems in the Underworld. The Greeks believe that when mortals die, their souls go to the Underworld. The Underworld is thought of as a dark and gloomy place, with ghosts flittering around everywhere.When the dead entered the Underworld, they drank from the river Lethe to forget their lives on Earth. That is when they become ghosts. Hades is often considered the evil god by many of the Greeks. (Gall. ) Hades lived a very lonely life alone in the Underworld. He had an infatuation with a specific goddess, Persephone, daughter of Demeter, the goddess of harvest. Hades kidnapped Persephone and made her his queen. For years, Persephone demanded that she be brought back to her mother, but Hades did not listen. Demeter demanded that she would n ot allow anything to grow for the mortals until Persephone had been returned.As the mortals started suffering, Zeus decided it was time to step in. He demanded that Hades let Persephone go. Persephone had already eaten the fruit of the Underworld, though and could not return. Zeus made a deal with Hades that Persephone had to stay in the Underworld for six months out of the year, and could stay with her mother the other half. (Gall. ) The Greek gods played a big role in many of the lives in ancient Greece. Although they are not as well known or referenced today in Greece, they play a big part in the literature and history of Greece.Works Cited Sophocles. â€Å"Antigone. † Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Douglas Fisher, Beverly Ann Chin, and Jacqueline Jones Rayster. Comlubus, OH: Glencoe/McGraw Hill, 2009. Gall, Timothy and Susan. â€Å"Zeus. † The Lincoln Library of Greek and Roman Mythology. Vol. 5. Cleveland: Eastward, 2006. Gall, Timothy and Susan. â₠¬Å"Poseidon. † The Lincoln Library of Greek and Roman Mythology. Vol. 5. Cleveland: Eastward, 2006. Gall, Timothy and Susan. â€Å"Hades. † The Lincoln Library of Greek and Roman Mythology. Vol. 5. Cleveland: Eastward, 2006.

Totalitarianism Maos China essays

Totalitarianism Maos China essays Mao turned China into a complete Totalitarianism state. It was the Communist ideology that ran the country. All social, political, economic, Cultural and intellectual activities were in some way controlled by Mao. Mao set many rules by which the people were to live by making China at the time, a totalitarianism state. At the time of Maos birth, Emperor Yuan ruled China in the Qing dynasty. The Qing dynasty had been controlling China since 1644 and had never been popular. Members of the Qing dynasty were called Manchus. Many Chinese by no means accept rule from the Manchus and many illegal secret societies were formed to try and weaken the government. A major conflict between these societies and the government was the Taiping rebellion led by Hung Hsiu-Chuan. Tens of millions of peasants joined the Taiping armies. They took over most of Southern China and the capital, Nan king (now Nanjing). They would have defeated the government, but the west intervened and supplied the Government forces with arms and soldiers. They did not want China to become strong. The forces beat the Taiping very quickly in one of the largest mass slaughters in History. The Chinese had become convinced that the West was now invincible. China had lost a large amount of national self-confidence. During Maos youth it was time for people to look for new ways to overcome these problems. Mao Zedong (1893-1976), also known as Mao Tse-Tung was born on December 26th 1893, in the small village of Shaoshan in the Hunan province. He came from a peasant family whose father had prospered from hard work. In Maos seventh year in his village school there was a large attempt to drive out all foreigners, which was defeated by an international force of 2100 men. Violence was beginning to move closer Mao. SanYat-Sen, the leader of the Chinese nationalists party (called the Kuomintang) believed that a change within the gover...

In The Swimmer

It has been said that sometimes you have to look at where you have been to see where it is that you are going, but there are some people who fail to look at who they have become, and suddenly find themselves faced with a reality they dont remember or understand. In The Swimmer by John Cheever, (1964, Rpt. In Perrines Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. Ed. Thomas Arp. 7th ed. NY: Harcourt Brace, 1998. 392-401) Ned Merrill is one of those people. As Ned's travels progress, we watch as Ned unknowingly transforms from a young man on a midsummers afternoon to an old man faced with a tragic present as winter is beginning. When Ned Merrill started out his swim along the Lucinda River, he seemed to be a strong and lighthearted young man. Since it was the early afternoon of a midsummer Sunday, Ned set out for his 8-mile swim with expectations of beating his wife home for supper. The four pools that made up the first leg of the Lucinda River were met with no ill will. In fact, Ned was met with warm faces with open arms, and bars. After taking shelter in the Levys gazebo to avoid the storm, we receive the first clue that things are not quite as they seem for Ned's strange journey. With the appearances of the blighted maple, the slight nip to the air, the dismantled and overgrown riding ring, and the emptied pool, we are made aware of the passage of time that Ned ignores. Ned even goes to the extent of admitting his memory might be failing him, as he realizes that the Welchers have moved away. Ned is then confronted with what he feels will be his two biggest challenges. First, he must cross Route 424, spurring on the ridicule of passers by seeing him only in his swimming trunks. His second lies in the crossing of the public pool in the Recreation Center. He finds the thought of even entering the pool as contaminating himself, but persisted and found himself rejected from the...

Business Brief for Franklin Fan pany

Franklin Fan pany, the producer of the electric fan, was built up by engineers Dan Block and Ed Spriggs. The organization was started in Dan Block's garage and showed moderate however relentless growth for the first seven years. It was amid this time Mr. Block and Mr. Spriggs planned to shift the business to an old meat-packing warehouse situated on Chicago's South Side. As more area was available for storing the stock, the organization started producing extra series of fans; developing the business. After 15 years, the organization again migrated to a fresh modern warehouse and turned into the biggest autonomous producer of fans in the north central area. The area of new warehouse is greater than 100,000 square feet. The extra space has expanded limit from 65% to 90%, however sales growth did not increase (Krajewski, Malhotra, Ritzman, n.d). Capacity is the most extreme degree of output that an organization supports to prepare a product or give a service over a timeframe (investopedia , n.d). Capacity planning is necessary to decide ideal utilization of asset and plays an essential role in decision-making process, for instance, development of prevailing operations, changes to product line, beginning the new products, and so forth. Planning guarantees that operating cost is kept up at any possible measure without influencing the features. It ensures the organization to stay centred and can reach the long-term improvement plan. A plete objective of capacity planning is to meet the present and future level of the necessity at an irrelevant wastage (MSG, n.d). Manufacturing capacity is expanded to meet a quick rise in demand of the customer or to meet a future rise in customer demand. A quick capacity increase is procured by utilizing apparatus that is already in charge for some time using extra shifts or additional time; or deploying the work. Future capacity increments are a plished utilizing the present apparatus more effectively or purchasing new apparatus. Franklin Fan pany tries to increase its business units. Its goal is to pick up escalation in the fan market and acquire more portion of the overall industry. Franklin's want of escalation must be pelling because the more prominent the size of the market, the more noteworthy the benefit (Krajewski, Malhotra, Ritzman, n.d). However, the expansion in capacity of manufacturing brings about increased expenditure, more critical plexities, and requirement for skilful administration. Then again, insufficient production capacity can bring about decrease in orders which could provoke client dissatisfaction. Lacking capacity could in like manner realize over utilization of existing hardware and labour. Franklin Fan pany ought to have the capacity to coordinate business, development and capacity planning for long term presence (Krajewski, Malhotra, Ritzman, n.d). A manager can keep up a high state of capacity by keeping up a vital distance from bottlenecks in the production procedure. A bottleneck is a condition of blockage that moderates the procedure. Any event that stops production extends expenditure and may postpone a shipment of goods to a client. Deferrals may mean losing a customer order and possibly the loss of future business from the customer. Management can avoid bottlenecks by working with dependable sellers and appropriately training representatives (MSG, n.d). In case the manufacturing of the CF151 and PF302 fans are provided a level of quality, the Franklin Fan organization should make the fans and store them for the low demand season to counterbalance manufacturing limit requirement at the time when demand is high. This right idea ought to be used if the standardization is up to a determined level of generation of the fans. With the support of standardization, Franklin Fan pany can adjust capacity prerequisites in the midst of time when demand is high by producing stock in the time of low demand.

