Financial statement analysis Essay

Financial statement analysis is a process which examines past and current financial data for the purpose of evaluating performance and projecting future risks and potential of a company. Financial statement analysis is used by various people and companies for different reasons, e.g. investors, creditors, lending officers, managers, employees and many other parties who rely on financial data for making economic decisions about a company. The objective of this David Jones financial statement analysis is to identify the company’s performance issues, to provide suggestions and recommendations by employing the Ratio Analysis method and analysing Profitability, Efficiency, Short and Long term Solvency, and by using Market Based Ratios. The following report outlines the financial performance of David Jones Limited based on the FY2011 & FY2012 Annual Reports. The key measures used to assess company performance are Profitability, Efficiency, Short & Long-term Solvency and Market-Based Ratios. David Jones has performed well in a few areas which include having solid cash flows, low debt, a strong balance sheet and assets in prime locations; however there is definite room for improvement with regards to sales performance, and it needs to address the high cost of sales and sluggish inventory in order to turn around company profitability and performance. We have studied your 2011 and 2012 financial reports and statements and can see that your company’s sales performance has been declining year on year. Sales revenue for FY2012 was down -4.8% when compared to FY2011, and FY2011 sales were down -4.45% vs. FY2010. Your chairman and management have blamed this on the depressed consumer sentiment and increased global competition as a result of the strong Australian currency. â€Å"The uncertainty of Europe and USA and volatility in global equity market have contributed to a general feeling of uncertainty, the strong Australian dollar also contributed to price deflation and encouraged spending offshore.† (page 2, Annual Report) Profitability In FY2012, all measures of profitability were considerably down on last year. Gross Profit was down from $767m to $670m, and the Gross Profit margin (GP %) was down 160bp to 37.5% (-4.2% on FY2011: 39.1%). The poor GP % has been the result of discounting in a competitive environment and dealing with excess inventory on hand at the commencement of FY2012 (page 5, Annual Report). When compared to your main competitor Myer (Market Capitalization 1.59b1 Vs. DJS 1.477b2), there is a large variance between the Gross Profit Margins of the two companies (Myer GP % FY2012: 49.3%3, +160bp from previous year, DJs-FY2012: 37.47% -160bp). This can be attributed to Myer’s much lower Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) (Myer 56% Vs. DJs 62.5% in FY2012). Myer has a competitive advantage in the marketplace with a larger network of stores and greater buying power. Their larger volume of purchases may mean they are able to obtain lower cost prices with suppliers. However, there are a few key areas you have identified in your Future Strategic Direction plan which we feel will assist in lowering your COGS and result in a better GP % rate. Firstly, signing exclusive brands to your portfolio will ensure product differentiation to customers and better control over supplier trading terms and prices. Secondly, the Cost Price Harmonisation that you are engaging in with suppliers (page 3, Annual Report) is key to maintaining your GP % and ensuring that your COGS do not rise and prices do not become uncompetitive with international retailers. Thirdly, discontinuing lower margin categories and moving towards a greater product mix of higher margin categories (page 4, Annual Report) will increase your GP % in the long run and ensure you maximize the profit outcome from the inventory you carry. For example, introducing more private label house brands could be one strategy in which to increase the proportion of higher margin products in your portfolio. The Net Profit Margin in FY2012 dropped drastically compared to FY2011 (-36.9%, $101 vs. $168 million), with sales revenue dropping -4.8% ($1.867b vs. $1.962b). It was however, on par with Myer at 5.4%. The main factor contributing to the big fall in net profit were the high operating expenses over FY2012. Depreciation expenses were up by +13.23%, leasing expenses were up by +6.1%, advertising and marketing had gone up +19%, administration expenses were up by +29.4%, and finance costs were up +40%. Excess inventory during the clearance period also resulted in heavier discounting and contributed to the fall in net profit. Whilst your company has noted Cost of Doing Business (CODB) Reductions as one of the points in your Future Strategic Direction Plan, there are many other areas that can be addressed to ease operating costs. For example, a reduction in the size of all or some of your retail stores will result in savings in store costs such as leasing, staff, utilities, and so on. This could be implemented in conjunction with the Omni Channel Retailing strategy as highlighted as the first point in your Future Strategic Direction Plan (page 3, Annual Report), as customers move away from traditional bricks and mortar shops and increasingly to online shopping destinations. The excellent growth rate in HY2013 of your online store4 highlights the opportunities in the online channel and the change in customer shopping behaviour. With regards to the Asset Turnover ratio, your company performed slightly better than Myer Holdings in FY2012 (1.5 Vs 1.34, Refer to Appendix B). Internally, there was an 8% drop that was due to sluggish sales performance (1.5 Vs. 1.63, Refer to Appendix A). Since your Net Profit Margin dropped dramatically in FY2012, the Return on Assets (ROA) followed suit and decreased by -41% (from 13.96 to 8.23, refer to Appendix A); not a good result in asset management performance. Your company’s property portfolio consists of 4 buildings valued at $612 million (page 5, Annual Report). All of these buildings are in the prime locations, with two in the Sydney CBD and two in the Melbourne CBD. The rental income is assumed to be in the vicinity of $39 million per annum (page 5, Annual Report). If a reduced size store was considered, a potential income of $10-15 million could be generated per annum, increasing the net profit percentage by 9-14% (Net Profit FY2012 – $101,103,000). Your company’s re-development consideration is a long-term process and we believe it will be successful in generating positive ROA with the appropriate planning. Improving the Gross Profit margin while maintaining current overheads will result in a positive increase in the Net Profit margin position and enhance the overall performance of the company. Efficiency Efficiency is more meaningful when compared to peers in the same industry and can assist in identifying businesses that are better managed relative to others. By comparing your figures with Myer, your company performed better in Inventory Turnover (89 days vs 96 days, Appendix A & Appendix B), which means you have a better stockturn and are generating revenue from your inventory in a shorter period of time. However, 89 days is still a fairly high measure as it means you are sitting on stock for an average of 3 months before it is sold through. To improve your inventory turnover, you could consider dropping your bestselling items more frequently to stores, but with smaller quantities each time. This will ensure that the stores which are selling through the stock quickest remain in stock at all times, without a large amount of unsold stock building up in the slower performing stores and affecting your inventory turnover. It also means you will be generating sales and cash more quickly from your stock investment. Myer performed slightly better on â€Å"Average Days Sales Uncollected† (DJS: 3.5 days vs. Myer: 2.5 days, Appendix A & B). To improve this measure for example, you could encourage more online sales to generate faster turnover into cash than store card sales which are monthly billings. Internally, FY2012 performed slightly better than FY2011 in Average Days Sales Uncollected (FY2012: 3.5 vs. FY2011: 4 days) but worse in Inventory Turnover (FY2012: 89 vs. FY2011: 87 days). The differences were negligible. Short-Term Solvency David Jones has a good ability to meet its short-term financial obligations, with a Current Ratio of 1.05 in FY2012 (Appendix A) outperforming Myer at 0.88 (Appendix B). However, since the Quick Ratio is not high at 14.4% (Appendix A), short-term liquidity could be an issue. When compared with Myer at 11% (Appendix B), David Jones has performed better. The Current Ratio performed better in FY2011 than FY2012 by 14.6% (Appendix A). The main reason for this is the 15.1% increase in Current Liability ($306 million Vs. $266 million), with the $40 million difference due to an increase in Account Payables. There is no change in the Quick Ratio from FY2011 to FY2012 (14.4%), i.e. on the low side and short-term liquidity can be an issue, should not allow it to be deteriorate. The â€Å"Cash & Cash Equivalents† and â€Å"Receivables† figures totaled $36.935 million which represented around 14% of â€Å"Payables† in the 2012 Annual Report. In order to achieve a better short-term liquidity position, a more efficient ordering & inventory control system should be implemented. Less inventory on hand equates to more cash and liquidity. Excess inventory can jeopardize a company’s liquidity, in addition to causing stock problems and markdowns at the end of a season as was evidenced in FY2012. Long-Term Solvency You company performed much better than Myer Holdings in the area of Long-Term Solvency. Your company has demonstrated consistency in this area and long-term solvency should not be an immediate issue with your organization. The Debt to Equity ratio showed that there was an increase of 11% in FY2012 compared with FY2011 (Refer to Appendix A), i.e. the liability has gone up relative to shareholders’ equity. The main contribution to the increase is due to the +22.3% ($265m Vs. $216m) increase in the Payables account. It is important to ensure that this trend does not continue and that debt does not continue to rise when compared to equity levels. With strong non-current assets of $917 million & total assets in excess of $1.24 billion, the Debt to Total Assets ratio is healthy, with FY2011 at 35% and FY2012 at 37% (Refer to Appendix A) respectively. The extra 2% was due to the liability increase and it was the fallout of excess inventory as discussed in the short-term solvency section. Market-based Ratios To calculate the Price/Earnings (P/E) Ratio, we used the share price on 16/5/2013 ($2.80). This equates to a PE ratio of 14.43, with the Earnings yield ratio at 6.93% and the Dividend yield ratio at 6.25% (dividend was 17.5c). Myer Holdings’ dividend yield was around 7% (dividend of 19c with share price at $2.70). The market-based ratio is higher than your main competitor (Myer PE ratio is 11.8)5. However the Price/Earnings ratio indicates that today’s share price of the company is on the low side as it is below 15. The majority of analysts believe that the company is performing below par and do not recommend buying or holding David Jones shares at the moment. Eva Brocklehurst of FNArean.com is quoted as saying in March 2013, † David Jones (DJS) is transforming. For brokers it’s not a moment too soon, as department stores have been plagued by a soft consumer environment and a need to respond to new trends in shopping. In its first half results the company has flagged progress with its strategic plan, reducing costs and expanding margins. Earnings were ahead of expectations for the half but sales growth was not. What pleased was the increased margin. What concerns brokers? Most importantly, a lack of sales momentum. There’s no Buy rating on the FNArena database. Two brokers have downgraded ratings to Sell in the wake of the results. There are five Sell ratings. There was one upgrade to Hold, and there are three Hold ratings. The consensus target price is $2.73, suggesting 11.5% downside to the last traded share price. A dividend yield of 5.5% is reflected in consensus earnings forecasts for FY13.†6 Performance Issues As highlighted above, your declining sales performance is the biggest concern for shareholders and needs to be addressed immediately. Whilst earnings were ahead of expectations, this was managed by cost reductions and a move towards increased margins. An improvement in sales in conjunction with the efforts you’re undertaking to reduce expenses and the cost of doing business will result in an improvement in the bottom line and signal confidence in the company and a turnaround for investors. David Jones has been labelled as an up-market department store. Australia’s $12 billion fashion retail industry is forecast to grow by only 0.5% in FY2012 with only an average 1.2% annualised growth expected for the next 5 years, according to analysis group IBISWorld. Furthermore, IBISWorld says shoppers are now more likely to buy low to mid-range priced clothing which has contributed to the declining value of retail sales. In general, the outlook is not too positive for the industry.7 Greater differentiation is required between David Jones and Myer in order to attract and retain customers. Mark Ritson, Associate Professor of Marketing at Melbourne Business School commented, â€Å"David Jones and Myer are just two sides of same boring coin.† He says, â€Å"I still believe to this day that most people coming out of either David Jones or Myer on Bourke Street don’t know which one they just come out of.†7 Some of the issues have been addressed by your company’s Future Strategic Direction Plan, for example, a move towards Omni Channel Retailing, building a â€Å"Home of Brands† strategy which differentiates David Jones from Myer, and cost improvements including GP margin improvements, CODB reductions and Cost Price Harmonisation with suppliers (pages 3-6, Annual Report). Conclusion A thorough review of your company’s FY2011 and FY2012 Financial Report & Statements has indicated that David Jones has a strong balance sheet, solid cash flows, low debt, and assets in prime locations. David Jones has performed on par, or better than Myer in the areas of Net Profit Margin, Asset Turnover, Inventory Turnover, and Short & Long-term Solvency. However, the company’s declining sales performance is the biggest area of concern. Almost all measures of profitability were worse than Myer and have been falling when compared to David Jones’ own performance in prior years. We believe that further differentiation from Myer, cost reductions & margin improvements, harmonization of prices to become more competitive with international competitors, better inventory management & a reduction in excessive stock, reduced retail floor space, and the move towards Omni-Channel Retailing will enhance the value of your company and result in better performance for all stakeholders. We hope this report has provided insightful recommendations into improving the performance of your company. This report has been generated for your company’s own reference and not for any other purposes. Other companies or individuals should not use or rely on any material contained within this report without the consent of our office.

