The Process of Electrochemical Machining Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 12

The Process of Electrochemical Machining - Essay Example Since most of the metals in the pure state without undergoing any treatment might not serve the intended roles mostly emerging with the current technological know-how. Utilizing Faraday’s laws of electrolysis, machining is normally by way of controlled removal of metal through dissolution an electrolytic cell’s anode (Singal, Mridul & Rishi, 2008). Hence, initiating a current if the electrolyte in which the poles are immersed (in aqueous like NaCl) can adequately allow movement of atoms in such a way it ensures conduction process. The core principle that characterizes this process encompasses rapid as well as the selective dissolution of the workpiece intended to be machined, which acts as an anode and the released components attach themselves on the cathode normally linked to a D.C (Setchi, Howlett, Naim, & Seinz, 2014). Therefore, this study seeks to avail sufficient and precise information regarding ECM process coupled with how current technological know-how has embr aced it in varied applications. The process entails immersion of both the workpiece and anode in the electrolytic aqueous, which in this case it might be NaCl or NaNO3 (Setchi, Howlett, Naim, & Seinz, 2014). The creation of potential between the electrodes takes place with the intention of initiating D.C that will facilitate anode dissolution. It is also through the use of D.C that facilitates a flow of electrons from the piece intended to be worked on goes to the cathode, hence initiating the gas release. In the industrial settings as depicted in Figs 2 and 3, it entails immersing or placing the workpiece in an electrolyte and linking to a high current power source through the +ve terminal (Singal, Mridul & Rishi, 2008). Then the cathode tool to the –ve side and shaped in such a way to fit effectively in the anode’s cavity without making any contact. Even flow of the electrolyte with an approximate 5m/s velocity amid the electrodes is by the aid of a recirculation pump. This is to intensify both mass and charge movement especially through the created sublayer adjacent to the anode piece (Abdel-Gawad, 2013).

Analysis of Two Pictures by Dorothea Lange Essay Example for Free

Analysis of Two Pictures by Dorothea Lange Essay Dorothea Lange is one of the America’s most renowned documentary photographers. Yet her works can not be considered as â€Å"purely† documental. Lnge’s ability to demonstrate the inner world of her heroes and her masterful photographic techniques placed her works in the middle between photography and art. In this paper I will attempt to review and analyze two Lange’s photographs: â€Å"Human Erosion in California† (â€Å"Migrant Mother†) and â€Å"Child and Her Mother†. I am going to analyze them in terms of style, symbolism and influence on future Lange’s career and development of the art of photography. â€Å"Human Erosion in California† and â€Å"Child and Her Mother† are separated with the period of three years being made in 1936 and 1939 respectively. This was a time when Lange was about forty and her talent flourished reaching its highpoint. At that time she made her name as a social critic, as her matter of primary concern was the fate of poor and dispossessed people . â€Å"Human Erosion in California† is probably her most famous picture touching this theme. More broadly, Lange was interested in the people as they are and people in different situations. The â€Å"Child and Her Mother† is more a psychological than social work, or, better to say, a work on human psychology in a stagnating society. Here Lange could apply her experience she received working with Maynard Dixon and in the portrait studio to develop her own original style . The picture that later became known as â€Å"Human Erosion in California† or â€Å"Migrant Mother† was originally made in California in 1936. This picture that became almost an iconic vision of the Great Depression depicts Florence Owens Thompson, a Cherokee woman whose husband died in 1932 leaving her with five children and expecting the sixth child. Describing their meeting Lange wrote: I did not ask her name or her history. She told me her age, that she was 32. She said that they had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields and birds that the children killed. She had just sold the tires from her car to buy food. Lange has made several pictures of the same model to find the best perspective. The most famous of the pictures she made demonstrates a prematurely aged woman sitting in a camp with two underage children cuddling to their mother. The woman looks both tensed and tired. Her look can not be called desperate, she rather seems to be disappointed and desolated. A woman can not afford herself to become frustrated as she has to care of the babies. Despite of all her grieves she looks strong and decisive. This picture places a model in the centre while the details of the background are unimportant. Much later Thompson told that Langer promised her not to publish the picture and to send her a copy, yet she did neither. Officially the picture was made for the government and Lange never received royalties for it, but this work was a landmark that contributed greatly to her success. 20 000 pounds of food arrived to the camp where the picture was made after publication of the picture, but Thompson has not received any since she had already moved in search of work . Durden observes that many of Lange’s pictures â€Å"focus on the expressive potential of the body’s gesture† . This is true for the â€Å"Migrant Mother†, but this feature of Lange’s work can be most obviously illustrated by the â€Å"Child and Her Mother†. The picture was made in 1939 in the Yakima Valley near Washington. It is less famous than the â€Å"Migrant Mother†, yet not less brilliant as it presents another aspect of Lange’s talent. â€Å"Child and Her Mother† is a socio-psychological work combining the view of a teenage frustration with social blunders. From the artistic point of view Lange used a different composition in this picture. In contrast to static â€Å"Migrant Mother† this photograph presents movement and tensed rhythm. A child, who can also be perceived as a young girl downcasts her eyes linking against the wire fence while carefully observed by her mother. Both stand on a sandy desert land burned by sun, but the mother attempts to cover her eyes while the daughter keeps them open. It appears that the girl is trying to escape the life that her mother has lived in order to overcome sadness and poverty . Lange’s work in the times of the Great Depression are not unique. Not less famous are, for example, works of Arthur Rothstein. Yet Lange is distinguished by her profound sympathetic understanding not of the social phenomena, but of the people suffering from it. This is a kind of â€Å"female view† of the Great Depression as an event that revealed the hidden sides of people’s characters. For this reason Lange’s pictures would hardly be lost in the stream of her contemporaries’ works. Works Cited: 1. Partridge, Elizabeth. Restless Spirit: The Life and Work of Dorothea Lange. Puffin, 1991; 2. Meltzer, Milton. Dorothea Lange: A Photographers Life. Syracuse University Press; 1st Syracuse University Press Ed edition, 2000; 3. Durden, Mark. Dorothea Lange. Phaidon Press, 2006; 4. Spirn, Anne Winston. Daring to Look: Dorothea Langes Photographs and Reports from the Field. University Of Chicago Press, 2008; 5. Maksel, Rebecca. â€Å"Migrant Madonna†. Smithsonian magazine, March 2002. http://www. smithsonianmag. com/arts-culture/Migrant_Madonna. html retrieved April 27, 2009.

The Life and Literary Works of Shirley Jackson Essay -- Essays Papers

Shirley Jackson was born on December 14, 1919 to Leslie and Geraldine Jackson. Her surroundings were comfortable and friendly. Two years after Shirley was born, her family with her newborn brother moved from San Francisco to Burlingame, California, about thirty miles away. "According to her mother, Shirley began to compose verse almost as soon as she could write it" (Friedman, 18). As a child, Shirley was interested in sports and literature. In 1930, a year before she attended Burlingame High School, Shirley began writing poetry and short stories. Jackson enrolled in the liberal arts program at the University of Rochester in 1934. But after periods of unhappiness and questioning the loyalty of her friends, she withdrew from the university. For the next year Shirley worked night and day on her writing. In doing so she established work habits, which she maintained for the rest of her life. After a year of becoming conscientious and disciplined writer, Jackson thought she better return to college for more schooling. In 1937, she entered Syracuse University. At first she was in the School of Journalism, but then she decided to transfer to the English department. For the next two years, while at Syracuse, Shirley published, fifteen pieces in campus magazines and became fiction editor of "The Syracusan", a campus humor magazine. When her position as fiction editor was eliminated, she and fellow classmate Stanley Edgar Hyman began to plan a magazine of literary quality, one that the English Club finally agreed to sponsor. (Friedman, 21) In 1939, the first edition of "The Spectre" was published. Although the magazine became popular, the English department didn't like the biting editorials and critical essays. But inspite of the department's constant watch over the magazine, Leonard Brown, a modern literature teacher, backed the students and the publication. Later, Jackson was always to refer to Brown as her mentor; and in 1959 she dedicated her novel "The Haunting of H ill House" to him.(Oppenheimer, 45) But in the summer of 1940, since Jackson and Hyman were graduating, it was announced the "The Spectre" had been discontinued. "Apparently hard feelings on the part of school authorities lasted for quite some time and may have been one of the reasons why neither Miss Jackson, even after becoming a successful author, nor Mr. Hyman, a known critic, was named as a recipi... ... Yorker. 28 June 1948. p. 292. Janeway, Elizabeth. "The Grotesque Around Us," The New York Times Book Review. 9 October 1966. p. 58. Kittredge, Mary. "The Other Side of Magic: A Few Remarks About Shirley Jackson." Discovering Modern Horror Fiction. Starmont House, New York, 1985. p. 4, 12, 14, 15. Kosenko, Peter. "A Marxist/Feminist Reading of Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery' ." The New Orleans Review. Spring 1985. p. 225. Nebeker, Helen. " 'The Lottery': Symbolic Tour de France," American Literature: Duke University, North Carolina, 1974. p. 107. Oehlshlaeger, Fritz. "The Stoning of Mistress Hutchinson: Meaning of Context in 'The Lottery'." Essays in Literature. No. 2, Fall, 1988. p. 259, 261. Oppenheimer, Judy. Private Demons: The Life of Shirley Jackson. G.P. Putnam's Sons: New York, 1988. p. 45, 60. Park, John G. "Waiting for the End: Shirley jackson's 'The Sundial'." Critique: Studies in Modern Fiction, No. 3., 1978. p. 21, 22. Wolff, Geoffrey. "Shirley Jackson's 'Magic Style'." The New Leader. No. 17. 9 September 1968. p. 18. Woodruff, Stuart. "The Real Horror Elsewhere: Shirley Jackson's Last Novel." Southwest Review. Spring, 1967. p. 155.