Business Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Paper - Essay Example Through this memorandum, I have given you the details of the law and have broken them down to a level that makes it more straightforward and understandable. You should make a decision about which way you would like to fix this issue as soon as possible. This will ensure that justice is pursued and attained accordingly. Reviewing and evaluating the legal aspects of decisions made at different situations is of paramount importance especially in this environment that is characterized by trickery and lies. Thus although your intentions towards charitable donations are geared towards enhancing the good of the society, relative relationships and agreements that you enter into need to be defined by legal provisions. From a legal point of view, it cannot be disputed that you were misled by Integral Health Facility into paying them that particular amount of money. This action raises various legal concerns regarding parole evidence, specific performance, recession and so forth. Undoubtedly, th e health facility breached the contract and the legal implications of this are diverse. Although factual information regarding these has been analyzed in the preceding segment, the final decision with respect to the legal measures to take is still yours. The problem To understand the legal implications that are related to your case, it is important to acknowledge the legal dimensions of this case. These provide useful insights regarding the bone of contention and enable you to make informed decisions. Respective understanding will for instance help you to understand the far you can go with regards to taking practical steps to address this legal concern. From the information provided, it cannot be disputed that you actually wanted to build a cancer health facility in remembrance of your mother. After being informed by Integral Health Center that they had plans to build a similar facility, you requested them to allow you finance the project and have it named after your mother upon com pletion. According to you, Integral Health Center wholeheartedly agreed to this proposition and you made the payments accordingly. You signed a contract which did not indicate that the facility would be named after your mother. However, you talked with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) about the naming ceremony that was set to take place once the institution was completed. Probably, you presumed that these provisions would be effected regardless of not having been documented in the contract. However, the institution did not begin the construction and after your first inquiry, it promised to start constructing after three months. This was not effected and at this point, you met the Chief Executive Officer. It is at this point that the CEO informed you that the institution’s decision to build the facility was not firm and that it was not going to pursue it. The CEO however promised that the financial resources were going to be used on another equally important project. The bone of contention in this respect is the institution’s failure to build the facility, even after receiving money from you. Your claim is that the institution builds the facility and names it after your mother as agreed upon. From this case, there are various legal concerns that arise. The Notion of Fraud in the Case To understand the element of fraud in this case, it would be important for you to be conversant with the legal constituents of this malpractice. To begin with, there needs to be a false statement in the entire scenario1. This is

Supply Chain Management (operations management)2 Assignment

Supply Chain Management (operations management)2 - Assignment Example In order to maximize revenue, an organization has to consider the net worth of a product to the customers and what the supply chain tends to accomplish is to get the exact requests of the consumers. Supply chain management is basically concerned with issues of who is involved, cost and service in addition to integration of such kind of services (Jacoby, 2010). Supply chain strategies are directly affected by other chains available within the organizations. This includes an activity that comes up with the introduction of new products to the firm. Supply chain should also be integrated with other goals of the organization like the ones which leads to maximization of profit margin thus giving a lot of returns. Supply chains needs to be designed to eliminate unnecessary uncertainty and risks at all levels of production. Some of the risks that may come in the course of production include the risks associated with machines, logistics amongst others. Organization can optimize supply chain management to improve results and remove obstacles in several ways such as the global optimization. Having a complex network, the supply chain management have so far been developed to enable integration of products from the point it comes from the supplier to the point delivery is done. A good example is whereby an organization can be able to get a supply and directly deliver it to consumer without having to actually stock it and then goes ahead to make payments through electronic money transfer. Supply chain is considered dynamic in nature. Customers’ demands and suppliers’ potentiality will always change after sometimes. This will in turn leads to evolution in supply chain relationships. For instance, when a customer potentials increases, this will impact more pressure on the supplier to increase the rate of productivity in quantity and quality. Organizations should be able to project any risk that might come in the line of production of commodities to the

Effective Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Effective Management - Essay Example The party- the core principal which may be the local city may decide to give contracts to the contractors to do the work in accordance to the stipulated guidelines. The contracts may invoke agency problems since the contractors may fail to deliver what their principle requires. For example schools with the help of school boards may decide to contract unqualified teachers on behave of the teachers unions because of the low price that the teacher has offered. Often, the contractors will do will always do their tasks to save costs at the expense of quality of the work that they have been contracted to do. They may also fail to finish the work or do the work at their interests. Normaly, recognision of the incentives is pivotal in the effectiveness of the management. The incentives that are given to the contractors should be increased so as to act as a motivation to the contractors. This will enable them to do the work without the desire to minimize costs thus compromising the quality of the work. In class most students rated others with high and perfect score, this was an agency problem since many revealed conflict of interest as per the requirements. I think the incentive should be changed and that the perfect score should only be given when there zero

Civil Liability and Private Police Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Civil Liability and Private Police Paper - Essay Example or its employees (also known as torts); and (2) criminal acts committed by the security company or its employees. The major source of liabilities of the private police is the tort law which is rooted on negligence rather than on malice or evil intent. Following are the usual torts committed or imputed to private police: battery, assault, infliction of mental distress, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, trespass to land, trespass to personal property, negligence, defamation, and invasion of privacy. Hence, any mistake committed by a private police may be the subject of a tort lawsuit. The Fourth Amendment provides protection to the citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures and arbitrary arrest and detention. A reading of the provision creates an impression that it is geared towards the protection of citizens against public authorities. In fact, even the Courts have some apprehensions in applying the said provision against private entities and individuals. In the case of Burdeau vs. McDowell (256 U.S. 465 [1921]), the Supreme Court Civil Liability and Private Police Paper ruled unequivocally that the provision is not applicable to complainants arrested or searched by private parties. Due to the said ruling, the private police continued to avoid all restrictions imposed upon their public counterparts. On the issue of arrests, private police enjoy the protection afforded to private individuals on the argument that they act for and in behalf of the person, business entity or corporation that hired them; thus, their employer practically transferred the latter’s basic right of protection of their persons and properties against unreasonable searches, seizures, and arrests. This is so in spite of the general knowledge that the function of private police is akin to that of the public law enforcement agencies, albeit limited to the interest of their employers. However, the conclusion is still the same – that unless the private police are de putized or commissioned through a valid law, they do cannot enjoy the powers given to the public authorities. Hence, private police, when it comes to the issue of arrests and seizures, must be confined within the ambit of the theories of self-defense, defense of another or the property of another, crime prevention, and citizen’s arrest. Similarly, in cases of invasion of privacy or defamation, the private police may rely only on exercise of reasonable limitations. On the other hand, in cases of negligence, the possible defences are contributory negligence and assumption of risk by the complainant. Considering that private police are usually engaged in situations requiring restraint or detention, most often for investigation purposes, the possibility of being held liable for assault is high. Following are the elements of assault: (1) an act; (2) intent to harm or make offensive contact or to cause apprehension; (3) apprehension must be imminent; and (4) apprehension is caused by the defendant. Perusal of the above-enumerated elements show the apparent absence of

Assignment presentation QAHE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Assignment presentation QAHE - Essay Example of which 265 are in the United States and 182 outside America.The importance of this research is to evaluate the internal and external environment in which Apple Incorporation operates. Apple incorporation external environment will be analysed using the PEST analysis model. PEST stands for its political, economic, social and technological aspects of the company in order to determine Apple’s feasibility in relation to its growth, market, size, its performance position and possible operation ventures (Newlands & Hooper, 2009). Apple’s political environmentincludes the external problems that can hinder its routine operations,which can be caused by the instability of the national government. The problems can include terrorism, civil wars, corruption, health concerns and political instability. All these uncertainties can affect the sales of Apple products worldwide. In order for Apple to reduce its overall operational costs and external calamities, it has outsourced its activities in various countries. The countries include the Republic of China, Cork, Ireland, Korea and the Republic of Czech.Apple’s business activities can be hindered if these countries encounter political instability, which can otherwise affect its manufacturing processes. The hindrances of products manufacturing can cause a delay; resulting inshortages and dissatisfaction from the customers and its loyal dealers (Gendron, 2013). The economic environment can be analyzed by the global economic condition. The purchase of the company’s products can be hindered by the unemployment level of the country. If the unemployment rate is high, the consumers will have a low purchasing power and subsequently,a decrease in disposable income. Inflation is another robust problem which can adversely affect Apple’s revenue values.Inflation can be brought about by the increase in oil prices leading to inflation in the global economy. Due to the rise in operational costs, the costs arelater transferred to the