Hawaii Culture Essay

1. Queen Liliuokalani was the first and only reigning Hawaiian queen. Imperialism is the policy by which stronger nations extend their economic, political or military control over weaker nations. William Seward was the Secretary of State under presidents Lincoln and Andrew Johnson he purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867. Pearl Harbor was the Hawaiian port granted by 1887 treaty to the United States for use as a refueling station for U.S. ships. They connect and are important because when Queen Liliuokalani was queen the U.S. started following imperialism and kind of took over Hawaii. Hawaiians were forced to agree to the treaty of 1887. Which allowed the U.S. to have Pearl Harbor. William Seward was provoking imperialism. 2. Cultural interests Cultural interests Economic interests Economic interests Military interests Military interests Why Americans support imperialism Why Americans support imperialism 3. William Seward contributed to U.S. expansion by convincing the senate to buy Alaska from Russia for $7.2-million. 4. Planters staged a revolt because Queen Liliuokalani believed that American planters had too much influence, she moved to limit their power. Around the same time, U.S. trade laws changed to favor sugar grown in the United States. Planters with the help of U.S. Marines, they overthrew the queen and set up their own government. They then asked to be annexed by the United States. 5. The purchase of Alaska was farsighted because in the end the United States had acquired a land rich in timber, minerals and, as it turned out, oil. 6. If President Cleveland’s wishes had been respected by the subsequent U.S. administration then Hawaii wouldn’t have been a state and there wouldn’t have been a bombing at Pearl Harbor during the world war. 7. The United states have overthrew the queen and taken control for themselves. The Hawaiians are rebelling bet we can’t stand against them and now we are being forced to join the United States as a state. They also are going to take our best port and turn it into their own military base. I think what they are doing is wrong because this is our land. We let them come in we never knew that they were going to take over. Just because they are more powerful doesn’t mean they can use that power on us. That is exactly like bullying.

Classical View of Modern Society: A Comparison

As we approach the third millennia, the world grows into complexity. The world is now on the modern era with different changes from its cultural and intellectual movements. The world is facing a modern enlightenment. Nonetheless, there were also some improvements on how the modern society works but there were also a lot of varied and complex problems and challenges that emerge.Although, many people still believe that man can solve these problems and overcome these challenges thru meaningful analysis and introspection. Some search the answer from the theories of classical philosophers. They believe that this world will not be on what it is now without these people. Yet, the question still lies on their validity of the assertion s of the philosophers. Are these assertions ad theories relevant and appropriate in the modern times?However, we and these philosophers have varied experiences. Yet, their in depth knowledge of society bids us to believe them and study them. Like Marx, who died a hundred years ago, still had many followers. Marx on his early age had observed the plight of the masses against the bourgeoisie in the capitalist society. He, just like Friedrich Nietzsche, believed in the reconstruction of the society and in redefining the role of an individual. He argued that man’s will was not due to his like or to his needs, rather, society dictated him on the things that he should like or he should need.Society and man interacted, so according to him there is a need that a society, in which a man lived, should be fair and would be the instrument on predisposing justice on all the people. Marx further asserted that not a man could claim that his existence is largely due to himself, but rather all people existed because of mutual relationship and interdependency. He believed that all humans are interconnected in various ways, such as a social network, that whatever one does would surely affect others.However, through out his life, Marx had commented on the ambiguity and the disorderliness of the society. He had seen and observed the resistance and struggles between the different classes or strata of the society. He had observe that people with equal classes such as the bourgeoisie formed an alliances with each others to further their ends. Marx had observed that somewhat there is a line or an immense gap that had divided the people from intermingling with each other.He asserted that there was a categorizing force that bonded people with equal social status. As a result, the proletariat class was oppressed and injustice was done to them. Oppressions, according to Marx, might trigger bloody civil revolutions, and unrest in the society would prevail. In order to prevent this from occurring, Marx proposed a communist society, as what he described in his book together with Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto.Engels, a co-author, deemed that the The Communist Manifesto was exclusively the product of Marx’s brilliance, and the book was Marx’s. In the book, Marx and Engels first summoned up history. In their exposition through the dialectic philosophy, they both expressed that in the world there existed two opposing forces[1]. They had described that there existed those who oppressed and those that were oppressed. The main point on which the The Communist Manifesto revolved was the establishment of a communist society.A communist society, as what both described is a liberated society were people are all treated equally. Moreover it is a society that does not discriminate nor classify people because social status is no longer in existence. Moreover, communism proposed a society wherein people will no longer acknowledge his or her possessions rather his or her properties belong to everyone. Marx and Engels further stressed the need for centralization and organization of all the properties and efforts of the state for a common ground.The book proposed equal sharing and division of labors, equal all otment of profits and income. Moreover, in the long run, Communism also believed in the diminishment of the state and its ruler because Marx believed that if an ideal society (communist society) existed, the people would no longer be in need of a facilitator or an organizer to dictate or facilitate living. According to them, the state would only serve as a guide meanwhile that a communist society is not yet achieved[2].Meanwhile, another notable German philosopher was Max Weber, who unlike Marx traced the origin of capitalism and its role to the society. If one would read the title of Weber’s work and not the text, one may laugh because one cannot relate easily capitalism and the protestant ethic. However, Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism was a huge success because he had found sensible reasons on how the protestant ethic might have contributed to the origin of capitalism.Weber, who was considered one of the fathers of modern sociology, was ver y different as compared to Marx. Marx, although a Jewish, denounced the belief in the inexistence of God. He asserted that god does not shaped man according to his form, yet man conceptualized the absolute as a model- who is perfect and divine- due to his quest of attaining also that same stature. On the other hand, Weber had researched a lot on how religion had affected the life of man. He had wrote more descriptive and analytical essays after the The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. He had shown the effects of religion to the communal and shared cause of a society[3]. He had discussed that religious background define the wants and the needs of each person.For example, he had found out that the Hindus and the Buddhist were religious groups who taught that life is all about gaining material wealth or money. Yet they had other goals, like unity to the divine and freedom from the repeated cycle of rebirth. These assertions were parallel to the basis on how he analyzed th e origin of capitalism. Weber asserted that he did not claim that all the reasons of the birth of capitalism were mainly due to the protestant. He just cited some evidences that verified and attested his claim. The Calvinist, a protestant sect, according to him had that attitude of pursuing material wealth and worldly success. This was because- according to him as Calvinist believed-was the manifestation of God’s grace to the Calvinist.The Calvinist believed that God showed many signs in this earthly being of what will be their destination in the afterlife. Calvinist believed that if God made them rich, there is a large possibility that they will not suffer eternal damnation in the future. So in connection with this, they find ways on how to improve their status in life usually wanting to beat their fellow Calvinists in terms of material wealth[4].  Ã‚   So Weber asserted that this kind s of attitudes triggered the start of capitalism. Weber also considered the fact that th ere was also other factor which determined the start of capitalism. However, Weber considered religion to be a very immense factor in shaping society. These considerations lead him to immense study about different religions and their roles in different society.Unlike Marx, Weber in his economic theories still saw the importance of social class and did not promote its abolition. Weber believed that man’s work and capabilities were different and varied from each other so he stated that each man’s achievement and wealth will surely be different from each other. He rejected the ideas of Marx, saying that such an ideal society is not achievable.   It was very clear in the opening of his essay, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, that he favored capitalism.However, Emile Durkheim, a modern sociologist, in his book the The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, argued that there are existing social facts that determined society. These social facts according to h im were not related to an individual but were in existence and affect the entirety of life of an individual and the society as a whole. He is considered the father of modern sociology because of his endeavor to tackle society as purely sociology and away from psychology and philosophy. In his book, he described that religion is one of the social facts where an individual cannot go away from.In an individual’s search for identity and his role in the society, he is often confused with ethics and morality. Often, an individual was mystified on making decisions whether to do the good or to the bad. So Durkheim considered morality and ethics as one of the social facts that needed particular attention because most of an individual’s action was derived from them. In his book, he had expounded the role of religion on binding the individuals. He also described the collective morality that an individual received as he is affiliated to a certain religious group.He further his exp lanation saying that a religion was not simply based on the discernment of the right from the wrong, yet individuals learned the sacrosanct and the right by participating in worship and other religious activities. He described that these religious activities were the ones that defined the morality of an individual.Moreover, Marx, Weber and Durkheim seemed to have complementary views with regards to society and they have different ways on how they described its evolution and growth. However, all of them presented their ideas with concrete evidences and all of them deal with reality. However, Marxist view of society was very ideal and was very hard to attain. Specifically his propositions with regards to the abolition of the state and the thing which he said as common cause, those things were not achievable due to the existence of greed and self indulgence of an individual.However, Weber described that individual’s variety is the linking force that binds individuals. He discuss ed that there is no need to abolish the social leveling of individuals for abolishment will be an injustice to the capitalist or to those people who worked so hard in attaining their social status. Moreover, Durkheim agreed with Weber. Durkheim argued that education is the key in removing the self-indulgencies of an individual. He further asserted that education will limit the possession of an individual. Durkheim believed that proper education and discipline would hammer commitment and would foster the obligation of an individual to the society.   Durkheim’s assertion was well fitted and his arguments are most valid in terms of describing the modern society.BibliographyBottomore, T (ed), Karl Marx, 3rd edn,Blackwell, Oxford, 1979.Geras, Norman,   The Controversy about Marx and Justice, in A. Callinicos (ed.), Marxist Theory, Oxford University Press, Oxford,1989.Kà ¤sler, D, Max Weber: An Introduction to his Life and Work, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1988.Là ¶ with, K, Max Weber and Karl Marx, Allen & Unwin, London, 1982McLellan, D, Marx Before Marxism, Macmillan, London, 1970.Marx, K, ,F Engelsb& M Malia, The Communist Manifesto. Signet Classic, New York, 1998.Weber, M, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Routledge, New York,1992.[1] T Bottomore, (ed), Karl Marx, 3rd edn,Blackwell, Oxford, 1979 pg.9. [2] Kostof, p. 18. [3] M Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Routledge, New York,1992, pg.3. [4]D Kà ¤sler, Max Weber: An Introduction to his Life and Work, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1988, pg 22.

