Monday, September 30, 2019

3 Is the Answer

A Christmas Memory Multiple Choice Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. Comprehension The questions below refer to the selection â€Å"A Christmas Memory. † ____1. Buddy and his friend keep their money — a. |at Mr. Haha Jones’s house|c. |buried in the pecan orchard| b. |in the local bank’s Christmas club|d. |under a floorboard beneath the bed| ____2. Buddy and his friend give fruitcakes to everyone except — a. |the relatives they live with|c. |people who visit them only once| b. |a bus driver|d. |President Roosevelt| ____3.Which of the following statements best describes Buddy’s friend? a. |Fashion is her passion. |c. |Big cities fascinate her. | b. |She has strong feelings about God. |d. |She spends a lot of time at the movies. | ____4. Buddy compares his friend to a bantam hen because she is — a. |always poking her â€Å"beak† into things|c. |small and sprightly| b. |not very intellige nt|d. |as flighty as a bird| ____5. When it comes to his other relatives, Buddy — a. |barely acknowledges their existence| b. |feels very close to them| c. |is jealous of the attention they pay to his cousin| d. feels that they offer him a lot of support| ____6. Which adjective best applies to Buddy’s friend? a. |unstable|c. |elegant| b. |generous|d. |cruel| ____7. Which of the following items is not an activity that binds the two friends together? a. |Flying kites|c. |Making decorations| b. |Traveling|d. |Drinking whiskey| ____8. Toward the end of the story, Buddy is separated from his friend. Why? a. |He runs away from home. | b. |His friend is sent to the hospital to suffer her last illness. | c. |A letter from President Roosevelt invites Buddy’s friend to the White House. | d. Buddy is sent to military school by his relatives. | ____9. Which sentence tells you that Buddy’s friend has died? a. |â€Å"A morning arrives . . . when she cannot rouse herse lf to exclaim: ‘Oh my, it’s fruitcake weather! ’†| b. |â€Å"The other Buddy died in the 1880s, when she was still a child. †| c. |â€Å"I wrapped her in a Fine Linen sheet and rode her in the buggy down to Simpson’s pasture where she can be with all her Bones. †| d. |â€Å"I’ll wager at the very end a body realizes the Lord has already shown Himself. †| ____10. Which image from the story appeals to the sense of smell? a. â€Å"sweet, oily, ivory meat mounts in the milk-glass bowl. †| b. |â€Å"A straw cartwheel corsaged with velvet roses out-of-doors has faded. . . .†| c. |â€Å"a hateful heap of bitter-odored pennies. †| d. |â€Å"words tumbling together into a wrathful tune. . . .†| Literary Focus The questions below refer to the selection â€Å"A Christmas Memory. † ____11. Which custom is a major part of the setting and mood of â€Å"A Christmas Memory†? a. |Kissing under the mistletoe|c. |Making and giving gifts| b. |Listening for Santa Claus’s sleigh|d. |Inviting friends to a Christmas party| ____12. What is the difference between tone and mood? . |They are synonyms; there is no real difference. | b. |Tone expresses how an author feels; mood is how an author makes the reader feel. | c. |Tone appeals to the sense of hearing; mood appeals to the sense of sight. | d. |Mood can be created through setting, but tone cannot. | ____13. How are flapjacks and hominy grits part of the setting of â€Å"A Christmas Memory†? a. |They show the traits and attitudes of the two main characters. | b. |The fact that they are described makes them part of the setting. | c. |They help show the customs of characters in a certain time and place. d. |The images of these foods are so detailed, a reader can almost taste them. | ____14. All of the following places are part of the setting of â€Å"A Christmas Memory† except a(n)  Ã¢â‚¬â€ a. |forest|c. |attic | b. |riverside cafe|d. |church| Completion Complete each statement. Vocabulary Development On the line provided, write the word that best completes each sentence. inaugurating|dilapidated|paraphernalia|sacrilegious|carnage| prosaic|disposition|exhilarates|suffuse|noncommittal| 15. The smells of baking and the freshly cut trees ____________________ the old kitchen. 16.Buddy’s friend has a strong faith and never says anything ____________________. 17. Buddy’s friend might be considered ____________________ by some people, but he thinks she is the most special person on earth. 18. The ____________________ baby buggy serves them well. 19. Killing flies to earn money results in a ____________________ of bugs. Short Answer Constructed Response 20. Choose a favorite passage from â€Å"A Christmas Memory. † On a separate sheet of paper, identify its setting, and state what you think the mood of the passage is. Referring to specific images, explain how the setting helps create that mood.A Christmas Memory Answer Section MULTIPLE CHOICE 1. ANS:DPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 1 (plot) 2. ANS:APTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 1 (plot) 3. ANS:BPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 4. 1 (characterization) 4. ANS:CPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 7. 7 (figurative language) 5. ANS:APTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 4. 2 (character interactions) 6. ANS:BPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 4. 1 (characterization) 7. ANS:BPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 4. 2 (character interactions) 8. ANS:DPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 1 (plot) 9. ANS:APTS:1OBJ:9. 2. 1. 11 (making inferences) 10. ANS:CPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 7. 8 (imagery) 11. ANS:CPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 3 (setting and mood/atmosphere) 12. ANS:BPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 3 (setting and mood/atmosphere) | 9. . 7. 19 (tone) 13. ANS:CPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 3 (setting and mood/atmosphere) 14. ANS:DPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 3 (setting and mood/atmosphere) COMPLETION 15. ANS:suffuse PTS:1OBJ:9. 3. 3 (context clues) 16. ANS:sacrilegious PTS:1OBJ:9. 3. 3 (context clues) 17. ANS:prosaic PTS:1OBJ:9. 3. 3 (context clues) 18. ANS:dilapidated PTS:1OBJ:9. 3. 3 (context clues) 19. ANS:carnage PTS:1OBJ:9. 3. 3 (c ontext clues) SHORT ANSWER 20. ANS: Students’ responses will vary. A sample response follows: A favorite passage of mine is the one in which Buddy and his friend shell pecans for their fruitcakes.It’s set in the kitchen on a November morning after the characters have gathered the nuts in the woods. To me the mood is one of finding joy in the midst of a cold, lonely place. Other people don’t seem to be around, but the kitchen is warmed by the fire and filled with the characters’ joy and friendship. There’s a contrast between light and dark in this paragraph—the rising moon and the fire on one hand, the growing darkness of the night on the other—that seems to me to show the delicate balance between happiness and loneliness in the characters.The image of the characters’ reflections in a dark mirror, mingling with the rising moon, sum that up for me. In that dark mirror there’s a hint of another mood—the bittersweet m ood of the adult Buddy looking nostalgically back at his childhood and a few precious moments, fully aware that as the events of the story seeded the rich emotional life that sustained him as a boy, so those same moments, the empty shells of his memories, now feed the transforming fire that makes him a writer. PTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 3 (setting and mood/atmosphere) | 9. 1. 7. 8 (imagery)

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Gattaca and 1984 Insight

Stephanie Sadaka Mr. Sisti April 26th, 2010 ENG 4U1 Literary Insight Paper After reading the novel 1984 and watching the movie Gattaca, I was able to perceive many concepts and similarities and differences between both pieces of art. Gattaca, directed by Andrew Niccol, shows a story of a society where life is controlled by genetics, rather than education or experiences. Based on your DNA, society determines where you belong, and your future. This allows no room for people to gain experiences and to grow, as they are confined to a specific lifestyle. It is evident however in the film that Vincent tries to violate societies’ structure, by playing the role of a navigator, using his blood samples and urine. George Orwell, the author of 1984, shows a similar concept, where life is controlled by the Party and where the main character, Winston, tries to defy the Party. Although it is obvious that both works have a dystopian society, the societies within it struggle to achieve a utopian society instead. Through its intense depiction of struggles to fit in and altering way of life to be accepted in society, Gattaca enhanced my understanding of the impact that surveillance has in 1984 and how it has limited the people to prosper in life within society. Due to the dystopian society, the totalitarian government is enforcing surveillance which plays a negative impact on the characters and the plot. Throughout the novel 1984, it is noticeable that surveillance throughout the city plays a deep role in the growth of the characters. Surveillance had an underlying impact on the love connection between the main characters Winston and Julia. When engaging in a love affair, it is vital to spend time with one another and to show affection. The surveillance that the Party has enforced upon the society hindered their love connection and the ability to pursue a serious relationship. By not allowing citizens to show love and affection to one another, they are enforcing loneliness and isolation within the society, which ultimately leads to the lack of social skills and ability to care or love. Gattaca allowed me to understand this issue in 1984, because in the film Gattaca, the love between Vincent and Irene was kept a secret from society as they couldn’t show love and affection towards one another in public. This caused them to rebel against society, by meeting up secretly and showing affection towards one another outside the public eye. The surveillance that the Party enforced within society did not allow the people to enjoy hobbies or areas of work they may excel in. Instead of allowing citizens to spend time doing things they may enjoy, they obligated them to do what the Party needs. This is obviously shown when Winston is trying to write in his journal in his room. Instead of freely writing about the topic of his choice, he sits in the corner to write because he fears the consequences that the Party may enforce on him if they found out. Gattaca opened me up to this idea due to the fact that Vincent’s dream is to travel to space, yet due to his genetic make up, society does not permit him to do what he enjoys. People are under surveillance at all times, therefore they may never experience what they enjoy due to the constant fear of being caught. Not only did Gattaca allow me to view a different side of how love and hobbies may be restricted due to surveillance, it has also given me a view on how surveillance causes people to change who they truly are. Instead of expressing their true selves and bringing forth their assets to society, the characters are wearing a mask around others, by acting or pretending to be like someone they are not. Vincent in Gattaca is hiding his true identity in society in order to pursue his life long dream of travelling to space. In order not to get caught, he must mirror the life of another character and must not let society find out his true identity. This broadened my understanding about the Party’s surveillance on society and the effect it had on the growth of the characters. Due to the Party’s constant surveillance over people, the characters are hiding their true selves and playing the role as a perfect citizen in front of the cameras, as they are confined to a specific lifestyle and in order not to face the Party’s consequences. Throughout the novel, Winston is always hiding his thoughts about the Party and about Big Brother, although he is completely against it. However, in order to ensure that he does not get caught, he must act as though he loves them and agrees with their power over society. Surveillance is shaping these characters to be a perfect representation of what they are expected to be, instead of being who they are. In conclusion, it is evident that surveillance has taken a toll on the characters in these pieces of art. Gattaca helped me understand and notice the severe impact that surveillance has on society and the impact it has on the lives of the citizens in 1984. The characters are covering their true selves in order to be accepted and to fit within the society. Not only is surveillance restricting their ability to show love and affection, it is also preventing the characters from expressing what they enjoy, and being who they are by living to their full potential. This new perspective has helped me understand the underlying significance that surveillance has on society in both 1984 and the film Gattaca and the restrictions it placed on the many characters.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

English Contemporary Historical Fictions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

English Contemporary Historical Fictions - Essay Example Romance is for each character a state of mind and emotion that dominates the women’s affections toward another person; even one of the same sex. In each of the works, the protagonist’s perception of romance is subject to the views formed by each woman based on her own experiences. It is secondarily formed by the environments that each woman lives in. The notion of romance changes on the whole as the protagonists move from adolescence, into young womanhood, and into maturity. This essay examines the notion of romance, and the experiences of the protagonists in each of the works as their perceptions on romance evolve with their own sexual and family experiences. In Atwood’s book, Alias Grace, the story opens with a lengthy poem/song about the young servant girl, Grace Marks, who, along with her lover, James McDermott, murdered their employer, Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper/lover, Nancy Montgomery (pp. 11-15). It is a poem/song that is typical of the day, when tepid and sordid and often gruesome gossip was turned into poetic sing-song, which would survive in infamy down through the ages. Much like the poem about Lizzy Borden: These kinds of poems or sing-songs become obscure as to their origins, but the stories with which they were born out of are pieces of American history. This is the case with Lizzy Borden, and this is the premise upon which Atwood built her story of Grace Marks. The story that is about to unfold is told in the poem: For Atwood’s story, the experience of unrequited love that leads to the double murder of Thomas Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery at the hands of Grace and McDermott relies upon the reader’s interest in the tabloid-like story that surrounds the arrest and trials of Grace Marks and James McDermott. However, the attention, like the poem, is more focused on Grace because any time

