Criminal Justice Process Essay

Juveniles are not extended the right to a jury of their peers. What is the most significant reason why this right is not extended to juveniles? Please explain in detail why you chose that particular reason. I do not think that there is only one significant reason as to why juveniles are not extended the right to a jury of their peers. I think that one of the multiple reasons for this right not being extended is because a jury has to be able to be responsible enough to actually show up, they have to be able to convict or not convict based on evidence beyond a reasonable doubt and be able to disregard any evidence or statements when a judge asks them to. I do not think that most juveniles are mentally, nor emotionally equipped to do deal with the responsibilities of being a part of a jury. Most juveniles are still immature and when someone’s life is at stake and their freedom can be taken away I do not think that having a â€Å"child† decide their fate is appropriate. Why do you believe that there are differences between the adult justice system and the juvenile justice system? Please explain in detail why you believe as you do? I believe there are differences between the adult justice system and the juvenile justice system because of the differences in age, experiences, knowledge, and maturity. The juvenile justice system focuses on the rehabilitation of the juvenile, whereas the adult justice system’s goal is to punish and obtain retribution for the crime(s) committed. Juvenile offenders are given sentences that seek to rehabilitate rather than punish. Some of the treatment options offered could include counseling and placement in juvenile institutions that were also created to help restore them. Adult offenders are given harsh sentences. The sentences given can include a fine and or incarceration in jail or prison. All of the sentences given are solely based on punishing the offender. The adult court system is primarily concerned with the offender paying for the damage that they have done to society and the courts isn’t interested in rehabilitating or trying to change the behavior of the offender. After reviewing this entire building in CJ Interactive, describe ways that you can use this interactive tool to improve your learning of criminal justice concepts. Describe in detail the ways you can use this tool to further your criminal justice education, identifying at least three specific ways you would use this tool. After reviewing the entire building in CJ Interactive, I was able to see how this tool will help my learning of criminal justice concepts. I am a visual and auditory learner and both of my learning styles are incorporated in the CJ Interactive tool. I was able to get a better understanding of many of the topics that we have discussed in class thus far. For example through this too I was able to get a better understanding of the differences between the adult and juvenile court systems as well as how crime is defined and measured. I will be able to use this tool as another way of learning and understanding the criminal justice system by using the glossary to learn the terms used to explain the criminal justice system and its process. I will also be able to use this tool to learn and understand the criminal justice system by utilizing the different ways information is given is given in CJ Interactive for example there are 14 buildings located in this learning tool and each building represents a different topic in criminal justice and gives us students access to different learning modules, myths and issues, simulation activities, homework and review, and glossary terms associated with each particular topic. I can see myself utilizing all of these resources as a way to better understand the criminal justice system, my assignments that I have to complete in class, and for me to just use to gain as much knowledge as I can about the different topics in criminal justice throughout my college career at Colorado Technical University.

Trauma In 21st Century Health And Social Care Essay

Traumatic hurts are a really serious issue for society. These types of hurts are one of the chief causes of decease in people aged 5-44 old ages in the universe today. They account for 10 % of all deathsin this age group and hence represent a large load to society in footings of premature decease and disablement. Approximately 10 % of people who come into an accident and exigency section have a head hurt and that is what I am traveling to concentrate my essay on. I will discourse current direction every bit good as new therapies and developments. I will besides discourse the complication that can originate from a traumatic encephalon hurt old ages after the initial hurt. Injuries to the caput include scalp lacerations, skull breaks, concussion or a traumatic subdural, epidural or subarachnoid bleeding. If a patient has arrived to the A & A ; E section with multiple hurts, the precedence must be the air passage and guaranting the cervical spinal column is stable, so take a breathing and circulation before intervention can get down on a head hurt. Failure in resuscitation can take to hypoxia and hypotension.[ 3 ]It is of import to observe that intoxicant can impact the degree of consciousness in a patient so a blood intoxicant trial is ever a good thought.[ 4 ] Head hurts can be classed into two groups, closed caput hurts and perforating caput hurts. Closed caput hurts can be farther grouped into mild, moderate and terrible hurts. The Glasgow coma graduated table ( GCS ) is a graduated table used to measure the extent of the harm to the encephalon. Eye motor and verbal responses are tested for this graduated table. The scale scopes from 3-15 with 3-8 bespeaking terrible caput injury, 9-12 bespeaking moderate injury, and 15 indicating you know who and where you are, and that your motor and verbal control are unaffected.[ 5 ]After a traumatic caput hurt this trial is performed every half an hr until the patient reaches 15 on the graduated table. This trial classifies the type of head hurt but is non a replacement for a neurological test.[ 6 ] Most patients with a head hurt have mild hurts. Symptoms include sickness, a mild to chair concern and giddiness. Patients showing with a low hazard caput trauma merely necessitate a careful appraisal and some observation after. They normally do non necessitate a radiogram. However attention must be taken every bit much as 3 % of those who present with a mild caput injury can develop a more serious hurt.[ 6 ]Once the patient is discharged the following of family should be instructed to maintain supervising the patient and to wake the patient every two hours to see if the status has worsened.[ 6 ]Often patients with mild hurts to the caput have concussions. They are typically caused by a blow to the caput. The impact of the blow to the caput causes the encephalon to agitate inside the skull and this temporarily prevents the encephalon from working usually.[ 7 ]Not everyone who has a concussion will hold the same symptoms but a typical individual with a concussion presents with confusi on, non being able to retrieve what happened, sickness, light headedness and go throughing out. Most patients will do a complete recovery nevertheless in 30 % of instances post concussive syndrome can develop which normally lasts for 2-4 months. Symptoms include bleary vision, sleep perturbations, sickness, concern, giddiness or memory loss.[ 6 ]About 20 % of grownups who develop PCS will still non hold returned to work one twelvemonth after the initial hurt.[ 6 ] If the patient displays relentless emesis, memory loss, loss of consciousness, or if the practician suspects that poisoning of drugs and/or intoxicant has occurred so the hurt is a moderate hurt. A CT scan is deemed necessary is these instances. If the CT consequence is classified as normal, the poisoning is no longer present and the patient has been observer for a period of more than 8 hours, so the patient is deemed fit for discharge. If the patient is unfortunate plenty to hold a terrible caput hurt half of these patients will be dead or badly handicapped six months after hurt.[ 10 ]After a neurological test in a terrible caput trauma a CT scan is normally performed the consequences of which determine the following class of action. If a surgical lesion e.g an epidural haemmorage or an intradural haemmorage, is present the patient must undergo immediate surgery to repair the lesion. An epidural haemorrage occurs when shed blooding occurs between the dura affair and the skull.[ 8 ]Because of the little sum of infinite that exists between the encephalon and the skull any little addition in volume in the intracranial compartment causes force per unit area to lift dramatically. This addition can do farther encephalon harm. A hamorrage can do lasting encephalon harm or decease if left untreated.[ 8 ] If no lesion is present, the force per unit area volume position of the patient is checked. The force per unit area volume index is straight related to intracranial force per unit area. It is of import to maintain intracranial force per unit area under control because the extent of the harm is straight related to the extent of the addition in intracranial force per unit area.[ 9 ]If these consequences are non normal fluids must be given. This prevents a lessening in intravascular volume and hence cardiac end product. A lessening in cardiac end product leads to a lessening in intellectual perfusion and hence an addition in intracranial force per unit area. Elevation of the caput, in patients whose spinal column is stable, increases venous return and therefore reduces intracranial force per unit area. Intracranial force per unit area must be invariably monitored and this has been proven to better the result for the patient.[ 6 ]This can be invasive as a investigation is entered in the encephalon to supervise the intracranial force per unit area. If there is increased intracranial force per unit area, it is of import the patient is put on O. Diuretic drugs are the drug of pick to cut down the intracranial force per unit area. A acute hurt normally consequences with a big intracranial force per unit area addition. This must be dealt with and besides the penetrating object must be removed. The object likely is non clean and as a consequence pathogens are introduced to the encephalon. The object is normally removed to cut down the hazard of infection. Before this occurs an angiogram is performed cut down the hazard of hurt to the vascular supply. In a traumatic encephalon hurt the cranial nervousnesss are frequently affected. The nervousnesss most frequently injured include the olfactory, fourth cranial nerve, facial and vestibulocochlear nervousnesss so it is of import to prove the map of all the cranial nervousnesss to guarantee they are in working order. Head hurt can be difficult to handle and what works for one patient may or may non work for another patient with a similar status. There are many new techniques and progresss out at that place. One of these is hypothermia or chilling the organic structure below the normal physiologic organic structure temperature. This chilling is thought to protect the encephalon from farther harm. Injury to the encephalon can originate unwanted metabolic procedures in the organic structure. Hypothermia may or may non forestall these procedures from taking topographic point.[ 13 ]It is widely debated whether this method produces arguments. There is deficient grounds as of yet to do this process modus operandi in a traumatic caput hurt.[ 11 ]Clinical tests have non reached unaminous consequences as of yet.[ 12 ]A survey published in 1997 showed that patients with a Glasgow coma graduated table of 5-7 on admittance benefited significantly with hypothermia intervention. However patients with a Glasgow graduated table of 3-4 did non profit from the intervention.[ 13 ]Preliminary consequences from animate beings have produced positive consequences.[ 11 ]12However old research used engineering that was non able to chill the organic structure fast plenty. Now new more rapid engineering exists to chill the organic structure to 33 grades with 20 proceedingss.[ 12 ]However there is an on-going test being undertaken by the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre. The test is a randomised controlled test and is presently in stage 3.[ 11 ] Sometimes it can be difficult to find the true extent of the damage.Only really late a new engineering was unveiled at a neuroscience conference to cover with this issue. ( November 15th -17th 2010 ) â€Å" The beauty of this system is it that it captures elusive shortages caused by a encephalon hurt that are non measured by traditional trials, Traditional proving methods, such as touching a finger to the olfactory organ or resiling a ball, merely do n't capture the complexness of encephalon procedures. † ( Dr. Scott, a professor at The Centre for Neuroscience Studies at Queen ‘s. ) The kinesiological instrument for normal and altered making motions or KINARM appraisal station consists of a practical world system and a chair with robotic weaponries.[ 14 ]Patients are asked to execute a figure of practical trials like striking a ball with practical paddles.[ 14 ]On completion of the trials consequences are generated immediately by the computing machine, which show unnatur al behavior.[ 15 ]â€Å" This system has the potency to make for the diagnosing of encephalon hurt what X-rays did for naming muscular and skeletal hurts, † ( John Molloy, President and CEO of Queen ‘s University ‘s PARTEQ Innovations. ) Once the practician understands the true extent of the harm the intervention and rehabilitation can be more successful. Progesterone was one time thought merely to be a female reproductive endocrine[ 16 ]but recent research suggests that it can protect the nerve cells of the cardinal and peripheral nervous systems after a traumatic encephalon hurt has occurred. It was besides shown to cut down redness and besides the limitation of the blood supply to the[ 16 ]encephalon after the hurt.[ 16 ]Progesterone is already known to be safe to utilize and has a low cost in production and can be used on a assortment of spinal and encephalon hurts.[ 16 ]It is expected that Lipo-Lutin will be widely used in traumatic encephalon hurt within the following few old ages.[ 17 ] It ‘s non merely the traumatic encephalon hurt itself the patient has to worry approximately but the after effects besides. Traumatic encephalon hurt was one time seen as an â€Å" event, † treated with some rehabilitation, it had no permanent effects on other organ system of the organic structure or cardinal nervous system. However recent surveies have shown that traumatic encephalon hurt should be treated as a womb-to-tomb chronic status. The universe wellness organisation defines a chronic disease as â€Å" holding one or more of the undermentioned features: it is lasting, caused by non-reversible pathological changes, requires particular preparation of the patient for rehabilitation, and/or may necessitate a long period of observation, supervising, or attention. †[ 18 ]On mean those who suffered a traumatic encephalon hurt had a seven twelvemonth life anticipation decrease.[ 19 ] After a traumatic encephalon hurt the patient can be up to seventeen times more likely to develop epileptic ictuss than the general population.[ 20 ]In 2008 a survey following patients who had a moderate to severe traumatic encephalon hurt for up to 24 old ages found that 9 % were having intervention for epileptic ictuss.[ 21 ] Post traumatic encephalon hurt patients frequently complain of slumber upsets. A survey in 2001 found that on norm of 3 old ages on after the initial hurt, 45 % of patients were sing disturbed slumber.[ 22 ]There is besides an additions hazard of clogging slumber apnoea in station traumatic encephalon hurt patients.[ 23 ]Patients enduring from this get terrible cardiac arrhythmias while they are kiping. Traumatic encephalon hurt may besides be a hazard factor for Alzheimer ‘s disease every bit good as other signifiers of dementedness. A traumatic caput hurt more than doubles the hazard. The more terrible the hurt, the more your hazard of undertaking the disease additions.[ 24 ]Equally good as being a hazard for Alzheimer ‘s traumatic encephalon hurt may besides be a hazard for Parkinson ‘s disease and once more the more terrible the initial hurt the greater the hazard.[ 25 ]. Traumatic encephalon hurt is a hazard factor for developing legion neuroendocrine disfunctions. These include hypothyroidism which can happen in up to 30 % of patients who suffered a moderate to severe traumatic encephalon hurt.[ 26 ]Gonadotropin lack occurred in 10-15 % of patients after the initial hurt[ 27 ]and hypothyroidism occurred in 5 % of patients post hurt.[ 28 ] A traumatic encephalon hurt can take to the development of legion psychiatric upsets. These include anxiousness upsets, OCD, depression, temper upsets and psychotic upsets.[ 29 ]A survey in 2002 showed that 50 % of those who had a traumatic encephalon hurt developed a psychiatric upset.[ 30 ] Sexual disfunction is frequently a ailment of station Traumatic encephalon hurt. This can happen in 40-60 % of patients.[ 31 ]Patients can frequently see incontinency besides.[ 32 ] Patients with a moderate to severe traumatic encephalon hurt frequently have additions muscle tone which can consequences in unnatural motions.[ 33 ]This can step in with twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours life. A survey in Toronto analyzing 900 stateless people showed that 58 % of the males and 42 % of the female participants had had a old traumatic encephalon hurt.[ 34 ]This suggests that the initial hurt may hold set off a serious of events which lead to the individual going homeless. This statistic proves the earnestness that is traumatic encephalon hurt non merely to the patient but besides to society. Having done this assignment I have come to the decision that a encephalon hurt must be treated specifically for each patient. Besides I realise the earnestness of an hurt like this non merely in the hours and yearss after the hurt, but old ages after.