Effective Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Effective Management - Essay Example The party- the core principal which may be the local city may decide to give contracts to the contractors to do the work in accordance to the stipulated guidelines. The contracts may invoke agency problems since the contractors may fail to deliver what their principle requires. For example schools with the help of school boards may decide to contract unqualified teachers on behave of the teachers unions because of the low price that the teacher has offered. Often, the contractors will do will always do their tasks to save costs at the expense of quality of the work that they have been contracted to do. They may also fail to finish the work or do the work at their interests. Normaly, recognision of the incentives is pivotal in the effectiveness of the management. The incentives that are given to the contractors should be increased so as to act as a motivation to the contractors. This will enable them to do the work without the desire to minimize costs thus compromising the quality of the work. In class most students rated others with high and perfect score, this was an agency problem since many revealed conflict of interest as per the requirements. I think the incentive should be changed and that the perfect score should only be given when there zero

Assignment presentation QAHE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Assignment presentation QAHE - Essay Example of which 265 are in the United States and 182 outside America.The importance of this research is to evaluate the internal and external environment in which Apple Incorporation operates. Apple incorporation external environment will be analysed using the PEST analysis model. PEST stands for its political, economic, social and technological aspects of the company in order to determine Apple’s feasibility in relation to its growth, market, size, its performance position and possible operation ventures (Newlands & Hooper, 2009). Apple’s political environmentincludes the external problems that can hinder its routine operations,which can be caused by the instability of the national government. The problems can include terrorism, civil wars, corruption, health concerns and political instability. All these uncertainties can affect the sales of Apple products worldwide. In order for Apple to reduce its overall operational costs and external calamities, it has outsourced its activities in various countries. The countries include the Republic of China, Cork, Ireland, Korea and the Republic of Czech.Apple’s business activities can be hindered if these countries encounter political instability, which can otherwise affect its manufacturing processes. The hindrances of products manufacturing can cause a delay; resulting inshortages and dissatisfaction from the customers and its loyal dealers (Gendron, 2013). The economic environment can be analyzed by the global economic condition. The purchase of the company’s products can be hindered by the unemployment level of the country. If the unemployment rate is high, the consumers will have a low purchasing power and subsequently,a decrease in disposable income. Inflation is another robust problem which can adversely affect Apple’s revenue values.Inflation can be brought about by the increase in oil prices leading to inflation in the global economy. Due to the rise in operational costs, the costs arelater transferred to the

Shape and Secret Hideaway Place Essay Example for Free

Shape and Secret Hideaway Place Essay Childhood is such an innocent time in your life. Your childhood builds the foundation to which you will become. It creates the boundaries to which you will grow into. A child’s imagination is a very vivid and wide ranged. A child can see things we cannot hear, they hear things that we cannot hear. It is very detailed and sensitive and important to the overall development. It was in my childhood, where I found my secret hideaway place. I remember the day very vividly. I was 5 and still the only child. We had just moved into a one bedroom apartment, my mother and I. There were boxes everywhere, of all different sizes. My mother looked at me and said, â€Å"We’re going to save the big boxes to make you a play house†. I had no idea what a play house was, or why I even needed it. I had a ton of toys, and dolls. But I had no idea what a play house would do to enhance my play time experience. Two large cardboard boxes set the foundation to my house. Standing on the outside of the house, you could see the beautiful detail my artistic mother put into the structure. It was painted pink and yellow. There were windows, four to be exact, on each side of the house. Each window was cut from a different shape, one circle, one square, one triangle, and one rectangle. There was a flowerbed drawn under each window. The flowerbed contained different types of flowers, most of them tulips, probably because that’s the easiest to draw, all different colors and sizes. There was a little flap that served as a front door. It was painted bright red, and had a little circle knob drawn onto it as well. Walking into the house was magical. Instantly I entered into my own world. The side of my play house was just as detailed as the outside. There were four walls, and each wall contained a different color and pictures. There were real photographs of me, and my family members. There was a section that had numbers and letters so that I could practice learning them. There were pictures of teddy bears and clowns, because my mother knew there were my favorite things. There were the names of the shapes above each shaped window. In the middle of the house sat one single chair, for me to sit inside, and view the outside would through my own little window. I can remember sittings for hours. Playing and imagining different scenarios, I would teach my dolls and shapes, letters, and numbers. Sometimes the playhouse would be a mansion, and sometimes a classroom. It was my little get away, my moment within reality, a space that belonged to me and only me. I often times watched Television through the window or front door of the house. It was my look into the grown people world, from my own. I couldn’t tell you what ever happened to that little play house. I honestly don’t remember when it was taken down, or why it was taken down. It just kind of disappeared, as the reality of the adult world appeared. I am, however, grateful, for my little playhouse and the foundation it built for me in my adult life. My little play house provided me with security and substance. It taught me to use my mind, to see beyond what is in front of me and most importantly to think outside the box.