Financial forecasting & planning Essay

Financial forecasts are, quite simply, your forecast of how your business will perform financially over, say, the year ahead. Preparing forecasts will help you to assess your likely sales income, costs, external financing needs and profitability. Financial forecasts are essential if you need to raise money from a third party, such as a bank. But they also provide you with the means to monitor performance on, say, a monthly basis and thereby exercise effective financial control – arguably the second most important management function in running a business. Objectives The aim of this section is to help you to prepare financial forecasts. It will enable you to: †¢Understand costing and pricing; †¢Use break-even analysis as a way of setting sales targets; †¢Understand financial forecasting; †¢Assess working capital requirements. Assignment The purpose of these assignments is to ensure that you are able to prepare the necessary financial forecasts for your business. Satisfactory completion of the set of assignments will demonstrate that you know and understand how to: †¢Identify and calculate the financial outlines it will be necessary to prepare. †¢Calculate your own personal survival budget. †¢Determine the funding/materials requirements of starting in business. †¢Consider how you will take and keep effective financial control of the business. †¢Consider and plan to deal with alternative scenarios. 1. Personal budget How much money do you need for yourself. Think about food, clothes, holidays, personal travel, etc. Draw up a personal budget. Don’t skimp. You may be in business to have fun – but you need to make money as well. Use this budget in calculating your costs and prices. Of course you may not have enough sales at the start to be able to take that amount of money, so you should also calculate the minimum requirement that you must take from the business. 2. Costing and pricing Calculate all your costs and determine a suitable price for your product or service. Think about your raw material requirements as part of your direct costs; think about your likely overhead costs. 3. Break-even Now that you have calculated all your costs and set a price, you should be in a position to prepare a break-even chart. Is your forecast of sales above or below break-even? Do you have a reasonable margin of safety? How much profit will you make if you achieve your sales forecast? 4. Forecasting profit and loss You should have all the figures that you need to prepare a forecast of profit and loss. What is your anticipated gross profit margin? What is your operating profit? How much money will be retained in the business? 5. Cash flow forecasting You should have all the figures that you need to prepare a cash flow forecast. Remember to think about everything shown on the profit and loss account, expenditure items not shown on the profit and loss and, in particular, to think about timing or receipts and payments. You will also need to think carefully about your stock holding requirements and your capital expenditure. The first time you prepare the cash flow, ignore any investment or borrowing other than that required for capital equipment. The worst cumulative deficit will indicate the minimum level of working capital required. 6. Forecasting your balance sheet Once you have completed the profit and loss and cash flow forecasts, you  should be able to prepare a balance sheet forecast. What level of working capital requirement is suggested by the balance sheet? 7. Sensitivity analysis Have another look at your profit and loss and cash flow forecasts. What happens if sales are 15% less than you have forecast? Do you still make a profit? What happens if raw material prices go up by 25%? What does this do to your profitability? Can you pass on such increases to your customers or will they switch suppliers? 8. Effective financial control You should now be in a position to exercise control over your business. Will you use a simple manual book-keeping system or a computerised one? As a brief reminder, write down the key reasons for keeping effective financial control. What are the critical numbers at which to look to ensure you retain effective financial control? Break Even Analysis Break-even analysis identifies the point at which your business starts to make a profit. You can work out the break-even point using any timescale, e.g. weekly, monthly, yearly, etc. To calculate the break-even point you need to know the following: †¢The total fixed costs of your business – these include rent and rates, your drawings, loan repayments, etc; †¢The total variable costs for producing your product – these include labour, materials and packaging; and †¢The selling price of your product. Once you have these figures, you can work out your break-even point using four simple calculations and plotting the findings on a graph. Example: Ron from Widgets ‘R’ Us want to work out how many widgets he needs to sell in order to break-even every month. He works his fixed costs out as follows: †¢Rent –  £167 per month †¢Salary –  £834 per month †¢Rates –  £70 per month †¢Loan repayment –  £100 per month †¢Total –  £1,171 ( £1 = Rs.84) (Note: It is better to round figures up rather than down, as this will increase your safety margin.) This figure can be plotted as follows: Ron then works out his variable costs for the production of each widget: †¢Materials –  £9.00 †¢Packaging –  £1.00 †¢Labour –  £11.00 †¢Total cost –  £21.00 per widget ( £1 = Rs.84) He selects a value on the ‘number of widgets’ axis (in this case, 250) and does the following calculation: †¢250 widgets x  £21.00 per widget =  £5,250 Ron plots this figure on the graph and draws a straight line from it to zero. The next step is for Ron to work out his total costs. To do this, he adds his fixed costs to his variable costs:  £1,171 +  £5,250 =  £6,421 ( £1 = Rs.84) He plots this figure on the graph and draws a straight line from it to  £1,171 on the ‘Pounds’ axis. Ron now needs to work out his revenue line. To do this, he simply multiplies his products’ selling price by the example number of widgets he chose earlier (250):  £32.50 x 250 =  £8,125 ( £1 = Rs.84) He then plots this figure on the graph and draws a straight line from it to zero. Ron can now find his break-even point simply by locating the exact point where the revenue line disects the total costs line. In this case, Ron must sell 100 widgets each month if his business is to break-even. If he sells more than 100, he makes a profit; if he sells less he makes a loss. Costing And Pricing Costs Although accountants define costs in several different ways, there are, effectively, just two types of cost. The first cost is that which is directly attributable to the product or service. Direct costs include, for example, raw materials and sub-contract work. If you make desks, for example, the cost of wood will be a direct cost. Within reason, the cost will be the same for each desk, no matter how many desks you make. When you make a sale the income first has to cover the direct costs relating to that sale. Whatever is left is called gross profit or contribution. All other costs are overheads. These include, for example, staff salaries, marketing, rent, rates and insurance. They also include depreciation; that is, an allowance for wear and tear on capital equipment. Overheads are often called fixed costs because, generally, they are fixed for the business. Interest is often regarded as a deduction from net profit rather than an overhead cost. You need to include it as an overhead in your costing calculations, even though it varies with the size of your overdraft or loan. If you are self-employed, you will take drawings from the business. Whilst, strictly speaking, drawings are an advance against profit, include them (and an allowance for income tax) as an overhead when calculating total costs. The contribution is so-called because it contributes towards covering the overhead costs. Each sale generates a contribution. When enough contributions have been made, and all the overhead costs are covered, they start to contribute to net profit. Price The price at which you sell your product or service clearly needs to exceed the total costs of providing it. But the price should also reflect what the market can stand. If you are selling a differentiated product or have  adopted a strategy of market focus then you may also be able to charge a premium price. If you are pursuing a cost leadership strategy you will need to be ruthless in keeping your costs down and under control. In calculating your price you will need to follow a number of steps: †¢Estimate your likely sales for a period, say, one year; †¢Calculate the total direct costs and divide by the sales volume to give direct costs per unit (say per product or per hour of service); †¢Calculate your total overhead costs and divide by the sales volume to give overhead costs per unit; †¢Add direct costs per unit and overhead costs per unit to give total cost per unit; and, †¢Add a further profit margin (to allow for reinvestment, etc). If necessary, add VAT as well. You now have a first stab price. How does that compare with your competitors? Will customers buy at that price? Do you need to reduce costs? Can you achieve a higher profit margin? What happens if you fail to achieve sales at the determined price? Remember that the overhead costs are fixed, so if sales fall the overheads will be spread over fewer items and the unit cost effectively increases. The converse is also true. Increasing the volume of sales means that the overheads are spread over more units, so the unit cost falls. This means that you can, if you choose, reduce the price. And reducing the price might increase your level of sales. It’s a fine balancing act. Depreciation Depreciation is an allowance for wear and tear on the equipment used in your business. As time passes, your equipment will usually lose value, and this can be considered a cost to your business. You need to think about how long you expect your assets to last. For example, if you purchase a computer system, you may forecast that in 5 years it will be obsolete. That means the depreciation rate is 20% per year. If you determine it to be 2 years, then it will be 50% per year. This does not have any effect on cash flow, just on how profits are calculated. Deprecation is an accounting cost that must be included to give a Profit & Loss account more relevance. Finance Action Planner (FAP) The Finance Action Planner (FAP) is a learning tool that will help you to: †¢Develop your all-round financial skills †¢Learn more about a range of financial issues †¢Identify suitable sources of finance †¢Create a set of financial forecasts †¢Test out different financial scenarios Financial forecasts Once you have an idea of your likely costs and an idea of how much you need to sell to make a profit you are in a position to prepare financial forecasts. There are three basic financial statements (the profit and loss account (P&L); the cash flow statement; and the balance sheet) that describe the activities and financial state of any business. These can be prepared on a historical basis – to show how a business performed during a defined period – or as forecasts – as estimates of how the business will perform in the future. 3 steps to forecasting 1. Businesses often start by forecasting their cash flow and then aim to derive other forecasts from it. It makes more sense, however, to start by forecasting the income and expenditure of the business, which will indicate whether you will make a profit, then worry about when money will be received or paid out – to discover if you will have enough cash when it is needed. Income and expenditure is summarised in a profit and loss account. 2. You will also need to look at your likely sales for, say, the year ahead. This needs to relate back to your market research and, if you are already in business, to previous performance. The direct costs can then be estimated (usually as a percentage of sales) to give gross profit. 3. The next step is to estimate the likely overheads. Deducting these gives an operating profit forecast. If the net profit is too low you will either need to assess whether you can achieve higher sales or whether you can reduce the overheads. When preparing your forecasts, remember to allow for increased costs, for instance, due to inflation or future pay awards. If you do need a loan, then you will also need to allow an amount for loan interest. If you use equipment, remember to allow for depreciation. Whilst depreciation is  not included in the P&L, you may need to allow for the replacement or repairs of machinery, so you may wish to include a contingency. The P&L forecast will show whether you are likely to achieve your first key financial requirement: making a profit. Preparing cash flow forecasts In preparing your forecasts, you will need to think carefully about all your costs, about your price and likely sales at that price and about the timing of both receipts and payments. As mentioned above, the first forecast that you set out should ideally be a P&L, summarizing income and expenditure for, say, the year ahead. You might do this monthly or annually. The P&L is important for demonstrating profitability; over the very short term, however, the key requirement is to generate cash and know the business’s working capital requirements. This can best be done by preparing cash flow forecast which should set out all the information, month by month, regarding cash inflows and outflows. The cash flow forecast should include: †¢Receipts of cash from customers; †¢Payments for raw materials; †¢Payments for all other expenses; †¢Drawings and wages; †¢Capital expenditure; †¢Capital, loans or grants introduced; †¢Loan repayments; †¢VAT receipts and payments (if VAT registered); and, †¢Tax payments. All of these items should normally be shown separately and in the month into which the money will be received, or paid by, your business. For businesses with a modest turnover and that demonstrate profitability in the year, it is normal only to forecast one year ahead, with a monthly cash flow. Larger businesses, especially those seeking equity investments and/or which do not show profitability in the year, may need to prepare forecasts  for two or three years. The first year cash flow is usually shown monthly, the second year quarterly and the third year just a single annual figure. It is often helpful when preparing cash flow forecasts initially to ignore any finance that is available from the bank or other lenders. The cash flow forecast then shows the true position of the business. It can then be used to decide if the budget is viable and can be adjusted to reflect the true position and to assess the total funding requirement. If you do not have sufficient money of your own, then you will need to seek loan finance or an equity investor. Most small businesses simply look for loan finance. Aim to match the term of the loan to the life of the asset for which it is required. It would be normal to look for a short-term loan, for example, to purchase equipment, or a long-term loan to purchase premises. You will also need to buy stock and pay overheads whilst awaiting payment from your customers. The money required is called working capital and is typically funded by an overdraft. When preparing your cash flow forecast, you may like initially only to include personal investment or loan finance for fixed assets and to ignore funds for working capital. The worst cumulative deficit will then give an indication of your total working capital requirement. Of course, the amount that you need to borrow can be reduced if you have more available to invest yourself. If you have a term loan, the capital repayments will not figure in your profit and loss account – they are not a business expense – although the interest portion of the repayments will be charged as an expense. However, the repayments do need to be included in your cash flow forecast. Balance sheet The money in a business can only come from three sources: capital introduced by the owner(s); loans (whether from the bank or, effectively, from creditors); and, retained earnings; that is, profit which has been generated by, and retained within, the business. That money is used to finance the fixed and current assets of the business. Current liabilities include: †¢Creditors †¢Overdrafts †¢Loans due within one year †¢Money owed under hire purchase agreements †¢Any amounts owed in VAT or tax, etc. In larger businesses, loans falling due in more than one year are usually shown separately. You will, however, have a better idea of your business’s performance if you show all loans as current liabilities. Current assets less current liabilities show your working capital requirement. Since the balance sheet is merely a snapshot, however, it may be better to deduce your working capital requirement from the cash flow forecast. The net assets are always equal to the capital introduced plus reserves; that is, the net finance, sometimes known as net worth or the equity of the business. The net finance, together with any long-term loans, is called the capital employed. All borrowing should be included when calculating capital employed. Pricing strategies The greatest danger when setting a price for the first time is to pitch it too low. Raising a price is always more difficult than lowering one, yet there are great temptations to undercut the competition. It is clearly important to compare your prices to your competitors’, but it is essential that your price covers all your costs. There are a number of possible pricing strategies from which you might choose. These include: 1. Cost based pricing – total costs are calculated and a mark up is added to give the required profit. 2. Skimming – you charge a relatively high price to recover set up costs quickly if the product is good or new. As more competitors enter the market, you lower the price. 3. Individual – you negotiate prices individually with customers based on how much they are prepared to buy. 4. Loss leaders – if you wish to sell to a particular market then you might sell one product or service cheaper to gain market entry. You balance this by selling other products or services at a higher price. This can be risky as the danger is that everything becomes a loss leader. 5. Expected price – what does the customer expect to pay? If you are selling a quality product, do not under price. Often the customer expects to pay a lot as the product or service has a certain ‘snob’ value and this may be diminished if you under price. 6. Differential pricing – you charge different segments of your market different prices for the same service. For example, offering discounts to certain people like pensioners or the unemployed, or charging lower rates for quiet periods. If, after working out your costs, the price you charge is much greater than your competitors’ then you will have to look at ways of reducing costs. Sensitivity analysis It is important to know how sensitive your forecast is to changes. Sensitivity analysis looks at ‘what if?’ scenarios. What happens to your cash position, for example, if sales fall by 10%? What happens if your main supplier increases raw material prices by 12%? Financial institutions when considering propositions for a loan particularly use sensitivity analysis. If your business is particularly susceptible to small changes, then you probably do not have a sufficiently large profit margin. You will thus be less likely to receive the loan required. You may find it difficult to cut costs. You may not be able simply to increase prices to improve your margins – that might deter customers. Are there other ways in which you can push up the margins, e.g. by increasing output? Having undertaken your sensitivity analysis, you may need to review elements of your forecast. Sensitivity analysis can help in making decisions. You may want to consider, for example, the effect of increased raw material, labour or overhead costs; of reducing prices, with constant volumes, to counteract competitors; or reducing volumes, with constant prices, due to over optimistic forecasts. Furthermore, if you are about to spend a large sum of money on equipment, you may want to look ahead several years, if at all possible. Including a sensitivity analysis in your business plan will demonstrate that  you have thought about some of the potential risks – and that is half way to avoiding them. VAT (Value Added Tax) VAT is tax paid on the value added at each stage of delivery of a product or service. It is a method whereby businesses act as tax collectors for the Government. If you are registered for VAT, by submitting a VAT return you can claim back what you have paid in VAT, and hand over what you have collected. Not all goods are taxable – for example, insurance, some education and training, and postal services are exempt. If items are VAT-able, then, ignoring VAT on fuel, there are two rates – standard (currently 17.5%), and zero-rated. Zero rated items are different from exempt items. It is only necessary to register if your output is taxable. If you do register, you will be able to recover VAT on your purchases including materials, capital equipment and overheads. You will, however, have to charge VAT on your sales. The difference between what you collect and what you pay out in VAT is passed on in due course to Customs & Excise. There is more paperwork involved if you are VAT registered – you need tax invoices showing your VAT number, an analyzed VAT account, and VAT return forms. It may, however, be advantageous to register voluntarily if your sales are below the turnover limit, because VAT paid on purchases can be reclaimed. You may also reclaim VAT on capital equipment, raw materials and stocks bought before registration, provided the business still owns them. If you are selling to VAT registered businesses, it is likely to be more attractive for you to register. If you are selling to the general public, it probably will not be. This is, however, an area where you should seek professional advice. CASE STUDY Brian’s Book-keeping Business Brian runs a book-keeping service for several small businesses. His overheads are as follows: Costs £ Per year ( £1 = Rs.84) Office costs5,000 Advertising 1,100 Insurance550 Telephone650 Vehicle running costs900 Other3,000 Brian works 40 hours per week. He spends 8 hours per week on administration, marketing, etc. He works 45 weeks each year allowing for holidays and illness. Brian draws  £200 out of the business each week. Brian has been asked to undertake a specific task and estimates he will need to spend 12 hours on it. What is the cost of providing the service? How much should he charge? Solution: What is the cost of providing the service? 1. Total hours worked per annum = 32 hours per week x 45 = 1,440 hours 2. Total drawings = 200 x 52 =  £10,400 3. Total fixed costs =  £11,200 4. Total costs =  £21,600 5. Costs per hour = 21,600/1,440 =  £15 6. For a job lasting 12 hours, the cost is  £ 180 ( £1 = Rs.84) How much should he charge? Brian has decided that he should also add a further 20% profit margin in case his costs go up and to make a little extra for reinvestment. 180 + 20% = 216 He is also registered for VAT and needs, therefore, to add VAT at the standard rate (17.5%) 216 + 17.5% =  £253.80 So the price he charges to his customer is  £ 253.80 Useful tips: 1. Some readers of your business plan will regard the financial forecasts as the most important component. It is where you summarise the expected income, dependent on your market research, and where you set out your expected costs. 2. The forecasts need to demonstrate that the business is viable and that there is a sufficient margin of comfort to allow for fall in demand or increase in costs. 3. Take care to prepare your financial forecasts as accurately as you can. Then compare your actual results with your forecasts and, if necessary, take corrective action at an early stage to keep yourself on course.