Organisational Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Organisational Analysis - Essay Example This is due to the change in thoughts and way of thinking of the persons. The consequences they face bring changes in thinking of the individuals resulting in the changes in strategies of the group or department. This in turn affects the way of working of the organisation. The way the changes occur and the reasons for the changes are interlinked. When a reason causes a consequence, and if that is unwanted or not anticipated, should result in the change of the reason. The changes in planning, strategies, environment, nature of working depends upon the extent the individuals in the company maintain congruence between the theory they have to follow and the theory they trust. When the difference is large the unwanted consequences were capable of narrowing the difference in the course of time. The way of correcting the problem to avoid unwanted and negative consequences is termed as I order change and II order change or single loop and double loop by different authors. The loop terminolog y is of Argyris and Schon's. In this paper the double loop learning is stressed and all the case studies and analyses were done on that basis. Introduction: According to Argyris and Schon there are two types of ways in which the individuals in the organisation react. ... All the theories which analyse the organisational behaviour will be according to these above two ways of reacting and analysing the differences between them. Structural organisational leadership: The leadership qualities in the structure of an organisational can be considered as complex. They range from time tested methods to technology involving strategies to the way of changing the thoughts and strategies according to the need and the time. So the stability cannot be taken as granted as the change is inevitable in the processes which should maintain sustainability of the organisation. Structure can be considered for the organisation as what is skeleton for any human body. The structure supports the organisation as the skeleton supports the body. As the skeleton develops in the course of the growth of the body, the development in the organisation demands the change in its structure. This can be termed as flexibility in organisational language. That is the structure of an organisation must change according to the growing and changing needs of the organisation. The leadership must be ready to adopt change. If the leader ship is adopting th e standard I changes, then they bring change only in processes but not in the cause which make the processes to be carried on. Here the leaders by observing the consequences try to bring a change in processes and try to conserve the values or theories they believe. This makes the individuals involved in the processes to be defensive and these delay the inevitable change which is a prerequisite for the flexibility in the structure. So it can be termed that the leadership following the standard I learning is not flexible enough to bring the changes in the structure demanded by growth of the organisation. The reason is any

Provocation As A Defence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Provocation As A Defence - Essay Example The researcher states that today, under the English common law the act of provocation as a defence has been considered as a vali, since last many centuries especially in cases of murder and wherever it has been proved to be a valid defence worth consideration then in that case the murder charge has been converted to man-slaughter. The killings done by the accused has been condoned because according to the judge and the jury it was done in a state of anger aroused by some or the other kind of provocation. Provocation as a defence has been going on since the medieval times. The Royal Commission on Capital Punishment, which reported in 1953, concluded that the defence was, in some respects, too rigid and exclusionary. The English Law Commission has recently published its final proposals for a reformed law of provocation. The recommendations come in two parts: situations where accused acted in response to a fear of serious violence or in response to words or conduct that constitute †Å"gross provocation.† In cases of fear of serious violence, accused will be convicted of second degree murder, provided a person of the accused’s age and of ordinary temperament, in the given circumstances might have reacted in the similar way. This development is welcome and seems entirely suitable to cover without strain domestic violence cases. It also caters to the demands of the long drawn of several activists who had been crying hoarse over the years over the defence of provocation as being flawed and bloated.

Enron paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Enron - Research Paper Example Enron was a among leading promoters in restructuring of energy markets which led to the emergent of its name, but the name was later changed to energy country as a result of its invention in new global market. Enron was a pioneer company in the legend of elite of workers in financial world. The company acquired miscellaneous investments to its portfolio and had the capability of obtaining returns of 200% of its investments to shareholders. By 2000, Enron had become a massive company in the industry. They opened branches in South America, India Asia and a host of other European States and countries. They extended their functions by starting occupation in additional projects that they had started, and it is when they started the online manufacturing of energy and telecommunication facilities. They further introduced services such as, risk management, consulting services, internet broadband services, and the launch of outstanding products that protected against bad weather (Hutton 5). H owever, in October 16, 2001, the company was involved in some fraudulent activities and this led it to bankruptcy. On December 2, 2001, in Southern District of New York, Enron Company went ahead and filed for bankruptcy after it recorded a loss of an approximated $638 million in its third quarter earnings, and chose Weil Gotshal and Manges as their bankruptcy counsel. This bankruptcy was as a result of, top executives involved in huge scandals such as, money laundering, corruption and a series of other conspiracies. To add on top of that, they lost their goodwill, investments and confidence by admitting fraud in income of about four years, which was about $586. They also admitted to have hidden $3 billion in debt to create limited partnerships. Afterwards, they faced a massive deterioration in the stock market with, is $90 per share falling to less than $1 per share in 2000. (Bhatnagar et al. 8) Employees of Enron Corporation became affected in disastrous ways, stating form unemploy ment to their retirement savings getting lost in the fraud. Banks also became victims of circumstances by losing millions of dollars of investments that the company had acquired as loan, due to fake earning reports. The firm was sidelined by a number of its clients and workers resulting to them quitting out of business. The report of these financial frauds were preplanned, and systematically arranged to undertake fraudulent activities. The counterfeiting of strategies, embezzling of profits and hiding increased debt diminished the company’s stock value through the fraudulent activities, they were able to gain access in borrowing extra wealth and with this, and they were boosted. The statistics revealed that top executives gave incorrect audit reports about the company’s economic conditions. In February 2002, the company was inquired by Senate Commerce Committee and they later came out of bankruptcy in November 2004 (Bhatnagar et al, 10). Accounting Problems Enron start ed experiencing accounting problems in late 2001 that, compounded of some of its several businesses not doing well as required. In October 2001, Enron announced a series of asset losses which included an