Cigarette Excise Taxes in Pakistan

Cigarette Excise Taxes in Pakistan Executive Summary Cigarettes are inexpensive in Pakistan and are by far the most widely sold tobacco product in the country . The most popular brands cost PKR 18.40 per pack of 20 (USD 0.25 per pack at the current exchange rate). In part because cigarettes are inexpensive, annual consumption of cigarettes has increased (from 292 cigarettes per capita in 1994 to 406 cigarettes per capita in 2007). This raises serious health concerns. A proven intervention to reduce smoking is to raise the price of cigarettes relative to other products by increasing excises on cigarettes. Although Pakistan adjusts its cigarette excises almost every year, the rates have not kept pace with inflation and the growth of per capita income. Excise revenue has fallen from 0.5 percent of GDP in 1994 to 0.3 percent of GDP in 2007. This report assesses Pakistans excises on cigarettes. Domestic cigarettes are classified into three tiers based on the retail price before value added tax (VAT). Each tier is subject to a different excise regime. Cigarettes in Tier I (the lowest-priced cigarettes) are subject only to a specific excise of PKR 6.34 per pack. Cigarettes in Tier II (cigarettes in the mid-price range) are subject to mixed regime comprising a PKR 6.34 per pack specific excise and an incremental 69 percent ad valorem excise. Cigarettes in Tier III (the highest-priced cigarettes) are subject only to a 63 percent ad valorem excise. To reduce consumption, increase government revenue, and simplify the excise regime, Pakistan should return to a two-tier regime similar to what was abandoned in 2001. For cigarettes priced lower than PKR 28.00 per pack-the first tier-the excise would be a specific rate of PKR 15.00 per pack. For cigarettes priced PKR 28.00 per pack or higher-the second tier-the excise tax would be 63 per cent of the retail price before VAT. Going forward, the specific rate and the price bracket between the two tiers would be automatically indexed for inflation. Under the proposal, over 80 percent of all cigarettes would be in the first tier and subject to the specific excise. Assuming the excise tax is fully passed through to consumers, adoption of this proposal will lead to a 50 percent increase in the price of the most popular brands and more than double the excise tax on these brands. Consumption of cigarettes will decline by 18 percent, providing significant health benefits, and the governments revenue from cigarette excises will increase by 47 percent. A. Current Situation Taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products Cigarettes are by far the most important tobacco product in Pakistan. The federal government levies excises on cigarettes, which are collected at the manufacturing stage by the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR).  [1]  Domestic cigarettes are classified into three tiers based on the retail price before value added tax (VAT), which is printed on each pack, along with the VAT-inclusive price. Each tier is subject to a different excise regime. Cigarettes in Tier I (the lowest-priced cigarettes) are subject only to a specific excise (based on quantity). Cigarettes in Tier II (cigarettes in the mid-price range) are subject to mixed regime comprising a specific excise and an incremental ad valorem excise (based on value). Cigarettes in Tier III (the highest-priced cigarettes) are subject only to an ad valorem excise (Figure 1). From June 2008, the rates are as follows: Tier Retail Price Per Pack (Before VAT) Excise duty Tier I Below PKR 14.86 PKR 6.34 Tier II From PKR 14.86 to PKR 32.00 PKR 6.34 + 69% per incremental rupee over PKR 14.86 Tier III Above PKR 32.00 63% of the retail price before VAT Figure 1. Tax per pack of 20 cigarettes and current prices before VAT All imported cigarettes, of which there are only limited quantities (less than 3 percent of the market), are subject to an ad valorem excise of 63 percent of the retail price (before VAT). Thus, all imports are excised the same as Tier III domestic cigarettes.  [2]  Unmanufactured tobacco is excised at a rate of PKR 5 per kilogram. To avoid tax on tax, this input tax may be claimed as a credit against the excise charged on manufactured cigarettes (or other final tobacco products). The credit is available at the time when excise duty is paid on the manufactured tobacco products.  [3]  Tobacco products other than cigarettes are excised at 63 percent of their retail price. In addition to the excise, cigarettes are subject to the 16 percent VAT which is collected at each stage of production and distribution.  [4]   There are a number of exemptions for tobacco products included in the Third Schedule of the Federal Excise Act: (i) if made by hand in the tapered shape of biris (or bidis) without the use of any manual or power-operated machine in any process of their manufacture; (ii) if supplied to the Navy for consumption on board its vessels; (iii) if supplied for consumption by the President of Pakistan, the President of Azad Jammu Kashmir and the Governors of the Provinces, members of their families and guests; and (iv) if supplied to duty free shops. According to documents from industry, cigarettes cannot sell for less than PKR 14.48 per pack (about USD 0.20 per pack at the current exchange rate).  [5]  This is not being enforced, as lower-priced cigarettes are available.  [6]   In 2007-08, the excises on tobacco products raised PKR 28.52 billion. Tobacco excises have steadily declined from 0.52 percent of GDP in 1992-93 to 0.28 percent of GDP in 2007-08 (Table 1) and from 5.6 percent of federal taxes in 1992-93 to 3.4 percent in 2006-07 . The declining importance of tobacco excise revenue amidst a stable share of total federal taxes in GDP reflects, in part, a decline in all excise taxes, and the growing importance of the sales tax. Table 1. Share of excise taxes on tobacco in GDP Fiscal Year GDP (PKR billions) Tobacco excise tax (PKR billions) Tobacco excise tax as a share of GDP 1992-93 1,620.62 8.51 0.52% 1993-94 1,897.88 8.61 0.45% 1994-95 2,268.46 10.03 0.44% 1995-96 2,577.56 11.59 0.45% 1996-97 2,952.18 11.71 0.40% 1997-98 3,255.31 13.12 0.40% 1998-99 3,572.28 15.12 0.42% 1999-00 3,826.11 14.34 0.37% 2000-01 4,209.87 16.36 0.39% 2001-02 4,452.65 16.56 0.37% 2002-03 4,875.65 17.28 0.35% 2003-04 5,640.58 18.40 0.33% 2004-05 6,499.78 21.88 0.34% 2005-06 7,593.85 23.10 0.30% 2006-07 8,706.92 28.41 0.33% 2007-08 10,009.68 28.52 0.28% Source: IMF, Federal Bureau of Revenue, authors calculation. Structure of the industry There are 42 registered cigarette manufacturers, but only 24 manufacturers are currently producing cigarettes.  [7]  The market is dominated by two companies: Lakson Tobacco Company (LTC), which is a subsidiary of Phillip Morris International (PMI) and Pakistan Tobacco Company (PTC), which is a subsidiary of British American Tobacco (BAT) (Table 2). LTC has gradually increased its market share from 36 percent in 2000 to 47  percent in 2007. Small companies now produce only about 5 percent of the duty paid domestic cigarettes. Table 2. Market shares of the main tobacco manufacturers Manufacturer Affiliation 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Lakson Tobacco Company PMI 35.6 42.2 45.7 47.1 48.1 46.8 46.0 47.0 Pakistan Tobacco Company BAT 53.9 47.5 46.4 46.5 46.7 50.4 51.0 48.4 Other manufacturers NA 10.5 10.3 7.9 6.4 5.2 2.8 3.0 4.6 Source: Tobacco Merchants Association The two leading brands are Morven (produced by LTC 37.6 percent market share) and Gold Flake (produced by PTC 29.5 percent market share), both in the first tier. Along with Embassy and other first tier brands, they account for about 85 percent of the market, with the remaining 15% split between second and third tier brands. Non duty paid illicit cigarettes are widely available. The general industry consensus, which is also shared by the government, is that such cigarettes account for about 20 percent of all cigarettes sold in Pakistan and most of them are produced illegally in Pakistan by small manufacturers active in the North-West Frontier and the Northern Areas. B. Issues Rising Consumption and Declining Revenues Annual consumption of cigarettes in Pakistan has increased from 292 cigarettes per capita in 1994 to 406 cigarettes per capita in 2007 (Figure 2). During this same period, tobacco excise revenue has fallen from 0.5 percent of GDP to 0.3 percent. The decline in revenue is primarily due to excise rates not keeping pace with the growth of per capita income, and to adding a new tier in 2001, which reduced the tax on cigarettes in the mid-price range (Figure 3). Figure 2: Per capita consumption of cigarettes and excise revenue as share of GDP Figure 3: Tax per pack before and after the introduction of the three-tier system Total Tax The total tax on cigarettes is too low to meet public health objectives. The World Bank found that in countries with comprehensive tobacco control policies, taxes (excise plus VAT or sales tax) accounts for two-thirds to four-fifths of the retail price of cigarettes.  [8]  In Pakistan the three most widely sold brands have a total tax burden of slightly more than 50 percent (Table 3), well below the World Bank recommended tax burden. Up-market brands such as Gold Leaf, just fall within the World Bank Standard, with a total tax burden of 68 percent.  [9]   Table 3. Total tax on cigarettes for major brands, in 2008 (in PKR per pack)       Gold Flake Morven Embassy Capstan Gold Leaf [A] Estimated market share (2006) 29.5% 37.6% 6.7% 7.8% 9.4% [B] Retail price 18.40 18.40 17.24 34.30 49.00 [C] VAT (13.8 percent of final retail price) 2.54 2.54 2.38 4.74 6.76 [D] Excise tax 7.03 7.03 6.34 16.48 26.61 [E] Pre-tax price = [B]-[C]-[D] 8.83 8.83 8.52 13.08 15.63 [F] Total tax = [C]+[D] 9.57 9.57 8.72 21.22 33.37 [G] Share of excise = [D]/[B] 38.2% 38.2% 36.8% 48.0% 54.3% [H] Share of taxes = ([C]+[D])/[B] 52.0% 52.0% 50.6% 61.9% 68.1% Ad valorem vs. Specific Over the period 1986-2007, countries within the Asia Pacific region have been switching from ad valorem excises or ad valorem and specific excises on cigarettes to specific excises.  [10]  Currently, 19 of the 27 countries in the Asia Pacific region impose specific excises on cigarettes,  [11]  some of which adjust taxes for inflation on a mandated regular basis. Seven of these countries (Australia, Hong Kong, Macau, Mongolia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Taiwan) impose a single specific rate; that is, there are no tiers.  [12]  Four countries impose only ad valorem rates on cigarettes,  [13]  and four countries (including Pakistan) impose both specific and ad valorem rates.  [14]   A strong case can be made for Pakistan adopting a specific tax regime for excising cigarettes: If a primary purpose of the cigarette excise-in addition to raising revenue-is to discourage consumption, the tax should be levied on the number of cigarettes (or packs of cigarettes) consumed. Specific excises limit brand switching to cheaper cigarettes and thus are more effective in reducing smoking prevalence. In contrast, ad valorem excises, all other things equal, lead to a greater spread in prices between cheaper and higher-priced cigarettes. This, in turn, leads to greater potential for switching to cheaper cigarettes when excise rates are increased. Keeping all low-priced cigarette on a specific regime is therefore key to the success of the proposed tax change. Ad valorem rates may encourage price wars, as the government shares in any price reduction.  [15]  In contrast, when the rate is specific, the amount of excise paid is not reduced when prices are cut.  [16]   Specific excises are also easier to administer because it is only necessary to determine the physical quantity of the product taxed, and not necessary to determine its value.  [17]   International experience suggests that ad valorem taxes may keep pace with inflation better than specific taxes, even specific taxes that are adjusted fairly frequently, and because of this, some experts favor ad valorem excises. To avoid this problem, specific excises should be adjusted each year automatically (i.e., by an administrative order, which does not require a decision by an executive agency or approval by a legislative body). Pernicious effect of the second tier Since the three-tier scheme was adopted in 2001, there have been annual adjustments, except in 2003 when inflation was quite low, to the first-tier specific rate and in the price brackets between the tiers (Table 4). In 2002, the large real increase in the specific rate and the bracket between the first and second tiers lowered the tax on mid-priced cigarettes, as explained further below. Since then, the annual adjustments until 2008 have lagged the increase in the CPI, which has reduced the inflation-adjusted tax on low-priced cigarettes. In addition, the tax on mid-priced cigarettes continued to fall in nominal (and inflation-adjusted) terms. Table 4. Annual adjustments of the specific excise rate and brackets Date of Adjustment Prior Fiscal Year Increase in CPI (In Percent) Increase in the First-Tier Specific Rate (In Percent) Increase in Bracket between First and Second Tiers (In Percent) Increase in Bracket between the Second and Third Tiers (In Percent) June 2002 3.6 18.6 18.6 June 2003 1.9 June 2004 8.5 8.1 8.1 20.0 July 2005 8.7 7.9 7.9 8.3 June 2006 7.6 7.3 7.5 7.7 June 2007 7.0 6.5 6.5 7.1 June 2008 12.3 13.1 13.1 6.7 This approach to annually adjusting the excise schedule has the pernicious effect of reducing the tax on cigarettes in the mid-price range. This can be seen by comparing the excise tax per pack for 2007 and 2008 (Figure 4). When the bracket between the first and second tiers was increased to PKR 14.86, the 69 percent incremental rate applies to a smaller portion of the retail price. Therefore, the excise on cigarettes priced between PKR 14.86 and PKR 32.00 per pack was reduced. For example, the excise on Capstan, with a retail price before VAT of PKR  27.21 per pack, fell from PKR 15.31 to PKR 14.86 per pack.  [18]  There does not appear to be a sound tax policy or health policy reason for increasing the tax on low-priced cigarettes, lowering the tax on mid-price cigarettes, while leaving the tax on high-priced cigarettes unchanged. Figure 4. Tax per pack of 20 cigarettes, before and after the June 2008 changes to the excise tax on tobacco, with pre-June 2008 prices before VAT C. A Way Forward Proposed excise rates To reduce consumption, increase government revenue, and simplify the excise regime, Pakistan should return to a two-tier regime similar to what was abandoned in 2001. The specific excise would be increased to PKR 15.00 per pack of 20  cigarettes and the price bracket between the first and second tiers would be increased to PKR  28.00.  [19]  For cigarettes in the second tier, the excise tax would be 63 percent of the retail price before VAT. Going forward, the specific rate and the price bracket between the first and second tiers would be automatically indexed for inflation.  [20]  Under this proposal, over 80 percent of all cigarettes would be subject to the specific excise. Only the higher-priced cigarettes would be subject to the 63 percent ad valorem excise (Figure 5), allowing the government to tap some of the up-market value. Figure 5. Tax per pack in current and proposed tax regime for tobacco excise Administrative reforms As excise tax increases, some consumers will switch to non duty paid illicit cigarettes, most of which are manufactured domestically. Therefore, a strengthened tax administration is essential and it should accompany the reform program. The Federal Excise Act gives the FBR adequate powers to assess and collect excise taxes. However, the critical factor-political will to allow inspectors, with appropriate protection for their safety, to access and/or find suspected sites of illicit manufacturing-appears to be lacking.  [21]  In this respect, fully implementing the array of measures already included in the Federal Excise Act will be important to reap the full benefits of the tax increase, although scenario analyses in the appendices show that the effect of the proposed tax change on government revenue is robust to increased smuggling. D. Effects of the Proposal The proposal increases cigarette prices, reduces consumption, and increases government revenue. Price effect The incidence of excises and other indirect taxes is generally assumed to be shifted forward to consumers. Manufacturers will raise their prices to cover any increase in excises. Of course, manufacturers may increase prices by more than the tax increase  [22]  or less than the tax increase depending on competitive factors, and this possibility is discussed further in Appendix 1. The initial assumption is that prices will increase to fully pass through the tax increase. Table 5. Current price per pack and estimated new price per pack under proposed tax regime, assuming full pass-through of the tax increase to consumers*    Current pre-VAT price (PKR) New pre-VAT price (PKR) % Change Current excise tax per pack (PKR) New excise tax per pack (PKR) Embassy 14.86 23.40 57.5% 6.34 15.00 Morven 15.86 23.80 50.1% 7.03 15.00 Gold Flake 15.86 23.80 50.1% 7.03 15.00 Capstan 29.56 35.20 19.1% 16.48 22.18 Gold Leaf 42.24 42.24 0.0% 26.61 26.61 Other brands NA 23.40 NA 6.34 15.00 * The assumption of full pass-through implies that tobacco manufacturers increase prices to preserve their pre-tax revenues per pack. Some will argue that the excise on low-priced cigarettes must be kept low to protect the low-income consumers from spending more on tobacco. However, because the prevalence rate and ensuing burden of tobacco use is higher among low-income consumers and because these consumers are more sensitive to price, low-income consumers reap maximum benefit from higher taxes through reduced consumption. Savings are therefore generated not only through lower expenditures on tobacco itself but also on related conditions (e.g., hospitalization for cancer) and higher productivity. In addition, many countries also help low-income tobacco users through increased support to cessation programs and mass awareness campaigns that are often funded by higher taxes. In this regards, it is clear that governments have more effective ways of helping low-income consumers than providing cheap tobacco products. Although the proposal would result in a sharp increase in the price of cigarettes at the lower end of the market, cigarette prices would nevertheless remain significantly under the level of most countries in the world (Figure 6), and most notably well under the price of popular brands in India. Figure 6. Price of a pack of 20 cigarettes in various countries at purchasing power parity *,+ Source: WHO. Global Report on the tobacco Epidemic, 2008. The MPOWER package. World Health Organization. 2008 * All prices are converted to US dollars and adjusted for differences in affordability across countries, hence very high figures for India, for example. + All figures are based on 2006 data, except for Pakistan (after tax increase), which is based on a price of PKR 23.80, the price of Gold Flake under the proposed tax change. Consumption effect Raising the price of cigarettes relative to other products will encourage consumers to reduce their purchases of cigarettes. It may also encourage consumers to substitute non duty paid illicit cigarettes for duty paid cigarettes. How much consumption is reduced depends on the elasticity of demand,  [23]  which in low- and middle income countries varies widely, but is generally assumed to be around -0.8.  [24]  However, there are many reasons to believe that the elasticity of demand is very low in Pakistan. First, tobacco prices are low: a pack of Gold Flake costs PKR 114 in India and only PKR 18.40 in Pakistan (using the current exchange rate).  [25]  Second, the proposed price increase is significant and using a standard point elasticity is likely to overestimate the change in consumption in such a context. Last, comparable countries such as Egypt have price elasticities of around -0.4 or even lower.  [26]  For these reasons, Table 6 provides estimated changes in con sumption based on an elasticity of -0.4. Appendix 2 assesses the impact of changing the elasticity and of increased illicit consumption on these estimates.  [27]   Table 6. Impact of proposed tax regime on sales of cigarettes*    Forecasted sales for 2008/09 under current tax regime (million packs of 20 cig.)+ Estimated sales for 2008/09 under proposed tax regime (million packs of 20 cig.) % Change Embassy 248 191 -23.0% Morven 1,395 1,115 -20.0% Gold Flake 1,094 875 -20.0% Capstan 289 267 -7.6% Gold Leaf 349 349 0.0% Other brands 334 257 -23.0% Total 3,709 3,055 -17.6% * Assuming 5% growth from the 2007/08 production figures and a -0.4 price elasticity of demand. + Source: Pakistan Economic Survey (production) and Tobacco Merchants Association (market shares for 2006), authors calculation. Revenue effect Increasing excises on cigarettes would increase government excise revenue by almost 50%, compared to what would be collected under the current tax regime.  [28]  Most of the increase is generated by brands at the low-end of the market, because changes in tax per pack mostly occur at that level (Figure 5). This increase in revenue would raise the share of tobacco taxes in the GDP to 0.45%, the same level as in 1993-94, up from 0.28% in 2007-08.  [29]   Table 7. Impact of proposed tax regime on excise tax revenue from cigarettes    Forecasted revenue from tobacco excise tax for 2008/09 under current tax regime (million PKR) Estimated revenue from tobacco excise tax for 2008/09 under proposed tax regime (million PKR) % Change Embassy 1,575 2,871 82.2% Morven 9,804 16,729 70.6% Gold Flake 7,692 13,125 70.6% Capstan 4,768 5,926 24.3% Gold Leaf 9,278 9,272 -0.1% Other brands 2,116 3,856 82.2% Total 35,233 51,779 47.0% E. Conclusion A strong case can be made for increasing excises on cigarettes. First, cigarettes are inexpensive-the most popular brands cost PKR 18.40 per pack of 20 (USD 0.25). Second, per capita cigarette consumption has been growing, raising significant health concerns. Third, the current three-tier regime for excising cigarettes is complex and pernicious. The governments annual adjustment to the rates and brackets increases the excise payable on the low-priced brands but reduces the excise payable on mid-priced brands while leaving the excise payable on high-priced brands unchanged. There is neither a sound health policy reason nor a tax policy reason for this pattern of changes. Pakistan should return to a two-tier regime similar to what was abandoned in 2001. The specific excise would be increased to PKR 15.00 per pack of 20  cigarettes and the price bracket between the first and second tiers would be increased to PKR  28.00. For cigarettes in the second tier, the excise tax would be 63 percent of the retail price before VAT. Going forward, the specific rate and the bracket between the first and second tiers would be automatically indexed for inflation. Assuming the excise tax is fully passed through to consumers, adoption of this proposal will lead to a 50 percent increase in the price of the most popular brands. Consumption of cigarettes will decline by 18 percent, providing significant health benefits, and the governments revenue from cigarette excises will increase by 47 percent. The forecasted impact of the proposed change is robust to the assumptions used in the model regarding the pass through to consumers of the tax increase, as well as elasticity and the potential impact of smuggling, as demonstrated in Appendices 1 and 2. Appendix 1: Sensitivity analysis for pass-through of the tax increase to consumers How much of the new tax will be passed through to consumers by the tobacco manufacturers will determine the new market prices and therefore consumption levels, hence an impact on government revenue. The proposal assumes pass-through of 1, i.e., the entire tax increase is passed through to consumers in the form of higher prices. In this appendix, five more pass-through scenarios are assessed. It is first assumed that manufacturers cannot pass the entire tax increase to consumers, hence pass-through of 0.75 and 0.90. Next, it is assumed that manufacturers pass-through more than the tax increase, as was the case with Capstan in 2008. Three more pass-through are therefore tested: 1.10, 1.25, and 1.40. The impact on government revenue and consumption is calculated in Table A1.1 Table A1.1 Impact on consumption and government revenue of various pass-through scenarios* Pass-through Impact on consumption (%) Increase in government revenue from excise on cigarettes (%) 0.75 -13.2 53.4 0.90 -15.9 49.6 1.00 -17.6 47.0 1.10 -19.4 44.4 1.25 -22.1 40.5 1.40 -24.8 36.6 * The base case scenario is highlighted. The impact of the pass-through rate on consumption is quite limited, with a difference of 10 percentage points between the two extreme scenarios. The increase in government revenue also is not very sensitive to higher pass-through rate. The same applies to a less than unity pass-through rate, as the smaller reduction in price results in a smaller reduction in consumption than in t