Friday, September 27, 2019

Managing finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing finance - Essay Example As can be seen from the above table, Option 1 has a positive Net present Value at a discount rate of 10%, and negative NPVs at 20 and 25%. Option 2 has negative NPVs for all discount rates considered. Option 3 has positive NPVs for all the discount rates considered. The Internal Rate of return (IRR) is the rate at which the NPV is equal to 0.This rate can be determined by interpolating between two rates, one of which has a positive NPV and the other a negative NPV. Note: The NPV for all discount rates applied in the case of option 2 are negative. Hence the NPV corresponding to the lowest rate (10%) is used along with the undiscounted (i.e. 0% discount rate) cash flows to interpolate and arrive at the IRR. Various financial metrics are used to evaluate the feasibility of a project. Some of the popular metrics in use include the Payback Period, the Net Present Value (NPV) and the Internal Rate of Return (IRR). Payback period is one of the simplest methods for assessing the feasibility of a project and can be calculated quickly. The Payback period is the number of years it takes to recover the investment made in a project, and is calculated by interpolating between the two consecutive years when the cumulative cash flows from the project are respectively below and above the investment made. Suppose an investment of 100,000 results in cash flows of 20,000, 30,000, 40,000 and 50,000 in four years. The cumulative cash flows are 20,000, 50,000, 90,000 and 140,000. It is clear that the investment of 100,000 is recovered in the fourth year. The actual figure of payback period is calculated by interpolation between the last two figures. The disadvantage of the payback period is that it fails to take in account the time value of money. Time value of money arises from the fact that cash received at an earlier point in time is more valuable than the same amount of cash received at a later point in time. If one were to invest

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Paper on engineering failure with guidelines Essay

Paper on engineering failure with guidelines - Essay Example One of the most epic sea engineering failures was seen in the 1912 during the Titanic accident that saw many lives and property perish in helpless circumstances. In 1912, the world ever largest ship sunk deep into the ocean leading to over 1500 deaths due to poor safety designs by the engineers during its construction (Lisbon 36). The impact with the iceberg in the middle of the ocean. The expert expressed their concern that the engineer’s key failure was allowing aesthetic value to take the center of the construction while disregarding safety designs. Research has found that the engineers were the primary cause of the inability to have adequate security infrastructure. In fact, the initial design had included two rows of lifeboats under the deck; however, the designers removed one row in order to create ample space for passengers views. The nature of the error was largely technological and reverse priority. During the accident, the iceberg buckled the popped plates leading to gushing of water into the transverse bulkheads that were reduced to allow for spacious first-class rooms (Lisbon 67). Probably the ship would have withstood the iceberg had the original design been executed. The fundamental principle of the security had been catered for in the original design. Following a disaster, there were changes in policy to increase the heights of the double hulls transverse bulkheads that will reach the sides of ships in the future. The engineers most important lesson was the importance of enhancing security measures in ship designs as number one priority (Lisbon 125). Macdonald & Jones (2006) article on Sustainable Drainage System (SUDs) presents a case study at Glasgow introduces an engineering design of drainage systems in cities and urban centers. The authors use Glasgow as one of the cities in the world with a classical SUDs

Liberal and Realists view on NAFTA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Liberal and Realists view on NAFTA - Essay Example The following paper compares and contrasts liberal and realist views on NAFTA. Liberals argue that free trade is advantageous only when the margin is not at risk of economic manipulation by the central player in the agreement, which is the United States in NAFTA’s case (Chan 7). This argument comes from advocates who believe in the protection of individual freedoms and civil rights, including uncompromising interests like natural surroundings. In contrast, realist advocates emphasize the core significance of power and economic interests. These emphases revolve around the principles of intergovernmentalism, least-common denominator negotiating, and stern limits on future handovers of independence (Chan 12). This realist view suits the most recent events in North America in the course of its regional presence despite originating from the EU. Liberals are against government involvement in top economic projects or activities through projectionist regulations like duties, grants, and quotas (Chan 9). Realists’ logic on government involvement is that a country’s welfare is the main concern over international objectives (Chan 16). Liberals’ focus is on general economic development as proven by rises in GDP. This basis means liberals expected NAFTA to generate a rise in exports of products and services, raise employment rates, raise overseas investments, and trigger general economic growth. In comparison, realists believe a nation should accumulate wealth and power through self-adequacy. As a result, realists were directly against a free trade convention such as NAFTA during its formation in the early 1990s since it endangered the local manufacturing industry through competition and forms trade shortfalls. Liberalism relates to the Dependency theory, which contends that central and marginal economic affairs are concerns for a specific type of fundamental economist (Chan 11).

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Summarize an article from the Wall Street Journal Essay - 1

Summarize an article from the Wall Street Journal - Essay Example Torrens and other Proponents of Equity-based crowd funding deem it as a blessing in times of deepening economic crises. Since businesses themselves are not in a position to increase employment, they can provide a bigger growth potential through investment opportunities. Supporter of the notion believe that such opportunities should only be provided through online outlets as it is extremely cost-effective. It would also make the investment market more open to millions of investors (Torrens & Slavinsky, 2012). This method further enables businesses to secure and reach out to a greater client base, who are naturally motivated to help the business succeed. On the other hand, opponents of this idea believe that legalization would only cause ill-informed clients to lose their money on failing companies. It will pose a higher risk and will subsequently influence the purchasing power of people as individuals lose money due to their bad decisions. There are high chances that it will further lead to a downward spiral of recession. Moreover, there are greater chances of foul play and fraud companies may surface that may further cause the general population to incur heavy losses. It will also significantly impact legitimate businesses, as investors are fooled into investing for fraudulent companies. Therefore, businesses should take the merits of alternate investment methods in to account. (Torrens & Slavinsky, 2012) It is quite ostensible that though, equity based crowd funding may have several pros, but they can only be enjoyed if the businesses give the crowd massive returns on their investments. Businesses can obtain huge number of clients, who had initially supported the company through their investments. However, from the people’s perspective, investing in equity differs from investing in stocks that can be liquefied whenever the client wants. Equity is illiquid and as a result, there is no clear way out of this

Monday, September 23, 2019

Psychology Laboratory Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Psychology Laboratory Report - Essay Example Perceptions of body image are of research concern for psychopathologies such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia, amongst both women and men (Fallon & Rozin, 2985). Body-image can be defined as a person's self-concept of their physical appearance (Strickland, 2004). Investigation of the sociocultural differences between genders in body image perception is increasing (Fallon & Rozin, 2985). Fallon and Rozin (1985) report that women tend to weigh themselves more often, are more likely to consider themselves as fat, are more likely to be on a diet, and tend to seek medical assistance with weight issues more frequently, as compared to men. These results, state Fallon and Rozin, may be related to women on average being less satisfied with their appearance than men. Further, studies appear to indicate body image perception in general for women and men is focused on issues of weight (Fallon & Rozin, 1985). Fallon and Rozin cite a study by Gray in 1977 that found women were more likely to consid er themselves overweight as compared to objective measurements, whereas men were likely to perceive themselves as underweight. Gray concluded that across the genders participants misperceived their weight when compared to their own gender, and make judgments about their weight based on standards that do not incorporate the health model (Fallon & Rozin, 1985). An example of such a standard is the perceptions of the ideal body image as judged by the opposite gender (Fallon & Rozin, 1985).Later research supports conclusions that many people experience a discrepancy between their perceptions of an ideal body image and their actual body image (Byrne & Hills, 1996). Sociocultural influences on perceptions of body image may be attributed to media portrayals of the ideal body within a western industrial nation (Fallon & Rozin, 1985). Traditionally targeted at the female form, media portrayals of a body ideal now extend to both women and men (Yang, Gray & Pope, 2005). Fallon and Rozin (1985) found that on average men tended to rate their current, ideal and attractive body-image as very similar. Whereas, women's ideal image tended to weigh less, than both current and attractive ratings. Fallon and Rozin highlighted in their results that perceptions of what the opposite sex consider an ideal body-image are usually wrong. They found that women considered men to desire a slimmer female form as compared to what men reported they liked, and men perceived women to be attracted to a heavier male form than what women reported.Studies have investigated methods to quantify the difference between an individual's perception of ideal and actual body image as a measure of body-image disturbance (Byrne & Hill, 1996). Importantly, it is necessary that such instruments be standardized for the populations they are used for, for example females and males, or differences in age or ethnicity (Byrne & hill, 1996). The Stunkard Body Shape Figure Scale (Stunkard et al., 1980 as cited in Strick land, 2004) is one such scale. The patterns of ranking perceived ideal and actual body image have provided insight into how females or males as a group differ amongst themselves, as well as in

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Review of Great Leaps OR Free Rice.com Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Review of Great Leaps OR Free Rice.com - Essay Example The site has been proven worthy by education experts because it expands education and life opportunities. The site also contains a progress charts that is very useful in tracking the performance of the learners and the instructor/teacher. The progress chart can be used for evaluation and acts as a means of motivating the learners and the teacher especially on the learning progress. Great leaps also contain sample stories. I was much more interested in the high school section. I managed to come across John Wilcox story. The story was about Wilcox who was a celebrity in his school. Despite being so famous, he lost his life to alcohol. The site provides educative and informative story depending on age. This story particularly warns teenagers on the effect of alcohol and peer influence. Most of the young people at this age are facing adolescent stage and therefore needs proper guidance and counseling which is not just a role that should be done by the teachers and the parents. Great leap s takes this opportunity to educate its users in all spheres of the life and not just books. Finally, I enjoyed the site so much and it is so interactive and informative. I would therefore recommend the use of this website as teaching and learning resource. However, the website is so expensive. I checked out some of the papers and informative materials and found out that they cost so much. This is the only disadvantage of the

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Cooper Industries Case Study Essay Example for Free

Cooper Industries Case Study Essay OVERVIEW: Cooper Industries is a broadly diversified manufacturer of electrical and general industrial products, and energy related machinery and equipment. The company operates in three different business segments with 21 separate profit centers. These segments include electrical and electronic, commercial and industrial, compression, drilling and energy equipment. The product line is consisted of cheap fuses to $3 million compressor tribune sets along with products such as hand tools and light fixtures. The company bid a $21-a-share tender offer to acquire Champion Spark Plug, manufacturer of auto spark plugs, as a counter offer for the Dana Corp. s $17.50-a-share bid. Also, in the mean time, Cooper Industries was considering a $700 million bid for Cameron Iron Works. Even though purchasing either or both companies will give operational and organizational advantages, there were high financial risks involved. Undertaking both acquisitions would result in a 55% to 60% debt to capitalization ratio. ANALYSIS: Cooper Industries acquired more than 60 manufacturing companies over a thirty year span in order to increase the size and the scope of the company. Most of the acquired companies made it possible for Cooper to be independent of the outside environment and giving full control of the manufacturing process concerning their business while avoiding anti-trust allegations. Cooper basically purchased every company that is vital to its energy industry and all the side industries that effect it. From tools to fuses to cables to the drilling equipment was manufactured and distributed by the corporations divisions. Each acquisition is decided from a wish list that was closely examined and studied. At the time of the take over, the Management Development Planning division would implement the corporate strategy in a period of three to five years. This involves diversification and elimination of the products that are poor sellers. In some cases the production plant is relocated and the staff is reorganized for the best efficient set up. In time all these companies are turned into profit centers. RECOMMENDATIONS: One of my first suggestions will be to consider Cameron Iron Works first since all the valves and other natural gas and petroleum products will be more beneficiary. Apparently there is more demand for Camerons products than the Champions. Little adjustments in the production process along with the Cooperization adjustment will have make the company efficient in a short period of time. In contrast, Champion is considered to have 1950s production techniques and only one product line, spark plugs, which will require tremendous changes within the company. The other option may be to purchase both of the companies, regardless of the financial risks involved. By allocating all the departments such as Management Development Planning in the process, Cooper may turn things around. Since the beginning, Coopers way of acquiring companies seem to create success stories in the end. Champion still has brand name recognition in Europe and Asia (personal knowledge) which maybe taken advantage of. Major changes for the American market may take place while the revenues from the overseas sales finance the process. And once the changes are made in here, according to the demand the product line maybe readjusted for those markets. One other option for the Champion acquisition maybe to consider other possible options in the automotive parts industry. There may be other companies requiring less adjustment, and maybe turned into profit centers in less time than Champion. If buying both the companies is not possible at the time, then Cameron seems like a better option giving independence to Cooper in the valve dependence. Utilization of this company seems more of a priority at the time. However Dana may end up buying Champion if Cooper delay the acquisition.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Theory of electromyography