Pnu Application Form

Philippine Normal University The National Center for Teacher Education OFFICE OF ADMISSION Manila 1† x 1† ID Picture APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION TEST PHILIPPINE NORMAL UNIVERSITY ADMISSION TEST (PNUAT) Name: _________________________________________________________________________________ Gender: ____________ Print: Last Name Given Name Middle NameAddress: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Contact No: _______________________________________________ E-mail Address: ____________________________________ Date of Birth: ______________________________________________ Place of Birth: _____________________________________ Age: _________ Citizenship: ____________________________ Religion: ______________________________________________ Name of Present School: _______________________________________________________________________________________ School Address: _________________________________________________________ _____________________________________ EDUCATION: School Attended Elementary: ____________________________________ High School: Other Courses: ____________________________________ ____________________________________ Inclusive Dates ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ Degree/Course Completed ____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________ Honors/Awards Received: ______________________________________________________________________________________ Extra-Curricular Activities, Hobbies, Talents: _______________________________________________________________________ I hereby apply for permit to take the PNU Admission Test (PNUAT) on: __________________________________________ I certify that the information given on this form is true and correct.It is understood that my final acceptance to the University will depend on the results of the University’s screening procedure. I understand that I have to pay a non-refundabl e examination fee of P350. 00, the receipt of which is to be attached to the application form. I attach a photocopy of my High School Card / Transcript of Records. ____________________________________ Signature over Printed Name of Applicant OR # _______________________________ Date of Application: ___________________ Name: _________________________________________________________________________________ Gender: ____________ Last Name Given Name Middle Name Preferred Academic Program: (Please indicate three choices by placing 1 to 3 on the blank, no. as the most preferred) __________ __________ __________ Bachelor of Early Childhood in Education (BECED) Bachelor of Elementary Education (BEED) Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSE) with specialization in – __________ Biology __________ __________ Chemistry __________ __________ English __________ __________ Filipino __________ __________ General Science __________ __________ History __________ __________ Home Economics ________ __ __________ Information Technology for Teachers __________ Mathematics Others (Allied Fields – with limited enrollment) __________ Bachelor of Library and Information Science __________ Bachelor of Science in Psychology __________ Bachelor of Science in Home Economics Technology __________ AB/BSE Literature Music Education Nutrition and Dietetics for Teachers Physical Education Physics Social Science Speech and Theater Arts Values Education

Projecting Financial Trends 1 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Projecting Financial Trends 1 - Assignment Example For a company to the existence, for a longer period it needs to consider all the surrounding factors that tend to affect the environment where it is located. These helps in approximating the trends and reduce the risk of running out of the business or being unable to cope up with prevailing economic times that are dynamic (Sullivan & Steven, 2007). Economic factor helps in determining the future economic trend of a business based upon facts that are present and affect the output of a business. For example if the region that the business is located is experiencing a high level of inflation the output of the business will be affected negatively. These will influence financial projection and will be reflected in a downwards trend. Projection is influenced by the prevailing outcomes that will either make the business has a hard time with its operations or friendly environment (Clark, 2008). Companies that are located in friendlier financial environment tend to have a higher projection due to reduced cost of running and a better environment for doing