Unjust War :: essays research papers

The Vietnam conflict began in the late nineteenth century. The French conquered Vietnam and made it a protectorate. For nearly forty years, Vietnam had not experienced settled peace. The League for the Independence of Vietnam (Viet Minh) was formed in 1941, seeking independence from the French. On September 2nd, 1945, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed it independent of France. The French opposed their independence from 1945 to 1954. The French wanted to reestablish their rule in Vietnam but were beaten at the battle of Dien Bien Phu on May 7th, 1954. Ho Chi Minh led the war against France and won (lawson 13-15). After the war there was a conference in Geneva where Vietnam was divided into two parts along the seventeenth parallel. North Vietnam was mainly Communist and supported Ho Chi Minh, while the south was supported by the United States and the French were based there (bender 55-59). There was still some Communist rebels within South Vietnam. These were the Viet Cong. The South Vietnam ruler was Ngo Dinh Diem who was anti-Communist. At the conference, Laos and Cambodia became independent states (johnson 34). North Vietnam wished to unify North and South Vietnam through military force. Since the United States feared the spread of communism in Asia, John F. Kennedy provided economic and military aid to South Vietnam to prevent the takeover by North Vietnam (bender 35). At this time, this was still a civil war and because this was a civil war the United States had no right to become officially involved, but at this point it did (mcleod 120-125). The North Vietnamese resented the little intervention by the United Sates and so, three Vietnamese torpedo boats fired on the U.S. destroyer, "Maddox" on August 2nd, 1964. The "Maddox" had been in the Gulf of Tonkin, (international waters), thirty miles off the coast of Vietnam. On August 3rd, 1964, President Johnson gave the right " to attack with the objective of destroying attacking forces.† Retaliation air attacks began on August 3rd. Their aim was to destroy North Vietnam's gunboat capability. As two more United States destroyers were supposedly sunk, more air and sea forces were sent. Up until now, the U.S. had refrained from direct combat. This is when the United States formally entered the Vietnam War. The U.S. did this for two reasons. We wished to maintain the independence of South Vietnam and we had to prove to allied nations that we would help them resist Communist overtaking.

Father of the Bride Wedding Speech -- Wedding Toasts Roasts Speeches

Father of the Bride Wedding Speech Welcome, everyone. I believe, that as father of the bride, it is my dubious privilege to make the first speech, so, here's one I prepared earlier. I would like to start by saying what a pleasure it is to welcome, on this very happy occasion all relatives and friends of both families. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank especially my wife for not only being tolerant but more importantly an outstanding mother and the guiding influence in the upbringing of our daughter, culminating in today's celebrations. To the reverend, our thanks for officiating at the ceremony, and to his "boss† for keeping the weather at bay. Before I ask you to join me in a toast to the bride and groom. I'd like to bore you with a few words. I will try to keep them short. as I know that the other speakers are really looking forward to standing here before you and making their speeches! Nine months ago Nicola phoned and asked me what I was doing on Saturday, 23 March. As she knows that I always play golf on a Saturday, I thought she had taken up the game ...