Theory of electromyography Theory of Electromyography Electromyography is a discipline that deals with the detection, analysis and use of electrical signal that emanates from skeletal muscles. The electromyography is studied for various reasons in the medical field. Even a superficial acquaintance with scientific literature will uncover various current applications in fields such as neuro physiology, kinesiology, motor control, psychology, rehabilitation, medicine and biomedical engineering. The EMG signal is the electrical manifestation of the neuromuscular activation associated with the contracting muscles. The signal represents the current generated by the ionic flow across the membrane of the muscle fibers which propagates through the intervening tissues to reach the detection surface of the electrode located in the environment. It is an exceedingly complicated signal which is affected by anatomical and physiological properties of muscles and the control scheme of the nervous system, as well as characteristics of the instrumentation used to detect and observe it. Most of the relationships between the EMG signal and the properties of contracting muscles that are currently in use have evolved serendipitously. The lack of proper description of the EMG signal is probably the greatest single factor that has hampered the development of electromyography in to a precise discipline. APPLICATIONS: To test the nerve and muscle activity To determine nerve conduction velocity to test nerve damage/compression To obtain firing characteristics of nerves. Analysis of motor unit action potentials To analyze the extent of nerve damage, muscular damage It is useful for gym trainees and sport persons to evaluate growth and development of specific muscles. It is useful for energy/fatigue analysis of industrial workers for time-motion-rest cycle evaluation for an efficient working environment. Usually passenger pilots are checked for their EMG levels before they take up a flight in order to ensure fatigue level of the pilot is at safe level. MUSCLES: About 40% of the human body is skeletal muscles and another 10% is smooth muscles of internal organs and cardiac muscles from the heart. Here we are interested in characterizing the function of skeletal muscles. The primary function of skeletal muscles is to generate force. Because of this, they are excitable. Thus skeletal muscles have 2 fundamental properties. They are excitable(able to respond to stimulus) and contractible(able to produce tension).A skeletal muscle consists of numerous fibers with diameters ranging from 10 to 80 Â µm. Each muscle fiber contains hundreds to thousands of myofibrils .Each myofibril has about 1500 myosin filaments and 3000 actins filaments lying side by side. Cell Potential: The nervous system is comprised of neuron cells. Neurons are the conducting elements of the nervous system and are responsible for transferring information across the body. Only these and muscle cells are able to generate potentials and therefore are called excitable cells. Neurons contain special ion channels that allow the cell to change its membrane potential in response to the stimuli the cell receives. Receiving Potential: All cells in the body have a cell membrane surrounding them. Across this membrane there is an electric charge referred to as the resting potential. This electric impulse is generated by differential ion permeability of the membrane. In the cells, potassium (k+) channels allow diffusion of k+ ions out of the cell while Sodium(Na+) ions diffuse in to the cell. This Na+-K+ pump, which requires ATP to operate, pumps two K+ ions in to the interior of the cell for every 3 Na+ ions pumped out. K+ and Na+ ions are continuously diffusing across the membrane from where they were just pumped, but at a slower rate. Since there are more K+ ions inside the cell than outside, a potential exists. Action Potential: Some cells, such as skin cells are not excitable. Other cells such as nerve and muscle cells are excitable. When a simulating electric field acts on an excitable cell, the Na+ permeability increases, Na+ enters the cell interior and the entering positive charge depolarizes(reduces to approximately zero),the transmembrane potential. Later the K+ permeability increases and K+ ions flow out to counter this effect. The Na+ gates close followed by the K+ gates. Finally, the resting potential is regenerated. The action potential lasts about 1ms in nerves and about 100 ms in cardiac muscle. It propagates in nerves at about 60 m/s and carries sensations from the periphery toward the brain via sensory nerves. Through motor nerves, the brain commands muscles to contract. We can calculate the action potential propagation velocity v=d/t where Figure shown here represents the role of voltage-gated ion channels in the action potential. The circled numbers on the action potential correspond to the 4 diagrams of voltage-gated sodium and potassium channels in a neurons plasma membrane. Motor Unit: The most fundamental unit of a muscle is called the Motor Unit. It consists of an alpha-motoneuron and all the muscle fibers that are enervated by the motoneurons branches. The electrical signal that emanates from the activation of muscle fibers of a motor unit that are in the detectable vicinity of an electrode is called MOTOR UNIT ACTION POTENTIAL (MUAP).This constitutes the fundamental unit of the EMG signal. A Schematic representation of the genesis of a MUAP is presented above. There are many factors that influence the shape of MUAP. Some of these are The relative geometrical relationship of the detection surface of the electrode and the muscle fiber of the motor unit in its vicinity. The relative position of the detection surfaces to the innervated zone, which is the region where the nerve branches contact the muscle fibers. The size of muscle fibers, because amplitude of individual action potential is proportional to the diameter of the fiber, and The number of muscle fibers of an individual motor unit in the detectable vicinity of the electrode. The last two factors have particular importance in clinical applications. Considerable work has been performed to identify morphological modifications in the MUAP shape resulting from modifications in the morphology of the muscle fibers or the motor unit such as regeneration of motoneurons. Although usage of MUAP shape analysis is common practice among neurologists, interpretation of the result is not always straight forward and relies heavily on the experience and disposition of the observer. To sustain muscle contraction, the motor unit must be activated repeatedly. The resulting sequence of MUAPs is called Motor Unit Action Potential Train(MUAPT).So, EMG signal can be synthesized by linearly summing the MUAPTs as they exist when they are detected by the electrode where mathematically generated MUAPTs are added to yield the signal at the bottom. MUSCLE CONTRACTION: As an action potential travels along a motor nerve to muscle fibers, it initiates an action potential along the muscle fiber membrane, which depolarizes the muscle fiber membrane and travels with in the muscle fiber. The Subsequent electro-chemical reaction with in the muscle fiber then initiates attractive forces between the actin and myosin filaments and causes them to slide together. This mechanism produces muscle contraction. Tension is developed in the muscle as it contracts. There are 3 types of contraction Isometric Concentric Eccentric Isometric or Static Contraction means a muscle contracts without change in its length. Concentric Contraction occurs when a load is less than the isometric force produced by the muscle and the load shortens the muscle. Eccentric Contraction occurs when the load is greater than the isometric force and elongates the contracting muscle.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Huck Fins Emergence :: essays papers

Huck Fins Emergence Huck’s Emergence Throughout the book The Adventures of Huck Finn, the author Mark Twain, portrays the character Huck Finn as a child who, through numerous experimentations, learns to feel compassionate for his fellow human beings. Huck thought twice before he helped Jim escape from entrapment. When the Duke and the King steal the money from the Wilks Family, Huck feels bad for the family just walking into the situation with blindfolds on, so he decides to steal the money back and makes sure that the sisters have their late brother’s inheritance. But then Huck feels remorse when he lies to the King and Duke about stealing the money. When Duke and King get caught he also feels remorse about them getting tarred and feathered. Huck obviously goes through phases in which his judgement is one sided, but in the end he always feels for his fellow humans. When it was revealed to Huck that his best friend Jim had been sold he got angry. The Duke and the King sold Jim off to a slave holder. Huck went through some moral decision making before he decided what to do. At first he wanted to write a letter trying to persuade the slave holder to let Jim go with Huck. Then he just decides to let his friendship take over and he decided to go help Jim escape. Huck came about this radical decision because he realized through the journey that Jim was also a human being that had feelings of his own and Huck respected that. He thought, â€Å"I’d go strait to hell.† The Duke and the King are devious fellows. They are very hard to trust. They pull scam after scam. The biggest scam that they tried to pull was when they pretended to be the Wilks brothers. The family hadn’t ever seen them because they lived in England so, knowing all the information,made everyone in the town think they were the real Wilks brothers. Huck felt sorry for the sisters of the â€Å"Wilks† brothers because he knew what was going on and how blind they were to it. He decide to steal the gold from the Duke and the King and secretly give it back to the family that it belonged to. Then after doing this he felt bad about stealing the money from the Duke and King because he betrayed them. His emotions were always shown pretty well, â€Å"I couldn’t’ let the sisters be without their money.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Discuss The Relationship Between Media And Information Technology Essay

Discuss the relationship between ‘Media’ and ‘Information Technology’ The term ‘Media’ could today be defined as a collective term for television, radio, cinema and the press. The media are nowadays often discussed as a single entity, because of their combined importance as providers of entertainment and information, their presumed power to mould public opinion and set standards and the growth of cross-ownership among the various sectors. The word was however, originally derived from (i.e. is the plural of) the word ‘medium’, which suggested a medium for the transfer of information. Media are channels through which information is transmitted or through which communication takes place. In a similar way, ‘Information Technology’ could be described as a term commonly used to cover the range of technologies relevant to the transfer of information, in particular to computers, digital electronics and telecommunications. So, in relation the brief descriptions outlined above, it’s possible to say that there is already a certain connection between the two terms in that they are both involved in the transfer of information to some extent. However, this is a very broad description and so, for the purpose of this discussion, specified aspects of Media and Information Technology will be examined in order to discover any less tenuous relationships and any pros and cons discussed. The past 18 months has seen an explosion of innovation relating the internet to the more traditional media. Technology such as the E-Book, Internet Television, Internet Radio coupled with the fact that so many printed magazines, newspapers and journals now also have a presence on-line has shown that the trend seems to be for convergence. Media and Information Technology have entered an era where technological changes are removing many of the distinctions between telecommunications, broadcasting and IT. Consumers can watch television programmes on their computers, send emails from their television sets and access the internet from their mobile phones. E-books for example, have received a lot of press coverage of late and when Stephen King successfully published and sold two of his new stories on the internet, the publishing world began to take notice. King’s Riding the Bullet, which sold more than 400,000 copies in the first day1 showed the potential for books to be released in a digitised f... ...monthly. This is evidence of the trend that media companies are utilising Information Technology to reach a wider audience. Finally then, it must be said that this trend for convergence – bringing Media and Information Technology together – is one that seems to be here to stay, at least for the immediate future. Soon, it might be possible to access all forms of media from one appliance or all forms of media may in fact become one – reached from a number of appliances. Just like the success of the internet, it’s hard to predict what might happen. References 1. Stone, Andrew. Great E-xpectations, The Times, 2nd October 2000 2. Ibid 3. Breitzer, Frith. Judging E-books by their covers. Macworld.com, July 2000 4. O’Leary, Mick. Bartleby.com Reworks free E-book Model, Information Today, October 2000 5. Keegan, Victor. Online: Second Sight, The Guardian, 3rd August 2000 6. Wakefield, Jane. King of Interactive TV? It’s Britain. ZDNet(UK), October 2000 7. Trefgarne, George. TV and Internet will converge, The Daily Telegraph, 26th August 2000 8. Grimes, Christopher and Hargreaves, Deborah. AOL and TW face set-top box demands, Financial Times, 11th September 2000 Word Count: 2256