Animals Should Be Used in Scientific Research Essay

Over 100 million animals are used every year in the United States as models in biological and medical research to study human disease, injury, development, psychology, and anatomy and physiology. Research involving animals has played a vital role in virtually every major medical advance of the last century. Even today, there is no complete alternative to biomedical research with animals. The vast majority of research animals are mice and rats bred for this purpose. Dogs, cats, and non-human primates together account for less than one-half of one percent of the total, and this number has declined for more than 25 years. Since 1979, the number of dogs and cats needed in animal research has declined by more than 50%. The number of non-human primates needed represents less than .2% (.18% in 2004) and has remained relatively constant—in the 50,000 per year range—for the past decade. History The history behind animals being used in scientific research is that is started In Europe and in the US by the early 1900’s and especially during and following World War I the benefits of animal research continued to be recognized. Following the Nuremberg Trials for atrocities by the Nazi’s during World War II, society spoke loudly demanding no research on humans until animal research had made such research a reasonable risk. Today, the majority of people in our society do agree with the idea of the humane and responsible use of animals in research. There is safeguard standards for scientific studies on animals * The USDA has set forth federal regulations governing the care and use of animals in biomedical research that are considered even more extensive than those covering human research subjects. * The Animal Welfare Act sets standards of care for research animals with regard to their housing, feeding, cleanliness, ventilation, and medical needs and requires the use of anesthesia or analgesic drugs for potentially painful procedures and during post-operative care. * The US Public Health Service Act requires that all institutions receiving research funds from NIH, FDA, or CDC adhere to the standards set out in the â€Å"Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals†. * Institutions must follow detailed animal care recommendations and establish an IACUC to ensure that all animals are treated responsibly and humanely Some people think that all animals that are in scientific research are in pain or distress while undergoing the research that is not necessarily true. The 2004 USDA Annual Report reveals that 57% of all research procedures with animals involved no more than slight or momentary pain or distress (i.e., an injection). In 34% of research procedures anesthesia and postoperative painkillers were used. In 9% of the procedures, neither anesthesia nor pain medication could be used, as they would have interfered with research results. Scientific Perspectives Here are 4 reasons why animals are used in research: 1. The principles of anatomy and physiology are true for humans and animals, especially mammals. Once scientists learned that animals were similar to humans, in physiology and anatomy, it became preferable to use animals rather than humans for preliminary research. 2. Certain strains or breeds of animals get the same diseases or conditions as humans. â€Å"Animal Models† are frequently critical to understanding a disease and developing appropriate treatments. 3. Research meant introducing one variable and observing the results of that one item. With animals we can control their environment (temperature, humidity, etc.), and shield them from diseases or conditions not related to the research (control their health). Although human and animals get the disease that may be the subject of a research investigation, the different life styles or living conditions make them poor subjects until preliminary research under controlled conditions has been done. 4. We can use scientifically-v alid numbers of animals. Data from one animal or human is not research; it is a case study. To scientifically test a hypothesis, an adequate number of subjects must be used to statistically test the results of the research. Some individuals claim that we should use human or animals that have a disease to study that disease. Certainly, epidemiological studies (tracking the occurrence of a disease or condition) have provided many important insights into the cause of a disease or a condition, especially when an environmental aspect is responsible. However, epidemiological studies are successful in only a limited number of situations. Only if the study of a disease is severely hindered or not possible when the research subjects have been/are exposed to a variety of environmental factors. According to the American Medical Association, humans are the most frequently used animal in research. However, research studies conducted on humans follow preliminary studies conducted in animals. These animal studies make human studies a reasonable risk. The animal studies are not a guarantee of success, but they do tell us that the human research has a reasonable probability of success.

Free Essays on Getting Kids To College

Getting Kids to College It happens every year. Teenagers become young adults and want to get to college after graduation. The problem is, they don’t know how. Usually, we hear excuses from them such as, â€Å"My family and I don’t have the money,† or â€Å"It’s financially impossible.† What is really going on is that students don’t realize that there are resources and ways for the financially troubled. The young adults don’t take the time to research the resources or seek the available possibilities. This problem happens mostly because it may seem impossible to students, so they give up, and because there is not enough education on the topic or not enough counseling. Most schools, like the one I went to, had only one counselor per class. That is one each for freshmen, sophomores, Juniors and Seniors. I remember trying to get to the counselor to ask for advice and to get information. It took a long time just to make an appointment, and even though I did get to him, the time was short because there were others that had scheduled appointments. This needs to be solved. Students need direct access to a counselor, or it is pointless having one. Perhaps this could be solved by a more ordered counseling system or the schools just having more than one counselor. In high school, we always heard from the teachers, â€Å"You guys need to complete your work because it is a preparation for college.† It’s a good thing that we are being prepared for the type of college work, but what about education for how the financial part of the college system works. Students should be educated on the resources available in order to get to college. Some schools have optional activities for students to attend but most students don’t bother with them, just because it’s â€Å"optional†. I think a mandatory type of educational class would better a students knowledge of college. This way, the students would have to find out ways to re... Free Essays on Getting Kids To College Free Essays on Getting Kids To College Getting Kids to College It happens every year. Teenagers become young adults and want to get to college after graduation. The problem is, they don’t know how. Usually, we hear excuses from them such as, â€Å"My family and I don’t have the money,† or â€Å"It’s financially impossible.† What is really going on is that students don’t realize that there are resources and ways for the financially troubled. The young adults don’t take the time to research the resources or seek the available possibilities. This problem happens mostly because it may seem impossible to students, so they give up, and because there is not enough education on the topic or not enough counseling. Most schools, like the one I went to, had only one counselor per class. That is one each for freshmen, sophomores, Juniors and Seniors. I remember trying to get to the counselor to ask for advice and to get information. It took a long time just to make an appointment, and even though I did get to him, the time was short because there were others that had scheduled appointments. This needs to be solved. Students need direct access to a counselor, or it is pointless having one. Perhaps this could be solved by a more ordered counseling system or the schools just having more than one counselor. In high school, we always heard from the teachers, â€Å"You guys need to complete your work because it is a preparation for college.† It’s a good thing that we are being prepared for the type of college work, but what about education for how the financial part of the college system works. Students should be educated on the resources available in order to get to college. Some schools have optional activities for students to attend but most students don’t bother with them, just because it’s â€Å"optional†. I think a mandatory type of educational class would better a students knowledge of college. This way, the students would have to find out ways to re...

How to Color Your Urine Safely

How to Color Your Urine Safely Have you ever wanted to color your urine or wondered what causes urine to become colored? If so, youre in luck! Heres a little bit of applied color chemistry for your entertainment and experimentation pleasure: Violet- Violet or purple liquid is not something you see in the toilet bowl every day. However, you can  get violet or purple urine if you eat both beets (red) and methylene blue dye (blue), which is safe in low quantities. Blue- Methylene blue will turn your urine blue or greenish-blue. It can also color the whites of your eyes blue. The coloration of both urine and eyes is reversible. At one time, methylene blue was considered to be an effective treatment ​against malaria. As far as urine colorants go, this one is considered to be reasonably safe to eat, though you should be aware some people are allergic to it. Food coloring may turn your urine blue. A rare, inherited disease known as porphyria can also cause blue urine. King George IIIs blue urine may have been attributable to porphyria. Green- Asparagus will turn urine green and also will give it a very strong odor (although not everyone can smell it).  Food coloring can also turn your urine green, as can certain medications. Yellow- Yellow is the normal color of urine. If your pee is too pale to detect the color, it means youre over-hydrated. If you have colorless urine yet want a yellow tint, you can take a vitamin B12 capsule. Another option, which is also extremely fast, is to drink a colored energy drink. Look for one that contains added B vitamins. Amber- Dark golden urine often results from dehydration (not drinking enough water). A very dark color might indicate the presence of bile in urine, which is symptomatic of a medical condition. To safely darken yellow urine, try taking a B vitamin. Drinking an energy drink wont help because the caffeine acts as a diuretic, adding more water to your urine and making it colorful, but pale. Orange- Eating rhubarb or senna can turn your urine orange. Senna is a dangerous herb to mess with. Stick with rhubarb (just dont eat the leaves as theyre poisonous). Red- Eating beets or blackberries can turn your urine red. Blueberries can also tint urine pink. Even though the berries are blue, the pigment in them is a natural pH indicator that changes color. The normal pH of urine is slightly acidic first thing in the morning, trending toward slightly alkaline later in the day. The color of your urine resulting from foods youve eaten can be affected by the time of day you eat them. Pink- Pink urine can result from a urinary tract infection or from eating smaller quantities of beets or blackberries. Brown- Brown urine can be the result of kidney dysfunction, jaundice, or from an overdose of the herb goldenseal. Brown urine is not a good thing. You should probably avoid this color, if at all possible. Black- Black is not a good color for your urine. Black urine results from Blackwater Fever, which is associated with malaria. The black color comes from massive death of your blood cells, leading (usually) to death.   Milky or Cloudy- This results from blood, protein, or pus in the urine and usually indicates illness and is not an effect you can achieve by eating or drinking something non-toxic. Clear- All it takes to achieve clear urine is to drink plenty of water. Dont go overboard, though, since even too much water can be bad for you. If you decide to try any of these out for yourself, make sure to read the safety information that accompanies the chemicals carefully and use common sense. If youre concerned you have colored urine due to an illness, be sure to consult a health care professional.