Americans Constitutional Rights for Privacy Research Paper

Americans Constitutional Rights for Privacy - Research Paper Example American’s Constitutional Rights for Privacy The â€Å"war on terror† was introduced by George W Bush, which offered more power and authority to US intelligence agencies as the surveillance has become an acknowledged mechanism to assist in thwarting terrorist attacks in the near future. US government claimed that war on terrorism , and the enactment of Patriot Act are mainly intended to safeguard USA and its citizens from the future terrorist attack or to avert another 9/11 type attack. The main aim of the NSA (National Security Agency) of USA is to gather intelligence data and information so as to carryout national operation for foreign intelligence. SIGINT is the signal intelligence which involves collection data from foreign intelligence agencies, for helping missions carried over by the US government which includes narcotic and crime deterrence, military missions, foreign diplomacy, etc. The FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act 1978) controls the gathering of foreign intelligence data and it covers wiretapping, electronic eavesdropping, physical ingress by intelligence agents and trap/ pen orders. Before eavesdropping, intelligence agency has to obtain a warrant from the FISA court (Carmen 2012). Whistle blowing against US government is not a new phenomenon. Earlier, in 1971, Daniel Ellsberg exposed how the US public had been hoodwinked about Vietnam War. Julian Assange leaked US documents about US’s engagement of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Working Impression Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Working Impression - Case Study Example If the working impression holds after confirmatory test/s, then it will hold to be the diagnosis, and the future steps will be dedicated onto eradicating the sources and treating the symptoms accordingly. However, if the PWI turns out not to be the diagnosis, then the differentials will then be tested, so that the primary root of the chief complaint be identified. Treatment will thus be planned based on the definitive diagnosis. Working Impression In coming up with our primary impression, we should look into the information we have for any pertinent data. In summary, we have four female employees of a food distribution warehouse facility who complain of dizziness. They conduct blister packing in an area with a 40Â °F temperature, and two railroad car lines and gas-powered forklifts nearby. The facility also has a special seal that insulates in the cold temperature needed for storage. There was no noticeable odor, nor there mention of a ventilating system for the area. Because multip le cases (four) have been reported in the facility, we consider this as an occupational health issue. Because of the nature of their work, the only possible factors that might have caused dizziness are inhalation of toxic fumes, exposure to chemicals from the food products, and the cold temperature (40Â °F). Because there are no reports of food poisoning caused by the products of the facility, then we can rule out the second factor. In considering the presence of toxic fumes, we must take note that the suspected inhalant must be odorless and colorless. In addition, the special insulating system in the warehouse might have been contributing in keeping the toxic fumes in the facility. A possible source of such fumes must be established, and the symptoms observed in our case should be explained by its presence. With these qualifications, we take carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning as our primary working impression. CO is an odorless, colorless gas that may come from the incomplete burning of organic substances such as gasoline, kerosene, oil, propane coal or wood (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, 2008; WorkSafe Victoria, 2008). In our case, CO may have been emitted by the car and forklift exhaust and possibly, a kerosene-powered heater, although the presence of such equipment must first be verified. CO gas interferes with the oxygenation of red blood cells and subsequently of tissues such as the brain, causing dizziness. Other symptoms include chest pains, headache, fatigue, dizziness, drowsiness or nausea. Prolonged exposure may result to weakness, vomiting, confusion, loss of consciousness, coma, and death (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, 2008). Differential Diagnoses It is important to consider other causes of the incidents, as the PWI might not be the root cause, or there are environmental conditions that may cause harm to the employees. Low oxygen levels In preserving food products, it is important to have a room wherein ox ygen levels can be kept at a low level (1% to 2%) to prevent the growth of aerobic microorganisms that compromise the quality of food products. This room is referred to as a controlled atmosphere (CA) room. Inhalation of this highly deoxygenated atmosphere from CA room has detrimental consequences to employees, who need oxygen levels of 19.5% to 23.5% to survive. In fact, inhaling a single breath of this highly deoxygenated atmosphere will result to instantaneous loss of consciousness, with consequent brain and health injuries. Employees who work near a CA room are thus susceptible to health risks (WorkSafe Victoria, 2008). If a CA room is present in the warehouse, then this diagnosis is highly likely. Ammonia The cooling condition exposes the employees to many factors. One of

OB week 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

OB week 7 - Essay Example Behavioral theories of leadership focus on the behavior of individuals, particularly if they could be trained to become leaders if they do not possess any specific leadership traits. Various independent factors come into play when determining leadership behavior, most notably a pro-target or considerate approach, both existing on extreme polar ends. Pro-target leaders are goal-oriented and emphasize on production and output where as considerate leaders may adopt a more democratic style of leadership. Innovation is a distinguishing attribute of a transformational leader who strives to create an environment that encourages individual growth and productivity thereby motivating individuals through availability of greater opportunities (Bass, 1991). Leaders who display consideration and the possession of specific traits have been identified as being effective (Robbins and Judge, 2013). Newer contingency or situational approaches towards leadership focus on the setting or the context of th e leadership scenario which becomes significantly important when considering long-term success. Contingency theories may help better identify present and future leaders through indicators like decision-making, goal-orientation, follower readiness, leader-member relationship, and so on. 2. According to the Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory, an exclusively low number of individuals forming an in-group receive disproportionately favored as compared to an out-group (Robbins and Judge, 2013). In order to become an in-group member and be treated differently, members must prove that they are reliable, skilled, and most importantly, trustworthy. Leaders tend to trust in-group members more with challenging assignments and projects that require additional skills. Most likely, the in-group members also have a greater chance of promotion due to their relationship with the leader. Maintenance of a good relationship depends largely upon trust and respect which is mutual. The

Report of India Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Report of India - Essay Example India is the country which in the modern days is showing all the signs of the modernism and the liberalism. The industries that the state has contribute to the greater extent to the economy of the sate. However if we go deeper and deeper we see that the problems that the state has are deep rooted and the problems have to be solved as soon as they can be. The report will discuss the main reasons of the failure of the Indian women to make there space in the political scenario. The reasons would be specific enough as far as the failure of the women in the political scenario is concerned. The changes that are being made in the political scenario so that the participation of women in the parliament is increased will be discussed. In addition it will be seen that what are the scopes of the changes and what do the strategies offer. The report will not go into the depth of the governments analysis of the political scenario and the political makeup of the Indian governments. Therefore the report will be restricted to the importance of the women in the political scenario in the state if India and how the changes can be made in that case. The specific areas to discussed inn this report specifically include the ways and the strategies to be designed andimplemenetd to increase the awareness of the women in India and the way to increase there roles in the government formulation. The report focuses the ways in which the women should be encouraged to participate in the political formulation along with the men without thinking that the men are superior to the women. Kulke and Rothermund (2004) discuss that India is the country with the population of around the figure of one billion. It is a big number of the population for the huge country as India. If the statistics are carried out and the numbers are seen than India has the second place in having the greatest number of population, while the greatest population resides in the country of china. India is

Online sex offenders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Online sex offenders - Essay Example One of the studies revealed that majority of the online sex offenders have testified to contact sexual activities with their victims who are majorly children. For this reason, all online sex offenders should be held accountable for their actions by facing the full wrath of the law. Furthermore, they should be monitored even after serving their sentence because most of them tend to repeat the same offence. There are two types of online sex offenders; type one are those who knowingly take advantage of the innocence of the minors to seek for sexual activities. The second group is the offenders who unknowingly interact with the minors thinking that they are adult. This second group is tricky because the children propagate the act. However, irrespective of the group, all of them are liable for prosecution because it is believed that all the adults must practice responsible sexual relationships. The online sex offenders upon realizing that their prey is a child they employ various tactics with the sole purpose of winning their trust. Majority of them start with an informal introduction where they portray themselves as humble, reliable and trustworthy individual who can be available to assist the minor in handling emotional issues. After getting to know the minor, the offender takes advantage of them by using the information gathered to seduce the child. At this point, the offender exchange pornographic materials such as the videos and pictures to the minor with the goal of luring them into sexual activities.in addition, some even organizes with the minors for meeting where they engage in physical sexual activities. Lack of proper protection laws provides a platform for these culprits to proceed with this vice without being held accountable. Minor solicitation is acts where by individuals who are more than eighteen years old utilize internet to involve minors in sexual activities. The law dictates that there

Risk Management in supply chain management Essay

Risk Management in supply chain management - Essay Example Some of the salient features that define the organizational attributes in modern times are reduced inventories, effect supplies, staggeringly reduced cycle times, effective transportation mechanisms, further enhanced communication means both outside and inside the organization and factory. These all have been in practice in many organizations and are another name for successful supply chain management. Supply chain management is termed as chain and structure that defines all important elements of the process which contribute towards the output. In other words all the stake holders who have an impact in either way constitute a supply chain. It can be the transportation, can be the personnel, can be the policy, can be the objectives and can various other variables (Mentzer, 2011). The risks so faced can have various severe negative repercussions on the industry. It can lead to a financial loss, it can lead to mistrust, it can further lead to loss of contracts in severe cases, and most importantly could lead to losing the customers who are considered as the pivot towards the success or failure of any organization since their response and liking level of a certain industry can take any industry either way. Supply chain impacts rest of the industry activities in a direct manner. Supply chain risks identification and ultimately elimination and mitigation can result in better working environment, improved productivity, reduced un certainty, and various other factors that are non beneficial towards the organization. The entire risk phenomena can be split into four components which are: The Risk Sources: Supply Chain Itself: Risk mitigation Strategies: Adverse effects of Risks: Supply chain itself Risk Mitigation Strategies These are the four basic units which constitute a total discipline and each of these must be taken into consideration (Juttner, Peck, & Christopher, 2003). The relationship works in a dependent manner, the first is the source of risk, which falls und er the initial phase, and its identification is very vital. This is followed by its adverse affects, and underneath it is the supply chain itself that is faced by the challenges and risks. Finally, the most important factor is the constitution of risk mitigation strategies, which could be prior to the occurrence of event or post event, however risk mitigation strategies are more successful and of more impact if implemented prior to the occurrence. The strategies so made must be able to work in a preemptive manner and should work on the principle of prevention rather than correction. Risks could be either from internal sources, or the external sources, or the organization itself. The last couple of decades saw many events that made all the stakeholders realize that risk management in the field of supply chain has become inevitable and proper actions must be taken to minimize its impact. For this purpose, it has been largely implemented at various organizations of large, medium and sm all sizes, and more emphasis is being laid on its implementation at every level of industry. For this reason, a more systemic and structured approach is in practice internationally which ensures covering all the areas of that are necessary to be addressed. Level of