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Environmental Economic Impact of Pollution in the Chesapeake Bay Essay

The Chesapeake Bay is the nation’s largest estuary with six major tributaries, the James, the Potomac, the Susquehanna, the Patuxent, the York, and the Rappahannock Rivers, feeding into the bay from various locations in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia (Chemical Contaminants in the Chesapeake Bay – Workshop Discussion 1). These areas depend on the Bay as both an environmental and an economic resource. Throughout the last 15 years the Chesapeake Bay has suffered from elevated levels of pollution. Nitrogen and phosphorous from wastewater treatment plants, farmland, air pollution, and development all lead to reduced water clarity and lowered oxygen levels, which harm fish, crabs, oysters and underwater grasses (Key Commission Issues 1). There are other types of pollution in the bay such as toxic chemicals, but because nutrient pollution is the most significant and most widespread in the Bay its effects are the most harmful to fisheries. Ni trogen and phosphorous fuel algal blooms which cloud the water and block sunlight from reaching underwater grass beds that provide food and habitat for waterfowl, juvenile fish, blue crabs, and other species (Blankenship 11-12). Algae plays a vital role in the food chain by providing food for small fish and oysters. However, when there is an overabundance of algae it dies, sinks to the bottom of the Bay, and decomposes in such a manner that depletes the oxygen levels of the Bay (11). The reduced oxygen levels in the Bay reduce the carrying capacity of the environment and these â€Å"dead areas† sometimes kill off species that can not migrate to other areas of the Bay, such as oysters (11). Increased abundance of algal blooms also led to the overabundance of harmful and toxic algae species and microbes such as the microbe Pfiesteria, which was responsible in 1997 for eating fish alive and making dozens of people sick (12). The heightened awareness of diseases that can be cont racted through consumption of contaminated fish also has an economic impact. Therefore, the excess levels of nitrogen and phosphorous have fueled an overabundance of algal blooms, which has reduced water clarity and lowered oxygen levels, affecting many species within the bay and ultimately the industries that rely on these species. The signing of the 1987 Chesapeake Bay Agreement marked the first joint vent... ...able: http://www.virginia-beach.va.us/cityhall/planning/cbay.html (4 Nov. 1999). â€Å"Fish Health in the Chesapeake Bay: †¦Estimate of Seafood History Losses.† Available: http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/fish-health/pfiesteria/pfeconomics/sld005.html. (22 Nov. 1999). Glibert, Patricia M. and Daniel E. Terlizzi. â€Å"Nutrients, Phytoplankton, and Pfiesteria In the Chesapeake Bay.† Available: http://www.arec.umd.edu/policy/Pfiesteria/terlizzi/terlizzi.htm (22 Nov. 1999). â€Å"Impacts of Diseases and †¦ase Resistant Oysters† Available: http://biology.uroregon.edu/classes/bi130/webprojects/15/oyster.html (22 Nov. 1999). â€Å"Key Commission Issues† Available: http://www2.ari.net/cbc/old/cbc_issu.htm (4 Nov. 1999). Lipske, Michael. â€Å"Getting to Know You† National Wildlife, v33. (1995): 24-29. Parker, Doug. â€Å"The Economic Costs of Implementing the Maryland Water Quality Improvement Act of 1998.† Available: http://www.arec.umd.edu/policy/Pfiesteria/parker/parkertext.html (22 Nov. 1999). Santopierro, George D., and Leonard Shabman. â€Å"Can Privatization Be Inefficient?: The Case of the Chesapeake Bay Oyster Fishery.† Journal of Economic Issues, v26 n2 (June 1992): 407-415.

Teenagers of Today’s World Have a Better School Life Than Their Parents Had When They Were at School

I hear my father often saying to me that we, the children of the present age, enjoy more freedom than they did when they were children. I admit to myself, perhaps it is true. If we require anything, for personal use or for school purposes, our parents buy them without hesitation. They love to get us things we demand. Today, it is a very, very ordinary thing to find a school going teenager talking into a smart-looking cell phone, or browsing internet, looking for scholarships or other academic centre where s/he wants to go for studies in future. A growing child dresses well, goes out with her/his parents to swanky restaurants to dine, travels once or twice a year and has her/his birthdays celebrated ritually every year. Actually, these days, being the apples of the eyes of their parents, children will lack nothing that they can afford. All very well for the children of today. If we consider the above examples, some of us may agree that the children of our present day are indeed fortunate. But, consider the issue a little bit deeper. Are there actually roses, roses all the way for the growing children like us? Let us look around us, how the world is taking shape, how everything is changing. We can no longer be like the children of yester years, with a free mind and body, playing to our heart’s content, remaining childlike. With the exception of a few holidays every day in our life is bound to a regimental routine. We have to get up early in the morning, prepare ourselves for school, and come back in the afternoon. In the evening, it is homework time and time for the preparation for the umpteen examinations. In between the daily routine, we have to go to learn and acquire new skills, how to draw how to dance well and recite, how to compute like a professional and how to swim gracefully. Then there are more for others. Some go to learn playing tennis or chess, cricket or soccer, badminton or basketball. All this, we are taught, is for a successful life afterwards. We cannot hope to get admission in any reputed institute later on unless we score a certain percentage of marks in our board examination. Even after that, we have to appear for a tough merit test to acquire a seat in the institute. Our parents stake high hopes on us that we would bring luck in our family become someone to be proud of. Now, is it not a challenge we face everyday? A modern child has to face challenges everywhere. Security and love of the family cannot protect her from the competitive world. The on going onslaught of being left behind is always lurking. We always have to be up and get going. It is always study time. Would some one please explain why all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy?

Monday, September 16, 2019

Isolation in Hardy’s poems ‘Nobody Comes’ and ‘The Darkling Thrush’ Essay

In the poems â€Å"The Darkling Thrush† [‘TDT’] and â€Å"Nobody Comes† [‘NC’], Hardy presents two similar images of isolation. In both poems, the personae are isolated from human company, whilst Hardy explores this using imagery of ghosts and the supernatural in both also. However, individually there are differences in tone; although NC ends upon as dire a note as it begins, Hardy engineers an optimistic outlook in TDT and suggests that the persona’s isolation may not Hardy ensures that the persona of ‘TDT’ is isolated from any other human presence or, until the poem’s third stanza, any living organism. Whilst leaning against â€Å"a coppice gate†, he notes that â€Å"all mankind†¦ had sought their household fires†. Although this is an indication of the low temperature, it is noticeable that the rest of humanity are seeking light in an otherwise dark environment; reciprocally, the persona is deprived of both warmth and living company. To further this point, Hardy personifies non-human entities, such as frost and winter – â€Å"Winter’s dregs†, for example. In this way, Hardy makes the reader personal not with living creatures but with inanimate entities, isolating the animate persona even more. Indeed, Hardy makes such a division more striking by picturing the persona’s surroundings as very extreme. Surrounded by deathly imagery, the persona imagines the landscape as â€Å"the Century’s corpse/ His crypt the canopy,/ The wind his death lament†. Even Hardy’s animate entities seem ghostly; â€Å"Frost was spectre-gray† and â€Å"mankind†¦ haunted nigh†. Such is the state of decay that even â€Å"the ancient pulse of germ and birth was shrunken† – the regenerative power of life has itself died, leaving the persona as the sole animate existence. A similar loneliness can be seen in ‘NC’, especially towards the end of the poem. In the aftermath of the car passing, the persona observes, â€Å"mute by the gate†, that he â€Å"stand[s] again alone.† The sudden silence and soft, finite ‘t’ sound of â€Å"mute† – in contrast to the onomatopoeic â€Å"whangs† – amplifies the persona’s loneliness; as does the empty assonance in the repeated ‘a’ sound, in â€Å"alone† and â€Å"again†. Equally, the present tense verb â€Å"stands† and â€Å"again† emphasizes that this is an ongoing and repeated state of isolation. However, the persona in ‘Nobody Comes’ is not simply isolated in terms of being physically alone or the sole living creature – he is also isolated from modernity. Hardy again uses ‘supernatural’ imagery to explore this. The persona notes that â€Å"The telegraph wire†¦ intones†¦ like a spectral lyre/ Swept by a spectral hand†. Rather than see the telegraph wire as a means of communication, the persona rejects it in presenting an image of disassociation; the vagueness of the verb â€Å"intones† summons an image of faceless voices. He also creates negative supernatural connotations; there is an innate ghostliness about the archaic lyre – juxtaposed to contrast with the innate modernity of the telegraph wire – which is reinforced by the wraithlike â€Å"spectral†. Hardy repeats this for emphasis in â€Å"spectral hand†. In this phrase, he also creates an incongruity between the concrete verb â€Å"swept† and noun â€Å"hand† and the abstract concept of â€Å"ghostliness† – the ‘hand’ does not exist. Its invisible presence and visible effects are unnerving, making the modern telegraph wire an unpleasant image. The persona’s rejection of modernity can be seen also in the depiction of â€Å"a car com[ing] up†. Having shone its aggressive lamps at â€Å"full glare† – which Hardy emphasizes by placing at the end of the line –the persona states that â€Å"it has nothing to do with me†. This maxim, in being so blunt, is very powerful. It operates to present a rift between the persona and the modern world and, given the unusually colloquial verb â€Å"whangs†, it indicates that the car is viewed as a callous representation of modern life from which the persona wishes to isolate himself. It leaves â€Å"leaving a blacker air†, which may indicate either a corruption of nature (in terms of polluting the otherwise fresh air) or a darkening in the persona’s emotions. Indeed, the poem concludes with the same negativity, with the word â€Å"nobody† in both the title and the last line. The persona is left â€Å"again alone† and isolated, prompting a large amount of sympathy from the reader. By contrast, ‘TDT’ concludes with a hopeful note. At the appearance of the thrush, in the third stanza, the reader notes that the bird is similarly isolated and surrounded by death. In truth, the reader’s initial reaction to the â€Å"aged†¦ frail, gaunt and small† thrush is to question whether the creature will survive the bleak conditions. There is a sense of desperation present â€Å"fling[ing its] soul/ Upon the growing gloom.† However, the persona notices â€Å"some blessed Hope† in the bird’s â€Å"happy good-night air†. Although â€Å"unaware† of why this may be – such â€Å"joy illimited† is unintelligible to the persona – this leads the poem to end in an optimistic fashion. Although both the persona and the thrush remain isolated from any other company (the persona fails to deeply associate with the bird) and the anxiety about the future lingers, Hardy does much to suggest that such deep rooted â€Å"fervourlessness† may change in TDT’s persona, as opposed to the ongoing isolation present in NC.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Partisan polarization in the congress Essay