Poetry Essay Questions Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Poetry Questions - Essay Example d as something whose beauty is cherished from afar as long as the gap of distance made by the heights where the object of interest resides is not closed. So that this initial part of the poem proceeds with â€Å"Provided it do hopeless – hang -- / That – â€Å"Heaven† is – to Me!† The creation of â€Å"Heaven† – is what I cannot reach! May be recognized with unusual use of punctuations. Dickinson richly fills in her composition with dashes all throughout the poem, locating them where appropriate. This reflects a particular attitude with the manner the speaker ought to connect words so that they generate interjections somewhere and evoke how much ‘heaven’ means to her. She further engages in enumerating scenes that are evidently beyond her reach, stating with keen sentiment â€Å"The Color, on the Cruising Cloud -- / The interdicted Land --†. Heaven, for the joyful speaker, must be a sight of paradise as she continues to express â€Å"Behind the Hill – the House behind -- / There – Paradise – is found!† To this extent, a critical reader may be inclined to observe that the poet desires to render the main character to possess a playful imagination of hovering at a spot from the distant Hill where all she could possibly have at that moment is a treasure in mind or that ‘House’ at the other side of the ‘Hill’. Dickinson can be felt to draw an allusion whereby the idea of being brought to her setting of heaven depends on whether or not a huge barrier can be crossed since the ‘Hill’ in the second stanza occurs to divide the onlooker and the dream ‘House’. Apparently, Dickinson’s heaven is found within the realm of this planet and need not be that which is conventionally associated with the cosmic bodies or the spiritual world. As long as there exists a great distance to be covered, either by longitude or latitude, between a dreamer and the dream, then this situation gives birth to the notion of heaven. Besides this, nevertheless, the

Looking for Lincoln Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Looking for Lincoln - Essay Example He was considered as the presidential god and democratic ideal who sacrificed his life for the nation. Also, as his assassination occurred on a Good Friday, he was considered by the mourning nationals as a Jesus parallel, and this added his reverential heights. Several events that followed Lincoln’s death and immense grief and memory of Lincoln in public minds have definitely added to the cohesion, nationalism, and unity of the Americans during a period of serious degeneration. However, Lincoln has been considered as both a true and false friend of African Americans, and as one who supports or opposes incursions on civil liberties. Philip B. Kunhardt’s article Lincolns Contested Legacy throws light on some of the major arguments in this regard. As Kunhardt’s article reveals, interpretation of Lincoln’s legacy varied from group to group. Interpretation by â€Å"northerners and southerners, prairie westerners and east coast elites, blacks and white, secular and religious, liberals and conservatives, scholars and popularizers† varied (para. 1). For instance, the prevailing mood after Lincoln’s death, as told by Evening Post editor Parke Godwin is â€Å"No loss has been comparable to his. Never in human history has there been so universal, so spontaneous, so profound an expression of a nations bereavement† (para 2). Lincoln was considered as a wise and good man and a supreme leader by many though everyone does not agree with this. Northern democrats opposed Lincoln’s wartime suspension of habeas corpus which has led to imprisonment without trial of suspected traitors and protestors, and they criticized Lincoln’s tyrannical rule. Much of the southerners also hated Lincoln, although some have expressed regret over his death, many considered John wilkes booth, the murderer of Lincoln, as â€Å"bold slayer of an American tyrant† (Kunhardt, para 4). African Americans like Frederick Douglas passionately promoted Lincolns

How Different Actual Practice of Law is from Law School Essay

How Different Actual Practice of Law is from Law School - Essay Example My placement experience helped me to realize how different the actual practice of law is from law school. According to McDockery, â€Å"the study of law is different from the practice of law†*3 and he highlights the fact that apart from writing and research skills, not much of what is learned at law school will be particularly relevant in practice. My placement experience corroborated this claim because I discovered that mere academic knowledge and the theory of law is not as important as interacting well with clients and professional code and ethics in actual practice. It was a revelation to me, as I watched my supervisor interacting with our clients and I realized that legal interviewing needs to be approached from a different angle as compared to other interviews.*4 The fact-finding mission that this entails often meets with subtle resistance from clients and especially poses a challenge when dealing with clients who are not familiar with English since there is a possibilit y for distortions during translation.*5 Such clients are often unaware that client privilege is their fundamental civil right as established by the Courts*6 and they are reluctant to be completely honest with their lawyers. But this was not the only area where I discovered that practice is different from theory. While law school provided me with the background of the law, actual practice concerns the application of the law. Earlier, my understanding of the law was directed towards its mechanics, whereas I obtained a clearer perspective of the law that conditions a lawyer’s actions during my placement experience. As Bernie Marden puts it, professions today operate in a world where â€Å"public policy applies regulation, co-regulation, and self-regulation in varying degrees†*7 and this is why it was deemed necessary to introduce the Professional Standards Act of 1994 in Australia.  Ã‚  

UK Economic Policies Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

UK Economic Policies - Dissertation Example Economic Policy Measures undertaken on or before the 1990s. †¢ Privatization ï  ¶ Mainly aimed to tackle the stagflation that gulped the nation during the 1970s and to prevent further such developments. However has been criticised by a number of economists. ï  ¶ Also enabled the revision of labour laws so as to reduce the power of the labour union and assign more power to the company. ï  ¶ Moreover, the competitive spirit that the step would instil among the producers will help the nation to achieve a comparatively advantageous position. ï  ¶ Most relevant sectors, other than the postal system, were privatized. ï  ¶ The scheme was preceded by a number of failures and required a lot of effort from the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, before it finally achieved success almost a decade later. †¢ Reduction in unemployment benefits combined with a modification of tax laws that might act as an incentive for higher production and thus an improved GDP position (Wagnur, 2000). †¢ Modification of the education system in the country and providing maximum financial coverage to the students. †¢ New pension plans so as to shift the burden from the state to the individuals. ï  ¶ Introduction of pay-as-you-go scheme in the occupational structure, where the individual has to purchase and become a part of some pension benefit scheme (Taylor-Gooby, 2006). †¢ Increased housing ownership due to introduction of buyer-side subsidies. †¢ Capital account convertibility that helped the inflow foreign investments.