School wide positive behavior support

For the past 28 old ages, LAKE Academy ( once known as LifeStream Academy ) has served kids and striplings with emotional upsets and behavioural challenges as referred by the School Board of Lake County ( LCSB ) . LAKE Academy is housed at two sites within Lake County and serves a sum of 110 Emotional/Behavioral Disabled and Emotionally Handicapped ( EBD/EH ) pupils, 45 Alternate Education ( AE ) pupils, and 80 Alternate Disciplinary Program ( ADP ) pupils. LAKE Academy was formed as a charter between LifeStream Behavioral Center, a Mental Health Hospital and Lake County School Board. LAKE Academy is under contract to keep a teacher/student ratio of 1:11 in the Emotional/Behavioral Disabled and Emotionally Handicapped ( EBD/EH ) plan ; a teacher/student ratio of 1:15 will be maintained in the Alternate Education plan. The instructor to student ratio in the Alternative Disciplinary Program schoolroom will average one instructor to twenty pupils. Recently, the Lake County School Board charter contract with Lake Academy added the No Child Left Behind Act enfranchisement demand. All instructors are required to demo annually advancement towards capable country and/or Exceptional Education Certification. However, LifeStream Behavioral Center, the employer, pays on the norm of 10 dollars less per hr with no planning period or responsibility free tiffin. In add-on, this school requires frequent and sometimes drawn-out restraint of pupils which frequently risks hurt to staff.Purpose of StudyTraditionally, schools have used reactive, punitory schemes in an effort to discour age pupils from unwanted behaviours. These effect based behavior systems have been proven uneffective. The Families and Advocates Partnership for Education provinces that â€Å" harmonizing to over 500 research surveies, penalty is one of the least effectual responses to job behaviours. School-wide policies that punish pupils for negative behaviours but that do n't honor positive behaviours really increased aggression, hooliganism, hooky, tardiness, and dropping out of school † ( FAPE Research Brief, p. 1 ) . We need to believe more about our pupils and learn them how to act and larn, within a system that is positive and collaborative. â€Å" What is needed is a systemic, proactive attack that seeks to forestall disputing behaviours from developing while comprehensively turn toing the demands of all kids on the continuum of hazard for disputing behaviours † ( Dunlap, Lewis, & A ; McCart, p. 1 ) . Over the last 10 old ages, research workers have been looking at the effects of positive behaviour intercessions. These constructs were foremost used in particular instruction scenes. â€Å" PBS was developed ab initio as an option to aversive intercessions that were used with pupils with terrible disablements who engaged in utmost signifiers of self-injury and aggression † ( OSEP, ND, p. 1 ) . More late, this attack has been successful in regular instruction scenes every bit good. Researchers George Sugai and Rob Horner from Oregon, funded by the U. S. Office of Special Education Programs ( OSEP ) have formed a collaborative including universities and educational bureaus with the end to â€Å" help provinces in large-scale execution of School-wide Positive Behavior Support to accomplish both decrease in job behaviour and enhanced larning environment † ( OSEP Brochure, p. 1 ) . One survey, by Bradshaw, Leaf and Debnam ( 2007 ) paperss a randomised control test conducted in Maryland in which execution of school-wide positive behaviour support ( SWPBS ) was demonstrated to happen with fidelity, and to be linked to improved organisational wellness, improved academic results, and decreases in office subject referrals. ( Horner & A ; Sugai, 2007, p. 8 ) A reappraisal of the incident information for both campuses last twelvemonth showed that the Leesburg campus had 299 incidents that were caused by 70 pupils. Sixteen pupils had 5 or more incidents for a sum of 203 or 68 % . 55 % of all incidents were Acting Out ( 51 % AO & A ; 4 % AO, with hurt ) 31 % of all incidents were assaults. The Eustis campus saw 120 incidents that were caused by 47 pupils. 9 pupils had 5 or more incidents for a sum of 64 or 53 % 56 % of all incidents were Acting Out ( 44 % AO & A ; 12 % AO, with hurt ) 21 % of all incidents were assaults. Lake Academy keeps making the same thing and expects different consequences. The school must switch from a reactive and aversive attack to pull offing job behaviours to one that is preventative and positive. Lake County Schools introduced Positive Behavior Support in several schools last twelvemonth. One school saw a about 50 % decrease in subject referrals. The Academy already has A? of the PBS work done with the Leveled Behavior Modification Program.Literature ReviewDefinitions/ Background of PBSSchool-wide positive behaviour support ( SWPBS ) can be defined as â€Å" a systems attack for set uping the societal civilization and behavioural supports needed for a school to be an effectual acquisition environment for all pupils † ( Sugai, 2008, presentation slide 9 ) . SWPBS is a more proactive option to reactive, punitory behaviour direction processs. Administrators, instructors, and staff work collaboratively to better the school clime by learning behavioural outlooks and societal accomplishments for all scenes within the larning community. Positive support is used to admit pupils who are exhibiting the expected behaviours. For pupils who are non reacting to the given outlooks, t here is a continuum of intercessions designed to suit the demands of the person.Cardinal Elementss of PBSThe chief elements of the PBS theoretical account include â€Å" a prevention-focused continuum of support, proactive instructional attacks to learning and bettering societal behaviours, conceptually sound and through empirical observation validated patterns, systems change to back up effectual patterns, and experimental determination devising † ( Sugai & A ; Horner, 2002, p. 2 ) .Prevention.There are three degrees of bar used in SWPBS. â€Å" Primary bar focal points on diminishing the figure of new instances of a job behaviour or state of affairss by guaranting and keeping the usage of the most effectual patterns for all pupils † ( p. 2 ) . This degree of bar is used with all pupils, school-wide in all scenes. Students are taught the behavioural outlooks and societal accomplishments for usage in all countries of the school. Positive support is used by instructors and staff to admit those pupils who are acting harmonizing to these outlooks. The end of secondary bar is to cut down the figure of bing job behaviour instances or state of affairss by supplying extra instructional and behavioural supports for the comparatively smaller figure of pupils who are at hazard of important school failure and who need more specialised supports than those provided by primary bar attempts. ( Sugai & A ; Horner, 2002, p. 2 ) In these instances, intercessions are used to back up these persons in following the behavioural outlooks established in the school. The concluding type of bar, â€Å" third bar focal points on cut downing the figure of bing instances of complex, intractable, and long-standing job behaviours displayed by pupils who are at high hazard for important emotional, behavioural and societal failure † ( Sugai & A ; Horner, 2002, p. 2 ) These pupils require more individualised and intensive intercessions, including the usage of functional behavioural analysis and other informations aggregation to find the best manner to back up them.Proactive Approach.The 2nd cardinal component of PBS is that the attack taken by the instructors and staff is proactive instead than reactive. At the beginning of the twelvemonth or at the start of a new activity, behaviour guidelines are taught explicitly and reinforced so that all pupils know what is expected of them. This attack is characterized by a careful consideration of instructional patterns, constructions and procedures for ( a ) maximising academic results ; ( B ) selecting and learning school-wide and classroom-wide outlooks, regulations and modus operandis ; and ( degree Celsius ) practicing and promoting the usage of academic accomplishments and behavioural outlooks across multiple relevant scenes and contexts ( Sugai & A ; Horner, 2002, pp. 2-3 ) . Students are taught societal accomplishments and given schemes for covering with other pupils, such as struggle declaration and how to react to being harassed or bullied. It is besides made clear to pupils when they should seek aid from an grownup in a given state of affairs.Sound Practices.Many of the constituents of PBS come from the pattern of Applied Behavior Analysis ( ABA ) , which has been â€Å" refined, tested, and replicated to organize an of import disciplinary attack for turn toing socially of import concerns in instruction, particularly bettering behavioural results for single pupils † ( Sugai & A ; Horner, 2002, p. 3 ) . PBS focuses on two specific methods used in ABA: functional behavioural appraisal and behaviour intercession programs. Functional behavioural appraisals are used to roll up informations about the variables associated with job behaviours, such as â€Å" scene, ancestor, and effects. † This information is used to make behavior intercession programs, which â€Å" focal point on the strengths and of import societal contexts of the pupil and household and do job behaviour ineffective, inefficient, and irrelevant so that more desirable or adaptable behaviours can be encouraged † ( Sugai & A ; Horner, 2002, p. 3 ) .Systems Perspective.A big portion of the PBS attack is the fact that it is used school-wide. Having the systems set up throughout the school scenes is important to the successful execution of these patterns. This involves ongoing preparation and coaching of instructors and staff to guarantee that there is consistence throughout the school. â€Å" Systems supports m ust be in topographic point to back up the accurate, efficient, and sustained usage of evidence-based patterns and informations direction systems † ( Sugai & A ; Horner, 2002, p. 4 ) .Stairss for Implementation.The execution of PBS in a school involves several stairss. First, the leading squad is established. â€Å" With input from all staff, squads determine which features they will aim foremost, how advancement will be monitored, and what the behavioural outlooks will be, when and how to learn the behavior outlooks, and the type of informations that will be used to inform determinations † ( Dunlap, Lewis, & A ; McCart, p. 2 ) . Next, the squad defines the behavioural outlooks for the pupils. For school-aged kids, there are normally about five guidelines used throughout the school. These are posted throughout the assorted educational scenes, utilizing linguistic communication pupils can easy understand and associate to or utilizing images or icons. ( Dunlap, Lewis, & A ; McCart, p. 2 ) Once the school-wide behaviour outlooks have been determined, they must be taught to the pupils. â€Å" Expectations can be taught with a scope of schemes that include mold, pattern, function playing, and feedback in context, and a assortment of stuffs can be used to assist the instruction procedure ( e.g. books, games, marionettes, societal narratives ) † ( Dunlap, Lewis, & A ; McCart, p. 2 ) . Children are taught societal accomplishments every bit good as schemes for struggle declaration. There is besides treatment about appropriate behaviours for different scenes within the acquisition community, such as the schoolroom, the hallways, the tiffin room, and the resort area. It is of import that the instruction