The statement saying that the Policymaking in Congress has been increasingly plagued by Partisan Polarization is very true. To support this fact we can have a look at the evidences available to us in the form of the chaos and uneven passing of the bills. Actually, each year the Congress is expected to pass nearly 13 bills, which funds the operation of the federal government. It should be written, debated and then be passed in both the houses and get the consent signature of the president. If this does not happens than the government is expected to have shut down. Thus, a regular movement of these bills year after year proves the proper procedures confirmation working in the Congress. Its movement helps in studying the members behavior overtime and how changes in preferences affect the legislative body in the law making process. Partisan Polarization in the Congress: By Partisan we mean a one-sided or biased decision making of some people like the politicians in the interest of their own party without taking into view of the national interest. Polarization is a move that these political parties make from centrist to extreme political positions. The motive behind partisan polarization is not just to keep an issue before the legislature but to gain the faith of a definite section of society so that they cast vote in their favor during the upcoming elections. For instance, A Muslim supporting lobby in the Congress always supports the decision-makings in the favor of most Muslim countries. Like a lobby of Muslims in the Congress always cast their vote in favor of giving Pakistan, huge chunk of financial aid. In the recent days, one more Partisan Polarization has been seen in the President’s comment. Through out the ruling period the President of United States, George Bush, has been supporting India on nuclear issues, but during the end of his reign he came under the pressure of Partisan polarization and announced Indian middle class as the root cause of Inflation in the whole world. His stand was that Indian middle class is getting wealthier day by day, and their number is much more than the whole population of United States. But the fact is that Indians faces more problems regarding malnutrition, millions of people do not even get all three times meal. While the corn used in United States to make petrol can feed a whole family for one year. The percentage of wastage of food and other items is much more as compared to Indians. Thus here temper flares and partisan spirit provokes new hostility among the Indians and the Americans, raising up people who have patience and restraints. Thus these kinds of statement increases partisan polarization in United States. Causes of Partisan Polarization in the United States: A number of causes of partisan polarization have been observed in the United States. Among them the most common are as follows. A. Ethnic or religious violence. That is a not so note worthy issue is highlighted again and again to get the benefit in the upcoming elections. For instance, the scandal of Bill Clinton came before the public during his upcoming election campaign. It shows clearly that the issue of ethics was highlighted with the view to destroy the image of Bill Clinton, aiming him to loose elections. Similarly if a religious attack occur between two sects than the political leaders does not act as negotiators but as the leg puller’s which in turn results in more violence, distrust and spread hatred. B. Counter-violence that may occur in reaction to the ethnic violence or religious violence. In case a sect of society has suffered due to religious violence and the ruling party is still quite than the result in increased anger among the people and the counter violence emerges resulting in chaos in the area. C. Political leaders aiming to win next election make such comments which flair a feeling of unhappiness or may even result in anger between the two parties, countries or two sections of society. The main motive is still to get more votes and not the benefit of any section of society. D. Changes in electoral system, made by the ruling party, also become the cause of partisan polarization. Actually by doing this, an attempt is made to benefit a section of society supporters than the median voter. United States is a country wherein people from around the world come in search of food, job and wealth. Either its Asian or African, Either European or Latin American every country resident wants to come to United States to test his/her fate. Due to this reason the population of the migrants has been increasing in the United States. The result is that these migrants try to make their own lobby in the Congress. Every sect of society tries to preserve its own interest leaving behind the national issues and profit of the nation. And the political leader becomes the puppet in their hands and tries to achieve their macro level goals. Therefore to preserve the interest various group of people a lobby of every country, caste or religion has made its own place in the Congress of the United States. So, whenever a policy making body starts working, each lobby tries to effect the decision making process. The purpose is to mend it as much as it benefits their specific interest. Â  The fact is that due to different parties and their different ideologies, every party wants to impose its own will and shape the upcoming legislative decision as per their own comfort. Ideologies of the political parties leading to partisan polarization: The Ideologies of the major two political parties has also become the root cause of partisan polarization in the United States. The Republicans are always in favor of controlling the international politics through their imperialist thinking. While the other big political party, the Democrats wants to see the whole world changing in to a democratic state. And to achieve their goals both the political parties takes such decision which were not necessarily required but in turn results in a heavy loss of men and money to the country. During the reign of Bill Clinton (Democrat President), a lot of financial aid was given to Asian countries to bring Democracy in their countries. Pakistan military cue, Nepal Maoist movement etc all were discouraged by the president of United States and money was spent in the form of financial aid to force these countries to bring back democracy. On the other side, George Bush (Republican President), made country fought the battle in Afghanistan, Iraq and now playing mind games with Iran. Â  The result was again loss of money and this time loss of men too. Due to this over expenditure on the treasury of United States, the country is facing many financial problems. The stock market has depreciated, Inflation rise up, slow down in the progress of the country has been confirmed. And now the over expenditure has resulted in lesser money available to take the country of this problem. The increasing prices of daily commodities are also adding fuel against the present government. The other problems faced by the country is rising unemployment and depleting standard of living of the common people. All this and more may be expected just because the ideologies of these political parties and politicians do not think for Americans. Effects of Partisan Polarization: The result of partisan polarization is that major decisions for the necessary progress of the country has to face unnecessary delays. The legislative assembly has to face major set backs while framing different policies. The policy makers also faces difficulties in bringing out the legislation as the lobbies in the house effects adversely the movement of the bill, and delay in passing of the specific may prove futile. The 13 appropriations or the spending bills that needs to be passed swiftly, faces difficulty to pass in both the houses, especially the Senate. Not only that there are rumors in the general public regarding bribery taking of the elected members of the legislative for delaying or hindering the progress of certain bills. The politicians are mainly considered responsible by the public for making unnecessary delays in the policy-making framework and slowing down process of passing bills. Some people even think that these delay-making politicians has taken bribes from the enemies of the country so as to slow down the progress of the nation. Thus the loosing faith of the public is another result of Partisan polarization. Wastage of time and money is another result of Partisan Polarization. The limited time of session of Congress gets wasted due to unnecessary delays. And finally the president gets the power to sign the bill without proper discussion in both the houses. Not only that, a lot of money also gets wasted due to unnecessary delays in the decision making process. Solutions to end Partisan polarization: To end the Partisan Polarization, the Brookings Institution along with the Hoover Institution will host a discussion on partisan polarization in the United States and its effect on foreign policy on 30th November 2008. This way this institution will try to figure out the root causes and the possible solutions to this problem. The politician’s mistakes will be highlighted and kept before the Congress and solutions will be discussed. The solution to this problem is through arising of the feeling among the countrymen regarding country’s first and people later type of feeling in the politicians. Politicians must understand that the interest of the nation is much, much more important that there personal interest. And if by any way their interest has to face some drawbacks than in that case making lobbies and bringing obstacles in the way of passing a specific bill may prove to be anti-national step. So if you have to give up something for your beloved country than kindly don’t hesitate and take time in doing so as you owe a lot the country. Congress has also resorted to new measures to ensure the passage of bills to be easier and faster. Firstly it has packaged the bill in the form of Omnibus, so as to broaden their base of support and easier movement in both the houses. Secondly, the number of earmarks has also been increased, so as to provide an additional support for the safe and quick passage of the bill. Normally this Omnibus bill is not meant towards the majority party preference than other spending bills in the past. Reason being the final product needs to be negotiated with president and needs the prior approval of the president. But in case of Unified government, Omnibus bills actually do provide opportunity for Partisan polarization for the majority party that can enact its own preference in the lawmaking process. The politicians responsible for making unnecessary delays should not be allowed to sit and vote in the Congress meeting. He/she should be asked to get re-elected and prove his/her true position at that point of time. Also a lesson regarding a responsibility towards the country and the countrymen should be given to all the politicians. Making Pamphlets, social meetings and other methods can do this. By improving the policy makers we can expect the bills to be passed easier and the country in the direction of progress. Also through legislation, a bill should be passed to avoid any unnecessary delays in the bills of national importance. Any politician trying to bring undue hindrance in the way of such important bill should not get the right to vote for that certain bill. Conclusion: There is certainly no point in loosing time and money due to partisan polarization. The progress of country should be considered more important than a person’s own interest. Moreover the politicians of today should realize their mistakes and that they should not forget their responsibility towards the country and the countrymen in wake of earning more and more money. Number of solutions are tried to make an attempt to the problem of partisan polarization but until whole nation unites and speaks against it collectively there won’t be any benefit coming out of it.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Project Management Recommendation Essay

Dear Mr. Gritsch: In continuation of your email dated February 10, 2014, I have completed analysis of three projects: Juniper, Palomino and Stargazer. The risk levels in Juniper, Palomino, and Stargazer are low, medium, and high respectively. It is in the best interest of Piper Industries Corporation to move forward with the Stargazer project. Stargazer is selected due to its feasibility and risk level. From market feasibility study, some strategic customers have already indicated interest in the product. Therefore, I would recommend that the board invest in the project, Stargazer; particularly because the company has already invested $450,000 and the ROI is very high. My feasibility study focused on Return on Investment (ROI), length of project, risk level and overall benefit to Piper Industries. See below for the results. Juniper: Return on Investment (ROI): 77% or $250,000 for a period of 2 to 3 years Length of project: Uncertain Risk of completion on time: Low Overall benefit: Enhancement of current product, increased product demand Palomino: Return on Investment (ROI): 69% or $450,000 for a period of 5 years Length of project: 7 Years Risk of completion on time: Medium Overall benefit: New product, use of existing technology, custom part, constant demand Stargazer: Return on Investment (ROI): 278% or $1,600,000 for a period of 3 years Length of project: 7 Years Risk of completion on time: High Overall benefit: Research & Development of a new product, market leader, project in-progress Five Phases of a Project: A project can have any number of phases depending on how you break it down. A project for land reclamation in dump site would probably have three phases such as: 1. Facility Decommissioning Phase 2. Waste removal phase 3. Landscaping Phase. While a project involving the building of a new factory may contain four phases such as: 1. Environmental Impact Assessment Phase 2. Design Phase 3. Construction Phase 4. Commissioning Phase. It is therefore assumed that what is been referred to here as five phases of a project is what is known in project management as process groups. The following phases / process groups will be used to complete the project: 1. Project conception and initiation The conception of the project is that the project is a new line widget product including enhancements through the use of existing technology. The initiation of this project will be upon the approval of the project by the CEO. 2. Project definition and planning Stage two of the project is making a project plan. The project plan will be completed by the project team with the consultation of the technicians and experts. The project plan will be in writing and will be well defined. 3. Project launch or execution The project plans and task will be discussed amongst all team members and the task will be divided among the project team. 4. Project performance and control The project manager will be the leader of the project. His or her task will be to monitor performance and control. All project team members are responsible in evaluating each other and helping the team to perform better together. 5. Project close The project will be closed only upon completion of the project, evaluation of the project, and client approval of the project. Key deliverables associated with the selected project: If after the Estimated Budget at Completion of $575,000 is spent and the  product is developed as specified in the project plan, then the project would have met the substantial product deliverable. Secondly, if the Piper Industries Corporation is able to deliver the product within 12 months, the company would have met the project schedule deliverable.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Evidence-Based Practice Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Evidence-Based Practice - Coursework Example Polit and Beck (2006) argue that, not all research is of the high standard or the same quality and thus, nurses should not just take evidence-based practice at its face value although published. In my review and critique, I will first appraise the limitations and strengths of a given piece of literature to determine its applicability and credibility to the nursing profession (Valente, 2003). A cross-examination of the limitations of the work of literature of the evidence-based practice should thus, not be viewed as a disparagement of the ability of a researcher, but as strength aimed at validating that work of research. Secondly, I will review the research questions of the evidence-based practice. Valente (2003) argues that, research questions can be sub-divided into credibility variables and integrity variables and thus, used as a critiquing tool for analyzing an evidence-based practice. Therefore, as a nurse, I will review the research questions of the research to determine the credibility and applicability of the practice in the nursing profession e.g. through either the integrity variables, which analyze and evaluate the process of the evidence-based practice or credibi lity variables, which focus on the background qualifications of the researcher. It is also important to examine at the literature review of a given evidence based practice to determine whether the practice draws evidence from the literature of recent origin. A viable and reliable evidence-based practice should draw literature evidence from current researches especially from primary sources that are of an empirical nature. A practice can be rendered obsolete, incredible, and inapplicable in the nursing profession if it lacks sufficient backing evidence. In addition, I will cross-examine the theoretical framework of the practice to determine whether an appropriate and adequate conceptual framework

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Evaluate Project Risk Management in the construction of London Essay