Assessment in Special Education Essay Example for Free

Assessment in Special Education Essay Abstract Sometimes the general education program alone is not able to meet the needs of a child with disabilities, and he/she may be able to receive special education services. The evaluation process can be a very difficult task when trying to identify if the child qualifies for special education, schools often have a pre-referral intervention process. The most prominent approached used today is the â€Å"response-to-Intervention† or RTI. Special Education teachers face many challenges when trying to meet the needs of special needs students in their classrooms. Methods of evaluation are a big concern and challenge for educators of special needs students today. In addition, meeting everyone’s needs is a difficult task to accomplish because of students’ diverse abilities in the classroom. This research paper will explore the different methods of assessment in special education programs and the best practices to help this children achieve their potential in an appropriate setting. Testing and assessment is an ongoing process with children in special education programs. Some of these assessments include, developmental assessments, screening tests, individual intelligence tests, individual academic achievement tests, adaptive behavior scales, behavior rating scales, curriculum-based assessments, end-of-grade, end-of-course, and alternate assessments. Comprehensive assessment of individual students requires the use of multiple data sources. These sources may also include standardized tests, informal measures, observations, student self-reports, parent reports, and progress monitoring data from response-to-intervention (RTI) approaches (NJCLD, 2005). The main purpose of a comprehensive assessment in the special education field is to accurately identify the strengths and needs of the students to help them be successful during their school years and there after. Legislation has played a big role in the shift towards functional assessment. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is also known as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act has played a big role in this matter. The IDEA legislation â€Å"needed to assure that students with disabilities receive free appropriate public education (FAPE) and the related services and support the need to achieve† (Jeffords 1). IDEA was created to make sure that disabled children are receiving fair and equal education and support. This act has several parts to it which include providing grants, funds early intervention services, and supports research and professional development programs. The No Child Left Behind Act: Impact on the Assessment of Special Education Student. After the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) moved into our schools there is a great deal of controversy that questions whether the act implemented by President George W. Bush is helping or hurting an already suffering school system. There are many dimensions of the NCLB act that have been questioned over the past decade; the fair assessment of students with disabilities is one of them. As the National Center for Fair Open Testing (NCFOT) reported, the public relations aspect of this act is strong. Prior to the Individuals with Disability Education Act of 1997 (IDEA) students in special education were exempt from participating in the statewide testing. However, the IDEA advocated that all students including those with special learning difficulties should be able to participate in testing. (Cahalan, 2003). Legislative Overview of Laws Protecting Special Education Students On January 8, 2002, President George W. Bush signed the NCLB act. In this act the federal government was for the first time in the history of the Department of Education putting an act into effect that would penalize schools that failed to meet adequate yearly progress (AYP). The AYP is a measuring system in which the federal government will look at the progress of the local government and school systems to decide whether or not that school, along with its teachers and students, has progressed and provided a high-quality education (Goldhaber, 2002). Through the NCLB act schools are held accountable for failing test scores and failure to improve their class average from one year to the next. The longer the school fails to meet required scores, the more the school will be held accountable, and the greater the consequence. For instance, a school that is unable to make their desired AYP and has not improved a significant amount within five years will then be subject to reconstruction. This reconstruction could include the government completely taking over the school and hiring new teachers and  teacher staff, leaving many teachers and staff unemployed (Goldhaber, 2002). Teachers and students in the special education department do have some laws however that helps them make testing less stressful. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 required that accommodations must be made for students with learning disabilities in order to be able to participate in the assessment (Cahalan, 2003). However, this leaves the question of what can be used as accommodations. Accommodations could include things such as test schedules and setting of the test, along with the format of the presentation. Also used to help the special education students and teachers is the individualized education plan (IEP). The Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act (IDEA) of 1991 would set into effect the idea of an IEP. An IEP is a plan that is set by a group of individuals that work closely with the student to design the educational format that is most appropriate for him/her (Cahalan, 2003). This does not take into account the type of disorder the student has but simply the student themselves. The individualized attention that is given with this plan provides the student with the correct instruction needed to be successful in education. These groups of individuals include the teacher, parent, school psychologist and anyone else that is closely related to the education of this student. The IEP members are, in most states, responsible in deciding which accommodations are important for each individual student (Cahalan, 2003). They, however, are not a part of deciding what accommodations will be provided for each student during the NCLB assessment. The laws described here were all implemented with the same goal in mind; to protect special education students and be sure their quality of education is the same as all other students. However some of these laws, including the NCLB, must be altered in order to truly give special needs students the education and assessment they deserve. Best Practices in Assessment of Special Education Students Students in special education programs should be included in the statewide assessments, as the IDEA of 1997 states. The IDEA also states that accommodations should be made to be sure that the student is able to fully understand the materials they are asked (Cahalan, 2003). There are four categories of test accommodations, presentation, response, timing, and  setting (Cahalan, 2003). Presentation is simply visual aids that help the student fully understand the context. These do not alter the questions of the test; they simply make it accessible for the students. Presentation accommodations include Braille, large-print, sign language interpreter, or reducing the number of questions per page (Cahalan, 2003). These simple accommodations make test taking less stressful, and therefore the material is better understandable by the student. However, no state has reported using them in their statewide assessments since the inception of the NCLB. In a study of over one thousand students it was found that using a video presentation to help understand the test showed a significant increase in their achievement (Cahalan, 2003). So why is the educational department not using these modifications that help so much? Another form of accommodation used in special education testing is response. It may be as simple as giving an oral response instead of a written one or it may mean that the test is dictated to the student by a recorder. These accommodations in no way alters the response that is given or received, it is still the same question being asked. Results have shown that by providing a reader special education students showed a significant improvement in their test score (Cahalan, 2003). The last two accommodations are setting and timing. The timing could include any extra time needed, breaks during the exam, or spreading the testing out through a few days instead of taking it all in one day. And the final accommodation is setting, which could include special furniture, lighting, or an individualized testing area (Cahalan, 2003). Even though there was no evidence to prove that setting and timing are important accommodations, it is well known that many special education students are tested in private rooms with more time. These accommodations should be accessible for special education students that need them to better their test taking skills. However, many states do not allow such accommodations to be made due to the misconceived conception that they change the contents of the test when in actuality they do not in any way alter the questions asked. BEST PRACTICES IN ASSESSMENT HANDOUT †¢Create a shared mission and goals statement that reflects an emphasis on student learning. †¢Focus on collaboration and teamwork. Faculty members must agree on assessment goals for planning to be meaningful. They may have to rise to a higher level of collaboration than may have been traditionally practiced in most departments. Collaboration within the department, across departments, and with higher administration will facilitate the best outcomes from assessment planning. All constituents must recognize that assessment skills must be developed and that colleagues can assist each other by sharing practices and strategies. †¢Clarify the purpose of assessment. Assessment can serve dual purposes: Assessment can promote student learning or provide evidence for accountability requirements through an evaluation of strengths and weaknesses. Wherever possible, students should experience a direct, positive benefit from their participation in assessment activities. †¢Identify clear, measurable, and developmental student learning †¢OUTCOMES. Explicit identification of learning expectations facilitates the departments coherence about their GOALS. Sharing those expectations explicitly with students can provide an effective learning scaffold on which students can build their experiences and render effective performance. †¢Use multiple MEASURES and sources consistent with resources. Effective assessment planning can only occur when properly supported with appropriate time, money, and recognition for good work. The expansiveness of the assessment plan will depend on those resources. As resources permit, additional MEASURES can be added to planning. These MEASURES address variations in learning style, differences in types of learning, and interests from varied stakeholders. †¢Implement continuous assessment with clear, manageable timelines. Better assessment practice involves spreading out assessment activity throughout the year and across years rather than conducting a marathon short-term assessment effort in a single year. Projecting a schedule of regular formal reviews can facilitate appropriate interim activity. †¢Help students succeed on assessment tasks. Students will fare best in assessment activities when faculty make expectations explicit, provide detailed instructions, and offer samples or models of successful performance. They will benefit most with opportunities to practice prior to assessment and when given detailed feedback about the quality of their performance. †¢Interpret and use assessment results appropriately. Assessment should be a stimulus for growth, renewal, and improvement, not an action that generates data to ensure positive outcomes. Linking funding to assessment outcomes may encourage artificial results. Assessment data should not be used for personnel decisions. If cross-institution comparisons are inevitable, care should be taken to ensure comparisons across comparable institutions (benchmarking). †¢Evaluate your assessment practices. Results from assessment activity should be evaluated to address their reliability, validity, and utility. Poor student performance can reflect limited learning or an ill-designed assessment process. Examining how effectively the assessment strategy meets departmental needs is a critical step in the evolution of the department plan. (Retrieved from www. caspercollege. edu/assessment/downloads/best_practices. pdf) The Effect of NCLB Assessments on Special Education Programs When the Department of Education was asked how they intend to insure that special education students will not be forced to take tests that are above their intelligence level under the NCLB act, they could not give a real solution. They simply said that there are accommodations available, and if the student’s disability is severe to the point that the accommodations will not help, there are alternate tests they can take (Education Week, 2003). However, the problem with this is that there is no clear definition as to who is able to receive these accommodations and who is able to receive the alternate assessment. Who decides this? And how handicapped must a student be in order to receive an alternate assessment? Even though special education students are not at the same intelligence level as their peers they are still placed in the same test group as them. The NCLB act does not include in its AYP percentage the failing percentage rate of special education students in each given population. Therefore, teachers and school administration are trying to make up for the percentage loss in special education departments. Some teachers are now, for the first time, being held accountable for failing test scores. This, in effect, causes teachers to alter their curriculum and teach to the test? (Goldhaber, 2002). By teaching to the test students are missing out on important curriculum information that may be overlooked completely or presented in short educational lecture in the middle of teaching test taking skills and other information that may be found on the assessments. Possible Improvement to the Assessment and Accountability. To improve the NCLB act we must first know what is wrong with the act. While the idea of leaving no child behind in education is a good plan, there are still a few loop holes that the president’s act needs to clear up. The students that are placed in the special education setting are usually there because they have a disability or are below average in their cognitive abilities. In order to be fair to these students the government must be sure that they have the same quality education as all other students, but the government must also realize that the curriculum of the material they are learning may in some cases be drastically different. With this knowledge, it must then be known that to accurately and fairly assess special education students the assessments must be built with the correct accommodations. In order for this to happen, those who design the tests must develop an exam that meets the needs of the student, and not the needs of the disorder. In other words, do not test a student as an autistic child but first look at their individual advantages and disadvantages according to each test taking skill. Some students may simply need more time, while others will need more time along with a person to read to them and interpret some larger word usage. It is all based on the student’s individual needs (Cahalan, 2003). In other words the decisions of the accommodations should be made by people that know the student on a personal level, and know what accommodations are present in their current education setting. As stated before, with some assessments the IEP will meet to determine what accommodations will be made for the students in that assessment, However, this is not the case in the NCLB assessments; but it should be. Those who are teaching and raising the child should be a part of the process of determining how the child is assessed and what accommodations are necessary (Washington, 2003). It is important for the education of future special education students that the Department of Education take into consideration the possible reforms that were suggested by many local government and teachers surrounding them. Improvements can be made to the assessment of special education, and should be made to be sure that all students are receiving a fair and adequate education. Disproportionate identification of minorities in some special education categories: When speaking of the learning disabled, minorities, one must consider some dimensions to the issue of assessment within a particularly specialized light. This special population reflects both the learning disabled (LD) and the minority that they belong to. This is largely the case within a practical context, although as the literature points out, pre-considerations must be afforded for minority students. To begin with, it is important to look at the many variables that exist within the aforementioned components. These components include English as a Second Language (ESL), socioeconomic level and finally the impact this has on teaching the learning disabled in a classroom setting and more specifically when employing the assistance of a translator. Curriculum-based assessment is hampered with some biases that can affect these students (Dolson, 1984). A childs race and ethnicity significantly influence the childs probability of being misidentified, misclassified, and inappropriately placed in special education programs. Research shows the relationship between race and ethnicity and other variables for students placement in special education classes. Variables such as language, poverty, assessment practices, systemic issues, and professional development opportunities for teachers have been cited as factors that play a role in disproportionate representation (emstac. org). Children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds should be able to receive an excellent and appropriate education. Some students are not included in special education programs, even though they have a disability that is affecting their ability to learn and they need special education help. Some CLD populations are also significantly under-represented in programs for the gifted and/or talented. In these instances, CLD groups are considered under-represented because the proportion of students from certain ethnic or racial groups who receive special services are significantly less than the number of these same students in the overall school population (U. S. Department of Education, 2004). Facts: †¢ Hispanics are under-identified within certain disability categories compared to their White peers (U. S. Department of Education, 2006). †¢ Asian/Pacific Islander students are actually less likely to be identified for special education services than other CLD populations (NABE, 2002). There are a number of possible action steps school personnel can take to ensure that individual assessments are conducted in a culturally responsive and nondiscriminatory manner (Klotz Canter 2006). Recommendations include: †¢Allowing more time. Assessments of students from diverse backgrounds require more time to gather important background information and allow for alternative and flexible procedures. †¢Gathering extensive background information. To provide a context for the evaluation, conduct a review of all available background information including: school attendance, family structure, household changes and moves, and medical, developmental, and educational histories. †¢Utilizing student progress monitoring data from Response-to-Intervention (RtI) or problem-solving processes. Data generated from a process that determines if the child responds to scientific evidence-based interventions should be included in a comprehensive evaluation. The National Research Council on Minority Representation in Special Education recommended the use of data from a systematic problem-solving process measuring the student’s response to high quality interventions (National Research Council, 2002, pp. 7-8). †¢Addressing the role of language. Determining the need for and conducting dual language assessments are essential steps in an evaluation process. This includes determining the student’s language history (i. e. , ages that the student spoke and heard various languages), dominance (i. e. , greatest language proficiency), and preference (i. e. , the language the student prefers to speak). †¢ Using nonverbal and alternative assessment strategies. When assessing students from CLD backgrounds, use standardized nonverbal cognitive and translated tests (when available in the target language). Additional assessment techniques, including curriculum-based assessments, test-teach-test strategies and in-direct sources of data, such as teacher and parent reports, portfolios, work samples, teacher/student checklists, informal interviews and observations, and classroom test scores are also helpful in completing an accurate, comprehensive evaluation (NEA, 2007). Bibliography Bush, President George W. (December 3, 2004). Bipartisan Special Education Reform Bill. Retrieved from http://www. ed. gov/news/newsletters/extracredit/ 2004/12/1203. html Cahalan, C. Morgan, D. L. (2003). Review of state policy for high stakes testing of students with disabilities on high school exit exams. Educational Testing Service. Department of Education. (2003). Title I ? Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged; Proposed Rule. (34 CFR Part 200). Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office. Dolson, David P. (1985). The Effect of Spanish Home Language Use on the Scholastic Performance of Hispanic Pupils. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, V. 6, No. 2,50. Fair Test. (2005). The National Center for Fair Open Testing. Retrieved from http://www. fairtest. org on October 12, 2011 Goldhaber, D. (2002). What might go wrong with the accountability measures of the? No Child Left Behind Act? The Urban Institute. IDEA Partnership. http://www. ideapartnership. org Klot z, M. B. Canter, A. (2006). Culturally Competent Assessment and Consultation. Retrieved October 2011 from: http://www.naspcenter. org/principals/Culturally%20Competent%20Assessment%20and%20Consultation%20NASSP. pdf. Improving accountability for limited English proficient and special education students under the No Child Left Behind Act. (2003). Washington Area School Study Council. National Association of School Psychology. (2007). The Truth in Labeling: Disproportionality Special Education. Retrieved from www. nea. org/books on October 15, 2011. National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities. (2001a). Issues in learning disabilities: Assessment and diagnosis. In Collective perspectives on issues affecting learning disabilities (2nd ed. , pp. 55–61). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed. (Original work published 1987) National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities. (2005). Responsiveness to intervention and learning disabilities. Available from www. ldonline. org/njcld. National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities. (2007). The documentation disconnect for students with learning disabilities: Improving access to postsecondary disability services. Available from www. ldonline. org/njcld National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems. (Fall 2005). Cultural considerations and challenges in response-to-intervention models. An NCCRESt position statement. Retrieved October 2011 From http://www. nccrest. org/PDFs/rti. pdf? v_document_name=Culturally%20Responsive%20RTI. No educator left behind: Testing special education students. (2003). Retrieved October 15, 2011, from http://www. education-world. com/a_issues/NELB/NELB025. shtml Olson, L. (2004). Data show schools making progress on federal goals. Education Week, 24, 24-28. Retrieved from http://www. edweek. org Tomes, H. Ph. D. (2004). In public interest: Are we really leaving no child behind? American Psychologist, 35, 31-35. Retrieved from www. apa. org on October 15, 2011 U. S. Department of Education. (2004). Twenty-fourth annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Washington, DC: Author.