of these outlooks is clear and consistent and that the pupils are cognizant of the effects for non following with the guidelines. After pupils have been taught the behavior outlooks, the following measure is to utilize changeless positive support to admit those pupils who exhibit the coveted behaviours. Giving the kids this feedback lets them cognize when they are on the right path and besides shows other pupils that they will be noticed if they make the right picks. â€Å" Acknowledgement of coveted behaviours is such a critical characteristic of PBS that frequently the leading squad needs to set up particular monitoring schemes to assist motivate staff to ‘catch the kids being good ‘ with a high adequate frequence † ( Dunlap, Lewis, & A ; McCart, p. 3 ) . Data is used to assist the PBS squad to work out jobs and do determinations sing the actions taken to implement the plan successfully throughout the school. The squad meets to make up one's mind what types of information they will roll up to supervise the effectivity of the systems at different degrees: school-wide, within each schoolroom, and with single pupils. One normally used step to measure the school-wide plan is to look at the figure of office subject referrals ( ODRs ) . Many schools besides use behavior incident signifiers which â€Å" papers happenings of targeted disputing behaviours, and note the type of job behaviour, the scene in which it occurred, the type of activity and any other possible triggers to the behaviour, the people involved in the activity and the effects ( if any ) that were provided following the behavioural incident † ( Dunlap, Lewis, & A ; McCart, p. 3 ) . This information is collected and analyzed on a regular basis by members of the squad in their determination devising. Students who do non react to the behavioural outlooks set Forth are provided with extra intercessions, as decided by the PBS squad. â€Å" Data from behavior incident signifiers can assist squads find which kids and schoolrooms need support and what supports are appropriate † ( Dunlap, Lewis & A ; McCart, p. 3 ) .Effectiveness of PBS.A survey of PBS in urban high schools analyzing PBS and its effectivity at the secondary degree was conducted over the class of 4 old ages. Overall, school-wide PBS has been associated with decreases in ODRs at this school. Although the deficiency of experimental control in the survey prohibits the ability to presume causality, during the months and old ages where school-wide PBS intercessions were implemented, ODRs declinedaˆÂ ¦ Besides, comparing baseline informations to the first twelvemonth of execution revealed that a significantly smaller figure of pupils received multiple ODRs during the execution twelvemonth in comparing with the baseline twelvemonth. ( Morrissay, 2010, pp. 30-31 ) Many other surveies have shown similar consequences, including decreases in behavior incidents, office subject referrals ( ODRs ) and suspension rates. â€Å" Recent research indicates that school-wide positive behaviour is associated with reduced exclusionary, reactive and punitory subject patterns, increased pupil satisfaction, and improved perceptual experiences of school safety † ( Putnam, Horner, & A ; Algazzine, 2006, p. 1 ) . Teachers report holding more clip for direction in the schoolroom because there are less behavioural distractions. There are more positive interactions between pupils and staff, which create a better environment for everyone.Legislation.The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ( IDEA ) was originally passed as our state ‘s particular instruction jurisprudence in 1975. Its intent is to guarantee that pupils with disablements have an equal opportunity to hold â€Å" a free appropriate public instruction, merely like other kids † ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.nichcy.org/idea.htm para 2 ) . The act has been revised and amended many times, and was most late reauthorized by Congress in 2004, with consequences published in 2006. The new act, IDEIA ( Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act ) , states that â€Å" school decision makers continue to hold legislative support for their usage of functional behavioural appraisal and positive behavioural intercessions and schemes for back uping kids with disablements who exhibit job behaviours † ( IDEIA, 2004, p. 2 ) . The IDEIA provides more flexibleness in support, leting schools to utilize a per centum of their financess toward implementing PBS. It is besides proposed that these intercessions be used school-wide, to make an inclusive acquisition community for all pupils. Congress is presently fixing to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, known as â€Å" No Child Left Behind. † It appears that â€Å" policymakers have begun to admit that there are many non-academic factors that affect pupils ‘ school success † ( Mandlawitz, 2007, p. 1 ) . In her recent publication, Myrna Mandlawitz describes two measures that have been introduced, the Reducing Barriers to Learning Act of 2007 and the Positive Behavior for Effective Schools Act. Both of these involve the usage of school-wide positive behaviour support. On May 21, 2009, theA Positive Behavior for Safe and Effective Schools ActA ( HR 2597 ) was introduced by Representative Phil Hare ( D-IL ) .A If signed into jurisprudence, HR 2597 will better school clime and promote pupils ‘ academic success by promoting the usage of schoolwide positive behavioural supports ( PBIS ) . Research has documented that PBIS leads to better instructional clip, reduced disciplinary jobs and increased trial tonss. Harmonizing toA Rep. Hare, HR 2597 â€Å" provides schools with the flexibleness and proficient aid needed to implement, spread out, and prolong the usage of the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports system. † The end of this measure is to see more execution of positive behaviour supports â€Å" in order to consistently make a school clime that is extremely contributing to larning, cut down subject referrals, and better academic result. They besides propose more flexibleness in the usage of Title I financess for School-wide Po sitive Behavior Supports to do it more accessible to all schools.SWPBS and Academics.â€Å" Several surveies have found relationships between academic public presentation and job behaviour across class degrees † ( Putnam, Horner & A ; Algazzine, 2006, p. 1 ) . â€Å" Other research has demonstrated that pupils with terrible job behaviour experienced big academic shortages as compared to typical equals. In most countries these shortages remained stable over clip † ( p. 2 ) . In many instances, behavior jobs arise because a pupil is seeking to avoid an academic undertaking. If a kid is weak in a certain country or is fighting with a undertaking, he or she may move out as an flight. For illustration, if a â€Å" pupil ‘s literacy accomplishments do non maintain gait with those of equals, academic undertakings become more aversive, and job behaviours that lead to get away from these undertakings become more likely † ( Putnam, Horner & A ; Algazzine, 2006, p. 1 ) . It is of import as instructors that we learn what is reenforcing our pupils for their behaviours and expression at what the map of the behaviour is. Research workers have late begun to analyze the relationship between SWPBS and academic accomplishment. With less clip and energy traveling to pull offing job behaviours, instructors have more clip available for direction in the schoolroom. â€Å" Research has systematically shown that the sum of clip that direction is provided is extremely correlated with pupil accomplishment † ( Putnam, Horner, & A ; Algazzine, 2006, p. 2 ) . Some surveies have besides shown increased clip on undertaking and academic battle in schools and schoolrooms utilizing PBS. â€Å" Student academic battle has been found to be correlated with improved academic achievementaˆÂ ¦In a survey of six schoolrooms that implemented behavior support programs, on-task behaviour increased by 24 % over baseline degrees † ( Putnam, Horner, & A ; Algazzine, 2006, p. 2 ) . Research is besides get downing to demo that execution of SWPBS is associated with improved trial tonss. â€Å" There is increasing grounds that school-wide positive behaviour support intercessions improve standardized trial consequences † ( p. 3 ) .MethodologyThe Academy already has a leading squad in topographic point and a Behavior Modification plan. This undertaking will concentrate in the positive facet. The leading squad defined the cosmopolitan behavioural outlooks as Respect, Responsibility, and Safety. The undermentioned chart shows what each of these behaviours ‘ expression like:RespectDutySafetyUse appropriate and positive linguistic communication Follow staff waies Keep custodies, pess, and objects to yourself Listen when others are talking Care for your properties and clean up after yourself Walk at a safe gait Raise your manus and speak when it is your bend Give your best attempt Enter and issue in orderly lines Respect others, staff, and belongings Be prepared The leading squad so developed a usher to how the plan will work. The bell will peal indiscriminately throughout the twenty-four hours. Techs will give PBS points for pupils that are exhibiting the Expected Universal Behaviors when the bell rings ( Respect, Responsibility, and Safety ) . An excess column has been added to Daily Point Log for this trailing. Points can be turned in at the terminal of the hebdomad for school shop points. The minute the bell ringsaˆÂ ¦ the really 2nd the bell ringsaˆÂ ¦ is when the PBS point is earned. It does non count what behavior the pupil displayed two seconds ago, two proceedingss ago, or two hours ago. It does non count if the kid has non â€Å" made his twenty-four hours. † All that affairs is if he was exposing cosmopolitan behavior outlooks at the minute the bell rang. If he was, he earns the PBS point. The squad so established the regulations for the school shop. School shop will be on Friday from 1:30pm-2:30pm. Students must be escorted and supervised by their schoolroom staff. Appropriate behaviour must be demonstrated at the school shop. Students will be asked to go forth if their behaviour is unacceptable. Rules of school shop will be posted at the shop site and a transcript will be given to each schoolroom for staff to reexamine with pupils. Students must be gaining 80 points, must be dress codification compliant, and have no major moving out behaviours to go to shop. School shop will be announced on the talker and a agenda will be implemented of schoolroom times. Merely appointive staff will be allowed to run and hold entree to school shop and shall keep shop stock list. It is the duty of the schoolroom staff to track pupil ‘s points in order for them to purchase points from shop. Any staff/student that is suspected of larceny, pull stringsing points, non tracking pupil ‘s points, non leting pupils to use shop will be reported instantly to an Administrator and have a effect for their actions. There will be a suggestion box for any petitions for stock list, alterations that may be needed, or comments/concerns at the shop that will be reviewed by the PBS squad. PBS squad will supervise point/inventory relation and do necessary accommodations. The incident informations each month will be compared to the information from last twelvemonth and disaggregated by types of incident. This comparing informations will be used to measure the effectivity of the plan and to find the mark country for the 2nd grade. It is projected that the figure of incidents per month will diminish by 50 % like that of other schools in the county.