Toyota’s Accelerator and Public Relations Crisis Essay Example for Free

Toyota’s Accelerator and Public Relations Crisis Essay One of the world’s top automakers, Toyota was once one of the leaders in automobile and business improvement and manufacturing. However, in 2009 the top builder of reliable and high quality cars went through one of the largest recalls in the history of the United States. Consumers had considered Toyota one of the top in the race for automobile and automobile selling among car manufacturers. They have always had a reputation as being a leader of quality and efficiency in terms of their production and manufacturing standards. Since the recall Toyota has taken a tremendous blow to its reputation and its loyal customer basis. Consumers are questioning whether Toyota was hiding the truth from the public regarding their well know accelerator issues and why they were trying to fix the problems after the issue became serious and not immediately. Some may question if this incident will permanently affect Toyota’s reputation or if Toyota handled this situation properly. In this paper we will discuss these questions as well as the cause of the problem. Several different Toyota and Lexus models were reported to have gotten in accidents regarding acceleration issues. The accelerator’s in some of the Toyota models were getting stuck, which did not allow the drivers of these vehicles to slow down or stop in time to prevent an accident. When this issue was originally brought to light Toyota claimed that â€Å"faulty floor mat placement† was to blame and that the gas pedal would get stuck behind the floor mats which would cause the inability to slow down or stop. According to Bob Carter, general manager of the Toyota-brand division of Toyota Motor Sales USA â€Å" The risk of the accelerator getting jammed is strictly a problem of unintended loose or ill fitting floor mats ( Niedermeyer)†. â€Å"Toyota refuted speculation in the press that other defects might be causing its vehicles to accelerate uncontrollable, citing its own and federal safety studies (Niedermeyer)†. After further investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration the actual problem may not have anything to do with â€Å"faulty floor mat placement† but with several model’s accelerator  mechanism. They found that â€Å"the design of the accelerator pedal (â€Å"one-piece, nonarticulating†) allowed it to become easily entrapped in the groove of the rubber all-weather floor mat if the rubber mat was not properly secured with at least of the two retaining hooks (Jensen)†. Toyota finally issued a consumer safety advisory to all Toyota and Lexus owners at the end of September 2009 and at the end of October 2009 mailed certain Toyota owners safety notices to alert them of the potential problems. It is still unknown the exact date that Toyota knew their models were faulty but it is known that reports of the faulty vehicles began arising as early as 1999. The initial problem was not made public until problems persisted over the next 10 years. Even then it took the death of 4 individuals in California driving a Lexus with a stuck accelerator to final discuss Toyota’s accelerator issues. Toyota then announced they would be recalling millions of models of Toyota Vehicles. There were several Toyota models effected which include the company’s three best sellers- the Camry, Corolla, and Rav4 SUV. â€Å"Between them, they accounted for more than half of the Toyota brand’s U.S. sales in 2009 (Isidore)†. Although Toyota should have taken this situation more seriously years ago when the problem first happened, are they really to blame? When the accelerator problem happened to only a few vehicles throughout the years it’s hard to say that Toyota is to blame. I think the fact of the matter is that they tried to pass the buck blaming the floor mat placement instead of really investigating the issue. Had they investigated the issue more carefully consumer’s confidence in Toyota may not have been tarnished. People are not buying a Toyota for just their looks, they are buying the Toyota brand because of the fact they are known to be a reliable and safe vehicle that can last â€Å"forever†. Chris Isidore says it best when he says† For years, Toyota Motor was the automaker that could do no wrong. Now it’s made a major mistake likely to have a lasting impact on the company (Isidore)†. Not only did the recall effect some of Toyota’s best selling vehicles it caused five North American plants to halt production which affected about 14,000 employees. To halt production to its vehicles is tough in an economy where there is strict competition. Erich Merkle, president of Autoconomy.com, an industry analysis  firm says â€Å"American rivals like General Motors and Ford Motor have similar vehicles to the ones recalled by Toyota, which are far more competitive than they’ve been previously. Loyal Toyota customers who decide to look at other offering are more likely to find something they like than they might have been in the past. Toyota fending off those rivals was going to be enough of a challenge without the safety issues.† Toyota does realize the negative impact this recall has is definitely not positive but they are determined to restore consumer’s confidence in their products. Many experts think that â€Å"the damage to the Toyota brand and the company’s sales may already have been done (Isidore)†. Toyota’s stock prices have gone downhill ever since the news of the recalls went public. Although the company is trying to resolve the issue with their floor mats and accelerator issues the media and customer dissatisfaction have put the company in a tight spot to respond to its troubles. This has cause competitors like Ford and Hyundai to react quickly and offer Toyotas customers incentives to trade in their Toyota’s for one of the competitor’s models. Some are even offering incentives of $1,000 and 0 percent financing to attract Toyota’s customer base. Every brand has its strengths and weakness. Toyota focused on a sub branch approach, in which most of its cars are linked to a single corporate brand. For Toyota that means that a problem with any vehicle at Toyota will not only affect sales of the effected model in question but to its entire inventory of vehicles. Therefore it comes as no big surprise that several of their vehicles were included in there recall. Audi was another car manufacturer that went through a very similar recall issue with accelerator problems. The overall impact this had on Audi was crucial. The resale value of the Audi 5000, which had been involve in a number of fatal accelerator accidents declined significantly as a result of the recall. This also had a snowball effect on other Audi vehicles such as a the Audi 4000, which lost significant resale value, and to a lesser extent also effected the Audi Quattro all due to the fact that they were a part of the same company. Any technical hitch with one car can als o mean problems with others when the auto world in known for using shared parts and technologies across multiple models. Another recall that that was notorious in history was with the Ford Pinto. This was definitely not one of the largest recalls because it only  affected about 1.5 million vehicles but some considered it the most dangerous. With this recall a driver could be subject to an exploding gas tank in the event of an accident. Initially Ford didn’t even want to recall these vehicles and would have rather dealt with lawsuits, which sparked a huge public outcry. In 1995 Honda another car manufacturer that is know for its reliability also had a recall on the Honda Accord and several other Honda and Acura models. This recall affected about 3.7 million vehicles. The main cause of the recall was the seat belt chassis, which had become either broken or unreliable in many cars. Chevy, Ford, and GM have also had their fair share of significant recalls throughout the years. These recalls affected millions as well. Most people realize that at one point or another something is going to wrong with their car. Repairs are to be expected and for the most part most cars and trucks will at some point have a recall. Recalls address safety problems, whether they are minor or major. Toyota’s recall was not so much a part had to be recalled but more of the fact they tried to blame it on the placement of a floor mat. When companies try to bush issues under the rug that’s when people remember. Although at this time the recall may affect Toyota negatively overall I think its customer’s will remain loyal. When bad things tend to happen, companies need the right strategy for talking their way out of a mess and avoiding a tarnished reputation. Choosing the best way to respond is not always easy but can make a difference towards the company’s survival. Toyota was aware there were issues with the accelerators and waited until they were in a crisis to resolve this issue. Toyota response to the recall not only affected its consumer base in the US but may have had the same negative impact with its Chinese consumers. One report indicated that â€Å"the large majority of Chinese car consumers (74 percent) are aware of Toyota’s present difficulties. Almost every two out of three of these consumers acknowledge that their confidence in the Japanese car maker has been affected (62 percent) and that the current recall practice degrades their image perception of Toyota. Among the owners, the impact is much less important though, as only a little less than one in every seven Toyota cus tomers strongly agree on a degraded image perception and decrease in trust (15 percent), compared with one out of  every four car owners of competitor brands (27 percent and 25 percent respectively) (WPP)†. The real question is did Toyota handle this situation correctly? The most important thing Toyota did was keep their customers informed, even if it was what some considered a delayed response. They issued recalls on all affected vehicles and they stopped production on their vehicles which shows consumers they are willing to correct the problem. They are also not willing to restart production or release any affected vehicles before the problem is correct. They have been working with dealers to manage the process of the recall as best as possible to limit customer dissatisfaction. With all of these positive approaches Toyota is trying to make, the concerns consumers still have are the overall reliability of Toyota and the potential effect this recall may have on the resale value of their vehicles. Several people have commented on their feelings towards Toyota after the recall. The majorities have been loyal Toyota customers that have owned one or more Toyota vehicle and the others have never owned a Toyota. Many of the Toyota customers felt that the media made a monster out of this recall and caused fear and panic in consumers. They also felt that the media created this perception that Toyota’s were no longer a reliable vehicle. Other people who never owned a Toyota feel that the Toyota name will be tarnished and that these problems were to be expected. If people really looked at the whole picture they may find these comments to be true. For several years car manufacturers have been sending out recalls. This is not the first one in history to happen and it will surely not be the last. Most industries anticipate for supply and demand. Toyota sales may have gone down since the recall but that is to be expected. Car industry forecasters do not anticipate that Toyota’s loss will cause a drop in overall demand. As long as Toyota continues to make new cars, people will buy them. May reports have indicated that people who initially thought about purchasing a Toyota before this major crisis would still purchase one. They realize that this recall is no different then other recalls that have happened through out history, with maybe the exception that Toyota did not act as quickly as the media and some consumers expected they should have. Toyota is a well known company. They will bounce back from this crisis eventually and may even try to offer its  customer’s incentives to purchase vehicles through one of their dealers that other car dealers may not be able to offer right now. Overall this recall just like anything else will pass and Toyota’s sales will be among the top again. People realize that the perception the media creates can sometimes have a long lasting impact, but then something else bigger will happen and things will return right back to normal for Toyota. It is a vicious cycle that we all live in. What people may lose now in resale value is really nothing major. People can actually benefit from this by purchasing a used Toyota at a lower price than what they would have had to pay years ago. Overall Toyota has a long history of loyal customer. This and the fact that Toyota is know for being a good quality car will allow it to bounce back from some mistakes they have made during this recall. Although its reputation may have been tarnished to some extent, they still have several loyal customers that will continue to purchase their vehicles through Toyota. This is just another obstacle they will get through. They will be able to use this incident to improve on their vehicle production and rebuild the Toyota brand and image. Works Cited 1. http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/01/toyota-floor-mat-problem-was-known-two-years-ago/ 2. http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/27/news/companies/toyota_sales_halt/index.htm?postversion=2010012718 3. http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2009/11/toyota-fllor-mats-absolutely-positively-100-certainly-the-problem/ 4. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/09/opinion/09wed2.html1?_r=1 5. http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national.2010/01/29/106990.htm