Greek Mythology Views of Creation Essay Example for Free

Greek Mythology Views of Creation Essay The story of the creation of the universe has many different versions. In some cultures it is believed that the universe was created by the procreation of the Deathless Creatures. Other cultures believe that the creation of the universe resulted from a big bang in which all of the elements in the world gathered together to create a huge mass and then burst to create life. Lastly, and the most believed version, is that the creation of the universe came from a God who would create the world and everything in it. In the ancient cultures, the Greeks and Romans had many different versions of how the universe was created but most looked to the versions by Hesiod and Ovid. Hesiod was a famous oral poet in Ancient Greece. He is thought to have lived between 750 and 650 BC, but no one knows for sure. Along with Homer, Hesiod is believed to be the earliest of the Greek poets. But it is hard to prove which one had come first. Not only did his writings serve as entertainment, but they were also used in other aspects of Greek living. He taught them farming techniques and is believed to have been the first economist. Not only was he a businessman but he also was keen in astronomy and ancient time keeping. Hesiod is a very important man in Greek History and his early writings showcase his abilities. Theogony by Hesiod gives a Greek version of the creation of the universe. In this book, Hesiod describes how the entire universe was created from the Deathless Creature, Gaia. But he described that before Gaia came, the only thing that was in existence was Chaos. â€Å"In truth at first Chaos came to be† (Hesiod, Theogony 116). According to Theogony, Chaos suddenly rose out of nothing. Hesiod talks about how me might have been created from the area between Gaia, earth, and Tartarus, a massive pit in the earth below the underworld. After Chaos, Gaia was the next creature to be created. It was created as a place for the Gods and mortals to live in peace and harmony. With Gaia came the terrain of the world. The next Deathless Creature that came was Tartarus, a massive pit in the earth below the underworld. Ironically, Tartarus is where Zeus would banish all of the Deathless Creatures. What interested me is that the next Deathless Creature from Hesiod’s story of creation is Eros. Eros is the personification of love. I started to wonder how all of the other gods were created if there was no such thing as procreation at the time. And then I did some research and learned that before Eros the Gods were created through parthenogenesis. According to Webster’s Dictionary, Parthenogenesis is â€Å"development of an egg without fertilization†. This occurs when a male and female specimen is not needed to create an embryo. Just like the hammerhead or the blacktip shark, which can procreate without a male being. Eros changed the ways of the world with love. Chaos had many children, including Erebus and Nyx. Erebus and Nyx were born roughly around the same. Erebus was the male personification of the darkness while Nyx was the female personification of the night. Erebus and Nyx then went on to have children, Aether, the atmosphere and Hemera, the day. From Chaos came forth Erebus and black Night Nyx; of Night were born Aether being the bright upper atmosphere and Day Hemera, whom she conceived and bore from union with Erebus her brother (Hesiod 11. 116-138). The next lines in Theogony talk about Gaia giving birth to two children, Pontus and Uranus. All of the creatures represent something, this trend continues with Gaia’s children. Pontus represents the sea and Uranus represents the heavens. She created them so that she would be covered. Finally, after all of the deathless creatures were created, Gaia and Uranus came together to make the first real gods, which were known as the Titans. There were twelve Titans in all and are referred to as the second generation. The male Titans were: Oceanus, Hyperion, Coeus, Cronus, Crius, and Lapetus. The female Titans were: Mnemosyne, Tethys, Theia, Phoebe, Rhea, and Themis. Along with the twelve Titans, there were also three Cyclopes and three Hekatonkheires born. In Hesiod’s Theogony, Uranus was so disgusted by his children, the Hekatonkheires, that he banished them somewhere in Gaia. Gaia was so upset that she told her Titans to punish their father. The only one that was willing to do so was the youngest, Cronus. He castrated his father as revenge. From the castration many more creatures were born. For example, the furies were born from the blood that was spread all throughout the Earth and Aphrodite was born when Cronus threw the severed private parts into the Sea. The third and final Generation to be born from the deathless creatures was the children of Cronus and Rhea. It was prophesized to him that one of his children would over throw him. Cronus took preemptive measures and thought out an ingenious plan of swallowing his children after they were born. He had six children and one-by-one he would swallow them. His first-born child was named Hestia who was subsequently eaten. Soon to follow in her path were Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon. Zeus was the last child to be born, but Rhea could not stand to see another one of her children eaten so she replaced him with a stone. The poem does not state how, but Cronus puked up the remaining five children and they all waged war on their father. Zeus would eventually win and become king. He would then do what many of the other gods had done and banish his father. He sent them all to the bottom of Tartarus where they would never be able to escape. Hesiod’s Theogony first starts off the creation process by bringing darkness, Chaos, and creating things from that. Then it gets into the procreation of the brothers and sisters, and mothers and sons. From that point, the Olympic gods mate with each other and mortal humans as well. This is one version of the Greek story of the Creation of the Universe. Ovid is a Roman poet and in his poem, Metamorphoses, it also speaks of the creation of the universe. In his poem, he splits up the human race into Four Ages: Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages. They tell of different times in the universe’s history. At first, there is nothing. Then a god comes and organizes everything and puts it where it’s supposed to be. For example, he puts fire in the farthest part of the universe and so forth. Ovid then gives 3 stories of how mankind was created recreated. First, It then talks about how the god, Prometheus, created the human race as a replica of the God. Then Ovid talks about a war that goes on between the gods and the Giants. During that war the giants stack mountains on top of each other to reach Mount Olympus. But Zeus then knocks over the pile of mountains and all of the Giants are crushed under the rubble. Meanwhile, their blood seeps through the earth. From the blood, humans arose. The final form of creation that Ovid speaks of occurs after the flood. Zeus is upset with the Humans and wants to kill all of them. He sends a massive flood to the earth to wipe them all out. When he comes to a hill he sees two pious people and decided to let them live. The two survivors, Deucalion and Pyrrha, are the ones with recreate the human race. They take the mother bones and throw them over their shoulders. From each bone, a human would sprout up. In the Bible, the story of Genesis talks about the creation of the universe. It states the God created the universe in sex days and rested on the seventh. On each day God creates a different thing. The last thing he creates was the human race. He created them last and they were created as an image of God. According to the two poems and the chapter in the Bible, the story of the creation of the universe happened it three very different ways. In Hesiod’s version, the world and nature around it all came from Mother Earth, Gaia. And the human race came from the love that was spread by Aphrodite and Eros. In Ovid’s version, the world was a chaotic mess and it was an unknown god that restored order into the world. The bible is the only version to give a time of how long it took to create the world and everything in it. Even though there are many differences in the stories, there are also a lot of similarities as well One similarity that all of the accounts of creation hold are the human race was last to be created in all versions. Mankind came after everything in the world was created for them. Another similarity is that the humans were created as an image of God. Lastly, the final similarity that comes from all the versions is; the universe started off as nothing (pure darkness) and then a god came and began the process of creation. In conclusion, Hesiod’s version of creation takes about the promiscuous ways of the gods and titans. Their promiscuity is what created the world and everything in it. According to Ovid’s version, an unknown god created the world and everything in it and gives stories of how the humans were created and recreated. In the Book of Genesis, God created the world in seven days; as well as everything in it. All three versions of creation did have some differences in their stories, but in they all ended with the creation of mankind. Works Cited Hesiod, and Norman Oliver Brown. Theogony;. New York: Liberal Arts, 1953. Print. Hesiods Creation Myth. Women in Greek Myths. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. . Ovidius, and Mary M. Innes. The Metamorphoses of Ovid. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin, 1985. Print. Separating, By. Xeno. ovid2. Larryavisbrown. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. . SparkNotes: Metamorphoses: Plot Overview. SparkNotes: Todays Most Popular Study Guides. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. . Theogony. Free Book Reviews | Book Summaries | Shvoong Summaries Reviews. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. . The Theogony of Hesiod. Internet Sacred Text Archive Home. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. .