Evaluate Project Risk Management in the construction of London Heathrow Airports Terminal 5 - Essay Example My thanks will be extended also to my family including Dad, Mom and -----, my youngest brother for their kind and invaluable support during the whole project. The London Heathrow Terminal 5 has emerged to be the largest airport and the most complex construction projects undertaken in the airline industry. The aim of the project was to augment the capacity by 50% along with offering the visitors an impressive gateway into the city and the United Kingdom. With a budget of over  £4.3bn, the airport facility includes a an airport terminus, a building housing a satellite, underground tunnels, diversions on the river and a road connecting the airport to M25 (Sharon, 2008).This paper attempts to study and evaluate the Risk Management strategy and theories involved in the construction of London Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5, (Sharon, 2008) and critic these theories. The approach used to mitigate risks for the t5 of the Heathrow Airport was based on the principles of team construction and had to incorporate many changes until project completion, (Sharon, 2008). BAA had anticipated a high level of design progress and development at all stages of the ambitious project which could easily squeeze modern technical solutions and modifications in safety, space requirements or amenities. It would have been unrealistic to freeze the complete design solution of the project during the design phase (Latham, 1994). BAA decided absorb all risks. This helped BAA manage the activities with the help of partners who worked as integrated teams along with the contractors. This was implemented under the T5 Agreement, (Ferroussat, 2005). The procedure to try and identify risks that are present within a project is known as management of risks. The risks that are posing challenges during the implementation of a project are effectively managed, (Mind Tools, 2009). Risk Management activity is mainly concerned with a proper analysis of the different operations, identification

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Contemporary Media Practices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Contemporary Media Practices - Essay Example On the other hand, media intervenes into the interactions of institutions through telecommunications media, which allow individuals to connect remotely. Furthermore, the media intervenes into the interactions of people in the wider society by disseminating and recording information regarding crucial events that are important to the community. Evidently, the media intervenes into social interaction in different ways, depending on the concrete features of the medium involved; these include the physical and practical aspects, as well as the social and visual merits of the medium in question. The media has made it possible for people to interact across vast distances without having to travel physically to meet up with one another or having to be at the same venue concurrently; there is a great difference between mediated interaction (through media) and non-mediated interaction (face-to-face). This marked difference clearly illustrates the manner in which media transforms social interactions; for instance, all the parties involved in face-to-face communications are exposed to both the verbal and non-verbal cues. However, this is not the case with mass media such as newspapers, radio and television whose recipients are often indefinite; on the other side of the spectrum, a telephone conversation between two individuals is a mediated interaction between known individuals. Nevertheless, mediated conversation is not necessarily more or less the non-mediated interaction in face-to-face interaction; in fact, only difference is that the situation that mediated interaction occurs in inevitably transforms the way the individuals interact. Unlike in non-mediated face-to-face communication, media has such an incredible capacity to extend interaction both in time and in space; media permits individuals to be in permanent connection all over the world, regardless of their physical isolation. Granted that mediated interaction does not require

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 20

Research - Essay Example To this end, the United States has adopted a global mindset in its relation with other countries. The distinct features of a global mindset involve showing understanding, care and concern for the global citizens. Evidently, the United States exhibits this attribute by advocating for human rights doctrines among the countries citizenry, as well as free and fair democratic systems in governance. Another key communication style employed by the United States with other countries is a diplomatic process that respects the democratic systems. To this end, the United States does not interfere in the free and fair democratic processes of countries such as elections, or administration. However, it is critical to note that the United States only recognizes democratic governments that uphold the human rights of citizenry, and have achieved a consensus mandate from the general populace. Cooperation and collaboration is another communication strategy employed by the United States (Prewitt, Weil, & McClure, 2011). Evidently, effective leadership employs collaboration rather than competition. This is in recognition that competition fosters suspicion, jealousy and mistrust that can eventually lead to breakdown of relations. To this end, the United States fosters mutual cooperation with other countries in critical areas such as the trade, industry, environment and security. In the same respect of collaboration and cooperation, the United States fosters mutual partnership with democratic governments. Effective global leadership equally needs to be appreciative of the multiethnic, multiracial, multi cultural and diverse religions of the Earth. To this end, the United States employs a communication style that is empathetic and culturally sensitive. This involves the mutual respect and impartiality towards the multicultural communities. Moreover, the United States employs empathy to the global citizens in terms of crisis such as droughts, environmental

Monday, September 9, 2019

Business Policy Concepts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Business Policy Concepts - Essay Example A good corporate strategy should integrate an organization's goals, policies, and action sequences (tactics) into a cohesive whole. The success of Japanese companies revealed implementation policies which appeared to be unique but have now been shown to be valid in many business environments, for example management by walking around (MBWA) proved to be a successful technique for Honda. Senior management's contacts with key people resulted in appropriate choice of policies and to the success of the company philosophy. This shows that corporate choice of strategy and implementation of that strategy involves many different concepts, theories and frameworks. An understanding of major choices of corporate policies and their advantages and disadvantages is critical to the understanding of business policy process {Johnson et al, 2005]. In a perfect world a strategy planned by the management will proceed according to plan and be implemented. Unfortunately any belief that strategy can be formulated on the basis of intended and deliberate actions to result in commercial success is far from the truth. This concept rules out any opportunity to adapt to a changing market situation. In a number of cases a situation may develop where incremental changes in the strategy may result in a more advantageous position for the company. This is a positive example of strategic drift. A preplanned and formulated strategy also assumes an organization to be homogeneous where management decisions from the top can be implemented in full. In practice the decisions are effected by power behavior, cultural and political factors. Quinn [cited in Peppard et al, 1996] argued that strategy develops incrementally as a result of decision made due to developing market situations and other organizational experiences. This strategic drift results in a course which is often significantly different from formal planning. Drift in strategic planning is a fact of organizational strategy. It does not mean that strategic policy making is a useless process as it will eventually drift into something new. It only recognizes that changes often become necessary due to extraneous factors and require adjustments to the strategy to keep the broader strategy on course. Porter's 5 Forces Porter's five forces is a useful tool for analyzing the factors impacting on strategy formulation. [Porter, 1980] identified forces that impact every business. The objective of the strategy is to use these competing forces to result in a positive impact on the business. These forces identified by Porter are the driving forces of the industry. The strategy analysis thus analyses the impact of these forces on a particular business and how to minimize the impact of the negative forces and maximize the benefits of the positive forces. The five forces are: 1. The threat of new entrants 2. Bargaining power of suppliers 3. Bargaining power

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Nile river Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Nile river - Essay Example The river is not only thought to have meant different things to the different countries of its basin, but also to have deeply intrigued the wider world. On the one hand it’s widely perceived as â€Å"Egypt’s lifeline† ever since the days of the earliest Pharaohs, which is best described by the well-known statement of the Greek historian Herodotus – â€Å"Egypt is the gift of the Nile† – uttered in 460 BC (Martinon 53). On the other hand, the Nile plays a crucial economic, political and cultural role nowadays, and its importance is considered greater than ever, with over 300 million people depending on the river for drinking water, irrigation, etc. (Tvedt 1). The Importance of Nile for the Nile Basin States and Societies As Tvedt points out, water has been the principal concern of humanity ever since the dawn of civilization, with most of the population living on the banks of large rivers, like Euphrates and Tigris, Ganges, Indus, Nile, etc.; not surprisingly therefore, the consecutive societies have been fundamentally shaped by that fact since the times of Sumer (2). No international river basin, however, has more complex and eventful history, either in terms of water politics and their impact on the respective societies or in terms of actors involved, than the Nile’s valley (Tvedt 3). On the other hand, it was the twentieth century, or the period of European imperialism, with its rapid technological and scientific advance that actually brought about a revolution in the conceptualization planning and use of Nile’s waters, and had far-reaching implications for the development of the Nile basin region. Being home to many polities, including â€Å"a number of kingdoms of various degrees of stability and forms of administrative machinery†, the Nile valley was both culturally and religiously diverse when the British took control over it (Tvedt 5). In northern and central Sudan – under the Mahdiâ⠂¬â„¢s rule – the irrigated agriculture had played rather modest role of economic importance, as against trade; while to the southeast, the islands of Lake Tana housed one of the world centers of the Coptic Church (Tvedt 6). Thus, according to Tvedt, there had not been processes of economic and cultural homogenization, but rather, the various Nile environments framed, although partly, many different â€Å"special patterns of man-river relationships and forms of regional identification† (6). The Importance of Nile for the Transformation of Egypt into a Modern State Although being a relatively short period in the overall history of the Nile, the years of the British colonial expansion into the Nile valley could be considered the first time when the river became conceptualized as a political and hydrological planning unit (Tvedt 7). During that period various actors, besides the British imperial system, got involved in what Tvedt calls â€Å"a great drama of Nile politic s and river-valley development† – Egyptian kings and nationalists, Ethiopian emperors and priests, Nilotic cattle herders, Mussolini, Eisenhower, Gamal Abdel Nasser, etc. (7). Insofar as the British played the major role, it’

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Land Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Land Law - Essay Example 'A vendor must be able to prove that he is entitled to the land before he can pass good title to a purchaser. Initially, such proof was provided by the production of the title documents to the land, i.e. the conveyances or leases. The vendor had to be able to show the chain of ownership for the last thirty (now 15 years).And each time the land was sold, all these documents had to be examined under the LRA 2000 a single register entry is substituted for the series of title deeds as proof of titles, and a prospective purchaser need only examine this registry entry.Theodore Rouff had laid down three basic principles of Land Registry. One among them is the mirror principle which states:â€Å" the register of title reflects accurately and completely beyond all arguments the facts that are material to the title†. In simpler terms, it can derive that this principle proposes the fact that the register of the title is the mirror which reflects accurately all the current facts and figur es those are material to the title. However, there are few exceptions to this fact. Other than these exceptions the title is free from all adverse burdens, rights, and qualifications unless they are mentioned in the register. Overriding interest can be described as one of the most an important exceptions to the mirror principle.Overriding interests: Definition: These are defined in s3 (xvi) LRA 1925 as: ‘all the encumbrances, interests, rights and powers not entered on the register, but subject to which registered dispositions are to take effect’... Initially such proof was provided by the production of the title documents to the land, i.e. the conveyances or leases. The vendor had to be able to show the chain of ownership for the last thirty (now 15 years).And each time the land was sold, all these documents had to be examined under the LRA 2000 a single register entry is substituted for the series of title deeds as proof of titles, and a prospective purchaser need only examine this register entry. Theodore Rouff had laid down three basic principles of Land Registry. One among them is the mirror principle which states: " the register of title reflects accurately and completely beyond all arguments the facts that is material to the title" (wikipedia)1. In simpler terms it can derived that this principle proposes the fact that the register of title is the mirror which reflects accurately all the current facts and figures those are material to title. However there are few exceptions to this fact. Other than these exceptions the tile is free from all adverse burdens, rights and qualifications unless they are mentioned in the register. Overriding interest can be described as one of the most important exception to the mirror principle. Overriding interests: Definition: These are defined in s32 (xvi) LRA 1925 as: 'all the encumbrances, interests, rights and powers not entered on the register, but subject to which registered dispositions are to take effect' Meaning: In simpler terms overriding interest can be defined and determined as the interest which override. It is liable on the purchaser to inspect the land and make inquiries as there are few dispositions like overriding