Moment in the play Essay Example for Free

Moment in the play Essay What do you think makes this conversation between Biff and Linda so moving and sad at this moment in the play?  In the play â€Å"Death of a salesman†, Arthur Miller have made this conversation between Biff and Linda so moving and sad in the manner of which by displaying Linda’s unwavering devotion to her husband Willy, in stark contrast to the nature of the conflicting relationship between Biff and Willy. These points are skillfully heightened by Miller’s use of language and techniques such as characterization, dialogue and stage direction. Miller have made this conversation between Biff and Linda so moving through the context of Linda’s unwavering devotion to her husband, Willy. Whenever Biff goes against Willy, Linda seems to always be the person to stand up for her husband against her own son. This is shown through the quote â€Å"Biff, a man is not bird, to come and go with the springtime.† We can see that Linda in a sense, an infinite moral voice in the play- a woman with a good will at heart. However, here the readers can clearly see through her comparison of Biff to a bird, she is strongly against her son’s freedom not only within her own thoughts, but in the context of Willy’s false values. Linda conforms to the standard of her husband lifestyle and thoughts, and therefore preventing Biff from what he truly wants to become, to have a freedom in life. This therefore make Biff [evasively] says: â€Å"I’m not hateful, mom.† Biff is pressurized by the weight of hopes and expectations his father gave him since he was young, thus this even make the reader feels even more moving and sad due to Biff’s parents weighing him down while he himself desperately says â€Å"I’m trying Mom,† revealing the misery of the Loman family under the influence of the American Dream. Miller have also made this conversation between Biff and Linda so sad and moving through Biff’s caring attitude towards Linda through dialogue and stage direction. Here the reader can acknowledge how much Biff cares for Linda when he [touches her hair]. This action of tenderness have proven his love for his mother whose her life, have been taking care of Willy, who is a disillusioned husband.†Your hair got so grey† he said, and when Linda replied back with â€Å"Oh it’s been grey since you were in high school†. This fact gives a glimpse to the past that due to Linda’s faithful nature, she’s been suffering since the early days-and this signifies how moving all of Linda’s actions when taken into consideration, when Willy himself have been chasing the American Dream this whole time bringing Biff along with him when he â€Å"blows him full of hot air.† The audience can really inspect this from afar and sympathise the disconnection between Biff and Linda when there really shouldn’t be harmony. The audience would feel even more moving when all of this facts is caused by the ruthlessness of the capitalist system, led along by the American society. In conclusion, Arthur Miller is able to weave an intricate web of different intepretations and ideas and brings out the most sympethatic emotion could expressed for the audience during this conversation between Biff and Linda-while Linda pours all of her heart out for Willy and introduces the theme of denial where she follows along with what Willy does. Biff has become the victim of the environment, where to an extent, is forced to conform to the ideals that Willy, the American society, has created. I think what most driven the audience to feel so sad is that through this conversation, they can see how the American Dream represents false hopes and values and it’s in fact an unattainable dream that causes destruction for the Loman family- the only thing that can keep us alive.

Capital Budgeting Techniques in Asset Investments

Capital Budgeting Techniques in Asset Investments Title: In practice asset investments are determined by using capital budgeting techniques – discuss using examples in real organisations Capital budgeting decisions are important because they affect the future earnings and growth of a company. Large amount of academic research has been devoted to establishing methods in asset investments. Most of these relate to Capital Asset Pricing Model, Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return. But the question still remains how closely the above prescribed methods are followed in the real world. This paper looks at the financial methods used by small and large organisations in investment decision making and analyses whether there is any difference due to firm size. It also looks at whether there is any difference in the methods used during stable and unstable business environment. Net present value and Capital Asset Pricing Model are the two most common methods prescribed by academics for investment valuation. Over the years the above methods have become more common, yet various surveys find that the large companies use these methods more frequently than smaller firms. Small firms rely more on payback method for investment decision making. They also rely on their past experiences to decide which projects to take. During uncertain and crisis times, managements rely more on their qualitative analysis than on quantitative analysis to make investment judgments even though they carry out more financial analysis. A) Comparison of small and large business practices in relation to investment decisions Discounted cash flow methods are most common financial techniques mentioned in academic literature for investment decision making. Graham and Harvey (2001) carried out a survey of 392 CFOs in USA on capital budgeting techniques. They reported that the asset investment decision making relied heavily on the net present value technique in large firms. On the other hand, smaller firms were more likely to rely on payback method. Their survey and analysis clearly showed that firm-size was a major factor in deciding the corporate finance practices employed in investment decisions. Larger firms were more inclined to use Capital Asset Pricing Model than smaller firms. In case of smaller firms, CFOs used payback period method as frequently as NPV or IRR methods. They also noted that the dividend paying firms are more likely to use NPV and IRR methods as compared to non-dividend paying companies. Since dividend paying companies are on average larger than non-dividend paying companies, it shows that larger companies rely more on NPV and IRR for asset investment decision making. While Graham and Harvey (2001) study showed the growing importance of NPV as an asset investment decision tool, it also showed that the payback method is the third most likely used method in asset investment decision making process. Because of no time value of money in payback method, academics don’t use it for capital budget method. Buts its prevalence and third ranking shows that the companies still rely on relatively incorrect method for investment decision making. Brounen, Jong and Koedijk (2004) extended Graham and Harvey (2001) study to Europe. They surveyed 313 firms in UK, the Netherlands, Germany and France to analyse the practical applicability of the net present value and capital asset pricing models in the business world. Like results in Graham and Harvey (2001) study, their main observation was that the financial management practices are determined mainly by the size of a firm. But they found some differences in financial practices between companies based in USA and Europe. On capital budgeting, Brounen, Jong and Koedijk (2004) found that European firms are more likely to rely on payback method for investment decision making. While the payback method was third preference in the US, it was number one preference among European firms. Brounen, Jong and Koedijk (2004) noted that smaller firms use cost of capital as told by their investors. They don’t have robust resources in place neither internally nor resources to procure external services for cost of capital calculation. Absence of proper cost of capital measurement results in higher use of payback method. While in case of US companies, the use of NPV and payback method was equally distributed in the small firm segment, the use of payback was more prevalent in European smaller firms. This difference could be due to the difference in sample size of American and European firms. 51% of American firms in Graham and Harvey (2001) survey had sales of more than $500 million US dollars. The corresponding figure in Brounen, Jong and Koedijk (2004) survey is less than 25%. As the average size of European firms in Brounen, Jong and Koedijk (2004) survey was smaller than average size of American firms in Graham and Harvey (2001) survey, it is more likely that smaller firms use payback more than NPV in asset investment decision making. Ekanem (2005) surveyed 8 small enterprises in the printing and clothing sectors in UK to analyse their investment decision making process. His results showed that owner-managers of small firms rely more on their previous experience than formal evaluation to make investment decisions. He also lists the barriers faced by the small firms in investment decision making that result in owners’ reliance more on their experiences rather than formal evaluation. He cites absence of resources, both financial and managerial, to carry out proper financial evaluation and concentration of decision making in hands of one or two people as the major reasons behind their focus on past experiences. Ekanem (2005) also mentions the uncertain and risky nature of small enterprises as one of the reasons for relying more on experience. Small firms may run out of cash quickly due to sudden change in environment before they could see positive cash inflows from a project and hence many times ignore project s with higher payback periods. Sole trader A sole trader is most likely to employ his past experiences in evaluating an investment decision. If he had any past experiences which brought his current business or past businesses very close to bankruptcy due to high amount of debts, he would not like to take up projects which are not cash positive in short term even though they might have a positive net cash flow over their life. Most of the sole traders even don’t understand their true cost of capital. If they fund an internal project from internal accruals they don’t associate any cost with it. Very seldom they think about an opportunity cost of capital. Another reason for not associating costs to internal funds is the absence of difference between business and personal finances. Sole traders don’t have an external majority shareholder to report to and are not accountable to outsiders. They keep on drawing and adding back money to the business based on their personal requirements. Under such circumstances, it becomes very difficult for a sole trader to keep track of all cash flows associated with a project and hence is unable to do the asset investment decision making on the discounted cash flow model. As an example, we look at the independent pharmacies, i.e., those pharmacies not owned by a group or corporate houses and they normally have 1 to 5 pharmacy outlets in UK. Many of these are limited companies and owned and managed by a qualified pharmacist. Due to increasing regulatory requirements and competition, pharmacies are undergoing refurbishment to offer additional services and increase foot fall and over the counter sales. Over the counter sales have higher margins than NHS prescriptions. Most of the owners of the independent pharmacies are qualified pharmacists who have professionally managed their pharmacies but don’t have the financial expertise to properly evaluate an asset investment decision based on capital budgeting. When independent pharmacy owners spend money on refurbishment, they don’t take into account the cash flows associated specifically with the refurbishment over its project period. Most of them don’t have the financial expertise to build a full-scale discounted cash flow model to find out the net present value of the refurbishment project. Nor they like to spend money on external resources to do a financial evaluation. If they see that their peers in the pharmacy industry have managed to do well with refurbishment projects, they undertake similar projects. B) Comparison of investment decisions in stable and unstable business environments When companies have time to plan in advance, they do account for different risks when planning investment decisions. Cooper et. al. (2002) surveyed companies on the method of handling risk in the capital budgeting process. 87% of the respondents replied that they use subjective techniques and 65% affirmed that they used quantitative techniques. On the methods used to quantify risk, 33% of the respondents replied that they increase the required rate of return or cost of capital to compensate for risk considerations. But planning for risk in stable times and then taking decisions in unstable times are different things due to dynamics of things during unstable times. The major difference between stable and unstable environment is the increase in risk during unstable environment. Companies face two different kind of unstable business environments – company specific and economic-wide unstable business environment. Company specific unstable environment relate to company only and occur mostly due to rapid changes in that industry and/or the financial state of that company. The additional major risks facing a company under economic-wide unstable times are political risks and foreign exchange risks. Even though companies plan for political risks by adjusting rate of capital, when they actually face such a scenario, the investment decision making is more than just calculating net present value. Alessandri (2003) found that managers rely on their personal judgment and experience more than on quantitative decision tools as uncertainty increases. The use of qualitative tools more at the times of higher uncertainty deviates from the reliance of academic literature on quantitative tools only. Consider the example of firms planning to invest in Bolivia. Bolivia’s new president has nationalised mining industry. Any firm planning to invest in Bolivia will reassess the risk involved in investing there as its assets could be nationalised in future. It can use the net present value models and adjust political risk factor to incorporate future nationalising in Bolivia. But even after obtaining a positive net present value, most of the companies would not like to invest at current times. They would like to wait and watch to see further actions of the Bolivian government before making any investment decision. If the firm has external shareholders, the management would not like to invest in Bolivia now because if anything goes wrong in future, the management will find it very difficult to justify their action. They would rather play it safe and let the investment opportunity pass by if not invest later rather than facing a situation where their decisions could be severely cr iticised. The other major risk that could happen in unstable times is the foreign exchange risk. During 1997-98 the currencies of South East Asian countries plummeted. The drop was so sudden and so sharp that all financial modelling about risk incorporation couldn’t take full effects into consideration. Foreign investment in South East Asian countries in late 1997 and 1998 dropped significantly. Most of the companies waited for the government to take action and economy to stabilise before channelling in their investments. Because of the sharp drop in their currencies, it was widely expected that South East Asian countries would impose some ban on foreign capital repayment to prevent further out flow of foreign exchange. When countries did implement such ban, multinational companies were not sure when such a ban would be lifted and did not invest in South East Asian economies till the situation became normal. The rapid change in business environment during crisis times makes it very difficult for companies to assign value to various risk factors used in capital asset pricing model and net present value. This also results in managements relying more on qualitative analysis for investment decision making. Companies also face unstable business environment or crisis times which are specific to them only. This normally occurs when a company is perceived to be unable to meet its debt requirements and there are chances of it going into administration. At such times even though the company may come across a positive net present value project, it would be unable to invest money into the project because of high debt level concerns. Stagecoach is a UK listed firm in transportation sector. Prior to 2001, it had diversified in UK, Hong Kong and New Zealand. Sep 11, 2001 events severely impacted its tour operations because of reduced travel. Because of high fixed cost in establishing travel business, sudden drop in revenues raised doubts about the loan serviceability[1]. This was reflected in the sudden drop of Stagecoach’s share price which lost more than 3/4th of its value in the year 2002[2]. Even though Stagecoach’s Hong Kong operations were profitable, the management sold Hong Kong operations to reduce debt levels to meet market expectations[3]. The management also sold other operations in non-UK countries and its share of a joint venture with Virgin Rail to reduce debt levels. Investment decision making in crisis times involves more than just quantitative analysis and managements make decisions based on their past experiences and likely outcome of different scenarios. Many times during company-specific crisis of high debt, managements take investment decisions to meet market expectations rather than decisions based on net present value. CONCLUSION Capital budgeting decisions play a very important role in deciding future growth of a company. Academics rely on use of financial models like net present value, capital asset pricing model and internal rate of return to evaluate investment decisions. Over the years, the use of above methods has become more common. Large companies mostly use the above methods in asset investments. But in case of smaller companies, the use of other methods like payback period is still prevalent. Though over the years the gap between theory and practice has narrowed down, the use of payback period method shows that smaller companies either don’t have the expertise or resources to do proper financial evaluation. The owner-managers of smaller companies and sole traders also rely heavily on their past experiences to decide about investments. During uncertain and crisis times, managements rely more on their qualitative analysis than on quantitative analysis to make investment judgments even though they carry out more financial analysis. Managements would not like to take decisions just on the basis of net present value to invest during crisis times. BIBLIOGRAPHY Alessandri, T. (2003). â€Å"The impact of risk and uncertainty on rationality: Evidence from capital investment decision processes†. Working paper presented at the Academy of Management Conference, Seattle, WA. Brounen, D., A. de Jong and K. Koedijk (2004). â€Å"Corporate finance in Europe: Confronting theory with practice†. Financial Management, Tampa. Winter 2004. Vol. 33, Iss. 4; Pg. 71 Cooper, W.D., R.G. Morgan, A. Redman and M. Smith (2002). â€Å"Capital budgeting models: theory versus practice†, Business Forum, Los Angeles, 2002, Vol. 26, Iss. 1/2, Pg.15 Ekanem, I. (2005). â€Å"‘Bootstrapping’: The investment decision-making process in small firms†. The British Accounting Review, Kidlington. Sep 2005, Vol. 37, Iss. 3, Pg. 299 Graham, J.R. and Harvey, C.R. (2001). â€Å"The theory and practice of corporate finance: Evidence from the field†. Journal of Financial Economics, Amsterdam. May/Jun 2001. Vol. 60, Iss. 2,3; Pg. 187 [1] Stagecoach trading update (http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=200204290701312056V) [2] Stagecoach share price chart (http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=SGC.Lt=5y Date 21 Jan 2007) [3] Stagecoach’s sale of Hong Kong operations (http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=200401190817013617U)