Enrique Pena Nieto, Former President of Mexico

Enrique Pena Nieto, Former President of Mexico Enrique Peà ±a Nieto (born July 20, 1966) is a Mexican lawyer and politician. A member of the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party), he was elected president of Mexico in 2012 for a six-year term. Mexican presidents are only allowed to serve a single term. Fast Facts: Enrique Peà ±a Nieto Known For: President of Mexico, 2012–2018Born: July 20, 1966  in Atlacomulco,  State of Mexico,  MexicoParents: Gilberto Enrique Peà ±a del Mazo, Marà ­a del Perpetuo Socorro Ofelia Nieto SnchezEducation: Panamerican UniversityAwards and Honors:  Collar of the  Order of the Aztec Eagle, National Order of Juan Mora Fernndez, Grand Cross with Gold Plaque, Order of Prince Henry, Grand Collar,  Order of Isabella the Catholic, Grand CrossSpouse(s): Mà ³nica Pretelini, Angà ©lica RiveraChildren: Paulina, Alejandro, Nicole (with Pretelini), one additional child outside marriage with Maritza Dà ­az HernndezNotable Quote: I hope for my children, and for all Mexicans, that they can be proud to be Mexican, proud of their heritage, and proud that they have a peaceful, inclusive, vibrant country that is playing a role in the world. Early Life Enrique Peà ±a Nieto was born on July 20, 1966 in Atlacomulco, a town about 50 miles northwest of Mexico City. His father Severiano Peà ±a was an electrical engineer and the mayor of the town of Acambay, located in the State of Mexico. Two uncles served as governors of the same state. During his junior year in high school, he went to Denis Hall School in Alfred, Maine to learn English. In 1984 he enrolled at the Panamerican University in Mexico City, where he earned a degree in legal studies. Marriage and Children Enrique Peà ±a Nieto married Mà ³nica Pretelini in 1993: she died suddenly in 2007, leaving him three children. He remarried in 2010 in a fairytale wedding to Mexican telenovelas star Angelica Rivera. He had a child out of wedlock in 2005. His attention to this child (or lack thereof) has been a persistent scandal. Political Career Enrique Peà ±a Nieto got an early start on his political career. He was a community organizer while still in his early 20s and has maintained a presence in politics ever since. In 1999, he worked on the campaign team of Arturo Montiel Rojas, who was elected governor of Mexico State. Montiel rewarded him with the position of administrative secretary. Peà ±a Nieto was elected to replace Montiel in 2005 as governor, serving from 2005–2011. In 2011, he won the PRI Presidential nomination and immediately became the front-runner for the 2012 elections. 2012 Presidential Election Peà ±a had been a well-liked governor: he had delivered popular public works for the State of Mexico during his administration. His popularity, combined with his movie-star good looks, made him the early favorite in the election. His main opponents were leftist Andres Manuel Là ³pez Obrador of the Party of the Democratic Revolution and Josefina Vzquez Mota of the conservative National Action Party. Peà ±a ran on a platform of security and economic growth and overcame his partys past reputation for corruption in winning the election. A record turnout of 63 percent of eligible voters chose Peà ±a (38% of the vote) over Là ³pez Obrador (32%) and Vzquez (25%). Opposing parties claimed several campaign violations by the PRI, including vote-buying and receiving extra media exposure, but the results stood. Peà ±a took office on Dec. 1, 2012, replacing outgoing President Felipe Calderà ³n. Public Perception Although he was elected easily and most polls suggested a decent approval rating, some disliked Peà ±a Nietos public persona. One of his worst public gaffes came at a book fair, where he claimed to be a big fan of the popular novel The Eagles Throne. When pressed, he could not name the author. This was a serious blunder because the book was written by the prestigious Carlos Fuentes, one of Mexicos most celebrated novelists. Others found Peà ±a Nieto to be robotic and far too slick. He has often been compared, in a negative manner, to American politician John Edwards. The notion (correct or not) that he was a stuffed shirt also raised concerns due to the PRI partys notoriously corrupt past. By August 2016, Peà ±a Nieto had the lowest approval rating of any Mexican president since polling began in 1995. The number dipped even further to a mere 12% when gas prices rose in January 2017.​ Challenges for Peà ±a Nietos Administration President Peà ±a took control of Mexico during a troubled time. One big challenge was fighting the drug lords that control much of Mexico. Powerful cartels with private armies of professional soldiers make billions of dollars trafficking drugs every year. They are ruthless and do not hesitate to murder policemen, judges, journalists, politicians, or anyone else who challenges them. Felipe Calderà ³n, Peà ±a Nieto’s predecessor as president, declared an all-out war on the cartels, kicking over a hornet’s nest of death and mayhem. Mexico’s economy, an important factor for Mexican voters, took a huge hit during the international crisis of 2009. Peà ±a Nieto was friendly with the United States and stated that he wanted to maintain and strengthen economic ties with his neighbor to the north. Peà ±a Nieto has had a mixed record. During his tenure, police captured the nations most notorious drug lord, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, but Guzman escaped from prison not long afterward. This was a huge embarrassment for the president. Even worse was the disappearance of 43 college students near the town of Iguala in September 2014: they are presumed dead at the hands of the cartels. Further challenges developed during the campaign and election of President Donald Trump in the United States. With proclaimed policies of a border wall paid for by Mexico, U.S.-Mexico relations took a turn for the worse. The End of Peà ±a Nietos Presidency Toward the end of 2018, additional scandals erupted for the Peà ±a Nieto presidency. Construction of a luxury home for the president and his wife by a company that was then awarded a large government contract led to accusations of conflict of interest. The president was never found guilty of wrongdoing, but he nevertheless found himself apologizing for the outcome. Peà ±a Nieto and his administration were also accused of spying on journalists and political activists. At the same time, an increase in drug trafficking and violence seemed to be linked to the outcome of the 2018 elections. Just before leaving the presidency, Peà ±a Nieto was involved with negotiations with the United States and Canada to restructure the NAFTA trade agreement. The new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement  (USMCA) was signed on Peà ±a Nietos last day in office at the G20 Summit in Argentina. Sources: Puente, Teresa. Mexicos Telenovela President: Enrique Peà ±a Nietos Saga of Scandal, Gaffes, and Connections. The Daily Beast.Univision Noticias. Biografà ­a de Enrique Peà ±a Nieto.Wilkinson, Tracy and Ken Ellingwood. Mexicos Enrique Peà ±a Nieto, man of mystery. Los Angeles Times.Seelke, Clare Ribando. Mexicos 2012 Elections. ​Congressional Research Service.

Luxury as a Requirement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Luxury as a Requirement - Essay Example The joy and luxury only come about after a long battle for dynasty with the help of God to establish the dynasty. Only time can fade away the memory of the establishment of the dynasty, leading the new generation to forget about the struggle and spirit of togetherness leading to the destruction of the kingdom. Further still, once power is vested in a given royal family, it is passed over to the next generation granting them the luxury of leadership. At a given point after the establishment of the dynasty, the memory of the establishment will fade away. The fading of memory will give way for the people having a new look at their leader and his family. Resultantly, all members of the royal family are considered as leaders. The leadership is shared in the family with less support of the group feeling required, but rather obedience of the people to the government. The help of outsiders in establishing the government may be necessary to retain power. Luxury in the royal family can still be maintained by having influence over other nations in the neighborhood. In some cases, the group feeling of the leader is so strong that it attracts other nations to believe and trust in the leadership of the given leader. As such, when the leader desires to leave the kingdom, other nations embrace them and a re willing to submit to their power thus the leader retains their leadership position in a foreign land. Furthermore, religion has a major role to play in the success of leadership based on group feeling. The royal leaders derive their power from being superior as the people lift them up in the spirit of togetherness. However, it is not easy to divert the people’s mind from the pleasures and treasures of the world to oneness in the interest of the whole group. It is only God who is able to bring the people together in sound mind to disregard worldly pleasure and pursue the interest of the community,

The Art of Photography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Art of Photography - Essay Example One of best-known portraits in the Western world is Leonardo da Vinci's painting titled Mona Lisa, which is a painting of an unidentified woman. Some of the earliest portraits of people who were not kings or emperors, are the funeral portraits that survived in the dry climate of Egypt's Fayum district. These are the only paintings of the Roman period that have survived, aside from frescos. An often neglected form of art in photography is that of portrait photography. A portrait is the basic rendering of someone's likeness. A good portrait photographer not only wants to capture the true likeness, but also the personality of the individual. The photographer needs to be proficient not only in the workings and setting of the camera, but also needs to understand form and lighting. Great lighting and positioning can make someone appear at their best form if used correctly. Lighting and camera placement can also aid in correcting defects such as shortening a nose, making someone appear slimmer, etc. In this form of art, portrait photography takes on many roles, and can help create various moods that the individual is seeking (Clarke 12). Portrait photography is a popular commercial industry a... Studios sprang up in cities around the world, some cranking out more than 500 plates a day. The style of these early works reflected the technical challenges associated with 30-second exposure times and the painterly aesthetic of the time. Subjects were generally seated against plain backgrounds and lit with the soft light of an overhead window and whatever else could be reflected with mirrors (Freeman 32-33). Change in photography - the optimist would call it progress - has a number of drivers. Changes in technology, changes in the marketplace and the need for a creative individual to do new things are among the more important. Of course these interact strongly, particularly in the case of the last two, as even the most creative among us need to eat. So when we consider how photographic portraiture has developed through any period of time, one vital consideration is the changes in the various market sectors that use it. Of course some market areas are conservative by nature, perhaps most strongly the bread and butter studio portrait for the general public. Even within this constrained genre there have of course been photographers whose work stands out, many who remain unsung, others who by accident of fortune achieve fame, even if posthumously - such as the great body of portraits by Michael Disfarmer - perhaps one day the subject for another feature. Arguably the greatest area of development in portrait photography from the 30's to the 50's was the illustrated magazine, for which many of the finest portrait photographers work. A good example is Bill Brandt, who produced striking photographs of literary, musical and artistic figures in the late 40s and early 50s. Few of

Leadership Competency Models Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leadership Competency Models - Research Paper Example Greater inclination towards some traits than others reduces all-roundedness. The perfect college president has an equal spread of these traits. Thus, the closer one is to being an all-rounded person, the more they are fit for college the presidency. A scale can be used to rank different competency levels. The competency model can be divided into specific skills and knowledge areas that determine the success of a college president. The specific skills include teamwork, professionalism and leadership skills. Financial skills, management skills and a peek into psychology are knowledge areas important for leadership (Sanghi, 2007). For the specific skills, teamwork involves being able to comfortably work with others in solving the problem. A good college president should know how to work with others since their job involves representing students in the school. He or she has to work with the students, school administration and other student leaders solve school problems. Professionalism involves acting in a professional or ethical manner when working, such as solving issues amicably rather than inciting students to demonstrate. The college president should also have leadership skills. This is the ability to lead people and having them listen to you. Some people are natural leaders, having the ability to convince people to follow them without putting in much effort. Others are complete leadership failures, with no one listening to them no matter how important their message is. A good college president should be partly defined by knowledgeable areas. These are skills acquired mostly academically, or through experience and apprenticeship.†Leadership is developed through education and experience†, where a balance of both is required (Hughes, 2012). Such include financial skills, where the leader should know how to account for money spent on school leadership projects and

News feature story Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

News feature story - Article Example He has said that the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) is outdated and has one hundred and six occupations, many of which are less skilled and no longer in demand. The Senator has announced a new Skilled Occupation List (SOL) intended to focus on high value trades and professions and to deliver highly skilled immigrants and crackdown on persons who, through low-value education courses, are in search of permanent residency in Australia. The list will be introduced mid-year and a review of points test used to assess migrants to ensure the selection of the best and brightest will take place. SOL is a critical reform in the overhaul of the skilled migration program by the Government and it closes the door on people seeking to manipulate the migration system. All offshore General Skilled Migration’s applications placed before 1 September 2007 will be withdrawn. These people applied overseas under easier standards, including a less rigorous work experience requirement and lower English language skills. Only persons with pertinent qualifications in occupations that it lists will qualify for independent general skilled migration. Worthy to note is the fact that the new SOL introduction does not change the concessions announced in February that provide generous transition arrangements for current and former international students looking for a visa under the General Skilled Migration (GSM) program.