Young Goodman Brown vs. Yellow Wallpaper

Young Goodman Brown vs. Yellow Wallpaper A young, innocent man who bids his farewell to his wife before traversing through the dark, gloomy forest of Salem for an unknown errand. Young Goodman Brown, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is known to be a man that is heavily rooted in his faith and shows no temptation, reacting in such repulsion as he not only deepens further into the woods, but uncovers the secrecy of sins and evil within the people of his village. His wife, Faith, a representation of all purity and innocence was seen to be his savior through his confusions of tainted evil minds of every person in the world. Unfortunately, his woman of sanctuary turned out to be one of them, leaving him with no hope of redemption. His ultimate awaken to Faith signified his true relationships with his faith and everyone in the village of Salem. The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, talks about Janes deep and long-drawn depression and her marriage that only worsens her mental health. Her husband, John, demands a treatment to cope with her mental illness by placing her into a room with a chaotic, disturbing yellow wallpaper. The narrator at first detests the wallpaper, but as a day passes by, she becomes totally drawn into the patterns as well as the faint image behind the wallpaper. This unknown image soon becomes entangled with her paranoid mind. Eventually, she sees that the picture has come to be a woman that happens to be trapped behind bars which significantly reciprocates back to her own situation. Much of the setting takes place in a mansion inhabited by the narrator and John, the narrators husband. From the hallucinations of the devil and the blasphemous surroundings in the forest to the wild imaginations of a trapped woman behind the yellow wallpaper; both stories depend upon illusions, repressed sexuality, and ends somewhat of similar purpose by having the two protagonists rejecting the world at the end. Feminist theory and archetypical usages are also both heavily integrated into either of both short stories. Feminist theory is the analyzation of gender inequality through the extension of feminism into a theoretical, fictional, or philosophical discussion. Archetypes are mainly composed of universal symbols that represent patterns of human nature through typical prototypes of character, theme, symbols, settings, actions, and/or symbols. Although Hawthorne illustrates the madness behind every character surrounding Young Goodman Brown while Gilman descends into her own mental madness, in both cases, the authors are firm on the idea to have readers focused towards the desired g oalthe dilemma of the main character. Does Young Goodman Brown really encounter the devil as he walks through the evil woods? Or was the evil man of the creature just his imagination? Hawthorne expresses that the fiend in his own shape is less hideous when he rages in the breasts of men, (Hawthorne). As Brown develops an intrinsic judgment and knowing that all sins and evil can derive from any being including him, he becomes very accepting of this evil man of a creature. Does Jane really see this woman behind the disturbing yellow wallpaper? Or was she just hallucinating? Taking the place of Gilmans character, the woman is the same woman, I know, for she is always creeping, and most women do not creep by daylight, (Gilman). The narrator begins to hallucinate and believes that she has seen the woman creeping secretively outside in the sunlight. Both stories depend on illusions or possible illusions. Repressed sexuality is depicted as Hawthorne criticizes women in a negative aspect in Young Goodman Brown. In the beginning, they perceived the notion of an archetypal maiden wife, Faith, as an innocent and pure lady with pink ribbons on her. Faith wants Brown to remain with her for the night but rejects her and he goes to fulfill his duties. Throughout the book, Brown soon uncovers the truth about Faiths religious perspective which negatively digs into his inner turmoil. Another example is Goody Cloyse, a respected Salem Puritans, along with many other hypocritical villagers, who becomes another victim of uncovered truths. That old woman taught me my catechism, (Hawthorne).   He discovered that she was not what he perceived her to be which the author instilled on the readers mind that everything is not what it seemed. On the other hand, the anecdote of Jane explains both her desires and resentment of John. Notably, he disregards all of her feelings and does what he thinks is best. John is away all day and even some nights when his cases are serious. I am glad my case is not serious, (Gilman). Gilman explains that while she deals with her outside feminist perspective of oppression. Her inability to pull herself out of her mental deficiency also adds her personal feminist oppression. The room itself oppresses the female protagonist. The failed judgement of men in women is another thing that bring two both stories together. In The Yellow Wallpaper, Perkins identified John as not only a physician, but his viewpoints as one. He denies all certain activities or writing for his wife even though it would only worsen her mental conditions. John is depicted as very analytical and scientific, in thought, yet he fails to see anything seriously wrong about Jane and the lack of communication hinders the two as well. The lacked essential of the ability of John to truly listen his wifes needs is the ultimate source of conflict in the story. In Young   Goodman Brown, Browns beliefs are tested to the fullest extent. Not only that, but the blinded trust he had in his wife madly triggered his inner turmoil when he discovered that she had succumb into the temptation and the involvement of witchcraft. Browns want of faith is what significantly takes a huge turn when he no longer can turn to the most important figure he had i n his life. Insanity is another topic found in both of the stories. Insanity is usually explained as not sane or sound of mind, but mentally deranged. Each of story takes place in a prison-described environment that includes the protagonist suffering from some form of insanity. Both authors concluded with Browns mentally deranged traumatic experience of the woods and Janes everlasting depression and paranoia was the case of both characters inner conflict. From isolation to insanity, the torment within ones outlook on reality becomes disrupted of stability, confidence, moral beings, and the state of mind. In Browns case, he basically questions his own thoughts and purpose for existence that it becomes unbearable when he find out that each corruption eventually shatters the foundation of every relationship he has built upon within his community. For Jane, the detachment from society and being unable to interact or relate to other in meaningful ways already forces her to be in her own state of conf inement. Confining to inner thoughts and emotions eventually leads to unhappiness and insanity for both protagonists of the story. Regarding symbolism, the journey is a major result of the downfall of Young Goodman Brown. The journey always explains how the hero descends from his residents and embarks on this quest that leads to uncovering the blackest truth. It is usually an errand that is unknown to the wife and serves an evil purpose. The ritual meant to be an organized ceremony involves honored members of a given community and an initiate. In Browns case, he views the evil assembly as an awakening part to his perspective as he sees Faith participating in such forbidden actions. The use of myths and archetypes in The Yellow Wallpaper features the wallpaper itself. Yellow is often associated with the symbolic meaning of creative, energy, consciousness, and possible enlightenment. The creativeness and energy have taken towards a darker point, and Jane is only fixated to her dark inner consciousnessthe woman in the yellow wallpaper. Imagery such as a smoldering unclean yellowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ dull yet lurid orange in some places, a sickly sulfur tint, (Gilman). These symbols have an effect on both characters that result in the defiance of all social norms and the trivialized purpose in their actions. Brown manages to live in the world, albeit in an emotionally cramped, pushed-away fashion after his journey. Jane, on the contrary, is unable to deal with her feelings. A sense that there can be no reconciliation between her and her doctor husband, leaving her to deal with her mental insanity in isolation. The note of despair of both characters is carried through differently. Settings in both stories are undeniably similar in the way of their lasting impacts on the protagonists. The forest in Young Goodman Brown contained many evil descriptions. People with frightful soundsthe creaking of trees the howling of wild beasts, and the yell of Indians, (Hawthorne). Young Goodman Brown must venture the forest and reveal the true meaning of the people of the Salem Villagesecrecy of sins and unjust hypocrisy. Perkins described the room of The Yellow Wallpaper as the opposite of what is thought to be flamboyant, committing artistic sins. When you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide, (Perkins). The symbol of the wallpaper mirrors that of the mythological labyrinth. The narrator must journey through the wallpaper as she would a labyrinth and find the secrets for her and herself only. Both protagonists rebel against the revolting surroundings which ultimately leads to both of their downfalls. As Young Goodman Brown uncovers the evil nature of the devilish figure among each person, the resisted temptation to turn towards the dark side grows weaker by the moment. The effects of sins during the ritual forever tainted his opinions of good and bad. Though it may seem as his journey through the woods may be a possible dream and that it is only all of his illusions, Brown was able to grow from a realistic standpoint through seeing the true colors in even the most trustworthy men and women. Brown was able to   see all the practical nature of people and their daily acts of sins including his loving, innocent Faith. He was also able to acknowledge that the Devil is, in fact, capable of taking a form of his father, distinguished members, and even himself. With each prevailing of truths inch a step closer to the theme: public morality is strongly corrupted when ones privacy of weak faith has been discovered. As Jane completes the tearing of the yellow wallpaper so that the woman could escape behind bars, she estranges herself to the idealization that she is in fact, the woman in that wallpaper. The detailing of Janes mental and emotional decline lacks the expression and her frustration in the inability to assert her independence that only result into her own grief and mourn for freedom. The more time she spends isolated in her room by herself, the more she was able to grow resilient towards her disturbing output on the wallpaper. Eventually using her interpretation of the place as guidance towards what is needed to be done in order to cope with her mental illnesses. Significantly, The Yellow Wallpaper examines the marginalized roles that deny women of their own self-expression under the corrupted societal gender norms. In the end, both characters concluded the situations by rejecting themselves from the world. Young Goodman Brown becomes very bitter and cynical upon his society whereas Jane descends into her own dementia away from society. When both characters are put through a situation, unable to escape their problems and force to face their emotional toll, Goodman Brown and Jane acts in total urgency to do whatever they can in order to reprimand themselves. Two entirely different stories yet both charactersfacing their own dilemmashave reached what was underlying for the both of them. Through the illusions, the oppressions, and the denial of both characters problems, Hawthorne and Perkins describe their stories with such introvertedly explained problems that cause the physical situations necessarily to take matters into their own hands. Jane essentially breaks free from her husband and recovers from her dementia while Young Goodman Browns faith in Faith fades away, realizing that he has to guide him through his own faith in God. Even if everyone else no longer does.