Crime Films Essay -- essays research papers fc

Crime Films When looking at the crime film it is important to understand the nature of the films genre. The genre is a way for the audience to distinguish types of films. These are categorised together because of standard protocols developed for a particular types or styles of film. These films usually follow similar guidelines in order to produce a predictable style for the audience. The development of genre films is not entirely the prerogative of Hollywood. It is more the desire of the public viewing audience to have an idea of the type of film they are about to see. The western, musical or the gangster film are examples of genre films. These categories of films all have similarities in the ways in which they are made: musicals end happily; the westerns will all have the final shoot out; and the gangsters will all be overcome by justice or meet their own demise. The reason for the consistency in the films is the publics desire to make an informed choice not and not to go in blind. By using the genre qualification, the industry is able to target societal groups and try to produce and market what they want to see. The public attends a film because they think they might enjoy some aspect of it. The film genre follows a set of abstract rules that allows the public to informally categorize films. These rules must be viewed from an flexible point of view in order to legitimize their future existence. By using this method of categorizing films the public is able to decide which films they wish to see and those they do not. Some people love musicals and if they were to go to one and find there was no music or dance they might not be too pleased. The concept of genre is one that may provide benefit to the viewers but at the same time may also present problems for the directors who must compromise their artistic aspirations. Examples of this can be seen in the production of sequels, and the use of repetitive set qualities. These may include the mise en scene of the picture or the inclusion of similar sound. Because of these unwritten rules the directors must include some of the familiar aspects of the genre. The greatest problem may be that the film must fall into a genre category. Defining it within the genre may be compromising to the nature of the film. Scarface (1932 U.S.A. - Howard Hawks ) is a f... ...s that are felt for the characters can for the most part be generalised by saying that the "principle" of the film is most often the character that receive the greatest attention. This is fundamental in the understanding of a film and in the deliverance of a story. The apparent identification with characters of certain types of films is totally dependent upon the desires and expectations of the viewer. It is the ability of the audience to identify with the central characters of a film that keeps them watching. The use of the imagination or a simple wish to be exposed to other possibilities are the fundamental reasons for entertainment. The criticisms being aroused by those who are opposed to the way in which crime is occasional depicted, believe that real life and the stories told by films are becoming increasingly similar. The criticism can be justified in some respects but by justifying these criticisms there is an implied ignorance for the individual intelligence of the general population . Bibliography David Bordwell, Kristin Thomson, Film Art an introduction: McGraw- -Hill,Inc.:University of Wisconsin,1993. Graeme Turner, Film as Social Practice: Routledge, 1993.

Dr. Martin Luther King Essay -- essays research papers

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Paper   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With his constant pursuit for civil rights, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. helped bridge the gap between races during the 1960Õs. (It was) His unique approach of using nonviolent protests (to) helped create an awareness of the inequalities the African Americans had to endure during this time period. In 1963, King went to Birmingham, Alabama to engage in a nonviolent protest (there), yet before he could perform the (protest à  use synonym such as rally or something) he was arrested. While King was in the prison he wrote Letter from a Birmingham Prison. By reading this letter one can easily see that aside from being ahehe civil rights crusader, King was also an incredibly intelligent and articulate man. In the letter he brought up each issue he felt needed to be addressed and used solid evidence to defend his case on every issue. Even though the letter contains many different strong points, his two strongest arguments he makes are explaining why he was in Birmingh am and the defending of his Ã’untimelyÓ actions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (change sentence doesnÕt flow)The first issue King addresses is the claim he was nothing more than an Ã’outside agitatorÓ. He says that he can not be considered an outsider anywhere within the boundaries of the America. Moreover, He explains that he had a business tie in Alabama and had promised them he would 1 engage in a nonviolent protest. He feels that a injustice anywhere is... Dr. Martin Luther King Essay -- essays research papers Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Paper   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With his constant pursuit for civil rights, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. helped bridge the gap between races during the 1960Õs. (It was) His unique approach of using nonviolent protests (to) helped create an awareness of the inequalities the African Americans had to endure during this time period. In 1963, King went to Birmingham, Alabama to engage in a nonviolent protest (there), yet before he could perform the (protest à  use synonym such as rally or something) he was arrested. While King was in the prison he wrote Letter from a Birmingham Prison. By reading this letter one can easily see that aside from being ahehe civil rights crusader, King was also an incredibly intelligent and articulate man. In the letter he brought up each issue he felt needed to be addressed and used solid evidence to defend his case on every issue. Even though the letter contains many different strong points, his two strongest arguments he makes are explaining why he was in Birmingh am and the defending of his Ã’untimelyÓ actions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (change sentence doesnÕt flow)The first issue King addresses is the claim he was nothing more than an Ã’outside agitatorÓ. He says that he can not be considered an outsider anywhere within the boundaries of the America. Moreover, He explains that he had a business tie in Alabama and had promised them he would 1 engage in a nonviolent protest. He feels that a injustice anywhere is...