Keynesianism as Crisis Management Strategy Essay

Keynesianism as Crisis Management Strategy - Essay Example He went to India for work, after completing his graduation. He earned fellowship of King's college due to his work on dissertation. In the year 1908 he returned back to Cambridge from India by quiting his civil service job. After leaving the job Keynes joined the Treasury (Davidson, 2007). His first published book was "The Economic Consequences of the Peace" in which he abundantly criticized the wars and forecasted about the German revenge. That particular book became the best selling book of its time and made Keynes world famous (Davidson, 2007). Keynes known work was "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money" which was published in the year 1936, in which he elaborated about the employment and the causes of underestimated or overestimated the interest rates and its impact on the economy, which eventually became the yardstick for the future economic thoughts. Due to his great work he was awarded as the 'Most Influential Economist' of Britain which motivated him to join the country's treasury again in 1942. He played a decisive role during the world war which always secures his name as a great economist (Samuelson, 2002). Keynes put forward the main causes of depression in order to tackle with the hazards and symptoms of the depression. Keynes introduced the theory of liquidity preference framework, which is known as "Keynesian Liquidity Preference Framework", which defines the people's intentions and desire to hold the money in cash or in redeemable assets. According to Keynes, income can be categorized into three broad terms which are defined in his liquidity preference framework. Cash to Cash Precautionary Speculative Keynes defines the concept of high money supply and high savings, and related his topic with the unemployment rate and increasing economy of the country. As per him, money must not be hoarded and it must be rolled over which eventually induces the investment graph of the country to rise (Begg, 1998). He intimated that no doubt that the high supply of money condenses the unemployment rate but on the contrary it will hike the inflation rate up to an optimal level, let say if every American becomes a millionaire after a number of printing of treasury in Federal Reserve Bank (FED), then there will be no servant or worker left to do biddings which urges the nation to hire people from outside the country on high salaries and wages which ultimately influences the inflation rate to rise. So, persistently sending the money can be the remedy to overcome these circumstances, which is known as the best cure of recession. Keynes said that if a "Liquidity Gap" occurs in the economy of the country then the country badly plunges. A liquidity gap occurs when the people of the country are reluctant to invest and willing to hoard the money rather than spending, which is mainly due to the consumers loss of confidence on the economy probably due to the stock market crash or the prevailing situation in the country. Hurricane and other natural disasters can be a cause which hampered between the consumer spending and savings. The concept of

News feature story Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

News feature story - Article Example He has said that the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) is outdated and has one hundred and six occupations, many of which are less skilled and no longer in demand. The Senator has announced a new Skilled Occupation List (SOL) intended to focus on high value trades and professions and to deliver highly skilled immigrants and crackdown on persons who, through low-value education courses, are in search of permanent residency in Australia. The list will be introduced mid-year and a review of points test used to assess migrants to ensure the selection of the best and brightest will take place. SOL is a critical reform in the overhaul of the skilled migration program by the Government and it closes the door on people seeking to manipulate the migration system. All offshore General Skilled Migration’s applications placed before 1 September 2007 will be withdrawn. These people applied overseas under easier standards, including a less rigorous work experience requirement and lower English language skills. Only persons with pertinent qualifications in occupations that it lists will qualify for independent general skilled migration. Worthy to note is the fact that the new SOL introduction does not change the concessions announced in February that provide generous transition arrangements for current and former international students looking for a visa under the General Skilled Migration (GSM) program.

Leadership - Paper assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Leadership - Paper assignment - Essay Example In addition, she won several contests and awards such as Peabody Award. The road to becoming a star strengthened while she was Chicago where she met Quincy Jones and Stedman Graham, who have remained influential in her leading role. She became the first African American to own a national television program (Garson, 2011). Oprah Winfrey’s leadership remains manifested in her entrepreneurial endeavors. She belongs to the fourth level of celebrities described as celebrity entrepreneurs. The characteristics representative of this level include well established business tycoons who preside over their personal empires, and goes beyond endorsing and claiming control of their products. Some of her attributes encompass a sense of self-making, wide audience appeal, over element of business knowledge and understanding, and a celebrity status that enhances appeal. In addition, she exists as an individual corporation, maintains a indistinct line between her private and public life, liked b y many, niche finder and a tastemaker given her influence over public opinions. All these attributes reveal her influences, influence, and styles in leadership (Miller, 2004). The Disney Company exists as one of the long-term outstanding film producing companies in the United States. Disney upholds a film legacy from a Marxist, cultural studies, feminist, and post structuralism perspective. The company also bears a twofold role as both a cultural producing company and an American symbol. Thus, the company continues to maintain its brand name on the values of conservative American families. The film productions address a variety of contemporary issues. These issues include nature, heritage of fairy tales, engendered images of science, gender performance, technology, business, class, race, family, and translations of oral culture to visual texts. The ideology of Disney Company demonstrates how representation, identity, and power comprise the substantial positions in American cultural struggles (Bell & Sells, 1995). The Disney Company experienced a lengthy and complex relation to the lesbian and gay community. This became criticized based on how animations, theme parks, television series, merchandise, and live action films from the company provided ideas and traits that the gay culture readily embraced. This historical occurrence created an ambiguous legacy on how modern advertising and consumption affected ways in which gay men and lesbians express their sexuality. During this particular point in history, Oprah Winfrey’s leadership influence would have altered the ambiguous legacy of Disney while reinforcing the organization’s image especially to the gay and lesbian community (Bell & Sells, 1995). Oprah Winfrey also experienced an almost similar occurrence when the Independent Cattlemen’s Association of Texas placed a suit against her, claiming that she had ridiculed the production and distribution of beef products. This made her to relocate her daily show to Texas while working on the suit. However, she won the case. Concerning Disney’s historical case, Oprah’s leadership would have similarly reformed the legacy of the company given her strong and well-known leadership attributes. Given the self-made man ethos as well as the spirit of entrepreneurship as part of the cultural dimension of United States, it would be no surprise that Oprah would have utilized her celebrity power in

The Psychological World of the Artist Essay Example for Free

The Psychological World of the Artist Essay â€Å"Analyse the psychological world of the artist in relation to their artwork.† An artist’s psychological world can have a significant impact on their artwork, as is the case with many of the artworks done by artists such as Artemisia Gentileschi, Frida Kahlo and Andy Warhol. Artemisia Gentileschi’s psychological world was greatly affected by her experiences as a female living in the seventeenth century where she would have faced discrimination and sexual harassment because of her gender, in particular the incident in which she was raped by her drawing teacher, Agostino Tassi, which was made considerably more traumatic by the fact that it was she, the victim, who was made to undergo torture to see if her story remained the same. Many of her artworks are depictions of scenes from the Bible or mythology, a common theme for artists of that time. However, Gentileschi’s depictions of these scenes are slightly different to those of her male counterparts as she does not depict the women as passive ‘objects.’ This can be seen in the artwork ‘Judith beheading Holofernes’ which features a Judith who is sawing at Holofernes’ head quite savagely and is not meant to be conventionally attractive. This painting of a strong, brave woman triumphing over a man rather than the other way around, as was the norm for that time could be interpreted as what Gentileschi wished would happen to Tassi after he raped her, and it contrasts with depictions of this scene by male artists like Caravaggio, who depicts his Judith as being pretty and delicate-looking, with a horrified expression as she watches the blood spurt from Holofernes’ neck, as well as a blouse that was semi-transparent, showing a more traditional depiction of a woman whose main purpose in the artwork is to be gazed upon by men. Gentileschi’s psychological world is likely to have contained frustration at the objectification of women of her time, and her desire The psychological world of Frida Kahlo that is represented in her artwork was influenced by a bus accident she was in when she was young in which she sustained serious lifelong injuries, and many of the events that occurred later in her life, such as her tumultuous marriage to the unfaithful painter Diego Rivera, and her miscarriage. In many of her artworks, she depicts herself as scarred, or bleeding, symbolising both her physical and psychological pain. In her painting ‘Henry Ford Hospital’, Kahlo paints herself naked and bleeding on a bed, emphasising her psychological state after her miscarriage- she would have been feeling vulnerable and in a lot of pain, both emotionally and physically. Her artworks can be seen as a search for her identity, in the context of her culture, religion and life experiences, as many of them are self-portraits that feature her dressed in traditional Mexican clothes with colourful ribbons in her hair, and a lot of symbolism. An example of this is her artwork ‘Self portrait with thorn necklace and hummingbird’, where she again depicts herself as bleeding because of the necklace of thorns she is wearing, which could be seen as a Catholic symbol reminiscent of Christ’s crown of thorns as she came from a Catholic family, or maybe a reference to Aztec religious rituals involving self-mortification with thorns. She also has a monkey on one shoulder (a recurring symbol in eight of her self-portraits) which appears to be a pet or comforting presence because it is playing with the necklace. The black cat on her other shoulder is a more ominous, threatening presence as it looks as though it is about to pounce and its eyes are a cold, uninviting grey. The juxtaposition of colour, and playful images with symbols of doom or death, and a bleeding body is a common theme in many of Kahlo’s works and has been interpreted as Surrealism; however Kahlo denied this, saying â€Å"I paint my own reality.† Andy Warhol’s childhood played an important part in the formation of his psychological world and personality that led to him becoming a central figure in the Pop Art movement that took place in America in the 1960s. As a child, Warhol was diagnosed with St Vitus’ dance, which caused him to spend a lot of time bed-ridden with nothing to do but draw, listen to the radio and collect pictures of celebrities from magazines to stick around his bed. This constant exposure to popular culture would have been extremely influential in the development of Warhol’s later work, in which he depicted easily recognisable images in American culture, including celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, and everyday items like Campbell’s soup. In his artwork ‘100 Campbell’s Soup Cans’, he explores the idea of mass production that was becoming such an important part of American culture, but says that he chose Campbell’s soup because that was what he had for lunch for most of his life. Warhol’s psychological world which was influenced by his childhood was depicted quite literally in his artworks- images of celebrities and mass-produced products like Campbell’s soup played a larger-than-normal role in his childhood in particular. Warhol clearly had a great deal and admiration and affection for these things, even going so far as to say â€Å"I want to be plastic.† Though all of these artworks were done in styles that were gaining popularity in the time that the artist was working, it was the artist’s psychological world that ultimately motivated them to create most of their artworks.