Study of Genetics Essay -- Biology, Genomics Era, Kenaf

1 INTRODUCTION Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) is a type of fiber crop (Dempsey, 1975) and is commercially cultivated in more than 20 countries, particularly in India, China, Thailand and Vietnam (Fao, 2008). World production of kenaf and allied fibers reported as 3,251,125 tons in 2009 (Fao, 2011). Kenaf has a wide range of applications in making biocopmosite board, textile, industrial filters, and high-quality paper. Malaysia is one of the main exporters of timber and timber based products in the world. Renewable resource for biocomposite and timber based products in Malaysia is one of the essentials in agriculture sector. Kenaf has been considered as a potential renewable source for biocomposite making industry in Malaysia. Furthermore, kenaf has been considered as a valuable substitute for tobacco plantation in Malaysia. Kenaf production is increased from 1,163 tons in 2005 to 4,185 tons in 2007 as reported by Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister's Department, Malaysia (2008). Lack of suitable kenaf varieties for Malaysian climate is one the challenges that hinder kenaf integration. Kenaf varieties have not been extensively evaluated in Malaysia. The number of kenaf commercialized varieties is limited in the world. Besides, very few studies have been conducted on genetic control of fiber yield and fiber quality of kenaf. Understanding of the inheritance and genetic control of the fiber yield and quality will help in structuring breeding strategy to develop cultivars with improved fiber yield and quality. New tools and methods have been introduced to facilitate quantitative genetic studies, particularly in the study of complex traits. In genomics era, plant breeders benefited from new technologies and advances i... ...echnology to detect DNA melting behavior and developments in saturating DNA dyes, made possible to accurately plot and analyze melting behavior of targeted DNA (Vossen et al., 2009). High resolution melting (HRM) is a post PCR technique which can be used for high throughput mutation scanning and genotyping (Gundry, 2003). HRM curve analysis procedure can be used for SNP detection (Becsà ¡gh et al., 2010; De Koeyer et al., 2010; Lehmensiek et al., 2008; Miyamoto et al.; Rouleau et al., 2009; Studer et al., 2009a; Ujino-Ihara et al., 2010; Wittwer et al., 2003; Wittwer, 2009). Applicability of HRM curve analysis for genotyping of plants using SNP markers recently have been reported by many researcher (De Koeyer et al., 2010; Ganopoulos et al., 2010; Hofinger et al., 2009; Lehmensiek et al., 2008; Picard and Bosco, 2008; Studer et al., 2009b; Ujino-Ihara et al., 2010).

The sandinista Revolution Essay -- essays research papers

During the forty-three year Somoza dictatorship a revolution was proved inevitable. During the period of the Somoza regime many conflicts between the government and the people arose. Some of these conflicts were mainly with the National Guard, but in 1978 conflicts hit its climax. In 1978, Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, a salient newspaper editor and leader to the Somoza opposition was assassinated; it is believed that by one of Somoza’s business man. This mans death gave a deep feeling of commotion throughout the country, establishing a nation wide strike against the Somoza government. The National Guard responded to the attacks by assassinating many civilians and violating many others rights. On August 1978, a Sandinista Commando (headed by Eden Pastora) seized control of the national palace,...

German Expressionism and Its Roots :: essays papers

German Expressionism and Its Roots Personal freedom and alternative thinking -- these were the conditions in Weimar Republic Germany during the heyday of the Expressionist movement in film. Spanning the years 1909-1924, theirs was a time of revolution (in Russia and Germany), war (World War I), and reaction (the rise of National Socialism in Germany). Anxious about the disintegration of their culture, filmmakers such as F.W. Murnau, Robert Wiene, and Ernst Lubitsch used cinema to create new forms of visual representation, exploring the possibility of reversing power relations through the look. The cinematic Expressionist movement in Germany is generally considered to be the classic period of German cinema; many Expressionist works are included in the canon of the world’s greatest films. From Lubitsch’s masterpieces â€Å"Passion† (1919) and â€Å"Deception† (1920), through Wiene’s famous â€Å"The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari† (1919), to Murnau’s brilliant â€Å"The Last Laugh† (1924) and â€Å"Nosferatu† (1922), there has rarely been a movement of such consistent inspiration and achievement. Expressionism in cinema, as in the other arts, attempts to â€Å"reappropriate an alienated universe by transforming it into a private, personal vision.† With that in mind, Expressionist cinema tried to deepen the audience’s interaction with the film, combining technology and imaginative filming techniques in order to intensify the illusion of reality. The Expressionists practically reinvented the look of film with innovative and unusual editing rhythms, perspectivally distorted sets, exaggerated gestures, and the famous â€Å"camera unchained† -- a new technique that allowed the camera to move within the scene, vastly increasing the accessibility of the character’s subjective point of view. The Expressionists developed new habits of seeing,

Schoolbooks and the Female Stereotype

In the United States schoolbooks tend to show females as a passive and dependent creatures, who are used to serve males. A University of California professor claims that the most widely-used textbooks demonstrate girls in an inferior position to boys. Louise White, of the U. S. Office of Education expresses that because of a strong stereotype most girls think themselves as a servant who only does four jobs – nurse, secretary, teacher and mother. Lenore Weitzman points out that different types of texts were examined and the result was the next: boys are shown in a good way with great qualities and the girls play a passive role usually hidden in the house. If they are together, the girls are either watching the boys do something or they are helping them. Adult men are addressed with various skillful jobs. Elementary texts failed to reflect the complexities of the mother and housewife jobs, in spite of the fact that these â€Å"jobs† are simple but time-consuming. A study was done including many books, companies and stories, and this survey shows that the role of a housewife is a burden done by the women, but for them, this is the only source of happiness. In illustrations women are in a hard and unpleasant position while working, but, the typical father is the â€Å"good guy† who is the fount of all happiness. Professor Weitzman says that young girls tend to think themselves to serve others and have a good-look in order to please others. However, they are generally better than boys by the time they reach adolescence they are getting worse than boys.

Cisco Systems, Inc Essay

Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American-based multinational corporation that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking and communications technology and services. Headquartered in San Jose, California, Cisco has more than 65,000 employees and annual revenue of US$40. 0 billion as of 2010. The stock was added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average on June 8, 2009, and is also included in the S&P 500 Index the Russell 1000 Index, NASDAQ100 Index and the Russell 1000 Growth Stock Index. [4] Cisco is one of the world’s biggest technology corporations. Corporate history One of the many buildings on the Cisco Systems campus in San Jose Len Bosack and Sandy Lerner, a married couple who worked as computer operations staff members at Stanford University, later joined by Richard Troiano, founded Cisco Systems in 1984. Lerner moved on to direct computer services at Schlumberger, moving full time to Cisco in 1987. The name â€Å"Cisco† was derived from the city name, San Francisco, which is why the company’s engineers insisted on using the lower case â€Å"cisco† in the early days. For Cisco’s first product, Bosack adapted multiple-protocol router software originally written some years before by William Yeager, another Stanford employee who later joined Sun Microsystems. The company’s first CEO was Bill Graves, who held the position from 1987 to 1988. [5] In 1988, John Morgridge was appointed CEO, and succeeded in 1995 by John Chambers. While Cisco was not the first company to develop and sell a router,[6] it was one of the first to sell commercially successful routers supporting multiple network protocols. [7] As the Internet Protocol (IP) became widely adopted, the importance of multi-protocol routing declined. Today, Cisco’s largest routers are primarily used to deliver IP packets. In 1990, the company was listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Lerner was fired; as a result Bosack quit after receiving $200 million. Most of those profits were given to charities and the two later divorced. Cisco acquired a variety of companies to bring in products and talent into the company. Several acquisitions, such as Stratacom, were the biggest deals in the industry when they occurred. During the Internet boom in 1999, the company acquired Cerent Corporation, a start-up company located in Petaluma, California, for about US$7 billion. It was the most expensive acquisition made by Cisco to date, and only the acquisition of Scientific-Atlanta has been larger. Several acquired companies have grown into $1Bn+ business units for Cisco, including LAN switching, Enterprise Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP), and home networking. Cisco acquired Linksys in 2003. In late March 2000, at the height of the dot-com boom, Cisco was the most valuable company in the world, with a market capitalization of more than US$500 billion. [8][9] In July 2009, with a market cap of about US$108. 3 billion,[10] it is still one of the most valuable companies. [11] The company was a 2002-03 recipient of the Ron Brown Award,[citation needed] a U. S. presidential honor to recognize companies â€Å"for the exemplary quality of their relationships with employees and communities†. In 2010, Cisco bought Starent Networks, a mobile technology company and Moto Development Group, a product design consulting firm that helped develop Cisco’s Flip video camera. [12] The Company has built its Globalization Centre East in Bangalore for $1 billion and 20% of Cisco’s leaders will be based there.