The Relation between State and Society According to Karl Marx Essay

The Relation between State and Society According to Karl Marx 'The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.' (1) This is the clearest assertion of the basic tenet of Marxist theory of the state. The state acts in the interests of the dominant class. Marx never elaborates on the topic of the state - the task of putting forward a full theory of the state was one the aims of the incomplete Das Kapital. In order then to find a Marxist theory of the state, modern scholars must piece one together from the references scattered throughout Marx's work. The above quote, however, is by far the most succinct way of putting forward the basic message of a Marxist theory of the state. The question is in two parts. In answer to the first, the roots of Marxist theory of the state shall be found in Hegel's political philosophy. It shall be shown that although Marx's conception of the state is just an adaptation of Hegel's, the application of that conception in relation to society is more original. The second part of the question demands an examination into the defensibility of Marx's state theory. The fact that Marx never clarifies his theory gives modern Marxists a great deal of leeway in adapting Marxist theory to counter its critics. Several different ways of defending Marxist theory will be set out below. In his Philosophy of Right, Hegel makes the important and influential distinction between Civil Society and the Political State. Briefly, the Political state is the total of the objective institutions of public authority, involving legislative, fiscal and supervisory powers, etc. There is also a degree of subjectivity, in the form of public opinion expressed t... ... the causal relation between state and society is reversed. For Marx, the economic structure of society produces a dominant class, and the state reflects that dominance, and helps to reproduce it. In the final analysis, neo-Marxist scholars are able to form coherent and defensible positions on the state, while not betraying the essential Marxist nature of their theories. Karl Marx, Manifesto of the Communist Party. Z. A. Pelcynski, The Hegelian Conception of the State. Karl Marx, review of Girardin's Le Socialisme et 'Impà ´t. J. Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. Karl Marx, A German Ideology. R. Miliband, Marx and the State. N. Poulantzas, The Problem of the Capitalist State. R. Miliband, The State in Capitalist Society. C. Offe, Social Policy and the Theory of the State. F. Parkin, Marxism and Class Theory: A Bourgeois Critique. The Relation between State and Society According to Karl Marx Essay The Relation between State and Society According to Karl Marx 'The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.' (1) This is the clearest assertion of the basic tenet of Marxist theory of the state. The state acts in the interests of the dominant class. Marx never elaborates on the topic of the state - the task of putting forward a full theory of the state was one the aims of the incomplete Das Kapital. In order then to find a Marxist theory of the state, modern scholars must piece one together from the references scattered throughout Marx's work. The above quote, however, is by far the most succinct way of putting forward the basic message of a Marxist theory of the state. The question is in two parts. In answer to the first, the roots of Marxist theory of the state shall be found in Hegel's political philosophy. It shall be shown that although Marx's conception of the state is just an adaptation of Hegel's, the application of that conception in relation to society is more original. The second part of the question demands an examination into the defensibility of Marx's state theory. The fact that Marx never clarifies his theory gives modern Marxists a great deal of leeway in adapting Marxist theory to counter its critics. Several different ways of defending Marxist theory will be set out below. In his Philosophy of Right, Hegel makes the important and influential distinction between Civil Society and the Political State. Briefly, the Political state is the total of the objective institutions of public authority, involving legislative, fiscal and supervisory powers, etc. There is also a degree of subjectivity, in the form of public opinion expressed t... ... the causal relation between state and society is reversed. For Marx, the economic structure of society produces a dominant class, and the state reflects that dominance, and helps to reproduce it. In the final analysis, neo-Marxist scholars are able to form coherent and defensible positions on the state, while not betraying the essential Marxist nature of their theories. Karl Marx, Manifesto of the Communist Party. Z. A. Pelcynski, The Hegelian Conception of the State. Karl Marx, review of Girardin's Le Socialisme et 'Impà ´t. J. Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. Karl Marx, A German Ideology. R. Miliband, Marx and the State. N. Poulantzas, The Problem of the Capitalist State. R. Miliband, The State in Capitalist Society. C. Offe, Social Policy and the Theory of the State. F. Parkin, Marxism and Class Theory: A Bourgeois Critique.

Goya foods Essay

Started in 1936, Goya food is more famous in the American market where it has targeted the diverse Hispanic market the in the new markets it is targeting. With its headquarters in Secaucus, New Jersey the company deals in canned foods and other food products such as juice and cooking oil. Some of the major brand names in the market are extra virgin oil, Paela, Adobo and an assortment of designed recipes and mixes for the market. These products are spread out in four major industries †¢ Bakeries †¢ Beverage manufacture and bottling †¢ Coffee and tea manufacturing Fruit and vegetable processing †¢ Meat and food products processing †¢ Cereals and other foods processing Conrad Colon, the group’s marketing director says that the idea behind their vesting into different food products such as beans and rice is to transform ordinary products to Goya specials (Luther, 2008, pp 69). Ranked number 366 in the Forbes magazine largest private companies the company has shown that it is on its way from climbing form the small enterprises category to one of the top 20 multinationals. The firma has grown over time in size and form. At the moment the company is using its success in the American and South American market as a motivation to launch its products in the Asian market such as Singapore and Taiwan, Malaysia and Hong Kong otherwise known as the Asian tiger economies. These economies are currently experiencing very high economic growth. Consumer spending is on the rise as the welfare of the society improves (Thang, 2008, pp 28). Competitive analysis Goya Foods is to enter the market at the height of its success as a brand offering something more than the common. Its brand is synonymous with creativity in recipes (Luther, 2008, pp 67). In addition to this, Luther (2008 says that the company has transformed canned beans to more than canned beans to Goya beans. He notes that this is the notion that the company is riding high on: brand identification with quality and customer loyalty. Goya Foods, which had revenues of $713 million last year, has become synonymous with Hispanic packaged products of every persuasion. He cites the case where retail outlets and supermarkets have transformed form labeling Hispanic food aisles as so to Goya foods. This is against the traditional labeling systems where aisles are labeled as â€Å"Asian foods†. Of this, Conrad says â€Å"We have been selling our products for 60 years, so that some of our products, like our black beans, fruit nectars and olives, have become part of the culture†. The company has reciprocated this embrace with recognition of Hispanic culture such as celebrating the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York. Advertising and promotion is done both in English and Spanish even in their websites (Telvin, 2006 pp110) Moving on to the culturally rich market could then be a turning point for the company and the market if the entry to the market is well strategized and the timing is correct. This gives the company a competitive advantage in that the markets in Asia have traditionally been shaped by the Asian culture. Making a move into the market would appear to critics as â€Å"banging your head on a wall. † This is more so because China has dominated the processed foods market in China and has manage to penetrate the US and European market. The strength of this growth in the market for Chinese products is pegged on low pricing other than brand name and quality. However, Colon sees this as a marvelous opportunity to challenge the status quo and introduce another culture in the market. He believes that the same cultural experimentation that has taken place in the US can be replicated in Asia using the right marketing strategies. He says their strength lies in the identification of the company’s brand name with Hispanic culture which is very important in targeting the culturally adventurous market in that region. Therefore, Goya’s entry into the Asian market can be viewed as a cultural export form the Hispanic world. Telvin (2006, pp112) sees that the 2005 donation by Goya foods to tsunami victims in South East Asia as courting strategy in the region before the marketer makes a lurk into the market. Goya Foods recognizes their major competitors in the American market are Del Monte, Can Agra and Kraft foods as shown in the company’s website. Del Monte is one of the largest competitors with a global presence well represented in Asia by its Del Monte Pacific branch. The growth of this Pacific branch serving the Asian and American market has been experiencing double digits growth since the turn of the millennium. Former Chairman of Del Monte Pacific, Tony Chew says that the company’s 100 plus years presence in the industry has created strong brand name for the company whose regional head marketer attributes to â€Å"leveraging our strengths in production, marketing, and distribution, and expanding our business through synergistic alliances or strategic acquisitions† One of the integration alliances are with the Cadbury Schweppes in US, Nabisco in Canada and Seven-up. Such alliances combined with an experienced management, strong financial base from shareholders and a long history has contributed to the company’s labeling as â€Å"one of Asia’s highest value creators† This has created a kind of market entry barrier in the market with a lot of customer loyalty and strategic alliances forming the base of the barriers. Industry forecast The bakeries industry as on of the very competitive market is expected to grow by 5% in 2009. This is a significant rise after the decrease in consumer spending hurt the market with estimated growth for 2008 only expected to be 2% in the American market. The growth will steady up to around 4% in the next four years as per market predictions. Colon attributes their continued growth and dominance in the Hispanic American market to â€Å"knowing the Hispanic market better than any competitor† through market research. Given that there exist many of opportunities in a country like Malaysia, good market research in the country should be expected to yield good results. According to an industry report on the status of the processed food industry in Malaysia the industry has a lot of opportunities short listed as flour based products such as pasta, biscuits, pre-mixes, frozen pastries and chocolate confectionery †¢ cereal-based products such as breakfast cereals, muesli and rolled oats †¢ pure fruit juices, orange juice concentrates, frozen vegetables, edible nuts and canned fruit †¢ condiments, seasoning and sauces †¢ nutritional snacks such as fruit rolls and yoghurt bars †¢ health foods and bars †¢ halal-processed meat such as corned beef CanAgra as a competitor to Goya deals in brands such as Rosarita, Blue bonnet and Gilroys foods is already making a gradual exit from the Asian market after years of disappointing sales by cutting operations. With an extra room created by CanAgra, Goya can enter the making to have a share of the profits. Canned, frozen food processing industry is experiencing good growth despite the fall in this year’s consumer spending which has hurt sales across all industries. This industry is expected to register a increment of 1% to 5% from last year’s and maintain the same in 2009. Subsequent years are estimated to see the industry fall back to 4%. This increase in growth is largely tied to increase in population. In addition, India’s processed food industry is growing at an average of 12% per year. Such opportunities exist for companies such as Goya to make full use of by venturing into the market. Goya’s product strategy Recognition of culture as the main selling pint by the company has been put into full utilization through market segmentation by culture. Goya recognizes that eating habits from one cultural grouping to the other changes a lot. Therefore the company has realized the need to satisfy all markets by segmenting the niche markets and developing specific products for that market. According to a link in the company’s website http://www. goya. com/english/recipes/recipe_category. html? id=6 the markets are divided into four major categories. These are Mexico, Central and South America, Spanish and the Caribbean. In each market there are various products in form of recipes that are unique to that market only. However, the aspect of cultural exchanges does allow variety in that cultural experimentation through Goya products is facilitated. The company has strategically made use of promotional and marketing campaigns that are well publicized. Alliances with traditional supermarkets and large retail outlets have helped in product placement as a form of advertising. In addition, the fact that Hispanic foods are all being labeled Goya is working well for the company’s policy. However, the same labeling can lead to loss of market. Poor quality products meant for the Hispanic market can be viewed by the market as belonging to Goya which is not the case and hence the company loses customer loyalty on the basis of poor quality products. This would d be against the company’s slogan: If it’s Goya, it has to be good. Profitability and budget analysis Increased commodity prices and decreased consumer sending has for the better of this year proved problematic to marketers. In a bid to remain afloat, Goya and her other industry competitors were forced to increase their prices. Therefore, as Kraft foods admitted their increase in profits this year was partly due to a 7% increase in the prices of their products. Again, going by the same argument, the target of Goya hitting the $1 billion mark this year in sales is definitely going to be a reality (Thang, 2008, pg 27). Del Monte as the other competitor has also reported profits at 11. 1%. Given that all the industries in which Goya operates are estimated to be on the rise ceteris paribus, then the market share for Goya in particular and to all the players in the industry is going to increase in the near future. Marked by such an increase in sales and profits, Goya is increasing her expenditure on marketing and promotional activities. Last year the company reportedly tripled its marketing budget to counter market encroachment by competitors. Again, there have been increased sponsorship and philanthoppy activities by the company. As a result more Americans in addition to the Latinos are turning to Goya foods for an alternative to the traditional American food to more stylized processed food.