Marketing Strategy of a new energy drinks Essay Example for Free

Marketing Strategy of a new energy drinks Essay All around the world drinking beverage is like an entertainment for everyone. Millions of people have beverages everyday for refreshment. Our report is about the Energy Drinks of Bangladesh. In this report we have explained and analyzed how some of the five top selling energy drink companies are operating in Bangladesh. Energy drinks are becoming a major part of the beverage industry due to the rapid increase of their market competition and consumer awareness. In Bangladesh, Tiger and Speed are the most famous amongst all other energy drinks. Most of the energy drink companies act and carry out their marketing strategies in similar ways. More innovative steps are required to improve their market share. The goal of this report is to find out about the present condition of energy drink market in Bangladesh, major competitors we are likely going to face and how we are going to overcome the challenges in the market when we will launch a new energy drink named ‘Spirit’. With the use of effective marketing mix and other strategies we are going to target the young people of Bangladesh to sell our product. We have done a clear competitive analysis to take advantage of the weaknesses of our competitors and opportunities of the market. We are likely going to invest hugely in the beginning of launching our product to inform our customers about our product. As a new product company we are promising our customers to offer a unique product which will give them energy along with the excitement to enjoy their lives. Section 1: Current Market Analysis 1. 1: Top 5 brands in the market (how we find it) –We have surveyed in some of the areas of Dhaka city, like – Farmgate, Motijheel,Uttara, Gulshan; to find out the names of five most top selling energy drinks. According to the survey we have seen – Tiger, Speed, Shark, Sting and Boost are most popular in the energy drink industry of Bangladesh. We went to different departmental stores as mystery shoppers and randomly asked about the drinks each shop offers and found out the names of the energy drinks customers tend to buy more. 1. 2:Product Analysis -Product Level – Product leveling is the first and most important step taken by product planners to add more customer value to their products. It includes 3 main levels: Core Customer Value, Actual Product and Augmented Product. Core Customer Value – The first thing that comes to everyone’s mind when they talk about energy drink is ‘source of power’. In Bangladesh, all of the energy drink companies basically have the same core customer value, which is mainly about replenishing the energy of their customers through providing them with their energy drinks. However, different brands use different mottos to establish their customer value. For example: Shark’s motto says, â€Å"Real Energy, Real Power†; in other case Speed’s motto says, â€Å"Heavy Energy†. This way each products motto varies from each other and creates a different view about the product in their customers mind. Actual Product – This level includes Brand name, Packaging and Product Attributes. Under Product Attribute comes: Product Features, Design and Quality of the product. i. Brand name: A brand name is an identity of a product, without it no product will even exist. Each brand name establishes their uniqueness with their different names, signs and logos. All of the energy drink companies have a brand name of their products, which differentiates each of them from their competitors. The names ‘Royal Tiger’, ‘Boost Energy Drink’, ‘Speed’, ‘Shark’ and ‘Sting’ – each of them stands as a brand name for their product, marketed by different producers. ii. Packaging: Packaging describes the way a product is protected using a container or wrapper and at the same time provides all the required information regarding a product. The energy drinks – Sting, Speed, Shark and Tiger are all available in both cans and bottles. Only Boost is available in steel can in the market. iii. Product Features and Designs: Features explain the tools which enable a particular energy drink to gain competitive advantage over other energy drinks. The tools include – design, smell, taste and color of each energy drink. The designs of Sting, Speed, Shark, Boost and Tiger energy drinks are more or less the same. They are mostly available in two forms and in two shapes, one in a round shaped plastic bottle (250 ml) and another in cylindrical steel can (250/270 ml). They all taste sweet, expect from Tiger and Boost; which tastes sour as well. iv. Quality: Speed, Tiger, Shark, Boost and Sting have been maintaining a good standard of quality by providing the adequate amount of energy to their customers and helping them to deal with strenuous activity. However, no matter what the quality level is; over consumption of energy drinks can always prove harmful for human beings (even though they might be alcohol free). Augmented Product– There is no after-sales service, delivery service or product support for these perishable products (like – energy drinks). Labeling– Labeling is the most important part of every energy drinks. It informs about the ingredients of the product, who made the product, safety issues regarding the product and the web address of the company. Speed, Tiger, Shark, Sting and Boost all maintain an informative and trendy labeling to help their customers to make the right choice. Their ingredients contain Carbonated Water, Carbonated Sugar, Vitamins, Preservatives, Colors, Antioxidant, Sodium Benzoate, Ca-D-Pentothenate, Citric acid, Tartrazine Yellow and many other things according to the standard or permissible level. They even mention on their labeling that, it can be harmful for children and pregnant women. However, they are manufactured by different companies. ‘Speed’ is manufactured by Food And Beverage Limited, ‘Shark’ is manufactured by Global Beverage Company Limited, ‘Sting’ is manufactured by Transcom Beverage Limited, ‘Tiger’ is manufactured by AST Beverage Limited and ‘Boost’ is manufactured by Boost Drinks Limited. Brand Positioning – One of the challenging things for the energy drink companies to do is, to create a permanent place in the customers mind about a particular brand. To do this, all of these energy drink companies need to locate their brands at 3 levels – i. Product attributes ii. Benefits iii. Beliefs and Values. i. Product Attributes: Even though Tiger, Speed, Shark, Boost and Sting all have the common color of the drink yellow; their smell is very different from each other. Boost tastes sour, Tiger tastes both sour and sweet, Sting tastes like strawberry and both the Shark and Speed taste sweet. ii. Benefits: The common benefit any consumer can gain from having an energy drink is, ‘spiritual force’ which will make them more active in their daily life. Still, every energy drink has it’s own way to inform about their benefits to their loyal customers. ‘Royal Tiger’ benefits their customers by recharging their energy physically, ‘Boost’ helps their customers with being more efficient, ‘Sting’ provides their customers with vitamins and other nutrients, ‘Shark’ strengthens the stamina of their customers and ‘Speed’ increases the concentration and performance level of the individuals who are consuming it. iii. Beliefs and Values: Satisfaction comes from the core belief that consumers hold in their minds about a certain product. Customers believe – ‘Sting’ and ‘Tiger’ will give them satisfaction with better taste, ‘Boost’ will boost their energy, ‘Shark’ will give them real power and ‘Speed’ will help them gain extra speed. This way customers share their different beliefs and value for each energy drinks differently. 1. 3: Price Analysis– Size of the Bottle Product Name 250 ml 270 ml 330ml Speed 25 BDT Shark 25 BDT Sting 25 BDT Boost Tiger 25 BDT Size of the Can Product name 250 ml 270 ml 330 ml Speed 30 BDT Shark 35 BDT Sting -Boost 170 BDT Tiger 30 BDT 1. 4: Promotion Analysis Promotion : Advertising is the most crucial part of a company’s marketing mix. It is the first step to inform and aware the general public or the target group of customers about a product a particular company is offering. The five energy drink companies – Speed, Tiger, Shark, Sting and Boost; all of them are between the introduction and growth stage of their product life cycle. At this stage they are only informing the customers about their product including their benefits. Basically all the companies are following the same way to promote their products and these are some of the most common media channels used by them for doing promotion – television, radio, newspapers, magazines and internet. Target Group: Energy drink companies mainly target the major districts of Bangladesh. The local companies, like – Speed, Tiger have distributed their products in rural areas as well to attract a huge number of customers. Energy drinks are mainly used by the people who are between the age group of 16-30, because they comparatively need more energy in every step of their lives. So all of the companies aim to target them and make the product according to their needs to deliver complete satisfaction through their energy drinks. Their product is priced quite cheaply, so that people of different classes can buy them. Most of the energy drinks are claimed to be halal while considering the religious and social issues of Bangladesh. Message and Effect of the advertisements: Message (Add Story) Each company make their advertisements differently even though their motive remains the same, which is to inform the customers about the product. Here are some of the advertisement stories of the five energy drink companies – 1. Speed In one of Speed’s advertisements, they have shown some guys were trying to get up on a bamboo for the whole day without getting tired. Their motto is ‘Heavy Energy’. In other words, they are using emotional appeal. In newspapers, they post a picture from the screen shot of their advertisements and use the same motto, so that people can get a clear brand knowledge. They do not have any brand ambassador for their product and they are constantly sending out the notion to their consumers how Speed can let them gain unlimited energy. 2. Shark There is an advertisement of Shark ‘20 takay Dhaka’, they showed a guy kicked another person from Chittagong and sent him to Dhaka after having Shark energy drink. They are using the motto ‘Real Energy, Real Power’. In their advertisements they use the rational appeal to attract customers. They have no brand ambassador, because they are not still going for intensive or aggressive promotion. 3. Sting -. In the television advertisement there was one young boy who went to a shooting spot with the hope of being a superstar. On that time one director was taking the shot of riding a motor cycle on that spot. Showing that the young boy moved forward to do that shot but the director did not allow him and insulted him that made the young boy very frustrated. After that the director was supposed to make that shot with the hero but unfortunately the hero failed to ride the motor cycle. Then the director asked the crowd who could do the shot. The first young boy showed up the courage and did that shot in a fantastic way. Everybody praised him a lot. They started celebrating the happiness together by dancing with sting energy drink. They were singing â€Å"Sting, Sting, Sting –Ullasher Shuru Ekhanei†. They are using rational appeal in their advertisements In the radio advertisement they play the same jingle. In newspaper the marketers use the picture of 250ml bottle of sting energy drink and write their jingle. They give the same ad in magazines too. In billboards and posters, the marketers add the picture in a big way that they use for newspaper and magazine. 4. Boost In one ad they have shown that a young guy, probably of age 20 was walking along the roadside, on the background rap music is going on (sign of young generation). The lyrics was talking about getting energy, confidence and success. The guy had his neck tattoed and wore a sunglass, showing the style of recent youth fashion. He went into a departmental store, went to the refrigerator, there were other drinks (e. g. red rooster and red bull); but he picked up BOOST, then he paid for it, got out, drank it and got himself recharged and the soundtrack was saying as if he could fly now. So this is one example of their rational advertisements. They have not used any brand ambassador yet for their product in Bangladesh, and these two advertisements are not even shown in Bangladeshi channels, they are only available in You tube. 5. Tiger The tiger energy drink has only one advertisement which is very popular. The brand ambassador Aiyub bachchu is the model for the advertisement. The advertisement showed that, when the popular singer Aiyub Bacchu attended a party, the audience requested him to sing a song. But at that time Aiyub Bacchu felt tired and bored. So he needed to recharge himself to get energy. So he took tiger and then sang a song with more power and energetic voice. In this way they try to attract customers by using the rational approach. They also do radio advertisement with the song of Aiyub Bacchu. In billboard advertisement they promote their motto ‘Recharge Yourself’. Effect – Different advertisements effect’s consumers differently. In general, all of these advertisements encourage people to buy their products. When people get satisfied with one product, they talk positive things about it, this way companies can enjoy the benefits of -word of mouth. Customers get to know through these advertisements how their everyday lives are going to be benefitted if they have these energy drinks. Personal selling: Personal selling is no longer considered as giving door to door service. It is a much wider concept nowadays. Companies not only their sell their product to the customers, they also build a loyal relationship with them. To keep on and for maintaining such a relation, companies must be ready to deal with different problems their customers have regarding their product. Unfortunately, none of these five energy drink companies do these in Bangladesh. They are more focused on advertising only. Sales promotion: In general, energy drink companies do not give any special discount on their product to boost their sales. Companies give incentives to their channel members to keep their product in the front line of their shelves, so that customers choose to have it by first looking at it. Sometimes they give energy drink on their own to the customers, because it make the customers feel the product is of high quality and that is why the salesman is offering it to them. Besides people generally do not look out for products those are kept behind the shelves, as it will be very time consuming. Advertisements do even contribute to generate the sales level sometimes. Though there are many other ways to promote sales, the energy drink companies mainly follow these two ways to carry out their sales promotion activity. Public Relation: To operate in this digital world it is very important for companies to maintain a good relation with both their internal and external publics, example – shareholders, customers. Some of the energy drink companies arranges concerts and sponsors television shows to interact closely with their customers. Example – last year Tiger organized one concert in Doha. Each of the five companies uses different and unique logos for their product. None of them are involved in doing conferences or giving press release. Buzz marketing is also a tool used by these companies to improve their relations with the general public and promote their product as well. Direct Marketing: Energy drink companies have their official websites, but their use is not very effective in Bangladesh. In huge shopping malls or in other areas, none of the energy drinks are available in vending machines. These products are not even sold by the companies directly over online or by using telephone. The only way they carry out direct marketing is through placing the advertisement videos in You Tube. The energy drink companies still lack good customer service, example – no service or facilities provided to give complaints or to share ideas about the product face to face with the customers. Promotion Mix Strategy: The demand for energy drink is not yet very high in Bangladesh. So all the manufacturers of these five energy drink companies use the push strategy. Manufacturers contract with wholesalers or retailers to pass down their products to their final consumers and also to encourage customers to buy the products. Sometimes manufacturers give incentives to the channel members to promote their product as well. Section 02: Marketing strategy for a new brand Figure: Spirit Energy Drink Figure: Logo of Spirit Energy Drink 2. 