Case Study: Managing Risk

Case Study: Managing Risk Juaries Fe Dela Cruz John Murphy Molina Introduction This study demonstrates the critical value of having an essential knowledge and practical strategy in managing risk considering the policy and procedures with strategies and operation that can safeguard the organization against the threat of the healthcare business functions and additional option that is necessary for the advantageous and success of the organization welfare. The entire case study elucidated how the two private surgical hospitals integrate as combined facility aiming to provide the highest quality of medical services and other high standard approach resulted to become center of clinical excellence as well as the business prosper with the hold of the name to be well-known as the best facility providing finest healthcare system. Teaming up also bring more risk to the formed unification of the two private surgical hospital. The policies and standard procedure of each organization should be efficiently contemplated bearing in mind of some factors that may jeopardize the i ntegrations. Aiming to eliminate or if not, to reduce negative risk and developing opportunities and success should place the top priority of the organization. Foreseeing objectives of the cost that is maximizing the potential gain and attainment as well as minimizing the likelihood of the severity of losses and negative outcome. The Acute Clinical Hospital must be prepared for any consequence they might face as well as how they controlled and monitored risk to have successful operational healthcare business functions that may benefit the consumer and the producers. The Acute Clinical Hospital’s planned a strategic risk management policy and procedure to safeguard the operational healthcare business function from any risk that may encounter and is identified in nine different risk factors: A. Business Risk As being privately owned by a number of shareholders, the business risk of this organization most likely is more successful and propitious because of the organizations dedication in providing high standards of services and holding their accreditation as the award recognizes the quality of healthcare delivered and the commitment of improvements of the unified hospitals. Unlike government funded healthcare business which is rather fuzzy always relying government economic status in which mostly interfered by some politics decisions, privately owned business is more focus on their endeavor concerning with those that have social or collective interest. However, private business is at risk liabilities under the management and professionalism aspect that is unexpected massive range of events, for instance are government fines, costly lawsuits, data thief and some other criminal activities. Administrative and financial disaster is so disruptive that is hard to recover even to those larger co mpanies. B. Insurance Risk Insurance covers a wide range of perils and incidents except those that are noted in the policy. In business category, insured company covers the loss of income, the incurred expenses or any peril that interrupts the normal business operation. However, insurance contract is the policy. The policy of the insurance may define all or specific covered perils with certain named exclusion. The risk of anticipated losses is transferred from the policyholder to the insurer who has the authority to specify rules and condition. C. Compliance risk There are some standard regulations and rules set by the government on their policy in terms of business sector. Conforming to those arranges of stated requirements and regulation is a must and there will be reasonable punishment if you will not do so either government funded or privately owned business. The potential cost and risk against non-compliance of the applicable requirements that is set by the laws, regulations, contract, policies and strategies as well as the expenses to achieved corrective actions to comply into it. D. Information technology risk Security risk to information technology is one of the problems encountered in modern times most especially in the business sector. Cyber attacked jeopardized the business by hacking their sensitive data via the network. Some important structure of figures might loss that cause harm and a big loss to the system as well as the event to the capital interest of the company that make them vulnerable. Another example that put the business at risk through information technology is fire, flood and the loss of access. E. Legal risk Every country there is a law that is established and should be executed and implemented in order to smoothly run legal. In the business sector private or public, government legal rules must be followed and be adapted to the complex sets of processes. Legal risk in the business sector put concentrations on evaluating the present alternative regulatory as well as the non-regulatory responses to risk. This legal risk entails to have knowledge in legal, social and economic factors along with knowledge and ideals of the business world in which legal groups function. F. Business disruption risk Hospitals are businesses that will hang towards time because of the demand of healthcare by the people. However, when a lot of hospitals have been put up there would be a competition that would be a risk to the business especially when there is no innovation. In addition, technology really plays a big role in healthcare nowadays, due to advancement of equipment used in diagnostic, surgical operations, etc. If hospitals would not improve their equipment business will be disrupted. To demonstrate, people would go to hospitals that have advanced equipment for many various reasons and one of which is to save time. G. Accounting and financial risk In any case, business is about money. Not having the right employees in accounting then there would be a big financial risk which could lead to bankruptcy. Many businesses have shut down because financial risk was taken for granted. Having the right people to manage the flow of money can minimise or stop loss of money which could nourish the business. The purpose of having a good management in accounting can be accomplished by giving relevant information to improve the willingness and ability of the workers to attain the goals and objectives of the company. In addition, it is a necessity to give information on the risks that is taken and its relationship to the risk manner competence of organisations as well as their connection to the profit produced. The demonstration of uncertainty and risk in the system of accounting is limited in technique and scope as well as isolated over different systems. As for now, there is no specialised comprehensive system in accounting for the main reason of representing risk organisation wide in comparison terms has developed. H. Employment practices In hospitals having the right employees to function in their designated areas is an asset to the business. Management should hire the right people for the position to provide the utmost level of functioning. Hiring the wrong people would lead the institution to have a bad reputation which could lead to loss of money. Having excellent doctors and physicians can boost the reputation of the hospital which is nourishing to the business. In addition, having nurses that have finished their degree and have registered to the company is a big help to the management and the patients. Furthermore, having trained, hardworking, loyal employees can help deliver the best service to the customers. Hospitals should provide trainings to its staff to enhance their skills in providing healthcare to the patients. Having the best healthcare providers is a big factor in every healthcare institution for the customers will always go for the best quality care there is with respect to the price. I. Workplace Health and Safety Hospital is a place where most of the people with diseases are confined may they be good or criminals. Ensuring the health and safety of the staff and employees should be given importance, considering that it is the responsibility of the management. Occupational health and safety is important for financial, legal, and moral reasons. If taken for granted could cause legal issues. In addition to this, financial security of the staff should also be given importance by the management. Every employee would go for employers that provide good benefits for their employees. Maintaining and promoting the safety and health of the employees in the workplace to the highest degree of mental, physical, and social well-being would minimise the risk of many issues in the work force. To mention, workers would depart from work due to diseases caused by environmental conditions in the workplace. Although work provides many economic and other benefits, a wide array of workplace hazards also present risks to the health and safety of people at work. These include but are not limited to, allergens, chemicals, physical factors, biological agents, adverse ergonomic conditions, a broad range of psychosocial risk factors, and a complex network of safety risks.

Evil and an STN God :: Philosophy of Religion Essays

Evil and an STN God The problem of evil makes theists discern a reason for an STN God to allow evil and suffering in the world. The basic setup for the problem of evil is that either a God who is all knowing, all powerful, wholly good, eternal, and creator of this universe but separate from it (STN) or evil exists. Atheists believe that since evil exists then there is no STN God. Theists branch into two categories, either believing in God, but not an STN God or believing that God has a reason for allowing evil into the world. The latter type is a narrow theist and they use a theodicy to solve the problem of evil, the best of which is the ontological defense. However, the ontological defense does not solve the problem of evil. The problem of evil stems from the contradicting beliefs that either an STN God exists or evil exists (93).1 The problem of evil can be expanded into two arguments against the existence of an STN God: the logical and the evidential arguments (93).1 The argument from the logical problem of evil is simple. The basic form of this argument is that if an STN God exists, then evil cannot exist (93).1 Since there is evidence that evil does exist an STN God cannot exist (93).1 The evidential problem of evil is based more on how any greater good can come from the evil (99).1 In the argument from the evidential problem of evil, there are times when an STN God could have prevented intense suffering without interfering with a greater good (99).1 An STN God would prevent any suffering that would not interfere with a greater good and since suffering has occurred that does not interfere with a greater good an STN God cannot exist (99).1 The problem of evil is solely a problem for theists. In order for a theist to keep their beliefs in an STN God they must find a way to solve the problem of evil by using a theodicy (103).1 Or they can change their beliefs so that they no longer believe in an STN God, but just a God (108).1 The ontological defense appears to be the most successful theodicy at solving the problem of evil. This defense essentially says that it is impossible for good to exist in the world without evil. The ontological defense is the strongest defense because it merely puts forth the concept of opposites and does not try to explain any other reasoning for why evil exists or why God puts evil in the world.

The Female Reproductive System

Shakeeta Morgan For life to have an on-going process, there must be the process of creating new life. This process is called reproduction. Human beings reproduce in much the same way as other mammals. There is need for both male and female to be involved in the human reproductive process. The Female Reproductive System The female reproductive system consists of the fallopian tube, ovum,ovary, uterus, cervix and vagina. Ovary This is the name for the sex gland that is similar in function to the male testicle. They are two in number and are located on either side of the uterus (womb). Each ovary is coverd by a tough protective capsule and contains many follicles. A follicle-sound is an egg cell sourounded by one or more layers of follicle cells. It is estimated that about 400,000 eggs (ovum) are stored in eachovary at birth. However, only one egg becomes ripe each month, once puberty begins, and departs from the ovary and travels into the fallopian tubes (oviduct). They also manufacture the female hormones estrogen and progesterone which is instrumental in the onset of the menstrual cycle. Ovum(ova) egg cell A microscopic egg cell is released from one of the two ovaries at an average cycle of once every 28 days. When sperm cells encounter an ovum in the fallopian tube, they swarm around it like bees around honey. Once one sperm cell breaks through the outer membrane of the ovum by using hydrolitic enzymes, the egg immediately produces a wall that blocks a second sperm from entering. When fertilization of an ovum occurs, menstruation stops and no other ovum can be discharged until the fetus has left the uterus. Luteinizing hormone (LH)-sound This hormone is responsible for triggering the release of the ripe egg from the ovary. Corpus Luteum-sound After the ovum (egg) is released from the ovary, a small temporary gland forms in the ovary and begins to produce the hormone progesterone. Progesterone-sound Progesterone is secreted to help prepare the endometrium to receive a fertilized ovum. Once menstruation occurs, progesterone levels decrease and slowly rise again to form a new endometrium. Fallopian tube (oviduct)-sound The ovum is transported from the ovary to the uterus over a period of one to five days via the fallopian tube. They are two in number and lead directly to the uterus. As the egg travels down the tube, hair-like cillia move the egg toward the uterus by a swaying motion. If one fallopian tube becomes blocked and an egg attempts to travel down to the uterus through it, the egg will not be able to make contact with a sperm cell. Occasionally, an egg will implant on the fallopian tube wall. When this happens, the tube painfully ruptures as the egg matures into an embryo. The embryo is expelled from the body and the fertilization process must begin again. Fertilization (conception) Fertilization occurs when one sperm unites with an egg. This usually happens in the fallopian tubules of the female. Ovulation Ovulation is a period of time when a female becomes fertile and can conceive (when a sperm cell and an egg can unite). It usually occurs two weeks before the onset of the female menstrual cycle and lasts for one to five days; the amount of time it takes for an egg to travel down the fallopian tube. Blastula-sound The name for a zygote after the process of clevage, cell division. The blastula is a hollow ball of cells and travels down the fallopian tube to the uterus. During this stage the growing egg implants itself into the endomertium. Zygote-sound The fertilized ovum that can divide into a group of human tissue cells and becomes an embryo is called thezygote. A zygote usualy forms in the fallopian tubules. Menstruation-sound Two weeks, on the average, after ovulation, if the egg is not fertilized, it dies and the blood rich cells of the membrane of the uterus and the microscopic unfertilized ovum pass through the uterus out through the vagina in a process called menstruation.. Uterus (womb)-sound The uterus is an thick, muscular organ in the reproductive system shaped like an upside down pear located within the abdomen of a female. It is the place where the membrane lining of the uterus endometrium becomes thicker as it amasses blood and nutrients to accommodate the embryo which will develop and grow into a fetus. It is also the origin of the bloody discharge that usually occurs monthly during the reproductive years of a female. The unique arrangement of hte When it is time for the fetus to be born, the uterus will contract to expel its contents. Cervix An opening at the top end of the vagina leading to the uterus is called the cervix. After an embryo has favorably been implanted in the uterus, the cervix is sealed off to stop infection and allow amniotic fluid (the fluid that surrounds the fetus) to fill the uterus. During the first stage of labor, expulsion of the fetus from the uterus, the cervix dilates (increases in size) to form a passageway for the fetus into the vagina. Endometrium-sound This is the lining of the uterus that is prepared to receive the fertilized ovum. The rich endomerium is equipped with blood vessels which attach to the growing embryo and nourish it. Vagina-sound This tubular female sex organ serves many functions. It is the place where menstrual discharges pass out of the body. It also stretches to function as a birth canal when it is time for the fetus to be expelled from the uterus. It is the channel through which the sperm in the semen travel up toward the fallopian tube to fertilize an egg. Although its muscular tissue is much thinner than the uterus, the walls are strong enough to contract to hold a penis or allow passage of a babys head.