Racine’s Phaedra

Phaedra, a tragic play created and popularized by Jean B. Racine is an account of the possible pros, cons, and eminent ills or frailty experienced by love-stricken people depicting their own strength and weaknesses. The play implicitly showed different types of love that are prevalent in reality where there could be a kind of self-giving and sacrificial love that makes a person stronger and pushes the lover to exert one’s best and do good in life (that love of Hippolytus to Aricia); the self-centered, selfish, and possessive love (the kind of avenging love showed by Phaedra with respect to his unfaithful husband, Theseus; and her incest love for her stepson, Hippolytus); and last but not the least, the disloyal and unfaithful love of Theseus to his wife, Phaedra. Body Racine presented in this play the different attitudes of men when under the spell of love: it is implied as that â€Å"it makes or breaks a person†. At best, love could not only make a person (the lover) to attain one’s full potential of doing good due to the inspiration attained from the object of love; but also, at worst, love can lead to hatred and vengeance once the expected love is not returned or is abused by pain-crashing disloyalty. Moreover, as love’s pros and cons are demonstrated by the author in this literary piece, good and evil was also portrayed by effects and consequences of each kind of love discussed in the aforementioned statement. Conclusion Love thus, follows the principle that â€Å"You reap what you sow†; if used as a weapon to avenge the painful sorrow, it may bring and lead to one’s own destruction and further injury (bad karma). Once love is used and treated as inspiration, it has good results and it motivates (good karma). However, if one feigned against love, treachery would be its same cost.

Mayan Civilization and ruins

Since the dawn of mankind, there has always been civilizations have that have made a lasting impression on the world. There very few civilizations that have been that have achieved the term greatness associated with it and ‘Mayan civilization’ is one of the rare few. It can be dubbed as one of the longest serving civilizations of the ancient times as it is noted that it started around 1000 B.C but ended by 1500 A.D. It was considered as they were one of the most advance civilizations on the western hemisphere until the arrival of the Europeans. This civilization was located in Central America and was found from the north central down to the southern part of Mexico. This was a civilization that went through periodical changes in its living due to external factors associated with it. This Native American culture is noted in the history as one of the advance civilizations of that era. There has been a popular belief that has been associated with the Mayan civilization that it was an amalgamated empire. In actual terms it was a whole host of divided units having a common cultural background. The entire ‘Yucantan Pennisula’ had around 20 states which were all ruled by different sovereign leadership, but on an inventive logic, they were a nation on their own with religion being an important aspect of their lives. Since the Mayan civilization was spread on a large area, the geographical conditions for the civilization varied with extremities, which can adjudged from the fact they had volcanic mountains from the highlands in the south to porous limestone areas dominating the central and the northern regions of the civilization. Mayan civilization can be categorized into three categories, pre-classic period, classic period and post classic period. The entire culture has revolved and evolved around these three periods. The civilization had huge forests and because of the diversity of the topographical situation of the civilization, varied no of animals like the ‘caiman’, a fierce kind of crocodile to different kinds of monkeys was found. Mayan pre classic period This was supposed to be the period of formulation in which the population boomed and new innovative techniques were made for agriculture. The leaders were chosen from strong spiritual backgrounds and it was considered as that the lowlands of the civilization held acute importance because it was supposed to be a ceremonial centre. The following will explain the Mayan professional inclinations and techniques: ‘In the Preclassic period, they adopted intensive farming techniques such as continuous cultivation involving crop rotation and fertilizers, household gardens, and terraces. In some areas, they built raised fields in seasonal swamps. Their main crops included maize (corn), beans, squash, avocados, chili peppers, pineapples, papayas, and cacao, which was made into a chocolate drink with water and hot chilies. Rabbits, deer, and turkeys were hunted for making stews. Fishing also supplied part of their diet. Turkeys, ducks, and dogs were kept as domesticated animals. When they were not hunting, fishing, or in the fields, Maya men made stone tools, clay figurines, jade carvings, ropes, baskets, and mats. The women made painted pottery vessels out of coiled strands of clay, and they wove ponchos, men’s loincloths’ (Encarta) Mayans were very much influenced by spirituality and had gods for almost every thing that even included gods for rains, good harvest. As time passed by the study of astronomy became popular in that era leading to studies of astrology on the basis of sun moon and other planets. Major edifices were constructed then like ‘kaminaljuyu’ and ‘tikal’ were constructed which were pyramid shaped high temples, where the system of sacrifice was started to be used. More and more massive pyramids started building in that era and the priests started enjoying super powers. Women weren’t that important from political point of view and it was a very rare sight to see women on top chieftain positions. Mayan Classic period This was an era of the Mayan civilization that can be considered as its prime era and here the system of king and kingship started which had a system of the king’s family continuing as future leaders. There was also a hierarchical system in which the government functioned.   There was major research done in the field of medicine and writing was developed extensively. The subject of astronomy had become more enhance with calculative movements predicting rains to fortune to the cities.   This was the time when societies had turned into complex models the king was noted the highest figure after which there were the priests and then the nobles who mainly responsible for protecting land and attacking enemies. This was the time of more gore and violence and mini wars were constantly waged between one and other. What mad this era special was the Mayan civilization themselves started noting rituals and their history with their elaborative writing skills. The transition of power from generations to ethical rituals along with its architectural secrets was all jotted down on stone and wood. Later on folding tree books were made as they were more handy then carrying stones. Due to the high humidity and invasions, these books didn’t survive and only 4 books are known today, i.e., the Dresden codex, the Madud coded, the Paris codex and the Grolier codex. The learning also was limited to mostly priests and few nobles and a monopoly was played so that only few people could learn and use their knowledge on others. The writing also consisted of mostly pictures and pictography was first devised by Mayan civilization for learning purposes. This was also an important era that marked trade as an important aspect of the civilization. Sacrifice was an important aspect for the culture and the following would hard line the fact of Mayan civilizations involvement in sacrifices:‘Indian pictorial texts known as â€Å"codices,† as well as Spanish accounts from the time, quote Indians as describing multiple forms of human sacrifice. Victims had their hearts cut out or were decapitated, shot full of arrows, clawed, sliced to death, stoned, crushed, skinned, buried alive or tossed from the tops of temples. Children were said to be frequent victims, in part because they were considered pure and unspoiled. The first researchers tried to make a distinction between the ‘peaceful' Maya and the ‘brutal' cultures of central Mexico and But in carvings and mural paintings, he said, â€Å"we have now found more and greater similarities between the Aztecs and Mayas,† including a Maya ceremony in which a grotesquely costumed priest is shown pulling the entrails from a bound and apparently living sacrificial victim’ (Mark Stevenson). Mayan post Classic period This can be considered as a time when the decline of the Mayan civilization started step by step. Since the governments had become much segmented, there was more violence and war during that phase, where entire villages would get destroyed in the name of war. There was also the Toltec domination followed by Spanish invaders taking over Mexico by the early 16th century.   This was however the phase of having plastered walls and painted murals. Socially the civilization had peaked and it was mandatory for guests to bring in gifts while visits. Slave culture flourished in this era and slaves which were mostly people who were captured from wars were highly mistreated and often sacrificed after their masters dies, as they had an ideology that they would serve their masters in afterlife. Mayan Ruins Ruins of Mayan civilization can still be found it the entire peninsula. Their culture had so many architectural advancements that it is today possible to watch quiet a lot of their ruins and gather more information about them. Ruins like ‘the temple of the inscriptions’ in Mexico and the ‘palenque’ are very prominent ruins of the civilization. The former rises 75 feet and it is rested neatly over a hill and is one of the prime examples free standing pyramids. Another site in Mexico located in Coba, was built around 4 large lake structures and had been inhabitant for more than thousand years. The biggest pyramid of that site 120 feet and is known as Nohoch Mul. The following piece will explain the beauty and architectural genius of the civilization: ‘Miguel à ngel Asturias, named Nobel Laureate in 1967, wrote â€Å"Only Guatemala is comparable to itself,† describing it as â€Å"a land of natural dreamscapes†¦mysterious presences and absences.† Tikal, the largest known Mayan city, is incomparable in the same way; its size imposing and intimidating, its setting lush and teeming with wildlife, and with a mysterious and overwhelming atmosphere best described in the writing of Asturias’ Works Cited: 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Encarta, â€Å" Mayan civilization†. 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mark Stevenson, â€Å"Evidence may back human sacrifice claims†. http://www.livescience.com/history/human_sacrifice_050123.html 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Maya Ruins, â€Å"Photos of Tikal†. http://www.mayaruins.com/tikal.html 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://archaeology.about.com/od/archaeologic7/Ruins_of_the_Maya_Civilization.htm