1: Introducing a new brand for energy drink After analyzing the present market condition of energy drinks in Bangladesh, we have come up with a new idea of introducing a new brand for energy drink. The name of our energy drink will be ‘SPIRIT Energy Drink’. This new energy drink will hopefully win the hearts of our target customers and please them with the new taste and value of our product that we going to offer. This energy drink will not only make people active physically, it will also motivate them spiritually to move ahead in their lives with confidence. The motto of our energy drink is ‘ignites you from inside’. With this motto we will give our customers the idea of how Spirit energy drink can add more liveliness in their lives. The name of our company is Spirit Beverage Limited and we are using ‘Spirit Energy Drink’ as our product’s logo. We have used picture of a guy inside the logo to show our customers what we are trying to say through the motto.roductinkurny is gy of Shark and make them more active. customers tend to buy more. 20202020202020202020202020202020. 2. 2: Design marketing strategy for the new brand i. Segmentation We will segment the market of Spirit energy drink on the basis of geography, demography, psychography and behavior. Geographic Segmentation: We are going to serve Spirit energy drink mainly for the people of Bangladesh. We will offer Spirit energy drink within the different territories of Bangladesh, like- Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Barisal, Sylhet, Rangpur and Comilla. We will be selecting these territories because these are the biggest district of Bangladesh and most of the people live in these places. We will offer our product throughout every individual district, starting from the departmental stores to the small local and street stalls. We are offering Spirit both in urban and rural areas as well. Demographic Segmentation: Our market will be divided into groups based on variables such as age, gender, family life cycle, occupation and education. We are going to offer our product to both male and female who are between the ages of 15 to 30. We are especially offering the product to the university going students, corporate persons and athletes too. Our product will be for the people of all religion as it will be product is 100% halal. Psychographic Segmentation: Spirit energy drink is for the classes of people who fall under upper lowers, working class, middle class and upper middles. We are going to use personality variables to segment market like the gregarious and ambitious people. Behavioral Segmentation: We will be segmenting the market of Spirit energy drink on the basis of occasions and benefits. In summer it remains very hot in the middle of the day and for that time we will give a special offer to the customers called â€Å"Make Your Mind Cool†. People will get the same energy drink at a lower price during this time. We will give people other benefits like- we are not using preservatives in our product and our product will be convenient for the customers. ii. Targeting We will target our market within the segmentation. We are mainly targeting Dhaka because, it is the capital city of Bangladesh and highly populated and urbanized. Within Dhaka, we are targeting mostly the teenagers and adults who are the university students. Female students are going to be a part of it too, because the size and growth rate of this segment is high. As there is going to be other substitute products and tough competitors of Spirit energy drink in the market, we will offer our product directly by setting some temporary stores of Spirit energy drink inside the campus of some big and renowned universities. This will help us gain competitive advantage over our rivals and make people aware of our product. We will explain about the benefits about our product and give other information’s regarding our product. Making people believe that our product is different will be our main target. We will offer the same product at the same price to all our segmented customers. iii. Positioning Our product’s motto is â€Å"Ignites you from inside†, by this motto we are trying to make people believe that, Spirit energy drink encourages people to move on no matter whatever situation they face in their lives. Our product will always remove the frustration from both their body and soul. Spirit is alcohol free and will be made and designed attractively to attract our customers. In this way we will differentiate and create a unique image of our product in our consumer’s mind. iv. Marketing Mix (4p) ? Design and description of the product Customer Value and Brand Name: The first thing that we are considering about our product before we place it in the market is, it’s core benefit or core values. Customers always seek out for the benefit and the reason behind buying a product. They always value the experience they get after using it. In order to enter the market and establishing our brand successfully, we are going to provide the most refreshing and unique energy drink; which will spread liveliness and create more excitement in our customers life. They will not only buy one Spirit energy drink, they will buy one reason to hold on to being strong and face everything with more spirit in their lives. The brand name of our product is–‘Spirit Energy Drink’. We have named our product Spirit because it is easy to remember and meaningful at the same time. It will help the customers to distinguish and compare our product from others. Product Features and Design: Our energy bottle will be made in the shape of a space shuttle, with a combination of red and black color to give the igniting image. We will design our can just like other energy drink cans, which is made up of steel body with a cylindrical shape. In the middle of both the can and bottle, the name of our product will be written horizontally. The whole bottle and can will be black in color and the name written in pearl white. The shining stars above the name will give it a glowing and sparkling image. The guy standing in the middle of the name will exhibit the idea that Spirit energy drink has the ability to bring back everyone from darkness and add new value to their lives. Like all other energy drink, Spirit’s taste will be sweet and sour and the color of the drink will be red wine color. Packaging and Labeling: We plan to do very careful and colorful packaging to attract our target customers. The products are going to be well packaged and covered so that it stays protected in every condition. All the necessary information’s will be written on the body of bottle and can. Packaging will be done in two ways: 1. Plastic bottle – 300ml (Normal Packaging) 2. Steel Can – 270ml (Prestigious Packaging). Necessary warnings will be provided, like –it might be harmful for pregnant women and children. Manufacturing and Expiring dates will be written on the covers to warn the consumers about the product’s validity. Most importantly, the ingredients we are going to use are Carbonated water, Refined sugar, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Benzoate, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B6, Touraine, Citric Acid, Preservatives, Antioxidant, Ca-D-Pentothenate, Tartrazine, Mixed Fruit Flavor, Food Grade Flavor, Food Colors. There will be a Nutrition Fact chart too, describing the nutritious contents. Energy80 cal. Proteino gm Saturated fato gm Total fat o gm Sodium 20mg Sugar20 gm Carbohydrate 20. 5 gm Cholesterol0 gm Dietary Fibero gm Product Quality: Providing our customers with the best quality of energy drink is our prime purpose. We have made sure that our energy drink does not contain any harmful substances. It is alcohol free and free from every possible harmful effects. With the amazing taste and other attributes, we assure that our customers will be satisfied and buy Spirit more frequently. Design of pricing policy. Spirit is at the introduction stage of it’s product life cycle and we know the competition of energy drink companies is rising day by day in Bangladesh. We will use cost-plus pricing for Spirit energy drink, considering the present market and demand for energy drink. Though the demand of energy drink in our country is increasing with time, our product is still under pure competition, as there are already some other energy drinks in our local market. We will also consider competitors strategies and prices, how they set their prices and how much they charge from the intermediaries and consumers. We will focus on our target customers willingness and ability to pay for an energy drink. After considering the above issues we are charging 35tk for 270ml can and 30tk for 300ml bottle from our customers. For the 270ml can, our production is 30tk and after setting a standard markup to the cost we will be charging 32tk from our wholesalers, wholesalers will charge 33. 5tk to the retailers and finally the retailers are sell the drink at 35tk o the customers. For 300ml bottle, our production cost per bottle is 25tk and after setting a standard markup to the cost the wholesalers will buy each bottle at 27tk from the us. Wholesalers will charge 28. 5tk to the retailers and finally the retailers will sell it at 30tk each bottle to the customers. In short, we are charging the price for our product moderately to attract huge number of customers to buy it. It will help us to maintain a minimum level of profits for operating and keep running our business. Design of promotional activities – Advertising: For creating awareness and informing the consumers about our product we are going to advertise in more than one media. Our target is to do mass promotion to cover the maximum number of people in Bangladesh. Some of the major media channels through which we will be advertising are –television, radio, newspapers, online media and billboards. Television and internet are the most fastest and effective media channels to promote product, as most of the people spend their time on these. Newspapers though have high believability, do not last for a long period of time. Starting from the poor uneducated people of our society to the educated ones, everyone listens to radio. Therefore radio is also a very effective way to reach a huge number of customers at the same time. Add story While broadcasting on television, we will show a random university student is sitting on a chair and lost deep inside at the sheer thoughts of failing in exam. Then suddenly one of his friends will come to him and give him a Spirit energy drink. After having the energy drink the boy will jump off and scream energetically that he is not going to give up. He will get motivated and feel more energized while doing his studies. He will realize that he can study longer and give more concentration in his studies after drinking the Spirit energy drink. Then finally when the results come out, he will do the top result in his university. He will then become extremely happy and appreciate how Spirit energy drink has helped him to achieve this success in life. This way we will draw conclusion to the add. In newspapers and billboards we will use the same boy, who will be smiling and holding a Spirit energy drink; conveying the same message about our product’s motto. In radio channels we use the same jingle which we will show in television. As we are launching a new product in the market, we want to deliver the same message to our target customers. It will help them to get a clear and specific idea of our brand and what we intend to provide. Our advertisement is designed in both emotional and rational way. Emotionally we are showing the customer, they can move on in their lives with the help of Spirit and rationally we are giving them the idea that Spirit energy drink is good for their health, as it increases concentration and strength. Sales Promotion: Sales promotion is another major step we will carry out to encourage our customers to purchase our product more frequently. Sales promotion can be done in many ways – giving discounts, giving lotteries, pop-up adds, etc. We will give incentives to the people of our channels to keep our energy drink in front of the shelves in all the stores we are going to supply. Consumers buys the product that are kept in front side, because people have an idea that good quality things are always kept at the front and they will not want to search for other product as that would be time consuming. In times of special occasions like Eid, we will announce special discounts or extra offers. We will sell our products in front of colleges, universities and major shopping malls. Therefore we will be exposing our product more to the public and will gain higher chances of selling our product, thus making more profits. Besides, none of our competitors are doing these things, so we can gain competitive advantage over them as well. Personal selling: Energy drink is a convenience product, and it is quite impossible to reach the mass people by employing thousands of employees for selling our product. This process is very slow and expensive. So we will not be selling our products personally. We will employ experts in offices, who will deal with customer’s view’s and problems. This way we will personally provide/sell our service them beside selling our product. Public relations: At the very first stage we will arrange a press conference to inform everyone about our product. Press media is very crucial, as interacting with them positively will encourage them to promote our product more creatively and positively to our customers. This way we can also have competitive advantage over our competitors. We will organize different concerts and sponsor television shows, this will give us an open platform to interact more closely with our customers and build a strong relation with them. Direct marketing: We are planning to open a Facebook page along with our official website where we will encourage people to share their views about our product. This will help us to keep track of our customers reaction towards our product. None of the other energy drink companies are doing much of these activities, so it is an easier way to grab a huge number of customers and market share this way. Online marketing is therefore more efficient and fast way of direct marketing in terms of receiving our customers reactions, complaints and comments and adapting to those changes to keep surviving and growing. Promotion Mix strategy: We will use push strategy for Spirit energy drink. Contracting with different wholesalers and retailers will help us to provide adequate supplies in every convenient and targeted locations. We will give them incentives to promote and supply our product more frequently to the customers. Design of distribution activities- We will go for intensive distribution for Spirit energy drink, because we want to provide stock our product in as many outlets as possible. We want to ensure that our products must be available where and when consumers want them. As our product is new in the market, we will directly offer our product to the target customers. We will be offering our Spirit energy drink to the customers through wholesalers and retailers. Within our limited resources we cannot afford to have our own distribution facilities, like warehouses and showrooms and to hire sales people and support stuffs. We would rather contract with the wholesalers, so that they will take those extra costs and risks. Our target customers are the young university students, that is why we are contracting with retailers.