Alfredo Jaar

The findings in this paper are based on an art publication article â€Å"Images of inclusion – installation art by Alfredo Jaar† which is written by Richard Vine. Alfredo Jaar is one of the uncompromising artists today. He is a film maker, artists and architect.He was born in Santiago, Chile in 1956 but he is currently working and living in New York. Alfredo was trained in film, photography, installations and community based projects. He is able to present events such as political corruption, military conflicts and imbalances of power in developing and industrialized nations in for of art. In his work it includes incidences of toxic pollution in Nigeria, genocide in Rwanda, boarder conflicts of United States and Mexico and Gold mining inBrazil. His work Awards and ExhibitionsAlfredo Jaar is an award winner of many art awards which includes John Simon Guggenheim Memorial foundation in 1985, MacArthur Foundation Award in 2000, in 1987 he worn two awards fellowships from n ational endowment for the Art and Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award.His work has been shown all over the world he has attended numerous exhibitions and the most renown once are in 1992 he attended to three exhibitions in new museum of contemporary art in New York, whitechapel in London and Museum of contemporary art at Chicago.   Alfredo Jaar Art is able to address highly controversial issues and be able to convey moral convictions without violating the honesty of the concept.He does it without misrepresenting the facts or the motive of the case. In most of the art which he has worked on his anger and sympathy is evident on how it is manifested. He ensures that he resist on any propaganda even in the most partisan pieces. In Jaar exhibition has a sense of beauty and professionalism his arts are attractive and has fur reaching effects on human relations especially on political and the differences of the developing and developed country.He has worked on highly politicized topic s which mostly addressed the issues of politics which are done without principles which mostly bring division and bad governance. All over the world cases of politics without principals attracts a lot interest in the public and other nations. So his advancement to present such an event in form of art people is able to relate to it.He also addresses issues of those who gain wealth without toiling and those who practice commercial activities without moral responsibility such as the pyramid schemes. His art also addresses those who gain knowledge without virtues and those who advance to scientific ventures with less considerations well its negative effects to humanity. The most prominent once are arts in commemorations of American civil movement of the early 1960’s; illegal Mexican immigrants into United States and none mechanized gold mining in Brazil.

Academic Success A By Product Of Environmental Factors Education Essay

AbstractionThe research inquiry of this essay is, ‘To What Extent is Academic Success a By-product of Environmental Factors? ‘ I investigated this inquiry by researching the consequence that environmental factors have on academic success. This was so moderated by assorted other possible factors, including cognitive and biological 1s. I evaluated my findings by weighing out the significance of each factor and the value of the back uping surveies. Upon finishing the research it was found motive was a really important factor act uponing academic success, non merely because the surveies described were dependable and gave strong support, but besides because motive linked with the other factors excessively, for illustration, it showed up in equal webs and rearing. This brought me to the decision that motive was the most dominant factor impacting academic success. After motive, I evaluated that environmental factors were the following most influential factors, followed by intell igence. It was besides noted that the factors did n't lie on separate continuums and could be combined to increase academic success. Furthermore, the factors should be researched more jointly in future research to measure the research inquiry, instead than look intoing each individually.IntroductionMuch research has gone into instruction in psychological science, peculiarly the factors act uponing academic success. However, non adequate research has focused on finding which factors are the most influential. Such factors may include environmental influences ; such as equal webs, parents, instructors and socioeconomic position, cognitive influences such as motive, and biological influences such as intelligence. The chief failing of the bing research on factors impacting academic success is the focal point on merely one factor, and the deficiency of comparing to other factors. One such illustration is the experiment conducted by Kruse ( 1996 ) , where the influence of socioeconomic position ( SES ) on academic accomplishment was investigated by comparing grade norms of pupils from different income groups. Results showed an undistinguished difference between the groups, nevertheless research cited in Kruse ‘s reappraisal of literature suggested otherwise. Despite the usage of this survey to find the consequence of SES on academic accomplishment, it does non assist to find how influential SES compared to other factors. However, one strength of the bing research is the copiousness and dependability of it. As it is a popular country of research due to its pertinence to instruction, the informations and decisions made can be considered extremely dependable. The chief subject of this essay is factors impacting academic success, but more exactly, the research inquiry is ‘To What Extent is Academic Success a By-product of Environmental Factors? ‘ The footings ‘Academic Success ‘ and ‘Environmental Factors ‘ should be defined ; Academic success is the high accomplishment and public presentation in academic topics most frequently measured in footings of standardised tonss or mean classs in research, and Environmental Factors include peer webs, parents, instructors and socioeconomic position. Both footings will be defined in more item in the reappraisal of literature. Reappraisal of LiteratureAcademic SuccessThe primary intent of schools is seen as fixing pupils to go knowing, responsible, and caring citizens ( Payton et al. , 2000 ; Zins, Elias, Greenberg, & A ; Weissberg, 2000 ) . This is consistent with Combs ( 1986 ) who argued that schools are concerned with making the sorts of experiences that develop productive, healthy people. Fullan argued that the intent of instruction is to construct larning communities- communities that conveying moral intent back into instruction and reconnect instructors with their cardinal intent of doing a difference in immature people ‘s lives ( 2000 ) . Clearly, instruction is about more than merely accomplishing in tests, it is about developing emotionally and socially, and fixing for life beyond school. However, for the intent of this essay a remarkable less nuanced position of instruction: Education ‘s intent is to cultivate high-achieving pupils. Such a narrow focal point has restrictions but it w ill let the subject to be explored within the word bound. Therefore, person who achieves academic success is person who performs good in academics/education. Academic success is the high accomplishment and public presentation in academic topics. Achievement and public presentation is measured through tonss on tests, trials and Grade Point Averages ( GPAs ) . Examples include the International Baccalaureate, the A-Levels and Scholastic Aptitude Tests ( SATs ) . These accomplishment and aptitude trials step cognition and apprehension of a course of study. Students who are non intelligent are still able to accomplish extremely in these tests as there is a whole scope of factors impacting public presentation. The undermentioned subdivisions will discourse factors impacting academic success.Environmental Influencesa ) Socioeconomic positionToday many definitions of socioeconomic position ( SES ) include the thought of capital ( resources, assets ) ( Bradley & A ; Corwyn, 2002 ) . Capital includes fiscal and material resources ( income, assets ) , human or immaterial resources ( e.g. , parental instruction ) , and societal resources ( those obtained through societal webs and connexions ) ( Putnam, 2000 ) . Intuitively, SES seems to be really influential for a kid ‘s motive and academic success. Children from non-low income households have the benefit of interacting with parents of higher educational accomplishment and concern success of some degree. Kruse ( 1996 ) argued that this environment can actuate pupils to endeavor for success and are hence more motivated in this respect. The nexus between household SES and a kid ‘s academic accomplishment is good established ( Meece, 2002 ) . Child from lower socioeconomic backgrounds typically display lower academic accomplishment and are at greater hazard of school failure and dropout ( Borkowski & A ; Thorpe, 1994 ) ; but low SES does non do low accomplishment, instead it is associated with it. In a survey conducted by Kruse ( 1996 ) , to find so if pupils from low socioeconomic environments have lower academic accomplishment compared to the academic accomplishment of pupils from higher socioeconomic environments, research cited in the reappraisal of literature provinces that there is an achievement spread between low income and non-low income pupils ( Yellin & A ; Koetting, 1991 ) . Kruse used a sample of 66 6th-grade scientific discipline pupils at Travis Middle School in Texas. Students were divided into a low income group and a non-low income group. Midterm and concluding grade-averages were determined from each group. The midterm and concluding mean tonss for the non-low income pupils were 86.72 and 88.17. The average tonss for the low income pupils were 76.70 and 80.11. Kruse concluded that there was no important difference in academic accomplishment between pupils from low income environments and those from non-low income environments. However, grounds for the differ ing decisions between Kruse ‘s and the psychologists cited in the literature reappraisal may be Kruse used a little sample of 66 pupils. A larger sample would be necessary to do generalisations to a larger population. Kruse limited academic accomplishment to science norms for two tests. Academic accomplishment could be measured by including all nucleus topics. Besides, the rating clip period should be increased from one academic twelvemonth to several. Kruse and Yellin & A ; Koetting clearly had opposing decisions as to whether socioeconomic position influences academic accomplishment, supplying an unsure overall decision.B ) Peer websAn increasing sum of research has examined the function of equal webs. A equal web is a big group of equals with whom pupils associate. Students in equal webs tend to be extremely similar to each other ( Cairns, Cairns, & A ; Neckerman, 1989 ) , which enhances the likeliness of influence by patterning. Sage and Kindermann ( 1999 ) found that equa l groups tended to back up or disapprove of equals ‘ behaviors depending on whether the behaviors were consistent with group norms. Students with higher academic motive and accomplishment tended to be members of groups more motivated for faculty members and they received group blessing for positive academic behavior. Students who were in academically motivated groups were extrinsically motivated because when academic success was achieved, the group ‘s blessing acted as a wages. Students with lower motive and accomplishment were likely to be members of less motivated groups ; their blessing for positive behaviors chiefly came from instructors. These pupils were less motivated to execute good because it could take to ejection from the group. They concluded that equal webs played a important and direct function in impacting academic success. A survey back uping equal webs being an influence on academic success is that of Steinberg et Al. ( 1996 ) , who tracked pupils over 3 old ages, from 9th class to the terminal of 11th class. They determined whether pupils who entered high school tantamount academically ( classs ) , but who joined different equal webs, remained stable academically. Consequences suggested that the equal web with which a pupil associates is really of import in academic public presentation and delinquency. Children in higher academically orientated groups achieved higher classs during high school compared to those in lower academically orientated crowds. It is clear from both surveies that being in a extremely motivated and academically orientated equal web can take to greater academic success, and the reverse for a less motivated and academic equal web.degree Celsius ) ParentsThere is a great trade of grounds back uping the hypothesis that the quality of a kid ‘s early acquisition in the place environment relates positively to the development of intelligence ( Meece, 2002 ; Senechal & A ; Lefevre, 2002 ) , and parental engagement in schooling besides predicts academic accomplishment ( Englund, Luckner, Whaley, & A ; Egeland, 2004 ) . Gottfried, Fleming, and Gottfried ( 1998 ) conducted a longitudinal survey analyzing the function of cognitive stimulation in the place environment on kids ‘s academic accomplishment. Home environment was measured by household treatments, attending at cultural events, importance of reading, and household involvement in art, music and literature. This was recorded utilizing direct observation in the place every bit good as parental study. There were 107 kids take parting. Each participant ‘s development was examined across a wide array of spheres ( e.g. , cognitive, behavioral, academic ) . Home environment was assessed at age 8, and academic accomplishment at ages 9,10 and 13. Consequences found that a cognitively stimulating place environment is a important and positive forecaster of academic accomplishment. Supplying farther support, even when SES was controlled, place environment continued to positively predict subsequent academic accomplishment. The measuring of place environment through direct observation and parent studies provided ecologically valid informations. The findings were besides consistent with the organic structure of literature, farther heightening its cogency ; nevertheless it is for future research to find the generalisability of the findings for all populations. Rearing manners can besides do a difference in a kid ‘s academic motive, which leads to academic success. Achievement is enhanced when parents allow kids to hold input in determinations, province outlooks as suggestions, acknowledge kids ‘s feelings and demands, and supply kids with picks ( Dornbusch, Ritter, Liederman, Roberts, & A ; Fraleigh, 1987 ) . In contrast, rearing manners that are excessively controlling or excessively permissive can sabotage a kid ‘s motive and accomplishment. Overall, the research supports the theory that parental engagement and place environment can straight impact academic success, and indirectly through increasing motive therefore success.vitamin D ) TeachersThere have been many probes into how teaching patterns affect pupil motive. One such probe was carried out by Veldman and Brophy ( 1974 ) . The purpose of the survey was to find whether instructors influence pupil accomplishment. The participants included 275 female instructors for second- and third-grade participated. The instructor effectivity, schoolroom behavior, and personal features of the participants were measured. The pupils ‘ predicted public presentation on a post-test was based on a ) pretest, B ) student sex, degree Celsius ) twelvemonth of testing, and vitamin D ) instructor. Teacher effectivity was measured by the class norms their pupils achieved. In each comparing, one of these influences was omitted to find its part to the pupil ‘s success on the post- test. Results found that student sex made no important difference. There were systematic differences among the three old ages of proving ; nevertheless this was to be expected. The instructor variable caused a important addition in prognostic efficiency. Therefore, instructors did do a difference. Methodologically, the survey was sound as the instructor choice process eliminated new instructors and instructors who had late switched classs. Velman and Brophy ‘s ( 1974 ) survey contradicted the consequences from statements based on the Coleman Report ( Coleman, et al. , 1966 ) , which shared that schools do n't do a difference, instead the pupils do. However, they used the term schools instead than instructors. Schools are an inappropriate unit for analysis as the instructors vary in ability and dissemble the true quality of schooling. The schoolroom clime refers to the ambiance of the classroom- it ‘s societal, psychological, and emotional features ( Dunkin & A ; Biddle, 1974 ) . The schoolroom clime is of great importance as it relates to student accomplishment. Lewin, Lippitt, and White ( 1939 ) argue that different signifiers of leading affect accomplishment and behavior. They conducted a survey to back up their hypothesis ; grownup leaders supervised 10-year-old male childs as they worked on a group undertaking. The male childs were exposed to three different types of leading ; Autocratic-cold and harsh, took control and told the male childs what to make, presume full duty, and did non let the male childs to lend ; Democratic- worked with the male childs co-operatively, stimulated them about how to finish the undertaking, posed inquiries, encouraged suggestions ; Permissive- hands-off attack, minimum supervising, did non supply construction, suggestions or aid. Productivity was greatest with the autocrat ic and democratic manners. However, under the autocratic leader the male childs were dying, tense and submissive. The male childs preferred the democratic leading. The ambiance was group-orientated, concerted and friendly. Although the survey was non conducted in a school ; the consequences have clear schoolroom deductions: permissive leading creates pandemonium and an unproductive environment. Authoritarian leading leads to high productiveness but besides defeat and negative group atmosphere. Democratic leading leads to productiveness and a positive ambiance. Davis has suggested that one critical variable to this survey is the grade of emotional support or heat provided by the leader ( 2003 ) . Teachers who provide strong emotional support facilitate teacher-student relationships and pupil accomplishment. This concludes that instructors do act upon academic success, and is maximized with the usage of a democratic leading manner combined with heat and support.Biological InfluencesWhile the environment clearly influences academic success, there is besides much research look intoing how byproducts of genetic sciences, such as intelligence can impact success. The undermentioned definition of intelligence comes from â€Å" Mainstream Science on Intelligence † , which was signed by 52 intelligence research workers: A really general mental capableness that, among other things, involves the ability to ground, program, work out jobs, think abstractly, comprehend complex thoughts, learn rapidly and larn from experience. It is non simply book acquisition, a narrow academic accomplishment, or test-taking smarts. Rather, it reflects a broader capableness for groking our surroundings- † catching on † , â€Å" doing sense † of things, or â€Å" calculating out † what to make. ( Gottfredson, 1997 ) Abisamra ( 2000 ) conducted a survey, which aimed to find the relationship between intelligence, both emotional and academic intelligence, and academic accomplishment. The sample consisted of 500 11th graders from public and private schools in Alabama. Emotional intelligence was measured utilizing the EQ-i trial, academic intelligence was measured utilizing an IQ trial, and academic accomplishment was measured by ciphering a mean of all the classs of each pupil. The quantitative information was analyzed and a relationship was established, being that both emotional and academic intelligence were closely relative to academic success. One major defect in this survey is the usage of an IQ trial to mensurate academic intelligence ; IQ trials pose many jobs, such as the cultural prejudices. Therefore, the consequences may be somewhat inaccurate. From Abisamra ‘s experiment, it can be argued that intelligence, which is from a biological position genetically predisposed, plays a significant function in impacting academic success.Cognitive InfluencesAsides from biological influences based on the medical theoretical account, there is research into how knowledge plays a function on academic success, in peculiar, how motive influences it. There is much argument over the absolute definition of the term motive ; nevertheless for the intent of this essay one that captures the cardinal elements of motive will be used: ‘Motivation is the procedure whereby purposive activity is instigated and sustained ‘ ( Pintrich, Schunk, Meece, 2007 p.4 ) There are two types of motive ; intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motive refers to the motive to prosecute in an action for its ain interest, without obvious external inducements. Intrinsically motivated pupils perform undertakings because they truly enjoy them ; they do n't trust on explicit or touchable wagess because take parting in the undertaking is in itself a wages. They may believe that what they are larning is important or they think that what they are making is of import. Lepper and Hodell ( 1989 ) place four chief beginnings of intrinsic motive: challenge, wonder, control, and phantasy. Activities that test the pupils ‘ accomplishments may be per se actuating ( Deci, 1975 ; Harter, 1978 ; White, 1959 ) . When ends are of intermediate trouble and success is non certain, attainment of disputing ends shows scholars that they are going more competent, which raises self-efficacy and perceived control over results. In bend, scholars are eager to put new, ambitious ends, k eeping the intrinsic motive. Intrinsic motive may besides originate from pupils who are piqued by activities that are surprising or incongruous with bing thoughts. Such incongruousnesss motivate pupils to seek information and decide the disagreement. Curious scholars who believe that the spread is come-at-able feel efficacious and motivated to pull off the spread and learn ( Berlyne, 1960 ) . Students who feel a sense of control over their acquisition and undertaking engagement besides may be per se motivated ( de Charms, 1968 ; Deci, 1980 ) . Leting pupils picks in activities and a function in set uping regulations and processs promotes perceptual experiences of control. Perceived control can excite a sense of self-efficacy for executing good ( Schunk, 1995 ) . Finally, intrinsic motive can be promoted with activities that involve scholars in phantasy and pretense through simulations and games that present them with state of affairss that are non really present ( Lepper & A ; Hodel l, 1989 ) . As shown in Figure 1, game like elements can add intending to what might otherwise be a deadening activity. ee.BMP Question for the bottom format: Player 1 drips ball from terminal to mid-court and passes ball to Player 2. Player 2 drips ball to where Player 3 is and passes it to Player 3, who shoots basket. Down what fraction of the tribunal did the participants dribble? Figure: Fractions are presented in traditional format ( top ) and game like format ( underside ) . Research shows that intrinsic motive for originative public presentation suffers when wagess are offered ( Eisenberger & A ; Armeli, 1997 ; Eisenberger, Armeli & A ; Pretz, 1998 ; Eisenberger & A ; Rhoades, 2001 ) , nevertheless Cameron and Pierce ( 1994 ) reviewed 96 experimental surveies on this subject and found that wagess did non diminish intrinsic motive. The lone negative consequence on intrinsic motive was found when wagess were given merely for working on a undertaking. The differing decisions may hold been due to the criticized conceptual and methodological evidences on Cameron and Pierce ‘s ( 1994 ) portion ( Deci et al. , 1999 ) . There are dissensions about how to utilize processs to sum up across diverse surveies and conceptual concerns such as the definition and measuring of intrinsic and extrinsic motive ( Sansone & A ; Harackiewicz, 2000 ) . Extrinsic motive refers to the motive to prosecute in an activity in order to achieve consequences such as wagess or teacher congratulations. Extrinsically motivated pupils execute undertakings merely because they believe that take parting will ensue in expressed wagess ( money or good classs ) or turning away of penalty. In footings of instruction, Condry & A ; Chamber ( 1978 ) criticize those who use wagess ( e.g. more free clip, stars ) to actuate pupils because such final payments are typically unrelated to the act of larning itself, and are likely to pull attending off from the benefits of larning. Consequently, many fear that larning will go a manner to acquire wagess, and when these wagess are no longer present, the motive to larn lessenings. It should besides be noted that intrinsic and extrinsic motive are non on one continuum, intrinsic being the highest and extrinsic the lowest. They should be thought of on separate continuums, for illustration person can be both extremely per se and extrinsically motivated on a undertaking, and it seems that this would be the most desirable combination ( Lepper, Corpus, & A ; Iyengar, 2005 ) .Motivation in EducationTherefore, it is clear that motive plays a really important function in instruction ; it can act upon what, when and how we learn ( Schunk, 1995 ) . Dennis, Phinney and Chuateco ( 2005 ) conducted a longitudinal survey aimed at look intoing the ways in which motivational features and environmental societal supported contribute to the academic results of college pupils. The survey consisted of 100 college pupils changing in cultural backgrounds, SES and motive. Data refering pupil motive was collected from the participants utilizing studies taken in the autumn and spring of their sophomore twelvemonth. The studies were piloted with freshers. GPAs and informations sing the participants SES were collected from the university records. Consequences found that motive to go to college based on personal involvement, rational wonder and the desire to achieve a successful calling were prognostic of college accommodation and committedness. Family outlook motive, nevertheless, was non significantly related to college results. There are restrictions to this survey. Most of the information was based on self study steps, which can take to inaccuracies due to participant dishonesty. The sample was comprised of cultural minorities ; hence, as is true with any survey, the findings can merely be interpreted to a certain extent. Genralisations to other cultural minority colleges or other cultural groups must be made with cautiousness. This survey suggested that although intrinsic motive is dependable forecaster of academic success, extrinsic motive is non a dependable forecaster. Another survey proposing the influence motive has on academic accomplishment is that of Busato et Al. ( 1999 ) . The purpose of the survey was to look into how rational ability, larning manner, personality and achievement motive relate to academic success. Learning manner was measured utilizing a questionnaire. The Big Five personality factors test measured personality. The â€Å" Prestatie-Motivatie-Test † measured achievement motive. A series of ability trials measured rational ability. Points are allocated to psychology pupils harmonizing to how much work they have completed, so academic success was measured by the sum of points gained at the terminal of each academic twelvemonth. In entire, 409 pupils participated and information was gathered in the first hebdomad of first-year twelvemonth through psychological trials. Harmonizing to the correlational analyses, achievement motive and rational ability were associated positively with academic success. This survey was ecologi cally valid due to its big sample size and clear measuring of variables. The two predating surveies have made it clear that while motive is a cardinal factor in accomplishing academic success, it must be noted that intrinsic motive plays a much greater function than extrinsic.EvaluationAfter holding completed the research, it has become evident that there is a assortment of influences on academic success runing from environmental factors to cognitive and biological. The environmental factors were comprised of SES, equal webs, instructors and rearing. Steinberg et Al. ( 1996 ) suggested that equal webs significantly influence academic accomplishment. Gottfried, Fleming, and Gottfried ( 1998 ) found that a stimulating place environment leads to greater success excessively. On the other manus, Kruse ( 1996 ) concluded that SES had no important affect on academic success ; nevertheless his survey offered several critical defects. Kruse cited Yellin & A ; Koetting ( 1991 ) , who found that SES did, in fact, have an consequence on academic success, go forthing this factor still questionable. Teacher influences were so investigated. Veldman and Brophy ( 1974 ) found that instructors had a strong influence on pupil success, despite research demoing otherwise. This contradictory research was discarded by Veldman and Brophy as weak because of its effort to analyze the consequence of the quality of schools instead than single instructors on academic success. Overall, environmental factors appeared to hold a great consequence on academic success. To chair the statement intelligence was explored and it was found that both emotional and academic intelligence play an of import function in doing academic success ( Abisamra, 2000 ) . Unfortunately, the survey had defects refering the method of measuring for the variables, offering perchance inaccurate consequences. However, it could be concluded that intelligence did hold an consequence on academic success. Finally, I went into deepness when researching motive as a factor. Dennis, Phinney and Chuateco ( 2005 ) suggested that although intrinsic motive is a dependable forecaster of academic success, extrinsic motive is non a dependable forecaster. This was supported by Busato et Al. ( 1999 ) , who illustrated that motive increases success. By and large, it appeared that environmental factors played the biggest function in impacting success chiefly due to the figure of classs within the subdivision. However, at a closer glimpse, it has become evident that motive intertwines with many of the discussed factors. For illustration, refering equal webs, Sage and Kindermann ( 1999 ) claimed that pupils with higher academic motive and accomplishment tended to be members of groups more motivated for faculty members. High academic motive and achievement appear hand-in-hand. Furthermore, Dornbusch, Ritter, Liederman, Roberts, & A ; Fraleigh ( 1987 ) suggested that rearing affects a kid ‘s motive, taking to academic success. It seems good established amongst psychologists that motive can take to academic success. Not merely does motive entwine amongst the other factors but it is besides a factor itself and the support for it is converting. For this ground, I think that motive is the most dominant factor act uponing academic success. It could besides be argued that SES influences academic success to a great extent, mostly due to the fact that it contains sub-topics within it, such as parenting and equal webs, all of which offer back uping grounds.DecisionIt has become clear that environmental factors influence academic success to a big extent, nevertheless it is non the most dominant factor ; motive is. The staying factors must non be discarded though, as they all provide research exemplifying them as factors impacting academic success. It is besides of import to observe that the factors can be combined and are non on separate continuums. Person can hold high intelligence but uneffective instructors and can still accomplish academically. Possible farther research could research the possibility to generalise the grounds cross culturally or would the decision be different for different civilizations.